Features

The African Continental Free Trade Area will help dismantle tariff and non-tariff barriers amid a pandemic and global recession. Accelerating Africa’s economic integration will cushion its fragile economies and help turn the continent into the world’s largest common market.   In 2018, 44 countries signed the African Continental Free Trade…

The African Development Bank  (AfDB) has raised an exceptional $3 billion in a three-year bond to help alleviate the economic and social impact the Covid-19 pandemic will have on livelihoods and Africa’s economies.     The Fight Covid-19 Social bond, with a three-year maturity, garnered interest from central banks and official…

As the pandemic reaches the continent, countries from Morocco to Malawi are facing a health crisis and an economic shock     Now that almost all of Africa’s 54 countries are reporting cases of the new coronavirus, one thing is certain: The pandemic will have drastic consequences in Africa, especially…

Luckystar Miyandazi works as policy officer at the African Institutions and Regional Dynamics Programme of the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) — an independent think tank that monitors and support development co-operation between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. She speaks about the…

Only a global victory can end this pandemic, not a temporary rich countries’ win     There is a major flaw in the strategy to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. Advanced economies are unveiling unprecedented economic stimulus packages. African countries, by contrast, lack the wherewithal to make similarly meaningful interventions. Yet…

Whilst journalists and commentators have focussed recently on lessons from Asia in relation to the current Covid-19 pandemic, with some referencing pandemics that have hit Europe and North America in the past, a less obvious question to ask is whether there are also lessons from Africa?      I would…

As Africa begins its battle against COVID-19, the water needs of millions of Africans continues to remain unmet, even as climate change threatens to worsen lack of access to safe water on the continent.     Water is fundamental to human existence thus is often considered as the most precious…

The 2020 World Water Day commemoration under the theme: “Nature and Climate Change,” focus on exploring the inextricable link between water and climate change, by highlighting the urgent importance of strengthening water security and establishing access to a sustainable water supply, in the face of changing climate conditions worldwide.  …

Rather than imposing damaging and ineffective travel bans, African authorities should focus on mitigating the pandemic.     In April 1914, as Europe was moving towards war, Dakar, the capital of present-day Senegal, was hit by an epidemic of bubonic plague that within a year, according to one account, wiped out…

There is no telling how long it will take to bring the COVID-19 coronavirus under control, or how many people will be affected. But African governments, in cooperation with communities and international actors, can take steps now to limit the damage – and lay the foundations for a healthier, more…