🎬 Catching flights

Good morning. On September 12th, 2001, the day after the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York, the Maasai people of Kenya tried to send 14 cows to the people of America.

Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah, who had come up with the idea, explained: “To heal a sorrowing heart, give something dear to your own.”

The cows, sacred to the Maasai and a symbol of life, were accepted, in spirit. U.S. officials, on behalf of the American people, agreed that the U.S. would “own” the cows, but asked Maasai herdsmen to care for them in Kenya, avoiding some obvious logistical challenges.

Morale of the story: We need to commercialize animal transport quickly.

— Geraldine Ndzomo, Tayo Davies, Edna Akanni.

AVIATION
Kenya’s airport deal met with backlash from workers

Pouring out a glass of Red Bull for President Ruto in case he needs it to keep up with all the news coming out of his country. Yesterday, hundreds of staff of Kenya’s largest airport, JKIA called a strike to protest against a planned buyout of the airport by India’s Adani Group.

The deal will involve leasing the facility to the Adani Group over 30 years in return for a $1.85Bn investment in the airport.

First, it’s not such a bad deal.

Despite being one of the busiest airports in Africa, handling about 8.8 million passengers annually, JKIA has struggled with expanding its terminals and is frequently dogged by power outages and roof leaks. The investment from Adani would see JKIA completely renovated and an additional runway and terminal constructed.

Their fears are justified. With fresh capitalist cash coming in, downsizing measures are a guarantee. The Kenya Airport Workers Union, which is leading the strike and is the biggest union representing Kenya’s aviation workers, said “The deal would cut jobs and worsen employment conditions”. The High Court on Monday temporarily halted the deal until a case filed by the Law Society and the Kenya Human Rights Commission is heard.

Looking into the future… If the deal goes through, Kenya would position itself as a key player in the aviation ecosystem. Handling a million more passengers annually would put it within reach of its closest rival, Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa.

In between, workers at the airport have agreed to suspend the strike, following an agreement with the government that the deal would only proceed with the union’s approval. —EA.

DIGITS

SNIPPETS

Contest. The two opposition candidates who lined up against presidential incumbent, Tebboune in Saturday’s elections have filed an appeal to challenge President Tebboune’s 94.7% margin of victory.

Yikes. Communities in Northern Nigeria are currently experiencing their worst flooding in decades. The government's response? Bags of rice.

Nice to hear. Former Cameroon VP Philemon Yang took over as President of the UN General Assembly meeting this week. He’ll be the first African in 5 years to hold that position.

Hung out to dry. Zambia faces imminent 21-hour per-day power cuts, starting 14th September. Its hydropower plant on Lake Kariba is set to be turned off. Reason? Insufficient water supply due to the ongoing drought.

Topup. Congo receives an extra 50,000 doses of the mpox vaccine this week. This brings its dose count to 250,000 doses, a long way from the 3 million doses required to control the disease spread.