2020-04-01 Forbes Africa

14 | FORBES AFRICA APRIL 2020

WHAT’SNEW•WHO’S NEXT

FORBES AFRICA

FORBESAFRICA.COM

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by

Mike

Cohen/Getty

Images

for

The

New

York

Times;

Phpto

by

Motlabana

Monnakgotla;

Photo

sourced

from netflix.com; Photo by MLADEN

AN

• 
  


• Compiled by Busi Lethole TONOV/AFP via Getty Images; Photo by Steven Rostron / EyeEm; Photos via Getty Images

AFRICA NEW CONTENT

HUB FOR NETFLIX

Netflixplanstopushmoreinternationalcontent

onitsplatformstartingwithAfrica.Theonline

entertainmentstreaminggiant’sChiefContentOfficer

TedSarandoshasspentsometimeexploringthe

continentalongwitha teamofexecutives,scouting

forcreatorstohelpthemexecutetheirplansof

makingAfricaa newsourceforcontent.Thispresents

anopportunityforcontentcreatorsonthecontinent

totellauthenticstoriesfromanAfricanperspective.

NetflixrecentlypremiereditsfirstAfrican original

series,Queen Sono, to raving reviews.

SECONDTERMFOR

ADESINA

AkinwumiAdesina

hastakenoveras

PresidentoftheAfrican

DevelopmentBank

(AfDB)forthesecond

term.

Adesinawaselectedtohis

firsttermaspresidentbythe

bank’sboardofgovernorsin2015.

HeistheeighthPresidentoftheAfDBGroupandthe

firstNigerianinthepost.

Adesinaisa renowneddevelopmenteconomistwhohas

helda numberofhigh-profileinternationalpositions,

includingwiththeRockefellerFoundation,andas

Nigeria’sMinisterofAgricultureandRuralDevelopment

from 2011 to2015.

HewasontheDecember 2019 cover of FORBES

AFRICA as ‘African of the Year’.

NEW CEO AT AMPLATS

TheBoardofAngloAmericanPlatinumLimited(‘Anglo

AmericanPlatinum’)hasannouncedtheappointmentof

NataschaViljoenasCEO,fromApril16,followingChris

Griffith’sdecisiontostepdownaftermorethanseven

yearstopursueothercareeropportunities.

Viljoenbrings 28 yearsofoperationalexperiencefrom

acrosstheminingindustry,andis currentlyGroupHead

ofProcessingforAngloAmerican,a roleshehasheld

since2014.PriortojoiningAngloAmerican,shewas

ExecutiveVicePresidentofProcessingatLonmin,while

alsoleadingthecompany’ssustainability,employee

health,environmentalandstakeholderrelationswork

atvarioustimes.Shebeganhercareerasanengineer

atIscorand,amongstotherroles,tookonleadership

positionsatAngloGoldandwasGeneralManagerof

BHP’s Klipspruit Colliery before joining Lonmin in 2008.

PROMOTING

THECULTUREOF

READING

Theworldofliteraturewill

celebrate‘WorldBookDay’,

formallyknownas‘World

BookandCopyrightDay’,on

April23.UNESCOorganizes

theannualeventtopromote

a cultureofreading.The

organizationcitesit asa

symbolicdatebecause

“itis thedateonwhich

severalprominentauthors,

WilliamShakespeare,Miguel

CervantesandIncaGarcilaso

dela Vegaalldied”.According

totheorganization,88%of

childrenandadolescentsin

sub-SaharanAfricawillenter

adulthoodwithouta basic

proficiencyinreading.Last

year,theAfricanUnionurged

countriesonthecontinent

topromotea cultureof

readingasit is often“given

insufficient regard”.

IDENTITYOFSECOND

PERSONCUREDOFHIV/

AIDSREVEALED

Theidentityof thesecondperson

to becuredof HIV/Aidshas

beenrevealed.AdamCastillejo,

originallyfromVenezuela,

whowentbythealias‘London

Patient’,wasdeclaredcured

fromthevirusa yearagoafter

undergoinga stemcelltransplant

treatmentforlymphaticcancer.

DoctorssayCastillejo’simmune

systemwasreplacedbythe

transplantafterhisbone-marrow

donorcarrieda mutationthat

preventedtheabilityof HIVto

enterthecells.Thevirushasn’t

beendetectablein the40-year-

old’sblood,semenortissuesfor

30 monthsafterhisanti-retroviral

therapywashalted.Castillejo

toldtheNewYorkTimes: “This

is a uniquepositiontobein,

a uniqueandveryhumbling

position.I wanttobean

ambassador of hope”.

DATAPRICESDOWN

Afterfouryearsofthe#DataMustFallcampaignbySouthAfricans,

telecomsgroupVodacomhasreduceditsdatapricesby30%

beginningApril.In2019,theCompetitionCommissionfoundthat

SouthAfrica’smobiledatapriceswerethehighestontheAfrican

continent,andwarnedmobilenetwork operators in the country to

cut data prices or face prosecution.