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"Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Stop choking Africa: it is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered," Francis said. [1/9] Pope Francis sits next to Democratic Republic of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi as he attends the welcoming ceremony at the Palais de la Nation on the first day of his apostolic journey, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, January 31, 2023. The pope criticised rich countries for ignoring the tragedies unfolding in Congo and elsewhere in Africa. On Wednesday, Francis will celebrate Mass at a Kinshasa airport that is expected to draw more than a million people.

☆ Explainer: What is driving the violence in eastern Congo?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Sonia Rolley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Djaffar SabitiGOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan. 31 (Reuters) - A focus of Pope Francis' visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo is a meeting on Wednesday with around 60 victims of the decades of violence in the east of the country who have made the cross-country journey to see him. Millions have been killed, and millions more have been displaced by the violence in the east since the 1990s. WHAT IS DRIVING THE VIOLENCE IN EASTERN CONGOThe conflict in Congo goes back decades, making it difficult to isolate a few causes, said Jason Stearns, director of the Congo Research Group. The name refers to the March 23 date of a 2009 accord that ended a previous Tutsi-led revolt in eastern Congo. Rwanda has accused Congo of using the FDLR a proxy, while Congo has accuse Rwanda of backing the M23.

☆ Part of stage built for pope collapses in Democratic Republic of Congo
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KINSHASA, Jan 30 (Reuters) - A canopy overhanging a stage built for Pope Francis in a Kinshasa stadium collapsed overnight during a heavy storm, Congo authorities said on Monday, three days before he is due to appear there for a public event. Francis is scheduled to arrive in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday afternoon and address young people and catechists in the Martyrs' Stadium in Kinshasa, the capital, on Thursday morning. The canopy was being fixed on Monday, Kinshasa police chief Sylvano Kasongo told Reuters. Pictures posted on social media showed one side of the canopy resting on the stage while the other side was still aloft. Reporting by Justin Makangara and Stanis Bujakera; Writing by Estelle ShirbonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Pope Francis to visit two fragile African nations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] Pope Francis attends the Vespers prayer service to celebrate the conversion of St. Paul at St. Paul's Basilica in Rome, Italy. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneVATICAN CITY, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Pope Francis starts a trip on Tuesday to two fragile African nations often forgotten by the world, where protracted conflicts have left millions of refugees and displaced people grappling with hunger. Both countries are rich in natural resources - DRC in minerals and South Sudan in oil - but beset with poverty and strife. DRC is getting its first visit by a pope since John Paul II travelled there in 1985, when it still was known as Zaire. Trott, a former ambassador in South Sudan, said he hoped the three Churchmen can convince political leaders to "fulfil the promise of the independence movement".

☆ Congo revivalist churches draw in Catholics
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Erikas Mwisi KambaleBENI, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Congolese event organiser Deo Malela was born to Roman Catholic parents and identifies as such. But like more and more Catholics in the central African nation, 28-year-old Malele also regularly attends an evangelical church where he says he finds solutions to everyday problems. Pope Francis is expected to visit Congo from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3, the first visit of a pope since 1985. Today there are over 30,000 revivalist churches in Congo, where they also known as "churches of awakening", according to the association representing them. The Catholic church still gives him a stronger sense of community and "political protection", he explained.

☆ South Sudan's displaced hope pope's visit will bring peace
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Waakhe Simon Wudu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/7] Pope Francis attends the Vespers prayer service to celebrate the conversion of St. Paul at St. Paul's Basilica in Rome, Italy, January 25, 2023. Pope Francis is due to go to Congo from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3 and then spend two days in South Sudan. South Sudan gained independence in 2011. There are 2.2 million internally displaced people in South Sudan and another 2.3 million have fled the country as refugees, according to the UN. The UN said 7.76 million people - about two-thirds of South Sudan - are likely to face acute food insecurity this year.

