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MultiChoice celebrates African finalists in The Earthshot Prize

by Kwabe Ben September 28, 2023

written by Kwabe Ben

The Earthshot Prize has announced the 15 Finalists for this year’s Prize at the second Earthshot Innovation Summit, an event held alongside the UN General Assembly, in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, to celebrate and champion innovators focused on solving our most pressing global climate challenges.

Out of over 1,100 nominations, the 15 Finalists for The Earthshot Prize stood out following a rigorous evaluation process conducted by a panel of scientific, academic, and subject-matter experts. Each of these Finalists stands a chance to win one of the five £1 million prizes designed to propel their initiatives towards greater impact. The unveiling of the five Winners will take place at the third annual Earthshot Prize awards ceremony scheduled later this year in Singapore.

Furthermore, all the Finalists will benefit from invaluable mentorship, resources, and technical support through The Earthshot Prize Fellowship Programme. This program will also provide them with access to a robust network of influential businesses, investors, and climate experts.

The Earthshot Prize revolves around five transformative ‘Earthshots,’ each embodying simple yet ambitious goals that represent the world we aspire to build for future generations.

In the spirit of celebrating African innovation, we are proud to highlight two remarkable finalists from the continent: Freetown the Tree Town representing Sierra Leone and ABALOBI from South Africa.

These African finalists come after Mukuru Clean Stoves, a start-up providing cleaner-burning stoves to women in Kenya to reduce unhealthy indoor pollution and provide a safer way to cook, won the coveted environmental prize during the inspirational awards ceremony hosted in Boston last year.

The Earthshot Prize revolves around five transformative ‘Earthshots,’ each embodying simple yet ambitious goals that represent the world we aspire to build for future generations

Freetown the Tree Town is a visionary initiative aimed at reforesting landscapes, restoring the degraded coastline of Freetown, and creating sustainable green jobs. The project meticulously tracks newly planted trees, assigning them to local tree guardians, and publicly documenting their growth, resulting in an impressively high survival rate for newly planted trees.

ABALOBI, on the other hand, is a community-centric mobile application supporting small-scale fishers in their quest for sustainable fishing practices while preventing the overfishing of at-risk species. It also enhances boat and fisher safety by providing real-time weather warnings and tracking capabilities. The initiative has already expanded its reach beyond South Africa, directly benefiting over 1,600 fishers with a substantial increase in revenue due to better access to profitable markets for sustainable species.

“We are immensely proud to see African innovation shining on the global stage through the Earthshot Prize. At MultiChoice, as a proudly African organization, we believe in the power of homegrown solutions to address the world’s most pressing challenges. These African finalists exemplify that spirit, and we salute their remarkable efforts in safeguarding our planet for future generations,” says Keabetswe Modimoeng, Group Executive at MultiChoice Group.

By participating in this prestigious prize, African innovators gain a platform to showcase their solutions, inspire corporate entities to join the fight against climate change and urge governments to prioritize climate action on their national agendas.

In addition to the chance to win the £1 million prize, all Finalists will receive tailored support and resources from The Earthshot Prize Global Alliance Members, an unprecedented network of private sector businesses worldwide dedicated to scaling innovative climate and environmental solutions to maximize their impact.

The five Winners will be carefully selected by The Earthshot Prize Council, a diverse team of influential individuals committed to leveraging their platforms to champion inspiring leadership and elevate urgent efforts to restore and regenerate our planet.

The Earthshot Prize is a truly global initiative, bringing together a diverse coalition of nominators from over 200 individuals and organizations worldwide. It encompasses a distinguished Expert Advisory Panel and The Earthshot Prize Council, comprising influential figures who wholeheartedly support positive environmental action.

The fifteen Finalists have earned their place through rigorous assessment and their potential to make a game-changing impact on a global scale, all while contributing positively to people, communities, and the natural world.

