NAIROBI, June 17 (Reuters) &#8211; Tanzania hopes to join the COVAX global vaccine-sharing facility, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday, the latest sign it has changed tack following the death in March of COVID-19- and vaccine-sceptic president John Magufuli.



A WHO official said vaccines could arrive in the country of 58 million people within two weeks.



Since taking office in March, new president Samia Suluhu Hassan has sought to gradually bring Tanzania into line with global public standards for tackling COVID-19.



The country is one of only four in Africa that have yet to start vaccination campaigns, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.



&#8220;We have received information that Tanzania is now formally working to join the COVAX facility,&#8221; the WHO&#8217;s regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti told a news conference.



Richard Mihigo of the WHO&#8217;s Immunization and Vaccines Development Programme in Africa said Tanzania had taken the preliminary steps of submitting a vaccine request form to COVAX and starting to prepare a vaccine deployment plan.



&#8220;We are expecting the vaccines to arrive in the country in the next couple of weeks,&#8221; he told the briefing.



Tanzanian authorities were not immediately reachable for comment.



In another indication of the country&#8217;s new approach, its finance minister said last week that the government has asked the International Monetary Fund for a $571 million loan to help it tackle economic challenges posed by the pandemic.



The IMF said Tanzania will be required to provide data on coronavirus infections as part of the talks for the loan.



Tanzania stopped reporting COVID-19 cases and deaths in May 2020 and despite other policy changes by the new president, has not resumed publicly reporting data.



&#8220;We are strongly encouraging the country, now that it&#8217;s going to address the situation through vaccination, to share data with us so that we can play the most effective role in helping &#8212; for example in targeting, in the planning, where to start, where to focus, that can only be done on the basis of evidence,&#8221; Moeti said. 



(Reporting by Omar Mohammed; Additional reporting and writing by Maggie Fick; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Coronavirus Covid-19 Vaccine

Tanzania to request to join COVAX vaccine-sharing facility – WHO

Shared Value Africa Initiative hosts the CEO Connect discussions

The Shared Value Africa Initiative hosts CEO Connect discussions

MR. Eazi talks music

MR. Eazi talks music, investing in African tech start-ups

Captains of Industry: BK Group Chair Holtzman outlines future plans for the bank

Captains of Industry: Cogebanque CEO on regaining lost glory & outlook for Africa’s banking sector

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday urged Ethiopia to open up its telecoms sector to private mobile money business investors, a move that would complement a process already underway to reform the sector and bring in foreign investment.



Ethiopia is opening up its telecoms sector, hitherto a monopoly of the state-owned Ethio Telecom, and last month authorities awarded the first private operator licence.



The licence was handed out to a consortium led by Kenya&#8217;s Safaricom, Vodafone, and Japan&#8217;s Sumitomo 8053.T.



Currently though only Ethio Telecom is allowed to offer mobile financial services while foreign operators are barred by law from participating. Mobile money is a term for banking transactions made using a phone or other mobile device.



&#8220;I am hopeful that your government will consider in the near future, opening up the opportunity for mobile money in Ethiopia,&#8221; Kenyatta, who is on a visit to Ethiopia, said at a ceremony in the capital Addis Ababa where the consortium was officially awarded its operating licence.



&#8220;This move will be particularly timely, as it will offer the millions of Ethiopian people avenues for financial inclusion.&#8221;



Mobile money services, which were pioneered in Kenya more than a decade ago, have become a lucrative segment of telecoms services in many sub-Saharan African countries.



Ethiopia is hoping that the opening of one of the world&#8217;s last major closed telecoms markets will create millions of online job opportunities.



The Safaricom consortium plans to invest up to $8.5 billion in the country&#8217;s infrastructure among other areas. As part of opening up the sector, Ethiopia is also planning to sell a 40% stake in Ethio Telecom to private investors and 5% to Ethiopian people. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said at the same function his government was in the final stage of starting the tendering process.



