Africa 54 - October 28, 2021 You are watching Africa 54, your daily news and feature magazine-style program, from the Voice of America. Managing editor Vincent Makori and a team of correspondents zero in on the big stories making news on the continent and around the world with context and analysis. Top Stories: SUDAN UPDATES: Latest reports say General al-Burhan has fired ambassadors to the US, China the European Union, France, Qatar, and the head of the Sudanese mission in Geneva. After the military takeover of the Sudanese government, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with deposed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was released from custody Tuesday. The U.S. is calling for a return to the civilian-led transition to democracy, as VOA's Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. The African Union has suspended Sudan's participation in all activities until the restoration of the civilian-led authority it said in a communique dated on Tuesday.) Meanwhile, global powers have condemned the military coup in Sudan and called on security forces to release those who were detained unlawfully. Bryan Wood reports. Skype Guest: Nabeel Biajo, South Sudan In Focus The African Union says it intends to buy up to 110 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna in an arrangement brokered in part by the White House, which will defer delivery of some doses intended for the United States to facilitate the deal. Pro-government Zimbabweans say sanctions imposed in 2003 and earlier by some Western nations, including the United States, because of election rigging and human rights abuses, are derailing the country's economy’s recovery. Once commonplace, abuses by state security forces against civilians in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have dropped sharply in the previous year, according to rights groups. Reporting from Burkina Faso, where the decline of 77% has been the biggest, Henry Wilkins discovers what is behind the drop and what lessons can be learned. Nigeria loses thousands of doctors every year to Europe, North America, and the Middle East due to poor salaries, benefits, and working conditions back home. Nigerian health authorities are promising to improve compensation to stop the country’s medical brain drain but as Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja, it may not be enough. Nigeria is the first African nation to launch a digital currency - the eNaira - a move its leaders say will expand access to banking and enable more remittances. Ciara Lee has the details. Global pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions are just a fraction of what’s needed to prevent catastrophic global warming. That’s the warning from the United Nations, ahead of the critical COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, Britain next week – where world leaders will try to agree on further action to combat global warming. Henry Ridgwell looks at what is at stake ahead of the meeting. Nigeria is one of the top producers of oil palm in the world. The business is highly lucrative and primarily dominated by smallholder farmers, with 80 percent of the local market share. Recently, Releaf, an Agritech start-up that makes African farmers and food factories more efficient, secured $4.2 million in seed funding to drive the industrialization of food processing in Africa. For most perspective, Africa 54's Technology Correspondent Paul Ndiho, via Skype, spoke to Ikenna Nzewi, CEO and co-founder of Releaf, based in Lagos, Nigeria. A popular new music app uses artificial intelligence to “ democratize” how musicians of all skill levels learn and play music. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more