West Africa

The Ivory Coast's ruling party and the main opposition both claimed victory on Sunday in the West African nation's legislative elections, with the official results yet to be announced. "We have achieved our goal of securing about 60 percent of the seats," said Adama Bictogo, number two in the ruling RHDP party. Early trends from local election commissions "clearly show that our party will win by a comfortable majority," he added. Earlier on Sunday, the center-right of the opposition party, the Ivory…

A series of explosions at a military barrack in Equatorial Guinea killed at least 20 people and injured hundreds more, state television reported. In a statement on national television, the president said the explosions were caused by negligence related to the use of dynamite at the base. TVGE said at least five explosions caused at least 20 deaths and injured more than 400 others. The Ministry of Health tweeted that its health workers are treating the injured at the scene of the tragedy and in medical…

Nearly 4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have arrived in the Nigerian capital Abuja, the third and largest delivery to date to an African country through the global COVAX initiative, which was created to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have access to vaccines. The COVAX program sent 3.94 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, from Mumbai to Abuja, according to a joint statement from UNICEF, working in collaboration with the World Health…

Armed men abducted 317 students on Friday and a rescue operation is underway, police in northwestern Nigeria said of the country's latest mass kidnapping. "The Zamfara State Police Command, in cooperation with the military, has launched a joint rescue operation to rescue the 317 students abducted by the armed bandits of the Government Girls Science Secondary School in Jangebe," police spokesman Mohammed Shehu said in a statement. "Unknown armed men came shooting sporadically and abducted the girls,"…

Ghana received the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX on Wednesday, a global scheme to obtain and distribute free vaccinations as the world competes to contain the pandemic. COVAX, launched in April last year to ensure a fairer distribution of coronavirus vaccines between rich and poor countries, said it would deliver 2 billion doses to its members by the end of the year. "We are pleased that Ghana has become the first country to receive COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility," said the…

In Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré was invested on Monday, December 28, following the election on November 22. A ceremony attended by many African heads of state and representatives of international institutions. The President of Burkinabè has promised to open a national consultation within the framework of national reconciliation, which must not avoid blood crimes and economic crimes and to…

After the count, it is now time to compile the results. For this, Céni has set up its operations center at the Palais des Congrès in Niamey. It is only after receipt and verification that it gradually shows the preliminary results. With our special envoy to Niamey, Magali LagrangeStart of compilation, which makes it possible…

Of the seven people arrested last week by state security, five are being prosecuted. The transitional authorities did not talk about this topic, but RFI was able to cross-check a certain amount of unpublished information. Two people were released, five others transferred to the gendarmerie. Sékou Traoré, chief of staff for the…

One survivor came on broken bones, others on the run. In this fragile group of refugees on the edge of the Ethiopian Tigray conflict, those who have fled nearly two months of deadly fighting continue with new stories of terror. At a simple clinic in Sudan, a doctor who became a refugee, Tewodros Tefera, examines the war years: children injured in explosions, blows from axes and knives, broken ribs from blows, feet scraped raw from days of hiking to safety. One new day, he treated the shattered legs of…

The tourism sector does not really benefit from these annual festivities. Travel restrictions, restaurants and bars closed in several countries, ski lifts also quiet in France. Not enough to compensate for a year to be crossed by the calendar of professional tourists. LeCovid-19 caused a descent into hell. From January to October 2020, global tourism suffered a loss ten times greater than during the financial crisis in 2009. This is the finding of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). During the same period, it recorded…