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43 African countries under border closure as COVID-19 cases top 225,000 continentwide
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As COVID-19 caseload surpassed 225,105 on Saturday across the African continent, 43 African countries are now under full border closure due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
The death toll from the pandemic has reached 6,040, while some 102,846 people have recovered, according to the latest data from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
The Africa CDC said that the northern African region is the most affected area across the continent both in terms of positive COVID-19 cases and the number of deaths.
The highly affected African countries include South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Djibouti, Nigeria, and Algeria, said the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union (AU) Commission. Some countries on Saturday reported new records for their daily increases in COVID-19 infections.
Egypt registered 1,677 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest daily surge so far, raising the national count to 42,980, the Egyptian health ministry said. The country has also reported a record single-day increase of 62 in COVID-19 deaths, taking the death toll to 1,484, said Khaled Megahed, the health ministry’s spokesman.
Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation with a population of about 107 million, reported 268 new cases on Saturday, the highest daily increase so far, taking the country’s tally to 3,166, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health said.
South Africa, the worst-hit country on the continent, has registered a total of 65,736 cases and 1,423 deaths so far, according to Johns Hopkins University’s latest tally.
In addition to the 43 countries under full border closure, the Africa CDC also said Saturday that night-time curfew has been activated across 35 countries in an effort to halt the spread of the infectious virus.
Some seven countries have imposed international air traffic closures, while two countries have imposed travel restrictions to and from specific countries, and two others have also activated entry/exit restrictions, according to the Africa CDC.
It added that some countries still allow cargo, freight and emergency transport into and out of their respective countries, and some Africa Union (AU) member countries still allow citizens and residents to enter, but all borders are essentially closed.
It also noted that 54 African countries are practicing limited public gathering, some 38 countries have exercised country-wide closure of educational institutions, while limited prison and hospital visits has been also ordered across 20 countries. -Xinhua
President John Dramani Mahama will be joining African heads of state, business leaders, investors and innovators shaping Africa’s next chapter, at the inaugural Alamein Africa Forum scheduled to take place from 2nd to 4th October 2026 in the historic city of Alamein on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.
The three-day Alamein Africa Forum is established as a permanent African Business Forum to convene biennially in Egypt.
It is to become the continent’s premier gathering where political power meets entrepreneurial prowess, bridging the established engines of African growth with the new sectors defining its future.
Co-organised by the Government of Egypt, African Export – Import Bank (Afreximbank), the African Union and AUDA-NEPAD, it is expected to bring together more than twenty (20) heads of state and government representatives alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions.
Ghana’s President, who on 23rd September 2026 declared Ghana is open for business in New York after ringing the ceremonial closing bell at the Nasdaq Stock Market will be leading the Ghanaian delegation, to include the Minister for Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu – Adjare, to the forum.
Other members of the Ghanaian delegation are the Head and Presidential Advisor for Ghana’s 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme, Hon. Augustus Goosie Tanoh, Ghana’s Special Envoy to the Alliance of Sahel States, Colonel Larry Gbevlo – Lartey alongside key Ghanaian private sector players.
Bringing together leaders in politics, business and policy from across the continent, the Alamein Africa Forum will provide a unique opportunity to shape Africa’s growth agenda by aligning policy and investment priorities, mobilising partnerships for implementation and strengthening financing and investment pathways.
The private sector must become an integral part of Agenda 2063, the African Union’s strategic fifty-year masterplan to transform the continent. The private sector is the core economic engine required to turn the African 2063 from an aspirational government roadmap into realized infrastructure, jobs, and value-added trade.
By Chris KONEY
News
Contractors move to site to begin construction of 120-Bed Trauma Hospital at Bole – Felix Kwakye Ofosu
Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has revealed that contractors have moved to site to begin construction of a 120-bed Specialised Trauma and Emergency Hospital at Bole in the Savannah Region.
According to the Minister, the 16,000 square metre facility will be equipped with modern medical infrastructure to provide emergency and trauma care.
The hospital will have a 24-hour Accident and Emergency Unit, trauma resuscitation bays, emergency operating theatres, an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and a High Dependency Unit (HDU).
It will also include specialised trauma wards, a burns treatment unit, orthopaedic and surgical units, as well as imaging and diagnostic facilities, among others.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
