Ethiopia and United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) opened a new hub inside Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport from which COVID-19 supplies, equipment and humanitarian workers will be transported by air across Ethiopia and Africa.
The Addis Ababa Humanitarian Air Hub is part of a United Nations initiative move to scale up procurement and distribution of protective equipment and medical supplies for the COVID-19 response. With guidance and support from the Government of Ethiopia, WFP set up the hub in Addis Ababa and began operations this week.
“The Government is proud to host this hub in Ethiopia on behalf of the global community, said Admasu Nebebe, State Minister in the Federal Ministry of Finance. “We are honoured to be contributing this way to the global endeavour to tackle the coronavirus disease.”
The first cargo flight arrived in Ethiopia on 13 April from the United Arab Emirates loaded with aprons, face shields, gloves, goggles, gowns, masks and thermometers procured by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) for distribution to 32 African countries.

The agreement, signed between Dong Ho Kim Country Director for KOICA and Turhan Saleh UNDP Resident Representative in April 2020, brings 3.3 million USD from KOICA and a 1m contribution from UNDP to launch a five-year project focusing on supporting ICT-based business start-ups and SMEs to create quality jobs in Ethiopia.
Urban unemployment in Ethiopia is currently 19% and 25% amongst Ethiopian youth. The project will contribute to the transformation of the economy through promoting innovation and tech-based start-ups and SMEs that would enhance job creation for the growing youth population in Ethiopia. The project will also facilitate loan guarantee scheme for ICT based start-ups and SMEs to address their financial needs.
UNDP brings to this partnership its expertise around promoting sustainable development, eradication of poverty and advancement of women in Ethiopia as well as numerous other countries.
In the past UNDP had established trust and partnerships with SMEs in Ethiopia through other interventions. This includes promoting SME engagement in rural energy technologies, as well as through Ethiopia’s entrepreneurship development programme launched in 2013 in partnership with the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, which has trained over 90,000 entrepreneurs and 32,000 SMEs in the country.

Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika on Tuesday announced that the landlocked country will implement a 21-day lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus that has claimed two lives. In a televised national address, Mutharika said the lockdown will be effective from midnight on Saturday and will end on May 9. “This lockdown may be extended beyond 9th May as circumstances warrant, he cautioned. “I would like to urge you to fully comply with the measures because they are for the good of our country.” So far, 16 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Malawi mainly in the main cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe, the special cabinet committee announced on Monday. Mutharika warned that up to 50,000 lives could be lost if measures were not put in place to spread the of the virus in the southeastern African country. … When the first case was declared on April 2, Malawi announced the closure of all schools countrywide and restricted public gatherings to no less than 50 people.

One of Brazil’s most wanted people, an alleged drug baron accused of running international cocaine operations for the country’s biggest gang, has been arrested in Mozambique. Gilberto “Fuminho” Aparecido dos Santos, believed to be the leader of the First Capital Command (PCC), was arrested in an international sting that included agents from Brazil, Mozambique and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. Mozambican police confirmed the arrest on Tuesday. He is accused of shipping tonnes of cocaine around the world, the Brazilian federal police said “The accused was considered the largest cocaine supplier” for the PCC, and had been on the run for more than 20 years, it said. Dos Santos was arrested at the Montebelo Indy, a luxury hotel in Maputo, along with two Nigerian nationals. He had arrived in the southern African country in mid-March, a Mozambique police spokesman, Leonardo Simbine, said. … Simbine said: “He does not operate alone, he is part of a gang. We are still investigating whether there are other gang members in Mozambique.”