World Economic Forum - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

By INGER FABRIS-ROTELLI, ANSIE SMIT, DANIELLE JADE ROBERTS, DANIEL MAPOSA, FABIO MATHIAS CORREA, MICHAEL JOHAN VON MALTITZ and SONALI DAS

South Africa is short of academic statisticians: why and what can be done

EDUCATION

OUR world is awash with data. A 2019 article published by the World Economic Forum estimated that, by 2025, about 463 exabytes of data will be created each day globally – that’s the equivalent of 212,765,957 DVDs per day. But data is only useful if it can be collected, analysed and explained by experts. That’s where statisticians come in. People like us are trained to make sense of data. Our analyses can then guide organisations and governments in making sensible policy decisions. Both “data scientist” and “statistics lecturer” feature on the South African government’s critical skills list. Due to the…

Jan

2024

By CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Davos: Global economists see bright spots in Africa growth prospects

NEWS

TOP economists agree that Africa's economic prospects for 2024 are positive, as small countries sparkle in the face of sluggish global growth projections. Chief economists from the World Economic Forum, World Bank and United Nations project Africa’s economy will defy the impacts of weak investments, debt crises, inflation, tight financial conditions and extreme weather patterns to record an improvement over 2023. A strong majority (65%) of World Economic Forum Chief Economists expect most of the continent to record at least moderate growth, according to the World Economic Forum Chief Economists Outlook 2024. This comes against a background in which 56%…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

UN chief says parties to Gaza war ‘trampling’ on international law

WORLD

UNITED Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that parties to the conflict in Gaza were "trampling" on international law and urged them to implement an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Guterres said the warring parties were "ignoring international law, trampling on the Geneva Conventions, and even violating the United Nations Charter". "The world is standing by as civilians, mostly women and children, are killed, maimed, bombarded, forced from their homes and denied access to humanitarian aid," he said. "I repeat my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and a process that leads to sustained peace…

Jan

2024

By VICTORIA WALDERSEE

Ghana will reengage bondholders next week, says finance minister

BUSINESS

GHANA will reengage with its international bondholders from next week, finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta told Reuters, as the country seeks to build on the momentum of a deal last week to restructure $5.4 billion of official creditor debt. The West African country will seek to continue discussions after meeting holders of its around $13 billion in outstanding Eurobonds in Marrakech in October, Ofori-Atta said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting. Officials will also travel to China on January 23, he added. China and France co-chair Ghana's Official Creditor Committee and the agreement reached with…

Nov

2023

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Africa is steadily marching toward gender parity

NEWS

NAMIBIA is among a select group of nine nations globally that have successfully closed over 80% of their gender gap, marking a significant stride towards equality. According to a 2023 report from the World Economic Forum, Namibia has achieved an impressive 80.2% closure, securing the rank of 8th worldwide in bridging this gap. Leaders include Iceland (91.2%), Norway (87.9%), Finland (86.3%), New Zealand (85.2%), Sweden (81.5%), Germany (81.5%), and Nicaragua (81.1%), with Namibia next, at 80.2%. “Sub-Saharan Africa’s parity score is the sixth highest among the eight regions at 68.2%, ranking above Southern Asia, the Middle East and North Africa,”…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

Get-rich-quick schemes, pyramids and ponzis: five signs you’re being scammed

NEWS

Consumers are under a lot of financial strain. The World Economic Forum reports that the cost-of-living crisis is affecting people across the globe. With food and fuel prices rising, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep financially afloat. On top of that, salaries aren’t keeping up with inflation, making it more difficult to save and build wealth. Authors BOMIKAZI ZEKA, Assistant Professor in Finance and Financial Planning, University of Canberra ABDUL LATIF ALHASSAN, Associate Professor in Development Finance & Insurance, University of Cape Town It’s during such times of economic difficulty and uncertainty that fraudsters lure unsuspecting consumers into “get-rich-quick” schemes,…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Davos 2023: Key takeaways from the World Economic Forum

WORLD

GLOBAL leaders and business executives departed a freezing World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting after a frank exchange of views over how the world will tackle its biggest issues in 2023. Here's what we learned: ECONOMY: Gloom and doom heading into Davos turned into cautious optimism by the end with the global economic outlook for the year ahead looking better than feared. But the WEF's annual meeting was filled with discussion of plenty of risks, including inflationary pressures from China's reopening and rising debt distress in the developing world. Not to mention that the hardest bit for Western nations is yet to come - getting…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Technology and sustainable development: a hamlet in rural South Africa shows how one can power the other

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

IT'S hard to imagine that the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the fourth industrial revolution can be part of the same conversation. But, as a briefing paper by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) points out: Over 70% of the 136 SDG targets could be enabled by technology applications already in deployment. To be achieved, both ideas – sustainable development and the fourth industrial revolution – require innovative thinking and a change of attitude. Authors SAURABH SINHA, Professor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation, University of Johannesburg MDUDUZI MBIZA, Research Associate, University of Johannesburg The fourth industrial…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Davos 2023: Idris Elba calls for investment to help world’s poor

NEWS

KATHRYN LURIE ACTOR Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba called for business and political leaders to provide more support to the world's poorest countries in the form of investment rather than aid. At the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, the Elbas were both honoured for their work on environmental conservation, food security and climate change. The couple, who are Goodwill Ambassadors for the United Nations' International Fund for Agricultural Development, appealed to participants at the annual summit for fast financial support for people hit by food…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Energy crisis forces SA president to skip World Economic Forum

NEWS

SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa will no longer attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos due to the ongoing energy crisis in the country, his spokesman said. Power cuts have worsened since Tuesday when struggling state utility Eskom said it would implement its worst-ever outages until further notice. The power cuts are a major source of public frustration with the governing African National Congress (ANC) and a brake on economic growth in Africa's most industrialised nation. "Currently the President is convening a meeting with leaders of political parties represented in parliament, NECCOM (National Energy Crisis Committee) and the Eskom board," Vincent…