Coming up on 31st Edition:>> "Role of Civil Society around Drug Policy in West Africa"

31^st Edition:  

Role of Civil Society around Drug Policy in West Africa

We want to use the thirty-first edition of the Africa in Focus show to reprise the issue of drug policy in West Africa, which we commenced in Episode 25 of AIF when we spoke to Araba Arhin, a former official of the WACD.

The WACD, West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) and the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) – in partnership with the Open Society Initiative for West Africa, Kofi Annan Foundation and USAID – is organising a “Civil Society Workshop on Drug Policy in West Africa”.

This two-day workshop will build on previous meetings in West Africa to further develop the capacity of civil society representatives in the region on the issues of drug policy, drug prevention and treatment, harm reduction, security and governance and effective advocacy.

The workshop is the first of two proposed workshops (the second taking place in September or October 2015) – and forms part of a regional project to outreach and disseminate the recommendations from the WACD report, as well as being part of the collaborative efforts to create a West African CSO Drug Policy Network.

To this end, we will be speaking to two high-level participants who can help us better-understand the concepts; challenges; opportunities around civil society participation in drug policy in West Africa. In many respects, this two-day meeting is blazing the trail on this kind of discussion, and we are certain to build on it over time.

Also in the show, we will speak to Marjorie Abdin of the CAADP National Team to give us an insight into some of the challenges bedeviling that team as it seeks to promote the AU’s CAADP programme on agriculture. What are the challenges, and opportunities that need to be confronted?

Join us if you can at 1pm on 10 February, 2015.

Guests in the studio:

Ø  Jamie Bridge, Senior Policy & Operations Manager, International Drug Policy Consortium, UK

Ø  Adeolu Ogunrombi, Commissioner, West African Commission on Drugs

Ø  Kobby Blay, EbolaWatch @14h30

On the line:

·        Marjorie Abdin , Federation of Associations of Ghanaian Exporters/CAADP National Team @13h20

Second Edition -- #Ecowas@40Podcast: #StopBokoHaram; Giaba; Why ECOWAS' Social Media needs to Improve

AFRICA IN FOCUS >> Coming up on 2 September, 2014: E-Commerce in Ghana & Africa: Challenges; Prospects; and the Future

E-commerce in Ghana & Africa: Challenges; Prospects; and the Future

Buying and selling. It is something Ghanaians and Africans do very well.

Extrapolate this to the virtual, and one finds that E-commerce offers an opportunity to buy and sell in radically-different ways. As the internet is increasingly used as a tool for business, it offers a quick way to connect producers and suppliers, and, possibly, serve as a panacea for local artisans.

As Berlin–based online retailer Jumia – a so-called Amazon counterpart – considers expanding to Cameroon; Uganda; and Ghana very soon, we want to use the 16^th edition of AIF to have a discussion about Africa and its new future of buying and selling. Already, given our informal sector, it is something that is second nature to many in Ghana, the sub-region, and the continent.

Even as we interrogate the issue of e-commerce, we want to ask hard questions about infrastructure; e-payment systems; and e-shipping opportunities in Ghana, the sub-region; and Africa.

And, also, even as we start with a localization of the issue, it is important to get a regional perspective. For example, ECOWAS has a legal framework on e-transactions; cyber-crime; and personal data protection, but they have all yet to be implemented by Member States.

Programmes Manager at the Dakar-based ECOWAS Agency, Intergovernmental Action Group against Money-Laundering (GIABA), will be offering us deep insights into the state of e-commerce and efforts to combat regional cyber-crime that will make e-transactions safer and more secure for citizens.

Guiding Questions to be answered:

·        What is e-commerce, and how is it an important driver of a country’s development?

·        Do countries like Ghana have sufficient enabling environment for e-commerce (Rancard/Surfline)

·  Does West Africa/Africa/Ghana have necessary infrastructure to facilitate E-commerce? (Surfline/GIABA)

·        How do e-commerce practitioners (like Zoobashop) set about protecting consumers and their data, even as they want to make business?

·        How do we promote E-commerce as facilitator of Africa’s integration? (GIABA)

Guests in the studio:

Ø  Henking Adjase, Surfline

Ø  Ato Ulzen-Appiah, Rancard Solutions

Ø  Albert Biga, CEO, Zoobashop.com

On the line

Ø  Stella Attakpah, Programmes Manager, ECOWAS agency GIABA (Intergovernmental Action Group against Money-Laundering), Dakar, Senegal @13h55

Ø  Dornu Narhkom, Baahe.com @14h20