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Africa: Covid-19 – How Did Africa Defy the Odds With Fewer Deaths?

Published

1 month ago

March 15, 2025

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The COVID-19 pandemic was supposed to decimate African populations, but that didn’t happen. Why?
LAGOS/NAIROBI/JOHANNESBURG – When COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic in March 2020, the international community had dire predictions for Africa: the region’s underfunded and poorly equipped health facilities would crumble and millions of people could die.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa said in April 2020 that up to 3.3 million Africans could lose their lives as a direct result of COVID-19.
Five years on, Africa’s recorded COVID-19 death toll stands at just over 175,500 – that’s 2.5% of the 7 million global death toll, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
“None of the early predictions were steeped in deep science or research about Africa,” said Oyewale Tomori, who chaired Nigeria’s advisory committee on COVID response.
“We forgot how African scientists dealt with anthrax in Kenya, Ebola in Nigeria, and Marburg and mpox in Rwanda. Although they got international support for COVID, the expertise in these countries still is what controlled these outbreaks.
There have been some concerns over the accuracy of caseloads and death tolls reported by African countries.
The WHO has said African countries conducted fewer tests than those in Europe and United States due to lack of resources, while a 2022 World Bank study found that Kenya underreported COVID deaths.
But experts said Africa fared better than expected and than other continents as the grim forecasts failed to recognise Africa’s previous experiences with disease outbreaks, its strict COVID-19 lockdowns and youthful population.
By the time COVID hit, African health experts already had experience in border surveillance, contact tracing, social distancing, patient isolation, and even in conducting safe funerals, Tomori said.
Continental strategy
Mosoka Fallah, director of the Science and Innovation Directorate at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said preparation and the ability to diagnose cases quickly were key to tackling the outbreak.
Before the region identified its first case in February 2020, Africa CDC had gathered all the region’s health ministers to develop a continent-wide strategy.
When they found that only two labs in Africa could test for the virus, Fallah said they sent scientists to South Africa and Senegal for training, instead of sending samples overseas.
“Those in the West were saying that Africa did not have the skillset to do diagnostics and samples should be sent to Europe. But we refused and decided to build our capacity on testing,” Fallah said.
When flights stopped coming to Africa, it was difficult to get medical supplies manufactured abroad and the Africa CDC partnered with Ethiopian Airlines and the World Food Programme to move test kits and PPE across the continent, he said.
They also sought assistance from the WHO, philanthropic organisations, including the Jack Ma Foundation, and a coalition of African business leaders to source and buy scarce vaccines and PPE.
Fallah said Ghana began producing its own PPE to address massive shortages in its clinics.
“It was Africans looking deep within themselves and the coordinated government approach that reversed the dark prediction that there will be so many dead bodies in the streets that we will not be able to bury them,” Fallah said.
Demographic advantage
Moses Orinda, who was head of health programmes for Catholic Relief Services in Kenya during COVID-19, said there were other factors at play too.
“Many African countries had stricter containment measures compared to western nations; we also have larger youthful population, and good community outreach,” added Orinda.
African countries imposed some of the world’s strictest lockdowns, controversially resorting at times to police brutality to keep people at home.
In Kenya, where hundreds of people typically attend funerals, police were deployed to ensure numbers were restricted to up to 15 people and burial ceremonies took place quickly.
In South Africa, soldiers and police officers patrolled the streets and people’s houses to crack down on social gatherings, the drinking of alcohol and even the sale of cigarettes – all of which could land an offender in prison.
Orinda also said there was good public awareness about the virus even in rural areas, where villagers reported suspected cases to health authorities.
He said that while surveillance at international airports was effective, more resources should have been deployed at a regional level to track and trace suspected cases.
Health experts also pointed to the fact that 70% of sub-Saharan Africa’s people are under the age of 30, meaning they were less susceptible to the virus.
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Tomori, who is also a principal researcher on COVID antibodies in Nigeria, said his research found that while the virus was spreading, not as many people were getting sick.
He said this was because younger people had better immunity compared to older people.
As many as two thirds of the African population was largely asymptomatic as studies revealed high levels of immunity despite a lower number of known cases, a study published in the National Library of Medicine paper found.
Although Africa did not succumb to the worst-case scenario during COVID, Fallah said African leaders had to do more to strengthen health care systems, especially in rural areas, to detect and handle disease outbreaks at the community level.
He said this would prevent pockets of disease from developing into epidemics.
“We need to be able to build stronger, accessible primary health care centres that have drugs, water and diagnostics, so that our people can get treatment in their villages without burdening hospitals in cities,” he said.
(Reporting by Bukola Adebayo; Nita Bhalla; and Kim Harrisberg; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
Read the original article on Thomson Reuters Foundation.
5 Years Since Covid Was Declared a Pandemic, We’re Still Poorly Prepared for the Next One
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Africa: Expanding Market Access – Unlocking New Opportunities for Entrepreneurs

