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Professor Elliott has been recognised in the New Year Honours for her infectious disease research, and for developing global medical research capacity. 

Leading clinical researcher Professor Alison Elliott has been honoured with an OBE in the King's New Year Honours for services to medicine and global health.

Based in Uganda, she is Professor of Tropical Medicine at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and theme leader for vaccines research at the Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (MRC/UVRI and LSHTM) Uganda Research Unit.

​​The award of OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) recognises her exceptional and sustained contribution to developing medical research capacity in Zambia and Uganda, building strong research collaboration with UK institutions, and helping inspire many young African scientists.

Professor Elliott said: “It is a tremendous privilege to work in Africa, first Zambia and now Uganda, with many wonderful colleagues, team members, communities and friends. I gratefully accept this honour on behalf of them all.”

Professor Moffatt Nyirenda, Director of the MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, said: "Professor Alison Elliott’s OBE is a fitting tribute to her outstanding leadership in global health research. Her contributions to science are matched by her dedication to fostering a vibrant and collaborative research environment in Africa. We are immensely proud to celebrate this remarkable achievement with her."

Professor Liam Smeeth, Director of LSHTM, said: “As well as her considerable research output, Alison has made tremendous contributions in capacity strengthening over many years. She has helped build the next generation of scientists in Uganda and beyond, and the beneficial impact of this work will continue for many years to come. The honour is richly deserved.”

In Zambia in 1988, Professor Elliott was one of the first to describe unusual features of tuberculosis (TB) in people who were HIV-positive, and provided evidence to support the World Health Organization’s recommendation for TB preventive therapy for those with HIV.

She then established a research collaboration between LSHTM and the University of Zambia Medical School that laid the foundation for Zambart, a research institute which continues to flourish with over 100 Zambian researchers working on TB and HIV, climate change and non-communicable diseases.

Since 1996, Professor Elliott has been based at the MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, investigating the role of co-infections on vaccine response outcomes. She also established the Entebbe Mother and Baby Study, which has provided unique insights into how early life experiences affect health outcomes in an African setting.

Professor Elliott is also a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences and of the Ugandan National Academy of Sciences. Source: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

 

A series of events and discussions will be organized throughout 2025, pairing Female Heads of Missions and UN Agencies with selected Male Changemakers from the Government of Uganda, civil society, and the diplomatic corps

On Friday, 22nd November, the Embassy of the Netherlands and UN Women co-hosted a breakfast meeting at the Residence of the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Uganda. The event brought together Female Heads of Missions, UN Agencies, and Male Changemakers to discuss advancing women’s rights and gender equality, as well as exploring the idea of a joint campaign in 2025 to commemorate the Beijing+30 anniversary. 

The envisioned campaign aims to highlight positive narratives around gender equality and ending violence against women. A series of events and discussions will be organized throughout 2025, pairing Female Heads of Missions and UN Agencies with selected Male Changemakers from the Government of Uganda, civil society, and the diplomatic corps. This unique collaboration seeks to amplify grassroots voices, including perspectives from outside Kampala, while aligning with existing structures and Government of Uganda initiatives.

Participants expressed strong support for the campaign, which will celebrate Uganda’s progress on gender equality and emphasize how achieving gender parity benefits everyone. It will also provide an opportunity to envision a future of shared prosperity and inclusivity made possible by greater gender equality. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN Women - Africa. APO

Nine people dead, five   injured in a tragic road accident in Soy, Uasin Gishu. County police commander Benjamin Mwanthi says lorry rammed into a 14-seater matatu along the Eldoret-Kitale highway.[Courtesy]

The death toll in in the 9am road accident in Soy rises to 10 after one more person died at MTRH, Uasin Gishu police commander Benjamin Mwanthi confirms.

The early morning accident had seen nine people  confirmed dead after a lorry rammed a matatu in Soy along the Eldoret-Kitale highway on Friday.

Police said five others sustained injuries in the morning accident. Uasin Gishu County police commander Benjamin Mwanthi said the 14-seater public service vehicle was heading to Eldoret from Kitale when it was rammed by the lorry ferrying water pipes. 

Mwanthi said the driver of the lorry lost control of the vehicle which was ferrying water pipes towards Kitale from Eldoret. 

He said the driver and the turn boy of the speeding lorry fled the scene after the accident.

"The driver of the lorry lost control and veered to the wrong lane and hit the matatu. We are looking for the driver and turn boy who fled after the accident," the police commander said.

