NEWS ANALYSIS

Tanzanian president throws spanner into COVID-19 testing | THE INDEPENDENT | For those who recall the #WhatWouldMagufuliDo hashtag on Twitter in 2015 and have been following Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli’s unorthodox methods since then, his recent sting on the country’s COVID-19 testing facilities is nothing unusual. But it is …

What the sector requires to manage blow from coronavirus | ISSAHAKU ADAM AND ALBERT N. KIMBU | Tourism has become an important economic sector for most African countries in the last two decades. There has been increased investments in product development and enhancement, aggressive marketing, coupled with appropriate business-friendly socio-political …

  How it can be responsive, respectful, person-centred | PATIENCE AFULANI AND NADIA DIAMOND-SMITH | COVID-19 is sweeping the world, and the burden on healthcare facilities is growing. Stories have begun to emerge from higher-resource countries, mainly in the U.S. and Europe, about poor experiences for women giving birth in …

They don’t have to copy hipster trends to prosper | EMILY HOPKINS | London, New York, Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong – these famous cities dominate the world economy and are home to millions of people, as well as internationally renowned arts, culture and educational institutions. But they are hardly …

But who will pay for the new status? Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The former municipalities of Arua, Gulu, Jinja, Mbarara, Fort Portal, Mbale, and Masaka will become cities effective July 01. The leaders of most of these municipalities pursued city status as a means of increasing their budgets; …

It can’t afford to lose resources to coronavirus | FREDROS OKUMU | Today, another 1,100 people will die from malaria. The number will be repeated tomorrow, and the day after. As a public health researcher, I embrace the idea that all lives have equal value. That our goal is much …

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has not been seen in public for more than two weeks, missing commemorations for a key political anniversary, and reports he underwent a cardiovascular procedure have spiralled into speculation he could be incapacitated or even dead. Both Seoul and …

How to ensure poor people in cities can still get it | ASTRID R.N HAAS | More than half of all African countries have now imposed lockdown measures aimed at flattening the curve of new COVID-19 infections. The reason for taking such drastic measures while infection rates are still relatively …

As Africa heads towards recession, it’s not easy to know where to invest. Akinyi Ochieng and Isaac Kwaku Fokuo, Jr. highlight three areas that are likely to fare better during the downturn  Back in January, Africa’s economic outlook for the year was bright. African Development Bank projections predicted 3.9% growth in 2020 and …

Survey shows Uganda response leading in Africa Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A study of the response of Sub-Saharan governments to the spread of the Corona virus disease COVID-19 sweeping across the globe has ranked Uganda higly. The survey by GeoPoll which is the world’s largest mobile survey platform …