20 Dec 2023 Kinshasa (DRC) La Prosperite. Polls in the general election officially open, with incumbent president Felix Tshisekedi facing off against 18 other candidates;

20 Dec 2023 Paris (France) The East African. Cour d’assises (assize court) sentences former Rwandan doctor Sosthene Munyemana to 24 years in prison for his involvement in the Rwandan genocide;

20 Dec 2023 Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) The Citizen. United States-headquartered Fitch Ratings affirms Tanzania’s B+ sovereign credit rating with a stable outlook, citing that it is reflective of Tanzania’s relatively strong macroeconomic performance, high real GDP growth, low inflation, moderate debt and increased reforms monitored by the International Monetary Fund (IMF);

19 Dec 2023 Kinshasa (DRC) France24. United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is expected to agree to the DRC’s request that the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) begins withdrawing from the country later this month;

19 Dec 2023 Kinshasa (DRC) Times Live. Defence minister Jean-Pierre Bemba says any disgruntled candidates who plan to cause instability in the election on 20 December will be “neutralised”;

19 Dec 2023 Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Reuters. African Development Bank (AfDB) will reportedly withdraw its international staff from Ethiopia following the 31 October incident in which Ethiopian security forces allegedly detained and physically assaulted two of AfDB’s employees;

19 Dec 2023 Nairobi (Kenya) The East African. Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) fines French retailer Carrefour $7.21m for abuse of buyer power;

19 Dec 2023 Kigali (Rwanda) The New Times. Development Bank of Rwanda and Germany’s development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) sign a Rwf 20 billion ($17.06m) credit facility to support small and medium enterprises;

19 Dec 2023 Kigali (Rwanda) New Times. President Paul Kagame and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen sign two agreements- a $43.76m funding package for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors and a joint declaration on critical raw materials value chains between Rwanda and the European Investment Bank;

19 Dec 2023 Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) Daily News. Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) launches its new country office in Lilongwe (Malawi) in a bid to bolster trade between the two countries;

19 Dec 2023 Geita (Tanzania) Daily News. Unknown assailants kill two employees of a private security company in Busanda Village (Geita district);

19 Dec 2023 Kampala (Uganda) Anadolu Agency. An attack by suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels leaves ten people dead in Kyitehurizi village;

18 Dec 2023 Djibouti (Djibouti) Azer News. Foreign affairs ministry secretary general Mohammad Ali Hassan meets with Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign affairs minister Yalchin Rafiyev for political consultations;

18 Dec 2023 Asmara (Eritrea) China Global South. China’s special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Xue Bing travels to Eritrea to meet with President Isaias Afwerki shortly after visiting Ethiopia;

18 Dec 2023 Asmara (Eritrea) Reuters. The London (United Kingdom) insurance company market widens its high-risk zone near Eritrea to 18 degrees north from 15 degrees north following attacks by Iran-backed Houti militias in Yemen on vessels in the Red Sea in support of Palestine-backed Hamas;

18 Dec 2023 Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Reuters. Ethiopia is reportedly in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3.5 billion reform programme, intending to reach an agreement by the first quarter of 2024;

18 Dec 2023 Nairobi (Kenya) France24. European Union (EU) and Kenya sign the Economic Partnership Agreement, a historic trade deal that will give Kenya duty-free and quota-free access to the EU;

18 Dec 2023 Nairobi (Kenya) Times Live. Government distances itself from the Congo River Alliance that was launched on 15 December in Nairobi and says it will investigate the alliance;

18 Dec 2023 Kigali (Rwanda) Reuters. Finance minister Uzziel Ndagijmana forecasts that the economy will grow by 6.6% in 2024, up from an expected 6.2% in 2023;

18 Dec 2023 Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) The Citizen. Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) suspends the bagging of loose cargo inside Dar es Salaam Port to reduce congestion that has left vessels opting to dock at Mombasa Port (Kenya);

18 Dec 2023 Kampala (Uganda) Al Jazeera. Constitutional court begins hearing the first challenge to the Anit-Homosexuality Act 2023;

17 Dec 2023 Hadya (Ethiopia) Borkena. Security authorities arrest a large number of teachers in Hadya (Central Ethiopia Region) a day after students protested to demand that their teachers get paid their salaries on time, with teachers not having been paid since August. Security forces allege that the teachers pushed the children to take part in the demonstration;

17 Dec 2023 Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) The Citizen. World Bank selects Tanzania, Rwanda and Somalia as three of four countries that will pilot a new clean energy programme that is set to benefit up to 100 million people in sub-Saharan Africa;

16 Dec 2023 Bujumbura (Burundi) The East African. Burundi Human Rights Initiative (BHRI) alleges that Burundian soldiers deployed to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sexually abused, arbitrarily detained and ill-treated Congolese civilians during their deployment;

16 Dec 2023 Kinshasa (DRC) Times Live. DRC recalls its ambassadors to Kenya and Tanzania for consultations following the launch of the Congo River Alliance on 15 December in Kenya which comprises Congolese politicians and groups including the M23 rebel group;

15 Dec 2023 Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) Daily News. Minerals minister Anthony Mavunde confirms that in the 2022/2023 financial year, the mining sector contributed 56% to foreign currency reserves and earned approximately $3.3 billion;

13 Dec 2023 Kinshasa (DRC) AFP. Former Zambian vice president Enoch Kavindele is appointed to head the Southern African Development Community Election Observer Mission (SEOM) to DRC and is expected to arrive on 15 December ahead of the mission’s launch and deployment countrywide;

14 Dec 2023 Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Reuters. United States-headquartered credit rating agency Fitch downgrades Ethiopia’s rating from CC to C, pushing it further into junk territory after the country failed to pay a coupon on its $1 billion Eurobond due on 11 December;

14 Dec 2023 Nairobi (Kenya) The East African. Fuel prices will drop at midnight by the widest margin in over two years, with super petrol now costing $1.36 per litre, down from $1.42, and diesel costing $1.31 per litre from $1.33;

14 Dec 2023 Nairobi (Kenya) Nation. Controller of Budget (COB) reports that Kenya’s United States (US) dollar-denominated loans have increased by 17.6% since 2013 due to continued depreciation of the Kenyan shilling;

14 Dec 2023 Kigali (Rwanda) IMF. International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board approves a new $268.05m 14-month Stand-by Credit Facility (SCF) arrangement for Rwanda and allows for an immediate disbursement of $89.35m;

14 Dec 2023 Arusha (Tanzania) The Citizen. High court sentences six individuals to death for their roles in the 2013 bombing of a Catholic church in Olasiti (Arusha) which killed three people. The court found them guilty of conspiracy to commit terrorism, attempted murder and murder of three people;

14 Dec 2023 Kampala (Uganda) Africanews. President Yoweri Museveni says that Ugandan-led airstrikes carried out in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) killed about 200 members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in September;

14 Dec 2023 Kampala (Uganda) The Independent. President Yoweri Museveni confirms that Uganda will carry out its sixth population and housing census in May 2024. The last census was carried out in 2014;