Tag: Africa

Africa: Angola Defends UN Activities Adjustment

Luanda — Angola defended Monday in New York the adjustment of the UN-Women activities, in order to help the member states, mainly Africans, to reach “relevant tangible results” for the current Covid-19 context. This standing was expressed by Angola’s permanent representative to the United Nations, during a speech, on behalf of the African Group accredited

Africa: Nautic Africa Launches New 35metre Flagship Vessel

Paramount Maritime Holdings subsidiary, Nautic Africa has announced the launch of its flagship 35m Sentinel vessel, the second of the new enhanced class. The latest development is a major milestone for the company and the wider African shipbuilding industry, despite the challenges presented by COVID-19 restrictions across the globe. Following the successful completion of sea

Africa: Operation Vulindlela – Why South Africa’s Structural Reforms Have Been So Slow

Unlocking the potential of the South African economy to create much-needed employment and tax revenue is one of the urgent tasks identified in the recently delivered State of the Nation Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Growing the economy, however, requires business investment. Business confidence has been very low in South Africa since the pre-Covid period

AFRICA : France, Turkey, China and EU: the world war of Africa-themed summits

On 18 May, Paris will host a major summit on investment in Africa. French President Emmanuel Macron intends to invite Source link

Africa: Privately-Owned Regional Airline Adds More Flights On the South Africa-Namibia Route

Privately-owned regional airline, Airlink will launch a new direct service between Cape Town and Walvis Bay, commencing on 02 March 2021. The Cape Town – Walvis Bay route will be Airlink’s fourth South Africa-Namibia route. The other routes are: Johannesburg – Windhoek, Cape Town – Windhoek and Johannesburg – Walvis Bay. “This new service is

Africa: WHO Lists Two Additional COVID-19 Vaccines for Emergency Use and COVAX Roll-out

Geneva — AstraZeneca/Oxford-developed vaccines to reach countries in the coming weeks The World Health Organization (WHO) today listed two versions of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for these vaccines to be rolled out globally through COVAX.The vaccines are produced by AstraZeneca-SKBio (Republic of Korea) and the Serum Institute of

Africa: Coronavirus and Food Safety – What the Studies Say

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, not much was known about SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus) and its survival in food, on various materials and on surfaces. Since then, several food safety agencies have assessed the risk of potentially acquiring the virus from contaminated food or food packaging. The consensus is that currently, there’s no evidence it’s a

Africa: Uganda, Mozambique Step to the Pitch for Maiden Taste of U-20 Afcon

East Africans Uganda will take on Mozambique in their opening game of the Total U-20 Africa Cup of Nations at the Olympic Stadium on Nouakchott on Monday afternoon. This will be the first time ever that the two countries will be playing at the tournament. Uganda, the CECAFA region Under-20 champions are charged to ensure

Africa: Where ‘Charities’ May Harm

U.S. President Joseph Biden’s pledge to implement a policy of cooperation with other countries, while supporting human rights and democracy, was widely welcomed as a needed return to international collaboration. The proclamation by the new US Administration is in sharp contrast with the less obvious – but equally powerful phenomenon – the influence private donors

South Africa: Covid-19 – Remarkable Results From Blood Donor Survey

For the four provinces analysed, over half the population has likely had a SARS-CoV-2 infection 13 February 2021 By Michael Cherry and Nathan Geffen Science | South Africa Illustration: Lisa Nelson A study published on Friday, led by authors from the National Blood Service, shows that a large percentage of the population has likely already

Africa Mulls Taxing Big Tech

US tech giants — such as Amazon, Google and Facebook — pay minimal taxes abroad, despite making billions in profits. African user countries no longer want to miss out on the revenue and are discussing digital taxes. Despite the global economic crisis caused by COVID-19, US tech companies, such as Amazon and Microsoft, are making

Africa: How the Resource Curse Has Played Out in Nigeria and Angola

In weakly institutionalised contexts, natural resource wealth tends to be a curse instead of a blessing. Where citizens are relatively powerless to hold ruling elites to account, resource wealth undermines development prospects. To the contrary, where citizens are able to exert constraints on the use of executive power, resource wealth can generate development outcomes that

Africa: Pandemic Woes Seen Swelling Global Ranks of Child Soldiers

As world marks Red Hand Day, United Nations warns coronavirus could fuel child recruitment by armed groups More children could be pushed into joining armed groups in conflict zones as families face increasing poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a top U.N. official warned on Friday. The exact number of child soldiers is unknown, but

South Africa: Ramaphosa Has Failed to Protect the People, Economy and Democracy of South Africa.

