Across Africa in Five Minutes

BENIN

Former First lady of the republic of Benin Rosine Soglo, wife of Former President NIcephore Soglo who served between 1991 ad 1996, dies on Sunday. She was 87

MALI

The lone knife-wielding attacker, who attempted to stab Malian Transition President Col Assimi Goit after sermons at the Great Bamako Mosque, has died while in custody of authorities. It is not clear if torture played a role in his death.

GHANA

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had reiterated the enforcement of existing COVID-19 restrictions, added a few more, and established a National Vaccine Institute to explore the potential of Ghana becoming the Vaccine manufacturing hub of the region. The president announced a $25 million seed money for the Institute.

NIGERIA

Gunmen who seized 121 students at a high school in northwestern Nigeria in early July have released another 28 teenagers, a school official said. The attackers stormed Bethel Baptist High School in northwestern Kaduna State on July 5, abducting students who were sleeping in their dorms.

ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia’s Amhara region has called on all armed residents to mobilise for battle against rebels from conflict-hit Tigray, calling it a “survival campaign”, state media reported. Amhara borders Tigray to the south, and the two regions are embroiled in a decades-old land dispute that has become central to the eight-month-old war in Tigray.

TUNISIA

Troops surrounded Tunisia’s parliament and blocked its speaker from entering Monday after the president suspended the legislature and fired the prime minister following nationwide protests over the country’s economic troubles and coronavirus crisis.

MOROCCO

Two Israeli airlines launched their first commercial flights between Israel and Morocco on Sunday, less than a year after the countries officially normalized relations. Israir’s flight departed Tel Aviv for Marrakech with around 100 Israeli tourists, the company said, hours before Israeli national carrier El Al dispatched its first direct flight to the same destination.

SENEGAL

Senegal will embark on the local production of Covid-19 vaccines for not only the country but also for Africa. The work of the steering committee that was formed following the trip of the Head of State to Belgium has just come to an end. At least $16 million has just been raised from partners, including $2 million from the State of Senegal.

KENYA

Deputy President William Ruto, confident of a 2022 State House race triumph following a series of wins in recent by-elections, has told his opponents to prepare for what he says will be a battle royale. Coming just days after the United Democratic Alliance – a new party linked to Ruto’s allies – won the Kiambaa seat against President Uhuru Kenyatta’s well-oiled Jubilee Party campaign, Ruto dismissed all ongoing coalition-building efforts by his rivals, saying they will not stop him from ascending to the highest office.

TANZANIA

Tanzania’s Serengeti district in the Mara Region is leading with incidences of human and wildlife conflicts involving elephants, lions and local communities, according to officials. Antonia Raphael, a wildlife officer in the tourism ministry, has revealed the magnitude of the problem during a crucial conservation workshop held in Mugumu to find solutions to the increasing conflicts pitting people and wildlife against each other in the district. “The government is doing everything possible to find lasting solutions for the problem which exists in over 81 district councils across the country. Payouts to families affected by attacks by wild animals is not a lasting solution to the problem. Instead the best solution is the establishment of a land use plan and controlling livestock from entering wildlife protected areas for grazing”, she said.

LIBERIA

The Liberia-registered Niko Ivanka reportedly left Monrovia on July 17, 2021, sending out a distress signal later in the afternoon to the Liberian coast guard. Authorities said the ship – which was heading for the central port city of Buchanan – was according to its manifest, officially carrying 18 passengers but they they suspect the number could have been higher.

ZIMBABWE

UK-based human rights groups have expressed grave concerns over Home Office plans to deport 150 Zimbabweans, warning that their lives would be in danger. For decades, the Zimabwe government has not accepted people being forcibly returned from the UK, meaning Zimbabweans who sought asylum in Britain were left for decades, starting families and having children.

DNT News

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