Latest Africa News

WHO grants first mpox vaccine approval to ramp up response to disease in Africa

Sep. 13, 2024 12:15 PM EDT

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization said Friday it has granted its first authorization for use of a vaccine against mpox in adults, calling it an important step toward fighting the disease in Africa. The approval of the vaccine made by Bavarian Nordic A/S means that donors...

Senegal's president dissolves parliament to call a snap legislative election

Sep. 12, 2024 22:07 PM EDT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dissolved the opposition-led parliament on Thursday, paving the way for a snap legislative election six months after he was voted in on an anti-establishment platform. The new election will take place Nov. 17, Faye...

US backs 2 permanent seats for African nations on the UN Security Council

Sep. 12, 2024 20:29 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States announced Thursday that it will support the addition of two new permanent seats for African countries on the powerful U.N. Security Council — and a first-ever non-permanent seat for a small island developing nation. U.S. Ambassador to the...

The US-Russia battle for influence in Africa plays out in Central African Republic

Sep. 11, 2024 02:46 AM EDT

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Hours after Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin rebelled against his country’s top military leaders, his private army’s biggest client in Africa panicked, turning for help to his foe in the West. Officials from Central African...

Fuel tanker collision in Nigeria caused an explosion that killed at least 48 people

Sep. 10, 2024 01:27 AM EDT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A fuel tanker collided head-on with another truck in Nigeria on Sunday causing an explosion that killed at least 48 people, the country’s emergency response agency said. The fuel tanker was also carrying cattle in the Agaie area in north-central Niger state...

WHO and Africa CDC launch a response plan to the mpox outbreak

Sep. 06, 2024 12:54 PM EDT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization launched on Friday a continent-wide response plan to the outbreak of mpox, three weeks after WHO declared outbreaks in 12 African countries a global emergency. The estimated...

Xi offers African leaders more aid as China challenges US-led global order

Sep. 05, 2024 05:57 AM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — Dozens of African leaders gathered Thursday in Beijing for a summit that signals China's influence in a continent that it hopes will be a key ally in pushing back against a U.S.-led global order. Chinese President Xi Jinping promised the leaders billions of dollars...

A boat carrying Europe-bound migrants capsizes off Libyan coast, leaving 1 dead and 22 missing

Sep. 03, 2024 15:22 PM EDT

CAIRO (AP) — A boat carrying migrants capsized off the Libyan coast Tuesday, leaving one person dead and 22 missing, Libyan authorities said, the latest sea tragedy involving migrants seeking a better life in Europe. The coast guard in the eastern Libyan town of Tobruk said the...

Ugandan opposition figure Bobi Wine is shot and wounded in a confrontation with police

Sep. 03, 2024 14:20 PM EDT

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda's leading opposition figure Bobi Wine was shot in the leg in a confrontation with police Tuesday just outside the capital, Kampala, and was “seriously injured,” his political party said. Video posted online showed Wine surrounded by followers who...

African nations are losing up to 5% of their GDP per year with climate change, a new report says

Sep. 02, 2024 13:13 PM EDT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — African nations are losing up to 5% of their GDP every year as they bear a heavier burden than the rest of the world from climate change, a new report said Monday after one of the continent's hottest years on record. The World Meteorological Organization said...