September 28, 2023 0 comment

News World

Kenya Establishes Diplomatic Relations with Haiti

by Kwabe Ben September 21, 2023

written by Kwabe Ben

President William Ruto and Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry witnessed the signing of the agreement at the Kenyan Mission in New York, United States.

The agreement signed by Minister Jean Victor Génus and Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua will facilitate cooperation in areas of mutual interest.

The President called for a holistic approach that includes political, security and developmental considerations to effectively address the situation in Haiti.

He said Kenya will do its part in leading a well-resourced and effective Multinational Security Support Mission in the country.

“We are committed to deploying a specialised team to assess the situation and formulate actionable strategies that will lead to long-term solutions,” he explained.

Prime Minister Henry said Haiti needs all the necessary support to address immense the challenges facing the country.

He said the people of Haiti look forward to the elimination of criminal gangs that have been inflicting terror since 2021.

In a high-level opening session of the Climate Ambition Summit at the United Nations General Assembly, President Ruto called on the international community to mobilise resources for the implementation of the Nairobi Declaration.

He said the resolutions of the Africa Climate Summit align economic growth with climate action, offering the most effective response to the climate change problem.

“The industrial and socio-economic transformation of Africa and the developing countries is, at the same time, the surest pathway to effective implementation of global climate action,” he added.

Earlier, President Ruto attended the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers 2023 Forum that tracks the implementation of SDGs.

At the forum, he called for debt restructuring to stabilise the economies of countries in debt distress.

The President called for a holistic approach that includes political, security and developmental considerations to effectively address the situation in Haiti

President Ruto said it was time the international financial system was reformed to address such financial challenges.

He noted that the current system is counterproductive in driving the global transformation agenda.

“A restructuring to ease the burden is urgent if the globe is to collectively meet its development goals,” he said.

The President also attended a forum hosted by Fauna and Flora International CEO Kristian where he advocated for the implementation of a carbon tax on fossil fuels and carbon credits.

This, he said, is key to raising funds to unlock Africa’s renewable energy potential.

“This will accelerate the transition towards cleaner, sustainable energy sources,” he added.

President Ruto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explored new ideas for funding climate action and reforms in the international financial system.

They also committed to expediting the bilateral labour agreement that will open up new job opportunities for our skilled and industrious youth.

The President and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley agreed to campaign for reforms in risk profiling of developing countries.

The Head of State held talks with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva.

He advocated for the enhancement of the IMF’s capacity to assist countries in responding to crises, with a focus on climate-related shocks.

“A stronger and more accountable IMF stands to further financial stability, thereby increasing productivity, job creation and economic well-being of the people,” he said.

The President met United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Executive Director Mr. Jorge Moreira da Silva of Portugal who lauded Kenya’s leadership on renewable energy.

The President assured foreign investors of the government’s commitment to creating a conducive business environment during a meeting with Susan Pointer, Amazon’s Vice President of International Public Policy and Government Relations.

During a meeting with Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans, President Ruto committed to working with the organisation to mobilize the people of Africa and the world to take action for just causes.

The President commended the Development Finance Corporation (DFC) for facilitating private sector investments amounting to USD 863 million, to support Kenya’s health systems, SMEs, agribusiness, and logistics.

September 21, 2023 0 comment

Business News Technology World

Fintech Platform Lipa Later goes Global

by Kwabe Ben September 13, 2023

written by Kwabe Ben

Lipa Later Group is a global trailblazing innovator recognized as one of Africa’s Fastest-Growing Fintech Companies by the Financial Times that continues to reshape the finance, payments, and e-commerce landscape in Africa.

As a leading fintech platform founded to empower African businesses to do more by enabling e-commerce, financial inclusion, and shopping on a centralized and fully integrated platform, it’s honored to receive exclusive approval to raise funds from the general public in the United States.

This is a significant milestone for Lipalater as it has become one of the first African companies to secure the green light from the esteemed US Regulator – SEC! LipaLater’s CEO, Eric Muli, expressed enthusiasm about this remarkable milestone, remarking on his thrill to offer retail investors in the US and across the world the opportunity to invest in one of Africa’s fastest-growing fintech.

