Covid-19 Lock-down Order: Relaxation for Some Tourist Facilities and Operators

By Veritas Late on Friday the 3rd July the Minister of Health and Child Care gazetted an SI which allows restaurants, National Parks facilities and safari operators to resume restricted operations.  The SI is the Public Health (COVID-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown) (Amendment) Order, 2020 (No. 13) (SI 160 of 2020).  It is…

Read More

Look out for returnees absconding quarantine: President Mnangagwa

By Anyway Yotamu President Emmerson Mnangagwa has expressed concern over the number of returnees who are absconding from quarantine facilities around the country and has urged Zimbabweans to be on the lookout for returning residents who do not have COVID-19 clearance certificates. COVID-19 is wreaking havoc across the globe with Zimbabwe not being spared. This…

Read More

Government of Zimbabwe Receives $1, 755, 890 from ARC Ins. Ltd to Combat Drought Risk Amidst COVID19 Pandemic

The African Risk Capacity Insurance Company Limited (ARC Ltd) today made payouts of USD 1.4 million to the Government of Zimbabwe and another US$ 290,288 to UN World Food Programme (WFP), in parametric drought risk insurance payouts to support the extensive drought response efforts in Zimbabwe. The payouts announced via a virtual ceremony were the…

Read More

Sunny Yi Feng Tiles pledges environmental compliance

Following an outcry from the community about flouting of rules, the management of tile manufacturer, Sunny Yi Feng in Norton, has pledged environmental compliance. Briefing Environment Minister, Hon. Mangaliso Ndlovu who was accompanied by Minister of State for Mashonaland West Province Mrs. Mary Mliswa Chikoka at a tour organised on the behest of Norton legislator,…

Read More

UNFPA, partners call for urgent action to confront the silent and endemic crisis of Gender-Based Violence & harmful practices

Every year, millions of girls are subjected to practices that harm them physically and emotionally with the full knowledge and consent of their families, friends and communities, according to the State of World Population 2020, recently launched by UNFPA, the United Nations’ sexual and reproductive health agency. Findings from the State of the World Population…

Read More

MSF response to UNAIDS 2020 Global AIDS Update

As the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) released its 2020 Global AIDS Update Report yesterday, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said it remains concerned that COVID-19 will interrupt lifesaving care for people living with HIV/AIDS—a group at a higher risk of becoming severely sick if infected with COVID-19. UNAIDS’ new…

Read More

Johnson & Johnson TB drug price reduced

MSF has pushed J&J for years to lower the price of its lifesaving TB drug bedaquiline The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) welcomes Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) announcement today to reduce the price of its tuberculosis (TB) drug bedaquiline to $1.50 per day. Governments must now urgently scale up the use…

Read More

India donates USD100 000 worth of COVID-19 medicines to Zimbabwe

Staff Writer The Indian Government yesterday donated USD100000 worth of COVID-19 medicines to Zimbabwe despite the country’s struggle to contain the pandemic having604,641 COVID-19 cases confirmed 17,843 dead and 359,860 recoveries. The Indian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr. Rungsungh Maskui handed over the donation to Dr. John Mangwiro Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care at…

Read More
Strive Masiyiwa Buys Back Mascom Botswana For USD$300 Million

Masiyiwa salutes frontline healthcare workers in the Diaspora & in Africa

Econet founder and Africa Union Special Envoy for COVID-19, philanthropist and businessman Strive Masiyiwa, has paid a stirring tribute to African frontline health professionals working in the Diaspora, as well as all healthcare workers serving on the African continent. Writing on his popular Facebook blog, the businessman expresses his gratitude to the health professionals for…

Read More

African ministers, social partners join ILO high-level summit on COVID-19 and the World of Work

The pandemic has devastated the world of work, causing massive human suffering and exposing the extreme vulnerability of millions of workers and enterprises on the continent More than 50 African ministers of labour or employment, along with representatives of workers’ and employers’ organizations and international organizations joined the International Labour Organization (www.ILO.org) Regional Office for…

Read More

Action Alert from Adolescent Girls and Young Women with support from ATHENA network

Across the world, the public health emergency posed by COVID-19 continues to impact and unfold in multiple and intersecting ways in our communities. A crisis has the power to make the invisible visible. When it comes to adolescent girls and young women and COVID19, this is certain because while COVID19 is a public health crisis,…

Read More

Ethiopia: African Development Fund approves $165 million grant for national COVID-19 emergency response

The grant, awarded from the country’s ADF-15 Performance-Based Allocation, will help bolster Ethiopia’s COVID-19 National Emergency Response Plan (NERP The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF) on 3 July approved a grant of $165.08 million to support Ethiopia’s response to the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including helping to…

