Access to vaccines remains a problem for Africa due to manufacturing and logistical issues, rendering vaccine targets increasingly uncertain. 



In the air, after a long time, positivity and relief, at least for now.



The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa officially announced the end of the third wave of Covid-19 infections on September 25, with lockdown restrictions looking likely to loosen to include a later curfew and increased leisure and travel activities. “Nationally, we have exited the third wave according to the current definition. The national seven-day moving average of daily case numbers, positivity rate and testing rate continue to decrease, with sustained decreases seen in all provinces [in South Africa],” said the NICD in a statement at the weekend.



But the rate of administration would need to increase strongly for the country to avoid a fourth wave of infections projected to occur at the end of the year, with the number of doses needing to almost double over the course of the next two-and-a-half months in order to meet this goal. “As we know, our target is that we must vaccinate 70% adults by mid-December to avoid severe further infections when the fourth wave strikes. We are currently short of 17 million more people over 18 years to be vaccinated,” said South African Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla in a recent press briefing. 



While South Africa currently stands at almost 17 million doses administered and some 8.4% (according to the Electronic Vaccination Data System or EVDS) of the population fully vaccinated, this stands in stark contrast to over 50% for the United States and the European Union.



A similar difference can be seen for most countries on the continent, as vaccine access looks to be a serious challenge in the months to come. These differentiated rates are laying bare several logistical and political challenges presented to an equitable rollout to access to vaccines, making it increasingly unlikely that many nations on the continent will reach the WHO’s target of vaccination of 10% of their populations by the end of September. COVAX, the facility aimed at increasing lower-income countries access to vaccines, has had to adjust its delivery targets for the end of the year. Originally standing at 2 billion doses to be delivered, this has been adjusted to 1.425 billion doses, with vaccine export restrictions and manufacturing issues cited as the primary reason for the change, amongst other challenges. “In the critical months during which COVAX was created, signed on participants, pooled demand, and raised enough money to make advance purchases of vaccines, much of the early global supply had already been bought by wealthy nations,” read a statement issued by COVAX earlier this month.



While the continent’s second biggest economy can rest more peacefully knowing that the third wave has finally been surmounted, challenges remain.

Third Wave Officially Over In South Africa, But Vaccine Access Challenges Remain On The Continent

<figure class="wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-2-of-13-1024x683.jpg" alt="" data-id="51362" data-full-url="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-2-of-13-scaled.jpg" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=51362" class="wp-image-51362" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-2-of-13-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-2-of-13-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-2-of-13-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-2-of-13-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, 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https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-7-of-13-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-7-of-13-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-7-of-13-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-7-of-13-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-8-of-13-1024x683.jpg" alt="" data-id="51368" data-full-url="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-8-of-13-scaled.jpg" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=51368" class="wp-image-51368" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-8-of-13-1024x683.jpg 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srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-9-of-13-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-9-of-13-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-9-of-13-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-9-of-13-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-9-of-13-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-10-of-13-1024x683.jpg" alt="" data-id="51370" data-full-url="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-10-of-13-scaled.jpg" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=51370" 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data-full-url="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-11-of-13-scaled.jpg" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=51371" class="wp-image-51371" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-11-of-13-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-11-of-13-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-11-of-13-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-11-of-13-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-11-of-13-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="blocks-gallery-item__caption"> </figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-12-of-13-1024x683.jpg" alt="" data-id="51372" data-full-url="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-12-of-13-scaled.jpg" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=51372" class="wp-image-51372" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-12-of-13-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-12-of-13-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-12-of-13-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-12-of-13-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-12-of-13-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-13-of-13-1024x683.jpg" alt="" data-id="51373" data-full-url="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-13-of-13-scaled.jpg" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=51373" class="wp-image-51373" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-13-of-13-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-13-of-13-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-13-of-13-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-13-of-13-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fight-With-Insight-13-of-13-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></li></ul><figcaption class="blocks-gallery-caption">Young boxers participate in activities at a new Fight With Insight boxing gym, launched on Youth Day at Hillbrow in Johannesburg, South Africa, with founder Luke Lamprecht, the gyms assist in training and feeding inner-city youth in Johannesburg; photographs by Yeshiel Panchia</figcaption></figure>



Today marks 45 years of the Soweto Uprising in South Africa, when thousands of unhappy schoolchildren challenging an apartheid regime fearlessly took to the streets protesting being taught in Afrikaans. June 16 1976 ended in fire, fear and tears. Commemorated as Youth Day in South Africa, FORBES AFRICA captures the rousing emotions of today, but in a boxing ring in inner city Johannesburg, where the youth now bond over sport as part of a broader upliftment program.



June 16 is a hallowed day in South African history, observed as Youth Day commemorating the student uprising of 1976 in Soweto which saw students lead demonstrations against an education system that would eventually lead to menial jobs. Some 20,000 students partook in what was to be a peaceful protest, but when the day was over, at least 176 had been killed by the bullets and brutality of apartheid. The children laid down their lives but it marked a new chapter in South Africa’s liberation struggle.



Across South Africa today are events marking the memory of that fateful day, and FORBES AFRICA joined one such occasion of hope and healing in Hillbrow, a residential neighborhood in Johannesburg, for the opening of a third gym for inner-city youth by Fight With Insight, a youth empowerment initiative directed by Luke Lamprecht, a child protection and development specialist.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Children have had dreams put on hold or broken altogether; schooling has been disrupted; families separated; and food and social security systems taken away from them.”</blockquote>



Lamprecht founded the first such gym in Johannesburg in 2006, and chose Youth Day this year to mark the opening of his latest outlet, offering daily training to aspiring boxers as also supplying healthy meals to them. “2020 has been a bad year to be a child,” says Lamprecht to FORBES AFRICA, referring to the Covid-19 pandemic that put the brakes on the social and psychological development of young children, and dried up the support networks and sustenance that many of them depended on to lead normal lives.



“Children have had dreams put on hold or broken altogether; schooling has been disrupted; families separated; and food and social security systems taken away from them.”



His initiative aims to meet some of these deficiencies, offering camaraderie, exercise, food and above all, belief and purpose to children in need. The advocacy aspect is not new to the personnel at Fight With Insight, as they have provided training and food even within Covid-19 lockdown restrictions all of last year. At their height, they served 1.4 tonnes of food a day. However, this June 16 marks an easier time than the last, with children ending training before their meal by breaking a paper chain – symbolizing breaking free of the challenges and restrictions that hold them back.



Many of the urban youth at the center say they find both their physical and emotional sustenance inside the ring. They are in it to win this perennial fight called life.

Fight With Insight (2 of 13)

Youth Day Photo Essay: Gloves On For The Big Fight Called Life

Over the last six months, Bitcoin has been on a constant upward rise. Experts wonder: will it eclipse gold’s market cap in the years to come?



With Bitcoin making headlines again in 2021, one might be inclined to say that the volatile nature of this 12-year-old social experiment is not that volatile in the long run.



“We are now seeing more institutional investment come into play, with greater investments and interest in crypto from some of the biggest names in the business – Visa, Facebook, PayPal, Square, JP Morgan… This is going some way to allaying the doubts that have previously undermined Bitcoin,” says Marius Reitz, the General Manager for Africa of Luno, the global cryptocurrency exchange that added almost a million new South African customers during 2020, and over 250,000 so far in 2021. It recorded $8.3 billion in transactions worldwide and processed nearly $3 billion in volumes in South Africa last year.



In February, South African-born billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, the founder of the electric car company Tesla, announced a $1.5 billion investment into the cryptocurrency. One of the reasons behind this considerable investment was to enable the company to have the right kind of liquidity when it starts accepting payments in Bitcoin.



“If you look at Bitcoin now, over the last six months, it’s been on a constant upward rise with very little volatility in hindsight. Where in the past, we used to have 40% corrections, the largest correction we’ve seen in the last few months has been 25%. So I am not sure that volatility applies to a technology that is already starting to get adoption,” offers Ran Neuner, a South African cryptocurrency investor and the co-founder and CEO of Onchain Capital, a Blockchain investment fund and advisory service.



Bitcoin was created with the objective to be a new type of currency, a replacement for traditional FIAT currencies (government-issued currency not backed by a physical commodity such as gold), however, it has become a store of value, over being a currency.



<div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile" style="grid-template-columns:40% auto"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ran-Neuner-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-50793 size-full" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ran-Neuner-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ran-Neuner-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ran-Neuner-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ran-Neuner-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ran-Neuner.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
“My feeling is that within the next three to five years, Bitcoin [will] take over gold&#8217;s market cap.” – Ran Neuner
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Bitcoin is now considered to be the new gold. Gold has been a store of value for centuries now and currently has a market cap of $11 trillion. Since Bitcoin’s conception, its market share has grown to $1.1 trillion over the past 11 years.



“My feeling is that within the next three to five years, Bitcoin [will] take over gold&#8217;s market cap,” adds Neuner. “The question is what is gold’s market cap going to be then? The answer will depend on how many US dollars are printed and if the US keeps printing US dollars, then gold’s market cap could be $20 trillion, but my opinion is that Bitcoin will eclipse gold within the next three to five years.”



