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<p>The government of Rwanda announced a climate action agenda worth about $11 billion which features a 38 per cent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. CNBC Africa spoke to Juliet Kabera, Director General of Rwanda Environment Management Authority for more.</p>


Rwanda unveils $11bn climate action plan

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<p>After realising the challenges that come with publishing fellow African writers, home-grown publishing house, Imagine We Rwanda launched their very own mobile app, dubbed, Imagine Books. Fast forward 2 weeks and hundreds of titles have been purchased worldwide and the numbers are only going up. CNBC Africa spoke to the founder, Dominique Alonga for more.</p>


This Rwandan publisher is creating buzz with new book App

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<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has affected livelihoods across the continent and different initiatives have been instituted to support them. One of them is a campaign dubbed “We are one Africa” which aims to sustain various communities and groups through virtual concerts. Project Manager, Andrew Alovi joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


COVID-19: This virtual concert campaign is bringing together African artists for charity

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<p>Kenya has recently launched the first made-in-Africa video conferencing system that will enable users to enjoy better quality calls with unlimited attendees, at more affordable prices. The video conferencing system will also enable African countries to retain the fees in local economies, compared to competition that repatriates it off the continent. Jay Shapiro, CEO and Co-Founder of Usiku Games joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Kenya’s tech sector unveils video conferencing system

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<p>The lock-down that Rwandan government enforced to curb the spread of COVID-19 saw over 60 per cent of entrepreneurs stop production and services. Monthly turnover also dropped from Rwf30 million to just Rwf4 million, according to a survey conducted by Business Professionals Network and the University of Rwanda. BPN Rwanda Managing Director, Alice Nkulikiyinka joins CNBC Africa for more&#8230;.</p>


AA500

BPN Rwanda: How the COVID-19 lockdown has impacted small businesses

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<p>The Covid-19 pandemic has seen a decline in air pollution due to a reduction in vehicle and air traffic as well as industrial activity. How will the pandemic shape economic recovery and what are the lessons learnt? Experts in environment share their thoughts on this and more on the international day for biological diversity&#8230;.</p>


BM5000

The green economy & how it could help the global economy bounce back from COVID-19

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<p>With FDIs into the continent slowing down as a result of COVID-19, start-ups funding for many sectors have taken a backseat but is there a light at the end of the tunnel for some of these players? CNBC Africa’s Arnold Kwizera spoke to Charles Shyaka, General Manager at 250 start ups for more on this.</p>


How COVID-19 is impacting funding for African start-ups

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<p>Apollo Agriculture, a Nairobi based agri-tech start-up has raised about $6 million in its series A round of funding. CNBC Africa spoke to Benjamin Njenga, Co-Founder of Apollo Agriculture for more.</p>


Kenyan agri-tech start-up Apollo Agriculture raises $6mn in funding


<p>Report by Ayenat Mersie</p>



<p>NAIROBI(Reuters) &#8211; <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/east-africa/2020/05/22/covid-19-kenya-continues-pipeline-plan-despite-drop-in-oil-prices/">Kenya</a>’s government is facing growing criticism over quarantine centres it set up to curb the spread of the coronavirus, with witnesses saying some are squalid and expose residents to the risk of catching <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2020/05/26/african-bank-ceo-on-how-the-bank-is-cushioning-its-customers-from-the-effects-of-covid-19/">COVID-19</a>.</p>



<p>Since mid-March, the government has enforced a mandatory 14-day quarantine period for anyone who flies into the country or has direct contact with someone infected and lives in an area where self-isolation is not allowed.</p>



<p>Those who can pay spend the quarantine in an upmarket hotel. Others are placed in government-run facilities established in buildings such as schools or universities.</p>



<p>Demonstrations have broken out in some centres, break-outs have been reported, and the government faces two lawsuits over alleged mistreatment which it has yet to respond to.</p>



<p>Reuters interviewed 12 people who have spent time in quarantine in the government-run centres. Two said conditions were satisfactory. The other 10, who asked not to be identified to avoid stigma, described filthy conditions with bedbugs, overflowing toilets and bad food.</p>



<p>Reuters sought comment from the facilities where these people were housed, but phone and text messages sent over several weeks received no responses. Health Ministry spokeswoman Judy Sirima declined comment.</p>



<p>One woman told Reuters she was quarantined at Nairobi’s Kenya Medical Training Center for two weeks and tested negative for the coronavirus.</p>



<p>Then others at the facility, where people were crowded together at mealtimes, tested positive. She was kept another week, and then tested positive too.</p>



<p>“I got it from the quarantine,” she said. “We were sharing washrooms; we were sharing everything.”</p>



<p>Reuters could not verify where she contracted the virus.</p>



<p>A woman in quarantine at the Karen Cooperative Retreat and Conference Center said she and others received no protective gear.</p>



<p>“We are not given masks; no gloves, no sanitizer,” she said.</p>



<p>Neither facility responded to requests for comment.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">PUBLIC TESTING</h3>



<p>Kenya has reported 1,348 cases and 52 <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/2020/05/26/mozambique-records-first-covid-19-death/">deaths from COVID-19</a>, but large-scale public testing began in the country of 47 million only this month because of shortages of materials.</p>



<p>On Sunday, Kenya’s Health Ministry tweeted that many people being tested were giving false contact information.</p>



<p>Robert Alai, a popular blogger, quickly offered an explanation for their reluctance.</p>



<p>“Because you treat those who test positive like pigs,” he tweeted.</p>



<p>Alai has been sharing pictures of grim quarantine conditions which he says he received from people in government-run facilities. Reuters reached three by telephone and they confirmed the conditions.</p>



<p>Dr Mark Nanyingi, an infectious disease epidemiologist with the University of Nairobi, said the threat of having family quarantined could deter sick people from coming forward.</p>



<p>“Public health messaging shouldn’t be threatening,” he said. “If we militarise this, we won’t have as much success.”</p>



<p>Facing criticism over the quarantine centres, Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said on May 6 they would be free.</p>



<p>“Testing, quarantine and isolation is free. Come out and be tested,” the ministry tweeted on Tuesday.</p>



<p>Until this month, the minimum rate for quarantine was 2,000 Kenyan shillings ($20) per night. Some centres had refused to release people who did not pay their bills.</p>



<p>Kagwe has also said people who break a dawn-to-dusk curfew will no longer be put in quarantine.</p>



<p>A Senate report last month said hundreds of curfew breakers had been quarantined alongside people who had been exposed to COVID-19, the respiratory disease the coronavirus can cause.</p>



<p>One woman, Caroline Akumu, told Reuters she was held in a quarantine centre where she and her two-month-old son slept on a concrete floor after she was accused of breaking curfew and refused to pay 20,000 shillings to be released. She was freed only after a public uproar.</p>



<p>(Additional reporting by Katharine Houreld; editing by Katharine Houreld and Timothy Heritage)</p>



<p>This article was first published on Reuters Africa <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN2331PB-OZATP">https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN2331PB-OZATP</a> and is republished with its permission.</p>



<p>For more coverage on COVID-19 visit: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/covid-19/">https://www.cnbcafrica.com/covid-19/</a></p>


Op Ed: East African finance ministers to present budgets for new fiscal year

Kenyan government under fire over coronavirus quarantine centres

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<p>Access to Finance Rwanda in partnership with the African Management institute, the Private Sector Federation and others, has launched a new webinar series dubbed, ‘The Business Survival Bootcamp’, through their website, SME Response Clinic. The program is designed to help entrepreneurs navigate the unique challenges that have presented themselves as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and is slated to begin next week. Head of Programs at AFR, Jean Bosco Iyacu joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Rwandan entrepreneurs treated to Covid-19 business survival boot camp

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<p>East Africa&#8217;s share of private equity transactions has slowly been rising over the years, but this growth momentum has now been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. What will it take for private equity firms in the region to weather the Covid-19 storm and bounce back? David Owino, Managing Partner at Ascent Capital joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


How can Africa’s private equity firms weather the COVID-19 storm?

