Africa Daily

Is this the end of Malawi’s “green gold”? Tobacco is by far Malawi’s most lucrative export. And yet, President Lazarus Chakwera says farmers need to turn to other crops. The world is changing, moving away from smoking – and farmers need to change with it, he says.But which other crops can allow Malawi to prosper like tobacco did? And how easily can farmers adapt? Hosted by Alan Kasujja (@Kasujja on Twitter) #AfricaDaily

In the fight against Covid-19, every vaccine counts.And yet, both Malawi and South Sudan say they might destroy as many as 70,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab.The World Health Organization pleaded with them not to.So what exactly is behind their plan? And what does it tell us about Africa’s struggle to immunise more than a billion people?Hosted by Alan Kasujja (@Kasujja on Twitter)#AfricaDaily

Can anyone thrive amid the madness of Covid-19?The pandemic has battered South Africa’s economy. When the country went into lockdown last year, many businesses struggled to survive.In the months that followed, a staggering 2.2 million people lost their jobs.And yet, amid the economic devastation left behind by Covid-19, there are stories of hope.For many businesses, this was just the opportunity they needed to prosper.But who are they? And what was the secret to their success?Hosted by Alan Kasujja (@Kasujja on Twitter)#AfricaDaily

Chad’s on full alert. Earlier this week, President Idriss Déby was reportedly killed during a battle with rebel forces. Since then, the army has appointed his son as leader. But the opposition says Chad “is not a monarchy”. Tensions are running high. Government and parliament have been dissolved. A curfew remains in place. Chad’s neighbours are nervous too: the country’s been a key player in the fight against jihadists across the Sahel. So, what happens now? Hosted by Alan Kasujja (@Kasujja on Twitter) #AfricaDaily

Covid-19 has put teenage girls’ futures at risk.Thousands of young girls across the continent never returned to school after lockdowns were lifted.And this is because, while they were away, many of these teenagers got pregnant.In fact, spikes in teen pregnancies have been reported in several countries across sub-Saharan Africa.So how did the problem get so bad? And what exactly can be done about it?Hosted by Alan Kasujja (@Kasujja on Twitter)#AfricaDaily

Twitter’s got its eye on Ghana. The social media giant wants to open new headquarters in Accra - the company’s first in Africa. Twitter’s also recruiting a dozen people to help it expand its reach across the continent. The news has been welcomed by many users, including the Ghanaian president himself. But how much of a difference could their move actually make? And can Africa really become a new home for big tech? Hosted by Alan Kasujja (@Kasujja on Twitter) #AfricaDaily

The African Continent Free Trade Agreement came into force this year with the aim of creating a borderless market for services, goods and commodities worth trillions of dollars for the region. It’s a high ambition for the 54 nation bloc and the World Bank estimates that the new trade regime could unlock growth in income of up to four-hundred and fifty billion dollars. It is expected to boost intra-African trade, generating millions of jobs for the continent’s youthful population. But little trade currently goes on between African countries and Bogolo Kenewendo, a former minister for trade in Botswana, says it’s not just tariffs that have hindered the process. She says it’s also about such things as product standard associations which are closely linked to colonial systems. She says for a country like Botswana it makes it easier to accept standard approved products from countries like the United Kingdom than it is from Uganda. The former minister says that this means that “instead of seeing each other as allies, we’ve seen competing sectors as just that, competing”. In Africa Daily Alan Kasujja looks at why more trade isn’t being done between African countries and what needs to change.

Tanzania’s new President seems to be taking the country in a new direction. She’s the only woman running an African country, having replaced John Pombe Magufuli, a popular leader in Tanzania, who died in March. Within the first week of taking office, she set up a taskforce to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. The severity of the virus had been downplayed by the man she succeeds. And she’s also allowed some media outlets that had been censored to reopen. She’s signing big deals with her neighbours too! In her first state visit to Uganda, she launched a billion-dollar project with President Museveni, setting up the fuel pipeline that will run between the two countries. A project she hopes will bring jobs and prosperity to the East African community. In Africa Daily Alan Kasujja has been finding out how’s she’s doing.

South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa has said Africa needs the skills and capacity to manufacture its own Covid-19. vaccines. At a conference of African leaders, he said the world was watching “vaccine apartheid”. And it’s a fact that of the hundreds of millions of vaccines that have so far been given, less than two percent have been to Africans. Up until now Africa has had a low number of Covid-19 infections compared to Europe or the United States. This is because many African governments reacted quickly - they closed borders and imposed restrictions. But the World Health Organisation has warned another wave of Covid-19 infections could happen and that less developed heath care systems could find themselves struggling. So how concerned should we be by these new variants? Prof Salim Abdul Karim is the co-chair of the South African Covid-19 advisory committee. He said, “because we are still seeing transmission, we are seeing new variants”. He said when they discovered the new South African variant “they were very concerned” because this new variant “was able to cause infections in individuals who had already been infected” in the first wave. So, with Covid-19 variants spreading how worried should Africa be about them?

In Africa an estimated 160 million people live with water scarcity. Either because there isn’t enough water or it isn’t safe to consume. And the problem is worst in big urban areas. For places like Nairobi the problem is getting bigger with more people settling in the city. It's particularly bad in some areas, places like Dandora Phase 4 in the suburbs. Caroline Achieng used to sell tea there but the water shortages have forced her out of her trade. “If you wanted water, you would have to wake up at one am and fetch it.” She said “right now there is no water in the taps”. City authorities have blamed what have been described as water cartels for the problem. Those, who either hoard or sell water for profit. But is it really as simple as that? Professor George Okoye at Nairobi University says the city is “nineteen years late” with its infrastructure investment. In today’s Africa Daily Alan Kasujja looks at why cities like Nairobi are short of water