NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Office equipment for Kenya’s parliament donated by China has gone missing after being loaded onto a shipping container, authorities from both nations said on Thursday.



Like other African nations, Kenya has deepened ties with Beijing, receiving loans, investments and scholarships. But the container of equipment arrived empty this week at its National Assembly, China’s “shocked” embassy said in a statement.



Kenyan police have begun an investigation into the disappearance of the electronic equipment, whose value has not been given, and parliament officials declined to comment.



Kenya has been beset by widespread cases of corruption and theft over the years and President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government had been trying to crack down on the problem.



Reporting by John Ndiso and Humphrey Malalo; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne

China’s donation of equipment to this East African country’s parliament goes missing

KINSHASA/KIGALI (Reuters) &#8211; Congo’s presidency said on Thursday that Rwandan authorities had closed the border between Goma and its nearest town of Gisenyi for all people other than Congolese citizens leaving Rwanda.



Goma had its second case of Ebola fever confirmed this week.



“The Congolese authorities deplore this decision, which runs counter to the advice of the WHO (World Health Organisation),” on fighting the virus, the statement said.



Rwandan state minister for foreign affairs ministry, Olivier Nduhungirehe, told Reuters by phone: “Yes it has been closed, but for details you can call immigration and ministry of health because it is about Ebola.”



Reporting by Stanys Bujakera in Kinshasa and Clement Uwiringiyimana in Kigali; Writing by Tim Cocks and Omar Mohammed; Editing by Hugh Lawson

Rwanda shuts border near Goma after second case of Ebola fever confirmed in the DRC city

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings reported on Thursday that it expects earnings to fall as much as 5% this year due to further impairments on its David Jones department store business.



Woolworths, which also has operations in Australia and New Zealand, said that headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the year is expected between 345.9 to 364.1 cents, compared to 364.1 cents in the same period last year.



HEPS is the main profit gauge in South Africa and strips out certain one-off items.



“The impairment reflects the economic headwinds and the accelerating structural changes affecting the Australian retail sector as well as the performance of the business, which has fallen short of expectations,” the company said.



Reporting by Onke Ngcuka, editing by Deepa Babington

Why South Africa’s Woolworths expects earnings to fall as much as 5% in 2019

<figure>
 <img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285949/original/file-20190728-43145-12i3i21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;fit=clip" />
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 Young men in the traditional attire of southern Ethiopia’s Sidama people.
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By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/yonatan-fessha-788262">Yonatan Fessha</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-western-cape-1018">University of the Western Cape</a>

Mounting tensions in southern Ethiopia are <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49070762">creating</a> high levels of nervousness in the country. At the centre of the conflict is the clamour for internal secession by the Sidama, the country’s fifth largest ethic group. Most recently, the federal government declared that it, rather than the local authorities, was now <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-politics-idUSKCN1UI29Z?utm_source=34553&amp;utm_medium=partner">in charge</a> of maintaining peace and security. This followed violence which had led to deaths and injuries.

Ethiopia has 80 ethnic groups. More than two decades ago, the country adopted a constitution that uses ethnicity as a basis to organise the federation. But only five of the nine states are home to a dominant ethnic community. The remaining four states are markedly multi-ethnic. 

Here the complications set in. While some numerically stronger ethnic communities have been denied the status of a state, some smaller ones have a state to call their own. For example, the State of Harari is home to the eponymous community of fewer than 200 000 people. 

On the other hand there are ethnic groups, like the Sidama – with more than three million people – that don’t have a state of their own. 

It has not always been like this. The Sidama have a history of distinct administrative existence dating back to <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn-africa/ethiopia/b146-time-ethiopia-bargain-sidama-over-statehood">imperial days</a>. More recently, the ethnically defined State of Sidama, in which the Sidama were the majority, was <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23644459?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">established in 1991</a>. 

But this was abolished when Ethiopia adopted a new Constitution in 1995 and the Southern Nations and Nationalities and People’s Regional State (the Southern State) was established where the Sidama became just one of the 56 or so ethnic groups that inhabit the state. 

Since then, members of the Sidama community have been demanding their own state, pointing to states like Harari.

The matter came to a head on July 18 when members of the Sidama community tried to carry out their threat of unilaterally <a href="https://borkena.com/2019/04/09/sidama-women-marched-awassa-demanding-ethnic-sidama-statehood/">declaring</a> the creation of a separate state. This followed months of agitation. 

What Ethiopia now faces is a hugely complex legal and political issue. The clauses in the Constitution dealing with secession are open to wide interpretation, as has been made clear by <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-security/ethiopia-faces-more-conflict-with-ethnic-groups-push-for-region-idUSKCN1TZ1H0">recent comments</a> by the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. 

On the other hand, it’s important that all parties concerned work their way towards a negotiated settlement particularly given the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/250-arrested-ethiopia-foiled-coup-state-tv-190628005517448.html">fragile state</a> the country’s in.

<figure class="align-center ">
 <img decoding="async" alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285839/original/file-20190726-43153-u4sq1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285839/original/file-20190726-43153-u4sq1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=453&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285839/original/file-20190726-43153-u4sq1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=453&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285839/original/file-20190726-43153-u4sq1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=453&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285839/original/file-20190726-43153-u4sq1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=569&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285839/original/file-20190726-43153-u4sq1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=569&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285839/original/file-20190726-43153-u4sq1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=569&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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 Map of Ethiopia’s semi-autonomous states.
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<h2>Constitutional amendment</h2>

The good thing for the Sidama and others is that the Constitution has kept the door of statehood ajar for ethnic groups wanting to establish a state of their own. <a href="https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/et/et007en.pdf">Article 47(2)</a> provides ethnic groups the right to establish a state of their own. 

All a community needs to do is to show that it has support for its demand. A simple majority vote of the community is enough – or so it would seem. In reality, the process is proving to be much more complicated.

In his recent address to law makers Abiy alluded to the complexity of the problem when he pointed out that a majority vote in favour of statehood might not be sufficient because the constitution only lists nine states that constitute the federation. Getting the prospective state of Sidama onto that list would require a constitutional amendment. 

