Improving yield, efficiency and profitability in agriculture comes down to the harvesting of technology. At its forefront are the agritech innovators bringing transformative change to the continent’s green economy. FORBES AFRICA profiles some of Africa’s biggest agripreneurs, inventors, and agribusiness leaders changing the way we think about farming, food security and climate resilience. They have cultivated a passion for smart agriculture and are leading the charge for social change not only for the sector but for the continent – and for humanity’s sustainable future.



Words and Curation: Chanel Retief and Lillian Roberts Art Director: Lucy Nkosi Photography: Katlego Mokubyane Photography Assistant: Sbusiso Sigidi Studio: NewKatz Studio, Johannesburg CNBC Africa Videographer: Thabo Mathebula Video Editor: Chanel Retief Styling: Bontlefeela Mogoye and Wanda Baloyi Outfits supplied by: Kworks Design; Imprint South Africa; House of Suitability; LSJ Designs Hair &amp; Makeup: Makole Made



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“What are you looking at?” Dr Agnes Kalibata asked the smart young businessman standing next to her at a summit in Kenya, who seemed suddenly distracted, looking at his phone.



“‘I am checking on my cows in the Ivory Coast’, he said to me,” says Kalibata, the Rwandan agricultural scientist and policymaker, and President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).



“Then he said ‘I installed solar cameras all around my farm, which is a side hustle for me, so that I can check on my livestock whilst I work here in Kenya’.



“For me, that’s the future of farming!” exults Kalibata.



It all boils down to not just crops or copses, flower beds or bouquets.



It lies in the innovations sown into the evolving landscape of agricultural technology or agtech/agritech.



And these agripreneurs don’t mind getting their hands dirty either – beyond their smart business suits. The opportunities for them are immediate and ripe for the picking.



“What we&#8217;re seeing happening in the space, is a higher uptake of technology,” says Dr Mandla Mpofu, the Managing Director of Omnia’s Agriculture Division, to FORBES AFRICA.



Ominia Group specializes in conducting research and development, manufactures and supplies chemicals and specialized services and solutions for the agriculture, mining and chemicals application industries.



“By technology I just don&#8217;t mean the electronic side of it but also understanding the industry a bit better. So what I&#8217;m talking about here is understanding the soil, working on improving yields. And then you have satellite technology being used and we&#8217;re seeing artificial intelligence coming into this very, very exciting industry.”



Kalibata tells FORBES AFRICA that the agricultural sector has really been defined by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.



“There are specific moments in time that completely change how we think about business and how we do business,” Kalibata adds. “So specifically, this particular revolution, I would say, there&#8217;s a real revolution happening from an agtech perspective… This is why there are so many new ways of looking at how agriculture can be done, all the way from how we generate the technologies that we use.”



One of the biggest issues Khadija Mohamed-Churchill, founder of Kwanza Tukule in Kenya, encountered when she began in this industry was the food supply chain.



“It’s really difficult to solve but can be solved. Also, the investments don&#8217;t want to flow there. Investment wants to flow into things like unicorns or fintech. I mean, people have to eat. They will transfer money via mobile phones, they&#8217;ll take loans, but if they don&#8217;t have food, at some point, the priorities need to shift to focus on these fundamental things,” Mohamed-Churchill explains.



Let’s take a step back.



In 2022, the World Economic Forum estimated that there are well over 600 million smallholder farmers around the world working on less than two hectares of land. These farmers are estimated to produce 28%-31% of the total crop production and 30%-34% of food supply on 24% of gross agricultural area.



A further study done by the United Nations showed that the world population will reach 9.1 billion by 2050, and to feed that number of people, global food production will need to grow by 70%. For Africa, which is projected to be home to about 2 billion people by then, farm productivity must accelerate at a faster rate than the global average to avoid continued mass hunger.



In sub-Saharan Africa alone, there are over 400 agritech solutions and startups, according to a 2020 report by the global telecoms industry lobby GSMA. Agriculture makes up 35% of Africa’s GDP and employs about half of its people, but the continent still imports billions of dollars of agri-products every year.



“From the outside, agriculture looks pretty dirty,” the CEO and co-founder of <a>Khula!,</a> Karidas Tshintsholo, says to FORBES AFRICA. “But I&#8217;m a numbers guy… Once I started looking at the numbers and saw that we [Africa] have most of the world&#8217;s arable land, which is 60%, is here are the ones [with] remaining arable land. Almost everybody on the continent is dependent on agriculture for survival.”



“I would look at agriculture in terms of the size of the opportunity,” Peter Njonjo, theCEO and co-founder of Twiga Foods in Kenya, adds.



The opportunities may look monetary but for a number of the agritechs, especially the ones we looked at for this feature, it’s about two mutually exclusive yet different reasons – solving food security on the continent while becoming climate-resilient.



“The yields of certain crops in Africa have already dropped by several percentage points, because of warming and drought. So, it&#8217;s already happening. So, you can&#8217;t possibly talk about sustainable agriculture without talking about climate change,” says Professor Guy Midgley, Head of the School for Climate Studies in Stellenbosch University, South Africa.



In a report by Deloitte, with about 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, as Tshintsholo previously states, Africa has the capacity to meet the world’s long-term food demand.



In addition, land already under cultivation could produce much more but crop yields remain at half the global average.



With the right know-how and inputs, Africa’s average cropland productivity can more than double. Coupled with positive global food demand, Africa’s underutilization of its land resources for farming implies significant growth opportunities for agricultural producers and exporters in Africa.



For Midgley, it comes back to the fact there needs to be a better understanding of the integrated challenges. According to him, Europe and North America have access to what are called integrated assessment models (IAM). These models aim to provide policy-relevant insights into global environmental change and sustainable development issues by providing a quantitative description of key processes in the human and earth systems and their interactions, which, as Midgley assesses, are “really important and really valuable for asking questions about our policy”.



“We&#8217;ve been late or rather our politicians have been late to realize the potential benefits of a green economy,” Midgley adds. “I think we need as a region a much better understanding of the integrated nature of these challenges… Our policy might sustain food security, within the constraints of water availability, within the constraints of fertilizer requirements. We don&#8217;t have available to us to inform the policymakers of what is the best combination of scenarios going forward. There are many scenarios that would get us to a sustainable future, which would balance the interests of different countries on this continent.”



Kalibata’s view holds a different approach and one where we need to address these issues from a more holistic scientific perspective, which will help tackle food security.



“I actually think that the future of agriculture is smaller than 60%,” she says. “We don&#8217;t need 60% of land to drive agriculture. Some young people are already beginning to farm vertically, right? And we recognize that some young people are already beginning to use what it is called hydroponics, recognizing that you don&#8217;t need soil, and now let&#8217;s produce food… In Singapore, you see people making chicken using stem cell research.”



Although the innovators featured on these pages are not dabbling in stem cell research, the solution for these agripreneurs is ensuring that accessibility is at the forefront of all their work and ideas. Studies have shown that in most African countries, agriculture accounts for 70% of the labor force, over 25% of GDP and 20% of agribusiness.



Agriculture remains largely traditional and is concentrated in the hands of smallholders and pastoralists, the Economic Report on Africa 2009 stated. Often women provide much or most of the labor, but don&#8217;t reap the economic benefits.



“I think that it is often misconstrued that farmers are not willing to adopt tech,” Tshintsholo says. “But I think if you&#8217;re able to speak to them [about] their pain points, inputs, selling their products and financing, you will find that the uptake is actually quite high. And I think one of the lacking factors is solutions that actually speak to the real pain points farmers are facing.”



“I think tech could be most impactful in a continent like Africa,” Njonjo adds. “Where we have the largest inventory of cultivated farmland on earth or the continent is both important strategically for the global food system. But also, when it comes to stabilizing the economy, this is where more the impact and kind of social mission of the company comes in.”



On the following pages, FORBES AFRICA speaks to some of the leading agri-players tackling farming tech and trends and feeding the continent .

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Africa’s Green Economy= AGRIPRENEURS +AGRITECH+ INVESTMENT

<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center" id="h-spencer-hornefounder-and-ceo-cloudlinesouth-africa">Spencer Horne Founder and CEO, Cloudline South Africa</h3>



Savoring the mild nippy weather in New York City, a far cry from South Africa’s autumn sun, Spencer Horne seems to have come full circle.



The Spencer Horne who was born in the small community of Kales River, Cape Town.



The Spencer Horne who, from an early age, developed “an obsession” for engineering fueled by his love for trains.



The Spencer Horne who grew up as a dreamer and has always been keenly aware of this rhetoric of structure versus agency; what determines outcomes for individuals or communities?



The Spencer Horne who is in New York, a long way from home, ready to answer this question with regard to his business, Cloudline.



This should be a full circle moment for him, but it is not.



“It doesn&#8217;t seem like it because I feel like the work is only just beginning,” Horne chuckles in a Zoom interview with FORBES AFRICA.



Using battery- and solar-powered propulsion to deliver carbon emission-free flight operations, Cloudline is an aerospace company building a network of autonomous airships that delivers goods and services across the globe. According to Horne, air is an “underutilized resource”. Getting anything into the air in general is difficult as also expensive. “[For conventional aircraft], putting those aircraft in the air comes at a high capital cost and keeping them there comes at a very high energy cost,” Horne elaborates. &#8220;That&#8217;s expensive in monetary terms; it&#8217;s expensive in carbon terms. And we are at the heart of the technology that we&#8217;ve developed to address those two major barriers to more widespread use of the air for getting things done.”



When Cloudline started out, they identified the infrastructural gaps that exist within African regions and saw a massive opportunity.



This is the key role that Horne plays in the agricultural space. Although he does not constitute Cloudline exclusively as an agritech, their business contributes significantly to farmers.



“I think in the agricultural sector, in particular, we&#8217;ve seen the role data has played in transforming the way in which precision agriculture is being done.”


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="665" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/DSC02238-1-1024x665.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-58472" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/DSC02238-1-1024x665.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/DSC02238-1-300x195.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/DSC02238-1-768x499.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/DSC02238-1-1536x998.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/DSC02238-1-2048x1330.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">&nbsp;Horne with Mbali Gushu, chief operating officer, and Anton Erasmus, chief engineer.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure></div>


Precision agriculture is a part of the larger conversation around the green revolution. According to experts, this way of farming uses data from multiple sources to improve cultivation for farmers, whether it is used for crop yields and/or to increase the cost-effectiveness of crop management strategies including fertilizer inputs, irrigation management, and pesticide application.



Afgri, a South African agricultural services company, thinks of this type of farming as “site-specific and information-specific”. 



“If you think about Cloudline in the context of the way in which data is gathered today, that&#8217;s against the backdrop of satellites…so this is one of the big places where Cloudline plays a role in that agricultural revolution. And to tie it in with more mainstream applicability, and lowering costs, we can think about the ways in which that grows these markets. From just the top-tier largest commercial farms, it makes it more accessible to more people. That is the kind of thing that makes both business sense and development sense.”



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Improving yield, efficiency and profitability in agriculture comes down to the harvesting of technology. At its forefront are the agritech innovators bringing transformative change to the continent’s green economy. FORBES AFRICA profiles some of Africa’s biggest agripreneurs, inventors, and agribusiness leaders changing the way we think about farming, food security and climate resilience. They have cultivated a passion for smart agriculture and are leading the charge for social change not only for the sector but for the continent – and for humanity’s sustainable future.



<a href="https://shop.forbesafrica.com/shop/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read about all the innovators in our June/July issue by getting your digital copy </a>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/twitter-banner-agri-1024x341.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-58451" width="592" height="196" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/twitter-banner-agri-1024x341.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/twitter-banner-agri-300x100.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/twitter-banner-agri-768x256.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/twitter-banner-agri-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/twitter-banner-agri-2048x683.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 592px) 100vw, 592px" /></figure></div>

DSC01909

Africa’s Green Economy: ‘AIR IS AN UNDERUTILIZED RESOURCE’

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



Tesla CEO Elon Musk reclaimed his throne as the richest man on earth Thursday, wrestling the title away from LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault as shares of Musk’s electric vehicle giant surged to their highest level this year.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Tesla stock rallied 4.6% to $235 in Thursday trading, notching its 10th straight day of gains.



Musk’s firm is on pace for its highest closing share price since October 6, 2022.



After cratering to a two-year low in early January, Tesla shares are up nearly 115%, the third-largest return of any company in the S&amp;P 500, which is up 12% this year.



That rally has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2023/06/07/elon-musk-becomes-worlds-richest-person-again/?sh=54a20bdf4ca4">propelled</a>&nbsp;Musk to once again become the richest person on the planet, according to&nbsp;Forbes’ calculations, pegging Musk’s net worth to be $220.2 billion, $4.2 billion bigger than Arnault’s by market close.



On Wednesday, Musk briefly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2023/06/07/elon-musk-becomes-worlds-richest-person-again/?sh=54a20bdf4ca4">topped</a>&nbsp;Arnault for the first time since December, though he slid below Arnault again by market close.



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



Despite the sustained rally, shares of Tesla remain more than 40% below their November 2021 peak of $410, far underperforming the S&amp;P’s 6% loss during the period.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



After surging during the pandemic, Tesla stock faltered dramatically last year as investors&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2022/01/02/tesla-says-it-delivered-record-936172-electric-vehicles-in-2021/?sh=5f3657494d8b">soured</a>&nbsp;on the company’s promises of near limitless growth and Musk’s affair with Twitter, the social media platform he controversially bought last year for $44 billion,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/12/16/market-reacts-to-musk-antics-tesla-slides-to-2-year-low-as-twitter-embroiled-in-controversy/?sh=65f1706b15fd">pulling away</a>&nbsp;the billionaire’s time and financial resources from Tesla. Wall Street began to regain faith in Tesla after the firm&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/01/25/tesla-posts-best-ever-quarterly-revenue-and-profit/?sh=7db6e03437d1">reported</a>&nbsp;record quarterly revenue and earnings in January, setting forth a rally that gradually gained steam as Musk&nbsp;<a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/tesla-stock-price-elon-musk-twitter-ceo-81418315" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">found</a>&nbsp;a replacement as Twitter CEO and played nice with lawmakers in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/elon-musk-meets-top-biden-admin-officials-discuss-electrification-goals-2023-01-27/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S.</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/russellflannery/2023/05/31/musk-visit-highlights-business-role--in-us-china-ties---amcham-china-president/?sh=4f79f55018ca">China</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/elon-musk-emmanuel-macron-france-gets-red-carpet-treatment-amid-green-investment-push/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">beyond</a>.



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



Tesla, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswealthteam/article/elon-musk/">accounts for</a>&nbsp;a majority of Musk’s fortune, may be booming, but Twitter is amidst a far gloomier stretch as Musk’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2023/04/17/musk-admits-twitter-purchase-wasnt-financially-smart-and-he-paid-twice-what-its-worth/?sh=5e12024b65c6">efforts</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-04/elon-musk-says-twitter-can-be-most-valuable-company-in-the-world" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">transform</a>&nbsp;the company into the most valuable company on earth. The&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;reported Monday Twitter’s advertising revenues were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherinehamilton/2023/06/05/twitters-us-ad-sales-down-59-despite-musks-breaking-even-claims-report-says/?ss=topadvisorshook&amp;sh=709385e4572c">down 59%</a>&nbsp;this April compared to the year prior, while Fidelity said last week it values Twitter at about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/05/30/fidelity-values-twitter-at-roughly-15-billion-a-third-of-the-sticker-price-paid-by-musk/?sh=65649d1e13e7">$15 billion</a>, about a third of the sticker price Musk paid last year.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2023/06/07/elon-musk-becomes-worlds-richest-person-again/?sh=54a20bdf4ca4">Elon Musk Briefly Becomes World’s Richest Person Again</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/06/02/tesla-stock-hits-4-month-high-as-elon-musks-net-worth-soars/?sh=1329c9c26b91">Tesla Stock Hits 4-Month High As Elon Musk&#8217;s Net Worth Soars</a> (Forbes)

Elon

Elon Musk Ends Day As World’s Richest Person For First Time In 6 Months

The most welcome news on May 8 was the announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) that Covid-19 is no longer a global emergency. While the stand-down siren has been sounded, we must remain vigilant and take precautions as there are still thousands of people around the world contracting milder forms of the virus; in some cases still resulting in serious issues for people who have underlying health conditions. Some facts from the WHO website suggest that (as of early May 2023), over the last three years, approximately 756 million Covid cases were recorded with approximately 7 million people who lost their lives. 



Assuming the global population at about 8 billion, this translates to almost 9.5% of the population being infected and approximately 0.09% of the population having died. Comparing this with the Spanish Flu that started in February 1918 and lasted approximately two years, 500 million people or a third of the then global population were infected and about 50 million people died (3.3% of the global population). Though spread a century apart, these are events, particularly Covid-19, that have prepared us to deal with and overcome adversity together as a global community.



There were many lessons from this dark period in human history, the most significant of which was the importance of leadership at all levels. Some countries, with comparable economic, demographic, social and developmental status, managed better than their peers. A trait that was consistent with good leaders was effective, clear and periodic communications. There is no greater leadership failure in a crisis than delayed, ineffective and inconsistent communications. People understand problems as it’s a sad reality of the majority of human existence. Reinforcing problems and assigning blame only spreads uncertainty and creates panic which is synonymous with most politicians; what people want to know is that they are secure and that appropriate, quantifiable and urgent action is being taken to protect them.



What the last three years have further reinforced is that the world is not and will never be an equal place; the disparity between the developed and developing world will continue to grow, particularly if third world countries do not break the shackles of infinite bondage and over-reliance on the first world countries. No one has any interest in seeing Africa become self-sustainable except the people of Africa and the focus now should be on building sustainable ecosystems within geographic proximity. Never has the need for localization been more critical than now. 



Never has there been a need for more African unity ever before, than now. Guided by a polarized world, African nations cannot get submerged in futile politics and the self-serving defence and economic policies of Western countries. Even if they plunder their combined resources through a false sense of ego and self-righteousness, the developed world will continue to have sustainable reserves for several generations. The African agenda needs to be focused on consolidating its position by rapidly strengthening and transforming intra-African relationships.



As the threat to life from the pandemic has reduced, people in general have begun to get back to a near normal way of life. Travel and tourism have bounced back with a vengeance and despite high costs, people are making up for the time lost from 2020-22. The war in Ukraine has continued with no immediate solution that has compelled a change in geopolitical alignments. 



