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By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — Two anthems, one country. Such was the inspiration for President Nelson Mandela in 1994 to declare that both "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (Lord bless Africa) and "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" (English: "The Call of South Africa")—the state anthem inherited from the previous apartheid government—would be the national anthems of the new South Africa.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — While Africa has moved to center stage as a Russian foreign policy priority, questions are being raised about the record of human rights abuses by Russian mercenaries in Chad and the Central African Republic, among other countries.
United Nations investigators are examining allegations of atrocities outlined in a report for the UN Security Council that was obtained by the New York Times.
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene
The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.
ABUJA (IDN) — Awkward moments are human, and hardly call attention when mere mortals are involved. But when the high and might trip, they make the headlines.
Both experts and laypeople sometimes feel obliged to ask if such awkward moments may not indeed, like Freudian slip, mean more than meets the eye. And quite often their suspicions are right.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — One of the giants of 20th century African nationalism, Kenneth Kaunda, former president of Zambia was to many, the gentle giant who pioneered African socialism. The “patriarch of African independence” passed away June 17 at a military hospital in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka. He was 97.
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta eulogized him for bravely hosting various liberation groups and he received international kudos for bowing out peacefully after losing an election.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah*
MAPUTO | MOSCOW (IDN) — The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has recorded numerous achievements since its establishment, some of which during the term of office, from September 2013 to date, of Executive Secretary, Stergomena Lawrence Tax. She concludes her second term in August 2021. Her key responsibilities have been engaging all the members as an economic bloc, overseeing, and implementing various programmes and projects in the Southern African region.
By Bernhard Schell
DUBAI (IDN) — The African continent is emerging as one of the preferred destinations for investments, because it has immense untapped economic potential that presents innumerable opportunities for investors, according to data released in 2020 by the United Nations Population Division. Business experts across the globe have regarded this region as the future economic growth engine of the world.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — South African anti-apartheid activist Dulcie September was the representative of the African National Congress (ANC) in France, Luxembourg, and Switzerland until her murder outside of ANC offices in Paris in 1988. Despite an array of clues, her killer was never identified and the story of the 52-year-old activist drifted into oblivion.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — For her “ability to capture and communicate vital truths even amidst times of upheaval”, Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangarembga will receive the PEN Pinter prize in memory of the Nobel laureate Harold Pinter.
Dangarembga is the author of Nervous Conditions, which she wrote when she was 25, and which was described by Doris Lessing as one of the most important novels of the 20th century.
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene
The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.
ABUJA (IDN) — The Nigerian government thinks Twitter is the greatest source of its misery. After straining at the leash for months, it couldn’t resist swatting the microblogging platform with a ban last week. But what does the ban mean, really?
It means that about 40 million users in Nigeria who are mostly young people would be unable to access the service through local service providers.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — At a state visit to Switzerland last year, Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo put his cards on the table. The second-largest cocoa producer would no longer ship the raw material to Switzerland if by doing so, it would trap the country in poverty for the next century.
Ghana and the Ivory Coast supply 70% of the cocoa beans, but most of the value in a chocolate bar is generated in Europe and North America. The global chocolate industry is worth over US$150 billion. West African economies receive less than US$6 billion.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.