''Corona Voice'' - Angola. The tok show with Sofonie Dala. Webisode 12

COVID-19 has rapidly affected our day to day life, businesses, disrupted the world trade and movements. Identification of the disease at an early stage is vital to control the spread of the virus.

 This virus creates significant knock-on effects on the daily life of citizens, as well as about the global economy.

Our today's guest is Donaldo, he will share with us the challenges he faces during the time of Covid-19 pandemic.

 Good afternoon! My name is Donaldo Pereira. Today I am here to talk about how the Coronavirus affected me.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected me in many ways. In the student context, I lost access to the media library and library and not only, it also became difficult to take the transport to be able to reach the University without delay.

In the social context, it affected my work a lot. Getting to the workplace early has not been easy because taxicabs are scarce. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought several particularities that I could observe: 

First, to be able to buy products on the market has also been very difficult. Some traders have taken advantage of the pandemic to raise the prices of products in a way they want, this hurts me a lot as a buyer;

Second, people are not using the precautionary measures correctly so that we can fight the virus. For example, when I get on public transport I meet many people without wearing masks and some even say that Covid-19 does not exist.

I think our government should take tougher preventive measures, not only by fining people because I think the fine is not the ideal measure but also by creating stricter measures so that people can be aware of the consequences of their actions.

One of the many consequences of the COVID-19 crisis is the disruption of supply chains. Together with increased demand, this has led to shortages in a number of essential products. These shortages are influencing the behaviour of firms and  have led to exploitative prices in some cases.

We launched the “Corona Voice show” campaign to provide a space for young women and men around Angola to share their views, experiences and initiatives.

One of the main tasks of the show is to refute the saying "you can't help things with a word." The heroes of the program are the most ordinary citizens - they share with the audience their songs, poems and real stories of how the Coronavirus pandemic affected their lives.

Click here to watch free full webisodes: https://coronavoice-angola.blogspot.com/

ANGOLAN MINISTER HIGHLIGHTS MEDIA CONTRIBUTION IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC

 Angolan minister of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social Communication Manuel Homem acknowledged Monday the commitment of media to reducing psychological and behavioral pressure of citizens due to the impact of the covid-19.

Manuel Homem was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 1st Methodological Seminar of the Institutional Communication and Press Offices (GCII), held at the António Agostinho Neto Memorial.

The event took place under the motto “Communicate more communicate better”.

The training action discussed topics such as the strategy of "Institutional communication", "Crisis communication", "Digital communication" and "The best way to act in the communicational segment on social networks",

The minister said that communication gained greater importance in this period of covid-19.

On the other hand, the minister defended a systematisation of communication, focused on spreading the strengthening of a positive image of the Angolan Government, both internally and externally.

For the best work of the Institutional Communication Offices, according to the official, it is necessary to strengthen the relationship and communication between public institutions, to continue to regularly inform the Government's intentions, actions and achievements.

" Alert and acting proactively to actions that may generate situations of crisis of reputation image" was also recommended.

An Executive Institutional Communication Plan (PCIE 20-22) was also presented to the members of various GCII of the state ministries and institutions.

CUBA WILL TAKE ACTION AGAINST INFLATION

 Cuba will take measures from January 1 to curb an expected inflation derived from the monetary reordering, a process that today draws the attention of Cubans, Prensa Latina has announced.

With the arrival of the new year, the convertible Cuban peso (CUC) will disappear and only the regular Cuban peso (CUP) will be used for all operations, with an exchange rate of 24 to 1 against the dollar.

According to the minister of Finance and Prices, Meisi Bolaños, prices will rise because with the monetary and exchange unification the new rate of 24 pesos to the dollar will impact the productive sector, the imported products, and therefore the costs.
In view of this scenario, the minister mentioned actions to contain the price hike, such as the centralisation of tariffs for production and services of high-impact on the people.
This is the case of fuel, water, cement and sugar, said the headline when speaking on national television.

The minimum wage in Cuba was set at 2,100 pesos, both for the budgeted sector and for the business sector.

The minister explained this figure is formed by the value of the basic basket of goods and services (1,528 pesos) multiplied by 1.3 and added to the five percent contribution to social security.

Regarding the one million 700,000 pensioners, they will all receive monthly a benefit of at least the  value of the basic basket of goods and services, which is one thousand 528.
On the other hand, the 119,000 homes that receive financial aid from social security will also have their benefits readjusted in line with the new prices as of 2021, informed the official.

COVID-19: ANGOLA WITH 89 NEW INFECTIONS, 29 RECOVERIE

Angola has reported 89 new positive cases of Coronavirus, 26 recoveries and one death, all in the last 24 hours.

