AFRICA NEWS BULLETIN @ 20h00 -- 2 February, 2016

AFRICA NEWS BULLETIN @ 20h00

2 February, 2016

Radio XYZ93.1FM

Lead Producer: E.K.Bensah Jr

Assistant Producer/Presenter: Joshua Quodja-Mensah

STORIES

1.       FOCUS: Ugandan Agri-business Expert Says Agriculture Can Help Create Jobs and Wealth in Africa

2.       EAST AFRICA: RwandAir Selects Ethiopian Airlines as Strategic Partner

3.       CENTRAL AFRICA: Newly-introduced Talk-time Tax to Fetch Cameroon CFA10billion

4.       WEST AFRICA: West & Central Africa to Meet over Terrorism

5.       NORTH AFRICA: While Warning Against Military Intervention, AU re-launches Libya Peace Drive

1.                   FOCUS:

Agribusiness Expert Dr.Alex Ariho believes Africans should begin making profit from Africa’s agriculture.

Ariho is Facility Coordinator of UNIBRAIN, which is a system that brings four actors – human capital; research institutions; private sector; and African governments – to work collectively in an enabling environment that will help make money for Africans working in the agricultural sector.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with E.K.Bensah Jr for “Africa in Focus”, he explained the rationale behind UNIBRAIN, and why Africans must be interested. In his view, “the unique value-proposition of UNIBRAIN is the connection of the key four actors that are required to provide the framework and the transitional path upon which agriculture can cause change in terms of jobs and wealth creation.”

Trying to connect the dots on the conversation of Africa’s agriculture for the last four years has been the Accra-based technical arm of the African Union – Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). Ariho says people are tired of ideas, and now want action – especially on agriculture. This is where FARA has stepped in.

Ariho says “with support from DANIDA…and the institutional framework and support of the African Union, FARA spearheaded the implementation of this model to be able to create a business case to Africans: how do you create jobs, and how do you create wealth?” To this end, incubators were established in the following countries: Zambia; Uganda; Kenya; Ghana; and Mali in 2012 to provide an opportunity on how this can work in Africa.

Since 2011 to date, UNIBRAIN has been able to chalk successes with the six initial incubators, with 10,000 jobs being created.

Pressed to elaborate on what UNIBRAIN actually is, this is what Dr.Ariho said [AUDIO]:

That was Dr.Alex Ariho speaking exclusively to E.K.Bensah Jr.

2.                   EAST AFRICA:

The national carrier of Rwanda – RwandAir – has selected Ethiopian Airlines as a strategic partner.

This follows the airline’s decision to sell the 49% stake for a partner to invest in the airline; manage it; and offer technical assistance.

Only two Airlines – Ethiopian Airlines and Ethihad Airways – were among the international airlines that have shown interest in RwandAir’s offer.  CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told the Ethiopia Reporter that a fortnight ago, a RwandAir delegation went to Addis Ababa and informed the selection of Ethiopian Airlines as a strategic partner.

This strategic partnership by Ethiopian Airlines with RwandAir makes it the third African airline after ASKY and Malawi Airlines. This development also means that Kigali will also become Ethiopian’s fourth hub after Addis Ababa, Lome and Lilongwe.

3.                   CENTRAL AFRICA:

A newly-introduced tax on talk-time in the Central African country of Cameroon could fetch a comfortable FCFA10bn (US$16,317) for the country’s internal revenue.

Established by the 2016 Finance Bill, the tax on telephone communications and internet services for which telephone operators and internet access providers are now liable, ought to generate revenue in excess of USD10, 000 during the first year of its enforcement.

The authorities say in addition to binding Cameroon to the regulatory measures which this tax establishes in the CEMAC regional area, the new telephone communications and internet services licence fee will enable the Cameroonian Public Treasury to obtain more benefits from the development of the telco and internet sectors of Cameroon.

4.                   WEST AFRICA:

Reeling from terrorist attacks in the Sahel, and fearful of his country being one of the next targets, Senegalese President Macky Sall has disclosed to Xinhua news agency that a regional summit will soon bring together ECOWAS States and those of the Economic Community of Central African States(ECCAS).

