Dar es Salaam, Tanzania:
Tanzania diamond exports has increased significantly to $63.1 million (Sh147.46 billion) by November 2022, the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) revealed.
This is more than seven times of $8.4 million (Sh19.63 billion) export value that was recorded in the year to November 2021.
The good performance was highly attributed to the country’s diamond producer Williamson Mines which is currently under suspension.
The company belongs to the parent company Petra Diamonds, which owns 75 percent of the company, and the Tanzanian government owns the remainder.
The mine is an open pit operation located on the 146-hectare Mwadui kimberlite pipe, which is one of the world’s largest economic kimberlites.
However, the production at Williamson has been temporarily suspended – following the breach of one of its Tailing Storage Facilities on November 7, 2022.
It was reported that the flooding of the muddy waters affected about 115 citizens of Ngw’wanholo village, Mwadui Lohumbo ward in Kishapu District.
According to Petra’s official statement production at the Williamson, mine will resume in 2024 fiscal year.
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Africa: Rwanda Gets a Grip Of Marburg, But Mpox ‘Not Yet Under Control’
Monrovia — The Rwanda Minister of State responsible for Health, Dr. Yvan Butera, cautioned that while the country is beginning to see positive signals in its fight against the Marburg virus, the outbreak is “not yet over”. He, however, expressed hope that “we are headed in that direction”. The minister said the epidemiology trend, since the disease was first discovered in the country more than a month ago, is moving towards fewer cases.
Dr. Butera, who was giving updates during an online briefing yesterday, said in the past two weeks, only two deaths were recorded while 14 people recovered from the disease. He said Rwanda was expanding its testing capacity with 16,000 people already inoculated against the disease.
The priority right now, Butera said, is “rapid testing and detection”.
Marburg is a highly virulent disease transmitted through human-to-human contact or contact with an infected animal. The fatality rate of cases, which has varied over the period, is more than 50%, according to the World Health Organization. WHO said the highest number of new confirmed cases in Rwanda were reported in the first two weeks of the outbreak. There’s been a “sharp decline” in the last few weeks, with the country now tackling over 60 cases.
At Thursday’s briefing, a senior official of the Africa Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, said mpox – the other infectious disease outbreak that countries in the region are fighting – was been reported in 19 countries, with Mauritius being the latest country to confirm a case. He said although no new cases have been recorded in recent weeks in several countries where outbreaks occurred previously – including Cameroon, South Africa, Guinea, and Gabon – Uganda confirmed its first Mpox death. This, he said, is one of two fatalities reported outside Central Africa.
Dr. Ngashi revealed that there was an increase in cases in Liberia and Uganda. He said mpox cases were still on an upward trend.
“The situation is not yet under control.”
Source: allafrica.com
