Africa

Dr. Augustine Njamnshi of ACSEA addresses a group of civil society organizations ahead of the AUC Summit in Addis Ababa. Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

By Isaiah Esipisu
ADDIS ABABA, Feb 27 2025 (IPS)

Renewable energy and climate change activists have challenged African heads of state to take a united stance to safeguard essential mineral resources, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and other parts of the continent, which are selfishly exploited by foreign miners with disregard for poverty-stricken local communities.

“We call upon the Africa Union Commission (AUC) to convene a special summit on the DRC and come up with resolutions on how African countries, particularly the DRC, should determine the value of their essential minerals, how they should engage foreign miners, and how to protect fundamental human rights of communities living in the mining areas,” said Dr. Augustine Njamnshi, the Director, Africa Coalition on Sustainable Energy Access (ACSEA), at an event ahead of the election of the new AUC Chairperson in Addis Ababa.

So far, the DRC is the world’s largest producer of cobalt and the third largest producer of copper, among other essential minerals that are used to manufacture state-of-the-art electric cars and buses, golf carts, pumps, and electric motorbikes, among other non-emitting but expensive gadgets like smart phones, tablets, laptops, drones, smart watches, and electric scooters, among other items.

As a result, the value and the growing demand of cobalt and other such essential minerals have led to a scramble for these rare metals, particularly by foreign miners.

Even as the activists make an appeal, the mineral wealth has become a pawn in the DRC’s war with Rwandan-backed M23.

According to Congolese president Felix Tseisekedi’s spokesperson, Tina Salama, on X, the United States was warned not to buy minerals from Rwanda, as this was tantamount to buying stolen goods. She said the proposal to buy directly from the DRC was also open to the European Union, with a warning that “receiving stolen goods will become increasingly complicated.”

“President Tshisekedi invites the USA, whose companies source strategic raw materials from Rwanda, materials that are looted from the DRC and smuggled to Rwanda while our populations are massacred, to purchase them directly from us, the rightful owners,” Salama said on X.

Appolinaire Zagabe, a Congolese human rights activist and the Director for the DRC Climate Change Network (Reseau Sur le Changement Climatique RDC), told IPS in an interview that the mineral exploitation was mired in corruption.

“The foreign miners sign contracts with the government to legalize their activities, and since they make so much money, they always bribe government officials and top-ranking police officers to protect them as they illegally expand their mining areas by forcefully evicting communities from their ancestral land,” Zagabe said.

“The current system of mineral exploitation activities in the DRC has almost no positive impact on the local communities. Community rights are not respected and the population is a victim of companies’ pollution,” Zagabe told IPS. “There are no community programs undertaken, no durable infrastructure is put in place, no health facilities, no schools, no roads. Hence, people in those areas remain the poorest in the world.”

Zagabe says that nearly all the hundreds of thousands of community members who suffer at the hands of foreign miners of cobalt and other essential minerals have never seen what an electric vehicle looks like, they have never owned a smart phone, and they don’t dream of using a tablet or even a computer in their lifetime, yet they interact on a daily basis with essential minerals that are at the center of manufacturing these items.

A report by Amnesty International in collaboration with the Initiative for Good Governance and Human Rights/Initiative pour la Bonne Gouvernance et les Droits Humains (IBGDH) paints a grim picture of what is happening in the DRC.

The minerals, which are apparently supposed to be a huge blessing, have turned out to be a curse for the communities.

“People are being forcibly evicted, or threatened or intimidated into leaving their homes, or misled into consenting to derisory settlements. Often there was no grievance mechanism, accountability, or access to justice,” said Donat Kambola, president of IBGDH, in a statement.

“It is total chaos,” said Zagabe. “Human rights activists are often harassed whenever they denounce violations of community rights in mining areas, and they risk being killed since most illegal mining companies have the backing of politicians or high-ranking soldiers,” he said.

The rush for essential minerals has also exposed artisanal/local miners to harsh working conditions where some of them have been buried alive within collapsed tunnels, children have been forced to child labor, and women, whose livelihoods have been taken away, have been forced to toil to extreme lengths to find minerals, which they sell to foreign mining companies for almost nothing.

According to a report by Friends of the Congo (FOTC), child labor is well documented in the cobalt supply chain, with children as young as seven (years old) working in mines under dangerous conditions, depriving them of education and a healthy childhood.

“Pit wall collapses are common when digging in larger open-air pits, with the result of all miners being buried alive; of the 10,000 to 15,000 tunnels dug by artisanal miners, none have supports, ventilation shafts, or other safety measures,” reads part of the report.

According to Njamnshi, whatever is happening in the DRC mining sector is replicated in nearly all other African countries. “The only difference is that in the DRC, the atrocities are on a large scale and therefore are more visible than what is happening, for example, in Kenya’s Nyatike goldmines in the western part of the country,” he said, noting that there is a need for a collective high-level resolution to protect all African countries from greedy foreign mineral-thirsty companies.

The alleged disrespect of human rights and signing of dubious contracts that oppress communities, denying them right to their resources, is not in line with the Dubai COP 28 resolution, which called for rapid decarbonization of the energy system to keep the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach.

The negotiators called for acceleration of the clean energy transition both from the demand and supply sides, but through a transformation that is orderly, just and equitable and also accounts for energy security.

“The world is changing very fast, and the geopolitical dynamics are becoming more unpredictable,” said Dr. Mithika Mwenda, the Executive Director at the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).

