NAIROBI, May 20 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The International Monetary Fund has extended its support for Somalia under its Extended Credit Facility to Aug. 17, the lender said on Friday.



Early this month, the Somali government had asked the fund for a three-month extension in its financial support.



In February, the IMF warned against the risk of automatic expiry this month of the three-year budget support programme worth nearly $400 million, after delayed legislative and presidential elections jeopardised its renewal.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2US5NQ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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IMF extends financial support for Somalia to August

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;U.S. President Joe Biden has authorized the redeployment of fewer than 500 American troops into Somalia, U.S. officials said on Monday, after Donald Trump ordered their withdrawal during his presidency.



Prior to Trump&#8217;s withdrawal, the United States had about 700 troops in Somalia focused on helping local forces defeat the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgency.



&#8220;This is a repositioning of forces already in theater who have traveled in and out of Somalia on an episodic basis,&#8221; White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. The exact number of troops was not mentioned at the briefing.



A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Biden had approved the request from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to &#8220;enable a more effective fight against al Shabaab.&#8221;



The Pentagon said the troops would not be directly fighting in combat operations, but working to train, advise and equip Somali forces.



&#8220;Secretary&#8217;s (Austin&#8217;s) view was that the episodic engagement model was inefficient and increasingly unsustainable,&#8221; Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters.



The revamped troop presence will include fewer than 500 U.S. troops, another U.S. official said.



Al Shabaab is seeking to topple the government and establish its own rule in Somalia based on its strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.



The insurgent group frequently carries out bombings in Mogadishu and elsewhere as part of its war against the Horn of Africa country&#8217;s central government.



&#8220;It&#8217;s good news to have U.S. troops on the ground and counterterrorism efforts can be reinitiated,&#8221; said Colonel Ahmed Sheikh, the former commander of Somalia&#8217;s elite Danab Special Forces unit, trained by U.S. troops.



&#8220;This will be a huge boost for the new president – he has a big task ahead,&#8221; he added.



Former Somali leader Hassan Sheikh Mohamud won the presidency again in voting by parliamentarians on Sunday.



Somalia has endured conflict and clan battles with no strong central government since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The government has little control beyond the capital and the African Union contingent guards in an Iraq-style &#8220;Green Zone.&#8221;



While the United States did not have troops in Somalia since Trump ordered their withdrawal in December 2020, the military has occasionally carried out strikes in the country and has had troops in nearby countries.



(Reporting by Steve Holland and Idrees Ali in WashingtonAdditional rerpoting by Katharine Houreld and Jeff Mason Editing by Bill Berkrot and Matthew Lewis)

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Biden approves redeployment of under 500 ground troops to Somalia

<ul><li>Lawmakers choose Hassan Sheikh Mohamud for president</li></ul>



<ul><li>Vote takes place behind barricades due to conflict</li></ul>



<ul><li>Former education campaigner Mohamud, 66, faces Islamist war</li></ul>







By Abdi Sheikh



MOGADISHU, May 16 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Former Somali leader Hassan Sheikh Mohamud won the presidency again in voting by parliamentarians on Sunday in an airport hangar protected by blast walls from Islamist insurgents whom he must now fight for a second time.



The 66-year-old, who ruled from 2012 to 2017, reversed the previous election to defeat incumbent President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed by 214-110 votes in a third-round runoff whose result was confirmed around midnight.



&#8220;We have to move ahead, we do not need grudges. No avenging,&#8221; Mohamud said in his acceptance speech from the airport compound in the capital Mogadishu patrolled by African Union (AU) peacekeepers.



Supporters defied a curfew to pour onto the streets of Mogadishu, cheering and firing guns into the air.



The former education campaigner and peace activist faces a daunting task in the nation of 15 million people which is suffering its worst drought in four decades and has endured seemingly never-ending conflict since 1991.



Though just holding the election was a success of sorts, many Somalis were sceptical of any real improvement.



