AFRICA

Kampala, Uganda | Isaac Nkechi | Various media outlets, particularly social media, were awash with stories linking the roll-out of 5G mobile network to the novel coronavirus-Covid-19 pandemic over the past weeks. These included spurious theories claiming that 5G makes people more susceptible to the virus while some more extreme proposals even …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | The powerful chief of staff to Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari has died after contracting the novel coronavirus, the presidency said Saturday. Buhari’s office announced in a statement that it “regrets to announce the passage” of Abba Kyari, who acted as gatekeeper to the president of Africa’s …

Washington, United States | AFP |  International financial institutions and African leaders warned on Friday the continent needs tens of billions of dollars in additional money to fight the coronavirus pandemic despite debt freezes and massive pledges of support. In a joint statement, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund said …

Dakar, Senegal | AFP |  One of the rising stars of traditional Senegalese wrestling, Moussa Diop has been driven off the beaches of Dakar, where he usually trains, and behind closed doors by the country’s coronavirus lockdown Diop, a fighter who “packs a punch”, is due to fight again in June …

Washington, United States | AFP | International financial institutions and African leaders warned on Friday the continent needs tens of billions of dollars in additional money to fight the coronavirus pandemic despite debt freezes and massive pledges of support. In a joint statement, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund said …

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Workers in the northern Nigerian city of Kano set out rows of new hospital beds inside two cavernous tents that have been hastily erected on the pitch of an empty football stadium. The facilities have been built to become an isolation centre for COVID-19 patients as …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  As governments in the Middle East isolate their populations to prevent the spread of coronavirus, attention is turning to the region’s jails, where detainees face a more punishing form of lockdown. “Because of the pandemic, confinement is an additional punishment for the prisoners,” said Kaddour Chouicha, …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention plans to distribute a million COVID-19 test kits from next week to help the continent tackle a glaring shortfall in testing, its director, John Nkengasong, said Thursday. “There is a big gap on the continent on testing,” …

                             KAMPALA, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Evidence Action – an international NGO with its Africa regional headquarters in Nairobi – has launched the COVID-19 Prevention Hygiene Project in 11 Ugandan districts to support rural communities in slowing the spread of COVID-19. This project …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | An Extraordinary Summit of the East African Heads of State which had been purposely convened to discuss the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been postponed on request by South Sudan. The summit which was to be held via video conferencing had been called …