“The social gap is widening at the moment, and even more than during the pandemic,” Fratzscher told German media.
Since people with low incomes are spending a majority of their income on basic supplies such as energy and food, they are feeling the effects of inflation three times as strongly as those on high incomes, Fratzscher stressed.
A similar trend can also be seen among German companies. “Some of the big players are making big profits even in these times, while many medium-sized companies (…) are barely surviving,” Fratzscher said.
A study also published on Thursday by the Institute of Economic and Social Research at the Hans Boeckler Foundation found that the financial gap between households below the poverty line and the median income had already grown significantly before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This development was an “extremely poor starting position for the continued social stress tests” caused by the ongoing pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and record inflation, the foundation said.
Inflation in Germany climbed to 10.4 percent in October, the highest level since 1990, according to the Federal Statistical Office. The development was mainly driven by rising energy and food prices, which were up by 43 percent and 20 percent year-on-year, respectively.
According to Nasser al-Khatroushi, head of the Deportation Office of the Anti-illegal Immigration Department, the migrants, who are from Egypt, Niger and Sudan, were deported by land to their own countries.
The deportation was done for the first time in collaboration with the Anti-illegal Immigration Departments of Eastern and Southern Libya, the Libyan official told Xinhua.
“Today, we are very happy to see officers from Western, Eastern and Southern Libya gathered here in Tripoli to solve the issue of illegal immigration, which is a complicated issue,” said Mohamed al-Khoja, head of the Anti-illegal Immigration Department.
Libya has become a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a total of 20,842 illegal migrants, including women and children, have been rescued at sea and returned to Libya so far this year.
In the meantime, 500 illegal migrants have died and 863 others gone missing off the Libyan coast on the Central Mediterranean route, the IOM said.
The UNOCHA said in its latest situation update issued Thursday that some 491 cholera cases, including 20 deaths, have been reported in the affected areas as of Wednesday.
The cholera outbreak has spread out to 41 localities of 4 districts in the Bale zone of Oromia region and 2 districts of Liban zone of Somali region, it said.
According to the UNOCHA, close to 555,000 people are currently at high-risk of the ongoing cholera outbreak in the six affected districts.
Figures from UNOCHA show that the caseload of affected people has increased by 28 percent in the last two weeks with new daily cases reported in Berbere, Gura Damole, Quarsadula districts.
In Gura Damole district of Liban zone, cholera cases are expanding at high pace, especially across internally displaced people (IDP) sites, where more than 60 percent of the new affected caseloads are recorded, it said.
The Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), the Oromia and Somali regional health bureaus, the World Health Organization (WHO), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners are presently supporting the scale-up of health as well as water, sanitation and hygiene activities in priority areas.
The UNOCHA, however, stressed that the ongoing response is hindered by insufficient funding and limited partners’ presence.
It warned that coping mechanisms of the affected communities have been deteriorating due to multiple consecutive shocks, notably the current drought, conflict leading to a high prevalence of malnutrition, especially among the IDPs community.
Shortage of water, sanitation and hygiene treatment chemicals, limited amount of water storage items, insufficient water trucking capacity as well as a large number of non-functional water schemes are said to be among the major gaps affecting the reposes efforts.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) had last month indicated that the latest cholera outbreak is drought-related as Ethiopia is currently experiencing one of the most severe droughts in recent history.
The tombs, which date back to different eras, including the Late Period of ancient Egypt and the Greco-Roman civilization, contained several mummies that had golden tongues nestled in their jawbones, the statement said.
The mummies were in bad preservation condition which meant the tombs had been subject to looting, it noted.
Several skeletons enveloped in golden sheets, some human-shaped wooden tombs, potteries and materials used in mummification were also found.
Bahaa Al-Nagar, an archaeological expert, said it’s believed that “the tongues were made of gold to ensure the deceased would be able to speak in the afterlife.”
