Africa

Mali's ousted interim president and prime minister have been released after being arrested and detained by the military for three days in a blatant second military coup in nine months, an assistant to the vice president said on Thursday. Interim President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane were taken to a military base outside the capital on Monday, triggering a political crisis in the West African country and threatening sanctions from the major powers. The two men resigned while in custody on…

The French president is in Rwanda for the first time on Thursday, May 27, 2021. He is only the second French president to make the trip since the Tutsi genocide in 1994. The first highlight of this trip was the visit to the Gisozi genocide memorial where more than 250,000 people are buried. A visit after which the French head of state spoke for a long-awaited speech. He mentioned France's…

Tens of thousands of people began leaving Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on Thursday. The current military governor of the province, General Constant Ndima, has ordered that part of the city be evacuated amid the risks of the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano last Saturday. Authorities in Goma this Thursday…

In Ethiopia, it has now been two months since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed assured that the Eritrean army would withdraw from the province of Tigray, where it has been intervening since November with Ethiopian troops. Nevertheless, Asmara's troops are still active in the region. While Ethiopia would once again have asked for their resignation. But is an Eritrean withdrawal really a realistic option today?…

French President Emmanuel Macron visited Kigali on Thursday in hopes of restoring ties between the two nations after decades of Rwandan accusations that France was involved in the 1994 genocide that left hundreds of thousands of people dead. The visit follows the release of a report by a French inquiry panel in March which says that a colonial attitude has blinded French officials and that the government had a "serious and overwhelming" responsibility for not anticipating the slaughter. However, the…

French President Emmanuel Macron visited Kigali on Thursday in hopes of restoring ties between the two nations after decades of Rwandan accusations that France was involved in the 1994 genocide that left hundreds of thousands of people dead. The visit follows the release of a report by a French inquiry panel in March which says that a colonial attitude has blinded French officials and that the government had a "serious and overwhelming" responsibility for not anticipating the slaughter. However, the…

Rwanda's main genocide survivor group said on Thursday that it was disappointed that French President Emmanuel Macron did not "present a clear apology" for France's role in the 1994 genocide during his visit to Rwanda. Egide Nkuranga, president of the Ibuka Association, said Macron did not "apologize", according to remarks by Agence France-Presse (AFP). But he "really tried to explain the genocide, how it happened, what they did not do, their responsibility ... It is very important, it shows that he understands us."…

The leaders of the military junta, which took power for the first time in August 2020, have just renewed themselves. Their leader, Assimi Goïta, told foreign mediators who came to see him on Wednesday, May 26, that he himself took matters into his own hands at the moment after the departure of Bah N'Daws and Moctar Ouane. What is its room for maneuver vis-à-vis the Malian political class and the…

Emmanuel Macron's visit to Rwanda on Thursday 27 May is presented by the Élysée as the final step in the "normalization" of relations between Paris and Kigali, which has begun in recent years. Conditions were poisoned by the thorny issue of the role played by France during the 1994 genocide of the Tutsis, which several heads of state had previously tried to reassure. Without much success until recently.…

This is a historic trip for Emmanuel Macron, who will travel to Kigali on Thursday 27 May. He is only the second French president to travel to Rwanda since the Tutsi genocide in 1994. After a long stormy relationship, the two countries have moved closer in the past three years. The head of state's program promises to be busy in the capital. Many Rwandans are hoping for an apology from France after the…