Innovation, education and inspiration are at the core of the AFRICA2MOON PROJECT, soon set to showcase the potential of the continent for deep-space exploration.



Africa’s space exploration ambitions could take a giant leap forward in April with its first moon mission and, potentially, its first lunar radio telescope.



Called the Africa2Moon project, it awaits an announcement on the final payload selection for China’s Chang’e 8 mission (to explore the lunar south pole) scheduled to launch in 2028.



The Africa2Moon project’s first mission aims to deploy four antennae near the lunar south pole, according to Dr Adriana Marais, Director at the Foundation for Space Development Africa, and the Head of Science for Africa2Moon. “[This will be] paving the way for a larger future mission to deploy an array of 54 antennae on the lunar far side, representing each of Africa’s nations,” she adds.



The project is focused on a low-cost, low-mass, low-frequency array of BALLS (Bounced African Lunar Low Spheres) or spherical antenna systems, as Marais explains it, that will work together to investigate a region of space–frequencies below 10 MHz–mostly undetectable from our planet.



“Radio emissions from solar bursts, Earth’s aurora, Jupiter, the galaxy’s glow, and also the lunar surface itself, are some of the phenomena that Africa2Moon will attempt to observe,” adds Marais.



Showcasing cooperation on an international scale, the South China Morning Post reported in 2023 that China was planning to offer more space for foreign equipment on its Chang’e 8 mission and that it could carry up to 200kg of it.



Africa’s space ambitions have soared in recent years. As per Space in Africa, a provider of market research, consulting, and data analytics services, African nations budgeted $465.34 million for their space programs in 2024.



“At the Foundation for Space Development Africa, we believe [it] is time for Africa to expand its role in space exploration,” says Marais, adding that “through the power of collaboration, Africa2Moon will serve as a continent-wide in- spiration and enabler for space-related activities; to educate, inspire and pave the way for African scientists to aspire to achieve world-firsts”.



The initiative, which was founded in 2014 by Carla Sharpe Mitchell, who is also the mission director of Africa2Moon, is led by the foundation in collaboration with organizations like the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) and South African National Space Agency (SANSA).



Other names involved in the project include Khutso Ngoasheng as Director of the Foundation for Space Development Africa, Thomas Kusel as Head of Engineering and Hendrik Burger for Space Systems.



Marais, who, as a child, dreamed of exploring other planets, is a theoretical physicist, technologist and advocate for off-world exploration. She is also the founder of Proudly Human, a non-profit volunteer organization, which she set up in 2019. Its Off-World Project is reported as a series of habitation experiments in the most remote and extreme environments on the planet. According to Marais, the project will collect data on groups of experts setting up off-grid infrastructure including shelter, power, water, air, food and communication systems, from scratch, in places such the driest deserts as well as from under the ocean. She adds that the team will live as a research community and prepare for life beyond Earth. It will also allow them to better understand community structures



here on the planet and is expected to “generate exploration-driven innovation and research”. All of this will reportedly be filmed and showcased through a documentary series, titled Mission Off-World.



When it comes to lunar exploration, Marais believes its importance lies in the fact that it reveals our capabilities as humans and contributes to a collective sense of participation and belonging.



“Space exploration gives us a broader perspective of our world, whether we are thinking about the satellites that en- able global communications networks and imagery of the sur- face of our planet, or rovers sending us videos of the surface of Mars. Expanding beyond Earth will further advance our society, also in ways we cannot yet imagine.



“When children living in Africa and all around the world look up at the Moon, we aim to promote a sense of wonder, excitement and participation in this exciting era for human- ity, as we prepare to establish a human presence on the Moon, Mars and beyond.”



Here’s a winner with ambitions beyond earth!&nbsp;Dr Adriana Marais&nbsp;is Director of the Foundation for Space Development Africa and Head of Science for the Foundation’s Africa2Moon Project which is in the running to become Africa’s first mission to the Moon. With a background in theoretical physics and currently a researcher at the University of Stellenbosch, in 2019, she also founded Proudly Human, and has visited some of the harshest and remotest locations on Earth.

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Shooting For The Moon: Africa Mission Near Lunar South Pole Is Close To Launch

Over the past decade, Mauritania has emerged as a region known for its octopus fishery. Can this African desert country, with only 0.5% of arable land and extensive mineral resources, continue to cash in on its coast?



On The extreme northwest corner of the African continent, two nations famous for their arid terrain—Mauritania and Morocco—are enjoying a high tide, thanks to booming prices for their primary oceanic export: octopus. After several down years, following the 2020-21 Covid-19 pandemic, both countries are seeing strong demand for catches of Octopus vulgaris, a species that thrives across a combined 3,000km of Atlantic coastline.



For the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the nation’s official name, that zone stretches out along a shallow continental shelf whose temperatures and salinity are among the best on earth for the eight-armed Cephalopod, which belongs to a family of seafood varieties that include squid, cuttlefish and nautiluses, and whose market prices also are climbing since last summer.



According to a report from trade publication Seafood Media, from August 2024, Mauritania’s octopus prices have skyrocketed by around $500 per ton since the 2024-2025 season opened, with prices for Morocco only slightly behind.



Merchants like Liman Beirouk of Beirouk Fish Trading, a Mauritanian vendor, are savoring the moment.



“Last summer, during the France Olympics, raw octopus was getting almost €15 [$16.18] per kilo at the dock,” he told FORBES AFRICA earlier this month, adding, “we were sell- ing it for twice that amount in Paris”.



Those prices have held up throughout the winter, where weeks of stormy weather kept catches low, effectively raising prices for whatever fishing crews managed to bring to shore. So brisk has the demand been, Beirouk says, that it even made sense to ship frozen octopus by truck, a two-day journey from Africa, costing €6,000 ($6,492) per truckload. Indeed, these are heady times for one of Africa’s least developed countries.



Over the past decade, the country has emerged as a power in the octopus world, thanks not only to Mauritania’s proximity to markets across North Africa and Europe, but also to a special relationship with consumers in Japan, whose fishing expertise propelled Mauritania’s rise among octopus exporters worldwide.



As per Fortune Business Insights, the global seafood market size stood at around $386.73 billion in 2024. According to additional reports, Africa claims less than 5% of this. Yet within that small portion, Mauritania is a giant.



“Fishing now is number one for Mauritania in terms of foreign exchange and employment,” says Isselmou Hmeida, Commercial Director of the Federación Mauritanie des Pêches, the country’s seafood marketing arm.



“Within the industry,” he says, “number one is octopus”.



The country’s rise in octopus fish- ing began around the 1970s, with the Japanese, who were depleting their traditional stock around the island of Hokkaido. They responded by send- ing teams to Africa to teach Japanese harvest techniques to the locals, dropping pots to the ocean floor and trapping octopus much like lobsters.



By the turn of the new century, Mauritania was emerg- ing as an octopus fishery. According to researchers, Assane Dedah Fall and Berchie Asiedu, from 14,000 metric tons in 2006, octopus landings nearly tripled to over 33,000 by 2018. The following year, in 2019, the country’s catch nearly dou- bled, to a record 55,000 tons.



SeaBOS further calculates some 65,000 Mauritanians to- day are actively involved in octopus’ procurement, with an estimated 200,000 more joining the octopus supply chain. Out of a population of just over five million, about one of ev- ery 20 Mauritanians somehow makes a livelihood from the octopus catch.



Yet today, with the world growing hungrier for its catch, Mauritania faces several dilemmas. For one: who should be al- lowed to catch the Octopus vulgaris, and in what quantities? For another: whose needs come first: the fish or the fishermen?



These are not hypothetical concerns. Countries like Mauritania that discover riches just offshore could also find that the temptation to over-produce soon threatens their capacity to produce at all. “For some years now, the octopus fishery has been show- ing signs of depletion as a result of increasing fishing pressure and high levels of exploitation,” Fall and Asiedu concluded in 2024.



“Landings and yields appear to be declining. There are concerns about the sustainability of the octopus stock.”



So, although prices for octopus today are high, an uncertain future looms.



Signs of Mauritania’s decline already can be seen as far away as Japan. “Mauritania is considered number one qual- ity in Japan,” says Eiki Shimizu, CEO of Shimizu Shoten Co. Ltd a fishery product processing business.



“But it’s getting hard to get. More people are demanding more octopus. Prices are going up.” Shimizu says he’s beginning to look for alternatives from South Korea and elsewhere. “Now the supply from Mauritania is changing,” Shimizu tells FORBES AFRICA. “They used to sell us 90% of the catch. Now it’s more like 40%.”



Over-fishing, many claim, has resulted in harvests of smaller-sized fish, which command lower prices from wholesalers. For artisanal fishers, this amounts to a literal race to the bottom as more crews compete for a species that appears to be growing scarcer on West Africa’s coast.



“The majority of the octopus harvested have been smaller in size,” notes Matilde Mereghetti of the London-based industry research publication, Undercurrent News. “This scarcity of larger octopuses has intensified competition among buyers.”



Therein lies Mauritania’s dilemma: how to regulate against overfishing while still allowing Mauritanians a chance to earn a living from the sea.



Mokhtar Ba, for example, runs a company called Kossi Baye Enterprise with 200 fishermen working out of Senegal’s coastal hub of Saint-Louis, which shares land and sea borders with Mauritania. He is a dual citizen of both countries and has his own views on his country’s octopus dilemma. On the one hand, he praises Mauritania for initiating strict harvest rules and for enforcing them. On the other, he recognizes the many ways commercial fisheries can evade those rules. Moreover, Ba says, well over half the workforce hauling seafood along the coast increasingly comes from other African countries, especially Senegal and Nigeria. They are the ones most tempted to flout regulations by fishing in Mauritanian waters but sell- ing their catch elsewhere.



Yet, there are reasons for optimism.



Nicolas Guichoux, Chief Program Officer for the London-based Marine Stewardship Council, has been keeping an eye on Mauritania and holds out hope. “The good news with fishing is that it’s never too late,” he tells FORBES AF- RICA. He points to his organization’s origins, responding in the 1990s to the catastrophic collapse of codfish stocks along the Atlantic’s Grand Banks. What looked like ruin eventually turned to recovery and more sustainable fishing practices. In 2018, Mauritania received funding from a Switzerland-based NGO, the MAVA Foundation, to begin work improving coastal fisheries. The council built what it calls a “pathway project” involving 15 coastal species. Guichoux treats such initiatives as first steps, essentially building technical capacity in advance of an action plan.

Close-up of crab on rock

Tentacle Temptation: Mauritania Is Known For Its Octopus But It’s Not All Smooth Sailing

The island nation is poised to see the farming of aquatic foods thrive, thanks to its historical links and promising location.



The farming of aquatic foods either from tanks on land or within enclosures out on open water—also known as aquaculture—offers a promising response to many of the pitfalls and risks encountered when harvesting wild fish in Africa.



Issues of illegal fishing, overfishing and environmental contamination could be managed under conditions where the enterprise controls inputs–from hatchery to harvest.



In 2018 the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the Blue Growth Initiative aimed at reducing African food insecurity by supporting more productive, responsible and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture sectors.



The FAO’s target countries include Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda.



Ferme Marine de Mahebourg Ltd (FMM), based on the periphery of Africa, on the island of Mauritius, is an innovative fish hatchery located on the east coast near Pointe aux Feuilles, and it could well be a model for what private sector players can bring to the discussion.



The 15-year-old project marries location to opportunity through a network of international treaties as well as Mauritius’ rather unique history as a colony of two European powers. The island—located south of India in the Indian Ocean—also claims a unique mix of heritages: British, French, South Asia, East Asian and, of course, African.



For starters, there is its location of the business, in a lagoon that separates the farm’s nursery from the open sea. That means no pollution from ocean-going vessels, and very few native predators beneath the ocean surface.



“Pure, pure water,” says Alessandro Galioto, FMM’s chief operating operator. “From six cages when we started, we’re doing 112 cages now.”



Then there’s the product, itself. Two hundred tons raised monthly of a single species. American consumers call it Red Fish (the scientific name being Sciaenops ocellatus), known in other areas around the globe as Red Drum, Channel Bass, Tambour Rouge, Corvinon Ocelado and Ombrina Ocellata.



Pierre-Yves Semasse, FMM’s director, notes the species is native to the waters of the Caribbean Sea—Cajun food enthusiasts enjoy the peppery “blackened” recipe served up in New Orleans’ eateries—but its popularity in Africa dates to the 1980s.



That’s when a French government agency began a food-security initiative aimed at some of the country’s overseas assets, including Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Americas and the islands of Réunion, Seychelles, Mayotte, Madagascar extending from Africa’s east coast, then all the way out to Mauritius.



Due to Mauritius’ status as a former French and British colony, shipments of FMM’s Red Fish enjoy favorable import status across Europe. Another break is the daily flights of tourists from Europe mean daily access to cheap back-haul rates on air freight.



“Also, the hotels those tourists go to,” Semasse explains, adding, “We sell our harvested fish there, as well”.



Besides the trade pacts and air routes tying Mauritius to Europe, FMM’s African links are not insignificant, particularly with regards to employment. The company boasts a multinational workforce: divers from Tunisia, processors from Madagascar, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, technicians from Europe and India.



Mauritius is one of 16 members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which helps FMM utilize labor from the continent, when needed.



“I just got authorization for 50 more [workers],” Semasse says.

Fishermen and big tuna fish on the Tamarin beach

Hooked On The Haul: Mauritius Makes Waves In Aquaculture

Traditionally, Africa has been seen as a recipient of global health interventions rather than a leader in medical research, but Uganda’s Ebola vaccine trial is changing that narrative, and represents a major landmark for Africa’s scientific community.



In late January 2025, a nurse at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Uganda collapsed at work, showing symptoms that had been mistaken for malaria. Within days, he was dead. His diagnosis—confirmed only after his passing—was Ebola. His case became the first confirmed fatality in the outbreak, prompting health authorities in Kampala to declare an emergency and move swiftly to contain the virus before it spread further. It was the country’s first Ebola outbreak in two years.



The healthcare worker’s widow, a midwife named Afiya (name changed to protect privacy), was left to care for their two young children alone. She, too, tested positive for Ebola, along with the youngest child. “I was already in shock that my man had died. I thought, now the whole family is going to have Ebola, because I know how it spreads. I felt like God had betrayed me at that moment.” After several weeks in isolation and receiving treatment, Afiya and her one-year-old were discharged from hospital. But they returned to a community that no longer embraced them. Neighbors whispered, pointing at them in the streets, some actively avoided them. Sadly, so did family. “They turned against me,” she laments. “They sent away my people from the funeral, threatening them, telling them that I should never go back because I will get killed. I have not stepped there ever since. It’s been very traumatic.”



In Uganda, as in many parts of Africa, burial traditions involve washing and preparing the body—a practice that becomes particularly dangerous during an Ebola outbreak. The virus remains highly infectious—if not more so—after death, posing an extreme risk to those who come into contact with the body. To combat this, health officials have introduced “safe and dignified burials”, designed to allow families to grieve while minimizing contact with the deceased. However, implementing these measures has proven difficult, particularly in rural areas where traditional customs are deeply ingrained.



The outbreak that claimed the life of Afiya’s husband is now the focal point of a groundbreaking vaccine trial. The Sudan strain of Ebola, which has plagued Uganda for decades, is different from the better-known Zaire strain.



“Ebola has a number of strains. The major difference is in their genetic composition and immune response,” explains the Executive Director of the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), Prof Pontiano Kaleebu.



The vaccine that successfully controlled the Zaire strain does not work against the Sudan variant, making this new vaccine an urgent necessity. While it mimics its predecessor with regards to minimal side-effects like mild fever and soreness at the injection site, the new inoculation is more conducive for use in African settings, as Prof Joseph Okeibunor, a scientist in the Emergency Prevention and Response Program at the World Health Organization (WHO), explains.



“Previous vaccines required ultra-cold storage between-60 degrees to -80 degrees centigrade. The new vaccine is designed to be stored between 2 to 8 degrees centigrade, aligning it more to our environment.”



Beyond the logistical and medical hurdles, there are for- midable challenges such as misinformation and distrust, compounded by the global wave of vaccine skepticism during the Covid-19 pandemic that has created an atmosphere where many people fear being part of a clinical trial.



“People think they are being used as guinea pigs. Some believe that vaccines are used to depopulate African countries. But, of course, the whole idea is to gather knowledge that will help us to improve health security for one and all,” says Okeibunor.



An aggressive awareness campaign has been launched, making use of radio announcements, venturing into churches and mosques, and leveraging community leadership. “A trusted message comes from a trusted messenger,” explains Dr Mosoka Fallah, Acting Director for the Science and Innovation Directorate at the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).



“It’s about getting to the community, hearing from them, making them a part of the co-creation of the messages.”



In some areas, however, hesitancy remains. “Most Africans still believe in traditional healers, so they might go to them for the treatment of the virus,” Fallah notes. “Then by the time we pick it up in the healthcare facility, it’s already too late.” Even among those who understand the need for an Ebola vaccine, the idea of taking an experimental drug is daunting. “It’s difficult to get people to consent, especially in the middle of an outbreak when fear is high,” Kaleebu says. “We have to assure them that their safety is our top priority.”



Some healthcare workers have also been hesitant. “I encountered a doctor, a physician, who refused to be vaccinated in this very Ebola outbreak,” reveals Okeibunor. “He’s not actively telling others to avoid it, but he declined it himself.” Despite these challenges, the Ebola vaccine trial represents a major milestone for Africa’s scientific community. Traditionally, Africa has been seen as a recipient of global health interventions rather than a leader in medical research, but this trial is changing that narrative.



“This is an African-led initiative, with African researchers and institutions at the forefront,” Kaleebu declares. “If this vaccine proves effective, it could set the stage for Africa to take a leading role in dis- ease prevention, not just for Ebola but for other emerging diseases,” says Fallah. “We are devel- oping the expertise and infrastructure needed to respond to outbreaks quickly and effectively.” Uganda’s Ebola vaccine trial is more than just a response to the current outbreak—it is a sign of Africa’s growing capacity to tackle public health challenges on its own terms, as well as a testament to the resilience of communities like the one that Afiya and her children must nownavigate on their own. For her, the vaccine came too late to save her husband, but she hopes it will spare others the same pain. “I think about my loved one, I think about the responsibilities I was left with,” she says. “But if this vaccine can save lives, maybe his death won’t be in vain…”

Stethoscope and syringe filled with drugs injecting the Ugandan flag

How Uganda’s Ebola Vaccine Trial Is Changing The Research Narrative

Towards the end of 2024, the discovery of trafficked minors at the Stilfontein mines in South Africa’s North West province spoke to a severe trafficking crisis. As it emerged, undocumented children, some as young as 10, were reportedly coerced into forced labor under alleged armed criminal syndicates.



Trafficked from neighboring Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, these children had endured extensive abuse and exploitation. This harrowing discovery revealed systemic failures in combating trafficking. Throughout the annals of history, human trafficking has emerged as a deeply disturbing scourge of humanity. United States Senator Josh Hawley argues: “The swelling epidemic of human trafficking makes a mockery of the law and its protections.”



Endeavors to deal with human trafficking, viewed from both international and legal perspectives, have required a multifaceted approach. By its very definition, human trafficking is not confined to borders, although statistics indicate that Africa is disproportionately impacted. It involves the illegal trade of human beings for exploitation. Such exploitation includes forced labor, sexual exploitation, organ removal, forced marriage and involuntary servitude.



The global estimates paint a crude picture of the plight of many. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), an estimated 24.9 million people worldwide were victims of human trafficking. Sex trafficking, disproportionately impacts women and girls, comprising 99% of its victims. Disturbingly, Africa has one of the highest proportions of human trafficking victims globally. High levels of poverty, pockets of conflict, and weak governance structures have exacerbated the situation on the continent.



Cognizant of the magnitude of this crisis, the international community has responded with key international treaties and protocols aimed at combating human trafficking, including:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000) and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (known as the Palermo Protocol).</li>



<li>The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), emphasizes the protection of children from exploitation, including trafficking.</li>



<li>The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (2005), provides a comprehensive legal framework for protection and prevention.</li>
</ul>



These frameworks provide critical guidance for countries to prevent trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute perpetrators. Yet, there are some apparent gaps in terms of a collective approach. Legal definitions of human trafficking differ from one jurisdiction to another. General elements of the definition include act (recruitment, transportation, transfer), means (coercion, fraud, deception), and purpose (exploitation). However, there is a need for clear definitions. Such definitions are necessary for effective law enforcement and victim protection. Moreover, countries have enacted various laws to combat human trafficking. These laws are often influenced by international agreements. National legal frameworks generally include criminalizing all forms of trafficking, establishing comprehensive victim protection measures and requiring cooperation among law enforcement, social services, and the judicial system.



