GENEVA (Reuters) &#8211; An Ebola outbreak that ravaged Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia in 2014 cost economies an estimated $53 billion, according to a study in this month’s Journal of Infectious Diseases.
The study aimed to combine the direct economic burden and the indirect social impact to generate a comprehensive cost of the outbreak, which was the worst in the world.
The outbreak ran from 2013 to 2016 and killed at least 11,300 people, more than all other known Ebola outbreaks combined. The vast majority of cases were in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The report’s authors, Caroline Huber, Lyn Finelli and Warren Stevens, put the economic costs at $14 billion and said the human cost was even greater, based on the people affected and a dollar figure that reflects the value of each human life.
The total is far higher than previous estimates. In October 2014, the World Bank said the Ebola epidemic could cost $32.6 billion by the end of 2015 in a worst case scenario, but by November 2014 it dialled back that forecast to $3-4 billion. In 2016 the World Bank estimate of economic loss was $2.8 billion.
The 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cost an estimated $40 billion, while the 2015-2016 Zika virus outbreak in the Americas was estimated to have caused $20 billion in social costs, the new study said.
But a repeat of the 1918 influenza pandemic could cost an annual 700,000 lives and $490 billion, the authors said, citing research published in 2016.
The new Ebola study factored in the impact on healthworkers, long-term conditions suffered by 17,000 Ebola survivors, and costs of treatment, infection control, screening and deployment of personnel beyond West Africa.
The biggest cost not previously accounted for was deaths from other diseases, as Ebola tied up healthcare resources and hospital admissions fell dramatically, adding $18.8 billion to the total bill.
During the outbreak there were 10,623 additional deaths from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, with 3.5 million additional untreated malaria cases.
Measles caused 2,000-16,000 extra deaths as 1 million children missed being vaccinated for measles, and 600,000-700,000 missed other vaccines.
But the authors added that they had limited information on the cost of deploying international health staff and military personnel, and they were obliged to place a value on human life, a widely accepted economic measurement.
Although the “value of a statistical life” (VSL) in North America and Europe is estimated at $7 million-9 million, the authors said, they took a figure from the only study in a West African context, with a VSL of $577,000 in Sierra Leone.
Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg

How the Ebola outbreak in West Africa cost economies $53 billion

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alf-gunvald-nilsen-573050">Alf Gunvald Nilsen</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-agder-3690">University of Agder</a>
The World Bank’s latest annual report on <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/poverty-and-shared-prosperity?cid=EXT_WBSocialShare_EXT&amp;ogImage=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldbank.org%2Fcontent%2Fdam%2Fphotos%2F780x439%2F2018%2Foct-1%2FEPD2.png">poverty and shared prosperity</a> has an unsurprisingly positive message that only 10% of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty in 2015, which is the most recent year that available data allows for global poverty estimates to be made.
As World Bank President Jim Yong Kim points out in the foreword to the report, this is “the lowest poverty rate in recorded history”.
This is a story that we have become accustomed to hearing from the Bank, and other significant participants in the debate about poverty and development in the global South (Asia, Africa, and Latin America). But does the story actually hold true? For example, the World Bank measures extreme poverty in terms of the number of people who live on less than USD$1.90 a day. But is this in fact a meaningful measurement of poverty?
World Bank poverty estimates have come in for a lot of criticism. For example, Jason Hickel, an anthropologist at the London School of Economics, <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1113531/the-divide/9781786090034.html">has pointed out</a> that there’s often a large gap between national poverty lines and the international poverty line stipulated by the bank.
For example, more than 55% of South Africa’s population lives below the country’s upper poverty line, of R1,138 (USD$80) a month. But, according to the World Bank, only 18.85% of the South African population lives in poverty. This suggests that the international poverty lined touted by the World Bank systematically underestimates the extent of global poverty.
This point is partially acknowledged in this year’s report. Accordingly, the World Bank proposes new and higher poverty lines &#8211; USD$3.20 and USD$5.50 a day, respectively. According to the report, almost half the world’s population lives below the USD $5.50 a day poverty line. However, we need to go further than this – indeed, the World Bank’s widely touted story of historically low poverty levels must be rejected.
If we are to have a serious debate about world poverty on <a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/povertyday/">End Poverty Day</a>, we have to start by acknowledging that the global problem of poverty is far more extensive than World Bank rhetoric would have us believe. Two big factors need to be confronted. The first is that the majority of the world’s poor live in countries that have experienced strong economic growth. The second is that the growth strategies these countries have practised create and reproduce poverty.
<h2>Unequal distribution</h2>
The World Bank attributes the supposed historical decline in poverty in large part to the rising wealth of several Asian countries. But, this is a problematic argument. In his recent book <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/global-poverty-9780198703525?cc=za&amp;lang=en&amp;">Global Poverty</a>, development economist Andy Sumner shows how a new geography of poverty has emerged in the global South.
Whether we use monetary estimates – Sumner uses a poverty line of $2.50 a day – or estimates of multidimensional poverty; that is, poverty measured according to health indicators, education levels, and economic standards of living – as many as 70% of the world’s poor currently live in what the World Bank refers to as middle-income countries.
As Sumner points out, poverty in middle-income countries cannot be attributed to an absolute lack of resources. These are countries that have experienced strong economic growth since the 1990s. What it boils down to in middle-income countries like <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/26/africa/nigeria-overtakes-india-extreme-poverty-intl/index.html">India</a>,<a href="https://theconversation.com/beating-poverty-needs-partnerships-and-collaboration-not-just-money-101145">Nigeria</a>, and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/the-illusion-of-brazils-incomeequality/article37536515/">Brazil</a> is the issue of distribution.
The economic growth that has lifted countries from low-income status to middle-income status is profoundly unequally distributed. As a result, large parts of the populations in these countries are excluded from the benefits that accrue from this growth.
This in turn has implications for how we think about growth strategies and poverty reduction in the global South.
<h2>Global growth and development</h2>
Much of the economic growth that has lifted countries from low-income status to middle-income status has resulted from the emergence of global production networks and global value chains since the late 1970s. Poorer countries have been integrated into these networks in large part due to their large reservoirs of cheap labour. It is this process of industrialisation that has turned low-income countries into middle-income countries.
But if global production networks come with so many developmental benefits, why is it that world poverty is concentrated in countries that have experienced economic growth precisely because they are integrated in these networks? To understand this paradox, it is important to remember that global production networks are comprised of different value tiers, and that different countries and different groups capture different amounts of the value that is created in these networks.
This obviously leads to a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/review-of-international-studies/article/poverty-reduction-through-liberalisation-neoliberalism-and-the-myth-of-global-convergence/FAC3F9EDA9C6B87938804D260B795412">reproduction of inequality</a> – countries in the global South tend to be integrated in lower value tiers.
This is evident in the fact that the distribution of national incomes and wealth at a world scale is still characterised by a pronounced North-South hierarchy. But it is more important still to be aware that countries in the global South that have witnessed strong economic growth have also experienced marked escalations in national levels of inequality. In India in 2016, for example, the richest 10% of the population received 55% of all income. This is an increase of <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/india-wealth-inequality-growing-rapidly-180125084201143.html">more than 20% since 1980</a>.
This pattern of development clearly shows how poverty is a matter of distribution that is related to the kind of employment opportunities that are created when southern countries are embedded in global value chains. The factory jobs that are established when transnational corporations set up shop in countries like Mexico or Vietnam are fundamentally precarious. And it is precarious workers who capture the least of the value that is created in global production networks. This is why <a href="https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745335995/southern-insurgency/">precarious workers live in poverty</a> in middle-income countries in the global South.
What’s clear from this is that we have to ask ourselves what a development policy based on redistribution in favour of the working classes in the global South might look like – because that, ultimately, is the key to ending poverty in an unequal world.<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/104963/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alf-gunvald-nilsen-573050">Alf Gunvald Nilsen</a>, Associate Professor of Development Studies, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-agder-3690">University of Agder</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-the-world-banks-optimism-about-global-poverty-misses-the-point-104963">original article</a>.

