A roundup of the latest news, stats, and analysis of COVID-19’s impact in Africa. Read on for what’s on the menu at the UN Security Council, how young Nigerians are tracking COVID spending, and the pandemic’s impact on child marriage. But first, what did Joe Biden ever do for Africa? Top news 100,000 African health workers: have been infected with COVID as of this week, citing a lack of PPE and over-work. A year into the pandemic, cases on the continent...
Something amazing has happened. The World Trade Organization just appointed its first-ever woman director general and its first-ever African as director general, all in the person of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The new DG brings both energy and amazing experience to the table — former VP of the World Bank, former finance minister of Nigeria, past chair of the board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and former board member of the ONE Campaign. CV highlights aside, Dr. Ngozi brings...
A roundup of the latest news, stats, and analysis of COVID-19’s impact in Africa. View our data tracker and sign up for our weekly newsletter here, and read on for a primer on COVAX and what to look for at this week’s G7 meeting. But first, how to avert a lost decade for African development. Top news Lost decade: COVID is set to cost the global economy on average $1 billion a day over the next six years, according to the...
The World Bank predicts the greatest drop in remittances in recent history, with low-income developing countries set to receive US$110 billion less, due to COVID-19 in 2020. Remittances, which are the cash flows sent home by migrant workers to help their families, are a huge source of finance for low- and-middle-income countries. Last year, these countries received 78% of the US$714 billion that were sent around the world. Global remittance flows were five times higher than official development assistance in...
The EU could help the poorest countries of the world to recover from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic by taxing financial transactions, both on and off the stock exchange. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only health consequences: it is likely to be followed by the worst economic crisis in almost a century. Tax revenues have fallen dramatically in many countries. Worldwide, this crisis could push an additional 100 million people into extreme poverty and leave 270 million people facing...
The past month saw some grim news about COVID-19: alongside the thousands who have died, the pandemic could also push an additional 130 million people into extreme poverty by 2030, and a new report warns of the disproportionate impact on young people and women. But there are also successes and examples of effective responses worth recognizing. Here are six stories you may have missed this month in the world of global development. Celebrating leadership and success in Africa Why are Africa’s coronavirus...
Vaccines don’t just stop us from getting sick. They help keep us healthy, allowing us to take advantage of all the opportunities that life has to offer. For some, getting vaccinations is a simple trip to the doctor’s office. But for many in the world, it’s a lot harder to access vaccinations. Victor is a health worker in the rural outskirts of Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) capital city. Delivering healthcare in communities affected by extreme poverty is...
The results are in, and the winner of this year’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation is Pelebox! The prestigious award, founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering, is Africa’s biggest prize dedicated to engineering innovation. We looked at the some of the other shortlisted companies earlier in the year, but Pelebox’s improvement to access to medication that stole the show. Demonstrating a commitment to design and complex technology, Pelebox is a digital platform that manages various internet-enabled smart lockers....
Why do certain books make it to our desks, libraries and book shops over others? On International Book Day, we take a look at the progress made by African publishers. More and more African authors are being praised and winning awards around the world, taking indigenous knowledge and original African thinking beyond the continent. So, why is African book publishing still underdeveloped? Unique challenges Publishing got off to a slow start. Colonial rulers passed laws to make sure they owned the rights...
Discrimination against sexual minorities in Kenya is costing the country up to US$1.3 billion annually, a report by a coalition of global businesses said, attributing the losses to missed tourism earnings, poor health and less employment of LGBT+ people. The report by Open For Business – an alliance of big companies including tech companies Google and Microsoft and Deutsche Bank – estimated anti-gay attitudes were shaving off up to 1.7% of Kenya’s annual gross domestic product (GDP). “A lot of the...