AFRICA

13 African countries are at high risk of debt distress and 6 are already in debt distress Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA | THE INDEPENDENT | The African Development Bank has launched a new initiative to support and develop homegrown solutions to the debt challenges that countries on the continent are facing. Dubbed …

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopian | Xinhua | Scholars have called for the Nile Basin countries to join forces to fairly utilize the Nile River to meet their peoples’ soaring demand for water, energy, and food. The call was made on Saturday in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, on the margins of …

NAIROBI, KENYA | Xinhua | The rollout of a vaccination drive to prevent healthcare workers in Africa from contracting the Ebola virus while on duty is in the works, a senior official from GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance has said. Francisco Luquero, GAVI’s head of High-Impact Outbreaks said that inoculating frontline …

KHARTOUM | Xinhua | For the second year, the Sudanese welcome the Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, without the usual joy of celebration, as the traditional rituals are becoming unaffordable during the civil war killing thousands, displacing millions, and collapsing the economy. According to Islamic traditions, Muslim families …

NAIROBI, Kenya | Xinhua | Every Sunday, several streets of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, as well as its suburbs, usually bustle with activity involving mainly young people. The youngsters normally take photos in all manner of poses as others make skits and record videos using their phones. The photos …

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania | Xinhua | The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) on Thursday announced that passenger train operations will be suspended from June 18, 2024, until further notice. “This suspension has been necessitated by various operational challenges that the authority is facing,” TAZARA said in a statement signed by …

Nigerian billionaire Benedict Peters to kickstart Zimbabwe lithium production next year, driving Africa’s lithium market gains. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | Nigerian industrialist Benedict Peters’ Bravura Holdings will start production at a Zimbabwean lithium project in 2025, boosting Africa’s drive to retain more profits from the global lithium boom, …

LUSAKA, Zambia | Xinhua | Zambia on Friday launched a policy aimed at ending child early marriages in the southern African nation. The launch of the ending child early marriage policy follows the enactment of a new law last year which makes it illegal for individuals under the age of …

CAPE TOWN, South Africa | Xinhua | Cyril Ramaphosa, leader of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC), was reelected by the National Assembly on Friday as the nation’s president for the next five years. Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, who presided over the first sitting of the National Assembly, announced …

An aggressive push into new routes and increased frequencies by local carriers, mostly in African markets, is buoying air traffic and passenger numbers, propellilng them beyond pre-pandemic levels to new historical highs. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | African airlines are likely to cross the 100 million passengers mark for …