NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya’s central bank governor Patrick Njoroge on Thursday said that underlying economic numbers pointed to strong growth this year.



“All these point to strong growth in 2020 despite COVID,” Njoroge told an online news conference, citing higher production of tea, maize and cement.

Macro Fifty Dollar Bill Currency Close Up Kenya

Kenya’s underlying economic numbers point to strong growth -central banker

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya’s biggest telecoms operator Safaricom has chosen its former chief executive, Michael Joseph, as board chairman, it said on Thursday.



He replaces the long-serving Nicholas Ng’ang’a, who has retired.



The move is part of a shareholder deal reached last year.



Under it the government, which holds a 35% stake in the company, won the right to pick a Kenyan as CEO, while the other major shareholder, Vodacom, got to pick the chairman, sources told Reuters last year. Vodacom is part of Britain’s Vodafone Group.



Peter Ndegwa, a Kenyan national, took over as chief executive in April, joining from Diageo, where he was the managing director of continental Europe.



Joseph, a dual American-Kenyan national, was Safaricom CEO until 2010 and has been a board member of the company since then. Ng’ang’a had been chairman since 2007.

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Kenyan telecoms operator Safaricom picks ex-CEO Joseph as chairman

#Africa50: Why Investing in Digital Infrastructure post-COVID-19 is Critical to Africa’s Recovery

#Africa50: Why Investing in Digital Infrastructure Post-COVID-19 is Critical to Africa’s Recovery

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Despite preferences offered under the Free trade area that is the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), intra-Comesa trade is at a meagre 8 per cent of total trade. The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the situation, with border closures causing disruptions to regional supply chains and thus slowing down trade. What can be done to improve intra-Comesa trade and attract more investments into the region? Chris Onyango, Director of Trade and Customs at COMESA joins CNBC Africa for more.

How to boost trade in the COMESA region

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In Rwanda, a total of 30 impact oriented and sustainable projects from stakeholders in the Cultural and Creative Industry are set to benefit from a RWF300 million ($315,900) recovery fund launched by the government and various partners. Joining CNBC for more is Rosemary Mbabazi, Minister Youth &#038; Culture Rwanda and Geraldine Umutesi, Deputy Director General, Imbuto Foundation.

This fund aims to help Rwanda’s creative industry recover from COVID-19

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The aviation sector in Kenya is experiencing an interesting adjustment after a bill was tabled in parliament to guide the sale of Kenya Airways and to delist it from the Nairobi Securities Exchange. MPs will now start debate on The National Aviation Management Bill 2020 as the National Assembly seeks to have the government take back full control of the national carrier by October. Economic Analyst, Reginald Kadzutu joins CNBC Africa for more.

Kenya Aviation Corporation to take over Kenya Airways

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In a move to address challenges in climate change, Global Green Growth Institute put in place Greenpreneurs program to support young entrepreneurs who have solutions for a healthy environment, a safe climate, and a thriving clean economy.

This initiative seeks to educate Rwandan youth on green entrepreneurship

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya’s national police service has arrested two police officers and opened an investigation after “a shooting incident” in the eastern county of Garissa, the police service said on Sunday.



The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), a body set up to investigate cases of police brutality, has also sent its investigators to Garissa, it said late on Saturday.



The national police service said two officers had been arrested “over a shooting incident at Soko Ng’ombe market within Garissa Township” and that the inspector general had ordered an investigation.



“The inspector general has equally directed the directorate of criminal investigations to carry out forensic analysis on the firearms used by the officers,” it said.



Garissa member of parliament Aden Duale said in a Twitter post police had shot dead Aden Abdi Madobe and Muhiyadin Adow Shibin on Saturday during an “arrest mission”. He did not give further details.



International campaigners have raised concerns about police behaviour in the East African nation, including during lockdown restrictions.



Rights group Amnesty International said Kenyan police had killed at least 100 people in 2020, with 21 related to COVID-19 lockdown infractions, such as curfew or mask violations.

