#data scientist salary south africa
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I Found an Old Goals List...
...and it made me chuckle...
by each of the "Want to Be"s, I put who I knew was currently in that role...some names, I don't even recognize...How I feel today is in red...
Want to Be
Fundraiser
Owner of Microfinancing Philanthropist
Financial Infrastructure Engineer
Data Scientist
Product Director
Trader on Wall Street
Enterprise Saleswoman
App Owner/Business Owner/Entrepreneur/Mogul
Professor
Teacher
Author
Investment Banker
Fantasy
Actress
Dancer
DJ (Hannah Bronfman)
TV Host (Desus & Mero)
Tour Manager
Don’t Want to Be
Attorney
Real Estate Agent
Rapper
Singer
Scientist
Fitness Coach
Event Planner
Office Manager
Financial Advisor
Financial Analyst
5 Year Plan – 2017 - 2021 – 24 - 28 YO (6/13 complete)
Establish connections, gain industry experience (happened)
Complete my 1st Marathon – 2017 (happened)
Raise & Promotion @ L – 2017 (happened 2018)
Leave L – 2018 (happened 2022)
Visit Cuba - 2018 (didn't happen, lost my passport and fought w/my mom pretty badly over this one...)
Join Netflix w/ 6 figure salary – 2018 (hahahah)
Complete UC Berkeley data science program – 2018 (no longer a desire)
Make 1st trade on NYSE - 2018 (happened 2019)
Visit KT in Bangkok/Bhutan/Charles in Singapore – 2019
Visit Japan - 2020 (happened 2018)
Become Mid-level Finance Manager – 2021 (ahahhaah)
Earn CFA - 2021 (not a desire)
Visit Switzerland - 2021 (not a desire)
10 Year Plan – 2022 - 2026 – 29 - 33 YO
Visit Capetown - 2022 (2023...2022 is over this week, I don't think this finna happen...)
Return to work in NYC on Wall Street as Financial Infrastructure Manager – 2022 (no, but I did work in NYC in 2021...)
Finish the NYC Marathon - 2022 (don't care to anymore)
Learn basic conversational and reading in Japanese – 2022 (I tried in 2021...but other things were prioritized)
Visit Hong Kong - 2022 (with that air pollution & covid?? nahhh)
Harvard Business School funded by employer – 2023 (could happen...)
Visit Dubai/UAE/Mecca - 2023 (I don't care to go there anymore...human rights reasons...)
Work abroad in Italy, South Africa, Japan or London – 2024 (could happen...)
Visit Brazil – 2024
Visit Australia – 2025
Visit Tahiti – 2026
First child with natural birth – 2026 (yikes...unless my future husband has 8 figures, miss me with this one...)
Own NYC loft - 2026 (we shooting big here!...can happen...)
Get hired at T4 or T5 SWE position at my top choice company - 2023
Get a $180k+ base salary - 2023
Start dating a guy a like and who likes me - 2023
Move to a 1 bedroom in Manhattan or Brooklyn, New York - 2023
Master all the topics I want to before June 2023 - June 2023
Look like Tamara Prichett, Melanie Alcantara, Jade Cargill, or Massy Arias - 2024
Update my app to be on React - 2024
Mentor an intern engineer - 2024
Get a promotion - 2024
Staff engineer - 2025
Visit friends in Milan - 2023
15 Year Plan – 2027 - 2031 – 34 - 38 YO
Visit the Amazon – 2027 (don't really care to do this anymore)
Fundraise for my own app – 2027 (2028)
Go public with my company – 2031 (2037, MAYBE)
Get married to a really rich man (2026)
Move back in with grandparents to code for my app full time or live off of my really rich husband - 2027
35 Year Plan – 2032 – 2050 – 39 – 58 YO
Grow company
Tech Invest - 2040
Own home in NJ or NY - 2040
Retire – 2050
40 Year Plan – 2051 – 2055 – 59 – 63 YO
Become teacher in LA – 2051
41 Year Plan – 2056 - 2060 – 64 - 68 YO
Become USC Trustee
It could happen...I have to believe and work hard...
#follow your dreams#pray#Youtube#tech#software engineering#software engineer#check in#black in tech#black in the bay#san francisco#silicon valley#engineer#python#black women in tech#women in tech#startup#layoff#100 days of python#100 days of code#programming#coding#pytest#systems engineer#goals#marriage
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Top 10 Courses to Boost Your Salary in the Future Job Market
Navigating the post-graduation landscape requires making pivotal decisions about one’s professional trajectory. It is not often one deliberates over a lifelong Top 10 Most Demanding Courses for Some people support determining which competences are most in-demand and then choosing educational programs that improve those talents. In this session, we’ll look at the most important skills to learn and the best courses that cover them.
Top 10 Prospective Courses for the Future Job Market :
1. Business Communication Course
The Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a highly respected degree that encompasses essential skills that employers seek. Business communication is also quite important. Procuring a Executive Diploma in Business Communication equips you with essential capabilities to articulate effectively within an organization, paving the way for positions such as business analyst or consultant.
2. Diploma in Environment Health and Safety Management
Experts in Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) are essential for handling industrial waste and guaranteeing worker safety.A Diploma in Environment Health and Safety Management is an excellent starting point, grooming you for roles in overseeing environmental and occupational safety protocols.
3. Digital Marketing Course Online
In the contemporary digital epoch, businesses necessitate an online presence. Basics of digital marketing skills empowers you to construct and sustain this presence, rendering it a quintessential skill for the future.
5. Project Management Course Online
Project management is leading groups of people to complete tasks from start to finish.A Executive diploma in project strategic management imparts collaboration, planning, and budgeting skills, which are highly coveted.
6. Data Science and Analytics Course
Businesses all throughout the world acquire data, hence data scientists are required to interpret this data. Data extraction and analysis are taught in a data science and analytics course, which makes it a vital future talent. in Executive Diploma In Data analytics
Benefits for South African Professionals
Economic Growth Contribution: These courses equip South Africans with skills that contribute to local and regional economic development. With a well-trained workforce, South Africa can enhance its competitiveness and economic stability.
Skill Diversity: Combining technical and soft skills fosters a well-rounded workforce. This skill diversity is crucial for addressing complex challenges in various industries and adapting to evolving job market demands.
Job Market Readiness: By acquiring these competencies, South Africans align themselves with both local job market needs and global trends, increasing their employability and career prospects.
By embarking on these educational courses from UniAthena South Africans can become valuable contributors to their economy, ensuring they are well-prepared to meet future job market demands and excel in their careers.
#aitraining#professionaldevelopment#careergrowth#economicgrowth#skilldevelopment#careeradvancement#artificialintelligence#techskills#techeducation#machinelearning
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Come and delve right into the bustling world of data scientist jobs in South Africa. You'll learn about promising career opportunities, gain some insights into potential salaries, and receive helpful advice on visa processes.
#data scientist jobs#jobs in South Africa#South Africa visa#employment opportunities#South Africa work permit visa
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In this video I share 10 wages in South Africa from genuine tasks in South Africa. The pay slips that I’m sharing are from numerous sectors and markets. I respond to the following concerns in this video: How much do nurses make in South Africa? Just how much do Data Analyst and Scientists make? Social…
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Fwd: Postdoc: UWashington.PacificCodPopulationGenomics
Begin forwarded message: > From: [email protected] > Subject: Postdoc: UWashington.PacificCodPopulationGenomics > Date: 4 March 2023 at 06:07:11 GMT > To: [email protected] > > > > > Postdoctoral Scholar – Population Genomics of Pacific Cod > University of Washington: Academic Personnel: College of the Environment: > Aquatic and Fishery Sciences > > Location > Seattle > > Open Date > Feb 16, 2023 > Description > The School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington > Seattle, in collaboration with the Hatfield Marine Science Center of > the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the Farallon Institute, the > Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the Department of > Fisheries and Ocean Canada, seeks a Postdoctoral Scholar to conduct low > coverage whole genome resequencing of Pacific cod in and off the Salish > Sea. The Salish Sea is situated at the border of Washington State and > British Columbia, and includes Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia, > and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Postdoctoral Scholar will join > the Marine Population Genomics Lab, a research group that investigates > population structure, dispersal and adaptation in marine species. The > Postdoctoral Scholar will investigate the potential for evolutionary > rescue of Gulf of Alaska cod by gene flow from peripheral population in > the Salish Sea. Selective changes in cod populations in the Salish Sea > and the Gulf of Alaska during the mass mortality event in the 2016 heat > wave will also be investigated. Existing habitat suitability projections > under climate change will be modified using physiological tolerances > of southern edge populations. There is potential for involvement in > additional projects on Pacific cod, herring, rockfishes and invertebrates. > The salary for this position will be $65,508 per year, or as mandated by > a U.S. Department of Labor prevailing wage determination. Postdoctoral > scholars are represented by UAW 4121 and are subject to the collective > bargaining agreement, unless agreed exclusion criteria apply. For more > information, please visit the University of Washington Labor Relations > website. The position will start as soon as possible, but no later than > August 1, 2023. The initial appointment will be 100% FTE for one year,with > potential renewal for a second year. Consideration of applicants will > begin on 15 March 2023 and will continue until the position is filled. > Qualifications > > PhD in Biology, Molecular Genetics, Fisheries Science, Statistics or > related disciplines > Basic knowledge of population genetics/genomics > Experience with the analysis of large scale genomic data > Proficiency with statistics and data analysis > Familiarity with programing languages such as R and Python > Willingness to collaborate with NOAA, WDFW and University scientists > Demonstrated ability to summarize scientific findings in the form of > written manuscripts and oral presentations. > Application Instructions > All applications should be submitted through > Interfolio. Application packages should include the following: > > Cover letter outlining interest in the position and how it aligns with > career goals CV Contact information (institution, email and phone number) > for three professional references Applicants with inquiries regarding > this position should contact: Lorenz Hauser at([email protected]). > > Dr Lorenz Hauser Richard C. and Lois M. Worthington Endowed Professor in > Fisheries Management School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University > of Washington > > 1122 NE Boat St, Box 355020, Seattle WA 98195-5020, Phone 206 685 3270, > https://ift.tt/wBMaYum, > https://ift.tt/N5hVIMe > Research Associate, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa > > > > Lorenz Hauser
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ILRI Post Doctoral Fellow – Social Differentiation and Climate Change Job
Post Doctoral Fellow – Social Differentiation and Climate Change Job, Agricultural Jobs In Kenya, The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a Post-Doctoral Scientist to provide scientific contributions to gender and youth components of projects that aim to improve understanding of social dynamics in livestock systems and climate change and gender responsive scaling of climate smart technologies and practices. ILRI works to improve food and nutritional security and reduce poverty in developing countries through research for efficient, safe and sustainable use of livestock. It is the only one of 15 CGIAR research centres dedicated entirely to animal agriculture research for the developing world. Co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia, it has regional or country offices and projects in East, South and Southeast Asia as well as Central, East, Southern and West Africa. www.ilri.org Key Responsibilities - Develop, design and coordinate a research project - Design a conceptual, theoretically robust framework - Develop research instruments - Conduct fieldwork and manage field teams - Conduct and analyse qualitative and/or quantitative social data and publish findings - Develop and contribute to the writing of scientific publications and outputs such as peer reviewed journal articles and policy briefs - Contribute to the development of proposals and resource mobilization efforts - Perform any other related duties as may be required Requirements - PhD in social science (geography, anthropology, sociology, youth studies or other relevant discipline) with an emphasis on gender and/or youth - Two to four years of completing PhD - Familiarity with gender and agriculture/livestock system issues and challenges in East African contexts; knowledge of youth issues is preferred - Background in drylands and pastoral contexts is a plus - Strong analytical skills – either qualitative or quantitative, both preferred - Prior experience managing field teams - Strong publication record, commensurate with career level - Ability to bridge theoretical rigor and applied significance - Capacity to work independently - Very good interpersonal and communication skills - Ability to work effectively in teams and with partners from diverse backgrounds, nationalities, and scientific disciplines - Strong written and spoken English skills, knowledge of French would be good, knowledge of African languages a bonus - Willingness to travel to rural areas to supervise and manage fieldwork Post location: The position will be based in Nairobi, Kenya Terms of Appointment This is position is at job level HG 16 and it is open to both national and international applicants. The position is a two (2) year contract, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and availability of funding. ILRI offers a competitive salary and benefits package which includes; medical and other insurances. How to Apply Applications: Applicants should send a cover letter and CV expressing their interest in the position, what they can bring to the role and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to the Director, People and Organizational Development through our recruitment portal by clicking on the “Apply Now” tab above before 3 August 2022. The position title and reference number: REF: SLS/504 /2021 should be clearly marked on the subject line of the online application. We thank all applicants for their interest in working for ILRI. Due to the high volume of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. ILRI does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing or training). ILRI also does not concern itself with information on applicants’ bank accounts To find out more about ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org ILRI is an equal opportunity employer Click Here to Apply N.B: Looking For A New Job? Find Your Next Job With Us. Click Here To Register Your CV. It's Free. Read the full article
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Actuarial Data Scientist (South Africa) To Start Urgently
Actuarial Data Scientist (South Africa) To Start Urgently
Job title: Actuarial Data Scientist Apply for the job now! Company: Network Recruitment Job description: Apply now! For more Actuarial or Quantitative Analyst jobs, please visit or connect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dj-le-grange…-3I0b5466 Reach out to me directly if you are passively looking in one of our niche areas to hear more about roles… Expected salary: Location:…
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Forecast: 8 million energy jobs created by meeting Paris agreement
This story originally appeared in AGU’s Eos Magazine and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
Opponents of climate policy say curbing fossil fuel emissions will kill jobs, but a new study showed that switching to renewables would actually create more jobs than a fossil fuel–heavy future will. The tricky part will be ensuring that laid-off workers have access to alternative employment.
Globally, jobs in the energy sector are projected to increase from 18 million today to 26 million in 2050 if the world cuts carbon to meet the well-below 2°C target set by the Paris Agreement, according to a model created by researchers in Canada and Europe. Renewables will make up 84% of energy jobs in 2050, primarily in wind and solar manufacturing. The new study was published earlier this summer in One Earth.
In contrast, if we don’t limit global warming to below 2°C, 5 million fewer energy jobs will be created.
The future looks bright for solar and wind
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest physical science assessment predicted that climate will be 1.5°C warmer than preindustrial levels by the 2030s unless there are strong, rapid cuts to greenhouse gases in the coming decades. Such cuts will necessitate a greater reliance on sustainable energy sources.
In 2020, renewables and nuclear energy supplied less than a quarter of global energy, according to BP’s 2021 report. Many regions will gain energy jobs in the transition. This number is expected to rise, however, in part because solar photovoltaics and wind are now cheaper than fossil fuels per megawatt-hour and because many countries have set aggressive emissions-cutting goals.
According to the new study, many regions will gain energy jobs in the transition, including countries throughout Asia (except for China), North Africa, and the Middle East, as well as the United States and Brazil. Although fossil fuel extraction jobs will largely disappear, “massive deployment of renewables leads to an overall rise in jobs,” wrote the authors.
But not all countries will be so lucky: Fossil fuel-rich China, Australia, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, and sub-Saharan African countries will likely lose jobs overall.
Only jobs directly associated with energy industries, such as construction or maintenance, were included in the study. Other reports have included adjacent or induced jobs such as fuel transport, government oversight, and service industry.
