South Africa remains resolute in hosting the AGOA summit despite prior tensions with the US. The upcoming event, slated for November, signifies renewed commitment to strengthen trade ties. South Africa&#8217;s call for a decade-long AGOA extension underscores the pivotal role this partnership plays in fostering economic growth and cooperation.



South Africa is set to host the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Summit later this year, despite recent diplomatic tensions between the country and the United States (US). In June this year, US legislators called for the relocation of the summit due to controversy surrounding alleged arms shipments to Russia by South Africa. Cleared of any wrongdoing by an internal judicial panel, the US has reaffirmed its commitment to shared growth with South Africa.



“The AGOA Forum is an opportunity for the United States to build upon the success of the Africa Leaders’ Summit and further our economic partnership with AGOA countries,” stated US Ambassador Katherine Tai in a statement announcing this year&#8217;s summit from Washington.



South African President Cyril Ramaphosa not only celebrated the country&#8217;s hosting of the summit but also called for the renewal of the agreement for another decade. The current format of AGOA is set to expire in 2025. Emphasizing the importance of South Africa-US relations, Ramaphosa declared: &#8220;The US remains a very important economic partner in trade and investment, with great potential to further expand economic ties,&#8221; in a press release.



AGOA currently benefits eligible sub-Saharan countries by providing access to US markets for several thousand products, including duty-free access for some exports. South Africa continues to be the largest exporter in the agreement, generating approximately $2.7 billion in revenue for the country as of 2021, primarily from vehicles, jewelry, and metals.



The controversy surrounding the visit of a Russian ship, the Lady R, docking at a South African military base in December 2022, led to the politicization of the AGOA agreement by bipartisan representatives in the US. However, a subsequent South African investigation cleared the country of exporting arms to Russia as part of the incident, resulting in a restored commitment by representatives of both countries to mend strained relations.



The AGOA summit, scheduled for early November in South Africa, will bring together key delegations from all member countries, regional economic entities, as well as representatives from the private and public sectors. The goal is to strengthen trade and economic ties between the US and sub-Saharan Africa.



The summit will also feature a ‘Made in Africa’ exhibition, specifically focused on demonstrating regional value chains on the continent.



“AGOA has helped promote the export of African goods to the United States, and we believe there is scope to deepen its impact on African industrialization,&#8221; said South Africa&#8217;s Minister of Trade and Industry, Ebrahim Patel, reaffirming Ramaphosa&#8217;s commitment to extending the deal. &#8220;Extending it beyond 2025 will promote inward investment in Africa and support our efforts to increase growth through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which will cover 54 countries and 1.4 billion people.”

Untitled design (33)

Renewed Commitment: South Africa To Host AGOA Summit Amid Calls for Extension

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden <a href="https://youtu.be/YdWtvbkSJlY?feature=shared&amp;t=876" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a> in a recent podcast interview that he doesn’t think rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, “meant what he said” about Jewish people last year, adding he doesn’t think Ye is “a bad person, it just came across that way.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h3>



When asked about what happened with Adidas and Ye on&nbsp;In Good Company, a podcast from Norges Bank Investment Management, Gulden recognized the artist made some statements that weren’t “that good,” leading Adidas to break the contract.



But Gulden, who was not yet&nbsp;<a href="https://www.adidas-group.com/en/media/news-archive/press-releases/2022/bjorn-gulden-become-ceo-adidas-ag/#:~:text=The%20Supervisory%20Board%20of%20adidas,and%20CEO%20of%20adidas%20AG." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">leading</a>&nbsp;the company at the time of the controversy, also offered praise for Ye, saying he’s “one of the most creative people in the world, both in music and … street culture.”



Gulden called the Yeezy shoe line one of the “most successful collabs” in history; it cost Adidas $440 million in sales in the first quarter of this year alone to discontinue the Yeezy line,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.adidas-group.com/en/media/news-archive/press-releases/2023/adidas-reports-revenues-on-prior-year-level-in-the-first-quarter/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to the sportswear company.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Last October, Ye spouted antisemitic comments, conspiracy theories and criticized Black Lives Matter in a number of interviews and public appearances, leading to broken business relationships, his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/10/08/musk-welcomes-kanye-west-back-to-twitter-after-hes-blocked-by-instagram-over-apparent-antisemitic-post/?sh=7ee386ca50da">removal</a>&nbsp;from social media platforms and widespread criticism. At the start of the month, Ye had models at his fashion show in Paris wear “White Lives Matter” shirts, a term that’s associated with a neo-Nazi group. Just days later, he took to X—formerly known as Twitter—to claim he was going to go “death con 3 on Jewish people.” He said it wasn’t antisemitic for him to tweet that because “black people are actually Jew also,” and his account was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/10/09/twitter-deletes-kanye-west-post-about-jewish-people/?sh=f9375e1302f7">locked</a>. Ye also repeatedly made comments that the Anti-Defamation League said use “age-old anti-Semitic myths about Jewish greed and power and control of the entertainment industry.” Ye said he didn’t regret his remarks, but did apologize for the “death con 3” comment on&nbsp;Piers Morgan Uncensored. In November, NBC News&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kanye-west-ye-settlement-anti-semitic-jewish-hitler-nazis-allegations-rcna54485" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;people who previously worked with Ye said he made several pro-Hitler and pro-Nazi remarks as far back as 2018. In addition to Adidas, Gap, Balenciaga, Vogue and JP Morgan Chase all&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kanye-west-companies-cutting-ties-adidas-gap-balenciaga-vogue-tweet-2022-10" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">broke ties</a>&nbsp;with the artist. The essential collapse of his business empire caused Ye to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2023/04/05/heres-why-kanye-west-dropped-off-the-forbes-billionaires-list/?sh=369e75cd1866">lose his billionaire status</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



“When you work with third parties that could happen and it’s part of the game,” Gulden said on the podcast. “That can happen with an athlete, it can happen with an entertainer, so it’s part of the business.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



$565 million. That’s how much Adidas made in May when it opted to sell the unsold Yeezy shoes that were left over after the company stopped working with Ye. The sale of Yeezy inventory helped Adidas reduce its projected operating loss for the year from $775 million to $598.56 million, the company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.adidas-group.com/media/filer_public/4d/5f/4d5fbc81-6eee-4e9e-b21d-1f9247d3aff6/adidasag_q22023_pre-announcement_final_en.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forbes-valuation">FORBES VALUATION</h2>



We estimate Ye’s net <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/kanye-west/?sh=4cef8adb56f1">worth at $400 million</a>—a fraction of his $2 billion estimated net worth last year.

adidas + KANYE WEST New Partnership Announcement

Adidas CEO: Kanye West Didn’t Mean Antisemitic Comments, Isn’t A Bad Person

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Six Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and dozens more injured during three separate incidents in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, the Palestinian Ministry of Health told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/20/middleeast/israeli-military-palestinians-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CNN</a>—incidents that come during a controversial meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Four people died and over 30 were injured when the Israeli military invaded the Jenin refugee camp Tuesday evening and exchanged fire with Palestinian militants,—Israel claims the Palestinian militants fired first—CNN reported, citing the ministry and an anonymous witness, who said that electricity was knocked out from the camp for some time.



The Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement that troops entered the camp as part of “counterterrorism activity” and claimed that “armed gunmen opened fire” at them before they returned fire.



Meanwhile, on Tuesday afternoon, a Palestinian man was killed and several others were injured when Israeli forces fired across the Gaza border fence at protesters who had been holding regular protests along the border for the past week; the earlier protests had, at times, turned violent, with protesters throwing explosive devices and burning tires as well as occasionally firing guns at Israeli guards.



The IDF said in a statement, “hundreds of rioters gathered in a violent riot adjacent to the security fence in the Gaza Strip…a number of explosive devices were activated by the rioters.”



On Wednesday morning, a Palestinian man was killed by Israeli military who entered the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp in Jericho.



Israeli forces said they were attempting to apprehend 10 wanted suspects when explosive devices were hurled at them and they returned fire.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



The West Bank and the Gaza strip have been under military occupation by Israel since 1967. The West Bank has been embroiled by nearly daily violence throughout 2023, spurred by nightly raids from Israeli forces, putting the region on track for its bloodiest year since 2005. Notably, in July, Israel&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/willskipworth/2023/06/19/5-palestinians-die-in-the-conflicts-most-ferocious-fighting-in-years/?sh=5e3671687ab2">struck</a>&nbsp;the refugee camp in Jenin—the same one that saw four people die on Tuesday—with gunfire, armored bulldozers and at least one Apache helicopter, the first time a helicopter gunship had been used in the conflict since the second Palestinian uprising around two decades ago. That fighting lasted 10 hours, killed five and injured 91.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



The violence unfolded while Israel’s leader Netanyahu was visiting Biden and New York during the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-netanyahu-biden-white-house-united-nations-c6dab3cc0357f67b2054446f3c6cdc52" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Associated Press reported</a>. The meeting will be the first between the two since Netanyahu formed his far-right coalition government last year, a buck to tradition as the U.S. has typically invited Israeli leaders to the White House within weeks of them starting their tenure. The delay, as well as the meeting taking place in New York instead of Washington, D.C., is widely seen as a signal of Biden’s displeasure with Netayahu’s new government, which has taken a hardline on the conflict with the Palestinians and attempted to overhaul the country’s judiciary in a way that makes it more favorable to them, according to the AP. Biden opened the meeting by saying they would discuss “some tough issues” including “upholding democratic values that lie at the heart of our partnership, including checks and balances.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/20/middleeast/israeli-military-palestinians-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Six Palestinians killed by Israeli military in three separate incidents over 24 hours</a>&nbsp;(CNN)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/willskipworth/2023/06/19/5-palestinians-die-in-the-conflicts-most-ferocious-fighting-in-years/?sh=5e3671687ab2">5 Palestinians Die In The Conflict’s Most Ferocious Fighting In Years</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/09/19/us-considering-defense-treaty-with-saudi-arabia-that-includes-israel-normalization-report-says/?sh=652d65239e37">U.S. Considering Defense Treaty With Saudi Arabia That Includes Israel Normalization, Report Says</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)

Israeli army bulldozer on duty during the demolition of

Six Palestinians Killed In Three Separate Incidents By Israeli Forces Over 24 Hours

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline"><a href="https://policies.google.com/privacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a>TOPLINE</h2>



A drought in Spain, record-high temperatures and a pause in Turkish exports have driven prices of Spanish olive oil to a record high of $8,900 per ton this month, and there&#8217;s no clear indication as to when they&#8217;ll fall.



