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



Moderna on Tuesday&nbsp;<a href="https://investors.modernatx.com/news/news-details/2023/Moderna-Announces-Clinical-and-Program-Updates-at-4th-Vaccines-Day/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unveiled</a>&nbsp;plans to develop vaccines against tick-borne Lyme disease and norovirus, a notorious stomach bug, the Massachusetts-based biotech’s latest efforts to bolster its pipeline and expand its offerings ahead of a steep drop in demand for its Covid-19 vaccines.



Moderna announced plans to develop a Lyme vaccine.&nbsp;GETTY IMAGES



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



Moderna said it is developing multiple vaccines targeting&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/signs_symptoms/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lyme disease</a>, a serious infection spread by tick bites that can cause a range of symptoms including fever, facial paralysis, arthritis and rash.



There is no vaccine for Lyme disease on the market in the U.S.—the only approved shot was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/prev/vaccine.html#:~:text=A%20vaccine%20for%20Lyme%20disease,2002%2C%20citing%20insufficient%20consumer%20demand." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pulled</a>&nbsp;in 2002—and infections are rising, largely spurred on by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/14-percent-world-population-lyme-disease-rcna33279" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">climate</a>&nbsp;change&nbsp;<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/lyme-disease-climate-crisis-ticks-b2136409.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">expanding</a>&nbsp;the range of the ticks that carry it.



There are around 120,000 Lyme disease cases reported in the U.S. and Europe each year and Moderna said the proposed vaccines target key species of the tick-borne bacteria responsible for most infections in the regions.



Vaccinating against bacterial infections like Lyme is generally more complicated than protecting against viral infections like Covid, and the effort marks the first time Moderna has applied its mRNA technology to bacterial threats.



Moderna also announced plans to develop mRNA vaccines targeting norovirus, which is highly contagious and the leading cause of diarrheal disease globally.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-news-peg">NEWS PEG</h2>



Moderna&nbsp;<a href="https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/13/moderna-therapeutics-biotech-mrna/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">struggled</a>&nbsp;for years to commercialize its mRNA technology before achieving stellar success with its Covid-19 vaccine during the pandemic. With demand for those shots waning, it is under intense pressure to diversify its offerings. In addition to respiratory diseases like Covid, flu and RSV, Moderna has shots targeting various cancers,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/02/22/moderna-hopes-to-build-on-mrna-tech-used-in-its-covid-shots-by-targeting-genetic-diseases/?sh=76b4f6452692">genetic&nbsp;</a>conditions and infectious diseases like HIV, herpes simplex virus and cytomegalovirus in the pipeline.



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



Moderna said it expects six “major vaccine” launches in the “next few years.” On Tuesday, Moderna said it plans to seek regulatory approval for its latest RSV vaccine this quarter. The company pushed back its timeline for its flu shot, however, citing the need to gather more data.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



$15 billion. That’s how much Moderna estimates the annual global market for Covid booster shots is worth. The company said it expects to make up to $9 billion in profit from sales of respiratory products, which include its Covid booster shots and possible upcoming shots for illnesses like RSV.



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



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/02/22/moderna-hopes-to-build-on-mrna-tech-used-in-its-covid-shots-by-targeting-genetic-diseases/?sh=76b4f6452692">Moderna Hopes To Build On mRNA Tech Used In Its Covid Shots—By Targeting Genetic Diseases</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/04/06/first-fda-approved-rsv-vaccines-expected-later-this-year-the-top-vaccines-and-their-effectiveness/?sh=7cb25dd65f81">First FDA-Approved RSV Vaccines Expected Later This Year: The Top Vaccines And Their Effectiveness</a> (Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/"></a>By Robert Hart, Forbes Staff

COVID-19 Vaccination in Colombia

Vaccines For Lyme Disease And Norovirus? Moderna Working On Shots Targeting Tick-Borne Infection And Vomiting Bug

In 2018, Oluwatosin Ajibade, better known as Mr Eazi, made the FORBES AFRICA 30 Under 30 list. The journey to that began in 2016, when Ajibade took the world by storm with his Afrobeats hit single Leg Over.



Following his success as an artist, as a serial entrepreneur and founder of emPawa Africa (a talent incubator program that funds and mentors emerging African artists), Ajibade is back in South Africa. For this interview from his sun-sea-sand base in Cape Town, he talks about his business ventures and upcoming albums.



Q. What can fans expect from your forthcoming albums?



A. A lot of things changed since the last time [FORBES AFRICA] spoke to me [which was when I had just made the 30 Under 30 list]; things even changed for me musically. Part of it has been that I founded something known as Chop Life Ministries. I was tired of doing the same thing; I was bored of the routine, and needed a new challenge. So I went to spend more time working on my entrepreneurial activities… It was like Chop Life (which had a massive turnout in Rwanda and Sweden) is an African Tomorrowland (electronic dance music festival), you know, with me as host and MC. So this album, Chop Life Volume One, which for the first time is dropping on March 31, is like that whole spirit [of Tomorrowland]…



Q. A lot of young people who enter the music industry do not realize they need to understand the business side of things. How important is it to be business-savvy in the entertainment industry?



A. I think in fairness to most artists, they know they need to be savvy, or they want to be savvy, but it&#8217;s not an easy job mixing, you know, the creativity and the business because both are actually creative endeavors. And both take a toll on the mind. You must write this record and you must focus on writing these beautiful melodies and focus on representing yourself as a creative, as an artist, and as a superstar. But at the same time, you still have to be thinking about some emails, being on some Zoom calls and all of those things. But I feel my talent really is creating stuff. Whether it&#8217;s in the boardroom, or on the Zoom call, it’s business, it’s music. I was just born to create.



Q. What does the future of music in Africa look like?



A. I think the future for African music is very great. It continues to be a growing market. We see more artists breaking globally, undiluted, which gives more power to the creatives. By power I mean for them to have more freedom to create what they want to create, and then be in a better position to not just take any deal. Because I think it&#8217;s just amazing how 90% of African artists are still independent in some form or the other. So, I think it&#8217;s positive.

IMG_2115 2 (1)

‘I Was Just Born To Create’: Mr Eazi On The Future Of African Music

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



The price of bitcoin rose past $30,000 for the first time since June on Tuesday, as the cryptocurrency continues a rally that has seen its price nearly double since the start of the year.



Bitcoin breached the $30,000 mark for the first time since June 2022 on Tuesday.GETTY IMAGES



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



The price of the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency stood at $30,100 early on Tuesday morning, up more than 6.5% in the previous 24 hours.



The value of bitcoin has risen by more than 80% since the start of the year.



Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, also saw its value climb on Tuesday as it moved past $1,900 for the first time since August.



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



The price of bitcoin nosedived sharply last year after the crypto industry became mired in multiple scandals, including the collapse of the Terra/Luna tokens, the bankruptcies of crypto lender Celsius, and crypto exchange FTX. The reason behind bitcoin’s current recovery is partially attributed to the expectation that upcoming inflation numbers could prompt a pause in the Federal Reserve’s ongoing rate hikes,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/11/bitcoin-tops-30000-for-the-first-time-since-june.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to</a>&nbsp;CNBC. In addition to this, Bloomberg&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-11/bitcoin-btc-climbs-to-30-000-for-the-first-time-since-june?srnd=premium-asia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reports</a>, the cryptocurrency’s current lower volume of trading of the cryptocurrency may also be magnifying the surge in prices.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



$68,789.63. This was the price of bitcoin in November 2021, when its value was at an all-time high.



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/"></a>By Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff

Digital Composite Image Of Cropped Hands Using Computer Keyboard By Bitcoin Icons

Bitcoin Breaches $30,000 For The First Time In Ten Months

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<iframe loading="lazy" title="#FORBESAFRICA30Under30 Class of 2023: Meet COVER STAR Mutethia ‘Tesh’ Mbaabu" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wKmIguvWjWk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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In 2008, while the world marveled over Facebook, the new fascinating platform that would change the way one approaches mass communication, Mutethia ‘Tesh’ Mbaabu’s only thought about Facebook was: “Who built this platform and what is their background? And how can I do something similar?”



Mbaabu set out to learn everything he could about technology and building startups; he read up biographies and profiles of entrepreneurs and consumed news about top startups across the globe. A vision began to form: he wanted to build something as impactful as Facebook, but specific to Africa.



Which is what led to MarketForce, a B2B commerce platform that empowers over 200,000 neighborhood merchants across five African markets to source, order and pay for inventory, access financing and earn more by reselling financial services in their communities.



