Browsing: South Africa

The ban on Russian coal imports will further strain coal supplies and force European consumers to look elsewhere at a time when there is already concern about dwindling supplies of Russian gas and a severe energy crunch in the winter.

According to an article by Africa News published May 26, 2022, as Europe takes action to reduce imports of Russian gas, the continent’s leaders have been looking to Africa as an alternative energy supplier. New deals have been signed with Algeria, Angola, Congo, Nigeria, and others are thought to be on the way.

In a related article by AFP dated April 21, 2022, Italy penned a deal with Angola to ramp up gas supplies from the southern African country as it urgently scrambles to break away from Russian gas over the Ukraine war.

“Today we have reached another important agreement with Angola to increase gas supplies,” Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said in a statement.

Phishing is a strong attack method because it is done on a large scale. It stressed that by sending massive waves of emails under the name of legitimate institutions or promoting fake pages, malicious users increase their chances of success in their hunt for innocent people’s credentials.

The article explained that phishers deploy a variety of tricks to bypass email blocking and lure as many users as possible to their fraudulent sites, adding that a common technique is HTML attachments with partially or fully obfuscated code. It stressed that HTML files allow attackers to use scripts, and obfuscate malicious content to make it harder to detect and send phishing pages as attachments instead of links.

According to a recent Interpol report, about 90 per cent of African businesses are operating without the necessary cybersecurity protocols and, therefore, are exposed to cyberattacks. The report also noted that there were more than 700 million threat detections in Africa within one year.

When the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on March 2 to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, African countries accounted…

By 2023, the value of Africa’s legal cannabis market could be at least US$7.1bn across nine key African countries if they legalize recreational and medical use, according to The African Cannabis Report from industry analysts Prohibition Partners. Worldwide, the Covid-19 lockdown period saw record-breaking sales of cannabis in multiple regions. Global sales of CBD (an active cannabis ingredient frequently used as a natural remedy), medical cannabis, and adult-use (recreational) cannabis topped US$37.4bn in 2021, and could rise to US$102bn by 2026, says the firm.

According to African Business, natural and situational advantages have attracted investor interest in Southern Africa. In mid-March, Akanda, a London-headquartered firm that owns the Bophelo Bioscience & Wellness cultivation campus in Lesotho, announced the completion of its initial public offering of 4m shares on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

Cannabis Business Africa, in an article published as far as February 13, 2021, said SilverLeaf Investments is aiming to be of service in addressing the gap that exists between the industry’s potential and its current funding deficit.

Most Kenyans, 83 per cent, indicated a willingness to increase the amount of money they allocate to savings and investments, but the inability to save due to insufficient funds after fulfilling their obligations that require regular funding and the availability of quick digital loans.

Among their obligations which contribute to Kenyans’ financial strain is supporting their extended family which considerably bites into their savings. 84 per cent of people indicated that they regularly provide some income to their extended family, mostly in case of emergencies, because they feel a sense of obligation to send their extended families money and because their extended family members treat them better when they are sent money.

On their part, the extended family members mostly use the money to cater to recurring expenses like food & transport, school fees and medical expenses at 23 per cent, 19 per cent and 18 per cent respectively. Farm-related expenses like purchase of fertiliser ranked fourth at 14 per cent, phone and home upgrades came in fifth at 7 per cent while entertainment like Christmas celebration was sixth.

The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Acupuncture Centre at the Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, has started training on TCM and acupuncture for the first batch of local health workers to meet the growing demand for Chinese medicine in the country.

According to Xinhua, the centre was established in 2020 as part of efforts to offer Zimbabweans affordable medical treatment and has in recent months seen a multitude of patients seeking medical attention free of charge

Zhu Wei, a TCM doctor and chief of the centre, said the three-month program aims to train a group of local health professionals who can provide an alternative medical option to Zimbabweans.

Last week, the biggest power generation plant in Zimbabwe, Kariba South, was generating only 758MW against an installed capacity of 1 050MW.

Hwange Power Station was generating 411MW against an installed capacity of 920MW.

Completing Unit 7 in November this year and Unit 8 at Hwange Power Station by March next year will add 600MW to the grid and help ensure reliable and sustainable supplies to meet growing demand.

Meanwhile, ZESA can now legally incorporate drones in its service delivery. This announcement was made at an event the national power company held to mark its acquisition of a Remotely Piloted Aircraft Operator’s Certificate (ROC).

Kenya Airways (KQ) and South African Airways (SAA) have signed a codeshare agreement that opens more destinations for seamless travel…

Zambia is Africa’s largest copper producer, which is one of the reasons it has one of the strongest currencies on the continent. The country possesses abundant natural resources, and because copper is the most prevalent metal, copper mining is carried out on a massive scale. This provides Zambia with a significant rise in foreign currency earnings from the sale of metals to other countries.

Bscholarly notes that the value of a currency is significant because it determines the economic performance of a country. This has a direct impact on a currency’s demand on the global market. Exchange rates compare one currency to another and provide an overview of a currency’s strength in the global marketplace. According to financial analysts, factors like interest rates, economic policies, and stability determine the strength of any currency.

Mining liberalization, a debt restructuring programme following default on debt repayments in 2020, and high commodity prices have also had a positive impact on the performance of the local currency.

The African Development Bank (AfDB)’s Board of Directors has approved the establishment of the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation, a new ground-breaking institution that will significantly enhance Africa’s access to the technologies that underpin the manufacture of medicines, vaccines, and other pharmaceutical products.

Africa has great potential for drug discovery. The continent has natural resources, indigenous knowledge, and human capacity

AfDB Group President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said: “This is a great development for Africa. Africa must have a health defence system, which must include three major areas: revamping Africa’s pharmaceutical industry, building Africa’s vaccine manufacturing capacity, and building Africa’s quality healthcare infrastructure.”

The World Trade Organization and the World Health Organization, respectively, also welcomed and lauded the AfDB’s decision to establish the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation.