Category: English

Source: APO

On Sepetember 9, Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania H.E. Chen Mingjian met with Hon.Jackson Kiswaga, Chairperson of Tanzanian Parliamentary Standing Committee of Water and Environment, and Hon. Mecktridis Mdaku, Tanzanian Member of Parliament. They exchanged views on expanding cooperation in the fields of water resources and environmental protection.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United Republic of Tanzania.

Source: APO

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The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is preparing to accelerate adoption and transaction growth across Africa as it enters the next phase of its strategy, following significant expansion of its network and strong growth in payment volumes and values.

Speaking at a media briefing in Lagos, Mr Mike Ogbalu III, Chief Executive Officer of PAPSS, said the platform now operates in more than 30 African countries across all five regions of the continent. It connects 24 national and regional central banks, more than 200 commercial banks and payments service providers, and 16 switches. Through strategic partnerships, PAPSS also provides a termination footprint covering more than 300 financial institutions.

During 2026 alone, around 10 additional countries have joined the PAPSS ecosystem, with further expansion expected before the end of the year.

Mr Ogbalu said: “The first phase of PAPSS has been about building, connecting and establishing trust. We have built the infrastructure, expanded our network across Africa and demonstrated that PAPSS can deliver tangible benefits. As we move into our next phase from 2027, our focus will increasingly shift towards activating that network, deepening adoption and taking transaction growth to scale.”

Usage of PAPSS has accelerated significantly. Between comparable periods in 2025 and 2026, transaction volumes across the network increased by approximately 1,000 per cent, while transaction values increased by approximately 120 per cent.

Nigeria remains a significant contributor to that growth, recording an approximately 1,100 per cent increase in transaction volumes and a 125 per cent increase in transaction values over the same period.

PAPSS transactions have also demonstrated cost savings of between 92 and 95 per cent per transaction, a 99.99 per cent reduction in processing time and up to 80 per cent reduction in foreign exchange requirements.

Mr Ogbalu added: “The growth we are seeing demonstrates that the infrastructure is working and that demand is increasing as more institutions and markets participate. The next opportunity is to make these benefits available at much greater scale by working more closely with banks, fintechs, switches and other partners to bring PAPSS into the channels businesses and individuals use every day.”

PAPSS enables cross-border payments through participating financial institutions, including transactions using African currencies, helping connect payment ecosystems that have historically operated within national and regional boundaries.

As part of its next phase, PAPSS will focus on deeper market activation, greater customer awareness, development of priority payment corridors and wider availability of its services through participating financial institutions.

PAPSS currently provides three major solutions: the PAPSS Instant Payment System, the PAPSS African Currency Marketplace and PAPSSCARD. New solutions are also being piloted and are expected to be announced later in 2026.

The next phase of PAPSS’s growth will be discussed further at PAPSS COWRY 2026, its annual payments conference, taking place on 26 and 27 November in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and co-hosted with the National Bank of Ethiopia.

Mr Ogbalu concluded: “We have built the network, we have demonstrated the impact, and we are seeing usage accelerate. Our next phase is about taking all three to scale and ensuring that payments increasingly enable, rather than limit, the ability of African businesses and individuals to participate in opportunities across the continent.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.

Media Contact:
Papa Thiongane
Head Marketing & Communications
Email: communications@papss.com

Vincent Musumba
Communications and Events Manager (Media Relations)
Email: press@afreximbank.com

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About PAPSS:
The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System – PAPSS is a centralised Financial Market Infrastructure that enables the efficient flow of money securely across African borders, minimising risk and contributing to financial integration across the regions. PAPSS collaborates with African central banks to offer payment and settlement solutions that commercial banks and licensed payment service providers (switches, fintechs, aggregators, etc.) across the continent can connect to, making these services accessible to the public. To date, PAPSS has developed and launched 3 payment solutions: PAPSS Instant Payment System (IPS), PAPSS African Currency Marketplace (PACM), and the PAPSSCARD. Afreximbank and the African Union (“AU”) first announced PAPSS at the Twelfth Extraordinary Summit of the African Union held on July 7, 2019, in Niamey, Niger Republic, therefore adopting PAPSS as a key instrument for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). PAPSS was officially launched in Accra, Ghana, on January 13, 2022, thus making it available for use by the public.