Many, including myself, were quick to dismiss this as an <a href="https://en-gb.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2124590420997449&amp;id=1046081962181639&amp;__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCfqZGMNJHZ09WoGoSlEIbAo_xtxIQpUSSwO4wLC_EDhINnsb3fV3mzojb5Uj64o4JZXdi4dEmfqhEG90ThmRgBU3lJpWDNBvy9imYA983BhalRJRhVrPCWz2wSxT0yLnkAAFZcZUa864kVAAB-YY7IVLOJRrPgv7EFinkDhaSnMOw9pRZg2BoqSS_uAVD6xIfMHCLrM7OngauHwrvTpcVB2egqor0AouuQ2lTFTPYojYiZUDiod6F4gdrEDoBKmghtnwq5dZq28W22Z9eKtS9Ak3sP-uznlaKH9JG0tbH036LX1aQ6DVMj9PYPn9gtgCntSYpjzKTmvDMlfWCk5mkl&amp;__tn__=K-R">act of legal gymnastics</a> by a Prime Minister who has found himself between a rock and hard place. The Constitution, after all, states that a new state directly becomes a member of the federation without any need for application to join it. 

But the prime minister is also correct that the constitutional clause listing the states must be amended if the Sidama’s quest for statehood is to be completed. And this is an amendment that requires the support of the two houses of the federal parliament and the legislative assemblies of at least two-thirds of the states.

One may argue that a suitable referendum result should place an obligation on the member states and the federal government to effect the necessary constitutional amendment. To borrow the famous lines of the Supreme Court of Canada, <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-31.8/page-1.html">‘a clear expression of a will by a clear majority’</a> of the population of the Sidama to secede from the Southern State should create an obligation on the rest of the country to do what is constitutionally necessary. 

But this also poses a potential stumbling block: is it possible to coerce a state from which a territory is seceding – in this case the Southern State – to vote for a constitutional amendment that effectively presents a threat to its territorial integrity? After all, there is no language of obligation in Article 47. In as much as it gives ethnic communities the right to demand internal secession, it does not impose a corresponding duty on the others to accept it.

Even if an obligation exists, I would argue that it is an obligation to negotiate. This means that the concerned parties, including the federal government, the government of the Southern State and the Sidama local governments, must come to the table to negotiate the possibilities and ramifications of a new Sidama state. 

That is why, in my view, it was also unconstitutional for members of the Sidama community to unilaterally declare the formation of a new state. Ethiopia’s Constitution is silent on what should be done in the event a state or federal government refusing to entertain a request to secede. But it does subject internal secession to a procedure. This suggests that it does not allow for a unilateral declaration of succession. Further, a federal law requires appeals to be directed to the House of Federation, the body tasked to deal with constitutional disputes.

<h2>Negotiating table</h2>

All roads, it seems, lead the parties to a negotiating table. It must be admitted that the Sidama’s struggle to have their own state is at a point of no return. The state and federal authorities have now agreed to hold a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-security/ethiopia-faces-more-conflict-with-ethnic-groups-push-for-region-idUSKCN1TZ1H0">referendum</a> within the next five months. 

Perhaps in the meantime they can engage in a negotiation and deal with many of the questions that remain unanswered. This includes who should be allowed to vote in the referendum, the division of assets and the concerns of individuals that do not belong to the Sidama ethnic group. 

Ethiopia is in an extremely fragile political state. It can’t afford the instability and chaos that might follow from the disorderly partitioning of an existing state and a similar push by others. Both state and non-state actors must work towards a cooperative internal secession.

A longer version of this article was first published on the <a href="https://blog-iacl-aidc.org/2019-posts/2019/7/15/internal-secession-and-federalism-in-ethiopia">IACL-IADC Blog</a> under the title “Internal secession and Federalism in Ethiopia”.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120734/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" 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" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/yonatan-fessha-788262">Yonatan Fessha</a>, Marie-Curie Fellow, EURAC Research and Associate Professor, Public Law and Jurisprudence, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-western-cape-1018">University of the Western Cape</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/ethiopia-why-the-sidama-secession-demand-needs-to-be-negotiated-120734">original article</a>.

Should the secession demand of Ethiopia’s Sidama people be negotiated ?

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/tom-popomaronis/">Tom Popomaronis</a>



If there’s one person who understands the importance of teaching kids about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/26/how-to-raise-money-smart-children-who-grow-up-to-be-successful-wealthy-financially-literate.html" class="">financial responsibility</a>, it’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/10/billionaire-warren-buffett-use-this-simple-test-when-making-tough-decisions.html" class="">Warren Buffett</a>.



Before he became CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, the legendary investor started a handful of small businesses — starting at age six, when he purchased a six-pack of Coke for 25 cents and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/31/heres-how-warren-buffett-hustled-to-make-53000-as-a-teenager.html" class="">sold each can for a nickel</a>. He also sold&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/31/heres-how-warren-buffett-hustled-to-make-53000-as-a-teenager.html" class="">magazines and gum</a>&nbsp;from door to door.



“My dad was my greatest inspiration,” Buffett said in an interview with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2013/11/22/buffett-how-to-teach-your-kids-about-moneycommentary.html" class="">CNBC</a>&nbsp;back in 2013. “What I learned at an early age from him was to have the right habits early. Savings was an important lesson he taught me.”



When asked what he thinks is the biggest mistake parents make when teaching their kids about money, the billionaire said, “Sometimes parents wait until their kids are in their teens before they start talking about managing money — when they could be starting when their kids are in preschool.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Time is a factor</h2>



Yes, you read that right:&nbsp;Preschool.&nbsp;To Buffett’s point,<a href="http://littletexans.org/Media/36-48m%20English%20Parenting%20Guide%20-%20Web.pdf" class="">researchers have noted</a>&nbsp;that 80% of our brain growth happens by age 3.



One&nbsp;<a href="https://mascdn.azureedge.net/cms/the-money-advice-service-habit-formation-and-learning-in-young-children-may2013.pdf" class="">study from Cambridge University</a>&nbsp;found that kids are already able to grasp basic money concepts between the ages of 3 and 4. And by age 7, basic concepts relating to future financial behaviors will typically have developed.



