AFRICA

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that Africa will not be used as a testing ground for COVID-19 vaccines. His comments come after two French scientists suggested that vaccine trials should take place in Africa because there is a …

Conakry, Guinea | AFP |  Guinea’s President Alpha Conde has enacted a new constitution following a referendum last month on changes that critics fear are aimed at extending his time in office. Changing the constitution was hugely controversial in the west African nation, spurring mass demonstrations that left dozens dead. After …

Addis Abeba, Ethiopia | AFP | Millions of lost jobs, mounting debt woes and plunging remittances are among the economic hardships African countries can expect because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the African Union said in a study published Monday. “Nearly 20 million jobs, both in the formal and informal sectors, are threatened with destruction on …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Kinshasa on Monday closed off its upmarket business district for two weeks and began a large-scale disinfection operation in a bid to clean up DR Congo’s main suspected source of coronavirus. Access to Gombe, which houses the country’s main institutions and foreign embassies, was barricaded off to everyone except …

Kigali, Rwanda | AFP | Politicians and top civil servants in Rwanda will have their salaries this month redirected to welfare programmes to help the poor cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus. Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente said the salary sacrifice would show “solidarity” with the people, who have been under a tough lockdown …

United Nations, United States | AFP | UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has urged governments to include the protection of women in their response to the deadly novel coronavirus pandemic. Reports of domestic violence have surged globally in the wake of massive lockdowns imposed to contain the spread of the disease. …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia on Sunday announced the first two deaths of patients suffering from COVID-19, as officials ramped up testing to get a clearer picture of the outbreak there. The first victim was a 60-year-old Ethiopian woman who had spent six days in intensive care, a health …

Blantyre, Malawi | AFP |  Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika said Saturday he was taking a wage cut to help fund the fight against the coronavirus, and ordered his government to the same. Mutharika said in a statement he had ordered the treasury to cut his own salary and the wages …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP |  Mahmud Jibril, the former head of the Libyan rebel government that overthrew dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, died Sunday of the coronavirus, his party said. Jibril, 68, died in Cairo where he had been hospitalised for two weeks, said Khaled al-Mrimi, secretary of the Alliance of …

Luanda, Angola | AFP |  It is a cry from the heart and the stomach that is reverberating across African towns and cities reeling under lockdowns and curfews to contain the spread of the coronavirus. “How can anyone stay home without anything to eat?” asked Garcia Landu, a motorcycle taxi driver …