Read More

COVID-19: Women and girls face greater dangers during COVID-19 pandemic

INTERVIEW FROM SOUTH AFRICA: Providing safe abortion care during a national lockdown The COVID-19 pandemic is having potentially catastrophic secondary impacts on the health of women and girls around the world. Decisions made at every level of the response to the pandemic are resulting in women being further cut off from sexual and reproductive health…

Read More

Madagascar receives USD 2.13 million from African Risk Capacity Insurance Company Limited Policy for Drought Response

The Government of Madagascar today received a symbolic cheque in the amount of USD 2,13 million from the African Risk Capacity Insurance Company Limited (ARC Ltd) to cover anticipated losses to livelihoods of its vulnerable population from the crop failure in the just concluded farming season. The ARC payout is the result of drought insurance…

Read More

Caribbean countries get access to Africa Medical Supplies Platform for procurement of COVID-19 supplies

Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have been given access to the Africa Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP), a procurement system for supplies and equipment in the fight against COVID-19.  The AMSP unlocks immediate access to an African and global base of vetted manufacturers and procurement strategic partners.  It enables African Union Member States to…

Read More

Ecobank Group spearheads new private-sector initiative to end malaria

Zero Malaria Business Leadership Initiative supports global movement for malaria elimination in Africa Today, Ecobank Group (www.Ecobank.com) confirms its commitment to support ending malaria, launching the first-of-its-kind Zero Malaria Business Leadership Initiative in partnership with Dakar-based not-for-profit strategic communications and advocacy organization, Speak Up Africa, and the UN-hosted RBM Partnership to End Malaria. The new…

Read More

Multilateral development banks and the World Trade Organization (WTO) supporting trade finance during the COVID-19 crisis

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, multilateral development banks have stepped up trade finance programs to support essential imports and key exports The COVID-19 pandemic has provoked the deepest economic downturn of our lifetimes. In addition to the ongoing shocks to supply and demand, international trade has been affected by a reduction in the…

Read More

PPE boost for Parirenyatwa and UBH frontline healthcare workers

Parirenyatwa and UBH frontline healthcare workers HARARE, 1 July 2020: The country’s fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus received a boost when the Econet Group handed over 400 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worth $347,341to Parirenyatwa Hospital, with United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) scheduled to receive its consignment later this week.  The donated PPEs consist of PVC overalls,…

Read More

African Sun’s Troutbeck Inn reopens

By Anyway Yotamu African Sun Hotels and Resorts has announced the reopening of its Troutbeck Resort in Nyanga the Eastern Highlands after three months’ closure. The Group Marketing, Public Relations, and Innovation Manager, Ms. Karen Dhliwayo said in a statement to the media Tuesday, from the 1st July 2020 Troutbeck Resort in Nyang reopens after…

Read More
Econet responds to Cyclone Idai emergency with $5 million

Masiyiwa donates 120 000 Test Kits and border laboratories to Zimbabwe

UK-based Econet founder and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa, who also serves as AU Special Envoy for COVID-19, has donated 120 000 Test Kits to Zimbabwe, along with Mobile Test Laboratories to be used at the country’s border posts. The donation of Test Kits also includes 50 000 of the highly accurate PCR type Test,  used by…

Read More

MultiChoice Group Joins the UN as Official African Media Supporter for Global COVID-19 Campaign

The MultiChoice Group is proud to announce its latest initiative in the fight against COVID-19.  The group has supported a number of initiatives in the fight against the spread of the pandemic which continues to wreak havoc across the globe, and it is being acutely felt across Africa. Early in the spread of the pandemic…

Read More

New Agreements to Expand Access to 20 Lifesaving Cancer Medicines for Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia

Cancer Access Partnership is expected to result in a 59 percent savings on procured cancer medicines The American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) today announced agreements with pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, Novartis (www.Novartis.com), and Mylan to expand access to 20 lifesaving cancer treatments in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia….

Read More

COVID-19: Debt and investment transparency for better outcomes

By DAVID MALPASS Since the COVID-19 outbreak, developing economies have suffered unprecedented capital outflows. To reverse these outflows and make debt and investment more productive, it is critical to embrace strong principles of debt and investment transparency. Such transparency involves many difficult steps, but today we’re taking an important one: we are disclosing new information on the…

Read More

Masiyiwa in COVID-19 Home-Based care initiative: gives US$50 monthly support to help victims

Invites victims to step forward and get assistance for 3 months Worried that there are people suffering at home from COVID-19 that have not come forward, Strive Masiyiwa, through his Higher Life Foundation (HLF), called upon them to come forward on their own and report their status so that they can get assistance worth US$50…

Read More

MSF opens 100-bed COVID-19 treatment centre in Bihar, India

As the number of people infected with COVID-19 continues to grow in India, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has set up a 100-bed temporary treatment centre for COVID-19 patients in Patna, the capital of Bihar state in the northeast of the country. The MSF COVID-19 treatment centre is housed in the remodelled Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna Indoor…

