Using the words “work” and “home” in the same sentence usually stirs up a mixture of delight and disapproval – in almost equal parts.&nbsp;



On the one hand, those lucky enough to work from home tend to experience the sense of euphoria that comes from escaping the watchful gaze or sometimes intense glare of those in charge.&nbsp;



In sharp contrast, a mere mention of the concept of remote work plunges an increasing number of bosses into a sense of “productivity paranoia”.&nbsp;



Productivity paranoia refers to a boss’ heightened suspicion, scepticism or speculation that their employees are not being as productive while working from home, a local coffee shop or a co-working space.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



The trending phenomenon, which sits alongside a bundle of other buzzwords generated by our workplace behaviors so far this year (think: quiet quitting, quiet firing, loud leadership), was revealed in Microsoft’s latest Work Trend Index.&nbsp;



The index declared that 87% of workers thought they were just as productive – if not more so – when working from home.&nbsp;



At the same time, only 12% of bosses felt fully confident that those working remotely were as productive as those sitting behind their desks in the office.&nbsp;



While employees work harder than ever, bosses simply do not believe them. In fact, some bosses label the practice of working from home as nothing short of a pantomime of productivity.&nbsp;



While the huge gulf between what managers and workers feel might come as a shock, the truth is some bosses have never truly embraced remote work practices.&nbsp;



At the heart of the kerfuffle between managers and remote-operating staff is the questionable assumption that workers are more productive when they are under the watchful eye of their supervisor.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Yet being in the office does not guarantee productivity.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Some workers fake productivity by appearing busy online, staying back late to keep up appearances, participating in endless purposeless meetings, engaging in superficial conversations with colleagues or making mountains out of molehills to portray an essence of efficiency.&nbsp;



Bosses’ productivity paranoia prevails despite remote workers claiming they tend to get more done from their loungerooms without the daily distractions of chatty colleagues and the frustrations of a time-sucking daily commute.&nbsp;



You will realize your boss has a bad case of productivity paranoia when you work from home and are asked to account for how you spent a day away from the workplace, when additional “supervisory” type meetings suddenly drop into your calendar or when you receive a high volume of calls or texts to “check in” on your progress on specific work tasks.&nbsp;



Perhaps worse, you will know your boss has an extreme case of productivity paranoia when they have some form of “bossware” installed on technology used in remote settings. It is a form of software that allows managers to spy on their employees’ online activity – or lack of it.&nbsp;



It is hard to explain why productivity paranoia has risen to such highs among managers.&nbsp;&nbsp;



A number of theories are emerging including that bosses feel they lack control when their employees are out of sight or miss the feeling of having team members running after them, looking up to them and paying them compliments.&nbsp;



It is also a firm possibility that well-meaning bosses have not been given adequate training to be able to manage in a remote-working office environment.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Organizations afflicted with productivity paranoia are likely to suffer the consequences.&nbsp;



Fear around the lack of productivity of those working remotely might lead to valued and highly capable employees quitting, cause those working at home to engage in productivity theatrics to prove a point or contribute to the emergence of workplace cultures that are characterized by mistrust, disrespect and inequality.&nbsp;



There will always be those who take full advantage of a lack of direct supervision while working remotely.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Regardless of whether an employee is working in the office or virtually, we will never fully know exactly what every employee is doing 100% of the time.&nbsp;



What every boss needs to realize is employees have fully embraced flexible work and that means remote work is here to stay.&nbsp;&nbsp;



It will require those with productivity paranoia to shift their mindset from one locked into “I can’t see you so I don’t know what you are up to” to a different way of thinking which asks remote workers “if you have everything you need to get your job done”.&nbsp;



Gary Martin- The writer and professor is Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Institute of Management WA

Closeup shot of an unrecognizable woman using a laptop while working from home

Why WFH Has Become A Pantomime Of Productivity For Some

<h2 id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



False claims that Covid-19 vaccines cause spasms have gone viral on social media, with many users — even language education company Duolingo — making an even more viral joke out of the misinformation.



<h2>KEY FACTS</h2>



Anti-vaxxers are spreading videos on social media of people appearing to seize or spasm, falsely claiming these to be Covid-19 vaccine side effects — but in many cases the videos are years old, unrelated to the Covid-19 vaccine and have been debunked by fact-checkers.



Spasms and seizures are not listed as either <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/expect/after.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">common side effects</a> or <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">adverse side effects</a> of the Covid-19 vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/safety-of-vaccines.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">emphasizes</a> the vaccines are safe and effective.



One&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/healthbyjames/status/1616142878723407894?s=20&amp;t=PnM3jv9-_e2R5xhE7kFShg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">video</a>&nbsp;shared by James Cintolo, who claims in his Twitter bio to be a medical expert, shows a woman convulsing — he called the video “urgent” despite a Twitter fact-checking label noting the video is two years old — and it racked up 25 million views on the platform, inspired widespread mockery and a note from Twitter’s fact-checking team noting it “has been debunked by multiple news outlets and local and Federal health officials, showing no association … with the COVID vaccine,” according to multiple news outlets including a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/covid-vaccine-misinformation-facebook" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wired</a>&nbsp;investigation.



Twitter users quickly turned these fake vaccine side effects into a meme: Many tweets, some simply captioned “Thanks Pfizer”—the&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/AngeliaDesselle/status/1522948044043468800" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">caption</a>&nbsp;from a widely derided Twitter video by Angelia Desselle labeled as misinformation that has been viewed more than 23 million times)—show a video like Steve Carrell’s character from&nbsp;The Office&nbsp;doing a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/theofficereacs/status/1617249097240436738" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bizarre dance</a>, or Dua Lipa simply&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/theashrb/status/1616921840135426048" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">swaying</a>&nbsp;side to side, garnering millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes this week.



Brands made their own jokes, too: Duolingo <a href="https://twitter.com/duolingo/status/1617619591303421953" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shared a video</a> of its mascot dancing, captioning it “Thanks Pfizer” (the company also <a href="https://twitter.com/duolingo/status/1618004237576994817" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shared a tweet</a> with a link to the CDC website, urging people to stay informed about the vaccine and assuring people “twerking is not a side effect”).



<h2>KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Videos of people appearing to convulse after receiving a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, which are used to intentionally spread misinformation, date back at least two years but have recently resurfaced on social media. Angelia Desselle’s January 2021 video was reshared last week on Twitter by user Cintolo, who regularly posts false and misleading information about Covid-19 and the vaccine. Desselle’s case was debunked by media outlets; A CDC spokesperson&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/covid-vaccine-misinformation-facebook" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told&nbsp;Wired</a>&nbsp;in January 2021 it had “no adverse event data regarding a case of this nature out of Louisiana,” where Desselle is from. A Louisiana Department of Health spokesperson&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/covid-vaccine-misinformation-facebook" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told&nbsp;Wired</a>&nbsp;in January 2021 only one adverse vaccine reaction had led to hospitalization at that time — the person, who experienced gastrointestinal distress and lightheadedness, was released and recovered. Cintolo frequently posts such bogus videos, falsely claiming that the vaccine is dangerous, and several of his tweets have been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/anti-vax-movement-new-misinformation-injuries-deaths-1234666611/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">debunked</a>&nbsp;by media outlets and are branded with fact-checks on Twitter. His false tweets come as anti-vaccine propaganda&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/anti-vax-movement-new-misinformation-injuries-deaths-1234666611/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">surges</a>, particularly the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/01/died-suddenly-documentary-covid-vaccine-conspiracy-theory/672819/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“died suddenly” conspiracy theory</a>, which was peddled in a documentary of the same name and prompted Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene to&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1616940625152057345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1616940625152057345%7Ctwgr%5E3265c464fd431cb9b25bb7b031586f05c05ccedd%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rollingstone.com%2Fculture%2Fculture-features%2Fanti-vax-movement-new-misinformation-injuries-deaths-1234666611%2F" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">demand</a>&nbsp;an investigation into the vaccines.



