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Saturday 18 July 2015

[AfricaRealities.com] African news

 

'Imperialist' U.S. vows to press homosexuality on poor African nations

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 16, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) –The United States is acting like a neo-colonial power when it tries to push homosexuality on developing countries, pro-family spokespeople said Wednesday in the wake of a State Department vow to pressure Nigeria into decriminalizing homosexual activity.

And African Christian leaders are telling U.S. president Barack Obama to refrain from exporting American sexual sins to Kenya at the end of the month.

The U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, made her comments as Africa prepared for a visit by Obama to the Global Entrepreneurial Summit in Kenya, and Washington, D.C. braced for a visit to the White House by Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/imperialist-us-vows-to-press-homosexuality-on-poor-african-nations

 

Will Africa's Growth Help Africa's People?

The Mediterranean Sea has become a graveyard for Africa's youth. Every day, we see images of what would appear to be a continent racked by conflict and poverty, and people risking – often losing – their lives in an attempt to flee. Yet Africa has 11 of the 20 fastest growing economies in the world. Africa has enormous resources, and almost half of the world's uncultivated land that is suitable for growing food crops. So why are so many people desperate to leave behind a land of such opportunity?Part of the answer is that the vast wealth of Africa is often not being translated into development.  Often it benefits only a few, or is squandered altogether. Illicit outflows from Africa totaled $69 billion in 2014.

 

https://hbr.org/2015/07/will-africas-growth-help-africas-people

 

Trade integration key to reduce poverty and support growth in Africa

Making Africa's most remote regions accessible for trade will not only promote prosperity in those regions, but also elevate the continent's continued growth path.
CAPE-TOWN, South-Africa, July 16, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ 

Africa continues to remain vastly unexplored, and making Africa's most remote regions accessible for trade will not only promote prosperity in those regions, but also elevate the continent's continued growth path.

This is according to Charles Brewer, Managing Director of DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa (http://www.dpdhl.com), commenting on The Role of Trade in Ending Poverty(All statistics sourced from The Role of Trade in Ending Poverty report, jointly written by the World Bank Group and World Trade Organisation -with the exception where stated) (https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/worldbankandwto15_e.pdf) report recently released by the World Bank Group and World Trade Organisation.

Explaining the role that international trade plays in development and poverty reduction in Africa, the report states that the value of trade is measured by the extent to which it delivers better livelihoods, measured through higher incomes, greater variety of choice and a more sustainable future, among others.

http://www.zawya.com/story/Trade_integration_key_to_reduce_poverty_and_support_growth_in_Africa-ZAWYA20150716112345/

 

Action After Addis: 10 Ways to Finance Africa's Energy Opportunity

Can we stave off catastrophic climate change while building the energy systems needed to power growth, create jobs and lift millions of people out of poverty? That's a crucial question for Africa. No region has done less to contribute to the climate crisis, but no region will pay a higher price for failure to tackle it. Meanwhile, over half of Africa's population lacks access to modern energy.

Africa's leaders have no choice but to bridge the energy gap, urgently. They do have a choice, though, about how to bridge the gap. Africa can leapfrog over the damaging energy practices that have brought the world to the brink of catastrophe - and show the world the way to a low-carbon future.

To achieve that vision, however, national and global financing arrangements must be reformed and boosted. The Third International Conference on Financing for Development, in Addis Ababa this week, offered a rare opportunity for global leaders to join forces and commit to the necessary changes. The new Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the comprehensive agreement reached at the end of the Conference, now provides a foundation for innovative, scaled up financing of the global sustainable development agenda, including the energy sector.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caroline-kenderobb/action-after-addis-ten-wa_b_7811088.html

 

 

Pressure on governments, critical in probing Africa's stolen funds

PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 15 July 2015 (ECA) – "Many of our governments will only act on this [problem of illicit financial flows] if there is pressure from the people," said a much applauded Chairman of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) from Africa, in a well attended side event of the third International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD3).

The discussion moderated the Deputy Executive Secretary for Knowledge Generation of the United Nation's  Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Mr Abdalla Hamdok, grouped eminent discussants invited to reflect on practical ways for the continent to implement the recommendations of the Mbeki-led Panel's report titled 'Track it! Stop it! Get it!' The report that was officially presented to the 8th Joint AUC-ECA Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, last March in the Ethiopian capital. It blames Africa's loss of over US$50 billion per year since 2010, to IFFs via shady business transactions including kickbacks and other forms of abusive of public office, criminal activity such as drug and money trafficking and money laundering, as well as tax evasion, the distortion of money transfer charges and over-billing (especially by transnational firms).

http://www.uneca.org/stories/pressure-governments-critical-probing-africa%E2%80%99s-stolen-funds

 

 

Experts see West Africa as world's next oil production boom

Experts in the oil and gas sector have projected the West African region potentials to be among the best in world, advocating optimal exploitation of advanced technologies that could bring the dream to reality.

Indeed, a Director at Atlantis Offshore, said Keith Millheim, said the small offshore oilfields (marginal fields) of West Africa, if exploited properly, could become the next big economical play.

Millheim however noted that, "all it takes is one adventurous company to set the ball rolling".

Painting the North Sea scenario, he said, "Entrepreneurs such as the U.S.-owned Hamilton Brothers learned how to make small fields in the North Sea economical in the mid-1970s, specifically the Argyle Field off the coast of Scotland that brought Great Britain its first oil. The company's game-changing technology was the first Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel deployed for oil production. It changed the offshore industry forever."

He therefore said, West Africa, particularly its small offshore oilfields, could be the next "North Sea scenario" if played correctly.

http://naija247news.com/2015/07/experts-see-west-africa-as-worlds-next-oil-production-boom/

 

Sold Into Sex Slavery: The Plight Of African Women Migrating To Europe

While reporting on the drama of African migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, I've been startled by how many of them are pregnant or are traveling with a very young child.

When I'd ask why, they'd say they wanted to give birth in the safety of Europe.

But as I investigated, I learned there could be another, more ominous reason: Some of these pregnant women may be victims of sexual violence on the long route northward to Europe from sub-Saharan Africa — journeys that can take years.

"Sex is traded just like money, to bribe border guards or police," said Encarnación Marquez, a social worker who helps migrants in Algeciras, on Spain's south coast. "Some migrants sell sex to human traffickers, in exchange for smuggling them into Europe. This is the tragedy no one talks about."

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/07/13/422542729/sold-into-sex-slavery-the-plight-of-african-women-migrating-to-europe

 

West Africa Disaster Preparedness Initiative launched

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The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) has launched the West Africa Disaster Preparedness Initiative (WADPI), in Accra, towards combating disaster outbreaks in the sub-region.

The WADPI training programme, which started on July 13, is being supported by the United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) Operation United Assistance (OUA) Disaster Preparedness Project. It would end on November 30.

Ghana and Benin are starting the programme with the rest of the countries taking their turns later.

The opening ceremony was attended by senior officials from the 15 member states, as well as from Chad, Cameroon, and the United States Government.

Major General Obed Boamah Akwa, the Commandant, KAIPTC, in his address said, the programme would in the future become one of the flagship programmes of the Centre in relation to disaster management.

http://vibeghana.com/2015/07/14/west-africa-disaster-preparedness-initiative-launched/



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The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.
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“The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.”

“I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.

“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”

“When the white man came we had the land and they had the bibles; now they have the land and we have the bibles.”