West Africa

Ghana, the first country to receive COVAX vaccines last month, began its mass vaccination drive on Tuesday. 600,000 doses of Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccines are being given to frontline health workers, security personnel, people aged over 60 and those with pre-existing conditions. To ensure that Ghanaians are convinced to get jabbed, President …

Chaotic scenes were observed on Wednesday in north-western Nigeria as parents were reunited with their kidnapped daughters in the town of Jangebe. According to eyewitnesses, at least three people were shot by the security forces. The shooting reportedly happened after parents, frustrated by the length of the handover ceremony, started …

Prominent Senegalese opposition politician Ousmane Sonko has been arrested. The announcement was made by his lawyers. He is accused of disturbing public order in the capital, Dakar, as he travelled to court for a hearing in a rape case. His motorcade was followed by hundreds of chanting supporters, who were …

At least five people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in Burkina Faso when the ambulance they were traveling in was destroyed by a mine, BBC News reports. The ambulance was carrying the woman, her husband, a girl and two other women. Officials say the incident happened in Gaskindé, close …

According to researchers Frank Nyonator and Ken Sagoe, this West African country lost 50% of its nursing workforce between 1995 and 2005 despite certain advantages (free housing and bonuses) to curb this brain drain. In 2016, there were only 3,365 doctors, or 1 per 8,500 inhabitants. Ghana is not alone …

Health autorities in Nigeria receive this day, the first batch of about four million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The stocks were procured through Covax, a UN-backed programme that is trying to ensure Covid-19 vaccines are shared fairly among all countries. Nigeria is expecting a total of 16 million doses …

Hama Amadou, Niger’s opposition figure was imprisoned on Monday for his alleged role in the unrest that followed the result of the presidential election following three days in detention. The authorities have also brought charges of “regionalist propaganda” and “speech inclined to set people against one another” against the opposition …

3,92 million is the total number of doses of the AstraZeneca Covid vaccines expected to be received in Nigeria on Tuesday. The vaccines made by Serum Institute of India are expected to arrive in the capital, Abuja, on Tuesday morning. The country is expecting a total of 16 million doses …

Nana Akufo-Addo, the president of Ghana has become the world’s first recipient of the coronavirus vaccine from Covax, a scheme to procure and distribute inoculations for poorer countries. A wider Covax program will begin in Ghana on Tuesday but health workers in Ivory Coast are being vaccinated on Monday. The …

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari remains adamant about his position on the creation of the ECO, a sensible currency to confer monetary sovereignty. According to him, there will not be a “françafrique” version of ECO. “President Macron is forcing himself, he wants at all costs to steal, to hack the ECO …