South Africa is to transition its rail network towards a more open and competitive model, allowing private train operators access to its extensive rail infrastructure. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | South Africa is opening its rail network to private train operators in a commercial pivot to revitalise a …
Read More »Kenyan-made dramas, comedies rival foreign sports in viewership numbers
Twin growth in the number of talented young filmmakers and private investors is powering Kenyan production and viewer interest. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY| Kenyan viewers are beginning to show a strong preference for locally-produced content, regional giant MultiChoice has revealed, with the appetite and consumption of Kenyan-made films now …
Read More »Ugandans in top Tony Elumelu Foundation awards winners
ANALYSIS | AGENCIES |Â Ugandan entrepreneurs are among the top three leading winners of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship awards which are the brainchild of Nigerian dollar multi-millionaire Tony Elumelu. This was revealed recently among data issued at the unveiling of the 10th Cohort of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme …
Read More »Local manufacturing of drones is on the rise in Africa
Growing demand for drones in Africa – historically met through imports from global suppliers like China, Israel, and Turkey – is driving a transformative shift to local manufacturing, promising economic benefits and technological advancement. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | Rising demand for unmanned aerial vehicles used in various commercial …
Read More »Rwanda’s genocide could have been prevented
3 things the international community should have done – expert ANALYSIS | WALTER DORN | As the world marks the 30th anniversary of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda, it is important to understand what the international community could have done to prevent it. In one hundred …
Read More »Traders clash with URA over EFRIS system
Some traders lack the digital skills to navigate the new system Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Kampala’s Kikuubo trading hub was markedly quiet most of last week, a significant deviation from its usual bustling activity. The once vibrant shops, known for their colourful fabrics, utensils and scholastics were closed, with …
Read More »How Sudan’s catastrophic conflict is straining Uganda’s refugee response
ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE |Â Up until January, this year, Widat Muhammed Ali, 37, was a practicing lawyer in Sudan. She lived happily with her husband of 11 years, who is also a lawyer, together with their children who were studying at an international school. Then fighting erupted between two rival …
Read More »â€˜Cut meat production to reduce climate change’
Global scientists want farmers to cut back on livestock production in next 12 years Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | For a long time, much of the political focus on climate change has been on the global energy transition. What is also needed, however, is a food transition – especially away …
Read More »Balaam’s problem over jailed NUP members
Playing games with lives of political prisoners COVER STORY | IAN KATUSIIME |Â Can newly appointed Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs, Balaam Barugahara, deliver on his pledge to parliament and country to secure freedom for several jailed members of the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP)? The missing Ugandans …
Read More »East Africa’s retail boom
A new opportunity for real estate ANALYSIS | AGENCIES | Retail is emerging among the most vibrant sectors of the East African economy. Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, has not only become an important retail market in its own right but a stepping stone into the rest of the country and wider …
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