Most of the 36 candidates were old faces recycled from the past who had done little to stem war and corruption, they complained. Votes are anyway influenced more by money changing hands than political platforms, Somalis and analysts say.



&#8220;Hassan Sheikh is not good but he is the lesser of the two evils. We hope Somalia will be better,&#8221; said Halima Nur, a mother-of-four in Mogadishu.



&#8220;We hope this time Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will improve and become a better leader. We hope Somalia will be peaceful, though this may take time,&#8221; said student Mohamed Ismail.



&#8216;A VERY TEDIOUS TASK&#8217;



The United Nations-backed vote was delayed by more than a year due to squabbling in government, but had to be held this month to ensure a $400 million International Monetary Fund programme.



During the first round of voting, blasts from mortar shells rang out near the site but did not disrupt proceedings. There was no claim of responsibility, but Somalis are used to attacks on state institutions from al Shabaab militants.



Somalia has endured conflict and clan battles with no strong central government since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The government has little control beyond the capital and the AU contingent guards an Iraq-style &#8220;Green Zone&#8221;.



&#8220;Let us pray for the new president, it is a very tedious task,&#8221; said outgoing leader Mohamed, known as &#8220;Farmaajo&#8221; due to a reputed love of Italian formaggio cheese.



He drew criticism from Somalis and foreign donors for trying to extend his tenure last year.



After long bouts of infighting within government, sometimes spilling over into gun battles between factions of the security forces, the incoming leader sought to strike a new note.



&#8220;We cannot forget the painful past but we can forgive,&#8221; said Mohamud. &#8220;Here in this hall I had handed over the presidency to Farmaajo in 2017 and tonight he handed over to me.&#8221;



Born in the Hiran region of central Somalia, Mohamud has a master&#8217;s degree in technical education from India&#8217;s Barkatullah University. He co-founded the SIMAD university in Mogadishu.



Though credited with pushing al Shabaab out of some towns when he was president, Mohamud failed to deliver a crushing blow to the militants who now control swathes of Somalia and run a lucrative extortion business.



(Reporting by Abdi Sheikh in Mogadishu; Writing by Elias Biryabarema and Andrew Cawthorne;Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Ex-Somali leader Mohamud wins presidency to face war and drought

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After months of deadlock that turned violent at times, Somalia&#8217;s political leaders agreed to hold a long-delayed presidential election on October 10. A National Security Practitioner from the federal government of Somalia, Samira Gaid joins CNBC Africa for more.

Somalia to hold indirect elections in October

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As of 2020, 80per cent of households in Africa still cook with traditional fuels, such as fire wood and charcoal; A very long way to go until we can achieve SDG 7.

Jiko Biogas Founder, Ahmed on how to boost demand for  biogas technology in Africa

