JOHANNESBURG, May 28 (Reuters) &#8211; President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday France would invest in boosting the production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa, to help close a gap in the availability of the shots between African and Western nations.
Speaking at a joint news conference with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria, Macron said Africa made up around 20% of the world&#8217;s need for vaccines but only 1% of vaccine production.
&#8220;How do we boost the production of vaccines on the African continent?&#8221; he said. &#8220;On this, we will this afternoon have an investment strategy to help these industrials produce more, and quite quickly.&#8221;
He said France already had a partnership with South Africa&#8217;s Biovac Institute and would soon launch a project with South African pharmaceutical company Aspen.
&#8220;We need to vaccinate as quickly as possible the maximum number of people &#8230; all over the world,&#8221; Macron said. &#8220;It is our moral duty; it is also in everyone&#8217;s interests.&#8221;
Macron is on the second and final leg of an Africa trip that included Rwanda.
He reiterated support for waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, a move also supported by U.S. President Joe Biden but opposed by Germany.
Ramaphosa said earlier this month that if wealthy nations hogged COVID-19 shots while millions in poor countries died waiting for them it would amount to vaccine apartheid.
He also said that rich countries with an excess of vaccines should not stockpile them but ship them as quickly as possible to countries that need them.
France plans to deliver 30 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Africa by year-end, part of a total of more than 100 million doses that the European Union plans to deliver to Africa this year. (Reporting by Tim Cocks, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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Macron says France will help Africa make more COVID-19 vaccines locally

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In February this year, Job Creation Commission said close to 1.7 million jobs were created in the six months prior in Ethiopia. Bernard Laurendeau, Senior Adviser to the Commissioner of the Ethiopian Jobs Creation Commission spoke with CNBC Africa on how they managed to pull it off at a time when the global economy was impacted by the pandemic.

Ethiopia adds 1.7 million jobs in first-half of 2021

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/106863816-1617660366093-bit.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-405264" width="843" height="474" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/106863816-1617660366093-bit.jpg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/106863816-1617660366093-bit-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 843px) 100vw, 843px" /><figcaption>Dado Ruvic | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



The price of bitcoin took another hit on Friday morning as other cryptocurrencies including ether and doge also saw their values fall.



Bitcoin was trading at $35,904 around 6 a.m. ET and has fallen over 7% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Coin Metrics.



The world’s most popular cryptocurrency has been trying to recover after a week of turmoil that saw its price tumble 30% to around $30,000 last week.



It briefly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/26/bitcoin-price-bounces-back-above-40000-after-a-wild-week-of-trading.html">climbed back above $40,000</a>&nbsp;on Wednesday before losing some of those gains.



Elsewhere, ethereum’s price has fallen around 10% in the last 24 hours to $2,473 a coin, while dogecoin’s price has fallen around 6% to 31 cents.



Cryptocurrencies continue to divide opinion. In a 41-page note last week,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/28/goldman-says-where-its-at-on-bitcoin-ether-and-doge.html">Goldman analysts shared their views</a>&nbsp;on whether the likes of bitcoin and ethereum should be considered an asset class or not.



The latest price falls comes a day after longtime bitcoin bull Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of Ark Investment Management, argued that bitcoin&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/27/cathie-wood-sees-deflation-returning-innovation-stocks-and-bitcoin-to-rally.html">has a place in the world of deflation</a>.



Emerging markets — where currencies are often linked closely to commodity price cyclicality — could ultimately spur outperformance in bitcoin, she said.



“I think what will happen as their currencies come under pressure, the velocity of their money will increase as more and more of their populations shift into bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies and assets,” Wood said at CoinDesk’s Consensus 2021 conference on Thursday.



Last week’s crypto sell-off came after authorities in China and the U.S. moved to tighten regulation and tax compliance on cryptocurrencies. Chinese authorities called for tighter regulation on crypto mining and trading,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/24/chinas-latest-move-on-crypto-regulation-nothing-new-says-hsbc-.html">reinforcing rules announced in 2017</a>, and the U.S. Treasury announced that it would require stricter crypto compliance with the IRS.



