Africa

Togo is now among the first African countries to have received the first batch of vaccines from the COVAX Facility, a UN-backed initiative to ensure poorer nations acquire the doses. The country received 156,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine on Sunday. The batch also contains 157,500 syringes, and 1,575 safety boxes. …

A new round of protests has been planned in Senegal from Monday as opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, is expected to make a court appearance in the capital, Dakar, following his arrest last week. Mr Sonko is set to face questions about a rape charge, which he says is politically motivated. …

In Congo-Brazzaville, opponent Guy-Brice Parfait Kolélas, presidential candidate was due to travel to Ouesso in the far north of the country on Saturday (March 6) to start his presidential campaign. But when he arrived at the airport, Kolélas learned that his flight, from Trans Air Congo (TAC), had simply been …

Election campaigns have begun in Congo-Brazzaville ahead of the presidential poll in just over two weeks’ time. Denis Sassou Nguesso, the incumbent who is seeking a fourth term will face six opposition candidates. The candidates’ names will now be sent to the constitutional court for validation, said Seraphin Ondele, interior …

Mozambique has announced that schools will reopen from Monday after being closed in some cases for as long as a year. President Filipe Nyusi said the risk of coronavirus transmission was low but schools “could interrupt their face-to-face teaching activities or begin them at a later date” as needed. It …

Rwanda began its COVID-19 vaccine campaign on Friday, becoming the first nation in Africa to use pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s doses that require ultra-cold storage. Authorities began transporting Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots round the hilly nation of 12 million people after they arrived earlier this week, using helicopters to reach far-flung …

The Supreme Court has allowed the runner-up in the January 14 presidential elections Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine to withdraw his presidential election petition seeking to overturn the victory of the incumbent President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. The decision by a panel of nine Supreme Court Justices led by the …

South Africa’s Judicial Conduct Committee has ordered the chief justice to apologise and retract his comments that showed support for Israel. Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng made the remarks in June last year during a webinar which was hosted by The Jerusalem Post newspaper, according to local media. Africa 4 Palestine, …

Seychelles is opening up to receive visitors from around the world from 25 March, irrespective of whether they are vaccinated or not. South Africans will however not be allowed be enter the country until further notice. In January, Seychelles had announced said that it had opened up to vaccinated travellers. …

After accusing them of focusing too much on protests triggered by the arrest of an opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, authorities in Senegal suspended the signal of two private television. The two stations affected by the decision by the National Audiovisual Regulatory Council (CNRA) are Sen TV and Walf TV channels. …