Page 12 - Africa

Covid burden falls in Africa but vigilance crucial in year-end season: WHO

Although the level of COVID-19 infections across the African continent is at its lowest since the start of the pandemic two years ago, a recent four-week sustained increase calls for maintaining vigilance as the year-end holiday season sets in, the World Health Organization's Africa director has said. Despite the recent uptick, there is hope that Africa will be spared the challenges of the previous two years, when surging cases and deaths withered normal life and caused deep devastation. While the current trends keep the pandemic under control, we are carefully monitoring its evolution, said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa at an online media briefing Thursday. The investments made in the COVID-19 fight over the last three years were paying off, with the region better able to cope with the virus and its health emergency response systems bolstered, he said. We must remain vigilant, continue to increase vaccination coverage and be ready to adopt more stringent ..

M23 kills 131 civilians including 17 women, 12 children in east Congo: UN

In eastern Congo last week, M23 rebels killed at least 131 civilians, including 17 women and 12 children, a UN spokesman said

As Covid-19 becomes routine, African countries prepare for next crisis

Building on the experience of battling the COVID-19 pandemic, African countries are strengthening health systems to prepare for the next health crisis, the World Health Organization's Africa director said Thursday. At the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, some of the 54 countries in the continent of 1.3 billion people lacked the facilities or trained health workers to respond adequately to the health crisis, with some struggling to provide hospital isolation wards and intensive care units, Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization's Africa regional director, said at an online briefing Thursday. However, over the course of three years, African countries have ramped up investments in health infrastructure in the race against the pandemic with support from global donors, she said. The future, however difficult the past couple of years have been, will find us in a much better situation in terms of our strategies, our investments and our capacities to confront public health ...

Illicit trafficking in cultural property harms Africa's identity: UN

The UNESCO has said the illicit trafficking in cultural property harms Africa's identity

Ethiopia receives 25,000 tons of food grain from Ukraine amid drought

The first shipment of grain as part of Ukraine's own initiative to supply countries in need arrived in Djibouti Monday for delivery to neighbouring Ethiopia amid the region's worst drought in decades. Ukraine's embassy in Ethiopia confirmed that the Grain from Ukraine" shipment of 25,000 tons is separate from a United Nations World Food Program effort that has funded humanitarian grain shipments from Ukraine. A second ship with 30,000 tons of wheat will be heading to Ethiopia next week, while a third vessel is currently being loaded with 25,000 tons of wheat bound for Somalia, an embassy statement said. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky last month announced the initiative aimed at helping countries the most struck by the food crisis. Ukraine has said it plans to send more than 60 ships to Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Congo, Kenya, Yemen and other countries. Millions of people in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya are going hungry due to drought following the fifth straight

Saas-based accounting platform Zoho Books has eyes on world markets

Zoho, which so far was focused on India, is expanding its footprint in countries such as Latin America, Mexico and Africa

WFP warns drought leading to food insecurity, acute malnutrition in Africa

The impact of drought in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia has led to food insecurity and a high level of acute malnutrition, the UN WFP has warned

Google asks illegal loan apps in Africa to present license to operate

The move on Google's part was necessary to protect borrowers from rogue loan apps, many of which charge borrowers outrageous interest rates as well as operate against legal provisions.

Climate negotiator seeks evidence-based talks on Africa at COP27 summit

The rise in multiple extreme weather events in Africa calls for a coordinated approach for evidence-based negotiations at the COP27 in Egypt, a climate negotiator said

African nations trapped in debt circle as China applies brakes in lending

African countries feel they have been trapped in Beijing's debt circle after China showed reluctance in lending financial support to them, Federico Giuliani writes in Inside Over.