This event, in my opinion, is going to impact the future much more than even the pandemic or any other historic economic crisis. The trust deficit that exists between the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is at its highest. With a deep divide in the UN, no decision or change can ever be made if there is a conflict with any of the permanent members of the UNSC. Changes to the structure of the UN are being demanded by member nations but even as membership is being expanded in key functions of the UN, the final authority and ‘veto’ still rests with the five countries that not only have contradictory interest but also have a deep fissure in ideologies between the United States, the United Kingdom and France on one side and China and Russia on the other.  



Sadly, this very aggressive demeanor resulting from the Ukraine conflict has witnessed the dramatic and wasteful increase in defence budgets of all countries around the world. Rather than spending money on green energy, ESG, housing, healthcare, education, and alleviating poverty, resources are senselessly being allocated to defence systems and extremely destructive munitions that will lead to the doom of our future. Paradoxically, the price of this perceived and notional security will be the very reason that people will continue to live in bondage and poverty. 



The beneficiaries are just a few countries that are the usual suspects in much that is going wrong with the world. My question therefore remains–‘where does accountability lie in the free world’ where, shrouded in extreme conflicts of interest, the ‘judge, jury and the executioner’ are the same? The smallest issues in governance in the developing world are highlighted and severely dealt with through harsh measures but there seems to be no apprehension about the larger issues that are crippling the world.



These inconsistencies have alarmed and prompted reactions from the oil-rich Arab world. The unilateral imposition of sanctions and freezing the assets of nations by Western countries is creating an insecurity for the future. For perhaps the first time and a marked change from historic conformity, there is an apparent move by Saudi Arabia to sidestep Western-imposed sanctions and build harmony within the Middle East. Syria has been invited back into the Arab League after 12 years and Saudi Arabia has also started playing a pivotal role in settling the various conflicts between Syria, Iran and Yemen. It would appear that with the start of consular services between the Arab world and Iran, and with Iraq largely neutralized, things could gradually return to normal within the Persian Gulf. These developments are happening as China and Russia get closer in a strategic collaboration and China, with its large balance sheet, is starting to play a more active role in the Middle East. These realignments are expected to provide more security, both financial and strategic, to nations in Asia.



European countries have supported various countries in Africa through aid packages for various reasons including a sense of responsibility for historic injustices like colonization and slavery. The source of the aid, by country, can be traced according to the language spoken by the European countries i.e. English, German, Dutch, French or Portuguese. This aid has come at a high cost as a lot of tangible benefits for donors were traded in lieu of the aid. A lot of exploitation has taken place in extractive industries to include oil, gold, diamonds, precious stones, minerals etc. and agricultural products. 



Very little value addition has happened on the continent and no effort has been made to create an enabling environment. Interestingly, the United States has so far had an erratic and inconsistent policy on Africa that has given the Chinese a headstart on establishing a strong foothold in Africa including but not limited to two permanent military bases that have been established in East Africa and West Africa. These developments, along with Russian and European interests, will polarize the countries in Africa and developing independent bilateral and multilateral intra-Africa partnerships may get adversely influenced. Remaining neutral and non-aligned is a key ingredient to self-determination, self-reliance and enhanced sovereignty; very few African countries have managed to keep this neutrality.



A factor that has remained congruous for financial security is the dominance of the US Dollar (USD) as a reserve currency. A lot of currencies have remained pegged to the USD. However, with the growing mistrust with US policies, the rise of the Chinese Yuan and a distinct move to create mechanisms for the bilateral settlement of payments between countries, it is likely that over the medium term the USD will lose its place as a reserve currency. The Afreximbank’s brainchild, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to facilitate inter-convertibility amongst African currencies has yet to be finalized as it still faces several structural impediments although the Afreximbank is providing a $3 billion settlement cover as an overdraft facility. The greatest saving for Africans will be the $5 billion paid in transfer fees to international banks.



Less reliance on the USD will give rise to alternative means of storing wealth. While gold is the most likely reserve medium in the short-term, crypto and digital assets will most likely dominate the future of convertibility, transferability and storage in a decentralized and secure manner. While cryptocurrencies are a relatively new area, their mass adaptation will be the most transformative milestone in the history of financial services. Although there is growing adaptation in Nigeria (eNaira), Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe, African countries are trailing in the crypto journey. Education and regulations along with cultural changes and building basic trust in this digital asset will play an indispensable role in the adaptation of this far-reaching and revolutionary change.



Despite the general negativity in current affairs and the economic volatility and correction caused by the failure of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, the general market trends have remained positive. Most countries in Europe and Asia have seen a turnaround post-pandemic. In some countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in particular the emirate of Dubai, the first quarter reports, across all sectors, have been exemplary. 



The first indication was on the travel and tourism industry where things are getting back to 2019 levels. Despite the high costs of flights and hotels, the tourism sector has been thumping since October 2022. The property market is once again buoyant with prices having shot up and the construction frenzy is back to normal with developers working hard to keep up with demand. Coming from all over the world, enticed by excellent policies, safety, stability and long term visas, there is an exponential increase in the numbers of people making the UAE their residence.



African countries have started making their own recovery post the pandemic. Traveling through some of the countries, one gets the distinct feeling that governments are working to bring about the necessary change. The change in Kenya away from dynasty politics will be a great pilot to see whether the country thrives under a new leadership or will get sucked back into the maladies of power and abuse. There are smaller yet shining stars like Rwanda that continue to give hope and the smaller economies like Botswana that are showing tremendous promise. 



We have an arduous journey ahead but we must plod along irrespective of the odds and remember the closing stanza of Robert Frost’s famous poem: “The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep.”

Rakesh Wahi

Lessons From A Dark Period And The Way Forward

With the era of low interest rates and ample liquidity coming to an end, some of the world’s richest families have made (or are planning to make) major shifts in asset allocation, the new 2023 UBS Global Family Office Report shows. The survey, released today, covers 230 “family offices,’’ each handling investments for a single wealthy family. The families have a collective net worth of nearly $500 billion, or an average of $2.2 billion each.



The average portfolio breakdown of those surveyed in 2022 is 55% in traditional asset classes (down from 57% in 2021) and 45% in alternatives (up from 43% last year). But lurking below those broad categories is a more significant shift–away from private equity and towards long out-of-favor fixed income.



With yields on short-duration fixed income currently at more than 5%, a third of those surveyed by UBS are already holding such debt. Moreover, nearly half plan to make significant or moderate increases to fixed income holdings in 2023 and beyond.



“We’re seeing that liquidity is a big factor in decision making,” Charles Otton, UBS’ head of global family and institutional wealth for the Americas, tells&nbsp;Forbes. “We all got very used to money being free, but now people are valuing liquidity and adjusting their portfolio accordingly.”



A similar Global Family Office Report, released by Blackrock earlier this year, also shows that money managers for the rich tweaking their portfolios. Almost half of the 120 offices surveyed in that report said they planned to change investment strategy or make portfolio adjustments this year. Many have jumped into fixed income and private credit in response to the current market environment.



“By seeking maximum flexibility and leveraging a broad toolkit, portfolios can pivot nimbly across duration, regional and sector exposures in response to rapidly shifting conditions,” wrote Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer of global fixed income.



Family offices are shifting allocations when it comes to alternative investments. While U.S. family offices’ allocation to alternatives was roughly the same from 2021 to 2022 (declining modestly from 36% to 34%), direct private equity exposure dropped dramatically (from 24% to 14%), according to UBS. Meanwhile, allocation to hedge funds rose significantly over that same period (from 4% to 7%). This trend holds true globally as well: As uncertainty abounds in markets, there has been a reemerging emphasis on active over passive investment management.



While there is still some private equity exposure among family offices, most have been reducing direct private equity investments in the near-term, instead turning to PE funds, private debt and infrastructure. Rather than searching for brand new private equity companies, which are often riskier investments, family offices are now favoring private market businesses that have grown to a certain point and have some kind of EBITDA, Otton observes.



Many of those surveyed also plan to reduce exposure to real estate this year, the report found. “There is a general caution creeping in given higher rates and some softness—though more commercial than domestic residential real estate, where investment remains strong,” explains Otton. Over the longer term, however, roughly a third of family offices still plan to increase exposure in this sector once capital becomes more available and valuations are lower.



While allocations to emerging market equity have largely held flat in recent years, family offices plan to increase their exposure in that space throughout 2023 amid China’s reopening and an apparent peak in the U.S. dollar. Nearly half of their assets are still in North America, but the majority of offices plan to increase their allocations to Western Europe for the first time in years.



The UBS report also sheds light on the top concerns for family offices in 2023, with many remaining cautious about an uncertain global economic growth outlook. High inflation was the top worry last year, and while that was cited by many again, that has now been supplanted by geopolitical concerns at the top of the list, according to the survey. In the United States, however, people are much more focused on the state of the economy, with the likelihood of a recession as the biggest concern among family offices there.

