AFRICA

How one social enterprise is working to protect and support street children in Africa as stigma, a broken system and a global pandemic put them at risk LAGOS, Nigeria, June 15, 2020,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- As the sun rises over deserted streets, a group of volunteers prepares for their day. For a few hours – from late morning until curfews …

Burundi’s outgoing president, Pierre Nkurunziza, died unexpectedly on Monday after suffering a heart attack, the government says. He was admitted to hospital on Saturday after feeling unwell, his condition improved but on Monday he had a cardiac arrest and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, officials say. The death of 55-year-old Nkurunziza, who was due to stand down in August …

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a group advocating for a separate state for the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, has been accused of working to discredit the Nigerian government internationally. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, made the allegation in a statement on Sunday. According to him, the group is leading a …

Africa against all predictions of international organisations has until now been the least affected region by the new coronavirus pandemic. Mabingue Ngom, Director of the West and Central African Regional Office of the United Nations Population Fund, explains how the lessons learnt from earlier outbreaks of the Ebola epidemic have largely helped the continent avoid the worst predicted for it …

In a new opinion article, entitled “Post-Coronavirus, Africa’s Manufacturing Moment”, written for the American news magazine, President Muhammadu Buhari explains how Africa is set to face the reality after the global health crisis, by boosting its manufacturing sector, providing jobs for its teeming population of unemployed youth and addressing the issue of poverty on the continent. Below is the article …

Meet the Winners of Africa.com's Brilliant African Innovations Against COVID-19 Competition

If there’s one important lesson the #COVID19 pandemic will teach us, it’s that we need to invest in health infrastructure across the world, and particularly in Africa, says Babatunde Omilola, Manager for Public Health, Security and Nutrition Division at the African Development Bank. Like every other pandemic that the world has experienced in the past, coronavirus will eventually come to …

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday took a swipe at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) under President Muhammadu Buhari. This followed the Twitter altercations between the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami and the Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, over office accommodation. The main opposition party said the Council had …

The news of the eviction of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) from its office in Abuja is causing indignation in the country’s diaspora community. The Chairman/CEO of the Commission, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, announced at the weekend that the government agency charged with linking the country with the millions of its citizens living abroad was currently homeless. She explained that …

Africa 2.0 members share a collection of short opinion pieces about the impact of the global pandemic on African and Afro-descendant communities and offer views on what this may mean for the future. ACCRA, Ghana, May 12th, 2020, -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- The future can be shaped by our collective imagination, so we must share our vision. That is one …

The crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has revealed the capacity of Africa to do things for itself. That was the view expressed on Thursday by Gherrabi Mohammed, a Moroccan journalist, at an international video conference organised by The African Network of Germany (TANG) on the global health crisis. “We should thank God that the pandemic has so far spared …

"It is vital that individuals across Africa take responsibility to protect themselves, their families and their communities, by following the recommended prevention measures."

Funmilola Ajala looks at the challenges of containing the coronavirus pandemic in her home country, presenting the stark choices before Nigerian leaders as well as the potential dangers ahead as Africa’s most populous nation relaxes its lockdown measures after several weeks. In French art, there is a popular saying which goes thus: on s’engage, et puis on voit, meaning ‘engage first, then …

Ghana’s founding president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, died on 27 April 1972. To mark the 48th anniversary of his death, our senior contributing editor and author, Jojo Cobbinah, writes from Accra on a brilliant African intellectual and committed leader who did not spend his time marrying countless women, building mansions or stashing millions in foreign banks. Jojo (72), who witnessed Nkrumah’s …

100 African intellectuals have signed an open letter to leaders on the continent, urging them to look critically at the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to use the lessons from the crisis to spur “radical change”.  The letter, signed by academics, writers and activists from across the continent and the diaspora (*see list at the footnotes), makes …

Despite the challenges it’s facing, the government of Ghana is handling the coronavirus pandemic in the country effectively. That is the unanimous verdict of journalists who participated at a video conference, organised by The African Network of Germany, on the global health crisis on Thursday. — Washing hands, social distancing and wearing face masks are also the order of the …

Four decades after liberation from British rule and following many years of Robert Mugabe’s repression, a growing number of Zimbabweans don’t believe they have much to celebrate. For many, it’s a conflict of generations. A special report on Zimbabwe at 40 by Privilege Musvanhiri of DW from Harare Tens of thousands of people traditionally flock to independence day festivities around …

Political leaders for obvious reasons are not trusted by the people to act in their best interest in Nigeria like in most of Africa. The state that the people hold responsible for their problems will hardly be trusted when it says it’s acting to save the same people from an invisible enemy like the coronavirus.

A very powerful member of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has died. The Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, died on Friday, more than two weeks after he tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media, Mr Femi Adesina, on Twitter in the early hours of Saturday, said Kyari …

An urgent appeal has been made to Nigerians living abroad to help their people at home due to the social hardship caused by government measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic in the country. The appeal was made on Thursday by Monday Ijeh, a journalist with the News Agency of Nigeria, and Blessing Ehiwario Samuel, who works at the ECOWAS headquarters, …