“Most parents already know how important it is to teach their kids about money and how to managing it properly,” Buffett acknowledged. But there’s a difference between&nbsp;knowing&nbsp;and&nbsp;taking action.



According to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.slideshare.net/TRowePrice/t-rowe-prices-10th-annual-parents-kids-money-survey" class="">2018 survey from T. Rowe Price</a>, which gathered responses from 1,014 parents (of children between the ages of 8 to 14) and more than 1,000 young adults (ages 18 to 24), only 4% of parents said they started discussing financial topics with their kids before the age of 5.



Thirty percent of parents started educating their kids about money at age 15 or older, while 14% said they never did at all.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Lessons Buffett taught his own kids</h2>



In 2011, Buffett helped launch a children’s animated series called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smckids.com/games.php" class="">“Secret Millionaire’s Club,”</a>&nbsp;which featured himself as a mentor to a group of students.



There are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smckids.com/episodes/" class="">26 episodes</a>&nbsp;in the show, and each one tackles a financial lesson, such as how a credit card works or why it’s important to track where you put your money.



“I taught all [three] of my kids the lessons taught in ‘Secret Millionaires Club,’” Buffett told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2013/11/22/buffett-how-to-teach-your-kids-about-moneycommentary.html" class="">CNBC</a>. “They are simple lessons meant for business and for life.”



Here are a few lessons from the show, along with&nbsp;<a href="http://smckids.com/learnandearn/parents/activities/" class="">tips from Buffett</a>&nbsp;on how to teach them to your kids:



1.&nbsp;<a href="http://smckids.com/learnandearn/images/stories/pdfs/SMC-Parent-Wb24-GoingMentalForRental.pdf" class="">How to be a flexible thinker</a>



The goal of this lesson is to encourage your kids not to give up just because something doesn’t work the first time. The ability to think creatively and outside the box will come in handy when they run into future financial challenges.



Activity ideas:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Go to an art museum with your kids and discuss the different styles of each painting. Then, invite them to paint something of their own. Have them brainstorm different tools — besides the paintbrush — that can be used (e.g., sponges, cotton swabs, fingers).</li><li>Turn your trash into treasure by challenging your kids to come up with new uses for old things around the house (e.g., bottle caps can double as checker pieces, an empty cereal box can be turned into a magazine holder). This will help teach them how to think critically, save money and help the environment all at the same time.</li></ul>



2.<a href="http://smckids.com/learnandearn/images/stories/pdfs/SMC-Parent-Wb04-LawnAndOrder.pdf" class="">&nbsp;How to start saving money</a>



As Ben Franklin once said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” To help your kids learn to manage their money, it’s important for them to understand the difference between&nbsp;wants&nbsp;and&nbsp;needs.



Activity ideas:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Give each of your kids two money jars: One for savings and one for spending. Each time they receive money (e.g., as a gift, for allowance, for walking the neighbor’s dog), talk to them about how they wish to split the money between savings and spending.</li><li>Have your kids make a list or create a collage from magazine photos of five to 10 things they’d like to purchase. Then, go through each item with them and mark whether it’s a want or a need (e.g., a new toy is a want, while a new backpack is a need.)</li></ul>



3.<a href="http://smckids.com/learnandearn/images/stories/pdfs/SMC-Parent-Wb16-WhyPayMore.pdf" class="">&nbsp;How to differentiate between price and value</a>



We’ve all been guilty of paying more money for a cool brand of shoes or gadget when we could have gotten a similar item that was just as good for a lesser price.



The idea behind this lesson is to help kids understand the different ways advertisers get us to buy their services or products, as well as how to tell what is and what isn’t worth paying for.



Activity ideas:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Make a list of items you need at the supermarket, and then check flyers, newspapers and websites with your kids for items on the list that may be on sale. Compare those prices and see which store offers the best deal for a specific product.</li><li>Pick up a magazine with your kids and choose an ad to evaluate. Ask them: What’s being sold? What message is the ad trying to get across? What catches their attention in the ad? How does the ad make them feel? How is it trying to persuade them to buy the product?</li></ul>



4.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.smckids.com/learnandearn/images/stories/pdfs/SMC-Parent-Wb23-TheDominoEffect.pdf" class="">How to make good decisions</a>



The key to making smart decisions is to think about how different choices can impact future outcomes.



Activity ideas:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Buffett suggests modeling good decision-making skills and talking to your kids about your decisions as you make them, as well as any resulting domino effect they could have. For example: “We want to buy a new TV, but our AC is broken and we need to save money to get it fixed. If we don’t, it will be too hot in the house when summer comes. Once the AC is repaired, we can think about buying the TV.”</li><li>Get your kids into the habit of making good decisions about how to save money. Maybe there’s a DVD they want to buy. Ask them whether they really need it or if they can rent the movie from the library.</li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">‘It’s never too early’</h2>



Instilling healthy financial habits in your kids is one of the most important things you can do to help ensure they have a successful future.



“It’s never too early,” Buffett said in a Q&amp;A with&nbsp;<a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/money-101--q-a-with-warren-buffett-140409456.html" class="">Yahoo Finance</a>&nbsp;in 2013. “Whether it’s teaching kids the value of a dollar, the difference between needs and wants or the value of saving — these are all concepts that kids encounter at a very early age, so it’s best to help them to understand it.”



Tom Popomaronis is a commerce expert and proud Baltimore native. Currently, he is the Senior Director of Product Innovation at the <a class="" href="https://rhawkinsgroup.com/">Hawkins Group</a>. His work has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company and The Washington Post. In 2014, he was named one of the “40 Under 40” by the Baltimore Business Journal.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/30/warren-buffett-this-is-the-no-1-mistake-parents-make-when-teaching-kids-about-money.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/30/warren-buffett-this-is-the-no-1-mistake-parents-make-when-teaching-kids-about-money.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Warren Buffett: This is the No. 1 mistake parents make when teaching kids about money

JOHANNESBURG &#8211; Among the metal shacks and narrow side streets of South Africa’s townships, one of the country’s biggest lenders sees a sizeable market it wants to be first to crack: multi-million-rand businesses operating largely in cash. 