Extreme hot weather and persistent drought conditions have dealt a severe blow to olive oil&nbsp;&#8230; [+]ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



&#8220;Extremely dry weather in much of the Mediterranean&#8221; has been blamed for the skyrocketing prices of olive oil—up 130% from last year—by the&nbsp;<a href="https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/oilseeds.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a>, which warns the only thing that could bring them down in the coming months would be improved growing conditions.



The Catalonia region of Spain&nbsp;<a href="https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/08/09/we-have-never-seen-it-so-low-spain-introduces-water-restrictions-as-reservoirs-run-dry#:~:text=Drought%20is%20leaving%20reservoirs%20empty&amp;text=Spain%20registered%20the%20driest%20start,Andalusia%20being%20the%20most%20affected." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">declared</a>&nbsp;a drought emergency in 24 municipalities in August after 30 months of little rain, and the drought has dried up reservoirs, parched olive groves and led to restrictions on water use across the country, per&nbsp;<a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151366/spain-browned-by-drought" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NASA</a>.



The lack of rain has coincided with the nation’s third-hottest summer on record: The Spanish meteorological agency&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aemet.es/en/noticias/2023/09/avance_verano_2023" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">says</a>&nbsp;four heat waves were recorded this summer, temperatures were 2.3°F (1.3°C) higher than normal on average and meteorologists are predicting a warmer-than-normal autumn.



Italy and Greece, which also grow a significant portion of the world’s olives, have also seen hot, dry seasons, with Italy recording&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/08/07/extreme-heat-in-southern-italy-increased-july-death-rate-officials-say/?sh=4ab63d9c2664">temperatures</a>&nbsp;over 40°C (104°F), and Greece, where major tourist attractions&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/07/15/europes-dangerous-heat-wave-greece-closes-acropolis-as-warnings-issued-across-italy-spain-and-germany/?sh=7b774c7e39c0">were closed</a>&nbsp;due to the heat, notching temperatures just as high.



Spain, the world’s largest producer and exporter of olive oil, made 50% less oil in its most recent season, CNBC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/19/olive-oil-prices-surge-over-100percent-leading-to-cooking-oil-thefts.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>, and prices have been further impacted by Turkey&#8217;s decision&nbsp;<a href="https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/oilseeds.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">to suspend</a>&nbsp;bulk oil exports until at least November 1 in a move meant to ensure domestic supplies and alleviate price pressure.



Before this August, the previous record price for olive oil was set at $6,242 per ton in 1996, according to the USDA.



Picture shows healthy olives grown using an irrigation system developed by researchers of the&nbsp;&#8230; [+]AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



610,000 tons. That&#8217;s how much olive oil Spain produced in the recent season, compared to a usual yield of 1.3 to 1.5 million tons.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



The global olive oil market was valued at $14.2 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow to $18.4 billion by 2030, Fortune Business Insights&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/olive-oil-market-101455" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predicts</a>. Spain manufactures almost half of the world&#8217;s olive oil,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.internationaloliveoil.org/the-world-of-olive-oil/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">followed by</a>&nbsp;producers in Italy, Greece, Portugal, Tunisia, Turkey and Morocco. Greeks are the largest olive oil consumer per capita,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aboutoliveoil.org/olive-oil-production-by-country" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to&nbsp;</a>the North American Olive Oil Association, followed by Spain and Italy. Greeks consume about 20 liters of olive oil per person each year, compared to about 1 liter per American. The size of the United States compared to other nations, however—only about 10.6 million people live in Greece compared to 331 million in the U.S.—makes the nation a major consumer: The&nbsp;<a href="https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/oilseeds.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">USDA</a>&nbsp;said American imports usually make up about 30% of the global olive oil trade, and that number is expected to rise to between 35% and 37% this year.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



A theft of about 50,000 liters of extra virgin olive oil left one of the nation&#8217;s family-owned mills, Marin Serrano El Lagar, out about $450,000, local news&nbsp;<a href="https://www.elmundo.es/andalucia/2023/08/31/64f0462efc6c8312768b459c.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>. No arrests have been made in the theft and a spokesperson for the Civil Guard told&nbsp;El Mundo&nbsp;that stealing in bulk, rather than bottles, makes tracking the oil particularly hard. Just two weeks before that, another 6,000 liters of extra virgin olive oil—$53,500 worth—<a href="https://www.elmundo.es/andalucia/2023/08/23/64e5e1bdfc6c8303668b4591.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">was stolen</a>&nbsp;from the Terraverne oil mill.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



Olive oil isn&#8217;t the only commodity to have seen cost jumps this summer,&nbsp;Business Insider&nbsp;<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/foodflation-cocoa-surges-12-year-high-orange-juice-hit-record-2023-7?_gl=1*1147odj*_ga*MTgyMjM0ODk0OC4xNjg2NzU2MDU1*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY5NTIxNjY5My4yNS4xLjE2OTUyMTY4OTIuMjMuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>. Cocoa, orange juice, wheat and soybeans all surged this summer as heavy rainfall and disease impacted West Africa&#8217;s cocoa supply, a crop disease hit citrus plants in Florida and Brazil and Russia pulled out of the deal allowing the export of grain from Ukraine. Soybean prices&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/global-grains-idAFL1N38128J" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">also soared</a>&nbsp;this summer after the USDA reported much lower-than-expected soy plantings.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/08/23/india-to-ban-sugar-exports-in-addition-to-rice-as-corn-soybeans-and-more-crops-falter-in-extreme-heat-and-drought/?sh=56d252986d6c">India To Ban Sugar Exports In Addition To Rice—As Corn, Soybeans And More Crops Falter In Extreme Heat And Drought</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/08/21/out-with-shrimp-in-with-jellyfish-seafood-industry-facing-potential-overhaul-due-to-climate-change/?sh=2c38609723bb">Out With Shrimp, In With Jellyfish? Seafood Industry Facing Potential Overhaul Due To Climate Change</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2022/06/26/heres-the-latest-data-on-climate-and-food-and-its-not-good/?sh=1229c7592e52">Here’s The Latest Data On Climate And Food And It’s Not Good</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2022/09/02/us-farmers-struggle-through-drought-to-bring-food-to-the-table-but-face-more-challenges-ahead/?sh=7119cadcfc08">U.S. Farmers Struggle Through Drought To Bring Food To The Table But Face More Challenges Ahead</a> (Forbes)

Oil pump with candle stick graph chart in the background. World Oil Industry

Olive Oil Prices Jump 50%—And Climate Change Might Be Why

Riding through its past grandeur, this writer photographed several monumental buildings but missed the city as it appears in old wood prints and paintings.



Leaving Dakar, Senegal’s capital and largest city, by taxi, I was excited to visit the World Heritage City of Saint-Louis four hours away. The city sits on an island at the mouth of the Senegal River. By 1817, it became



the administrative center of the colony of Senegal thus becoming the focal point of French commercial and political activities in the region, gradually built up with military buildings and public and religious institutions such as hospitals, schools and a cathedral. In 1895, it became the capital of the four initial territorial colonies of French West Africa.



Today, Senegal is one of the most stable electoral democracies in Africa that has also undergone two peaceful transfers of power since 2000.



I had come to Senegal during its national elections and reported about it in this magazine in 2019. On that trip, I had visited the slave trade island of Gorée, which was active until 1848, just outside of Dakar, and also Saint-Louis, giving me an opportunity to see two different sides of French colonial governance.



Arriving on a very hot day, I chose a horse and buggy ride to slowly meander through the streets and the waterfront of the once magnificent city.



UNESCO had designated it a World Heritage City citing its importance for “exhibiting its influence on the development of education, culture, architecture, craftsmanship and services in West Africa”.



By the late 18th century, history says it had grown into an important commercial hub of the trade in enslaved captives.



Crucial to the conduct of trade and the running of the island were the group of women called signares, many of whom were married to French or British traders and their descendants, who came to be called habitants.



As the slave trade was replaced by the trading of gum and groundnuts, the habitants managed to position themselves as middlemen between the hinterland production and French traders.



<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="20" height="20" src="">Habitants had participated in the partial governance of the colony, with the first habitant mayor of Saint-Louis elected in 1778. However, history was made in 1914 when the first African, Blaise Diagne, won a seat in the French National Assembly.



By 1946, all the African colonial subjects of Senegal gained voting rights previously reserved for the habitants.



However, after 1957, when the country became independent and the island of Saint-Louis lost its privileged capital position to Dakar, it lost its French population and the military departed, diminishing its capability to maintain the historic buildings in the absence of a robust economy.



