The statement released last night shows that 43 people have caught the virus out of 8801 sample tests.
A total of 1,914,734 people have been fully vaccinated while 3,712,692 received the first dose of COVID-19 since Rwanda began countrywide inoculation program on 5th March 2021.
Coronavirus symptoms include coughing, flu, and difficulty in breathing. The virus is said to be transmitted through the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract.
Rwandans are urged to adhere to COVID-19 health guidelines, washing hands frequently using soaps and safe water, wearing face masks and respecting social distancing.
They were arrested in separate Rwanda National Police (RNP) operations against drunk-driving conducted between October 22nd and 25th.
They were found intoxicated beyond the limit of 0.8 blood alcohol content.
The group was paraded on Tuesday, October 26, at Nyarugenge District Police Unit in Rwezamenyo Sector, Nyarugenge District.
The RNP Deputy spokesperson, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Africa Sendahangarwa Apollo said that these are part of the Police operations across different roads of the country to fight and prevent major causes of accidents.
Kamali Nshimiyimana, one of the riders paraded, said he was involved in an accident due to drunkenness.
“I was arrested on Saturday, October 23, after involving in an accident in Gikondo. At the time, I had taken alcohol and traffic officers who responded to the incident detected that I was drunk. When they tested me with a breathalyzer, it indicated 0.96 mililitres of alcohol content in my blood,” said Nshimiyimana.
Emmanuel Niyoyita also admitted that he had taken alcohol before riding his motorcycle.
Equally, Charles Nkurunziza said: “I had taken two bottles of beer and Police arrested me in Remera after the breathalyzer detected that I was 0.90 drunk.”
CSP Africa warned motorists for deliberately violating road safety rules and regulations and exposing their lives and those of others in life-threatening risks. These continuous operations are therefore meant to fight such errant behaviours and to ensure safer road usage,” CSP Africa said.
These include Jean-Yves Le Drian from France, Nasser Bourita from Morocco, Amb. Tete Antonio from Angola.
The President also received the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan and his delegation for a discussion on key areas of bilateral cooperation.
Among others, Kagame met with the European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen.
The call was made on Thursday 21st October following the presentation of research findings on the role of Civil Society Organizations (CSOS) in the implementation of National Determined Contributions (NDCS) during an event that took place at the headquarters of Tubibe Amahoro (TA) translated as ‘Sow Peace’ in Karongi district, Western Province.
TA is Rwandan non-governmental organizations striving for a more equitable society through ensuring that fundamental rights and laws are protected and enhancing environment preservation efforts in four districts of intervention including Karongi, Burera, Ngororero and Rutsiro districts.
The research which was also carried out by TA, was conducted in the four aforementioned districts in partnership with the University of Rwanda College of Agriculture, Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (UR-CAVM).
The research aimed at assessing the effects of climate change, factors contributing to climate change and come up with recommendations on needed actions to develop climate change resilience in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
The Government of Rwanda has devised a number of policies and institutional responses to support citizens adapt to climate change and climate variability. Some of the key policies and programmes include the ; the National Adaptation and Programmes of Action (NAPA), the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), the National Fund for Environment in Rwanda (FONERWA), Green Growth Strategy, the National Strategy for Transformation NSTI Seven Years Government Program (2017-2024) as well as the National environment and Climate Change Policy.
Despite the above policies and good practices implemented by the Rwandan Government, issues such as deforestation, landslide, soil degradation, soil erosion and air pollution persist in different parts of the country. This prompted the research into cooking technologies, energy supply and demand, and current environmental and climate change issues in the districts of Burera, Karongi, Ngororero and Rutsiro.
The research also sought to investigate biomass energy supply and demand as well as ascertaining citizens’ attitudes and perceptions towards building resilience to climate change.
As per findings of the study, 53 percent out of 400 respondents confirmed that they had heard of climate change while 47 percent stated that they were unfamiliar with the subject. To this end, TA via existing networks including the Rwanda Climate Change Development Network (RCCDN) and UR-CVM called for improvement of community awareness about climate change, its impact, mitigation, and adaptation approaches.
Among others, deforestation and landslides were pointed out as the most serious climatic concerns in the study area with 87.25% and 89% respectively.
