Nairobi, Kenya — Having clothes ruined by ink and inhaling chemicals for hours in the hospital darkroom used to bother Margaret Njuwe and other radiographers at East Africa's largest referral hospital in Kenya's capital Nairobi.But when ink runs rendered X-rays unusable or mammograms came out too soft to see suspected lumps, Njuwe's heart would sink as she climbed Kenyatta National Hospital's (KNH) stairs to the radiology department's constantly packed waiting room.

"Patients would wait for hours, and then maybe when you go to the darkroom you have to repeat [the scan] and call the patient back and it might take another day," she said.

Some patients in the 2,000-bed hospital would come back. Others, especially referrals from other centers, would disappear, regardless of how sick they were.

But for the past three months, KNH staff have switched from analogue to digital machines and been able to scan and sometimes diagnose patients within minutes.

"It has reduced those delays. Patients can be referred instantly, because you can take an image, you print it instantly and the patient can take it with them to the referring doctor instantly," said radiographer Clifford Ike.

In total, 98 hospitals in Kenya will benefit from a program being led by the Ministry of Health to modernize core healthcare services at key government facilities across the country. It is the first Government-led program of its kind in Kenya — and one of the largest undertaken to date in Africa to support sustainable healthcare development.

Selected by the Ministry as the technology provider for the radiology modernization tranche of the Kenya mega tender – GE, a committed partner in the development of healthcare in Africa, is providing a comprehensive program that includes the installation of 585 new machines across all 47 counties – and over the next seven years will provide the medical staff using them training and technical support to ensure the optimal operation of the equipment.

After years of studying health models, "without a doubt the ones that have proven to be successful when serving populations is collaboration between the public and private sectors," said Terri Bresenham, CEO of GE Healthcare's Sustainable Healthcare Solutions business.

"As a company what we do know how to do well is set up a structure and capital investment."

GE's plan differs from "this huge capital investment up front and then nothing left for maintenance and for training," she added.

KNH's basement has just some of the many abandoned or broken down machines that litter health centers nationwide as parts or know-how to use them were missing.

The first 44 hospitals to go digital – one of Kenya's healthcare focuses for its 2030 Vision plan – using the new machines increased monthly examinations from 1,500 to over 28,800.

At Mbagathi hospital in downtown Nairobi, staff using one of GE's temporary x-ray machines until their equipment is installed is now doing up to 100 scans a day, almost double what the old machine did.

"They are doing it quickly-just some minutes", said Frida Ngute,  whose baby Agnes has had chest problems for three months.

Mbgaathi Hospital Radiographer Irene Githinji is looking forward to switching from expensive film rolls to digital machines for ultrasound, x-ray and surgery, especially as the hospital is next to Kibera – a slum where millions of people live.

"We are hoping that eventually it will help us make it even cheaper for them," she said.

To ensure quality, standardized and continued training for Kenyan health workers and as part of GE's plan to train 10,000 by 2020, on June 16, GE Healthcare's CEO John Flannery opened its "first dedicated center in Africa for training on technology".

"Demand for quality healthcare is increasing", said Cleopa Mailu, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Health, at the inauguration of the center in Nairobi's Karen neighborhood.

"This dedicated training center will bring people together"

"The GE Healthcare Training Center will play a critical role in supporting the capacity development of biomedical engineers, radiologists and technicians, helping to reduce the skills gap, improve job prospects and build a solid national healthcare system," he added.

"This dedicated training center will bring people together", help build networks of specialists and bridges with health workers in different tiers or sectors of the health care system, said Bresenham.

Many communicable diseases like HIV, malaria and TB are still set up and funded separately, whereas more needs to be done to build "a better, more robust primary care system," said Bresenham.

At KNH's radiology department, where Njuwe scans people who have been in road traffic accidents, people suspected of having pneumonia and surgical patients, the system is already more joined up.

Ike says that the scanners have improved diagnosis times as they are "easier to work with" and have a greater range of exposures.

"People are really appreciating these machines", he said.

