Africa

1. AI training
2. Tanzania’s green energy
3. The cost of rejection
4. Ethiopia + China
5. Malawi in mourning

Also, tracing the origins of baobab trees.

Hello! Welcome to Semafor Africa, where we’re watching the walls around Fortress Europe get higher. Regular readers may notice that we use the term “Global Africans” to make the point that the experiences of people on the continent and in its diaspora are part of an increasingly connected world. A case in point is the hardening of attitudes in European countries towards migrants — hence the success of far right parties in the recent European parliamentary elections. Concerns that visitors on short-term visas will overstay are often cited as the reason for a disproportionately high rejection rate for African applicants.

In this edition we look at how, from today, it’s more expensive to apply for a visa to enter Europe’s Schengen area. We explore the high rejection rates and the millions of dollars generated from the non-refundable fees paid by failed applicants.

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Building AI capacity

The number of government workers in Africa that will receive artificial intelligence skills training, as part of a newly formalized partnership between Intel and the African Development Bank. The partnership aims to support the development of harmonized AI, data, and cloud policies. The hope is that it will also help to establish regulatory frameworks for African countries and regional organizations. The program also seeks to equip 3 million Africans with AI skills in a bid to drive innovation in sectors including agriculture, health, and education.

Solar dominates in Tanzania’s mini-grids

Solar and hydropower are the most common green technologies used in Tanzania’s mini-grids, representing nearly 80% of the 135 existing mini-grids on the country’s mainland, according to new data collected by the World Resources Institute. However, diesel led in terms of the number of kilowatts installed per technology, accounting for half of the total capacity of mini-grids in the country, followed by hydropower, solar PV, and wind. The institute argues that decentralized renewable energy systems, including mini-grids and stand-alone systems, are a “viable option” to improve energy access in the country, especially in rural areas where the electricity access rate stands at just 23%. The Tanzanian government aims to achieve universal access by 2030 through a mix of grid, mini-grid, and off-grid solutions.

Higher EU visa costs set to boost earnings from rejecting Africans

The European Union is set to generate millions of euros more from the high rejection rates of visa applications by African visitors with a new increase in non-refundable fees.

Citizens of the 26 member states within Europe’s Schengen area have unhindered borderless access to countries within the area, while most travelers from elsewhere require visas. A 12.5% price hike that takes effect on June 11 increases the cost of a short-term (90 days) visa application to €90 ($96.50).

But while the price hike applies equally to all non-EU residents who require a Schengen visa, it raises the prospect of the bloc making disproportionately more money from its rejection rates for applicants from Africa, analysts say.

Of the €130 million the EU earned in 2023 from rejected visa applications, about 42% of that was from applicants living in Africa, even though the continent accounts for 24% of Schengen visa applications, according to London-based research firm LAGO Collective.

Prospective visitors who apply from Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria receive rejection rates of between 40% and 50%, LAGO estimated, based on data from the European Commission’s migration and home affairs office.

“We found a relationship between the GDP of countries and rejection rates for short-term visas,” Marta Foresti, LAGO’s founder, told Semafor Africa. A similar rejection trend in 2024 with the new price would deepen long-standing inequality of outcomes between consumers paying for the same service from high and low-income countries, Foresti said.

A spotlight on Chinese investment in Ethiopia’s industrialization push

Ethiopia’s state-backed bid to drive industrialization and transform its economy over the last couple of decades has had plenty of support from Chinese investors and operators to create jobs and opportunities for a rapidly growing population.

While that support has been welcomed, it’s been rare for policymakers or civil society to take a step back and examine its impact on everything from local work culture to land rights.

A new documentary which premiered at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival last week shines a light on the complexities of Chinese investment in the Horn of Africa nation. “Made in Ethiopia” focuses on the Eastern Industrial Park, about 100 kilometers outside the capital Addis Ababa, and shows the driving forces behind this industrialization approach. It also highlights the friction caused by the two different work cultures.

Ethiopia’s plan toward economic development via industrial parks has hit many bumps along the way; the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in the northern Tigray region in 2022, and several armed groups that have created security risks and tanked investor confidence. Other roadblocks to success have been labor wage issues, as the government tries to attract textile and garment manufacturers under an enabling environment and “cheap labor.”

The idea of presenting multiple perspectives was always central to the film, says director Max Duncan. Both he and his co-director Xinyan Yu, who is from China, worked as journalists for many years before starting the four-year project.

“It says a lot about the Ethiopian government; the importance that they put on the promotion of Ethiopia as an industrialized nation versus these tropes about poverty and war,” said Duncan speaking on the continued access the filmmakers were granted over four years of filming.

— Maya Misikir in Addis Ababa

Malawians mourn vice president’s death in a plane crash

Malawi is mourning the death of its vice president in a plane crash. Saulos Chilima, who was expected to contest next year’s presidential election, was leader of the United Transformation Party that is an alliance partner of the president’s party.

