Pigeon sold for US $1.42 million

Armando, a racing pigeon also known as “the Lewis Hamilton of pigeons” has been sold for a record $1.42 million. He is no usual pigeon, having won the 2018 Ace Pigeon Championship, the 2019 Pigeon Olympiad and other races. Although Armando has officially retired from racing, his offspring may be bred for racing. He is turning 5 years and pigeons are known to have chicks until they are about 10 years old. Just to put everything into perspective, racing pigeons normally cost around $2 800 but bidding wars ended up exceeding all expectations and breaking the previous record of $426 700. Pigeon racing may just be the next big business if a retired pigeon can fetch so much money.

https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-europe-47610896?__twitter_impression=true

Africa fails to attract and nurture talent

Africa performed badly in the 2018 IMD World Talent Ranking. The only African country to be ranked is South Africa, which came a distance 50 out of 63 economies measured. Key categories like investment and development, appeal and readiness are looked at in deciding these rankings. These categories asses how countries perform in areas like education, cost of living, remuneration, workplace training, tax rates and others. Switzerland are ranked first and Denmark are second. Western Europe is the definite hub of world talent filling 9 out of the top 10 positions.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/11/countries-best-at-attracting-and-nurturing-talented-workers

Homeless people employed as tour guides

With homelessness topping a record 10 000 people in Dublin, an organisation called My Streets Ireland has come up with an initiative to train homeless people to allow them to earn an income. Homeless people are being trained to become tour guides. This works well because tourism in Dublin is booming. The city attracted an estimated 6.4 million overseas visitors in 2018. But, lack of affordable housing has led to a rise in homeless people. Because they live in the city, homeless people are more likely to know every corner of it and training them to become tour guides will prove to be easy. What a way to get rid of homelessness. Spare a thought for the thousands of street kids in Harare, Bulawayo and other cities and towns. Such initiatives will help them.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/03/homeless-dubliners-to-give-tours-with-a-difference-as-tourism-booms/

Africa’s water challenges

It is ironic that as we grapple with the effects of Cyclone Idai which ravaged Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi, the same countries continue to face clean water shortages. According to the United Nations World Water Development Report, 2 billion people globally live in countries facing water stress. Climate change, population growth, urbanization and insufficient infrastructure are the chief causes of water shortages. As a result, water rationing is a permanent feature in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and other countries. Cape Town in South Africa and Ghana have also faced the same problems.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-18/africa-is-running-out-of-water-as-cities-see-populations-boom?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=msg&utm_campaign=whatsapp