Kenya & Tanzania’s Rail Race Targets Africa's Trade through Uganda, Rwanda, DRC

Good news especially for some of the landlocked countries of east Africa!

(474) Kenya & Tanzania’s Rail Race Targets Africa's Trade through Uganda, Rwanda, DRC | Firstpost Africa - YouTube

Rwanda and Zipline agreed to build the world’s first nationwide on-demand drone delivery network for healthcare

 Good news!

"The Rwandan government has agreed to expand its partnership with Zipline to build the world’s first nationwide drone delivery network for healthcare. The system will extend beyond rural areas into cities like Kigali, enabling on-demand delivery of blood, vaccines, and medicines across the entire country." (Source)

U.S. backs Zipline with $150M for drone delivery in Africa for medical supplies

Good news!

"Zipline last week announced a partnership with the U.S. Department of State to expand its drone delivery service across Africa. Under a new pay-for-performance model, the State Department is providing Zipline with up to $150 million to expand its infrastructure, enabling African governments to provide delivery of essential medical supplies to hospitals and health facilities.

Zipline said this could triple the number of hospitals and health facilities it serves from 5,000 to 15,000. It could also provide up to 130 million people with instant access to blood and medications. ...

Zipline said African countries will pay up to $400 million in utilization fees. The U.S. government will release funding only when governments sign expansion contracts and commit to paying for ongoing logistics services to ensure long-term sustainability. ...

The American financing will support Zipline in constructing new hubs. Each of the company’s hubs is staffed entirely by local employees, which creates skilled local jobs. ...

Zipline said its infrastructure can deliver better health outcomes by solving the root of many public health challenges in Africa: slow, unreliable, and analog logistics that often leave blood, medications, and supplies out of stock or spoiled. In some places where Zipline operates in Africa, the average time between when a health facility places an order and when it is delivered is 13 days. Zipline said it cut that to under 30 minutes for the facilities it serves in the country. ..."

U.S. backs Zipline with $150M for drone delivery in Africa

Zipline in Africa Source

President Trump Brokers Peace Deal for Rwanda & Congo

Good news! Blessed are the peacemakers!

Whether the renaming of the United States Institute of Peace to Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace will end peacefully is not yet said. 😊

"President Trump hosted the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday as they signed a U.S.-brokered peace agreement aimed at ending a 30-year conflict.

The deal, dubbed the Washington Accords, was signed at the newly renamed Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace and includes a ceasefire, disarmament of militias, refugee returns, and accountability for war crimes. ..."

Friday, December 5, 2025 - Join The Flyover

Source

Africa launches a continental drug regulator, the African Medicines Agency (AMA)

Good news!

"Africa has inaugurated its own drug regulator, the African Medicines Agency (AMA), after ten years in the works. The agency aims to make drug development more relevant to African populations, whose genetic diversity is rarely reflected in global research, and harmonize regulation across its nations. The continent also faces rapid population growth and urbanization, and an upheaval in international funding. ..."

"After more than a decade of planning, the launch of the African Medicines Agency (AMA) is being celebrated in Mombasa, Kenya, this week at the Seventh Biennial Scientific Conference on Medical Products Regulation in Africa. The agency’s establishment marks a pivotal moment in Africa’s public health, at a time when the need for biomedical research conducted in Africa, focused on African health problems, has never been greater. ..."

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Africa finally has its own drug-regulation agency — and it could transform the continent’s health "If it gets things right, the first major regulator of medicines to launch for 30 years could empower Africa to tackle African challenges around health and disease."

Failure is not an option for Africa’s newly launched medicines agency "The inequitable distribution of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic was the final proof of the need for more home-grown manufacturing and regulatory capacity across Africa."

African Medicines Agency (AMA)

Rwanda’s E-mobility revolution accelerates

Recommendable!

Rwanda embraces AI to build smart cities

Good news! And women seem to be in charge of it!

Rwanda Makes History, Demonstrates Africa's First Self-Flying electric air Taxi

Good news!

Female Gorillas seek out old female friends even after years apart

Amazing stuff! For some odd reason, the University of Zurich filed this research under the term of "Feministisches Netzwerk" (feminist network, see also screen print below). 

"The findings ... show how important the relationship between two individual females is in gorilla society. ...

