News updates from the African continent for June 24th, 2025:
Kenya to charge police officers with murder over blogger’s death in custody
Kenyan prosecutors said they approved murder charges against six people, including three police officers, for their role in killing a political blogger whose death in police custody sparked large protests.
Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said in a statement that the six suspects would be arraigned on Tuesday.
One of the police officers was the commander at the station where Albert Ojwang, a 31-year-old blogger and teacher, was held in Nairobi.
Source: Reuters
Russia and Mali sign trade deals, eye nuclear energy cooperation
Russia signed agreements to bolster trade and economic ties with Mali. President Vladimir Putin told the visiting leader of the West African country’s military junta that there were specific areas where cooperation could be ramped up.
Putin received Colonel Assimi Goita in the Kremlin, where the two spoke for two hours, Russian state media said.
Putin said relations with Mali had a “good upward trend” even if bilateral trade was currently “modest”, according to a Kremlin readout.
Source: Reuters
World Bank grants South Africa a $1.5B loan for infrastructure upgrade and green energy transition
The World Bank granted South Africa a $1.5 billion loan to upgrade transportation infrastructure and help it transition toward a low-carbon economy.
Deteriorating rail systems, jammed ports and frequent blackouts have hindered vital industries like mining and auto manufacturing in South Africa, contributing to slow economic growth over the last decade in Africa’s most developed economy.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his coalition government have pledged to tackle corruption and decades of poor management as well as pursue reforms to get the country out of its economic rut and ease its extremely high unemployment rate.
Source: Associated Press