FirstRand, South Africa’s biggest lender by market share, sees enterprises such as Ram Thapa’s, a beauty shop and fast-food outlet with combined annual turnover of 19 million rand ($1.36 million) but no business account, as ripe targets for a host of financial products.



Businesses in townships &#8211; areas designated for non-whites under apartheid &#8211; have largely been ignored by big banks in Johannesburg’s financial district Sandton, even though some have tens of millions of revenue a year, said Mike Vacy-Lyle, CEO of business banking at FirstRand’s retail unit First National Bank (FNB).



“Four kilometres to the right of Sandton is a township called Alex [Alexandra],” he said. “Inside Alex there are massive businesses and business networks that no bank has bothered to open their eyes to.”



FNB has set its sights on the townships as it prepares to defend its No. 1 position from rival Capitec and new digital lenders such as TymeBank and Bank Zero which have shaken up the retail market with cheaper products and are poised to enter business banking.



There are estimated to be up to 5.78 million micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises in South Africa according to a 2018 report by the World Bank, and while there is no recent data on the proportion of those firms which have a bank account, a 2010 survey cited in the report estimated it was less than half.



FNB plans to attract unbanked businesses onto its books by first getting them to use fintech firm Selpal. The bank acquired an undisclosed stake in the company late last year.



Selpal connects local stores with suppliers via software and tablets. Once a customer is using Selpal, FNB will use the data it collects to offer them an account with, for example, an overdraft attached. The bank is launching a business account in October with zero monthly fees though customers will pay as they use a range of transactions.



In order to succeed, FNB will have to overcome a strong attachment to cash-only transactions, general mistrust of banks, paperwork problems and low margins.



Reflecting that challenge, Vacy-Lyle said it could take up to a decade to sign up at least 600,000 companies. By comparison, it took Capitec five years to add more than 600,000 retail clients.



Rivals including Capitec, as well as Absa, Standard Bank and Nedbank &#8211; which together with FirstRand make up South Africa’s big four &#8211; told Reuters they don’t have plans to target unbanked township businesses specifically.



In a statement, Gerrie Fourie, chief executive of Capitec, said its plan was to focus on the SME market as a whole. Michael Jordaan, co-founder of Bank Zero, said it would target all businesses.



Luisa Mazinter, chief marketing officer of TymeBank, said its business offering would initially be targeted at sole proprietors and micro businesses, allowing current account-holders to open a separate account for their business with no extra documents required.



In the longer-term, TymeBank will adapt the offering to appeal to both formal and informal enterprises and aim to introduce its own point-of-sale devices, Mazinter said.



Bongiwe Gangeni, deputy CEO of Absa’s retail and business bank, said a number of attempts over the past decade to target unbanked companies, including with loans and point of sale devices, had not generated enough revenue to justify the costs.



She said the issue wasn’t always about access. “I think some of them choose not to be banked.”



FNB declined to quantify the income it is hoping to generate from township companies.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">CASH STILL KING</h3>



On the face of it, lenders in South Africa are relatively well represented among the general population with more than 80% of adults having access to a current account, according to a 2018 report by FinMark Trust, a Johannesburg-based financial inclusion organisation.



But in many communities, cash is still king. A bank account is often a condition of employment or receipt of social payments, and many people withdraw money as soon as they receive it and just use notes and coins.



Only 24% of South Africans make more than three monthly transactions of any kind through their account, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group in 2017.



Some people are wary of formalising their financial arrangements in case it puts them on the taxman’s radar. Many are also mistrustful of digital methods of payment, as well as the financial sector in general after mis-selling and corruption scandals, and prefer to pool savings in community-based schemes.



In his shop, choc-a-bloc with hair and beauty products and mannequin heads wearing wigs, Thapa said he’d prefer to have a business bank account. Right now, he doesn’t have access to credit and is relying on a point of sale device linked to his brother’s business so he can serve card paying customers.



Cash also attracts trouble, he told Reuters.



“You know, this area is very dangerous,” he said, counting the number of times he had been robbed &#8211; three &#8211; on his fingers.



Bureaucracy is a big hurdle for small enterprises looking to tap traditional finance.



A handful of unbanked businesses Reuters found across two townships were, in almost every case, owned by immigrants or asylum seekers and cited a lack of the right documents &#8211; a factor outside of banks’ control &#8211; as the main reason their business didn’t have an account.



“When you want to do things, they want a business account,” said Vusi Coka, a South African running a tavern in Alexandra. He is struggling to get a mortgage because he can’t show banks how his business is performing.



He can’t open an account for the tavern because it belonged to his late father, and the title hasn’t been transferred into his name.



High fees are another barrier. Digital players have been able to make inroads in the retail market with cheaper products because, unlike traditional banks, they are not lumbered with expensive branch networks that push up costs.



FNB is hoping its zero-fee offering will attract price-conscious entrepreneurs in townships, giving it access to data for cross-selling and growing the market for financial products.



With Selpal serving as a “trojan horse”, Vacy-Lyle said the lender is looking to bank 2,500 township wholesalers by 2022, and after that will look to bring in grocery stores, known as spazas, and taverns, as well as firms like hairdressers and auto repair shops.



While making it easier for such businesses to access financial services, especially credit, was a positive, Brendan Pearce, chief executive of FinMark Trust, said there was a question mark over whether they could make informed decisions.



“There’s a financial literacy issue,” he said, adding fintech firms or others with a more specific focus could usually offer better products at better prices.



“I’m not convinced commercial banks have the solution to financial inclusion.”



($1 = 13.9359 rand)



Additional reporting by Onke Ngcuka, Naledi Mashishi and Mundia Sibongo; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Carmel Crimmins

How do ‘unseen’ businesses in South Africa’s townships catch a big bank’s eye ?

By Kopano Gumbi



Nicky Newton-King has been the CEO of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
for eight years. She has a long and storied career, having joined the JSE 23
years ago.



Newton-King will be replaced by Dr Leila Fourie from the 1 October. According to the SENS announcement released, Fourie is a seasoned business executive having previously served as an executive director of the JSE.