Previous studies estimated a larger increase in energy jobs, using numbers compiled from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The new study instead compiled data from primary sources by mining fossil fuel company reports, trade union documents, government reports, national databases, and other sources that cover 50 countries representing all major players in fossil fuels and renewables. Lead study author Sandeep Pai ran the numbers through an integrated assessment model housed at the European Institute on Economics and the Environment. The model calculates job growth projections under different climate policies and social and economic factors. Pai is a lead researcher at the Just Transition Initiative supported by the nonprofit policy research organization the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Climate Investment Funds.
Calls for just transitions
Crucially, the study found that nearly 8 million of the 26 million jobs (31%) in 2050 are “up for grabs,” said study author Johannes Emmerling, a scientist at the European Institute on Economics and the Environment. Renewable manufacturing isn’t tied to a particular location, unlike coal mining.
These jobs in renewable manufacturing aren’t tied to a particular location, unlike coal mining.
Pai concurred. “Any country with the right policies and incentives has the opportunity to attract between 3 [million and] 8 million manufacturing jobs in the future.”
Recently, countries have begun putting billions of dollars toward “just transition,” a loose framework describing initiatives that among other things, seek to minimize harm to workers in the fossil fuel industry. Concerns include salary loss, local revenue, and labor exploitation.
What could be done? Just transition projects may include employing fossil fuel workers to rehabilitate old coal mines or orphan oil wells, funding community colleges to train workers with new skills, supporting social services like substance abuse centers, and incentivizing local manufacturing.
“The just transition aspect is quite critical,” Pai said. “If [countries] don’t do that, this energy transition will be delayed.”
LUT University energy scientist Manish Thulasi Ram, who was not involved in the study, thinks the latest research underestimates the job potential of the energy transition. Using a different approach, Ram forecasts that close to 10 million jobs could be created from battery storage alone by 2050—a sector not considered in the latest analysis.
—Jenessa Duncombe (@jrdscience), Staff Writer
from https://ift.tt/3hcENBw
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COVID19 Updates: 08/09/2021
Malaysia: JUST IN : The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) urges the government to delay the relaxing of restrictions for the fully vaccinated until cases are significantly reduced. #COVID19
US: JUST IN - Top Biden officials are growing frustrated with the lack of internal visibility into #COVID19 data being collected by the CDC: "Where the hell are the data?," a source describes the tension to Axios behind the scene.
Arkansas: Arkansas hospitalizations for Covid-19 have risen nearly fourfold in just over a month, said a Republican state legislator and emergency room doctor. The patients he is seeing are younger and younger. “It’s never looked like this.”
Texas: Austin, Texas, activates emergency alert system as COVID crisis reaches "critical" point LINK
US: The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says he is optimistic the Food and Drug Administration will give full approval to the vaccine by month’s end. LINK
World: Holy GoF! They aggregated VOC-associated spike substitutions into a single polymutant spike protein and showed 20 mutations were sufficient to confer near-complete resistance to neutralizing Abs generated by convalescents and mRNA vaccine recipients. LINK
Israel: A third of Israeli adults over the age of 60 have already received a coronavirus booster shot, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said LINK
China: Several Chinese virologists and biologists who have worked with US peers shared concerns about #US’ unclear #biosecurity system. “There is possibility a single researcher or team may have secretly created a virus like #COVID19 without permission.” LINK
Texas: Half of Texas' hospital regions are reporting 10 or fewer ICU beds available. Corpus Christi is reporting 0 staffed ICU beds available. They reported 52 on Monday. The state passed 9,000 COVID hospitalizations today. Most since Feb. 9. New info from DFW Hospital Council: There are now 55 children hospitalized with COVID-19 in the region…“which are some of the highest levels of pediatric COVID-19 patients we have ever treated.” They add pediatric hospitals are at 97.7% capacity because RSV cases are high too
World: Head of notorious Wuhan lab warns more COVID-19 mutations are coming LINK
World: ‘This Is Really Scary’: Kids Struggle With Long CovidLingering physical, mental and neurological symptoms are affecting children as well as adults, including many who had mild reactions to the initial coronavirus infection. LINK
California: Beginning Aug. 11, visitors to any of California’s hospitals will only be allowed access if they are vaccinated against COVID-19, or provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test LINK
US: Some Americans altering vaccine records to get unauthorized 3rd shot LINK
US: 12h Rolling 7-day average of daily coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 4 weeks ago: 19,145 3 weeks ago: 32,217 2 weeks ago: 51,323 1 week ago: 79,892 Today: 112,147
District of Columbia: DC giving away AirPods to encourage youth vaccinations LINK
Israel: Despite its record-setting vaccination campaign, #Israel is struggling to contain the spread of the delta variant of the #coronavirus. LINK
US: A Doomsday COVID Variant Worse Than Delta and Lambda May Be Coming, Scientists Say LINK
France: An extension to France’s “health pass” covering activities including going to restaurants and cafes, taking long-distance train journeys and visiting hospitals has come into effect after a fourth weekend of protests;
Australia: Australia expanded its NSW LD, amid fears that covid has spread from Sydney. The rural town of Tamworth, 257 miles NW of Sydney & Byron Bay, a popular tourist spot 478 miles from the city, entered a week long LD on Monday - despite neither having recorded a single case;
Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka holds mass cremations as Covid cases surge LINK
Philippines: Hundreds of Philippine hospitals near full capacity as virus cases surge LINK
China: China punishes dozens of officials as Covid-19 Delta outbreaks spread LINK
UK: Extremely tense interaction at bbc studios between police and protestors demanding no jabs for children. Jabs for over 16 and 17 year olds are set to go ahead soon without parental consent.
Georgia: Metro Atlanta hospitals report packed emergency rooms as COVID-19 cases surge LINK
Georgia: As of Friday, Camden County was seeing the highest transmission rate in Southeast Georgia -- 1,014 cases per 100,000 residents.
World: #BREAKING No need yet to adapt BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine for Covid variants: BioNTech chief
RUMINT (Florida): Just heard on the news that one in every five kids tested in Florida is COVID-19 positive.
Mississippi: There were ZERO available ICU beds in Mississippi as of early this morning. None. That means hospitals across the state may not be able to provide the level of care needed to you or your loved one. Not just for COVID-19 but FOR ANY EMERGENCY CARE.
World: ‘Goldilocks virus’: Delta vanquishes all variant rivals as scientists race to understand its tricks LINK
Ohio: Judge adds COVID-19 vaccine condition to man's probation LINK
UK: Wrexham father in intensive care after refusing Covid vaccine LINK
Texas: Texas woman with COVID-19 arrested after allegedly spitting on officer who was executing a search warrant at her home.
UK: 16 and 17-year-olds across the UK are being invited to book their Covid vaccine. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tells #BBCBreakfast she would support vaccinating children of an even younger age. LINK
Canada: Dozens of vehicles with U.S. plates line up at B.C. border as COVID-19 restrictions lifted LINK
Florida: Orange County wastewater shows significant increases of Covid-19 virus LINK
North Dakota: North Dakota hospitals bracing for rise in delta variant COVID-19 cases. Are they prepared? LINK
World: Remember Beta? New data reveal variant’s deadly powersPeople infected with a variant first identified in South Africa are more likely to die than those infected with other variants. LINK
UK: Anger at overflowing Covid test drop boxes LINK
World: Op/Ed: The really worrisome thing about the Delta variant LINK
Texas: Texas is reporting 394 staffed ICU beds available statewide. That's the lowest number since the start of the pandemic. However, we are NOT are a record high for COVID patients in ICU and still well below our total hospitalization peak so it could be more of a staffing issue
Texas: LBJ Hospital in Houston has set up tents to treat patients. They don’t have medical personnel to staff them. Sheila Jackson Lee has requested for Abbott to help TX hospitals that are overwhelmed by the rise of COVID hospitalizations paired with a shortage of nursing staff.
