SOUTH AFRICAN RESEARCHERS ARE NOW developing an innovative, validated online tool to help people recognize and seek treatment for depression and mental health issues. PhD candidate Tasneem Hassem of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, along with co-founder Professor Sumaya Laher, have been awarded almost $7,000 in seed funding to further develop and commercialize the tool, aimed at allowing users to more easily recognize and obtain treatment for depression, particularly within the South African context, where low mental health awareness and access to mental health services can still be a challenge.



 “Unfortunately, low awareness of the symptoms of depression means that many people do not know when they are depressed. During our research and through interviews with stakeholders, we determined that an online screening tool would help raise awareness of depression, reduce the stigma and facilitate quality conversations between people and health professionals” says Hassem to FORBES AFRICA. 



According to a recent report in The Lancet which assessed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health in 204 countries, anxiety and depressive disorders increased by some 25% across the countries sampled, with South Africa seeing one of the highest rates of increase worldwide.



 “The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has created an environment where many determinants of poor mental health are exacerbated,” the study continued. 



This is confirmed in the South African context by the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), a mental health services and advocacy organization. 



“We know that the mental health impact during Covid has been immense – we’ve seen that at SADAG,” says Cassey Chambers, SADAG’s operations coordinator, to FORBES AFRICA. 



“Just from January this year, we received over 466,000 calls to our helplines. One in every five calls is a suicide-related issue. And that’s still a conservative figure. Our call volumes from pre-Covid [to this year] has increased by 160%. Covid has definitely impacted mental health, it’s definitely added to more depression, more anxiety, added to people’s mental health issues… Covid has definitely increased the mental health impact.” 



Ensuring mental health tools are relevant to the context and location in which they will be used is a crucial part of ethical and successful interventions, which was a criticalfocus of Hassem’s research and piloting of the app, with the guidance of healthcare professionals. 



The tool’s development funding comes through the University of the Witwatersrand’s Prospector course which aims to foster and develop promising entrepreneurial ideas in research – with Hassem’s proposal securing funding over seven other proposals, with the project being of possibly high value in South Africa, where mental health resources are extremely limited, with some four mental health spaces per 100,000 members of the population, and just 0.97 psychologists for the same number. 



“What is exciting in this instance is that the tool developed by Ms Hassem and Prof Laher has significant potential to support our communities in an illness that is prevalent, yet difficult to diagnose and treat not least because of the unfortunate stigma associated with it. Innovation must meet the real needs of our citizens, and it’s not just about profits,” comments Ela Romanowska, Director of Innovation Support at Wits Enterprise, which supports the initiative. 



“Our tool is specifically adapted to capture the unique depression symptoms experienced by South African individuals. The user receives instant, downloadable feedback that provides resources for seeking treatment or care and can be used in the comfort of one’s home, on any smartphone, tablet, laptop or computer,” explains Hassem.

Directly above shot of mother embracing depressed son on bed at home

Financing Mental Health: NEW TECH TOOL TO TREAT DEPRESSION

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has tested positive for COVID-19 amidst a rising fourth wave of infections in the country.&nbsp;&nbsp;



South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has tested positive for COVID-19 and is receiving treatment for mild symptoms, according to a press release issued by the Presidency.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &#8220;The president is in good spirits but is being monitored by the South African Military Health Service of the South African National Defence Force&#8221;&nbsp;said Minister of the Presidency&nbsp;Mondli&nbsp;Gungubele. &nbsp; &nbsp; Ramaphosa reportedly began feeling unwell after having attended the state memorial service of former South African President FW de Klerk in Cape Town earlier in the weekend. Ramaphosa had also recently been on a tour of four West African states, where the delegation had been tested regularly, including on their return to South Africa.&nbsp; &nbsp; However, the presidency has encouraged all persons who had contact with Ramaphosa during the memorial service to watch for symptoms and get tested.&nbsp;



“Today’s proceedings in Cape Town were undertaken in compliance with health regulations pertaining to hand hygiene, the wearing of face masks and social distancing… President Ramaphosa says his own infection serves as a caution to all people in the country to be vaccinated and remain vigilant against exposure” said the presidency in a statement.    The President is now in isolation and has handed over his duties to Deputy President David Mabuza for the week – Ramaphosa’s positive results coming amidst a striking fourth wave of infections in South Africa and the recent discovery of the Omicron variant, with 18 035 new daily cases recorded as of Sunday, and an additional 19 840 retrospective cases which had not been previously counted in daily totals previously.* *An earlier version of this story erroneously reported the new daily total number of cases as 37 875, which included both the daily cases and retrospective cases together &#8211; the article has been corrected to reflect these separately.

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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa tests positive for COVID-19

The Omicron variant continues to spread widely across the globe, and its mutations have left scientists concerned about the efficacy of existing vaccines. However, early research indicates that existing vaccines – especially when supplemented by a booster shot – seem to indicate effectiveness against Omicron.



Omicron has taken the world by storm and triggered a deluge of travel restrictions and lockdowns as the festive season approaches. Despite almost 40% of the globe reportedly having received vaccinations, concerns about the possibility of Omicron’s increased transmissibility and possible vaccine resistance has scientists furiously at work to determine whether the variant is able to evade the protections offered by vaccines, with early data providing a glimmer of hope. The variant has been found in 57 countries so far and spreading strongly in South Africa according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest epidemiology report, noting that the preliminary data seems to indicate the mutations in the Omicron variant reduce the ability of natural immunities to protect against reinfection. However, the WHO also cautioned that it is too early for conclusive characteristics to be drawn. 



“Further information is needed to fully understand the clinical picture of those infected with the Omicron variant,” said the report.



The Omicron variant contains 37 mutations of previous iterations of COVID-19 and the vector in which possible changes of transmissibility and mortality occur in the spike protein. However, vaccines still seem to promote resistance to the Omicron variant, with two leading vaccine producers Pfizer and BioNTech having early research indicating that while two doses of these vaccines provide fewer antibodies against Omicron, a third booster shot significantly improved immune response. 



“Our preliminary, first dataset indicate that a third dose could still offer a sufficient level of protection from disease of any severity caused by the Omicron variant,” said Ugur Sahin, the CEO of BioNTech in a joint press release with Pfizer on 8 December announcing the results of the preliminary research. Other treatments are also in development to combat the virus which seem to have effective results against the Omicron variant; GlaxoSmithKline, another pharmaceutical giant, has been producing an antibody treatment which has shown effectiveness against synthesized variants of Omicron. 



