South Africa’s coronavirus cases jumped again to 709, the health minister said Wednesday, as the country with the most cases in Africa prepared to go into lockdown first thing Friday.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on state television pointed out “intense local spread” in Free State province among attendees of a church gathering where five cases were reported. All five in people who had recently traveled abroad. Now almost 30 cases have been recorded.

Cases across Africa are now well above 2,400. With Libya announcing its first case, 44 of the continent’s 54 countries now have the virus.

Those that have not recorded cases are Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Burundi, Malawi, Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho and Sao Tome and Principe, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some have the most fragile health systems on the continent.

Congo became the latest country to close its borders while reporting its third death. The sprawling nation has one of Africa’s weakest health systems and has been battling another global health emergency, a deadly Ebola virus outbreak in the east.

While that outbreak now appears to be within days of being declared over, Congo also faces a large measles outbreak.

As more countries across Africa impose restrictions on gatherings and travel, many informal workers are suffering. Ethiopia’s government in a proposal to the Group of 20 major industrialized nations has said Africa needs a $150 billion emergency financing package because “COVID-19 poses an existential threat to the economies of African countries.”

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.

Source: AP

The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo closed the country’s borders and imposed a state of emergency on Tuesday to contain the coronavirus outbreak, following other African nations that have imposed strict measures in recent days.

The virus is spreading quickly across Africa, infecting more than 1,700 people across 45 countries, challenging already fragile healthcare systems. Senegal and Ivory Coast on Monday declared their own states of emergency, imposing curfews and travel restrictions on their populations.

Over 40 people have contracted the virus in the DRC and three have been killed, raising concerns of a widespread outbreak, especially in the crowded capital Kinshasa where social distancing is an alien phenomenon.

“Coronavirus does not need a passport, visa or voter’s card to circulate in our house,” President Felix Tshisekedi said in a speech to the nation on Tuesday. “We find ourselves at war with an invisible adversary.”

The president banned internal passenger flights and river transport to and from Kinshasa, where all 45 of the known cases have been found. Last week, he suspended commercial flights from other countries with the virus, banned large gatherings and closed clubs, restaurants and bars.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

Suspected Islamist militants killed 29 Malian soldiers on Thursday in an attack on a base in the country’s northeast, the army said.

Suspected Islamist militants killed 29 Malian soldiers on Thursday in an attack on a base in the country’s northeast, the army said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in the town of Tarkint, which is about 125 km (78 miles) north of the city of Gao. Mali’s army has repeatedly suffered heavy casualties from jihadist fighters active in the area with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State.

The army said earlier in the day that just two soldiers had died but tweeted later that the death toll had “heavily evolved” to 29 killed and five wounded.

Vast swathes of central and northern Mali are effectively lawless, used by the jihadists as a base for attacks in Mali and into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso, where security has deteriorated markedly over the past year.

Former colonial power France has had thousands of troops across the semi-arid band beneath the Sahara Desert known as the Sahel, but French officials acknowledge they have failed to slow the violence.

French army chief Francois Lecointre told senators last month that the Malian, Nigerien and Burkinabe armies were losing the equivalent of one battalion per year to the militants’ attacks.

(REUTERS)

Burkina Faso has joined the list of African countries to have recorded corona-virus related death. Authorities announced the first COVID-19 death on Wednesday.

The country’s confirmed cases as at today Wednesday (March 18) are 26 with over 230 contacts being monitored. Other African countries that have reported fatalities include Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Sudan.

The authorities say the patient was a diabetic woman aged 62 years. Some reports on social media say it is a top lawmaker, Ms Rose Marie Compaore, who was the first-vice president of the parliament.

This is a very contagious illness that is potentially fatal and that for now has no treatment aside from prevention.

“This tragic event calls us all to recognise the scale and seriousness of the problem which confronts us all,” said Martial Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso’s COVID-19 response coordinator.

“This is a very contagious illness that is potentially fatal and that for now has no treatment aside from prevention,” he stressed.

 The West African country says the cases are concentrated in the capital Ouagadougou with Bobo-Dioulasso, the country’s second largest city, recording its first case recently.

Source: Africa News

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said on Thursday he would not stand for re-election in October, ending speculation about his political future ahead of a highly-anticipated vote.

Ouattara had previously said he would run if his longtime political rivals were candidates, defying opponents who say the constitution does not give him the right to seek a third term. 