Op-Ed: Jubilee, Kanu formalise coalition as internal battles rage in Kenya

Kenya arrests two police after ‘shooting incident’, launches enquiry

(Reuters) &#8211; Almost 40 countries have reported record single-day increases in coronavirus infections over the past week, around double the number that did so the previous week, according to a Reuters tally showing a pick-up in the pandemic in every region of the world.FILE PHOTO: A nurse works inside a field hospital builtÊon a soccer stadium in Machakos, as the number of confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases continues to rise in Kenya, July 23, 2020. Picture taken July 23, 2020.REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo



The rate of cases has been increasing not only in countries like the United States, Brazil and India, which have dominated global headlines with large outbreaks, but in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Bulgaria, Belgium, Uzbekistan and Israel, among others. &nbsp;



Many countries, especially those where officials eased earlier social distancing lockdowns, are experiencing a second peak more than a month after recording their first.



“We will not be going back to the ‘old normal’. The pandemic has already changed the way we live our lives,” World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this week. “We’re asking everyone to treat the decisions about where they go, what they do and who they meet with as life-and-death decisions – because they are.”



The Reuters data, compiled from official reports, shows a steady rise in the number of countries reporting record daily increases in the virus that causes COVID-19 over the past month. At least seven countries recorded such increases three weeks ago, rising to at least 13 countries two weeks ago to at least 20 countries last week and to 37 countries this week.



The true numbers of both cases and deaths are almost certainly underreported, particularly in countries with poorer health care systems, health experts and officials say. For this report, the Reuters data was restricted to countries that provide regular daily numbers.



A surge in cases usually precedes a rise in deaths by a couple of weeks.



The United States remains at the top of the case list, this week passing more than 4 million cases and recording more than 1,000 deaths for four consecutive days. Brazil and India &#8211; which epidemiologists say is still likely months from hitting its peak &#8211; have also exceeded 1 million cases.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">SECOND WAVE</h3>



The data reveals a growing number of resurgent cases in countries across all regions.



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In Australia, officials enforced a six-week partial lockdown and made face masks mandatory for residents in the country’s second-largest city, Melbourne, after a fresh outbreak.



Australia and Japan, which also posted a daily case record this week, both warned of a rise in infections among young people, many of whom celebrated the end of social restrictions at bars and parties.



In Mexico, which also posted a daily record this week and has the fourth-highest death toll of any country, officials warned that a downward trend in case numbers that began in mid-June &#8211; about the time the city began relaxing social distancing measures &#8211; could reverse.



Based on the rate of hospital admissions over the past week, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said, hospitalisation levels by October could exceed those registered in June, the height of the pandemic.



“It is important to recognise that if we do not change the trend, there could be exponential growth,” she said.



In Europe, where the summer vacation season is in full swing, a new daily record figure in Spain is likely to deter tourists from visiting one of the continent’s most popular destinations.Slideshow&nbsp;(4 Images)



In Africa, Kenya recorded a record high daily case number less than two weeks after reopening activity, including domestic passenger flights. President Uhuru Kenyatta, who had announced international flights would resume on Aug. 1, has summoned officials to an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the surge in cases.



In the Middle East, Oman imposed new restrictions that begin on Saturday in addition to a two-week lockdown that will overlap the Islamic feast of Eid al-Adha after reporting a record number of cases.

Clarification on COVID-19 “hotspots” as SA moves to level 3 lockdown

Record numbers of coronavirus cases in every global region: Reuters tally

KAMPALA (Reuters) &#8211; The sale of a 20% equity stake in MTN Uganda, the East African nation’s biggest telecoms operator, will be restricted to citizens of the East African Community trading bloc, a spokesman for the sector regulator told Reuters on Friday.

Sale of 20% stake in MTN Uganda to be restricted to East Africans – regulator

GENEVA (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya’s candidate to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) top post said on Monday she is seeking Washington’s backing and expressed some sympathy with its criticism of the global body as she emerges as one of two reform-minded African female frontrunners.



Amina Mohamed told Reuters a closed-door vetting session last week went “really well” as she outlined her platform to steer the body out of crises from global trade tensions and rising protectionism to a COVID-induced dive in business.



Delegates say Mohamed, a 58-year-old minister and former WTO chair, is one of the favourites alongside Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to replace Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo as director general, although weeks of campaigning lie ahead.



The WTO has never been led by a woman or an African.



“The rulebook needs to be upgraded because of the concerns that are being expressed about the rules not being fit for purpose,” she said, adding that resuming the top appeals court would be a priority and that she hoped this would be on the agenda of the next major WTO meeting in 2021.



The United States has paralysed the Appellate Body by blocking new judges.



In an apparent nod to Washington, she referred to concerns about the body’s “overreach”.



Asked if that meant she sympathised with the U.S. position, she said: “Those concerns that have been raised, they would not have been raised if they did not have solid reason to raise them.”



The U.S. mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



Mohamed’s supporters say she combines deep WTO knowledge with a drive to overhaul its 25-year-old rules. “The difference between me and them is I have worked this system,” she said.



However, she must win over those African countries who have expressed support for Okonjo-Iweala.



Over the past week, countries have been hosting Geneva cocktail parties to showcase candidates.



The WTO eliminates them in batches, starting with those unlikely to win consensus from 164 members.

Amina Mohamed

Vowing reform, Kenyan emerges as one of early WTO front runners

By Zinathi Gquma



“It’s not going to be easy, but I think it’s a challenge that can be met”, the words of Amina Mohamed, one of the three African candidates vying for the World Trade Organisation’s top job.



Talking to CNBC Africa’s Chris Bishop, Kenya’s Sports Cabinet Secretary promised reforms, as she acknowledged that the job will come with challenges. She was speaking from Geneva where she sat down for her interview for the post before scores of WTO delegates on July 16. The interview entailed a 15-minute presentation followed by a 75-minute grilling. 



Mohammed is considered a front runner among of six candidates in the race for the Director-General position at the WTO. The other five hopefuls are:Yoo Myung-hee from South Korea; Jesus Seade Kuri from Mexico; Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Egypt’s Hamid Mamdouh; and Tudor Ulianovschi from Moldova.



The spotlight has been shone on Mohamed, because she could make history as the first African-born woman at the top seat of the body that deals with global rules of trade between nations.



Mohamed, a lawyer who has held key decision making positions in the WTO, could be second time lucky; she lost out on the job in 2013, to Brazil’s Roberto Azevêdo who will be stepping down at the end of August.



“I have worked the corridors of the body and&nbsp;I have a track record of delivery at the WTO”, said Mohamed to Bishop, as she was speaking on her extensive knowledge of the WTO’s work. In 2005, Mohammed was the Chairperson of the General Council, the&nbsp;highest-level decision-making body in Geneva.



Mohamed has acknowledged that the job of Director-General will not be a walk in the park, because the WTO was already troubled before the Covid-19 pandemic. Admitting that the next leader would have to walk a tight rope, as they deal with mammoth challenges within the organisation, she is willing to inject confidence into the system. She has expressed her commitment to tackle challenges and to move the organisation forward through recovery, reform, renewal and results.



With her knowledge of member states’ goals, she is promising to facilitate talks on reforms within the body. With the negative effects of climate change, Mohamed vowed to promote sustainability. Looking at benefits to the African continent, through her potential role as Director-General, she will encourage integration in the African region. She has also promised to use the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, as an engine for growth.



“I’m convinced that if I got the job, I would work energetically, but very sensitively and reasonably to make sure that members come together to address issues that are of concern to all members states. The issues that if resolved, will drive the global economy,” said Mohamed.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Amina Mohamed on fixing world trade at the WTO

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; The chairman of Kenya’s senate committee overseeing the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis has quit the post after police said he flouted an overnight curfew to enjoy drinks with others in a Nairobi bar.



“I will bear responsibility &#8230; I apologise to Kenyans and I will face the full consequences of the law,” Johnson Sakaja, who represents Nairobi county and is a close ally of President Uhuru Kenyatta, told reporters on Monday.



