Displaying items by tag: Africa

A new partnership between CURE International and Biblica is set to distribute over 87,000 Bibles in 22 languages to families receiving free surgical care at children’s hospitals across Africa and the Philippines. These hospitals, run by CURE, offer operations for conditions like spina bifida and hydrocephalus. The initiative brings physical healing and spiritual hope, rooted in CURE’s founding mission inspired by Luke 9:2 - to preach the Kingdom of God and heal the sick. CURE has performed over 330,000 surgeries and shared the Gospel with over 2.1 million people since 1996. Biblica’s role is to ensure Scripture is available in the heart languages of the patients. The collaboration addresses deep spiritual and cultural challenges, including widespread beliefs in curses and witchcraft surrounding disability. Through intentional ministry, Bible distribution, and community connections with local pastors, CURE is seeing lives transformed as parents witness healing and turn to faith. This $500,000 effort is a striking example of Kingdom collaboration bringing the light of Christ to the most vulnerable.

Faure Gnassingbé, Togo’s president, faces rising unrest after constitutional changes that could extend his rule indefinitely. Recent protests in the capital, Lomé, were met with arrests and alleged mistreatment of demonstrators. Gnassingbé, in power since 2005, was recently sworn in as president of the Council of Ministers - an influential role without term limits. Critics call this a ‘constitutional coup’. About forty of the arrested protesters have been released, but at least 25 remain detained. Government officials have defended the arrests as necessary to uphold state institutions. However, a coalition of political groups has demanded not only the release of all prisoners but also an end to Gnassingbé’s regime, which they describe as repressive after two decades in power. Protests are rare in Togo, where demonstrations were banned in 2022 after a deadly attack.

Captain Ibrahim Traore, Africa’s youngest leader at 37, is gaining attention across the continent for his defiant rhetoric of pan-Africanism, anti-colonialism, and youth empowerment. Since seizing power in a 2022 coup, Traore has distanced Burkina Faso from France and ECOWAS, aligning instead with fellow coup-led nations Niger and Mali. His image, recently plastered over Russian state media when he visited Moscow, resonates with African youth disillusioned with older leadership and stalled democracies. However, behind the populist appeal, the country’s security has deteriorated sharply. Attacks from both government forces and jihadists have killed over 7,200 people in the past year - more than double the pre-coup toll. With 60% of the country beyond state control, millions are displaced or need aid. Yet for many, Traore’s revolutionary language reflects real frustrations with Western influence and entrenched corruption, making him a symbol of resistance - however flawed.

Over 18,500 Sudanese refugees have fled into eastern Chad in the past two weeks, following devastating attacks on the Zamzam displacement camp and the city of al-Fasher in Darfur. The 11 April assault by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) left at least 400 dead in Zamzam after months of starvation and siege. Eyewitnesses report widespread atrocities including executions, torture, and sexual violence. The RSF destroyed the camp’s only medical centre, killing nine aid workers, and burned large sections of the camp. Once home to 500,000 people, Zamzam is now nearly abandoned. Many fleeing refugees, including children and pregnant women, are severely malnourished and traumatised. Chad, already hosting 1.3 million refugees - nearly 800,000 from Sudan - is overwhelmed and struggling to provide adequate shelter, food, and medical care. UNHCR officials, fearing more suffering ahead as the humanitarian situation deteriorates rapidly, are calling for urgent international assistance and intervention.

Rwanda has confirmed it is in early discussions with the Trump administration about potentially receiving immigrants deported from the USA. Foreign minister Olivier Nduhungirehe stated the talks are ongoing but not finalised. The move follows US efforts to find foreign partners for deportations as part of Trump’s expansive immigration enforcement strategy, which includes invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act - granting the president wartime authority to deport noncitizens without due process. In April, the USA deported an Iraqi man accused of IS ties to Rwanda. Reports also suggest that migrants with criminal records might be sent to Rwanda or Libya. In 2022 Rwanda had agreed to accept asylum-seekers from the UK, but Keir Starmer’s government scrapped the deal due to legal and human rights concerns. A spokesperson for UNHCR has said: ‘People fleeing war, conflict and persecution deserve compassion and empathy. They should not be traded like commodities and transferred abroad for processing.’

