July 28, 2021

South Africa Riots Reveal Political Failures

This month’s riots across South Africa have underscored concerns about inequality and stability after nearly three decades of democracy. In Soweto, owners of pillaged shops accuse the government of failing them.

Mahamadali Randera watched helplessly from outside his electronics shop at a strip mall in Soweto as determined looters broke through its heavy metal gate.

In a matter of hours, his livelihood of the past seven years disappeared.

Neighboring shops were also emptied before the one-story building was torched.

Nationwide, losses from the unrest that overwhelmed police, destroyed infrastructure and halted local economies are estimated in the billions of dollars.

Small business owners like Mohamadali Randera in Soweto are left asking authorities: why?

“I’m really disappointed in this government,” said Randera. “Why the government can’t open up their hands and do this targeting these people who are do this nonsense because not only my shop, there’s a million people who lost their business.”

Experts say the riots were an eruption of frustrations that have long been simmering among South Africans.

Extreme inequality has persisted since the ruling party — the African National Congress — was first elected in 1994.

Nelson Mandela University’s Hlingwe Ndlovu says although it brought freedom to the nation, the ANC has since failed to deliver for the poorest.

“We’re seeing now post 1994, we have a different governance with a different face, but the conditions pretty much are more or less the same… People are angry, people are hungry and they want to take out this frustration,” Ndvolu said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced this week the return of a social grant for those who have lost their jobs during COVID-19 lockdowns.

Uninsured business owners like Randera can also expect funding.

But Johannesburg-based international relations expert Leaza Jernberg says the response has yet to restore public confidence in the state.

“There is some frustration that everything moves too slowly and that we hear lots of wonderful promises but if you’re not actually going to carry them through then what’s the point?,” Jernberg asked.

Divisions within the big-tent party are also festering while allegations of corruption under former President Jacob Zuma’s administration mount.

But voters are left with few alternatives. Jernberg said opposition parties fail to attract broad support by being too radical or appealing to old racial and ethnic ties.

And yet, Jernberg says the unrest may have also revealed the strengths of the country’s democracy.

“The constitutional court held firm, the different people in civil society and the institutions came out in support of the court and despite the unrest, President Zuma remains in prison, which has to be seen as a triumph for the rule of law,” Jernberg said.

The country is now closely watching how the law is being enforced on those involved in the riots.

More than 25-hundred people have been arrested, six of whom face charges for inciting violence. The government has said more arrests are expected.

Source: Voice of America

July 28, 2021

Zimbabwe Opening Victoria Falls to Vaccinated Tourists

Zimbabwe is opening popular tourism destination Victoria Falls to visitors who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, in a move welcomed by the country’s suffering tourism industry.

Late Tuesday after a Cabinet meeting, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa told reporters that the government had resolved to lift a lid on Victoria Falls, the tallest waterfall in the world and the country’s top tourism destination.

“[The] Cabinet acceded to a request by the tourism industry to open the Victoria Falls and Kazungula Border posts to tourists who are fully vaccinated. This is in view of the realization that over 60% of the population in Victoria Falls has been vaccinated. The lockdown measures, however, are being enforced throughout the country in order to curtail a surge under the third wave of COVID-19,” Mutsvangwa said.

Godfrey Koti, spokesman for the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, says the pandemic had brought the tourism industry worldwide to its knees. He says it is time for Zimbabwe to begin the long climb back with the opening up of Victoria Falls, within the confines and guidelines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“And from a regional perspective, the tourism traffic will grow and this will send a very strong message to our source markets. This is a definite way of showing, of a benefit being shown from [the] government’s drive of vaccinating the entire city of Victoria Falls and subsequently Victoria Falls reaching herd immunity. So, we are very excited to see this happening and it can only show that we are definitely moving in the right direction,” Koti said.

About 1.5 million Zimbabweans out of a population of 14 million have received their first vaccination shot, and nearly 695,000 have received their second inoculation.

Clement Mukwasi, a spokesman for Shearwater, one of the tourism operators in Victoria Falls, sounded an optimistic tone.

“It is the industry’s hope that towards the end of the pandemic – which we think we are in – there shall be some credit lines extended to the industry for the industry to recover. We applaud the government for taking our call to open the borders of Zambia and Botswana because Victoria Falls has reached its herd immunity. We are hoping that in addition to opening the borders, they are also going to set up a policy on how people should flow across all three countries,” he said.

