The root in the form of a powder, a decoction,…
01 Apr 2020, Culture April 2020
The legacy of the time of the Pharaohs of the…
01 Apr 2020, Culture April 2020
Africa which is already hit by several epidemics is now…
01 Apr 2020, News April 2020
The presidential and parliament elections scheduled for the next 20…
01 Apr 2020, News April 2020
The suburb of Mukuru is home to about 600,000 people.…
01 Apr 2020, Churches April 2020
The strong demographic growth is a main driver of the…
01 Apr 2020, Dossier April 2020
The combination of increasing poaching uncontrolled demographic growth leading to…
01 Apr 2020, Dossier April 2020
The most direct cause for the decrease of wildlife population…
01 Apr 2020, Dossier April 2020
Another indirect threat is the boom of extractive industries. In…
01 Apr 2020, Dossier April 2020
The arms trade criss-crosses the Sahel region. To the north…
01 Mar 2020, News March 2020
On 22 November 2020, the Italian Comboni priest Father Giuseppe…
01 Mar 2020, Churches March 2020
It is illegal in just seven countries. In the continent…
01 Mar 2020, News March 2020
After targeting the President’s son, the Angolan justice, it has…
01 Mar 2020, News March 2020
It is used to treat backache and brittle bones.…
01 Mar 2020, Culture March 2020
With the Ankole people in the Western part of Uganda,…
01 Mar 2020, Culture March 2020
A country where injustice and impunity reign. A government that…
01 Mar 2020, Churches March 2020
The country has become the main concern of the commanders…
01 Feb 2020, News February 2020
In the Karimojong group living in north-east Uganda, the number…
01 Feb 2020, Culture February 2020
Hundreds of street children roam the centre of Harare, the…
01 Feb 2020, News February 2020
General elections are scheduled at the end of 2020. The…
01 Feb 2020, News February 2020
Owing to a lack of evolution of agricultural techniques, slash-and-burn…
01 Jan 2020, Dossier January 2020
The Pan-Bila — which in the Mossi language means 'Small…
01 Jan 2020, Churches January 2020
Logging is another major threat. It provokes soil erosion, water…
01 Jan 2020, Dossier January 2020
In ancient times, the word ecumene denoted the whole known…
01 Jan 2020, Churches January 2020
According to recent NASA satellite information there are five times…
01 Jan 2020, Dossier January 2020
Central African forests are also vulnerable to the effects of…
01 Jan 2020, Dossier January 2020
Existing and looming conflicts, “third-termism” and rigged elections are the…
01 Jan 2020, News January 2020
The Gabbra are a nomadic people who live in the…
01 Jan 2020, Culture January 2020
This year there will be several security hotspots around the…
01 Jan 2020, News January 2020
Mogadishu and the Federal States are on a collision course…
01 Dec 2019, News December 2019
The continent of Africa is becoming one of the major…
01 Dec 2019, Dossier December 2019
A Catholic nurse dedicates her life to Meeting Point International,…
01 Dec 2019, Churches December 2019
Fishing rights sold off by governments to foreign companies. Illegal…
01 Dec 2019, News December 2019
Environmental degradation will make the planet face up to challenges…
01 Dec 2019, News December 2019
The North African area, with its vast desert regions that…
01 Dec 2019, Dossier December 2019
The region has acquired a key role in the drugs…
01 Dec 2019, Dossier December 2019
The Banyankole are a Ugandan tribe found in South-western Uganda.…
01 Dec 2019, Culture December 2019
A large part of the drugs coming from Latin America…
01 Dec 2019, Dossier December 2019
Ever since it won the first democratic elections, held in…
01 Nov 2019, Dossier November 2019
The structure of the economy of Namibia reflects the contradictions…
01 Nov 2019, Dossier November 2019
A Camillian and also professor at the University of Ouagadougou,…
01 Nov 2019, Churches November 2019
The 2,720 kilometre wall, which separates the areas occupied by…
01 Nov 2019, News November 2019
The Bari, a South Sudan ethnic group who live on…
01 Nov 2019, Culture November 2019
He has transformed sterile land into a forest by digging…
01 Nov 2019, News November 2019
Originally from the Argentine, Mons. José Luis Gerardo Ponce de…
01 Nov 2019, Churches November 2019
With only 2.6 million inhabitants and an area of 824,292…
01 Nov 2019, Dossier November 2019
She lives and works in the Democratic Republic of Congo…
01 Nov 2019, Churches November 2019
The SWAPO movement succeeded in bringing on board the different…
01 Nov 2019, Dossier November 2019