Is the World Bank missing the point about global poverty?

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<div id="attachment_320323" style="width: 540px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-320323" class=" wp-image-320323" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/HeForShe_b.jpg" alt="" width="530" height="353" />UN Women&#8217;s &#8216;HeForShe&#8217; initiative</div>
Johannesburg – 9 October 2018 – Gender equality is a fundamental human right but remains a distant dream for many women worldwide. The United Nations’ HeforShe is a solidarity campaign for the advancement of gender equality. Its goal is to achieve equality by encouraging both genders to partake as agents of change and take action against negative stereotypes and behaviors, faced by people with feminine personalities/genders. Grounded in the idea that gender inequality is an issue that affects all people—socially, economically and politically—it seeks to actively involve men and boys in a movement that was originally conceived as &#8220;a struggle for women by women&#8221;.
The HeForShe movement is gathering momentum globally as a cohort of select leaders from both the public and private sectors join the drive and stand out as visionaries on gender equality. On behalf of Standard Bank Group, Chief Executive Sim Tshabalala, has become one of the global “Thematic Champions” in the HeForShe movement. These leaders have committed to implement game-changing policies and concrete actions towards gender parity.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-320322 size-medium alignleft" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/HeForShe_Sim-copy-2-copy-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" />
“Achieving gender equity is a moral duty, a business imperative, and just plain common sense. Women embody half the world’s talent, skill and energy &#8211; and more than half of its purchasing power. So every sensible business leader must be committed to achieving gender equity in their company and to contributing to gender equity in the societies in which we operate,” says Tshabalala.
In the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Gender Gap report, it is estimated that it will take more the 217 years to achieve workplace equality after gender parity took a step backwards in the past year.
Concrete commitments made by Standard Bank Group in order to bring about tangible change include reaching parity in executive positions and to improve the representation of women in executive positions from its current 32% to 40% by 2023. Another is to lift the representation of women on the Board from 22% to 33% by 2021.
Standard Bank is also committed to increasing the representation of women Chief Executives in its Africa Regions network from 10% to 20% by 2021, while Standard Bank South Africa will improve the representation of women in executive positions from the current 35% to 40% by 2021.
While progress has been made in certain countries in Africa to close gender gaps, others remain behind the curve. Namibia and South Africa both score in the Top 20 in the WEF global report on gender equality &#8211; after closing 78% to 76% of their gender gaps &#8211; but Sub-Saharan Africa still displays a wider range of gender gap outcomes than practically any other region.
Launched by Emma Watson and the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2014, HeForShe represented the first global effort to actively include men and boys as change agents for gender equality at a time when most gender programs were only targeting women.
It was the beginning of a trend that only seems more relevant as stories emerge of sexual abuse and harassment suffered by women in the workplace.
The Sustainable Development Goals call for gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, but campaigns such as last weekend’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women highlight that there is much work to be done. The U.N. recently reported that nearly 20 percent of women surveyed said they had experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner in the previous year.
Originally conceived as a one-year media campaign to raise awareness about the role of men and boys in gender equality, the HeForShe website garnered more than 100,000 male supporters in its first three days. These males affirmed their commitment to the cause by declaring themselves “HeForShe” and saying that gender equality is not just a women’s issue. Early adopters included a clutch of celebrities and politicians, including former U.S. President Barack Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and actor Matt Damon.
Since then, 1.6 million men have signed up online, including at least one man in every country of the world, and its “Impact Champions” include the presidents of Rwanda, Ghana, Malawi, and Indonesia, among several other heads of state. The issue has also been the subject of 2 billion conversations on social media.
But HeForShe is not without its critics. Many in the gender equality community say they would like to see the movement make more concrete demands of its male champions, and have called for civil society to play a greater role in developing and monitoring the movement.
“Now is a good moment for reflection and discussion about HeForShe, which has achieved high visibility, clear successes, and also drawbacks,” said Gary Barker, co-founder of Promundo, an NGO working to engage men and boys for gender equality, which has advised the HeForShe campaign since its launch three years ago.
“Having that amount of reach and star power on board means there’s huge potential, but we need to harness it before the movement loses momentum … [and] we need to push UN Women to go further and ask more of men,” he added.
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How UN Women’s global ‘HeforShe’ initiative seeks to drive gender equality