RUMINT (US): So a friend just called me up who lives in Tennessee... tested positive after thinking she had a cold. In the summer. Just a sore throat so far, and general feeling like crap. No loss of smell or taste. Not vaccinated. Asked how she was doing on food or if the kids were gonna bring her by stuff... she said no was all set as she stopped by the grocery store to load up on stuff to ride out the quarantine.
Florida: #BREAKING: @GovRonDeSantis office released a statement to #CBS4 that @EducationFL could withhold the salaries of superintendents and school board members who implement #maskmandates.
Georgia: Georgia school district shuts down within a week of opening due to COVID-19 LINK
California: Shortly after 14 y.o. Daniel Salinas recovered from COVID, his behavior began to change. He developed a migraine, then began talking to himself. He was rushed to UC Irvine and diagnosed with COVID psychosis. He's still hospitalized. LINK
Canada: Steinbach COVID testing site turning people away due to large #'s, and sending them to Winnipeg. Not a good sign.
US: Dr. Scott Gottlieb says the Covid delta surge may be the ‘final wave’ in U.S. LINK (Wishful thinking)
Maine: #BREAKING: Maine Medical Center says it reported a COVID-19 outbreak to the Maine CDC last Thursday. Maine Medical Center says it reported a COVID-19 outbreak to the Maine CDC last Thursday. The hospital says the outbreak consisted of nine employees in its Emergency Department, including staff who were fully vaccinated. LINK
Iowa: More than 50 Iowa nursing homes have experienced a #COVID19 outbreak since the #vaccine roll-out in December, and the home with the highest number of outbreaks is run by the state itself. LINK
Florida: .@ProfDrAMarty "Our hospitals in Miami-Dade are somewhere between 100% and 160% capacity. This is also affecting urgent care centers and children's hospitals and it's overwhelming our staff & impacting not just the care of COVID victims, but all health care." #AMRstaff
Canada: Alberta adds over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend LINK
Texas: Greenville Texas Hospital Using Tents Outside To Triage Patients Amid COVID-19 Case Increase LINK
World: Update: CDC warns against travel to Israel amid surge in Delta variant cases
US: "We are hospitalizing record numbers of children," a New Orleans doctor tells @ABC News. "Half of the children in our hospital today are under two years of age. Most of the others are between five and ten years of age—too young to be vaccinated just yet." LINK
Florida: BREAKING: Both Volusia County and Advent Health Orlando are finalizing the purchase of fleets of refrigerated mobile morgues amid Florida's COVID surge, a rep from Mopec confirms @WJCTNews
Florida: ABC News #DavidMuir just reported Florida has ordered 300 ventilators Expert saying “ if this continues another 4-5 days which it looks like it will, it will collapse the hospital system”
Texas: NEW: Texas Governor Greg Abbott asking hospitals to postpone some elective procedures to avoid a shortage of hospital capacity
Iceland: US CDC has become wary of #Iceland: it has now been escalated to "LEVEL 4 - Very High Level of #COVID19" (bear in mind, Iceland has a 90%+ vaccination rate)
Australia: NSW recorded 356 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
Texas: Governor: Today I announced new measures to respond to the spread of COVID-19: * bring in additional medical personnel to staff hospitals * expand Antibody Infusion Centers to prevent hospitalization of those with COVID * make it easier to get a vaccination
US: BREAKING: U.S. reports 164,153 new coronavirus cases as many states dump weekend backlogs
Iowa: Blank Children’s hospital has suspended elective surgeries (that is, non emergency) that would require a hospital stay.
Iceland: COVID-19 in Iceland: “We’re nearing the limits of our infrastructure” LINK
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International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Job for Postdoctoral Scientists 2021
Deadline: August 26, 2021
Applications are invited for the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Job for Postdoctoral Scientists 2021. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a Postdoctoral scientist to support the team lead Neglected Zoonotic Diseases (NZDs) with designing, implementing, analysing, and disseminating research activities within the Southern and East Africa region.
ILRI works to improve food and nutritional security and reduce poverty in developing countries through research for efficient, safe and sustainable use of livestock. It is the only one of 15 CGIAR research centres dedicated entirely to animal agriculture research for the developing world. Co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia, it has regional or country offices and projects in East, South and Southeast Asia as well as Central, East, Southern and West Africa.
Responsibilities
Design and implement a cross-sectional study on the prevalence of T. solium infection in pigs in Northern Uganda including designing protocols and data collection tools, applying for IREC and IACUC approval, employing and training short-term staff to undertake data collection, analysing data and leading publication of results in a peer-reviewed journal.
Design and implement a longitudinal study on the impact of oxfendazole treatment on T. solium incidence, Gastro-intestinal parasite burden and weight gain, including collection of economic data for partial budget analysis.
Collaborate with partners on spatial analysis of T. solium infections in the region.
Collaborate with partners to develop guidelines for the reporting of One Health economic analysis studies.
Publish scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and prepare conference/workshop presentations.
Communicate findings to stakeholders, including researchers, press, ministries, livestock extension officers, farmers, donors, etc.
Develop innovative concepts and ideas for future research projects (including assistance in proposal writing) related to the sustainable control of neglected zoonoses.
Provide supervision to graduate fellows embedded within the NZD portfolio.
Support the NZD theme lead and OHRECA team lead with other tasks as requested.
Benefits
The position is a 3-year contract, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and availability of funding. ILRI offers a competitive salary and benefits package which includes; medical and other insurances.
Eligibility
Open to both national and international applicants.
Applicant should have a PhD in Epidemiology, Public Health, Animal or Human Health economics and related field.
At least 5 years of implementing epidemiological or economic research preferably in agricultural research.
Demonstrated experience with epidemiological and/or econometric methods.
Expertise of data collection techniques in the field, data management and analysis.
Experience in supervision and training of students, collaborating with partners.
Experience of co-ordinating field and laboratory data collection, including experience of basic laboratory techniques (eg. aliquoting and storing samples, ELISA, DNA extraction).
Experience of qualitative data collection and analysis.
Have a valid driving license.
Application
Applicants should send a cover letter and CV expressing their interest in the position, what they can bring to the role and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to the Director, People and Organizational Development.
The position title and reference number: PDOC/07/2021 should be clearly marked on the subject line of the online application.
Click here to apply
For more information, visit ILRI.
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What developing countries can teach rich countries about how to respond to a pandemic
9 months into the pandemic, Europe stays one of many areas worst affected by COVID-19. Ten of the 20 international locations with the very best dying rely per million individuals are European. The opposite ten are within the Americas. This consists of the US, which has the very best variety of confirmed instances and deaths on the earth.
Most of Africa and Asia, quite the opposite, nonetheless appears spared. Of the international locations with reported COVID-related deaths, the ten with the bottom dying rely per million are in these components of the world. However whereas errors and misjudgements have fuelled sustained criticism of the UK’s dealing with of the pandemic, the success of a lot of the growing world stays unsung.
In fact, quite a lot of components might clarify decrease ranges of illness within the growing world: completely different approaches to recording deaths, Africa’s younger demographic profile, better use of out of doors areas, or presumably even excessive ranges of doubtless protecting antibodies gained from different infections.
However statistical uncertainty and beneficial biology will not be the complete story. Some growing international locations have clearly fared higher by responding earlier and extra forcefully in opposition to COVID-19. Many have the legacy of Sars, Mers and Ebola of their institutional reminiscence. As industrialised international locations have struggled, a lot of the growing world has quietly proven exceptional ranges of preparedness and creativity throughout the pandemic. But the developed world is paying little consideration.
When profitable methods, it’s the experiences of different developed nations – like Germany and New Zealand – which might be predominantly cited by journalists and politicians. There may be an obvious unwillingness to be taught from growing international locations – a blind spot that fails to recognise that “their” native information could be simply as related to “our” developed world issues.
