A devastating fire has swept through a dormitory at a girls’ boarding school in central Kenya, killing at least 16 students and injuring dozens more in one of the country’s deadliest school tragedies in recent years.

The fire broke out shortly after midnight on Thursday at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil town, about 120 kilometres northwest of Nairobi. Kenyan authorities said the blaze tore through a dormitory housing more than 200 students while many of the girls were asleep.

Kenya’s Education Minister Julius Ogamba confirmed that at least 16 students died in the inferno, while 79 others were injured. Officials said most of the injured suffered burns, smoke inhalation, and injuries sustained while trying to escape the flames. At least 71 students have reportedly been discharged from hospital after treatment.

Emergency crews, firefighters, police officers, and the Kenya Red Cross rushed to the school as terrified students fled the burning building. Witnesses described scenes of panic, with some students reportedly jumping from upper floors to escape.

Authorities said the cause of the fire has not yet been established, and investigations are underway to determine whether the school complied with Kenya’s fire safety regulations and emergency preparedness rules.

The government-owned boarding school is sponsored by the Kenya Police Service, and many of the students are daughters of police officers. Security officials sealed off parts of the campus as rescue and identification efforts continued. Distraught parents gathered outside the school awaiting news about their children.

Kenyan President William Ruto expressed condolences to the families of the victims and ordered authorities to provide support to survivors and affected families. Government officials also pledged a full investigation into the disaster.

The tragedy has renewed concerns over safety standards in Kenyan boarding schools, where deadly dormitory fires have occurred repeatedly over the years. In 2024, 21 students were killed in a school fire in Nyeri County, while previous incidents at schools such as Moi Girls High School and Kyanguli Secondary School also caused major loss of life.

Education and safety experts say overcrowded dormitories, locked exits, poor electrical systems, and weak enforcement of safety standards continue to put students at risk in many Kenyan boarding institutions.

Morocco has emerged as Africa’s top industrial economy for the first time, overtaking South Africa in the latest Africa Industrialisation Index (AII) released by the African Development Bank (AfDB) during its 2026 Annual Meetings in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

The 2025 edition of the index described Morocco’s rise as one of the report’s “most striking findings,” crediting the North African country’s sustained industrial upgrading, export diversification, infrastructure expansion, and aggressive industrial policy.

According to the AfDB, Morocco displaced South Africa after years of heavy investment in automotive manufacturing, aerospace, renewable energy, logistics, and export-oriented industries. The report noted that Morocco’s industrial ecosystem has become one of the most integrated and competitive on the continent.

The Africa Industrialisation Index evaluates 52 African countries across 19 indicators, including manufacturing output, export sophistication, infrastructure quality, industrial financing, energy access, and integration into regional and global value chains.

The AfDB said Africa is experiencing a “silent but irreversible” industrial transition, although progress remains uneven across the continent. Forty-one African countries improved their industrialisation scores between 2010 and 2024, with the continent’s overall performance rising by about six percent over the period.

Morocco’s industrial success has largely been driven by its transformation into a manufacturing hub for Europe and Africa. The country has built one of Africa’s largest automotive industries, hosting global firms such as Renault and Stellantis, while also expanding aerospace production, fertilizer processing, electronics assembly, and renewable energy investments.

The country’s Tanger Med port complex — now one of the busiest ports in the Mediterranean and Africa — has also strengthened Morocco’s position as a logistics and export gateway between Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Analysts say the combination of industrial zones, modern infrastructure, trade agreements, and political stability helped Morocco gain momentum ahead of regional competitors.

AfDB officials said the continent still faces major structural obstacles despite the progress recorded in the report. Intra-African trade currently represents only 14.4 percent of Africa’s total trade, reflecting weak regional supply chains and fragmented industrial systems.

Speaking during the launch of the reports in Brazzaville, AfDB Director for Industrial and Trade Development Ousmane Fall said industrialisation at scale would require resilient infrastructure, stronger regional integration, local value addition, and financing mobilised “on African terms.”

Alongside the industrialisation index, the AfDB also unveiled the inaugural Africa Industrial Investment Barometer, developed with WITBA Invest and Trendeo. The report showed that investment flows into African manufacturing and industrial sectors are rising, but a large share of the value generated still leaks offshore because many countries continue exporting raw materials with limited local processing.

The development comes as African governments push for homegrown industrial financing strategies amid tighter global financial conditions, rising debt burdens, and declining foreign aid. At the Brazzaville meetings, leaders called for stronger mobilisation of African pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and domestic capital markets to finance industrial expansion across the continent.

South Africa, long regarded as Africa’s dominant industrial economy, has faced mounting challenges in recent years, including electricity shortages, logistics bottlenecks, weak growth, and declining manufacturing competitiveness. Analysts say Morocco’s rapid industrial policy execution and export diversification helped it seize the top position.

The AfDB report noted that although Africa’s manufacturing value-added increased from $285 billion in 2020 to $351 billion in 2025, the continent still accounts for less than two percent of global manufacturing output and only 1.4 percent of global manufacturing exports.

Economists say Morocco’s achievement could become a model for other African countries seeking to industrialise through export-led manufacturing, infrastructure investment, renewable energy expansion, and regional trade integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing renewed political pressure after the country’s Constitutional Court revived impeachment proceedings linked to the long-running “Farmgate” or Phala Phala scandal.

The controversy centers on the 2020 theft of a large amount of U.S. cash from Ramaphosa’s private Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo province. Former intelligence chief Arthur Fraser alleged that about $4 million had been hidden at the farm and that the robbery was improperly concealed. Ramaphosa has denied wrongdoing and says the money came from a legitimate buffalo sale, with the amount stolen closer to $580,000.

South Africa’s Constitutional Court recently ruled that parliament acted unlawfully in 2022 when lawmakers blocked an impeachment inquiry into the scandal. The ruling forces parliament to reconsider the matter through a formal impeachment committee process.

Ramaphosa has refused calls to resign and is now challenging a 2022 parliamentary panel report that found evidence he may have violated anti-corruption and constitutional rules. Court filings submitted this week reportedly describe the report as “seriously flawed” and overly reliant on hearsay evidence.

Despite mounting criticism from opposition parties, Ramaphosa still retains backing from his ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC). ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said the court judgment does not require the president to step down.

Political analysts say impeachment remains unlikely because it would require a two-thirds majority in parliament, and the ANC still controls a large bloc of seats despite losing its outright majority in the 2024 election. However, the revived scandal is expected to deepen pressure on Ramaphosa’s anti-corruption image ahead of South Africa’s 2026 municipal elections.

A wave of coordinated militant attacks in Mali has highlighted the rapidly expanding influence of armed Islamist groups across the Sahel region, raising fears of worsening instability across West Africa. Reuters reports that the attacks demonstrated an unprecedented level of coordination between militant factions linked to al Qaeda and separatist Tuareg rebels.

The April attacks targeted several strategic locations across Mali, including military facilities, airports, and government positions. Militants reportedly seized towns in northern regions and briefly established checkpoints near the capital, Bamako. In one of the deadliest incidents, Mali’s defense minister was killed during the violence.

Security analysts say the attacks exposed major weaknesses in Mali’s military government despite years of foreign military interventions involving French, U.S., United Nations, and Russian support. Armed groups linked to Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and factions associated with Islamic State have steadily expanded operations across Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and parts of northern Nigeria.

Reuters analysis showed that militant networks now stretch across more than 3,000 kilometers of territory in the Sahel, creating one of the world’s fastest-growing security crises. The insurgencies have increasingly targeted military installations, mining routes, and major transport corridors, threatening economic activity across the region.

The growing insecurity has also raised concerns for international mining companies operating in Mali, one of Africa’s largest gold producers. Industry experts warn that persistent instability could eventually threaten supply chains and foreign investment, even though many firms continue operating in the country due to high global gold prices.

The United Nations has repeatedly warned that the Sahel is becoming a global terrorism hotspot. Analysts fear militant cooperation between groups in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and northern Nigeria could further destabilize the wider West African region if governments fail to improve security coordination and governance.