For more information, visit: https://PAPSS.com/ 

About Afreximbank:
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra- and extra-African trade. For over 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialisation and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A strong supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank has set up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries effectively participating in the AfCFTA. At the end of December 2025, Afreximbank’s total assets and contingencies stood at over US$48.5 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$8.4 billion. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by China Chengxin International Credit Rating Co., Ltd (CCXI) (AAA), GCR (A), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-), Moody’s (Baa2) and S&P Global Ratings (BBB+). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.

For more information, visit: www.Afreximbank.com

Source: APO

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Criminal gangs in Kenya have carried out a spate of violent attacks targeting civil society and opposition gatherings ahead of the 2027 elections, Human Rights Watch said today. The Kenyan authorities should ensure prompt and transparent investigations into the attacks and that people can exercise their political rights without fear of violence.

Over the last few months, groups of unidentified armed people have attacked a civil society event and several opposition political gatherings across the country, reportedly killing at least six people and injuring dozens more. The authorities do not appear to have taken meaningful steps to ensure accountability for these abuses. 

“The spate of violence, as the pre-election period begins, threatens a return to the human rights abuses that have marred Kenya’s previous elections,” said Carine Kaneza Nantulya, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities need to break this cycle of violence by ensuring that those responsible cannot act with impunity.”

The elections, in which President William Ruto is expected to seek a new term, are scheduled for August 10, 2027. Both President Ruto and opposition candidates have already held rallies across the country, with more planned in the coming weeks.

Between August 30 and September 9, Human Rights Watch interviewed 22 Kenyans, including nongovernmental organization workers, journalists, a Kenya National Human Rights Commission commissioner, and political opposition members, who said that the recent violence had created a climate of fear around the elections. 

On June 12, a group of men violently disrupted a civil society meeting at All Saints’ Cathedral in Nairobi that had been organized to discuss the national budget. Diana Gichengo, the executive director of the Institute for Social Accountability, one of the organizers, said that staff saw about 100 men enter the church, beat participants, and steal their phones and bags.

The police said on June 16 that they had arrested five men in connection with the attack, charging them with “participating in an organized criminal group.”

The Kenya Human Rights Commission, a nongovernmental organization, reported that on June 16, armed, masked men in at least 10 unmarked vehicles lobbed tear gas at crowds and beat and robbed people, including journalists, during by-elections in Ol Kalou, Nyandarua county. Local media outlets reported that the men beat two residents to death.

On July 12, media reported that a group of men armed with machetes and arrows injured several people and killed one person at a church service attended by opposition politicians belonging to Linda Mwananchi (protect the citizen), an opposition movement, at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Kisumu, western Kenya.

Then, on August 16, hundreds of people armed with machetes, guns, and sticks attacked a convoy of vehicles transporting Linda Mwananchi supporters and politicians as they traveled to a planned political rally in Homa Bay town, in western Kenya, killing at least three people. The group beat journalists covering the events and robbed them of personal belongings, including equipment needed to do their work.

Agneta Mwangale, a Linda Mwananchi candidate for parliament in the 2027 elections, said that a group of men stopped the vehicle she was traveling in as part of the convoy, broke its windows, and pulled her, along with two passengers and the driver, out of the vehicle. She said the assailants slashed at them with machetes, killing the male passenger. The men took money and phones from her and the other passengers, then set their vehicle on fire, she said.

Two witnesses said that although police officers were on the roads on the day, they were not able to contain the violence.

Media reported that unidentified people burned a vehicle belonging to another Linda Mwananchi politician, James Orengo, the Siaya county governor, during a rally in Awendo in Migori county on August 30. Orengo posted on X that the unknown people had also “sprayed live bullets” into the car. Media also reported that unidentified people threw a tear gas cannister into the crowd during the same rally. 

The next day, an unidentified person threw a tear gas cannister into the crowd during a Linda Mwananchi event in Meru town, injuring one man, a witness said.

Amakove Wala, also running for parliament representing Linda Mwananchi, said the violence could inhibit women, in particular, from participating in the campaigns: “It [the violence] is fashioned to scare people from going for the rallies and speaking up about what happened to them.”

On August 18, the police said they had arrested 27 people in Kisumu and Homa Bay “following the violence witnessed in Homa Bay” and ordered two others to report to the police. They said they would conduct “further investigations” within four days. 

However, the police have provided no further information on these cases or other arrests connected to gang attacks, raising concerns about whether the authorities are seriously pursuing accountability. Instead, Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen, during a speech the week after the violence in Homa Bay, accused opposition politicians of “gathering the goons” the police had arrested.