With infectious outbreaks more likely to change into extra frequent world wide, this wants to vary. There may be a lot to be taught from growing international locations by way of management, preparedness and innovation. The query is: what’s stopping industrialised nations from heeding the growing world’s classes?
Good management goes a great distance
With regards to managing infectious illnesses, African international locations present that have is the most effective trainer. The World Well being Group’s weekly bulletin on outbreaks and different emergencies confirmed that on the finish of September, international locations in sub-Saharan Africa have been coping with 116 ongoing infectious illness occasions, 104 outbreaks and 12 humanitarian emergencies.
This text is a part of Dialog Insights The Insights staff generates long-form journalism derived from interdisciplinary analysis. The staff is working with lecturers from completely different backgrounds who’ve been engaged in initiatives aimed toward tackling societal and scientific challenges.
For African nations, COVID-19 is just not a singular downside. It’s being managed alongside Lassa fever, yellow fever, cholera, measles and plenty of others. This experience makes these international locations extra alert and prepared to deploy scarce assets to cease outbreaks earlier than they change into widespread. Their mantra may greatest be summarised as: act decisively, act collectively and act now. When assets are restricted, containment and prevention are the most effective methods.
That is evident in how African international locations have responded to COVID-19, from rapidly closing borders to exhibiting robust political will to fight the virus. Whereas Britain dithered and allowed itself to sleepwalk into the pandemic, Mauritius (the tenth most densely populated nation on the earth) started screening airport arrivals and quarantining guests from high-risk international locations. This was two months earlier than its first case was even detected.
And inside ten days of Nigeria’s first case being introduced on February 28, President Muhammadu Buhari had arrange a taskforce to guide the nation’s containment response and preserve each him and the nation updated on the illness. Evaluate this with the UK, whose first case was on January 31. Its COVID-19 motion plan wasn’t unveiled till early March. Within the intervening interval, the prime minister, Boris Johnson, is alleged to have missed 5 emergency conferences in regards to the virus.
African leaders have additionally proven a robust need to work collectively on combating the virus – a legacy of the 2013-2016 West African Ebola outbreak. This epidemic underlined that infectious illnesses don’t respect borders, and led to the African Union organising the Africa Centres for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC).
In April, the Africa CDC launched its Partnership to Speed up COVID-19 Testing (PACT), which is working to extend testing capability and prepare and deploy well being employees throughout the continent. It’s already supplied laboratory tools and testing reagents to Nigeria, and has deployed public well being employees from the African Well being Volunteers Corps throughout the continent to struggle the pandemic, making use of information picked up when combating Ebola.
The Africa Union has additionally established a continent-wide platform for procuring laboratory and medical provides: the Africa Medical Provides Platform (AMSP). It lets member states purchase licensed medical tools – reminiscent of diagnostic kits and private protecting tools – with elevated price effectiveness, via bulk buying and improved logistics. This additionally will increase transparency and fairness between members, decreasing competitors for essential provides. Evaluate this with the underhand techniques utilized by some developed nations when competing for shipments of medical tools.
The AMSP isn’t distinctive. The European Union has an identical platform – the Joint Procurement Settlement. Nevertheless, a bumpy begin along with gradual and overly bureaucratic processes led some international locations to arrange parallel alliances in an try to safe entry to future vaccines. The AMSP prevented sharing this destiny due to the African Union handing over its growth to the personal sector underneath the management of the Zimbabwean billionaire Attempt Masiyiwa. He pulled collectively the experience wanted to rapidly develop a well-functioning platform, drawing on his contacts and companies throughout the digital and telecoms sectors.
This contributed to the AMSP’s recognition with distributors and created excessive demand from member states. There are actually plans to develop entry to hospitals and native authorities authorised by member states, and for extra help to be included from donors (such because the Invoice and Melinda Gates Basis and MasterCard Basis). Once more, a decisive determination, specializing in putting in robust management, has paid dividends.
Sturdy management on COVID-19 hasn’t been restricted to African international locations. The Vietnamese authorities has been extensively praised for its clear and fascinating public well being marketing campaign. This has been credited with bringing the nation collectively and getting a large quantity of buy-in on efforts to regulate the virus.
Vietnam has additionally proven that good management includes performing on the teachings from the previous. The 2003 Sars outbreak led to robust funding in well being infrastructure, with a median annual improve of 9% in public well being expenditure between 2000 and 2016. This gave Vietnam a head begin throughout the early phases of the pandemic.
Vietnam’s expertise with Sars additionally contributed to the design of efficient containment methods, which included quarantine measures based mostly on publicity threat reasonably than signs. Badly affected international locations such because the UK, which acquired warnings that its pandemic preparedness wasn’t as much as scratch years in the past, ought to sit up and take observe. Vietnam has one of many lowest COVID-19 dying tolls.
Lastly, let’s take a look at Uruguay. The nation has the very best share of over-65s in South America, a largely city inhabitants (solely 5% of Uruguayans don’t dwell in cities) and a hard-to-police land border with Brazil, so it needs to be a probable an infection hotspot. But it has managed to curb the outbreak with out implementing lockdown.
Early aggressive testing methods and having the humility to ask the WHO for data on greatest practices have been among the many substances of its profitable response. Together with Costa Rica, Uruguay additionally launched a brief discount in salaries for its highest paid authorities officers to assist fund the pandemic response. The measure was handed unanimously in parliament and contributed to excessive ranges of social cohesion.
In fact, robust management isn’t restricted to the International South (Germany and New Zealand get prime marks), nor do all southern international locations have efficient management (consider Brazil). However the examples above present that good management – performing now, performing decisively and performing collectively – can go a protracted solution to compensating for international locations’ relative lack of assets.
Doing extra with much less
Necessity is alleged to be the mom of all invention – the place cash is in brief provide, ingenuity abounds. This has been simply as true throughout COVID-19 as at every other time, and is one other lesson the developed world would do effectively to contemplate.
Early on within the pandemic, Senegal began growing a ten-minute COVID-19 check that prices much less US$1 to manage and doesn’t want refined laboratory tools. Likewise, scientists in Rwanda developed a intelligent algorithm that allowed them to check a number of samples concurrently by pooling them collectively. This lowered prices and turnaround occasions, in the end resulting in extra individuals being examined and constructing a greater image of the illness within the nation.
In Latin America, governments have embraced expertise to watch COVID-19 instances and ship public well being data. Colombia has developed the CoronApp, which permits residents to obtain each day authorities messages and see how the virus is spreading within the nation with out utilizing up information. Chile has created a low-cost, unpatented coronavirus check, permitting different low-resource international locations to profit from the expertise.
Examples of entrepreneurship and innovation within the International South aren’t restricted to the biomedical discipline. In Ghana, a former pilot whose firm specialises in spraying crops repurposed his drones and had them disinfect open-air markets and different public areas. This rapidly and cheaply acquired a job finished that may usually have taken a number of hours and half a dozen individuals to do. And in Zimbabwe, on-line grocery start-ups are providing new alternatives for meals sellers to retain clients cautious of buying in individual.
Whereas these are handpicked examples, they illustrate the significance of the capability to innovate in situations of shortage – what is named “frugal innovation”. They show that easy, cheap or improvised options can clear up sophisticated issues, and that frugal options don’t must contain “chewing gum and baling wire” varieties of fixes.
The power to cope with advanced issues underneath useful resource constraints is a energy that may be helpful for all, significantly given the pandemic’s eye-watering influence on high-income economies. Options popping out of growing international locations might provide much better worth for cash than the frilly and costly “moonshot” options being mooted in international locations just like the UK.
Why not observe these examples?
