African governments divided over Hamas-Israel war
Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, said it was false the government was offering support to Hamas. South Africa has over the years been the most vocal of African countries against Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories of Gaza Strip and the West Bank. While South Africa and Israel’s rift is widening, the latter’s relations with most Sub-Saharan countries are on a high. The aide, Femi Fani-Kayode, was referring to the action the Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) initially set to take after the July coup in Niger. Worse of all is the fact that the rest of the world would not have given a damn,” he saidThe Hamas-Israel conflict is the latest war to elicit divisions among African governments.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 20, 2023 13:10 UTC
Pikasso integrates with LMX programmatic SSP
This collaboration will see LMX seamlessly incorporate Pikasso's dynamic DOOH screens into its platform, granting advertisers streamlined access to an extensive audience across the Levant, North Africa, and West Africa regions. Pikasso shares this excitement “Integrating our DOOH screens with LMX opens up a realm of opportunities for the Asian Market to connect with audiences of the MENA & West Africa Regions. This partnership represents a commitment to expand OOH advertising opportunities by both LMX and Pikasso. About LMX:Location Media Xchange (LMX) is the supply-side arm of the Moving Walls Group, providing enterprise software solutions for Out-of-Home media owners. Today, more than 500 media owners worldwide trust the LMX platform.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 20, 2023 12:03 UTC
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations held in Algiers
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in Algiers on Thursday to condemn US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for "complicity" in the violence in Gaza. The protests come days after the country's foreign minister Ahmed Attaf expressed Algeria's "full solidarity" with the Palestinians. A wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations have swept across North Africa in recent days in response to the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. "The entire Algerian people are in solidarity with the Palestinian people and stand by their side. The Palestinian people are in distress and need the support of the Arab and Muslim communities," said Khaled Sofiane, a pro-Palestinian protester in Algeria.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 20, 2023 11:59 UTC
Juan Valdez makes North Africa debut with Egypt outlet
The Colombian coffee chain plans to open 60 stores in Egypt across the next five years to consolidate its presence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with a UAE debut also planned in December 2023Juan Valdez plans to open 60 stores in Egypt by the end of 2028 | Photo credit: Juan ValdezColombia's Juan Valdez has entered Egypt with a store in the historic city of Giza. Juan Valdez highlighted Egypt as a flagship market for the brand, particularly given its high tourist footfall. Juan Valdez forecasts it will reach 60 stores in Egypt by the end of 2028. World Coffee Portal research forecasts the market will reach 830 stores by 2027. Juan Valdez has also announced plans to open its first UAE store in Dubai in December 2023, the first of 100 planned outlets in the country.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 20, 2023 10:18 UTC
FTSE 100: Rentokil Share Price Crashes, North American Demand Weakens
The share price of the FTSE 100-listed Rentokil Initial PLC (GB:RTO) crashed yesterday after the pest control company flagged weaker demand in North America in its Q3 update. This was mainly driven by its acquisition of Terminix and organic revenue growth of 4.3%. While North American organic revenue increased by 2.2%, the U.S. wholesale distribution business experienced a decline of 2.5% in Q3. Similarly, Bank of America Securities analyst Simona Sarli also reiterated a Buy rating, forecasting a 35% growth in the share price. The Rentokil share price forecast is 661.75p, which is 35% higher than the current price level.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 20, 2023 07:48 UTC
North Korea Taps IT Contract Workers to Fund Weapons Program
Cybercrime , Cyberwarfare / Nation-State Attacks , Fraud Management & CybercrimeNorth Korea Taps IT Contract Workers to Fund Weapons ProgramThousands of IT Workers Defrauded US Firms to Earn Hundreds of Millions of DollarsA group of North Korean workers march in Pyongyang. (Image: Shutterstock)Thousands of North Korean IT workers hid their identities to win hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of IT contractual work from overseas companies and used the money to fund the country's weapons development program, U.S. and South Korean agencies said. The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that it has seized 17 websites used by North Korean IT workers to defraud US and foreign businesses. "A significant portion of the funds earned by North Korean IT personnel are paid to these organizations to support North Korea's nuclear and missile development," the ministry said. The joint advisory warned that North Korean IT workers also tried to access source code for sensitive projects and applications and steal intellectual property.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 20, 2023 07:33 UTC
OceanHub Africa accelerates 6 startups through 8-month programme
OceanHub Africa has concluded its fourth cohort with a bootcamp for the six startups that participated in the eight-month accelerator programme. OceanHub Africa aims to support and nurture environmentally conscious, profit-driven businesses that aim to combat global warming, overexploitation, and pollution of the ocean. Its accelerator programme, which has just concluded its fourth edition, connects such startups with a network of highly qualified stakeholders and facilitators, and provides them with sustainable pathways towards stable profits and scalable growth opportunities throughout Africa. Six startups participated in its latest programme, namely Kenya’s Kuza Freezer, Tanzania’s Healthy Seaweed Co, Reunion’s Reef Pulse, Egypt’s ReNile, Tunisia’s Tunisia Baits, and South Africa’s Akili. On the final day of the bootcamp, participating startups showcased their innovations and pitched for potential investments in front of a mock-investment panel.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 20, 2023 07:09 UTC
Meet the Investor: Maya Horgan Famodu, Ingressive Capital
But Maya Horgan Famodu is one of them. The founder of Ingressive Capital, one of Africa’s most active early-stage investors, Horgan Famodu is now well established within the continent’s startup space, and is on the verge of unveiling a huge new fund. Fortunately things have changed but it was really hard back in the day,” Horgan Famodu said. Talking of Paystack, this was just one of three exits from Ingressive Fund I, through which it did 26 first cheques, and 13 follow-on. We have had the opportunity to exit 100 per cent of our shares through secondaries, which is our intended exit strategy,” Horgan Famodu said.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 20, 2023 06:52 UTC
BeiGene Expands Presence in Middle East and North Africa Region with Opening of United Arab Emirates Office
BeiGene, Ltd. (NASDAQ: BGNE; HKEX: 06160; SSE: 688235), a global biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing innovative medicines worldwide, announced the first step in the company’s expansion in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with the formal opening of its office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The new office is located within Dubai Science Park part of TECOM Group PJSC, the region’s leading science-focused business community that is home to more than 450 customers and 5,500 professionals, and will house BeiGene’s administrative, commercial, and medical colleagues. Marwan Abdulaziz Janahi, Senior Vice President of Dubai Science Park, part of TECOM Group, said: “Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, affecting millions of people and their families every year. “Dubai Science Park is committed to making a meaningful impact in cancer treatment and nurturing innovative partnerships within the healthcare and biotechnology communities to benefit patients around the world. Dubai Science Park is part of TECOM Group’s portfolio of 10 districts that includes Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City, Dubai Production City, Dubai Knowledge Park, Dubai International Academic City, Dubai Design District (d3), and Dubai Industrial City.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 20, 2023 05:57 UTC
Balancing nature, tourism key to sustainable coasts
This balance becomes particularly relevant when considering how coastal destinations, in particular, are promoting sustainable tourism. South Africa’s 2 850 km of coastline is a massive domestic and international tourism draw. It is a pertinent question how coastal destinations can balance the economic benefits of tourism with the need to protect highly sensitive habitats. “Conscious, sustainable tourism is the only way to ensure the continued protection of South African wildlife,” Jennings said. The hotels that host visitors to South Africa’s most popular coastal destinations also have roles to play.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 20, 2023 02:36 UTC
North Korean State Actors Attack Critical Bug in TeamCity Server
