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- AfDB commits $2 billion to revolutionise clean cooking in Africa, save forests
- The harsh realities of family laws for African women revealed
- Kenyan home buyers shift preferences, seek affordable housing despite market downturn
- How startup Yeeo is shaping the future of business contacts with eco-friendly innovation
- Stakeholders in Nairobi seek to unlock Kenya’s green jobs potential
- Alarming surge in online child exploitation sweeps Africa
- Beijing tightens China-Africa grip as trade rivals US, Russia seek bigger slice
- Exploring the Forex CFD Trading Landscape in Africa in 2024
Africa
- In Africa, a staggering 1.2 billion people lack access to clean cooking facilities.
- Lack of clean cooking facilities is one of the main causes of deforestation in Africa.
- AfDB funding is a major step along the road to saving the lives of 600,000 mainly women and children each year.
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has pledged $2 billion over the next decade towards clean cooking initiatives in Africa, marking a huge stride in the effort to save the lives of 600,000 people, predominantly women and children, each year. This commitment aims to address the health hazards associated with traditional cooking methods that rely on charcoal, wood, and biomass, which contribute to severe respiratory illnesses and environmental degradation.
At a summit on Clean Cooking in Africa, held in Paris, AfDB President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina announced that the Bank would allocate 20 per cent of its energy project financing to promoting …
- Across Africa, gender inequality in marriage, divorce, custody, and property rights is perpetuated by sex discrimination embedded in both legal systems and customary laws.
- Discriminatory family laws have profound impacts, increasing the risk of sexual and gender-based violence for women and girls.
- Laws in Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan, and Tanzania still allow child marriage.
Discrimination against women and girls remains widespread in family laws across Africa, according to new research by Equality Now. An analysis of 20 African countries reveals that gender inequality in marriage, divorce, custody, and property rights is perpetuated by sex discrimination embedded in both legal systems and customary laws. Despite some significant legal reforms, progress has been slow, inconsistent, and hindered by setbacks, lack of political will, and weak implementation.
The report, “Gender Inequality in Family Laws in Africa: An Overview of Key Trends in Select Countries,” highlights how overlapping and …
- Kenya’s Green Jobs Potential will be key in preserving the country’s natural heritage and combating the challenges posed by climate change.
- PS Labour and Skills Development Shadrack Mwadime warned that the transition to green economy has far reaching implications for the world of work
- Green jobs are becoming a crucial driver of sustainable development in Kenya,
Stakeholders in the environment conservation sectors are deliberating on ways to unlock Kenya’s potential as a global hub for digital work and green jobs. The government, jointly with Jacob’s Ladder Africa, International Labour Organisation, United Nations Environment Programme and United Nations Children’s Fund, are in talks in Nairobi to align government priorities with the demands of the green job market.
Kenya National Green Jobs and Skills Development Workshop, brings together stakeholders from government, academia, private sector, finance, and youth-led groups to address the critical need for green jobs and skills development in …
- Mozambique has been given two years to improve Anti-Money Laundering Framework or face bans on international financial transactions.
- Mozambique was placed on the grey list of the FATF for non-compliance with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing.
- If Mozambique fails to comply with the FATF standards, it will be backlisted under non-cooperative countries and territories (NCCTs).
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has given Mozambique two years to improve its framework to prevent and combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Authorities in Maputo will suffer wide sweeping bans in international financial transactions if they fail. Currently, policymakers in the country have their feet on the gas pedal, sealing leakages in Mozambique’s financial flows.
Under pressure, the government has set up an executive committee led by Luís Cezerilo to seek Mozambique’s removal from Grey List. The listing has placed the country among the most vulnerable to crimes of money laundering and terrorism …
- Africa is home to 65 percent of the world’s uncultivated fertile land, but millions sleep hungry daily.
- Amini Corp seeks to address the scarcity of data in Africa as well as facilitate capital investment.
- The scarcity of high-quality environmental data prevents others from building climate solutions such as farmer insurance schemes.
Amini Corp, a Kenyan-based climate tech startup, has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding which it plans to channel into developing an environmental data platform for Africa. The funding was secured through an oversubscribed round led by top European Climate Tech Fund, Pale Blue Dot.
Other investors in the venture are Superorganism, RaliCap, W3i, Emurgo Kepple Ventures and angel investors from the global tech community.
Amini Corp seeks to address the scarcity of data in Africa as well as facilitate capital investment. The company also promotes climate resilience, and helps accelerate economic development opportunities in the region.…
- Africa’s average GDP will stabilize at around 4 percent in the course of the next two years, notes AfDB.
- The continent needs alternative sources of imports and new export markets to counter disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine.
- Economists are urging African economies to look at expediting intra-African trade to stave off global shocks.
A significant number of African nations continue to show economic resilience in the face of tougher global challenges. The latest update by the African Development Bank (AfDB) on economic review says the continent has a stable outlook in the 2023-2024 financial year.
Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook report provides an up-to-date assessment of the continent’s macroeconomic performance and a forecast of expected performance on the backdrop of global economic challenges.
Africa average GDP to stabilise at 4 percent
The lender estimates that Africa’s average GDP will stabilise at around 4 percent in the course of …
- Kenya is among the top three countries receiving the most international remittances across sub-Saharan Africa, after Nigeria and Ghana. Overall, the US, Saudi Arabia and UK account for nearly three-quarters of total annual inflows into Kenya.
- Kenyans living abroad sent home $357 million in March 2023, a 15.5 percent increase compared to February.
- As a whole remittances from the African diaspora are estimated at $95.6 billion annually, making it a key foreign exchange earner.
Diaspora remittances have risen to become Kenya’s largest foreign exchange earner, surpassing the country’s key exports such as tourism, tea, coffee and horticulture. According to Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data, diaspora remittances rose by 8.34 percent to $4.027 billion in 2022. In the same period under review, tea exports earned the country $1.2 billion, horticulture $901 million, chemicals $521 million, coffee $301 million and petroleum products $77 million. The widening disparity highlights the crucial role …
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize Africa’s climate-smart agriculture initiatives.
- Nigeria’s Data Science Centre in Lagos projects to train over one million Nigerians in data science by 2027.
- Rwanda is looking to invest $76.5 million over the next five years in setting up comprehensive AI ecosystem.
Across Africa, an increasing number of countries are embracing Artificial Intelligence (AI) investments. AI is programming that provides machines the ability to think, learn and act on their own.
In 2014, Africa Heads of State from 32 countries signed what has now become known as the Smart Africa Alliance. The deal was dedicated to identifying priorities and stimulating investment in AI-powered investments.
Through the alliance and with the backing of Facebook and Google, the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences has launched a master’s degree in AI. Since then, all around Africa, nations are embracing and investing in AI technologies.
African countries are
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- Grey’s expansion in the East African Market follows $2 million seed funding of the West African company.
- Grey CEO AIdorenyin Obong says the Kenya office will help the firm navigate its planned operations across East African Community.
- The company has also privately launched Grey Business, a borderless business banking for startups.
Nigerian Fintech startup Grey has picked Kenya as its East African hub as it expands operations into the largest economy in the East African Community. The move follows $2 million seed funding the West African company raised as it eyes Uganda and Rwanda in the near future.
Already, the firm’s platform is live in Tanzania and Kenya with over 300,000 users. Grey CEO AIdorenyin Obong says opening offices in Kenya will help the firm navigate the markets in the East African Community.
“Kenya’s Diaspora remittance is very vibrant as remittance inflows to Kenya have increased tenfold in the last …