It also must be noted that efforts to combat human trafficking face significant challenges. Enforcing anti-trafficking laws and prosecuting traffickers is complicated by the cross-border nature of trafficking, resource constraints, and corruption within law enforcement. To improve prosecution rates and victim outcomes, training for law enforcement and judicial personnel is crucial. In Africa, there is an argument to be made for a more synchronized approach. Already, initiatives led by the African Union (AU), such as the Ouagadougou Action Plan, promote coordination among states. There is a focus on sharing intelligence and harmonizing anti-trafficking laws. This is supported by the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, a continental court established by African states to protect human and peoples’ rights across the continent. However, there is scope to increase regional cooperation while addressing the root causes of trafficking on the continent through integrated social and economic development strategies. Furthermore, enforcement should be equipped to identify cases, handle victims sensitively and build strong cases against traffickers. Victims also require comprehensive support services, including safe housing, medical care and access to legal assistance to safely navigate the legal process and reintegrate into society. It is clear that there needs to be systematic reframing of our approach.



The Stilfontein incident is a stark reminder of how many lives we have let slip through the cracks. However, it is also a powerful call for change.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

African Migrants Ensnared By Human Traffickers En Route To Europe

Expert-Speak: The Disturbing Scourge Of Human Trafficking And How To Protect The Vulnerable In Africa

Passionate about clean water and advocating for the basic needs for women and girls on the continent, Lumbie Mlambo spoke to us at the 2025 FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit about walking the talk when it comes to humanitarian work on the ground in Africa.



“We can talk all we want , but if you don’t put action behind it, nothing happens. I always tell people that when I talk, I’m talking because I’m actually doing something,” Lumbie Mlambo says to FORBES AFRICA.



Mlambo is the founder of J.B. Dondolo, a non-profit organization that works to remove barriers of access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene in underserved and impoverished communities.



This need to promote development and gender equity stems from the vision and values of her father, who was a humanitarian advocate and instilled the importance of this type of work in his children.



She believes that tragedies can teach you something, and it was tragedies in her own life–which included experiencing a stroke at a very young age and losing her father–that led her to found the organization, which she named after him.



“Before he died, he wanted all his children to continue his humanitarian work because he was a humanitarian in the community he lived in,” she says.



“I took a leap of faith and decided [to] go check it out. While I was there, I found out that the community; the clinic wanted something totally different–they wanted water. I decided, ‘let me give them what they want’, but also finish my father’s work; refurbish the clinic. I did that, and I started learning about water, and I fell in love with it.”



The U.S.-educated Mlambo goes on to explain the work she is doing in several countries in southern Africa and East Africa.



“I’m here right now in South Africa because I’m starting an innovation for water. I’m working with companies here, creating jobs, enabling them to do something for themselves.



“I’m going to Zimbabwe [with] the same innovation, which is Climate H20 for water; we’ve started a factory there. They’re just going to pilot-test it for three to six months, fine tune it until it works, then mass produce it. So, there’s action.”



She also emphasizes the significance of providing basic services to women and girls who are adversely impacted by the lack of water.



Addressing this need allows them to be happy, go to school, start businesses and just experience an overall sense of good physical and mental health.



“I always say, ‘J.B. Dondolo has to strive’, because when I utter my father’s name, I’m always reminded that he was a strong man–he never gave up on the community,” Mlambo says with conviction.



She adds that “the 2030 SDGs are not going to be accomplished by just talking alone; we need to be piloting work on the ground and measuring it”.

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What Tragedy Can Teach: The Zimbabwean Fighting For Water Innovation And Access In Africa

African entrepreneurs abroad are returning to pursue agriculture and invest in opportunities on the continent, providing subsistence farmers with the tech tools and know-how to bring crops like Fonio And Cassava to the world’s tables.



Africa has an estimated 600 million hectares of uncultivated farmland, roughly 65% of the global total.



On a hungry planet that loses more farmland than it adds each year, Africa’s potential as an agro-gold mine serves as a powerful lure to young farming entrepreneurs returning to the continent.



From Ghana to Guinea to The Gambia to Senegal to Sierra Leone, an agro-renaissance is stirring, fed to some degree by growing demand from diaspora consumers in Europe, North America and the Middle East.



It’s also being supported by diaspora brain power, arriving in the form of skill transfers, access to finance capital and the unique knowledge expatriates share with each other when building bridges between ancient farming practices and modern markets.



Many of those expats bring strong backgrounds in business and academics — MBAs from the world’s top universities — along with intimate knowledge of how family farming is practiced at home.



Consider the pastoral scene around a tiny rural cross- roads called Mamou-Gongoré in Central Guinea.



As an autumn sun sets, men and women in flowing gowns cross a field of low grass, backs bent to the task of harvesting handfuls of seed pods from tufts that rise only to their ankles. As the men reach downward to swing their worn sickles, the women trail behind, clapping and murmuring to the rhythm of an overseer’s chants.



“This is the work of fonio now. Fonio is good. Bring in the fonio,” a tall man sings in the local Fulani dialect. He urges: “Bring It, Camara! Bring it, Diallo!” shouting out the names of the region’s leading clans.



They are harvesting a Stone Age grain that is iron-rich and gluten-free, and which has sustained Fulani households for centuries. About 60% of the world’s fonio is produced in Guinea and, until recently, was little known to consumers outside West Africa.



Today, it promises prosperity to farmers like Mamadou Balde, an elder in a village called Kouraba near Guinea’s border with Senegal. Although miles from any electricity grid, villagers here enjoy watching international soccer on giant-screen TVs, thanks to the new solar panels stretching across the roofs of their mudhewn cottages.



“Young people here prefer rice nowadays, but we oldtimers like fonio,” Balde says, adding that almost all Kouraba’s 70 farming families now are exporting their grain, thanks to Europe’s strong demand. Balde proudly displays his village’s new fonio warehouse, where freshly-harvested grain awaits shipment to Dakar, Senegal, for processing.



Recently, fonio has been in vogue as health-conscious foodies in Europe, Asia and North America have embraced the grain much as they once did quinoa from Perú and teff from Ethiopia. Celebrated by philanthropists like Bill Gates, it has garnered praise as “the drought-resistant super grain”, or “one of the world’s neglected and underutilized crops”.



Fonio, available in specialty shops in the United States (U.S.) for $6 per kilo, has begun to replace rice in Tokyo sushi and barley in several specialty brews, appealing not only to the health-conscious but also to alruistic diners who target food budgets towards sustainable agriculture or “impact” investments.



And that’s where the diaspora comes in.



The fonio harvested in Gongoré belongs to a cooperative, Groupement des Producteurs de Fonio au Foutah (GPFF), whose 85 members are being nurtured by a constellation of corporate allies in Europe and the U.S., mainly led by African expatriates who have banded together to help subsistence farmers bring fonio to the world’s tables.



One player, Terra Ingredients, is based in Minneapolis in Minnesota, the U.S. Another, Telli Ventures, is based in Tromsø, Norway. A third, Compagnie Africaine Agroalimentaire (CAA), operates in Mali, Guinea, Senegal and Paris. Each of these allies relies on highly-trained African expatriates.



Osman Diallo of Telli Ventures is French, born of Guinean/Senegalese parents, who today lives in Norway. Malick Diedhiou of Terra Ingredients is Senegalese-German who works out of Amsterdam, and Laura Layousse of CAA is of Senegalese/Lebanese descent. All hold advanced degrees from European or American universities (often both). All speak at least three languages.



All have turned to fonio to advance farmers back home. Besides its nutritional qualities, the grain has other attractions for impact investors. For one, it’s grown almost exclusively in just a handful of impoverished states — Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone —which means aiding fonio cultivation puts cash directly in impoverished African households. Another reason: almost 80% of fonio production occurs on family plots, so investors are not automatically in league with big commodities’ monopolists. Another benefit: few grains on earth are cultivated with such small amounts of water, which means fonio production doesn’t require big investments in irrigation infrastructure, nor is there chemical contamination from irrigation runoff.



“It’s usually not mechanized at all,” says Diallo of Telli Ventures. “Something ‘advanced’, like having a tractor when planting seed of harvesting, can boost production enormously.”



Diedhiou of Terra Ingredients explains the average yield from cooperative members is 500 kilos per hectare, with farmers cultivating more than two hectares per harvest season. At today’s prices, EUR0.55/kilo, that comes to just EUR275 ($285) per hectare per harvest, or about 10% of Guinea’s average annual salary.



Mechanization, paradoxically, can be a money-saver for the farmer. That’s because migration — either to nearby Senegal, or else to another continent — has begun to drain Guinea’s rural workforce.



As farmers’ sons and daughters leave for easier work in the city or abroad, the rising cost of hiring outsiders as day laborers cuts into farming profits. Thus, having corporate partners who can finance the purchase of modern machinery removes the obstacle of finding cash for a downpayment. It also frees more children from laboring in the fields.



To be sure, children well enough educated to forgo farm labor then compete for jobs far from home, which extends the cycle known as the ‘Brain Drain’. This is not a small thing. Dr Akinwumi Adesina, head of the African Development Bank, recently reported the number of African professionals living outside the continent has swollen over the past 30 years to over 20 million. He noted the $100 billion now remitted annually to Africa has become Africa’s single greatest source of capital, exceeding direct foreign investment, philanthropy or local private sector investment.



While the Brain Drain contributes to rising remittance numbers, it also undermines development of core human capital that would advance Africa’s skilled talent pool or replace talent that has left. Adesina noted that 70,000 skilled professionals are leaving Africa annually.



Yet the Brain Drain has its counterpoint, what some migration experts call “brain circulation”, or the ‘Brain Chain’. As debt indicators in Africa worsen, and sovereign risks increase, many African countries may attract diaspora investors who view investment opportunities in their countries of origin through a more favorable lens than institutional investors from the Global North.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="897" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Image-by-CAA-1024x897.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64761" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Image-by-CAA-1024x897.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Image-by-CAA-300x263.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Image-by-CAA-768x672.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Image-by-CAA-1536x1345.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Image-by-CAA-2048x1793.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Group of African Black Children Holding Rice Malnutrition Starvation Hunger. Starving Hunger Symbol. Black African girls holding rice as a malnutrition symbol.</figcaption></figure></div>


That’s the hope of countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Guinea, whose outbound migration has been prolific, and yet whose expatriates are well-positioned to invest savings held abroad in African opportunities they regard as true bargains. Someone like Rashid Conteh, 54, who spent more than half his life in the United Kingdom (U.K.), starting as a student, then building a furniture manufacturing business. He returned to Africa in 2005 as a dual U.K./ Sierra Leone citizen and as an exporter of his furniture line. That effort led him to study other opportunities and ways to profit from them.



If you ask the Kingston University London graduate today which obstacles he’s had to overcome launching himself into local agriculture, prepare for a long answer. He begins with “access to affordable financing”, then adds “unreliable energy and high energy costs, access to clean drinking water, capacity building of middle management, poor road networks and a skills gap”.



He looked first at rice.



“Sierra Leone imports $250 million in rice annually,” Conteh explains, or nearly $1 million daily. Focusing on import-substitution, Conteh hoped to grow rice efficiently enough to replace what was arriving from abroad. Instead, he turned to cassava, a tuber grown in Brazil that can be milled into a pellet resembling rice, already a staple in Africa served under the names attieke and couscous in some places and as garri in Sierra Leone. “We discovered we had no competitive advantage growing rice, but plenty for garri,” Conteh continues. He cites the 5.5 million hectares of arable land in the country, of which less than 6% currently is under cultivation. Conteh’s Sierra Agro-based Industries and Services launched in 2013 with just under $1 million in investment, raised from his furniture business. Today, the enterprise has grown from three employees to 45, says the CEO, “and, indirectly, hundreds more”.



That’s because Conteh doesn’t just produce cassava. He also produces cassava farmers, training locals to improve crop yields as they improved their skills. He began leasing heavy farming machinery, not only to defray the costs of run ning his own plantation, but also to familiarize subsistence farmers with tools to produce for a global market. He decided to transform harvested cassava into cassava flour to be rendered into pasta, which he now exports to neighboring Guinea and Liberia as well as Senegal and back to the U.K.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="846" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Fonio-is-in-vogue-Image-by-CAA-1024x846.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64760" style="width:686px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Fonio-is-in-vogue-Image-by-CAA-1024x846.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Fonio-is-in-vogue-Image-by-CAA-300x248.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Fonio-is-in-vogue-Image-by-CAA-768x635.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Fonio-is-in-vogue-Image-by-CAA-1536x1270.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Fonio-is-in-vogue-Image-by-CAA-2048x1693.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Fonio is in vogue; Image by CAA</figcaption></figure></div>


“From a humble beginning,” Conteh says, “we have grown to become the largest cassava producer and processor in Sierra Leone,” with a capacity to process 16 metric tons of cassava per day.



Similarly, efforts like fonio seem safe to an outsider.



Because the scale of production is so small, risks shrink to a very manageable size.



Consider the fonio processor, operational since 2022 in Dakar, that Layousse’s CAA group installed at a cost of under EUR1.5 million ($1.55 million). It is considered the first attempt to mill this ancient grain industrially, handling 700 metric tons of fonio annually from some 1,500 farmers CAA has in its supply chain (two years ago, there were only 30 farmers shipping for processing). In effect, the cost of amortization on that initial investment was EUR1,000 ($1,038) per farmer, an input cost that drops exponentially the longer the mill is operational.



“Before we had the plant, it was all manual and we had almost zero sales,” says Diedhiou of Terra Ingredients. “Of course, we didn’t go from 30 to 1,500 immediately, but it exploded [in 2024] because fonio starts to become more sought-after in the U.S.”



Before CAA’s machinery, fonio was as labor-intensive to dehusk as it was to plant and harvest. Women used wooden mortars and pestles to pound edible grain from a hard casing — and often lost much of its volume in dusty clouds of fonio. Exporting grain for processing not only means saving lost product, it also cuts the time spent turning raw grain into food. So, larger spring plantings and larger harvest yields followed.



CAA’s success with its suppliers has encouraged at least one other diaspora enterprise, La Petite Damba, to match CAA’s investment with a fonio processor of its own in Mamou, Guinea.



Fodé Youla, the son of Guinean diplomats, attended Northwestern University outside Chicago. Since 2016, he has been operating La Petite Damba as an exporter of several Guinean farm products.



Maarouf Barry, also the son of a Guinean diplomat, is, at 27, one of the younger expats returning to pursue agriculture. A dual citizen of the U.S. and Guinea, he was born in Boston and pursued his university studies at Wentworth Institute of Technology, a Massachusetts school with a strong emphasis on social change.



Sustainable agriculture drew Barry back to Western Guinea’s Boké Region, where his late father — who had retired from the foreign service — was operating the family’s palm oil plantation. Barry’s vision was to bring low-impact farming techniques to his neighbors, training them in new methods of cultivation. He also demonstrated new financing opportunities most local farmers had never imagined: U.S. vehicles like GoFundMe, Close Farming and MassChallenge.



Barry spotted an opportunity in the diaspora itself: that there are affluent Africans who no longer live in Africa, but who represent a potentially lucrative market for African exports. “I saw in Boston there was a need for authentic palm oil,” Barry explains. “It’s like Italians with their olive oil. People abroad want the authentic item.”



The effort is beginning to pay off. In 2024, he says Eleis Farm was a candidate for a $450,000 target grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), money Barry must match with other sources to access the entire grant.



He’s making progress. Eleis Farm has been exporting to a wholesaler in Rotterdam, Netherlands, who distributes Barry’s brand to 16 European markets where Guineans live. In 2024, Barry approached 100 metric tons in exports, his best year yet.



Barry and his three brothers make no secret of the fact that they had a huge head start. His father’s holdings, over 50 hectares incorporated in 2013 as Eleis Farm, offered him a platform and feedstock at practically no cost. “The land and the palm trees came free. This is the legacy my father left for us,” he says with a characteristic smile. “Now it is our turn to continue his vision.”



Operationally, he says, his efforts are profitable. But in terms of matching his father’s investment, he says, “I’m not even close.”



But success isn’t measured only on balance sheets. Eleis Farm is now part of a community of farmers who participate in 16 local cooperatives producing palm oil, cassava, salt, rice and fish for commercial sale. There are 93 farmers in total, all Fulani speakers in the same region. “We were creating a bridge between small holder farmers and the diaspora,” he says

CAA handles 700 metric tons of fonio annually from some 1,500 farmers in its supply chain; Image supplied

Advancing Agriculture: Africa’s Young Farming Entrepreneurs Returning To The Continent To Grow It

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



Four disastrous wildfires were still burning across Los Angeles and Ventura counties in southern California on Tuesday, but it’s not yet clear what started the fires—as government officials, lawyers and experts weigh theories like electrical issues, embers from older fires and arson.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



The Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire both broke out on Jan. 7 and grew to more than 23,000 and 14,000 acres, respectively, destroying thousands of structures and leading to more than 100,000 evacuations throughout Los Angeles.



Several smaller fires—including the Hurst Fire and Auto Fire, which were both still active as of Tuesday—broke out after the Palisades and Eaton fires, and led to more evacuations.



The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shows the causes of all four active fires are still under investigation, leading to unanswered questions about what could have caused some of California’s most destructive wildfires.



Anonymous officials involved with the investigation into the origin of the Palisades Fire told the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-12/on-an-ocean-view-trail-questions-swirl-about-what-and-who-started-palisades-fire" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times</a>&nbsp;it appears to have human origins, though they noted the investigation is ongoing.



