Ready for takeoff?✈️
Hello Venturer,
The challenges associated with COVID-19 have dealt a blow to the entire world, disrupting life, industries, and economies on a larger scale in some places while causing less disruption in others.
Take the tourism industry, for example, the global economy could lose $4 trillion due to the direct impact of COVID-19 on tourism. And according to UNWTO projections, post-pandemic recovery in the industry will be slow in many developing countries due to poor access and distribution of vaccines.
But don't worry, although the global travel recovery remains uneven, there's a rebound in ground travel and an increase in domestic flight bookings in some Middle Eastern and African markets. This means that while you may not be able to visit certain destinations of your dream as soon as you'd like to, there are alternatives for domestic staycations. So, are you ready to take off?
Ogodilieze Osaji-Ugo
Staff Writer
ICYMI: Herstory
This week on Herstory, learn about Sohair Mansour, a 55-year-old Egyptian woman who was encouraged to establish a professional matchmaking business after she helped several friends get married with her matchmaking talent. Listen.
Why should farming be seasonal when hunger isn't.
To ensure food security and non-seasonal food production, farmers like Samson Ogbole, Founder of SFarmLab, practice soilless farming (hydroponics), a revolutionary innovation in agriculture. Because fertile lands are rapidly disappearing due to climate change and other factors, it has become increasingly important to develop smarter and more sustainable crop-growing methods. Learn more.
The UN estimates a $4trn loss in global tourism, what's the fate of Africa's tourism?
According to a joint report issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the global economy could lose $4 trillion due to the direct impact of COVID-19 on tourism and its ripple effect on other sectors closely linked to it in 2020 and 2021. Read More
First Ivorian-based innovation wins the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation
N'guessan and his team created and patented Kubeko to help smallholder farmers and cooperatives generate more income from byproducts of their harvests without the need for additional labour. Kubeko is a low-cost biowaste processing system; its composter and biodigester are both specifically designed to ferment agricultural post-harvest byproducts into solid and liquid compost, as well as cooking gas. Learn More
Ground travel rebounds in some MEA markets, while international travel lags.
Following a year in which flights were mostly grounded and travellers stayed at home, the return to travel has become one of the most anticipated—and uncertain—activities of 2021. While the global travel recovery remains uneven, a rebound in ground travel and an increase in domestic flight bookings are encouraging signs. Read More
AFDB unveils its strategy for economic governance in Africa.
Much of the lessons learned by the AFDB during the COVID-19 pandemic reinforce the need for countries to enforce active governance especially given the reduced inflow of foreign direct investments. All these come on the heel of Africa generally surviving its worst recession in twenty years. SEGA aims to promote economic governance by engaging stakeholders and avoiding political control outside its current scope. Read More
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Remember to stay safe!
