Africa Today

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE When it opened in 1960, the Ducor hotel in Monrovia, Liberia, was one of the only five-star hotels in Africa, boasting a nightclub and air-conditioned rooms, according to travel guides. It hosted VIPs such as…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE | photos by AFP/GETTY IMAGES Hundreds of children in Kipushi, a mining city in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), finally received birth certificates that allow them to attend school for free.…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE In the northern Senegalese city of Saint-Louis, excavators are ripping up the beach to lay giant basalt blocks in an 11th-hour effort to keep the sea at bay. When finished, a black sea wall will stretch 3.6…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE During the week, Dr. Georges Bwelle, 49, specializes in intestinal surgery at the main hospital in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital. On weekends, though, he takes to the road. He leads a team of volunteers that crams…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE At twilight, tens of thousands of bats darken the skies over Abidjan’s business quarter as they squeak their way between buildings in Côte d’Ivoire’s economic hub. The scene is a feature of the city’s Plateau…

VOICE OF AMERICA Malaria kills more than 400,000 people each year, and most victims are in Africa. Now Target Malaria, an international group of scientists, is working in Burkina Faso on a genetic solution. Abdoulaye Diabate of the…