“President Donald Trump’s executive orders should be a wake-up call for the continent, and likewise, African countries should find the power to dictate terms on their natural resources, including essential minerals,” he said during a PACJA event ahead of the 2025 AUC Summit in Addis Ababa.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Credit: Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC)
 
On February 27, policymakers worldwide will mark the 20th anniversary of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), the first legally binding global health treaty of its kind. A Treaty That Saved Lives— But the Merchant of Death Still Walks Free

By Deborah Sy and Reina Roa Rodríguez
MANILA, Philippines / PANAMA CITY, Panama, Feb 27 2025 (IPS)

The world took a historic step in the fight against tobacco when the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) came into force—the first legally binding global health treaty of its kind.

Two decades later, it stands as one of the most widely ratified international agreements, with 183 Parties bound by law to safeguard public health from the grip of the tobacco epidemic. The FCTC’s impact has been transformative. Seventy-five percent of its members have implemented at least some of its provisions, saving millions of lives.

Governments have raised tobacco taxes and are able to point to a benchmark rate, introduced graphic health warnings and can refer to a global database of warnings, banned all forms of cigarette advertising to the extent that major social media platforms have algorithms to avoid tobacco advertisements, and treated the FCTC as the minimum standard it was meant to be—for example, by passing laws that require cigarette packs to be simple and free of branding (plain packaging).

Once feared as a trigger for international trade wars, tobacco control measures have been upheld in the World Trade Organization (WTO). With the power of the FCTC, the tobacco transnational’s rights to its brand name and right to sue governments as foreign investors have been trumped in favor of public health.

Despite the FCTC’s near-universal adoption, less than half of the Parties have implemented Article 5.3 measures to prevent industry interference. Yet, where enforced, these safeguards have proven effective, blocking tobacco-funded COVID-19 vaccines from being promoted as corporate social responsibility(CSR).

The treaty also set a global precedent for rejecting tobacco industry partnerships, with the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) barring tobacco companies, the International Labor Organization (ILO) cutting industry funding, and UN agencies prohibiting tobacco-linked Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) collaborations.

FCTC governance has also shaped anti-smuggling efforts. The treaty and its Illicit Trade Protocol have reinforced a key principle: the tobacco industry must not be part of the solution. Governments rejected the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL)’s application for Observer status due to tobacco funding, while the industry-backed track-and-trace system ‘Codentify’ was discredited due to conflicts of interest.

Rebranded Industry in the Age of ESG and Sustainability

The treaty helped delay the projection of 1 billion tobacco deaths in the 21st century—but new tobacco products are creating a fresh crisis.

Despite all these victories in public health, the tobacco industry has been persistently a cog in the machine and has been allowed to not just survive but even evolve. Tobacco giants have pivoted to a new strategy that allows them to hide behind environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives.

They invested in vaping, heated tobacco products (HTPs), and so-called “wellness” ventures, allowing them to create a “harm reduction” narrative while their products hook a whole new generation of youths, marketing themselves as public health allies while their products make people more vulnerable to chronic diseases.

Their CSR programs claim to support environmental sustainability—while they continue to sell the world’s largest source of plastic pollution: cigarette filters. Despite the fact that the UN Agency that shaped ESG trends has shunned tobacco as an ESG-compliant investment, national policies on ESG or CSR reporting are at risk of condoning this.

The COP and the “Dirty Ashtray” Delegations

With the introduction of novel products, tobacco companies gained a newfound sense of credibility and legitimacy, enabling them to influence national policies to exempt vaping from smoke-free laws and advertising ban, ultimately increasing youth exposure to and dependence on recreational addictive products.

The combination of the novel product with new narrative, CSR, direct lobbying, and revolving door appointments of senior government officials has allowed the industry’s influence to grow, even reaching the FCTC’s governing body, the Conference of the Parties (COP) — where tobacco industry arguments have successfully been used to weaken policy language and delay decision-making.

As a result, the FCTC COP failed to take a stronger stance on fully protecting the youth from recreational addictive devices, despite global youth-led coalitions demanding the same.

A Financial Solution: Making Big Tobacco Pay

To those gathering to mark the treaty’s 20th anniversary, a pressing question looms: Will the FCTC’s third decade be the one where Big Tobacco will stop causing harm?

The United States (U.S.) Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) forced the industry to pay $206 billion to U.S. states for healthcare costs. However, such rare legal victories have not succeeded in deterring misconduct. Even the recent Canadian lawsuit demonstrated how Big Tobacco can evade accountability through insolvency proceedings.

Governments need to go beyond litigation and adopt new financial mechanisms to hold the tobacco industry financially accountable: Tobacco companies should be forced to cover health and environmental costs through a polluter pays principle. Specialized tribunals could be designated to process claims without lengthy court battles.

A coordinated effort to harmonize sanctions and costs for harms can prevent Big Tobacco from exploiting regulatory loopholes across countries. Parties can consider establishing a Global Tobacco Control Fund modeled after vaccine injury or environmental compensation funds financed through mandatory industry contributions.

Towards Health Through Justice and Denormalization of the Tobacco Industry

The past decade has seen over 40 countries ban e-cigarettes and many exploring endgame strategies for a cigarette-free world. Belgium proposed a European Union (EU) – wide cigarette butt ban, and an immediate ban was backed by WHO in plastics treaty talks.

This decade also saw machine learning revolutionize real-time monitoring of tobacco industry interference and CSR strategies, curbing digital marketing, and tracking illicit trade. Meanwhile, youths are demanding financial accountability for generational harms.

