Coronavirus: Africa and the pandemic on Thursday May 21

Text by: RFI Follow

According to the CDC, the African Union Center for Disease Prevention, the continent recorded on Wednesday 96,829 cases of Covid-19, and 3,031 deaths due to the disease. The most affected states are South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria.

Publicity

• Benin: overwhelming majority for pro-Talon parties in municipal elections

Organized Sunday despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the Benin municipal elections delivered their verdict: an overwhelming success of the formations supporting the head of state Patrice Talon, which won 1,555 seats out of the 1,815 at stake, or 77%. Unsurprising success since among the opposition parties, only the FCBE, which had left ex-president Boni Yayi by accusing them of complacency with the authorities, had been allowed to compete. This party won 260 seats, or about 15% of the votes.

The other opposition parties had called for a boycott and are questioning the official voter turnout presented by the electoral commission. The rate is 49.14% according to the Céna, which did not give the figures by municipality. Of 25%, had calculated the opponents Tuesday.

► In Benin, Patrice Talon's parties win 77% of the seats in the municipal elections

• DRC: government resumes collection of income tax

Decided at the end of March to cushion the coronavirus crisis, the suspension of the collection of income tax will not have lasted the three months announced. It resumes at the end of this month. In the end, therefore, only the April premiums and payments will have escaped the 15% withholding. The Directorate General of Taxes, which already records large deficits, estimated that this measure had cost $ 11 million in public coffers.

The DRC today is sorely lacking in revenue with the closure of the borders and the reduction in mining production, and the IMF had asked the government to increase its revenues in order to access its aid. The unions believe that the authorities would do better to reduce the standard of living of public institutions rather than to cut the meager wages.

► DRC: lifting of the suspension of income tax

• Political reactions to Paul Biya's speech

Coming out of his silence Tuesday evening to call for national unity in the face of the coronavirus crisis, the Cameroonian president elicited comments. Maurice Kamto's party, the MRC, is also for the sacred union, but demands concrete and coherent acts, and returns the ball to the authorities as regards the instrumentalization of this crisis. On the side of power, we invite not to argue.

Reaction to the call to sacred union of Biya

Marie-Pierre Olphand

• African football clubs try to survive, Ivorian players in difficulty

The ball is no longer round in Africa, where all the football championships are stopped because of the pandemic. The clubs - which are also businesses - organize themselves to survive and await the help of the parent company, FIFA, to save themselves. Olivier Rogez explains to us how in Africa economy.

► The African football business at a standstill

The first victims of the stoppage of competitions are the players, deprived of the field and with salaries sometimes cut in half, for example in Côte d'Ivoire. The association of Ivorian footballers, AFI, helps the 1,200 players in the championship, while the Burkina Faso striker Aristide Bancé makes the buzz on social networks with a video full of anger.

Ivorian footballers in difficulty

Antoine Grognet

• Tanzania to reopen universities

Tanzanian President John Magufuli announced the reopening of universities from June 1, adding that a decision on primary and secondary education would be taken later. He also promised to resume sports competitions on the same date, but with respect for measures of social distancing.

While the US Embassy has reported signs of "  exponential growth  " in several locations across the country and the opposition has denounced " cover-up "  tactics  , the head of state has said the number cases decreased continuously thanks to the prayers of the Tanzanians. He also announced a new three-day session of national prayers starting on Friday, to thank God.

• Threat of famine in Zambia, WFP in action

The World Food Program has started helping people in urban centers in two provinces in the north and east of the country. The country was marked by an exceptional drought last year, then by floods at the end of the rainy season. According to WFP, this year's crop should nevertheless be good and the food situation in the countryside should be satisfactory. But for people in urban centers, food distress follows drastic measures taken to stem the spread of Covid-19.

