In a decisive intervention, the national government has taken full control of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), with Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela placing the entity under administration amid mounting governance turmoil. Manamela said the move follows a protracted spell of governance failures, legal disputes and operational fragilities that have eroded NSFAS’s stability and credibility. The board has been rocked by multiple resignations, including that of its chairperson, while…

A stark warning from the International Monetary Fund says sweeping global aid cutbacks have pushed Malawi onto a financial knife-edge, exposing deep-seated frailties in the country’s economic management. For years, the nation has leaned heavily on donor support to finance vital development programs and routine government operations. The IMF’s latest report on Sub-Saharan Africa notes that assistance to the region fell by 16 to 28 percent in 2025. This funding gap lands as Malawi contends with a debt-to-GDP ratio above 90…

Ireland’s Taoiseach has denounced the Israeli military’s interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters earlier this week, calling the operation unacceptable. Speaking in Athlone, Micheál Martin said the incident could not go unanswered. "I want to condemn the seizure of the flotilla in what appears to be international waters, it's not acceptable. "I think the international community have to call it out and we will be raising it at European level. It is understood that seven Irish citizens, among the 175…

Wednesday April 29, 2026 Halimo stands at a dry water point in Somalia. Photo: CARE International Mogadishu (AX) — The war raging in the Middle East is now feeding another emergency far from the battlefield: Somalia’s hunger crisis is getting worse. Aid agencies and officials say the conflict is pushing up fuel and food prices, disrupting humanitarian supply lines, and deepening acute malnutrition among children. For pastoralist families, the first blow is being felt at the water point. Diesel prices are climbing, making…

Global development aid plunged by a record 23.1% in real terms last year, the OECD said, describing the drop as a historic setback driven largely by a sharp pullback in US support amid mounting budget pressures and geopolitical strain. Preliminary figures from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that official development assistance (ODA) from members of its Development Assistance Committee totaled $174.3 billion last year, marking a second straight annual decline. "This is the largest…

By Nuri AdenSaturday April 4, 2026 Somalia's Agriculture minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir on a farm tour. / Others Somalia’s Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Mohamed Abdi Hayir, widely known as Mareeye, has delivered a blunt message about the country’s direction, urging Somalis, investors and decision-makers to place agriculture, livestock and fisheries at the center of national recovery and long-term growth. Speaking at length in Mogadishu, the minister laid out both the strain and the promise facing the country, saying…

Visiting the flood-swamped Zambezi region, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah urged displaced residents to accept government-distributed rice and to cooperate with relocation plans. She delivered the appeal while assessing the unfolding disaster on the ground. Weeks of heavy rain since January have submerged villages in the Kabbe South and Kabbe North constituencies. The rice, donated by South Korea, has drawn pushback from some residents who prefer maize meal and say they are unfamiliar with how to prepare it.…

Mexican naval forces have launched a search-and-rescue mission in the Caribbean after two sailboats carrying humanitarian supplies to Cuba failed to reach Havana as planned. The navy said the vessels departed from Isla Mujeres, in the state of Quintana Roo, last week en route to Havana with nine crew members of various nationalities aboard. Officials had expected the boats to arrive between 24 and 25 March, but the navy reported there has been no contact with the crews and no confirmation that the ships reached their…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — South West State Assembly Speaker Dr. Ali Said Fiqi on Sunday delivered a sharp rebuke over what he called the misuse of Egyptian military assistance, alleging that arms meant to protect the country are instead being turned against its own people. Dr. Fiqi said the consignment of small arms, provided by Egypt, was intended to strengthen Somalia’s national security and confront “the real enemies of the country.” He stressed the aid was never designed for deployment against Somali civilians or to…

Friday March 20, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Confronting soaring prices and a deepening hunger crisis, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Thursday urged business leaders, religious scholars and charitable organizations to rally support for drought-stricken families, with a special emphasis on orphans and other vulnerable groups. Delivering an Eid address to the nation, the president called for solidarity as nearly 6.5 million people in Somalia are projected to face crisis-level or worse food insecurity by the end of March,…