This meeting will be followed by a tripartite meeting between Africa, China and France to consolidate efforts in the fight against terrorism. Sall disclosed this in a recent interview on the sidelines of the just-ended AU Summit.

This is not the first time both ECOWAS and ECCAS have had a joint summit to tackle mutual concerns. The first time was in June 2013 when the two regions met over maritime insecurity. In 2015, the two regions would meet to discuss Boko Haram.

5.                   NORTH AFRICA:

The Libyan peace drive has received renewed support with the decision by the African Union to appoint a new task force comprising five heads of State, which sole objective will be to push the political process and the formation of a Government of National Accord.

The just-ended AU Summit ended with a call by the continental organisation saying it was deeply concerned that Islamic State was gaining ground in two-State Libya.  While the heads of State in the new Libya Task Force remain unnamed, the AU has appointed a new special envoy to Libya in the name of former Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete. He replaces Djibouti premier Dileita Mohamed Dileita.

Libya has been on the back-burner of international peace and security efforts for a one-State Libya for a while. The former President of Tanzania’s appointment could just give the peace process the visibility it so urgently needs.

Let’s take a quick look at who this new AU Envoy is. Kikwete was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2005 under his predecessor Benjamin Mkapa. He also served as Chairperson of the African Union in 2008-2009 and Chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Troika on Peace, Defence and Security in 2012-2013.

As of 4 April 2013, Kikwete was the sixth most followed African leader on Twitter with 57, 626 followers. As of today, he has 386K followers.

ENDs

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AFRICA NEWS BULLETIN @ 20h00 -- 1 February, 2016

AFRICA NEWS BULLETIN @ 20h00

1February, 2016

Radio XYZ93.1FM

Lead Producer: E.K.BensahJr

Assistant Producer/Presenter: Joshua Quodja-Mensah

STORIES

1.       FOCUS:The UN & Africa Look-Ahead for 2016

2.       EAST AFRICA:

a.       Uganda’s Kiira Motors Unveils Solar-Powered Bus this Month

b.      Low-Cost Beer to Create 5000 Jobs in Uganda

3.       CENTRAL AFRICA:

a.       GS Sahel Group to Establish Regional School of Excellence on War

4.       WEST AFRICA:

a.       Ghana Joins ECOWAS Countries to Implement Common External Tariff

5.       SOUTH AFRICA: COMESA To Deploy Election Observers

1.                   FOCUS:

With only five weeks into the New Year, the sub-region has already been attacked by terrorists in Burkina Faso.

The Islamist sect Boko Haram continues to inflict terror in parts of Nigeria now almost on a daily basis. Only yesterday, as President Deby of Chad was assuming the Chairmanship of the African Union, three people were killed and dozens wounded in two suicide bombings in the Lake Chad area.

In the first attack in Guie, a bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up killing one person and injuring 32. The second took place in the village of Miterine, leaving two dead and 24 wounded.

Without a doubt, this is a year in which the United Nations will have to join partners worldwide to work harder than ever to uplift people from poverty, and ensure a safer world. The global body has outlined three major tasks for the year ahead. The first is protecting citizens; the second is assisting those in the Sahel out of crushing poverty. The third has to do with ensuring there are “free and fair” elections in countries of Central Africa as they head to the ballot box for critical elections.

The UN believes the first priority of protecting citizens remains a major challenge. According to top UN Official HerveLadsous,who is head of UN Peacekeeping Operations, about 80 percent of uniformed peacekeepers are now serving in missions in Africa.

The third priority of maintaining conflict-free elections in Central Africa have become nettlesome issues as Central African Republic; the Democratic Republic of Congo; and Burundi remains unresolved.

The second priority remains another headache for the UN as it shifts its resources to ensure those living in the Sahel are able to have a healthier and safer life. It is a recondite fact that countries that make up the Sahel are some of the poorest in the world. In December 2015, the UN launched a US$2billion humanitarian appeal for the region, adding that up to 600,000 children there are at the risk of dying from malnutrition in the coming year.