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; The South African rand firmed against the globally hobbled dollar early on Friday ahead of the country’s credit review announcement by ratings agency Moody’s later in the day.
The rand was 0.85 percent stronger at 14.5100 per dollar at 0650 GMT, having closed in New York at 14.6350.
The rand is expected to trade between 14.3500 and 14.7000 to the dollar on Friday, NKC African Economics wrote in a note.
Moody’s is the last of the top rating agencies to have Pretoria’s long-term foreign-currency debt in investment grade.
South Africa’s stable outlook on its credit rating means there is little chance of a downgrade, Moody’s said on Sept. 13, but a commitment to fiscal consolidation at the October budget would be key to maintaining the positive rating.
The rand was supported by the slightly-better-than-expected South African manufacturing production data for August.
Globally, the U.S. dollar traded at its lowest level this month against its major peers on Friday as declining U.S. treasury yields and further losses on Wall Street soured sentiment. [FRX/]
In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark government bond due in 2026 fell 1 basis points to 9.255 percent.
Stocks are due open firmer at 0700 GMT, with the JSE securities exchange’s Top-40 futures index up 1.10 percent.
Reporting by Nomvelo Chalumbira; Editing by Ed Stoddard

South African rand firms against US dollar ahead of country’s credit review

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; The World Bank and IMF have endorsed Zimbabwe’s road map to clear more than $2 billion in foreign arrears at a meeting in Indonesia on Wednesday, the finance minister said, adding that the lenders had also backed his two-year economic recovery plan.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised to revive the struggling economy, pay foreign debts that the country has defaulted on since 1999 and restore ties with West after becoming a pariah under Robert Mugabe’s near four-decade rule.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube, who is attending the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings in Bali, Indonesia, said in a statement his plans to clear the arrears to the World Bank, African Development Bank and European Investment Bank had been accepted.
“All the cooperating partners and creditors present uniformly expressed their support for Zimbabwe and its arrears clearance Road Map,” Ncube said.
The lenders and Western donors also urged Ncube to “judiciously” implement his two-year economic recovery plan announced last Friday.
Ncube’s plan will see cuts on spending and the government’s wage bill and privatisation of loss-making state-owned firms.
Zimbabwe, which adopted the U.S. dollar after hyperinflation left its own currency worthless in 2009, is gripped by acute shortages of cash dollars. Prices of basic goods and medicines have risen in the last few days.
Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by James Macharia

World Bank, IMF support Zimbabwe’s plans to clear more than $2 billion in foreign arrears, what you need to know

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Marriott International plans to increase its hotels in Africa by 50 percent in the next five years, opening new facilities in markets where it already operates and venturing into new ones like Mozambique, the company said on Monday.
Global hotel chains have been increasing their investments in Africa in recent years to take advantage of fast expanding economies and improving transport links.
Marriott said it had signed deals with partners which will see it increase its hotels in Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa, and mark its entry into Mozambique.
“The signings put Marriott International on track to increase its portfolio by 50 percent with over 200 hotels and 38,000 rooms by 2023 estimated to generate 12,000 new job opportunities,” the company said in a statement.
Other chains which have recently announced African expansion plans include AccorHotels, which has more than 100 hotels in Africa and has earmarked $1 billion for expansion on the continent.
The Bethesda, Maryland-based company has a portfolio of 6,700 properties in 130 countries, including 21 countries in Africa.
Reporting by Duncan Miriri; editing by Jason Neely

Marriott International plans to expand in Africa by 50 percent in the next five years

Press Release
African Development Bank seeks partnerships to lift 1 billion people out of hunger globally 
“We must not get carried away: we are not winning the war against global hunger” 
INDIANAPOLIS, United States of America, September 26, 2018/ &#8212; The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) called on global partners to join hands to lift one billion people worldwide out of hunger and said it was leading the way by investing US$24 billion in African agriculture over the next 10 years in the largest such effort ever.
“We are not winning the war against global hunger,” Bank President Akinwumi Adesina told an agriculture conference at Purdue University in Indianapolis on Tuesday, 25 September.
“We must not get carried away,” he added, referring to statistics showing a decline in the global population living on less than two dollars per day. In reality, the number of hungry people in the world had increased from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016, he said citing the latest World Food Security and Nutrition data.
Adesina told the audience that included researchers, implementing organizations, business leaders, policymakers and donors that simple technical and scientific methods were already making a whole difference to farm yields and income in Africa. While such technologies to deliver Africa’s green revolution exist, they are mostly just sitting on the shelves, he said.
“The release of water efficient maize varieties now allows farmers to harvest good yields in the face of moderate drought,” he noted. “Today, rice varieties exist that can give yields of 8 tonnes per ha. Cassava varieties exist with yields of up to 80 tonnes per ha. Heat tolerant and disease resistant livestock and technologies for ramping up aquaculture exist.”
Bank experts put current comparative yields at 1.5-2 tonnes per ha for rice and 10-15 tonnes per ha for cassava.
What was needed urgently was deployment of supportive policies to ensure technologies are cascaded down to millions of farmers. “All Africa needs to do is to harness the available technologies with the right policies and rapidly raise agricultural productivity and incomes for farmers and assure lower food prices for consumers.”
The Bank has launched its Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), a $1 billion initiative to extend the use of farm technologies. TAAT is currently engaging seed companies, public and private entities, and financial institutions in 27 countries to make technology available to a total of 40 million African farmers.
Combining targeted subsidies for farmers with a market-based system for rapidly expanding access to financing for farmers and agricultural value chains is the fastest way to get many people out of poverty to a sustained pathway for economic growth, Adesina added.
The conference on “ Scaling Up Agricultural Technologies for Transformation” (http://bit.ly/2NK3XL5) marked Adesina’s fond return to his alma mater.
“It was here, as a graduate student, that I began the journey of searching for ways to get technologies into the hands of millions of farmers,” he said. Adesina was to go on to make a huge impact on the transformation of agriculture in Africa, including implementing game-changing policies in his years as Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development before taking up his post at the Bank in September 2015.
Adesina said the situation in Sub-Saharan Africa needed particularly urgent intervention due to the ravages of climate change. The International Food Policy Research Institute estimates that Africa will add 38 million to its number of hungry people by 2050 as a result of climate change. The Institute forecasts that Africa will experience major food shortages by 2020 and beyond, while malnutrition will be on the rise over the next 20 years.
The Bank’s ongoing initiatives had the objectives of growing income for farmers, stabilizing prices for staple crops, reducing losses and stimulating multiplier effects in local economies. With its Staple Crop Processing Zones and other initiatives, the Bank is demonstrating how this can be done.
“The African Development Bank put feeding Africa as one of its topmost priorities when it launched its Feed Africa strategy (http://bit.ly/2Q7A04c) in 2015 and is investing $ 24 billion in agriculture for Africa over 10 years – the largest ever such effort,” the Bank President said. Across Africa, the Feed Africa Strategy (http://bit.ly/2Q9GnUv) is supporting the development of policies, markets, infrastructure and institutions that will ensure that agricultural value chains are well developed and that technologies reach several millions of farmers.
Adesina called for global partnerships to establish Staple Crop Processing Zones across Africa.
“The SCPZs will provide several advantages for rural economies. They will create markets for farm produce. Raw materials will no longer be moved out of rural areas, but as finished value-added products. Post-harvest losses will be substantially reduced. Well integrated agricultural value chains will develop, with supportive logistics, especially warehousing and cold chains,” Adesina added.
The African Development Bank has already started investments to develop these SCPZs in a number of pioneering African countries, including Ethiopia, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique. It expects the processing zones to be active in about 15 countries in the near-term.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

