1Everyone’s Holding their Breath for DRC’s Poll Result

Riot police have been deployed at the electoral commission’s headquarters in Kinshasa. Pre-election polls gave businessman Martin Fayulu a healthy lead but his supporters believe President Joseph Kabila plans to rig the vote in favor of his hand-picked candidate, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, or alternatively to forge a power-sharing pact with Felix Tshisekedi, head of the largest opposition party.

SOURCES: Reuters, BBC

2Africa’s Refugee Camps become Hunting Ground for Smugglers

Smugglers recently started operating a new form of tahriib, a “leave-now-pay-later” scheme that enables young refugees to travel without their parents’ knowledge or consent. A network of people finances the journey, with different groups assuming responsibility for the refugees along the route to Libya. What starts as a mutual agreement often ends in captivity.

SOURCES: The Guardian

3Giving a Voice to Senegalese Women Who’ve Been Told to ‘Suck it Up’

Senegalese blogger Ndambaw Kama Thiat and tech entrepreneur Olivia Codou co-founded #Nopiwouma on Twitter in November 2017 and created a Google form for women to file anonymous reports of harassment and abuse. They’ve received more than 100 unverified accounts many from women who had never before spoken about their experiences — privately or publicly.

SOURCES: CNN

4Kenya will Teach Mandarin in Classrooms

In a bid to improve job competitiveness and facilitate better trade and connection with China, the country’s curriculum development institute (KICD) has said the design and scope of the mandarin syllabus have been completed and will be rolled in out in 2020. Primary school pupils from grade four and onwards will be able to take the course.

SOURCES: Quartz Africa

5New Miss Algeria is Not the Queen the People Wanted

The first dark-skinned winner of the Miss Algeria beauty pageant has hit back at critics who have hurled racial abuse at her on social media. Beauty in Algeria and other North African countries is related to the colour of your skin – the whiter you are, in the view of many people in the region, the more beautiful you are. Miss Algerie, the pageant organiser, said it deplored “the racist behaviour and comments of several people as a result of publications and retouched photos”.

SOURCES: BBC

6More Arrests in a Scandal that Plunged Mozambique into Debt

At least 18 people, including a former finance minister who was arrested in South Africa, have been charged for fraud involving $2bn in loans to state-owned companies in Mozambique. The indictment came days after three ex-Credit Suisse bankers were charged in the United States with fraud over their role in Mozambique’s deal in 2013 to borrow money from international investors to fund projects that included a state tuna fishery.

SOURCES: Al Jazeera, Reuters

7Balancing Culture and Human Rights in Malawi

Malawian group Youthnet and Counselling, YONECO, wants to keep girls in school with a more age-appropriate initiation ritual. Child rights campaigners say the current initiation ritual fuels Malawi’s high rate of child marriage. Half the girls here marry before age 18. YONECO is working with initiation counselors and traditional leaders to tone down Malawi’s initiations. Already, some areas are banning the practice of encouraging sex after the ceremony.

SOURCES: VOA

8Can a Crop Crisis be Averted in Zimbabwe?

Farmers are urging authorities to undertake cloud seeding to ease an early-season drought that’s hurting crops and destroying cattle pastures. For decades farmers have been using seeded clouds with silver iodide, which can thicken them to encourage rain by cooling water droplets and making them heavier, however, the science is disputed by some meteorologists.

SOURCES: Business Day Live

9Managing Luxury Travel in Africa

According to Southern and East African Tourism Update, “Millionaire tourism in Africa has been on the rise for several years. In 2016, a study by a Johannesburg-based research institution found that in a period of 12 months, around 43,000 individuals with net assets of $10 million or more visited the continent for a holiday.”

SOURCES: Forbes Africa

10Egyptian Footballer Crowned the Best Again

Liverpool superstar Mohammed Salah recently walked away with the 2018 CAF African Player of the Year accolade and at the ceremony, the attacker was spotted dancing on stage after accepting his award.

SOURCES: Soccer Laduma

Source: Read Full Article