Stressing that Lipa Later’s excitement is magnified as it pioneers a trend, embarking on becoming a global business and the financial control center for Africa’s 50M retailers.

From left to right: Wacera Maina, Eric Maina & Claudine Gakundi pose for a picture at the acquisition of Sky.Garden announcement

Investors worldwide will now have the chance to invest in LipaLater through Republic, a global financial technology company that allows anyone to invest in anything, anywhere. By leveraging Republic’s platform, LipaLater gains access to a worldwide network of backers who are passionate about supporting groundbreaking ventures that have the potential to make a lasting impact.

This partnership enables Lipalater to amplify its mission of becoming Africa’s most expansive credit, payments, and shopping platform.

Bearing a solid track record of over 350,000 Consumers and over 35,000 Merchants, and an Exclusive partnership with Mastercard for POS financing, LipaLater is poised to Unleash a $500B African Opportunity and captivate the imaginations of investors who recognize the potential for substantial returns on their contributions.

As Lipalater embarks on this exciting journey, the team remains committed to upholding the highest transparency, accountability, and innovation standards. Through this collaboration with Republic, Lipalater aims to pave the way for new possibilities in the fintech space.

“This marks a significant step in our journey, and we are eager to share this transformative experience with all investors. This isn’t just an investment opportunity; it’s a catalyst for entrepreneurship, a cradle for job creation, and a beacon of economic development across an entire continent, as well as an opportunity to make a remarkable return on your investment. We aim to bank 100,000 SMEs.!” said Eric Muli.

September 13, 2023 0 comment

News World

Morocco Earthquake Rattles Africa

by Kwabe Ben September 11, 2023

written by Kwabe Ben

The Moroccan earthquake that struck southwest Marrakesh was a devastating event. According to the United States Geological Survey, it had a magnitude of 6.8 at a shallow depth of 26km (16 miles).

However, the Moroccan Geophysical Center reported a magnitude of 7.2 and initially stated that the depth was 18km. The impact of the earthquake was felt throughout the country, including in provinces such as Ouarzazate, Marrakesh, Azilal, Chichaoua, and Taroudant, as well as coastal cities like Rabat, Casablanca, and Agadir.

The earthquake resulted in a significant loss of life, with more than 2,000 people reported dead. The Ministry of Interior confirmed that 2,012 people were killed and 2,059 were injured, with 1,404 in critical condition.

The province of Al-Haouz, where the epicenter was located, recorded the highest number of deaths with 1,293, followed by Taroudant with 452.

The destruction caused by the earthquake was evident in the affected areas. Houses in the old city collapsed, a clay-built city in Marrakesh was destroyed, and a mosque minaret fell in Jemaa al-Fna Square.

In response to the disaster, both humanitarian and medical aid have been mobilized. Various organizations and countries have been called upon to assist the residents and citizens affected by the earthquake.

The Moroccan armed forces have deployed rescue teams to provide clean drinking water, food supplies, tents, and blankets to the affected areas.

The recovery process will require significant support and assistance from both local and international sources to help the affected communities rebuild their lives and infrastructure.

September 11, 2023 0 comment

Business News World

Six More Countries Join BRICS Bloc

by Kwabe Ben August 25, 2023

written by Kwabe Ben

Six more countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates, have joined the BRICS bloc of developing economies.

BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, is a group of countries aimed at fostering economic ties in the global south. The admission of these six member states during the recent summit signifies a push for a reshuffle of the world order, as BRICS views the current order as outdated.

The inclusion of these new members strengthens BRICS’ authority, given the status of its current members, such as China, the world’s second-largest economy, as well as Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa.

This expansion, occurring 13 years after South Africa joined in 2010, marks a significant step towards BRICS’ future and provides an opportunity for other willing member states to join.