He said the injured are receiving treatment in a hospital in Soy. By Stephen Rutto , The Standard

A military tribunal in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has sentenced 13 soldiers to death on charges of murder, looting, and cowardice.

Military authorities said this was a drive to improve army discipline following territorial losses due to soldiers fleeing their posts.

The soldiers were sentenced on Tuesday in Lubero, a town in DRC’s eastern North Kivu province. The region has seen nearly three years of conflict with the Rwanda-backed M23 insurgency, alongside other militia violence, as reported by Reuters

Local army spokesperson Mak Hazukay said intensified fighting in the Lubero territory has been exacerbated by instances of soldiers abandoning their positions, which has allowed the enemy to gain ground. He said. Some of the soldiers who are supposed to be fighting the enemy at the front have shown a kind of indiscipline. We had to organise this educational trial to set things right.

 

In total, 24 soldiers were put on trial. Besides the 13 given death sentences, four received prison terms ranging from 2 to 10 years, six were found not guilty, and one case was delayed for more investigation.

The hearings aimed to rebuild trust between the military and the public said military prosecutor Kabala Kabundi. All those convicted claimed they were not guilty and had five days to appeal their sentences. A lawyer for one of the defendants confirmed plans to appeal. Pindula News

(Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Ghana’s benchmark stock index, Africa’s best performer last year, is set to extend gains in 2025 as investors bet incoming President John Mahama government will restore economic stability.

The Ghana Stock Exchange Composite Index rose 56% in local-currency terms — the most since 2013 — aided by a $3 billion International Monetary Fund bailout that’s expected to support growth this year. An economic recovery in Ghana may lure investors again this year, according to Nana Kofi Agyeman Gyamfi, head of wealth management at Bora Capital Advisors Ltd.

Ghana’s gross domestic product expanded an average 6.3% in the first nine months of 2024, compared with 2.6% a year earlier. Mahama was elected last month after pledging measures to restore Ghana’s status as the region’s second-biggest economy.

“The worst is behind us,” said Alex Boahen, head of research at Accra-based Databank Group, which manages about $1 billion in assets. “We expect the general confidence to improve in tandem with the improvement in the economy,” he said, predicting that the Ghanaian index will gain 45% in 2025.

Optimism about the outlook for other key countries in the region, including Ivory Coast and Nigeria, helped buoy their stock markets last year.

In neighboring Ivory Coast, the BRVM Composite Share Index that groups companies from the eight-member West African Economic and Monetary Union, advanced 29% in 2024, the biggest jump in three years. The IMF in April agreed to lend $3.5 billion to the world’s biggest producer of cocoa.

The fund forecasts Ivory Coast’s economy will expand 6.4% in 2025, paced by record cocoa prices and the start of new oil and mining projects by companies including Eni SpA and Vancouver-based Montage Gold Corp. About 74% of the 47 companies listed on the regional bourse are Ivorian. 

In addition, banks have started lending again in Ivory Coast and Senegal, said Famara Ndiaye, a fund manager at Abco Bourse in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. That indicates an economic recovery, he said. 

In Nigeria, the benchmark stock index gained 38%, helped by President Bola Tinubu’s move to allow the nation’s currency to trade freely, end fuel subsidies and government control of tariffs set by power firms.

Oando Plc surged sixfold after completing the purchase of Rome-based Eni’s wholly owned subsidiary, which focuses on onshore oil and gas exploration and production, as well as power generation. Seplat Energy Plc, which concluded the acquisition of the assets of Exxon Mobil Corp., jumped 147%. 

Still, Nigeria faces an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, which may dampen investor sentiment. Inflation accelerating at the fastest pace in almost three decades last year triggered riots and stampedes in Africa’s most-populous nation. 

In Ghana, the cedi currency has risen 7.6% in the past three months. Further gains may help control imported inflation, bolstering Mahama’s new government, which takes over on Jan 7.

The country’s IMF program and a revival in economic activity will give business a “lift up,” said Bora Capital’s Gyamfi, who manages $408 million of assets. “We expect the cedi to consolidate gains and the government to continue fiscal consolidation under the IMF program.”

The Ghanaian stock exchange’s performance last year was second to the Cyprus Stock Exchange General Index, which climbed 58% in 2024.

Sign up for the twice-weekly Next Africa newsletter for the latest business and economic news from the continent.  

--With assistance from Kamailoudini Tagba. Bloomberg

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