(Posted 12th January 2023)
CCA MEMBERS IN THE NEWS
Gilead Sciences Kicks off 2023 with New Autoimmunie Disease Alliance
MedCity News
Gilead Sciences is building up its autoimmune disease drug pipeline by turning to EVOQ Therapeutics, a startup with technology that takes a novel approach to restoring immune tolerance. For EVOQ, the Gilead deal is its second with a big pharma company…. Read more>>>
Africa’s Flutterwave reportedly in bid to acquire British fintech Railsr
Fintech Futures
African paytech giant Flutterwave is in a bid to acquire British fintech firm Railsr, along with a number of existing Railsr shareholders, according to a Sky News report…. Read more>>
U.S.-AFRICA RELATIONS
Africa seeks bigger US trade slice for Agoa to make sense
The East African
African countries may need more trade privileges with the US even as Washington reviews the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) meant to expand what the continent will export. At the end of the US-Africa summit in December, Washington pledged to renew Agoa, bringing clarity to uncertainties that had befell exporters from countries such as Kenya…. Read more>>
AfCFTA’s mixed fortunes in bed to ride US’s coat-tails
The East African
The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is marking two years with a deal to ride the coat-tails of the US Chamber of Commerce, in a deal seen by enthusiasts as one way of learning from the best in regional trade. The arrangement is contained in an MoU signed in mid-December with the US-Africa Business Center, an affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce to advance trade relations with Africa. The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in December 2022 and has been viewed by its signatories as a big step towards promoting trade and support creation of more conducive environment for businesses to thrive…. Read more>>
Zambia: Hichilema says he’s resetting Lusaka’s relationship with China & US
The Africa Report
After landing the first significant direct American investment into the Zambian mining sector in more than 30 years, President Hakainde Hichilema says he is resetting Zambia’s relationship with China and the US for the country’s benefit… Read more>>
US Congress urges Pentagon to deepen security partnership with Somaliland
The Africa Report
The dueling signals lay bare the dichotomy between an executive branch that remains officially wedded to a “One Somalia” policy and a legislature that increasingly views Somaliland as a rare reliable partner in an increasingly unstable region. “The Horn of Africa faces an increasing number of complex challenges, yet the State Department continues to work off outdated policies and diplomatic frameworks that don’t meet today’s challenges,” James Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement following the passage of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA)…. Read more>>
AGRIBUSINESS
Türkiye determined to send grain to Africa through Black Sea: Erdogan
TRT World
Turkish president says while 44 percent of Ukrainian grain is sent to Europe, Ankara will also make an effort to provide the same to African countries through the Black Sea corridor…. Read more>>
ENERGY
Somaliland announces first oil discovery
The Star
The self-declared republic of Somaliland has confirmed that oil has been discovered in the Sallahey area of Marodi-Jeh region, its ministry of energy and mineral resources said in a statement posted on Facebook. The ministry said it had launched scientific investigations after a black liquid spilled from a waterwell drilling site in the area, and the results had confirmed the oil discovery…. Read more>>
Next Africa: Climate Change Isn’t to Blame, Mr. President
Bloomberg
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has blamed climate change for falling water levels at the world’s biggest man-made reservoir, which has curtailed power generation and caused 19-hour daily power cuts….. Read more>>
Sufficient Power Supply Boasts Haunts Zambia’s President
The Star
A video of Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema boasting last month that his government had ended electricity blackouts, is being widely shared on WhatsApp two days after the country’s power utility firm announced indefinite power cuts of up to 12 hours a day…. Read more>>
South Africa’s ANC Signals Caution on Green Energy Transition
BNN Bloomberg
South Africa’s governing party said it is committed to reducing the nation’s reliance on coal but that a transition to cleaner forms of energy must be approached with caution to minimize any negative fallout…. Read more>>
HEALTH
Africa CDC Set To Inaugurate Its HQ In Addis Ababa
VOA
The head quarter office building of the African Center for Disease Control, where the legacy of construction professionals from Ethiopia and China rested, will soon be inaugurated, AU Media Advisory announced….Read more>>
Uganda Set to Declare End of Ebola Outbreak
Barron’s
Uganda said on Monday it was expecting to declare an end to an Ebola virus outbreak that emerged late last year and has claimed the lives of at least 56 people.
If no new case is reported by Tuesday, the health ministry said it would formally announce the end of the outbreak on Wednesday….Read more>>
South Africa Has Its First Case of Most Transmissible Covid Variant
BNN Bloomberg
South Africa has found its first case of a coronavirus infection caused by the new, highly transmissible XBB.1.5 variant. Maria Van Kerkhove, Covid-19 technical lead at the World’s Health Organization, this week called XBB.1.5 “the most transmissible sub-variant” detected so far in the pandemic…. Read more>>
INFRASTRUCTURE
Free trade agreement will boost intra-Africa deals, say 90pc CEOs
Business Daily
Nine in 10 African chief executives have confidence the actualisation and adoption of the free trade agreement will boost intra-African trade, a new survey shows. A survey by the Pan-African private sector trade and investment committee (PAFTRAC) revealed that 93 percent of the executives from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sampled across Africa were confident the free trade agreement would improve economic activities on the continent…. Read more>>
Political and economic volatility will continue in Africa in 2023
Mail & Guardian
Africa’s economy was recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022 when a range of internal and external shocks struck, such as adverse weather conditions, a devastating locust invasion, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Although the direct trade and financial linkages of Africa with Russia and Ukraine are small, the war has damaged the continent’s economies through higher commodity prices, higher food, fuel, and headline inflation. The main effect is on the increasing likelihood of civil strife because of food- and energy-fuelled inflation in an environment of heightened political instability…. Read more>>
A push for gold leaves a toxic legacy in Zimbabwe
Quartz
Mercury exposure can be deadly. So why are gold miners in Zimbabwe using the dangerous chemical—and risking their lives in the process?… Read more>>
ICT
Google, Meta, Twitter…What tech giants bring to Africa
The Africa Report
As the Covid-19 pandemic drew to a halt, tech progress in Africa rapidly increased, and by 2021 the continent has received $4.77bn worth of venture funding – 2.5 times the capital raised in the previous year. Whilst the development of AI centres and Big Tech moving into African nations seems full of promise, there are decided drawbacks…. Read more>>
New stringent legislation threatens data privacy and surveillance protection in Tanzania
Global Voices
Tanzania’s efforts to implement a legal identity system have been fraught with complications for decades, and the latest initiative that includes compiling mass biometric data is no different. Tanzania embarked on a plan to create a system of legal identity for its citizens after independence in 1961. This plan was however short-lived as the government lacked the financial capacity to implement the exercise. … Read more>>
Record Funding Drive by African Startups Masks Challenges Ahead
Bloomberg
African startups raised a record $5.3 billion last year, though that may be the high-water mark as a deepening slump in the technology industry reduces the funding pool… Read more>>
TOURISM
Silicon Zanzibar? Tourist islands want techies to stay
African Business
Best known for its sandy beaches and beguiling history, Zanzibar is looking to branch out into tech as a hedge against tourist sector volatility….. Read more>>
