Latest Stories

corona crooners

Youssou N’Dour to Bobi Wine, African musicians join fight against coronavirus

African music stars are taking more action than ever before to combat the pandemic, through donations, songs, awareness-raising music videos ... and appeals to fans.

Article 1/10 of "Corona Chronicles: 30 March – 3 April"

Questions of value

Coffee with Tanzanian billionaire Mohammed Dewji

We are at an upmarket hotel in central London, a stone’s throw from Hyde Park. Tanzanian businessman Mohammed Dewji is prompt, smiling and ... wearing his trademark chunky glasses.

Prayer and pandemics

Religion in Nigeria despite coronavirus measures

Around Nigeria, religious and social gatherings have been restricted to 20 people, in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. This is ... having a big impact on the country's churches and mosques.

Article 2/10 of "Corona Chronicles: 30 March – 3 April"

beating the virus

Nairobi’s fight against Coronavirus gets violent

Nairobi is a city on edge, as its 4.4 million residents try to avoid getting infected from coronavirus during the day, during the dusk-to-dawn ... curfew, they try to avoid police brutality.

Article 3/10 of "Corona Chronicles: 30 March – 3 April"

Playing for Time

Nigeria encouraged to let naira fall further as currency market locks up

The Nigerian central bank’s move to adjust the value of the naira represents what is likely the first instalment in finding a sustainable level ... for the currency.

RESIST RECLUSIVENESS

Coronavirus: resist protectionist measures says UN

Cooperation and solidarity are at the heart of the message the UN wanted to send on 31 March when it presented a report detailing the impact ... of the coronavirus and proposing an outline of a plan to combat it. Nevertheless, it is up to each and every country to decide whether or not they want to embrace the UN’s ideas.

Sad in Senegal

Pape Diouf, former manager of Marseille, dies from coronavirus in Senegal

A former sports journalist, a legendary football agent and former president of Olympique Marseille football club, Pape Diouf, 68, is the first ... Covid-19 victim of Senegal.

Cash is King

Nigeria’s banks face direct hit from geared-up oil producers

The leverage and hedging strategies against lower prices used by Nigeria’s oil producers will determine their chances of survival – and the ... size of the hit to their lenders.

Article 7/10 of "Corona Chronicles: 30 March – 3 April"

SHARING IS CARING

Multilateralism in the time of coronavirus

Last year, while looking ahead to the future of international relations, several global leaders wondered if “winter is coming”. Well, it ... has come. It’s the winter of coronavirus. At a time where regional and global solidarity should be the norm, it is the exception. This crisis calls for more (and better) multilateralism; not less. The crucial issue at stake is the state of our global health system.

K Street battles

Libya’s Marshal Haftar lobbies the USA

The long-standing Libya crisis and the ambiguity of the United States’ stance on the matter are providing a new field of action for many lobbyists ... in Washington.

Care packages

Nigeria introduces stimulus package to ease coronavirus hit

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced a stimulus package to help households and small businesses hardest hit by the adverse impact ... of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Article 5/10 of "Corona Chronicles: 30 March – 3 April"

incorrigible visionary

Thandika Mkandawire : an intellectual giant and incorrigible Pan-African

One of Africa’s foremost development economists and long-time advocate of continental unity, Thandika Mkandawire passed away in Stockholm, ... Sweden, on 27 March 2020, after a long battle with cancer

Time for change

What if coronavirus is an opportunity for African economies?

African leaders should know that the discourse of their Western colleagues has always been inconsistent.  ...

new world

Exclusive – UN’s Antonio Guterres: “In the face of the pandemic, a moratorium on African debt is necessary”.

The world is facing a crisis of the likes not seen since 1945 and the creation of the United Nations. Antonio Guterres spoke about this on Tuesday ... 31 March to Jeune Afrique, while unveiling the report which takes stock of measures to be taken to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Measures that address health, economic and social aspects of the crisis.

Article 6/10 of "Corona Chronicles: 30 March – 3 April"

Cleaning up

Post-coronavirus, Rentokil to expand in Africa to meet new hygiene demands

Rentokil Initial, the global hygiene and pest control company, aims to expand in Nigeria, Ghana and Ethiopia once the coronavirus pandemic has ... been brought under control, Nkosinathi Solomon, the company’s managing director for sub-Saharan Africa, told The Africa Report.

Hostage to Fortune

South Africa’s solar industry to suffer as rand slumps to record low

The rand’s slide to a record low against the dollar prompted by the coronavirus pandemic and the loss of the country’s last investment grade ... rating at Moody’s risks setting the country’s solar power industry back years.

ON THE BRINK

Sudan’s transition to free elections undermined by Hemeti

The assassination attempt against Sudan's Prime Minister Abdella Hamdok’s on 9 March shows the fragile cooperation between military officers ... and civilians following the transition deal signed on 17 August 2019.

heed warning

Coronavirus in Algeria: A country’s last warning

The coronavirus outbreak has deepened Algeria’s legitimacy crisis. This could easily become a crisis between the state and Algerians, leading ... to a radical revolt. But it has also given Hirak the opportunity to think about new forms of peaceful struggle and the possibility of providing an alternative to the system.

Article 4/10 of "Corona Chronicles: 30 March – 3 April"

Searching for a silver bullet

To fight coronavirus, Burkina Faso is tempted by chloroquine

Faced with the spread of COVID-19, which has already affected more than 200 people in Burkina Faso, authorities have decided to use chloroquine ... to treat patients.

Potent Brews

Nigeria’s locked-down drinks industry raises bootleg alcohol risks

Disruption to supplies of alcohol in Nigeria due to coronavirus risks spurring the consumption of dangerous illicit brews. ...

Article 10/10 of "Corona Chronicles: 30 March – 3 April"