He told Xinhua that in ancient times, rulers used to decorate their masks, toes, fingers and tongues with gold because it is an everlasting material whose brightness will remain forever.
The aim of the policy is to anchor inflation expectations more firmly around the mid-point of the target band and to increase the confidence in attaining the inflation target sustainably over time, said Lesetja Kganyago, governor of the bank.
“Achieving a prudent public debt, increasing the supply of energy, moderating administered price inflation and keeping wage growth in line with productivity gains will enhance the effectiveness of monetary policy and its transmission to the broader economy,” he said.
The country’s inflation was expected to remain high, according to Kganyago, adding that the bank’s forecast of headline inflation for this year and next is slightly higher at 6.7 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively.
The banquet was hosted by the President of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum in the evening of Thursday 24th November 2022.
Apart from Kagame, the banquet was also attended by the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari; Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea Bissau; Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana and the Chairperson of African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat.
The summit on Industrialization and Economic Diversification is taking place in Niamey, the capital of Niger.
It aims to highlight renewed commitment towards an Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization and Economic Diversification.
President Kagame arrived in Niamey on Thursday 24th November 2022.
The Summit is convened as part of the Africa Industrialization Week annual commemorative activities.
Given the importance of industrialization and economic transformation in Africa, the 20th of every November is commemorated as the Africa Industrialization Day, adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity in July 1989, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Africa Industrialization Day provides an opportunity to key stakeholders to reflect on Africa’s industrialization by looking at how the continent can change its current status quo.
Since 2018, the Africa Industrialization Day has been commemorated with week-long events, marking a departure from the one-day tradition, and which affords more time to reflect and accelerate actions towards Africa’s structural transformation, as an enabler to meet the objectives of Agenda 2063, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 2030.
This is according to Jean-Claude Mutajogire, Country Manager, BPI Rwanda who reports that in the last decade alone, their company has approved more than US$33 million in business finance to Rwandan SMEs.
“We are honoured to have managed in positioning ourselves as a true value-adding financier to small and medium business owners in the country. Our company has not only approved more than US $33 million to 113 local businesses, but we have also succeeded in supporting the creation of jobs in excess 8,858,” says Mr. Mutajogire.
This is no small feat for a company, which only began operations in 2012. BPI Rwanda has been helping business owners overcome one of the most common entrepreneurial challenges facing SMEs today, not only in Rwanda, but in many countries in Africa – access to finance. The company not only provides financing to viable businesses that may find it difficult to access capital from traditional financial institutions but sectoral technical expertise and mentorship as well.
Such an approach to financing SMEs is the core of the BPI funding model across Africa and is premised on the belief that SMEs need more than just money to thrive.
Mr. Mutajogire says the company is committed to continue providing financing and technical assistance (TA) support to SMEs, so as to contribute towards increasing entrepreneurship in Rwanda, and real wealth and job creation. BPI Rwanda provides business finance from RWF 98 million to RWF 980 million to established businesses.
“Over the last 10 years, we have had success in our areas of focus. We have managed to provide financial and TA support to businesses in most sectors of the economy, especially to those that have a huge impact on the economy, those that generate jobs and those that reduce imports and or increase exports,” Mr. Mutajogire adds.
Technical Assistance is a programme that BPI Rwanda runs alongside the application of funding, through which the company builds the capacity of business owners and equips them with the skills needed to run a business successfully. So far, the company has offered Technical Assistance to 32 businesses at a cost of US $677,824.
Mr. Mutajogire attributes the above successes to the company’s impressive engagement with clients and their quick turnaround when reviewing applications.
Unlike their male counterparts, women in business face a unique set of challenges. This ranges from lack of or limited funding opportunities to lack of collateral needed to support their funding applications. Numerous studies show that women-owned businesses struggle to raise capital for their businesses more than their male counterparts.
