Across Africa in five minutes or less

 

NAMIBIA/BOTSWANA

The ministers of international relations of Botswana and Namibia signed a communiqué at the end of their two-day engagement held in Kasane and Katima Mulilo on Friday. Botswana’s Lemogang Kwape and eputy Prime Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah called on security clusters from the two countries to implement resolutions in the signed agreement, which include, among others, to co-exist peacefully. The agreement is aimed at bringing to a close the subject of the killing of three Namibians and their Zambian cousin last year by the Botswana Defence Force. The parties also reaffirmed their continued willingness to share natural resources along the border.

NIGERIA

Nigeria has maintained the infamous position as the poverty capital of the world, with 93.9 people in Africa’s most populous country currently living below the poverty line. Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) Limited and a member of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), Mr. Bismarck Rewane, has stated. Quoting a World Bank data, Rewane, in a presentation at the monthly Lagos Business School’s economic breakfast meeting for September 2021, stated that seven million Nigerians fell into extreme poverty in 2020. The report was titled: “Re: Growth Spikes (5.01 per cent), But People are Hungry?”

GUINEA/EGYPT

Egypt is following up the accelerated developments in Guinea with deep concern, asserting the seriousness of the ongoing crisis in the African country. In a statement released by the Foreign Ministry on Monday, Cairo called on all parties in Guinea to exercise self-restraint and abide by peaceful ways and dialogue to settle the crisis in the country in order to reach up to safe shores.

LIBERIA

Commerce Minister Mawine G. Diggs has refuted speculations here that there is a huge rice shortage in the country, casting blame against the opposition for allegedly spreading the rumor. Speaking at a press conference over the weekend at the Ministry of Commerce in Congo Town, Minister Diggs explained that the country’s current rice inventory shows that speculations surrounding rice shortage are far from reality.

KENYA

More than 400,000 people at the Coast are in dire need of food, with four out of the region’s six counties requiring urgent interventions, authorities have said. Kilifi, Kwale, Tana River and Lamu are among 23 counties on the national government’s red list as drought ravages Kenya’s north, east and coast regions. A number of boarding schools in Tana River County have already been closed due to lack of water as humanitarian organisations warn of a dire situation ahead if urgent measures are not taken.

SOUTH AFRICA

The Ad Hoc Committee to Initiate and Introduce Legislation Amending Section 25 of the Constitution, has adopted the Constitution 18th Amendment Bill, which will see the expropriation of land without compensation embedded in the Constitution. Committee chairperson, Dr Mathole Motshekga, said the Bill in its entirety, as well as the memorandum on the objects of the Bill, were endorsed by the majority of members in the committee. “There were three votes against the Bill and no abstentions,” Motshekga said. The purpose of the Bill is to amend section 25 of the Constitution, so as to provide that, where land is expropriated for land reform, the amount of compensation payable may be nil.

CAPE VERDE

Super Eagles players and officials have arrived at the Amilcar Cabral International Airport ahead of Tuesday’s 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying match. Their arrival was confirmed on the team’s official Facebook page. “We have landed in Sao Vincente, Cape Verde! GAME On… ” a statement on the Super Eagles official Facebook page read. The team was however unable to arrive at their earlier designated airport at Sao Vincente, the venue of the match, as the airport was closed down.

ANGOLA

Luanda province is due to host, on 23 March, the 3rd Natural Medicine congress, focusing on the potential of medicinal plants to combat and prevent pandemics and endemic diseases. According to specialist José Nguepe, the intention is to promote greater interaction, dialogue and cooperation between health professionals from the most varied specialties of natural and conventional medicine, in order to respond to major pandemics and endemics. According to him, the idea is to bring together specialists in areas linked to medicine and promote an approach on the impact and weight of traditional medicine in the modern world.

TUNISIA

The Government of Canada will allow fully vaccinated foreign nationals meeting specific conditions to enter Canada for discretionary (non-essential) purposes starting on September 7, Tunisair said on Monday. Foreign travellers eligible to enter Canada for discretionary travel must meet the following requirements: – be fully vaccinated: travellers must have received the full series of a vaccine or combination of vaccines accepted by Canada at least fourteen days before entering the country (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson).

ETHIOPIA/SUDAN

Yesterday, Sudanese state media SUNA, and multiple international news outlets reported that Sudanese authorities seized an Ethiopian airlines cargo of 72 boxes of Russian made weapons that arrived in Khartoum international Airport via Addis Abeba. The shipment was seized by the Empowerment Removal Committee according to Sudan Tribune. The committee tasked with dismantling the former regime. The report said that Sudanese authorities were informed about the shipment of weapons and its intended arrival on Saturday. In a statement it released this morning, Ethiopian airlines clarified the “shipment of weapons to Sudan is a legal and commercial transportation of hunting guns with all proper documents of the shipper and the consignee.” The shipment was also cleared by both Ethiopian and Sudanese authorities,” Ethiopian said with an attachment of Air waybill or consignment note.

MALAWI

Malawi registered a 72 percent rise in suicide deaths between January and March 2021, statistics from the Malawi Police Service have shown. Connect Plus Resource Institute (CPRI) Chief Executive Officer, Dennis Mwafulirwa, has since called for urgent action to address the problem. In a statement issued ahead of the launch of the first ever Suicide Prevention Week (SPW) in Malawi, Mwafulirwa emphasized that need to raise awareness on the need to promote measures for reducing cases of suicide and suicide attempts.

CAMEROON

“I play music to bring light into people’s life and to allow people feel different emotions they experienced in their daily lives”, these were the words of 23 year old Audrey Forbin a Cameroonian artist who is making her entry into the music world. She has just release her first extended play with six songs that touches different aspect of life. The album include songs like “Nene”, “Ask and receive”, “No safety”, “Bola na nginya”, “Blessings and running”. She told CT that she started playing music in their church choir and with such a talent she got in contact with music director Sango Edi, who has been helping her out so far. Audrey has performed in so many concerts and ceremonies like the music night organised by the Institut français du Cameroun to sell her Afro-beat genre of music which she says is spiritual, celestial and brightens people’s life. The song writer who was born and raised in the South West region of Cameroon also does arts and paintings and sometime she illustrate her music through drawing and other artistic works.

RWANDA/UGANDA

Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) has confirmed that the government of Rwanda has reduced the mandatory quarantine for passengers from Uganda to one day. Passengers from Uganda were in the last two months subjected to a seven-day quarantine period upon arriving in Rwanda, according to information from Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), the country’s central health implementation agency. When asked yesterday whether the restriction was eased, Mr Fred Bamwesigye, the UCAA director general, said: “Yes it is true,” but didn’t give more details.

MADAGASCAR

On July 22, the authorities in Madagascar, a country with a very long history of military coups and political unrest since it gained independence from France in 1960, announced that a plan to assassinate President Andry Rajoelina, had been foiled. Mr Rajoelina has made at least four claims of threats to his life since 2009 when he seized power with the help of the island nation’s military, but supporters of Mr Marc Ravalomanana, who he deposed before defeating in a controversial December 2018 poll, have often dismissed those claims.

DNT News, Accra

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