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☆ Malawi cholera death toll crosses 1,300: health official
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The death toll from a cholera outbreak in Malawi has crossed 1,300, a senior Malawian health official said on Thursday, as the southern African country battles its deadliest outbreak yet. Cholera outbreaks happen regularly in Malawi, usually in the rainy season from November to March, but they only average an annual death toll of about 100. Malawi has conducted two oral cholera vaccination campaigns, but a global surge in cholera outbreaks means vaccine supplies are under strain. Other African countries, including Malawi's neighbours Mozambique and Zambia, have reported cholera cases. On Sunday, South Africa reported two imported cholera cases from Malawi, with the husband of one of the first two cases subsequently testing positive.

☆ U.S. Seeks Security Council Allies Against Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Michael M. Phillips | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Members of Mozambique’s delegation at the U.N. celebrate last June after the nation is elected to one of five nonpermanent seats on the Security Council. MAPUTO, Mozambique—The U.S. is trying to persuade Mozambique, an African country long friendly to Moscow, to use its new seat on the United Nations Security Council to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The American ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield , visited the southern African country this week, telling the government that neutrality wasn’t an option when a big power invades a smaller neighbor in violation of a U.N. Charter that Security Council members are bound to uphold.

☆ Yellen urges Zambia debt restructure after talks with China
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen signs a guest book at the State House during her visit, in Lusaka, Zambia, January 23, 2023. REUTERS/Namukolo SiyumbwaLUSAKA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday during a visit to Zambia that it was critically important to restructure the country's debt, and she believes progress could be made after her frank talks with key creditor China last week. Yellen added that Zambia's debt overhang was a drag on its whole economy and that China had been a barrier to resolving the southern African country's debt problem. "I specifically raised the issue with Zambia (with Chinese officials) and asked for their cooperation in trying to reach a speedy resolution. "We will continue to press for all official bilateral and private-sector creditors to meaningfully participate in debt relief for Zambia, especially China," she said.

☆ IMF chief: it's time for creditors to restructure Zambia debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LUSAKA, Jan 24 (Reuters) - International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday during a visit to Zambia that it was the time for the southern African country's creditors to restructure its debt as it was doing its part by implementing economic reforms. Zambia defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2020, becoming the first African country to do so during the COVID-19 pandemic. Georgieva has pushed hard for quicker movement on debt relief for countries like Zambia. On Monday at a meeting with Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema she commended his government for moving away from wasteful expenditure and said the IMF would like to work with Zambia to boost its economic growth. Reporting by Chris Mfula; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Alexander WinningOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Yellen says critically important to restructure Zambia debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gives a speech after she visited the House of Slaves (Maison des Esclaves) at Goree Island off the coast of Dakar, Senegal January 21, 2023. REUTERS/Ngouda DioneLUSAKA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday during a visit to Zambia that it was critically important to restructure Zambia's debt, and she believed progress could be made after her frank talks with key creditor China last week. Yellen added that Zambia's debt overhang was a drag on its whole economy and that China had been a barrier to reaching a resolution on the southern African country's debt problem. "I specifically raised the issue with Zambia (with Chinese officials) and asked for their cooperation in trying to reach a speedy resolution. She said it was also critically important for Zambia to address corruption and human rights, and create a business environment that would promote investments and trade.

☆ Zimbabwe health workers could face jail for striking under new law
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HARARE, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe on Tuesday signed a bill into law that outlawed organised protests by healthcare workers who could now face a fine or an imprisonment of up to six months. The signing by President Emmerson Mnangagwa comes after health workers were locked in a protracted fight with the government over poor salaries last year. An exodus of doctors and nurses has left Zimbabwean hospitals understaffed, with over 4,000 health workers leaving the country since 2021, the country's Health Services Board said in November. Many nurses in Zimbabwe earn less than $100 a month. Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Alexander Winning and Conor HumphriesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Malawi delays reopening schools as cholera cases surge
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Pilirani Wanja, a clinician at Ndirande Health Centre, demonstrates to clients how to take the cholera vaccine in response to the latest cholera outbreak in Blantyre, Malawi, November 16, 2022. REUTERS/Eldson ChagaraBLANTYRE, Malawi, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Malawi has delayed the opening of public schools in the southern African country's two major cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe, the health minister said Monday, to try to slow down a surge in cholera deaths. Cholera is an annual problem during Malawi's rainy months from November to March, where the number of deaths is around 100 a year. The global stockpile of cholera vaccines the World Health Organization helps manage is "currently empty or extremely low", a WHO official said last month amid a resurgence of the disease. Chiponda called on authorities to tighten control measures, including spraying chlorine to disinfect congested places such as markets and schools and stepping up inoculations.

