Cases of Coronavirus now 1,000 on African Continent!

Associated Press OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) -  Africa's cases of the coronavirus have risen above 1,000. Two heads of state appeared to defy their own travel restrictions to attend another president's inauguration on Saturday. And Angola announced its first cases. That means at least 40 of Africa's 54 countries are now affected. Congo reported its first death; Burkina Faso reported two new ones. Ivory Coast was the latest to announce it's closing its borders. And Ethiopia's electoral authorities discussed the virus' effect on a major national election later this year.

Africa Braces for Coronavirus

Crowded hospital in Uganda

LUSAKA, Zambia — At a Chinese-run hospital in Zambia, some employees watched as people who recently returned from China showed up with coughs but were not placed in isolation. A doctor tending to those patients has stopped coming to work, and health workers have been ordered not to speak publicly about the new virus that has killed hundreds around the world.

The virus that has spread through much of China has yet to be confirmed in Africa, but global health authorities are increasingly worried about the threat to the continent where an estimated 1 million Chinese now live, as some health workers on the ground warn they are not ready to handle an outbreak.

Countries are racing to take precautions as hundreds of travelers arrive from China every day. Safeguards include stronger surveillance at ports of entry and improved quarantine and testing measures across Africa, home to 1.2 billion people and some of the world’s weakest systems for detecting and treating disease

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Waziri Tillerson wa Marekani Atatembelea Nchi Kadhaa za Afrika mwezi Machi!

 

Rais Trump wa Marekani akimwangalia Mh. Waziri Rex Tillerson

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - President Donald Trump in a new letter to African leaders says he "deeply respects" the people of Africa and that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will make an "extended visit" to the continent in March, his first in that role.

   The letter dated Thursday is addressed to African leaders as they gather for an African Union summit this weekend in Ethiopia's capital.

   U.S. diplomats have scrambled for days to address shock and condemnation after Trump's reported comparison of African nations to a dirty toilet. Trump has said he didn't use such language, while others present say he did.

   Many in Africa were taken aback by the comments after nearly a year of little attention by the Trump administration to the world's second most populous continent. Concerns have been widespread over proposed deep cuts to U.S. foreign aid and a shift from humanitarian assistance to counterterrorism.

   Trump's letter, seen by The Associated Press and confirmed by two U.S. officials, says the U.S. "profoundly respects" the partnerships and values shared by the U.S. and Africans and that the president's commitment to strong relationships with African nations is "firm."

   The letter offers Trump's "deepest compliments" to the African leaders as they gather for Sunday's summit of their 55-nation continental body. It also notes that U.S. soldiers are "fighting side by side" against extremism on the continent and that the U.S. is working to increase "free, fair and reciprocal trade" with African countries and partnering to "safeguard legal immigration."

   The letter gives no details on Tillerson's upcoming visit. A State Department official said it was expected to include stops in four to six countries.

   On Friday, Trump had a rare meeting with an African leader at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, calling Rwanda's president and new African Union chair Paul Kagame a "friend."

   For his part, Kagame tweeted: "Had very good bilateral meeting with (at)realDonaldTrump!" The Rwandan government said Kagame had "observed that many of the world's fastest-growing economies are in Africa."

   Neither side referred to Trump's vulgar comment.

   But African leaders are expected to respond to Trump during Sunday's summit. The U.S. will be represented at the gathering by Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard, the U.S. envoy to the AU, instead of the traditional high-level Washington delegation.

   An AU spokeswoman has said the organization was "frankly alarmed" by Trump's remark, and a number of African nations have spoken out or summoned U.S. diplomats for an explanation. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, however, countered by expressing his love for Trump and saying he should be praised for not mincing his words.

   Dozens of former U.S. ambassadors to African countries wrote a letter to Trump expressing "deep concern" over his comments and asking him to reconsider.

   The State Department's Bureau of African Affairs, in trying to calm things down, has tweeted that "the United States will continue to robustly, enthusiastically and forcefully engage" with African countries.

Jinsi ya Kuiibia Afrika!

How to steal from Africa, all perfectly legally

Posted on May 6, 2016 by Alex de Waal

When UK PM David Cameron opens the Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May, we should be aware that the greatest fraud perpetrated on the majority of the world’s citizens is all perfectly legal.

The City of London, arguably the heart and headquarters of a international network of tax havens. Credit: Michael Garnett.

Africa loses at least $50 billion a year — and probably much, much more than that — perfectly lawfully. About 60% of this loss is from aggressive tax avoidance by multinational corporations, which organise their accounts so that they make their profits in tax havens, where they pay little or no tax. Much of the remainder is from organised crime with a smaller amount from corruption. This was the headline finding of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, headed by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, a year ago.

This amount is the same or smaller than international development assistance ($52 billion per year) or remittances ($62 billion). If we take the accumulated stock of these illicit financial flows since 1970 and factor in the returns on this capital, Africa has provided the rest of the world with $1.7 trillion, at a conservative estimate. Africa is a capital exporter.

The rest of the world didn’t take much notice of the Mbeki Panel’s findings until the Panama Papers revealed the extent to which this is just part of a global phenomenon. The rich aren’t being taxed. The rest of us pay for everything.

The OECD calls the phenomenon ‘base erosion’ (referring to the emasculation of the tax base of the affected countries) and ‘profit shifting’. The beneficiaries are a small fraction of the world’s wealthiest 1%, and the secrecy jurisdictions (aka tax havens) where they sequester their money. These locations include the City of London, numerous British overseas territories, Switzerland, and new entrants to the global business of looking after the monies of the hyper-wealthy and ordinarily wealthy, who would prefer not to pay tax. Countries including Mauritius, the Seychelles, Botswana and Ghana are seeking to enter this competition.

And the vast majority of this is perfectly legal.

