East Africa - The African Mirror

Mar

13

2024

By DAVID MACLEOD, ERIK W. KOLSTAD, KATERINA MICHAELIDES and MICHAEL SINGER

East Africa must prepare for more extreme rainfall during the short rainy season – new study

EAST Africa has recently had an unprecedented series of failed rains. But some rainy seasons are bringing the opposite: huge amounts of rainfall. In the last few months of 2023, the rainy season, known as the “short rains”, was much wetter than normal. It brought severe flooding to Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania. In Somalia, more than 2 million people were affected, with over 100 killed and 750,000 displaced from their homes. Tens of thousands of people in northern Kenya lost livestock, farmland and homes. The very wet short rainy seasons are linked to a climate event known as a positive…

Dec

06

2023

By NUZULACK DAUSEN

Tanzania flood deaths rise to 63, prime minister says

NEWS

THE death toll from floods in northern Tanzania following torrential rains this weekend has risen to 63, the prime minister said, adding to hundreds of other deaths caused by extreme weather in East Africa since seasonal rains began in October. Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said in comments broadcast on television that the number of injured stood at 116 people. Landslides had destroyed half of one village he visited, he said. "We are here in front of bodies of our fellows. We have lost 63 loved ones. Of the total fellows we lost, 23 are men and 40 are women," he…

Dec

05

2023

By NUZULACK DAUSEN

Tanzania flood deaths rise to 63, prime minister says

NEWS

THE death toll from floods in northern Tanzania following torrential rains this weekend has risen to 63, the prime minister said, adding to hundreds of other deaths caused by extreme weather in East Africa since seasonal rains began in October. Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said in comments broadcast on television that the number of injured stood at 116 people. Landslides had destroyed half of one village he visited, he said. "We are here in front of bodies of our fellows. We have lost 63 loved ones. Of the total fellows we lost, 23 are men and 40 are women," he…

Dec

01

2023

By The African Mirror

Death toll from Kenya’s El Nino floods jumps to 120

NEWS

SEVERE flooding caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon has killed 120 people in Kenya, while people in almost 90,000 households have been forced to leave their homes, the government said. The latest estimated death toll in Kenya has doubled as heavy seasonal rains following the worst drought in four decades have submerged towns and villages across East Africa, rendering hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Thousands of homes have been washed away or are marooned, while farmland has been submerged and tens of thousands of livestock drowned, aid agencies said. In neighbouring Somalia floods have killed at least 96 people and…

Nov

27

2023

By The African Mirror

Death toll from flooding in Somalia climbs to nearly 100

NEWS

THE number of people killed by floods from heavy rains in Somalia has climbed to 96, state news agency SONNA said. "Somalia's flood death toll climbs to 96," SONNA said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, adding the figure had been confirmed by Mahamuud Moallim, the head of the country's disaster management agency. Like the rest of East and Horn of Africa, Somalia has been battered by relentless heavy rains that began in October, caused by the El Nino and Indian Ocean Dipole weather phenomena. Both are climate patterns that impact ocean surface temperatures and cause above-average rainfall. The…

Nov

22

2023

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Tanzania pushes East Africa into an era of gas-fueled vehicles. But can it last?

NEWS

TANZANIA has pushed East Africa into a new era of gas-powered mobility with the commissioning of the country's first integrated compressed natural gas (CNG) filling station and conversion centre. TAQA Dalbit, a joint venture of Egyptian energy company TAQA Arabia and JCG Oil &Gas announced the inauguration of the facility branded as "Master Gas" on November 11. A press statement by TAQA Arabia indicated the facility would serve up to 800 vehicles daily. This is the first of 12 similar facilities planned for the East African country. "The new CNG Filling Station and Conversion Centre is a monumental achievement that…

Nov

21

2023

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Tanzania pushes East Africa into an era of gas-fueled vehicles. But can it last?

ENVIRONMENT

TANZANIA has pushed East Africa into a new era of gas-powered mobility with the commissioning of the country's first integrated compressed natural gas (CNG) filling station and conversion centre. TAQA Dalbit, a joint venture of Egyptian energy company TAQA Arabia and JCG Oil &Gas announced the inauguration of the facility branded as "Master Gas" on November 11. A press statement by TAQA Arabia indicated the facility would serve up to 800 vehicles daily. This is the first of 12 similar facilities planned for the East African country. "The new CNG Filling Station and Conversion Centre is a monumental achievement that…

May

02

2023

By The African Mirror

Peace in the DRC: East Africa has deployed troops to combat M23 rebels – who’s who in the regional force

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE East Africa Community (EAC) has completed the deployment of its regional force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to oversee the withdrawal of the rebel group, M23, from the eastern part of the country. The last contingent was of South Sudanese soldiers who joined troops from Kenya, Burundi and Uganda. Author JENNA RUSSO, Researcher and lecturer, City University of New York Formed in 2012 as a splinter group of the armed militia National Congress for the Defence of the People, the M23 briefly occupied the city of Goma the same year. It was quickly routed by forces…

Apr

20

2023

By SETH ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

West Africa edges East Africa as mobile money hotspot

BUSINESS

EAST Africa has lost its mantle as the engine of growth for Africa's dynamic mobile money sector to West Africa, according to GSMA State of the Industry Report (SOTIR) 2023. East Africa - where the continent's mobile money behemoth, M-PESA, is domiciled - boasted the highest activity rate in the region as recently as 2020 but it has since declined for two consecutive years. In contrast, West Africa's activity rates have risen consistently since 2018 and active mobile money accounts grew by 25% between 2021 and 2022. "Not only are more people registering for mobile money accounts, but many who…

Apr

18

2023

By The African Mirror

East Africa’s peace mission in the DRC: why it’s in Burundi’s interest to help

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BURUNDI was the first country to offer troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2022 as part of East Africa’s peace drive after a wave of attacks from the rebel group known as Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23). Burundi shares a 243km border with the DRC. Most of it runs through the Rusizi/Ruzizi River to the north and Lake Tanganyika to the south. It has been described as one of the most porous borders in Africa’s Great Lakes region. This makes it particularly vulnerable to the spillover effects of conflict from one country into the other. Burundi currently…