<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Britains-King-Charles-begins-Kenya-visit-steeped-in-painful-colonial-history-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-428627" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Britains-King-Charles-begins-Kenya-visit-steeped-in-painful-colonial-history-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Britains-King-Charles-begins-Kenya-visit-steeped-in-painful-colonial-history-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Britains-King-Charles-begins-Kenya-visit-steeped-in-painful-colonial-history-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Britains-King-Charles-begins-Kenya-visit-steeped-in-painful-colonial-history-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Britains-King-Charles-begins-Kenya-visit-steeped-in-painful-colonial-history-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Britains-King-Charles-begins-Kenya-visit-steeped-in-painful-colonial-history-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: King Charles III stands by the logo of &#8220;The Prince&#8217;s Trust&#8221; as he welcomes guests during a reception for African business leaders, at the Garrison Chapel, Chapel Barracks, in London, Britain on October 18, 2023. ADRIAN DENNIS/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Oct 31 (Reuters) &#8211; Britain&#8217;s King Charles begins a four-day state visit to Kenya on Tuesday, his first to a former colony, during which he plans to acknowledge &#8220;painful aspects&#8221; of a shared history that included almost seven decades of colonial rule.



Accompanied by Queen Camilla, Charles arrived in the East African country overnight and will be received by Kenyan President William Ruto in the capital Nairobi on Tuesday morning.



Buckingham Palace says the visit is a reflection of the two countries&#8217; close cooperation on economic development, climate change and security issues.



Charles plans to meet entrepreneurs from Kenya&#8217;s bustling tech scene and tour wildlife facilities. He and Camilla will also travel to the southeastern port city of Mombassa.



Many Kenyans, however, are most focused on what Charles will say about colonial-era abuses, including torture, killings and widespread expropriation of land, much of which still belongs to British nationals and companies.



The most notorious period of British rule came near the end, during the 1952-1960 Mau Mau revolt in central Kenya. The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has estimated 90,000 Kenyans were killed or maimed and 160,000 detained during the uprising.



The UK government has previously expressed regret for abuses during this period, known by Kenyans as &#8220;the emergency&#8221;, and agreed to an out-of-court settlement of almost 20 million pounds in 2013.



Charles and Camilla will tour a new national history museum, visit the site where independence was declared in 1963 and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.



&#8220;His Majesty will take time during the visit to deepen his understanding of the wrongs suffered in this period by the people of Kenya,&#8221; Buckingham Palace said in a statement.



REPARATIONS



Charles&#8217; visit comes at a time when some former colonies are re-evaluating their ties to the monarchy and demanding that Britian do more to reckon with its colonial past.



In 2021, Barbados ditched Queen Elizabeth as head of state to become a republic, and Jamaica has signaled it may do the same.



Charles, then still the heir to the throne, surprised many at last year&#8217;s summit of the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of countries that evolved from the British Empire, by acknowledging slavery&#8217;s role in the organisation&#8217;s roots.



Many citizens of former British colonies want Charles to go further by directly apologising and endorsing reparations.



In Kenya, those include leaders from the Nandi people, whose leader Koitalel Arap Samoie led a decade-long rebellion until he was assassinated by a British colonel in 1905. In the ensuing years, the British confiscated most of their land and cattle.



Samoie&#8217;s great-grandson Kipchoge araap Chomu credited the British with contributions to Kenya like education and public health systems but said historical injustices must be remedied.



&#8220;We have to demand public apology from the government of the British because of the atrocities they meted on us,&#8221; he told Reuters. &#8220;After apologies, we also expect a reparation.&#8221; (Additional reporting by Aaron Ross and Hereward Holland; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Aaron Ross and Michael Perry)

King Charles III meets with African business leaders at the Garrison Chapel, in London

Britain’s King Charles begins Kenya visit steeped in ‘painful’ colonial history

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="512" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/77P7UGHPCZKWLJQ75HKA6CQTBA-820x512.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-428611" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/77P7UGHPCZKWLJQ75HKA6CQTBA-820x512.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/77P7UGHPCZKWLJQ75HKA6CQTBA-300x187.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/77P7UGHPCZKWLJQ75HKA6CQTBA-144x90.jpg 144w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/77P7UGHPCZKWLJQ75HKA6CQTBA-768x480.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/77P7UGHPCZKWLJQ75HKA6CQTBA-1536x960.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/77P7UGHPCZKWLJQ75HKA6CQTBA-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: European Union flags fly outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium September 19, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



KAMPALA, Oct 30 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The European Union plans to invest 60 million euros ($63 million) in upgrading one of the Uganda&#8217;s largest hydropower plants, helping partially plug a financing gap for the country&#8217;s ageing energy infrastructure, a top diplomat said on Monday.



The Nalubaale and Kiira hydropower plant complex located at the source of River Nile at Jinja in Uganda&#8217;s east produces about 380 megawatts (MW) and is Uganda&#8217;s oldest power plant, commissioned in 1954.



South African power giant Eskom ran the plant under a 20-year concession that ended early this year, after which the government retook control.



&#8220;We&#8217;ll be investing some 60 million euros &#8230; in the rehabilitation of Kiira and Nalubaale hydropower plant in order to provide reliable energy for Uganda&#8217;s industrialisation,&#8221; Jan Sadek, the EU&#8217;s ambassador to Uganda, told a mining conference in the capital Kampala.



He did not say when the works would begin or whether the funding would be a grant or credit.



Sadek said the funding would be advanced under the EU&#8217;s global gateways strategy, which is designed to help meet the United Nations&#8217; Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.



Uganda&#8217;s energy infrastructure is underfunded and the ageing of parts of the network has caused widespread outages and sometimes breakdowns.



Uganda has an installed capacity of about 1,400 MW of power, mostly from its hydro dams, and that will rise to 2000 MW when a Chinese-built plant, Karuma, also on River Nile is commissioned this year.



