Day: February 15, 2023

ARR of $249 million, up 33% year-over-year

Fourth-quarter revenue of $74.0 million, Increase 9% year-over-year

Fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $16.1 million, 21.8% adjusted EBITDA margin

PETAH TIKVA, Israel and TYSONS CORNER, Va., Feb. 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cellebrite (NASDAQ: CLBT), a global leader in Digital Intelligence (“DI”) solutions for the public and private sectors, today announced financial results for the three and twelve months ending December 31, 2022.

“We ended 2022 with solid quarterly results fueled by our industry-leading technology in a healthy Digital Intelligence market. Our market leadership remains strong as a result of the tangible progress and investments we have made in innovating across our platforms and executing on our go-to-market strategy,” said Yossi Carmil, Cellebrite’s CEO. “As data volumes are surging, data complexity is increasing and scrutiny around ethics and accountability are mounting, we are committed to helping customers modernize their investigations by digitizing the evidence workflows end-to-end. We enter 2023 well positioned to accelerate our revenue growth rate and drive improved profitability as we continue to capitalize on the strong demand we see for our offerings.”

Fourth Quarter Financial Highlights

• Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) of $249 million, up 33% year-over-year
• Revenue of $74.0 million, up 9% year-over-year, of which subscription revenue was $62.3 million, up 24% year-over-year
• Recurring revenue dollar-based net retention rate of 130%
• GAAP gross profit and gross margin of $61.9 million and 83.6%, respectively
• GAAP net income of $7.1 million; Non-GAAP net income of $15.3 million
• GAAP diluted EPS of $0.04; Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.08
• Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin of $16.1 million and 21.8%, respectively

Full Year Financial Highlights

• Revenue of $270.7 million, up 10% year-over-year, of which subscription revenue was $216.0 million, up 18% year-over-year
• GAAP gross profit and gross margin of $219.9 million and 81.3%, respectively
• GAAP net income of $120.8 million; Non-GAAP net income of $19.7 million
• Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin of $25.9 million and 10%, respectively

Fourth Quarter and Recent Digital Intelligence Highlights

• Closed 29 large deals in the fourth quarter, each valued at $500,000 or more.
• Won a $14 million agreement with a leading law enforcement agency in Asia for the company’s Advanced Extraction Solution.
• Signed a $10+ million deal with a major West European national police force, marking one of the Company’s largest digital intelligence deals, further validating digital intelligence as an essential accelerator for investigators.
• Announced that its collaboration with the Vanderburgh Co. Cyber Crime Task Force to service 29 agencies across 11 U.S. states has helped accelerate justice by reducing the time it takes to investigate and successfully prosecute felonies.
• Launched new cloud workplace app collection capability for Cellebrite Endpoint Inspectorthataims to improve organizations’ investigation and eDiscovery capabilities. Thisnew functionalitywill enable customers to collect remote mobile and computer data as well as cloud workplace application data in one unified platform, reducing time and costs associated with the collection of data of these apps.
• Published the Enterprise Solutions 2023 Industry Trends Report, which highlights major data collection headaches arising from a hybrid work environment that threaten to slow down corporate fraud, IP theft and sexual harassment investigations for eDiscovery professionals and corporate investigators.
• Partnered with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), and The Exodus Road to help these organizations advance their efforts to advance their respective missions and eliminate forced labor and human trafficking.

Supplemental financial information can be found on the Investor Relations section of our website at https://investors.cellebrite.com/financial-information/quarterly-results.

Financial Outlook

“With a strong 33% annual growth in ARR during 2022 and 84% of our fourth-quarter 2022 revenue coming from subscription software licenses, Cellebrite has largely completed a successful, multi-year transition to subscription software,” said Dana Gerner, Chief Financial Officer of Cellebrite. “Looking ahead, we are well positioned to increase our revenue growth rate and sustain solid ARR momentum in 2023 as we continue expanding wallet share with existing customers, complemented by winning new logos. We anticipate that the combination of our top-line growth and prudent investment in our operations will enable us to drive improvement in our profitability during 2023, and keep us on track to reach our original long-term EBITDA margin target of 20% or greater.”

• December 2023 ARR is expected to be between $300 and $310 million, representing 21-25% year on year growth.
• Full year 2023 revenue is expected to be between $305 and $315 million, representing 13-16% year on year growth.
• Full year 2023 Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $35.0 and $40.0 million, representing 11-13% margin.

