The company, linked to US President Joe Biden's son Hunter, helped a Chinese company buy a cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2016, The New York Times reported.
According to the newspaper, in 2013, Hunter Biden with two other Americans participated in the creation of the investment firm BHR, which is registered in Shanghai. They got 30% of the shares in the company, and 70% went to Chinese investors, including Bank of China.
In 2016, Biden's company was involved in the acquisition of the Tenke-Fungurume mine in the DRC by the Chinese firm China Molybdenum. BHR was involved in raising funds to buy back securities. Biden's company managed to raise more than $ 1 billion, and the Chinese firm received 80% of the shares of the world's largest cobalt mine. News am
ANC's Musalia Mudavadi, Wiper's Kalonzo Musyoka, KANU's Gideon Moi and Ford Kenya's Moses Wetang'ula. Image: ONE ALLIANCE KENYA
One Kenya Alliance (OKA) testerday denied allegations that it was being ‘hunted’ by other political alliances ahead of next year’s General Election. The Alliance term ed as far-fetched media reports that it was keen to work with either ODM leader Raila Odinga or Deputy President William Ruto.
There have been reports that Raila and Ruto were keen to woo the four principals of OKA to form a formidable team for the elections.
But speaking at St Mark's AIPCA during a church service in Kinamba Naivasha, Nakuru county yesterday, OKA principals: Musalia Mudavadi (Amani National Congress), Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka, Moses Wetangula (Ford Kenya) and Gideon Moi (Kanu) maintained that they were united and ready to support one of their own in the elections.
Kalonzo said that they had not been approached by any leaders as alleged. He accused some media houses of being used by politicians to peddle lies and weaken the alliance, which is yet to name its presidential flag bearer
“No one is hunting us so that we can join them, but the truth is that we are the ones who want them to join us,” he said.
Kalonzo at the same time questioned a recent opinion poll results that placed Ruto and Raila as the leading contenders, terming them as questionable.
“These polls are sponsored by the same politicians who want to lie to the country that they are leading,” he said.
The former vice president observed that if elected to power, OKA would ensure education is free from nursery to university.
“The ongoing politicking is worrying and is causing panic, am on investors,” he said.
In a veiled attack targeted at ODM Raila Odinga chief and Deputy President William Ruto, Mudavadi urged Kenyans not to allow ills that were perpetuated by white colonialists to creep back through the black colonialists, presenting themselves as saviours.
“Our freedom fighters fought hard to free us from the colonialists’chains of slavery, poverty, lies, corruption, intimidation and many more ills. We should not accept to be taken back to the same chains by black colonialists, presenting themselves as saints, promising to revive an economy they have looted to the core,” he said.
Mudavadi called on Kenyans not to be hoodwinked by politics of lies and intimidation and instead be steadfast in calling leaders to account and elect men and women of integrity.
“I urge Kenyans of goodwill not to accept politics of lies and intimidation. I seek your support and together, we shall end corruption, build a vibrant economy, create jobs and put a smile on every Kenyan face,” the former Deputy Prime Minister said.
Mudavadi noted that reviving the economy will be achieved through creation of job opportunities and lowering the high taxes. On his part, Kalonzo urged the church to be open to politics and work together for a prosperous and peaceful country.
He argued that politicians should not be frowned at in church platforms for they have a shared mission as long as both play their part respectfully meant to instil ideals of a great country. “OKA leaders are an open page.
We come to church to worship and interact with fellow. Kenyans, talk matters of building our country positively and not spew hate. That is our civic duty and together with the church, we should be a one thing,” he said.
Kanu chairman Gideon Moi called on Kenyan s to be wary of leaders who are not genuine. Without naming names, he termed as questionable the behaviour and conduct of some of those seeking the top seat.
“You should ask yourself if the person seeking the presidency is trustworthy or if he can be trusted with your future,” he said.
Gideon called on the church to continue prayin g for the nation, adding that as OKA, they were united and ready to support one of their own. His sentiments were echoed by Ford- Kenya leader Moses Wetangula, who said that they would backbone of the principals for the top seat.
“As One Kenya Alliance, we are united and shall walk as one team to the Gen- eral Election as we believe that we are the solution to the challenges facing Kenyans,” he said.
Mudavadi told the worshippers to ignore leaders who peddle hate speech and incitement in their campaigns.
“Next year is critical for the country. Every electorate should vote to fight graft, ethnicity, poverty and terrorism ,” he said. People Daily
Wowzi, a Kenyan startup has announced plans to create one million gig jobs for African youth in 2022 through its online marketplace, after successfully delivering over 150,000 paid jobs in 2021.
The firm that makes scalable influencer campaigns accessible to brands and companies of any size or industry, says it plans to expand partnerships with local, regional, and multinational FMCG companies, Telcos, Banks, Creative Agencies, and Development Institutions to create job opportunities for youth.
Wowzi will create massive, distributed messaging campaigns for clients utilizing thousands upon thousands of real, everyday customers and fans who get paid to offer authentic endorsements online for the products they already love.
The company pays out Sh5 million every week to influencers amounting to Sh260 million every year.
Speaking during the company's official launch in the East African market, Wowzi Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Brian Mogeni said companies are increasingly aligning their marketing strategies to tap into micro and nano content creators looking to monetize their social media accounts and develop sustainable income streams outside of traditional or formal employment.
“Mobile use has become a key driver of commerce in African markets, and it’s where young people already spend their time. Youths only require lightweight remote training to master the key principles of sharing brand messages, so suddenly anyone with a phone can influence their peers through social media. Now that Wowzi has created the technology platform to efficiently distribute and manage job offers to thousands of youth at a time, brands have an opportunity to engage directly with youth and offer meaningful gig work. Wowzi offers a new layer of advertising for brands that can help target niche communities.” he said.
East Africa has 20 million social media users according to Hootsuite Digital 2021 Data Report.
Kenya leads the pack with 11 million social media users, 20.2 percent of the population followed by Tanzania at 5.4 million users representing 8.9 percent of the population while Uganda has about 3.4 million social media users representing 7.3 percent of the population.
“Emerging markets are low trust environments, and so the messenger really matters. An endorsement online from someone you really know goes a lot farther than a celebrity endorsement, for example. As a result, nano and micro influencers with smaller, more intimate and engaged followers deliver better qualified sales leads. And everyone has influence” he added.
Nano influencers are social media users with 250 to 5000 followers. Engagement on posts by nano-influencers is nearly 3 times higher than celebrity personalities” he explained.
The firm has signed up 60, 000 influencers in the East African Region primarily by word of mouth so far and has carried out 10,000 campaigns for over 150 clients.
“In September 2021, Safaricom engaged a small “army” of influencers to create TikTok videos about a new product. Within seven hours of going live, the challenge generated 3 million views for the hashtag with thousands of user-generated posts. Within 1 week, the hashtag garnered 8million views,” he explained. “Those are campaign results that would not have been possible previously had Safaricom only been able to manually engage a dozen influencers directly for the same campaign.”
Mogeni announced the firm plans to enter three new markets including Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa over the next month.
Bank Kenya Chief Executive Jeremy Awori served as the Chief Guest at Thursday’s launch said “‘Often, when we speak about influencers, we think about the big celebrity names and forget the local micro-influencers who connect with our audience especially those outside the cities.
These micro-influencers live among them, speak their language and share in their beliefs, therefore increasing chances of conversion. We also need to pursue strategic partnerships between the private and public sector in order to achieve the growth that we seek through this channel,’ Jeremy Awori, Managing Director, Absa Bank Kenya.
He further noted the need to achieve a balance between legacy and new media to reach a diverse audience through the media they consume.www.wowzi.co ABC
Sources say Hamdok will be reinstalled after deal with military
Sudan’s main civilian coalition that had shared power with the military said on Sunday it does not recognize a deal to reinstate ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
“We affirm our clear and previously announced position: no negotiation, no partnership and no legitimacy for the putchists,” the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition said in a statement.
Two sources from the dissolved government earlier told Anadolu Agency that Hamdok will be reinstated, weeks after he was ousted by the military.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Hamdok met on Saturday night with the head of Sudan’s ruling military council, Gen. Abdul Fattah al-Burhan, and agreed on the return of the ousted premier and the release of all detainees.
The sources further disclosed that Hamdok will form a “technocrat Cabinet” with wide authorization and participation of the rebel movements that signed the Juba peace agreement.
The sources, however, said talks will be held between the army and all political groups in Sudan, except the former ruling party of ousted President Omar al-Bashir, in order to agree on other issues, including a review of the constitutional declaration outlining Sudan’s political transition.
On Oct. 25, al-Burhan declared a state of emergency and dissolved the transitional Sovereign Council and government amid rival protests and accusations between the military and politicians in the country.
Al-Burhan has insisted that the measures are meant to protect the country from “imminent danger” and accused those rejecting his move as “stirring chaos.”
Before the military takeover, Sudan was administered by a sovereign council of military and civilian officials which was overseeing the transition period until elections are held in 2023 as part of a precarious power-sharing pact between the military and the Unity of the Forces for Freedom and Change. Yeni Safak
Kinshasa - French investigative media outlet Mediapart on Friday accused former Democratic Republic of Congo president Joseph Kabila and his family of siphoning off $138 million in state funds while in power.
The press office of Kabila, who led the mineral-rich but impoverished country from 2001 to 2019, denied the charges. The allegations come after Mediapart and the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa, a non-governmental organisation, gained access to more than three million leaked documents from the International Gabonese and French Bank (BGFI), Mediapart said.
Nineteen media outlets and five non-governmental organisations coordinated by the European Investigative Collaborations spent six months sifting through the documents.
"The documents... show that former president Kabila, his family and relatives received, with the complicity of the BGFI, at least $138 million from state coffers between 2013 and 2018," Mediapart said.
It added that the funds had been siphoned "through a shell company set up in a garage".
Kabila's media office in a statement rejected "false accusations" and criticised what he called "unjustified harassment from certain powers hiding behind the media".
Mediapart said Kabila's adoptive brother had been the general director of the DRC subsidiary of the Gabon-based BGFI bank, and alleged he and Kabila's sister owned the shell company.
The bank did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. The report alleged the shell company had served as "a vehicle to regime corruption", as well as a way to "levy a sort of Kabila tax" from a string of public institutions or companies.
It said they included the central bank, state mining firm Gecamines, parliament, the electoral commission, and even the fund for road maintenance.
Poverty is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa's largest country, despite its soil being full of gold, coltan or cobalt.
In 2018, it was estimated that 73 percent of its population of 60 million people lived on less than $1.90 a day, the World Bank says.
Joseph Kabila became president aged just 29 in 2001, after his long-ruling father Laurent-Desire Kabila was assassinated.
He did not run in December 2018's election, which was won by Felix Tshisekedi, who took over in January the following year.
It was the Democratic Republic of Congo's first peaceful political transition since independence from Belgium in 1960. IOL/AFP
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