Latest news with #AfricaNews
Business Insider
22-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Zambia receives 31 electric-powered trucks from China for major copper mining project
Zambia has taken delivery of a fleet of 31 pure electric mining trucks from China, marking a significant step in the country's efforts to modernize its copper mining sector and strengthen its partnership with Beijing. Zambia has received 31 pure electric mining trucks from China to modernize its copper mining operations. The trucks are manufactured by Breton Technology and feature advanced automation and smart fleet management systems. The adoption of green machinery aims to improve efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of Zambia's mining industry. The trucks, manufactured by Chinese high-tech firm Breton Technology, are slated for deployment in one of Zambia's major copper mining projects and will be operated by the African branch of China's state-owned 15th Metallurgical Construction Group. AfricaNews reports that the trucks were supplied by Breton Technology, a Chinese high-tech firm specializing in green construction machinery. They are expected to be deployed by the African branch of China's state-owned 15th Metallurgical Construction Group as part of a major copper mining project. Commenting on the development, Li Wenjie, chairman of the construction trade division of China 15th Metallurgical Construction Group in Africa, said, ' The overseas cooperation [is] the first large-scale deployment of electric mining trucks at one go to a mining project in Africa. It will help further upgrade the local mining equipment.' In a statement highlighting China's growing investment in Africa's mining sector, Teng Fei, head of overseas business at Breton Technology, emphasized the cutting-edge nature of the electric trucks recently sent to Zambia. " In terms of smart technologies, automation, and robotics, we've equipped the vehicles with numerous sensors for our clients to make the whole vehicle smart," Teng said. " We also provide an intelligent fleet management system that allows clients to efficiently manage the fleet through smart screen displays and software systems, and boost productivity." Zambia secures future of copper industry The move comes as Zambia, Africa's second largest copper producer, seeks to ramp up output while cutting its carbon footprint. Zambia's economy grew by 4% in 2023, driven by a strong rebound in copper production, which topped 820,000 tons and reaffirmed the mining sector's central role in powering the country's export earnings and economic recovery. Supporting this ambition, China has pledged up to $5 billion in investments across Zambia's copper and cobalt sectors by 2031. The commitment, to be delivered through the Chinese Mining Enterprise Association, aligns with Zambia's 2024 national strategy aimed at boosting production, generating jobs, and fostering innovation in the mining industry. By adopting electric-powered machinery, the country is aligning with global trends toward greener industrial practices. The introduction of these trucks is expected to enhance operational efficiency, lower emissions, and reduce long-term operating costs in Zambia's mining industry.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
04-07-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Africa News Live Updates: Two South African engineers released from Equatorial Guinea after two years in detention
Africa News Live Updates: Welcome to our live blog covering the latest from across Africa. Follow real-time updates on political transitions, security and peacekeeping operations, regional integration efforts, economic innovation, climate impacts, migration trends and grassroots activism. Track the continent's evolving stance on global affairs and its efforts to tackle internal and external challenges across sectors read more Welcome to Africa News Live Updates for Friday, July 4. We're tracking major developments across the continent, from political shifts and human rights milestones to public health insights and judicial rulings. In Equatorial Guinea, two South African engineers have been released after over two years in detention, ending a prolonged diplomatic and legal ordeal. Meanwhile in Nigeria, the head of the country's human rights commission has been elected to lead a key West African network, pledging reforms across the region's institutions. In other Nigerian news, a court handed down convictions in both cybercrime and illegal mineral possession cases, while the electoral commission received a dozen new applications for political parties—hinting at a more crowded political landscape ahead. Elsewhere, the FCT minister has authorised funds to address a teachers' strike in Abuja, and new wildlife footage from Uganda offers fresh clues on how deadly viruses can move from bats to other species a significant find in the context of global pandemic preparedness. Stay connected to Africa throughout the day: New video footage from a national park in Uganda shows a variety of predatory species feeding on and dispersing fruit bats, which are known natural reservoirs of infectious diseases, according to a report in The New York Times. The footage provides visual evidence of a potential pathway for zoonotic spillover, where viruses can leap from bats to other animals and potentially to humans. This observation is significant for understanding the mechanisms of disease transmission in the wild and informs global efforts for pandemic preparedness and surveillance. Nyesom Wike, the Minister of Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has approved the use of 10% of the internally generated revenue from the six area councils to settle outstanding dues owed to striking primary school teachers, Premium Times says in a report. The decision is a response to an ongoing strike by teachers, who have accused the council chairpersons of failing to implement the new national minimum wage and other previously reached agreements. Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has received 12 new applications from groups seeking to register as political parties between June 23 and July 2, according to a report in Premium Times. The receipt of these applications marks the first step in the commission's process for vetting potential new parties to ensure they meet the country's legal and constitutional requirements for official registration. A court in Nigeria's Kwara State has sentenced one individual to jail for the illegal possession of solid minerals and convicted three others in separate cases of internet fraud, according to a report in Premium Times. The individual jailed for the minerals offense, identified as Basit, was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in June 2024 in the Asa Local Government Area for transporting the resources without the required documentation. The convictions are part of a broader Nigerian government effort to address economic crimes, including illegal mining and cybercrime. The head of Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has been elected to serve as the president of the Network of National Human Rights Institutions in West Africa, according to a report in Premium Times. The new president stated that a primary focus of the tenure will be on enhancing the capabilities of the national institutions across the region. This includes addressing persistent challenges related to resourcing, governance structures, and the operational effectiveness of the member National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs). Two South African engineers have been released from jail in Equatorial Guinea after being detained for more than two years, Daily Maverick says in a report. The release concludes a prolonged period of incarceration for the two nationals in the Central African country. Welcome to Africa News Live Updates for Friday, July 4. We're tracking major developments across the continent, from political shifts and human rights milestones to public health insights and judicial rulings. In Equatorial Guinea, two South African engineers have been released after over two years in detention, ending a prolonged diplomatic and legal ordeal. Meanwhile in Nigeria, the head of the country's human rights commission has been elected to lead a key West African network, pledging reforms across the region's institutions. In other Nigerian news, a court handed down convictions in both cybercrime and illegal mineral possession cases, while the electoral commission received a dozen new applications for political parties—hinting at a more crowded political landscape ahead. Elsewhere, the FCT minister has authorised funds to address a teachers' strike in Abuja, and new wildlife footage from Uganda offers fresh clues on how deadly viruses can move from bats to other species a significant find in the context of global pandemic preparedness. Stay connected to Africa throughout the day:
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The Miracle Stories of Lone Plane Crash Survivors Include a 33,000-Feet Fall
Indian media are reporting that a British national named Viswashkumar Ramesh has walked away from the Air India plane crash as the lone survivor out of 242 people on the aircraft. It's a miracle, to be sure, confirmed by a police official, and now the passenger from seat 11A joins a short list of lone survivors who somehow lived through a major plane crash. They survived major plane crashes - in one case a 33,000-foot fall - and then survived the horrors of the ocean and a a small list, but the stories are astonishing. Vesna Vulovic Vulovic was one of the most astonishing stories in aviation history. According to BBC, she was a flight attendant "who survived the highest ever fall by a human being after her plane broke up at 33,000 feet." She was "working on a Yugoslav Airlines Douglas DC-9 on 26 Jan 1972 when a suspected bomb brought the plane down among mountains in Czechoslovakia," BBC reported, adding that all of the 27 other people on the plane died. How did Vulovic survive a fall of such magnitude? She "was trapped by a food cart in the plane's tail section as it plummeted to earth" and landed in a "snow-blanketed part of a mountainside, which was thought to have cushioned the impact." Vulovi died at age 66 in 2016. "I was broken, and the doctors put me back together again," she told the New York Times in 2008, according to BBC. "Nobody ever expected me to live this long." Juliane Koepcke The 17-year-old survived plummeting 3,000 meters to the ground in a plane crash, according to ABC Australia. That's 9,842 feet. She fell into the Peruvian rainforest. "A wild thunderstorm had destroyed the plane she was travelling in and the row of seats Juliane was still harnessed to twirled through the air as it fell," the Australian news site reported. The LANSA Flight 508, carrying 99 people, crashed in 1971, the site reported. Larisa Savitskaya According to El Pais, Savitskaya survived "a fall from 5,220 meters (more than 17,000 feet) holding onto a fragment of an aircraft." She and her husband were returning from their honeymoon in 1981 on Aeroflot Flight 811 when the plane "collided mid-air with a Tupolev Tu-16K strategic bomber over Amur Oblast in the Soviet Union, which is now Russia," El Pais reported. Only 20, she survived an "eight-minute fall and crashing into trees" as well as "three days out in the open with her injuries," but Soviet officials tried to hide the miracle from the public, El Pais reported of the crash that killed 37 people. A documentary revealed her story. 