Scientists raise alarm about new variants, urge national disease testing ANALYSIS | AGENCIES | Foreign aid cuts could result in a major outbreak of mpox across the African continent and beyond, with virus control measures already disrupted, public health experts warn. Mpox testing and monitoring efforts in hotspot areas like the …
Read More »Canada eyes China-style gains in Africa with first-ever strategy
Canada debuts its first-ever strategy for Africa, as Ottawa seeks to diversify markets and blunt geopolitical shocks amid rising trade tensions with Washington. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | Early in March, Canada unveiled its much-touted Global Africa Strategy in a subdued Toronto event, timed eight days before a cabinet …
Read More »US-Ukraine minerals deal resembles colonial exploitation of Africa
NEW YORK, the United States | TASS | The US-Ukraine agreement on mineral reserves, if signed, will be somewhat similar to the penal agreements that European colonizers made with the peoples of African countries, Bloomberg reports. According to the agency, the US access to Ukrainian subsoil resources is now taking “a form …
Read More »Trump’s trade wars to push more countries to join BRICS
MOSCOW, RUSSIA | TASS | US President Donald Trump’s trade wars may push some Asian and African countries toward joining BRICS, a Russian expert said. “In recent days, and all throughout the past month, we have had a front row seat to the new challenges that have emerged from this …
Read More »MPOX: Uganda, Burundi, DRC report 94% of confirmed cases in Africa
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA | Xinhua | The number of mpox cases reported in Africa in the past three months has been more than half of the total reported in the whole 2024, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. The continent has reported 39,840 mpox cases …
Read More »#ProtectOurStories: Only legal streaming can grow Africa’s content industry
KAMPALA, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | The cybersecurity war between legitimate content providers and the criminal gangs running illegal pirate streaming services is heating up. Technology now allows for pirate syndicates and users to be tracked, blocked and prosecuted. But the real war is to ensure that African storytellers have …
Read More »Africa’s key role in AI & peace discussed in Kampala
Kampala Geopolitics Conference highlights Africa’s role in AI governance and peacebuilding KAMPALA, UGANDA | Patricia Akankwatsa | The 8th edition of the Kampala Geopolitics Conference commenced on April 9, 2025, at Makerere University, emphasizing Africa’s perspectives in international debates. The event convened scholars, policymakers, diplomats, and students to deliberate on pressing …
Read More »Turkey’s return to Africa
Following in the footsteps of its Ottoman forefathers, Ankara sees Africa as a core part of its global political and economic engagement ANALYSIS | RAPHAEL PARENS & MARCEL PLICHTA | Turkey is not the largest power interested in Africa. Its economic engagement, arms sales, and foreign aid are dwarfed by one …
Read More »Tackling Africa’s vaccine supply and demand puzzle
How should continental vaccine manufacturers handle complex dynamics of supply and demand? ANALYSIS | The African Union has embarked on one of its most audacious health security missions: Ensuring that the continent manufactures 60% of its own vaccines by 2040. Africa currently manufactures a lowly 1% of the vaccines. However, since …
Read More »Trump eyes DR Congo minerals
President Tshisekedi, visiting American senior advisor, discuss minerals-for-security deal COVER STORY | IAN KATUSIIME | Finally, African countries know that unlike in his first term where they hardly mattered, U.S. President Donald Trump this time has the continent on his agenda. Just as in his first term, President Trump has delayed …
Read More »
The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price