Hannah McNeish is a freelance journalist based in East, Central and Southern Africa and wrote this story on assignment for The Pulse.

A general strike called in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reportedly crippled businesses in the capital Kinshasa on Tuesday.

According to the BBC, shops in Kinshasa were closed and streets were mostly empty.

Opposition parties in the central African country demanded that President Joseph Kabila end his rule, as mandated in the constitution.

They feared Kabila wanted to delay elections that are due in November.

Kabila came into power after the assassination of his father in 2001 and, although the constitution stated that a president could only serve for two terms, there have been consistent delays as Kabila clings to power.

Democratic transition

Kabila's government, however, dismissed Tuesday's strike as the work of "radicals having some old fashioned fun".

The strike, according to reports, was most successful in Kinshasa, which has a population of at least 11 million.

Business activities were also slow in Goma, the main trading centre in the east.

The country's Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) announced recently that it could not hold elections this year due to a number of challenges.

The electoral body said that it could only hold the elections sometime in July 2017.

Africa has been touted as the new destination for investors. However, the continent still faces a myriad of challenges that hold back its potential, especially efforts aimed at improving business environment and alleviating poverty to ensure sustainable economic growth.

That's why Africa needs leaders who can tackle these challenges and translate them into opportunities to achieve the 'Africa we want' as per the theme of the recently-concluded 27th African Union summit in Kigali.

Supportive policies and infrastructure that promote entrepreneurship and trade on the continent will play a critical role in helping the continent rise from the 'ashes' to achieve the African renaissance dreams proclaimed by the likes of former South African President Thabo Mbeki, experts say.

According to Teddy Kaberuka, an economic analyst in Kigali, infrastructures, including transport, power and information and communication technologies (ICTs) facilities, are instrumental in supporting growth in the global economy. That's the reason why African countries must prioritise infrastructure development to ensure sustainable economic growth on the continent.

"The only way Africa can increase its production and strengthen its economy is by investing heavily in infrastructure development to support the production and ease access to markets and encourage intra-regional trade. Therefore, government must invest more in the energy, ICT and transport sectors because these are enablers of trade and development," he said. "Without enough power, the continent's production capacity will be affected, condemning the continent to rely on European imports."

Kaberuka adds that transport and ICT sector are essential to ensure access to markets by farmers and the industrial sector.

With the majority of the continent's enterprises falling in the category of small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs), experts call on African leaders to put in place policies and regulations that propel them further and help make them sustainable. The SME sector is the backbone of Africa's economies, employing the majority of the continent's youth and supporting millions of households.

However, the challenge of poor infrastructure and cumbersome border policies must be addressed for intra-country and intra-region trade to flourish. Most African countries are not trading with each other, preferring to trade with Europe and America where they face immense challenges as they largely deal in primary products.

According to AU statistics, improving the continent's infrastructures, like roads, energy and ICTs, can add up to 2 per cent to GDP growth rate per year and also increase productivity by 40 per cent. The World Bank attributed more than half of impressive growth recorded in Africa to infrastructure development on the continent because it offered many countries the required stimulus for growth.

Christian Rwakunda, the Ministry of Infrastructure permanent secretary, said putting in place right infrastructure is key driver for socio-economic development. He says improving transport networks and access to reliable energy and ICTs will reduce the cost of operations and ensure efficient production and service delivery.

"For instance, development of an efficient regional railway transport system would cut the cost of export/import by almost half and reduce the transit significantly. This would open up new opportunities for export and increase regional trade," he notes.

In addition, access to affordable and efficient energy for local industry is essential to grow the sector which is still almost dormant, he adds. Rwakunda says access to affordable power promotes growth of micro-industries allowing more Rwandans and Africans generally to engage in processing of raw materials into finished products and earn more revenue.

He says lack of efficient infrastructure facilities and skilled human resource has led to high costs of investment, while private investments remain low compared to the expectations of developing countries.

