Reuters The South African rand fell almost 2% on Friday as the U.S. dollar extended gains after receiving a boost from a very hawkish Federal Reserve policy announcement and rising Treasury yields. The rand traded at 17.9300 against the dollar at 1556 GMT, 1.77% weaker than its previous close. The dollar index , which measures…
Jonathan Kamoga, The East African A resurgence of malaria cases and deaths in Uganda is worrying the medical fraternity amid reported shortage of medicines. According to Jimmy Opigo, the programme manager for malaria control at the Ministry of Health, preliminary findings point to a drop in usage of mosquito nets, mutation of the malaria parasite and…
Vitalio Angula WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA — The first “green hydrogen” power plant being built in Africa is expected to begin producing electricity in Namibia in 2024, an official from France-based HDF Energy told Reuters news agency this week. That presents something of a dilemma for Namibia, which is championing the clean energy but also said this month…
Mqondisi Dube GABORONE, BOTSWANA — Botswana has announced it will cull more than 10,000 cattle in the country’s northeast in a bid to fight an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. One of Africa’s largest beef producers, Botswana was forced in August to halt beef exports over the virus, including to the lucrative European Union. Assistant Minister for…
Staff Writer, ZAWYA Nigeria’s new deepwater projects will add nearly 2.3 billion barrels to the country’s existing crude reserves when they come on stream between 2025 and 2030, according to a recent S&P Global Commodity Insights report. Deepwater projects hold the key to Nigeria’s production growth and stability, the report said, adding that the Petroleum Industry…
Donald P. Kaberuka, Project Syndicate KIGALI – There was a time, not so long ago, when an HIV diagnosis was a death sentence. AIDS, together with tuberculosis and malaria, killed millions of people and overwhelmed health systems worldwide especially in Africa. But the world came together and fought back. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis,…
Reuters News DAKAR – Ghana has declared the end of a Marburg virus outbreak, a highly infectious disease similar to Ebola, that was confirmed in July, the president’s office said on Monday. Ghana’s Marburg outbreak was the second in West Africa. The first ever case of the virus was detected last year in Guinea, with no…
By Christine Maema Health authorities in Uganda on Tuesday declared an outbreak of Ebola after a case of the relatively rare Sudan strain was confirmed in Mubende district in the central part of the country. According to the Uganda Virus Research Institute, the case was confirmed after testing a sample taken from a 24-year-old male following an…
By Christine Maema Sudan’s outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) has been successfully stopped, according to experts from WHO, UNICEF and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Declared in 15 out of 18 states, the outbreak was caused by a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) strain imported from Chad, paralyzing 58 children. The announcement came after…
Reuters News ABUJA – Africa-focused fintech firm Flutterwave said on Wednesday it has added Nigeria’s eNaira as a payment option for merchants, a move that could help boost adoption of the digital currency. Nigeria, the first African nation to launch a digital currency, is targeting 8 million users for the app launched in October. But…