The research also established that there is limited awareness around NDCs among rural communities, limitations in Citizens’ Consultation on Climate Change Policy Planning and Implementation as reported by 91% of respondents.
Other areas of concern include the widespread use of open firewood stoves or three stone stoves for cooking or boiling drinking water, limitations towards enhancing wetland preservation, forest management, water management, limitations in the promotion of waste management system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limited public awareness on biosafety through initiatives involving the community, policy makers and the private sector.
{{Need for friendly cooking technologies}}
The research established that firewood is usually accessible as evidenced by 69.7% of respondents, and to some extent available in the community through gathering in bushes, and woods (62%).
It was established that households that utilize inefficient cooking technologies and do not own a woodlot spend an average of Rwf600 (12kgs or 4 pieces of wood times Rwf150) per day on wood purchases, thus making Rwf18,000 per month and rough estimation of annual cost is Rwf216,000.
However, it was observed that a household that uses Improved Cooking Stove (ICS) utilizes a third of fuel consumption, thus spending Rwf6,000 per month with a saving of Rwf12,000 and Rwf144,000 per annum.
The money saved is allocated to other household needs and including Community Based Health Insurance known as Mutuelle de Santé, scholastic materials, contributions to saving and lending groups and purchase of other household items.
The majority of surveyed households (92.6%) use traditional cooking stoves, 4.7 percent use various models of improved cooking stoves including clay charcoal stove, metal charcoal stove, pipe stove, Tekavuba, Canamake, Canarumwe stoves among others while 1.5 percent use Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).
Considering the fact that CSOs work closely with communities in different areas, the research recommended them to maintain collaboration with different stakeholders to mitigate climate change effects and become proactive in educating citizens on biodiversity protection.
CSOs were also urged to engage in research for evidence-based advocacy if they are to significantly inform or influence the policy.
Among others, CSOs were reminded of their critical role is supporting vulnerable groups especially women to challenge customs and beliefs which perpetuate unequal gender relations, conduct climate change advocacy and comprehensive research on appropriate improved cooking stoves taking into account the amount of saved wood, cooking habits, raw materials for improved stove manufacturing accessible in each location and household income among others.
Local leaders are also recommended to play role by extending awareness of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies to safeguard environment and work towards sustainable community livelihoods.
The research recommended members of the community to plant more trees, adopt the use of energy-saving cooking stoves as well as other improved cooking technologies in order to relieve the problem of deforestation, indoor air pollution, eye diseases, soil erosion and landslides.
Community members are also urged to improve their usual practices around waste management.
Commenting on research findings, Pierre Celestin Kabano, the Executive Secretary of Tubibe Amahoro said that the research aimed at establishing sources of cooking fuel and challenges hindering adoption of environment friendly cooking technologies.
“The use of improved cooking technology is still low as most of areas of study are located in rural areas. The majority of residents use traditional cooking stoves but they need to stick to energy-saving stoves which help users to spend little money and save time for other income generating activities, “he said.
“Civil Society Organizations need to draw attention to this alarming situation to extend awareness to ensure climate change resilient communities through collaboration with the Government and the private sector,” he added.
Faustin Mvuniyingoma, the coordinator of RCCDN commended findings of the research and stressed the need for concerted efforts between all stakeholders to mitigate climate change.
The decision is the result of a meeting between Rwanda’s Minister of Health, Dr. Daniel Ngamije, Senegal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Aïssata Tall Sall, Ugur Sahin, M.D., CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech and Sierk Poetting, COO of BioNTech as well as Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, Director-General of Rwanda Biomedical Centre and Dr. Amadou Alpha Sall, Director General of Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Kigali.
The meeting happened upon the invitation of the kENUP Foundation. It took place as a side-event of the Second Ministerial Meeting of the African Union and the European Union and resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This comes after the parties signed a Joint Communiqué at a previous meeting in Berlin on August 27, 2021.
Speaking at the event; Ugur Sahin, M.D., CEO and Co-founder of BioNTech thanked all participants of the meeting for the support and trust to establish the first mRNA manufacturing facility within the African Union.
“Together, we will work on developing a regional manufacturing network to support the access to vaccines manufactured in Africa, for Africa. Our goal is to develop vaccines in the African Union and to establish sustainable vaccine production capabilities to jointly improve medical care in Africa. We have made great progress in the past few weeks, which will help us on our way to turn these plans into reality,” he said.
