Across the 54 Countries in Africa, these are the 5 top stories you may have missed:
Chad President wins re-election
Idriss Deby, Chad President, has been re-elected as provisional results from the April 11 poll showed on Monday, extending his 30 years in power – Reuters Africa reports
Deby who came to power in a 1990 rebellion, took 79.3% of the vote in the April 11 election, which was ostracised by top opposition leaders.
Although he was expected to give his victory speech to supporters, his campaign director, Mahamat Zen Bada, said he had instead gone to visit Chadian soldiers on the front lines after an uprising following the announcement of his win.
Suluhu: “Stop comparing me with Magufuli”
Samia Suluhu Hassan, Tanzania’s President has demand members of parliament to stop comparing her with the former leader John Pombe Magufuli who died last month – Africa News reports
The president expressed her disappointment to the members of parliament who in several sittings discussed her differences with the former president instead of focusing on the government agenda.
“It is rather bizarre that something that is trending on social media is what now guides the debate in parliament. We are supposed to be discussing and passing the government budgets…Let’s work the way parliament is supposed to,” she said.
Angola keys into privatisation to salvage dying economy
Manuel Nunes Junior, Angola’s Economic Coordination Minister, has announced that the country has resorted to selling the state-run Banco de Comercio e Industria to test investors desire for some of the country’s biggest companies including oil giant Sonangol – News Central Africa reports
Nunes Junior said: “This is the first privatization in the financial sector and its outcome will be very important to understand all those that follow.” According to him, Potential candidates to buy BCI will be selected in April to take part in a tender to buy 100% of its shares through the Luanda stock market.
Man arrested for Table Mountain fire
Authorities in Cape Town, South Africa have confirmed that a 35-year-old man has been arrested for the Table Mountain fire incident – eNCA reports
According to JP Smith, Mayco Member for Safety and Security, over 250 firefighters have been deployed to battle the blaze after multiple residents contacted the emergency services, saying three men were moving through the bushes and starting fires.
“A resident from the area found an individual standing next to a fire. Law enforcement officers arrived on the scene and assisted in arresting that individual,” Smith said.
COVID-19 Update
As of April 19, confirmed cases of Covid-19 from 55 African countries reached 4,431,640 while over 9,263,298 vaccinations have been administered across the continent – All Africa reports
Reported deaths in Africa reached 117,898 and 3,943,473 people have recovered. South Africa has the most reported cases – 1,566,769 – and 53,736 people died. Other most-affected countries are Morocco ( 505,811 ), Tunisia ( 285,490 ), Ethiopia ( 242,028 ), Egypt ( 216,334 ), Libya ( 171,880 ) and Nigeria ( 164,233 ).