The JSE has gone through turbulent times in the last five years as it struggled to find attractive listings and high trading volumes suffered &#8212; something analysts attribute to a weakened South African economy and not necessarily to the leadership of the JSE.



“She leaves at a difficult time and trading environment,” says Rowan
Williams, a director at Nitrogen Fund Managers. He credits Newton-King with
corporatising the bourse and making it a more efficiently run business.&nbsp; 



During her tenure, the JSE also faced competition from new entrants in the market. Several new exchanges opened, including ZarX, A2X and 4AX. Still, the JSE remains the largest exchange in South Africa with a market capitalisation of R11 billion, and the largest in Africa.



“She is a highly rated and well respected professional,” says David Shapiro of Sasfin Wealth. “There was a time women weren’t allowed on the trading floor of the JSE, for her to have come to lead is a major move.”

JSE CEO Nicky Newton-King steps down

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nic-cheeseman-180800">Nic Cheeseman</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-birmingham-1138">University of Birmingham</a>

There is growing concern about the potential for the message and media sharing platform WhatsApp to undermine democracy in a number of countries across the world including <a href="http://theconversation.com/whatsapp-skewed-brazilian-election-proving-social-medias-danger-to-democracy-106476">Brazil</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/13/big-tech-whatsapp-democracy-india">India</a>. 

Because WhatsApp is encrypted – and so offers users far greater protection from prosecution than Twitter or Facebook – it has become particularly notorious for spreading “fake news”. 

This is a major concern in Africa, where WhatsApp is the most <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1206935/whatsapp-is-the-most-popular-messaging-app-in-africa/">popular messaging app in 40 countries</a>. This is due to its low cost and the ability to easily share messages with both individuals and groups. 

But is this really how WhatApp is used? And if it is, to what extent does this compromise the quality of elections? 

A joint team from the Centre for Democracy and Development (Nigeria) and the University of Birmingham (UK) has spent the last few months researching the impact of WhatsApp on the 2019 Nigerian elections held in May. 

Their <a href="https://www.cddwestafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/WHATSAPP-NIGERIA-ELECTION-2019.pdf">report</a> comes to conclusions that are both troubling, as well as encouraging. 

The research reveals that the platform was used to mislead voters in increasingly sophisticated ways. But it also shows that Whatsapp strengthened democracy in other areas.

<h2>Misinformation and disinformation</h2>

The term “<a href="http://blogs.royalsociety.org/publishing/ignorance-can-be-fatal-countering-the-crisis-in-fake-news-and-fake-science/">fake news</a> has become widely used over the past few years. However, it is problematic because it lumps together very different kinds of information and behaviour. For example, we need to separate out deliberate attempts to mislead others by creating false stories (disinformation) from the innocent sharing of made up stories by people who believe it to be true (misinformation).

The 2019 Nigerian elections saw both disinformation and misinformation. We studied this by conducting 46 interviews in the states of Abuja, Oyo and Kano, as well as seven focus groups and a survey of 1,005 people.

During the course of conducting the research candidates consistently told us that they predominantly used WhatsApp to share information about their qualities and campaign pledges. But many WhatsApp users said that at a high proportion of the messages they received were designed to undermine a rival leader’s reputation – to &#8220;decampaign” them.

There were some high profile examples of disinformation. The most notorious story circulated on social media was that the president had died while undergoing medical treatment outside of the country, and had <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46424562">been replaced by a clone from Sudan</a>. 

Other fabricated communications were less outlandish but no less significant. Many ordinary citizens shared these messages, in some cases because they knew they were false and wanted to amplify their impact, but in many cases because they thought they were true.

The most effective decampaigning strategies were those that shared messages that resonated with individuals because they contained an element of the truth, or played on recent experiences. 

<h2>WhatsApp takes over</h2>

The political influence of WhatsApp has expanded rapidly in line with its growing penetration. As a result, it has become part of the fabric of election campaigns and is now a key mechanism through which political leaders seek to communicate with their campaign teams and supporters. 

Fully 91% of the people we interviewed were active WhatsApp users; as one person put it:

<blockquote>
I use WhatsApp more than I use the toilet.
</blockquote>

In Nigeria, election candidates were already using the platform to <a href="https://www.academia.edu/32414216/The_Impact_of_Social_Media_during_the_2015_Nigerian_General_Elections">push messages in 2015</a>. But the people we interviewed agreed that the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2019/02/15/its-nigerias-first-whatsapp-election-heres-what-were-learning-about-how-fake-news-spreads/">2019 elections</a> saw a significant step up in terms of how the leading parties organised their social media strategy.

Politically, WhatsApp was used in an increasingly sophisticated way at the presidential level. In 2019, the two main presidential candidates – President Muhammadu Buhari and opposition leader Atiku Abubakar – both had dedicated teams pushing out messages over social media: the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B-DqX1o370">Buhari New Media Centre</a> and <a href="https://www.atikulatedyouthforce.com/membership">Atikulated Youth Force</a>. By forming hundreds of Whatsapp groups of 256 members, these organisations could send messages to tens of thousands of people at the touch of a button.

Buhari’s effort was better funded and particularly impressive. It established a network of local and regional representatives connected to a “central command” in Abuja. This enabled the campaign to rapidly send messages from the national to the local level, while also responding to hostile messages and rumours shared by its rivals.

While those in power typically had more money to invest in their campaigns, many opposition leaders pointed out that in important ways WhatsApp had created a more level political playing field. Those who had been involved in politics for some time explained that “fake news” was nothing new in Nigeria, but that in the past it was sometimes impossible to counteract these messages because there was no way to get airtime on government aligned radio. 

WhatsApp had changed this situation. Opposition leaders now have a cheap way of fighting back. It has also been used to coordinate anti-corruption campaigns and election observation, strengthening democracy. 

<h2>Evolution or revolution?</h2>

It’s also important not to overstate the significance of WhatsApp. Things look very different below the national level, for example, where campaign structures were less developed and a significant proportion of activity remained informal.

We found that while candidates for Governor and Member of Parliament did set up WhatsApp groups, they were much less organised. In many cases, candidates relied on existing networks and social influencers to get the message out.

