Mali

African operations contribute 50% to UBA’s earnings – CEO

admin — Sun, 04 Jun 2023 12:00:01 +0000

African operations contribute 50% to UBA’s earnings – CEO

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admin Sun, 06/04/2023 - 12:00

Friday, May 26, 2023

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African operations contribute 50% to UBA’s earnings – CEO

The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc on Thursday announced that all its African subsidiaries are now on firm footing as they have been contributing maximally to the group’s profit margin.

The bank said its African operations, specifically, have contributed close to 50 per cent of the group’s earnings, leveraging on digital offerings and products across the board to gain large market shares across the different regions of operations in Africa.

The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of UBA Africa, Abiola Bawuah, disclosed this while addressing journalists from across Africa during a hybrid media parley on Thursday.

She also highlighted the impact of devaluation and double digit inflation in Nigeria and a number of other African countries where the bank operates, adding that the subsidiaries have been performing well, contributing significantly to the growth and development of trade, infrastructure and finance on the continent.

“As of last month, none of our African subsidiaries is making a loss. They have all been turning in profits, this is a testament to the fact that they have navigated successfully and have all found their footing.

“And this extends to each and every one of them, even the ones in war-torn countries. Of course, we are aware that there is always room for improvement, but for now, we are glad that our 19 subsidiaries are out of the red zone,” Mrs Bawuah said.

Infrastructure Financing

In the area of infrastructure financing, she noted that the bank has been bullish in financing projects across Africa, which according to her is based on the conviction that the continent needs to bridge the infrastructural gap necessary for economic growth.

“UBA has proven expertise and capacity in key sectors of economies across Africa, especially in oil and gas, infrastructure finance, agriculture and commodity/export, and these have positioned it as a preferred partner for structured solutions to key governments and corporates operating in/into Africa,” she said.

She noted that in the last few years, the bank has invested heavily and supported key governments of various African countries with over $1 billion in infrastructural development, especially in roads, hospitals, health, power and other critical sectors.

READ ALSO: Reps summon NNPC subsidiaries over auditor general report

According to her, the bank has contributed massively in promoting trade in Africa and has partnered with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“At UBA, we believe that our customers should be able to trade conveniently among themselves, and so we have been partnering with them in this area.

“We have made it easy for our customers across countries to trade easily within themselves, without having to bother about all the hassles that have to do with forex,” she said.

Earlier in the year, Mrs Bawuah, a Ghanaian national, was appointed as the first female CEO of UBA Africa.

Her appointment, according to the bank, further demonstrates UBA’s commitment to diversity. The UBA Group Board now includes eight female Directors.

Before her appointment, Mrs Bawuah was Regional CEO, West Africa, supervising the Group’s operations in nine subsidiaries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.

Africa

Business

Sen. Snowe: ECOWAS to name, shame 3rd-term governments

admin — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 09:20:01 +0000

Sen. Snowe: ECOWAS to name, shame 3rd-term governments

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admin Wed, 02/23/2022 - 09:20

Monday, February 7, 2022

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Politics News – The New Dawn Liberia

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Sen. Snowe: ECOWAS to name, shame 3rd-term governments

By Lewis S. Teh

Bomi County Senator and Chairman on Security, and governance at the ECOWAS Parliament, Edwin Melvin Snowe says the committee on security and governance and the regional parliament, in general, will not relent on naming and shaming any democratically elected government in the region that will go beyond two terms.

“There’s is an upcoming ECOWAS summit which is expected to be hosted here in Liberia, at that summit we will discuss key issues affecting the region, including to name and shame any government that will want to go beyond their two-term limits, informing your citizens that you oppose the two-term limits given you by your constitution”, he says.

Appearing on OK Morning Rush a live talk show on Monday, February 7, 2022, in Monrovia, Sen. Snowe said the regional block is working to have a treaty on good governance to ensure that no government exceeds two terms in office.

He says the last ECOWAS summit held, Togo and Ivory Coast weren’t happy with the treaty regarding the two terms adding that in ECOWAS, most of the decisions are based on consensus, saying because of their rejection, that treaty was withdrawn. “But this summit, we’re putting that treaty back on the table to make sure that no country goes beyond the regular two-term limit.