He seems to have all the support – judging by the number of people who nominated him for this list.



“What makes you so popular?”



“I think it’s because it’s because I represent a young black African entrepreneur who comes from an average family but who has been able to break into the tech ecosystem and raise funding, which is very hard. And then build a company that operates several African companies.”



“Mutethia&#8217;s story is testament to the importance of perseverance and resilience in the face of adversity,” says 2023 30 Under 30 external judge Bright Jaja. “It&#8217;s truly inspiring to see how he has turned his setbacks into opportunities for growth and innovation. In a world where we face so many



challenges, it&#8217;s important to have role models who demonstrate that it&#8217;s possible to make a positive difference and achieve success by pursuing one&#8217;s passions.”



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<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-2023-forbes-under-30-summit-africa">2023 Forbes Under 30 Summit Africa</h2>


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/U30-Africa-Summit-Email-Header-6Speaker-1024x538.png" alt="" class="wp-image-57846" width="669" height="351" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/U30-Africa-Summit-Email-Header-6Speaker-1024x538.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/U30-Africa-Summit-Email-Header-6Speaker-300x158.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/U30-Africa-Summit-Email-Header-6Speaker-768x403.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/U30-Africa-Summit-Email-Header-6Speaker.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 669px) 100vw, 669px" /></figure></div>


In April 2023, the Under 30 Summit will return to the world’s greatest growth market, Africa. Following the first-ever Forbes Under 30 Summit Africa held in April 2022, the world’s most elite young entrepreneurs and game-changers will again convene in one of the world’s most beautiful countries, Botswana.



Across four days in the country’s capital, Gaborone, we’ll harness the power of entrepreneurial capitalism amid the continent whose growth will help define the 21st century. As with every Under 30 Summit, the social and cultural opportunities will be world-class. You’ll hear from government, venture capital and business role models, providing inspiration for the newest—and next—generation of leaders. We will welcome local performers, chefs and entrepreneurs, allowing us to experience the sounds, cuisine and staples of local culture while engaging in unbeatable networking and pitching opportunities.



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/connect/event/2023-forbes-under-30-summit-africa/?promo=LPAFRICA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">REGISTER HERE</a>

#FORBESAFRICA30Under30 Class of 2023: Meet COVER STAR Mutethia Mbaabu“…build a company that operates several African companies.”

The AI based tool can create &#8220;cutouts&#8221; or segments of different parts of an image. This comes handy while editing photos or while analyzing imagery for biological or security purposes. META AI



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-announcement-comes-as-the-social-media-giant-increasingly-diverts-its-attention-from-creating-a-virtual-reality-based-metaverse-to-embed-ai-features-across-its-platforms-like-instagram-facebook-messenger-and-whatsapp">The announcement comes as the social media giant increasingly diverts its attention from creating a virtual reality-based Metaverse to embed AI features across its platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp</h3>
</blockquote>



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Editing photos, analyzing surveillance footage and understanding the parts of a cell. These tasks have one thing in common: you need to be able to identify and separate different objects within an image. Traditionally, researchers have had to start from scratch each time they want to analyze a new part of an image.



Meta aims to change this laborious process by being the one-stop-shop for researchers and web developers working on such problems. On Wednesday, the company released an AI model, called “Segment Anything Model” or “SAM” through which users can create “cutouts” or segments of any item in an image by clicking on a point or drawing a box around the object. The tool can be used in research purposes, for creative editing or even to make sense of objects while wearing a VR headset by making it faster and more efficient to carve up different parts of an image.



The tech company launched the browser-based tool to the public and also open sourced its computer vision model, which it claims is trained on “the largest segmentation dataset” of 1.1 billion segmentation masks (“masks” are different parts of an image) and 11 million images licensed from a large photo company. Meta did not disclose which company it licensed the images from. Meta AI, the artificial intelligence research arm of the social media giant, worked with 130 human annotators based in Kenya to create the dataset, which was made through a combination of manual and automatic labeling of a billion parts of millions of images.



Object recognition and computer vision technologies have been around for years and are already integrated in various devices such as&nbsp;<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/11/visualone-smartens-up-home-security-cameras-with-object-and-action-recognition/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">surveillance cameras</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs231a/prev_projects_2016/deep-drone-object__2_.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">drones</a>.&nbsp;<a href="https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/industries/make-convenience-stores-even-more-convenient-with-amazons-just-walk-out-technology-and-amazon-one/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amazon</a>&nbsp;stores for example use object recognition to detect the items you put into your basket and autonomous vehicles use it to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2023/02/28/luminar-plans-to-put-lidar-first-created-for-avs-into-millions-of-regular-cars/?sh=82bf66743820">perceive</a>&nbsp;their surroundings. Contemporary startups like Runway and incumbents like Adobe have commercialized their ability to use AI to detect and select different objects within an image for their creative users. As snazzy generative AI chatbots have emerged, the goal for AI researchers at Meta was to merge the advancement in AI foundational models with the dormant realm of computer vision technologies.



“I wouldn&#8217;t say that this is a new area of technology. Object segmentation already exists so I wouldn&#8217;t say this is a new capability. Fundamentally, I think their approach of using foundational models is new and the size of the dataset they&#8217;re training on could be novel,” says Paul Powers, CEO and founder of Physna, a search engine for 3D objects.



But what Meta hopes is that by releasing these tools more broadly, it’ll encourage users to build on top of their generalized model for more specific use cases in fields like biology and agriculture.



The announcement comes simultaneously as Meta&nbsp;<a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Meta-to-debut-ad-creating-generative-AI-this-year-CTO-says" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reportedly</a>&nbsp;plans to use generative AI for advertisements across Instagram and Facebook. Not wanting to miss out on the buzz around AI, in late February, CEO Mark Zuckerberg&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0vvSykpAEXpHHaKKyWMZ423TCq3qQDKtLu7m4XiRfUEYRrxzwpdewh3yYepnc1Bsrl&amp;id=4&amp;mibextid=qC1gEa&amp;_rdr" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a>&nbsp;that he is creating a new product team solely focused on building generative AI tools like artificial personas, Instagram filters and chat-based features in WhatsApp and Instagram. Zuckerberg reportedly spends most of his time with the new AI team.



The SAM tool is built for those who don’t have the AI infrastructure or the data capacity to create their own models to “segment” or identify different components of an image, say Meta AI researchers Alexander Kirillov and Nikhila Ravi. “This is happening in real time in the browser and that makes this model much more accessible to so many more people because they don&#8217;t need to be able to run a lot of stuff on GPU…We can enable a lot more edge use cases that some other methods might not allow,” Ravi says.



But there are limitations of a computer vision model trained on a database of two-dimensional images, says Powers. For example, for the tool to detect and select a remote held upside down, it would need to be trained on different orientations of the same object. Models trained on 2D images won’t help detect images that are partly covered or partially exposed, he says. This means it wouldn’t accurately identify non-standardized objects through an AR/VR headset or it wouldn’t detect partially covered objects in public spaces if used by an autonomous vehicle manufacturer.



For the company, which rebranded itself from Facebook to Meta in late 2021 and inked its commitment to the Metaverse, the most obvious use for this object detection tool is in its virtual reality spaces such as its online VR game Horizon Worlds. Kirillov and Ravi say that their object detection tool can be used for “gaze-based” detection of objects through virtual reality and augmented reality headsets.



The model can detect unknown objects and work across domains with underwater, microscopic, aerial and agricultural images. Kirillov says he was inspired to create a generalized image segmenting model while talking to PhD researchers. “I was giving a presentation about segmentation to some natural scientists in Berkeley and people were like ‘Okay sure, this is all cool, but I need to like count and identify trees in the photos I’ve collected for my research about fires in California,’ and so this model can do that for them,” Kirillov tells Forbes.



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rashishrivastava/"></a>By Rashi Shrivastava, Forbes Staff

In this photo illustration a Facebook logo seen displayed on

Meta’s New AI Tool Makes It Easier For Researchers To Analyze Photos

Most Americans—male or female—don’t ask for higher compensation when negotiating a job offer, even if they know they should. A new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2023/04/04/when-negotiating-starting-salaries-most-us-women-and-men-dont-ask-for-higher-pay/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey</a>&nbsp;offers a reminder why: According to the Pew Research Center, some two-thirds of respondents who made attempts to negotiate starting salaries said they got more than was originally offered, though the outcomes were somewhat less favorable for women.



