World AIDS Day: Africa sees headway in battling disease – Africa Business Round Up

The long war against AIDS- A report shows HIV in retreat in many African countries, But among the young, the numbers are still on the rise

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World AIDS Day: Africa sees headway in battling disease

South Africa has the biggest HIV treatment program in the world, with 3.7 million people accessing life-saving anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs), Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday.

“As we celebrate the dramatic reduction of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, as we welcome the marked increase in average life expectancy, we must be alarmed that the rate of new HIV infection remains stubbornly high,” Ramaphosa said in a World Aids Day address at a stadium east of Johannesburg. Read: 

US Returns Seized Artifacts to Egyptian Government, Including Mummies

The United States government returned a collection of stolen artifacts to Egypt on Thursday, including an ancient wooden sarcophagus, a mummy shroud and mummified hand.

The items were seized by federal agents after dual investigations: “Operation Mummy’s Curse” in New York and “Operation Mummy’s Hand” in Los Angeles. They were returned to Egypt at a ceremony with U.S. and Egyptian officials at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

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Tea growers eye more cash in Sh150m auction automation

The East African Tea Trade Association has signed a Ksh 150 million agreement with Trade Mark East Africa to automate tea trading at the Mombasa weekly auction.

The automation will reduce total time taken in trading cycle and reduce financing cost incurred by producers in the trading process. The proposed integrated Tea Trading System (iTTS) will encompass the entire tea export process: pre-auction auction, post-auction and a B2B marketing network.

The Mombasa based East Africa Tea Trade Auction handles about 75% of tea exported through the Port of Mombasa that includes shipments from Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania.

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Oil hits 6-week high after OPEC deal, sterling jumps

Oil swept to a six-week high on Thursday after OPEC agreed to cut crude output to help clear a glut, while sterling hit a three-month peak after traders interpreted comments from a senior UK official as a crack in the government’s “hard Brexit” line.

OPEC To Cut Oil Production By 1.2 Million Barrels

…Dr. @IbeKachikwu Negotiates Key Agreement To Ensure Nigeria Is Exempted From The Cuts pic.twitter.com/G3bGCj5jJL

— #7BigWins (@FMPRng) December 1, 2016

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Plans by RwandAir to enter the US and European aviation markets have been strengthened by the acquisition of another Airbus 330-300.

RwandAir yazanye indi ndege nini yitwa “Umurage” https://t.co/LGnpmEyeuc #Rwanda

— Kigali Today (@kigalitoday) December 1, 2016

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The grocery chain that became Africa’s biggest retailer by betting on its middle class

Shoprite store opened up in November in Johannesburg, with its distinct bright red and white logo and brand livery.

This strategy to seek out Africa’s growing middle class consumers, in places its competitors have yet dared to venture, has helped drive Shoprite’s rapid expansion in the last decade. The food retailer has expanded from eight poorly performing stores worth 1 million rand in 1979 (around $1.2 million then), to become Africa’s largest retail chain, worth 113.7 billion rand ($8.5 billion) today.

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