ADF

VOICE OF AMERCA Nigeria hosted the second annual Keffi polo tournament in May 2016, with 16 teams participating. The so-called sport of kings, seen by some as an activity with complicated rules and accessible only to the wealthy, does not yet have a large following in Nigeria. Nonetheless, about 3,000 fans turned out to watch the 5th Chukker Polo Club of Kaduna take on the Kano Titans in the semifinals at the Keffi Polo Ranch. The crowd cheered as Argentine player Manuel Crespo scored for Kaduna. Despite what people think, Crespo said, polo is not just for the rich. “You…

THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION Amnesty International has given its top 2016 human rights award to Grammy Award-winning musician Angélique Kidjo and to three African youth activist movements for standing up to injustice. Benin-born Kidjo and groups Y’en a marre from Senegal, le Balai Citoyen from Burkina Faso, and Lutte pour le Changement (LUCHA) from the Democratic Republic of the Congo have shown “exceptional courage,” Amnesty said. They “have all proved themselves to be bold advocates for human rights, using their talents to inspire others,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty’s secretary-general. Previous winners of the Ambassador of Conscience Award include South African leader…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s rumba king, Papa Wemba, was posthumously awarded one of his country’s highest honors in May 2016, after he collapsed on stage and died at age 66. At a ceremony in the national Parliament in Kinshasa, where Papa Wemba’s body lay in state, DRC’s President Joseph Kabila made the singer a grand officer of the Order of National Heroes Kabila-Lumumba for “the merits, the loyal and eminent services rendered to the Congolese nation.” Papa Wemba collapsed while performing at a festival in Côte d’Ivoire on April 24, 2016. The flamboyant musician, who led…

REUTERS Senegal and the United States signed a cooperation agreement to ease the deployment of American troops to the West African nation to counter humanitarian crises, natural disasters and terrorist attacks. “Terrorism knows no border, and it’s very important for everyone to cooperate,” James Zumwalt, U.S. ambassador to Senegal, said during a joint news conference in Dakar with Senegalese Foreign Minister Mankeur Ndiaye. About 40 U.S. Department of Defense personnel are stationed in Senegal, according to U.S. Africa Command. The U.S. Embassy in Dakar said that number would not increase under the deal. “This agreement is about access, is about…

THE NEW TIMES, RWANDA For six years, members the Rwanda National Police have served as part of the U.N. mission in Haiti. The contingent, called a “formed police unit,” has 160 members, and 26 other Rwandan police officers are stationed in various sectors across the country. During a visit to the contingent in June 2016, Rwandan Inspector General of Police Emmanuel Gasana met with police deployed in Jeremie, Haiti. Gasana urged the police officers to uphold Rwandan values, maintain professional conduct and live up to the required standards when executing the mission mandate. He further reminded the officers that they…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Nigeria played host to an international summit in May 2016 to search for solutions to the violence caused by extremist group Boko Haram. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari welcomed leaders from West and Central Africa — from Benin, as well as Chad, Niger and Cameroon, where the group has launched attacks. French President Francois Hollande and high-ranking diplomats from the United States, United Kingdom and European Union also attended the talks in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. The final communique produced at the summit said a global approach was required, using hard and soft power, to end the threat. Britain’s…

THE DAILY NATION, KENYA A new Kenya Air Force unit will operate behind enemy lines to ensure no Soldier is left on the battlefield, especially during the ongoing war against al-Shabaab in Somalia. The main objective of the team, unveiled in June 2016 by Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo, is to safely recover forces who have been captured, downed from an airplane, ejected from a fighter aircraft or inadvertently lost in enemy territory. The special unit hopes to gain capabilities modeled after the U.S. Navy’s Seal Team 6. The decision to establish the unit was made a priority after a Kenya…

REUTERS The United States donated jeeps, communications technology and small aircraft to Tunisia to help protect the border with Libya, where ISIS has gained ground and set up training camps. The North African country was also expecting to receive a number of attack aircraft, Defense Minister Farhat Horchani said, although he did not give details on who would supply them. Tunisia had already built a 200-kilometer barrier along the frontier to guard against militants since gunmen trained in Libya targeted tourists in attacks on a beach hotel and a Tunis museum in 2015. ISIS also launched a major assault on…

THE DAILY MONITOR, UGANDA Uganda will establish a new specialized mountain warfare force to secure the nation’s mountainous regions. President Yoweri Museveni made the announcement at Kyanjuki village in Kasese district at the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains in June 2016. He explained that the difficult terrain needs to be secured to promote tourism. “These places such as the Rwenzori Mountains are very beautiful, and we should cherish them and make them safe,” Museveni said. “Even non-Ugandans love them; that’s why you see them coming here every day and visiting to see them, and as a country, we earn from…

REUTERS In a renovated warehouse in Kinshasa, dozens of young Congolese workers wear headsets and sit in rows of identical orange cubicles, fielding phone calls in six languages. The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s first call center gives a glimpse of how the country could follow a path already taken by the Philippines and India and offer jobs to a growing workforce. The Congo Call Center (CCC) handles queries from 8,500 people each day on everything from phone bills to spiritual anxiety and domestic abuse or sexual violence. Domestic clients include two large telecom providers, banks, the local operations of…