The finding, part of a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/03/30/how-americans-view-their-jobs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">broader survey</a>&nbsp;Pew recently released on how Americans view their jobs and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2023/03/30/about-a-third-of-us-workers-who-can-work-from-home-do-so-all-the-time/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">how many continue to work remotely</a>, found that among all workers who did ask for higher pay, 28% said they were given the new amount they requested. Another 38% said they were offered more than what was first suggested but less than they requested, with the remainder only getting the initial offer.



That means about 66% of job candidates got better starting salary offers after asking for more. “That does seem higher than you might expect,” says Kim Parker, director of social trends research at Pew Research Center. “We had never seen the question asked before.”



Yet first, of course, people have to ask. Pew’s survey, which queried 5,188 U.S. workers who are employed either full- or part-time and aren’t self-employed, found that just 30% said they recalled asking for higher pay the last time they were hired for a job. While men were slightly more likely to say they did than women (32% versus 28%), and the gap is statistically significant, “it’s not huge,” said Parker. “Based on what you hear and read about this issue, we thought we might see a bigger difference.”



That finding, combined with others that show a bigger gender difference on other aspects of salary negotiation, prompted Parker to suggest releasing the findings separately from a report Pew shared last week. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenamcgregor/2023/03/30/full-time-remote-work-is-falling-but-still-five-times-pre-pandemic-levels-survey-finds/?sh=41bab2f12946">earlier report found</a>&nbsp;that about 51% of U.S. workers are highly satisfied with their job and that about a third of workers in jobs that can be remote are still working from home full-time.



The additional data released does show a much wider divergence on how comfortable men and women feel about asking for higher starting salaries and how successful they were in their efforts. Only 33% of men said they didn’t feel comfortable asking for higher pay, compared with 42% of women.



Meanwhile, there was also a big difference in the results women saw from their requests versus men. When broken out by gender, 38% of women who asked for a higher starting salary said they did not get more pay, while only 31% of men who negotiated were stuck with their initial offer.



Pew’s results appear to underscore that the issue is less that women disproportionately don’t ask for higher salaries—but that they&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2021/01/21/why-women-fall-short-in-negotiations-its-not-lack-of-skill/?sh=4f10fee95d02">face obstacles when they do make those requests</a>&nbsp;or worry about how they will be&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2021/07/29/salary-negotiations-a-catch-22-for-women/?sh=7ac201eb2124">perceived when they negotiate</a>.



Still, the relatively narrower difference between men and women who asked for higher starting salaries could be a sign the drumbeat about pay equity is having an impact, Parker says. “I wonder if the lack of a big gender gap [on the question about negotiating or not] means we’re starting to see the effects” of focus on the issue, she says, noting Pew doesn’t have historical data for these questions. “It’s nice to have some numbers to put to this.”



Meanwhile, it’s unclear what impact <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenamcgregor/2023/03/14/these-are-the-jobs-least-likely-to-include-pay-ranges-in-employment-ads/?sh=c6ae52811a46">pay transparency</a> laws that require employers to post pay ranges in job ads, which have gone into effect in places such as Colorado, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenamcgregor/2023/01/12/only-half-of-tech-firms-comply-with-californias-pay-law-says-new-site-but-that-number-is-growing-rapidly/?sh=7abb96756eda">California</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenamcgregor/2022/03/15/how-nycs-pay-transparency-law-could-have-a-national-impact-on-the-pay-gap-and-your-job-search/?sh=605b51877706">New York City</a>, are having. But it’s possible that getting out more information on the pay ranges companies are willing to pay could get that share of employees that’s willing to negotiate—both male and female—a little higher over time.



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenamcgregor/"></a>By Jena McGregor, Forbes Staff

Executive outside office with office equipment

Asking For A Bigger Starting Salary Pays Off Most Of The Time: Survey

As a departure from our historic travel to Europe, my wife and I decided to do something different this year. I suggested Nepal as an alternative, which was instantly accepted. My choice was mainly because the last visit to Nepal was marred by the unfortunate earthquake in April 2015; the horrors of which remain etched in my memory. That year, I had taken 12 members of our university team in Dubai on a team-building exercise to trek up to the Everest Base Camp (EBC). Sadly we had to abandon our trip as the earthquake struck a few hours after we landed in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu. The devastation from this natural disaster stayed fresh in my mind: we had seen numerous bodies being pulled out of the wreckage as we tried to navigate through the rubble and debris without shelter or food for two days before we could fly back home safely to Dubai. EBC had remained on my mind for all these years and owing to work commitments and family pressure, I was unable to plan another expedition. More than anything else, I realized that I could not risk the lives of younger team members who have different responsibilities than an old man who is now hobbling through the last lap of his life.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Rakesh-Wahi-in-Nepal-in-January-2023.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57941" width="385" height="468" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Rakesh-Wahi-in-Nepal-in-January-2023.jpg 841w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Rakesh-Wahi-in-Nepal-in-January-2023-246x300.jpg 246w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Rakesh-Wahi-in-Nepal-in-January-2023-768x935.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 385px) 100vw, 385px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">In Nepal in January 2023</figcaption></figure></div>


One of the reasons that I wanted to get away for a few weeks was to begin writing my second book (the first, Be a Lion, was published in November 2016).



I have always found myself to be at my creative best in quiet and cold environments. Previous choices, while writing my first book, were Montreux (Switzerland), Edinburgh (Scotland) and Prague (Czech Republic). 



Kathmandu in January seemed like a consistent choice.



With over three decades of travel around the world, our experience in Nepal was one of our best. Kathmandu is not without its infrastructure challenges; nor can you miss the ugly sight of excessive and dangerous electric cabling dangling all over. What makes up for some of the challenges is the weather, the breathtaking scenery and more than anything, the warmth and hospitality of the Nepalese people.



We stayed at the Gokarna Forest Resort about a 30-minute drive from Kathmandu. This jewel of a property was an old hunting retreat for the Nepalese royal family and is nested in a dense forest (with amazing wildlife) that in its midst has one of the most spectacular and challenging golf courses. The management and staff of the resort took hospitality to a notch above the best in the world; in short, it was a perfect choice for a retreat.



The highlight of our trip to Nepal was the helicopter ride to EBC (17,600 feet/5,364 meters) and Kalapathar (18,400 feet/5,644 meters). Since it was a clear day, we got great visibility of Mount (Mt) Everest from Kalapathar. On the whole it was one of the most magical moments in my life and another tick on my bucket list.



What was disheartening, however, was to see that in January, there was very little snow either at EBC, Kalapathar or on any of the towering peaks around Mt Everest. This is a stark reminder of the impact of the depleting ozone layer and the consequent changing weather patterns. The sad reality is that in the period ahead, this change is likely to impact the flow of water from the Himalayan Mountains into the various river systems across the subcontinent. Leaving Kathmandu was emotional for both my wife, Saloni, and I, but we left with the warm thought that this would form part of our periodic travel map in the years to come.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/wahi111-1024x775.png" alt="" class="wp-image-57942" width="576" height="435" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/wahi111-1024x775.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/wahi111-300x227.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/wahi111-768x581.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/wahi111.png 1183w" sizes="(max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The towering peaks around Mt Everest</figcaption></figure></div>


Traveling back home to Dubai is always reassuring as the city serves as the epicenter of all our activity. Coming home provides the sense of safety and security like no other and was perhaps the cushion needed before getting back to a more hectic routine.



Being the travel hub of the world today, most friends, family and business associates are invariably transiting through Dubai. Additionally, a distinct change over the years has been the number of African friends who have relocated to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for different reasons but most importantly, to take advantage of its strategic location at the geographic center of the business world.



The number of Africa-centered events here have also increased over the years.



A recent event that was most impactful was the Invest Africa roadshow conducted by the Rwandan Embassy in the UAE along with the Rwandan Development Board.



The response to the presentations was resounding with many UAE businessmen looking at investing into Africa with a positive lens. I am a great believer that these outreach events by investment promotion agencies are critical for all African countries. The Middle East has abundant capital that is looking for stable investments and these presentations catalyze changing the negative perceptions of the African continent.



The global gloom has not subsided. It is not just the senseless war in Ukraine but the recent humanitarian disaster caused by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.



Over 50,000 lives were lost and thousands of people left without homes; all in a matter of hours after the earthquake struck. What was heartening, however, was to see the global community rally together and provide much-needed medical, food and other compassionate aid to the two countries. It will take a long time for these countries to recover from this disaster. It is also a constant reminder for countries and regions on fault lines to remain proactive and enforce construction guidelines while planning infrastructure projects; there is no control over nature and the mysterious changes invisible to the human eye will continue to work silently; in this instance, the tectonic plate on which Arabia sits has been gradually moving North towards Europe.



