🔅 WHO Emergency as Mpox Outbreak Spreads
Visas: When "World Music" Becomes "Stay in Your World" Music
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Visa Rejections: When "World Music" Becomes "Stay in Your World" Music
Picture this: You're a talented musician from Africa or Asia, ready to rock stages across the UK and EU. You've got your guitar, your killer tunes, and... a big fat visa rejection. Welcome to the not-so-harmonious world of international artist visas, where the only thing more brutal than Simon Cowell's critiques is the visa application process!
The UK and EU are making bank on these rejections, raking in £44m and €130m respectively from failed applications. It's like a twisted version of "The X Factor" where the prize is crushing disappointment and an empty wallet.
African artists are getting the short end of the drumstick, with rejection rates as high as 70%.
Lemn Sissay, a British poet, calls it a campaign of "delegitimising or shaming" people of color.
Emma Nzioka, a Kenyan DJ, summed up the financial struggle perfectly: "It costs $2,000 in flights and for a UK visa. I get paid $150 per show. It's not worth it." Talk about a tough gig economy! At this rate, she'd need to play 13 shows just to break even.
Festival directors are tearing their hair out trying to bring diverse acts to their stages. Donald Shaw of Celtic Connections laments, "It's getting harder and harder to persuade world musicians to come to the UK." Looks like "world music" is becoming "stay in your world" music.
The Home Office claims they're "carefully considering" each application. Maybe they should consider carefully how much poorer a cultural scene is getting with each rejection.
More on this in The Guardian.
WHO Calls Emergency Meeting as Mpox Outbreak Spreads in Africa
The World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded the alarm over a surge in mpox cases spreading from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to neighboring countries. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced an emergency meeting to discuss the outbreak, which has claimed about 1,100 lives, many of them children, in the DRC alone.
A Virus on the Move:
Since last September, mpox cases have skyrocketed in the DRC due to a strain of the virus that has now been detected in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.
The WHO chief decided to convene an Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations to advise on whether the outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) – the highest level of alarm the WHO can raise.
Mpox, largely spread through sexual contact and especially prevalent among men who have sex with other men, has been detected in 10 African nations this year.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported that cases are up 160 percent this year, with deaths increasing by 19 percent. The disease appears to be hitting the young particularly hard, with 70 percent of cases and 85 percent of deaths in the DRC occurring among children under the age of 15.
In 2022, the WHO declared mpox a global emergency after it spread to more than 70 countries. While vaccines helped neutralize the threat in wealthy nations, they were not made adequately accessible to poorer ones, making the disease harder to ultimately eradicate and underscoring the global health risks of discrepancies in vaccine access.
Nigeria's Food Delivery Boom
Nigeria's food delivery scene is heating up. Homegrown startups and international players alike are vying for a slice of the pie. Despite sky-high inflation and a currency doing the limbo, investors seem to think Nigerians' appetites for convenient cuisine are only growing.
Chowdeck, FoodCourt, and Heyfood are leading the local charge, each backed by the Silicon Valley startup whisperer Y Combinator. Meanwhile, Spain's Glovo is bringing some international flavor to the mix. These companies are racing to cater to Nigeria's 200 million potential customers, who spend 60% of their income on food.
The market is expected to more than double to $2.4bn in the next eight years. That's a lot of naira!
Glovo's co-founder, Sacha Michaud, is particularly bullish, citing better internet speeds as a key ingredient in their rapid growth across Africa.
But it's not all smooth sailing in this sea of sauce. Nigeria's economy is facing its worst cost of living crisis in a generation, with food inflation at a belly-aching 40.7%. The naira has lost 70% of its value against the dollar.
Some multinational companies have already packed up their doggy bags and left. Bolt Food and Jumia Food both called it quits last year, citing the challenging "operating environment." It seems they couldn't stand the heat and got out of the kitchen.
Yet, optimists argue that these startups have the potential to deliver. As venture capitalist Eghosa Omoigui puts it, "If you're able to figure out how to be reliable, you'll never have a retention problem."
Food for Thought
“A good action reaps another.”
— Mozambique Proverb