Conference Call Information
Today, February 15, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. ET, Cellebrite will host a conference call and webcast to discuss the Company’s financial results for the fourth quarter 2022. The call details are below:

Telephone participants are advised to register in advance at:
https://register.vevent.com/register/BIa98ecd8f02c04567a1515497e1f850c8.

Upon registration, participants will receive a confirmation email detailing how to join the conference call, including the dial-in number and a unique registrant ID.

The live conference call will be webcast in listen-only mode at: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/6j7zngzy.

The webcast will remain available after the call at: https://investors.cellebrite.com/events-presentations

Non-GAAP Financial Information

This press release includes non-GAAP financial measures. Cellebrite believes that the use of non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP operating income and Adjusted EBITDA is helpful to investors. These measures, which the Company refers to as our non-GAAP financial measures, are not prepared in accordance with GAAP.

The Company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures provide a more meaningful comparison of its operational performance from period to period and offers investors and management greater visibility to the underlying performance of its business. Mainly:

• Share-based compensation expenses utilize varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and a variety of equity instruments that can impact a company’s non-cash expenses;
• Acquired intangible assets are valued at the time of acquisition and are amortized over an estimated useful life after the acquisition, and acquisition-related expenses are unrelated to current operations and neither are comparable to the prior period nor predictive of future results;
• To the extent that the above adjustments have an effect on tax (income) expense, such an effect is excluded in the non-GAAP adjustment to net income;
• Tax expense, depreciation and amortization expense vary for many reasons that are often unrelated to our underlying performance and make period-to-period comparisons more challenging; and
• Financial instruments are remeasured according to GAAP and vary for many reasons that are often unrelated to the Company’s current operations and affect financial income.

Each of our non-GAAP financial measures is an important tool for financial and operational decision making and for evaluating our own operating results over different periods of time. The non-GAAP financial measures do not represent our financial performance under U.S. GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to operating income or net income or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolated from, or as an alternative to, financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures may not provide information that is directly comparable to that provided by other companies in our industry, as other companies in our industry may calculate non-GAAP financial results differently, particularly related to non-recurring, unusual items. In addition, there are limitations in using non-GAAP financial measures because the non-GAAP financial measures are not prepared in accordance with GAAP, and exclude expenses that may have a material impact on our reported financial results. Further, share-based compensation expense has been, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, significant recurring expenses in our business and an important part of the compensation provided to our employees. In addition, the amortization of intangible assets is expected recurring expense over the estimated useful life of the underlying intangible asset and acquisition-related expenses will be incurred to the extent acquisitions are made in the future. Furthermore, foreign exchange rates may fluctuate from one period to another, and the Company does not estimate movements in foreign currencies.

A reconciliation of each of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most comparable GAAP measure is set forth in a table included at the end of this press release, which is also available on our website at https://investors.cellebrite.com.

Key Performance Indicators

This press release also includes key performance indicators, including annual recurring revenue and dollar-based retention rate.

Annual recurring revenue (“ARR”) is defined as the annualized value of active term-based subscription license contracts and maintenance contracts related to perpetual licenses in effect at the end of that period. Term-based license contracts and maintenance contracts for perpetual licenses are annualized by multiplying the revenue of the last month of the period by 12. The annualized value of contracts is a legal and contractual determination made by assessing the contractual terms with our customers. The annualized value of maintenance contracts is not determined by reference to historical revenue, deferred revenue or any other GAAP financial measure over any period. ARR is not a forecast of future revenues, which can be impacted by contract start and end dates and renewal rates.

Dollar-based net retention rate (“NRR”) is calculated by dividing customer recurring revenue by base revenue. We define base revenue as recurring revenue we recognized from all customers with a valid license at the last quarter of the previous year period, during the four quarters ended one year prior to the date of measurement. We define our customer revenue as the recurring revenue we recognized during the four quarters ended on the date of measurement from the same customer base included in our measure of base revenue, including recurring revenue resulting from additional sales to those customers.

