Friday, March 29

Africa

if oil disappeared tomorrow
  • If oil disappeared tomorrow, thousands of petroleum-based products would vanish with it.
  • If oil disappeared tomorrow, it would be catastrophic for health services everywhere.
  • If oil disappeared tomorrow, millions of jobs would be lost. Tax revenues would be depleted, and industrial production would crimp.

If oil disappeared tomorrow, there would be no more jet fuel, gasoline, or diesel. Internal combustion engines, automobiles, trucks, lorries, and coaches would be stranded. Airplanes powered by jet fuel would be grounded. Freight and passenger rail powered by diesel would halt. People could not get to work; children could not get to school. The shipping industry, transporting both freight and passengers, would be devastated.

There would be no point in calling emergency services. Most ambulances, fire engines, police cars, rescue helicopters, and other emergency vehicles would be stationary. Most phones and computers would also vanish as their plastic components derive from oil, so it would

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Uganda's Diaspora Remittances
  • Uganda’s diaspora remittances have seen 13.4% jump, reaching $1.42 billion.
  • Remittances continue to outshine foreign direct investment and official development assistance as the primary source of external finance for low and middle-income countries.
  • Economies are leveraging diaspora remittances through innovative financial instruments such as diaspora bonds and policies aimed at financial inclusion to enhance their impact on development.

Diaspora remittances from Ugandans living and working abroad increased by 13.4 per cent in the 12 months ending January 2024. This surge, as reported by the Bank of Uganda’s Executive Director of Research, Mr. Adam Mugume, highlights the increasing role of diaspora inflows in the nation’s economy, reaching $1.42 billion, up from the previous $1.25 billion.

Such growth underscores the essential contribution of the Uganda’s diaspora remittances amidst a challenging global financial landscape.

Globally, remittances have emerged as a critical source of external finance for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), overshadowing foreign …

Hormuud Telecom
  • Hormuud Telecom has launched the 5G network across Somalia, enhancing the speed of internet and communication.
  • This marks a significant leap towards a digitally inclusive society with reliable internet connectivity in the country.
  • A 5G networks is set to stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and revolutionize public services such as healthcare and education.

Hormuud Telecom has unveiled its 5G network, marking a historic moment for its main market Somalia, which now enters into the elite group of African nations such as Kenya and Ethiopia that have embraced this cutting-edge technology.

Hormuud Telecom 5G signal is now present across 30 cities and towns, promising to revolutionize the speed of the internet and communication and transform Somalia’s digital economy.

Enhancing Communication with 5G Technology

The introduction of the 5G network by Hormuud Telecom signifies a monumental leap in improving internet connectivity’s speed and reliability across Somalia. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, along …

Another year of high expectations but broken promises in the DRC. www.theexchange.africa
  • The DRC is facing one of the deadliest and longest-running civil war crises
  • The precariousness of the 2023 elections heightens uncertainty in the Democratic Republic of Congo
  • The DRC has over eighty million hectares of arable land and nearly four million hectares of irrigated land
  • The country has less than 600 millionaires, most of which have made their wealth by mining natural resources and raw materials

The population in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will see another year of high expectations and broken promises.

The DRC is facing one of the deadliest and longest-running civil war crises. The wars have been mainly built on land, resources, and power, significantly affecting the country’s economic status. DRC is the country that has the most displaced people totalling more than 5.5 million people.

According to the World Bank, DRC ranks the 11th poorest nation with a GNI per capita of $550 in…

africa's resilience to economic shocks

UNCTAD World Investment Report 2021 specifically states that “Greenfield investments in industry and new infrastructure investment projects in developing countries were hit especially hard.”

These financial flows of investment dollars have deep-rooted implications for Africa in the sense that they are vital for sustainable development in less developed and poorer countries.

The decline in investment flows was disproportionately skewed towards developed countries where FDI fell by 58 per cent according to UNCTAD. Investment flows in developing economies fell by a moderate 8 per cent mainly because of resilient flows in Asia.…

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Expensive loans

On a spiritual level, the fracturing of the relationship between the people and the land as urbanisation kicked in with a vengeance is causing lasting and severe damage to the environment and the population’s food security.  

The curious thing to a British observer is that nearly all of the people of my age (more than 50 years!) whom I know and who are at the top of their professions in finance, government, trade, hospitality or retail are also…..farmers.

In fact, I know hardly anyone who came to the big city seeking an escape from rural ways who is not now farming in the village or on the outskirts of their city. Many times I see them a good deal more excited about their crops than they are about their balance sheets.…

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Tomasz Zaleski. His vision for the Private Office of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Faisal Al Qassimi is to be one of the best royal offices in the Middle East. www.theexchange.africa

His vision for the Private Office of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Faisal Al Qassimi is to be one of the best royal offices in the Middle East and he is dedicated to continuing to be the driving force behind the private office.  

To bring this vision to life, His Excellency Tomasz Zaleski adds that one of his passions is to continue to build a network of quality individuals who are inspired by his vision because it personally holds meaning to them.  

“I am honoured to be connected to various administrators ranging from politicians, humanitarians and Sheikhs who are generous, and each contributes to the world in a positive and expansive manner,” he says. 

His Excellency Tomasz Zaleski adds that developing opportunities for several other ambitious entrepreneurs and companies in the UAE is one of his biggest passions. He says that this is why he believes that “the ability to create is…

African Energy Bank to fund fossil fuels in Africa. [Photo/African facts]
  • The western countries have halted overseas fossil fuel financing, a decision that has raised the alarm among Africa’s largest exporters of hydrocarbons
  • A BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2021 reveals that oil and gas produced about 48 per cent of Africa’s total electric power generation in 2020
  • At the COP26 climate summit held in Glasgow, the United Kingdom, in November, several countries agreed to stop the direct public financing for overseas fossil fuel development and extraction by the end of this year

The western countries have halted overseas fossil fuel financing, a decision that has raised the alarm among Africa’s largest exporters of hydrocarbons, who sees the creation of an African Energy Bank as a way out to fund fossil fuels in Africa.

To prevent catastrophic climate change, environmental and financial organisations and governments across Europe and America have insisted that developing nations in Africa must immediately transition from …

A farmer planting in Zambia. Smallholder farmers need support to stay in agriculture. www.theexchange.africa

The potential for Africa to feed the world cannot be underestimated. IFAD’s The Field Report indicates that a quarter of the world’s arable land is found in sub-Saharan Africa yet the region produces only 10 per cent of the world’s agricultural output. 

Sadly for Africa, rural poverty keeps driving people away from the countryside to the cities in search of a better life. Year after year, cities that have become overcrowded are putting the vulnerable at risk with forced migration. 

Globally, there will be more than 9 billion people on earth by 2050 which is an extra two billion mouths to feed. 

If policies are right, Africa is primed to tap into the opportunity offered by this population growth. IFAD indicates that economic growth from agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa is 11 times more effective at reducing extreme poverty than any other sector. African governments have to get their priorities right. 

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