The Expanding Capacity of Direct Flights between Africa and China
On an average day, eight direct flights operate between China and African nations, a huge increase from less than a decade ago: In 2010, airlines averaged less than one flight a day. The expansion of air traffic between the African continent and China coincides with a period of rapid expansion of Chinese investment. Chinese firms have been voraciously bidding on and winning infrastructure projects in Africa. Chinese firms have helped build airports in Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, Togo, Sierra Leone, among others in recent years. Most of the expansion is driven by Ethiopian Airlines. It didn’t have a single Africa-China route in 2010. Now, it operates almost half of the 2,616 annual flights. It has more than doubled the size of its fleet in the last decade and become the largest airline operator in Africa. Ethiopian wasn’t the first to try tapping the Chinese market for growth. Kenya Airways started a route between Guangzhou, China and Nairobi, Kenya in 2013 and dropped it in 2015; South African Airways had one route between Johannesburg and Beijing from 2013 to 2015; Air Algeria has kept the same capacity over the last decade; EgyptAir kept about the same number of flights to Beijing and expanded its services to Guangzhou.SOURCE: QUARTZ AFRICA African Women Chosen to Cover Vogue’s Most Read Issue
The Duchess of Sussex is guest editing British Vogue’s September issue, focusing on women who “break barriers”. The cover features 15 women, including Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Somali boxer Ramla Ali and South Sudanese model Adut Akech. Meghan chose not to put herself on the cover, the magazine’s editor-in-chief Edward Enninful said, as she felt it would be a “boastful thing to do”. The duchess said she hoped people would be as inspired as she was by the women featured in the magazine. She added: “Through this lens I hope you’ll feel the strength of the collective in the diverse selection of women chosen for the cover as well as the team of support I called upon within the issue to help bring this to light.” Enninful, the editor-in-chief, said Meghan was the first person to guest edit the September issue – traditionally considered the most important issue of the year.
SOURCE: CNN Boko Haram Deals Devastating Blow
An attack this weekend by suspected Boko Haram fighters […]
