Tributes have been pouring in from across Ghana and the world since the death of Ghanaian highlife legend Ebo Taylor. A guitarist, composer and bandleader who died on Saturday, Taylor’s six-decade career played a key role in shaping modern popular music in West Africa. Often described as one of the founding fathers of contemporary highlife, Taylor died a day after the launch of a music festival bearing his name in the capital, Accra, and just a month after celebrating his 90th birthday. Highlife, a genre blending traditional African rhythms with jazz and Caribbean influences, was recently added to UNESCO’s Intangible…
Author: Montage Africa
By Rédaction Africanews and Agencies With the holy month of Ramadan starting next week, Muslims around the world are getting ready. Sudan is no exception, despite the country’s ongoing war. In the eastern city of Gedaref, people are heading to the market. But customers are shocked by the price of meat. “In Ramadan specifically, livestock’s prices go up because demand is higher than supply and due to people fasting during the day,” says Gedaref resident Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed. “The prices in the market are too high, too expensive. An ewe costs 650 to 700 thousands Sudanese pound [$1080 to 1163].”…
By Africanews Burkina Faso’s transitional parliament on Monday approved a bill banning all political parties in a move observers say allows the military junta led by Captain Ibrahim Traore to consolidate control. The text which received no opposition from lawmakers repeals the charter of political parties and the law relating to the financing of parties, electoral campaigns and the status of the political opposition. Political party activities have been suspended in the Sahel country since the army seized power in 2022. On Thursday, the United Nations rights chief called on the Burkina Faso government to halt all repression of civic…
By Rédaction Africanews and AFP This year’s Mining Indaba conference opened in Cape Town on Tuesday under the theme ‘Stronger Together.’ The annual event brings together leaders from government and industry to help shape the priorities of Africa’s vital mining sector. Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema gave the keynote address: “Africa must change this narrative that the IMF [International Monetary Fund] will construct a program for us in our countries. We must construct the programs and ask the IMF to support us in our programmes.” South Africa’s Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, echoed the theme of putting Africa…
By Rédaction Africanews with AFP Heavy “automatic gunfire” rang out near the central prison in Guinea’s capital early on Tuesday in Kaloum, Conakry’s administrative centre where the presidential palace is located, witnesses told AFP. “I heard the sound of vehicles speeding by, I rushed to the window and heard automatic gunfire,” said Thierno Balde, an accountant who works in the neighbourhood, confirming similar statements by other witnesses. According to neighbours of the prison, the shooting began shortly before 9:00 am (local and GMT) and lasted just more than a half hour, with rapid gunfire ringing out. A security detail made…
By Dominic Wabwireh with AP In a vibrant prelude to Carnival, followers of Afro-Brazilian religions performed a sweeping cleansing ritual at Rio de Janeiro’s Sambadrome on Saturday, invoking peace and ancestral protection for the festivities ahead. Dressed in traditional white, practitioners of Umbanda and Candomblé danced along the avenue, sweeping the ground with brooms made of rue, a plant believed to cleanse negative energy. Priest Alexandre Fernandes explained the intent: to prevent evil and negativity, ensuring a peaceful and joyful Carnival under ancestral protection. Teacher Leonardo Matos described the act as one of “purification” and “opening paths” for good energy.…
By Maame Tutua Dadson, Managing Partner at Stafford Law; and Amma A. Gyampo, Chief Executive Officer at Ghana Venture Capital & Private Equity Association With over US$700 billion in domestic pension, insurance, and long-term savings, Africa has no shortage of capital. The real question is why so much of it sits in low-yield government instruments or flows offshore instead of being deployed to grow African enterprises, create jobs, and drive innovation. This question has become more urgent as global capital tightens. Development finance institutions are under pressure, aid budgets are shrinking, and foreign investors are becoming increasingly selective and risk-averse.…
By Africanews with AFP A medical student has died after clashes erupted between police and students protesting delays in grant payments at a major university in Senegal, the government said on Tuesday. The death comes amid a difficult economic climate in the west African country, where students have protested the thorny issue of stipend arrears for several years. Unrest broke out at Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) in the capital Dakar on Monday, according to a statement by a government spokeswoman, who said a second-year medical student, Abdoulaye Ba, died as a result. The university, which has tens of thousands…
As West Africa pushes to strengthen regional energy supply chains, Ghana is looking closer to home to meet its fuel needs. The country is moving to source refined petroleum products from Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery, a shift that reflects both Ghana’s domestic capacity constraints and a broader continental effort to reduce reliance on fuel imports from outside Africa. This story is written and edited by Global South World Ghana has announced its intention to import petroleum products from Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery as it aims to address the country’s limited refining capacity. Speaking at the Nigerian International Energy Summit held…
Angola’s president and several African Union representatives Monday called for a ceasefire in the conflict-plagued eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo after meeting with DRC President Félix Tshisekedi in Luanda. The resource-rich region, which borders Rwanda as well as Burundi, has been beset by decades of continual conflict with the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group. The conflict flared last year with the M23 seizing key cities and continuing attacks despite a flurry of diplomatic efforts, including a US-brokered peace deal signed in December and a parallel mediation effort by Qatar. In a statement Monday evening, Angolan President and AU chairperson João…