About Cellebrite

Cellebrite’s (NASDAQ: CLBT) mission is to enable its customers to protect and save lives, accelerate justice, and preserve privacy in communities around the world. We are a global leader in Digital Intelligence solutions for the public and private sectors, empowering organizations in mastering the complexities of legally sanctioned digital investigations by streamlining intelligence processes. Trusted by thousands of leading agencies and companies worldwide, Cellebrite’s Digital Intelligence platform and solutions transform how customers collect, review, analyze and manage data in legally sanctioned investigations. To learn more, visit us at www.cellebrite.com and https://investors.cellebrite.com.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This document includes “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “forecast,” “intend,” “seek,” “target,” “anticipate,” “will,” “appear,” “approximate,” “foresee,” “might,” “possible,” “potential,” “believe,” “could,” “predict,” “should,” “could,” “continue,” “expect,” “estimate,” “may,” “plan,” “outlook,” “future” and “project” and other similar expressions that predict, project or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. Such forward looking statements include estimated financial information. Such forward looking statements with respect to revenues, earnings, performance, strategies, prospects, and other aspects of Cellebrite’s business are based on current expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those indicated by such forward looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: Cellebrite’s ability to keep pace with technological advances and evolving industry standards; Cellebrite’s material dependence on the acceptance of its solutions by law enforcement and government agencies; real or perceived errors, failures, defects or bugs in Cellebrite’s DI solutions; Cellebrite’s failure to maintain the productivity of sales and marketing personnel, including relating to hiring, integrating and retaining personnel; uncertainties regarding the impact of macroeconomic and/or global conditions, including COVID-19 and military actions involving Russia and Ukraine; intense competition in all of Cellebrite’s markets; the inadvertent or deliberate misuse of Cellebrite’s solutions; political and reputational factors related to Cellebrite’s business or operations; risks relating to estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth; Cellebrite’s ability to properly manage its growth; risks associated with Cellebrite’s credit facilities and liquidity; Cellebrite’s reliance on third-party suppliers for certain components, products, or services; challenges associated with large transactions and long sales cycle; risks that Cellebrite’s customers may fail to honor contractual or payment obligations; risks associated with a significant amount of Cellebrite’s business coming from government customers around the world; risks related to Cellebrite’s intellectual property; security vulnerabilities or defects, including cyber-attacks, information technology system breaches, failures or disruptions; the mishandling or perceived mishandling of sensitive or confidential information; the complex and changing regulatory environments relating to Cellebrite’s operations and solutions; the regulatory constraints to which we are subject; risks associated with different corporate governance requirements applicable to Israeli companies and risks associated with being a foreign private issuer and an emerging growth company; market volatility in the price of Cellebrite’s shares; changing tax laws and regulations; risks associated with joint, ventures, partnerships and strategic initiatives; risks associated with Cellebrite’s significant international operations; risks associated with Cellebrite’s failure to comply with anti-corruption, trade compliance, anti-money-laundering and economic sanctions laws and regulations; risks relating to the adequacy of Cellebrite’s existing systems, processes, policies, procedures, internal controls and personnel for Cellebrite’s current and future operations and reporting needs; and other factors, risks and uncertainties set forth in the section titled “Risk Factors” in Cellebrite’s annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 29, 2022,as amended on April 14, 2022 and in other documents filed by Cellebrite with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), which are available free of charge at www.sec.gov. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward looking statements, which speak only as of the date made, in this communication or elsewhere. Cellebrite undertakes no obligation to update its forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.

Contacts:

Investors
Investor Relations
investors@cellebrite.com

Media
Victor Cooper
Public Relations and Corporate Communications Director
+1 404 804 5910
Victor.cooper@cellebrite.com

Cellebrite DI Ltd.
Fourth Quarter 2022 Results Summary
(U.S Dollars in thousands)

	For the three months ended		For the Year ended
	December 31,		December 31,
	2022		2021		2022		2021
Revenue	74,018			67,908			270,651			246,246
Gross profit	61,887			55,572			219,905			203,689
Gross margin	83.6	%		81.8	%		81.3	%		82.7	%
Operating income	9,674			4,306			1,044			13,822
Operating margin	13.1	%		6.3	%		0.4	%		5.6	%
Cash flow from operating activities	35,743			29,792			20,577			36,052
Non-GAAP Financial Data:
Operating income	14,428			7,751			19,538			42,869
Operating margin	19.5	%		11.4	%		7.2	%		17.4	%
Adjusted EBITDA	16,114			8,874			25,906			47,905
Adjusted EBITDA margin	21.8	%		13.1	%		9.6	%		19.5	%

Cellebrite DI Ltd.
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(U.S. Dollars in thousands)

