Author: Jamichael Tolbert

Vice President of the Presidential Council, Musa Al-Koni, met on Sunday with the Swiss Ambassador to Libya, Joseph Philippe Ringli, and the Advisor for Humanitarian and International Cooperation, Sarah Voelmer. Al-Koni praised Switzerland’s role in the field of human rights, expressing the Council’s desire to achieve stability through a democracy that would “bring development, not wars and conflicts.” For his part, the Swiss ambassador affirmed his country’s support for the PC’s efforts towards achieving peace through its national reconciliation project, which he said would pave the way for an agreed-upon electoral process. He said that Switzerland will work through its…

Information Communication Technology (ICT) and digital economy experts have unanimously asserted that Tanzania stands fully prepared for the advent of Artificial Intelligence, thanks to the government’s unwavering determination and substantial infrastructure development. During a recent panel discussion at the Julius Nyerere International Conference Center (JNICC) as part of the ongoing Tanzania Annual ICT Conference (TAIC), the experts shared their experiences and lauded the government’s proactive approach to the digital future. The panel, themed “Is Tanzania Ready for AI?” featured distinguished members, including General Secretary of ISOC, Ms Pamela Chogo, Secretary General of Tanzania Internet Services Association, Ms Noah Maina, and…

This index serves as a comprehensive tool for monitoring and assessing hunger on a global, regional, and national scale. Joining Nigeria in this unfortunate predicament are Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Yemen, Burkina Faso, and Mali, all of which are expected to witness increasingly dire hunger situations throughout the year. The Global Hunger Index stressed that despite the 2023 circumstances not yet being fully accounted for in the data within this year’s GHI scores, early warning resources have indicated a global crisis unfolding. The index further noted that while conflict and climate change remain pivotal drivers of these crises,…

Despite the importance of hand wash­ing to prevent the spread of epidemics, millions in African countries like Nige­ria, including hundreds of thousands of school-going children, do not have access to handwashing facilities with soap. People living in rural areas, urban slums, disaster-prone areas, and low-income countries are the most vulnera­ble and the most affected. Without improved access to safe Water, Hygiene and Sanitation(WASH) curbing wa­ter-borne diseases, malnutrition and stunting would be extremely hard. Access to water and hygiene is a human right.Poor sanitation is linked to the transmission of diarrhoeal diseases such as cholera and dys­entery, as well as typhoid,…

King Mohammed VI chaired over a Ministers’ Council in Rabat this Thursday, during which Finance Minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui made a presentation on the highlights of the 2024 draft budget. According to the draft budget, the Moroccan government expects an economic growth of 3.7% and a narrowing of the fiscal deficit to 4% next year. The earthquake that struck on Sept 8 had no impact on the macro-economic assumptions of the draft budget as the government expects to further cut the deficit from 4.5% expected this year to 4%. Morocco has reacted efficiently to the earthquake through a multi-pronged program…

Nigeria and the European Union, on Thursday, signed finance agreements worth over €900m for development projects. The agreements were signed at the EU-Nigeria Strategic Dialogue in Abuja. It formed a central part of the EU-Nigeria cooperation to advance the country’s green, resilient, digitally inclusive transition under Government Priorities and Global Gateway. Developed jointly between the EU and Nigeria, the first signed agreement would drive new programmes through Global Gateway as follows: climate-smart agriculture, €29m); sustainable energy, €37m; access to health services, €45m; and education support to youth and education development in the North-West region, €5.4m. In addition, the second signed…

Driven to offer Africans hope, dignity and opportunity, MTN Group this week celebrated the 25th anniversary of MTN Rwanda at a gala event attended by President Paul Kagame and other dignitaries. President Kagame commended MTN for its commitment over the years: “Who else would have found it easy to invest in a country that had just emerged from our tragic history, as we know it? We took risks, both of us, you took a risk with us, and we took a risk with you, but here, 25 years later I think we can say we are happy”. Speaking at the…

Kenyans whose prepaid electricity tokens are set to expire on Thursday may face challenges renewing their power supply, as Kenya Power has reported issues with the prepaid system. The system is used to purchase electricity tokens. “We are experiencing a hitch on the prepaid system which is affecting the generation of electricity tokens,” the notice read. Kenya Power however said that they are working to restore normalcy within the shortest time possible. “We apologise for the inconvenience caused.” The announcement comes a few hours after Kenya Power listed three counties that will on Thursday experience outage, following maintenance. In a…

The World Bank has asked Kenya to revoke a law that forces companies to store sensitive personal data on servers located within the country as one of the ways to ease trade in digital services with other countries. The global lender says such curbs are hindering cross-border trade in digital services. It has asked Kenya to upgrade the current Data Protection Act and related instruments such as the Health Information System Policy to scrap requirements for data localisation and adopt compatible and interoperable standards, in a move towards a single regional data market. “In particular, Kenya may seek to reduce…

The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has warned that Nigeria’s economy would be worse off if it allows un­fettered restrictions on foreign phar­maceutical products, other goods, and services. SON urged stakeholders to ensure that products in the country conform with international standards by pre­venting other countries from inundat­ing Nigeria with their substandard pharmaceutical products, other goods and services. Timothy Abner, Director, Human Resources Management, made the call on the weekend during a walk by the organisation in Lagos, to mark World Standard Day, with the theme: “Shared vision for a better world.” Abner who spoke for Standard Or­ganisation of Nigeria…