(Writing by Elias Biryabarema, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Kenya’s president Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, delivers his

Kenyan president urges Ethiopia to open up mobile money market

Mastercard Foundation to deploy $1.3bn in collaboration with Africa CDC to save lives

ADDIS ABABA, June 5 (Reuters) &#8211; Ethiopia&#8217;s council of ministers have approved an 18% rise in the budget for the 2021-2022 fiscal year from a year ago to 561.7 billion birr ($13.00 billion), Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Saturday.



The draft budget for the Ethiopian fiscal year of 2014 compares to a total of 476 billion birr that was set aside for spending in the 2020-2021 fiscal year.



The Horn of Africa nation of 110 million people uses a different fiscal calendar than the rest of the world. The 2014 fiscal year corresponds to 2021-2022.



&#8220;Due attention is given to enhancing our productive capacity in line with the 10-year perspective plan,&#8221; Abiy said in a tweet.



The draft budget now heads to parliament for approval.



Like many other countries in the region, Ethiopia&#8217;s economy has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.



In February, the International Monetary Fund projected the country&#8217;s economic growth to be 2% in 2020-2021, largely due to the effects of the pandemic, but that it was expected to rebound to 8.7% in 2021-2022 in line with a global recovery.



Last year, Ethiopia had projected an 8.5% economic growth for 2020-2021. 



($1 = 43.1944 birr) 



(Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw; writing by Omar Mohammed; editing by Clelia Oziel)

46798335192_ecce989345_b

Ethiopia’s ministers approve 18% rise in 2021-2022 budget -PM

KAMPALA, June 6 (Reuters) &#8211; Uganda&#8217;s President Yoweri Museveni on Sunday re-imposed a strict lockdown that included the closure of schools and the suspension of inter-district travel to help beat back a surge in COVID-19 cases in the East African country.



The new measures, which will be effective from Monday morning, include the closure of all educational institutions, some bans on travel, the shutdown of weekly open markets, and the suspension of church services.



Most of the new restrictions, Museveni said, would be implemented for 42 days. An assessment of their impact will then help the government decide whether to ease or prolong them, he added.



Uganda implemented one of Africa&#8217;s tightest lockdowns at the beginning of the pandemic more than a year ago, but it was gradually lifted as cases slowed to a trickle.



Last month however infections started to spike and new cases, particularly among younger people, have surged, fuelling fears that the country could slip into an out-of-control second wave.



Museveni said in a televised address on Sunday night that a second wave gripping the country was &#8220;diffuse and sustained&#8221;.



The government, he said, was worried the jump in cases would &#8220;exhaust the available bed space and oxygen supply in hospitals unless we constitute urgent public health measures&#8221;.



&#8220;In this wave the intensity of severe and critically ill COVID-19 patients and death is higher than what we experienced in the first wave of the pandemic,&#8221; he said.



COVID-19 infections in Uganda are on an average daily basis at their peak, with 825 new infections reported each day, according to a <a href="https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/uganda/">Reuters analysis</a>. 



From January to April the positivity rate in tested samples was mostly below 3% but the rate started climbing sharply last month, hitting 18% on June 2, according to Ministry of Health data.



The east African country has thus far reported nearly 53,000 positive cases and 383 deaths.



The new restrictions potentially threaten to arrest an already fragile economic recovery from the blow inflicted by last year&#8217;s lockdown.



Those restrictions contributed to a 1.1% economic contraction in 2020, but the finance ministry had projected before Sunday&#8217;s new measures that growth would climb to between 4-5% in the fiscal year starting July. 



(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Omar Mohammed and Jan Harvey)

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni

Uganda re-imposes lockdown to beat back COVID-19 case surge

Captains of Industry: Wes Edens on the investment case for basketball in Africa

Captains of Industry: Garda World expands into Rwanda with acquisition of Agespro & KK Security

June 1 (Reuters) &#8211; The International Monetary Fund and Uganda reached a staff-level agreement for a $1 billion program under a three-year extended credit facility, the Fund said on Tuesday.



The African country said last month it had applied for an IMF loan in order to bolster its shaky finances after the COVID-19 pandemic hammered its economy.



Last year, the Fund loaned Uganda over $490 million.



