Daily News on Issues Affecting Africa for November 19, 2014

Continue reading for a summary of recent news stories relating to some of the most pressing issues on the continent. We draw on a wide range of respected news sources, both from Africa itself and around the world. The themes of today's In the News post are: the selcetion of Prime Minister in Burkina Faso, the proposed African trade bloc, Ebola's effect on Public Health systems, clinical trials in Sierra Leone for cure for Ebola, efforts to stop the sprawl of the Sahara, solar power in Kenya and import taxes in Ghana.

Burkina Faso Names army Colonel Zida as Prime Minister

Burkina Faso's transitional government named Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Zida as prime minister on Wednesday, four days after he restored the country's constitution under pressure from the African Union and the West.

Zida declared himself head of state on Nov. 1 after mass protests toppled President Blaise Compaore who then fled the West African country. The African Union had given Zida two weeks to restore civilian rule or face economic sanctions.

To read more from Reuters, click here.

Egypt expects new African trade bloc in December: minister

Three African economic blocs will merge into a new 27-nation free-trade zone under an agreement to be signed in Cairo next month, uniting markets worth 58 percent of the continent's economic activity, Egypt's industry and trade minister said.

The deal will combine the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the South African Development Community (SADC), and the East African Community (EAC).

To read more from Reuters, click here.

Ebola Challenges Africa's Public Health Systems

With close to 5,000 deaths and nearly 10,000 reported cases since last December, the current outbreak of Ebola has exposed both the weaknesses of our health care systems and our inability as Africans to work together in times of crisis.

The first Ebola outbreak occurred in what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976 and infected more than 300 people, with a mortality rate estimated at 88 percent. Since then, the virus has emerged and been contained more than a dozen times across sub-Saharan Africa, although in some cases only after exacting a heavy price.

To read more from allAfrica, click here.

Sierra Leonean doctors to start clinical trial using blood of Ebola survivors

Doctors in Sierra Leone are to start their own clinical trial, using the blood of Ebola survivors, to speed up the search for a cure for the disease, which has so far killed more than 5,000 people in west Africa.

The trial, organised by a global group of Sierra Leonean medics, will take place in parallel with similar trials announced last week by Médecins Sans Frontières to be run in Guinea in December.

The Sierra Leone Action Group has some 200 survivors registered as possible donors, and hopes to start banking their blood plasma in mid-December after receiving equipment donated by a US medical devices firm. Scientists hope that the antibodies in the blood of people who have recovered from the disease will help other patients fight the infection.

To read more from the Guardian, click here.

Holding Back the Sahara

Old people in Widou Thiengoly say they can remember when there were so many trees that you couldn't see the sky.

Now, miles of reddish-brown sand surround this village in northwestern Senegal, dotted with occasional bushes and trees. Dried animal dung is scattered everywhere, but hardly any dried grass is.

Overgrazing and climate change are the major causes of the Sahara's advance, said Gilles Boetsch, an anthropologist who directs a team of French scientists working with Senegalese researchers in the region.

To read more from The New York Times, click here.

Ghana to remove import duties on smartphones, raise tobacco taxes

Importation of smartphones into Ghana will be tax-free from next year, as the government intends to bridge the digital divide within the West African country, but consumers of tobacco will have to pay as high as 175% import duty.

The removal of import duties on smartphones is expected to increase mobile penetration in line with government's policy of bridging the digital divide within the country.

To read more from The Africa Report, click here.

Kenya moves to rein in solar cowboys

When he retired from his publishing job in Nairobi six years ago, Joseph Ojuang moved to a house he had built in Siaya, western Kenya. The home was more than 30 kilometres away from the nearest electrical grid, so Ojuang's only choice for power was to have a solar photovoltaic (PV) system installed.

But "the task was not easy," remembers the father of three. "The technicians my contacts referred me to displayed little knowledge of PV systems and were basically electricians keen to earn an extra shilling at the expense of quality work."

To read more from The East African, click here.