🔅 The African Origins of American Cowboys, A Malaria Vaccine Breakthrough
Kenya's Peacekeeping Mission to Haiti Gets Green Light, Former Nigerian Oil Minister's Bribery Charges, And More
Photo of the day
‘Contrasting World’, Nigeria
Markets:
🟢 Nigerian SE: 66,770.97 (+0.59%)
🔴 Johannesburg SE: 71,238.06 (-0.67%)
🔴 Ghana SE: 3,160.18 (+0.41%)
🔴 Nairobi SE: 95.39 (-0.16%)
🔴 US S&P 500: 4,241.17 (-1.10%)
🟢 Shanghai Composite: 3,110.48 (+0.10%)
Nigeria's Tax Shake-Up: Making the Rich Pay and Giving Corporations a Break | The Nigerian government is shaking things up by planning to overhaul its tax system. The goal? To make wealthy citizens shoulder more of the burden while cutting corporate taxes. President Bola Tinubu wants to transform the economy and increase the tax take to 18% of gross domestic product in three years, up from the current 11%.
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
Brief & Bright: Africa's Top Five
America's Cowboys: The Unsung Heroes of African Descent
It turns out that the first cowboys in the Americas may have been enslaved Africans. Yup, while Christopher Columbus gets all the credit for bringing cows to the New World, it may have actually been Africans who helped the cattle ranches thrive with their herding skills. DNA analysis led researchers to conclude that some of the earliest cattle in the Americas were directly imported from Africa on slave ships. These cows travelled alongside skilled Africans, who were purposely kidnapped to put the herds to work in the Americas. Without these experts, the Spanish cattle ranching industry wouldn't have been as successful as it ended up becoming.
A Second Malaria Vaccine: A Breakthrough That's Been a Century in the Making
Good news, folks: we may finally have a vaccine for malaria. This disease has been a major killer (almost 620,000 people died from malaria in 2021, especially for babies and infants), and more than 95% of malaria is found in Africa. But now, the University of Oxford has developed a vaccine that can be mass-produced and has been recommended for use by the World Health Organization (WHO). This is only the second malaria vaccine ever developed, and the WHO says it's "very similar" to the first one, BUT easier to make (as it requires a smaller dose) and at half the price. So far, there are only 18 million doses of the first vaccine available, but the new one will see it being manufactured to a tune of over 100 million doses a year.
Kenya's Got Your Back, Haiti: A New Peacekeeping Mission is on the Way
Haiti’s got a lot going on right now—gang violence, delayed elections, and a shortage of police officers to deal with it all. That’s where Kenya comes in. The country offered to step in to lead a multinational armed force to help restore order, and the UN Security Council just approved the plan. Kenya’s President William Ruto is confident that they won’t let Haiti down, but not everyone is convinced. Some are worried about Kenya’s history of police corruption and abuse. And a powerful gang leader has already warned that he’ll fight back if the international force steps out of line. The US is pledging $200 million to help fund the mission. It is unclear what Kenya will get in return for the intervention, but I guess we will soon find out.
Former Nigerian Oil Minister Faces Bribery Charges in London
Diezani Alison-Madueke, former Nigerian oil minister and apparent connoisseur of luxury goods, is in hot water. She's facing charges of accepting bribes in exchange for awarding oil contracts, including cash, private school fees for her son, and the use of lavish properties in London and the English countryside. She allegedly also received payment for chauffeured cars, furniture, and high-end purchases from places like Harrods. Looks like she had expensive taste. Alison-Madueke was arrested in London in 2015 and has been on bail ever since, living in a swanky part of town. She's pleading not guilty, but she'll have to show up in court on October 30th to face the music. Meanwhile, Nigeria's anti-corruption agency said it is also after her. Alison-Madueke is not the first Nigerian politician to face prosecution in Britain—as we pointed out in yesterday's newsletter, James Ibori, a former state governor, was convicted of fraud and money laundering in 2012.
Militants Attack in Niger, Schools Shut in Burkina Faso
29 Niger soldiers were killed in an attack near the country’s border with Mali. The defence ministry didn’t say who was responsible, but the region has been dealing with militant groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State for a while now. The insecurity has destabilised the education sector in Burkina Faso, where over a million children and 31,000 teachers couldn’t start the new school year earlier this week. The junta that took power in a coup last year hasn’t been able to improve security in the country. In fact, violence has only supposedly increased since the coup, according to data from a US-based crisis-monitoring group.
Food for Thought
“If there is cause to someone, the cause to love has just begun.”
— Senegalese Proverb.