• Sudan’s humanitarian crisis is the worst in recent history, according to the United Nations.
• One-third of Sudan’s population, that is, 18 million people, are facing acute food insecurity, while 730,000 Sudanese children are believed to be suffering from severe malnutrition.
• World Food Programme(WFP) has delivered food to over 5.2 million people within Sudan since conflicts started in April.

Sudan’s humanitarian crisis

The United Nations Humanitarian Office has warned that Sudan is on the verge of facing the worst humanitarian crisis in recent history. Key drivers of this situation include intensified conflict and growing inter-communal violence, an economic crisis, soaring prices of food, fuel and essential goods, and below-average agricultural production.

“By all measures – the sheer scale of humanitarian needs, the numbers of people displaced and facing hunger – Sudan is one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory,” Edem Wosornu, director of operations at the UN Office for …

• The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) is directly importing petroleum products from Vitol Bahrain, aiming to reduce reliance on Kenyan firms and mitigate high fuel prices. 
• UNOC’s direct importation and sale of fuel to OMCs in Tanzania and Uganda is a significant step towards fostering stronger regional ties, promoting economic growth, and ensuring energy security. 

Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) has started the sale of petroleum products to oil marketing companies in both Uganda and Tanzania.

This is part of a broader strategy to test the waters before UNOC embarks on a direct importation agreement with the global oil titan, Vitol Bahrain. This maneuver signals a new era in East Africa’s energy dynamics, especially following a cooling of relations between Uganda and Kenya over fuel supply mechanisms.

Breaking New Ground: Uganda National Oil Company Direct Importation Deal

For years, Uganda’s fuel supply chain was heavily dependent on Kenyan OMCs. However, …

• Questions are lingering about US food aid to Tanzania that targets schools, with critics terming it unnecessary.
• US food aid to Tanzania has been ongoing for the past decade.
• Tanzania now wants the US to buy the food from Tanzanian farmers and fortify it in public.

An ongoing program of US food aid to Tanzania has come under sharp scrutiny after the public in East Africa’s second largest economy took to social media condemning the support from the American people.

At the moment, X (formally Twitter) is awash with Tanzanians and its thousands of nationals in the diaspora questioning the safety of US food aid which authorities in the country received recently.

Raising more questions was the fact that the food aid was not distributed to the general public but to hundreds of schools.

In its defense, the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) has issued a public statement saying the …

• An estimated $5.7 trillion is required to close the infrastructure investment gap in South Africa by 2050.
• Of the energy sector projects, 25 are under construction under Bid Window 5 of REIPPP.
• Access to clean water and sanitation is a basic human right, yet many communities in South Africa lack reliable access to these essential services.

South Africa needs an estimated $5.7 trillion To bridge the shortfall in infrastructure investment by 2050. This deficit spans several sectors, including underdeveloped transportation systems, inadequate energy provisions, scarce access to potable water and sanitation services, and a shortage of affordable housing. These issues are particularly pronounced in rural locales and informal settlements.

This is according to statements made by Mameetse Masemola, Acting Head of Infrastructure South Africa (ISA), during the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa (SIDSSA).

In a media briefing, Masemola gave an update on the initiatives led by ISA since its …

• Using Nobel-Prize-winning CRISPR gene-editing technology, scientists have made a huge stride in eliminating HIV from infected body cells.
• Research from the University of Amsterdam is promising a future where the complete eradication of the virus could become a reality.
• With an estimated 25.6 million people living with HIV in Africa, the continent remains at the epicentre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

A new scientific breakthrough is offering hope in the battle against the HIV/AIDS virus that has long evaded a definitive cure, leaving millions of people in Africa devastated.

By harnessing the precision of Nobel-Prize-winning CRISPR gene-editing technology, scientists say they have made a huge stride in eliminating HIV from infected body cells.

This innovative approach, akin to using molecular scissors, can excise the DNA such that HIV can be entirely removed and or inactivated in patients.

This development presented by a University of Amsterdam team of scientists at a …

• Tanzania’s agriculture sector holds one-third of the country’s GDP and employs 75 per cent of the population.
• The government target is to raise crop exports by 48 per cent to $3.5 billion by 2025 as food shipments rise to overtake the value that Tanzania earns from its traditional export crops.
• Tanzania earned over $1.2 billion with the export of agricultural commodities in 2020.

An outlook into Tanzania’s agriculture sector

Numbers show that farmers are Tanzania’s most essential workforce. Tanzania’s agriculture sector holds one-third of the country’s GDP and employs 75 per cent of the population.

Available data shows that approximately 80 per cent of Tanzania’s exports are agricultural products such as coffee, cotton, sisal, tea, cashew nuts and tobacco, to mention a few.

From 2014 to 2020, the above crops benefitted the nation’s export baskets. Tanzania earned over $1.2 billion with the export of agricultural commodities in 2020, according to …