DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ South Africa's grannies kick out stereotypes on the soccer field
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Siyabonga Sishi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Player compete during the Grannies International Football Tournament (GIFT) 2023 at the Nkowankowa Stadium in Tzaneen, South Africa March 26, 2023.REUTERS/Alet PretoriusTZANEEN, South Africa, March 28 (Reuters) - Wearing blue tracksuits and waving their national flag, South Africa's Vakhegula Vakhegula soccer team jogged into the stadium to cheers ahead of their first match against team USA. Vakhegula means "grandmothers" in the Tsonga language spoken in South Africa. When not practicing with the team she likes watching soccer on TV with her husband, and spending time with her five grandsons. The tournament, nicknamed the Grannies Soccer World Cup, is the first of its kind hosted by Vakhegula Vakhegula. The four-day tournament will see at least 15 teams compete, from South Africa and other countries including Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

☆ Standard Chartered agrees to sell business in Jordan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Hadeel Al Sayegh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, March 26 (Reuters) - Standard Chartered (STAN.L) plans to sell its Jordanian business to Arab Jordan Investment Bank (AJIB) (AJIB.AM), the two parties said on Sunday, as the emerging markets-focused lender presses ahead with plans to exit seven markets in Africa and the Middle East. All Standard Chartered Bank employees in Jordan will be transferred to AJIB, it said an emailed statement. AJIB said the purchase falls within the Jordanian lender's strategy to grow its market share in the country, which continues to grow after it acquired HSBC's banking business in Jordan in 2014 and National Bank of Kuwait's banking business in Jordan in 2022. Standard Chartered in April 2022 said it plans to leave seven markets, consisting of Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Jordan, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh, Editing by Louise Heavens and Elaine HardcastleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ How this 26-year-old went from running bitcoin trading desks in Taco Bells to creating the largest crypto exchange in Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +28 min

Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice just before meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Accra, Ghana. Chris MauriceFrom there, Yellow Card users can send or receive digital cash in eligible markets. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice in Accra, Ghana loading cash onto his Mobile Money account, MoMo. Yellow Card has facilitated $1.75 billion in transactions since launching in 2019 and has about 220 employees – mostly in Africa. A resident checks his phone outside a mobile money kiosk in the Kibera district of Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022.

☆ Inflation tops 100% in Argentina as the price of beef spikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Inflation topped 100% in Argentina last month, according to official data published Tuesday. The country logged a three-digit inflation rate for the first time in over 30 years in February. Food prices jumped 10% month-on-month, with beef costs up over 30% in one region. It's the first time since 1991 that Argentina has logged inflation of over 100%, according to Bloomberg data. That surge came despite Argentina's economy ministry's introduction last month of a price control program aimed at slashing the price of popular beef cuts.

☆ Factbox: Cyclone Freddy among Africa's deadliest storms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JOHANNESBURG, March 15 (Reuters) - Cyclone Freddy has killed more than 270 people in southern Africa since it first made landfall last month, making it one of the deadliest storms to hit the continent in the last two decades. Below are some of the deadliest storms recorded in Africa since 2000. CYCLONE FREDDY, 2023Cyclone Freddy has killed more than 270 people, mostly in Malawi but also in Mozambique and Madagascar. CYCLONE GALIFO, 2004Cyclone Galifo killed about 170 people when it struck Madagascar in 2004, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. SOMALIA CYCLONE, 2013A tropical cyclone that hit Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region in 2013 killed about 160 people, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

☆ Exodus of healthcare workers from poor countries worsening, WHO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Baz RatnerGENEVA, March 14 (Reuters) - Poorer countries are increasingly losing healthcare workers to wealthier ones as the latter seek to shore up their own staff losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, sometimes through active recruitment, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. "Health workers are the backbone of every health system, and yet 55 countries with some of the world's most fragile health systems do not have enough and many are losing their health workers to international migration," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general. He was referring to a new WHO list of vulnerable countries which has added eight extra states since it was last published in 2020. Some 115,000 healthcare workers died from COVID around the world during the pandemic but many more left their professions due to burnout and depression, he said. Asked which countries were attracting more workers, he said wealthy OECD countries and Gulf states but added that competition between African countries had also intensified.

