Malam Bacai Sanha, president of Guinea-Bissau, dies – President Malam Bacai Sanha, 64, who was elected president of Guinea-Bissau more than two years ago, died at a hospital in Paris on January 9. Raimundo Pereira, the head of the National Assembly, is “expected to take over until new elections can be organized.” Since gaining independence from Portugal, Mr. Sanha’s faced a country plagued with drug smuggling, coups, and socio-economic problems since gaining independence from Portugal during his presidency, and he “did not bring the results people had hoped.” (AP, Assimo Balde)
Experts seek solutions to aid-crippling stability issues in Somalia – Somali experts and other stakeholders will meet in the United Arab Emirates in February to “discuss possible solutions to the African country’s unstable security situation, which continues to complicate ongoing hunger relief efforts.” Aid groups have had difficulty reaching many of the malnourished Somalis due to instability, the lack of a fully functioning government, and the presence of rebels in the southern regions of the country. Resolutions from the meeting in the UAE will be presented at an international conference on Somalia on February 23 in London. (Devex, Ivy Mungcal)
Africa Rising: Sub-Saharan Africa set for 2012 boom – The Christian Science Monitor forecasts that sub-Saharan Africa is set for a 2012 boom, due in large part to the rising demand for natural resources from countries such as Sierra Leone, Niger, and Angola. With a growing middle class, experts argue that boosting trade within the region is key to “making the most of that growing consumer wealth.” (Paige McClanahan, CSM)
Q&A with Youssou N’dour: Why the Musician Wants to Be President – TIME interviews “Africa’s most famous living singer,” Youssou N’Dour, who announced he would be running for the presidency of his native Senegal in elections on February 26. When asked why he is running, N’Dour said he cannot let rights and civil liberties continue to degrade and hopes that by jumping into the race, he will promote transparency in the election process, something the singer admits he has little confidence in. (Alex Perry, TIME)
China hails Africa as ‘golden ground’ – Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi hailed Africa as a “golden ground” for foreign investment, and vowed to work with Chinese firms to ensure they comply with local labor laws, including minimum wage, a problem that has been raised in Namibia. China has aggressively moved into African markets, tapping into natural resources to fuel its own economy but also taking a major role in building roads, bridges and other infrastructure across the continent. (AFP)
E. Africa ministers want to expand troops in Somalia – East African defense ministers want the UN to endorse a plan that boosts the size of an African Union force trying to stabilize Somalia by including Kenyan troops, an AU official said. The ministers met in the Ethiopian capital to try to forge a strategy to defeat the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group, which has been driven out of the capital Mogadishu and is now facing a new front after Ethiopia joined Kenya last week in unilaterally deploying troops. (Aaron Maasho, Reuters)
Search for AIDS Vaccine Advances – The quest for a vaccine against AIDS is gaining momentum, with research published Wednesday identifying promising new candidates that protected monkeys against a powerful strain of the virus and that soon could be tested in humans. The study, published in the online edition of the journal Nature, also shed light on how the first human vaccine to have conferred limited protection against the AIDS virus may have worked. (Betsy McKay, WSJ)
“Alarming malnutrition” in Sudan conflict zones: UN – The UN has received alarming reports of malnutrition in two Sudanese border states where the army is fighting insurgents, a senior UN official said. Fighting broke out in June between the Sudanese army and rebels in South Kordofan, spreading to states bordering newly independent South Sudan. The violence has already forced about 417,000 people to flee their homes, more than 80,000 of them to South Sudan, the UN estimates. (Ulf Laessing, Reuters)
Senegal Music Star Seeks Presidency – One of Africa’s most celebrated musicians, Senegalese singer, Youssou N’dour, announced he will seek his country’s presidency in next month’s elections, as the West African nation’s incumbent runs for a third term. Calling his candidacy a “supreme patriotic duty,” N’dour said he has heard those calling for his candidacy for “a very long time” and has finally decided to join the race. (Drew Hinshaw, WSJ)
Food prices may ease in 2012 but won’t drop: FAO – Prices of some foods may “ease slightly in 2012 due to a slowing global economy but are unlikely to drop drastically from the high levels reached last year,” said Jose Graziano da Silva, the new head of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. According to Graziano da Silva, “Prices will not be going up as in the last two to three years but will also not drop down. There may be some reductions but not so drastic, in the short term.” (Catherine Hornby, Reuters)
Study: Christianity grows exponentially in Africa - With 2.18 billion adherents, Christianity has become a truly global religion over the past century as rapid growth in developing nations offset declines in Christianity’s traditional strongholds, according to a report released Monday. Crowds gather at the traditional Christmas Market of Frankfurt, Germany. A new study finds there are now more Protestants in Nigeria than in Germany where Protestantism began. (G. Jeffrey MacDonald, Religion News Service)
NFL Players Association and NFL Team up with USAID and Ad Council to Tackle the Crisis in the Horn of Africa – Just in time for the holiday season, a time when charitable giving increases, NFL players have joined FWD, a national public awareness campaign designed to inform Americans of the extreme famine, war and drought in the Horn of Africa. Developed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ad Council, the FWD campaign encourages Americans to forward the facts about the crisis and to donate to the relief efforts. (Ad Council Press Release)
IMF chief warns Nigeria that Europe’s debt crisis could affect Africa’s most populous nation - The head of the International Monetary Fund is warning that Nigeria could be affected by Europe’s escalating debt crisis. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde says Africa’s most populous nation could be impacted because of its high volume of global trade and foreign investment. (Associated Press)
North Korea’s Kim Jong Il’s demise splits Zimbabwe - Kim Jong-il’s army trained the infamous Fifth Brigade unit, which killed almost 20 000 people in Zimbabwe. However, President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party has described him as a lovely man. Resentment for the dead North Korean leader follows his country’s involvement in the training and equipping of a para-military group that allegedly killed more than 20 000 people in the early 1980s. (The Africa Report)
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