		December 31,		December 31,
			2022				2021
Assets
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents		$	87,645			$	145,973
Short-term deposits			51,335				35,592
Marketable securities			44,643				—
Trade receivables (net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $1,904 and $1,040 as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively)			78,761				67,505
Prepaid expenses and other current assets			17,085				12,818
Contract acquisition costs			6,286				4,813
Inventories			10,176				6,511
Total current assets			295,931				273,212
Non-current assets
Other non-current assets			1,731				1,958
Marketable securities			22,125				—
Deferred tax assets, net			12,511				9,800
Property and equipment, net			17,259				16,756
Intangible assets, net			11,254				11,228
Goodwill			26,829				26,829
Operating lease right-of-use assets, net			15,653				—
Total non-current assets			107,362				66,571
Total assets		$	403,293			$	339,783
Liabilities and shareholders’ equity (deficiency)
Current Liabilities
Trade payables		$	4,612			$	9,546
Other accounts payable and accrued expenses			45,453				54,044
Deferred revenues			152,709				122,983
Operating lease liabilities			5,003				—
Total current liabilities			207,777				186,573
Long-term liabilities
Other long term liabilities			5,394				9,537
Deferred revenues			42,173				36,426
Restricted Sponsor Shares liability			17,532				44,712
Price Adjustment Shares liability			26,184				79,404
Warrant liability			20,015				56,478
Operating lease liabilities			10,353				—
Total long-term liabilities			121,651				226,557
Total liabilities		$	329,428			$	413,130
Shareholders’ equity (deficiency)
Share capital		*)		*)
Additional paid-in capital			(125,624	)			(153,072	)
Treasury share, NIS 0.00001 par value; 41,776 ordinary shares			(85	)			(85	)
Accumulated other comprehensive income			331				1,372
Retained earnings			199,243				78,438
Total shareholders’ equity (deficiency)			73,865				(73,347	)
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity (deficiency)		$	403,293			$	339,783

*) Less than 1 USD

Cellebrite DI Ltd.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income
(U.S Dollars in thousands, except share and per share data)

	For the three months ended		For the Year ended
	December 31,		December 31,
		2022				2021				2022				2021
Revenue:
Subscription services	$	43,698			$	31,999			$	153,470			$	120,889
Term-license		18,625				18,088				62,487				62,428
Total subscription		62,323				50,087				215,957				183,317
Perpetual license and related		3,666				9,387				21,373				34,169
Professional services		8,029				8,434				33,321				28,760
Total revenue		74,018				67,908				270,651				246,246
Cost of revenue:
Subscription services		3,681				2,045				16,875				9,369
Term-license		50				753				425				2,299
Total subscription		3,731				2,798				17,300				11,668
Perpetual license and related		3,381				4,659				12,987				9,817
Professional services		5,019				4,879				20,459				21,072
Total cost of revenue		12,131				12,336				50,746				42,557
Gross profit	$	61,887			$	55,572			$	219,905			$	203,689
Operating expenses:
Research and development		19,734				18,833				80,620				65,541
Sales and marketing		23,669				21,239				97,387				76,389
General and administrative		8,810				11,194				40,854				47,937
Total operating expenses	$	52,213			$	51,266			$	218,861			$	189,867
Operating income	$	9,674			$	4,306			$	1,044			$	13,822
Financial (expense) income, net		(572	)			49,809				119,716				68,483
Income before tax		9,102				54,115				120,760				82,305
Tax expense (income)		2,024				2,244				(45	)			10,909
Net income	$	7,078			$	51,871			$	120,805			$	71,396
Earnings per share
Basic	$	0.04			$	0.28			$	0.64			$	0.49
Diluted	$	0.04			$	0.25			$	0.59			$	0.44
Weighted average shares outstanding
Basic		184,952,107				180,170,342				182,693,375				144,002,394
Diluted		192,786,615				199,082,479				195,393,558				161,538,579
Other comprehensive income:
Unrealized income (loss) on hedging transactions		1,194				495				(953	)			(944	)
Unrealized income (loss) on marketable securities		44				—				(502	)			—
Currency translation adjustments		(133	)			955				414				995
Total other comprehensive income (loss) net of tax		1,105				1,450				(1,041	)			51
Total other comprehensive income	$	8,183			$	53,321			$	119,764			$	71,447

