Top Africa News

Russian scientists have restored communications with an Angolan satellite days after they lost contact with it. Launched on 26 December in Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Angosat-1 will boost mobile and net communications in Angola as well as broadcast radio and TV shows. Soon after launch, Russian ground control staff said they were no longer receiving data from the spacecraft. ...

The first standard gauge railway cargo train arrived in Kenyan capital Nairobi from Mombasa at the ultra-modern inland container depot which was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta a fortnight ago. The arrival of the cargo train is in line with President Kenyatta’s promise to reduce the cost of doing business in the country. In his New Year message, President Kenyatta ...

Liberian President-elect George Weah on Saturday declared the country open to investment and pledged to tackle entrenched corruption, in his first speech to the nation since decisively winning an election this week. Speaking in front of reporters and aides packed into a small conference room at his party headquarters, Weah thanked his predecessor, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, ...

A few days ago Angola sent a satellite into space. A first for the country that joins the list of African nations that are embarking on space exploration. Soon after the take-off of the AngoSat-1 communications satellite which cost $300 million, the Russian ground control staff said they had lost contact with it. On December 26, the Russian space corporation ...

Effective Monday January 1, 2018, all visitors to Rwanda started to get a 30-day visa upon arrival without prior application, the Rwandan Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration announced. Under the new visa regime, first announced last November, citizens of the other East African Community Partner states are entitled to six months visitors pass (renewable) upon arrival with no fee. ...

As people celebrated the new year with prayers, parties and fireworks, many African leaders took to social media to share their congratulations and also share their plans for the year ahead. Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta reminded the citizens of the achievements of his government in his first term of office and committed to do even more in his next term starting ...

Two people have died in Japan and several are in a critical condition after choking on traditional rice cakes as part of the new year celebrations. They may seem harmless, but each year the hard-to-eat snack claims several lives, prompting annual warnings from officials. The cakes, known as mochi, are cute round buns made of soft and chewy rice. The ...

A Thai family received the shock of their lives this month when the man they had cremated 7 months before casually waked through the front door as if nothing had happened. Sakorn Sacheewa, a 44-year-old man from Thailand’s Si Ka Ket province, returned home after two years working on a fishing boat, in a different part of the country. He ...

Nine more people have been killed overnight as clashes between protesters and security forces continue in Iran for a sixth day, state media report. The latest violence, in the central Isfahan region, brought the number of reported deaths to at least 22. Six protesters died in what was described as an apparent attempt to seize guns from a police station. ...

China has long been one of the world’s biggest markets for ivory, but as of 2018 all trade in ivory and ivory products in the country is illegal. The move is being hailed as a major development in efforts to protect the world’s elephant population. Wildlife campaigners believe 30,000 African elephants are killed by poachers every year. State media said ...