Author: Albert Nangara

Albert is an experienced business writer specializing in stock exchanges, financial markets and technology. He has a deep understanding of the dynamics of the global economy and a keen interest in analyzing investment trends, market trends, and the impact of investments on stock prices especially in the Southern African region.

South Africa’s Communications and digital technologies minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni at the ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference 2022. www.theexchange.africa

The election of South Africa and other countries, on Monday, October 3, 2022, into different regional groups that constitute ITU Council was the highpoint of the Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 (PP-22) ongoing in Bucharest, the capital city of the Republic of Romania.

The seats in ITU Council are divided into five regions, A to E. South Africa was elected into the ITU Council Region D for Africa, which has 13 seats. The other 12 countries elected alongside South Africa are Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Nigeria, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Uganda.

Elections of member states also took place into Region A for The Americas (nine seats); Region B for Western Europe (eight seats); Region C for Eastern Europe & Northern Asia (five seats); and Region E, for Asia and Australasia with 13 seats as Africa.

The 21st Plenipotentiary Conference of the Council, also saw the election by member states, …

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Zambia launches tourism master plan to boost travel. The launch of the Zambia Tourism Master plan was aimed at facilitating systematic exploitation of the country’s vast tourism for the sector to contribute to the growth of the economy. The plan runs from 2018 to 2038. www.theexchange.africa

In a notice on Sunday, the Zambia Tourism Authority (ZTA) announced that there would be no VISA requirements for the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Norway, Australia, China, South Korea, Gulf Estates and the European Union. This is with effect from October 1, 2022.

The Zambia Tourism Agency (formerly Zambia Tourism Board) was established in 2015 to market and promote Zambia as a travel destination of choice and to regulate the tourism industry.

Zambia is home to the world-famous Victoria Falls, vast wildlife resources, varied scenery, wilderness, diverse culture and national heritage, adventure activities and more.

The developments come on the back of the country’s approval of its Tourism Master Plan 2018 to 2038, a 20-year practical development strategy to enhance the economic contribution of the tourism sector to the southern African nation’s economy.…

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Why a tax crusade in Zambia worries copper miners. www.theexchange.africa

The fastest growing export markets for raw copper of Zambia between 2019 and 2020 were Singapore (US$325 million), Switzerland (US$119 million), and Namibia (US$105 million).

Lowering mining energy tariffs would further help to restore the competitiveness of Zambia’s copper exports, and Zambia’s Chamber of Mines has been arguing for this too.

The outcome of debt restructuring with international creditors and negotiations for a new IMF programme are likely to determine how quickly and confidently the government can move ahead with such reforms.…

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The Fitbit Versa is the latest smart watch from Fitbit and competes with the likes of the Apple Watch and Samsung Gear. www.theexchange.africa

The market growth is extensively attributed to the rising health and fitness awareness, growing penetration of the internet & smartphones, and increased consumer disposable income levels.

The rising adoption has led to an increase in device development & innovation as more market players race in to deliver the growing demand and capture a higher market share.

According to Kewalramani, to set itself apart from competitors, Fitbit has evolved from being a pure fitness tracking device company to bringing more functionality and innovation around stress and sleep management to help users gain control of their health goals.…

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Electric transport offers Kenya a way out of its fuel crises. Power supply for electric car charging. www.theexchange.africa

According to McKinsey published February 23, 2022, transport currently makes up 10 percent of Africa’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is expected to increase in line with sub-Saharan Africa’s expanding vehicle parc.

South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Nigeria make up around 70 per cent of Africa’s annual vehicle sales and 45 per cent of the region’s population.

The vehicle parc is expected to grow from 25 million vehicles today to an estimated 58 million by 2040, driven by urbanization and rising incomes. As its vehicle parc grows, the challenge for Africa will be to push for more sustainable mobility and avoid the risk of becoming the dumping ground for the world’s unwanted used ICE vehicles.…

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Simbisa Brands, the country’s biggest fast foods company. www.theexchange.africa

This will make it the fifth stock to list on the USD exchange joining SeedCo International, Padenga Holdings, Caledonia Mining Corp and Bindura Nickel Company and might provide the necessary momentum the exchange desperately needs.

