Browsing: United States

Africans flying a Russian flag in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in January. The US is forcing Africa to support it for its Russia attacks but the continent remains uncommitted. www.theexchange.africa

Again, the blatant abuse of, and racism against Africans in Ukraine is another knocker that will not see Africans get swayed easily since they feel they are still being treated like lesser humans.

For America and its allies to gain Africa’s support on any agenda they have, they have to do a lot more to convince Africans than they have had to prior to the covid-19 menace and the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

It is evident that the US, Europe and their allies do not care much for Africa. During the pandemic, the US, Europe and their allies hoarded vaccines and denied the continent the opportunity for equal and timely administration. This, however, was a blessing in disguise in that the vaccines have largely proven not to be effective. A win for Africa!

Since Russia’s operation started in Ukraine, a powerful alliance of friends has worked together to isolate the largest Slavic …

Indian rupee notes. On March 18, 2022, reports surfaced online that India had bought oil from Russia in rupees-roubles and not US dollars. www.theexchange.africa

On March 8, Saudi and Emirati leaders snubbed US President Joe Biden over the Ukraine crisis.

Reports, according to the Wall Street Journal,  show that the White House unsuccessfully tried to build international support for Ukraine and contain a rise in oil prices. The Middle East and US officials quoted by the WSJ indicated that the calls were because of an increase in oil prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Saudi Arabia’s and the UAE’s authorities declined to speak with Biden.

Is the writing in the wall for the US now that it allies have become unresponsive in recent weeks?

In the first week of March, OPEC+, which includes Russia, refused to raise oil production.

OPEC+ consists of 13 OPEC members and 10 of the world’s major non-OPEC oil-exporting countries. The OPEC+ entity aims to regulate oil supply to set the world market price.…

Receiving Pfizer vaccines from the United States

For the first time, Pfizer vaccines from the United States have landed in the country.

The country received 795,600 doses of the expected 1.4 million doses of Pfizer vaccine provided by the US Government.

Due to the nature of the Pfizer vaccines, they can only survive in extremely low temperatures which is minus 70
degrees. The government thus had to make prior arrangements with its partners to acquire ultra-cold storage and install it to maintain the quality of the vaccines.

To enable the use of Pfizer vaccines in Kenya, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has recently procured 12 ultra-low temperature freezers and accessories with funding from the Government of Japan.

The Pfizer vaccine is the 4th type of Covid-19 vaccine to be deployed in the country making an approximate number of doses received so far over into the country 6.3 million in their various assortments.

These vaccines will go a …

Platinum bars. Sibanye Stillwater is the world’s largest primary producer of platinum, the second-largest primary producer of palladium and a top-tier gold producer. www.theexchange.africa

Since then the company has pursued a highly aggressive growth strategy constituting of both organic and acquisitive growth. Sibanye in a very short space of time acquired the Cooke operations from Gold One International in 2013 and the Burnstone project from Wits Gold the following year. The aim of this aggressive growth strategy was to produce more sustainable gold operations. 

The story of growth did not stop there. 

Soon the company set its sights on the platinum sector and began to snap up various interests and operations in that space. In 2016 Sibanye acquired the Aquarius Platinum’s Rustenburg operations namely Kroondal mine as well as the Platinum Mile treatment facility in South Africa and in Zimbabwe it took over the Mimosa joint venture with Impala Platinum. Later that year the company also bought the Rustenburg operations of Anglo Platinum.…

Kenya Geothermal Energy Project Africa Me

Kenya, East Africa’s largest and most advanced economy is currently the leading region exploring and installing geothermal energy capacity (standing at 676 MegaWatts, 2019) according to ESI Africa, hence Kenya is seeking to expand its geothermal mastery.

On a larger scale, the geothermal technology is rather at an initial phase in Africa, as developed nations take the lead, including high-installed capacities in the US with more than 3.8 gigawatts, according to Power Technology publication.

Kenya Electricity Generating company has taken its interest to another level, as it seeks to raise at least $1.95 billion to build new and upgrade existing plants “in a bid to almost double its output from the renewable fuel” according to information from Bloomberg News.

The Kenyan power company ambitions will make Kenya a competitive powerhouse, as the country has a total installed capacity of 2.4GW, the stated-owned company anticipated to sweep more than 651 megawatts …

US investments in Egypt reach $21.8bn over the past 12 months

United States (US) investments in Egypt totals to $21.8 billion over the past 12 months according to

US investments in Egypt totalled $21.8 billion over the past 12 months according to Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Nevine Gamea.  The investments are in sectors such as tourism, agriculture, service, industrial, construction, telecommunications and information technology. 

 

The minister also added that the trade exchange between the US and Egypt reached $8.618 billion in 2019 compared to $7.53 billion in 2018. 

 

Gamea’s remarks came during a meeting with a delegation from the US Department of State headed by Keith Krach, Under-Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment who were in the country to discuss joint economic cooperation. 

She also noted that economic relations between the two countries are strategic, based on a long history of joint cooperation in various commercial, industrial and investment fields

More than 66 per cent of total employment is Sub-Saharan Africa is from the informal sector, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has revealed, the biggest provider of employment in Africa.

While most African countries are bearing the brunt of the US-China trade war as well as a slump in commodity prices which is greatly affecting exporters, East Africa economies have remained resilient.

This is on the region’s economic diversity which is playing a key role in cushioning the region from shocks, the latest report from ICAEW – the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales – Economic Update: Africa Q3 2019 indicates.

The report provides GDP growth forecasts for various regions including East Africa which is set to grow by 6.3 per cent, West and Central Africa at 3.4 per cent, Franc Zone at 4.7 per cent and Southern Africa at 1.3 per cent.

The report, commissioned by ICAEW and produced by partner and forecaster Oxford Economics, outlines how East Africa’s growth is mainly driven by strong performances in the two major economies, Kenya and Ethiopia.

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