Africa (except North Africa)

ABUJA, Oct 1 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — The World Bank has approved a US$750 million credit line for Nigeria to help the country push through reforms to attract investment and create jobs.

Several states in Nigeria are struggling to pay wages due to low revenues and are resorting to borrowing from the domestic bond market and banks to fund infrastructure projects.

The World Bank said Nigeria has made strides in improving business activity, but the country’s ability to attract domestic and foreign investment has remained weak compared to others.

LAGOS, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari emphasized on Saturday the importance of continuing to fight corruption and preventing opportunities for corrupt practices in the country.

The president's remarks came while addressing the nation in a broadcast as part of activities to mark the nation's 62nd Independence Day on Saturday in Abuja, the nation's capital.

Referring to the achievements in anti-corruption during his presidential terms, Buhari said the progress was one step in the reform process, which he had vowed to continue.

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Gunshots rang out Saturday in Burkina Faso’s capital amid signs of lingering tensions a day after a group of military officers overthrew the man who had seized power in a coup only nine months earlier.

Roads remained blocked off in Ouagadougou, where a helicopter could be heard flying overhead. An internal security analysis for the European Union seen by The Associated Press said there was “abnormal military movement” in the city.

DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- The East African Community (EAC) secretariat on Thursday urged member states of the regional bloc to enhance emergency preparedness and response activities following an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Uganda.

On Sept. 20, Uganda, one of the seven member states of the EAC, declared an outbreak of Ebola after a case of the Sudan ebolavirus was confirmed in Mubende district in the central part of the country.

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Gunfire rang out early Friday in Burkina Faso’s capital and the state broadcaster went off the air, sparking fears that another coup attempt may be underway, nine months after the democratically elected president was ousted from power.

The whereabouts of coup leader-turned president Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba was not immediately known but a statement from his government on Facebook urged people to remain calm.

KAMPALA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Ugandan parliament on Thursday passed a bill that will permit the donation and transplant of human organs.

The Uganda Human Organ Donation and Transplant Bill 2021 is aimed at regulating the donation of organs, cells and tissues as well as their transplant.

Minister of Health Ruth Aceng said in a televised plenary session that the demand for organ transplants was high, yet there was no law in place.

JUBA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on Wednesday said the inter-communal conflict in South Sudan continues to fuel repeated cycles of violence, warning that it might potentially erode the gains made toward sustaining peace across South Sudan.

Special Representative of the Secretary-General to South Sudan Nicolas Haysom said fighting between rival factions in Upper Nile and parts of Jonglei States has caused massive displacement of civilians to seek refuge in the UN bases in Malakal town, the capital of Upper Nile State.

NAIROBI, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The African Union Advisory Board on Corruption (AUABC), established in 2009 to invigorate the fight against corruption, has been lobbying countries to ratify its convention to facilitate the elimination of the vice in the continent, an official said.

"We have been engaging with the relevant structures of the African Union to explain to all the member states the need to ratify the convention,"

NAIROBI, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President William Ruto on Tuesday named his nominees to the Cabinet to help steer the country after the Aug. 9 general elections.

Ruto, who retained one serving cabinet secretary, appointed former deputy prime minister Musalia Mudavadi as the prime cabinet secretary, a newly created position.

He also appointed the former Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Njuguna Ndung'u to be the cabinet secretary for the National Treasury.

KIGALI, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) would spur trade and investment cooperation between Africa and China after easing connectivity and transportation challenges, a Rwandan legislator said.

In a recent interview in the capital city Kigali, Emmanuel Bugingo, the chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security in the Chamber of Deputies, said the BRI will bridge the infrastructure gap in Rwanda, thereby connecting the country to Africa and the rest of the world.