Riding through its past grandeur on my trip, I photographed several monumental buildings, including the Governor’s palace, the Cathedral and many of the crumbling French colonial villas from the 19th century. Despite funding from UNESCO, I personally observed a lack of effort to restore this beautiful city.



Corruption, I was told, was diluting the funds available for that purpose.



Crossing the famous over 1,000ft-long Faidherbe iron bridge (opened in 1897) to the African mainland, I visited a local establishment to taste a native meal – the Yassa poulet-Senegalese- braised chicken with caramelized onions.



While very pleased to have visited this historic city, I left with an empty feeling that it is far from how it appears in old wood prints and paintings. Like the many colonial cities I have visited in Africa and Asia, population increase, poverty and a reported anti-colonial bent slowly seem to be dissolving these places into oblivion.

somewhere in afrca

The Democratic Heritage Of Saint-Louis In Senegal

Nigeria&#8217;s economic growth has faced a significant slowdown, with its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growing at just 2.51% year-on-year in the second quarter of the year.



This rate is notably lower than the 3.54% recorded during the same period in 2022.



As the country grapples with challenging economic conditions, concerns are rising about the possibility of entering a recession.



The recently published GDP report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) highlights the various contributing factors to this decline in economic growth.



In the second quarter of the year, the services sector emerged as the primary driver of growth, experiencing a 4.42% expansion and contributing a substantial 58.42% to the overall GDP.



Additionally, the agriculture sector displayed improved performance, with a growth rate of 1.50%, compared to 1.20% in the same quarter of 2022.



Conversely, the industry sector faced a significant setback, with a growth rate of -1.94% in the reported period, compared to -2.30% in the previous year.



In terms of their contribution to the GDP, both the agriculture and industry sectors played smaller roles in the period compared to the same period in 2022.



The aggregate GDP reached N52.1 trillion ($66.5 billion) in nominal terms, marking a notable increase from the N45 trillion ($57.6 billion) recorded in the second quarter of 2022.



This signifies a year-on-year nominal growth rate of 15.77%.



Economist Kelvin Emmanuel offers insight into the economic slowdown, stating to FORBES AFRICA: &#8220;The slowdown in the GDP growth rate to 2.51% reflects the capital squeeze resulting from various factors. Not only are foreign investments affected by a weak balance of payment position, but the government&#8217;s inability to clear outstanding FX forwards has also had an impact. Moreover, the high inflation and high-interest rate environment has reduced corporate incentives to borrow from the banking system. As capital per unit of labor decreases and employment growth stagnates, the GDP growth rate is inevitably impacted.&#8221;



Emmanuel further raises concerns, saying, &#8220;Nigeria has now reported a GDP growth rate lower than its population growth rate of 3% for two consecutive quarters. If this trend persists into Q3, the nation&#8217;s economy could officially enter a recession, signifying the need for immediate corrective measures.&#8221;

Graph Falling Down in Front Of Nigeria Flag. Crisis Concept

Nigeria’s Slowing Growth And Recession Concerns

Hacker, IT and person with code on computer, programming and phishing scam with malware or virus. Hacking, system glitch and cloud computing error in dark room, cyber crime and cybersecurity fail

How AI Is Supercharging Financial Fraud–And Making It Harder To Spot

Albert Einstein once said, “We cannot despair of humanity, since we ourselves are human beings.”



Einstein’s words deeply resonated with me as I pondered Africa’s human capacity.



The continent’s population, particularly its youth, are arguably a vital but often untapped resource in Africa’s story.



Africa’s population is growing at an astounding rate. The African Development Bank estimates that it has increased by 2.42% per year for the past 30 years. By 2050, it is projected to grow to 2.4 billion and is expected to expand to 4.2 billion in the next century. Currently, of the more than 1 billion people who live in Africa, half are under the age of 20. As the bank declared: “Human capital promises to be the key driver of African growth.”



Alongside this promise, there are expectations of access. Yet, a growing population presents its own risks. For example, access to healthcare, education, employment and sustainable development are fundamentally challenged. How do we begin to address these growing challenges? 



The African Union (AU) has outlined a human capacity development plan based on six key factors: transformative leadership, citizen empowerment, tapping into Africa’s potential, skills and resources, evidence-based knowledge and innovation, capacity developers and integrated planning.



Yet, a key question is how do we begin to implement this plan when the continent is demonstrably lagging behind in science, technology and innovation – prerequisites for global competitiveness? Our burgeoning youth population is not enough – we need to begin reframing our understanding of human capacity development to leverage it as a resource effectively. 



In recent months, I have argued that our adaptation to the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), which refers to rapid changes to technology, industries, societal patterns, and processes, needs to be accompanied by societal impact. In other words, as we embrace intelligent technologies, we must remain human-centric in our approach. This entails ensuring that this technology complements our human capacity.



It calls for the application of technology to ameliorate some of our most pressing humanistic challenges. Necessary in this process is an investment in education that equips the youth with the necessary skills, fostering ethical, technological development, promoting localized research and development, promoting human and intelligent technology collaboration, addressing disparities, and facilitating responsible technological adoption. This ensures that we tap into the potential of the 4IR while prioritizing the wellbeing and empowerment of humans.



As Africa continues to grapple with developmental challenges, merely embracing the 4IR is not enough. Policymakers and institutions must ensure that the shift is mindful of the knock-on effect on society. This calls for an ubuntu approach to leadership. In the African Journal of Social Work in 2020, Jacob Rugare Mugumbate and Admire Chereni defined ubuntu as: “A collection of values and practices that people of Africa or of African origin view as making people authentic human beings. While the nuances of these values and practices vary across different ethnic groups, they all point to one thing – an authentic individual human being is part of a larger and more significant relational, communal, societal, environmental and spiritual world.”



An ubuntu leadership style goes beyond the traditional hierarchical notions of leadership and focuses on building strong relationships, fostering social cohesion, creating purpose, and encouraging environments that promote collective well-being. Ubuntu offers an alternative approach to current leadership models in that it prioritizes interconnectedness and seeks to build bridges between different communities and groups. There is an argument to be made that this is the very lens we should be viewing the 4IR through. This is how we ensure that our approach emphasizes humanity and allows for a more just and equitable world to emerge. Critical in this process is seeing the continent’s growing youth population as a tool for 4IR with societal impact. Africa’s youth have the potential to become active participants and beneficiaries of technological advancements. We have to begin investing in our youth to realize this potential fully.



As the founder and chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, phrased it: “The Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to empower individuals and communities, as it creates new opportunities for economic, social, and personal development. But it also could lead to the marginalization of some groups, exacerbate inequality, create new security risks, and undermine human relationships.” 



Ubuntu, and by implication, investment in human capacity, I would argue, emerges as the great divider between these realities.

Real estate agent on a meeting with customer at home – wearing face mask

Developing Human Capacity Should Prioritize The Continent’s Growing Youth Population

OpenSea, once the leading marketplace for non-fungible tokens, was built on a promise of perpetual royalties for digital artists. Then came upstart Blur, whose no-fee, trader-friendly platform put the focus on pricing and costs.



It only took a few months to kill the art world’s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/03/17/what-blurs-success-reveals-about-nft-marketplaces/?sh=19e61c2a189f">utopian dream</a> of long-lasting income streams for content creators.



As of September 1, OpenSea, once the leading marketplace for art linked to non fungible tokens, rescinded its policy of mandatory royalty payments to NFT creators. The decision came after it lost its dominance to no-fee competitor Blur, which only appeared on the scene in October but then quickly gobbled up market share by not charging platform processing fees and became the top NFT trading site in February. Overall NFT trading volume has plummeted from about $5.36 billion in January 2022, according to The Block, to $410 million in August. OpenSea’s share of the struggling NFT market has plummeted to under 30%.



Besides the lack of platform fees, Blur does not force sellers to abide by royalty agreements, which creators who launch their works on OpenSea and a few smaller marketplaces can require on transactions in their artworks after the initial sale. OpenSea, which did police such arrangements, said it would no longer do so after August 31, and it seems unlikely that many buyers will offer the payments.



Without the guarantee of a long-term royalty stream, the appeal of creating works linked to NFTs lessens, and prices for the kind of computer-generated art often linked to the tokens are plunging anyway. So why should artists bother with NFTs?



“Making art is an act of risk-taking,” says Amy Whitaker, associate professor of art business at New York University. “It makes sense, therefore, for artists to share in the upside that they helped to create.” She termed OpenSea’s decision to abandon royalties “unfortunate.”



Digital works encoded onto blockchains rose in popularity in 2021 after the artist Beeple sold a collection of images previously published on his Instagram page for $69 million. Seeing the big bucks to be made in a seemingly simple process–just upload a digital file to an NFT marketplace, which would encode it, for a fee, onto a blockchain–hundreds, if not thousands of artists joined in. NFT aficionados, including artists and collectors, claimed that blockchain-linked art would democratize access to a murky and difficult-to-break-in market, making the opaque system of well-connected galleries and deep-pocketed buyers obsolete. The decentralized system for royalty payments, they contended, would also ensure that artists would directly participate in the appreciation of their works, typically earning a 10% cut on each subsequent sale.



Each marketplace maintained its own policy for awarding royalties to artists. Beeple for example, famously would sell his “drops” for $1 each, but as they were bid up and resold on NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway for hundreds of thousands of dollars, he earned tens of thousands in royalties on each transaction.



In its brief life, NFT-linked art has largely been digital, often in series of similar images with various unique features that make some more collectible than others. But anything can be linked to a token–traditional art, real estate, even musical instruments–and then tracked on its associated blockchain. So, the technology could speed transactions and cut out middlemen in many industries.