<h2>“THANKS PFIZER” MEMES</h2>



Duolingo has garnered nearly 300,000 likes and more than 8 million views on their “Thanks Pfizer” meme&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/duolingo/status/1617619591303421953" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweet</a>, which the language learning company posted on Monday. Other tweets taking part in the viral joke include a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/iwishyouwoulds/status/1617370708862173184" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">video</a>&nbsp;of Taylor Swift dancing in her video for “Delicate” and a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/machinegumkiss/status/1617520447373078535" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">video</a>&nbsp;of comedian Nathan Fielder dancing to Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” — both captioned “Thanks Pfizer.” “My friend Brenda got her vaccine and this started happening in the middle of movie night thanks Pfizer,” one user captioned a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/seanybrams/status/1618103835700125696" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">satirical tweet</a>, paired with a video of Regina Hall’s character having a seizure in&nbsp;Scary Movie 3.&nbsp;Subjects of the meme aren’t always human — some Twitter users joked the vaccine was to blame for why apps on their&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/yannhatchuel/status/1617302132058910721" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iPhone</a>, a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/jennaep7/status/1617216745315483648" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shopping cart</a>&nbsp;or a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/joshleonn/status/1616386609762521090" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Halloween decoration</a>were shaking or twitching.



<h2>WHAT ARE THE ACTUAL VACCINE SIDE EFFECTS?</h2>



The most common vaccine side effects — which tend to be mild and temporary — in adults include pain, redness and swelling in the arm, as well as tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever and nausea,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/expect/after.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to the CDC</a>. Booster shot side effects may include fever, headache, fatigue, and pain at the injection site.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Adverse effects</a>&nbsp;of the vaccine are rare, and the CDC emphasizes the vaccines are safe and effective. Five cases per one million vaccine doses have been linked to anaphylaxis and four cases per one million doses of the Johnson &amp; Johnson/Janssen vaccine have been linked to thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome. Seizures or spams are not listed among the adverse effects of any Covid-19 vaccine on the CDC website.



<h2>FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/anti-vax-movement-new-misinformation-injuries-deaths-1234666611/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Claims of Covid Vaccine Injuries and Deaths Revive Protest Movement</a>(Rolling Stone)



<a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/covid-vaccine-misinformation-facebook" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">They claimed the Covid-19 vaccine made them ill. Then they went viral</a>(Wired)



By Conor Murray, Forbes Africa

Vaccinations at Egoli Township as Omicron Cases Spread

How A ‘Thanks Pfizer’ Covid Misinformation Meme Went Viral

<h2 id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Microsoft on Wednesday said it is investigating after an outage took down a number of its platforms around the world, leaving thousands of users locked out of services including Microsoft Teams, Outlook and Xbox Live.



<h2>KEY FACTS</h2>



Microsoft acknowledged the outage and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/MSFT365Status/status/1618160643873411072?s=20&amp;t=wosH9ryKIUx2X6wcKqFjAQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;it has “identified a potential networking issue”&nbsp;<a href="https://status.office365.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">affecting</a>&nbsp;multiple Microsoft 365 services early Wednesday morning.



The firm said it is now working on a fix to restore the downed services.



Microsoft did not reveal the scale of the disruption but said the outage has affected many of its services including Teams, Outlook, Exchange Online, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint Online and Microsoft Graph.



Thousands of users in countries including India, the U.K., Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Japan began reporting difficulties accessing Microsoft services from around 2:30 a.m. ET, according to outage tracker&nbsp;<a href="https://downdetector.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Downdetector</a>.



Microsoft Azure, the firm’s cloud computing platform, and GitHub, one of the most popular code-hosting sites on the web, also appeared to be hit by the outage, according to Downdetector reports.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">We&#39;ve identified a potential networking issue and are reviewing telemetry to determine the next troubleshooting steps. You can find additional information on our status page at <a href="https://t.co/pZt32fOafR">https://t.co/pZt32fOafR</a> or on SHD under MO502273.&mdash; Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) <a href="https://twitter.com/MSFT365Status/status/1618160643873411072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<h2>KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Microsoft’s products are used by businesses around the world and many are absolutely critical to day-to-day business operations. Teams, a messaging and communication service, is used by more than&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/fxshaw/status/1618015984702615553?s=20&amp;t=JaALMMz7vdzOwE0-WdBXyg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">280 million people worldwide</a>&nbsp;and Outlook is one of the world’s most popular email clients. The impact on Azure, a key&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a519cb01-4467-4820-ada6-680d2300acb0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">revenue</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-misses-quarterly-revenue-estimates-2023-01-24/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">driver</a>&nbsp;for Microsoft, could mean the disruption is felt further afield from sites using the cloud computing service. The firm&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/01/24/2023-layoffs-3m-slashes-2500-while-gemini-reportedly-cuts-10-of-its-staff/?sh=6bf785a34235">said</a>&nbsp;it plans to cut 10,000 jobs in mid-January ahead of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-24/microsoft-says-azure-growth-to-decelerate-shares-erase-gains" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">revealing</a>&nbsp;lackluster earnings amid slower corporate sales and declining demand.



<h2>FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-24/microsoft-says-azure-growth-to-decelerate-shares-erase-gains" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft Erases Gains After Saying Azure Growth to Decelerate</a>(Bloomberg)



By Robert Hart, Forbes Staff

Microsoft Services Down For Tens Of Thousands Around World

Microsoft Investigates Major Outage—Xbox Live, Teams, Outlook Among Services Down Across Several Countries

<h2 id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



The hands of the Doomsday Clock, used by top scientists to assess how close humanity is to self-annihilation, moved forwards to 90 seconds to midnight on Tuesday, the highest threat level in the project&#8217;s history—here are the highest threat levels previously reached.



<h2>TIMELINE</h2>



2 minutes to midnight. 1953.The Bulletin&nbsp;<a href="https://thebulletin.org/files/1953%20Clock%20Statement%201.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">moved</a>&nbsp;the clock the closest to midnight it had ever been—and the closest it would ever be in the 20th Century—after the U.S. and the Soviet Union detonated their first thermonuclear weapons.



2.5 minutes to midnight. 2017.The Bulletin&nbsp;<a href="https://thebulletin.org/files/Final%202017%20Clock%20Statement.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;the “words of a single person,” Donald Trump, had motivated the decision to move the clock 30 seconds, having “made a bad international security situation worse” despite only having been president for a matter of days at the time of the announcement.



2 minutes to midnight. 2018.Nuclear concerns were once again center stage when the Bulletin&nbsp;<a href="https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2018-doomsday-clock-statement/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">returned</a>&nbsp;the clock to two minutes to midnight in 2018, when the group said major nuclear powers were on the “cusp of a new arms race.”



2 minutes to midnight. 2019.&nbsp;The Bulletin&nbsp;<a href="https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2019-doomsday-clock-statement/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">listed</a>&nbsp;the U.S.’ departure as a global nuclear leader, particularly its abandonment of the Iran nuclear deal and withdrawal from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, as ”grave steps towards a complete dismantlement of the global arms control process” and a key reason for keeping the clock at 2 minutes to midnight.



100 seconds to midnight. 2020.The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which oversees the clock,&nbsp;<a href="https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2020-doomsday-clock-statement/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;the twin risks of nuclear war and climate change, compounded by the spread of misinformation and behavior of world leaders, justified moving the clock forwards to 100 seconds to midnight, the closest to midnight it had been before Tuesday’s update.



100 seconds to midnight. 2021.The Bulletin&nbsp;<a href="https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2021-doomsday-clock-statement/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cited</a>&nbsp;“accelerating nuclear programs in multiple countries,” the Covid-19 pandemic and the continued failure of governments to tackle climate change as reasons to keep the clock at 100 seconds to midnight, illustrating that “we are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/20/doomsday-clock-holds-at-100-seconds-to-midnight" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stuck in a perilous</a>moment.”



<h2>KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



The Doomsday Clock is a symbol of how close humanity is to self-annihilation. It was created in 1947 in the wake of the world’s first nuclear detonations by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a group of scientists who had worked on the Manhattan Project, the U.S. endeavor responsible for developing the world’s first nuclear weapon. The Bulletin, through a group of experts, is responsible for setting the hands of the clock each year. Experts&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220119-how-to-read-the-doomsday-clock" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">say</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/doomsday-clock-moves-closer-to-midnight-but-can-we-really-predict-the-end-of-the-world-36632" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">it</a>&nbsp;is best to use the timings as a way of stimulating discussion, highlighting risks and as a wake-up call rather than a strict risk assessment or indication of time humanity has left. The clock was originally set at seven minutes from midnight in 1947 and the furthest from midnight it has ever been set was 17 minutes in 1991&nbsp;<a href="https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/what-is-the-doomsday-clock" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">following</a>&nbsp;the fall of the Soviet Union and signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.



<h2>BIG NUMBER</h2>



25. That’s how many times the Bulletin has adjusted the clock since its creation. Since 1991, it has been steadily moving closer to midnight, except for a brief reprieve between 2010 and 2012, when it was moved back slightly. Climate change risks were included for the first time in 2017, when the clock was moved five minutes to midnight, and have been a prominent discussion point in the Bulletin’s announcements since.