☆ Floods and high winds hit Mozambique as record-breaking cyclone Freddy nears
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MAPUTO, March 11 (Reuters) - Cyclone Freddy was settling off the coast of Mozambique on Saturday, bringing flooding and high winds to Quelimane two weeks after killing at least 27 people in southern Africa when it first made landfall last month. After swirling for 34 days straight, the weather system is likely to have broken the record for the longest-lasting tropical cyclone. The cyclone is slow-moving, which meteorological experts say means it will pick up more moisture off the sea, bringing heavy rainfall. More than 171,000 people were affected after the cyclone swept through southern Mozambique last month, bringing heavy rains and floods that damaged crops and destroyed houses, with OCHA putting its death toll at 27 so far -- 10 in Mozambique and 17 in Madagascar. More than half a million people are at risk in Mozambique this time, especially around in Zambezia, Tete, Sofala and Nampula and Zambezia provinces.

Zimbabwe has been mining lithium for 60 years and the government estimates that its Chinese-owned Bikita mine, which is located 300 km south of the capital Harare, has about 11 million metric tons of lithium resources. In December, the country passed the Base Mineral Export Control Act, which banned the export of raw lithium. However, companies that are already developing mines or processing plants in Zimbabwe are exempt from this ban. This includes Chinese firms Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt , Sinomine Resource Group and Chengxin Lithium Group , which have invested $678 million into lithium projects in Zimbabwe. CNBC explores Zimbabwe's mining sector to find out why China has a stronghold on the country and why it matters to the U.S.

☆ Is the U.S. falling behind China in Africa’s lithium industry?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Sydney Boyo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The demand for lithium is rising as it has become a critical component needed in electric vehicle batteries. Zimbabwe has been mining lithium for 60 years and the government estimates that its Chinese-owned Bikita Minerals Mine, which is located 300 kilometers south of the capital Harare, has about 11 million metric tons of lithium resources. In December 2022, Zimbabwe passed the Base Mineral Export Control Act that banned the export of raw lithium. That includes Chinese firms Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt , Sinomine Resource Group and Chengxin Lithium Group which have invested $678 million into lithium projects in Zimbabwe. Both the Bikita mine, which is the largest lithium mine in the country, and the Arcadia Lithium mine are Chinese owned.

☆ Mozambicans seek shelter as storm Freddy makes landfall
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Manuel Mucari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MAPUTO, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Mozambicans took shelter on Friday as tropical storm Freddy made landfall in a small coastal town, with heavy rain expected to batter the country's southern provinces for several days. Pictures posted by Matos on Facebook showed children and adults sitting on the floor in a crowded primary school classroom. Up to 1.75 million people could be affected by the storm and severe flooding, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement. Mozambique has already been battling severe flooding in recent days, and the government has declared a state of "red alert" to expedite operations to tackle Freddy. In Zimbabwe, which is expected to see heavy rain from Freddy, the education ministry has suspended school in six provinces.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, the West formed what looked like an overwhelming global coalition: 141 countries supported a United Nations measure demanding that Russia unconditionally withdraw. South Korea Indonesia Israel Thailand Japan Saudi Arabia Philippines Afghanistan CambodiaBy contrast, Russia seemed isolated. Eritrea “Russian actions are being distorted” North Korea Russia Belarus Syria Eritrea “Russian actions are being distorted” North Korea Russia Belarus SyriaBut the West never won over as much of the world as it initially seemed. But like many other African countries, South Africa appears careful to balance its growing ties with Russia against maintaining a relationship with the West. Others that provided Ukraine with military support have declined to impose economic sanctions on Russia.

☆ LIV Golf finalizes all 12 team rosters for second season
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

February 21 - LIV Golf announced its 12 rosters of four-players teams for the upstart league's second season Monday night, making official the reported signings of Thomas Pieters, Danny Lee, Dean Burmester and Brendan Steele. 35 in the Official World Golf Ranking as of this week, joined Bubba Watson's team, RangeGoats. Players who finished in the top 24 of the 2022 Invitational Series were guaranteed spots for the 2023 LIV Golf League, according to a press release. "In less than a year, LIV Golf has reinvigorated the professional game and laid the foundation for the sport's future. In 2023, the LIV Golf League comes to life," LIV CEO and commissioner Greg Norman said in a statement.