Published

1 hour ago

April 22, 2025

An24 Africa

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Sometimes, one opportunity is all it takes to change the trajectory of a business. For many women in the WCW Programme, 2024 has been a year of breakthroughs – where barriers gave way to bridges, and small businesses found space to grow.
Thanks to focused coaching and training, WCW entrepreneurs opened the door to over 10 new markets, generating opportunities valued at more than US$200,000. With tailored procurement support, they went even further – securing five supplier partnerships in Tanzania and seven in Zambia. These aren’t just numbers. They’re new deals signed, new shelves stocked, and new markets won.
Behind this progress is WCW’s strong belief in insight before action. Partnering with a leading service provider, the programme is helping entrepreneurs decode market trends, customer behaviours, and competitor landscapes. Through boot camps in six countries, women are now equipped with sharper strategies to position and promote their businesses like pros.
In the agriculture and agro-processing sectors, WCW is collecting critical data to pinpoint entry barriers, market concentrations, and competitive pressures. These insights are more than academic – they’re fuelling policy advocacy aimed at making it easier for small businesses to enter and thrive in high-potential sectors.
Support is also happening behind the scenes. WCW has brought in seasoned service providers to guide entrepreneurs in securing offtake agreements – particularly in agribusiness, where the potential to scale is massive. Plans to roll out a collective/aggregation model are also underway, giving smaller businesses the power to move together and tap into bigger supply chains.
Key Voices:
“The programme helped me focus on customer needs, allowing me to improve service delivery and expand my product range.”
— Participant from Tanzania
“The WCW-I programme has been helping me develop confidence, refine operations, and expand my market reach.”
— Participant from Zambia
With clearer pathways and stronger partnerships, WCW is showing what’s possible when entrepreneurs are given the tools – and the trust – to lead their own growth.
Read the original article on Graça Machel Trust.
AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 110 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.
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US to ban artificial food dyes in cereals, snacks and beverages

Published

2 hours ago

April 22, 2025

an24afri

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(BBC) US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is set to announce a ban on certain artificial food dyes, according to a statement from the health agency.

Kennedy plans to announce the phasing out of petroleum-based synthetic dyes as a “major step forward in the Administration’s efforts to Make America Healthy Again” the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Monday.

No exact dates for the changes were provided, but HHS said Kennedy would announce more details at a news conference on Tuesday.

The dyes – which are found in dozens of foods, including breakfast cereals, candy, snacks and beverages – have been linked to neurological problems in some children.

On the campaign trail alongside Donald Trump, Kennedy last year pledged to take on artificial food dyes as well as ultra-processed foods as a whole once confirmed to lead to top US health agency.

The move comes after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this year banned one dye, Red Dye 3, from US food and pharmaceuticals starting in 2027, citing its link to cancer in animal studies. California banned the dye in 2023.

Most artificially coloured foods are made with synthetic petroleum-based chemicals, according to nutrition nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

Some of the petroleum-based food dyes include Blue 1, used in candy and baked goods; Red 40, used in soda, candy, pastries and pet food; and Yellow 6, also used in baked goods and drinks. Synthetic food dyes are found in dozens of popular foods including M&M’s, Gatorade, Kool-Aid and Skittles.

The only purpose of the artificial food dyes is to “make food companies money”, said Dr Peter Lurie, a former FDA official and the president of CSPI.

“Food dyes help make ultra-processed foods more attractive, especially to children, often by masking the absence of a colorful ingredient, like fruit,” he said. “We don’t need synthetic dyes in the food supply, and no one will be harmed by their absence.”

Companies have found ways to eliminate many of the dyes in other countries, including Britain and New Zealand, said former New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle.

For example, in Canada, Kellogg uses natural food dyes like carrot and watermelon juice to colour Froot Loops cereal, despite using artificial dyes in the US.

How harmful the synthetic dyes are is debatable, said Ms Nestle.

“They clearly cause behavioural problems for some – but by no means all – children, and are associated with cancer and other diseases in animal studies,” she said.

“Enough questions have been raised about their safety to justify getting rid of them, especially because it’s no big deal to do so,” she added. “Plenty of non-petroleum alternative dyes exist and are in use.”

In 2008, British health ministers agreed to phase out six artificial food colourings by 2009, while the European Union bans some colourings and requires warning labels on others.

In recent months, Kennedy’s food-dye ban has found momentum in several state legislatures. West Virginia banned synthetic dyes and preservatives in food last month, while similar bills have been introduced in other states.