<abbr>T</abbr>he fight for royalty payments has largely played out in the court of NFT marketplaces, websites that allow creators and sellers to list their pieces in primary and secondary transactions. In order to better compete with Blur, OpenSea launched what it called its operator filter, which allowed creators of NFTs to prohibit their tokens from being sold in marketplaces that did not enforce royalties. In other words, the filter blocked OpenSea’s competitors and required collections to trade either on its own marketplace or others that did enforce royalty payments, keeping them away from Blur.



Market forces did not cooperate with OpenSea’s strategy. Free trades and optional royalty payment policies quickly drew sellers, which in turn attracted buyers. Since prices and volume were controlled by traders, seeking quick, if marginal, returns, voluntarily paying royalties to artists were easily dismissed by them.



OpenSea’s trading volume plummeted to 27% in August as Blur’s skyrocketed from a mere 5% to 60% in the same time frame, according to data from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theblock.co/data/nft-non-fungible-tokens/marketplaces" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Block</a>. Even OpenSea Pro, OpenSea’s no-fee aggregator and direct competitor to Blur which launched in April, has been unable to take market share from Blur, accounting for only 33% of trading volume on NFT aggregators in August (63% of trades happened on Blur), according to data from<a href="https://dune.com/hildobby/nft-aggregators" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;Dune Analytics</a>.



But the playing field is not level for OpenSea. With no marketplace fee, Blur is living mostly on its $11 million in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/04/13/forget-art-lets-trade-how-a-10-person-startup-came-to-dominate-nft-markets/?sh=227ffacc2680">venture capital funding</a>&nbsp;and a&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.blur.foundation/tokenomics" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hefty</a>&nbsp;supply of blur tokens, reward tokens given out to its founding team and traders as rewards for using the platform. While Blur has attempted to grow its customer base with the launch of its lending products (Blend) and more uses for its token, how long its dominance will last will depend on its reliance on its token model, which could make it susceptible to regulatory action.



Ultimately, OpenSea has not only lost market share to Blur, but it is taking a smaller piece of a smaller pie. After peaking at $16 billion in January 2022, NFT trading has plummeted, with only $559 million worth exchanged in August in 3.2 million transactions, a more-than-<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/08/03/stan-lee-becomes-nft-superhero-illustrating-a-downward-shift-in-prices/?sh=6de9fb6d5ae5">60% volume decrease</a>&nbsp;from last year, according to industry research firm&nbsp;<a href="https://dappradar.com/blog/blockchain-industry-regains-traction-as-2-million-unique-active-wallets-interact-daily/#Chapter-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DappRadar</a>. Even then, only 15% of unique active wallets contributed to August’s NFT transactions. In July, only 4% of wallets traded the NFTs.



Few transactions and even fewer users (measured by the number of unique wallets) points to a new normal in NFT trading which is bad news for digital artists: traders rule the market, and most refuse to pay royalties.



Blur’s predecessors, aggregators like X2Y2 and LooksRare which listed NFTs available in various marketplaces, set the standard for royalty-free marketplaces geared toward traders by offering quick no-fee transactions. Others, like Magic Eden, the largest marketplace for NFTs on the Solana blockchain, and Ethereum-based OpenSea, had to respond to draw customers back to their platforms, lowering costs one way or another. Magic Eden took the first step, moving to a royalty-optional model in&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/MagicEden/status/1581101016686399491?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1581101016686399491%7Ctwgr%5E9d190b061a3b95519526e7d4bab1ea7a5ea8bfbb%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.coindesk.com%2Fbusiness%2F2022%2F10%2F15%2Fmagic-eden-moves-to-optional-royalty-model%2F" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">October</a>&nbsp;as trading declined, preceding OpenSea by two weeks.



<abbr>T</abbr>he royalty policy changes at OpenSea and other marketplaces should send a loud wake up call to Bored Ape Yacht Club maker Yuga Labs. Since it debuted in April 2021, Yuga has received $58 million in royalties from the resales of its Bored Ape collection. Its Mutant Ape Yacht Club and “Otherdeed” collection brought in nearly $100 million more. Chiru Labs, which designed the anime-inspired Azuki collection, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mariagraciasantillanalinares/2022/09/13/reddits-ohanian-leads-54-million-doodles-capital-raise/?sh=84266a63bf38">Doodles</a>, purveyor of pastel-forward illustrations are also likely to take big revenue hits.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-top-10-royalty-generating-nft-collections">TOP 10 ROYALTY GENERATING NFT COLLECTIONS</h2>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-through-august-2023-profile-picture-collections-have-received-the-most-in-total-royalties-since-launch-garnering-millions-in-fees-from-secondary-trading-but-when-it-comes-to-effective-royalty-rates-metaverse-and-gaming-nfts-with-rates-of-8-to-9-are-the-winners">Through August 2023, profile picture collections have received the most in total royalties since launch, garnering millions in fees from secondary trading. But when it comes to effective royalty rates, metaverse and gaming NFTs, with rates of 8% to 9%, are the winners.</h4>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Even prior to OpenSea scrapping royalty payments, 10% royalties were more of a goal than a reality. According to Nansen, the average royalty for the highest earning collections was between 2% and 4%. Top-performing gaming collectibles were earning 5% to 10%.



Though they stand to have the most dollars to lose, some big creators are insulated by the brand recognition they’ve garnered, including shows at traditional&nbsp;<a href="https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/magazine/article/the-centre-pompidou-in-the-age-of-nfts" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">museums</a>, and can still claim the big bucks on primary sales. Chiru Labs, for example, raised $38 million ahead of its much-anticipated “Elementals,” although investors ultimately thought that collection of characters with&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/wizardofsoho/status/1673772462289350657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1673772462289350657%7Ctwgr%5E1f3046daac6098742355f02bd7c2633d1e660522%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdecrypt.co%2F146464%2Fazuki-nft-prices-plummet-collectors-blast-identical-elementals-art" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">almost identical designs</a>&nbsp;was a flop.



The most dire consequences of the loss of royalties are likely to fall on the smaller creators whose monthly payments have been in the hundreds or low thousands of dollars but who have included the income in their financial planning, according to Calderon.



At the $6.7-million collection Rektguy, the loss of royalties is having tangible results, says co-founder Ovie Faruq. “We&#8217;ve used royalties to pay a moderator, to put-on real-life events, to build different competitions and build our website and community,” he says. “So, when you strip that out, it changes the business model.”



Combined with the evaporating royalties, NFT participants face new U.S. regulatory issues. The Securities and Exchange Commission last month required Los Angeles-based&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/08/31/sec-opens-a-new-can-of-worms-with-nft-enforcement-action/?sh=4aba9c3921ab">Impact Theory</a>, a digital media studio which raised $30 million from its NFT sales since 2021, to revise the smart contract underlying its Founders Keys NFTs to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2023/33-11226.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eliminate</a>&nbsp;any royalty payment the company may receive from future secondary market transactions. The SEC alleges the company sold unregistered crypto securities through its sale. Because Impact collects and profits from the royalties (set at 10%), rather than the digital artist, the SEC contends, its NFTs are securities. This week, the SEC also fined the creators of the Stoner Cats collection&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-178" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$1 million</a>&nbsp;over the sale of unregistered securities.



Impact Theory’s NFTs offered a number of exclusive opportunities to holders, including discounts and early access to videos and gaming content. To settle charges that it was selling unregistered securities–the first SEC enforcement action against an NFT issuer–Impact Theory also agreed to destroy its remaining supply of the tokens and pay a $6 million fine.



If the SEC is looking at royalty payments as a potential criterion for treating the tokens like securities, NFT studios, collectors and even the marketplaces they’re traded on could be susceptible to the same kinds of enforcement actions the agency has been taking against cryptocurrency companies. The way the Impact Theory NFTs were structured may have made them especially susceptible.



“There&#8217;s a pretty good argument for the artists receiving royalties downstream, based on certain case law,” says James Walker, co-lead of Perkins and Coie’s fintech enforcement and compliance team referring to the way the entertainment industry compensates musicians, actors and screenwriters, for example. “But there’s a stronger argument [that NFTs are securities] when you have a company [like Impact Theory] that isn’t involved in the creation that is getting royalties downstream from certain NFTs issued.&#8221;

Collage of woman falling through the metaverse

Requiem For Royalties: NFT Exchanges Abandon Recurring Compensation For Artists

A new wave of innovation is rising on the African continent, where startups are leveraging AI to address local challenges, fueling sustainable growth, and forging a path for others to follow. The AI industry on the continent is expanding rapidly, with reportedly over 2,400 companies specializing in the industry as of this year.



Spending on AI innovation in Africa and the Middle East is likely to see the fastest growth in AI spending in the world, hitting $3 billion this year and over $6 billion by 2026 per the International Data Corporation (IDC). This innovation is both locally and internationally-driven, with organic AI-based startups across the continent, as well as collaborative initiatives such as Google’s first AI research center in Ghana, launched in 2018.



In the heart of Cameroon, in the capital city of Yaoundé, resides Agrix Tech — a startup committed to aiding smallscale farmers in their battle against plant diseases and pests. These threats, exacerbated by the ongoing climate crisis, pose a critical challenge to agriculture. Agrix Tech&#8217;s innovative solution is a mobile app that empowers farmers to scan their plants&#8217; leaves. Leveraging AI, the app identifies any ailments and suggests appropriate interventions.



