🛣 NAM Jam

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Good morning 🌤️ After ending its decadeslong one-child rule in 2016, China is making a sharp about-turn by encouraging its people to get busy. This is the sort of exchange program Ugandans would excel at.

And one more thing: ‘Twas a week of summits all over the world (Davos, NAM, IGAD, etc.), which means a lot of privileged people spent time collecting per diem, gathered in rooms to talk about what’s best for the people outside the rooms.

Have a good week!

—Gloria Mbabazi, Shem Opolot

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HEADLINES
🛣 NAM Jam

The 19^th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) turned Kampala into a city of miracles from January 15 to January 20, 2024. Overnight road fairies sprinkled asphalt, conjuring highways, and a certain conference center sprouted faster than Jack's beanstalk. As the summit unfolded, certain roads became red carpets for the diplomatic elite, causing traffic jams that made our pseudo-middle class clamor for remote work; and the minister for ICT and National Guidance advised Ugandans to welcome our guests like Jesus on Palm Sunday.
Here are the highlights from the event:

• Handover of Chairmanship: The summit marked the handover of the three-year NAM chairmanship to President Museveni-led Uganda. 2026 is an election year 👀.

• Adoption of Resolutions: Foreign ministers within the 120-member bloc adopted a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and supported South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

• Theme and Attendance: The summit's theme was "Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence," with the participation of 93 out of the 120 invited countries, making it a global spectacle of unity and cooperation.

The Non-Aligned Movement: What is it? And is it still relevant? 

🇰🇪 Kenya

Kenya's Director of Public Prosecutions has finally approved 10 charges, including murder and terrorism, against 95 suspects linked to the Shakahola cult massacre that resulted in over 430 deaths. The suspects, including cult leader Paul Mackenzie, who will face charges in the High Court and Magistrate's Court, will be charged with murder, manslaughter, assault, organized criminal activity, radicalization, and child-related offenses.

 🇷🇼 Rwanda

The tensions between DRC and Rwanda continued to escalate as the Rwandan military shot dead a Congolese soldier and arrested two others who crossed the border with weapons and cannabis.

🇹🇿 Tanzania

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that Tanzania is the least indebted nation in Africa, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 41.8%. This reflects Tanzania's strong fiscal responsibility and balanced monetary approach.

Other headlines

Increased call for the abolishment of boarding schools in Uganda.

Bobi Wine outwits security and plants bananas in potholed Kampala streets.

Makerere University postponed strike to April 7.

EFC’s license revoked by Bank of Uganda. 

Coffee Investment Consortium Uganda (CICU) asked to account for Shs. 37Bn.

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BEYOND BORDERS 
Africa 

🧱 Territorial Tetris. If you can keep track of all the summits and blocs, the 42nd Extraordinary Session of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Assembly of Heads of State and Government was held on January 18, 2024, in Uganda, on the sidelines of the NAM Conference.
Here’s what you need to know:

• Sudan chopped diplomatic wires and suspended its IGAD membership after its rival, General Daglo, who’s at war with Sudan's Army Chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, was also invited to the summit. But…, IGAD leaders still urged warring parties to engage in face-to-face talks within two weeks.

• Simultaneously, the African Union appointed a panel for Sudan's peace process.

• Not entirely surprisingly, Ethiopia snubbed the summit after their seismic deal with Somaliland. While Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud attended the meeting, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed neither showed up nor sent a delegation to represent his government.

• Uganda and Kenya discussed easing trade tensions, focusing on fuel imports. Uganda sought license conditions while Kenya pressed for the withdrawal of the case at the East African Court of Justice.

IGAD, headquartered in Djibouti City, Djibouti, is an eight-country trade bloc in Africa that includes governments from the Horn of Africa, the Nile Valley, and the African Great Lakes.

🛢️ Oil Odyssey. Shell, the British oil titan, is pumping the brakes on its almost century-long onshore oil and gas gig in Nigeria. The oil-soaked challenges—pipeline sabotage, legal spills, and environmental claims muddying its subsidiary, Shell Nigeria—have forced the strategic U-turn. In a slick move, Shell's selling Shell Nigeria to a local consortium for $2.4Bn.
But… this isn't a complete oil blackout for Shell in Nigeria. The strategic shuffle allows Shell to dodge the onshore hurdles and opt for offshore waters, where the crude is less crude. As the oil drums roll, concerns gush about human rights in the oil-choked Niger Delta.

Other headlines

Somalia rejects talks with Ethiopia unless it retracts Somaliland deal.

DRC President Tshisekedi sworn in for new term before huge crowd.

Ghana gets a $600 million payout approved by the IMF. 

The Rwanda-UK bill explained here. 

South Africa’s roads terrorised by cash-in-transit heists.

The rest of the world 

🤑 The Davos Dance. The 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, and the desired resting place of your business card if it had any agency or relevance, united global business, government, civil society, media, and academia under the theme “Rebuilding Trust.”
Here are the main takeaways:

• Cautious Optimism for 2024: Despite geopolitical and economic uncertainty and some nerves reserved for a possible second Trump presidency, global business leaders expressed cautious optimism about the year ahead.

• AI Revolution: Nicola Mendelsohn, head of the global business group at Meta, described the ongoing AI revolution as a "seismic moment" that society hasn't seen in a decade.

• The Middle East Issues: The situation in Gaza dominated the agenda, but leaders failed to produce clear details on any practical pathway to Palestinian statehood or a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza's Palestinian militant group Hamas.

🚢 Global shipping is tripping. Between geopolitical conflicts in critical “chokepoints” and climate-induced complications, it might take several years for the maths of shipping certain items to Uganda to math.

Chokepoints, such as narrow canals and straits that handle massive amounts of oceanic traffic, face disruption from wars and climate change, threatening global GDP. The Red Sea, which leads to the Suez Canal, is currently a hot pocket with the U.S. and the U.K. trading bombs with Iran, causing ships to take longer routes. Additionally, a drought in Central America has caused the Panama Canal officials to reduce ship crossings, resulting in estimated losses of $500-700 million.

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NN’EBIGENDERAKO
Everything else…

Taiwan's election of Lai Ching-te is expected to cause increased tensions with China, which considers Taiwan its territory. 

Last Monday marked the 100^th day of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, with an estimated 24,000 Palestinian casualties and widespread destruction. 

Iran says they won’t stop launching strikes as long as the Israel-Hamas conflict continues. 

Pakistan's air force conducted retaliatory airstrikes in Iran early Thursday, allegedly targeting militant hideouts in response to an earlier attack by Iran near the Pakistan border.

Japan's lunar explorer, "Moon Sniper," successfully landed on the moon, making Japan the fifth country to “moonwalk.” 

Microsoft disclosed that state-backed Russian hackers broke into the company's corporate email system.

BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, is acquiring Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for $12.5 billion.

For the first time in over a decade, a company not named Samsung (Apple) [just barely] dominated global smartphone shipments.

Elon Musk wants to increase his voting control over Tesla from 13% to around 25% to, he claims, expand into artificial intelligence and robotics.

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PROCRASTINATION CORNER
Games and Puzzles

From Braingle.
The following words have a logical progression:
toothsome, forecast, sixteen, atonal.

Which of the following words would come next in this progression?
summer, boat, tenderness, typical

Hint: Say the words out loud.

Answer at the bottom.

Our picks

💡 Ranking the airlines with the most legroom in economy

💡 Watch the history of lighting

💡 Update your reading list for the year

Games answer

Answer: tenderness
The words sound like they begin with the numbers 2,4,6, 8 and 10

Have a good week!

— Too Long; Didn’t Read (TLDR)

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