COMING UP!》Ep.89 | AfroDemocracy(6): SDG 16, Civil Society & Democracy

Synopsis | Africa in Focus Show | Ep.89 | AfroDemocracy(6): SDG 16, Civil Society & Democracy

For the second time in the show's history, we join the global community to celebrate International Democracy Day.

The United Nations believes that, the International Day of Democracy provides an opportunity to review the state of democracy in the world. Democracy is as much a process as a goal, and only with the full participation of and support by the international community, national governing bodies, civil society and individuals, can the ideal of democracy be made into a reality to be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere.

The values of freedom, respect for human rights and the principle of holding periodic and genuine elections by universal suffrage are essential elements of democracy. 

In turn, democracy provides the natural environment for the protection and effective realization of human rights. These values are embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and further developed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which enshrines a host of political rights and civil liberties underpinning meaningful democracies.

This year's celebration will be the first-ever observance of the day since the advent of the SDGs.

The theme of Sustainable Development Goal 16 remains important  as it addresses democracy by calling for inclusive and participatory societies and institutions. It aims to "Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels."

The Goal is both an end in itself and a crucial part of delivering sustainable development in all countries. It has been seen by many commentators as the transformational goal and key to ensuring that the Agenda can be accomplished.

In ep.89, we will be interviewing a staff of West Africa Civil Society Institute(WACSI) to help us understand especially why the conversation on democracy remains a discussion of paramount importance -- whether in an "AfroDemocratic" narrative where Africans bring flair to the prosecution of their governance, or otherwise.

Guiding questions:
▪What is SDG 16, and its relationship with democracy?
▪How critical is civil society to deepening of democracy?
▪Is there still a need to celebrate International Democracy Day?

Guests on the line/studio:
▪Charles Kojo VanDyck, Head of Capacity-Building, West Africa Civil Society Institute(WACSI)

COMING UP!》Ep.88 (Season 5, ep.6) | AfroLiteracy”: Celebrating World Literacy Day

Synopsis | Africa in Focus Show | Ep.88 | "AfroLiteracy": Celebrating World Literacy Day

For the second time in the show's history, we join the global community to celebrate World Literacy Day.

As in 2015, we celebrate it with an African flair -- AfroLiteracy, which speaks to the extent to which we have become conscientized about our continent.

If book-reading remains the quintessence of being functionally-literate, then it's adequate we speak to someone who is neither no stranger to book-reading nor to the Show, where he has helped us better-appreciate the contribution of tourism to Ghana.

Our second guest is Rachel Emefa Markham, whom we met at the 2015 UN World Tourism Organization meet on #BrandAfrica.

She will be updating us on what she's been up to since 2015, and what plans she has to stage a comeback for her ever-popular #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou.

**Guiding questions:**
*What is significance of book-reading to literacy?
*Are Ghanaians becoming more aware about tourism?
*Has social media helped (re)define literacy of the continent?

**Guests on the line/studio:**
•Kofi Akpabli, Communications Consultant & Tourism Author
•Rachel Emefa Markham, co-founder #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou/Ambassador, UN World Tourism Organisation

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more details will be available soon on www.africainfocusradioshow.org ; africainfocusshow.blogspot.com.

*Follow the conversations on #AfricainFocus on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/africainfocus14.

*Tweet Emmanuel ahead of time on www.twitter.com/ekbensah, using #africainfocus.

*Follow 24/7 on https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.radioxyzonline.pc

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COMING UP!>>Ep.86 (Season 58, Ep.3): AfroDemocracy(6):Deconstructing #ZambiaDecides

As part of our series examining Africa’s democracy and governance, we will use ep.86 (Season 5, ep.3) to continue from where we left off last week, by this time looking at how the 11 August elections in Zambia unfolded.

We bring back Mark Amaliya, who is a governance expert at the Mutatio Institute. Although he has featured on the show twice already in Season 3, we are bringing him to help us do to the Zambian elections what we did in Season 3 examining the fallout of ‪#‎UgandaDecided‬ in February 2016.

In addition, we will be speaking to Zambian CSO Expert, Lucy Munthali -- live from Lusaka--. She voted and offered a summary of how voting transpired on the day in the East Africa Rising group. She will further include an offer of a snapshot of Zambia as a country that enjoys uncanny affinities with Ghana -- including load-shedding and playing second-fiddle producer of a commodity.

**Guiding questions:**

• What’s the significance of the Zambian elections for the SADC region?
• How critical is the outcome of the Zambian elections to the Zambian-Zimbabwe dynamic in the region?
• What will election of incumbent portend for Zambia’s future, including decision to go to the IMF?

COMING UP!>>Episode #85 (Season 5; Ep.2): AfroDemocracy(5): Unpacking & Demystifying the 27th African Union Summit

Episode #85

(Season 5; Ep.2):  

AfroDemocracy(5): Unpacking & Demystifying the 27th African Union Summit

In the second edition for the month of August and first foray into our series on AfroDemocracy , we want to use the show to revisit the noteworthy 27th African Union Summit.

Remarkable in the Summit’s outcome of retaining the incumbent South African Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, it set a precedent for another reason -- the fact that it would be the West African bloc under ECOWAS that caused disruption of business-as-usual. ECOWAS’ dissatisfaction with the calibre of the candidates caused a significant spanner in the works, giving vent to new dynamics within continental governance.

Our interviewee is Mark Amaliya, who is a governance expert at the Mutatio Institute. He has featured on the show twice already in Season 3.

         

Join us if you can at 14h05 on Wednesday 10 August, 2016

Call us on the following number

+233(302)777.173

Guiding questions

•  What does the retention of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma portend for AU’s continental governance?
• How central has the West African bloc (ECOWAS) been to deepening AU’s own governance?
• What should the take-homes about the AU Summit for ordinary Africans be?

Guest in the studio

• Mark Amaliya,  Mutatio Institute

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*more details will be available soon on www.africainfocusradioshow.org ; africainfocusshow.blogspot.com.

*Follow the conversations on #AfricainFocus on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/africainfocus14.

*Tweet Emmanuel ahead of time on www.twitter.com/ekbensah, using #africainfocus.

*Follow 24/7 on https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.radioxyzonline.pc

Call Radio XYZ93.1FM on +233(302)777.173

COMING UP!>>Ep.83 -- Season 4 FINALE: Demystifying the Ecowas Treaty(revd) of 1993 with ex-ECOWAS Frank Ofei

Episode #83

(Season 4; Ep.18):  

Demystifying the Ecowas Treaty(revd) of 1993 with ex-ECOWAS Frank Ofei

Season 4 is STILL on the theme of “making money for Africa”.

In the third edition for the month of July, we want to use the 23rd anniversary of the revised ECOWAS treaty of 1993 on 24 July to remind listeners about how far West Africa has gone in consolidating its integration.

It is arguable that, the Treaty is the closest the sub-region has come to a constitution for West Africa.

If that is true, then what does that say about the aspirations of ECOWAS to create a West African civil service that can adequately-cater to citizens of West Africa?

In this edition, we want to help Mr.Ofei unpack  and demystify the ECOWAS Charter.

Who better than the person who has intimate knowledge of what is considered by former UN Economic Commission for Africa Professor Jeghan Senghor as the "bible" for West Africa's integration.

         

Join us if you can at 14h05 on Wednesday 27 July, 2016

Call us on the following number

+233(302)777.173

Guiding questions

• How relevant is the Ecowas Treaty of 1993 in the 21st century?
• Does it still respond to the realities of the time in West Africa?
• How does it speak to West Africa's integration?

Guest in the studio

➢  Mr. Frank Ofei,  former ECOWAS staff

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*more details will be available soon on www.africainfocusradioshow.org ; africainfocusshow.blogspot.com.

*Follow the conversations on #AfricainFocus on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/africainfocus14.

*Tweet Emmanuel ahead of time on www.twitter.com/ekbensah, using #africainfocus.

*Follow 24/7 on https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.radioxyzonline.pc

Call Radio XYZ93.1FM on +233(302)777.173

COMING UP!》Ep.82 | Time with GHASALC: Towards Financial Inclusion of the Informal Economy

Episode #82
(Season 4; Ep.17):
Time with GHASALC: Towards Financial
Inclusion of the Informal Economy
Season 4 is STILL on the theme of “making money for Africa”.

In the second ediࢢon for the month of July, it's all about financial inclusion, mobile money & a perspecࢢve from Ghana Associaࢢon of Savings& Loans Company.

Back in Season 1, in July 2014, we interrogated the quesࢢon that:
"In the difficult prevailing economic condiࢢons, it islikely that more people are operaࢢng in a so-called shadow economy where they have a 9-to-5 job, and couple it with one in the informal economy.

A general discussion needsto be had so Africans can begin to reflect on the trajectory ofthe sector, and how it can bemodernized. And a specific discussion isfound wanࢢng because countries, such as Rwanda, do not necessarily have an informal sector in the tradiࢢonal way that people in West Africa understand it.

So, what isit, for example, that they have been doing to upset the apple cart on modernizing the economy? Isthere something that other African countries can, yet again, learn from this small, landlocked country in East Africa that has been geࢰng thingsright a[er the country died in 1994? "

We left the 8 July 2014 ediࢢon knowing that countries like Rwanda do not have an informal sector as obtains with the structure ofthe economies of West Africa.