The VFEX is a subsidiary of ZSE that was established some two years ago to exclusively trade in foreign currency and position itself as a regional offshore capital market to attract global investors.

The group operates a network of 524 owned restaurants under Chicken Inn (140 restaurants), Pizza Inn (129), Creamy Inn (87), Bakers Inn (58), Galito’s Africa (36), Nando’s (14), Steers (9) and other (51) brands such as Rocomama’s (Zimbabwe Only) and Vida E Caffé, located in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, Mauritius and Namibia. Simbisa listed on the ZSE in 2015.…

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Revenues from the booming oil sector are transforming Chad into an attractive place for businesses and trades. www.theexchange.africa

The major petroleum groups had long been reluctant to become involved in Chadian oil fields. The fields in the central/western and northern parts of the country were located in areas of chronic insecurity.

Then, an unprecedented arrangement was made. The World Bank agreed to finance using public funds. The pipeline would later allow the private operators Exxon, Chevron, and Petronas to transport their crude oil to the Cameroonian port of Kribi. This would enable shipping to European or American refineries, where the oil could be offered on the market at prices that the cost of the transport infrastructure would not burden.

Chad faces military challenges on most of its borders which should be factored as a risk. In the west, in the region of Lake Chad, the army has been fighting the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram since 2015. On the border with Sudan, Eastern Chad has seen conflicts between…

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The DRC has immense mineral resources and other investment opportunities, but they come with risks. www.theexchange.africa

In 2020 Democratic Republic of the Congo was placed as the 87th economy in the world in terms of GDP (current US$), number 70 in total exports, number 105 in total imports, number 187 economy in terms of GDP per capita and the number 123 most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI).

According to figures from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), a global data visualization tool for international trade, as of 2020, the top exports of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are refined copper, cobalt oxides and hydroxides, cobalt, raw copper, and copper ore, exporting mostly to China, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, and Singapore.

The top imports of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are documents of title (bonds etc.) and unused stamps, packaged medicaments, sulphur, refined petroleum, and poultry meat, imported mostly from China, the United States, Zambia, South Africa, and India.…

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Can African gas replace Russian supplies to Europe? The landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 2' gas pipeline in Lubmin, northern Germany. www.theexchange.africa
  • The war in Ukraine has shown how dependent Europe is on natural gas for power. Before the conflict broke out in February this year, Russia supplied up to 40 per cent of Europe’s gas requirements.
  • As Russia cuts supplies, these nations are rushing to strike deals in Africa as prices soar.
  • Significant investments are needed to build Africa’s trans-regional and intercontinental pipelines to open up access to Europe

The global realignment triggered by the war in Ukraine ushered in a period of transition on the African continent. The current conflict exposed and exacerbated tensions in international agricultural commodity markets existing amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Import-dependent countries with low per capita incomes are particularly vulnerable to shocks occurring amid the war in Ukraine, which further increase their risk of food insecurity.

The agricultural sector is not the only one that is experiencing disruptions; the global energy sector is suffering the same …

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IPv6 has been in the works since 1998 to address the shortfall of IP addresses available under IPv4. www.theexchange.africa

IPv4 was the first version of IP to be used, and despite having been officially released in 1983, it is still the most widely used version to identify devices on a given network.

According to the CA report, with the imminent exhaustion of IPv4 address space, the length of IP addresses was increased from 32 bits to 128 bits, creating almost 340 undecillion addresses. The two address sets are not compatible, implying data sent using IPv4 address cannot be delivered to a recipient using IPv6 addresses.

The IPv6 was developed and standardized, as the next-generation Internet Protocol in 1996, with initial assignments for use in 1999, had the main goal of massively increasing the number of IP addresses available. Over the past year, major content providers and access networks have started offering IPv6 services to ordinary Internet users.…

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