Accountants’ alchemy

Two hundred years ago, the slave trade was legal. One hundred years ago, colonial occupation and exploitation were legal. This time the legal immiseration is done by accountants.

This dimension of unethical financial activity isn’t captured by Transparency International (TI) and its Corruption Perceptions Index. That index is, as it says, a measurement of perceptions. But of what andby whom? As the UN Economic Commission for Africa recently observed, it relies on asking key power players in a nation’s economy what they think of the level of corruption. Many of those are foreign investors. Using this approach a country like Zambia will unsurprisingly tend to rank high on corruption – 76 worst out of 168. Meanwhile, Switzerland will rank low – 7th.

But the perfectly legal transfer of the wealth of Africa to Europe isn’t captured by this index. As TI notes, “Many ‘clean’ countries have dodgy overseas records”. Consider this: the number one destination for Zambian copper exports is Switzerland, which in 2014 accounted for 59.5% of the country’s copper exports. Yet Switzerland’s own imports that year scarcely contained any mention of copper at all. Had the African country’s main exports just vanished into thin air? The 2015 figures suggest that in fact much of these exports were destined for China (31%), though Switzerland remained the number one destination (34%).

The answer to where the money goes lies in accountants’ alchemy. International corporations present their books in such a way that they pay as little tax as possible in either Zambia or China. And they don’t pay much in Switzerland either – because the Swiss don’t demand it.

Suddenly the ranking of Switzerland, 69 places ahead of Zambia in the honesty league, looks a bit suspect. But of course it’s all perfectly legal.

From Zambia’s point of view, what counts as corruption is defined by the rich and powerful. When their country is robbed blind by clever accounting tricks, against which their government and people have no recourse, it is just the operation of a free market controlled – as free markets so often are – by corporations that have enough power to set the rules.

Political money in a political marketplace

Another little noticed but significant feature of illicit financial flows from Africa is that there are occasional reverse flows. The movements back into African countries aren’t as big as the outflows, but they are important. What is happening here is “round-tripping”: spiriting funds away to a safe place so they can be brought back, with their origins unexplained, and no questions needing to be asked.

The same multinational corporation that is defrauding an African country can pay money into the offshore account of one of its political leaders. Or that leader can whisk funds away by other means. Our main concern here isn’t the money invested in real estate in France, yachts, fast cars, or foreign business ventures. These are personal insurance policies in case things go wrong at home, or tickets to the global elite club. Rather, our concern is the cash kept liquid, to be brought back home when needed – the money brought back to fix elections, buy loyalties and, in sundry other ways, secure leaders in power. These are political budgets par excellence: the funds used for discretionary political purposes by political business operators.

In the United States, almost any kind of political funding you can think of can be done in a perfectly legal manner, given a smart enough accountant and lawyer. Political Action Committees can spend as much money as they like in support of a candidate. Campaign finance is essentially without a ceiling.

In Africa, political finance laws range from lax to non-existent. Spending vast amounts of money on winning political office – or staying in office – offends no law. The monetisation of politics is one of the biggest transformations in African political life of the last 30 years. It is generating vast inequalities, consolidating a political-commercial elite which has a near-monopoly on government office, fusing corporate business with state authority, and making public life subject to the laws of supply and demand. Political markets are putting state-building into reverse gear, transforming peace-making into a continual struggle against a tide of mercenarised violence, and – most perniciously – turning elections into an auction of loyalties.

Political money is discrediting democracy. Some of the transactions that constitute Africa’s political markets are blatantly corrupt, but many are simply the routine functioning of political systems based on the exchange of political services for material reward.

Yes, there is corruption in Africa, just as there is corruption in international trade and finance. But when Prime Minister David Cameron opens the Anti-Corruption Summit next week on 12 May, we should be aware that the greatest fraud perpetrated on the majority of the world’s citizens – notably those living in Africa – is all perfectly legal.

Alex de Waal is the Director of the World Peace Foundation. 

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SOURCE:

http://africanarguments.org/2016/05/06/how-to-steal-from-africa-all-perfectly-legally/

 

Afrika Haikuwa Maskini

Uvaaji wa Chupi - Afya ya Uzazi

Na Mdau Joyce Masika

Leo naomba nikukumbushe somo la Afya ya uzazi. Somo hili litafafanua faida na hasara au madhara yatokanayo na uvaaji wa nguo za ndani hasa Chupi.
Uvaaji wa chupi kihistoria ulianza karne ya 19 baada ya uvumbuzi wa viwanda na mapinduzi yake yaliyoambatana na mapinduzi ya teknolojia.
Enzi za mama zetu na babu zetu uvaaji wa chupi haukuwepo hapa Tanzania. Uvaaji wa chupi uliletwa na wamisionari na wakoloni wakati wanaleta dini Africa. Kabla ya hapo waafrica hatukuwa na utamaduni wa KUVAA chupi.
Mtoto akizaliwa hakuvalishwa chupi kamwe kama ilivyo Leo.
Mwanamke pia enzi hizo alikuwa havai chupi. Mwanaume naye pia alikuwa havai chupi? Watu wote walikuwa hawavai chupi. Mwanamke alikuwa hachuchumai chini pindi akijisaidia kutokana na kwamba hawakuwa wanavaa chupi hivyo wakitaka kujisaidia haja ndogo walikuwa wanasimama tu na kupanua miguu na kuanza kukojoa.
Nyakati za leo ambapo uvaaji chupi kwa wanaume na wanawake uko juu sana kuanzia watu tunapokuwa watoto wadogo hali ya Afya ya viungo vya uzazi imeendelea kuwa mbaya sana. Yafuatayo ni baadhi ya madhara ya kuvaa chupi :

1. Magonjwa ya "Urinary tract infection" au UTI hayataisha kwako.

Hii hasa ni kwa wanawake wanavaa nguo nyingi kwa wakati mmoja na kwa muda mrefu zaidi ya saa kumi. Unavaa chupi, lakini tight, suruali ya jinzi, nk halafu unashinda na hizo nguo kuanzia asubuhi unapoenda kazini hadi saa mbili usiku unaporudi home. Hiyo ni hatari sana.
Mwanamke anayefanya kazi zinazompasa kuwepo kazini zaidi ya masaa 8 namshauri asiwe anavaa chupi kabisa. Chupi ivaliwe nyakati za hedhi tu. Kama hauko kwenye siku zako vaa suruali tu bila chupi. Au vaa underskirt pekee yake kwa ndani na ndoo uvae nguo yako ya kawaida. Hii itakuepusha na kuugua UTI. Ukiacha sababu za ngono UTI husababishwa na bacteria wanaopendelea mahali penye unyevu na joto. Kwa hiyo mwanamke akivaa nguo nyingi bacteria hao hujipatia joto la kutosha kuzaana.
Mwanamke ni vyema ukaepuka kuvaa nguo za kubana mwili sana ili kuepukana na uwezekano wa kupafanya ukeni pawe na joto sana na ikitokea bacteria mmoja tu akaingia humo atazaa haraka sana na kujikuta UTI inakuwa rafiki yako. Vaa sketi bila chupi au kama kuvaa suruali ni lazima hakikisha unavaa suruali peke yake. Jizoeze tu utazoea. Na ukizoea kuvaa nguo bila chupi utainjoi sana.

2. Magonjwa ya kuvu au fungus hayatakoma kwako.

Bado niko kwa wanawake, kama nilivyoeleza mwanzo hapo magonjwa ya fungus yanasababishwa pia na kuvaa chupi kwa muda mrefu. Chupi inayovaliwa kwa zaidi ya saa 8 lazima italeta ukungu au uvundo sehemu nyeti. Huo uvundo waweza kuleta fungus ukeni. Fungus za ukeni hazina tofauti na zile za miguuni kwa wanaume wanaovaa viatu kwa muda mrefu bila usafi miguuni wa kutosha.
Chupi inakuwa kama socks za wanaume. Mwanamke avaae chupi muda mrefu bila kuruhusu upepo upite ndani ni watapata fungus ukeni sawa na mwanaume anayevaa socksi zisizofaa kiafya. Chupi au socks zinazofaa ni zile za pamba au cotton.

Of course sababu za kupata ugonjwa wa fungus kwa mwanamke siyo tu kuvaa chupi inayobanaaaa kwa muda mrefu ni pamoja na kutawadha kwa kutumia maji ambapo maji hayo huacha unyevu ambao hutengeneza uvundo unaopelekea fungus ukeni.
Wanawake wengi hawajui kutawadha kwa kutumia maji. Wengi wamalizapo kujitawadha haja kubwa ndipo hurudi kujisafisha ukeni. Hii ni hatari sana kwani bacteria watokanao na kinyesi unawahamisha kutoka nyuma na kuwaleta mbele.
Mwanamke unapaswa kutawadha kwanza mbele kisha umalizie nyuma. 🐓🐕
Yaani hakikisha kuwa uchafu wa nyuma unaoweza kuwa umebakia kwenye vidole vyako usiuingize ukeni kwa namna yoyote ukijarib kuchunguza wanawake wengi hufuga kucha tena mkono wa kushoto iwje akitawadha uchafu usibaki kwenye kucha? tena kwa usahaulifu anajifashia mkono huo huo wenye kucha ndefu ambazo tayari zipo contaminated?. Tawadha pande zote lakini uhakikishe kuwa haviingiliani mbele na nyuma. Sawa dada yangu?? Uko poa hapo??
Kikubwa hapa ni usafi wa mbele na nyuma. Usafi wa chupi zetu. Uvaaji chupi wetu.
Kwa mfano uwapo safarini tena safari ndefu ya zaidi ya saa 8 ni vyema ukasafiri bila kuvaa chupi isipokuwa tu kama uko kwenye siku zile za adabu. Hata kama uko kwenye siku za adabu ni vyema ukasafiri bila kuvaa manguo mengi sana yanayobana mwili. Vaa chupi na sketi au suruali isiyoubana sana mwili wako.

3. Chupi husababisha ugumba kwa wanaume.

Sababu nyingi za ugumba tunaweza ukizipata kutoka kwa madaktari wetu wa hospitali zetu. Lakini kwangu mimi sababu nyingine ya ugumba wa wanaume kuwa ni kuvaa chupi zinazobana sana.
Mwanaume wengi siku hizi hawavai chupi. Anavaa kaptura au boxa badala ya chupi. Tena havai kaptura inayobana sana. Anavaa isiyobana viungo muhimu kwa uzalishaji wa watoto. Mbegu za kiume huzalishwa kwa wingi wakati wa baridi. Kuvaa chupi inayobana kwa muda mrefu husababisha korodani kuchemka sana na kushindwa kuzalisha mbegu nyingi. Mwanaume mwenye mbegu chache hushindwa kutungisha mimba kwani mbegu zake zinakwenda ukeni huku zikiwa dhaifu na kushindwa kuogelea ukeni.

4. Chupi husababisha miwasho sana kwenye mapaja ya mwanaume na mwanamke.

Epuka kuvaa chupi zinazobana ili kuepukana na miwasho.

Mshamba ni Mshamba Daima!

DUH!

US Secretary of State John Kerry Challenges Africa

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - America's top diplomat said Saturday the U.S. is ready to help increase its ties with Africa, but nations across the continent need to take stronger steps to ensure security and democracy for its people.

   In an Africa policy address to members of the Addis Ababa diplomatic corps and the Young Africa leader network, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry highlighted crises in Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and the Central African Republic and urged Africans to demand stability and financial development.

   He called for an expansion of American investment in Africa and noted that U.S. companies IBM, Microsoft and Google already have spent more than $100 million on projects across the continent.