Cellebrite DI Ltd.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flow
(U.S Dollars in thousands, except share and per share data)

	For the three months ended		For the Year ended
	December 31,		December 31,
		2022				2021				2022				2021
Cash flow from operating activities:
Net income	$	7,078			$	51,871			$	120,805			$	71,396
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Share based compensation and RSU’s		3,787				1,661				13,708				6,480
Amortization of premium, discount and accrued interest on marketable securities		(225	)			—				(372	)
Depreciation and amortization		2,520				1,814				9,194				7,007
Interest income from short term deposits		(318	)			—				(684	)			—
Deferred income taxes		(61	)			269				(2,392	)			(1,638	)
Remeasurement of warrant liability		375				(15,506	)			(36,463	)			(11,967	)
Remeasurement of Restricted Sponsor Shares		1,381				(11,181	)			(27,180	)			(17,635	)
Remeasurement of Price Adjustment Shares liabilities		1,211				(23,934	)			(53,220	)			(38,271	)
Decrease (increase) in trade receivables		11,242				8,690				(12,885	)			(1,958	)
Increase in deferred revenue		18,953				9,152				38,966				21,804
Decrease (increase) in other non-current assets		94				(1,779	)			227				(1,394	)
(Increase) decrease in prepaid expenses and other current assets		(4,431	)			2,541				(5,692	)			(8,304	)
Changes in operating lease assets		4,667				—				4,667				—
Changes in operating lease liability		(5,955	)			—				(5,955	)			—
Increase in inventories		(812	)			(1,711	)			(3,680	)			(1,798	)
(Decrease) increase in trade payables		(895	)			2,955				(5,471	)			4,239
(Decrease) increase in other accounts payable and accrued expenses		(2,060	)			2,428				(8,853	)			5,107
(Decrease) increase in other long-term liabilities		(808	)			2,522				(4,143	)			2,984
Net cash provided by operating activities		35,743				29,792				20,577				36,052
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment		(1,391	)			(778	)			(6,897	)			(5,111	)
Cash paid in conjunction with acquisitions, net of acquired cash		—				(20,000	)			—				(20,000	)
Purchase of Intangible assets		(1,788	)			—				(2,188	)			—
Investment in marketable securities		(9,253	)			—				(89,364	)			—
Proceeds from maturity of marketable securities		7,445				—				22,277				—
Assets acquisition		—				—				—				(3,000	)
Investment in short term deposits		(51,000	)			(21,000	)			(76,000	)			(21,000	)
Redemption of short term deposits		18,544				47,210				60,941				94,337
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities		(37,443	)			5,432				(91,231	)			45,226
Cash flows from financing activities:
Payment of dividend		—				—				—				(100,000	)
Exercise of options to shares		1,327				944				12,628				2,305
Proceeds from Employee Share Purchase Plan, net		657				—				1,337				—
Exercise of public warrants		—				—				5				—
Proceeds from Recapitalization transaction, net		—				—				—				29,298
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities		1,984				944				13,970				(68,397	)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents		284				36,168				(56,684	)			12,881
Net effect of Currency Translation on cash and cash equivalents		2,795				(81	)			(1,644	)			(754	)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period		84,566				109,886				145,973				133,846
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	$	87,645			$	145,973			$	87,645			$	145,973
Supplemental cash flow information:
Income taxes paid	$	3,727			$	1,758			$	9,053			$	8,157
Non-cash activities
Purchase of property and equipment	$	—			$	749			$	—			$	814
Purchase of Intangible assets	$	493			$	—			$	664			$	—

Cellebrite DI Ltd.
Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Information
(U.S Dollars in thousands, except share and per share data)

