Fuel tanker crash in Congo kills at least 39 – health ministry

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday.⁣

Tokyo has signed agreements with a number of African countries as competition with China for key raw materials and minerals heats up.

BRICS countries will meet next week in Johannesburg as the bloc aims to widen its influence. But Russian President Vladimir Putin's absence is already causing a stir.

Africa is in dire need of electricity — and hydro power is expected to play a crucial role in its delivery. The potential is huge, but every project bears challenges which must be overcome.

Leaders of the BRICS group of emerging economies meet in Johannesburg as divisions between the founding members about the bloc's future appear to emerge. Thirty-eight Senegalese nationals are repatriated after a migrant boat drifts off Cape Verde. And Zimbabwe gears up for presidential elections amid economic hardship.

The EU is set to launch a new mission in West Africa in the fall, a German newspaper has reported. The combined military-civilian operation will aim to prevent instability triggered by jihadi groups.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Thursday.⁣

At least 63 people were killed and 43 injured in a fire in the central business district of South Africa's biggest city of Johannesburg on Thursday, the municipal government said.

The Russian mercenary outfit Wagner Group is likely to strengthen its activities in Africa despite the death of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, analysts predict. The group’s operations may remain under new management or be subsumed into another Russian paramilitary group. But where on the continent does the group operate, and what does it gain by being in Africa?

Europe seems to have ever fewer options as it watches West Africa experience a series of military coups.

July 2023 saw the third edition of a fashion competition in Paris called Africa Fashion Up. It aims to give a platform to young, up-and-coming African talent. Five designers from across the continent presented their collections at the Musée du Quai Branly, as they celebrated local craftsmanship with a global appeal. The winner, Aristide Loua, is an Ivorian who lived in France before returning to his home country, where he spent two years reacclimatising before embracing fashion. FRANCE 24 went to meet him and the other designers.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday an inquiry into a U.S. allegation that a Russian ship had picked up weapons in South Africa late last year found no evidence the vessel had transported weapons to Russia.