ADF

ADF STAFF During three days in February 2022, herders from southwestern Niger brought cattle and other livestock to receive badly needed veterinary care at a free event. During the event in Gaya, veterinarians treated more than 13,000 animals with vaccines and vitamins. Organizers also handed out solar-powered hand-held radios, which allow herders to track weather and security developments in the region. The event was one of many organized by the Nigerien Armed Forces (FAN) Civil-Military Action (ACM) division, whose goal is to support vulnerable communities and build trust between the military and civilians. The ACM unit at Air Base 101…

ADF STAFF Malawi has begun a mass distribution of mosquito nets to reach as many of the country’s 19 million people as possible.  Nets reduce the spread of malaria, which in Malawi accounts for 36% of all hospital outpatients and 15% of hospital admissions. Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, Malawi’s minister of health, announced the Global Fund-supported campaign during the commemoration of Southern Africa Development Community Malaria Day. She told the Nyasa Times that the hope was that the 9 million nets in the program would each reach two people sharing a netted space or bed. She also said that health workers…

REUTERS An adjusted version of an established drug against schistosomiasis, a tropical parasitic worm disease, has been shown to work in preschool children, likely offering a cure for millions. German chemical company Merck KGaA reported that in a late-stage trial in Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya, more than 90% of the participants, infected children ages 3 months to 6 years, had no more parasite eggs in their stool or urine after up to three weeks of treatment. The company said it now will seek regulatory approval to produce and distribute the oral drug. Arpraziquantel is an experimental pediatric version of the…

ADF STAFF The age of the oldest fossils in eastern Africa widely recognized as representing the human species has long been uncertain. Now, the dating of a huge volcanic eruption in southwestern Ethiopia reveals that some of the fossils are much older than previously thought. Scientists found the remains, known as Omo I, in Ethiopia in the late 1960s, SciTechDaily reported. They have been trying to date them precisely ever since by using the chemical fingerprints of volcanic ash layers found above and below the sediment in which the fossils were discovered. Now, an international team of scientists, led by…

ADF STAFF Since late 2019, the Greater Horn of Africa region has been dealing with the worst desert locust invasion in decades. Now, Somalia has opened a locust detection center to help deal with the crisis. The locusts have destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of cropland and pasture. In Somalia, where the majority of people depend on agriculture and livestock for their livelihoods, recurrent drought and floods have significantly eroded household food security. The desert locust crisis has only made life harder. Somalia, along with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, opened the National Desert Locust…

ADF STAFF In the past, Benin was perhaps best known for its cotton exports and its bright clothing designs. But it is now known for its streamlined paperwork, allowing new businesses to establish faster than in any other African country. By providing a full online service, the government has helped entrepreneurs create businesses and jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. One-third of Benin’s new entrepreneurs are women, according to the United Nations. A U.N. report described how Sandra Idossou, a Beninese entrepreneur, opened a handicrafts shop in the country’s commercial capital, Cotonou. With COVID-19 restrictions in place and enforced by authorities,…

REUTERS In late 2021, Nopea Ride, Kenya’s electric taxi fleet service, opened an electric vehicle (EV) charging hub at Village Market in the capital, Nairobi, demonstrating the growing demand for electric mobility in East Africa. The Finnish electric cab company earlier had announced that it planned to triple its fleet in Nairobi, helping reduce emissions from the city’s notorious traffic. EkoRent, the parent company of Nopea, now has about 1,500 EVs in its fleet.  Estonian on-demand transport company Bolt announced in October 2021 that it will roll out electric cabs in South Africa. It came four months after the company…

REUTERS In Nigeria, a country heavily reliant on revenues from its oil exports, entrepreneur Ifedolapo Runsewe has identified another type of black gold: used car tires. She has set up Freetown Waste Management Recycle, an industrial plant dedicated to transforming old tires into paving bricks, floor tiles and other goods that are in high demand. “Creating something new from something that will otherwise be lying somewhere as waste was part of the motivation,” Runsewe said at her factory in Ibadan. “We are able to create an entire value chain around the tires,” she said, holding a paving brick that is…

ADF STAFF Internet blackouts have become the tool of choice for many governments trying to quash protests or tamp down on unrest, sometimes in violation of their own constitution. Advocates for internet freedom say that up to 90% of people on the African continent have experienced some kind of government-mandated total or partial internet disruption in recent years. Among the most notable shutdowns was the Nigerian government’s blockade of the social media site Twitter in 2021 that lasted for seven months. It cost the nation more than $1.6 billion in lost business, according to internet analyst NetBlocks, which tracks internet…

ADF STAFF Larba Mathieu Yougbare hunched over as he tried to loosen the firm, dry soil with a small hoe. Frustration was as evident on the farmer’s face as beading sweat. He returned to the eastern Burkina Faso city of Fada empty-handed. “The harvest is bad,” he told the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) earlier this year. “We came here because we were forced to flee our village. Our fields in the village are more fertile than those here.” Yougbare was given a small plot to work near Fada, but his efforts have yielded few rewards. Hunger stalks…