The Bomi County Senator continues that ECOWAS has also discouraged military takeover in member states, saying “there are actions that will be taken to ensure peace in the region, and luckily for us, Liberia will be making history, because they will be hosting the entire ECOWAS parliament this March where over 200 participants will be in attendance, and the main discussion will center around the military takeover in the region.”

He says that the summit will come up with a strong resolution that will be submitted to President Weah and the President of Ghana, who’s the current chair for the ECOWAS Commission.

” At that summit, we will be condemning all those presidents that will be changing their constitutions, and condemning those countries that will go against two-term limits, corruption, nepotism, human rights abuse because those are things that trigger a military takeover”, Sen. Snowe notes.

He observes that the number of military takeovers in the region is on the increase, and the pending summit to be hosted in Liberia will be a huge debate on such issues, adding that when the military starts to feel that the country’s constitution is being abused, then it gives room for military takeover because the military in any country has the biggest gun far than the police.

“We as politicians must take the necessary action to avoid this thing from happening, let’s do the right thing so we can’t have the wrong action”, he cautions.

West Africa has witnessed three military coups in less than a year, beginning from Mali, followed by Guinea with the latest in Burkina Faso principally due to corruption and bad governance, including constitutional amendments by sitting presidents to seek a third term in office as it occurred in neighboring Guinea and Ivory Coast despite mass opposition. Editing by Jonathan Browne

Africa

Politics

Liberia: Poverty, Food Insecurity Were Extreme in 2021 – World Bank Economic Update on Liberia Reveal

admin — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 04:10:01 +0000

Liberia: Poverty, Food Insecurity Were Extreme in 2021 – World Bank Economic Update on Liberia Reveal

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admin Wed, 02/23/2022 - 04:10

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

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Business – FrontPageAfrica

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Liberia: Poverty, Food Insecurity Were Extreme in 2021 – World Bank Economic Up…

MONROVIA – In his 5th Annual Message to the 54th Annual Legislature, President George Weah painted blossom picture of the country’s 2021 economy. He told the Legislators and the nation in the presence of members of the diplomatic corps that he has managed to keep the economy stable and expanded it by 3.6 percent – a nominal value of US$300 million in 2021.

The 3.6 percent growth of the economy in 2021 was an improvement from the -3 percent in 2020 as that year was heavily struck by the coronavirus pandemic. Inflation was reduced to less than 6 percent in November 2021, from 13.1 percent in December 2020.

The improvements in the economic performance were due to improvements in the coordination between monetary and fiscal policies with the aid of the International Monetary Fund’s support to the Central Bank of Liberia.

“We have remained committed to the independence and autonomy of the Central Bank of Liberia in support of economic reforms for a stable economy. Although the year under review was challenging for the economy, my Government was fully supportive of policy implementations from the CBL that have kept the recovery of our economy on course,” Pres. Weah said.

He also outlined that during the year under review, his administration was successful in increasing the gross international reserves of Liberia to more than US$600 million, representing more than 4 months of import of goods and services in compliance with ECOWAS convergence target.

“Based on the sound management and good performance of our economy, Liberia received $345.3 million US dollars in August 2021 under the general Special Drawing Rights allocation to IMF members,” he said.

However, a study of the second edition of the Economic Update of Liberia released last November by the World Bank, it is clear that most of these positives in the economy are not directly impacting the ordinary citizens. Liberians, according to the Economic update, remain the second poorest people in West Africa. The first being Guinea Bissau.

According to the report, despite the recovery and lower inflation, extreme poverty in Liberia increased in 2021 but at a lower pace than in 2019 and 2020.

The Economic Update cited the High Frequency Phone Monitoring Survey report launched in August 2020, which indicates that two out of three households in Liberia are food insecure, three out of four households reported job losses, and two out of three households reported income losses because of COVID-19.

