Author: WAJ Team

Tidjane Thiam, the prominent opposition leader in Ivory Coast, has announced his resignation as the head of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), but emphasized that he remains committed to his bid for the presidency in 2025 despite facing legal challenges. The decision comes after a court in Abidjan ruled last month that Thiam was ineligible to run in the upcoming presidential elections. The court determined that the 62-year-old former banker lost his Ivorian nationality when he obtained French citizenship in 1987, a violation of the country’s electoral law, which prohibits dual citizenship for presidential candidates. Thiam’s disqualification was…

South African food giant Tiger Brands has taken a decisive step towards resolving a long-standing class action by offering compensation to victims of the deadly 2017 listeriosis outbreak, which claimed nearly 200 lives and left more than 1,000 people seriously ill. In a statement released Monday, the company confirmed that its lead insurer, QBE Insurance Group, tabled the compensation offer on 25 April 2025. The offer targets specific groups of claimants affected by the outbreak, which was linked to processed meat products manufactured by Enterprise Foods, a Tiger Brands subsidiary. According to the company, the proposed settlement covers full compensation…

Côte d’Ivoire has launched a major effort to rename streets across its economic capital, Abidjan, replacing colonial-era names with figures and symbols rooted in national history and African heritage. One of the most prominent changes is the road linking the international airport to the city centre. Once named after former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, it now bears the name of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the country’s first president after independence in 1960. “These names did not reflect the reality or culture of our people,” explained Alphonse N’Guessan, the urban planner directing the renaming project. “Street names must speak to our history…

Angola is confronting its most devastating cholera outbreak in 20 years, with the disease expanding rapidly across the country. Since January, infections have been confirmed in 17 of Angola’s 21 provinces, underscoring the scale of the health emergency. By early May, nearly 600 people had lost their lives and over 18,000 cases had been reported, according to figures from United Nations agencies. Health officials fear those numbers could rise further as efforts to contain the outbreak face significant challenges on the ground. The Ministry of Health, working closely with partners such as the World Health Organization (WHO), has intensified its…

At least 23 people were killed in a series of coordinated night-time assaults across four villages in Nigeria’s Benue state on Saturday, in what marks another deadly chapter in the region’s ongoing conflict between farming and herding communities. The attacks, which unfolded in the communities of Ukum, Logo, Guma, and Kwande, were confirmed by the Nigerian Red Cross on Sunday. According to Anthony Abah, the organisation’s secretary in Benue, the fatalities included nine in Logo, eight in Ukum, and three each in Guma and Kwande. Several others sustained injuries, though precise numbers remain unverified. The Nigerian police have yet to…

Egypt has expressed strong support for the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan, which was announced on May 10, 2025, following a series of intense clashes in the Kashmir region. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Badr Abdelatty, engaged in separate phone calls on Sunday with Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India’s Minister of External Affairs, and Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, to discuss the development. During these calls, Minister Abdelatty commended both India and Pakistan for their decision to halt hostilities, emphasizing the importance of the ceasefire in contributing to de-escalation and enhancing stability in South Asia. He…

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is in Côte d’Ivoire this week for a high-level Working Visit, where he will take part in the 12th Africa CEO Forum, an annual gathering of the continent’s top business and political leaders. Hosted in Abidjan on 12–13 May, the Forum will explore the evolving relationship between governments and the private sector under the theme: “Can a New Deal Between State and Private Sector Deliver the Continent a Winning Hand?” This year’s edition focuses on how collaboration between public and private institutions can unlock Africa’s development goals through infrastructure and industrial expansion. Ramaphosa’s visit, made…

The Government of Sudan has called on Somalia’s Federal Government to launch an immediate investigation into claims that Puntland, a semi-autonomous region in northeastern Somalia, is indirectly supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an armed group deeply entrenched in Sudan’s civil conflict. In a formal letter addressed to authorities in Mogadishu, Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited intelligence from both domestic and international sources pointing to Puntland’s alleged provision of strategic and logistical assistance to the RSF. The complaint specifically identifies Bosaso Airport as a suspected transit hub used to facilitate the movement of personnel and military supplies linked to…