	For the three months ended		For the year ended
	December 31,		December 31,
		2022				2021				2022				2021
	Unaudited		Unaudited		Unaudited		Unaudited
Operating income	$	9,674			$	4,306			$	1,044			$	13,822
Issuance expenses		—				—				—				11,835
Dividend participation compensation		—				—				—				966
Share based compensation		3,787				1,661				13,708				6,480
Amortization of intangible assets		834				607				2,826				1,971
Acquisition related costs		133				1,177				1,960				7,795
Non-GAAP operating income	$	14,428			$	7,751			$	19,538			$	42,869
	For the three months ended		For the year ended
	December 31,		December 31,
		2022				2021				2022				2021
	Unaudited		Unaudited		Unaudited		Unaudited
Net income	$	7,078			$	51,871			$	120,805			$	71,396
One time tax (income) expense		—				—				(2,368	)			7,067
Issuance expenses		—				—				—				11,835
Dividend participation compensation		—				—				—				966
Share based compensation		3,787				1,661				13,708				6,480
Amortization of intangible assets		834				607				2,826				1,971
Acquisition related costs		133				1,177				1,960				7,795
Tax expense (income)		516				498				(384	)			(1,670	)
Finance expense (income) from financial derivatives		2,967				(50,621	)			(116,863	)			(67,873	)
Non-GAAP net income	$	15,315			$	5,193			$	19,684			$	37,967
Non-GAAP Earnings per share:
Basic		0.08			$	0.03				0.10			$	0.26
Diluted		0.08			$	0.03				0.10			$	0.24
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic		184,952,107				180,170,342				182,693,375				144,002,394
Diluted		192,786,615				199,082,479				195,393,558				161,538,579

	For the three months ended		For the year ended
	December 31,		December 31,
		2022				2021				2022				2021
	Unaudited		Unaudited		Unaudited		Unaudited
Net income	$	7,078			$	51,871			$	120,805			$	71,396
Financial expense (income), net		572				(49,809	)			(119,716	)			(68,483	)
Tax expense (income)		2,024				2,244				(45	)			10,909
Issuance expenses		—				—				—				11,835
Dividend participation compensation		—				—				—				966
Share based compensation		3,787				1,661				13,708				6,480
Amortization of intangible assets		834				607				2,826				1,971
Acquisition related costs		133				1,177				1,960				7,795
Depreciation expenses		1,686				1,123				6,368				5,036
Adjusted EBITDA	$	16,114			$	8,874			$	25,906			$	47,905

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8749609

At least 73 migrants were reported missing and presumed dead following a shipwreck off the Libyan coast on Tuesday, the official Twitter account of International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Libya said on Wednesday.

Seven survivors made it to shore from the boat, which was carrying around 80 people, who had reportedly departed from Qasr Alkayar, east of Tripoli, to head to Europe, the IOM added.

So far, 11 bodies have been retrieved by the Libyan red Crescent and the local police, while the seven survivors are in hospital, the IOM said.

Libya has become a major launching point for migrants seeking to reach Europe via a dangerous route across the desert and over the Mediterranean.

Source: Voice of America

PRETORIA, President Cyril Ramaphosa has sent his condolences to the families of those who died following a head-on collision between a bus and a truck in Limpopo Tuesday.

“As compatriots, we are deeply saddened when we experience such a loss of life on our roads. Incidents like this impact severely on families who lose loved ones, as well survivors or witnesses who are affected physically or psychologically when such tragedy happens.

“Incidents of this kind also have economic consequences for the people involved and for the businesses they may operate or in which they are employed. We must all do what we can to travel in safety, while we treat our roads as a shared amenity, which they are,” the President said.

It had been reported that 21 people perished and 68 others were injured in the accident.

The President cautioned motorists to reduce speed and exercise patience on the roads.

“A second of haste or impatience can result in a lifetime of loss and pain, and there is no risk that is worth taking – no matter what your experience may be as a driver.

“While we reflect on this, our prayers go out to the families, friends and colleagues of those who have perished in Limpopo,” President Ramaphosa said.

On Tuesday, Limpopo MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Florence Radzilani, expressed shock and sadness at the news of the bus accident, which happened on the N1-29 stretch, next to the HF Verwoerd Tunnel.

Source: Nam News Network

ADDIS ABABA, The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has warned that Climate change continues to strike Africa with extreme weather events.

The WMO Secretary-General, Professor Petteri Taalas in a statement says the devastating drought in the greater horn of Africa, including parts of Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia is manifestation of the impacts of climate change.

“More than 13 million people are facing severe food insecurity in the horn of Africa and the health of 6 million children from these countries is affected by malnutrition,” said Prof. Taalas who spoke during the conference of heads of National Meteorological and Hydrological (NMHSs) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, says the failure of five rainfall seasons has had devastating effects of crops and this could impact the harvests.

Prof. Taalas told the meeting attended by Heads of National and Meteorological and hydrological Services, regional and global experts in weather, climate and water services with decision-makers in Africa that more than 3 million livestock supporting the livelihoods of pastoral communities have died in the Region.

