Tag: African
Idris Elba: ‘I want to build the African Odeon’
Speaking at an SXSW London event, the actor outlined his desire to ignite the cinema experience for a new generation across the continent Idris Elba has spoken of his ambition to create the “African Odeon” – a chain of cinemas to ignite the cinemagoing experience across the continent. Elba was speaking at an event at…
High-rise, high expectations: is Casablanca’s finance hub a model for African development?
Morocco’s commercial centre has brought investment to the continent – but critics say it masks domestic inequality For centuries, Casablanca was a significant trading hub for merchants from across the breadth of the Atlantic coast, given its geographical position between Africa, the Middle East and Europe. These days, Morocco’s economic capital is merging those historical…
Bill Gates vows to give most of $200bn fortune to African health and education
Tech mogul says: “Every country in Africa should be on a path to prosperity’ US tech mogul Bill Gates has pledged the majority of his $200bn fortune towards health and education services in Africa. Speaking at an event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, the 69-year-old said that his pledge would focus on “unleashing the…
South African woman sentenced to life for selling six-year-old daughter
Racquel Smith and two others convicted over disappearance of Joshlin Smith, who court heard was sold to traditional healer for ‘eyes and skin’ A South African woman has been sentenced to life imprisonment alongside two accomplices for trafficking her then six-year-old daughter, in a case that gripped South Africa and gained international attention after the…
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, giant of African literature, dies aged 87
Kenyan writer’s death announced by his daughter, who wrote: ‘He lived a full life, fought a good fight’ The Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who was censored, imprisoned and forced into exile by the dictator Daniel arap Moi, a perennial contender for the Nobel prize for literature and one of few writers working in an…
Trump ambushes S African leader with claim of Afrikaners being ‘persecuted’
US President Donald Trump seemed to ambush his South African counterpart at the White House on Wednesday, confronting him with a video that Trump said supported his claim that white farmers were being “persecuted” in the country. The footage, shown during a news conference with Cyril Ramaphosa, purported to show the gravesites of murdered farmers.…
African diplomats urge UK government to back bill to speed up debt restructurings
Exclusive: Countries are struggling to manage expensive loans, with much of debt transacted through London Diplomats from eight southern and east African countries have signed a letter calling on the UK government to support a private member’s bill that aims to speed up debt restructurings, after economic crises meant countries were unable to pay back…
Prince Harry resigns ‘in shock’ from African charity he founded in 2006
Duke of Sussex and co-founder of Sentebale step down as patrons amid infighting in the organisation The Duke of Sussex has resigned from an African charity he set up 20 years ago after infighting in the organisation, saying he is “in shock” and “truly heartbroken”. Prince Harry and the co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho both…
South African ambassador expelled from US welcomed home by supporters
Ebrahim Rasool, declared persona non grata by Washington, was surrounded by crowds at Cape Town airport The South African ambassador who was expelled from the US and declared persona non grata by the Trump administration was welcomed home on Sunday by hundreds of supporters who sang songs praising him. Crowds at Cape Town International airport…
East African Housekeepers Face Rape, Assault and Death in Saudi Arabia
East African leaders and Saudi royals are among those profiting off a lucrative, deadly trade in domestic workers. By Abdi Latif Dahir and Justin Scheck Photographs by Kiana Hayeri Abdi Latif Dahir, Justin Scheck and Kiana Hayeri spent months visiting cities and remote villages in Kenya and Uganda. On any given day in Kenya, dozens,…
More than 100,000 African seeds put in Svalbard vault for safekeeping
Seeds of 177 species from across Africa to be stored in Norway to preserve crop diversity in case of disaster More than 100,000 seeds from across Africa have been deposited in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the world’s repository for specimens intended to preserve crop diversity in the event of disaster. Among the latest additions…
South African Imam and Gay Rights Advocate is Shot Dead
By Matthew Mpoke Bigg A South African imam who devoted his life to promoting gay rights and tolerance for L.G.B.T.Q. Muslims was shot and killed in the coastal city of Gqeberha on Saturday, the police said. The organization worked to help Muslims around the world reconcile their faith with their sexual orientation and gender identity.…
‘We were betrayed’: families of apartheid victims sue South African government
High court case demands inquiry into 1985 Cradock Four killings and ‘constitutional damages’ worth £7.3m Lukhanyo Calata’s first memory of his father was the funeral. His mother sobbing, the earth beneath his feet shaking from the number of people gathered at the graveside, and the fear he felt aged three as the red box holding…
Families’ relief as memorial unveiled to first world war black South African dead
Commonwealth War Graves Commission begins project to honour those who, unlike white counterparts, were never commemorated Elliot Malunga Delihlazo’s grandmother would say that her brother Bhesengile went to war and never came back. The family knew he had died in the first world war, but they never had a body to bury, only a memorial…
South African police launch hunt for alleged illegal mining ‘kingpin’
Escape of James Neo Tshoaeli, a Lesotho national known as Tiger, described as an ‘embarrassment’ South African police are hunting an alleged “kingpin” of illegal mining after he escaped from custody following a rescue operation last week in which 78 bodies were brought out of an illicit goldmine. James Neo Tshoaeli, a Lesotho national known…
Bodies of British woman and South African fiance found in Vietnam tourist villa
No evidence of physical trauma on Greta Marie Otteson and Arno Els Quinton, who were found in separate rooms The bodies of a British woman and her fiance have been discovered in separate rooms at a tourist villa in Vietnam, police said. The victims were named locally as Greta Marie Otteson, a 33-year-old Briton, and…
Live Aid campaigner Bob Geldof was ‘scathing about African leaders’, files reveal
Singer urged Tony Blair not to appoint African co-chair to commission on aid, UK government papers show The Live Aid campaigner Bob Geldof urged Tony Blair not to appoint an African co-chair to the UK-led organisation working to overhaul international aid to the continent because he thought African leadership was “very weak” on the issue,…
Long silenced, an African park roars back to life
EDITOR’S NOTE: Few places on Earth are as evocative — or as imperiled — as the vast grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa. In a new Conservation News series, “Saving the Savanna,” we look at how communities are working to protect these places — and the wildlife within. BEIRA, Mozambique — Werner Myburgh couldn’t shake the feeling…
Beaches, beer and a rare suspended lake … why can’t Nigeria attract more tourists?
Visitor numbers to the African country lag far behind its neighbours due to lack of infrastructure and national planning. Now some are starting to demand changes At the top of the Ado-Awaye hills lies a lake suspended 433 metres above sea level. Local people say the lake is named Iyake (Yoruba for “crying woman”) after…