Africa seeks digital solutions for better revenue collection
African governments have been trying to introduce new taxes — in part to pay off heavy foreign loans — amid economic headwinds that include rising global prices for food and energy. In June, the Kenya government introduced Finance Bill 2024,…
WHO backs African efforts to combat mpox spread, as Sweden records new case
The outbreak that affected the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and spread to neighbouring countries continues to grow. On Thursday afternoon, WHO member Sweden became the first country outside Africa to record a case of the mpox Clade 1…
Attack on a city in Sudan kills at least five and injures more: UNICEF
The bomb hit the Al-Khansa Secondary School for Girls and a crowded marketplace in El Obeid city in Kordofan state, said the statement released by UNICEF’s Sheldon Yett, released on Thursday. This attack followed another on Sunday where a “shell…
No date yet for long-awaited South Sudan elections
Nicholas Haysom, who also heads the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), briefed ambassadors on political, security and humanitarian developments in the world’s youngest nation, which was scheduled to hold its first post-independence elections in December. Election date proposal expected…
Africa declares mpox outbreak a public health emergency
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention declared a public health emergency on Tuesday over the continent’s growing mpox outbreak. Formerly known as monkeypox, mpox is an infectious viral disease and has spreading at rapid speed, concerning Africa CDC…
Nigerian invents crop disease detection drone
As Nigeria struggles with food insecurity, young Nigerians and startups are seeking to revolutionize the agricultural sector through technology. In the state of Kaduna, Shamsuddeen Jibril invented a drone that can detect crop diseases. Alhassan Bala has the report from…
Sexual violence and famine stalk Sudan’s displaced
Speaking from Sudan, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder described meeting a senior medical worker at a hospital outside Khartoum who had “direct contact with hundreds, hundreds of women and girls, some as young as eight years old, who…
Zimbabwe government declares end to latest cholera outbreak
Harare — Zimbabwean authorities recently declared the end of a cholera outbreak which lasted nearly 18 months, but public health experts say the conditions which caused the waterborne disease still exist and need urgent attention. After battling a cholera outbreak…
Sudan: UNICEF condemns deadly strike as war grinds on
Condemning the incident at the weekend, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said that the youngsters had been playing football when a shell struck its “child-friendly space” in Al Hattana, in Khartoum state. UNICEF Representative in Sudan, Sheldon Yett, said that…
‘Protect civilians’ amid clashes in famine-stricken El Fasher, Sudan: UN chief
Clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces, Rapid Support Forces and elements of the Armed Struggle Movements in El Fasher have left civilians in the crossfire of a conflict that was triggered in April 2023 by rival militaries. “These clashes have…