<h2>FURTHER LISTENING</h2>



Over the years, the Doomsday Clock has inspired a number of songs. The Bulletin&nbsp;<a href="https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/doomsday-clock-playlist/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">maintains</a>&nbsp;a playlist of material that references the clock or where the artist has cited it as an inspiration and includes Iron Maiden’s “2 Minutes To Midnight,” The Who’s “Why Did I Fall For That,” Pink Floyd’s “Two Suns in the Sunset” and Linkin Park’s album “Minutes to Midnight.”



<h2>FURTHER VIEWING</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="2023 Doomsday Clock Announcement" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KxB9dM0u4mU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<h2>CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has increased the risk of nuclear weapons use, raised the specter of biological and chemical weapons use, hamstrung the world’s response to climate change, and hampered international efforts to deal with other global concerns,” the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists said in its 2023&nbsp;<a href="https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/#footer_menu_itm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>. Moscow’s violation of longstanding international norms could also “embolden” other nations to do the same, the statement said.



<h2>FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220119-how-to-read-the-doomsday-clock" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How to read the Doomsday Clock</a>&nbsp;(BBC)



<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/01/23/what-how-doomsday-clock/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Is apocalypse near? How the Doomsday Clock tracks nuclear, climate threats</a>&nbsp;(Washington Post)



By Robert Hart, Forbes Staff

Bulletin Of The Atomic Scientists Announce New Doomsday Clock Time For 2023

Doomsday Clock—Measuring Humanity’s Threat Of Self-Annihilation—Moves To 90 Seconds To Midnight. Here’s What To Know.

Rwandan-Canadian Charles Shima is deploying technology to create immersive cultural experiences for tourists in Africa. His dream? To build a unicorn in the travel sector.



Charles Shima was a young boy when he had a gun pointed at him at the height of the genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. Luckily, he survived and was able to leave the country, which he loved, to tell his tale.



Destiny made him cross the high seas to the greener pastures of Canada, but little did he know he would return, almost 25 years later, and instead of being faced with just horrific memories, also see new hope in the East African country he once called home.



“I saw the changes that had happened in the country at that time and also the many opportunities you notice when you are in Africa. I had an ‘aha!’ moment and the idea was tourism and travel.”



This epiphany resulted in ZaNiheza, a travel marketplace for immersive experiences connecting travelers all over the world with verified local curators in Africa and beyond.



“I have always been passionate about the cultures of the world. I started building ZaNiheza as a tour operating company in Rwanda,” says Shima to FORBES AFRICA.



Shima fell in love with Africa again. The journey back home had unearthed a new passion to rebuild Rwanda with the goal of providing opportunities for the youth as well.



“When I arrived in Canada, there was a lot of bias towards Africans. I was no longer Charles Shima but just another black man. So, you have to basically fight for any opportunity you have. The success you have as a black person in Canada is only related to sports or music. And I thought ‘if someone can build a Microsoft, why not me; if Elon Musk can go to the moon, why not me?’ That made me feel if I ever built a company, it would have to change the world.”



ZaNiheza was launched in 2019 with the vision to change how the world experienced Africa. Shima was ready to start laying the foundation to build the next African unicorn until things went sideways. By March 2020, the Covid pandemic hit and the travel industry all over the world came to a complete standstill.



“We continued building this vision that goes beyond a tour operator company and my vision is global. So, I was thinking how can we bring the culture of Africa to the world and what we did was to build a global channel creating content and original shows about travel and [by] talking to the young women and men who are making a difference in Rwanda first,” says Shima.



Shima and his team continued to build bespoke travel packages in anticipation of the world reopening again for travel.



“We are in over seven countries in Africa and… on our way building the next unicorn in the travel sector. This is something that already exists in other countries like Europe etc, but when it comes to Africa there is no company that is really doing this.”



The company also has a presence in Vancouver, Canada, where they recently qualified for a startup competition that raised over $20,000 in funding for the business.



“What sets me apart is how we want to market Africa. It’s not just about wildlife. We need to go to the grassroots and then use the technology to make an impact. In Africa, your mindset has to change. You need to build from scratch and have the patience and drive and passion when everyone is going to say you are crazy. Seeing Africa through our eyes is my focus,” says Shima.



Shima says he has invested over $50,000 of his own money into the business which has gone into building the technology as well as creating the supply. The company is currently working with local travel curators in African countries. The young man from Rwanda has come far.

Screenshot 2023-01-24 at 18.13.47

Beyond Safaris: Digitalizing Travel In Rwanda

<h2 id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Children who are more physically active could be less susceptible to respiratory tract infections like the common cold, according to a study published in Pediatric Research Monday, as less than one-quarter of children are estimated to have participated in at least an hour of physical activity each day.



<h2>KEY FACTS</h2>



Researchers measured the physical activity levels and symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections—like coughing or sneezing—of 104 children aged 4 to 7 between 2018 and 2019.



As children increased the daily average of steps taken by 1,000, the number of days they experienced symptoms decreased by an average of 4.1 days, while children who participated in three or more hours of physical activity experienced fewer days with symptoms than those who did not.



One group of children whose average daily steps was over 5,600 experienced symptoms more often than another group whose average daily steps was over 9,300.



The study speculates higher physical activity levels result in reduced levels of inflammatory cytokines—proteins associated with chronic inflammation and disease—while improving the immune system’s responses.



The data analyzed by researchers was collected by the childrens’ parents, who reported any illness symptoms as well as whether their child was vaccinated, participated in sports, whether they had siblings and whether they were exposed to second-hand smoke or pet hair.



Despite the reporting of additional data, researchers said they found no association between respiratory tract infection symptoms and sleep patterns, siblings, vaccinations or exposure to pet hair or second-hand smoke.



<h2>SURPRISING FACT</h2>



Only 24% of children aged 6 to 17 participate in at least 60 minutes of daily physical activity,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/facts.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion&nbsp;<a href="https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/physical-activity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">estimates</a>&nbsp;only 25% of adults aged 18 or older participate in enough physical activity.



<h2>KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



The amount of physical activity recommended for children depends on their age,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/children/index.htm#:~:text=60%20minutes%20or%20more%20of,should%20include%20vigorous%2Dintensity%20activities." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to the CDC, though most&nbsp;<a href="https://health.gov/moveyourway/get-kids-active#:~:text=Kids%20need%2060%20minutes%20of,to%20happen%20all%20at%20once." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">health organizations</a>suggest a 60-minute daily average. Regular physical activity in children has already been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/facts.htm#print" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">linked</a>&nbsp;to reduced risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity. Lack of physical activity has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and low bone density, which could lead to osteoporosis. Other&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK201501/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studies</a>&nbsp;suggest that increased physical activity could lead to better grades and academic performance in addition to improved&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/features/physical-activity-brain-health/index.html#:~:text=Physical%20activity%20can%20improve%20your,of%20physical%20activity%20can%20help." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cognitive performance</a>.



<h2>FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/10/28/rsv-infections-are-spiking-among-kids-and-swamping-childrens-hospitals---heres-what-parents-need-to-know/?sh=ca64d3e42f5b">RSV Infections Are Spiking Among Kids And Swamping Children’s Hospitals — Here’s What Parents Need To Know</a> (Forbes)



By Ty Roush, Forbes Staff

Girl practising Somersault at home

Kids Who Exercise More Are Less Likely To Get Respiratory Infections, Study Suggests

The National Basketball Association (NBA) draft is always an exciting time of the year when teams in the greatest league on earth get to refresh their squads with the best young talent available. FORBES AFRICA takes a look at the eight players who were part of this season’s draft, some of who have gone straight to their new franchises, while others will earn experience elsewhere with the long-term goal in mind. 



By Nick Said 



Africa has a deep-rooted legacy in the NBA and provided star names in the past such as Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo, Manute Bol and Luol Deng. This year, we got to see a new crop of players with ties to the continent, who have set their sights on fame and glory on the court. Here they are: 



Christian Koloko  Draft: Selected 33rd overall by the Toronto Raptors 


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246238247.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57344" width="647" height="431" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246238247.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246238247-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246238247-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 647px) 100vw, 647px" /><figcaption> (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


Koloko became the first Cameroonian selected in the NBA draft since Toronto’s Pascal Siakam in 2016 and is the third highest drafted player from the Central African country of all time behind the latter and Joel Embiid, who was third in 2014.  Born in Douala, the 22-year-old was spotted at the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa talent scouting camp in Senegal in 2017, and was taken to the United States where he played for Birmingham High School, despite speaking no English.  The center later featured for the University of Arizona before being drafted by Toronto.  



