How a post-pandemic revival could kick-start continental free trade area | FAIZEL ISMAIL | The African Continental Free Trade Area was launched two years ago at an African Union (AU) summit in Kigali. It was scheduled to be implemented from July 1, 2020. But this has been pushed out until …
Read More »‘Africa is in mid-morning of COVID-19 crisis’
Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | African governments will have to go slow on lifting some of the lockdown measures they instituted to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, senior officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and prevention have said. …
Read More »190 000 people could die of COVID-19 in Africa
World health body says pandemic will be slower but longer | THE INDEPENDENT | Eighty-three thousand to 190 000 people in Africa could die of COVID-19 and 29 million to 44 million could get infected in the first year of the pandemic if containment measures fail, a new study by …
Read More »Shaping Africa’s urban areas to withstand future pandemics
Astrid R.N. Haas, the Policy Director, at the International Growth Centre explains: The power of cities comes from the number of interactions they enable, between people, firms and markets – they are centres of social interaction. For all their virtues, however, cities have a major downside. They are a fertile …
Read More »COMMENT: Let Africa prepare for a marathon struggle against COVID-19
African health practitioners should own the narrative of the coronavirus pandemic and take advantage of Africa’s experience of other outbreaks of disease in order to mount a tailored response, says the writer in a guest column for AllAfrica GUEST COLUMN | Dr Chibuzo Okonta | All Africa.com | It has been close …
Read More »Covid-19 presents opportunity to reset Africa- Elumelu
Kampala, Uganda | Isaac Khisa | Coronavirus pandemic currently ravaging the entire world presents an opportunity to reset the African continent so that the African population can be empowered to become more productive and self-reliant, according to the United Bank for Africa Plc. Chairman and Founder, Tony Elumelu. Elumelu, who spoke …
Read More »Virus fight just one front against epidemics in Africa
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | African nations grappling to contain coronavirus are scrambling to stop the outbreak worsening the impact of other killer diseases. Across the continent, countries regularly face surges from a raft of diseases that flourish in the humid weather and prey on weak health systems. Malaria strikes down …
Read More »Q&A: Africa’s coronavirus enigma
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Three months ago, Africa recorded its first case of coronavirus, sparking fears that the world’s poorest and least-equipped continent faced a catastrophe. But so far, the virus has not come anywhere close to wreaking the same damage in Africa as in Europe and the US …
Read More »Massive cable project set to give Africa internet boost
Paris, France | AFP | Telecoms and internet giants unveiled Thursday a mammoth project to lay a subsea cable around Africa to boost internet access to the underserved continent. The consortium, which includes China Mobile International, Facebook, Orange and Vodafone, said a cable 37,000 kilometres (23,000 miles) long will make landfall in 16 countries in …
Read More »Virus crisis adds to woes of Africa’s oil producers
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | For years, African oil-exporting countries have vowed to wean themselves off crude — but for many, this uphill task may become mountainous after the coronavirus pandemic caused the energy market to collapse. Here is a snapshot of how sub-Saharan oil exporters are faring: – Who …
Read More »