Authorities want to make Angola a telecommunications hub - minister

 Luanda – Angolan minister of Telecommunications Information Technologies and Social Communication Mário Augusto Oliveira Friday reiterated the intention of the Angolan authorities "to transform the country into a telecommunications hub".

The move is intended to ensure the implementation of one of the postulates of the White Paper on Telecommunications and Information Technologies.

In order to achieve this goal, he added, given the geographical coverage of the Angosat-2 satellite, Angola has initiated contacts with countries in the region.

This is to ensure the marketing of the satellite's services among entities and zone-based companies.

The minister was delivering his speech at the inauguration ceremony of Satellite Control and Mission Centre, chaired by the Head of State João Lourenço, in the Funda area, in Luanda province, underlining that taking into account of the role of Satellite 2, this hub will certainly be achieved.

Mário Oliveira noted that it is possible, from the infrastructure inaugurated today, to follow up, control and monitor three satellites simultaneously, as the Angosat-2 project foresees the launch of other satellites for different purposes.

The official explained that the work currently done at the center includes operation planning tasks, monitoring the functioning  of the subsystems, ballistic maneuvers, aimed at maintaining the satellite in its orbital position.

Such tasks are carried out and managed to 100% by young staff.

“One of the biggest challenges for our sector is to work to improve the penetration rate of telecommunications services so that they reach all citizens with quality and affordable prices, regardless of their geographic location”, he stressed.

The official said that in terms of mobile communications, the department's goals are to increase the coverage of the 3G network from the current 73% to above 90%, from 4G from the current 22% to 40%, the expansion of the 5G network to the country's main cities, as well as raising the number of internet subscribers, per 100 inhabitants, from 28% to 77%.

He maintained that this ambition is only possible to be achieved with the use of a robust support communications infrastructure that covers the entire national territory, combining transmission systems via terrestrial and maritime fiber optics, microwave systems via radio and via satellite, including transmission via Angosat-2 and the project for a national fiber optic broadband network.

Free Wireless TV

He referred to the digital migration programme for television that will be one of the beneficiaries of Angosat-2 services and that will constitute a total change in the TV paradigm, in which the national television channels will be received in open signal with the required quality and with other benefits, such as alert systems for natural catastrophes, internet, among other services.

LAASP praises Cuba's contribution to Angola

 Luanda - The president of the Angolan League of Friendship and Solidarity with the Peoples (LAASP) Elisa Salvador praised in the Cuban capital, Havana, the American country’s contribution to the preservation of Angola's independence.

The official was speaking at the V International Conference for the World's Balance, an event that ends today (Saturday) in the Cuban capital.

Cited by a LAASP press release, Elisa Salvador underlined the fact that Angolans and Cubans are linked by deep historical ties since the beginning of Angola's independence.

To the leader of LAASP, this link is reflected in the relationship of friendship and solidarity between LAASP and the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP).

She recalled that the relationship between the two institutions predates  the formal signature of cooperation between LAASP and ICAP.

"The relationship was already sealed in the different exchanges and assistance between the two institutions", expressed the LAASP's president.

She highlighted LAASP's participation in different events and solidarity actions with Cuba.

In her speech, the leader slammed and considered the economic blockade against Cuba to be inhumane.

The four-day event gathers representatives from around 80 nations, guided by José Martí's thought "With all and for the wellbeing of all".

This year the event marks the 170th anniversary of the birth of José Martí, which is celebrated today, January 28th.

Health Ministry works to eliminate leprosy

 Luanda – Angola is in a phase to eliminate leprosy taking into account that it is a public health problem, with a prevalence rate of less than one case per ten thousand inhabitants, reported Sunday in Luanda, the Ministry of Health (MINSA).

Data from MINSA state that in 2022 Angola recorded new cases of leprosy, 105 of which were for second-degree deformities.

 

Of the cases reported, 93 were detected in children and 70% of the patients have gone to hospital already in a very advanced stage of the disease.

 

In a statement due to the World Day of Lepers which is celebrated in the last Sunday of January, the Ministry of Health said the fight against leprosy and Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), are part of an investment by the Angolan government in health, with a focus on primary health care.

 

The document adds that the Angolan government is strongly committed to strengthening concrete actions in order to increase the provision of efficient services for the population.

 

Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection that primarily affects the skin, but it also can affect the eyes, the peripheral nervous system and possibly other organs.

 

Every two minutes it strikes one person in the world, unlike Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) which are a group of preventable diseases that can be treated and that affects more than 1 billion people worldwide.

 

Of the 20 NTDs, 12 are prevalent, highlighting schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis and human African trypanosomiasis.

 

The country has 111 health facilities providing health care for leprosy patients, which is considered an insignificant number.

 

The provinces with the most cases of leprosy are Luanda, Benguela, Huambo, Bié, Malanje, Cuanza Sul, Cuando Cubango, Huíla, Lunda Sul and Moxico.

US military operation kills top ISIL leader in Somalia

The US said the operation was carried out on January 25 on al-Sudani, ‘a key facilitator for ISIS’s global network’.

The United States military has carried out an operation that killed a senior ISIL (ISIS) leader in northern Somalia, US officials said.

A statement by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday said Bilal al-Sudani, a US-designated ISIL leader in Somalia and “key facilitator for ISIS’s global network”, was killed in the operation.

It added that the operation was approved by President Joe Biden earlier this week and carried out on January 25.

“Al-Sudani was responsible for fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa and for funding the group’s operations worldwide, including in Afghanistan,” Austin said.

There were no other details about the operation given, including how the US forces carried out the operation or even how many American soldiers were involved. US officials told Reuters news agency anonymously that 10 of al-Sudani’s associates were also killed in the operation.