Human Rights Watch contacted the police spokesperson, Muchiri Nyaga, by phone and messaging application to request an update on these cases but did not receive a response.

Past elections in Kenya have been marred by widespread violence and rights abuses, with the authorities doing little to ensure accountability. Human Rights Watch documented similar gang attacks in Busia and Bungoma counties during and after the March 2013 elections and found that the authorities had failed to adequately investigate or prosecute those responsible.

Kenyan law, including the 2010 Prevention of Organised Crimes Act, places responsibility on the police and the director of public prosecutions to investigate and prosecute those responsible for recruiting, training, and funding gangs. The Independent Policing Oversight Authority is mandated to provide civilian oversight of the police, including holding the police accountable for the performance of their functions.

“The escalating violence so early in the campaign season raises serious concerns about the safety and credibility of the elections,” Kaneza Nantulya said. “Kenya’s international partners should urge President Ruto’s government to act now to prevent further abuses and ensure that the 2027 elections are conducted in an environment where everyone can exercise their political rights freely and safely.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Source: APO

The Ministry of Health, through its Directorate of Environmental Health, has embarked on a pest and disease control exercise targeting all government hospitals nationwide. About 124 trained fumigation officers and supervisors will be distributed to different facilities across the country to work with hospital leadership to make identified areas accessible for disinfection and ensure appropriate safety measures are observed before, during and after the exercise. Addressing the excited team this morning, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Mustapha Kabba, encouraged all newly trained vector and pest control workers to demonstrate good sense of professionalism by prioritizing patient safety, and working hard in the interest of patients.

“Fumigation is far more than a routine practice,” the CMO said. He went on; “together with proper healthcare waste management and environmental sanitation, it is one of the everyday protocols that keep hospitals free from infections that put mothers, newborns and health workers at risk.” So far, data from the country’s flagship healthcare campaign-the 300 Days of Activism-show that sepsis, a medical emergency caused by infection, is one of the leading causes of maternal and child deaths. The national fumigation, which entails vector, pest and disease control, in addition to national hospital cleaning exercises and improved infection prevention and control measures, are delibrately aimed at addressing the life-threatening condition of sepsis.

The work of these 124 fumigation officers is critically vital at a time like this because a clean, disease-free hospital is a precondition for zero preventable maternal and child deaths. Every fumigation cycle, every properly managed waste bin and every disinfected ward is a direct step towards achieving the triple zero targets.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Health – Government of Sierra Leone.

Source: APO

A public celebration in connection with Kudus Yohannes Holiday was held in the Gerenfit administrative area in the Gash Barka Region.

The celebratory event, organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and the Commission of Culture and Sports, was attended by Ambassador Mahmud Ali Hirui, Governor of the Gash Barka Region, senior government officials in the region, Army Commanders, religious leaders, and public representatives from the Gerenfit administrative area.

Extending his best wishes for a happy Kudus Yohannes Holiday, Mr. Idris Saleh, Director General of Culture and Sports in the Gash Barka Region, said that Kudus Yohannes is one of the religious holidays that reflect the noble culture and values of the Eritrean people. He added that the holiday was particularly special as it coincided with the Golden Jubilee of the beginning of the armed struggle for independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Revolution School.

The celebratory event featured cultural and artistic presentations by the Aser cultural troupe and a traditional cultural troupe from the Brar administrative area.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

Source: APO

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Haruna Darboe stood beside the weighing scale, watching closely as a health worker recorded his three-month-old daughter’s weight before administering her routine vaccinations at Serekunda Health Centre. As a first-time father, the moment carried more meaning than a routine clinic visit. It was reassurance that he was doing everything he could to protect his child.

“As a first-time father, I want to do everything possible to protect my child,” he said. “Seeing my baby receive vaccines gives me confidence that she is growing up with the protection she needs.”

Haruna’s experience reflects a broader effort underway across The Gambia to ensure children receive the life-saving vaccines they need to survive and thrive. During a recent Gavi mission to the country, members of the delegation visited Serekunda Health Centre alongside officials from the Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF and other partners. They met families, spoke with frontline health workers and observed how immunization services are helping protect communities against vaccine-preventable diseases.

The impact of vaccination begins even before a child is born.

