Category: Africa

Source: APO – Report:

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The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Mr Tebogo Letsie, has warned that the high cost of student accommodation is making education extremely expensive and could exclude poor students from accessing higher education in South Africa.

Speaking during an oversight visit to the University of Mpumalanga yesterday, the Chairperson raised a concern that student accommodation has been turned into a huge profit-making scheme by private accommodation providers across the country.

“Education is a social good, but we have people who decide they are going to make huge profits. The exorbitant cost of student accommodation is making education unaffordable, this is tactical exclusion for the poor,” he said.

Some accommodation providers charge students more than the National Student Financial Aid capped rates forcing students to pay the difference, or leaving them with huge debts to the university, in cases when the institutions cover that amount on their behalf.

To try find solutions to the challenges, the committee has organised a colloquium on student accommodation to be held on 28 August 2026, and invited the Competition Commission, the Estate Agency Affairs Board, NSFAS and other relevant stakeholders to attend.

– on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.

Source: APO – Report:

The President of the Republic of Seychelles, Dr Patrick Herminie, received internationally acclaimed comedian, writer and radio host Daliso Chaponda during a courtesy call this morning. The meeting focused on Mr Chaponda’s ongoing engagement with young people in Seychelles through a series of comedy and performance workshop.

Mr Chaponda arrived in Seychelles on Monday and has since been conducting comedy workshops for young people and others interested in developing their skills in the performing arts.

Born in 1979 in Zambia from Malawian parents, Mr Chaponda rose to international prominence after reaching the final of Britain’s Got Talent in 2017, where he finished third following a Golden Buzzer from judge Amanda Holden.

Mr Chaponda began his comedy career in Canada, performing at open mic events before staging his first solo show, Feed This Black Man, in 2002. He later moved to the United Kingdom in 2006, where he established himself on the comedy circuit and supported renowned comedian John Bishop. Since his breakthrough on Britain’s Got Talent, he has enjoyed a successful international career, creating and hosting the Rose d’Or-nominated BBC Radio 4 series Daliso Chaponda: Citizen of Nowhere, while performing at leading comedy festivals in Edinburgh, Melbourne, Singapore, and Cape Town.

During the meeting, President Herminie commended Mr Chaponda for his commitment to engaging with Seychellois youth through these workshops. The President highlighted the importance of providing positive and creative opportunities for young people, noting that such initiatives can play a valuable role in addressing social challenges, including helping young people build confidence, resilience and positive alternatives to harmful behaviours such as drug abuse.

Mr Chaponda also spoke about his upcoming stand-up comedy performance, during his stay in Seychelles, and revealed that audiences can look to a second instalment of his acclaimed comedy show.

Mr Chaponda was accompanied during the courtesy call by Mr Kurt Lagrenade.

– on behalf of State House Seychelles.

Source: APO – Report:

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The Portfolio Committee on Land Reform and Rural Development held a successful stakeholder dialogue this week at Parliament on the State of Farmworkers Equity Schemes in South Africa: Policy Implications and Possible Interventions to address complaints raised in the Farmworker Equity Schemes Petitions.

The committee received extensive submissions from beneficiaries, civil society organisations, researchers and agricultural stakeholders regarding the status of farmworker equity schemes in South Africa and their impact on beneficiaries.

The stakeholder dialogue formed part of the committee’s ongoing processes to consider a petition received from a consortium of civil society organisations (including the Legal Resources Centre, Surplus People’s Project, Corruption Watch and Support Centre for Land Change) acting on behalf of Farmworker Equity Schemes beneficiaries and members across South Africa.

Stakeholders presented evidence highlighting concerns relating to beneficiary rights, governance failures, access to information, financial accountability, tenure security and the management of public investments made through farm worker equity schemes.

The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Albert Mncwango, said: “One worrying factor was the absence of organised agriculture and commercial farmer partners to equity schemes. Although invited, they did not attend with some submitting apologies related to harvest season and other commitments.”

Presenters argued that many beneficiaries have received little or no meaningful financial benefit despite substantial public funding invested in schemes established on their behalf. Concerns were raised about dividend payments, access to financial records, uncertainty regarding beneficiary rights after retirement or death, and the exclusion of beneficiaries from important decision-making processes.

Civil society organisations called for the development of a National Corrective Action Plan that would include:

• An independent review of all farm worker equity schemes;
• Beneficiary-centred redress processes;
• Independent audits and forensic investigations where necessary;
• Stronger accountability measures; and
• Ongoing parliamentary oversight until corrective actions have been implemented.

