SAVE
THE DATE



All set for
second Africa Investment Forum 



What: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2019 Africa Investment Forum 



Who:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
African Development Bank, Partners



When: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 11-13 November 2019



Where: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg,&nbsp;South Africa 



The second edition of the Africa Investment Forum, a game-changer to tilt capital flow into the continent, will take place from 11-13 November 2019 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg,&nbsp;South Africa.



The forum, organized by the African Development Bank and its partners,
is the largest multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary marketplace aimed at raising
capital, advancing projects to bankable stage and accelerating financial
closure of deals.



There is an urgent need to bridge
the gap between Africa’s available capital and bankable projects. Although
brimming with investment opportunities, financing Africa’s development needs
will require between $200 billion and $1.2 trillion yearly. Of this, about
$130-$170 billion a year is needed for infrastructure, according to data by the
African Development Bank.



The Bank is working with other
multilateral development partners and stakeholders to ensure that the Africa
Investment Forum becomes the continent’s key springboard for investment to meet
the massive infrastructure and development needs.



Like the previous edition, the 2019
Forum will bring together project sponsors, pension funds, sovereign wealth
funds, private investors, policy makers, private equity firms, and heads of
government to advance Africa’s economic transformation agenda.



The inaugural
edition broke the mold for investment in Africa. It featured some 63 projects
from across 24 countries and seven sectors valued at $46.9 billion.
&nbsp;&nbsp;



Save the date now to avoid missing out on the biggest transactional gathering of global and pan-African investors on the continent. We look forward to meeting you in Johannesburg.



Content provided by the African Development Bank

The second edition of the #AfricaInvestmentForum, a game-changer to tilt capital flow into the continent

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alison-gillwald-458374">Alison Gillwald</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-town-691">University of Cape Town</a>

In the three short years that the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/">World Economic Forum (WEF</a>) has been punting the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) as the route to prosperity for digitally savvy nations, it has become global policy conventional wisdom. 

South Africa has <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2019-05-25-in-full-president-cyril-ramaphosas-inauguration-speech/">not been immune </a>to the hype. The government has shifted its focus and resources to the 4IR. And it’s been prioritised over more mundane, but essential, policy interventions aimed at ensuring the more equitable inclusion of the populace into a modern, digital economy. 

This diversion of resources is not by government only. International donor agendas and funding have pivoted to the 4IR. This has mostly been to Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the process, critical research on creating the necessary conditions in developing countries for inclusive digital economies and societies, and implementation projects, have been left stranded. These would include ensuring broadband extension, affordable access, education and digital skills.

Without public investment in independent, local multidisciplinary digital policy research there has been no base to prepare policy makers for 4IR. Public interest research in this area has long been dependent on the vagaries of donor funding. It is therefore not surprising that South Africa relies on the blueprints of international lobbies, global industry associations and private foundations representing the interests of what have become global monopolies.

Government’s response to the lack of policy research on 4IR has been the <a href="https://www.csir.co.za/south-africa-and-world-economic-forum-announce-intention-establish-4ir-affiliate-centre">establishment</a> of the WEF Centre for the 4IR based at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). 

Various government departments have developed policies in their sectoral silos. But there is no overarching digital policy to achieve the co-ordination required across the state and between the public and private sectors. 

A <a href="https://www.dtps.gov.za/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=811:president-cyril-ramaphosa-appoints-commission-on-fourth-industrial-revolution&amp;catid=13&amp;Itemid=138">commission appointed</a> by President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year is meant to provide some of this overview. Can it, with the industry-dominated working groups, provide a public interest outcome? And why are the industry-led working groups replicating the protracted six-year integrated White Paper process that has yet to be implemented? 

<h2>Wrong assumption</h2>

The <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-is-caught-in-the-global-hype-of-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-121189">adoption by South Africa</a> of 4IR models and policy designed by WEF partner consultants is based on a number of assumptions that don’t apply to developing countries. These include mature, competitive markets and functioning democracies, capable institutions and educated and healthy populations. As a result, the proposed policies are unlikely to contribute to economic growth, job creation and the empowerment of women envisaged by President Ramaphosa in his <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2019-05-25-in-full-president-cyril-ramaphosas-inauguration-speech/">inaugural address</a>.

Unlike most other African countries, South Africa has already developed some cutting-edge public and private sector 4IR technologies. The CSIR, for example, owns the largest 3D <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=3&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwidtY7zkMbjAhV1XRUIHf_3C6sQFjACegQIDBAI&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.co.za%2Fsouth-africas-largest-3d-printer-is-so-big-that-it-takes-up-to-r75-million-in-titanium-powder-to-fill-it-2018-7&amp;usg=AOvVaw0PC-BT-RfE83aFHkfVIjKd">printer</a>.

But public investments have done little to deal with the country’s extreme digital inequality. The productive use of these enabling new technologies is only being enjoyed by a relatively small elite. Half of the country’s population doesn’t have even basic access. And for those barely online due to affordability or skills challenges, digital use is <a href="https://researchictafrica.net/after-access-south-africa-state-of-ict-2017-south-africa-report_04/">entirely consumptive</a>.

<h2>Uneven disruptions</h2>

There is little doubt that the inevitable rise of the advanced technologies of artificial intelligence, blockchain and drones will disrupt economies and societies. But when this happens, the degree to which it will happen will be highly uneven. Like other industrial revolutions, this one will be characterised by evolution as much as by disruption. Unless something dramatically different is done, one of the continuities will be the perpetuation of inequality. And the primary determinant of inclusion is education and digital skilling.

The layering of advanced technologies over existing inequalities won’t contribute to digital inclusion. It will simply worsen inequality within and between nations. How quickly South Africa is able to redress existing inequalities will determine the degree to which it is able to harness the potential benefits of advanced technologies for equitable development. 

This is not to suggest that South Africa should eschew all international good practice. The country’s shortage of resources, particularly skills and expertise, requires it to use private investments for the delivery of public goods such as the Internet. But this doesn’t mean abdicating digital policy to the private sector, international or domestic. 

And 4IR is distracting government from the unfinished business of previous policy and institutional failures, as well as regulatory bottlenecks. While government continues to deal with digital policy in sectoral silos it will not be able to deal with the cross-cutting nature of “digitisation” and “datafication” of the economy and society.

<h2>What’s needed</h2>

To fulfil its social contract with the citizenry, South Africa requires a capable state. The state must create the enabling conditions for the public and private sector to harness the opportunities arising from technological developments. 

But to do so it must complete the multitude of policies and regulations that have not been implemented, or are not been implemented according to policy intent. Examples include the five-years-overdue connectivity for all public buildings and installation of public wi-fi at them. Another is a decade-long failure to release high-demand spectrum. And there’s the incomplete market concentration review as well as the two-decade failure to complete the digital migration. 

It is true that the country can’t wait around while this being done. Integration into the global economy is happening at a faster and faster pace. But it’s not automatically beneficial. What’s needed is data and analysis to inform policy through genuinely consultative multistakeholder processes that represent the diverse interests and expertise within the country. Otherwise South Africa won’t be included on its own terms or on those of its partners.

South Africa needs to institutionalise digital data gathering together with the national statistical system which underpins multidisciplinary policy research in its universities and policy formulation. Only then will it be able to develop organic, alternative policy and regulatory strategies to those that have failed in developing country contexts. 

To this end public investment in universities is needed. This will enable knowledge and skills to be developed to undertake research and implement policy. 

