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Africa: Growing Concern About Antimalarial Drug Resistance Sparks Calls for Urgent Action

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Partial resistance to a life-saving antimalarial drug has been detected in Uganda among children experiencing severe forms of the disease.
The findings of a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) paint a worrying picture. The authors reported evidence of partial resistance to the antimalarial drug artemisinin among 11 out of 100 children treated for severe malaria at a hospital in Uganda. They found that, for these 11 children, it took longer than expected for the drug to kill the parasites within three days of treatment. In addition, once authors began to focus on drug resistance, they discovered patients who had experienced recurrent malaria, even after they were thought to have been cured.
This is a worrying development. As the first-line treatment for malaria, artemisinin and artemisinin-based combination therapies — in which artemisinin is combined with partner drugs such as lumefantrine, mefloquine and amodiaquine — are a crucial weapon against this disease.
There have been growing concerns about the rise of antimalarial drug resistance spreading across Africa. Resistance develops when the malaria-carrying parasite Plasmodium falciparum mutates, allowing the parasite to continue to survive until the drug concentration has reduced. The longer the parasite can stay alive in the body, the higher the chance the treatment can fail. In the case of malaria, this places children with severe malaria at a high risk of death.
In July of 2024, a group of scientists published a call to action in the journal Science to tackle artemisinin-resistant malaria. The same month, another editorial in The Lancet Microbe posed the question: “How do we stop the global health catastrophe of artemisinin resistance in Africa?” The authors warn that although the catastrophe in question has not yet arrived, “therein lies an opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive,” they wrote.
This is not the first time that antimalarial drug resistance has emerged. In southeast Asia, partial resistance has been reported for years. But the development of partial resistance in Africa threatens to be devastating, given that the overwhelming majority of malaria cases and deaths occur in the continent. In 2022, 94 percent of malaria cases and 95 percent of malaria deaths were in Africa. A 2015 study modelled the potential impact of widespread resistance to both artemisinin and a partner drug in Africa. It estimated that there could be 16 million more malaria cases each year, and around 360,000 more severe cases that would require hospitalisation.
Experts have made several recommendations on how to contain the issue. For one, adding another drug to the mix when administering artemisinin can make it trickier for parasites to develop resistance.
Concerns about resistance also inform Malaria Consortium’s work in deploying seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) to children as a way of preventing malaria in areas of highly seasonal transmission. Evidence that resistance was developing towards the drug sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, which is administered alongside amodiaquine for SMC delivery, led to work by Malaria Consortium to explore alternative drug regimens, and the results of recent research found that the drug dihydroartemisinin- piperaquine (DP) is a potential alternative for use in SMC.
“The battle against malaria means always staying one step ahead. This is why Malaria Consortium is driving work to research alternative drugs for our arsenal in case the existing therapies develop resistance to malaria parasites,” says Anthony Nuwa, Senior Country Technical Coordinator at Malaria Consortium Uganda.
Another recommendation is increasing data surveillance and sharing, a critical aspect for improving interventions generally but of particular importance in the case of resistance. In Mozambique, Malaria Consortium, alongside IS Global, Centro de Investigação de Saúde de Manhiça, the Ministry of Health, Mozambique and National Malaria Control Programme, are monitoring for genetic markers of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite that indicate resistance to antimalarial drugs and diagnostics, helping to spot when resistance is on the rise and make the best decisions accordingly.
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“Monitoring for evidence of resistance is crucial to catching the problem before it grows bigger and to prevent severe cases or mortality. And this kind of work is needed in Africa now more than ever,” says Sonia Maria Enosse, Country Technical Coordinator for Malaria Consortium Mozambique.
The time to act is now. Containing the issue will be crucial to preventing avoidable deaths.
Related content
26 April 2024A cluster randomised controlled trial to compare sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and amodiaquine with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine for seasonal malaria chemoprevention in Karamoja region, UgandaType: Presentation
To read the original of this post on the Malaria Consortium website – including embedded links and any graphic or multimedia resources – please click here>>.
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Africa: Africa's Richest Man Aliko Dangote Expected in Zimbabwe for U.S.$1billion Business Tie-Up

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ARGUABLY Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is scheduled to visit Zimbabwe this week to discuss a US$1 billion deal that straddles across investments in cement, coal mining and power generation.
Dangote’s much expected visit this Wednesday becomes his third after previously similar engagements with Zimbabwean authorities in 2015 and 2018 amid reports he withdrew interest following “absurd” conditions presented by government.
The State media reported that during his visit, the Nigerian billionaire will meet President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other top bureaucrats to cobble details of his envisaged investment plan.
“Discussions are likely to centre around details of the deal, particularly mining concessions, licences, tax issues and other incentives, work permits for experts, security of investment and mutual benefits of the deal,” reported the State-owned Sunday Mail.
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It further said sources privy to the deal say Dangote, who is the group chief executive officer, wishes to set up a cement factory, limestone quarry and grinding plant, coal mine and power station.
“The projects are cumulatively valued between US$800 million and US$1 billion. Special Presidential Investment Adviser to the United Arab Emirates Dr Paul Tungwarara told The Sunday Mail that the businessman was keen to invest in the country.
“We are expecting him on the 12th of November, and he is expected to meet His Excellency, President Mnangagwa. He will then present his investment plan to the President. Thereafter, we will then be able to say and talk about some of the investments he is pursing in Zimbabwe,” the newspaper quoted its source.
Dangote Industries Limited, a Lagos-based diversified conglomerate, has vast business interests in cement, flour, sugar, salt, pasta, beverages, fertiliser, real estate, oil and gas sectors and logistics. Its operations span other critical business interests, including a large oil refinery, a petro-chemical plant and a fertiliser complex in Nigeria. It also has operations in 16 other African countries.
Its largest subsidiary, Dangote Cement, has integrated factories and operations across 10 African countries, namely, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania and the Republic of Congo.
Read the original article on New Zimbabwe.
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Africa: Land Is Africa's Best Hope for Climate Adaptation – It Must Be the Focus At COP30

