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[CAF] Burundi and Kenya's Emerging Stars are through to the semi final stage of the CECAFA U-23 Challenge Cup on-going in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
In May, Burundi held a presidential election which was won by Evariste Ndayishimiye, candidate of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy - Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) party.
Ndayishimiye was hurriedly sworn in after the untimely death of president Pierre Nkurunziza in June.
Rights violations continue
The Council encouraged donor countries which had suspended aid to Burundi to continue dialogue towards resumption of development assistance.
A report by a UN watchdog in September said human rights violations were still being committed in Burundi, including sexual violence and murder.
The country was plunged into a crisis in April 2015 when Ndayishimiye’s predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a controversial third term, which he ultimately won in July 2015.
His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted in a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup in May 2015.
Hundreds of people were killed and over 300,000 fled to neighboring countries.
[Nairobi News] Hit song Dusuma by Otile Brown featuring Burundian artiste Meddy is the most watched music video on YouTube by Kenyans in 2020.
When the polls close nationwide today at 5 pm local time, Ghana would have successfully seen the end of another general election - the eighth in 28 years - a testament to what has been described as one of Africa's more mature democracies. The Ghanaian electorate, a little over 17 million, will be voting for...
The post What you must know as Ghana votes today in one of Africa's most mature democracies appeared first on Face2Face Africa.
[Nairobi News] It is eight years since a grenade blast almost killed Kamukunji Member of Parliament Yusuf Hassan in Nairobi's Eastleigh estate.
[Nation] A politician from the Coast could be charged with defilement if it is established that he married a 16-year-old girl after paying her mother Sh500,000 and giving her a sofa set.
[Nation] The country is likely to miss out on its target to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) by 2022 as more girls undergo the cut. This is after schools were closed early this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Analysis - The situation in Ethiopia's Tigray region remains opaque making it difficult to separate fact from fiction -- not least due to a media blackout. DW takes a look at some of the claims.
[New Times] The Rwanda Cricket Association has announced that expansion and upgrade works on IPRC-Kigali cricket ovalhas commenced to make it meet international standards.
NEW YORK (AP) — The top 10 albums of the year by Associated Press Music Editor Mesfin Fekadu (a playlist of the albums can be found here ): 1. Toni Braxton, “Spell My Name': I can breathe again, thanks in part to the living legend Toni Braxton. 2020 was a hot mess, and one way to escape the madness was through […]
[New Frame] The last in this three-part series looks at the cost of nuclear waste disposal, decommissioning power plants and accident clean-ups, and suggests a logical energy-generation alternative for the continent.
[CIO] After successfully piloting \"Gumzo For Schools\", a video conferencing system designed specifically for e-learning in Africa; Usiku Games has enhanced its platform to allow tutors to continue providing private tuition as the government announces a return to the school schedule for January 2021.
An Eco-Friendly Manufacturing Plant is Turning Plastic into Bricks
After Kenya imposed a ground-breaking law in 2017 on the use, manufacturing and import of plastic bags as part of global efforts to limit plastic waste, four engineers in Nairobi saw an opportunity in the estimated 500 tonnes of plastic waste the city generates daily and founded Gjenge Makers — a company that recycles plastic bottle tops and cooking oil containers into environmentally friendly bricks. Nzambi Matee, a co-founder of Gjenge Makers, explains how it came about.
\"So we started by collecting plastic waste and selling it to recyclers. That was in 2017, and then we realised three to six months later that we were collecting more waste than we could sell, than the recyclers could absorb. So that's when we decided what more we could do with the remaining plastic, as a value-added aspect, to see if we could put a product on the market using the plastic waste, and that's how we started making the paving stones\".
Grey pavers sell for around 8 euros per square meter, while coloured pavers sell for around 10 euros.
Matee describes the logic behind the ecologically-sound operation, \" Once the manufacturers package the soft drinks, or whatever product they are packaging, once the consumer finishes with that product, they have nowhere else to take it other than the litter box. And so, with that, we decided why don't we create a plug where instead of having the plastic to go the dumpsite, we intercept it on the way, and hence we started the making business.\"
The waste is then crushed into small pellets, sorted according to colour, mixed with sand and the desired colour pigment — before being taken onto the production line where they are moulded and put into a hydraulic press.