This will necessitate a shift from the sectoral silos in which digital policy has traditionally been formulated. In its place a national policy enabling the necessary integration is required across the public sector. In addition, there needs to be coordination between the public and private sectors.

Governments have no control over the biggest players operating in their jurisdictions. These near-monopoly global platforms are largely unaccountable to anyone. Platforms that are offering millions of people social value services are also – wittingly or not – exposing them to mass surveillance, public and private. This is popularly referred to as <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=13&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjAk93rj7DkAhVR_KQKHWZjD0sQFjAMegQIABAB&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ftechnology%2F2019%2Fjan%2F20%2Fshoshana-zuboff-age-of-surveillance-capitalism-google-facebook&amp;usg=AOvVaw3t-BRvhH70kImuASnSrF6i">“surveillance” capitalism</a>.

So at the same time as creating affordable access to the internet, South Africa must find ways of effectively mitigating risks and preventing potential harm. Two events have brought this into sharp relief. The first was the attack on national databases. The second was the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;soure=web&amp;cd=14&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiAzNzyoKjjAhVESBUIHTOrD10QFjANegQIBBAB&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wired.com%2Fstory%2Fcambridge-analytica-facebook-privacy-awakening%2F&amp;usg=AOvVaw3QIR7DyGAADiTAv3-8Ed11">Cambridge Analytica</a> debacle. This involved the personal details of approximately 60 million South African Facebook users being exposed.

South Africa does not have the luxury of dealing with these problems sequentially. Adaptive regulation is needed to ensure the country reaps the benefits of digitalisaition and datafication that will integrate it more into the global economy. And limiting harms will require complex, adaptive regulation. 

This will be a challenge for the country’s historically weak sectoral policy and regulatory institutions. It will also require cross-sectoral coordination between communications, international affairs, trade, defence, science and technology.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121191/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/alison-gillwald-458374">Alison Gillwald</a>, Adjunct Professor, Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-town-691">University of Cape Town</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/south-africa-must-harness-technology-in-a-way-that-helps-fix-its-problems-121191">original article</a>.

How can South Africa harness technology in a way that helps fix its problems?

GABORONE (Reuters) &#8211; Botswana&#8217;s economy is expected to grow 4.3% in 2019 and 4.6% in 2020, benefiting from a developing services sector, Deputy Secretary in the ministry of finance, Kelapile Ndobano, said on Tuesday.



The southern African nation&#8217;s 2019/20 fiscal deficit is seen at 3.8% of gross domestic product, Ndobano told a budget conference. 



(Reporting by Brian Benza; Writing by Nqobile Dludla; editing by John Stonestreet)

Bank charges reduced for social grant beneficiaries during COVID-19 lockdown

Botswana’s economy expected to grow 4.3% in 2019

By Clement Uwiringiyimana



KIGALI (Reuters) &#8211; Rwanda&#8217;s Mara Group launched two smartphones on Monday, describing them as the first &#8220;Made in Africa&#8221; models and giving a boost to the country&#8217;s ambitions to become a regional technology hub.



The Mara X and Mara Z will use Google’s Android operating system and cost 175,750 Rwandan francs ($190) and 120,250 Rwandan francs ($130) respectively.



They will compete with Samsung, whose cheapest smartphone costs 50,000 Rwandan francs ($54), and non-branded phones at 35,000 Rwandan francs ($37). Mara Group CEO Ashish Thakkar said it was targetting customers willing to pay more for quality. 



&#8220;This is the first smartphone manufacturer in Africa,&#8221; Thakkar told Reuters after touring the company alongside Rwanda&#8217;s President Paul Kagame. 



Companies assemble smartphones in Egypt, Ethiopia, Algeria and South Africa, but import the components, he said. 



&#8220;We are actually the first who are doing manufacturing. We are making the motherboards, we are making the sub-boards during the entire process,” he said. &#8220;There are over 1,000 pieces per phone.&#8221; 



Thakkar said the plant had cost $24 million and could make 1,200 phones per day.



Mara Group hopes to profit from the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, a pact aimed at forming a 55-nation trade bloc, to boost sales across Africa, Thakkar said.



The agreement is due to begin trading in July next year, aiming to unite 1.3 billion people and create a $3.4 trillion economic bloc. But it is still in the very early stages and no timelines have been agreed for abolishing tariffs.



Kagame said he hoped the phone would increase Rwanda&#8217;s smartphone usage, currently at around 15%. 



&#8220;Rwandans are already using smartphones but we want to enable many more. The introduction of Mara phones will put smartphones ownership within reach of more Rwandans,” Kagame said. 



($1 = 924.3110 Rwandan francs)



(Editing by Giulia Paravicini and Mark Potter)

What you need to know about Rwanda’s launch of the first ‘Made in Africa’ smartphones

It’s been eight years since&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/05/apple-steve-jobs-divided-people-into-2-groups-insanely-great-and-crappy-people-says-ex-employee-guy-kawasaki.html" class="">Steve Jobs</a>&nbsp;passed away on Oct. 5, 2011, but his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/05/amazon-billionaire-ceo-jeff-bezos-ask-yourself-these-12-questions-to-live-a-long-happy-life.html" class="">lessons about life, work and success</a>&nbsp;still live on today.



In a 1994, the Apple co-founder sat down for an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/steve-jobs-in-1994-the-rolling-stone-interview-231132/" class="">interview with Rolling Stone</a>. At the time, Jobs was at one of the lowest points of his career; he had long ago been booted from Apple, and the personal computer revolution seemed to be dimming. And yet, when asked if he still believed in the limitless potential of technology, Jobs answered yes.



“But it’s not a faith in technology. It’s faith in people,” he said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">‘Tools are just tools’</h2>



“Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart — and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them,” he said. “Tools are just tools. They either work, or they don’t work.”



Put another way, Jobs believed that in order to achieve great success and create revolutionary changes in the world, we must learn to prioritize the intersection of technology and the humanities, because that’s how the best ideas emerge.



Jobs took this philosophy seriously. Years after he rejoined Apple in 1997, it was clear that he had become a far better leader. His goal, according to Walter Isaacson’s biography <a class="" href="https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1451648537">“Steve Jobs,”</a> was to build an enduring company that prioritized people. Everything else — products and profits — while still important, would be secondary.



Jobs’ vision paid off: He had successfully shifted Apple’s focus back to making cutting-edge products, which resulted in a phase of unprecedented growth for the company.



Here’s how Jobs’ put his “faith in people” into practice:



1. He hired the right people and trusted them to perform



Jobs understood the cost of hiring the wrong people. He was heavily&nbsp;<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/steve-jobs/8810045/Steve-Jobs-timeline.html" class="">involved in major hiring decisions</a>, and remained so&nbsp;<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/steve-jobs/8810045/Steve-Jobs-timeline.html" class="">even after taking medical leave</a>.



Plenty of people have a breadth of knowledge that enables them to make good decisions under a variety of circumstances, but you can’t possibly be an expert at everything. The best leaders know what they don’t know, and they bring in experts to help them plan their next move.



