Launching Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa
For global music star Angelique Kidjo, the image of
her grandmother having to use a closet as a bank is driving her desire to see
African women leap the many obstacles to obtaining credit — and respect. The
Benin-born singer, one of Africa’s iconic artists is the voice of a new project
aimed in part at rewriting laws across the continent that prevent millions of
women from becoming a more powerful economic force. Kidjo described what she
has seen over decades of travel in Africa during which women in vibrant
marketplaces wished they had the means to do more. Every time credit is refused
to African women, who invest some 90% of what they earn in educating their
children and supporting families and communities as opposed to about 40% for
men, it’s a disaster, Kidjo said. “We’re taking up reducing the poverty rate in
Africa to the smallest number ever. That’s my passion. That’s why I’m here.”
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES
Zimbabwe’s Heavy Hand at the Opposition
Police with riot gear fired teargas and struck people who
gathered to hear a speech by the country’s top opposition leader amid growing
frustration with the collapsing economy. Dozens of people ran and dodged baton
blows in the capital, Harare, on Wednesday. Officers cordoned off the Movement
for Democratic Change party headquarters before Nelson Chamisa’s speech and
patrolled with water cannon. Chamisa continues to dispute his narrow loss to
Mnangagwa in last year’s election. Only pro-government marches have been
allowed in recent months, while similar moves by the opposition, labour and
human rights groups have been met with strong police action.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
Kenya to Launch its First Localised Weather Modelling System
Developed by researchers at Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta University of
Agriculture and Technology, the Climate Atlas will provide projections on
rainfall and temperature patterns across Kenya’s 47 counties from the year 2050
to 2100. Thus providing key data on how climate change will likely impact crop
production across the East African nation in the decades to come. John Wesonga,
the lead developer of the web-based Climate Atlas platform, said there were
countless global climate modelling systems available, but none provided
localised data for Kenya over a long period. Based on tailored projections,
policymakers, researchers, businesses and farmers will able to shift to
interventions from using more resilient crop varieties to improving drainage
during drought and floods respectively.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
Ethiopians Vote for Breakaway State
Members of Ethiopia’s Sidama minority lined up before dawn to
vote in a self-determination referendum on Wednesday, a test of Ethiopia’s
ability to peacefully manage ethnic demands and political change after more
than a year of sweeping reform. Sidama voters described the referendum as the
achievement of a lifetime and culmination of decades of struggle for autonomy.
Ethiopia’s constitution grants the right to seek autonomy to its more than 80
ethnic groups. More than a dozen groups are debating whether to demand such
powers, amid reforms to create a more open society under Prime Minister Abiy
Ahmed. The vote would carve an autonomous region for the Sidama, who comprise
about 4% of Ethiopia’s 105 million people, out of the Southern Nations,
Nationalities and Peoples region, the most ethnically diverse part of Ethiopia.
Other groups who share the region now are wary of disenfranchisement or
violence.
SOURCE: REUTERS AFRICA
Getting Prominent Africans to Open Up
When Tanzanian media owner and talk show host Doreen Peter Noni
first encountered depression in late 2017, she had no name for it. She just
knew that she was angry at the world. The 30-year-old entrepreneur has come up
with a plan to unlock the conversation about mental health in East Africa. Her
upcoming TV show, Peter’s Daughter, features young Africans who have battled
depression or anxiety while attempting to realize their business idea. Visiting
the young entrepreneurs, Noni engages them to share both their visions and
their breakdowns, while a medical expert identifies symptoms and provides a
solution. Hosting the TV show Tena Na Tena, Noni has already prompted
influential East Africans to share their hardships. The show, which has aired
for two months, is watched by more than 350,000 people, making it an
up-and-coming show in Tanzania.
SOURCE: OZY
Is There Any Effective Solution To Solve The Problem Of Child Labour In African Chocolate Industry?
Chocolate is enjoyed all over the world as a tasty dessert and
snack. In fact, the entire chocolate industry was already valued at $103.28
billion in 2017, and sales continue to rise. But as delicious as chocolate is,
much of the world’s supply can be traced back to child labor. More than 70% of
the world’s cocoa comes from West Africa, and within this region, around 60% is
contributed by the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Even though poverty is a major issue
in both of these countries, they’re actually cocoa suppliers to huge
international companies like Hershey’s and Nestle. However, as demand for
chocolate rises globally, prices go down, and they’re already less than half of
what they were in 1980. This doesn’t bode well for the sustainability of cocoa
farming in West Africa. Cocoa farmers live well below the global poverty line,
earning less than $2 per day. Ironically, even as the companies they supply to
enjoy higher valuations and increased sales, the farmers themselves receive
lower wages.
SOURCE: AFRICA.COM
Jumia Closes Shop in Cameroon
E-commerce giants Jumia has folded up its operations in Cameroon
without prior information but the move confirmed rumours that had been making
the rounds for weeks. Cameroon is off its website and applications as of
November 18. The move also means the firing of its entire staff despite no
official information from its management. The development means Cameroon
becomes the third African country in which it has folded up operations. The
earlier two being in Gabon and Congo Republic. Its operations spans different
regions of Africa from North to East, West and Central Africa. It operated in
14 countries as at April 2019. Its biggest operation was in Africa’s most
populous nation, Nigeria.
SOURCE: AFRICA NEWS
Juba International Airport Becomes a No-go Zone
Ethiopian Airlines and Kenyan Airlines are threatening to halt
service to Juba International Airport because too many customers’ bags are
being stolen. After a council of ministers meeting, South Sudan government
spokesperson Michael Makuei said the two airlines told the government they
intend to stop routes through the South Sudanese capital because of the rampant
theft of customer’s luggage at the Juba airport. The airlines did not specify
when they might cut off service. Kur Kuol, managing director of Juba
International Airport, said he intends to meet with executives of the two
airlines to discuss the matter. “We are approaching the end of the year,
and always toward the end of the year there are a lot of problems that occur so
that we prepare our order before that time comes.”
SOURCE: VOA
How African Men Interpret Global Style Movement
“Dandy Lion: The Black Dandy and Street Style,” is a
visual archive of Shantrelle P. Lewis’ career spent studying the history of
dandyism within black communities. The author’s book is an extension of the
exhibition, divided into sections that introduce micro movements, groups and
individuals that have emerged as a result of dandyism throughout history. The
Swenkas, for instance, are a group of working-class Zulu men in South Africa
who began hosting fashion competitions as a means of displaying wealth and
rebelling against apartheid. The contests have strict rules regarding how the
men must dress and what colors they should sport. “The Swenka movement
became a nonconfrontational protest and resistance against the oppressive and
racist regime,” Lewis writes.
SOURCE: CNN
Concert Meant to Unite Africans Goes South
Two concerts in South Africa expected to feature Nigerian star
Burna Boy have been cancelled following “increasing threats of
violence”, a statement from the organisers says. He had been scheduled to
appear at what were dubbed the Africans Unite concerts in Cape Town and
Pretoria at the weekend. The announcement that he was going to appear had
attracted controversy as in September, during a wave of xenophobic violence in
South Africa, Burna Boy had vowed not to go to South Africa again until the
government “wakes up”. He tweeted that he had personally had his own
“xenophobic experiences at the hands of South Africans ” in 2017.
Earlier this month, after changing his mind about going to South Africa, Burna
Boy said he would donate part of the proceeds from the concert to the victims
of xenophobic attacks.
SOURCE: TIMES LIVE