AfDB seeks partnerships to lift 1 billion people out of hunger globally

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa has signed an extradition treaty with the United Arab Emirates, the justice minister said on Thursday, raising the prospect of the Gupta brothers, friends of former president Jacob Zuma, returning to face corruption charges.
The Indian-born brothers &#8211; Ajay, Atul and Rajesh &#8211; have been accused of using their ties with Zuma to siphon off billions of rand in state funds and of inappropriately influencing cabinet appointments.
The Guptas are believed to be in Dubai where they own property and businesses and police have issued an arrest warrant for Ajay Gupta over a corruption case.
The Guptas and Zuma, who have repeatedly denied wrongdoing, could not be reached for comment.
Justice Minister Michael Masutha told Reuters that treaties on extradition and legal assistance had been signed with his counterpart Sultan Saeed Al Badi on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi.
“I will not at this stage comment on individual matters,” Masutha said when asked about the Guptas.
A long-awaited inquiry into allegations of inappropriately influencing government decisions, known locally as “state capture”, opened last month with witnesses testifying that the Gupta brothers tried to bribe or threaten them.
The Guptas left South Africa earlier this year around the time Zuma resigned under pressure from his own party.
Activists, opposition politicians and members of the ruling African National Congress have been calling for an extradition treaty to be agreed with the UAE so the Gupta brothers can be ordered to return to South Africa.
“This means the infamous Guptas are fast running out of places to hide as they can now face extradition to finally answer for state capture,” said Natasha Mazzone, Democratic Alliance shadow minister on state companies.
Reporting by Joe Brock and Ed Stoddard; Editing by Richard Balmforth

South Africa signs extradition treaty with UAE that could target Gupta brothers, what you need to know…

By Francois Conradie – Head of Research at NKC African Economics
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika hosted Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel at his palace in Zeralda on Monday, September 17. The main point of the meeting was to discuss Germany’s repatriation of almost 4,000 Algerians who have been refused asylum (Germany considers Algeria a safe country and Algerians’ asylum applications are almost all turned down).
For an observer of Algerian politics, however, the meeting was most interesting because state television broadcast some video footage of it, which gives an idea of Mr Bouteflika’s health. His health is terrible.
The footage (which, it should be remembered, was carefully chosen to show him in the best light) shows the ailing president struggling to say a sentence and then sitting still in his wheelchair once he has said it, his one good hand immobile in the air, while Ms Merkel chats to his interpreter. It also shows Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia getting involved in the discussion from an armchair on the other side of the room.
From the footage we do not think Mr Bouteflika plays any significant role in the running of his country, which is relevant as the power structure around him prepares to put him forward as a candidate in next year’s presidential election.
The same power structure, in which a key player is Ahmed Gaid Salah (chief of staff of the army and deputy minister of defence), has been busy with a personnel shake-up in the army.
On the day of Ms Merkel’s visit, the high commander of land forces and commander of the air force were pushed into retirement; their sacking follows the sackings of a dozen generals in July and August. It was reported in the week that five of the generals were being investigated for abuse of power.
In other election-related news Nacer Boudiaf (son of the highly respected President Mohamed Boudiaf), who has expressed his intention to run for president next year and who has publicly blamed the deep state for his father’s assassination in 1992, has had his diplomatic passport taken away.
The army has been weakened and Mr Gaid Salah with it. This makes us think that the civilians around Mr Bouteflika, especially his brother Said and Mr Ouyahia, may not have been entirely convinced of Mr Gaid Salah’s loyalty and wanted to remove the risk of him using the army to prevent Mr Bouteflika’s re-election. But the army will have to play a key role in assuring his victory (as it has in past elections).
The political environment is deteriorating as the rapacious power structure delays improvements to governance in order to extend its time in government and as this network’s internal paranoia renders it more brittle and fragile.

OpEd: Algeria’s Bouteflika receives Merkel as army is shaken up

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; A Kenyan judge temporarily lifted a ban on an acclaimed lesbian movie on Friday, making it eligible to be entered for a Foreign Language Oscar, delighting the filmmakers but angering the censor.
“Rafiki” &#8211; “Friend” in Swahili &#8211; premiered at Cannes, the first Kenyan film to be selected by the prestigious festival, but it was banned at home on the grounds that it promotes homosexuality, a criminal offence under a colonial-era law.
“During the seven day suspension period the film shall only be open for viewing to willing adults only”, Justice Wilfrida Okwany told a packed courtroom in Nairobi.
Okwany said the makers of the film were “hereby allowed to admit the film” to Kenya’s Oscars selection committee.
A Nairobi cinema announced it would screen the movie from Sunday.
Reporting by John Ndiso; Additional reporting by Humphrey Malalo; Writing by Maggie Fick; Editing by Robin Pomeroy