&#8220;The IMF-supported program supports the next phase of the COVID-19 response and strengthens the fundamentals of a more inclusive private sector-led growth,&#8221; said Amine Mati, head of the IMF team that held virtual missions to Uganda earlier this year.



&#8220;Strengthening governance and budget transparency will be key to fostering public sector efficiency while preparing the ground for sound management of oil revenues.&#8221;



Uganda imposed one of Africa&#8217;s tightest COVID-19 lockdowns, which included a shuttering of all businesses except the most essential.



The staff-level agreement is subject to approval by the Fund&#8217;s management. 



(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos in New York; Editing by Peter Cooney)

512px-IMF-Seal_ENG_RGB.svg

IMF, Uganda reach agreement on three-year, $1 bln program

Finding alternative financing options for African economies

MAPUTO, May 31 (Reuters) &#8211; Mozambique on Monday began construction of gas-to-power plant and transmission line projects worth $1 billion in the southern province of Inhambane as the government aims to boost energy supply.



The World Bank is one of the financing partners of the infrastructure projects, alongside the United States, Norway, African Development Bank (AfDB), Islamic Bank and The OPEC Fund for International Development, according statements from the World Bank and the U.S. embassy.



&#8220;Today we mark a milestone in the framework of this endeavour to illuminate Mozambique. Our governance aspires that more than 10 million Mozambicans will have access to electricity for the first time in their homes by 2024,&#8221; Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi said at the launch of the project.



Upon completion, the gas-to-power Temane Thermal Power Plant will have a capacity of 450 megawatts.



&#8220;Today, we are witnessing the exceptional beginning of a vision that aims to provide energy for all Mozambicans: this is a transformative project for the country,&#8221; the representative of the World Bank in Mozambique, Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, said during the launch.



U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique Dennis Hearne said the United States was supporting the Temane project through a $200 million direct loan for its construction via the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).



&#8220;In addition, thanks to the support of the U.S. government&#8217;s signature Power Africa program, we are providing a &#8220;transaction advisor&#8221; assigned to EDM (Mozambique power utility Eletricidade de Moçambique) to help bring the critical Temane Transmission Line Project to financial close,&#8221; said Hearne. 



(Reporting by Manuel Mucari Editing by Bill Berkrot)

29655482878_81b288e1d2_b

Mozambique launches construction of $1 bln power plant, transmission line

Rwanda grades 31 hospitality & tourism establishments

Kenya has extended its nightly curfew by 60 days to slow the spread of COVID-19, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.



The move followed a decision by President Uhuru Kenyatta in late March to extend the 10 p.m to 4 a.m. curfew.



A ban on political gatherings and processions that could turn into super spreader events was also extended for 60 days, as was a prohibition on overnight events and vigils, the ministry said.



When the first coronavirus cases were confirmed in Kenya in March 2020, the government closed schools, imposed a curfew, banned public gatherings and on multiple occasions restricted movement in and out of the most-affected regions.



Some restrictions, such as on schools, were eventually relaxed. The ban on public gatherings and processions and overnight meetings will stay in force, the ministry said.



Kenya has recorded 170,485 cases and 3,141 deaths, Ministry of Health data showed on Saturday, with a positivity rate of 8.9%.



COVID-19 vaccinations began on March 5 and so far 968,733 people have received their first dose. 



(Reporting by Humphrey Malalo; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Kenya extends COVID-19 curfew by 60 days

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Hearing_of_Josep_Borrell_High_Representative_Vice_President-designate_A_stronger_Europe_in_the_World_48859582126-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-405237" width="840" height="560" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Hearing_of_Josep_Borrell_High_Representative_Vice_President-designate_A_stronger_Europe_in_the_World_48859582126-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Hearing_of_Josep_Borrell_High_Representative_Vice_President-designate_A_stronger_Europe_in_the_World_48859582126-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Hearing_of_Josep_Borrell_High_Representative_Vice_President-designate_A_stronger_Europe_in_the_World_48859582126-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Hearing_of_Josep_Borrell_High_Representative_Vice_President-designate_A_stronger_Europe_in_the_World_48859582126-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Hearing_of_Josep_Borrell_High_Representative_Vice_President-designate_A_stronger_Europe_in_the_World_48859582126.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><figcaption>Josep Borrell Photo: via Wikimedia Commons</figcaption></figure>



LISBON, May 28 (Reuters) &#8211; The European Union could have a military training mission in place in Mozambique within several months, the bloc&#8217;s foreign policy chief said on Friday, helping the southern African country tackle Islamist insurgents.