Couple standing on balcony of modern house

Rich Families Making Major Changes To Asset Allocation, New Reports Find

Words and Curation: Chanel Retief and Lillian Roberts Art Director: Lucy Nkosi Photography: Katlego Mokubyane Photography Assistant: Sbusiso Sigidi Studio: NewKatz Studio, Johannesburg CNBC Africa Videographer: Thabo Mathebula Video Editor: Chanel Retief Styling: Bontlefeela Mogoye and Wanda Baloyi Outfits supplied by: Kworks Design; Imprint South Africa; House of Suitability; LSJ Designs Hair &amp; Makeup: Makole Made



Four years ago, Brian Bosire told FORBES AFRICA that his hope for UjuziKilimo was that it would reach over 10,000 farmers. Speaking to us during the photoshoot for this feature at the NewKatz.Studio in Johannesburg, he tells us he has now reached over 26,000 farmers.



“Our vision is really to see a world of empowered smallholder farmers working at the cutting edge of technology in terms of how they make decisions on the farms, how they access financial support, and also the knowledge they need to improve productivity from the farms,” Bosire says. 



Bosire’s passion for smallholder farming started as a boy in a small town in southwestern Kenya known as Kisii.



“I come from a farming village in Kenya, and my parents–their first career was farming,” Bosire says. “They were smallholder farmers, so as I grew up, it formed the core of what I understood about food production and the economy; a sole source of livelihood in our family.”



The ESRC STEPS (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) Centre concurs with Bosire’s assessment that smallholder farmers are key to the country’s food security and economy. “Small farms account for 75% of the total agricultural output,” ESRC STEPS Centre writes in a 2023 report.



Bosire, as a qualified engineer, wanted to find solutions for these farmers that would not only be beneficial to them from an economical perspective but from a social one too.



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And with that, his business was born. UjuziKilimo–which is Swahili for ‘knowledge farming’– processes millions of data points each day to create a complete soil and agronomic data pool that is both field specific and highly accurate.



Soil Pal, a handheld sensor, acts as a soil parameter to quickly and easily measure the content of the farmer’s soil, and produce the right amount of data for the farmer to receive actionable information within five minutes on the best crops that will do well on the land and the fertilizers they would need.



Part of the UjuziKilimo experience is also FarmSuite, which is a complete farm management, predictive farm analytics, intelligent insights and recommendations software to power decision-making for farmer groups, co-operatives and service providers.



“Our technology is actually ensuring that farmers are moving away from guesswork. Because traditionally, farmers have been led by intuition to make decisions on which crops will do well.”



Part of this empowerment is looking at how much opportunity lies within the African landscape when it comes to agriculture and technology.



“We also understand that unlike developed countries, Africa is the place of opportunity when it comes to the uptake of technologies that we&#8217;re seeing and developing at the moment,” Bosire adds. “The fact remains: smallholder farmers form the majority of the people producing food at the moment, but unfortunately, you still realize that a majority of those farmers are living below $2 or $3 per day.”



According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization’s report, The Economic Lives of Smallholder Farmers, three billion rural people live in about 475 million small farm households, working on land plots smaller than two hectares. Smallholder farms in Kenya are only marginally large as they are 0.47 hectares and in Ethiopia the average small farm size is 0.9 hectares.



“Many are poor and food-insecure and have limited access to markets and services. Their choices are constrained, but they farm their land and produce food for a substantial proportion of the world’s population. Besides farming, they have multiple economic activities, often in the informal economy, to contribute towards their small incomes,” the report read.



For UjuziKilimo, it’s about seeing smallholder farmers get a return on their products as they contribute to the future of food. The data that is being collected from the soil as well as the interaction with farmers is what Bosire actually uses to ensure these farmers have access to aspects like insurance and financing, “because of the richness of the data that we have can be developed over time”.



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MEET COVER STAR Brian Bosire: “Africa Is The Place of Opportunity…”

Boeing is partnering with Equatic, a Los Angeles-based startup that removes carbon from the ocean, in a first-of-its-kind deal to buy a massive amount of carbon credits and green hydrogen that’s likely worth at least $50 million.



Under the five-year arrangement, Equatic will remove 62,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide for the aerospace giant and supply it with 2,100 metric tons of “green” hydrogen generated as a byproduct of its technology. Equatic declined to provide a value for the agreement, though it’s more than double the size of a 25,000-ton CO2 elimination contract competitor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jpmorganchase.com/news-stories/jpmorgan-chase-seeks-to-scale-investment-in-emerging-carbon-removal-technologies" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Climeworks just announced with JP Morgan Chase</a>. Climeworks values that deal—which doesn’t include hydrogen fuel—at more than $20 million. (The financial company is also contracting with startup Charm Industrial to put captured carbon underground as “bio-oil” made with agricultural scraps.)



The deal arose from plans for a technology partnership between the companies related to large-scale CO2 removal facilities Equatic is developing, said Lorenzo Corsini, the startup’s principal advisor, who declined to discuss specific details.



“This catalyzes the development of the technology and it&#8217;s a leap of faith by Boeing,” Corsini told&nbsp;Forbes. Boeing is “serious about removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and knows that they need to invest upfront to do this.”



Equatic recently spun out of UCLA’s Institute for Carbon Management and is part of a new wave of companies with a mission to slow the buildup of climate-warming CO2 by pulling it out of the atmosphere. Unlike the approach of rivals such as Climeworks, Charm and CarbFix, which absorb CO2 from the ambient air and store it, Equatic’s focus is using electrolysis to remove CO2 from seawater and convert the carbon into seashell-like material that it believes won’t harm the aquatic environment. Hydrogen, which is increasingly seen as a promising clean fuel for industrial applications and transportation, is also a byproduct.



“Reaching aviation’s sustainability goals will require a multi-faceted approach and Boeing sees immense value in Equatic’s technology,” Sheila Remes, Boeing&#8217;s vice president of environmental sustainability, said in an emailed statement. “We are excited to partner with Equatic on both green hydrogen feedstock and carbon dioxide removal.”



Equatic focuses on oceans as they’re Earth’s largest CO2 reservoir. Founder Gaurav Sant, director of the UCLA initiative, believes its approach amplifies natural processes and is the cheapest, most energy-efficient way to achieve gigaton-level CO2 removal and produce hydrogen from nonpolluting sources. The amount of CO2 removed is also measurable “down to the gram,” the company said.



(For more on Equatic see&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2023/04/12/equatic-startup-co2-green-hydrogen/?sh=6a2da83a426a">An L.A. Startup Aims To Turn The Oceans Into A CO2 Sponge And ‘Green’ Hydrogen Machine</a>)



That’s important because of growing skepticism around carbon offsets, such as those sold by Verra, the biggest certifier of carbon credits. David Antonioli, the non-profit’s CEO, stepped down this month after acknowledging that a significant portion of credits it’s approved is not based on reality, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/23/ceo-of-worlds-biggest-carbon-credit-provider-says-he-is-resigning" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report by&nbsp;The Guardian</a>.



Equatic began operating pilots in Los Angeles and Singapore in April to demonstrate the technology. A larger “sub-commercial” facility is set to open as soon as late next year in Singapore, integrated within an existing desalination plant. It will be able to remove 3,500 metric tons of CO2 annually. Equatic then wants to have its first commercial plant running in about three years with the capacity to remove 100,000 metric tons of CO2 and generate 3,500 tons of hydrogen annually. That’s about three times the size of Climeworks’ Mammoth plant under construction in Iceland, which will be able to capture and store 36,000 tons of CO2 annually when fully operational.



The company is in the process of raising $100 million for research and plant construction costs. It’s already taken in $30 million from backers including the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker Family Foundation, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, National Science Foundation, Singapore’s Temasek Foundation, PUB: Singapore’s National Water Agency and the Energy Department.



Corsini estimates Boeing’s purchase agreement is the fifth-largest CO2 elimination deal that’s been announced. Equatic had previously announced that financial services company Stripe is buying CO2 offset credits from its small pilot facilities. Boeing will get credits from the Singapore plant that is to open by early 2025 and Equatic’s first commercial facility, the location of which hasn’t been announced.



“Because we’re still engineering and building those plants, we haven&#8217;t started really reaching out more systematically to clients to fill the pipeline,” Corsini said. In addition to Boeing, “we also have a number of other partners. Expect some more announcements soon on that,” he said, declining to elaborate.

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Boeing Bets On Startup Equatic With Massive CO2 Removal, Hydrogen Deal

Gaurav Dhar, a tech investor and second generation fintech entrepreneur in Dubai, has a keen eye on the sector in Africa, saying the continent will see larger and larger funds coming into enabling environments–and there are also some key lessons from the Middle East.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center">
“THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA HAS ITS OWN PATH OF ADOPTION FOR TECHNOLOGY, INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE DIFFERENT ECONOMIES… THERE IS HUGE POTENTIAL BUT THE UNLOCKING OF IT HAS TAKEN DIFFERENT TRAJECTORIES…”
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At the Dubai Fintech Summit in May, Gaurav Dhar is outside the lavish Madinat Jumeirah hotel where the event is being held, walking out of the venue into the afternoon sun in a dapper blue suit. Like the weather by this chic coastal property, he is warm and welcoming, referring to our chat a few weeks earlier.



As the Group CEO of Marshal Fintech Partners, these are the events you will typically find him at in the spiffy Middle Eastern emirate, those that focus on investments, fintechs, startups, venture capital, entrepreneurship and innovation.



Just like Dubai, the city he was born and raised in, his specialties too are as dynamic and diverse. 