Investigators are focusing on a “crime scene” area that sits above most of Los Angeles in a neighborhood with rocky bluffs and popular hiking trails as the potential ignition site of the Palisades Fire,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/us/palisades-fire-cause-ignition-point-site.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>&nbsp;reported.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-arson">Arson</h2>



Dominic Choi, the assistant Los Angeles police chief, said Monday officials are investigating every angle and not ruling out arson as the cause of either of the major fires, but he added there is “no definitive determination that it is arson.” The theory has drawn public attention after a spate of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/weather/live-news/los-angeles-wildfires-palisades-eaton-california-01-14-25-hnk#cm5woa60c0005356oh3zuokrk" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">arson-related arrests</a>, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/01/10/alleged-arsonist-arrested-in-los-angeles-amid-deadly-california-wildfires-kenneth/">one arrest</a>&nbsp;of a man who was allegedly seen lighting a fire near the smaller Kenneth Fire last week—though police later said there wasn’t probable cause to charge him with arson, and they can’t confirm any link between the arrestee and the fires. Some experts are skeptical of the theory. A former battalion chief for the Los Angeles Fire Department told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/wildfires/are-arsonists-responsible-los-angeles-wildfires-rcna186949" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">NBC News</a>&nbsp;the area where the Palisades Fire began is “inaccessible, rugged terrain,” that typically wouldn’t draw an arsonist. Experts also told NBC natural causes are a more plausible theory because of the heavy wind conditions: “Most of the time, these fires are not arson … There is no data supporting winds bringing out arsonists,” a former detective with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Office said. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/fire-prevention-education-mitigation/wildfire-investigation#arson" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">National Interagency Fire Center</a>&nbsp;says arson may account for more than 20% of human-caused wildland fires, but the actual number is unclear as arson fires may be misclassified for some time.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="704" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2193935251.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64348" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2193935251.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2193935251-300x206.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2193935251-768x528.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"> (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-power-lines-and-electric-infrastructure">Power Lines And Electric Infrastructure</h2>



Multiple residents of Altadena sued Southern California Edison on Monday, alleging the Eaton Fire was started by the company’s electrical equipment. The lawsuits cite&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/us/southern-california-edison-la-fires-lawsuit.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">eyewitness reports</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/13/business/edison-power-company-lawsuit-eaton-fire/index.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">of sparking power lines</a>. The company has pushed back against the theory, saying in a&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.edison.com/releases/edison-international-provides-latest-update-on-southern-california-wildfires-and-sce-power-outages" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">statement</a>&nbsp;Sunday its “analysis shows no interruptions or operational/electrical anomalies in the 12 hours prior to the fire’s reported start time until more than one hour after the reported start time of the fire.” One of the filed complaints&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-wildfires-eaton-cause-utility-fireworks-eb0f4f71e437f1ba692f929e9633c856" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reportedly</a>&nbsp;alleged, “there is clear evidence from video footage, photographs, and witness accounts that the fire was caused by electrical equipment operated by Defendants Edison International and Southern California Edison.” Power infrastructure has been a leading cause of fires in California in the past—with eight of the state’s 20 most destructive fires having power-related causes—and the amount of fires started by equipment has grown recently,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/01/13/us/los-angeles-fires-cause.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>&nbsp;reported.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-old-embers-or-fireworks">Old Embers—or Fireworks</h2>



Some experts and residents believe the Palisades Fire may have been started by the remnants of a fire from New Year’s Day that began after fireworks were set off. The Jan. 1 fire broke out in the same place as the Palisades Fire and burned about three to four acres before fire officials said it was contained about five hours later, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-wildfires-eaton-cause-utility-fireworks-eb0f4f71e437f1ba692f929e9633c856" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Associated Press</a>&nbsp;reported. Michael Gollner, a fire scientist and University of California at Berkeley professor,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025/01/12/palisades-fire-origin-new-years-eve-fire/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told The Washington Post</a>&nbsp;“it’s certainly possible that something from that previous fire, within a week, had rekindled and caused the ignition” of the Palisades Fire. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed the department does not typically patrol past fire sites for still burning embers. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/us/palisades-fire-cause-ignition-point-site.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">New York Times notes</a>&nbsp;a number of past major fires were determined to be started by old blazes that officials believed were put out, including the 2023 wildfire in Maui that killed 102 people and a deadly 1991 firestorm in northern California.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-other-human-causes">Other Human Causes</h2>



Cal Fire said 95% of California&#8217;s past wildfires have been caused by humans, but the agency noted human causes range from intentional arson to accidental situations, like campfires or discarded cigarette butts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/weather/live-news/los-angeles-wildfires-palisades-eaton-california-01-14-25-hnk?t=1736873475204" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">CNN</a>&nbsp;reported.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lightning">Lightning</h2>



Officials were able to rule out lightning as a potential cause for the Palisades or Eaton fires as the area didn’t have stormy weather in the week the fires began,&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ignited-deadly-california-wildfires-investigators-array-possibilities-117539585" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">ABC News</a>&nbsp;reported on Jan. 9. Lightning is a common cause of wildfires, though, and led to 174 wildfires in southern California in 2023, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/statistics/lightning-caused" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">National Interagency Fire Center</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-many-other-fires-were-there-in-los-angeles">How Many Other Fires Were There In Los Angeles?</h2>



In addition to four active wildfires in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, there were at least four other fires that are now contained, including the Sunset Fire that burned through the Hollywood Hills and Runyon Canyon, the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills Area, the Lidia Fire in the Angeles National Forest and the Woodley Fire.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">What To Watch For</h2>



More information from investigators. The process to identify the cause of a fire begins with pinpointing the fire’s starting point, then investigators will usually search the scene on their hands and knees looking for clues to what could have started it, which could take days,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/wildfires/are-arsonists-responsible-los-angeles-wildfires-rcna186949" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">NBC News</a>&nbsp;reported. If they find evidence it was started by a person, investigators must then determine whether it was intentional arson or accidental negligence, but NBC reported that process could take months or years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



Whatever the cause of the fires, experts seem to agree the conditions for the fires to spread easily were worsened by climate change. The California Air Resources Board&nbsp;<a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/wildfires-climate-change" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;the area burned by wildfires in the state has been increasing each year since 1950, and unusually warm temperatures combined with very low precipitation create “conditions for extreme, high severity wildfires that spread rapidly.” Last summer was particularly hot in California and across the West, while there was very little rainfall: The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0ewe4p9128o" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">BBC</a>&nbsp;reported downtown Los Angeles has gotten just 0.16 inches of rain since October.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2025/01/14/california-wildfire-live-updates-new-auto-fire-breaks-out-in-ventura-county-as-particularly-dangerous-situation-red-flag-warning-goes-into-effect/">California Wildfire Live Updates: New ‘Auto Fire’ Breaks Out</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/wildfires/are-arsonists-responsible-los-angeles-wildfires-rcna186949" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Are arsonists responsible for the Los Angeles wildfires?</a>&nbsp;(NBC News)



<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0ewe4p9128o" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Climate change: What role is it playing in the California fires</a>&nbsp;(BBC)



<a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-12/on-an-ocean-view-trail-questions-swirl-about-what-and-who-started-palisades-fire" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">What sparked the Palisades fire? A beloved hiking trail may hold the grim answers</a>&nbsp;(Los Angeles Times)

Death toll rises to 25 amid new Los Angeles warnings

What Sparked The California Wildfires? Experts Consider Power Lines, Fireworks—And Arson

How a women’s initiative is collectively uplifting lives through art and community-based tourism.



From the street art to its bustling markets, the Nyamirambo Women’s Centre in the lively and vibrant neighborhood of Nyamirambo in Kigali, is a tourism drawcard.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Mary-Nyangoma-at-Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64311" style="width:738px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Mary-Nyangoma-at-Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Mary-Nyangoma-at-Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-byChanel-Retief-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Mary-Nyangoma-at-Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-byChanel-Retief-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Mary-Nyangoma-at-Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Mary-Nyangoma-at-Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-byChanel-Retief-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Mary Nyangoma at Nyamirambo Woman’s Centre (Photo byChanel Retief)</figcaption></figure></div>


In one of the busy shops owned by the center selling clothes and bric-a-brac, you find the center’s project coordinator, Mary Nyangoma, who tells us how it all came to be.



The center was established in 2007 with 18 members – “women and girls” – with the aim of “empowering ourselves”.



“…because we all came from different backgrounds and, of course, from different parts of the country. But we happened to settle around this neighborhood, and then we decided to start a group,” says Nyangoma.



Some of the members at the time had not had the fortune of receiving a formal education.



“We started teaching them how to read and write, in our homes,” says Nyangoma.



It wasn’t until two women from Slovenia came to the country to report on women’s issues that they received their first donation to get the center up and running.



But they had to find other ways to make money before the funds dried up. Sharing their ideas, the founding members at the center considered acquiring other vocational skills to help generate income. “That’s when we got a chance [to] buy four sewing machines,” Nyangoma says. “We had somebody teaching us to use them, but we also started involving other women from the neighborhood… We started working with local authorities. They started recruiting women to join us for the courses, learning how to read and write and, after that, they could join the sewing course.”


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="683" height="1024" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-1-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64310" style="width:543px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-1-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-1-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-1-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-1-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-1-scaled.jpg 1707w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Nyamirambo Woman’s Centre (Photo by Chanel Retief)</figcaption></figure></div>


Over 6,000 women have trained at the center so far, with about 80% now self-employed. On the cards is an incubation training center.



The women’s center has managed to sustain its revenue, generated by the increasingly-popular tourism offerings at Nyamirambo. Using kitenge fabric, the women, who are trained and then work at the center, craft products ranging from children’s clothes to women’s accessories and home décor.



“Apart from that cooperative, the women’s center started thinking, ‘how can we make an income and keep the center open?’” Nyangoma explains as she takes FORBES AFRICA on a tour of the three sections at the center. In one, women are creating art and handicrafts; in another, there are girls (and some boys) learning different skills; and the final one houses the center’s library.



“This is where we started [and] are offering different activities in community-based tourism. [We] offer the walking tours – seeing the day-life [of ] people living in this neighborhood; we do a cooking experience – how we do it locally in our homes; basket weaving – how to make the baskets [and] sewing experiences and other stuff as well.



“The message is about working together and supporting each other, but also building a strong ecosystem.”



Gender equality and women’s empowerment are central to Rwanda’s vision for growth and progress.



In the e-mobility sector, for example, it is not uncommon to see female riders dominating the streets of Kigali, as opposed to other regions on the continent where there are more male drivers in the public transport system.



“We’re deeply committed to empowering women in the EV sector,” says Kaushik Burman, co-CEO of EV company, Spiro.



Right now, we’re seeing more and more female riders joining our network, which is something I’m incredibly proud of. We’ve set up initiatives like Spiro Academy that provide women with training and mentorship to break into technical and operational roles – areas that traditionally haven’t seen much female participation. It’s all about giving women the tools they need to build careers and independence while contributing to sustainable transportation across Africa.”



“A challenge I sometimes have [as] a female rider is when passengers question [my potential as] a rider,” Spiro rider, Blanche Dusengimana, laments to FORBES AFRICA.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64309" style="width:614px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nyamirambo-Womans-Centre-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Nyamirambo Woman’s Centre (Photo by Chanel Retief)</figcaption></figure></div>


“I just respond by telling them that this is something I am passionate about. I show them what I have achieved as a business; how I have developed myself and how I provide for my family.”



The country has consistently been celebrated as a role model in gender equality. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2023 has ranked Rwanda 12th out of 146 countries.



According to a report by USAID, women make up more than 60% of the Rwandan Parliament, and more than 50% of the President’s cabinet.



“I meet different kinds of people every day as a rider but when I mostly meet women… these are either women who want to be riders or don’t have anything to do with their day,” Dusengimana says. “The first thing I tell them or encourage them to do is not to look to someone else for money. I also help women get out of their comfort zone and become riders.”



At the Nyamirambo Women’s Centre, Nyangoma concurs: “Once the women and girls finish our programs, they can start their own businesses. “When I see women working together and supporting each other, I feel so strong, and I feel so happy that we are also growing up and bringing up our kids this way, so that tomorrow, they can stand here and do the same for others.”

Nyamirambo Woman’s Centre (Photo by Chanel Retief)-2-2

Leading Women Through Art And Tourism In Rwanda

A recent global report by Inrix, which specializes in transportation analytics, highlighted that in 2024, residents of Cape Town in South Africa spent the most time on congested roads, with an average of 94 hours lost in traffic. The city ranked ninth in the world.



Istanbul in Turkey was the worst, as per the study, with an average of 105 hours lost in traffic last year.



According to the report, traffic congestion occurs when demand for road travel exceeds the supply of roadways. “As vehicular traffic builds, drivers, freight movers and bus riders lose time and spend fuel unproductively.”



In Africa, the majority of cities with the worst record is from South Africa, with commuters and motorists in Johannesburg losing 55 hours and Pretoria trailing with 45 hours.



This time lost due to congestion also leads to a disruption of the economy, with rising fuel costs adding to commuter woes.



South African roads are also seeing a rise in the number of accidents. The Road Traffic Management Corporation said in its State of Road Safety Report that a total of 2,818 fatalities were recorded between January and March 2024, compared to the 2,498 for the same period in 2023.



According to Budget Insurance and its vehicle accident claims data, between 2021 to 2023, drivers in Cape Town had the most car accidents of any city in South Africa. Reports indicate that the number of claims submitted to Budget Insurance increased by 36%.



“In addition to lost time, negative externalities like freight delay, inflationary pressure and environmental impact are generally exacerbated due to traffic congestion,” Inrix said in the recent report. “While not measured in this report, these externalities decrease our quality of life.”

Cape Town, South Africa, Heavy commuter traffic heading out of Cape Town along the N2 highway towards the airport.

The Mother City Ranked The Worst In Africa For Hours Lost In Traffic

In the heart of Kigali is a cricket stadium transforming lives and where young people are finding hope, purpose and opportunity.



Just 12 kilometers east of Kigali’s bustling city center, where real estate developments, commerce, and technology dominate the landscape, lies a contrasting haven. Here, the sounds of urban life give way to the chatter of children, their laughter carried by the crisp air as they dart across a lush green field. Feet pound the grass, the coach calls out instructions, and a young player dives to catch a brightly-colored cricket ball mid-air, prompting an eruption of cheers and chants of “Howzat!”



What might appear at first glance to be a typical sports ground is anything but. This is Gahanga Cricket Stadium, a unique nexus of youth development, inclusion, and education. Beneath its striking thatched roof – a nod to Rwandan architectural heritage – is a story of resilience and hope, a place where a game of cricket has become a tool for building brighter futures.



The journey to Gahanga began with Christopher Shale, a British businessman and cricket enthusiast, who spent years in Rwanda without access to a proper cricket facility.



Shale dreamed of creating a home for cricket in Rwanda, one that would be open to all, regardless of background. Tragically, Shale passed away in 2011, but his vision endured through the efforts of his family, friends, and the charity, Cricket Builds Hope.



In 2017, the Gahanga Cricket Stadium was inaugu- rated as a state-of-the-art facility spanning 4.5 hectares, complete with international standard grounds and a pa- vilion.



Will Hammond, the Director of Cricket Builds Hope, sees cricket as more than just a game, he sees it as a means to unite communities and create opportunities. Inspired by Shale’s vision, he is committed to using the sport to transform lives and build a legacy of inclusion and hope in Rwanda.



“Christopher believed cricket could bring people to- gether,” says Hammond. “His dream wasn’t just about sports but about creating a space where young people could find purpose and opportunity.”



Today, Gahanga is much more than a stadium. It is a hub of activity where children from diverse back- grounds converge to play, learn, and grow. On weekends, the facility comes alive with them participating in crick- et programs, some learning the sport for the first time, others sharpening their skills. The programs are free and intentionally inclusive, breaking down barriers of economic and social divides.



English trainer and Head of Educational Program, Justin Mugabo, who has been part of the Gahanga team since 2022, notes the transformative impact of combin- ing cricket with education. “When I started, we had about 120 children. Now, we have over 400 every week- end. Many come from disadvantaged backgrounds, in- cluding street-connected children. Through cricket and



English programs, we’ve seen incredible improvements in behavior, language skills, and academic performance,” he notes.



Gahanga’s reach extends beyond children. The Sports for Change program has also empowered over 330 women through workshops on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and social health. Women’s cricket is also thriving. In 2022, Rwanda’s women’s Under-19 crick- et team made history by qualifying for the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, a testament to the rising tide of talent nurtured on this field. The stadium’s impact is deeply felt in the community.



Keza Beatrice, a young participant, reflects on her journey: “We came here without speaking English, but now we speak it fluently. Cricket has taught us so much more than just the game.”



Mugabo adds: “The community appreciates what we’re doing here. Parents tell us their children have changed, not just in how they play cricket but in how they engage with the world.”



Running a facility of this scale comes with its challenges though. Will acknowledges that maintaining Gahanga costs around $80,000 annually; funds are raised through partnerships and donations. Yet, the team remains committed to ensuring the stadium remains free and accessible to all.



“We ensure long-term impact through seed funding, savings groups, and income-generating activities. We want to replicate this model across Rwanda, bringing cricket and its benefits to even more districts,” says Country Manager Joseph Karemera.



In many ways, the stories of the students, teachers, and every- one involved in the Gahanga Cricket Stadium embody the spirit of Rwanda – a nation defined by its unwavering focus on building a bright and inclusive future. Here, under the iconic thatched roofs that pay homage to Rwandan heritage, cricket is more than a sport. It is a bridge to education, inclusion, and empowerment. As the sun sets over Gahanga, the laughter of children fades into the evening air. For them, this is not just a stadium; it is a sanctuary, classroom and home.

PHOTO-2024-07-19-14-21-44[5]

Ground Support: Cricket For A Cause In Rwanda

Electric vehicles in Rwanda pave the way for rider-entrepreneurs and sustainable transport.



Motos – local lingo for motorbike taxis – are ubiquitous and a common sight in Rwanda, as they are in the rest of East Africa. A crucial lifeline of the economy, they mostly transport commuters and informal workers to and from work.



Blanche Dusengimana is also a contributor to this elaborate network of bikers, ferrying passengers, but on a Spiro, or an electric bike – another sign of the country’s march to embrace innovation in every way.



“I have always been passionate about motorbikes,” says Dusengimana, to FORBES AFRICA. For a year now, she has been a familiar sight on Kigali’s roads during rush hour. Her days start bright and early, as she sets out of her home with her keys, two helmets and signature Spiro rider bib. It’s 8PM by the time she is home again, when she would have served atleast 20 passengers on her daily drill. But this is what she has always wanted to do.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Dvsengmkna-Blanche-Photo-byChanel-Retief-2-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64171" style="width:752px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Dvsengmkna-Blanche-Photo-byChanel-Retief-2-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Dvsengmkna-Blanche-Photo-byChanel-Retief-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Dvsengmkna-Blanche-Photo-byChanel-Retief-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Dvsengmkna-Blanche-Photo-byChanel-Retief-2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Dvsengmkna-Blanche-Photo-byChanel-Retief-2-2048x1536.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Spiro rider, Dvsengmkna Blanche (Photo by Chanel Retief)</figcaption></figure></div>


On the other side of town, a 20-minute drive away, 34-year-old rider Sekanabo Ignace, who is up from 5AM every day, puts the pedal to the metal to take a majority of his passengers to the markets to buy fresh produce.



Ignace tells FORBES AFRICA that the 15 years that he has been commuting people, he has always taken to the transport business like an entrepreneur – he gets to control his hours, knows which routes work best and, like Dusengimana, is deeply empowered and passionate about what he does.



Both riders own Spiro electric bikes, transporting about 2025 passengers every day and reaching around 200km, on average.



Part of the country’s Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy (GGCRS), Rwanda has invested in building efficient and resilient transport systems in the last decade. The conversion from fuel motors to electric vehicles is a key part of driving down emissions.



Spiro and Ampersand, both electric vehicle (EV) and transport companies in Africa, have fleets across Rwanda to not only assist the government with its sustainability mission but also empower riders in the country.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/BasiGo-driver-Rachidi-Rutayisire-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-2-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64170" style="width:714px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/BasiGo-driver-Rachidi-Rutayisire-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/BasiGo-driver-Rachidi-Rutayisire-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/BasiGo-driver-Rachidi-Rutayisire-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/BasiGo-driver-Rachidi-Rutayisire-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/BasiGo-driver-Rachidi-Rutayisire-Photo-by-Chanel-Retief-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">BasiGo driver Rachidi Rutayisire (Photo by Chanel Retief)</figcaption></figure></div>


“Electric motorcycle drivers earn 45% more than with petrol bikes due to fuel and maintenance savings,” Ampersand states on its website. “They save 40% a year on fuel. The income they generate typically supports 4.6 people on average in Rwanda.”



Kaushik Burman, co-CEO of Spiro, says to FORBES AFRICA: “We’re focused on reducing emissions and supporting clean energy initiatives, aligning with Rwanda’s green growth strategy.”



“[But also] we don’t just hand over the keys and wave riders off. We are committed to supporting our riders with training that covers safety, vehicle maintenance, and smart battery use… It’s about setting our riders up for long-term success and helping them grow their careers. We’re here to make sure they feel supported, safe, and capable, no matter where their journey takes them. It’s a partnership that’s about more than just business — it’s about being a part of the country’s sustainable future.”



With a ‘time is money’ mentality, EV companies are also addressing financial inclusion in addition to digital transformation.



The EV bikes use batteries that take up to four hours to be charged. Instead of waiting for a battery to charge, at the battery-swapping stations that have been deployed, riders can use their MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) virtual card tap-and-go system, swap or exchange their empty batteries for a fully-charged one, and be back on the road in seconds.



“This saves so much time and money for the riders,” Burman adds. “One of the things I love about our tap-and-go payment system



is how it brings more people into the financial ecosystem. Accessibility and affordability are both an essential part of our plans for growth and development. For riders, especially women and those who might not have easy access to traditional banking, this technology is a game changer.”



To this end, and to ensure that riders can become part of the business, asset fintech company Watu assists potential drivers with the down payment of the bikes if they wish to become riders.



“These investments allow us to support the development of EV infrastructure and innovation while staying closely connected to the unique needs of the communities we serve,” Andris Kaneps, CEO at Watu Credit, tells FORBES AFRICA.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Sekanabo-Ignace-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64172" style="width:726px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Sekanabo-Ignace-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Sekanabo-Ignace-Photo-byChanel-Retief-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Sekanabo-Ignace-Photo-byChanel-Retief-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Sekanabo-Ignace-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Sekanabo-Ignace-Photo-byChanel-Retief-2048x1536.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sekanabo Ignace at Spiro charging hub (Photo by Chanel Retief)</figcaption></figure></div>


“For instance, in Rwanda, we decided to finance electric motor- bikes exclusively, anticipating government policies favoring sustainable transportation.”



In Kigali, the uptake of EVs is not only massive but is also thriving. From the moment you leave the international airport precincts into the city, the roads are bombarded by swarms of motorbikes and ebikes with riders and pillion-riders.



Buses are also making the move from fuel to electric. In Kigali, leading the charge is bus company, BasiGo.



Responding to Rwanda’s urgent need to rev up public transport, BasiGo recognized that the surging cost of diesel was making it challenging for operators to expand their fleets.



BasiGo introduced bus operators and passengers to the R10 Rumuri in December 2023. It’s reportedly Kigali’s first 100% electric bus.



