September 24, 2022

Huawei Hosts the 9th Global Rail Summit in Berlin

BERLIN, Sept. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — In parallel with InnoTrans 2022, Huawei held the 9th Huawei Global Rail Summit, themed “Driving Digitalization in Future Rail, Create New Value Together”. The summit brought together global industry leaders, ecosystem partners, and technical experts to discuss the future of the rail industry.

At the summit, Huawei launched the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) Solution, which aims to help build a more secure, efficient, and smarter railway mobile communications system. Mr. Wang Guoyu, COO of Huawei Aviation & Rail BU, and other guests attended the launch.

“Huawei helps customers go digital. We use innovative technologies — such as FRMCS, Wi-Fi 6, and all-optical networks — to reshape connections, reconstruct digital platforms, and facilitate data sharing and collaboration across multiple service systems in the rail industry. We hope to enable intelligent rail operations and O&M through joint innovation with our partners.” said Mr. Xiang Xi, Vice President of Huawei Aviation & Rail BU.

Adhering to the concept of openness and cooperation, Huawei is committed to driving digital transformation along with rail customers and ecosystem partners. We complement each other’s strengths, innovate together, explore industry standards, and build an ecosystem for rail digitalization.

At the summit, Jeffrey Sim, CEO of SBS Transit Rail Business, explained the company’s digital journey. Vincenzo Bloise, International Sales Director of Almaviva, introduced how modern ICT solutions can boost digitalization in railways and Mr. Li Jie, President of Huawei Enterprise Wireless Domain, demonstrated how Huawei’s FRMCS solution enables railway digitalization. In addition, Steven Xiong, CTO for the rail industry of Huawei Aviation & Rail BU, delivered a keynote speech titled “Driving Digitalization in Future Rail, Create New Value Together” and shared industry digitalization cases.

Huawei exhibited its innovative solutions and flagship products for the rail industry at InnoTrans 2022. These include leading ICT infrastructure, green energy, smart urban rail, and smart railway solutions.

Huawei aims to reshape rail connectivity and enable secure, intelligent, green, and sustainable development. We will continue to dive into innovative practices and deploy its leading ICTs to lay a digital foundation for the industry. Huawei will build smart applications in collaboration with our partners, steadily advancing industry digital transformation.

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September 24, 2022September 26, 2022

Air Traffic Controllers Suspend Strike in West and Central Africa

DAKAR — A 48-hour strike by air traffic controllers in West and Central Africa has been suspended, their union said Saturday.

The strike, which started Friday, has disrupted flights across the region and left hundreds of passengers stranded at airports Saturday.

The Union of Air Traffic Controllers’ Unions (USYCAA), which called the wildcat strike, said in a statement it decided to suspend its strike notice for 10 days immediately so as to allow for negotiations.

“Air traffic services will be provided in all air spaces and airports managed by ASECNA from today Saturday, September 24, 2022 at 1200 GMT,” the statement said.

The union said more than 700 air traffic controllers joined the strike to demand better working conditions and pay.

The controllers work under the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) an 18-member state agency that manages air traffic over an area covering 16 million square km of airspace.

Stranded passengers

Across the region, airport operations ground to a near halt as authorities tried to keep control towers operational for some flights.

Hundreds of passengers were stranded at Douala International Airport in Cameroon Saturday morning, national television CRTV reported. National carrier Camair-Co said Friday it had canceled all its flights because of the strike.

Nsoh Brinston, a stranded passenger who was to fly to Kigali, Rwanda, said his flight has canceled.

“I will have to spend more than I intended due to the canceled flight. I will have to do another COVID test, which costs 30,000 CFA francs ($45),” he said.

He would also have to find a place to spend the night.

West, central Africa affected

In Senegal, the airport departure board showed cancellations for flights operated by Brussels Airlines, Kenyan Airways and Emirates as passengers gathered to check if their flight was still on schedule.

A group of students from Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, who were due to fly back home from Dakar said they were stuck at the airport because they could not afford the fare to the city, around 50 km from the airport.

“We were supposed to board at 0900 GMT but we’re still here,” one of the students said, requesting to remain anonymous. “We have been told the situation could be resolved by tomorrow.”

“I was supposed to leave at 1400 GMT. The flight was announced as scheduled but we have just been told that it has been canceled,” said Maxine Compaore, who was supposed to fly to Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

In Ivory Coast, eight flights scheduled to leave the commercial hub of Abidjan Saturday were canceled.

Source: Voice of America

September 24, 2022September 26, 2022

IMF ranks Ghana first in Africa with largest outstanding debt owed

WASHINGTON, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has ranked Ghana number one in Africa with the largest outstanding debt owed to the Bretton Woods institution.

The Fund in its latest Quarterly Finances report ending July 2022 showed that Ghana’s outstanding debt obligations are estimated at 1.31 billion in Special Drawing Rights which is equivalent to about $1.69 billion.

The report further explained that Ghana’s outstanding loans represent 9 percent of the total sum for African countries which are indebted to the Fund and yet to honor their loan obligations.

It added that the percentage is equivalent to 178 percent of its share of monies borrowed from the IMF.

The Quarterly Finances report, however, excluded COVID-19-related and economic support received by Ghana which amounts to more than $1.2 billion from the Fund.

Ghana’s loan exposure has since been classified by the IMF as concessional lending – which comes with low-interest financing.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s external debt component was pegged at $28.1 billion as of June 2022, with a large portion of the loans used for commercial purposes.

The IMF rankings have also placed Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2nd and 3rd in Africa with the largest outstanding loans.

The two countries have Special Drawing Rights of 992 million and 990 million respectively.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK