Author: Giza Mdoe

• Promoting global governance reform top agenda in BRICS 2025 summit.
• Dedollarizing global trade remains key BRICS focus.
• Brazil to host BRICS annual summit in July.

The 2025 BRICS annual summit will be held in Brazil, the trade bloc has announced. “This year, the BRICS summit will take place in Rio de Janeiro on July 6-7,” the Brazilian government said in a press statement last week.

According to the statement, Brazil will chair the bloc of developing economies through 2025 and it’s top priority will be promoting global governance reform. It will do this by promoting cooperation among Global South countries, says the statement issued by the federal government.

“We will make crucial decisions for development, cooperation, and improving the lives of all the inhabitants of these countries,” said Mauro Vieira, Brazil’s Foreign Minister in the statement.

BRICS is viewed as the counterbalance bloc against the Group of Seven leading industrialized …

• Dedollarization has more than economic ramifications.
• China, Russia are slowly dropping dollar in their trade payments.
• To counter the wave, US President Donald Trump has threatened 100% tariffs on all BRICS countries.

Dedollarization, the use of other currencies instead of the dollar for international trade, is gaining popularity among BRICS countries (and others), effectively undermining the dollar and threatening US global influence.

Dollarization: How the dollar came into power

Has the dollar always been the currency for global trade? The answer is a simple yet affirmative no.

It is the World Wars (and very forward thinking lobbyists) that propagated the dollar into its current dominant position above other currencies.

In 1944, the eve of the end of World War two, the Bretton Woods Agreement was signed paving the way for US dollar dominance in the post-war international monetary order.

“The agreement instituted a system of fixed exchange rates, where most …

• Critical minerals are vital for the green energy transition.
• The DRC is the world’s largest miner of critical minerals.
• DRC appeals to US to mine critical minerals and help stop rebel insurgency.

Critical minerals are defining the green energy transition and the DRC is the world’s largest producer. Critical minerals copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and others including rare earth elements, such as lanthanum and yttrium are vital for the green energy transition.

These minerals and metals are essential for emerging technologies powering electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, and mobile phones among other modern digital devices and machines.

“The country Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is currently the world’s largest supplier of cobalt which has defence and aerospace applications as well as being essential for batteries in electric vehicles,” states Cobalt Institute’s factsheet titled “Powering the Green Economy.”

The report points out that most of the critical minerals mined in …

• By harnessing DRC’s vast cobalt reserves and Zambia’s copper wealth, a new joint project aims to create jobs, cut emissions, and position Africa as epicenter of green mobility.
• The DRC-Zambia transboundary Special Economic Zone is set to produce nickel, manganese and cobalt battery precursors.
• A BloombergNEF study established that the project was technically feasible and financially viable, at a cost of $2.7Bn.

In a continent where competition and conflict often overshadows collaboration, two neighbouring nations are defying the odds—and history itself. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia, who share a border fraught with regional tensions, are joining forces in an audacious gamble: turning a potential conflict zone into the hub of Africa’s green energy push.

At first glance, the partnership seems improbable. Eastern DRC remains a flashpoint, with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels clashing with Kinshasa’s forces. Yet, just south of the turmoil, the two nations are pioneering a transboundary …

• AfDB calls for increased financing for smallholder farmers in Africa.
• Agriculture Ministers back AfDB call for smallholder farmers’ financing.
• Less than 20% of African smallholder farmers use improved seeds.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is betting big on Africa’s smallholder farmers—but will this historic financial push be enough to break the cycle of rural poverty? The bank has unveiled plans for a $500 million risk-sharing facility – designated to unlock upto $10 billion in financing for small-scale farmers and agribusinesses across the continent.

Speaking at the High-Level Conference on Scaling Finance for Smallholder Farmers in Nairobi, AfDB President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina revealed that the bank is in final discussions with its Board of Directors to launch the initiative.

If approved, it could mark a turning point for millions of farmers trapped in subsistence agriculture—but skepticism remains. Will this funding reach those who need it most, or will bureaucracy and mismanagement …

• Tanzania has officially introduced Prof. Mohamed Janabi for WHO Africa Director candidacy.
• Prof Janabi is a member of faculty at Medical University of South Carolina, USA, and has over 83 medical publications.
• He speaks at least four languages including Russian, and Japanese.