The post US to ban artificial food dyes in cereals, snacks and beverages appeared first on ZNBC-Just for you.

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Africa: Captain Ibrahim Traoré – the Soldier Selling Africa False Hope

Published

2 hours ago

April 22, 2025

An24 Africa

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Traoré’s anti-democratic posture is not a blueprint for development — it is a calculated strategy to entrench military rule under the guise of a populist revolution.
What Traoré is selling is not a radical reimagining of governance. It is an age-old authoritarian tactic: discredit democracy, invoke national pride, and suppress dissent — all while consolidating power… Since assuming power through a 2022 coup, Traoré has suspended political parties, cracked down on the press, and muzzled civil society organisations. He claims these actions defend national sovereignty and promote a “popular, progressive revolution.”
Clad in fatigues and fluent in fiery rhetoric, Captain Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso has emerged as a poster child of a new wave of African populism. To his supporters, he is a revolutionary — bold, youthful, and principled.
To the disillusioned youth across the continent, he offers a seductive promise: progress without the inconveniences of democracy. But behind the revolutionary slogans and Sankara-inspired aesthetics lies a far less romantic reality.
Traoré’s anti-democratic posture is not a blueprint for development — it is a calculated strategy to entrench military rule under the guise of a populist revolution. Let us be clear, Africa has every right to interrogate the forms and functions of democracy on the continent.
For decades, many African states have endured dysfunctional governance, hollow elections, and endemic corruption — even under democratically elected leaders. But that frustration must not be manipulated into legitimising authoritarianism.
What Traoré is selling is not a radical reimagining of governance. It is an age-old authoritarian tactic: discredit democracy, invoke national pride, and suppress dissent — all while consolidating power.
Since assuming power through a 2022 coup, Traoré has suspended political parties, cracked down on the press, and muzzled civil society organisations. He claims these actions defend national sovereignty and promote a “popular, progressive revolution.”
But there is little “popular” about a regime that stifles dissent and sidelines citizen participation. Beneath the rhetoric, his governance follows a familiar authoritarian script: glorify the military, delegitimise the opposition, and centralise authority.
His framing of democracy as a Western construct is both lazy and intellectually dishonest. Democracy is not a Western invention — it is a universal aspiration. It is not perfect — no system is — but it provides tools for accountability, the protection of rights, and peaceful transitions of power.
Traoré’s assertion that no country has developed under democracy ignores glaring counterexamples: India, Indonesia, Botswana, Mauritius, and even South Africa — imperfect democracies that have made tangible developmental progress.
Democracy is not the enemy of progress; bad leadership is. Traoré frequently cites China and Rwanda as models of authoritarian success. But cherry-picking these exceptions while ignoring the graveyard of failed autocracies is deeply misleading.
For every China, there are countless Zimbabwes, Sudans, and Libyas — nations brought to their knees by unchecked power. Even China’s economic gains have come at great human cost: widespread censorship, suppression of dissent, and the erosion of personal freedoms — trade-offs many Africans are neither willing nor ready to accept.
In truth, Traoré’s appeal is more symbolic than substantive. His military garb, rejection of Western aid, and Pan-Africanist slogans serve a performative function — designed to project the image of a revolutionary, while masking the repressive nature of his regime.
It is political theatre, expertly staged for a generation hungry for change but jaded by the failures of democracy. And let us not be fooled by his youth or populist flair. Africa has seen this movie before.
From Mobutu in Zaire to Mengistu in Ethiopia, the continent’s post-independence history is littered with military strongmen who promised renewal but delivered repression. They all began with charismatic appeals and revolutionary fervour.
They all ended with censorship, violence, and economic ruin. Traoré’s growing popularity among young Africans — many of whom have no memory of the brutality of past military regimes — is understandable, but dangerous.
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Disillusionment with democracy should fuel reform, not nostalgia for dictatorship. Africa does not need another soldier-saviour. It needs strong institutions, functional systems, and an empowered citizenry — not one infantilised by authoritarian paternalism.
If Captain Traoré is genuinely committed to African sovereignty and development, let him invest in institution-building. Let him empower an independent judiciary, uphold press freedom, invest in civic education, and be accountable to the people — not just through speeches, but through action.
Anything less is not leadership — it is manipulation. The truth is, democracy does not fail because it is un-African. It fails when it is hijacked by corrupt elites, undermined by weak institutions, and eroded by poverty and exclusion.
The solution is not to discard democracy — but to fix it, to deepen it, to make it real. That is the only sustainable path to development, dignity, and self-determination.
Umar Farouk Bala writes from Abuja. He can be reached via: umarfaroukofficial@gmail.com.
Read the original article on Premium Times.
AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 110 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.
Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.
AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa – aggregating, producing and distributing 500 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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