COP27: All eyes on Egypt to steer climate finance towards adaptation

With the summit happening amid Ukraine war and recession fears, budget cuts for climate are apprehended as nations use money to secure energy and development aid shifts towards humanitarian projects

Africa shows how hard it's becoming to pump crude oil: Report

Crude production in western Africa has fallen by one-third since 2010 and is expected to drop again this year

MoS Muraleedharan underscores policy to deepen engagement with Africa

Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan underscored India's policy to intensify and deepen its engagement with Africa at the Dakar Forum held in Senegal.Muraleedharan paid an official visit to Senegal to participate in the 8th edition of the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa, read the Ministry of External Affairs press release.The Dakar Forum was attended by Presidents of Senegal, Angola and Cabo Verde, along with over 15 Ministers and high-level dignitaries from 29 countries.The Forum has become a key event for policy discussions on Africa. This is the first time that India participated at a Ministerial level.MoS's participation in the Dakar Forum underscored the importance that India attaches to the peace, security and development of Africa."Glad to participate at the opening session of Dakar International Forum on Peace & Security in Africa, inaugurated by President of Senegal, HE Macky Sall in Dakar. Presidents of Angola and Cabo Verde,

At least 60 people killed by security forces amid protests in Chad

Chadian security forces opened fire on anti-government demonstrators in the country's two largest cities killing at least 60 people, the government spokesman and a morgue official said. Authorities imposed a curfew after the violence, which came amid demonstrations in the central African nation against interim leader Mahamat Idriss Deby's two-year extension of his power. Thursday's unrest was unprecedented in Chad, which saw little public dissent during the previous regime of Deby's father, who ruled for more than three decades until his assassination last year. France, the African Union and others swiftly condemned the security crackdown on the demonstrators. Samira Daoud, Amnesty International's regional director for West and Central Africa, called on the Chadian authorities to immediately cease the excessive use of force against protesters. The authorities must take immediate steps to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for unlawful killings, she said. Chadian .

UN-African Union cooperation the best but faces challenges: Guterres

Lauding the collaboration between the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) as the best ever, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned major challenges lie ahead

Gambia urgently recalls cough syrups blamed for deaths of 66 children

Gambia has launched an urgent door-to-door campaign to remove cough and cold syrups blamed for the deaths of more than 60 children from kidney injury in the tiny West African country. Speaking to The Associated Press, the Director of Health Dr. Mustapha Bittaye confirmed the wave of child deaths from acute kidney injury, sending shockwaves across the country of 2.4 million people and around the world. The World Health Organisation has issued an alarm in response to the deaths. WHO has issued a medical product alert for four contaminated medicines identified in The Gambia that have been potentially linked to acute kidney injuries and 66 deaths among children, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement issued on Wednesday. The loss of young lives is beyond heartbreaking for their families, he said. The four medicines are cough and cold syrups produced in India, said the WHO statement. While the contaminated products have so far only been detected in Gambia,

4 UN peacekeepers, 3 Bangladeshis, 1 Pakistani killed in African attacks

In the latest attacks on UN peacekeepers, three Bangladeshis have died from a bomb attack in the Central African Republic, barely a week after a Pakistani was killed in Congo

Japan's Daikin to begin assembling ACs in Nigeria in renewed push

Japan's Daikin Industries Ltd will begin assembling air conditioners in Nigeria as it renews a push into Africa that had been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, a regional head said on Thursday.

WHO launches new initiative to stop invasive malaria vector in Africa

A new World Health Organization (WHO) initiative has been launched that aims to stop the further spread of this invasive mosquito species in the region.The WHO had identified the spread of Anopheles stephensi as a significant threat to malaria control and elimination in 2019 - particularly in Africa, where the disease hits hardest.Originally native to parts of South Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, An. stephensi has been expanding its range over the last decade, with detections reported in Djibouti (2012), Ethiopia and Sudan (2016), Somalia (2019) and Nigeria (2020).Unlike the other main mosquito vectors of malaria in Africa, it thrives in urban settings, the WHO said."With more than 40 per cent of the population in Africa living in urban environments, the WHO said the invasion and spread of An. stephensi could pose a significant threat to the control and elimination of malaria. But large-scale surveillance of the vector is still in its infancy, and more research and data are urgently .

Africa CDC calls for enhanced Ebola control measures amid new outbreak

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has called on Ugandan authorities to intensify surveillance and control measures amidst a new outbreak of the Ebola virus in the country