According to World Bank Group projections, the prevalence of extreme poverty has increased since the Ebola epidemic in 2014 and is estimated at 51.0 percent in 2020 (up from 38.6 percent in 2014). On average, 81.9 percent of the households interviewed in round 6 of the COVID-19 High Frequency Phone Monitoring Survey indicated that they were worried about not having enough food to eat, while 27.2 percent effectively ran out of food.

The report, among other things, indicated that most Liberians lack access to good jobs that provide sustainable earnings. Three out of four of those in the labor force are self-employed in agriculture (36 percent of all employment) or nonagricultural activities (almost 40 percent). Only 20 percent of workers are in wage employment, which tends to provide higher and more stable earnings.

The Economic Update also revealed that the Liberian government spends more than the average in Sub-Saharan Africa and countries with similar GNI per capita

It explained that Capital expenditure is higher in Liberia than in comparator countries at similar levels of development. Capital expenditure amounted to 10.2 percent of GDP over 2017–2020, a share much higher than in Guinea Bissau (0.5 percent), Madagascar (3.7 percent), Mozambique (4.4 percent), Malawi (5.3 percent), Burkina Faso (7.0 percent), or Mali (8.0 percent). The countries with similar levels of capital expenditure (to GDP) are Rwanda (10.3 percent) and Togo (11.9 percent). Capital expenditure is also higher in Liberia than in neighboring countries. Over the period 2017–2020, capital spending amounted to 6.8 percent of GDP in Sierra Leone, 4.9 percent of GDP in Côte d’Ivoire, 4.7 percent of GDP in Guinea, and only 2.0 percent of GDP in Ghana.

Similarly, while capital expenditure represented 31.8 percent of total expenditure in Liberia in the last four years (2017–2020), that share was 30.9 percent in Sierra Leone, 28.9 percent in Guinea, 26.4 percent in Côte d’Ivoire, and 9.3 percent in Ghana.

Liberia’s investment spending is less efficient and its capital stock lower than in comparator countries. Although Liberia spends more on public investment as a share of GDP than countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Sub-Sahara Africa in general, its overall capital stock is estimated to be lower than that of ECOWAS comparators, according to the IMF’s Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA) report.

The Government of Liberia makes no saving and contributes little to the financing of its own public investment, the report revealed.

Africa

Business

Liberia: Lofa Lawmakers Divided Over Imprisonment of Senator-elect Brownie Samukai

admin — Mon, 21 Feb 2022 19:50:01 +0000

Liberia: Lofa Lawmakers Divided Over Imprisonment of Senator-elect Brownie Samukai

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admin Mon, 02/21/2022 - 19:50

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

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Politics – FrontPageAfrica

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Liberia: Lofa Lawmakers Divided Over Imprisonment of Senator-elect Brownie Samu…

MONROVIA – Members of the Lofa County Legislative Caucus are said to be divided over the latest ruling from the Supreme Court of Liberia, mandating the incarceration of Senator-elect J. Brownie Samukai for misapplying money belonging to soldiers of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) along with two others.

The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of justice in Liberia

On Thursday, January 27, the High Court ordered the imprisonment of Mr. Samukai and two others for their alleged failure to meet up with the 50% payment of the US$1.1 million money of soldiers of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) money which was misapplied by them.

Mr. Samukai, who is the former Minister of National Defense, Joseph Johnson, former Deputy Minister for Administration and James Nyumah Dorkor, former Comptroller were found guilty of the crimes of theft of property, misuse of public money and criminal conspiracy.

Senator-elect Samukai was ordered jailed for two years, while the co-defendants were given six months jail terms each but with a condition that their sentences shall be suspended if they restitute 50 percent of the fund within six months and make full payment within a year.

Though Senator-elect Samukai claimed to have paid his portion of the money through his supporters, the High Court mandated his imprisonment in its latest ruling on grounds that the 50% payment has not been met by the trio in its totality.

Embracing court’s ruling

Speaking when she participated on Radio Kintoma Morning Show following the court’s ruling, Lofa County district # 4 Representative Mariam Fofana stated that the decision reached by the court will deter others from mismanaging public funds.