($1 = 0.9459 euros)



(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema Editing by George Obulutsa and Mark Potter)

FILE PHOTO: European Union flags fly outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels

EU to invest 60 mln euros in upgrading Uganda power plant

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="520" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/W7BG4FT23VOPRFT52AV3TSFQK4-820x520.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-428600" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/W7BG4FT23VOPRFT52AV3TSFQK4-820x520.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/W7BG4FT23VOPRFT52AV3TSFQK4-300x190.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/W7BG4FT23VOPRFT52AV3TSFQK4-142x90.jpg 142w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/W7BG4FT23VOPRFT52AV3TSFQK4-768x487.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/W7BG4FT23VOPRFT52AV3TSFQK4-1536x973.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/W7BG4FT23VOPRFT52AV3TSFQK4-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Kibore Cheruiyot Ngasura, 105, a member of the Talai community, which accuses the British colonial government of displacing them from their farms, pose for a picture with his sons outside his house ahead of Britain&#8217;s King Charles&#8217; and Queen Camilla&#8217;s visit to Kenya, in Tugunon village of Kericho County, Kenya October 25, 2023. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi</figcaption></figure>



KERICHO, Kenya, Oct 30 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;When the then-Princess Elizabeth visited Kenya in 1952, Kibore Cheruiyot Ngasura was among a group of young men chosen to sing for her at an event near Lake Victoria.



The men planned to use the occasion to petition Elizabeth to relocate their parents from a detention camp in the barren, mosquito-infested town of Gwassi, where members of the Talai clan had been held for nearly two decades on suspicion of fomenting resistance to British colonial rule.



The event never happened. Before Elizabeth could make it to Lake Victoria, word came that her father, King George VI, had died. The new queen hurried back to London.



More than 70 years later, Elizabeth&#8217;s son, King Charles, will visit Kenya this week on a state visit. And Ngasura, now about 100 years old, again has a message for the royal visitor.



&#8220;I wish to inform him that we should be compensated for the hardship that we went through,&#8221; Ngasura told Reuters outside his house, a small wooden and iron structure on a grassy hill with two lightbulbs and no running water.



Buckingham Palace has said Charles&#8217; visit, which begins on Tuesday, will acknowledge &#8220;painful aspects of the UK and Kenya&#8217;s shared history&#8221;. The British ruled for more than six decades before Kenyan won its independence in 1963.



But for some communities in western Kenya&#8217;s fertile highlands, the injustices caused by British colonisation are as much present-day realities as historical memories.



A U.N. report in 2021 said more than half a million Kenyans around the western town of Kericho suffered gross human rights violations including unlawful killings and land expropriation during British colonial rule.



The colonial administration took hundreds of square kilometres of land that communities in western Kenya had lived on for generations and handed it to British settlers. Much of it became tea plantations that today belong to multinational companies, the U.N. report said.



&#8220;Our people, most of them, are living below poverty level,&#8221; said Joel Kimetto, a representative of the Kipsigis ethnic group, of which the Talai are one of 196 clans.



&#8220;The majority of the vast fertile lands were taken by the British and our people were chased away to the native reserves where it is hilly, rocky, slopey and unproductive,&#8221; he said.



A spokesperson for the British government&#8217;s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office noted that the UK government had previously expressed regret for abuses committed during a 1952-1960 uprising in central Kenya against colonial rule.



It agreed to an out-of-court settlement in 2013 to pay almost 20 million pounds to elderly Kenyans who suffered torture and abuse during what is known by Kenyans as &#8220;the emergency&#8221; after a London court ruled the victims could sue.



“We believe the most effective way for the UK to respond to the wrongs of the past is to ensure that current and future generations learn the lessons from history, and that we continue to work together to tackle today’s challenges,” the spokesperson said in response to questions from Reuters.



The spokesperson did not address the allegations raised by the Kipsigis and Talai, which are separate from the abuses during the emergency. Buckingham Palace did not respond to a request for comment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-no-intention-to-compensate">&#8216;NO INTENTION&#8217; TO COMPENSATE</h2>



Charles will not travel to western Kenya during his visit, which will take him to the capital Nairobi and eastern port city of Mombasa, according to a statement from the palace.



The British government has not been receptive in the past to requests by the Kipsigis and Talai to discuss compensation. In 2019, it informed the communities it had &#8220;no intention to enter any process&#8221; to resolve the claims, according to the U.N. report.



Ngasura said he was about 12-years-old &#8211; he does not know his exact birth date &#8211; in 1934 when the British rounded up around 700 Talais and forced them to march for weeks to reach Gwassi.



Following protests by the young men, he and a few dozen others were relocated in 1945 to a detention camp closer to Kericho, where they could find wives from their community.



They were finally released in 1962, but the land where they had once grazed their livestock and collected honey now belonged to British settlers and tea companies.



Ngasura was able to scrape together the money to buy a small plot from a British army captain. Today, he and his descendants who live there survive off of a half-dozen cows and some maize crops.



It is no comparison to what he knew as a child.



&#8220;We could take cows anywhere. The land was huge,&#8221; he recalled. &#8220;This land is not big enough. Otherwise we would have kept a lot of cows and grown coffee.&#8221;



(Reporting by Aaron Ross; Additional reporting by Michael Holden in London; Editing by Alison Williams)

Kenyan communities demand compensation from Britain ahead of King Charles visit

Dispossessed Kenyans demand compensation ahead of King Charles’ visit

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1251769072-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-428375" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1251769072-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1251769072-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1251769072-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1251769072-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1251769072-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1251769072-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Africa, with its rich tapestry of cultures, traditions, and histories, has always been a cradle of inspiration for the world. Over the past few decades, the continent has started to garner more international attention not just for its traditional styles but for its modern, avant-garde fashion trends. In particular, Johannesburg, Lagos, and Dakar, have emerged as the epicenters of this fashion renaissance, paving the way for African designers to shine on the global stage.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-1-johannesburg-south-africa-a-fusion-of-modernity-and-tradition">1. Johannesburg, South Africa: A Fusion of Modernity and Tradition</h2>



In the heart of South Africa, Johannesburg pulses with the energetic rhythm of urbanization, economic growth, and cultural exchange. Here, the fashion scene is characterized by a harmonious blend of African heritage with contemporary designs.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1252795879-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-428374" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1252795879-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1252795879-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1252795879-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1252795879-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1252795879.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA &#8211; MAY 06: A mannequin makes preparation ahead of Soweto Fashion Week in Soweto district of Johannesburg, South Africa in May 06, 2023. (Photo by Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



High-end shopping districts like Sandton City and Maboneng Precinct showcase this mix, with boutique stores offering everything from bead-embellished evening gowns to chic, urban streetwear.



