Africa StreaM

France's foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Friday voiced concern about the spread of Islamist extremism in west Africa, after talks with Togo's leader, Faure Gnassingbe. Violence by jihadist groups has blighted the Sahel region for the last decade, and is now spreading into northern regions of coastal countries such as Togo.

Pope Leo XIV visited a notorious prison in Bata on the last leg of his Africa tour Wednesday, delivering a rare public critique of inmate conditions in Equatorial Guinea. In his address, the pontiff urged respect for human dignity, highlighting concerns about overcrowding and justice in a country long accused of rights abuses.

Yousra Elbagir, a journalist with British TV channel Sky News, has become the target of a smear campaign by supporters of Burkina Faso's junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traoré after she raised questions about security in the country and the repression of free speech.

Nigeria on Tuesday charged six people with terrorism and treason over an alleged coup attempt intended to overthrow President Bola Tinubu. The six, including a retired major general and a serving police inspector, are all in custody.

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday in the final stop on his four-nation visit to Africa during which he has repeatedly called for an end to corruption. The Pope is expected to share frank views when he meets with Equatorial Guinea's longstanding leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been widely accused of corruption and authoritarianism.

Pope Leo XIV visited a historic Angolan shrine once tied to the trans-Atlantic slave trade on Sunday, recalling the “sorrow and great suffering” endured by generations of Africans. His remarks come amid renewed scrutiny of the Catholic Church’s historical role in slavery and colonial-era doctrine.

The DR Congo government and the AFC/M23 group announced Sunday they had reached an agreement to facilitate humanitarian aid deliveries and release prisoners within 10 days. The Rwanda-backed AFC/M23 group has seized large swaths of territory in the eastern part of DR Congo since 2021.

Pope Leo XIV denounced the “social and environmental disasters” linked to a “logic of extractivism” on Saturday, the first day of his visit to Angola, a country marked by decades of exploitation of its vast resources.

The proliferation of artificial intelligence could spread “polarisation, conflict, fear and violence”, Pope Leo XIV told students at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé on Friday. The pope has slammed tyrants, corruption and neocolonial world powers over the course of his 11-day tour of Africa.

Gabon’s main opposition leader and former prime minister Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze was placed in pre-trial detention Thursday night following his arrest over allegations of fraud and breach of trust linked to a 2008 cultural festival. The case has sparked criticism from his party, which says the move is politically motivated.

Pope Leo XIV condemned "a handful of tyrants" that were ravaging the world with war on Thursday, calling instead for the billions spent every year on weapons to go instead towards healthcare and education. The pontiff's strident comments came during a visit to Cameroon's separatist west, where thousands of people have been killed in a years-long conflict.

An anti-France activist and influencer has been arrested in South Africa for “inciting rebellion” by openly supporting last year’s foiled coup in Benin. Kemi Seba was born in France to Benin parents but was stripped of his French nationality two years ago for his many attempts to fuel anti-French sentiment. He has more than 1.5 million followers on social media and has been accused of acting as a mouthpiece for Russian propaganda.

Three years into a war that has displaced 11 million people and killed tens of thousands, Sudan’s conflict remains deadlocked, with civilians trapped in a cycle of violence and deprivation and no viable path to peace.

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Cameroon Wednesday for the next stop on his 11-day apostolic journey across Africa. Separatist groups in the English-speaking west declared a three-day ceasefire to allow the pontiff to travel to the conflicted region.

Sudan’s government on Wednesday slammed a donor conference hosted by Germany as “surprising and unacceptable”, saying the event meddles in the country’s internal affairs and was organised without consulting Khartoum. The conference is being held as the brutal war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) enters its fourth year.

Dozens of military vehicles transported from Russia were delivered to Mali through the port of Conakry, Guinea, in late March. The equipment was carried by a Russian cargo ship currently under international sanctions.

Pope Leo XIV arrived Tuesday in the city of Annaba, following in the footsteps of his spiritual father St. Augustine, on the second day of his historic Algeria trip marred by two suicide attacks.

Nearly 700 civilians have been reported killed in drone strikes so far this year, the United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher said Tuesday, lamenting that "the world has failed to meet the test of Sudan" after three years of a gruesome civil war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 11 million.

Benin opposition candidate Paul Hounkpe suffered a bruising election loss on Monday after conceding to favourite Romuald Wadagni in Benin's presidential vote.