As&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/27/steve-jobs-advice-on-hiring-helps-grow-this-ceos-talent-pool.html" class="">Jobs once said</a>, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”



2. He delivered his demand for excellence in a inspiring way



To many, Jobs’ version of “having faith in people” might not be considered the norm. His occasionally abrasive style of leadership has been described as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-co-founder-chairman-steve-jobs-dies/" class="">“terrorizing”&nbsp;</a>and<a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-co-founder-chairman-steve-jobs-dies/" class="">&nbsp;“extremely demanding.”</a>



But, as proven by Apple’s success, it worked. “Jobs’ rudeness and roughness were accompanied by an ability to be inspirational,” Isaacson wrote in a&nbsp;<a href="https://hbr.org/2012/04/the-real-leadership-lessons-of-steve-jobs" class="">Harvard Business Review</a>&nbsp;article.



Indeed, Jobs knew how to “infuse Apple employees with an abiding passion to create groundbreaking products and a belief that they could accomplish what seemed impossible,” according to Isaacson.



The author recalled Jobs once telling him: “I’ve learned over the years that when you have really good people, you don’t have to baby them. By expecting them to do great things, you can get them to do great things.”



3. He taught them about humility



Some people might get a chuckle out of this one, considering Jobs was known to have a certain degree of arrogance, but he also had the capacity to admit when he was wrong and change his opinion entirely.



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/01/former-apple-employee-guy-kawasaki-once-stood-up-to-steve-jobs-here-is-the-amazing-response-he-received.html" class="">Guy Kawasaki</a>, former chief evangelist at Apple who worked closely with the tech visionary,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/31/steve-jobs-taught-guy-kawasaki-this-surprising-lesson-about-intelligence.html" class="">told CNBC Make It</a>&nbsp;that one of the most important lessons he learned from Jobs “is that changing your mind, changing what you’re doing and reversing yourself at an extreme is a sign of intelligence.”



When Jobs first introduced the iPhone in 2007, for example, it was a closed system — no one outside of Apple could create an app for it. A year later,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/31/steve-jobs-taught-guy-kawasaki-this-surprising-lesson-about-intelligence.html" class="">Jobs made a complete “180-degree reversal,”</a>&nbsp;Kawasaki said. He opened the system to the public after realizing how much more the device could offer customers with apps written by anyone with a good idea.



In a world of stark dichotomies, it’s good to be fearless about changing sides or altering courses.



4. He taught them to focus



After his return to Apple, Jobs would take his top employees on annual retreats. On the last day of each retreat,&nbsp;<a href="https://hbr.org/2012/04/the-real-leadership-lessons-of-steve-jobs" class="">Isaacson wrote</a>, he’d stand in front of a whiteboard and ask everybody: “What are the 10 things we should be doing next?”



People would fight to get their suggestions on the list. “Jobs would write them down — and then cross off the ones he decreed dumb,” Isaacson continued. “After much jockeying, the group would come up with a list of 10. Then, Jobs would slash seven of them and announce, ‘We can only do three.’”



The theatrics of the activity were meant to teach his employees about focus. “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do,” Jobs told Isaacson. “That’s true for companies, and it’s true for products.”



5. He engaged face-to-face



If Jobs were alive today, it’d be unlikely for anyone to get a Slack reply from him. According to Isaacson, Jobs believed in the power of in-person conversations and always preferred face-to-face meetings.



“There’s a temptation in our networked age to think that ideas can be developed by email and iChat,” he told Isaacson. “That’s crazy. Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions.”



Even at Pixar, Jobs made sure the building was designed to get people out of their offices and interact with others. The front doors and main stairs and corridors all led to the atrium, which housed essentials like a fitness center, cafe, employee mailboxes and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/steve-jobs-technology-alone-is-not-enough" class="">only set of bathrooms</a>.



It was meant to be the heart of the headquarters, the place where people ran into each other, talked and came up with the most inventive ideas.



<a class="" href="http://marcelschwantes.com/">Marcel Schwantes</a> is a speaker, executive coach and workplace strategist. As a leadership coach, he addresses the elements required to create human-centered workplaces that result in high-performing cultures. Marcel is also the host of the “Leadership from the Core” podcast.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/05/apple-ceo-steve-jobs-technology-is-nothing-heres-what-it-takes-to-achieve-great-success.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/05/apple-ceo-steve-jobs-technology-is-nothing-heres-what-it-takes-to-achieve-great-success.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Steve Jobs: ‘Technology is nothing’—here’s what he said it really takes to achieve great success

MAPUTO (Reuters) &#8211; U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil will finalise its investment in Mozambique&#8217;s lucrative liquefied natural gas fields in a signing ceremony on Tuesday, the African country&#8217;s government said via state television. 



Exxon&#8217;s Rovuma LNG project, jointly operated with Italian firm Eni, will produce, liquefy and sell natural gas from three reservoirs located in the Area 4 block offshore Mozambique&#8217;s northern coast. 



Exxon estimates the fields, which are due to come on line in 2024, will cost $30 billion to develop. 



State television news channel TVM on Sunday said the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy would host a signing ceremony with Exxon and other firms in the capital Maputo on Tuesday. 



Exxon has said it expects 17,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) per year during the production phase, with the signing of an initial investment decision paving the way for the massive infrastructure project to begin. 



The gas fields are located off the coast of the northern Cabo Delgado province, which for the last two years has seen intensifying attacks on surrounding communities and government buildings by an extreme Islamist militant group.



In February Texas-based petroleum firm Anadarko said one worker was killed and several others injured in two related attacks in the Cabo Delgado area where it is building a 17,000-acre liquefaction complex. 



(Reporting by Manuel Mucari; writing by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

US gas giant Exxon to finalise LNG investment in Mozambique next week, what you need to know

Indigenous Languages Conference 2019: Preserving South Africa’s indigenous languages

By Victor Oladokun, Director Communication and External Relations, African Development Bank.



This
week, Nigeria and Nigerians at home and abroad, celebrate 59 years of political
Independence. It&#8217;s been a long chequered road with many ups and downs. Of
dreams come-true and of visions unrealized. While there is still much to do and
many mountains to climb, I just thought to scribble down a few thoughts about
what it is we love to love about this absolutely amazing country.



1.
Tenacity, a can-do spirit, and the Nigerian hustle at every level.



2.
Hardwork and a youthful entrepreneurial spirit.



3.
Diversity: 200 million people living together though tribe and tongue differ
significantly.



4.
Faith, Hope, Dreams &#8230; inspite of challenges



5.
Resilient Nigerian women



6.
Family and social gatherings for every occasion



7.
Happiness, humor, and the ability to laugh even when we are crying on the
inside. AY, Kenny Black, Bovi, Akpororo, SeyiLaw, Helen Paul, and&nbsp; Chigul.



8.
Lasgidi. A hotbed of innovation, creativity since &#8217;19-gbogboro.&#8217;



9.
Food: Suya, Designer Rice, pounded yam, Jollof Rice like none other, Moin Moin,
etc.



10.
Languages, especially pidgin English, which should soon be designated a
national and official language. If Prince Charly and Emmanuel Macron have tried
to impress us with their verbal dexterity, &#8216;wetin we dey wait for my people?&#8217;



11.
Art: Bruce Onabrakpeya, Ben Enwonwu, Yusuf Grillo, Aina Onabolu, Chinwe
Chukwuogo-Roy,&nbsp; and a younger generation of hyper realistic artists such
as 12 year-old Waris Kareem Olamilekan, Raji Bamidele, Chiamonwu Joy, and Arinze
Stanley.