“It is for this reason that we have put special measures in place to help women gain a foot forward. BPI Rwanda has paid special focus on women-led businesses and to date, the company has supported 37 businesses led by women to the tune of US $10,264,970,” reports BPI Chief Executive Officer, Mark Paper.
Buoyed by its impressive track record, the company is optimistic about scaling its achievements in the next decade and beyond.
Mr. Paper says BPI Rwanda will continue to empower entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses that contribute to an inclusive and equitable society.
“We will achieve this by expanding on our existing operations, increasing our footprint in Rwanda and doubling up our efforts to place more finance in the hands of SMEs. We will continue to pay particular focus on gender-equality investment in support of Rwanda’s growing Woman Owned Enterprises,” adds Mr. Paper.
BPI Rwanda plans to align its operations with Rwanda’s Vision 2050 and the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) which are geared to enable Rwanda to become an upper middle-income country by 2035.
“We are happy to have achieved the 10-year milestone and I am optimistic that the company will continue to support business owners to run scalable businesses over the next decade and beyond,” concludes Mr. Mutajogire.
{{About Business Partners International}}
Business Partners International is a specialist risk finance company for formal small and medium owner-managed businesses in Rwanda and select African countries.
The company actively supports entrepreneurial growth by providing financing from RWF 100M to RWF 1B, specialist sectoral knowledge and added-value services for viable small and medium businesses.
Since establishment, Business Partners International has provided business finance worth over US$137,9 million in 580 transactions facilitating over 42, 847 jobs.
Visit www.businesspartners.africa for more information.
Donatha Mukaririma, 39, and Marie Claire Musabyimana, 34, were arrested at the latter’s home in Juru Sector, Rwinume Cell in Rwimpyisi Village where they had a plant producing Kanyanga.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Hamdun Twizeyimana, the Police spokesperson for the Eastern region, said that Police recovered 10 litres of Kanyanga, which the duo had already produced, as well as tools they were using to produce the crude illicit gin.
“Police had information about an illegal plant producing Kanyanga at the home of Musabyimana. On Wednesday, residents called local leaders after Musabyimana started producing the illicit gin. Local leaders then called the Police, Musabyimana and Mukaririma were found in the kitchen producing Kanyanga. They had already produced 10 litres,” said SP Twizeyimana.
They were handed over to RIB at Rilima station for further investigations.
SP Twizeyimana thanked the residents for their responsiveness against narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
Kanyanga is classified as simple narcotic drugs by the Ministerial order Nº 001/MoH/2019 of 04/03/2019 establishing the list of narcotic drugs and their categorisation.
Article 263 of law No. 68/2018 of 30/08/2018 determining offenses and penalties in general states that any person, who unlawfully produces, transforms, transports, stores, gives to another or who sells narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, commits an offence.
Upon conviction for “simple drugs” the offender faces between seven and ten years in prison and a fine of Rwf5 million to Rwf10 million.
The Boeing 737-800 SF, which is painted in RwandAir’s first cargo livery, will be based at the carrier’s Kigali hub.
The new jet delivered on 24th November 2022, will allow the Rwandan carrier to further expand its cargo operation, which has been on the rise.
RwandAir will operate the new freighter to a number of key destinations in Africa and the Middle East, including Johannesburg, Nairobi, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Yvonne Makolo, CEO of RwandAir said: “The delivery of our dedicated cargo aircraft is a huge milestone in RwandAir’s fleet expansion plans.
Cargo is of ever-increasing importance for the aviation industry, and as a landlocked country, we recognize the importance and value of good cargo connections.
We want to ensure that Africa is seamlessly connected to the world, driving economic growth and valuable trade deals.”
From its hub at the heart of Africa at Kigali International Airport, RwandAir is renowned for its excellent customer service where recently RwandAir won the award for ‘Best Airline Staff in Africa’ at Skytrax’s 2022 World Airline Awards, for a second successive year.
RwandAir currently operates to a variety of destinations across East, Central, West, and Southern Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.
