By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | LAGOS (IDN) — Election Day is around the corner in Nigeria and it’s approaching with new and troubling reports of violent attacks on candidates and their supporters. Over the weekend (February 11-12), supporters of candidate Peter Obi reported being threatened by vandals carrying machetes and other […]
South Africa in ‘State of Disaster’ As Power Shutdowns Grow
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | PRETORIA (IDN) — No lights, no water. Living in South Africa is no picnic today. In his recent State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged crippling power shutdowns, which threaten the country’s economy and security and undermine daily life in the continent’s leading industrial […]
New Book Tells the Life Story of a Little-Known Swazi Woman Activist
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — To some, she was a towering intellectual, a pioneering African feminist and an anti-colonial political activist. But almost no one knows her name or her story, says Joel Cabrita, a researcher and director of the Center for African Studies at Stanford University and author of […]
Germany’s Gas Import Will Boost Modernisation in Senegal
By Karamba Diaby* BERLIN (IDN) — In Senegal, over 70 per cent of the population still has no access to electricity. This is one of the reasons why the country wants to begin the exploitation of offshore oil and gas fields by the end of 2023. Following his visit to Senegal at the end of […]
‘Cobalt Red’ Portrays the Degradation of Congolese Miners’ Life
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Some might call it a vision of hell. To others, the cobalt mines, where thousands of miners toil in vast open pits, are “a hellscape of craters and tunnels, patrolled by maniacs with guns.” “It was a “lunar wasteland,” a “devastated landscape” that “resembled a […]
Ghana To Establish A ‘War College’ As Fears of Terrorism Grow
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF) is looking to establish a War College to train future military strategists and leaders. President Nana Akufo-Addo revealed the plans at the Ghanaian Armed Forces end-of-year West African Soldiers Social Activities (WASSA) celebrations in Accra.
Pope Ends African Journey Calling for End to Gun Violence
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Pope Francis departed from South Sudan along with over 70 journalists aboard the papal plane bound for Rome, marking the conclusion of his 6-day Apostolic Journey to South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. His first public words in DR Congo set the tone […]
Africa Confronts an Aged Leadership Unwilling to Retire
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — African leaders serving 20 or more years in office are drawing the attention of critics who question their ability to run a country after so many years. Suspicions about the stability of Cameroonian President Paul Biya, age 89, were raised in a recent issue of […]
New Study Reveals Awful Human Trafficking Trails to Libya
By Reinhard Jacobsen BRUSSELS (IDN) — Eritrean refugees are trafficked and enslaved in Libya, where they are tortured, abused and raped by slave traders to force family members to pay ransom for their release. If they escape and make it to the Mediterranean Sea, they risk being intercepted and sent back to Libya or dying […]
UN Asks Libya to Address Serious Rights Violations
Independent Experts Were on Fact-Finding Mission By Reinhardt Jacobsen BRUSSELS | TRIPOLI (IDN) — Libyan authorities must take decisive steps to provide justice and redress to the vast number of victims suffering from longstanding violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on Libya said after its final visit […]