Africa to fight vaccine ‘nationalism’ and ‘racism’ with own local production
Faced with financial, expertise and logistical hurdles in the race to control the rapid spread of coronavirus that has ravaged economies in Africa, political leaders and researchers on the continent have resolved to ramp up efforts to produce vaccines locally to fight the pandemic. The resolution was arrived at this...
US Congress in historic vote for slavery reparations bill after 32 years of trying
The US Congress made a historic step towards reparations of Black people when on April 14, 2021 a congressional committee voted on a slavery reparations bill, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says in its April report. The bill was approved, according to online newspaper Politico, which reports, “Wednesday night, the House...
Dear Presidents Museveni, Suluhu: Your ill-advised pipeline project only benefit Total
As you were signing the long-awaited contract that will finally allow the construction of the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline – Africa’s longest crude oil pipeline – hundreds of young people, activists, environmentalists and ordinary citizens from all over the world, including representatives from East Africa, were gathered online for...
Africa’s oil and gas sector needs more investments to power its economies
In the past 12 months, the African energy sector has seen several encouraging developments – in the form of both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and strategic partnerships – that have advanced the sustainable development of its natural resources. In fact, despite a global downturn in investment in 2020, FDI flows...
‘Indirect democracy’ flops in Somalia again as fears of renewed clan fighting grow
International partners in the Somali conflict will have to look beyond “indirect democracy” to unravel the decades-long crisis that is billed a primary source of insecurity in the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean piracy menace. The shift in tone and tenor in pacification of Somalia follows a decision...
President Biden removes sanctions against ICC, opens doors for possible cooperation
US President Joe Biden’s cancellation of punitive sanctions targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC) removes a serious obstacle to the court’s providing justice to the victims of the world’s worst crimes, Human Rights Watch has said. In the first week of April, Biden revoked a June 2020 order by then-President...
Kenyan and Ugandan truckdrivers boycott South Sudan roads to protest killings
South Sudan is bracing for a sharp rise in consumer goods prices after more than 3,000 drivers from Kenya and Uganda went on strike to protest spiralling insecurity on roads that link the frontier town of Nimule to the capital Juba, and towns further north. The protest follows a spate...
World journalists’ body wants Kenya to hasten probe into murder of editor
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) wants the Kenya government to hasten investigations into the brutal murder of a senior video editor and television producer with the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) Betty Mutekhele Barasa. Ms Batty Barasa was assaulted and shot dead at her home on the outskirts of the...
Kenyan filmmakers, artistes pile pressure on president to relax rigid Covid protocols
Rendered helpless and idle by the recent rigid Covid-19 containment measures, stakeholders in Kenya’s entertainment and hospitality industries want the government through the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth to bail out artistes and film-makers who depend on them for a living. In a statement, Kisima Music and Film Awards,...
Africa’s ‘Blue Economy’ remains untapped, set to be in hands of foreign powers
African governments have the ability to significantly impact the investment environment and investors will look to the way they are planning, regulating, owning and operating their ports. They will also take the country’s stability, security and perceived corruption levels into account. Experienced investors will certainly consider how individual governments have...
