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- Kenya, Tanzania braces for torrential floods as Cyclone Hidaya approaches
- EAC monetary affairs committee to discuss single currency progress in Juba talks
- Transport and food prices drive down Kenya’s inflation to 5% in April
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- History beckons as push for Kenya’s President Ruto to address US Congress gathers pace
- IMF’s Sub-Saharan Africa economic forecast shows 1.2 percent GDP growth
Africa
- Kenya and Tanzania, already reeling from nature’s fury, now confront the looming threat of Cyclone Hidaya.
- Cyclone Hidaya’s trajectory places the eastern coast of Tanzania squarely in its crosshairs as neighbouring Kenya braces for floods.
- The relentless deluge gripping East Africa finds its origins in the El Nino weather pattern.
Millions of people in Tanzania and Kenya are on edge as Cyclone Hidaya, a formidable tempest, barrels toward the region, exacerbating the havoc wrought by ongoing heavy downpours and catastrophic floods that have claimed hundreds of lives across East Africa.
Kenya and Tanzania, already reeling from nature’s fury, now confront the looming threat of a cyclone poised to unleash further devastation, with forecasts predicting a grim landfall later on Friday, May 3rd.
At the moment, Cyclone Hidaya’s trajectory places the eastern coast of Tanzania squarely in its crosshairs, with fears mounting over its potential impact on neighbouring Kenya. As …
- US Congress members ask Speaker Mike Johnson to invite President Ruto to address the assembly.
- President Ruto will be visiting the US on May 23 to mark 60 years of US-Kenya diplomatic ties.
- If invited, President Ruto would become the first Kenyan Head of State to address a joint session of US Congress.
In a historic plan highlighting the deepening ties between the United States and Kenya, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul (Republican – Texas) and Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (Democrat – New York) have jointly sent a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (Republican – Los Angeles, asking him to extend a formal invitation to President William Ruto of Kenya to address a joint session of Congress during his upcoming visit to the US, slated later in May.
“This year, we are celebrating the historic 60-year anniversary of the U.S.-Kenya diplomatic relationship. Such an invitation …
- The IMF has identified South Sudan, Burundi, and the DRC as East African Community member states poised for significant economic growth in the 2024–2025 period.
- GDP growth in Burundi is projected to increase from 4.3 to 5.4 percent and in the DRC from 4.7 to 5.7%.
- Kenya leads regionally with a projected GDP of $104 billion, ranking 7th overall among the continent’s largest economies.
The economic outlook for East African Community member states South Sudan, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is poised for significant economic growth in the 2024–2025 period. This prognosis by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) comes despite these nations grappling with conflicts, marking them as among the most fragile in the region.
In its latest regional economic outlook report for Sub-Saharan Africa, the IMF forecasts a noteworthy 1.2 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth for South Sudan, from 5.6 to 6.8 percent, despite …
Google has committed US$6 million to support African startups as well as underserved communities on the continent.
In a statement, Nitin Gajria, Managing Director for Google Africa, and Rowan Barnett the Head of Google.org EMEA said the funding will go towards programs that will reaffirm its commitment to Africa.
The programs include a $3 million USD Black Founders Fund for African startups and a $3 million USD Google.org grant to help low-income communities develop entrepreneurial skills and funding.
The funding is expected to help African founders grow their businesses not only by providing capital but also by providing access to the best of Google resources.
At the same time, Google has also invited 15 companies from across the continent to the sixth class of the Google for Startups Accelerator: Africa program
Startup Fund
The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund Africa provides grants and technical assistance to early-stage startups led …
Investment in the diverse sectors of the blue economy will help create jobs for the youth in the East African Community.
This is according to the President of Zanzibar, Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi, who has called for foreign direct investment from East Africa and beyond in the island’s blue economy.
Dr. Mwinyi said that the island was open for investment in diverse sectors of the blue economy including deep-sea fishing, ports infrastructure, marine transport, petroleum and gas, and tourism.
“Zanzibar also requires heavy investment in modern agriculture, real estate and conference tourism,” said Dr. Mwinyi in a speech read on his behalf by the country’s 2nd Vice President, Hemed Suleiman Abdulla.
“Investment in these sectors will spur business within the East African Community in addition to increasing national revenue and improving the lives of the people of Zanzibar,” said Dr. Mwinyi.
According to the president, Zanzibar had been a centre …
A new survey has now shown that only 36 percent of Kenyan businesses are aware of privacy laws governing their marketing activities, despite Data Protection Act (DPA) being in effect since 2019.
The survey, conducted by WorldWideWorx and commissioned by global technology company Zoho, also revealed that even though businesses are concerned about the privacy of customer’s data in the hands of third-party vendors, they are reliant on them for revenue generation and gathering customer insights.
This makes it harder for them to move away.
According to WorldWideWorx CEO Arthur Goldstuck, the lack of awareness about the law is largely because these regulations are not part of business-critical activities like taxation and licensing.
However, 77 percent of the businesses indicated that they have well-documented policies for customer data protection, although only 56 percent are strictly applying them.
The survey indicates that businesses in Kenya consider themselves digitally advanced, with 28 …
The private sector in the African continent is set to receive US480 billion in investments over the next five years.
The investments will be made by a consortium of organizations under the G7 Development Finance Institutions (G7 DFI) which includes the European Investment Bank and the private sector arm of the African Development to support sustainable economic recovery and growth in Africa.
The proposed investments come at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a severe global economic and health crisis, including in the African continent.
The IMF estimates that sub-Saharan Africa needs additional financing of around $425 billion between now and 2025 to help strengthen the pandemic response spending and reduce poverty in the region.
This marks the first time the G7 DFIs have come together to make a collective partnership commitment to the African continent.
The G7 DFI group consists of CDC, Proparco (France), JICA and JBIC …
Farmers across the continent are expected to meet virtually later this month at a time when they have reported massive losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Fairtrade Africa Programmes Director Chris Oluoch, farmers in Africa lost an estimated 80 percent of their revenue in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oluoch says the pandemic has also seen many workers lose their jobs, as companies closed shop due to lack of access to markets as most countries closed their borders.
Most affected was the flower sector where a number of flower farms shut down their businesses.
“In Kenya, about three flower farms completely shut down their business, while in Tanzania, two farms closed shop. The effects of the pandemic continue to cause havoc on the agriculture sector in the region that is already suffering from post-harvest losses,” said Oluoch.
Oluoch was speaking on Tuesday, 15th June 2021 during …
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 13 – East Africa Community (EAC) partner states need to exploit the potential of exporting raw cotton to international markets.
This is according to Kenya’s Principal Secretary for EAC Dr. Kevit Desai who says the region already produced 100,000 metric tonnes of cotton.
This is lower than its existing potential, which is about 400,000 tonnes.
The Principal Secretary said that EAC exports to the world market currently stand at 8 percent, adding that to increase the volume of exports, value chains such as textiles need to be promoted to boost exports.
“We need to harness science, technology, and innovation to boost exports by investing in greater capacity to produce leather and textiles, and turn a crop like pyrethrum into aerosols,” said the PS.
He added that increased investment in the leather and textile sectors would cater to the growing demand in the region for locally manufactured high-quality …