Some of the agricultural stakeholders, experts and academics present at the dialogue highlighted the practical challenges facing beneficiary-owned farming enterprises, including high production costs, limited access to finance, working capital constraints, and restricted market access. They stressed that land reform beneficiaries require ongoing technical, financial, and institutional support to succeed in a highly competitive agricultural environment.

Another critical consideration for lawmakers is whether the existing legislative instruments for land reform and agricultural development were adequate to meet the challenges. A strong case was made for legislative review, including protections for equity and strategic partnerships.

The committee acknowledged the significant concerns raised during the meeting and noted the importance of hearing directly from beneficiaries and stakeholders affected by these schemes. Members emphasised the need to ensure that land reform interventions achieve their intended objectives of meaningful ownership, economic participation and improved livelihoods for farm workers and their families.

The committee will, in the coming week, continue to consider the submissions and responses from the Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development, the provincial departments of agriculture and the Land Bank. Following this process, it will develop its recommendations to strengthen accountability, improve implementation and ensure that beneficiaries derive lasting benefits from farm worker equity schemes.

– on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.

Source: APO

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) (https://AfricaCDC.org/) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have called for an urgent scale-up of the community-led Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with stronger early detection, contact follow up, access to care, support for frontline health workers and faster delivery of resources to affected communities. 

The call followed a joint high-level mission to Uganda and DRC on 4 and 5 August, which drew lessons from Uganda’s successful containment of local transmission, assessed operational challenges in Bunia and brought the priorities of communities and frontline responders into high-level discussions with national leaderships in Kinshasa. The mission was led by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, H.E. Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General of Africa CDC, and Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

With visits in Kampala, Bunia and Kinshasa, members of the delegation met national and provincial authorities, response coordinators, health workers, community representatives and partners. The mission assessed progress, identified critical operational gaps and brought the concerns of affected communities and frontline teams directly to national leadership.

Uganda shows that containment is possible

In Kampala, the delegation engaged with national authorities and response teams following Uganda’s declaration of the end of its outbreak on 28 July 2026.

Uganda recorded 20 confirmed cases and two deaths. All previously listed contacts completed follow-up.

Africa CDC and WHO commended Uganda’s leadership and the work of health workers, communities and partners. The country’s experience demonstrated the importance of early detection, rapid contact tracing, coordinated national action, trusted community engagement and strong cross-border surveillance.

The organizations stressed that preparedness must be maintained. Continued transmission in the DRC means neighbouring countries remain at risk and must sustain surveillance, laboratory readiness and cross-border coordination.

Communities at the centre in Bunia

The delegation then travelled to Bunia, in Ituri Province, the epicentre of the outbreak.

It met provincial authorities, national and provincial response teams, frontline health workers, community representatives and partners supporting the response. The delegation also visited the Rwangole Ebola Treatment Centre and assessed its readiness to expand access to timely, quality care.

The field visit reinforced a central conclusion of the mission: containing and stopping the outbreak will depend on communities.

People must receive clear information from voices they know and trust. They must be able to recognize symptoms, report alerts early and seek care without fear. Communities must be directly involved in surveillance, referrals, treatment, safe and dignified burials and decisions affecting their families.

Community, religious, women and youth leaders have a critical role in building trust, addressing concerns and ensuring that response measures reflect local realities.

The delegation recognized the courage of communities and health workers operating under extremely difficult conditions, including insecurity, population movement, poor road access, misinformation and severe pressure on health services.

It also heard directly about the barriers slowing the response, including delayed detection, limited access to care, resistance to some response activities, shortages of essential supplies and insufficient support for frontline teams.

Ituri accounts for nearly 90% of confirmed cases in the DRC, with Bunia, Rwampara and Mongbwalu health zones among the most affected.

Response operations must match the pace of transmission

As of 4 August 2026, the DRC had reported 3973 confirmed cases, 1801 deaths and 776 recoveries across 51 health zones in five provinces.

In the latest 24-hour reporting period, the country recorded 99 new confirmed cases and 52 deaths.

Contact follow-up stood at 75%, below the operational target of at least 95% required to identify transmission chains rapidly and ensure that new cases are detected among known contacts.

A total of 674 people were under care. Treatment-centre occupancy in North Kivu had reached 139%, placing severe pressure on available beds, health workers and response operations.