Yannick Nzosa  Draft: Selected 54th overall by the Washington Wizards 


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1239215594.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57343" width="625" height="417" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1239215594.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1239215594-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1239215594-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /><figcaption> (Photo by Flaviu Buboi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


Nzosa was only 18 when he was drafted by Washington Wizards, who have sent him to Spanish side Real Betis to get experience in the 2022/23 season. Soccer was his first love and he started as a goalkeeper given his tremendous height, before being spotted by the coach of a local basketball club in Kinshasa.  He attempted to go to an academy in Spain as a 13-year-old, but was denied a visa, and instead went to Stella Azzurra Roma, though he later was controversially taken to Spain by his mentor Joe Lolonga without the Italian club’s permission.   He made his debut for his new side Unicaja at the age of 16 and was an instant hit, even if injury has slowed his progress recently. 



  Ousmane Dieng  Draft: Selected 11th overall by the New York Knicks 


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1446348654.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57347" width="556" height="371" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1446348654.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1446348654-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1446348654-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 556px) 100vw, 556px" /><figcaption>(Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


Dieng’s family are from Senegal, though the shooting guard was born in France and has had a circular route to the NBA.  He moved to New Zealand Breakers in 2021 and competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). While there he joined the league’s Next Stars program which specifically looks to develop NBA draft prospects. It worked as he was snapped by the New York Knicks ahead of the 2022/23 season, though he was immediately traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is still only 19. 



 &nbsp;



Khalifa Diop  Draft: Selected 39th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers 


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246319180.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57345" width="508" height="338" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246319180.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246319180-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1246319180-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 508px) 100vw, 508px" /><figcaption>Photo by Alberto Gardin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


The 20-year-old from Guereo, Senegal, is another who has been making a name in Spain, where he plays for Gran Canaria. He was drafted for the Cleveland Cavaliers but has been sent back to Gran Canaria to gain experience during the 2022/23 season. The center, who stands at an impressive 2.11 meters tall, first rose to prominence in the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) game at the NBA All-Star match in 2019.    Ochai Agbaji  Draft: Selected 14th overall by the Washington Wizards 


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1454282748.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57348" width="582" height="386" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1454282748.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1454282748-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1454282748-768x511.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 582px) 100vw, 582px" /><figcaption> (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


Agbaji&#8217;s father, Olofu, moved from Nigeria to the United States when he was 17 in order to play basketball for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, though initially he encouraged his son to play soccer.  But when Ochai grew nine inches in a single year it became clear he had all the attributes to be a top baller and was a star for the University of Kansas.  The shooting guard was selected in the draft by the Washington Wizards, but they traded him to Utah Jazz in September before the season started. There he plays alongside fellow Nigerian Udoka Azubuike.     Mark Williams  Draft: Selected 15th overall by the Charlotte Hornets 



Center Williams was selected by Charlotte Hornets in the draft but is spending the season with their affiliate side Greensboro Swarm. He is an alumnus of Duke University and starred for them, catching the eye of a number of teams around the country. Williams’ older sister Elizabeth is a star of the Women’s NBA and his parents are both doctors who emigrated from Nigeria. 



  Moussa Diabate  Draft: Selected 43rd overall by the Los Angeles Clippers 


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1428443282.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57346" width="641" height="427" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1428443282.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1428443282-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1428443282-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 641px) 100vw, 641px" /><figcaption>(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


Diabate’s parents are from Mali and Guinea, and he was snapped by Los Angeles Clippers in the draft after shining for the University of Michigan. He has been sent to affiliate club Ontario Clippers, where he will spend the 2022/23 season as he makes his way in the game. Diabate was part of the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) game at the NBA All-Star match in 2020. 



  Ismaël Kamagate  Draft: Selected 46th overall by the Detroit Pistons 



Kamagate will play the 2022/23 season with Paris Basketball having been loaned back to them by his new NBA employers Denver Nuggets.  In a snapshot of how complex things can get in the NBA, Detroit Pistons selected the 21-year-old in the draft having scouted him in the French league, where he has been a star. But they immediately traded him to Portland Trail Blazers, who then traded Kamagate again to the Denver Nuggets, who have now sent him to Paris. Born to Ivorian parents, he was named best defender in the French competition in 2022.

Basketball dribble

Tall Talent: Africa’s Basketball Stars

The West African nation saw a slew of events and international acts over Christmas.



Despite Ghana’s economic woes in 2022, it ended the year as a drawcard for international tourists over the festive period.



Last year, the West African country had seen inflation rising to over 40% as well as its credit rating relegated to Junk status by Moody’s because of its inability to pay back creditors and the threat of substantial losses for private bond holders. This had consequently brought the country to the doors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout.



The tourism sector, however, seems to have maintained its momentum; it has also been a key driver for foreign direct investment ever since Ghana’s Year of the Return campaign that saw a successful run in 2019. The campaign was a call for all Africans in the diaspora to return to the motherland and reconnect with their roots; a call marking 400 years since the first recorded enslaved Africans in the United States. And the diaspora heeded that call.



Over 237,000 visitors flocked to the shores of Ghana the Christmas of 2019 with the Ministry of Tourism estimating that about $1.9 billion was pumped into the Ghanaian economy. And it seems the trend has continued into 2022.



With an endless list of festivals including Afrochella, Detty December and the Black Star Line Festival, which was created by American rappers Vic Mensa and Chance the Rapper bringing international collaborations, the country was reportedly a favored spot for American celebrities and the diaspora over Christmas.



“We had over 50,000 people show up for our first-ever Black Star Line event alongside American superstars like Dave Chappelle, Erykah Badu, Jeremih, T-Pain and several top artists. This is history in the making. I think Ghana’s reputation for hospitality and the peaceful and tranquil environment is a major reason why the diaspora loves to come here,” says Mensa to FORBES AFRICA.



This has also helped the hospitality sector.



“With a large number of tourists visiting Ghana throughout the year… our global attractions present boundless opportunities for Ghanaians to display our culture, creativity and diversity within the hospitality industry,” says Nadia Takyiwaa-Mensah, a Ghanaian entrepreneur and author, to FORBES AFRICA.



Official figures from the Ministry of Tourism confirm that over 400,000 visitors flocked to the shores of Ghana in the first half of 2022.



“Innovation and originality need to remain at the forefront leading us to curate unique experiences through to opening boutique hotels. Ghana’s tourism authority aimed to drive over one million tourists to Ghana in 2022, whilst also increasing internal tourism; the latter we witnessed during and post-Covid. Investments and development within this sector are paramount,” adds Takyiwaa-Mensah.



The country is hoping the tourism and hospitality sectors will continue to grow and provide some relief for the economic crises Ghana is currently facing.



In December, the IMF reached a Staff-Level Agreement on a $3 billion, three years extended credit facility with Ghana aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability.

High Angle View Of Illuminated Buildings In City

Economic Crises Apart, Why Ghana Drew Tourists Over The Festive Period

Nancy Davis’ hedge against rising prices, celebrated when it launched in 2019, has yet to hit the jackpot due to freakish circumstances in the debt market.



Travel back through&nbsp;the mists of time to the faraway land of 2019. Inflation, at least for anyone younger than Jay Powell, was the stuff of legend — about as plausible as unicorns, fire-breathing dragons or a killer virus that would shut down the world economy.



Not so for Nancy Davis, the CIO of Quadratic Capital Management. While others were asking whether inflation was&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/joelwebershow/status/1118589812737495041" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dead</a>, Davis was pitching her firm’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ivoletf.com/ivol-specifications/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Interest Rate Volatility &amp; Inflation Hedge ETF</a>&nbsp;(IVOL). IVOL is a chimera, a lion with a goat’s head sticking out of its back. Most of its assets are held in a bond ETF that any mom or pop can buy. The rest of the money goes to options bets that are off limits to even many professional asset managers because of the sophisticated ways they offer investors of losing their shirts. It’s the options, however, that make IVOL unique and what could, if inflation expectations rise sharply and quickly enough, provide a windfall.



Davis’ timing couldn’t have been more perfect. By 2021, fretting about inflation moved from the fringe to the frontline. IVOL’s assets under management soared to more than $3.5 billion, no small feat for an upstart fund in the cutthroat world of ETFs. But while Davis’ warnings proved almost clairvoyant, IVOL hasn’t grabbed the brass ring. At least, not yet.



