Author: NLM Correspondent

In the months since the pandemic cratered the price of oil, the financial fallout has spread from drilling companies to refineries and oilfield maintenance companies. Now the crash has claimed another, more unlikely victim: The only system built to capture carbon emissions from a coal plant in the US, one of only two worldwide. The $1 billion system, known as Petra Nova, was built in 2017 to catch CO2 from one unit of a coal plant near Houston. That plant is one of the dirtiest in Texas, both in terms of climate and air quality impacts. Petra Nova was meant…

Aviation has yet to take full advantage of the potential of APIs, and lags behind others such as Telecoms and Fintech. The air transport industry has been profoundly altered over the past few months and will continue to do so amid the ongoing shifts from COVID-19. Airports are still unusually quiet in many places and many airlines fear they may not recover their losses from seeing thousands of planes grounded. The knock-on effect is already causing huge job losses with fears of greater future potential redundancies, including at major airlines, travel companies and ground handlers globally. While some holidaying passengers…

Data analytics can reduce mundane, manual tasks and enable global trade teams to focus on strategic planning to deliver tangible benefits to their companies. By Keith Haurie   Customs authorities around the world are embracing the use of big data and data analytics, a development that creates risk and opportunities for importers and exporters. Indeed, the World Customs Organization (WCO) has pushed this agenda for several years. In 2016, for example, the WCO’s International Customs Day carried the theme ’Digital Customs: Progressive Engagement’. Customs agencies were urged to adopt the latest technology, and WCO members were invited to use cloud computing, blockchain,…

By Elijah Munyi The US and Kenya formally launched negotiations for a free trade agreement on July 8, 2020. With the US gearing up for presidential elections in a few months, these talks may not draw much global attention. But as a prototype for evaluating the substance of future US-Africa trade relations, a lot rides on Washington using this deal to make a bold statement of its commitment to effective North-South free trade agreements. The US is the third most important destination for Kenyan exports after Uganda and Pakistan, accounting for 8% of its total exports. Kenya exported goods worth $527 million (Sh530…

While premature deindustrialisation is a global phenomenon, the process will be more consequential for the continent. By Brahima S Coulibaly For decades, economic growth and structural transformation was equated with manufacturing-led development. This applied to most of today’s advanced and many emerging economies. With a global trend of premature deindustrialisation, an entirely different pathway could now open up for Africa, as examples from several countries show. Economists have long regarded economic transformation – the movement of workers from lower to higher productivity employment – as essential to successful economic development. Traditionally, the development of export-oriented industries, notably manufacturing, has been…

The case of the marauding Executive and a whimpering Parliament BY KEVIN MOTAROKI In the seven years Jubilee has been in power, it is countable the number of times that Parliament has stood up to the Executive. The two instances that quickly come to mind are the current standoff over the third basis of revenue sharing among counties, and secondly, in 2018 when Parliament rejected the Executive’s plan to implement a 16 per cent value added tax (VAT) on fuel. But even the two instances have to be put in their proper context: The standoff over the new formula for…

By Peter Wanyonyi The social evolution of agricultural versus pastoralist societies has long been the subject of fascinating research in African anthropology. One theory attributes the relative ethnic characters of African societies to their traditional economies. To wit: Agricultural societies relied mostly on crops for survival. When a farmer has planted crops, they take time to grow and be ready for harvesting. In the intervening period, any sort of tumult that results in the farmer being uprooted represents an existential threat, since the crops cannot simply be uprooted and moved elsewhere: the interloper takes them over, the farmer loses and…

By Antony Mutunga In recent times, the number of governments depending on Internet shutdowns to control protests or violence between communities has been on the rise. According to the #KeepItOn report on Internet shutdowns in 2019 published by AccessNow, the number of internet shutdowns across the world have increased from a total of 75 cases in 2016 to 213 in 2019. Internet shutdowns are basically intentional disruptions on the internet and mobile applications making them inaccessible or effectively unusable for a particular group of people or region. With the increase expected to continue, Asia and Africa remain the most affected…

By Mark MacCarthy Recounting her experiences working with Barack Obama as a candidate and as president, Alyssa Mastromonaco says he would often challenge his staff with the question, “Uh, who thought this was a good idea?” It was an attempt to ensure his advisers took personal responsibility for the recommendations they made, especially when things went wrong. It’s about time someone asked that question about facial recognition software. It would oblige the developers and users of the technology to explain exactly why they think it’s a good idea to create something with that level of power. Asking that question of facial recognition…

Without significant intervention some of Africa’s most important heritage will be lost as a result of the impacts of climate change over coming decades. By Joanne Clarke, Elizabeth Edna Wangui, Grace W. Ngaruiya and Nick Brooks Very few academics or policy makers are talking about the impact of climate change on heritage. Yet heritage is essential for social wellbeing, for identity creation, for safeguarding traditional knowledge and livelihoods and for sustainable development. The conversations taking place are mainly on the effects of climate change in wealthier countries. One recent study estimates that only 1% of research on the impacts of climate change on heritage is related to Africa.…