Africa’s oil and gas sector needs more investments to power its economies
In the past 12 months, the African energy sector has seen several encouraging developments – in the form of both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and strategic partnerships – that have advanced the sustainable development of its natural resources. In fact, despite a global downturn in investment in 2020, FDI flows...
As world wobbles under Covid weight, computer vision syndrome hits
There’s no way around it: Since the pandemic began, people around the world, of all ages, are spending lots more time looking at screens. This is particularly true for children, as many schools shifted from the classroom to the computer. A survey conducted by Ipsos and the Global Myopia Awareness...
Africa’s ‘Blue Economy’ remains untapped, set to be in hands of foreign powers
African governments have the ability to significantly impact the investment environment and investors will look to the way they are planning, regulating, owning and operating their ports. They will also take the country’s stability, security and perceived corruption levels into account. Experienced investors will certainly consider how individual governments have...
Too many regional economic communities, are they really helpful to African trade?
Africa is a complex continent. She is an eclectic mix of authoritarian regimes – where leaders have been in power for many decades; countries that are attempting to make their way towards democracy – even if progress is incremental and slow. There are others that have had a stronger semblance...
Terrorism: Mozambique crisis to get worse by June without international intervention
The threat to Mozambique isn’t just about gas. It isn’t just about money or security or power or territorial integrity. The conflict in Cabo Delgado is wrecking people’s lives on a vast scale. More than 700,000 people have already fled their homes in northern Mozambique and the count is still...
Mozambique in need of urgent support to overcome terrorists and restore hope
“You may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise”. Maya Angelou was so right. These profound words do ring true today when we look at the recent cowardly attacks by terrorists on defenceless Mozambicans. There’s so much at stake in Mozambique, where the separatist militia known...
Africa’s Free Trade Area carries hopes of wonder drug for struggling economies
Created by the Free Trade Agreement in 2018, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) came into effect on January this year. Expectations are high that the new economic and trading bloc will open up borders for more intra-Africa trade. Since the World Trade Organization creation, the AfCFTA is the...
Science needs data and evidence from the arts to effectively roll back coronavirus
One key issue is who is being called on to aid recovery. Governments have sought expert advice from the beginning of the pandemic, but that expertise tended to come from people in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) – despite it being clear from the start that human behaviour, motivations...
Social media: What would happen if users were rewarded for reliability and accuracy?
In 2020 alone, social-media shares, likes and similar interactions with misleading online news doubled to 17 per cent of all engagements. This staggering growth has consequences: polarisation, violent extremism, racism and resistance to climate action and vaccines. Social-media companies have taken some steps to combat misinformation by using warnings and...
New plastics law likely to have severe unintended consequences in Mauritius
The government of Mauritius have proposed bold new measures to curb plastic waste. While the intentions behind the mooted regulations are commendable, we are firmly of the view that the proposed new policies for the management of PET Plastic Waste, if implemented as per the timelines, logistics and technicalities, could...
