AFRICA

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Africa has been declared free of wild poliovirus, four years since a case was last reported on the continent. This marks the eradication of the second virus from the face of the continent since smallpox 40 years ago. The last case of wild poliovirus …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | XINHUA | African businesses are shifting towards new technologies in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The report, which was jointly published by the UNECA and the International Economics Consulting Ltd., …

Can world’s biggest trade bloc wean Africa off expensive aid? Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | On Aug.17, Nana Akufo-Addo, the Ghanaian president, launched the Permanent Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) four months ahead of the day African countries are expected to start trading in goods …

Khartoum, Sudan | XINHUA | Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan on Tuesday urged the United States to remove Sudan from its list of states sponsoring terrorism. Al-Burhan issued the call while receiving U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who is on an one-day visit to Sudan, the …

Khartoum, Sudan | XINHUA | Sudan and Ethiopia on Tuesday voiced commitment to the negotiations sponsored by the African Union (AU) on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The two countries made the commitment in a joint communique issued after talks in Khartoum on Tuesday, chaired by Sudan’s Prime Minister …

Nairobi, Kenya | XINHUA | Stronger China-Africa ties are key to the post-COVID-19 economic recovery of the African continent, a Kenyan scholar said on Sunday. Peter Kagwanja CEO, Africa Policy Institute, a regional think tank, said in a commentary published in the Sunday Nation that as the global COVID-19 crisis …

Harare, Zimbabwe | XINHUA | Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has signed a law barring government schools from excluding girls who fall pregnant from attending lessons. Teachers are also no longer allowed to cane pupils, under amendments to the Education Act which became law on Saturday. The new law also says …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Female Speakers of parliaments in the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) have called for increased economic empowerment of women and financial inclusion. The speakers and presiding officers made the call during a virtual meeting of the 13th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament organized by …

  Kigali, Rwanda | XINHUA |  Rwanda’s investment authority said Friday that it expects to raise more awareness of Rwandan coffee among Chinese consumers as coffee export to China is on the rise. The rise is being achieved through online sales with popular celebrities as livestreaming hosts on Chinese social …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | XINHUA | The African Union (AU) Commission on Thursday launched a flagship campaign to intensify the continental fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic toward protecting African economies and livelihoods amid the easing of lockdowns. The newly launched continental initiative, dubbed “Africa Against COVID-19: Saving Lives, Economies, and …