Sierk Poetting, the COO of BioNTech emphasized that the company seeks to accelerate the building of a GMP-certified manufacturing facility and plan to begin the construction on site in mid-2022.
“The MoU underlines that time is a critical success factor in the development of sustainable vaccine production for the African Union. We have finalized the planning and initial assets for the new facility have already been ordered,” he revealed.
The parties agree to jointly establish end-to-end manufacturing capacities for mRNA-based vaccines in Africa starting immediately. BioNTech has finalized the construction plans and ordered the assets, which will be delivered by mid-2022.
The new manufacturing facility could become the first node in a decentralized and robust African end-to-end manufacturing network enabling an annual manufacturing capacity of several hundreds of million mRNA vaccine doses.
BioNTech plans to develop and implement a scalable construction network based on the expertise and learnings from the ramp-up of the Company’s production facility in Marburg.
To enable an expedient set-up of production capacities according to GMP standards, BioNTech will start with the construction and validation of a first production line enabling the manufacturing of drug product for about 50 million of, for example, COVID-19 vaccine doses per year, once fully operational.
The capacity will be increased sequentially by adding further manufacturing lines and sites to the manufacturing network on the continent, supporting the production of several hundreds of millions of mRNA vaccine doses.
BioNTech will initially staff, own and operate the facility to support the safe and rapid initiation of the production of mRNA-based vaccine doses. BioNTech plans to transfer manufacturing capacities and the know-how to local partners.
Therefore, BioNTech, Rwanda Development Board and Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal agreed to swiftly build-up the required human resources capacity and systems so that the partners can take over ownership and operational duties.
In parallel, the Republic of Rwanda and the Institut Pasteur de Dakar have committed themselves to scale-up fill and finish capacities to complete the local end-to-end manufacturing process. In addition, BioNTech is in discussions about an expansion of the current partnership with Cape Town-based vaccine manufacturer Biovac, which is part of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing network.
Commenting the development; Dr. Daniel Ngamije, Rwanda’s Minister of Health said that bringing end-to-end vaccine manufacturing of biologicals to Africa is essential for the continent’s health security and prosperity.
He stressed that Rwanda is committed to working with the African Union, the European Union, BioNTech, and other technology partners ‘to make this a reality as quickly as possible’.
“The BioNTech partnership will not only build physical infrastructure but also strengthen human capacity in Africa to develop the most advanced vaccine technologies,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Aïssata Tall Sall. “With decades of experience manufacturing yellow fever vaccines, the Institut Pasteur de Dakar is ready to partner with BioNTech to rise to the challenge of developing mRNA vaccines for Africa.”
Dr. Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission who also attended discussions, highlighted that by working together in the spirit of the meeting, ‘the African Union, the European Union, key technology partners, and other stakeholders, can make decisive contributions and effective coordination in the fight against this pandemic, and future health challenges’.
Jutta Urpilainen, European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships welcomed the milestone which he considered a concrete step towards making mRNA-based vaccines in Africa, for Africa.
“Through our Team Europe Initiative on local manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines and medical technologies, the European Union is committed to making this initiative a success,” he said.
Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization Regional Director for Africa noted that state-of-the-art facilities like the one to be developed will be life-savers and game-changers for Africa and could lead to millions of cutting-edge vaccines being made for Africans, by Africans in Africa.
“This is also crucial for transferring knowledge and know-how, bringing in new jobs and skills and ultimately strengthening Africa’s health security. WHO is ready to work with countries to step up their commitment to vaccine manufacturing,” he said.
Holm Keller, the Executive Chairman of kENUP Foundation emphasized that global vaccine equity is key to accelerating the end of the pandemic.
He said that today’s announcement is an important next step towards sustainable vaccine production in Africa, thanked partners for their decisive contribution and their relentlessness towards making swift Africa vaccine production a reality.
The initiative is aligned with the Team Europe Initiative on manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines and medical technologies (MAV+) led by the European Commission in collaboration with the EU Member States and the European Investment Bank.
The meeting brings together foreign affairs ministers from both continents to discuss COVID-19 response and recovery as well as building resilience.
