Month: August 2024

The E-commerce Revolution in Africa

Africa is experiencing a rapid digital transformation with the rise of online commerce. According to fintech Nikulipe, the e-commerce sector is expected to grow by $15 billion by 2028, a nearly 49% increase over four years. In 2017, only 13% of Africans shopped online, but this figure could reach nearly 50% by the end of next year.

Jumia, the market leader, is preparing for expansion through better cost management and warehouse centralization strategies. However, challenges remain, including payment methods and high shipping costs. Rennaud Glenisson, Regional Director at Jumia, emphasizes:

“In Africa, it’s not enough to implement digital solutions; every step, from payment to delivery, must be adapted to local realities to truly succeed in this complex market.”

He also discusses the impact of government initiatives, such as the planned free trade zone for 2027, which could offer new market opportunities for companies like Jumia.

Mobile Gaming on the Rise in Ghana

Mobile gaming is gaining traction in Ghana, supported by improved internet connectivity and increased smartphone adoption. With an expected 7.5 million users by 2027, this sector promises to boost local development. Mobile game revenues are projected to exceed $90 million this year, while the broader video game market could reach $135 million.

Kwesi Hayford, President of the Ghana E-sports Association, highlights the importance of developing local games to create economic opportunities and jobs, despite the dominance of imported games.

Mushroom Wine: An Ugandan Farmer’s Ambition

In Uganda, Milly Ssebaggala dreams of producing mushroom wine for both local and international markets. However, there are numerous challenges: a saturated alcohol market, production constraints, and limited capital.

The global mushroom market is estimated at $55 billion, but Ugandan producers must compete with Asia-Pacific giants. For more details, watch this report by Raziah Athman.

An accumulative total of 307 433 cholera cases and 2326 deaths were reported from 26 countries between January this year and July according to the World Health Organization.

According to WHO, the Eastern Mediterranean Region recorded the highest numbers, followed by the African Region, the South-East Asia Region, the Region of the Americas, and the European Region.

The cholera response is facing significant challenges due to a severe shortage of Oral Cholera Vaccines (OCV), with demand far exceeding supply. Since January 2023, 18 countries have requested 105 million doses, nearly double the 55 million doses produced during this period.

In January 2023, the World Health Organization classified the global cholera resurgence as a grade 3 emergency, its highest level for emergencies.

Given the increasing number of outbreaks, their geographic spread, and the ongoing vaccine and resource shortages, WHO continues to assess the global risk as very high, maintaining the grade 3 emergency status.

The WHO said warming temperatures that allow the cholera bacteria to live longer, has worsened outbreaks and led to the highest death rates in a decade.

South African prosecutors withdrew charges against 95 Libyan nationals who were arrested last month at what police said was an illegal military training camp in Mpumalanga province, officials said Thursday.

Police alleged that the men — who entered the country on study visas — were receiving military training at the camp where firearms and ammunition were recovered during a widely publicized police raid.

During their initial appearances in court, the accused said they were receiving security training at the camp.

There was insufficient evidence to prosecute the men, the country’s National Prosecuting Authority said.

“The only charge that was brought to the NPA was that of the contravention of the immigration act against the 95 Libyan nationals,” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa.

They were only charged with violating the country’s immigration laws, and their lawyer told reporters after the charges were withdrawn today that they expected them to be deported back to Libya in the next 48 hours.

The men have now been handed over to immigration officials and insisted through their lawyers that they were in South Africa for security training.

“They are very happy that the charges have been withdrawn against them, it is what we expected. I think that matter (alleged military training) is still under investigation, as far as we know we had security training,” said the men’s lawyer, Nico du Plessis

Iran rejected a call Tuesday by three European countries urging it to refrain from any retaliatory attacks that would further escalate regional tensions. Iran calls it an “excessive request.”

The leaders of Britain, France and Germany in a joint statement Monday asked Iran and its allies to refrain from retaliation for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month. Iran has blamed Israel.