The conversaࢢon about Rwanda is yet-again important as it comes from a region that, arguably, pioneered the sub-set of financial inclusion we now know asmobilemoney.
For a show that frequently compares and contrasts East and West Africa, we are parࢢcularly excited by the fact that the commencement of MPESA in Kenya is a crystal-clear example of best pracࢢces from the East coast of Africa in sࢢmulaࢢng financial inclusion.

In 2013, theAfrican Development Bank defined financial inclusion as:
"...a mulࢢdimensional concept that encompasses all iniࢢaࢢves, from both supply and demand sides, within the financial sector. They include provision of appropriate and quality financing that is both accessible and affordable to low-income and other vulnerable households. Notably they target groups tradiࢢonally excluded from the formal financial sector."

If we can losely argue that a subset of financial inclusion is mobile money, then, perhaps, a conversaࢢon with GHASALC on what it thinks of financial inclusion isimportant in figuring out how it can form part of a larger conversaࢢon on making money for Africa.

Join us if you can at 14h05 on Wednesday 20 July, 2016
Call us on the following number
+233(302)777.173

Guiding questions
➢ What is the difference between microfinance and savings & loans organisations like GHASALC?
➢ What is financial inclusion, as seen through lens of GHASALC?
➢ Is mobile money a boon or a threat to savings and loans companies?
Guest in the studio

COMING UP!》Episode #81 (Season 4; Ep.16): #AUSummit27: Perspectives on the Summit by Civil Society -- the Case of SOTU

Episode #81
(Season 4; Ep.16):  
#AUSummit27: Perspectives on the Summit by Civil Society -- the Case of SOTU

Season 4 is STILL on the theme of “making money for Africa”.

We commenced the Season unpacking the nitty-gritty of the Creative Economy, and concluded that Film, more than any other cog in the Creative Economy wheel, was probably the most dominant within that Economy.

In episode 2, we appreciated how, if managed properly, Sports could become the biggest employer in Ghana, the sub region, and the Continent.

In episode 3, we started to treat the all-important topic of customer service, concluding that, Ghana can achieve an “insanely customer-centric culture” as seen in the West, but it takes exposure and training of frontline staff to do that.

In episode 4, we concluded that East Africa continues to rise, while episode 5 helped demystify Africa’s agriculture under the AU’s flagship programme of CAADP, concluding that issues around Agribusiness and nutrition will dominate discussions around Agriculture after the 12th CAADP Partnership Platform meeting that was held in Accra mid-April.

In episode 6, we piggy-backed on the *UNCTAD E-Commerce week* that took place from 18-22 April in Geneva, concluding the show on Cyber-crime with the shocking conclusion that Ghana’s Cyber-awareness is at a shockingly low threshold.

Episode 7 saw us in a conversation with the West Africa Civil Society Institute for updates on latest activities, and publications, concluding that it was necessary to have a conversation about African philanthropy.

Episode 8 shone the spotlight on AfriTourism for the fourth time, concluding that the “Think Ghana, Think Cocoa” venture, which was unveiled at a Marketing competition at the University of Ghana Business School in April, needs immense support as it has put cocoa very significantly into conversations around tourism.

Episode 9 sought to unpack Model ECOWAS Summit that took place on ECOWAS Day – 28 May, 2016. Episode 10 was a reflective one on Africa Day, whereas episodes 11-13 have equally-been reflective.

In the first edition for the month of July, it's the 27th Edition of the AU Summit that is on our minds
         
In this edition of the Show, we are --  yet again -- speaking to lawyer and Coordinator of Nairobi-based State of the Union(SOTU) Osai Ojigho, who will help demystify aspects of the  AU Summit.

After Brexit, much of the international media has been agog with speculation that it signalled the effective demise of the African Union, and then some! The other stories were, for once, good-news ones that suggested the introduction of the e-passport for Africa's diplomats & high-level officials was "the opposite of brexit" in addition, there was usual discussion of how Africa's regional integration dynamics would change as a consequence of Brexit.

All to which we ask Osai Ojigho to help us understand some of the dynamics surrouding AUSummit27


Join us if you can at 14h05 on Wednesday 13 July, 2016


Call us on the following number
+233(302)777.173
Guiding questions
 How important are AU summits in helping monitor the AU's work?
 Who is likely to be next AU Commission chair?
 What is civil society expectation of the AU Summit?


Guest on the line
  Osai Ojigho,  Coordinator, State of the Union, Nairobi, Kenya

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*more details will be available soon on www.africainfocusradioshow.org ; africainfocusshow.blogspot.com.

*Follow the conversations on #AfricainFocus on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/africainfocus14.

*Tweet Emmanuel ahead of time on www.twitter.com/ekbensah, using #africainfocus.

*Follow 24/7 on https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.radioxyzonline.pc
Call Radio XYZ93.1FM on +233(302)777.173