covid19Africa Archives - AfricaBusiness.com

16Jun

By Veselina DzhingarovaNo Comments

Interview, Science

An interview with N’Gunu Tiny on COVID and its impact on education in Africa

Interviewing N’Gunu Tiny, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Emerald Group about education in Africa. Finding out about education in Africa, its pre-pandemic trajectory and how it has been interrupted by COVID-19. N’Gunu Tiny talks about how this will further impact social mobility and, crucially, what should be done now? Discussing education in Africa, the pandemic and more with N’Gunu Tiny Q: How do you think the pandemic has impacted global education? There is absolutely no doubt that COVID-19 has negatively impacted global education. However, as with many of the worst effects of the past 15 months of pandemic-based state measures, the hardest hit are those with the poorest and least robust education systems in the first place. And this includes sub-Saharan Africa. I think that th...

27Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Medicine, South Africa News

There is a third way to minimise COVID exposure –Let’s start using it

by FAR UVC AFRICA There is nothing normal about what some people are calling the “new normal“. Humans are gregarious. For millions of years, we have eaten together, celebrated together, and played together. It’s time to get back to that “old normal“. And there are certainly safe ways to go back there. The main way SARS-Co-2 spreads, in fact the way most coronaviruses spread, is through the air. An infected person coughs or sneezes and aerosolised droplets are inhaled by an otherwise healthy person. There are two primary methods for minimising exposure to the virus recommended by the various Centres for Disease Control: wearing a mask or face covering over your mouth and nose, and social distancing. In addition to these two widely publicised methods is a third, fairly new, yet rarely mentio...

Ventures Platform Foundation launches applications for Gov Labs

10Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Nigeria News, Startups

Ventures Platform Foundation launches applications for Gov Labs

VPF & National Endowment for Democracy call for tech solutions to protect Nigerians’ human rights during COVID-19 response Ventures Platform Foundation (VPF), the social impact arm of Ventures Platform Hub, has launched a call for applications for its latest incubation programme, Gov Labs - a 12-week programme for tech solutions implementing accountability and transparency within the Nigerian government’s COVID-19 response. Created with support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the new initiative will support Civil Society Organizations from across Nigeria as they build innovative solutions promoting good governance and wide scale access to public services. From the pool of applicants, five organisations will be selected and will each receive a $2,500 grant as well as ac...

27Nov

By Wildu du PlessisNo Comments

Main, South Africa News

Environmental, Social and Governance takes centre stage in a post-pandemic Africa

By Wildu du Plessis, Head of Africa, Baker McKenzie As African businesses begin to recover and build the necessary resilience to successfully navigate COVID-19 disruption, a focus on Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) strategies is proving essential for long-term success. In order to stay competitive, organisations based in Africa are engaging meaningfully with ESG to build robust sustainability strategies that comply with global and local mandatory and voluntary ESG standards and codes, and which fit in with their overall strategic priorities. The definition of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) encompasses a broad range of issues across the spectrum of Environmental (climate change, biodiversity, waste, water and resource use, pollution), Social (human rights, labour pract...

Commitment to sustainability opening doors to post-pandemic capital in Africa

8Nov

By Wildu du PlessisNo Comments

Main, Nigeria News, South Africa News

Commitment to sustainability opening doors to post-pandemic capital in Africa

By Wildu du Plessis, Head of Africa, Baker McKenzie The industrials, manufacturing and transport (IMT) sector is being hit hard by COVID-19 disruption, but commitment to sustainability could very well lead the sector to recovery. This is according to Baker McKenzie’s report "Sustainable Success: Exploring environmental, social and governance priorities for industrials through COVID-19 and beyond" which revealed that industrials have taken great leaps forward in relation to environmental, social and governance matters (ESG) in the past decade. The report outlines how CEOs in the sector have signed up to a new holistic definition of company purpose and most public companies now report on ESG goals. Access to funding is also becoming intricately linked to a commitment to ESG principles, with...

Smart Power lights up Africa’s road to pandemic recovery

29Oct

By Baker McKenzieNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy, Zambia News

Smart Power lights up Africa’s road to pandemic recovery

Kieran Whyte, Partner, Head of the Energy, Mining and Infrastructure Practice, Johannesburg, and Marc Fèvre, Partner, London, Baker McKenzie. Across Africa, access to power is hampered by the lack of access to competitive funding, the dire state of the continent’s utilities infrastructure and the need for energy policy and legislation to be adapted so that it can boost investment in the sector. Post COVID-19, new solutions are urgently needed to address Africa’s power crisis and switch on a continent-wide strategy for its recovery and renewal. Such solutions must take into account the energy transition and in particular, the utilisation of renewable energy, the focus on smart power technologies and cost effective solutions, as well as the global drive towards a decentralised, decarbonised ...