12.
Music: Don Jazzy, Tiwa Savage, Frank Edwards, Cobhams Asuquo, Mercy Chinwo,
Onos Ariyo, Sinach, Jeremiah Gyang, Flavour &amp; Semah, and Timmy Dakolo.



13.
#Nollywood: Excellent storylines, highly improved production values, and all of
sometimes too obvious&nbsp; imperfections. A creative landscape waiting for the
best of money, technology, and people to organize systems and structures into
the multibillion dollar enterprise it deserves to be.



14.
My favorite Ondo Town Peeps: #Omatola, #MoAbudu,



15.
Awoof: newspapers, airtime, wifi. Man must connect by force by force.



16.
Fashion and textiles. From Balogun to Barcelona, we are strutting our stuff.



17.
Hospitality and generosity. You don’t appreciate it until you travel to other
parts of this great continent. 



18.
Parliamentarians with incredibly bad grammar but super native intelligence.



19.
Sports and physical strength. Still a wasted asset waiting for the addition of
tremendous value. Long may the memories of visionary administrators such as
Isaac Akioye and Sam Ogbemudia live. Waiting for the birth of a new generation
of visionary leaders to turn rough stones into fine diamonds.



20.
The heart breaking Super Eagles. They have you rejoicing when you least expect,
and weeping when you never thought you would.



21.
Abundant natural resources including solid minerals of every kind waiting to be
tapped, utilised, and to transform Nigeria&#8217;s development 



22.
Positive cultural values and humungous tourist potential. A low hanging fruit,
which with infrastructure and security can create millions of much-needed jobs
across a vast value chain.



23.
The endemic, unmistakable, Nigerian energy and buzz that no one can put down.
Naija no dey carry last.



24.
The Nigerian paradox: You want to get out when you are in and you want to get
back in fast when you are out.



25.
Diaspora Nigerians.



Long
may Nigeria and the indefatigable Nigerian spirit live. Happy 59th Independence
Anniversary!

Op-Ed: Celebrating Nigeria: 25 things to love about the West African country

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s mines and energy minister on Thursday said he was in talks with coal firms that supply struggling state-owned power utility Eskom to reduce coal prices in a bid to lower energy costs and boost the mining sector. 



Once the largest contributor to South Africa&#8217;s gross domestic product, mining has shrunk steadily over the last decade weighed down by higher energy costs and electricity cuts, hard-to-reach deposits, above inflation wage hikes and policy uncertainty which is deterring investment.



&#8220;These are discussions about how we reignite our economy and make it grow,&#8221; Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said at an industry conference in Johannesburg without adding further detail. 



In March, energy regulator Nersa granted Eskom average tariff increases of 9.4%, 8.1% and 5.2% over the next three years.



The mining industry body, the Minerals Council, has said the tariff increase given to Eskom would jeopardise the viability of some marginal mines and accelerate job losses at energy-intensive operations.



Job cuts are politically sensitive in Africa&#8217;s most industrialised economy where a quarter of the labour force is unemployed, while power outages and steep price increases by Eskom are set to hurt an already fragile growth outlook.



Eskom owns and operates more than 13 coal-fired power stations and has supply agreements with firms including Exxaro Resources and South32 



The utility supplies more than 90% of the power in Africa&#8217;s most industrialised economy, but has been grappling with cashflow and high debt problems, breakdowns at its creaking coal-fired power station fleet.



The minister, who highlighted that power cuts and electricity prices remain a concern, said lowering energy costs would involve discussions with various groups in the sector including coal producers, renewable energy firms and the energy regulator. 



(Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

What you need to know about S.African government’s talks with coal miners to cut prices for struggling power utility Eskom

LAGOS (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria’s central bank plans to charge 12 banks a total of more than 400 billion naira ($1.3 billion) for failing to meet its minimum loan-to-deposit ratio requirement by a September deadline, three banking sources told Reuters on Thursday.



The central bank has been seeking to boost credit to businesses and consumers after a recent recession in Africa’s biggest economy, but lending has yet to pick up. With growth slow, banks prefer to park cash in risk-free government securities rather than lend to companies and consumers.



Nigeria’s economy is expected to pick up in 2019 with gross domestic product expanding close to 3%, up from 1.9% last year, according to the central bank.



In July, the central bank asked lenders to maintain a ratio of lending out at least 60% of deposits by September as part of measures aimed at getting credit flowing.



Bank chief executives plan to meet with the banking regulator in Abuja on Thursday to discuss the charges, the sources said.



The local units of Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank are among those affected, the sources said.



Other include top tier Nigerian lenders Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, First Bank and United Bank for Africa.



The central bank did not respond to a request for immediate comment. The banks declined to comment.



Lenders have done little to expand borrowing in Nigeria, blaming a weak economy after a 2014 oil price crash and a currency crisis that made loans go sour. Analysts fear growing credit quickly could weaken asset quality and capital buffers.



The central bank has said loans rose 5.3% in the three months to the end of September to 16.40 trillion naira, due the new minimum requirement and increased the lending ratio target in what it said was a move to sustain the momentum.



In the last few months, the regulator has also capped interest-bearing deposits at the central bank and barred banks from buying treasury bills for their own accounts at an open market auction, to boost lending.



($1 = 306.40 naira)



Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Jason Neely and Mark Potter

Here’s why Nigeria is planning to charge banks $1.3 billion

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya’s private sector activity grew for the fifth straight month in September, boosted by an increase in new orders for businesses, a survey showed on Thursday.



The Markit Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing and services rose to 54.1 in September from 52.9 in the previous month. Any reading above 50 indicates growth.



“Private sector activity is showing signs of momentum, although panellists continue to highlight cash flow issues that they face,” said Jibran Qureishi, regional economist for East Africa at Stanbic Bank.



“In addition to the current stock of arrears owed to the private sector, the interest-rate-capping law could also hold back firms from flourishing on a multi-month basis.”



Last week, lawmakers rejected a finance ministry request to scrap commercial lending rate caps that critics say have led to a credit growth squeeze.



The rate of new business orders was the strongest in 13 months in September, the survey found, although output among firms grew modestly due to the cash flow concerns.



Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Catherine Evans

What is fueling Kenya’s private sector activity?

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; African mobile networks operator Helios Towers Ltd priced its initial public offering at 115-145 pence per share on Wednesday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, implying a total valuation of $1.42 billion to $1.79 billion. 



The company, which operates phone masts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Ghana, South Africa and Tanzania, last year shelved plans for its IPO amid concerns about political risks in DRC and Tanzania.



Helios is planning a free float of at least 25% of the company, with a listing on the London Stock Exchange, and will use the proceeds for expanding its services, including possibly into new countries, it has said.



“It’s a really good business in a strong sector, telecoms in Africa is the sort of growth story that appeals in this low-growth environment (globally),” said a source familiar with the transaction.



The decision to press ahead with the deal comes despite turbulent market conditions in Britain amid the long-running chaos surrounding the negotiations to exit the European Union, and the poor recent performance of other African IPOs in London.



Airtel Africa saw its shares drop 15% to 67 pence per share on its market debut after completing a 595 million pound ($730 million) IPO in late June. Since then shares have fallen further, and were as low as 50 pence on Tuesday.



Vivo Energy shares are down 1% since its May 2018 debut.



Bank of America, Jefferies and Standard Bank are joint global coordinators on the Helios deal while Renaissance Capital and EFG Hermes are joint bookrunners.



Books for the deal close on Oct. 14, with the first day of trading expected the following day.



