News — African development

Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta has eased a range of Covid-19 restrictions, but reminds citizens that a return to one of Africa’s strictest lockdowns is possible in the event of a second wave.

Bars and eateries will be allowed to resume the sale of alcohol and remain open until 10pm while religious gatherings and funerals have seen capacity restrictions partially lifted.

The nationwide dawn-to-dusk curfew will continue for another 60 days, though the window has been reduced from 11pm to 4am.

Explaining the move, Kenyatta said the percentage of positive tests had fallen from 13% in June to 4.4% in September, which is less than the World Health Organization’s 5% threshold for lifting restrictions.

The president attributed the slow decline in cases to the “civic duty” displayed by Kenyan citizens and quick advances in health infrastructure.

Kenya now has over 300 intensive care beds throughout the whole of the country, compared to just eight at the start of the pandemic.

“In this period, we have installed more medical equipment than has ever happened since independence,” he says.

He also paid tribute to nationwide efforts to observe Covid-19 protocols, calling Kenyans the “first line of defense” against the virus.

At the same time, the president warned of cautionary tales elsewhere and made it clear that his government would continue its strict approach.

“The greatest danger is at the moment of victory,” he says.

“If we have won the battle against Covid-19, we have not yet won the war. The possibility of a second wave is real.”

Despite expectations to ease measures, Kenyatta has continued with school closures until possibly 2021.

Businesses, however, have welcomed the news due to the increase in operating hours.

“Bars, churches, taxi businesses and other informal sector jobs are set to boost liquidity in the Kenyan economy unlike during the old 9pm to 4am curfew,” says Sam Wakoba, CEO of Moran Media.

The government is also continuing with regulation changes to boost the economy, like reductions in VAT and income tax.

The Central Bank of Kenya expects the country to grow at a revised rate of 2.3% this year, driven by increased agricultural exports due to favourable rains.

This World Bank projects a lower growth of 1.5% as a result of the massive disruption to the aviation and tourism sectors.

While the lifting of most restrictions will breathe life into the damaged economy, a return to a more severe lockdown is still possible.

“As far as I give these directives, I underscore the need to adhere to the protocols, to keep the gains we have made,” Kenyatta says.

“I will not hesitate to escalate any measures in the event cases rise again.”

Miracle J. Reese is the founder of one of very few Black-owned tea companies based in Birmingham, Ala. Her company, TasTea Wellness Blends (pronounced “taste tea”), is a premium loose-leaf tea company. Made of natural herbs and fruits, her blends are handcrafted with wellness in mind.

TasTea’s four flavor blends each have unique recipes to create a positive tea experience. Customers get to choose their mood while enjoying drinkable wellness. Miracle says her goal is to bring enjoyable solutions to health that are delicious. Her wellness teas deliver a clean and travel-friendly tea experience nationally with great tea benefits including skin rejuvenation, immunity boost and health.

A new US-based streaming service has burst onto the scene, with a mission to bring pan-African stories to the world and explode stereotypes of Africa seen on mainstream TV shows, writes Adaora Oramah.

“Our stories are for everyone” is boldly brandished on AfroLandTV’s website, the Dallas-based media streaming startup.  Touted by the 2020 Berlinale International Film Festival in Germany as the new Netflix or Disney+ for Africa, the platforms Afrocentric content library invites you into a world of drama, comedy, thriller and romance, all played by African talent.

Founded by Zimbabwean actor turned entrepreneur, Michael Maponga, the service is a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming platform featuring and curating Pan-African film and television content. ”We’re bridging Pan-African stories globally. Now someone in Brazil can watch Nollywood or a film from Uganda and enjoy it on one platform.”

AfrolandTV are also arriving on the scene at a time when key competitor i-Roko TV, the world’s largest legal digital distributor of African movies, has scaled down its growth plans in Africa and Nigeria specifically following the downturn caused by the pandemic. A surge in subscriber numbers at the beginning of lockdown was soon foreshadowed by falling incomes and a flagging naira at home, even though the majority of i-Roko’s TV’s revenues come from outside of Africa, targeting the diaspora in the US, UK and Europe.  