Compared to 2017 or 2018, we are starting greater adoption and usage of the cryptocurrency market as a whole with Bitcoin driving the market. The more large companies like JP Morgan or Tesla take on assets like Bitcoin to their portfolio, the greater its adoption by the greater public and with some investors making claims that Bitcoin will rise to $140,000 per coin.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“We are now seeing more institutional investment come into play, with greater investments and interest in crypto from some of the biggest names in the business.” – Marius Reitz</blockquote>



“I really do think whilst others are talking about Bitcoin, there’s a lot of other cryptos and decentralized finance networks that are doing spectacular things, if you just look at Ethereum as the second crypto, there are more use cases for that ecosystem, and that ecosystem is growing at a phenomenal pace,” says Ian Ferrao, a telecoms executive currently serving as the Regional Director for East Africa at Airtel Africa. Ferrao is a cryptocurrency fan and spends his spare time researching and investing in various crypto tokens, liquidity mining projects and NFTs (non-fungible tokens).



Bitcoin seems to be what began paving the way for the cryptocurrency market, and over Ethereum.



With the next biggest crypto mirroring Bitcoin, it is safe to say that Bitcoin still is the daddy of all cryptos and really before you can get into the whole market of cryptos, one first needs to get into Bitcoin.



Sadly, there are a number of scams engulfing the cryptocurrency space, so investors need to be guarded.



“We encourage responsible investing which includes never investing in something you don’t understand, and never spending more on speculative technologies like Bitcoin than you can afford to lose. We also recommend making a small investment initially if you are unsure so that you can familiarize yourself with the Luno platform and the cryptocurrencies on offer. We do expect further volatility in the crypto space, so we advise care and encourage people to learn more about cryptos,” says Reitz.



If you are interested in buying Bitcoin, but do not know how to do it safely, here is a step-by-step guide on how to go about it.



Step 1: Get a Bitcoin wallet. This can be downloaded onto either a PC or smartphone. The wallet is there to store your Bitcoin in the same way you would keep cash in the wallet in your back pocket.



Step 2: Buy Bitcoin. You’ll need to go to a cryptocurrency exchange in order for you to turn your FIAT into Bitcoin. The best exchange to use would be dependent on the country you live in, if you are based in Africa, the best option would be Luno as it is the only registered exchange on the bitcoin.org website. A list of all exchanges can be found in the same place.



Step 3: Move your Bitcoin from the exchange to your wallet. The exchange should give you a temporary wallet to store your crypto from which you can send the crypto to your personal wallet. This is the most important step as it is highly advisable not to keep your crypto in an exchange due to the potential possibility of the exchange getting hacked and all your crypto is gone with the wind.



The writer too has some experience in this area, having bought my first Bitcoin in February 2018, valued at around $8,000 per coin at the time. In March last year, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit and more people began investing their money into Bitcoin, I decided to have a look at what mine was worth. In just over two years, the coin value had climbed to an all-time high of around $45,000.



With stability becoming a bigger part of Bitcoin, it is clear that this asset is an investment that shouldn’t be overlooked even if it&#8217;s not understood. Bitcoin’s profit potential is speculated to continue soar and now is a great time if there were any to buy some Bitcoin. Watch this space for more on what looks to be the future of money.



By Peter Engelbrecht

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

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American credit rating agency, Fitch, announced on September 24 that it has downgraded Zambia’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) from &#8216;CC&#8217; to ‘C’. The country’s senior unsecured foreign currency bonds were also downgraded this week.



This follows the Zambian government issuing a &#8220;consent solicitation&#8221; to holders of three global bonds (Eurobonds) on September 22, requesting a suspension of debt service payments for six months. This would effectively be covering the upcoming three coupon payments due on October 14, and January and March 2021.



Zambia’s Ministry of Finance stated that the country has been confronted with challenging macroeconomic and fiscal situations aggravated by the Covid-19 crisis. This has severely impacted the country’s public finances.



“A combination of declining revenues and increased unbudgeted costs caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a material impact on the Government’s available resources to make timely payments on its indebtedness leading to increasing debt-servicing difficulties,” Fredson Yamba, Secretary to Treasury, said in a statement on Tuesday.



In its report, Fitch stated that should bondholders agree to the suspension in payment, this would constitute a distressed debt exchange (DDE).



“The authorities have indicated that they will continue to make debt service payments on outstanding Eurobonds if an agreement is not reached. However, Fitch judges that there is a high risk of a missed debt payment over the forecast horizon,” Fitch said in its press release.



The Zambian government further said in a statement that they are still engaging with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure financial assistance. The government hopes to create a program of reforms that would help in stabilizing the macroeconomic outlook of the country and restore its fiscal balance.



“In this context, the government is committed to finding a consensual and collaborative resolution to the debt sustainability issues it is currently facing,” Yamba said.



The ‘CC’ rating, which occurred on April 16, due to the sovereign’s constrained external liquidity exacerbated by the pandemic, meant that the country was left in a highly vulnerable position, financially. How will this newly downgraded rating bode for Zambia now?



“The downgrade of Zambia&#8217;s rating reflects Fitch&#8217;s view that a default event is imminent.”

Tag: Current Affairs

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