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☆ Hundreds of millions pledged for African carbon credits at inaugural climate summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Duncan Miriri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Companies Climate FollowVitol SA FollowNAIROBI, Sept 4 (Reuters) - An initiative to boost Africa's carbon credit production 19-fold by 2030 drew hundreds of millions of dollars of pledges on Monday as Kenyan President William Ruto opened the continent's first climate summit. In one of the most anticipated deals, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) committed to buying $450 million of carbon credits from the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI). "There hasn't been any success for an African country in attracting climate finance," said Bogolo Kenewendo, a United Nations climate adviser and former trade minister in Botswana. Many African campaigners have opposed the summit's approach to climate finance, and about 500 people marched in downtown Nairobi on Monday to protest. They say carbon credits are a pretext for continued pollution by wealthier countries and corporations, who should instead pay their "climate debt" through direct compensation and debt relief.

Persons: William Ruto, Ruto, Bogolo Kenewendo, Bogolo, Kevin Kariuki, Patricia Scotland, Esa Alexander, we've, Hassan Ghazali, Britain, Sultan Al Jaber, COP28, Duncan Miriri, Simon Jessop, Jefferson Kahinju, Aaron Ross, Hereward Holland, Angus MacSwan, Susan Fenton Organizations: United Arab Emirates, Africa Carbon Markets, United, African Development Bank, Reuters, International Monetary Fund, REUTERS, Climate Asset Management, HSBC Asset Management, Debt, Green, Thomson Locations: NAIROBI, UAE, Nairobi, Africa, United Nations, Botswana, Muloza, Mozambique, Blantyre, Malawi, Liberia, Tanzania, Germany, Kenya

☆ Kenya's opposition holds vigils for slain and injured protesters
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has repeatedly called for acts of civil disobedience against a government he accuses of raising the cost of living and consolidating power. Police killed 37 people during the protests, Kenyan rights group Independent Medico-Legal Unit said earlier this week, while Azimio claims at least 50 people were slain. The interior ministry said on Wednesday claims that security forces committed extrajudicial killings or used excessive force were false and malicious. On Wednesday Odinga, Musyoka and other opposition figures visited injured protesters at two hospitals in the capital Nairobi. Ruto has said he also would not allow Odinga into his government, but was open to meeting him.

Persons: Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, Azimio, Musyoka, Odinga, William Ruto's, Ruto, Jefferson Kahinju, Humphrey Malalo, George Obulutsa, Hereward, Emelia Sithole, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Kenya Alliance, Kenyans, . Police, Kenyan, Independent Medico, Legal Unit, Wednesday Odinga, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Nairobi, Kenya, Read, NAIROBI, Unity, Hereward Holland

At least 300 people were arrested, including several senior opposition leaders, and several people were reported shot, some possibly fatally, in clashes with police on Wednesday. The demonstrations, planned for Wednesday to Friday, are the third round of protests that the opposition has called this month. Protests this year have cost the economy more than $20 million per day, according to a private sector lobby group. Veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga did not make a public appearance on Wednesday or Thursday as he did during previous protests. A Kenyan court froze the tax hikes late last month, pending a ruling by senior judges.

Persons: Raila Odinga, Ruto, Odinga, William Ruto, Paul Ongili, Aaron Ross, George Obulutsa, Humphrey Malalo, Monicah Mwangi, Anne Mawathe, Joseph Akwiri, Alexander Winning, Emelia, Bernadette Baum, Mike Harrison, Conor Humphries Organizations: Kenya Alliance, REUTERS, NAIROBI, La, NTV Kenya, Kenyan, Civic, Thomson Locations: Nairobi, Kenya, Kibera, Mombasa, Kisumu, Isiolo, Ruto's

☆ Protesters clash with Kenya police over tax hikes, two killed, officers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital Nairobi, the port city of Mombasa and several other towns, according to Reuters reporters and footage aired on Kenyan television stations. Police officers patrolling the expressway, who did not give their names, told Reuters they had shot dead two protesters as they sought to repel an advancing crowd. You promised them that you are going to help them, but you didn't," Bernard Ochieng, a protester in Nairobi's informal Kibera settlements, told Reuters. The government says the tax hikes, which include a doubling of the fuel tax and the introduction of a levy to fund affordable housing, are needed to deal with growing debt repayments and to fund job-creation initiatives. At least six people were killed last Friday during protests called for by opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Persons: Raila Odinga, William Ruto, Young, Bernard Ochieng, Odinga, Thomas Mukoya, Jefferson Kahinju, Humphrey Malalo, Aaron Ross, Alex Richardson, Peter Graff, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Kenya Alliance, Police, Kenyan, Reuters, Kenya's, Thomson Locations: Read, NAIROBI, Nairobi, Mombasa

