Report: Drought has killed 11 million livestock and over 6,000 iconic wildlife species in East Africa
Surrounded by kilometres of dried land and what remains of his famished livestock, Daniel Lepaine is a worried man. Dozens of his goats in Ngong, a town in southern Kenya, have died after three years of harrowing drought in East and Horn of Africa. The rest are on the verge...
Kenyan currency takes a beating as foreign reserves plunge to a year low, breaches EAC law
Kenya is facing an acute foreign exchange crunch, with US dollar reserves dropping to their lowest in eight years as its currency keeps plummeting against major global currencies. According to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the plunge of the Kenyan shilling has been so substantial that it has even...
South Africa greylisted by G-20 for failing to act firmly on money laundering, terrorist financing
The greylisting of South Africa last month by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has made waves in the country, occupying substantial media attention. South Africa became only the second G20 country to have been greylisted other than Turkey – an embarrassing fall from grace. Nigeria’s addition to the list...
Why China fined GlaxoSmithKline $500 million, deported top executive for bribing doctors to prescribe cancerous drug Zantac
Nevertheless, the warning signs continued to build up. A 1980 report titled “Glaxo, Ranitidine – Cause for Concern,” found that ranitidine could potentially form a potentially dangerous, and cancerous, compound in the stomach. Glaxo, which was seeking FDA approval for Zantac, prepared for “defensive action” to protect itself from the...
Experts vouch for decentralised economies, fear totalitarian systems by central banks via digital currencies
“We must prevent the introduction of central bank digital currencies “because that is the epitome of a centralised, controlled, even totalitarian system,” economist Richard Werner has warned. Speaking in a recent episode of The Kim Iversen Show, Prof Werner said the current inflation crisis the world is currently facing is...
Billionaire Richard Branson says family and business need not be separate, following your dreams emboldens your children
As we settle into the year ahead, it was wonderful to see so many enthusiastic submissions for my newsletter this month. As ever, it was a struggle to select just one question to answer, but something about this one from Derek Notnam really heartened me. He asked: What advice do...
Google parent company plans to shed 12,000 jobs worldwide as focus on Artificial Intelligence intensifies
Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), announced on Friday it will cut about 12,000 jobs, or 6 perc cent of its workforce, as the technology sector reels from layoffs and companies stake their futures on artificial intelligence (AI). Alphabet’s shares rose almost 4 per cent in pre-market trading. The cuts...
Scramble for minerals, markets by foreign firms is forcing US to recalibrate security strategy in Africa
“The US has recalibrated its approach. We will not only seek to empower the African continent in the field of security, development and governance, but we will also strive to help them address the drivers of instability and conflict to meet the ambition and promise of Africa.” This is according...
Britain’s Office for National Statistics says pubs, restaurant spurred economic growth in November
The UK economy unexpectedly grew in November, helped by a boost from the World Cup, official figures show. The UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) – a key economic measure of services, construction and manufacturing output – rose by 0.1 per cent. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said pubs and...
Meta’s East African content moderation hub in Nairobi shuts down as its third-party servicer calls it quits
Meta’s East African content moderation hub is shutting down as the social media giant’s third-party contractor moves away from policing harmful content, cutting around 200 staff and leaving several employees without work permits. The owner of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram first contracted Sama in 2017 to assist with labelling data...
