Africa is yet to suffer a major outbreak of the coronavirus Covid 19, but if it did strike the consequences could be catastrophic. BBC correspondents around the continent explain.
Africa is yet to suffer a major outbreak of the coronavirus Covid 19, but if it did strike the consequences could be catastrophic. BBC correspondents around the continent explain.
That's all from BBC
Africa Live for now. Keep
up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa
Today podcast or check the BBC News website.
A
reminder of our wise words of the day:
When the mother goat chews grass, her kid watches."
Municipality for SA's capital dissolved amid squabbles
South Africa's municipality of Tshwane - which
includes the capital Pretoria - has been dissolved after months of political
squabbles.
Tshwane, in the economic hub of Gauteng, currently
has no mayor and no city council as rival parties vie for control.
The provincial government said the municipality was
being mismanaged and money was being wasted
A coalition led by the opposition Democratic Alliance
won highly contested municipal elections there in 2016.
Since then, it
has struggled to run Tshwane, partly because of disruption by the African
National Congress and other parties.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura said fresh elections would be held
in 90 days, reports Reuters news agency.
Congo petition to free Laurent Kabila murder convicts
BBC World Service
Getty Images
Laurent Kabila's image could be seen on the streets of Kishasa years after his death
The families of dozens of people who were jailed for the killing of Laurent Kabila, the former leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo, have petitioned the authorities for their release.
They're hoping the new Congolese government might be more receptive to their demands.
Mr Kabila was shot dead by a bodyguard in 2001. Almost 100 people were convicted for the killing by a military court, with no right to appeal.
Twenty-four people were sentenced to death; the others jailed.
Ten people have since died in custody. An African human rights court has already found the convictions to be unfair.
Oldest Egyptian pyramid reopens
BBC World Service
AFP
The oldest Egyptian pyramid has officially reopened after many years of restoration work.
The Djoser step pyramid in Saqqara dates back 4,700 years.
It was built during the Third Dynasty of the Pharoahs.
Work on its restoration began nearly 15 years ago.
It was interrupted for several years during the unrest that followed the uprising against ex-President Hosni Mubarak.
The design of the pyramid set the style for the great pyramids of Giza.
Fears for coronavirus in HIV hot spot
Andrew Harding
BBC News, Johannesburg
Getty Images
People with HIV are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus
For now, South Africa is
portraying its detection of the country's first coronavirus patient as a sign of
success - as proof that the public health systems of the continent's most
developed and sophisticated economy are working as planned.
"This is not… a failure.
Our health systems [are] able to detect and rapidly identify cases," the
National Institute for Communicable Diseases tweeted within hours of the
announcement of the infection in KwaZulu-Natal.
The continent as a whole has
clearly benefited from the remarkably slow arrival of the virus in Africa - a
window of several weeks that has enabled the World Health Organization (WHO),
national governments and other groups to build up testing and treatment
capabilities.
But in South Africa, there are
particular concerns related to the country's long-running HIV epidemic - the
worst in the world.
More than seven million people
here are living with a virus that seriously weakens immune systems, leaving
many people potentially more vulnerable to coronavirus.
Elsewhere in Africa, some
people have taken comfort from the fact that many governments have recently
been forced to confront the dangers of successive Ebola outbreaks - an
experience that has strengthened the capacity of many health systems to detect
and respond to a far deadlier virus.
But there are also deep
concerns that - on a continent still wrestling with entrenched poverty, plagued
by conflicts, and poorly served by over-stretched health services - a serious
outbreak of this new coronavirus could quickly overwhelm some countries.
At least three conferences cancelled in Africa over coronavirus
Getty Images
The Next Einstein Forum, pictured here in 2016, in among the cancelled conferences
Three major conferences in Africa have been cancelled due to
concerns over the coronavirus that has killed more than 3,000 people
worldwide.
One of them is the high-level ministerial conference
organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, (UN-ECA) which
was scheduled to be held from 18 to 24 March in the Ethiopian capital Addis
Ababa.
The Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and
Economic Development was part of the 53rd session of the Economic Commission
for Africa.
The ECA said that it will also "postpone all public
meetings" due to fears arising from the spread of coronavirus.
"Following global health concerns pertaining to the
COVID-19 coronavirus and the need for added vigilance, upon consultation with
partners, the ECA will postpone all public meetings until further notice,"
read the ECA statement.
The Next Einstein Forum that was slated to take place next
week in Kenya's capital Nairobi has also been postponed to a later date.
The forum, typically attended by more than 2,000 people from
more than 79 countries was scheduled for 9 to 13 March.
The
Africa CEO forum which was scheduled to be held between 9 to 10 March in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, has also been postponed to a later date.
'Liberia is ready for coronavirus because of Ebola'
Liberia is relatively well equipped to deal with the coronavirus because of their experience with the Ebola, a doctor who fought the 2014 outbreak has told the BBC.
Infectious-disease expert Dr Mosoka Fallah led Liberia's efforts to contain Ebola in the outbreak.
He told the BBC's Bola Mosuro that a key aspect that would help was the ability to carry out tests in Liberia to see if people had the virus.
That is because testing facilities were set up during the Ebola crisis.
At first, they had to send their tests to Guinea, which could take a week to get the results.
Listen to his interview:
Dr Mosoko led Liberia's efforts to contain Ebola - now he's preparing for coronavirus
Ivorian president rules out third-term bid
Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service
AFP
President Alassane Ouattara won re-election in 2015
Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara has said he will not run in October's election, ending months of speculation over whether he would stand for a third term.
He said he believed power should be passed to the younger generation.
Mr Ouattara - who is 78 - had hinted previously that he could run again if his traditional rivals put themselves forward as candidates.
About 3,000 people were killed during post-election violence 10 years ago, when the former President Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down after losing to Mr Ouattara.
Nigerian big brother contestants welcome baby girl
Nigerian reality TV stars Tope Adenibuya, who is popularly known as Teddy A, and Bamike Olawunmi AKA Bam Bam, have welcomed their baby daughter to the world.
The two started dating while in the Big Brother Naija show and got married in in 2019.