Candidates were also keen to stress that while they used WhatsApp during their campaigns, they did not rely on it. Voters expect to see their leaders on the ground, and expected them to provide a range of services for the community. Advertising good deeds over WhatsApp could help a leader get credit, but only if they had fulfilled their responsibilities in the first place.

In other words, WhatsApp can amplify and complement a candidate’s ground campaign. But it cannot replace it.

<h2>Throwing out the water but keeping the baby</h2>

These findings suggest that solutions to the power of social media platforms like WhatsApp isn’t to ban them, or to allow governments to censor them. This would merely exaggerate the vast advantages of incumbency that ruling parties already enjoy. 

A better solution would be to promote <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/11/09/what-is-digital-literacy.html">digital literacy</a>, develop <a href="http://www.comminit.com/democracy-governance/content/guidelines-development-social-media-code-conduct-elections">social media codes of conduct</a> around elections, and empower WhatsApp uses to control which groups they are added to, and what information they receive.

The research was conducted, and publications authored by, Jamie Hitchen, Idayat Hassan, Jonathan Fisher and Nic Cheeseman.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121064/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" 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" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nic-cheeseman-180800">Nic Cheeseman</a>, Professor of Democracy, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-birmingham-1138">University of Birmingham</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/whatsapp-played-a-big-role-in-the-nigerian-election-not-all-of-it-was-bad-121064">original article</a>.

With WhatsApp having played a major role in Nigeria’s elections does it undermine democracy ?

PRETORIA (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s second quarter unemployment rate rose to 29.0%, its highest level in more than a decade, from 27.6% in the first quarter, official data showed on Tuesday.



There were 6.7 million people without jobs in the three months to the end of June, compared with 6.2 million people in the prior quarter, Statistics South Africa said its quarterly labour force survey.



“This is highest it has gone since the first quarter of 2008 since we began the quarterly labour force survey,” said Statistician General Risenga Maluleke.



Employment losses were mainly driven by private households, transport, mining and finance, Stats SA said.



The expanded definition of unemployment, which includes people who have stopped looking for work, rose to 38.5% in the second quarter from 38.0% in the previous quarter.



Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Writing by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Andrew Heavens

South Africa’s unemployment rate rises to 29% in Q2

NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) &#8211; American teenager Kyle Giersdorf won $3 million on Sunday in New York after taking the top prize in a tournament for the popular online video game Fortnite.



Geirsdorf, 16, from Pennsylvania, was one of at least 100 players competing for $30 million in total prize money, as the booming popularity of video and online games has drawn top-dollar investments and fueled the emerging professional sport. Global revenues from esports, or professional video game competitions, will hit $1.1 billion in 2019, up 27 percent since last year, thanks to ballooning revenues from advertising, sponsorship and media rights, according to a report released earlier this year.



Playing under the name “Bugha,” Giersdorf won the solo finals portion of the Fortnite World Cup by scoring 59 points, 26 more than his nearest competitor “psalm,” according to the Fortnite World Cup Leaderboard, posted on the game’s website.



“Words can’t even explain it. I’m just so happy,” Giersdorf said in an interview at the event at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York, posted by organizers on Twitter. “Everything I’ve done, the grind, it’s all paid off. It’s just insane.”



Giersdorf did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



Launched in 2017, Fortnite’s popularity has helped Epic Games reach a $15-billion-valuation last year. It competes with other games like Electronic Arts Inc’s Apex Legends and Tencent Holdings Ltd’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.



Overall, the global video and electronic games market, excluding revenues from esports, will generate $152.1 billion in 2019, up 9.6% over last year, according to a report by gaming analytics firm Newzoo.



Reporting By Elizabeth Dilts Editing by Sonya Hepinstall

16-year-old wins $3 million at first ever Fortnite World Cup video game tournament

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; The Kenyan shilling was under pressure on Monday due to end month dollar demand from the energy and manufacturing sector amid excess liquidity in the local money market, traders said.



At 0755 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 103.85/104.05 per dollar, compared with 103.75/95 at Friday’s close.



Reporting by John Ndiso; Editing by Omar Mohammed

The Kenyan shilling is under pressure, here’s why

JOHANNESBURG/VRYHEID, South Africa (Reuters) &#8211; Cattle have long been considered a measure of wealth across Africa &#8211; but it is not just farmers cashing in.



A pioneering app in South Africa lets investors, eager to benefit from rising global beef demand, buy shares in a cow from their mobile phone for as little as 576 rand ($41).



Self-styled “crowd-farming” company Livestock Wealth connects investors with small-scale farmers via its “MyFarmbook” app, where they can buy their own cow and receive interest rates of between 5% and 14% depending on where they put their money.



Launched in 2015 with 26 cows, the project now includes more than 2,000 cows and has taken in 50 million rand, with 10 percent of investors coming from outside South Africa.



Groups of investors can buy a whole cow, while individuals can purchase shares in a pregnant cow or young calf.



A pregnant cow costs 18,730 rand and takes 12 months before the newborn calf can be sold for a return, while investing in a calf costs 11,529 rand and takes six months for it to grow enough to be sold.



“We can link small scale farmers to big markets by introducing private capital into the growing phase,” said 38 year-old Livestock Wealth founder and CEO Ntuthuko Shezi, who was inspired by his grandparents’ farming success.



“The household bank account was a crop,” added Shezi of his family experience, standing among a herd of cattle at a partner farm in Vryheid, a ranching town in northern KwaZulu-Natal province.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">“EASIER” THAN REAL FARMING</h3>



Livestock contributes around 51% to the agricultural economy in South Africa, with global sheep and beef prices rising after droughts in major producing areas.



“Many people live in urban areas and they have interests in participating in farming but they cannot physically be there and this offers them a platform to do that,” said Wandile Sihlobo, economist with South African agribusiness association Agbiz.



Small business consultant Nontokozo Sabela, 34, was once interested in farming &#8211; but found the app a better alternative.



She bought her first cow in 2016 and earned around 6,000 rand from it. “This way it’s easier for me, it’s cheaper, it’s convenient,” said Sabela.