At least seven people were confirmed dead following hours of relentless rainfall that submerged vast areas of Mogadishu on Friday night, cutting off major roads, displacing residents, and disrupting critical infrastructure. The downpour, lasting nearly eight hours, overwhelmed the capital’s drainage system, with water levels rising to waist height in several districts. The storm brought the city to a standstill, as homes crumbled and transport routes were rendered impassable. Aden Abdulle International Airport temporarily halted operations due to the flooding, though flights have since resumed, officials said. Abdinasir Hirsi Idle, spokesperson for the Banadir regional administration, said that rescue efforts…

South Africa is grappling with a critical issue in its fight against HIV, as over 1.1 million people who tested positive for the virus have gone untraceable in the healthcare system. These individuals, no longer receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), are disengaged from essential treatment programs, posing a significant threat to both their health and the nation’s HIV control efforts. This urgent situation was spotlighted during the Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality’s annual AIDS Candlelight Memorial on May 8 at the Humulani Try Again Sports Ground, Limpopo. The event, which honored those lost to HIV/AIDS and showed solidarity with the living, emphasized the…

At least 62 people have been confirmed dead, and more than 50 are still missing after flash floods struck villages near Lake Tanganyika in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to local authorities. The disaster hit South Kivu province in the early hours of Friday, leaving a trail of destruction and displacing scores of residents. The flooding began around 5 a.m. local time, when heavy rains caused rivers and streams to overflow, inundating the village of Kasaba in the Ngandja sector. Witnesses described a sudden rush of water that swept through homes and roads, leaving entire…

At least 30 travelers were killed in a highway ambush in Nigeria’s Imo State early Thursday, Amnesty International said, marking one of the deadliest attacks in the region in recent months. The rights group reported that the attackers also torched more than 20 vehicles, including trucks and passenger cars, further stoking concerns over growing insecurity in the country’s southeast. Although authorities have not confirmed the death toll, Amnesty attributed the attack to suspected members of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a separatist movement advocating for the independence of southeastern Nigeria. Imo State police spokesperson Henry Okoye confirmed the…

A drone attack on a major prison facility in the southern Sudanese city of El-Obeid has killed at least 21 people and wounded 47 others, in what civil society groups and government officials are condemning as a dangerous escalation in the country’s ongoing conflict. The strike, which targeted a prison housing nearly 5,000 inmates, was confirmed on Saturday by the Sudan Doctors Network, a non-governmental medical group. The network described the incident as a deliberate hit on a civilian site, calling it “a grave escalation in the violence gripping the region.” Sudanese authorities quickly denounced the assault. Information Minister Khalid…

Zimbabwe has taken a significant step toward revolutionizing its fisheries and aquaculture sector with the passage of its first-ever Fisheries and Aquaculture Bill. Supported by the FISH4ACP program, this landmark legislation promises to reshape the industry, providing a clear and structured framework for its future growth. The bill’s development was led by the FISH4ACP initiative, a project of the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS), implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with backing from the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). FAO’s Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa, Patrice…

Zambia’s government has pledged urgent reforms in its public health sector after the United States cut $50 million in annual aid over what Washington described as systematic theft of donated medical supplies. The U.S. announced the decision Thursday, citing evidence that medications intended for free distribution to vulnerable communities were being diverted and sold in private pharmacies. The scandal, which came to light in late 2021, has raised serious concerns about governance and accountability in one of southern Africa’s most aid-dependent nations. Health Minister Elijah Muchima responded by admitting the theft had severely undermined public trust and endangered lives. “This…

The Algerian embassy in Dhaka held a moving commemoration on Wednesday to mark 80 years since the mass killing of civilians by French colonial forces—a massacre that would later become the foundation for Algeria’s historic fight for independence. Observed annually as the “Day of Memory,” the event honoured the estimated 45,000 Algerians killed in the days following May 8, 1945, when French troops violently suppressed peaceful demonstrations in towns such as Sétif, Guelma, and Kherrata. The remembrance ceremony, attended by embassy officials and diplomatic guests, reflected on the heavy cost of colonial brutality, as well as the resilience of a…