The European leaders also endorsed the latest push by mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States to broker an agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war. Talks are expected to resume Thursday. And they called for the return of scores of hostages held by Hamas and the “unfettered” delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Mediators have spent months trying to get the sides to agree to a three-phase plan in which Hamas would release the remaining hostages captured in its Oct. 7 attack in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, and Israel would withdraw from Gaza.

After more than 10 months of fighting, the Palestinian death toll is nearing 40,000 in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry there.

UN Security Council members urge a cease-fire deal

Several United Nations Security Council members clamored Tuesday for a Gaza cease-fire deal to be sealed, with negotiations set to resume this week.

But the council, which voted in June to embrace a United States proposal for a cease-fire, took no further action at Tuesday’s emergency meeting on Israel’s deadly weekend airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza.

Russia argued that council has given the U.S. cease-fire plan more than enough time. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy suggested the group consider “strengthening” its push for a cease-fire.

The U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been trying to get Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas to sign onto the three-phase plan. Talks have been expected to continue Thursday, but it’s unclear whether Hamas will participate.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council that her country is prepared to make “a final bridging proposal: one that resolves the remaining implementation issues in a manner that meets the expectations of all parties.” She didn’t detail it.

Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan, whose country isn’t a council member, excoriated the group for convening an urgent meeting about Saturday’s airstrike at the Tabeen school. Israel says it targeted militant fighters operating from the school compound.

Security Council members voiced a range of concern and condemnation about the attack. But Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour called on them to respond to Israel’s military campaign with sanctions, not just words.

“Israel does not care about your condemnations,” he said, twice.

President Biden expresses resolve at securing end to hostilities

Three-month-old Reem Abu Hayya was the only member of her family to survive an Israeli airstrike which hit their home near Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on Monday.

The strike killed 10 people. The dead included her parents and five siblings, ranging in age from 5 to 12, as well as the parents of 3 other children.

Reem and the three other children were all wounded in the strike.

“She is the only one who survived. What did these children do? They were all children, and they killed them—two, three and four-year-olds, all of them were children,” said Reem’s grandmother, Sayida Abu Hayya.

Her aunt, Souad Abu Hayya,** said they were struggling to get Reem to eat.

“She was breastfed by her mother. Now we will have to give her formula milk. Since this morning, we have been trying to feed her, but she won’t accept it.”

A few kilometres away,  Mohamed Abuel-Qomasan lost his pharmacist wife and their four-day-old twins in another strike on Tuesday.

He had gone to register their births at the local government office when the home they were sheltering in near the central city of Deir al-Balah was bombed.

The family had heeded Israeli orders to evacuate Gaza City at the start of the war and had sought shelter in the centre of the enclave, as the army instructed.

More than 10 months into its war with Hamas, Israel’s relentless bombardment of the territory has wiped out extended families.

It has left parents without children and children without parents or siblings.

There are so many orphans that local doctors now use an acronym when registering them, WCNSF, or “wounded child, no surviving family”.

Six months ago, the United Nations estimated that some 17,000 children in Gaza had been left unaccompanied by the war, a number that has likely grown since then.

The Israeli military claims it tries to avoid harming Palestinian civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas, saying the militants operate in dense residential areas.

But the army rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, without saying how many were fighters.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 in the7 October attack into southern Israel that ignited the war

The Taliban marked the third anniversary since they seized power in Afghanistan, with a ceremony in Bagram, where the ex-U.S. military base was located.

Political deputy chief minister Abdul Kabir gave a speech.

Afghanistan follows the Persian calendar and is celebrating the date on August 14th instead of Aug 15th when the takeover took place.

It’s been three years since the militant group took control after U.S. and NATO forces withdrew following two decades of war.

They have transitioned from insurgency to authority, imposed their interpretation of Islamic law and sought to reinforce their claim to legitimacy.

Despite no international recognition as the country’s official rulers, the Taliban enjoy high-level meetings with major regional powers.

The Taliban supreme leader sits atop a pyramid-like ruling system.