This pandemic is one other wake-up name. Since Ebola and Zika, governments world wide have identified that they should up the “international preparedness” agenda. It’s typically mentioned that in the case of pandemics, the world is as weak as its weakest level.
International motion, nevertheless, requires shifting past nationwide pursuits to determine with the wants of others. We name this “international solidarity”. In contrast to relationships of solidarity inside nation states – that are based mostly on a shared language, historical past, ethnicity and so forth – international relationships must recognise the interdependence of various actors. International solidarity is so tough to realize as a result of it should accommodate distinction reasonably than depend on commonality.
The pandemic has proven why we’d like international solidarity. Globalisation has made international locations interdependent, not simply economically but additionally biologically. And but in latest months, isolationist stances have prevailed. From the USA pulling funding from the WHO to the UK’s refusal to take part within the EU’s Joint Procurement Settlement, international locations are as a substitute pursuing do-it-alone methods. Inside this inward-looking context, it’s little surprise that industrialised nations are failing to capitalise on classes from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
It’s not an absence of recognition that there’s information and experience exterior the developed world; it’s simply that such information is just not seen as related given the structural variations between developed and growing international locations. On this level, contemplate this closing instance.
Between the beginning of April and the tip of June, the Rural Growth Basis based mostly in Sindh province in Pakistan by itself decreased the unfold of an infection within the area by greater than 80%. It did this by participating communities via data campaigns and sanitation measures. Neighborhood-level approaches have additionally been efficiently deployed within the DRC and Sierra Leone. Throughout these international locations’ Ebola outbreaks, reasonably than counting on tech and apps, authorities skilled native individuals to do in-person contact tracing as a substitute.
These community-level methods have been advocated by developed world consultants, together with from the UK. And but, regardless of the clear present want, tried-and-tested low-cost approaches like this stay underused in high-income international locations. They’ve been disregarded in favour of high-tech options, which up to now haven’t proved to be any simpler.
The issue, as this instance illustrates, is the persistence of a pervasive narrative in international well being that portrays industrialised international locations as “superior” as compared with the “backward” or “poor” growing world, as described by Edward Mentioned in his foundational e-book Orientalism. Europe’s failure to be taught from growing international locations is the inevitable consequence of traditionally ingrained narratives of growth and underdevelopment that keep the concept the so-called developed world has all the things to show and nothing to be taught.
But when COVID-19 has taught us something, it’s that these occasions demand that we recalibrate our perceptions of data and experience. A “second wave” is already on Europe’s doorstep. Many international locations within the southern hemisphere are nonetheless in the course of the primary. The a lot talked-up international preparedness agenda would require responses to be dealt with very in a different way from what we’ve seen up to now, with international solidarity and cooperation entrance and centre. A wholesome begin can be for developed international locations to eliminate their “world-beating” mindset, domesticate the humility to have interaction with international locations they don’t usually look in the direction of, and be taught from them.
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from Growth News https://growthnews.in/what-developing-countries-can-teach-rich-countries-about-how-to-respond-to-a-pandemic/ via https://growthnews.in
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Fwd: Postdoc: ColumbiaU.TuberculosisEvolution
Begin forwarded message: > From: [email protected] > Subject: Postdoc: ColumbiaU.TuberculosisEvolution > Date: 24 October 2019 at 07:51:54 CEST > To: [email protected] > > > > The Department of Epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of > Public Health in New York City invites applications for a Postdoctoral > Research Scientist with interest in infectious disease, genomic > epidemiology and evolution. We are recruiting multiple postdoctoral > fellows to join a multidisciplinary research group on genomic epidemiology > and biology of tuberculosis (TB), Mycobacterium abscessus infections, > and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacterial pathogens. Our > research questions sit on interface between epidemiology, clinical > and pathogen biology to advance understanding, translate knowledge, and > ultimately achieve population-level impact on infectious disease epidemics > globally. Specific ongoing projects include genome-level phylodynamics of > drug-resistant epidemics of TB and other bacterial pathogens, phylogenomic > and spatial studies of TB transmission, integration of genomic data for > public health disease control priorities, emergent drug resistance on > treatment, and molecular genetics of dual beta-lactam activity against > M. abscessus. The postdoctoral fellow will also have the opportunity to > develop an independent, relevant research program. > > Collaborators include multiple academic and governmental groups, and > active collaborations in South Africa, US, China, Moldova, Brazil, > and India. Travel opportunities exist to visit collaborators, study > sites, present results at conferences and workshops, and to develop new > collaborations. Active funding is primarily through the NIH and the > Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other private foundations. This > is an excellent opportunity for researchers interested in utilizing > novel multidisciplinary methods along with genomic approaches to the > epidemiology of infectious diseases, particularly within a global > health context. > > Applications are invited from doctoral (PhD or similar) degree holders > for a full-time fellowship for 2 year at the outset, with the option to > extend. Multidisciplinary candidates that are enthusiastic, creative and > motivated with expertise in infectious disease epidemiology, evolutionary > genetics, bioinformatics, microbiology, or molecular genetics should > apply. > > The salary range will depend on qualifications and research experience, > includes a full health and benefits package, and potential access to > university housing in northern Manhattan. Dedicated and intensive career > development work is a prominent component of the position, and potential > funding exists for coursework and travel to global collaborating sites. > > Eligibility: - Doctorate in one of the following areas: infectious disease > epidemiology, microbial population genetics, microbiology and molecular > biology skills with a strong bioinformatics component, or a similar > discipline > - Strong writing and analytical skills, and publication record > commensurate with experience > - Strong interest in some of the following: infectious disease > epidemiology and genomics, evolutionary genetics, bioinformatics, > statistical inference, public health > - Ability to conduct self-directed research from hypothesis-generating > to testing > - Ability to interpret and query results and follow independent lines of > inquiry that arise > - Ability to work with project partners in epidemiology, public health, > biology, and statistics, depending on the specific project > - Knowledge of one of more common programming languages > > Required Applicant Documents: Cover Letter, CV, 2 reference letters, 1 > writing sample/publication, and 1-page research statement; all documents > in one PDF file; reference letters to be sent directly by referees. To > inquire, please email Dr. Barun Mathema ([email protected]). > > [email protected] > via IFTTT
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Offering a white labeled lending service in emerging markets, Mines raises $13 million
Jake Bright Contributor
Jake Bright is a writer and author in New York City. He is co-author of The Next Africa.
More posts by this contributor
MallforAfrica goes global, Kobo360 and Sokowatch raise VC, France explains its $76M fund
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Emerging markets credit startup Mines.io has closed a $13 million Series A round led by The Rise Fund, the global impact fund formed by private equity giant TPG, and 10 others, including Velocity Capital.
Mines provides business to consumer (B2C) “credit-as-a-service” products to large firms.
“We’re a technology company that facilitates local institutions — banks, mobile operators, retailers — to offer credit to their customers,” Mines CEO and co-founder Ekechi Nwokah told TechCrunch.
Most of Mines’ partnerships entail white label lending products offered on mobile phones, including non-smart USSD devices.
With offices in San Mateo and Lagos, Mines uses big-data (extracted primarily from mobile users) and proprietary risk algorithms “to enable lending decisions,” Nwokah explained.
“We combine a strong AI technology with full…deployment services — disbursement…collections, payments, loan management, and regulatory — wrap it up in a box, give it to our partners, and then help them run it,” he said.
Mines’ typical client is a company “that has a large customer base and wants to avail credit to that customer base,” according to Nwokah. The startup generates revenue from fees and revenue share with partners.
Mines started operations in Nigeria and counts payment processor Interswitch and mobile operator Airtel as current partners. In addition to talent acquisition, the startup plans to use the Series A to expand its credit-as-a-service products into new markets in South America and Southeast Asia “in the next few months,” according to its CEO.
Mines sees itself as “hardcore technology company based in Silicon Valley with a global view,” according to Nwokah. “At the same time we’re very African,” he said.
The startup’s leadership team is led by three Nigerians — Nwokah, Chief Scientist Kunle Olukutun, and MD Adia Sowho. The company came together after Oluktun (then and still a Stanford professor) and Nwokah (a then AWS big data specialist) met in Palo Alto in 2014.
Looking through the lens of their home country Nigeria, the two identified two problems in emerging markets: low access to credit across large swaths of the population and insufficient tools for big institutions to put together viable consumer lending programs.
Due to a number of structural factors in these markets, such as low regulatory support, lack of credit data and tech support, “there’s no incentive for many banks and institutions to take risk on a retail lending business,” according to Nwokah.
Nwokah sees Mines’ end user market as “the more than 3 billion adults globally without access to credit,” and its direct client market as big “banks, retailers and mobile operators…who want to power digital credit tailored to these markets.”
Mines views itself as different from the U.S.’s controversial payday lenders by serving different consumer needs. “If you live in a country where your salary is not guaranteed every month, where you don’t have a credit card…where you have to pay upfront cash for almost everything you do, you need cash,” he said
The most common loan profile for one of Mines’ partners is $30 at 15 percent flat for a couple of weeks.
Nkowah wouldn’t name specific countries for the startup’s pending South America and Southeast Asia expansion, but believes “this technology is scalable across geographies.”
As part of the Series A, Yemi Lalude from TPG Growth (founder of The Rise Fund) will join Mines’ board of directors.
On a call with TechCrunch Lalude named the company’s ability to “drive financial inclusion within a matter of seconds from mobiles devices” their “local execution on the ground” and model of “partnering with many large organizations with their own balance sheets” as reasons for the investment commitment.
With Mines’ pending Asia and South America move they join Nigerian tech companies MallforAfrica.com and data analytics firm Terragon Group, who have expanded or stated plans to expand internationally this year.
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A Programme of Action in the time of Covid-19 – a call for social solidarity
March 25, 2020
The People’s Health Movement South Africa is among the 100 Civic Organisations, trade unions, faith-based organisations, organisations of informal workers and community-based organisations who endorsed the Programme of Action in the time of COVID-19 – A call for solidarity in South Africa.
We, as civic organisations, trade unions, organisations of informal workers, faith-based organisations and community structures in South Africa, call on all people, every stakeholder and sector, to contain the infection, reduce transmission and mitigate the social and political impacts of the COVID-19 virus.
The government retains a critical role in coordinating actions and distributing resources, yet its efforts will not be enough if we do not hold it to account and commit to a broad, bottom-up, public effort at this time. In a society as unequal as ours, we must work together to ensure that all safety measures are shared equitably.
We have a particular duty to safeguard those who are most vulnerable, those who are already living with hunger, weakened immune systems and poor access to health care. Greater restrictions and shutdowns are coming, but they will only work if full support is provided to working-class and poor communities. Drastic measures are needed if we are to avoid disaster. Each of us must act now.
Acknowledging other statements coming from fellow movements and organisations, we put forward the following Programme of Action for all of us to work towards in the coming days.
1. Income security for all
In order for people to remain at home, there must be income security for all. Employers must continue to pay salaries or grant sick leave while employees are restricted to their homes, and where continued salaries are impossible government must provide workers with income protection for wages lost during the pandemic. There must be a moratorium on retrenchments during this time. Self-employed, casual workers and those whose income is suspended at this time must be supported by the government to prevent job-seeking movement and provide income security. The social grant system must be extended to ensure the direct transfer of cash to households during this precarious time. All defaults on the mortgage and debt repayments during this time must be non-consequential. All evictions and removals must be banned. As Labour has proposed, a bold stimulus package will be required in the coming period. These measures must be developed in consultation with poor and working-class formations.
2. All households, residential institutions, the homeless and the informally housed must have easy access to sanitation, especially water and safe ablution facilities.
There must be an immediate opening of restricted water meters, mass-provision of safe water access points with the unconstrained flow in areas where there is limited household access to water, and mass-distribution of safe ablution facilities to informal settlements. All of these sanitation points must have access to soap and/or sanitizer and information on the prevention of the virus.
3. All households, residential institutions, the homeless and the informally housed must have access to food
If we are to stay at home during this time, access to nutritious food is fundamental. The absence of the School Nutrition Programme is devastating. A coordinated and safe roll-out of food packages directly to distribution points in food-stressed neighbourhoods must be implemented. Failing that, the child support grant must be augmented. Support for locally-organised food systems must be strengthened.
4. Essential private facilities must be appropriated for public use to provide a unified and fair distribution of essential goods and services to all
National resources need to be focused and deployed in order to combat the epidemic. Essential services – health centres, food services, water and sanitation etc. – should be identified for urgent support and extension. This may require the conversion of factories and other places of production to produce sanitiser, protective clothing, water tanks, soap, food parcels, ventilators and other essential medical equipment. Essential private facilities must be made available for public use to provide a unified and fair distribution of essential goods and services to all. It requires that the public and private health systems need to be regarded as one national health system and coordinated in the national and public interest, also through state appropriation if necessary, as Spain recently demonstrated. Finances may have to be mobilised through unconventional means such as compulsory national bonds or loans, reforms to tax structures and others. Exported food might need to be redistributed locally. Regulations on price hikes should be implemented.
5. Community self-organisation and local action is critical, as it our representation in national coordination
Civic organisations, community structures, trade unions and faith-based organisations will be extremely important in organising on the ground during this emergency. We must all take action where we are. Civic structures must be engaged, supported and given representation on the National Command Council. The distribution of reliable information, essential services and care for our people will require a massive coordinated effort from community leaders and structures. Volunteers must be trained and organised for safe, coordinated, campaigns at street-level and for those living in institutions. Middle-class and wealthy communities and organisations have an obligation to make resources available to poor and working-class communities.
6. Community Health Workers must be insourced trained and supported and, along with other frontline health and emergency services workers, must have access to the resources necessary to safely and effectively contain the virus
The 70 000 Community Health Workers are the outreach arms of our health. If they and other frontline health workers and emergency services workers are to provide the community services required during this time, they must all have access to reliable information, safety and protective gear, and the testing and other resources for effective containment of the virus. All workers must also receive safety and protective gear.
7. We must identify strategies to calm tensions and divert violence in our homes
Home-based quarantine will escalate family and relationship tensions, and will likely lead to more violence against women, children and others most marginalized in our families and communities including LGBTI people and foreign nationals. We need to identify strategies to calm tensions and divert violence in our homes and communities over this time. We need a strong education campaign against all forms of violence, especially domestic violence. We need to strengthen safe responses from existing neighbourhood, regional and national organisations supporting women and children. This includes extending access to helplines for domestic violence, mental health, easing referral systems to shelters, and resourcing shelters to keep them open, functional and safe in the time of the virus.
8. Communication must be free, open and democratised
There must be an immediate distribution of free data to all so that people are able to receive good information, contact loved ones during isolation and quarantine, and understand the measures that are in place to create safety. Access to the best international research should be free and public. There must be daily national press conferences from government leaders alongside scientists and professionals who can keep all of our people informed about the emerging situation.
9. The inequalities within our educational services need to be carefully considered, and mitigated, when moving to remote learning
Data and free website content must be made widely available to educational institutions for continued learning. However, there is massive inequality of access to resources such as computers, electricity, WiFi and learning space, as well as difficult home situations that disproportionately affect poor and working-class learners, students and educators. The move to online learning should be made carefully, and as a temporary measure. We should not extend the inequalities in the education system by affording remote education to the few. Schools and universities should consider their collective role as community educators and developers facing an unprecedented shared experience. Schools, residences and dormitories should be understood as a public resource during this time, including for the safe distribution of food and other essential services interrupted by school closures.
10. We must prevent a nationalist, authoritarian and security-focused approach in containing the virus
We must guard against the easy deployment of military and police to create security in our communities. We must also prevent against creating scapegoats to blame for the current crisis. Instead, we must ensure that care and resources are provided for the safety and protection of all who live in our country and in our communities.
How each of us responds to the COVID-19 pandemic will determine who we are as a society. The better we respond now, the better we will be after the pandemic. We must follow international best practice and the science that we have available to us to build an assertive response that works for the context of our own history and society. Our response must be just, equitable, and redistributive if we are to meet the needs of all our people. In times of physical distancing, social solidarity is key.
For media contact:
Noncedo Madubedube
General Secretary, Equal Education Campaign
Cell: 079 170 4656
Mazibuko Jara
Deputy Director, Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education
Cell: 083 987 9633
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Jake Bright Contributor
Jake Bright is a writer and author in New York City. He is co-author of The Next Africa.
More posts by this contributor
MallforAfrica goes global, Kobo360 and Sokowatch raise VC, France explains its $76M fund
Harley-Davidson to expand EV lineup, may include scooters, bicycles
Emerging markets credit startup Mines.io has closed a $13 million Series A round led by The Rise Fund, the global impact fund formed by private equity giant TPG, and 10 others, including Velocity Capital.
Mines provides business to consumer (B2C) “credit-as-a-service” products to large firms.
“We’re a technology company that facilitates local institutions — banks, mobile operators, retailers — to offer credit to their customers,” Mines CEO and co-founder Ekechi Nwokah told TechCrunch.
Most of Mines’ partnerships entail white-label lending products offered on mobile phones, including non-smart USSD devices.
With offices in San Mateo and Lagos, Mines uses big-data (extracted primarily from mobile users) and proprietary risk algorithms “to enable lending decisions,” Nwokah explained.
“We combine a strong AI technology with full…deployment services — disbursement…collections, payments, loan management, and regulatory — wrap it up in a box, give it to our partners and then help them run it,” he said.
Mines’ typical client is a company “that has a large customer base and wants to avail credit to that customer base,” according to Nwokah. The startup generates revenue from fees and revenue share with partners.
Mines started operations in Nigeria and counts payment processor Interswitch and mobile operator Airtel as current partners. In addition to talent acquisition, the startup plans to use the Series A to expand its credit-as-a-service products into new markets in South America and Southeast Asia “in the next few months,” according to its CEO.
Mines sees itself as a “hardcore technology company based in Silicon Valley with a global view,” according to Nwokah. “At the same time, we’re very African,” he said.
The startup’s leadership team is led by three Nigerians — Nwokah, Chief Scientist Kunle Olukotun and MD Adia Sowho. The company came together after Olukotun (then and still a Stanford professor) and Nwokah (a then-AWS big data specialist) met in Palo Alto in 2014.
Looking through the lens of their home country Nigeria, the two identified two problems in emerging markets: low access to credit across large swaths of the population and insufficient tools for big institutions to put together viable consumer lending programs.
Due to a number of structural factors in these markets, such as low regulatory support, lack of credit data and tech support, “there’s no incentive for many banks and institutions to take risk on a retail lending business,” according to Nwokah.
Nwokah sees Mines’ end user market as “the more than 3 billion adults globally without access to credit,” and its direct client market as big “banks, retailers and mobile operators…who want to power digital credit tailored to these markets.”
Mines views itself as different from the U.S.’s controversial payday lenders by serving different consumer needs. “If you live in a country where your salary is not guaranteed every month, where you don’t have a credit card…where you have to pay upfront cash for almost everything you do, you need cash,” he said
The most common loan profile for one of Mines’ partners is $30 at 15 percent flat for a couple of weeks.
Nwokah wouldn’t name specific countries for the startup’s pending South America and Southeast Asia expansion, but believes “this technology is scalable across geographies.”
As part of the Series A, Yemi Lalude from TPG Growth (founder of The Rise Fund) will join Mines’ board of directors.
On a call with TechCrunch, Lalude named the company’s ability to “drive financial inclusion within a matter of seconds from mobiles devices,” their “local execution on the ground” and model of “partnering with many large organizations with their own balance sheets” as reasons for the investment commitment.
With Mines’ pending Asia and South America move they join Nigerian tech companies MallforAfrica.com and data analytics firm Terragon Group, who have expanded or stated plans to expand internationally this year.
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Jake Bright Contributor
Jake Bright is a writer and author in New York City. He is co-author of The Next Africa.
More posts by this contributor
MallforAfrica goes global, Kobo360 and Sokowatch raise VC, France explains its $76M fund
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Emerging markets credit startup Mines.io has closed a $13 million Series A round led by The Rise Fund, the global impact fund formed by private equity giant TPG, and 10 others, including Velocity Capital.
Mines provides business to consumer (B2C) “credit-as-a-service” products to large firms.
“We’re a technology company that facilitates local institutions — banks, mobile operators, retailers — to offer credit to their customers,” Mines CEO and co-founder Ekechi Nwokah told TechCrunch.
Most of Mines’ partnerships entail white-label lending products offered on mobile phones, including non-smart USSD devices.
With offices in San Mateo and Lagos, Mines uses big-data (extracted primarily from mobile users) and proprietary risk algorithms “to enable lending decisions,” Nwokah explained.
“We combine a strong AI technology with full…deployment services — disbursement…collections, payments, loan management, and regulatory — wrap it up in a box, give it to our partners and then help them run it,” he said.
Mines’ typical client is a company “that has a large customer base and wants to avail credit to that customer base,” according to Nwokah. The startup generates revenue from fees and revenue share with partners.
Mines started operations in Nigeria and counts payment processor Interswitch and mobile operator Airtel as current partners. In addition to talent acquisition, the startup plans to use the Series A to expand its credit-as-a-service products into new markets in South America and Southeast Asia “in the next few months,” according to its CEO.
Mines sees itself as a “hardcore technology company based in Silicon Valley with a global view,” according to Nwokah. “At the same time, we’re very African,” he said.
The startup’s leadership team is led by three Nigerians — Nwokah, Chief Scientist Kunle Olukotun and MD Adia Sowho. The company came together after Olukotun (then and still a Stanford professor) and Nwokah (a then-AWS big data specialist) met in Palo Alto in 2014.
Looking through the lens of their home country Nigeria, the two identified two problems in emerging markets: low access to credit across large swaths of the population and insufficient tools for big institutions to put together viable consumer lending programs.
Due to a number of structural factors in these markets, such as low regulatory support, lack of credit data and tech support, “there’s no incentive for many banks and institutions to take risk on a retail lending business,” according to Nwokah.
Nwokah sees Mines’ end user market as “the more than 3 billion adults globally without access to credit,” and its direct client market as big “banks, retailers and mobile operators…who want to power digital credit tailored to these markets.”
Mines views itself as different from the U.S.’s controversial payday lenders by serving different consumer needs. “If you live in a country where your salary is not guaranteed every month, where you don’t have a credit card…where you have to pay upfront cash for almost everything you do, you need cash,” he said
The most common loan profile for one of Mines’ partners is $30 at 15 percent flat for a couple of weeks.
Nwokah wouldn’t name specific countries for the startup’s pending South America and Southeast Asia expansion, but believes “this technology is scalable across geographies.”
As part of the Series A, Yemi Lalude from TPG Growth (founder of The Rise Fund) will join Mines’ board of directors.
On a call with TechCrunch, Lalude named the company’s ability to “drive financial inclusion within a matter of seconds from mobiles devices,” their “local execution on the ground” and model of “partnering with many large organizations with their own balance sheets” as reasons for the investment commitment.
With Mines’ pending Asia and South America move they join Nigerian tech companies MallforAfrica.com and data analytics firm Terragon Group, who have expanded or stated plans to expand internationally this year.
via TechCrunch
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