The treatment, termed ‘Sotrovimab’, was recently cleared for use in the United Kingdom, and was shown to decrease the risk of hospitalization and death in people with mild to severe COVID-19 by some 79% in clinical trials. “We are confident that sotrovimab will continue to provide significant benefit for the early treatment of patients hoping to avoid the most severe consequences of Covid-19,&#8221; said co-developer of the treatment Vir’s CEO George Scangos.



New treatments and the likely efficacy of booster shots offer some hope in the face of the fourth wave of infections due to Omicron. However, in countries such as South Africa, where vaccination rates and booster uptakes are relatively low, concern around the variant’s spread are still rife, particularly since the country reported almost 20,000 new cases in the last 24 hours, with government deliberating further lockdown measures in response to the rise in cases, while trying to mitigate the economic hardship that hard lockdowns will bring. 



The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAPHRA) on Wednesday approved the rollout of booster shots for the vaccinated, the announcement coming just hours after Pfizer and BioNTech’s research indicating booster effectiveness was released. Other African powerhouses such as Nigeria and Kenya have taken diverging approaches to the booster shots; Nigeria has begun to roll out booster doses to their population, while Kenya has opted not to consider implementing booster shots until early next year.



However, since the rollout of booster vaccines on the African continent is still in its infancy and with vaccination rates still low, it remains to be seen if the rollout of additional doses will be sufficient to push back the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections.

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Do Vaccines Work Against Omicron? Here’s What The Data Says So Far

As the fear of the new Omicron variant spreads along with the virus itself, many countries and businesses worldwide have implemented or begun to discuss implementing vaccine mandates, restricting access to services or work to only those who have received their jabs.  



Are you vaccinated against COVID-19? Depending on where you are in the world, you may not have access to certain government services&nbsp;or be able to continue employment&nbsp;without proof of vaccination as vaccine mandates are deliberated and&nbsp;potentially&nbsp;rolled out around the world.&nbsp;



As the Omicron variant sparks&nbsp;fears around the possibility of increased mortality and transmissibility, some nations&nbsp;and businesses&nbsp;have made&nbsp;COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory, with more nation states considering their implementation.&nbsp; &nbsp; “I think it is understandable and appropriate to lead this discussion now…. how we can encourage and potentially think about mandatory vaccination within the European&nbsp;Union,” said&nbsp;Ursula von der Leyen,&nbsp;European Commission President,&nbsp;during a press conference yesterday.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; Some European&nbsp;Union&nbsp;nations have already implemented&nbsp;their own form of&nbsp;mandates, with Italy and France requiring all healthcare workers to provide proof of vaccination, and many other countries implementing fines and restricting&nbsp;interprovincial and international&nbsp;movement for the unvaccinated.&nbsp;



Similar&nbsp;actions are underway on the African continent, with Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa considering&nbsp;or implementing&nbsp;mandates, with&nbsp;South African President Cyril Ramaphosa&nbsp;announcing deliberations during a national address on November&nbsp;28:&nbsp;&#8220;Government has set up a task team that will undertake broad consultations on making vaccination mandatory for specific activities and locations.&#8221;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; Despite&nbsp;having previously&nbsp;stated&nbsp;that&nbsp;“nobody will be forced to take this vaccine. Nobody will be forbidden from traveling, from enrolling at school, or from taking part in any public activity if they have not been vaccinated” in an earlier address, the President seems to have adjusted the&nbsp;government’s&nbsp;position due to economic pressure as a result of increased travel restrictions due to the Omicron variant, which has seen much of the world implement a travel&nbsp;ban on&nbsp;southern Africa in the run-up to the holiday period.&nbsp;The South African Rand dropped to&nbsp;its&nbsp;weakest level in over a year with the discovery of the&nbsp;new variant.&nbsp; &nbsp; Other countries on&nbsp;the continent have already made the move to implement.&nbsp;Kenya, which has seen over a quarter of a million cases of COVID-19, will require&nbsp;people to provide proof of vaccination to enter businesses, restaurants, schools and transport services as of 21 December 2021 – a move which has seen both praise and criticism, as business associations and civil society say that a nation with an 8.8% vaccination rate will not be able to meet sufficient targets&nbsp;and will cause further economic damage.&nbsp; &nbsp; Nigeria has recently extended the vaccination deadline for civil servants to&nbsp;31 December 2021, after which the unvaccinated will see themselves barred access from any public buildings or offices.&nbsp;



However, with only 1.7% of the country’s population vaccinated, it seems unlikely to reach the Federal Government’s earlier set goal of 50% of the population vaccinated by January 2022.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Some South African businesses have already begun implementing mandates of their own, with health and finance conglomerate Discovery&nbsp;making vaccination mandatory for staff&nbsp;by early 2022, the announcement of which caused a surge in uptake of the vaccines within the&nbsp;organization, rising from barely 20% to 94%.&nbsp; &nbsp; “Ultimately, as a science-led organization,&nbsp;we feel a strong moral imperative to do this, given the need to curb the loss of life and the indisputable proof that vaccines work in doing so,” said Discovery CEO Adrian Gore in an op-ed published in South Africa’s&nbsp;Business Day.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Universities and other large businesses in South Africa have followed suit.&nbsp;



Worldwide, the implementation&nbsp;or announcement of mandates&nbsp;have&nbsp;seen backlash and protests.&nbsp;The Biden administration in the United States has seen setbacks recently, with federal courts halting attempts to roll&nbsp;out vaccine mandates for healthcare workers and federal government contractors.&nbsp;&nbsp;



In Australia, thousands in Melbourne protested outside Parliament House yesterday as a wide-reaching vaccine mandate was implemented, with many workers in public service leaving their uniforms on the steps of the House in protest against the mandate.    Similar protests have occurred throughout the globe, including South Africa, which has seen anti-vaccination protestors demonstrate outside healthcare and government facilities over the last year.    With COVID-19 cases growing globally and uncertainty around the impact of the Omicron variant, it remains to be seen whether vaccine mandates will be able to be successfully implemented, and if they will contribute successfully to the fight against the pandemic.

