<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/06/bill-gates-measures-his-quality-of-life-by-asking-himself-3-questions.html" class="">Bill Gates</a>&nbsp;takes risks that very few people in this world will.



He took a risk in 1975, when he dropped out of Harvard to build Microsoft. In 2008, he took a risk in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/who-we-are/general-information/history" class="">leaving Microsoft to work full-time&nbsp;</a>at The Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation.



And in 2013, he took another gamble, when his foundation contributed to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Our-Plan-to-Eradicate-Polio" class="">$5.5 billion initiative</a>&nbsp;to tackle one of the most ambitious public-health goals ever set: eradicating polio.



Those big bets have paid off — polio still remains a problem in certain parts of the world, but significant improvements, such as the development of effective vaccinations, have been made since Gates got involved — which proves that taking big risks and achieving great success can go hand in hand.



But how does one determine which risks are worth taking, and which ones aren’t?



That’s a question the Microsoft co-founder explored in a recent&nbsp;<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.gatesnotes.com_About-2DBill-2DGates_A-2Dbet-2Don-2Dhumanity&amp;amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;amp;c=LO_8KzsOlAGvgA6hdGI4v02U_XLiES0sR51Zca0yIy4&amp;amp;r=fnb6sKq7SKN8iiAQiVc8NQSbL93Ztb9TeGwNUoj2-0Y&amp;amp;m=aAhBNd8-lxFKI-iBj-f-xL-V9DkaRQmJJjFwWmVYjQ8&amp;amp;s=yr5av7X0mps5r8cax_JevdltRMUuNVxvHIfp3fiANMw&amp;amp;e=" class="">blog post</a>, in which he talks about Netflix’s new series,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80184771" class="">“Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates.”</a>&nbsp;A major theme in the documentary is Gates’ willingness to invest time and money into projects that have no guarantee of success.



“Watching the series got me thinking about what the word ‘risk’ really means,” Gates wrote in his post. “Whether we invest $100,000 or $100 million, the decision is always calculated. I spend a lot of time thinking, analyzing data and talking to experts to judge whether we can really help make a difference.”



But Gates says no matter how much analysis one does, it’s important to be comfortable with uncertainty. “We are tackling problems where progress is measured not just in years, but often decades — where your end goal doesn’t change, but your path to get there might have to.”



Gates’ trick to being comfortable with uncertainty, he explained, is to continue learning and be open to new strategies that can bring him closer to his goals. “That approach has guided every big bet I’ve made in my career from Microsoft to today, including polio.”



A willingness to take risks is important, but Gates emphasized another key point: a good bet is based on proper models, not a hunch. In the decision to take on polio, Gates said he had a model in mind, and that model was the history of smallpox: the only human disease ever successfully wiped out.



Ultimately, Gates said his approach to taking risks is “very similar to what Warren Buffett does when he makes an investment on on a bet, that it will be worth 10 times as much down the road.”



“Warren spends a lot of time looking for a company that has great long-term prospects. Then he makes a big investment and holds it for many years,” Gates explained. “He’s famous for staying the course through market gyrations and economic cycles.”



Like Buffett, Gates also picks his projects carefully, looking for ones that will make a difference and create better lives for generations to come. Analyzing whether achieving a certain goal can really help make a difference is what Gates loves most about his job: “I’m never happier than when I’m diving deep into the details of a problem.”



Of course, deciding what risks to take is never easy. “I also feel pressure to make every dollar and every day count,” he wrote. “I say no to a lot more opportunities than I say yes to.”



