African Union - The African Mirror

Sep

2021

Successes of African Human Rights Court undermined by resistance from states

THE African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Human Rights Court) holds great promise in protecting human rights and ensuring justice on the continent. But it operates amid resistance by states and this threatens its effectiveness and very existence. LILIAN CHENWI, Professor of Law, University of the Witwatersrand The idea of a regional human rights court surfaced at the 1961 African Conference on the Rule of Law held in Lagos, Nigeria. African jurists at the conference called on African governments to create “a court of appropriate jurisdiction” that would be “available for all persons under the jurisdiction of the…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Malawi expects bountiful GM cotton crop as the African Union hones GM policies

BUSINESS

SETH ONYANGO, BIRD COTTON farmers in Malawi are reaping bountiful yields following the introduction of a genetically modified cotton variety, BollGard II in the 2019-2020 planting season. This follows more than a decade of back and forth in the formulation of policy regulation on genetically modified (GM) crops in the south-eastern African state. The African Union this week revealed that it was in the process of developing guidelines on the use of biotech crops across the continent, to ensure greater safety. The AU faces tough choices as it attempts to balance a growing need for food security and also meets…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

AU crafts guidelines for GM crops

NEWS

WENDELL ROELF THE African Union is developing guidelines for the use of genetically modified (GM) crops across the continent, officials said, amid criticism from campaigners that some policies favour big business and lack adequate public input. Despite a concerted push by donor-funded schemes to expand the use of such crops in Africa, they have not been widely adopted by the millions of small-scale farmers that make up the backbone of the agricultural sector. Only seven countries - South Africa, Sudan, eSwatini, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria and Kenya - have approved the commercial production of GM crops, mainly insect-resistant cotton, the African…

Aug

2021

By The African Mirror

African Union’s J&J vaccine shipments begin

COVID-19

MAGGIE FICK AFRICAN Union officials have revealed that the body had begun shipping COVID-19 vaccine doses acquired from Johnson & Johnson, but they raised alarm at the pace of total deliveries to a region where only 1.5% of people are fully vaccinated. The AU's COVID special envoy Strive Masiyiwa said the start of the J&J shipments marked a step forward for the continent of more than 1.3 billion people, but in a news conference, he called Africa's situation regarding vaccine deliveries a "crisis". Africa remains in the grip of a third wave of the pandemic, and in the past four…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Africa demands local production of vaccines

COVID-19

DUNCAN MIRIRI and GEORGE OBULUTSA GLOBAL pharmaceutical firms should license the production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa rather than just do piecemeal contract deals, an African Union special envoy has said. AU coronavirus envoy Strive Masiyiwa was speaking a day after Pfizer and BioNTech announced a "fill and finish" deal with South Africa's Biovac Institute under which it will carry out the final stages of vaccine manufacturing where the product is processed and put into vials. Pfizer and BioNTech will handle drug substance production at their facilities in Europe. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has called the arrangement "restrictive" and said…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 shows why Africa’s reliance on outsiders for health services is a problem

HEALTH

THE COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced several truths about the detrimental effects of Africa being over-reliant on western and international stakeholders to solve its health challenges and using western solutions to Africa’s health problems. FRANCISCA MUTAPI, Professor in Global Health Infection and Immunity. and co-Director of the Global Health Academy, University of Edinburgh The continent has suffered heavily from the global COVID-19 supply chain crisis. Competitive procurement by governments with deeper pockets has hiked prices of vaccines while national export controls on essential commodities and raw materials have blocked access. These effects were recently highlighted by the African Union special envoy,…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

AU wants Covishield approved

COVID-19

THE African Union has criticised an EU decision not to include Covishield, a version of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine used by the global COVAX facility, on a list of approved vaccines for a digital certificate meant to ease travel in the bloc. Covishield is produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and has been distributed to African nations as part of the COVAX initiative to give poor and developing countries access to COVID-19 vaccines. But Covishield is not one of four vaccines approved by the European Union for its planned digital vaccination certificate, which is intended to allow people to…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Chad, C.A.R call for UN probe into border incident

NEWS

CHAD and the Central African Republic (CAR) has called on the United Nations and African Union to investigate an incident at a border post in which at least six Chadian soldiers were killed by Central African troops, a joint statement said Tuesday. The incident threatens to escalate tensions between the two countries since Chad participated in African efforts to stabilise CAR in 2013, which has been wracked by rebel insurgencies ever since. "The two parties have recognised the gravity of the situation and stress the urgency of clarifying the circumstances in which this attack was carried out," the countries' foreign…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

AU urges power sharing in Chad

NEWS

MAHAMAT RAMADANE AN African Union mission has recommended that Chad's military share power with a civilian president, as one of three options towards restoring constitutional order following last month's killing of president Idriss Deby. A military council led by Deby's son Mahamat Idriss Deby seized power in April after his father was killed while visiting troops opposing a rebel insurgency. The African Union, which could suspend Chad over the military takeover, sent a fact-finding mission to develop strategies for a return to constitutional order and democratic governance. In a report, the mission recommended the AU's security council could support the…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

AU special envoy succumbs to COVID-19

COVID-19

ABDERRAHMANE Benkhalfa, one of Africa’s leading politicians and a special envoy of the African Union has succumbed to COVID-19. Benkhalfa succumbed to COVID-19 on 23 April 2021 in a military hospital in Algiers. He was 71. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the immediate past chairperson of the AU, has expressed deep sadness at the passing of Benkhalfa, a financial expert and former Algerian Minister of Finance. During Ramaphosa’s year-long term as Chairperson of the African Union (AU), the President appointed Benkhalfa as one of five AU COVID-19 Special Envoys to mobilise international financial and other support for the African continental…