Content provided by APO Group. CNBC Africa provides content from APO Group as a service to its readers and does not edit the articles it publishes. CNBC Africa is not responsible for the content provided by APO Group.
African Union Member States (55) reporting COVID-19 cases (4,812,313), deaths (130,025) and recoveries (4,351,816) by region: Central (172,873 cases; 2,781 deaths; 159,001 recoveries): Burundi (4,650; 6; 4,198), Cameroon (77,982; 1,270; 72,926), CAR (7,085; 97; 6,665), Chad (4,927; 173; 4,742), Congo (11,658; 153; 10,591), DRC (31,386; 782; 27,654), Equatorial Guinea (8,476; 113; 8,146), Gabon (24,365; 150; 21,791), Sao Tome and Principe (2,344; 37; 2,288) Eastern (647,406; 12,678; 536,199): Comoros (3,949; 146; 3,719), Djibouti (11,523; 153; 11,354), Eritrea (4,022; 14; 3,812), Ethiopia (270,944; 4,139; 235,850), Kenya (170,041; 3,124; 116,018), Madagascar (41,184; 828; 40,028), Mauritius (1,356; 17; 1,181), Rwanda (26,878; 352; 25,542), Seychelles (11,145; 40; 9,936), Somalia (14,647; 768; 6,717), South Sudan (10,688; 115; 10,514), Sudan (35,289; 2,600; 27,949), Tanzania** (509; 21; 178), Uganda (45,231; 361; 43,401) Northern (1,453,109; 43,808; 1,276,107): Algeria (128,198; 3,586; 89,292), Egypt (259,540; 14,950; 190,254), Libya (184,815; 3,116; 171,279), Mauritania (19,407; 462; 18,377), Morocco (518,458; 9,135; 506,443), Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (739; 46; 691), Tunisia (341,952; 12,513; 299,771) Southern (2,066,519; 64,531; 1,933,721): Angola (33,607; 745; 27,529), Botswana (56,313; 831; 50,494), Eswatini (18,587; 672; 17,855), Lesotho (10,825; 326; 6,434), Malawi (34,323; 1,154; 32,598), Mozambique (70,697; 835; 69,232), Namibia (54,268; 807; 50,053), South Africa (1,654,551; 56,293; 1,551,520), Zambia (94,430; 1,275; 91,443), Zimbabwe (38,918; 1,593; 36,563) Western (472,406; 6,227; 446,788): Benin (8,058; 101; 7,893), Burkina Faso (13,424; 166; 13,248), Cabo Verde (30,122; 261; 28,163), Côte d&#39;Ivoire (47,195; 301; 46,591), Gambia (5,990; 178; 5,767), Ghana (93,775; 784; 91,853), Guinea (23,110; 161; 20,840), Guinea Bissau (3,760; 68; 3,511), Liberia (2,179; 86; 2,033), Mali (14,262; 516; 9,559), Niger (5,409; 192; 5,080), Nigeria (166,254; 2,071; 156,546), Senegal (41,296; 1,138; 39,932), Sierra Leone (4,140; 79; 3,128), Togo (13,432; 125; 12,644)Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Media files

Coronavirus: African Union Member States reporting COVID-19 cases as of 29 May 2021, 9 am EAT

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Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has said that he will drop an attempt to extend his term by two years, bowing to domestic and international pressure after clashes in the capital Mogadishu, split security forces along ethnic lines. Samira Gaid, National Security Practitioner at the Federal Government of Somalia joins CNBC Africa for more.

Somali president abandons his quest for a term extension

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Somalia issued its first mobile money licence to Hormuud Telecom, in a move aimed at formalising the country’s digital payments system and integrating it with the global financial infrastructure. Governor of Somalia’s Central Bank, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi joins CNBC Africa for more.

Somalia issues first mobile money licence

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Somalia announced that it is cutting diplomatic ties with Kenya, accusing it of violating Somali sovereignty and meddling in its internal affairs. The announcement came a day after Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta hosted Musa Bihi Abdi, the leader of Somaliland in Nairobi. CNBC Africa spoke to Solomon Kariuki, Investment Analyst at Cytonn for more.

Somalia cuts diplomatic ties with Kenya

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Somalia has seen her GDP grow by 2.8 and 2.9 per cent respectively in 2018 and 2019, with the country expected to grow by a further 3.2 per cent this year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, what kind of reforms are being instilled to ensure economic stability? CNBC Africa&#8217;s Arnold Kwizera spoke to Gamal Mohamed Hassan, Minister for Planning, Investment and Economic Development for more.

Somalia unveils ambitious reforms to lift economy

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) &#8211; Somalia expects to announce the winners of its first oil and gas licensing round early next year, as the country seeks petro dollars to help rebuild its struggling economy, a senior government oil official said on Wednesday.



Battered by violence and an Islamist insurgency since clan warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991, Somalia is offering seven deep water offshore blocks in its maiden licensing round in one of the world’s last frontier markets.



The oil and gas auction officially opened on Tuesday.



“We are expecting that in the first quarter of next year to finalise and award the block contracts,” Ibrahim Ali Hussein



told Reuters in his first interview with international media since his appointment last week as the CEO of the Somali Petroleum Authority (SPA).