Lesbian movie #Rafiki eligible for Oscars after Kenya temporarily lifts ban

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s highest court on Tuesday allowed the private use of marijuana, upholding a lower court’s ruling that found the criminalisation of cannabis was unconstitutional.
Activists who include members of the Rastafarian movement and traditional healers greeted the ruling with loud applause. They have held marches over the years to demand that the law be changed to allow people to smoke ‘weed’, which is called ‘dagga’ in South Africa.
Several government departments, including the health and justice ministries, oppose its legalisation and warn of harmful effects.
But in a unanimous judgment read by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, the Constitutional Court decriminalised home consumption, saying “the use of cannabis must be for the personal consumption of the adult”. The ruling also approved growing marijuana for personal consumption.
Rastafarian Garreth Prince and former Dagga Party leader Jeremy Acton brought the case asking the High Court to allow for the home use of marijuana.
Jules Stobbs and Myrtle Clarke‚ known as the “Dagga Couple”, joined the case, and asked the court to strike down laws banning the use‚ cultivation and sale of marijuana.
He added that it would not be a criminal offence for an adult person to use or be in possession of cannabis in private for their personal consumption in private.
However, the judgement did not specify the amount that can be used by an adult in private use.
“This must be determined by parliament,” he said.
Parliament is now expected to amend the laws that criminalise cannabis following the court ruling.
Activists had argued that the criminalisation of dagga use and possession is a violation of the right to equality, dignity, and freedom of religion.
There was no immediate comment from the departments over the country’s top court ruling on Tuesday.
Reporting by James Macharia; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg

South Africa’s ConCourt decriminalises the private use of marijuana, here’s why…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; The United States is concerned that increased currency swap agreements between China and African nations will reduce visibility into financial transactions and will make it harder to prevent money laundering, a senior U.S. sanctions official said on Thursday.
Marshall Billingslea, the U.S. Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing, told a congressional hearing that while there was greater interest in using the yuan, most African countries still found it necessary to ultimately clear trade in U.S. dollars.
He was responding to questions by Republican Representative Chris Smith, who cited a $2.5 billion currency swap agreement between China and Nigeria to facilitate trade between the two countries, and a meeting of African finance leaders in June that sought to discuss using China’s yuan as a reserve currency for the region.
Nigeria is the third African nation to agree a currency swap deal with China.
“You are very much onto something of great concern to us as well,” Billingslea replied, referring to increased currency swap agreements between China and African governments.
“That said, there remains a great desire among most of the countries in Africa to maintain correspondent banking relationships with U.S. banks. At the end of the day they still are finding it necessary to ultimately clear trade in U.S. dollars,” he said.
He said maintaining those correspondent banking ties was “our best line of defense to ensure we maintain not just a degree of transparency and visibility into the transactions in Africa but &#8230; further to ensure that anti-money laundering standards are being applied.”
Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Leslie Adler

Why U.S is concerned about increased currency swap agreements between African nations and China

WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; The U.S. government will not lift sanctions against Zimbabwe until the new government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa demonstrates it is “changing its ways,” a senior U.S. economic official told a congressional panel on Thursday.
Manisha Singh, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, told a House of Representatives hearing there were 141 entities and individuals in Zimbabwe, including Mnangagwa and former president Robert Mugabe, that are currently under U.S. sanctions.
“Our pressure on Zimbabwe remains in place. We are trying to use this pressure to leverage political and economic reforms, human rights observations,” Singh said.
“We want to see fundamental changes in Zimbabwe and only then will we resume normal relations with them,” she added.
Mnangagwa was sworn in as Zimbabwe’s new president on Aug. 26 after the Constitutional Court confirmed his July 30 election victory, dismissing a challenge by opposition leader Nelson Chamisa.
Mnangagwa has called for the lifting of U.S. sanctions against officials from the ZANU-PF ruling party, top military figures and some government-owned firms, which were imposed during Mugabe’s rule for it called violations of human rights and democracy.
The EU lifted most of its sanctions in 2014, but has maintained those against Mugabe and his wife Grace.
The July ballot was touted as a crucial step toward shedding the pariah reputation that Zimbabwe gained under Mugabe as well as securing international donor funding.
Rep. Karen Bass, a Democrat from California, said Zimbabwe was “trying to reach out to us now and I want to know where we are with that.”
“We are always open to conversations. We are open to a demonstration from the government that it is changing its ways, that it is observing human rights,” Singh added.
Reporting by Lesley Wroughton, editing by G Crosse

U.S. will not lift sanctions against Zimbabwe until the African country does this…

