On 7 November 2019, Trial Chamber VI of the International Criminal Court (“ICC”), unanimously, sentenced Bosco Ntaganda to a total of 30 years of imprisonment. The time Mr Ntaganda has spent in detention at the ICC - from 22 March 2013 to 7 November 2019 - will be deducted from this sentence.

Greenlight Planet, the market leader in the rapidly expanding pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar industry has successfully partnered with major telecom operators in Africa. Recognizing the natural synergy between the telecom and pay-as-you-go solar industries, the company is pursuing a strong telecom-focused strategy that aims to have a far-reaching impact on more than 600 million unelectrified consumers across the African continent.

Two years ago, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry attended Africa Oil Week (www.Africa-OilWeek.com) to promote his country’s policies for energy on the continent. This the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, Steven Winberg, attended to highlight the importance the United States places on fostering relationships with the continent.

Starting next Monday, the world’s largest technology conference according to the Financial Times, will begin in Lisbon. This year the event has seen more participation from the African continent than ever before. From top speakers to startups set to compete among some of the world’s most highly sought after companies, here’s what they’ll be doing:

The African Development Bank’s board approved a 125% capital increase to $208 billion on Thursday, the largest in the lender’s history, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his peacemaking efforts with neighboring Eritrea.

Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chairperson of the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee that awards the Peace Prize, said Abiy was named for his decisive initiatives to end his country's conflict with Eritrea within months of his coming to office in 2018.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres applauded the committee's choice.

Abiy Ahmed Ali: "I was so humbled and thrilled when I just heard the news."

"I have said often that winds of hope are blowing ever stronger across Africa. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is one of the main reasons why," he said in a statement Friday.

Internal reforms

The Nobel Committee also took note of Abiy's push for reforms within Ethiopia, largely aimed at easing the government's control of political discourse in the East African country.

"He spent his first 100 days as prime minister lifting the country’s state of emergency, granting amnesty to thousands of political prisoners, discontinuing media censorship, legalizing outlawed opposition groups, dismissing military and civilian leaders who were suspected of corruption, and significantly increasing the influence of women in Ethiopian political and community life," the committee said.

The committee acknowledged that much work remains to strengthen democracy in Ethiopia, but said it hopes the peace agreement with Eritrea will lead to more positive changes for both countries.

The East African neighbors fought a brutal war from 1998 to 2000 and remained at bitter odds thereafter over unresolved land and border issues.

After Abiy came to power in April 2018, he said Ethiopia would comply with a 2002 ruling forcing it to cede territory, including the contested town of Badme. In July, he and Eritrean leader Isaias Afwerki signed a peace agreement officially ending hostilities.

William Davison, Ethiopia analyst for the International crisis Group, said Abiy cannot rest on his laurels.

"[His] bold leadership has helped drive through positive changes in Ethiopia and achieve rapprochement with Eritrea. But there is a lot of work to do to achieve a new domestic political settlement between fractious actors, and there are also major obstacles to advancing the Eritrea peace process, suggesting that Abiy's hardest challenges lie ahead," he said Friday.

Rights group Amnesty International said the Nobel prize "should push and motivate [Abiy] to tackle the outstanding human rights challenges that threaten to reverse the gains made so far. He must urgently ensure that his government addresses the ongoing ethnic tensions [in Ethiopia] that threaten instability and further human rights abuses."

Regional peacemaker

The Nobel Prize committee also recognized Abiy for his role in other peace and reconciliation processes in East and northeast Africa. Last year, Ethiopia contributed to the normalization of diplomatic ties between Djibouti and Eritrea after years of tension. In Sudan, he helped resolve an impasse between the ruling military council and opposition, paving the way for a power-sharing agreement.

Abiy, 43, came to power in April 2018 and began to implement sweeping reforms and changes in Ethiopian policies.

In an interview with VOA's Horn of Africa service in May 2019, Abiy acknowledged that he planned to be an agent of change.

"I don’t believe that it’s proper to stay in power for long periods of time. And as long as I have power, I believe that I should use that to change people’s lives. But within my efforts working to bring change, there may be errors — but all of my intention and action is aimed at elevating Ethiopia," he said.

The prize of about $900,000 will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10.

The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences will be awarded on Monday, Oct. 14.

Source: VOA

U.N. agencies are appealing for $20 million to contain an outbreak of cholera in Sudan.

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has conveyed his and the apologies of the people of South Africa to President Akufo-Addo and the people of Ghana over the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa, that resulted in the deaths of and injuries to several African nationals, and the looting of their shops belonging to them.

Tunisians began casting votes in an unpredictable presidential election on Sunday where there is no overwhelming front-runner, with the young democracy’s economic ills dominating the agenda.

Former Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, who died in a Singapore hospital Friday at age 95, leaves behind a complicated legacy. To some, he was a liberation hero who stood by his principles. Others say he rigged elections, destroyed the economy of what was once Africa's breadbasket and terrorized his people for decades.

Zerihun Tabo, an Ethiopian shopkeeper, surveyed the wreckage of his neighborhood store in Johannesburg, South Africa, this week, after looters pillaged it.

Sudan’s ousted president Omar al-Bashir on Monday arrived amid heavy security at the courthouse in the capital Khartoum where he is facing corruption charges, a Reuters witness said.

Soldiers and police deployed in large numbers in Zimbabwe’s second city Bulawayo on Monday to enforce a ban on an anti-government demonstration, as the country’s main opposition party sought to overturn that decision in court.

Sudan’s opposition coalition on Sunday named five people as civilian members of the country’s sovereign council to be sworn in on Monday, a source within the coalition told Reuters.

A Nigerian court has granted the government permission to label a local Shi’ite Muslim group a terrorist organisation, the solicitor general told Reuters on Saturday.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari condemns the killing of 37 people by bandits in the northwestern state of Sokoto, his spokesman said in a statement.

Sierra Leone’s president opened a tender process on Wednesday for building a 7 km bridge at a cost of up to $2 billion to link Freetown to the country’s only international airport.

Somali militants killed eight Kenyan police with a roadside bomb near the border between the two countries on Saturday, officials said, while another eight died in a bombing the same group carried out in the Somali capital.

Sudan’s veteran opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi called on Friday for an “objective” international investigation into last week’s deadly crackdown on protesters, after the ruling military council rejected such a probe.

Leaders from four African countries on Wednesday shared their vision for an integrated and borderless Africa that would foster economic growth and development.

A recent attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) terror group in a northern province in Mozambique signals a growing presence of extremist groups in the southeast African country, experts contend.

Sudan’s military rulers offered to resume talks with opposition groups on Wednesday, two days after security forces mounted a deadly raid on a protest camp, but the opposition rejected the invitation.

The EurAfrican Forum organization has announced that chef Elijah Amoo Addo, founder and CEO of the Food for All Africa, will deliver a pitch about how food can be a link between people and regions to establish stronger relations for Europe and Africa on the first day of the event, July 4, at the Forum’s lunch.

Foremost philanthropist and richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote has been rated 11th of the 50 World’ Greatest leaders for 2019