October 25, 2021

Flutterwave Enables New Europe-Africa Payment Corridors via Stellar

Stellar ecosystem expands with more efficient cross-border payment and remittance flows from Europe to Africa

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) announced that Flutterwave, a global payments technology company, has launched two new remittance corridors between Europe and Africa on the Stellar network. Working with TEMPO, Flutterwave is leveraging the Stellar network and Stellar USDC to simplify remittances in Africa.

Opening these new corridors will greatly benefit businesses focused on building more efficient, cost-effective remittance services, contributing to a stronger, more inclusive Pan-African digital payments infrastructure. Flutterwave plans to extend Stellar-based capabilities to additional African countries as it continues to grow the number of currencies it supports.

“It is more expensive to send money to sub-Saharan Africa than to any other region in the world,” said Olugbenga Agboola, CEO at Flutterwave. “Our new payment corridors on Stellar will allow us to continue expanding the Flutterwave network to bring all-important, cost-effective money transfer services to African business owners.”

Connecting Stellar-based businesses like Flutterwave and TEMPO — which also has a significant, complementary user base in Africa — creates an efficient and affordable Pan-African payments infrastructure, supporting the Stellar Development Foundation’s mission to create equitable access to the global financial system. With these payment rails in place, Stellar continues to establish itself as a mature, viable digital alternative to traditionally lengthy and expensive methods for sending remittances.

According to TEMPO CEO, Suren Ayriyan, “We’re excited to partner with Flutterwave to extend our service ecosystem into Africa using Stellar rails. Customers across Europe will be able to send funds faster and at a lower cost to support their families and conduct business in Africa, landing funds right into their local bank account. We hope to continue working with Stellar anchors to exponentially increase our currency corridors and offerings, providing cheap, secure and fast global money transfers to all TEMPO customers, both existing and new.”

“This partnership marks a further step in our efforts to harness the power of technology to make financial services more inclusive and affordable for underbanked individuals worldwide,” said Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation. “Flutterwave is doing important work in a region that has been historically underserved, and SDF is committed to helping them create a tangible impact on financial access and inclusion across the African continent and beyond.”

About Flutterwave
Flutterwave is a global payments technology company that helps businesses all over the world expand their operations in Africa and other emerging markets through a platform that enables cross-border transactions via one API. Flutterwave has processed over 140M transactions worth over USD $9B to date and serves more than 290,000 businesses including customers like Uber, Flywire, Booking.com, and Facebook. The Company’s key advantage is international payment processing in 150 currencies and multiple payment modes, including local and international cards, mobile wallets, bank transfers, and Barter by Flutterwave. Flutterwave has an infrastructure reach in over 33 African countries, including Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa. For more information on Flutterwave’s journey, please visit www.flutterwave.com.

About Stellar
Stellar is a decentralized, fast, scalable, and uniquely sustainable network for financial products and services. It is both a cross-currency transaction system and a platform for digital asset issuance, designed to connect the world’s financial infrastructure. Financial institutions worldwide issue assets and settle payments on the Stellar network, which has grown to over 5 million accounts.

About the Stellar Development Foundation
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of Stellar, an open-source network that connects the world’s financial infrastructure. Founded in 2014, the Foundation helps maintain Stellar’s codebase, supports the technical and business communities building on the network, and serves as a voice to regulators and institutions. The Foundation seeks to create equitable access to the global financial system, using the Stellar network to unlock the world’s economic potential through blockchain technology.

About TEMPO Payments
TEMPO Payments is a payment institution and the principal EU anchor for Stellar blockchain payments. As a cross-border transactions and settlements operator, TEMPO provides payment services for businesses worldwide and stands for the complete transparency of all operations, the immutability of records, high transaction speeds and highly competitive commission rates. The company’s mission is to build a unique payment ecosystem, allowing entrepreneurs to take their business to the next level of growth, by adopting disruptive fintech solutions and helping individuals to fully benefit from the next-gen financial services. For more information, visit https://payments.tempo.eu.com/whitelabel.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1668284/Flutterwave_X_Stellar.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1096150/Stellar_Development_Foundation.jpg

October 25, 2021

Unique Network Raises $11.3 Million For Next-Generation NFT Infrastructure

The first NFT chain for Polkadot and Kusama offers greater flexibility for anyone who wants to build their own gallery or video game

LONDON, Oct. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Unique Network, a next generation NFT chain for Polkadot and Kusama, announced today that it has raised $11.3 million in the second round of its pre-sale, bringing its total raised to $16M. The investment round was led by Web3 investment pioneers Outlier Ventures, who were joined by some of the most well-known NFT investors, including The LAO, Flamingo, Nalu Capital and over 200 other investors, including a number of follow-on investments from the previous round his funding round, especially with the quality and quantity of investors involved, has positioned Unique Network well for the upcoming launch of Quartz, its NFT chain for Kusama.

