Promoting Thrift
Chinese President Xi Jinping has on many occasions called for practicing thrift and ending food waste. Calling the issue of food waste shocking and distressing, Xi highlighted the need to maintain a sense of crisis regarding food security, especially amid the fallout of the COVID-19 epidemic, despite the fact that China has scored consecutive bumper harvests.
He stressed enhancing legislation and supervision, taking effective measures, and establishing a long-term mechanism to stop food waste.
In January 2013, he gave an instruction on the issue and has since given multiple instructions requiring efforts including forceful institutional constraints, strict compliance with systems, strong supervision and inspection and severe punishment mechanisms to effectively curb various violations of rules, disciplines and laws regarding the consumption using public funds. He also set specific requirements for reducing waste in schools and promoting students’ awareness and practices of being thrifty.
MOZAMBIQUE Plastic Ban
Mozambican Minister of Land and Environment Ivete Maibasse announced on August 7 that the ministry plans to submit a law aiming to ban the use of plastic bags in the country as an effort to reduce practices harmful to public health, infrastructure and the environment.
The private sector will be given one year to prepare before the law is fully implemented, and there will also be some exceptions, said the minister during the opening of the National Council for Sustainable Development in Maputo.
“Exceptions will be for plastic bags used for food package, for conditioning solid waste, as well as for the health, mining, agriculture and construction sectors,” said Maibasse.
He said the ban will also exclude the plastic bags produced in the special economic zones as long as they are for export purposes.
UGANDA Recovering Economy
Uganda’s central bank said on August 10 that although the country’s economy contracted in the second quarter of 2020, there are indications that the economy is picking up as the country eases the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
The Bank of Uganda (BOU) said complementary fiscal and monetary policy actions have provided a foundation for the recovery of economic activity as the lockdown is relaxed.
“The Composite Index of Economic Activity grew by 5.7 percent month-on-month in June 2020, indicating a pickup in economic activity relative to the contraction registered in the three months to May 2020,” Emmanuel Tumusiime-mutebile, Governor of the BOU, said.
SOUTH AFRICA Women’s Empowerment
On marking Women’s Day on August 9, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said broadening women’s economic participation and ensuring their financial independence could be crucial in combating the scourge of femicide.
Addressing this year’s event virtually, Ramaphosa said poverty made women vulnerable to gender violence.
Ramaphosa said that to tackle gender-based violence and femicide, the government would prioritize providing business opportunities to women-led firms.
“The first action is to expand the access of women to economic opportunity,” he said. Besides, Ramaphosa said the government will support women who operate small or micro businesses.
CHINA 5G Coverage
Chen Rugui, Mayor of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province in south China, announced on August 17 that the city has achieved full coverage of 5G independent networking. Chen said at a press conference that the city has realized the goal set in 2019 of 45,000 5G base stations built by the end of August to support the establishment of the citywide 5G network.
Jia Xingdong, Director of Shenzhen municipal bureau of industry and information technology, said the total number of 5G base stations in Shenzhen has exceeded 46,000, putting the city ahead of schedule.
The city is home to a bevy of Chinese startups and tech heavyweights, including Huawei and Tencent.
CEO OF AFRICA POLICY INSTITUTE
Africa’s COVID-19 battle and the quest to leapfrog its manufacturing sector will gain immensely from strategic cooperation with China.