Returning sea migrants to Libya is illegal- Italy's Court of Cassation
Sending sea migrants back to Libya is unlawful. A ruling by Italy's top appeals court on Feb 1 upheld earlier decisions by two lower courts. The Court of Cassation also upheld the conviction of the captain of an Italian towboat, Asso 28, who in 2018 rescued 101 migrants from a rubber dinghy and returned them to Libya. The rescue which had pregnant women and children were among the migrants took place in international waters about 105 km off Libya, according to the court. The Libya to Italy crossing is one of the most-used sea migration routes in the world.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 19, 2024 11:57 UTC
Algeria struggles to keep up economically with Morocco in Sahel – The North Africa Post
But observers see that Algerian diplomatic blunders are discouraging Sahel countries from engaging with Algiers. These announcements were met with no enthusiasm by Sahel countries where young leaders are taking their distances from the Algerian regime. Most Moroccan investments in Africa and the Sahel in particular are led by a vibrant private sector. Sahel countries are right to question how a country with such import restrictions would enter into a free trade agreement? Before trying to compete with Morocco economically in the Sahel, Algeria should have launched reforms to diversify its economy and improve the competitiveness of its small private sector.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 19, 2024 11:43 UTC
Moroccan Prime Minister hints at upcoming reshuffle – The North Africa Post
Head of the Moroccan government Aziz Akhannouch said his cabinet needed a reshuffle as the government assesses its mid-term achievement. Speaking to his RNI party members at a rally, Akhannouch defended his cabinet saying he ensures “to guarantee harmony and cohesion within the government’s majority.”The specter of the change of PAM leadership hovered around the meeting. PAM elected a trio led by current housing minister Fatima Zahra Mansouri to lead the party succeeding to justice minister Abdellatif Ouahbi. Government’s spokesman has earlier denied the accusations saying cabinet members were responding to MPs questions. At mid-term, Akhannouch government faces a series of challenges notably drought and social demands by different sectors calling for wage hikes.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 19, 2024 11:39 UTC
Kaspersky shares cyberthreat landscape insights
During Kaspersky’s 9th annual Cyber Security Weekend – META 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, experts delved into the changing cyberthreat landscape in the region. Kaspersky’s Cyber Immunity approach was highlighted as a strategy to develop solutions that are highly resistant to compromise, thereby minimizing potential vulnerabilities. In Africa, Kaspersky’s telemetry revealed a 29% decrease in overall cyberthreats in South Africa in 2023 compared to 2022. Nigeria experienced a 10% decrease in overall threats but witnessed an 8% increase in banking malware attacks aimed at stealing online banking credentials. Amin Hasbini, Director of META Research Center Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) at Kaspersky, remarked on the evolving cybersecurity landscape and the increasing diversity and sophistication of cyber threats.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 19, 2024 11:28 UTC
SmartOne expands North American footprint
by MTHULISI SIBANDAJOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE Madagascan-founded firm, SmartOne, is establishing its presence in North America. This follows the acquisition of Nadeau Innovations, a consultancy in artificial intelligence/ machine learning, robotics and emerging technologies. “Joining forces with SmartOne is a natural progression for Nadeau Innovations,” said Nadeau. A family business and a pioneer in the field of data labeling for AI, SmartOne was founded in 2012. “SmartOne’s acquisition of Nadeau Innovations marks a new chapter in our journey to drive positive and impactful AI advancements,” said Shahysta Hassim, CEO of SmartOne.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 19, 2024 10:35 UTC
Investing in water resilience to grow Africa’s green economy
This year’s Africa’s Green Economy Summit will feature a water track, highlighting the important role well-planned water infrastructure plays in climate adaptation and mitigation and the dearth of investment in this space. Hellen Njoki Wanjohi-Opil, Resilience Africa Cities Lead (Cities Programme) at the World Resources Institute, will participate this week in a session on Water Resilience in African Cities at Africa’s Green Economy Summit. Join ESI Africa at Africa's Green Economy Summit this week, 21 to 23 February, at the Canal Walk Conference CentreHellen Njoki Wanjohi-Opil. Innovation in green economy investment opportunities in AfricaAddressing water resilience can lead to job creation in Africa’s green economy“The WRI is really excited to be moderating a session on water resilience in African cities at the upcoming Africa’s Green Economy Summit. Green projects to present investment pipeline of over $1bn at Africa’s Green Economy SummitThe full programme for AGES is available online.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 19, 2024 10:32 UTC
The Economic Fallout Of The Gaza Conflict For Iran
Iran’s involvement in the regional conflict hinders its economic growth efforts, further reduces the value of the Iranian rial, and decreases government income. On February 15th, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) released a report on the Global Economic Fallout of a Regional War. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has underscored the adverse economic impact of Iran's participation in the Gaza conflict on local and regional businesses. The IMF cautions that if the Gaza conflict escalates, Yemen's economy could shrink by up to 8% in 2024, while Iran and Lebanon might face GDP declines of 5% and 20%, respectively. Furthermore, the potential for trade disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz looms if Iran becomes directly involved in the Gaza conflict.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 19, 2024 10:25 UTC
Safeguarding Data in the Age of Cyber Threats: A Proactive Approach
