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<p>According to the OECD, foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to developing countries are expected to drop significantly as sectors severely impacted by the pandemic including the primary and manufacturing sectors account for a larger share of their FDI. Zephanie Niyonkuru, Deputy CEO of Rwanda Development Board joins CNBC Africa for more&#8230;.</p>


Rwanda sets out COVID-19 economic recovery plan

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<p>Last year helicopter aviation company Akagera Aviation launched several new programs and services including Rwanda’s first scheduled flights to three major national parks and a pilot training academy. Now a year later the industry has been dealt a blow that no one could’ve foreseen, CNBC Africa spoke with the company’s Business Development Manager, Habba Hadijah Kamwesiga on how they decide to rebound now that Covid-19 measures are being relaxed.</p>


This is how Rwanda’s Akagera Aviation plans to bounce back from COVID-19 crisis

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<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for digital solutions across various industries, especially in the health sector. Among different innovations, the Government launched the use of robots in the fight against COVID-19, in a move aimed at reducing contact between medics and patients&#8230;.</p>


How Rwanda is leveraging technology in the fight against COVID-19

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<p>British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta agreed to start negotiations for a post-Brexit trade agreement between the two nations. Economic Analyst, Reginald Kadzuzu joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Kenya

Kenya, UK to resume talks on trade deal

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<p>A $70 million investment deal for cold storage; a partnership to see 5G rolled out to the most remote locations; and the beginning of construction for the Nairobi Railway City; these are the headlines making news in Kenya and CNBC Africa spoke to Journalist, Joseph Bonyo for more.</p>


Safaricom

Safaricom, Aviate Networks partner to roll out 5G to remote locations

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<p>The European Union has released an additional 15 million euros to the fight against desert locusts in East Africa ahead of a potential new wave of swarms in the region. This comes after the EU granted 11 million euros back in February of this year for the same. The Food and Agriculture Organisation is one of the bodies set to receive the funds for this and CNBC Africa spoke to Cyril Ferrand, Senior Technical Officer and Team Leader for Eastern Africa Resilience for more.</p>


EU injects additional $17mn to tackle desert locusts ravaging East Africa

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<p>Digital transformation is a regarded as a key to drive up financial inclusion in Africa and open banking is one of the trends that are reshaping financial services. Polys Hadjikyriakos, Chief Business Development Officer at NETinfo Plc explains why the continent should embrace it.</p>


Why Africa should embrace open banking

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<p>Kenya-based SME consultancy firm, Viffa Consult, has begun identifying sectors with growth potential for SMEs and entrepreneurs to explore despite COVID-19 challenges. They’ve today released the first report in what will be a series, all about the coconut commodity market in Kenya. CNBC Africa spoke to Managing Director, Victor Otieno for more.</p>


How to identify potential growth sectors for SMEs amid COVID-19

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<p>In Uganda like elsewhere, COVID-19 has made the situation for small businesses exceptionally challenging. Now in efforts to soften the blow, United Nations Development Programme has in partnership with Stanbic Bank Uganda launched a facility that aims to help small businesses recover from the impacts of the pandemic. Elsie Attafuah, UNDP Uganda Representative joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Uganda unveils new facility to help its SMEs recover from COVID-19


<p>ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) &#8211; Long after the funding for his project was frozen, Bilal Endris has kept a lonely watch over cemeteries in Ethiopia’s capital by slipping cash to gravediggers to alert his team to any sudden spikes in burials.Older tombstones are seen at the Protestant and Catholic cemetery, open for burials amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Wingate, North of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia June 29, 2020. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri</p>



<p>In a nation where fewer than 2% of deaths are registered, an increase in burials may be one of the first signs that a killer disease is on the loose.</p>



<p>The program was set up to monitor deaths related to HIV/AIDS a decade ago. Now doctor Bilal monitors for a spike in fatalities linked to COVID-19.</p>



<p>He has yet to see one, but projects like his are being set up in other African countries where many deaths go unrecorded, making it hard to assess the scale of a disease. In some cases, nations are dusting off programs set up during Ebola outbreaks.</p>