☆ Angolan court orders seizure of dos Santos's assets - Lusa news agency
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dos Santos has faced corruption accusations for years. In 2019, Angola's Supreme Court ordered the seizure of her assets for allegedly steering state funds to companies in which she held stakes during her father's presidency, including oil giant Sonangol. Dos Santos's father, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, died in July. A spokesperson for dos Santos did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The order comes after global police agency Interpol issued a red notice for dos Santos last month, asking global law enforcement authorities to locate and provisionally arrest her.

☆ Zimbabwe's night markets cushion crisis-weary citizens from inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Nyasha Chingono | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Clothes and shoes are displayed for sale at a roadside night market in central Harare, Zimbabwe December 12, 2022. Tinotenda Taruberekera, a 21-year-old clothing vendor, says he makes more money selling at night than during the day. "In the afternoon, there are constant battles with police so selling at night helps," said Taruberekera. The street traders often undercut prices in mainstream shops, which have costly overheads, and this can eat into the retailers' market share. For college student Obert Chinganyama, street vendors offer bargains he cannot get in stores.

☆ Zimbabwe bans raw lithium exports to curb artisanal mining
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The southern African country holds some of the world's largest reserves of hard rock lithium, a vital mineral in the production of clean energy technologies. London-listed Premier African Minerals (PREM.L) says it will start shipping spodumene concentrate from its Zimbabwe lithium mine to China from March 2023, after signing an offtake deal with Suzhou TA&A Ultra Clean Technology Co (300390.SZ). "No lithium bearing ores, or unbeneficiated lithium whatsoever, shall be exported from Zimbabwe to another country," read the regulation published in a government notice issued by Mines Minister Winston Chitando. The notice said the ban does not apply to the export of lithium concentrates, which all the major lithium miners in the country plan to produce. Mnangagwa said the raw lithium was being exported through neighbouring countries.

☆ Zambia: One survivor as police find bodies of 27 suspected Ethiopian nationals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Zambia’s police service says it is investigating the deaths of 27 men, all believed to be Ethiopian nationals, whose bodies were found on Sunday “dumped” by the roadside near the capital, Lusaka. Only one of the men – who were all aged between 20 and 38 years – survived, Mwale said. Some Ethiopian nationals are lured with promises of job opportunities in South Africa but end up being held in dire conditions, according to immigration officials cited by the Lusaka Times. Four more bodies of Ethiopian nationals were found “in a decomposed state” a day after, near the site of the mass grave in Mzimba, Malawi’s police said at the time. In July, Zambia’s immigration officials intercepted more than 50 Ethiopians who were believed to have been smuggled into the country on their way to South Africa.

CNN —The body of Lemekani Nathan Nyirenda, a fighter recruited by the mercenary group Wagner for combat operations in Ukraine, was returned to Zambia on Sunday. The body was received by Nyirenda’s family and foreign ministry officials, the ministry stated in a series of tweets Sunday. A relative of Lemekani Nyirenda, who died in the conflict in Ukraine in September, is consoled as his coffin arrives at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka on Sunday. A hearse carrying the remains of Lemekani Nathan Nyirenda at Lusaka's Kenneth Kaunda International Airport. Salim Dawood/AFP/Getty ImagesFlorence Nyirenda, Lemekani Nyirenda's mother, is comforted by family members at the airport in Lusaka, on December 11.

