A new program in the United States will require nonimmigrant visitors from 23 foreign countries – most of them African – to post a US$10,000 bond when applying for travel visas. The U.S. pilot program targets citizens of nations with high visa overstay rates, according to the U.S. Department of…
With Zambia’s recent default on debt repayment and global concern over pandemic-related economic impacts, the G20 meeting in Riyadh wrapped up Sunday with a commitment through June for the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to allow developing nations to defer debt payments. “The coronovirus pandemic is not only the greatest…
Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth of Mauritius has called for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, saying the pandemic has made painfully clear the inequities that exist between the world’s richer nations and their impoverished counterparts around the globe. “Such an access is key to change the course of the pandemic and…
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa joined China’s Xi Jinping in calling for cooperation and unity in the fight against COVID as leaders of the five developing BRICS economies met Tuesday in a virtual meeting hosted by Russia. Ramaphosa’s focus on trade disruptions, supply chain challenges and African debt follows…
The World Trade Organization says it is standing by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the most likely selection for the director general position, but that support comes as the United States seeks to block the accomplished Nigerian from becoming the first African woman to lead the WTO. “The candidate that had…
Humanitarian aid workers in Nigeria say that food prices have soared because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the cost is driving hunger in parts of the country that can ill afford yet another challenge. “Everywhere we work the food prices have gone up, in some places they doubled. It means…
Tanzanian environmental minister Hamisi Kigwangalla visited the scene of a wildfire burning through Kilimanjaro National Park on Wednesday, checking on fire suppression efforts and thanking those battling the flames. Community volunteers have joined professionals in working to put out a fire that TANAPA, the Tanzania National Parks authority, said broke…
Marathon runner Gerima Mustafa of Uganda walked some 664 kilometers across East Africa earlier this year to call attention to threats to the shea nut tree, a source of food, medical products and income for many living from West Africa to Somalia. Now research scientists studying the shea in Burkina…
The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to push as many as 150 million more people into extreme poverty by 2021, the World Bank says, marking the first time in 20 years that the number of those in such poverty will rise. The pandemic “compounds the forces of conflict and climate change”…
A new report from UNCTAD, the United Nations agency on trade and development, finds that African nations are losing an estimated US$88.6 billion every year in illicit financial flows (IFFs) across borders. IFFs are movements of money and assets that are illegal in source, transfer or use. These losses approach…
Senior government officials in South Sudan have embezzled US$36 million from the country’s coffers with the aid of international institutions and multinational banks, says Yasmin Sooka, the head of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights for the nation. “It is worth noting this is just what we were able to…
President Danny Faure of Seychelles underscored the challenges facing island nations as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic took center stage at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. Faure’s pre-recorded speech was among six such talks scheduled for African leaders, in a format that replaced in-person meetings for the…
Authorities in Botswana say that toxic cyanobacteria, a kind of algae found in water sources, is behind the mysterious death of elephant herds earlier this year. Dr. Mmadi Reuben, the principal veterinary officer for the Department of Wildlife & National Parks, said Monday that the laboratory samples of water obtained…
The final report on the Boeing 737 MAX, released Wednesday by a legislative committee in the United States, finds “repeated and serious failures” by both Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The report’s introduction begins with the story of Paul Njoroge, a Kenyan living in Canada who testified…
President Nana Akufo Addo of Ghana has been elected the new head of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and will replace outgoing chief Mahamadou Issoufou, his Nigerien counterpart. “I am fully aware of the challenges which confront West Africa,” said Akufo Addo in his acceptance speech,…