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http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Even with the nature of our society, retiring early is possible and achievable (especially if this has always been your lifelong goal), you only need to be willing to make some sacrifices. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 4 things to do if you want early retirement. Avoid Spending Mindlessly The most important step in controlling your finances enough to make early retirement possible, is to track your spending. You have to know what you’re spending on and if it’s necessary for you to spend that much on it, or even spend on it at all. Know how you spend, determine necessary expenses and focus your efforts on reducing or eliminating negligible or unnecessary expenses. Stop Lifestyle Inflation Try to avoid living at the maximum standard your income allows. Find a middle point and contently build your life around that, while you save and wisely invest the rest to further increase your earnings. If your income increases, try not to over boost ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J South Africa has entered recession for the first time in eight years, data from Statistics South Africa showed on Tuesday. Data from Statistics South Africa in Pretoria showed the first quarter contraction was led by weak manufacturing and trade. The data showed that South Africa’s economy contracted by 0.7 per cent in the first three months of 2017 after shrinking by 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year The worst performing sector was trade, catering and accommodation, which contracted by 5.9 per cent, while manufacturing – one of the key sectors – fell by 3.7 per cent. Standard Chartered Bank’s Chief Africa Economist Razia Khan said the “awful” data showed weakness where it was not expected. Analysts said the contraction suggested high unemployment and stagnant wages were dragging down South Africa’s long-resilient consumer sector. “The slowdown in first quarter was due to much worse results from usually stable consumer-facing sectors that had b...

http://ift.tt/2rhqHGs Demonstrators rally during the protest "Occupy Brasilia" against the labor and social security reforms and the government of President Michel Temer in Brasilia, on May 24, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Andressa Anholete At least 25,000 people massed in Brasilia on Wednesday to demand new elections and an end to austerity reforms in a protest fueled by anger over a corruption scandal swirling around President Michel Temer. Organized by leftist groups and trade unions, the protesters poured into the center of Brazil’s capital. Brazil’s left is sniffing an opportunity for revenge just over a year since Temer took over from Workers’ Party president Dilma Rousseff after she was impeached for illegally manipulating government accounts. Temer, from the center-right PMDB party, is reeling from a probe into his alleged corruption. The future of his market-friendly reforms package — especially cuts in the country’s generous but unaffordable pension system — is u...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Henry Umoru ABUJA- SENATE President  Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu have both expressed sadness over the death of the State House Correspondent of Channels Television, Mr. Chukwuma Onuekwusi, in the early hours of Tuesday after a brief illness. Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja, described the late Onuekwusi as a hardworking, passionate and conscientious   reporter  who left nobody in doubt about his professional competence. He commiserated with the immediate family of the deceased, the management and staff of Channels Television and the State House Correspondents over the loss of the broadcast journalist. “The news of the demise of Chukwuma Onuekwusi came to me with great shock. He was a thoroughbred broadcast journalist whose reports always leave you wanting more,” Saraki said. “I believe his death has left a vacuum in the broa...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J U.S.-based mobile messaging service, WhatsApp, was fined 3 million Euros (3.3 million dollars) on Friday in Italy for insufficient transparency on data sharing with its parent company, Facebook. WhatsApp was taken over by Facebook in 2014 and two years later, it introduced new terms of service and privacy policies that gave Facebook access to WhatsApp users’ data. Italy’s Antitrust Regulator — AGCM — said in a statement that “the opportunity for WhatsApp users to refuse the handover of data to Facebook was available `but it was inadequately flagged.” The regulator also criticised WhatsApp for introducing “unfair clauses” to its term of service, such as giving the company the right to cut off services or start charging customers without warning. In December, the European Commission, which regulates antitrust matters in the EU, launched an investigation into Facebook’s conduct prior to the WhatsApp buyout. The EU executive accused Facebook of misleadingly telli...