13 April 2022
Unintended pregnancies: With 91 per 1,000 women, Sub-Saharan Africa’s rate of unintended pregnancies is much higher than the global average (35 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 49). The article is about the drivers of such unintended pregnancies, such as poverty, lack of autonomy, low education attainment, lack of information about contraceptives, etc.
https://theconversation.com/unintended-pregnancy-rates-are-highest-in-africa-a-look-at-the-complex-reasons-180454
Ghana: Inflation has shot up to 19.4% in March, its highest level in almost a decade. Food prices have also increased by around 20%.
BBC Africa Live 13 April 2022. 11:49
12 April 2022
Nigeria: Raids by armed gangs on four villages in Kanam area in Plateau state have killed more than 150 on Sunday, most of them young men and children. They were buried in mass graves. Dozens of homes were also burnt and hundreds displaced. According to residents, “it took the security forces nearly 24 hours to arrive in the villages after the attacks”.
BBC Africa Live 12 April 2022. 7:55
Algeria/Italy: The two countries have signed “a major gas deal” which is to reduce Italy’s dependence on Russia for its gas supplies, using the Transmed undersea pipeline which passes through Tunisia.
BBC Africa Live 12 April 2022. 5:26
G5 Sahel/France: Creation of the G5 Sahel “was effectively a snub of the AU and ECOWAS”. The leaders of the 5 countries involved benefitted. G5 Sahel created an institutional overlap and maybe even a “security traffic jam”, with the UN, AU and G5 Sahel having mandates to deal with conflicts in the region. But since France wanted it… “France’s assistance in forming the G5 Sahel is hardly surprising given that the organisation effectively serves its interests and that of its Western partners. It enables Paris to subcontract security and control migration without shouldering too much risk.”
https://theconversation.com/setting-up-the-g5-sahel-why-an-option-that-seemed-unlikely-came-into-being-180422
Zambia: Since the government has had to seriously reduce health, education and social care spending, CSOs have appealed to BlackRock – the giant US investment firm – “to delay or cancel debt interest payments”. BlackRock, will it listen?
BBC Africa Live 12 April 2022. 13:40