Chinese President Xi Jinping describes the membership expansion as historic, demonstrating the determination of BRICS countries to unite and cooperate with other developing countries. The aim is to transition from unilateralism, which is seen as outdated, to multilateralism, which represents the new world.

Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy, the Minister of State for International Cooperation of the UAE, expresses pleasure in joining the BRICS group, recognizing it as a mechanism to promote global peace, stability, and prosperity.

Al Hashimy emphasizes the UAE’s belief in championing multilateralism and actively contributing to important international arenas. This includes engaging with BRICS, participating regularly in the G20 process, and hosting the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) climate conference in November.

Al Hashimy asserts that the UAE stresses the importance of strong multilateral partnerships and cooperation on the international level for global security and prosperity.

“There is a shared commitment to achieving stability and development among BRICS member countries”.

August 25, 2023 0 comment

Africa Business World

Five things African countries can do to optimize AfCFTA

by Kwabe Ben August 17, 2023

written by Kwabe Ben

Until the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) plays its role of aggregating and integrating small and medium enterprises, it will remain a mere ‘Podium to the Streets’ talk, experts have warned.

The call was made on Wednesday, August 16, during the official opening of the Golden Business Forum in Kigali.

The forum under the theme Creating African Wealth under the African Continental Free Trade Area, is bringing together over 1000 delegates to among others identify and facilitate business opportunities across Africa, as well as promote engagement between developers, investors, and financiers.

The AfCFTA, being the world’s largest trade bloc, experts said, is crucial in setting the stage for increased integration, competitiveness, economic diversification, and investment in African economies.

However, there is a mountain to climb, but according to Monique Nsanzabaganwa, the African Union Commission (AUC) Deputy Chairperson, Africa has the unique opportunity today to shape “African Wealth” under the AfCFTA and turn current challenges into real business opportunities to unlock the potential of the immensely rich and diverse continent.

Here are five things that should be done:

1) Private sector should stand up to the task

The AfCFTA is an important key to unlocking Africa’s immense opportunities, being the world’s largest trading zone in terms of the number of participating countries (55) but it is also more relevant when viewed against the backdrop of the current global supply chain disruptions, which are bringing in train, inflation, and threats of economic recessions.

However, the private sector not Government is central to the full realization of the AfCFTA.

If statistics are anything to go by, the private sector in Africa accounts for over 80 percent of total production, two-thirds of total investment, and three-fourths of lending within the economy.

The sector also provides jobs for about 90 percent of the employed working-age population.

2) Women, startups should not be left behind

Although Africa is home to plenty of endowments, most of which remain untapped in some places and a curse in others, experts argued that the Wealth of Africa under the AfCFTA resides in the millions of micro, small and medium enterprises, the majority of whom are women-owned and youth startups and still operate in the informal sector.

“Small and medium enterprises are the backbone of the African private sector accounting for over 90 percent of businesses and 63 percent of employment in low-income countries while contributing over 50 percent of the Gross Domestic Product,” Nsanzabaganwa said, quoting the UN Economic Commission for Africa.

For instance, she said, economic powerhouse companies of this world have this in common,

“They mastered to integrate their small and medium enterprises into their value chains. As a result, they harnessed innovations, inverted in R&D (Research and Development), and produced a diverse range of products, better quality at lower cost, thereby enhancing their global competitiveness.”

“My message to the Business community today is, for you to own the AfCFTA market you must integrate small and medium enterprises in your value chains. Failure to do will undermine Africa’s capacity to produce and consume Made in Africa, thereby creating wealth for others, outside the Continent.”

Panelists during the official opening of the Golden Business Forum in Kigali on Wednesday, August 16. Courtesy

3) Reversing the order of things

Creating wealth under the AfCFTA implies reversing the order of things and taking ‘From the Streets to the Podium’ instead.

“That is why I commend the PSF for taking a pragmatic step to approach tapping the AfCFTA from the ground up,” she added, “For, the AfCFTA will be implemented by Private Sector, not Government. So, how will the “from the Streets to the Podium” approach work?”