“I want to state that I agree with the ruling and we all should see that as a deterrent to mismanaging the trust of the people when given to us-and what has happened to the army people and their money will not happen again and I hope that will give us a closure”.

“I am also waiting to further see what will happen with the local people seat. We will be waiting-now that the decision has been made by the Supreme Court, whether NEC will be able to declare this seat vacant so Lofa people can go back to election and decide who they want to be their Senator”.

Not witch-hunt

Opinion leaders, stakeholders and locals in Lofa have pointed accusing fingers at the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) led government of President George Manneh Weah for the lawsuit filed against Senator-elect Samukai.

They believed that Senator-elect Samukai was being witch-hunted for his refusal to accept an offer to contest on the ticket of the CDC during the December 2020 senatorial election.

But the government has denied the accusation.

According to Representative Fofana, the matter involving Mr. Samukai is more legal than political.

“I don’t see the motive why this government will want to witch-hunt one person. There is no reason or motive to convince me that this was a witch-hunt. I think this is justice that has been served. We cannot be asking for justice to be served in other cases than when it is our own criminal we say prosecute everybody but protect our criminal”.

Representative Fofana claimed that the former Unity Party led government took Samukai to court for the AFL money, and not the CDC administration.

She pointed out that the court’s ruling against their kinsman Samukai could have been avoided if a report from Counselor Miller Catakaw was endorsed by executives of the UP at the time to prevent Mr. Samukai from contesting on the ticket of the party.

She added that Senator-elect Samukai was not the best choice for the former ruling party to contest on the CPP’s ticket, but he was erroneously endorsed and presented to citizens of Lofa over other qualified and competent contenders.

“They still went ahead and selected somebody who has been convicted. This man (Samukai) was convicted before the election. I don’t see the motive of the President or the CDC led-government to witch-hunt a single individual in the Senate. He (Samukai) cannot do anything; you have to work with your colleagues”.

Stop fooling our people

Representative Fofana used the medium to cautioned politicians and others against inciting citizens of Lofa against the Supreme Court’s ruling.

She blamed Senator Steve Zargo and Representative Francis Nyumalin along with the Standard Bearer of the UP, Mr. Joseph Nyuma Boakai for being the masterminds behind the current situation Lofa is faced with.

According to her, the two Lofa County lawmakers, along with Mr. Boakai allegedly misled citizens of the county to vote for Senator-elect Samukai who was already indicted.

“Anybody who is going around fooling our people-and telling them that this thing is politics, they have no basis to this. They are just saying it to manipulate our people; to ride on the sentiments of our people. They are lying to our people”.

Declare the seat vacant

Sometimes ago, Representative Fofana was petitioned by a cross section of citizens to contest the seat won by Senator-elect Samukai if it is finally declared vacant by the Liberian Senate.

But critics accused her of stage-managing her own petitioning ceremony because she is “over-zealous and desperate” to become a Senator.

She claimed that citizens of the county, especially traditional leaders have been waiting for Mr. Samukai’s seat to be declared vacant.

Representative Fofana added that despite the current situation, some citizens of the county are politicizing traditional leaders over the matter.

Africa

Politics

Broken lives: Central Mali's spiral of violence

admin — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 13:10:01 +0000

Broken lives: Central Mali's spiral of violence

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admin Tue, 02/15/2022 - 13:10

Thursday, February 10, 2022

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Africa

Original Article

Broken lives: Central Mali's spiral of violence

Central Mali is one of the world's most violent places.

Kenya
Mali

Africa

News

“I would rather be alive in Africa than to die at the Mediterranean Sea” -reintegrated migrant tells his story

admin — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 23:40:01 +0000

“I would rather be alive in Africa than to die at the Mediterranean Sea” -reintegrated migrant tells his story

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admin Fri, 12/10/2021 - 23:40

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

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Local – Sierra Leone Concord Times

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“I would rather be alive in Africa than to die at the Mediterranean Sea” -rein…

November 30, 2021

By Alhaji Haruna Sani

“I would rather be in Africa than to die and end up in a body bag at the shores of the Mediterranean Sea,” Bilal Kamara learnt his lesson after irregular migration.