In the coming decade, the $1.4 trillion annual global cost of smoking will grow to include lost opportunities, rehabilitation expenses for a generation of addicted youth, and the devastating environmental impact of the tobacco industry.

Governments must fully enforce the treaty—particularly Article 18 on environmental protection and Article 19 on liability—to hold tobacco companies financially accountable for the harm they cause, ensuring penalties that deter future misconduct. To stay relevant, the FCTC must continue expanding its influence beyond health, addressing policies on ESG, taxation, finance, and plastics regulation.

The world came together in 2005 to declare that tobacco must be controlled and reduced. In 2025, it must declare that Big Tobacco must be held accountable for 8 million lives lost each year. The merchants of death must not walk.

Atty. Deborah Sy, Head of Global Public Policy and Strategy at the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC), is a legal expert in global health and tobacco control. She has played a key role in strengthening global policies on tobacco taxation, industry interference, liability, and environmental protection from tobacco.

Dr Reina Roa Rodríguez currently sits as the President of the Bureau of the FCTC COP and is a globally recognized leader in tobacco control. A technical-political expert at the Panamanian Ministry of Health and a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, she has played a pivotal role in advancing FCTC implementation at national, regional, and global levels.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Rising stars of African journalism are encouraged to apply for the award, which is now in its 10th year.

The BBC joins a mission aboard the Léon Thévenin to repair an undersea fibre optic cable.

The BBC joins a mission aboard the Léon Thévenin to repair an undersea fibre optic cable.

The BBC joins a mission aboard the Léon Thévenin to repair an undersea fibre optic cable.

The camps are unsanitary, food barely sufficient, and many of those being held are in poor health.

The camps are unsanitary, food barely sufficient, and many of those being held are in poor health.

The camps are unsanitary, food barely sufficient, and many of those being held are in poor health.

The cable-stayed bridge of Hortolandia, a symbol of the modernization of this southern Brazilian city, alongside tall buildings and the city’s extensive tree cover, which has made it a model of sustainable urban development. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

By Mario Osava
HORTOLANDIA, Brazil , Feb 26 2025 (IPS)

Almost everything seems new or under construction in the southern Brazilian city of Hortolandia, from its wide avenues and cable-stayed bridge to its large buildings and riverside parks.

Even the city hall itself, the Palace of Migrants, will celebrate its first anniversary on May 29, and its main parking lot is still under construction, but already bears the city’s new hallmark: solar panels on its roofs.

A municipality of 240,000 people located 110 kilometers from São Paulo, Hortolandia seized the opportunity presented by cost-effective technology and legal incentives to generate its own electricity for public sector consumption.“We want to grow, but also preserve. The city must care for its environment, seek new ways to think about energy, water, and consumption”: Donizete Faria.

The 21 photovoltaic plants built since 2023, some in the final stages of completion, will save 80% of the city hall’s electricity costs, according to Fernanda Candido de Oliveira, director of the Lighting Department of the municipal Public Works Board.

The remaining 20% will be covered by the energy efficiency program, which began earlier and has already replaced all old urban lighting with LED lamps. In this way, the city will become self-sufficient in electricity, limiting expenses in this area to distribution network usage fees and maintenance costs.

In addition to the 26,500 public lighting points, the self-generation system will power 200 municipal service locations, saving approximately 4.5 million reais (US$ 800,000) annually, which will be reinvested in various sectors of local administration.

Fourteen schools, four health units and a sports stadium have their roofs covered with solar panels. In total, 5,000 panels are already generating energy, and others already installed will soon begin operation.

The city hall will house three photovoltaic plants, one on its roof and two in its parking lots, one of which is still under construction. In total, it will have 1,800 panels.

The plant for the new social events center, which is nearing completion, will have 1,568 solar panels already visible from the cable-stayed bridge, whose two parallel decks of aerial cables are suspended by three horizontal connecting columns, a structure that symbolizes Hortolandia’s modernization.

The parking lot of the Hortolandia city hall, still under construction, features photovoltaic panels on its roofs, one of the 21 solar plants that will generate 80% of the electricity consumed in the 200 municipal offices and public lighting systems. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Economy and Environment
The primary goal of the program is economic, saving resources for other areas, but it also benefits the population, Oliveira noted. “The energy efficiency of LED lamps allowed us to grant a 10% reduction in residents’ electricity bills,” she explained.

“We were the ugly duckling of the Campinas metropolitan region,” which includes 20 municipalities and a total of 3.5 million inhabitants, but “now we are a unique case in these innovations,” a reference point, she proudly stated.

“Solar energy hit the mark, an extraordinary achievement,” said Dirson Pereira da Silva, the receptionist at the Santa Clara Ecological Park, which features a lagoon at its center.

After 36 years living in a city that “buried all its streams,” Araraquara, 170 kilometers away, he returned to his hometown and his passion for the lagoon in 2023.

The seven parks in Hortolandia, most of them designed to protect watercourses, confirm its environmental vocation, which also underpins its commitment to solar energy.

The municipality has identified over 50 springs and strives to conserve or restore them as needed, according to Eduardo Marchetti, Secretary of Urban Planning and Strategic Management. This requires maintaining or expanding riparian forests.

Hortolandia is a “tree city” recognized in 2023 by the international Arbor Day Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Washington that seeks to reforest the world.