By <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/experts/landry-signe/">Professor Landry Signé</a>, David M. Rubenstein Fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program and Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution and <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/author/chido-munyati/">Chido Munyati</a>, Global Leadership Fellow, World Economic Forum.
&nbsp;
This July, Zimbabwe held its first post-Robert Mugabe era presidential election, nearly four decades after his accession to power. The ruling ZANU-PF party won the 69 percent of the 210 seats in parliament after winning rural voters by large margins. In the presidential vote, Emmerson Mnangagwa, the ZANU-PF party candidate and the incumbent president, emerged victorious from a 23-candidate field, winning 50.8 percent of the vote. The main opposition, the MDC Alliance, challenged the election results, and today the constitutional court upheld the outcome.
Free, fair, and credible elections are preconditions for sustainable peace and democratic development, as well as for attracting new investment and other support from international financial institutions and foreign governments. While most election observers have acknowledged improvements in this election, they have not considered them sufficient. They highlighted “inclusive participation rights and a peaceful vote” but also noted a “lack of trust in the process.” Two U.S. based groups, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute, highlighted “numerous incidents of food and agricultural assistance and extreme media bias” in favor of President Mnangagwa. The Southern African Development Community largely considered the election successful, noting that people had the “opportunity to exercise their constitutional right.”
Support for democracy is strong in Zimbabwe. According to the latest Afrobarometer Survey, 75.2 percent of people “prefer democracy” and an additional 4.7 percent “sometimes prefer democracy.” Additionally, 78.5 percent of citizens think that they should choose leaders in their country through regular, open, and honest elections. Finally, 67.8 percent of people believe that the constitution should limit the president to serving a maximum of two terms in office.
Zimbabwe seems to be regaining the trust of international investors and foreign governments. The country has attracted an estimated $16 billion in investments since Emmerson Mnangagwa took over in November 2017. Development partners are also collaborating again. The Indian government will provide a $310 million soft loan for the rehabilitation of the Hwange Thermal Power station and the CDC and Standard Chartered will provide $100 million in lending to new businesses.
Despite these advancements, there is still a lot to do to bring the country back to sustainable development:
IMPROVE GOVERNANCE TO REPEAL INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC SANCTIONS, ADDRESS INTERNATIONAL DEBT, AND DELIVER BETTER PUBLIC SERVICES 
Recently, the U.S. government renewed the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA), which requires that the country make credible progress towards holding free and fair elections, restore the rule of law, and ensure military subordination to the civilian government. The Government of Zimbabwe needs to increase accountability and accountable governance, and convince the U.S. government to repeal ZIDERA. With the sanctions bill in place, Zimbabwe cannot access loans or guarantees from international financial institutions without the approval of the U.S. government.
The renewed legislation also requires that U.S. representatives at multilateral organizations not support any efforts to address Zimbabwe’s debt situation. As of February 2018, Zimbabwe still had debts of $1.15 billion at the World Bank, $601 million to the African Development Bank, and $3 billion to Paris Club countries.
The government needs to re-engage diplomatically to get the sanctions lifted as they restrict business, its ability to borrow from international organizations, and resolve its debt situation. Zimbabwean officials continue to look to engage U.S. officials with the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister, Dr. Sibusiso Moyo, telling reporters that “we are determined to continue in the re-engagement with the U.S. administration, as we together seek to restore our bilateral relations to normalcy.” In order to regain access to international capital markets Zimbabwe must repay its debt arrears to major foreign lenders.
Other necessary reforms include repealing the chilling media laws—including the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Public Order and Security Act (POSA)—which restrict the media environment and promotes self-censorship. Additionally, the government must align current laws with the constitution.
IMPROVING THE MACROECONOMIC CONTEXT AND POLICY DELIVERY
Resolve the chronic cash shortage in the short-term, and create its own currency in the long-term 
Addressing the cash shortages must be a priority for the government. Zimbabwe desperately needs an influx of foreign cash to resolve the currency crises and spur economic growth. The country has not had a currency of its own since it dollarized in 2009 because of hyperinflation.
In the long term, Zimbabwe needs to have its own currency. In 2016, the Reserve Bank introduced “bond notes”, a substitute currency that locally has the same value as the U.S. dollar. Bond notes were meant to alleviate the shortage of U.S. dollars in the system—this, however, had the opposite effect by further increasing the demand for U.S. dollar.
Implement economic and civil reforms domestically 
As highlighted earlier, President Mnangagwa has attracted significant new investment to Zimbabwe since last year. However, the country continues to face chronic cash shortages that are holding back economic growth. In recent months, businesses raised prices as they struggled to find U.S. dollars to conduct business.
Beyond reforms, President Mnangagwa can send positive signals to foreign lenders and investors by tackling corruption, and appointing reputable and accountable technocrats to manage the economy. Indeed, the window of opportunity has narrowed considerably since the post-election violence that followed a peaceful vote. President Mnangagwa said there would be an independent investigation into the post-election violence. Some hope and goodwill remains; however, actions taken in the next few months will determine whether Zimbabwe is breaking with the past.
By <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/experts/landry-signe/">Professor Landry Signé</a>, David M. Rubenstein Fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program and Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution, distinguished fellow at Stanford University’s Center for African Studies, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and author of “Innovating Development Strategies in Africa: The Role of International, Regional and National Actors,
and <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/author/chido-munyati/">Chido Munyati</a>, Global Leadership Fellow, World Economic Forum.

OpEd: Is Zimbabwe regaining the trust of international investors?

STRASBOURG (Reuters) &#8211; The European Union should offer a free trade agreement to the whole of the African continent and a new investment alliance, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a keynote speech on Wednesday.
Among various proposals for EU action to bolster prosperity in the world’s poorest continent and Europe’s close neighbour, the Commission chief called for a more equal partnership and investment rather than aid, as Europeans look for ways to stem an economic divide driving Africans to try to migrate northward.
Juncker said he had talked with African leaders and was proposing an alliance to boost sustainable investment, which he said could create up to 10 million jobs in Africa in the next five years.
While it was clear that a free trade pact would be some way off, and well after Juncker steps down in a year’s time, the EU would look to take advantage of African efforts to forge a free trade area within the continent to work towards a comprehensive continent-to-continent trade agreement.
Trade between Africa and Europe, said Juncker, was not insignificant &#8211; 36 percent of Africa’s trade is with the European Union, compared to 16 percent with China and 6 percent with the United States.
“But this is not enough,” Juncker told the European Parliament.
“I believe we should develop the numerous European-African trade agreements into a continent-to-continent free trade agreement, as an economic partnership between equals.”
The European Union already has a series of deals with individual African countries, largely in North Africa, as well as additional economic partnerships with African blocs, such as the Southern African Development Community.
Other agreements with other African blocs and countries, designed to increase access to the EU market and promote development, are pending or partly in place.
Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; editing by Philip Blenkinsop

EU could offer the African continent a free trade agreement, what you need to know…