☆ Madagascar suspends schools as cyclone Freddy approaches
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Lovasoa Rabary | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ANTANANARIVO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Madagascar's government on Tuesday suspended schools and transport in the path of tropical cyclone Freddy, which was likely to make landfall in the southeast of the country by evening. The cyclone is expected to hit Mananjary district, about 270 km from the capital Antananarivo, with winds of nearly 155 km per hour, Madagascar's meteorological services said. All traffic in cyclone Freddy's projected path was suspended overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, the country's ministry of transport and meteorology said. Cyclone Freddy is expected to make landfall nearly a month after storm Cheneso battered the island nation of 29 million, killing 33 people and forcing thousands from their homes. "It is expected to cause locally devastating winds and a very dangerous sea state near the impact zone in Madagascar," UNOCHA said on Monday.

☆ China is getting rid of its 'grandpa' fighter jets, but they may make a comeback for a one-way mission against Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

China's last J-7 fighter jets may leave active service this year, according to Chinese state media. China's air force may convert some J-7s into drones, which could be used in an attack on Taiwan. (Between its air force and navy, China now has the world's third-largest aviation force, according to the Pentagon.) A J-7 fighter at the People's Liberation Army Aviation Museum in Beijing in December 2013. UCAVs make it possible for China's air force "to use relatively cheap, capable, low-risk airframes as a first-in asset to either strike or soften Taiwan's air defense systems," Rice added.

☆ Yorkshire admit four charges after investigation into racism claims
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Yorkshire County Cricket Club has admitted liability to four amended charges including a failure to address and take adequate action against racist and discriminatory language, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Tuesday. Yorkshire and a number of individuals were charged by the ECB in June after an investigation into racism claims made by former player Azeem Rafiq, who alleged in 2021 that he had been a victim of institutional racism at the club. Ballance has previously apologised to Rafiq in person for using racist language. Both Yorkshire and Ballance will not be required to attend a hearing in London following the acceptance of the charges. "Today's announcement is an important step forward for Yorkshire County Cricket Club as part of its journey to learn from the past," Yorkshire chairman Kamlesh Patel said in a statement.

☆ Australia T20 skipper Finch retires from internationals after "amazing ride"
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MELBOURNE, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Australia T20 captain Aaron Finch announced his retirement from internationals on Tuesday, drawing a line under a career that yielded two World Cup trophies and more than 8,000 runs across formats. Also the former one-day skipper, Finch retired from the 50-over game last September and then took the home summer to decide on his T20 future after Australia's World Cup title defence ended before the semi-finals. At his home Melbourne Cricket Ground, where he savoured his first World Cup triumph in the 50-over tournament in 2015, Finch said it was time for a successor to make a mark. "Today, fully, I think the time is right to let the T20 team move on into a new phase, particularly with a World Cup coming up in 2024," he told reporters. Invariably, he was right, and his calm leadership proved invaluable as his written-off team clicked in the United Arab Emirates to win a first T20 World Cup.

☆ Zimbabwe cuts policy rate to 150% after inflation falls
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

HARARE, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's central bank has cut its policy rate by 50 percentage points to 150%, it said in a statement on Thursday, driven by a downward trend in inflation since late last year. Monthly inflation fell to 1.1% in January from 2.4% in December, while yearly inflation dipped to 229.8% from 243.8%. "The moderation in interest rates is important and necessitated by the downward trend in the month-on-month inflation since the last quarter of 2022," said the bank, adding it expects the trend to continue into 2023. "The Bank will continue its tight monetary policy stance," it added. Reporting by Nellie Peyton and Nyasha Chingono Editing by Alexander WinningOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Investing Club mailbag: Why kill jobs and wreck portfolios to beat inflation?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

It's certainly an important question, and one many investors are likely asking after a year of rate hikes and falling stock prices. The major fear is not only that inflation stays high if the Fed fails to act decisively; it could also accelerate. Rather than taking steps to combat inflation — which have in turn crushed equity prices — we allow inflation to run hot. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER .

☆ South Africa energy blackouts: Ramaphosa skips Davos to tackle crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

London CNN —South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa was forced this week to cancel a trip to Davos by an escalating energy crisis that is inflicting rolling blackouts on the continent’s most developed economy. At peak times, demand in South Africa averages between 28,000 MW and 34,000 MW. Electricity theft, including by impoverished townships in South Africa, and non-payment by municipal customers have made matters worse. Despite an abundance of sunshine and wind, South Africa still derives about 80% of its electricity from coal. South Africa’s National Energy Crisis Committee, a body run out of Ramaphosa’s office, has proposed several measures to ease the crisis in the short term, including importing energy from neighboring countries and buying excess energy from private producers.