'Now I am good, I am a happy person,' she says, according to El País. Bahia Bakari At age 12, Bakari survived "the 2009 Yemenia Airways crash in the Comoros islands that killed all 152 others onboard," Africa News reported. The girl plunged "into the ocean" but lived to testify against the airline, the site reported. "I started to feel the turbulence, but nobody was reacting much, so I told myself it must be normal," Bakari said later, Africa News reported. "I felt something like an electric shock go through my body." She ended up holding onto a piece of plane debris in the water. "There's a black hole between the moment when I was seated in the plane and the moment I found myself in the water," she said, Africa News reported, adding that her mother died in the tragedy. Annette Herfkens Herfkens was the lone survivor on a plane that crashed on a journey "from Ho Chi Minh City to the Vietnamese coast," The Guardian reported. She was traveling with her fiancé on the plane, which carried 31 people. The Guardian described the horrific scene: "The plane had crashed into a mountain ridge. A stranger lay dead upon her." Her fiance "a little way off, lay back in his seat, also dead, a smile upon his lips." She was almost too scared to get on the plane. She had horrific injuries: "12 broken bones in her hip and knee alone; her jaw was hanging; one lung had collapsed," The Guardian reported. Huang Yu In 1948, "four armed Chinese men hijacked 'Miss Macao', a Catalina seaplane operated by a Macau Air Transport Company," resulting in the plane "crashing into the Zhujiang River estuary, killing all but one of the 27 people on board. This was the first recorded hijacking," reported Transport Security International magazine. According to the magazine, police interviewed "35-year-old, Huang Yu, who told them that when the plane was near Jiuzhou, the nose of the aircraft exploded suddenly." He said he "lost consciousness," but was wearing a life vest and there were problems with his story, the site Miracle Stories of Lone Plane Crash Survivors Include a 33,000-Feet Fall first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 12, 2025
Business Insider
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Insider
South African white residents condemn Trump's 'genocide' accusations
White South African residents of Noordhoek, Western Cape, including Afrikaners, have strongly rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's recent claims of a "white genocide" in South Africa. White residents of Noordhoek, Western Cape, have refuted U.S. President Donald Trump's statements of a 'white genocide' in South Africa. Critics view Trump's remarks as misrepresentative and potentially harmful to South Africa's reconciliation and social progress efforts. President Cyril Ramaphosa countered Trump's claims, stating that no evidence exists for racially motivated violence against white farmers. A group of white families in South Africa, including Afrikaner families from the quiet town of Noordhoek, have countered U.S. President Donald Trump's claims that white people in the country are being harmed or treated unfairly because of their skin color. They describe his statements as inaccurate, inflammatory, and disconnected from the country's nuanced racial dynamics. AfricaNews reports that residents of Noordhoek, a predominantly white town in the Cape Peninsula echoed President Ramaphosa's sentiments in interviews with China Central Television (CCTV), expressing disbelief and frustration over President Trump's claims. Many in the community stressed that crime is a national issue that affects all South Africans, regardless of race or background. 'There's crime amongst all the people,' said one resident. ' Of course, in poorer areas where there's less money, there's more crime. But that's true for both Black and white people. ' President Trump made the statement during a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House earlier this week. In a show of support for the white minority, the U.S. President in an office with his cabinet presented video clips and printed news reports, to buttress his position, claiming white South African farmers are being systematically murdered and dispossessed of land through government-enabled seizures. Ramaphosa denounces accusations President Ramaphosa denounced the allegations as a misrepresentation of facts. He emphasized that violent crime in South Africa affects all communities, and races, noting that no state policies discriminate against whites or promote racially motivated violence. Reports gathered from local white residents emphasized that South Africa's high crime rates are a national issue affecting all communities, rather than disproportionately impacting one racial group. Many expressed disbelief and frustration at Trump's portrayal of South Africa, with one Noordhoek resident acknowledging crime as a challenge in certain areas but denying racial targeting. President Trump's interventions have been perceived as overly critical, sparking renewed international debate, particularly in the United States. Some American politicians and media outlets have seized on isolated farm attack incidents to fuel a narrative of white persecution in South Africa. SA crime data shows conflicting reports However, official data from the South African Police Service (SAPS) consistently shows that farm attacks are not racially targeted, but rather form part of the country's broader and deeply entrenched crime epidemic. These incidents, which include robbery, assault, and in some cases murder, affect farmers of all races—Black, white, and mixed race alike—and are largely driven by socio-economic conditions, rural vulnerability, and general lawlessness rather than racially motivated animosity. Crime analysts and local human rights organizations have repeatedly emphasized that there is no statistical evidence to support the notion of a coordinated campaign or genocide against white farmers. In fact, most violent crime in South Africa occurs in urban areas and informal settlements, disproportionately affecting poor and marginalized communities. For Noordhoek residents, this misinformation and needless response from White House undermines South Africa's fragile efforts at reconciliation and social progress—moving forward.
