January 24 – Somalia / Kenya / Ethiopia
Environment: Locust
East Africa is invaded by devastating and an unprecedented in size swarm of locust that is threatening food security, malnutrition and livelihoods of millions of people in the region. The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) calls on the international community to help east African countries fight these food-devouring insects, which can travel up to 93 miles in a day with each adult insect eating its own weight in food daily. FAO says a swarm the size of Paris could eat the same amount of food as half the population of France in a single day. The swarms of locust came from Yemen across the Red Sea. To battle the insects, insecticide is being sprayed from aircrafts.[1]
How East Africa is battling devastating locust swarms
March 25 – South Africa / Nigeria
Global Health: Coronavirus, Covid-19
South Africa issues a 21-day nationwide lockdown after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases jumps to 709, making it the hardest-hit country in sub-Saharan Africa due to Covid-19. Nigeria also orders partial lockdowns for the cities of Lagos, Abuja and Ogun State for at least 14 days.[2]
History of Past Pandemics
How the Virus Got Out (graphic presentation)
How South Korea Flattened the Curve
April 4 – Egypt / Ethiopia / South Africa
Global Health: Coronavirus, or Covid-19
Due to coronavirus outbreak, Egypt orders its residents to stay at home until April 10, urging people to not leave even for necessities. The country has almost 1,000 confirmed cases and 66 fatalities.
(Apr 8): Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country, declares a state of emergency due to the nation’s coronavirus outbreak.
(Apr 9): There are more than 11,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and more than 570 deaths across Africa. Strict lockdowns in many African countries are impacting their economies, especially those dependent on the export of oil and minerals, such as Nigeria, Angola and South Africa, and those relying on tourism.[3]
(Apr 14): The International Monetary Fund (IFM) approves immediate debt service relief for 19 African countries for an initial period of six months to help them deal with the worsening coronavirus pandemic. The concern is that a widespread outbreak of the virus in African countries with weak healthcare systems and extreme poverty will be devastating.[4]
– The European Union donates $55 million to Nigeria to boost its fight against coronavirus and strengthen its healthcare system.[5]
(Apr 25): The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports more than 30,000 reported cases of coronavirus on the continent of Africa, with South Africa having the continent’s most cases, 4,361, followed by Egypt, Morocco and Algeria.[6]
May 2 – Africa
Global Health: Coronavirus, or COVID-19
According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of reported coronavirus cases on the continent of Africa surpassed 40,000, with South Africa having the highest number of cases — 6,000 — followed by three North African countries: Egypt, Morocco and Algeria. Lesotho is the only African country with no reported cases. Despite that, South Africa has started easing lockdown restrictions allowing some sectors of the economy to reopen.[7]
June 11 – Africa
Global Health: Coronavirus, or Covid-19
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that it took Africa 98 days to reach 100,000 coronavirus cases, but only 18 days to double it. While one reason is an increased testing, more than half of the 54 countries on the continent are experiencing community transmissions. Ten countries are driving the rise in numbers and account for nearly 80 percent of all cases. The worst affected country is South Africa with a quarter of the total cases. More than 70 percent of the 5,600 total deaths have occurred in only five countries: Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Sudan.[8]
Our new normal in pictures
June 25 – Democratic Republic of Congo
Global Health: Ebola
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) declares an end of the Ebola outbreak in its eastern provinces, which started in August 2018 and cost the lives of 2,280 people. To declare an outbreak over, 42 days have to pass since the last positive case is tested negative. A key factor in containing the spread of the disease has been an experimental Ebola vaccination campaign, which saw more than 320,000 people inoculated.
However, the country is currently dealing with new cases of a different strain of the Ebola virus in its northwestern area, where 13 people have already died since June 1. Because the Ebola virus exists in animals in many parts of DRC, these outbreaks are expected to reappear.[9]
How war and misinformation are complicating the DRC’s Ebola battle (video 8:36 min)
August 1 – South Africa
Global Health: Coronavirus, or COVID-19
With 200,000 Covid-19 cases, South Africa is the hardest-hit country in Africa with the coronavirus pandemic, which adds a burden on the country’s health system that has been already fighting HIV and tuberculosis cases. However, the coronavirus in South Africa is not as bad as predicted. One reason is that the pandemic struck South Africa later than Europe and North America and experts here have had time to learn from both the mistakes and innovations from earlier hotspots.[10]
South Africa’s battle against Covid-19
August 18 – Mali
Military Coup
Mutinying soldiers arrest Mali President Obrahim Boubakar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse. The military coup d’état follows widespread anti-government protests over economic mismanagement, corruption, as well as the worsening security situation with jihadi groups and increasing communal violence.[11]
(Aug 21): After forcing the president and prime minister to resign, coup leaders say they are talking to opposition parties about appointing a transitional president.[12]
Are military coups on the rise in Africa?