In the Chadian region bordering with Libya, an area rich…
01 Nov 2019, News November 2019
Xenophobic attacks against immigrants are causing a lot of damage…
01 Nov 2019, News November 2019
This year, the Institute of Social Ministry in Mission, at…
01 Oct 2019, Churches October 2019
The slums of Katwe have seen the birth of a…
01 Oct 2019, Culture October 2019
Jihadist groups are expanding in Africa beyond the Sahel, from…
01 Oct 2019, News October 2019
Abyi Ahmed Ali’s election in April 2018 raised considerable hopes…
01 Oct 2019, News October 2019
The people from Tapac are referred to as the tapeth.…
01 Sep 2019, Culture September 2019
He could have left, and lived a better and more…
01 Sep 2019, Churches September 2019
Indigenous to North Africa, the Amazigh people, sometimes known as…
01 Sep 2019, Culture September 2019
What kind of challenges exist for Christians in Islamic countries?…
01 Sep 2019, Churches September 2019
The MAET is the movement of singers and musicians who…
01 Sep 2019, News September 2019
Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was imprisoned and exiled for…
01 Sep 2019, Culture September 2019
There is no feast in Ethiopia, religious or civil, so…
01 Sep 2019, Churches September 2019
Private Military Companies (PMC) have become an important player in…
01 Sep 2019, News September 2019
For some time, the Catholic and Protestant communities have been…
01 Aug 2019, Churches August 2019
Ongoing insecurity and bad governance contribute to the expansion of…
01 Aug 2019, News August 2019
Fifty-seven years after their tragic deaths, the Roman Catholic Church…
01 Aug 2019, Churches August 2019
The continent is changing thanks to the increasingly frequent use…
01 Aug 2019, News August 2019
In Buganda, an ethnic group lives in the Central Region…
01 Aug 2019, Culture August 2019
Lake Malawi, a unique habitat. One of the deepest water…
01 Aug 2019, Culture August 2019
In the northern state of Kano in Nigeria a political…
01 Aug 2019, News August 2019
The Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar…
01 Aug 2019, Churches August 2019
They live today almost the way they could have lived…
01 Jul 2019, Dossier July 2019
Travelling around the Gumuz region we did not see specific…
01 Jul 2019, Dossier July 2019
Changes go very fast. There are many agents responsible for…
01 Jul 2019, Dossier July 2019
From the Maghreb to Southern Africa, a myriad of flavours,…
01 Jul 2019, Culture July 2019
Each day it is criss-crossed by invisible travellers who arrive…
01 Jul 2019, News July 2019
We have travelled for 500 kms in northwest Addis Ababa.…
01 Jul 2019, Dossier July 2019
It is a plant used as a medicine for several…
01 Jul 2019, Culture July 2019
The long-awaited bridge spanning the Gambia River will open in…
01 Jul 2019, News July 2019
Pope Francis is going to Madagascar in September. During his…
01 Jul 2019, Churches July 2019
According to the World Bank, 41% of the inhabitants of…
01 Jul 2019, News July 2019
The unrecognized state of Somaliland is receiving increasingly foreign support…
01 Jul 2019, News July 2019
The problem of immigration. Relations with Islam. Education as a…
01 Jun 2019, Churches June 2019
Set to become the main mode of transport in Africa,…
01 Jun 2019, News June 2019
The concept of Ubuntu is deeply rooted in Africa and…
01 Jun 2019, Culture June 2019
Highly valued in traditional medicine for treatment and management of…
01 Jun 2019, Culture June 2019
Bonga is one of the capitals of Ethiopian coffee. At…
01 Jun 2019, News June 2019
Tension is escalating between Uganda and Rwanda. A crisis is…
01 Jun 2019, News June 2019
Interregional migration, or the movement of people between geographic sub…
01 May 2019, Dossier May 2019
African bishops are aware that, when there is a massive…
01 May 2019, Dossier May 2019
There are areas of Africa where it is difficult to…
01 May 2019, News May 2019
Criticisms force governments to place restrictions on the Internet. Serious violations of human rights and grave consequences for local economies. At the same time, systems for by-passing the controls are proliferating. A method of closing down…
Globally, in 2017, there were around 258 million international migrants, approximately 3.4% of the world population. Only 35% was from the south to the north of the world. The same trend was encountered in Africa:…
On his knees before President Salva Kiir and the Vice-Presidents Designate who are to open a new government this month of May: “Peace is possible, let the armistice be respected. The people are worn out…
