December 6, 2022

Biden to Visit Arizona Computer Chip Facility

U.S. President Joe Biden is traveling to Arizona on Tuesday to visit a computer chip facility, underscoring the Grand Canyon state’s position in the emerging U.S. semiconductor ecosystem.

Biden will visit a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) plant in north Phoenix. He will tour the plant and deliver remarks celebrating his economic plan and the “manufacturing boom” it has caused, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during Monday’s briefing.

TSMC is the world’s largest contract manufacturer of semiconductor chips.

In August, Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, legislation aimed at countering China’s massive subsidies to its chip industry. It includes about $52 billion in funding for U.S. companies for the manufacturing of chips, which go into technology like smartphones, electric vehicles, appliances and weapons systems.

Arizona is among the states trying to attract federal funding.

The president will be on hand in Phoenix to celebrate the TSMC plant’s “first tool-in,” which is the moment when a building is ready for manufacturing equipment to move in.

Projects in the region are creating thousands of new jobs including the TMSC facility in north Phoenix, the technology firm Intel expanding southeast of the city and suppliers from around the world moving in.

A 3,700-square-meter cleanroom at nearby Arizona State University in Tempe is helping to meet the workforce demands of Arizona’s burgeoning semiconductor sector. There, students, companies and startups work on hardware innovations.

With 30,000 engineering students, Arizona State is home to the country’s largest college of engineering and a driver in meeting next-generation demand.

“Chips and Science Act is a once in a lifetime opportunity. This is the moment. This is the moment to build out capabilities, infrastructure, expertise,” Kyle Squires, dean of engineering schools at Arizona State University, told VOA recently. “We’re bringing this capability back into the U.S. You’ve got to have a workforce ready to engage it.”

Source: Voice of America

December 6, 2022

Biden Touts Advanced Chips Manufacturing in Visit to Arizona Semiconductor Plant

President Joe Biden’s visit Tuesday to a massive construction project in north Phoenix highlighted Arizona’s role in a major U.S. policy shift on semiconductor manufacturing.

The Biden administration is pushing to boost domestic chips manufacturing with more than $50 billion in subsidies in the new CHIPs and Science Act.

The president’s visit to the new fabrication facility being built by Taiwanese chips giant TSMC came as the firm announced it would build a second fabrication facility and triple its investment in Phoenix to $40 billion.

Biden says it is good news for TSMC’s biggest customer, Apple.

“These are the most advanced semiconductor chips on the planet. Chips will power iPhones and MacBooks,” Biden said. “Apple had to buy all the advanced chips from overseas. Now, they are going to bring more of their supply chain here at home. It can be a game changer.”

U.S. technology firms have long outsourced semiconductor manufacturing overseas, particularly with TSMC, the world’s largest foundry.

Calls to change that increased when the U.S. found itself scrambling for chips in the supply chain breakdowns prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent tensions with China added to the sense of urgency. China sees Taiwan as a part of its territory, and U.S. policymakers were worried about the long-term ability to source high-end chips, essential for computers, smartphones, cars, fighter planes and data centers.

The Biden administration has been pushing to make the most cutting-edge chips in the U.S.

Ahead of Biden’s visit Tuesday, TSMC announced it would ratchet up the kind of technology it makes in Arizona beyond the 4-nanometer technology slated to begin production in 2024. In addition, TSMC said it would begin producing 3-nanometer technology in its second fabrication facility by 2026. Those advanced chips deliver faster processing and use less power.

“This state-of-the-art manufacturing facility behind us is a testimony that TSMC is also taking a giant step forward to help build a vibrant semiconductor ecosystem in the United States,” said Mark Liu, TSMC’s chairman.

The president toured the construction site and was part of the TSMC plant’s “first tool-in” ceremony, the moment when a building is ready for manufacturing equipment to move in.

The company, which had said it would hire 2,000 workers, now says it will employ 4,500.

Arizona is among the states trying to attract federal funding.

With 30,000 engineering students, Arizona State is home to the country’s largest college of engineering and is a driver in meeting the next-generation demand.

“Chips and Science Act is a once in a lifetime opportunity. This is the moment. This is the moment to build out capabilities, infrastructure, expertise,” Kyle Squires, dean of the schools of engineering at Arizona State University, told VOA recently. “We’re bringing this capability back into the U.S. You’ve got to have a workforce ready to engage it.”

