With just 65 days to go before the opening ceremony of the delayed 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the International Olympic Committee said Wednesday it is prepared to hold the games despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the organizational challenges. John Coates, head of the IOC Coordination Commission, issued a…
The University of Cape Town and scholars across the globe are working quickly to see how they can replace treasured materials that were destroyed during the Table Mountain wildfire last weekend. UCT’s Special Collections consist of print and audiovisual material on African studies and other specialized subjects, including more than…
There are now at least 237 vessels waiting to transit through the Suez Canal in Egypt, as Thursday’s efforts to move the grounded MV Ever Given proved unsuccessful in an operation experts say now may take days if not weeks. “Despite continuous and tireless efforts from the Suez Canal authority…
Somalia received its first shipment of the Oxford Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses on Monday, just as other nations – particularly across Europe – put their vaccination efforts on pause because of concerns over the safety of the product. The first batch of 300,000 doses to arrive in Mogadishu is…
Mahamadou Issoufou, the outgoing president of Niger, is the recipient of the 2020 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. The US$5 million prize, paid over 10 years through the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, is awarded to leaders who demonstrate a commitment to human development and democratic principles. Successful candidates are always…
With the COVID-19 pandemic has come a global spike in the demand for oxygen, and 25 countries – most of them on the African continent – are reporting a surge in demand they cannot meet. To that end, global health officials announced Thursday the creation of a new COVID-19 Oxygen Emergency…
Ghana on Wednesday became the first nation to receive coronavirus vaccines through the global COVAX initiative, a partnership supported by UNICEF in West Africa. “The shipments also represent the beginning of what should be the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history,” said UNICEF in a statement. “The COVAX…
A decision by Dutch courts to hold oil giant Royal Dutch Shell responsible for damages in Nigeria was met with disappointment from the company, even as campaigners celebrated a victory in the years-long case over oil spills that affected farmers in villages near its pipelines. “This is a hopeful day…
South Africa is the latest nation to bid farewell to one of its high-level ministers because of COVID, as President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Thursday the death of longtime African National Congress member Jackson Mthembu. The 62-year-old Mthembu, above, an ANC national executive committee member with a legacy of anti-apartheid and…
South Africans have been encouraged to receive COVID-19 vaccinations from one of the most prominent figures in the nation: Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. Tutu, through his foundation, issued a statement Monday that’s meant to reduce vaccine hesitancy while reassuring citizens that the coronavirus vaccines are as effective as they are…
Social media giant Facebook announced Tuesday that it has shut down three different groups behind the spread of disinformation in African nations, including one network the company traced to “individuals associated with French military.” Facebook said the violations for “coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign or government entity”…
The Oxfam NGO is warning that the world’s poorest nations – two thirds of them on the African continent – don’t have equal access to the COVID vaccines, even as wealthier nations are snapping up doses for their own people. “Nearly 70 poor countries will only be able to vaccinate…
Three African nations are among those awarded grants from a new fund designed to deliver sustainable cooling to some of the hottest places. The US$580,000 comes from the UK-based Ashden organization, which has focused on climate innovation for the last 20 years. In partnership with the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program…
In the United States, aircraft manufacturing firm Boeing says it’s ready to move forward now that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given the green light to resume operations with its 737 MAX airplanes – the model with design flaws that led to the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight…
The world has met news of a successful COVID-19 vaccine candidate with guarded optimism, but a number of challenges remain in producing, storing and distributing the treatment – and that’s assuming the vaccine and others in development are successful in preventing COVID. Pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced Monday that there’s a…