☆ Removal of German colonial-era statue met with cheers in Namibia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WINDHOEK, Nov 23 (Reuters) - A large crane lifted a colonial-era statue of German official Curt von Francois in Namibian capital Windhoek on Wednesday, as a crowd that gathered nearby clapped and hooted in delight. The 2.4 metre (7-foot, 9-inch) bronze statue of von Francois was unveiled in 1965 during the 75-year anniversary celebrations of Windhoek. The controversial statue was seen as a symbol of colonial oppression in the southern African nation, and is the latest to be taken down as activists around the world mount campaigns for their removals. Germany has a troubled past with Namibia. Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Orange launches first African 5G network in Botswana
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 11 (Reuters) - French telecoms group Orange (ORAN.PA) launched a new 5G network in Botswana on Friday in a first step towards rolling out the high-speed data offering to other markets in the Middle East and Africa, company executives said. Following the initial Botswana launch, Orange's 5G coverage will extend to 30% of the southern African nation's population, including those living in Gaborone and Francistown, the two largest cities. Instead, Orange is mainly focusing on 5G as a way of providing fast internet in Africa, where low population density makes rolling out fibre-optic infrastructure uneconomical. "For us the main use case is fixed wireless access, meaning internet at home," Nene Maiga, CEO of Orange Botswana, told journalists ahead of the launch. Orange's Middle East and Africa CEO Jerome Henrique said the company was targeting 5G rollouts in around half a dozen countries in 2023, most likely starting with Jordan.

☆ Zimbabwe's new mineral royalty policy comes into force
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A worker attends to machinery at a smelter plant at Anglo American Platinum's Unki mine in Shurugwi, Zimbabwe, May 16, 2019. The southern African country has struggled to capitalise on its significant mineral reserves and a resource boom due to policy uncertainty, a lack of ancillary industries to support mining, currency volatility and electricity shortages. The cash component of the royalties would be made up of 40% Zimbabwean dollars and 10% in foreign currency, according to the notice. Zimbabwe's royalty rates range between 5% for gold and platinum group metals and 10% for diamonds. The Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines, which represents major mining companies, has said it is not worried about the new royalty policy because it does not amount to an increase in existing royalty rates.

☆ Factbox: COP27: Which countries have offered 'loss and damage' funds?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

While vulnerable countries say one-off commitments are no substitute for a fund to provide ongoing support, some praised Scotland's leadership in acknowledging the issue. AUSTRIAAustria will provide at least 50 million euros to tackle loss and damage over the next four years, the government said on Tuesday. IRELANDIrish PM Micheal Martin committion 10 million euros to the "Global Shield" initiative for 2023. Some vulnerable countries say that type of funding does not count as "loss and damage" money, which they say should compensate countries for unavoidable costs from disasters. Wealthy countries already provide funds to help countries adapt to climate change by preparing for worse weather impacts, although this funding has fallen short of promised amounts.

☆ Lesotho election body says it made a mistake over parliament seats
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Marafaele Mohloboli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In Lesotho's national assembly, 80 seats are won through first-past-the-post voting, with the rest allocated using proportional representation, under which parties get seats based on their total national vote. On Saturday, court papers showed the IEC asked the Constitutional Court for an order "reviewing, correcting and setting aside" the allocation of compensatory seats, or those allocated using proportional representation. It said the Democratic Congress party, the main opposition party, had erroneously been awarded 11 compensatory seats instead of eight, while the Alliance of Democrats (AD) was wrongly allocated three compensatory seats instead of two. AD is the only affected party in the RFP-led coalition, holding five of the alliance's 65 seats. Should the court uphold the election authorities' findings, AD would lose one seat.

