Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo will be the guest of honour at the second meeting of the African Maritime Forces Summit (AMFS), being held in Accra, Ghana, from Tuesday to Thursday inclusive. This edition of the AMFS is being co-hosted by the Ghana Navy, US Naval Forces Africa and US Marine Corps Forces Africa, and is being attended by government leaders and military chiefs from more than 40 countries. Further, the previously separate Naval Infantry Leaders Symposium-Africa (NILS-A) has been incorporated into this AMFS, making them a single event. This is the third meeting of NILS-A. (Very few African navies have dedicated corps of marines, but many have light infantry-style units, if only for base security/force protection tasks. A number of African navies, including Ghana’s, do have their own special forces units.)

Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection executive director Joel Netshitenzhe delivered the keynote address at the Black Business Summit on Monday, where he was optimistic of South Africa moving towards 4% in economic growth in the next two or three years, provided constraints are dealt with. His address reflected on the country’s political economy 30 years into democracy and asked “Where is South Africa headed in the next 30 years?” He noted various ongoing strategies that could ensure positive prospects for the country going forward. “These are elaborated in the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan: the infrastructure programme; Master Plans for sectors with potential; a strategic African pivot in economic relations; and focussed attention to absorption of the unskilled and semiskilled through speedier land reform, low-end manufacturing and support for micro and informal enterprises,” he stated. However, he noted that it would take some time before these strategies had a significant impact. “…but the economy can climb towards 4% growth in the coming two to three years, if we are able to address the binding constraints,” he added.

With skills having been identified as a key cross-cutting requirement for the Just Energy Transition Implementation Plan (JET-IP), the National Business Initiative (NBI), together with the Presidency’s JET project management unit (JET PMU) and Boston Consulting Group, have launched the JET Skilling for Employment Programme (JET SEP). South Africa has an opportunity to unlock 20% more of its current gross domestic product through green initiatives, which will need between 150 000 and 200 000 direct jobs by 2025, and between 350 000 and 400 000 jobs by 2050, related to solar photovoltaic, wind and battery storage technology installations, NBI CEO and JET SEP steering committee member Shameela Soobramoney pointed out during an April 29 briefing.

Mauritius’ top telecommunications company is in talks with operators including Reliance Jio Infocomm and Orange for a new undersea cable linking Africa, Indian Ocean islands and Asia, improving redundancy in region hit by breakdowns. The new line named T4 will replace the South Africa Far East (SAFE) cable that’s coming to end of life in 2027, a quarter of a century after commissioning. T4 will have 1 000 times more capacity than the SAFE, according to Kapil Reesaul, chief executive officer of the Port Louis-based Mauritius Telecom.

GE Vernova invested $10.2-million in Xlinks First, the UK company planning a massive renewable power project in Morocco and a 4 000 km undersea cable to deliver the energy to Britain. The investment helped close the latest funding round for Xlinks First, capping $110-million raised to date, according to CEO James Humfrey. It’s an incremental step for the company as it advances a project it estimates will cost as much as £24-billion ($30.1-billion) to construct.

The leadership of organised business, labour, community and government at the National Development and Labour Council has urged all employers to support and allow their employees vote in the upcoming general elections on May 29. Nedlac explains that while election day is a public holiday, there are still those who are required to work, such as those in the essential services and in the retail and agricultural sectors. “Our democracy is only sustainable if every registered voter is allowed to vote on election day,” Nedlac said. The Labour Council encouraged all employers to observe election day as a paid public holiday and, where possible, to give workers the day off. “This will enable all eligible workers to cast their votes and reduce pressure on voting stations as people rush to vote at night. It will also avoid voters being at risk of crime at night,” it said. It added that for those employers providing an essential service or needing to work on election day, they should provide adequate time to for their staff to go to their voting stations.

More than 70% of critical minerals needed for the transition to net zero emissions will be at risk from climate disruption by 2050, professional services firm PwC says. The firm's latest report, titled ‘Climate Risks to Nine Key Commodities Report’, shows that the production of copper, cobalt and lithium minerals crucial for the clean energy transition could face significant or higher drought risk by 2050 under a high-emissions scenario. Currently, these critical minerals are only at a 10% risk.

The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has approved the Climate Change Bill. “The Climate Change Bill will provide the much-needed legal framework to regulate activities that contribute to climate change; ensure an effective response in all spheres of government and by society at large; ensure a just transition; and maximise the opportunities afforded to our economy by the global shift to a green economy,” says Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy.

Eight major international and national nuclear industry associations have urged the Group of Seven (G7) major democratic industrial economies to take steps to further develop nuclear energy capacity and technology, to help counter climate change. They also welcomed the opportunity to provide input to the G7 Climate, Energy, and Environment Ministers meeting, currently under way in Turin, Italy. (The G7 countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US, while the European ...

The Grower Development Company of the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA) has partnered with the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) to bolster commercialisation prospects for black farmers producing citrus in the province. The 18-month agreement signed between the parties will support the commercialisation activities of ten black farmers out of 37 known producers in the Eastern cape, as well as break down the barriers to entry to the export market.