Author: Kara Frederick

Nigeria’s index case of imported Ebola virus disease has been evacuated from Abuja to Switzerland after showing significant clinical improvement, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, has said. Pate disclosed this in a post on X, confirming that the evacuation took place earlier on Monday with his approval. He wrote, “I confirm that, with my approval, earlier this morning, the index case for Nigeria’s first imported Ebola virus disease departed Abuja for Switzerland. The index patient was clinically much improved, stable, conscious, communicating, and her clinical laboratory test results were closing towards baseline. He,…

Algeria’s parliament has reached a resolution that authorised the deployment of army units to Niger, a parliamentary statement said, in what would mark ​Algeria’s first foreign troop deployment since it sent forces to support Egypt in the ‌1973 war. Lawmakers unanimously backed the deployment of National Army units to Madama in northern Niger, near the Libyan border, at the site of a former French base used during Operation Barkhane, the statement said. No troops have ​been officially deployed yet, according to a Niger security source. But Niger presidential chief ​of staff General Bacharou Ibro Amadou has been visiting the Kawar…

A weekly payment of N100,000 has been approved by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) for each person placed under isolation or quarantine as part of efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The payment is to support individuals placed under isolation amid economic hardship. Briefing newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, explained that the intervention was introduced to ease the financial burden on people identified as contacts of the confirmed case. According to Idris, some of the individuals under public health monitoring had raised concerns…

Just a few days after the first Ebola virus case was confirmed in Abuja, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said it has identified two additional suspected cases of the disease and 53 primary contacts linked to the confirmed case in the Federal Capital Territory. The Director-General of the NCDC, Jide Idris, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday. The first confirmed case involved a woman who travelled from Uganda to Abuja on October 3, via Addis Ababa, according to the NCDC. The patient, identified as a diplomat, developed malaria-like symptoms on October 7…

The first clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine in the outbreak gripping the Democratic Republic of Congo began Friday, the head of the World Health Organisation said. The DR Congo’s worst-ever Ebola outbreak has passed the 9,700-case mark, with the number of deaths exceeding 4,600. Among the many challenges facing the response is the lack of any approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo species of Ebola behind the epidemic. Ervebo, a vaccine approved for use against the more common Zaire strain of Ebola, will be put through a full-scale human trial in the DRC to see if it offers…

Notable businessman and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has warned that Africa’s continued dependence on imports is costing the continent its jobs and future, urging governments to protect local industries as a pathway to industrialisation. “Allowing imports to displace local production means we are exporting our jobs out of the continent and importing poverty inside,” Dangote said. He spoke during a wide-ranging interview with Financial Times Africa Editor, David Pilling, at the FT Africa Summit in London, where he unveiled a $50 billion investment plan for 2026 to 2030 and an aggressive pan-African petroleum distribution network. Dangote…

The Federal Character Commission (FCC) has called on the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to halt its ongoing recruitment training over alleged violations of federal character requirements and the exclusion of candidates whose names appeared on the published final list. The commission further demanded complete recruitment records, evidence of compliance with federal character requirements and written explanations for candidates who were omitted from the training exercise. The demands were contained in a statement made available on Friday and signed by the Chairman of the commission’s Committee on Financial Services, Abdulwasiu K. Bawa-Allah. The commission said it was concerned about reports that…