<p>Bilal himself has secured additional funding to restore the program to all 73 of Addis Ababa’s cemeteries from just 10 now.</p>



<p>Only eight countries in Africa &#8211; Algeria, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Egypt, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, and South Africa &#8211; record more than 75% of deaths, according to the United Nations.</p>



<p>In other regions, where official data is readily available, researchers have used the number of deaths from all causes that exceed the average for the time of year to help gauge the number linked to the coronavirus pandemic.</p>



<p>“In Ethiopia and everywhere across Africa &#8230; we go blind.” Bilal told Reuters. “I wanted to turn the health care system into one based on evidence.”</p>



<p>In the capital Addis Ababa, less than 20% of deaths occur in hospitals, Bilal said, so monitoring deaths requires talking to community leaders and burial grounds.</p>



<p>In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, media reports citing gravediggers alerted authorities to an undetected COVID-19 outbreak in the northern city of Kano in April, when deaths surged from a daily average of 11 to 43.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">COUNTING THE DEAD</h3>



<p>Bilal’s project began tracking burials at all graveyards in Addis Ababa a decade ago.</p>



<p>But in 2018, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) froze its funding, as the country had started using other methods to track HIV mortality, according to a CDC spokeswoman.</p>



<p>Bilal scaled back his surveillance to 10 cemeteries and began working for free, paying sources with a tiny grant from Addis Ababa University &#8211; until May.</p>



<p>City officials called him for a meeting, desperate to know whether COVID-19 was cutting swathes through their city, he said. The Ministry of Health did not respond to requests for comment.</p>



<p>Although official figures are still low &#8211; 7,650 confirmed cases and 127 deaths as of Sunday night &#8211; Ethiopia’s outbreak is accelerating. The university has now given Bilal enough support to restart the program in all 73 graveyards.</p>



<p>“It used to be funded by the CDC but now it is funded by Addis Ababa University as everyone, including the government, thinks the program is very important,” said Dr Wondwossen Amogne, an associate professor in infectious diseases at Addis Ababa University and director of research at the university’s Black Lion Hospital.</p>



<p>Health minister Lia Tadesse confirmed the study was being used by the government to monitor any spikes in death.</p>



<p>As a separate initiative, New York-based public health initiative Resolve to Save Lives is working with five other African nations to set up similar programs, including Rwanda and Senegal. The other three don’t want to be named.Slideshow&nbsp;(4 Images)</p>



<p>They will establish the usual death rate by interviewing community leaders, then watch for spikes.</p>



<p>Deciding whether any excess deaths are due to COVID-19 could be tricky, however. People with other diseases are avoiding hospitals for fear of catching the virus, health officials say.</p>



<p>Bilal’s team has begun asking families at burials whether the dead had any possible COVID-19 symptoms, such as a cough or a fever.</p>


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Counting the burials: African nations scramble to track COVID-19

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<p>Rwanda’s coffee prices have taken a hit on the international global market as the effects on the supply chains take their toll on agriculture exports, but could they rebound back soon? Uwera Robinah, International and Regional Market Development Specialist at the National Agriculture Export Board joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


How Rwanda’s coffee industry plans to recover from COVID-19 induced disruptions

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<p>Workers unions demand reopening, public outcry as a health official doesn’t don a mask and Boda Boda drivers sue the Ugandan government; these are the headlines making news in Uganda. Analyst and Chief Strategist at Impact Communication Strategies, Ken Agutamba joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


COVID-19: Ugandan unions demand reopening of economy


<p>KHARTOUM (Reuters) &#8211; Sudan will permit non-Muslims to consume alcohol and strengthen women’s rights, including banning female genital mutilation (FGM), its justice minister said late on Saturday, in a reversal of almost four decades of hardline Islamist policies</p>



<p>About 3% of Sudan’s population is non-Muslim, according to the United Nations.</p>



<p>Alcoholic drinks have been banned since former President Jaafar Nimeiri introduced Islamic law in 1983, throwing bottles of whisky into the Nile in the capital Khartoum.</p>