In a bustling and buzzing part of Kigali, Nyabugogo’s main bus park is home to hundreds of these buses. FORBES AFRICA meets up with BasiGo driver, Rachidi Rutayisire, who has been driving buses for about 15 years, but since the launch of BasiGo, has only driven electric buses and says it has been life-changing.



“I can never go back to petrol,” he laughs from behind his steering wheel. It is 3PM and he is preparing to drive his passengers home, but he is also saving time as he does not need to wait long hours to fuel up. “Do you know how much lighter and easier it is to ride this bus? I also now don’t have to go to the petrol stations. If any of my two batteries go flat, I just go to the battery-swapping stations,” he gushes. Come evening, it’s all in a day’s work as the people head home, the bikes and buses wind down and the city rumbles to a stop – until the next morning, when the engines of the economy will roar again.

Busiest Bus Park in Kigali (Photo by Muhire Adolphe)

Forward Momentum: This African Country Is Streets Ahead For Rider Innovation

Animal-assisted intervention is a therapeutic approach gaining traction across Nigeria for children with Neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities. Dogs, rabbits, aquarium fish and turtles are proving to be their complementary therapists Enhancing overall progress.



George Adinoyi (not his real name) sat motionless in his classroom at a known special needs center in the heart of Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. His teachers had tried every trick in the book to reach him — visual aids, hands-on activi- ties, songs, even gentle coaxing — but nothing seemed to break through the wall of silence that enveloped the young boy.



Diagnosed with autism, Adinoyi didn’t respond to an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) designed to motivate and guide him, until he encountered Tish.



Tish, a long-coat Chihuahua, padded into the school in late 2018, his tail wagging with a blend of curiosity and warmth. For the first time, Adinoyi’s face lit up. His hands reached out tentatively, and a faint smile tugged at his lips. The interaction transformed him. Soon, he began communicating — not just with Tish but also with his peers, teachers, and therapists. The breakthrough led his parents to welcome a dog into their home, further accel- erating his progress.



Adinoyi’s interaction with Tish formed part of Nigeria’s first animal-assisted intervention (AAI) trial run by Dogalov HumAn Support Initiative, a pioneering nonprofit, also based in Abuja.



In sessions, Adinoyi and others are introduced to therapy dogs, usually calm and patient breeds like Tish and Bishop, a black Lhasa Apso. These dogs have been trained to respond to the specific needs of children who are neurodivergent. They help children engage in activities that may otherwise be challenging —whether it’s learning to give a command, practising social interactions, or simply sitting quietly with the dog and feeling the calming presence of an animal that doesn’t demand verbal communication.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="685" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1267938562-1024x685.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64157" style="width:576px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1267938562-1024x685.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1267938562-300x201.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1267938562-768x514.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1267938562-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1267938562-2048x1370.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></div>


AAI is based on the idea that animals can act as co-therapists, offering unique emotional, cognitive, and social benefits.



Research also corroborates that animals have an innate ability to provide comfort and break down barriers that traditional therapy may not be able to address. For many children, especially those with autism, connecting with other people can be overwhelming. But animals provide a non-judgmental and calm presence.



The genesis of AAI in Nigeria



For many years, therapy in the country has been synonymous with medications and, at best, traditional counseling sessions. The concept of bringing animals — particularly dogs — into clinical settings to support children with neurodevelopmental disorders was as foreign as the origins of the therapy itself, which traces its roots to the United States (U.S.) and Europe.



Sunday Agbonika, a Nigerian veterinary surgeon and dog trainer, founded Dogalov HumAn Support Initiative after losing his nephew, who had autism, in 2013.



“In 2015, I came across a video about Nathan Selove, a boy with autism in the U.S., paired with a service dog. The transformation in Nathan’s life was remarkable,” he recalls to FORBES AFRICA. “I thought, ‘what if I could have done something similar for my nephew?’ ”



From 2016, Agbonika sought ways to introduce AAI, but early attempts to reach children through their families failed due to societal taboos and lack of awareness.



The breakthrough came in 2018 when special needs centers like the Comprehensive Autism and related Disabilities Education and Training (CADET) Academy and Zamarr Institute opened their doors. For the first time, animals — dogs, rabbits, aquarium fish, and even a turtle — became partners in therapy sessions.



“The challenge in a sense still followed us in terms of the fact that



till date, we rarely have pictures or anything to show. Pictures and things we have to show are the ones that the centers that we work with provide. We normally have an agreement with them that we are not allowed to take shots, to take videos, to take anything when we come on site. We just run the interventions and then we leave. They take pictures, they post. Then, when they post, we have access to that,’’ says Agbonika.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-science-of-aai">The science of AAI</h4>



AAI is more than just a feel-good activity.



Studies have demonstrated that interactions with animals can lower levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, while increasing levels of oxytocin, often referred to as the ‘love hormone’, which promotes feelings of bonding and trust. These chemical changes in the brain can help children regulate their emotions, reduce anxiety, and improve their mood, making them more receptive to therapeutic interventions.



A report published in 2023 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that, in 2019, 317 million children and young people were affected globally by health conditions contributing to a developmental disability. Autism, in particular, has seen a rise in diagnosis rates, leading to a greater demand for effective interventions.



Traditional therapy, such as speech or occupational therapy, remains crucial, but experts believe that complementary approaches like AAI can significantly enhance the overall progress of children who are neurodivergent.



In Nigeria, where resources for children with neurodevelopmental conditions are often limited, AAI offers a promising new approach.



For example, during a therapy session, Adinoyi is encouraged to lead Tish on a short walk, a simple activity that helps him practise communication and motor coordination. At first glance, it seems like a basic task, but for a child with autism, it represents a complex interaction — giving instructions, paying attention to the dog’s behavior, and responding accordingly. These small moments of success build confidence and help children develop the social and cognitive skills they need for everyday life.



“Animal-assisted services work in a number of ways. One of which is known as animal-assisted therapy involves delivering therapeutic intervention that is first of all planned, goal-oriented, and run by credentialed professionals who are licensed. What we have been able to do is animal-assisted activities which are unstructured interactions between the children and the animals. We reach out to the centers or they reach out to us and we agree to a date when we mobilize our animals there for the children to interact with them. We are now looking to transition to providing direct services,” Agbonika explains.



For some children, it’s dogs that work for them; for others, it might be aquarium fish. ‘’For example, a girl, I know, prefers anything in water. The key is finding what resonates with the child.”



Dotun Akande, founder of one of Nigeria’s pioneering autism centers, Patrick Speech and Languages Centre, in Lagos, shares a similar success story at Dogalov’s inaugural



Human-Animal Interactions Conference in 2021. Akande’s center was founded in 2006 after difficulties finding resources for her son with autism; she first experimented with rabbits, which failed to engage the children. But when they introduced goats, a child who had previously struggled to communicate, drew a picture of the animals— another breakthrough moment.



“We now use chickens to help children improve their communication skills while learning about the evolution and development of animals. With daily exposure to these animals, the children have shown significant improvement in their interactions.



“It’s one of the simplest ways to teach children and understand animal development. This approach should be adopted in all schools, not just special needs centers,” Akande shares with FORBES AFRICA.



According to Akande, this initiative has also inspired one adult to assist at her mother’s poultry farm, while another is seeking a part-time role at a veterinary clinic to gain more knowledge.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-challenges-on-the-path-to-progress">Challenges on the path to progress</h4>



The road to acceptance of animal-assisted therapy in Nigeria is as winding as the streets of the country. Despite the successes, Dogalov faces significant hurdles.



A devastating heatwave in Abuja recently claimed the lives of several of their therapy animals, including Bishop, a favorite dog at the special need centers they partner with. Rebuilding their animal cohort has been both costly and time-consuming. Funding is another persistent issue. While Dogalov received a small grant of N1 million ($600) from the ‘Friends of Prof’ initiative instituted to commemorate the then Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo birthday in 2021, much of its work relies on personal contributions. “We have spent over $15,000 thus far, with much of it being self-funded or con- tributions from family, friends or the Dogalov board of trustees. It has more or less been my own dogs that I have as a pet enthusiast…”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-bigger-picture">The bigger picture</h4>



For Agbonika and his team, AAI is more than a therapeutic tool — it’s a movement to reshape how Nigerian society views disabilities. Dogalov’s annual Human-Animal Interactions Conference, whose fourth edition was held virtually in August 2024, serves as a platform to educate stakeholders and build partnerships.



Agbonika is joined by Praise Akobo, a fellow veterinarian with her own unique connection to the cause. Living with “an invisible disability”, Akobo found solace in her work with animals. “I always believed animals could play a role in supporting people with disabilities,” she says. In 2022, she reached out via LinkedIn to Dogalov, where she now helps bridge the gap between veterinary medicine and human service professionals.



Akobo looks forward to the possibility of the first physical conference if they are able to attract the required funding for operations with a minimal estimation of $50,000 by Agbonika. The initiative is also exploring partnerships with corporate sponsors and international organizations to scale its efforts. For children like Adinoyi, these animals are more than companions — they’re lifelines to a world of unlimited possibilities.

Overhead Colouring

Dog-Tor Love To The Rescue: Animal Intervention For Therapy In Nigeria

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO SWIM SOUTH AFRICA’S FALSE BAY, with nothing but a swimming costume and a tenacious will to cross the 34km route, contending with white sharks and jellyfish stings, and in freezing temperatures that can tear into your soul? Here’s why more open water swimmers are signing up, and why it’s cheaper than the English channel.



In 1488 Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias described False Bay as the “Gulf between the mountains”. It is the largest true bay in South Africa and got its name from frustrated sailors who thought they had reached the tip of Africa, only to realize that Hangklip was not Cape Point. This ‘false bay’ is home to a diverse array of species that include whales, dolphins, sharks and seals swimming alongside octopi and a wide variety of fish. The crisp, clear water is the perfect home for the nutrients and phytoplankton that support marine life – and for a growing number of open water swimmers in search of adventure.



“False Bay is growing in international stature as a challenging and enticing swim,” Derrick Frazer, owner of Big Bay Events, a company that trains open water swimmers, tells FORBES AFRICA. “Between 1989 and 2012, numerous attempts were made to swim False Bay but only five were successful. In 2019, a six-person relay team successfully swam it as an investigative swim to see if opening up the route would find interest among swimmers and, since then, more and more people are being drawn to this swim.”



Frazer has seen an exponential increase in international swimmers joining his team each season. In 2021, he had one international swimmer, by 2024, it was three and in 2025, he has six international swimmers already booked for the year. “We’ve supported a total of 35 crossings at a 100% success rate,” he adds.



To provide a bit of context into exactly how challenging the False Bay swim can be, the best point of comparison is the English Channel – the open water swim from England to France is around 32 kilometers in water temperatures of around 15-18 degrees Celsius with the swimming window open from the end of June to the start of September. Any times outside of those involve colder temperatures, shorter days and darker swims. False Bay is approximately 34 kilometers and the water temperature dips to as low as 11 degrees in winter. The summer months of January and February are a more pleasant crossing at 20 degrees, but swimmers tend to pick their swim around the weather and the currents.



The swim route across False Bay can be taken in two ways. Swimmers can opt into swimming from Rooi Els to Miller’s Point or from Pringle Bay to Buffels Bay in the Western Cape. Both routes are around 34 kilometers and can be swum at any time of the year – although avoiding the south eastern



wind or South Easter is recommended. When declaring the False Bay swim official in 2019, the False Bay Swimming Association suggested that it be done in spring and autumn.



“The sheer distance, combined with False Bay’s reputation as the ‘white shark capital of the world’, and the constantly changing conditions in the bay, is drawing adventurers,” Carina Bruwer, marathon swimmer and member of the False Bay Swimming Association Board, tells FORBES AFRICA.



As the first South African woman, and third person ever, to successfully cross False Bay nearly 20 years ago, she understands the allure of this incredibly challenging swim.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-long-cold-beauty">The long, cold beauty</h4>



Bruwer says: “You have to contend with cold water, unpredictable currents and the possibility of wildlife encounters making it both a physical and mental challenge. Completing it offers a tremendous sense of accomplishment as you cross from one iconic point to another.”



In 1989, the first-ever swim across False Bay was made by Annemie Landmeters in 9:56h, a record that remained unbroken until November 30, 2022, when South African Katherine Persson finished it in 8:9h. In 2019, the fastest swim for a male swimmer was made by South African Barend Nortje in 9:17h who then broke his record in February 2024 at 7:28h. Both are in the Guinness World Records. Both are joined by a growing legion of open water swimmers wanting to experience the remarkable.



“Open water swimming has seen huge growth worldwide and swimmers are constantly looking for new and more extreme challenges,” says Frazer. “It is a compelling swim, particularly for Africans, as it sits in our backyard, it is one of our longest recognized routes, and it’s cold – the chilly waters of the Cape make the Channel swim feel warm by comparison. Swimmers who’ve trained a lot in Cape Town go to the Channel and say, ‘wow, this water is so warm, it’s fantastic’.”



It is also extremely beautiful. Unlike its English colleague, False Bay offers breathtaking scenery along the Cape Peninsula and the thrill of sharing the water with local marine wildlife.



“There’s a mystique about it. People want challenges and something new, and there’s also an element of danger to it,” says Troy Mayers (53), who was the 18th person to complete the swim.



“It’s a very difficult swim and it is unique and not a lot of people have done it, which makes it feel like you’re one of a few people brave enough to tackle it. You definitely have to be brave to sign up for False Bay.”



This is a sentiment shared by Kimberlee De Wit (36), Wendy Viola (59), Gillian Dusterwald (60) and Teru Adamson (55) who crossed False Bay on October 9, 2024. They were the last four people to complete the swim that has now only ever had 48 people cross its depths since it became an official swim in 2019.



“We felt it was important to demonstrate that big swims aren’t just for elite swimmers,” Viola tells FORBES AFRICA. “Average swimmers like us can achieve great things and conquer tough swims if we work together, believe in ourselves and have the right attitude. We were inspired to do this swim by sitting on the beach, looking across the bay and wondering if we could do it.”



The women worked with Scott Tate from Swim Cape Town to prepare for their swim, which was a relay across the bay. They would alternate swimming for an hour and sitting for an hour to simulate relay conditions – IN/OUTs as suggested by Tate – which gave them the physical and mental confidence they needed to manage their swim.



“It was tough – we had to deal with motion sickness, nutrition, rough conditions, jellyfish stings, getting a wet body into a dry costume on a rolling boat, three hours sitting on a boat between swims and no bathroom on board,” says Viola. “Our conditions weren’t as good as forecast so we had a rough start with big swells rolling perpendicular to our swimming path which made us feel as if we were constantly swimming in the wrong direction. We thought we would get an assist at the end and be blown into Rooi



Els but the ocean decided to change completely and push us back into the bay so the last third of our swim was a slog.”



The relay ended with the last swimmer battling compass jellyfish and a rough current until the last 500 meters when all the women jumped in to complete False Bay together in just under 12 hours.



“Gillian and I are the two oldest women to have done the swim,” says Viola. “When we look back, we feel privileged to live in such a beautiful place with such a swimming opportunity.”



“It was mentally a challenging swim. I know what lives in the water and what they are capable of, and from the moment I got in, I felt completely exposed,” says Mayers. “Every swell, every shadow underneath you that looks like a shark, was a moment of stress. Eleven hours later, when my feet touched down on the ground, I felt incredible relief and joy.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="1024" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Troy-Mayers-in-the-challenging-waters-of-False-Bay-Image-supplied-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64144" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Troy-Mayers-in-the-challenging-waters-of-False-Bay-Image-supplied-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Troy-Mayers-in-the-challenging-waters-of-False-Bay-Image-supplied-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Troy-Mayers-in-the-challenging-waters-of-False-Bay-Image-supplied-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Troy-Mayers-in-the-challenging-waters-of-False-Bay-Image-supplied-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Troy-Mayers-in-the-challenging-waters-of-False-Bay-Image-supplied.jpg 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Troy Mayers in the challenging waters of False Bay; Image supplied</figcaption></figure>



The relay teams that tackle the swim also have to deal with long periods of time sitting on the boat waiting for their turn. It takes mental resilience to stay in the moment and ready to jump back into the icy cold waters. As Dusterwald points out: “We were sitting on a very slow-moving boat in the middle of a very large ocean and were hoping for warmer weather but ended up in beanies and warm coats on a cold, overcast day.”



Her team didn’t think for one second they wouldn’t make it. Their mental commitment to the physically-demanding task kept them focused, and together until the end.



“The presence of marine life, particularly sharks, can be mentally daunting even with safety precautions in place,” adds Bruwer. She also mentions the unpredictable currents that can either help or hinder swimmers, often changing mid-swim. This is further complicated by the sheer distance, the winds, and the variable weather conditions.



“My first 16 kilometers I did in four and a half hours, then it took me six hours and 45 minutes to do the next 16 kilometers because the current was against me,” says Mayers. “This is a wicked swim. I was the first person to get caught in that current and two swimmers after me have since been caught in it – it was unexpected and I had to dig deep to get through it.”



For most swimmers, the highlight is their personal achievement at having completed such a monumental swim, knowing they’ve conquered one of the most challenging bodies of water in Africa.



“This swim represents a shift in my own limitations,” says Bruwer. “After failing due to severe hypothermia, I returned a year later to face the crossing again and I completed it, achieving my own impossible.”



The mental and physical toughness that swimmers develop when tackling False Bay translates into a skillset that can be transferred to any other long-distance endurance swim. Most notably, the English Channel.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-african-advantage">The African advantage</h4>



According to Frazer, who has shepherded many swimmers across the English Channel, the price tag attached to the swim can be upwards of ZAR250,000 ($13,736). This includes flights, the cost of the boats, booking fees, training and all the other hidden bits in between. Swimming False Bay – an equally inspiring test of skill and endurance – is a lot cheaper.



“It costs between ZAR30,000 to ZAR40,000 ($1,648 to $2,198),” says Mayers. “The price factor is definitely a drawcard and contributing to why False Bay is becoming so popular.”



You still have your jellyfish, currents, variable weather, and cold water, but in False Bay there’s the added benefit of enjoying a swim in an area of outstanding natural beauty.



“When you look across that bay, the view is extraordinary,” says Dusterwald. “It is iconic. I have a picture of me swimming in the water with the mountains in the background and only a few people in the world have that. It is an absolutely amazing swim.”



Dusterwald also says that the support she and her team received throughout the swim was extraordinary. The community was phenomenal in its support of their endeavor throughout their training and in the months after their successful completion.



“The highlight for me were the dolphins at the end,” she says. “A massive [pod] of dolphins swimming all around Teru – I don’t think she realized how amazing it looked. It was absolutely wonderful.”



The False Bay swim may have only had a handful of people tackle its icy waters and unpredictable weather, but this only adds to its allure. The swim is gaining global recognition and is consistently placed alongside other renowned marathon swims, including the Catalina Channel.



“Although South Africa remains less accessible than Europe or North America, more people are traveling specifically for swimming and Cape Town is becoming a destination of choice,” concludes Bruwer. “With a number of iconic swims in the region, False Bay stands as the ultimate challenge and is listed as one of the premier long-distance swims by open water associations and forums.”

Photo by Derrick Frazer at Big Bay Events

The New Channel Swim: The Truth About False Bay In South Africa

We check out what&#8217;s brewing in one of Kigali&#8217;s hottest coffee spots. Also, about 80% of their farm workforce is women. 



As you step into Kivu Noir, in downtown Kigali, you’re instantly enveloped by the rich aroma of freshly- ground coffee that the lively baristas rustle up behind the counter.



One of Rwanda’s biggest success stories is agriculture. According to the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the sector employs about 64.5% of the total population, contributing around 25% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64138" style="width:610px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">(Photo by Chanel Retief)</figcaption></figure></div>


And a major driving force in this sector is coffee.



“We don’t even serve food inside. If customers order food, they have to be seated outside because we do not want it to interfere with the smell of the coffee,” beams one of the baristas at Kivu Noir.



The coffee aroma lingers, even on the terrace of the restaurant, where a business meeting is in progress. At the other end of the balcony, people sit in rows hunched over their laptops, working, and sipping unique blends of African espresso and latte.



The café is built on the premise of a farm-to-table experience as all the coffee served is made from beans that come directly from a farmer near one of the African Great Lakes (around the Great Rift Valley in East and Central Africa). “Our coffee is grown and harvested from the volcanic shores of Lake Kivu at a small village called Nkora (the estate). The ripe cherries are wet-washed at Nkora, the oldest and largest washing station in Rwanda,” Kivu Noir Coffee’s Co-Founder, Kevin Mbundu, tells FORBES AFRICA.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-by-Muhire-Adolphe-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64139" style="width:572px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-by-Muhire-Adolphe-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-by-Muhire-Adolphe-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-by-Muhire-Adolphe-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-by-Muhire-Adolphe-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-by-Muhire-Adolphe-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">(Photo by Muhire Adolphe)</figcaption></figure></div>


“Our coffee benefits from an ideal growing environment, with lush green landscapes, abundant rainfall, and volcanic soils — conditions that are exceptionally suited to Arabica coffee production.”