Like any third generation expatriate, Dhar says he has a great sense of pride locating his activities out of the glistening emirate, yet doing business for the world, even for Africa.



“I consider myself an ambassador of the UAE. I have Indian roots, but for all intents and purposes, I consider myself an honorary Emirati. Because there is this pride when you [have been] part of the story of building this country in some way, shape or form.” Dhar’s grandfather came to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the early 1970s to become the General Manager of General Motors, when the country had just been carved out as seven emirates from its hitherto existence as the Trucial States.



Dubai was still a dusty city being developed around a port, bringing in tidings and tidy profits from the sea.



“The UAE was its own little paradise, and now is this behemoth global player… Our business evolved along with the country–it was a very side-by-side story,” says Dhar about how after his grandfather, his father, Anil, too followed in the late 1970s and took to “the landscape that was fresh, exciting, mixed and new”.



He worked at Unilever and Texas Instruments before “manifesting his own destiny” and deciding to go his own, turning around an office furniture and supplies company, slowly implementing it also as a technology-focused enterprise, incorporating typewriters, photocopiers and fax machines, as more and more businesses in the region started looking for ways to formalize and store work.



“My father wanted to follow the next trend…and understand the space where again, he could control his own destiny, as opposed to waiting for Xerox or Microsoft to tell him what to do, how to build or what his revenue could be,” recalls Dhar. Called Marshal Equipment and Trading LLC, the company started in the UAE, expanding across the Gulf Cooperation Council states and Africa. “It has been profit-generating for over 35 years and consistently growing,” says Dhar, speaking from his new office on Dubai’s ritzy Sheikh Zayed Road, also home to the almost-kilometer-long Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower. When his father started his business, it was in a small office in Deira–a historic district bursting with character, old forts, wind towers, the legendary Clock Tower and the shimmering waters of the creek.



As a curious child growing up in this space, watching the business evolve, Dhar’s answer to questions while studying at Doon School in India was always that the family was in “payments technology”. His mind was already on the job.



The business grew from one country to another and so did the public penchant for payments technology slowly gaining currency in the boardrooms and bourses of Dubai as “people also started understanding the blocks that make up the fintech system”.



When Dhar–who studied law at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom and calls himself “a second generation fintech entrepreneur”–first started exploring fintech, it also took a little convincing to get Dhar’s dad, who is 70 this year, to get on board.



“When we started talking in 2015 about the concept of nonprofit generating companies that are pure valuation-based, you can imagine his reaction, as a businessman, it was initially to say this is not going to fly, this is not going to work as a concept, because it’s very easy to spend money, but it’s very difficult to make money.”



Dhar started spending time in San Francisco, Hong Kong, Vietnam, India and other places to understand more of what was happening in the “high-risk, high-return, high-failure-rate” venture capital space in this regard.



About seven years ago, Dhar, in his personal capacity, started investing in fintech in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the United States, and three years ago, the company’s name changed to Marshal Fintech Partners–as it got acquired by a sovereign wealth fund in the Middle East.



With over 19 years of experience under his belt in various aspects of business, Dhar now has a well entrenched interest in fintech ecosystems and solutions.



“It’s very exciting to be a part of this evolution, where the ecosystem from a startup or investing point of view has started maturing and we were part of that as it started again…



“If I were to have an intellectual conversation in detail about payments technology with my father, he is extremely wellequipped, because he was there as it was being written, assembled, and literally adopted by all parts of the ecosystem in the Middle East, so he’s extremely capable,” smiles Dhar.



The business growth has been organic, as the entire ecosystem works mutually on codependency and reciprocal relationships from a technology, landscape, business and venture capital perspective. Along the evolution journey, through these collaborative interactions, Dhar says he has also formed networks and friends with “tangible value exchange” and “a genuine desire” to drive economic growth and create job opportunities in the Middle East and Africa.



The Middle East has historical ties with Africa, and Dhar continues to build connections on the continent, often featuring founders of African fintechs and Web3 startups on the podcast series (on Spotify, Apple, YouTube) he hosts every week. “The continent of Africa has its own path of adoption for technology, infrastructure and the different economies… there is huge potential but the unlocking of it has taken different trajectories…



“Let’s not forget that the Middle East has a lot of sovereign wealth, and they have been engaging in investing internationally for decades…So along with that wealth comes access to knowledge, learning, and exposure, so it has been much faster.



“I think the African continent again has it in pockets, but it’s not been [able to] move that timeline faster to have the whole continent benefiting from the influx of capital. So these are very separate ecosystems with different outcomes,” he says.



But there is no doubt there are massive opportunities and synergies between both regions.



“What you’re going to see is larger and larger funds in Africa, either pooled from Europe, or within Africa itself. Entrepreneurship still needs funding and fueling.”



“Whoever is going to be the most-friendly regulator is going to win, then the most-friendly telco operator is going to gain massively; and then the third is with the government allowing people to understand subsidized ecosystems to spark long-term talent staying in those ecosystems, and the understanding of educating properly what is happening in that ecosystem.” Effective partnerships between the government and the private sector is one thing the Middle East has done extremely well, he adds. 



“They have written the playbook for this essentially–the marriage between the government or the federal ecosystem and the private sector has been very close. They talk to each other and push each other to do bigger and better things. And one of these things in the UAE is the venture capital space. And that perhaps is something that needs to happen more in Africa.”



Also a board member of the MENA FinTech Association, a trip to Africa is on the cards soon, but when Dhar is not spending his time on advisory boards and “giving back” to the entrepreneurial community, he dabbles in his other interests: F&amp;B, collecting vintage cars and hosting vintage car rallies every year, where all roads eventually lead to Dubai.

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Guru Of Fintech: The Dubai Entrepreneur With An Eye On Africa

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



Apple announced that its new 15-inch MacBook Air—the world’s thinnest 15-inch laptop, according to Apple—will be available starting next week, marking a middle-price point offering for the company that previously had a significant price difference between its smaller MacBooks and larger models.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



The new model will weigh in at 3.3 pounds and come in four colors.



Bergeron said the laptop will have Apple’s M2 chip, making it 12 times faster than Intel-based MacBook Air; it is quoted at an 18-hour battery life.



The new model will start at $1,299 and be available next week, while the 13-inch MacBook Air powered by the same chip will start at $1,099; the 13-inch MacBook Air with an M1 chip—Apple’s older version—will drop below $1,000, now priced at $999.



Customers can order the new model starting Monday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Apple didn’t previously offer a 15-inch version of its MacBook Air—which comes in 13-inch options—or its MacBook Pro, its larger laptop that comes in a 14- or 16-inch option. The new model will provide a choice to users who don’t want the extra computing power of the MacBook’s 14- and 16-inch models, but do want the option of a screen bigger than 13 inches. The last time Apple offered a 15-inch laptop of any kind was 2019, but Apple&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/13/20961717/apple-macbook-pro-16-inch-model-screen-discontinued-display-laptop" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">discontinued</a>&nbsp;its 15-inch MacBook Pro that year in exchange for the 16-inch option. Apple’s laptop prices have historically been high, too, with the 16-inch MacBook Pro starting at $2,499. Moving forward, the lower price and bigger screen size is meant “to deliver even more value and choice to everyone,” according to the Apple release.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



The big announcement expected from Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is the company’s long-awaited mixed-reality headset that is rumored to have both virtual reality and augmented reality compatibility. The device is rumored to look like ski goggles, The Verge&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theverge.com/23728368/wwdc-2023-date-time-live-stream-watch-how-to-rumors" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>, and is supposed to have external sensors to help users navigate reality.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forbes-valuation">FORBES VALUATION</h2>



Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, who kicked off the keynote address Monday at the Worldwide Developers Conference, is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/tim-cook/?sh=612f5e173ea4">estimated</a>&nbsp;to be worth $1.9 billion by&nbsp;Forbes.



Forbes Daily: Get our best stories, exclusive reporting and essential analysis of the day’s news in your inbox every weekday.Sign Up



By signing up, you accept and agree to our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/terms-and-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Terms of Service</a>&nbsp;(including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and you acknowledge our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/privacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Privacy Statement</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/5/23739220/apple-macbook-air-15-features-specs-price-release-date-wwdc-2023" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apple’s new 15-inch MacBook Air is the ‘world’s thinnest’</a>&nbsp;(The Verge)



<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2023-06-05/apple-worldwide-developers-conference" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apple Headset, iOS 17, New Mac: Live WWDC 2023 Analysis With Mark Gurman</a> (Bloomberg)

Apple Store Opens In Knightsbridge

Apple Announces Plans For Its Largest MacBook Air Yet At Developer Conference

Zimbabwe&#8217;s Parliament recently passed the controversial Patriotic Bill, raising concerns about its impact on democratic freedoms and international relations. Critics argue that the law, which penalizes actions seen as undermining national interests, curtails freedom of speech, association, and assembly, and could isolate Zimbabwe on the global stage.



Zimbabwe’s Parliament passed the controversial Patriotic Bill into law on the evening of March 31, 2023. President Emmerson Mnangagwa&#8217;s ruling Zanu-PF government has long sought to enact this bill, claiming it strengthens aspects of the criminal code protecting national interests. However, critics within and outside Zimbabwe view it as one of the most oppressive laws yet, intended to stifle criticism and free speech, particularly during a sensitive time as the country approaches general elections in late August.



