By Chris Bishop, head of programming CNBC Africa



The results of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s rare elections are expected this weekend, according to a special adviser to one of the candidates promising a business friendly government and Mandela-style reconciliation for the war torn, yet mineral rich,nation.



It has been a journey of drudgery, downpours, allegations of fraud and protest since the polls opened on December 30 to find a successor to Joseph Kabila. He has stepped down after nearly two decades running the country that his father, Laurent, who died in a mysterious assassination in 2001, took control of in 1997 after overthrowing Mobuto Sese Seko.



Felix Tshisekedi, the son of a former minister who studied in Belgium and set up his own delivery business in Brussels after years working in the Post Office, is fighting it out with former Exxon Mobil manager and opposition lawmaker Martin Fayulu and the man with Kabila’s vote, former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary.



 <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RDC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RDC</a> Le Président Joseph <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kabila?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kabila</a> a rempli son devoir civique, en compagnie des siens, ce dimanche 30 décembre 2018 à Kinshasa. <a href="https://t.co/tMiljzmywD">pic.twitter.com/tMiljzmywD</a>— Présidence RDC ?? (@Presidence_RDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/Presidence_RDC/status/1079286376816930816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2018</a></blockquote>
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“The latest we are leading by between 40 and 45%, in 13 out of 14 provinces. Around 70% of the vote has been counted and we understand all the votes have been captured,” says Claude Ibalanky Ekolomba, the special adviser to Tshisekedi . 



“Overall we are excited and extremely confident. We are leading the race at the moment.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/international/2018/12/31/drc-elections-why-the-opposition-is-crying-foul/">Read: DRC elections: Opposition, ruling coalition both say they’ve won, here’s why</a></h3>



Ibalanky Ekolomba, who is visiting Johannesburg, admits it is difficult to keep contact with the people back in the DRC with the internet shut down by the state for fear it may stir unrest.



“We have ways to get through, it is not always reliable but we do and it is the people on the ground who know what is happening,” he says. He pointed to a case of alleged fraud where a bag of votes for Tshisekedi were found by a fisherman in a river near Lake Kivu who simply picked it up and reported it to the authorities.



“You cannot stop 30 million people witnessing their own election and when things are happening we are told.”



Ibalanky Ekolomba says Tshisekedi wants to be a business friendly president, if elected, in search of the foreign direct investment that the DRC desperately needs to reap the rewards of its rich minerals.&nbsp;Tshisekedi did not plan to cancel contracts with foreign companies as had been done before after changes of government.



“If we find a mistake in a contract we will engage and see how we are going to correct it,” he says.



“Some people are fearing we will be hard on business but not at all – we will be open for business.”



Tshisekedi also promises to appoint people to government on merit.



“Fighting corruption and money laundering. There will be no witch hunt among people who were members of the former government, we will be saying let’s build this country together just like Mandela did,” says Ibalanky Ekolomba.&nbsp;

DRC elections: Downpours,no internet drudgery and a fisherman’s find on the way to a Mandela- inspired tomorrow?

KINSHASA (Reuters) &#8211; Democratic Republic of Congo’s opposition said on Monday it expected one of its candidates to win the presidential election based on early vote tallies, but the ruling coalition said it was confident its candidate had won the chaotic contest.



The competing claims followed a disorderly election day on Sunday in which many Congolese were unable to vote due to an Ebola outbreak, conflict and logistical problems.



The vote is meant to choose a successor to outgoing President Joseph Kabila after 18 years in power and could lead to the vast central African country’s first ever democratic transition.



Any disputed outcome could lead to a repeat of the violence that followed the 2006 and 2011 elections and a wider security breakdown, particularly along Congo’s borders with Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, where dozens of armed militia are active.



Vital Kamerhe, the campaign manager to opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi, said early counting showed Tshisekedi and the other main opposition candidate Martin Fayulu neck-and-neck in the lead, both with over 40 percent of the vote.



He said the ruling coalition candidate, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, who is backed by Kabila, had only about 13 percent, although a significant part of the vote remained to be tabulated.



The election is a first-past-the-post system with no run-off.



Nehemie Mwilanya, Kabila’s chief of staff and a member of Shadary’s campaign, told a news conference on Monday morning that he was confident Shadary had won, although he did not provide specific figures.



“For us, victory is certain,” Mwilanya said.



Fayulu’s camp has not yet provided specific numbers but Fayulu said late on Sunday that Shadary’s camp was “dreaming” if it thought it was going to win.



The most recent opinion poll before the election, released by New York University’s Congo Research Group on Friday, showed Fayulu, a former Exxon Mobil manager, leading the race on 47 percent.



Tshisekedi had 24 percent and Shadary 19 percent.



The first partial results are expected from the national electoral commission (CENI) on Tuesday.



Election day was mostly peaceful despite several violent incidents, including an altercation at a polling place in eastern Congo in which at least three people were killed.



More than 1.2 million Congolese were also unable to vote in three opposition strongholds, where the CENI cancelled the poll last week, citing an ongoing Ebola outbreak and ethnic violence.



However, in the Ebola hotspot of Beni, an opposition stronghold, residents staged a mock presidential election to show the authorities a decision to postpone the vote there due to health fears was unfounded.



Writing By Aaron Ross, Editing by William Maclean

Update DRC elections: Opposition, ruling coalition both say they’ve won, here’s why

KINSHASA (Reuters) &#8211; Long queues, broken-down machines and torrential rain in the capital disrupted voting in Democratic Republic of Congo’s long-anticipated presidential poll on Sunday, as the opposition alleged widespread irregularities.



<a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/international/2018/12/28/why-protests-are-erupting-as-drc-elections-loom/">Three opposition strongholds will see no casting of ballots</a> at all after the authorities cancelled the vote there, citing health risks from an ongoing Ebola outbreak and ethnic violence.



READ: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/international/2018/12/28/drcs-best-known-political-cartoonist-making-light-of-grim-realities-shares-his-election-hopes/">DRC’s best known political cartoonist: Making light of grim realities shares his election hopes</a>



Some polling places in other opposition bastions in the capital Kinshasa did not open until more than seven hours after the 6 a.m. (0500 GMT) start because voter rolls had not arrived.



Elections are a rare event in Congo, which has been plagued by authoritarian rule, assassinations, coups and civil wars since independence from Belgium in 1960.



If President Joseph Kabila, in power since his father’s assassination in 2001, steps down after the vote it will be the country’s first ever democratic transition.



Kabila voted early in the morning in Kinshasa at the same school as the candidate he is backing, former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, whom the latest opinion polls showed trailing two opposition candidates.



“My only concern is that we have this very heavy rain and probably voter turnout might be low, but hopefully the skies will clear, and the voters will turn out in numbers,” Kabila, wearing a dark blue suit, told reporters.