Africa CDC and WHO called for immediate action to:

• identify cases earlier and raise daily contact follow-up to at least 95%;
• bring testing, referral, isolation and treatment services closer to affected communities;
• urgently expand treatment, laboratory, ambulance and safe and dignified burial capacity;
• protect, equip, support and pay frontline health workers on time;
• strengthen infection prevention and control in health facilities;
• maintain essential health services for affected communities;
• improve secure access to areas affected by insecurity and poor infrastructure;
• work through trusted community leaders at every stage of the response;
• sustain cross-border surveillance and regional preparedness; and
• ensure that committed financing reaches frontline operations without delay.

Field findings brought to national leadership in Kinshasa

The mission concluded in Kinshasa with meetings with the President of the Republic and members of Government.

Dr Tedros, Dr Kaseya and Dr Janabi, discussed the findings from Kampala and Bunia with national authorities and partners.

The discussions focused on government leadership, stronger operational coordination, community engagement, support for health workers, access to affected areas, continuity of essential health services and the rapid deployment of additional capacity and financing.

The principals reaffirmed their support for a government-led and nationally-coordinated response bringing together national and provincial authorities, Africa CDC, WHO, humanitarian and development partners, health workers and communities.

“In some areas of eastern DRC, the Ebola outbreak is outpacing our response, making it imperative that we rapidly scale up every aspect of our efforts  to contain it,” said Dr Tedros. “We stand in solidarity with the Government, affected communities, and the courageous health workers serving under exceptionally difficult circumstances. But this must be backed by sustained commitment, greater resources, and stronger international support. Together, we must guarantee safe access for responders, protect civilians and health workers, and mobilize the support needed to end this outbreak and save lives.”

“Containing and ultimately stopping this outbreak will come from communities,” said Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General of Africa CDC. “When people have information they trust, can report symptoms early and seek care without fear, we can break every chain of transmission. Our responsibility is to bring the response closer to communities and give frontline teams the support they need.”

Africa CDC and WHO reaffirmed their commitment to supporting the Government of the DRC and affected communities through one coordinated response.

Both organizations will continue to deploy technical expertise, strengthen regional preparedness and mobilize the resources required to interrupt transmission and protect lives.

Africa CDC and WHO continue to advise against unnecessary restrictions on travel or trade. Countries should instead strengthen surveillance, laboratory capacity, preparedness and cross-border coordination.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

Media contacts:
Africa CDC
Directorate of Communications and Public Information
communications@africacdc.org

World Health Organization: 
Email: media@who.int

Source: APO – Report:

The Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA) will present its strategy for the country’s next offshore licensing round at Liberia Investor Day Houston on August 19, bringing together international exploration companies, investors, service providers and energy leaders to discuss the next phase of Liberia’s upstream development.

Hosted in partnership with Energy Capital & Power, the event will provide a platform for the LPRA, led by Director General Hon. Marilyn T. Logan, to outline Liberia’s regulatory framework, investment priorities and plans to attract new participation across the country’s offshore sector. Discussions will focus on upcoming licensing opportunities, exploration prospects and the subsurface data supporting future investment decisions.

Liberia’s offshore sector is entering a new phase of exploration activity, with renewed international participation and a growing pipeline of opportunities. Following the award and ratification of eight Production Sharing Contracts in 2025, Liberia has re-established itself as a frontier exploration destination, with international operators advancing work programs designed to further evaluate the country’s petroleum potential. TotalEnergies is progressing exploration activities that include offshore geochemical surveys, 3D seismic acquisition and seabed mapping, while Oranto Petroleum has also signed contracts to explore Liberia’s offshore.

At the Liberia Investor Day Houston, the LPRA will provide industry stakeholders with insight into the priorities shaping the next licensing round, including the anticipated process, qualification requirements, available acreage and access to technical data. The engagement will give prospective investors a clearer view of Liberia’s exploration landscape and the opportunities emerging across its offshore basins.

The event will also facilitate direct dialogue between LPRA and the global upstream community, connecting companies with policymakers and industry stakeholders involved in shaping Liberia’s next chapter of petroleum development.

As exploration companies continue to seek new frontier opportunities, Liberia Investor Day Houston will highlight the role of regulatory certainty, data availability and strategic partnerships in unlocking long-term investment across Liberia’s offshore sector.

Registration is now open for attendees. Companies interested in Liberia’s emerging offshore opportunities are invited to join LPRA, investors and upstream leaders in Houston for insights into the country’s licensing strategy and exploration outlook. For more information contact info@energycapitalpower.com.

– on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.