Author: Editorial Staff

AFRICAN Energy Week (AEW) 2023 is all set to take the energy world by storm, as it proudly announces the launch of its highly anticipated programme ahead of the conference, scheduled for October 16-20. This comprehensive programme is now available on the event’s official website and will be distributed through various communication channels. It outlines a thrilling lineup of panel discussions, presentations, keynotes, and forums that attendees can expect during the upcoming week. In line with the conference’s overarching theme, The African Energy Renaissance: Prioritising Energy Poverty, People, the Planet, Industrialisation, and Free Markets, AEW 2023 promises to offer the…

BRITAIN’S King Charles and his wife Camilla will travel to Kenya for a four-day state visit at the end of this month where he will acknowledge ‘painful aspects’ of its colonial past, Buckingham Palace said on Wednesday. It will be the third foreign trip by the royals since Charles became king following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth in September last year, and their first to a nation in the Commonwealth, the voluntary association which he also heads. The destination is particularly symbolic for Charles as his late mother was in Kenya on a royal tour with her husband…

BRITAIN’S King Charles III will travel to Kenya later this month for a state visit full of symbolism: His mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, learned she had become queen while visiting a game preserve in the East African nation in 1952. The trip, announced Wednesday by Buckingham Palace, will be Charles’ first to a Commonwealth nation since he succeeded his mother last year, underscoring the king’s commitment to an organisation that has been central to Britain’s global power and prestige since World War II. During the October 31-November 3 visit, Charles plans to meet with Kenyan President William Samoei…

THE United States announced on Tuesday its decision to curtail most forms of assistance to the Nigerien government after formally designating the military takeover that occurred in July as a coup d’etat. The action came as a response to growing concerns over the political instability in the West African nation. The Biden administration’s decision means that the previously paused $200 million in US aid has now been entirely suspended. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, ‘Any resumption of US assistance will require action by the military junta to usher in democratic governance in a quick and credible timeframe.’ While stressing…

FRENCH troops have started leaving Niger more than two months after soldiers toppled the African country’s democratically elected president, the military said Wednesday. More than 100 troops left in two flights from the capital Niamey on Tuesday in the first of what will be several rounds of departures between now and the end of the year, said French military spokesman, Col. Pierre Gaudilliere. All are returning to France, he said. Niger’s state television broadcast images of a convoy leaving a base in Ouallam in the north, saying it was bound for neighbouring Chad, to the east. The departure comes weeks…

NAMIBIA expects the first oil from major offshore finds by 2030 and is considering a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) platform to help it export the crude oil, its petroleum commissioner said on Wednesday. Namibia, which has yet to produce any oil and gas, has attracted strong interest from international energy companies after Shell and TotalEnergies  made discoveries off the coast of the southern African country. Petroleum commissioner Maggy Shino said at an oil conference in Cape Town, South Africa, that the two oil companies were conducting appraisal tests to determine if they contained commercial amounts of oil that…

AIR France will resume flights to Mali beginning on Friday, the airline has said, just over two months after suspending its service following a coup in neighbouring Niger. ‘In coordination with the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) and Malian authorities, Air France will resume service to Bamako from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport from 13 October, 2023,’ a spokesman told  Frenc news agency AFP. Air France suspended flights to Mali and Burkina Faso after the airspace in neighbouring Niger was closed by the coup leaders, who seized power on 26 July. The initial suspension was just for several days, but…

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin discussed trade and security with Mali’s leader on Tuesday in their third phone conversation in less than two months, the Kremlin said. The frequency of Putin’s contacts with Mali’s interim president Assimi Goita underlines Moscow’s strong interest in building its influence in the coup-prone Sahel region of West Africa where it is cultivating strong security ties at the expense of France and the United States. The two leaders discussed their ‘mutual commitment to further strengthening trade and economic ties, security cooperation and the fight against terrorism,’ the Kremlin said in a statement reported by Reuters. Goita,…

KENYA’S high court temporarily barred on Monday deployment of the country’s security forces to other countries for two weeks until a case filed by a local politician challenging such action as unconstitutional is looked into. This came after Kenya agreed to lead a multi-national force to combat gang violence in Haiti following a United Nations Security Council resolution approved last week. The mission would be funded by voluntary contributions, with the US pledging up to $200 million. Former presidential candidate, Ekuru Aukot, filed a petition Friday against the deployment of Kenyan forces, arguing that the law allowing the president to…

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Niger’s deposed President Mohamed Bazoum ahead of an expected decision by the Biden administration to formally declare that his overthrow was a coup d’etat. The State Department said Blinken called Bazoum on Monday to stress that a restoration of a freely elected government remains the best way for Niger to not only succeed for its people but also to remain a key partner of the US and others in countering extremism. In the call, Blinken ‘reiterated that a democratically elected, civilian-led government presents the best opportunity to ensure that Niger remains a strong…