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- Abiy won a Nobel Peace Prize last year for ending a two-decade standoff with Eritrea. The awarding committee in Oslo last week made a rare foray into the activities of laureates by urging peace in Tigray.

A supporter of Ugandan musician turned politician Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, carries his poster as protests continue over his arrest. Photograph: Badru Katumba/AFP/Getty Images
- Known by supporters as “the ghetto president”, Wine is one of a new generation of politicians across Africa who are challenging longtime leaders, hoping to harness deep dissatisfaction among younger, more educated and often urban voters.
- Ethiopia, a federation of 10 ethnic regions, was dominated for decades by Tigrayans in a TPLF-led ruling coalition, until Abiy, who is of Amhara and Oromo descent, took power two years ago.
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President Faustin-Archange Touadera casts his vote at the Lycee Boganda polling station in the capital Bangui, Central African Republic, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. Touadera and his party said the vote will go ahead after government forces clashed with rebels in recent days and some opposition candidates pulled out of the race amid growing insecurity. (AP Photo)
- Bozize’s party officially denies he is working with the rebels, but some in the party have suggested they are working together.
Rebel fighters in Central African Republic attacked and partially occupied a diamond-mining town on Sunday, four security and humanitarian sources said, a day before authorities are due to declare results of the presidential election.

A group of schoolboys are escorted by Nigerian military and official on Friday Dec. 18, 2020 in Katsina, Nigeria following their release after they were kidnapped earlier this week. More than 300 schoolboys kidnapped last week in an attack on their school in northwest Nigeria have arrived in the capital of Katsina state to celebrate their release. The boys were abducted one week ago from the all-boys Government Science Secondary School in Kankara in Katsina state village. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
- A week earlier, gunmen on motorbikes raided the boys’ boarding school in the nearby town of Kankara and marched hundreds of them into the vast Rugu forest. Authorities said security services rescued them on Thursday, although it was not clear if all of them had been recovered.
Dozens of schoolboys who were rescued from kidnappers in northwest Nigeria arrived back home on Friday, many of them barefoot and clutching blankets.

Parents of the missing Government Science secondary school students wait for news on their children in Kankara , Nigeria, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020.
- More than 330 students remain missing from the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara after gunmen with assault rifles attacked their school Friday night, although scores of others managed to escape.
Rebels from the Boko Haram extremist group claimed responsibility Tuesday for abducting hundreds of boys from a school in Nigeria’s northern Katsina State last week in one of the largest such attacks in years, raising fears of a growing wave of violence in the region.

Ethnic Amhara refugees who fled Mai-Kadra, Ethiopia, sit in front of their temporary shelters in an area separated from Tigray refugees, at Village 8, the transit centre near the Lugdi border crossing, eastern Sudan, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020. AP photo
- The U.N. human rights office this week called for independent investigations into the conflict, but Ethiopian officials have rejected what they call interference, saying this week the government doesn’t need a “babysitter.”
The only thing the survivors can agree on is that hundreds of people were slaughtered in a single Ethiopian town.
- The latest explosions came just hours after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared victory in his government’s fighting against forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which runs the northern Tigray region bordering Eritrea.
The U.S. Embassy in Eritrea says six explosions were heard Saturday night in the capital, Asmara. It follows an embassy report of another “loud noise, possibly an explosion” in the city on Friday, nearly two weeks after the government of neighboring Ethiopia’s defiant Tigray region confirmed firing missiles at the city during its war with Ethiopian federal forces.

Members of the Amhara Special Force return to the Dansha Mechanized 5th division Military base after fighting against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), in Danasha, Amhara region near a border with Tigray, Ethiopia November 9, 2020. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo
- “Their brutality can only add (to) our resolve to fight these invaders to the last,” TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael told Reuters in a text message. Asked by Reuters if that meant his forces would continue fighting, he replied: “Certainly. This is about defending our right to self determination.”
Abiy’s government has been trying to quell a rebellion by a powerful ethnic faction that dominated the central government for decades before he came to power in 2018. Thousands of people are believed to have been killed, and nearly 44,000 have fled to Sudan, in a conflict that has called into question whether Abiy can hold together fractious ethnic groups in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country.
- Abiy won a Nobel Peace Prize last year for ending a two-decade standoff with Eritrea. The awarding committee in Oslo last week made a rare foray into the activities of laureates by urging peace in Tigray.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed gave Tigrayan regional forces 72 hours to surrender before the military begins an offensive on the regional capital of Mekelle.

A supporter of Ugandan musician turned politician Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, carries his poster as protests continue over his arrest. Photograph: Badru Katumba/AFP/Getty Images
- Known by supporters as “the ghetto president”, Wine is one of a new generation of politicians across Africa who are challenging longtime leaders, hoping to harness deep dissatisfaction among younger, more educated and often urban voters.
Twenty eight people have died in protests in Uganda triggered by the arrest of presidential candidate and pop star Bobi Wine, police said on Friday, up from a toll of 16 given on Thursday.
- Ethiopia, a federation of 10 ethnic regions, was dominated for decades by Tigrayans in a TPLF-led ruling coalition, until Abiy, who is of Amhara and Oromo descent, took power two years ago.
Forces from Ethiopia’s rebel Tigray region fired rockets on Friday at the distant capital of the neighbouring Amhara region, Amhara authorities said, raising worries the conflict could spill into a wider war.
- MTN says it’s making a net proceed of $142.31 million dollars from the sale.
South African telecommunications giant, MTN Group on Friday, October 30, 2020, announced the sale of its stake in Jumia, one of Africa’s largest eCommerce firms.