   "So this is clearly a moment of opportunity for all Africans," Kerry told about 100 Ethiopians at an environmentally-friendly auditorium on a mountaintop. "It is also a moment of decision."

   Africa has the natural resources, capacity and the know-how for economic development, Kerry said, adding that the U.S. is the continent's "natural partner."

   He said that over the next three years, 37 of the 54 African nations will hold national elections with millions of voters going to the polls. And he called on Africans to combat the political corruption that the African Union says has cost the people of Africa tens of billions of dollars.

   "That money could build new schools and hospitals, new roads and bridges, new pipes and power lines. That's why it's a responsibility for citizens in Africa and in all nations to demand that public money is providing services for all, not lining the pockets of a few," Kerry told the gathering.

   Combating corruption, he said, "lifts more than a government's balance sheet."

   But Kerry warned that "a new Africa" cannot emerge with becoming "a more secure Africa."

   "In too many parts of the continent, a lack of security, the threat of violence, or all-out war prevent even the first shoots of prosperity from emerging. The burdens of past divisions might never be completely eliminated but they must never be allowed to bury the future," he said.

   Kerry also warned of the dangers climate change, noting that according to a recent U.N. report parts of Mombasa, Dakar, Monrovia and dozens of coast African cities could be under water by the middle of the century.

   "Africa has 60 percent of the world's arable land. That is a tremendous opportunity for the future, not just to feed Africa's people, but to feed the world," he said. But because of climate change and global warming, yields from rain-fed agriculture in parts of Africa could decline by half.

   "When 97 percent of scientists agree that the climate is changing, that it is happening faster they even predicted, and that humans are the significant cause, let me tell you something, we need to listen. We need to act," he said.

Elumelu's Heirs Holdings Commits USD2.5 Billion to Obama’s Power Africa Initiative

PRESS RELEASE

Elumelu's Heirs Holdings Commits USD2.5 Billion to Obama’s Power Africa Initiative

African investment group is the single largest investor to US-led pan-African power initiative

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, July 1, 2013/ -- As part of his commitment to deliver affordable and accessible power to the continent, African business leader Tony O. Elumelu is committing US$2.5 billion to the power sector in Africa. The investment is being made through his pan-African proprietary investment company Heirs Holdings (http://www.heirsholdings.com) – the single largest investor included in the White House statement announcing the Power Africa initiative.

Photo Tony Elumelu: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/tony-elumelu.jpg

Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/heirs-holdings.jpg

Power Africa is a multi-stakeholder partnership between the United States, the governments of Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Ethiopia, and the African private sector, with the shared objective of accelerating investment in Africa's power sector over the next five years. The initiative was launched in South Africa during Obama's town hall at the University of Cape Town.

Earlier this year, Elumelu’s holding company, through its investee company, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp), purchased the Ughelli power plant, one of Nigeria’s largest power assets, which it plans to restore to its full generating capacity of 1000 megawatts.

"The investment we are making demonstrates our intent to become a significant player in the power sector. It also shows in a clear and meaningful way that African capital can and should be part of the solution to Africa’s challenges. We need more African companies to step up and get involved in Africa’s development.”

Elumelu, who is Chairman of Heirs Holdings, went on to say, “Heirs Holdings’ investment in Power Africa is not just about creating value for shareholders. We want to conduct business in this strategic sector for the long term, in a way that links economic return to social benefits – a key component of what I call Africapitalism. Access to affordable, uninterrupted power will have an immeasurable impact on the economic ecosystem. The cost of doing business will come down, entrepreneurs will expand and innovate, and jobs will be created as a result. That is a very tangible example of what Africapitalism is about: the private sector creating economic prosperity and social wealth.”

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of Heirs Holdings.

Read the White House Power Fact Sheet and Press Release: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/30/fact-sheet-power-africa

For more information:

Moky Makura

Director, Marketing and Corporate Communications

Heirs Holdings

Email: moky.makura@heirsholdings.com

President Obama Refusal to Visit Kenya Will Have Consequences

Kenya has some serious issues with its Top Leader being accused of serious crimes. so, it is understandable why President Obama is not visiting Kenya. But some do not see it that way.

*****************************************************

By KWAMCHETSI MAKOKHA

US President Barack Obama is no friend of Kenya. Consider that when no other country ever declared a public holiday to celebrate his election victory in 2008, Kenya did. The Senegalese had no idea and the Tanzanians and South Africans were green with envy.

Consider also that when President Obama needed good genes to get into Harvard Law School, a Kenyan contributed 50 per cent. When Mr Obama needed pictures of himself carrying cassava to the market to get through a bruising campaign, Kenya obliged.

In fact, Kenya provided the story of his African ancestry — complete with the heroic role his grandfather played in the Mau Mau struggle for independence. He even visited the country as a junior senator for Illinois, and was welcomed with open arms.

Now that he is President, Kenya is not good enough to visit.

The excuse for his refusal is laughable. Fears of being photographed at State House in the company of the country’s two leaders who face crimes against humanity charges at the International Criminal Court have apparently forced him to skirt his father’s homeland as if it were a leper colony.

Did the country not conduct peaceful elections this year that the Supreme Court passed as the cleanest in the country’s history? He has permitted a little domestic quarrel about power to prevent him from taking a mere photograph with the legitimate leadership of Kenya just because of claims that 1,133 people died and 600,000 others were displaced as a result of their combined genius.

Has Kenya not recovered from the violence that nearly tore the country apart in 2008, passing a modern and progressive Constitution?

Only this year, Mr Obama pretended to care for Kenya by promising that those willing to walk the path of progress would “continue to have a strong friend and partner in the United States of America”.

Instead of holding up Kenya as a beacon of democracy and prosperity that has survived 50 years of independence, Mr Obama has gone looking for examples in Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa. He should know that Kenya wrote the encyclopaedia of African democracy.