Forbes
10-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How The Psychology Of Money Impacts Bitcoin Users
Young colleagues checking their e-banking account getty In the last year, I've interacted with bitcoin users in Africa to understand what it means to them. Through 10 physical events and online channels, including spaces and podcasts, I've seen the vast difference in meaning bitcoin evokes for different people. Three distinct perspectives regarding scarcity, trust, and risk define how people interact with Bitcoin in Africa. Africa bears a paradox of abundance and scarcity. The abundance lies in people-first culture, history, and vibrance in multiple facets of life. Scarcity lies in the distribution of economic resources thanks to regulatory environments that tend to stifle businesses. This is felt through youth unemployment, at 30% in some regions or as high as 67% in Kenya, as reported in the African Leadership Magazine. One question that tends to come up frequently is, 'How can I make money in Bitcoin?' The answer is simple: look out for Bitcoin companies hiring in communications, accounting, education, or business development, among other roles. Bitcoin Dada, for instance, has successfully trained eight cohorts of students, and some have secured roles in the global Bitcoin ecosystem. Alternatively, consider other jobs that can pay part of the earnings in Bitcoin. Some people use Bitcoin, not because they understand it, but because they want a frictionless method of payment for gig work. Others engage in the peer-to-peer markets, trading Bitcoin to profit from arbitrage opportunities in the ecosystem. Money provokes beliefs, conversations, and experiences about trust and distrust. This plays out socially and nationally in considering how financial institutions deliver on trust to their customers. In an age of cyber fraud, where someone can find money missing from their bank or mobile wallet, trust is a big deal. Cybercrime cost Kenya $83 million (KES 10 billion) in 2023 and could cost African countries up to 10% of their GDP, according to Africa News. Traditional financial systems have come a long way in offering convenience, privacy and security to their clients. One limitation lies in their centralization; since the larger the honeypot is, the more attractive it becomes to clients and cons. Clients search for a haven while cons seek to cash out on the efforts of others. You may ask, 'Is my money safe in Bitcoin?' This creates a trust bias for Bitcoin: some people adopt it out of distrust in centralized financial systems, while others distrust it since it's yet to be integrated with existing financial systems. Bitcoin users find value in its secure infrastructure and 24/7 liquidity to serve the purposes of remittance, savings, and speculation. Your money is safe when it's under your control and in your privacy. Which financial tools offer you control, value above inflation, and privacy? Risk is inevitable. We see it in currencies losing their value over time. The problem with this is that it's not an abstract number but a direct impact on people's lives and businesses. Salaries don't keep up with inflation, and businesses have limits on pricing their products and services to be sustainable. External debt looms with risks of higher taxation, which adds to the strain of unemployment on the continent. As cited in the Mo Ibrahim Foundation News as of 2023, Africa owes about $1.8 trillion in public and external debt, whose repayments crowd out enterprise and development. Bitcoin users find it attractive in jurisdictions that don't tax it because it offers a measure of relief from taxation. On the other hand, price volatility in Bitcoin deters people who view it as a gamble. 'What if Bitcoin goes to zero?' The probability of Bitcoin going to zero gets smaller with each day of its growth in adoption. In 16 years, it's recognized as a store of value globally, has relevance in supporting circular economies like Bitcoin Ekasi and is still used for cross-border payments around the world. The psychology of money affects Bitcoin users in a manner that's worth observing over time. Bitcoin users tend to embrace risk, take advantage of the global liquidity, and use it as an alternative means to create financial freedom. People who are yet to embrace Bitcoin as a concept or tool for their use hesitate out of risk aversion and avoid the learning curve that comes with using Bitcoin for different purposes. For a 16-year-old asset class, Bitcoin will go through more scrutiny, tests, and gradual wins as adoption grows in different stages.