This was once again a SONA of unworkable plans rooted in the failed ideology of central command and control. A SONA of “sector master plans” developed by people who’ve never started or run a business. The ANC mantra is Power to the state. The DA mantra is Power to the people. South Africa is in

Africa: Refugee Pressure Rises As Funding Dwindles

Refugee resettlements in 2020 reached historic lows despite record-high numbers of displaced people in need. At the same time, substantial funding gaps remain. This is increasing pressure on African host countries, exposing refugees to enhanced risks and driving irregular migration. In 2020, only 22 770 refugees out of 79.5 million displaced people were resettled by

South Africa: Covid-19 Vaccine Trials Hold Key Lessons for Future Partnerships

COVID-19 vaccine supplies are available in various parts of the world. But it’s clear that distribution is not symmetrical. High-income countries have access to disproportionate quantities of limited supplies. Vaccine nationalism, stockpiling and profit-driven strategies of global pharmaceutical manufacturers have shown up global health inequities. More than 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been

Africa: Cost Can Be Unbearably High for Whistle-Blowers

Exposing corruption, abuse of power and criminality pits those who take the risk against powerful vested interests in government at all levels. Whistle-blowers have a critical role to play in upholding democracy, but typically they are callously pushed to the margins of society and subjected to humiliation, ostracisation, stigma, fear and anxiety. Grassroots activists and

Africa: FAO Members Endorse Declaration for Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture

Rome — FAO Agreement on Port State Measures to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing strengthened at COFI34 The 34th session of FAO’s Committee on Fisheries (COFI34) ended its week-long meeting on Friday with its Members endorsing the first-ever Declaration for Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, urging stronger action to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU)

SOUTH SUDAN : South Africa's Safair to resume UNMISS flights

South African cargo carrier Safair Operations has made a South Sudan comeback. Source link

South Africa: Rwanda Suspends Flights to South Africa Over Coronavirus Variant

Rwanda’s national carrier has suspended its flights to South Africa and Zimbabwe in order to contain the spread of a new coronavirus variant. This comes almost two months after authorities in South Africa announced the detection of a new variant of Covid-19 that was rapidly spreading in its provinces. “In view of the global concerns

Africa: Ethiopian Airlines Delivers Africa’s First Covid Vaccines

The Ethiopian Airlines on Saturday announced that it has delivered the first Covid-19 vaccine shipment to Africa. In a statement sent to the Nation, the award winning and largest airline in Africa said the vaccine delivery flight was made Saturday, February 6, 2021 from Beijing to N’Djamena via Addis Ababa. “We are glad that we

Africa: Monopolies Causing ‘Artificial Rationing’ in Covid-19 Crisis As 3 Biggest Global Vaccine Giants Sit On Sidelines

The supply of safe and effective vaccines for all is being artificially rationed because of the protection of exclusive rights and monopolies of pharmaceutical corporations, the People’s Vaccine Alliance said today. The alliance warned that the three biggest vaccine companies in the world are largely sitting on the sidelines – they currently plan to produce

Africa: Covid-19 – Local Researchers Welcome Sputnik V Vaccine Findings

Local researchers have welcomed findings for Russia’s Sputnik V viral vector vaccine, which achieved efficacy of 91.6% in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in a large Phase 3 clinical trial. They say it is a boost to global efforts to control the pandemic. The findings from a preliminary analysis of the Phase 3 clinical trial were published

Africa: Greenpeace Africa Condemns Creecy’s Misinformation Campaign

In response to the lawsuit filed against her by environmental NGOs groundWork and the Vukani Environmental Justice Movement, Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) Minister Barbara Creecy released an affidavit which stated that she rejected pleas for leniency from executives of Eskom and Sasol and would not allow the power utility to operate its

AFRICA : Erik Prince's Frontier Services Group considers west Africa expansion

Hong Kong-based Frontier Services Group is considering expanding its presence in the western part of the continent. Source link

Africa: New Sanitation and Wastewater Management Benchmark Tool Highlights Opportunities to Boost Health and Economic Growth in Africa

The African Development Bank, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and GRID-Arendal have released the inaugural Sanitation and Wastewater Atlas of Africa, a tool to benchmark and propel Africa’s progress towards Sustainable Development Goal targets on safe sanitation and wastewater management. The Atlas aims to help policymakers accelerate change and investment in the sector. The result

South Africa: Former President Zuma Defies Constitutional Court Ruling to Testify on State Capture

Cape Town — Four days after South Africa’s top court ordered former president Jacob Zuma to appear before a commission of inquiry investigating the widespread corruption which spread through parts of the government during his time in office, he has announced that he will defy the commission and the courts and refuse to testify. In

Africa: Continent’s Number of Covid-19 Deaths Surpasses 90,000

Cape Town — As of February 1, confirmed cases of Covid-19 from 55 African countries reached 3,569,617. Reported deaths in Africa reached  90,971  and 3,051,748 people have recovered. South Africa has the most reported cases – 1,453,761  – and 44,164  people died. Other most-affected countries are Morocco ( 471,157 ), Tunisia ( 208,885 ), Egypt

GUINEA BISSAU/WEST AFRICA : Strauss-Kahn pitch to Embaló

In Bissau on 15 January to meet with President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, the former International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn has offered to help Guinea Bissau raise Chinese funding for infrastructure projects. Source link

South Africa: Ex-South Africa President Zuma Accused of Hijacking Spy Agency in Corruption Probe

Former South African president Jacob Zuma has been accused of manipulating the country’s spy agency for his own ends and pocketing funds from the intelligence organisation to enrich himself and polish his image with media outlets, according to testimony at the investigation into “state capture”. Sydney Mufamadi, former chairperson of a review panel overseeing the