Browsing: South Africa

• Key US and African leaders advocate for reauthorization of PEPFAR, an aid program that has played a crucial role in the global response to the HIV epidemic.
• US lawmakers call for a politically clean reauthorisation to ensure the program’s resiliency in dealing with shocks like Ebola and COVID.
• Delegates included representatives from various organizations and decision-makers from the US government and Africa, as well as UNAIDS, USAID, Microsoft AI for Health, and Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Leaders from various corners of the world recently convened at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., hosted by BroadReach Group, to commemorate the 20-year journey of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Their collective message was clear: PEPFAR must contine and empower local partners, especially in Africa, to ultimately defeat HIV as a public health threat by 2030.

PEPFAR – most impactful foreign aid

Kenya has bagged three green investment deals at the recently concluded Africa Climate Summit. The sustainable trade investment deals will see the East African nation partner with Sweden, South Africa and Hong Kong to enhance food security and air travel in the country. The parties involved announced the three deals during a sideline event of the 2023 Africa climate summit in Nairobi.…

Africa is home to nearly all the valuable minerals that are essential to generating wealth, producing commodities, and advancing technology. Approximately 30 per cent of the world’s mineral reserves are in Africa, but most mineral-rich countries remain poor with little to celebrate. Some of the key minerals found in Africa include oil, diamonds, gold, silver, copper, cobalt, coal, iron ore, uranium, and platinum.…

Africa’s e-mobility is gaining momentum, largely driven by the daunting climate change crisis, fueling the need to decarbonize transport systems. African countries remain in pursuit of e-mobility solutions and advancement to low-carbon economies. Africa’s endowment with minerals key to the global green transition offers a significant advantage.…

• Egypt and Ethiopia will join BRICS alongside Saudi Arabia, Iran and Argentina starting January 1st, 2024.
• This takes membership into the bloc to three countries across the continent after South Africa.
• With the inclusion of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, three major oil-producing nations globally will become part of the bloc.

Egypt and Ethiopia alongside oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Iran and Argentina have received an invite to join the BRICS bloc, originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, and China in 2009. The momentous shift could reshape the global economic landscape and will take effect 1st January 2024.

Notably, this expansion comes at a time when geopolitical tensions between the West and the East have been escalating. In particular, the inclusion of Iran and Saudi Arabia in the BRICS bloc indicates a strengthening of the China-Russia-led coalition that could challenge the influence of Western powers.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who …

The hospitality industry is changing fast. When considering the future hotel experience, you are no longer just looking at a travel destination or a sleepover spot. Hotels of the future must offer more. An ‘augmented hospitality experience’ is what experts are calling it. Thus, stakeholders in Africa’s hospitality industry must explore ways to adapt.…

The insurance sector has progressively curated products to cushion the different aspects of living, individuals and corporations. As such, agricultural insurance has been identified as an essential tool in assisting farmers, herders, and governments to mitigate some negative financial impacts of adverse natural events. Many countries have used insurance to help manage agricultural risks. The usefulness of agricultural insurance in risk mitigation is not in question.…

• Heads of State from China, Brazil, and India, except Russia will attend the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg South Africa, starting August 22.
• President Vladimir Putin will participate in the summit virtually but will be represented in Johannesburg by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
• The bloc is also expected to discuss how to boost local currency fundraising and lending within the New Development Bank.

The five nations, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) are now a band of economies showcasing their ambition to maximize their emerging economies potential, across geopolitics axis. In one day time, heads of state from China, Brazil, and India, (except Russia) will attend the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg South Africa from August 22-24.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to discuss a number of items as …

• Africa has huge potential to power global supply chains for automobiles, handsets, food, renewable energy, and healthcare.
• The value of the African supply chain finance market rose by 40% between 2021 and 2022, reaching $41 billion.
• Africa has at least a fifth of the world’s reserves in a dozen metals critical for the energy transition.
• African countries need to capitalize on their comparative advantages and bolster technology adoption, improve logistics and leverage trade agreements.

Riding on its key comparative advantage of driving green transition globally, Africa can become a new hub for international supply chain, including for technology intensive industries. However, to realize this ambition, the ball lies principally in the court of policymakers in Africa and businesses to position the continent at an advantage.

These revelations are contained in the new United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Economic Development in Africa Report 2023 released on 16^th…

• Africa’s vast untapped oil and gas reserves have the potential to reshape the continent’s energy landscape and stimulate sustainable economic growth.
• At the same time, Europe is charting a course toward renewable energy sources, driven by escalating environmental concerns.
• These divergences in priorities necessitate a strategic approach to simultaneously achieve progress, address energy security and tackle climate change challenges.

The global energy landscape stands at a defining moment where Africa and Europe are confronted with parallel challenges and shared aspirations in their pursuit of sustainable development.

As the countdown to the African Energy Week (AEW) begins, the spotlight shifts towards pivotal talks which aims to harmonize Europe’s renewable energy vision with Africa’s drive towards oil and gas-powered industrialization.

Africa-Europe intertwined priorities

The forthcoming Africa-Europe Roundtable Discussion, set for October 16-20 in Cape Town, South Africa, offers a platform to unravel the intricacies of these intertwined priorities, underlining the essential role …