Sierra Leone enacts law to keep 30% posts for women in power
The Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act calls for a 30% minimum quota of women in parliament and cabinet and requires companies to set aside 30% of senior-level jobs for women.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Kenya Electricity Generating Company to install 3000 MW of additional renewables over the next 10 years
The move will see Kenya’s installed generation capacity doubling to 6,000 MW and strongly contribute to the county’s target of generating electricity from 100% renewables by 2030.
Black rhino populations are starting to thrive in Zimbabwe for the first time in decades
The rhino population in Zimbabwe has surpassed more than 1,000 animals for the first time in more than 30 years, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
After 14 years of advocacy, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s president signs new Indigenous peoples law
The country’s Indigenous pygmy people are now legally recognized as a distinct people with rights and must consent before the government and industries can exploit their land.
Ethiopia’s warring sides agree to a permanent cessation of hostilities
This “monumental” breakthrough formally ends a two-year war that has displaced millions and threatened to destabilize a swath of the continent.
Zimbabwe becomes first African nation to approve HIV prevention drug
Last year, the nation launched a strategic plan to end AIDS by 2030 and has already reached a target known as 90-90-90 – 90% of people living with HIV knowing their status; 90% getting antiretroviral treatment; and 90% having the virus suppressed.
Kenya Power to phase out fossil fuel vehicles
Kenya Power intends to substantially reduce its footprint by phasing out gas-powered vehicles and replacing them withelectric vehicles in the “near future.”
Equatorial Guinea abolishes death penalty
Capital punishment was “totally abolished” in the oil-rich central African country after the president signed a new penal code.
Africa’s first green hydrogen plant to be complete in Namibia by 2024
French power producer HDF Energy is constructing a 3.1 billion Namibian dollar (USD $181.25 million) hydrogen plant powered by solar panels.
Togo achieves ‘major feat’ of eliminating four neglected tropical diseases
The WHO has hailed the west African country as first in world to stamp out Guinea worm, lymphatic filariasis, sleeping sickness and trachoma