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<p>Mining sector is the second largest export revenue earner in Rwanda but with Covid-19 affecting the sector like any other sector, how will it bounce back? CNBC Africa spoke to Fabrice Kayihura, Managing Director at Ngali Mining for more.</p>


How is Rwanda’s mining sector fairing amid the COVID-19 crisis?

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<p>This year was poised to see major strides in access to finance for SMEs in Kenya. Promising initiatives such as the repeal of the interest rate cap, financing opportunities though the African Development Bank and the establishment of a credit guarantee scheme are just a few of the steps that were underway. But now that the Covid-19 pandemic has reshuffled priorities and budgets worldwide, where does that leave vulnerable Kenyan SMEs? SME Consultant, Victor Otieno joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


How COVID-19 is affecting SME funding in Kenya

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<p>Last night in Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni addressed the nation with an update on the country&#8217;s lock-down measures. In the address he assured Ugandan&#8217;s that the government would be providing free masks for all, and once that&#8217;s implemented, the lock-down would be lifted. CNBC Africa spoke to Kenneth Agutamba, Analyst and Chief Strategist for Impact Communication Strategies for more.</p>


COVID-19: Ugandan residents to get free face masks

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<p>Rwanda and Tanzania have agreed not to implement the proposed swapping of drivers, after Tanzanian truck drivers protested measures put in place by the government of Rwanda to prevent cross-border transmission of New Coronavirus. Analyst, Ted Kaberuka joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


COVID-19: Rwanda

COVID-19: Rwanda, Tanzania agree on a solution for cross-border movements

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<p>With many parts of the world having shut down in one way or the other to curb the spread of COVID-19, many workers have had to adapt to working from home but with the new work stations there has been a great spike in cyber security hacks. But what kind of opportunities has this presented for the cyber security industry? Betsy Mugo Bevilacqua, Co-Founder and Business Strategy Lead at Tabiri Analytics Inc joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


COVID-19: What opportunities exist for the cyber security industry?

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<p>Companies across Africa have taken rapid steps to initiate community emergency relief efforts in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic with the need for on-going social relief expected to be front of mind for a network of African purpose-led Shared Value companies and leaders, CNBC Africa is joined by the CEO of the Shared Value Africa Initiative, Tiekie Barnard for more.</p>


Tiekie Barnard on COVID-19 impact & what to expect from the Africa Shared Value Leadership e-Summit


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">KEY POINTS</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Heavy rains over the last month have led to overflowing rivers and lakes and mudslides, with Kenya particularly impacted.</li><li>Authorities and international organizations on the ground face an uphill battle against spiraling food insecurity, which had already been exacerbated by the locust invasion, while at the same time working to curtail the spread of Covid-19.</li></ul>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<p>Already navigating the coronavirus pandemic and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/23/east-africa-faces-dual-shock-from-coronavirus-and-locust-swarms.html">worst invasion of desert locusts for more than 25 years</a>, parts of East Africa are now being devastated by flooding.</p>



<p>Heavy rains over the last month have led to overflowing rivers and lakes and mudslides, with Kenya particularly impacted. Almost 200 people have lost their lives and according to the Kenyan Red Cross, while hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced since the rainy season began in March.</p>



<p>Authorities and international organizations on the ground face an uphill battle against spiraling food insecurity, which had already been exacerbated by the locust outbreak, while at the same time working to curtail the spread of Covid-19, which remains the main focus of government resources.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Consecutive climate shocks</h2>



<p>The latest floods have followed a series of intermittent droughts and flooding. Oxfam’s Director of Humanitarian Systems in Kenya, Matthew Cousins, told CNBC that these weather events and the locust outbreak are the latest in “a decade of back-to-back crises” linked to climate change.</p>



<p>“It’s a bit of a triple whammy really with Covid, locusts, floods, and it’s happening more and more often which is our primary concern,” Cousins told CNBC via telephone from Nairobi.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-default td_pull_quote td_pull_center is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"><p>“It’s a bit of a triple whammy really with Covid, locusts, floods, and it’s happening more and more often which is our primary concern</p><cite>citation</cite></blockquote>



