Browsing: Coronavirus

The elephant population in Tanzania has increased from 43,330 in 2014 to over 60,000 this year. The government attributes the increase to crackdown on poaching syndicates.

A key figure in the poaching and black market trade of ivory, was arrested denting the industry greatly. Christened, the “Ivory Queen” Yang Fenglan, a prominent Chinese businesswoman was last year sentenced to at least 15 years in prison.

However, by time of her arrest, it is estimated she alone was responsible for the smuggling numerous tones of ivory to China. Yang was tried and found guilty of operating one of Africa’s biggest ivory-smuggling rings. By the of her arrest, she is said to have been responsible for smuggling ivory worth over USD2.5m. That value is estimated to have been derived from the slaughter of almost 400 elephants.

Following her arrest, activists suffered a great lose with the murder of Roger Gower in 2016. …

When there is conflict, it is the general society and businesses that suffer the most, in fact business should be at the forefront of advocacy for peace.

With almost every element of business going digital, the question of digital platforms been used for radical sentiments is not a political agenda but a socio-economic one.

There is need to take concerted action to promote and facilitate peace especially now, in an age where social media is been used to spread radical content online. Social media and other digital platforms are also very powerful tools to prevent conflict and extremism and promote greater understanding and tolerance.

“We have to take steps to ensure we instill seeds of peace and tolerance for one another, and social media is a great platform to reach youth to promote peace” Martha Nghambi the, Country Director for Global Peace Foundation Tanzania asserted.

Speaking to media over the …

When you are a small start up in Africa, you do not dream of getting listed on the London Stock Exchange, or shall we say, that is indeed all you dream of, and far fetched dream that is.

However, maybe not so far fetched, if you can achieve consistent annual growth and, keep your finances transparent.

While their business growth is a main factor to get them on the shortlist, however, to be listed in this report, the company must also show transparency in reporting its finances.

In its recent report, titled ‘Companies to Inspire Africa’ the London Stock Exchange Group listed a handful of companies and highlighted them as Africa’s top upcoming firms.

The report, which was produced in partnership with the African Development Bank Group among other stakeholders, describes these companies as the inspiration of Africa’s future and that they are leading the way to an Africa of …

In Africa’s metropolises, you don’t have to be rich to wear Gucci Armani or Prada, no sir, it is common place to see women in the slums carrying Dolce Gabbana handbags.

In fact there is a prominent saying across most all of Africa’s urban centres like Dar es Salaam and Nairobi “…everyone looks good in mtumba.”

Mtumba, is Swahili slang for second hand clothes, and Africa is one of the world’s leading importers of second hands, from caps, t-shirts and shirts, to pants and shorts all the way to bras and women underwear, yes second hand bras and underway are big business.

‘East Africa imported $151 million worth of used clothes and shoes in 2015, mostly from Europe and the U.S.’ And ‘At least 70 percent of donated garments end up in Africa’ – Oxfam.

What is strange here is that, Africa does not want to import these used items …

With more than 11 million confirmed cases and over 530,000 deaths globally, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a devastating impact around the world.  While many countries continue to grapple with the ongoing surge of new cases, the pandemic has offered the opportunity to reflect on the current achievements and challenges of our healthcare systems.

For one, the novel coronavirus has created an unprecedented disruption for healthcare systems, which have had to balance between maintaining ongoing operations, scaling-up infectious disease programmes, supporting healthcare workers, and managing financial stress while supporting their communities. At an institutional level, the pandemic has forced our hospitals, clinics and other health institutions to quickly scale up their clinical, facility and support protocols to provide efficient and meaningful care to those in critical need.

But for health institutions, like Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS), the concept of pandemic response planning is not only built into our …

The African Development Bank (AfDB) ‘2020 African Economic Outlook’ report is very optimistic about East Africa’s economic performance, despite the setbacks of Covid-19. The report shows that on average, the region registered growth of 5 percent throughout all of last year.

Once again, it is the small landlocked Rwanda that booked the highest growth rate reporting an impressive 8.7 per cent. However, worth noting is that Rwanda’s annual economic growth did take a hit from the global pandemic and slowed to 3.6% in the first quarter of 2020.

Second runners up was none other than Ethiopia which brought home 7.4 per cent in economic growth last year says the 2020 report. Next in line is Tanzania which garnered a 6.8 per cent growth, much higher than the rest of world by all standards.

The report say, despite the global pandemic and the economic burdens thereof, Tanzania’s growth is expected to …

Trouble laden Petra Diamond is planning to sale 75 per cent stake of its Tanzanian diamond business but the government of Tanzania says, no. Rightfully so, because as a stakeholder, the government had every right to be informed prior to any sell attempt and in this case, it was not.

The company currently owns the Williamson mine in partnership with the government of Tanzania and as a share holder, the government has said it was not consulted prior to the sale plans.

This government response comes just a fortnight after the UK based miner announced the decision to sell.

In its initial announcement, local media quoted the company’s Africa Corporate Communications Manager, Ms Cathy Malins admitting that the company was facing heavy losses and has no choice but to sale.

The Communications Manager attributed the losses to effects of Covid-19 saying there is a dire fall in the global market.…

Tanzania became the first East African nation to reopen its schools, businesses and ports of entry, charting a new path in the management of the Corona Virus.

As of May 18, Tanzania reopened its airspace for international arrivals and the World is responding.

Only three days after it announced its reopening its airspace, local media reported that a chartered airplane landed at the Kilimanjaro International Airport on May 21. The plane had on board four Greek nationals.

Previously, the tourists would have had to go into a 14-day mandatory quarantine but not anymore. Now anyone entering the country only needs to go through a simple temperature check upon arrival. Other measures include having all arriving flights present an Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) so as to allow the Tanzania’s Immigration Department and Airport Authorities to identify high-risk passengers.

All non-APIS compliant flights will now be required to notify their passengers …

There has not been a more demanding time for Africa to adopt modern agriculture methods than now. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, food security in Africa is threatened at all levels and farming activities have nearly been brought to a standstill.

African farmers lost market as borders closed and flights were grounded to curb the spread of Covid-19. As a result the, pandemic severely affected the agriculture value chains from supply of inputs to transporting the end product.

Africa now finds itself more in need of modern farming methods to increase production in a cost effective manner. However, while attempting to increase production, African farmers must also mitigate the effects of climate change by adopting climate smart agriculture.

There is need to use improved seed varieties even in the backdrop of the side effects of using hybrid seeds. Improved seed varieties are more resistant to disease and poor …

Zimbabwe is on the verge of another economic cramp that is bound to be far worse than what it has been suffering for the last decade.

Already, the nation has been on an indefinite national lock down for the third month running, and now, the pandemic is really taking a dire toll on the economy. Well, it is not the Coronavirus effect that is bound to doom Zimbabwe into an economic crunch (yet again).   Rather, it is the country’s tendency to simply print money whenever it deems fit; if only life were so easy!

Zimbabwe, like all other countries, is looking to cushion its business sector from the coronavirus crunch. However, the way Zimbabwe is looking to fund its proposed US$ 998.34 million (ZW$18 Billion) stimulus package is if anything, questionable, if not downright inadvisable, or to be blunt, shall we just go ahead and call it, rudimentary?

Well, how …