What sets Agrix Tech apart is its dedication to inclusivity. The app&#8217;s features are available regardless of location or internet connectivity — crucial for remote farmers. &#8220;The app can work offline as the AI model is embedded into the mobile app,&#8221; states founder and CEO Adamou Nchange Kouotou to FORBES AFRICA. “This allows farmers with no internet connection to still use it. The app can also be set in many local African languages.&#8221; By extending its AI library to other developers, Agrix Tech is broadening the reach of its crop and disease detection capabilities.



In Nairobi, Kenya, is another groundbreaking company making use of AI. Since its inception in 2012, SunCulture has made significant strides in equipping farmers with precision irrigation solutions.



Starting with solar-powered irrigation and pay-as-you-go financing, the company has expanded its reach from Kenya to Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, and the Ivory Coast, among others.



“It’s a viable business idea,” says SunCulture CEO Samir Ibrahim.



Approximately 90% of smallholding farms on the continent rely on rainfall for irrigation. As a result, the timing of planting, fertilizing, and harvesting is critically dependent on weather forecasts, which are often too broad or inaccurate. SunCulture&#8217;s solution — a trailblazing amalgamation of technologies called AgOptimized — addresses this issue head-on. The app gathers local soil and weather data, integrates it with meteorological and satellite data, and analyzes it alongside historical trends using AI. The result? Detailed, localized weather forecasts and recommendations on irrigation, fertilizing, and pest control, designed to lower costs and maximize farming yields.



Further south in Johannesburg is an AI startup that aims to meet their bold slogan of ‘AI for Africans, By Africans, Solving African Problems’. Lelapa has crafted an AI-based language- model-as-a-service named Vulavula.



Linguistic diversity is the heartbeat of Africa, and nowhere is this more evident than in South Africa, a country that proudly recognizes 12 official languages. Yet, the digital space often falls short in catering to this richness. That&#8217;s where Vulavula steps in, carving out a unique niche in the landscape of AI applications.



“We tackle the challenges of language diversity through very careful data creation and curation with the help of sociolinguists who understand the nuances of dialects,” says Jade Abbott, Director at Lelapa AI. “Our vision is for Vulavula to be used across education, healthcare, government. 



Children learn maths best when taught in their home language, people die because doctors do not speak the same languages as their patients, and many people can’t participate in government because majority of the resources are available in English or Afrikaans.” 



Vulavula harnesses the power of AI to provide real-time translation and transcription services, enabling businesses to communicate with their customers in their own language seamlessly. 



Ubenwa, a Nigerian-owned AI startup, is making significant strides in the realm of neonatal health. Named after the Igbo term for &#8216;baby&#8217;s cry&#8217;, Ubenwa has developed an AI system that deciphers infants&#8217; cries to detect early signs of neurological issues. It specifically targets birth asphyxia — one of the leading causes of infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa — by analyzing frequency, pitch, and other key acoustic features in a baby&#8217;s cry. This AI- powered approach provides a low-cost, non-invasive diagnostic tool for early intervention, potentially saving many young lives.



What sets Ubenwa apart is its commitment to accessibility. Their AI solution operates independently of internet connectivity, a pivotal feature ensuring its usability in Africa&#8217;s remote areas. Bymeeting this challenge head-on, Ubenwa exemplifies how AI can be harnessed to tackle region-specific healthcare issues, paving the way for other AI startups to make impactful strides in their domains.



On a broader scale, Ubenwa underscores the transformative potential of AI in healthcare, particularly in settings with limited resources. Their innovative approach is a powerful testament to the potential of AI in Africa, spotlighting the profound societal impact of locally-sourced solutions to local challenges.

Close-up of businesswoman use computer while use digitization display for monitoring the data in business office.

Africa’s AI-Based Businesses And Innovations

Micro-X is developing an automated screening process that could save time and minimize stress, but it’s likely to be expensive.



Inan industrial park near Seattle’s airport, an Australian company called Micro-X is developing a system that could make air travelers’ dreams come true: speedy security screening that promises minimal interaction with TSA officers.



Micro-X is using new technology to redesign airport checkpoints to resemble self-checkout lanes at supermarkets. If it works as planned, Micro-X’s process would not only be faster, it would be less stressful for passengers and Transportation Security Administration employees. Yet, in an environment where TSA often seems to be&nbsp;<a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/5-9-2012-Joint-TSA-Staff-Report-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">under fire</a>&nbsp;for some shortcoming —&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelgoldstein/2017/11/09/tsa-misses-70-of-fake-weapons-but-thats-an-improvement/?sh=cfd2ea12a38d">poor performance</a>&nbsp;on tests for detecting weapons, making the experience confusing and unpleasant for travelers, and, especially,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2021-09/OIG-21-69-Sep21.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">its expensive bloat</a>&nbsp;— the new equipment may not satisfy critics. It would be pricey.



Micro-X’s target for the cost of the self-screening system is roughly twice that of the newest type of conventional security lanes, according to Brian Gonzales, Micro-X’s chief scientific officer and head of its U.S. operation. This year, the TSA has already committed to pay up to $1.3 billion for about 1,200 CT scanners to screen carry-on bags. As for the Micro-X system, the hope is the cost would end up being “competitive” on a per-passenger basis, according to John Fortune, who oversees the project as manager of a Department of Homeland Security technology-development program called Screening at Speed.



The company’s design “breaks the mold,” Fortune tells&nbsp;Forbes. “It would really shake up the way a checkpoint is built.”



Here’s how it would work. After getting their IDs checked, travelers enter an area with rows of booths, each big enough for two adults. An avatar on a screen tells them to put their belongings in the cabinet of a<a href="https://micro-x.com/products/miniature-baggage-scanner/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;CT scanner</a>&nbsp;that’s one-quarter the size of anything else on the market. The scanner uses X-rays to create a 3-D image that’s automatically analyzed for prohibited items by software powered by machine-learning algorithms. Meanwhile, a camera system and an electromagnetic body scanner examine the traveler and the avatar prompts them if they’ve forgotten to take something out of their pockets — or seem to be hiding something.



TSA officers would step in only if the system detects a suspicious item or if a traveler needs help.



From 2020 through 2022, DHS committed $4.9 million for Micro-X to develop its concept and deliver initial prototypes. In July, the agency awarded the company a contract extension worth up to $14 million to build six screening booths, with the goal for the first to be delivered for testing within the next 12 to 18 months.



Airport security officials, especially since 9/11, have been navigating a delicate balance, weighing travelers’ convenience with the imperative of keeping them safe. That task only grows harder when more people fly, and more people are flying. Air travel has bounced back from pandemic doldrums, with a record 264 million people passing through airport security checkpoints during the summer travel season —&nbsp;2 million more than in the same period in 2019. If passenger growth rates return to their pre-pandemic trajectory — about 4% annually — that means bigger challenges, Fortune says. “At some point you’re not going to be able to keep up with both the evolving threats, but also the number of travelers that continue to go through the system,” he says.



Micro-X promises its revamped checkpoints would keep foot traffic moving, with passengers able to complete the screening process in an average time of 60 seconds and in as little as 30 seconds. Its design features eight screening booths in the same space as the current single-line lanes. That way, if a passenger dawdles or sets off alarms, other travelers could still flow through the remaining booths.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-faster-future">Faster Future</h2>



DHS’ goal is for the self-service system to be capable of screening 400 passengers per hour per lane, with less than 5% requiring officer intervention. Micro-X thinks it could do better — 500 passengers an hour per lane, Gonzales says. TSA won’t disclose statistics on its current performance, but Gonzales says his understanding is that 500 an hour would be well above the flow of PreCheck lanes, which he says tend to handle 300 an hour at best. A jammed-up standard lane might only process 150 travelers an hour, he says.



The goal is to have seven TSA officers staffing a lane, down from 11 currently, Gonzales says. If the image-analysis algorithms can be made accurate enough, he says it may be possible to reduce that to as few as three officers.



The system would reduce stress for officers. They would spend more time helping passengers rather than conducting often tense pat-downs and bag searches. They could also be freed up to remotely examine images of bags flagged by the detection algorithms.



The process could be particularly helpful at smaller airports with light traffic. A single Micro-X pod could be all the capacity needed.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-take-two">Take Two</h2>



DHS is also funding a project led by a Dutch company, Vanderlande, to develop a self-screening checkpoint with current technology. It’s added a gating system and automated instructions to its<a href="https://www.vanderlande.com/us/systems/security-screening/pax-mx2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;two-lane checkpoint</a>, which uses a conventional CT machine paired with a Rohde &amp; Schwartz<a href="https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/us/products/aerospace-defense-security/security-scanner/rs-qps-quick-personnel-security-scanner_63493-332676.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;body scanner</a>&nbsp;kitted out with a virtual assistant that cues passengers to check their pockets if the scanner picks up anything.



The Vanderlande project is further along than Micro-X’s. DHS tested it this spring and hopes to launch a trial by year-end on the PreCheck lanes at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. It has some features that could speed up the flow of passengers — there are three stations where travelers line up to put their bags on a conveyor — but it doesn’t have the same potential to accelerate the process as the system Micro-X is developing, Fortune says.



Fortune cautions that there’s much about the new technologies that still needs to be proved out.



Micro-X has already commercialized light, mobile medical X-ray machines based on the same technology in its CT scanner. Standard X-ray machines still work pretty much the same as they did when they were first developed around the turn of the 20th century. A filament heats up in a vacuum tube, similar to an old-fashioned light bulb, generating a stream of electrons that create X-rays when they’re rapidly slowed down by a dense metal. Micro-X has perfected technology first developed by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that applies an electric field to carbon nanotubes to generate a current of electrons. The benefits: its X-ray tubes are about a quarter of the size and a tenth the weight of standard ones. It also provides more precise electronic control of timing and dosing, the company says.



