Browsing: Lockdowns

Kenya Airways has reduced its half-year loss by 19.6 per cent to Sh11.5 billion, from Sh14.4 billion posted during a similar period last year, on account of cost-cutting initiatives implemented during the period.  

In a statement, the airline says the measures helped to partially offset a deceleration in revenues.

During the period under review, the airline’s total operating costs declined by 10.4 per cent to Sh34.6 billion from Sh38.6 billion recorded the previous period.

Meanwhile, total revenue reduced by 9 per cent to Sh27 million, which is attributable to the cessation of domestic scheduled operations in the month of April 2021.

Read: African airlines’ passenger traffic increase by 9.9 per cent in six months to June 2017

It was also on the back of travel restrictions, and lockdowns due to a surge in virus cases in key domestic and international markets including the UK, India, China, UAE, and the US.…

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic has led to the accelerated rate of digital technology adoption around the world heralding a shift to what has become a new normal for day to day life.

However, for millions of people living in Africa without access to the internet or laptops and smartphones, the pandemic has resulted in greater social and economic isolation.

By December 2020, about 634 million people in Africa were internet users representing 47.6 per cent of the continent’s population. This figure is expected to keep growing but there are many factors that entrench the continent’s digital divide with the latest one being the pandemic.

Read: Tanzania, Kenya ranked worst mining countries on earth

The usual hindrances to Africans seeking to access technology are the high cost and unreliable connectivity due to the lack of a reliable network infrastructure.

Lockdowns and restrictions necessitated by the pandemic have hit Africans …

With a growing middle class, Africa is now the frontier and the AfCFTA which is already ratified by 30 countries is just an opportunity to enhance investments in the continent.…

For revival, financing is a way of providing solutions to the challenges of private sector funding.…

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says that almost 25 million jobs could be lost worldwide as a result of covid-19.

Globally, the coronavirus pandemic could cause an economic and labour crisis where unemployment could range between 5.3 million in a “low” scenario and 24.7 million in a “high” scenario from a base level of 188 million in 2019.

In comparison to the 2008-9 global financial crisis, the effect on job losses could now be higher by about three million jobs from the 22 million registered in 2008/9.

How is Africa suffering from US-China trade wars?

During the 2008/9 crisis, Africa largely weathered the impact of the crisis but suffered lower commodity prices, trade volumes, remittances, and foreign direct investment. The financial contagion hit both developed and developing countries by shaving off about  5–7 per cent of GDP which was worth two to three years of growth in rich countries. In …