Since its debut, IVOL has returned just 3% despite inflation hitting 40-year highs over the last year. Since March 2021, when the Consumer Price Index breached the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target, the IVOL ETF has slumped 15%. Over both timeframes, an investment in Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), one of the simplest, cheapest and best-known ways to guard against inflation, has outpaced IVOL by 8% and 12%, respectively.



Davis pointed out in a conversation with&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;that IVOL is meant to hedge inflation expectations and not the Consumer Price Index. She also noted that IVOL has a friendlier tax structure than the Schwab ETF, meaning the gap in returns is narrower than it appears at first blush (mileage may vary, so consult your tax advisor to determine by how much).



What’s more, IVOL isn’t exactly what you’d call cheap. Its 1% annual fee makes it look like a Ferrari in a parking lot filled with Hyundais. That’s despite the fact that what’s under IVOL’s hood –&nbsp;<a href="https://kfafunds.com/ivol/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">85% to be exact</a>&nbsp;– are the same assets held in a Charles Schwab TIPS ETF. Schwab’s fee: 0.04% per year, or 25 times less than IVOL.



Davis told&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;that IVOL was “crazy cheap for what we do” and that one of her clients called it “the Vanguard of convexity.” She also suggested a more apt comparison would be to actively managed mutual funds with similar objectives.



Davis’ fund asks a premium partly because it was the first ETF to incorporate over-the-counter interest rate derivatives. For those not in the know that might not mean much, but IVOL effectively opened up a rugged frontier that even some sophisticated family offices and endowments were previously unable to penetrate. Add to that the fact that Davis, a former Goldman Sachs prop trader,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2019/09/24/the-fear-fund-nancy-davis-etf-aims-to-protect-investors-from-scary-stuff-like-recession-and-inflation/?sh=2371830a14b7" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">actively manages</a>&nbsp;the options side of the book.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">IVOL is “crazy cheap for what we do”Nancy Davis</blockquote>



The simple explanation for how IVOL works is this: it buys TIPS to protect against inflation, then sprinkles some options on top to, if all goes well, goose its returns. Over short periods, when the options aren’t cashing in, the fund will lag the TIPS ETF (no secret here, IVOL says as much in its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1547576/000161577419005273/s117194_485apos.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">prospectus</a>). But if and when those options hit, a jackpot could be in the making.



While there’s no guarantee, rising inflation expectations typically lead to a steeper yield curve (that’s to say that the cost of borrowing money for longer periods of time will rise faster than borrowing for the short term). Investors, expecting that the Federal Reserve will start yammering about rate hikes (and maybe, gasp, even go through with them) want to get ahead of the, well, curve. When those stars align, the gains on IVOL’s options could shoot its returns into the stratosphere and make Davis a hero.



Nearly four years after raising the curtains, IVOL remains on the launchpad.



If IVOL is in a rut, it’s because interest rate movements, specifically the spread between the 10-year Treasury rate and the 2-year that IVOL bets on, aren’t cooperating.



IVOL’s options make money as the yield on the 10-year outpaces that of the 2. History suggests the gap should be wider than it is today. Instead, the spread has narrowed.



Today, the 2-year yields more than the 10-year. It’s what’s called an inverted yield curve. Why that’s happened is up for debate, but what matters for IVOL is that the inversion has neutralized its options bets and been a drag on returns.



“I think there will come a time when this does really well in a specific circumstance,” Bryan Armour, Morningstar’s director of passive strategies, told&nbsp;Forbes. “It’s just a difficulty of market timing. IVOL can go through years and years of underperformance until it finally works.”



Of course, none of this rules out the possibility that IVOL’s options will eventually strike gold. And we might now be living through the perfect set-up, according to Davis, who believes the fund is positioned for success even if&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/08/27/i-think-stagflation-should-be-on-investors-radar-says-quadratics-davis.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">stagflation</a>&nbsp;is what’s in store.



“If you buy the fund now, you get all these options for free,” Davis told&nbsp;Forbes. “Our investors know we have exposure to the yield curve. Our investors have been high-fiving me.”



But whether that’ll be enough to offset what’s already been done is something worth considering for anyone that plans to buy and hold IVOL rather than use it tactically.



“You add complexities with options, plus there’s the 1% fee on top of a four basis points TIPS ETF,” Morningstar’s Armour told&nbsp;Forbes. “It’s challenging to see it performing well in the long term.”



By Brandon Kochkodin, Forbes Staff

Close up of businesswoman checking financial stock market analysis with mobile app on smartphone on the go, against illuminated corporate skyscrapers in financial district at night. Financial investment, stock market and exchange, accounting concept

This Investment Fund, Once $3.5 Billion, Was Designed To Combat Inflation. How Could It Be Losing The Battle?

<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“Very little has been committed to climate adaptation finance in Africa…” – Dr Agnes Kalibata</blockquote>



By Ridhima Shukla



The small, snow-capped town of Davos, Switzerland, witnessed freezing temperatures and heated debates this past week.



At this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, themed Cooperation in a Fragmented World, more than 500 CEOs of the world’s biggest firms attended alongside A-list celebrities such as Idris Elba with his wife Sabrina, and social media influencers, promoting a diverse mix of thought-leaders and thinkers.



Climate change, aptly, took center-stage in discussions this year, as energy companies turned up in greater numbers as also financial institutions playing a critical role in just energy transition around the world.



The triple threat of conflict, climate and cost, to which Africa has made little contribution but has been disproportionately impacted by, was also a central theme of the discussions at WEF.



Organizations like AGRA, IFAD, UNAIDS and several others were in attendance to promote the needs of the African continent in the context of global inflation leading to higher costs of living for ordinary Africans.



Alvaro Lario, the President of IFAD, stressed on the need to act now: “Farmers in Africa are having to choose between planting and eating – this needs to be addressed more urgently than before.”



While urgency is the need of the hour, the investments that have come through in the last decade for agro industries fall short of what is required, shared Lario. “The G7 could only commit to $5 billion to build food security globally leaving a deficit of $2 billion.”



This deficit is not isolated to food security funds but also climate adaptation in Africa, an issue AGRA President Dr Agnes Kalibata was at Davos for: “Very little has been committed to climate adaptation finance in Africa…. even though that is what our farmers need. I am also here to discuss how the world’s emission plans are turning out and their impact on Africa.”



Despite global pressures, Africa’s investment landscape is gaining attention, shared the CEO of ABSA Bank, Arrie Rautenbach, at WEF: “There is renewed interest in Africa, especially with African Continental Free Trade Area; it poses a big opportunity for Africa.”



Additionally, Africa has everything going for it to claim the biggest slice of the world’s trade pie, as mentioned by Patrick Njoroge, Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya: “Twenty five percent of the world’s workers will be African by 2050; we must think long-term growth, we have all the resources.”



Keeping long-term issues in mind, the forum’s discussions were about sustainable solutions, ranging from energy transition, reimagining globalization, inclusion and diversity, as well as the space economy, to prepare the world to collaborate and share equally in all future crises.

Activists in Davos stage a protest against World Economic Forum

From The Alps To Africa: The Triple Threats Of Cost, Climate And Conflict

<h2 id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings stepped down as co-CEO after 25 years at the company’s helm, Netflix <a href="https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2022/q4/FINAL-Q4-22-Shareholder-Letter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> Thursday in its fourth quarter earnings report, after the streaming service added over 7 million subscribers in the last three months of 2022, surpassing expectations as it reported slightly increased revenue after a difficult first half of the year for the content giant.



<h2>KEY FACTS</h2>



Former COO Greg Peters will replace Hastings as co-CEO of Netflix, joining the company’s existing Co-CEO Ted Sarandos, while Hastings—a cofounder of the brand—will stay on as the brand’s Executive Chairman.



The streaming giant reported 230.75 million subscribers, an increase of 7.66 million from the third quarter—more than the 4.5 million it expected to add.



Netflix reported revenue of $7.85 billion in the fourth quarter, roughly 1.2% more than the $7.7 billion reported in the same period last year and falling in line with analyst forecasts.



Net income, meanwhile, went down from last year to $55 million, or $0.12 per share, compared to $607 million one year ago and below average analyst expectations of $0.45 per share.



Netflix shares increased nearly 5% in after-hours trading immediately after the announcement; shares have plunged 37% over the past year, far more than the tech-heavy Nasdaq&#8217;s 23% decline.



