Browsing: US

US-Russia tensions

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could impact relations between the United States (USA) and Africa as global economic and military powers compete for influence on the continent.

Pulling Africa into the West’s war with Russia

But, many African countries are staying neutral on the conflict which is not sitting well with the West.

Indeed, on March 18, 2022, the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that African countries cannot remain neutral in the Ukraine conflict.

She said that when the UN General Assembly voted to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early March, 17 African countries abstained while another eight did not vote at all.

Thomas-Greenfield was quoted by the BBC saying that there is no neutral ground and that the Russia-Ukraine was not just about the Cold War between the West and Russia.

To bait African nations, Thomas-Greenfield said the United States was working with other countries…

Most business executives in Kenya expect a stable economy after the August 9 general elections

At the same time, KEPSA said the initiative will provide a unique platform to facilitate U.S. and Kenyan SME partnerships.

It will also help in supporting women and youth to run Kenyan entrepreneurs as well as U.S. women, minority, and diaspora owned businesses, and help SMEs in both countries address the current challenges many faces to access the two markets.

The agreement was signed by CCA President & CEO Florizelle Liser and KEPSA CEO Carole Kariuki and witnessed by President Uhuru Kenyatta in New York, U.S.A.…

sudan

A new dawn is unfolding in the Israel-Arab relations World as Sudan is but a few ink drops away from becoming the third Arab country to normalize ties with Israel this year alone.

International media, Associated Press confirmed that a senior Israeli delegation was in Sudan earlier this week. Backed with high profile U.S. diplomatic mission, the meeting is believed to have been the final touches to normalize ties between the age-long ‘rivals.’

The development comes in the backdrop of Sudan’s interim government signing a pact with the U.S. that has successfully removed the country from the U.S. list of

The deal washes off a considerable amount of stain from the otherwise tainted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on one hand and on the other bring favour to U.S. Donald Trump’s foreign policy as the country heads to the polls on November 3rd.

The Sudan – Israel pact …

tik

Tik-Tok and We Chat Now Banned in the United States.

The US has banned the popular video challenge App Tik Tok along with the mobile payment platform WeChat, citing home security threats.

In a move that was widely unexpected, despite the mounting Sino-US trade tensions. Tik Tok is very popular in the US (and around the world) and wracks in millions in advertisements and fees.

As of tomorrow (Sunday 20th, 2020) We Chat will be shut down in the US but Tik Tok will have some leeway all the way to November. Should the supposed threat be neutralized before then, then the US will lift the ban, China has been informed.

Explaining the ban, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said “The Chinese Communist Party has demonstrated the means and motives to use these apps to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the US.”

Home security threat …

floyd

The Black Lives Matter movement has brought the weight of social unrest upon almost all big economies around the world and in Africa, it has spark the Africa Lives Matter movement.

Protesters in the US, UK, France, Germany, Africa and elsewhere have caused huge economic impact during their protests and brought to light even larger economic inequalities that are bound to cause a major power shift in the years to come.

While the death of George Floyd in the hands of police wrought on the US political convulsion, it is the economic inequalities that have a lasting and profound effect. Issues of housing, education, health and employment have been pushed to the forefront of the national consciousness.

Take for instance the fact that in just one US city, the cream of the pie, the top 1 percent of New York’s elite actually earns well over 40 times more than the…

swalaaa

The price for crude oil is down 60 percent since the year started and it is only tumbling further, global oil news reports.

On the one hand, analysts blame the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and on the other the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia is said to have contributed to the sharp drop.

Even the movers and shakers are feeling the pinch, oil in the US plummeted 34%, crude oil falling by 26%, and brent oil falling 24%. Associated Press reports that prices this week dropped to an 18 year all time low of under USD20 a barrel for the US.

Speculators say it is the best time to invest, pessimists would have you shy away from taking the risk.

The idea is a simple business law, buy when prices are low and sell when prices peak, so technically, the advice to buy into the oil business now is …

atom

Tanzania has set regional precedence by establishing an Atomic Energy Commission and gone ahead to start construction of a state of the art laboratory designed manage use of radioactive materials.

In Sub-Sahara Africa, the country is only second to South Africa in this frontier and has already begun the first phase of construction works. Valued at 2.5bn/- the first phase of the lab construction begun last year and is designed to meet global operation and calibration standards in atomic energy and nuclear.

It may come as a surprise to you as it did to me to learn of this rather unsettling development; a third world country building an atomic management laboratory to rival world standards. Well, that is the case until you learn that this third world country is also gearing to start mining uranium.

This explanation is plausible, as we have been predisposed to this reality by Hollywood blockbuster…

US playing catch-up to China in Africa as Pompeo visits

The visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to three African countries of Senegal, Angola, and Ethiopia is significant for the Trump administration not only as of the first trip the senior official has made to the continent, but a first for a senior official since the launch of the new strategy for Africa. The last time a senior official to visit sub-Sahara Africa was Pompeo’s predecessor, Rex Tillerson who lost his job while on a trip to Kenya.

Trump’s Africa Strategy was aimed at promoting prosperity, security, and stability in relations, and the business-friendly Prosper Africa which aims to substantially increase two-way trade and investment between the United States and Africa.

The leading issue will mainly be on security and counter-terrorism efforts mainly in the Sahel as well as the horn of Africa. Though Somalia has remained a point of discussion in terms of security, there is a …

The giant hydropower dam on the Blue Nile (Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam-GERD) agreement is set to be finalized later this month in Washington-USA by ministers from Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, who came to an agreement on Wednesday, Reuters reveals.

The hydropower project caused a rather serious diplomatic crisis between Cairo (of which relies on the river for its freshwater supply) and Addis Ababa.

According to Reuters, the ministers agreed to fill the $4 billion project in stages during the wet season, taking into account the impact on downstream reservoirs, the U.S. Treasury Department, which hosted the meeting, said in a joint statement with the countries and the World Bank.

Further, the statement highlighted that the initial filling of the dam set to commence in July will aim for a level of 595 meters above sea level and early electricity generation while providing appropriate mitigation measures for Egypt and Sudan during …

Central Bank of Kenya’s Monetary Policy Committee has lowered the Central Bank Rate to 8.50 per cent from 9.00 per cent, despite the removal of interest rate capping in the country.

Central Bank of Kenya’s Monetary Policy Committee has lowered the Central Bank Rate for loans to 8.50 per cent from 9.00 per cent, despite the removal of interest rate capping in the country.

READ ALSO:Why Kenya’s Central Bank has retained base lending rate at 9%

The MPC met on November 25, 2019, to review the outcome of its previous policy decisions and recent economic developments.

The meeting came at the backdrop of a domestic macroeconomic stability, the recent repeal of interest rate caps, and heightened global uncertainties and volatility in international markets.

READ:No more lending controls in Kenya as rate cap ‘dies’

READ ALSO:World Bank, IMF biggest winners in Kenya’s interest rates cap repeal

The MPS which is chaired by CBK governor Patrick Njoroge however noted that month-on-month overall inflation remained well anchored within the target range in September and October 2019, largely due to relatively stable …