He told the meeting that is discussing the need for enhancing digital transformation of the Hydro-Meteorological Services in the Region that digital transformation of the NMHSs “will make accessing severe weather warnings and alerts easy,” he said and added that, “Technology transformation will strengthen and modernize NMHSs to perform their public weather functions for the safety of lives and property.”

The Secretary-General noted that the digital transformation of the Meteorological services in Africa will help fasten data transmission speed “and increase the ability to create products and services for realtime, exchange of information, critical for forecasting and warnings of hydro-Meteorological hazards, so as to warn the public and enhance safety.”

In his remarks, the Ethiopian State Minister for Water and Energy, Dr Abraha Adugna, noted that the frequency and intensity of hazards on the continent is significant adding that the impacts are having pressure in socioeconomic sectors.

Dr. Adugna said that the Ethiopia government in partnership with the Ethiopian Meteorological Institute (EMI) has established a modernized network for collecting meteorological data for early warning services in a bid to improve lives and livelihood.

Source: Nam News Network

Amsterdam, Bahraini Ambassador-designate to The Netherlands, based in Brussels, Abdullah bin Faisal bin Jabr Al Dossari, met the Director of Middle East and North Africa Affairs at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs Marc Gerritsen.

The ambassador praised the development of the Bahraini-Dutch relations and stressed the Kingdom’s keenness to consolidate bilateral cooperation in various political, economic, social and cultural fields.

Gerritsen praised the close relations between both countries and stressed the importance of strengthening and developing them in many areas of common interest.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

A group of Ukrainian protesters have sailed a yacht close to a Russian warship docked in Cape Town ahead of South Africa-hosted wargames with the Russian and Chinese navies. Critics say South Africa’s hosting of Russian warships for drills at the one-year anniversary of its ongoing invasion of Ukraine pokes holes in its claim to neutrality.

Military men in uniform stood on the deck of Russia’s Admiral Gorshkov frigate Tuesday and watched protesters aboard a yacht, which bore the Ukrainian flag.

Fearless, the group of eight, mostly women, shouted and held signs reading Stop the War.

The Russian news agency Tass quoted an unnamed official saying the hypersonic Zircon missiles carried by the Admiral Gorshkov will be test-fired during the drills.

Because of their speed, the missiles cannot be detected by existing missile defense systems.

The South African National Defense Force did not reply to requests to confirm the test firing.

Protester Dzvinka Kuchar of the Ukrainian Association of South Africa says human rights activists and environmentalists are begging the South African government to stop the war games.

“Russian state media which is fully controlled by Russian government has already said that they are planning to fire Zircon missiles during those trainings (sic),” said Kuchar. “We understand that this is pure propaganda to take attention away from what Russia is doing in Ukraine. And what Russia is doing they’re killing civilians, they’re destroying hospitals, they’re destroying the lives of millions of people.”

Kuchar says South Africa, which has chosen to take a neutral stance in Russia’s war on Ukraine and abstained on several United Nations resolutions condemning the onslaught, is simply being used by Vladimir Putin.

“I know South Africa says we are a sovereign country, and we can be friends with any country that we want. And this is true,” said Kuchar. “But if you choose to be friends with a country that is running a war, it also sends a message about yourself. You can be friends but at least say to your friend that is causing gender-based violence “Stop beating your wife.”

The mayor of Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis, who belongs to the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, replied to a tweet by the Russian Consulate in Cape Town and told the ship to “Voetsek.” That is an impolite Afrikaans word that means go away.

He said the ship is not welcome and that the city would not be complicit in Russia’s evil war.

Political analyst Daniel Silke, Director of the Political Futures consultancy, says if South Africa keeps making decisions to side with Russia, there could be consequences in terms of its global standing.

“I think South Africa is entering a mine field of attempting to find a balancing act here,” said Silke. “But I do think that when it comes to assistance and aid from the United States perhaps from even some Western countries, I think there may well be a reluctance, there may well be a frowning on South Africa’s stance on this particular issue.”

The Admiral Gorshkov left Cape Town harbor Wednesday and is making its way to the site of the military drills off the coast of South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal province.

The exercise is scheduled to take place from February 17 to 27.

This is the second naval exercise South Africa is carrying out with Russia and China – which are two of its four partners in the BRICS alliance. The first took place in 2019.

Several anti-war protests against the drills are planned.

Source: Voice of America