Africa News Feed

Aid groups say they cannot get crucial supplies to those who need it most due to US sanctions.

Two of Mali’s team at the Basketball World Cup react to their elimination by fighting one another in front of the world’s media.

Trainee nurses, pharmacists and doctors at a Ugandan hospital fear their lives are being put at risk.

Emergency workers pull a child from the rubble in Kiambu county but at least six people have died.

Although Pope Francis has made the fight against paedophilia in the Catholic Church one of his priorities, this call is not always heard. Our correspondents in DR Congo met several men who claim to have been sexually abused by a Slovenian priest in the 1990s in the village of Mooto. They were all minors at the time. After the alleged abuse came to light, the priest left the country in a hurry. The case was brought to the Vatican, but the Church concluded that the priest was innocent without even interviewing all of the alleged victims. 

 A former Central African Republic rebel commander pleaded not guilty at the International Criminal Court on Monday at the start of his trial on charges of “awful” war crimes.

Moroccan golfer Ines Laklalech says winning the Ladies Open de France is “something priceless” and hopes she can inspire others on the continent.

The capsizing of the Joola, a government-owned Senegalese ferry, took more lives than the infamous Titanic.

Eight police officers said to be among the victims of the violence in Turkana County on Saturday.

Double Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge breaks his own record for the men’s marathon at Sunday’s race in Berlin.

Biyi Bandele, whose film has premiered after his death, was a huge figure in British and Africa writing.

Radio host Eddie Kadi says stars like Burna Boy have propelled the genre into the mainstream.

The South African musician talks about the development of the genre and his own music.

Ghanaians pride themselves on being world leaders in funerals, so how was the Queen’s funeral seen there?

The President of the DR Congo told FRANCE 24 that he wants to launch a “cry of truth” and put an end to hypocrisy by denouncing in the Tribune of the United Nations “the direct military aggression” of Rwanda against his country. Tshisekedi added that he relayed this same message to Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame during a meeting in New York, which was also attended by French President Emmanuel Macron. He also addressed the electoral calendar and confirmed that the presidential and legislative elections will go ahead as scheduled for December 2023.

In this edition: West African political bloc ECOWAS slaps sanctions on the military junta ruling Guinea. Failure to provide a plan for a return to civilian rule has resulted in the junta’s assets being frozen, with the threat of more severe sanctions also being laid on the table. Meanwhile, ECOWAS also condemns the military junta in Mali. Bamako has been in a stand-off with neighbouring Ivory Coast over 46 soldiers who have been held in Mali since July. Finally, an Ivorian-born man runs for office in Italy. Ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary vote, our team meets the man dubbed the “Italian Bernie Sanders”.

In this edition we look back at a terrible shipwreck with a death toll even heavier than the Titanic. On September 26, 2002, the Joola disaster claimed at least 1,800 lives. The ferry was sailing between the Senegalese province of Casamance and the capital Dakar. In the middle of the night, 40 kilometres off the coast, the boat capsized after being hit by tropical rains and strong winds. It took more than 16 hours for help to arrive on the scene. Only 64 passengers survived the night of hell. FRANCE 24’s Sarah Sakho and Sam Bradpiece revisit the tragedy, two decades on.

Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum granted an interview to FRANCE 24’s Marc Perelman and RFI’s Christophe Boisbouvier on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Bazoum expressed concern about the worsening security situation in Mali and the jihadist threat hanging over the Malian town of Ménaka in the wake of France’s military withdrawal. He also discussed the case of 46 Ivorian soldiers who are detained in Mali, accused of being mercenaries. Bazoum recalled that Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara had worked hard for the lifting of ECOWAS sanctions against the Malian authorities. “I believe he was betrayed,” Bazoum said.

William Ruto, Kenya’s new president, granted an interview to FRANCE 24’s Marc Perelman on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Ruto warned that the worst drought in 40 years risks causing starvation in the Horn of Africa, adding that “3.1 million people are facing severe drought” in Kenya alone. “This is no longer a country-by-country challenge. This is becoming a multilateral challenge,” he insisted, calling on multilateral institutions and lenders for support. Ruto blamed climate change for the drought but stressed that the situation had been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and the resulting fall in grain exports to Africa.

West African leaders agreed at an emergency summit Thursday to impose gradual sanctions on Guinea’s junta over its inflexibility on setting a date to return to civilian rule.

Africa Eye investigates the struggles facing illegal migrants between Nigeria and Europe.

In tonight’s edition: University lecturers in Nigeria refuse to go back to class after being ordered to do so by court order. Disputes over pay are common in the country. Also, Zimbabwe is battling a measles outbreak. More than 700 children have died in recent months because of low vaccination rates. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has had a rocky relationship with the UK but with King Charles III now on the throne, some hope the country may soon be allowed back into the Commonwealth of Nations.

If sea levels continue to rise, scientists say cities around the world are at risk of disappearing underwater by 2050. One of them is Gabon’s economic hub, Port-Gentil. A possible solution to the rising seas is to move the city away from the coast. But relocating Port-Gentil would mean moving over 100,000 people, an outcome that residents want to avoid at all costs. Our correspondents report.

Zambia’s President Hichilema has pledged to repeal the colonial era insult law often used to silence critics.

The erotic messages supposedly sent from women on some adult websites are often actually from men.

In tonight’s edition: A warning alarm is being sounded at the United Nations General Assembly in New York as NGOs tell of a devastating humanitarian crisis. Some estimates say 140 million people in Africa are facing acute food insecurity, with tens of millions on the brink of starvation. Also, flooding in Nigeria has killed over 300 people so far this year as the nation faces its worst flooding in a decade. And protesters take to the streets of Abidjan in solidarity with 46 soldiers being detained in neighbouring Mali. 

A group of widows from Uganda’s Bushenyi district are finding good use for the elephant dung they collect.

Ahmed Salami posts daily vlogs about living with autism, cerebral palsy and ADHD.

Thousands of Nigerian children could starve following an Islamist insurgency, aid workers warn.

In tonight’s edition: Senegal’s Macky Sall takes to the stage at the UN General Assembly in New York and tells the world there are other crises to address besides the war in Ukraine. Also, authorities in Uganda declare an Ebola outbreak after a 24-year-old man dies of the disease, the first since 2019. And Ethiopia rejects UN claims that the country is probably responsible for war crimes in the Tigray region, as more fighting erupts due to the apparent presence of troops from Eritrea.

On August 29, a young albino child was kidnapped and his 21-year-old mother murdered in the remote village of Ambatolampy in south-eastern Madagascar. Recent years have seen a rise in murders of Albinos on the island, with their body parts often used in rituals and ceremonies. The crime triggered a local riot, with an angry mob storming the local police station to kill the apprehended suspects. Law enforcement officers fired on the crowd, killing around 20 people. Why did residents want to take the law into their own hands? Who are the kidnappers? Our correspondent Gaëlle Borgia reports.

An outbreak of Ebola has been declared in Uganda after health authorities confirmed a case of the relatively rare Sudan strain, the health ministry and World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Equatorial Guinea, one of the world’s most authoritarian countries, has abolished the death penalty, state television announced on Monday citing a new law signed by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

Until now, anyone needing an organ transplant in Uganda had to travel abroad at huge expense.

Young people tell the BBC they want an apology from the British Royal Family for colonisation.

While some mourn the monarch many in South Africa see her as a symbol of colonial exploitation.

Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has spoken to the BBC’s Anne Soy on the impact Queen Elizabeth II had on Africa.

How Texan funk band Khruangbin ended up working with the son of Malian music legend Ali Farka Touré.