As with any investment, however, risks exist. Both the impact of weather on feed costs and fluctuations in global demand for beef can affect the cow investments.



Shezi now hopes to expand his business into the produce market after launching a vegetable growing system this month that aims to give a 220 rand return per month over five years.



($1 = 14.1696 rand)



Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne

Is African cattle investment the new cash cow? Here’s how investors are cashing in…

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Ratings agency Fitch on Friday affirmed South Africa’s credit rating at ‘BB+’, in sub-investment grade, but downgraded the outlook from stable to negative, citing a widening budget deficit and spending on supporting struggling state firms.



Fitch said it believed significant progress in restructuring the state power firm Eskom would be challenging, and that downward revisions to economic growth forecasts in 2019 raised new questions about South Africa’s growth potential.



Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Kevin Liffey

Fitch affirms South Africa credit rating but downgrades outlook from stable to negative

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; A Johannesburg High Court on Friday approved a 5 billion rand ($353 million) class action settlement between gold mining companies and law firms representing thousands of miners who contracted the fatal lung diseases silicosis and tuberculosis.



The settlement follows a long legal battle by miners to win compensation for illnesses they say they contracted over decades because of negligence in health and safety.



“All the parties made an effort to ensure that the settlement agreement is reasonable, adequate and fair,” the High Court said in its judgement.



The gold producers agreed in May last year to the settlement but it needed to be approved by the Johannesburg High Court before being implemented.



The class action suit was launched in 2012 on behalf of miners suffering from silicosis, an incurable disease caused by inhaling silica dust from gold-bearing rocks.



It causes shortness of breath, a persistent cough and chest pains, and also makes people highly susceptible to tuberculosis.



The companies involved are Harmony Gold, Gold Fields, African Rainbow Minerals ARIJ.J, Sibanye-Stillwater SGLJ.J, AngloGold Ashanti and Anglo American South Africa. The latter no longer has gold assets but historically was a bullion producer.



($1 = 14.1591 rand)



Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg. Editing by Jane Merriman

What you need to know about the $353 million silicosis settlement between gold mining companies and law firms representing thousands of miners

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jacob-nyarko-783517">Jacob Nyarko</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-coast-2766">University of Cape Coast</a>

Between 1957 – the year Ghana won independence from British – and 1992 the country had <a href="http://ccms.ukzn.ac.za/Libraries/staff-documents/Thesis_Examination_Update_1_1.sflb.ashx">three civilian heads of state</a> interspersed with several military rulers. But that year it finally embraced democratic rule and adopted a constitution.

One of the areas of protection the new constitution offered was the independence of the media and of expression. But are these enforced? And has the media felt their positive impact? 

In my PhD <a href="http://ccms.ukzn.ac.za/Libraries/staff-documents/Thesis_Examination_Update_1_1.sflb.ashx">thesis</a> published four years ago I explored whether <a href="http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/gha129754.pdf">Ghana’s constitution </a> had lived up to the promise set out in Chapter 12, Articles 162 and 163 in relation to media freedom. I concluded that though the Ghanaian Constitution had made some positive impacts, there were still some shortfalls. These included the media’s lack of a right to information. 

I also observed that archaic laws still existed in the statute books and that the courts were imposing huge court fines which were crippling media outlets.

Two years ago <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">I published a study</a> that showed that the constitution had indeed marked a turning point for media liberalisation. It led to increased private ownership participation and broke the “culture of silence” around particular subjects. 

The issue of media freedom, and the ability of journalists to be able to do their jobs without fear, has been in the headlines again recently following the arrest of two <a href="https://cpj.org/2019/07/two-ghanaian-journalists-arrested-on-cybercrime-ch.php">journalists</a> by members of the national security forces. Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri and Emmanuel Britwum, who work for ModernGhana, were accused of hacking competitor emails as well as writing articles deemed offensive to the minister of national security. 

Kwaku Addi, the Publisher of private newspaper, TodayGhanaNews recently expressed <a href="https://www.modernghana.com/news/942091/arrest-of-modernghana-journalist-is-an-attack-on-ghanaian-jo.html">concern </a> about recent attacks – including this one – on the media. He listed the fact that journalists had been <a href="https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2018/december-31st/ghana-shamefully-recorded-31-media-assaults-in-2018-updn.php">assaulted</a>, <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/201504170406.html">kidnapped</a>, <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/17-journalists-attacked-in-15-months-The-sad-story-on-safety-of-journalists-in-Ghana-642221">beaten</a> and lynched. He also mentioned the fact that many media houses had been <a href="https://www.nca.org.gh/media-and-news/news/update-on-ncas-enforcement-action-on-fm-radio-stations-operating-with-expired-frequency-authorisations/">closed down</a> . He wrote: 

<blockquote>
135 critical media houses have been closed down, including Radio Gold and Radio XZY, two journalists killed (Ahmed Suale and a lady in Ahafo Region), one investigative journalist (Manasseh Azzure Awuni) has been forced into exile, and one reporter in Upper West region (Emmanuel Adati) is in hiding to save his life.
</blockquote>

These trends show that the 1992 constitution had good intentions. Yet the state continues to capitalise on what it calls the “<a href="https://rsf.org/en/news/rsf-calls-probe-ghanaian-website-journalists-torture-claims">national interest</a>” and “national security” to justify taking steps that amount to suppression of the media. 

<h2>The Constitution</h2>

Prior to the passing of the <a href="http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/gha129754.pdf">1992 constitution</a> none of the country’s laws guaranteed media freedom in such extensive terms. This freedom covers all Ghanaian and gives the legal basis to challenge efforts to curtail media freedom. The constitution <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">also led to dramatic changes in</a> the landscape. 

Prior to its passing, Ghana media had been dominated by well-established state-owned media houses. The constitution enabled growth in the private media sector as the newspaper licensing law was repealed, opening up the newspaper space. <a href="https://philipatawura.wordpress.com/2017/05/02/broadcasting-in-ghana/">Private radio stations</a> and television stations also sprung up. This in turn opened the door to much more critical coverage and debates. 

The private media sector gradually began to make its presence felt. 