Prominent designers like David Tlale and Rich Mnisi have represented Johannesburg in major international fashion weeks. Their designs often narrate a story of the South African experience, combining modern aesthetics with elements inspired by traditional African motifs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-2-lagos-nigeria-the-pulse-of-pan-african-fashion">2. Lagos, Nigeria: The Pulse of Pan-African Fashion</h2>



Lagos, often dubbed the &#8216;New York of Africa&#8217;, is the beating heart of the continent&#8217;s fashion scene. The city&#8217;s influence transcends Nigeria, making ripples throughout Africa and across oceans.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1350638169-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-428376" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1350638169-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1350638169-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1350638169-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1350638169-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1350638169.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">LAGOS, NIGERIA &#8211; OCTOBER 30: A model walks the runway for Cynthia Abila, during Lagos Fashion Week 2021 on October 30, 2021 in Lagos, Nigeria. (Photo by Emmanuel Obianke/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Lagos hosts the internationally renowned Lagos Fashion Week, an annual event that draws designers, media, and fashion enthusiasts from around the globe. The city&#8217;s designers, such as Lisa Folawiyo and Mai Atafo, have successfully integrated the vibrant textiles and patterns indigenous to West Africa with global fashion trends, creating universally appealing designs.



Street fashion in Lagos is equally compelling. Balogun Market, for instance, offers a mesmerizing array of fabrics, from Ankara to Adire, which local tailors transform into bespoke outfits.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-3-dakar-senegal-where-art-meets-fashion">3. Dakar, Senegal: Where Art Meets Fashion</h2>



Dakar is not just Senegal&#8217;s capital; it&#8217;s the artistic soul of West Africa. Fashion in Dakar is deeply intertwined with the city&#8217;s art, music, and dance scenes.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1245350409-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-428377" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1245350409-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1245350409-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1245350409-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1245350409-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1245350409.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">DAKAR, SENEGAL &#8211; DECEMBER 04: Models walk the runway during the 20th Dakar Fashion Week in Goree Island, Dakar, Senegal on December 04, 2022. (Photo by Stefan Kleinowitz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



The Dakar Fashion Week, founded by designer Adama Ndiaye, is a testament to the city&#8217;s position in the fashion world. The event showcases the innovative designs of Senegalese and pan-African designers who often fuse traditional Wolof styles with contemporary fashion elements.



Bright boubous, tailored pantsuits, and intricate embroidery are just a few of the elements that Senegalese designers incorporate into their globally inspired collections.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-4-nairobi-kenya-east-africa-s-fashion-gem">4. Nairobi, Kenya: East Africa&#8217;s Fashion Gem</h2>



Nairobi, Kenya&#8217;s bustling capital, is an emerging fashion hub that represents the spirited amalgamation of traditional Maasai beadwork with contemporary styles. With its burgeoning middle class and a young, tech-savvy population, Nairobi is increasingly becoming the nexus of East African fashion.



The Nairobi Fashion Week is a significant event on the city&#8217;s calendar, spotlighting designers who adeptly blend Kenyan heritage with global trends. Designers like Anyango Mpinga, known for her eco-friendly and ethically-produced designs, and Ugandan born, Sylvia Owori, one of East Africa’s most enduring designers, are putting Nairobi on the global fashion map.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1726724935-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-428378" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1726724935-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1726724935-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1726724935-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1726724935-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1726724935.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">NAIROBI, KENYA &#8211; OCTOBER 14: A model dressed in a outfitwalks on the catlwak during the Kibera Fashion Week. (Photo by Donwilson Odhiambo/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Places like the Maasai Market offer visitors a sensory overload with an array of vibrantly colored fabrics, jewelry, and handcrafted items that influence and shape local fashion narratives.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-5-marrakesh-morocco-a-tapestry-of-timeless-elegance">5. Marrakesh, Morocco: A Tapestry of Timeless Elegance</h2>



Nestled at the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, Marrakesh has long been a destination for luxury and mystique. The city, with its rich history as a trading hub and a melting pot of Berber, Arabian, and European cultures, naturally infuses this eclectic heritage into its fashion.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1145935997-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-428380" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1145935997-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1145935997-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1145935997-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1145935997-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1145935997.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">MARRAKECH, MOROCCO &#8211; APRIL 29: A model walks the runway during the Christian Dior Couture S/S20 Cruise Collection on April 29, 2019 in Marrakech, Morocco. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Dior)</figcaption></figure>



Marrakesh’s medinas are alive with tailors and artisans crafting everything from flowing kaftans to intricately designed leather goods. Designers like Yassine Morabite, who integrates Moroccan traditional elements with modern art, encapsulate the essence of Marrakesh&#8217;s style.



The Caftan du Maroc show, an annual event in Morocco, often held in Marrakesh, showcases the evolution of the traditional Moroccan Caftan, highlighting its transition and relevance in modern haute couture.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-symphony-of-styles">A Symphony of Styles</h2>



While Johannesburg, Lagos, Dakar, Nairobi, and Marrakesh each bring their distinct flavors to the table, they collectively depict a continent that is not only proud of its deep-rooted traditions but is also unafraid to reinvent and redefine itself. These cities, with their fashion weeks, designers, street styles, and vibrant markets, are not just shaping African fashion but are also leaving indelible imprints on the global fashion narrative. As Africa continues its ascent in the global fashion arena, these capitals remain testament to its boundless creativity and resilience.

Friends  in colorful clothes on roof terrace in the city, Maputo, Mozambique

From Runways to Rooftops: Discover Africa’s Top 5 Trendsetting Fashion Capitals

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="542" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/BJPVVF2C5ZIUJOFIJRBBD7TYU4-820x542.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-428259" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/BJPVVF2C5ZIUJOFIJRBBD7TYU4-820x542.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/BJPVVF2C5ZIUJOFIJRBBD7TYU4-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/BJPVVF2C5ZIUJOFIJRBBD7TYU4-136x90.jpg 136w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/BJPVVF2C5ZIUJOFIJRBBD7TYU4-768x507.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/BJPVVF2C5ZIUJOFIJRBBD7TYU4-1536x1015.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/BJPVVF2C5ZIUJOFIJRBBD7TYU4-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Ashley Karungi 33, a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTQ) community and a single mother of two poses for a picture with rainbow colours at the offices of Rella Women&#8217;s Empowerment Program, for LGBTQ rights advocacy, after a Reuters interview in Kulambiro suburb of Kampala, Uganda April 4, 2023. REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



MARRAKECH, Morocco, Oct 16 (Reuters) &#8211; The World Bank will aim to ensure gay and transgender Ugandans are not discriminated against in its programmes before resuming new funding, which was halted in August over an anti-LGBTQ law, a bank executive said.



World Bank project documents will make it clear that LGBTQ Ugandans should not face discrimination and that staff will not be arrested for including them, Victoria Kwakwa, the bank&#8217;s head for eastern and southern Africa, told Reuters.



Rights groups have said that the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), which was enacted in May and prescribes the death penalty for certain same-sex acts, has unleashed a torrent of abuse against LGBTQ people, mostly by private individuals.



&#8220;We&#8217;re doing all this to clarify this is not what you should be doing in World Bank-financed projects and to say you are allowed to do it the right way and you will be not be arrested,&#8221; Kwakwa said, on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund&#8217;s annual meetings in Marrakech, Morocco.



She declined to give a timeline for assessing the measures&#8217; efficacy and moving to a decision on whether to resume new funding for Uganda.



&#8220;We have discussed this at length with government. Government is comfortable with that,&#8221; Kwakwa said.



When the World Bank suspended new funding, Ugandan officials accused the development finance institution of hypocrisy, saying it was lending to countries in the Middle East and Asia that have the same or harsher laws targeting LGBTQ people.



The government would need to revise its budget to reflect the suspension&#8217;s potential financial impact, a junior finance minister said at the time.



The World Bank&#8217;s portfolio of projects in the East African country was $5.2 billion at the end of 2022. These have not been affected by the decision to suspend new financing.



(Reporting by Rachel Savage and Jorgelina do Rosario, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

FILE PHOTO: LGBTQ Ugandans live in fear as new law looms in Kampala

World Bank to implement LGBTQ safeguards before new Uganda funding resumes

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="566" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CFJEWCQLPRMAJNE3CCN6SBKIMI-820x566.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-428003" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CFJEWCQLPRMAJNE3CCN6SBKIMI-820x566.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CFJEWCQLPRMAJNE3CCN6SBKIMI-300x207.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CFJEWCQLPRMAJNE3CCN6SBKIMI-130x90.jpg 130w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CFJEWCQLPRMAJNE3CCN6SBKIMI-768x531.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CFJEWCQLPRMAJNE3CCN6SBKIMI-1536x1061.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CFJEWCQLPRMAJNE3CCN6SBKIMI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: People, believed to be migrants, walk in Dungeness, Britain, August 16, 2023. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, Oct 9 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Government lawyers will on Monday tell Britain&#8217;s top court that it should overturn a ruling which declared unlawful a plan to deport migrants to Rwanda, one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak&#8217;s key policies.



In June, London&#8217;s Court of Appeal concluded that the scheme to send tens of thousands of migrants more than 4,000 miles (6,400 km) to East Africa was not lawful, saying Rwanda could not be treated as a safe third country.



The court ruled that those sent to Rwanda would be at risk of being sent home where they could face persecution despite having a legitimate asylum claim. This would make the policy unlawful under Britain&#8217;s Human Rights Act (HRA), which made the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) part of British law.



The decision dealt a massive blow to the Conservative Sunak&#8217;s pledge to stop thousands of migrants from arriving in small boats on the English south coast.



Over three days this week, the government will argue at the United Kingdom&#8217;s Supreme Court that the ruling was wrong, while those representing migrants from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam and Sudan want the judges to conclude the scheme itself is unlawful.



The political stakes are high and the outcome, with a final ruling likely by year-end, could have far-reaching consequences.



Sunak, whose Conservatives are trailing by about 20 points in opinion polls ahead of an election expected next year, has made a vow to &#8220;stop the boats&#8221; one of his five priorities as he seeks to turn around his party&#8217;s fortunes.



Surveys show that immigration, a key factor in the 2016 referendum vote for Britain to leave the European Union, remains a major concern for voters, and that the vast bulk of the public think the government is handling the issue badly.



The government&#8217;s first planned Rwanda deportation flight had been due to leave in June last year, but was blocked at the last minute by an injunction from the European Court of Human Rights until all the UK legal action had been concluded.



Many in Sunak&#8217;s party want Britain to pull out of the ECHR to prevent any repeat, while in a speech to party faithful last week Home Secretary (interior minister) Suella Braverman labelled the Human Rights Act, &#8220;the Criminal Rights Act&#8221;.



&#8220;I am confident that our approach complies with our international obligations,&#8221; Sunak told the Conservative conference. &#8220;But know this, I will do whatever is necessary to stop the boats.&#8221;



The court case comes as governments around the world wrestle with how to cope with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing war zones or seeking better lives in the West.



In the United States, President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration said it would add sections to a border wall to stave off record crossings from Mexico, while in Europe, governments are grappling with how to cope with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.



The EU&#8217;s 27 leaders met last week with migration top of the agenda following the arrival of an estimated 250,000 migrants this year, with Germany introducing border checks to crack down on people smugglers.



(Reporting by Michael Holden and Sam Tobin; editing by Mark Heinrich)

FILE PHOTO: People, believed to be migrants, arrive in Dungeness

UK top court to hear government appeal on Rwanda migrant plan

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="640" height="420" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/tag_reuters.com2023_newsml_LYNXMPEJ95073_12023-10-06T071449Z_1_LYNXMPEJ95073_RTROPTP_3_CYBER-CHINA-KENYA.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427986" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/tag_reuters.com2023_newsml_LYNXMPEJ95073_12023-10-06T071449Z_1_LYNXMPEJ95073_RTROPTP_3_CYBER-CHINA-KENYA.jpg 640w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/tag_reuters.com2023_newsml_LYNXMPEJ95073_12023-10-06T071449Z_1_LYNXMPEJ95073_RTROPTP_3_CYBER-CHINA-KENYA-300x197.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/tag_reuters.com2023_newsml_LYNXMPEJ95073_12023-10-06T071449Z_1_LYNXMPEJ95073_RTROPTP_3_CYBER-CHINA-KENYA-137x90.jpg 137w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport toll station on the Nairobi Expressway undertaken by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis, along Mombasa road in Embakasi district of Nairobi, Kenya May 7, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Oct 6 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Kenya&#8217;s President William Ruto will ask China for a $1 billion loan to complete stalled road construction projects when he travels to Beijing later this month, his deputy said on Friday.



Ruto&#8217;s plan, which also includes a request to lengthen the maturity periods of existing loans, marks a shift in his stance on Chinese debt after his coalition criticised his predecessor&#8217;s borrowing spree from China during last year&#8217;s election campaign.



The Chinese loans, which stand at more than $8 billion, were used by former President Uhuru Kenyatta&#8217;s government to construct infrastructure like roads, but many of these projects have since stalled after contractors left over unpaid bills.



