ADF

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has inaugurated the first turbine of a hydroelectric plant destroyed during the nation’s civil war. “Thank all of you for being a part of this historic day — the day when big lights in a small way replaced small lights of yesterday,” Sirleaf said during a ceremony at the Mount Coffee hydroplant in mid-December 2016. The plant, built in 1967, served the Liberian capital, Monrovia, and other areas until it was destroyed in 1990. Since the end of the country’s devastating 14-year civil war in 2003, the generation of electricity has been the…

MEDIA CLUB SOUTH AFRICA A new app called Pocket Reporter is aimed at citizen journalists, community journalists for independent publishers and those who want to share their stories with the wider world. Touted as a “news editor in your pocket,” it was launched in South Africa in October 2016. Raymond Joseph, a journalist at Code for South Africa (Code4SA), says developers created Pocket Reporter because many journalists, especially freelancers, do not have access to a news editor. Pocket Reporter was developed by Code4SA in partnership with the Association of Independent Publishers. Joseph says the partners conducted market research before building…

CHARITY CHIMUNGU PHIRI/INTER PRESS SERVICE For the first time, many Malawians living in rural areas are able to easily access the internet. It was the work of C3, a communication services provider and the first commercial entity to deploy nationwide TV White Spaces (TVWS) for a nine-month trial. Only 6.5 percent of Malawians are connected to the internet. To reach rural populations, C3 built TVWS. The new network relies on unused frequencies in the television spectrum, and there are plans to extend it nationwide. Service is distributed to communities, and people access the network via Wi-Fi. “It’s a cheap and…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Zambia has ordered the national Air Force into action to fight pests that have invaded maize crops and threatened vital food supplies. The Air Force is transporting pesticides across the country so that fields can be sprayed to combat infestations of armyworms, a type of moth larvae that can decimate crops. “The Zambia Air Force has since begun to airlift chemicals,” President Edward Lungu’s spokesman said. “The president has directed that the chemicals that were purchased under emergency operations should be distributed to all parts of the country.” Julius Shawa, permanent secretary of the Agriculture Ministry, told reporters…

Story and photo by JUSTUS WANZALA/INTER PRESS SERVICE Faced with growing degradation that is swallowing large swaths of land in arid and semiarid areas, Kenya is working to stop the encroachment of the desert and add trees suited to the climate. Kenya launched a program in September 2016 targeting 5.1 million hectares of degraded and deforested land for restoration by 2030, said Charles Sunkuli, secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. He added that Kenya is increasing its forest cover from 7 percent to a maximum of 10 percent. “We have introduced an equalization fund to help communities…

VOICE OF AMERICA Côte d’Ivoire adopted a new Constitution, with hopes it will support the nation’s emergence as one of Africa’s rising economic stars after years of violent upheaval. In October 2016, voters overwhelmingly endorsed the new charter, with 93 percent of ballots cast for “Yes” out of an official turnout of just more than 42 percent. The new Constitution was one of President Alassane Ouattara’s campaign promises during his re-election bid in 2015. It marks the third Constitution adopted by Côte d’Ivoire since independence in 1960, creating the country’s Third Republic. “The promises of the Third Republic are the…

ADF STAFF Habib Bourguiba was Tunisia’s first president and remains a towering figure in the country’s history. But like so many great leaders throughout world history, Bourguiba’s desire to stay in office led to his downfall. Wearing his trademark red fez, he was a flamboyant and shrewd politician who chose to outmaneuver his adversaries and critics, rather than bully them. He proved to be uniquely adapted to the Tunisian politics of his time. Bourguiba was born in 1903, the son of a civil servant and the youngest of eight children. When he was a young adult, one of his brothers…

The alkaline water in this lake is so caustic it can burn animals that have not adapted to it. More than 2 million lesser flamingos build nests here on small islands. The lake’s temperature can reach 41 degrees Celsius. This alkaline lake is one of two in the region, and it doesn’t drain into a sea or river. ANSWER: Lake Natron, Tanzania

U.S. Africa Command Staff Diminished but dangerous. That’s the current state of the extremist group al-Shabaab. Whereas it once controlled more than half of Somalia’s territory and a population of about 5 million people, today its members are on the run and control only about 11 percent of the country. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Somali National Army forces have fought and sacrificed greatly to push the group from its strongholds. Al-Shabaab’s key moneymaking locations, including the Port of Kismayo and the Bakara Market in Mogadishu, are back under government control. Life in the capital city…

Today is a truly historic day for Somalia, its resilient people, and all our brotherly neighbors and valuable partners. To you all, I say Somalia and Somalis have turned a new leaf, and we are writing a new chapter in our history. This chapter is characterized by hope, inclusive governance and development in all its forms. Somalia is a proud founding member state of IGAD, and it is therefore a source of enormous pride that we are finally hosting our first Heads of State and Government summit in Somalia.  Somalia, with the support of its African brothers, is successfully fighting…