<p>The transition government which took over after autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled last year has vowed to lead Sudan to democracy, end discrimination and make peace with rebels.</p>



<p>Non-Muslims will no longer be criminalised for drinking alcohol in private, Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari told state television. For Muslims, the ban will remain. Offenders are typically flogged under Islamic law.</p>



<p>Sudan will also decriminalise apostasy and ban FGM, a practice which typically involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia of girls and women, he said.</p>



<p>Women will also no longer need a permit from male members of their families to travel with their children.</p>



<p>Bashir extended Islamic law after he took power in 1989.</p>



<p>Sudanese Christians live mainly in Khartoum and in the Nuba mountains near the South Sudan border. Some Sudanese also follow traditional African beliefs.</p>



<p>The transition government led by Abdalla Hamdok runs the country in an uneasy coalition with the military which helped remove Bashir after months of mass protests.</p>


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Sudan’s 37 dry years are over for its non-Muslims


<p>NAIROBI/GENEVA (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya’s sports and culture minister Amina Mohamed will run to be the next Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a spokesperson said on Wednesday and a WTO official confirmed.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="229" height="220" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/amina-2.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-375886"/></figure>



<p>“For Amina Mohamed, yes we can confirm that we received her nomination from Kenya late yesterday,” a WTO official said.</p>



<p>The Geneva-based body is seeking a replacement for Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo who is stepping down a year early at the end of August at a critical juncture for the trade watchdog.</p>



<p>His successor will need to steer reforms and negotiations in the face of rising protectionism, a deep recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and growing trade tensions, notably between the United States and China.</p>



<p>Mohamed, a former Kenyan ambassador to the WTO and the first woman to chair the WTO’s General Council in 2005, is the sixth candidate to be officially nominated, alongside others from Egypt, Nigeria, South Korea, Mexico and Moldova.</p>



<p>Three of them are women. Nominations close later on Wednesday.</p>



<p>There is broad support for an African candidate and a woman, since neither have headed the Geneva-based body in the past, sources following the process said.</p>


amina 2

Kenyan sports minister Amina Mohamed to bid for top WTO job

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<p>The operationalization of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement was supposed to take place at the beginning of this month but just like many developments it has been set back by the COVID-19 pandemic. CNBC Africa spoke to former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on how AfCTA can get back on track.</p>


Olusegun Obasanjo on COVID-19 lessons for African economies & the AfCFTA


<p>(Reuters) &#8211; Kenyan protesters set a police station on fire after an officer allegedly shot and killed a man for hawking fake hand sanitizer, according to a police report seen by Reuters on Monday.</p>



<p>The officer is now in custody, according to the report.</p>



<p>The police officer fired his weapon after a verbal argument with the man selling the counterfeit product in an open-air market in Kisii County, western Kenya, on Sunday, the report said.</p>



<p>After the shooting, protesters quickly descended on the police station, throwing rocks and setting bonfires, damaging the station and nearby vehicles.</p>



<p>Fourteen police officers were injured and protesters dispersed after an “unquantified number of live and blank ammunitions were used”, the report said.</p>



<p>Accusations of police brutality are common in Kenya. Since the coronavirus outbreak, multiple cases of alleged police violence towards lockdown violators have been reported.</p>



<p>In March, in the first 10 days of a curfew to curb the coronavirus, at least six people were killed, according to rights group Human Rights Watch.</p>


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Man shot for allegedly hawking fake hand sanitizer – protesters torch police station


<p>Tanzanian miner Saniniu Laizer has become a millionaire overnight by selling two Tanzanite gemstones — the largest ever found in the country — for 7.7 billion Tanzanian shillings ($3.4 million), according to multiple media reports.</p>