The government had previously mooted offering 15 blocks in this licensing round but cut this down to seven due to capacity constraints, Hussein, a former advisor to Somalia’s energy minister, said. Seismic data previously indicated the 15 blocks could contain around 30 billion barrels of oil.



He said the coronavirus pandemic had delayed talks between the government and a joint venture of legacy rights holders Shell and Exxon Mobil to convert their existing concession into a production sharing agreement (PSA).



“If there was not coronavirus, the roadmap that we agreed &#8230; was to get the contract back before the end of this year, December,” he said.



Converting the concession into a PSA would also help end a force majeure by the oil majors that has been in place since 1990, Hussein said. Shell and Exxon hold exclusive petroleum exploration and production rights over five shallow water offshore blocks.



“We have an ongoing and constructive dialogue with the Somali authorities about a roadmap potentially to convert the existing concession to a production sharing agreement,” a Shell spokesman said.



No-one at Exxon was immediately available to comment.

rig-drilling-drilling-rig-oil

Somalia expects to announce winners of first petroleum auction early 2021

<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Key Points:</h3>



<ul><li>Remittance flows to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are projected to fall by almost 20% in 2020, one of the sharpest declines in history, according to the World Bank.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Sub-Saharan Africa is projected by the World Bank to suffer a 23.1% decline in remittances over the course of 2020. The region has the highest remittance costs, with the average transfer of $200 charged at about 9%.</li></ul>



The <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/east-africa/2020/05/28/how-covid-19-is-impacting-funding-for-african-start-ups/">coronavirus</a> pandemic is leaving migrant workers unable to send money or goods home to families, cutting off a vital lifeline for communities already under siege from a barrage of external shocks.



<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/east-africa/2020/05/21/covid-19-takes-toll-on-ssa-diaspora-remittances/">Remittance</a> flows to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are projected to fall by almost 20% in 2020, one of the sharpest declines in history, according to the World Bank.



The coronavirus pandemic has led to mass unemployment and hammered wages in the U.S. and Europe, key destinations for migrant workers, leaving many unable to send money home.&nbsp; A number of major European countries have introduced furlough schemes to partially subsidize wages for those unable to work, but many of those in less formal employment have still found themselves without income. For workers in the U.S., there is less of a social safety net, which has led to more than 40 million Americans filing for unemployment since the pandemic was declared in mid-March.



<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/2020/04/09/covid-19-drives-sub-saharan-africa-toward-first-recession-in-25-years-world-bank-report/">Sub-Saharan Africa</a> is projected by the <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/east-africa/2020/05/21/world-bank-approves-500mn-to-aid-africas-fight-against-locust-plague-covid-19/">World Bank</a> to suffer a 23.1% decline in remittances over the course of 2020. To compound the tighter financial conditions for African migrant workers, in the first quarter of 2020, the region continued to have the highest average remittance costs, with the average transfer of $200 charged at about 9%.



Even for those who have maintained the financial capability to transfer money, lockdown measures have impacted access to MTOs (money transfer operators) in receiving countries.



Oxfam and around 90 other NGOs, academics and aid workers recently penned a letter to international bodies documenting the impact of the plunge in remittance payments in Somalia, in particular.



The letter urges the U.S. and European governments to take urgent action to facilitate wiring or other payment settlement mechanisms, and calls on Somali officials, MTOs, international banks and bodies such as the UN to coordinate efforts to boost the accessibility of remittance payments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Somalia: A case study</h2>



Many domestic economies in Sub-Saharan Africa are suffering as a result of shutdowns associated with the coronavirus pandemic, and in some cases dealing with multiple concurrent shocks such as historic <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/east-africa/2020/05/27/locust-plague-covid-19-weigh-on-east-africas-economic-outlook/">locust swarms</a>, droughts, flash flooding or violent insurgencies.



