Southern Africa

The International Monetary Fund held a virtual meeting on Friday, October 9, on the impact of coronavirus in Africa in the presence of its CEO Kristalina Georgieva. According to the latter, economic support released in recent months is significant, but it remains insufficient to help the continent emerge from the crisis. According to the IMF chief executive, the institution has already released nearly $ 26 billion this year. This is ten times more than what the IMF releases on average each year for loans. But the needs…

The head of the South African bank VBS was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He is accused of plundering the economy of the poorest. It is one of the biggest corruption scandals in South Africa. On Wednesday, former CFO Philip Truter was the first to be convicted in the VBS case. VBS-mutual bank was nicknamed "the bank of the poor". Founded at the height of apartheid in 1982 in Venda, a former Bantustan far north in the country reserved by the white authorities for black communities, the bank housed the money for the most…

After six months of closure to limit the spread of coronavirus, South Africa is beginning to reopen its borders. A decision that only concerns international flights in relation to countries considered to be low risk. This is the first international flight to land at Johannesburg Airport in six months. This Thursday, October 1,…

South Africa has released its second quarter unemployment figures for the year. More than two million jobs have been lost while the country was under very strict containment. The official unemployment rate has dropped to 23%, but the figure from the National Statistics Agency is misleading because it does not take into account people who have given up on job search, the broader definition of…

Corruption, smuggling, tax evasion ... Capital flight would represent $ 88 billion a year in lost earnings for the continent. An estimate from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Unctad. According to the UN, the capital flight on the continent would represent $ 88 billion, but since this is illegal practice, it is an estimate. A rather low estimate even indicates Unctad. These $ 88 billion lost to African countries more or less represent what the continent receives each year if we add official…

In Zimbabwe, schools, colleges and colleges did not open their doors on Monday 28 September after a six-month closure in connection with the Covid epidemic. The eight teachers' associations in the country have launched an unlimited strike movement. They condemn the write-off of their salaries, but also the lack of funds and equipment to protect themselves from the pandemic. Hundreds of schools remained empty Monday after the call from the eight teachers' associations in the country. For several months, they have been…

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was scolded by President Cyril Ramaphosa for carrying an ANC delegation on a military plane during a trip to Harare, Zimbabwe, this month. In an attempt to quell the controversy, the South African president has decided not to pay him his salary for three months. But the main opposition party is now asking for his resignation. For Cyril Ramaphosa, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula made "a mistake in the verdict". The South African presidency announced on Saturday evening, September 26, that it had sent it "a…

As South Africa tries to emerge from the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, it is questioning the fate to be reserved for public companies. Many of them have suffered significant losses this year, despite having already had financial difficulties before the crisis. Now they are asking the government to save them, but the country's coffers are already less and less full. Before Parliament, the Ministry of Finance painted a very bleak picture at the beginning of the month: the country's public companies are…

Toxins in water produced by cyanobacteria killed more than 300 elephants in Botswana this year, officials said Monday, announcing the outcome of an investigation into the deaths that had confused and alerted conservationists. Cyanobacteria are microscopic organisms that are common in water and are sometimes found in soil. Not everyone produces toxins, but scientists say that toxins occur more often as climate change drives global temperatures. Cyril Taolo, deputy director of the Department of Wildlife and National…