Ethiopian officials announced new measures to control the COVID-19 outbreak on Monday, as the country’s ministry of health confirmed a new case and a number of African governments enacted more strict controls amid a rising case count. All large gatherings or events are forbidden for the next two weeks, and…
New swarms of locusts are coming from Ethiopia and Somalia into Kenya, as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its partners continue to fight back against crop destruction in a part of the world where it is least afforded. The FAO said Friday it was…
People in parts of Tanzania and neighboring Kenya experienced a light earthquake late Friday in a border region near the Indian Ocean coast. The magnitude-4.9 earthquake struck at 9:37 p.m. local time, about 19 kilometers from the mountain village of Maramba, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The…
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…
Officials in Kenya say they have no confirmed coronavirus cases to date, but they’re addressing a different kind of contagion – the spread of COVID-19 disinformation – with some hefty fines. “The fake news is alarmist, inciteful and its sole purpose is to cause fear and spread panic to the…
The locust swarms wreaking havoc in the Horn of Africa have now spread across the Arabian Peninsula and into Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the southwest coast of Iran, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). They’re also affecting Red Sea nations, as well as those already hardest…
Officials in the United States have announced a new counterterrorism partnership with Kenya, in what they say is the first such Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) involving American partners to be located outside of the United States. The U.S. Department of State and Federal Bureau of Investigation say the Kenyan-led…
The president of Kenya said Friday that a new bilateral trade deal with the United States won’t threaten the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) or reduce the country’s commitment to the African common market. President Uhuru Kenyatta met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday…
Dr. John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday there are no confirmed coronavirus cases as yet on the continent, though authorities have now activated the emergency operations center and are actively working with China and other international bodies to respond to the outbreak….
As the world waits for additional guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the fast-moving coronavirus outbreak centered in China, the number of cases continued to mount – as did concerns over the African continent, with its close ties to Beijing. “Has Ethiopian Airlines started screening passengers flying from…
President Uhuru Kenyatta rang the bell to begin trading at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Monday, as part of the launch of Kenya’s first green bond in conjunction with his visit to the UK-Africa Investment Summit 2020. The US$40 million bond by Acorn Holdings, a property development firm based…
Tibor Nagy, the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs for the United States, will begin a five-nation tour on the African continent on Wednesday. Nagy will visit the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Sudan during the two-week journey. The trip will highlight a U.S. commitment to African youth,…
The United States Department of Defense has identified the soldier killed Sunday during an al-Shabaab attack on an airfield at Manda Bay in Kenya as Spc. Henry J. Mayfield Jr., a 23-year-old from metro Chicago, Illinois. The U.S. added that the death of Mayfield remains under investigation. He was one…
By N. D. Francois When terror struck Nairobi almost one year ago, David Mwangi had yet to graduate from Kenya Police College. He and his colleagues watched the attack unfold live on television. Now an on-duty officer in Nairobi, the 26-year-old is bent on never letting such tragedy happen again….
The new round of the Excise Goods Management System (EGMS) in Kenya has finally gone live. Since November 13, all bottled water, juices, energy drinks, soda and other non-alcoholic beverages either manufactured in, or imported to, Kenya must be affixed with excise stamps approved by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA)….
Arnaud is a French freelance writer with an African heart who has lived in 10 different Sub-Saharan countries in the past decade. He is currently based in Paris.