Vaccination centers in South Africa continue administering Covid-19 vaccines

Vaccine Mandates – ‘No Jab, No Work’ May Become Reality Amid Omicron Fears

A new variant of Covid-19 has been detected in South Africa, with its degree of mutation causing waves of concern worldwide and triggering travel restrictions over fears that the variant may be more transmissible and deadly.  



A new variant of the Covid-19&nbsp;coronavirus&nbsp;has been detected in South Africa, and shows alarming degrees of mutation, causing a new series of travel bans that will impact the African continent as concern grows around the variant’s transmissibility and ability to resist vaccines.&nbsp; &nbsp; The new variant, currently termed B.1.1.529, has been identified in South Africa, Botswana and in Hong Kong. The variant is expected to receive an official designation from the World&nbsp;Health&nbsp;Organization&nbsp;in line with other variants during the course of&nbsp;today,&nbsp;November&nbsp;26.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &#8220;Initially it looked like some cluster outbreaks, but from yesterday, the indication came from our scientists from the Network of Genomic Surveillance that they were observing a new variant,&#8221; said South African minister of Health Joe&nbsp;Phaahla&nbsp;yesterday during a press conference discussing the variant.&nbsp;&nbsp;



&nbsp; During the briefing, genomic scientists highlighted that the variant has an unusually high number of mutations, with over 30 in the spike protein of the virus itself, which plays a determining factor in the virus’ ability to enter the body and a key target of vaccines themselves.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; “The variant has a very high number of mutations,” said Professor Tulio de Oliveira of the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa, which first detected the variant. “We can see that the variant is potentially spreading very fast. We do expect to start seeing pressure in the healthcare system in the next few days and weeks,” he continued.&nbsp; &nbsp; The detection of the new variant has led to an increase in travel restrictions, with the United Kingdom announcing a temporary suspension of all flights from South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, eSwatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana from Friday&nbsp;amid concerns around the variant. Israel too has imposed similar restrictions, with the addition of Mozambique to its list of restricted countries.&nbsp;These bans are a hard hit for the South African tourism industry, which has&nbsp;already&nbsp;suffered greatly due to the pandemic.&nbsp;&nbsp;



With 77 confirmed cases of the new variant in&nbsp;the country’s&nbsp;Gauteng&nbsp;province,&nbsp;according to official National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) data, there are indications that most of the recent spike in cases are due to the new variant, but it’s still too early to say whether the variant is more transmissible than the Delta variant, or to what degree it is able to bypass immunization.&nbsp;&nbsp;



&nbsp; South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to meet with the National Command Council on Sunday to assess the implications of the variant.&nbsp;&nbsp;



&#8220;Alongside vaccination, the wearing of face masks, frequent washing or sanitation of hands, keeping a social distance and the avoidance of gatherings remain a proven, effective means of stopping or slowing the spread of coronavirus infection. The virus has not been eradicated and vaccination protects us from serious illness, hospitalization or death,&#8221; the office of the presidency said in a press release.&nbsp; &nbsp; However, with the holiday season fast approaching, it remains to be seen whether the South African tourism economy will recover from further travel restrictions, and whether increased lockdown measures will be imposed in South Africa.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Biden Administration Reinstates COVID Travel Ban For Non-US Residents

New Covid-19 Variant Detected In South Africa Triggers Fresh Wave Of Travel Bans Ahead Of Holiday Season

Alon Lits, the former General Manager of Uber in sub-Saharan Africa, is giving new direction to the digital marketplace with a mental health support app named Panda. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large">“The regulation that governs transport is often outdated – it predates smartphones. It’s never contemplated a world where you can use a smartphone to tap a button and get a car – regulation lags innovation.” </blockquote>



If you’ve followed the evolution of the gig&nbsp;economy in South Africa,&nbsp;it’s hard not to have come across&nbsp;Alon Lits’&nbsp;name.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The first Director and&nbsp;General&nbsp;Manager of Uber in&nbsp;sub-Saharan Africa,&nbsp;Lits&nbsp;joined&nbsp;the multinational mobility service provider in&nbsp;its&nbsp;earlier years of expansion, and now&nbsp;brings his expertise and skills to a new venture aimed at combating mental health through an app called Panda.&nbsp; &nbsp; Lits is eloquent in describing his&nbsp;professional history, which began with his tertiary training in actuarial science, before moving into the venture capital space&nbsp;after obtaining an MBA.&nbsp;However&nbsp;challenging the work, Lits found himself looking to pursue a greater passion after working&nbsp;with&nbsp;V-Prime&nbsp;Investments,&nbsp;which&nbsp;was&nbsp;focused on micro-insurance opportunities.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Lits was approached by Uber&nbsp;to take over as the General Manager of&nbsp;southern Africa in 2013, at a time where Uber’s innovation globally was being&nbsp;recognized&nbsp;– making&nbsp;USA&nbsp;Today’s Tech Company of the Year – but still a far cry from the transport conglomerate we know it to be today.&nbsp; &nbsp; Lits reported&nbsp;directly to then-CEO Ryan&nbsp;Graves, with one objective&nbsp;–&nbsp;growth.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“In my first six months with the company,&nbsp;he [Graves] just said to me, he wants us to be doing 2,000 trips a week in Johannesburg… but the growth that we saw, at our peaks,&nbsp;we had millions of riders and over 60,000 drivers using the app… You can imagine the scale that we had across the continent…” says Lits.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Valid controversy surrounds the spread of the so-called ‘gig economy model’ and&nbsp;Lits&nbsp;talks&nbsp;to the fact that in South Africa,&nbsp;the old way of giving people jobs is not working.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“We need new innovative ways to provide people with income-earning opportunities,” says Lits, while acknowledging both the flexibility that gig work provides and some of its risks – as well as the steps that companies such as Uber have taken to mitigate&nbsp;them, but that legislation needs to play its role as well.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“The regulation that governs transport is often outdated – it predates smartphones. It’s never contemplated a world where you can use a smartphone to tap a button and get a car – regulation lags innovation.”&nbsp;