The price recovered after&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/24/bitcoin-price-soars-after-elon-musk-tweet-on-sustainability-efforts.html">Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Mondaay</a>&nbsp;he spoke to bitcoin miners in North America about renewable energy solutions amid growing concerns about the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/05/bitcoin-btc-surge-renews-worries-about-its-massive-carbon-footprint.html">crypto’s carbon footprint</a>. Elsewhere, hedge fund billionaire&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/24/billionaire-ray-dalio-i-have-some-bitcoin.html">Ray Dalio revealed</a>&nbsp;in an article published on Monday that he owns some bitcoin.

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Bitcoin falls below $36,000 as cryptocurrencies slip once again

* PM Abiy Ahmed initially lifted press curbs, freed journalists
* Arrests occurring again, particularly during Tigray fighting
* &#8216;Dangerous throwback&#8217; to repression, say rights groups
* Government says environment for journalists &#8216;favourable&#8217;
By Maggie Fick
NAIROBI, May 28 (Reuters) &#8211; When Ethiopia&#8217;s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took over in 2018 and freed dozens of jailed members of the media as part of a raft of political reforms, journalist Dessu Dulla rushed home from the Netherlands.
The 45-year-old, now a deputy editor at a local online news outlet, said he had fled repression in 2004. He initially savoured new freedoms under Abiy, who won global plaudits including the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize which noted his work on &#8220;discontinuing media censorship.&#8221;
Three years on, Dessu and four other Ethiopian journalists interviewed by Reuters say they once again fear a knock on the door. At least 21 journalists and media workers have been detained since early 2020, some international media watchdogs say.
Dessu was arrested last year while reporting on the arrest of a political activist in his restive home region Oromiya. He and two colleagues were never charged but were held for three months.
&#8220;I thought it would be another era and that democracy and freedom of speech may be restored, but actually things are deteriorating, so many journalists have fled the country and some are in jail,&#8221; he told Reuters by phone from Addis Ababa.
&#8220;Unfortunately, Ethiopia has rejoined the list of worst jailers of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa,&#8221; said Muthoki Mumo, the Committee to Protect Journalists&#8217; (CPJ) sub-Saharan Africa representative.
Billene Seyoum, the prime minister&#8217;s spokeswoman, said conditions for journalists had improved.
&#8220;The environment for media and journalism since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office are quite favourable,&#8221; she said, noting that 44 new broadcasters had been issued licenses and that a new media law was passed this year.
As in every country, journalists have to obey the law, Billene said, adding &#8220;there is no perfect environment; however, it cannot be said that a nascent democracy like Ethiopia is regressing.&#8221;
When asked about individual cases including Dessu&#8217;s, she referred questions to the attorney general, the federal police and the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA), which accredits journalists.
The attorney general&#8217;s spokesman and federal police did not respond to requests for comment. The EMA said &#8220;freedom of expression and the protection of the press are sacred values that are enshrined in the Ethiopian constitution.&#8221;
EMA head Mohammed Edris provided Reuters with an English translation of the new media law, approved by parliament in February and signed into law in April.
The law states that the regulator, the EMA, shall be independent, and details on what grounds the authority will revoke broadcaster service licenses. It also says journalists will not be forced to reveal a source that provided information on a confidential basis.

DETENTIONS, KILLINGS
At least six journalists were detained in November, when fighting erupted between Abiy&#8217;s troops and rebellious leaders in northern Tigray, said international press freedom groups the CPJ and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
They included Medihane Ekubamichael of the Addis Standard, an independent English-language news website, and three journalists from the state-owned Ethiopian Press Agency. One of the four declined to comment and the other three did not respond to requests for comment.
Police accused Medihane in court of trying to &#8220;dismantle the constitution through violence&#8221;, his website reported. He was released without charge more than a month later.
The other three were accused of conspiring with groups fighting the government and dismantling the constitution; they were held between five to eight weeks before being released.
In December, Reuters cameraman Kumerra Gemechu was detained for 12 days without explanation. He was released without charge.
None of the journalists arrested since last year has been charged. All but one were released after days or months in jail.