His death could destabilize the presidency by stirring differences among political parties.

The 51-year-old was poised to stand as the next candidate for the alliance that swept President Lazarus Chakwera and him to power in 2020. Chilima, outlining his planned candidacy, cited the terms of their alliance agreement although there were disputes about the existence of such a clause in their agreement.

Chilima had been traveling to the northern city of Mzuzu, along with nine others, to attend the burial of a former cabinet minister.

The plane was reported missing on Monday, prompting a search. The wreckage was discovered on Tuesday in a mountainous forest in the north of the country.

In a statement, the president confirmed that all passengers on board had been killed in the crash. Chakwera said he was deeply saddened by “what has turned out to be a tragedy.”

Chilima came third during annulled elections in 2019 and formed an alliance with Chakwera’s party in the 2020 rerun.

Malawi’s constitution states a vacancy in the role of vice president must be filled for the unexpired period of that term by a person appointed by the president — a pivotal decision that could highlight divisions along party lines.

Chilima’s sudden death while in office echoes that of former President Bingu Mutharika who died in 2012 following a heart attack. That prompted leadership wrangles which led to the arrest of prominent government officials before then-Vice President Joyce Banda assumed the presidency.

A new vice president must be appointed within the next seven days.

— Charles Pensulo in Lilongwe, Malawi

The most powerful people in the media are gathering in Cannes next week, and we’re on the ground to cover it all. Starting next Monday, Semafor’s Ben Smith and Max Tani will hop between panels, parties, and yachts to bring you the essential guide to marketing and media’s most consequential event.

Whether you’re jetting to Cannes or just want to stay in the loop, subscribe to our pop-up newsletter, Semafor Cannes.

Sign up here.

Governance

🇿🇦 The uMkhonto we Sizwe party led by former South African president Jacob Zuma has asked the country’s highest court to block the newly elected parliament from sitting on Friday because it says the May 29 poll was marred by fraud.

🇷🇼 Rwandan opposition politician Diane Rwigara was barred from standing in next month’s presidential election by the electoral commission. Only two other candidates were cleared to run against President Paul Kagame.

🇳🇬 A Nigerian consumer tribunal fined the local unit of MultiChoice Group, Africa’s biggest pay-TV company, more than $107,000 and ordered the company to offer its subscribers one month of free service.

🇿🇲 A Zambian court in the capital Lusaka on Friday sentenced 22 Chinese nationals and a Cameroonian man after they pleaded guilty to cybercrime charges.

Tech

🇰🇪 The Central Bank of Kenya is preparing to issue new licenses to fintech companies after amending its Payments Act.

🇰🇪 🇪🇬 A proposed merger of African e-commerce startups Wasoko and MaxAB is being delayed by “restructuring and macroeconomic headwinds.”

🌍 Vodafone Group landed 2Africa, a 45,000-kilometer subsea internet cable, in the west of England to enable “faster and more reliable connectivity” between UK businesses and Africa.

Geopolitics

🇺🇸 🇰🇪 The US has proposed stricter rules on environmental protection and conserving natural resources in Kenya as part of the negotiation for a new trade deal between the two nations. The proposals suggest measures to address air quality, plastic pollution, and wildlife trafficking.

Deals

🇬🇳 Guinea signed a preliminary agreement with a subsidiary of Emirates Global Aluminum for the construction of an alumina refinery with a 2 million metric ton capacity, to be completed by September 2026.

🇷🇼 Rwanda’s lower house on Friday approved a law ratifying a 200 million euro ($215 million) loan agreement with JPMorgan Chase in London, to support the country’s financing for green and social projects.

🇳🇬 Drinks giant Diageo is selling its 58.02% stake in Guinness Nigeria to Tolaram Group in a deal worth around $70 million.

🇰🇪 The UK’s British International Investment development finance agency sold its 10.1% stake in I&M, a banking group in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, to pan-African asset manager AfricInvest.

🇹🇿 Tanzanian financial services company Selcom acquired Access Microfinance Bank.

🌍 Pan-African bank Ecobank appointed Papa Madiaw Ndiaye as its new chairman, replacing Alain Nkontchou.

Mining

🇨🇫 The Central African Republic suspended the operations of Chinese gold and diamond mining company Daqing, in a decree made public on Saturday. It also accused it of cooperating with armed militias.

The origins of all baobab trees can be traced back to Madagascar, from where they evolved around 21 million years ago, a study suggests. A team of plant geneticists say different species of the tree spread from the Indian Ocean island to mainland Africa and Australia. Baobab seeds or seedlings were most likely carried out to sea by rivers swollen from flash storms, and took root around the world. Elephants, which eat the tree’s seeds, may have also helped to distribute baobab seeds across the continent. The seeds are known to pass through elephants undamaged and are then deposited in piles of dung, up to 65 kilometers away from where the elephant ate the baobab fruit.

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