Moving into different groups is key in shaping the animals' social structure. It's something that both males and females do - females will sometimes move several times throughout their lives.

This dispersal, as it's known, plays a role in avoiding inbreeding, spreading gene diversity and shaping social relationships. ...

Working in partnership with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, at a field site that has been monitored since 1967, ... were able to track those movements.

Pouring through decades of information on the animals' lives, the scientists followed the "dispersals" of 56 female mountain gorillas - examining which new group they chose to join and why. ...

The gorillas avoided groups that had males they were likely to be related to, but the presence of females they knew also "mattered a lot" ...

The females gravitated towards their "friends", even if the animals had been apart for many years.

They would often gravitate to a group with females they had grown up with, even if that was many years ago. They also sought out individuals with whom they had made a social connection - perhaps played and interacted with - recently. ..."

From the abstract:

"Dispersal is a fundamental aspect of many animal societies, impacting gene flow, knowledge transmission, culture and individual fitness. However, little is known about the information individuals use when dispersing.

Mountain gorillas exhibit a flexible dispersal pattern with 50% of both sexes dispersing, and females often dispersing multiple times. Using two decades of data including 152 dispersals from 56 females, we examined how familiarity with individuals in other groups influenced dispersal.

We found that females avoided groups containing males from their natal group, but preferred groups containing females they had previously resided with, particularly those from their natal group.

This suggests that females prioritize the maintenance of female relationships in their dispersal decisions, while reducing inbreeding risks. Joining a new group can be costly and these pre-existing relationships may reduce dispersal costs.

These findings highlight the capacity for wider-scale societies to both shape and be shaped by dispersal decisions, with long-term inter-group relationships representing potential sources of information and support in the dispersal process. This contributes to a better understanding of not only population dynamics in this endangered ape, but also of the foundation of our own flexible society, characterized by individuals moving between social groups throughout their lifetimes."

Gorillas seek out old female friends even after years apart

Networks of Female Friends Help Gorillas Move between Groups (original news release) "New research from the University of Zurich suggests that gorillas may be using a similar strategy as humans: when moving to a new social group, female gorillas seek out groups containing females they have lived with in the past and avoid males they grew up with."

Dispersed female networks: female gorillas’ inter-group relationships influence dispersal decisions (no public access)

Credits: The Flyover

Female gorillas appear to maintain their social relationships for many years

Adolescents in Rwanda aged 15 or older will be able to access family planning services without parental consent

Food for thought! Is this positive news? Is this progress? Is this a dubious or apparent solution?

"Adolescents in Rwanda aged 15 or older will be able to access family planning services without parental consent under a new law passed by the country’s parliament aimed at reducing teenage pregnancies."

"Rwanda’s Parliament has passed a new law granting adolescent girls the right to access Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services—particularly family planning—without requiring parental consent. This decision aims to address the rising number of teenage pregnancies across the country.

The bill was first tabled in 2022 but faced a setback after Members of Parliament (MPs) expressed concerns that such a law might encourage teenage promiscuity. As a result, the original version required parental consent for minors to receive SRH services. ..."

Global Health NOW: The Troubled Fight Against Polio; Plastics: A ‘Grave, Growing’ Danger; and Wartime Russia is Losing the Battle Against HIV

Rwanda Passes Law Allowing Adolescents to Access Family Planning Without Parental Consent

'The Department Of State Is Really The Department Of Peace': Rubio Touts US Role In DRC-Rwanda Peace

Very recommendable! Blessed are the peacemakers!

Rubio is so refreshing after this dumbos and unaccomplished Antony Blinken or John Kerry!

Trump left in awe by ‘beautiful’ reporter Veras Victoria: ‘Could be the end of my political career’

Very recommendable! POTUS for Nobel Peace Prize. He said she was beautiful on the inside too. 😊

Rwanda and DR Congo agree on draft peace deal to end conflict

Good news! Blessed are the peacemakers!

"Officials from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have reached a draft agreement aimed at ending decades of conflict.

The breakthrough, mediated by the US and Qatar, provides for the "disengagement, disarmament and conditional integration" of armed groups fighting in eastern DR Congo. ...

The deal could open the way for billions of dollars of western investment in the mineral-rich region, which been plagued by conflict for three decades. ...

