🇨🇩 Death toll from Congo floods rises to 401

The death toll from flooding that hit two villages in east Democratic Republic of Congo last week has risen to 401, provincial governor told.

Torrential rain in Kalehe territory in South Kivu province caused rivers to overflow on Thursday, inundating the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi

#DRC

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🇿🇼 Invictus Energy confirms oil, gas and helium find in Zimbabwe

Australia-listed Invictus Energy on Monday confirmed the presence of light oil, gas condensate and helium at its Cabora Bassa project in Zimbabwe, sending its shares up 8.7%.

The company said that mud gas analysis from the Mukuyu-1 well drilled last year had proved the presence of hydrocarbons in multiple reservoir pay zones.

“Analysis shows the presence of light oil and rich natural gas condensate, with condensate gas ratios estimated at between 30 and 135 barrels per million cubic feet," it said. The analysis also confirmed the presence of helium gas in commercial concentrations comparable with global helium producing fields, the company added.

Invictus said it plans to drill a second well, Mukuyu-2, during the third quarter of this year.

#Zimbabwe

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🇨🇲 Gunmen kill journalist in restive northwest Cameroon

Gunmen shot dead a journalist late on Sunday in Bamenda, the local journalists' union said, in at least the third killing of a media worker in the country this year.

Anye Nde Nsoh, the west and northwest region bureau chief for weekly newspaper the Advocate, was in a pub in Bamenda's Ntarikon neighbourhood when unidentified assailants opened fire on him.

The Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) confirmed Nsoh's death and called for an investigation. "This latest attack on a journalist is one too many. The long-drawn conflict in the northwest and southwest regions has pitched journalists into grave danger," said CAMASEJ President.

#Cameroon

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🇿🇦 South Africa's Redefine reports 9.2% fall in distributable income

South African commercial property group Redefine reported on Monday that its half-year distributable income fell 9.2% and declared an interim divided of 20.32 cents, down 14.2% from the previous period.

Redefine, which owns retail, office and industrial properties valued at 94.1 billion rand, said its active South African portfolio vacancy rate increased to 7.5% from 6.7% last year as the vacancy in industrial rose to 4.9%. The office vacancy rate dipped to 14.3% from 14.4% over the same period.

But revenue was capped by negative rental reversions - when a tenant pays a lower rental on a lease than they did before - and disposals.

#SouthAfrica

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🇳🇬 Nigerian police rescue 58 kidnap victims

Police in Nigeria say they have rescued 58 people who had been abducted and held hostage by criminal gangs in central Kogi state. It was not clear how long they had been held.

A police spokeswoman said the rescue was a joint operation in Udulu Forest which was carried out with local volunteer defence groups. She said the kidnapping gang escaped with injuries and one of the hostages died during the operation.

#Nigeria

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🇨🇩 DR Congo holds day of mourning as floods kill hundreds

A day of national mourning is being held in the Democratic Republic of Congo where more than 400 bodies have been recovered following floods and landslides in the east of the country.

Many people are still missing and are feared to be under mud that covered two villages in Kalehe district. Some bodies were found in nearby Lake Kivu.

A government delegation from the capital Kinshasa has been sent to the area - four days after the floods and landslides hit.

#DRC

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🇸🇦🇸🇩 Saudi Arabia expecting effective ceasefire as a result of Sudan's warring parties talks

Saudi Arabia says it expects talks which began in Jeddah on Saturday between Sudan's warring military factions will reach an effective ceasefire.

In the first confirmation that the meetings had started, the Saudi foreign ministry said both sides recognised the need to ease the suffering of the Sudanese people.

It said, as well as stopping the fighting, the aim was to ensure the delivery of relief supplies and the restoration of essential services.

However, as of now, talks were not fruitful, since both warring parties are sure they can win.

#SaudiArabia #Sudan

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🇺🇬 Explosives were discovered in Uganda ahead of protests

Uganda’s security forces say they have discovered explosives intended for use during planned anti-government protests in the capital Kampala.

An activist group, Uganda Freedom Activists, has called for nationwide protests on Monday against corruption and economic hardships in the country.

Defence spokesperson, Brig Felix Kulayigye, said the explosives were found in Nabweru on the road to Kazo in central Wakiso district.

“These were to be used today in the city by those planning to paint it red,” Brig Kulayigye said. Four people were arrested for alleged possession of improvised explosive devices, the army said.

#Uganda

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🇰🇪 Autopsies rule out organ harvesting in Kenya cult deaths

Autopsies on at least 112 bodies of cult victims exhumed from shallow graves in Kenya’s coastal Kilifi county have ruled out organ harvesting.

Government pathologists said some of the victims died of starvation, strangulation and suffocation.

Kenyan police are expected dig up more graves in search of victims of the cult whose leader, Pastor Paul Mackenzie, allegedly encouraged them to fast to death in order to go to heaven.

The Kenyan Red Cross said that 360 people had been reported missing, while the authorities say at least 60 others have been rescued alive.

#Kenya

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🇨🇮 The party of former Ivorian President creates a body to fight against electoral fraud

The party of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo the creation of a body to fight against electoral fraud, four months before the regional and municipal elections and two years before the presidential one.

"Electoral fraud has become so commonplace that it appears to some to be a normal mode of operation," said the person who is to lead the new body, Habiba Touré, a lawyer and former chief of staff of Gbagbo.

The "mission" of the device will be to "monitor, detect" and "denounce" the "irregularities observed in the electoral process", specified the lawyer. Supported by a central office of about fifteen people, "sentinels" in "our regions and our municipalities" will be "our eyes and ears", she added.

#IvoryCoast

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🇸🇳 Senegal's opposition leader refuses to co-operate with court without safety guarantees

Senegalese opposition figure, Ousmane Sonko, said that he will refuse to cooperate with the judicial authorities if they cannot guarantee his safety. The announcement comes on the eve of Sonko's appeal in a defamation case.

"This is no longer justice, it is judicial banditry. And this is why I have decided, still within the framework of my campaign of civic disobedience, to no longer collaborate with this justice", he announced.

"By hiding behind your robes and behind a false interpretation of the law, you are attacking a man who has done nothing to you. You think that you can go on with your life as if nothing had happened. You are mistaken. All those who have participated in these plots, I swear to God, in one way or another will be held accountable", promised Sonko.

#Senegal

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🇳🇬 In Nigeria tribunal hears bid to annul Tinubu's election win

A tribunal has begun hearing a petition by several opposition candidates in Nigeria to annul Bola Tinubu's victory in February's presidential election

Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar are challenging Tinubu's victory on several grounds - including the fact that the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) failed to upload the result on its website portal in real-time.

They allege that this was in breach of the Electoral Act, and Inec's promise to ensure transparency.

A verdict is not expected before Mr Tinubu's inauguration on 29 May.

#Nigeria

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🧨⚡️Sasria will no longer provide cover for riot damage if the power grid collapses

SA's special risk state-owned insurer will no longer provide cover for damage to property caused during riots and protests that could break out in the event the country's electricity grid collapses.

The decision by the South African Special Risks Insurance Association (Sasria) follows moves by SA's big short-term insurers who have pulled, or plan to remove, grid failure cover from their policies this year.

From 1 June, all Sasria policies will not indemnify people and business from "any loss, damage, cost or expense, directly or indirectly caused by, arising out of, in any way or to any extent contributed to by, or in connection with electricity grid failure". This exclusion applies to "any riot, strike or public disorder (including civil commotion, labour disturbances or lock-outs)" that are directly or indirectly caused by the grid failure.

It will also not cover problems arising from disruptions to water supply, telecoms systems or sewerage, and losses from rotting food.

https://www.news24.com/fin24/companies/sasria-will-no-longer-provide-cover-for-riot-damage-if-the-power-grid-collapses-20230508

🇸🇩 Hospital attacked and banks looted in Sudan

Reports from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, suggest that looting has become such a severe problem that it's causing shortages of basic supplies.

Doctors report that a criminal gang - armed with knives and guns - tried to break into his hospital overnight, as rival military factions continue to fight for control of the city.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been seen looting banks.

As well as the destruction caused by airstrikes and clashes between the rival forces, there are worrying signs of anarchy in Khartoum.

#Sudan

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💰🇳🇪 IMF and Niger reach staff agreement on new $133 mln financing

International Monetary Fund staff have reached agreement with Niger's government on new financing of around $133 million and the third review of another facility that could lead to a disbursement of about $27 million, the IMF said on Tuesday.

The agreement is subject to the approval of the IMF executive board, which is due to discuss it in July.

The $133 million funding, under the IMF's Resilience and Sustainability Facility, is to support structural reform efforts and investments to address rising risks associated with climate change.

#IMF #Niger

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🇧🇼 Botswana hit by electricity blackout

Botswana was hit by a nationwide electricity blackout shortly after midnight following a "grid disturbance", the state's power utility has said.

Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) said it was investigating the cause of the "grid disturbance".

It led to an outage at two power plants, and a transmission power line that connects the country to neighbouring South Africa. "We are currently restarting both our power generation plants," BPC

#Botswana

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🇳🇬 Gunmen kidnap 25 in a Nigerian church

A gunman attacked a Baptist church in northwestern Nigeria on Sunday, abducting 25 worshippers, a church official said Monday.

On Sunday, the attackers broke into the Bege Baptist Church in the Chikun area of Kaduna State, initially kidnapping 40 people. But 15 managed to escape afterward, the Rev. Joseph Hayab, head of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Kaduna state, told. "Twenty-five are still being held" by the attackers, he added.

#Nigeria

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