IRISH JOURNALIST EXPELLED
In early March, the EMA revoked the credentials of an Irish citizen who reported on rape and rights abuses from Tigray for The New York Times.
The newspaper announced the revocation of Simon Marks&#8217; credentials in May and urged the government to rethink what it called an &#8220;authoritarian approach.&#8221; A week later, the government expelled Marks, who also worked for other publications, saying he had published &#8220;unbalanced reports&#8221;.
Marks told Reuters that he was given no credible reason for his credentials being revoked and no explanation for his swift deportation.
&#8220;It is alarming that the government of Ethiopia treated the journalist, Simon Marks, like a criminal, expelling him from the country without even letting him go home to get a change of clothing or his passport,&#8221; said Michael Slackman, assistant managing editor for International at the Times.
&#8220;With the credibility of an upcoming national election at stake, we call on the leaders of Ethiopia to reverse its efforts to muzzle an independent press.&#8221;
Two journalists were shot dead this year.
An unidentified gunman shot dead Ethiopian journalist Dawit Kebede Araya, who worked for Tigray state TV, in the regional capital Mekelle in January.
This month, journalist Sisay Fida from Oromiya region&#8217;s state-owned Oromia Broadcasting Network was shot dead in the Kellem Wollega zone of the state, the zonal security head told Reuters.
The new chief executive of the Tigray regional government and the chief spokesman for the Oromiya regional government did not respond to phone calls and text messages seeking comment.
For months after the conflict broke out, the government restricted access to the Tigray region, but that began to loosen in March.
The government says the only crackdown has been on criminals threatening peace and unity, and it accuses some journalists of colluding with insurrectionists, without providing specifics.
&#8220;We expect professional reporting that lives up to the standards of journalistic ethics,&#8221; the EMA said, noting that 129 foreign correspondents had been licensed and 82 foreign journalists had been given access to Tigray.

WIND OF CHANGE?
After coming to power, Abiy initially freed dozens of journalists from jail, lifted bans on more than 250 outlets and repealed some widely criticized media laws, according to the International Press Institute, a global network of editors, media executives and journalists.
But the old laws were not replaced by a clear regulatory framework relating to media practice, leading to a legal vacuum around such issues as how new media businesses are allowed to operate, found a 2020 study commissioned by the Fojo Media Institute at Sweden&#8217;s Linnaeus University and International Media Support, a non-profit Danish media advocacy group.
The groups, which both helped to draft Ethiopia&#8217;s new media law, added that the new law was a promising step because it was broadly based on the continent&#8217;s &#8220;most solid&#8221; legislation such as that in Kenya and South Africa.
However, before separate legislation against hate speech and misinformation was passed in early 2020, the United Nations&#8217; special rapporteur on freedom of expression warned the hate speech law could worsen ethnic tensions and possibly fuel further violence.
The rapporteur said the law could be used to silence government critics and might lead to arbitrary arrests because it gives officials at the federal and regional levels wide discretion to determine whom to prosecute.
Most parliamentarians, however, supported the legislation.
&#8220;Ethiopia has become a victim of disinformation,&#8221; Abebe Godebo, who voted for the law, said when it was passed. &#8220;The country is a land of diversity, and this bill will help to balance those diversities.&#8221;

MEDIA REFLECT NATIONAL DIVISIONS
Ethiopia was one of the world&#8217;s most repressive states for media before Abiy&#8217;s election in 2018, according to some media watchdogs.
Governments led by Abiy&#8217;s predecessors Hailemariam Desalegn and Meles Zenawi detained tens of thousands of people &#8211; including reporters and bloggers &#8211; often under anti-terrorism laws.
At least 60 journalists fled abroad between 2010 and 2018, New York-based Human Rights Watch said.
The head of Ethiopia&#8217;s state-appointed human rights commission, Daniel Bekele, himself a former political prisoner, has spoken up for journalists, but also says the media reflect &#8211; and at times worsen &#8211; divisions.
&#8220;It is not unusual for media to have an ideological bias but in our challenging context we need more responsible media for accurate facts, fair analysis, (and to) promote social justice and peaceful co-existence,&#8221; he told Reuters.
Dessu&#8217;s Oromia News Network (ONN) broadcasts via 10 journalists, all but one ethnic Oromos.
He frequently posts on social media in his native Afaan Oromo language, and his posts sometimes appear supportive of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an opposition party that spent years in exile but was allowed back in after Abiy took office.
Separatists are waging an armed insurrection in Oromiya.
In March last year, Dessu, another reporter and their driver were arrested after reporting on the detention of an Oromo political activist, Dessu said.
Oromiya Police Commissioner Ararsa Merdassa did not respond to a request for comment on Dessu&#8217;s case.
Dessu and his two colleagues were held nearly three months without charge despite court orders to release them, said Dessu and the New York-based CPJ, which looked into the detentions. Reuters has not reviewed those orders.
Now he avoids working outside his studio in Addis Ababa for fear of being arrested again, and he said some journalists he knew were self-censoring or again seeking exile. (Reporting by Maggie Fick; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Mike Collett-White)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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INSIGHT-In Abiy’s Ethiopia, press freedom flourished then fear returned