Ministers attending the meeting on 25th and 26th October 2021, are expected to exchange views on the EU-AU partnership and how to strengthen cooperation.
Discussions will also revolve around various topics including the response to and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic as well as building resilience.
Other areas of interest are investing in the digital and green transitions, peace, security and global governance, migration and mobility, education, science, technology and skills development.
The ministers who held talks with Dr. Biruta on Monday 25th October 2021 include his counterpart of Denmark, Danemark, Jeppe Kofod; Gordan Grlić Radman of Croatia; Christophe Lutundula of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Gen Jeje Odongo of Uganda.
Minister Biruta also met with Martin Tlapa, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czech Republic and Poland Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marcin Przydacz.
Discussions revolved around deepening bilateral relations and cooperation, strengthening political and economic cooperation, cooperation in education, trade and climate change.
As she opened the AU-EU ministerial meeting on Monday; the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Clementine Mukeka said that it is an occasion to strengthen existing cooperation and explore new potential areas.
“It also an opportunity to reflect on the AU-EU relationship and propose areas for improvement,” she stressed.
Africa and the European Union enjoy partnership in different development areas.
Figures from EU show that Europe exported goods worth Euro 124 billion to Africa while Africa’s exports to EU are estimated at Euro 101 billion in 2020.
While acknowledging this recognition, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO, Dr. James Mwangi, emphasized that the award reinforces and cements the Bank’s vision of championing the socio-economic prosperity of the people of Africa.
“With support from various partners, Equity Group has strongly positioned itself to support SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) to keep their lights on during the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic which slowed down the economy and negatively impacted the cashflows of enterprises. By extending credit to them during the period, Equity demonstrated its commitment to walking the journey with its customers, and its empathy with their socio-economic situation brought about by the pandemic,” he said .
Despite the heavy impact of the pandemic, Equity increased its lending to SMEs, which by the close of 2020 stood at 51% of the total loan book. With a key focus on priority areas aligned to achieving Kenya’s Big 4 agenda, Equity put a priority on financing SMEs in Agriculture, Manufacturing, Household and value-chain banking and health sector.
MSMEs often face a host of growth challenges including managing and enabling financial transactions, access to credit, and expanding their reach. To solve some of these challenges, Equity has fortified its product offerings by providing them with customized, flexible, and integrated banking solutions, for both business owners and employees.
Equity has innovated a structured approach by deliberately supporting to transition enterprises from Micro, Small and Medium entities all the way to large corporates by offering a tailored Customer Value Proposition (CVP) for enterprises and by aligning staff and delivery channels for each segment. The strategy put into consideration different factors including but not limited to the number of employees, loan size, total assets, and total annual revenue.
In line with Equity’s mission of offering integrated financial services that socially and economically empower consumers and businesses, the bank provided customized cash flow-based lending and asset-based lending solutions with flexible repayment terms, extended moratorium periods and the ability to take a variety of collaterals.
The bank accommodated customer loans up to Ksh. 171 billion, giving them reprieve and flexibility to adjust their business model. Loan offering includes Working capital, Term Loans, Overdrafts, Asset and Equipment Financing Mortgages, Project finance among others. To facilitate trade internationally and locally Equity offers a wide range of trade finance products such as Letters of Credit, Guarantees, Post Import Finance, Avalisation, and Commodity Finance.
Driven by changes in the operating environment, Equity has deployed a transformational business continuity plan that has seen growth in transactions completed on digital platforms. Its EazzyFX platform continues to enable online purchase and sale of foreign currencies. EazzyBiz allows businesses to have a 360-degree online view of their financial position at any time while providing a global view of the cash position and the seamless execution of payments in multiple currencies and locations. Equity Online is a secure banking platform that enables individuals and proprietorships to continue to manage their bank accounts at their convenience.
This keen focus has seen Equity recognized as the ‘Best Bank in Africa for SMEs’- by the IFC SME Finance Forum for 3 consecutive years since 2018; ‘Best Bank in SME banking for two years running’ -Think Business Awards, and the ‘Best Bank in Retail, CSR and Digital Service’- Banker Africa, East Africa Awards 2017. Equity provides banking services to more than 800,000 SMEs through its 190 countrywide branch network in Kenya and on its digital channels.
