22 dead, scores feared drowned after Uganda boat sinks Mutima, Uganda | AFP | Twenty-two people have died and more than 60 are feared drowned after a pleasure boat sank on Lake Victoria, Ugandan police said Sunday. The vessel MV Templar carrying close to a hundred revellers sank during bad …
Read More »Uber loss tops $1 bn as it seeks to diversify
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Ride-share company Uber on Wednesday said that its net loss topped a billion dollars in the recently ended quarter as it pumped money into bikes, scooters, freight and food delivery. While a private company, Uber has taken to sharing quarterly earnings figures as …
Read More »Africa’s largest train-making plant opens in Johannesburg
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday unveiled the continent’s largest train manufacturing plant, a joint venture between the national rail firm and French transport group Alstom. The factory is a part of a 51-billion-rand ($3.5 billion, 3.1 billion-euro) deal between Alstom and the …
Read More »Is Africa starting to choke on China’s lending glut?
Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | It was a time for smiles and handshakes as the delegations from Sierra Leone and China Exim Bank sealed a loan to provide the impoverished West African state with a new airport. Just months later, the much-trumpeted Mamamah International Airport scheme, estimated to cost …
Read More »Court orders diesel ban on major Berlin roads
Berlin, Germany | AFP | Berlin could shut out diesel drivers from major arterial roads next year, after a court Tuesday ordered the German capital to follow in the footsteps of Hamburg, Frankfurt and Stuttgart with exclusion zones. A renewed focus on air quality in the wake of Volkswagen’s 2015 …
Read More »COMMENT: Bright future for transport sector
UNRA’s expressways, flyover projects, and more will lead to reduction in traffic congestion in the city COMMENT | AHMED AYUB | On many fronts in the recent past, we have seen the artistic impressions of various projects and most astounding of all the beautiful impressions that the Uganda National Roads Authority …
Read More »Head of Tesla Autopilot project leaves for Intel
San Francisco, United States | AFP | The head of Tesla’s Autopilot project is leaving the car marker, amid a US government probe into a fatal accident involving a vehicle using the semi-autonomous driving system. The executive, Jim Keller, is moving to chipmaking giant Intel, both companies said Thursday. Keller’s …
Read More »EU court backs France ban of Uber service without notifying Brussels
Luxembourg, Luxembourg | AFP | The EU’s top court on Tuesday backed the right of member states like France to ban a service by ridesharing firm Uber without notifying Brussels, in a fresh setback to the US giant. The European Court of Justice ruled in favour of France’s ban of …
Read More »Benin, Niger back Chinese involvement in mega rail project
Niamey, Niger | AFP | The leaders of Benin and Niger have given their backing to Chinese involvement in a controversial major rail infrastructure project set to span several countries. “We have taken stock of the railway issue (and) we tried to see which measures could be taken to move …
Read More »Safe Boda in a new campaign
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s motorcycle hailing firm, SafeBoda, has unveiled a new year-long campaign dubbed YourCityRide aimed at encouraging people to go out and discover the best of Kampala City. The campaign will feature among others, city tour, street food festival and a boda themed street fashion …
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