“Unique Network are trailblazing a new path for NFTs within Polkadot and Kusama’s ecosystem and we are incredibly excited to back them in their pursuit to increase the design space of NFTs.” – Chris Cable, FlamingoDAO

“Despite all the current buzz around NFTs, there is still a massive barrier to entry,” said Unique Network co-founder and CEO Alexander Mitrovich. “Gas fees, the need to purchase cryptocurrencies, storage, and even the fact that NFTs have limited features for artists to express their vision, all hold the industry back. Unique Network and our Kusama chain, Quartz, are built to solve the economic and storage problems with Ethereum-based NFTs and create new levels of interaction and malleability that will take NFTs to the next level.”

Unique Network will participate in the upcoming parachain auctions for Kusama, during which they aim to secure a parachain slot for Quartz, their new canary network for Kusama. Beginning on Wednesday October 27th, interested parties can participate in the crowdloan to help Quartz win the auction.

Quartz will be the first NFT infrastructure on Kusama, and is designed to enable the most powerful and advanced NFT functionality on the Kusama network. Quartz parachain on Kusama will allow anyone to build NFT marketplaces and experiences with interoperability between different blockchains, like Ethereum and EVM Based Chains and other notable NFT blockchains.

In the five months since its first investment round, Unique Network has announced various partnerships including with the UN-led DigitalArt4Climate Campaign with GloCha, RMRK, Art Curators Grid, Forever Has Fallen, and more. With the impending launch of Quartz, Unique Network will be able to help even more projects and artists develop their NFT marketplaces and experiences.

For more information, please visit Unique Network, and join us on Twitter and Telegram.

About Unique Network

Unique Network is a framework for the next generation of NFTs. The first NFT chain for Kusama and Polkadot, it offers developers independence from network-wide transaction fees and upgrades. The Unique Network team built Substrapunks, the first NFTs on Polkadot, won Hackusama in 2020, and created Substrate’s pallet for NFTs. Unique Network launched in July 2021.

For media inquiry, please contact: jo@serotonin.co

October 25, 2021

The people of Africa give the thumbs up to PowerChina

What did the Chinese engineering and construction firm do to earn such praise?

BEIJING, Oct. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from CRI Online:

The ceremony for the completion of Masindi barracks hospital, constructed and donated to Uganda by PowerChina, was held on April 16, 2021. In addition, two other projects, DiiCunyii Hospital and Amaji Elementary School, are under construction and expected to be completed and delivered this year.

This is just a snapshot of PowerChina fulfilling its corporate social responsibilities in Africa.

In March 2020, with the onset of the rainy season, many rivers in western Kenya overflowed. PowerChina’s Nzoia Flood Control and Irrigation Project Department moved quickly to evacuate people, raise and reinforce the dam, and troubleshoot dangerous situations by using droneswhich protected the lives and property of the local people.

In August of the same year, a Japanese freighter ran aground in Mauritius and then began to leak oil, severely contaminating the surrounding area and pushing the African island country into an environmental emergency. A team of volunteers from Sinohydro’s local subsidiary urgently set off to the heavily polluted area and undertook a 3-day clean-up. Local residents gave a thumbs-up and said “Chinese people are very good.”

On July 23, 2021, the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station in Zambia, constructed by PowerChina, was connected to the grid and put into use. During the four years of implementation, the project had created more than 10,000 local jobs. By building power stations, the people of China and Zambia have made progress together and improved cultural exchanges, pulling the employees from both countries closer and establishing a deep friendship with each other.

PowerChina’s East and South Africa regional department covers Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Angola, as well as several other countries. With its endeavors in Africa, PowerChina has joined hands with local people to practice the value of common development.

October 25, 2021

Government-Backed Cooperation | GAC MOTOR as Public Transport Vehicles in Nigeria

GUANGZHOU, China, Oct. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — After a successful recent meeting between Guangdong Governor and Lagos state Governer Mr. Babajid Sanwo-Olu, multiple forms of cooperation have been agreed. On October 11, 750 GAC MOTOR GS3s and 250 GA4s were shipped from Qingdao, China to Lagos, Nigeria, to be used by the Lagos State Government as vehicles for the public travel project “LAGOS RIDE”.

The signing ceremony between the Lagos state government and GAC MOTOR

Nigeria-Guangdong | A Strong Partnership
In recent years, the Nigerian government has increased its support for the automobile industry and is full of confidence in the development of Chinese brands in Nigeria. GAC MOTOR seized this opportunity and joined forces with CIG Motors, a local auto dealer, to introduce bestselling models including the GS3, GS4, GS8, GN8 and GA4 into Nigeria, attracting extensive attention in the local market. The implementation of this project is another major achievement for GAC MOTOR as the company works with overseas dealers to promote the steady development of the African market.

In order to improve local traffic and raise the living standards of residents, the Lagos state government officially launched “LAGOS RIDE”. The public transport project will provide ride-hailing services for locals. GAC MOTOR’s GS3 SUV and GA4 sedan, won the appreciation of the government with their excellent quality, comfort, appearance and performance. These two models were selected as the final models to be used in the project.

Babajid Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos State, and his party paid a special visit to Guangdong in November 2019, proposing to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between Nigerian and Guangdong enterprises. Before this project, GAC MOTOR had successfully promoted several major projects locally in Nigeria, including the construction of a GAC MOTOR car assembly plant, and the selection of GAC MOTOR vehicles as the official cars of Chinese diplomats in the region. With the strength of its brand and products, GAC MOTOR has won the recognition and trust of the government, and has become a form of “business card” for intelligent Chinese manufacturing in Nigeria. The brand embodies the spirit of Chinese craftsmanship; Nigeria is just one place this concept is shown to the world.

As the world moves into a new era of global automobile manufacturing, GAC MOTOR Nigeria looks forward to deeply cultivating this valuable region and working together to provide prosperity to the local economy and a better mobile life to Nigerian people.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1668360/GAC_MOTOR_LAGOS_RIDE.jpg

October 25, 2021

COVID-19: 234 RECOVERED PEOPLE

Luanda – Angolan health authorities announced, this Monday, the recovery of 234 patients, 69 new infections and 4 deaths, in the last 24 hours.

According to the daily bulletin, read by the secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, those recovered, are aged between 1 month and 82 years, and they are 179 resident in Luanda, 22 in Cabinda, 11 from Malanje, 10 from Huambo, 6 from Bié, and 2 from Cunene, Moxico and Namibe, respectively.

The new infections were diagnosed in the provinces of Luanda (36), Huambo (22), Cabinda (5), Uíge (4), Malanje and Moxico with 1 each.

With ages ranging from 3 to 83 years, the list includes 45 male and 24 female.

The deaths were registered 3 in Luanda and 1 in Malanje, whose ages ranged from 49 to 70 years, all males.

The local labs processed, in the last 24 hours, 1,664 samples by RT-PCR.

The Country sums a total of 63,930 positive cases, of which 1,701 died, 52,750 recovered patients and 9,479 active.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

October 25, 2021

Ethiopia launches the first ever nOPV2 vaccination campaign alongside commemoration of World Polio Day

Ethiopia launched a polio vaccination campaign with type 2 novel oral polio vaccine (nOPV2) targeting over 17 million under-five children aiming to end the circulation of vaccine-derived poliovirus. The campaign was officially launched by the Ministry of Health and polio partners in Hawassa, Sidama, alongside the commemoration of World Polio Day with the theme, “One Day. One Focus: Ending Polio: Delivering on the promise of a polio-free world”.

Speaking on behalf of WHO and UNICEF, Deputy WHO Representative in Ethiopia Dr Rose-Mary Nonhlanhla Dlamini underscored the need to ensure that every child everywhere in Ethiopia is vaccinated. She called on vaccinators to work with extra diligence, and on parents and caregivers to present their children for vaccinations.