Mukwasi said those who are vaccinated should be allowed to move across the country without any problem, while those who are not vaccinated should produce results showing they have tested negative for the coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19.

Zimbabwe currently has 101,711 confirmed coronavirus infections and 3,280 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the global outbreak.

The government says the vaccination program will intensify after the arrival of more doses from China in the coming days. The number of cases has been rising, as the delta variant becomes more widespread.

Source: Voice of America

July 28, 2021

WHO: Millions of Tigrayans Without Basic Health Care

The World Health Organization warns that millions of people in conflict-ridden Tigray in northern Ethiopia lack access to basic health care and risk falling ill. The agency has been able to reach only a fraction of them.

According to the WHO, about 3.8 million people in Tigray need health assistance. The agency wants to scale up its health services to assist at least 2.3 million this year but only 87,000 have been reached since May 1.

WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib says lack of cash and fuel, limited access, insecurity, and depleted medical stocks are some of the many obstacles hampering WHO’s life-saving operation.

“What we are most concerned with is the fact that it is the season for cholera and cholera is a problem in the region,” said Chaib. “Measles, malaria, providing health care for people who are injured from the current conflict, and also people who need help. For example, pregnant women, lactating women, children with vaccination. All are very urgent needs.”

A couple of months ago, a first round of an oral cholera vaccination campaign reached more than two million people out of the four million targeted. Chaib says holding a second round is key to reaching more at risk people.

Chaib, however, says the campaign cannot happen if the WHO is unable to get enough vaccine supplies and maintain a cold chain to store the doses. This, she notes, is difficult because access to electricity is often unavailable and fuel stocks are dwindling.

Chaib notes multiple cases of violence or threats of violence against aid workers are hampering efforts to take actions to respond to diseases of epidemic potential, including cholera, measles, malaria and COVID-19.

Another problem of deep concern is the rising level of severe acute malnutrition in the Tigray region. In the first two weeks of this month, Chaib says 458 severely acute malnourished children were admitted to stabilization centers for specialized care.

“When you get a severely malnourished child and he gets a disease like malaria and measles, it is really a death sentence for that child,” said Chaib. “We have 92 stabilization centers previously in place, but we have only 23 that are operational. Now, 200 more would be needed to address the health risk of malnutrition.”

More than nine months ago, Ethiopian government forces launched a military offensive to gain control of the Tigray region. After the government declared a unilateral cease-fire on May 8, Tigrayan rebels quickly retook the regional capital Mekelle, and fighting goes on.

Under these circumstances, WHO says restoring health services is extremely challenging. It says health facilities have been damaged, equipment looted and destroyed, and essential medicines are lacking.

Additionally, it says many health workers no longer are available because they are not being paid and face dangers from the prevailing chaotic conditions.

Source: Voice of America

July 28, 2021

Tanzania President Launches COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan got vaccinated against the coronavirus Wednesday to kick off the country’s first vaccination campaign. It’s a sharp turnaround from her predecessor, the late John Magufuli, who claimed vaccines were dangerous and that prayer had saved Tanzanians from the pandemic.

In a televised event held at the statehouse Wednesday, Tanzania’s President Samia Hassan launched the country’s vaccination campaign against COVID-19 by receiving her first shot of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

The prime minister, chief justice and other top officials also got their shots.

The event marks a break with late president John Magufuli, who dismissed vaccines and said God had protected Tanzania from the coronavirus.

Speaking before receiving the vaccine, Hassan said it is safe and that those who are willing to get it have nothing to worry about.

The president said she would not risk her life or put herself in danger while knowing that she has so many responsibilities awaiting her. She said she’s also a mother, grandmother, and wife, and that as the president, she must show this to the masses who are behind her.

Tanzania’s Health Minister Dorothy Gwajima urged leaders to encourage people to get vaccinated.

“I’m asking all our religious leaders, political leaders, and other leaders from each area in Tanzania to receive this vaccination, encourage and educate others that this vaccine is a modern weapon to slowdown COVID-19 and eradicates it completely, as other diseases,” said Gwajima.

Tanzanian citizens seem to have welcomed the campaign. Ibrahim Maximillian is a Dar es Salaam resident.

