A journey through life
Posted in Africa on Jul 31st, 2009
Damage to an undersea cable has caused major disruptions to internet access across West Africa. Benin, Togo, Niger and Nigeria are the hardest-hit countries. The disruption is thought to have been caused by damage to the SAT-3 cable which runs between Portugal and Spain to South Africa via West Africa. The 15,000 kilometre long SAT-3 [...]
Posted in Africa on Jul 28th, 2009
Delegates from 10 African countries on the Nile River began discussions yesterday to draft a new water-sharing deal. Meeting in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria, delegates are hoping to conclude an agreement which will establish a permanent body to govern water allocation along the Nile. Last month talks in Kinshasa broke down after officials [...]
Posted in Africa on Jul 24th, 2009
East Africa’s first undersea internet cable went live yesterday, a month after its launch. The optic fibre cables links South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique to international communication networks. Its operators, Seacom say the cable will improve the region’s industrial and commercial prospects. According to news reports five institutions, including two universities and a [...]
Posted in Africa on Jul 23rd, 2009
According to a study by the World Health Organisation (WHO), river blindness could be eliminated using drugs. WHO scientists observed three areas in Mali and Senegal where river blindness is widespread, and discovered that after 17 years of regular treatment with the drug ivermectin few infections remained in the community. Subsequent studies showed no further [...]
Posted in Africa on Jul 21st, 2009
South Africa has launched clinical trials of an AIDS vaccine created by its own researchers. The vaccine, created at the University of Cape Town, targets the specific HIV strain that has blighted South Africa. Trials are currently taking place in Boston, US, to ensure the safety of the vaccine. However officials at the launch in [...]
Posted in Africa on Jul 16th, 2009
In Congo Brazzaville, preliminary results show President Denis Sassou-Nguesso has won another seven years in office. The electoral commission said the president took 78.6 per cent of the vote while his nearest rival managed 7.5 per cent. Opposition leaders told voters to boycott Sunday’s election, saying the government had inflated the electoral figures. They claim the turnout [...]
Posted in Africa on Jul 16th, 2009
Education ministers across the world this week pledged greater support for higher education in Africa. At the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education, the ministers also called for greater collaboration between African universities and supported the fast-tracking of an Association of African Universities to develop quality standards. During the summit, China announced it would assist [...]
Posted in Africa on Jul 14th, 2009
Henry Okah, the leader of the main rebel movement in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger River, has been released from jail. The country’s Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa withdrew all charges of treason and gun-running against him. The move came after President Umaru Yar’Adua announced an amnesty for the rebels last month. The Movement for the Emancipation of [...]
Abortion is an issue that is very dear to my heart. In Africa, Nigeria it is a widespread problem. Even though i refer to it as a problem, to many women the reverse is the case, simply because abortion is an act that can be done at will with out the consent of any one. [...]
Posted in Africa on Jul 10th, 2009
IRIN news says many of the thousands fleeing fighting in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, are young men afraid of being forced into militia groups. An eyewitness near the Kenyan border, some six hundred kilometres south of the capital confirmed that new arrivals are mainly young men. In the past it was mostly women and children hoping [...]