4) Boost growth

For the AfCFTA to be truly the engine of African wealth, it is imperative that we boost growth to above 7 percent (doubling from 4 percent projected for 2023) and double investments to 40 percent of GDP.

According to the African Development Bank (AfDB) recently published its economic outlook for the continent, projections indicate that the continent is expected to outperform the global GDP growth rate of 3.4 percent, with moderate growth of 4.1 percent in 2023-2024.

Eastern Africa is projected to lead this growth, expanding by 5.1 percent in 2023 and 5.8 percent in 2024, outpacing regional and global partners.

Five African countries, namely Ivory Coast, Benin, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Rwanda are among the top 10 fastest-growing economies in 2023.

“For the AfCFTA to be truly the engine of African wealth, we need a deliberate public-private joint effort to harmonize policies, standards, and regulations; connect people and products to markets through physical and digital infrastructure and logistics; de-risk small and medium enterprises to access finance; develop regional value chains and change mindset to start believing in Made in Africa products.”

5) Seeking opportunities for trade and investment

To create wealth under the AfCFTA, Africans ought to seek out the opportunities available for trade and investment between respective countries.

Africa currently imports over $300 billion worth of goods from outside the continent, with just over $50 billion as food imports, including maize, wheat, rice, and soybeans take up nearly 75 percent of these agricultural imports.

“Herein lies the opportunity for our continent, for our business persons, and for our communities. Why must Africa, with 60 percent of the global arable land, still import vast quantities of food?”

Investment opportunities abound in agricultural commercial farming on the continent.

Value addition and agro-processing is a key pillars of the AfCFTA private sector strategy precisely because of the potential that Africa has to feed itself and the rest of the world.

Equally important are cross-border investments that can help add value to the mineral beneficiation process, transforming the abundant natural resources innate to the African continent.

At the same time, manufacturing for key industries like textile, leather, and other light industries can spearhead Africa’s structural transformation and lead to achieving the real potential of this immense continent.

“However, this is a gradual process that requires maximum effort from all parties involved but the end goal is shared success which we all greatly benefit from.”

Source: The New Times Rwanda

August 17, 2023 0 comment

Awards & Recognition World

The Africa-Europe Foundation Launches ‘Partners Initiative’ to empower YouthLed Initiatives

by Kwabe Ben June 30, 2023

written by Kwabe Ben

The New Partners Initiative of the Africa-Europe Foundation (AEF) will provide support and expertise to develop youth-led grassroots initiatives aimed at engaging new audiences in Africa-Europe cooperation. The first cycle focuses on Blue Economy and Ocean.

We combine micro-awards of up to 5000 Euros with access to mentorship and expertise from AEF’s global network. Supported initiatives can take the form of grass root projects, workshops, town halls, and convenings to scale the visibility and impact of projects on priority areas of Africa-Europe cooperation.

The first cycle of the Partners Initiative in 2023 is on the theme of “Blue Economy and Ocean Governance”, more specifically:

– Youth-led entrepreneurship and innovation in the domain of ocean/blue economy
– Partnership initiatives focused on ocean biodiversity, food systems, and climate mitigation

Award winners will enter a network of experts and leaders working across Africa and Europe and internationally and will have the opportunity to collaborate with AEF in helping to shape policy at the cross-continental and multilateral levels.

Applicants must complete the enclosed application form, which includes a detailed proposal work plan and budget. The deadline for submissions is 17.00 CEST (Brussels time) on Friday 7 th July 2023 and must be sent to partnerships@africaeuropefoundation.org.

Please note that the sign-off of individual grants may be subject to the timing and regulations of AEF cooperation agreements with international donors.

Any questions are to be addressed to partnerships@africaeuropefoundation.org

June 30, 2023 0 comment

News Technology World

IBM Partners With NASA For Climate Change Research Using AI

by Brian Yatich February 7, 2023

written by Brian Yatich

IBM has partnered with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to leverage on IBM’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology to discover new insights in NASA’s massive trove of Earth and geospatial science data.