The Catholic bishops conference (CENCO) said electronic voting machines, criticised by the opposition as vulnerable to fraud, had dysfunctioned in at least 544 of 12,300 polling places it monitored. It also said 846 polling stations were installed in “prohibited places” like military and police posts.



Some voters also complained they could not find their names on the rolls, and flooded streets in Kinshasa prevented others from reaching their polling stations.



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Vital Kamerhe, the campaign director for Felix Tshisekedi, one of the two leading opposition candidates in the race, said he had received reports of fraud in Shadary’s favour.



In the western city of Inongo, Kamerhe said, the head of a polling place was found voting several times for Shadary and three machines there were converting votes for Tshisekedi into votes for Shadary.



Reuters could not independently confirm the allegations, and the national electoral commission (CENI) said in a tweet that in Inongo and several other cities, “voting operations are underway and everything is going well”.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">PROTESTS</h3>



Despite repeated delays to the contest, which was originally meant to take place in 2016, diplomats and poll observers have said authorities are ill-prepared, raising fears of a repeat of the violence that followed elections in 2006 and 2011.



Kabila’s agreement to stick to constitutional term limits should represent progress for the mineral-rich country. But he could continue to exercise influence from the sidelines and has not ruled out running again for president in 2023.



Violent protests erupted this week after authorities announced that voting had been cancelled in the Ebola-hit eastern cities of Beni and Butembo, their surrounding areas and the western city of Yumbi.



Together, they account for more than 1.2 million out of the Central African country’s 40 million voters nationwide and are all considered opposition bastions.



In Beni, dozens of voters lined up on Sunday morning to write their choices on sheets of paper, residents said.



Voting was mostly peaceful across the country, but there were a few violent incidents. In the central city of Kananga, the head of a polling place was beaten up by voters who suspected him of trying to cheat when he moved a broken-down voting machine from the room, two local activists said.



In eastern Congo’s Masisi territory, militia fighters were also reported around polling sites, pressuring people to vote for their preferred candidates, a Western diplomat said.



The most recent poll released by New York University’s Congo Research Group on Friday showed former Exxon Mobil manager and opposition lawmaker Martin Fayulu leading the race on 47 percent, buoyed by discontent with Kabila’s 18-year tenure.



Under Kabila, Congo has seen strong economic growth from surging copper and cobalt output but only meagre improvements to average people’s quality of life.



Another opposition leader, Felix Tshisekedi, trailed in the poll with 24 percent, while Shadary got 19 percent.



“I will vote for Martin Fayulu,” said Mama Wivine, 40 and unemployed, as she waited for the machine to arrive at her polling place in Kinshasa’s Camp Luka neighbourhood. “We hope he can bring jobs and better conditions for us Congolese. We are fed up with the regime of Kabila.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">DUELLING EXPECTATIONS</h3>



After voting in Kinshasa, Fayulu said: “Today, we mark the end of Mr. Kabila, the end of the misery of the Congolese people.”



But Shadary has big institutional advantages, including round-the-clock coverage on state media. Kabila appointees also dominate national institutions.



“I think victory is on my side and that tonight I will be president,” Shadary said after casting his ballot.



The CENI has tried to reassure the opposition about the voting machines by saying that only print-outs from the machines counted by hand will be factored into the official results.



But any disputed outcome could lead to a wider security breakdown across Congo, particularly along its eastern borders with Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, where dozens of armed militia are active.



The last polls close at 5 p.m. (1600 GMT), although voting will continue for those still in line. Voters are also choosing representatives for the national and provincial assemblies.



Reporting by Giulia Paravicini and Fiston Mahamba; Additional reporting by Baz Ratner, Sabiti Djaffar and Juliette Jabkhiro; Writing by Aaron Ross and Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Helen Popper, Christopher Cushing and Raissa Kasolowsky, William Maclean

DRC elections: After three postponements, voting takes place, this is the outcome so far…

KINSHASA, Dec 28 (Reuters) &#8211; Thembo Kashauri has sketched some of the most scathing parodies of Joseph Kabila, yet Congo’s best-known political cartoonist has mixed feelings about the taciturn president’s impending departure after nearly two decades in power.



“He had an atypical personality for a head of state but he inspired a lot of my drawings,” the cartoonist known as Kash said in his cramped studio cluttered with old computer equipment in the capital Kinshasa.



“His silences were so eloquent that the fact he didn’t speak much said a lot,” he said of Kabila, who has governed Democratic Republic of Congo since his father’s assassination in 2001.



After Kabila finally agreed not to defy presidential term limits by standing in Sunday’s election, Kash drew a weeping Joseph with his signature salt-and-pepper beard and thick head of hair being comforted by South Africa’s president.



“Power is life,” sobs Kabila as Cyril Ramaphosa reassures him there is life after the presidency.



The election, which has turned into a race between Kabila’s favoured candidate and two main opposition challengers, could lead to Congo’s first democratic transfer of power after decades marked by armed conflicts.



But the poll, which is already two years late because Kabila refused to go when his mandate expired, has been marred by killings on the campaign trail and opposition outcry after the electoral commission cancelled the vote in several of their strongholds, citing security and health concerns.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">‘TURN THE PAGE’</h3>



Kash, 53, is well-accustomed to finding ways to make light of Congo’s grim realities, but he hopes the outcome of Sunday’s vote could lighten the dark mood that permeates his sketches.



“If one of the opposition candidates took power, I think &#8230; we could turn the page,” he said.



Kash, who draws for Le Potentiel, an opposition-leaning daily in Kinshasa, and the news site actualite.cd, has found plenty to poke fun at during a topsy-turvy campaign.



After the electoral commission announced last week yet another seven-day delay to the vote, Kash sketched commission president Corneille Nangaa on an A4 sheet of paper in chef’s whites in a smoke-filled kitchen.



While Nangaa stirs a big pot labelled “December 30 cassoulet”, an anxious waitress asks if the food is ready as the diners are on the verge of rioting.



“I’m trying to portray Congolese people’s anxiety about December 30,” Kash told Reuters after filling in an initial pencil sketch with bold strokes of thick black marker.



Kash, who hails from the eastern city of Beni, began his career as a painter but learned to draw cartoons from a Belgian artist and started to sketch for magazines in the 1980s.



At first, he stuck to cartoons about music and culture but he started depicting veteran Congolese autocrat Mobutu Sese Seko in 1990 after his forces massacred dozens of students in the southeastern city of Lubumbashi.



“We couldn’t caricature politics,” he said. “In 1990, I was just about the first to caricature Mobutu.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION</h3>



Often heavy-handed repression of journalists and activists has continued since the Mobutu era through the administrations of Laurent Kabila and his son, Joseph.



But Kash says he rarely faces official pressure to tone down his drawings &#8211; even if his newspaper occasionally won’t run cartoons it deems too provocative.