The Bill was first proposed after the controversial 2018 general elections, which saw Mnangagwa elected amidst contested results and protests that resulted in at least six fatalities, seemingly in response to opposition to Mnangagwa’s rule.



Broadly, the Bill criminalizes actions deemed to &#8220;willfully damage the sovereignty and national interest of Zimbabwe&#8221;. These include, among other offenses, planning state boycotts, sanctions, or any acts deemed as &#8216;subversion&#8217; of the state. Penalties for these transgressions include deprivation of citizenship and possibility of the death penalty, which the government had previously committed to repealing (REF).



Activists, journalists, and civil society organizations have denounced the passing of the Bill as another act by the ruling Zanu-PF under Mnangagwa to repress free speech and opposition, particularly as the country moves toward the upcoming general elections.



A risk and political analyst who specializes in sub-Saharan Africa, Marisa Lourenco believes that critics of the bill have a point. “Since the dawn of independence in Zimbabwe has been guided by principles of authoritarianism rather than any effort towards democracy…” says Lourenco to FORBES AFRICA. “Not only does it give the government more tools with which to suppress the opposition and civil society with its vague clauses—which nations are hostile, for example, is there a defined list?—but it also seems to be a way for the Mnangagwa administration to control the narrative around its performance as the government attempts to get some of its debt pardoned and access international financial markets.”



A cooperative of civil society members, including the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions, and the Zimbabwean Election Support Network, issued a media statement opposing the bill&#8217;s passage.



&#8220;A very sad day for Zimbabwe today as that country&#8217;s parliament has passed the Patriot Act bill into law,&#8221; tweeted prominent Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono. &#8220;It seeks to destroy freedom of association and assembly. Free speech is now dead, and any Zimbabwean holding a meeting with a foreign government official will be jailed.&#8221;



The primary opposition party, the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), was similarly critical. &#8220;Democracy is in distress as a report from Parliament confirms that the Patriotic Bill, which is considered unlawful and perilous, has been approved after amending the Criminal Code,&#8221; tweeted the party&#8217;s official account.



The ruling Zanu-PF and President Mnangagwa originally took power in 2017 during a military coup that ousted long-reigning Robert Mugabe.



The country currently scores 28/100 regarding political rights and civil liberties among countries worldwide, according to research organization Freedom House. On Tuesday afternoon, Zimbabwe summoned a top United States diplomat over a tweet the official US Embassy Zimbabwe account posted, encouraging citizens in the country to register to vote.



“We are likely to see heavy-handedness [from the state] and also the banning of demonstrations, disruption of opposition campaigns, etc,” continues Lourenco on the upcoming elections. “Having said that, widespread political and social instability is unlikely. I also expect voter turnout to be the lowest in post-independence



Zimbabwe. People have lost all faith in a ZANU-PF-led government to effect any kind of real change, and the hope that accompanied Mnangagwa’s ascension to the presidency faded soon after the 2018 elections and has been completely snuffed out by now.”



The bill&#8217;s passage, say experts, seems to align with protecting the ruling party ahead of the elections on August 28.



June 2 was the last day for citizens to register to vote. A report earlier this year by electoral advocacy group Team Pachedu flagged evidence of the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission’s (ZEC) delimitation report for signs of gerrymandering, among other irregularities.



Questions are being raised anew about whether the Patriotic Bill will hamper further critique of the ruling Zanu-PF in the run-up to what is likely to be a strongly-contested election, and whether it might be used to suppress the media and reporting of the event.

Zimbabwe’s New Parliament Building, Funded By China, Readied For Its Debut

Elections Ahead In Zimbabwe, And Criticism For Country’s New Patriotic Bill

Swimming sensation Chad le Clos, also a former FORBES AFRICA 30 Under 30 list-maker, is getting back to his best just a year out from the Olympic Games in Paris and feels he still has a lot to give.



South Africa’s prince of the pool Chad le Clos has, by his own admission, had a torrid few years in which his form dipped and personal issues began to take their toll.



He has not gone into great detail about his problems away from the pool, except to say both his parents facing respective battles with cancer, the Covid-19 pandemic and an unhealthy coaching environment all had a devastating effect on his mental health.



But there are signs that he is getting back to his best just a year out from the Olympic Games in Paris and he is now looking forward to a new beginning, rather than stewing on what has gone on in the past.



His gold medal in the 200-meter butterfly at the World Short Course Championships in Melbourne late last year came in a personal best time of 1:48.27.



He burst into tears following the win, which followed a poor showing at the Tokyo Olympic Games where he admitted his severe depression left him feeling “numb”.



“I&#8217;m very happy with everything that&#8217;s happened in the last six to eight months,” Le Clos tells FORBES AFRICA. “Since I&#8217;ve made a change to my new coach (Dirk Lange), and have based myself in Frankfurt, things have started to fall into place again, and I&#8217;ve got my head right.



“And, obviously, winning the 100m and 200m butterfly at the World Short Course Championships in Melbourne last year was a huge boost to my career, it was one of the most important moments of my life, not just my career.”



He says there were lessons learned from Tokyo and resulted in a change in his career path.



“I was in probably the best shape of my life but then not being able to swim for six months (due to the Covid-19 pandemic) and falling behind all my competitors was obviously tough,” he says.



“But there were lessons there, I think I just had to maybe not put so much pressure on individual things that have happened in my life. If I’d taken a step back, and not rushed my decision-making, it might have been a better avenue to go down.



“I made the best decisions I thought possible for myself, even though they probably weren&#8217;t right at the time. But, you know, things happen, and we learn from those mistakes.”



At the age of 31, Le Clos is in some ways the ‘old man of the pool’, with many of his competitors in their late teens or early 20s. But he feels he still has a lot to give.



“I&#8217;ve had a really hard three years and I don&#8217;t count the last four years of my career. I wish I knew what I know today, seven, eight years ago in terms of my training environments, I believe that my career would have would have been different for sure. But I&#8217;m looking forward,” he said.



Adding to his four Olympic medals (one gold and three silver) is a major goal in Paris next year and he believes it is certainly possible. He also hopes it will not be his last Olympics.



“In terms of my last chance to win a gold medal at the Olympics, I think it&#8217;s definitely more realistic for me to win next year than it wouldn&#8217;t be in Los Angeles (in 2028),” he said.



“I still feel very strong and did my best time (in Melbourne) at 31 years of age. Not many swimmers have done that.



“I think short course, for sure, I&#8217;ll still be very dominant for many, many years to come. And I’m not writing off the LA Olympic Games either.”



As for life after the pool when he finally hangs up his goggles?



“I haven&#8217;t exactly thought too much about the future. But I think I have a lot of really great people around me, a great team that will help me make those decisions,” he says. “We&#8217;ve raised a bit of money now and are helping a lot of local swimmers in the underprivileged communities, which is something I&#8217;ve been very passionate about.



“My dream would be to have an academy in Cape Town, but unfortunately, they don&#8217;t have the facilities. So if anyone is reading this…l know I can make it make it work!



“I’m very passionate about being in South Africa. So after the next Olympics, I think I will want to spend a bit more time back home.”

Melbourne 2022 FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships – Day 6

South Africa’s Prince Of The Pool On New Beginnings

Over 6,000 murders in three months. Recent crime statistics point to underlying social tensions, wealth inequality, organized crime, and scrutinize the government&#8217;s response, including police reform and crime intelligence in South Africa.



South Africa’s Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, recently presented the country’s quarterly crime statistics to the public, and the results reveal a bloody conflict being waged in one of Africa’s central hubs. In just three months, over 6,000 people were murdered in the country, almost three murders every hour. Increases in attempted murder, assault, and vigilantism were also observed. Delving deeper into the numbers reveals a population under immense pressure from social tensions, wealth inequality, and organized crime. “We established that 872 of the murders were attributable to arguments, misunderstandings, road rage, and provocation,” said Major General Sekhukhune, the head of Police Crime Research and Statistics, during a presentation of the statistics on May 30. Opposition parties and human rights organizations across the country responded with fury to the numbers, citing a failure of the government to reverse a steadily increasing tide of crime.



“We can no longer allow violent crimes to continue with impunity. The justice system has to act as a deterrent, and the first step is ensuring that the police can conduct thorough, efficient, and transparent investigations into all killings, and ensure that the perpetrators are charged in accordance with the law,” Amnesty International South Africa Executive Director Shenilla Mohamed said in a press statement. The Democratic Alliance (DA) Shadow Minister for Police was similarly biting. “Criminals have declared war on the people of South Africa. Crime is spiraling out of control,” said the DA’s Andrew Whitfield in a statement responding to the statistics. While much of the crimes reported represent interpersonal conflict, experts point to a confluence of issues such as lack of trust in the police and a normalization of violence as salient factors in the high numbers.



