The Billionaire Big Bet, 737 Max Nightmare & Interest Rates Craze

Good day,

Welcome to Africa Finance Today. 

I am writing this newsletter edition from my house in Kigali where two things have been happening: it’s been raining the last couple days and people have been fighting terrible influenza. Whether the two events have a connection, I can’t quite tell.

But what I know from my science experience, there’s not enough scientific evidence that suggests there is a correlation between the two. For sure, rain doesn't spread cold and flu viruses although cold weather may increase the chances of getting ill since people tend to confine indoors which makes the spread of influenza viruses easier.

Growing up, there was this myth around remote households where parents told their children not to play outside in the rain, threatening them that they would be infected with malaria.

Up until now, I have not understood why that was the case given that malaria-carrying mosquito does not in any way travel through rain. If ever, rain would be the last thing where anopheles – mosquitoes that transmit malaria – would want to live since their preferred breeding grounds are warmer temperatures.

Anyway, I’m not an infectious disease specialist but the point I’m trying to make is that there are so many myths out there that young societies have normalized that I think we should get rid of.

Having said that, this week at the National Umushyikirano Council, Rwanda’s national dialogue, one thing became clear: Rwanda has done a superb job in reducing malaria burden and eradicating malaria deaths. Investment into drone technology, rolling out mosquito nets to every household across the country, and constant wetland protection, are paying off.

As a result, the number of lives lost to malaria in Rwanda declined marginally by almost 92% from 427 in 2017 to 35 in 2023. Kudos to Rwanda! The only way to go is up.

Let’s get down to business!

IT’S A WRAP 🎁 
First, we regret that we could not publish last week because of some technical difficulties that we experienced.

• 🌍️ However, we wanted to pay for the price, and that price for us meant that we needed to churn out more content than we previously had done in the first week.

• 📣 A quick update about Africa Finance Today: We are now clocking 100 subscribes most of whom we gained in the first three days when we introduced to you this platform that we hope will be the next big thing. Do us a favor and subscribe.

• 🫂 In that first week, the open rate for our pieces was well over 60%. We thought that was pretty amazing because it gave us confidence that people care about good content, and that’s what our ultimate goal is.

• 🤑 Centum Investment Plc, Avic, and ICDC, and Kenya Cooperative Bank teamed up to build Kenya’s first privately-owned special economic zone, Two Rivers International Finance & Innovation Center.

• 🌆 The Centre spans 64 acres and is situated along the diplomatic blue zone in the capital Nairobi. It’s home to the leading luxury brands, hospitality establishments, a theme park, and a host of other activities. But that’s not necessarily the catch.

• 🏭️ Being the first privately-owned special economic zone means that the centre gets special tax treatment and incentives. Companies hosted here don’t pay 30% corporate income tax (CIT), they pay 10% for the first ten years.

• 🇰🇪 They are also exempted from paying VAT and foreign investors can easily repatriate their capital and dividends at no cost. How better can it get other than relieving businesses of massive tax burden that usually increases the cost of doing business? It doesn’t get any better than that and Kenya has shown you can do it.