Police said Sakaja was caught in the early hours of Saturday morning drinking with about 10 others, long after a 9 p.m.-4 a.m. curfew had set in. He is the first Kenyan official to lay on his sword after breaking the myriad lockdown rules.



His lawyer and fellow senator Mutula Kilonzo said Sakaja would appear in court on Tuesday to face undisclosed charges.



Kenya began easing its lockdown earlier this month, but kept the curfew in place as well as a prohibition on bars. There have been a string of arrests for people drinking illegally.



The East African nation has so far reported just over 13,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 234 fatalities.



Sakaja, 35, is one of a crop of youthful lawmakers who joined the legislature for the first time in 2013 on behalf of Kenyatta’s ruling party.

Caught flouting curfew in bar, Kenyan official quits COVID committee

Ethiopia’s Water Minister Seleshi Bekele confirmed on Wednesday, July 15, that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has started to fill.



He tweeted: “The inflow into the reservoir due to heavy rainfall and runoff exceeded the outflow and created natural pooling. This continues until overflow is triggered soon.”



He repeated this line to the state broadcaster, saying that the reservoir was filling “in line with the natural process” and that “[t]he construction of the dam and the filling of the water go hand in hand&#8221;.



Satellite images show that the reservoir behind the almost completed dam wall is starting to fill, but Mr Bekele failed to address the question of whether or not the country closed the dam’s culverts.



His pronouncements followed a breakdown in African Union (AU) mediated talks – involving Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan – on Tuesday, July 14, about the filling and operation of the GERD.



According to experts, the current stage of construction on the dam wall means that water will inevitably back up until the reservoir reaches its low point. The dam – with a mammoth capacity of 74 billion cubic metres (bcm) – is estimated to retain 4.9 bcm in 2020, with another 13.5 bcm to be retained the following year.



The total annual flow of the Blue Nile – the main tributary to the Nile – is about 49 bcm.



One of the main obstacles to reaching an agreement has been the schedule for filling the dam: Ethiopia proposes five to seven years and Egypt insists on 12 to 20 years.



Egypt and Sudan want a dispute resolution mechanism built into the agreement as well as assurances about water flows during times of drought.



Cairo has accused Addis Ababa of abandoning the 2015 Declaration of Principles, one of which is that the dam should not be filled without an agreement being in place.



The GERD is set to become the continent’s largest hydroelectric project and is expected to generate 6,000 MW of electricity per year, once fully operational, in a country which currently has low levels of electrification. It is central to Ethiopia’s developmental aspirations and the project has created a great deal of national pride, both due to its scale and ambition but also due to the way in which the country opted to finance the mega-project, making using of mostly domestic financing.



The confrontation with Egypt, specifically, has boosted Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s standing domestically, with the country seen to be standing up to its northern counterpart and, following its refusal to sign a US-sponsored agreement in Washington DC in February, its powerful allies.



With Ethiopia riven by ethnic tensions and deadly communal violence sparked by the targeted killing of prominent musician and ethnic rights activist, Haacaaluu Hundeessaa, in the capital on June 29, Mr Abiy will probably not mind the diplomatic spat with Egypt at a time when his pan-Ethiopian project is being threatened by internecine conflict.



Mr Abiy is also dealing with the political uncertainty created by Parliament’s decision to postpone the country’s general elections to “nine to 12 months after the coronavirus is deemed not to be a public health concern&#8221;, along with an extension of the prime minister’s term.



Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi finds himself in a very different position. Cairo is being made to look quite impotent as Ethiopia presents the filling of the GERD as fait accompli.



We previously said that their decision to proceed unilaterally would increase regional tensions and give rise to significant sabre-rattling from the parties involved. However, we said we did not expect the dispute to escalate into a military confrontation, despite some inflammatory comments from both Egyptian and Ethiopian officials, and we stand by that assessment.



It should be noted that Egypt has a large and sophisticated military – receiving significant military aid from the US – and that military figures play a crucial role in the government.