Ruto will tell Chinese officials that &#8220;Can we talk to see if you can add us time, so we can pay slowly, and add us a little money so we can finish road construction?&#8221; Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said on the local Inooro FM radio station.



&#8220;If we get $1 billion we can be able to give these people (contractors) the money they are owed so they can return so even as we pay the debt, the roads are completed,&#8221; he said.



Africa was a focus of President Xi Jinping&#8217;s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, launched in 2013 to recreate the ancient Silk Road and extend China&#8217;s geopolitical and economic influence through a global infrastructure development push.



But the surge in Chinese loans to countries like Kenya, before a slowdown in Chinese lending from 2019, has angered critics, pushed up debt loads and the subsequent repayment burden.



The Kenyan government is spending roughly half of its revenue to repay debts that are falling due, official data shows, straining its finances. The situation has been compounded by foreign debt repayments, amid a steep weakening of the Kenyan currency.



The cabinet ordered all ministries to cut 10% of their budget on Tuesday, while the president&#8217;s office imposed some restrictions on foreign travel by government officials to rein in expenditure.



&#8220;It is true that many people have been travelling abroad, spending a lot of money, and that is why the president ordered that even ministers and governors can only travel with two people,&#8221; Gachagua said.



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri and George Obulutsa; Editing by)

tag_reuters.com2023_newsml_LYNXMPEJ95073_12023-10-06T071449Z_1_LYNXMPEJ95073_RTROPTP_3_CYBER-CHINA-KENYA

Kenya to ask China for $1 bln loan to complete road projects, longer debt repayments

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Kenya-President-reshuffles-cabinet-swaps-foreign-affairs-minister-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427955" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Kenya-President-reshuffles-cabinet-swaps-foreign-affairs-minister-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Kenya-President-reshuffles-cabinet-swaps-foreign-affairs-minister-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Kenya-President-reshuffles-cabinet-swaps-foreign-affairs-minister-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Kenya-President-reshuffles-cabinet-swaps-foreign-affairs-minister-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Kenya-President-reshuffles-cabinet-swaps-foreign-affairs-minister-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Kenya-President-reshuffles-cabinet-swaps-foreign-affairs-minister-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Kenya&#8217;s President William Ruto attends the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit at United Nations headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 18, 2023. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Oct 4 (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya&#8217;s President William Ruto on Wednesday reshuffled eight members of his cabinet, and folded the foreign affairs ministry into the office of the chief minister.



The changes were necessary, Ruto said, to &#8220;optimise performance and enhance delivery as set out in the administration&#8217;s manifesto&#8221;.



Ruto has faced a series of nationwide protests over the high cost of living and tax hikes since he took power in August 2022.



Foreign minister Alfred Mutua was transferred to the ministry of tourism and wildlife, while trade minister Moses Kiarie Kuria was moved to the ministry of public service.



The foreign ministry was brought under the portfolio of the prime cabinet secretary Musalia Mudavadi.



Mutua has been the public face of Kenya&#8217;s offer to contribute 1,000 policemen to Haiti as part of a multinational security mission that the United Nations authorized to help fight violent gangs that have largely overrun the capital of the Caribbean country.



Ruto rose to power on a promise to champion the interests of impoverished &#8220;hustlers&#8221;, but his critics said tax rises on petrol and housing would hurt Kenyans already struggling to afford basic commodities such as maize flour. (Reporting by Hereward Holland)

FILE PHOTO: Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit at United Nations headquarters in New York

Kenya President reshuffles cabinet, swaps foreign affairs minister

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="592" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1234493050-1-820x592.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423201" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1234493050-1-820x592.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1234493050-1-300x217.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1234493050-1-125x90.jpg 125w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1234493050-1-768x554.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1234493050-1-1536x1109.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1234493050-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">General view of the flag of Kenya at Shiokaze Park on the fourteenth day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan. Picture date: Friday August 6, 2021. (Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Oct 3 (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya&#8217;s cabinet on Tuesday ordered all ministries and state departments to cut 10% of their operational budgets for the 2023/24 (July-June) fiscal year, the presidency said.



The East African nation is facing deepening economic challenges due to growing debt repayments, rising interest rates and high taxes that have curbed consumer demand.



&#8220;As part of the administration&#8217;s fiscal consolidation plan that seeks to contain the fiscal deficit, cabinet sanctioned the reduction of the recurrent budget of each ministry and state department by 10%,&#8221; the presidency said in a statement.



The changes will be made through a supplementary budget, it said.



The cabinet also rescinded a government purchase of 60% of shares in Telkom Kenya from London-based private equity firm Helios, the presidency said, escalating a row that erupted after a presidential election in August last year.



The decision seeks to reverse a deal struck in the last months of President Uhuru Kenyatta&#8217;s administration, which nationalised the telecoms operator for a price of 6 billion shillings ($40.43 million).



Kenyatta&#8217;s administration argued it was necessary to buy out Helios due to the strategic nature of Telkom.



The company is the smallest operator after Safaricom and Bharti Airtel, but it runs some key assets relied on for government communications, including a national fibre-optic network.



President William Ruto&#8217;s government has cried foul over the transaction and even opened a parliamentary inquiry into it.



Helios was not immediately available for comment.



($1 = 148.4000 Kenyan shillings) (Reporting by Duncan Miriri Editing by Alison Williams and Mark Potter)

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – Day Fourteen

Kenya orders 10% budget cuts, rescinds Telkom Kenya deal with Helios

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="622" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AKAPJHETXVOTBH5Q5VWTKJHGXI-1-820x622.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427859" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AKAPJHETXVOTBH5Q5VWTKJHGXI-1-820x622.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AKAPJHETXVOTBH5Q5VWTKJHGXI-1-300x228.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AKAPJHETXVOTBH5Q5VWTKJHGXI-1-119x90.jpg 119w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AKAPJHETXVOTBH5Q5VWTKJHGXI-1-768x582.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AKAPJHETXVOTBH5Q5VWTKJHGXI-1-1536x1165.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AKAPJHETXVOTBH5Q5VWTKJHGXI-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Kenya&#8217;s Finance Minister Njuguna Ndung&#8217;u carries a briefcase containing the Government Budget for the 2023/24 fiscal year outside the National Treasury building in Nairobi, Kenya June 15, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Oct 2 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Kenya&#8217;s government has picked Citi and South&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s Standard Group to advise it on how to handle a $2 billion Eurobond that is maturing in June 2024, a senior finance ministry official said on Monday.



