Africa

Image: Nigerian currency Naira. Credit: Umaizi

New Currency Stemmed as Six West African Countries Object

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – French-speaking countries will have to put the cork back in the champagne bottle after six member countries of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) comprising Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, have rejected the adoption of 'Eco' as the name of the proposed single currency for West Africa.

At a special meeting, five English speaking countries in West Africa in the Nigerian capital Abuja met on January 15 and put the kibosh on adopting the Eco as African common currency as desired by mostly , French-speaking states.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 21 January 2020

Photo: An olive tree planted in a schoolyard in the Marrakech region of Morocco. Credit: High Atlas Foundation.

Morocco Fails to Mobilize Rural Communities to Advance SDGs

Viewpoint by Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir

The writer is a sociologist and president of the High Atlas Foundation, a Moroccan-U.S. not-for-profit organization dedicated to sustainable development in Morocco.

MARRAKECH (IDN) – In recent years, Morocco has put in place the right frameworks for mobilizing rural communities to advance the nation’s Sustainable development Goals (SDGs), yet it falls woefully short when it comes to implementation. As someone who has been engaged in rural development in Morocco for the past 26 years, I have analyzed how these frameworks can work together and complement each other.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 21 January 2020

Photo: Showing a HIV self-test. Credit Zuberi Mussa

Tanzania Passes Law on HIV Self-Test to Tame the Deadly Virus

15-Year Old Children Can Self-Test Without Parental Consent

By Kizito Makoye

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (IDN) – Perched on a plastic chair at his shop in the bustling Sinza suburb in Dar es Salaam, Abdul* is anxiously looking at a small kit containing liquid and a stick.

“I want to know my HIV status,” says Abdul while glancing at his watch.

A moment ago, the 28-year-old trader briskly swiped a plastic swab across his upper gum to draw some fluid and slotted it into the kit for testing.

: Kizito Makoye; THE WORLD; Africa; 20 January 2020

Photo: Ola Henrikson, IOM’s Regional Director for the EU, has asked Croatia – which assumed the six-month rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) – on 1 January 2020, to encourage any discussion on migration policy as a positive contribution of migrants for inclusive growth and sustainable development, including within the EU. Credit: European Union

New Research Pleads for Recognizing Contribution of African Migrants To Sustainable Development

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – A new set of European Commissioners has taken office in Brussels. The main migration focus of the previous cabinet of Commissioners was halting migration – which led to deals with third countries on stopping and returning refugees and migrants. People evacuated from Libya, for example, are brought to Niger and Rwanda, where they are processed before those successfully registered as refugees are taken to Europe – often after long processes filled with uncertainty.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 18 January 2020

Photo: After the police pouncing on People Power leader Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu aka Bobi Wine at the start of his countrywide consultations on January 6, his supporters are devising new ways to go past the police. Source: The Independent.

Militant Youth Pin Hopes on Uganda’s ‘New Nightmare’

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – He’s elusive. He escapes, he hides. Police keep chasing him like a video game character or a superhero in a movie.

But despite their best efforts, authorities have been unable to stop Robert Kyagulanyi – a member of parliament and a popular reggae singer who records under the stage name Bobi Wine. He plans to seize the seat held by aging President Yoweri Museveni when elections are held in 2021.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 16 January 2020

Ghana’s Year of Return Brings Call to Broaden Scope

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – When Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo pronounced 2019 as the Year of Return, his words resounded with warmth and joy to all people of African descent.

So began a year-long calendar of events including concerts, art shows, visits to heritage sites, fashion shows, movie premieres and creative economy and trade conferences, organized on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of African slaves in America.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 15 January 2020

Photo: Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike. Credit: All Naija Media

Passing of Acclaimed Nigerian Novelist Grieved

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike, novelist extraordinaire, passed this month into eternity, writes Nigerian author Okey Ndibe.

Born April 28, 1931, he had a rich life as an academic, bureaucrat, father to an only son, Osita Ike (who preceded him in death), husband (to Adebimpe Olurinsola Ike, nee Abimbolu, who survives him), and traditional leader of his community, Ndikelionwu.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 15 January 2020

Photo: Denise Butler (right) embraced Nelima Sitati Munene on January 4 in Brooklyn Park as they celebrated a new federal law giving Liberians in the U.S. a path to citizenship. Credit: Evan Frost | MPR News

Liberians Rejoice Over A Promised Path to U.S. Citizenship

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – As the Trump administration turns down an ever-growing number of applications for asylum, it surprised many that some 5,000 Liberians in the United States have been granted a path to citizenship.

In fact, it was the product of decades of effort by the Liberian community and its allies.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 08 January 2020

Bank Accounts of Angola’s Pampered Rich Frozen

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Some called her Princess. Others labeled her the beautiful face of the dictatorship – always beaming from the pages of Fortune, Forbes and other high-finance magazines which flattered her as Africa’s “First Woman Billionaire”. Today, the daughter of Angola’s ex-president is in a messy fight over millions siphoned from state funds, now frozen as part of the current president’s anti-corruption drive.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 07 January 2020

Photo: People living along the Kenya-Uganda border are amongst the poorest in the region. Credit: WFP.

Kenya and Uganda Partner With the UN to Achieve SDGs

By Siddharth Chatterjee and Rosa Malango

UN Resident Coordinators in Kenya and Uganda, Siddharth Chatterjee and Rosa Malango respectively report in a blog how the two East African neighbours have kick-started a Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by partnering with the UN to address challenges that transcend country borders. The UN Resident Coordinator (RC) is the highest-ranking representative of the UN development system at the country level. In this first of occasional series, UN News is inviting RCs to blog on issues important to the United Nations and the country where they serve. UN News carried this blog on 1 January 2020.