African leaders joined their counterparts from across the globe on Wednesday as they extended condolences and assistance to the people of Lebanon following Tuesday’s massive explosion in Beirut. President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, current holder of the African Union presidency, expressed concern for the many Lebanese families who lost…
Zimbabwe’s crackdown on anticorruption protesters has captured the attention of human rights campaigners at home and abroad, many of them using the #zimbabweanlivesmatter hashtag on Twitter to share their concerns. Among them is President Lazarus Chakwera of neighboring Malawi, who was sworn in at the end of June following new…
Nigeria’s war on corruption suffered several body blows this month after Ibrahim Magu, the chief of its Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was suspended on suspicion of malfeasance, including collecting bribes and siphoning funds away from the EFCC. A dozen more staff members within the anti-corruption agency were subsequently…
Policies that deliver a Temporary Basic Income (TBI) for the world’s poorest people could help some 3 billion people to stay home, thereby slowing the current surge in COVID-19 transmission in developing nations. That’s according to a new report released Thursday by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which puts…
South African photographer Daniela Zondagh captured a striking image of an empty table with 1,000 seats to help business owners in the hospitality industry illustrate the impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on their livelihoods. Zondagh documented the table setup for Bosman Family Vineyards, which claims an eight-generation heritage in…
There has been little progress in the stalemate over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), according to the Ethiopian government as it continues lengthy and oft-contentious negotiations with Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia’s foreign ministry said Tuesday that the three nations have been unable to resolve their differences over access to…
The European Union has committed €15 million to the fight against desert locusts, which have devastated crops in East Africa. It’s the worst outbreak in decades, and a new generation of locusts is now threatening the region with the potential to spread beyond the Horn of Africa and Yemen, into…
By Adekemi Omotubora COVID-19 is ravishing the world, putting in focus both the public health and economic implications. For a country like Nigeria, hemorrhaging its revenue from oil, the catastrophe of the pandemic also stresses the need to develop a diversified Nigerian economy – and it is a digital economy….
Rwanda is the only nation in sub-Saharan Africa that appears to be approved for travel to the European Union as management of the COVID-19 pandemic continues, according to a list seen by the New York Times. The short list of non-European nations with citizens determined eligible to enter the EU,…
Uganda may be on the list of nations approved for travel in the European Union, once it reopens to the world following weeks of a coronavirus-related ban. But the United States, which has failed to contain its COVID-19 outbreak, may not be. That’s according to a New York Times report…
African leaders met Wednesday to discuss the coronavirus pandemic, in a virtual meeting hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, the current chair of the African Union. Also coordinating the Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19 was President Macky Sall of Senegal, whose nation holds…
More than 200 million migrants across the globe send remittances to their home countries, many of them on the African continent, and that means some 800 million family members depend on them. In low- and middle-income countries, that amounted to US$554 billion last year, more than either the world’s official…
South Africa’s Telkom wasn’t the only service to suffer an outage on Monday, although the nationwide disruption in its 086 call center services and its 0800 toll-free numbers caused plenty of business disruption. In the United States, it seemed like every communications service was down as what many suspect was…
Struggling French automaker Renault is set to cut 15,000 jobs around the world, according to labor leaders who met with company officials Thursday night to discuss the plans before a public announcement expected Friday. The cuts are part of a deal the company hopes will deliver €2 billion in savings…
By Arman Sidhu After suffering its first economic contraction in nearly 45 years, China finds itself facing a deluge of economic threats, many of which stem from criticism of Beijing’s handling and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. From alternative supply chains, to new policy measures designed to screen Chinese foreign…