Almost half of all households in Somalia rely on remittances to cover basic needs such as food, water, health care and education. The UN estimates that 4.1 million Somalis are food insecure in 2020, while around 2.6 million are internally displaced and more than a third have insufficient water for their basic day-to-day needs. The country’s total population is just over 15 million, according to World Bank data from 2018.



The above average rainy season anticipated in the coming months is expected to exacerbate the flash flooding which has devastated communities, along with offering ideal breeding conditions for the locust swarms that have affected around 360,000 hectares of land.



Meanwhile, conflict continues to rage between government forces, clan actors and insurgent groups, including notorious terror organization Al Shabaab.



Some MTOs in Somalia have had their bank accounts closed due to bank concerns about exposure to terrorism financing and anti-money laundering regulation, preventing access to their online services, according to the letter. Others have been rendered unable to reach more remote locations of the country, including settlements for internally displaced persons and refugees, the most vulnerable portion of the population.



“MTOs not only provide the only viable mechanism to legally and transparently send money to Somalia/Somaliland, they also serve a dual function in terms of providing letters of credit to Somali traders who come to Dubai, Djibouti and other international hubs to purchase essential food and nonfood items for sale inside Somalia/Somaliland,” the letter explained.



“Across the U.S. and around the globe, Somalis are working hard to support their families back home,” Scott Paul, Oxfam America’s humanitarian policy lead, said in a recent statement.



“Sadly, many have fewer resources to share today, and because of the U.S. government’s irresponsible approach to bank regulation, banks have been scared away from helping Somalis send what they can.”



Paul called on the Treasury Department in the U.S. and governments elsewhere to take urgent action to enable Somali families to cover their “rent, food, medicine and school fees as Covid-19 spreads.”



As of Friday morning, Somalia has 1,828 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 72 deaths.&nbsp;



Oxfam’s country director in Somalia, Amjad Ali, said the pandemic is “laying bare and exacerbating inequalities” and highlighting that “too many among us are living on the brink.”



“We now need to see leaders step up to support vulnerable communities with the social protection they need and deserve, while also easing the way for families to support each other through hard work and remittance payments.”



This article was first published on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/29/coronavirus-migrant-workers-struggle-to-send-money-home-during-the-crisis.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/29/coronavirus-migrant-workers-struggle-to-send-money-home-during-the-crisis.html</a> and is republished with its permission.



For more coverage on COVID-19 visit: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/covid-19/">https://www.cnbcafrica.com/covid-19/</a>

Sub-Saharan Africa to suffer 23.1% decline in remittances in 2020 – World Bank

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Over the weekend, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the closure of borders with Tanzania and Somalia, a move he said was necessitated by an increase in the number of “imported” Covid-19 cases. Risk Expert, Caroline Gathii joins CNBC Africa for more.

Kenya closes borders with Somalia

Kenya closes borders with Somalia, Tanzania due to coronavirus

By Akinwumi A. Adesina



We are in a battle against time to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. While tackling the Coronavirus pandemic has grabbed global attention, a new crisis that could claim a lot more lives is brewing in Africa: massive locust invasions.



Billions of desert locusts are ravaging countries all across East Africa, including Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, and Djibouti. It has been reported that their numbers are likely to increase by up to 400 times by June 2020, reaching crisis levels.



The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has estimated that unless quickly controlled, 5 million additional people in East Africa will be hungry by June.



An unprecedented race against time has begun to urgently stop the progression and potentially devastating impact of the deadly twins: COVID-19 and the locusts for millions in Africa.



We all know that rains are good for crops. But then when good rains also caused favorable breeding environments for locusts, the joy of rains has suddenly turned hopes of expected plenty into glooms of hunger.&nbsp; Is the best of times becoming the worst of times?



Locust breeding populations have increased massively. The locust plague moves with devastating effects: imagine a carpet of locusts of up to 150 million locusts covering a square kilometer. And think about it, that they can consume crops in one day that can feed approximately 35,000 people. In East Africa, where FAO estimates that some 20 million people are already food insecure, the effects will be devastating.