It is incongruous that Mr Obama would want to discuss good governance with toddlers in African democracy. Anyone who needs a manual on how to run elections needs to look no further than Kenya.

Anyone who is keen on creating a youthful leadership on the backbone of integrity need not look further than Nairobi. Mr Obama wanted to discuss political parties? Kenya has over 50. It can teach Africans not just about democracy, it can also instruct them on justice.

For all its exemplary political conduct, what does Kenya get? Bad press and a presidential snub! Other than having Nelson Mandela, South Africa has nothing on Kenya. The lions in Tanzania are all Kenyan.

Mr Obama seems to be oblivious of the numerous sacrifices many Kenyans have quietly made to bring him to where he is. Numerous Kenyans, working as immigrants, have lifted the American economy from the ignominy of the world economic crisis.

Kenya has allowed thousands of Americans to work as spies, marines, teachers, researchers and what-not just to cover Mr Obama’s vulnerability in failing to create jobs at home. His truancy in dodging the call of his ancestral home invites punishment commensurate with his mischief.

Mr Obama should think long and hard about the effect of Kenya demanding the repatriation of all its resources stolen to benefit America – starting with six pints of his blood, 16 of his teeth and 50 per cent of his brain. The rest should follow in due course.
Choices have consequences.

kwamchetsi@formandcontent.co.ke

Japan Inashindana na China Afrika!

African and Japanese leaders hold a bilateral meeting ahead of the Tokyo International Conference Photo by AFP

 
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) - Japan is wooing African nations, promising 3.2 trillion yen ($32 billion) as government and private-sector aid to foster growth in a region that is increasingly an appealing market and business partner.

   The package for the next five years, including 1.4 trillion yen ($14 billion) in government aid called ODA, or official development assistance, was announced at a three-day conference in Yokohama, near Tokyo, opening Saturday.

   Japan is eager to catch up with neighboring Asian rival China, which has a big head start in courting Africa, investing heavily in infrastructure projects.

   Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office late last year, is bullish about investing in and exporting to Africa.

   "What Africa needs now is private sector investment," he said in his opening speech, in between meetings with officials from African nations, including Zimbabwe, Ghana, Sudan and Kenya.

   "If we recognize this as a new reality, then it will be necessary to revolutionize the way of providing assistance to Africa," he said.

   Among other measures, Tokyo will invite 1,000 people from Africa to study and work as interns at Japanese companies, according to the Foreign Ministry.

   Japan will also provide 650 billion yen ($6.5 billion) in assistance for infrastructure projects, including support for transportation in cities, it said. Aid for education, farming, energy projects and water sanitation is also being offered.

   "Africa could be the next global growth pole," said Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

   Japan's conference for Africa, held every five years, began in 1993, and the latest is the fifth such gathering. Japanese companies have set up booths, to showcase their efforts to win business in Africa, such as Nissin Foods, the maker of Cup Noodles.

   U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took part in the conference and urged the world to do more to ensure security in the region, noting the value of investing in Africa is now clear.

   "But millions of Africans still lack jobs, health care and food. Too many suffer in conflict. To find solutions, we must address the links between peace, security and government," he said.

Air Mbagala

The Meaning of the Word Mzungu - Maana ya Mzungu

Kuna mzungu aliniuliza maana ya neno mzungu. Nikamwambia haihusiani kabisa na rangi bali inatokana na wale weupe wa kwanza waliofika Afrika na hawakujua wanakwenda wapi, hivyo walikuwa wanazunguka ovyo!  Kuna stori nilisimuliwa nikiwa mdogo, kuna kundi la wazungu walifika kijijini. Walikaribishwa vizuri na Chifu wakaondoka.  Baada ya wiki mbili wazungu hao hao wakarudi pale kijijini.  Chikfu kauliza, "Jamani, hao si ndo tuliwaaga majuzi!" Mzungu kashangaa hakufika popote bali anatembea katika mduara!

Mzungu From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mzungu (pronounced [m̩ˈzuŋɡu]) is the southern, central and eastern African term for a person of foreign descent. Literally translated it means "someone who roams around aimlessly" or "aimless wanderer" (from the Swahili words zungu, zunguzungu, zunguka, zungusha, mzungukaji, meaning to go round and round; from Ganda okuzunga which means to wander aimlessly). The term was first used by natives of East Africa to describe European explorers in the 18th century.[citation needed] It is now commonly used in most Bantu languages of East, Central and Southern Africa, especially in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.

In Swahili, the plural form of mzungu is wazungu.[1][2][3] The possessive kizungu (or chizungu) translated literally means "of the aimless wanderers". It has now come to mean "language of the aimless wanderers" and more commonly English, as it is the language most often used by Wazungu in East Africa. However it can be used generally for any European language. Wachizungu, Bachizungu, etc. – literally "things of the aimless wanderers" – have come to mean the Western culture, cuisine and lifestyle.

In Kinyarwanda and Kirundi, European people are also known as rutuku which means "red" (after their skin color). The word English has been loaned into Bantu languages as kiingereza in Swahili, chingeleshi in Bemba or lungereza in Ganda.

Africa Rising - Kuna Siku Afika Itashindana Kiuchumi na Nchi za Magharibi

Afrika inajulikana kwa umaskini, lakini mwana uchumi Charles Robinson anatabiri kuwa kuna siku Afrika itashindana na nchi za Magharibi!  Kila kukicha tunasonga mbele!

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Kutoka CNN.com

Get ready for an Africa Boom


By Charles Robertson, Special to CNN

Editor’s note: Charles Robertson global chief economist for Renaissance Capital and lead author of ‘The Fastest Billion: The Story Behind Africa’s Economic Revolution.’ The views expressed are his own.

