By Rédaction Africanews and AP Spanning some 150 million hectares, the forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are among the most coveted in the world, sought by logging companies and controversial carbon-offset developers alike. In 2023, after four years of negotiations and bureaucratic hurdles, villages in the Yainyongo community secured official rights to 11,000 hectares in Tshopo Province. The concession gives them the power to manage and protect their forest, even as conflict simmers in the region. Henry, displaced by intercommunal violence, says tensions escalated when a company known as Cap Congo sought to buy forest land. “If…
Author: Montage Africa
Jeffrey Epstein tried to buy a multimillion-dollar palace in Morocco the day before his arrest in 2019, according to documents released by the US Department of Justice last month. Epstein had pursued acquiring Bin Ennakhil since 2011, but disputes with the seller over the price and purchase arrangement dragged on for years. The grand palace in the luxury Palmeraie neighbourhood of Marrakech has been described as an architectural masterpiece, built by 1,300 craftsmen and featuring ornate carvings and mosaics. Epstein signed a $14.95m (£11m) wire transfer on 5 July 2019, the day before his arrest, following an agreement to buy…
By Dominic Wabwireh with other agencies Ghana’s licensed cocoa buyers are staggering under up to $750 million in debt to banks, the Licensed Cocoa Buyers Association revealed Thursday, as delayed payments from regulator Cocobod and falling global prices squeeze the sector supplying half the world’s cocoa. Association President Samuel Adimado told Reuters buyers owe banks 7-8 billion cedis ($650-750 million) and farmers an additional $205-234 million, with “interest piling up.” Buyers have delivered 580,000 tonnes of beans this season but await full payment, while another 70,000 tonnes remain in fields. Root causes The crisis follows two poor harvests from disease…
By Dominic Wabwireh with other agencies Zambia has halted a proposed $1 billion US health funding agreement over clauses tying aid to mining partnerships, joining Zimbabwe and Kenya in pushing back against what African nations view as sovereignty-compromising conditions. The five-year deal with Zambia, intended to combat HIV/AIDS and malaria, stalled after the US linked funding to a “bilateral compact” involving copper and cobalt access. “This deal would slash US funding to life-saving programs while prioritizing mining corporations over Zambians with HIV,” said Health GAP’s Asia Russell. Zambia confirmed requesting “revisions” to the memorandum, with President Hakainde Hichilema viewing aid…
By Dominic Wabwireh with other agencies A Nigerian defendant who suffered a stroke appeared in court Thursday as his lawyer sought bail on compassionate grounds, in a case unfolding against the backdrop of high-level US-Nigeria talks over Washington’s designation of the country for religious freedom violations. Defence lawyer Ibrahim Angulu filed two applications: challenging duplicate counts and seeking bail for the first defendant. “As you can see, the first defendant has suffered a stroke. So, on compassionate grounds, we are asking the court to allow him to be treated in a hospital instead of just lying in prison,” Angulu told…
By Rédaction Africanews with AFP Killings of civilians in Sudan’s war more than doubled in 2025 compared with the previous year, the United Nations rights chief said Thursday, warning that thousands more dead are unidentified or remain missing. Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million people and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. “This war is ugly. It’s bloody and it’s senseless,” Volker Turk told the UN Human Rights Council, blaming both warring sides, which have so…
By Rédaction Africanews and AFP Gabon is in talks with Meta and TikTok over the country’s social media ban, the communication ministry said on Thursday. Gabon’s media regulator suspended all social media platforms earlier this month, blaming online content for stoking conflict and division. Companies failed to act despite numerous warnings about defamatory, violent and pornographic content, deputy presidency spokeswoman Jennyfer Melodie Sambat said on Monday. It is “inconceivable that, after numerous alerts from the government, the group should do nothing”, she added. TikTok has contacted the media regulator to express its shared commitment to maintaining a “safe digital environment…
By AFP A United Nations flight landed at Khartoum airport on Thursday, the first since Sudan’s nearly three-year war began, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the country said, calling it “a big deal” for aid workers trying to reach millions of Sudanese in need. Since April 2023, Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in a devastating conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced some 11 million people. Khartoum, which was overrun by the RSF early in the conflict, has slowly begun to recover since the army retook it in March last year. “I’d…
By Dominic Wabwireh with other agencies Guinea’s military has confirmed the detention of 16 Sierra Leonean soldiers after accusing them of crossing the border and raising their flag on Guinean soil, while Freetown maintains its troops were on its own territory constructing a border post, the latest flare-up in a decades-old territorial dispute. According to Guinea’s Ministry of National Defense, the soldiers entered the district of Koudaya in the Faranah border region without authorization on Sunday, where they “set up a tent and raised their national flag” approximately 1.4 kilometers inside Guinea . Their equipment and supplies were seized, and…
Nigeria’s government has rejected a media report alleging that it paid a “huge” ransom to Islamist militant group Boko Haram to secure the release of more than 200 pupils and staff abducted from a Catholic boarding school in November. Information Minister Mohammed Idris described the allegation, made by the AFP news agency quoting intelligence sources, as “completely false and baseless” and a “disservice to the professionalism and integrity” of the security forces. He also denied that two Boko Haram commanders were freed as part of the deal. In a separate announcement, a presidential spokesman has said police chief Kayode Egbetokun,…