By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/himla-soodyall-786659">Himla Soodyall</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/academy-of-science-of-south-africa-4078">Academy of Science of South Africa</a>

Many African countries have <a href="http://unsdsn.org/resources/publications/2019-africa-sdg-index-and-dashboards-report/">a long way to go</a> to meet the <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300">sustainable development goals</a>. These goals, set by the United Nations, call for all countries to develop their economies by 2030. This should happen sustainably and inclusively. At the same time, human rights and the environment must be protected.

But most countries in Africa are <a href="http://unsdsn.org/resources/publications/2019-africa-sdg-index-and-dashboards-report/">lagging behind</a> or even stagnating when it comes to realising these goals. One of the reasons for this is that countries are not using enough rigorous research or developing policies informed by accurate scientific evidence. 

This is a shortcoming that must be addressed. Policymakers, scientists and knowledge providers like science academies and research houses must work together to ensure that public policy is as fit-for-purpose as it can be.

Evidence-informed policymaking is <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-science-matters-so-much-in-the-era-of-fake-news-and-fallacies-113298">more important than ever</a>. We’re living in a world where <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-people-favor-opinion-over-scientific-evidence/">opinion matters</a> more than fact. In <a href="https://www.livescience.com/57590-why-americans-deny-science.html">some countries</a>, evidence and expertise are valued less than at any other time in history.

With this in mind, <a href="http://www.interacademies.org/56874/SEM_for_Africa">a new report</a> has been released that calls on African governments to invest in and apply science, engineering and medicine more systematically to try and address sustainable development issues. It also encourages the continent’s science community to be more proactive in helping to accelerate Africa’s development.

The report was compiled by the <a href="http://www.interacademies.org/">InterAcademy Partnership</a>. This is a global network of more than 140 academics of science, engineering and medicine. One of the report’s key recommendations is that science academies have a crucial role to play in developing ways for scientists to engage more effectively with the African Union and United Nations at continental, regional and national levels.

<h2>Key recommendations</h2>

Science academies represent some of their countries’ best scientists. They also operate independently of governments. Academies collaborate on issues of local, regional and global importance: food security, <a href="https://skepticalscience.com/joint-statements-on-climate-change-from-nas-around-world.html">climate change</a>, health and water security. 

There are national academies of science in 27 African countries and young academies in 13 countries on the continent. <a href="https://globalyoungacademy.net/national-young-academies/">Young academies</a> cater for academics who are just starting their careers.

In keeping with the report’s focus on science academies, it was formally released this week at a workshop hosted by the <a href="https://assaf.org.za/">Academy of Science of South Africa</a> that dealt with <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg6">sustainable development goal 6</a>: clean water and sanitation.

These are the report’s central recommendations:

<ul>
<li>policymakers and science academies must work openly and inclusively together to ensure that evidence informs policy formulation, implementation and review;</li>
<li>more opportunities should be created to bring scientists and policymakers together. This could happen through, for instance, fellowships or secondments;</li>
<li>programmes that engage the African science diaspora and develop science policy leadership should be scaled up; and,</li>
<li>cooperation should be strengthened between academies of established “senior” scientists and early career “young” scientists. Young academies are especially effective at engaging with universities, schools and the public.</li>
</ul>

If these recommendations are adopted, the science community will be in a strong position to ensure that the best, most appropriate science produced in African countries is used to help the continent’s development. Policymakers, in turn, will be more likely to formulate policies that work.

<h2>Support</h2>

Ultimately, it is anticipated that this report will help the continent’s science community navigate its way around the complex policy mechanisms and processes of the United Nations, African Union and national governments. 

By the same token, it will empower policymakers to navigate their way around the complex science landscape. This will mean that instead of these communities talking at each other, they talk to and with each other.

Dr Tracey Elliott, Project Director of the InterAcademy Partnership, co-authored this article.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120788/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/himla-soodyall-786659">Himla Soodyall</a>, Secretary General of ASSAF; Principal Medical Scientist and Associate Professor at the National Health Laboratory Service and the University of Witwatersrand, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/academy-of-science-of-south-africa-4078">Academy of Science of South Africa</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-africas-science-academies-can-help-drive-sustainable-development-120788">original article</a>.

Here’s how Africa’s science academies can assist in driving sustainable development

Press Release



Johannesburg, 25 July 2019 &#8211;  The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) has suspended Mr. Markus Jooste’s membership pending the finalisation of disciplinary proceedings against him.



Jooste tendered his
resignation from SAICA in a letter received from his lawyers on 14 June 2019.
Citing the reasons for his resignation, Jooste’s lawyers allege that the
outcome of the proposed disciplinary enquiry against their client has been
predetermined by SAICA, following media reports in which SAICA CEO, Mr. Freeman
Nomvalo, confirmed that SAICA will be proceeding with a disciplinary enquiry
against Jooste.



SAICA’s Board considered
Jooste’s resignation at its meeting on 26 June 2019. The Board resolved not to
accept Jooste’s resignation and to suspend his membership pending the finalisation
of disciplinary proceedings against him. The Board’s decision not to accept
Jooste’s resignation and to suspend his membership pending the finalisation of
disciplinary proceedings against him, was made in terms of SAICA’s By-laws and
was conveyed as such to Jooste’s lawyers.



SAICA’s By-laws are
designed to ensure that its disciplinary enquiries are conducted in an
independent, lawful and fair manner. Moreover, SAICA has pointed out to
Jooste’s lawyers that their client cannot avoid the disciplinary enquiry that
SAICA has decided to initiate against Jooste by handing in his resignation.



Sent on behalf of
Freeman Nomvalo, SAICA Chief Executive Officer.