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1229877299-1-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-401221" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1229877299-1-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1229877299-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1229877299-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1229877299-1.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>NETHERLANDS &#8211; 2020/11/29: In this photo illustration, a man holds a syringe with a fake Covid-19 vaccine with the AstraZeneca logo in the background. (Photo Illustration by Robin Utrecht/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Africa needs at least 20 million doses of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/AZN-GB" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AstraZeneca’s</a>&nbsp;Covid-19 vaccine within the next six weeks to get the second round of shots to people who’ve already received the first, the World Health Organization said Thursday.



Data shows that one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine is 70% effective for at least 12 weeks, but the second dose provides 81% protection against&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/coronavirus/">Covid</a>&nbsp;for an extended time, according to the WHO. Antibodies have been observed in the body up to six months after one dose.



For the continent to vaccinate at least 10% of its population by September, another 200 million doses of any cleared Covid-19 vaccine is urgently needed, the WHO said.



As of Thursday, 28 million Covid-19 doses from different drugmakers have been administered in Africa, which has almost 1.4 billion people, representing less than two doses per 100 people on the continent. By comparison, more than 165 million people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine dose, equivalent to almost half of the country’s population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.



“Africa needs vaccines now. Any pause in our vaccination campaigns will lead to lost lives and lost hope,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa. “We urgently appeal to countries that have vaccinated their high-risk groups to speed up the dose-sharing to fully protect the most vulnerable people.”



France pledged to share half a million doses with six African countries in the next few weeks, and has already sent 31,000 doses to Mauritania. Another 74,400 doses are set to be shipped out soon, the WHO said.



The European Union said it will send 100 million doses to low-income countries by the end of 2021 and the United States has pledged 80 million doses. Other countries around the world have also expressed interest in sharing doses. Countries in Africa that are not using all of their doses are also sharing them with other countries on the continent, according to the WHO.



Redistributing vaccine doses, while helpful, is expensive. The WHO says that Africa must boost its manufacturing capacity for vaccines.



“Intellectual Property waivers are a crucial first step but must come alongside the sharing of expertise and critical technologies,” the WHO wrote in a press release.



In Africa, 54 countries are included in a more than 100-country effort by the WHO to present a draft resolution to the World Health Assembly. The resolution is meant to “strengthen local production, promote technology transfers and innovation, and consider the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and intellectual property rights through the lens of boosting local production,” according to the WHO.



About 40 African countries have also joined a WHO training to build manufacturing capacity and WHO says it is also working with the African Union on a plan to support feasibility studies and technology transfers upon request.



“It’s too soon to tell if Africa is on the cusp of a third wave.&nbsp;However, we know that cases are rising, and the clock is ticking,” Moeti said.

In this photo illustration, a man holds a syringe with a

Africa needs at least 20 million Covid vaccine doses in the next six weeks, WHO says

WINDHOEK, May 27 (Reuters) &#8211; Germany has agreed to fund projects in Namibia worth more than a billion euros over 30 years to atone for its role in genocide and property seizures in its-then colony more than a century ago, a Namibian government spokesman said on Thursday.