<h2>FORBES VALUATION</h2>



Hastings is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/reed-hastings/?sh=4ee7c4012782">worth</a>&nbsp;an estimated $3.3 billion, according to&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;estimates. The 62-year-old owns about 2% of Netflix, which went public in 2002. Sarandos was promoted to co-CEO in 2020.



<h2>KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



The earnings report marks the end of one of the rockiest years in Netflix’s history. In the first quarter, it reported subscriber losses for the first time in a decade, which continued into the second quarter. The streaming giant began adding subscribers again in the third quarter, however, reversing its subscriber losses in the first half of the year. The company blamed the losses in part on households that share accounts and passwords with one another, and launched test programs in some countries to combat the issue. It’s been reported this program will roll out to the U.S. sometime this year. Netflix also launched a cheaper, ad-supported tier in November to increase its subscriber base, though Digiday reported last month the company is falling behind on viewership expectations it promised to advertisers, and the Wall Street Journal reported data showing only 9% of new Netflix users were those who signed up for the ad-supported tier in its first month. Still, Netflix shows released in 2022 saw record viewership. Five of the top 10 <a href="https://top10.netflix.com/tv" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">most viewed English-language shows</a> in their first month on Netflix were released last year.



<h2>TANGENT</h2>



Hastings, 62, tweeted that he will stay on as executive chairman for “many years to come,” and he’s “so confident” in Peters and Sarandos’ leadership. “Twice the heart, double the ability to please members &amp; accelerate growth,” Hastings wrote. He&nbsp;<a href="https://about.netflix.com/en/news/ted-sarandos-greg-peters-co-ceos-netflix" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;he plans to spend “more time on philanthropy” and focus on Netflix’s stock. In a statement, Hastings compared himself to Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who have passed “the CEO baton to others.”



<h2>FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/12/20/netflix-shares-dip-as-first-month-of-ad-supported-subscription-reportedly-disappoints/?sh=47a5f7953a24">Netflix Shares Dip As First Month Of Ad-Supported Subscription Reportedly Disappoints</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/12/15/netflix-reportedly-isnt-meeting-viewership-expectations-for-some-advertisers/?sh=3f954d516a74">Netflix Reportedly Isn’t Meeting Viewership Expectations For Some Advertisers</a> (Forbes)



By Marisa Dellatto, Forbes Staff

Latest Consumer Technology Products On Display At CES 2016

Reed Hastings Steps Down As Netflix Co-CEO After Rocky Year For Streaming Service

<h2>Topline:</h2>



As the 2023 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) for global business and political leaders in Davos, the Swiss alpine resort, continues, activists from the global organization, Fight Inequality Alliance, have released a statement calling for governments to “tax the rich”.



<h2>Key Facts</h2>



A report released by Fight Inequality Alliance, the Institute for Policy Studies, Oxfam and Patriotic Millionaires, reveals national wealth taxes on the richest people in 60 countries could raise $1.7 trillion in revenue.



“Activists protesting this week are asking a simple and pointed question of their governments – why won’t you tax the rich?” asks Jenny Ricks, Global Convenor of Fight Inequality Alliance, in a statement. “People are facing deepening crises from the cost of living to a lack of decent work, the impacts of the climate emergency to underfunded public services teetering on the brink, whilst the richest get richer.”



The figures in the report show that the $1.7 trillion could have been raised by wealth taxes on the ultra-rich in 2022 alone and used to tackle inequality in 60 countries across the world.



According to the Fight Inequality Alliance report, over the last decade, the inequality divide has grown sharply as a total number of people in the world with at least $5 million in net wealth has grown by 53% while ‘individuals with a net wealth of $50 million or more, have enjoyed similar growth levels’.



“Meanwhile, the global billionaire class has more than doubled and their wealth has skyrocketed at a similar rate – 99.6%,” read the statement. “This is a gain of more than $5.9 trillion – almost twice as much as the combined GDP of Africa – a continent with over 1.3 billion people.”



The sentiment for a call to tax the rich is reasonable, but is it realistic?



Don Griswold, a progressive tax and economic policy analyst, lawyer, columnist, and anticorruption activist, tells FORBES AFRICA why this ask may be difficult for governments to respond to.



“The super-rich globally are avoiding and evading massive amounts of all kinds of tax and have been for years now. And that is the cause of just massive problems globally. It&#8217;s undermining democracy everywhere.”



According to The Washington Post, governments around the world lose about $427 billion each year to tax avoidance and evasion, and this is having a ripple effect on other issues like the climate crisis.



<h2>Climate inaction</h2>



Since the start of WEF on Monday, Davos has seen activists staging protests against a number of issues. Some 1,500 business leaders, including global energy firms are in attendance, which has led to a majority of the protests in Davos centering around the climate crisis as activists demand stronger action.



However, this “horrific problem”, as Griswold says, of tax avoidance and tax evasion has misdirected the focus of world leaders.



“It&#8217;s a horrific problem, not only for the massive redirection of government resources into private pockets, or rather keeping those resources in private pockets when they belong to the people. But it&#8217;s also having a bigger ripple effect in terms of creating completely appropriate distrust of the system by everyone else. And misdirecting resources away from achieving climate resilience and the rest of the global goals, the UN Sustainable Development Goals [that we have].”



The climate crisis has attracted its fair share of news on the African continent, which hosted the COP27 conference late last year.



Julia Fish, South African climate activist and climate finance campaigner of Fund our Future, tells FORBES AFRICA that before taxing the rich can become a reality, governments would need to get their own houses in order first.



“Promises were made at the 2009 COP conference in Copenhagen to channel $100 billion a year to emerging nations to help them adapt and mitigate against climate change by 2020,” Fish says. “This figure has fallen significantly short year-on-year. Agreements on how to distribute the money or who can draw on it are also still unclear.”



Fish further says that trust is in “short supply” for countries as those responsible for the crisis are meant to keep up with their commitments while the “least responsible are on the frontlines already dealing with catastrophic climate change”.



“The effective tax on the world’s richest nations has been missing in action, never mind a tax on their largest political campaign contributors who will pay their way out of a tax instead of paying their fair share,” Fish says.



<h2>Examples of how much national wealth taxes could raise in Africa: </h2>



(Source: Fight Inequality Alliance)



In Kenya, a wealth tax of 2% on the millionaires and 3% on those with wealth above $50 million would raise $730 million annually.



In South Africa, a wealth tax of 2% on millionaires with wealth over $5 million, 3% on those with wealth above $50 million, and 5% on South African billionaires would raise $4.9 billion annually.



<h2 id="h-interesting-fact">Interesting Fact</h2>



South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, was scheduled to travel to Davos for the WEF summit but cancelled his visit to Switzerland to urgently attend to the country’s energy crisis, as South Africa faces multiple stages of rolling blackouts and looming hikes in electricity tariffs.

From Davos To Africa, Analysts On Taxing The Rich And Achieving Climate Resilience

<h2 id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Since Elon Musk acquired Twitter in October, the social media platform has made many tweaks to the user experience, including an overhaul to the verification process and an emphasis on “freedom of speech.”



<h2>KEY FACTS</h2>



Since Elon Musk’s highly publicized — and controversial — acquisition of Twitter in October, he’s made a series of updates to the platform, often live-tweeting them along the way.



Among the most notable changes is the overhaul to the verification process: Previously, blue checkmarks denoted public figures that the platform had independently verified, but now users can purchase a verified checkmark by subscribing to <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/twitter-blue" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter Blue</a> for $8 per month.



After&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1593673339826212864?s=20&amp;t=6ANX0DjzIxKuKaV6BWa_Mw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">declaring</a>&nbsp;Twitter’s new policy to be “freedom of speech” in which negative or hate tweets will be “deboosted,” but not banned, Musk reinstated a number of accounts that were notably suspended, including Donald Trump,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1593673844996288512?s=20&amp;t=6ANX0DjzIxKuKaV6BWa_Mw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jordan Peterson and Kathy Griffin</a>&nbsp;(Musk reinstated Trump’s account after conducting a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1593767953706921985" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">poll</a>&nbsp;on Twitter — 51.8% of the 15 million respondents voted “yes” to return the former president’s account).



Each tweet now publicly displays how many views it has garnered, an update Musk made in an effort to&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1601112753271209985?s=20&amp;t=wkeaG5Nb24XxhUcRRNZ4aQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">show</a>&nbsp;how “Twitter is much more alive than people think.”