SAICA suspends Markus Jooste’s membership pending finalisation of disciplinary proceedings

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/kathleen-elkins/">Kathleen Elkins</a>



Since retiring from his 19-year basketball career in 2011, Shaquille O’Neal has seen just as much success off the court: He was <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/11/shaquille-oneal-tells-ellen-degeneres-how-he-invested-in-google.html">an early investor in Google</a> and has since accumulated an impressive portfolio, including <a class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/video/shaq-business-investment-slam-dunks/E05D17E5-2967-46DD-8AEC-941E4E975DD2.html">investments</a> in Apple, 24 Hour Fitness and nightclubs in Las Vegas. He also <a class="" href="http://money.com/money/5640584/shaq-business-empire/">owns 17 Auntie Anne’s</a>, a Krispy Kreme franchise and a Big Chicken restaurant in Las Vegas.



When it comes to investing, the former NBA star draws inspiration from Amazon’s founder and CEO: “I heard Jeff Bezos say one time [that] he makes his investments based on if it’s going to change people’s lives,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/video/shaquille-oneal-discusses-investing-franchising-and-donuts/8063A172-ABFF-496B-8700-4D51A6234054.html" class="">O’Neal told the Wall Street Journal</a>&nbsp;in a recent interview. “Once I started doing that strategy, I think I probably quadrupled what I’m worth.”



It helps him decide what opportunities to jump on and which ones to pass up. “If something comes across my desk and I don’t believe in it, I don’t even look at it,” said O’Neal, even if it looks excellent on paper. In fact, he rarely focuses on the numbers: “Whenever I do business, it’s not about the money.”



As he <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/05/08/shaq-talks-business-at-btigs-charity-day.html">told CNBC’s Bob Pisani last year</a>, “I never say, ‘If I invest in this, five years down the line, we could sell it for this.’ Every time I’ve had that model, it’s always been a failure.”



He’s not the only successful investor who sticks with what he knows and trusts. “Make sure you’re investing in things that you believe in, as opposed to investing in things that other people believe in,” PayPal’s senior vice president of international markets, Rohan Mahadevan,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/24/the-money-advice-every-millennial-needs-to-hear.html" class="">tells CNBC Make It</a>. He recommends testing a product or service before investing in it to better understand how the business operates.



O’Neal also prefers to work with companies he personally enjoys. Of all of his investments, Krispy Kreme is his favorite, he told the WSJ, “because I like donuts. &#8230; Krispy Kreme is a fabulous donut. I was introduced to it in college and have been in love with it ever since.”



That said, you don’t necessarily want to invest in something just because you like it. You want to make sure you truly understand the company, too,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/20/how-warren-buffett-decides-what-to-invest-in.html" class="">says legendary investor Warren Buffett</a>: “What an investor needs is the ability to correctly evaluate selected businesses. Note that word ‘selected’: You don’t have to be an expert on every company, or even many. You only have to be able to evaluate companies within your circle of competence.



“The size of that circle is not very important; knowing its boundaries, however, is vital.”



Simply put, when it comes to investing, Buffett says to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/02/warren-buffett-simplifies-investing-with-a-baseball-analogy.html" class="">stick to what you know</a>. “Defining what your game is — where you’re going to have an edge — is enormously important.”



Once you’ve done that, <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/04/warren-buffett-buy-hold-and-dont-watch-too-closely.html">buy and hold</a>, he adds: “If you aren’t willing to own a stock for 10 years, don’t even think about owning it for 10 minutes.”



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/11/shaquille-oneal-says-he-invests-like-jeff-bezos.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/11/shaquille-oneal-says-he-invests-like-jeff-bezos.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Former NBA star Shaq: As soon as I started investing like Jeff Bezos, ‘I probably quadrupled what I’m worth’

WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday it had imposed visa restrictions on Nigerians it said were involved in trying to undermine democracy in presidential and parliamentary elections this year.



The department did not name the individuals or say how many were affected by the visa restrictions. President Muhammadu Buhari won a second term in February in an election marred by delays, logistical glitches and violence.



“These individuals have operated with impunity at the expense of the Nigerian people and undermined democratic principles and human rights,” spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.



“The Department of State emphasizes that the actions announced today are specific to certain individuals and not directed at the Nigerian people or the newly elected government,” Ortagus added.



Reporting by Lesley Wroughton, Editing by Rosalba O&#8217;Brien

U.S. imposes visa restrictions on Nigerians involved in this…

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 Parliament House of Ghana.
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By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/adu-owusu-sarkodie-774216">Adu Owusu Sarkodie</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-ghana-1965">University of Ghana</a>

Ghana has been <a href="http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/news/5798-ghana-chosen-to-host-african-continental-free-trade-area-secretariat">chosen</a> by the African Union (AU) to host the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area. It beat other competing countries including Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar and Senegal to win the bid. 

As a free trade area, member countries have come together and agreed not to impose tariffs, quotas and other trade barriers on goods and services. The agreement is expected to enlarge markets and diversify exports, particularly manufactured goods. According to US-based think tank the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2019/05/30/figures-of-the-week-with-afcfta-officially-in-force-africa-is-now-the-largest-free-trade-area/">Brookings Institute</a>, intra-African trade stands at about 14%, while the share of manufactured goods to the rest of the world stands at 18%. Trade among Asian countries is much higher – at 59% – and even higher among European countries at 69%. The hope is that the African free trade area will boost trade across the continent by 52% <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/36085-doc-qa_cfta_en_rev15march.pdf">by 2022 </a>.

The core mandate of the secretariat will be to implement the free trade agreement, which has been <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/36085-doc-qa_cfta_en_rev15march.pdf">ratified</a> by 25 out of 54 countries. Once all have ratified the deal, it will create the world’s largest free trade area since the formation of the World Trade Organisation in 1995.

Africa’s free trade area will cover a market of 1.2 billion people with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/36085-doc-qa_cfta_en_rev15march.pdf">US$2.5 trillion</a>.