The joint venture will see the application of AI foundation model technology to NASA’s Earth-observing satellite data for the first time.

Foundation models are types of AI models that are trained on a broad set of unlabeled data, can be used for different tasks, and can apply information about one situation to another.

These models have rapidly advanced the field of natural language processing (NLP) technology over the last five years, and IBM is pioneering applications of foundation models beyond language.

Earth observations that allow scientists to study and monitor our planet are being gathered at unprecedented rates and volume. New and innovative approaches are required to extract knowledge from these vast data resources. The goal of this work is to provide an easier way for researchers to analyze and draw insights from these large datasets.

IBM’s foundation model technology has the potential to speed up the discovery and analysis of these data in order to quickly advance the scientific understanding of Earth and response to climate-related issues.

IBM and NASA plan to develop several new technologies to extract insights from Earth observations. One project will train an IBM geospatial intelligence foundation model on NASA’s Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) dataset, a record of land cover and land use changes captured by Earth-orbiting satellites.

By analyzing petabytes of satellite data to identify changes in the geographic footprint of phenomena such as natural disasters, cyclical crop yields, and wildlife habitats, this foundation model technology will help researchers provide critical analysis of our planet’s environmental systems.

Another output from this collaboration is expected to be an easily searchable corpus of Earth science literature. IBM has developed an NLP model trained on nearly 300,000 Earth science journal articles to organize the literature and make it easier to discover new knowledge.

Containing one of the largest AI workloads trained on Red Hat’s OpenShift software to date, the fully trained model uses PrimeQA, IBM’s open-source multilingual question-answering system. Beyond providing a resource to researchers, the new language model for Earth science could be infused into NASA’s scientific data management and stewardship processes.

“The beauty of foundation models is they can potentially be used for many downstream applications,” said Rahul Ramachandran, senior research scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “Building these foundation models cannot be tackled by small teams,” he added. “You need teams across different organizations to bring their different perspectives, resources, and skill sets.”

“Foundation models have proven successful in natural language processing, and it’s time to expand that to new domains and modalities important for business and society,” said Raghu Ganti, principal researcher at IBM.

“Applying foundation models to geospatial, event-sequence, time-series, and other non-language factors within Earth science data could make enormously valuable insights and information suddenly available to a much wider group of researchers, businesses, and citizens. Ultimately, it could facilitate a larger number of people working on some of our most pressing climate issues.”

Other potential IBM-NASA joint projects in this agreement include constructing a foundation model for weather and climate prediction using MERRA-2, a dataset of atmospheric observations.

This collaboration is part of NASA’s Open-Source Science Initiative, a commitment to building an inclusive, transparent, and collaborative open science community over the next decade.

February 7, 2023 0 comment

Special reports World

Ukraine’s President Aide Speaks On The Rising Cost Of Commodities

by Ndungu Brian July 15, 2022

written by Ndungu Brian

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy’s right-hand man and Head of the President’s Office of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, revealed in a tell-it-all interview with Kenyan digital news platform, TUKO the reason for the global rise in the cost of commodities.

The interview, which sought to encourage bilateral relations with African countries, discussed the current impact of the war on Africa and explained how Africa’s support can greatly accelerate the restoration of food supplies to end the raging food crises on the continent.

Mr. Yermak likened Ukraine’s agitation for liberation from Russia to Africa’s fight against European colonialism, and that while Africa might think she is liberated, Russia’s subsequent attack and intent to colonize will only trigger a chain reaction of chaos across Europe into Africa.

Mr. Yermak has stated that Russia has purposefully imposed a blockade on Ukrainian ports in the Black and Azov seas to prevent the export of Ukrainian food. This is already causing a rise in global food prices especially since Ukraine has traditionally been one of the main suppliers of wheat, sunflower oil, corn, and other products.
“Only Russia is to blame for the problems in the global market. … Russia’s been stealing grain in the occupied territories and trying to sell it by way of smuggling. At the same time, it’s been blocking Ukrainian ports, preventing grain export.