This has allowed for a unique combination which, Mbundu says, enhances the coffee’s flavor profile, producing “a rich, full-bodied taste”.



But producing such coffee comes with its own challenges.



“[It’s] having to ensure that farmers consistently apply best practices for high-quality yields and manage the impact of prolonged dry seasons, which can reduce crop productivity,” Mbundu adds.



So how does Kivu Noir maintain quality control from farm to cup, given the diverse climates and terrains of African coffee regions?


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64140" style="width:393px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-byChanel-Retief-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-byChanel-Retief-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kivu-Nior-Photo-byChanel-Retief-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">(Photo by Chanel Retief)</figcaption></figure></div>


According to him, with Rwanda’s four-month Arabica coffee harvest cycle, they have to closely monitor and adjust production each year to ensure a fresh and reliable coffee supply across all their locations.



Visit Rwanda reports that about 95% of beans in the country are the high-quality Arabica varietal Bourbon, with a silky creamy body and hints of lemon and orange blossom, and a caramel aftertaste.



It adds that 450,000 small growers produce coffee across Rwanda, but that visits by tourists are primarily around Gisenyi, near the shores of Lake Kivu.



“Some farmers’ cooperatives and washing stations offer tours explaining the coffee process through the year,” Visit Rwanda reports. Coffee is an important source of income for small farmers in Rwanda. Also, most farms are at high altitudes of 1,700m to 2,000m. The coffee industry is also a great supporter of women’s empowerment. Mbundu says that about 80% of their farm workforce is women.



“This is a unique approach in an industry where much of coffee production has been industrialized, as seen in countries like Brazil and Indonesia,” he adds. The RDB states that the annual quantity of coffee produced in Rwanda ranges from 20,000 metric tons to 22,000 metric tons, further highlighting an increase in fully-washed and ordinary coffee export volumes and revenues every year. The major markets for Rwandan coffee, according to the RDB, are the United States, Europe (Switzerland, United Kingdom, Belgium, among others) and Asia (Singapore). It’s an industry that’s full of beans.

Kevin 2

Thanks A Latte: Sampling Rwanda’s Coffee Hub

Drone delivery and logistics company Zipline continues to make inroads for communities in the remote areas of Rwanda to access essential medical and agriculture supplies.



Over an hour’s drive outside the city of Kigali, if you happen to see a drone flying overhead, you must know that it has been launched from the Zipline facility in Muhanga, and is probably on its way to deliver a package to a remote village in Rwamagana in the Eastern Province of Rwanda.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Prosper-Uruvugundi-Partnership-Manager-at-Zipline-about-to-release-a-delivery-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64115" style="width:584px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Prosper-Uruvugundi-Partnership-Manager-at-Zipline-about-to-release-a-delivery-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Prosper-Uruvugundi-Partnership-Manager-at-Zipline-about-to-release-a-delivery-Photo-byChanel-Retief-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Prosper-Uruvugundi-Partnership-Manager-at-Zipline-about-to-release-a-delivery-Photo-byChanel-Retief-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Prosper-Uruvugundi-Partnership-Manager-at-Zipline-about-to-release-a-delivery-Photo-byChanel-Retief-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Prosper-Uruvugundi-Partnership-Manager-at-Zipline-about-to-release-a-delivery-Photo-byChanel-Retief-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo by Chanel Retief</figcaption></figure></div>


Who will be receiving this package, you may ask? A farmer. And what is being delivered? Pig semen.



“To help increase the genetic diversity of pigs, farmers purchase pig semen and engage a veterinarian trained in artificial insemination,” states an article by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on quality livestock and breeding in Rwanda.



Zipline, a drone delivery and logistics company, has sought to simplify the pain and process of access, eliminating the need for farmers to drive long hours to buy pig semen and bring it back to their farms, oftentimes in an already compromised state.



“Healthy animals and insemination products delivered right on time means more nutritious animal proteins and products,” Prosper Uruvugundi, Partnerships Manager at Zipline, tells FORBES AFRICA, as he takes us past the refrigerators storing semen in the warehouse at Muhanga.



The storeroom features rows of shelves for medication and medical supplies, and cold rooms that store blood for both human and animal needs.



The process, while seemingly seamless, involves many important requisites, for example, the standard hospital or medical services’ delivery requests.



Uruvugundi says that once the order comes through via phone, SMS, WhatsApp, API, or on the Zipline app, the technician will start to process the order.



“This order is coming from Kayonza (from a smallholder farmer in the Eastern Province),” he says, pointing at a screen. “He has requested pig semen.”



Following a query for clarification, “Yes,” says Uruvugundi matter-of-factly.



“Chances are the farmer either has veterinarian training or one on site who will do the insemination.”



Another technician has already taken out a unit of the product and started the process of wrapping it up carefully. Zipline delivers many more products for farmers.



In 2022, Zipline partnered with the Government of Rwanda, which included the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), to up the delivery of both healthcare and animal care goods in the country.



That year alone, the Ministry of Agriculture reportedly delivered more than 500,000 doses of animal health vaccines and more than 8,000 units of swine semen to vets and farmers, using Zipline.



With access to animal husbandry products and an increased fertility rate, more pigs can be raised with a healthier genetic profile.



The company’s autonomous drones operate on optimized flight paths, which are calculated, based on real-time data to ensure swift and reliable deliveries.



Their operations are controlled by a central system that continuously monitors weather, traffic, and the healthcare and farming facility’s demand to coordinate multiple deliveries.



According to Pierre Kayitana, Zipline’s General Manager, this data-driven approach helps reduce response times, increase delivery precision, and ensure that supplies reach their destinations without delay.



“We’re also mindful of the local communities and ecosystems, using technology that minimizes noise and environmental disruption while maximizing the efficiency of each flight,” Kayitana tells FORBES AFRICA.



What started as an operation designed to deliver blood supplies and medicine to remote areas throughout Rwanda has now shaped itself into one that is using technology to tackle an entire ecosystem. “We’re actively scaling up to provide 100% coverage for all Rwandan health posts,” Kayitana says.



“[This ensures] that every community, no matter how remote, has access to essential medical supplies. Our focus in Rwanda will continue to grow, with plans to expand our range of delivered products, potentially incorporating new health solutions like malaria treatments.” As Uruvugundi takes the packaged semen from the ‘Ready to Fly’ post, places the box into the drone and locks it in, we ask how long it



would take for the package to reach the farmer. The flight engineer starts the process, calling in the launch to the control room, signaling it to begin. As the drone zooms past Uruvugundi, he smiles and says with surety: “It will not be more than an hour, maybe two.”

Prosper Uruvugundi, Partnership Manager at Zipline (Photo byChanel Retief)

Where Healthcare And Agritech Take Flight In Rwanda

Famously known as the land of a thousand hills, THE EAST AFRICAN COUNTRY OF RWANDA is buzzing with new energy. Over the last three decades, the country has made significant strides in multiple sectors, from agriculture to automation to infotech. On these pages, we offer a glimpse of the ideas and innovations powering a country on its path to becoming a middle-income economy.



It’s almost 8AM and the sun smiles be- nevolently over the verdant hills and valleys of Kigali. Acres of palm trees as far as the eyes can see line either side of a long and winding road ahead. The splendorous cityscapes slowly awaken to the busi- ness of life on a hot, humid morning in October, with not a hint of rain. But no matter what the elements ordain, the predictable hum of the mid-morning traffic and rush hour depicts a city readying to face the hustle and bustle of yet another day in the hilly country.



The tiny, landlocked East African nation of about 14 million people with its clean, secure and safe streets – it’s one of the safest countries in the world – has the highest population density in Africa, as per the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). 



But Rwanda has come a long way from the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi that claimed almost a million lives, and is marching towards sustain- able prosperity, aspiring to become a middle-income country by 2035. As President Paul Kagame, who has been widely credited for Rwanda’s recovery, alluded to during the 30-year commemoration of the genocide in April this year, it has been a long and tough journey, but the country has made “tremendous progress” working together. According to the World Bank, in 2023, Rwanda’s economy showcased resilience and adaptability, achieving a robust growth rate of 7.6% in the face of global monetary stringency, challenging financial conditions, and downturns in international trade.



The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently reported that despite challenging external conditions and ongoing fiscal consolida- tion, Rwanda’s economy maintains robust growth. “Rwanda’s growth momentum remained strong, notwithstanding the challenging ex- ternal environment,” the IMF’s Ruben Atoyan said in a statement in October 2024. “Real GDP is projected to grow by 8.3% in 2024, driven by strong performance of the services, and construction sectors, and recovery in food crop production.” FORBES AFRICA was on the ground in Rwanda to capture the re- covery, resilience and resolve of a country working hard for a better future in Africa.

Rwandans Mark 30th Anniversary Of Genocide

SPECIAL REPORT: The Land Of Hills, Heart And Hustle

Speech by Dr Akinwumi A Adesina, President and Chairman of the Board, African Development Bank Group, at the COP29 High-Level Event, on Measuring the Green Wealth of Nations: Natural Capital and Economic Productivity in Africa, on November 13, 2024.



Africa has some of the largest sources of natural capital in the world, including over 40% of the world’s clean energy potential; 65% of the world’s uncultivated arable land; 25% of global biodiversity; and 20% of the world’s tropical rainforest area.



The Congo Basin is the second-largest carbon lung in the world after the Amazon forest. It stretches 314 million hectares with 1.2 million kilometers of primary forest.



The peatlands of the Congo Basin store 29 billion tons of carbon. That is equivalent to three years’ worth of global greenhouse gas emissions. The Congo Basin also absorbs about 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year.



Africa’s forests account for 26% of all carbon sequestration in forests worldwide.



The continent also holds considerable non-renewable natural resources, accounting for 50% of the world’s reserves of cobalt (used for batteries), 40% of manganese reserves (used in solar and wind farms) and more than 80% of platinum reserves, complemented by rich endowments of nickel, copper, and rare earth minerals. These are crucial for global green energy transition with electric vehicles and battery energy storages systems, whose estimated value is expected to rise from $7.5 trillion to $59 trillion.



Africa is also endowed with abundant renewable energy: an almost unlimited potential of solar capacity (10TW), hydro (350GW), wind (110GW), and geothermal energy sources (15GW), all of which are the backbone of a less carbon-intensive and more sustainable energy system.



Therefore, while Africa contributes significantly to global public good for tackling climate change with its vast resources of natural capital, its vast natural capital has been undervalued. This vast natural capital is not taken into consideration in valuing the GDP of African countries. For example, while the GDP of Africa was estimated at $2.5 trillion in 2018, this was 2.5 times lower than the estimated value of its natural capital, evaluated at $6.2 trillion, which partly includes some valuation of the ecosystem services.



This situation makes Africa to be “green endowed” but “cash poor”.



When Africa’s vast forest and environmental services, and natural capital, are properly valued, the size of its rebased GDP taking this into account will be much higher.



The African Development Bank’s preliminary estimates, based on very conservative assumptions, show that Africa’s nominal GDP in 2022 could have increased by $66.1 billion when adjusted for carbon sequestration only.



That is more than the combined GDP of 42 African countries!



The proper valuation of Africa’s green GDP is where the trillions of dollars for the continent, based on proper valuation, will come from, to boost the wealth and financing of the continent.



The greening of the GDP will also have other benefits, including the development of carbon markets in Africa.



Unfortunately, today, several African countries are giving away their vast amounts of land to carbon credits. While this may generate some short-term financing, it needs to be understood that Africa is a carbon price taker and therefore is short-changed. While the price of carbon in Europe is high and could be as high as $200 per ton because of the strict EU Emission Trading Standards, carbon price in Africa could be as low as $3 to $10 per ton.



The widespread sales of vast areas of Africa’s lands rich in carbon, what I call “carbon grab”, has five consequences, which we must understand.



First, the countries are being underpaid for the carbon, due to the undervaluation of Africa’s carbon sinks.



Second, the sequestered carbon on the lands can no longer be used as part of the nation’s nationally determined contributions.



Third, the countries lose sovereignty over their lands.



Fourth, the carbon sequestered over these lands and forests cannot be used to rebase and revalue the green GDP of the countries.



Fifth, the ongoing carbon grab in Africa is a lose-lose proposition.



The proper valuation of Africa’s green wealth will increase access to financial flows, in part because credit ratings agencies will be able to incorporate the true value of overall asset class, which in turn could improve countries’ risk profile.



Therefore, it is time for Africa’s green environmental assets to be properly priced to allow the continent to turn its massive green assets into wealth, through their inclusion in “green&#8221; GDP for Africa. This will raise massive financial resources for the continent, spur greater green investments and provide better policies for the greening of African economies for sustainable development. The significantly higher revenues that Africa will generate from the proper valuation of its carbon sinks and environmental services will also allow it to be able to service its debts, assuring debt sustainability.



It is time for Africa’s green wealth to be properly measured.



It is time to take Africa’s natural capital into consideration in its GDP.



It is time for Africa to be green rich and cash rich.



I am delighted to inform you that the African Development Bank has produced a report on Measuring the Green Wealth of Nations: Natural Capital and Economic Productivity in Africa. This report sets out key actions to value and integrate natural capital in the measure of Africa’s GDP.



This is a defining moment for Africa.



We need you to succeed.



African Development Bank will work with you to seize this moment.

1st Africa Climate Summit in Kenya

Measuring the Green Wealth of Nations: Natural Capital and Economic Productivity in Africa

<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-call-for-women-s-leadership-in-energy">A Call for Women’s Leadership in Energy</h3>



The Secretary of State for Mineral Resources, Jânio Correa Victor, inaugurated the summit with a call to action for women to lead transformative projects in the energy sector. Representing the Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum, and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, he emphasized the Ministry’s commitment to fostering platforms like this summit to share insights and identify talent.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="750" height="540" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Janio-Correa-Victor-officially-opened-the-Forbes-Africa-Lusophone-Annual-Summit-Tom-Carlos.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-63731" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Janio-Correa-Victor-officially-opened-the-Forbes-Africa-Lusophone-Annual-Summit-Tom-Carlos.jpeg 750w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Janio-Correa-Victor-officially-opened-the-Forbes-Africa-Lusophone-Annual-Summit-Tom-Carlos-300x216.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Jânio Correa Victor officially opened the Forbes Africa Lusophone Annual Summit. (Photo: Tom Carlos)</figcaption></figure>



Victor praised the efforts of the Muhatu Energia Angola Network, a two-year-old initiative supporting women in petroleum, as a vital step toward achieving gender equality in the sector. He highlighted the alignment of its work with Angola’s National Development Plan 2023–2027 and Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 5 on gender equality. &#8220;Our responsibility is to ensure the sustainable and inclusive advancement of the sector,” he remarked, calling on women to innovate and lead Angola toward a brighter, more inclusive future.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-power-to-inspire-advocating-diversity">“The Power to Inspire” – Advocating Diversity</h3>



A central panel discussion, The Power to Inspire, moderated by Sonangol board member Olga Sabalo, featured industry leaders Natacha Massano, Katrina Fisher, and Nina Koch. Addressing the enduring question of gender roles in the workplace, the panelists unanimously affirmed women’s equal capability in every field.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="682" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/woman-panel-2-1024x682.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-63734" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/woman-panel-2-1024x682.jpeg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/woman-panel-2-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/woman-panel-2-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/woman-panel-2.jpeg 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Olga Sabalo, Katrina Fisher, Nina Koch, and Natacha Massano</figcaption></figure>



“We must embrace the power of diversity,” said Katrina Fisher, General Manager of ExxonMobil Angola. She stressed the importance of creating opportunities, fostering courage, and building networks to support women at all stages of their careers. Founder of Muhatu Energy Angola, Natacha Massano, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing that inclusion begins with women empowering one another. “Equity diminishes at management levels, so we must lift each other up to bridge this gap,” she asserted.



The discussion also underscored the need for women to take risks and step into leadership roles. “It’s about being bold and saying yes to opportunities, even in uncomfortable spaces,” added Nina Koch, Vice President of Equinor Africa. Together, the panelists championed a collaborative approach, urging men and women to work together toward an inclusive future where diverse perspectives drive innovation and progress.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-women-as-agents-of-transformation">Women as Agents of Transformation</h3>



The Angolan Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum, and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, highlighted women’s vital contributions to transforming the oil and gas industry. “Your talent, vision, and resilience are fundamental in shaping a sustainable and innovative future for this industry,” he said, reiterating that promoting inclusion is not just equitable but also a smart business strategy.



Minister of the Environment, Ana Paula de Carvalho, further emphasized the value Angola places on women’s leadership. Highlighting their success in public and private roles, she encouraged women to seize the opportunities available and excel. “Being a woman is an advantage, but competence and effort are essential to meet the challenges we face,” she affirmed.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-future-of-equality-and-innovation">A Future of Equality and Innovation</h3>



The summit showcased Angola’s commitment to positioning women at the forefront of its energy sector, not just as participants but as leaders driving progress. From the Secretary of State’s call for innovative projects to the panelists’ shared strategies for inclusion, the message was clear: gender equality is a cornerstone for Angola’s development.



As Minister Azevedo concluded, “If this world were led by more women, we would possibly have more peace.” The Forbes Africa Lusophone Annual Summit 2024 was not only a celebration of women’s achievements but also a rallying cry for greater diversity, equity, and innovation in shaping Angola’s—and the world’s—energy future.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-promoting-women-s-leadership-in-angola-s-oil-sector-muhatu-energy-angola-s-mission">Promoting Women&#8217;s Leadership in Angola&#8217;s Oil Sector: Muhatu Energy Angola&#8217;s Mission</h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="676" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/WhatsApp-Image-2024-11-21-at-10.58.15-AM-1024x676.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-63784" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/WhatsApp-Image-2024-11-21-at-10.58.15-AM-1024x676.jpeg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/WhatsApp-Image-2024-11-21-at-10.58.15-AM-300x198.jpeg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/WhatsApp-Image-2024-11-21-at-10.58.15-AM-768x507.jpeg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/WhatsApp-Image-2024-11-21-at-10.58.15-AM.jpeg 1170w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Bringing more women into the oil sector is the driving force behind Muhatu Energy Angola, emphasized its Management Commission President, Nicola Mvuayi, at the Forbes Africa Lusophone Annual Summit.</figcaption></figure>



Muhatu Energy Angola (MEA) was created two years ago to enhance career opportunities and leadership development for women in Angola&#8217;s oil sector, where women make up only 22% of the workforce and just 5% hold leadership positions. The initiative focuses on providing training, mentoring, and leadership opportunities, with programs aimed at increasing the number of women in the sector. Key projects include mentorship and internship programs like ASSEA Ubuntu, which has had a positive impact on youth training. MEA also works to raise awareness of the underutilized female talent in the industry. The platform has been pivotal in fostering connections, such as university workshops, where seasoned professionals share their experiences. Nicola Mvuayi, president of MEA’s Management Commission, emphasized that while challenges remain, the progress over the past two years is promising, with opportunities growing through energy transition and diversification. She stressed the importance of meritocracy, skill development, and preparing women to compete in the competitive oil sector.



Reporting by: : <a href="https://www.forbesafricalusofona.com/autor/nelson/">Nelson Rodrigues</a>, <a href="https://www.forbesafricalusofona.com/autor/ritameireles/">Rita Meireles</a> and <a href="https://www.forbesafricalusofona.com/autor/pedro-mbinza/">Pedro Mbinza</a>

Minister of oil

Angola Champions Women’s Leadership and Diversity at Forbes Africa Lusophone Annual Summit 2024

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



Air quality in New Delhi dropped to its worst level this year on Monday—with pollutant levels reaching more than 150 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended safe levels—as local authorities enacted an emergency response plan, including shutting down schools, halting the entry of nearly all trucks and a ban on all construction activities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Facts</h2>



<a href="https://www.iqair.com/in-en/india/delhi%5C" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">According to IQ Air</a>, New Delhi’s Air Quality Index, which measures the level of air pollution, surged past 1,700 on Monday—more than five times above the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">“hazardous” benchmark</a>&nbsp;where even healthy individuals are likely to experience adverse effects.