After running out of money to keep studying at the LICCSAL Business College in Freetown, depressed and frustrated Bilal Kamara who could not manage his heartbreak decided to run away from shame.

Irregular migration (Temple run) was the only option available to him, thus he met a friend who was almost equally frustrated and was looking for opportunity to leave the country. Hence, they two left Sierra Leone in December 2014 with the aim of travelling to Italy via Temple run.

Kamara, who travelled with a keen mind of seeking reliable source of income, further his education, live a better life and help his family back home, returned and raised the standards of his life in Sierra Leone, after going through hell in other African nations.

Seven months after graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communication at the Fourah Bay College, Bilal Kamara finally shares his Temple Run experience with Concord Times, and explains how he was able to reintegrate into society. B

CT:Briefly tell us about yourself?

My name is Bilal Kamara. I was born and raised in West end of Freetown. I am the first born to my parents and I have four siblings. I am a bachelor that turned 29 this year.

CT: Would you mind sharing with us an account of your travelling experiences?

Well! my experience started in Guinea, where I spent two weeks after separating with my friend, and by the time I decided to proceed to Mali, I had ran out of money. I took some odd jobs in Guinea so as to generate money for my transportation, yet the jobs could earned me the regular transport charges to Mali, so I agreed to be loaded together with some goods in the booth of the sluggish yellow Peugeot car that took drove on the bumpy and long distance journey to Mali. I landed in Mali completely broke, so I accepted all sort of odd jobs in return for food or money. After spending a dreadful month in Mali where I slept in ghettos and car parks, I was able to generate the exact money that took me to the Malian border town of Gao.In Gao, I was taken to a camp headed by a ghetto master where migrants from different West African nations were placed. I faced huge problem of language barrier in the cam, until I met some Nigerians and Liberians who automatically became my friends because we shared similar parlance. I spent two months in the camp where a lot fellow migrants left me because I have no money to pay my way to Algeria. Later a friend took me to a nearby village where we settled for the less and accepted odd jobs to raise money to travel to Algeria. After raising the required sum for our transportation, the Ghetto Master who was also the transport coordinator negotiated with a pick-up truck driver who loaded about 100 of us to cross the Sahara Desert to Algeria.

Along the way, some among us were kidnapped whiles others were abducted by the Tureg rebels, until we arrived in a town called Azaward were the rest of us were finally kidnapped by the Tuaregs. Those who paid their ransom were allowed to go whiles the rest of us were held hostage. All my friends had earlier paid their ransom and forged ahead, save Coachi, my Liberian friend whom we came together from Gao.

In Awazard we spent two days in the camp without eating any food. consequently, Coachi fell ill and started experiencing diarrhea. But because of the 2014- 15 Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the Tuareg and fellow migrants shunned Coachi because he was from Liberia. I tried all possible ways to resuscitate Coachi, but to no avail hence, Coachi died in my hands.

After Coachi’s tragic death, the Tuareg felt sorry for me and loaded me in a truck to Algeria and left me somewhere in the desert. We trekked for about three days before reaching an Algerian suburb called Burg. From Burg, I forged ahead to another town called Tamanrasset where I resorted to street begging. Few weeks after, I travelled to the Libyan crossing point to the Mediterranean Sea to Italy where I also made new friends.

Finally, at the time of crossing the Mediterranean Sea I was asked out of the boat because of insufficient transportation fees. A day after the boat left, I received a devastating news that the boat had capsized leaving no one alive. Hence I said to myself that I would rather be in Africa, than to die and end up in a body bag at the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

CT:Which was/were your worst moment (s) during your travelling?

I actually had a lot of revolting moments among which was the time I received the news about the capsize of the boat in which my friends were. That dreadful incident made me finally decided to return home.

But my worst moment was the time I lost a friend and a brother Coachi, ouch! I really hate talking about this. With the short time I spent with Coachi I realized he was very kind and friendly. Coachi died in my hands just like a baby, o my God!. That was my worst and saddest moment not only in the journey but throughout my life so far. Shit! I wish I could never talk about this again.

Nonetheless, time I was forced to do inhumane labour was nothing good to write home about. Too many things happened to me which was very difficult to explain.

CT:What about your best day (s) during your travelling?

Africa

News

Ecobank announces fintech challenge 2021 finalists

admin — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 08:40:01 +0000

Ecobank announces fintech challenge 2021 finalists

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admin Fri, 12/10/2021 - 08:40

Thursday, November 11, 2021

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Financial Inclusion – Premium Times Nigeria

Original Article

Ecobank announces fintech challenge 2021 finalists

Ecobank Group on Thursday announced the 2021 finalists for its fourth edition annual Fintech Challenge, a competition for Africa-focused technology start-ups.

The bank made this announcement at a virtual press conference.

The challenge was designed to help fintechs with Africa-focused products join forces with the leading pan-African lender to provide Africans with groundbreaking financial services.

The bank said this year’s final saw five finalists selected from various African countries.

Finalists emerged from a competitive pool of nearly 900 fintechs that entered the 2021 Fintech Challenge.

“All the finalists will be enrolled into Ecobank’s Fintech Fellowship where they will spend six months exploring partnership opportunities, including multinational product roll-out, roll-out provider partnerships, mentoring and networking support and digital offering integration,” the bank said.

“The Finalists will pitch their products to a jury which will select the top three most promising products. The top three finalists will receive cash prizes of US$15,000, US$12,000 and US$10,000 respectively,” the bank said.

Speaking at the event, the group executive, operations & technology, Ecobank group, Tomisin Fashina, said “The five finalists in this year’s edition have shown impressive products from a competitive group of nearly 900 applicants. I would like to personally congratulate them and express my excitement at the opportunity to work with them to bring their innovative ideas to fruition.”

The 2021 Ecobank Fintech Challenge Finalists are; Anadata (Nigeria), Fourth line (Kenya), Motito (Ghana), Oko Finance (Mali) and Trove Finance (Nigeria).

Anadata Limited developed Chota, an automated address verification system that uses big data analysis to accelerate the process while improving accuracy.

Motito promotes financial inclusion in Africa through their “buy now pay later” platform which allows small businesses to offer interest-free credit at the point of sale.

Oko Finance offers new-generation index insurance to smallholder farmers that are mobile-based and include access to affordable loans, weather alerts and farming tips.

Fourth Line Limited developed Pollen which is designed to be a USSD ecosystem for conducting cross-telecom payments and savings for the unbanked.

Trove Finance, from Nigeria, built software (APIs & Tools) that allows African Individuals and financial institutions (Banks, Brokers and Fund Managers) access and trade US & Global stocks.

The Ecobank Fintech Challenge is designed in partnership with the advisory firm Konfidants and is supported by partners across Africa and the globe.

Africa

Business

Tanzania tops in cases submitted before the AfCHPR

admin — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 23:20:01 +0000

Tanzania tops in cases submitted before the AfCHPR

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admin Thu, 12/09/2021 - 23:20

Saturday, December 4, 2021

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The Citizen

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Tanzania tops in cases submitted before the AfCHPR

Dar es Salaam. Eighty percent of the cases filed and decided at the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights (AfCHPR) are by Tanzanians, it has been revealed.

A total of 14 cases from five member states of the African Union, including Tanzania, have been reviewed and adjudicated by the continent’s tribunal in Dar es Salaam in the past one month, with eight of them being from Tanzanian individuals.

Other countries with appeals in the Court include Rwanda, Mali, Benin and Malawi.

The cases were heard during the 63rd session of the tribunal and reached climax on Thursday December 3, 2021.

The president of the tribunal, Lady Justice Imani Aboud, read out a review of the cases in collaboration with a panel of 11 other judges from 11 African nations, a process held for the first time in Dar es Salaam.

Even though Tanzania leads in the verdicts, the country has been hesitant to implement decisions of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Tanzania has withdrawn from the Declaration made under Article 34 (6) of the Protocol on the African Charter for the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which allows individuals and non-governmental organisations to directly file cases before the court.