All the food that Ukraine used to supply to Africa usually went through our ports. Any other route is much more difficult, longer, and more expensive. Finally, Russia’s been carrying out rocket attacks on our grain terminals. This is not just non-market competition. The destruction and restriction of access to food are crimes
against humanity. Moreover, Russia’s not only blocking the export of our grain but also limiting
its own export.”

“The aggression against Ukraine is an aggression against the whole world. It is not that I assume that Africa could be drawn into this war, I’m sure that Africa is already in it. …The combination of high inflation and production decline is the worst for Africans. Many people are losing their jobs while prices are skyrocketing. Consequently, there would be a drastic rise in crime rates, unrest, and even war will become almost inevitable.”

The more harsh and unified the response of most countries of the world to Russia’s crimes, the more secure the people of Africa will be.

“It’s in the best interests of all the nations of the African continent to support the efforts to subdue and punish the aggressor. Your voice in international organizations is essential, as well as joining in the sanctions against Russia. To hasten Ukraine’s victory and the end of the war. It’s important to prevent the war from spreading to other countries and regions of the world. When peace comes, it’s in our mutual interest to expand our economic cooperation in order
to mutually reinforce our enormous economic potential.”

According to UN analysts, Russia’s actions could lead to famine and instability in dozens of countries. This has been tagged a deliberate criminal blackmail on Russia’s part.

The rise in food and energy prices translates to higher prices for all goods. Mr. Yermak named three steps to cope with the food crisis: “The first one is to de-occupy Ukrainian territories. For this, we need weapons, and we’re getting them. The second one is to de-block the ports. We are working on this through both negotiations and military means, gradually destroying the Russian fleet. The third one is to massively expand international sanctions against Russia.

Its blackmail must be met with coordinated economic pressure. As a result, only a total military defeat of Russia will deprive it of the opportunity to continue provoking global crises.”

Mr. Yemark has appealed to the average African to stand on the side of truth and be on the side of Ukraine. He asked, “To tell everyone the truth. That Russians behave like occupiers, who they are, no matter what picture the Russian propaganda shows. Their soldier’s rape, kill and rob. The state behaves like a marauder. Because of them, our citizens are faced with a humanitarian catastrophe. People are illegally kept in filtration camps. Tens of thousands of people are deported from the occupied territories to Russia’s depressed regions. They are being stolen. Including children.”

Bringing the interview to a close, Mr. Yemark reiterated the country’s similarities with the African continent. “Our people are very brave. Courage is the trait we have in common with the people of Africa. We cannot be conquered with words or weapons. We always want freedom. The Ukrainian people are fighting for their freedom and are ready to continue doing so. This is the primary motivation – to expel the invaders from our land. I am sure that this is familiar and close to African people.”

Courtesy of Tuko for The East African Business Times

July 15, 2022 0 comment

News World

About 49 Inmates Die In Colombia Prison Escape Attempt

by Ndungu Brian June 28, 2022

written by Ndungu Brian

At least 49 inmates were killed and dozens more injured early Tuesday during an attempted prison escape in southwestern Colombia, an official from the national prisons agency told AFP.

“So far there are 49 dead,” said a spokesperson for the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, adding that the toll from the city of Tulua was preliminary and “may change.”

The tragedy occurred during an escape attempt followed by a fire, Caracol Radio quoted authorities as saying.

According to that report, more than 40 people have been injured.

Outgoing President Ivan Duque sent a tweet offering his solidarity with relatives of the victims.

He did not provide a death toll.

“We regret the events that occurred in the prison in Tulua, Valle del Cauca,” Duque said.

“I have given instructions to clarify this terrible situation. My solidarity is with the families of the victims.”

Fatal prison riots are not uncommon in Latin America. In Colombia’s neighbor Ecuador, nearly 400 prisoners have been killed in six riots since early 2021.

June 28, 2022 0 comment

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