Africa

Image: A Collage of the cover of African Women's Report and a picture from Geography name.

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — A new report reveals persistent barriers in the digital finance sector that limit women’s economic empowerment in Africa while recommending policy responses to overcome them.

Commissioned by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the latest edition of the biennial African Women’s Report was published on October 3. The report analyses the digital finance ecosystem in Africa to examine all its components and how they impact women’s economic prospects.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 14 October 2022

Photo: People in eastern DRC wait for their monthly cash assistance. Credit: Benjamin Anguandia.

WFP Starts Afresh in DR Congo's Violence-Torn Northeast

By Benjamin Anguandia, WFP

KINSHASA (IDN) — Kesereka, who prefers to go by Sadi, accepts a stack of cash from a World Food Programme (WFP) officer in a small room in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s northeastern town of Mabalako.

He counts it carefully, folding it neatly, so it fits in his small pocket.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 13 October 2022

Photo: Protest against GMOs in Ghana. Credit: COFAM | Pambazuka News

GMOs that Promote Poverty and Dependency Gain Foothold in Kenya

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Kenya has officially entered into the cultivation and use of Genetically Modified Organisms—known as GMOs—that have been banned in 26 countries.

This month, Kenyan authorities announced plans to lift the country’s ban on genetically modified crops, in part to deal with a record drought that is causing hunger across the Horn of Africa. The move is opposed by those concerned about potentially harmful effects on health, the environment and small farms.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 11 October 2022

Photo: Lesotho’s RFP leader Sam Matekane shakes hands with a party member after the announcement that his party was on track to win a majority in parliament. Credit: Shiraaz Mohamed.

Landlocked Lesotho Votes A Revolution for Prosperity

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A recently organized party led by a millionaire diamond magnate looks set to win Lesotho's parliamentary election, having secured enough for a simple majority, according to preliminary results from the election commission.

By Sunday afternoon, results from the October 7 vote were in for 49 out of a total of 80 constituencies. The Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party, formed by Sam Matekane in March, had secured 41 seats, the minimum required to reach a simple majority.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 11 October 2022

Photo: Zimbabwean farmer Ruth Rugejo runs a hydroponics sytstem that uses recycled plastic bottles at her home in Gweru. Credit: Kudzai Mpangi.

Zimbabwe: Growing Lettuce in Empty Plastic Bottles

By Farai Shawn Matiashe

MUTARE, Zimbabwe (IDN) — Ruth Rugeje, 38, monitors plants of cabbages, a pale green leafy vegetable, grown in empty two-litre bottles in the backyard of her home in Mutapa, a high-density suburb in the central Zimbabwean city of Gweru.

This innovative farmer picked these plastic bottles from the illegal dumping sites in her neighbourhood and reused them in hydroponics.

There is a greenhouse to help control temperatures in her garden.

: Africa & ME Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 07 October 2022

Photo: Army Officers appear on Burkina Faso TV, declaring new coup, dismissing Junta leader Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

Africa Would Do Well to Stop Playing with Fire

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) — There is a fire in Ouagadougou. And who’s to say where it’s catching next? For the second time in eight months, the military in Burkina Faso struck in a palace coup that removed military leader Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

The coup leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, cited the same excuses Damiba gave for seizing power in January as reasons for his removal; namely, that the government has proved incompetent in containing the spread of Islamic insurgency, leading to increasing loss of lives among military and civilian populations.

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 06 October 2022

Photo: ANC Youth League. Source: Daily Maverick.

ANC Youth League Defends Support for Referendum in Occupied Ukraine

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — South Africa's ANC Youth League is facing sharp criticism for endorsing Russia’s referenda in occupied parts of Ukraine, which many countries have dismissed as unacceptable, in violation of the United Nations Charter and illegal under international law.

The referenda were designed to pave the way for Moscow to annex the territories.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 04 October 2022

Photo: Felicien Kabuga, 87, accused of aiding and abetting hit squads who slaughtered ethnic Tutsis. Credit: www.brut.media.

Genocide Suspect Rebuffs International Court Trying Hate Speech Crimes

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A Rwandan businessman and alleged genocidaire failed to appear in court, where he is being tried on charges of masterminding and financing the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Felicien Kabuga, 87, is accused of aiding and abetting hit squads who slaughtered ethnic Tutsis and with using a radio station known as Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines to incite hatred, according to the charges filed before a UN tribunal at The Hague.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 03 October 2022

Photo: The church of St. Mary’s in Nchang burned on 16.09.2022. Source: YouTube

Pope Appeals for Release of Catholics Kidnapped in Cameroon

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Pope Francis has added his voice to calls by the bishops of Cameroon for the release of five priests, a religious sister, a cook, a catechist and a 15-year-old girl kidnapped in southwest Cameroon, where a civil war has been raging between the French and English-speaking communities for years.

on September 25, the pope said he was praying for peace in Cameroon. “I join in the appeal of the bishops of Cameroon for the liberation of people kidnapped in the diocese of Mamfe,” reported the Catholic News Agency.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 27 September 2022

Photo: Rev. Mpho Tutu van Furth, an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Washington, DC, married with the Dutch academic Marceline.

Late Archbishop Tutu's Daughter Barred from Godfather's Funeral

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — The daughter of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu said she was “stunned” by the Church of England when they denied her the right to officiate at her godfather’s funeral because she is married to a woman.

According to the Rev. Mpho Tutu van Furth, an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Washington, DC, the Church barred her from officiating despite her late godfather’s personal wish that she lead the ceremony at his funeral.