Innovation is where Lits thrives, bringing his experience with both distributed work marketplaces and data analytics to bear with initiatives such as Aura, which offers on-demand emergency service responses across the country and is beginning to expand into international markets.    However, it’s Lits’ latest project, the Panda app, which gives him the most excitement, bringing the same expertise and data to the mental health space. With his co-founder and partner Allan Sweidan, who previously co-founded and ran the Akeso Group of Psychiatric Hospitals, he aims through Panda to assist some of the 80% of South Africans who lack easy access to mental health services.     “My wife’s a clinical psychologist,” says Lits, “My mom’s a social worker… so I’ve always been surrounded by experts in the space and have a huge amount of inner admiration for the work that they&#8217;re doing, the impact that they have in this world. Panda presented this unique opportunity to try and do something in the space.”    Panda does this through both specialist and community-based mental health support – users can engage with others who are facing similar challenges, which focus on specific loci such as depression, anxiety, financial stressors, amongst other categories. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large">“My wife’s a clinical psychologist. My mom’s a social worker… so I’ve always been surrounded by experts in the space and have a huge amount of inner admiration for the work that they&#8217;re doing, the impact that they have in this world. Panda presented this unique opportunity to try and do something in the space.” </blockquote>



   Direct access to validated scientific tools through the app also allow for users to monitor their mental health and wellbeing over time, allowing users to track their progress and development. Most crucially, the app also allows for direct access to chat sessions with verified mental health professionals.    



“…there&#8217;s definitely a marketplace first and foremost with Panda&#8230;&nbsp;So&nbsp;this is where I think that&nbsp;the&nbsp;Uber experience becomes relevant.&nbsp;So,&nbsp;we&#8217;ve contracted with a few different mental health professionals who will be running sessions every&nbsp;day from 10AM&nbsp;until&nbsp;10PM,” says Lits. The app&nbsp;“soft-launched”&nbsp;as&nbsp;free,&nbsp;but will look to making some features&nbsp;paid&nbsp;from 2022.&nbsp; &nbsp; Incorporating data analytics into the mental health support space seems a natural progression for Lits, and Panda seems set to grow while providing valuable support to South Africans in dire need of assistance.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;



“We’re really trying to make mental healthcare and support more accessible by leveraging&nbsp;technology… to get data in real time and inform decision-making. How can we leverage data to ensure that there&#8217;s an individual who&#8217;s dealing with anxiety,&nbsp;who&nbsp;went to a particular session with a particular expert, and was helped and started feeling better after that?”&nbsp;



From the ride-hailing business&nbsp;to&nbsp;technology&nbsp;driving&nbsp;awareness about&nbsp;a matter so&nbsp;critical in a pandemic world, the journey has begun.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

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The Man Aiming To Make South Africa Feel Better

A huge blast that seems to have been aimed at a United Nations convoy has left at least eight people dead and several wounded in the Somali capital, with armed group Al-Shabab claiming responsibility.  



A deadly&nbsp;explosion has torn through the capital city of Mogadishu, Somalia, leaving at least eight&nbsp;people dead and many wounded&nbsp;according to local officials and news reports.&nbsp; &nbsp; The bombing occurred outside a local&nbsp;school and comes at a time when&nbsp;the country is navigating election&nbsp;difficulties and suffering a massive drought.&nbsp;



The attack seems to have targeted&nbsp;a convoy&nbsp;that provides security for United Nations operations in the area.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The Al-Qaeda&nbsp;associated Islamist extremist group Al-Shabab&nbsp;has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack, according&nbsp;to&nbsp;a news website associated with the group, with the objective being to target Western officials being escorted by convoy.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; Police spokesperson&nbsp;Abdifatah&nbsp;Aden Hassan confirmed&nbsp;to local reporters that&nbsp;at least eight deaths and 17&nbsp;wounded in the blast.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; Al-Shabab&nbsp;has increased the frequency of their attacks in Somalia in recent months, coming at a time when the African Union mandated peacekeeping force was supposed to withdraw from the country&nbsp;– however, this may be extended given the degree of instability and possibility of further challenges to the long-delayed presidential vote.&nbsp;

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Bombing Outside Mogadishu School Leaves 8 Dead

Two explosions, believed to have been from bombs, have struck the Ugandan capital of Kampala, leaving what appears to be at least two casualties.



Twin bomb blasts have rocked the Ugandan capital of Kampala this morning, leaving at least two confirmed dead and many injured, according to local news reports. The explosions, one of which occurred outside a nearby police station and the other close to the parliamentary building, caused cars in the proximity to go up in flames. Eyewitness videos posted on social media appear to show at least two bodies, with ambulances arriving as bomb experts began to comb the scene behind a police cordon. No official casualty numbers are confirmed, nor has a statement been issued by authorities yet. 



<h4 id="h-this-is-a-developing-story">This is a developing story.</h4>

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Twin Bomb Blasts Rock Ugandan Capital

NFTs have been making waves in the art world, with recent high-profile pieces selling for millions of dollars and high-profile art auctioneers participating in the sales. However, many see the main benefits of NFTs in allowing transparency of ownership and royalties for the artists. One online South African art fair is in agreement, and launched their own NFT offering this week.



Imagine a world where artists earn royalties for every sale of their work in perpetuity, a world where ownership of a piece’s history is public record? With the advent of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) transforming the art world globally, that reality is here, and South African art and artists are entering the NFT game along with museums, and looking to transform the way art is bought and sold forever. Confused by what an NFT is? First, we need to understand what is termed ‘the blockchain’, on which NFTs are built. Here’s a simple analogy; your bank processes all transactions between yourself and others, and keeps track of your account balance and those of thousands of others. It also talks to other banks which do the same thing. Now imagine that these transactions are public, and being managed by thousands of different computers across the world – that’s the blockchain. An NFT is a symbol or representation of something that’s unique; imagine you own a jacket for 10 years. You could buy a new jacket of the same make and the same size etc, but it wouldn’t be the exact one you’ve had for 10 years – that’s an NFT. The proof of these transactions and the contracts of sale are built into the blockchain itself, so they can be verified independently.



Think this is too complicated? You’re not alone.



“I’m clueless but excited,” says Koos Groenewald, one half of Jana + Koos, an art and design duo who are participating in South African online art fair Latitudes’ first NFT offering. “It’s like an internal combustion engine. You don’t need to understand how internal combustion works in order to benefit from it.” Latitudes aims to be “the first African marketplace for art-focused NFTs”, and made their first offering in the space yesterday with their Made it to the life raft collection, which offers silk scarves for sale online by eight South African artists. The first 25 people to purchase each scarf receive a free NFT with their purchase. “You can’t really be in the art world right now and not be thinking about NFTs,” says Roberta Coci, Latitudes co-founder in an interview with FORBES AFRICA. In South Africa, some in the art world are excited by the possibilities that NFTs represent, particularly due to the ability to implement what are termed “smart-contracts”, essentially terms of sale or re-sale that are built into the artwork, which have strong implications for authenticity verification and royalties. NFTs in the artworld have hit mainstream news over the last year, with several high-profile sales garnering millions of dollars – today, around 5% of major sales at auction houses such as Sotheby’s and Christies being made up from NFT sales. (Art Market Research, 2021).