Ann Muthoni, the Programme Coordinator at Mukuru Slums Development Projects, shares some inside information, \"We had used the ballast before, but most of the trainees were complaining the ballast was damaging their shoes, so the Gjenge pavers, we find them very friendly. Walking on them feels like you are walking on rubber*
Gjenge Makers can currently produce up to 1,500 bricks a day with homeowners and schools as clients.
The West Dumping Plastic Waste in Africa
Although many African countries are making an effort to overcome the pressing issue of plastic waste, their efforts are often thwarted — as many countries in the Western world have used many nations in Africa as their plastic waste dumîng ground.
In April, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) - whose members include Shell, Exxon, Total, DuPont and Dow, companies already guilty of polluting many rivers in Africa via oil drilling and oil spills, proposed investments in recycling in Kenya with a catch.
The recycling investment deal is one only provided that the recipient country accepts US plastic waste i.e. Kenya would get about 500 million tonnes of plastic waste exports from the US per year.
Plastic But Not a Superficial Issue
According to a 2018 United Nations (UN) report, an esti
[Nation] Kenya is among top ranked countries of origin, departure and transit of trafficking of narcotic and psychotropic drugs.
[Capital FM] Nairobi -- The Senate was set to convene Wednesday to decide on how to handle an impeachment motion against Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko.
[FAO] Rome/New York -- Director-General spoke at UN Central Emergency Response Fund annual pledging event
A United Nations team visiting refugees in Ethiopia's war-hit Tigray region had failed to stop at two checkpoints when it was shot at over the weekend, the government said on Tuesday, proclaiming it did not need a \"baby-sitter\".
THE National Social Security Authority (Nssa) says it plans to scale up it’s shareholding in the pan African development financial institution, Africa Import Export Bank (Afreximbank) by deploying funds generated when it hived off its shareholding in ZB Financial Holdings Limited (ZBFHL). BY MELODY CHIKONO In 2017, Nssa splurged US$20 million for a stake in Afreximbank, as part of a broad strategy that is meant to bolster the fund’s balance sheet through diversifying investments. A Nssa executive told NewsDay Business last week that the fresh investment into Afreximbank formed part for the State-run pay-as-you-go fund’s ambition to continue unlocking value for thousands of pensioners with savings under its stewardship. The authority recently offloaded its 37,79% stake in ZBFHL where it pocketed US$ 11,46 million in the deal. It was not clear if the entire package would be invested in Afreximbank. But the fund is also mulling to expand its pan-African holdings with an investment in the Lagos headquartered Africa Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re). Africa Re is one of the region’s biggest reinsurers with a footprint in 41 Africa countries through approximately 107 insurance and reinsurance companies, which was founded on February 24 1976 in Yaounde, Cameroon, making it Africa's first continental reinsurer. It says it is continually combing through the markets to find the right assets to invest in. Nssa communications manager Tendai Mutseyekwa said the authority had pocketed US$1,18 million in dividends out of its Afreximbank investment and was determined to make fresh inroads into one of the region’s most influential financial institutions. “For our offshore investments, we are currently invested in Afreximbank, Quilter and Nedbank, which are both offshoots of Old Mutual,” Mutseyekwa told this paper. Quilter Plc, formerly known as Old Mutual Wealth Management Limited, is a financial services company formed to take over the United Kingdom wealth management business of Old Mutual Plc, after its separation of business. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. “With these proceeds we are looking at enhancing our investments in Afreximbank because of the dividend and then also look at other equity investments. But mainly we want to shore up our investments with Afreximbank. We are actually trying to unlock value for the benefit of the scheme,” he said. Generally, Nssa’s investment portfolio is valued at $30,48 billion. It is spread across a wide spectrum of asset classes and industries including equities, properties, offshore investments and fixed income. These include investments in equities on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange valued at $19,1 billion, investments in shares of unlisted companies valued at $149 million and foreign investments valued at $1,9 billion. The authority’s fixed income is valued at $770 million. Nssa received more than $60 million in dividends from companies it invested in during the first half of this year. Follow Melody on Twitter @melodychikono
[New Times] The president of the National Olympic Committee Valens Munyabagisha says the government should prioritise and invest in sporting disciplines which the country has a competitive advantage in to excel at continental and global competitions.
