Blankets from Lesotho are at the centre of controversy in the fashion world, with some arguing that powerful people are appropriating them for their own benefit. BBC Africa’s Mayeni Jones reports from Cape Town. At a home in a quiet suburb of Cape Town city, fashion designer Thabo Makhetha shows me her latest collection. Originally […]
In our series of letters from African writers, Kenyan journalist Waihiga Mwaura looks at how the arrival of Chinese traders at the famous Gikomba market is both a blessing and a curse for Kenyans. It once was unheard of for a Chinese person to be doing business in any of Kenya’s markets. But this year […]
In our series of letters from African writers, Kenyan journalist Waihiga Mwaura looks at how the arrival of Chinese traders at the famous Gikomba market is both a blessing and a curse for Kenyans. It once was unheard of for a Chinese person to be doing business in any of Kenya’s markets. But this year […]
A chronology of key events: 2nd century AD – Kingdom of Axum becomes a regional trading power. 4th century – Christianity becomes state religion. King Ezana’s Stele: One of the 1700-year old obelisks erected by the Kingdom of Axum Ethiopia unveils ancient obelisk 1530-31 – Muslim leader Ahmad Gran conquers much of Ethiopia. 1818-68 – […]
For Ethiopia’s Orthodox Christians, the ancient city of Aksum is a sacred place, home to the Biblical Queen of Sheba and Ark of the Covenant. The ark is believed to contain the 10 commandments handed down to Moses by God, and is said to be under the guard of monks in the city. Some Muslim […]
Mauritania’s ruling party candidate has won the first democratic transition of power since independence in 1960. Mohamed Ahmed Oudl Ghazouani, a close ally of outgoing President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, won with 52% of votes. Four of the opposition candidates have rejected the results, which are expected to be submitted to the constitutional council for […]
A year ago, many Ethiopians would not have dared to imagine the spectacle they are being treated to right now, as the government intensifies its crackdown on alleged corruption and gross human rights violations within the military and intelligence services. The nation has watched in disbelief – and then cheered – as former high-ranking officers […]
Three suspected al-Shabab militants have been killed after they attacked a police camp in Kenya’s eastern County of Garissa, close to the border with Somalia, police say. Other fighters were repulsed by security officers, a statement said. At least eight Kenyan police officers were killed in an al-Shabab bomb attack last week in north-eastern Wajir […]
Order comes a month after special court denied Olympic champion’s appeal against testosterone suppressing treatment. Double Olympic champion Caster Semenya will be able to run in her favoured 800 metres event without medication to lower her testosterone levels until an appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal has been ruled on, her lawyers said on Monday. […]
One of Africa’s newest oil producers, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania bridges the Arab Maghreb and western sub-Saharan Africa. The largely-desert country presents a cultural contrast, with an Arab-Berber population to the north and black Africans to the south. Many of its people are nomads. In the Middle Ages Mauritania was the cradle of the […]