`Perception premiums’ shouldn’t overinflate risks perennially assigned to a brighter Africa COMMENT | HIPPOLYTE FOFACK | In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused Africa’s first recession in 25 years. The sharp tightening of global financial conditions triggered sudden stops in foreign direct investment and massive capital outflows, alongside one of the …
Read More »Africa urgently needs 20 million second doses of COVID-19 vaccine
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Africa needs at least 20 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the next six weeks to get second doses to all who received a first dose within the 8-12-week interval between doses recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). A single dose of the …
Read More »Vaccine nationalism stalling COVID fight
An end to vaccine nationalism will revitalize the war against the pandemic in the African continent Nairobi, Kenya | Xinhua | The fight against COVID-19 in Africa is facing new headwinds amid hoarding of vaccine stockpiles by wealthy nations that has created a supply crunch in the continent, campaigners said on Wednesday. …
Read More »Chinese tourists could be the future of African tourism
Chinese travellers spend twice as much as Americans. Hannah Ryder and Rosie Wigmore look at how Africa can attract a bigger share of this lucrative market. Before Covid-19 struck, a competition was about to heat up. March 2020 – around the time that African countries started to close their borders …
Read More »MIT unveils African entrepreneur Fellowship
Fellowship applications open on May 3, 2021 for entrepreneurs working and living in Uganda, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Senegal | THE INDEPENDENT | Legatum Center for Development & Entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has unveiled the Foundry Fellowship, a first-of-its-kind leadership program for accomplished …
Read More »Africa’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout
The risks and the challenges | THE INDEPENDENT Africa’s largest-ever vaccination drive is well under way. Forty-nine African countries are rolling out COVID-19 vaccines and over 22 million doses have been given on the continent. Valuable lessons are emerging, but major risks and challenges threaten Africa’s fragile gains. Supply crunch …
Read More »How data and data science strategies can unlock Africa’s future competitiveness
What makes today’s giant companies efficient is their ability to mine data and apply insights to their strategies COMMENT | Emmanuel Osanga | How can we not pay attention to data, considering the value it provides? Ultimately, it will position organisations to either win or lose in their industries. At …
Read More »Ten African countries push for consensus on River Nile use
Nile Council of Ministers call on Nile Basin countries to increase coordination in planning of water use Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | THE INDEPENDENT | Projections of future water demand based on national plans show a widening gap between water availability and water demand, which could lead to increasing water conflict …
Read More »COVID-19 vaccine supply hitches could reignite upticks in Africa – WHO
Africa currently accounts for 1 percent of COVID-19 vaccines administered globally Nairobi, Kenya | Xinhua | The delays in supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses to Africa linked to the crisis in India could reignite new waves of infections in the continent, the World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Thursday. Matshidiso Moeti, …
Read More »Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
Why it’s a blessing for Nile Basin countries of Africa ANALYSIS | BELACHEW C TESFA, PhD | In 2011, Ethiopia began building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Project (GERD) on the Blue Nile River, 60 kilometers from the Sudan border. The reservoir has a storage capacity of 74 billion cubic …
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