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Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Russian and American top officials are visiting Africa this week in trips that are part of what is seen in diplomatic circles as competitive drives to increase leverage in Africa through alignments with key states on…

PPIAF: Ushering in a new five-year strategy for infrastructure development When I began my career as a water engineer, the maths was simple: soils and structures behave in certain predictable ways. Everything could, generally, be defined by equations and standards. “You dig ditches, right?” my friends would say. But throughout my…

Here is a supply center for charcoal in Goma. The UN estimates much of the charcoal used in eastern DR Congo is supplied by FDLR militia from their bases they’ve held for over 20 years With sales of Hemp, charcoal, ivory and taxation – Rwandan FDLR rebels are making millions…

Countries of the EAC Kenya’s plan to control East Africa’s logistics corridor has been put to a fresh test after Tanzania moved to extend its standard gauge railway (SGR) to neighbouring landlocked countries, months after Kenya’s line hit a dead end in Naivasha, reigniting the rivalry between the two biggest…

With the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, Washington appears to be finally reframing its relationship with Africa in largely positive terms. Yet much hinges on the financing and implementation of the dozens of initiatives announced at the summit. The second edition of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit (ALS) took place in Washington last…

Research from academics at universities in Ghana and Rwanda released in June 2021 highlighted the non-effect of used car import bans (and other restrictions) in some African countries. They are having no effect on increasing new car sales. More work needs to be done, say the researchers, to stop lethal imports and…

Meta is parent company of Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp A lawsuit filed in a Kenyan court on Wednesday accused Meta of fueling political unrest in Africa demanding that the company pay over $2 billion in victims funds and make significant improvements to its service. In the lawsuit, Facebook, owned by…

In the Timbuktu region of northern Mali, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Trust Fund for Victims has since 2021 been compensating victims of the destruction of the city’s holy shrines during the occupation by Jihadists in 2012. While people appreciate the principle of reparations, many feel frustrated by the amount…

Africa Mozambique ex-president’s son jailed for 12 years for corruption The former Mozambique President Armando Guebuza with his embattled son Ndambi Guebuza A Mozambican court on Wednesday sentenced the son of Mozambique’s ex-president Armando Guebuza to 12 years in jail as part of a vast corruption scandal in which the…

Félicien Kabuga’s arrest was announced as a great success and his trial as an important event. But little has been heard about this trial that started on September 29 – for good reason, because the trial of Kabuga, alleged financier of the 1994 Tutsi genocide, is being held mostly behind…

Two young adults born with HIV write an open letter to people in the HIV advocacy space on respecting the confidentiality of people with perinatally acquired HIV. One of the universal rules of the HIV world is that you do not ask someone how they acquired HIV, and yet our…

Dr Christopher Kayumba (R) and his lawyer Seif Ntirenganya during earlier appearance while still in RIB custody Both academic-turned-politician Dr Kayumba Christopher and university lecturer-turned-YouTuber Aimable Karasira appeared this Friday in court for their separate cases. Dr Kayumba was arrested in September last year, on allegations of rape and attempted…

Rwandans eat more than 100 kg of potatoes per capita per year, and the hilly nation has good environments for growing the crop, yet the average yield is less than half what it could be under optimal conditions, in large part because most farmers plant low quality seed potatoes. The…

On October 31, the Bangui-based Special Criminal Court issued its first verdict. It found three former members of a Central African armed group guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in 2019. One of the convicts received a life sentence, while the other two got 20 years in…

It’s cool and breezy by the shores of Lake Wamala, an almost 100-square mile freshwater body a few hours drive from Kampala, the Ugandan capital. It’s a home for dozens of birds and fish species, including tilapia, catfish, lungfish, and mudfish, which are sold on the local market. But to…

The long-awaited trial of Félicien Kabuga, alleged mastermind of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, is due to start on September 29 in The Hague. However, the accused is appearing with a lawyer he has been rejecting for almost two years. The trial is threatened by the 89-year-old’s frail health and the…

South Sudan President Salva Kiir A long-running state of insecurity has recently intensified in Unity State – one of South Sudan’s 10 states – resulting in many innocent lives being lost. The security crisis is being stoked by many factors. One is fighting between sections of the civilian population, caused by cattle raiding, among…

Faustin Archange Touadera BANGUI – The Central African Republic’s top court on Friday annulled presidential decrees setting up a committee to rewrite the constitution, which had sparked fears Faustin Archange Touadera was seeking a third term in office. In a legal setback for the president, the Constitutional Court declared that…

Boeing 737-800 named “Muhabura” among Rwandair fleet Boeing [NYSE: BA] estimates that intra-regional and domestic networks across the African continent will grow with a robust 6,1% compound annual growth rate, driving twenty-year demand for 1,010 new airplanes by 2040 valued at $176 billion. With Europe remaining the most prominent origin/destination…

President Paul Kagame meets Emmanuel Macron in Paris in September 2017 Investigating magistrates have found no evidence that French troops were complicit in crimes against humanity during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. French magistrates dropped a case against French peacekeepers accused of being complicit in a massacre…

Hotel Rwanda movie personality Paul Rusesabagina Jonathan Scott, a cyber security researcher is no stranger to controversy. In January, the American phone tech expert went public with details that China was using an App developed for the Olympics, to spy on the athletes instead. In a new shocker, Scott has…

Erosion along River Nyabarongo African leaders criticised on Monday the lack of Western counterparts at a meeting in Rotterdam where they pleaded for funds to help their countries adapt to global warming. Senegalese President and African Union chief Macky Sall, and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said wealthy countries responsible for…

Laurene Powell, a billionaire and wife of the late Apple founder Steve Jobs, was there, naming her gorilla as ‘Muganga Mwiza’ — Good Doctor — in honour of the late Dr. Paul Farmer, of Partners in Health, who passed on earlier this year. On a late night in early October…

The session today at the EACJ Court declares that the Government of Rwanda’s actions of taking over the Union Trade Center mall and subsequently selling it off are illegal and contravene the provisions of the EAC Treaty. The Court in its judgment declared that the award of the Trial Court…

At least seven African countries are at various stages – commissioning, shopping for vendors and mapping appropriate sites – in the roll-out of nuclear power plants, as a majority eye 2030 as a start-date for generating electricity from nuclear energy. Egypt is currently the only country to have begun construction,…

Plans to interconnect Rwandan and Ugandan electricity grids could revolutionise day-to-day lives across the region – but the last political and practical hurdles still need to be overcome. Rwanda launches the 220110kV Shango substation, Kigali, December 9, 2019 Rwandans living in the north-eastern border area with Uganda have closely watched…

Born in Uasin Gishu County in 1966, Dr Ruto has risen from humble beginnings in Sugoi to become one of the richest and most powerful men in Kenya. And now, he has risen even higher after being named Kenya’s president elect. Kenya Kwanza coalition leader William Ruto. AFP With almost an…

About 5km upstream from Nyabarongo I hydropower dam, the soil brought in from different regions is is visible because the dam reservoir had reduced significantly when we visited in November 2021. Such scenes also appear in other spots upstream A mapping of the impact of soil erosion on the country…

President Alassane Ouattara (left) during meeting with predecessor Laurent Gbagbo Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara announced Saturday that he had pardoned his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, who faced a 20-year jail term for a 2018 conviction over political unrest. “In the interests of strengthening social cohesion, I have signed a decree…

Burundi – A group of scientists involved in finding solutions to minimize the impact of a devastating banana virus in Burundi have developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool for monitoring the disease. United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) research shows that the Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD), caused by the Banana…