Eye on Africa

The advance team for a UN observer mission has arrived in Libya, which after a decade of conflict and chaos plans to hold elections in December, informed sources said on Wednesday. The group of about ten UN employees flew into the capital Tripoli on Tuesday to monitor a ceasefire between the country's two rival armed factions. The unarmed observer team also has the task of verifying the departure of thousands of mercenaries and foreign fighters who have been deployed in the oil-rich North African…

Four media workers recently arrested in Ethiopia's conflict-torn Tigray region were released on Wednesday, a translator working for the Agence France-Presse (AFP), which was part of the group held, reported. "All journalists and translators have been released without charge," Abebe Gebrehiwot Yihdego, deputy head of Tigray's interim administration, told Reuters. The BBC confirmed the release of its reporter Girmay Gebru, of the broadcaster's Tigrinya language service, in a tweet. "They released us…

Several people are feared dead due to a plane crash in southern Sudan, the head of Juba International Airport said in a statement late Tuesday, according to the Anadolu Agency. Meanwhile, South Sudan News Now, a local newspaper, reported that the plane crashed in Jonglei State's Uror County several minutes after leaving for Juba from Pieri's runway, north of the capital, with all eight passengers and two pilots on board. killed. The plane crashed on the outskirts of the Pieri Payam region at 5pm local…

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…

Zambia's honorary consul in Istanbul on Sunday said that Zambia and Turkey have established mutually beneficial relations that have continued to grow in recent years. Bülent Göktuna said that Turkey considers Zambia as a strategic partner both in the region of southern Africa and the continent as a whole, according to a statement from the Zambian embassy in Ankara. He spoke at the Zambian Chancery in the Turkish capital before handing over a shipment of 12 computers and a laptop worth 166,000 TL ($…

The Libyan interim government presented a new vision for the war-torn country when the appointed prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, on Thursday proposed a structure in line with the UN roadmap. Dbeibah was selected earlier this month in a UN-sponsored dialogue between Libya, the latest internationally supported attempt to save the country from a decade of conflict and fragmented political fiefdoms. But it was unclear how far progress has been made towards appointing a cabinet. "Today we have…

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,"…

Libya's new caretaker government will pay special attention to bilateral relations with Turkey during the new term, the country's caretaker prime minister said in a statement on Thursday. "Our ties with Turkey will be different. It is our economic partner and we support this partnership," Abdul Hamid Dbeibah told a news conference in the capital Tripoli. He also emphasized Libya's commitment to the maritime agreement between Turkey and Libya in November 2019. Dbeibah previously said that Libya would…

Eighty-four parliamentarians from Tobruk and Tripoli announced on Wednesday that they will give the new Libyan interim government and its soon-to-be-formed government of national unity their confidence "without restrictions or conditions." "We, the undersigned representatives, call on our colleagues to hold a session to give the National Unity Government confidence," they wrote in a statement. The statement was issued a day after a meeting was held in Tripoli to determine the location of the session.…

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…