Inclusive Economy in Rural Africa and Other Reports
Every week, RuralReporters.com collate reports on development issues in rural Africa and its environs.
This report includes some of our top picks from recent must-read research, interviews, blogs, and in-depth articles, carefully selected to help you keep up with global issues.
Here are some of the updates you may have missed from the previous week:
140,000 rural Ugandans to get power by 2022
A total of 140,000 rural Ugandans are to benefit from potential new connections courtesy of Uganda and the US governments together with other Power Africa partners.
This was revealed by senior officials from Uganda and the US together with other Power Africa partners during the celebration of the Power Africa Uganda Partnership Day, an event that highlighted important developments in Uganda’s electrification efforts.
Power Africa coordinator, Andrew M. Herscowitz, handed over master plans to the Ugandan Government for three rural electricity service territories, a statement from the US embassy in Kampala said.
Mixed reality will impact rural Africa
Mixed reality technologies will unveil an entire world of possibilities when it comes to the way in which we approach problem solving throughout Africa. Given that significant percentages of the continent’s population still live in rural areas, digital access to critical professional services is a potential game changer. This is particularly true in healthcare. According to the World Economic Forum, it is estimated that while Africa has a quarter of the world’s disease burden, it is home to just 2% of its doctors.
Already telemedicine is playing an increasing role in the US healthcare landscape, and given South Africa’s high rate of mobile penetration, it is expected to grow significantly. According to the report, Africa Telemedicine Outlook and Opportunities, while South Africa’s regulations won’t currently allow for doctors to converse with patients over telemedicine platforms, conversations between doctors in rural hospitals and specialists in more urban areas would be of significant assistance with diagnosis and treatment.
Mbeki: Africa Must Focus On Rural Areas to Achieve Inclusive Economy
South Africa’s former president, Thabo Mbeki says that in order for African countries to achieve an inclusive economy, the economic focus needs to shift to rural areas.
He says that a strong state and leadership will also help in setting up programmes suitable for both urban and rural areas.
“But to achieve these things I’m talking about, you need a strong state but in addition to that, you need a progressive leadership.”
Kenyan Voters Starting to Shun Handouts Culture, Youngest MP Says
A 23-year-old university student, who broke the mould of Kenya’s corrupt political system by getting elected to parliament after a campaign conducted on foot, says Kenyans are gradually learning not to choose leaders who simply buy their vote.
John Paul Mwirigi, was elected this month to the rural constituency of Igembe South, at the foot of Mount Kenya, beating four well-funded candidates, who roared around the tea and banana farming area in convoys of sleek four-by-four vehicles.
Kenya: Food Insecurity, Poverty Force Girls Into ‘Survival Sex’
Women and girls as young as 12 from Kenya’s countryside are being forced into sex work to support families affected by prolonged drought. They have little or no education and travel at least 50 kilometers (30 miles) to reach urban areas, working in unsafe conditions far from their homes.
The impact of drought on rural communities such as those in Turkana’s countryside can be particularly harsh. In addition to soaring food prices, rural families face decimated livestock and diminished crops. With grim prospects for survival and a dire need for money, young girls find themselves in early marriages, child labor and forced prostitution.
Herder-Farmer Tensions in Rural Kenya Ease, But Problems Remain
Violence surged in rural central Kenya earlier this year as armed northern herders brought thousands of cattle, sheep and goats onto private property, prompting clashes that took the lives of humans and wildlife.
As drought raged on, it did not help that some politicians encouraged constituents to graze their livestock wherever they could find grass and water.
Peter Hetz, executive director of the Laikipia Wildlife Forum, says that although the recent elections and change in government were peaceful, there are still unresolved issues.
Fibre and benefit to rural communities
Digital transformation is becoming a reality, but it needs extend to all of South Africa.
BitCo CEO Jarryd Chatz discusses how rolling out fibre in rural areas and how it will benefit the communities.
Fibre itself isn’t what benefits rural communities. What SMEs, schools and hospitals/clinics need is Internet connectivity. Fibre just happens to be one of the most efficient, cost effective tools for delivering Internet connectivity.
Clashes in Kenya reveal the need to control illegal weapons
Cattle rustling is not new to northwest Kenya. For generations, it has been a way of life in this rugged part of the world. Young men of the Turkana and Pokot tribes, who live side by side in the semiarid region, are taught that protecting livestock and, in some cases, taking it by force from their neighbours, is necessary to survive.
But in recent years this practice has grown deadlier. Firearms have replaced the traditional arrows and spears. Water, always scarce, has dried up. Herders have grown desperate.
The world got a glimpse of this violence in 2015. At dawn on May 4, hundreds of Turkana men raided the tiny village of Nadome, spraying its mud huts with bullets. Residents recalled that attackers formed a ring around their dwellings to prevent escape and fired wildly.
