Persisting Acute Food Insecurity in Africa Tied to Conflict
Nearly 164 million Africans are estimated to be facing acute food insecurity—comprising households that are experiencing high rates of acute hunger (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification 3 (Crisis) and above). This is the third year in a row that over 160 million Africans have faced acute food insecurity, underscoring the sustained high levels of strain households are facing to meet basic food needs. Famine conditions persist in parts of Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia that are most isolated because of the fighting. Moreover, an estimated 10,300 people in Borno, Nigeria, the heart of the Islamist militant insurgency, are also expected to experience famine conditions. … Conflict continues to be the primary driver of acute food insecurity in Africa. Roughly 134 million (80 percent) falling under this classification in Africa, including all of those in famine, are in countries experiencing conflict. The number of Africans facing acute food insecurity today is nearly triple that of 2019, where 61 million were reported to face crisis levels of food security or above. Africa Center for Strategic Studies
South Africa Local Elections: ANC Losing Wall-to-wall Support as ActionSA, DA Show Growth
As the vote counting progresses, the picture is only looking worse for the ANC – and not just in the cities but across most of the country. The party is losing support in rural municipalities and provinces where it once enjoyed wall-to-wall support. … The CSIR’s election model is just heaping more pain on the beleaguered party, with the model also forecasting declines for the MK party and EFF at the national level. The models also predict significant declines for the ANC in the Free State and North-West provinces – the very areas where the party is looking to shore up its urban losses. The DA and ActionSA continue to have a good day, eating into the ANC’s and EFF’s vote share without seemingly affecting each other’s success. Daily Maverick
Sudan: RSF Detains Dozens of Medical and Academic Staff in West Darfur
The Sudan Doctors Network said on Wednesday that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are detaining dozens of professionals in El Geneina in West Darfur state, expressing deep concern over their safety and humanitarian conditions. The network reported that the detainees include 47 medical personnel and 88 teachers and university professors held across several detention centres in El Geneina. These facilities include the former UNAMID headquarters, detention centres within the 15th Infantry Division command, and Ardamata prison. The network stressed in a statement that detaining health workers deprives thousands of citizens of desperately needed medical services. It added that these detentions exacerbate the significant deterioration of the local health sector and the severe shortage of qualified staff in conflict areas. … The statement noted that international humanitarian law grants doctors and health workers special protection. Sudan Tribune
Ethiopia and Sudan Close Each Other’s Consulates after Allegations of Meddling in Civil War
Ethiopia and Sudan closed each other’s consulates near their shared border, officials from the two countries said on Wednesday, marking a further deterioration in relations over allegations each side is supporting the other’s enemies. Sudan accuses Ethiopia of supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, while Ethiopia accuses Sudan of backing rebels in its northern Tigray region. The allegations and counter-allegations, which both sides deny, have raised fears that the two wars could bleed into each other, spawning a broader conflict in the Horn of Africa. Reuters
Chadian President Meets Algerian Foreign Minister in N’Djamena
Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno on Tuesday met with Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf at the presidential palace in N’Djamena. The two countries discussed enhancing bilateral and the implementation of cooperation agreements signed during Deby’s visit to Algiers last year. Observers say Algeria, which this week deployed troops to Niger, seeks to regain influence in the Sahel. Chad and Niger share a border. … Mali’s army leader General Assimi Goita is expected to visit Algeria in the coming weeks, after the two countries’ prime ministers have also exchanged visits to Algiers and Bamako. Africanews
Corruption in Kenya Taking Massive Toll on Economic Growth, Warns World Bank