☆ Kenya's President Ruto asks opposition to give talks a chance
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Monicah MwangiNAIROBI, April 16 (Reuters) - Kenya's President William Ruto asked the opposition on Sunday to give talks with the government a chance while his main opponent urged his followers to protest again over electoral reforms and the high cost of living. The protests partly stem from accusations of fraud in August's presidential election in which Ruto narrowly beat Raila Odinga. Odinga's Azimio La Umoja (Declaration of Unity) Alliance and Ruto's Kenya Kwanza (Kenya First) alliance disagree about the content of the talks and who should steer them. Kenya Kwanza wants the talks to involve only lawmakers and discuss only the selection of electoral officials. "If we don't hear from Ruto next week, when Ramadan ends, we are going back to the streets," he said.

☆ Kenya launches first operational satellite into space
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A model of a prototype of a 3U Earth observation satellite, the Taifa-1, is displayed ahead of the launch of Kenya's first operational satellite, at the University of Nairobi's Taifa Hall in Nairobi, Kenya April 14, 2023. REUTERS/Monicah MwangiNAIROBI, April 14 (Reuters) - Kenya launched its first operational earth observation satellite on Saturday onboard a SpaceX rocket from the United States, a live feed from Elon Musk's rocket company showed. The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Taifa-1 satellite, took off at about 0648 GMT without incident from Vandenberg Base in California, after three postponements due to bad weather. Alloyce Were, an aeronautical engineer and deputy director of Navigation and Positioning at the government-run Kenya Space Agency, told Reuters on Friday before the satellite's launch. The satellite was put together with the help of Bulgarian aerospace company Endurosat at a cost of 50 million Kenyan shillings ($372,000) over two years, the space agency said.

☆ Musician's app helps Kenyan creatives sell music and merchandise
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HustleSasa, which officially launched in November 2021, allows the singer-songwriter and fellow creatives to stream music or sell branded merchandise, concert tickets, food, fashion and other services in one mobile phone application. Artists or vendors sell their products directly to the market, with no set-up costs or monthly fees, and receive payment instantly via bank card or mobile money, avoiding expensive commissions charged by some apps. "Our region has one of the lowest payout rates in the world from other streaming platforms, but on HustleSasa you are getting value for money in real time," Alusa said. Yaba, another Kenyan musician, said the app's streaming service allows him to make more money and to connect directly to his audience. "It's the future of ticketing, it's the future of selling merch, it's the future where we are going to have the power and future in our hands."

[1/2] Kenya Airways pilots attend a court session after the association's management was summoned for contempt of a court order declaring as illegal the ongoing strike of Kenya Airways pilots, organised by KALPA, at the Milimani Law Courts, in Nairobi, Kenya, November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Monicah MwangiNAIROBI, Nov 8 (Reuters) - The striking pilots at Kenya Airways (KQNA.NR) have been ordered to resume work by November 9, a court ruled on Tuesday, while also barring the airline from penalising the pilots. Employment and Labour Relations court Judge Anna Mwaure ordered "the Kenya Airways pilots to resume their duties as pilots by 6 a.m on 9th November unconditionally." The order comes after a letter from the CEO of Kenya Airways earlier showed its plans to cancel its bargaining and recognition agreements with its pilots union, saying their current strike is unlawful and it amounts to economic sabotage. Members of the Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA) — a union that represents about 400 pilots at the carrier - went on strike on Saturday after failing to resolve a dispute over their pensions contributions and settlement of deferred pay.

☆ LME to discuss banning Russian metal, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Pratima Desai | Jefferson Kahinju | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) is planning to discuss banning new deliveries of Russian metal such as aluminium, nickel and copper so its warehouses cannot be used to offload hard-to-sell stock, three sources familiar with the matter said. Western countries have sanctioned Russian banks and wealthy individuals connected to President Vladimir Putin since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but so far there are no restrictions on buying Russian metal. The sources said there was some concern that Russian aluminium producer Rusal would not be able to sell its metal and would deliver it to registered warehouses of the 145-year-old metal exchange. Another source said the LME could not ban Russian metal without sanctions on the companies that produced them. "Although we do not currently see any evidence of LME warehouses being used to offload metal on a long term basis," the exchange added, in response to a request for comment.

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