Angélique Kidjo and Black Coffee bring Africa 2 new Grammys
Singer Angélique Kidjo and South African DG Black coffee each won a trophy at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday. Africa was represented at the Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden …
Kenya investigates crash that killed military chief Francis Ogolla
Kenya’s government has sent a team to probe a helicopter crash that claimed the life of military chief Gen Francis Ogolla and nine others. The incident occurred shortly after takeoff in …
Health:WHO approves new cholera vaccine that could help fight surge in cases
As the world faces a shortage of cholera vaccines, the World Health Organization (WHO) has approved a new oral version of the inoculation. It is hoped that the easier-to-make vaccine will …
Zimbabwe frees prisoners, including those sentenced to death, in an independence day
Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa granted clemency to more than 4,000 prisoners, including some who were on death row, in an independence day amnesty on Thursday. Zimbabwe marked 44 years of independence …
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Rwanda making groundwater safe and accessible
Access to affordable, clean and safe water is an ongoing challenge among the poor communities in Rwanda. However, one company is helping to break the gap by purifying groundwater and then …
Former Zambia justice minister arrested for alleged corruption
Given Lubinda was arrested on Monday then released. The Anti-Corruption Commission has charged the acting chairman of Zambia’s main opposition party on five counts including corruption. Zambian former justice minister Given …
Europe-Africa: fostering an entrepreneurial mindset in Africa
On March 17 in Marseille, France, European and African political and economic leaders met for the Europe-Africa forum. Organized at the Palais du Pharo by the Metropole Aix-Marseille-Provence with the newspaper …
On March 17 in Marseille, France, European and African political and economic leaders met for the Europe-Africa forum.
Organized at the Palais du Pharo by the Metropole Aix-Marseille-Provence with the newspaper La Tribune and La Tribune Afrique, as a follow-up to the European Union-African Union summit held in Brussels on February 17 and 18. The main objective of this forum was to strengthen the new partnership between the two continents through a day of debates and discussions on various themes. Among them, the creation of employment and added value were discussed.
The Minister of Finance of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nicolas Kazadi, spoke about entrepreneurship, which for him is “the job of tomorrow”: “There must be a change in mentality, especially among young people, in relation to the relationship between employees and employers. If this change is not made, if we are not culturally prepared to become entrepreneurs, we will be eternally frustrated, that’s what we still are today, and that’s what needs to change.”
Amina Zakhnouf, co-founder of the association “Je m’engage pour l’Afrique”, shares this need for a change of mentality: “We have been very unambitious about what we already have in terms of potential, and I would like us to stop talking about purely material potential, by talking about the resources of Africa and its youth, there are other things that exist on the continent that are exceptional. There is a technical and technological innovation on the Finetech point of view that could transform this continent into a real laboratory of ideas and give Africa a leading role in the drafting of a new regulation.”
African entrepreneurs are already established on the continent and are developing small and medium-sized businesses. Some of them are sometimes boosted by private companies.
The French bank La Société Générale, still positioned in several African countries such as Morocco, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Cameroon, offers solutions.
“The support of SMEs is key in Africa, particularly for the inclusion of populations and to fight against poverty. We intervene both in financing and we have decided to double our financing by 2025, and also with a lot of coaching of business leaders through the houses of the SME that we have organized in each of our banks on the African continent,” said Laurent Goutard, director of the Africa, Mediterranean & Overseas Region of Société Générale.
Several questions remain unanswered at the end of this forum, and among them, is how to find the right cooperation between public authorities and private companies.
The European and African political leaders present at the forum nevertheless showed a willingness to change the paradigm.
UN : More than 50 million people affected by urban conflicts across the globe,
The United Nations chief said on Tuesday that more than 50 million people are affected by urban conflicts across the globe. Opening a Security Council debate on how to protect …
Most anticipated African elections in 2022: A “test” of Africa’s Democracy
Elections have proven to be a fundamental contribution to democratic governance. Despite its aim of allowing a peaceful transfer of power, some elections are often marred by substantial violence. For instance, …
Business Africa : What innovative financing solutions can the continent adopt?
Pledges of financial resources like the $100 billion made in 2009 are yet to be fulfilled, which means African nations must be ready to finance and manage their own survival against …
Pledges of financial resources like the $100 billion made in 2009 are yet to be fulfilled, which means African nations must be ready to finance and manage their own survival against a climate change doomsday.
Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, Director-General of the African Risk Capacity Group, a specialized agency of the African Union, shed some light on the self-sustaining options available for African countries, considering how slow Africa’s development partners have been in delivering on their commitments to combating climate change effects.
Saving beer from climate change
Every single beer on the African market today contains hops. While Hops is one of the four main ingredients in beer, global warming poses a serious threat. To curb the challenges created by temperature fluctuations, a computer engineer has turned to green agriculture for solutions.
Crippling cost of transporting goods across Nigeria
Nigeria may be Africa’s biggest economy but years of insecurity and reliance on road transport are fuelling the high costs of transporting goods. Transporters say it is cheaper to ship goods from as far as the United States than to move them inside the borders of the vast country. We have more in this report.
SHOCKING : Abba Kyari Supended Over Hush Puppy Fraud Case.
The Police Service Commission has suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police and Head of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Nigeria Police Force, Abba Kyari, from office A statement from the commissions …
The Police Service Commission has suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police and Head of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Nigeria Police Force, Abba Kyari, from office
A statement from the commissions spokesperson, Ifeanyi Ani, says Abba Kyari’s suspension took effect from Saturday, July 31st, 2021 and would subsist pending the outcome of the investigation in respect of his indictment by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States.
He said the Commission’s decision which was conveyed in a letter with reference, PSC/POL/D/153/vol/V/138 to the Inspector General of Police today, Sunday, August 1st, 2021, was signed by Hon. Justice Clara Bata Ogunbiyi, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court and Honourable Commissioner 1 in the Commission for the Commission’s Chairman, Alhaji Musiliu Smith, a retired Inspector General of Police who is currently on leave.
Nigerian protests as a once in a lifetime moment for change
Last month, the protests that gripped Nigeria for weeks reached a bloody peak. On October 20, security forces opened fire on unarmed demonstrators at a toll gate in Lekki, outside Lagos, …
The next morning, cyber-thugs were deployed to create chaos. People spent the day confused, reading planted stories. Like many Nigerians, I was watching the events unfold on social media. When I saw a video of the father of one of the victims mourning, I started crying uncontrollably. As a musician, I have spent much of my life touring and in the recording studio. The past few weeks, however, have opened my eyes.
Thankfully, millions of other young people feel the same. The catalyst may be the pandemic people have been locked up so long that their anger has finally boiled over. Since early October, Nigerians mostly in their 20s and 30s have taken to the streets to voice their anger over police brutality, corruption and the incompetence of the ruling elite. The demonstrations were first triggered by anger at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, better known as SARS. This is a branch of the police notorious for its track record of human rights abuses: kidnappings, extortion, harassment and killings.
Almost everyone in Nigeria has a story about SARS abuse, including me. In June this year, a friend of mine was arrested after breaking curfew to buy medicine for his ill wife. After he called me for help, I went to see him with a police officer friend of mine, hoping his job and my fame could offer some protection.
When we arrived at the scene, SARS officers had stopped close to 30 cars and confiscated everyone’s phones so they could not call for help. We saw how officers blatantly planted drugs in one of the cars, and then made everyone else line up at a nearby ATM to take out anything between $3 and $50 cash for their bribes.
SARS is also notorious for targeting young people on the flimsiest suspicion of involvement in gangs. I have friends in the music industry who have been arrested for nothing but their tattoos or their dreadlocks. It usually takes two or three days in jail and a well-placed bribe, before they are released. No wonder that #EndSARS has trended on Twitter for weeks.
The terror spread by security forces is, however, just the tip of the iceberg. Young people are protesting against a system that for decades has protected and enriched those in power. Elections have become a charade with rampant vote buying and a sense of apathy and hopelessness has defined many Nigerians until now.