The pollution level was so severe on Monday that the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi—which uses the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow chart—<a href="https://in.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/new-delhi/air-quality-data/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">rated the conditions</a>&nbsp;“Beyond the AQI” on its hourly tracker as it registered levels above 1,600.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="699" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-2183914233.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-63705" style="width:644px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-2183914233.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-2183914233-300x205.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-2183914233-768x524.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">India Gate is covered in a thick layer of pollution in New Delhi, India, on November 13, 2024 (Photo by Bilal Kuchay/NurPhoto via Getty Images).</figcaption></figure></div>


The national pollution control authority rated the conditions in Delhi as “severe plus” and&nbsp;<a href="https://caqm.nic.in/WriteReadData/LINKS/GRAP%20Stage%20IV%20Order%20dated%2017112024272e205d-f42e-4106-932a-0514c584dfd7.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">ordered the enforcement</a>&nbsp;of stage 4 of a graded response action plan, which is the highest level emergency response and allows for the most stringent curbs on vehicles and construction work.



The Delhi Government ordered all schools to switch over to online classes and issued bans on key sources of pollution, including the entry of trucks carrying non-essential goods into the city, the operation of older diesel vehicles on the road and all construction activities.



The national capital city was blanketed by a thick layer of smog—a toxic mix of fog and smoke—that dropped&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/dense-smog-leaves-delhi-choking-as-aqi-in-severe-plus-category-visibility-down-to-100m-101731903642563.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">visibility levels</a>&nbsp;to around 100 meters.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What Is Causing Delhi’s Pollution?</h2>



Severe pollution levels have become a recurring problem for India’s capital and other major North Indian cities during the winter—when the dense fog-laden air mixes with toxic smoke and other pollutants. As with every year, the issue has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ndtv.com/video/bjp-distributes-masks-in-delhi-as-air-pollution-crisis-deepens-862172" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">triggered</a>&nbsp;a political&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/atishi-targets-centre-on-stubble-burning-amid-delhis-air-emergency-7045044" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">blame game</a>&nbsp;between the national government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Delhi government led by the rival Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).&nbsp;<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/farm-fires-continue-to-pollute-delhis-air-despite-decrease-in-incidents/articleshow/115062410.cms" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">According to</a>&nbsp;the national air quality monitoring agency SAFAR, nearly 40% of Delhi’s pollution can be attributed to the illegal burning of crop residues in neighboring states like Punjab and Haryana after harvest season. Efforts to crack down on farm fires have failed, as stubble burning is usually quicker and cheaper than manual or machine removal—which the government is trying to financially incentivize.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">News Peg</h2>



The levels of PM 2.5 pollutants—airborne particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which can enter the lungs and cause several diseases—across the city peaked above 950 micrograms per cubic meter on Monday, according to IQAir’s tracker. According to the World Health Organization, the recommended annual average exposure to PM2.5 matter should not exceed 5 micrograms per cubic meter.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Big Number</h2>



214. That is the total number of both arriving and departing flights, which have faced delays at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flightaware.com/live/cancelled" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according to</a>&nbsp;FlightAware. In a&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/DelhiAirport/status/1858389088614613391" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">statement on X</a>&nbsp;at noon, the Delhi Airport said its “low visibility procedures are still in progress and flight operations may get affected.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Tangent</h2>



NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System, which tracks fires using satellite imagery, showed&nbsp;<a href="https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:24hrs;l:fires_all,earth;@74.6,32.1,5.7z" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">several active blazes</a>&nbsp;across the state of Punjab in the past 24 hours. Last month, a&nbsp;<a href="https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/spso/bio/hiren.t.jethva" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Senior Research Scientist</a>&nbsp;at NASA, Hiren T Jethva,&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/hjethva05/status/1849578536128086531" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">speculated</a>&nbsp;on X that farmers in North India may be deliberately burning crop stubbles later in the afternoon to avoid having their flames tracked by the satellite overpass. It is unclear if this is true, but this hasn’t stopped authorities from reporting a large number of farm fires in the area. In the state of Punjab alone, 4,262 cases of farm fires were reported in the last two weeks,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/of-total-8404-farm-fire-cases-in-punjab-50-reported-in-past-2-weeks/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according to</a>&nbsp;the Tribune.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Further Reading</h2>



<a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/dense-smog-leaves-delhi-choking-as-aqi-in-severe-plus-category-visibility-down-to-100m-101731903642563.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Dense smog leaves Delhi choking as AQI in ‘severe plus’ category, visibility down to 100m</a>&nbsp;(Hindustan Times)

The Cart in the Fog

India’s Capital Chokes Under ‘Severe Plus’ Pollution—Emergency Measures Enacted Including School Shutdowns

Sustainable housing could play a significant role in the way the continent tackles its housing deficit. We unpack the ground-breaking innovations, Initiatives and ideations&nbsp;developing&nbsp;the&nbsp;‘green&nbsp;scene’. 



In a village in the Mtwara region of Tanzania, a project borne from the concepts of architectural innovation, sustainability and social responsibility is underway. And it’s just one of many aimed at tackling the demand for environmentally-conscious housing in Africa.



A report from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) states that the continent’s housing deficit is estimated at over 97 million units and “this is expected to increase as the continent’s population grows, and urbanization continues”.



The clinical trial in Mtwara, dubbed The Star Homes Project, was initiated in 2021 by Denmark-based Ingvartsen Architects in cooperation with the Hanako Foundation and, according to the company, was developed by a cross-disciplinary team of architects, physicians, entomologists and social scientists along with local community leaders and stakeholders.



However, Jakob Knudsen, Principal Architect at Ingvartsen, says that the focus of the project, initially, was simply to improve the health of the occupants of the houses.



“The [houses] are made [of ] very light materials. It looks like concrete, but actually it’s a very thin steel profile with a thin plaster, so it has a very low material use. And what looks like glass is basically a net, so we kind of replaced all the walls with netting, and we made this house naturally very cool. We can see that we have lowered the material consumption and CO2 use by 30% to 40% depending on how you calculate it. And that’s because we try to kind of maximize all the components,” he says.



“It actually didn’t start as a sustainability thing. It started as a way to make the buildings cheaper, but we realized, during the process, that actually we are onto something where we’re using far less materials. It also became interesting from a financial side and a material side, and this is what we’re looking at now. We know that these houses are actually working against malaria, we can see that.”



An article from the World Health Organization on Malaria Day 2023 indicates that Tanzania is one of the four countries in Africa that accounted for slightly over half (52%) of all malaria deaths globally in 2021. Further to this, the country alone accounted for 4% of all malaria deaths, and the disease continues to pose a major burden in the northwest and southeastern regions of the country.



As part of the Star Homes Project, the health of the occupants of the 110 constructed homes will be compared to those living in 440 control homes over a three-year period, which is set to conclude this year.



“We conclude by the end of this year, then we have the three- year period. Nothing is published yet, but I can say that we have very promising results already on the malaria [aspect]. There’s a clear benefit from having a new house when you’re looking at malaria. I mean, this is a rural area in Tanzania, so lots of people [have] malaria, and they’re much better protected. But this is one of the first housing projects, to our knowledge, the first time a house has been built and used in this way to demonstrate it.”



Each house also has a 40W solar panel that provides lights in each room and USB charging, and rainwater is collected from the roof and stored in a 2,000-liter tank for clean drinking water. According to Knudsen, based on the materials used, it cost around $9,000 to build at the time.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-does-a-green-future-look-like">What does a ‘green’ future look like?</h4>



The ongoing demand for affordable housing coupled with growing climate change concerns has brought sustainable or green architecture to the fore.



Britannica defines green architecture as a philosophy of architecture that advocates sustainable energy sources, the conservation of energy, the reuse and safety of building materials, and the siting of a building with consideration of its impact on the environment.



A 2023 report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) titled, Building Materials And The Climate: Constructing A New Future, indicates that the buildings and construction sector is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, accounting for 37% of global emissions.



However, herein lies the opportunity. Entrepreneurs and businesses alike have taken up the mantle to innovate, ‘go green’ and make a positive impact on the environment at large.



According to the World Green Building Council’s (WorldGBC) Africa Manifesto for Sustainable Cities and the Built Environment, by 2050, Africa will be home to 1.1 billion more people than it is today, and 80% of the buildings that will exist in Africa in 2050 are yet to be built.



Lisa Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer of the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) and Vice Chair for the WorldGBC’s Africa Regional Network, emphasizes the progress of the collaborative efforts across the continent. 



“We’ve got different sort of levels of Green Building Councils. In Africa, there are two established Green Building Councils – South Africa and Kenya, and the others are mixed between emerging and prospective. Our job, and I include Kenya in it, is really to support the prospective and emerging councils,” she tells FORBES AFRICA.



“Africa has [been] hit by climate events, so there is a huge awareness that, whether it be the Green Building Council or governments, [we] have to do something to alleviate these things,” Reynolds adds.



Knudsen echoes the sentiment on collaboration, stating, “I think one of the sustainability problems I see in Africa is that materials are used in a very inefficient way in many local buildings. You could easily save 30% of the materials if there was better knowledge for the builder who’s doing this, but that’s not something you can expect. We need somebody else who knows how to work with building techniques.”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Trash to treasure</h4>



In 2019, the first plastic road was laid down in South Africa’s Jeffery’s Bay, and reports, published recently, indicate that it has lasted longer than traditional tar roads. And the uses for this often-troublesome product seem to only increase from here.



As per the United Nations’ goal 11 of making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, entrepreneurs across Africa are tackling sustainable building prac- tices in their own way.



One such example is Kubik CEO and co-founder, Kidus Asfaw. Kubik, an environmental tech company, takes plastic waste and transforms it into low-carbon, low-cost housing in Ethiopia, where the startup is based.



Asfaw, who has worked for the World Bank, Accenture, and Google, as well as on technology and innovation initiatives for UNICEF, relays the story of how he got into the trash business. “I helped set up the first-ever circular economy project for UNICEF in Cote d’Ivoire, and we were able to create bricks out of plastic waste. We made over 500 schools using those and my love changed from software to trash, affordability, housing and cities. I did that for about four years,” he says.



“During that time, I learned the issues not just around trash, but a multitude of major challenges that human beings that live in cities are facing, especially on rapidly urbanizing continents like Africa. Alongside poor waste management [which] needs to be addressed, affordable housing is probably one of the biggest priorities in many countries right now. And then, of course, there’s climate change.”



Kubik, which was founded in 2021, produces products that are high in compression strength, non-flammable, non-toxic and modular.



“We’re a business that transforms hard-to-recycle plastic waste into building materials that real estate developers can use at a cheaper price than conventional cement-based materials without compromising the quality or safety of those buildings,” says Asfaw.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kubik-Wall-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-63677" style="width:568px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kubik-Wall-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kubik-Wall-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kubik-Wall-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kubik-Wall-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kubik-Wall-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Kubik Wall expression</figcaption></figure></div>


“Part of them doing business with Kubik [is] they’re also reducing the greenhouse gas impact that they bring to building cities like Addis Ababa. In a nutshell, we take all of that very bad plastic that you typically see in a landfill, and we make things like bricks that can make an entire wall, and that wall is as unremarkable as it looks, because it’s supposed to look just like every other building. What makes it remarkable to us is how accessible it is to lower-income communities, price-wise, and how green and sustainable it is within the real estate sector.”



In South Africa, sisters Kedibone and Kekeletso Tsiloane are tackling the plastic pollution and waste management issue through Ramtsilo Manufacturing and Construction, a company they founded in 2013. The business focuses on transforming hard-to-recycle plastics and other waste products into eco-bricks.



Kekeletso, who has a background in engineering, tells FORBES AFRICA about how this passion project turned into a fully-fledged business in a traditionally male-dominated industry.



“We initially started with small construction jobs, so building roads and building small projects, and that’s when we actually noticed that we spent so much money on materials, specifically bricks for us. We went out to look for a woman-owned brick manufacturing company, which we struggled to find. We then started making the bricks ourselves,” she says.



“I am interested in the green economy and what happens to waste and that grew an interest of learning about the afterlife of waste. In our research, we did not know that plastic had different properties and had different values. In terms of money, per kilogram, in the recycling space, it has different prices as well. And with that, we then sought out to make a product that we’re still comfortable with, but is innovative and in the green space.” South Africa, according to World Wide Fund (WWF), produces over 2.5 million tonnes of plastic annually. And while the bricks produced by Ramtsilo reportedly function in exactly the same way as conventional bricks, Kedibone, who has a finance background, states that the company still had to do a fair amount of educating on the product.



“We’re still having to re-educate people. It’s a plug and play solution but it integrates seamlessly into the construction industry. That was one of our biggest value-adds… the fact that people could easily use the product because they had the same look and feel as the conventional brick,” she explains.



“We then realized there’s additional benefits that come with the products – from an installation perspective, from a condensation water absorption [perspective] – because of the use of the plastic. The brick is actually branded so that people know that they’re [buying] an eco-friendly product. We’ve seen from the retailers, that product doesn’t stay in the retail stores and it’s simply because of the quality [and] the performance of the product.”


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="768" height="1024" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kekeletso-Kedibone-Tsiloane-768x1024.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-63676" style="width:516px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kekeletso-Kedibone-Tsiloane-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kekeletso-Kedibone-Tsiloane-225x300.jpeg 225w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kekeletso-Kedibone-Tsiloane-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kekeletso-Kedibone-Tsiloane-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kekeletso-Kedibone-Tsiloane-scaled.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Kekeletso &amp; Kedibone Tsiloane (Photo Supplied)</figcaption></figure></div>


According to Kedibone, the bricks can be found at South African retailers like Builders Warehouse and Leroy Merlin in Gauteng. And while Ramtsilo’s business model tends to focus more on partnerships with corporates and retailers – a model that appears to be working well for them – Kubik’s has opted to focus on and develop the company’s relationships with waste pickers.



“We grappled with what our supply chain model should look like for many months. There are thousands of waste pickers in Ethiopia. Most of those pickers happen to be women, over 80% of them, and most of them end up selling their produce for the day to brokers at very low prices that are not economically sustainable for them to pass the poverty line,” he says.



“We wanted our business model to have a supply chain that not only worked at scale and made business/financial sense for us, but ethically is also empowering those that have previously been exploited in this space. We typically would work with city administrations that typically manage landfills. We get into a partnership with them, set up a collection site and we directly source from these waste pickers at prices that are at least three, four times more than what they would normally get from a broker.”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-endless-possibilities">Endless possibilities</h4>



A quick search online reveals some of the most commonly-used sustainable materials in construction. Aside from bamboo and recycled plastic, others include recycled or reclaimed wood, cork, Hempcrete and biocomposite cement.



Traditional building practices have also been employed in some parts of the continent. UNEP had published an article about a project at a school in Burkina Faso, where the modules that form the structure for the school are built out of locally- sourced laterite. This is then cut into bricks and left in the sun to harden. The bricks reportedly absorb the heat during the day and radiate it at night.



Another example of innovation at work is the The Wits Flower Hall Examination and Test Centre in South Africa. Ac- cording to a recent release by the institution, the now energy- efficient building has been recognized for its sustainable design and shortlisted in the Creative Reuse category at the World Ar- chitecture Festival, set to take place in November.



“We believe that adaptive reuse is a critical foundation of green sustainable building due to the embodied carbon content of existing buildings. Wits has a great track record of repurposing buildings, for example the Science Stadium,” said Dr Heather Dodd from Savage + Dodd Architects, who worked on this project in 2022, in the release.



The growth of the sustainable or green building space presents significant employment opportunities as well, according to Reynolds.



“The more that certification grows, the more people need to be aware the job opportunities are growing with it. I do a CEO message on all our newsletters; the latest one is talking about job expansion. So, you know, there’s job creation, but there’s also potential for job expansion because we need accredited professionals; we need EDGE experts,” she states. “We did our first certification in 2009. If you think of pre-2009, there were no such things as accredited professionals. Now, small companies are formed just doing certification. It’s a true reflection of job creation and I would try to encourage more and more people to do it. If they’re in the space [and] it’s not job creation, expand your portfolio and go into this space.”

Com_Ingvartsen_Mtwara_StarHomes_C-JulienLanoo_20220907L1034048 copy

Building Africa’s Green Future: How One Project Is Even Aiming To Curb Malaria With Sustainable Architecture

Prince William is in Cape Town on a four-day climate-focused tour, meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa, engaging with young environmental leaders, and supporting wildlife conservation initiatives. His visit culminates with the presentation of the Earthshot Prize tonight, emphasizing his commitment to environmental conservation, youth empowerment, and strengthening ties between the United Kingdom and South Africa.



Meeting with President Ramaphosa



Prince William met President Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss mutual interests in sustainability, wildlife conservation, and climate change. The meeting reinforced the importance of international collaboration and strengthened the partnership between the two nations in pursuing sustainable development goals.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="721" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-2182365016.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-63587" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-2182365016.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-2182365016-300x211.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-2182365016-768x541.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"> Prince William, Prince of Wales meets the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, at his Official Residence on November 5, 2024 in Cape Town. (Photo by Victoria Jones &#8211; Pool/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


United for Wildlife Initiative



At the United for Wildlife Global Summit in Cape Town, Prince William announced a new support package for rangers across Africa. The five-year plan aims to provide 10,000 rangers with access to affordable insurance, medical evacuation services, and leadership development opportunities.



&#8220;Rangers are fundamental if we are to meet our global conservation targets for 2030,&#8221; Prince William stated in a press release. Developed in partnership with Tusk Trust and the Game Rangers Association of Africa, the initiative seeks to enhance the welfare and professional development of those on the front lines of conservation.



Engaging with Youth Leaders



Prince William joined young environmentalists for the inaugural Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme. The initiative empowers young leaders through workshops on leadership, storytelling, and advocacy. Participants shared innovative solutions to climate challenges in their communities, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange.



The Earthshot Prize in Africa



Hosting the Earthshot Prize in Cape Town marks its first time on African soil. Founded by Prince William in 2020, the prize recognizes groundbreaking environmental solutions, highlighting Africa&#8217;s growing role in global environmental innovation.



The ceremony near Cape Town Stadium will feature performances by international and African artists such as Davido, Diamond Platnumz and DJ Uncle Waffles, and will be broadcast globally. Five recipients will each receive £1 million to advance their projects in areas such as air quality improvement, ocean health, and climate resilience.



The Prince&#8217;s visit underscores the importance of international cooperation in environmental conservation. By engaging with government leaders, conservation professionals, and young activists, the tour highlights efforts to promote sustainability, protect wildlife, and empower future generations.

The Prince Of Wales Visits South Africa For The Earthshot Prize Awards – Day One

Prince William’s Visit to South Africa Highlights Conservation Efforts and Youth Empowerment

Los Angeles’s Erewhon, one of the world’s most expensive grocery stores, is a favorite among celebrities and personal chefs. It’s known for lining its shelves with upmarket pro- duce, focusing on items that are both certified or- ganic and ethically-sourced. Erewhon attracts those seeking the latest, trendsetting ingredients and now, there’s a new supergrain on-shelf everyone is pick- ing up – it’s called fonio.



But here’s the thing, fonio is far from new. According to the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), it’s the continent’s oldest cultivated cereal grain. Grown in West Africa for thousands of years, archaeologists found fonio buried in tombs inside the Egyptian pyramids. The Dogon, a Mali culture, called fonio po – the seed of the universe.



But how fonio, an almost forgotten African crop, ended up in Ameri- can supermarkets, is really the story of Chef Pierre Thiam.



Thiam is an award-winning Senegalese chef, author, activist and the founder of Yolélé (a Fulani term of exuberance used through- out West and Central Africa), a company that advocates for small- holder farmers in the Sahel region. The company’s signature product, Yolélé Fonio, is what Erewhon, Whole Foods and other grocers in the United States are selling.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cash-crops">Cash crops</h3>



“Colonization played a big role in disrupting our agriculture,” explains Thiam. With colonization came a shift to cash crops. Instead of growing fonio, Senegalese farmers were forced to grow peanuts. And in countries like Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, the focus was cocoa. “In Senegal, they brought what we call broken rice, the debris that is the result of processing rice in southeast India,” says Thiam. Broken rice, which was once animal feed in countries like Vietnam and Cambodia, was shipped to Sene- gal by French colonial authorities. “We still use broken rice in our national dishes – we prefer it to our indigenous rice,” he says. “It’s a brainwashing that happened that got us to prefer everything that was brought in by the West. And because our farmers were growing peanuts, they were not growing enough of the indigenous crops anymore.” Going after the money coming in from peanut agriculture is one of the reasons Senegal is still importing broken rice from Asia. “We have a grass agriculture, but we still depend on broken rice. We haven’t figured out a way to increase the agriculture of crops like fonio and millet,” says Thiam. “We’ve switched our diets, eat- ing bread every day that’s made out of wheat we don’t grow.” Globally, maize, rice and wheat make up 50% of the world’s global calorie intake.