He says the way the fear is presented, not only in Tanzania but also in the whole world, fear that these vaccines are not safe. Maximillian adds that if the president has dared on the frontline to do that, she has shown that the vaccine is safe.

James Tumaini, a Morogoro resident speaking via a messaging app, said that he believes that the vaccine is safe.

Tumaini says there are many who have received the vaccine and reported to have not faced any negative effects. On my side, I’m ready to get vaccinated and I urge my fellow Tanzanians to also accept it since it has met the criteria of the World Health organization.

In a Twitter message Wednesday, the U.S. ambassador to Tanzania, Donald J Wright, termed the president’s act as “a historic moment that hopefully marks the turning of the tide against the COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania.”

According to the Ministry of Health, procedures and centers for the vaccination will be announced soon.

But the ministry already has said priority groups will include health care workers, hotel workers, employees of foreign embassies and international travelers, such as pilgrims to Mecca.

Source: Voice of America

July 28, 2021

Tunisia’s President Moves on Economy and COVID-19 After Dismissing Government

Tunisia’s president said on Wednesday he was addressing the dire economic and COVID-19 situation and probing widespread corruption after invoking emergency powers on Sunday to seize control of government in a move his foes called a coup.

Kais Saied justified the moves, which included dismissing the prime minister and suspending parliament, by citing a surging pandemic and misgovernance, saying he had acted to save the country from corruption and plots to sow civil strife.

Public anger had been growing in Tunisia over the political paralysis that had stopped any coherent response to the pandemic and after years of economic hardship and declining public services.

France said on Wednesday it was paramount that Saied quickly name a new prime minister and Cabinet, while civil society groups, including the powerful labor union, have said he must produce a road map to exit the crisis within a month.

A decade after ending autocratic rule through a popular uprising, Tunisia faces the sternest test yet to its democratic system, and Western countries that have applauded its political transition have expressed concern.

Saied, who says his actions are constitutional but has yet to set out his next steps, has been urged by the United States to stick to democratic principles. He met security chiefs on Wednesday, the presidency said.

Backed by the army, Saied’s actions included suspending parliament for 30 days. Opponents including the Islamist Ennahdha party, parliament’s biggest, have accused him of a power grab.

On Wednesday he replaced the head of the television station after an incident in which two guests on a current affairs program said they had been denied entry to the building.

The United States on Monday pressed Tunisia to maintain “scrupulous respect for freedom of expression” after police raided a foreign news bureau, but on Wednesday a New York Times reporter said police had detained her for two hours when out working in Tunis.

Judicial probe

Late on Wednesday, the presidency published a video showing Saied telling the head of a business union that “wrong economic choices” had caused major financial problems.

Tunisia is seeking a loan agreement from the International Monetary Fund to finance its projected budget deficit and debt repayments.

Saied in the video called on traders to reduce prices of goods and warned them against speculating or hoarding. He also targeted business figures accused of corruption, saying that 460 people had stolen 13.5 billion dinars ($4.8 billion) in public money.

The judiciary had said earlier that it was investigating the two biggest parties in parliament, Ennahdha and Heart of Tunisia, on suspicion of receiving foreign funds during the 2019 election campaign.

The judiciary, widely seen in Tunisia as independent from politics, said its investigation started 10 days before the president’s moves.

Ennahdha, a moderate Islamist party that has become the focal point of opposition to Saied’s seizure of powers after its leader, parliament Speaker Rachid Ghannouchi, accused him of conducting a coup, denied committing any violations.

Heart of Tunisia could not be reached for comment.

Though Ennahdha called on Sunday for supporters to come out on the streets against Saied’s actions, it has since called for calm and sought national dialogue.

There was no sign of protests or other disturbances on Wednesday, although a heavier security presence was in place in central Tunis. The army also remains at the parliament, government and television buildings it surrounded on Sunday.

Saied reiterated a long-standing rule banning gatherings of more than three people in public, but there was no sign it was being enforced as people moved and gathered normally.

Saied has also tightened some existing COVID-19 restrictions, including a nightly curfew and ban on travel between cities.

On Wednesday, he issued orders to set up a pandemic response center to coordinate Tunisia’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, the presidency said.

Source: Voice of America

July 28, 2021

Biden Administration Launches Initiative to Build US-Africa Trade

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has kicked off the Prosper Africa Build Together initiative by requesting $80 million from Congress to build trade and investment between the U.S. and Africa.