The UN’s Daniel Dickinson spoke with Toby Lanzer, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel, and asked him what he expects over the next 12 months. Lanzer painted a grim picture of the reality of the Sahel through the lens of a Malian mother who asked him: “what future can there be for my son? He can be a drug-dealer, a human trafficker, a gun-runner, a rebel, a terrorist?” Let’s listen to the rest of what he had to say. [AUDIO]

2.                   EAST AFRICA:

The Ugandan motor vehicle manufacturing company that government created has announced plans to commence automobile production in 2018.

In a bold attempt to prove to the world that the country is ready for automotive engineering and technology innovation, CEO Paul Musasizi of Kiira Motors Corporation says so far two concept vehicles have been produced – the Kiira EV and Kiira Smack. He said in an interview “there is a difference between manufacturing and developing concepts.” He continued that they have developed three concept vehicles and are working on the manufacturing plant in another part of the country.

These vehicles have been created to respond to the challenge of climate change, Musasizi said as he inspected the final touches on the 35-seater bus named Kayoola.

Still in East Africa,

Beer-lovers in Africa may soon be flocking to the East African country of Uganda as proponents of the newly-launched Ngule beer say the brand will create jobs for about 5000 farmers by providing market for their produce.

Uganda Breweries Limited(UBL) and Majestic Investments, the investment arm of Buganda Kingdom, last week officially signed an agreement to produce a low cost beer that, they say, will reduce on the level of illicit alcohol  consumed on the market.

Buganda Prime Minister Charles Peter Mayiga believes the beer will create jobs for the farmers who grow cassava, which is one of the raw materials used in the production of the beer. The partnership with UBL, he maintained, is aimed at promoting the income levels of the people and also addressing key social concerns like health of the people who cannot afford the expensive safe beer brands.

3.                   CENTRAL AFRICA:

In the last edition of the XYZ Africa News, we reported that Chad’s IddrisDebyItno was likely to replace Zimbabwe’s Mugabe as the new AU Chairman. Deby is now indeed Chair, and stated in his opening speech that Africa must begin to act and talk less.

It is arguable that Chad is an epitome of a country that has acted for the benefit of the continent than any of its Central African neighbours. From its exploits in joining ECOWAS countries fight Islamist militants in Mali in 2012 to what he has done with oil; Deby is a President to watch.

Even more so now that under his Chairmanship of the G5 Sahel group, the project to establish a Regional School of War for the G5 is likely to come to fruition.

Experts from Mauritania; Mali; Chad; Niger; and Burkina Faso met last week in Mauritania’s capital to deliberate over preparatory sessions around a regional school of war for the group.

The two-day meeting was a follow-up to that held in November 2015 in Chad’s capital Ndjamena, where the idea of a School was mooted. In the communiqué that resulted from the meeting, it was agreed that the headquarters would be in Mauritania.

According to the francophone JournalduTchad.com, the Permanent Secretary of the g5 Sahel Group, Chadian Najim El Hadj Mohamed is quoted as saying that the decision to set up the School “underscored the fact that (in opting for this School), the five Head of States, confronted by the same challenges of security and development, decided to cooperate in a permanent and structured manner so as to optimize the convergence of their efforts.”

4.                   WEST AFRICA:

Although late in the game, Ghana joins other ECOWAS countries to implement the Common External Tariff effective today, 1 February, 2016.

The implementation process follows the successful passage of the CET Act, (Act 905) by Ghana’s legislators.

The CET is the single tariff rate agreed to by all Member States of the Economic Community of West African States. The regime means that the same tariff will be introduced on an eligible item imported into the sub-region – irrespective of which ECOWAS member country it lands in.

ECOWAS believes it is one of the instruments of harmonizing ECOWAS Member States and strengthening its Common Market. Article 3 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty defines the aims of the Community as promoting “cooperation and integration, leading to the establishment of an economic union in West Africa.” It continues “in order to achieve this, the Community is to ensure, in stages, among other means, the establishment of a common market through the adoption of a common external tariff and a common trade policy vis-à-vis third countries.”

Mr.SeiduYakubu, Chief Revenue Officer of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) explained that the implementation of the CET would help reduce smuggling of goods. He said “…there will be no need for importers in the country to import their goods through any of the ECOWAS Member countries and then wheel them by road to Accra.”

The CET for ECOWAS was adopted by the Heads of State of the regional bloc in October 2013 in Dakar, Senegal, to enhance trade within the sub-region.

Even more significant for ECOWAS is the fact that the CET signifies the region’s commitment to economic integration. Economists posit that in the five stages of economic integration, the adoption and application of a CET is the second stage before a Common Market, where services and capital are free to move within member countries.

5.                   SOUTH AFRICA:

At the invitation of the Ugandan government, Election Observers of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) are to be deployed to the country for the forthcoming general elections on 18 February.

Expected to be in the country from 14 February to 20, the main objective will be to “provide an independent assessment of the electoral process thereby providing credibility and legitimacy to the electoral process as a way of promoting peace, security and stability in the COMESA region as provided for under article 3(d) of the COMESA Treaty”, the statement said.

The statement continues that the Observer Mission will be led by a member of the COMESA Committee of Elders, Ambassador Ashraf GamaalRashed, and will comprise of Observers drawn from selected Member States and a support team from COMESA Secretariat.

This will be the second time COMESA is participating in election observation in Uganda, having observed the last general elections held five years ago in 2011.

Other organisations that will observe the elections include the European Union and the regional legislative arm – the East African Legislative Assembly.

ENDs

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AFRICA NEWS BULLETIN @ 20h00 -- 29 January, 2016

   AFRICA NEWS BULLETIN @ 20h00

29  January, 2016

Radio XYZ93.1FM

Lead Producer: E.K.Bensah  Jr

Assistant Producer/Presenter: Joshua Quodja-Mensah

STORIES

1.       FOCUS: KENYA CONTINUES ITS WEST AFRICAN INVESTMENT DRIVE WITH THREE-DAY NIGERIA PRESIDENT VISIT

2.       EAST AFRICA:

a.       UNCTAD XIV to be Held in Kenya

b.      RwandAir on the Rise

3.       CENTRAL AFRICA:

a.       President Deby of Chad Most Likely to Succeed Mugabe as AU Chair

4.       WEST AFRICA: UK-based Think-Tank Shines Spotlight on Ghana’s Slums Ahead of Elections

1.                   FOCUS:

After wooing Ghanaian investors here in Ghana in November 2015, Kenya is continuing its West African investment-overtures by welcoming President Buhari of Nigeria for a three-day visit into the East African powerhouse.

The centerpiece of the visit is the proposal for the establishment of a duty-free trade zone between the two countries. This decision comes following trade talks between the two Presidents.

Accompanied by more than forty business leaders and investors, Buhari wound down his three-day visit Thursday, with the expectation that President Kenyatta reciprocates the visit in six months’ time. Chairman of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry(KNCCI) Kiprono Kittony said that there will be “a unit in Kenya and Nigeria that will be concerned with facilitating all interactions concerning trade between [the] two countries.”

Kenya will house that unit under the KNCCI’s Nigeria-Kenya Business council, while in Nigeria; its counterpart will be chaired by Sani Dangote, who is brother of Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote.

The two countries have identified specific areas for mutual cooperation, including agro-processing; cotton; tea; horticulture and dairy products. Dangote says “East Africa is a market of about 150 million people and we have ECOWAS which is more than 350 million-strong, and we want the Kenya-Nigeria Business Council to have its own office so that it can be dedicated to collecting data and facilitating interactions on this agenda.”

On Kenya’s part, Nigeria needs to ease the cost of doing business and remove barriers to entry for Kenyan firms.

Still on the visit, Kenya is reeling from the al-Shabaab attack on Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) soldiers serving in AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in El Adde camp a fortnight ago.

As a consequence of the globalized nature of terror that has affected the two countries, Kenya and Nigeria have joined hands with Somalia to unite against terror. Speaking to the press yesterday on KTN Prime, this is what Kenyatta and Buhari had to say. [AUDIO].