The success of the self-screening security project could mean a big future for a small company. Micro-X had sales of $9.7 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30. With a market capitalization of just $35 million on the Australian Securities Exchange, Gonzales says it will need outside investment or partnerships to get the system to market.



The project also depends on Munich-based<a href="https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/news/2021/10/13/news-release-st-awards-funding-design-passenger-self-screening-hardware-system" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;Voxel Radar</a>&nbsp;delivering on its claim that its next-generation millimeter wave body scanner is capable of taking accurate images of travelers while they’re moving in the booth and providing quick feedback about items they’re carrying. Current millimeter wave scanners require travelers to stand still with their arms extended.



Another key will be whether detection algorithms can be created that accurately interpret the images that both types of scanners create.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-computer-vision">Computer Vision</h2>



Image-analysis algorithms are already used with CT scanners to detect explosives in checked luggage. TSA told&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;that 75% to 80% of checked bags are cleared without human intervention. But carry-on bags are trickier. They need to be checked for a wider variety of banned items, including guns and knives.



It can be difficult for algorithms to pick up the shape of a gun depending on the orientation, or to recognize if a gun has been broken up into pieces, or those pieces are split among different bags, says Norman Shanks, a baggage screening expert who ran security at London Heathrow in the late 1990s. “I’m not that convinced that we’ve got the image recognition for every prohibited item,” he tells&nbsp;Forbes. “It will come but we’re not there yet.”



While accuracy will need to be high and false-alarm rates low to achieve the reductions in checkpoint staffing that the Micro-X project envisions, it’s not clear that human beings pose stiff competition to detection algorithms. In tests in 2017, DHS investigators were able to smuggle mock weapons and explosives past TSA officers at checkpoints&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tsa-screenings-fail-to-detect-explosives-guns-knives-70-percent/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">at least 70% of the time</a>.



Still, cutting staff poses a risk, according to Shanks. It means fewer officers who might notice if a traveler is acting suspiciously. “Technologists want to talk about technology being the answer for everything, and it isn’t,” he says. Also needed are “the soft skills of behavior detection and observation techniques.”



Another question is whether automated instructions will enable enough passengers to use the new systems without help. Experience has shown that signs and videos are no substitute for a person giving directions, says Jeffrey Price, an aviation security consultant and professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, who calls it “one of the inside secrets of our industry.”



“You have to tell them what to do every time or else they stand there and get confused,” Price says of air travelers. “Even if they do nothing else other than walk down a corridor, you still have to tell them to walk down the corridor.”



The holy grail of the industry is to boil down the process to just that — do away with checkpoints and have passengers scanned continuously while walking. DHS has been funding research at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to develop technology to make that possible.



Fortune says a prototype for that dream may still be a couple of years away.

Delays And Cancellations Continue To Plague Airline Industry Heading Into Holiday Weekend

Through Airport Security In 30 Seconds? That’s The Goal Of This New Technology

Analyzing the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (ai), its impact across sectors with a special focus on innovations and ai startups in africa, and the need for mindful navigation in shaping ai’s future landscape.



The last three years have witnessed an unprecedented symphony of development and interest in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI). Its transformative potential, destined to reshape work and human development, is being felt tangibly around the globe for the first time, despite having been present in some form or another for several decades. Like any burgeoning revolution, AI has its skeptics — those who dismiss it as just another transient fad, akin to cryptocurrencies and Non- Fungible Tokens (NFTs).



Despite these misgivings, AI’s exponential growth and the multitude of its applications differentiate it from a passing tech trend – we are already witnessing AI’s formidable grip in sectors as diverse as finance and data analysis, programming, and multiple creative domains — marking AI’s evolution from a nascent idea to a legitimate driving force in our global technological landscape.



As this impressive engine of growth races ahead, critical questions about labor and wealth inequality loom. The full implications of AI are yet to be determined, as many of its applications are still in their infancy. And while the narrative has often centered on AI’s development in the West — particularly the progression of large language models (LLMs) — it is crucial to recognize the parallel innovations unfurling in Africa. A new generation of African innovators is embracing AI, fostering local solutions to local challenges, proving that significant breakthroughs are happening right in our backyard.



In the face of AI’s breakneck pace of development, it’s essential to anchor ourselves in the origins of this technology — to understand where AI began from an ancient dream into a modern reality, and the varied types and real-world implications, especially in Africa.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ghost-in-the-machine">Ghost in the machine</h4>



The origins of AI trace back to time immemorial, with the idea of automatons – self-operating machines – deeply embedded in the tapestry of human history. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks held beliefs in mechanical creatures imbued with a kind of spirit or voice — statues of wood or men of bronze and iron that could mimic life’s vital functions. These initial imaginings of AI shed light on humanity’s long-standing fascination with replicating life artificially.



In the 20th century this notion of life replication takes a leap forward, crystallizing into the foundational theory of modern AI. At the helm was the mathematician and computer scientist, Alan Turing. He posited the revolutionary idea of a ‘Turing Complete’ system or platform — a machine capable of performing any task solvable algorithmically, much like most programming languages today. Turing’s concept of ‘artificial neurons,’ capable of such functions, laid the cornerstone for AI’s development. Turing’s pioneering work sparked a wave of breakthroughs in the AI domain. In the mid-20th century, key figures such as Allen Newell, Herbert A. Simon, John McCarthy, and Marvin Minsky emerged as the torchbearers of AI’s evolution. Together, they helped establish the field of AI and made significant strides in its development.



Their collective contributions propelled the AI narrative from a rudimentary concept to an intricate scientific discipline, setting the stage for AI’s transformative role in the world we know today.



<h1 class="wp-block-heading">Not all machines are made equal</h1>



A quick Google search reveals a cosmos of AI apps, allowing for everything from therapy chatbots to video editing. The last year has witnessed an explosion of AI innovations, prompting a surge in AI’s presence in everyday discourse. Despite this apparent novelty, we’ve been cohabiting with some form of AI for several decades now.



‘Narrow AI’ or ‘weak AI’, is what we are most familiar with. These are a class of AI systems designed to excel in specific tasks within a confined domain. This form of AI has been an invisible companion, aiding us in numerous ways. Apple’s virtual assistant Siri, integrated into the mobile iOS platform since 2011, has been aiding users in performing specific tasks such as making phone calls, scheduling calendar appointments, and more. In the same league is Amazon’s Alexa, and Google’s Assistant.



The truly transformative waves are being made by ‘General AI’ or ‘strong AI’. These systems are designed to approximate human-like intelligence, aiming to execute any intellectual task a human might undertake. They strive to demonstrate cognitive abilities such as reasoning, deduction, common sense thinking, and abstraction, a substantially more complex endeavor.



Until recently, the creation of a General AI seemed a far-off milestone, a vision more aligned with science fiction than reality. But, the advent of generative AI is changing that narrative.



Generative AI is no longer a distant dream; it’s a burgeoning reality. But to truly understand its significance, we must delve into its building blocks: deep learning, natural language processing (NLP), and neural networks.



Deep learning, an offshoot of machine learning, harnesses artificial neural networks to learn from large quantities of data. It’s the foundation that enables AI systems to interpret and understand the world, much like the human brain does. NLP, on the other hand, empowers AI to comprehend and respond to human language, allowing it to interact more naturally with us. Both these fields are anchored in the concept of neural networks, AI models inspired by the human brain that enable machines to learn from experience. 



These technologies constitute the core of modern AI, enabling the development of powerful AI systems that can understand, learn, predict, and potentially function autonomously.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Enter Generative AI</h4>



A distinct class of AI platforms has started making waves, its ripples felt across society and diverse industries, from cybersecurity to programming and creative writing. This is the realm of Generative AI. Systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, and Bing’s Chat represent this new age of AI, capable of engaging with an array of problems and redefining the boundaries of what AI can achieve.



But what sets Generative AI apart? At its heart, it involves creating content from scratch. Unlike traditional AI systems that analyze input to produce a predictable output, Generative AI leverages an understanding of data patterns to produce an entirely new, unique output. This is accomplished through a specialized form of machine learning known as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs).



GANs operate with a kind of internal rivalry. Comprising two parts, a generator and a discriminator, these networks play a game of cat and mouse. The generator creates new data instances, while the discriminator evaluates them for authenticity; that is, whether they seem to come from the actual dataset as opposed to being artificially created. This internal competition fuels the system to continuously improve and adapt, enabling the generation of highly convincing artificial data.



OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, and Bing’s Chat exemplify how potent this technology can be. ChatGPT, for instance, can generate coherent and contextually relevant text given an input, emulating human-like text patterns. This powerful capacity has opened a plethora of applications in fields like content creation, customer service, and even tutoring.



The arrival of Generative AI signifies a paradigm shift in the AI world. It’s not just about developing AI that can understand and learn from data anymore; it’s about creating AI that can generate new, original content, push creative boundaries, and find solutions in complex landscapes.



Africa is one such landscape.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Ethics</h3>



Amidst the labyrinthine possibilities offered by AI, many ethical considerations also arise. The advent of AI also poses significant implications for the world of work. On one hand, AI has the potential to automate routine tasks, liberate human creativity, and create new kinds of work. On the other, it could lead to job displacement and exacerbate wealth inequality if not managed responsibly.



The situation gains an added layer of complexity in Africa, a continent grappling with high unemployment rates and a



burgeoning youth population. According to a recent report by the African Development Bank, the continent’s youth population could be an advantage in the adoption and growth of AI systems.



However, existing inequalities might make job displacement even stronger, making the need for ethical AI practices and thoughtful labor policies even more pressing.