An ecological park around the Santa Clara lagoon, where residents and students stroll and visit the Environmental Observatory, an important center for nature preservation located in Hortolandia. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Trees Against Floods

The city used to suffer from floods caused by the overflowing of the Jacuba stream, with frequent losses for riverside residents and businesses. This was overcome by building four reservoirs and caring for the springs and riparian forests, recalled Marchetti, who has lived in the municipality since birth.

Trees are also a requirement for financing from international banks. For example, to build the cable-stayed bridge, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) required the planting of 120,000 trees as a condition for its soft loan.

“Maintaining green parks has its costs. We lost 30,000 trees due to lack of care, such as removing weeds that take their nutrients,” Marchetti noted.

Hortolândia was founded in 1991 after separating from Sumaré, a municipality of 280,000 inhabitants. Its territory is small, covering 62.4 square kilometers.

“In the 1970s, we were a rural area that received many industries, especially in the 1980s. This led to a population explosion, accompanied by high violence, reaching 102 murders per 100,000 inhabitants,” recalled Josemil Rodrigues, a journalist who advises Mayor José Nazareno Gomes.

Fernanda Candido de Oliveira, director of public lighting, with the engineer and systems analyst who control the electricity generation system of Hortolandia’s city hall. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Planning for Transformation
The development of the new city received a significant boost starting in 2005 under Mayor Angelo Perugini, “a visionary” to his supporters.

In 2005, sewage coverage was limited to 2% of wastewater; now it reaches 98%, with 100% treatment. Only 40% of the streets were paved; now 99% are, and homicides have dropped to 13 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to data provided by the journalist.

“Long-term planning was key. Hortolandia’s vocation is to be a smart and sustainable city,” he stated. Solar energy is part of this goal and has made the city a national reference, Rodrigues emphasized.

The photovoltaic panels are a logical consequence of the environmental vision of the city’s leaders. The current mayor, Gomes, was the Environment Secretary under his predecessor, Perugini, who was elected four times starting in 2005 and died of COVID-19 in 2021, at the beginning of a new municipal term.

Additionally, environmental education is a priority in the “political-pedagogical project” of all municipal schools, observed Donizete Faria, director of the Department of Pedagogy and Continuing Education at the Education Secretariat.

Eduardo Marchetti, Secretary of Urban Planning and Strategic Management of Hortolandia, where seven ecological parks and forests protect the southern Brazilian city from floods and improve local quality of life. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Solar energy is too recent to assess its impact on education, but energy efficiency has been a permanent topic in schools for many years, including through visits to ecological parks and the Environmental Observatory, a specialized center located in Santa Clara Park.

The fact that 14 schools have solar plants on their roofs will help “children take ownership of the photovoltaic panels, see them, and have hands-on lessons about renewable energy and consumption,” Faria hopes.

“We want to grow, but also preserve. The city must care for its environment, seek new ways to think about energy, water, and consumption,” he concluded.

The operation and maintenance of the photovoltaic network installed in the city cost little. Systems analyst Alessandro Alves monitors everything from his computer connected to all the plants, and electrical engineer Renan Queiroz intervenes if repairs are needed.

Since the plants have a guaranteed lifespan of 25 years and the inverters last 10 years, there will be no pressing concerns, such as equipment disposal or recycling, for many years, Queiroz reassured.

Hortolandia’s urban master plan has an environmental focus, due to flooding and the need to manage water resources, Marchetti explained. Water reuse, green roofs, and solar energy are part of the tax incentives for property owners.

The new plan, already approved, maintains the focus on the environment but adds technological innovations. “We are a technological city,” with several IT and pharmaceutical companies, concluded the Secretary of Urban Planning.

The UK says it is halting aid to Rwanda as a result of its support for the M23, a notorious rebel group.

The world’s population is not collapsing and is expected to continue growing for at least another 60 years. Credit: Shutterstock.

By Joseph Chamie
PORTLAND, US, Feb 26 2025 (IPS)

Yeah, governments are having a hissy fit over it. And their hissy fit is not over the usual concerns of governments such as defense, the economy, trade, inflation, unemployment, crime, or terrorism.

Governments are having a hissy fit over a single demographic issue. And that demographic issue is not about deaths, disease, life expectancy, urbanization, immigration, density or ageing.

Their hissy fit is simply over one thing. And that one thing is low birth rates.

Dominating the news headlines, pushing aside reality and the facts, attempting to sway public opinion and aiming to increase reproductive behavior, especially of young women, doomsday predictions about the consequences of low birth rates for humanity’s survival are being promoted.

World population now stands at a record high of 8.2 billion people and is continuing to increase, now adding approximately 70 million annually. That record high of 8.2 billion is double the world population of fifty years ago and quadruple the world population of a hundred years ago

Those erroneous predictions include that world population will collapse, humanity is headed toward near extinction, human civilization is dying out and homo sapiens will soon disappear off the face of the planet.

In actual fact, and contrary to their doomsday predictions, the world’s population is not collapsing and is expected to continue growing for at least another 60 years.

For most of human history, the growth of the world’s population was relatively slow and close to stable due to high rates of both births and deaths. The one billion world population mark wasn’t reached until 1804.

In contrast to the past, the 20th century, especially the second half, was an exceptional period of rapid world population growth. In the early 1960s, for example, world population’s annual growth rate reached a high of 2.3 percent and world population more than doubled in size during the second half of the 20th century. Moreover, the world’s population increased from 2 billion to 8 billion in slightly less than one hundred years.