The secretariat’s job will be to recruit personnel, train them, and develop organisational capability. The secretariat will also have to implement policies handed down by the governing body, keep the media informed, organise conferences and identify potential funding sources. It will also monitor and evaluate the progress of policies and programmes.

This is a first for Ghana which has not hosted a continental secretariat. The hope is that it can emulate the <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/why-the-african-union-needs-a-stable-ethiopia">success</a> of other African capitals that have befitted from hosting the AU and the United Nations. Addis Ababa is home to the AU headquarters while Nairobi hosts two of the UN’s biggest bodies. For its part, South Africa hosts the Pan-African Parliament. 

The presence of the AU in Addis Ababa has been <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/why-the-african-union-needs-a-stable-ethiopia">credited</a> with an increase in property valuations as well as job creation.

In making its bid, Ghana took advantage of its strategic geographical location in West Africa. It has put a great deal of effort into making the country a gateway and a trade hub in West Africa. 

Hosting the free trade area secretariat will come with costs and benefits &#8211; direct and indirect. 

<h2>Why Ghana</h2>

In establishing its credentials to host the secretariat, the Ghanaian government would have set out the country’s most notable achievements.

These would have included the fact that it’s been an exemplary member of the AU. For example, in 2007 it was among the first countries to be reviewed by the <a href="https://au.int/en/organs/aprm">African Peer Review Mechanism</a> – the self-assessment mechanism used to measure <a href="https://www.die-gdi.de/en/studies/article/the-african-peer-review-mechanism-aprm-as-a-tool-to-improve-governance-experience-in-ghana/">good governance</a>.

The fact that it put its hand up sent a signal to other countries that the peer review process was credible.

Other factors that would have played in Ghana’s favour are that the country’s economy has been showing strong growth.

It is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with an <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-17/ghana-economic-growth-slows-in-2018-as-oil-expansion-cools">average</a> GDP growth of about 6%. In addition, it comes second to Cape Verde in West Africa in terms of the United Nations Human Development <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/GHA">index</a>. 

In one of the most unstable sub regions in the world, Ghana also has a tradition of relative peace and security, a key parameter for hosting a secretariat. 

In addition, Ghana has had the advantage of learning about trade collaboration through its membership of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).

<h2>Costs and benefits</h2>

Ghana has been part of the <a href="https://www.ecowas.int/member-states/">15-member</a> Ecowas since its formation in 1990. The regional body introduced a common external tariff in <a href="https://www.ecowas.int/ecowas-cet-will-be-implemented-as-of-january-2015/">2015</a> . 

While Ghana has enjoyed <a href="https://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/ditctab2018d1_en.pdf">benefits</a> from the arrangement, like many other West African States, it has not been able to harness its full potential. For example, border controls remain cumbersome, delaying transits due to the numerous check points, huge unofficial payments at the <a href="https://www.uneca.org/publications/assessing-regional-integration-africa-aria-ix">borders</a>. 

The most direct cost to the country will be the $10 million <a href="http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/news/5798-ghana-chosen-to-host-african-continental-free-trade-area-secretariat">pledged</a> by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to support setting up the secretariat. The AU is also expected to contribute funds and appeals have been made to international funding agencies.

Ghana’s hope is that hosting the secretariat will boost the hospitality sector – and more broadly the services sector – and generate increased international exposure. 

There should also be a boost for job creation as the secretariat hires staff; ranging from economists to translators, administrators and technicians.

There is no clear deadline on when the secretariat is expected to be up and running. The AU itself still has to clear a number of <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/36085-doc-qa_cfta_en_rev15march.pdf">hurdles,</a>, including adopting a structure, staff rules and regulations, and the secretariat’s budget.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120386/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/adu-owusu-sarkodie-774216">Adu Owusu Sarkodie</a>, Doctor of Economics, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-ghana-1965">University of Ghana</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/ghana-hopes-to-benefit-from-hosting-africas-free-trade-area-secretariat-120386">original article</a>.

Here’s what Ghana hopes to benefit from hosting Africa’s free trade area secretariat

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya’s Finance Minister Henry Rotich pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to corruption charges over the award of two dam tenders, a day after his detention in an unprecedented move against a sitting minister in a country notorious for graft.



Rotich, who spent the night in a police cell, is accused alongside other senior officials of conspiring to defraud the public, among other charges.



Dressed in a grey pinstripe suit and yellow tie, Rotich denied the charges before a packed court in Nairobi. Not all the 28 accused were in court, but all the others present also pleaded not guilty.



The case stems from an investigation into the misuse of funds in two dam projects planned in western Kenya, overseen by Italian construction company CMC Di Ravenna.



Kenya also charged a director of the company, Paolo Porcelli, in absentia with conspiracy to defraud the country. Kenya will seek his extradition from Italy, director of public prosecutions Noordin Haji said on Tuesday.



“We will also issue an international arrest warrant,” Haji told Reuters, adding that company had not complied with a request to give statements to Kenyan authorities, he said.



CMC di Ravenna denied wrongdoing on Monday. “CMC is certain of the correctness of the work of the company and its representatives,” it said in a statement, adding it had not been informed of any official communication from Kenyan authorities.



Officials of the company were not available for comment on Tuesday.



The two dams were budgeted to cost 46 billion shillings ($446 million) but the treasury borrowed 63 billion instead, Haji said on Monday, needlessly ratcheting up Kenya’s ballooning public debt, which stands at around 55% of GDP.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">ETHNIC DIVISIONS</h3>



The shilling has lost 0.5 percent against the dollar since Rotich was charged. It traded at 103.65 on Tuesday, reflecting market unease about the apparent vacuum at the top of the finance ministry.



Rotich has not been fired on formally resigned, and no replacement has been announced.



“(This) has created a power vacuum in Treasury, albeit temporarily,” a senior currency trader told Reuters.