<a class="" href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.linkedin.com_in_tpopomaronis_&amp;amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;amp;c=LO_8KzsOlAGvgA6hdGI4v02U_XLiES0sR51Zca0yIy4&amp;amp;r=fnb6sKq7SKN8iiAQiVc8NQSbL93Ztb9TeGwNUoj2-0Y&amp;amp;m=P_Ys4FkTrXS6d3lDujeEcG0RASS_Te__ciXliHG8uo0&amp;amp;s=rHzz9dkDjfkID7To9v-Lu83SKuT7yQyc4bQT7r89G-o&amp;amp;e=">Tom Popomaronis</a>&nbsp;is a commerce expert, cross-industry innovation leader and Vice President of Innovation at&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.massivealliance.com&amp;amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;amp;c=LO_8KzsOlAGvgA6hdGI4v02U_XLiES0sR51Zca0yIy4&amp;amp;r=fnb6sKq7SKN8iiAQiVc8NQSbL93Ztb9TeGwNUoj2-0Y&amp;amp;m=P_Ys4FkTrXS6d3lDujeEcG0RASS_Te__ciXliHG8uo0&amp;amp;s=MAZG4XFe5vj2XGn8I5ATujLEG6mysjDhAM2R5QnyNpQ&amp;amp;e=">Massive Alliance</a>. His work has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company and The Washington Post. In 2014, he was named one of the “40 Under 40” by the Baltimore Business Journal.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/28/bill-gates-brilliant-method-for-taking-risks-is-like-how-warren-buffett-invests.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/28/bill-gates-brilliant-method-for-taking-risks-is-like-how-warren-buffett-invests.html</a>&nbsp;and is republished with its permission.

Bill Gates has a brilliant method for making decisions—and he says it’s ‘similar to Warren Buffett’s’

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Ramaphosa & Buhari meet to bolster bilateral ties

By Taylor Locke 



Everyone has the same amount of time in a day as people like <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/elon-musk/">Elon Musk</a>, who is CEO of not just Tesla, but also SpaceX, The Boring Company and Neuralink, and <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/jack-dorsey/">Jack Dorsey</a>, who is CEO of both Twitter and Square.



So how do such busy billionaire founders like Musk and Dorsey manage their days? Here are Musk’s, Dorsey’s and other successful business leaders’ tips on maximizing productivity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Jack Dorsey has meetings from a Google Doc</h2>



Research has shown that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/13/jeff-bezos-mark-cuban-and-elon-musk-all-avoid-meetings.html" class="">most managers believe meetings kill productivity</a>: 65% of senior managers say meetings keep them from completing their own work, according to a survey from&nbsp;<a href="https://hbr.org/2017/07/stop-the-meeting-madness" class="">Harvard Business School and Boston University</a>, and 71% of 182 managers surveyed said they find meetings to be unproductive and inefficient.



When it comes to meetings, Jack Dorsey has a non-traditional approach that he believes speeds up the critical thinking process, as&nbsp;<a href="https://resume.io/productivity-lessons-from-successful-founders" class="">Resume.io points out</a>.



“Most of my meetings are now Google doc-based, starting with 10-minutes of reading and commenting directly in the doc,” Dorsey tweeted in 2018. “This practice makes time for everyone to get on same page, allows us to work from many locations, and gets to truth/critical thinking faster.”



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Most of my meetings are now Google doc-based, starting with 10-minutes of reading and commenting directly in the doc. This practice makes time for everyone to get on same page, allows us to work from many locations, and gets to truth/critical thinking faster. Good thread 👇🏼 <a href="https://t.co/YRsxT3kMAZ">https://t.co/YRsxT3kMAZ</a>&mdash; jack 🌍🌏🌎 (@jack) <a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/987163806781472768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>



The social media exec referenced a Twitter thread by Steven Sinofsky, the former Windows Division President at Microsoft, to support his Google Doc method. Sinofsky explained the potential up-side to writing during meetings as opposed to traditional ones.



“Writing is more inclusive,” Sinofsky said. “It is easier to contribute, doesn’t reward bullies and bulls&#8212;ers, and allows for contemplation.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Elon Musk eliminates excessive meetings</h2>



Elon Musk starts his day with his most critical work and schedules the rest of his day based on priority.



“Focus on signal over noise,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Qh-vwpYH8&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;amp;t=3m30s" class="">Musk said at the University of Southern California Commencement Speech</a>&nbsp;in 2014. “Don’t waste your time on stuff that doesn’t actually make things better.”



One of the ways he does this is by eliminating as many meetings as he can.



“Excessive meetings are the blight of big companies and almost always get worse over time,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/elon-musks-productivity-rules-according-to-tesla-email.html" class="">the CEO shared in a letter to employees</a>&nbsp;regarding productivity in 2018<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/elon-musks-productivity-rules-according-to-tesla-email.html" class="">.</a>&nbsp;“Get rid frequent meetings, unless you are dealing with an extremely urgent matter.”



