United Airlines has announced an increase in service between Lagos and Washington D.C., from three-times weekly to daily flights between 4 December 2024 and 14 February 2025, reflecting a 133% year-over-year increase in seats for this period. This will be the first time United’s service between Lagos and Washington D.C. will operate daily and the flight continues to be the only night-time departure from Lagos to the U.S., enabling customers in Nigeria to benefit from more travel options to visit Washington D.C., as well as convenient day-time connections to destinations across the Americas.

Since the launch of United’s Lagos to Washington service in 2021, United has operated flights with state-of- the-art Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft featuring 28 United Polaris SM business class lie-flat seats, 21 United Premium Plus SM premium economy seats, 36 Economy Plus SM seats and 158 standard economy seats. The revolutionary design of the Dreamliner offers customers many features for increased comfort, such as large windows, spacious overhead storage, and modern LED lighting to simulate a full day, helping passengers adjust their internal clock on the transatlantic flight. (Press release)

The first of a series of PUMA-2025 receiving stations specifically designed to capture data from the next-generation of Meteosat geostationary satellites was installed in Nairobi, Kenya. It will ensure that Kenyan meteorologists can use the most accurate and frequent data from the Meteosat-Third Generation (MTG) satellites to support the sustainable development of local communities and protect lives and livelihoods.

EUMETSAT supports the African Union Commission’s effort to set up a network of similar stations in several national weather and climate services across the entire continent in the following months. This will empower most African meteorologists and scientists with the most recent technology to receive and use MTG data.

EUMETSAT’s Meteosat satellites are the only Earth observation satellites that have a constant view of Africa. MTG will provide higher resolution images of Africa than is possible now and more frequently, that is, every 10 minutes. (Press release)

The United States Embassy in Ethiopia, through its Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), today presented over $300,000 worth of transcribing equipment to the Federal Supreme Court (FSC) of Ethiopia.  This equipment will support the FSC’s ongoing implementation and expansion of its smart court system, which was launched in January of this year.  

In a handover ceremony at the Federal Supreme Court, Ambassador Massinga delivered $300,000 of smart court equipment to the FSC.  The technology will support the judiciary in providing a more responsive, efficient, and accessible justice system.    

The provision of this equipment is in direct response to a request made by FSC President Tewodros Mihret during a meeting with the U.S. Ambassador on December 21.  Subsequent discussions with INL highlighted the critical role this equipment would play in expediting case adjudication and advancing judicial reform by enhancing court credibility, transparency, and consistency. (Press release) 

African countries should leverage on the youth potential in the region for innovation, industrialization, peace and socio- economic growth, according to Heads of state and leaders at the opening session of the 44th Ordinary of Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit of Heads State and Government in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The Summit is being held under the theme: “Promoting Innovation to unlock opportunities for sustained economic growth and development towards an industrialized SADC.”

In his acceptance speech as the incoming SADC chair, Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, emphasized the need for Southern African countries to harness innovation potential to maximize value from their natural resources to accelerate development.

“We must ensure that youth and entrepreneurs including women embrace technology and innovation revolution for development,” said Mnangagwa. (Press release)