🔅 Kenya's Tax Unrest, Genocide Extradition Ruling, and Climate-Related Perils
The tax protests gripping Kenya, the high-stakes legal battle over extradition, and the alarming consequences of climate change.
Photo of the day: A day at the beach in Togo
Markets:
🟢 Nigerian SE: 56,038.85 (+0.42%)
🟢 Johannesburg SE: 76,840.11 (+0.31%)
🟢 Ghana SE: 2,531.77 (+0.67%)
🟢 Nairobi SE: 106.51 (+0.40)
🟢 US S&P 500: 4,283.85 (+0.24%)
🔴 Shanghai Composite: 3,232.44 (-1.15%)
Coinbase and Binance Busted? | Crypto traders, the SEC is coming for you! Yesterday, the US regulator charged the biggest crypto trading platform in the country—Coinbase—with operating illegally. The company had apparently been acting as a broker, exchange and clearing agency for investments that are subject to SEC rules without registering. A day earlier, the SEC had also filed a lawsuit against Binance, the world's largest crypto trading platform, accusing it of mishandling customer funds, inflating trading volume, and trying to evade US regulation. The exchanges have criticized the SEC’s moves, but the authorities have argued that crypto assets should be treated like other investments.
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
Brief & Bright: Africa's Top Five Highlights
🇰🇪 Kenyan Tax Riots: Protestors + Police Clash in the Capital | Kenya is experiencing some tax turbulence. Protestors took to the streets of Nairobi to oppose the government’s proposed new or higher taxes on fuel, beauty products, crypto-currencies, social media influencers, and salaried workers’ housing funds. President William Ruto and his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua issued warnings against those who oppose the proposals, but protestors kept marching—until police broke out the tear gas and made some arrests. The proposed bill, which is expected to be voted on next week, includes a 3% housing fund levy and an increase in value added tax on fuel to 16%. President Ruto is standing firm, saying the bill is necessary for financial stability and to create jobs by building new houses. Last week, the opposition suspended bipartisan talks in parliament aimed at ending their row with the government. Their leader Raila Odinga has threatened to hold more protests.
🇷🇼 No Extradition for Genocide Suspect | A man accused of playing a key role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide won't be extradited to Rwanda to face trial after the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that it couldn't be guaranteed that his trial would be fair. The suspect, Pierre-Claver Karangwa, is accused of having a hand in the murder of nearly 30,000 Tutsis in the Mugina parish near Kigali in April 1994. 800,000 people were killed during the genocide. Karangwa's Dutch nationality has already been revoked, leaving him in a legal limbo where he can't be extradited.
🇬🇲 Gambia's Poisoned Pills: A Potential Lawsuit | In a move that’s sure to make a statement, Gambia is considering legal action after an investigation found that contaminated medicines from India were "very likely" to have caused the deaths of 70 children last year. While India has denied any wrongdoing, tests by the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the presence of lethal toxins in the drugs, prompting a global hunt for contaminated medicines. Gambia has hired a US law firm to explore its options, and the country is also planning to build a testing facility for imported drugs with help from the World Bank. If the case moves forward, it’ll be a stark reminder that lax regulation and oversight of pharmaceutical raw materials can have deadly consequences.
🔥 Rising Temperatures = Rising Death Toll | In a sobering report, the World Health Organization warned that if global temperatures continue to rise, it could lead to more than 9 million climate-related deaths each year by the end of the century. That’s bad news for poorer countries and small island developing states, which are already bearing the brunt of the health consequences of climate change. As if that wasn’t enough, climate change could also cause a spike in mosquito, tick and rodent-borne diseases, which already kill more than 700,000 people a year. Evidently, this means that Africa will be one of the hardest hit by a rise in temperatures.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“A great leader is an ordinary person with extraordinary wisdom.”
— Malawian Proverb.
Are we hitting the mark?
Enjoying Baobab's updates? Spread the joy and share us with friends and colleagues — we'd be thrilled to have them join!
Feedback or thoughts? Just hit reply. We're all ears!