If you must have a meeting, Musk says “be certain [you are] providing value to the whole audience.” Musk also advises his employees to “walk out or drop off a call as soon as it is obvious you aren’t adding value.”



It’s not rude to leave meetings that are not providing any value, he says.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Jeff Bezos makes quick decisions</h2>



It’s important to make “high-quality, high-velocity” decisions, according to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. That’s because “speed matters in business,” he said&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.aboutamazon.com/company-news/2016-letter-to-shareholders" class="">in his 2016 letter to shareholders</a>.



“Most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70 percent of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90 percent, in most cases, you’re probably being slow.”



In fact, whether you make the right decision can actually be less important than making one quickly, according to Bezos.



“Many decisions are reversible, two-way doors— for those, so what if you’re wrong?”



You need to be good at quickly correcting bad decisions, he said, but “if you’re good at course correcting, being wrong may be less costly than you think, whereas being slow is going to be expensive for sure.”



Amazon “is determined to keep our decision-making velocity high” not only because it’s important, said Bezos, but also because a “high-velocity decision making environment is more fun too.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Steve Jobs knew when to say ‘no’</h2>



<a href="https://resume.io/productivity-lessons-from-successful-founders" class="">As Resume.io points out</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/steve-jobs/" class="">Steve Jobs</a>&nbsp;believed a key to productivity is knowing<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/02/steve-jobs-heres-what-most-people-get-wrong-about-focus.html" class="">&nbsp;when to say “no</a>.”



“Focusing is about saying ‘no,’” the late Apple co-founder said during the company’s 1997 Worldwide Developers Conference.



“Focus means saying ‘no’ to the hundred other good ideas,”so you have decide what it makes sense to spend time and energy on, and what doesn’t, Jobs said.



In fact, billionaire&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/31/3-things-two-men-learned-from-their-650000-lunch-with-warren-buffett.html" class="">Warren Buffett shares Jobs’ mindset</a>, once saying “the difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say ‘no’ to almost everything.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Bill Gates sharpens his focus through meditation</h2>



Many successful people from Dorsey to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/16/bridgewater-associates-ray-dalio-meditation-is-key-to-my-success.html" class="">hedge fund</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/16/bridgewater-associates-ray-dalio-meditation-is-key-to-my-success.html" class="">billionaire Ray Dalio</a>&nbsp;make meditation part of their daily routine.



It is also one of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/bill-gates/" class="">Bill Gates</a>’ favorite productivity habits. “It’s a great tool for improving my focus,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/The-Headspace-Guide-to-Meditation-and-Mindfulness?WT.mc_id=12_03_2018_10_EOYBooks2018Headspace_BG-media_&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;WT.tsrc=BGmedia" class="">he said in his Gates Notes blog</a>&nbsp;in 2018.



“Meditation is simply exercise for the mind, similar to the way we exercise our muscles when we play sports,” he said.



The Microsoft co-founder, who meditates “two or three times a week, for about 10 minutes each time,” said that meditation teaches him “how to pay attention to the thoughts in my head, and [gain] a little bit of distance from them,” improving his concentration.



Gates <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/03/bill-gates-names-the-5-best-books-he-read-in-2018.html">suggests the book</a> “The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness” by former Buddhist monk Andy Puddicombe, for anyone who’d like to get started meditating. 



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/11/productivity-tips-from-elon-musk-jeff-bezos-steve-jobs-and-more.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/11/productivity-tips-from-elon-musk-jeff-bezos-steve-jobs-and-more.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Productivity tips from billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs and more

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By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/agnes-binagwaho-397402">Agnes Binagwaho</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-global-health-equity-3205">University of Global Health Equity</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/miriam-frisch-843046">Miriam Frisch</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-global-health-equity-3205">University of Global Health Equity</a>

Seven countries around the world – three of them in Africa – have made faster than expected progress over the past 15 years in reducing <a href="https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-survival/under-five-mortality/">deaths among children younger than five</a>. These seven countries, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nepal, Peru, Rwanda and Senegal, were selected because they have all performed unexpectedly well in improving childhood health relative to their <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD.ZG">economic growth</a>. 