Twitter now splits a user’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/10/23549368/twitter-for-you-page-tiktok-following-tab" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">timeline</a>&nbsp;between a TikTok-esque “for you” page, an algorithm-curated feed with tweets it thinks the user will like, and a “following” page, which consists solely of tweets that user follows.



Twitter <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/19/tech/twitter-elon-musk-deletes-policy/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">backtracked</a> from a short-lived policy banning users from sharing links to other social media platforms — after less than a day of backlash, the platform deleted the policy from its website.



<h2>NEW VERIFICATION PROCESS</h2>



One of the biggest — and most widely ridiculed — Musk-era Twitter updates is his drastic change to the verification process. Previously, blue verification badges confirmed that profiles of public figures, like celebrities, journalists or government officials, were legitimate. Those blue checks (which Twitter now refers to as “legacy” verified accounts) are still visible, but the platform has made blue checks available to anyone so long as they subscribe to&nbsp;<a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/twitter-blue" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter Blue</a>, a service that permits users to preview new features. There’s no visual difference between the old and new blue checkmarks, which has raised concerns that people may impersonate public figures (though hovering over or tapping on the blue check reveals whether the account is subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account). Within hours of the new blue checks launching, users purchased checkmarks to impersonate people including Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and Kobe Bryant,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/09/tech/twitter-impersonators-paid-verification/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CNN reported</a>. A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/11/twitter-blue-checkmark/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Washington Post</a>&nbsp;columnist got accounts impersonating comedian Blaire Erskine and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) verified within minutes. Twitter&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/11/twitter-fake-verified-accounts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">temporarily suspended</a>&nbsp;the ability to purchase a blue check the following day, pledging to address impersonation issues. Musk has said he plans to get rid of legacy verified checkmarks,&nbsp;<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/12/elon-says-twitter-will-remove-all-legacy-verifications-in-a-few-months/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">claiming</a>&nbsp;that the old process of verification was “corrupt and nonsensical.” In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/12/tech/twitter-verification-relaunch/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">another shakeup</a>&nbsp;to the verification system, accounts owned by companies are denoted by gold checks while government entities and politicians are marked with gray checks.



<h2>CRITICISM OVER UPDATES</h2>



Musk’s changes to the platform have been criticized for a number of reasons, ranging from being unnecessary and annoying to opening the door for hate speech. The ability of anyone to purchase verification has been condemned for making it easy to impersonate public figures and spread misinformation. In January, members of the Taliban&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/17/twitter-blue-verified-taliban" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">purchased</a>blue checks, though these were later removed following backlash. Musk also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/12/17/1143796992/twitter-lifts-suspensions-on-several-journalists-amid-rift-between-the-site-and-" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">came under fire</a>&nbsp;in December after Twitter suspended the accounts of several journalists who were critical of his ownership of the company (Musk&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1603600001057185792" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>&nbsp;these accounts “doxxed my exact location in real time”), though these accounts were later reinstated. Criticisms of the verification process as well as Musk’s massive layoffs have prompted more than 500 advertisers to pause spending on Twitter,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/twitter-manager-daily-revenue-has-dropped-40-500-top-advertisers-have-left" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Information reported</a>, causing a 40% drop in daily revenue. Some popular Twitter influencers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/musk-making-twitter-worse-say-top-influencers-platform-rcna63606" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told NBC News</a>&nbsp;that daily use of the platform has gotten worse under Musk’s leadership, including an influx of hate speech in light of its new emphasis on freedom of speech, as well as an uptick in technical glitches as the company’s staff has been halved. These influencers — including Matt Nelson, who runs “<a href="https://twitter.com/dog_rates?s=20&amp;t=4h2872WW1RY106CSjpj1XA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">We Rate Dogs</a>,” an account with 9.3 million followers — told NBC News the verified notifications feature, which displays notifications received by verified accounts, is no longer useful as anyone can pay for a blue checkmark. The default “for you” feed has also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/13/twitter-faces-wave-complaints-tiktok-style-reboot/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">angered</a>&nbsp;some users who find the update unnecessary and now see tweets they are uninterested in. LGBTQ advocacy groups have also alleged that the platform’s “freedom of speech” approach is worsening anti-transgender speech on the platform. Among the accounts reinstated under Musk’s tenure are the Babylon Bee, a Christian satire news site, and author Jordan Peterson, who has previously made transphobic tweets,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-22/twitter-restores-anti-trans-accounts-and-fuels-hate-groups-say" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bloomberg reported.</a>



<h2>WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



Musk has discussed future updates that have yet to debut on the platform. He will increase the current 280 character limit to 4,000 in February — a massive increase for the platform long known for its brevity — and users will soon be able to use formatting features like bold, underline, and font sizes, a move Musk hopes will keep people on Twitter instead of using other websites to publish work. The company is also considering selling usernames that have been dormant for years to free up the handles and generate revenue.



<h2>KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



After months of back-and-forth and the threat of going to trial, Musk&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/technology/elon-musk-twitter-deal-complete.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">purchased</a>&nbsp;Twitter in October in a highly publicized $44 million dollar deal. He quickly slashed the company’s workforce,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/15/technology/elon-musk-twitter-fired-criticism.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">claiming</a>&nbsp;that it could go bankrupt and needed to become “hard core” in order to survive, and began implementing his “free speech” vision for the platform. Musk had previously&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/27/musk-twitter-attacks/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">criticized</a>&nbsp;Twitter’s prior leadership, alleging they operated the platform with a “left-wing bias.”



<h2>WHAT WE DON’T KNOW</h2>



Will Musk actually step down as CEO of Twitter? He&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1605372724800393216" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>&nbsp;in December he will step down when he finds someone “foolish enough” to succeed him and will then run the company’s software and servers teams. He asked via Twitter&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1604617643973124097?s=20&amp;t=fo6JvyaSKDLpmPKgPuAPCQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">poll</a>&nbsp;if he should step down, stating he would “abide by the results of this poll” — and “yes” won a clear victory, securing 57.5% of the poll’s 17.5 million votes. Musk has not provided updates or a timeline on the search for a successor since creating the poll.



<h2>FORBES VALUATION</h2>



$149.4 billion. That’s Musk’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/?sh=6c332b5d7999">net worth</a>&nbsp;as of Wednesday according to the Forbes real-time net worth tracker, making him the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#776435d23d78">second-richest person</a>&nbsp;in the world behind French fashion tycoon Bernard Arnault and his family. Musk&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/2022/12/08/elon-musk-no-longer-worlds-richest-again-as-stock-hit-by-report-of-personal-margin-loan/?sh=ca7000927733">fell</a>&nbsp;from his prior position as the world’s richest person in December.



<h2>FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/11/4/23438917/twitter-verifications-blue-check-elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter: Five ways Elon Musk has changed the platform for users</a>&nbsp;(BBC)



<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/17/twitter-blue-verified-taliban" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter ‘verified’ check marks bought by Taliban appear to have been removed</a> (The Guardian)



By Conor Murray, Forbes Staff

Twitter Losing Its Most Active Users

Verification To View Counts: Here’s Every Twitter Change Under Elon Musk

Ghana is fast fashion’s dumping ground, and unwanted apparel is throwing up on the beaches leading to an environmental crisis.



At Oxford Circus in the heart of London, Rebecca Mossop, a store manager for George at ASDA, is getting ready to deliver October’s haul of clothing – that didn’t quite meet the exacting standards of the British consumer – to a delivery truck parked behind the store.



“The clothes are manufactured in China and sometimes some items fail quality control and that is where the store’s management decided on the idea of donating items of clothing they didn’t need to some of the poorest nations in Africa,” says Mossop.



The truck will make various stops on London’s high street retail stores before returning to its base in Lewisham, an area of southeast London. There, Michael Ofori, the Managing Director of A To Z Shippers, will ensure that the thousands of used and unused clothing piles are assembled and shipped to Tema, the largest port in Ghana, where his local team will transport it to the markets.



“We are providing a service to thousands of [informal female entrepreneurs] all over Ghana who rely on these items for their livelihoods,” says Ofori.



“But things have changed quite a bit from when we started this about 20 years ago. Back then, there was no fast fashion so the items that we had were of quality. Today, we have so many fast fashion brands and not to mention those individuals who can just set up their own stores online. The market is flooded and unfortunately it’s affecting the quality of stuff we send [off],” says Ofori.



Once loaded, the clothes get on shipping containers and are sent to the ports from where, after a month at sea, they reach the shores of Ghana.



