Africa

Photo: The Kofi Annan Foundation facilitated the process of consultation and dialogue between the opposition political parties of the Democratic Republic of Congo from 9 to 11 November 2018 in Geneva. Source: Kofi Annan Foundation

Plan to Pick a Single Candidate to Defeat Kabila Implodes

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | KINSHASA (IDN) – As election day nears in the troubled Democratic Republic of the Congo, the seven leaders of the opposition seemed settled on one person to challenge the handpicked candidate of President Joseph Kabila – but differences unexpectedly arose.

The agreement to back Congolese lawmaker Martin Fayulu Madidi, facilitated by the Kofi Annan Foundation after three days of negotiations in Geneva, fell apart, with a major opposition leader going his own way. Felix Tshisekedi, head of the largest opposition party, said he was abandoning a day-old agreement to field a joint candidate in the December crucial presidential polls.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 13 November 2018

Huge Heist by Ghanaian Bank Officers Worse Than Feared

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | ACCRA (IDN) – Depositors may want to steer clear of banking in Ghana while over a dozen bank officers and shareholders face claims they lent themselves millions of dollars but failed to repay.

Business Ghana, a local news outlet, reported that 13 shareholders and directors of the defunct Capital Bank Ghana Limited and UT Bank engaged in acts that led to the collapse of the two banks.

By their alleged actions, the defendants “have breached their fiduciary duties under the Companies Code and have caused serious financial loss to the banks,” say receivers for the defunct banks.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 13 November 2018

Photo: This field visit provided a learning opportunity into two of MLife’s distribution models, micro-entrepreneurs and enterprise associations. Mlife has been in partnership with the Zambia Federation of Associations of Women in Business (ZFAWIB) to provide low-cost funeral insurance services since 2016. Credit: Munich Re Foundation

Insurance Essential for Sustainable Development – But Billions Still Losing Out

By Kwame Buist

LUSAKA, Zambia (IDN) – Billions of uninsured individuals, families and small businesses are exposed to risks which can result in catastrophic losses, delegates to the 14th International Microinsurance Conference (IMC) on ‘Inclusive Insurance for Emerging Markets’ in Lusaka were told.

Despite encouraging signs of increased insurance cover uptake in some markets, climate change and extreme weather events are exposing the poorest and most vulnerable to risk as never before.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 07 November 2018

Photo: Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Credit: National Daily.

Nigeria's Presidential Candidate Abubakar Hires Trump's Campaign Strategist

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) - Cash money makes things happen. That’s an expression taken from the Urban Dictionary but it may also be the hope of Atiku Abubakar, candidate for President of Nigeria with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which just hired Donald Trump’s lobbying firm at an astronomical price.

Abubakar was Nigeria’s vice president from 1999 to 2007 and a former ally of current president Muhammadu Buhari.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 06 November 2018

Africa's High-Tech Path to Energy Inclusion

Viewpoint by Ben Good*

The author is CEO of Energy 4 Impact, a London-based non-profit organisation working with local businesses to extend access to energy in Africa, particularly East and West Africa.

LONDON (IDN) – Digital technologies are helping sub-Saharan African countries tap new sources of capital as they seek ways to close the energy access gap.

Last year, the Tanzania-based social enterprise Simusolar raised 50,000 dollars to finance its work selling solar powered systems to farmers and fishermen in rural areas traditionally excluded from mainstream energy provision.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 31 October 2018

Photo: Gabon President Ali Bongo. Source: polisonline.com.ng

Gabon Draws the Focus as Longtime President is Hospitalized

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Balloons and fireworks will have to wait as the longtime President of Gabon has been hospitalized at the King Faisal hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, suffering from severe fatigue.

The party of President Ali Bongo Ondimba had just “coasted to victory” in a second round of legislative elections in October 2018 when the President fell ill. A medical and a diplomatic source both told the Reuters news agency that the president had suffered a stroke, but government officials disputed the story.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 30 October 2018

Photo: New Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde. Credit: The Star, Kenya.

UN Cheers Sahle-Work Zewde's Election as First Female President of Ethiopia

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – “Congratulations Madam President! Women do make a difference. We are proud of you!” That was the excited message from María Fernanda Espinosa Garces, President of the United Nations General Assembly, to UN Under-Secretary-General Sahle-Work Zewde on her election as the first female president of Ethiopia.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres received a phone call on October 24 from Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who informed him of the news, said Farhan Haq, Guerres' deputy spokesman.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 30 October 2018

Photo credit: Pixabay.com. Source: Eyewitness News.

South Africa Needs Tackling Air Pollution Hot Spots Urgently

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – The world’s largest air pollution hotspot is not where you might think. No, it’s not in New Jersey. But if you said South Africa you’d be right, according to a newly-released study by the environmental group Greenpeace.

With coal and transport as the two principal sources of air pollution, Eastern Mpumalanga province in South Africa has the most polluting cluster of coal-fired power stations in the world, producing record levels of nitrogen dioxide, according to the Greenpeace report.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 30 October 2018

Photo: People at a borehole, one of the groundwater sources people have turned to in Zimbabwe's towns and cities as climate change impacts bite. Credit: Construction Review Online.

Southern Africa Turns to Groundwater to Counter Climate Change

By Jeffrey Moyo

CHIMOIO, Mozambique (IDN) – As the blazing heat of the sun beats down on her, 25-year-old Maria Sinorita from Chimoio, a Mozambican town lying approximately 100 km east of the country’s border with Zimbabwe, struggles to draw water from the well in her yard.

For Sinorita, even the water she is drawing from the well is running out and, because she has no option as climate change impacts hit her and many other Mozambicans, she has to dig deeper and deeper for the precious liquid.

: Jeffrey Moyo; THE WORLD; Africa; 26 October 2018

Photo: Land reform minister Utoni Nujoma. Credit: The Namibian

Land Deal with Russian Billionaire Causes a Stir in Namibia

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | WINDHOEK (IDN) – The Namibian government has leased four farms for 99 years to a company, Comsar Properties SA, owned by a Russian billionaire, Rashid Sardarov. Valued at USD$3 million and measuring a total 42,000 acres, the farms were registered as state property by the land reform ministry.

Land reform minister Utoni Nujoma has been flip-flopping on whether or not he was involved in the transaction, according to The Namibian.