READ: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/international/2018/12/28/why-protests-are-erupting-as-drc-elections-loom/">Why protests are erupting as DRC elections loom</a>



On several occasions, he has drawn Congo as an open-air prison hemmed in by high walls and barbed wire. In 2014, he drew Kabila trying on Mobutu’s trademark leopard-skin hat as the old dictator tells him he’ll be able to hold on to power if he just adds a cane and glasses to his repertoire.



Kash’s ability to mock the rich and powerful in Congo reflects in part a country that has long proved too big and too unruly for any leader to muzzle its famed sense of humour, unlike its more tightly controlled neighbours.



“The freedom of expression we have in Congo is the result of a long struggle. In Brazzaville and Rwanda, you don’t mess around. You’ll get yourself killed,” he said.



Even so, there are few other cartoonists who have his fearless style. “They’re too timid,” said Kash.



Despite his self-avowed fondness for drawing Kabila, Kash said his would-be successors have some potential too.



One of the frontrunners, Felix Tshisekedi, has the same bulk as his father, the late opposition icon Etienne, and sports the same distinctive flat cap. Kash said he also enjoys drawing Kabila’s preferred successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary.



“Since he was picked as the heir apparent, I’ve been able to draw him fairly easily because he has quite fine features &#8211; the nose, the body. He’s an interesting subject to draw.” (Reporting by Alessandra Prentice in Kinshasa and Aaron Ross in Dakar; editing by David Clarke)

DRC’s best known political cartoonist: Making light of grim realities shares his election hopes

KINSHASA (Reuters) &#8211; Security forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo fired live rounds and teargas on Thursday to disperse demonstrators who burned tires and attacked Ebola centres to protest a decision to exclude them from the presidential election.



The electoral commission (CENI) announced on Wednesday that it was cancelling voting in Sunday’s election in the cities of Beni, Butembo and their surrounding areas due to an ongoing Ebola outbreak and militia violence.



Those places are strongholds of opposition to outgoing President Joseph Kabila and local politicians denounced the move as an effort to swing the vote in favour of his preferred candidate, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary.



“There was a group of demonstrators who wanted to enter the CENI office&#8230;to demand the withdrawal of the decision,” said Giscard Yere, a Beni resident. “But the police officers and soldiers who were there fired to disperse the demonstrators.”



Protesters ransacked an Ebola isolation centre in Beni and it is possible that patients fled, Aruna Abedi, the deputy director of the Ebola response, told Reuters.They also attacked the office of the government agency coordinating the response in Beni before U.N. peacekeepers pushed them back, Abedi said.



“Protesters tried to force the door of the centre,” Abedi told Reuters. “They were chanting songs hostile to the government and demanding elections. They threw projectiles.”



Colonel Safari Kazingufu, the police commander in Beni, said his forces had deployed across the city to restore order, including around Ebola treatment centres.



Beni, Butembo and the rural areas around them have been dealing with an Ebola outbreak &#8211; now the second-deadliest in history &#8211; since August. It is believed to have killed more than 350 people so far.



But health authorities had repeatedly said that it would not prevent the vote from going ahead, and locals say the outbreak is being used as a pretext to disenfranchise them.



The CENI also cancelled the vote in the western city of Yumbi because of ethnic violence there last week that killed more than 100 people.



The election to replace Kabila, who has governed since replacing his assassinated father in 2001, was meant to take place in 2016 but has been repeatedly delayed.



That has triggered violent protests in which security forces killed dozens of people. It has also stoked militia violence in Congo’s eastern borderlands with Rwanda and Uganda as armed groups moved to exploit a perceived power vacuum.



Shadary is facing two main challengers in a field of 21 candidates: Felix Tshisekedi, the president of Congo’s largest opposition party, and Martin Fayulu, a former Exxon Mobil manager and national lawmaker.



Reporting By Stanis Bujakera; Additional reporting by Fiston Mahamba in Goma; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Angus MacSwan