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has begun withdrawing its peacekeeping force from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through Rwanda. The troops, from South Africa, Malawi, and Tanzania are exiting Goma in North Kivu and heading to Tanzania for repatriation, with all personnel expected to leave by 30 May. The withdrawal follows heavy casualties, including at least seventeen soldiers killed during clashes with M23 rebels, who have since taken Goma and Bukavu. Rwanda, accused by the UN and the DRC of backing M23, denies any involvement, though the rebels reportedly receive support from 4,000 Rwandan troops. The DRC government has called for a nationwide military mobilisation as the rebels threaten to march on Kinshasa, over a thousand miles away. The SADC mission, deployed in 2023, aimed to stabilise the mineral-rich region but struggled amid the worsening crisis. With over seven million displaced, eastern Congo is one of the world's most severe humanitarian emergencies.

To celebrate Earth Day (22 April), environmental activists gathered at a beach in Cape Town to clean the coastline and raise awareness about plastic pollution. Organiser Lyniel Traut called for a 60% reduction in plastic production by 2040, urging corporations to both act and educate. Another activist said she wanted her children and grandchildren to grow up in a safe, pollution free, environment. Earth Day also spotlighted hidden plastic pollution from synthetic clothing. Rachael Z Miller, founder of the Rozalia Project, explained how polyester garments shed microfibres which end up in oceans, harming marine life and potentially entering the human food chain. To combat this, she has developed the Cora Ball - a laundry tool which reduces fibre shedding and captures microplastics before they reach waterways. Though helpful, such tools are just a start: the UN has urged the textile industry to shift towards a more sustainable production model to reduce its climate impact. See

Days after its leader Tundu Lissu was arrested and charged with treason, Tanzania’s opposition party CHADEMA has been disqualified from this year’s elections. The electoral commission claims it failed to sign an election code of conduct, rendering it ineligible for the October presidential and parliamentary polls. Lissu, who survived being shot sixteen times in 2017, was elected as party president in January. He is accused of calling on the public to launch a rebellion and disrupt the election. CHADEMA had already threatened to boycott the elections unless significant reforms are made to an electoral process it says favours the ruling party: the party’s chief attorney has said, ‘No reforms, no elections’. Human rights campaigners have accused the government of an intensifying crackdown on political opponents, citing a string of unexplained abductions and killings. Serious questions persist about the state of democracy and civil rights in Tanzania.

On 13 April, Gabon will hold its first presidential election since the 2023 coup which ended the Bongo family’s 56-year rule. General Brice Oligui Nguema, who led the coup and became transitional president, is now running to formalise his leadership. His main opponent is Alain Claude Bilie By Nze, a former prime minister under Ali Bongo, who has formed a new political movement to distance himself from the previous regime. Since most state institutions are controlled by Nguema loyalists, analysts predict he is likely to win. Many citizens support him for ending Bongo’s unpopular rule and promising reform. He envisions a Gabon that ‘rises from the ashes’, pledging to boost infrastructure, diversify the economy, and improve governance. Though the economy grew modestly in 2024, Gabon remains heavily reliant on oil. Citizens hope this election will lead to greater accountability and transparency, and improved living conditions, particularly in education, health, and infrastructure.

Khartoum, once Sudan’s bustling capital, now lies gutted after months of brutal conflict. The army’s recent victory over the paramilitary RSF is a turning point in a two-year civil war that has claimed at least 150,000 lives. Though the RSF’s grip on Khartoum has ended, uncertainty remains about what lies ahead. The city bears deep scars: the presidential palace, once a powerful symbol, has been looted and bombed, its grandeur reduced to rubble. Banks, ministries, and the airport are charred remnants. Yet amid the destruction, remnants of faith endure. At St Matthew’s Cathedral, damaged by nearby shelling and desecrated by RSF forces, the beautiful painted ceiling has survived. One soldier cleaning inside said his son was born on the first day of the war, but he still hasn’t met him. Despite atrocities committed by both sides and ongoing violence elsewhere, people in Khartoum rejoiced during Eid, briefly reclaiming hope in a city that has seen the heart of Sudan torn open.