Based in Nairobi, Zoë Karl-Waithaka, Managing Director and partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), explains the reason this happened was the Green Revolution. “A huge amount of investment went into driving food security around the world. We were able to get more calories into the food system but they’re not very diverse,” she says. “As a result of that, we started shifting away from crops that were inherent to certain kinds of landscapes, crops that could grow more easily and provide other benefits like being more nutrient-dense.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lost-but-not-forgotten">Lost, but not forgotten</h3>



These ancient grains, which nourished African communities for generations, are now called ‘lost’ or ‘or- phan’ crops. “Underutilized, minor, neglected – these are all words that refer to this type of crop that had a larger portion of our diets historically. And these crops are critical, not only for biodiversity but also for nutri- tion,” says Karl-Waithaka. Africa is not the only continent with agro-biodiversity issues. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that since the 1900s, 75% of plant genetic diversity has been lost and today, 75% of the world’s food is generated from only 12 plant species (and five animal species).



“They’re still around, they’re not lost, but they can be lost because they’re disappearing at a fast rate,” adds Thiam. The United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Africa has projected that as extreme heat events increase, crop yields across the continent could decrease by 20% by 2050. “If you think about how our climate is changing and all the heat waves we’re seeing around the world, why do we need to go and engineer a crop to be drought and heat-tolerant?” asks Karl-Wait- haka. “We already have crops with those qualities, so why not work on making them more productive.”



Fonio, like sorghum, millet and Bambara groundnut, is better for the climate. Fonio grows on marginal lands and is pest-resistant (unlike millet which birds love so farmers must put down nets to keep them away). “The small farming communities are still growing fonio because they rely on it in times of famine. They know that if the rain is inconsistent, they can rely on fonio,” says Thiam. As well as being drought-resistant, fonio grows incredibly fast, reaching maturity in two months. “When the harvest is bad, they can rely on fonio. That’s why they call it ‘hungry rice’. It’s the rice that comes when you need it and it feeds the people,” he adds.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-green-revolution">A green revolution</h3>



One of fonio’s biggest selling points is that it is gluten-free, but Thiam explains that the grain is also incredibly nutritious, rich in both cysteine and methionine, two amino acids not found in other major grains. Fonio has calcium iron, magnesium, phosphorus and zinc and is also a good source of fiber and thiamine. “These grains are good for the planet and good for the consumer,” says Thiam, who explains that a climate-friendly crop like fonio could also help corporations meet their sustainable development goals (SDGs). Karl-Waithaka is also encouraged by the fact that food systems are now a part of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP) agenda. In addition to this, the UN General Assembly declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets, hoping to raise awareness for this sustainable African grain group. “For systems to shift, it will take funding and high-profile visibility of this need. And I would say we’re at the start,” she says.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-getting-fonio-into-agricultural-supply">Getting fonio into agricultural supply</h3>



Chains is a great opportunity for Senegalese farmers – provided the right policies are put in place to protect the seeds.



Thiam’s concern is that fonio will follow the same path as quinoa, an Andean ancient crop that’s now cultivated worldwide. Even though quinoa has made farmers in Bolivia wealthier, their diets are becoming Westernized as more of the crop is exported and not consumed. In some regions, the grain is outpricing the market and those who grow it can no longer afford to eat it themselves.



Small farmers cannot compete with the intensive agriculture practices. “A big part of the challenge is, as a farmer, you’re not going to grow something if you don’t have somebody to sell it to,” adds Karl-Waithaka. To make fonio a success, Thiam realized that he would need to involve the entire community and, if possible, create a movement. This is how the Lost Crops Festival started, a strategic way to celebrate African grains like fonio while bringing together stakeholders, farmers, chefs, and research institutes. “We wanted everyone to be in the room so that the silos are removed. Farmers, for example, don’t know what research is going on but the research should be around the farmers,” says Thiam. 



Inviting world-class musicians like Baaba Maal to the festival, Thiam’s goal is to celebrate agriculture and show people that these once-forgetting crops are a solution to monoculture and a farming system that has only increased greenhouse gas emissions over time while limiting global diets. “The ultimate beneficiaries are the small farming communities that have kept these crops alive for millions of years. It’s also important for food sovereignty because in Africa, we are still a net food importer,” adds Thiam, who says that celebrating grains like fonio is not only about nutrition but it goes back to the rhythm of traditional agriculture. The global food system became a big industrial monster, and the deeper cultural meaning was lost. He says: “It wasn’t nourishment anymore. The soul was gone, and we need to claim it.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center" id="h-fork-to-farm">Fork To Farm</h2>



Fonio is an easy crop to grow – it requires no fertilizer, pesticide, irrigation or chemical inputs. It’s incredibly resilient but processing it can be problematic. Fonio has a skin that needs to be removed but since the standards of processing haven’t been improved in Senegal, it takes a lot of manual work and as a result, there’s post-harvest waste. Unlike wheat, which has been industrialized and has huge machines to process it, smaller grains like fonio have not been part of global food systems. The R&amp;D is not there. “It’s a challenge making fonio accessible but there’s such a high waste,” says Thiam. This is one of the reasons why Thiam started his company Yolélé. Even though he grew up in Dakar, he didn’t have access to these grains. It was only when he traveled into the deep South of Senegal, Kédougou, for research for his cookbook, that he came across farmers serving fonio. Thiam wondered why such a delicious and nutritional grain wasn’t a world-class crop. He also knew for American consumers, gluten-free was a huge selling point. “And I said, let’s make it desirable. Let’s make it sexy,” laughs Thiam.



Instead of focusing on farm to fork, he took a reverse approach, creating a brand to tell the story of these crops. “We knew that we could create a demand for these crops. We are not only selling the grains, but a variety of products derived from the grain as well as using other ingredients that grow in the region,” says Thiam. From baobab leaves to moringa and dawadawa, Yolélé products not only include plants and are traditionally used in West African cuisine, it is helping fonio to enter new industries. One of Thiam’s newest endeavors is beer. Through Brew- ing for Impact, a global initiative led by Garret Oliver, a brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery, it was discovered that the fonio grain was the perfect addition to beer.



This led to both Guinness and Carlsberg launching fonio beers, bringing the total to nine breweries working (including one in China) using fonio. “Now that the demand is real, the goal is to create de- mand in other industries,” says Thiam.



Even when fonio is used as a tiny per- centage in other products, it will have major impact – provided they contract the small farmers. “If you really want to transform markets, then you have to think a market-based mindset,” says Karl- Waithaka. “This means not just giving seeds and fertilizers to farmers but think- ing about the businesses that are going to buy this, the products they’re going to create, and the consumers they’re going to sell to.” On Thiam’s side, this means meeting the demand by supporting the farmers to improve productivity in a more sustainable way. “But most importantly, we need to innovate in the processing standards,” he says, adding that they’re only processing one tonne of fonio a day. To improve yield, he hired a milling manufacturing company to design equipment that will improve processing times to two tonnes per hour, and reduce the post-waste harvest.

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Reclaiming The Giant Among African Grains: The Rise Of Fonio

Heavy rains from July to September have led to catastrophic flooding across parts of Africa, with the worst-hit areas in Sudan, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.



A recent report from World Weather Attribution (WWA), a group of international scientists studying extreme weather, links repeated floods in Africa&#8217;s worst-hit areas to both climate change and poor water management.



This year’s floods have been deadly, with over 2,000 people losing their lives and millions more forced to leave their homes. Many of these areas faced severe flooding just two years ago, meaning some communities were still recovering when this year’s rains hit.



According to the WWA, global temperatures have warmed by 1.3°C since the industrial age began, and this is making extreme weather events, like the Sahel’s heavy rains, much more frequent.



The group’s scientists noted that this increase in temperature meaning intense rainfall, which leads to severe floods, is becoming far more common. In Sudan, for example, scientists now expect this kind of flood to occur every three years.



In addition to climate change, long-standing problems in the region are making the effects of the floods even more disastrous. Many of the worst-hit areas in Sudan, Chad and Nigeria have been affected by poverty, conflict, and outdated infrastructure. According to the WWA, this situation leaves millions of people vulnerable because they often live in areas that lack strong flood defenses or early warning systems, like sirens or mobile alerts.



Scientists warn that if the world’s average temperature rises to 2°C above pre-industrial levels, these severe floods could happen even more often. In the future, it is likely that 30-day periods of extreme rain will become a normal part of life in the Sahel region, which includes countries like Sudan, Nigeria, and Niger.



To protect against future floods, the WWA report emphasizes that &#8220;there is an urgent need to drastically improve water management and reduce vulnerability to seasonal rainfall&#8221;. For example, in Sudan, there are important structures like the Arba’at dam, which helps manage water levels.



&#8220;The transboundary nature of the river systems in sub-saharan Africa requires coordination between neighbouring countries, which has been strained and hinders comprehensive flood management and early warning systems. To reduce flood risks, rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure should prioritise climate-smart design, including incorporating resilient materials and construction techniques and limiting construction in flood-prone areas,&#8221; the report adds.

Floods kill 13 in Nigeria

More Floods? Scientists Warn Of Intensifying Climate Risks In Africa’s Vulnerable Regions

As far back as 1995, the former World Bank Vice President Dr Ismail Serageldin said: “If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water – unless we change our approach to managing this precious and vital resource.” This is a reality that has already begun to manifest. The Pacific Institute, which tracks instances of water-related conflict, cited over 1,630 conflicts last year. The institute noted that there had been a distinct increase in recent years.



Water is our lifeline. In addition, access to water is a human right. Yet, statistics already indicate that there are significant disparities in access. Here, Africa is disproportionately impacted. In fact, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB), a third of Africans face water scarcity. A 2022 World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF report noted that 411 million people remain with- out basic drinking water services, 779 million lack access to basic sanitation, and 839 million are de- prived of basic hygiene facilities. The impact of water scarcity has already been tangibly viewed in African countries. For instance, just a few years ago, Cape Town in South Africa almost became the first city in the world to run out of water. Elsewhere, Zambia and Zimbabwe are experiencing severe power shortages because the water levels in Lake Kariba have drastically declined due to the effects of climate change, such as prolonged droughts and rising temperatures. As a result, both countries are now facing extended daily power cuts lasting between 12 to 18 hours as they depend heavily on Lake Kariba for hydro- electric power. While efforts to diversify energy sources are underway, the immediate future looks challenging.



These statistics and examples paint a harrowing image indeed, and the impact is profound. Perhaps most notably, this leaves a vast number of the population vulnerable to waterborne diseases like cholera or dysentery, which thrive in areas with unsafe water and poor sanitation. Moreover, inadequate sanitation increases the transmis- sion of infectious diseases. This results in a burdening of healthcare systems and poor health outcomes. Gender inequality rears its ugly head once again in this context as girls and women are disproportionately impacted by poor hygiene and sanitation facilities. This is of particular concern for menstruation and often leaves this segment of the population unable to participate at school and in economic activities. Beyond the health ramifications of water scarcity, this also has a detrimental effect on the economy. It directly impacts workforce productivity, limits educational opportunities for children and perpetuates cycles of poverty, which collectively hamper economic development. Then there are concerns around environmental degradation as pollution harms ecosystems and contributes to long-term environmental and health challenges in affected areas. Finally, water scarcity and poor sanitation also have a direct impact on food security. Agriculture, which relies on consistent access to water, suffers when water sources are contaminated or de- pleted. This makes it difficult for farmers to sustain crops and livestock. The impact is food shortages and malnutrition. As this overview demonstrates, water scarcity threatens the very tenets of sustainable development.



Benjamin Franklin once said, “When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” So, what is to be done? Addressing water scarcity requires a comprehensive strategy that integrates infrastructure development, sustainable water management, and community involve- ment. Governments, international organizations, and local communities must collaborate to invest in essential water infrastructure, such as boreholes, wells, and water treatment plants. These projects can significantly improve access to clean water, particularly in remote and rural areas where shortages are most acute. Importantly, these projects require funding and political will. Moreover, promoting water conservation and efficient usage is key to reducing stress on existing water resources. 



For example, in Cape Town, during the water crisis, the use of greywater was emphasized and flow restrictors were installed on taps and showers. As this period also demonstrated, education and awareness campaigns are vital in the effort to tackle water scarcity. By educating local communi- ties about the importance of proper sanitation and responsible water use, individuals can play an active role in preserving water resources. This form of grassroots engagement is essential for long-term success as it fosters community ownership and encourages the adoption of sustainable water practices.



Globally, we are in crisis. Our very survival is dependent on water. Once again, as other environmental challenges have revealed, Africa must contend with a much larger burden. And in the quest for sustainable development, we must be acutely aware of the challenges and our role. After all, Mahatma Gandhi’s words remind us: “The earth, the air, the land, and the water are not an inheritance from our forefathers but on loan from our children. So, we have to hand over to them at least as it was handed over to us.

Residents Of Cape Town Face Worsening Drought Conditions And Water Restricitions

Expert-Speak: Water Scarcity: Looming Global Crisis With A Focus On Africa

A class of prescription weight-loss drugs is transforming weight management to the point that manufacturers are struggling to keep up with demand. big pharma continues to bet big on it and the market could be worth $150 billion by 2030.



When Johannesburg-based Kendi (name changed to protect privacy) was pregnant with her second child, she developed gestational diabetes. She didn’t have a family history of the disease so learning how to manage her sugar while nursing a newborn was a mine- field. After years of interchanging injections, patches and pens, her endocrinologist recommended Ozempic to go along with her insulin. Kendi wasn’t on Ozempic for weight loss although in the beginning, she did lose a few kilograms. Her doctors were happy because the drug was working as it was meant to and her blood glucose levels were signifi- cantly lower. The only problem was that when she went to collect her prescription, the pharmacy had no stock. Even the diabetic center was struggling to keep up with scripts, eventually creating a rule that they would only dispense medication if you were a patient at the center. “There are still times when I can’t get the right dosage and only the smaller pens are available,” she says. “You end up injecting double the amount; the pen finishes much quicker and then it’s back to the beginning…”



Welcome to the Ozempic era. A drug originally devel- oped to help treat adult-onset diabetes by stimulating insu- lin resistance is now being used to fight the global obesity epidemic. Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic (and Wegovy) belong to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists and they’re transforming weight management to the point that manufacturers are struggling to keep up with demand, something that hasn’t happened since anti-HIV drugs launched in the 1990s. But it’s not only injectable sema- glutide, the active component in Ozempic and Wegovy, there’s liraglutide (or Saxenda, also from Novo Nordisk) and tirzepatide (Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound) on the market which also target GLP-1 receptors, though they work through different mechanisms and have varied dos- ing schedules.



It’s a lot to take in. To say anti-obesity medicine is big business is an understatement, with Goldman Sachs ana- lysts predicting that the market could be worth $150 billion by the early 2030s.



Shares for both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are also booming, with the two pharmaceutical giants controlling around 80% of the obesity market. And while global spend- ing on obesity medications hit $24 billion last year, Ameri- can multinational company IQVIA’s estimation is that it should reach $131 billion by 2028. It’s no wonder that big pharma and biotech companies like Viking Therapeutics, Pfizer, Amgen and AstraZeneca are all hoping to break the weight-loss duopoly and launch their own GLP-1-based treatments.



In the United States (U.S.), a month’s supply of Ozem- pic costs around $1,000 (R18,000), depending on insurance coverage and dispensing pharmacy. Each box of Ozem- pic contains four weekly doses, administered by a pen. In South Africa, the price is significantly lower, starting at R1,500 ($85) for the minimum weekly dose. According to SAHPRA (South African Health Products Regulatory Au- thority), Ozempic is not registered for weight-loss use in South Africa. Saxenda, which is the same product as Vic- toza when used for diabetes, costs between R2,500 ($141) to R4,000 ($226), depending on the dose required.



Satiety and sugar control



First approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2005, GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy, an injectable form of the drug semaglutide, was approved for adults with type 2 diabetes back in 2017. Semaglutide mimics a natural hormone in the body known as GLP-1 that plays a key role in controlling blood sugar and appetite. When blood sugar levels rise, these drugs help the body produce more insulin to lower it, while also reducing the amount of glucose re- leased by the liver.



Dr Brad Merwitz, a Johannesburg-based endocrinolo- gist, sees a number of patients every week that enquire about Ozempic. Of course, not everyone who comes to him is looking for a weight-loss miracle. Some people have pre- existing medical issues like diabetes or other co-morbidities and have read up about the drug. But with Ozempic, there’s something that he has never experienced before as a doctor – people asking for a drug by its name. “There’s been a shift. People used to ask about weight-loss drugs [in general] but not to this extent,” says Merwitz. “People now know the names of the drugs but not necessarily the side-effects, the cost or indications. They just know that there is this ‘wonder drug’ out there that can help them lose an enormous amount of weight in a short amount of time.”



Weight loss is not only the positive side-effect of Ozempic. Once the drug is in your system and the common, gastrointestinal side-effects like nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea dissipate, there are long-term benefits like improved liver function and lower stroke rates. A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that semaglutide reduced the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), including events like heart attacks and strokes, by around 20%.



Professor John Deanfield, the study’s lead author, said that semaglutide should be routinely prescribed to treat CVDs — a significant breakthrough, given that no previous weight-loss drugs have demonstrated similar cardiovascular benefits.



This is especially impactful for Africa, where car- diovascular disease is a major cause of death. What makes this finding even more remarkable is that the benefits extend beyond weight loss; participants with only mild obesity or limited weight loss still saw signifi- cant improvements in cardiovascular health.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-mental-shift">A mental shift</h2>



Another unexpected side-effect links to the brain and has neuroscientists excited about the connec- tion between GLP-1 and substance abuse disorders and behavioral issues. There are already signs that drugs in this category could treat neurological con- ditions like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s or even be repurposed as anxiety, depression or eating dis- orders’ medication. One of the most common pa- tient responses to taking semaglutide is that it helps to reduce ‘food noise’, a term often used to describe cravings or continual thoughts about eating. In the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, they refer to GLP-1 as a ‘satiety hormone’. This is because sema- glutide works by mimicking the hormone GLP-1, which affects multiple areas in the brain responsible for appetite regulation and fullness.



Merwitz says that what’s important to remember is that these drugs don’t work as a stimulant, like am- phetamines which were used in the past for medical weight loss. “They don’t have those central, neurologi- cal side-effects like the older weight-loss formulations. There is no addictive potential to them,” he adds. That said, Merwitz’ advice is that patients with diabetes should take precedence because there are multiple deleterious effects to uncontrolled sugar. That said, not every diabetic needs Ozempic – the ideal candidate for the drug should also be obese and have cardiovascular issues. “Moving forward, should funding and public health models allow it, these will probably become drugs that are used a lot earlier because of their cardio- protective effects and cardiovascular benefits,” he says.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">A silver bullet?</h2>



For off-label use, it’s recommended that patients fol- low strict, calorie-controlled diets alongside other healthy habits like regular low-impact workouts. In fact, research from the Diabetes Care journal found that people who used Ozempic in conjunction with exercise lost significantly more weight than those who used Ozempic alone. “It’s not a silver bullet,” adds Merwitz, who says that what the literature says is that a third of people will have a very good response to GLP- 1, the next third will have an average response, and the last third of people will have no response. “Anecdot- ally, it’s not been my experience that as many as a third have no response.” While these drugs are designed for chronic disease, and the guideline is that you should be on them for a minimum of 12 weeks, people do stop for a number of reasons ranging from that they haven’t seen any weight loss to simply not being able to afford the treatment long-term.



The question really is – is the weight loss worth the cost? And when you stop a drug like Ozempic, have you put enough lifestyle modifications in place that the weight doesn’t return? In a CNBC interview with a senior executive from Novo Nordisk, it was said that most people will recover most of their weight within five years of stopping an obesity drug.



Some individuals may actually gain more weight after stopping an obesity drug than they initially lost. ‘Ozempic rebound’ is common, without the right life- style interventions in place.



But unlike bariatric surgery, which is a permanent procedure (and that comes with post-operative com- plications), GLP-1 drugs are a well-tolerated and re- versable solution.



Goldman Sachs estimates that GLP-1 agonist drugs could be used by up to 70 million consumers world- wide by 2028. In South Africa, where obesity is wide- ly prevalent, Ozempic could be revolutionary. “It’s a very exciting space,” says Merwitz. “Hav- ing these drugs available has really changed the way we manage obesity. It’s given us options we’ve never had before.”