☆ Rwanda shoots at Congolese military jet over alleged airspace violation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A video shared widely on Congolese social media showed a projectile shooting towards an airborne military plane, before exploding in the air near the plane, which continued to fly. Congo denied Rwanda's accusation that the jet had been in Rwandan airspace - the latest dispute between the two countries whose relationship has been strained by a rebel insurgency. Earlier the Rwandan government said Rwandan forces had fired at the jet after it violated Rwandan airspace in Rubavu - the same area as previous alleged violations, "prompting the government to take defensive measures." Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said last week that the rebels had not fully withdrawn from those areas. In December, Rwanda said another fighter jet from Congo had briefly violated its air space.

As Africa struggles with economic headwinds caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and, notably, Washington's own monetary policy, Africans are asking for proof the United States will stay the course this time. African countries have become collateral victims of this year's rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve, aimed at curbing inflation at home. African countries are also finding it harder to access capital markets to meet their fiscal needs and refinance maturing debt. The United States, meanwhile, has largely failed to offer viable alternatives to cheap Chinese credit, officials said. One senior U.S. Treasury official said the United States had long been engaged in Africa, funding anti-HIV work and working on other health issues.

☆ Top diplomats, former UN officials seek to fix 'Wild West' of peacemaking
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But the framework's proponents, who have just completed a two-year consultation period in dozens of countries, say today's peace brokers are applying the wrong strategy. "You could say 'Why the hell are people talking about peace when the whole thing falls apart?' "Right now the peacemaking space is like the Wild West," said Hiba Qasas, the executive director of the Principles for Peace Initiative, who is Palestinian and a former U.N. official. Current shortcomings are widely acknowledged and U.N. chief Antonio Guterres is working on a so-called "New Agenda For Peace" this year. (This story has been corrected to change "UN officials" to "former UN officials" in the headline)Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"It's important for us to have clear agreement because this is what we have now to finance our development," he said. President Felix Tshisekedi's government has been revisiting a 2007 deal struck by his predecessor Joseph Kabila under which Sinohydro Corp (SINOH.UL) and China Railway Group Limited agreed to build roads and hospitals in exchange for a 68% stake in the Sicomines venture as well as a 2008 contract with CMOC. "We have already a framework, we have some key elements of change that we want to bring in that agreement," Kazadi said of Sicomines, though he declined to provide further details. "In only five days they have managed to burn and export 27 kilograms," Kazadi said, speaking of the joint venture that is owned 55% by the United Arab Emirates with the remainder owned by Kinshasa. Reporting by Karin Strohecker and Jorgelina do Rosario, editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ IEA says clean energy manufacturing set for substantial growth as world enters 'new industrial age'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The world's second largest economy is a major force in technologies crucial to the planned energy transition. "The related clean energy manufacturing jobs would more than double from 6 million today to nearly 14 million by 2030," the IEA said, "and further rapid industrial and employment growth is expected in the following decades as transitions progress." Its report highlighted "potentially risky levels of concentration in clean energy supply chains — both for the manufacturing of technologies and the materials on which they rely." China, it said, was dominating both the production and trade of "most clean energy technologies." "Meanwhile, a great deal of the mining for critical minerals is concentrated in a small number of countries," it added.

☆ Uganda declares over Ebola outbreak that killed 55
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Elias Biryabarema | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Motorists and cyclists are seen at a traffic light intersection in Kabuusu area of the Lubaga division amid the Ebola outbreak in Kampala, Uganda November 16, 2022. "We have successfully controlled the spread of Ebola in Uganda," Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said during a ceremony to mark the outbreak's end. The outbreak killed 55 of the 143 people infected since September, according to health ministry figures. Unlike the more common strain of the virus, Ebola Zaire, which has been behind several recent epidemics in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, the strain behind Uganda's outbreak, Ebola Sudan, has no proven vaccine. Even so, experts said Uganda's experience battling previous outbreaks of Ebola and its viral cousin Marburg helped its response.

☆ Congo beer factory a beacon in region rocked by rebels
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Erikas Mwisi Kambale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A general view shows the beer storage warehouse at the Brasimba beer production factory, a subsidiary of the Castel group, in Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo, December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Erikas Mwisi KambaleBENI, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Bottles of beer zip along a conveyor belt in a Brasimba factory which has weathered two deadly Ebola outbreaks and waves of fighting linked to rebel militias active in the nearby forests. After an initial investment of 125 million euros ($134 million), beer output at the plant in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Beni more than tripled to 600,000 hectolitres between 2013 and 2021. Along with warehouse expansion, this should help Brasimba manage supply disruptions as the impoverished province grapples with a major offensive by the M23 rebel group. Brasimba's brewery was founded in 1925 and its Beni factory employs around 130 people and a further 180 temporary workers, providing much-needed income in a country where the World Bank estimates 73% of people live on less than $1.90 a day.