World population now stands at a record high of 8.2 billion people and is continuing to increase, now adding approximately 70 million annually. That record high of 8.2 billion is double the world population of fifty years ago and quadruple the world population of a hundred years ago.

Moreover, according to international demographic projections, world population is expected to reach 9 billion by the year 2037, 10 billion by 2060 and 10.2 billion by the close of the 21st century.

So, homo sapiens are NOT expected to disappear from the face of the planet, as the doomsayers are repeatedly proclaiming.

Yes, it is certainly the case that many countries are experiencing fertility rates that are below the replacement level of about two births per woman. Those countries include both developed and developing countries across most regions of the world (Figure 1).

 

Source: United Nations.

 

As a result of sustained rates of below replacement fertility, the populations of many of those countries have peaked and are facing demographic decline and population ageing accompanied by substantial increases in the share of elderly people in their populations.

As countries wish to avoid demographic decline as well as rapid population ageing, governments are attempting to reverse their low fertility levels.

Those governments are actively promoting various pro-natalist policies, programs and incentives aimed at returning to the relatively high fertility rates of the past or at least returning to replacement level fertility rates.

Are those pronatalist policies, programs and incentives likely to be successful in raising fertility rates back to the replacement level of about two births per woman?

The simple answer to that important question is: no, not likely to be successful.

Most international population projections do not foresee a return to replacement level fertility rates for the foreseeable future. By the year 2050, for example, the current low fertility rates of countries are expected to remain well below the replacement level.

Why are the fertility rates of many countries below the replacement level? A host of societal factors and individual reasons contribute to pushing fertility rates well below the replacement level (Table 1).

 

Source: Author’s compilation.

 

Among those factors and reasons are lower rates of child mortality, urbanization, industrialization, women’s labor force participation, access to modern contraceptives, increased higher education, child care costs, lifestyle changes, changing role and status of women and men, difficulties finding a suitable partner, work and family life balance, delayed marriage and childbearing, greater investments and costs in raising a child.

At the same time that many countries are experiencing below replacement fertility, many other countries, primarily developing countries in Africa and Asia, have relatively high fertility rates (Figure 2).

 

Source: United Nations.

 

As a result of those relatively high fertility rates, the populations of those countries are expected to experience rapid population growth during the 21st century.

However, those African and Asian countries are also expected to experience declines in their fertility levels over the coming decades. By 2050, for example, most of those countries are projected to experience substantial declines in their current relatively high fertility levels, which will result in slower rates of population growth.

And the reasons for those expected future declines in today’s high fertility levels are the same that produced the current below replacement fertility rates in other countries, namely, those various societal factors and individual reasons that were enumerated above.

In sum, several generalizations are warranted.

First, despite the hissy fit that many governments are having about their low birth rates and their various pro-natalist policies, programs and incentives, their fertility rates are not expected to return to the replacement level in the foreseeable future.

For a host of reasons, the fertility rates of many countries are expected to remain below the replacement level of two births per woman for most of the 21st century. And as a result of those low rates, some of those countries are facing population decline and rapid demographic ageing.

Second, the current high fertility rates of many developing countries in Africa and Asia are expected to decline over the coming decades. As a result of those fertility declines, the population growth rates of those countries are expected to slow down.

Third, and importantly, contrary to those misleading doomsday predictions, the world’s population is not collapsing nor is human civilization dying out. In fact, the world’s current population of 8.2 billion is continuing to increase. World population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2037, 10 billion by 2060 and to peak at around 10.2 billion people in the mid-2080s.

Joseph Chamie is a consulting demographer, a former director of the United Nations Population Division and author of numerous publications on population issues, including his recent book, “Population Levels, Trends, and Differentials”.

 

The Antonov aircraft crashed after take-off from a military base in Omdurman city.

Worried residents look at a flooded pool, a result of quarry mining near Pumula North in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/IPS.

By Jeffrey Moyo
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Feb 26 2025 (IPS)

On Christmas Day in 2022, 27-year-old Thabani Dlodlo’s eight-year-old son drowned in a flooded pit dug up by quarry miners in the vicinity of Pumula North, a high-density suburb in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city.

As if that was not enough, just a week after New Year’s Day the following year, Dlodlo’s neighbor, 36-year-old Sethule Hlengiwe, also lost her six-year-old daughter after she drowned in another pit flooded with rainwater near her home in Bulawayo.

When tragedy struck, the six-year-old Thenjiwe had sneaked out to play with her agemates in the vicinity of her home.

Thenjiwe’s mother claimed all the illegal quarry miners took to their heels when her daughter drowned.

“Nobody wanted to be held responsible when my daughter drowned. All the quarry miners who were nearby then just bolted,” Hlengiwe told IPS.

Quarry miners have descended on Bulawayo’s open spaces and have dug huge pits, defacing the urban terrain of the once-thriving industrial city.

Often fronting for Chinese quarry owners, the quarry miners working in the vicinity of high-density suburbs often use explosives, which result in cracks on nearby homes—and some have even collapsed.

One such resident whose home was destroyed due to quarry mining is 64-year-old Londiwe Mabuza, once based in the suburb of Pumula North.

“I now live with my relatives, together with my family, after our home collapsed as a result of violent vibrations as quarry miners used explosives mining near my house,” Mabuza told IPS.

Yet while many, like Mabuza, bemoan the collapse of their dwellings, others are bragging about their rich pickings from quarry mining.