Corruption is costing Kenya billions of dollars each year in lost revenue, inflated business costs, and lost earnings for workers, while taking a huge toll on investment and economic growth, the World Bank said in a report published Wednesday. Kenya suffers corruption at every level of society – from endless petty bribes paid to traffic police, to vast procurement scandals that go to the top of government, and it has contributed to massive protests over the past two years. The World Bank report said the east African country is among the most corrupt of its peers among lower middle-income countries, and estimates that the governance weaknesses are adding around 370 billion shillings (€2.4 billion) every year to Kenya’s fiscal deficit, equivalent to two percent of GDP. This figure, which its authors describe as “conservative”, comes from lost taxes, inefficient public spending, higher borrowing costs, and other issues caused by corruption. … Its modelling shows Kenya’s economy could be more than 20 times larger by 2035 if it introduced the sort of anti-corruption reforms seen in countries like Ghana and Senegal, and add 7.7 million more and better jobs. RFI
First Ever Trial of Long-acting Injection against Malaria to Launch in Africa
A trial of the first ever long-acting injectable for the prevention of malaria is set to launch in Rwanda this week. If successful the compound, known as MMV371, could be a crucial weapon in the fight against the vector-borne disease, alongside mosquito control, vaccines and preventive medicines. While huge strides have been made against malaria in recent years there were 282 million cases of the disease and 610,000 deaths in 2024, the majority of which were in sub Saharan Africa. … Earlier trials in the UK showed that the long acting injectable (LAI), developed by the not-for-profit Medicines for Malaria Venture in partnership with UK drug company Quotient, provides protection for around three months. The trial in Rwanda, which is being led by Rwandan health research organisation Rinda Ubuzima, will assess the injectable’s efficacy, and look at how trial participants absorb and process the compound. Telegraph
WHO Approves Clinical Trials on Two New Ebola Vaccines
The World Health Organization on Wednesday approved clinical trials for two new Ebola vaccines, as doctors fight to control an outbreak in Africa that has killed more than 5,300 people. “Last month, a vaccine trial began using the Ervebo vaccine, which is approved for Ebola virus, but not for Bundibugyo virus” ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. “Today, WHO expert groups are recommending adding two vaccine candidates to the trial” he added. Those two – ChAdOx1 BDBV, developed by the University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India, and Moderna’s mRNA-1469 — were developed specifically for the Bundibugyo virus, he explained. The DRC’s National Institute for Biomedical Research is leading the trial, backed by partners including WHO, said Tedros. Africanews
Uganda: Museveni Hosts Tanzania VP Ndejembi, Vow Fast-track of Strategic EACOP, Infrastructure Projects
President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday hosted Tanzania’s Vice President, Deogratius Ndejembi, at State House, Entebbe, for high-level talks focused on cementing bilateral relations and accelerating execution schedules for joint cross-border infrastructure initiatives. … The bilateral discussions centered on pushing forward key joint integration initiatives, including trade facilitation, regional transport corridors, and strategic energy cooperation projects—most notably the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project linking Uganda’s Western oilfields to Tanzania’s Tanga Port. … Uganda and Tanzania maintain vital trade ties, sharing major cross-border transit links, security frameworks, and joint infrastructure initiatives designed to foster integration across the broader East African region. Monitor
Senegal Is Hosting Africa’s First Olympic Event as Citizens Battle a Cost of Living Crisis
The Youth Olympics are a smaller version of the Olympic Games for athletes aged 14 to 17. The Dakar Games are the first Olympic event ever held in Africa. The Games, which will run through Nov. 13, brought about 2,700 athletes to Dakar and nearby cities. Authorities and Olympic officials have promoted the event as an opportunity for Senegal’s youth, pointing to a learning academy and volunteering program tied to the Games. But for many young Senegalese meant to benefit from the Olympics, the event collides with a more immediate priority: earning barely enough to get by as frustration grows over the country’s worsening cost-of-living crisis. … Youth unemployment stands at about 23% and a large majority of those who do have a job work in the informal sector. … Senegal’s government is struggling with a massive debt burden that has limited its ability to help families facing rising costs. An audit last year uncovered billions of dollars in borrowing hidden by the previous administration. The country is now seeking a $2.2 billion IMF loan that would require it to rein in spending. AP