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<p>Rwanda’s agriculture sector employs 80 per cent of the population and contributes 33 per cent to her GDP growth. Now, with Covid-19, many farmers have incurred losses due to difficulties in the market and agriculture players have reiterated the need for investing in post-harvest agriculture technologies. Diana Mugwaneza, Programs Officer at Rwanda Development Organization, joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


RDO’s Mugwaneza on the need to invest in post-harvest agriculture technology

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<p>Experts predict that closer collaboration among business leaders across various industries will be key in shaping a post-COVID-19 recovery. This will be part of the conversation at upcoming Africa Shared Value E-Summit and CNBC Africa spoke to Nichole Yembra, MD, The Chrysalis Capital for more.</p>


How the Africa Shared Value E-Summit can play a role in post-COVID-19 recovery

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<p>The World Bank recently announced the first phase of an additional $500 million package to combat the locust invasion in East Africa and the Middle East. According to Moody&#8217;s, though crucial, the support package pales in comparison with the magnitude of the twin shocks that the East African economies face from the pandemic and the locust invasion. Kelvin Dalrymple, vice-President and Sovereign Analyst at Moody’s joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Locust plague

Locust plague, COVID-19 weigh on East Africa’s economic outlook

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<p>This year was supposed to be one of the biggest sports years for Kenya and East Africa, with athletes from the region set to participate in highly anticipated events like, the Magical Kenya Open, the Basketball Africa League, the African Championship of Nations and the Olympics. With all these sporting events and more being cancelled and postponed; and with gym closures and limited access to coaches leading to no place to train; where does that leave professional athletes and elite hopefuls as the world battles the Covid-19 pandemic? Sports Analyst, Sharon Allela joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


How can professional athletes weather the COVID-19 crisis?

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<p>Physical distancing as a measure to avoid the spread of COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the necessity to create more public spaces and inclusive streets in African cities. Constant Cap, Urban Planner at Naipolitans joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


COVID-19 exposes Africa’s urban planning challenges

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<p>Investor appetite has been affected as a result of the pandemic and with this so have the practices of many businesses on the continent.</p>


East Africa

Rwanda unveils $11bn climate action plan

This Rwandan publisher is creating buzz with new book App

COVID-19: This virtual concert campaign is bringing together African artists for charity

Kenya’s tech sector unveils video conferencing system

BPN Rwanda: How the COVID-19 lockdown has impacted small businesses

The green economy & how it could help the global economy bounce back from COVID-19

How COVID-19 is impacting funding for African start-ups

Kenyan agri-tech start-up Apollo Agriculture raises $6mn in funding

Kenyan government under fire over coronavirus quarantine centres

Rwandan entrepreneurs treated to Covid-19 business survival boot camp

How can Africa’s private equity firms weather the COVID-19 storm?

RDO’s Mugwaneza on the need to invest in post-harvest agriculture technology

How the Africa Shared Value E-Summit can play a role in post-COVID-19 recovery

Locust plague, COVID-19 weigh on East Africa’s economic outlook

How can professional athletes weather the COVID-19 crisis?

COVID-19 exposes Africa’s urban planning challenges

COVID-19: Old Mutual on creating shared valued in times of crisis

News Tips

Advertise With Us

East Africa

Rwanda unveils $11bn climate action plan

This Rwandan publisher is creating buzz with new book App

COVID-19: This virtual concert campaign is bringing together African artists for charity

Kenya’s tech sector unveils video conferencing system

BPN Rwanda: How the COVID-19 lockdown has impacted small businesses

The green economy & how it could help the global economy bounce back from COVID-19

How COVID-19 is impacting funding for African start-ups

Kenyan agri-tech start-up Apollo Agriculture raises $6mn in funding

Kenyan government under fire over coronavirus quarantine centres

Rwandan entrepreneurs treated to Covid-19 business survival boot camp

How can Africa’s private equity firms weather the COVID-19 storm?

RDO’s Mugwaneza on the need to invest in post-harvest agriculture technology

How the Africa Shared Value E-Summit can play a role in post-COVID-19 recovery

Locust plague, COVID-19 weigh on East Africa’s economic outlook

How can professional athletes weather the COVID-19 crisis?

COVID-19 exposes Africa’s urban planning challenges

COVID-19: Old Mutual on creating shared valued in times of crisis

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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