🔅 Will Putin Attend the BRICS Summit? & Digitalising Africa Could Save the Continent 20bn
Plus, Paul Simon's South African Musical Story, Uganda's Anti-LGBTQ+ Law, & More
Photo of the day: Lake Malawi
Markets:
🟢 Nigerian SE: 62,943.35 (+0.60%)
🔴 Johannesburg SE: 77,253.51 (-0.64%)
— Ghana SE: 2,862.27 (0.00%)
🟢 Nairobi SE: 115.02 (+0.96%)
🟢 US S&P 500: 4,522.79 (+0.39%)
🔴 Shanghai Composite: 3,209.63 (-0.87%)
The US Economy is Booming, But China's Not So Much | Things are looking up in the US economy, but the same can’t be said for China. Their GDP has been stuck in a rut, and youth unemployment hit an all-time high last month. President Xi Jinping’s gotta do something to get the wheels turning again.
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
Brief & Bright: Africa's Top Five Highlights
🇿🇦 Will Putin Attend the BRICS Summit? | Cyril Ramaphosa has a tough job ahead of him: Convincing Vladimir Putin not to come to the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg. You see, Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. South Africa is a member of the ICC, so they’d have to arrest him if he shows up. To get Putin to stay away, Ramaphosa will be chatting with him at a Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg next month. Putin's attendance at the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa Summit in August is still up in the air. After the ICC issued a warrant for his arrest in March, Ramaphosa’s government is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The court has accused Putin of the forced removal of Ukrainian children to Russia during the invasion. Will he show up and take his chances?
🖥️ Digitalising Africa: Make it Easier to Get Your Stuff Across the Continent | “A trade gain of about $20 billion annually” - sign us up! Digitalisation is the way of the future, and African countries are getting on board. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development says that if Africa digitalises customs and border operations, the continent will gain $20 billion in voluntary trade annually. That’s a lot of money, and it’s not the only upside. Digitalising customs operations and clearance means faster, more efficient, and cheaper movement of goods across the continent. Right now, Africa is lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to border logistics. That’s where the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) comes in. It’s all about making it easier to move goods and people across borders, and digitalisation is the key. The potential of digitalisation in achieving regional integration is huge, but it’s been slow to catch on.
🇿🇦 Paul Simon and Bakithi Kumalo: A Match Made in Music Heaven | Ever heard the iconic bass solo in Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al”? That was Bakithi Kumalo’s work. The South African bassist got the gig after Paul Simon travelled to Johannesburg in search of musicians to help him with his ambitious project, Graceland. After a meeting, the two hit it off and Kumalo was brought to New York to record the tracks. But the real challenge came in the form of a two-bar bass guitar solo that has confounded as many bassists as it has inspired. Even Kumalo was baffled by the result—he later admitted he thought it was 'from God, you know?' "You Can Call Me Al" went on to become a multi-platinum hit, and the rest is history. Listen to the bass solo in question below:
🇺🇬 Uganda's Anti-LGBTQ+ Law Sparks Calls for US Funding Cuts | Two of Congress’ newest members have a message for Uganda: You can’t get away with this. Representatives Robert Garcia and Becca Balint, both Democrats and both LGBTQ+, have filed amendments to the National Defence Authorization Act that would cut off all US funding to Uganda in response to the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The law, which was signed into law in May, includes a possible death sentence for “aggravated homosexuality”. Garcia’s amendment would block any funds going to the landlocked nation, and Balint’s amendment would restrict or cut off security assistance. The US Defense Department has spent more than $280 million on equipment and training for Uganda since 2011.
☕️ Nestle Gets Serious About Sustainability? | For those of us who love a good cup of coffee but are concerned about sustainability, here’s a reason to smile: Nestle has announced a plan to pay farmers to transition to more sustainable practices. The world’s largest packaged food company is piloting a scheme to give cash to coffee farmers in developing countries who are transitioning to regenerative agricultural practices. These include organic fertilisers to improve soil fertility, planting shade trees, and intercropping to preserve biodiversity. The coffee sector is valued at $200-250 billion a year at the retail level, based on the report, but producing countries receive less than 10% of that value when exporting beans, and farmers even less than that.
Food for Thought
“Unity is strength, division is weakness.”
— Swahili 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!