Celebrating its tenth year, the Anzisha Prize awards its top honour to 21-year-old Egyptian entrepreneur
- Alaa Moatamed, Co-Founder of Presto, a leading delivery management service, takes home the $25,000 Grand Prize
With a pool of talented finalists from more than 15 African countries, the 2020 Anzisha Prize – the premier award for Africa’s youngest entrepreneurs – goes to Alaa Moatamed, a young female entrepreneur whose venture provides business owners with an affordable and convenient delivery service for customers. EdTech entrepreneur Matina Razafimahefa, 22, from Madagascar emerged as the first runner up ($15,000), while 22-year-old infrastructure entrepreneur, Mohamed Bah from Sierra Leone, was the second runner up ($12,500).
- Meet the new cohort of very young entrepreneurs whose businesses are paving a new entrepreneurial landscape in Africa
The Anzisha Prize has revealed its top 20 finalists for 2020. Winners will be announced at this year’s Anzisha Prize Conference on the 27th of October, where the programme will be celebrating 10 years of supporting very young entrepreneurs.

Rebuilding the African fashion industry in the (post) COVID-19 era: thinking digital and circular solutions. Image credit - fashionomicsafrica
- As factories close their doors and border closures and travel restrictions interrupt supply chains, the workers have been left to feel the worst effects
The disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic on global value chains and its impact on African businesses is already evident. As factories close their doors and border closures and travel restrictions interrupt supply chains, the workers - the most vulnerable and lowest paid people in the fashion supply chain – have been left to feel the worst effects.
- The African Development Bank and India have a long-standing strategic partnership dating back almost 40 years to 1982
The groundwork has been laid for Indian investors who are looking to invest in Africa.

Awakening the entrepreneurial spirit of every young African is key to continent’s future, development leaders agree
- The webinar, themed Investing in Africa’s Future: Youth Empowerment Through Entrepreneurship, invited a range of private and public sector representatives to discuss the challenges young African entrepreneurs face
The African Development Bank joined a number of development leaders in calling for greater support of youth entrepreneurship during a virtual event organized by the Tony Elumelu Foundation. The webinar was timed to coincide with International Youth Day, which fell on Wednesday 12 August, 2020.
- Finalists will compete for the top crown on August 21 and be inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship to pursue commercial partnerships in Ecobank’s 33 markets cross Africa
Ecobank Group has announced the finalists from the 2020 Ecobank Fintech Challenge.
- In January 2020, sixteen allegations of ethical misconduct were levelled against Adesina by a group of whistleblowers
A much awaited report by an Independent Review Panel has completely exonerated the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina of any ethical wrongdoings.

Jack Ma Foundation’s Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI) selects Top 50 Finalists of 2020 “Africa’s Business Heroes” Competition
- The 50 finalists were selected from over 22,000 applications all over Africa, representing twenty-one African countries, half are female, and work in 18 sectors like agriculture, AI, e-commerce, fashion, healthcare, renewable energy and ICT
Top 50 finalists were selected from over 22,000 applications across all 54 African nations; The finalists represent 21 African countries, half are female, and work in 18 sectors like agriculture, AI, e-commerce, fashion, healthcare, renewable energy and ICT; Finalists will advance to the next round of selection and will participate in an exclusive virtual boot camp on July 28.
- The funds will help to upgrade the capacity of healthcare facilities to isolate, diagnose and care for patients, and provide more test kits, pharmaceuticals, equipment and beds.
The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF) on Friday approved a $69 million grant to support Ghana’s efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate its socio-economic impact on the nation.

African Development Bank Regional Economic Outlook 2020: In West Africa, harnessing the youth workforce could speed economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 era
- The report points to policies needed to improve skills to empower the West African labour force
Growth in West Africa, poised to expand by 4.0 percent in 2020, now projected to contract by -2.0 percent in 2020; Demand for science, technology, engineering and mathematics increasing, though school enrolment, retention rates poor.
- Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the region’s economic growth was projected at more than 5 percent, well above continent’s average of 3.3 percent and global average of 2.9 percent
COVID-19 curbs East Africa’s growth, but still the strongest in the continent; Report calls for transition to higher value-added activities to build resilience to shocks.

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita poses for a picture during the G5 Sahel summit in Nouakchott, Mauritania June 30, 2020. Reuters image
- Mali’s opposition coalition said security forces detained two leaders of anti-government protests and raided its headquarters on Saturday following violent demonstrations against the president in the capital.
Mali’s opposition coalition said security forces detained two leaders of anti-government protests and raided its headquarters on Saturday following violent demonstrations against the president in the capital.
- WHO and partners launched the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator to speed up the development, production and equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines
The World Health Organization (WHO) in Africa joined immunization experts in urging the international community and countries in Africa to take concrete actions to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, as researchers around the world race to find effective protection against the virus.
- Egyptian security agencies have tried to stifle criticism about the handling of the coronavirus health crisis by President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi's government
A doctor arrested after writing an article about Egypt’s fragile health system. A pharmacist picked up from work after posting online about a shortage of protective gear. An editor taken from his home after questioning official coronavirus figures. A pregnant doctor arrested after a colleague used her phone to report a suspected coronavirus case.