The East&nbsp;African nation needs to repay or refinance the 10-year bond at a time when a surge in yields has effectively locked many frontier economies out of the market.



Its debt load and weakening shilling currency KES= has also fuelled concerns about the maturing bond. Kenya&#8217;s total public debt was 67.4% of gross domestic product at the end of last year, according to World Bank figures.



Finance Minister Njuguna Ndung&#8217;u has sought to downplay the situation, saying it is not a &#8220;big deal&#8221;.



Citi and Standard will help the Kenyan government deal with the maturity, Haron Sirima, the director of debt management at the Treasury told Reuters, without providing more details.



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Jon Boyle)

Kenya’s Finance Minister Njuguna Ndung’u carries a briefcase containing the Government Budget outside the National Treasury building in Nairobi

Kenya picks Citi and Standard Bank to advise on maturing $2 bln Eurobond

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Broken-infrastructure-drought-cause-power-rationing-in-Tanzania-official-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427763" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Broken-infrastructure-drought-cause-power-rationing-in-Tanzania-official-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Broken-infrastructure-drought-cause-power-rationing-in-Tanzania-official-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Broken-infrastructure-drought-cause-power-rationing-in-Tanzania-official-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Broken-infrastructure-drought-cause-power-rationing-in-Tanzania-official-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Broken-infrastructure-drought-cause-power-rationing-in-Tanzania-official-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Broken-infrastructure-drought-cause-power-rationing-in-Tanzania-official-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An aerial view shows an oil factory of Idemitsu Kosan Co. in Ichihara, east of Tokyo, Japan November 12, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Picture taken on November 12, 2021. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS/Files</figcaption></figure>



DAR ES SALAAM, Sept 28 (Reuters) &#8211; Maintenance issues and climate change-induced water shortages have caused a 400-megawatt electricity shortfall in Tanzania, triggering power rationing across the East African nation, the state power supplier said.



Tanzania&#8217;s national grid, which has an installed capacity of more than 1,900 MW, was suffering from broken infrastructure at gas wells and gas-fired power stations, as well as reduced water levels at hydropower dams, said Gissima Nyamo-Hanga, managing director of the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO).



TANESCO, which is wholly owned by the government, expects to complete maintenance operations and resolve the shortfall by the end of March next year, Nyamo-Hanga told reporters late on Wednesday.



Despite the government embarking on one of the fastest roll-outs of electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa, only 38% of Tanzanians have power, according to the World Bank.



Nearly two thirds of Tanzania&#8217;s electricity is generated from natural gas, and around 30% from hydropower. The largest peak electricity demand ever recorded was 1,431 MW in May this year, up 7% from a year before, the energy ministry says.



&#8220;We expect that this problem will start easing within two weeks, and our plan is to reduce the shortage by an average of 100 MW a month,&#8221; Nyamo-Hanga said.



The 2,115 MW Julius Nyerere hydropower dam started filling with water in December last year and is anticipated to be finished by June 2024, more than doubling the country&#8217;s installed capacity, according to the energy ministry.



The government is engaged in several other power projects including a 150 MW solar farm as part of its goal to reach 5,000 MW capacity by 2025.



Nyamo-Hanga said the Nyerere dam was 92% complete, but that climate change was causing a shortage of rain and reducing water levels at existing dams. (Reporting by Nuzulack Dausen; Editing by Hereward Holland and Anil D&#8217;silva)

An aerial view shows an oil factory of Idemitsu Kosan Co. in Ichihara

Broken infrastructure, drought cause power rationing in Tanzania- official

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="523" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/U72WAYHOJJPY5GXIUT4NSNDVHY-2-820x523.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427744" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/U72WAYHOJJPY5GXIUT4NSNDVHY-2-820x523.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/U72WAYHOJJPY5GXIUT4NSNDVHY-2-300x191.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/U72WAYHOJJPY5GXIUT4NSNDVHY-2-141x90.jpg 141w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/U72WAYHOJJPY5GXIUT4NSNDVHY-2-768x490.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/U72WAYHOJJPY5GXIUT4NSNDVHY-2-1536x980.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/U72WAYHOJJPY5GXIUT4NSNDVHY-2-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Soccer Football &#8211; Africa Cup of Nations &#8211; Final &#8211; Senegal v Egypt &#8211; Olembe Stadium, Yaounde, Cameroon &#8211; February 6, 2022 General view of the Africa Cup of Nations trophy on display before the match REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo </figcaption></figure>



CAIRO, Sept 27 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Morocco were awarded the hosting of the 2025&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;Cup of Nations finals on Wednesday, replacing Guinea who were stripped of the right to host the tournament last year,&nbsp;while the 2027 rights were handed to a co-bid from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.



Morocco won by default after Algeria, Zambia and a joint bid from Benin and Nigeria all withdrew before the vote of the Confederation of&nbsp;African Football&#8217;s executive committee in Cairo on Wednesday.



The north&nbsp;African country was a runaway favourite and will see the decision as a boost to their hopes of co-hosting the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Spain but victory for the joint East&nbsp;African bid for 2027 was a surprise.



It returns the finals to the region for the first time since 1976 as they beat Botswana, Egypt and Senegal in a vote. Algeria were also a candidate but withdrew on Tuesday.



Kenya had previously been awarded the hosting in 1996 but were stripped because of poor preparation. The country only recently had a long FIFA ban for government interference in the running of their football federation lifted.



“The tournament has to be spread around the regions and contribute to the development of football,” CAF president Patrice Motsepe said.



The 2025 finals will be only the second time that Morocco will host&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s most popular sporting event, almost four decades after the previous time in 1988.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-vigorously-condemned">VIGOROUSLY CONDEMNED</h2>



Morocco were to have hosted the 2015 Cup of Nations finals but pulled out amid concerns over the spread of the Ebola virus in west&nbsp;Africa. It was a decision vigorously condemned at the time by CAF, who banned the country from&nbsp;African competition for two years.



But Morocco have since embarked on a diplomatic charm offensive across the continent, using football to develop ties. They have hosted a variety of CAF events at women’s and age group level and also allowed many&nbsp;African countries, who have been slapped with bans on hosting international games because of poor pitch or stadium conditions, to use stadia in Morocco.



When Morocco last hosted the Cup of Nations, it was an eight team event played in only two venues, Casablanca and Rabat.