This is explained by Jennifer Bitonde, director of WFP in Zambia, at the microphone of Léonard Vincent  :

“  If you look at the big urban centers, you will see that the prices on the shelves have increased, especially the imported products. Food products are now taking longer to reach the interior of the country, given the challenges and delays at the borders. This is due to the measures imposed to combat the Covid-19: compulsory tests, self-containment measures in quarantine for truck drivers ... This slows down the arrival of food. So what does this mean for urban populations, and especially for the poorest, whose survival depends on the informal economy and supermarkets ? This means that if they have no work, if they have no economic activity, it will be very difficult for them to access food, even if it is available. "

• First day of deconfinement in Botswana

After 48 days of "lockdown", Botswana returned to its habits on Thursday. Shops were allowed to reopen, but welcoming no more than 10 people at a time. "  The three phases of containment have come to an end (...) the need to contain the virus remains,  " said the head of the presidential structure in charge of the fight against the pandemic. Wearing a mask in public space is compulsory, under penalty of a fine of 5,000 pula (380 euros), and travel between the provinces of the country remains prohibited until further notice. Schools are scheduled to reopen on June 2. Botswana has only one death in 29 cases of Covid-19.

Behind the scenes of the response in Nigeria

The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 has soared to Nigeria, reaching 6,677, with 200 deaths. The Federal Center for Disease Control (NCDC) coordinates the screening system, which is not easy in a country of 200 million inhabitants, organized in 36 states with relative autonomy. The metropolitan areas of Lagos and Abuja are thus continuing to relax restrictions, while Kano, the big city in the north, remains confined. Our correspondent Moïse Gomis followed the work in an NCDC center.

► Nigeria: the difficulties of the health system to manage the Covid-19 crisis

In addition, the main union of doctors in Lagos, suspended this Thursday afternoon the strike call launched this morning to protest against the abuses of the police, which prevent them from moving during the cover fire. The governor would have intervened to give them wages. Health workers are exempt from the night curfew in place from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

• Many positive tests in a Renault factory in Morocco

A screening campaign led by the Renault group has led to the detection of 32 cases of Covid-19 at its Casablanca factory, the group announced in a press release. They were part of a first wave of 300 people tested. As these patients are asymptomatic, the group believes that the contamination did not take place inside the factory but outside. Screenings are also underway at the Tangier site, the objective being to test all the staff present, according to Renault, which employs nearly 12,000 people in Morocco.

The Moroccan authorities decided this week to extend the compulsory confinement until June 10, citing a "  stable but not reassuring health situation  ". The country has more than 7,100 cases and 194 deaths.

• Reopening on June 4 for places of worship, cafes, restaurants and hotels in Tunisia

At a joint press conference, several ministers announced the reopening on June 4 of mosques and places of worship, as well as cafes, restaurants and hotels. The shops have been closed since March 22, and will have to be limited to 50% of their capacity. A date that can be modified in the event of a new epidemic outbreak. Tunisia is the least affected Maghreb country, with 1,045 cases identified, and 47 deaths.

The lifting of all containment measures is scheduled for June 14. Until then, travel between governorates remains prohibited, and controls will be strengthened this weekend for Eid el-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan. Schools, however, remain closed until September: only bac preparation courses will resume at the end of May for a month. Crèche and nurseries will also reopen at the end of May.

"  We did not waste time and we made difficult, daring and sometimes creative decisions,  " Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh said on Wednesday evening in a televised speech. This crisis, however, "  exposed deep problems that we already know but that we no longer have the right to ignore  : poverty, the fragility of the economy and the exhaustion of public structures, starting with those of health. "

• Algerian protesters want to resume Hirak after pandemic

Invited this Thursday by RFI, the president of the Youth Action Rally (RAJ), Abdelouahab Fersaoui, said he was certain that the Algerian people will be ready to "  resume their fight for democracy  ", once the coronavirus crisis is over. This 39-year-old academic, one of the figures of "Hirak", has just spent 6 months in prison.

► Algeria: "Nothing can stop the Algerian people in their march for democracy"

Our selection on the coronavirus

• Listen to our Coronavirus Info column 

• Our  explanations  :
→  What we know about the mode of contagion
→  Disparities and inequalities in the face of the coronavirus: what must be remembered
→  Triple therapy, Discovery… update on research
→  The race for the vaccine is in full swing
→  How to make a mask and use it well

• Our series  :
→ “  The response, country by country  ”
→ “  Nurses  ' words ”

• After Covid-19, towards a new world?

• Each evening, find the State of the world and Africa facing the pandemic

• See also the files of RFI Savoirs on the Covid-19:
→  Birth of a pandemic
→  Everyday life put to the test
→  The history of epidemics
→  Science facing the Covid-19
→  The geopolitical consequences

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• Coronavirus: the state of the world facing the pandemic
• Coronavirus
• Health and Medicine
• Africa
• Confinement

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