☆ IMF, Malawi reach staff deal on $88 mln emergency financing
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Friday that it had reached a staff-level agreement with Malawi for up to $88.3 million in emergency financing, as the southern African country struggles with acute forex shortages. Reuters reported earlier this week that Malawi, which has been experiencing chaotic queues at fuel stations that are running dry due to a lack of foreign currency to make payments, was set to be the first African country to receive special IMF financing to deal with the global inflation crisis. The IMF said the money would help Malawi address urgent balance of payments needs, and support economic adjustment and structural reforms. Ukraine received $1.3 billion under the same new programme, known as the "Food Shock Window", earlier this month. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterWriting by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Alexander Winning and Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Malawi police find more bodies near mass grave that contained 25 Ethiopians
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Four more bodies of suspected illegal migrants from Ethiopia have been found near the site of a mass grave in northern Malawi that contained the remains of 25 Ethiopian nationals, according to police in the southern African country. The four bodies were discovered a day after the corpses of 25 Ethiopian migrants were exhumed from a mass grave in northern Malawi’s Mzimba district. The 25 victims were males aged between 25 and 40 years, police found. Malawi's Minister of Homeland Security, Jean Sendeza visited Mtangatanga forest where villagers discovered a mass grave with 25 bodies, and five more bodies were found after further search around the forest. More than 200 illegal migrants were intercepted in the last eight months, he stated, adding that 186 of them were Ethiopian nationals.

☆ Malawi close to sealing $54 mln IMF emergency funding for economic shock
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Frank Phiri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Malawi, which is experiencing chaotic queues at fuel stations that are running dry due to a lack of foreign currency, would be the first African country to receive special IMF emergency financing to deal with the global inflation crisis. Ukraine received $1.3 billion under the same new programme, known as the "Food Shock Window", earlier this month. The IMF said last week it had discussed Malawi's request for support under the emergency programme and that the board would consider it "as soon as possible". The Food Shock Window was launched at the end of last month to help countries with balance of payments problems. Half of Malawi's IMF quota is equivalent to about $54.4 million at current exchange rates on the fund's website, and would be the maximum it can request for this emergency financing.

☆ IMF chief Georgieva aims to complete Zambia, Chad debt restructuring by year-end
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Georgieva said the IMF was pressing for more predictability and timely resolution of requests for help under the G20 Common Framework. IMF and World Bank officials have repeatedly singled out China, the biggest creditor to many African countries, and private sector creditors for dragging their feet on reducing countries' debt burdens. The Zambian government on Friday told investors it hoped it would agree debt relief terms with official creditors by the end of the year or early 2023. The IMF estimates that Zambia needs $8.4 billion of "cash debt relief" - cutting both interest payments and loan repayments - from 2022 to 2025. Chad's creditors are close to reaching a debt relief agreement, a French Finance Ministry source said on Monday.

☆ Factbox: Strained emerging economies in focus at the IMF World Bank meeting
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

On Friday, the IMF said its executive board approved Kyiv's request for $1.3 billion in emergency funding through a Rapid Financing Instrument. This is on top of $1.4 billion the IMF has provided to Ukraine since the start of the war. Former central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko said in July that Kyiv hoped for a $15-$20 billion IMF programme before year-end. On Friday, IMF staff said talks with Ghana's government about a potential loan programme had been constructive but more work was needed on a debt-sustainability analysis. EGYPTA major grain importer that depends heavily on tourism revenue, Egypt has experienced a double whammy from COVID-19 and soaring food prices with no current IMF programme in place.

Whether Mozambique and its allies can stamp out the insurgency altogether is a question that has global repercussions as countries hunt for new sources of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Mozambique has huge natural gas reserves which, if managed effectively, could transform its fortunes. With already more than 100 trillion cubic feet of proven offshore natural gas reserves, one industry insider likened its future potential equal to Russia – a natural gas giant. The Mozambican forces, as had happened multiple times in smaller towns, were unable to stop them. Fighting between the terrorist group and the Mozambican army and Rwandan Security forces has left its mark on the town.

☆ Namibia can become green energy exporter, says first lady
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-30 | by ( Mark Tutton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Green hydrogen (hydrogen produced using renewable energy) is being touted as a clean alternative to fossil fuels that could power heavy industry and transport. EU officials said this summer that they hoped to strike a deal to help Namibia develop its green hydrogen sector. The southern African nation is set to open the continent’s first green hydrogen production plant in 2024, operated by French power company HDF Energy. Namibia’s first hydrogen power plant is expected to be up and running in 2024, and there’s also a potential plan in place to partner with the EU on green hydrogen. Geingos: It is clear that Namibia’s green hydrogen plans extend beyond domestic energy self-sufficiency.

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