Biz Hub Africa

The Implications of a Drier, Hotter and More Crowded Future   Why is this issue important? The Horn of Africa is one of the world's most food-insecure regions. The eight countries – Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda – have a combined population of 160 million people, 70 million of whom (or nearly 44 per cent) live in areas prone to extreme food shortages (1). Between 1970 and 2000, these countries were threatened by famine at least once each decade (1). In the future, the impacts of climate change, as well as growing populations and declining per capita agricultural capacity, are expected to further threaten food security¹. As one of the least developed areas in Africa, there is limited capacity to respond to drought or food crises. To prevent humanitarian emergencies, the Horn of Africa needs to strengthen its ability to build long-term resilience and tackle the root causes of ...

As we reflect on the plight -- but also the amazing survival instincts of refugees today -- World Refugee Day, we should look closely at the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region -- a region responsible for calculating the globe's highest refugee figures in 2013. The bleak numbers represent the high human cost of a series of bloody humanitarian emergencies erupting from sectarian and civil conflicts. The Syrian crisis alone has seen almost 2.6 million refugees flee to Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. According to UN data, this figure is set to rise exponentially by 2015. These neighboring countries are urgently grappling with unprecedented numbers of refugees. Whilst their governments focus on basic necessities -- shelter, food, water and security -- opportunistic traffickers, would-be labor exploiters and men in the marriage market, reap the rewards of refugees desperate for economic opportunities. In Jordan, home to some 600,000 registered Syrian refugees,...

Through My Lens In the past centuries slavery was like the hottest business for the rich and influential personalities in Europe and United States. But this type of trade was abolished in the early 19th century due to the way the trade was being conducted. Stringent measures were put into place so that the act could see the sight of daylight ever again. Universal governing bodies were put into place so that there be no any loophole in the campaign against slavery. Apart from the earlier view of slave as a source of labour and workforce,the word was on the bridge of a new dawn of change. Many countries in Europe and United States start registering these foreign individuals as valid citizens and were allowed to start enjoying some small privileges like the rest. As the centuries went by most of the people were enlighten more and trade slowly died with time. The act was similar to stant to many eyes which were not keen to what was going on. Few decades later focus changed to the Middle...

Travellers putting trips to countries unaffected by Ebola, such as South Africa and Kenya, on hold    Africa’s tourism industry is feeling the affects of concerns about Ebola, with one operator noting, "it's difficult to defeat fear with logic". Tourism is a major source of revenue for many African countries — especially Kenya and South Africa — but potential visitors appear increasingly hesitating about travelling to the continent which is home to the disease. Even travellers well aware of the distances between the West Africa countries with Ebola cases – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – and more popular tourist destinations, are exercising caution when booking a holiday. “Things have accelerated a lot in the last few weeks,” said Chris McIntyre from UK tour company Expert Africa. “We haven't had any cancellations, but people are often putting trips on hold, and not confirming them, because of worries over Ebola. And fewer...

THE EBOLA VIRUS What everyone who wants to come to Africa be it for business,leisure or any of those a thousand and one reasons is to acquire him/herself knowledge about the Ebola virus. According to the WHO & CDC Ebola is,"  Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans." Key facts The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission. The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks. The first EVD outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, near tropical rainforests, but the most recent outbreak in west Africa has involved major urban as well as rural areas. Community engagement is key to successfully controlling outbreaks. Good outbreak control relies on applying a package of interventions, namely case management, surveillance and contact tr...

Throwing sand into the gears of the financial doomsday machine “WE WILL not kick you when you are down, at least not for a couple of days”: that is the gist of a putative deal struck by 18 global banks this week, which agreed not to pull abruptly out of contracts with each other if one of them hits the buffers. As modest as that may sound, regulators see it as the foundation of a firewall to halt the spread of future financial crises. The agreement concerns derivatives, contracts whose value “derives” from the performance of an underlying asset such as a share, currency or bond. Banks use them to hedge themselves or speculate, to the chagrin of regulators who dislike how hard they are to value and how easily they can entangle financial institutions in a web of interdependency. If a bank will benefit from invoking its right to demand early settlement of such contracts when a counterparty runs into trouble, it tends to do so, naturally enough....

Economic growth is estimated at 4.9% in 2013 and is projected to accelerate to 5.7% in 2014.   Having witnessed drastic currency depreciation and rapid inflation in 2011, the economy experienced stability for both indicators in 2012 and 2013 with inflation dropping to a single digit. This stability is expected to continue in 2014. Kenya’s economy continued to recover in 2013 from the slowdown experienced in 2011. Real GDP growth in the year accelerated to 5.2%, 4.3% and 4.6% in the first three quarters of 2013 primarily driven by financial intermediation, tourism, construction and agriculture. Real GDP growth is estimated at 4.9% and 5.7% in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Similarly CPI inflation is expected to remain single digit over the same period. The economy’s short- to medium-term forecast is for sustained and rising growth based on: increased investor and business confidence in the wake of peaceful March 2013 elections; increased rainfall; a stable macroecon...