THE INFORMATION WAS RELEASED MONDAY EVENING IN LUANDA BY THE SECRETARY OF SATE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH, FRANCO MUFINDA.

DELIVERING THE DAILY COVID-19 UPDATE BRIEFING, THE OFFICIAL SAID OF THE INFECTIONS ABOVE, 37 WERE DETECTED IN LUANDA, 28 IN NORTHERN CABINDA PROVINCE, 15 IN NORTHEASTERN LUNDA NORTES AND FOUR IN CENTRAL BENGUELA.

NORTHEASTERN LUNDA SUL AND SOUTHWESTERN NAMIBE PROVINCES REPORTED TWO INFECTIONS EACH, WHILE CENTRAL CUANZA SUL RECORDED ONE, THE SOURCE ALSO SAID.

According to Mufinda, the list of the newly infected includes ages from eight to 81 years, 65 males and 24 females.

In the period being examined, 26 patients got recovered, 17 of which in central Benguela, seven in Huambo (centre) and two in the capital, Luanda.

The official said the dead is a 62-year old Angolan male national resident in northern Zaire province.

Angola’s Covid-19 statistics show 16, 277 positive cases, 372 deaths, 8,924 recoveries and 6,981 active patients.

India strengthens health cooperation with Africa

India’s healthcare federation NATHEALTH and that of Africa -AHF- signed on Dec 12 an agreement to ramp up their cooperation in the health sector. The document, which was initialed during the India-Africa Health summit, has three key focuses namely investment, technology sharing, and public-private partnerships.

Through this collaboration, India wants to help Africa improve its healthcare services. The country plans to do this through fund injection in various areas including the development of innovative technologies, skills transfer, artificial intelligence, infrastructure construction, mobility programs, and research.

The Asian nation, known for its innovative health system, already has a strong presence on the continent via its pharmaceutical companies, such as Ranbaxy, Cipla, and Dr. Reddy’s, which export or produce drugs locally.

Another area where India has invested well is training. As part of the e-VidyaBharati and e-ArogyaBharati Network projects, which aim to establish a network for skills development in Africa, the Indian government has pledged nearly 100 online courses and 15,000 scholarships in the fields of tele-education and telemedicine.

Vanessa Ngono Atangana

Iran’s Rouhani defends execution of dissident journalist

 Iranian President Hassan Rouhani defended on Monday the execution of a prominent dissident journalist based in France and captured by Iran last year, saying the death sentence passed on Ruhollah Zam was carried out lawfully.

European countries “have the right to comment, but Zam was executed upon a court’s ruling,” Rouhani told a televised news conference, noting that the judiciary was independent. “I think it’s unlikely that this will hurt Iran-Europe relations.”

Zam had been based in Paris and was seized last year in circumstances that have not been officially disclosed. A news agency close to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said last week he had been captured in Iraq.

He was convicted of fomenting violence during anti-government protests in 2017. His Amadnews social media feed had more than 1 million followers.

France called Zam’s execution on Saturday “barbaric and unacceptable”.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also called the execution “unjust, barbaric,” adding in a tweet: “Zam exposed the brutality and corruption of the regime, which has killed or arrested more than 860 journalists in its 41-year reign of terror.”

Iran’s foreign ministry summoned envoys from France and Germany, current holder of the European Union’s rotating presidency, to protest over criticism of the execution, Iranian media reported on Sunday.

 

Mozambique gets $100mln from World Bank to finance an urban transformation project

 Mozambique will benefit from new funding from the World Bank as part of its development programs. A total of $100 million will be used to implement an urbanization project in Maputo.

According to the institution, the new funding is a grant from the International Development Association (IDA). It aims to facilitate essential investments in urban infrastructure in the city of Maputo while supporting municipal reforms.

Specifically, the funds will help build the city’s first sanitary landfill, invest in drinking water and sanitation, and contribute to ongoing efforts to mitigate the economic impact of covid-19 on the most vulnerable people.

They will also help implement a plan for the Katembe Municipal District, which is considered one of the main centers of future urban growth in Mozambique. This will involve land projects, the construction of priority urban infrastructure, and the development of sites and services for low-income families.

“Urbanization has not benefited everyone equally in Maputo as the city has expanded informally, without effective urban planning and the necessary investments in basic infrastructure and land tenure security,” said André Herzog, Senior Urban Specialist, and Task Team Leader. “Most of the project’s funds will benefit the urban poor by investing in the upgrading of informal settlements,” he added.

 Moutiou Adjibi Nourou