Why protests are erupting as DRC elections loom

<figure><img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242751/original/file-20181029-76384-1torm2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="File 20181029 76384 1torm2j.jpg?ixlib=rb 1.1" /><figcaption>High magnification view of mosquito pupae and larvae underwater. 
<a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-mosquito-pupae-larvae-underwater-134180195?src=FIzxvIwFKsqKs5Wq0P2SbQ-1-51">7th Son Studio/shutterstock</a></figcaption></figure>
&nbsp;
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/wei-chiao-huang-580146">By Wei-Chiao Huang</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-at-buffalo-the-state-university-of-new-york-925">University at Buffalo, The State University of New York</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jonathan-lovell-588898">Jonathan Lovell</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-at-buffalo-the-state-university-of-new-york-925">University at Buffalo, The State University of New York</a>
Is it possible to eradicate malaria?
It is a question with which many researchers have grappled, and many ideas have been proposed. The reason malaria has garnered so much attention is that it is one of the deadliest diseases, infecting 200 million people and killing <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/malaria/index.html">more than 500,000 annually</a>, with infants in Africa suffering the majority of fatalities.
The disease is a huge burden for humanity, damaging economies and social development. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/malaria/index.html">According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>, malaria treatments cost Africa nearly US$12 billion per year. Reports have shown that nearly <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/malaria/index.html">1,700 cases</a> are diagnosed annually in the United States, usually in people who have recently traveled to regions of Asia and Africa where the disease is endemic.
For some decades, researchers have being working on a novel idea called a “transmission-blocking vaccine.” This vaccine is different from traditional vaccines that protect the recipient from getting the disease. Here, the vaccine blocks the transmission of the parasite that causes malaria from an infected human host to mosquitoes.
When a human receives such a vaccine, specific antibodies are generated in the blood. When a mosquito bites and ingests the blood of an infected human, both the parasite and antibody are taken up into the mosquito’s stomach. Once inside the mosquito, the antibody attaches to the parasite and inhibits its development. This prevents the mosquito from transmitting the disease to another person.
The concept is bold but has not yet been tested in large-scale trials.
<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243740/original/file-20181103-83626-1g5m9ao.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243740/original/file-20181103-83626-1g5m9ao.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243740/original/file-20181103-83626-1g5m9ao.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=460&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243740/original/file-20181103-83626-1g5m9ao.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=460&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243740/original/file-20181103-83626-1g5m9ao.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=460&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243740/original/file-20181103-83626-1g5m9ao.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=578&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243740/original/file-20181103-83626-1g5m9ao.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=578&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243740/original/file-20181103-83626-1g5m9ao.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=578&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption>How the transmission blocking vaccine works. The cycle of disease begins when a mosquito carrying the malaria parasite bites the first individual, infecting him with the disease. The paracite then replicates in the liver and spreads into the blood. When the vaccine is injected into the infected person, it stimulates the body to produce antibodies that then attach to the new parasites. When another mosquito feeds on the infected individual, it slurps up the malaria parasite and the antibody. The antibody prevents the immature parasite from developing, which means that this mosquito is unable to transmit the disease. 
Wei-Chiao Huang, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></figcaption></figure>
<h2>Liposomes: A vaccine carrier</h2>
A vaccine works by showing the body a piece of the disease-causing microbe. The part itself doesn’t cause disease but gives the body a preview of the invader so that it can prepare antibodies that will tag the microbe and label it for destruction.
To develop a potent vaccine that induces a strong antibody response, the choice of protein from the disease-causing organism is critical. Scientists home in on particular proteins that the microbes produce to spike the vaccine. For our work, we chose a well-studied protein called Pfs25, which is found on the surface of the malaria parasite.
The parasite displays this protein on its surface when it is developing in the midgut of the mosquito. Pfs25 as target protein for transmission-blocking vaccine has been clinically <a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02013687">tested</a> <a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02532049">in</a> <a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01867463">Phase</a> <a href="https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02334462">I</a> <a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02942277">trials</a>; however, progress has been limited. That’s because, by itself, the Pfs25 protein triggers only weak production of specific antibodies.
In other approaches, researchers have taken steps to genetically engineer a modified and more potent Pfs25 for <a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02013687">other</a> <a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/results/NCT02532049?view=results">clinical</a> trials. In general, such approaches are promising, but there is some potential risk that the target protein does not exactly mimic the natural protein on the parasite.
We believe that a new type of vaccine that incorporates liposomes may be a promising candidate for a transmission-blocking vaccine adjuvant. An adjuvant is another vaccine component that potentiates the immune response. Liposomes are hollow spheres made from fat molecules.
The advantage of the liposomes, compared to just the Pfs25 protein alone, is that they can help deliver more parasite protein to immune cells. These cells uptake the liposomal vaccines and trigger the production of more antibodies which then target the parasite for destruction and block the disease.
<a href="https://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/%7Ejflovell/people.html">Jonathan Lovell’s</a> team has developed a liposome as a vaccine to fight against malaria. In 2015, Dr. Lovell’s team figured out how to anchor proteins to the liposome by attaching them <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2236">to a string of amino acids called a histidine tag</a>. The tag works like an anchor which attaches the protein to the liposome.
Adding a cobalt-containing molecule, with a structure similar to vitamin B12, made the liposome-protein structure stable.
<h2>Eliminating the spread of malaria</h2>
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-018-0271-3">The Lovell lab developed</a> a cobalt-laced liposome-based vaccine that displays the parasite proteins on its surface.
<figure class="align-center "><img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243731/original/file-20181102-83635-1rcyw17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243731/original/file-20181102-83635-1rcyw17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=221&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243731/original/file-20181102-83635-1rcyw17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=221&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243731/original/file-20181102-83635-1rcyw17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=221&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243731/original/file-20181102-83635-1rcyw17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=277&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243731/original/file-20181102-83635-1rcyw17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=277&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243731/original/file-20181102-83635-1rcyw17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=277&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption>Making a liposome vaccine: The Pfs25 protein is tethered to a histidine tag (green) and mixed together with a cobalt-containing liposome. The two parts combine to make a vaccine that is injected into the mouse. The insert shows how the histidine tail interacts with the liposome to keep the proteins firmly attached. 
<a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></figcaption></figure>
Making this vaccine is simple. Once we have the cobalt liposomes and the Pfs25-histidine molecules, we simply mix these parts together, and the structures form spontaneously. When this Pfs25 liposome is injected into mice, it triggers high quantities of antibodies.
The antibodies in the mice blocked development of parasites in the gut of the mosquito. So we expect that when an uninfected mosquito bites a person infected with the malaria parasite, the blood it sucks up will carry the parasite and the human antibodies that will prevent the parasite from multiplying in the insect’s gut.
When we tested this vaccine in mice, the animals continued to produce antibodies for more than 250 days. These antibodies produced throughout this period prevented the development of the malaria parasite throughout this period.
<h2>Moving forward</h2>
<figure class="align-center "><img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242747/original/file-20181029-76399-1tylcyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242747/original/file-20181029-76399-1tylcyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=294&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242747/original/file-20181029-76399-1tylcyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=294&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242747/original/file-20181029-76399-1tylcyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=294&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242747/original/file-20181029-76399-1tylcyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=369&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242747/original/file-20181029-76399-1tylcyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=369&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242747/original/file-20181029-76399-1tylcyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=369&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption>Malaria disease around the world, 2014. Warning map for travelers with high risk of contracting malaria. 
<a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/malaria-disease-around-world-2014-warning-235538464">Peteri / Shutterstock.com</a></figcaption></figure>
Another valuable feature of the cobalt liposome is that we can attach a variety of proteins from different stages of parasite development to create a particle that triggers the production of many types of antibodies – each targeting a unique part of the parasite. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-018-0271-3">Our results showed</a> that five distinct malaria proteins could be attached to the liposome surface.
The antibodies from mice immunized with liposomes carrying multiple proteins recognized many stages of parasite development. The results seem promising. In the future we plan to explore the safety of this vaccine and whether it will work for different species of malaria.
Our next step is to test our vaccine in other animals. Eventually the aim is to translate this technology to human clinical trials and assess whether the liposome technology and the transmission blocking vaccine strategy is an effective tool for preventing the spread of malaria.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105553/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/wei-chiao-huang-580146">Wei-Chiao Huang</a>, Ph.D. Candidate in the Biomedical Engineering Department, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-at-buffalo-the-state-university-of-new-york-925">University at Buffalo, The State University of New York</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jonathan-lovell-588898">Jonathan Lovell</a>, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-at-buffalo-the-state-university-of-new-york-925">University at Buffalo, The State University of New York</a>
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-vaccine-that-could-block-mosquitoes-from-transmitting-malaria-105553">original article</a>.

