Africa is vulnerable to disruptions in global supply chains caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly with respect to pharmaceuticals, because between 70 and 90 percent are imported. But it has underutilized capacity to make up the difference.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses challenges for African agriculture. Farming is the dominant way people in sub-Saharan Africa earn their living and feed their families. Government restrictions on movement could threaten food security if not done properly.

The conflict broke out in Cabo Delgado province in the fall of 2017, and resulted in more than 1,000 deaths and forced 100,000 people to flee their homes. The group is Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jamo (ASWJ), aka al-Shabab, with links to the Islamic State.

April is now one of the deadliest months in nearly a decade of the Boko Haram conflict, according to data from the Nigeria Security Tracker, which now features geographic data from Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.

One of the poorest countries in Africa, Malawi is vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has a high population density, many have underlying health conditions, and a weak a public health system. The pandemic will also exacerbate Malawi's food insecurity.

After years of negotiations, Egypt has written to the UN Security Council about what it considers to be Ethiopia's failure to reach an agreement over the filling and operations of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

In a recent editorial, Ereku argued that the COVID-19 pandemic showed how "grossly inadequate" all levels of government were at addressing the needs of rural people. He is writing from Yenagoa in Bayelsa state.

The health minister of Democratic Republic of the Congo announced six Ebola cases in the city of Mbandaka in Equateur Province in northwestern DRC. These recent cases of Ebola are DRC’s eleventh outbreak since 1976. DRC also faces COVID-19 and measles.

This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from May 23 to 29, 2020.

Some five hundred "bandits" on motocycles attacked a village (or perhaps several villages) in Katsina State in northwest Nigeria over May 30 and 31. They made off with "thousands" of livestock, likely cattle, and killed 18 villagers and a local headman.