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Africa

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Africa. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

A man holds a flag of Somaliland in front of the Hargeisa War Memorial monument in Hargeisa. Somaliland’s president on Friday welcomed Israel’s announcement that it was recognising its statehood. Photo: AFP

Israel is first country to formally recognise Somaliland as independent state

PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the declaration ‘is in the spirit of the Abraham Accords, signed at the initiative of President Trump’.

2 hours ago

War and conflict

The brutal life of child recruits under a shadowy African rebel group

26 Dec 2025 - 1:54PM

Israel’s rising air defence sales become its ‘most potent’ foreign policy weapon

26 Dec 2025 - 2:34PM

US launches strike on Islamic State targets in Nigeria, Trump says

US strikes targeting militants were carried out in cooperation with the Nigerian government.

26 Dec 2025 - 4:39PM

A missile is launched from a military vessel at an unidentified location, in a screen grab obtained from a video released by the Department of War on December 25, 2025. Photo: US Department of War via Reuters

China-Africa relations

Tracing China’s long links with Kenya, from Admiral Zheng He to belt and road

National museum in Nairobi celebrates 620th anniversary of Ming dynasty navigator’s voyages and 62 years of modern bilateral ties.

25 Dec 2025 - 8:00PMvideocam

Algeria brands French colonisation a crime, demands reparations, apology

France’s rule over Algeria from 1830 until 1962 remains a sore spot in relations between the two countries.

25 Dec 2025 - 8:46AM

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Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong customs arrests 5 in suspected HK$8.9 billion ‘phantom trading’ racket

Suspects laundered crime proceeds over four-year period in first ‘phantom trading’ fraud involving fake shipping websites uncovered by authorities.

23 Dec 2025 - 9:14PM

Customs officers arrest one of the suspects involved in the “ghost trading” racket. Photo: Jelly Tse

Nigeria says ‘spat’ with Trump over killing of Christians ‘largely resolved’

However, Nigeria remains on Washington’s list of countries of ‘particular concern’ regarding alleged religious freedom violations.

22 Dec 2025 - 10:45PM

Nigeria secures release of 130 children abducted from Catholic school

Presidential spokesman confirms ‘none left in captivity’ after an operation frees students taken by gunmen in November.

22 Dec 2025 - 2:14PM

War and conflict

Sudan war drags on as drone attack kills 10 in Darfur market

The conflict has split Sudan in two as the army controls the north, east and centre while the UAE-backed RSF dominates Darfur and parts of the south.

21 Dec 2025 - 11:26PM

A Sudanese refugee girl from Darfur rests beside a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) tent inside the Touloum refugee camp, on the outskirts of the town of Iriba in Wadi Fira province, eastern Chad, on November 30. Photo: Reuters

China-Africa relations

Chinese workers return to Africa as lucrative job opportunities beckon

Large-scale, China-backed projects entice contract workers to take up posts in some African nations, while political instability keeps others away.

21 Dec 2025 - 8:00PMvideocam

Rail projects have been a long-standing area of cooperation between China and a number of countries in Africa. Photo: Xinhua

Multiple gunmen open fire at South Africa pub, killing 9 and wounding 10

Manhunt under way after the second South African mass shooting in three weeks.

22 Dec 2025 - 8:18AM

China’s soft power

From Labubu to blockbuster films, was 2025 the year of China’s soft power?

Chinese lifestyle brands and other cultural exports proved to be a hit around the world this year, here are some of our most notable stories.

21 Dec 2025 - 11:00AM

African teen who raised Macron’s ire with fake French coup video has no regrets

The Burkinabe teen said he had posted the fake video as a way to make money but despite millions of views, only earned US$8.

20 Dec 2025 - 11:06AMvideocam

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks at a press conference on Friday. Photo: AFP

War and conflict

UN says Sudan’s RSF killed 1,000 civilians in horrific 3-day attack on camp

New report details three days of terror at the Zamzam displacement camp in April, citing mass executions and gang rapes.