The US State Department said technical teams had initialled the draft text on Wednesday, ahead of a formal signing ceremony next Friday to be witnessed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. ..."

Rwanda and DR Congo agree draft peace deal to end conflict

African countries thank Trump for cutting aid as a wake-up call

It has been known and discussed for at least several decades that Western aid to developing countries can be counterproductive.

"... Steep aid cuts from some of the world’s biggest donors, particularly America, are blowing holes in African health budgets as Washington, London, Paris and others slash their assistance spending. ...

“[African nations] must stand on their own,” South Africa’s health minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, told the Telegraph on the sidelines of the G20 health summit in Durban.

“This message is to say please stand on your own, because no country can depend forever on another country. It’s a wake up call. ...

Similar sentiments have been voiced in other African capitals.

“I want to thank Mr Trump actually, I think he’s slapped us not on one cheek but on both cheeks, we should have been hammered a long time ago,” Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema said. His country was receiving £460m ($600m) in aid a year from the US.

Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president, has used the crisis to repeat his criticism of how aid  undermines sovereignty.

“Whoever gives you aid controls your life,” he said earlier this month.

Meanwhile Nigeria has said it refuses to beg. ..."

 

Global Health NOW: The Rocky Response to Burma’s Earthquake; Revisiting Extraordinary Journeys; and The Dangerous Blights of Skin Bleaching

‘We should have been hammered a long time ago’: African countries thank Trump for aid wake-up call "Just as European countries have grouped together on defence, African leaders want to take back control too"

President of Zambia Hakainde Hichilema

Germany joins UK in cutting aid to Rwanda over DR Congo Conflict.

Recommendable! Apparently, Canada also has just sanctioned Rwanda.

DR Congo: Children reportedly killed in summary executions by Rwanda-backed M23 fighters

Another example how easily human civilization descends into barbarism! 

Children soldiers is one of those most horrible abuses of children!

"In an alert on Tuesday, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, confirmed that three children were killed by Rwanda-backed M23 armed group in Bukavu, the city in South Kivu which fell to the fighters on Sunday.

“Our office has confirmed cases of summary execution of children by M23 after they entered the city of Bukavu last week. We are also aware that children were in possession of weapons,” said OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani. “We call on Rwanda and M23 to ensure that human rights and international humanitarian law are respected.” ..."

DR Congo: Children reportedly killed in summary executions by M23 fighters | UN News "The humanitarian emergency in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has deteriorated sharply with serious human rights violations and abuses, including reported summary executions of children and generalised sexual violence."

Credits: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Global Health NOW

Rwanda Advances in the DR Congo: What Next?

Recommendable!

Kenya Moves Forward with Its First Nuclear Power Plant

Good news!

"“Officials with Kenya’s Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA) said the country is on track to start construction on its first nuclear power plant by 2027. The group at a parliamentary hearing this month said the facility would begin generating power by 2034.

Kenya’s move is the latest by an African nation as more countries on the continent consider building nuclear power stations to supply electricity amid burgeoning demand for power. Rwanda last year signed a deal with Canada’s Dual Fluid Energy for a test reactor that would use liquid fuel and lead coolant, resulting in less radioactive waste, the Rwanda Atomic Energy Board said in a statement at that time. Officials said the country has a goal of at least 1 GW of nuclear power generation by 2031.”"

"... The 1,860-MW Koeberg plant near Cape Town in South Africa is the only operating nuclear power plant on the African continent. Russia’s state-owned Rosatom nuclear group is building the four-unit El Dabaa power station in Egypt, with the first of four VVER-1200 reactors expected to enter operation in 2026. ..."

Kenya Moves Forward with Its First Nuclear Power Plant - Human Progress

Kenya Moves Forward with Plans for Country's First Nuclear Power Plant

The U.S. State Department Fumbles Africa Again by Michael Rubin

Yes, a sad story and a big mistake for the U.S.!

Hopefully, the next administration will do better then the one run by the senile, demented and corrupt 46th President! Blinken is an unaccomplished fool!

High level U.S. representatives were absent from at least two important events taking place in Africa.

The U.S. State Department Fumbles Africa Again - NationalSecurityJournal

Who is Rwanda's President Paul Kagame & Why does he Keep Winning? with Palki Sharma

Recommendable!