Latitudes started examining the space earlier this year. Originally founded as a highly-successful physical art fair which aimed to promote a platform where artists, galleries and independents could come together on an equal playing field, hosting another physical art fair was hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Like many others in the industry, Latitudes made the move online. “We launched [latitudes.online] in July 2020 with around 350 artists. Now we are closer to 900 and growing nicely and quickly – we’re basically a third-party marketplace with galleries, artists, curators… as long as you have good art to sell you can bring it on to the platform,” says Coci.



Partnering with NFT experts and social marketplace Momint for the implementation, culminated in yesterday’s ‘soft launch’ of Latitudes’ NFT offering. This democratized ethos fits in well with the benefits that NFTs can bring to the art world; increased transparency of art origination and ownership, as well as perpetual royalties for the artist even after the first sale – preventing the phenomenon of people “flipping” an artwork. “The main gamechanger is that ownership rests with the artists, that you can build the royalties into the smart contract… this way, every time a work is sold, the artist will receive royalties,” says Coci.”Ultimately, it’s a very practical application in the end.”



And indeed, even though the concept of NFTs can be confusing and misunderstood due to the novelty of the technology, participating artists clearly see the possibility of benefits.



“The royalties – they’re sure exciting for me… especially with digital and moving pictures in art. A print is tangible, but if something’s intangible it doesn’t hold the same value. NFTs are bringing up the value of intangible work – and it’s very exciting,” says Groenewald. While Latitudes is amongst the first online art fairs to make an NFT offering, Cape Town-based art Gallery WorldArt also presented an NFT sale earlier this year.



“This is a ground-breaking development in the art world. I am particularly thrilled that this mechanism guarantees artists royalties when their artworks are resold,” says gallery owner Charl Bezuidenhout. Museums, and even rhino-conservation efforts are moving into the space, with a tokenized pen-gun owned by South African anti-apartheid activist OR Tambo and a digital rhino horn going on sale in the weeks to come. “We are still at the early-adopter stage,” says Coci, “But once the hype dies down, we’ll begin to see the real value that NFTs offer.”

NFT CryptoArt displays in art gallery

How The South African Art World Is Entering The NFT Space

Despite hotly-contested campaigning across many municipalities, less than half of the registered voters turned up to cast their ballots at the 2021 South African local elections. The poor delivery of essential services was cited by many as a reason. 



On November 1,&nbsp;South Africans gathered at polling stations&nbsp;set up&nbsp;in schools, churches and municipal buildings across the country&nbsp;to cast their votes in the 2021 local government elections, which determine the councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in the country.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; In&nbsp;Hitekani&nbsp;Primary School in&nbsp;Chiawelo,&nbsp;Soweto, South Africa’s oldest township and where&nbsp;South African President Cyril&nbsp;Ramaphosa&nbsp;of the ruling African National Congress&nbsp;later&nbsp;arrived to cast his ballot, primarily elderly voters&nbsp;stood in line&nbsp;in the bristling sun even as the suburb suffered power cuts&nbsp;– one of the key concerns highlighted by protestors&nbsp;in the area earlier in the day,&nbsp;perhaps because&nbsp;they&nbsp;were aware of where the President would cast his vote.&nbsp; &nbsp; A&nbsp;Reuters&nbsp;report says that “early results from South Africa’s local elections on Tuesday gave the ruling African National Congress (ANC) 46% of the vote, with results in from just over a quarter of polling stations nationwide”.&nbsp;



As results begin to trickle in&nbsp;– the final&nbsp;announcement&nbsp;is on November 4 –&nbsp;the Independent Electoral Commission&nbsp;(IEC)&nbsp;said&nbsp;that voter turnout stood at 8 million (the total number of registered voters is 26.2 million).&nbsp;&nbsp;



This is reportedly&nbsp;the lowest voter turnout since South Africa became a democracy.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; “Service delivery!&nbsp;Service delivery!” chanted members in&nbsp;ActionSA&nbsp;t-shirts outside of&nbsp;the school, as&nbsp;Ramaphosa&nbsp;arrived to cast his own ballot&nbsp;amidst a massive security presence.&nbsp;As snipers&nbsp;watched&nbsp;from nearby rooftops,&nbsp;many&nbsp;in the crowd booed – as the president&nbsp;alighted from his&nbsp;vehicle –&nbsp;highlighting their&nbsp;dissatisfaction about being&nbsp;without running water or reliable electricity in the country, and the failure of their municipalities to deliver these services.&nbsp; &nbsp; While attempting to keep an optimistic outlook,&nbsp;Ramaphosa&nbsp;seemed to&nbsp;acknowledge&nbsp;the need to address these concerns, in particular, since many of the most poorly-run municipalities have fallen under the&nbsp;governance of the ANC.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; “The least we can do is to go and explain to our people, and tell them why we are not able to do it [resolve issues]… I would like whoever wins to actually make sure that municipal service delivery is done differently from what we have done before,” said&nbsp;Ramaphosa&nbsp;at&nbsp;a press conference shortly after casting his ballot.&nbsp;&nbsp;



At the&nbsp;three polling stations&nbsp;that FORBES AFRICA&nbsp;visited, the voters were predominantly&nbsp;young – and&nbsp;anecdotal&nbsp;numbers indeed seemed&nbsp;to reflect the low voter turnout reported by the IEC.&nbsp;



“We want all these problems that we have to get better,” said one of the&nbsp;young registered voters&nbsp;to FORBES AFRICA, who did not want to be named. “I vote because I want things to be different.” When asked if&nbsp;many of their friends or peers had voted, they answered&nbsp;that none had.&nbsp;