Specifically, Egypt has a modern and well-equipped air force. It does not possess strategic long-range bombers or long-range ballistic missile capacity; nevertheless, Ethiopia reportedly deployed anti-aircraft missiles in the vicinity of the Renaissance Dam in May in what was seen as a symbolic rather than strategic move.



The filling of the GERD without an agreement in place was not entirely unexpected and Ethiopian officials made it known that it would happen with the arrival of the rainy season.



Previous talks sponsored by the US and World Bank proved unsuccessful, partly due to Ethiopia’s perception that Egypt’s close ties to the US made Washington a biased arbiter.



It had been hoped that AU-brokered talks would deliver an agreement, and the lack of progress in that respect is concerning.



Egypt has also approached the UN Security Council to pressure Ethiopia, resulting in angry exchanges between ambassadors.



Over the short to medium term, regional tensions will remain heightened and diplomatic efforts are sure to continue. More provocative statements by officials from the affected countries are also expected, making efforts to reach an agreement all the more difficult.



Louw Nel – Political Analyst

River Nile

Nile Valley – Ethiopia starts to fill Renaissance Dam as Egypt bristles

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There has been intense innovation activity in many African countries ignited by the global pandemic. However, the looming question now, is how to sustain this innovation momentum post the COVID-19 crisis. CNBC Africa spoke to Bitange Ndemo, Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Nairobi for more.

How to sustain the innovation momentum post COVID-19

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They say justice delayed is justice denied but what happens to administering justice during a global pandemic? Markus Green, Board Member with the Attorney General Alliance for Africa joins CNBC Africa for more.

COVID-19: How prosecutors are adapting to the pandemic to deliver justice

East Africa

Kenya’s underlying economic numbers point to strong growth -central banker

Kenyan telecoms operator Safaricom picks ex-CEO Joseph as chairman

#Africa50: Why Investing in Digital Infrastructure Post-COVID-19 is Critical to Africa’s Recovery

How to boost trade in the COMESA region

This fund aims to help Rwanda’s creative industry recover from COVID-19

Kenya Aviation Corporation to take over Kenya Airways

This initiative seeks to educate Rwandan youth on green entrepreneurship

Kenya arrests two police after ‘shooting incident’, launches enquiry

Record numbers of coronavirus cases in every global region: Reuters tally

Sale of 20% stake in MTN Uganda to be restricted to East Africans – regulator

Vowing reform, Kenyan emerges as one of early WTO front runners

“It’s not going to be easy,” Amina Mohamed on fixing world trade at the WTO

Caught flouting curfew in bar, Kenyan official quits COVID committee

Nile Valley – Ethiopia starts to fill Renaissance Dam as Egypt bristles

How to sustain the innovation momentum post COVID-19

COVID-19: How prosecutors are adapting to the pandemic to deliver justice

Assessing Africa’s literature in the new age

News Tips

Advertise With Us

East Africa

Kenya’s underlying economic numbers point to strong growth -central banker

Kenyan telecoms operator Safaricom picks ex-CEO Joseph as chairman

#Africa50: Why Investing in Digital Infrastructure Post-COVID-19 is Critical to Africa’s Recovery

How to boost trade in the COMESA region

This fund aims to help Rwanda’s creative industry recover from COVID-19

Kenya Aviation Corporation to take over Kenya Airways

This initiative seeks to educate Rwandan youth on green entrepreneurship

Kenya arrests two police after ‘shooting incident’, launches enquiry

Record numbers of coronavirus cases in every global region: Reuters tally

Sale of 20% stake in MTN Uganda to be restricted to East Africans – regulator

Vowing reform, Kenyan emerges as one of early WTO front runners

“It’s not going to be easy,” Amina Mohamed on fixing world trade at the WTO

Caught flouting curfew in bar, Kenyan official quits COVID committee

Nile Valley – Ethiopia starts to fill Renaissance Dam as Egypt bristles

How to sustain the innovation momentum post COVID-19

COVID-19: How prosecutors are adapting to the pandemic to deliver justice

Assessing Africa’s literature in the new age

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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