&#8220;I think we could be able to approve this mission,&#8221; Josep Borrell told reporters ahead of an EU defence ministers meeting in Lisbon where the subject was due to be discussed.



The problem is to find additional countries besides Portugal to supply troops, he added.



Borrell has previously said 200-300 personnel could be sent by the end of the year.



Portugal sent 60 soldiers to its former colony Mozambique this month to begin training soldiers to counter the insurgency, share intelligence and use drones to track militants&#8217; movements.



Portuguese Defence Minister Joao Cravinho said 7-8 other countries had expressed willingness to send troops but declined to name them. Portugal would be the &#8220;principal participant&#8221; in the mission, he said.



Cravinho expected the remaining EU troops to be dispatched within three to four months, &#8220;perhaps faster&#8221;.



Mozambique has been grappling with an insurgency in its northernmost province of Cabo Delgado since 2017 and violence has grown significantly in the past year.



Dozens of civilians were killed in Islamic State-linked attacks in the coastal town of Palma in April, and a $20 billion liquefied natural gas project run by oil giant Total was brought to a halt by the violence.



(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee in Lisbon and Sabine Siebold in Berlin; Editing by Alex Richardson and Mark Heinrich)

East Africa

Tanzania to request to join COVAX vaccine-sharing facility – WHO

The Shared Value Africa Initiative hosts CEO Connect discussions

MR. Eazi talks music, investing in African tech start-ups

Captains of Industry: BK Group Chair Holtzman outlines future plans for the bank

Captains of Industry: Cogebanque CEO on regaining lost glory & outlook for Africa’s banking sector

Kenyan president urges Ethiopia to open up mobile money market

Mastercard Foundation to deploy $1.3bn in collaboration with Africa CDC to save lives

Ethiopia’s ministers approve 18% rise in 2021-2022 budget -PM

Uganda re-imposes lockdown to beat back COVID-19 case surge

Captains of Industry: Wes Edens on the investment case for basketball in Africa

Captains of Industry: Garda World expands into Rwanda with acquisition of Agespro & KK Security

IMF, Uganda reach agreement on three-year, $1 bln program

Finding alternative financing options for African economies

Mozambique launches construction of $1 bln power plant, transmission line

Rwanda grades 31 hospitality & tourism establishments

Kenya extends COVID-19 curfew by 60 days

EU military mission to Mozambique may be up and running in months, bloc says

News Tips

Advertise With Us

East Africa

Tanzania to request to join COVAX vaccine-sharing facility – WHO

The Shared Value Africa Initiative hosts CEO Connect discussions

MR. Eazi talks music, investing in African tech start-ups

Captains of Industry: BK Group Chair Holtzman outlines future plans for the bank

Captains of Industry: Cogebanque CEO on regaining lost glory & outlook for Africa’s banking sector

Kenyan president urges Ethiopia to open up mobile money market

Mastercard Foundation to deploy $1.3bn in collaboration with Africa CDC to save lives

Ethiopia’s ministers approve 18% rise in 2021-2022 budget -PM

Uganda re-imposes lockdown to beat back COVID-19 case surge

Captains of Industry: Wes Edens on the investment case for basketball in Africa

Captains of Industry: Garda World expands into Rwanda with acquisition of Agespro & KK Security

IMF, Uganda reach agreement on three-year, $1 bln program

Finding alternative financing options for African economies

Mozambique launches construction of $1 bln power plant, transmission line

Rwanda grades 31 hospitality & tourism establishments

Kenya extends COVID-19 curfew by 60 days

EU military mission to Mozambique may be up and running in months, bloc says

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Newsletters