<p>“Cycles between the droughts are getting a lot shorter, which impairs recovery time for herds for the poorest families to get their lives back. These areas are particularly vulnerable anyway, you’ve got underlying absolute poverty of anywhere up to 90% in some of the northern counties,” he explained.</p>



<p>Jemimah Khamadi Wekhomba, Kenya’s health and nutrition coordinator for Action Against Hunger, said NGOs and authorities on the ground have barely had time to respond to one crisis before another hits.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image alignwide"><img decoding="async" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/106541527-1589779090051ke_2020_manderaeast_21.jpeg?v=1589779355&amp;w=678&amp;h=381" alt="Residents in Mandera County, Kenya, assess the damage from the latest round of flooding which has devastated the region."/><figcaption>Residents in Mandera County, Kenya, assess the damage from the latest round of flooding which has devastated the region.The County Government of Mandera, Kenya.</figcaption></figure>



<p></p>



<p>“These communities’ roads were cut off, their infrastructure was destroyed, communication was destroyed, the health facilities submerged, schools submerged,” she told CNBC.</p>



<p>Wekhomba added that thousands of displaced people had been forced to move into the houses of friends or relatives, or into makeshift camps in vacant schools, which presents new challenges to social distancing in the age of Covid-19.</p>



<p>“The issue is there is not enough funding in terms of a response because the needs keep on increasing over and over again. There is a need for funding which the government cannot support by itself,” she said, adding that the international community has a role to play.</p>



<p>The International Monetary Fund last week announced a $739 million disbursement to Kenya under its Rapid Credit Facility, aimed at tackling the coronavirus pandemic. So far, just 887 cases have been confirmed in the country, but policymakers are wary of the impact the virus could have if allowed to take root in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/06/leading-the-fight-against-coronavirus-in-africas-largest-urban-slum.html">densely populated informal settlements</a>.</p>



<p>Wekhomba said policymakers and the affected communities were both “overwhelmed” by the scale and concurrence of the crises. She suggested that beyond the immediate response, funding will be required for a further three to five years to return affected communities to stability and better equip them to weather future shocks.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image alignwide"><img decoding="async" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/106541531-1589779535287ke_2020_westpokot_11.jpg?v=1589779835&amp;w=678&amp;h=381" alt="Residents in the county of West Pokot, Kenya, retrieve a body after a recent mudslide."/><figcaption>Residents in the county of West Pokot, Kenya, retrieve a body after a recent mudslide.The county government of West Pokot, Kenya.</figcaption></figure>



<p></p>



<p>“People are talking about the effects of climate change, but we are here. We are already facing the effects of climate change,” she told CNBC.</p>



<p>“There is a need to support these communities in terms of knowing how to handle their shocks and bounce back to their normal lives.”</p>



<p>At a press conference last week, Eugene Wamalwa, the Kenyan cabinet Secretary for Devolution, appealed to Kenyans living in areas susceptible to floods and landslides to relocate to safer ground, with the situation expected to worsen in the coming weeks as rains persist until June.</p>



<p>Wamalwa noted that the last time Lake Victoria reached current levels was in the 1950s, while Lake Naivasha has reached levels not seen since 1961.</p>



<p>Along with ravaging crops and communities directly, the rains also favor the locusts’ reproduction, with a second wave anticipated around June, coinciding with harvest season and further adding to the mounting humanitarian crisis.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Return of the locusts</h2>



<p>According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), more than 20 million people are in severe acute food insecurity in East Africa.</p>



<p>A single Desert Locust swarm, which can contain up to 150 million insects per square kilometer, is capable of eating as much food in a day as 35,000 people. It is thought to be the most destructive migratory pest in the world.</p>



<p>The FAO’s Desert Locust appeal, launched in January, has now requested $153 million in external funding and currently covers 10 countries — Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and Yemen.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image alignwide"><img decoding="async" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/106400449-1582206861003gettyimages-1195325273.jpeg?v=1582207253&amp;w=678&amp;h=381" alt="Locusts swarm acros a highway at Lerata village, near Archers Post in Samburu county, approximately 300 kilomters (186 miles) north of Kenyan capital, Nairobi on January 22, 2020. (Photo by TONY KARUMBA / AFP) (Photo by TONY KARUMBA/AFP via Getty Images)"/><figcaption>Locusts swarm acros a highway at Lerata village, near Archers Post in Samburu county, approximately 300 kilomters (186 miles) north of Kenyan capital, Nairobi on January 22, 2020. (Photo by TONY KARUMBA / AFP) (Photo by TONY KARUMBA/AFP via Getty Images)Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