The rise of Africa’s long forlorn economies – what we at Renaissance Capital have dubbed “The Fastest Billion” – represents the final phase of a global economic transformation that began over 200 years ago as agrarian societies saddled with absolute rulers began their journey through industrialization into the pluralistic middle-class societies increasingly driven by the information age we know today.

For many reasons, Africa largely missed out on this journey. But no longer: while the process will not be complete by 2050, a changing set of global and local realities suggest that Africa is set to be the final beneficiary of this revolution.

Over the past decade, the billion people who live in Africa have experienced the fastest growth the continent has ever seen, and many of its countries (Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Guinea) are among the fastest growing in the world. A growing body of evidence backs our view that as Africa’s population doubles to two billion over the next several decades, its GDP will increase from $2 trillion today to $29 trillion in today’s money by 2050.

To many in the West, such figures beggar belief – just as similar projections for East Asia’s Tiger economies or Latin America’s star performers did in the 1980s. The idea that Americans and Europeans would drive around in South Korean automobiles, or fly around in Brazilian-made jetliners, would have brought great guffaws from experts of 1980. But today, Hyundai, Kia and Embrear are household names. Things change quickly when certain tipping points are reached. We believe Africa has reached such a point.


More from GPS: How Africa could feed the world

By 2050, assuming a conservative trajectory similar to what India achieved since 1990, Africa will produce more GDP than the United States and eurozone combined do today, and its basic social, demographic and political realities will also be transformed. The necessary elements that have propelled countries from late medieval commerce with authoritarian government through to industrialized nations with comprehensive and far-reaching social and legal institutions are well known.

A continent rich in natural resources – mineral, agricultural and in energy – Africa is also rich in the youth of its population, enjoying a demographic advantage over all other regions of the world.

The pace of technological innovation globally is now so rapid, and technology is so easy to transfer – as evidenced by the boom in mobile phone technology and the roll-out of broadband across the continent – these young Africans are not only the recipients of technology, but via M-PESA banking, are becoming exporters of it, too.

Today, Africa has the greatest room to boom on the back of two centuries of global progress. The take-off in Africa began around the turn of the century, 40 years after independence. Why not earlier? Because human capital was extremely constrained by a lack of primary and secondary education, while global capital could find better opportunities in East Asia and Latin America. Political leaders in the 1960s and 1970s were inexperienced, often self-serving and were offered contradictory advice on how best to develop a country. There were no strong Asian role models to emulate. International involvement in Africa was too often geared towards Cold War geopolitics, feeding civil wars and strife, rather than trade and investment.

What has changed? Many governments have learnt from their mistakes and seen the positive reform examples not just in Asia, but more importantly in Africa itself, from Mauritius to Botswana and Cape Verde, and now Ghana to Rwanda. In most countries there has been no single reform miracle, like China’s in 1978 or India’s in 1991, but rather a series of small steps which taken together have been just as powerful.

Stronger growth and good public finances – Africa’s numbers are far better in this regard than those of Europe, the United States or Japan – have helped draw in record levels of foreign private-sector capital. But the improvement shows across the board – in primary and secondary education, in health, personal security, transparency and governance.

The headlines of the day may not support this – war rages in parts of Congo and Sudan, poverty and corruption stain too many of the continent’s peoples. Such are the stuff of headlines. But today we count around 30 democracies across the continent, some strong and immortal, but many fragile and still vulnerable. That number will grow.

Today the continent is reaping the benefits of high commodity prices and exports to China to begin the process of infrastructure investment that accelerates growth. Each year, in the oil sector alone, a major new discovery is heralded, from Ghana to Uganda and most recently Kenya, pushing Africa’s share of world oil reserves to 10 percent. African oil production growth has already been the fastest in the world over the past 10 years, all of it in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Africa now produces 10m barrels a day, as much as Russia or Saudi Arabia, with the 6m barrels of SSA alone worth $235 billion of oil revenue annually or 20% of 2011 GDP. Renaissance expects volume increases to ensure this tops $300 billion even with no change in oil prices by 2019.

Nearly a trillion dollars of oil revenue every three years means unprecedented inflows of foreign exchange to fund imports of investment and consumption goods. Rapid economic growth means growing African demand for resources. Do not be surprised if Nigerian steel consumption rises from 1.6 million tons annually today to 115 million tons annually by 2050. African motor vehicle sales of 8 million by 2020 may reach 14 million by 2030, higher than the U.S. today. Who knows – someday you may find yourself driving a Nigerian auto and dialing hands free on a Tanzanian-made phone. It has all happened before.

Waafrika Kuongoza NBA Wakiwemo Hasheem Thabiti!

GO HASHEEM!!!! ,  MaTall WaBongo mnasikia lakini?

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(CNN) -- As an NBA executive, I'm always looking for untapped potential. As a proud native of Nigeria, I believe that Africa is one of the world's greatest resources in that area.

From Angola and Tunisia to Senegal and South Sudan, there is so much size and athletic ability across the continent.

Some tribes in Sudan and Senegal have an average height of 6-foot-6, which also happens to be the size of the average NBA player. People in Nigeria, Mali and Congo tend to be very big and physical. We need to build a strategy to go into these regions and cultivate the talent through infrastructure and instruction.

Not long ago, soccer in Africa was almost the same way. It was untapped.

Masai Ujiri, general manager of the Denver Nuggets.Kids in Africa start kicking a ball when they are six or seven years old, if not younger. It's like baseball, basketball and football in America. If you're talented, people will find you. That's what happened with soccer. The number of academies has grown rapidly, and people are really into it. As a result, nearly every major soccer team has a lot of African players.

Through my experience as a Nigerian player, coach and now NBA executive, I believe basketball can follow a similar path. It starts with building facilities. We need to start investing in outdoor courts and indoor gyms for kids to play.

Most kids in Africa don't start playing basketball until they are 13 or 14 years old. This puts them at a disadvantage because they lack the instincts and must work harder to develop the skills and habits formed at an early age.

With a tremendous assist from the NBA, Nike and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), we have been trying to provide opportunities for the next generation of African basketball players.

African NBA boss on meteoric rise Every year, we conduct the Giants of Africa camp, sponsored by Nestlé Milo and Nike, as well as the NBA Basketball Without Borders Africa elite camp. Nearly 100 campers have gone on to play college basketball in the United States, including Luc Mbah a Moute, who now plays for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Africa's athletic ambassador Mbah a Moute (Cameroon) is one of several African success stories. Serge Ibaka (Democratic Republic of Congo) is a rising star for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Luol Deng (born in Sudan) was an All-Star last year for the Chicago Bulls. These guys are great examples for young people in Africa. Kids are beginning to see the possibilities because of the exposure of the NBA.

Basketball boss scouts global talent It was unfortunate that Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria), Dikembe Mutombo (Congo) and Manute Bol (Sudan) -- three African giants -- came in an era before the internet, cable and satellite television. A lot of African kids have heard of these guys, but they don't know the scope of their accomplishments. Deng, Ibaka and Mbah a Moute are trying to become giants themselves, but they can't do it alone.

I grew up there. I played there. I know how much talent there is.

Masai Ujiri, general manager of the Denver NuggetsThrough the Sprite clinics and Basketball Without Borders, we've been to Congo, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. On a continent with more than a billion people, we still have a lot more ground to cover, and we need help from sponsors in Africa.

We need more companies to help build courts and gymnasiums for kids to play. Nestle Milo paid for a world-class floor made in the United States. That's what we use for my Giants of Africa camp. For years, Nike has generously provided shoes and equipment for the players. That is the kind of support we need from influential investors in Africa.

As you can probably tell, the push to develop talent in Africa is personal.

I grew up there. I played there. I know how much talent there is. We have to concentrate on building facilities, establishing successful leagues and finding investors to help young players.

America gave me the opportunity, but I truly believe Africa is going to be the next big thing. It is going to be prominent in tapping basketball talent. I really hope I'm alive to see it happen.

This much is certain: I will die trying.

Afrika Ilivyo Ibiwa!

Hii katuni haina haja ya maelezo!

Join the United Africa Movement!

Nimepokea kwa email:

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

"It is clear that we must find an African solution to our problems, and that this can only be found in African unity. Divided we are weak; united, Africa could become one of the greatest forces for good in the world.

Although most Africans are poor, our continent is potentially extremely rich. Our mineral resources, which are being exploited with foreign capital only to enrich foreign investors, range from gold and diamonds to uranium and petroleum. Our forests contain some of the finest woods to be grown anywhere.

Our cash crops include cocoa, coffee, rubber, tobacco and cotton. As for power, which is an important factor in any economic development, Africa contains over 40% of the potential water power of the world, as compared with about 10% in Europe and 13% in North America, not mentioning the wealth of solar potentials.Yet so far, less than 1% has been developed. This is one of the reasons why we have in Africa the paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty, and scarcity in the midst of abundance..."

Kwame Nkrumah from "I Speak of Freedom A Statement of African Ideology"

If this was true in the 1960s when Nkrumah so articulately expressed it, sadly, same still obtains today, more than half a century later. From Cape to Cairo; Cape Verde to Madagascar, we are stirring up a new generation of Africans demanding real change, which is why, like Marcus Garvey, Patrice Lumumba, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Kwame Nkrumah before us, a United Africa is our Mission! Let's take her back!
Consider this your "Call to Duty".

Join our movement today @ Ubuntu Republics of Africa"Like" us on Facebook: Official Fan PageFollow us on Twitter: @ubura Network with us @ BlackPlanet

Sign the Petition for a United Africa today!

Je, Sudan Kusini itakuwa Nchi?

Baada ya miaka mingi ya vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe huko Sudan, naona ni bora Sudan Kusini ijitenge na Kaskazini. Mnaonaje? Kutakuwa na uhuru na amani kweli kwa watu wa Kusini wakibaki nchi moja? Hapo mzungu aliharibu kweli alipochora mpiaka ya nchi hiyo wakati wa ukoloni.

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( pichani Ramani ya Sudan)

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Years before Sudan's south began casting votes for succession, the woes of Africa's largest country were defined by the ethnic bloodshed in the western Darfur region.

Now, international mediators and rights groups are calling for stronger efforts to settle the eight-year Darfur conflict, fearing that the expected breakaway of the south may push Khartoum's leaders to clamp down harder on dissent and place stricter limits on an international role in Darfur and other areas that remain under its direct control.

Human Rights Watch and other groups say violence was already increasing in the vast arid region in the lead-up to the southern referendum held earlier this month. At the same time, government restrictions are making it harder to obtain information on conditions there, they say.

On Friday there were reports of new clashes between the military and rebels in Darfur, leaving 21 dead.

As many as 300,000 people have died as a result of the fighting in Darfur - a vast region outside the secession-seeking south - between forces from the Arab-led central government and rebel factions whose demands include greater control over natural resources. At least 2.7 million people have been displaced inside Darfur and in neighboring Chad.

The roots of the breakaway movement in the south are similar, but it's also fed by a religious split between the Muslim-dominated north and the heavily Christian south.

The referendum for southern independence was part of a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war. Preliminary results show overwhelming support to create the world's newest nation.

American officials visited Darfur during the referendum to send a message that the region will not be forgotten.

U.S. Senator John Kerry reminded Sudanese officials that prospects for improved relations with the U.S. hinge on progress in Darfur. He also urged greater international efforts to reach a resolution in Darfur after more than two years of talks in Qatar have failed to reach a comprehensive peace deal.

Mediators from the African Union echoed Kerry's appeal.
Roger Middleton, a Sudan expert with the London-based Chatham House, said the impact of the referendum on Darfur is still far from clear.