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/francis-vergunst-230743" rel="author">Francis Vergunst, </a>Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Developmental Public Health, Université de Montréal, <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/helen-louise-berry-8608" rel="author">Helen Louise Berry, </a>Professor of Climate Change and Mental Health, University of Sydney and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/massimiliano-orri-549142" rel="author">Massimiliano Orri, </a>Marie-Curie and CIHR Postdoctoral Fellow, McGill University.
&nbsp;
Extreme heat has gripped the northern hemisphere in recent months, and the year 2018 is on track to be among the hottest ever recorded. Higher global temperatures are expected to have detrimental effects on our natural environments and our physical health, but what will they do to our mental health?
New research from an international team of scientists suggests that one of the most tangible impacts may be an <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0222-x">increase in suicide rates</a>.
Suicide is already among the leading causes of death worldwide. For people aged 15-55 years, it is among the top five causes of death. Worldwide nearly one million people die by suicide each year — <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/more-people-die-from-suicide-than-from-wars-natural-disasters-combined/2438749.html">more than all deaths from war and murder combined</a>.
Using historical temperature records from the United States and Mexico, the researchers showed that suicide rates increased by 0.7 per cent in the U.S. and by 2.1 per cent in Mexico when the average monthly temperatures rose by 1 C.
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0222-x">The researchers calculated</a> that if global temperatures continue to rise at these rates, between now and 2050 there could be 9,000 to 40,000 additional suicides in the U.S. and Mexico alone. This is roughly equivalent to the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4473496/">number of additional suicides that follow an economic recession</a>.
<h2>Spikes during heat waves</h2>
It has been known for a long time that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.106.031948">suicide rates spike during heat waves</a>. Hotter weather has been linked with higher rates of hospital admissions for <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25849087">self-harm</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-681">suicide</a> and violent suicides, as well as increases in population-level psychological distress, particularly in combination with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0164190">high humidity</a>.
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.098">Another recent study, which combined the results of previous research on heat and suicide, concluded</a> there is “a significant and positive association between temperature rises and incidence of suicide.”
Why this is remains unclear. There is a well-documented link between <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/341/6151/1235367">rising temperatures and interpersonal violence</a> and suicide could be understood as an act of violence directed at oneself. Lisa Page, a researcher in psychology at King’s College London, notes:
<blockquote>“While speculative, perhaps the most promising mechanism to link suicide with high temperatures is a psychological one. High temperatures have been found to lead individuals to behave in a more disinhibited, aggressive and violent manner, which might in turn result in an increased propensity for suicidal acts.”</blockquote>
Hotter temperatures are <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/heat-wave-health/">taxing on the body</a>. They cause an <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180425131906.htm">increase in the stress hormone cortisol</a>, reduce <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3427038/">sleep quality</a> and disrupt people’s physical activity routines. These changes can reduce well-being and increase psychological distress.
<h2>Disease, water shortages, conflict and war</h2>
The effects of hotter temperatures on suicides are symptomatic of a much broader and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0102-4">more expansive problem</a>: the impact of climate change on mental health.
Climate change will increase the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32464-9">frequency and severity</a> of heat waves, droughts, storms, floods and wildfires. It will extend the range of infectious diseases such as Zika virus, malaria and Lyme disease. It will contribute to food and water shortages and fuel forced migration, conflict and war.
These events can have devastating effects on people’s health, homes and livelihoods and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20033251">directly impact psychological health and well-being</a>.
But effects are not limited to people who suffer direct losses — for example, it has been estimated that up to half of Hurricane Katrina survivors developed post-traumatic stress disorder even when they had <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3276074/">suffered no direct physical losses</a>.
The feelings of loss that follow catastrophic events, including a sense of loss of safety, can erode community well-being and further undermine mental health resilience.
<h2>Building resilience through community</h2>
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0222-x">Scientists caution</a> that there are no quick fixes.
Vigorous greenhouse gas reduction strategies will reduce the chance of dangerous <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1810141115">runaway climate change</a> and help mitigate the worst effects of climate change on mental health, but these efforts may <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/06/domino-effect-of-climate-events-could-push-earth-into-a-hothouse-state">not be sufficient</a>.
Installing more air conditioning units, for instance, may not significantly reduce suicide rates or mitigate the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4446935/">effects of extreme heat on health and well-being</a>. Adaptation, including substantial investment in mental health services, will be essential.
Unfortunately <a href="http://www.who.int/mental_health/action_plan_2013/en/">mental health services remain woefully underfunded and over-burdened</a> in most parts of the world. While government budgets are stretched to cope with front-line disaster relief, communities will bear the burden of responding to these challenges.
Building resilience through increased social connectedness within and between communities will be vital.
<h2>Research is a matter of life and death</h2>
Mental health problems have diverse manifestations that vary across contexts and throughout a lifetime. They are the result of long and intricate causal pathways. Climate change is not an isolated cause of suicide, but one of several factors.
Integrating these pathways into a conceptual framework — for example using <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0102-4">systems thinking</a> — is a crucial step toward developing public policy, practice and research that will equip us to respond to climate change.
Climate change is a daunting global public health challenge without ready solutions and we have been far too slow to take the risks seriously. We have also missed promising opportunities to use climate change as a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10398560903045328">mechanism to promote improved mental health</a>.
There is an urgent need for research that informs our understanding of the mental health consequences of climate change so that we can prepare for the challenges ahead.
For some, it really is a matter of life or death.
International suicide prevention and support hotlines can be <a href="http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html">found here</a>.<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/102156/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/francis-vergunst-230743">Francis Vergunst</a>, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Developmental Public Health, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-de-montreal-1743">Université de Montréal</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/helen-louise-berry-8608">Helen Louise Berry</a>, Professor of Climate Change and Mental Health, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/massimiliano-orri-549142">Massimiliano Orri</a>, Marie-Curie and CIHR Postdoctoral Fellow, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/mcgill-university-827">McGill University</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/climate-change-will-increase-deaths-by-suicide-102156">original article</a>.

