Africa

Zambian striker Patson Daka's move to Leicester City is a major step for southern African football, says veteran Chipolopolo star Jacob Mulenga.

After spending years living in UN-supported camps in Kenya, some 220 former refugees from Somalia now work as farmers in the US state of Maine, growing crops ranging from beets to broccolini.

Igbo separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu was largely ignored until his movement became an armed struggle.

Some 4.4 million people in Nigeria are facing what the UN humanitarian office, OCHA, is describing as “catastrophic food conditions”.

Senior UN officials appealed on Friday for immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to Tigray – and for an end to deadly attacks on aid workers - as the Security Council held its first open meeting on the conflict in the restive northern Ethiopian region.

The capture of the Tigrayan capital Mekelle puts huge pressure on Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has resumed operations in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, after fighting halted the emergency response last week, although the agency warned on Friday that “serious challenges” continue to threaten the entire humanitarian response.  

How reviving traditional farming techniques could be helping in the battle against climate change in Uganda.

A selection of the week's best photos from across the continent.

With cases now doubling in Africa every three weeks, the Delta variant of COVID-19 has spread to 16 countries and it is present in three of the five nations reporting the highest caseloads. The variant is the most contagious yet - up to 60% more transmissible than other variants.

Some of those caught up in the attack on the northern city of Palma by Islamist militants share their stories.

Elisha Ofori Bamfo is a Ghanaian fashion designer who makes new clothes from waste off the streets.

Rampant impunity for human rights violations in Mali is posing serious risks for the protection of civilians in the West African country, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday. 

Why are Somalia's elections, after delays that heightened political tensions, so important for the region and the rest of Africa?

Critics say it would be "un-African" for a woman to have more than one husband at the same time.

Speaking in Nigeria, the UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has emphasized the importance of prevention as “the only real, sustainable solution” to resolving the challenges thrown up by conflict.

When all Uganda's schools closed due to the pandemic, nine-year-old Teddy joined her mother mining for gold.

The UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, appealed on Thursday for urgent resources to support thousands of people who have fled armed violence in two small towns in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) over the past two months. 

June 23, 2021 (KAMPALA) – Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has urged members of his new cabinet to focus on service delivery and champion fight the against corruption.

Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni (Photo: Carl Court/AP)

He was speaking at the swearing on ceremony of the newly-appointed ministers at a ceremony held in Kampala on Monday.

“This government must be one of service delivery. I don't want to hear any more outcries from the people. People are crying because of evictions,” said the Ugandan leader.

“This cabinet must look into that,” he added.

Museveni, who was sworn in on May 12 for his sixth five-year term in office, appointed on June 9 an 81-member cabinet. He also sacked 37 former ministers, reshuffled and named new ones.

He tasked his new cabinet members to focus five targets, citing cohesion, corruption, integration, patriotism, and service delivery.

"This is a cabinet of cohesion in the system. I want the program of National Resistance Movement to be implemented enthusiastically. It must be a cabinet of no corruption. You people should be careful. There is nothing I don't know. I appeal to the ministers not to ask for anything from anybody. If you want to be durable leaders, don't seek and accept favour from anybody. And don't tolerate corruption under you," warned Museveni.

The president also said the new government must be a government of service delivery in the areas of education, health and roads.

"I don't want to hear outcries anymore. The issue of justice, land evictions. This cabinet must look at those five targets. I congratulate all of you on being sworn in today and I congratulate all the people of Uganda for having successfully held elections in spite of the coronavirus and other challenges. Now we have got a parliament and cabinet. So, we are set now,” explained Museveni.

“This ceremony is part of the Constitution and we shall have our first cabinet meeting next Monday in Entebbe," he added.

Meanwhile Museveni said lot of growth has been achieved in terms of education, agriculture, life expectancy, reduced infant mortality, infrastructure and others, over the last 35 years of his rule.

"39 per cent of homesteads are still in the non-money economy, meaning that 61 per cent of the economy are in the money economy. This cabinet must now resolve that all people work for the stomach and money as well," he stressed.

Museveni was declared the winner of elections held on Jan. 14 this year after receiving 58% of the vote while his closest rival, Robert Kyagulanyi garnered 35%.

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June 23, 2021 (JUBA) - Production in South Sudan's Block 5A – operated by Sudd Petroleum Operating Company (SPOC) – has resumed from the Tharjiath Central Processing Facility into the Tharjiath - WNPOC Heglic Control Centre pipeline after seven years of production shutdown due to civil war.

A worker at the power plant of an oil processing facility in South Sudan's Unity state on 22 April 2012 (Photo: Reuters)

According to a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, SPOC will unpack its production resumption journey at the upcoming South Sudan Oil & Power 2021 conference, organized by Energy Capital & Power, taking place in Juba from June 29-30.

The Block will produce more than 8,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of 2021, 16,000 bpd by mid-2022; 30,000 bpd by 2025 – and is expected to reach a peak of 45,000 bpd in 2028 once four field development projects have been completed.

Block 5A is the final operating Block to resume production after the Greater Pioneer Operating Company, which operates the Unity Field in northern South Sudan; and Dar Petroleum Operating Company, which operates Blocks 3 and 7 in the Melut Basin. SPOC's resumption of production is highly significant, as it is the last joint operating company to resume production after the civil war.

“The resumption to us as a government means economic security, not only to the government of South Sudan, but also to the communities in the oil producing region,” Minister of Petroleum, Puot Kang Chol told reporters on Monday.

Meanwhile, SPOC, with the support from its partners, has also launched its Magnetic Tomography Method; a new pipeline inspection technology which is the first of its kind in South Sudan and has helped accelerate its 172km export pipeline integrity assessment work.

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility program, SPOC commissioned its upgraded water treatment plant in Tharjiath that sources water directly from the Nile River located 16km away from the Tharjiath field, ensuring the security of water supply is sustained throughout the year and enabling SPOC to provide continuous clean and fresh water supply to over 20,000 community members surrounding its operations area.

The operator has also launched a Geocell System for pond reinstatement, which ensures a low bearing base, stabilizes eroded slopes, reinforces embankments and effectively protects liner.

“This production resumption would not be possible without the trust, belief and effort from the Ministry of Petroleum, the SPOC Partners - PETRONAS, ONGC and NILEPET, the resumption service providers as well as all SPOC employees. With the Water Treatment Plant upgrading and commissioning, SPOC has brought the river directly to our community," said Eruwan Gerry, head of SPOC.

Revenue from oil accounts for nearly 98 percent of South Sudan's annual budget.

In June last year, the Central Bank of South Sudan said it would start buying crude gold from local miners to boost the country's economy.

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