☆ South Africa name new coaches for test, limited overs teams
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 16 (Reuters) - South Africa have named Rob Walter as their new head coach in limited overs cricket with Shukri Conrad to take over the test team, officials confirmed on Monday. Conrad is an experienced head coach in South African domestic cricket and was most recently in charge of the national Under-19 side. "Their leadership is very strong and they are clear in their minds about how to move South African cricket forward," Nkwe told reporters. Nkwe said it was important to lay the foundations for success in the 50-overs Cricket World Cup in 2027, which South Africa is co-hosting with Namibia and Zimbabwe. "The 2027 World Cup is a must-win and we need to build the systems to be successful there," he added.

☆ Zimbabwe police arrest 25 opposition members ahead of presidential election
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HARARE, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Zimbabwean police on Saturday fired teargas at an opposition party gathering in Harare and arrested 25 of its members, including two members of parliament, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) said. The arrests come after a wave of politically motivated violence against opposition supporters in rural Zimbabwe, raising fears of repression ahead of the presidential election this year. Police confirmed the arrests of members of the Citizens Coalition for Change, Zimbabwe's main opposition political party, and said a detailed statement would be released following investigations. Police allegedly fired teargas at the gathering, and beat up several opposition members before they were bundled into a police truck, she added. The opposition party, born out of the old Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), enjoys massive urban support and is seen as a threat to ZANU-PF's 43-year-old stranglehold on power.

☆ Zambia extends electricity rationing to mining firms
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies ZESCO Limited FollowLUSAKA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Zambia has started rationing electricity supply to mining firms following reduced power generation after a big drop in water levels in lake Kariba, the chairman of state-owned power utility Zesco said on Tuesday. Water levels in the lake were down at 1.66% of usable storage on Monday for the Kariba North Bank Power Station in Zambia and the Kariba South Bank Power Station on the Zimbabwean side of the lake, said the Zambezi River Authority, which manages the dam. The north bank power station has an installed capacity of 1,080 megawatts (MW), while the south bank power station in Zimbabwe has a capacity of 1,050 MW. Water levels in the lake have fallen due to reduced inflows from the Zambezi river and its tributaries and heavy use by power generation companies in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Ncube said power rationing was expected to be reduced by the middle of next month as water levels increased and full generation was to likely resume in March.

☆ Zimbabwe health workers could face jail for striking under new law
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HARARE, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe on Tuesday signed a bill into law that outlawed organised protests by healthcare workers who could now face a fine or an imprisonment of up to six months. The signing by President Emmerson Mnangagwa comes after health workers were locked in a protracted fight with the government over poor salaries last year. An exodus of doctors and nurses has left Zimbabwean hospitals understaffed, with over 4,000 health workers leaving the country since 2021, the country's Health Services Board said in November. Many nurses in Zimbabwe earn less than $100 a month. Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Alexander Winning and Conor HumphriesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Pumpkin and rooibos ice cream on menu as Cape Town cafe champions African flavours
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Esa Alexander | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] Tapi Tapi ice cream shop owner, Zimbabwean Tapiwa Guzha, mixes the ice cream ingredients at his shop in Observatory, in Cape Town, South Africa, December 20, 2022. "At some point it became an aspirational thing to say I don't eat African food ... so I started addressing ... that problem," he said at his Tapi Tapi shop. Located in the bohemian suburb of Observatory in Cape Town, he hopes to share the different flavours in tubs and cones, and celebrate African food culture, rituals and folklore. People often bring him ingredients from other parts of the continent, he says, who get a free tub of ice cream in return. Growing up, customer Clive Sibanda knew ice cream could be vanilla, something that is not native to South Africa.

☆ Zimbabwe's night markets cushion crisis-weary citizens from inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Nyasha Chingono | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Clothes and shoes are displayed for sale at a roadside night market in central Harare, Zimbabwe December 12, 2022. Tinotenda Taruberekera, a 21-year-old clothing vendor, says he makes more money selling at night than during the day. "In the afternoon, there are constant battles with police so selling at night helps," said Taruberekera. The street traders often undercut prices in mainstream shops, which have costly overheads, and this can eat into the retailers' market share. For college student Obert Chinganyama, street vendors offer bargains he cannot get in stores.

Search resuls for: "Zimbabwe"

25 mentions found