An important milestone during this period has been the elections in Nigeria with the usual concern regarding a fair process. As President Bola Tinubu prepares to take charge of the country, there is hope for change for the better and that a genuine effort is made by the new administration to improve the lives of average Nigerians.



The lack of power in the country remains horrific and so does the unimaginable shortage of petrol for one of the world’s largest producers of oil.



These problems, however, are completely eclipsed by the recent demonetization of the currency and the ensuing shortage during the elections.



Over the last few months most people were unable to draw money from ATMs and banks causing a major crisis in a country. It’s expected that the currency shortage will miraculously disappear now that the elections are over. Let’s pray that Nigeria reemerges from the ashes of poor governance of the last decade. We are all expectantly waiting to see some rays of hope; particularly in economies like Nigeria, that can have a material impact on the entire continent.



You see the power of hope when over 500 dynamic ladies from different walks of life get together to discuss the future. This was the outcome at the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit (#LWS2023) in Pretoria, South Africa, on March 8, International Women’s Day. The annual event, in its eighth episode, was organized by the ABN Group as an in-person celebration post the pandemic. The event in 2021 and 2022 was held as a virtual one and we did not have the opportunity to meet some of the ladies who had participated.



This year, we witnessed an excellent day packed with wonderful conversations that was kick-started by South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Dr Naledi Pandor (whom we all deeply admire) who delivered the welcome address to a full house. She spoke about all the achievements but also highlighted some statistics on women in managerial positions and on boards of companies that needed to be improved significantly through sustained activism. An important highlight was the number of young women who participated both as speakers and as participants.



I am personally a great supporter of the development of women. In my welcome speech at the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Awards held on the same day, my key message was that while addressing the gaps regarding equal opportunities, gender-based violence, equal pay, workplace discrimination, lack of financial inclusion etc., the key need is to focus on the education of women at the grassroots level; this requires making sure that our girls are educated and receive the same opportunities at school, at vocational centers and at colleges. This is the important mindset change, where parents must give equal importance to the education of all their children. If we get this right within the family fabric of society, the rest of the change will be systemic.



We need a steady pipeline of well-educated and trained women in every sphere of activity who can lead their teams with confidence and not be a part of checking boxes. Since the room was packed with an inspired audience, I requested each one of them to take it as a mission to educate at least one girl child during their lifetime. This would be truly transformative and not just an ongoing compromise.



The FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Awards are always a delight to witness. Other than the high-quality performance for the opening by two-time Grammy-award winner, Wouter Kellerman, various awards categories were won by dynamic women from across the continent including Rwandan sports star Salima Mukansanga, Africa’s first female football referee at the Men’s World Cup for FIFA 2022.



The winners of the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Lifetime Achievement Award this year were Louisa Mojela and Gloria Serobe who are an inspiration to future generations, as they followed other giants like Wendy Luhabe, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka who have been winners of the award in previous years. Listening to the various conversations and imbibing the positivity in the room, we can infer that the world must continue to pay close attention to what is happening in Africa. This is indeed a region on the move and the younger generation is not going to accept the status quo. They are asking all the right questions.

Rakesh Wahi

‘Pay Close Attention To What Is Happening In Africa’

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



Just one day after job openings plummeted to a nearly two-year low, payroll processor ADP reported that private employers added fewer jobs than expected last month as they also started to scale back on wage increases—adding to concerns the economy could face a worse-than-feared recession as the Federal Reserve works to temper stubbornly high inflation.



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



Private employment increased by 145,000 jobs from February to March as industries such as finance, professional services and manufacturing lost tens of thousands of jobs apiece—far fewer than the 261,000 new jobs economists had projected, according to the ADP’s National Employment Report&nbsp;<a href="https://adp-ri-nrip-static.adp.com/artifacts/us_ner/20230405/ADP_NATIONAL_EMPLOYMENT_REPORT_Press_Release_2023_03%20FINAL.pdf?_ga=2.235361481.93568635.1680697008-437291998.1680697008" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">released</a>&nbsp;Wednesday.



The latest data is &#8220;one of several signals that the economy is slowing,&#8221; says ADP chief economist Nela Richardson, who notes pay growth is starting to inch down after plateauing for three months as employers pull back from a year of strong hiring.



ADP’s report comes one day after the Labor Department reported the number of job openings in January fell below 10 million for the first time since June 2021—falling by 632,000 on a monthly basis and down from a record high of nearly 12 million one year ago.



In another sign of cooling, job growth last month was skewed to lower-paying industries such as leisure and hospitality in addition to smaller firms, while employment in large companies was nearly flat, notes Comerica Bank chief economist Bill Adams.



“The economy is unwell, and it could get worse before it gets better,” says EY chief economist Gregory Daco, pointing out that hiring efforts have scaled back “notably across numerous sectors” in a sign monthly job growth—as set to be reported by the Labor Department on Friday—could fall to its lowest level since December 2020.



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



The Labor Department releases its monthly jobs report for March on Friday. On average, economists expect the labor market added about 238,000 jobs last month after a better-than-expected 311,000 new jobs were created in February. However, the recent signs of softness could pull those projections down. Comerica projects the economy added about 200,000 jobs in March, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.7% from 3.6% in February and a 54-year low of 3.4% in January.



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



Amid waves of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/04/03/2023-layoff-tracker-hyland-software-laying-off-1000-staff-as-mcdonalds-reportedly-cuts-hundreds/">layoffs</a>&nbsp;continuing to hit some of the nation’s largest employers, the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked up in February despite the labor market gaining significantly more jobs than expected. “It’s no longer accurate to say without reservation that the labor market is a bright spot in the economy,” Glassdoor chief economist Aaron Terrazas said after the latest jobs report, noting the waves of recently announced layoffs could ultimately paint a grim picture of the labor market’s trajectory.



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



Though they’ve rallied from recent bear-market lows, stocks have struggled this week as investors worry the latest labor-market data could indicate the Fed may not be able to curb inflation without tipping the economy into a recession. Consumer prices rose 6% on an annual basis in February, according to Labor Department&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a>—down from a 40-year high of 9.1% in June but still far higher than the Fed’s historical inflation target of 2%. Meanwhile, the central bank has already pushed interest rates up to the highest level in 15 years, fueling a housing market&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/03/21/housing-market-home-prices-post-first-yearly-decrease-in-11-years-as-sales-jump/">correction</a>, stock market downturn and just last month, a batch of high-profile bank&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/04/04/jpmorgans-dimon-effects-of-bank-failures-will-be-felt-for-years-to-come/">failures</a>.



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



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2023/03/09/jobless-claims-unexpectedly-rise-to-2023-high-as-fed-hikes-threaten-new-waves-of-layoffs/">Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Rise To 2023 High</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/04/03/2023-layoff-tracker-hyland-software-laying-off-1000-staff-as-mcdonalds-reportedly-cuts-hundreds/">2023 Layoff Tracker: Walmart Cuts 2,000 Workers</a> (Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/"></a>By Jonathan Ponciano, Forbes Staff

gettyimages-74579974-170667a

‘Economy Is Unwell’: Job Growth Unexpectedly Slows As Employers Scale Back Wages And Freeze Hiring

Molly Jensen’s dream is to build the largest library of African audio stories.



By Alastair Hagger



Tune into the frequency of African radio and the signal is clear – no other medium has reached more people on this continent or resonated more deeply. From the earliest broadcasts in 1920s South Africa to the post-colonial, continent-wide explosion in radio services in the 1960s, to the establishment of the first private commercial station in Burkina Faso in 1987, Africa has long been wired for sound.



But the reach of the airwaves has never been matched by the depth of revenue streams enjoyed by radio stations abroad. Into this aural breach steps the podcast – a medium set to re-dial Africa’s relationship with the broadcast word from passive to thrillingly proactive.



Molly Jensen is CEO of Afripods, a free pan-African podcast hosting platform based in Nairobi.



“My vision is to build the largest library of African audio stories on the planet,” she says.



“We have created an advertising funnel for audio on-demand content, and built a robust library of stories, categorized in up to 50 languages, from the continent and diaspora. We focus on the technical infrastructure, which positions us as the leading platform capturing market share in the region.”



Though Africa’s internet access is the least affordable in the world, according to the AIA (Affordable Internet Alliance), rapid and inevitable network evolution and improvement is already positioning the podcast as an irresistible opportunity for advertisers and creators alike.