Hasnain Malik, managing director of frontier markets equity strategy at London-based firm Tellimer, said Rotich’s arrest laid bare splits within the ruling Jubilee coalition.



The coalition was “openly divided” between Kikuyu supporters of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Kalenjin supporters of Vice President William Ruto, he said. Rotich is a Kalenjin.



Those divisions could curtail economic growth, with a cap on interest rates having already substantially shrunk credit to the private sector, he said.



“Kenyan growth is more reliant on effective public project spending because of the lending rate cap. A divided government is a problem,” he said. “Investors should worry that this arrest is a reflection of those divisions.”



Ruto has made clear he expects the coalition’s nomination for the presidency in the 2022 elections, when Kenyatta will have to step down due to term limits.



Haji also cited pressure stemming from politicians speaking to the media, but emphasised there had been no interference in his work.



“In terms of (interfering) phone calls, there was none, that I have to be very clear (about),” he told Reuters.



But “people (were) making a lot of noise that we were targeting a certain community. You know that area has been very volatile when it comes to clashes. So we were concerned.”



Some 1,200 people were killed in violence following the disputed 2007 national election. Kalenjin lands were a major flashpoint.



Additional reporting by Duncan Miriri, John Ndiso and Humphrey Malalo in Nairobi and Tom Arnold in London; Editing by Gareth Jones and John Stonestreet

Kenya’s finance minister denies corruption charges

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/holly-ellyatt/">Holly Ellyatt</a>



Boris Johnson has won a Conservative Party leadership race and will become the U.K.’s next prime minister.



Johnson was elected as his party leader, and consequently the U.K. leader, only by the estimated 160,000 members of the ruling Conservative Party. He will take up office on Wednesday.



The new prime minister, who has previously been the U.K. foreign minister and mayor of London, will likely usher in a new team of ministers. Some incumbents have already announced their impending departure,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/07/15/watch-cnbcs-full-interview-with-uk-chancellor-philip-hammond.html" class="">including Finance Minister Philip Hammond</a>, largely because of their different stances over Brexit.



The leadership contest took place after Theresa May announced she would resign as prime minister following repeated rejections of the Brexit deal she struck with the EU last year.



How Johnson will proceed with Brexit now will be an immediate focus, given an impending deadline to leave the bloc of October 31, and still no deal agreed upon by the U.K. parliament.



Johnson is infamous for his off-the-cuff remarks and somewhat eccentric character, and he has long been an influential and outspoken member of the Conservative Party. His decision to support the “Leave” vote ahead of the U.K.’s referendum on EU membership in June 2016 was seen as having a decisive effect on the result.



Since then, Johnson has made more controversial remarks over Brexit; most recently insisting that the U.K. must leave the EU on October 31 “do or die, come what may” despite widespread concern over what a “no-deal” departure could mean for U.K. businesses and the economy.



Leaving without a deal in place with the EU would mean there is no transition period for the country to get used to life outside the EU’s trading bloc. Trade and transport links between the EU and U.K. could therefore be severely affected.



Johnson also got into hot water in recent weeks for his apparent reluctance to support the U.K.’s ambassador to the U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/10/uk-ambassador-to-the-us-resigns-after-leaked-emails-fiasco.html" class="">following a leak of secret memos criticizing the President Donald Trump administration</a>.



This is a breaking news story, please check back later for updates.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/23/boris-johnson-to-become-uk-prime-minister.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/23/boris-johnson-to-become-uk-prime-minister.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Boris Johnson to become UK prime minister after winning leadership race

ABUJA (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria and German company Siemens have agreed a roadmap to increase Nigeria’s “reliable” power supply to 11,000 megawatts by 2023, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Monday.



The president of the West African country said that at present, “only an average of 4,000 megawatts reliably reaches consumers”. He said Nigeria would work with Siemens to achieve “7,000 megawatts of reliable power supply by 2021 and 11,000 megawatts by 2023”.



Reporting by Felix Onuah; writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; editing by Jason Neely

What you need to  know about Nigeria’s roadmap agreement with Siemens to increase power

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/anmar-frangoul-profile--cnbc/">Anmar Frangoul</a> 



Africa’s largest wind farm, the Lake Turkana Wind Power project, has been officially inaugurated.



The 310-megawatt (MW) facility was opened by President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya on Friday.



“We are pleased to note that Kenya is without doubt on course to be a global leader in renewable energy,” he said in a speech given at the launch.



“This will not only ensure that our nation’s scenic beauty and unique ecosystems are preserved and protected for both present and future generations, but will also ensure that we become energy independent and that our energy supply will be safe as well as predictable,” he added.&nbsp; The Lake Turkana Wind Power project is made up of 365 turbines, each having a capacity of 850 kilowatts. It is located 600 kilometers from Nairobi in the Loiyangalani District, Marsabit County. Construction of the facility started in October 2014 and it began full commercial operations in March 2019.&nbsp; The International Renewable Energy Agency has described Africa as being “rich in renewable energy sources” such as hydro, wind and the sun.&nbsp; The Lake Turkana project is one of several large-scale renewable energy schemes to be developed on the continent in recent years.&nbsp; In December 2018, it was announced that ground had been broken on West Africa’s “first utility-scale wind power project,” located in Senegal.



The 158.7 MW Parc Eolien Taiba N’Diaye, or PETN, is set to be completed in 2020, according to renewable energy firm Lekela.



The 46-turbine facility will use turbines from Danish company Vestas and will generate more than 450,000 megawatt hours of energy annually, boosting Senegal’s generation capacity by approximately 15 percent, Lakela said.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/22/the-biggest-wind-farm-in-africa-is-officially-up-and-running.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/22/the-biggest-wind-farm-in-africa-is-officially-up-and-running.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

The biggest wind farm in Africa is officially up and running in this East African nation

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe hiked fuel prices on Monday for the second time in a week but most pumps remained dry, with no end in sight to shortages that are helping drive inflation rapidly higher and which have led to protests about the cost of living.



