Browsing: Cyril Ramaphosa

Shift from dirty coal leaves South Africa with crippling power cuts

Industry and Trade

Switching from coal to renewable energy is vital for South Africa to stabilize its power output and to create employment. The switch from coal to renewable energy is costly and many African nations are dragging their feet.

The situation is further exasperated by the fact that of recent years, many African nations have been discovering oil and many more are conducting explorations offshore. The potential of changing their economies from the sale of crude oil is far too promising to forgo.

This is a point that will be driven home at the upcoming COP27 in Egypt later this year. Africa will be looking to push the West to provide funding for the renewable energy transition. This time around, the South Africa deal stands as a concrete example that with sufficient funding, the transition is not only doable but plausible and strung with multifaceted benefits including employment.

Africa’s highest paid presidents and their annual salaries

Countries

African leaders are paid handsomely if their salaries are anything to go by. Even though the continent is still developing, its leaders take home fat cheques.

In Kenya, for instance, a New World wealth report revealed that people with political connections control half of the country’s wealth at the expense of ordinary citizens, some of whom live below a dollar per month.

In Africa, politicians fight for elected positions tooth and nail, attracted by affluent lifestyles, huge allowances and medical cover.

Who are the highest-paid African presidents? As reported by Business Insider, Cameroon president Paul Biya takes home the highest salary. He’s followed by King Mohammed VI of Morocco and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa.

Africa’s cannabis future: Reimagining job creation

Investing

A way to improve opportunities favoured by small and large scale cultivators would be freeing up the African markets for local consumption. Many Southern African countries legalize medical use, with none entirely permitting recreational use. Therefore, the legal environment in Africa remains one of the most restrictive in the world.

South Africa, however, may be an indication of things to come. Gabriel Theron, CEO of South African cultivator Cilo Cybin and founder of Africa’s first cannabis-focused particular purpose acquisition company, which is due to list on the JSE, says that there is a growing realization that an export-only model is doomed to failure. According to him, an export-only model is not sustainable.

There is a need to de-schedule the THC and CBD levels to open up the recreational market and thus the medicinal market. That also has implications for foreign investment. In the case of operations in Australia, Europe, and North America, openings in South Africa can only happen where there is a grasp of the local markets. African regulators should pursue a more agile regulatory system, flexible towards cannabis and other plant-based medicines. Recreational legalization would particularly unlock a substantial domestic market.

SADC extends joint military mission in Mozambique

Mozambique

The Maputo daily Noticias wrote after the SADC summit that a budgetary allocation of US$29.5 million has been set aside for the three-month extension, after high-level consultations and this would mean until at least mid-April.

The SAMIM extension set from mid-January.

Addressing the opening session of the summit, the current SADC Chairperson, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera, urged regional bloc member states to stick together and ensure that SAMIM remains multidimensional and comprehensive.