The Tapeth are a small ethnic group living with the Karamojong in North Eastern Uganda. They are found in a village known as Tapac that is situated in the ranges of the Moroto Mountains in…
African migration patterns do not happen in a vacuum. Rather, they are situated within major trends on the global stage that have also affected the continent, namely climate change and environmental degradation and conflict. Environmental changes…
Another so-called Arab – or at least North African – Spring? Given the significant risks and the fact that a few hundred lives have already been lost, rather than spring, geopolitical ‘meteorologists’ might use a…
It possesses great nutritional and medicinal values. The plant is used in the treatment of a number of diseases. And also as a body cream. Xylopia aethiopica which is commonly referred to as the grains…
A poor woman takes a foreign mother into her house and looks after her sick daughter. She goes to the church and asks the missionary to pray that the child gets well. In the eyes of…
If it is true that the Christian Europe of the Middle Ages was shaped by monasticism, more so it can be said of the Ethiopian Christianity. Ethiopia converted to Christianity around the year 330 through the…
From its very foundation, Debre Libanos grew in prestige and power until it surpassed all the other monasteries, thanks in the first place to the personality of its founder, Tekle Haimanot, but also to the…
Twenty-five years after the genocide of the Tutsis in 1994, the country is peaceful and the economy is booming. But citizens are striving for more freedom. September 1994. Two months after the end of the genocide,…
The Addis Ababa - Nairobi route, it’s often a necessary ‘rite of passage’ for those heading for a variety of African destinations. And so it was for the 157 people who boarded the tragic flight…
Four years after the crisis sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s determination to run for a third mandate against the spirit of the constitution and the 2000 Arusha Peace Agreement, Burundi has sunk into oblivion, isolation…
Among the many Ethiopian monasteries Debre Damo deserves to be mentioned first. Not because it is the largest or the most important, but because it concentrates in itself certain original characteristics that do not occur…
If we mention the monastery of Hayk (or Hayq) among the three chosen for this dossier, it is certainly not because of the importance it has nowadays, but because of the one it had in…
Chinese high-tech companies are banking on Africa, especially on the 'Silicon Savannah' of Nairobi, to develop strategies aimed at satisfying emerging markets. The unknown factor is the collection and management of mega-data Of all the roughly…
It is used as medicine, source of fibre, and wood. But also in the treatment of numerous diseases and disorders. It is a low-branching deciduous shrub with a flat, spreading crown and usually grows up to…
The role of the bishops in the recent socio-political events in the country. The Church as 'guarantor of unity’. The future: the full evangelisation of the Christian communities. We talked with Mons. Sébastien-Joseph Muyengo Mulombe,…
The Museum of African Civilisation was founded in Dakar: it contains African art from its origins to the present day. The dream of Léopold Sédar Senghor. Over four-fifths of the artistic patrimony of the continent, the…
The new President’s first decisions tilt towards authoritarianism, which is matter of concern owing to the poor governance of his earlier period in government. On the last 20 January, 44 year old former DJ, Andry…
With Chinese technical and financial backing, a number of countries – from Tanzania to Angola, from Kenya to Ethiopia, from Nigeria to Ghana – are modernising their railroads and building new lines to move both…
The presidential election of 2019 will be a crucial test for the Arab world’s democratic laboratory. While it will take place at the end of 2019, the Tunisian presidential elections will be one of the most…
His songs criticise the government and corrupt politics. Young people listen to him and have elected him to parliament. A threat to President Museveni who tries to silence him. It is Sunday and he is sitting…
Financed by Istanbul, it also contains other structures: a congress hall, administration offices and a library. The presence of Turkey in Africa is nothing new: educational and social projects and the construction of mosques are…