But he declared in a speech before lawmakers that he would hand over power to a new generation after 10 years in office.

Alassane Ouattara✔@AOuattara_PRCI

Je voudrais annoncer solennellement, que j’ai décidé de ne pas être candidat à l’élection présidentielle du 31 octobre 2020 et de transférer le pouvoir à une jeune génération.

“I have decided not to be candidate in the Oct. 31 presidential election and to transfer power to a new generation,” Ouattara said, prompting applause, cheers and gasps from audience members in the capital Yamoussoukro.

Ouattara was first elected president of Ivory Coast, the world’s leading cocoa producer, in a 2010 election that sparked a brief civil war when his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, refused to concede defeat. Around 3,000 people died in the violence.

Political tensions have been on the rise in recent months after the government issued an arrest warrant for Guillaume Soro, a presidential candidate and former rebel leader whose forces swept Ouattara to power in 2011.

Ouattara’s two main rivals, Gbagbo and another former president, Henri Konan Bedie, have not yet said whether they will be candidates in October.

(REUTERS)

The United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) updated its alert issued on Wednesday, warning civilian airliners and all operators of US-registered aircraft to “exercise caution” when flying over Kenyan airspace, citing possible attacks by extremists.

“Those persons are advised to exercise caution when flying into, out of, within, or over the territory and airspace of Kenya East of 40 degrees East longitude at altitudes below fl260 due to the possibility of extremist/militant activity,” the agency said.

The US, backed by an express Nairobi-New York air link, is Kenya’s top source of foreign tourists recording 245,437 arrivals last year.

The FAA asked American operators to report any security related incidents they may encounter within the airspace, in addition to sharing their travel plans at least 72 hours ahead of planned flights to Kenya.

FAA said it will review the advisory by February 26, 2021.

“Aircraft may encounter fire from small arms; indirect fire weapons, such as mortars and rockets; and anti-aircraft capable weapons, including man-portable air defense systems (manpads),” said the FAA on February 26 seen by Business Daily.

“Such weapons could target aircraft at low altitudes, including during the arrival and departure phases of flight, and/or target airports and aircraft on the ground, especially at airfields located east of 40 degrees east longitude.”

The US and Kenya recently struck a new deal for direct cargo flights between the two nations.

Security beefed up

Kenya’s security agencies have beefed up deployment in cities, towns and the country’s borders, following the United States’ warning of a possible terror attack.*

“The NPS has increased border surveillance to ensure criminal elements are cut from entering the country,” Kenya’s Inspector-General of Police Hilary Mutyambai said on Thursday night.

Mutyambai asked the public to remain vigilant and cooperate with security agencies, even as they go about their normal activities without fear.

US issues terror alert

The United States embassy in the country on Thursday issued an alert on the possibility of a terror attack at an unidentified, major hotel in Nairobi County.

In a short statement posted on its website, the embassy said the targeted hotel is popular with tourists and business travellers.

“If staying at a hotel, be aware of the hotel’s evacuation plan. Plan ahead of time how you would exit the hotel in case of an emergency,” it said.

Local newspaper Daily Nation said the office of the embassy spokesperson in Nairobi highlighted the bilateral cooperation when it comes to monitoring and sharing information about security.

“We have no greater responsibility than the safety and security of US citizens overseas. Security alerts to US citizens provide timely information so they can make informed travel decisions,” it said in explaining the decision to issue an alert.

Kenya has been the victim of multiple terror attacks by the Somali terrorist organisation, Al-Shabaab.

Source: Africa News

The Director General of the Cross River State Emergency Management Agency, Princewill Anyim, has said the agency has what it takes to handle the latest influx of Cameroonian refugees.

Anyim spoke in reaction to the recent influx of no fewer than 8,000 Cameroonian refugees into Cross River and Taraba states in the past two weeks, as reported by the UNHCR,

He said, “It is not that there has been influx that much. We do have a particular number every month. The influx is more in Taraba, not in Cross River. Everything has been put in place to handle the influx.

“We don’t classify it as an emergency. The emergency stage has already passed. The level we are now is developmental stage where we see how we can put structures that can take pressure off the host communities. We don’t classify it as an emergency.

“Because of these elections, they are afraid that the attacks could be on the Anglophone side of Cameroon. They are being cautious. That is why you see them moving through the borders to escape persecution. Everything is in place. We have where they go. We have a hub where they sit. Then we do registration, to know them, take their bio-data and give them their progress number.”