During a routine antenatal care visit, expectant mother Oumou Trawally received vaccines designed to protect both her and her unborn baby. “Getting vaccinated during pregnancy gives me confidence that I am protecting myself and my baby,” she said. “It is one of the first things I can do to ensure my child has a healthy start in life.”

From pregnancy through childhood and adolescence, vaccination provides a continuum of protection, helping families safeguard their health at every stage of life. Yet like many countries, The Gambia experienced disruptions to routine immunization during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving some children with missed doses. In response, the Ministry of Health, through the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), with support from Gavi and partners, intensified efforts to identify and vaccinate those children.

Between January 2025 and March 2026, six nationwide rounds of Periodic Intensified Routine Immunization reached thousands of children, delivering more than 103,000 pentavalent, 76,000 measles-rubella and 108,000 oral polio vaccine doses to children across the country. “The numbers tell an important story, but they do not tell the whole story,” said Dr Oumie Jagne, WHO’s Global Polio Eradication and Immunization Officer in The Gambia. “Behind every child vaccinated is a family protected from the devastating consequences of vaccine-preventable diseases.”

At Serekunda Health Centre, health worker Ebrima Jawara sees the difference in how health workers engage families. “We are seeing improvements in how we identify children who miss appointments and how we engage communities,” he said. “Parents are becoming more aware of the importance of vaccination, and health workers have received support to improve planning, monitoring and follow-up.”

For Sain Sillah, those improvements have made it easier to keep her six-month-old baby on schedule with routine vaccinations. Holding her child during a clinic visit, she described the reassurance that comes from knowing what vaccines her baby needs and when to return. “Knowing when to come back and what vaccines my baby needs gives me peace of mind that I am doing the right thing for my child’s health,” she said.

But protecting children also means knowing who may have been missed. WHO’s nationwide monitoring visited 4,311 households and assessed 3,913 children, helping health teams better understand where gaps remain.

The benefits of immunization extend beyond childhood. In 2026, the same commitment extended to adolescent girls, with 47,208 HPV vaccine doses delivered nationwide, achieving 108.7% coverage and helping protect them from cervical cancer later in life. The country has also conducted a comprehensive review of  its Expanded Programme on Immunization, assessed its Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Elimination status, updated its National Immunization Policy and implemented the Big Catch Up to strengthen efforts to reach zero-dose and chronically missed children.

These achievements demonstrate what sustained investment in immunization can mean for families: children protected from preventable diseases, parents empowered to make informed decisions, and health workers better equipped to reach those who need vaccination.

Sustaining this progress will require continued investment in community engagement, follow-up systems, health-worker capacity and data quality as The Gambia and its partners prepare for the next phase of Gavi 6.0 (2026–2030) support.

For families like Haruna’s, Oumou’s and Sain’s, immunization is about more than doses delivered. It is the confidence of a first-time father protecting his baby, an expectant mother taking an early step towards a healthy start, and a mother knowing when to return to keep her baby protected.

Through its partnership with The Gambia, Gavi is helping strengthen the health workers, systems and services that make this protection possible — one child, one family and one vaccination at a time.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of WHO Regional Office for Africa.

Source: APO

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The Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, H.E. Myriam Montrat, has paid a courtesy call on the Minister for the Interior, Hon. Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, to discuss areas of mutual interest and explore opportunities for enhanced cooperation in peace and security.

The meeting provided an opportunity for both sides to exchange views on emerging security challenges and the importance of strengthening international collaboration in addressing threats that increasingly transcend national borders.

The Minister noted that security challenges can no longer be effectively dealt with by individual countries in isolation, stressing the need for countries to work together to protect their citizens and maintain peace and stability.

Hon. Muntaka expressed Ghana’s readiness to deepen collaboration with Canada in areas of mutual interest, noting that the Ministry is happy to engage with its Canadian counterparts on initiatives that would strengthen Ghana’s security architecture.

The discussions also focused on Canada’s experience in peace and security, particularly the role of the Canada Border Services Agency in border management and intelligence.

The meeting further highlighted existing collaboration between Canadian counterparts and Ghanaian security institutions, including the Ghana Police Service, the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), the Ghana Immigration Service and other security agencies in the country.

Both sides expressed their commitment to building on existing engagements and identifying practical areas through which Ghana-Canada security cooperation could be further strengthened.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of the Interior – Republic of Ghana.

Source: APO

Angola’s national concessionaire, the Angolan National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG), formalized a series of offshore entries, risk-service contracts and other agreements with international oil companies at Angola Oil & Gas 2026 on Wednesday, advancing exploration across the Kwanza and Congo Basins.

