🔅 Africa: Get Ready for a Split
Plus: Tems’s Oscars Look: Sultry or Rude?, South Africa's Music Scene Mourns Another Loss, ADF's Brutal Attack in DRC, Cyclone Freddy Strikes Again, And much more... ☕
Photo of the day: Mauritania
Markets:
🔻 Nigerian SE: 55,788.37 (-0.01%)
🔻 Johannesburg SE: 75,502.28 (-1.25%)
🔺 Ghana SE: 2,518.40 (+1.55%)
🔻 Nairobi SE: 115.03 (-2.43%)
🔺 US S&P 500: 3,877.24 (+0.41%)
🔺 Shanghai Composite: 3,268.70 (+1.20%)
HSBC Bails Out UK Start-Ups After US Bank Collapse: A group of tech entrepreneurs were breathing a sigh of relief after HSBC swooped in to save the day and buy the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) for the low, low price of £1. SVB’s US parent had gone under and a lot of cash deposits were locked up with them. The UK government, Bank of England, and HSBC scrambled to figure out a rescue plan, and thank goodness they did: without access to their funds, some start-ups could have gone bust.
South African Rand: The South African rand got a bit of a boost as the dollar was down 0.3% against a basket of global currencies. Investors expect the Federal Reserve to slow the pace of its interest rate hikes following the largest US bank failure (see above) since the 2008 financial crisis. The rand is likely to draw cues from dollar moves, so if the US inflation data comes in better than expected on Tuesday, the ZAR might just keep on rolling.
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
GEOGRAPHY
Africa: Get Ready for a Split
Africa’s about to get a lot more oceanic. Scientists have discovered the formation of a new ocean as the continent breaks in half.
They used satellite radar technology to monitor volcanic activity in the East African region, and spotted the crack on the borders of three tectonic plates that are gradually moving away from each other.
If the land mass continues to separate, countries like Zambia and Uganda could one day have their own coastlines.
What's the timeline on all this?
The process is going to take millions of years, so don't expect to be able to book a beach holiday in Zambia anytime soon. The crack, known as the East African Rift, is currently 35 miles long.
The Arabian plate has been slowly moving away from the African continent for the past 30 million years, and the Somali plate is doing the same.
The three plates are moving away from each other at different speeds - with the Arabian plate shifting away at approximately one inch per year, and the African and Somali plates breaking away at half an inch to 0.2 inches a year.
So what's the bottom line?
The Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea will eventually flood in over the Afar region and into the East African Rift Valley and become a brand new ocean, and that part of East Africa will become its own separate small continent.
And in millions of years, Zambia and Uganda will have ocean beachfront properties. Who'd have thought it?
If you’re a regular here, hit that share button. Tell your friends and colleagues about how Baobab will get them smarter on African business, money and current affairs in less than 5 minutes a day, for free!
OTHER HEADLINES
Across the Continent
🇳🇬 Tems’s Oscars Look: Sultry or Rude? | Nigerian singer Tems’s Oscars debut was marred by some social media criticism of her white wrap-around gown, which blocked the view of other attendees. Twitter users weren’t shy in calling out the 27-year-old, who was nominated for Best Original Song for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever track Lift Me Up, for being “rude”. The dress, designed by Ukrainian-born fashion designer Lessja Verlingieri of Lever Couture, may have been stylish and sultry, but it also had people craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the stage. Tems was previously nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Melodic Rap Performance category for her contribution to the hit song Wait for U with Future and Drake.
🇿🇦 South Africa's Music Scene Mourns Another Loss | South Africa’s music scene is in mourning yet again. This time it’s the sudden death of rapper Costa Titch, who died after collapsing on stage at a music festival in Johannesburg. He was 28. Reports of what happened vary, but videos circulating online show the rapper falling off the stage twice before he died. The family’s statement said they were thankful for the emergency responders and all those present, but gave no indication of the cause of death. Costa Titch’s hit song “Big Flexa” made him a star across the continent. Unfortunately, this tragedy comes just a month after the assassination of another popular South African rapper, AKA.
🇨🇩 ADF's Brutal Attack in Congo | At least 19 people were killed in a suspected attack by the Allied Democratic Forces, a militia with links to the Islamic State group, in Kirindera, Congo, on Sunday. The ADF has been slaughtering people with guns, knives, and machetes in several North Kivu villages in recent days, and IS even took credit for killing more than 35 “Christians” in the area. A joint operation by Uganda and Congo’s armies to take down the ADF didn’t quite do the job, and the US is now offering a $5 million reward for information that could lead to the capture of the group’s leader.
🇲🇼🇲🇿 Cyclone Freddy Strikes Again | Cyclone Freddy has been making headlines since last month, and it’s back again with a vengeance. The record-breaking storm, which is the third to last more than 22 days in recorded history, made its second landfall in Mozambique on Saturday night. And it’s not done yet—Freddy is projected to keep going, bringing with it heavy rains and “destructive and devastating” winds. The UN and EU-led disaster alert system has already issued a red alert, projecting that some 2.3 million people will be impacted. The good news is that Mozambique is better prepared this time around—thanks to early preparedness, more lives are being saved. The projected deluge is already worrying health and disaster agencies in both Mozambique and Malawi, which have recently been battling cholera cases and other water-borne ailments. It’s a storm worth studying, too—researchers are looking into why Freddy has been able to remain at such a strong intensity for so long.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“One does not love if one does not accept from others.”
— Nigerian Proverb.