By Rédaction Africanews with AFP Libya, Algeria, and Tunisia on Wednesday agreed to a “rational and equitable” of the water in a giant aquifer in the Sahara that straddles all three nations. The so-called “Tripoli Declaration” stresses the importance of “strengthening coordination and exchanges to ensure sustainable use” of the non-renewable resource. “The challenges facing our water resources, whether related to climate change or rising demand, require us to redouble our efforts and strengthen coordination and integration among ourselves,” said Libya’s minister of water resources, Hosni Aouidat**.** The North-Western Sahara Aquifer System is one of the world’s largest groundwater reserves…
Author: Montage Africa
By Rédaction Africanews with AFP Oil-rich African nations at global fossil fuel phaseout talks in Colombia said Wednesday they would keep drilling to support economic growth, highlighting tensions between climate and fiscal realities for developing producers. Ministers and envoys from nearly 60 nations met in Santa Marta, a city on the Caribbean coast, for the first-ever global conference on transitioning the world away from planet-heating oil, gas and coal. The conference has unfolded as oil prices surged Wednesday to their highest level since early 2022, deepening fears over global energy security and underlining risks to fossil fuel reliance as the…
By Rédaction Africanews with AP Years after a lead acid battery recycling plant shut down in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa, residents of Owino Uhuru say they are still suffering from lead poisoning, a growing public health risk as Africa’s clean energy boom drives a surge in battery use. Faith Muthama, 40, a mother of four, says her health has never recovered. “Life has never been the same,” she said, wiping away sweat. “I still struggle to do heavy chores as I suffer from breathing difficulties. When I was tested in 2012, I was found with high lead levels in…
Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe has returned home to joyous scenes after becoming the first man to run a marathon in under two hours in competitive race conditions. His incredible achievement at Sunday’s London Marathon is being celebrated in Kenya, where officials welcomed him home amid a crush of cameras at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the capital, Nairobi. His parents were also present to greet him, days after the 31-year-old achieved the holy grail of marathon running by smashing the two-hour barrier in a race with an official time of one hour 59 minutes and 30 seconds. “I am happy…
Mali’s capital city Bamako – a major West African hub and home to more than three million people – is under a partial blockade by Islamist militants, days after the country’s defence minister was assassinated there. “Our army isn’t capable of protecting us, how are we going to get back home?” a mother-of-two told the BBC, unable to re-enter Bamako after visiting her parents out of town. She and many others have been stranded on the Bamako-Kéniéba highway, a major road out of the capital for almost a day. It follows Wednesday’s warning by fighters from the group Jama’at Nusrat…
As heat intensifies across Nigeria, a new cohort of ventures is developing solutions to protect crops, reduce food spoilage and livestock losses, and equip hospitals and outdoor workers to anticipate and withstand extreme conditions. BFA Global, FSD Africa, ClimateWorks Foundation, and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Nigeria have selected 10 early-stage ventures to join the inaugural cohort of the TECA Heat Action Wave (THAW) program focused on accelerating solutions to extreme heat. The 10 selected ventures are: Ofemini Global Limited provides a heat-resilient logistics platform that helps farmers transport perishable goods efficiently, reducing spoilage caused by extreme…
A man has been sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of four toddlers at a nursery school in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, earlier this month. On 2 April, Christopher Okello Onyum, 38, entered the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program and fatally stabbed the infants – Eteku Gideon, Keisha Agenorwoth, Sseruyange Ignatius and Odeke Ryan – all aged between one and two years old. While capital punishment has not been abolished in Uganda, it is rarely carried out, with the last recorded case taking place in 2005. Onyum, who holds both Ugandan and US citizenship, has 14 days to appeal…
By Africanews with AFP Hundreds gathered on Wednesday in N’Djamena to demand the release of Chadian opposition leader and former premier Succes Masra, who has been in custody for almost a year. The activists were members of Les Transformateurs (Transformers), the country’s largest opposition party, which was marking its eighth anniversary at the party’s headquarters in the capital. Most of those attending were young people, protesting under intense heat and carrying signs calling for the release of Masra, one of President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno’s fiercest critics. “An innocent man is today deprived of his freedom and basic rights for…
By Africanews with AFP In the Mauritanian town of Fassala, on the Malian border, many refugees dream of the day they will return to their motherland. Years of instability in Mali have forced thousands to flee to neighboring Mauritania which has so far been spared much of the Islamist violence plaguing Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. “Only those who put an end to the killing among us will allow the farmer, the shepherd and the traveller to no longer die. You [Wagner Group and FAMA], you know that you are looking for armed people. You come across me, when I…
The Management and Board of Directors of Montage Africa Group, publishers of New National Star Newspaper and owners of Montage 99.7FM Abuja and Montage Africa TV, heartily congratulate Her Excellency Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu on her well-deserved elevation from Honourable Minister of State for Foreign Affairs to the substantive Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This appointment is a fitting recognition of your exceptional competence, distinguished diplomatic experience, intellectual capacity, and steadfast dedication to national service. Your remarkable poise, strategic leadership, and deep understanding of international relations have consistently…