Albert Mazibuko, who sang in iconic South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo for more than five decades, has died aged 77. The musician’s death on Sunday came after a short illness, the choral group posted on their Facebook page. Mazibuko joined Ladysmith Black Mambazo in 1969 and the collective went on to win five Grammy awards and feature on Paul Simon’s acclaimed 1986 Graceland album. Ladysmith Black Mambazo paid tribute to Mazibuko on Monday, describing him as “kind to a fault” and a “saint” who acted as a “wise elder” for the group’s younger members. “He loved traveling the world,…
Author: Montage Africa
Senegal faces fresh scrutiny after undisclosed €650 million financing deals surfaced, adding to IMF findings that it significantly underreported debt and fiscal deficits between 2019 and 2023. The episode highlights a wider African problem of weak transparency, hidden liabilities, and complex borrowing structures that conceal true debt levels and intensify financial risks. This story is written and edited by Global South World The government has defended the transactions, saying they were lawful and complied with the relevant transparency requirements. The issue has drawn attention because it comes after the IMF said an audit by Senegal’s Court of Auditors found “significant underreporting” of fiscal deficits…
By Africanews Speaking at a youth event in the coastal city of Mbour, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko pointed to the escalating prices of oil to justify the measure. Sonko said he had canceled his own planned trips to Niger, Spain and France, Reuters reported, in an effort to cut costs. Oil prices have edged close to $115 a barrel from about $80 before the war on Iran. The west African country is facing a financial squueze since the termination of a lending program by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over debt misreporting. The country faces a budget deficit of nearly 14 percent…
By Africanews with AP 84-year-old Gladys Khoza reacted with delight after she was one of 133 people who had their sight restored during a cataract eye surgery “marathon” conducted by doctors in South Africa at two hospitals over two weekends last month. “Wow,” she whispered as a nurse peeled back the bandage over one eye a day after her operation and the world came back into view. “Can you see me?” the nurse asked. “Very well,” Khoza replied, a big grin on her face. Patients in South Africa’s public health service can be on waiting lists for years for the…
By Africanews with AP When 33-year-old Brazilian woman Emily de Souza heard about a program allowing her to shave off four days from her prison sentence by reading a book, she seized the opportunity to reconnect with a cherished habit. Like tens of thousands of detainees across the country — including former President Jair Bolsonaro — she signed up for a sentence reduction program that encourages inmates to immerse themselves in literary works in exchange for reducing their sentences by up to 48 days per year. The possibility of reuniting earlier with her 9-year-old autistic son, who her mother and…
By Africanews Cameroon’s parliament on Saturday approved a bill creating the position of a vice president despite protests by the opposition. 200 lawmakers voted in favor of the text, while 18 rejected it. Four votes were declared invalid. Debate on the constitutional amendment had only started on Thursday in the capital Yaounde. Veteran opposition leader Maurice Kamto had called the bill an attempt at a power grab in an address on Friday. According to the text, the vice president would take over in the event of the president’s death, resignation or incapacity with no obligation to hold elections. President Paul…
By Africanews with AFP Aid groups are warning that the war in the Middle East has upended their ability to get food and medicine to millions of people around the world in need, and that the suffering will deepen if the violence continues. Not only has the conflict cut off vital shipping routes, creating a global energy crisis, it’s also disrupting supply chains for aid groups, forcing them to use costlier, more time-consuming routes. Key pathways such as the Strait of Hormuz have been effectively shuttered and routes from strategic hubs such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi have also…
By Africanews with AFP The Middle East war “presents a serious risk to Africa”, the African Union and the African Development Bank (AfDB) said in a report seen by AFP Saturday. The conflict threatens to increase the cost of living and curtail growth on the continent, the report warned. The Middle East accounts for 15.8 percent of Africa’s imports and 10.9 percent of its exports, the report noted. “The conflict, which already has triggered a trade shock, could quickly turn into a cost-of-living crisis across Africa through higher fuel and food prices, rising shipping and insurance costs, exchange rate pressures,…
By Africanews with AP Iran’s joint command claimed on Sunday that the aircraft were destroyed during the complex rescue of an airman whose fighter jet was shot down on Friday. Iran’s state TV quoted the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters as saying the aircraft, which included two C-130 military transport aircraft and two Black Hawk helicopters, were destroyed in the province of Isfahan, where the rescue took place. Earlier Sunday, Iran’s state TV aired a video showing what it claims are parts of a U.S. aircraft that they had shot down and a photo of thick black smoke rising into the air.…
By Africanews with AP Congo will receive some migrants as part of a new deal under the Trump administration’s third-country program, its government said Sunday, the latest such African nation to receive migrants being deported from the U.S. The deportees will start arriving in Congo this month, the Congolese Ministry of Communications said in a statement, without further details on the date or the number of deportees expected. It described the arrangement as a “temporary” one that reflects Congo’s “commitment to human dignity and international solidarity.” It would come with zero costs to the government with the U.S. covering the…