Malaria treatments cost Africa nearly $12bn per year, this vaccine can help eradicate it…

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; Rio Tinto will sell its 69 percent stake in a Namibian uranium mine to China National Uranium Corp (CNUC) for up to $106.5 million, it said on Monday, as China seeks to bolster supplies and Rio offloads less-profitable assets.
Analysts said that China, which is targeting nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels and already owns stakes in Namibian uranium production, was an obvious buyer of the shares in the Rossing mine.
Rossing is the world’s longest-running open pit uranium mine, operating since 1976, and has produced more uranium than any other mine.
The Iranian Foreign Investment Company holds a legacy 15 percent stake that goes back to the original funding of the mine, which could have been a problem for some potential buyers.
An industry source close to the deal, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there had been interest from private equity and from China.
The other shareholders are the Namibian government (3 percent), the Development Corporation of South Africa (10 percent) and individual shareholders (3 percent).
Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said the company would work closely with CNUC “to ensure a smooth transition and ongoing sustainable operation at Rossing”.
No one from CNUC was immediately available for comment, though an executive at China National Nuclear Corp said in October it was looking to secure supply for an expected ramp-up in China’s nuclear power generation.
The sale is also in line with global miner Rio Tinto’s disposal strategy, following on from its exit from thermal coal this year. It is also trying to sell some of its aluminium assets.
Monday’s binding agreement comprises an initial cash payment of $6.5 million, payable at completion, and a contingent payment of up to $100 million following completion.
The contingent payment is linked to uranium spot prices and Rossing’s net income during the next seven years.
The transaction is subject to merger approval from the Namibian Competition Commission, with expected completion in the first half of 2019.
Rio Tinto’s London share price eased 0.3 pecent on Monday, against a 0.5 percent gain for the sector index.
The mining sector as a whole has weakened this year as the recovery of 2016-17 has faltered and doubts have surfaced about Chinese demand in the face of trade tensions with the United States.
Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru, Melanie Burton in Melbourne and Barbara Lewis and Clara Denina in London; Editing by David Goodman

China buys Rio Tinto’s stake in Namibia uranium for $107 million

Media Release
23 November 2018
South Africa blazed the trail by being the first African country to host the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Africa Leaders Forum since the first WTTC Global Summit hosted by Portugal in 1996.
The Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom, expressed his gratitude at the opportunity and confidence given to South Africa to be first host of the forum on African soil, as he delivered the opening address in Stellenbosch on Thursday.
“The growth of this sector will catalyse job creation. We require greater active participation of the continent in the work of WTTC,” said Minister Hanekom.
For 26 years, the WTTC has been the voice of the global tourism industry. This organisation promotes sustainable growth in the sector, works with governments and international institutions to create jobs, to drive exports and to generate prosperity.
South Africa sees the value of the WTTC as being the voice of this industry globally bringing specialist knowledge to guide government policy and decision-making, raising awareness of the importance of the industry as an economic generator of prosperity.
Given the potential of Travel and Tourism in Africa, WTTC gathered the CEOs and regional leaders of the top Travel &amp; Tourism companies from across Africa, along with Tourism Ministers and regional experts at its inaugural Africa Leaders Forum in Stellenbosch to discuss the key issues facing the region’s Travel &amp; Tourism sector. The President and CEO of WTTC, Gloria Guevara Manzo, praised the South African government for recognising the opportunities in this sector and the steps it has taken to realise this potential.
The Africa Leaders Forum promotes further investment in Africa’s tourism sector and supports innovation in tourism. The Forum also provided a unique and exclusive space for networking among industry leaders. Some of the key issues facing the region’s travel and tourism sector were discussed including Tourism’s role in sustainable growth and development, as well as tourism and inclusive job creation.
As an economic lever and a growth pillar, tourism currently supports about 1.5 million jobs directly and indirectly in South Africa. Growing the country’s tourism sector is a key aspect of the country’s Nine-Point Plan and aligned to the National Development Plan that recognises tourism as one of the main drivers in the economy. By achieving the objectives of the National Tourism Sector Strategy (2016-2026), there will be more sustainable jobs and a more inclusive tourism sector. This strategy is a guiding document for the Tourism Sector in South Africa, with particular focus on inclusive growth, job creation and transformation.
“The African Continent has huge growth potential if we harness the tourism sector opportunities”, Minister Hanekom concluded.

How South Africa is propelling the continent into the forefront of the tourism sector

(Reuters) &#8211; Steinhoff International said on Thursday its Mattress Firm Inc unit, the largest U.S. mattress retailer, emerged out of bankruptcy with access to $525 million in exit financing, within two months of filing for Chapter 11 protection.
Mattress Firm also closed about 660 underperforming stores, said Steinhoff, which has been working on a deal to restructure the debt of some units after revealing multi-billion-euro holes in its balance sheet.
The store closures still leave the Houston-based company with about 2,600 stores across the United States.
“Today’s announcement is a further positive step in the wider Steinhoff restructuring process, which continues to make good progress,” Steinhoff acting CEO Danie van der Merwe said.
Mattress Firm, founded in 1986, had filed for voluntary bankruptcy protection in early October, gaining some breathing room to restructure and shore up its finances.
The retail industry has seen a series of bankruptcies, including Toys “R” Us, over the last couple of years on mounting pressure from e-commerce companies like Amazon.com Inc.
Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier

What you need to know about Steinhoff’s US unit Mattress Firm shutting down 660 stores as it emerges out of bankruptcy

By Eric Streso, Certified Financial Planner, FPI.
21 November 2018; “Clients often ask me when they should invest offshore and I tell them now is the time, why wait until the next financial setback reduces your potential investment capital further,” says Eric Streso, a top-flight financial consultant, with more than 20 years’ experience in financial planning.
“South Africa is a relatively small financial market and, with the ability to invest up to R1 million every calendar year, without a tax clearance certificate, the opportunities multiply internationally.
“Here are markets, sectors or even companies outside the JSE that represent a wealth of experience and prospects. Utilising South African advice and expertise, clients are able to discuss the portfolios with an expert, who then advises and creates investment opportunities in various markets. I find the personal touch alleviates the understandable anxiety of venturing into a new monetary space. I encourage clients to ask questions, review portfolios and generally understand the complexities of offshore investments, taxes and regulatory practices.
“Investing in funds that are registered in foreign currencies can protect your investments in a hard currency and, if you plan to use the money overseas without bringing it back to South Africa, can potentially protect you from political and economic downturns at home.
“Ideally, one should be looking at $30 000 as an investment, with an investment period of 5-8 years, otherwise the returns may not be as lucrative as desired. One must also take into account capital gains tax, if you wish to realise your investment and convert it back to Rands. However, again if the rand has depreciated over this period, your capital gain is likely to be lower on your offshore investment than it would have be on a rand-denominated fund,” concludes Streso.

