The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has kicked off in Morocco, with the host nation starting on a winning note after recording a 2-0 victory over Comoros Island at a packed Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.

The Atlas Lions of Morocco missed a spot kick early in the match after Iyad Mohamed brought down Real Madrid star Brahim Díaz in the 18-yard box. However, Comoros goalkeeper Yannick denied Díaz by saving the penalty with his left knee.

Comoros contained the Moroccans, going into the halftime break with the score line level at 0-0. However, in the 55th minute of the second half, the hosts took the lead when Díaz was left unmarked near the penalty spot and calmly swept home Noussair Mazraoui’s low cross, sending over 60,000 fans into jubilation.

In the 75th minute, substitute Ayoub El Kaabi scored an emphatic overhead kick with a quarter of an hour remaining to seal the victory for the North African side.

Meanwhile, the media reports that the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations champions, Zambia, will today December 22^nd, open their Group A campaign against West African nation Mali at the Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca at 16:00 hours Zambian time with Chipolopolo coach Moses Sichone declaring the team ready for the encounter.

Zambia will be without 2012 AFCON winner Stopilla Sunzu for the Mali clash due to illness.

The Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA) has verified over 59,000 local and international qualifications as of December 20, 2025.

ZAQA Executive Director Mercy Ngoma says the achievement reflects the authority’s strengthened capacity to conduct qualification verification services, which are critical in protecting employment and higher education opportunities for citizens.

Ms. Ngoma explained that during the same period, over 1,900 qualifications were issued with notices of rejection following the successful completion of the verification process.

Speaking during an end-of-year media interaction in Lusaka today, Ms. Ngoma said the rejections resulted from qualifications obtained from institutions without legal authority to award them, enrolment in programmes that were not quality-assured, and cases of fraud, among other reasons.

She noted that this development underscores the importance of qualification verification as a quality-assurance and public protection mechanism, which is now mandatory for employment purposes and enrolment into tertiary education institutions.

Ms. Ngoma also appealed to qualification-awarding bodies to register on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) in line with prescribed quality standards, a move she said would enhance both national and international recognition of Zambian qualifications.

She added that in recent months, the authority has recorded an increase in requests from regional qualifications authorities and recognition bodies seeking confirmation of the registration status of Zambian qualifications.

Ms. Ngoma further stated that, following the expanded mandate of ZAQA, the authority has been strengthening its institutional capacity by enhancing staffing levels and conducting a comprehensive review of its systems and international processes to improve efficiency.

GreenCo, Impact Fund Denmark (IFDK) and the European Commission have closed a €50 million guarantee under the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+).

According to a statement made available to the  media today by GreenCo, the guarantee is provided to GreenCo on a back-to-back basis via IFDK, who have also invested an additional $6 million adding that this combined facility marks a watershed moment for the development of competitive electricity markets in sub-Saharan Africa.

The statement also states that the guarantee underpins GreenCo’s ability to meet long-term payment obligations to independent power producers (IPPs) across sub-Saharan Africa, including all countries of GreenCo’s current operations, namely Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and the DRC.

The statement further states that by strengthening GreenCo’s balance sheet and demonstrating investment-grade creditworthiness, the structure facilitates the flow of private capital into markets historically considered too risky despite strong fundamentals and urgent demand.

Meanwhile, GreenCo’s Chief Commercial Officer and Co-Founder, Cathy Oxby said the guarantee is not just about GreenCo but it is also about proving that African power markets can work without sovereign guarantees.

“By using guarantees to unlock private investment rather than replace it, we can accelerate the energy transition while diversifying risk and leveraging flexibility to deliver innovative solutions to our clients,” added Ms Oxby.

The guarantee operates as a revolving facility, available over a 23-year period and the full facility should catalyse investment in over 500Mega Watts of new renewable generation capacity across

Southern Africa.

“The related EFSD+ and IFDK guarantees are highly bespoke, and the product of creativity and hard work by the combined deal team,” explained Pug Bennet, GreenCo’s Chief Finance Officer and Co-Founder.

“We are very grateful to both the European Commission and IFDK for their willingness to think outside of the box and work with us to design a practical and impactful solution to address perceived risks,” added Mr Bennet.

The transaction aligns squarely with the EU’s Global Gateway strategy, supporting energy transition, regional integration, and private sector mobilisation in priority African markets.

“This is precisely the type of catalytic intervention the EFSD+ was designed to support,” said Thomas Hougaard, Managing Director of Impact Fund Denmark.

Mr Hougaard noted that by backing a regional market intermediary, the European Commission is helping to unlock investment that ultimately delivers clean, affordable, reliable electricity to power the economic growth and affordability to citizens.

The Lusaka High Court has ruled that unsolicited text messages sent to a personal mobile phone can amount to trespass, awarding damages to a former banker against his former employer.

The matter involved a former Treasury Manager at NATSAVE whose personal mobile phone number was registered with Indo Zambia Bank for account authorization purposes during his employment. After his contract ended in 2023, the former employee notified the bank and requested that his number be removed. Despite these requests, authorization messages continued to be sent to his phone.

The former employee sued NATSAVE, claiming trespass and seeking K1.5 million in damages. In its defense, the bank argued that trespass applies only to land or physical property and not to electronic communications. The bank called no witnesses in support of its case.

High Court Judge Chalo Mfula rejected the bank’s argument, stating that a claim for trespass should not fail solely because there was no physical interference. The court held that the claim was sustainable in the context of modern communication.

“In this present case, I find the Plaintiff’s claim for trespass contextually tenable. The claim for damages for trespass to the Plaintiff’s phone succeeds,” the judge stated.

The court, however, reduced the damages awarded from K1.5 million to K30,000, finding the amount claimed to be excessive.

The judgment noted that the plaintiff was subjected to a barrage of unsolicited messages despite repeatedly requesting that the messages stop. The court further observed that the continued messages posed a potential risk of fraud and disturbed the plaintiff’s peace.

“In the age where a thief can remotely steal more with a computer than through a gun, the want of duty of care on the part of the Bank to honour the Plaintiff’s request was concerning,” the judge stated.

Case Significance

The ruling extends the application of the tort of trespass to unauthorized digital communications, including text messages. It emphasizes the obligation of institutions to act on requests to remove personal contact details and to respect withdrawal of consent.

Case citation: Charles Mwila v National Savings and Credit Bank – 2023/HP/1771 (Judgment delivered December 2025).

A joint team of Police and Fire Brigade officers in Lundazi district has recovered the decomposed body of an unidentified man, believed to have been swept away by strong currents in a stream between Masitala and Masavula villages, within the Mwase chiefdom.

The exact date of the suspected drowning remains unknown.

However, the naked body of the male victim was discovered floating face down on December 21, 2025 around 11:00 hours in the stream whose source is in Jenda, Malawi.

Mwase Police Post received the report on December 21, 2025 around 15:00 hours through Yohane Ngoma 47, who is also Masitala village headman, who indicated that his subject, Blessings Nyirongo, 21, discovered a floating body in the stream.

Eastern Province Commissioner of Police, Robertson Mweemba has confirmed the report.

And a combined team of Police and fire fighters who visited the scene found the body of a man, believed to be between the ages of 35 and 45.

The team retrieved the body which was in a decomposed state had no signs of physical injuries.

Residents of both neighbouring Masitala and Masavula villages could not identify the body of the man.

In consultation with headmen from both villages, it was decided that the body be buried and grave be marked for possible exhumation and postmortem examination.

The body has since been buried on site.

A former employee of the National Savings and Credit Bank (NATSAVE) has been awarded damages by the Lusaka High Court after successfully suing the bank for continuing to send him unsolicited text messages following the termination of his employment.

The banker had been employed by NATSAVE as a Treasury Manager. During his tenure, the bank used his personal mobile phone number to register and operate a bank account with Indo Zambia Bank. As a result, all authorization and transaction-related messages from Indo Zambia Bank were sent to his personal phone.

In 2023, the banker’s contract came to an end and he left the institution. Upon his exit, he formally notified NATSAVE and requested that his phone number be removed from all signatory and authorization arrangements with Indo Zambia Bank.

Despite this notification, months passed and the former employee continued to receive bank-related messages on his phone. He wrote to NATSAVE complaining that the messages were unwanted and disruptive, and again requested that his phone number be removed from the bank’s records. The bank, however, did not act on his request.

As a result, the former banker sued NATSAVE in the Lusaka High Court for trespass to his phone and sought K1.5 million in damages. During the proceedings, the bank did not call any witnesses but instead raised a point of law, arguing that trespass could only apply to land or physical property (chattels) and not to messages sent to a phone.

After hearing submissions from both parties, the Court noted that the matter was novel, as trespass claims had traditionally related to land or physical interference with property. However, the Court held that a valid claim should not fail solely because there was no physical damage or direct physical interference.