19 Dec 2025 - 3:11PM

Fire and smoke at Zamzam camp near the besieged Darfur city of El-Fasher in April, where Sudan’s RSF carried out an attack that killed hundreds. Photo: Maxar Technologies via AFP

War and conflict

War-torn Sudan tops global humanitarian crisis watch list for third year

International Rescue Committee highlights a stark concentration of human suffering in a small number of countries in latest rankings.

17 Dec 2025 - 1:42PM

Trump expands US travel ban and restrictions to include another 20 countries

The clampdown affects people seeking to travel to the US as visitors as well as those hoping to emigrate there.

17 Dec 2025 - 4:53PM

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Hong Kong stock market

China grid-equipment maker Sieyuan eyes Hong Kong listing after 665% surge

Sieyuan plans to issue new H shares equal to up to 15 per cent of its outstanding stock, as the company fast tracks global expansion.

17 Dec 2025 - 6:00AM

Shenzhen-listed Sieyuan Electric, a grid-equipment maker whose shares have surged about 665 per cent over the past five years, is planning a secondary listing in Hong Kong. Photo: handout

Hong Kong economy

Opinion | Hong Kong is stepping up its competitiveness in aviation

By funding upgrades to the airport and signing international aviation deals, the city is proactively working to expand its global reach.

16 Dec 2025 - 6:45AM

Aid cuts causing millions of refugees ‘unnecessary pain’: UN

‘The sudden, drastic, irresponsible and short-sighted collapse of foreign assistance’ has inflicted ‘so much unnecessary pain in its wake’.

15 Dec 2025 - 11:58PMvideocam

37 die in Morocco in torrential rain and flash floods

Rain and floods inundated about 70 homes and businesses and swept away 10 vehicles in the coastal city of Safi.

15 Dec 2025 - 11:33PM

Moroccans looks at a destroyed car following fatal flash floods in the coastal town of Safi. Photo: AFP

Japan’s retreat from global health funding hands China diplomatic opening

Tokyo’s over 52 per cent funding cut to a global body fighting Aids and malaria risks damaging its hard-won reputation as a ‘peace nation’.

15 Dec 2025 - 3:08PMvideocam

Mothers wait for their babies to receive a malaria vaccine in Malawi in 2019. Japan has slashed funding to a global health agency fighting infectious diseases. Photo: AFP

Egypt reveals restored colossal statues of prominent pharaoh in Luxor

The giant statues, toppled by an earthquake in about 1200 BC, were meticulously pieced back together in a project that lasted about two decades.

15 Dec 2025 - 10:56AM

US-Asean relations

Southeast Asia barely features in America’s new security strategy

The region appears just twice in the new 32-page US National Security Strategy, raising fears it is being relegated to a ‘bargaining chip’.

14 Dec 2025 - 12:00PM

6 UN peacekeepers killed in Sudan drone strike blamed on RSF paramilitary group

The victims were all Bangladeshi nationals working at a United Nations logistics base in Kadugli.

14 Dec 2025 - 5:46AM

Protesters take part in a rally in support of the Sudanese Army and against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Merowe on Saturday. Photo: EPA

China-Africa relations

Entrepreneurs vie for Africa’s Business Heroes titles in start-up bonanza

Record 32,000 applications from 54 nations vie for seventh Africa’s Business Heroes awards to recognise 100 start-ups over 10 years.

14 Dec 2025 - 9:38AM

A record 32,000 entrepreneurs applied for the 7th Africa’s Business Heroes competition in Kigali, Rwanda, on December 13, 2025. Photo: Handout

China-Africa relations

‘Concrete symbols’: China-built Ecowas HQ latest infrastructure gift to Africa

Beijing’s strategy to project influence through gifting prestigious presidential palaces and parliamentary buildings labelled ‘unique’.

13 Dec 2025 - 5:53PMvideocam

SCMP Highlights

China’s fracking potential, Greer signals reset: SCMP daily highlights

From the US Fed’s third rate cut of the year to expert predictions for China in 2026, here’s a round-up from today’s coverage.

11 Dec 2025 - 9:15PM

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