While some voting stations were closed due to protest action and with&nbsp;reports of ballot shortages in some areas, these were few and far between and don’t account for the low turnout.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; The IEC refused to speculate on the reasons for the&nbsp;apparently&nbsp;low numbers. “We would like at this stage to remain as scientific as possible,” said IEC Chairperson Glen&nbsp;Mashinini&nbsp;during a media briefing the night of the elections. “We still have to see and hear what observers have to say. It might&nbsp;be early stages for the Commission to make&nbsp;opinions and analysis&#8230; So it’s not that we’re not noting whether this raises matters of confidence or no confidence.”&nbsp;



Today, on November 2,&nbsp;state power utility Eskom announced unexpectedly the possibility of further electricity cuts, and the residents of&nbsp;Chiawelo&nbsp;remain without power.&nbsp;&nbsp;



&nbsp; “We know what the problems are,” said&nbsp;Ramaphosa. “The problems are clear. And we have said that this time round we want to correct what has not been going well.”&nbsp;

1 November 2021 FORBES (1 of 1)

South Africa’s Low Numbers At Local Polls Amid Voter Concerns

As I traveled through Lesotho on assignment, I was struck by the resilience, innovation and hospitality of its people despite the land-locked kingdom being affected badly by the Covid-19 pandemic. 



Travel is something of a luxury&nbsp;in life, more so&nbsp;during&nbsp;the pandemic – and while as a journalist and photographer,&nbsp;I was fortunate to be in the field for most of the lockdowns, I did feel very privileged leaving&nbsp;Johannesburg to Lesotho&nbsp;by road&nbsp;at 5AM&nbsp;last Monday, for what would be my first cross-border trip in over a year.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; If you haven’t been to Lesotho, here’s a travel brochure summary;&nbsp;it’s a small kingdom with a population of some two million, entirely surrounded by some of the most beautiful mountainous scenery in this world and to both its benefit and detriment, South Africa.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Populated primarily by the Basotho people, anyone familiar with South Africa would find themselves very much at home, but also notice subtle differences.     Crossing the border is a painless but expensive process. Entering Lesotho requires a negative PCR test, which costs around $60, and is valid for 72 hours. I was in the country for a few days and required another test before leaving.    Once through the Maseru bridge border post, you are greeted with the capital city itself, a bustling, vibrant town reminiscent of the provincial capitals in South Africa. Street vendors ply their wares, taxis overtake at speed but with a friendly wave, and none of the traffic lights are functional, which made for a perilous drive to my accommodation. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Forbes-Lesotho-2-of-2-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-53119" width="748" height="499" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Forbes-Lesotho-2-of-2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Forbes-Lesotho-2-of-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Forbes-Lesotho-2-of-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Forbes-Lesotho-2-of-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Forbes-Lesotho-2-of-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px" /><figcaption>Photographs: Yeshiel Panchia</figcaption></figure></div>



“It’s been a hard year,” said Khethisa, a security guard who works at the Avani Hotel, in which I stayed during my time in the capital. “Covid has taken away many jobs. Things are getting a bit better now.”    As with almost everywhere else in the world, the lockdowns aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19 had an incredibly detrimental impact on Lesotho’s economy, with its most recently reported unemployment rate at 23.9% as of 2019. Data isn’t readily available from during the pandemic, but it can be readily assumed to be much worse.    Despite this, the welcome in Lesotho is always warm and friendly. Humanist approaches to business appear to merge seamlessly with hustle; in a stationery store in Pioneer Mall in Maseru, a person is employed to sanitize and check the temperature of everyone on entry. Another person is employed to check receipts for sales theft or errors. Sales personnel abound. Despite wages not being high and many of these jobs being easily automated, Lesotho seems to have a high reliance on people, not machines, to provide many functions – and with each of these comes a wage.    Wandering through the nearby central market, everything from second-hand clothing to illicit cigarettes are on sale, and every vendor is pushing their wares. Groups of people play a musical game in the sun around the taxi rank where money is thrown at a speaker while music plays – each participant then dances closer to the money. If you are touching the money when the music stops, the pot is yours. In none of those hours of walking or photographing was there any sense of unsafety – markedly different from Johannesburg.     Moving out of the city and into the Lesotho highlands you are greeted by arresting panoramic views – rolling hills, now green since the end of a brutal drought in 2016. Sheep graze on the steppes, while herdsmen in traditional blankets and balaclavas on foot or on horseback stand watchfully, reminiscent of my last trip into the country, where I covered the traditional horseraces in Semonkong.    This journey into the mountains and a chance meeting in Maseru also led to another story of innovation and rejuvenation in this small nation, battered by Covid-19.  



A company called MG Health, a medical cannabis manufacturer, has become the first country in Africa to obtain a&nbsp;Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)&nbsp;license from Germany, allowing the export of their product&nbsp;into that&nbsp;country.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; The licensing is a massive task, and the&nbsp;growery&nbsp;itself, nestled in one of the quietest parts of the mountains, is looking to expand&nbsp;its&nbsp;production massively. Making use of&nbsp;cutting-edge&nbsp;technological advancements,&nbsp;and building the business hand in hand with the community, Director Andre Bothma is pioneering&nbsp;in both the literal and economic sense&nbsp;in the remotest part of Lesotho, providing community infrastructure and employment in a region that sorely needs it.&nbsp; &nbsp; “My vision here is that we are going to create thousands of jobs. We have the potential of making a difference to the country here,” says Bothma.&nbsp; &nbsp; I’d say more on this, but it’s a story in its own right and one for&nbsp;another&nbsp;day, but I think these vignettes accurately reflect the hospitality, resilience and warmth of Lesotho and its people. There was a sense of loss on the drive back toward the border, and I would have loved to have had the time to explore the relationships and stories that seemed to lurk on every&nbsp;street corner.&nbsp; &nbsp; On arriving at South African Customs and Immigration, I was confronted with the usual confusion of where to go and what process to follow. As my passport was stamped, I do wish I’d stayed&nbsp;on&nbsp;in Lesotho.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Forbes Lesotho (1 of 2)

Highlands, Hustle, And Humanism: A Road Trip To Lesotho

With new Covid-19 variants being identified, FORBES AFRICA speaks to renowned bioinformatician Professor Tulio de Oliveira of KRISP to discuss South Africa’s role at the forefront in variant identification, and why there is hope on the horizon.



PROFESSOR TULIO DE OLIVEIRA is director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) in South Africa, and at the coalface of research to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.



He is known for leading the team that first identified the Beta variant of the virus in December 2020 – the same team has identified another new variant currently termed C.1.2 here in South Africa.



Currently, the Variant of Concern dominating the rise in cases globally is the Delta variant, which has allowed massively increased transmissibility. Another Variant of Interest is the Mu, which is being closely followed by the World Health Organization (WHO).



Q. What is the difference between a Variant of Interest and a Variant of Concern?



A. When we look at variants, we as scientists keep a close eye on these changes because the mutations mean that it might have increased neutralization of vaccines, or for example be transmitted more quickly and take over. A Variant of Interest is one that we are interested in looking at because it’s a variant that seems to be growing, but it’s not definitive – the Lambda variant in Peru for example. The spread of this variant was relatively slow so it wasn’t upgraded to a Variant of Concern.



A Variant of Concern is the next stage in that mutations that a variant might have is allowing it to grow very quickly – such as the Alpha in Western Europe during the second wave, the Delta Variant here in South Africa, which is dominating the third wave of infections.



The new Mu variant has been identified as a Variant of Interest, but potentially, it may not become a Variant of Concern because it seems to be not as transmissible.



We also monitor lineages which you can think of as a third category; there are thousands and thousands of these, but we don’t define them as a variant because they are not spreading very fast.



We have a handful of lineages around the world being examined – such as C.1.2 – and if these progress, they will then become a Variant of Interest, then Variant of Concern.



Q. There are a number of Covid-19 variants around and many seem to be identified in South Africa – what is the reason for this?



A. We have variants identified for a few reasons. One is that you see more variants when there are higher levels of transmission. For example, no variants have



originated in New Zealand and Australia because their transmission rates are so low.



Another reason is virus transmission in immune-compromised individuals – we saw this in the Alpha variant in the United Kingdom with variants in cancer patients.



There is a similar suspicion that this might be the case with the Beta variant and C.1.2. in South Africa due to HIV [prevalence] – because someone’s immune system is already so low, once they are infected with Covid-19, this infection could last in them for a hundred days and the virus could evolve.



Obviously, another reason we think plays a role is the rate of vaccination – people who are vaccinated will clear the virus much more quickly so there is less likelihood of mutation.



Our ability to detect variants and identify them in South Africa is also because we have excellent funding and infrastructure for genomic surveillance. We have a history of TB, HIV – we’ve learned that this surveillance is very important in identifying the source of an epidemic and intervention. We have experience in working with epidemics and strong support for science and innovation – some of the best examples in the world are Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and South Africa.



Q. If you had a message for people reading this, what would that be? 



A. The main message I would have is that we should increase our rate of vaccination. We should also improve our HIV treatment program to make sure people who get infected can clear the infection.



It’s quite simple. You’ve got to know the enemy in order to fight. It’s important to identify the variants that spread more quickly so we can inform governments and guide the public health response. If a variant isn’t identified here, it will be identified when it is found somewhere else, and that can be even more damaging.

Pro de Oliveira

‘Know The Enemy In Order To Fight’

With depression spiraling in a pandemic world, South African researchers receive seed funding for an online mental health screening app that speeds access to diagnosis and treatment. Health workers in this sector say those asking for help has increased by 160%. 



The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a massive toll on the mental health of people globally, as recent research has shown. The combination of public health actions such as physical distancing that have lessened social interactions and the additional economic stress amongst other factors have meant that many are experiencing increased mental health challenges. South African researchers are now developing an innovative, validated online tool to help people recognize and seek treatment for depression. 



PhD candidate Tasneem&nbsp;Hassem&nbsp;of the University of the Witwatersrand&nbsp;in Johannesburg, along with co-founder&nbsp;Professor Sumaya Laher,&nbsp;have&nbsp;been awarded almost $7,000 in seed funding to further&nbsp;develop and&nbsp;commercialize&nbsp;the tool,&nbsp;aimed at allowing users to more easily&nbsp;recognize&nbsp;and obtain treatment for depression, particularly within the South African context, where low mental health awareness and access to mental health services can still be a challenge.&nbsp; &nbsp; “Unfortunately, low awareness of the symptoms of depression means that many people do not know when they are depressed. During our research and through interviews with stakeholders, we determined that an online screening tool would help raise awareness of depression, reduce the stigma and facilitate quality conversations between people and health professionals”&nbsp;says&nbsp;Hassem&nbsp;to FORBES AFRICA.&nbsp;



&nbsp; According to a recent&nbsp;report&nbsp;in&nbsp;The Lancet&nbsp;which&nbsp;assessed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health in 204 countries, anxiety and depressive disorders increased by some 25%&nbsp;across the countries sampled, with South Africa seeing one of the highest rates of increase worldwide.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; “The emergence&nbsp;of the Covid-19 pandemic has created an environment where many determinants of poor mental health are exacerbated,” the study continued.&nbsp;&nbsp;



This is&nbsp;confirmed in the South African context by the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), a mental health services and advocacy organization.&nbsp;



“We know that the mental health impact during Covid&nbsp;has been immense&nbsp;– we’ve seen that at SADAG,” says&nbsp;Cassey Chambers, SADAG’s operations coordinator, to FORBES AFRICA.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Just from January&nbsp;this year, we received over 466,000 calls to our helplines. One in every five calls is a suicide-related issue.&nbsp;And that’s still a conservative figure. Our call volumes from pre-Covid [to this year]&nbsp;has&nbsp;increased by 160%. Covid&nbsp;has definitely impacted mental health, it’s definitely added to more depression, more anxiety, added to people’s mental health issues… Covid&nbsp;has definitely increased the mental health impact.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



Ensuring&nbsp;mental health tools&nbsp;are relevant to&nbsp;the context and location in which they will be used is a crucial part of ethical and successful interventions, which was a critical focus of&nbsp;Hassem’s&nbsp;research and piloting of the app, with the guidance of healthcare professionals.&nbsp; &nbsp; “Adapting the tool was challenging as we had to consider various factors such as the ethical principles associated with online mental health screening, cultural appropriateness, content validity of the items as well as the fact that&nbsp;a&nbsp;majority of potential tool users are not first-language English speakers,” says&nbsp;Hassem.&nbsp;