<p></p>



<p>If left unchecked, the FAO estimates that the locusts could multiply 400 times by the end of June. Oxfam is coordinating with local partner organizations on the ground in affected areas across northern and eastern Kenya, who are working to track the swarms and deploy aerial and ground pesticide operations.</p>



<p>“I don’t think they will be able to get on top of this swarm, so we will be looking at a third wave a little bit later on, and then after that, the locusts will naturally migrate with the winds back up north and then out over the Arabian sea to parts of the Middle East, or more likely Iran,” Oxfam’s Cousins said.</p>



<p>He added that communities have “very little room for maneuver” in terms of food security should the next wave coincide with harvest season in June.</p>



<p>“With Covid and the floods hampering transport connections, the pesticides have been slow coming in, because they’re normally brought in by flight and now they have to be brought in by sea,” Cousins explained.</p>



<p>The greatest concern, Cousins said, is the impact of the climate crisis on long term food security, particularly for children, in some of the poorest communities and harshest regions of the country.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image alignwide"><img decoding="async" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/106541534-1589779871626ke_2020_tanariverdelta_maziwa_21.jpeg?v=1589780174&amp;w=678&amp;h=381" alt="Flooding in an area of Tana River county, Kenya."/><figcaption>Flooding in an area of Tana River county, Kenya.The county government of Tana River, Kenya.</figcaption></figure>



<p></p>



<p>“That has a huge impact on the ability to attain good education, stay healthy, and in turn further puts pressure on health and education systems,” he said.</p>



<p>“The long term impacts of all these climate crises is the steady eroding of human capital in a lot of these areas, which in turn puts extra stress on government support systems.”</p>



<p>While the policy framework in Kenya is strong, Cousins suggested that it was overmatched at present, and more emphasis would need to be placed on “resilience-building” for the country’s health, education, infrastructure and agricultural systems to deal with what could well become a constant stream of climate shocks.</p>


Residents in Mandera County, Kenya, displaced by flooding. The County Government of Mandera, Kenya.

106541529-1589779379298ke_2020_manderaeast_31002

Coronavirus, floods and locust swarms: Kenya is fighting a ‘triple whammy’ of crises

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<p>According to the latest statistics released by the National Agriculture Export Development Board, Rwanda has exported more than 9,317 tonnes of processed tea, worth more than $27.6 million between January and March 2020. Cynthia Uwacu, Export Market Development and Innovation Division Manager at the National Agriculture Export Development Board spoke to CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Rwanda sees strong revenue from tea exports

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<p>Over the weekend, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the closure of borders with Tanzania and Somalia, a move he said was necessitated by an increase in the number of “imported” Covid-19 cases. Risk Expert, Caroline Gathii joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Kenya closes borders with Somalia

Kenya closes borders with Somalia, Tanzania due to coronavirus

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<p>This past week Kenya has seen quite a few stories making headlines; the finance minister has announced that the country would not be accepting the G20 debt relief program; extreme flooding has displaced thousands and the number of COVID-19 cases in the country approaches 900. Journalist, Joseph Bonyo joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Kenya rejects G20 debt relief initiative due to restrictive terms

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<p>Almost 90 per cent of African small businesses fear they may not survive the COVID-19 crisis, and need access to practical tools and support to prevent financial loss, according to a recent survey of entrepreneurs by the African Management Institute but could there be a silver lining for the survival of small businesses. CNBC Africa spoke to serial entrepreneur, Henri Nyakarundi for more.</p>


How small businesses can bounce back from the COVID-19 crisis

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<p>With many African countries reaching out to international bodies for some form of financial assistance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, does this pose a higher risk for some economies more than others? Case in point, Kenya which in the recent past has flirted with mounting debt from the likes of China and other trading partners, so is the country on the verge of falling into a debt trap? George Bodo, Director, Callstreet Research joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


COVID-19: Is Kenya plunging further into a debt trap?

