Countries must accelerate efforts to prevent lead exposure, which is estimated to cause more than 3.5 million deaths globally each year and affects hundreds of millions of children, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. The UN agency issued the call ahead of International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, which runs from 18-26 October. Although…
More than a century after the BCG vaccine was licensed, new tuberculosis vaccines could arrive in 2029. Gavi says the groundwork has to start now. TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, causing around 1.2 million deaths every year – equivalent to roughly one death every 26 seconds. Africa still records the highest rates of…
Geneva — Disruption to the Strait of Hormuz is driving up food prices and putting further strain on the livelihoods and household resources of millions of women and girls, according to a new UN Women analysis. An additional 11.7 million women and girls could face food insecurity by the end of 2026, as the escalation…
Approximately 800 million young people entering the labour market in developing economies over the coming years will not find jobs unless countries act, the head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) warned on Tuesday, as the agency launched two initiatives to boost investment and employment. “If you look at the next 15 years, there will…
Africa’s gaming industry is shifting from a story about how many people play games to one about how much of the industry can be built around those players. The change is being driven by faster market growth, new payment infrastructure, growing game development capacity and an expanding calendar of competitive events across the continent. Data…
London, Oct 7 — The United Kingdom is backing more than £2 million ($2.7 million) in investment across 10 clean-energy projects in eight African countries, seeking to reduce dependence on diesel generators in hospitals, telecommunications, agriculture and small businesses. The projects, announced by the Zero Emission Generators initiative, or ZE-Gen, will operate in Kenya, Uganda,…
Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman says capacity restored after major attack last month. Published On 6 Oct 20266 Oct 2026 Saudi Arabia’s energy minister has said that oil pumped through the key East-West Pipeline reached a capacity of 5.8 million barrels a day (bpd). Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman made the comments during a panel…
African tech startups collectively secured $582,808,000 in funding during the third quarter of 2026. This significant capital injection was distributed among 58 different startups across the continent. The period from July to September 2026 emerged as the most successful quarter of the year so far for the African tech ecosystem, indicating a potential strengthening of…
In a RootsToFoods Capital Series interview continuing Wave 2 of the series, Michael Meehan, founder of the Forum for Impact and former chief executive of the Global Reporting Initiative, argues that capital corridors are not built from scratch. They are recognized, then organized, and some of the most active ones now connect the Gulf, Europe…
The White House said Friday that it planned to cut $810 million in bipartisan, congressionally approved funding, spurring criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The executive branch would effectively send the funds back to Congress using so-called pocket rescissions, a rare budgetary tactic that the Trump administration has used before to negate…
