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Chinese automaker Chery buys Nissan plant in Africa as EV production shifts to new markets 

Africa's rapidly growing population and expanding middle class present a significant market for affordable electric vehicles, while also assisting governments in decreasing reliance on imported fuel.

Chinese automakers are increasingly shifting from exporting vehicles to building them in Africa, betting that rapid urbanization, a growing middle class and supportive government policies will make the continent one of the industry’s last major growth markets.  It’s part of a strategy for coping with slowing demand at home and rising trade barriers in Europe and North America. Analysts say …

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US carries out its first deportations under pact for Liberia to accept 1,200 non-Liberians 

United States on August 20 carried out its first deportation under an agreement for Liberia to accept up to 1,200 people who are not from the African country, one of the Trump administration’s largest efforts yet to deport people to countries other than their own.  The 20 deportees arrived at Roberts International Airport outside Monrovia.   Deportees will …

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South Africa’s former world boxing champion Tete shot dead outside his home 

Former world boxing champion Zolani Tete

Former world boxing champion Zolani “Last Born” Tete was shot dead outside his ​home in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province ‌on August 21, police and the country’s sports minister said.  The 38-year-old was arriving at his residence in Mdantsane township when ​two armed men wearing balaclavas got out ​of a vehicle and opened fire.  “I will not ⁠speculate about who did this or why,” ​Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie …

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Nigeria orders investigation into second fake government agency

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on August 21 ordered an investigation into a man accused of creating and running a fake government agency, the second such agency uncovered in the country in recent weeks.  Musa Adamu Aliyu, the head of the country’s corruption watchdog, announced the investigation after briefing the president in the capital, Abuja.  The latest bogus agency, called the National …

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Cameroon’s President Biya returns after a long stay abroad raises health concerns

President Paul Biya

President Paul Biya returned to Cameroon on August 20 after staying abroad for more than two months, which had raised concerns about the 93-year-old leader’s health and a possible power vacuum in the Central African country.  Biya arrived at the international airport in the capital, Yaoundé, aboard a flight from Geneva, Switzerland, after more than 10 weeks away.   The world’s oldest president, who has led Cameroon since …

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Liberia charges former vice president with drug trafficking and other offenses

Former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor

Liberia has charged former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering and other offenses as part of an investigation into an alleged transnational narcotics network, the Justice Ministry said on August 19.  Howard-Taylor, who was vice president from 2018 to 2024, was stopped while attempting to leave Liberia at Roberts International Airport and taken to Liberia National Police headquarters, the ministry …

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Zambian opposition leader to try to overturn election result in court

Opposition leader Brian Mundubile

Zambian opposition leader Brian Mundubile said on August 19 ‌that he would challenge the results of the August 13 presidential election in court, alleging vote fraud in the contest that handed President Hakainde Hichilema a second term in office.  “Our campaign has documented serious irregularities, inconsistencies ​and circumstances surrounding the conduct, counting, transmission and declaration of results,” Mundubile said in ​a statement.  A spokesperson for Hichilema declined immediate …

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A $50 million hostage ransom funded al Qaeda’s Mali offensive, UN says

An estimated $50 million ransom paid to free a hostage seized by al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali in late 2025 has helped to fund their advances across ​West Africa and the group’s global network, U.N. experts said.  A new U.N. report detailing the use of the ransom did not identify the hostage or say who had made …

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Ebola spreading exponentially in Congo as death toll tops 2,500, UN says

More than 2,500 people have now ​died in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak, which is spreading exponentially in an area ‌larger than France, senior United Nations Ebola coordinator Julien Harneis said on August 21.  Speaking on a video call from the northeastern Congolese city of Bunia, Harneis called for more aid, saying an existing pool of funds is set to …

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Fractured opposition battles Nigeria’s Tinubu as presidential campaigns begin

President Bola Tinubu

Nigeria on August 19 kicked off campaigns for the presidential election scheduled in January, with incumbent President Bola Tinubu seeking reelection against a fractured opposition.  Africa’s most populous country will hold the election against a backdrop of worsening economic and security crises that have caused anger among voters against Tinubu’s government.  The presidential vote will be held Jan. 16 alongside parliamentary elections, while …

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