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Agriculture, forestry and other land uses together account for about 62% of Africa’s greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, land degradation, deforestation and biodiversity loss are eroding Africa’s resilience.
But land – especially agriculture – has been on the margins of climate change initiatives. Even at the annual global climate change conference, land hasn’t featured much.
This is changing. In September 2025, Africa’s climate community met in Ethiopia, to agree on the continent’s climate priorities ahead of this year’s global climate conference, COP30. They agreed that land could be Africa’s most powerful tool in tackling climate change.
Much will depend on securing finance at COP30 for agroforestry, forest management and soil carbon restoration projects.
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Read more: Climate crisis is a daily reality for many African communities: how to try and protect them
I’ve been researching land for over 20 years. My research focuses on how to sustainably regenerate land, how community forest enterprises can combat deforestation, and how to rebuild forests as a way of combating climate change.
For this reason, I argue that COP30 must place land restoration and sustainable land management at the heart of the climate agenda. It should recognise that healthy soils, forests and ecosystems are not side issues to climate change. They are the very foundation of economic growth and making the world resilient to climate disasters.
Read more: Climate disasters are escalating: 6 ways South Africa’s G20 presidency can lead urgent action
This is especially critical for Africa, whose people and economies depend so heavily on the land. Agriculture alone, which is intrinsically tied to land, employs over two thirds of Africa’s labour force and typically accounts for 30%-40% of gross domestic product. Yet climate change disasters like prolonged droughts, rising temperatures and destructive floods are steadily eroding the land.
Millions of people in Africa could lose their farms, income, food, and future chances if COP30 does not recognise how land, nature, and climate change are all connected.
Why Africa must prioritise land and nature at COP30
Africa’s agriculture, the backbone of most economies on the continent, has been badly affected by more frequent droughts, floods and unpredictable rainfall. As a result, African countries sometimes lose an estimated 1%-2% of their gross domestic product in a year.
Over half of Africa’s population depends on crops that are fed only by rain. Therefore, extreme weather events hit the majority of Africans directly. At the same time, nearly half of the continent’s land area is degraded.
Read more: Indigenous knowledge systems can be useful tools in the G20’s climate change kit
This affects agricultural productivity and the livelihoods of around 500 million people.
Forest ecosystems such as the Congo Basin, the Guinean forests and Africa’s dryland forests are disappearing rapidly. This is already having devastating consequences for communities that rely on them for food, fuel and income.
Africa must negotiate climate finance with one voice
Adapting to climate change remains Africa’s most urgent priority. The good news is that African countries are already deploying land based actions (adaptation and using land to sequester carbon and reduce emissions) as a weapon against climate change. They are achieving this by expanding agroforestry, restoring wetlands and managing grasslands more sustainably.
This boosts soil health and increases the carbon stored in the ground. These projects are very useful in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, protecting livelihoods and building resilience.
The September 2025 second Africa Climate Summit made the continental emphasis on land official. Its Addis Ababa declaration placed land and nature-based solutions at the centre of Africa’s climate agenda. This was a step forward from Africa’s 2023 climate summit declaration, which made only passing references to land.
Read more: African countries shouldn’t have to borrow money to fix climate damage they never caused – economist
What’s needed now is for Africa to unite and focus on three key climate change areas:
What Africa needs to do at COP30
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Read more: African countries gear up for major push on climate innovation, climate financing and climate change laws
Peter Akong Minang, Director Africa, CIFOR-ICRAF, Center for International Forestry Research – World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF)
This article is republished from The Conversation Africa under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Africa: African Union Commission Welcomes and Congratulates the Republic of South Africa As G20 Chair and Host

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1. The African Union Commission (AUC) warmly expresses its support for the Republic of South Africa as G20 Chair and welcomes the country for hosting the G20 Summit in Africa for the first time. This milestone reflects South Africa’s growing role in global governance.
2. As the current Chair of the G20, South Africa has shown exceptional leadership in promoting the priorities of the Global South, advancing sustainable development, and strengthening inclusive global governance.
3. The Republic of South Africa is a vibrant democracy that upholds equality, human rights, and the rule of law. Its Constitution and policies reflect values aligned with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
4. South Africa is a nation rich in diversity, home to people of many races, cultures, languages, and faiths living together in unity. This inclusivity is a source of national strength and global admiration.
5. The African Union encourages all international partners to engage with South Africa and the wider African continent on the basis of mutual respect, truth, and constructive cooperation, supporting Africa’s continued contribution to global peace, development, and prosperity.
Read the original article on African Union.
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AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa – aggregating, producing and distributing 600 news and information items daily from over 110 African news organizations and our own reporters to an African and global public. We operate from Cape Town, Dakar, Abuja, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington DC.
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