Anti-gay laws were introduced to Africa by Western colonialists. Now, as former colonisers recognise LGBT rights Africa is still stuck in the past, writes Val Kalende At a time when more countries are moving towards inclusive human rights , Africa is taking steps backwards. Backwards, that is, specifically on the issue of gay rights, though sadly not to before colonialism, the era in which anti-gay...
Player aged 30 received fatal injury during championship football game in Gabon A team official says a goalkeeper has died after being kicked in the head during a championship tournament match in the west African country of Gabon. Sylvain Azougoui of the AC Bongoville football club had just stopped a shot on goal, but the attacker lost his balance on the wet grass and stepped on the goalkeeper's head....
Land access deal means Santos and AGL cannot drill without farmers consent Energy companies Santos and AGL have signed an agreement with farmers in NSW that will allow landholders to refuse coal seam gas activities on their properties. The deal will allow a farmer to say no to coal seam gas and bar entry to gas companies if permission is explicitly refused. ...
The African country is home to half the world's 100,000 forest elephants, coveted by ivory dealers for their tusks Poachers have killed more than 11,000 elephants in Gabon's Minkebe national park rainforest since 2004, Gabon's government said on Wednesday , with the massacre fuelled by increasing demand for ivory in Asia . The densely forested central African country is home to about half the world's...
North Africa and the Middle East have witnessed a string of uprisings and attempted revolutions but will the unrest threaten any of sub-Saharan Africa's long-lasting autocratic leaders? Take a look at our guide to the countries facing civil upheaval...
Oil and gas firms are drawn to producers in emerging nations such as Ghana, Gabon and Egypt with stable tax regimes Britain has become a riskier place for oil and gas companies to invest than developing countries such as Egypt, according to a leading City banker. Andrew Moorfield, global head of oil and gas at Lloyds Banking Group, says repeated government tampering with the UK tax system is severely...
Gabon's Jean Ping fails to secure two-thirds majority despite withdrawal of rival candidate Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma A high-profile race for the post of chairman of the African Union (AU) commission entered deadlock on Monday, splitting the organisation into anglophone and francophone blocs. Voting in the conference centre of the new $200m AU building donated by China produced no clear winner. The incumbent,...
French authorities are investigating the conspicuous Paris fortunes of three serving African leaders and their families At 42 Avenue Foch, the tree-lined boulevard that is one of Paris's most expensive streets, looms a five-storey private mansion complete with disco, spa room, hair salon, gold- and jewel-encrusted taps, lift, pastel pink dining room and a breathtaking balcony-view of the Arc de Triomphe....
s interim leader, Michel Djotodia, is facing pressure to step down at a summit of regional leaders on Thursday because of his inability to halt the bloodshed that has forced about a million people to flee their homes. Djotodia, who seized power in March at the head of the Seleka rebels, already lacked legitimacy in the eyes of other African governments. But he is considered an even greater liability...
s civil service employs 70,000 workers serving a population of 1.5 million. The government launched an overhaul of its civil service in 2009 after estimating that there were up to 10,000 fake employees, costing the central African nation 24 billion CFA francs ($50.3m) in salaries a year. Ireland: women outperform men to get top civil service jobs Women consistently outperform men at securing top jobs...
mafia-like network' of beneficiaries holding no official state jobs in African nation Prosecutors in Gabon say they have discovered evidence of 3,000 fake civil servants, each receiving monthly salaries despite holding no official positions. A corruption investigation in the central African nation – one of the continent's largest oil producers – has uncovered what is being described as a mafia-like...
s president, the Rwandan economist Donald Kaberuka , presented a global action plan addressing the problem along with the World Wildlife Fund . "This is not just an environmental problem," according to the bank's Marrakech Declaration. "The violence and damage now threaten peace and the rule of law, as well as the revenue many African countries earn from tourism and other wildlife uses; some of the...
s political opposition, a deal that will allow François Bozizé to remain in office until 2016, officials have said. The announcement came after days of talks in Gabon, which were organised after an alliance of rebels groups swept through the north of the country and seized control of a dozen towns. The agreement includes a provision that a prime minister will be appointed from the opposition, and legislative...
s Darfur region shows the difficulties faced by immunisation teams operating in some of Africa's most remote and under-developed regions. Since October, 116 people have died in five regions of western Sudan – central, east, west, north and south Darfur, and some 460 people have been infected. A yellow fever vaccination campaign has began in four of those regions, targeting some 2.4 million people....
s example by dropping French in favour of English, but evidence of the success of the radical education policy is still lacking Last month a spokesman for the president of Gabon announced that the west African state, which uses French as its official language, was considering following a lead set by Rwanda by switching to English. Rwanda has claimed that economic gain motivated its 2008 decision to...
s assets, Gabon has switched to English as its official language. Ouille! The news aimed to hurt and the timing couldn't have been blunter. As the 14th Francophonia Summit is about to open in Congo's Kinshasa, in the presence of French president François Hollande, its neighbour Gabon has just announced that it was striking off French as its official language. Ouch. Ouille. And has Gabon chosen to adopt...
Gabon's ambitious national conservation initiatives are being challenged by ivory poachers, loggers and the rural poor Jessica Aldred Eric Hilaire ...
luxury bolt holes In these times of financial crisis when the mega-rich are somehow getting ever richer, it's hard to choose one single symbol of mind-blowing, cash-scorching wealth and ostentation. There are plenty of possibilities in Paris, but none quite as disconcerting as 42 Avenue Foch. Walk up the Champs Elysées past the Louis Vuitton superstore, turn left at the Arc de Triomphe, and continue...
s home affairs minister, beats incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon to end months of deadlock A South African politician has become the first female leader of the African Union (AU) , ending months of bitter deadlock at the continental body. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma , South Africa's home affairs minister, was elected chair of the African Union Commission on Sunday at a summit of heads of state and government...
s home affairs minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, are engaged in a dogfight over who will take the commission's top job. The two went head to head at the January meeting in a close-fought contest . Dlamini-Zuma withdrew after the third ballot leaving the way clear for Ping, but he was unable to secure the two-thirds majority needed for outright victory and his term was extended for six months. The election...