Thousands of Herero and Nama people were killed by German colonial forces between 1904 and 1908, after the tribes rebelled against German rule in the colony, then named German South West Africa. Survivors were driven into the desert, where many ended up in concentration camps to be used as slave labour and many died from cold, malnutrition and exhaustion.



Namibian presidential spokesperson Alfredo Hengari said a joint declaration outlining the agreement was made by special envoys of both countries on May 15, at the end of a ninth round of negotiations over the issue.



In a brief text response to Reuters, Hengari said an official apology from Germany was expected, adding that &#8220;implementation modalities can only commence after the President has spoken to affected communities&#8221;.



Herero paramount chief Vekuii Rukoro told Reuters the reported agreement was a &#8220;sellout&#8221;.



The German foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.



Asked on Wednesday if a deal was close, a German foreign ministry spokesman said the minister had updated the cabinet earlier in the day on the status of the negotiations and that Germany was keeping to a confidentiality agreement with Namibia.



An estimated 65,000 of the 80,000 Herero living in German South West Africa, and 10,000 of an estimated 20,000 Namas, are said to have died during the period.



Namibian media reported earlier on Thursday that Germany had agreed to fund 1.1 billion euros of infrastructure, healthcare and training programmes that would directly benefit the affected communities.



Rukoro, who unsuccessfully sued Germany for compensation in the United States, said the reported settlement was not enough for the two communities, which had suffered &#8220;irreversible harm&#8221; at the hands of German colonial forces.



&#8220;We have a problem with that kind of an agreement, which we feel constitutes a complete sellout on the part of the Namibian government,&#8221; Rukoro told Reuters.



Germany ruled Namibia from 1884 until it lost the colony during World War One. In 1920 the territory was placed under South African administration, until 1990 when it gained independence.



The German government has previously acknowledged &#8220;moral responsibility&#8221; for the killings, which a minister has described as genocide, but Berlin has avoided an official apology to ward off compensation claims.



In 2015, it began formal negotiations with Namibia over the issue and in 2018 it returned skulls and other remains of massacred tribespeople that were used in the colonial-era experiments to assert claims of European racial superiority. 



(Reporting by Nyasha Nyaungwa; additional reporting by Paul Carrel in Berlin; editing by Mfuneko Toyana, Philippa Fletcher and Catherine Evans)

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Germany to atone for Namibian colonial horrors with a billion euros of projects

MAPUTO, May 27 (Reuters) &#8211; A bloc of southern African nations said on Thursday it will work to shore up Mozambique&#8217;s security forces as they battle an escalating insurgency linked to Islamic State, but made no mention of proposals for a military intervention.
Members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), including neighbouring South Africa, have favoured the idea of regional military action as the violence has worsened and the threat to regional stability has grown.
Mozambique&#8217;s President Filipe Nyusi, however, has said in the past Mozambique should handle certain aspects of the response alone for reasons of sovereignty, and resisted suggestions of foreign boots on the ground.
In remarks following a SADC meeting in the capital Maputo, Nyusi said leaders had concluded the summit with a clearer sense of the &#8220;concrete steps&#8221; that needed to be taken to quell the violence.
&#8220;We adopted measures aiming to eliminate by its roots the terrorist actions through reinforcing the operational capacity of (Mozambique&#8217;s) defence and security forces,&#8221; he said, pointing also to plans to enhance border security and target the militants&#8217; funding sources.
The summit followed the capture of the key northern town of Palma in March, which killed dozens, displaced over 50,000 people and brought a $20 billion gas project by oil major Total to a grinding halt.
The assault exacerbated already growing concern among regional neighbours about the insurgent group, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
Subsequently, South Africa said it would press for urgent military intervention in the conflict, while a leaked SADC document, which has not been verified, proposed sending a force of almost 3,000 soldiers to the country.
SADC&#8217;s brief communique issued following Thursday&#8217;s summit however made no clear mention of military intervention.
The summit had noted the progress in finding a lasting solution to the violence, considered the proposed regional response and agreed to convene another meeting in Mozambique by June 20, the communique said. (Reporting by Manuel Mucari; Writing by Emma Rumney; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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Regional bloc holds off on military response to Mozambique insurgency

JOHANNESBURG, May 27 (Reuters) &#8211; South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will no longer appear for a second round of testimony before a graft inquiry, administrators of the commission into state corruption said on Thursday in brief statement.



Ramaphosa was due to appear before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture on May 31 and June 1, in his capacity as state president and his tenure as deputy president under Jacob Zuma from 2014 to 2018.



He previously appeared in mid-April as current leader of the African National Congress (ANC) in a rare case of a sitting president giving evidence on recent alleged acts of wrongdoing by members of his own party.



&#8220;The Commission wishes to announce that President Ramaphosa’s scheduled appearance dates of &#8211; 31 May, and 1 June 2021 has been postponed. The suitable alternative dates for his appearance will be communicated,&#8221; the inquiry said.



In his previous appearance before the judicial inquiry, which is due to deliver its final report in the next few months after nearly three years of sittings, Ramaphosa admitted that the ANC could have done more to prevent the corruption that ripped through the country&#8217;s institutions over the past decade. 



(Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

SAFRICA-POLITICS-SONA

South Africa’s President Ramaphosa will no longer appear before graft inquiry

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Resources group Tharisa has reported a 492 per cent surge in headline earnings per share for the six months ended March. This is from the previous comparable period. The company benefited from rising commodity prices, showing a net cash balance of just under 30 million Dollars. Tharisa CEO, Phoevos Pouroulis joins CNBC Africa for more.

Tharisa CEO on why he believes we are entering a commodity super-cycle

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/French-President-Emmanuel-Macron-1-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-404286" width="643" height="429" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/French-President-Emmanuel-Macron-1-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/French-President-Emmanuel-Macron-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/French-President-Emmanuel-Macron-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/French-President-Emmanuel-Macron-1.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 643px) 100vw, 643px" /><figcaption>French President Emmanuel Macron Photo via Flickr</figcaption></figure>



French President Emmanuel&nbsp;Macron&nbsp;said on Thursday &#8220;apologise&#8221; was not the right word to use when referring to France&#8217;s role in Rwanda&#8217;s genocide, after saying earlier he recognised his country&#8217;s &#8220;responsibilities&#8221; in the 1994 tragedy.



&#8220;Apologise is not the appropriate term and I cannot grant forgiveness&#8221;, Macron said during a joint press conference with his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame.



 (Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Alex Richardson)

French-President-Emmanuel-Macron-1

France’s Macron says ‘apologise’ is not the right word in Rwanda genocide

Naira closes at N493/$ at parallel market as CBN adopts NAFEX rate

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/1435739708_5cb0ad5c44_c-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-405092" width="576" height="379" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/1435739708_5cb0ad5c44_c-1.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/1435739708_5cb0ad5c44_c-1-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/1435739708_5cb0ad5c44_c-1-768x506.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" /><figcaption>Image via Flickr</figcaption></figure>



Zambia&#8217;s central bank will increase the daily limit for foreign currency exchange transactions, it announced on Thursday, as part of an effort to draw transactions into official channels and reduce complication for businesses.



Commercial bank customers will be allowed to exchange $10,000 per day, increased from $5,000. Customers at retail foreign exchange bureaus will be permitted to exchange up to $5,000, raised from $1,000, Central Bank Governor Christopher Mvunga said.



&#8220;This will allow for a regulated, systematic market where people can transact within the formal channels,&#8221; Mvunga said of the measures, which will take effect on June 1.



The limits were introduced 20 years ago, and the central bank had recognised that they were inconveniencing businesses and forcing people to buy hard currency on the black market.



The central bank said in a circular dated May 24 that it would observe the new over-the-counter foreign currency limits for a period of two months, subject to further review. 



(Reporting by Chris Mfula Editing by Promit Mukherjee and Peter Graff)

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Zambia’s central bank to raise cap on foreign exchange transactions

India&#8217;s government exceeded its legal powers by enacting rules that companies such as WhatsApp say will force them to break end-to-end message encryption, the messaging app owned by Facebook argued in a court filing seen by Reuters.



WhatsApp has filed a lawsuit in a Delhi court against the government to quash a provision of a new regulation that mandates companies to divulge the &#8220;first originator of information&#8221;, arguing in favour of protecting privacy.