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees had reported that, “almost 8,000 Cameroonian refugees have fled to Nigeria’s eastern and southern states of Taraba and Cross River over the past fortnight, bringing the total Cameroonian refugee population in the country to nearly 60,000 people.”

Culled from PUNCH

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that the United States favoured a “collective” approach with its allies when deciding on troop numbers deployed in Africa against jihadist insurgents.

“We’ll get it right, we’ll get it right collectively, I’m convinced of that,” Pompeo told reporters in Dakar.

Pompeo said he had no specific announcement to make about any cuts in US troops deployed against jihadist groups in the Sahel region of Africa.

But he said the US would work closely with Senegalese and other forces in the region as well asits European partners, especially France.

“We have an obligation to get security right here, in the region, it’s what will permit economic growth and we’re determined to do that,” he said.

“When our review is done we’ll have a conversation with not just Senegal but all the countries in the region, we’ll talk through why we’re doing what we’re doing and we’ll deliver an outcome that works for all of us.”

Senegal Foreign Minister Amadou Ba said that the United States had informed his government of its “wish to withdraw combat troops”.

This, he said, would still leave an American military presence, notably in the areas of training and intelligence.

But he also insisted that Washington remained a crucial ally in the fight against jihadist violence that has plagued the Sahel.

“More than ever, Africa is faced with major challenges linked to insecurity and terrorism,” Ba said.

“It needs the United States of America as a strategic ally for a definitive return to peace and stability.”

Source: AFP

A United Nations (UN) official has warned that the situation in Libya is “deeply troubling,” a fragile ceasefire in the crisis-hit country has seen dozens of violations, and a UN arms embargo imposed on the country has become a “joke.”

UN Deputy Special Representative to Libya Stephanie Williams made the comments at a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on the sidelines of the 56th Munich Security Conference (MSC) on Sunday and after a meeting of foreign ministers to follow up on a Berlin summit on Libya last month.

“The situation on the ground remains deeply troubling. The truce is holding only by a thread. It is the Libyan people that continue to suffer the most. The economic situation continues to deteriorate, exacerbated by the oil blockade,” the US official said, referring to the blockade of oil facilities by rebel forces in Libya.

He said more than 150 violations had been reported since the ceasefire was agreed last month.

Since 2014, two rival seats of power have emerged in Libya: the internationally-recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, and another group based in the eastern city of Tobruk, supported militarily by rebel forces under the command of renegade general Khalifa Haftar.

The rebel leader, who is primarily supported by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Jordan, launched a deadly offensive to capture the capital, Tripoli, the seat of the GNA, in April last year. Despite intense fighting, Haftar has so far failed to achieve his objective of ousting the GNA, and the offensive has stalled outside the capital.

Last month, officials from Turkey, Russia, Egypt, France, Italy, Britain, and the United States gathered in the German capital of Berlin to help establish a permanent ceasefire in Libya. Sarraj and Haftar were also present in the summit.

The final communiqué of the summit called on all the parties concerned in the conflict “to redouble their efforts for a sustained suspension of hostilities, de-escalation and a permanent ceasefire.” Participants also pledged not to interfere in Libya’s internal affairs and its conflict and agreed to “fully respect” the arms embargo imposed on the North African country by the UN in 2011.

However, Haftar refused to sign the joint communiqué.

Elsewhere in her remarks on Sunday, Williams condemned the ongoing breaches of the UN weapons embargo on Libya, saying it “has become a joke, we all really need to step up here.” She added that the embargo had been violated “by land, sea, and air, but it needs to be monitored and there needs to be accountability,” warning that the North African country was now awash with illegally-imported advanced weapons.

The situation in Libya was been compounded as a result of a move by Turkey, a Libyan government ally, to transfer allied militants from Syria to the North African country.

Maas said he had asked European Union (EU) foreign ministers to make a decision on Monday on their role in monitoring the UN embargo.

“Everyone needs to know that, if they violate the embargo in future, then they violate a UN resolution and that this can’t remain without consequences,” he said, without giving further details.

The top German diplomat also said that the next so-called 5+5 meeting on Libya would take place in Geneva on Tuesday.

Serraj and Haftar are also scheduled to hold their first “political dialog” on February 26.

The Italian capital of Rome is set to host the next UN-brokered international talks on Libya.

Source: Presstv