For 2025 they have proposed using six stadiums, in Agadir, Casablanca, Fes, Marrakech, Rabat and Tanger.



The hosting of the Cup of Nations has had a checkered history in the last decade, starting with South&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;stepping into replace war-torn Libya in 2013.



In 2014 Guinea were award the right to host the 2023 finals, along with Cameroon (2019) and Ivory Coast (2021).



But Cameroon were declared not ready for the 2019 finals, so Egypt stepped in. Cameroon then hosted the 2021 edition, delayed by one year by the COVID-19 pandemic.



Ivory Coast were supposed the host the 2023 event in June but it has been postponed by six months because of concerns over the rainy season in West&nbsp;Africa.



The next Cup of Nations finals are being held from January 13-February 11.



(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Christian Radnedge, Bernadette Baum and Pritha Sarkar)

U72WAYHOJJPY5GXIUT4NSNDVHY-2

Soccer-Morocco and East African co-bid to host future Africa Cup of Nations finals

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="499" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/V23ILMSJMNN2RL62T7LQBERPAI-820x499.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427732" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/V23ILMSJMNN2RL62T7LQBERPAI-820x499.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/V23ILMSJMNN2RL62T7LQBERPAI-300x183.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/V23ILMSJMNN2RL62T7LQBERPAI-148x90.jpg 148w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/V23ILMSJMNN2RL62T7LQBERPAI-768x468.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/V23ILMSJMNN2RL62T7LQBERPAI-1536x936.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/V23ILMSJMNN2RL62T7LQBERPAI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Kenya&#8217;s Finance Minister Njuguna Ndung&#8217;u presents the Government Budget for the 2023/24 fiscal year inside the Parliament building in Nairobi, Kenya June 15, 2023. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Sept 27 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Kenya&#8217;s struggle with a heavy debt load and pressure on its hard currency reserves is not unique since other nations are facing the same situation, its finance minister said on Wednesday.



Njuguna Ndung&#8217;u was responding to a research note by U.S. investment bank JPMorgan which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3B211Y&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;on Tuesday that the East African nation was &#8220;walking a tightrope&#8221; to avoid a crisis due to a maturing dollar bond and persistent currency weakness.



&#8220;All low- and middle-income countries are walking a tightrope given the current economic constraints globally. The Kenyan case is being featured because of the Eurobond 2024,&#8221; the minister told Reuters, referring to a bond maturing next June.



The upcoming Eurobond maturity &#8220;should not be a big deal&#8221;, Ndung&#8217;u said, since Kenya can use its reserves at the central bank to pay off the debt.



&#8220;That will not (however) solve the persistent negative shocks that low- and middle-income countries are facing. A more well mapped set of solutions will be needed,&#8221; he said.



During his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week, Kenya&#8217;s President William Ruto called for an extension of the tenor of low income countries&#8217; sovereign bonds, to help them avert a financial crisis.



He also called for the provision of a 10-year grace period, and for the creation of special drawing rights for those countries at the International Monetary Fund, to be allocated on a need basis, instead of the usual entitlement mechanism.



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Mark Potter)

Kenya’s Finance Minister Njuguna Ndung’u presents the Government Budget for the 2023/24 fiscal year in Nairobi

‘Tightrope’ debt situation not unique to Kenya, finance minister says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/download-71.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427693" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/download-71.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/download-71-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/download-71-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/download-71-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Gold bars are stacked in the safe deposit boxes room of the Pro Aurum gold house in Munich, Germany, August 14, 2019. REUTERS/Michael Dalder</figcaption></figure>



DAR ES SALAAM, Sept 25 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Tanzania has started buying gold locally as a way of boosting its foreign exchange reserves, the central bank said on Monday.



The central bank first announced its intention of buying gold in late August.



&#8220;The bank is therefore purchasing gold from domestic miners and traders, in Tanzanian shillings,&#8221; Bank of Tanzania (BOT) said in a statement.



On Friday, central bank Governor Emmanuel Tutuba said they were planning to buy six tonnes of gold from small and middle scale miners and other traders by the end of the year and had already bought and sold 418 kg (921.53 lb) of the precious metal.



Gold is a leading foreign exchange earner for Tanzania, bringing the country $2.91 billion in the year to end-June from $2.69 billion a year earlier, according to central bank data.



The bank had in August put its official foreign exchange reserves at $5.25 billion recorded in July, sufficient to cover about 4.7 months of projected imports.



(Reporting by Nuzulack Dausen; Editing by George Obulutsa and Josie Kao)

download-71

Tanzania has started domestic gold purchases to boost forex reserves

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6YWINGPVCBJ6LCCI4MJOOGWZ5I-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419784" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6YWINGPVCBJ6LCCI4MJOOGWZ5I-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6YWINGPVCBJ6LCCI4MJOOGWZ5I-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6YWINGPVCBJ6LCCI4MJOOGWZ5I-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6YWINGPVCBJ6LCCI4MJOOGWZ5I-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6YWINGPVCBJ6LCCI4MJOOGWZ5I-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6YWINGPVCBJ6LCCI4MJOOGWZ5I-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Kenya&#8217;s President-elect William Ruto speaks after the Supreme Court upheld his win in Nairobi, Kenya September 5, 2022. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi</figcaption></figure>



Sept 20 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Haiti and Kenya established diplomatic relations on Wednesday, according to a statement on social media platform X by Ariel Henry, prime minister of the Caribbean nation.



The move comes amid international discussions over the possibility of Kenya leading a United Nations-backed multinational security force to help police fight escalating gang warfare in Haiti.



The United Nations Security Council could vote on the multinational force for Haiti in about a week, Brian Nichols, U.S. assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs, said in an interview with Voice of America this week.



Henry&#8217;s government first sought international assistance last October, but despite repeated calls from the United Nations, the request went unanswered until Kenya said it was prepared to lead such a group in July.



With scarce resources, Haiti&#8217;s police have been battling powerful gangs now estimated to control large parts of the country.



Kenyan President William Ruto and Henry witnessed the signing of the pact establishing ties at the Kenyan mission in New York.



&#8220;As the leading nation in the U.N.-backed security mission in Haiti, we are committed to deploying a specialised team,&#8221; Ruto said in a statement issued by his office.



The team would assess the situation and&nbsp;prepare&nbsp;strategies to ensure long-term solutions, he added.