Professor Mohamed Janabi has been selected by Tanzania as the country’s candidate for the post of World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa Region Director.

Prof Janabi is a member of faculty at the Medical University of South Carolina, USA, and is currently a special envoy to the Tanzanian President, as Senior Advisor on Health and Nutrition matters.

Following his nomination, he will be in the race to become the new WHO Africa Director following the death of regional director elect, Dr Faustine Ndugulile, on November 27, 2024.

The medic is a distinguished public health expert with  several decades of experience, and has held various senior positions in both …

• Laser-powered Taara Lightbridge, an firm owned by Google, is competing with Elon Musk’s Starlink to advance access to internet services in Africa.
• Taara is targeting some 860 million people in Africa who currently go without reliable internet access.
• Taara Lightbridge offers affordable, high-speed internet that rivals satellite broadband solutions.

As Elon Musk’s satellite internet services firm Starlink grows its footprint in Africa, rival Google’s Taara Lightbridge has stepped in for a share of the growing number of consumers in the vast continent.

Taara Lightbridge is the brainchild of Alphabet, the parent company of tech giant Google and is envisioned to become “a standalone company,” as it takes on Starlink “in the race to connect underserved regions with high-speed internet.”

Taara Lightbridge uses Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC) technology to beam high-speed internet through light over long distances, unlike satellite broadband that Elon Musk’s Starlink uses.

The move into Africa’s …

• East Africa’s public transport sector, once synonymous with chaos and pollution, is now leading a quiet green revolution.
• From electric buses in Kenya to CNG-powered fleets in Tanzania, the region is ditching diesel for clean energy.
• Could this unexpected shift be the most defining leap to a sustainable future for urban mobility?

Across the populous cities and towns of East Africa, a quiet revolution is underway. The familiar roar of diesel engines is being replaced by the hum of electric buses, the whir of three-wheeled motorcycles, and the smooth glide of trains powered by clean energy.

Even Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is fueling fleets of buses and taxis, signaling a seismic shift as the region ditches oil for renewables. But here’s the twist: the unlikely hero of this green mobility transition isn’t high-tech startups, luxury carmakers or even woke government policymakers—it’s the public transport sector.

From Dar es Salaam to …

• Ethiopia is set to construct Africa’s largest airport at a projected cost of $7.8 billion.
• Set for completion in 2040, the airport will have the capacity to handle 110 million passengers a year and provide aprons for 270 aircraft.
• While AfDB has pledged ‘full commitment’ to fund the project, Ethiopian Airlines Group is engaging other financiers, including the EXIM Bank of China.

Ethiopia, home to Africa’s largest airline, has announced plans to build the continent’s biggest airport, set to rival global aviation hubs such as Dubai International and London’s Heathrow. Designed as a state-of-the-art airport city, the facility will have the capacity to handle over 100 million passengers annually, positioning Ethiopia as a key player in global air travel.

Already holding the title of Africa’s leading airline in passenger numbers, destinations, fleet size, and revenue, Ethiopian Airlines is now aiming for another milestone—constructing the continent’s largest airport. Additionally, Ethiopian Airlines …

• Did you know that the push to decarbonize the world requires immense volumes of copper? 
• Statistics show that the annual demand of copper could reach 50 million metric tonnes by 2050.
• However, large scale extraction of this vital mineral carries enormous cost to the environment.

Copper remains a vital mineral powering modern development, but its extraction comes at a significant cost to both the environment and economies.

According to the Vice Provost for Research and Enterprise and the Armourers and Brasiers’ Chair in Materials Science at Imperial College London, Prof. Mary Ryan, “Copper brought us out of the stone age, as an alloy, copper makes bronze and the latter is responsible for most all modern development.”

The scientist, in a report titled Mine copper without destroying the planet? she adds, “today, copper is the indispensable metal needed for almost all electrical wiring, plumbing, and industrial machinery… we owe a lot …