Latest news with #continental
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Target Hovland in top European markets at The Open
Jay Croucher and Drew Dinsick examine where to find value within betting markets for the top continental European at The Open Championship, explaining why Viktor Hovland may be the best bet to make.
Zawya
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
Our Rights are Non-Negotiable: How Reservations to the Maputo Protocol are Holding Back Women's Rights in Africa (By Deborah Nyokabi and Gicuku Kiragu)
By Deborah Nyokabi ( and Gicuku Kiragu ( Legal Equality Experts, Equality Now ( July 2025 marks 22 years since the adoption of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa ( - known as the Maputo Protocol - by the African Union Heads of State Assembly. Over the past two decades, the Protocol has played a pivotal role in advancing the rights of women and girls across the continent. Yet, despite this progress, its full promise remains unfulfilled for millions due to shortfalls in ratification, domestication, and effective implementation by many African governments. Reservations to the Maputo Protocol - instances when states choose not to be bound by specific provisions of the treaty - continue to limit key rights such as access to safe abortion, protection from child marriage, fair legal treatment in divorce, and the right to inherit property. These reservations, often supported by cultural or religious justifications, have real-life and potentially devastating consequences, particularly for survivors of gender-based violence and marginalised women and girls who are especially in need of legal protection. W omen's rights are increasingly under threat from rollback Reservations against the Protocol constrict the scope of legal protections at a time when hard-won women's rights are increasingly being undermined by rollbacks around the world. In Africa ( and elsewhere, anti-gender actors are a serious threat to women's rights ( gender and sexuality diversity, and democracy itself. This concerning trend is highlighted in Equality Now's 2025 report, Words&Deeds: Holding Governments Accountable in the Beijing+30 Review Process ( which identifies how legal protections for women and girls in some countries have been weakened or overturned through regressive legislative changes, judicial rulings, and funding cuts. State reservations against the Maputo Protocol hinder women's human rights The option to enter reservations on treaty documents is integral to the international human rights system. It serves as a tool for encouraging states to ratify treaty documents with the assurance that they can maintain and protect their sovereignty. However, this flexibility comes with significant drawbacks ( to human rights as a whole. The Maputo Protocol is a legally binding treaty that seeks to 'ensure that the rights of women are promoted, realised and protected ( in order to enable them to fully enjoy all their human rights.' When states enter reservations, they effectively lower the minimum human rights standards established by the Protocol within their jurisdictions, undermining its overall impact. As a result, reservations have hindered, both legally and in practice, the treaty's ability to comprehensively improve the lives of women and girls in the affected countries. For example, Uganda's reservations to Article 14(1)(a), which calls for adequate, affordable and accessible health services, and Article 14(2)(c), focusing on protecting women's reproductive rights, has significantly limited women's reproductive autonomy and has contribute to high rates of unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions, particularly among survivors of rape and incest. In Kenya, the reservation to Article 14(2)(c) contradicts its own Constitution and contributes to at least 2,600 maternal deaths annually from unsafe abortions. Kenya has also opted out of commitments under Article 10(3), which calls on States Parties to take necessary measures to reduce military expenditure, resulting in lower investment for essential maternal healthcare and social development. Mauritius's reservation on Article 14(2)(c) has prevented the provision of comprehensive reproductive healthcare. While allowing abortion under limited circumstances, imposing police reporting requirements and a 14-week limit leaves many women and girls without viable options. State reservations of the Maputo Protocol are failing families and women Countries' reservations to Article 6, which relates to marriage, enable marriage inequality and child marriage. For example, Ethiopia and South Africa's reservations permit unregistered marriages, exposing women to increased risk of child marriage and denying them legal protections in marital disputes. Namibia's failure to recognise customary marriages means women in such unions lack legal safeguards in divorce or inheritance, a situation unaddressed even in its new Marriage Act of 2024. In Algeria, the state's reservation allows for exceptions to the legal minimum age of marriage, enabling child marriage to persist under civil and customary law. Reservations on Article 7 - governing separation, divorce and annulment of marriage - restrict women's ability to seek divorce unless they meet specific conditions. Even in no-fault cases, women must pay a cash settlement to their husbands. Meanwhile, Algeria's reservations against Article 14, which outlines reproductive rights, have also fostered conditions that perpetuate child marriage, obstruct women's access to divorce, and deny rape survivors access to safe abortion. Reservations to Article 7 in Ethiopia enable non-judicial separations, with couples informally separating without going to court. This undermines legal oversight and often results in unfair property settlements and loss of child custody for women. Ethiopia's reservation to Article 21 on inheritance limits widows' rights as the state requires them to be explicitly named in a will, leaving many economically vulnerable. In the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), reservations block widows' rights to protection from degrading treatment and undermine their custodial and remarriage rights, reinforcing patriarchal control and exclusion. The SADR has issued multiple sweeping reservations, including on integrating gender perspectives in national policy, ensuring equality in family law, and protecting widows' rights. These undermine not only legal reforms but the broader societal shifts required for gender equality. Restrictions on reproductive rights further compound the oppression