China is trying to win over Africa in the global trade war
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The Herald Scotland
26-06-2025
- The Herald Scotland
Zohran Mamdani's policies: Where NYC mayoral candidate stands on issues
Mamdani led Cuomo 44% to 36% among first-place votes, with 96% of ballots counted as of around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 25. The Democratic nominee will begin the general election as the favorite in the overwhelmingly Democratic city. Considered the more progressive candidate of the two, Mamdani's platform has included stances on rent and housing, cost of living, safety, infrastructure and relations between the city and President Donald Trump. Here is a brief look at Mamdani's stance on major city issues, based on his campaign page and reporting from USA TODAY. Who is Zohran Mamdani? Mamdani is a 33-year-old politician and member of the Democratic Socialists of America party. He was born in Kampala, Uganda but moved to New York City with his family when he was 7 years old, where he attended the Bronx High School of Science, according to his assembly biography. Mamdani is currently the three-term representative for Assembly District 36, located in Queens, in the New York State Assembly. He is the first South Asian man and Ugandan to serve in the assembly and the third Muslim person to do so. He worked as a foreclosure-prevention housing counselor prior to serving in the assembly, according to his biography. Interestingly, he also worked a stint in film, writing and as a rap music producer. He is the son of Mahmood Mamdani, a professor at Columbia University, and Mira Nair, an Indian filmmaker. If elected, he would become New York's first Muslim mayor, as well as the city's first Asian and Millennial mayor. Where does Zohran Mamdani stand on issues? Rent and housing In a city with sky-high rent prices, cost of housing was a major tentpole in all mayoral candidates' campaigns. Mamdani's vision includes freezing rent on rent-stabilized apartments and building more affordable housing. Besides "immediately" freezing rent for rent-stabilized tenants, Mamdani's platform also outlines a plan for constructing 200,000 new "affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized" units over 10 years and fast-tracking approval for "affordable" developments. It also promises a "revamp" of the mayor's tenant protection efforts to bolster 311 services (non-emergency city services), allow tenants to request and track inspections and enable the city to step in when landlords are not meeting city standards. It would also create a new "Office of Deed Theft Prevention" for homeowners. Public transportation Free and faster buses are a major talking point in Mamdani's campaign. He says he would eliminate fares on all city buses and would improve their speed by building and expanding priority lanes, bus queue jump signals and dedicated loading zones. Health and safety Watch any NYC campaign commercial and you'll hear candidates talking about safety on the streets and subways. Mamdani plans to create the Department of Community Safety, a proposal that includes increased investment in mental health programs and crisis response, expanding "evidence-based gun violence prevention programs" and increasing funding to "hate violence prevention programs" by 800%. Cost of living and labor; city-owned grocery stores Another cost of living strain on New York families, beyond rent, is the price of essentials, like groceries. Mamdani has said he plans to address the cost of food by creating city-owned grocery stores that will pay no rent or property taxes, buy and sell at wholesale prices from centralized warehouses and partner with local vendors to keep prices down. On childcare, Mamdani's campaign says it will offer free childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years. He will also seek to implement the distribution of baby baskets to parents of newborns, which would include items like diapers, baby wipes, nursing pads, post-partum pads, swaddles, books and local resource guides. Mamdani has also said he will aim to raise NYC's minimum wage to $30 by 2030 and regulate delivery apps like DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats to strengthen licensure requirements and expand resources to assist app workers. Education Mamdani's plans surrounding K-12 education, as outlined in his campaign, include ensuring equal distribution of money and resources to city schools, creating car-free "School Streets," expanding the Bronx pilot Every Child and Family Is Known program to address homelessness in the school system and, on a collegiate level, investing in the CUNY system. He also champions the Green Schools for a Healthier New York City initiative that seeks to renovate 500 public schools with renewable energy infrastructure and HVAC upgrades, make asphalt schoolyards into green spaces and build hubs in 50 schools for community emergency situations. Taxation, bills and fees Running on a platform of pushing back against the proverbial "big guys," Mamdani has proposed a 2% tax on residents earning above $1 million annually and raising the corporate tax rate to 11.5%. Mamdani has also promised to "fight corporate exploration" by banning "hidden fees" and non-compete clauses, "fighting" misleading advertising and predatory contracts, limiting tax dollars given to companies under NDA agreements and funding challenges to ConEd's price increases. He plans to do so via enforcement of consumer protection laws, pushing legislation in Albany and working with the City Council, according to his campaign's policy memo. Responding to Donald Trump Another topline talking point among all of the mayoral candidates was handling relations with President Donald Trump and, in many cases, laying out plans to resist or respond to his policies. Among Mamdani's plans to "resist" Trump are strengthening sanctuary city protections by ending cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and barring them from city facilities, increasing legal support for migrants, preventing personal data from being given to ICE, protecting abortion rights and increasing the budgets of the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the NYC Commission on Human Rights.
Economist
19-06-2025
- Economist
China is trying to win over Africa in the global trade war
At China Mall, a vast supermarket in Kampala, Uganda's capital, Rose Ahurra picks up a small turquoise squirrel. The toy flashes as she puts it in a trolley laden with towels, clothes, containers and an air fryer. The purchases indicate her place in the Ugandan middle class, which has flocked to China Mall since it opened earlier this year. 'The prices are fair and I no longer have to go to lots of individual shops,' she explains.
Reuters
22-05-2025
- Reuters
AFRICA-FX-Ghana and Uganda currencies could gain
ACCRA, May 22 (Reuters) - The Ghanaian and Ugandan currencies are expected to strengthen in the next week to Thursday, while Nigeria's could be stable and Kenya's and Zambia's may fall, traders said. Ghana's cedi is expected to firm further, underpinned by strong hard-currency inflows from remittances and continued central bank support. LSEG data showed the cedi trading at 11.70 to the dollar on Thursday, compared to 12.40 per dollar at last Thursday's close. "The cedi continued its appreciation streak against the dollar, breaking the 12.00 key level on the interbank market," said Chris Nettey, head of trading at Stanbic Bank Ghana. "We expect further appreciation in the coming sessions, supported by central bank's ongoing interventions," he added. Uganda's shilling is seen trading with a firming tone, bolstered by month-end foreign-currency inflows from non-governmental organisations. Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,646/3,656 to the dollar, near last Thursday's close of 3,645/3,655. "The bias will be on the stronger side mainly from charity flows," a trader said. Charities convert some of their hard-currency holdings around the end of the month to meet operational expenses. Nigeria's naira is seen holding steady after strengthening this week due to foreign portfolio inflows for a central bank auction. The naira was quoted around 1,590 to the dollar in intraday trading on Thursday, compared with last week's quote of 1,596 naira. The unit was sold at 1,620 naira to the dollar in street trading on Thursday. "I expect the naira to trade between 1,585 naira and 1,595 levels next week," one trader said. "The uptick in crude prices and FPIs (foreign portfolio inflows) this week ... helped liquidity in the market." Kenya's shilling is expected to weaken slightly towards the end of May, as a modest increase in foreign exchange demand from the manufacturing sector outpaces inflows from remittances and NGO salaries. LSEG data showed the shilling at 129.00/50 on Thursday, the same level it closed a week ago. "We see the shilling weakening a little towards the end of the month on month-end (FX) demand from importers in the manufacturing sector," a trader said. Zambia's kwacha is likely to remain under pressure as the market continues to experience rising foreign-currency demand and subdued inflows. On Thursday the kwacha was quoted at 27.62 per dollar from 27.00 a week ago. "In the absence of substantial dollar supply, the current trend should continue going into next week," an analyst said.
