Africa Top 10 News

Eskom Takes Legal Action Against Deloitte For Overcharging

South Africa’s state power firm, Eskom has sued multinational consultancy firm, Deloitte accusing the firm for being irregularly awarded contracts. In a statement, Eskom said Deloitte charged five times more compared to its competitors in contracts that were undertaken in 2016. In the recent times, Eskom has faced increasing challenges to effectively manage South Africa’s growing power demands. Eskom has taken Deloitte to court insisting the consultancy firm should give back $14m that was ill-gotten. Deloitte has denied any wrongdoing and promises to give its version in court.

Africa Has The Highest Internet Charges In The World

Internet users in African countries are paying some of the most expensive rates for internet in the world when compared to the proportion of income. This is according to a new report from The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) that studied and included 136 low and middle-income countries in their annual Affordability Report. The A4AI is an initiative of The Web Foundation, founded by inventor of the Web Tim Berners-Lee, with partner organizations that include Google and Facebook.

The A4AI defines affordability as 1GB of mobile broadband data costing no more than 2% of average monthly income. But the average across the African continent is 7.12%, and in some cases 1GB costs more than a fifth of average earnings.  Such prices are “too expensive for all but the wealthiest few,” the report states, citing cost as the primary reason why an estimated 49% of the global population remains offline.

Land Dispute Threatens Kenya’s Maasai Mara Conservation Efforts

A land dispute in Kenya’s Maasai Mara could have a profound impact on the future of wildlife in and around the national reserve. The conflicts pits a group of Maasai pastoralists against the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association (MMWCA). The pastoralists have been driving herds of cattle into the vast expanse land preserved for wildlife use in incidences that have increasingly become common in the past year. The disgruntled farmers lease parcels of their land to tourism operators through the MMWCA, which they accuse of cutting landowners out of key decisions and not paying them a fair slice of tourism profits. The farmers now want to renege on contracts with the MMWCA that are not set to expire until 2025.

Passengers Stranded in South Africa After Aviation Authorities Ground Major Airline Fleets

Thousands of passengers across South Africa were stranded after aviation regulators forced major carries to ground parts of their fleet. Cities whose services were affected include Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. South African Airways (SAA) and Comair were amongst the major airlines affected by the disruption. The disruption came after an audit from South African Airways Technical, a maintenance firm. In response, South African Airways has been preparing to operate an amended schedule following the recall of the aircraft involved. The airliners are being now being inspected for complicated verification. Despite the inconvenience, SAA says that the inspection is a necessary exercise to make sure that safety compliance is met.

Holistic Land Management to Prevent Desertification

Holistic management, pioneered 50 years ago by acclaimed Zimbabwean ecologist, Allan Savory, is proving effective in the restoration of degraded land in many parts of the world where it is being applied.According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) the scourge of desertification is costing the global economy up to 15 trillion dollars annually, making it urgent to restore degraded land to mitigate climate change.

Ethiopia’s PM Abiy Ahmed Warns Over Renaissance Dam

Ethiopia’s PM Abiy Ahmed has warned of a conflict over a dam project disputed with Egypt. Abiy Ahmed made the remarks on Tuesday during a parliament question-and-answer session, his most prominent public appearance since winning the Nobel Peace Prize on October 11.

“Some say things about use of force (by Egypt). It should be underlined that no force could stop Ethiopia from building a dam,” Abiy said.”If there is a need to go to war, we could get millions readied. If some could fire a missile, others could use bombs. But that’s not in the best interest of all of us,” he added.

The $5 billion dam which is the largest in Africa and 70% complete is expected to provide electricity to Ethiopia’s 100 million people.

New Public Holiday in Zimbabwe To Protest US Sanctions

Zimbabwe has declared a new public holiday aimed at protesting U.S. sanctions it claims are hurting its national economy. The holiday is accompanied by a festival sponsored by the state and was announced by Amin Murwira, Zimbabwe’s acting information minister. The day will be marked on October 25 with tens of thousands of people expected in the capital.The minister said Monday that the holiday is “to further amplify the importance of this day to the economic emancipation and well-being of Zimbabwe.” Dozens of Zimbabwean officials, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa, have faced years of U.S. sanctions over alleged human rights violations. Mnangagwa has turned the sanctions into a rallying cry and blamed them for the collapsing economy.

Ivorian Reggae Star Calls On Guineans To Refuse President’s Third-Term Bid

Ivorian reggae star, Tiekn Jah Fakoly has urged Guineans to resist a third term bid of President Alpha Conde. In a message posted on his official Facebook page, he called on his fans to resists the 81-year old Conde’s third presidential attempt because it poses negative consequences for the entire West African region.As at last week, the death toll in anti-government protest reached nine people according to confirmation from authorities. The protesters rejected a possible constitutional amendment that could permit President Alpha Condé to run for a third term.

Russia-Africa Summit To Boost Russia-Africa Relations

Russia-Africa summit is slated for October 23-24 in Sochi, Russia and focusses on the return of Russia to Africa. The summit will be attended by more than 50 African leaders and over 3,000 invited delegates. The convention is a symbol of an increase in political-diplomatic engagements and economic cooperation with an aim to boost Russia-Africa relations.Over the last decade there has been a proliferation of Russia-Africa bilateral committees, economic forums, and conferences for economic coordination. In 2011, the Russian Agency on Insurance of Export Credit Investments (EXIAR) was created in order to facilitate Russian companies’ activities and the protection of investments.

DRC and Its Neighbors Outline Measures to Curb Spread of Ebola

Democratic Republic of Congo neighbors and its nine neighboring countries have resolved to boost cross-border collaboration in response to Ebola and outbreaks of other diseases. For over a year, DRC has been struggling to contain a deadly Ebola outbreak that has seen more than 2,100 people killed becoming the second deadliest Ebola epidemic after 11,300 people were killed in West Africa between 2013-2016. DRC’s neighbors that include Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia have implemented several precautionary and reactionary measures as the virus extended towards their borders.

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