The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority said a litre of petrol would now cost 7.45 Zimbabwe dollars, up 22% from 6.10 dollars. Diesel now costs 7.19 a litre, a 23% rise.



With inflation soaring, economic analysts say increases in fuel prices are adding to price pressures, especially as rolling electricity cuts are forcing businesses to use expensive diesel generators to power their operations.



Diesel and petrol prices have gone up by 456% this year, in line with a slide in the value of the local RTGS currency, renamed the Zimbabwe dollar last month.



The biggest fuel price hike in January, a 150% increase, triggered violent protests by Zimbabweans. More than a dozen people were killed when the army clamped down on the unrest.



On July 13, fuel prices were hiked by up to 16% after finance minister Mthuli Ncube said fuel was considerably cheaper than in neighbouring countries. Ncube has said he would like to see the price increase to the equivalent of $1 a litre. [nL8N24E05Q]



The Zimbabwe dollar was trading on Monday at 8.88 against the greenback on the official interbank market, little changed from last week. On the black market, $1 fetched 10.5 Zimbabwe dollars.



Reporting by Nelson Banya, Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Catherine Evans

Zimbabwe increases fuel prices again, what you need to know

<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Happy-African-Children_GettyImages-5349429821-1110x739.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-341050"/><figcaption> Photograph: Getty Images </figcaption></figure>



Why we need to team with anthropology to get Africa’s story right.



By <a href="http://cnbc.africa/?s=nnamdi+oranye">Nnamdi
Oranye</a> and <a href="http://cnbc.africa/?s=ryan+peter">Ryan Peter</a>



How many times have you seen Africa depicted
in some sort of publication with the picture of a child with a fly on their
face? Too often, I bet. And there’s even a running meme on the Internet about
it. But those of us who live on this beautiful continent know that the child
with a fly on their face is not the face of Africa. While the story the picture
conveys is true, the question is: what is the story? &#8220;A picture is worth a
thousand words&#8221; is a popular English language adage. But there is a story
behind the picture &#8211; and too often we never hear the story.



Anthropology, the study of human societies and cultures and their development, tells that story. But too often we don’t rely on anthropologists to tell us what’s really going on. Instead, we rely on non-profit organisations and journalists &#8211; both of whom have a bias (good or bad).



Most people who actually travel into rural Africa usually do not encounter sad looking kids with flies on their faces. Instead, they often encounter happy, exuberant kids who just want to hang out with them. People will often comment about how ‘happy’ the kids are despite how ‘little’ they have. We hear statistics such as the World Bank tell us that more than half of the extremely poor in the world live in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated 413 million people living on less than US$1.90 a day (2015). So many people think that if they send $40 a month to a charity who will administer the money, they are taking care of someone’s needs. But there’s a story behind these numbers as well.



One of the things we have to ask is: who is taking the photo? There’s a story there too. This person usually arrives in the country via its international airport, such as O.R. Tambo in Johannesburg. From there they might be picked up by an organisation or call an Uber to their hotel. They’ll overnight at a luxurious or middle-class hotel found in the airport and surrounds, or, if it’s South Africa, for example, they’ll be taking the Gautrain to a hotel in Sandton (usually the case). They’ll enjoy a good dinner, a good breakfast &#8211; perhaps with imported strawberries &#8211;&nbsp; and then drive out to their destination. When they get there they’ll probably stay at a game farm or a lodge in the bush, before heading out for a day of photographs at some rural village. Here they will encounter tons of kids, and at some stage, they will spot a kid with a fly on their face (even in the first world, flies to land on faces, by the way) and take a quick shot. This will become the story of their trip to Africa that will get posted on their magazine’s front cover. But you and I both know that this was not the whole story, right? What about the hotel? What about the lodge? What about the airport and the Uber ride and the Gautrain? Were all these places not in Africa?



What is the real story in the rural village
the photo was taken? While it may be that a person is living on US$1.90 a day,
the fact is that they also might own their land, their cattle, and their hut.
They’re not paying a mortgage and they’re not in debt. Why don’t we hear about
those stories? 



A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a picture is also not objective. Photojournalists do an amazing job and have their place, but unless we couple the photos with something tangible, something objective, we’re letting the wrong story about Africa be told. This is why we need to partner with anthropologists and the amazing work they do to tell our African story and to tell it in a fresh new way &#8211; in a way that describes what is really going on, objectively. We’ll find that there is more than just sending a person $40 a day. We’ll find there is more going on than kids with flies on their faces. We’ll discover that Africans are thinking differently about themselves, are making a change for their continent, and innovating like never before. And we need to be telling their stories.



Nnamdi
Oranye is an author and the CEO of Disrupting Africa, a research think-tank
dedicated to moving African innovation forward. He is the author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Disrupting-Africa-Rise-African-Innovation-ebook/dp/B01EIG274S/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=nnamdi+oranye&amp;qid=1555507001&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-2-spell">Disrupting
Africa: The Rise and Rise of African Innovation</a>” and “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Silicon-Valley-Africas-Innovators-ebook/dp/B0759G581H/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=nnamdi+oranye&amp;qid=1555506964&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1-spell">Taking on
Silicon Valley: How Africa’s Innovators Will Shape its Future</a>”.



Ryan
Peter is an author, <a href="https://ryanpeterwrites.com/">writer</a>,
and the chief editor of the <a href="https://disruptingafrica.com/index.php?title=List_of_African_Innovators">Disrupting
Africa Encyclopedia</a>, which
has made it its mission to write the stories of Africa’s innovators and entrepreneurs.

Op-Ed: Africa’s Image in the Media: Every Picture Has a Story

GENEVA (Reuters) &#8211; A Congolese woman who may have spread the deadly Ebola virus in Uganda did not go to Rwanda or the Congolese city of Goma while contagious, the World Health Organization said on Friday.



On Thursday, a report written by Uganda’s Health Ministry and published by the WHO’s Africa office had said the woman, a fishmonger, was suspected of going to Goma and Rwanda as well as Uganda before she died.



That raised fears of the outbreak spreading in Rwanda, which has never had a recorded case of Ebola.



But the WHO later withdrew the report and shut down the website where the daily updates were being posted, saying some of the information had not been verified. [nL8N24J2MF]



“We have investigated fully, and there was no travel to anywhere but Uganda,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said, adding that inaccurate conjecture had unfortunately found its way into the reports.



Healthworkers have mounted a massive campaign of vigilance and vaccination on key routes and borders in the region, and have screened almost 75 million people since the outbreak was declared 11 months ago. It has killed more than 1,700 people.



The 22-year-old woman was thought to have crossed the border between Uganda and Congo at an unmonitored crossing point, the deleted reports said. Harris said there no chance she had also slipped into Rwanda without being spotted.



“We are absolutely certain,” she said. “Our team&#8230; went across and talked to everybody and tracked it day-by-day. Now in her life she may have gone to Rwanda&#8230; but the important thing is she did not spend any time in Rwanda while symptomatic.”



It was extraordinary that a woman with end-stage Ebola had managed to cross the border and sell fish for a day, she added.



A lot of people at potential risk were now being followed up and people were being vaccinated on both sides of the border, Harris said. But it would take several days before it became clear if the woman, who vomited several times at a market, had infected anyone.



Other details in the withdrawn reports were also unverified, including information about a second Congolese Ebola patient travelling to the same market, and about a group of Ugandan healthworkers who may have been exposed to Ebola.



Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Mark Heinrich

WHO says investigators conclude that Congolese woman who may have spread the Ebola virus in Uganda did not enter Rwanda

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/ryan-browne/">Ryan Browne</a> 



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=FB" class="">Facebook</a>&nbsp;has made headlines of late with its plans to create a cryptocurrency.



The social media company has been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/17/facebook-currency-chief-questioned-at-house-financial-services-hearing.html" class="">forced to defend the project</a>&nbsp;on Capitol Hill, amid regulatory concerns around data privacy and potential illegal usage, while the G-7 has warned it poses “serious” legal risks.



It’s an experiment in monetary systems for the digital age, and has inevitably been compared to popular cryptocurrencies like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=BTC=" class="">bitcoin</a>. However, many experts question whether Libra can even be called a cryptocurrency.



Other than the fact that they both come with a white paper and are referred to as cryptocurrencies, Libra and bitcoin are actually very different. Here’s a rundown of the key differences between the two.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Different technology</h2>



One of the biggest differences lies in the underlying technology behind both currencies.



With bitcoin, transactions are recorded anonymously on a public ledger known as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/18/blockchain-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work.html" class="">the blockchain</a>. It’s essentially a database maintained by a network of computers, on which transactions are secured in such a way that makes it virtually impossible to tamper with.



Libra also uses a form of blockchain, or distributed ledger technology. But unlike bitcoin, Libra’s blockchain is permissioned —&nbsp;<a href="https://libra.org/en-US/permissionless-blockchain/#overview" class="">at least for now</a>&nbsp;— meaning that transactions can only be added to it by a group of trusted parties.



That’s where the Libra Association, a Switzerland-based consortium of companies including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=V" class="">Visa</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=UBER" class="">Uber</a>, comes in. Each of the nonprofit organization’s members have invested a minimum of $10 million into the project.



“Libra will create a centralized structure governed by an unelected ‘association’ composed exclusively of large institutions who have purchased their voting rights,” said Ido Sadeh Man, founder and president of the Saga Foundation, a cryptocurrency firm that counts&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=JPM">J.P. Morgan</a>&nbsp;Chairman Jacob Frenkel as an advisor.



It’s different to bitcoin’s network, which can be accessed and maintained by anyone with decent enough hardware and access to the internet.



“Cryptocurrencies are defined by their lack of reliance on trusted intermediaries,” Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at the cryptocurrency policy think-tank Coin Center, said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://coincenter.org/entry/the-differences-between-bitcoin-and-libra-should-matter-to-policymakers" class="">recent blog post</a>.



“We believe that Libra is not a cryptocurrency because of its use of a permissioned ledger and its reliance on a trusted issuer to hold and manage a fund of assets that back the currency.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Different use cases</h2>



Bitcoin’s white paper describes the virtual currency as a peer-to-peer payment system, allowing people to exchange money without going through a bank.



It’s commonly used today as a form of investment, with the term “HODL” being a common slang phrase in the industry to describe buying and staying invested in the cryptocurrency for the long term. It’s frequently been referred to as “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/19/bitcoins-digital-gold-but-facebooks-libra-is-the-digital-dollar.html" class="">digital gold</a>. ”



Libra’s primary purpose is to be used in cross-border payments and money transfers. The currency is tied to a basket of government-backed currencies and other assets, to avoid the volatile swings often seen in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=ETH=" class="">ether</a>.



Referred to by many in the industry as a “stablecoin,” Libra is aimed at maintaining a stable value. David Marcus, the Facebook executive leading the blockchain initiative, has previously said it will work “more like a traditional currency” than a cryptocurrency.



“Bitcoin and Facebook’s Libra both represent stages in the evolution of currency but in starkly different ways,” Charles Hayter, co-founder and CEO of digital currency comparison platform CryptoCompare, told CNBC.



“Bitcoin is permissionless, fully decentralized, deflationary and volatile. Libra is permissioned, more centralized, governed by supply and demand and pegged to fiat currencies.”



What Hayter means by “governed by supply and demand” is that Facebook and its partner companies can adjust the supply to match a quantity of other assets held in reserve, effectively maintaining a stable price even when demand changes.



Bitcoin on the other hand has a fixed supply. The total number of bitcoins that will ever be minted is “hard-capped” at 21 million.



“Bitcoin supply is fixed and cannot react to the market’s demand,” the Saga Foundation’s Sadeh Man said. “Libras are created or burned when one of Libra’s authorized resellers deposit or withdraw money from its reserve.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Different regulatory questions</h2>



Facebook’s currency has taken the spotlight when it comes to talk of regulating cryptocurrencies. But some worry the company’s blockchain project could be lumped in with other digital assets by regulators.



That would be problematic given the difference between Libra and a digital currency like bitcoin. Whereas bitcoin rules out the need for financial intermediaries, Libra’s model is reliant on the entities which form the Libra Association, Coin Center’s Van Valkenburgh said.



“A system without intermediaries is a system without intermediary risk, and thus no need for regulation aimed at safeguarding against the types of risk presented by intermediaries,” he said.



The Libra Association currently consists of 28 founding members, according to the Libra white paper, and is hoping to reach 100 members by the time the currency launches. The token is slated for launch in the first half of 2020.



Though bitcoin’s network involves so-called “miners” who record transactions, it wouldn’t make sense to regulated them as they aren’t trusted custodians of user funds, Van Valkenburgh said. Cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets on the other hand do require regulatory oversight, he added.



Questions around how Libra would fit into existing financial regulations were raised at Wednesday’s hearing. Facebook’s Marcus was grilled on whether Libra could be considered a financial security, which he said could not be the case. But Marcus said it could possibly be considered a commodity.



Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/06/sec-chairman-clayton-says-agency-wont-change-definition-of-a-security.html" class="">last year told CNBC</a>&nbsp;that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin could not be viewed as securities. Cryptocurrencies are “replacements for sovereign currencies” like the dollar and the euro, he said.



Regardless, if Facebook and its partners do manage to overcome the regulatory hurdles that have accompanied Libra, the currency “will undoubtedly have an enormous impact on the global economy — possibly eclipsing that of bitcoin,” CryptoCompare’s Hayter said.



For Andy Bryant, chief operating officer of cryptocurrency exchange bitFlyer’s European business, Libra could start to convince people there are “other ways” of storing value than using fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar. “If that’s all that Libra achieves, I think it will be a great step forward,” he said.



This article first appeared on CNBC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/19/bitcoin-vs-libra-how-facebooks-cryptocurrency-is-different.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/19/bitcoin-vs-libra-how-facebooks-cryptocurrency-is-different.html</a>&nbsp;and is republished with its permission.

Bitcoin vs Libra: Here are the key differences between the two cryptocurrencies

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog said on Friday that President Cyril Ramaphosa had “deliberately misled” parliament about a 500,000 rand ($35,900) donation he received for his campaign to lead the African National Congress (ANC).



Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who investigates allegations of wrongdoing by state officials, told reporters that Ramaphosa had violated the constitution and breached the executive code of ethics in his reply to parliament in November.



($1 = 13.9326 rand)



Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Kevin Liffey

South Africa’s #PublicProtector says Ramaphosa deliberately misled parliament

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/arjun-kharpal/">Arjun Kharpal</a>



<a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=GOOGL">Google</a> and its operations in <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/china/">China</a> have come under the spotlight in the past few days.



Billionaire investor Peter Thiel this week accused the U.S. technology giant of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/15/peter-thiel-reportedly-says-the-fbi-and-cia-should-investigate-google.html" class="">working with the Chinese military</a>&nbsp;and called for the U.S. government to investigate Google. In response,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/donald-trump/" class="">President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;said his administration&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/16/trump-administration-will-take-a-look-into-peter-thiels-claims-of-google-working-with-china.html" class="">will “take a look” into Google</a>.



The tech giant has denied working with the Chinese military.



Still, the controversy has sparked interest in what Google is doing in China. CNBC took a closer look at Google’s business dealings in China.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">‘Project Dragonfly’</h2>



Google ended its search product in China in 2010 and is effectively blocked in the country. However, a report emerged last year that the search giant was looking to launch a censored version of its search app in China. The initiative,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/16/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-discusses-censored-search-app-in-china.html" class="">which the company acknowledged publicly</a>, was in its early stages. In China, all internet services are required to censor information which the government deems sensitive.



However, Vice President for Government Affairs and Public Policy at the company, Karan Bhatia, said this week that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/16/ted-cruz-confronts-google-with-internal-presentation-on-censorship.html" class="">Google had abandoned plans</a>&nbsp;for “Project Dragonfly,” the name of its China search product initiative.



So right now, Google is still blocked in China and can only be accessed via a virtual private network (VPN), which helps mask a user’s internet location.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">A.I. research</h2>



One of Thiel’s accusations is that Chinese spies have infiltrated Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) projects, but he did not provide any evidence.



Google does have AI projects in China though. In 2017, the company opened up an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/13/alphabets-google-opens-china-ai-centre.html" class="">AI research center in China</a>.



On its website, Google says AI research in China is focused on education and so-called natural language understanding — which refers to an AI technique focused on getting machines to understand human language. Google is looking to apply AI to auctioning so that the bidding process for ads can be more efficient. This could be important for Google, which operates an advertising marketplace.



In China, the work is also contributing to AI products that Google makes available globally, such as TensorFlow. This is an open source library that can help other companies develop AI products.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cloud computing</h2>



Technology giants such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=BABA" class="">Alibaba</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=700-HK" class="">Tencent</a>&nbsp;dominate the cloud market in China. So Google’s tactic is to try to sell its cloud products to Chinese firms that have international operations in Southeast Asia and elsewhere.



A search of Google job postings in China showed the company is looking for cloud computing engineers, data managers, sales and business development roles across Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.



The company is also hiring people to target customers in specific industries — from media and entertainment to manufacturing.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Hardware</h2>



Google sells a number of hardware products including smartphones, smart speakers and thermostats, under the Nest brand that it owns. Some of that is manufactured in China.



