Author: Giza Mdoe

As the World shakes off the effects of Covid-19, the global energy sector has a long way to go to recover, but the baby steps have begun. In his remarks at the 20th Meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), mid last month, the OPEC Secretary General, Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, underscored the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and what he described as ‘…its complete disruption of daily life.’  “These monthly meetings of both the JTC and the JMMC send a reassuring message that we are ready, willing and able to address shifting market conditions”, he said during the video conference. The…

Who is Yasseen Mansour Yasseen Mansour is one of Egypt’s richest men, born in 1962 born in one of the most prominent business families in Alexandria. He is part-owner of the Mansour Group and chairman of Palm Hills Developments, one of Egypt’s largest real estate developers. Yasseen Mansour net worth Yasseen Mansour net worth as of this year is at $2.3 billion ranking him among African billionaires and also as an Egyptian billionaire. He is a shareholder in family-owned conglomerate Mansour Group, which was founded by his father Loutfy Yassen is one of the five children of Loufty and the…

Tik-Tok and We Chat Now Banned in the United States. The US has banned the popular video challenge App Tik Tok along with the mobile payment platform WeChat, citing home security threats. In a move that was widely unexpected, despite the mounting Sino-US trade tensions. Tik Tok is very popular in the US (and around the world) and wracks in millions in advertisements and fees. As of tomorrow (Sunday 20th, 2020) We Chat will be shut down in the US but Tik Tok will have some leeway all the way to November. Should the supposed threat be neutralized before then, then…

Who is Folorunsho Alakija Folorunsho Alakija is one of the richest women in the world. she started her journey to wealth in the fashion industry and the entrepreneur spirit in her drove to oil prospectus, the rest is history, now Folorunsho Alakija is worth  $2.5 billion dollars making her one of the wealthiest Africans out there. Born in Lagos, Alakija was schooled in the UK and attended Pitman’s Central College in London. As a passion, she was into the fashion industry and so she naturally also attended the Central School of Fashion. When she returned back home, in Lagos Nigeria,…

Main contractors are pushing out specialised subcontractors from the industry by performing tasks that would otherwise be handled by the latter. In an Exclusive interview with The Exchange, contractors from the Architects Association Tanzania (AAT) who attended the 10th AAT Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Seminar that was held in Dar es Salaam said, the specialised contractors are not getting any work because when the main contractor is hired they push do perform work that would be done by the specialised contractors. If you are wondering what am talking about it because you probably already got swindled by a main contractor.…

Before the dangers of lead were known, it was a common ingredient in house paint, where it acted as a pigment and increased durability. Though banned for use in paint in the U.S. in 1978, millions of homes, schools, and businesses still have lead based paint on their walls, both inside and out. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, lead paint can be found in: 24% of homes built from 1960-1978 69% of homes built from 1940-1960 87% of homes built before 1940 If the paint is in good condition and has been painted over, it usually doesn’t pose a…

Will Zimbabwe Pay White Farmers Or Not? The new government of Zimbabwe is hoping to make amends with its white citizens and investors but it may not be as easy as letting bygones be bygones. While on the one hand, the government was hoping to apiece the said white communities by offering to compensate what they lost during the reign of the past regime that grabbed land and other properties from them, several functions in Zimbabwe will not have it. As part of its deal with the US to have sanctions lifted, Zimbabwe was required to compensate the white farmers.…

Only days after the French oil pipeline Total finalized talks with Ugandan President H.E. Yoweri Museveni, a state visit was made by the Ugandan leader to neighbouring Tanzania where he inked the deal with his counterpart Tanzania’s President H.E. John Magufuli, to jointly develop the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. The pipeline will be 1 445 km long making it be Africa’s longest heated oil pipeline and is expected to carry some 230,000 barrels per day. Tanzania is expected to get the lion’s share of the deal since almost 80% of the pipeline will run through the country and is…

Five years ago in 2015, Tanzania voted in a new president, Dr. John Magufuli. One of his very first moves was to stop the country’s annual Independence Day celebrations and instead the millions that would otherwise go into the traditional parade were directed to infrastructure—the congested New Bagamoyo Road expansion.  That year, to celebrate Independence Day, Tanzania held a national cleanup campaign. The President and his deputy, Vice President Honourable Samia Suluhu led the country in cleaning the environment.  I do not mean they signed some environment pollution documents; the president in person walked out of the State House and collected trash, not in his backyard, no, but all the way…

Across the continent to West Africa where we find one of Africa’s largest economies, Nigeria. Here we find another railway deal gone bad, the $500 million Lagos – Ibadan railway. In a similar manner to Kenya’s SGR debacle with China, which resulted in Kenya sinking heavily into debt that it simply cannot afford to pay and restructure, Nigeria is now finding a similar fate. According to the country’s Director General for Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) Patience Oniha, when making a deal with China, ‘…the Chinese determine the cost of projects, give us loans tied to the projects and the…