The response by the authorities has been brutal. Police have used beatings, tear gas and as they did in Lekki live ammunition to break up demonstrations, resulting in many deaths.
On October 11, the government pledged to disband SARS, but we have heard similar promises before. In fact, there is every chance the situation could escalate. In his address to the nation, President Muhammadu Buhari refused to even acknowledge the massacre in Lekki. He also called the government’s initial willingness to listen to protesters a “sign of weakness”, and issued thinly veiled threats of more violence.
For us protesters, it is clear that we are fighting against a government that is willing to kill you and then blame you for your own death. The authorities are intent on creating chaos as a pretext to intensify their crackdown. One politician has even tried to whip up ethnic hatred suggesting that the demonstrations are the South trying to plan a coup.
This is a monumental moment in Nigerian history. For many young people, President Buhari represents an old and corrupt generation of politicians that have little left to offer the country. This is the moment where previous generations of Nigerians were on the cusp of change, but decided to sit back, fearing a violent backlash, or that there were not enough of them. I understand it, but we are ready to push on. At some point, there has to be a generation that takes a stand. A generation that says: “We are not going to stop, even if you kill us.”
In the immediate term, the protesters’ demands focus on justice for police abuses and more independent oversight of the police force, but also an increase in police salaries to help fight corruption. In the longer term, the presidential elections in 2023 are increasingly seen as an opportunity for real change.
Our challenge is to channel the momentum of the past few weeks into a lasting political movement. This will not be easy, since Nigeria is deeply divided on regional, class and religious lines. But I am confident that, in the end, we will succeed. Too many people are tired of the divisions the old ruling class have created and eager to move past them. Those who lost their lives in Lekki, and everyone else who have taken to the streets, deserve nothing less. Africanewsguru update.
Opposition stronghold ahead of poll as ethnic clashes alarms in Ivory Coast
The home of an opposition presidential candidate has been burned down during clashes in Ivory Coast on Saturday, two weeks before the country’s high-stakes presidential election. The violence which began on …
The violence which began on Friday in Bongouanou, the stronghold of opposition candidate and former Prime Minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan, as residents from different ethnic groups fighting with machetes while houses and shops were set on fire.
Residents reported that people from the local Agni ethnic group were fighting Dioula people from northern Ivory Coast, who back current President Alassane Ouattara.
At least two people were killed, according to a report citing witnesses.
A trader from the Agni ethnic group reported that considered pro-opposition was shot and hacked to death, including atleast one person from a group considered pro-government was also killed in the area, according to several witnesses and a hospital source.
Meanwhile in Bongouanou itself many shops and restaurants were looted and set on fire, and several cars were torched.
“The situation is untenable. We have a lot of wounded people being taken to hospital,” said Mathieu, a resident of Bongouanou.
N’Guessan, meanwhile, said his house had been burned down. “The people were transported from Abidjan. They targeted the property of opposition leaders.
About 15 people were killed in inter-communal violence in August and September across the country after Ouattara announced his intention to run for a third term.
Meanwhile, dozens of prospective candidates were barred from the election, including former president Laurent Gbagbo and ex-rebel chief Guillaume Soro.
In a step towards a potential boycott, the opposition asked supporters on Thursday not to take part in electoral events and campaigning.
Several high-profile figures, including N’Guessan, have also called for “civil disobedience” in recent weeks.
Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko condemned Saturday’s unrest and warned the opposition they were provoking violence.
“We will be quite implacable,” Bakayoko said. “If you are responsible for violence on people, on public or private property, then sooner or later you will have to pay, there will be a trial.”
Ouattara officially launched his campaign on Friday, addressing thousands in a rally in the country’s second-biggest city, Bouake.
In addition to Ouattara and N’Guessan, former President Henri Konan Bedie and former parliamentarian Kouadio Konan Bertin are in the running for the October 31 poll.
In March, Ouattara announced he would not seek a third term. But he changed his mind after his preferred successor, prime minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, died of a heart attack in July.
Ouattara and his supporters have argued that a 2016 revision of the constitution reset the limit on the number of terms. Africanewsguru update.