There are many factors at the root of their achievements, most notably, a strong integrated and coordinated health system built on primary health care. However, one cross-cutting factor stands out that we believe allowed them all to achieve significant health gains but which, so far, tends to be always overlooked: trust.

This is clear from a <a href="https://wellcome.ac.uk/sites/default/files/wellcome-global-monitor-2018.pdf">report</a>, published by the Wellcome Trust and the Gallup Institute earlier this year. It surveyed 140,000 people in 140 countries to find out how they felt about science and health. 

A study on public attitudes to science and health on a global scale, the survey covered topics such as whether people
trust science, scientists, and information about health; the levels of understanding and interest in science and health; the benefits of science;
the compatibility of religion and science; and attitudes to vaccines. 

There’s a remarkable overlap between countries that have achieved progress in health goals such as reducing under-5 mortality, and those that ranked high in the trust survey. All seven were among the highest ranked globally when it came to their populations’ belief in the importance of vaccines while six out of the seven ranked highly in their trust in hospitals and health clinics. 

There’s logic in this. With greater population trust in health systems, health uptake and health outcomes improve. People are more likely to understand the benefits of health services and place a high value in receiving these services. This includes trusting in vaccinations which would lead people to placing a high value on vaccinating their children.

Rwanda in particular has done well in building population trust. According to the survey, the country reports the highest levels of confidence in hospitals and health clinics in the world, and the largest proportion of the population who agree that vaccines are effective. Rwanda also comes out on top in the world in terms of how much of its population believes that vaccines are important for children and in <a href="https://data.unicef.org/resources/immunization-coverage-estimates-data-visualization/">the percentage of children who are vaccinated.</a>

This is the result of the work the Rwandan government has done over the past 25 years to build a strong health system and foster an inclusive approach to health coverage, starting at a community level. These actions can serve as a model for other countries to replicate.

<h2>Crucial steps</h2>

It is 25 years since Rwanda was destroyed by the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/1999/1257">1994 genocide</a> against the Tutsi. Since then, the country of more than <a href="http://www.statistics.gov.rw/statistical-publications/subject/population-size-and-population-characteristics">12 million</a> people has developed a <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)60574-2/fulltext?rss=yes">strong, decentralised health system</a> and addressed many of the major financial and geographic barriers that vulnerable populations face in accessing healthcare services. 

Some of the steps have included:

Prioritising programmes that leave no one out

Building a decentralised health system: There are 15,000 villages in Rwanda. By 2018, each one had <a href="http://www.rbc.gov.rw/index.php?id=19&amp;tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=447&amp;cHash=c95bbbc0655d12b71c9ccdc675ab2313">four community health workers</a>. These community health workers are elected by their peers and are highly respected, trusted members of their communities who are spending sleepless night to keep their peers healthy. 

The trust that’s been built between community health workers and the people they represent has provided a strong foundation in developing broader trust in health systems and in the government that created the system.

Promoting the uptake of health services and vaccination service delivery: Community health workers, among other tasks, ensure that all pregnant women in their village attend antenatal clinics and deliver in a health facility, that every child gets vaccinated, and that community members are educated about the importance of vaccines and other preventive and curative treatments.

Offering universal access to a range of treatments: For example, HIV prevention care and treatment services, including the use of antiretroviral treatment.

All these measures contributed to growing population trust in the health system. People feel more comfortable in seeking out healthcare at health facilities and trusting the advice given to them by health professionals. 

<h2>More work remains</h2>

There have been <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)60574-2/fulltext?rss=yes">tangible benefits</a> to this rebuilding. Life expectancy has doubled. Immunisation coverage rates also increased from less than 30% in 1995 (with five kinds of vaccines administered) to 94% in 2015, with <a href="http://www.nitag-resource.org/uploads/media/default/0001/03/ff28cb2c2cb72344d4d7416d8178b25407d57cbb.pdf">10 vaccines administered to boys and 11 administered to girls, including the HPV vaccine</a>.

This is not to say that Rwanda doesn’t have more work to do. That’s also true of that the other six countries that performed well in the Wellcome Global Monitor.