During the event, Ms. Tsinukal Melkamu, a polio survivor shared her story of living with polio and expressed her hope that no other children will face the challenges she faced because of polio. Ms. Tsinukal was also presented with a letter of thanks from the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, for sharing her life experience at the 71st session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa in August 2021.

In 2020, the WHO Africa Region was certified wild polio-free but vaccine-derived poliovirus still continues to circulate in under-served communities.

In a bid to ensure all forms of polio are eradicated, the GPEI has introduced the novel OPV type two (nOPV2) vaccine as a critical new tool in the fight against circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2).

With the launch of nOPV2 vaccine, Ethiopia joins five other frontrunner countries, Benin, Congo Republic, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone that have already introduced the vaccine.

State Minister of Health, Honorable Dr Dereje Duguma urged health workers, partners, religious leaders, parents, caregivers, and other stakeholders to support this campaign. “We each must do our part to ensure that all under-five children are vaccinated,” He further reminded vaccinators and communities to be mindful of COVID-19 prevention measures as nOPV2 vaccines are being administered. WHO and UNICEF supported the government on the groundwork to fulfill the readiness criteria for nOPV2 introduction, and in planning this nationwide campaign including the development of all campaign preparedness and implementation tools and guidelines, providing budget and training on various aspects of the campaign and post-campaign activities and by deploying more than 100 technical experts to regions and zones to support monitoring and supervision during implementation of the campaign.

The Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF, and other polio partners reaffirmed their collective commitment to deliver on the promise of a polio-free Ethiopia and polio-free world for current and future generations.

Source: World Health Organization. Africa

October 25, 2021

ICGLR CALLS FOR DIALOGUE IN SUDAN

Bujumbura – The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) urged, this Monday, the Sudanese civil and military authorities to promote dialogue to solve the political crisis aggravated by the recent coup d’état in Sudan.

According to a statement, which has reached ANGOP, ICGLR became aware of the worrying development of the political transition process in the Republic of Sudan, which resulted in the arrest of the Prime Minister, Abdallah Hamdock, members of the Government and civil society, as well as the suspension of access to the Internet and other media.

ICGLR calls for the immediate release of all those detained following the referred events, appealing also for strict respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The Conference members also urge the civil and military authorities of Sudan to invest in dialogue, always with reference to the Constitutional Charter for the transition period, signed on 4 August 2019.

The Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, as Acting President of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), has developed intense diplomatic activity in favour of regional stability and security.

Finally, the ICGLR calls on the Sudan Armed Forces to pledge a commitment to lead the democratic transition until free, fair and transparent elections are held in July 2023 for the transfer of power to a democratically elected civilian government.

In addition to Angola; Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya and Republic of Congo are also members of the ICGLR.

Situation in Sudan

Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the general leading the coup, announced the dissolution of the Sovereign Council that was ruling the country since the fall of Omar al-Bashir.

In a live stream public speech, the general said that disputes between political factions had led the military to intervene and that a new technocratic government would lead the country through to the elections.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

October 25, 2021

UN, ECCAS and their partners mobilized against hate speech in Central Africa

UNOCA / ECCAS

Douala, 24 October 2021 – From 26 to 29 October 2021, Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon, will host a regional forum to raise awareness and build the capacity of media practitioners to prevent and combat hate speech in Central Africa. The event is organized by the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) Commission, in collaboration with the Cameroonian government, the United Nations Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa (UNCHRD-AC), the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC (UNJHRO), the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and the UNESCO Office for Central Africa.

The forum targets mainly journalists from professional organizations and will provide an opportunity to review the different hate words generally used in the media by participants from Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, and Chad.

Beyond this overview, the Douala Forum will focus on the different situations with regards to the dissemination of hate messages, their meaning, as well as on the tools to prevent and combat them. Presentations will be made by the different speakers to edify and draw the attention of participants on the impact of hate speech, which is also considered as an attack against tolerance, social cohesion, national unity and diversity. Group work will reinforce reflections on specific aspects and facilitate discussions on the development of a regional strategy to prevent and fight against hate speech by the media in Central Africa. Participants will draw inspiration, among others, from the United Nations strategy and Plan of action to Combat Hate Speech. Journalists from the subregion would also consider adopting an ad hoc self-regulatory instrument aimed at committing them to prioritizing freedom of expression at the service of peace, particularly through media productions that emphasize constructive criticism.