How climate change impacts mental health, could increase suicide rates

<ul>
<li>Alibaba said on Monday that CEO Daniel Zhang will take over as chairman of the board in a year, succeeding current executive chairman Jack Ma.</li>
<li>Ma will remain in his role as executive chairman for the next 12 months to ensure a smooth transition.</li>
<li>Ma, a former English teacher, co-founded Alibaba, which started as an e-commerce marketplace and has expanded to become a global tech juggernaut.</li>
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By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/saheli-roy-choudhury/" rel="author">Saheli Roy Choudhury</a>
<a class="inline_quotes" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/10/alibaba-jack-ma-succession-plan-daniel-zhang-to-take-over-as-chairman.html" data-gdsid="">Alibaba</a> on Monday said that chief executive officer Daniel Zhang will succeed <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/jack-ma/">Jack Ma</a> as chairman of the board, starting September 10, 2019.
Ma will continue as executive chairman at Alibaba over the next 12 months for a smooth transition of the chairmanship to Zhang, the company said in a statement. After that, he intends to stay on the Alibaba board of directors until the 2020 annual shareholders meeting.
In a letter to Alibaba&#8217;s customers and shareholders, Ma said the transition &#8220;demonstrates that Alibaba has stepped up to the next level of corporate governance from a company that relies on individuals, to one built on systems of organizational excellence and a culture of talent development.&#8221;
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&#8220;Starting the process of passing the Alibaba torch to Daniel and his team is the right decision at the right time, because I know from working with them that they are ready, and I have complete confidence in our next generation of leaders,&#8221; Ma wrote. He added that he plans to continue his role as the founding partner in the Alibaba Partnership, which is a group made up of 36 senior leaders entrusted with the company&#8217;s mission, vision and values.
&#8220;I also want to return to education, which excites me with so much blessing because this is what I love to do,&#8221; he said.
The move to appoint Zhang as a successor to Ma was not at all surprising, Gil Luria, director of research at financial services firm D.A. Davidson &amp; Co, told CNBC&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/asia-squawk-box/">Squawk Box</a>.&#8221;
&#8220;(Ma) stepped back five years ago to become chairman,&#8221; Luria said, adding that Ma had left the stage for Zhang, Executive Vice Chairman Joe Tsai, Chief Financial Officer Maggie Wu and others to take over. &#8220;He&#8217;s done, he&#8217;s already worked on the succession for years. It seems to be going in a fairly orderly fashion.&#8221;
Luria also said not to expect too many changes as a result of the leadership succession.
&#8220;The communication to the outside world beyond the investment community may be a little different without Jack Ma. He&#8217;s a very colorful, charismatic figure, and that aspect of communication may go away,&#8221; he said. But the strategies put in place at the tech giant, including <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/18/alibaba-hema-stores-blend-online-and-offline-retail.html">an online-to-offline new retail strategy</a>, belong to Zhang, Luria added. &#8220;It&#8217;s his company now and as chairman, (Zhang) would most likely continue those strategies.&#8221;
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Last week, <a class="inline_asset" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/07/technology/alibaba-jack-ma-retiring.html">a report by The New York Times</a> said that the billionaire was retiring on Monday from the company he helped found, and that it would&#8217;ve made him one of the first founders among a generation of prominent Chinese internet entrepreneurs to step down. On Saturday, the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba, quoted a spokesman saying the Times&#8217; report was <a class="inline_asset" href="https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2163376/jack-ma-remain-alibabas-chairman-succession-plan-younger-talent">factually inaccurate, and taken out of context.</a>
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<h4 class="subtitle">Read Jack Ma&#8217;s full letter to Alibaba shareholders and customers below:</h4>
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<blockquote>Dear Alibaba customers, Aliren, and shareholders,
Today, as we mark the 19th anniversary of Alibaba, I am excited to share some news with you: 
with the approval of our board of directors, one year from today on September 10, 2019 which also falls on Alibaba&#8217;s 20th anniversary, Group CEO Daniel Zhang will succeed me as chairman of the board of Alibaba Group. While remaining as executive chairman in the next 12 months, I will work closely with Daniel to ensure a smooth and successful transition. Thereafter, I will stay on the Alibaba board of directors until our annual shareholders meeting in 2020.
I have put a lot of thought and preparation into this succession plan for ten years. I am delighted to announce the plan today thanks to the support of the Alibaba Partnership and our board of directors. I also want to offer special thanks to all Alibaba colleagues and your families, because your trust, support and our joint enterprise over the past 19 years have prepared us for this day with confidence and strength.
This transition demonstrates that Alibaba has stepped up to the next level of corporate governance from a company that relies on individuals, to one built on systems of organizational excellence and a culture of talent development.
When Alibaba was founded in 1999, our goal was to build a company that could make China and the world proud and one that could cross three centuries to last 102 years. However, we all knew that no one could stay with the company for 102 years. A sustainable Alibaba would have to be built on sound governance, culture-centric philosophy, and consistency in developing talent. No company can rely solely on its founders. Of all people, I should know that. Because of physical limits on one&#8217;s ability and energy, no one can shoulder the responsibilities of chairman and CEO forever.
We asked ourselves this question 10 years ago – how could Alibaba achieve sustainable growth after Jack Ma leaves the company? We believed the only way to solve the problem of corporate leadership succession was to develop a system of governance based on a unique culture and mechanisms for developing consistent talent and successors. For the last 10 years, we kept working on these ingredients.
Having been trained as a teacher, I feel extremely proud of what I have achieved. Teachers always want their students to exceed them, so the responsible thing to do for me and the company to do is to let younger, more talented people take over in leadership roles so that they inherit our mission &#8220;to make it easy to do business anywhere.&#8221; Carrying out this mission in order to help small businesses, young people and women around the world is my passion. This is not only our intent from day one but I feel blessed to have this opportunity. To realize the dream behind this mission requires participation by a lot more people than just Jack Ma and persistent effort by generations of Aliren.
Alibaba is amazing not because of our business or scale or accomplishments. The best thing about Alibaba is that we come together under a common mission and vision. Our partnership system, unique culture and talented team have laid a strong foundation for the legacy of our company. In fact, since I handed over the CEO&#8217;s responsibilities in 2013, the company has run smoothly for five years on the back of these institutional ingredients.
The partnership system we developed is a creative solution to good governance and sustainability, as it overcomes several challenges faced by companies of scale: continuous innovation, leadership succession, accountability and cultural continuity. Over the years, in iterating our management model, we have experimented with and improved on the right balance between systems and individuals. Simply relying on individuals or blindly following a system will not solve our problems. To achieve long-term sustainable growth, you need the right balance among system, people and culture. I have full confidence that our partnership system and efforts to safeguard our culture will in time win over the love and support from customers, employees and shareholders.
Since the founding of the company in 1999, we have been of the view that Alibaba&#8217;s future will need to depend on &#8220;droves of talent&#8221; to enable us to iterate on our management succession plans. After years of hard work, today&#8217;s Alibaba has a world-class talent pool in quality and quantity. The teacher in me feels extremely proud of our team, our leadership and our unique mission-driven culture, as well as the fact that we continue to develop exceptional business leaders and professional talent like Daniel Zhang.
Daniel has been with Alibaba Group for 11 years. Since he took over as CEO, he has demonstrated his superb talent, business acumen and determined leadership. Under his stewardship, Alibaba has seen consistent and sustainable growth for 13 consecutive quarters. His analytical mind is unparalleled, he holds dear our mission and vision, he embraces responsibility with passion, and he has the guts to innovate and test creative business models. Deservedly, China&#8217;s business news media has named him the No.1 CEO in 2018. For these reasons, he and his team have won the trust and support of customers, employees and shareholders. Starting the process of passing the Alibaba torch to Daniel and his team is the right decision at the right time, because I know from working with them that they are ready, and I have complete confidence in our next generation of leaders.
As for myself, I still have lots of dreams to pursue. Those who know me know that I do not like to sit idle. I plan on continuing my role as the founding partner in the Alibaba Partnership and contribute to the work of the partnership. I also want to return to education, which excites me with so much blessing because this is what I love to do. The world is big, and I am still young, so I want to try new things – because what if new dreams can be realized?!
The one thing I can promise everyone is this: Alibaba was never about Jack Ma, but Jack Ma will forever belong to Alibaba.
Jack Ma 
September 10, 2018</blockquote>
Clarification: This article has been updated to clarify that the New York Times originally reported that Jack Ma said he would be stepping down as Alibaba chairman on Monday.
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<div class="reporter-info"><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/saheli-roy-choudhury/">Saheli Roy Choudhury</a>Reporter, CNBC.com</div>
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