Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
05 March 2024 | 12:58 p.m. SAST
2 minute read

Zambia has recently declared a national emergency due to severe drought conditions, resulting in significant water shortages in the region. The situation has prompted immediate concerns about food shortages.

“The implications are significant. Food shortages, of course, becoming the immediate discomfort, immediate concern. The implications for us there are that we’d have to provide the replacement grain, so to speak. The foods, we’d have to export a little bit more to Zambia to try and alleviate that situation,” Mr Mikateksio Kubayi, a researcher at the Institute for Global Dialogue says.

In another development, several African countries have participated in discussions aimed at cooperation among gas-exporting nations as a response to global demand volatility and efforts to reduce dependence on Russian gas. The African Development Bank has highlighted the importance of developing a gas economy, particularly along the continent’s belt from West Africa to South Africa.

“The African Development Bank [was] talking about developing a gas economy, especially along the belt, stretching all the way from West Africa, coming all the way down even up to South Africa, including involving infrastructure and that sort of thing. And to ease some of those demand volatilities, you need that infrastructure. You need to be able to have that gas on tap to be able to supply,” Mr Kubayi explains.

Mr Kubayi relates the discussion to South Africa, which plans to establish a gas power plant capable of producing around 9,000 megawatts of electricity.

A conference held in Abuja is focusing on shaping the future of Africa and advocating for necessary reforms within the United Nations and the African Union. Themed “Summit of the Future,” the event is being attended by African scholars, researchers, and practitioners to analyse the performance of these organisations and identify areas for improvement.

“It’s a network… analysing the performance of the African Union, what its limitations are, what its shortages are, and how it can be improved, how its effectiveness can be improved in order to achieve its aims of delivering the goals of the Agenda 2063. And the sort of UN reforms that are needed in order to advance Africa’s development and global development,” Mr Kubayi reports from the conference in Abuja, Nigeria.

On the current mood in Nigeria amidst changes in government and recent taxation measures, Mr Kubayi reports a calm atmosphere, albeit with limited observation due to the conference setting.

While there may be no visible signs of discord or discomfort, deeper interactions and observations are needed to fully understand the situation. It’s important to note the differences between cities like Abuja and Lagos in terms of societal makeup and economic activity, with Lagos serving as the economic hub and being more populous than the capital city.

Listen to the Africa Report on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.