Local radio stations and newspapers with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">national coverage</a> rapidly sprang up and were accessible to almost every district of Ghana. This meant that front-page news exposing corruption in Ghana became common. And journalists began to ensure that the public was fed information about government, businesses and other state interests in a way that opened these sectors to scrutiny.

The phasing out of government monopolies ushered in a new era of free expression. Ghana’s informal environment began to expand due to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">press liberalisation</a> in ways that previously were unimaginable. 

These developments confirm the assertion that a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">symbiotic relationship</a> between media freedom and democratisation does exist. 

But the paradox of the country’s constitution is that Ghana continues to have laws that can be used to curtain media freedom. One example was the <a href="https://ifex.org/criminal-libel-law-repealed/">Criminal Libel Law</a> which remained in place for nine years before its abrogation after fierce protests. 

A another example is that it took until this year for the country to pass a <a href="http://ghana.gov.gh/index.php/media-center/news/5641-president-gives-accent-to-law-on-right-to-information">right to information law </a>. This will only come into effect in 2020. 

This goes to show that media freedom was granted with unwilling undertones. 

Other <a href="http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/gha129754.pdf">archaic laws</a> remain on the statute books. These include the Official Secrets Acts, Emergency Powers Acts 472 and the Criminal Code 1960. These laws allow the judiciary and other state agencies – like the police – to hinder a true expression of press freedom. 

Another thorny and unresolved issue is the role of <a href="http://laws.ghanalegal.com/acts/id/182/national-media-commission-act">National Media Commission</a>. One of its functions is to promote and ensure the freedom and independence of the media. Even though it’s existed since 1993, it has been <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/National-Media-Commission-too-timid-tame-and-weak-Ablakwa-619670">incapacitated</a> by a weak enforcement framework.

This leaves open the question of who fights for the fourth estate in Ghana.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120738/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" 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">

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jacob-nyarko-783517">Jacob Nyarko</a>, Lecturer of Communication Studies, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-coast-2766">University of Cape Coast</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/ghanas-constitution-is-meant-to-protect-the-media-but-does-it-120738">original article</a>.

Does Ghana’s constitution protect the media?

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s Tourism Minister Prisca Mupfumira has been detained for questioning by a newly formed Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), it said on Thursday.



Mupfumira is the first senior government official to be detained by the commission which was appointed by President Emmerson Mnangagwe on July 15 after he promised tough action against graft.



Transparency International says corruption costs Zimbabwe’s economy at least $1 billion annually.



“We can confirm that the minister of tourism is currently in our custody for questioning and possible due processes,” the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) said in a brief statement. It did not give any details.



Mupfumira, a senior member of the ruling ZANU-PF party, was previously labour minister who oversaw the $1 billion state pension fund. ZACC has said an audit report into the fund implicated several high profile officials for abuse of funds.



Mupfumira did not respond to calls for a comment.



The anti-corruption commission was given the power to arrest suspects, but critics question whether it will be effective.



The opposition cast doubt on Mnangagwa’s decision to appoint High Court Judge Loice Matanda-Moyo as the commission’s chair, alleging a potential conflict of interest because she is married to Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo, the retired army general who announced the November 2017 coup against former leader Robert Mugabe.



Matanda-Moyo has promised to tackle corruption without fear of favour.



Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Raissa Kasolowsky

Zimbabwe’s tourism minister has been detained, here’s why

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; Anglo American’s diamond subsidiary De Beers is scaling back production after trade tensions between the United States and China contributed to a 27% first-half fall in diamond earnings, its CEO said.



De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver cited a range of factors in an interview, including trade tensions, the U.S. government shut-down that ended in January and Hong Kong anti-government protests, which he said had left the diamond market in a state “not dissimilar from 2014-15”.



The diamond market was weak in 2014-15 in the run-up to a deep commodity price fall linked to declining Chinese demand for raw materials.



“A nasty cocktail is affecting the mid-stream, with too much polished (diamonds), financial pressure from the banks and a slow down in demand for jewellery,” he said.



But demand was still expected to grow in the U.S. market, the world’s biggest, meaning stock levels should become more balanced in the second half of the year, Cleaver said.



De Beers is working with its customers and limiting supply, the company said. In the first half it reduced rough diamond production 11% year-on-year.



While the diamond division fell, Anglo American on Thursday reported a 19% increase in overall first-half underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), largely because of high iron ore prices.



The group cites future diamond demand as one of the principle risks it faces.



De Beers has been fighting competition from laboratory-grown diamonds by producing its own synthetic diamonds from its Element Six subsidiary at a lower cost than peers.



The impact had been to reduce overall wholesale prices for laboratory-grown diamonds by around 60%.



Cleaver said De Beers was still working to eliminate what he said was customer confusion concerning the difference between mined diamonds and those produced in laboratories.



De Beers is banking on a long-term future for natural diamonds and is investing $468 million in a new vessel to mine diamonds off the coast of Namibia.



Cleaver said the project was on track to add an estimated 500,000 carats per year from 2022.



Reporting by Barbara Lewis; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle

Special Report

China’s donation of equipment to this East African country’s parliament goes missing

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Why South Africa’s Woolworths expects earnings to fall as much as 5% in 2019

Should the secession demand of Ethiopia’s Sidama people be negotiated ?

Warren Buffett: This is the No. 1 mistake parents make when teaching kids about money

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JSE CEO Nicky Newton-King steps down

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How do ‘unseen’ businesses in South Africa’s townships catch a big bank’s eye ?

JSE CEO Nicky Newton-King steps down

With WhatsApp having played a major role in Nigeria’s elections does it undermine democracy ?

South Africa’s unemployment rate rises to 29% in Q2

16-year-old wins $3 million at first ever Fortnite World Cup video game tournament

The Kenyan shilling is under pressure, here’s why

Is African cattle investment the new cash cow? Here’s how investors are cashing in…

Fitch affirms South Africa credit rating but downgrades outlook from stable to negative

What you need to know about the $353 million silicosis settlement between gold mining companies and law firms representing thousands of miners

Does Ghana’s constitution protect the media?

Zimbabwe’s tourism minister has been detained, here’s why

Why De Beers is scaling back on diamond production

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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