It’s vital to ensure that the adoption of AI doesn’t outpace the ability of workers to reskill or find new jobs.



Government preparedness to make use of AI, or regulate its impact on the economy and labor force, varies drastically across the continent, with only Mauritius, Egypt and Kenya having dedicated national strategies.



Moreover, there’s a need for transparency and accountability in how AI affects the labor market. Workers should have a say in how AI is implemented in their workplaces and should be adequately supported in navigating the AI-driven transition.



Also, it’s important to build robust ethical frameworks to ensure that AI is developed and deployed in a way that respects labor rights and promotes economic justice.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Within limits: hallucinations</h3>



“What they are able to imagine becomes more real to them.” Hallucinations, Oliver Sacks, 2012.



The march of AI’s progress, while filled with exhilarating innovation, also walks in the shadow of challenges and limitations.



AI systems, despite their intellectual prowess, can become targets of adversarial attacks. These are strategic attempts to mislead AI algorithms through manipulated input, leading to incorrect output. This vulnerability poses significant threats in areas such as cybersecurity and data integrity, making it an area of increasing concern for AI developers.



Another challenge is data poisoning — a type of attack where malicious actors inject false data into the learning process of AI systems, consequently affecting the decisions these systems make. Such attacks can not only undermine the effectiveness of AI systems but can also pose serious risks if these systems are used in critical domains such as healthcare or defense.



Beneath the formidable capabilities of AI lies a caveat — it lacks the nuanced understanding of context, emotions, and human-like reasoning. This limitation becomes evident in areas like NLP, where despite impressive advancements, AI struggles to fully grasp the intricacies of human language and sentiment.



Moreover, balancing AI’s capabilities with privacy and security concerns presents a complex dilemma. While AI’s ability to analyze vast amounts of data can lead to groundbreaking insights, it also brings up concerns about data privacy and consent, requiring careful consideration and stringent regulations.



Finally, the use of AI in content moderation and censorship opens up a can of worms.



While AI can help moderate and filter harmful or inappropriate content, it may inadvertently suppress freedom of expression or fall victim to political manipulation. Here, the challenge lies in leveraging AI’s capabilities while ensuring it does not become an instrument of oppression or bias.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Ubiquity of AI</h3>



From the familiar chime of a smartphone notification to the recommended movie on a streaming service, AI has silently become a ubiquitous presence in our everyday life. But it’s not just about trivia and entertainment — the reach of AI extends far beyond, weaving itself into the very fabric of our society and business operations.



Many of us interact with AI-powered technologies on a daily basis, often without realizing it. The friendly virtual assistant that sets your alarms and reminders, the sophisticated chatbots that swiftly handle customer service queries, and the personalized recommendation systems that curate your shopping and streaming experiences — these are all shining examples of AI working behind the scenes to simplify our lives.



However, the ubiquitous nature of AI comes with both promise and caution. The potential economic and social implications of widespread AI adoption are enormous. On one hand, it promises to drive productivity, improve decision- making, and create new job opportunities. On the other, it raises concerns about job displacement, privacy issues, and an increased digital divide.



Beyond everyday applications, AI plays a pivotal role in tackling more complex issues. It’s at the forefront of combating digital threats like deep fakes, which use AI to create realistic fake videos or audio recordings, and misinformation, where AI can help detect and mitigate the spread of false information.



Yet, as AI becomes increasingly pervasive, it also amplifies concerns around bias and freedom of expression. For instance, the algorithms behind news feeds or search engines can unintentionally create echo chambers, reinforcing our existing beliefs and narrowing our world view. As we continue to entrust AI with these roles, it becomes imperative to ensure it promotes diversity of thought and doesn’t impinge on our freedom of expression.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Here, now</h3>



AI is no longer an abstract concept or an elusive future — it’s here, it’s now, and it’s reshaping our world in ways we could only imagine a few decades ago.



In traversing the fascinating journey of AI — from its early theoretical conceptions to its current state of ubiquity, it’s important to remember its ability to generate new wonders and solutions hand in hand with magnifying existing inequalities.



Amidst these challenges, the resilience and ingenuity of Africa’s AI ecosystem shines through. The journey ahead is an uncharted one, filled with immense opportunities and formidable challenges. But as Africa stands at the threshold of this AI revolution, it also stands at the cusp of a transformative era — one where AI could be the catalyst that accelerates its leap into a future of unprecedented growth and prosperity.

AI, Machine learning, robot hand ai artificial intelligence assistance human touching on big data network connection background, Science artificial intelligence technology, innovation and futuristic.

The AI In African Innovation Explained

The tech behemoth’s latest iPhone features a new USB-C charging port and titanium frame for its higher-end models.



Apple has unveiled the iPhone 15, with the base models 15 and 15 Plus priced at $799 and $899 respectively, in its most anticipated product event of the year. The higher-end 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max will be priced at $999 and $1,199 respectively.



As usual, the iPhone 15 will come equipped with a better camera and upgraded processing power, but it will also feature a significant change: a USB-C port for charging and data transfers. Apple was forced to do away with its Lightning port in iPhones after the European Union passed a law last year that requires all mobile devices to accommodate a common&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/10/26/weve-no-choice-apple-says-iphones-will-switch-over-to-usb-c-chargers-to-comply-with-new-eu-law/?sh=786790cabcde">USB-C&nbsp;</a>charger.



The consumer tech giant also announced two new makes of the Apple Watch: the Apple Watch Series 9, which it said was its first carbon neutral product ever, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Sustainability was one of the central themes of the event, where Apple detailed its increased use of recycled materials like cobalt in the battery and energy efficient manufacturing and transportation practices to produce the Apple Watch Series 9. This comes ahead of the company’s goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.



With inconspicuous changes in design and appearance, the screen sizes for the standard iPhone 15 models are the same as before (6.1 inch and 6.7 inch), but the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max have a slightly larger display as their bezels are thinner than previous iPhones, the company announced. The Pro iPhones are built with Grade 5 titanium frames for the first time rather than stainless steel, making them the lightest Pro phones Apple has ever built.



Similar to its predecessor, iPhone 15 has a matte finish, but the edges of the phone are more rounded than before. The regular models are available in pink, yellow, green, blue and black while the Pro models come in black, blue and white titanium. All new phones have the “Dynamic Island,” an interface that was first added to iPhone 14 Pro that lets users see notifications in the black pill-shaped notch at the top of the display.



Apple touted the phone’s upgraded camera capabilities: a 48-megapixel camera sensor is replacing the 12-megapixel and lets users zoom into photos while capturing minute details and nuances. The new Pro phones come with a feature that uses machine learning to detect when a person is in the photo, enabling you to automatically switch to portrait mode even after a photo has been taken.



If you’re on a call using the iPhone 15 Pro, a machine learning-based feature called “voice isolation” prioritizes the speaker’s voice and drowns out background voice. The phones are also enabled with an emergency SOS service and roadside assistance while off the grid.



The pricier models come with a performance edge, thanks to a new A17 chip. All new iPhones are embedded with a new ultrawide-band semiconductor, a technology that uses radio waves to send and receive signals, to make location tracking on the Find My app more accurate.



The ring/mute slide switch, which has never changed since Apple launched the original iPhone in 2007, has been replaced in iPhone 15 Pro models with an “Action Button” that can be customized to set different functionalities like starting a voice recording, launching the camera or opening the flashlight.



For the Apple Watch Series 9 and a second generation of the Apple Watch Ultra , the look and design for the new watches has remained consistent, but their guts have gotten an upgrade, with 30% faster processing speed and brighter screens. The two new Apple Watches are equipped with a feature that lets users double tap their index finger and thumb to carry out actions like accepting or ending a call, and playing or pausing music with just one hand.



Apple’s latest product reveal comes at a crucial time for the company. Demand for smartphones is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-08-06/apple-iphone-15-comes-amid-us-sales-slowdown-tim-cook-q3-earnings-comments-lkzfs14u" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">slowing</a>&nbsp;down across the industry, and Apple’s iPhone sales dropped about 2% year over year in the third quarter of 2023. Core to its business, iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods accounted for about 60% of Apple’s $394.3 billion annual revenue in 2022.



Although more mainstream, the new iPhone and Apple Watches aren’t the only products that Apple announced this year. In June, alongside new Macs, Apple introduced the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnpaczkowski/2023/06/07/this-is-what-its-like-to-use-apples-new-vision-pro-mixed-reality-headset/?sh=43c3323539e4">Apple Vision Pro</a> mixed-reality headset, its first major new product category since the Apple Watch made waves in 2015. The iPhone 15 lets users create photos and videos that are compatible with the Apple Vision Pro.

Apple Holds Product Unveiling Event

Apple Kills Lightning In iPhone 15 And Announces Carbon Neutral Apple Watches

Packages containing rifle parts hidden inside George Foreman Grills also contained Apple’s dime-sized location tracker, investigators say.



In November last year, Customs and Border Protection intercepted a package en route from Illinois to Israel. It contained a George Foreman Grill — innocuous enough. But when agents X-rayed the item and opened it up, they found rifle barrels wrapped in tinfoil and an Apple AirTag.



When Apple launched the dime-sized location tracking devices in 2021, they were pitched as a cheap piece of tech to help you keep tabs on your belongings, like luggage, keys and wallets. But AirTags and similar devices like Tile have also been put to use by criminals,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/sep/05/i-didnt-want-it-anywhere-near-me-how-the-apple-airtag-became-a-gift-to-stalkers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">most notably stalkers</a>.



Now, CBP inspectors claim to have found evidence of another illicit use for AirTags: helping illegal weapons smugglers keep tabs on their shipments, according to a search warrant for an Apple iCloud account linked to the trackers that was obtained by&nbsp;Forbes.



Drug and gun traffickers have long used GPS trackers to keep tabs on shipments, either in order to ensure they reached their destination, or detect when they go missing. But while older trackers have proven bulky and unreliable, Apple’s AirTag is small, lightweight and efficient.



“Like drug dealers, [weapons traffickers] want to make sure the load didn’t get ripped by police or somebody else,” said Brady Wilkins, a recently-retired investigator in Arizona. “If another group takes it or it gets seized, they can abandon it or know something is not right.”



Apple did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication, but it has been attempting to curtail malicious uses of the AirTag over the last two years. One recent addition is a feature that warns users when an unknown tracking device is detected, via Bluetooth, on their person. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products,” the company wrote in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apple.com/uk/newsroom/2022/02/an-update-on-airtag-and-unwanted-tracking/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">press release</a>&nbsp;last year.



According to the warrant, the DHS Homeland Security Investigations unit traced the rifle barrel shipment back to a Palos, Illinois-based man, Amin Betuni. Records the government said it obtained from an unnamed online gun supplier showed Betuni had bought various AR-15 and Glock barrels. Investigators said that CBP intercepted a package containing what appeared to be those same parts, together with the grill and an AirTag, en route to a contact in Jerusalem, Israel. The warrant says the package’s shipping label stated it was sent from “Ameen Betuni” from a vacant lot next to a property owned by the suspect.



Border patrol in Israel, meanwhile, reported intercepting a different package containing gun parts also hidden inside a George Foreman Grill and an AirTag alongside, according to the warrant. That parcel had a return address for Betuni’s residence, the DHS claimed. Israeli officials also seized an additional FedEx shipment containing other gun components that were concealed inside of auto parts, investigators said. An AirTag was discovered in that package too.



Wilkins said that adding a personal property as return address would be a stupid mistake. “Criminals become complacent too,” he added.



In late December, law enforcement raided Betuni’s property, though he was not at home. Investigators suspected, however, they were being watched by security cameras in his home, as only ten minutes after police entered Betuni’s residence, one of his AirTag devices was mysteriously unpaired with his iCloud account, the DHS said.



Betuni was arrested in July and has been accused of shipping illegal Glock switches, which effectively turn a pistol into an automatic weapon, in the U.S. However, he has not yet been charged for sending gun apparatus to Israel or any other nation. In a recent filing, the government asked the court for an extension to the deadline for filing an indictment, as it was continuing to investigate Betuni’s conduct. The request was granted last week.



Others involved in the alleged scheme, but whose identities were unknown to the government, were also using AirTags as part of their operation to “smuggle goods from the United States,” the agent wrote in the warrant. No more information on the wider use of the Apple devices was provided.



The Department of Justice declined to comment on the case. Betuni’s lawyer didn’t respond to requests for comment.



It’s not just criminals who’ve found uses for the AirTag — law enforcement has too, even if it goes against Apple policy to use the tools for surreptitious surveillance. In March, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2023/03/23/apple-airtag-becomes-dea-surveillance-device/?utm_campaign=forbes&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_term=Gordie">Forbes found a warrant detailing the DEA’s use of an AirTag</a>, after it placed one of the devices in a machine agents suspected was being ordered online to manufacture illegal narcotics.

Coronavirus Pandemic 2022 –  iPhone SE

Criminals Are Allegedly Using Apple AirTags To Track Illegal Weapons

The electric vehicle industry in South Africa refuses to be a laggard and moves ahead as top brands plan roll-out.



South Africa’s ‘Auto Green Paper On The Advancement Of New Energy Vehicles (NEVs)’ was meant to be finalized in October 2021. Despite being more than half- way into 2023 with no updates from government and frustrations from the automotive sector, the industry seems to be moving ahead.



The body that represents the industry, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa), is holding events every quarter in 2023 to address concerns and offer solutions.



In a statement to FORBES AFRICA, Naamsa CEO Mikel Mabasa says the global transition towards NEVs is a critical step to secure the future of the automotive industry in South Africa, and our rapid adoption to newer technologies is critical for the domestic automotive industry’s long-term success and growth.



“The South African automotive industry cannot be running on one development technology track whilst the rest of the world is way ahead on the same track. If we want to remain globally competitive, we have no option but to play with the big global players who are leading the NEV charge,” says Mabasa.



Ravin Sanjith, Auto Sector Leader at Deloitte Africa, corroborates to FORBES AFRICA that the objectives outlined in the Auto Green Paper will, at best, be delayed or worse, never materialize.



“The global market is not standing still, and laggards will be burdened with having to accept, rather than shape their future. We are currently in a ‘no-incentives’ situation for manufacturers and buyers. From a buyer perspective, the price of the electric vehicles (EV) is still extremely high in comparison to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, and consumer affordability,” says Sanjith.



“The impact to South Africa in the long term is that the overall cost of mobility will be higher than it would have been had incentives been introduced,” adds Sanjith.



“The full manufacture of EVs will require substantial investment in completely new tooling for at least the drive- train, and various changes to components such as braking and electrical harnesses, not to mention the uber-cool mobile-tech being released with NEVs,” he says.



With South Africa not building EVs and ICE manufacturing dying out – due to the United Kingdom and European Union switching to EVs by 2030 and 2035 respectively – it could result in us becoming an import-only market, adds Sanjith. “An even darker future is if South Africa becomes a destination for used vehicles, like those 10+ year old ones being supplied into the pan-African region; and in future, NEVs that have exceeded their optimal economic life. This will also create a disposal and recycling issue for South Africa,” says Sanjith. 



<div class="wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile" style="grid-template-columns:37% auto"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="683" height="1024" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Ravin-Sanjith-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-59517 size-full" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Ravin-Sanjith-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Ravin-Sanjith-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Ravin-Sanjith-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Ravin-Sanjith-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Ravin-Sanjith-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Ravin-Sanjith-scaled.jpg 1707w" sizes="(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
“WE ARE CURRENTLY IN A ‘NO- INCENTIVES’ SITUATION FOR MANUFACTURERS AND BUYERS. FROM A BUYER PERSPECTIVE, THE PRICE OF THE ELECTRIC VEHICLES IS STILL EXTREMELY HIGH IN COMPARISON TO INTER- NAL COMBUSTION ENGINE (ICE) VEHICLES&#8230;”
<cite>— Ravin Sanjith</cite></blockquote>
</div></div>



Despite a bleak outlook, there is some hope in the journey 



towards building EVs in South Africa. Late in June, BMW South Africa announced a R4.2 billion ($222.7 million) investment to electrify its Rosslyn plant in Pretoria, the country’s capital.



Now 50 years old, the Rosslyn plant was BMW’s first one outside of Germany. Chairman of the board of management for BMW Group South Africa, Dr Milan Nedeljković, says in the global press release: “From 2024, we will produce the BMW X3 in South Africa as a plug-in hybrid and export it to the world.”



Hailey Philander, spokesperson at BMW South Africa, tells FORBES AFRICA that the investment is important to future-proof the plant and its business in South Africa.



“The plant will need to be retooled for production of the fourth generation of the X3; hybrid production requires adjustments to body shop and assembly halls, new workstations, and upgrades to our logistics processes,” says Philander.



A plant-wide training program will follow with over 300 associates undergoing specialized plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) model training, she says.



“Suppliers, dealers, and other key stakeholders will need to be upskilled and equipped for the BMW X3 PHEV as an important step towards battery electric car production,” says Philander.



Time will tell what these locally-built PHEVs will cost, but almost every other imported EV in South Africa comes in upwards of R1 million ($53,000), save for the electric Mini at around R750,000 ($40,000).


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/BYD-Atto-3-inside-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-59514" style="width:546px;height:364px" width="546" height="364" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/BYD-Atto-3-inside-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/BYD-Atto-3-inside-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/BYD-Atto-3-inside-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/BYD-Atto-3-inside-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/BYD-Atto-3-inside-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 546px) 100vw, 546px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Inside the BYD Atto 3, South Africa’s first EV-only car brand</figcaption></figure></div>


There’s been a slight shift in the landscape with some newer EV models coming in at under R800,000 ($42,400) despite no reductions on import duties. Volvo’s EX30, revealed globally in June, included South Africa in its launch markets for delivery in Q1 2024, it has pre-orders starting at R775,900 ($41,200).



There will be two other Chinese EV brands available in South Africa in 2023: Great Wall Motors (GWM) who operate under HAVAL Motors South Africa, and Build Your Dreams (BYD), the country’s first EV-only brand.



GWM revealed pricing for the Ora, its hatchback EV that will start at R716,900 ($38,000), which is set to be South Africa’s cheapest EV; and new entrant BYD will sell its Atto 3 SUV starting at R768,000 ($41,000).



Conrad Groenewald, Chief Operations Officer of HAVAL Motors South Africa, tells FORBES AFRICA: “With load- shedding being so topical resulting in consumer confidence being such an issue, we deliberately delayed the launch of the Ora otherwise it would have been a dismal failure.”



Groenewald says it will launch Ora with charging solutions for customers from SVOLT, a GWM-backed battery production company that is being tested in South Africa.



“We are already talking to the banks about financing it; there will be a vehicle finance component with charging the vehicle, and another on your bond. We want to offer SVOLT together with the car as a packaged solution.”



Another advantage to the delay, says Groenewald, is: “If we see the battery cost of vehicles coming down, we can come into the market at a suitable price to really challenge the market.&#8221;

Tag: newsletter

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA