In This Issue:

- Leading the News

- United States – Africa Relations

- North Africa

- East Africa

- West Africa

- Sub - Saharan Africa

- General Africa News

- Excerpt from Leading the News:

West Africa Ebola Outbreak:

On February 11th, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced additional nominees for awards in the Fighting Ebola: A Grand Challenge for Development. A collaborative expert review identified 12 innovations to reinforce the response to the current and future Ebola outbreaks. Building off the initial set of solutions for health care worker safety announced in December, this second wave of award nominees included solutions for a broader range of gaps from improved health care worker tools, more rapidly deployable care settings, and fresh community education approaches critical for the final stages of the outbreak response, and cutting edge health information technology solutions to enhance the current response and provide a bridge toward longer-term recovery.

On February 12th, the World Bank noted, as part of its effort to help revive agriculture and avert hunger in Ebola-hit countries, up to $15 million in emergency financing has been mobilized to provide 10,500 tons of maize and rice seed to over 200,000 farmers in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in time for the April planting season. The World Bank warned that one million people could go hungry if they do not have reliable access to food and if emergency measures are not taken immediately to safeguard crop and livestock production.