AFRICA

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | XINHUA | The African Union (AU) Commission on Saturday disclosed an urgent need to collect illicit weapons in possession of civilians in Africa as an estimated 40 million weapons are presently under the possession of civilians across the continent. The statement was made by Smail Chergui, AU …

Bamako, Mali | XINHUA | Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the Malian president ousted by a military coup in August, left Saturday evening for Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to seek medical treatment, a local security source confirmed to Xinhua. On condition of anonymity, the officer said Keita departed Bamako on …

Khartoum, Sudan | XINHUA | Sudan’s Security and Defense Council has decided to declare a nationwide three-month state of emergency over floods, Sudan’s Sovereign Council announced in a statement Saturday. Following a meeting late Friday, chaired by Sovereign Council Chairman Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the Security and Defense Council instructed formation …

Juba, South Sudan | XINHUA | More than 1,500 teenage girls in South Sudan have either been married off or impregnated since April, a new report by a local civil society group launched in Juba on Friday reveals. The report released by the Support Peace Development Initiative Organization (SPIDO) found …

Maputo, Mozambique | XINHUA | Health authorities in Mozambique will start conducting a study in this month to assess the possibility of using the Tuberculosis vaccine to combat COVID-19 infections in the country, Radio Mozambique reported on Friday. According to the report citing the research coordinator for acute respiratory infections …

Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA |   South African Deputy President David Mabuza on Thursday vowed to restructure embattled electricity utility Eskom in a phased manner to ensure energy stabilization. The government is pleased with the progress being made to transform Eskom under new CEO, Andre de Ruyter, Mabuza said while replying …

Nairobi, Kenya | XINHUA | The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that donors and industry should allocate sufficient resources to ensure that African countries have access to a safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccine. Richard Mihigo, Program Area Manager of Immunization and Vaccine Development of WHO, said the needs …

Nairobi, Kenya | XINHUA | The African Union (AU) is planning to put in place a guarantee scheme for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) to speed up the continent’s economic transformation, an official said on Wednesday. Amine Idriss Adoume, director in charge of delivery program and coordination at the …

Cape Town, S.A. | XINHUA | South Africa’s power crisis worsened on Wednesday as electricity utility Eskom escalated the level of load shedding from level two to level four. This was the highest level of load shedding that has been implemented this year. Stage-two load shedding allows up to 2,000 …

Nairobi, Kenya | XINHUA | The Inter-African Coffee Organization (IACO) said on Wednesday it has jointly launched a 14.3 million U.S. dollar intervention program to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on the continent’s coffee sector. IACO said it has teamed up with the International Coffee Organization (ICO) and the Center …