Delegates to look into state of the continent
DAR ES SALAAM - The Annual Thabo Mbeki Africa Day Lecture takes place in Dar es Salaam on Saturday.
The 15th edition is being held under the theme, 'The State of the Continent'.
It comes as a new scramble for Africa and its resources heats up.
It's also a chance to reflect on the hope of an African Renaissance that has become a dream deferred.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily News Egypt
14 minutes ago
- Daily News Egypt
Egypt inaugurates first Bosch home appliance factory in Africa with €55m investment
Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly inaugurated the first African factory of BSH, the German-owned home appliance giant behind the Bosch brand, marking a milestone in Egypt's industrial development and regional positioning. Located in 10th of Ramadan City, the factory represents the company's first manufacturing base on the continent, with a total investment exceeding €55m. The facility is expected to generate around 1,000 direct and indirect job opportunities, with 50% of its production designated for export to markets across Africa and the Middle East. Accompanied by key ministers and senior officials, Madbouly affirmed that Egypt's economic reforms and investor-friendly incentives have successfully attracted major global industrial players. The Bosch plant, he said, will serve as a strategic launchpad for regional expansion, leveraging Egypt's geographic advantage, skilled labour, and growing domestic market. Top executives from BSH Global attended the inauguration and praised Egypt's strategic positioning and the strong support extended by local authorities. Built over an 80,000-square-metre plot, the factory will manufacture more than 350,000 gas ovens annually using 100% Egyptian labour and German engineering expertise. The facility adopts a new BSH production model focused on integrating the local workforce rather than relying heavily on automation—an approach designed to capitalise on Egypt's labour cost advantage while upholding Bosch's global quality standards. This project aligns with Egypt's broader industrial strategy and vision to become a regional hub for manufacturing and export. BSH also confirmed its intention to expand the facility in future phases, further increasing production capacity and employment opportunities. Prime Minister Madbouly toured the production lines and met with workers, reiterating the government's commitment to supporting industrial investment, strengthening local supply chains, increasing exports, and facilitating technology transfer. In his remarks, Luis Alvarez, Chairperson of BSH Egypt and Morocco, explained that the decision to establish BSH's first African factory in Egypt reflects a long-term strategic vision. He highlighted Egypt's potential as a gateway to continental and regional markets and noted that the country is now home to BSH's 40th production facility worldwide. BSH operates 39 factories across Europe, North America, and Asia and maintains a presence in more than 60 countries. The new Egyptian plant is now a critical link in this global network and will serve as a springboard into emerging markets across the Global South. Designed with strict sustainability standards, the factory combines advanced infrastructure with local talent. BSH plans to export 50% of its output to the Middle East, Africa, Australia, Canada, and Latin America. Ahmed Riad, Executive Board Member and CFO of BSH Home Appliances Egypt, noted that the factory's 90 cm cookers were developed specifically to match Egyptian consumer preferences. The current local component ratio stands at 50%, with plans to exceed 70% within two years. He also revealed that BSH is exploring the possibility of expanding its product line beyond ovens and cookers, further strengthening Egypt's position as a regional manufacturing hub. Following the Bosch factory inauguration, Prime Minister Madbouly also opened Jumia's largest logistics warehouse in Egypt—a major development for the country's e-commerce and digital logistics infrastructure. Spanning over 27,000 square metres and equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, the new facility is designed to accelerate delivery times, enhance storage efficiency, and support Jumia's growing operations, particularly in Upper Egypt. It is expected to create approximately 10,000 direct and indirect jobs. The warehouse supports Egypt's goal to become a regional digital hub, aligning with Vision 2030 and national efforts to expand digital services, boost youth employment, and support tech-driven development. Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat highlighted that the software powering Jumia's platform was developed locally by Egyptian engineers. Jumia Egypt CEO Abdellatif Olama emphasised the strategic importance of Egypt within Jumia's regional operations. The country hosts one of the company's largest tech hubs in Africa and plays a pivotal role in exporting digital solutions across the continent. He reiterated Jumia's commitment to enhancing Egypt's role in Africa's digital transformation and to supporting local manufacturing and logistics ecosystems.
Arab News
14 minutes ago
- Arab News
Rooted in earth: Rafha's mud structures tell a story of sustainability
RIYADH: In the heart of northern Saudi Arabia, the mud buildings of Rafha stand as 'a vibrant narrative of traditional architecture, reflecting authenticity, creativity, and cultural identity,' the Saudi Press Agency said in an article on Saturday. These structures tell the story of an ancient past, 'embodying traditional architectural ingenuity that connects people to the land.' Located along one of the Kingdom's most significant tourist routes, the buildings 'integrate cultural heritage with the natural environment,' the SPA wrote, and 'serve as living records of generational memory, preserved through architectural details.' This makes them an appealing destination for anyone interested in history, heritage, and traditional craftsmanship. • The buildings in Rafha were constructed using indigenous methods and natural materials including mud, stone, wood, and palm fronds. • Local authorities are making efforts to restore and maintain these mud structures, preserving their historical and cultural value. The buildings were constructed using indigenous methods and natural materials including mud, stone, wood, and palm fronds. Their design responds to the local environment, maintaining balanced indoor temperatures during scorching summers and cooler winters. Most feature an inner courtyard, surrounded by rooms arranged in a circular layout, reflecting a strong sense of community. These mud buildings illustrate 'a deep harmony between humans and their environment,' the SPA wrote, adding that they also 'reflect sustainable building principles that long predate modern green architecture.' Local authorities are making efforts to restore and maintain these mud structures, preserving their historical and cultural value while promoting them as distinct parts of the Saudi tourism landscape.