“People are often exposed to violence [in South Africa], whether it’s in their homes or the communities… a higher level than in many other parts of the world,” says Gareth Newham, Head of Justice and Violence Prevention at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), to FORBES AFRICA. “And so we kind of get caught in this way in which people generally think that violence is normal–and when you think about this is normal, you could use it.” This normalization is clear both in normative criminal acts, and the increasing rates of vigilantism or mob justice, also seen in the recent crime statistics. Newham makes it clear that this is also indicative of a high level of distrust in the willingness and capability of the South African Police Service to police crime, resulting in citizens taking the law into their own hands. This vigilantism was most prominently visible in the July 2021 Unrest in the country which saw many community policing forums, private security members, and ordinary citizens band together to protect their homes and businesses against rioters, an action which begot both criticism of such vigilante justice as well as further highlighting public mistrust in the police service. “The state has the legal authority to use violence in order to enforce the accepted rules and regulations of the country,” says Newham. “And when that breaks down, other actors start using violence for their own interests, whereas the state suppresses rights in the public interest.” Also under scrutiny are the country’s intelligence and crime intelligence capabilities, with the last few weeks seeing the murder of an eyewitness outside of a courthouse as well as the murder of a wanted Bulgarian fugitive in the suburbs of Constantia, in Cape Town. While the published statistics don’t deal directly with the actions of police crime intelligence, these recent visible crimes highlight the need for proper action, and formed part of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s budget speech yesterday, May 31, emphasizing that reform of the intelligence service more broadly was underway as part of the implementation of the recommendations by an



Expert Panel on the July 2021 Unrest commission. Newham, however, highlights that despite this political posture from the Presidency, there has been little clarity or accountability in these structures. “We only have his word that he&#8217;s reforming the intelligence services because there&#8217;s been zero plans presented publicly in any forum about what those reforms look like,” he continues. “But nowhere in the public sphere, not before parliament or anywhere else are there clear plans on what’s to be done in terms of Intelligence.” Increases in the rate of kidnapping underscore the need for performance within the Police Crime Intelligence services, says the DA’s Whitfield. “The 51.2% spike in kidnappings over the last quarter points to a failure of crime intelligence and a well-entrenched culture of impunity among criminals who no longer fear consequences for their criminal actions,” he said. Despite the dire nature of South Africa’s crime statistics, police claim to be taking strong steps to combat the rising numbers, with Minister Cele having recently deployed 3,000 new law enforcement officers in Gauteng, and 10,000 new police recruits having joined as constables at the end of 2022. The Police Service also had some noted successes, with a major Rwandan genocide suspect arrested last week. Fulgence Kayishema was alleged to have participated in a massacre in 1994 that caused over 2,000 deaths in Rwanda, and was arrested after an intelligence-driven operation.



Several men believed to have been part of an Israeli syndicate were also arrested and face extradition after an intelligence-driven operation late last year, both instances pointing to continuing function within the Police Service. An additional $3.5 million has also been allocated to high-risk jurisdictions and specialized units are being further developed to deal with high-risk actions, said the minister Cele. &#8220;The SAPS is also enhancing specialized tracking teams who will be trained further at provincial and district level, to effectively track and apprehend offenders.” Experts believe that the challenges, primarily structural, are not likely to be rectified within the short term.



“For the last five to 10 years, certainly the crime statistics indicate that there hasn’t been an improvement,” says Newham. “It’s not that we don’t have the resources or the people… what we lack is political leadership… and policy and strategy around reducing crime.” However, with South Africa approaching a cold winter suffering from low levels of service delivery, high costs of living, and an unreliable electricity supply, the specter of the previous 2021 July Unrest raises its head, and it’s clear South Africans increasingly require strong action from the state and the police. “If the government continues failing to create a safe environment for all, it is violating the right to life and security of the person, and must be held accountable. The buck stops with the government,” added Mohamed.

Members of SAPS and SANDF enforce lockdown regulations in Sea Point and Parklands

‘Spiraling Out Of Control’: Recent Stats Reveal South Africa’s Crime Conundrum

Salima Mukansanga boasts many historic firsts.



We look back at our interview with Salima Mukansanga, the international football referee from Rwanda who is also a listed referee for FIFA since 2012 and continues to make waves. In 2019, she was an official at the FIFA Women&#8217;s World Cup in France.



In 2022, Mukansanga became the first woman to referee at the African Cup of Nations. She was also a referee at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last year.



A winner in the sports category at the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Awards on March 8 this year, she was also a spotlight speaker at the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit on the same day, as she dwelt on how she kick-started her career, and how it was a rough journey to stardom.



The trailblazing referee said to FORBES AFRICA after the awards win: “Actually, the inspiration [came] from my mentor, he was a FIFA World Cup referee in 2010 and 2014. So this man, I consider him the one who opens dreams for me, because without him I couldn’t be here…


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1245003421.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-58396" width="672" height="447" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1245003421.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1245003421-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1245003421-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"> (Photo by Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


“Because, remember the women–in Africa, where we concede that in a field dominated by men there’s no chance–but this man gave me a lot of inspiration, along with my brother and my dad who always tell me ‘you are going to reach higher, just keep following your dreams’.”



When asked if the future holds more refereeing for Mukansanga, she says she is going to do more.



“No, it&#8217;s about the performance. And then, if I&#8217;m not going to be a referee, I&#8217;m going to be part of the refereeing family. Like being an instructor, being a coach, all those things are part of the refereeing career. So, I want to stick with it.”



“Ninety-nine percent of the people sending me messages were women. They supported me…Even if she doesn’t know me, it doesn’t matter. It’s each and every woman, especially African women, who want to reach higher, like me,” she also said on receiving the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Sports Award.

FIFA World Cup 2022 – Referees Media Day – Friday 18th November

The Rwandan Football Referee Shooting For The Stars

Consumer research indicates that South Africans are suffering under high levels of inflation, with food products amongst the most affected. Consumer retailers are also feeling the knock-on effect. Loadshedding, repo rate increases and global politics are a confluence of pressures upon South Africans, which has seen many look to where non-essential expenses can be cut.



Since the inception of the Covid-19 pandemic, South Africans have been beleaguered by escalating cost-of-living increases, with food items experiencing considerable inflation. In response, consumers are altering their spending habits and consumption patterns, slashing non-essentials.



A monthly report known as the Household Affordability Index reveals that the average food basket of staple goods has surged by 10% from May 2022 to May 2023. Assembled by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice &amp; Dignity Group (PMBEJD), the report demonstrates the shocking escalation in costs for consumers since the start of the pandemic, with the average cost of a household food basket per month rising by 57.4% from March 2020 to May 2023.



Consumers are not passively accepting this. Recent research by InfoQuest, an online research agency, suggests that luxuries such as television service subscriptions, gym memberships, and insurance were among the first expenses to be eliminated as South Africans strive to endure challenging economic times.



The squeeze is not solely affecting consumers but is also keenly felt further up the chain. Tiger Brands, the country&#8217;s largest food producer, recorded a 19% drop in share price by Wednesday after unveiling interim results. The two main factors propelling the decline were decreased sales volumes due to strapped consumers and loadshedding, with the only growth being spurred by price hikes.



&#8220;Tiger Brands&#8217; performance&#8230; was affected by a challenging operating environment due to extended periods of loadshedding, while high levels of inflation and lower disposable income adversely impacted consumer behavior in terms of volumes and basket,&#8221; the report noted.



Other retailers such as retail conglomerate Pepkor observed similar losses, further emphasizing the consumer squeeze. Pepkor, which owns retailers Ackermans and Pep, saw its share price tumble 10%, noting in its investor presentation that consumers &#8220;have no choice but to prioritize spending on necessities to cope with high levels of inflation, particularly the increased cost of food and transport.&#8221;



Recent hikes in the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) repo rate have also put pressure on consumers, with a growing number of people resorting to credit facilities to get by. The increase marks the 10th hike by the SARB since 2022.



The diplomatic conflict between the United States and South Africa over the secretive docking of a Russian vessel last year, coupled with the ongoing electricity crisis, have also witnessed the South African Rand depreciate to record lows against the US dollar, further constraining the spending capacity of the South African consumer, especially concerning fuel costs.



With President Cyril Ramaphosa having tabled the Presidency&#8217;s budget vote today, he acknowledged the hardship of South Africans, particularly regarding the persistent loadshedding crisis. &#8220;We face a difficult winter ahead,&#8221; said Ramaphosa.



Some warmth might be on the horizon however, with Stats SA recording a decline in annual consumer inflation as of the end of April, this despite some notable increases in the Consumer Price Index basket, indicating there might be some relief for consumers in the months to come.

Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. Launch New ‘QualiSave’ Brand Cut-Price Supermarket

Unpacking South Africa’s Soaring Food Inflation And ‘A Difficult Winter Ahead’

TikTok has stored the most sensitive financial data of its biggest stars — including those in its “Creator Fund” — on servers in China. Earlier this year, CEO Shou Chew told Congress “American data has always been stored in Virginia and Singapore.”



Over the past several years,&nbsp;thousands of TikTok creators and businesses around the world have given the company sensitive financial information—including their social security numbers and tax IDs—so that they can be paid by the platform.



But unbeknownst to many of them, TikTok has stored that personal financial information on servers in China that are accessible by employees there,&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;has learned.



TikTok uses various internal tools and databases from its Beijing-based parent ByteDance to manage payments to creators who earn money through the app, including many of its biggest stars in the United States and Europe. The same tools are used to pay outside vendors and small businesses working with TikTok. But a trove of records obtained by&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;from multiple sources across different parts of the company reveals that highly sensitive financial and personal information about those prized users and third parties has been stored in China. The discovery also raises questions about whether employees who are not authorized to access that data have been able to. It draws on internal communications, audio recordings, videos, screenshots, documents marked “Privileged and Confidential,” and several people familiar with the matter.



