Features

The coronavirus will challenge African economies already saddled with debt, shrinking budget revenue, and compromised health systems. A continent-wide approach that applies lessons learned in Liberia during the Ebola outbreak and elsewhere during the current pandemic will be needed to prevent fiscal ruin.   As COVID-19 crisscrosses Africa, and policymakers…

Combating COVID-19 is more challenging in Africa than in other parts of the world. But a two-year moratorium on all external-debt repayments would at least give governments there the fiscal space they need to respond to the pandemic.     After a slow start, COVID-19 has spread increasingly rapidly throughout…

Against the backdrop of the continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has reaffirmed its solidarity with its member states by supplying medical supplies and equipment essential for the fight against the pandemic across the 15 member states.     In a…

As part of efforts to contain a potential full-blown outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Africa, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the public health institution of the African Union, in partnership with the AfroChampions Initiative, Tuesday launched the Africa COVID-19 Response Fund; a…

The World Health Day is commemorated every April 7 to raise awareness about health issues and mobilize support for action, from local community to the international stage.  April 7 also marks the date of the founding of the World health Organization (WHO) – the specialized agency of the United Nations…

The people and government of Rwanda as well as members of the international community Tuesday commemorated the 26th anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, during which more than 800,000 people, majority of them Tutsi, but also moderate Hutu, Twa and others were systematically killed in Rwanda.   Every April 7,…

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), in collaboration with Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB), a leading technology innovation center in Africa, has launched a call for innovative communication projects on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; focused on countering disbelief and misinformation among rural populations in Africa using…

The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to impose heavy human, financial, economic, and social costs on Africa. But the crisis also creates an opportunity to re-examine the continent’s fiscal and economic-policy priorities, build stronger health and social sectors, and establish a global fund to support productive investment.     The coronavirus…

These are very difficult days, as the world faces one of its worst challenges ever: the novel coronavirus pandemic. And it seems almost no nation is spared. As infection rates rise, so does panic across financial markets, as economies drastically slow down, and supply chains are severely disrupted.    Extraordinary…

Only by coming together will the world be able to face down the COVID-19 pandemic and its shattering consequences. At an emergency virtual meeting last Thursday, G20 leaders took steps in the right direction.  But we are still far away from having a coordinated, articulated global response that meets the…