Uganda sets aside sh1 billion to fight armyworm Kampala, Uganda | AFP | A plague of crop-destroying fall armyworm caterpillars has spread to East Africa where officials confirmed their presence for the first time in Uganda on Friday. An outbreak of the caterpillars in several southern African nations has already …
Read More »World Bank chief heads to East Africa after announcing $57 bln in financing for Africa
Washington, United States | AFP | The World Bank on Sunday announced $57 billion in financing for sub-Saharan Africa over the next three fiscal years. Of that total, $45 billion will come from the International Development Association, the World Bank fund that provides grants and interest-free loans for the world’s poorest …
Read More »Plan to nurture African economies unites fractious G2
Baden-Baden, Germany | AFP | Ministers from the world’s top economies heralded plans to boost development in Africa on Saturday, at an otherwise fractious G20 gathering in Germany. Berlin, which holds the presidency of the powerful nations’ club this year, has made a hoped-for “Compact with Africa” a top priority for …
Read More »African MPs seek free-movement, passport to boost intra-Africa trade
African legislators meeting in Midrand, South Africa this week have been tasked to lobby their governments to support the adoption of the Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons on the continent in the January 2018 African Union Summit. Speaking to parliamentarians in the Committee of Trade, Customs and …
Read More »Bishops ask Radio Vatican to restore services to Africa
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | African bishops have asked Radio Vatican, the official radio of the pope, to restore shortwave transmissions to the continent, the Catholic agency Fides reported on Friday. Catholics are estimated to number more than 150 million in Africa, the poorest of all continents, and …
Read More »AU’s .africa joins the internet
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | In the beginning was .com, followed by a host of other .somethings, but on Friday, 32 years after the world’s first domain name was registered, the African Union has launched .africa for the continent. Africans who want to register a website will be able …
Read More »LATIGO: Domesticate the draft anti-terrorism bill developed for Africa
African parliaments have been urged to be at the forefront of combating terrorism and violent extremism, by ratifying and implementing anti terrorism laws. Terrorism was a top item on the agenda at the Pan African Parliament session in Midrand, South Africa on Wednesday, with Uganda’s Prof. Ogenga-Latigo saying that every country hould domesticate …
Read More »COMMENT: Achieving Africa’s industrialisation
COMMENT: By Justin Yifu Lin and Andrea Goldstein In an interconnected global economy, effective development demands effective external partnerships In the mid-2000s, after decades in the slow lane, African economies hit the accelerator. But what lies ahead for the continent is not an open highway. If Africa is to achieve …
Read More »No Ibrahim Prize awarded for African leadership
London, United Kingdom | AFP | The Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership — the world’s biggest individual prize — drew a blank once again in finding a suitable laureate, it was announced Tuesday. The prize only goes to a democratically-elected African leader who demonstrated exceptional leadership, served their …
Read More »First drug-resistant malaria parasite detected in Africa
Miami, United States | AFP | For the first time in Africa, researchers said Wednesday they have detected a malaria parasite that is partially resistant to the top anti-malaria drug, artemisinin, raising concern about efforts to fight a disease that sickens hundreds of millions of people each year. The discovery …
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