Africa

Mauritania qualify for an Africa Cup of Nations finals for the first time in their history as Guinea and Ivory Coast also go through to Cameroon 2019.

Male dominance in Ethiopia is being challenged with the appointment of women to powerful government posts, writes Hana Zeratsyon.

The UN wants to recruit more women as peacekeepers. In Mali at present they make up just 3% of a 15,000-strong force.

Meet the special effects makeup artist creating blood and gore for the Nigerian film industry.

Watch some of the best goals scored by BBC Sport's African footballer of the year nominees in 2018.

BBC Sport profiles Senegal and Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, a nominee for the BBC African Footballer of the Year award 2018.

Vote for your BBC African Footballer of the Year from the shortlist of Medhi Benatia, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sadio Mane, Thomas Partey and Mohamed Salah.

Barbra Banda, who will play for Zambia at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations starting on Saturday, is also a top-level boxer.

Ghanaian-American rapper turned director Blitz Bazawule talks about his new film

Reports of girls giving birth in the exam period prompted a government inquiry into teenage pregnancy.

A selection of the best photos from across Africa this week.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is intensifying his crackdown on the military and spy agency.

Journalist Peter Tah describes how life in the Cameroon city of Bamenda has ground to a halt due to the separatist conflict.

This living laboratory could hold the key to controlling malaria and other conditions.

Mnyaka Sururu Mboro is looking for the skull of a rebel Tanzanian chief who was executed by German colonisers.

The Eritrean family have just arrived in Canada from a refugee camp in Sudan.

November 12, 2018 (JUBA) - President Salva Kiir received a congratulatory message on the signing of the revitalized peace agreement from Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta who did not attend peace celebration on 31 October.

South Sudanese government spokesperson and Information Minister Michael Makuei, on 2 November voiced his government disappointment for the unexpected absence of President Kenyatta.

He said they were concerned that the Kenyan president even didn't alert them of his absence or delegated someone to represent him at the event.

The congratulatory message was delivered by the Kenyan foreign minister who was accompanied by Stephen Kalonzo Mosyoka, Kenya former top diplomat, nearly two weeks after the celebration day.

"The Cabinet Secretary, Monica Juma outlined that President Uhuru Kenyatta extends his best wishes and support to President Salva Kiir in implementing the peace agreement," said a statement released by the South Sudanese press service on Monday evening.

Monica further reiterated Kenya's commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Kenyatta was also absent at the signing ceremony of the revitalized peace pact on 12 September 2018. he was represented by Juma.

The Kenyan president was very involved in the mediation of the peace agreement of 2015 besides the Ethiopian prime minister.

(ST)

November 12, 2018 (KAMPALA) – The United States Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo has announced the appointment of Peter Pham as Washington's special envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

U.S special envoy for the Great Lakes region Peter Pham (Getty)

Pham, a statement from the U.S Department of State noted, will be responsible for coordinating the implementation of U.S. policy on the cross-border security, political, and economic issues in the Great Lakes region, with an emphasis on strengthening democratic institutions and civil society, as well as the safe and voluntary return of the region's refugees and internally displaced persons.

Prior to his appointment, however, Pham served as Vice President and Director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council.

He reportedly brings to the Department vast Africa experience as the former vice president of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and editor-in-chief of its quarterly Journal of the Middle East and Africa; an associate professor of Africana studies at James Madison University, where he was director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs; and on the Senior Advisory Group of the U.S. Africa Command.

Pham will, in his new role, assume the work previously undertaken by Senior Coordinator for the Great Lakes, Ambassador Larry Wohlers.

The special envoy will reportedly work in close coordination with the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs and U.S ambassadors in the region to further the department's work toward lasting peace, stability, and economic prosperity in the Great Lakes region.

(ST)

November 12, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan is preparing to launch over 30 oil exploration bids next year in an attempt to lure western companies to reinvest in its petroleum industry after the left of economic sanctions, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

"Now, as relations between Sudan and the US improve, the ministry of petroleum plans to tender 30 to 35 new oil blocks in the second half of next year to revive exploration activity in the country," Azhari told the Financial Times.

Since the split of South Sudan in 2011, the Sudanese economy felt the tough effect of economic sanctions because it did not use oil financial income to develop the national economy but to fund its war against the armed groups in southern Sudan and Darfur region.

The Sudanese oil industry was developed by the oil-hungry China, India and Malaysia. The U.S. Chevron oil company made the first discovery of oil in Sudan in the late 1970s, but it had to stop exploration activities after the outbreak of Sudan's second civil war in 1983

After, the lift of embargo in October 2017, few western countries showed interest to invest in Sudan because it is still under several U.S. sanction as the country remains on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Also, corruption and heavy taxes dissuaded investors from the Gulf to work in Sudan.

However two weeks after the lift on 31 October of the past year, Sudan's Oil and Gas Ministry invited several U.S. oil firms to visit the country and offered them to invest in Sudan, pointing to the need of introducing advanced technology to push forward oil production in Sudan.

During a meeting with the visiting oil firms, the then oil minister Abdel-Rahman Osman called to invest in a number of oil blocs in the Red Sea area, eastern Sudan.

Following what, Baker Hughes a U.S. industrial service company in November 2017, signed a cooperation agreement with Asawer Investment Company, the technical arm of the state oil and gas firm Sudapet.

Sudan has proven gas reserves of 3 trillion cubic feet, but development has been limited. It also does not have the pipelines or the port terminals to bring in gas or liquefied natural gas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration in 2014.

Sudan lost 75% of its oil reserves after the southern part of the country became an independent nation in July 2011, denying the north billions of dollars in revenues. Oil revenue constituted more than half of Sudan's revenue and 90% of its exports.

Sudan currently produces 133,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd). The country's production is stationed mainly in the Heglig area and its surroundings, as well as western Kordofan.

(ST)

November 11, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has handed over four sites to the Sudanese government as part of the Mission's exit strategy from the region.

The Mission on November 1st has withdrawn from the team site at Labado area in East Darfur State. Also, the Mission on 4 November handed over its site at Mukjar area in Central Darfur State to the Sudanese government.

Moreover, the Mission on 8 November handed over the team site at Ambro, North Darfur State to the government in the presence of officials from both sides.

Also, UNAMID on 30 October has officially withdrawn from its site at Sharia, East Darfur.

A tripartite working group including the Sudanese government, African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) have been set up in February 2015 to develop an exit strategy for the UNAMID from Darfur.

In June 2017, the AU and the UN decided to draw down the UNAMID by withdrawing the military personnel by 44% and that of the police component by 30%, the closure of 11 team sites in the first phase and the withdrawal of the military component from another 7 team sites in the second phase.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) admitted that the security situation in Darfur has improved but it decided to reinforce its presence in the mountainous area of Jebel Marra because there is no cessation of hostilities as a Sudan Liberation Movement faction led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) refuses to declare a unilateral truce or to engage in peace negotiations.

Last July, the UNSC unanimously decided to extend for one year the mandate of the UNAMID and also to reduce the number of its troops in line with an exit strategy aiming to close the hybrid operation in two years.

The hybrid mission has been deployed in Darfur since December 2007 with a mandate to stem violence against civilians in western Sudan's region.

It is the world's second-largest international peacekeeping force with an annual budget of $1.35 billion and almost 20,000 troops. UN agencies estimate that over 300,000 people were killed in the Darfur conflict since 2003, and over 2.5 million are displaced.

(ST)