Dana Banks, U.S. senior director for Africa at the National Security Council, said Wednesday in an online news briefing that the U.S. was ready to do business with the continent.

“The campaign is a targeted effort to elevate and energize the United States commitment to trade and investment with countries across the African continent under the Biden and Harris administration,” Banks said. “And our goal is to substantially increase two-way trade and investment between the United States and Africa by connecting U.S. and African businesses and investors with tangible deal opportunities.”

It’s not the first time the U.S. government has engaged Africa on trade.

— In 2000, President Bill Clinton signed the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the deal that provided African countries with unilateral, duty-free exports for 6,500 products to the U.S. AGOA still exists and is extended until 2025.

— According to the Brookings Institution, South Africa got $917 million in 2019 by exporting automobile and agricultural products to the U.S.

— A separate study done by the University of South Africa in 2017 found that the U.S. imported 10 percent of its wine from South Africa, worth $59 million.

— And the U.S. government is now negotiating a free trade agreement with Kenya.

More growth, jobs

Banks said America wants to participate in Africa’s growth.

“Africa’s increasing integration into the global markets, demographic boom and the thriving culture of entrepreneurship present a remarkable opportunity for us to strengthen those economic ties and promote new opportunities for both U.S. and African businesses to fuel economic growth and job creation and greater U.S. participation in Africa’s future,” she said.

Gerrishon Ikiara, an international economic affairs lecturer at the University of Nairobi, said the initiative would help strengthen the relations between the U.S. and Africa.

“The U.S. wants to tap that both for economic reasons, political and international relations reasons, because it is known all over the world that trade links also help to build political and diplomatic links. … This is key for both the U.S. and Africa as of now,” Ikiara said. “The U.S. is also knowing more about African products, African culture, with many migrant workers from Africa working in the U.S.”

However, some critics say the trade and investment plan could undermine the African Continental Free Trade Area, which was established in 2019. That agreement promotes the free movement of goods and people across the continent.

Source: Voice of America

July 28, 2021

Somalia Green Energy Association Touts Clean Power Potential

Somalia lacks a national power grid and relies on imported fuel, wood and charcoal to address its energy needs. But energy experts say with the longest coastline in mainland Africa and an average of 10 hours of sunshine per day, Somalia has great potential for onshore wind and solar power.

Somalia’s private power companies rely on imported diesel to meet demand, making Mogadishu power cost more than three times the price of the global average.

But they hope to transition to renewable energy.

Abdiaziz Ileyka, an electrical engineer with Blue Sky Power, a private energy company based in Somalia, says that lack of investment hinders many from developing this sector.

Illeyka says the challenge for the sector is that solar power is relatively new and there is lack of investment, despite the human skills and the technology being readily available, especially to tap into onshore and hydro power to make use of these abundant resources. But he remains optimistic.

To help jump-start renewables, a group of private companies this year formed the Somalia Green Energy Association, or SOGEA.

Bashiir Soofe, the founder of clean energy company Dalsan Power and SOGEA’s chairman, says the group faces various obstacles such as lack of incentives and investments from both the government and international community. But he says if the necessary investment and funding is obtained, particularly if banks can open their doors to support the renewable energy sector, then Somalia can become a hub for renewable energy and rise economically.

Somalia’s Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development says it is pushing renewable energy. Mohamed Dubo, the director of the Somalia Investment Promotion Office, the office tasked with efforts to implement renewable energy, says Somalia is endowed with vast natural resources. Among the renewable energy sources are wind and solar energy. Dubo says Somalia’s wind speeds are quite high, even the fastest in the world, and these can generate substantial amounts of electricity. Similarly, he says, the country has extended periods of sunshine, and, therefore, the potential to even sell power to its neighbors.

A 2018 African Development Bank study found that Somalia has the highest potential of any African nation for onshore wind power — if it can harness it.

Samatar Mohamed, an economics lecturer at Mogadishu University, agrees. He thinks the country just hasn’t been able to unleash its full potential.

He says if Somalia is able to take advantage of the its abundant renewable energy potential, the price of a kilowatt-hour would not be as expensive as it is. The utility rate would be cheap, and everyone would be able to afford electricity, he added.

As the world moves to clean energy, Somalia’s energy industry hopes to move with it and find its place under the sun.

Source: Voice of America