The Euromoney Awards for Excellence were established in 1992 and were the first of their kind in the global banking industry. This year, Euromoney received almost 1,000 submissions from banks in their regional and country awards Programme that covers more than 50 regional awards and Best Bank awards in close to 100 countries. Last year, Equity received 3 Euromoney awards in the Best Bank in Africa, Best Digital Bank and Excellence in Leadership award categories.
{{About Equity Group Holdings}}
Equity Group Holdings Plc is a Pan-African financial services holding company listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Uganda Securities Exchange, and Rwanda Stock Exchange. The Group has banking subsidiaries in Kenya, DRC, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, and a Commercial Representative Office in Ethiopia. It has other subsidiaries in investment banking, insurance, telecom, fintech and social impact investments.
Equity Group is the largest bank in the region in assets of Kshs 1.12 trillion (USD 11.2 billion). It is also the biggest bank in deposits, market capitalization of USD 2 billion and with a customer base of over 15 million customers. The Group has a footprint of 337 branches, 56,772 Agents, 32,269 Merchants, 697 ATMs and an extensive adoption of digital banking channel.
The Banker Top 1000 World Banks 2020 ranked Equity Bank 754 overall in its global ranking, 62nd in soundness (Capital Assets to Assets ratio), 55th in terms of Profits on Capital and 20th on Return on Assets. The Banker’s Top 100 African Banks 2020 placed the Bank in position 7 overall among the top 10 Banks in Africa, 5th place on soundness, position 9 on growth performance, 8th on return on risk and position 6th in terms of profitability and on leverage category.
In the same year, Moody’s gave the Bank a global rating of B2 with a negative outlook same as the sovereign rating of the Kenyan government due to the Bank’s strong brand recognition, solid liquidity buffers and resilient funding profile, established domestic franchise and extensive adoption of digital and alternative distribution channels.
The beneficiaries are pupils at Hope Primary School, which was established in IDP camp 3 in Juba to support the conflict-affected children.
The donations were handed over to the school and camp management by the Rwanda FPU-3 contingent commander, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jeannette Masozera.
“Education is one of the most important things that will help you in the future, regardless of the challenges you are facing today. So, we are here today to support you in that journey,” SSP Masozera told the students during the handover of the items.
She urged them to focus on their education and refrain from any malpractices that can destroy their future.
The event to handover the items also provided a platform to sensitize the students on dangers of abusing drugs to their health and education dreams.
FPU-3 is one of the two Rwandan Police contingents deployed in South Sudan. Rwanda FPU-3 contingent of 160 officers operates in Juba while Rwanda FPU-1 of 240 officers is deployed in Malakal, Upper Nile State.
A total of 1,811,757 people have been fully vaccinated while 3,670,094 received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine since Rwanda began countrywide inoculation program on 15th March 2021.
Coronavirus symptoms include coughing, flu, and difficulty in breathing. The virus is said to be transmitted through the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract.
Rwandans are urged to adhere to COVID-19 health guidelines, washing hands frequently using soaps and safe water, wearing face masks and respecting social distancing.
The protest was held on October 22 as on this day in 1947 Pakistan attempted to take over Kashmir by sending armed tribal invaders. Even after 75 years, Pakistan continued to work towards keeping Kashmir unstable by fanning terrorism and made attempts to target minorities in Kashmir, the protesters highlighted.
Waving Indian and French flags, the protesters declared October 22 as the Black Day for global peace.
Posters also highlighted the role played by Pakistan in enabling the Taliban to take over power in Afghanistan as well as the threats from Pakistani radical groups in France.
The protestors issued a memorandum for Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to express their concerns on the country’s links to terrorism and radical Islam.
The memorandum was read out by Gabriele Brennen, a French filmmaker and Secretary-General of a company organising Indian film festivals in France. The memorandum, apart from condemning Pakistan’s role in promoting terror in Kashmir, raised concerns about the Pakistani government mainstreaming radical groups, which in turn impacted, among other issues, the status of women in the country.
Office bearers of multiple Indian diaspora associations in France participated in the protest to express their solidarity with the residents of Jammu and Kashmir who had for more than seven decades endured Pakistan-sponsored terror. (ANI)
