27 September 2022
Tropical diseases in Africa and Europe: Local dengue transmission was first found in France in 2010. Since then, there have been about 12 cases per year. But 2022 has seen 40 cases so far. And there is more to come. With climate change, “the population at risk of malaria in Africa will have increased by over 80 million” by 2030 and yellow fever deaths are expected to be up by 25% by 2050. In Europe, “there have been over 570 cases of West Nile virus recorded” in 2022, most of them in Veneto, northern Italy.
https://theconversation.com/dengue-in-france-tropical-diseases-in-europe-may-not-be-that-rare-for-much-longer-191033
Uganda/Ebola: WHO has confirmed 18 Ebola deaths in the country and about as many “probable cases”. This first Ebola outbreak in Uganda since 2012 is “caused by the Sudan strain of the disease, for which there are no licensed vaccines”.
BBC Africa Live 27 September 2022. 7:06
Nigeria: A National Human Rights Commission panel set up in the wake of #EndSars recommends “the dismissal and prosecution of a number of police officers for torture, extra-judicial killings and illegal detentions”. Details, including the number of officers to be dismissed and prosecuted, will only be made public later.
BBC Africa Live 27 September 2022. 7:39
Egypt: 200 years ago, the Egyptian hieroglyphics were deciphered with the help of the Rosetta Stone which presents a decree in three languages. As one was ancient Greek, Jean-Francois Champollion managed to translate the hieroglyphics for the first time. The Rosetta Stone is to this day displayed in the British museum.
BBC Africa Live 27 September 2022. 12:35
26 September 2022
South Africa/Xenophobia: Black African immigrants are all too often stigmatised as illegal, criminal, even diseased job stealers. “Since 1994, more than 900 violent xenophobic incidents have been recorded in South Africa, resulting in at least 630 deaths, displacement of 123,700 people, and looting of about 4,850 shops.” The article gives a short summary of recent research debunking negative immigrant myths, that 1) South Africa is swamped with immigrants, 2) Immigrants steal jobs and employment opportunities from locals, 3) Immigrants contribute to, or are responsible for, high levels of crime, 4) Most immigrants are in the country illegally, and 5) Migrants are flooding public healthcare services.
https://theconversation.com/5-xenophobic-myths-about-immigrants-in-south-africa-debunked-by-researchers-191194
Nigeria/Oil: The country’s crude oil production has never been as low since 1990 – it fell below 1 mio barrels per day (bpd) in August. Thus, “Angola and Libya have overtaken Nigeria as Africa’s highest crude oil producers”. Production had been declining since 2012 with several factors responsible, the most important being insecurity of assets/insecurity of life, the maturity of the fields, and moving from onshore to deep water. A professor of Oil and Gas Economics and Management from Cape Coast University explains in more detail and also goes into how the country could reduce its heavy reliance on oil/increase economic diversification.
https://theconversation.com/nigeria-is-producing-less-and-less-oil-heres-why-191199
Kenya’s foreign policy under Uhuru Kenyatta: The article critically reviews foreign policy under the president whose reign has just ended. Despite high ambitions, not much seems to have been achieved.
https://theconversation.com/uhuru-kenyatta-failed-to-turn-kenya-into-as-big-an-international-player-as-he-could-heres-why-189804
Uganda/Ebola: Public health messaging, rapid response teams on standby, a strong surveillance system to notice cases early and intervene quickly – Kampala is much better equipped this time around than it was for its six previous episodes of Ebola. Still, there is a lot of need for improvement.
https://theconversation.com/ebola-outbreak-in-uganda-the-health-system-has-never-been-better-prepared-191021