Africa

Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina has named Ruphin Fortunat Zafisambo, a military general, as the country’s new prime minister, a week after dissolving the government.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will lend Nigeria $500 million this year as part of a $1 billion budget support programme, an executive director of the bank said on Monday.

At least 13 civilians have been killed and 19 others injured in shelling by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in North Darfur, local doctors said on Monday.

Mauritania has reported 15 deaths and 202 infections from an outbreak of diphtheria in the country’s southeast.

Protesters returned to the streets of cities in Madagascar on Monday for a third week.

Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese civilians trapped in cities under paramilitary siege are struggling to survive, eating leaves with no aid allowed in more than two years into their country’s war.

The conviction marks the first ICC verdict related to the Darfur conflict and is expected to serve as a precedent for accountability in one of Africa’s longest-running humanitarian crises.

The authorities have started removing concrete barriers under a 30-day initiative to ease traffic congestion and restore the capital’s urban flow and appearance.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, which accounts for about 70% of global cobalt output, halted exports in February after prices of the critical electric battery metal hit a nine-year low.

Authorities said the training is another milestone in Somalia’s efforts to strengthen the professionalism, skills, and operational capacity of the Somali Armed Forces.