"People have been submitting their cases to the court because they are sure of justice which they do not get in the local courts. As it is, Tanzanians will not stop filling their cases in the African Court until Tanzania agrees to the protocol,” said Yusuf Mpanji, a lawyer based in Dar es Salaam.

Commenting on the verdicts, the Tanzania Human Rights Defender’s Coordinator, Onesmo Olengurumwa said all the Tanzanian cases filed in the court were from individuals.

Mr Olengurumwa, who is a lawyer by profession, said the eight cases involved human rights, including a case of deprivation of Tanzanian citizenship by a suspected Kenyan national.

"Many cases have been opened by Tanzanians because the presence of this court in the country has reduced the costs of opening a case because if this body was in another country it would have been more expensive," said Olengurumwa.

He explained the various procedures for filing a case in the court, including the defendant's submission of the case, to the African Human Rights Commission, which will refer the case to the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights.

Africa

News

Mali summons French ambassador over Macron criticism

admin — Sat, 09 Oct 2021 10:30:01 +0000

Mali summons French ambassador over Macron criticism

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admin Sat, 10/09/2021 - 10:30

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

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Africa – Capital News

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Mali summons French ambassador over Macron criticism

Bamako, Mali, October 6 – Mali summoned France’s ambassador on Tuesday, a foreign ministry statement said, to register its “indigation” at French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent criticism of the country’s army-dominated government.

Tensions between France and its former colony Mali — where Paris intervened militarily against jihadists in 2013 — have been high since it emerged that the Sahel state is in talks with Russian mercenaries.

These tensions spilled over at the UN General Assembly late last month, when Mali’s interim prime minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga accused France of a “sort of abandonment in full flight” over its decision to reduce its military deployment in the semi-arid Sahel region.

Macron later told French media that Maiga’s comments were “unacceptable” and suggested that Mali’s government was “not even really one” — referring to the coup in Mali led by Colonel Assimi Goita in May.

The war of words continued on Tuesday, when Macron called on Mali’s ruling military to restore state authority in large areas of the country abandoned in the face of the jihadist insurgency.

“It’s not the role of the French army to fill in for the ‘non-work,’ if I may describe it, of the Malian state,” he told French media.

Later that day, Mali’s foreign ministry stated that Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop had summoned France’s ambassador to inform him of the Malian government’s “indignation and disapproval” of Macron’s comments.

“The minister called on the French authorities to show restraint, avoiding value judgements,” the statement said, adding that Mali wanted a “constructive approach based on mutual respect”.

France intervened in Mali after jihadists seized control of the north in 2012, and Paris has since deployed thousands of troops across the Sahel region to combat the insurgency.

Despite its military presence, Islamist violence has spread to central Mali and to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

In Mali, thousands of people have died and hundreds of thousands have been displaced, while swathes of the country have little or no state presence.

France decided a major scaleback of its Sahel deployment in June, following a military takeover in Mali in August 2020, which forced out the elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

Colonel Assimi Goita, who led the August coup, installed a civilian-led interim government. But he then deposed the leaders of that government in May, in a second coup.

Last month, it emerged that Mali’s ruling military was close to hiring 1,000 paramilitaries from Russian private-security firm Wagner, which incensed France.

The French government has stated that despite its planned troop draw down, it remains militarily committed to the fight against jihadism in the Sahel.

Africa

News

Jonathan, Buhari Hold Closed-Door Meeting

admin — Sat, 09 Oct 2021 04:10:01 +0000

Jonathan, Buhari Hold Closed-Door Meeting

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admin Sat, 10/09/2021 - 04:10

Thursday, October 7, 2021

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THISDAYLIVE

Original Article

Jonathan, Buhari Hold Closed-Door Meeting

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday received his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, in his office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The former president came into Aso Rock at about 4pm but it is unclear what the duo discussed as Jonathan did not speak to journalists after the meeting.

The ex-President has been working as ECOWAS special envoy to Mali, a position that has brought him in more regular contact with President Buhari in recent times.

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