Nigeria’s central bank has eased foreign exchange rules for international oil companies, allowing them to retain and repatriate the full value of their export earnings immediately. The new directive removes a previous “cash pooling” policy that required firms to keep part of their proceeds in local banks for up to 90 days, a measure introduced during a severe dollar shortage in 2024. Officials say the change is part of broader reforms aimed at liberalizing the FX market, stabilizing the naira, and restoring investor confidence. While the move may not instantly boost dollar supply, industry executives say it improves cash-flow management and reduces…
Author: Montage Africa
The general secretary of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) has resigned amid a chaotic time for football on the continent. Veron Mosengo-Omba said in a statement he was retiring, but his departure comes during the fallout over decisions to strip Senegal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) title and postpone the women’s tournament at the last minute. These incidents have left Caf, the governing body for African football, battling a crisis of confidence. Mosengo-Omba alluded to controversies faced during his tenure in his statement on Sunday. “Now that I have been able to dispel the suspicions that some people have…
By Rédaction Africanews The situation surrounding a possible withdrawal by the M23 rebel group remains highly unclear. While recent reports from local media and residents in North Kivu suggest that M23 fighters have been seen moving out of certain areas and abandoning long-held positions, the group itself denies that it is pulling back. In a statement shared on social media, M23 insists that the movements currently observed on several front lines are nothing more than routine, tactical troop rotations. The group maintains that there is no substantive withdrawal underway and says it remains firmly committed to protecting civilians and upholding…
By Rédaction Africanews Congo-Brazzaville’s 82-year-old President Denis Sassou Nguesso secured 95 percent of the vote in an election that extended his rule, the constitutional court said late Saturday. The March 15 election gave Sassou Nguesso, who has led the oil-rich central African country for four decades, a new five year term. “Denis Sassou Nguesso won an absolute majority and is elected president with 94.9 percent of votes on a turnout of 65.9 percent,” the head of the court, Auguste Iloki, told a public hearing. The opposition has challenged every election won by Sassou-Nguesso. Dave Mafoula, one of six candidates who…
By Rédaction Africanews In Tunisia, 67‑year‑old education unionist Slaheddine Selmi has been elected head of the powerful Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT). Presenting himself as a candidate of continuity and stability, he is widely seen as familiar with the organisation’s inner workings and acceptable to many factions inside the union. In his first remarks to Tunisian media on Saturday 28 March 2026, Selmi said he wants to put social dialogue with the government back on track after months of rupture. Originally from Kairouan and a long‑time member of the primary education union, he previously sat on the UGTT’s executive bureau.…
Nigeria’s effort to diversify exports beyond oil gained momentum in 2025, with non-oil export earnings rising to $8.93 billion from $6.57 billion a year earlier. Agriculture played a central role, accounting for just over 41% of shipments abroad. Cocoa led the charge, contributing nearly 25% of total non-oil exports, while cashew posted explosive growth, with shelled cashew exports nearly doubling. Overall export volumes also climbed about 10%, suggesting the surge was driven not only by higher prices but by larger shipments. Still, analysts note that Nigeria’s export basket remains concentrated in a few commodities, leaving earnings vulnerable to global price swings even…
The United Nations General Assembly this week overwhelmingly backed a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade “the gravest crime against humanity”. Welcoming the vote, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the wealth of many Western nations was “built on stolen lives and stolen labour”. Noting the “barbaric punishments that maintained control – from shackles and iron collars to flogging and sexual violence”, he said it “was not simply forced labour”. “It was a machinery of mass exploitation and deliberate dehumanisation of men, women and children. The wounds run deep and often go unrecognised.” The resolution, backed by African and Caribbean…
By Africanews Abdelmadjid Tebboune has paid his respects to former Algerian leader Liamine Zeroual, whose death at the age of 84 has prompted nationwide mourning in Algeria. Images released by the presidency show Tebboune standing solemnly beside Zeroual’s coffin at the Mohamed Seghir Nekkache Military Hospital, where the former president died after a long illness. Authorities have declared three days of national mourning, with flags flying at half-mast across the country. Born in the eastern city of Batna in 1941, Zeroual was a former soldier who rose through the ranks of the National Liberation Army, which fought for independence from…
By AFP Arab foreign ministers on Sunday unanimously named former Egyptian foreign minister Nabil Fahmy the Arab League’s new Secretary General. Fahmy will be officially approved by Arab leaders at the next summit, set to be held in Saudi Arabia, before starting his five-year term in July. The former top diplomat, who led Egypt’s foreign ministry from June 2013 to July 2014, will become the eighth Egyptian head of the Cairo-based regional bloc, succeeding Ahmed Aboul Gheit. The 22-member bloc has only had one non-Egyptian secretary general — Tunisian Chedli Klibi in the 1980s — when Egypt was suspended for…
By Gigi Ncgobo, Venture Scale Lead at Injini So, you’ve successfully rolled out an EdTEch pilot programme. Thousands of tablets have been deployed, there are glowing dashboards, and you’ve got high “time-on-app” statistics. You may have even received some great press. But have you actually succeeded? After all, there are hundreds of EdTech startups across Africa, but how significant an improvement has there been in key metrics like literacy and numeracy over the years? In South Africa – the continent’s most developed and biggest economy – the evidence is mixed, at best. The most recent Progress in International Reading Literacy…