Water-borne illnesses are often spread through contaminated drinking water systems. Most of the contaminants are faeces and urine of sick people and animals. Another contaminant is runoff from garbage sites, landfills, sewer pipes, septic systems and industrial and residential developments.
To fight the spread of water-borne diseases in Africa, all stakeholders have to institute better sanitation measures and provide drinking water, washing and bathing facilities that promote improved hygiene. Also, water should be kept separate from waste.
In addition, extensive education programmes could help ensure that residents are aware of the proper hygiene techniques to keep their water supplies safe.…

• The multi-phase project will provide water to the Gauteng region of South Africa and generate hydroelectricity for Lesotho.
• The Lesotho Highland Development Authority will implement the part of the project that falls within Lesotho’s borders.

The board of directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a loan of $86.72 million to co-finance the second phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.

In a statement, AfDB said the multi-phase project will provide water to the Gauteng region of South Africa and generate hydroelectricity for Lesotho.

The project entails harnessing the waters of the Senqu/Orange River in the Lesotho highlands by constructing a series of dams for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

The Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority, a state-owned entity in South Africa charged with financing and implementing bulk raw water infrastructure projects, will use the funds to construct the Polihali Dam and reservoir, a 38 kilometer-long water transfer …

Immediate action is needed to respond to the severe drought that is ravaging communities in Kenya’s dry regions – categorized as Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL).

This is according to the UN’s humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) which said that two and half million people are already experiencing deep food insecurity after two back-to-back rainy seasons failed.

By November, it will have nearly tripled since the same time last year, the organization warned.

“People in the ASAL region are facing a dire situation”, said Stephen Jackson, UN Resident Coordinator for Kenya, as he launched the humanitarian Flash Appeal for the Kenya Drought response.

Speaking from Nairobi Jackson said people in Wajir, Northern Kenya, had not seen rain for over a year. Acute malnutrition rates are rising rapidly, posing an imminent risk to children and pregnant and lactating women.

Lives ‘upended’ 

He described how a mother at the El-Nur Clinic supported by …

This amount of vaccines may sound considerably large but in reality its not, its actually  only enough to vaccinate a mere 17 per cent of the population and that is way below the intended global year-end target of vaccinating 40 per cent of Africa’s population.

As such, this shortfall in vaccine doses is worsened by the misconceptions that are keeping the public from usurping even the few doses that have made it into the continent. Falling short of explaining why, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that the COVAX facility has been forced to reduce the amount of planned vaccine deliveries to Africa.

According to the WHO, some 150 million vaccines that were intended for delivery to Africa this year will not make it. As a result, the continent is facing a shortage of more than 500 million doses.…

The full blossom of the African girl child still has miles to go, with many girls still bearing the brunt of a string of heartbreaking complex misfortunes marauding the continent of untapped potential which can otherwise be harnessed to foster growth and development in diverse fields.  

Africa is renowned as home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies and offers exciting frontiers for businesses looking for growth and new markets. However, gender inequality holds captive this massive potential.

According to McKinsey Global Institute, if Africa steps up its efforts now to close gender gaps, it can secure a substantial growth dividend in the process thereby accelerating progress toward parity which could boost African economies by the equivalent of 10% of their collective GDP by 2025.  Due to the failure to embrace gender diversity, millions of girls, women, and Africa’s overall social and economic progress will not reach its full potential.…

Uganda’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Ruth Nankabirwa, urged the project beneficiaries to take advantage of the government’s free electricity supply policy it rolled out in 2018, provided wiring of their premises had been certified.

The Bank’s Country Manager, Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, noted that besides promoting small and medium businesses, the availability of stable power would bolster service delivery, especially at health centres.…