Source: Voice of America

December 6, 2022

Minimum Expenditure Basket in Malawi: What it Costs for a Household to Survive a Month – Round 63 : 05 -10 September 2022

Highlights

• The average cost of a typical household’s Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB) in Malawi decreased by 1.0 percent to MK 78,398 in early September 2022 from MK 79,200 in the previous round of data collection two weeks earlier.

• The slight decrease in the SMEB was largely driven by lower food and non-food prices in the urban cities and rural Central and Southern Regions. However, the rural Northern Region recorded a marginal SMEB increase of 0.5 percent as non-food costs such as soap and milling went up.

• The cost of the urban SMEB was the highest at MK 94,699 per month compared to the cost in the rural areas. Among the rural areas, the cost of the SMEB was the highest in the Southern at MK 77,868 per month followed by the monthly cost in the Central and Northern Regions of MK 70,793 and MK 70,232, respectively.

• The price of maize grain increased by 0.9 percent to MK 328 per kg in early September, up from MK 322 two weeks prior. The price of beans increased to MK 1,443 per kg an increase of 1.1 percent and that of cowpeas to MK 853 per kg (increasing by 4.0 percent). Pigeon peas sold for MK 584 per kg, a 2.3 percent decrease.

Source: World Food Programme

December 6, 2022

Malawi Police Arrest Anti-Graft Director Over Leaked Audio

Police in Malawi arrested the head of the country’s Anti-Corruption Bureau on Tuesday over an audio recording leaked in January.

In the leaked audio, the director-general of the ACB, Martha Chizuma, was heard talking with an unknown person about how some churches, judges, lawyers and government officials were trying to block her effort to handle corruption cases involving British-based businessman, Zuneth Sattar.

During the state of the nation address on January 24, President Lazarus Chakwera described Chizuma’s action as unfortunate but said he would not dismiss her.

However, on Tuesday, Chizuma was arrested.

Her lawyer, Martha Kaukonde, told VOA she was not surprised by the arrest because there were several attempts to get Chizuma detained.

“There was a case that was commenced in Lilongwe that was thrown out by the court,” Kaukonde said. “And another case came up with Blantyre [court]; it was thrown out. A third one resurfaced in Mzuzu [court] and we proceed to apply for review in the high court in Lilongwe. And the high court agreed with us that the process being done was supposed to be stopped because the decision was already made in Lilongwe and Blantyre, so it was an abuse of court process.”

Kaukonde said Chizuma has since been charged and is now out on police bail.

“They say [the charge is] making use of speech capable of prejudicing a person against a party to judicial proceedings, contrary to Section 113 (1) (d) of the Penal Code. So essentially it is to do with leaked audio in January this year,” Kaukonde said.

Police said in a statement Tuesday that the arrest follows a complaint from the director for public prosecutions, Steven Kayuni.

Peter Kalaya, spokesperson for Malawi’s police, said: “Dr. Kayuni alleged in his statement that he was injured by the allegations that were made by the director general in a leaked audio clip in January this year. Malawians should know that High Court judge, Anabel Mtalimanja, ruled in September this year that any individual or party that felt aggrieved by contents of that leaked audio was at a liberty to lodge a complaint with us, the police.”

The arrest of Chizuma comes a few days after the Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima. Chilima is accusing of receiving payments amounting to $280,000 and other items from British businessman Zuneth Sattar in return for awarding Malawian government contracts.

On its official Facebook account, the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party said the arrest of Chizuma was an attempt by government authorities to block her plans to summon four government officials this week, including two cabinet ministers, over corruption-related issues.

Moses Mkandawire, chairperson for the National Anti-Corruption Alliance, said the arrest of Chizuma has a negative impact on the fight against corruption.

“We are frustrated, we are disappointed given the fact that there are a number of high-profile cases that have been put on the list like the Sattar case, the NOCMA fuel case and many other cases. And therefore, arresting Martha [Chizuma] at this critical juncture is very frustrating,” he said.

The charge which Chizuma was supposed to answer to has been dropped. Justice Minister Titus Mvalo told parliament Tuesday afternoon that the government has suspended the director for public prosecutions pending investigation into the arrest of Chizuma.

Source: Voice of America