Africa
Former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa passes on at 81
Former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa has died age 81 in a Dar es Salaam hospital, the government announced Friday. He was the country’s third president after independence from Britain in 1962 and ruled from 1995 to 2005. “I’m saddened by the death of the third president of Tanzania and that is a big loss for us as a country. Let’s pray for him and more information will follow later,” said President John Magufuli in a short televised speech. He did not reveal the cause of death. Mkapa was born in 1938 to a poor family in south-eastern Mtwara. He earned a degree in English in Uganda and later worked as a journalist before being appointed the press secretary for the country’s first president Julius Nyerere. He held several cabinet posts, such as foreign minister and information minister ...
Global shipping at ‘critical point’ as routes threatened by sailor shortage
The international shipping community is facing a major labour crisis, with sailors stranded on ships or at home because of visa and flight restrictions, maritime groups said. With crew changes down by 75 per cent, a humanitarian crisis is also developing, with sailors suffering mental health problems, fatigue and accidents from being trapped for months at a time on ships. With more than 200,000 sailors unable to leave their vessels and a similar number trying to get out to them, international shipping bodies believe the world economy is weeks from another disaster. Last week, only 13 countries including the UAE, Britain and the United States, signed up to an agreement to designate sailors as key workers, allowing them to fly home without quarantine or visa issues. But other major seafaring...
Hospital suspends operations after healthcare workers test positive for coronavirus
iStock Zvishavane District Hospital in Zimbabwe’s Midlands Province has suspended admissions and other health care services after 25 workers tested positive for COVID-19. Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister Larry Mavima, also the provincial COVID-19 taskforce chairperson, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Harare. The health workers that tested positive were mostly nurses and three officials from the district registrar’s office. The latest infections put to the fore concerns by health workers at the front that they remain at high risk from contracting the virus. Three other healthcare workers at Claybank Private Hospital in Gweru, also in the Midlands Province, have also tested positive to the virus. This had added to the increasing number of infected healthcare workers after at least...
Zambia asks China to cancel its debt
File Photo Zambian President Edgar Lungu has asked Chinese President Xi Jinping for some “debt relief and cancellation” in a telephone conversation between the two leaders. That is according to a statement issued by Lusaka after the chat that reportedly took place on Monday. “President Lungu called for debt relief and cancellation in light of reduced revenue due to the negative impact of the pandemic, as well as competing needs for the country to secure adequate resources to fight the pandemic and to stimulate the economy,” said a statement issued by Spokesman Isaac Chipampe. Zambia’s public debt has increased significantly in recent years although it’s unclear exactly how much is actually owed to China. The two leaders agreed to continue working closely together to safeguard common intere...
IOM: More than 240 illegal immigrants rescued off Libyan coast
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said, on Monday, that more than 240 illegal immigrants were rescued off the Libyan coast in the past week. “On July 13-20, 243 migrants were intercepted at sea and returned to Libya,’’ the IOM said. IOM mentioned that a total of 6,119 illegal immigrants have been rescued off the Libyan coast and returned to Libya since 2020, while 9,225 illegal immigrants were rescued and returned to Libya last year. Among those rescued off the coast and returned to Libya this year were 453 women and 327 miners, IOM added. The state of insecurity and chaos in Libya makes the country a preferred point of departure for thousands of illegal immigrants who wanted to cross the Mediterranean Sea towards Europe. Immigrant shelters in Libya are overcrowded with im...
House of Reps probes immigration documents of Chinese in Nigeria
The investigation which began on July 20 in Abuja, is being conducted by the joint house committees on Interior, Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring and Commerce. The Speaker of the house, Rep. Femi Gbajabimila, recalled that in April, photos and videos which went viral on the social media allegedly depicted institutionalised racial discrimination, maltreatment of Nigerians in China. He said it also showed xenophobic assaults, embarrassments, illegal detentions and forceful evictions of Nigerians and other Africans living in Guangzhou, China. Gbajabimila said that he summoned the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Zhou Pingjian precisely on April, 10 to register Nigeria’s displeasure with the incident. “Subsequently, the House of Representatives on Tuesday, April 28, issued a strong...