Education remains a critical gap. The Wellcome Global Monitor <a href="https://wellcome.ac.uk/sites/default/files/wellcome-global-monitor-2018.pdf">reported</a> that the seven countries had some of the highest population proportions with little to no knowledge of science, especially among older people.

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 Read more:
 <a href="http://theconversation.com/rwanda-university-sets-out-to-teach-doctors-medicine-and-management-110527">Rwanda university sets out to teach doctors medicine and management</a>
 
 

<hr>


A lack of science education is a major barrier to improving health outcomes and achieving and sustaining <a href="https://www.who.int/health_financing/universal_coverage_definition/en/">universal health coverage</a>. Strong education systems that are training our scientists, clinicians and health professionals are crucial to ensuring countries have enough skilled professionals to provide high quality care to everyone. 

This is a gap we are trying to fill at the <a href="https://ughe.org/">University of Global Health Equity</a> in the rural north of Rwanda: to train future clinicians to have the tools to effectively address inequities in healthcare and to build and maintain health systems that leave no one out.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124183/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important">

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/agnes-binagwaho-397402">Agnes Binagwaho</a>, Vice Chancellor, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-global-health-equity-3205">University of Global Health Equity</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/miriam-frisch-843046">Miriam Frisch</a>, Research Associate to the Vice Chancellor, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-global-health-equity-3205">University of Global Health Equity</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-rwanda-on-how-trust-can-help-repair-a-broken-health-system-124183">original article</a>.

Here are lessons from Rwanda on how trust can assist in repairing a broken health system

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What has Governor Kganyago done during his first five year term?

By Mary-Jean Nleya 



Africa balkanised in 1884 – 1885 



The balkanisation of African states is a colonial
construct, yet it has become one of the most Africanised phenomena of
contemporary Africa. During the wave of independence, a pan-Africanist movement
swept over much of the continent with Julius Nyerere as its ardent proponent.
However, the drawn lines of the Berlin Conference remained firm causing
national identity to trump over a shared African identity. The recent
xenophobic attacks in South Africa, particularly the targeting of other African
immigrants in South Africa, is a testament to identity markers that have been
forged along national geographies &#8211; a consequence of the Berlin Conference. Some
Nigerian citizens returned home last week as result of the violence. The recent
actions in South Africa and the reprisal attacks in other African countries
targeting South Africa makes African integration hang in the balance. 



Xenophobia &amp; economic
integration



The
xenophobic attacks come at a time when African countries recently concluded the
largest trade agreement, since the creation of the World Trade Organisation in
1994. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has the potential to
connect over 1.3 billion people as well as to form an economic zone of over $3
trillion and boost&nbsp;<a href="http://www.intracen.org/uploadedFiles/intracenorg/Content/Publications/AfCFTA%20Business%20Guide_final_Low-res.pdf">intra-African trade</a> in agriculture, manufacturing, raw
materials and services. However, such a potential requires more than simply
diplomatic relations across the continent, but also steadfast unity among
African people. Looting and destroying businesses owned by other African
migrants in South Africa, particularly businesses owned by those at the lower
rung of the socio-economic pyramid and the consequent retaliatory attacks in
various other African countries, goes against the very foundations of economic,
social and trade integration. 



The
AfCFTA was seen as acting as a buffer to the current trade-war climate by
strengthening regional trade within the continent of Africa; while free trade
is under attack in much of the developed world. If anything, the US-China trade
war is an additional propeller for African states to deepen trade-relations
among themselves.



However,
what use is an African trade pact that aims at building bridges and dismantling
borders; when the African people do not see themselves as a single identity? 



Art and development: The unifying
force of music



As the African continent grapples with its developmental agenda, art and specifically music has the propensity to act as a unifying force among African people. The major milestone accomplished by the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X7b8fYcYCk">Ndlovu Youth Choir’s</a> magnificent performances that celebrated Africa as a continent and its culture, and that ultimately landed them a record as the first African act to make it to the finals of the US’ major talent competition, is significant not just as entertainment but also in forging a unified African identity in the midst of the regressive social and economic moment of the recent xenophobic attacks. Music that was composed specifically following the September 2019 xenophobic attacks was a song “Africa Unite” that poignantly explored social themes of interdependence and African togetherness. 



Music
is an
enabler in building bridges and in articulating and
expressing the complexities of identity politics found in development processes.
It is also a vital medium in communicating
and illuminating themes central to development discourse (including regional
trade integration) at a time where the social infrastructure of the continent
is of importance and heightened social tensions among
Africans need to be eased. 



Conclusion



The
AfCFTA, with its potential to make significant contributions to economic
development, curbing unemployment and poverty alleviation if it is supported by
effective policies, is a starting point; but an ingrained pan-African vision
from those at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid all the way to the top
is essential for the growth of the African continent. The world has much to
benefit from an integrated and united Africa.&nbsp;Africa Unite.

Op-Ed: Africa urgently needs a shared identity for its $3trn free trade club to work, could music be a unifier?

LISBON (Reuters) &#8211; Ghana, the world’s second largest cocoa producer, is expected to produce 850,000 tonnes of cocoa in 2019/20 season, at the lower end of average levels on account of the swollen shoot disease outbreak, the country’s industry regulator said on Thursday.



Ghana’s annual cocoa production is usually between 850,000 and 900,000 tonnes, though the country had an official forecast of 900,000 tonnes for the current 2018/19 season, which ends this month.



“Swollen shoot is the main factor bringing down production,” Joseph Boahen Aidoo, chief executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), an industry regulator, told Reuters on the sidelines of the European Cocoa Forum in Lisbon.



Aidoo also said Ghana would announce the official farmgate price for the 2019/20 season on Oct. 1. The farmgate price is a fixed annual price set and paid by the government to farmers each season.



Ghana’s cocoa output is expected to fall to 830,000 tonnes in the 2018/19 season, which ends this month, on account of unfavourable weather and swollen shoot disease, according to the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO).



Ghana’s fight against the disease has prompted Cocobod to replant of 400,000 hectares of cocoa plants. It will take at least three to five years for the replanted surfaces to come into production.



Reporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Tom Brown

Ghana expected to produce 850,000 tonnes of cocoa in 2019/20 season, at the lower end of average levels…Here’s why

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NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; The power grids of East and Southern African countries will be interconnected in the next two to three years after completion of various high voltage lines, paving the way for regional trade, a senior Kenyan energy official said on Tuesday. 



Power shortages and outages are common across both regions and businesses often complain that poor or erratic supplies discourage investors and push up prices of local products, as many firms end up relying on costly diesel generators.



Connecting national grids would provide a bigger pool of energy resources and mean one country can tap idle supplies in another.



Joseph Njoroge, the principal secretary in the energy ministry, said high voltage lines linking Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda to Kenya were expected to be ready in at most the next three years.



“In the next two to three years, we will have interconnections with several neighbouring countries in the region,” he told an East African power conference.



“Thereafter, we will be able to come up with a configuration that enhances demand in terms of the region.”



The Kenya-Ethiopia link will be a 500 kilovolt (kV) line, while the lines to Uganda and Tanzania will be 400 kV. The power line to Uganda would thereafter link Rwanda and then Burundi.



All the states, except for Ethiopia, are part of the East African Community trade bloc.



Njoroge said the Kenya-Tanzania line was also expected to connect to Zambia, making it possible to trade power with Southern Africa, which already has a series of connections between South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, allowing them to trade electricity.



Previously, the Kenyan energy ministry had said the line connecting Ethiopia and Kenya was expected to be completed in 2017, while that between Kenya and Uganda was to be ready in 2016, and the Kenya-Tanzania one was scheduled to be finished last year.



Njoroge told Reuters after his presentation the missed timetables was due to difficulties with land acquisitions on some sections for putting up the lines, known as wayleaves.



“Some of them (delays) have been caused by wayleaves. We have had some challenges with wayleaves,” he said.



“But there is none which would have been concluded (in that time).”



Kenya had installed generation capacity of 2,712 MW as at end 2018, against total power demand of 1,800 MW. Ethiopia’s installed capacity is about 4,300 MW.



Next year Uganda is expected to commission a 600 megawatt (MW) hydropower project that will boost the country’s generation capacity to about 1,600MW.



Reporting by George Obulutsa; editing by Elias Biryabarema and Emelia Sithole-Matarise

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