It is an important plant for medical use. But it is also used to make furniture and ink. Acacia, commonly known as paperbark thorn or paperbark acacia, is a small to medium-sized tree native to tropical Africa, in…
The challenge to poverty in an area rich in oil. Young people and the lack of education. We talk with Mgr. Martin Waïngue, first local bishop in charge of the diocese of Doba, in the…
About 700 Ethiopian refugees survive thanks to the work of an Orthodox priest of the Debre Libanos monastery. The initiative of Abba Kefyalew stands out considering the limited commitment of his Church to the less…
Ethiopia is Africa's second largest refugee hosting country with more than 800,000 of them in its territory. They are victims of wars, persecutions or natural disasters. There is just one centre for refugees in Addis…
The 30 December presidential and parliamentary elections have ended up in a farce. Monitoring group and several international partners have called for a recount. After 12 days of internet black-out, the Independent National Electoral Commission…
Kamiti penitentiary in the outskirts of Nairobi hosts more than 4,200 detainees. The Consolata Missionary Sisters are committed to a programme of training for the young prisoners. Standing in front of the main entrance to…
After two years of interruption, the railway traffic has resumed recently between the capital, Brazzaville and the main economic hub, the port of Pointe Noire. This raises news hopes for the development of the country. …
Kitty Phetla, ballerina and choreographer with Joburg Ballet, grew up among the tin-roofed rows of houses in the township of Soweto. Her en pointe success, gained by talent and tenacity, is an example of redemption…
The feast of Timket or Baptism of the Lord is celebrated in Ethiopia on January 19, 12 days after Christmas. An original feature with regard to this celebration is that in Ethiopia the Old and…
The Limpopo River Basin is a fragile environment threatened by the combined pressure, of climate change, urban waste disposal and mining activities. The sluggish waters of the Limpopo, called Espiritu Santo River by the Portuguese…
The Zambezi River is one of Africa’s main energy assets and could become as well one of the continent’s main water highway, but many threats ranging from climate change to the risk of collapse of…
The Menjas live in the south-west of Ethiopia. They are marginalized and discriminated by other ethnic groups. Two Catholic sisters stand up for them. In the shadow of the giant jungle trees, Kenito Atumo squats on…
Hundreds children are begging in the streets of Kampala City. A Comboni missionary, Father John Bosco Mubangizi has launched a project “Karamoja Streets Kids”. Respect, protection and future for these children. He explains us the…
The year 2019 looks extremely challenging in many countries of the continent where crucial elections are scheduled, if they take place. In Northern Africa, one of the main challenges is whether or not the presidential election…
With the catchy rhythms of Afro-Pop, African artists are increasingly singing about young Africans’ frustrations. The political leaders threatened by this musical impetus try to silence it. Music has always been a medium with which to…
The Senegal River is a main source of life and prosperity for three West-African countries. But its vital role is put in jeopardy by a number of threats. The 1,641 km-long Senegal River, which has…
The Niger River is the main source of life of large parts of West Africa. But owing to climate change and human activities, riparian populations face growing challenges. Sailing down the Niger River from the Fouta…
Despite having lost both legs in a bomb explosion, Sr. Present returns to her mission. A gesture of love and hope. The memory of what happened is still very much present not only in her mind…
From a security point of view, in 2019 in Africa there will be several hotspots. We focus on four of them: Central African Republic, Libya, Algeria and Nigeria. One of the factors that changed the…
Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege and Yazidi human rights activist and survivor of sexual slavery by Islamic State in Iraq, Nadia Murad, have won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for their work and commitment to fighting…
Now popular in many countries, African wax cloth owes its creative and commercial success to the fact that it is not tied to any particular African culture. It must guard against Chinese imitations and violations…
Many years ago, a local district officer gave a small plot for a non-formal school in the Mukuru slums of Nairobi. The Mukuru Promotion Centre (MCP) started and along the years has become an important…
A 'no deal' Brexit could mean a temporary interruption of the diamond trade on the London diamond hub, affecting African and Indian diamond exporters. The departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union on the…
Illegal fishing or unauthorized fishing is a scourge affecting the countries of Africa, in particular those in the west, which are deprived of most of their fishery resources. "Every one in five fish eaten in a…
The comfort of political correctness to the detriment of ecumenical dialogue. In an Egyptian context where Christians have a loose sense of belonging in their original ecclesial communities. A Comboni Missionary, who has spent twenty-five…
The Christmas cycle begins with a long period of fasting, corresponding to Advent in the Latin rite. It begins around November 15 (Hedar 6 in the Ethiopian calendar). The feast of Christmas or Ledet (the…
The security of the continent has now become a 'private affair' of the Americans, the French, the Russians, the Ukrainians and the Chinese. The countries that need muscle power turn mostly to Ukrainian or Russian…
They are seers and traditional healers with a vast knowledge of medicinal plants, spells and fetishes. They represent an example of moral integrity. Today they enjoy a high position in Malinke society, especially in the…
More than one year after he was sworn in, the new Angolan head of state, João Lourenço has made sure that the men suspected to be corrupt do face trial. The list includes the son…
The desert is not a no man’s land but the land of nomads. The best known among these are the Tuareg, also called the ‘blue people’, in reference to the colour of the veil (tagelmust)…
The largest infrastructure project in East Africa is likely to become obsolete long before it is completed, but in the meantime those populations and territories involved pay the price because of it. The LAPSSET(Lamu Port-South Sudan-EthiopiaTransport)…
In the south of Madagascar live the Bara, a cluster of 18 ethnic groups that share language and culture. They live in an arid land, where agriculture cannot thrive, and so they developed an economy…
It is an herbaceous food legume belonging to the plant family Fabaceae. It can either be short and bushy or a vine climbing along supports or trailing along the ground. It shows considerable adaptation to…
She is the first female mechanic in the country. She runs the Garage Saint Michel de Sic with 22 employees. A Sister who understands engines. From early morning, the traffic in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina…
Every year, thousands of migrants and refugees arrive in Johannesburg from several African countries. The House of Mercy and the Jesuit Refugee Service have been committed to serving hundreds of marginalized people in the metropolis…
Negative impacts of deforestation require proactive interventions in order to reverse the trend. African governments are moving towards averting the situation by embracing sustainable management of forest instruments at all levels. The key issue forest policy…
It consists in a microcredit project for women and grants for school fees for about fifty young people. This is the concrete contribution of the Comboni Sisters to those wishing to build a life for…
Seventeen abandoned children have been rescued from wandering around the streets and started 'the trip of their lives’. They are part of a long-awaited educational project, which hopefully will take them, and many others like…
The most common pressures causing deforestation and severe forest degradation are agriculture, unsustainable forest management, mining, infrastructure projects and increased fire incidence and intensity. Discussion on the drivers (or causes) of deforestation has been quite animated…
Either the elections are rigged or they cannot take place for logistical and financial reasons. In both cases, directely or indirectly, Kabila is likely to remain in control, anticipate observers in Kinshasa. A growing number…
It is given as a fact that any advocacy cannot have success without some sort of campaign. A campaign “is the process of mobilizing people…
Read more
The day was very hot. The hare was on his way to a distant water-hole to quench his thirst when he met a party of baboons…
Read more
It’s two years until the next World Youth Day, which will take place in the city of Lisbon in 2022 and in that intervening time, Pope…
Read more