<p>The stones weigh 9.2 kg (20.3 lbs) and 5.8kg, and Laizer mined them last week but sold them Wednesday at a trading event in the region of Manyara, the BBC reported.&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image alignwide size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="740" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/GettyImages-1222767163-1110x740.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-375244" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/GettyImages-1222767163-1110x740.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/GettyImages-1222767163-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/GettyImages-1222767163-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/GettyImages-1222767163-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/GettyImages-1222767163-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/GettyImages-1222767163-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/GettyImages-1222767163-696x464.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/GettyImages-1222767163-1068x712.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/GettyImages-1222767163-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/GettyImages-1222767163-600x400.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /><figcaption>Tanzanian small-scale miner Saniniu Kuryan Laizer, 52, poses with the enlarged cheque copy from the government after selling two of the biggest of the country&#8217;s precious gemstones, Tanzanite, during the ceremony for his historical discovery in Manyara, northern Tanzania, on June 24, 2020. &#8211; Laizer found the stones weighing 9.27 and 5.1 kilogrammes respectively in the northern Mirerani hills, an area which President John Magufuli had fenced off in 2018 to stop smuggling of the gem. He sold them to the government for 7.7 billion Tanzanian shillings (nearly $3.3 million/2.9 million euros). The broken biggest record of Tanzanite was 3.5 kilogrammes. (Photo by Filbert RWEYEMAMU / AFP) (Photo by FILBERT RWEYEMAMU/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



<p>Laizer, reportedly a father of more than 30 children, told the BBC that he planned to use the money to build a shopping mall and school in his community in Simanjiro, a district of Manyara.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“I want to build this school near my home,” he told the news outlet. “There are many poor people around here who can’t afford to take their children to school.”</p>



<p>He added: “I am not educated but I like things run in a professional way. So I would like my children to run the business professionally.”</p>



<p>Despite his newfound wealth, Laizer said he would continue to look after his herd of 2,000 cows. The small-scale miner said he would slaughter one of the cows to celebrate and that there would also be a “big party.”</p>



<p>Tanzanian President John Magufuli has reportedly congratulated Laizer over the phone and said the find showed the benefit of small-scale miners and “proves that Tanzania is rich.”</p>



<p>Read the report on the BBC’s website&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-53148612" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.</p>


East Africa

Rwanda sets out COVID-19 economic recovery plan

This is how Rwanda’s Akagera Aviation plans to bounce back from COVID-19 crisis

How Rwanda is leveraging technology in the fight against COVID-19

Kenya, UK to resume talks on trade deal

Safaricom, Aviate Networks partner to roll out 5G to remote locations

EU injects additional $17mn to tackle desert locusts ravaging East Africa

Why Africa should embrace open banking

How to identify potential growth sectors for SMEs amid COVID-19

Uganda unveils new facility to help its SMEs recover from COVID-19

Counting the burials: African nations scramble to track COVID-19

How Rwanda’s coffee industry plans to recover from COVID-19 induced disruptions

COVID-19: Ugandan unions demand reopening of economy

Sudan’s 37 dry years are over for its non-Muslims

Kenyan sports minister Amina Mohamed to bid for top WTO job

Olusegun Obasanjo on COVID-19 lessons for African economies & the AfCFTA

Man shot for allegedly hawking fake hand sanitizer – protesters torch police station

Tanzanian miner becomes overnight millionaire by selling rare gemstones for over $3 million

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East Africa

Rwanda sets out COVID-19 economic recovery plan

This is how Rwanda’s Akagera Aviation plans to bounce back from COVID-19 crisis

How Rwanda is leveraging technology in the fight against COVID-19

Kenya, UK to resume talks on trade deal

Safaricom, Aviate Networks partner to roll out 5G to remote locations

EU injects additional $17mn to tackle desert locusts ravaging East Africa

Why Africa should embrace open banking

How to identify potential growth sectors for SMEs amid COVID-19

Uganda unveils new facility to help its SMEs recover from COVID-19

Counting the burials: African nations scramble to track COVID-19

How Rwanda’s coffee industry plans to recover from COVID-19 induced disruptions

COVID-19: Ugandan unions demand reopening of economy

Sudan’s 37 dry years are over for its non-Muslims

Kenyan sports minister Amina Mohamed to bid for top WTO job

Olusegun Obasanjo on COVID-19 lessons for African economies & the AfCFTA

Man shot for allegedly hawking fake hand sanitizer – protesters torch police station

Tanzanian miner becomes overnight millionaire by selling rare gemstones for over $3 million

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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