of women in this territory. Calling on governments to withdraw reservations against the Maputo Protocol The adoption in March 2025 of Resolution 632 (LXXXII) 2025 on the Need to Raise Awareness for States to Withdraw Reservations on Some Provisions of the Maputo Protocol ( by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights is a welcome move as this resolution will help develop a framework to guide African Union Member States on lifting reservations in collaboration with stakeholders, including Equality Now. In the face of growing resistance to gender equality and mounting efforts to erode women's rights across Africa and globally, the Maputo Protocol stands as a robust legal framework to safeguard hard-won gains and push for further progress. However, the Protocol's transformative potential can only be fulfilled if states withdraw the reservations that dilute its protections. These carve-outs deny millions of women and girls access to justice, safety, autonomy, and equality. It is imperative that all stakeholders stand together to resist the growing anti-gender backlash and hold the line in defence of equality and justice for all. Women's human rights are not negotiable. They are inalienable, indivisible, interdependent, and universal. At this pivotal moment, African governments must uphold all their legal and moral obligations under the Protocol and collaborate meaningfully with civil society to ensure that every woman and girl in Africa can live with dignity, free from violence, discrimination, and inequality. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Equality Now. For media enquiries, contact: Michelle Tuva, Regional Communications Officer, Africa, mtuva@ Tara Carey, Global Head of Media, Equality Now, Tcarey@ T. +44 (0)7971556340 (available on WhatsApp and Signal) Social Media: Bluesky: Facebook: Instagram: LinkedIn: About Equality Now: Equality Now ( is a worldwide human rights organisation dedicated to securing the legal and systemic change needed to end discrimination against all women and girls. Since its inception in 1992, it has played a role in reforming 120 discriminatory laws globally, positively impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of women and girls, their communities and nations, both now and for generations to come. Working with partners at national, regional and global levels, Equality Now draws on deep legal expertise and a diverse range of social, political and cultural perspectives to continue to lead the way in steering, shaping and driving the change needed to achieve enduring gender equality, to the benefit of all. For more details, go to
Zawya
30-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
African SMEs grapple with $330bln financing shortfall
Africa's annual trade financing gap is locking out small businesses from taking part in continental commerce, the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) says. Afreximbank blames part of the problem on high costs of credit, which keeps small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) out of intra-African trade. In a new report titled Transforming Africa's Trade, the continental lender cites stringent global banking regulations such as Basel IV as restrictive to small firms that want to scale up operations and integrate into regional value chains. For example, it says that East African countries are facing unrealised intra-African export potential of $7.9 billion, a major opportunity for the region to deepen its trade within the continent, which has been hindered by market access barriers and low regional freight connectivity. The report says SMEs, which make up 80-90 percent of businesses on the continent, have been starved of financing, with just 18 percent of the African banks creating trade finance portfolios specifically targeted at supporting intra-African trade. "This severely limits the ability of small and medium enterprises, which make up 80-90 percent of businesses on the continent, to engage in regional trade,' the report says. 'The African continental free trade area (AfCFTA) is designed to boost intra-African trade, but its success hinges on closing this gap.'Several multilateral lenders on the continent, including Afreximbank and African Development Bank (AfDB), have stepped in to bridge this trade-financing gap. Afreximbank has pledged to double intra-African trade finance to $40 billion by 2026, while AfDB's trade finance programme has supported SMEs with $5 billion in transactions. The alliance of African-owned and controlled multilateral financial institutions (Aamfi), along with African Central Bank, the African Monetary Fund, and the African Investment Bank – all financial institutions of the African Union – have also pledged to expand the fiscal space, coordinate monetary policy and steer continental investment. Aamfi was launched in 2024 and seeks to reposition Africa within the global financial system by finding innovative financing solutions to advance the continent's sustainable economic development and regional integration goals. Aamfi members include Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Afreximbank, Trade and Development Bank (TDB), African Reinsurance Corporation, African Trade and Investment Development Insurance, Shelter Afrique Development Bank and PTA Reinsurance Company. Others are East African Development Bank (EADB), African Solidarity Fund, and Fund for Export Development in Africa. The intra-African trade represents just 15 percent of total exports from African nations, and is largely made up of manufactured goods and services. The total intra African trade grew by 5.55 percent to $11.4 billion in 2024, from $10.8 billion in 2023. The Afreximbank report notes that by removing barriers to trade and facilitating and promoting investment, the AfCFTA would boost the trade in these critical sectors and support the transformation of African economies. The report notes that biases in international credit rating methodologies have cost Africa an estimated $75 billion in extra interest – a sum that could finance 80 percent of the continent's annual infrastructure needs — while fragmented banking regulations, divergent antimoney laundering rules, and nonconvertible currencies have continued to keep markets thin. The report shows that East Africa's unrealised intra-African export potential stood at an estimated $7.9 billion in 2024, of which $1.9 billion (24 percent), was concentrated in just seven product categories: machinery and electricity, apparel, mineral resources, and agro-based products such as processed food and vegetables.'The most prominent unrealised trade opportunities were in machinery and electricity ($0.4 billion) and apparel ($400 million), followed closely by mineral resources ($300 million), reflecting the dual importance of industrial and agro-processing sectors in the region's trade outlook,' the report says. The report notes that sectors such as fertilisers, processed food, precious metals, and vegetables, each with $200 million in unrealised potential, point to persistent but addressable gaps in trade infrastructure, quality standards, and logistics in East Africa.'Many of these goods are already produced within East Africa, suggesting that the region's unrealised export potential could be largely unlocked by addressing barriers to market access, improving regional freight connectivity, and investing in productive capacity and trade facilitation.' © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Coin Geek