Times
15 minutes ago
- Times
My mini gap year in (probably) the most extraordinary place on Earth
It's day four of the gap-year-in-one-week I'm sharing with my 18-year-old son, Rider, in Queensland and we're getting into our groove. Take two flights before lunch and you start feeling like blasé musicians on tour: 'Hello Brisbane, again! Oh hi, Hamilton Island — lookin' good!' We're in the southern hemisphere's largest island resort, 550 miles north of Brisbane, in the Whitsundays — the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. It's hard to decide which Madonna banger best fits the bill: Into the Groove or La Isla Bonita: 'All of nature wild and free/ This is where I long to be…' We're staying at the Sundays, a stylish boutique hotel that has just been fully refurbished to the tune of £16.9 million and has been open again for precisely 24 hours. Our twin room, home for two nights, is a lovely airy space with a big balcony overlooking the glorious Catseye Beach, an even larger bathroom and a Balearic vibe, despite the fact that Ibiza and Hamilton Island are more than 10,000 miles apart. My 'on-tour' stresses start to melt away and though we've missed the hotel's lunch window we eat a couple of burgers over the road at the Hamilton Island Resort Centre, where Rider confronts his first chip-stealing flock of laughing kookaburras; like a cheeky bunch of seagulls, in drag. Fortified, we head off to collect a golf buggy — one of the only methods of transport on the car-free island — while kangaroos hop across our path. By the time we've done an island recce (it's gorgeous from every angle, a cross between The Prisoner-era Portmeirion and an animated Disney movie) the sun is slipping away. It's the perfect moment to arrive at One Tree Hill, on the island's northern tip, where buggies cluster nightly for chillaxed live music and sundowners, until a semi-acoustic cover of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall ('Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone!') gives me and a similarly aged couple (on a mini-break from Melbourne, we've bonded while sharing a table) the collective giggles. So much so, indeed, that Rider escapes us to take sunset selfies for Snapchat, leaving the retro hits behind. Back at the hotel dinner is a wow. The chef Josh Niland is an Aussie superstar — the 'fish butcher' and his wife, Julie, run Saint Peter, a Sydney restaurant widely regarded by critics as one of the country's best, while his CV also includes a stint at the Fat Duck, Heston Blumenthal's three-Michelin-starred restaurant. At the Sundays' Catseye Pool Club, Rider says Niland's tasting menu is 'basically the best thing, ever'. From the batter fried wild fish tacos to the crumbed white Pyrenees lamb cutlets and their accompanying sides (grilled beans and pecorino polenta with the lamb, fermented pineapple hot sauce with the tacos) every dish sings. It's a great evening, with another early night for an early start. We're getting used to these. • The ultimate guide to the Great Barrier Reef: everything you need to know At the time of writing, two months later, our fifth day now feels like a fever dream. I had known for weeks that we would be joining Cruise Whitsundays' 'outer reef day cruise' and that if the weather was optimal we'd also take a 15-minute helicopter ride over the heart-shaped coral cluster at Hardy Reef. I had also known for weeks that, after the flight, we would be snorkelling and discovering the reef up close. Yeah, I knew all of this in theory, however, it wasn't until we were halfway through the two-hour boat trip from Hamilton Island to the reef that I thought, 'Hang on — where precisely are we headed? What will we see when we arrive?!' The answer: Reefworld, a permanently moored pontoon 45 miles away from the Whitsundays. At this shimmering reef-side oasis, the weather is perfect for choppers and three soon appear on the horizon, landing on their own pontoons. I'm suddenly glad I haven't spent any time contemplating being in a helicopter above the Pacific, 45 miles from dry land, because once our Hamilton Island Air pilot, Luke, is swooping us over Heart Reef, breathtaking doesn't come close to describing being a human drone, observing the contrast between the endless expanse of ocean and the reef ecosystem directly below us. This high-definition ride is one of the greatest things I've experienced. I'm thrilled that Rider — 'co-piloting' in the chopper's front seat, next to Luke — has done this at just 18; doubly delighted to be sharing it with him. Yet soon after we put on 'stinger' suits, flippers and snorkels and launch ourselves off the pontoon and into the reef, that amazing helicopter ride is memory-holed. While it remains one of the most extraordinary things I've done, being underwater in the Great Barrier Reef turns out to be at the next level. We've swum a couple of hundred metres away from the pontoon, mesmerised, punctuating the silence with an occasional 'wow!', when Rider turns to me and says: 'This is as good a place as any, right?' • 10 amazing ways to see the Great Barrier Reef I agree, so we slip below the surface, back into our parallel underwater world teeming with brilliant fluorescent fish and glistening coral. Here, Rider deftly unscrews the lid of the small container we've brought with us — and will take away with us too — while behind my mask tears flow; crying underwater is yet another new experience. My eldest son, Jackson, was about to embark on his post-graduation gap year when he died in an accident in September 2023 and now, as we set a tiny amount of his ashes free at one of the most extraordinary places on earth, Jackson's gap afterlife is just beginning. Kathryn Flett is spending a month travelling in Australia. She was a guest of Tourism and Events Queensland ( The Sundays has B&B doubles from £430 ( • Kathryn Flett: Should I crash my son's gap year?• Kathryn Flett: Yes… I crashed my son's gap year. Here's what happened• Kathryn Flett: Me, my son and the gap year I crashed: what's working (and what's not) Read Kathryn's final column next week