“Podcasting is still very much in its infancy on the continent, and advertisers are still learning how to quantify the value of a highly niched group of people and their audiences,” says Jensen. “But an ecosystem like podcasting, which is based on orated content, taps into generations of storytelling, modernizing it in digital communities. The impact of audio-first media cannot be overstated, and podcasting is an exciting extension.”



This ecosystem is growing exponentially as influencers expand into new verticals, and festival and platform pioneers such as Africa Podfest, SemaBOX, Gold Coast Report, The Podcast Sessions and APVA (The Association of African Podcasters and Voice Artists) create dynamic new synergies.



“It’s exciting to see vernacular content grow, because it sheds a light on the rich diversity of Africa, as mother tongues become less common, with podcasting being used as a vehicle to memorialize culture,” she says. “And we are also at an interesting moment in history where Africa is no longer just consuming the narrative of what is cool, but creating it – and exporting culture to a global stage.”

Molly Jensen, photo by Marcus Olang’

The Resonant Rise Of The African Podcast

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



Twitter introduced a new label for accounts with blue checkmarks Sunday that removes any distinction between those paid for by monthly subscribers and accounts verified by Twitter before CEO Elon Musk’s changes—as Twitter was expected to start removing ‘legacy’ checkmarks over the weekend.



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



All accounts with a blue checkmark now display a notice that reads: “This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account.”



Twitter previously had separate labels for accounts with a checkmark that distinguished “legacy verified accounts” from accounts subscribed to Twitter Blue.



Twitter has not released a statement on the change, but Musk&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1642643460883890178" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reacted</a>&nbsp;to a tweet about it with a relieved face emoji.



The change has elicited mixed reactions from users, with some users&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/eddyburback/status/1642641613687234561" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pointing out</a>&nbsp;that this could make potential impersonator accounts appear more convincing.



The change comes a day after Twitter was expected to&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/verified/status/1639029459557679104" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">remove</a>&nbsp;the checkmarks of legacy verified accounts that do not subscribe to Twitter Blue.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



Although Twitter&#8217;s latest change makes it a lot harder to distinguish between users whose identity was actually verified by Twitter and those who received the badge by paying $8 a month, many users have already posted about workarounds. Twitter’s search function&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/RachelTobac/status/1642716930699317249" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">still allows</a>&nbsp;users to filter legacy verified and paid verified accounts, while there are some browser extensions that still allow users to distinguish between the two types of accounts.



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



The latest change comes a day after the company was expected to start stripping legacy verified accounts of their blue checkmarks. It’s not clear why Twitter has not yet done this, but the&nbsp;Washington Post&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/03/31/twitter-verification-checkmark-ending/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;that the platform lacks an automated solution to strip all legacy verified accounts of their badges, as the original verification process used to be manual and relied on an Excel-like spreadsheet. Musk also&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/MattBinder/status/1642401198731935747" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>&nbsp;and later deleted Sunday that the platform was offering a “grace” period to allow people to sign up for Twitter Blue. In the tweet, Musk warned that users who say they won’t pay for Twitter Blue will have their check marks removed immediately. The billionaire then followed through with his threat by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2023/04/02/musk-appears-to-revoke-ny-times-blue-checkmark-for-refusing-to-buy-paid-twitter-subscription/?sh=14986d32719f">revoking</a>&nbsp;the verification badge from the&nbsp;New York Times’ primary handle after a user pointed out that the newspaper previously stated it would not pay.



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



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2023/04/02/musk-appears-to-revoke-ny-times-blue-checkmark-for-refusing-to-buy-paid-twitter-subscription/?sh=14986d32719f">Musk Appears To Revoke N.Y. Times’ Blue Checkmark For Refusing To Buy Paid Twitter Subscription</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/03/31/twitter-verification-checkmark-ending/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter’s blue check mark was loved and loathed. Now it’s pay for play.</a>&nbsp;(Washington Post)



<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/31/technology/personaltech/twitter-blue-check-musk.html?referringSource=articleShare" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter’s Blue Check Apocalypse Is Upon Us. Here’s What to Know.</a> (New York Times)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/"></a>By Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff

Twitter And Elon Musk Photo Illustrations

Twitter’s New Blue Checkmark Label Removes Distinction Between Paying Subscribers And ‘Legacy Verified’ Users

The East African country of Rwanda is deepening its economic and investment ties with the UAE, its leading trade partner that it has now signed five new deals with.



Anyone who has visited both Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) long enough will be able to testify to the striking similarities between the two countries – pro-progress leadership, a readiness for innovation, an enabling investment environment, the important status accorded to women in nation-building, and the safety, stability and security they offer investors, citizens and tourists.



The two nations may be over 4,000km apart, but all of these common nuances and traits converged at the Rwanda-UAE Business Forum that toured the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Dubai in February.



The delegation from Rwanda’s private sector, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and the Rwandan Embassy in the UAE held roadshows to explore investment and trade opportunities between the Middle Eastern hub and the surging East African nation, known as “the land of a thousand hills”.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Emmanuel-Hategeka-the-the-Ambassador-of-Rwanda-to-the-UAE-pic-supplied-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57916" width="461" height="308" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Emmanuel-Hategeka-the-the-Ambassador-of-Rwanda-to-the-UAE-pic-supplied-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Emmanuel-Hategeka-the-the-Ambassador-of-Rwanda-to-the-UAE-pic-supplied-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Emmanuel-Hategeka-the-the-Ambassador-of-Rwanda-to-the-UAE-pic-supplied-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Emmanuel-Hategeka-the-the-Ambassador-of-Rwanda-to-the-UAE-pic-supplied-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Emmanuel-Hategeka-the-the-Ambassador-of-Rwanda-to-the-UAE-pic-supplied-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Emmanuel Hategeka, the the Ambassador of Rwanda to the UAE, photo supplied</figcaption></figure></div>


“The UAE is currently Rwanda’s leading trade partner,” said RDB CEO Clare Akamanzi in her opening address in Sharjah on February 22 (interview on next page).



“Over the last ten years, trade has grown ten-fold to reach $1.09 billion in 2022 from $100.4 million in 2012. In 2022, exports accounted for 53% and investments have equally grown at a tune of $248 million and more are in the pipeline.”



What is in the pipeline for the hilly East African country with a population of 13 million (about 65% under the age of 30) and as the sixth fastest-growing economy on the continent, is a vision to transform itself into a globally-competitive knowledge-based economy. The UAE is a strategic market. Emmanuel Hategeka, the Ambassador of Rwanda to the UAE, tells FORBES AFRICA the objective of the forum was to provide “a match-making platform” for business partnerships between Rwandan and UAE business executives in various sectors.



The key areas of investment, business and trade between the two regions include agriculture, mineral processing, hospitality, logistics, financial services as well as energy.



As for commodities, major exported goods and merchandise from Rwanda include precious or semi-precious stones and precious metals through Dubai as a hub, horticulture products, and products of the milling industry. Rwanda imports from the UAE mainly include petroleum oils, motor vehicles including used cars, machines, wires, telephone sets, recording machines, furniture and other equipment.



The February forum witnessed the signing of five key MoUs including the establishment of the UAE-Rwanda Joint Business Council and a collaboration between the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Private Sector Federation – Rwanda (PSF).



“The value of such MoUs is beyond mathematical calculation… These MoUs are significant instruments that have created a conducive business environment for the two countries,” says Hategeka. The five-day event culminated on February 25 with a tourismdriven golf tournament connecting both communities socially.



There are over a 1,000 Rwandans resident in the UAE, mainly in the global trade hub of Dubai. Attracting high-end tourists from the UAE to Rwanda is also a top priority.



“In 2022, RwandAir operated its maiden cargo flight to UAE and currently operates two flights weekly carrying mainly fresh produce inbound and electronics on the outbound leg. DP World’s (the Emirati logistics company) inland port in Kigali and the regular RwandAir Kigali-Dubai flights provide flexible maritime and air transport means.



“The daily Kigali-Dubai flights by RwandAir provide a convenient mode of transport for travelers from the UAE and GCC,” adds Hategeka.



Reuben Mbonye, the airline’s Country Manager in the UAE, concurs: “We are now looking at upgrading the route with wide-body aircraft and also increasing the cargo flights out of the UAE… The airline plays a very central role, there is no way you can discuss development without it.”



The road ahead also includes collaboration in new areas including sustainability, space, the fourth industrial revolution and artificial intelligence.



