Global Issues News Headlines for “Conflicts in Africa”

Africa’s Future Depends on Innovation, Data, and Frontier Technologies

2026-04-17T07:53:48-07:00

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, April 17 (IPS) - Across the continent, GDP has risen on the back of more workers, more capital and a commodity super-cycle, rather than through genuine gains in productivity and innovation. Too little labour has moved out of subsistence agriculture into higher-productivity manufacturing and modern services.

Read the full story, “Africa’s Future Depends on Innovation, Data, and Frontier Technologies”, on globalissues.org →

Sudan: Three quarters of women feel unsafe as war rages on

2026-04-17T05:00:00-07:00

Across war-torn Sudan, women and girls “are telling a consistent story of continued experience of danger, and risks for gender-based violence” whether when fleeing to safety or arriving at displacement camps, a senior official with the UN reproductive and sexual health agency UNFPA said on Friday.

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‘Slaughtered like goats’: Despair and abandonment in South Sudan

2026-04-17T05:00:00-07:00

Senior UN officials painted a sorry picture of South Sudan on Friday at the Security Council, describing political turmoil, rising violence, hunger and disease, amid budget cuts that are limiting the ability of the UN peacekeeping mission to protect civilians.

Read the full story, “‘Slaughtered like goats’: Despair and abandonment in South Sudan”, on globalissues.org →

AI: ‘African Governments Are Using “smart City” Systems to Monitor Dissent and Consolidate State Control’

2026-04-17T04:44:09-07:00

CIVICUS discusses the spread of AI-powered surveillance in Africa with Wairagala Wakabi, executive director of the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and co-editor of Smart City Surveillance in Africa: Mapping Chinese AI Surveillance Across 11 Countries, the latest report by the African Digital Rights Network (ADRN) and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS).

Read the full story, “AI: ‘African Governments Are Using “smart City” Systems to Monitor Dissent and Consolidate State Control’”, on globalissues.org →

The Cape Water Performance-Based Bond: A New Alliance for Cape Town’s Water Future

2026-04-16T14:47:14-07:00

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 16 (IPS) - In 2018, Cape Town came perilously close to becoming the first major city in the world to run out of water. Known as “Day Zero”, it was more than just a crisis, it marked a pivotal moment. It made clear that water insecurity is not a distant threat, but an immediate reality.

Read the full story, “The Cape Water Performance-Based Bond: A New Alliance for Cape Town’s Water Future”, on globalissues.org →

Explainer: How the GEF Funds Global Environmental Action

2026-04-16T08:22:02-07:00

SRINAGAR, India, April 16 (IPS) - The Global Environment Facility, widely known as the GEF, plays a central role in financing environmental protection across the world. It supports developing countries in tackling climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, pollution, and threats to ecosystems.

Read the full story, “Explainer: How the GEF Funds Global Environmental Action”, on globalissues.org →

Shipping Industry Seeks Certainty as Experts Back Strong Net-Zero Framework

2026-04-16T07:46:12-07:00

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, April 16 (IPS) - As global shipping braces for another round of high-stakes negotiations, a volatile mix of rising fuel costs, geopolitical tensions and deep political divisions is testing the fragile consensus around a proposed Net-Zero Framework (NZF) aimed at decarbonising one of the world’s most polluting industries.

Read the full story, “Shipping Industry Seeks Certainty as Experts Back Strong Net-Zero Framework”, on globalissues.org →

Africa: Nearly 20 million measles deaths averted since 2000

2026-04-15T05:00:00-07:00

Measles vaccinations have saved nearly 20 million lives in Africa since the year 2000 and more than 500 million children were protected through routine immunisation, but the continent remains offtrack in the fight against vaccine-preventable diseases.

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SECURITY COUNCIL LIVE: Security fears rise in eastern DR Congo

2026-04-15T05:00:00-07:00

The Security Council holds an open briefing top of the hour on the deteriorating security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and wider Great Lakes region. Special Envoy Huang Xia and UN Women’s Sima Bahous will update ambassadors on the recent escalation of violence. Despite mediation efforts in Doha and Washington, regional tensions between the DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi remain acute. Follow live below from our Meetings Coverage team, and app users can click here.

Read the full story, “SECURITY COUNCIL LIVE: Security fears rise in eastern DR Congo”, on globalissues.org →

Civil Society Launch a Campaign Against Extractive Industry Exploitation and Land Grabs

2026-04-14T10:39:49-07:00

NAIROBI, April 14 (IPS) - Over 800 households in Ikolomani Constituency in Kakamega County, Western Kenya, fear eviction to pave the way for a British firm, Shanta Gold Limited, to begin extracting gold valued at Sh683 billion ($5.29 billion) on an estimated 337 acres of residential and agricultural land.

Read the full story, “Civil Society Launch a Campaign Against Extractive Industry Exploitation and Land Grabs”, on globalissues.org →