September 12 – Mauritius
Environment: Massive Oil Spill
Widespread protests in Mauritius continue over a massive offshore oil spill and the government’s handling of the disaster. The protesters call for the top officials to resign. In late July, the Japanese-owned bulk carrier, the MV Wakashio, struck a coral reef offshore of Pointe d’Esny in the southeast coast of Mauritius and broke apart in mid-August. About 1,000 tons of fuel oil were leaked into the ocean.[13]
Background
The nation-island of Mauritius, with its unique biodiversity-rich marine ecosystem – one of the few left on Earth – and world-renowned coral reefs, relies heavily on tourism. Pointe d’Esny with its renowned wetlands is a known sanctuary for rare wildlife. The oil spill endangered thousands of animal species and threatened Mauritius’ economy, food security and health. The government declared a state of environmental emergency and appealed for international help.[14]
Why the Mauritius oil spill is so serious
Mauritius oil spill and fears of ecological disaster (video 2:47 min)
November 10 – Morocco
Morocco and Israel relations
According to a deal brokered by the United States, Morocco agrees to normalize relations with Israel, making it the fourth state to agree to a deal with Israel in recent months. The other three countries are United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan. Morocco agrees to resume diplomatic relations with Israel and expand mutual economic and cultural cooperation. In exchange, the United States will recognize Morocco’s claim over the Western Sahara region and open a consulate there. While renewing its relations with Israel, Morocco promises to continue its support for the Palestinian cause, including a two-state solution.[15]
Western Sahara profile
November 12 – Africa
Migrant Crisis
A motorized rubber raft carrying 120 migrants from the coast of Libya to Europe, the world’s deadliest passage on the Mediterranean Sea, capsizes drowning at least 74 people. The Libyan Coast Guard and fishermen rescue the remaining migrants. Most of these migrants were from Nigeria, Gambia and Burkina Faso. At least 900 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe this year.
Libya is home to about 700,000 to one million migrants, mainly from Egypt, Niger, Sudan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Syria and Mali who came to Libya to work but have been forced to slave work, experience harassment, torture, and trafficking.[16]
More about who the migrants are
How the migrant crisis looks five years on
December 9 – Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s Tigray crisis
Tens of thousands of Ethiopia’s Tigray people, an ethnic minority in northern Ethiopia, flee the violence to Sudan after the Ethiopian government’s military offensive in the region of Tigray. While the country’s troops clashed with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the Tigrayan civilians are caught in the middle of the conflict, facing death from shelling, but also severe shortages of food and medicines, looting, and ethnic antagonism.[17]
Background: The Tigray minority constitutes 7.3 percent of the 110.8 million people in Ethiopia.[18] The feud started last year, when Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed dissolved the ruling coalition made up of several ethnically based regional parties and merged them into a single, national party. The TPLF rejected the move, accusing PM of trying to weaken regional states. The feud intensified in September 2020, when Tigray held a regional election despite a nationwide ban on all polls due to the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister responded by calling the vote illegal and declaring war on the Tigray region.[19]
More on the Tigray crisis
December 10 – Morocco
Foreign relations
Morocco is the fourth Arab country to begin normalizing relations with Israel under accords brokered by the United States. Both sides will reopen liaison offices in Rabat and Tel Aviv (rather than embassies or consulates). They will also expand economic and cultural cooperation. In return the U.S. will recognize the Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, a long-disputed territory.[20] Palestinian officials condemn the agreement, saying it encourages Israel’s denial of their rights. Morocco, however, reaffirms that it is still committed to the Palestinian cause.
More about the consequences of the U.S. recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara