The COMESA's Alert on Pyramid Schemes
RegionWeek Newsletter Vol III, Issue #114 | Monday, August 31, 2020
This is a new version of RegionWeek Newsletter for the 3rd season( July-December 2020). The content targets Business leaders, Decision-makers, and Young professionals with interests in Burundi and East Africa. Subscribe to stay productive, and competitive in a pandemic and disrupted season.
Dear Readers,
Hope you’re doing well! It is my pleasure this morning to share with you two key stories that caught our attention last weekend.
The COMESA Competition Commission (CCC) has advised consumers in the region to be on the lookout for pyramid schemes whereby people are encouraged to join and recruit others at a fee to make money. Members of a pyramid scheme make money through the recruitment of others.
A statement from CCC Headquarters in Malawi states that the Commission’s attention has been drawn to the activities of a scheme known as Crowd1, which markets itself as a digital multi-level company and whose operations are being investigated in some jurisdictions.
“Consumers are therefore advised to exercise caution when dealing with Crowd1 and also conduct research about companies they wish to invest in to avoid losing their hard-earned money,” the CCC statement reads in part.
Specifically, the Commission has noted that authorities in the Philippines and Namibia found that Crowd1 members make money by recruiting others and the organization has since been banned in Namibia. In the Philippines, authorities are said to have issued a cease and desist order to Crowd1 for operating without a license.
Further, authorities in Mauritius and New Zealand have issued investor alerts, advising the public to exercise caution in their dealings with Crowd1.
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East Africa launches a business networking platform for women
The East African Community has kicked-off national launches of the 50 Million African Women Speak Networking Platform (50MAWS), a digital platform aimed at empowering millions of women in Africa to start, grow and scale up their businesses.
Accessible at www.womenconnect.org, and covering 38 African states under the EAC, the Common Market for East and Southern African (COMESA) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) blocs, the innovative platform aims to economically empower women by providing a one-stop-shop for their specific business information needs.
The project is being jointly implemented by EAC, COMESA, and ECOWAS with funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB). Continentally unveiled during the Global Gender Summit in November 2019 in Kigali, Rwanda, the platform enables women in Member/Partner States of the three regional economic blocs and other African countries to find information on how to run businesses, where to access financial services, how to create business opportunities online and where to access training resources.
The platform gives women an opportunity to showcase their products and connect with a market of millions across the continent, in addition to leveraging opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and mentorship as part of a dynamic online community of entrepreneurs.
Ummy Mwalimu, Tanzanian Minister of Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Seniors and Children, said on August 28th that the government of Tanzania has received the project, and was happy to embrace the initiative to further enable women to connect, network and transact business.
“Implementing this project is critical in the empowerment of women in the region,” the Minister said, adding that the platform presents an opportunity to heighten the economic empowerment of women in the region.
Minister Mwalimu called upon womenfolk to pursue bigger entrepreneurial dreams, such as value addition in the value-chains and tapping the export markets.
The launch of the platform was preceded by training sessions on tax requirements and updates by the Tanzania Revenue Authority; access to finance and various packages designed for women in business by CRDB Bank; and practical guide on registering and using the online 50MAWS platform.
Coronavirus Updates
In Africa, there are now more than over 1,230,159 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the continent. And the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 961,692 recoveries.
As of August 29, the confirmed coronavirus death toll on the continent stood at 29,106, with deaths including the former president of the Republic of the Congo, Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango, and Somalia's former Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.
Over the past four weeks, there has been an average 17% fall in the number of weekly new cases being reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the Covid-19 outbreak in Africa may have passed its peak, but it warns governments not to be complacent as countries relax their restrictions. The number of new daily confirmed cases overall has been dropping for a month now, although some countries are experiencing a rise in cases.
For Burundi, on 08/27/2020, two (02) new cases were notified out of a total of 485 tests performed on 08/26/2020, i.e. a positivity rate of 0.41%. These cases come from the districts of Cankuzo and Kinyinya. A total of 21,400 people have been tested since March 31, 2020, with 445 positive cases, for an overall positivity rate of 2.02%.
During the mass screening campaign that started on July 6, 2020, 19,092 people were tested. Of this total, 242 were confirmed positive, for a positivity rate of 1.27%.
Thanks for reading, have a nice Week!
Fabrice Iranzi, RegionWeek.com
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RegionWeek is a Burundi-based media for a new generation of achievers in Africa, a platform devoted to chronicling the journey to Freedom and Empowerment.