($1 = 0.8148 pounds)



Reporting by Lawrence White, additional reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan, editing by Louise Heavens

African mobile networks operator Helios Towers launches up to $1.8 billion London IPO

By Taylor Locke 



Everyone has the same amount of time in a day as people like <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/elon-musk/">Elon Musk</a>, who is CEO of not just Tesla, but also SpaceX, The Boring Company and Neuralink, and <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/jack-dorsey/">Jack Dorsey</a>, who is CEO of both Twitter and Square.



So how do such busy billionaire founders like Musk and Dorsey manage their days? Here are Musk’s, Dorsey’s and other successful business leaders’ tips on maximizing productivity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Jack Dorsey has meetings from a Google Doc</h2>



Research has shown that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/13/jeff-bezos-mark-cuban-and-elon-musk-all-avoid-meetings.html" class="">most managers believe meetings kill productivity</a>: 65% of senior managers say meetings keep them from completing their own work, according to a survey from&nbsp;<a href="https://hbr.org/2017/07/stop-the-meeting-madness" class="">Harvard Business School and Boston University</a>, and 71% of 182 managers surveyed said they find meetings to be unproductive and inefficient.



When it comes to meetings, Jack Dorsey has a non-traditional approach that he believes speeds up the critical thinking process, as&nbsp;<a href="https://resume.io/productivity-lessons-from-successful-founders" class="">Resume.io points out</a>.



“Most of my meetings are now Google doc-based, starting with 10-minutes of reading and commenting directly in the doc,” Dorsey tweeted in 2018. “This practice makes time for everyone to get on same page, allows us to work from many locations, and gets to truth/critical thinking faster.”



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Most of my meetings are now Google doc-based, starting with 10-minutes of reading and commenting directly in the doc. This practice makes time for everyone to get on same page, allows us to work from many locations, and gets to truth/critical thinking faster. Good thread 👇🏼 <a href="https://t.co/YRsxT3kMAZ">https://t.co/YRsxT3kMAZ</a>&mdash; jack 🌍🌏🌎 (@jack) <a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/987163806781472768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>



The social media exec referenced a Twitter thread by Steven Sinofsky, the former Windows Division President at Microsoft, to support his Google Doc method. Sinofsky explained the potential up-side to writing during meetings as opposed to traditional ones.



“Writing is more inclusive,” Sinofsky said. “It is easier to contribute, doesn’t reward bullies and bulls&#8212;ers, and allows for contemplation.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Elon Musk eliminates excessive meetings</h2>



Elon Musk starts his day with his most critical work and schedules the rest of his day based on priority.



“Focus on signal over noise,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Qh-vwpYH8&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;amp;t=3m30s" class="">Musk said at the University of Southern California Commencement Speech</a>&nbsp;in 2014. “Don’t waste your time on stuff that doesn’t actually make things better.”



One of the ways he does this is by eliminating as many meetings as he can.



“Excessive meetings are the blight of big companies and almost always get worse over time,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/elon-musks-productivity-rules-according-to-tesla-email.html" class="">the CEO shared in a letter to employees</a>&nbsp;regarding productivity in 2018<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/elon-musks-productivity-rules-according-to-tesla-email.html" class="">.</a>&nbsp;“Get rid frequent meetings, unless you are dealing with an extremely urgent matter.”



If you must have a meeting, Musk says “be certain [you are] providing value to the whole audience.” Musk also advises his employees to “walk out or drop off a call as soon as it is obvious you aren’t adding value.”



It’s not rude to leave meetings that are not providing any value, he says.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Jeff Bezos makes quick decisions</h2>



It’s important to make “high-quality, high-velocity” decisions, according to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. That’s because “speed matters in business,” he said&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.aboutamazon.com/company-news/2016-letter-to-shareholders" class="">in his 2016 letter to shareholders</a>.



“Most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70 percent of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90 percent, in most cases, you’re probably being slow.”



In fact, whether you make the right decision can actually be less important than making one quickly, according to Bezos.



“Many decisions are reversible, two-way doors— for those, so what if you’re wrong?”



You need to be good at quickly correcting bad decisions, he said, but “if you’re good at course correcting, being wrong may be less costly than you think, whereas being slow is going to be expensive for sure.”



Amazon “is determined to keep our decision-making velocity high” not only because it’s important, said Bezos, but also because a “high-velocity decision making environment is more fun too.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Steve Jobs knew when to say ‘no’</h2>



<a href="https://resume.io/productivity-lessons-from-successful-founders" class="">As Resume.io points out</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/steve-jobs/" class="">Steve Jobs</a>&nbsp;believed a key to productivity is knowing<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/02/steve-jobs-heres-what-most-people-get-wrong-about-focus.html" class="">&nbsp;when to say “no</a>.”



“Focusing is about saying ‘no,’” the late Apple co-founder said during the company’s 1997 Worldwide Developers Conference.



“Focus means saying ‘no’ to the hundred other good ideas,”so you have decide what it makes sense to spend time and energy on, and what doesn’t, Jobs said.



In fact, billionaire&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/31/3-things-two-men-learned-from-their-650000-lunch-with-warren-buffett.html" class="">Warren Buffett shares Jobs’ mindset</a>, once saying “the difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say ‘no’ to almost everything.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Bill Gates sharpens his focus through meditation</h2>



Many successful people from Dorsey to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/16/bridgewater-associates-ray-dalio-meditation-is-key-to-my-success.html" class="">hedge fund</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/16/bridgewater-associates-ray-dalio-meditation-is-key-to-my-success.html" class="">billionaire Ray Dalio</a>&nbsp;make meditation part of their daily routine.



It is also one of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/bill-gates/" class="">Bill Gates</a>’ favorite productivity habits. “It’s a great tool for improving my focus,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/The-Headspace-Guide-to-Meditation-and-Mindfulness?WT.mc_id=12_03_2018_10_EOYBooks2018Headspace_BG-media_&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;WT.tsrc=BGmedia" class="">he said in his Gates Notes blog</a>&nbsp;in 2018.



“Meditation is simply exercise for the mind, similar to the way we exercise our muscles when we play sports,” he said.



The Microsoft co-founder, who meditates “two or three times a week, for about 10 minutes each time,” said that meditation teaches him “how to pay attention to the thoughts in my head, and [gain] a little bit of distance from them,” improving his concentration.



Gates <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/03/bill-gates-names-the-5-best-books-he-read-in-2018.html">suggests the book</a> “The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness” by former Buddhist monk Andy Puddicombe, for anyone who’d like to get started meditating. 



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/11/productivity-tips-from-elon-musk-jeff-bezos-steve-jobs-and-more.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/11/productivity-tips-from-elon-musk-jeff-bezos-steve-jobs-and-more.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Productivity tips from billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs and more

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By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/agnes-binagwaho-397402">Agnes Binagwaho</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-global-health-equity-3205">University of Global Health Equity</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/miriam-frisch-843046">Miriam Frisch</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-global-health-equity-3205">University of Global Health Equity</a>

Seven countries around the world – three of them in Africa – have made faster than expected progress over the past 15 years in reducing <a href="https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-survival/under-five-mortality/">deaths among children younger than five</a>. These seven countries, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nepal, Peru, Rwanda and Senegal, were selected because they have all performed unexpectedly well in improving childhood health relative to their <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD.ZG">economic growth</a>. 

