East Africa

East Africa

Details: East Africa; 11 July 2021; 882

Photo Courtesy Daily Nation

Education and Research Principal Secretary Simon Nabukwesi has urged scientists to research miraa and marijuana to establish their advantages and disadvantages to human health.

The research will help Kenya find a market for the products internationally, he said.

Lack of scientific evidence on the advantages of the products, he said, had led people to perceive them as illegal.

Mr Nabukwesi spoke during the official opening of the second phase of the Pwani University Bioscience Research Centre at Pwani University in Kilifi.

He said anything perceived to have negative effects on the community might also have advantages for it.

"We are being told that consumption of miraa is a health hazard but how dangerous is it to someone's body when they chew the crop," he said.

"Our researchers should tell us the benefit of miraa so that people can know its benefits."

The research centre was financed by the Kenya National Research Fund.

The PS said Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea are among the countries known to have a high consumption of miraa and can provide Kenya with a good market.

"There is a need for people in countries that record high consumption of miraa to know the value of chewing the crop and this can help us expand our markets internationally," he said.

The PS said that huge quantities of miraa were being sold in the United Kingdom but its government issued a ban on imports of the product.

"Kenya has failed to convince the UK that consumption of miraa is beneficial. If there is scientific evidence to prove the gains of miraa, I believe that we could be having an open market for it," he said.

"Even the community could have demonstrated, demanding miraa to be sold in their country because of the health benefits."

He said the issue of miraa and marijuana use cannot be approached only politically but also scientifically.

"One of the governors went to the UK to plead with them to allow his community to sell miraa but no one could listen to him because he had no scientific evidence of the benefits of this product he was defending," he said.

He challenged universities to come up with plans to identify research champions to encourage more research.

"Providing a conducive working environment and equipment for research is a way of encouraging more scientists to embrace their work, knowing that they have a great role to play in society," he said.

"Acknowledging research champions is also one way of supporting research."

He said the research champions will also be honoured during public holidays.

"We are going to recognise all researchers (who come up with innovations) that will help change and improve human life in one way or the other," he said.

Kenya National Research Fund CEO Jemima Onsare said the research centre was set up at a cost of Sh100 million.

The Fund, however, has not been getting the level of funding it needs for research, she said.

"The National Research Fund needs to be allocated two percent of the overall gross domestic product that is supposed to come from the national government ... . Currently, we have not attained the two percent but we are operating at O.8 percent," she said.

The first phase of the research centre was officially opened in 2017.

Pwani University Vice-Chancellor Prof Mohamed Rajab said the facility meets international standards.

The National Research Fund is also supporting research programmes at Rongo, Egerton, and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga universities. By Maureen Ongala, Daily Nation

Details: East Africa; 11 July 2021; 833

NAIROBI, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government and bilateral partners have embarked on training a critical mass of maritime cadets as part of efforts to boost the growth of the country's nascent blue economy, officials have said.

Nancy Karigithu, principal secretary in the State Department for Maritime and Shipping Affairs, said bridging the skills gap is key to establish a vibrant blue economy in the country, create jobs for the youth and alleviate poverty.

"In order to steer the blue economy to greater heights, there is an urgent need for highly skilled and qualified maritime personnel," Karigithu said on Thursday at a premier training center for seafarers in the coastal city of Mombasa.

She said the state-owned training center for maritime professionals had secured apprenticeship opportunities with French shipping giant CMA CGM, to enhance skills and competencies in Kenya's maritime sector.

Karigithu said that maritime cadets will also benefit from training on shore-based shipping and port operations, enhancing their employability in the international shipping industry.

She said Kenya has prioritized investments in the blue economy to boost tourism, sustainable fisheries, climate resilience and job creation for coastal youth.

"Our goal is to ensure the youth acquire the requisite skills and know-how to enable them to compete favorably for emerging opportunities in the blue economy," said Karigithu.

She said Kenya has developed a conducive policy and regulatory framework to spur investments in the blue economy and achieve long-term development.

Karigithu said that the ecological health of Kenya's vast coastline will be key to foster the growth of the blue economy, boost food security, climate resilience and local manufacturing.

Kenneth Mwige, director-general of Vision 2030, said Kenya is well positioned to become a blue economy hub subject to skills development, friendly regulations and partnership with industry.

Mwige said that revitalizing Kenya's maritime and shipping industries will boost cross-border trade, skills transfer and inclusive growth along the coastal strip grappling with rapid population growth. - Xinhua

Details: East Africa; 10 July 2021; 912

President Uhuru Kenyatta at Konza technopolis Image: PSCU

Uhuru inaugurated an eight-storey headquarters of Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA).

In Summary

•According to State House communication, the commissioning signals Government’s commitment to the completion of the country’s first smart city.

•The President, was on an inspection tour of infrastructure projects implemented by the Government and partners at the technopolis.

This was during his Ukambani trip accompanied by ODM party leader Raila Odinga.

According to State House communication, the commissioning signals Government’s commitment to the completion of the country’s first smart city.

The President, was on an inspection tour of infrastructure projects implemented by the Government and partners at the technopolis.

He inaugurated an eight-storey headquarters of Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA).

President Uhuru also opened the National Data Centre located at the Konza Technopolis.

The ultra-modern office block is hoped to provide KoTDA staff and partners a conducive on-site working environment to support accelerated roll-out of the techno city.

The data centre is hoped to provide reliable infrastructure and business-friendly services through a superior ICT backbone.

"Our quest is to be a technology disrupter, M-Pesa set the pace; may the centre that we commission today be an incubator for the next big-global technology disruption. Right here, made in Kenya for the World," Uhuru said.

When complete, the expansive Konza technology city which traverses three neighboring counties of Machakos, Makueni and Kajiado will occupy 5,000-acres of land.

The President also announced that he will soon preside over the ground breaking for the construction of Africa's most modern science and technology university.

"Upon completion of the project in the next few years, Kenya’s position as a global hub for science, technology and innovation will be entrenched further. We have the chance, right now, in the global race to create high-tech jobs in the digital space," he said.

The Head of State reassured that Kenya’s journey towards becoming an industrialised middle-income country was on course, saying the projects being implemented across the country will not only bring development closer to the people but also build a robust foundation to catapult the country into the league of modern and prosperous nations in years to come.

"The challenge to each one of us is to continue doing our very best to bring Kenya's great destiny into reality. This requires that we come together as one nation and one people, putting aside partisan interests and divides by building bridges between our communities," he said. Sharon Maombo, The Star

Details: East Africa; 10 July 2021; 911

The 2021 energy progress report has listed Rwanda among 20 countries in the whole world that have extensively rolled out electricity to their communities over the past 10 years.

The report is a product of a partnership between the World Bank and bodies such as the International Energy Agency that is published ahead of the launch of the first United Nations High-Level Dialogue on Energy in decades, which is due in September.

The report also underscores the importance of policies that promote an enabling environment for fast growth in line with the SDG target 7.1 which is universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy services.

Highlighting the countries with the highest electrification pace, Rwanda emerged among the top 20 countries with an on-grid electrification covering 38% in 2019 whereas the annualized increase in access rate from 2010 to 2019 stood at 3.1%.

“Several countries stand out for their annual rate of growth in access between 2010 to 2019. Rwanda, a small country located in Sub-Saharan Africa where a majority of the global unserved population live, is a good example”, reads the report in part.

The report also commended Rwanda’s electrification efforts to expand access at tremendous rates: “Rwanda’s annual electrification rate was greater than the world average between 2010 and 2019 and in the 2017–19 period, annual access growth in the country outpaced its population growth”.

Other African countries on the list include Kenya, Uganda, Lesotho, Guinea-Bissau, Tanzania, Liberia and Togo.

Rwanda’s electrification access has been scaled up from 10% in 2010 to 65% percent in mid-2021, latest figures from Rwanda Energy Group indicate.

In the figure, 47.2% connected to on-grid and 17.8% accessed through off-grid systems (mainly solar).

Rwanda’s target is to have 100% access to electricity in households by 2024.

To achieve the development, reads the report, the government of Rwanda employed an off-grid sector so as to leave no one behind by lowering the price consumers pay for power and making solutions affordable to the poorest households.

“Rwanda decided to launch an end-user subsidy pilot in 2019 to complement supply-side subsidies that were not enough to reach certain customers”.

With implementation support from the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) and Energy Development Corporation Limited, according to the report, Rwanda’s government is delivering a consumer subsidy scheme valued at USD 47 million for solar home systems and clean cooking solutions. - Bertrand Byishimo, The New Times

Details: East Africa; 09 July 2021; 893

WOODEN STATUETTES IN THE ROYAL MUSEUM FOR AFRICA. PHOTO: ARTERRA/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The government still claims the majority of its collection was obtained legitimately. The Belgian government has announced plans to repatriate around 2,000 artefacts looted during the colonial era – a figure that represents under two percent of the country’s collection of artwork that originated from Africa.

The country’s Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren, a municipality just outside of Brussels, holds around 120,000 items, the majority of which originated from an area of central Africa now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

King Leopold II ruled over the Congo Free State – five times the size of Belgium – at the end of the 19th century, running it as his personal fiefdom. He enslaved millions of people and put them to work extracting rubber from vines to feed the growing global tyre industry. An estimated 10 million people, roughly half the population, were killed during his 20-year reign.

The decision to return at least some of the country’s stolen artefacts comes after Belgium’s science minister, Thomas Dermine, recently declared that any items that can be proven to have been plundered, “don’t belong to us.”

“Instead of a piecemeal approach by artwork, we said let’s adopt a more radical and holistic approach,” Dermine said in a statement. “Everything that has been acquired through force and violence under illegitimate conditions must in principle be returned. Objects that have been acquired in an illegitimate fashion by our ancestors, by our grandparents, great-grandparents, do not belong to us. They belong to the Congolese people. Full stop. Cultural heritage is one of the riches exploited by the colonial powers, and taking thousands of objects from colonies deprives the citizens of the former colony of access to their own history, culture, creativity and spirituality of their ancestors.”

World News

The Colonized World Wants Its Artifacts Back

Much of this progress, the 35-year-old Dermine later added in an interview, has been driven by changing attitudes across the country. “There has clearly been a generational shift in Belgium and the new generation has a different relationship with Africa.”

That generational shift was centre stage last summer as tens of thousands of predominantly young people took to the streets of cities across Belgium to demand their government take responsibility for their colonial legacy. The – the largest of which attracted 15,000 people to Brussels – were sparked by Black Lives Matter demonstrations that spread throughout the world. Statues of King Leopold II were taken down across the country, while large swathes of Belgian infrastructure that was dedicated to Leopold was renamed.

Despite the progress, it’s still not clear exactly how many artefacts will be returned. Dermine has claimed that 60 percent of the items in the Royal Museum of Central Africa were acquired through legitimate purchases, though the criteria for that assessment has not been made public. That leaves the provenance of tens of thousands of items still to be assessed, with the government promising to work with the DRC government to carry out further investigations. By Dipo Faloyin, Vice News

Kenya: Research Miraa, Marijuana Benefits to Human Health, PS Tells Scientists

Kenya eyes skills development to stimulate growth of blue economy

Uhuru commissions key projects at Konza Technopolis

President Uhuru Kenyatta at Konza technopolis Image: PSCU

Uhuru inaugurated an eight-storey headquarters of Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA).

World Bank commends Rwanda for speedy electrification process

Wow, Belgium Is Returning 2,000 Artefacts Looted From Congo – Just 118,000 Left

The Colonized World Wants Its Artifacts Back

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