The company is currently advertising roles for engineers to test products and for manufacturing and supply chain managers. On LinkedIn, a number of Google employees in Shenzhen, a key technology hub in China, listed their jobs as hardware-related.



However, Bloomberg reported in June that Google was moving the production of some Nest thermostats and server hardware out of China to avoid tariffs from the U.S.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">App developers and the Google Play Store</h2>



The Google Play Store, the company’s app store, is blocked in China. So Google is trying to work with app developers in China to help them bring their products onto the Play Store in international markets.



Under its job listings, Google advertised for two roles for a business development manager related to the play store.



“As a Business Development Manager of Google Play, you will empower developers to build successful businesses on Play/Android globally, and inspire the ecosystem to innovate on/invest in Android and Play,” the job description reads.



Google also has individual roles for the gaming section of the Google Play store. Games are a huge part of its app store.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Advertising</h2>



Advertising is a core part of Google’s revenue but because its services are blocked in China, it can’t really sell ads on those platforms there. So the company focuses on Chinese businesses looking to advertise on Google platforms abroad, whether that is on its search engine, YouTube or something else.



One job that’s being advertised is for a business development consultant in Shanghai who will be “responsible for driving business growth and attracting new medium to large size advertisers for Google.” There are also people focused on getting advertisers from specific industries like retail or entertainment.



Overall, Google’s business in China is mostly aimed at getting Chinese companies to use its products outside of China.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/17/google-china-what-businesses-the-search-giant-has-in-the-country.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/17/google-china-what-businesses-the-search-giant-has-in-the-country.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Google has been accused of working with China. Here’s what they’ve been doing there

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Tanzania’s economy expanded 5.2% in 2018, the World Bank said on Thursday, the second major report this year from a multilateral financial institution contradicting rosier government figures.



Tanzania’s finance minister had told parliament last month that growth was 7% last year



In a report, the World Bank, which makes its calculations based on state data, also forecast 2019 growth at 5.4% &#8211; again lower than the government’s estimate of 7.1%.



Last year’s growth was affected by a decline in investment, exports and private lending, the report said.



“Data related to consumption, investment and net trade suggest that growth softened in 2018,” it said.



President John Magufuli embarked on an ambitious programme of industrialisation after coming to power in 2015, investing billions of dollars into infrastructure, including a new rail line, reviving the national carrier and a hydropower plant.



But government interventions in mining and agriculture have led to declining investment in east Africa’s third largest economy. Foreign direct investment has more than halved since 2013, while private sector lending growth plummeted to less than 4% in 2018, far below the 20% average between 2013-16.



The World Bank report follows an unpublished International Monetary Fund (IMF) report in April that also raised questions over Magufuli’s handling of the economy.



A leaked version of the report, seen by Reuters, accused the government of undermining the economy with “unpredictable and interventionist” policies, saying medium-term growth would be around 4-5 percent, again below official forecasts.



In its report, the World Bank said investment growth was subdued partly because of government struggles to meet spending targets in development projects.



The economy could grow to 6% by 2021 “with a modest improvement of the business climate and a pick-up in [foreign direct investment] and other private investment,” the bank said.



Other economic indicators also point to a slowing economy.



The current account deficit widened to 5.2% percent of GDP in the year ending January 2019, up from 3.2% a year earlier, the bank said. The value of exports dropped nearly 4% last year, partly because the government banned cashew exports, a major foreign exchange earner, due to low prices.



On the other hand, the construction of the standard gauge railway and expansion of Dar es Salaam port helped drive up the value of imports by 7.8%, the World Bank said.



The government should minimise economic risk by improving the business environment and fiscal management, it recommended.



Globally, Tanzania is also vulnerable to weaker demand, tighter financing conditions, and higher international energy prices, it said.



Reporting by Omar Mohammed; Editing by Katharine Houreld and Andrew Cawthorne

World Bank contradicts Tanzania’s rosier growth estimates, what you need to know

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; The South African unit of Ford Motor Co said on Wednesday it would hire an additional 1,200 staff at one of its local assembly plants, an increase of over 25 percent, to add an extra shift and raise production.



The additional shift, which will increase production to 720 vehicles per day, is the result of a 3 billion rand ($215 million) investment in South Africa that was announced in 2017, aimed at increasing annual production to 168,000 units.



The U.S.-owned company currently employs around 4,300 people in South Africa, at the plant in the Silverton suburb of South Africa’s administrative capital Pretoria, which will add the extra shift, and at another site in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth.



“The third shift will allow us to ramp up our production from the current 506 vehicles assembled per day to a peak of 720 units to satisfy the strong demand from customers in South Africa, as well as for our crucial exports to 148 markets around the world,” Ockert Berry, vice president of operations for Ford Middle East and Africa said in a statement.



Ford joins a number of other global carmakers in ramping up production on the continent, which promises rapid growth at the same time as trade tensions and upsets like the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union threaten their operations elsewhere.



The South African arm of Japanese carmaker Nissan also announced a similarly sized investment earlier this year, increasing production at its local plant by 30,000 units, while BMW production chief Oliver Zipse said earlier this month that it had moved some production from the UK as a result of Brexit, and that British plants no longer built South African components.



Around a third of Ford’s local production is sold in South Africa and other sub-Saharan African countries, with the rest exported elsewhere.



The additional shift will start in August and will be focused on the New Ranger, Ranger Raptor and Everest models. The locally-built Ranger is ranked as the top-selling pick-up in Europe and leads light commercial vehicle exports.



The plant in Port Elizabeth produces 120,000 diesel engines per year for the Silverton plant, as well as 130,000 units per year for export to North America, China and Europe and 280,000 component sets per year.



($1 = 13.9720 rand)



Reporting by Emma Rumney; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle

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