The locust crisis emerges as the continent is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. These are tough odds to face.



Today, distressfully, choices for millions of the poor are oddly similar: to stay in confinement and escape dying from Coronavirus or dying from hunger staying at home.



It is already playing out. Food riots broke out a few days ago in Kibera, the largest slum in Kenya, as people trampled over each other, defying social distancing &#8211; prescribed to stem the spread of the Coronavirus &#8211; to get food. Coronavirus could kill, but hunger kills many more people.



With the lockdowns for the COVID-19 pandemic, pest control workers are largely unable to go out to spray. While restrictions have been lifted to allow aircrafts used to spray to operate, they can do little as they are largely unable to get access to the chemicals, due to disruption of supply chains.



It appears that those who escape the COVID-19 will soon face LOCUST-19. In East Africa alone, the number of hungry people could jump to 30 million people.



There are several lifesaving recommendations we can act on now. These include one, the creation of a &#8220;green channel&#8221; for the free flow of food and agricultural inputs and pesticides to control pest attacks. Two, putting in place measures to prevent food price hikes by releasing food from government grain reserves and implementing anti-hoarding policies. Three, rapidly scaling up food production technologies, including high-yielding, early-maturing, drought-tolerant, disease- and pest-resistant staple crops, and programs such as the African Development Bank’s flagship program, the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) initiative.



The good news is that the African Development Bank has joined the FAO as the frontrunners in this unprecedented race against time. The Bank has just approved a $1.5 million grant to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the FAO to support efforts to spray against the locusts and safeguard livelihoods in the East and the Horn of Africa. More help will be needed.



The last thing Africa needs now, as we are battling with the COVID-19 pandemic, is a hunger pandemic.



COVID-19 has taken the international community on an unpredictable journey. Thankfully, we can preclude and halt the locust crisis. For that to happen, we all must rally around the FAO to provide the $153 million needed.



COVID-19 cannot be followed by LOCUST-19.



For more coverage on COVID-19 visit: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/covid-19/">https://www.cnbcafrica.com/covid-19/</a>

AfDB board stands by embattled President Adesina

Op-Ed: Africa cannot afford LOCUST-19

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank&#8217;s International Development Association have determined that Somalia has taken the necessary steps to begin receiving debt relief under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. Prime Minister of Somalia, Hassan Ali Khaire joins CNBC Africa for more.

Somalia to receive financial aid under World Bank’s HIPC initiative

NAIROBI/ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) &#8211; More African nations confirmed their first cases of the coronavirus and shut borders amid fears of the disease’s impact on fragile health systems, as Chinese billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma pledged to donate over 1 million testing kits to the continent.



Thirty African countries &#8211; more than half the continent &#8211; are now treating nearly 400 patients with coronavirus, after Tanzania, Liberia, Benin and Somalia said they registered their first cases. 



Africa had until recently been spared the rapid spread of COVID-19, which has infected at least 180,000 people worldwide and caused over 7,000 deaths. But health experts are concerned the continent’s often dilapidated health infrastructure will struggle to cope as cases mount. 



“We cannot ignore the potential risk to Africa and assume this continent of 1.3 billion people will blissfully escape the crisis. The world cannot afford the unthinkable consequences of a COVID-19 pandemic in Africa,” Ma’s foundation said in a statement. 



The foundation will send 1.1	million testing kits, 6 million masks and 60,000 protective suits and face shields to Ethiopia for distribution to Africa’s 54 nations, it said. 



Earlier on Monday, the World Bank said it had committed $60 million to Kenya to help the East African nation battle the outbreak. 



Some countries on the continent, such as conflict-hit Somalia, depend on donors to support basic public health facilities. 



Somalian Health Minister Fawziya Abikar Nur said the ministry had quarantined and tested four Somalis who came from China last week, and one had tested positive for the respiratory disease. International flights to Somalia were suspended for two weeks, the aviation minister said. 



