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By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – He’s been described as a “master strategist”, but can the incoming chair of the African Union beat the daunting challenges ahead?
That is the difficult question facing Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, president of the Democratic Republic (DRC) as he assumes the post just relinquished by South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – At a virtual meeting on February 6 with members of the African Union Summit 2021, President Joe Biden shared his vision for more trade and investment opportunities while advancing peace and security.
“The United States stands ready now to be your partner in solidarity, support and mutual respect,” Biden said in a video address, his first speech to an international forum as U.S. president.
The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.
ABUJA (IDN) – After the presidential election in Uganda, it dawned on me that there are two people in the country who don’t fear President Yoweri Museveni: one is his tailor, and the other is his political rival, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, famously called Bobi Wine.
Museveni’s tailor makes his suits in complete disregard of tailoring measurements. It would appear that either the president doesn’t care anymore, or he has given up on the person who dresses him.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah*
MOSCOW (IDN) – The World Bank has expressed readiness to commit US$12 billion as concessional loans to assist African countries access foreign vaccines.
During a virtual meeting on the Africa COVID-19 Vaccine Financing and Deployment Strategy, the World Bank informed that the emergency vaccine financing projects in Africa, include Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Niger, Mozambique, Tunisia, Eswatini and Cabo Verde.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – Endangered citizens of the Central African Republic are fleeing the country in the hundreds of thousands as rebel fighters seek to overturn the recent re-election of President Faustin Archange Touadera with familiar cries of fraud and demands for his ouster.
Touadera was re-elected after a vote on December 27, defeating 16 other candidates. The country’s electoral college said he captured 54 per cent of the vote – enough to make a runoff unnecessary.
Viewpoint by Asma Abidi*
BERLIN (IDN) – Ten years after the revolution that sparked the Arab Spring, Tunisia, often hailed as its only success story, has yet to deliver the promised freedom, jobs and prosperity to its people.
Civil unrest erupted on January 14 across the country when the authorities announced a four-day strict lockdown, ordered by Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, supposedly to combat the spread of COVID-19.
By Niba Mirza *
BUENOS AIRES (IDN) – The Asociación Latinoamericana de Comunicación Audiovisual Parlamentaria, ALCAP or the Latin American Parliamentary Association of Audio-Visual Communication has ventured into Asia and Africa with the appointment of Mr. Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. as its Special Advisor for the region.
ALCAP is a project of promotion, strengthening, integration, dissemination, research, and cooperation in favour of the right to free access of public information of the parliamentary and political audio-visual communication in all deliberative fields, and in defence of the local communities, multiculturalism, social economies and unique characteristics of the Latin American countries.
Viewpoint by Daniel Haile*
COLLEGE STATION, Texas | USA (IDN) – The lack of engagement with African countries economically, politically, and militarily could haunt the United States in the coming decades. Washington needs to forget the trauma of the infamous "Black Hawk Down" incident in Somalia and draft a new policy for mutually beneficial cooperation with African states. China, the European Union (EU), and Russia have been engaging with a great number of African countries while the United States watches from the sidelines.
By Jeffrey Moyo
HARARE (IDN) –The African Union (AU) Chairperson, President Cyril Ramaphosa, has called on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to waiver specific Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) obligations related to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 for a defined period.
Together with India, South Africa has proposed a TRIPS waiver in response to the pandemic.
By Jeffrey Moyo
HARARE (IDN) – President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to Jazz and Opera Musician, Dr Sibongile Khumalo, for advocating the rights of performing arts, women, as well as human rights. Khumalo passed away on January 28, at the age of 63.
She was an esteemed member of the Order of Ikhamanga, a South African honour that is granted by the President of South Africa for achievements in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism and sport. She was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in 2008,
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