"As a result, development and operation costs remain high in Africa. For example, the recent development of the methane gas power project on Kivu Lake required skilled personnel do carry out research. Besides, implementation of infrastructure projects by foreign firms reduces benefits for local populations," he says. The PS notes that such situations are mitigated by knowledge transfer programmes to benefit the host countries.

"To address these issues, Rwanda has put in place an investor-supportive investment policy as well as created an enabling environment. The government also promotes public-private partnerships, especially for key projects and export-oriented investments."

"In addition, technical and vocational education has been given priority to bridge the skills gap in the industrial and other sectors," he says.

He adds that the government encourages local content development at all levels, including human resources, local materials, local partnership or sub-contracting. Rwakunda says the African leaders need to address the key challenges affecting the continent's development through regional frameworks that will help fast-track the implementation of the African Agenda. These efforts are crucial for the realisation of the ambitious continental free trade area (CFTA) initiative that seeks to promote trade with the continent, among others.
 

The CFTA will be made up of over one billion people, with a GDP of $3 trillion. It will also boost trade by 50 per cent among African countries by 2022. The continent's gross domestic product (GDP) is also estimated to rise from $1.7 trillion in 2010 to $2.6 trillion by 2020, while consumer spending will grow from $860 billion to $1.4 trillion over the period.

Already, plans are underway by three regional blocs on the continent to create the largest free trade area on the globe, from the Cape to Cairo. The tripartite free trade area will bring together the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the Southern African Development Community into a single new zone. This is envisaged to ease barriers to trade, and stimulate $1 trillion worth of economic activity across the region of more than 600 million people.

However, there is need to support the private sector with improved infrastructure and other facilities and initiatives to enable free movement of people and goods. Easing movement of goods and people is critical in driving the trade and that why the launch of the African e-passport at the Kigali AU summit was a key milestone for the continent that could help in the realisation of this goal. This remarkable step could help drive trade on the continent and spur sustainable socio-economic development.

Some of these efforts could eventually help address most of the challenges hampering business growth across the continent, which will in the long-run contribute to the realisation of the new Africa aspirations, making the African renaissance a reality.

Tanga — Minister of Energy and Minerals, Professor Sospeter Muhongo, has called on the private sector in Tanzania to take fully participation in a big multimillion East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline in order to benefit from it.

Professor Muhongo gave the remark yesterday as he visited chongoleni area in Tanga city, the site where the crude oil from Kabale, Ohima District in Uganda will be received for exportation at Tanga Port.

He said the projects was one of the biggest projects that the country has been undertaking, therefore the private sector should prepare and fully tape the opportunities which come with the project.

He said the project would bring in the country, particularly in Tanga region, people from different countries who would need some essential social services like hotels, transportation and food.

Therefore the private sector must prepare to meet the demand. "We don't like to see private sector blaming the government that they are not involved in a big project like this one.

That is why we call upon them to start investing so that the world may see that we are prepared to serve the big community that will fly in," he stated. He further said that for the project to become successful, it needs the readiness and commitment from the government and wananchi, thus everyone has an opportunity to benefit from it.

He, however, had challenged Tanga Region authorities to be active enough in promoting their services so that other neighbouring countries would see the readiness of Tanga people in receiving and utilizing the opportunities of the project.

"You people of Tanga have done nothing so far to promote the oil project and announcement of your service….you are waiting until the minister visits here…you must be aggressive and start to promote your region and services like hotels," he further said.

Speaking about compensation, Prof Muhongo said that everyone would be compensated according to initial survey satellite pictures taken.

Therefore those who developed their lands after that survey would not be compensated.

"Some people, after hearing that we are taking their land for the project, started to develop it in order to be compensated …we already have satellite photos which shows everything which was there on the land during the survey, therefore a new development will be a lose to the land owners," he clarified.

"In our country the land is a property of the government, but in other countries the land is fully owned by an individual..therefore here the oil pipeline will pass through road reserve areas which need no compensation except in few areas like here ..this is one of the reason which enabled us to qualify for the project rather than our neighbouring competitor ..apart from that Tanga port has efficient depth," he said.

Cairo — President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Saturday that public debt reached EGP2.3 trillion and that he "will not hesitate" to take measures to improve the economy.