Hence, businesses must deploy data protection measures capable of shielding both their assets and data repositories. Data protection tools devoid of built-in cyber resilience risk compromising data integrity and safety during backup procedures. Restoration of affected data from backups containing dormant malware only perpetuates the cycle, necessitating verification of data integrity before recovery or transfer. In today’s business realm, data serves as the lifeblood of enterprises, underscoring the need for robust data security measures to ensure business continuity. Enterprises must proactively safeguard their data and leverage available tools to uphold data integrity, reassuring both internal stakeholders and customers.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 19, 2024 10:04 UTC
Sub-Saharan Africa: Investment in renewables needs to increase five-fold to meet COP28 goals – The North Africa Post
Sub-Saharan Africa’s investment in renewable energy needs to be boosted five-fold to meet the commitment of increasing global clean energy capacity to 11,500 gigawatts by 2030, according to a recent study. At COP28, governments reached a consensus to triple global renewable energy installations by 2030, to cap global warming at 1.5°C. But for Sub-Saharan Africa to play its part in achieving this target, investments must increase from $20 billion in 2023 to $100 billion annually by 2030, as outlined by Climate Analytics. The report has also found that Sub-Saharan Africa scales relatively quickly at 6.6x due to low levels of existing renewable capacity and high energy access needs. But it cautions that achieving such a rapid renewables rollout in Sub-Saharan Africa would require significantly upscaled international climate finance.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 19, 2024 10:03 UTC
Introducing SORA: What is it & What Makes it Unique?
OpenAI, the company renowned for the innovative chatbot ChatGPT, has introduced a new tool named Sora, capable of generating hyper-realistic videos based on text commands. Sora is an AI model designed to bring to life vivid and imaginative scenes from simple text instructions. Sora represents the latest advancement in generative artificial intelligence from OpenAI, following the success of the widely used image-generation AI model Dall-E. Furthermore, Sora integrates with the large-scale language model ChatGPT to comprehend natural language and generate diverse and relevant content. Ultimately, OpenAI envisions Sora as a tool that inspires and empowers people to create captivating videos that enrich the world.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 19, 2024 09:42 UTC
A Growing Black Market for Foreign Currencies Signals the Economic Woes Plaguing Algeria
The state, reluctant to allow the exchange rate to adjust fully, has proven incapable of limiting demand among the population as confidence in the dinar remains low. The widening parallel exchange rate underscores how every day Algerians have lost buying power as the government has juggled competing priorities, trying to combat inflation and maintain state spending, subsidies, and price controls that keep people afloat. In the oil-rich North African nation, business owners are rumored to be dumping their assets and scrounging up euros on the black market so their wealth isn’t stuck. Middle-class people also rely on euros and dollars to buy things in short supply like medicine, vehicle parts, or certain foods. Last week, the official exchange rate allowed one euro to be sold for 145 Algerian dinar, while on the same day, currency traders were selling one euro for nearly 241 dinars on the black market — 66% higher than the official exchange rate.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 19, 2024 08:45 UTC
Fintech takes knocks, but remains out front in midst of African tech’s “funding winter”
African fintech startup funding fell by one-third in an extremely difficult 2023, but the sector remains way out in front as the investor favourite within the wider African tech space. After bucking global trends in a record-breaking 2022, African tech saw a reset of sorts in 2023, as the global capital shortage began to bite. The number of funded ventures, and the total funding raised, declined for the first time since 2016, though not as dramatically as many had feared. Essentially, the fall in fintech funding mirrored that of the general market, meaning there were plenty of sectors that suffered more badly. Nine sectors saw larger percentage drops in total funding, including, in the case of e-commerce and retail-tech, its traditionally largest competitor, which saw the biggest decline of all at almost 80 per cent.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 19, 2024 06:19 UTC
Morocco hands over PA-UfM Presidency to Spain – The North Africa Post
Spain took over from Morocco the rotating presidency of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM) for a one-year term. During the handover, Francina Armengol, President of the Congress of Deputies of Spain and Vice-President of the PA-UfM, commended Morocco’s efforts during its presidency and for hosting the 17th session. She noted that Spain, like Morocco, would share its expertise in this area with all Euro-Mediterranean countries, to promote justice, economic prosperity, and social cohesion in the region. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean is a platform that promotes Mediterranean dialogue and cooperation. Permanent observers to the Assembly include the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, Libya, the European Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee.
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 18, 2024 18:51 UTC
The four big clashes of the African Union heads of state summit
AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat said that over his past seven years at the helm, he has noticed “a decline in the beautiful spirit of African solidarity and pan-Africanism, the soul of our renaissance” daily. There's more to this story Get unlimited access to our exclusive journalism and features today. Our award-winning team of correspondents and editors report from over 54 African countries, from Cape Town to Cairo, from Abidjan to Abuja to Addis Ababa. Subscribe Now cancel anytime Already a a subscriber Sign In
Source:The North Africa Journal
February 18, 2024 15:53 UTC