“A single wheelbarrow of quarry gives me a straight two dollars after I sell it to the Chinese quarry miners and on a good day, I make sure I sell at least 10 to 15 wheelbarrows laden with quarry,” 29-year-old Melusi Dhlela, also a Pumula South resident.

Environmental activists claim that while individuals such as Dhlela profit from quarry mining, the environment has suffered as a result.

“There are many issues that quarry mining activities in the vicinity of cities cause. The challenge is that the impacts are all negative. This includes biodiversity loss, human health problems such as respiratory diseases, destruction of infrastructure like roads and houses, water pollution, land degradation and noise pollution,” says Mashall Mutambu, an environmentalist and land expert with a master’s in Land Resources Assessment for Development Planning from the Midlands State University in Zimbabwe.

Another quarry miner, 22-year-old Melusi Ngwenya, a resident of Bulawayo’s Magwegwe West high-density suburb, has moved from a life of rags to riches.

“I used to beg for food and money at street corners in the city, but now as a quarry miner, life has changed for me and now I can afford to pay my own rent and buy food and clothing,” he (Ngwenya) told IPS.

Bulawayo’s townships also have to contend with illegal gold miners who have invaded the city, digging up for gold haphazardly and, like quarry miners, creating gullies and huge pits all over the city.

This is a serious safety issue, especially in the rainy season, where they are flooded and pose a danger to children who fall in and often drown. The pits have become known as the pools of death.

But the miners don’t care about the people or the environment damaged by blasting and illegal mining.

“What we want is money, money and nothing more so that we can live better,” said 39-year-old Dumisani Dlamini, a known quarry miner domiciled in the city’s Nkulumane high-density suburb.

The blasting became a common occurrence after a Chinese firm, Haulin Investments (Pvt) Limited, set up a quarry mine in 2021. The 10-year mining contract was given to the company by the Bulawayo City Council.

But while some profit, many Bulawayo residents, like 35-year-old Senzeni Nhlathi, have had to make do with growing noise pollution from quarry sites.

“We have become used to hearing the blasting of rocks and even hills as quarry miners chase the dollar linked to quarry mining, which means the more the blasting of rocks here, the more the noise,” Nhlathi told IPS. “So, we suffer as others make money.”

Bulawayo residents like 27-year-old Japhet Ndiweni claimed residents were not consulted when Haulin started the venture.

“Hualin for instance, has not bothered to ask us about our views when they moved into our residential territories,” Ndiweni told IPS.

Instead of condemning the mining operations, the city fathers have come out vehemently defending the location of quarry mines.

However, not all quarry miners in this area are bad actors.

Anderson Mwembe (43), who is the Treasurer of the Cowdray Park Quarry Crushers Association, said they have approached the Bulawayo City Council to regularize their operations.

With Mwembe and his association on board, children are safe in those areas mined by them.

“We make USD 2 per wheelbarrow of quarry and drowning of children in pits dug up by quarry miners has been avoided because we make sure to chase away all children who want to play in the area,” he (Mwembe) told IPS.

Others have turned to defending their land against quarry miners, like 42-year-old Bekithemba Bhebhe, resident in Bulawayo, who has switched to rearing dogs to fend off the daring quarry poachers.

Bhebhe owns five vicious dogs, which have kept quarry poachers at bay more effectively than the fence that Bulawayo City Council has erected at some points frequented by illegal quarry miners.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Credit: Cynthia R Matonhodze/IMF Photo

By Thomas Cantens and Herve Tourpe
WASHINGTON DC, Feb 26 2025 (IPS)

New technologies have the potential to improve the relationship between governments and citizens. Tax portals, customs IT systems and online services have simplified interactions with public authorities, reduced bureaucratic hurdles, and increased transparency. Now, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is emerging as the next transformative force.

Known for its ability to understand and produce human language, GenAI opens possibilities that go beyond simple automation. However, in an area as politically sensitive as taxation, it also raises important questions that could quickly undermine trust.

Tax authorities are beginning to explore GenAI, though most efforts are still at an early, experimental stage. The most evident area so far has been on improving communication with taxpayers.

In Singapore, a virtual assistant answers tax questions in multiple languages and has cut call-center inquiries by half. Korea has deployed an AI guide to help citizens file and pay taxes. In France, AI can analyze incoming emails and propose draft responses for civil servants to validate.

While these applications are promising, a more profound question emerges: Can GenAI significantly alter the relationship between governments and citizens? Furthermore, how will it influence the way citizens experience and perceive taxation—a politically sensitive process that is governed by law yet deeply intertwined with social norms and practices?

What’s new with GenAI?

Most AI systems currently used by tax and customs authorities are predictive and built for a single function. They analyze large sets of structured data—like past tax declarations or transactions—to produce things like risk scores to indicate possible fraud.

By contrast, GenAI is a generalist system that understands almost all forms of information and is designed to interact with humans in any language. It can handle a range of tasks, from drafting letters to providing interactive guidance about tax regulations and assisting officers in their investigations.

By training a GenAI agent with legal texts, tax codes, operating procedures, and internal guidelines, administrations can adapt it to specific needs. The result is a dynamic system capable of understanding and producing content that both civil servants and taxpayers can interact with.

Transforming the State-Society Relationship

While AI tools already in use often enhance efficiency, they have not fundamentally changed the way revenue authorities work or engage with citizens. They mostly replaced manual tasks or systems for econometric or statistical modelling.

With GenAI, there are more profound implications. Internally, it can help tax and customs officials to focus on analytical and judgment-based roles, allowing them to become oversight specialists and increasing their productivity.