This is something the UAE, home to more than 200 nationalities and one of the safest and most investor-friendly countries in the world, is equally looking forward to. Abdul Aziz Shattaf, the Assistant Director-General for the Communications and Business Sector at the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, affirms to FORBES AFRICA: “We are very excited and hope our bilateral trade will increase!”



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-shared-ambition-and-vision">‘Shared Ambition And Vision’</h2>



WHERE DO YOU SEE BILATERAL TRADE IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS?



It will be accelerated by working together. I think with these kind of meetings, people come and we hope to do even better. And as I said, if we could do 10 times growth over the last 10 years, why not have the ambition to do 10 times more in the next 10 years?


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RDB-CEO-Clare-Akamanzi-pic-supplied-1-985x1024.png" alt="" class="wp-image-57915" width="362" height="376" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RDB-CEO-Clare-Akamanzi-pic-supplied-1-985x1024.png 985w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RDB-CEO-Clare-Akamanzi-pic-supplied-1-288x300.png 288w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RDB-CEO-Clare-Akamanzi-pic-supplied-1-768x799.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RDB-CEO-Clare-Akamanzi-pic-supplied-1-1477x1536.png 1477w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RDB-CEO-Clare-Akamanzi-pic-supplied-1-1969x2048.png 1969w" sizes="(max-width: 362px) 100vw, 362px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">RDB CEO Clare Akamanzi, pic supplied </figcaption></figure></div>


THE OTHER COMMONALITY YOU HAVE IS THE GENDER AGENDA. PSF RWANDA AND THE EMIRATES BUSINESSWOMEN COUNCIL HAVE SIGNED A PACT. DO ELABORATE.



There&#8217;s no way you can prosper without fully including 52% of the population that women constitute in Rwanda. For us, that has been the logic of bringing them to the forefront, and politically, we have done so well in terms of number of women in Parliament (61.4%) and cabinet (52%). 



Businesses are also catching up. The more women do business, the more inclusive society becomes and the more prosperous because they have a lot to contribute.



WHAT ARE THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES THE SIGNING OF THESE DEALS WILL ACTUALLY BRING FOR BOTH REGIONS?



I am very pleased that the Private Sector Federation Rwanda and Sharjah Chamber of Commerce are going to collaborate even more. It&#8217;s really important for us because Dubai and the UAE in general are important partners… Every country grows because of trade and being able to source products from reliable markets, but also to sell products is really what helps countries prosper. Dubai has a lot of experience; it trades in billions and billions of dollars, is one of the top five export markets in the world… But we want them to do more than trading. We also want them to invest… We share a lot in common, values really, the first is clean governance and clean processes. And I think the second is this whole concept of ambition, vision, excellence and the commitment to those things. The third is the commitment to innovate, and do things in new ways. And also digital infrastructure supporting businesses. So I think innovation, excellence, ambition, vision, as well as governance are what make it easy for businesses to do what they do here in the UAE, but also in Rwanda. Put all that together and we&#8217;re committed to making our people more prosperous, and making businesses thrive. Let&#8217;s work together because we share those values… we&#8217;re investing a lot of resources to build relations with the Middle East.



WHAT’S YOUR MOST FAVORITE PART OF THE UAE?



You know, that&#8217;s a very tough question. I just enjoy seeing the real estate and housing. The innovation and digitalization here are out of this world. And also the entertainment and the restaurants.

The Kigali Convention Centre adorns the night in Rwanda; image by Renuka Methil

From The Land Of A Thousand Ideas To A Global Trading Hub: New Rwanda-UAE Ties

For Rachel Moré-Oshodi of RUWAH, financial literacy is a major issue that needs to be tackled to end the cycle of generational poverty for many Africans on the continent.



A basic understanding of your financial health goes a long way in not only how you plan your economic wellbeing but also how healthy an economy is. These small micro financial decisions are so crucial that they are learned by most people by the age of seven, according to Rachel Moré-Oshodi, an investment professional turned entrepreneur, with her solution to teach children about financial literacy called RUWAH.



RUWAH, is a prepaid debit card and financial literacy platform on a mission to educate kids and teens in Africa about generational wealth. As a former investment banker, Moré-Oshodi defines wealth as not just money; wealth is about having a purpose and vision for your life and going for it. She learned the importance of wealth-building after a bitter personal experience – when she lost her father to cancer.



“Growing up, money was not spoken about. When my father died 23 years ago, there was no will that we could find and my mum and kids lost everything. We had a legal battle with some of [my dad’s] family members over assets and we are still in court today,” says Moré-Oshodi.



Originally from Cameroon, she has spent a significant amount of her life helping to raise investments for organizations such as the World Bank, Rand Merchant Bank and Total Energies. But even with that breadth of experience, it was not until 15 years ago that she truly understood the importance of having a firm grasp on financial literacy.



“I have been helping raise money for companies and I thought I knew finance but I didn’t know anything about personal finance. Then I realized I had an issue with money and I didn’t have a relationship with money. The money was just sitting in my bank and going from my paycheck to my bank and I didn’t realize that I had a fear of investing”.



Moré-Oshodi believed it was good and safe to leave the money depreciating in her bank account instead of making the money work for her.



“Until I started to research and educate myself and utilize some of the resources available, that is when things changed. Even though I lost some money, I made so much more and as I was making more money, I wanted to pass it on to my kids.”



So, she started teaching her kids about financial literacy and very soon, friends and family started signing up to learn from her. But it was not until she enrolled on a Harvard program that the idea of RUWAH began to truly crystalize. According to S&amp;P’s global financial literacy survey, African countries score the worst in the world in financial literacy.



For Moré-Oshodi, this is a major issue that needs to be tackled to end the cycle of generational poverty for many Africans on the continent.



“RUWAH is a comprehensive financial literacy program that aims to reduce the knowledge and opportunity gap that exists between kids in Africa and the rest of the world. We teach African kids and teenagers (between seven to 18 years), the knowledge and skills that they need to succeed financially later in life. Our self-paced financial classes, pocket money app, and prepaid debit card will teach them the essentials of personal finance, i.e., what money is, how to earn it, how to save, how to multiply it and use it to achieve their goals,” says Moré-Oshodi.



The goal of the platform is also instilling confidence and providing the foundations for kids and teens to become financially savvy at a young age and secure their financial future intergenerationally. For Moré-Oshodi, tackling this issue requires a psychological approach to looking at money.



“Money is not scarce. It is either you don’t have a good relationship with money or you have an unhealthy relationship with money. In Africa in particular, we feel we cannot make more money and it cannot grow and that is not true. The scarcity mindset instead of the abundance mindset is a real issue. But when you start dealing with that at a later stage it is much more difficult to change that mindset. Money is psychological and money is emotional. Money tells you your value and who you are and where your heart is. I felt instead of dealing with adults, it’s better to deal with children.”



RUWAH leverages technology to make the program accessible to most children in Africa. The platform is device-agnostic as well as user-friendly and tailored specifically to the African landscape, considering the cultural nuances that affects decision-making about money on the continent.

Rachel Moré-Oshodi, pic supplied

‘Scarcity Mindset Instead Of Abundance Mindset A Real Issue In Africa’: The Cameroonian Enabling Financial Literacy

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



Since the release of powerful AI tools ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, discussions about whether “robots” will replace humans have grown, and studies show some jobs—surprisingly, some traditionally white-collar work—may be heavily impacted.



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



Generative AI, a form of artificial intelligence capable of creating text or other content in response to user prompts, has quickly gained popularity following the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2022/12/07/heres-what-to-know-about-openais-chatgpt-what-its-disrupting-and-how-to-use-it/?sh=4d9e6bff2643">public launch</a>&nbsp;of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.



Since its November 2022 release, people have used AI chatbot ChatGPT for an array of this, including&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/corry_wang/media?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1598176074604507136%7Ctwgr%5Ecef554f441b37a4eaf0dc695f6019e8bb50b0a82%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F23488017%2Fopenai-chatbot-chatgpt-ai-examples-web-demo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">writing</a>&nbsp;college-level essays and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/amasad/status/1598089698534395924?s=46&amp;t=0W_zYWGTGv080PIf8DNJWw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">generating</a>&nbsp;code.​​



The AI race heated up after Google released&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/03/21/bard-vs-chatgpt-the-major-difference-between-the-ai-chat-tools-explained/?sh=21e51b6d684a">Bard</a>&nbsp;on March 21, a ChatGPT competitor and a separate entity from the company’s Google search engine.



A recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.key4biz.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Global-Economics-Analyst_-The-Potentially-Large-Effects-of-Artificial-Intelligence-on-Economic-Growth-Briggs_Kodnani.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>&nbsp;from Goldman Sachs estimates around 300 million jobs could be affected by generative AI, meaning 18% of work globally could be automated—with more advanced economies heavily impacted than emerging markets.



The report also predicts two-thirds of jobs in the U.S. and Europe “are exposed to some degree of AI automation,” and around a quarter of all jobs could be performed by AI entirely.



Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and OpenAI&nbsp;<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2303.10130.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">found</a>&nbsp;some educated white-collar workers earning up to $80,000 a year are the most likely to be affected by workforce automation.



According to the report, jobs in agriculture, mining and manufacturing are the least exposed to generative AI, while jobs in the information processing industries, like IT, are the most exposed because jobs that use &#8220;programming and writing skills&#8221; are more closely related to GPT’s capabilities.



Generative AI isn’t perfect, both OpenAI and Google admit their program sometimes gives incorrect responses and has other flaws, like ChatGPT’s&nbsp;<a href="https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">knowledge base</a>&nbsp;that ends in 2021, and Bard’s limited&nbsp;<a href="https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6787051-does-chatgpt-remember-what-happened-earlier-in-the-conversation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">conversation retention</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-jobs-most-impacted">JOBS MOST IMPACTED</h2>



<ul>
<li>Finance and banking:&nbsp;Banks have already begun incorporating AI into their business models. 56% of banks claim they’ve implemented the technology into their business domains like management, and 52% claim they’ve used it for revenue generation,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-in-banking-report" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance and the World Economic Forum. Abhijit Bose, a Capital One senior vice president,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2023/ai-jobs-workplace/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a>&nbsp;the&nbsp;Washington Post&nbsp;AI will potentially “monitor transactions” to give detailed financial advice on saving and spending. Morgan Stanley has&nbsp;<a href="https://openai.com/customer-stories/morgan-stanley" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">begun using</a>&nbsp;OpenAI-powered chatbots to organize its wealth management database, helping advisers pull up data and research more efficiently. The World Economic Forum also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/09/4-ways-ai-artificial-intelligence-impact-financial-job-market/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predicts</a>&nbsp;AI will bring three changes to the finance division: job cuts, job creation and increased efficiency.​​ In addition, they estimate by 2027, 23% of jobs in China’s financial sector will be replaced by AI.</li>



<li>Media and marketing:&nbsp;Kristian Hammond, chief scientist of Natural Sciences&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33327659" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a>&nbsp;the BBC in 15 years, “90% of news will be written by machines.” Natural Sciences has a software called&nbsp;<a href="https://quillbot.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Quill</a>, an AI paraphrasing tool that writes company reports ahead of earning announcements. German publisher Axel Springer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.axelspringer.com/en/ax-press-release/axel-springer-presents-future-strategy-for-bild-and-welt" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a>&nbsp;in February plans to transition into “digital only,” which includes job cuts in favor of “modern technology” and automation. Reporters for different media outlets like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/i-asked-chatgpt-to-write-insider-story-it-was-convincing-2022-12" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Business Insider</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/cnet-is-testing-an-ai-engine-heres-what-weve-learned-mistakes-and-all/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CNET</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/26/chatgpt-wrote-part-of-this-article-it-didnt-go-great.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CNBC</a>&nbsp;have used ChatGPT to write news stories, though they have often been criticized for containing false information. In January, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti announced the company would rely on ChatGPT to personalize content and enhance quizzes, much to the employees’ dismay,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/buzzfeed-to-use-chatgpt-creator-openai-to-help-create-some-of-its-content-11674752660" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to the&nbsp;Wall Street Journal. In the marketing world, 84% of marketers reported using AI in 2020, a stark jump from 29% in 2019,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.salesforce.com/blog/top-marketing-trends-navigate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to Salesforce research. High-performing marketing teams averaged around seven different uses of AI and machine learning in 2020, and over half planned on increasing their use in 2021, the report also claims.</li>



<li>Legal services:&nbsp;An attorney used ChatGPT to publish a 14-page&nbsp;<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4294197" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">legal paper</a>&nbsp;published in&nbsp;Social Science Research Network&nbsp;on a plethora of prompts, including creating a contract, explaining why the Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage shouldn’t be appealed and developing deposition questions. The AI bot has the potential “to address access to justice questions” and make legal services available to those who can’t afford it, Andrew Perlman, the author of the paper and a Suffolk University Law School Dean&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/will-chatgpt-make-lawyers-obsolete-hint-be-afraid-2022-12-09/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a>&nbsp;Reuters. Low-income Americans don’t get enough or any legal help for 92% of their civil legal problems, according to a 2022&nbsp;<a href="https://justicegap.lsc.gov/resource/executive-summary/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>&nbsp;by Legal Services Corp. Some have already begun incorporating AI into legal service, like startup&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lawgeex.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lawgeex</a>, which has a service that reads contracts faster than, and what they claim to be more accurate than humans.</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-jobs-least-impacted">JOBS LEAST IMPACTED</h2>



<ul>
<li>Manufacturing and factory workers:&nbsp;This industry has been undergoing automation for a while, with General Motors credited as the first major manufacturer to implement robotics in their assembly lines after the introduction of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=4071" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UNIMATE</a>&nbsp;in 1961. However, generative AI may speed up the process. For example, Elon Musk&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/elon-musk-faces-skeptics-tesla-gets-ready-unveil-optimus-robot-2022-09-20/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unveiled</a>&nbsp;the Tesla Bot, or Optimus, an autonomous android made to replace humans in dangerous, repetitive jobs. Musk plans to place these bots in his Tesla factories and eventually expand to millions around the world. According to an MIT and Boston University&nbsp;<a href="https://news.mit.edu/2020/how-many-jobs-robots-replace-0504" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>, AI is expected to replace as many as two million manufacturing workers by 2025. “Our evidence shows that robots increase productivity,” the researchers said. A Chinese factory in Dongguan City&nbsp;<a href="https://futurism.com/2-production-soars-for-chinese-factory-who-replaced-90-of-employees-with-robots" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">replaced</a>&nbsp;90% of its workforce with machines, resulting in a 250% increase in productivity and an 80% decrease in defects. A job that took 650 human workers to complete now takes about 60 robots and 60 humans, the company claims.</li>



<li>Agriculture:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/ag-and-food-sectors-and-the-economy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">According</a>&nbsp;to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2021 there were 21.1 million full- and part-time jobs in the food and agriculture sectors, making up 10.5% of the labor force. Agriculture is&nbsp;<a href="https://fletcher.tufts.edu/news-events/news/fundamental-profession" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">considered</a>&nbsp;one of the world’s oldest professions and has stood the test of time, lasting through four separate industrial revolutions.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/04/22/tech-in-farming-growth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">According</a>&nbsp;to the&nbsp;Washington Post,&nbsp;many small farms don’t produce enough profit to invest in more machinery, though larger farms have&nbsp;<a href="https://builtin.com/robotics/farming-agricultural-robots%5C" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">already begun</a>&nbsp;the process of automation for strenuous tasks. In the U.S., family farms&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2020/01/23/look-americas-family-farms" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">make up</a>&nbsp;98% of all farms, with a majority being small family farms that operate about half of the country’s farm land. However, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture does&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nifa.usda.gov/artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fund</a>&nbsp;AI research, education and extension activities in the areas of natural resources and environments, agricultural systems and engineering and economics and rural communities.</li>



<li>Healthcare:&nbsp;A&nbsp;<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25626223/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>&nbsp;published in the&nbsp;International Journal of Health Services&nbsp;found on average, psychiatrists spend 20.3% of their day on paperwork, followed by internists and general practitioners at 17.3%. Mundane administrative tasks like this can be automated, but other areas probably won’t need AI. David Dranove, a professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Institute&nbsp;<a href="https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/will-ai-replace-doctors" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a>&nbsp;the Kellogg Insight most adults want to hear about their health from a human, and there’s “a need for compassion…that AI is unable to contribute.” An Oxford University&nbsp;<a href="https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>&nbsp;predicts medical transcriptionists, medical records, medical secretaries and health information technicians are the most likely jobs in the field to be automated, not actual providers. This extends into mental health as well—the&nbsp;Washington Post&nbsp;has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/02/03/ai-mental-health-therapy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tried and failed</a>&nbsp;at creating an AI version of infamous psychologist, Sigmund Freud.</li>
</ul>



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



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2022/12/07/heres-what-to-know-about-openais-chatgpt-what-its-disrupting-and-how-to-use-it/?sh=6114bd5a2643">Here’s What To Know About OpenAI’s ChatGPT—What It’s Disrupting And How To Use It</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/03/21/bard-vs-chatgpt-the-major-difference-between-the-ai-chat-tools-explained/?sh=21e51b6d684a">Bard Vs. ChatGPT: The Major Difference Between The AI Chat Tools, Explained</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/buzzfeed-to-use-chatgpt-creator-openai-to-help-create-some-of-its-content-11674752660" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BuzzFeed To Use ChatGPT Creator OpenAI To Help Create Quizzes And Other Content</a> (Wall Street Journal)



By Arianna Johnson, Forbes Staff

gettyimages-687554806-594×594

Which Jobs Will AI Replace? These 4 Industries Will Be Heavily Impacted

By Tshilidzi Marwala



As the twentyseventh session of the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) unfolded in Egypt in November 2022, it became a signifier of Africa taking climate change into its own hands. The continent has often been placed on the back burner of other nations.



