AU calls on EU to recognize African COVID-19 vaccine certificates

By XINHUA A senior official of the African Union Commission Tuesday urged European Union member countries against a policy of not accepting COVID-19 vaccine certificates from the continent. Speaking at the opening of a meeting of foreign affairs ministers of the European Union and the African Union in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, the vice-chairperson…

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Africa fashion reception returns to Ethiopia

By CGTN Africa The Africa Fashion Reception, an annual fashion gala has returned to Ethiopia coincidingwith the African Union theme for the year “The AU Year of the Arts, Culture And Heritage: Levers for Building Africa We Want”. This 2021 edition was held at the Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa on October 22, a year after it…

South Africa’s Aspen aiming for 1.3 billion dose-per-year COVID-19 vaccine capacity by 2024

By Reuters South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare is aiming to ramp up its COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity to 1.3 billion doses a year by February 2024, up from a current annual output of around 250 million doses, the company’s CEO told Reuters on Monday. Aspen is doing the final stages of manufacturing for Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19…

WHO Acts to Prevent Repeat of Sexual Abuse, Exploitation in Congo

GENEVA — The World Health Organization has issued an action plan to address allegations that its staff and contractors engaged in widespread sexual abuse and exploitation during a recent Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. An independent commission established to investigate these allegations issued a searing report September 28. It found international staff…

Newly-opened “Medicine City” aims to transform Egypt into regional pharmaceutical hub

By XINHUA Gypto Pharma, which recently opened in Cairo, is seeking to transform Egypt into a regional pharmaceutical hub, by securing local and regional markets with high-quality products. “We are building a strategic road map on establishing a regional pharmaceutical hub of excellence for multi-national companies as well as targeting export as a key milestone in…

Nigeria to launch digital currency on Monday, central bank says

By Reuters Nigeria will on Monday launch a digital currency, the eNaira, the central bank said, months after it barred banks and financial institutions from dealing in or facilitating transactions in cryptocurrencies. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele has said the eNaira would operate as a wallet against which customers can hold existing funds…

Chinese COVID-19 vaccines boost Ethiopia’s inoculation drive

By XINHUA The latest batch of Chinese-donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines, totaling 800,000 doses, arrived in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa on Sunday, giving a boost to the East African nation’s vaccination efforts. China has so far donated in excess of 1.8 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Ethiopia, which the Ethiopian government said has played an important…