Two North Korean state-backed threat groups, whom Microsoft is tracking as Diamond Sleet and Onyx Sleet, are actively exploiting CVE-2023-42793, a critical remote code execution (RCE) bug in on-premises versions of JetBrains TeamCity continuous integration and delivery server. Critical Authentication Bypass VulnerabilityBased on previous campaigns, Diamond Sleet presents a threat mainly to organizations in IT services, media, and defense-related sectors globally. "While the two threat actors are exploiting the same vulnerability, Microsoft observed Diamond Sleet and Onyx Sleet utilizing unique sets of tools and techniques following successful exploitation," Microsoft said. The software vendor described the vulnerability as enabling an unauthenticated attack to perform a RCE attack and gain administrative privileges on an affected, Internet-exposed TeamCity server. JetBrains released a fixed version of TeamCity (version 2023.05.4) at time of vulnerability disclosure and strongly urged organizations to upgrade to it, to mitigate exposure to the threat.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 20, 2023 02:26 UTC
African Football League: All you need sabi about AFL di continent newest elite club competition
All you need sabi about African Football League di continent newest elite club competitionWia dis foto come from, AFL Website7 hours wey don passAfrica new elite club competition, di African Football League (AFL), go kick off on Friday wen di opening game take place for Tanzania. Di AFL na new competition for di continent leading clubs, eight of whom go battle am out wit hope to win di $4million prize for di champions. Di brainchild of Fifa and im president Gianni Infantino, wey announce for February 2020 say di continent need one new pan-African club competition, di AFL - for im own words - "dey set to change di future of club football on di continent". Back in 2020, Infantino bin list some of di weaknesses e bin notice for African club football, say di continent lack "proper competition infrastructure" and existing tournaments such as di African Champions League and Confederations Cup be "30-40 times less successful dan Europe". Wit Fifa wey dey work in partnership wit di Confederation of African Football (Caf), di hope na say di AFL no go only raise di global profile of di continent clubs but also generate increased revenue.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 19, 2023 23:29 UTC
L’Oréal third-quarter sales rise 11% as travel retail drags
By region, North Asia sales were down 4.8 per cent. The drag of travel retail brought North Asia down sequentially. He noted that travel retail also impacted sales for the Luxe category, which includes brands such as Lancôme, Aesop, Kiehl’s and the cosmetics and fragrance licences for luxury brands like Giorgio Armani and Prada. LVMH’s Perfumes & Cosmetics division reported 9 per cent organic sales growth to €1.96 billion in the third quarter. “Weakness in North Asia travel retail was offset by strong performance in Europe and emerging markets excluding China,” Bruno Monteyne, senior analyst, personal care at Bernstein says.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 19, 2023 20:30 UTC
Morocco: King Mohammed VI chairs council of ministers – The North Africa Post
Morocco has demonstrated, under the wise leadership of His Majesty the King, may God preserve Him, a positive response and high effectiveness to this natural disaster. In application of the High Royal Instructions, an integrated, multidimensional program has been drawn up, encompassing all sectors and aimed at rebuilding and upgrading the affected regions. In application of the High Royal Instructions, priority will be given to the operationalization of the new housing assistance program. The Minister pointed out that the Finance Bill is based on assumptions of a growth rate of 3.7% in 2024 and a budget deficit of 4% of GDP. After approving the general guidelines of the 2024 Finance Bill, the Council of Ministers approved a draft law and a draft decree relating to the military field.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 19, 2023 20:27 UTC
MENA: Officials evacuate staff from several country embassies in Middle East and North Africa as of Oct. 19 /update 1
EventIsrael has evacuated diplomatic staff from its embassies in several countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, including Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco, as of Oct. 19 amid heightened tensions in connection with its war with Hamas. Israeli authorities have increased security measures at diplomatic missions globally, and staff at other diplomatic missions in the MENA region have been requested to stay at home. The evacuation of remaining Israeli diplomatic missions in the MENA region is possible in the coming days. On-site services, as well as document delivery to and from diplomatic missions, are likely to be disrupted until further notice. AdviceAvoid any demonstrations that may materialize near Israeli diplomatic facilities.
Source:The North Africa Journal
October 19, 2023 20:12 UTC