Kinshasa backs down on lockdown after price hike

Zimbabwe has reported its first confirmed case of the novel corona virus.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention has cautioned the continent against discrimination during this COVID-19 period.

The UN Secretary-General has urged developed countries, particularly the G20, to step in and assist more vulnerable nations to stop the likely spread of COVID-19, particularly in Africa.

Moroccan police have arrested at least a dozen people for spreading rumors about the coronavirus, authorities said on Thursday, including a woman who used her YouTube channel to say the disease did not exist.

Kenya, like many other African countries, has put in place stringent measures to limit movement in and out the country.

Africa is receiving assistance in the form of medical gear to help it combat the spread of COVID-19.

Nigeria will from Saturday ban entry to arrivals from 13 of the countries worst affected by the coronavirus epidemic, the Minister of Interior said on Wednesday.

The ministry said the case was from a Spanish national who was part of a 32-member Spanish special forces unit that arrived in the East African nation on March 14 and who tested positive on March 17.

Kenya has confirmed its fourth positive case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Egypt will halt all air traffic at its airports from Thursday until 31 March to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said.

Mozambique has "implicitly suggested" that a government guarantee on a $535 million loan might not be valid, state-run Russian bank VTB , which lent most of the money, said in a London court filing.

An explosion at a gas processing plant on Sunday killed at least 15 people and destroyed about 50 buildings after a fire broke out in a suburb of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, emergency services said.

Kenya has announced that schooling has been suspended with effect from Monday to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

Equatorial Guinea has reported its first case of COVID-19, the health ministry said in a statement, bringing the number of African countries directly affected by coronavirus to 26.

French authorities were on Saturday trying to arrange emergency flights from Morocco to bring back dozens of French nationals who were unable to leave after the North African nation suspended flights to European countries over coronavirus fears.

Mauritania, Rwanda, Seychelles and Central African Republic confirmed their first coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing to 23 the number of African countries that have reported positive tests for the virus.

Namibia is the latest in a growing list of sub-Saharan African countries to report their first cases of coronavirus.

 When Congo announced its first coronavirus case, all the details from the health ministry about the patient were wrong, drawing a rebuke from the president and highlighting the challenges the huge African country will face if the virus spreads.

Eswatini, a small, landlocked Southern African country, reported its first confirmed case of coronavirus, the Minister of Health said in a statement on Saturday.

Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Guinea and Mauritania all confirmed their first cases of the new coronavirus on Friday, giving the disease a foothold in 19 countries on the African continent.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) in Africa says travel ban due to the coronavirus pandemic will not be effective because of the porous borders between African countries.

Kenya and Ethiopia confirmed their first cases of the new coronavirus on Friday, a woman who had returned to Nairobi from the United States and a Japanese national in Addis Ababa.

Gabon and Ghana confirmed their first cases of coronavirus on Thursday, becoming the ninth and tenth countries in sub-Saharan Africa to register positive cases.

Kenya’s athletics authority said on Thursday it had barred its athletes from travelling to international events due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.

Rwanda is guarding against the spread of coronavirus by flooding its capital with portable sinks for hand-washing at bus stops, restaurants, banks and shops across the capital Kigali.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has ordered schools and universities to close until April 5 to slow the spread of the coronavirus, state media reported on Thursday, after the country's first registered death from the disease.

Egypt has registered seven new coronavirus cases bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 67, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

South Africa's women are less likely to own a business, be employed or promoted in the workplace

A US airstrike aimed at Somali Islamist militants killed six civilians instead, a lawmaker and relative of one victim said on Wednesday, raising further questions about the extent of civilian casualties from US military operations.

The East African Community's (EAC) Secretariat has suspended indefinitely all international conferences and meetings in its headquarters in Tanzania, with delegates from countries at high risk of COVID-19.