Buhari added:
“the importance of KDF in Somalia is beyond words and we are solidly behind Kenya and the world in fighting these terrorists. We are going to win this fight because we have won it before. The attack just strengthens us. Thank you Kenya,” he said.

    

2.                   EAST AFRICA:  

Nairobi is gearing to host the world for the Fourteenth Session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development in July 2016.

The government of Kenya and UNCTAD has confirmed the conference will be held in the premises of the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. There will be two hearings with civil society in Geneva prior to the Conference so as to provide CSOs the opportunity to contribute to the preparatory process and comment on the pre-conference negotiating text.

Still in East Africa,

The national carrier of Rwanda, RwandAir, is expanding its fleet with two new Airbus aircraft that will allow it add medium and long-haul flights to Europe, Asia and the Middle East, the airline indicated in a press release.

With this, the carrier will be the first East African customer of the long-haul A330-300 Airbus airliner. CEO of RwandAir said in a prepared statement “we have found the A330 to perfectly-support our plans to expand into Europe and Asia, to enhance our regional presence, to open up new routes and to grow our market share.”

The aircraft are powered by Rolls-Royce, which is an important factor that will maximize the revenue-earning potential of the new aircraft, Mirenge said.

According to East African Business Week, RwandAir has been quietly building a regional Africa network, with hopes to establish Kigali as a hub for the continent with 40 percent of the airline’s traffic connections.

3.                   CENTRAL AFRICA:  

President Idris Deby Itno has his work cut out for him!

Apart from contesting Presidential elections on April 10, the Chadian head of State is incumbent Chair of the G5 Sahel group (comprising Burkina Faso; Chad; Mali; Mauritania & Niger). In the next Bulletin, we will indicate the instrumentality of Chad in the establishment of a proposed Regional School of War for the G5.

But to matters of the AU now: apart from the fact that Chad has just been elected a member of the AU’s Peace and Security Council that closed a few hours ago, reports by a francophone Tunisian paper confirm what has been circulating in the rumour mill – that President Deby is most-likely to be elected Chair of the African Union, replacing Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

The reports indicate that the Chadian Head of State is the only “consensual candidate” from Central Africa. This is as per AU rules, where countries need to put forward a regional candidate that almost-all countries have agreed on.

Deby has been in power since December 1990, but has played important and critical roles in the Mali 2012 civil war, where Chadian troops fought under the AU-led international force AFISMA. Chad has been an observer of ECOWAS since 2011, and has contemplated joining the West African bloc. A major oil-producing country, in 2015, the Guardian’s Celeste Hicks wrote that much of the country’s transformation “is down to oil.”

4.                   WEST AFRICA:

Ahead of Ghana’s elections in Novemnber, the UK-based Africa Research Institute(ARI) has shone the spotlight on slums in Accra.

ARI held an event on 28 January, entitled “Slum Politics in Accra: Understanding Urban Ghana.”

Organised to mark the launch of ARI’s new “Counterpoint” publication, Dr.Jeffrey Paller – a post-doctoral research fellow at the Earth Institute at Colombia University – led a talk about the social and political networks supposed to really govern urban Ghana.

The country is considered one of Africa’s most rapidly-urbanising countries, with the number of city-dwellers having risen from 4 million to 14 million over thirty years.

The event was organized on the premise that as informal settlements will play an increasingly important role in Ghana politics, Ghana needs to understand the voting intentions of these slum-dwellers ahead of Ghana’s elections in November 2016. It sought to unpack how “hidden” informal networks interact with formal politics, and how citizens ought to hold their leaders to account in this environment.

The discussion was live-tweeted under “#Accrapolitics” on the twitter social media network with many of the participants tweeting key points.

Jeffrey Paller, the invited speaker, tweeting @JWPaller, was quoted as saying that “many researchers in development and urbanization studies fail to look at what is happening in slums.”

The discussion further revealed that “local leaders have become highly accountable to locals.” Another tweet indicated a representative of Cities Alliance maintains Ghana has “more houses demolished than built.” Another tweet predicted that “elections in Ghana will be heavily influenced by informal networks.”  

 

 ENDs