1Should Sub-Saharan Africa Make Its Own Drugs?

A comprehensive analysis of the business, economic, and public-health impact finds the potential for local production of pharmaceuticals to be a mixed bag. With imports comprising as much as 70 to 90 percent of drugs consumed in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, many governments are considering whether it’s time to promote more local production. Drug imports, including both over-the-counter and prescription drugs do considerably exceed those into China and India—where comparable populations import around 5 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

SOURCES: Africa.com

2Ruling does Little to Resolve DRC’s Political Crisis

A constitutional court in the Democratic Republic of Congo issued a middle-of-the-night decision early Sunday affirming opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi’s victory in a contentious presidential election that featured widespread irregularities, disenfranchisement and evidence of manipulation. Despite this, another opposition candidateMartin Fayulu, immediately declared himself president and said the court’s decision was “nothing more than a constitutional coup” while calling for “peaceful protests.”

SOURCES: Washington Post

3Opinion Piece Looks at the Role of Celebrities in African Affairs

“The Sudan human rights community that secured an international criminal court arrest warrant for Bashir on charges of war crimes, and lobbied to the last minute against the lifting of sanctions, does not seem as exercised by these developments. This is the closest the government has come to collapsing, and those who supposedly fought for this for years are missing in action.”

SOURCES: The Guardian

4Sudanese Billionaire Joins Calls for Bashir to Go

Mohammed “Mo” Ibrahim, is the founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation says a month of deadly protests across Sudan represent a “total rejection” of President Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year rule, “People are hungry, and they see the looting of the country’s resources by the ruling clique.”

SOURCES: VOA

5Kenya Terror Attack Deals a Heavy Blow to the Fintech Industry

Financial payments company Cellulant says it lost six of its employees during the terrorist attack on Jan. 15 at an upscale hotel and office complex in Nairobi. The male employees included the head of product development, three engineers, a quality assurance tester, along with the head of information security. Cellulant operated an office out of the Cavendish building in the 14 Riverside compound. The assault, claimed by terrorist group al-Shabaab, left 21 people dead including Kenyan and foreign nationals.

SOURCES: Quartz Africa

6Chad and Israel Kiss and Make Up

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has renewed its ties with Chad during a trip to the central African country. Chad’s President Idriss Deby visited Jerusalem in November, the first by a leader of the Central African country. The country broke its relations with Israel in 1972. Deby said his November visit was “historic” for both countries and that it “could facilitate the turning of a new page in relations between us” but added that even with a renewal of ties, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could not be ignored.

SOURCES: Al Jazeera

7How Zimbabweans are Getting around Internet Issues

Leading VPN comparison site BestVPN.com says citizens are turning to Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology to circumvent an apparent government internet shutdown. The comparison site recorded a 1,560 percent increase on Monday and Tuesday, compared to the same period the week before. Zimbabweans have been reporting intermittent access to the internet over the last twenty-four hours and the blocking of over a dozen websites and major social media platforms, including WhatsApp and Facebook.

SOURCES: Business Ghana

8Charity Group Outlines What Keeps the Haves and Havenots Further Apart

Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam International, said tax systems that put a high burden on the poor mean public services are underfunded, stretching the gap between rich and poor and fueling global public anger. The group reports that a new billionaire was created every two days last year, just as the poorest half of the world’s population saw their wealth decline by 11 percent.

SOURCES: Reuters

9Africans View One of the First Skywatching Events of 2019

Most of the world was able to catch a glimpse of the super blood wolf moon; the rare event was especially visible to the populations of North and South America, Europe and Africa. Western Africa could see a total lunar eclipse, but eastern Africa could only observe a partial eclipse.

SOURCES: CNN

10[PICS] A Religious Ceremony that Brings Ethiopia to a Standstill

Ethiopian Orthodox Christians have been celebrating the festival of Timket, or Epiphany, which commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan.

SOURCES: BBC

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