☆ Uganda declares itself Ebola-free after swiftly turning tide on outbreak
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Elias Biryabarema | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Motorists and cyclists are seen at a traffic light intersection in Kabuusu area of the Lubaga division amid the Ebola outbreak in Kampala, Uganda November 16, 2022. "We have successfully controlled the spread of Ebola in Uganda," Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said during a ceremony to mark the outbreak's end. Aceng said this was Uganda's eighth Ebola outbreak since 2000, when the country recorded its first and most deadly one that killed more than half of the 425 people it infected. In the early weeks of the outbreak, cases spread beyond the epicentre of Mubende, 150 km (90 miles) west of the capital Kampala, to several other districts, including Kampala. Unlike the more common strain of the virus, Ebola Zaire, which has been behind several recent epidemics in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, the strain behind Uganda's outbreak, Ebola Sudan, has no proven vaccine.

☆ Congolese artist paints politicians' portraits in plastic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Crispin Kyala | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Congolese artist Patrick Cikuru Cirimwami applies finishing touches on portrait images of Congolese leaders, made from plastic waste, which he melts after collecting it near the banks of the Ruzizi I hydroelectric plant, in Bukavu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo December 15, 2022. REUTERS/Crispin KyalangalilwaBUKAVU, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Near the banks of Lake Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, artist Patrick Cikuru Cirimwami wades knee-deep through a mountain of plastic bottles, scooping as many as he can carry into a large sack. Later he will melt down the plastic to make a thick liquid which he uses to paint portraits of politicians - intended to be a condemnation of what he says is their inaction in protecting the environment. As a Congolese artist, I can send a message," said the 26-year-old. Congo, like other African nations, has insisted on its right to develop its economy by exploiting its vast natural resources.

☆ Landslide kills at least 8 people in eastern Congo
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 31 (Reuters) - A landslide crushed at least eight people and seriously injured nine others near an artisanal mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, a local official told Reuters on Saturday. Landslides are relatively common in the hilly slopes of eastern Congo where heavy rains can saturate and loosen soil. But they are more likely to occur if soil has been disturbed by mining, tree-felling or construction. In December, intense rains in Congo's capital Kinshasa caused flooding and landslides that killed around 170 people. Reporting by Crispin Kyalangalilwa; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Another was the requirement for companies to assess and disclose their impact and reliance on nature, despite the word "mandatory" being dropped from the final deal. While protecting nature comes at a cost, those companies that step up will attract more investors. "The big losers across the board will be 'business as usual'," said Eurasia Group senior analyst Franck Gbaguidi. A body representing some of the world's largest mining companies, including Glencore (GLEN.L) and Newcrest (NCM.AX), said disclosure would lead to a level playing field between sectors. The bill was ultimately calculated at $20 billion per year by 2025 and $30 billion per year by 2030.

Here are some of the key areas agreed on after two weeks of negotiations hosted in Montreal, Canada. CONSERVATION, PROTECTION AND RESTORATIONDelegates committed to protecting 30% of land and 30% of coastal and marine areas by 2030, fulfilling the deal's highest-profile goal, known as 30-by-30. Wealthier countries should contribute at least $20 billion of this every year by 2025, and at least $30 billion a year by 2030. BIG COMPANIES REPORT IMPACTS ON BIODIVERSITYCompanies should analyse and report how their operations affect and are affected by biodiversity issues. This reporting is intended to progressively promote biodiversity, reduce the risks posed to business by the natural world, and encourage sustainable production.

