Cameroon on Monday launched the first malaria vaccination programme to be offered nationwide and as a matter of routine, in a step the WHO has described as “historic”.The mosquito-borne disease kills more than 600,000 people a year — 95 percent of them in Africa — according to the World Health Organization.Children under five years old …

Cameroon launches historic large-scale malaria jab campaignMon, 22 Jan 2024 18:00:47 GMT Read More »

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday the United States was committed to deeper relations with Africa despite global crises as he opened a trip in the shadow of coups and the rising influence of Russia and China on the continent.Blinken is touring four democracies on the Atlantic Coast — Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Nigeria …

US ‘all in’ for Africa, Blinken says opening coastal tourMon, 22 Jan 2024 17:29:43 GMT Read More »

Imane Ayissi is on a mission to put authentic African textiles in the spotlight but faces an uphill battle as a pioneer African couturier at Paris Fashion Week. The bark of the Obom tree, kente cloth from Ghana and kapok fibres from Burkina Faso are some of the textiles — little-known in Europe — that the …

Imane Ayissi brings African tradition to Paris coutureMon, 22 Jan 2024 17:11:28 GMT Read More »

Thick layers of melted wax from candles and flowers bore silent tribute Monday as colleagues marked a year since the discovery of the mutilated body of an abducted Cameroon reporter.Co-workers of Martinez Zogo created the shrine to the journalist, who dared to speak out against corruption and cronyism before his abduction and brutal murder last January.The …

A year on, colleagues remember slain Cameroon journalistMon, 22 Jan 2024 17:00:57 GMT Read More »

While the explosion of debt is throwing a shadow over global economic growth, experts warn that sub-Saharan Africa, where several countries are already in default, is experiencing its worst-ever crisis.The rise in interest rates and over-indebtedness is already crimping the ability of countries to finance their development, as a number of African leaders emphasised at …

Africa in debt spiral as restructuring efforts drag onMon, 22 Jan 2024 15:52:07 GMT Read More »

Nigeria’s Lagos State, which includes the country’s sprawling economic capital of more than 20 million people, has announced a ban on styrofoam and single-use plastics to curb pollution.The state government said in a statement Sunday the ban would take effect immediately but environmental experts said implementing and enforcing it could be complicated.Many street vendors and …

Nigeria’s polluted economic hub Lagos bans styrofoam, plasticsMon, 22 Jan 2024 15:23:36 GMT Read More »

Liberia’s new president Joseph Boakai pledged to fight corruption in the West African country as he was sworn into office on Monday following his election victory over former football star George Weah.The 79-year-old narrowly beat former Ballon d’Or winner Weah in November’s run-off poll, with 50.64 percent of the vote to 49.36 percent. “We see hard …

Boakai vows to tackle graft as he takes oath as Liberia presidentMon, 22 Jan 2024 15:04:21 GMT Read More »

In Johannesburg, illegal miners and mining companies are in a race to tap golden riches hidden in hundreds of heaps of mine waste, many taller than a 20-storey building.The hills that scar the city’s landscape are now coveted by South African mining companies whose underground gold deposits have become harder to exploit with every passing …

South African miners see gold in hills of wasteMon, 22 Jan 2024 14:20:37 GMT Read More »

Joseph Boakai was sworn in Monday as Liberia’s president after his election victory over former football star George Weah, with the challenge of tackling poverty and corruption.The 79-year-old narrowly beat former Ballon d’Or winner Weah in November’s run-off poll with 50.64 percent of the votes to 49.36 percent. The investiture ceremony in parliament was attended by …

Joseph Boakai sworn in as Liberian presidentMon, 22 Jan 2024 12:44:22 GMT Read More »

Eleven months ahead of Ghana’s presidential election, a new political force is emerging to challenge the long-standing two-party status quo.With deft social media messaging, posters of his masked face and an appeal to younger voters, businessman Nana Kwame Bediako, popularly known as Cheddar, says his New Force movement will become a third political power.Few analysts …

Ghana’s masked third candidate tests two party politicsMon, 22 Jan 2024 06:17:35 GMT Read More »