Read More

AfDB approves 100.5 million euros budget support for COVID-19

The loan will support the central African nation’s Budget Support Programme in Response to the COVID-19 Crisis or PABURC, which aims to strengthen the health system The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (https://www.AfDB.org/) has approved a 100.5 million euros loan to the government of Gabon as budget support to mitigate against the…

Read More

Experts call for digitalisation, e-connectivity in post-COVID-19 world

The global coronavirus pandemic caused overnight challenges for governments around the world adapting to the impacts on supply chains and goods clearances. Now, a group of supply chain and Customs experts have come together virtually to underline the importance of digitalisation as the world starts its recovery in a post COVID-19 world. The first in a…

Read More

Saving lives is more important than re-opening schools: PTUZ

By Ronnie Chisamba The Mashonaland East chapter of the Progressive Teachers Union Of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) has expressed concern over the government’s plans to re-open the country’s schools in the wake of a sharp increase in confirmed cases of COVID-19. Addressing parents during a consultative meeting at Mbuya Nehanda Hall in Marondera on Wednesday, Progressive Teachers…

Read More

South Korea church hit by COVID-19 says members to give plasma for research

SEOUL (Reuters) – Around 4,000 recovered COVID-19 patients from a religious group at the centre of South Korea’s largest outbreak will donate plasma for research, an official said on Tuesday, a day after local officials filed a lawsuit against the church. In February and March, a massive outbreak among members of the Shincheonji Church of…

Read More

HLF steps up Testing in Zimbabwe with free testing for the poor

Businessman and Africa Union Special Envoy Strive Masiyiwa has announced free COVID-19 testing in Zimbabwe, along with ramped up testing for the broader population at cost, through his Higherlife Foundation (HLF) and Testing Alliance. The billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist wrote: #Free Testing in Zimbabwe! Starting today, any Zimbabwean who wants a COVID-19 test can get…

Read More

Cassava Fintech International launches SASAI Health Status Report as it steps up fight against COVID-19

Healthtech platform set to offer handy solution to tackle epidemic Report to assist employers, businesses safely get employees back to work London – June 24, 2020: Cassava Fintech International (CFI), a subsidiary of the Econet Group, has launched the SASAI Health Status Report (SHSR), a secure blockchain technology-supported solution expected to digitize the testing process,…

Read More

PAP called upon to promote continental policies in the context of COVID-19

African Union (AU) specialized institutions and committees have turned to the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) to advocate for the domestication of policies adopted at continental level and aimed at mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on key African socio-economic sectors. This includes civil aviation and labour migration around the continent. Members of the PAP Permanent…

Read More

Masiyiwa ventilators now in the country, ready for distribution

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ventilator suites that were donated by businessman and Econet founder Strive Masiyiwa are now in the country ready to be deployed. Through his Higher Life Foundation Zimbabwe, working with some donor partners, Mr Masiyiwa acquired 45 ventilators suites to be distributed to Zimbabwe’s public hospitals. The ventilator suites were manufactured…

Read More

COVID-19 Hub to support global scientific response launched

As the UN warns of an impending global food emergency, researchers in health, nutrition and agriculture have united to support COVID-19 response, recovery and resilience. Montpellier, FRANCE, June 23, 2020 – Leading researchers across health, nutrition and agriculture have launched a new COVID-19 hub to consolidate existing scientific evidence and support response, recovery and resilience…

Read More

Assessing the COVID-19 impact on SMEs and preparing for a new normal

By ITC News • International Trade Centre’s 2020 SME Competitiveness Outlook reveals profound disruptions to global supply chains• Global loss of manufacturing export due to lockdowns in the three global supply-chain hubs – China, the EU, and the US – will amount to $126 billion in losses in 2020• Almost 55% of SMEs say pandemic…

Read More

Providing disability-inclusive education is challenging but worth it.

By Manos Antoninis Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa get bad press for their progress in providing inclusive education. Just two in three children complete primary school on time, while the number of out-of-school children and youth is 97 million and growing. Less is said, however, about the range of tools many countries in the region are deploying…

Read More

COVID-19 diagnostics—not at the expense of other diseases

Priya Venkatesan The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of abating, with WHO reporting 4·9 million cases and 322 000 deaths globally as of May 21, 2020. What also shows no sign of abating is the ferocious reactive response to the pandemic—academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and governments alike have turned almost their whole focus to COVID-19…

Read More

The dilemma of COVID-19 and Sports

By Lewis Maunze This cartoon is the perfect caricature of what sports enthusiasts (specifically soccer fans) are going through during the continued lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is supposed to share a lighter moment in contrast to what the world is experiencing in reality. The picture depicts the current situation in world sport….

Read More