The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a historic agreement between African Union member states that has the potential to transform the African continent. The AfCFTA is aimed at promoting trade and economic integration on the continent.
But what does this historic agreement mean for Africans? Keep reading to find out.
What you need to know
The AfCFTA is going to be a game changer for businesses and individuals in Africa. It has the potential to boost economic growth, create decent...
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Surging: Deaths from COVID-19 in Africa are surging, with the average daily number of confirmed deaths ticking past 1,000 for the first time since the pandemic began. Confirmed deaths from the virus have increased by 80% in the past four weeks, driven by the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant. In Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous city, six people are dying per day and the positivity rate of those being tested has increased eightfold in the last month....
Rasna Warah is a Kenyan writer and journalist who is working with the ONE Campaign’s COVID-19 Aftershocks project.
While Western nations are focusing their attention on their post-COVID economic recovery, Kenya is confronting a crisis with far-reaching social and economic consequences: rising poverty levels. Kenya gained an additional 2 million “new poor” as of last November due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the World Bank’s Kenya Economic Update. “The pandemic is inflicting tragic loss of life and human suffering...
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Tidal wave: COVID-19 cases are surging across Africa. The WHO said that confirmed cases rose by more than 20% since last week, calling for “urgent action” to curb the wave of infections. Uganda has seen an astonishing 2,800% rise in cases since last month, with reports of patients dying while waiting for a hospital bed. Rwanda, Namibia, and South Africa have also reintroduced restrictions in an effort to tackle the crisis. The African CDC Director John Nkenhasong warned...
COVID-19 and its aftershocks are threatening to wipe out decades of hard-earned progress in the fight against extreme poverty. For the first time in more than 20 years, global poverty is on the rise. The World Bank estimated that the number of people living in extreme poverty globally increased by 120 million (including 40 million in Africa) in 2020 due to the pandemic. The outlook is grimmer still with a further increase of up to 40 million is projected...
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Turning point: This week’s G7 summit needs to be a “turning point” in the race to vaccinate the world against COVID-19. Joe Biden played the first card as he boarded Air Force 1 on Wednesday, promising to announce a major plan to vaccinate the world (more on that later). At ONE we’re joining 200 world leaders in calling for the G7 to do whatever it takes to beat the virus everywhere, starting with immediately sharing at least 1...
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Fundamental threat: Low-income economies face a “fundamental threat” of being left behind. The OECD this week predicted low-income countries could take as long as five years to return to pre-pandemic growth levels — compared to 18 months for the US. This echoes IMF analysis and World Bank warnings that decades of progress in the fight against poverty are set to be reversed. G7 finance ministers meet this week, and we know some of their advisers read this email:...
A roundup of the latest news, stats, and analysis of COVID-19’s impact in Africa. View our data tracker and sign up for our weekly newsletter, and read on for the latest on the vaccine cold war, how women are leading the recovery, and the “news deserts” created by the pandemic.
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We didn’t have to do this: The pandemic could have been prevented. So said the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, chaired by former Liberian President Ellen Johnson...
COVID-19 is the crisis of our generation. As decision-makers carve out a path forward, they need the latest data at their fingertips to ensure we can protect everyone’s lives and livelihoods. That’s why we created the ONE Africa COVID-19 Tracker, which compiles data and analysis from global institutions, governments, and universities about the impacts of the pandemic across Africa.
The data in our tracker is timely, transparent, and telling. We deliver up-to-date intel on the most pressing and dynamic elements...
A roundup of the latest news, stats, and analysis of COVID-19’s impact in Africa. View our data tracker and sign up for our weekly newsletter, and read on for how COVID-19 has accelerated learning poverty, where African stimulus money is going, and what’s happening to military spending.
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Through the cracks: Half the world’s 10-year-olds can’t read and understand a simple sentence. ONE, Save the Children, and the Global Partnership for Education launched a new tool this week called the Lost...