Access Bank acquires Kenya’s Transnational Bank
Following its first announcement in October 2019, Access Bank Plc has announced the successful completion of the acquisition of Transnational Bank Plc, of Kenya (TNB). The Bank made this known through a statement signed by its Company Secretary, Sunday Ekwochi. “Access Bank Plc is pleased to inform the investing public and the Nigerian Stock Exchange of the Bank’s successful completion of the acquisition of Transnational Bank (Kenya) Plc. This follows the receipt of full regulatory approvals and fulfillment of all conditions precedent to completion,” the statement read. Commenting on the acquisition, Herbert Wigwe, the Group Managing Director, Access Bank PLC, said, “We are excited to make an entry into the vibrant Kenyan market. We pledge to put our customers at the forefront of everythin...
Zimbabwe journalist arrested amid storm over $60m Covid-19 supplies scandal
Zimbabwean police on Monday arrested an investigative journalist who exposed alleged corruption in the procurement of Covid-19 medical supplies, a matter that involves the first family. Hopewell Chin’ono’s lawyers said he was “abducted” by eight state security agents who did not produce a search warrant. One of the lawyers, Beatrice Mtetwa, said she went to Mr Chin’ono’s residence after getting an “SOS that his home was surrounded by state security agents”. Ms Mtetwa described the arrest as an abduction, saying the state agents broke into the house. Via Twitter, the Committee to Protect Journalists called Mr Chin’ono’s immediate release, saying he was “abducted from his home by police”. It added, “Authorities must stop harassing Hopewell Chin’ono and focus on the real criminals. Do the the...
Berlin, Rome, Paris threaten sanctions on states interfering in Libya
France, Italy and Germany are “ready to consider” sanctions on foreign powers violating an arms embargo in Libya, a joint statement by their leaders said Saturday. The statement did not directly name any foreign actors funneling arms to Libya but multiple powers have been sending fighters and weapons, fuelling a bloody proxy war that reflects wider geopolitical rifts and divisions in the Middle East and within NATO. While forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar are backed by Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, the UN-recognised unity government is fighting back with Turkey’s support. “We … urge all foreign actors to end their increasing interference and to fully respect the arms embargo established by the United Nations Security Council,” the statement said. “We are ready to consi...
Melinda Gates tasks policymakers on protection of women, girls in fight against coronavirus
In a paper titled “The Pandemic’s Toll on Women and Girls,” Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates, has tasked global leaders and policymakers on the protection of women and girls in the fight against the coronavirus. Gates said that to recover fully from this pandemic, leaders must respond to the ways that it is affecting men and women differently. In the paper, she puts forward a set of specific, practical policy recommendations that governments should consider in their pandemic response—to improve health systems for women and girls, design more inclusive economic policies, gather better data, and prioritize women’s leadership. Writing in the paper, Gates described how previous disease outbreaks, including AIDS and Ebola, tend to exploit existing forces of ine...
NANNM: 200 nurses in Abuja contract coronavirus
Over 200 nurses in the various medical facilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have contracted COVID-19, Nigerian Association of Nurses and Midwifery has stated. Out of the affected nurses, some 12 others have recovered and have been out of isolation, Chairperson Nigerian Association of Nurses and Midwifery, Federal Capital Territory chapter, Deborah Yusufu, told the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Journalists who was at the Secretariat in Abuja to make donations of Personnel Protective Equipments (PPEs) to them. According to Yusufu, Nigerian nurses are at the frontline of battling the COVID-19 pandemic because of their duties which make them most exposed among medical personnel in the various healthcare facility across the world and in the case Nigeria. She explained that th...
Super Eagles goalie Francis Uzoho joins Apoel FC
Super Eagles goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho, has been transferred to Apoel FC. No details on the amount of the operation, but the goaltender signed a three-year deal with the Cypriot club. Uzoho was on loan from Deportivo de La Coruña, as a goalkeeper. OFFICIAL: Francis Uzoho joins Cypriot giants APOEL Nicosia on a permanent deal until 2023. Congratulations 🎊 pic.twitter.com/gQ4F4xM6tK — Soar Super Eagles (@SSE_NGA) July 17, 2020 He started his career from Africa when he joined the Senegal branch of Aspire Academy in 2013, at aged 14; initially a forward, he was converted into a goalkeeper after being deemed “too slow” at the age of 12. In 2016, after impressing on a tournament in Barcelona, he joined Deportivo de La Coruña’s Juvenil squad. Age rules meant that Uzoho could only become a...
