Category: Africa

Digital Currency Launch in Nigeria Matters for Rest of the World: Investigative Journalist

Major central banks have been watching how Nigeria’s new central bank digital currency has fared since its launch a year ago as they prepare to introduce digital currencies in their own countries, said Nick Corbishley, investigative journalist and author. The current push for centralized digital currencies was made feasible through digital identity technology that enabled…


Malawi Delays Reopening Schools as Cholera Cases Surge

BLANTYRE, Malawi—Malawi has delayed the opening of public schools in the southern African country’s two major cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe, the health minister said Monday, to try to slow down a surge in cholera deaths. The total number of cases and deaths has accelerated to 17,824 and 595 respectively since cases were first reported…


South Africa Gas Truck Explosion Death Toll Rises to 34

JOHANNESBURG—The death toll from an explosion of a tanker truck on Christmas Eve near eastern Johannesburg has risen to 34, including 10 health workers at a nearby hospital, officials report. The truck was carrying gas when it got stuck under a low-lying bridge in the town of Boksburg, sparking flames. As firefighters tried to extinguish…


Morocco Bans All Arrivals From China Until Further Notice Amid Soaring COVID Cases

Morocco has imposed an entry ban on all travelers from China due to the soaring COVID-19 infection rate in the country following Beijing’s abrupt u-turn on its strict zero-COVID policy. Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement that the entry ban would apply to all arrivals from China, regardless of their nationality, and will…


Libya: Mass Grave With 18 Bodies Found in Former ISIS Stronghold

CAIRO—Libyan authorities on Sunday said they have found 18 bodies buried in a mass grave in a former stronghold of the ISIS terrorist group along the conflict-stricken North African nation’s coast. The Missing Persons Authority said in a statement the bodies were unearthed in the Sabaa area of Sirte, a city in central Libya. The…


9 Suffocate to Death in Ugandan New Year Firework Stampede: Police

At least nine people including a 10-year-old boy suffocated to death as crowds rushing to see a New Year’s firework display got stuck in a narrow corridor in a shopping mall near Uganda’s capital, police said. People started pushing through a passage in the Freedom City Mall just after clocks struck midnight, the police said….


Landslide Kills at Least 8 People in Eastern Congo

A landslide crushed at least eight people and seriously injured nine others near an artisanal mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, a local official told Reuters on Saturday. The wounded are in a critical condition and receiving treatment at a local health facility, the administrator of Fizi territory in South Kivu Province,…


Libya Says Boat With 700 Europe-Bound Migrants Intercepted

CAIRO—A vessel carrying at least 700 migrants was intercepted off the eastern coast of Libya, the coast guard said. It was one of the largest interceptions in recent months. The coast guard said the boat was stopped Friday off the Mediterranean town of Moura, 90 kilometers (56 miles) west of the eastern city of Benghazi….


11 Convicted Over Deadly Extremist Attack in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast—Eleven people were sentenced to life in prison in Ivory Coast on Wednesday after being convicted of carrying out an Islamic extremist attack that killed 19 people and injured dozens more on a tourist beach nearly seven years ago. The killings in the Grand-Bassam resort area by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb were…


At Least 57 Killed, Many Hurt in South Sudan Ethnic Violence

JUBA, South Sudan—At least 57 people were killed and more than a dozen others injured during recent ethnic violence in South Sudan’s eastern Jonglei region, a local official said Wednesday. Armed groups of youths from the Nuer tribe attacked members of the Murle ethnic group in the Greater Pibor administrative area, Greater Pibor’s information minister…