OpEd: It’s a good time to invest offshore, here’s why

Global market research company Euromonitor International launched a global study on illicit alcohol.
The multi-region report compiles findings from 24 countries in Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Results show that 26 percent of the total volume of alcohol consumed in these countries is illicit.
Out of the 25 countries covered by Euromonitor’s research, Africa has the largest illicit alcohol problem. Whilst almost double the number of countries were covered in South America, Africans consume double the volumes (in absolute alcohol terms) of illicit alcohol.
Key points on illicit alcohol in Sub-Saharan Africa
• South Africa witnessed the largest fiscal loss out of the 7 African countries due to illicit trade despite the low share of illicit to licit litres of absolute alcohol (LAE) volume predominantly due to its tax strategies. 
• In international standards and even by African standards, South Africans consume excessive amounts of alcohol. The country has the second highest per capita alcohol consumption, falling just behind Zambia. 
• South Africa has the largest variance between the price that consumers can purchase legal alcohol vs what they pay for illicit alcohol (51%) and it is well above the regional average of 42%. 
• In 5 of the 8 countries covered the share of the illicit alcohol market is more than 50%, which means that 1 in every two 2 alcoholic beverages consumed, are illicit. In Zambia, this number is much higher. At 69.5% percent, Zambia is second only to Mozambique and almost 3 out of every 4 alcohol drinks are illicit. 
• Measured on a per capita basis, Zambians drink the largest amount of legal alcohol but also drink the most illegal alcohol. These numbers are measured on an LAE basis so this is absolute alcohol consumption. South Africans follow closely when it comes to the per capita consumption of illicit alcohol. 
• Whilst smuggling is present across all the countries researched, Zambia loses by far the most of its tax revenue to smuggling (71%).
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-322884" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Alcohol-1.jpg" alt="" width="722" height="547" />
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<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-322885" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Alcohol-2.jpg" alt="" width="790" height="603" />
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<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-322886" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Alcohol-3.jpg" alt="" width="789" height="601" />
Article provided by Euromonitor International.

One in four bottles of alcohol consumed is illicit, what you need to know

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/thomas-kochan-155721">Thomas Kochan</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/mit-sloan-school-of-management-1878">MIT Sloan School of Management</a>
The <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/google-walkout-just-latest-sign-tech-worker-unrest/">recent walkout</a> by thousands of Google employees at offices around the world was the first protest of its kind by well-paid and benefit-rich high-tech workers.
The collective action was triggered by a report that their employer had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-harassment-andy-rubin.html">awarded several top male executives accused of sexual misconduct</a> multimillion-dollar exit packages. But <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BpnoQ3DBRZ1/?taken-by=googlewalkout">their list of demands</a> suggests the roots of the crisis go much deeper.
To me, it’s a reminder of just how outmoded American labor laws are, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=QfH1gOcAAAAJ&amp;hl=en&amp;oi=ao">a primary area of my research</a> these days. In fact, the underlying grievances that motivated the Google employees to walk out are emblematic of what’s prompting millions of American workers to feel they have lost their voice.
And unfortunately, U.S. labor law no longer has their back. The walkout by these non-union professionals at Google, however, might change that.
<h2>Five demands</h2>
The brief walkouts took place in about 40 Google offices including New York, London, Singapore and the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.
They followed a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-harassment-andy-rubin.html">New York Times investigation</a> that found that the search giant gave Andy Rubin, the creator of its Android mobile software, a US$90 million exit package despite a credible claim of sexual misconduct. The report said two other executives received similar treatment.
The leaders of the walkout presented a list of five demands on an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BpnoQ3DBRZ1/?taken-by=googlewalkout">Instagram page</a>:
<ol>
<li>an end to forced arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination</li>
<li>a commitment to end pay and opportunity inequality</li>
<li>a publicly disclosed sexual harassment transparency report</li>
<li>a clear, uniform, globally inclusive process for reporting sexual misconduct safely and anonymously</li>
<li>promote the chief diversity officer to answer directly to the CEO and make recommendations directly to the board of directors. In addition, appoint an employee representative to the board.</li>
</ol>
The demands signal, in my view, a deep dissatisfaction with the lack of effective channels for reporting and resolving harassment claims, as well as a distrust of human resources, a department tasked with looking out for employees’ legal rights and enforcing company policies.
<h2>Workers losing their voice</h2>
The Google walkout has little precedent to help us understand what might happen next.
For one thing, it’s the first time employees at a high-tech company – with their <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/coolest-perks-of-working-at-google-in-2017-2017-7#googlers-also-reap-the-benefits-of-working-at-some-of-the-most-unique-and-beautiful-offices-in-the-world-5">free meals and on-site gyms</a> – staged a public protest. For another, it spanned multiple countries, a feat that very few unions are able to pull off. Finally and perhaps most importantly, the demands put forward go well beyond those covered under U.S. labor law.
The thing that comes closest to it is the spontaneous strike by 25,000 executives, managers and employees at the Market Basket grocery chain in Massachusetts in 2014 to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-28580359">protest the firing</a> of their CEO in a family dispute over strategy. After a six-week strike and a consumer boycott, the board capitulated and sold the company to the CEO. At the time, <a href="http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2014/09/03/market-basket-collective-bargaining-thomas-kochan">I called it</a> the most successful strike of the 21st century.
Both Market Basket and Google are examples of outbursts of employee tensions that have long been simmering among the private workforce. In a <a href="https://gcgj.mit.edu/new-paper-worker-voice-appear-ilr-review">recent national survey</a> we conducted at MIT, a majority of workers <a href="http://theconversation.com/who-wants-to-join-a-union-a-growing-number-of-americans-102374">said they don’t have as much of a voice</a> as they believe they should on a range of issues, from compensation and benefits to protections against harassment and respect for their labor.
Astoundingly, almost half of respondents said they would join a union if given the chance, a number that has increased from about one third in comparable surveys conducted in prior decades.
Yet, in case after case, companies have suppressed worker efforts to form a union, as we saw at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/business/boeing-union-south-carolina.html">Boeing facilities in South Carolina</a>, <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2017/08/04/uaw-wins-loses-organizing-vote-nissan-plant-mississippi/540679001">Nissan’s Mississippi factory</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/02/14/united-auto-workers-lose-historic-election-at-chattanooga-volkswagen-plant/?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.77286762fbdb">Volkswagen’s Tennessee plant</a>.
<h2>No legal standing</h2>
Like at Market Basket, Google’s employees have no legal standing to require their employer to negotiate with them, particularly over the issues they care about.
Legal standing only comes if they go through <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/001979390806200101">what is almost always</a> a hotly contested, long and usually futile election process overseen by the National Labor Relations Board.
And should they try, these employees would quickly find the board would rule a good number of them ineligible for coverage for several reasons, such as their being managers, contract employees or simply outside the U.S.
Furthermore, their demands – such as an employee rep on the board or requiring the chief diversity officer to report to the CEO – are outside the narrow confines of what the labor relations board considers “the mandatory scope of bargaining.”
And the demand to eliminate forced arbitration would likely end up at the Supreme Court, which <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-1379.ZS.html">has already issued a ruling</a> that backs companies’ right to do it.
<h2>But powerless?</h2>
All this is not to say that Google employees are powerless to achieve the “structural changes” they seek.
Although labor law won’t protect them, they might be able to use the hundreds of millions of Google’s customers – of its search engine, email program or mobile phone software – to pressure executives to negotiate in good faith.
In this regard, Google might be wise to look to Market Basket for guidance. Because of the strong customer support of the workers in that dispute, <a href="https://www.boston.com/news/business/2015/08/22/a-year-later-things-are-going-pretty-well-for-market-basket">business plunged by 90 percent</a>, which is likely what compelled the board to give in.
In other words, if Google’s employees hold steady despite the lack of federal protection, they could not only end up changing their company’s policy on harassment, but become the vanguard that could help disrupt U.S. labor law in the process.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106305/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/thomas-kochan-155721">Thomas Kochan</a>, George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management Professor, Work and Organization Studies Co-Director, MIT Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/mit-sloan-school-of-management-1878">MIT Sloan School of Management</a>
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-googles-employees-walked-out-and-what-it-could-mean-for-the-future-of-labor-106305">original article</a>.