Externally, it can reduce the knowledge gap between administrations and taxpayers, aiding in the interpretation of complex provisions, navigating laws, identifying deductions, and even auto-filling forms.

For low-income countries, GenAI offers the opportunity to drive organizational reforms and leapfrog into the most modern systems. For example, in Madagascar, the customs authority wants to use GenAI to improve risk management, combat fraud and increase revenue, using data accumulated over 10 years to train its system.

The human-like interactions offered by AI chat tools can personalize the process, as shown in Singapore and Korea, where users can ask questions and receive plain language replies. Citizens’ organizations, academics, and political parties can also use GenAI to examine proposed reforms, compare scenarios, and engage in deeper policy debates.

This two-way transformation could increase overall trust, making taxation feel less like a frustrating obligation and more like a shared responsibility of both taxpayers and governments.

Preconditions for success

Despite its potential, GenAI also comes with challenges. Issues related to data quality, ethics, privacy concerns and hallucinations (i.e., incorrect results) must be addressed to reinforce and not erode trust. For instance, Korea’s approach—directing particularly sensitive queries to human agents—reflects the need for careful oversight of confidential matters. Results must be explainable and perceived as fair in all cases.

Effective knowledge management is another requirement. Revenue authorities have extensive laws, regulations, case records, and operational manuals. However, scattered archives and incomplete digitization can hamper efforts to train AI systems effectively. A human must determine which documents are accurate, relevant, and suitable for inclusion in the training material.

As GenAI becomes integrated into various aspects of revenue administration, employees will need to be trained to interpret, correct, and complement its outputs. Policymakers must ensure that errors are reported and addressed promptly.

By providing human-like capabilities to support taxpayers and tax authorities, GenAI can act as both taxman and taxpayer assistant, automating routine tasks, clarifying complex issues, and fostering a more transparent and collaborative relationship.

This technology can lower administrative hurdles, demystify tax obligations, and invite broader participation in policy debates. However, shaping it properly requires strong leadership, ethical policy frameworks, and vigilant oversight of data quality, privacy, and accuracy.

Thomas Cantens is head of research and policy unit at the World Customs Organization; Herve Tourpe is Chief of Digital Advisory Unit, International Monetary Fund (IMF).

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Downtown traffic in Mexico City. The electrification of transportation is a challenge in this Latin American country, where over 58 million vehicles are in circulation. Credit: Emilio Godoy / IPS

By Emilio Godoy
MEXICO, Feb 26 2025 (IPS)

Mexico has seen several attempts at assembling electric vehicles (EVs), powered by rechargeable batteries, which have faced challenges related to industrial scale, supply chains, and competitiveness

These issues also complicate the new state production plan for the Taruk bus (meaning “roadrunner” in Yaqui) and the lightweight Olinia car (meaning “movement” in Nahuatl), based on the country’s long automotive experience and a growing market. The plan was formally announced in January by President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Experts consulted by IPS praised the initiative but warned of significant technological, regulatory, and infrastructure challenges in a country where transportation generates nearly a third of all polluting emissions. Cleaning up this sector would benefit urban health.“Asians, especially the Chinese, have developed very advanced technology; they are 15 years ahead of us. There’s no comparison. Government support is minimal and doesn’t meet the huge demand of the automotive sector. If Mexico wants to compete with those who have taken over the electric market, it has to invest,” Gustavo Jiménez

“Asians, especially the Chinese, have developed very advanced technology; they are 15 years ahead of us. There is no comparison. Government support is extremely minimal and does not meet the significant demands of the automotive sector,” said Gustavo Jiménez, director of the private Grupo E-mobilitas, which specializes in electromobility consulting.

During his dialogue with IPS, he emphasized that “if Mexico wants to compete with those who have taken over the electric market, it has to invest.”

Information reviewed by IPS shows that the development of the Taruk bus is more advanced, while the Olinia car still lacks a defined strategy. This comes at a challenging time for the sector due to threats of extraordinary tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump on vehicles assembled in Mexico.

Additionally, the installation of EV plants by U.S.-based Tesla  and China’s Build Your Dreams (BYD) has been temporarily halted. BYD faces tariffs imposed by the U.S. government on Asian products entering its market.

In fact, prototypes of a Mexican electric bus were designed in 2024 as part of the project “Development of a Mexican Electric Public Transport Bus and Study for the Implementation of Electromobility in Cities to Boost the Country’s Lithium Value Chain.”

The electromobility project is being carried out by the new Secretariat of Science, Humanities, Technologies, and Innovation (Secihti) and private Mexican companies Dina and MegaFlux, which already manufacture electric buses and trucks.

The initiative for electric buses, launched in 2023 with a budget of around US$900,000, aims to accelerate the introduction of Mexican-made units with indigenous technology, strengthen the national EV industry, and support the growth of this segment, given the urgent need to clean up transportation.

The Taruk model will be assembled in the state of Hidalgo, near Mexico City, and benefits from an existing production platform. Its projected weight is 12.5 tons, with a battery discharge rate of around 90% and a range of 180 to 361 kilometers, making it ideal for urban environments.

In comparison, the 50 buses introduced by the capital’s government in October 2024, imported from the Chinese brand Yutong, have a range of 300 kilometers.