According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), in 2020, the top exporters of Used Clothing (worn clothing and articles) were the US, China, UK, Germany and South Korea, while the top importer of Used Clothing was Ghana. With a population of over 31 million, Ghana took in over $180 million of Used Clothing, with Ukraine, Pakistan and Nigeria following suit.



Shippers like Ofori’s initially were seen as providing a vital lifeline for women in Ghana’s informal markets – until the advent of fast fashion. Today, the reality is different.



A fairly new concept, fast fashion has been popularized by high-street brands selling in-vogue trends at record speeds for affordable prices. These items are made cheaply in bulk due to their ready-to-wear, prêt-à-porter nature to cater to the frequent purchasing habits of middle-class consumers with disposable incomes.



The impact of fast fashion on the environment is dire. According to statistics published by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the fashion industry is the second-most-polluting industry after the oil industry.



Where fast fashion is creating a tidy profit for Western manufacturers, in Africa, it is stifling the garments sector.



“We have seen most ladies buy the same items multiple times simply because once they wash the items, most of them lose their quality. This is no longer an issue as some of these items only cost about $5 and so the idea is once it’s worn out, a consumer will discard it and buy more items,” says Mossop.



In Ghana, Sarah Bonsu, a trader in the country’s largest market at Kantamanto, is a regular customer of A To Z Shippers from where she frequently sources various items to sell in the market.



Kantamanto is home to over 30,000 traders with millions of items bought and sold each week. Bonsu has been making a living here for the past 10 years. She usually spends an equivalent of $150 on goods she cannot inspect until they are delivered at her stall in the market.



“There is no point inspecting these clothes. It is literally by luck. If you get quality in one batch, the next batch could be completely rubbish. That is just the way things work,” says Bonsu.



Once at her shop, Bonsu laboriously sifts through the new items and picks what she calls “the first selection”.



“First selection is for the fresh clothes that go quickly. Usually these are not worn yet or do not have any stains etc. The second selection comprises the ones that we know customers will not want and will be difficult to sell,” says Bonsu.



Heaps of unwanted clothing have now resulted in an environmental crisis in Ghana. In 2019, over 65 million tons of used clothing was sent to Ghana and of that figure, about 40% was not sold and was discarded, as per a report by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.



These items notoriously end up in landfills or worse – in the sea.



“Most people abroad go to bed thinking they have done something good for Africans by discarding their unwanted clothing but the truth is it is actually harming our economy. Local manufacturers cannot compete with the cheap prices and most of the clothing sent is not wanted by Africans. They end up as waste in landfills like this all over the country,” says Ernest Ijawan, a manager of the Kpone landfill in Ghana.



The negative effects are being felt in other sectors of the economy as well.



In Labadi beach, Accra, Kofi Sarpong and his team of fishermen have set sail in the hopes of netting enough fish to sell at the local market in Osu, a large township in the heart of Accra. Along the shores of the beach are groups of young boys and some of the female hawkers waiting for a signal from Sarpong and his men, who have carefully laid fishing nets from the shoreline to the open sea.



On their signal, all 20 hands on the beach begin the tedious ordeal of pulling on the fishing nets that take almost two hours to finally haul on to the beach. For their hard work, they are rewarded with one huge barracuda and entwined in the nets, heaps of clothing that have been discarded in the sea.



“This has been the trend for us for the past couple of years. We lose our nets because they get tangled up with clothing from the local markets and we don’t even get the fish that we used to. We cannot survive on just one fish,” rues Sarpong.



The Or Foundation, a human rights and environmental NGO from the United States, estimates that it takes about 200 years to decompose textile waste. When such waste makes its way to the sea, they invariably destroy marine life as well as the livelihoods of people like Sarpong.



“This means that when these clothes are not burned, they can be found everywhere because there are simply not enough landfills to deal with the waste. They go on the beach and form what we call



clothing tentacles and these trap fish and stop their growth. Fishermen all over Accra are struggling to make ends meet,” says Samuel Oteng, a volunteer at Or Foundation.



Ghana’s second-hand clothing market is second only to Pakistan with a global market share of 5.1% according to the Tony Blair Institute of Global Change. The country is in a Catch 22 situation when it comes to this issue. On the one hand, there is little it can do by way of a complete ban due to the number of consumers on the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum who rely on these textiles for their livelihood. On the other hand, the inflow of textiles is exacerbating an already difficult environmental crisis ultimately killing local economies like manufacturing and fishing.



There are those who believe that maybe a partial ban might go a long way in curtailing this crisis. Others opine that this presents a great opportunity for the recycling sector in Ghana. But whichever way the country decides to go, the one thing everyone agrees on is that, something needs be done sooner than later to limit the damage of the growing textile dump in a deteriorating economic climate.

Garments factory waste dumping sites

Rags, Not Riches: Why Ghana Is Fast Fashion’s Dumping Ground

<h2 id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Lucile Randon, a French nun who was the oldest known person on Earth, died at age 118, French media outlets Tuesday, following a long life that began before the first World War and that Randon credited to a daily glass of wine.



<h2>KEY FACTS</h2>



Randon, better known to the people of France by her nickname Sister André, died in her sleep this week at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2023/0117/1349286-lucile-randon/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nursing home</a>&nbsp;in Toulon, France, where she spent the final years of her life, according to AFP.



Sainte Catherine Labouré nursing home spokesman David Tavella said Ranon’s death was “a great sadness” but that for her, “it’s a liberation.” (In an interview last year, Randon told reporters she was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/10/nun-117-survive-covid-france/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ready to die</a> and reunite with her late relatives in heaven.)



Guinness World Records named Randon the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2022/4/worlds-oldest-person-confirmed-as-118-year-old-sister-andre-699611" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">oldest living person</a>&nbsp;in April 2022 at 118 years old, after the death of Kane Tanako, a Japanese woman who lived to be 119.



She was also the&nbsp;<a href="https://sg.news.yahoo.com/french-nun-europes-oldest-person-052311721.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">oldest known Covid-19 survivor</a>&nbsp;after she contracted the virus in 2021 at age 116.



Randon, who said she only stopped working at age 108, last year partially credited her longevity to her habit of drinking “a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexledsom/2022/04/26/the-secret-to-a-long-life-ask-sister-andr-the-worlds-newest-oldest-person/?sh=60f1565d7554">small glass of wine</a> every day.”



<h2>BIG NUMBER</h2>



122. That’s at what age the oldest known person to ever live,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2020/10/the-worlds-oldest-people-and-their-secrets-to-a-long-life-632895" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeanne Louise Calment</a>, died in 1997 according to Guinness. Like Randon, Calment was French and said wine was her secret to long life, along with olive oil and chocolate.



<h2>CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



&#8220;It&#8217;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sister-andre-118-worlds-oldest-person-wants-to-break-longevity-record/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">not nice being old</a>, because I used to like taking care of others, making children dance, and now I can&#8217;t do that any more,” Randon told reporters at her 118th birthday last year.



<h2>KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Randon was born in Arles, France, on February 11, 1904, a full decade before the beginning of World War I. She told reporters last year that her favorite memories were of when her two brothers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thelocal.fr/20210211/french-nun-turns-117-after-surviving-covid?" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">returned home</a>from the war. Born into a non-practicing Protestant family, Randon converted to Catholicism at age 19 and worked at a hospital for nearly three decades&nbsp;<a href="https://www.leparisien.fr/societe/qu-ils-gardent-espoir-le-message-de-soeur-andre-117-ans-qui-a-vaincu-le-covid-09-02-2021-8424112.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">caring for children and the elderly</a>. She became a nun at age 45 in 1944 when she joined The Daughters of Charity, and took the name Sister André to honor her late brother. She only&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sister-andre-118-worlds-oldest-person-wants-to-break-longevity-record/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stopped working</a>at age 108, Randon told reporters last year.



<h2>WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



Who Guinness will confirm as the oldest living person. After Randon’s death, the oldest person on Earth is believed to be 115-year-old María Branyas Morera, who was born in the U.S. but now resides in Spain.



<h2>FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2023/0117/1349286-lucile-randon/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World&#8217;s oldest person dies at age of 118</a>&nbsp;(AFP)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexledsom/2022/04/26/the-secret-to-a-long-life-ask-sister-andr-the-worlds-newest-oldest-person/?sh=60f1565d7554">The Secret To A Long Life? Ask Sister André, The World’s Newest Oldest Person</a> (Forbes)



By Carlie Porterfield, Forbes Staff

Tag: Coronavirus Pandemic

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA