AFRICA

Juba, South Sudan | XINHUA | More than 1,500 teenage girls in South Sudan have either been married off or impregnated since April, a new report by a local civil society group launched in Juba on Friday reveals. The report released by the Support Peace Development Initiative Organization (SPIDO) found …

Maputo, Mozambique | XINHUA | Health authorities in Mozambique will start conducting a study in this month to assess the possibility of using the Tuberculosis vaccine to combat COVID-19 infections in the country, Radio Mozambique reported on Friday. According to the report citing the research coordinator for acute respiratory infections …

Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA |   South African Deputy President David Mabuza on Thursday vowed to restructure embattled electricity utility Eskom in a phased manner to ensure energy stabilization. The government is pleased with the progress being made to transform Eskom under new CEO, Andre de Ruyter, Mabuza said while replying …

Nairobi, Kenya | XINHUA | The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that donors and industry should allocate sufficient resources to ensure that African countries have access to a safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccine. Richard Mihigo, Program Area Manager of Immunization and Vaccine Development of WHO, said the needs …

Nairobi, Kenya | XINHUA | The African Union (AU) is planning to put in place a guarantee scheme for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) to speed up the continent’s economic transformation, an official said on Wednesday. Amine Idriss Adoume, director in charge of delivery program and coordination at the …

Cape Town, S.A. | XINHUA | South Africa’s power crisis worsened on Wednesday as electricity utility Eskom escalated the level of load shedding from level two to level four. This was the highest level of load shedding that has been implemented this year. Stage-two load shedding allows up to 2,000 …

Nairobi, Kenya | XINHUA | The Inter-African Coffee Organization (IACO) said on Wednesday it has jointly launched a 14.3 million U.S. dollar intervention program to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on the continent’s coffee sector. IACO said it has teamed up with the International Coffee Organization (ICO) and the Center …

Nairobi, Kenya | XINHUA | Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday directed the Ministry of Health to publish details of all procurements related to COVID-19, particularly those undertaken by the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA) amid allegations of corruption. Kenyatta said the publication of procurement information including winners of tenders …

Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has honored 600 Ugandan troops guarding UN facilities and personnel in volatile Somalia. Lt. Col. Deo Akiiki, deputy Ugandan military spokesman tweeted that the troops, serving under the sixth United Nations Guard Unit in Somalia received medals from Guterres. “The …

Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA |   The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday cautioned Kenya against relaxing measures aimed at containing the COVID-19 pandemic. WHO said in a statement issued in Nairobi that the decline in the number of total confirmed symptomatic and asymptomatic cases in the last three weeks is …