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,…
Africans celebrated the end of wild poliovirus on the continent on Tuesday, making good on an international promise that dates to 1996 and the Nelson Mandela era. “This is a momentous milestone for Africa. Now future generations of African children can live free of wild polio,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti,…
The keys to the new headquarters of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat were handed over on Monday in Ghana, where the government also established a permanent residence for the first AfCFTA head. Wamkele Keabetswe Mene, the South African elected to the position in February, delivered remarks at…
Ghanaian authorities on Sunday were denying rumors that President Nana Akufo Addo has left the country for medical treatment, following news that he had been exposed to COVID-19 through a close contact. “Kindly disregard the false story published by the Herald newspaper,” said Eugene Arhin, the president’s communications director, in…
Ethiopia and Tunisia have been removed, but four African nations are now on a financial crimes watch list issued by the European Union. Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius and Zimbabwe are identified as high-risk countries for money laundering and the potential for funding terrorism, according to an EU statement. The additions are…
There are now at least 159 positive cases of the novel coronavirus on the African continent, according to health officials, with the first confirmed cases in Ethiopia and Kenya among them. The Ethiopian case involves a 48-year-old Japanese citizen who traveled from Burkina Faso on March 4 but is isolated…
President Nana Akufo Addo of Ghana was on hand Tuesday as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault – a gene bank that protects the world’s seeds, on an Arctic Ocean island governed by Norway – received a huge deposit of seeds from plant species across the world. They came from Mali,…
With Boris Johnson returning as British prime minister, African leaders were quick to congratulate Johnson and his Conservative Party on a decisive win that all but ensures a timely departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union. Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari wished Johnson well with the hope of forging “a…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo Addo delivered thousands of outboard motors and other fishing gear to the country’s coastal residents on Tuesday, while encouraging them to end illegal practices and pursue a sustainable industry. Akufo Addo, along with other agency leaders including fisheries minister Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, made the presentation during…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
China’s Vice Premier Sun Chunlan headed to Namibia on Thursday, the second stop of a three-nation African tour that runs through November 13. Sun arrived in Windhoek to meet with her counterpart, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, after meetings in Madagascar with President Andry Rajoelina and Prime Minister Christian Ntsay. Rajoelina noted that…
Scientists from Ghana and Kenya are among 19 members from a host of nations who are launching the new “Earth Commission,” a project that draws from both the natural and social sciences to combat climate change. The group will begin immediately, with plans to complete by 2021 what they describe…
Kenya has joined the nations of Ghana and Malawi in administering a new malaria vaccine, with parts of the country participating in a pilot program offered in partnership with the World Health Organization. The vaccine known as RTS,S has taken 30 years to develop and so far is the only…
Two leaders who share a vision for African agriculture from opposite sides of the continent have been named the winners of the 2019 African Food Prize, awarded this week at the African Green Revolution Forum in Ghana. Dr. Emma Naluyima of Uganda, a smallholder farmer and veterinarian, and Baba Dioum…
The West African nation of Ghana hosted 40 young leaders from across sub-Saharan Africa this weekend, as they attended a two-day event sponsored by Facebook to focus on the continent’s digital future. The participants from 15 different countries were holding coding workshops for students in Accra and mentoring sessions for…
The new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will make its home in Ghana, a decision announced Sunday during an African Union summit in Niger that celebrated the official launch of the free-trade deal. Actual trading under AfCFTA is expected to begin a year from now and when it does,…