☆ Ethiopian Airlines sees passenger rebound from COVID this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Duncan Miriri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NAIROBI, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Ethiopian Airlines (ETHA.UL) expects its passenger business to recover to pre-pandemic levels in its financial year ending in June, its chief executive told Reuters. Africa's biggest carrier will ferry 12.7 million passengers during the year, Mesfin Tasew Bekele said in an interview, up from 8.6 million passengers in the previous financial year and 12.1 million before the pandemic struck. Any delays in re-opening of China could however curb the projections, Mesfin said, since it is a key market for both passengers and cargo. Ethiopian fared much better than other African carriers during the pandemic, thanks to its cargo business that was able to compensate for a steep drop in passenger traffic. "Unless we grow, we cannot be successful," Mesfin said, adding that a larger network will give the business economies of scale.

☆ Congo says unable to support U.N. nature deal in current form
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MONTREAL, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of Congo is unable to support the adoption of a proposed global deal to protect nature after two weeks of United Nations-backed negotiations, a representative from the country told a summit on Monday. Talks are likely to continue Monday morning. The summit is due to conclude on Dec. 19. Reporting by Gloria Dickie and Isla BinnieOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, reflecting the joint leadership of China and Canada, is the culmination of four years of work toward creating an agreement to guide global conservation efforts through 2030. A Congolese representative argued that developed nations should provide more resources to nature conservation efforts in developing countries. [1/6] The leadership of the U.N.-backed COP15 biodiversity conference applaud after passing the The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in Montreal, Quebec, Canada December 19, 2022. Developed countries will provide $25 billion in annual funding starting in 2025 and $30 billion per year by 2030. The agreement, which contains 23 targets in total, replaces the 2010 Aichi Biodiversity Targets that were intended to guide conservation through 2020.

MONTREAL, Dec 19 (Reuters) - A United Nations summit approved on Monday a landmark global deal to protect nature and direct billions of dollars toward conservation but objections from key African nations, home to large tracts of tropical rainforest, marred the final passage. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, reflecting the joint leadership of China and Canada, is the culmination of four years of work toward creating an agreement to guide global conservation efforts through 2030. "The parties which are developed nations should provide resources to parties which are developing," the Congolese representative said through a translator. The deal, which contains 23 targets in total, replaces the failed 2010 Aichi Biodiversity Targets that were intended to guide conservation through 2020. Investment firms focused on a target in the deal recommending that companies analyse and report how their operations affect and are affected by biodiversity issues.

☆ Death toll after Congo capital floods rises to 169, U.N. says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Paul Lorgerie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] People look at a damaged road after heavy rains caused floods and landslides, on the outskirts of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. REUTERS/Justin MakangaraKINSHASA, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The death toll after heavy flooding in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa this week has risen to 169, the United Nations' humanitarian office (OCHA) said on Friday, citing authorities. read moreA joint team from OCHA and Congo's social affairs ministry visited the worst-hit neighborhoods on Thursday to assess the damage. The team estimated that around 38,000 people had been impacted by the floods, OCHA said in a statement Friday. Poorly regulated rapid urbanization has made the city increasingly vulnerable to flash floods after intense rains, which have become more frequent due to climate change.

☆ DRC floods kill at least 120 in Kinshasa
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Amy Cassidy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —More than 120 people have died in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa after torrential rains caused severe flooding in the city, according to a government statement issued Wednesday. Severe damage could be seen in video obtained by news agency Reuters, with roofs and roads collapsed and people walking knee-deep in water. “On the National Road 1, there is a big hole. A car is seen stuck after heavy rains caused floods and landslides, on the outskirts of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo December 13,2022. At least 39 people died in Kinshasa in 2019 when torrential rain flooded low-lying districts and some buildings and roads collapsed.

☆ Morocco rewrite Africa's World Cup history
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Mark Gleeson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Cameroon upset holders Argentina in the opening match of the 1990 World Cup in Italy and went on to the quarter-finals while Senegal did the same to France when they began the defence of their title in 2002. Of the 160 matches played by African sides at the World Cup, only 37 have been won for a success rate below 25%. Most of Africa was still under colonial rule when the World Cup resumed after the Second World War but as countries gained independence, so CAF membership increased and Africa began to flex some muscle. HANDBALLThat achievement held out the promise that Africa would not take long to produce a World Cup winner, but only Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010 were able to make the last eight. It got even worse in Russia in 2018 when no African teams made it to the last 16, sparking serious reflection about the direction of the game on the continent.

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