🔅 Donkey Hide and Seek: The Chinese Demand for Donkey Skin
Plus: Malawi’s deadliest cholera outbreak, Uganda’s cars must all have bins, Microsoft to formalize DRC's mining industry, Merkel awarded the UNESCO Peace Prize in Ivory Coast, And much more... ☕
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Microsoft Wants to Formalise Congo's Mines: When it comes to cobalt, the key to electric vehicle batteries, not all of it is mined in the same way. A lot of it is mined by hand in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by artisanal miners, who don’t have the same safety equipment or regulations as industrial miners. Microsoft recently sent a team to a cobalt mine in the DRC to try to jumpstart the formalisation of the industry and make it safer for the miners. Apple is also trying to reduce the amount of mined cobalt they use in their products, and they’re aiming to get 13% of its cobalt from recycling this year. However, formalising the industry has been challenging, and so far, all attempts have failed. We're curious to hear your thoughts — do you think Africa needs the help of tech giants to regulate its industries?
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
TRADE
Donkey Hide and Seek: The Chinese Demand for Donkey Skin
The Chinese market for donkey hide, which is used to make an ancient health-related product called ejiao, has skyrocketed from $3.2 billion in 2013 to $7.8 billion in 2020.
This demand rise is driven by several factors, including rising incomes, popularisation of the product, and an ageing population seeking the product out.
So where are the donkeys coming from?
Africa is home to the highest number of donkeys in the world, and those donkeys are being exported to China in both legal and illegal trade.
The scale of this trade significantly impacts the most marginalised communities, as millions of Africans rely on donkeys for their living. Donkeys transport people, goods, and farm inputs and outputs and provide a lot of value to households.
The loss of a donkey to a household that uses them has been associated with an increased risk of poverty — children are forced to leave school to work at home, and there's less security, notably concerning water access.
This has led to various responses by African governments, such as Tanzania’s failed attempt to create a formal industry and trade. Kenya has recently banned the export of donkeys, but exporters successfully challenged the ban in court. South Africa has put in place export quotas, but this has just increased illegal trade.
What's the solution then?
A recent Pan-African Donkey Conference called for a 15-year continent-wide moratorium on the trade to allow supply to recover and enhance regulatory capacity.
The ejiao industry in China is well-organised and resourced. A handful of major firms and one province dominate the industry in China, and the Shandong Ejiao Industry Association represents them.
The suggestion is for African countries to get organised, form associations, and establish a dialogue with the Chinese. The aim would be to create sustainable mechanisms, prevent damage to local interests, and help to counter illicit trade.
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OTHER HEADLINES
Across the Continent
🇪🇹 Ethiopia’s China-Built Train on the Verge of Collapse | Ethiopia’s light rail system, which was built with Chinese funds, is teetering on the edge of a total breakdown. Seven years after its launch, only eight of the 41 trains are still running. The light rail was intended to be a model for other African nations, but now the country’s lack of funds, limited resources, and political conflicts have jeopardised it. The Addis Ababa line is one of many Chinese-funded projects in Ethiopia that’s been impacted by the country’s mounting debt to China. China recently signed an agreement to partially forgive Ethiopia’s debt, but with inadequate feasibility studies and poor implementation, it looks like the project might be a total bust. And because maintenance is carried out only by Chinese engineers, there has been no transfer of knowledge or skills to locals either.
🕊️ Angela Merkel Awarded Peace Prize | German Chancellor Angela Merkel was just awarded the UNESCO peace prize for her courage in welcoming more than 1.2 million migrants to Germany. She received the award for standing up to opposition at home and among European partners, and for showing that “we have not only to defend our own rights, but those of others in times of crisis.” Merkel accepted the award from Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, and took the opportunity to call attention to the current refugee crisis in Ukraine. She may have been out of office for a few months now, but she’s still got it -- and her political memoirs are due to be published in 2024.
🇲🇼 Malawi’s Deadliest Cholera Outbreak Yet | According to the World Health Organization, Malawi’s death toll from the outbreak has already crossed 1,300—making it the deadliest on record. The usual annual death toll from cholera outbreaks in Malawi is only around 100. The WHO also says that other African countries, including Mozambique, Zambia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria, have reported cholera cases. South Africa even had to report two imported cases from Malawi last Sunday.
🇺🇬 Uganda’s ‘Clean Car’ Rules: You Better Have a Bin in There | Ugandans, you’d better start dusting off those dustbins. The environmental management agency in the country has announced that beginning in April, private cars that don’t have a rubbish bin will be fined. Yes, you read that right. We’re talking up to 6,000,000 Ugandan shillings (which works out to about $1,630) for not having a bin in your car. But what counts as a rubbish bin? “As long as you are using something that is not prohibited to hold your rubbish, you should be fine,” the agency said. So basically, anything goes—as long as it’s not a plastic bag.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“No matter how tall your grandfather was, you have to do your own growing.”
— Kenyan Proverb.