Latest Africa News

Airstrike on insurgents mistakenly killed 10 civilians, Nigerian military says

Dec. 27, 2024 17:45 PM EST

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — An airstrike targeting an armed group in northwestern Nigeria mistakenly killed at least 10 civilians, the West African nation’s military said Friday. The villagers were killed on Christmas Day when the air force targeted a logistics base of the Lakurawa...

Southern Africa elections brought big changes in 2024

Dec. 24, 2024 00:00 AM EST

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — In Southern Africa, where democracy remains relatively stable, elections held in 2024 saw long-governing liberation parties struggling to survive. Across Africa, power struggles involving military governments, coup attempts and armed conflict are common, but...

France observes a day of mourning for victims of Cyclone Chido in its Mayotte territory off Africa

Dec. 23, 2024 10:07 AM EST

PARIS (AP) — France marked a day of mourning Monday for victims of Cyclone Chido, which devastated its poorest territory, Mayotte, over a week ago. The cyclone was the most destructive to hit Mayotte in 90 years and caused extensive damage to the island off Africa's east coast. At...

AP PHOTOS: Ballerinas turn one of Kenya's largest slums into a stage for a Christmas show

Dec. 23, 2024 03:37 AM EST

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — With perfect pirouettes and plies, dozens of young ballet dancers gracefully moved between the makeshift iron houses of one of Africa’s largest urban slums, spreading Christmas spirit. Hundreds of residents in Kenya’s Nairobi cheered as the nimble...

Destructive Cyclone Chido unearths a rift between locals and migrants in France's Mayotte

Dec. 22, 2024 11:37 AM EST

MAMOUDZOU, Mayotte (AP) — When Cyclone Chido ravaged Mayotte’s fragile infrastructure, it also exposed deep-seated tensions between the island’s residents and its large migrant population. Thousands of people who have entered the island illegally bore the brunt of the storm...

Why did at least 67 people die in Christmas charity stampedes in struggling Nigeria?

Dec. 22, 2024 11:18 AM EST

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Stampedes during three Christmas charity events across Nigeria have left at least 67 people dead in the past week, many of them children. Families are struggling during the country's worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. At least 35 children were killed...

Stampedes in Nigeria leave at least 32 dead during Christmas food distribution

Dec. 22, 2024 08:09 AM EST

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The death toll from stampedes during two Christmas charity events in Nigeria has increased from 13 to 32, police said Sunday. The victims, including at least four children, collapsed during crowd surges as people grew desperate for food items while the country grapples with...

13 people including children die in stampedes in Nigeria at Christmas charity events

Dec. 21, 2024 12:09 PM EST

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — At least 13 people, including four children, were killed in two separate stampedes in Nigeria as large crowds gathered to collect food and clothing items distributed at annual Christmas events, the police said Saturday. The two accidents came days after...

Ten people including children die in a stampede in Nigeria at a Christmas food distribution event

Dec. 21, 2024 08:23 AM EST

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Ten people, including four children, have been killed in a stampede in Nigeria’s capital city as a large crowd gathered to collect food items distributed by a local church at a Christmas event, the police said Saturday. The stampede occurred in the early...

UN food agency says 40 million people are struggling to feed themselves in West and Central Africa

Dec. 20, 2024 07:18 AM EST

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — More than 40 million people are now struggling to feed themselves across West and Central Africa with that number set to rise to 52 million by the middle of next year, the United Nations food agency said Friday. According to a new report released Friday, the...