Here’s why Google employees at offices around the world are protesting

By: Amadou Hott, Vice-President of Power, Energy, Climate Change &amp; Green Growth at the African Development Bank
Accessible, reliable and affordable energy is the cornerstone of transformational socio-economic development. For Africa, delivering sustainable development is dependent on meeting the continent’s energy needs in order to lift populations out of poverty, catalyze industrialization, and stimulate economic growth.
Despite the continent’s abundant energy resources, energy poverty is still rife in the continent with close to 600 million people lacking access to electricity. This sets nations back on meeting energy access goals, retards industry progress, and diminishes the continent’s economic growth by 2 to 4 percent every year.
On a positive note, energy access has improved in recent years with the number of people without access in sub-Saharan Africa falling for the first time in absolute terms, and with countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda leading the pace. Africa is at the forefront of distributed energy systems that can increase energy access in rural areas faster, more cheaply, and more widely than conventional grid extension, driven by innovative business models and rapidly decreasing technology costs. At the same time, renewables are on the rise across the continent with significant renewable generation capacities added in countries such as Egypt, Morocco and South Africa.
Renewable energy investments are also on the rise across the continent from Senegal, to Kenya, and Zambia. While this progress is encouraging, the pace of energy access falls far short of meeting the universal energy access target by 2030.
Closing the gap on Africa’s energy challenges presents major opportunities for investors keen on engaging with the continent, especially on helping Africa meet the shortfall in the estimated $90 billion required to achieve universal energy access by 2030.
Clearly, these financing needs are of such magnitude that no single institution is capable of meeting them in isolation. This is why development finance institutions need a pragmatic shift in how they do business and leverage scarce public resources in order to mobilize private sector financing at scale, “from billions to trillions”.
The African Development Bank is leading by example. For instance, the Bank launched the Facility for Energy Inclusion to close funding gaps in the small-scale energy infrastructure sector, and catalyze last-mile energy access. Through a mix of commercial and concessional instruments, the facility provides low cost of capital, and mitigates key credit and currency risks. Additionally, the recently approved the Room2Run transaction allows the Bank to effectively transfer the credit risks of selected loan portfolios to investors, which lowers the total risk consumption of the Bank.
This initiative will enable the Bank to recycle capital efficiently in order to boost lending capacity and enhance private sector investments. The transaction has already attracted major support from partners like the European Commission who will provide a $100 million guarantee to be channeled into renewable energy projects in Africa. Ultimately, this will free up around $700 million, which can be re-allocated to new projects.
Multiple barriers hinder investments and private sector participation which could potentially fast-track energy access. These include lack of an enabling policy environment for investors, and other systemic bottlenecks that slow down transactions and escalate project costs. Transforming the energy landscape calls for a multi-faceted approach to unlock private sector capital by resolving these barriers in order to create the ideal conditions for investments in the continent.
The African Development Bank in close collaboration with other development partners is perched on the apex of creating a vibrant marketplace that will deliver the energy transformation necessary to move Africa forward. The Bank is dedicated to eliminating and minimizing barriers for investors, primarily through financial instruments to de-risk transactions, disseminating knowledge and market data, and facilitating peer-to peer learning and networking. Private sector engagement is on the rise, buoyed by various partnerships such as the New Deal on Energy for Africa and the US-led Power Africa Initiative.
To sustain this momentum, the bank convened the inaugural Africa Energy Market Place (AEMP) in Abidjan in July 2018. The AEMP is a platform for public private dialogue, and is set up to address barriers to mobilizing and scaling-up private investment into the energy sector. Effectively, AEMP reviews and prioritizes transformative energy transactions, and accelerates reforms in order to attract private investments and create a pipeline of bankable projects. Five countries participated in the inaugural edition: Côte d&#8217;Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Zambia.
The conversations that began at the AEMP are set to continue in November’s Africa Investment Forum (AIF) in South Africa. The forum convenes project sponsors, borrowers, lenders and investors with a shared interest in closing Africa’s infrastructure gap which is estimated to be anywhere between $130–$170 billion per year.
By convening,and facilitating mutually beneficial dialogue amongst stakeholders who can dramatically impact Africa’s energy landscape, the Bank is creating the requisite foundation for accelerated private sector investments in Africa’s energy sector to achieve universal energy access.
Indisputably, this will put the continent steadily on the path to socio-economic growth, and sustainable development.

OpEd: Why financing Africa’s energy infrastructure is a major opportunity for investors

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s rand weakened in early trade on Tuesday, in line with falls in stocks amid subdued investor appetite for riskier assets ahead of U.S. midterm elections later in the day.
At 0650 GMT, the rand traded at 14.1175 per dollar, 0.11 percent weaker, having closed in New York at 14.1625.
The currency is expected to trade in a range of 14.1000 to 14.4000 to the dollar on Tuesday, NKC African Economics said in a note.
The rand remained under pressure as markets favoured caution ahead of U.S. midterm Congressional elections, as policy decisions that could sway the economy, corporate decision-making and consumer spending hinge on the results.
Emerging market assets will likely respond inversely to movements in the U.S. dollar after the elections.
Government bonds were firmer early on Tuesday, with the yield on the benchmark instrument due in 2026 down 4 basis points at 9.110 percent.
Stocks were set to open lower at 0700 GMT, with the JSE securities exchange’s Top-40 futures index down 0.37 percent.
Reporting by Nomvelo Chalumbira; editing by Richard Pullin