The United Nations and its partners stand ready to accompany the media in this perspective and to support ECCAS in achieving its objectives regarding the development of a regional strategy against hate speech in Central Africa which is one of its key priorities for 2022.Following this workshop in Douala, a second Forum (communication regulatory bodies) is planned in Ndjamena (Chad) and a third one in Kinshasa (DRC) regrouping media practitioners, regulatory bodies and other key actors to refine and adopt the regional strategy.

………………………………..

Note to the media

In response to the alarming rise in xenophobia, racism and intolerance, violent misogyny, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia around the world, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched the United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action to Combat Hate Speech on 18 June 2019. This is based on the realization that over the past 75 years, hate speech has been a harbinger of the atrocious crimes that have followed it, including genocide, such as in Rwanda, Bosnia or Cambodia.

The United Nations Hate Speech Strategy and Action Plan provides strategic guidance to the UN system to combat hate speech at the national, regional, and global levels. The objectives are two-fold: first, to strengthen the efforts of UN entities to address the root causes and drivers of hate speech, and second, to help the UN system respond effectively to the societal consequences of hate speech. The Douala Forum is part of this effort. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Africa and Head of UNOCA, Franc¸ois Lounce´ny Fall, is expected to take part in the opening ceremony as well as representatives of the ECCAS Commission and national and international partners.

Source: UN Regional Office for Central Africa

October 25, 2021

Amazon Rain Forest Turning into Carbon Source, UN Agency Warns

The battle to stem climate change may be lost as new information indicates the Amazon rain forest is turning from a carbon sink – or area that absorbs CO2 – into a source of carbon dioxide, the World Meteorological Organization warns.

The latest edition of the WMO’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin reports emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide once again broke all records last year.

The U.N. agency’s report warns the concentrations of these greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere are driving climate change. It says carbon dioxide, the single most important greenhouse gas, accounts for approximately 66 percent of the warming effect on the climate.

The secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization, Petteri Taalas, says about half of CO2 emissions remains in the atmosphere for centuries. He says the other half is taken up by oceans and land ecosystems.

He says it is not clear for how much longer forested areas, often referred to as the lungs of the Earth, will continue to act as effective carbon sinks.

“We have already seen some alarming indications that, for example, Amazonian rain forest ecosystem, which used to be a major sink of carbon, has become now a source of carbon, which is alarming,” Taalas said. “And this is related to deforestation in the area and also changes in local climate because of this deforestation.”

Oksana Tarasova, who heads the WMO’s Atmospheric and Environment Research Division, says the WMO only now is revealing this new finding because it has taken nine years of observation to gather the measurement data set needed to understand the changes taking place. She says not all of the Amazon forest is turning from a carbon sink to a net producer of carbon.

“So, the Western part of the Amazonia still continues to work as a carbon sink at this point. But we do not know for how long that will continue this way,” Tarasova said. “We are making the measurements there and keeping our track on what is happening there. … I would take the whole Amazonia as a whole that is seen that it is a sink, but its capacity is substantially reduced.”

Meteorologists say climate change negotiators at an upcoming conference in Scotland must take concrete action and make concrete pledges to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

They say setting carbon neutral targets will not work in stemming climate change. They also warn the world is heading toward a temperature rise of 2.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. This, they say, is far more than the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Source: Voice of America

October 25, 2021

In Face of Hack Attacks, US State Department to Set Up Cyber Bureau

The U.S. State Department plans to establish a bureau of cyberspace and digital policy in the face of a growing hacking problem, specifically a surge of ransomware attacks on U.S. infrastructure.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said a Senate-confirmed ambassador at large will lead the bureau.

Hackers have struck numerous U.S. companies this year.

One such attack on pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline led to temporary fuel supply shortages on the U.S. East Coast. Hackers also targeted an Iowa-based agricultural company, sparking fears of disruptions to Midwest grain harvesting.

Two weeks ago, the Treasury Department said suspected ransomware payments totaling $590 million were made in the first six months of this year. It put the cryptocurrency industry on alert about its role fighting ransomware attacks.

Source: Voice of America