BERLIN — On the eve of the U.N.-recognized World Press Freedom Day, several African journalists visiting here for an industry conference reflected on the state of media freedom in their home countries. They painted a picture of a continent where, despite some positive strides, media oppression has yet to be overcome by government respect — and public demand — for the basic rights to know and inform. The tiny Horn of Africa country of Eritrea is among the world’s top oppressors of the free press, according to the latest press freedom rankings from Reporters Without Borders (RWB). Even South Africa, [...]
Gunmen launched a brazen pre-dawn raid on an oil field in southern Ethiopia on April 24, killing 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese workers in their sleep. The attack was the direct result of the spreading instability on the Horn of Africa, where the violence in Somalia following Ethiopia’s invasion is bleeding across the border, back into Ethiopia. While the attack was apparently not aimed at China, it highlighted the growing backlash against China across Africa. As part of Beijing’s “Go Abroad” strategy, under which Chinese firms are encouraged to invest around the world to help fuel China’s rapidly expanding economy, [...]
Nigerian President-elect Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’Adua has pledged to secure the insurgent-riddled Niger Delta in an apparent bid to solidify his contested victory in last month’s election and prove his commitment to the country’s resource and revenue base. “If government must succeed in its bid to secure the country, it must secure the Niger Delta region,” said Yar’Adua Friday in one of his first official appeals as the troubled West African nation’s next elected leader. “I have given my pledge that the Niger Delta is a strategic part of this nation and will be treated as such. We will take [...]
