In Somalia’s remote al-Miskad mountains, a group of soldiers huddles around a small hand-held screen, tracking Islamic State group fighters on a drone feed. A figure appears in the picture, moving through a valley. “He has been to fetch water for his friends,” says the drone operator. “He is running and carrying something on his back,” adds another soldier. The man on the screen is near a cave, which the army believes is a hideout for 50 to 60 IS fighters. The Puntland Defence Forces have about 500 soldiers stationed at this base in the north-east of Somalia. Ten years…
Author: Montage Africa
By Rédaction Africanews with AP The plane carrying about 150 Palestinians from Gaza came as a surprise to everyone on the ground when it landed in South Africa in November. It wasn’t the only one. Since May, at least three flights filled with Gaza residents who had signed up to leave the war-torn enclave have landed in Indonesia and South Africa. But an investigation by news agency Associated Press suggests Israeli group Ad Kan, whose founder supported US President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Gazans, is behind the move. It says this raises further questions about the motives behind the…
Across Africa, millions of people still cook with charcoal and firewood, which can be expensive, environmentally destructive, and bad for their health. While liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and electricity are often promoted as modern alternatives, they remain unaffordable or unreliable for many households. Ener-G-Africa (EGA), an innovative African energy access solutions company based in South Africa and Malawi, believes that pellet gasifier stoves are an often-overlooked technology that could help to bridge that gap. Silvia Nanyangwe, Project and Country Manager at Ener-G-Africa Zambia, says pellet stoves burn cleanly, cost less and can be powered by Africa’s own agricultural by-products. How pellet stoves…
After the acquisition this week of East Africa’s biggest media outfit by a politically well connected billionaire businessman, questions are being asked about the future of independent journalism in the region. Every day millions of people in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda turn to one of the dozens of newspapers, TV and radio stations or digital outlets owned by the Nation Media Group (NMG) for reliable news. In countries where journalists have come under pressure from the authorities, titles such as Kenya’s Daily Nation, Tanzania’s Mwananchi or Uganda’s Daily Monitor have become the standard-bearers for trusted information. But NMG now…
By Agencies Madagascar’s transitional leader, Michael Randrianirina, has appointed the head of the country’s financial intelligence unit, Mamitiana Rajaonarison, as prime minister, just days after dissolving the government. In a statement on Sunday, the presidency said Rajaonarison, who has led the anti-money-laundering agency SAMIFIN since 2021, would head a new cabinet. A former senior gendarmerie officer and career civil administrator, he replaces Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, who was dismissed last week when the cabinet was unexpectedly dissolved. Rajaonarivelo had been appointed shortly after Randrianirina took power in October during protests that forced former president Andry Rajoelina to flee the country. Speaking during…
A further four people have died in Kenya after heavy rain caused widespread flooding, police said, taking the number to have died in the past week to at least 66. The capital, Nairobi, was hit by more heavy rain overnight although no new deaths were reported. Eleven people were rescued after a minibus taxi, known locally as a matatu, got stuck as water rose in Nairobi, according to the Kenya Red Cross, while two children were saved from a flooded house. Heavy rainfall over the past week has triggered flash floods as rivers have burst their banks, flooding homes and…
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is pleased to launch the second season of its documentary series, Impact Stories. Building on the success of the inaugural season, the new collection of six films expands the series’ geographic scope to capture the Bank’s growing footprint across Global Africa, featuring stories from the Caribbean and Africa. Produced by Afreximbank in partnership with Create, CNN International Commercial’s branded content studio, Season Two takes viewers on location to Grenada, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria. The series brings to life the impactful outcomes of strategic investments, moving beyond finance to capture the human and economic transformation unfolding…
Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine has told the BBC that he left the country because he feared for his life following January’s disputed election. Speaking to Newshour from an undisclosed location after spending two months in hiding in Uganda, he said “it was clear that the regime wanted to eliminate me”. The pop star turned politician earlier announced he had fled the country in a video posted on X. In it, he repeated his claim that the election had been rigged in favour of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986. Museveni, 81, won with 72%…
By Agencies with AFP Vote counting is underway in the Republic of Congo following a presidential election that could extend President Denis Sassou N’Guesso’s rule for a fifth consecutive term. Polls closed on Sunday, with official results expected within two weeks. The election was marked by low voter turnout, as many citizens expressed skepticism that the vote would bring political change after more than four decades of leadership by the 82-year-old incumbent. Several opposition parties had called for a boycott of the polls. Six other candidates contested the presidency in the oil-rich Central African nation, but analysts say none is…
Four more men removed by the United States arrived in Eswatini on 11 March and are being detained in the Matsapha Correctional Complex, a maximum-security prison located some 2 kms from the country’s international airport. According to information received by Amnesty International, the men – two Somali nationals, one Tanzanian national and one Sudanese national – arrived at around 11PM on a flight originating from Phoenix, Arizona. “This latest unlawful transfer makes clear that the United States is continuing to send people to Eswatini under a secretive third-country removal arrangement, and that Eswatini is continuing to hold them in unlawful detention without transparency or adequate legal safeguards,” Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Vongai Chikwanda, said. “People with no known ties to Eswatini are…