Why U.S midterms are putting pressure on South African rand ahead of elections

ZURICH (Reuters) &#8211; Former Ghana Football Association president Kwesi Nyantakyi was handed a life ban from all football-related activities by FIFA on Tuesday following various violations of the governing body’s ethics code, including bribery and corruption.
Nyantakyi, a former member of FIFA’s General Council, was found guilty after being filmed by an investigative journalist in a hotel room appearing to take a $65,000 bribe from a supposed businessman seeking to sponsor the Ghanaian football league.
He was also fined 500,000 Swiss Francs ($498,000).
“The adjudicatory chamber found Mr Nyantakyi guilty of having violated art. 19 (Conflicts of interest), art. 21 (Bribery and corruption) and art. 22 (Commission) of the FIFA Code of Ethics,” FIFA said in a statement.
“As a consequence, Mr Nyantakyi is banned for life from all football-related activities (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level.
“Additionally, a fine in the amount of CHF 500,000 has been imposed on Mr Nyantakyi.”
Nyantakyi, who was also a former vice-president of the Confederation of African Football, resigned in June after a recording by undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas appeared to show him demanding kickbacks to pass on to top government officials, including the presidency.
Nyantakyi later apologised to Ghana president Nana Akufo-Addo and the government for what he called his “indiscretion”.
He denied any wrongdoing regarding match fixing.
The scandal, along with undercover footage that showed numerous match officials receiving bribes, forced the suspension of the Ghana Premier League in June, which has still not resumed.
Former Ghana Football Association (GFA) board member Kofi Amoah was placed in charge of a four-member normalisation committee in September that was tasked with steering the affairs of football in the country for the next six months.
Nyantakyi and the Ghana FA could not be immediately reached for comment on Tuesday.
($1 = 1.0048 Swiss francs)
Reporting By Nick Said, editing by Pritha Sarkar

Why FIFA handed former Ghana FA president Nyantakyi a ban for life

<figure><img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241212/original/file-20181018-67188-12rs5mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="File 20181018 67188 12rs5mq.jpg?ixlib=rb 1.1" /><figcaption>The WHO recommends HIV viral load testing to monitor people on ARVs. 
Shutterstock</figcaption></figure>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/glenda-gray-111201">By Glenda Gray</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/south-african-medical-research-council-1976">South African Medical Research Council</a>
A United Nations <a href="http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/909090">initiative</a> backed by global experts has set its sights on an ambitious programme to bring an end to the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
The 90-90-90 strategy aims to do this by reaching three targets: 90% of all people with HIV must know their status, 90% of those diagnosed with HIV must receive antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of people receiving antiretroviral therapy must be virally suppressed. When a person is <a href="http://www.who.int/hiv/mediacentre/news/viral-supression-hiv-transmission/en/">virally suppressed</a> it means the virus in their blood is undetectable. The last goal is informed by <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhiv/article/PIIS2352-3018(17)30183-2/fulltext#%20">evidence</a> that people with a suppressed viral load are less likely to transmit HIV to others.
But a couple of steps still need to be taken before these goals can be met. The first is large scale community based HIV testing that aims to get people tested on an annual basis at the very least. The second is linking testing to care. This is critical because it addresses the gap between a person being diagnosed with HIV to when they start antiretroviral therapy.
The third step is the close monitoring of people taking antiretroviral medication. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/255702/9789241512633-eng.pdf?sequence=1">viral load testing</a> as the primary method of monitoring people on antiretroviral therapy. Viral load is the measure of the amount of HIV in a person’s blood and is used as a measure of how well a person is responding to HIV treatment. The lower the viral load the better the health outcomes.
WHO guidelines advise that all patients on antiretroviral therapy receive a viral load test at six months and 12 months, and annually thereafter if the patient is stable. But very few patients receive that level of care.
The main barrier is the time it takes to get test results back from laboratories that are often situated great distances from clinics. One way round the problem is to enable viral load testing to take place at primary health care level – what’s known as point-of-care viral load testing. This would be a game changer. Results would be known immediately and health workers could intervene swiftly by evaluating antiretroviral treatments in real time. This would, in turn, improve treatment outcomes.
But achieving this requires innovation. A new approach is being piloted. The idea is to test if point-of-care viral load monitoring is in reach.
<h2>Testing</h2>
Monitoring the viral loads of people on antiretroviral therapy is an essential part of HIV management. Viral load testing helps doctors determine if a person is taking their medication as prescribed. It also helps to determine if patients are on the correct combination of antiretroviral drugs.
It’s a key part of the arsenal against HIV because research shows that people who are virally suppressed are less likely to pass on the virus to someone else. That makes it a key factor in breaking the cycle of transmission.
The most efficient way of doing this is through point-of-care testing sites. These are based within the community so that patients don’t have to travel long distances to get tests done as well as to receive treatment. This new model is being piloted with the aim of providing convenient access to care for patients.
Currently nearly all viral load testing is conducted in centralised and <a href="http://www.nhls.ac.za/?page=hiv_pcr&amp;id=61">designated laboratories</a>. This means that there can be lags in getting results back to the field. Patients can wait for weeks.
Laboratory based viral load testing is also expensive. Point-of-care testing is also cheaper than lab-based viral loads: health care workers could do the test rather than highly paid technicians.
Small steps have been made in the direction of enabling viral load monitoring to be done at point of care.
But additional equipment is also needed. Pilots evaluating point-of-care viral load testing are ongoing. A pilot is being run using a portable testing machine – the m-PIMA HIV1/2 – that fits on a desk top and can provide an accurate reading of viral load in under 70 minutes.
The machine is being tested to establish whether it meets WHO standards. Once it is given the stamp of approval by the WHO, ministries of health can start the implementation at all sites.
<h2>Closing the gap</h2>
All countries still struggling to bring the HIV pandemic under control are focused on achieving the 90-90-90 goals.
South Africa, which still has the <a href="http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/southafrica">biggest HIV epidemic in the world</a>, with 7.9 million people living with <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/uploads/pageContent/9234/SABSSMV_Impact_Assessment_Summary_ZA_ADS_cleared_PDFA4.pdf">HIV</a>, is no exception, and is making significant progress.
It is edging closer to the target of having 90% of people with HIV <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/uploads/pageContent/9234/SABSSMV_Impact_Assessment_Summary_ZA_ADS_cleared_PDFA4.pdf">knowing their status</a>. And it’s made significant progress on the second target that 90% of people with HIV should be on treatment.
But it has some way to go on the third. While the country is on track to meet the goal that 90% of people on treatment be virally suppressed, it’s advances on this front haven’t been uniform. Some regions of the country still lag behind others. Being able to roll out point of care testing would go a long way in helping close these gaps.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104432/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/glenda-gray-111201">Glenda Gray</a>, Research Professor, Perinatal HIV Research Unit and President, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/south-african-medical-research-council-1976">South African Medical Research Council</a>
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-innovation-can-help-end-the-aids-epidemic-by-2030-104432">original article</a>.

Innovation can assist in the end of the AIDS epidemic by 2030, here’s how

ZURICH, Oct 26 (Reuters) &#8211; Swiss luxury group Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA and Chinese group Alibaba are joining forces to target the Chinese retail market, Richemont said on Friday.
The strategic partnership will feature retail offerings of Yoox Net-a-Porter Group S.p.A. (YNAP), the online luxury retailer, to Chinese consumers.
Under the partnership, YNAP and Alibaba will establish a joint venture to launch two mobile apps for the Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter multi-brand, in-season online stores for consumers in China.
(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Maria Sheahan)

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