Africa

By Ray Mhondera 

Ahmed, who has lived in Zimbabwe and Botswana on his 2400 miles journey to South Africa has received €3300 via Western Union from his cousin in Germany. H says he will pay £700 to fly from Johannesburg to Rabat, Morroco in April. €2200 will be paid to a sophisticated network of human smugglers who will ferry him across the Mediterranean and hopefully into the Spanish enclave of Cueta.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is not officially at war, but for decades the ordinary Congolese haven't experienced an essence of peace either. After years of bloodshed and devastation, the DRC is staggering towards normalcy, but after brief intervals the country finds itself rebound into violent conflicts again and again.

A series of impact studies showed that microfinance had mixed results. Charging affordable interest rates and offering training as well as loans simply wasn’t profitable – and profitable microfinance did not have the full effect of economic gains that was intended. A course correction was needed.  

By Oboshi Agyeno

As EU is pushing hard to rectify the loopholes that caused the tragic and avoidable deaths of thousands of migrants in its territorial waters in 2015 alone, attention should also be focused on domestic conditions in Africa that encourage and sustain such perilous journey.

Survivors of COVID-19 from 37 countries are among almost 1,000 people who have signed an open letter to pharmaceutical industry leaders calling for a ‘people's vaccine’ and treatments that are available to all.

A group of United Nations human rights experts has urged the international community to rapidly provide all necessary funding and assistance to the Government of Malawi and humanitarian actors in response to the disaster, which has already claimed more than 70 lives.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is not officially at war, but for decades the ordinary Congolese haven't experienced an essence of peace either....

The main players in the Libyan crisis are now Russia, the UAE, France and Egypt on one side and Turkey and Italy on the other. The biggest threat is the fact that these countries are not concerned with the territorial integrity of Libya. Economic and strategic interests are what brought them to Libya.

By Joel Obengo Despite multiple cease fire attempts and ongoing peace negotiations, violence continues to consume much of South Sudan. Insecurity throughout the country has disrupted agricultural activities and exacerbated food insecurity, bringing South Sudan to the brink of famine and a humanitarian crisis.

Helena Lutege's microfinance institution BELITA has transformed many women's lives in Tanzania through small microcredit loans.