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ADF STAFF Photo by AFP/GETTY IMAGES Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced sweeping reforms to the nation’s police force that change command structure, uniforms, housing and training. The new structure will merge the Administration Police, a paramilitary security force, with the Kenya Police to form a General Duty Police force, the newspaper The Standard reported. The deputy inspector general of police will command the force of 64,252 officers. There will be a new ceremonial uniform, renamed training institutions and new rules on housing allowances. In a September 2018 announcement, Kenyatta said the reforms began immediately and would continue for three years. The…

ADF STAFF Photo by AFP/GETTY IMAGES The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has acquired 30 aircraft and activated 13 grounded ones in the past three years in an effort to expand and modernize its air fleet. Chief of Air Staff Air Marshall Sadiq Abubakar discussed the acquisitions at the inauguration of the new Headquarters of Air Training Command at the Air Force Comprehensive School in Kaduna. “I am very happy,” Abubakar said in the speech as reported by the newspaper New Day. “In the last three years, we were able to acquire 18 aircraft; similarly the federal government has paid for [an]…

VOICE OF AMERICA Photo by AFP/GETTY IMAGES Throughout nearly six years of civil war, the military of the Central African Republic (CAR) has struggled to restore peace. Fighting with rebels and militias has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and accusations of human rights abuses and ethnic bias have left some civilians in fear of their protectors. The CAR minister of defense, Marie-Noëlle Koyara, hopes to change course. She’s leading efforts to rebuild the military’s reputation and restore the country’s security. “We want a professional army that will truly be of service to the people,” Koyara told VOA’s French to Africa…

REUTERS A radio campaign in Burkina Faso led to a significant rise in sick children getting medical attention and could prove to be one of the most cost-effective ways to save young lives in poor countries. Scientists say that a radio campaign in rural areas that promoted seeking treatment for three of the biggest killers of children under 5 — malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea — saved about 3,000 lives. The campaign, which the researchers said used a “saturation” method of intensive radio transmissions over an extended period to promote behavior change in a population, ran in Burkina Faso between 2012 and…

VOICE OF AMERICA Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS An entire generation has been born since Nelson Mandela’s 1990 release from a South African prison, where he spent almost three decades for his anti-apartheid activism. Ndaba Mandela wants to make sure those young people understand his grandfather’s role — and his values — in fighting for racial equality and trying to heal divisions in post-apartheid South Africa.  “That is the very reason why I wrote this book,” Ndaba Mandela says of Going to the Mountain. His goal with the memoir is to show the elder Mandela “not as this huge, great icon”…

REUTERS Photo by AFP/GETTY IMAGES Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s top cocoa producer, plans to build a 60- to 70-megawatt biomass power generation plant running on waste from cocoa pods, part of its aim of developing 424 megawatts of biomass power generation capacity by 2030. The plant, which will enable Côte d’Ivoire to diversify its electricity generation sources, was among five projects to receive grants from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. Others included a hydropower project in Kokumbo, in the central part of the country. The biomass power station, the first in Côte d’Ivoire, would be based in the southern cocoa…

THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION Photo by THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION Halima Sheikh Ali is the proud owner of one of the few ATMs in Wajir town in northeast Kenya. But rather than doling out shilling notes, it dispenses something tastier: fresh camel milk. “For 100 Kenyan shillings [$1], you get a liter of the freshest milk in Wajir County,” she said, opening a vending machine advertising “fresh, hygienic and affordable camel milk” to check the liquid’s temperature. East Africa, one of the world’s biggest camel producers, also produces much of the world’s camel milk, almost all of it consumed domestically. “Camel milk…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Photo by AFP/GETTY IMAGES Rwanda has begun producing locally built cars at Volkswagen’s new factory in the capital, Kigali. The Polo is the first model being made at the site, and the German automaker plans to reach annual production of 5,000 cars in the first phase by also building its Passat, Tiguan, Amarok and Teramont models. Volkswagen, Europe’s biggest carmaker, has invested $20 million in Rwanda and is expected to create up to 1,000 jobs. The company plans to sell vehicles and use them in an Uber-like car-sharing system that will let people book rides using smartphones.…

VOICE OF AMERICA Photo by REUTERS East African leaders have agreed to build a railroad and highway network to improve regional travel, trade and security. In their 14th meeting on the plan in mid-2018, representatives of eight countries gave Kenya the go-ahead to continue building its standard-gauge railways to the Uganda border. Kenya is finishing the second phase of the rail line between Nairobi and Naivasha. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta told his counterparts that plans are underway to extend the line. Uganda and Rwanda also are planning to extend railway connections to the countries after Kenya completes its part. The meeting…

REUTERS Photo by REUTERS Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has arranged more than $4.5 billion in financing for his Nigerian oil refinery project and aims to start production in early 2020. Dangote, who built his fortune in cement, is constructing the world’s largest single oil refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day to help reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum. Despite being a crude oil exporter, Nigeria imports the bulk of its petroleum because of a lack of domestic refining capacity. Lenders will commit $3.15 billion, with the World Bank’s private sector arm providing $150 million, Dangote said. He…