Radio Fortune Africa -Ukweli na Burudani

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By Cantona Joseph Published on: March 27, 2026 11:43 (EAT)

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Equity Bank officials, members of AGRICOS and ANAPI pose for a photo at Pullman Hotel in Lubumbashi, DRC after a B2B engagement forum during the Equity Bank Trade Mission. Photo/Courtesy

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Over 50 potential investors representing 16 nationalities are heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to explore investment and trade opportunities.

They are slated to participate in a week-long Trade and Investment Mission in the DRC, organised by Equity Group, with the aim of unlocking the country’s economic potential. 

Speaking at the opening session, Paty Paterne Mushagalusa, Associate Director for Commercial Projects at Equity Banque Commerciale du Congo, highlighted the country’s abundance of natural resources and improving business environment. 

“As the world’s leading source of cobalt and a top producer of copper, the DRC plays a central role in the global green energy transition. Beyond mining, the country holds vast agricultural potential, infrastructure gaps that present investment opportunities, and a youthful consumer base driving urban demand,” Mushagalusa added.

Yves Bizunga, Deputy Managing Director of Equity BCDC in the Southern Region, invited investors to explore Katanga province, where copper and cobalt resources drive exports and contribute nearly 40 per cent to national GDP. 

He noted that opportunities extend beyond mining into logistics, energy, subcontracting, and supply chain financing.

On the topic of agriculture, Eric Lwamba Mayanga, President of the Federation of Congolese Agribusiness (AGRICOS), pointed out that 68 million hectares of arable land is ready for cultivation. 

“DRC offers strong opportunities in agribusiness, agro-processing, and food import substitution. Investors can access market insights, value chain support, and local networks to build sustainable ventures,” he stated.

Officials also highlighted reforms that have streamlined business processes. Michel Kinkele Orelis, a finance professional in Lubumbashi, noted that company registration now takes just three days, with simplified taxation and profit repatriation guarantees in place.

Salaam City launch sets pace for Djibouti’s real estate growth

By Agencies Published on: March 23, 2026 09:51 (EAT)

Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh (second right) with Salaam Real Estate officials during the groundbreaking.

Djibouti on Monday had a groundbreaking ceremony for Salaam City, its largest residential development project valued at $480 million.  

President Ismail Omar Guelleh led government officials and representatives from Salaam Real Estate at the launch of the project, seen as a key milestone in the country’s urban expansion.

The development is part of the broader Salaam Group portfolio, which continues to expand its footprint across East Africa and beyond through ventures like Salaam Bank Uganda, Salaam Investment Bank and Salaam Microfinance Bank in Kenya.

The group also operates in South Sudan and Malaysia and holds a majority stake in Takaful Insurance. With more than 7,000 residential units, including apartments and standalone houses, Salaam City is designed as a fully integrated community offering a mix of housing options.

The project incorporates energy-efficient construction, eco-friendly materials and expansive green spaces. It will also feature essential social infrastructure, including schools, healthcare facilities, a central mosque, commercial centres and recreational areas to support a vibrant community life.

The city adopts an inclusive approach to urban development by combining competitively priced housing with flexible financing solutions developed in partnership with Salaam African Bank. It also opens investment openings for local and foreign investors, including the Djiboutian diaspora.

“Djibouti’s development should be measured not only by the scale of its ambitions, but by its ability to improve the daily lives of its citizens,” President Guelleh said, adding: “By expanding access to quality housing, generating employment opportunities and building modern, inclusive communities, initiatives like Salaam City invest in the well-being of our people and the future of our nation.”

As Djibouti strengthens its position as a regional economic and logistics hub, the project, sector experts say, aligns with its broader vision for modernization and urban growth. It is expected to ease housing demand while supporting the country’s demographic and economic ambitions.

The development is also projected to generate major economic activity, with up to 2,000 workers expected on site during peak construction across engineering, construction and technical sectors.

“Salaam City is designed to make homeownership accessible and affordable for families across Djibouti,” said Mustafe Liiban. “Our goal is to create a community where everyone can enjoy quality housing, modern amenities and a safe environment for their families to grow.”

Salaam Real Estate officials said on Monday that their focus is to deliver modern, sustainable developments that support urbanisation and economic growth, contributing to the transformation of Djibouti’s housing landscape.

Mr Jama Hersi, the General Manager of Salaam Africa Bank, said financing remains central to the project’s success. “This vision only works if finance runs through the entire project,” he said. “Building houses is one thing; making them possible to own is another. Our role is to back this project from the ground up, from investment to financing, so that families don’t just see homes being built but have a real chance to buy one.”

‘They beat us with whips’: Sudan RSF detainees tell of horrors in El-Fasher

By AFP Published on: March 22, 2026 10:41 (EAT)

Thousands of people are estimated to have been detained in the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) October takeover of North Darfur’s El-Fasher, a battle that a UN investigation found bore the “hallmarks of genocide“.

In the suffocating darkness of a sealed shipping container, every thud signalled to Ibrahim Noureldin that one more detainee had died in the crush as Sudanese paramilitary fighters kept forcing more men inside.

Thousands of people are estimated to have been detained in the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) October takeover of North Darfur’s El-Fasher, a battle that a UN investigation found bore the “hallmarks of genocide”.

“When people died of thirst and hunger, we were beaten and forced to bury them outside,” 42-year-old Noureldin said.

“We were put to work, lifting their luggage, materials, weapons. If we moved too slowly, they beat us with whips,” he told AFP from Tawila — an overwhelmed refugee town west of El-Fasher now sheltering hundreds of thousands of people.

In February, the United Nations’ rights office and the London-based Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) said that the RSF had converted hospitals, schools, warehouses and shipping containers — like the easy-to-lock, inescapable box that nearly killed Noureldin — into a sprawling network of makeshift prisons.

The RSF, at war with Sudan’s regular army for nearly three years, has an iron grip on El-Fasher, and has only allowed in a handful of humanitarians, who say the city is “a ghost town”.

But in Tawila, an AFP journalist gathered rare testimonies from five former detainees, speaking to them inside fragile shelters of straw and tattered fabric.

– ‘Sips of water’ –

Under one straw awning, Noureldin leaned on a crutch, still weak from his injuries.

On October 26, he and six others were fleeing the RSF’s final assault on the city when they were “shot at, beaten and accused of fighting for the army”.

He was loaded into a Land Cruiser and taken to al-Borsa market in the city’s east, then locked with about 120 men in the airless container.

For over a month, they survived on “tiny sips of water” and “a little lentils”.

Months of testimony, satellite imagery and verified videos analysed by the UN and CIR show that the detainees included government workers, doctors, journalists, teachers and aid staff.

Many were held for ransom, accused of army affiliation or based on tribal identity.

The RSF denies the abuses. A spokesman told AFP the reports were “propaganda”, accusing the army of “using civilians as human shields”.

Both warring sides have been accused of atrocities against civilians, including deliberate targeting and detention.

– ‘Nails ripped with pliers’ –

One of the RSF’s largest detention centres was El-Fasher Children’s Hospital, where “more than 2,000 men” were held “without access to water and food”, the UN said.

“They brought us to the children’s hospital, said we were fighters and kept me there for a month,” Abdullah Idris, 45, told AFP.

With nothing but saline solution to drink, he said he “could only watch” as dozens of people died every day.

The UN recorded up to 40 deaths a day during a cholera-like outbreak, killing 260 people in a single week.

Besides disease, “the torture was horrible, especially to the young men”, he said.

“If you tried to speak, they’d kill you with a single shot.”

Ahmed Aman, 45, another hospital detainee, said some detainees “had their fingernails ripped out with pliers”.

After weeks at the hospital, he was moved to Garni, northwest of El-Fasher, where CIR-verified footage showed “at least 600 detainees” being forcibly marched, including women and children.

– ‘Like animals’ –

Nedal Yasser, 27, was abducted the day after the RSF assault on the city.

For six weeks, she was shuttled with other women between detention sites, including al-Mina al-Bary, a bus depot near the market where the UN said hundreds were held in about 70 shipping containers.

“I was beaten, tied up, interrogated. When they found out my husband was a soldier, the torture got even worse,” she told AFP.

“We were exploited and sexually harassed, only sometimes allowed to go to the bathroom.”

She and the other women were ordered to pay $2,000 ransoms, but everything she owned had “already been looted”.

Finally, she was brought to a house, “assaulted”, then dumped in a remote area.

She walked dozens of kilometres to Tawila, suffering a miscarriage on the way.

The UN has documented widespread torture and “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment”, including sexual violence, beatings with wooden rods, flogging and being suspended in painful positions from trees.

In the open fields of Tawila, survivors carry the scars.

Aman’s back remains “torn apart” from beatings.

Yasser regularly faints when she tries to stand.

And mechanic Ahmed al-Sheikh, 43, walks with a limp and cannot see out of his right eye after being struck by an RSF fighter.

He reached safety only in February after four months in Shala prison, where the UN said the RSF held more than 2,000 detainees by January.

“They’d kill people right in front of us,” he told AFP.

“They would select people randomly, killing us like animals.”

According to the UN, at least 6,000 more detainees were transferred from El-Fasher to Tagris prison in the RSF’s de facto capital, Nyala, where they maintain a complete communications blackout.

Sudan war: Hospital bombing turns into scene of devastation amid harrowing survivor testimonies

By Agencies Published on: March 22, 2026 07:43 (EAT)

Al-Daein Teaching Hospital in the Darfur region has been transformed into a scene of devastation following a sudden airstrike.

Al-Daein Teaching Hospital in the Darfur region has been transformed into a scene of devastation following a sudden airstrike that caused parts of the building to collapse on patients and staff.

Eyewitnesses spoke of “moments of terror,” as munitions fell without warning while hospital wards were crowded with patients.

The attack, attributed to the Sudanese army and carried out using a Turkish-made drone, left harrowing scenes, with rescue teams working under difficult conditions to retrieve victims from beneath the rubble.

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