Yet, it is no secret that climate change has impacted Africa the most, even though its contribution to the world’s greenhouse gas emissions is less than 5%. As the African Development Bank states, this is because of the continent’s relatively low adaptive capability, caused by financial and technological weaknesses, and an over-dependence on rain-fed agriculture.



In fact, in September 2022, the State of the Climate in Africa 2021 UN report revealed the convergence of climate shocks that plague Africa. For example, 2021 Africa experienced at least the fourth warmest year on record. It is expected that by 2030, between 108-116 million people in Africa will be threatened by rising sea levels.



Furthermore, the drought in East Africa is worsening, whereas North Africa is experiencing extreme heat. In the past 50 years, drought has claimed the lives of over half a million people and this resulted in $70 billion economic losses. Furthermore, there has been a 34% reduction in agricultural productivity growth since 1961 as a result of increased temperatures. Therefore, climate change is a significant driver of displacement on the African continent and currently, only 40% of people are covered by MultiHazard Early Warning Systems. Resounding cries from young activists that the future was being stripped from Africa were heard beyond the doors of COP27 – a necessary and powerful call to action as the conference began. The first ‘African COP’ since 2016 represented a rewriting of the continent’s narrative as African nations made a case for climate justice.



As Absa’s Group Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer Punki Modise phrased it: “COP27 marked a necessary – and overdue – concession to pragmatism and the recognition that if we are to effectively mitigate the impact of climate change at a global scale we need to slowly reframe climate issues, especially in the context of human dignity.” The impact of this shift was tangible.



Towards the end of November, the conference closed with a breakthrough agreement to reframe and create new funding avenues for vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters. New funding arrangements will be established alongside a dedicated “loss and damage” fund to assist developing countries. Additionally, a transitional committee was established to make recommendations on how to roll out funding, with the first meeting expected in March this year. 



The Santiago Network will accompany funding for Loss and Damage deployment to offer technical assistance to these nations.



Of course, as history has demonstrated, the implementation and fulfilment of pledges always fall short of what is needed for the world to deal decisively with climate change. It remains to be seen whether the money will flow – and whether this will be accompanied by necessary commitments from developed nations to phase out fossil fuels and curb the damage it has inflicted over the years.



In reframing the African narrative on climate change, however, there has also been a shift away from solely relying on the Global North to fulfil its commitments. The launch of the African Climate Risk Facility created by 85 insurers in the continent to protect against droughts, floods and tropical cyclones by providing climate risk insurance, represents Africa taking climate action into its own hands. The facility is a $14 billion local market-based funding tool to help African countries increase the resilience of their vulnerable communities.



This speaks to the argument made in the aftermath of COP26 in 2021 for localized solutions and inherently reframes the continent’s ability to respond when disaster hits in response to the often unfulfilled commitments of the Global North.



COP27 has been a valuable exercise in reaffirming developed nations’ commitments to vulnerable and less developed nations – a vital tool for tackling climate change and reframing the continent’s position. The messaging is clear: the Global North must continue acknowledging its role and providing funding and support, but Africa should no longer plead but take matters into its own hands.

Protest during the UN climate summit in Egypt

Climate Change Action Is A Necessity Africa Cannot Ignore, Anymore

<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://policies.google.com/privacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a>TOPLINE</h2>



Researchers have developed a new omega-3 fatty acid that could potentially stave off visual declines in Alzheimer’s patients, according to a new study published Monday, though there is still no cure for the debilitating disease, which affects nearly 6 million Americans.



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



Researchers at the University of Illinois, Chicago, developed an omega-3 fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid, which they say can cross into the retina of an eye to reduce visual declines among people with Alzheimer’s disease—the most common type of dementia that slowly erodes cognitive abilities and memory.



In lab tests using mice, researchers found the intake of the fatty acid increased the presence of the acid in the mice’s retinas and reduced visual impairments similar to those in human Alzheimer’s patients.



The acid, also called DHA, is different from a similar omega-3 acid found in the daily supplement fish oil, which researchers say cannot travel to the retina from the bloodstream.



Alzheimer’s Disease, a neurodegenerative condition that primarily affects older adults, often includes visual impairment, including peripheral vision loss, through a failure in the brain to process visual information, even when the person’s eyes still work,&nbsp;<a href="https://alzfdn.org/dont-overlook-alzheimers-affect-on-eyesight/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CMany%20individuals%20with%20Alzheimer's%20disease,who%20is%20herself%20legally%20blind." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to</a>&nbsp;Mississippi State University researcher Kendra Farrow.



Visual impairments often include changes to depth perception, trouble reading and problems with deciphering contrasting colors,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/alzheimers-disease-dementia-eye" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to</a>&nbsp;the American Academy of Ophthalmology.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



5.8 million. That’s how many Americans live with Alzheimer’s as of 2020,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/aging/aginginfo/alzheimers.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to</a>&nbsp;the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which expects that number to hit 14 million by 2060. Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death among adults in the U.S.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



Although there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, researchers in recent years have found treatments aimed at decreasing the risk of developing it, including the use of the male erectile-dysfunction drug Viagra. Researchers in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/12/06/viagra-use-may-reduce-risk-of-getting-alzheimers-by-nearly-70-study-suggests/?sh=1f2dc21b3ad7">2021 study</a>&nbsp;in the journal&nbsp;Nature Aging&nbsp;found adults that used Viagra, also called sildenafil, had a 69% reduced risk of developing the disease—though researchers warned the decreased risk could also be the result of other factors, including the drug’s use by wealthier adults, who have lower chances of being diagnosed with Alzheimers. In 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved Boston-based biotech company Biogen’s antibody treatment aducanumab, which is aimed at attacking a protein in the brain to potentially slow the progression of the disease—though the FDA’s decision has been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/leahrosenbaum/2021/07/09/fda-commissioner-calls-for-inspector-general-probe-into-biogen-alzheimers-drug-approval/?sh=563ae27c3d47">criticized</a>&nbsp;based on the clinical data used in its accelerated approval of the drug. The FDA in January&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-grants-accelerated-approval-alzheimers-disease-treatment" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">approved</a>&nbsp;Biogen and Japanese pharma giant Eisai’s antibody treatment lecanemab, which is also aimed at slowing the progression of the disease.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-news-peg">NEWS PEG</h2>



Swiss pharmaceutical company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/03/22/alzheimers-blood-test-that-could-help-diagnose-disease-earlier-is-being-developed-by-eli-lilly-and-roche/?sh=71bdb3d75838">Roche announced plans</a>&nbsp;last week to develop a blood test with pharma giant Eli Lilly that could help detect the early stages of Alzheimer’s, potentially getting adults on track to earlier treatment. Specifically, the blood test would measure levels of a protein in blood linked to the development of the disease.



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



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/03/22/alzheimers-blood-test-that-could-help-diagnose-disease-earlier-is-being-developed-by-eli-lilly-and-roche/?sh=71bdb3d75838">Alzheimer’s Blood Test That Could Help Diagnose Disease Earlier Is Being Developed By Eli Lilly And Roche</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/12/06/viagra-use-may-reduce-risk-of-getting-alzheimers-by-nearly-70-study-suggests/?sh=1f2dc21b3ad7">Viagra Use May Reduce Risk Of Getting Alzheimer’s By Nearly 70%, Study Suggests</a> (Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/"></a>By Brian Bushard, Forbes Staff

Tag: Coronavirus Pandemic

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA