Category: Africa
American Held Hostage in Africa Is Freed
New York Times Jeffery Woodke, an aid worker abducted in Niger by militants, was released after more than six years in captivity. A second hostage was also released: Olivier Dubois, a French journalist who disappeared in April 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/us/politics/hostage-jeffery-woodke-freed.html
Read MoreFirst Official Estimate of Somalia’s Drought Shows 43,000 Dead
New York Times At least half of the deaths were children under the age of 5, according to the report by health researchers, the United Nations and the Somali government. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/world/africa/somalia-drought-death-famine.html
Read MoreReuters reveals Ghana suspending debt service payments on its external obligations
Reuters Reuters was first to report that Ghana suspended payments on much of its external debt, effectively defaulting as the west African country struggles to plug its cavernous balance of payments deficit. Prices of Ghana’s sovereign international bonds dropped sharply in the wake of the announcement. Ghana had already announced a domestic debt restructuring and…
Read MoreReuters reveals Chad strikes a debt deal under the G20 Common Framework
Reuters Reuters exclusively reported that Chad became the first country to agree to a deal with its creditors, including Swiss commodity house Glencore, under the G20 Common Framework — designed to provide debt relief to developing nations. Reuters was also first to report confirmation of the agreement and exclusively sketched out rare criticism from World…
Read MoreReuters reveals Ethiopia debt relief delay partly due to civil war, state finance minister says
Reuters Reuters exclusively revealed that Ethiopia’s state finance minister said on Saturday that delays in restructuring Ethiopia’s debt due to the failings of a new global mechanism for resolving debt problems are “disappointing,” adding that he planned to raise it with the head of the International Monetary Fund. Africa’s second-most populous country requested a debt…
Read MoreReuters reveals Rotavirus childhood vaccine shortage hits four African countries
Reuters Reuters exclusively reported that supplies of a vaccine to prevent the deadly rotavirus infection in children have either run out in Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal and Cameroon or are close to doing so, after disruptions at drugmaker GSK. The World Health Organization estimates that up to 200,000 children die each year from the highly contagious…
Read MoreReuters reveals Coca-Cola African bottler’s $3 billion IPO delayed by Ukraine turmoil
Reuters Reuters exclusively revealed Coca-Cola’s estimated $3 billion initial public offering for its African bottling unit will likely take place in the third quarter, after market turmoil linked to the war in Ukraine upset plans to list earlier. The flotation of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa would be the biggest on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange since at least 2016…
Read MoreReuters reveals Shell’s Nigerian oil assets attract interest from local firms
Reuters Reuters revealed that at least five Nigerian oil and gas companies are preparing to submit bids this month for Royal Dutch Shell’s onshore oilfields in a sale that could fetch up to $3 billion, three sources involved in the process told Reuters. Shell started talks with the Nigerian government last year about selling its stake in…
Read MoreReuters exclusively reports up to 1 million COVID vaccines expired in Nigeria last month
Reuters Reuters exclusively reported that up to one million COVID-19 vaccines are estimated to have expired in Nigeria in November without being used, one of the biggest single losses of doses and showing the difficulty African nations have getting shots in arms. Governments on the continent of over one billion people have been pushing for…
Read MoreReuters exclusively reports President Museveni says that western companies are blind to Ugandan investments
Reuters Reuters exclusively reported that President Yoweri Museveni said the Chinese private investment in Uganda is growing while Westerners are losing appetite to put money to work in the country, pledging to step up efforts to tackle corruption that have made slow progress. Museveni, in power since 1986 and one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, said…
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