Ozempic

Worth The Weight: Medicine’s Gold Rush

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline"><a href="https://www.forbes.com/"></a>Topline</h2>



College students who get short phone breaks during class periods score higher on tests and use their phones less during lectures, according to a new study, the newest research in a heated debate about cellphone use and its effects on students’ success.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



The researchers used data from 22 class periods with an average of 21 students at an undergraduate midwestern university over the course of a semester, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1393070/abstract" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">study</a>&nbsp;published Wednesday in Frontiers in Education.



Some students were given either one-, two- or four-minute technology breaks during class when they could use their devices, while control groups were given equally long question breaks during which phone use wasn’t permitted, but students were encouraged to ask questions.



Students who were given phone breaks were more attentive during class and scored higher grades on quizzes than the control group did.



The one-minute cellphone break proved to be the most effective: Participants who were given this break period had the highest test scores and used their phones less while professors were lecturing.



The researchers aren’t sure why “the shorter, the better,” but one reason may be because one minute is enough to time to read and send a quick message, so “if they have more time to send many messages, they may be more likely to receive messages and respond again during class,” Ryan Redner, the study’s first author and a professor at Southern Illinois University, said in a statement.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-contra">Contra</h2>



Whether phones are detrimental to students’ success is a controversial topic, and some previous research has shown cellphone use during class does more harm than good. Both short-term and long-term phone use in college classes resulted in lower test scores and GPAs, a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hendrix.edu/uploadedFiles/Academics/Faculty_Resources/2016_FFC/Cell%20phone%20use%20during%20class%20and%20grades.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">study</a>&nbsp;by the American Psychological Association found. Electronic device use during college courses hindered students’ long-term retention, which in turn reduced their final exam grades, according to a Taylor &amp; Francis&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01443410.2018.1489046" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">study</a>. College freshmen who reported low, medium and high cellphone usage during class all had negative impacts on their grades, according to a Springer&nbsp;<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12564-023-09824-6" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">research paper</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">Tangent</h2>



Although there aren’t any statewide efforts to ban phone use in college classes, there have been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2024/08/13/cellphone-bans-in-schools-grow-gavin-newsom-requests-restrictions-in-california/">bans implemented</a>&nbsp;in primary and secondary schools. Florida became the first state last year to ban cellphone use during class, which includes a ban on social media access while using school Wi-Fi. Indiana lawmakers also approved a ban earlier this year that restricts electronic device usage—including phones, tablets, laptops and gaming systems—during class. Other states that have implemented restrictions include Minnesota, Ohio and Virginia. State leaders like Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., and Gov. Spencer Cox, R-Utah, have urged school districts to implement phone bans. Calls for phone restrictions in schools have increased in recent years as studies highlight the negative effects phones and social media have on youth. Around 72% of high school teachers and 33% of middle school teachers in the U.S. said cellphone distractions were a “major problem” during class, a recent Pew Research&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/04/04/whats-it-like-to-be-a-teacher-in-america-today/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">survey</a>&nbsp;found. However, some parents oppose these bans because they believe their children should have access to their phones in case of an emergency, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://nationalparentsunion.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/National-Parents-Union-February-2024-Survey-Topline.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">research</a>&nbsp;by the National Parents Union.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2024/08/13/cellphone-bans-in-schools-grow-gavin-newsom-requests-restrictions-in-california/">Cellphone Bans In Schools Grow: Gavin Newsom Requests Restrictions In California</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)

Young multiracial students using cell phone sitting at campus school

Short Phone Breaks During Class Could Help Students Score Higher Grades, Study Suggests

The Bristol Zoo Project is set to evoke a sense of the dense forest and landscape of Equatorial Guinea.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“Conservation zoos have a critical role to play in working with communities and connecting them with wildlife.” – Dr Justin Morris
</blockquote>



If you were looking for wildlife in the United Kingdom’s cool and rainy southwest, you’d easily find squirrels, hedgehogs, perhaps the occasional deer. Bats too. Even beaver. Stoic, quotidian creatures, unperturbed by sunlessness and drizzle.



You might not expect to discover endangered species like cherry-crowned mangabeys, slender-snouted crocodiles, or African grey parrots, but spot them you can from spring 2026, thanks to Bristol Zoo Project’s Central African Forest habitat, now under development on a 136-acre site in the Gloucestershire woodlands. These exotic additions to the British countryside will be joined by the Zoo’s troop of western lowland gorillas, in an environment designed “to evoke a sense of the dense forest and landscape of Equatorial Guinea” by the Bristol Zoological Society, a conservation and education charity founded in 1835.



“The character of a central African forest is created through utilizing and enhancing the qualities of the local landscape, rather than attempting a false replication of the original habitat,” says the charity’s Chief Executive, Dr Justin Morris. “And by understanding and applying the structure of a tropical forest, which consists of specimen trees, upper, mid and lower stratum, and a forest ground cover. Each area, particularly the animal houses and interior spaces, has been built with temperatures and humidities as a central requirement for each species. Of course, our existing gorilla troop are well acclimatized to the British weather already.”



Though 78% of the species the Society cares for are threatened, they are also part of targeted conservation programs; Morris says the aim is to increase this number to 90% by 2035. The new habitat will eventually be joined by the Central African Savannah project, home to black rhino and ostrich, alongside the Society’s existing giraffe, cheetah and zebra populations.



In a 21st century Britain becoming more sensitive to its colonial past, and less and less comfortable with animals living in captivity (according to YouGov research, half of surveyed Britons believe the practice of keeping large animals should be phased out, with a quarter calling for zoos to be banned entirely), the Society’s projects are as much about capturing hearts and minds through education as providing safe havens for animals whose continued existence on the planet is now in dire jeopardy.



“Like our award-winning Bear Wood (a walkway experience through treetops, from which wolves, lynx and wolverine can also be glimpsed), the new Central African Forest habitat will have integrated learning spaces, enabling students, visitors and schoolchildren to observe, record and appreciate animals in a natural scene, connecting people to threatened wildlife and animals in an immersive landscape,” says Morris.



The site will also feature a Conservation Campus, giving young people access to new knowledge opportunities around veterinary medicine and animal breeding.



“By creating a new education and skills hub for the region, with 20 new learning spaces, we want to inspire and create the conservationists of the future,” Morris says. “It will provide teaching facilities for more than 600 students each year, participating in our higher education programs, and help us to engage 90,000 school children.



Visitors will be able to watch veterinary procedures, see animals extinct in the wild and being bred for reintroduction, explore field conservation programs across the world, and learn how they can become conservationists themselves.”



A home away from home then, for these critically endangered creatures, and a rare chance for the human population of a curious island nation to share in their new and protected lives.



“Conservation zoos have a critical role to play in working with communities and connecting them with wildlife,” says Morris. “We have an incredible opportunity at Bristol Zoo Project to show what a modern, progressive conservation zoo can be.”

How A Central African Forest Is Shaping Up In The UK

The time to plan for the sudden influx of aged and dated solar materials is now– Africa can’t afford to become a toxic dumping ground for the e-waste detritus left behind by solar.



Over the past few years, Africa’s corporates and consumers went solar at an unprecedented speed. Statista found that as of the end of 2022, South Africa was in the lead with more than 6 gigawatts followed by Egypt (1.7 gigawatts), Morocco with 858 megawatts, Algeria with 460 megawatts and Senegal at 263 megawatts. The total gigawatts across the continent have increased significantly over the past 10 years from only 331 megawatts in 2011 to 12.6 gigawatts in 2022 – a 16-fold capacity increase. Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Tanzania are currently expected to see the most rapid transitions to clean energy by 2030, while Namibia’s growth is the fourth-fastest in the world as per research group Zero Carbon Analytics’ 2023 report Africa’s Energy Transition: Solar and Wind Fuel Energy Security.



The region is gaining traction. Research from the above report found that deployment of solar energy is the fastest-growing resource on the continent and accounted for 57% of renewable investments between 2010 and 2021. Investments in the off-grid sector were the highest in Africa over a similar 10-year period (2010-2020) at 70% and a value of $1.7 billion. When this level of investment is wedded to the life-span of the technologies used to power solar panels and farms, there’s another question companies and governments should be asking about solar – where’s the bin? If millions of solar panels and batteries are being imported into Africa, with a lifespan of around 20 years, what is being done to ensure that countries investing heavily in solar today are putting the right recycling plans in place?



“Typically, when we speak about solar waste, it includes solar panels, PV panels, inverters, solar PV batteries, rooftop solar frames, ground-based frames, junction boxes and embedded cables,” Mervin Olivier, Eastern Cape Chair at the Institute of Waste Man- agement of Southern Africa, tells FORBES AFRICA. “There’s a lot of solar waste and typically people just talk about the PV panel. As they reach end of life, thousands of panels will need replacing and recycling will become absolutely critical.”



The International Renewable Energy Agency has predicted that by 2050, 78 million metric tons of solar panels will reach the end of their lives. The issue is the toxicity of the materials within solar installations. Solar panels have lead, cadmium, silver, and arsenic that, at certain levels, are quantified as hazardous waste, the batteries used to power solar installations are lithium-ion phos- phate batteries which are flammable, and difficult to contain. The problem is that most solar panels and their detritus are dumped in landfills because there’s no profit in their ethical dismantling and destruction – the few precious metals locked within the e-waste are difficult to extract and their value too low for the effort.



“Solar PV panels contain aluminium and glass which can be re- cycled, but the harmful chemicals in the batteries and the panels are difficult to recycle, which is why a lot of companies in Europe are sending them to countries in Africa, like Ghana, where they strip elements like copper out of the equipment and sell it,” Minnette Le Roux, Head of the Environment Department, Principal Environ- mental Specialist at law and consultancy advisory firm NSDV tells FORBES AFRICA. 



“Then counties in Africa are left sitting with these massive amounts of hazardous waste. Some countries in Africa are part of the Basel Convention preventing the transport of waste but some are not part of the convention and accept the hazardous waste. There are no plants in Africa that actually recycle what’s left of the batteries – this is one of the biggest concerns – and no landfill sites designed to handle this type of waste.”



It’s a sentiment echoed by Ashley du Plooy, CEO at ERA NPC (E-waste Recycling Authority), who adds that countries like Nigeria and Ghana have become major dumping grounds for electronic waste with strips of urban land covered in e-waste that’s being smashed and burned for the extraction of metals. “Quantifying the problem is very difficult,” he says. “Especially since solar waste is new and growing at a pace four times higher than solid municipal waste.”



Solar waste across all its iterations is a growing risk to human and environmental health across Africa. As solar installations reach end of life, particularly over the next few years, there’s a need for innovative startups to step up and help reframe the con- versation for the continent.



One such startup is EWaste Africa and Managing Director Pravashen Naidoo tells FORBES AFRICA: “In the past 12 months, we recycled close to 16,000 solar panels. I think we’re the first in Africa doing this – we haven’t been able to find anyone else doing it and getting the financial value from the process.” EWaste Africa is ISO 14001 compliant with a focus on environmental compli- ance, and one of its facilities is currently commissioning a patented technology for the extraction of rare earth metals and can be used to transform significant quantities of electronic waste.



“Government landfill sites are not designed with the right levels and layers to handle these hazardous materials, and with nearly 17 million installed panels as of the end of 2023, we need to make a plan that works,” says Naidoo. As Olivier concludes: “It’s essential that African countries develop a solar panel end-of-life plan similar to one recently published by Australia. 



More of a focus on enforcement to ensure compliance, and increased consumer pressure holding manufac- turers responsible – and this includes importers and distributors. They need to provide safe transportation of old materials and drive the implementation of a lifecycle methodology with cradle- to-the-grave opportunities.” There is, he says, time to prepare, innovate and implement a responsible plan before the waste tsunami hits. But will people listen?

A view of discarded solar panel components below a power

After Solar, Comes Lead: Why Africa Can’t Afford To Become A Toxic Dumping Ground For E-Waste

Navigating the complexities of our future is big business – and big money. Here are some of the more eminent global futurists offering fresh insights into future tech and a better tomorrow.



At the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, there’s one particular session where people start queueing around four in the morning to get a seat. It’s not one of the big-name music performances or a movie screening with awards buzz, it’s a keynote by Amy Webb.



Webb, who is the founder and CEO of the Future Today Institute (FTI), is a futurist. She’s a professor of strategic foresight, a data and research-driven field that unpacks what could be in an increasingly complex world. Webb’s 2024 Tech Trends Report, which is downloaded more than a million times every year, is made up of just under a thou- sand pages of insights businesses rely on to navigate the future.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
IN HER TALK AT SXSW, AMY WEBB SAID THAT THE NEXT STAGE OF AI IS MERGING DIGITAL SUPERCOMPUTERS WITH HUMAN TISSUE. THIS IS SOMETHING WEBB REFERS TO AS ORGANOID INTELLIGENCE, OR O-AI. SHE PREDICTS THAT BY 2039, O-AI WILL BECOME THE FOREFRONT OF COMPUTATIONAL EVOLUTION, MERGING HUMAN-LIKE DECISION-MAKING CAPABILITIES WITH THE SPEED OF TRADITIONAL COMPUTERS. IN SIMPLE TERMS, WEBB SAYS THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE BIOCOMPUTERS OUT OF HUMAN BRAIN CELLS – WE WILL GROW COMPUTERS RATHER THAN BUILD THEM.
</blockquote>



Predicting what comes next may be big business but it’s not necessarily new. While modern futurists use data to forecast pos- sible future scenarios and spot emerging opportunities, the science of probability – long-term planning – has been around since the 1940s. And before futurology became an academic field and job role, science fiction authors like H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and Arthur C. Clarke, were recognized as futurists with an uncanny ability to foresee the world to come. Today, there are a number of well-known futurists sought out by industry giants (and the government) to steer business strategy and adapt to disruptive change. Businesses are hiring futurists to tell them the things they don’t want to hear so that they can prepare for unfore- seen inevitabilities.



Meet the futurists



As the founder of Singularity University and the XPRIZE Foundation, Peter Diamandis is a Silicon Valley digital futurist and engineer who has started over 25 companies. Now in his 60s, Diamandis (whose net worth has been reported to be around $200 million) has many innova- tive projects underway. While tickets to attend his membership-only Abundance Summit begin at $10,000, Diamandis is attempting to change the world with his large-scale XPRIZE competitions that tackle domains like climate, space, biodiversity and deep tech. According to the Key Speakers Bureau, Diamandis’ speaking fee starts at $60,000 – and that’s for a virtual, not in-person, appearance.



As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more and more popular, there’s a good chance that futurist Ray Kurzweil will be mentioned. Kurzweil, who has received 20 honorary doctorates is a computer scientist and futurist with a 30-year track record of accurate predic- tions – his written predictions, of which there are 147, have an 86% accuracy rate. Kurzweil’s first predictions around AI came out in 1999 and while many people felt that his views were radical when he said that computers would be as intelligent as humans, his estimated date of 2029 doesn’t seem so far off. Kurzweil’s net worth is reportedly around $30 million, most of which comes from the four companies he success- fully founded based on his research and academic prizes. One of his boldest predictions is that immortality will be achievable by 2030 with nanobots – tiny robots that can repair human bodies on a cellular level.



In an interview, he famously said: “By the time we get to the 2040s, we’ll be able to multiply human intelligence a billionfold. That will be a profound change that’s singular in nature. Computers are going to keep getting smaller and smaller. Ultimately, they will go inside our bodies and brains and make us healthier, make us smarter.”



Webb, who has been called ‘one of the five women changing the world’, recently wrote a book called The Genesis Machine with fellow futurist, Andrew Hessel. The book, which won a Gold Axiom Medal, explores synthetic biology, a controversial and emerging techno-science. Biotech, which is something both Webb and Hessel focus on, was a key part of Webb’s 2024 Tech Trends Report. In her talk at SXSW, she said that the next stage of AI is merging digital supercomputers with human tissue. This is something Webb refers to as organoid intelligence, or O-AI. She predicts that by 2039, O-AI will become the forefront of computational evolution, merging human-like decision-making capabilities with the speed of traditional computers. 



In simple terms, Webb says that we will be able to make biocomputers out of human brain cells – we will grow computers rather than build them. Hessel is a pioneer in synthetic biology, microbiologist, geneticist and futurist. He is also the co-founder of a company called Hu-mane Genomics Inc. that engineers synthetic viruses to target cancer cells. “Biology is a very different medium than computing but there are fundamental similarities,” he wrote in a blog post talking about synthetic biology in Af-rica. “Africa is geographically well-positioned to benefit from synthetic biology. Much of the country is in the biological power band of the world, blessed with ample sunlight, fresh water, fertile soils, and incredible biological diversity. But it is also vulnerable to changes in climate, particularly shifts in rainfall and heat waves,” he continues. Hessel has seen first-hand how AI tools are supercharging all aspects of digital biology and predicts that DNA printers are on the cusp of a major upgrade. He believes that in the next five years, we will be able to print and assemble microbial-scale genomes — at reasonable cost and turnaround times.



In the workplace



No matter whether you call them futurists, fu-turologists, foresight practitioners or horizon scanners, it’s becoming increasingly common for organizations to employ professionals with these titles. According to the Univer-sity of Houston, around 25% of Fortune 500 companies have futurists on staff. They’re also commonplace at government agencies as well as non-profits. Andrew Bolwell, for example, is HP’s chief disrupter. In his role, he unpacks megatrends like microfluidics – working with tiny amounts of fluid with precision. Even though printers already do this, Bolwell is talking about even smaller amounts, fluids the fifth of a size of a human cell (or a thousand times smaller than a raindrop). With the microfluidics market projected to be worth $64.94 billion by 2029, according to Mordor Intelligence, the possibility of 3D-printing vital organs may become a reality.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
&#8220;BY THE TIME WE GET TO THE 2040S, WE’LL BE ABLE TO MULTIPLY HUMAN INTELLIGENCE A BILLIONFOLD. THAT WILL BE A PROFOUND CHANGE THAT’S SINGULAR IN NATURE. COMPUTERS ARE GOING TO KEEP GETTING SMALLER AND SMALLER. ULTIMATELY, THEY WILL GO INSIDE OUR BODIES AND BRAINS AND MAKE US HEALTHIER, MAKE US SMARTER.”&#8211; Ray Kurzweil
</blockquote>



When Dr Werner Vogels, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Vice President at Amazon, one of the globe’s most innovative companies, looks into the future, the world takes note.



The well-known futurist, who releases tech predictions for the year and beyond, also happens to be one of the highest-paid CTOs worldwide – it’s no wonder his live speaking fee reportedly starts at $100,000. One of Vo-gels’ predictions is that women’s healthcare, femtech, is on the rise. “Women’s healthcare is not a niche market,” he writes in his tech predictions report. “At AWS, we’ve been work-ing closely with women-led startups and have seen first-hand the growth in femtech. In the last year alone, funding has increased 197%.” 



With increased access to capital, technologies like machine learning, and connected devices designed specifically for women, Vogels believes that the world is at the precipice of an unprecedented shift, not only in the way women’s care is perceived, but how it’s administered. From women in rural areas who have been historically underserved medically to female athletes whose training was modelled on what worked for men, femtech will finally see women’s care move from the fringes to the forefront.



As companies strive to achieve aggressive sustainability targets, there are now climate and environmental futurists emerging as key strategic advisors, guiding businesses in navigating the complexities of climate change, resource management and eco-friendly practices to secure long-term viability and environmental stewardship. For Gerd Leonhard, a German futurist, green has become the new digital and sustainable is the new profitable. In a recent keynote, he said that he’s optimistic about climate change and global warming because we already have the tools we need to solve it. “We’re going to suffer for 15 to 20 years in the process of fixing this,” he predicts, “but we’re now getting ready to do this… technological advancements offer solutions that can help tackle these challenges. It will be essential to find a balance between economic progress and environmental preservation.”



Leonhard, like other consulting futurists, is working with companies to help them understand the next decade and develop foresight. “It’s not predictions, it’s understanding, intuition and imagination,” he explains in a podcast, adding that being a futurist is similar to being a therapist. His job is to essentially point his clients in the right direction; clients who happen to be tech giants, business leaders and government officials around the globe.



The future, today



There’s no question that history is happening now and futurists provide a way to understand current trends as well as anticipate what’s to come. Futurism is essentially risk management because every industry is experiencing dynamic change. In the last 50 years we’ve made more progress than in the previous 250,000 years and it’s been said that the next 10 years will bring more change than the previous 100. Of course, the future is unpredictable and futurists are not fortune tellers – they get things wrong. However, their value lies in their ability to analyze data and identify patterns. By incorporating foresight into strategic planning, businesses, governments and other organizations can adapt more effectively to emerging trends, mitigate risks and seize the moment. In a world characterized by rapid technological advancements, the role of the futurist has become increasingly indispensable in shaping a better tomorrow.

Category: Focus