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As European countries are experiencing a fresh surge in Covid-19 infections and are beginning to target the unvaccinated as the culprit, it’s easy to forget the yawning gap between the West and the developing world. In Africa, untold millions have been infected with the disease, with the number of deaths…
African internet growth depends on greater engagement, not AFRINIC The Supreme Court of Mauritius recently lifted a freeze on the bank accounts of African regional internet registry (RIR) AFRINIC, but the firm, one of the world’s five IP distributors, remains entangled in a legal imbroglio that has led some commentators…
On October 7th, Senegal’s Foreign Minister Aissata TALL SALL presided over the official launch ceremony for the seventh edition of the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa. Since 2014, the Dakar Forum, held under the high patronage of Senegalese President Macky Sall, has been one of the…
As the latest step in a broad programme of infrastructural development, Senegalese president Macky Sall inaugurated a new 300-bed level-3 hospital in Touba at the weekend, one of the most modern in West Africa. The completion of the 40-billion-franc Cheikh Ahmadou Khadim hospital is a major boost for Senegal’s healthcare sector,…
At the UN General Assembly in New York, the Democratic Republic of the Congo President Félix Tshisekedi highlighted the measures put in place by African nations to combat the deadly coronavirus – but stressed that the continent cannot overcome the disease alone. Instead, Tshisekedi insisted it will require dedicated support…
Ghana is set to complete its ratification of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, an international treaty under the aegis of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The move is a landmark step for a country where one in five cigarettes are sold illegally and an…
Siemens Gamesa is making important moves in Africa. The subsidiary of German engineering conglomerate Siemens installed the first turbine in Djibouti’s new windfarm project in early August and is on course to build the first renewable energy plant in the country. But while Djibouti continues to modernise, investment and development…
Chad’s transitional president Mahamat Idriss Déby this week announced plans to hold a long-awaited national dialogue between his transitional government and the rebel groups currently active in the country. Déby, who leads the Transitional Military Council (CMT), invited rebel groups to take part in “frank and sincere” talks ahead of…
In 2026, Senegal will become the first country in Africa to host an Olympic event, when the Summer Youth Olympics will take place in Dakar. Initially set for 2022, the world’s most important sporting tournament for teenagers has been pushed back on account of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. While regrettable,…
On July 1st, Togo began systematically enforcing a comprehensive fiscal marking system which will allow authorities to track a wide range of consumer goods, from fruit juices to alcoholic beverages. Distributors and local points of sale who have so far sold their wares under the table in an attempt to…
On the eve of the second Libyan peace conference, which took place in Berlin on June 23, the EU finally took a strong stance on the elections which the troubled North African country is slated to hold this December 24th: Brussels threatened to impose sanctions on anyone attempting to delay…
Mahamat Idriss Déby, the head of Chad’s Transitional Military Council (CMT), scored another political endorsement last week, with a visit to Abuja earning him the support of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. Nigeria follows in the footsteps of France and the USA, who have also given their backing to Déby’s running…
On May 18th, US diplomat Joey Hood became the highest-ranking American official to visit Libya since 2014, the year that Washington closed its embassy in Tripoli amid surging violence. Hood’s visit tempered optimism—the US dangled the possibility of eventually reopening its Libyan embassy—with clear concern over the likelihood of achieving…
As with so many other facets of global wealth (and health) inequality, the rollout of the four Covid-19 vaccines produced by Western pharmaceutical companies and approved by American and European health officials – the “Big Four” of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson – has quickly became yet another…
The long-time president of Djibouti, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, has launched his re-election campaign in the run-up to national elections on 9 April. With the exception of Zakaria Ismael Jafar, an “anti-system” independent candidate, Guelleh is set to run for his fifth term unopposed. His challengers in the 2016 election have…