Omicron, initially detected in Botswana, has reignited debate over the effectiveness of strict border closures and triggered outrage that South Africa’s transparency in reporting the strain has led to what the region sees as its scapegoating. South African scientists were the first to identify the variant, which has since been detected in countries around the world. It has now emerged that Omicron was already present in Europe before the travel bans were announced. It’s still not known where Omicron originated. And yet the travel restrictions have been squarely aimed at southern Africa — including countries that have still not found…
Author: King Jaja
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Since early in the COVID pandemic, the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa has been monitoring changes in SARS-CoV-2. This was a valuable tool to understand better how the virus spread. In late 2020, the network detected a new virus lineage, 501Y.V2, which later became known as the beta variant. Now a new SARS-CoV-2 variant has been identified – B.1.1.529. The World Health Organisation has declared it a variant of concern, and assigned it the name Omicron. To help us understand more, The Conversation Africa’s Ozayr Patel asked scientists to share what they know. What’s the science behind the…
Gambians awaited the final results of the small West African nation’s presidential election on Sunday, as the early tallies showed incumbent Adama Barrow well ahead in most of the voting districts. Barrow and his National People’s Party have led the nation since January 2017, when longtime dictator Yahya Jammeh was finally forced from office. Jammeh had held power since 1994 before losing to Barrow in an upset election in 2016. He refused to accept Barrow’s victory for months before finally leaving the country and seeking refuge in Equatorial Guinea. Subsequent investigations found Jammeh and his associates had left Barrow and…
If you have found this article, then you probably are in a state of panic because your Instagram account has been disabled, hacked, removed, or all of the above. I found myself in this situation a few months prior to writing this and it was extremely frustrating and disheartening.Don’t worry, all hope is not lost. I went through the same crazy experience after my Instagram account was hacked and disabled by Instagram. It took me months of appealing with Instagram/Facebook, sending in countless “selfies” of myself posing with a verification code, filling out endless forms, and just really giving up…
Do you love Kiehl’s? Do you want to receive a free Kiehl’s birthday gift this year? If so, then we have the perfect post for you. In this blog post, I will show how Kiehl’s customers can get a free Kiehl’s birthday gift in-store and online!IntroductionWe love Kiehl’s and we know that you do too. So when it comes to your very own birthday, Kiehl’s is pulling all the stops with an amazing gift for your birthday!Chances are that you already know about the popular free Ulta and Sephora birthday gifts. But did you know that you can get free…
India’s cricket board on Saturday delayed the national side’s South Africa tour over the heavily mutated Omicron strain of Covid-19, it said in a statement. Omicron was first detected by scientists in South Africa and has led to global panic, uncertainty and fresh travel curbs in the last few days, raising questions over the prospects for the tour. The first Test of a three-match series against the Proteas has been put back from 17 December to 26 December. The tour “will proceed with the revised dates and itinerary”, Jay Shah, secretary for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said…
* Investors commit N412bn to 35 Nigerian startups in 10 months Festus Akanbi in Lagos and Deji Elumoye in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari has declared that Nigeria remains the most viable and attractive investment destination in Africa. Buhari also said Nigeria is on the path of becoming Africa’s leading industrial and trading nation. This is coming as some foreign and local investors have invested a total of N412billion ($992million) across 35 Nigerian startups in the first 10 months of 2021. The president, who stated these in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) while addressing a trade and investment forum at Dubai…
Issued on: 04/12/2021 – 16:39 Conservationists in South Africa have developed a new app that will help them to monitor South Africa’s unique renosterveld landscapes using satellite images to detect when farmers are illegally encroaching into this critically endangered ecosystem. The renosterveld means rhino fields. It’s a land of rolling hills stretching across the Western Cape’s Overberg and Swartland regions, and was once covered with grasses and shrubs and populated with large mammals like black rhinos. But after many decades of farming, the natural vegetation has all but disappeared under the plough to be replaced with crops like wheat and…
Canada Goose has made a name for itself in the field of luxury winter parkas. But if spending $900+ on one jacket is way out of your budget, you’ll love these top-rated Canada Goose alternatives starting at $38!We actually shot this photo at -22ºF in Fairbanks, AlaskaThere is also no denying that the quality of Canada Goose insulated parkas has become the gold standard for winter jackets. That said, these best-rated Canada Goose alternatives give Canada Goose parkas stiff competition at a fraction of the price. They are: Title Columbia Mighty Lite Hooded JacketOrolay Women’s Thickened Down JacketADOMI Long Hooded…
19th November 2021 Prepared for Free Article on 04/12/2021 at 21:58. Authorized users may download, save, and print articles for their own use, but may not further disseminate these articles in their electronic form without express written permission from Africa Confidential / Asempa Limited. Contact subscriptions@africa-confidential.com. PREVIEW Owned partly by the Bongo family, the BGFI was implicated in corruption before its Kinshasa operations were exposed The bank at the centre of the Congo Hold-up consortium’s revelations of state capture and grand corruption in Congo-Kinshasa, Banque Gabonaise et Française Internationale (BGFI), has been a key facilitator of…