The first signing, overseen by ANPG Director of Negotiations Hélder Iombo, covered Risk Service Contracts for deepwater Blocks 19, 34 and 35 with Shell, Equinor and Sonangol E&P. The contracts establish terms for the exploration, appraisal, development and production of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons.

Each contract provides for an initial exploration period of up to five years and a 30-year production period for each approved commercial discovery. Work commitments include seismic data reprocessing and the drilling of at least one exploration well.

The agreements build on a November 2025 pact covering 17 deepwater and ultra-deepwater blocks across Angola’s Kwanza and Congo Basins, advancing several concessions into formal exploration.

ANPG also signed Heads of Terms with Shell, QatarEnergy and Sonangol covering Blocks 8 and 22 in the Kwanza Basin. The agreement sets the framework for exploration, appraisal, development and production, including minimum work commitments, exploration periods, bonuses, contributions, penalties and applicable fiscal and contractual terms.

In the Congo Basin, ANPG signed a Risk Service Contract for Block 33/24 with Chevron, Shell and Sonangol. The agreement provides for a five-year exploration period and a 30-year production period for each commercial discovery. The work program includes reprocessing 2,000 square-kilometers of additional 3D seismic data, followed by at least one exploration well if the project advances to the next phase.

Separately, ANPG signed Risk Service Agreements for Blocks 17, 27, 32 and 21 in the Congo Basin with TotalEnergies as operator alongside ExxonMobil and Sonangol. ANPG and TotalEnergies also signed an agreement setting the terms and conditions for Block 32, supporting an extension of the existing operation and further investment.

Alongside the upstream agreements, ANPG and TotalEnergies signed a Memorandum of Understanding focused on reducing emissions from oil and gas production, improving methane measurement and exploring opportunities to monetize emissions.

The initiative builds on Sonangol and TotalEnergies joining the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter in 2023. Under the MoU, the companies will share technical experience and assess technologies including TotalEnergies’ AUSEA drones, which were deployed in 2022 to detect, measure and monitor methane emissions at a Block 3 field. The companies will also work to develop national expertise in greenhouse-gas management and assess international climate funds that could support decarbonization projects.

The initiative also aligns with Sonangol’s recent decision to join the UN-backed Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0, of which TotalEnergies is already a member.

In a separate agreement, ANPG, the Moxico Provincial Government, Chevron and the Instituto Nacional de Gestão Ambiental (INGA) established indicative terms for assessing, structuring and preparing land access for a project in Moxico Province.

The initiative will begin with a 20-hectare pilot phase lasting two to three years, with potential expansion to 20,000 hectares based on its results. The project is intended to link emissions reduction with job creation, economic development and sustainable land use.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.

Source: APO

President John Dramani Mahama has given a clear warning to the heads of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). He said executive pay, board terms, and government support will now depend on how well these organisations perform, how profitable they are, and the value they provide to the public.

On Thursday, at the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) Governing Board and CEOs Conference in Accra, President Mahama shared his plans to reform how public institutions are run, how executives are paid, and how finances are managed.

The new rules include the following:

Salary increases and bonuses will be stopped for executives at state institutions that do not meet performance targets.

Profitable state enterprises were told not to spend extra money on executive perks. President Mahama emphasised that their main financial responsibility is to pay dividends to the state.

Institutions that do not submit audited financial reports or miss required Annual General Meetings (AGMs) will quickly face administrative penalties.

“Executive leadership, compensation, and operational mandates will be strictly tied to verifiable performance, profitability, and public service delivery,” President Mahama said. He added that although recent progress is good, he is focused on long-term results, not just short-term improvements.

The conference highlighted significant gains under SIGA’s regulatory framework. Financial performance across state entities under SIGA oversight surged from a net loss of GHS 2.26 billion to a net profit of GHS 19.8 billion.

Professor Michael Kpessa-Whyte, Director General of SIGA, attributed this historic turnaround directly to the administration’s strict enforcement of administrative accountability and structural governance frameworks.

To show his commitment to higher standards, President Mahama recently dissolved the boards of nine state institutions that did not meet key performance targets. This strong action set the tone for Thursday’s conference.

This was the third time in two years that the Presidency has met directly with state enterprise leaders. It shows an ongoing effort to make sure state assets benefit the people of Ghana.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency, Republic of Ghana.