In a statement on Wednesday, WhatsApp said it would engage with the Indian government to find &#8220;practical solutions&#8221; and protect users, but its court filing shows it has taken a firmer stance against Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#8217;s administration.



The rule drafted by Modi&#8217;s IT ministry will lead to a &#8220;dangerous invasion of privacy&#8221; and was &#8220;unconstitutional&#8221;, WhatsApp argued in the 224-page court filing dated May 25, which has been seen by Reuters but is not public.



WhatsApp said the government&#8217;s new regulation exceeds the scope of its rule-making powers under Indian law, adding that it was a well-settled point that only parliament, not the federal government, could undertake essential legislative functions.



&#8220;To satisfy the legality requirement, there must be a valid law allowing for the invasion of privacy,&#8221; said WhatsApp&#8217;s petition, which was signed by its counsel Brian Hennessy.



In a statement, Modi&#8217;s government said the rules were as per the law of the land and WhatsApp&#8217;s filing was &#8220;unfortunate&#8221;.



The WhatsApp lawsuit escalates a growing struggle between Modi&#8217;s government and tech giants including Facebook, Google&#8217;s parent Alphabet and Twitter in one of their key global growth markets.



&#8220;The battle lines are drawn. The intersection of big tech, democratic values and government control will finally decide the fate of social media in India,&#8221; said Kaushik Moitra, a partner at Indian law firm Bharucha &amp; Partners.



&#8216;CHILLS EVEN LAWFUL SPEECH&#8217;



In a sign of the tension with social media companies, Indian police visited Twitter&#8217;s offices this week. The micro-blogging service had labelled posts by a spokesman for India&#8217;s dominant party and others as containing &#8220;manipulated media&#8221; after complaints that some content was fake. (https://reut.rs/3ccSQ7J)



New Delhi has also pressed tech companies to remove what it has described as misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging India, and some criticism of the government&#8217;s response to the crisis, which is claiming thousands of lives daily.



WhatsApp, which counts India as its biggest market with more than 500 million users, did not comment on its court filing. The case will likely be heard in the coming days.



An Indian government source told Reuters earlier on Wednesday that WhatsApp could find a way to track originators of disinformation without breaking encryption. WhatsApp court filing shows it disagrees, saying that was not possible.



Urging the court to classify the new rule as illegal, the U.S. firm also made the argument that it was not aware of any other country that compels companies such as WhatsApp to change its systems so it can identify the originator of a message.



It said revealing an originator could put reporters investigating unpopular issues, or activists advocating for certain policies, at risk of a backlash.



&#8220;(The rule) violates the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, as it chills even lawful speech,&#8221; WhatsApp said in its filing. 



(Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Sankalp Phartiyal in New Delhi; Editing by David Clarke)

whatsapp

Indian government exceeded powers with encryption-breaking rule – WhatsApp filing

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/106888428-1622028919907-gettyimages-1232967074-omarques_18052021_crypto_3.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-405018" width="834" height="469" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/106888428-1622028919907-gettyimages-1232967074-omarques_18052021_crypto_3.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/106888428-1622028919907-gettyimages-1232967074-omarques_18052021_crypto_3-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px" /><figcaption>Omar Marques | LightRocket | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The price of bitcoin briefly climbed back above $40,000 on Wednesday morning, a week after its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/19/bitcoin-btc-price-plunges-but-bottom-could-be-near-.html">price tumbled 30%</a>&nbsp;to around $30,000.



The world’s most popular cryptocurrency traded 6.9% higher at $40,196.06 at 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, according to Coin Metrics data. Bitcoin was last trading 3.3% higher at $38,855.50 by 10:00 a.m. ET.



Other major digital coins were also in the green Wednesday. Ethereum’s price jumped 5.5% higher to $2,693.75, while dogecoin’s price was flat at 34 cents a coin.



Last week’s crypto sell-off came after authorities in China and the U.S. moved to tighten regulation and tax compliance on cryptocurrencies.