The tool’s development funding comes through the University of the Witwatersrand’s Prospector course which aims to foster and develop promising entrepreneurial ideas in research – with&nbsp;Hassem’s&nbsp;proposal securing funding over seven other proposals, with the project being&nbsp;of possibly high value in South Africa, where mental health resources are extremely&nbsp;limited, with some four mental health spaces per 100,000 members of the population, and just 0.97 psychologists for the same number.&nbsp;



“What is exciting in this instance is that the tool developed by&nbsp;Ms&nbsp;Hassem&nbsp;and Prof&nbsp;Laher has significant potential to support our communities&nbsp;in an illness that is prevalent, yet difficult to diagnose and treat not least&nbsp;because of the unfortunate stigma associated with it. Innovation must meet the real needs of our citizens, and it’s not just about profits,”&nbsp;comments&nbsp;Ela Romanowska, Director of Innovation Support at Wits Enterprise, which supports the initiative.&nbsp;



&nbsp; “Our tool is specifically adapted to capture the unique depression symptoms experienced by South African individuals. The user receives instant, downloadable feedback that provides resources for seeking treatment or care and can be used in the comfort of one’s home, on any smartphone, tablet, laptop or computer,” explains&nbsp;Hassem.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Three woman holding their mobile phones outside and looking at the screens

‘One In Every Five Calls Suicide-Related’: New Tech To Treat Depression In South Africa

With the recent launch of its vaccine certification program, and increased travel demand from the United Kingdom, South Africa hopes for a sustained recovery of the tourism industry.



South Africans who wish to travel internationally or gain access to certain establishments now can obtain a vaccination certificate, providing them valid proof of vaccination status.



South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had announced the vaccination certificate program in a televised national address two weeks ago.



The certificates were officially launched late last week with the online system stable and functioning as of today. The system allows fully vaccinated individuals to enter their personal details and Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) code, which is then processed and allows the user to download a final, digital Covid-19 vaccination certificate. At a press briefing on Friday last week, Minister of Health Joe Phaahla said the certificates will be a “tool to enable vaccinated people to access opportunities that service providers will make available in sport and recreation, for discounts, prizes, entertainment and music festivals”. While the Department of Health has not indicated exactly what the certificates will be used for within the country, the rollout coincides with the removal of South Africa from the United Kingdom’s ‘red list’ list for travel, once again allowing nationals and travelers from the country to re-enter South Africa without expensive quarantine should they be able to provide their proof of vaccination. “It’s good that the UK finally came to its senses and removed South Africa from the red list… we are now seeing an increased level of interest from the UK into South Africa,” says the CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, to FORBES AFRICA.



The South African government concurred. “We are delighted to see the UK restrictions on travel to South Africa lifted, following a successful vaccine rollout in South Africa, and continued decline in new Covid-19 cases” said Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu in a press statement.



South Africa’s issuing of vaccination certificates for travel is in line with the actions of other nations such as Canada and Australia, which are either planning or already implementing trial versions of similar vaccine passports.



With at least a third of all South African adults having received one vaccine dose, hope is high that with reduced Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations, as well as the easing of travel restrictions, the tourism industry is on the path to recovery. ‘We are seeing the airlines booking slots,” says Tshivhengwa. “We are seeing tours being rebooked, and many other things that are starting to come into play in terms of the demand. We just hope that it’s sustainable, and we have to work on its sustainability to make sure that there is longevity in terms of this demand.”

close up hand of doctor put label covid-19 vaccine sticker on vaccination certificate card and passport

South Africa: A Shot At Travel And Passport To Tourism Recovery?

As FORBES AFRICA turns a decade old in October, we look at the world’s youngest country that’s also celebrating its 10th year – South Sudan.



FORMED VIA REFERENDUM IN 2011, THE Republic of South Sudan became independent from the Sudan on July 9, 2011, the outcome of Africa’s long-running civil war which lasted over



20 years and saw millions dead due to conflict, drought and starvation, a terrible toll on a nation with a population of just over 11 million.



However, in a country with over 60 indigenous ethnic groups, peace and cohesion was not long-lasting – conflict flared on and off from 2013 until early 2020, where a national unity government was formed. This conflict was partially driven by a need to control the nation’s abundant oil reserves, which are the third-largest in sub-Saharan Africa.



&#8220;I assure you I will not return you back to war again. Let us all work together to&#8230; put our country back to the path of development in this new decade,&#8221; said President Salva Kiir during an independence day speech on July 9 this year.



These oil reserves are critical to South Sudan’s revenue, making up for 98% of the country’s budget. As stability has increased, this year saw the launch of the country’s first oil licensing round in an effort to further explore untapped reserves and engender foreign investment into the nation. South Sudan has also been welcomed into the international community, having joined the African Union, East African Community and United Nations.



The majority of the country is dependent on subsistence farming, with health indicators painting a particularly challenging picture; it has one of the highest infant mortality and the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, primarily due to lack of healthcare infrastructure.



Like most nations around the world, the South Sudanese government enforced a partial lockdown during Covid-19, suspending travel and gatherings.



The international community is ramping up support to assist with Covid-19 treatment, with the first batch of 152,950 Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccines having arrived in the country on September 14, the third vaccine shipment to date. The World Health Organization and UNICEF have also entered into a partnership to increase essential health service capacity and public health services alongside vaccine rollout to the amount of $53.5 million.



Financing from the African Development Fund has also allowed for the installation of the first local oxygen production plant, in the capital’s Juba Teaching Hospital, as part of efforts to assist in combating the pandemic.



“With a generation capacity of 2,500 liters per day and the ability to refill around 72 D-type oxygen cylinders daily, the plant will be a centralized production and supply hub for remote locations,” African Development Bank and WHO said in a statement.



The country’s nationals feature prominently in both sport and music, where South Sudan definitely punches above its weight, seeing world-renowned players in global football leagues as well as the NBA (National Basketball Association). Prominent musicians include Reggae/Dancehall artist and DJ Dynamq, and former child soldier turned musician and activist Emmanuel Jal, two of many who have broken onto the international stage.



While having suffered a challenging first decade, peace seems to be holding in South Sudan for now, and with it, hope for the future.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="526" height="456" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screenshot-2021-10-07-at-14.59.43.png" alt="" class="wp-image-52759" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screenshot-2021-10-07-at-14.59.43.png 526w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screenshot-2021-10-07-at-14.59.43-300x260.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 526px) 100vw, 526px" /></figure></div>

Author: Yeshiel Panchia

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA