African Spotlight Spotlighting Africans at Home and Abroad

Nigeria on Wednesday pledged a donation of two million U.S. dollars (about N320m) in support of agricultural development and conduct of free and fair elections in Mali. Vice-President Namadi Sambo made the pledge in Brussels at the International Donors Conference on the Development of Mali, organised by the EU, a statement by Malam Umar Sani, the Vice-President’s Senior Special Assistant ...

International donors have pledged more than $4.2 billion to help Mali rebuild after a conflict with Islamist militant groups. The sum exceeds the $2.5 billion Mali was seeking to partially cover its plan to rebuild government and security institutions and other infrastructure projects. At the start of Wednesday’s conference in Brussels, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius encouraged donations, saying the ...

A suspected jihadist opened fire on a crowd at an aid distribution point in a north Malian village, killing three civilians, a local official said. However, at least one local jihadist leader said the suspect was not a member of the radical groups who ruled the region for nearly 10 months until a French-led military operation was launched in January ...

Irish and British troops have joined a European mission to train troops in Mali. Thirty-one soldiers from the Irish Defence Forces alongside their British counterparts, the Royal Marines, 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment, are training an initial group of some 800 Malian troops, of mixed ability and experience. The project aims to create four new battalions capable of defending ...

A French Islamic convert who threatened his home country has been captured in northern Mali, allegedly after fighting on the militants’ side. French troops captured Gilles Le Guen, who now goes by the name Abdel Jelil, on Sunday night north of Timbuktu, the army said. Mr Le Guen, 58, is believed to have been living in Timbuktu. France’s Defence Minister, ...