The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly disrupted nearly every aspect of global society, making the emergence of several vaccines a welcome development. The United States, along with the European Union, has prioritized the purchasing and distribution of vaccines since early December 2020.
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Tanzania’s former Vice President was sworn in as the East African country’s first female President after the death of John Magufuli, reports Al Jazeera. This comes days after the then-former Vice President announced on state television that President John Magufuli, aged 61, died of heart failure at Mzena hospital in Dar es Salaam.
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Early in the day on March 7, a large explosion ripped through blocks of Bata, the largest city in Equatorial Guinea. The death toll continues to rise, with official reports hovering around a death toll of nearly 100 and an injured count close to 1,000, according to Reuters.
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Hundreds of Nigerian girls have been released after they were kidnapped from a boarding school in the northwestern region of the country, according to The Washington Post. The girls, dressed in light blue hijabs and barefoot, appear unharmed, but doctors will administer a a medical checkup before the children are returned to their parents. CNN reports that the girls were in “good condition,” but some of them had to be treated for open sores on their feet.
Read MoreAfrica’s COVID-19 death toll has exceeded 100,000 as a second wave of cases continues to sweep over the continent, reports Reuters. Additionally, Guinea reported a sudden growth in the number of cases of the Ebola virus on February 14, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Read MoreUN officials, the High Commission for Refugees, the World Food Programme, and the Ethiopian government have agreed to expand access to humanitarian relief and ”scale up” efforts to reduce food insecurities in Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region, according to a statement by the World Food Programme (WFP). VOA reports that this agreement comes after the UN criticized Ethiopian authorities for blocking humanitarian aid from reaching the state’s rural population.
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After a turbulent take-off, the South African government has finally started vaccinating its people against the COVID-19 virus. The country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, was among the first six people to receive the jab, according to VOA. Earlier in the month, the South African government halted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on frontline workers after a study found it not to be effective enough against the variant prevalent in that country.
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Somalia failed to pick a new president by the February 8 deadline after negotiations between the central government and the federal states broke down in the days leading up to the election, states Africa News.
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Guinea-Bissau, a small African country that ranks as one of the poorest in the world, has been infiltrated at every level ‒political, economic, social‒ by the illegal drug trade. The country serves as a midpoint in cocaine trafficking routes from Latin America to Europe. Over a decade ago, it was labeled Africa’s “first narco-state.” Last year, Ruth Monteiro, Guinea-Bissau’s Minister of Justice and Human Rights, stated that the country is still a “paradise for drug traffickers,” reports BBC.
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Uganda has a muddled history when it comes to national elections. President Yoweri Museveni has led Uganda for nearly forty years and, on January 14, the president won a sixth in national elections, reports NPR. The election was marred by accusations of corruption and intimidation tactics used by the government. Domestic media outlets rushed to report on these abuses and cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a driver behind violations of the right to a free and fair election.
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