In testimony before Congress earlier this year, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew claimed U.S. user data has been stored on physical servers outside China. “American data has always been stored in Virginia and Singapore in the past, and access of this is on an as-required basis by our engineers globally,” he said under oath at a House hearing in March.



TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek said in a statement that “we remain confident in the accuracy of Shou&#8217;s testimony.” ByteDance did not respond to a detailed request for comment. At publication time, neither company had answered basic questions about whether sensitive tax information of U.S. citizens is stored and accessible in China.



Over the last year, TikTok has been touting its plans to cordon off Americans’ data from China in a $1.5 billion undertaking called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilybakerwhite/tiktok-project-texas-bytedance-user-data" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Project Texas</a>. That initiative has been central to negotiations with the Biden administration on a deal that would allow the wildly popular app to continue operating in the U.S., despite longstanding national security concerns about its Chinese ownership and the potential for the platform to be used&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2022/12/22/tiktok-tracks-forbes-journalists-bytedance/?sh=5a6afb397da5">to surveil</a>&nbsp;or influence the 150 million Americans using it. But since those talks hit a snag late last year, with both FBI Director Christopher Wray and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaking out about national security issues with the app, the Biden administration (through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.) has demanded that TikTok split from its Chinese parent company or face a possible ban.



“There’s ongoing litigation over TikTok that is not yet resolved,” Yellen, whose department leads CFIUS, said at a hearing in March. And many in Congress have cast doubt on Project Texas altogether: “I don’t believe that it is technically possible to accomplish what TikTok says it will accomplish through Project Texas,” California Republican Jay Obernolte told the TikTok CEO at the March hearing. “There are too many backdoors.”



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
“Even if TikTok was not a subsidiary of a Chinese company, this would be pretty alarming IT security malpractice.”Former White House and CIA national security lawyer Bryan Cunningham
</blockquote>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Identity theft using stolen social security numbers is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/taxpayer-guide-to-identity-theft" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">not uncommon</a>&nbsp;in the U.S., and the Chinese government&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/us/politics/equifax-hack-china.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">has been accused</a>&nbsp;of stealing personal financial information from Americans before. One expert told&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;this is precisely why TikTok’s mishandling of such information is troubling.



“Even if TikTok was not a subsidiary of a Chinese company, this would be pretty alarming IT security malpractice,” Bryan Cunningham, a former national security lawyer for the White House and CIA, told&nbsp;Forbes. He described tax records as some of the most sensitive data there is.



&#8220;It could be just bad IT practice, it could be they felt like they had a legitimate business need,” Cunningham said of TikTok. “But whatever the nuance of that turns out to be… if you store information in the PRC, you better assume that the intelligence services can have it if they want it. They may not target you, but boy, on the face of it, it&#8217;s highly questionable.”



TikTok and ByteDance did not respond to questions about how many people at the companies can access creators’ financial information, where those employees are located and whether there has been unauthorized access to this data. They also did not respond to queries about how long TikTok users and vendors’ payment data had been stored in China and whether it still is today.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Raising regulatory alarms on both sides of the Atlantic</h2>



TikTok or ByteDance&nbsp;employees in China having access to American users and businesses’ sensitive financial records is potentially problematic for geopolitical reasons, particularly against the backdrop of intense regulatory scrutiny in the U.S.



Though there is no national privacy law in the U.S. to protect against the mishandling or misuse of personally identifiable information,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8152/text" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">one top contender</a>&nbsp;introduced last Congress would require companies to clearly disclose in their privacy policies whether data they collect “is transferred to, processed in, stored in, or otherwise accessible to the People’s Republic of China” and other adversaries. And though a past Federal Trade Commission&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2019/02/video-social-networking-app-musically-agrees-settle-ftc-allegations-it-violated-childrens-privacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">settlement with TikTok</a>&nbsp;(then Musical.ly) dealt with a markedly separate set of issues—children’s privacy violations—the agency could take that order into consideration when evaluating the company’s conduct today.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Jessica Rich, former director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a case like this, the agency would likely consider whether the company had made false or deceptive statements about how it handles users’ information—in a privacy policy, for example—or if the handling of that information had created a real risk of harm. She would not comment specifically on TikTok and ByteDance.



TikTok’s policies suggest that it takes appropriate steps to protect its users’ data. Creators who join TikTok’s Creator Fund&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/global/tiktok-creator-fund-terms/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">agree to</a>&nbsp;“all” TikTok policies, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/us/privacy-policy/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">privacy terms</a>&nbsp;stating that “certain entities within our corporate group… are given limited remote access to information we collect” if it’s necessary for the platform’s operations. They also emphasize that “we use reasonable measures to help protect information from… unauthorized access.” (It does say TikTok may transmit user data to servers outside the U.S. for storage or processing, and that no data storage or transmission is guaranteed to be secure.)



Rich, the former federal regulator, said that if any company claims to be locking down access to information but then making it available to employees around the world who do not need it, the FTC could see that as a deceptive statement and grounds for a potential data security complaint. She also said that the agency generally views financial information and social security numbers as more sensitive than email addresses or phone numbers, and that it may scrutinize those data-sharing cases more aggressively.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
“I would like everything to stay in the U.S.—like, I wouldn&#8217;t see why it would ever need to be stored on a China database.”TikToker and Creator Fund member Zack Fairhurst
</blockquote>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



TikTok’s storage of European creators’ bank information in China could also be problematic under Europe’s privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation.



Even as TikTok launched&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-ie/project-clover-ireland" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Project Clover</a>—a Project Texas counterpart across the Atlantic—to safeguard the data of its European users, the Irish Data Protection Commission (TikTok’s lead regulator in the European Union) is already conducting&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dataprotection.ie/en/news-media/latest-news/dpc-launches-two-inquiries-tiktok-concerning-compliance-gdpr-requirements-relating-processing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">two investigations</a>&nbsp;into whether the company has complied with GDPR. One of those probes is looking specifically at whether TikTok has unlawfully transferred European users’ personal data from the EU to China, and whether it was adequately transparent with users about how it was handling their information. Gabriela Zanfir-Fortuna, vice president for global privacy at the Future of Privacy Forum, said ByteDance tools storing European creators’ data on servers in China could be problematic for that reason.



&#8220;This is the sort of thing that would confirm there are transfers [of personal data] to China happening, so I&#8217;m sure they would be interested in knowing this,” she said of Ireland’s privacy watchdog. (Just last week, the body issued&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2023/05/22/meta-fined-record-13-billion-for-violating-eu-privacy-rules/?sh=2eff164772c9">a record $1.3 billion fine</a>&nbsp;to Facebook parent Meta, one of TikTok’s biggest rivals, over its own data transfer issues.) GDPR also requires companies to restrict access to sensitive user data on a need-to-know basis, Zanfir-Fortuna added, raising questions about how broad access to these payment tools has been and whether it was necessary.



The Commission would not comment on its ongoing inquiry into TikTok except to say it expects a public update after this summer. TikTok’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/eea/privacy-policy/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">policies for Europe</a>&nbsp;say “certain entities in our Corporate Group, located outside your country of residence (see&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/legal/transferee-countries" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>), are given limited remote access to this information” and that this access is “secure and only granted where necessary under strict security controls.” The link included (“here”) lands on a 404 error page.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Creators reacts</h2>



TikToker&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@maddzak?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Zack Fairhurst</a>,&nbsp;a member of its Creator Fund who participated in the company’s blitz on Capitol Hill this spring, told&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;he had no idea his tax information and social security number might be stored in China. (TikTok brought some creators to Washington in March to raise awareness around&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandralevine/2023/03/22/how-a-tiktok-ban-would-affect-creators-businesses-economy/?sh=3cbf8eb25608">the benefits of the app</a>.)



“It wouldn&#8217;t really make sense for it to be over there,” Fairhurst told&nbsp;Forbes. “I would like everything to stay in the U.S—like, I wouldn&#8217;t see why it would ever need to be stored on a China database. … I am actually surprised by that.”



Other creators recalled uploading social security and financial information into TikTok but told&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;they were unfazed by the possibility that it’s stored in China because putting themselves out there online is par for the course for those who want to build audiences and careers through social media.



&#8220;There are so many more pressing issues in the U.S.,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@kathrynanja?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kathryn Cross</a>, a 24-year-old creator in the TikTok program, told&nbsp;Forbes. “My mom grew up in China, so I just know that the Chinese government is so stringent about maintaining a proper public figure, essentially, that they would never allow something like a Cambridge Analytica scandal to compromise their global position.”



“The benefit TikTok has brought to people&#8217;s businesses and lives, and the innovation behind the For You Page, to me seems so much more valuable than any minute chance that China&#8217;s storing our data… more so it seems like a foreign policy type of conflict,” she added.



Internet star and TikTok Creator Fund member&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@yourrichbff?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vivian Tu</a>—a former Wall Street trader who doles out financial advice under the handle “YourRichBFF,” said joining any app’s monetization program is “a calculated risk.”



&#8220;If you&#8217;re okay with being on TikTok,” she told&nbsp;Forbes,&nbsp;“you probably don&#8217;t care that much about your banking information being everywhere it&#8217;s stored.”



Emily Baker-White contributed reporting.

Tag: Coronavirus Pandemic

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA