AFRICA

Geneva, Switzerland | THE INDEPENDENT | World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has reached out to COVID-19 skeptic, Tanzania’s President John Magufuli, promising to support the country’s health system. “COVID-19 is a serious disease that can cause severe illness and even death. National authorities everywhere must do all they can …

Pretoria, South Africa | Xinhua | A total of 570 police officers have succumbed to COVID-19 in South Africa while over 27,000 were infected, said Police Minister Bheki Cele on Friday. Cele made the remarks in Pretoria while releasing the crime statistics for the third quarter of the 2020-2021 financial year. …

EU funding will, among others, contribute to ensuring the cold chains, roll-out registration programmes, training of medical and support staff as well as logistics.  Brussels, Belgium | THE INDEPENDENT | The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced today $121 million (€100 million) in humanitarian assistance to support the …

📌 Donations to COVAX for free #COVID19 vaccines ▶ US $4 billion ▶ EU $1.2 billion ▶ Germany $1.2 billion ▶ UK $734 million 📌 Uganda’s rollout plan – Phase 1 ✳ Health workers 150,000 people ✳ Security 250,000 ✳ Teachers 550,000 ✳ Over 50s 3.348 million ✳ Below 50s with underlying conditions 500,000 Joe Biden’s …

  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Xinhua | The East Africa Community (EAC) economies have proven to be relatively resilient in terms of the catastrophic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic despite greater need for economic diversification, according to a newly launched United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) report. The newly launched …

WTO members made history February 15, 2021 when the General Council agreed by consensus to select Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria as the organization’s seventh Director-General Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Xinhua | The appointment of Nigeria-born Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the first African director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) can help rebalance …

Nairobi, Kenya | Xinhua | The World Health Organization (WHO) has mobilized financial resources and technical expertise to boost the war against Ebola and COVID-19 in Africa amid threat to the continent’s public health system, an official said on Thursday. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa said that boosting the …

  Nairobi, Kenya | THE INDEPENDENT | A wetter than usual season is expected over most farming areas in the central and southern parts of the African region, while a drier than usual season is expected over north-eastern Ethiopia, experts from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have announced. The season …

Nairobi, Kenya |  THE INDEPENDENT  |  A seamless roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine in Africa hinges on improving the knowledge of the continent’s frontline health care workers in critical areas like storage, supply chains management and effective communication to the public, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. Ambrose Talisuna, emergency …

  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | XINHUA |  The Ethiopian government has signed a 24 million U.S. dollars off-grid electrification project contract with three Chinese firms and one South Korean firm, an Ethiopian official said on Tuesday. Speaking to Xinhua, Melaku Taye, Communications Director at Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU), said the …