The Disasters Emergency Committee has recently raised a staggering £72million for famine victims in Eastern Africa. The DEC has been involved in raising funds since an appeal was launched in July this summer to help Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and the Republic of South Sudan, after they suffered from one of the worst droughts recorded in [...]
The Mo- Ibrahim Foundation’s annual Index was released this week, ranking African countries on the basis of good governance. The Index evaluates 53 African countries (prior to the South Sudan’s secession from Sudan) on four counts: Safety and Rule of Law; Participation and Human Rights; Sustainable Economic Activity; and Human Development. The ratings are scored [...]
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has discovered further falsified batches of Zidolam-N, the anti-retroviral (ARV) drug commonly used in the treatment of HIV, that was found to have been tampered with in September. Tablets carrying a reference of ‘batch number E100766’ were previously identified as fake, and WHO has now confirmed batch numbers A9351, A9357, [...]
When UK Prime Minister David Cameron pledged last week to increase foreign aid by a considerable 34%, the announcement was met with widespread concern even from members of his own party. At a time of austerity and severe national cuts, does it make economic sense to drive so much money into foreign development- especially when [...]
The World Trade Center Africa initiative has agreed an historic trade deal with Italy, which will help unlock new market opportunities in the euro zone for African businesses. Julius Steyn, President of the WTC Africa Initiative, said that Africa was the least affected by the economic slowdown and as such offers a unique investment opportunity [...]
Amnesty International has commended this West African nation in principle for its renewed commitment to the principles of Human Rights. Despite the country affirming their commitment to Human Rights and Maternal care, the advocacy group have called for ‘necessary steps to abolish the death penalty in national legislation and to commute existing death sentences to [...]
A new strategic partnership has been formed between Rotary International, an organization providing humanitarian services, and the global charity Mercy Ships, to improve the delivery of vital health care services throughout West Africa. The partnership will provide grants to Rotary clubs and districts to assemble vocational training teams of medical professionals. These teams will collaborate [...]
The GAVI Alliance, a public-private global health partnership, announced on 27 September that further funding for inoculations in developing countries is to be made available. Some 16 countries are set to benefit from the introduction of rotavirus vaccines and 18 from pneumococcal vaccines. The moves are a major development in protecting children from contracting deadly [...]
A report from the African Development Bank earlier this year revealed a demographic transition is taking place in Africa, with 34% of the population now considered middle class – up more than 60% from a decade ago. Now the World Bank predicts this will continue to rise to 43 million by 2030, growth which seems [...]
Convergence Africa, a conference uniting African entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders is to take place in Kenya’s capital Nairobi this December. The event will be patroned by a number of experts in their fields including Tony O. Elumelu MFR, former Group CEO of United Bank for Africa and Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin [...]