There are many factors at the root of their achievements, most notably, a strong integrated and coordinated health system built on primary health care. However, one cross-cutting factor stands out that we believe allowed them all to achieve significant health gains but which, so far, tends to be always overlooked: trust.

This is clear from a <a href="https://wellcome.ac.uk/sites/default/files/wellcome-global-monitor-2018.pdf">report</a>, published by the Wellcome Trust and the Gallup Institute earlier this year. It surveyed 140,000 people in 140 countries to find out how they felt about science and health. 

A study on public attitudes to science and health on a global scale, the survey covered topics such as whether people
trust science, scientists, and information about health; the levels of understanding and interest in science and health; the benefits of science;
the compatibility of religion and science; and attitudes to vaccines. 

There’s a remarkable overlap between countries that have achieved progress in health goals such as reducing under-5 mortality, and those that ranked high in the trust survey. All seven were among the highest ranked globally when it came to their populations’ belief in the importance of vaccines while six out of the seven ranked highly in their trust in hospitals and health clinics. 

There’s logic in this. With greater population trust in health systems, health uptake and health outcomes improve. People are more likely to understand the benefits of health services and place a high value in receiving these services. This includes trusting in vaccinations which would lead people to placing a high value on vaccinating their children.

Rwanda in particular has done well in building population trust. According to the survey, the country reports the highest levels of confidence in hospitals and health clinics in the world, and the largest proportion of the population who agree that vaccines are effective. Rwanda also comes out on top in the world in terms of how much of its population believes that vaccines are important for children and in <a href="https://data.unicef.org/resources/immunization-coverage-estimates-data-visualization/">the percentage of children who are vaccinated.</a>

This is the result of the work the Rwandan government has done over the past 25 years to build a strong health system and foster an inclusive approach to health coverage, starting at a community level. These actions can serve as a model for other countries to replicate.

<h2>Crucial steps</h2>

It is 25 years since Rwanda was destroyed by the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/1999/1257">1994 genocide</a> against the Tutsi. Since then, the country of more than <a href="http://www.statistics.gov.rw/statistical-publications/subject/population-size-and-population-characteristics">12 million</a> people has developed a <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)60574-2/fulltext?rss=yes">strong, decentralised health system</a> and addressed many of the major financial and geographic barriers that vulnerable populations face in accessing healthcare services. 

Some of the steps have included:

Prioritising programmes that leave no one out

Building a decentralised health system: There are 15,000 villages in Rwanda. By 2018, each one had <a href="http://www.rbc.gov.rw/index.php?id=19&amp;tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=447&amp;cHash=c95bbbc0655d12b71c9ccdc675ab2313">four community health workers</a>. These community health workers are elected by their peers and are highly respected, trusted members of their communities who are spending sleepless night to keep their peers healthy. 

The trust that’s been built between community health workers and the people they represent has provided a strong foundation in developing broader trust in health systems and in the government that created the system.

Promoting the uptake of health services and vaccination service delivery: Community health workers, among other tasks, ensure that all pregnant women in their village attend antenatal clinics and deliver in a health facility, that every child gets vaccinated, and that community members are educated about the importance of vaccines and other preventive and curative treatments.

Offering universal access to a range of treatments: For example, HIV prevention care and treatment services, including the use of antiretroviral treatment.

All these measures contributed to growing population trust in the health system. People feel more comfortable in seeking out healthcare at health facilities and trusting the advice given to them by health professionals. 

<h2>More work remains</h2>

There have been <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)60574-2/fulltext?rss=yes">tangible benefits</a> to this rebuilding. Life expectancy has doubled. Immunisation coverage rates also increased from less than 30% in 1995 (with five kinds of vaccines administered) to 94% in 2015, with <a href="http://www.nitag-resource.org/uploads/media/default/0001/03/ff28cb2c2cb72344d4d7416d8178b25407d57cbb.pdf">10 vaccines administered to boys and 11 administered to girls, including the HPV vaccine</a>.

This is not to say that Rwanda doesn’t have more work to do. That’s also true of that the other six countries that performed well in the Wellcome Global Monitor.

Education remains a critical gap. The Wellcome Global Monitor <a href="https://wellcome.ac.uk/sites/default/files/wellcome-global-monitor-2018.pdf">reported</a> that the seven countries had some of the highest population proportions with little to no knowledge of science, especially among older people.

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 Read more:
 <a href="http://theconversation.com/rwanda-university-sets-out-to-teach-doctors-medicine-and-management-110527">Rwanda university sets out to teach doctors medicine and management</a>
 
 

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A lack of science education is a major barrier to improving health outcomes and achieving and sustaining <a href="https://www.who.int/health_financing/universal_coverage_definition/en/">universal health coverage</a>. Strong education systems that are training our scientists, clinicians and health professionals are crucial to ensuring countries have enough skilled professionals to provide high quality care to everyone. 

This is a gap we are trying to fill at the <a href="https://ughe.org/">University of Global Health Equity</a> in the rural north of Rwanda: to train future clinicians to have the tools to effectively address inequities in healthcare and to build and maintain health systems that leave no one out.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124183/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/agnes-binagwaho-397402">Agnes Binagwaho</a>, Vice Chancellor, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-global-health-equity-3205">University of Global Health Equity</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/miriam-frisch-843046">Miriam Frisch</a>, Research Associate to the Vice Chancellor, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-global-health-equity-3205">University of Global Health Equity</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/lessons-from-rwanda-on-how-trust-can-help-repair-a-broken-health-system-124183">original article</a>.

Here are lessons from Rwanda on how trust can assist in repairing a broken health system

Cape Town is set to host a record-breaking 29 global ministers at the 26th Africa Oil Week (AOW) summit this November. The event will act as a platform for governments to lay-out national strategies, issue licences, finalise tenders and find new partners. AOW Director of Government Relations and Strategic Partnerships Paul Sinclair commented “this year is a watershed moment for ministerial participation in AOW. We have witnessed a growing appetite at government level for the mutual exchange of ideas, energy diplomacy and the forging of new partnerships that will drive forward Africa’s social and economic development and energy security – actions which are increasingly necessary given the transformational era in which we are living.”  



The summit comes at a turning-point for
South Africa in its energy journey. In the wake of Total’s first significant
deep-water oil find in the country earlier this year, and the recent purchase of
offshore exploration blocks by Shell, politicians are preparing for further oil
and gas investment, which could be instrumental in improving the country’s
shaky economic outlook.



Gwede Mantashe, Minister of Mineral
Resources and Energy, will lead the South African national delegation. Western
Cape Minister for Finance and Economic Opportunities David Maynier and Premier
Alan Winde will seek to promote their province to global investors in the
event’s new South Africa Showcase day. 



Among those attending Africa Oil Week for
the first time is Somali Minister of Energy, Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed. Following
the signing of a new Petroleum Law and Revenue Sharing Agreement in May, and
the unveiling of the country’s first ever offshore licensing round (15 blocks
covering 75,000 sq. km), the Horn of Africa nation is keen shake off past woes and
demonstrate that it is open for business. Mr Ahmed commented, “this year is a
landmark in the development of Somalia’s natural resources…the Ministry has
worked successfully with the federal member states to create an equitable and
transparent framework to develop natural resources for the greater good of
Somalia”.&nbsp; 



As well as emerging players, the summit
will host established producers, including Algeria’s Energy Minister Mohamed
Arkab. After a period of upheaval for the North African nation, Algeria is now
ready to cement itself as a global energy powerhouse. It currently has the
10th-largest proven gas reserves in the world – which will prove instrumental
in the global push towards LNG as a cleaner fuel. Since his appointment, Mr
Arkab has prioritised the drafting of a new petroleum law, as well as
committing to modernise the country’s oil and gas infrastructure. Communicating
these changes will be Mr Arkab’s top priority at Africa Oil Week, where he will
participate in a live CNBC Africa Ministerial Panel alongside his counterparts
from Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea and Uganda. 



Alongside a roster of African governments, Africa
Oil Week will have global presence from the US and UK governments, with
delegations led by Steven Winberg, US Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy and
Emma Wade-Smith, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Africa. In the wake of
the recent post-Brexit trade continuity agreement with the Southern African
Customs Union (SACU) and Mozambique, the UK’s Department for International
Trade is looking to cement relations with Africa and become a leading trade
partner to the continent. Mr Sinclair added “we are pleased to host our first
international pavilion at AOW and hope to continue a fruitful partnership with
the United Kingdom long into the future”. 



To learn more about Africa Oil Week and see the full list of attending ministers, visit <a href="http://www.africa-oilweek.com">www.africa-oilweek.com</a>.



Content provided by Africa Oil Week

Ministers from Africa’s largest oil and gas producers will gather in Cape Town to lay out the continent’s future energy roadmap

By <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/426983428?src=2Q7JrXi3WCG4DWKa7nAt5w-1-5&#038;size=medium_jpg">knyazevfoto/Shutterstock</a>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jacqueline-hicks-780656">Jacqueline Hicks</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-nottingham-1192">University of Nottingham</a>

There is a global standoff going on about who stores your data. At the close of June’s G20 summit in Japan, a number of developing countries <a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/world/india-boycotts-osaka-track-at-g20-summit-1561897592466.html">refused to sign</a> an international declaration on data flows – the so-called Osaka Track. Part of the reason why countries such as India, Indonesia and South Africa boycotted the declaration was because they had no opportunity to put their own interests about data into the document. 

With 50 other signatories, the declaration still stands as a statement of future intent to negotiate further, but the boycott represents an ongoing struggle by some countries to assert their claim over the data generated by their own citizens.

Back in the dark ages of 2016, data was touted as the new oil. Although the metaphor was quickly <a href="https://towardsdatascience.com/data-is-not-the-new-oil-721f5109851b">debunked</a> it’s still a helpful way to understand the global digital economy. Now, as international negotiations over data flows intensify, the oil comparison helps explain the economics of what’s called “data localisation” – the bid to keep citizens’ data within their own country.

Just as oil-producing nations pushed for oil refineries to add value to crude oil, so governments today want the world’s Big Tech companies to build data centres on their own soil. The cloud that powers much of the world’s tech industry is grounded in vast data centres located mainly around northern Europe and the US coasts. Yet, at the same time, US Big Tech companies are increasingly turning to markets in the global south for expansion as enormous numbers of young tech savvy populations come online. 

<h2>Accusations of ‘digital imperalism’</h2>

Take, for example, the case of Facebook. While India is the country with the biggest amount of Facebook users, when you look at the <a href="https://www.datacenters.com/providers/facebook">location of Facebook’s 15 data centres</a>, ten are in North America, four in Europe and one in Asia – in Singapore. 

<figure class="align-center ">
 <img decoding="async" alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294172/original/file-20190925-51405-fwjrkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294172/original/file-20190925-51405-fwjrkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=525&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294172/original/file-20190925-51405-fwjrkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=525&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294172/original/file-20190925-51405-fwjrkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=525&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294172/original/file-20190925-51405-fwjrkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=660&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294172/original/file-20190925-51405-fwjrkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=660&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294172/original/file-20190925-51405-fwjrkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=660&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
 <figcaption>
 Countries with the most Facebook users in 2019.
 <a class="source" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/268136/top-15-countries-based-on-number-of-facebook-users/">We Are Social, DataReportal, Hootsuite, Facebook via Statista</a>
 </figcaption>
 </figure>

This disconnect between new sources of data and the location of data centres has <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Companies/QMZDxbCufK3O2dJE4xccyI/Indias-data-must-be-controlled-by-Indians-not-by-global-co.html">led to accusations</a> from countries such as India of “data colonisation” and <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/digital-colonialism-threatening-global-south-190129140828809.html">“digital colonialism”</a>.

The economic argument for countries in the global south to host more data centres is that it would boost digital industrialisation by creating competitive advantages for local cloud companies, and develop links to other parts of the local IT sector.

Many <a href="http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco/article/view/19553/16635">countries</a> have flirted with regulations on what sort of data should be stored locally. Some cover only certain sectors such as health data in Australia. Others, such as South Korea, require the consent of the person associated with the data for it to be transmitted overseas. France continues to pursue its own data centre infrastructure, dubbed “le cloud souverain”, despite the closure of some of the <a href="https://www.rudebaguette.com/2019/08/cloudwatt-orange-cloud-souverain-fin/">businesses initially behind the idea</a>. The most comprehensive laws are in China and Russia, which mandate localisation across multiple sectors for many kinds of personal data.

Countries such as India and Indonesia with their massive and growing online populations arguably have the most to gain economically from such regulations as they currently receive the least data infrastructure investment from the tech giants relative to the number of users.

<h2>The economics aren’t clear cut</h2>

Supporters of data localisation cite developing countries’ structural dependency on foreign-owned digital infrastructure and an unfair share of the industry’s economic benefits. They dream of using data localisation to force tech companies into becoming permanent entities on home soil to eventually increase the amount of taxes they can impose on them. 

Detractors point to the high business costs of local servers, not just for the tech giants, but also for the very digital start ups that governments say they want to encourage. They say localisation regulations interfere with global innovation, are difficult to enforce, and ignore the technical requirements of data centres: proximity to the internet’s “backbone” of fibre optic cables, a stable supply of electricity, and low temperature air or water for cooling the giant servers.

<figure class="align-center ">
 <img decoding="async" alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294335/original/file-20190926-51438-1lah43t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294335/original/file-20190926-51438-1lah43t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294335/original/file-20190926-51438-1lah43t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294335/original/file-20190926-51438-1lah43t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294335/original/file-20190926-51438-1lah43t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294335/original/file-20190926-51438-1lah43t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294335/original/file-20190926-51438-1lah43t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
 <figcaption>
 Data: how much is it worth?
 <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/artistic-blurred-binary-numbers-data-travel-544111558?src=Bjwb083uwwYnsgSFI2-Huw-1-2">Robsonphoto/Shutterstock</a>
 </figcaption>
 </figure>

Attempts to measure the economic impact of localisation are extremely partisan. The <a href="https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/174726">most cited study</a> from 2014 uses an opaque methodology and was produced by the <a href="https://ecipe.org/">European Centre for International Political Economy</a>, a free trade think-tank based in Brussels, some of whose funding comes from unknown <a href="https://thecorrespondent.com/3884/big-business-orders-its-pro-ttip-arguments-from-these-think-tanks/179184456-59671a10">multinational businesses</a>. Not surprisingly, it finds gross losses for countries considering localisation. Yet, a <a href="https://baxtel.com/data-center/facebook/files/facebook_data_centers_2018">2018 study</a> commissioned by Facebook found that its data centre spending in the US had created tens of thousands of jobs, supported renewable energy investments and contributed US$5.8 billion to US GDP in just six years.

Like the equivalent arguments for and against free trade, taking a dogmatic position for or against the issue masks other complexities on the ground. The economic costs and benefits depend on the type of data stored, whether it’s a duplicate or the only copy, the level of government support for wider infrastructure subsidies, to name just a few factors. 

India has been the most vocal supporter for localisation, promoting its own regulation as “<a href="https://meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/Data_Protection_Committee_Report.pdf">a template for the developing world</a>”, but it’s in a strong position to do so given the country’s relatively advanced digital industrialisation and technical manpower. Other emerging economies with large online populations, such as Indonesia, have vacillated on their localisation regulations under pressure from the US government which has threatened <a href="https://inet.detik.com/law-and-policy/d-4318420/revisi-pp-pste-diduga-sarat-tekanan-asing">to pull preferential trade terms</a> for other goods and services if they went ahead with restrictive regulations.

<h2>What governments do with the data</h2>

While the international economics of personal data may follow some of the same general dynamics as oil production, data is fundamentally different from oil because it does a double duty – providing not just monetary value to businesses, but also surveillance opportunities for governments. Some civil society activists I’ve met as part of my research in India and Indonesia told me they were sceptical of their own governments’ narratives about data colonialism, worrying instead about the increased access to sensitive personal information that localisation gives to governments.

It’s not just large corporations and states that have roles to play in this bid for “data sovereignty”. Tech developers may yet find ways to support the rights of individuals to control their own personal data with platforms such as <a href="http://www.databoxproject.uk">databox</a>, which gives each of us something akin to our own personal servers. These technologies are still in development, but <a href="https://www.decodeproject.eu/pilots">projects</a> are springing up – mostly around Europe – that not only give people greater control over their personal data, but aim to produce social value rather than profit. Such experiments may yet find a place in the developing world alongside what states and large corporations are doing.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123048/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/jacqueline-hicks-780656">Jacqueline Hicks</a>, Marie-Curie Skłodowska Fellow, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-nottingham-1192">University of Nottingham</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/digital-colonialism-why-some-countries-want-to-take-control-of-their-peoples-data-from-big-tech-123048">original article</a>.

‘Digital colonialism’: Here’s why some countries are considering taking control of their people’s data from Big Tech companies

By Sebsebe Demissew, Professor of Plant Systematics and Biodiversity at Addis Ababa University and Executive Director of the GulleleBotanic Garden in Addis Ababa.



The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, asked
countries to announce new national commitments for cutting greenhouse gas
emissions at the Climate Summit that took place last week in New York. The
results were mixed. In the end,&nbsp;69&nbsp;countries came forward saying they
were willing to enhance their targets under the Paris Agreement, although the
world’s biggest emitters remained silent.&nbsp;



Ethiopia was one of the countries to pledge to increase its climate ambition, after hosting an important meeting in August to rally support amongst African nations for declaring a climate emergency. At the Summit itself, Prime Minister Ahmed committed to planting 4 billion trees a year as part of our climate effort. This follows the record-breaking initiative the Prime Minister led that saw 350 million trees planted in one day. 



In short, the current government&nbsp;is putting the country at the
forefront of the global response to climate change. But there is a lot of hard
work ahead, particularly in terms of&nbsp;finding&nbsp;the best
possible&nbsp;ways to use&nbsp;land to ensure&nbsp;it&nbsp;serves&nbsp;as a
climate solution, a source of sustainable development and food production, all
at the same time.



Ethiopia isn’t alone in this challenge.&nbsp;It’s no secret global
food and land use&nbsp;systems are in&nbsp;crisis and no longer fit for
purpose.&nbsp;The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have told us,
for example,&nbsp;that&nbsp;food and land use&nbsp;is&nbsp;responsible&nbsp;for
up to 30 percent of global&nbsp;greenhouse gas
emissions&nbsp;and&nbsp;is&nbsp;the leading cause of damage to biodiversity,
forests, grasslands, wetlands and other natural habitats.



At the
same time, more than 500 million people&nbsp;around the world&nbsp;find
themselves&nbsp;without adequate investment in&nbsp;or access to land and
resources to institute changes, let alone the collective voice and power to
change them.



The
devastating sum of these inefficiencies are more than obvious in Sub-Saharan
Africa.&nbsp;New modelling released earlier this month by the Food and Land Use
(FOLU) Coalition found environmental degradation, poor diet, inequality and
rural poverty are estimated to cost sub-Saharan Africa US$680 billion per
year.&nbsp;Inaction is&nbsp;clearlynot an option.&nbsp;We either choose a
different path, or nature will choose for us. We will not meet global goals
designed to support people and the planet if we do nothing.&nbsp;



The good
news is that there&nbsp;are huge&nbsp;win-win&nbsp;incentives for
governments&nbsp;to lead a transformation. The same modelling from the FOLU
Coalition revealed that&nbsp;cultivating sustainable food and land use systems
could unlock an estimated US$320 billion a year for Sub-Saharan Africa&nbsp;in
new business opportunities by 2030, at the same time&nbsp;as&nbsp;restoring
health and resilience to the land, population and economy.



To unlock
this&nbsp;potential in Ethiopia, we need&nbsp;the&nbsp;government,
business&nbsp;sector&nbsp;and civil society alike&nbsp;to commit&nbsp;to
transforming the existing ways of doing things, which includes
investing&nbsp;inregenerative agricultural practices and promising emerging
technologies.&nbsp;



We&nbsp;have&nbsp;taken
the first step in this journey.&nbsp;Ethiopia&nbsp;is&nbsp;one of a handful of
countries to take on this challenge&nbsp;and is partnering with FOLU to develop
a&nbsp;strategy&nbsp;to identify appropriate long-term targets and the policies
we&nbsp;need to achieve them.&nbsp;



This will
arm the government with the necessary data to make smarter decisions;
identifying key sectors and the most effective projects and
initiatives.&nbsp;If done right, these transformations are predicted to save
the Ethiopian&nbsp;from harmful hits to the&nbsp;economy, including&nbsp;<a href="https://rd.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-19168-3">US$4.3 billion</a>&nbsp;lost to land
degradation.&nbsp;Ethiopia would also stand to avoid&nbsp;a 16.5% loss to GDP
per year due to chronic malnutrition,&nbsp;and a further 10% to climate change
impacts.



These transformations can, and must,&nbsp;work hand in hand
with other national&nbsp;development&nbsp;strategies. The government, for
example, plans&nbsp;to create 3 million new jobs.&nbsp;The FOLU Coalition
modelling found, for example, that there are 120 million new jobs on the table
if we get these transitions right. This could be a renaissance moment for rural
farming communities desperate for investment in human capital and
infrastructure.



The next
decade is critical. Global and regional trends are putting new pressures on
food and land use systems. But the potential for transformation has never been
greater. A new generation of agricultural leaders is coming of age, and the
initial steps taken by the Ethiopian government are promising.&nbsp;But now is
the time to match words with action.&nbsp;

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Special Report

The second edition of the #AfricaInvestmentForum, a game-changer to tilt capital flow into the continent

How can South Africa harness technology in a way that helps fix its problems?

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What you need to know about Rwanda’s launch of the first ‘Made in Africa’ smartphones

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Productivity tips from billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs and more

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‘Digital colonialism’: Here’s why some countries are considering taking control of their people’s data from Big Tech companies

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