Celebrities Vybes

Former President of Sierra Leone, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma on Wednesday 13 July 2022, departed Freetown for Lusaka, Zambia. He will be attending the Advisory Board meeting of the Brenthurst Foundation scheduled for 14th to 16th July 2022. 

The Brenthurst Foundation is a think tank with “a focus to attract the investment needed for continental regeneration and prosperity.” Therefore, President Koroma will join other leaders, diplomats, policy experts who make up the Advisory Board from across the continent, to continue deliberations on development and investment in Africa. 

While in Zambia, the Foundation will pay a courtesy call on host President Hakainde Hichilema.

From Zambia, the former Sierra Leonean leader will proceed to Arusha, Tanzania. There, he will deliver the keynote address at the Africa Drive for Democracy Conference slated for the 20th to 22nd July 2022. Under the aegis of the Strategic Litigation, MS Training Center for Development Cooperation and the Institute Security Studies, the conference brings together participants from over thirty countries to renew commitments on the promotion of democracy viz a vizthe guaranteeing of a safe space for democracy activists, as well as to share experiences on the trends on the rapid decline of democracy in Africa. 

President Ernest Bai Koroma will be sharing his rich experience in building peace and democracy in Sierra Leone, as well as the ECOWAS sub region. As the organizers put it: “we would like your Excellency to reflect on your experience in Sierra Leone and what lessons could be replicated in the continent.  Based on these reflections, for your Excellency to discuss the role of civil society on the continent (notwithstanding all its limitations) in the democratization process…”               

The former President will return to Sierra Leone on July 24 2022.

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Okay just in case you haven’t watch Young, famous and African – just know that everybody now thinks Diamond Platnumz lost; a good, confident, bossy, ambitious – smart woman, Zari Hassan and now that he knows it…. he damn for sure regrets it too.

From what I have seen say on social media is that most fans feel that Zari Hassan not only left because of Diamond Platnumz of his cheating ways; but also because she needed to grow – and 5 years after the breakup – she now refers to herself as a billionaire.

Diamond Platnumz’ kids

Away from all that, Diamond Platnumz who represents East Africa on the African reality show opens up for the first time; revealing the number of kids he has and according to the Bongo singer – he believes to have 6 kids – that is the ones he has seen or has had of.

Diamond Platnumz with Zari and their kids, Tiffah and Nillan
Speaking during the show, the singer mentioned about his first born (a girl) who should be about 10 years now; and according to him – the reason he hasn’t been able to access her is because the ‘baby mama’ has denied him access to her.

There’s another one, who is supposed to be the first kid. She must be I don’t know ten years? I went to a tour in Mwanza, and we had a one-night stand then I had after sometime that she is pregnant. Somebody told me she has your kid. Have been trying to see the kid, but the mother has blocked me.

Across Africa, petrol prices are soaring. This problem has worsened by a number of factors, including the increasing scarcity of the commodity.

In Nigeria, petrol has been scarce for about a month now. Some experts have said, the case in Nigeria started after the country inadvertently imported adulterated fuel.

Efforts by the West African country’s state-owned energy company (the NNPC) to clean up the contaminated product from the market inevitably resulted in a shortage. Since then, it is alleged that marketers have been hoarding and profiteering.

Despite the recent price surge in Nigeria, the country is not making it to the list of African countries with the highest fuel prices in Africa, perhaps this is due to the fact that the Nigerian Government heavily subsidises the commodity.

The rising cost of petrol in Sub Saharan Africa has also been attributed to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. There are fears that as the conflict continues to escalate, it could have an even more negative impact on energy costs in Africa.

Already, global oil prices have surpassed the $100 per barrel mark, which was last recorded in 2014. The commodity is currently trading at $102.6 per barrel, according to benchmark price Brent Crude.

Below is a list showing the top10 African countries with the highest petrol prices as of March 2022, according to data made available by Global Petrol Prices.

Zimbabwe: This Southern African country has the highest petrol cost in Africa. A litre of petrol costs as much as $2.153. Earlier this month, the country’s Energy and Power Development Minister, Zhemu Soda, explained that frequent petrol price hikes were driven by developments in the international oil industry. Zimbabwe is not an oil producer, although there were conflicting reports about crude oil discovery in Northern Zimbabwe in 2018.

Seychelles: This island country has the second most expensive fuel price in Africa, according to data. A litre of petrol in this country is sold for $1.541. The country does not currently produce any oil and gas, although some international oil companies are busy prospecting potential oil deposits off its many coasts.

Malawi: Malawi follows with $1.426 for a litre of petrol. The country is said to have a great prospect of discovering crude oil reserves in Lake Malawi.

South Africa: Here, a litre of petrol costs $1.413. In 2019, Total Energies announced that it had made a major discovery of gas condensates in one of its exploration fields in South Africa. Experts said this could significantly improve the country’s fortunes.

Uganda: In this country, a litre of petrol costs $1.389. The high cost of petrol in Uganda is despite the fact that the country actually produces oil. Checks by Business Insider Africa show that the country’s crude oil reserves, as of 2021, stood at 2.5 billion barrels.

Mauritius: This country has the sixth most expensive petrol price in Africa at $1.381 per litre. Mauritius currently does not produce oil, although experts say there are prospects.

Burundi: In this East African country, a litre of petrol costs $1.340. According to the United Nations Environmental Programme, this country currently does not have any local sources of crude oil or natural gas.

Senegal: In this Francophone West African country, it costs $1.299 to buy a litre of petrol. The country discovered some crude oil deposits between 2014 and 2017, although full-scale exploration has been pushed back till 2023.

Lesotho: In this country, it costs $1.231 to buy a litre of petrol. The country does not have any confirmed oil deposits.

Rwanda: Here, a litre of petrol costs $1.230. This East African country does not produce crude oil.

The number of people in the region with access to electricity has groen dramatically in the past decade but about 600 million remain without power

Sub-Saharan Africa would need an investment of $350 billion between now and 2030, to be able to improve electricity generation/distribution and potentially solve the region’s long-standing electricity access problem.

This is according to a new report by Wood Mackenzie Ltd titled “Utility evolution in Africa to reshape global electricity demand”.

The report, which was released on Thursday (17th March) by the UK-based energy and consultancy group said: “These investment opportunities work around the fiscal and operational bottlenecks posed by some of Sub-Saharan Africa’s state utilities. Service providers are going straight to the bankable segments of residential, commercial, and industrial electricity demand, typically through distributed, renewable, off-grid solutions where the public utility does not feature.”

According to research, the number of people in the region with access to electricity has grown dramatically over the past decade, but about 600 million remain without power. To meet a United Nations goal of universal access by 2030, further progress is needed not only in grid link-ups but in off-grid systems using sources such as solar energy.

“Decentralized, bottom-up solar-and-storage grids could not only reshape Africa’s energy future but carry important lessons for the next generation of thinking on utility business models globally,” Benjamin Attia, an analyst at WoodMac, said

Electricity demand in Sub-Saharan Africa has doubled over the past 15 years and is expected to increase nearly eight-fold by 2050. The report by Wood Mackenzie said the growing demand is driven by these three fundamental macroeconomic trends: population growth, rapid urbanisation and structural economic transformation.

The report further attributed Africa’s long-standing electricity access problem to massive underinvestment in the region’s electricity infrastructure. It said with the right investments, Sub-Saharan Africa could potentially change the trajectory of electricity demand and supply, not only within the region but globally.

Now, the interesting part is that the declining costs of renewable energy, coupled with innovative business models, could make it easier to bridge the investment gap and provide reliable and affordable energy access across the region.