Attracting ‘proper’ mining companies could bring peace, say experts COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | Barrick Gold Corporation was until 2019 the largest mining company in the world. With operating revenue of US$12.922 billion (Uganda’s GDP is about US$50 billion), Barrick Gold is the kind of mining company that experts think …
Read More »Great Lakes region’s mineral certification faces scrutiny 14 years on
Experts say the region’s mineral certification mechanism remains patchy, under-implemented, and hindered by political and regulatory gaps ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | Fourteen years since 12 governments in the Great Lakes region unanimously agreed to create a foolproof international system for certifying and auditing minerals that have been blamed for fomenting …
Read More »Tackling Africa’s vaccine supply and demand puzzle
How should continental vaccine manufacturers handle complex dynamics of supply and demand? ANALYSIS | The African Union has embarked on one of its most audacious health security missions: Ensuring that the continent manufactures 60% of its own vaccines by 2040. Africa currently manufactures a lowly 1% of the vaccines. However, since …
Read More »Inside the economics of vaccine manufacturing
Why not all African countries should venture into vaccine business ANALYSIS | The African Union has embarked on one of its most audacious health security missions: Ensuring that the continent manufactures 60% of its own vaccines by 2040. Africa currently manufactures a lowly 1% of the vaccines. However, since April 2021, …
Read More »Africa’s bumpy road to vaccine independence
How continent is navigating decades-old obstacles to build robust vaccine industry ANALYSIS | The African Union has embarked on one of its most audacious health security missions: Ensuring that the continent manufacture 60% of its own vaccines by 2040. It currently manufactures a lowly 1% of the vaccines. However, since April …
Read More »Ugandan journalists talk tough 2026 election
They say soldiers used Kawempe by-election to instill fear but this is a job they signed-up for ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | Abubaker Lubowa, a senior photojournalist at Daily Monitor, has over the last decade distinguished himself in photographing some of the most tumultuous political events. Even as many of those …
Read More »Africa’s ambitious push for vaccine independence
Can the continent walk the talk? **** The African Union has embarked on one of its most audacious health security missions: Ensuring that the continent manufactures 60% of its own vaccines by 2040. Africa currently manufactures a lowly 1% of the vaccines. However, since April 2021, when the AU …
Read More »A taste of Nile water politics
Nile basin ministers’ tour of mega Ethiopian dam leaves sour taste for Egypt Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia | RONALD MUSOKE | At 8:10 am on an already warming Sunday Feb.23 morning, three light aircraft taxied off the tarmac of Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They were carrying a group of about 24 people, …
Read More »Uganda to become 18th country to roll-out malaria vaccine for children
Malaria remains the leading cause of illness and death among children under five in Uganda Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Uganda is set to become the 18th country to roll-out malaria vaccination, starting April 2, as the country accelerates efforts to curb the deadly disease. The four-dose vaccine will be …
Read More »From Nile Basin Initiative to the Commission
Nile Day celebrations in Ethiopia support efforts to ensure all member states on board Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA | RONALD MUSOKE | The pressing need to accelerate the establishment of a Nile Basin Commission topped the issues at this year’s Nile Day celebrations on Feb. 22 in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. …
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