15 June 2022
African cities and pollution: The number of people dying prematurely from exposure to air pollution is lower in African than in Asian cities, but with Africa’s big cities expected to go on growing much faster, pollution will cause many more premature deaths. A lot more needs to be done. Durban was the first African city to sign C40 Clean Air Cities Declaration to improve air quality, in May 2022, Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Dakar, Ekurhuleni, Freetown, Johannesburg, Lagos, Nairobi and Tshwane followed. International collaboration is to make these cities more environmentally sustainable.
https://theconversation.com/air-pollution-in-fast-growing-african-cities-presents-a-risk-of-premature-death-183944
Somalia: Recently elected president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has appointed a member of his party and of parliament as the new Prime minister: Hamza Abdi Barre “has held various positions in the offices of the federal government”, between 2019 and 2020 he was the Jubbaland Electoral Commission’s chairman. Hamza Abdi Barre needs to be approved by parliament and will then form a government.
BBC Africa Live 15 June 2022. 15:18
14 June 2022
Green turtles in Guinea-Bissau & West Africa: Sea turtles are under threat because of “over-exploitation of sea turtle meat, eggs, cartilage, oil, and body parts”. To better be able to protect them, it is necessary to know there whereabouts – many of them travel great distances between breeding and feeding grounds. One of the seven species is the Green Turtle – historically also the most exploited by humans. The article’s authors fixed tracking devices to their shells. From the breeding grounds on Poilão island (part of the Bijagós archipelago off the coast of Guinea-Bissau) some of them remain in the vicinity, in the waters of Guinea-Bissau or Guinea, others travel further, to Gambia and Senegal, and some as far north as the Banc d’Arguin National Park in Mauritania’s north.
https://theconversation.com/we-attached-tracking-devices-to-west-africas-green-turtles-this-is-what-we-learnt-183858
Inflation in South Africa: Food inflation – like the one happening presently world-wide because of the war in Ukraine – matters much more to the poor: they spend a much bigger part of their income on food. In fact, in South Africa food and non-alcoholic beverages takes up 10.62% of household income in the top income decile, while it uses 50.31% of household income in the lowest income decile.
https://theconversation.com/rising-food-prices-hit-poor-people-the-hardest-a-close-look-at-inflation-in-south-africa-184465
Ghana: Three police officers have been suspended after clashes with pupils protesting outside their school in Kumasi and “calling for speed bumps to be installed following a number of accidents” got more than 20 of them into hospital.
BBC Africa Live 14 June 2022. 8:37
Ethiopia: Heavy fighting has taken place in Gambela city, capital of the Gambela in the west of the country, between security forces of the regional government and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) which had joined forces with the Gambela Liberation Front. “Fighting has also been reported in towns in the neighbouring region of Oromia.”
BBC Africa Live 14 June 2022. 8:08
Togo: The state of security emergency declared by the government in the northern border “Savannah” region “allows security forces there to have more flexibility to deal with threats of jihadist attacks”. A jihadist attack on a military outpost on 10th and 11th of May had killed 8 Togolese soldiers and wounded others.
BBC Africa Live 14 June 2022. 5:38
Sudan: Since the October 2021 coup d’état, the National Congress Party (NCP) – the ruling party under Bashir – has made a comeback. “Hundreds of sacked employees returned to work at the central bank, the judiciary, prosecution service, state broadcaster and government ministries.” As for Bashir himself, though he is still in prison, the junta refuses to hand him over to the International Criminal Court.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61550100