West Africa

Burkina Faso's Bold Move: Visa-Free Travel for African Citizens In a significant stride towards Pan-African integration, Burkina Faso has announced the elimination of visa fees for all African travelers. This refreshing decision, articulated by Security Minister Mahamadou Sana, aims to foster the free movement of people and goods across the continent—a dream long cherished by many as a pillar of the African Union's agenda. The Vision Behind the Decision Burkina Faso's new policy envisions a continent less shackled by…

Somali students touch down in Baku as scholarships cement a new South–South bridge When the doors slid open at Baku’s modern glass-and-steel airport, a small group of Somali students in winter jackets stepped into a new chapter. They paused for a group photo—smiles wide, eyes a little overwhelmed by the cold and the cameras—and were met by embassy officials and university representatives, a scene captured by Somali state media. For many, it was their first time in the Caucasus. For all, it was the beginning of a bet on…

A Culinary Triumph: Hilda Baci's Record-Breaking Jollof Rice Amidst the rich tapestry of Nigerian culture, marked by lively music, vibrant colors, and mouthwatering cuisine, chef Hilda Baci has made a mark that resonates beyond borders. Her latest achievement, recently confirmed by Guinness World Records, secures her place in the culinary world not just as a chef but as an ambassador of Nigerian culture. Baci expertly orchestrated a monumental cooking event, crafting the largest serving of Nigerian-style Jollof Rice,…

Sub-Saharan Africa's Struggle Against Child Poverty: A Call to Action In a world that has seen significant strides in reducing extreme child poverty, one region remains starkly excluded from this progress: Sub-Saharan Africa. According to a recent report by the World Bank and UNICEF, this area has not only failed to improve over the past decade, but it has also allowed the specter of poverty to loom larger over its youngest inhabitants. Alarmingly, more than half of the region's children live below the poverty line,…

Legal Battle Highlights Tensions Between Equatorial Guinea and France In a world where power dynamics frequently shift like sand, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently cast its judgment, reinforcing France's hold over a luxury Parisian mansion previously owned by the son of Equatorial Guinea's long-time president. This legal dispute has not only unearthed questions of sovereignty and legality but also raised broader issues about international corruption and governance in African politics. A Property with a…

Analysis: North Western State of Somalia, Gaza, and a perilous recognition bargain In Hargeisa, where tea stalls hum with late-night talk and the red-green-white flag flutters from shopfronts, the idea sounds both dizzying and dangerous: that international recognition for North Western State of Somalia might be tethered to a plan, reported in Israeli media, to forcibly move Palestinians from Gaza to this corner of the Horn of Africa. It is a proposition loaded with history—and the kind of fragile politics that can ignite a…

Breaking: Puntland State deploys troops to Sool to block voter registration as tensions spike What happened Puntland State authorities have deployed security forces to parts of Somalia’s Sool region to halt a federally backed voter registration drive, residents and local officials said Monday, deepening an already volatile political standoff in the country’s northeast. Convoys moved into Boocame district and the nearby Falariyale area—territory where electoral commissions from the federal government and a newly declared…

Nuruddin Farah’s Honorary Degree Is Also a Map of Where African Letters Are Headed On a damp London morning, SOAS, University of London, conferred an honorary doctorate on the Somali novelist Nuruddin Farah — an author whose life’s work has been to rescue a country by rebuilding it on the page. The honor feels tidy and ceremonial; Farah’s novels are anything but. Over nearly five decades, from the dictatorship of Siad Barre to the age of global exile, he has written Somalia into visibility with an unblinking steadiness. You…

Burnsville woman charged as 75th defendant in Minnesota’s sweeping ‘Feeding Our Future’ case MINNEAPOLIS — Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged a Burnsville woman with siphoning nearly $1 million from a taxpayer-funded child nutrition program — the latest arrest in what authorities call the largest COVID-19 fraud case in the United States. Prosecutors say 44-year-old Muna Wais Fidhin misused federal money meant to serve meals to children during the pandemic, instead paying her mortgage, buying a car and sending…

Analysis: In Puntland State, a Clash Over Asphalt and Paychecks Reveals a Deeper Crisis In the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland State, a single sentence has cracked open a wider argument about what progress looks like—and what keeps a state together. “Roads are more important to us than their salaries,” Finance Minister Mohamed Farah Mahmoud said recently, defending public works spending as government employees report going months without pay. The backlash was swift and raw: civil servants, police, and ordinary…