In West Africa, the small and impoverished nation of Liberia announced its first case. Liberia was devastated by a 2014 Ebola epidemic that killed 4,000 people, and its healthcare system has remained underfunded despite promises of investment. 



Benin, considered a relatively stable democracy in the turbulent West African region, also announced its first case. The Health Ministry said the Beninois national was being held in an isolation ward in the capital after returning from Belgium and Burkina Faso on March 11. 



The Health Ministry in the East African nation of Tanzania also confirmed its first case, a Tanzanian woman who had travelled to Denmark, Sweden and Belgium. She had her temperature taken at the airport but had no fever and was allowed to pass, but later felt unwell at her hotel, the ministry said. [L8N2B913C] 



Also on Monday, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Senegal and Cameroon all reported more cases and South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said his nation, which has 62 cases so far, may need to raid other government departments for funds to fight the disease. He did not provide any figures. 



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">CRACKDOWN AS BORDERS CLOSE </h3>



Many African nations, including some without reported cases, have ordered tougher control measures, including bans on public gatherings, halting flights and closing schools and universities. 



In northern Africa, Tunisia said it would suspend international flights and close its land border in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. 



Botswana, in southern Africa, said on Monday it would bar entry to travellers from 18 high-risk countries, including China, Britain, the United States, Iran, France and Italy. 



In West Africa, Senegal said it would suspend flights to and from France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Portugal, as well as Tunisia and Algeria, for a period of 30 days. 



Ivory Coast said it would bar entry to travellers from countries with over 100 cases, although Ivorian citizens and residents would be allowed to return if they went into quarantine for 14 days. It also closed schools, nightclubs and cinemas and banned gatherings of over 50 people, according to a national security council statement. 



Ethiopia, Africa’s second-largest nation, joined the growing list of countries that closed schools for two weeks, suspended all large gatherings and cancelled all sports events, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said. 



Government buses will give people free rides to curb overcrowding in the public transport system, a statement said. 



In Central Africa, Congo Republic said it would suspend all flights from high-risk countries from Thursday. Neighbouring Gabon reduced the number of flights from abroad to one a week per airline and ordered restaurants to close, barring takeout and delivery. 



Nigeria’s Health Ministry said the country, Africa’s most populous, had strengthened contact tracing, stockpiled reagents used in test kits and increased testing capacity. 



Also on Monday, Kenyan police raided a clinic alleged to be selling fake coronavirus testing kits. Police detained staff and locked the facility, witnesses told Reuters journalists at the scene, after it had been advertising testing kits online. 



(Reporting by Giulia Paraviciniin Addis Ababa, Adbi Sheikh in Mogadishu, Omar Mohammed, Baz Ratner and David Lewis in Nairobi, Juliette Jabkhiro in Dakar, Clement Uwiringiyiman in Kigali; Olivia Kumwenda in Johannesburg and Elias Biryabarema in Kampala; Diadie Ba in Dakar; Christian Elion in Brazzaville; Loucoumane Coulibaly in Abidjan; Gerauds Wilfried Obangome in Libreville; Writing by George Obulutsa, Katharine Houreld and Alessandra Prentice; Editing by William Maclean, Steve Orlofsky and Peter Cooney)



This article was first published on Reuters Africa <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN214194-OZATP">https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN214194-OZATP</a> and is republished with its permission.

More African countries confirm first coronavirus cases as Jack Ma pledges aid

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Uganda and Tanzania are the latest East African economies that are being affected by locust swarms. For months, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia have been ravaged by locust swarms which have decimated crops and risk reducing economic growth, creating inflationary pressures, and increasing food insecurity in the agriculture-dependent East African region but is there cause for alarm? CNBC Africa&#8217;s Arnold Kwizera spoke to Kelvin Dalrymple, the Vice President of Moody&#8217;s for more on this.

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