In January, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the state production of the Olinia electric car, designed for short trips. However, the project faces significant technological, economic, and commercial challenges. Credit: Government of Mexico

Competition

The Olinia cars, whose plant will operate in the state of Puebla, bordering Mexico City, has a budget of 1.22 million dollars. They are designed for short trips, with prices ranging from US$ 4,383 to 7,300 and are expected to hit the market by 2026. In comparison, Tesla had planned to invest $5 billion in an assembly plant set to begin operations in 2025.

The Secihti, along with the National Polytechnic Institute and the Mexican Institute of Technology, still lack detailed development plans for the three Olinia models, including a small van.

Currently, automotive companies in Mexico, the world’s seventh-largest producer of light vehicles and third-largest exporter, do not receive subsidies to accelerate the introduction of electric vehicles.

Leticia Pineda, regional leader for Mexico and Canada at the non-governmental  International Council on Clean Transportation, based in Washington, believes the government understands the opportunity to integrate into a valuable supply chain and build economies of scale.

“This is a great opportunity for Mexico to transform its automotive industry, develop manufacturing capabilities to produce vehicles with higher national content. This value addition is a great opportunity to integrate further into this supply chain,” she told IPS.

In 2021, Mexico joined the Glasgow Pact on Electromobility during the climate summit in the Scottish city, which sets a voluntary target of 50% of light vehicle sales being electric and plug-in hybrid by 2030 and 100% by 2040—goals that are difficult to achieve under current conditions.

A prototype of the Taruk electric bus (meaning “roadrunner” in the Yaqui language), designed by the Mexican government and private companies for urban environments in this Latin American country. Credit: Dina

For independent consultant Víctor Alvarado, the intersection of mobility and electricity generation, dominated by fossil fuels in Mexico, must be considered.

“What’s announced but not fully realized is electromobility, and what’s happening is the electrification of heavy and light transportation. Given the composition of the energy matrix, transportation will continue to generate emissions if we don’t commit to electric vehicles,” he told IPS.

The new bus and car ventures will face an increasingly competitive domestic market dominated by U.S., European, and Chinese brands, which have reported significant expansion since 2023.

In recent years, sales of electric and hybrid vehicles, which run on gasoline and electric batteries, have grown in this country of 129 million people, where over 58 million vehicles, mostly cars, are in circulation.

In 2024, EV sales increased by 71%, from 14,172 units in 2023 to 24,283 the following year. The hybrid segment saw the most growth, with sales jumping from 60,146 to 100,020 between the two years, a 66% increase.

The same trend was seen in passenger vehicles, where fossil fuel-powered units, mainly diesel, still dominate. Hybrid model sales surged from just two in 2023 to 670 last year, while electric vehicle sales grew by 16%, from 252 to 294.

However, electric vehicle projects are happening in a legal vacuum. The national strategy, which outlined specific actions and goals, was ready in 2023 but has not been published. While the 2022 General Law on Mobility and Road Safety promotes sustainable transportation, it does not address electric mobility.

Initially, electric mobility in Mexico has the advantage of lithium deposits in rocks and clays, a key element for rechargeable batteries, especially in the northern state of Sonora.

However, environmentalists argue that these deposits are potentially unviable environmentally, economically, and technologically due to water consumption in extraction and high processing costs.

Sales of hybrid and electric vehicles have been growing in recent years in Mexico, though at a slower pace than needed to transition to low-emission transportation. Graph: Amia

Background

The cases of the Mexican private corporation Zacua and Bolivia’s Quantum Motors, whose partner in Mexico is Megaflux, are also illustrative.

The former, located in Puebla, has sold a few dozen units since 2019, with a cost per unit of around $25,000, practically the same as other foreign brands.

Meanwhile, Quantum has sold over 500 cars in Bolivia, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, and Peru since 2019, with their models priced between US$ 6,000 and 8,000, a range similar to what is expected for Olinia’s vehicles.

Mexico has at least 39 automotive plants, including three EV assemblers. Of these, 22 manufacture vehicles and are located in central and northern Mexico, attracted by access to the U.S. market, the main export destination, under the free trade agreement shared with Canada.

Since 2018, Mexico City, with nearly nine million inhabitants and about 24 million in the metropolitan area, has made progress in electrifying public transportation, with units in the Metrobus system and bus routes.

Additionally, cities like Guadalajara, the capital of the western state of Jalisco, and Mérida, the capital of the southeastern state of Yucatán, have promoted similar projects.

The National Strategy for Industrialization and Shared Prosperity, also known as Plan Mexico and announced in January, includes 10 electromobility projects in public transportation across 10 states, with an undefined budget.

Experts consulted by IPS agreed on the importance of comprehensive regulation covering energy sources, infrastructure deployment, vehicle safety, and consumer rights.

For Jiménez, public-private partnerships with Mexican companies and a focus on public transportation are advisable.

“There needs to be significant production capacity to leverage technological advantages and drive industrial development. Electromobility is positioned as a potential solution to health problems, but we must think about public transportation to optimize time, modernize fleets, and reduce environmental impact,” he stated.

Pineda also agreed that delays in the process could result in high costs.

“There’s a lack of joint effort and government support for this transition. These are long-term transformations that require government commitment to provide certainty for investments and the entire supply chain, ensuring progress in electromobility. There needs to be an ecosystem that provides clarity on the direction, so projects don’t remain pilot initiatives,” he emphasized.

Women recall being raped in prison in DR Congo, as chaos broke out after rebels advanced on Goma city.

Women recall being raped in prison in DR Congo, as chaos broke out after rebels advanced on Goma city.