"There are two possibilities. One of them is that the loss of southern Sudan and the loss of that big obstacle frees up Khartoum to really focus on winning a war - a political war, at least - in Darfur and that gives them the ability and time and the money to focus on that," he said.
The other possibility is that the Darfur rebels could take inspiration from the south "and perhaps even potentially (see) an ally in the new southern independent state," said Middleton.

In advance of the referendum, violence flared between government forces and the array of Darfur rebel groups, which pledged to unite. U.N. officials said as many as 40,000 people were displaced by the December fighting.

The government walked out of peace talks held in Qatar's capital, Doha, after failing to reach a cease-fire agreement. And a rebel leader who had signed a peace deal with the government in 2006 fled to southern Sudan, prompting the government to declare him a public enemy.
The "defection" of Minni Minawi, who was appointed a presidential adviser after signing the peace deal, has raised alarms about the potential of proxy wars between north and south.

"We don't think that it is in the best interest of the new state of south Sudan to be a sanctuary" for rebel groups, the head of the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission, Ibrahim Gambari, told The Associated Press.

He has held recent talks with the U.N. mission in Sudan over tightening security cooperation along the 286-mile (460-kilometer) border between Darfur and breakaway south Sudan. U.S. officials said President Barack Obama also raised the issue with the southern Sudan president, Salva Kiir, before the referendum.

But despite a public promise from Kiir to deny Darfur rebels a home in southern Sudan, Minawi is still in the south. He was quoted by Sudanese papers as saying there has been no progress in talks with Khartoum officials over his return.

Mediators say the Doha peace talks are not dead. Shuttle diplomacy between rebel groups and the government have already began and a small delegation from the main rebel faction, the Justice and Equality Movement, is currently in Qatar.

"Now with the referendum and maybe in July the separation, I think the attention of the international community will be focused ... to have a success story like with the north-south," Gambari said, adding that sanctions against rebel groups refusing to join the talks are also being considered.

There are fears, however, that Khartoum could move to limit access to Darfur and the rest of its territory to international groups, like those providing crucial humanitarian aid to the displaced.
The Small Arms Survey, a research project that monitors armed violence, said in a January report that the northern ruling party has made it clear "it would set the price of southern secession very high, and part of that price would be limitations on the international community's role in and access to the north."

The report said mediators have expressed concern that a Darfur deal - if reached - may be impossible to "implement in the shrinking political space that is expected to follow the referendum."

Government officials said they hope a peaceful settlement with the south would open the door to settle Darfur. Khaled Musa, Foreign Ministry spokesman, insisted armed revolt will get the rebels nowhere.

"When the government signed (the southern peace deal) it was not in its weakest political or military position. We had the upper hand," Musa said. "The only possible way to resolve Darfur is through political negotiations."

But the rebel Justice and Equality movement accused government forces of capturing some of its senior military commanders this week. It also condemned government efforts to open dialogue with Darfur residents as an attempt to sideline the rebel groups.

A Sudanese army spokesman said clashes erupted between army forces and JEM fighters a week after the referendum, killing 21 people, including 13 rebel fighters.

"Our priority is to work within a united Sudan. But if the suffering and crimes continue without a resolution, all options are open," said Ahmed Hussein, a spokesman for the rebel group. "For now the focus is on working within a united Sudan and we don't demand a separation for the time being."

Ramani Ya Africa

African Events in Boston, MA

Together with Africa

Network Afrique.inc

November-December 2010

Singles' Night at Teranga

The Holiday season is approaching!!! Summer love is long gone and now it is time for Winter love.

Join Us on Monday, December 20th at Teranga from 6pm to 9pm and meet Fine African Men and Women.

Meet Your future Mate and Bring a Gift for a child for Christmas

It is the time of the year where we give Love through gift and we receive Love through Thank you and Happiness!
Bring a gift for a Child in the Community and meet new people ... Make new friends ... Meet 'the single friends of friends' ... Begin relationships ... Network for business ... Enjoy many wonderful social opportunities ... And have fun!
As appreciation for your support Teranga is offering a $50 gift Certificate to the 25th guest of the night.

Join Us on Facebook: Africans in Boston
Network Afrique.inc
Linkedin: Africans in Boston

This event is solely for entertainment. Network Afrique.inc is not a dating agency.

Network Afrique.inc mission is to connect Africans and non Africans who live in Boston through various events and interests. We are dedicated to promote the African culture and contribute in the Community and in West Africa.

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The US Launching of the African Women Decade

Friday, December 10, 2010
09.00 am to 5.00 pm
at
University of Massachusetts Boston

T Shirt
Get your T Shirt(women only)
Go to shalupe.org (click on donations paypal link)

The objective of the African Women's Decade, a declaration of the African Union, is to advocate for gender inequity, women's advancement and the respect of women's right within the African Diaspora. The African women's movement being launched in the United States recognizes the importance of empowering women both from the continent and in the Diaspora, which includes women of African descent (Afro-Latina, African-Americans, Caribbeans). In the United States women of African descent are raising children, building lives, and empowering themselves. The US launching in Boston, to be held on Friday, December 10, 2010 at UMass Boston, will bring together women of African descendent and their allies to learn more about the AU's 10-year campaign and set action steps addressing the challenges of local women from the Diaspora.

Join the Facebook page AfricanWomen Decade
For more information contact Chioma Nnaji- chioma.nnaji@gmail.com

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Governor's African Council Event: End of the Community Event

December 4th 2010 from 12.00 to 1.30pm

The meeting will be in the Watertown Savings Bank Room at the

Watertown Library on 123 Main St, Watertown MA. 02472

The agenda :

- Opportunities that have developed for our community to be more involved in political and civic aspects of Massachusetts

- Development of an African Agenda that will synthesize the key issues of the community to be presented to the Governor for action.
For more information email gaccampaign@gmail.com