09-06-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
African telco regulator launches metaverse adoption framework
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... The African Telecommunications Union (ATU) has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote the adoption and regulation of metaverse technologies across the continent. ATU signed the MoU with the Metaverse Institute, a London-based organization that supports the development of the metaverse for positive global impact. The MoU commits the two partners to a continental framework for the adoption and governance of the metaverse. The agreement is 'a historic step in our digital journey that positions Africa to lead in the next generation of internet platforms,' noted John Omo, the ATU Secretary-General. Africa's youth is marching toward a new world of digital opportunities, and 'we must act now to build safe, inclusive virtual economies and communities,' he added. The metaverse was the hottest buzzword in the tech world a few years ago, with billions of dollars invested in the technology as tech giants and startups raced to be the trailblazers. Mark Zuckerberg even changed Facebook's name to Meta (NASDAQ: META) to match the company's bold ambitions in the space. However, the technology's time at the top was short-lived, with artificial intelligence (AI) dislodging it a few years later. Today, many companies that were initially focused on the metaverse are shifting their course, and with each passing year, fewer billions are being invested in the virtual world. But despite the reduced spotlight, metaverse technologies still hold great promise. The Metaverse Institute notes that over $5 trillion will flow toward training humanoid robots in safe metaverse-based virtual environments alone. Beyond training, the metaverse offers a risk-free environment to explore solutions that would be too expensive in the physical world, such as the iterative development of smart cities. They also allow users to experiment with solutions requiring excessive trials before being released into the real world, such as medical simulations and risk-free surgical training. The MoU will also cater to metaverse regulation, which has been neglected for years. Most governments are racing to police stablecoins, decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, and AI, with the metaverse receiving little attention, which limits its growth. 'We are honoured to comprehensively evaluate the impact of emerging technologies and the virtual worlds ecosystem on the continent, delivering pragmatic recommendations to maximize Africa's global competitiveness. Together, we envision a digitally empowered Africa by 2063, a global leader in the digital revolution, where innovation serves humanity to forge a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable future for all,' commented Christina Yan Zhang, the Metaverse Institute CEO. While the metaverse may not have the allure it had five years ago, several global giants have deployed pilots on these virtual environments to better interact with their consumers and optimize manufacturing, ranging from Nike (NASDAQ: NKE) and Christie's to Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT) and H&M. However, a new report from the University of Stirling has warned that integrating the metaverse doesn't always translate to a sales bump. The university's research found that having a digital twin of a physical product dilutes the digital product. And yet, as the consumer metaverse dips, the technology's biggest market could be in manufacturing. Major global brands like German auto giant BMW and American retail company Lowe's (NASDAQ: LOW) are using industrial metaverse to run simulations with digital 3D models to spot imperfections and improve their products, saving billions in manhours and resources. Malawi sets 2026 deadline for digital IDs In Malawi, the government has set a 2026 deadline for the issuance of digital IDs, leveraging emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. Speaking at the ID4Africa 2025 AGM in Ethiopia, Malawi's National Registration Bureau (NRB) principal secretary, Mphatso Sambo, revealed that the country has conducted a successful pilot program for the digital ID. It intends to fully roll out the service next year to enhance access to government services. The new digital ID is anchored on a strong national ID uptake in the southeastern African nation, where almost 100% of all citizens aged 16 and above now possess an ID. The digital version will be directly linked to 33 private and public institutions, 'unlocking access to finance, social protection, and essential services.' 'Through innovation and emerging technologies like AI and blockchain, Malawi has planned for a digital ID wallet,' Sambo stated. In neighboring Tanzania, the government has set aside 11 billion Tanzanian Shillings ($4.5 million) to issue digital IDs to 300,000 minors. Watch: Tech redefines how things are done—Africa is here for it title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Bloomberg
09-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
African Ratings Agency Prepares to Take On ‘Big Three' This Year
The African Credit Rating Agency, a continental initiative to provide alternative assessments of repayment risks, plans to start operations by the end of September. The agency will publish its first sovereign rating report by the end of the year or early 2026, said Misheck Mutize, lead expert on credit-rating companies at the African Peer Review Mechanism, an African Union structure. It will appoint a chief executive officer in the third quarter, and candidates have already been shortlisted, he said last week.
