Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (PANA) - The Ivorian president, Alassane Ouattara, has threatened to take tougher sanctions against the perpetrators of child abductions and killings. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - Heads of International Election Observation Missions (IEOMs) met in Freetown Thursday to review reports of their teams on the conduct of Sierra Leone's March 7 presidential, parliamentary and local council polls. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Malian Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubèye Maiga left Bamako on Thursday for Rabat, Morocco, at the head of a six-member delegation for a 48-hour visit, official sources told PANA. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Rights activists have written an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa condemning Pretoria’s “shocking disregard for the loss of human life” in the Syrian civil war. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - Counting of ballots began in earnest at 5 pm the official closing time of Sierra Leone's crucial polls on Wednesday. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the start of a tour of five African countries, Ethiopian Foreign Affairs minister Workneh Gebeyehu said on Wednesday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is laying emphasis on regional security and counter-terrorism measures on his visit to Africa, starting in Addis Ababa, where he is due to discuss the security prospects in Somalia following plans by troop contributing countries to thin out troops. Full text...

Brussels, Belgium (PANA) - About 4,800 migrants arrived in Italy after crossing the central Mediterranean in January 2018, according to an official report issued Wednesday by the European Coast and Border Guards agency, formerly known as the European Agency for Foreign Border Control (FRONTEX). Full text...

Lomé, Togo (PANA) - Togolese opposition, which suspended its demonstration following a deal with government on political dialogue which opened 19 February, says they will resume the popular demonstrations from next week, sources close to the coalition of 14 parties told PANA on Wednesday. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - Sierra Leoneans turned out in reasonable numbers at polling stations on Wednesday to elect their country's new president, members of parliament and local councils in the fourth cycle of elections since the civil war in 2002. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Mali and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday signed several cooperation agreements during the visit to Bamako of the Emirati minister of foreign affairs, Cheikh Abdallah ben Zayed Al Nahyane. Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Tunisian president Beji Caïd Essebsi has decided to extend by seven months the state of emergency declared in the country, from 12 March, a communiqué issued by the Tunisian presidency at the end of a meeting of the national security council on Tuesday said. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa's opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has called on Africa to "join in the wave of economic freedom", saying the continent’s land and mineral resources should be "redirected to benefit African people and their economies". Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - Polls have opened in Sierra Leone where some 3.17 million registered voters are casting their ballots to elect a new president, parliamentarians and local councillors. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - The Heads of six International Election Observation Missions (IEOMs), including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), on Tuesday in Freetown, called on all Sierra Leone stakeholders to ensure peaceful and credible elections on Wednesday. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged his countrymen to adopt the right attitudes and commitments so as to achieve his objective of putting” Ghana beyond aid”. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - Prof. Amos Sawyer, Head of ECOWAS’ 55-member Observation Mission to Sierra Leone, on Monday in Freetown tasked the regional observers to discharge their duty with the highest sense of responsibility and impartiality given the critical importance of the March 7 polls to peace and democratic consolidation in the country and the region. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) – Liberian President, George Opong Weah, arrived Nigeria on a one-day visit, and held bilateral talks with his Nigerian counterpart, Muhammadu Buhari. Full text...

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - Three days after the double terrorist attacks that rocked Burkina Faso last Friday, the presidents of Niger and Togo are due to visit their West African neighbour on Monday to express solidarity with them. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) – Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, will attend Ghana's 61st Independence Anniversary celebrations on Tuesday. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - Heads of four International Election Observation Missions met in Freetown on Sunday to strategise on effective value addition to the electoral process ahead of Sierra Leone's 7 March presidential, parliamentary and local Council polls. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - On the occasion of the celebration of the Adwa Victory Day, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Moussa Faki Mahamat, says there are many lessons to be drawn from the historic event, as the battle of Adwa and its outcome highlight the critical importance of self-reliance, patriotism and selflessness, and unity, irrespective of political, ethnic and other differences. Full text...

Kampala, Uganda (PANA) – Troop Contributing Countries to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Federal Government of Somalia want the troop drawdown exercise which started last December halted. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - Prof. Amos Sawyer, Head of the ECOWAS’ 55-member Election Observation Mission, has appealed to Sierra Leone’s political actors and stakeholders to cooperate and ensure that all outstanding political and legal issues are resolved peacefully so as not to jeopardise the smooth conduct of the country’s crucial March 7 presidential, parliamentary and local council polls. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) – Sudan’s Ambassador to Egypt, Abdul Mahmoud Abdul Halim, who was recalled about two months ago due to strained bilateral relations, has been ordered by authorities here to return to Cairo on Monday and resume his diplomatic duties. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - Serra Leone’s Police (SLP) have explained that the ban on vehicular movement on March 7 Election Day is aimed at securing public order and safety, consistent with the police mandate. Full text...

Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) – Member countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have embarked upon a good road for development and growth, something they should be pleased about, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday while on a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the regional organisation in Gaborone, Botswana. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – The US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, is due to embark on an expanded visit to Africa, focused on peace and security, trade and counter-terrorism, the U.S. State Department Spokesperson, Heather Nauert, said. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) – Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, said on Friday that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) must run a leaner and smarter organisation by cutting costs and becoming more efficient to achieve the objectives of the sub-regional body. Full text...

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - Six attackers were shot dead, while the Burkinabe army lost seven soldiers in Friday morning's attack by unknown gunmen in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, according to the government spokesman Remis Dandjounou. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Tensions between South Africa’s two largest opposition parties have reached boiling point with the Democratic Alliance (DA) confirming that it will be reporting the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader, Julius Malema, to the Equality Court for hate speech and incitement of violence. Full text...

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - An explosion has rocked the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, on Friday morning, the local media reported. Full text...

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - An explosion has rocked the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou on Friday morning, the local media reported. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – Members of Ethiopia’s parliament on Friday approved the controversial state of emergency imposed by the council of ministers on 16 February, news portal Addis Standard reported, noting that the emergency decree will last for six months. Full text...

Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) - DR Congo President Joseph Kabila and Zimbabwean President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, have urged their respective compatriots to mobilize peacefully for the success of the ongoing electoral processes in their two countries. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - Chief Justice of Sierra Leone, Justice Abdulai Hamid Charm has given an assurance that the Supreme Court will expedite action on three cases before it, including the alleged dual citizenship of two of the 16 presidential candidates for the 7 March general elections. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – The Nelson Mandela Foundation is targeting the old apartheid-era South African flag, saying it should be banned. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - Outgoing Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma on Wednesday received Prof. Amos Sawyer, Head of the 55-member ECOWAS Observation Mission, and renewed his government’s commitment to delivering credible general elections on 7 March for a successful political transition in the country. Full text...

Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) - The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Somali government have pledged to complement each other in the fight against the terrorist group Al-Shabaab. Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Tunisia and Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday signed eight partnership agreements in several sectors at a ceremony co-chaired by the heads of state of the two countries, Beji Caid Essebsi and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo respectively. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - A latest review of the United Nations peacekeeping operation in South Sudan has found that reaching a political solution to the ongoing conflict is the most effective way to protect civilians, a senior UN official said on Tuesday, urging a renewed focus on supporting the political process. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - Amos Sawyer, former Interim President of Liberia and Head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) 55-member Election Observation Mission to Sierra Leone's 7 March general elections, arrived in Freetown on Tuesday night. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Africa has the capacity to step up its development but needs to organise its human resource toward that goal, Gambian President Adama Barrow remarked here on Tuesday. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - Sierra Leone's National Electoral Commission (NEC) on Tuesday took delivery of ballot papers for the 7 March presidential, parliamentary and local council elections in the West African country. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Patricia Alsup, US Ambassador to The Gambia, said on Tuesday that the United States is playing an active part to recover assets of former President in her country. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – There has been mixed reaction to President Cyril Ramaphosa's first Cabinet, which was announced late on Monday night. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) – Kenya has not been complicit in prolonging the conflict in South Sudan through the trafficking of weapons and ammunition, the foreign ministry said on Monday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Urgent efforts are needed to keep the “hard-won” gains in Burundi from eroding, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council on Monday, noting that while the security situation is calm, there is still the potential for volatility as political tensions persist. Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo on Monday started a three-day official visit to Tunisia, leading a delegation of several ministers and senior officials of his government, at the invitation of Tunisian President Béji Caïd Essebsi. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Members of the Security Council have condemned in the strongest terms the two terrorist attacks of 23 February 2018 in Mogadishu that killed and injured innocent Somalis. Full text...