Sisi made the statements in a press conference held during the opening of a petrochemical complex in Alexandria.

He said the appointment of 900,000 people in the government sector due to public "pressure" and increasing salaries to EGP 228 billion annually instead of EGP 80-90 billion raised the public debt.

He added that it makes up 97-98 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as it stands at EGP2.3 trillion, up from EGP800 billion before 2011.

During his speech, Sisi stressed the importance of economic reform and said "the first effort at reform was in 1977" which was not accepted by the citizens and accordingly the state backed down and kept postponing it up until now.
 

Egypt is currently pushing ahead with reforms which include plans for a VAT tax and further subsidy cuts that were put on hold when global oil prices dropped.

The International Monetary Fund agreed on Thursday, in principal, to lend Egypt $12 billion over three years to support the government's reform programme.

Earlier last week, the government announced a sharp rise in electricity prices by up to 40 per cent on households as part of its plan to eliminate subsidies in the next few years.

Egypt's finance ministry expects a budget deficit of 9.8 per cent of the GDP in the fiscal year 2016-2017. It also expects revenues to reach EGP 669.7 billion and expenses to total EGP 974.8 billion.

The central bank said last week that Egypt's foreign reserves fell sharply by $2 billion at the end of July, reaching $15.536 billion, down from $17.5 billion in June.

The reserves remain to be less than half of what the country had before the 2011 Uprising when they stood at almost $36 billion.

Chinese conglomerate China Wu Yi is building a Sh10 billion housing materials plant in Athi River after bagging major tenders in the country.

The factory, expected to be complete in June, will manufacture precast materials that will also be sold to other construction firms.

The multinational is putting up the plant through its locally incorporated subsidiary China Wu Yi Precast (Kenya) Company Limited.

Its chairman Qiu Liangxin said the project would create a modern building industry base for research, manufacture, sale and demonstration of pre-cast elements in Kenya.

"The development of prefabricated building is significant to the transformation of construction, with advanced guarantee on construction quality and safety," Mr Liangxin said.

"We have been behind various projects in this region and this will be our first building materials producer established overseas."

The factory will sit on 30 acres of land off Mombasa Road. It will include a pre-cast element plant, a display area, warehouse and a construction material supermarket which will introduce materials from China, effectively making it a one-stop shop for building materials in the country.

The supermarket will stock among others stones, ceramic tiles, bathroom appliances, construction electrical fittings, lamps and kitchen furniture.

The pre-casts will include solid wall panels, hollow core slabs, sandwich wall panels, facade panels, lift shafts, staircases and foundation piles.

Customers will be able to obtain the pre-cast materials to fit their housing designs enabling fast and less costly construction.

The firm has partnered with two German technology services providers, Ebawe Anlagetechnik to supply equipment for the concrete pre-casts production and Nemetschek to provide the software for the design of the housing parts.

Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed who presided over the ground breaking ceremony on Saturday said the project was among those the government signed a cooperation agreement during the China-Africa Business Council in Beijing.

"This is basically industrialising the construction sector because this will shorten building period by more than 50 per cent," Mr Mohamed said.
 

"The building and construction industry is rapidly growing and this investment is very timely for our economy and in line with our industrialisation blue print. The number of cement companies around here will no doubt have new demand for cement from this firm."

China Wu Yi, which participated in the construction of the Thika Superhighway, the University of Nairobi Tower, Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital and several apartments in Nairobi is also planning to put up an iron and steel factory in Kenya in the near term.

The plant, whose timelines were undisclosed, will produce over three million tonnes of steel targeting public and private sector projects.

China Wu Yi will also rely on the plants to feed its own projects in the country where it has emerged as one of the largest construction firms.The multinational last year said it had won four construction tenders in Kenya worth Sh10.1 billion.

Its latest contract is the Sh16.4 billion reconstruction and capacity enhancement of James Gichuru Junction-Rironi road.

The road works, meant to ease traffic flow in the capital, is being funded by World Bank and the government.