Chinese authorities called on Friday for tighter regulation on crypto mining and trading,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/24/chinas-latest-move-on-crypto-regulation-nothing-new-says-hsbc-.html">reinforcing rules announced in 2017</a>, and the U.S. Treasury announced Thursday that it would require stricter crypto compliance with the IRS.



But the cryptocurrency market is trying to recover some of the losses this week after it&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/23/bitcoin-resumes-selloff-over-weekend-briefly-falls-below-33000.html">plunged again on Sunday</a>&nbsp;to almost $31,000.



Bitcoin’s latest price rise comes after <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/24/bitcoin-price-soars-after-elon-musk-tweet-on-sustainability-efforts.html">Tesla CEO Elon Musk said</a> Monday he spoke to bitcoin miners in North America about renewable energy solutions. Elsewhere, hedge fund billionaire <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-ray-dalio-i-have-some-bitcoin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ray Dalio said</a> in an article published on Monday that he has some bitcoin.

106888428-1622028919907-gettyimages-1232967074-omarques_18052021_crypto_3

Bitcoin hovers around $40,000 after a wild week of trading

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1230815359-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-405014" width="840" height="560" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1230815359-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1230815359-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1230815359-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1230815359-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1230815359-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><figcaption>Transition Mali President Bah Ndaw leaves after a working lunch with French president at the Elysee presidential Palace on January 27, 2021 in Paris. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



BAMAKO, May 26 (Reuters) &#8211; Mali&#8217;s interim president and prime minister resigned on Wednesday, two days after they were arrested by the military, an aide to the vice president said.



Soldiers led by interim Vice President Assimi Goita, arrested President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and took them to a military base on Monday after a cabinet reshuffle in which two officers lost their posts.



The military&#8217;s actions have jeopardised Mali&#8217;s return to democracy following a coup last August and drawn condemnation from international powers.



&#8220;The president and his prime minister have resigned. Negotiations are ongoing for their liberation and the formation of a new government,&#8221; said Baba Cisse, an aide to Goita, in comments sent to Reuters by the military.



The resignations came during a visit by a delegation from the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS), which is pressing to resolve the stand-off. During a meeting with Goita late on Tuesday, the delegation, led by former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, raised the possibility of sanctions against the officers responsible for the takeover, said a military official who was present.



Mali&#8217;s neighbours and international powers fear the political crisis could further destabilise a country that Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have used as a launch pad for attacks across the region.



On Tuesday, Goita, who led the coup in August against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, said the president and prime minister had violated the transitional charter by failing to consult him about the new cabinet.



Goita promised that elections planned for next year at the end of the transitional period would go ahead.



He also accused the government of mishandling the situation in Mali, including a strike last week by the main union. The union said on Tuesday it would suspend the strike in light of the political crisis.



(Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo and Paul Lorgerie; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Nick Macfie and Giles Elgood)

FRANCE-MALI-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY

Mali’s president and prime minister resign following military takeover

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Thandeka Chauke, Head of the Statelessness Project at Lawyers for Human Rights spoke with CNBC Africa on inclusion of undocumented migrants in the vaccine rollout.

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Macron says France will help Africa make more COVID-19 vaccines locally

Ethiopia adds 1.7 million jobs in first-half of 2021

Bitcoin falls below $36,000 as cryptocurrencies slip once again

INSIGHT-In Abiy’s Ethiopia, press freedom flourished then fear returned

Africa needs at least 20 million Covid vaccine doses in the next six weeks, WHO says

Germany to atone for Namibian colonial horrors with a billion euros of projects

Regional bloc holds off on military response to Mozambique insurgency

South Africa’s President Ramaphosa will no longer appear before graft inquiry

Tharisa CEO on why he believes we are entering a commodity super-cycle

France’s Macron says ‘apologise’ is not the right word in Rwanda genocide

Naira closes at N493/$ at parallel market as CBN adopts NAFEX rate

Zambia’s central bank to raise cap on foreign exchange transactions

Indian government exceeded powers with encryption-breaking rule – WhatsApp filing

Bitcoin hovers around $40,000 after a wild week of trading

Mali’s president and prime minister resign following military takeover

Lawyers for Human Rights call for inclusion of undocumented migrants in vaccine rollout

NGX All-Share Index YTD loss widens, down 5%

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