Author: Padili Mikomangwa

South Africa’s power cuts cost the national economy up to $8.3 billion, South Africa Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) research findings reveal.

READ:Eskom, BRICS bank sign $180 million renewable energy deal

According to a report by Reuters, CSIR highlighted that the power crisis which escalated last year is predicted to persist for the coming two to three years.

The state-owned utility Eskom which supplies 95 per cent of the nation’s power was forced to implement intense power cuts across the country in 2019 when its vital power plants were devastated by floods.

The state power utility cut 6,000 megawatts from the national grid, disrupting power supply to businesses and households.

Further, the power cuts are one of the biggest challenges facing President Cyril Ramaphosa as he tries to revive investor confidence in Africa’s most industrialized economy.

According to Reuters, Ramaphosa has promised to break up Eskom to …

The African Climate Change Fund (ACCF) has given the African climate-resilient a serious boost of $4.7 million to finance seven new project proposals.

According to African Development Bank (AfDB) press release, the project funding is parallel to its  2013 – 2022 strategy  and Climate Change Action Plan 2016 -2020, which are full of top-notch projects addressing climate change challenges.

In that context, AfDB highlighted that the projects on the table were fenced around collaboration with other key placers such as local Non-Governmental-Organizations (NGO’s) operating within the regions, the projects are as follows.

Syntropic agriculture as strategy to foster resilience, climate adaptation and recovery of vulnerable communities living in degraded marine and coastal ecosystems in Mozambique: This project will improve the environmental resilience and economic sustainability of smallholder families in Zambezia Province using scaled-up “gender-oriented eco-governance productive model”; it will be implemented by ICEI, a non-profit organization, and ORAM, …

The Tanzanian government has found itself within mining dispute after three mining companies operating in the country, over various mining disputes.

The three have engaged the government in among other disputes a breach of international laws and mining licenses.

Winshear Gold Corporation

Canadian miner, Winshear Gold Corporation was the first miner to serve notice of intent to the Tanzanian government on January 10, which is in accordance with the 2013 Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments (Bilateral Investment Treaty – BIT) was delivered to the Attorney General of Tanzania.

According to the company’s statement, the dispute develops out of certain acts and omissions of the United Republic of Tanzania in breach of the BIT and international law, relating to the Company’s investment in the SMP Gold Project located in Tanzania.

The gold miner commenced exploration activities on the SMP Gold Project in 2006. Successfully the company via …

Tanzania education landscape has acquired a $ 90 million boost from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), for the enhancement of the sector.

According to a local Tanzanian news outlet-Daily News, the funds go after financing the construction of classrooms and other supporting infrastructure to accommodate the increasing number of enrolled children fueled by the new free education policy, ushered by the fifth government.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology indicate that pupil’s enrollment has increased from 1.1 million to 1.9 million since the government started to implement the free basic education policy in 2016.

According to the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Permanent Secretary (PS) Doto James, the grant will be used to bankroll Education Sector Development Plan (ESDP) 2016/2017- 2021/22 and Education Programme for Results (EPforR).

The signing of the two grant agreements was held in Dar es Salaam yesterday between the Swedish Ambassador in …

Ethiopian Airlines Africa’s largest air carrier has announced via its chief executive officer that it plans to build Africa’s largest airport this year costing $ 5 billion.

The airline chief Tewolde Gebremariam told the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation that the airport could be bigger than France’s Charles de Gaulle, and the construction will start in the next six months.

According to a report by Reuters, Gebremariam was quoted by the Ethiopia News Agency that, the airport, which will cover an area of 35 square km, will be built in Bishoftu, a town 39 km south east of the capital, and have the capacity to handle 100 million passengers a year.

“Bole Airport is not going to accommodate us; we have a beautiful expansion project. The airport looks very beautiful and very large but with the way that we are growing, in about three or four years we are going to be …

The giant hydropower dam on the Blue Nile (Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam-GERD) agreement is set to be finalized later this month in Washington-USA by ministers from Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, who came to an agreement on Wednesday, Reuters reveals.

The hydropower project caused a rather serious diplomatic crisis between Cairo (of which relies on the river for its freshwater supply) and Addis Ababa.

According to Reuters, the ministers agreed to fill the $4 billion project in stages during the wet season, taking into account the impact on downstream reservoirs, the U.S. Treasury Department, which hosted the meeting, said in a joint statement with the countries and the World Bank.

Further, the statement highlighted that the initial filling of the dam set to commence in July will aim for a level of 595 meters above sea level and early electricity generation while providing appropriate mitigation measures for Egypt and Sudan during …

A new law has been signed by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari which goes after boosting government revenue via a raising value-added tax (VAT) rate and simultaneously supporting small businesses, Reuters revealed.

The finance bill which was signed into law on Monday will raise the VAT rates from 5 per cent to 7.5 per cent, which is arguably still the lowest in the world.

READ:Nigeria retains top spot as Africa’s largest economy

According to a 2019 BBC report, Nigeria was highlighted to face a fiscal crisis if it failed to improve its ability to collect taxes. Africa’s populous nation and biggest economy expenditure doubled and debt servicing cost grew substantially, while revenues missed their targets by 45 per cent a year since 2015.

Reuters cited that, Nigeria has been struggling with the diversification of its economy to reduce dependence on sales of crude oil, which also sustained changes in revenue, …

Players in South Africa’s mining sector have called upon the government to fix the power crisis being experienced in the country subsequently devastating business operations in the country.

According to Reuters, the Mineral Council South Africa took the decision on Monday to settle the nation’s power crisis, which saw record-high power cuts crippling business operations, including OR Tambo Airport operating in darkness after transformer shutdown.

The state-owned utility Eskom which supplies 95 per cent of the nation’s power was forced to implement power cuts across the country in 2019.

The Mineral Council South Africa was noted by Reuters that, the insecurity in power supplies plus rapidly increasing costs were at the forefront of the constraints on the economy and mining industry.

Also, the body commented on government intervention towards facilitation of additional power that could be brought on stream to bridge the gap

“The government and Eskom should be contracting …

African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a grant worth $8 million aimed at supporting the preparation of the Ruzizi IV Hydropower Project.

A statement from the Bank shows that the grant was drawn from the European Union’s Africa Investment Platform (EU-AIP).

According to the bank, the plant will be situated on the Ruzizi River between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is expected to supply electricity to the DRC, Burundi, and Rwanda.

About half of Rwandans have access to electricity, and the project comes to strengthen the fast-growing economy energy sector ambition, set on increasing access, stimulating demand and strengthening transmission network.

The project also stands to improve electricity supply status to one the least electrified nation’s in the world, Burundi with access rate standing at 7 per cent. More importantly, the project will impact one of the largest countries in the region, DRC which also has …

In realization of Tanzania’s fifth government strategy to enhance the institution’s efficiency, the government received over $2million as dividends and contributions from various higher learning institutions in the country.

This comes after President John Magufuli provided a strict ultimatum to 187 state-owned companies and institution (45 days ago) to deliver dividends and revenue shares or face immediate sacking.

According to The Citizen, the Tanzanian Registrar of the Treasury gave a strict directive to institutions on their dividend packages, citing $13,00 as the minimum amount to be submitted.

On the same note, the registrar expects to receive another set of dividends within this week from other institutions, making the total contribution reach over $3.4 million.

On November 24 2019, President Magufuli received over $455 million the government’s dividend and revenue share from 79 entities that the government holds a stake in.

Magufuli stressed on the role of internal revenue collection …