Africa Business

[New Times] The Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) has called upon the public and private institutions as well as individuals to consider shifting to electric vehicles and join the effort to beat air pollution.

[DW] As part of its post-Brexit global vision, Britain is hosting a UK-Africa trade conference. But its new trade deals fail to offer African nations much extra as Britain falls behind as a trading partner on the continent.

[Thomson Reuters Foundation] Johannesburg -- Activist-turned-entrepreneur Joanie Fredericks offers safe transport options for women in a Cape Town crime hotspot

[DW] Social media platforms in Uganda played a crucial role in the mobilization of opposition leader Bobi Wine's followers. Shutting down the internet on the eve of polls added to doubts about how fair the elections were.

[ISS] In the earlier days of Ugandan Yoweri Museveni's presidential career in 2006, I remember seeing election posters routinely torn down by all sides during campaign rallies in an attempt to control the message. Now social media has become the new election battleground, propelled by the rapid proliferation and reach of cellphone technology across Africa.

[The Point] The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board on Friday approved an immediate disbursement of about US$28.8 million to The Gambia to help meet the country's financing needs, support social spending and the post-pandemic recovery.

[GhanaToday] The Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) has warned the general public of a fraudulent advert on various online portals promising job seekers juicy employment in the Authority.

[Citizen] MultiChoice Tanzania has launched a mouthwatering upgrade offer dubbed "Panda Tukupandishe". This offer gives all active and disconnected DStv Bomba, Family and Compact customers a chance to pay and get to view programming on higher package within 48 hours at no extra cost.

[Namibia Economist] The year 2021 is expected to remain under the shadow of the pandemic, despite increasing growth prospects as a result of vaccine roll-outs.

[Namibian] THE Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation seems to be taking a laid-back stance on the ongoing Shoprite strikes, putting its faith in conciliation.

[Daily Maverick] The growing spread of disinformation surrounding alleged links between Covid-19 and the rollout of the 5G in South Africa is becoming a persistent headache for government and cellular network providers, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal.

[Daily Maverick] Programmatic marketing might be viewed as a spray-and-pray exercise, but advertising has such a pervasive wastage and fraud problem that it is eating chunks out of marketing budgets and skewing performance results - as Uber recently discovered, having spent about $100-million on meaningless marketing.

[Govt of SA] Ministry and Department of Employment and Labour passes its condolences to the Nzimande family

[Nation] Court cases, debts, lack of political goodwill and competing interests among sugar millers conspire to delay the revival of the collapsed sugar sector, resulting in a long, tortuous wait by farmers from the western Kenya's sugar belt.

[Nyasa Times] National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc has rolled out an insurance premium financing facility where the bank will pay annual insurance premiums on behalf of its customers thereby freeing up their cash flow in the process.

[ANGOP] Luanda -- The selling process of the oil company (Sonangol)'s stake in China International Holding (CSIH) may begin this year, according to the Privatisation Programme (Propriv) underway in the country.

[ANGOP] Luanda -- Angola's TAAG airlines has announced plans to increase from January 19 its daily flights to South Africa, Portugal and Brazil, as part of the repatriation programme of Angolans and foreigners residing in the country.

[Capital FM] Nairobi -- The volume of green leaf produced by smallholder tea farmers under Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) management dropped marginally by 0.7 percent to 615 million kgs during the last six months ending December 2020 compared to 619.5 million kgs recorded during the same period in 2019.

[East African] In an unprecedented move, the Uganda Communication Commission, the regulator of the telecommunication sector, ordered a countrywide shutdown of the Internet on the eve of the January 14 general election.

[Daily Maverick] Referring to the collapse of the Amathole District Municipality, a major water services municipality providing water to areas like Butterworth, Peddie, Bedford, Adelaide, Stutterheim and hundreds of smaller villages, Nontando Ngamlana from the East London-based NPO Afesis-Corplan said the price of water delivered to homes has skyrocketed.

[New Zimbabwe] The Manyame Rural District Council has warned desperate home seekers not to buy land in Seke Rural amid reports that the local authority would soon be granted government permission to urbanise the area.

[The Herald] Exploration for diamonds in Sese communal lands in Chivi by Murowa Diamond Company is promising, but inconclusive on whether the area has gems that can be commercially exploited.

[New Zimbabwe] Commuters have described as "unsustainably exorbitant" the hiking of public bus fares by the Zimbabwe United Passengers Company (ZUPCO) from $16 to $30 for conventional buses and $32 to $60 for kombis.

[The Herald] The Kwekwe District Civil Protection Unit, which is conducting a search for three artisanal miners who were buried alive following a mineshaft collapse at Yellow Mine in Kwekwe, yesterday clocked four days without success.

[The Herald] Zimbabwe's mineral exports, excluding gold and silver, for the year 2020 surged by 27 percent, earning the country US$2,4 billion, the Minerals and Marketing Authority of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) has said.

[New Zimbabwe] The Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has ordered a top Zimbabwean banker, George Manyere to exit from both controlling shareholding and directorship in the fintech company MyBucks after violating banking rules.

[Daily Maverick] The economic impacts of Covid-19 for Africa are expected to cause the first recession for the continent in 25 years, threatening to undo years of economic progress. Government interventions to combat the virus have been effective from a public health perspective, but they are not economically sustainable.

[Nation] There is a looming crisis in the civil service as thousands of staff retire at the end of the month with no signs of lifting an existing moratorium on employment by the National Treasury.

[Nation] Somalia's main organisation for investors and traders this week got a reprieve after the government rescinded its decision to disband it over complaints from traders.

[Capital FM] Nairobi -- China has indicated its willingness to suspend Kenya's debt as part of measures to help developing countries weather the COVID-19 storm.