Uganda’s Parliament has passed a Sh29 trillion budget for fiscal year 2017-18 on deadline day Wednesday despite stiff opposition to the amount of loans. Parliament only moved to consider the Appropriation Bill,2017 which is the final stage of the budget process, after the Deputy Speaker suspended The House for 15 minutes …
Read More »Lagos turns 50: half-a-century of urban chaos
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | It’s only when the thick smog of humidity and pollution lifts that the size of Lagos becomes clear: from above, the megacity of some 20 million people seems to stretch out to infinity. Not even the Atlantic Ocean appears to be able to stop its …
Read More »Egyptians brace for austere Ramadan after reforms
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Ramadan is a time for daytime fasting and lavish evening feasts, but Egyptians are scaling back preparations for the Muslim holy month this year after austerity measures fuelled decades-high inflation. At a Cairo supermarket, Rana, a web designer and mother of two, said she was …
Read More »Jump in renewable energy jobs worldwide, says IRENA
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | AFP | The renewable energy sector employed 9.8 million people worldwide in 2016, marking a sharp increase from 2012, the Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency said on Wednesday. In its “Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2017”, IRENA says the sector employed …
Read More »Nguesso breaks ground on $58 million China-funded Congo parliament building
Brazzaville, Congo | AFP | Congo broke ground on a new Chinese-funded parliament building in the capital Brazzaville on Monday estimated at over 52 million euros ($58 million). The investment from China’s government was criticised by opposition groups which pointed out that Congo is in the midst of an economic …
Read More »West African girls show the way in Senegal tech battle
Dakar, Senegal | AFP | West African schoolgirls, some not yet teenagers, have taken a starring role at an engineering competition in Senegal, busting stereotypes with robotics expertise and innovative projects for their communities. The Pan-African Robotics competition (PARC) in the Senegalese capital Dakar on Saturday reflects the growing …
Read More »Beijing’s new weapon in economic war: Chinese tourists
Beijing, China | AFP | Slapping import bans on products like mangoes, coal and salmon has long been China’s way of punishing countries that refuse to toe its political line. But Beijing has shown that it can also hurt others by cutting a lucrative Chinese export: tourists who normally flock …
Read More »IMF revises Uganda GDP growth from 5% to 3.5%
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Uganda’s gross domestic product growth to record anywhere between 3.5%-4% in FY2016/17, lower than 5% that had earlier been projected. This was announced on Tuesday by Axel Schimmelpfennig, the head of IMF mission that visited Kampala, Uganda from May 2-15, 2017 to conduct the …
Read More »Buhari health waning but Nigeria economy recovering
Nigerian economy glimpses dim light at end of tunnel Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Suffering from rampant inflation, stalled investment and mass layoffs, Nigeria is still gripped by one of the worst economic crises in its history. But for the first time in months, the West African economic giant …
Read More »Tumusiime: When is Uganda allocating 10% budget to agriculture?
Former African Union Commissioner Tumusiime roots for increased agricultural funding as she launches her autobiography Former African Union (AU) Commissioner Rhoda Peace Tumusiime has demanded that Uganda’s finance ministry explains why the agricultural sector is underfunded. “When are you making the 10 percent budget allocation to agriculture? This is a decision at a …
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