(Reporting by Valentine Hilaire in Mexico City and George Obulutsa in Nairobi; Editing by Kylie Madry and Clarence Fernandez)

Kenya’s top court to deliver verdict on disputed presidential election

Haiti, Kenya set up diplomatic ties

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="728" height="485" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/KYJW4AVU6RIG7KNMEUDZMCQXNQ.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427616" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/KYJW4AVU6RIG7KNMEUDZMCQXNQ.jpg 728w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/KYJW4AVU6RIG7KNMEUDZMCQXNQ-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/KYJW4AVU6RIG7KNMEUDZMCQXNQ-135x90.jpg 135w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A general view of the Makola market, one of the country&#8217;s largest trading centres in Accra, Ghana March 26, 2022. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko</figcaption></figure>



ACCRA, Sept 20 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Ghana&#8217;s economic growth slowed slightly to 3.2% year-on-year in the second quarter compared with a downwardly revised 3.3% growth rate in the first quarter, the country&#8217;s statistics agency said on Wednesday.



The gold-, oil- and cocoa-producing nation has been battling its worst economic crisis in a generation brought on by spiralling public debt.



It sealed a $3 billion, three-year loan programme with the International Monetary Fund in May.



The government has forecast economic growth will slow to 1.5% this year from 3.1% in 2022. First-quarter growth was revised down to 3.3% from a previous estimate of 4.2%, the Ghana Statistical Service said on Wednesday.



Growth in the second quarter was driven by the mining, agriculture, health, transport, and information technology sectors.



Agriculture grew by 6.0% and the services sector 6.3%, while industry contracted 1.9%. The construction sub-sector contracted by 11.7%, the biggest drop in five years.



The statistics agency also said producer inflation&nbsp;GHPPIY=ECI&nbsp;slowed to 28.3% in annual terms in August, down from a revised 32.9% in July.



(Reporting by Christian Akorlie and Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Alexander Winning and Tomasz Janowski)

People make trade in Accra

Ghana’s second quarter economic growth dips vs revised first quarter

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="528" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/NWUKRFCQGZISRFNU5CO24TD4HI-820x528.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-418309" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/NWUKRFCQGZISRFNU5CO24TD4HI-820x528.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/NWUKRFCQGZISRFNU5CO24TD4HI-300x193.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/NWUKRFCQGZISRFNU5CO24TD4HI-140x90.jpg 140w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/NWUKRFCQGZISRFNU5CO24TD4HI-768x495.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/NWUKRFCQGZISRFNU5CO24TD4HI-1536x990.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/NWUKRFCQGZISRFNU5CO24TD4HI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Rwanda&#8217;s President Paul Kagame delivers a speech in front of so-called &#8220;BioNTainer&#8221;, a system to produce vaccines in Africa, during a presentation in Marburg, Germany, February 16, 2022. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Sept 20 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Rwanda&#8217;s President Paul Kagame said he will stand for re-election next year, hoping to extend nearly a quarter of a century in power.



Kagame, who became president in 2000, is eligible to continue in office for another decade after a constitutional amendment in 2015 changed term limits that would have forced him to step down two years later.



He was asked in an interview with the pan-African Jeune Afrique magazine published on Tuesday about his intentions for next year&#8217;s election.



&#8220;I am happy with the confidence that the Rwandans have shown in me. I will always serve them, as much when I can. Yes, I am indeed a candidate,&#8221; he said.



Kagame won the last election in August 2017 for a seven-year term with 98.63% of the vote, according to the electoral commission.



Kagame has won international acclaim for presiding over peace and economic growth since the end of the 1994 genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.



But he has faced mounting criticism for what human rights groups say are the suppression of political opposition and the muzzling of independent media.



Kagame has rejected these accusations.



The United States in 2015 criticised the constitutional change, saying Kagame should step down when his term ended and allow a new generation of leaders to come through.



In the interview with Jeune Afrique, Kagame said he was not bothered by criticism from Western countries.



&#8220;People are supposed to be independent and should be allowed to organise themselves as they wish,&#8221; he said.



(Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Aaron Ross and Toby Chopra)

East Africa

Britain’s King Charles begins Kenya visit steeped in ‘painful’ colonial history

EU to invest 60 mln euros in upgrading Uganda power plant

Dispossessed Kenyans demand compensation ahead of King Charles’ visit

From Runways to Rooftops: Discover Africa’s Top 5 Trendsetting Fashion Capitals

World Bank to implement LGBTQ safeguards before new Uganda funding resumes

UK top court to hear government appeal on Rwanda migrant plan

Kenya to ask China for $1 bln loan to complete road projects, longer debt repayments

Kenya President reshuffles cabinet, swaps foreign affairs minister

Kenya orders 10% budget cuts, rescinds Telkom Kenya deal with Helios

Kenya picks Citi and Standard Bank to advise on maturing $2 bln Eurobond

Broken infrastructure, drought cause power rationing in Tanzania- official

Soccer-Morocco and East African co-bid to host future Africa Cup of Nations finals

‘Tightrope’ debt situation not unique to Kenya, finance minister says

Tanzania has started domestic gold purchases to boost forex reserves

Haiti, Kenya set up diplomatic ties

Ghana’s second quarter economic growth dips vs revised first quarter

Rwanda’s veteran president Kagame to seek re-election in 2024

News Tips

Advertise With Us

East Africa

Britain’s King Charles begins Kenya visit steeped in ‘painful’ colonial history

EU to invest 60 mln euros in upgrading Uganda power plant

Dispossessed Kenyans demand compensation ahead of King Charles’ visit

From Runways to Rooftops: Discover Africa’s Top 5 Trendsetting Fashion Capitals

World Bank to implement LGBTQ safeguards before new Uganda funding resumes

UK top court to hear government appeal on Rwanda migrant plan

Kenya to ask China for $1 bln loan to complete road projects, longer debt repayments

Kenya President reshuffles cabinet, swaps foreign affairs minister

Kenya orders 10% budget cuts, rescinds Telkom Kenya deal with Helios

Kenya picks Citi and Standard Bank to advise on maturing $2 bln Eurobond

Broken infrastructure, drought cause power rationing in Tanzania- official

Soccer-Morocco and East African co-bid to host future Africa Cup of Nations finals

‘Tightrope’ debt situation not unique to Kenya, finance minister says

Tanzania has started domestic gold purchases to boost forex reserves

Haiti, Kenya set up diplomatic ties

Ghana’s second quarter economic growth dips vs revised first quarter

Rwanda’s veteran president Kagame to seek re-election in 2024

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Newsletters