Ethiopian Airlines has signed a shareholding agreement with Zambia’s main development agency. This is to relaunch the southern African country’s flag carrier at an initial cost of $30 million. The Ethiopian state-owned carrier has outpaced regional competitors Kenya Airways and South African Airways to become Africa’s largest airline by revenue and profit and has been buying shares in other African airlines to gain a competitive advantage over rivals such as those in the Gulf. ALSO READ: Ethiopia Airlines wins 2018 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice award Under the plan, Zambia Airways, being revived more than two decades after it was shut down, would…
Author: aveditor
Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan died Saturday, the foundation bearing his name confirmed. He was 80. “Kofi Annan was a global statesman and a deeply committed internationalist. He is the one who fought throughout his life for a fairer and more peaceful world. During his distinguished career and leadership of the United Nations, he was an ardent champion of peace, sustainable development, human rights, and also the rule of law,” the Kofi Annan Foundation and Annan family said in a statement. Annan was the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations. He serves between 1997 and 2006. He was also…
Ilhan Omar, a 36-year-old Somali refugee who immigrated to the United States as a teenager, beat a packed field of six candidates in the race to fill current Rep. Keith Ellison’s seat. Ellison decided to run for Minnesota attorney general rather than return to Congress. She faced allegations of domestic abuse in the last days of his campaign. She likely becomes one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress after winning a heated Democratic primary in Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District on Tuesday. Given the district’s partisan makeup (Cook Political Report rates it D+26). Omar is all but assured of…
Taxify, an Estonian ride-hailing company aiming to take on Uber in emerging markets. It will invest millions of euros in East Africa in the next five years with a strategy focused on motorized rickshaws and motorcycles. The company already operates in five cities in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. However, it will continue to offer regular car rides. According to Taxify, it saw the opportunity for growth via taxi services in locally popular forms of motorized transport. The major advantage of Taxify over Uber ALSO READ: GAME CHANGER: Uber-Like Startup Is Revolutionizing The Motorcycle Taxi Industry In Rwanda Also, in East Africa,…
Africans are tired of wars, dictators, and autocrats. So when an African President whose presidency is plagued with controversy decides to not run for re-election, everyone notices. Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila will not stand for re-election in December. A government spokesman has announced. Kabila became president when his father Laurent Kabila was assassinated in 2001. He was elected in 2006. And he secured another term in controversial elections in 2011. The 47-year-old leader refused to leave office when his term expired in December 2016. The country’s electoral commission said at the time that it could not…
Tech firm Andela has launched a hub in Kigali, Rwanda. The pan-African tech firm, which develops software engineers, already has hubs in Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda. To fuel the expansion, Andela is partnering with the Government of Rwanda through the Rwanda Development Board (RDB). RDB is an organization responsible for transforming the country into a dynamic global hub for business, investment, and innovation. ALSO READ: Here Is What Rwanda Does When Citizens Violate Covid-19 Rules Moreover, a model of technological excellence on the African continent, Kigali was also chosen as a strategic location for Andela’s first pan-African hub. This is also…
African billionaire, Aliko Dangote, has signed a $650 million loan facility with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for his oil refinery project in Lekki, Nigeria. The seven-year term loan would attract a moratorium of five years, according to facility terms read out during the signing. Cairo-based Africa’s trade bank also signed a $750 million facility with Nigeria’s development bank, the Bank of Industry. The loans were signed in Abuja, where Afreximbank is holding its annual general meeting and 25th anniversary. Dangote Group Executive Director Devakumar Edwin said that the oil refinery would cost around $10 billion and should be completed…
Technology is truly amazing. A few years ago, internet speeds in Kenya were laughable by today’s standards and wireless internet didn’t even exist yet. No one had dreamed of 4G LTE speeds, let alone being able to use the internet on your phone; you were lucky to even have it in the house. Now, cell phones and smart devices have gone from being a luxury to the point of being so ubiquitous that there are more mobile devices than people. However, there are many Kenyans without internet access. Installing fiber networks or building cellular mast sites is expensive, and not…
One of the major frustrations in Nigeria is the unreliability of the internet at a time when the world has gone digital. But things are about to get quite exciting for millions of Nigerians. Google has launched a network of free Wi-Fi hotspots in Nigeria, part of its effort to increase its presence in Africa’s most populous nation. The U.S. technology firm, owned by Alphabet Inc has partnered with Nigerian fiber cable network provider 21st Century to provide its public Wi-Fi service, Google Station, in six places in the commercial capital Lagos. This includes the city’s airport. Internet penetration in…
When we think of slavery in Africa we often think of it in a historical context. However, slavery is very much alive in Africa today. If you doubt it, ask Haby Mint Rabah, a former slave who is now running for Mauritanian parliament. Her aim is to fight for freedom in a nation with one of the world’s worst slavery rates. Rabah’s candidacy is a first for the West African country, where more than two in every 100 people – 90,000 in total – live as slaves. This is according to the 2018 Global Slavery Index. Slavery is a historical…