New York — Liberia’s Minister of Health, Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah, says the latest development of several vaccines with capacities to combat the coronavirus is a critical step to winning the unprecedented fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Jallah said Liberia, like many nations, is still combatting the coronavirus pandemic; but noted that the country has […]
Tag: Coronavirus
South Africa has officially hit the second wave, with 6 709 COVID-19 new cases reported in the last 24 hours pushing the total number of cases to 828 598. In a special briefing on Wednesday night, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said the country now meets the resurgence criteria formulated by scientists and modelling teams. […]
On Human Rights Day, Celebrating People Who Make the World Better This Human Rights Day I’m celebrating my sister’s commitment to lifting up the lives of girls and giving them a chance at realizing their potential. I think of my sister Vicky as a warrior in the fight for human rights, and on December 10, […]
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, has assured Nigeria and other African countries of access to COVID-19 vaccines as from the end of January through the first quarter of 2021, a statement by the Ministry of foreign Affairs said on Wednesday. The statement quoted Okonjo-Iweala as disclosing this after a closed-door meeting with […]
With so-called vaccine nationalism spreading “with full speed”, the Secretary-General told a journalists, following the fourth annual African Union-UN conference, that the continent must be “effectively supported” to fight the pandemic everywhere. The COVAX international vaccine initiative requires $4.2 billion over the next two months to ensure that “sooner rather than later”, World Health Organization […]
The economic and health costs to Africa from the Covid-19 pandemic are unprecedented by any measure. With the death toll rising above 60,000 and more than two million confirmed infections so far, the continent has many reasons to be worried. So far, Covid-19 lockdowns have triggered the first continent-wide recession in 25 years, costing Africa […]
Addis Ababa — The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD) on Wednesday hosted a virtual webinar showcasing the power of data partnerships in combating the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic in Africa. The webinar brought together UN Resident Coordinators and their teams, Heads of National Statistical Offices and […]
“The agriculture sector is among the most vulnerable. Agriculture is important not only for food security issues but also for inter-regional food integration,” African Development Bank Director of Macroeconomic Policy, Forecasting and Research, Hanan Morsy, said during a news conference on the opening day of the African Economic Conference 2020. “We see this as an […]
In order to recover rapidly from COVID-19, Africa must focus on building sustainable health, education and food industries, with income support for women, attendees at the opening ceremony of this year’s African Economic Conference (AEC) heard on Tuesday. The virtual 2020 AEC, titled Africa beyond COVID-19: Acceleration towards inclusive and sustainable development, has rallied together […]
Heads of four regional development banks (RDBs) meeting virtually on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to working together to build back better in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting was hosted by African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina, the outgoing chair of the group. He was joined by Odile Renaud-Basso, new President of the […]
Addis Ababa — Beyond the dark cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic is a silver lining of a more sustainably prosperous Africa. This was the message from the panellists who gathered virtually on the first day of the 2020 African Economic Conference. They were speaking during the first session, exploring an inclusive and sustainable economic solution […]
Khartoum — The Ministry of Education has recommended that basic and secondary schools reopen, especially the eighth-grade of basic schools and the third-grade of secondary schools. The opening of the schoolyear was postponed in September because of the COVID-19 pandemic. At a workshop in Khartoum yesterday, organised by the High Committee for Health Emergencies, the […]
Addis Ababa — The 2020 edition of the African Economic Conference (AEC) opened virtually on Tuesday with calls for the continent’s policymakers, researchers, development partners, and champions of policy change to design solutions to ensure Africa builds for the future in the aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the annual […]
Kenya’s national carrier Kenya Airways is seeking to play a role in the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines in Africa. The airline is banking on its stature as a well connected airline in Africa to take the vaccines to every region on the continent using its networks and cargo routes. Kenya Airways chief executive officer Allan […]
Addis Ababa — Experts agree that Africa’s governments will have to strike a balance between health, economic and social policy interventions in the coming months to mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Measures to prevent the spread of the virus have dampened prospects for economic growth on the continent, due to the prolonged […]
Dr Godwin Nchinda, Senior Immunologist, Deputy Director General, Head of Vaccinology Laboratory, CIRCB. What meaning can we read into Covid-19 vaccines? Vaccines are less dangerous portions of disease-causing agents which are given to people to make them capable of staying healthy when exposed to the disease causing agent again. That is, they would not fall […]
While a full picture for 2020 is yet to be established, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, estimates that global forced displacement surpassed 80 million at mid-year, according to a report on trends in global forced displacement released today in Geneva. At the beginning of this year, some 79.5 million people had been forced from their […]
Dr Stephen Mogusu continued to serve patients under the most horrible conditions – working long hours and without a salary for several months – dreaming, like thousands of fellow frontline workers across the country, of a better day. On Monday, the 28-year-old doctor paid the ultimate price when he succumbed to Covid-19. In an interview […]