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<p>Manufacturers in the country have stepped forward to bridge the demand gap and improve access to personal protection equipment under the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.</p>


How Rwanda is finding home grown solutions to the COVID-19 crisis

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<p>Fitch Ratings has for the first time rated Development Bank of Rwanda at B+, reflecting the bank’s stable outlook. The rating also demonstrates BRD’s ability to raise external financing in case of need. Vincent Ngirikiringo, the bank&#8217;s Chief Finance Officer joined CNBC Africa and shared an update on the 3 year $24.42 million recapitalisation plan by the government.</p>


Development bank of Rwanda earns B+ Fitch Ratings

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<p>Every year the estimated 220,000 young people who enter the labour market in Rwanda aspiring to decent work are held back by the slow growth of employment in the formal sector. To better equip them best with the evolving job market, Rwanda&#8217;s Ministry of Education launched the Tech Enabled Stem Teaching pilot Programme in 50 secondary schools meant to achieve an education system that embraces 21st century skills&#8230;.</p>


How Rwanda is preparing its students for the jobs of tomorrow

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<p>In Kenya, the treasury had granted millers permission to import maize at a lower tariff but declined to extend the duration as requested by millers on fears the imports would coincide with the harvesting of short-rain crop from south rift, impacting negatively on local prices. However, millers say they will not be importing maize and warn Kenyans should brace for higher prices of flour in the coming days on the account of expensive raw material. Nick Kwolek, Founder of KwolCo joins CNBC Africa more.</p>


KwolCo’s outlook for East Africa’s commodity markets

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<p>South Sudan’s central bank has slashed its benchmark interest rate by 200 basis points to 13 per cent to help the economy cope with the effects of COVID-19. According to governor, the flow of credit to the private sector had started to decline during the outbreak and the policy easing was aimed at accelerating lending. Parek Maduot, Director of Economic Development &#038; Regional Integration, at the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region joined CNBC Africa more.</p>


East Africa

How is Rwanda’s mining sector fairing amid the COVID-19 crisis?

How COVID-19 is affecting SME funding in Kenya

COVID-19: Ugandan residents to get free face masks

COVID-19: Rwanda, Tanzania agree on a solution for cross-border movements

COVID-19: What opportunities exist for the cyber security industry?

Tiekie Barnard on COVID-19 impact & what to expect from the Africa Shared Value Leadership e-Summit

Coronavirus, floods and locust swarms: Kenya is fighting a ‘triple whammy’ of crises

Rwanda sees strong revenue from tea exports

Kenya closes borders with Somalia, Tanzania due to coronavirus

Kenya rejects G20 debt relief initiative due to restrictive terms

How small businesses can bounce back from the COVID-19 crisis

COVID-19: Is Kenya plunging further into a debt trap?

How Rwanda is finding home grown solutions to the COVID-19 crisis

Development bank of Rwanda earns B+ Fitch Ratings

How Rwanda is preparing its students for the jobs of tomorrow

KwolCo’s outlook for East Africa’s commodity markets

South Sudan’s Central Bank slashes benchmark rate to 13% in response to COVID-19

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East Africa

How is Rwanda’s mining sector fairing amid the COVID-19 crisis?

How COVID-19 is affecting SME funding in Kenya

COVID-19: Ugandan residents to get free face masks

COVID-19: Rwanda, Tanzania agree on a solution for cross-border movements

COVID-19: What opportunities exist for the cyber security industry?

Tiekie Barnard on COVID-19 impact & what to expect from the Africa Shared Value Leadership e-Summit

Coronavirus, floods and locust swarms: Kenya is fighting a ‘triple whammy’ of crises

Rwanda sees strong revenue from tea exports

Kenya closes borders with Somalia, Tanzania due to coronavirus

Kenya rejects G20 debt relief initiative due to restrictive terms

How small businesses can bounce back from the COVID-19 crisis

COVID-19: Is Kenya plunging further into a debt trap?

How Rwanda is finding home grown solutions to the COVID-19 crisis

Development bank of Rwanda earns B+ Fitch Ratings

How Rwanda is preparing its students for the jobs of tomorrow

KwolCo’s outlook for East Africa’s commodity markets

South Sudan’s Central Bank slashes benchmark rate to 13% in response to COVID-19

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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