Abuja (AFP) - Ahmad Ahmad insisted Thursday he can bring widespread, meaningful change to African football if he unseats Issa Hayatou as president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Ahmad, a CAF executive committee member and head of the Madagascar football federation, made a whistle-stop visit to Nigeria to canvas for support in th ...

Nouakchott (AFP) - Three jihadist groups operating in the Sahel region have merged to form one single organisation, Mauritania's private news agency ANI said Thursday, citing a video distributed by the Islamists. Among the groups joining the merger south of the Sahara are Mali's Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine and Al-Murabitoun, led by Algerian extre ...

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 2 March 2017,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- Hitachi Data Systems (HDS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501), has appointed Niral Patel as General Manager for sub-Saharan Africa, effective 1 March 2017. In his new role, Patel will be responsible for driving business growth across the sub-Sahar ...

Geneva (AFP) - US President Donald Trump's attacks on Muslims and his support for strongman leaders are exacerbating an already dramatic rights decline in the Arab world, two Arab Spring champions said Thursday. Former Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki told reporters in Geneva that the respect for human rights in Arab countries has never been ...

Johannesburg The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) says Africa needs to invest in connecting infrastructure, which is key to drive attracting businesses to stimulate economic growth on the continent. ldquo;This can be channeled to attract business investment which in turn facilitates investment in social infrastructure, ...

GENEVA, Switzerland, 2 March 2017,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/---The 5th edition of the AFRICA CEO FORUM will take place from 20 - 21 March in Geneva and will focus on how to succeed in this new economic cycle on the continent. Having cemented its status as the foremost meeting dedicated to the development of the African private sector, ...

01 March 2017, Accra - Chris Cox, Chief Product Officer at Facebook, visited the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) in Accra, Ghana today to meet with Ghanaian entrepreneurs and see how they are working to build sustainable technology businesses. The visit is part of a week-long trip to Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal ...

Dar es Salaam (AFP) - Tanzanian civil society organisations have launched a year-long campaign calling on the government to respect freedom of expression and assembly. Launched on Wednesday, the campaign seeks to safeguard the freedoms of assembly and expression, said a statement from Tanzania's Legal and Human Rights Centre, one of the eight ...

Johannesburg (AFP) - South African telecoms giant MTN said Thursday that it made a $200 million loss in 2016 -- the company's first -- after suffering a huge fine in Nigeria and currency challenges in key markets. MTN Group's financial results for 2016 reflect the most challenging year in the company's 22-year history, MTN said in a statement. ...

Wellington (AFP) - Defending champions Wellington Hurricanes prepare to unleash their big guns this weekend but the pressure is on Super Rugby's lesser lights amid talk of slimming down the 18-team competition. Governing body SANZAAR meet next week to discuss how to tackle Super Rugby's unwieldy conference structure, exhausting travel schedules ...

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - UN Security Council envoys on Thursday travel to Africa's Lake Chad region, where famine, the Boko Haram insurgency, climate change and poor governance have collided to create one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The 15 ambassadors from the UN's top decision-making body hope to draw global attentio ...

Ouagadougou (AFP) - A film raging against colonialism and the exploitation of Africa wowed viewers at the continent's top cinema festival Wednesday, winning shouts of approval at a screening packed to bursting point. The African Storm tells the story of an African president who nationalises businesses run by racist, cynical Western executives. ...