In 2012, al-Sudani was sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury for his role in facilitating financing for foreign fighters to travel to an al-Shabab training camp.

A Somali government offensive, which began in August 2022 against al-Shabab after the election of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has also made significant gains.

But the group, which has been fighting since 2007 to topple Somalia’s government and impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law, has responded with a series of attacks across the country.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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Critical Infrastructure Will Accelerate AfCFTA’s Success – Bawumia

 Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has called for smart investments into the continent’s critical infrastructure – a move he said could accelerate the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“As a continent, we need to produce and trade our way out of poverty and underdevelopment, and we cannot do that without investing in smart infrastructure across the continent,” he said at the maiden Africa Prosperity Dialogues dubbed the Kwahu Summit. It was on the theme from ambition to action; delivering prosperity through continental trade’.

While the last decades have seen some positive investments, the Vice-President argued that there is a need for additional resources to finance the ‘arteries for trade’ – physical infrastructure such as roads, rail, energy and digital infrastructure including data centres to facilitate the digital transformation and financial integration of markets.
These investments, he reiterated, will be critical to success for the AfCFTA: “It will take concrete, strategic actions by governments and businesses on the continent; the right mix of policies, a greater sense of purpose for more robust intra-African trade must happen to support economic diversification and the continent’s much-needed industrialisation”.

Equally important, he said, is the unleashing of what he termed ‘productive capacities’ – which can be achieved by creating platforms for knowledge-brokerage and access to information about critical products and services on the continent.
This, Dr. Bawumia added, will allow some 445 million small businesses across the continent to plug into the value chains of these mega-industries. “We need to develop Africa into a manufacturing zone that will facilitate the trade of value-added products. These, in my view, will be critical to leapfrog Africa’s industrialisation and bring enormous socio-economic benefits,” he said.

Again, the Vice-President emphasised the need to mobilise finance and investments across the continent, saying Africa needs between US$130billion and US$170billion annually to bridge its infrastructure gap and generate sustainable growth at 5 percent per annum or more.
This, he explains, can only be realised through private sector participation.

The founder and Chairman of Africa Prosperity Network, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko – organiser of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues, said AfCFTA has the all-important goal of turning Africa into the world’s largest single market.
“This, we believe, is the biggest promise this century for the prosperity of Africa and the African. It is potentially, the world’s most exciting economic project this century. And this is what brings us here now,” he said.

He added that: “For our collective ownership and shared benefit, it must be owned by businesses in Africa. The combined voices of Africa’s businesses – big and small – must be heard and felt. The aggregate value of enterprises and industries across Africa must be networked, coordinated and impactfully leveraged”.
On his part, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA, Wamkele Mene, said transforming the continent should be the foremost thing in the minds of governments and businesses in Africa, as predicted by the World Bank.

He said all the necessary legal instruments required by traders and businesses on the continent in order to take advantage of the AfCFTA have been established. “I see no reason why our continent cannot be the global economic force that it should have been 60 or 70 years ago.”
The maiden Africa Prosperity Dialogues come against a backdrop of immense economic challenges confronting the continent.

Source: B&FT

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Nigeria launches domestic card scheme to boost cashless economy

The move is part of the central bank’s moves to reduce cash flow within the borders of Africa’s biggest economy.

Nigeria’s central bank has launched a domestic card scheme to rival foreign cards like Mastercard and Visa, hoping to enhance its drive to make Africa’s biggest economy a cashless society and save the country foreign transaction fees.

The announcement on Thursday by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, follows its launch of Africa’s first digital currency, the e-naira, in October 2021.

Emefiele told a virtual launch of the AfriGo card scheme that although penetration of card payments in Nigeria had grown over the years, many citizens are still excluded.

“The challenges that have limited the inclusion of Nigerians include the high cost of card services as a result of foreign exchange requirements of international card schemes and the fact that existing card products do not address local peculiarities of the Nigerian market,” he said.

Emefiele said Nigeria was joining China, Russia, India and Turkey in launching a domestic card scheme. AfriGo is owned by CBN and Nigerian banks.

The operations of international card service providers like Mastercard and Visa would not end, he said, as AfriGo is meant to provide more options for domestic consumers in a “cost-effective and competitive manner”.

Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, has more than 200 million people and the majority still use cash because they live in rural areas where there are no banks.

To promote “financial inclusion” in remote areas, the central bank announced last week the launch of a cash swap programme introducing a redesigned version of the local currency, the naira.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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South Africa: Repo Rate Hike Hits Homeowners Hard

 The Reserve Bank’s repo rate increase of 25 basis points will require homeowners to dig deeper to pay off their bonds. A five-member committee of the bank factored in high inflation, power cuts and poor economic growth as reasons for the 7.25% increase.

Initially slated for a February 2023 opening, Amazon has decided to delay its South African marketplace until the end of 2023, Business Tech reports. This comes after Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that the eCommerce giant was focusing on costs which included the dismissal of over 18,000 employees. Sources also claim that plans for the Nigerian marketplace opening have been paused.

Bafana Star Scores Major Transfer to English Championship Club

The English Championship log leaders have announced that Bafana Bafana forward Lyle Foster will be be transferred from KVC Westerlo in Belgium to Burnley FC, Times Live reports. The deal, estimated to be €7 million (R131 million) with the potential of reaching €10 million (R187 million) if Burnley are promoted to the Premier League, would set a new record in transfer fees for a South African player. An official statement from Burnley said that Foster was joining the English club at “an undisclosed fee”.

By Andre van Wyk

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