June 4, 2024 /Economy/ — The BRICS bloc has been in the news recently due to a significant development: it doubled its membership in January 2024. Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates were all invited to join Atlantic Council. This expansion has the potential to reshape the bloc’s influence, but it also comes with challenges. Continue reading
Tag Archives: JOHANNESBURG
International Jazz Day 2023 Worldwide Celebration Concludes with Extraordinary All-Star Global Concert
The 12th annual International Jazz Day came to a thrilling close with a spectacular All-Star Global Concert featuring performances from Beijing, Beirut, Johannesburg, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Vienna and beyond. The All-Star Global Concert showcased celebrated jazz artists including Cyrille Aimée (France), Ambrose Akinmusire (USA), Thana Alexa (Croatia), John Beasley (USA), Dee Dee Bridgewater (USA), Musekiwa Chingodza (Zimbabwe), Emmet Cohen (USA), Kurt Elling (USA), Oran Etkin (Israel), Tom Gansch (Austria), Christian McBride (USA), Sérgio Mendes (Brazil), Marcus Miller (USA), Thandi Ntuli (South Africa), Dianne Reeves (USA), Antonio Sánchez (Mexico), Somi (Rwanda) and many others. Continue reading
Will South Africa’s street vendors go bust in a cashless world?
Kim Harrisberg Published: October 12, 2022
- Digital payments on the rise in South Africa
- People without mobile phones, bank accounts excluded
- Calls for innovation to include informal economy
JOHANNESBURG – For more than a decade, musician Thomas Nhassavele has been busking next to the parking payment machine at Johannesburg’s Rosebank Mall, where drivers often dropped their change into his guitar case. Continue reading
South African teens skip school to chase risky crypto dreams
- Young South Africans see crypto as way to quick wealth
- Poverty, high unemployment pushes them to crypto
- Users not fully aware of risks, vulnerable to scams
By Kimberly Mutandiro
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 26 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – John first heard of cryptocurrency three years ago, when the teenager came across slick YouTube videos and Facebook posts of other South Africans claiming to have become wealthy overnight with bitcoin.
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South African tech entrepreneurs tackle digital divide in townships
- Tech education taken to South Africa’s townships
- WiFi access and apps could boost informal economy
- But technology alone is not the answer, experts warn
By Kim Harrisberg
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Moss Marakalala was 11 when he first used a laptop at an after-school programme in Johannesburg, sparking an interest in technology that inspired him to provide young people like himself from South African townships with digital education. Continue reading
EskomSePush alerts users to rolling blackouts while Panda provides spaces to vent their frustrations
- Power outages by Eskom lead to surge in app downloads
- Apps help build community dialogue, solve problems
- Digital literacy needed to protect data privacy
By Kim Harrisberg
At the start of each school day, South African teacher Lori Cooperman prepares her lessons, plans students’ meals and – most importantly – checks an app to see if there will be electricity. Continue reading
As online hate speech hits Africa, social media firms told to act
- Online hate speech targets Zimbabweans in South Africa
- Widespread digital abuse also seen in Ghana, Kenya
- Culturally sensitive content moderation key, say activists
By Kim Harrisberg and Nita Bhalla
JOHANNESBURG/NAIROBI, Aug 3 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Social media used to be a source of light entertainment for Nora, a 47-year-old Zimbabwean domestic worker living in South Africa. But lately, it has become a source of fear.
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Startups eye metaverse, NFTs, to solve Africa’s economic woes
- Startups target unemployment and governance issues
- Founders launch virtual African nation, marketplace
- Critics fear replication of continent’s inequalities
By Kim Harrisberg
JOHANNESBURG, July 13 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – It might sound like science fiction, but a Nigerian-born tech entrepreneur thinks he has found a way for Africans to escape problems like inequality and bad governance – a virtual nation born online.
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