In a television market dominated by giants such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney, DSTV, AfroLandTV claims that it challenges non-African interpretations of Africa. As a result, Maponga reveals the company’s strict vetting and submissions process for content creators. 

“We don’t showcase titles surrounding any wars, poverty, and sickness. The big platforms are already doing that,” said Maponga.

Similar to digitally native platforms like For Africans By Africans, there is a conscious effort by African content-driven platforms to counter and reject imagery that some claim have harmed Africa in the global media.

“TV is the biggest influencer and programmer in the world,” says Maponga. Developing thrillers as well as showcasing historical documentaries and fictional stories on Africa’s pre-colonial era are important components of the platform’s content offerings.

While the startup lacks the funds to licence content, they have “grown from nothing to something with very limited resources,” said Maponga. Afrocentric VOD start-ups have previously grappled with the cost-intensive process of licensing content, which contributed to the premature demise of Afrostream, as it struggled to license major Hollywood, European and African titles.

“This approach was detrimental to the cash flow, said Maponga. “Licensing Hollywood content is very expensive especially for a start-up and requires large upfront cash investments,” Maponga added.

AfroLandTV also does not aim to acquire market share from large TV and streaming  corporations. New entrants in the digital streaming and TV market have struggled to compete against South Africa’s TV giant DSTV’s reign in the African media landscape due to over ambitious licensing deals. It has become increasingly difficult given the popularity of its VOD platform DSTV Now. 

SVOD start-ups also face the disruptive nature of illegal streaming sites that offer content for free. AfroLandTV’s value proposition rests on its dedication to providing original content at what it considers to be an affordable price of $3.99 per month, allowing users to diversify their streaming content. “On average people subscribe to 2-3 video streaming services. People are building streaming bundles for what they like to watch,” said Maponga.  “We picked this price point because we want to make it easy for people to add AfroLandTV to their streaming bundle.”

This compares to Netflix’s recently launched a $3-a-month mobile-only subscriptions in Nigeria (less than a third of its US subscription price) and iRoko’s less than $1 a month charge.

While African members will be buoyed by the progression of Okonjo-Iweala, a former World Bank managing director and Nigerian finance minister, and Mohamed, a former chairwoman of the WTO’s general council, Egyptian Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh failed to gain enough support to reach the next round. Mamdouh served as a former director of the trade in services and investment division of the WTO.

The two African candidates, who will now compete to unify the continent’s vote, will face off against Yoo Myung-hee of South Korea, Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri of Saudi Arabia, and Liam Fox of the United Kingdom.

The second phase will run until 6 October. Member states will express two preferences to bring the number of candidates from five to two. There is intended to be three stages of consultations, with the winner taking office in November.

The new director-general, who will replace incumbent Roberto Azevêdo, will take charge in an era of high global trade tensions, including an ongoing trade war between the US and China, the world’s two largest economies. It is hoped that an African candidate can help to mediate that dispute and put African trade concerns at the heart of the international agenda.

“Africa has some painful choices to make both in terms of its own unity and, in the long run, for its future in international trade. Should an African DG be selected, they would be symbolic of African unity and, subsequently, well-positioned to cajole Africa on internal issues,” wrote JP Singh, professor of international commerce and policy at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University in August for African Business magazine.

“Africa also has to undertake another internal reckoning toward a reform agenda in the long-run…To grow, Africa needs to graduate toward non-preferential trade access, and compete on the strength of its exports. African exports have remained depressed and stuck in preferential access.”

In an interview with African Business magazine last week, Kenya’s Mohamed said she would be well-placed to resolve multilateral trade tensions. She is credited with helping to abolish export subsidies for agricultural exports in a critical WTO deal. 

In an interview with the Guardian last week, Ojonko-Iweala argued her own suitability for the post.