Essential The Africa the Media Doesn't Tell You About
- Thread starter TommyHilltrigga
- Start date
Tue Jun 14, 2016 | 12:27 PM EDT
Ivory Coast farmers face eviction, extortion in drive to save forests
By Joe Bavier
CAVALLY FOREST, Ivory Coast (Reuters) - Ivorian conservation agents are using the threat of eviction and prosecution to extort money from cocoa growers farming illegally in protected forest reserves, victims and rights groups say.
Around 80 percent of Ivory Coast's primary forest, once the largest in West Africa, has been chopped down in the five decades since independence, amid an agricultural expansion that helped make it the world's top cocoa producer and most important economy in Francophone West Africa.
With new illegal plantations coming into production every season, officials privately acknowledge that around a third of cocoa output, which reached a record 1.8 million tonnes last season, now originates from protected land.
President Alassane Ouattara, who took office in 2011, wants to reverse the loss. A 2014 forestry code seeks to restore forests to a fifth of its territory, up from 6 percent today.
But the conservation drive has been used as a pretext for abuse by some agents from forest management agency SODEFOR, claim victims, who say their illegal status in the protected forests means they have little hope of redress.
"Where am I going to file a complaint? Against whom? I'm afraid, because I'm in the forest illegally," cocoa farmer Bienvenu Bago said, his voice barely a whisper, his face bruised and shoulder bandaged.
Bago, who has for three years farmed illegally in western Ivory Coast's Cavally forest reserve, said forestry agents poured petrol on him and said they were going to set him alight.
He told Reuters he was then beaten, stripped and left naked on the road, the money he'd recently earned from his crop in their pockets. They struck a match, but only set fire to his clothes.
A technical adviser from SODEFOR, Aboa Dogui, rejected such abuse allegations, saying there was no evidence of malpractice by its agents but that reported abuses are investigated.
"We have nearly 1,000 agents at SODEFOR. We can't certify that every one is behaving well," Dogui told Reuters. "For the moment, we do not have information indicating bad behavior."
Yet abuses like the attack on Bago are not isolated.
Human Rights Watch and Ivorian rights group RAIDH accuse SODEFOR agents of burning down the homes of illegal farmers, destroying their belongings, beating them and squeezing them for money in the Cavally, Goin-Débé and Scio forests.
"Until the Ivorian government conducts a full investigation into SODEFOR's management ... abuses in protected forests will continue," HRW Africa researcher Jim Wormington said.
The rights groups are not the first to accuse Ivorian officials of misconduct in their management of public land.
In March, a U.N. experts panel said such racketeering is widespread. Soldiers and park service agents earned some 1 billion CFA francs ($1.74 million) each year from illegal taxes collected from cocoa farmers in the Mont Peko National Park alone, it said.
CHAOS
Herve Keita, like thousands of farmers now occupying land in Ivory Coast's 231 protected forests, moved into the Cavally reserve amid the chaos that followed a brief 2011 civil war.
Keita had already paid SODEFOR agents once last year so they would leave him in peace on the plantation he'd carved out of the virgin forest. But he was still waiting for a buyer to pick up his main harvest when they returned in December.
Since he had no money to give them, the agents instead packed up the cocoa he had drying in the sun.
"They even cut the ripe pods off the trees," he told Reuters. "They loaded it all into the sacks and then they cut down the trees and set it all on fire."
SODEFOR agents are not meant to clear illegal plantations that are already in production but rather allow their output to decline naturally as reforestation is carried out.
Keita's plot smoldered for more than a week, the charred remains of birds and monkeys littering the forest floor. Six months on, the site remains a 20-hectare desolate scar in the middle of the jungle.
Still, Keita considers himself relatively lucky.
When Guetayoaba Ouedraogo was last seen alive in 2014, he had been stopped along with two other cocoa growers by forestry agents. After his decomposing body was later found in the forest, his family filed a complaint with local authorities, but they say the case has gone nowhere.
A second body was found weeks later. The third man in the group was never seen again.
SODEFOR's Dogui denied the forest agency had anything to do with the deaths, blaming them instead on infighting between rival groups present in the forest. He added that the agency opened an internal investigation as soon as it was made aware that its agents were accused of involvement. The inquest is ongoing, he said.
Bago remains undeterred by the beatings. He said he will return to the forest as soon as he can walk again.
"When I am better, I will go back to my plantation. I can't do anything else. I have to eat," he told Reuters.
(Editing by Tim Cocks and Susan Thomas)
Ivory Coast farmers face eviction, extortion in drive to save forests
Ivory Coast farmers face eviction, extortion in drive to save forests
By Joe Bavier
CAVALLY FOREST, Ivory Coast (Reuters) - Ivorian conservation agents are using the threat of eviction and prosecution to extort money from cocoa growers farming illegally in protected forest reserves, victims and rights groups say.
Around 80 percent of Ivory Coast's primary forest, once the largest in West Africa, has been chopped down in the five decades since independence, amid an agricultural expansion that helped make it the world's top cocoa producer and most important economy in Francophone West Africa.
With new illegal plantations coming into production every season, officials privately acknowledge that around a third of cocoa output, which reached a record 1.8 million tonnes last season, now originates from protected land.
President Alassane Ouattara, who took office in 2011, wants to reverse the loss. A 2014 forestry code seeks to restore forests to a fifth of its territory, up from 6 percent today.
But the conservation drive has been used as a pretext for abuse by some agents from forest management agency SODEFOR, claim victims, who say their illegal status in the protected forests means they have little hope of redress.
"Where am I going to file a complaint? Against whom? I'm afraid, because I'm in the forest illegally," cocoa farmer Bienvenu Bago said, his voice barely a whisper, his face bruised and shoulder bandaged.
Bago, who has for three years farmed illegally in western Ivory Coast's Cavally forest reserve, said forestry agents poured petrol on him and said they were going to set him alight.
He told Reuters he was then beaten, stripped and left naked on the road, the money he'd recently earned from his crop in their pockets. They struck a match, but only set fire to his clothes.
A technical adviser from SODEFOR, Aboa Dogui, rejected such abuse allegations, saying there was no evidence of malpractice by its agents but that reported abuses are investigated.
"We have nearly 1,000 agents at SODEFOR. We can't certify that every one is behaving well," Dogui told Reuters. "For the moment, we do not have information indicating bad behavior."
Yet abuses like the attack on Bago are not isolated.
Human Rights Watch and Ivorian rights group RAIDH accuse SODEFOR agents of burning down the homes of illegal farmers, destroying their belongings, beating them and squeezing them for money in the Cavally, Goin-Débé and Scio forests.
"Until the Ivorian government conducts a full investigation into SODEFOR's management ... abuses in protected forests will continue," HRW Africa researcher Jim Wormington said.
The rights groups are not the first to accuse Ivorian officials of misconduct in their management of public land.
In March, a U.N. experts panel said such racketeering is widespread. Soldiers and park service agents earned some 1 billion CFA francs ($1.74 million) each year from illegal taxes collected from cocoa farmers in the Mont Peko National Park alone, it said.
CHAOS
Herve Keita, like thousands of farmers now occupying land in Ivory Coast's 231 protected forests, moved into the Cavally reserve amid the chaos that followed a brief 2011 civil war.
Keita had already paid SODEFOR agents once last year so they would leave him in peace on the plantation he'd carved out of the virgin forest. But he was still waiting for a buyer to pick up his main harvest when they returned in December.
Since he had no money to give them, the agents instead packed up the cocoa he had drying in the sun.
"They even cut the ripe pods off the trees," he told Reuters. "They loaded it all into the sacks and then they cut down the trees and set it all on fire."
SODEFOR agents are not meant to clear illegal plantations that are already in production but rather allow their output to decline naturally as reforestation is carried out.
Keita's plot smoldered for more than a week, the charred remains of birds and monkeys littering the forest floor. Six months on, the site remains a 20-hectare desolate scar in the middle of the jungle.
Still, Keita considers himself relatively lucky.
When Guetayoaba Ouedraogo was last seen alive in 2014, he had been stopped along with two other cocoa growers by forestry agents. After his decomposing body was later found in the forest, his family filed a complaint with local authorities, but they say the case has gone nowhere.
A second body was found weeks later. The third man in the group was never seen again.
SODEFOR's Dogui denied the forest agency had anything to do with the deaths, blaming them instead on infighting between rival groups present in the forest. He added that the agency opened an internal investigation as soon as it was made aware that its agents were accused of involvement. The inquest is ongoing, he said.
Bago remains undeterred by the beatings. He said he will return to the forest as soon as he can walk again.
"When I am better, I will go back to my plantation. I can't do anything else. I have to eat," he told Reuters.
(Editing by Tim Cocks and Susan Thomas)
Ivory Coast farmers face eviction, extortion in drive to save forests
15 JUNE 2016
African Arguments
East Africa: Friends Forever, Again? Rwanda and Tanzania Mend Bridges
ANALYSIS By Jonathan Beloff
After years of tense relations, the arrival of President Magufuli appears to have kick-started a new era of warm ties with Rwanda.
After years of frosty relations, Rwanda and Tanzania seem to have finally mended their bridges over the past few months.
Under the presidency of Jakaya Kikwete, the relationship between the two East African neighbours deteriorated over a number of diplomatic rows and political disagreements. Signs of a gradual reconciliation began towards the end of Kikwete's decade in office, but this trend has accelerated greatly since he was replaced by President John Magufuli in November 2015.
This was seen most symbolically this April when Magufuli attended Rwanda's 2016 genocide commemoration ceremony, laying a wreath and lighting a memorial flame alongside his counterpart Paul Kagame in honour of the victims of Rwanda's 1994 genocide. On this visit, Magufuli was welcomed enthusiastically as he visited the country, with President Kagame remarking: "You must know, first of all, that you are at your brother's place. Since you were elected, your presence has been refreshing."
The tone of relations between the two neighbours has thus warmed significantly in recent months, and relations got even closer last month as the first Tanzania-Rwanda Trade Forum was held in Kigali. A line seems to have been drawn under several years of tense relations, with both countries hoping to benefit.
The fallout
Over the past two decades or so, relations between Tanzania and Rwanda have typically been fairly close. Before the genocide broke out, Tanzania hosted the negotiations between the then government of President Juvénal Habyarimana and the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) leading to the Arusha Accords. And after 1994, Tanzania was one of the first regional states to force Rwandan, predominately Hutu, refugees to return and cooperated in arresting perpetrators of the genocide.
But fractions began to emerge when Tanzania agreed to host the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) against the wishes of the Rwandan government who wanted it to be held domestically. And these tensions deepened in 2006 when Tanzania voted against Rwanda (and Burundi) joining the East African Community, though both eventually joined in 2007.
It was after 2013, however, that relations particularly soured, when President Kikwete publicly suggested that the Rwandan government should hold talks with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a rebel group that operates in the eastern Congo and contains former genoicdaires.
This remark deeply angered the Rwandan government and led to a deepening diplomatic row. A few months after the fallout, Tanzania expelled thousands of Rwandan "illegal immigrants". President Kikwete then met with various Rwandan opposition groups such as the Rwanda National Congress (RNC), with a closed-door meeting in January 2014 raising fears that Tanzania was supporting political dissent. And, even more harmfully, Kikwete also met with leaders of the FDLR, a militant group which - though considered to be relatively weak - continues to oppose the Rwandan government in Kigali.
The reapprochement
When Magufuli was sworn into office in November 2015 therefore, he had a great opportunity to rebuild bridges, and since his inauguration, relations have notably warmed, especially with Magufuli's presence at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, an appearance that symbolically assuaged Rwandan fears that Tanzania was stoking dissent or even a return to violence.
There could be a number of motivations for, and consequences from, this rapprochement. Firstly, in economic terms, better relations could be beneficial in terms of trade that crosses the border between the two nations. Amongst other things, closer ties will likely help facilitate the plans to expand the Central Transport Corridor which is intended to link Tanzania's port at Dar es Salaam with landlocked countries such as Rwanda by rail. This large-scale project could help boost regional integration and trade, providing an efficient alternative to the long, difficult and costly journeys many goods currently have to take between the two countries on poor roads.
Another motivation behind Tanzania's desire to mend bridges with Rwanda could be for regional political calculations. Tanzania wants to avoid being isolated amongst its East African counterparts, especially with Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya deepening their ties through regional infrastructural projects such as the Northern Corridor agreement and the Mutual Defence Pact, an agreement signed by the three countries in 2014 to coordinate military.
While established to counter regional security threats, some commentators believe one of the objectives behind the pact was to curb growing Tanzanian influence, while one Rwandan professor commented to African Arguments that "The Northern Corridor Agreement is [meant] to check Tanzanian regional power". Magufuli's actions since coming to office may be aimed at defusing coordinated actions by its neighbours to contain its influence.
Magufuli's meaningful display during the commemoration, the warm words between the two leaders, and the inauguration of the Tanzania-Rwanda Trade Forum, amongst others, bring hope of closer relations between the two neighbours under new Tanzanian leadership. And after a few years of tense ties, the results could be significant economically, diplomatically and politically for both the two countries and the broader region.
Jonathan Beloff is studying for a PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London.
Read the original of this report, including embedded links and illustrations, on the African Arguments site.
East Africa: Friends Forever Again? Rwanda and Tanzania Mend Bridges
African Arguments
East Africa: Friends Forever, Again? Rwanda and Tanzania Mend Bridges
ANALYSIS By Jonathan Beloff
After years of tense relations, the arrival of President Magufuli appears to have kick-started a new era of warm ties with Rwanda.
After years of frosty relations, Rwanda and Tanzania seem to have finally mended their bridges over the past few months.
Under the presidency of Jakaya Kikwete, the relationship between the two East African neighbours deteriorated over a number of diplomatic rows and political disagreements. Signs of a gradual reconciliation began towards the end of Kikwete's decade in office, but this trend has accelerated greatly since he was replaced by President John Magufuli in November 2015.
This was seen most symbolically this April when Magufuli attended Rwanda's 2016 genocide commemoration ceremony, laying a wreath and lighting a memorial flame alongside his counterpart Paul Kagame in honour of the victims of Rwanda's 1994 genocide. On this visit, Magufuli was welcomed enthusiastically as he visited the country, with President Kagame remarking: "You must know, first of all, that you are at your brother's place. Since you were elected, your presence has been refreshing."
The tone of relations between the two neighbours has thus warmed significantly in recent months, and relations got even closer last month as the first Tanzania-Rwanda Trade Forum was held in Kigali. A line seems to have been drawn under several years of tense relations, with both countries hoping to benefit.
The fallout
Over the past two decades or so, relations between Tanzania and Rwanda have typically been fairly close. Before the genocide broke out, Tanzania hosted the negotiations between the then government of President Juvénal Habyarimana and the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) leading to the Arusha Accords. And after 1994, Tanzania was one of the first regional states to force Rwandan, predominately Hutu, refugees to return and cooperated in arresting perpetrators of the genocide.
But fractions began to emerge when Tanzania agreed to host the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) against the wishes of the Rwandan government who wanted it to be held domestically. And these tensions deepened in 2006 when Tanzania voted against Rwanda (and Burundi) joining the East African Community, though both eventually joined in 2007.
It was after 2013, however, that relations particularly soured, when President Kikwete publicly suggested that the Rwandan government should hold talks with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a rebel group that operates in the eastern Congo and contains former genoicdaires.
This remark deeply angered the Rwandan government and led to a deepening diplomatic row. A few months after the fallout, Tanzania expelled thousands of Rwandan "illegal immigrants". President Kikwete then met with various Rwandan opposition groups such as the Rwanda National Congress (RNC), with a closed-door meeting in January 2014 raising fears that Tanzania was supporting political dissent. And, even more harmfully, Kikwete also met with leaders of the FDLR, a militant group which - though considered to be relatively weak - continues to oppose the Rwandan government in Kigali.
The reapprochement
When Magufuli was sworn into office in November 2015 therefore, he had a great opportunity to rebuild bridges, and since his inauguration, relations have notably warmed, especially with Magufuli's presence at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, an appearance that symbolically assuaged Rwandan fears that Tanzania was stoking dissent or even a return to violence.
There could be a number of motivations for, and consequences from, this rapprochement. Firstly, in economic terms, better relations could be beneficial in terms of trade that crosses the border between the two nations. Amongst other things, closer ties will likely help facilitate the plans to expand the Central Transport Corridor which is intended to link Tanzania's port at Dar es Salaam with landlocked countries such as Rwanda by rail. This large-scale project could help boost regional integration and trade, providing an efficient alternative to the long, difficult and costly journeys many goods currently have to take between the two countries on poor roads.
Another motivation behind Tanzania's desire to mend bridges with Rwanda could be for regional political calculations. Tanzania wants to avoid being isolated amongst its East African counterparts, especially with Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya deepening their ties through regional infrastructural projects such as the Northern Corridor agreement and the Mutual Defence Pact, an agreement signed by the three countries in 2014 to coordinate military.
While established to counter regional security threats, some commentators believe one of the objectives behind the pact was to curb growing Tanzanian influence, while one Rwandan professor commented to African Arguments that "The Northern Corridor Agreement is [meant] to check Tanzanian regional power". Magufuli's actions since coming to office may be aimed at defusing coordinated actions by its neighbours to contain its influence.
Magufuli's meaningful display during the commemoration, the warm words between the two leaders, and the inauguration of the Tanzania-Rwanda Trade Forum, amongst others, bring hope of closer relations between the two neighbours under new Tanzanian leadership. And after a few years of tense ties, the results could be significant economically, diplomatically and politically for both the two countries and the broader region.
Jonathan Beloff is studying for a PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London.
Read the original of this report, including embedded links and illustrations, on the African Arguments site.
East Africa: Friends Forever Again? Rwanda and Tanzania Mend Bridges
The Odum of Ala Igbo
Hail Biafra!
Rwanda and Tanzania mending bridges? Spooky. This might spur Kagame to act without fear of regional repercussions (aside from the DRC which is distracted by internal politics).
The Odum of Ala Igbo
Hail Biafra!
"The optimism that was present, but from Nigerians and foreign investors, is gone. The idea that this government doesn’t really know what it is doing is firmly planted in the minds inception style. Finally there is still the small matter of central bank independence..."
Botswana sees additional 820MW of power by 2020
Business | 2016-06-15 | Page no: 16
GABORONE - Botswana is looking to add up to 820 megawatt of power into the national grid from both coal and solar-powered plants by 2020, leaving it a surplus for export, minerals and energy minister Kitso Mokaila said yesterday.
Independent power producers were expected to develop two 300 megawatt stations, while the refurbishment of a 120 megawatt coal-fuelled power plant was expected to be completed by the end of 2017, Mokaila told a mining conference.
Earlier this year, Botswana awarded a tender for a 300 megawatt power plant to a joint venture between South Korea's Posco and Japan's Marubeni.
The southern African country also intends to order a 300 megawatt power plant from a joint venture between South Korea's Daewoo and Kepco.
“In four years' time, we see ourselves as not only self-sufficient, but we hope to have extra capacity to be exporting into the region,” Mokaila said.
He said the government would put out a 100 megawatt solar power tender in the next two months, aiming to have it in operation by 2018.
Botswana's current power demand stands at an average 600 megawatt. Its sole power station, Morupule B, produces about half of that, with the remainder coming from imports and diesel generators.
Since it was commissioned in 2012, the Chinese-built 600 megawatt Morupule B power plant has not produced at full capacity due to boiler failures and tube leaks.
“We are also refurbishing Morupule B, and negotiations to sell it and have it operate as an independent power producer have begun,” said Mokaila.
- Nampa-Reuters
Botswana sees additional 820MW of power by 2020
Business | 2016-06-15 | Page no: 16
GABORONE - Botswana is looking to add up to 820 megawatt of power into the national grid from both coal and solar-powered plants by 2020, leaving it a surplus for export, minerals and energy minister Kitso Mokaila said yesterday.
Independent power producers were expected to develop two 300 megawatt stations, while the refurbishment of a 120 megawatt coal-fuelled power plant was expected to be completed by the end of 2017, Mokaila told a mining conference.
Earlier this year, Botswana awarded a tender for a 300 megawatt power plant to a joint venture between South Korea's Posco and Japan's Marubeni.
The southern African country also intends to order a 300 megawatt power plant from a joint venture between South Korea's Daewoo and Kepco.
“In four years' time, we see ourselves as not only self-sufficient, but we hope to have extra capacity to be exporting into the region,” Mokaila said.
He said the government would put out a 100 megawatt solar power tender in the next two months, aiming to have it in operation by 2018.
Botswana's current power demand stands at an average 600 megawatt. Its sole power station, Morupule B, produces about half of that, with the remainder coming from imports and diesel generators.
Since it was commissioned in 2012, the Chinese-built 600 megawatt Morupule B power plant has not produced at full capacity due to boiler failures and tube leaks.
“We are also refurbishing Morupule B, and negotiations to sell it and have it operate as an independent power producer have begun,” said Mokaila.
- Nampa-Reuters
Botswana sees additional 820MW of power by 2020
None of those reasons breh gave are why. The govts are purposely holding the people back from cultivating that land.
My b skimmed over that. But yeah Africas agriculture sectors are underachieving and it's just trife as hell.
21 JUNE 2016
The New Times (Kigali)
Rwanda: Rwf8 Billion Mastercard Deal to Boost Engineering Skills
By Collins Mwai
Rwanda's quest to bridge the deficit in engineering skills across various disciplines received a boost, yesterday, following a commitment by MasterCard Foundation to avail $10.8 million (about Rwf8 billion) for higher education learning at Carnegie Mellon University in Kigali.
The partnership, which targets 125 'talented but economically disadvantaged' scholars from sub-Saharan Africa, will take in the first batch of students beginning this year.
Of the 125 beneficiaries from the region, about 50 are expected to come from Rwanda.
Carnegie Mellon president Subra Suresh, who was in the country, said their nature of intervention and support was largely informed by the fact that Africa's continued growth would require a pool of skills empowered with the latest engineering and ICT skills.
"Increasingly people conducting businesses in Africa have noticed that as the fastest growing workforce in the world, Africa's youth have the potential to be the largest resource toward ambition of becoming a knowledge-based economy. Empowered with the latest technology and skills, these bright young people are key to propelling African economic development," Suresh said.
He noted that the international acclaimed university had experience working in the country through a partnership with the government that has seen about 70 students go through the institution for Masters programmes.
"Through the foresight and visionary leadership of the Government of Rwanda, Carnegie Mellon University world class engineering degree programmes in Kigali have become one of the most reputable international private-public partnerships in the world in higher education in East Africa," he noted.
'Unleashing potentials'
Going forward, Suresh said, the newly-forged partnership would work to present opportunities for scholars to unleash their potential, and to engage and innovate to bring transformative change throughout the continent.
The beneficiaries will receive a package of comprehensive scholarships that includes transformative leadership development skills as well as industry driven career services.
Such higher learning courses have previously been financially out of reach for a large number of scholars who fail to get scholarships. On average, an engineering programme at the university cost an estimated $86,000.
Jendayi Frazer, a board member of the Mastercard Foundation, said the development was an intervention seeking to address shortage of skilled technical professionals in ICT fields as well support Rwanda's quest to build a strong sector in the country and in the region.
"With continued economic growth and rise on the global stage, Africa will need tech leaders and entrepreneurs to develop and innovate in ICT and create knowledge in the region," she the former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.
Education minister Papias Musafiri said the support would play a significant role in bridging the persistent gap in engineering skills in the country.
He added that it would also help ensure gender balance in STEM skills that has long favoured boys.
Rwanda: Rwf8 Billion Mastercard Deal to Boost Engineering Skills
The New Times (Kigali)
Rwanda: Rwf8 Billion Mastercard Deal to Boost Engineering Skills
By Collins Mwai
Rwanda's quest to bridge the deficit in engineering skills across various disciplines received a boost, yesterday, following a commitment by MasterCard Foundation to avail $10.8 million (about Rwf8 billion) for higher education learning at Carnegie Mellon University in Kigali.
The partnership, which targets 125 'talented but economically disadvantaged' scholars from sub-Saharan Africa, will take in the first batch of students beginning this year.
Of the 125 beneficiaries from the region, about 50 are expected to come from Rwanda.
Carnegie Mellon president Subra Suresh, who was in the country, said their nature of intervention and support was largely informed by the fact that Africa's continued growth would require a pool of skills empowered with the latest engineering and ICT skills.
"Increasingly people conducting businesses in Africa have noticed that as the fastest growing workforce in the world, Africa's youth have the potential to be the largest resource toward ambition of becoming a knowledge-based economy. Empowered with the latest technology and skills, these bright young people are key to propelling African economic development," Suresh said.
He noted that the international acclaimed university had experience working in the country through a partnership with the government that has seen about 70 students go through the institution for Masters programmes.
"Through the foresight and visionary leadership of the Government of Rwanda, Carnegie Mellon University world class engineering degree programmes in Kigali have become one of the most reputable international private-public partnerships in the world in higher education in East Africa," he noted.
'Unleashing potentials'
Going forward, Suresh said, the newly-forged partnership would work to present opportunities for scholars to unleash their potential, and to engage and innovate to bring transformative change throughout the continent.
The beneficiaries will receive a package of comprehensive scholarships that includes transformative leadership development skills as well as industry driven career services.
Such higher learning courses have previously been financially out of reach for a large number of scholars who fail to get scholarships. On average, an engineering programme at the university cost an estimated $86,000.
Jendayi Frazer, a board member of the Mastercard Foundation, said the development was an intervention seeking to address shortage of skilled technical professionals in ICT fields as well support Rwanda's quest to build a strong sector in the country and in the region.
"With continued economic growth and rise on the global stage, Africa will need tech leaders and entrepreneurs to develop and innovate in ICT and create knowledge in the region," she the former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.
Education minister Papias Musafiri said the support would play a significant role in bridging the persistent gap in engineering skills in the country.
He added that it would also help ensure gender balance in STEM skills that has long favoured boys.
Rwanda: Rwf8 Billion Mastercard Deal to Boost Engineering Skills
calixprynce
...
i think i gotta plan $$$$20 JUNE 2016
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
Mozambique: Nyusi Inaugurates Industrial Slaughterhouse
Maputo — Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Saturday inaugurated an industrial slaughterhouse in Manhica district, about 90 kilometres north of Maputo.
The Matama slaughterhouse and its equipment cost a total of about 450 million meticais (about 7.3 million US dollars, at current exchange rates), and the capital is entirely Mozambican. According to one of its founders, Boavida Mutombene, the project began in 2012, and initially the idea was that it should take the form of a cooperative. In the end, however, Matama became a company, with 82 shareholders.
The slaughterhouse employs 80 workers, and has the capacity to slaughter 60 animals a day. Its cold stores are able to hold 150 tonnes of meat. Most of the industrial equipment is of German manufacture.
Although the slaughterhouse is currently at an experimental stage, Mutombene was convinced that the project is viable and will help substitute imported meat, thus saving the country foreign exchange.
At a later stage, Matama will also set up a factory to produce animal feed. This should stimulate the production of maize as the main raw material for such a factory.
“The company is also seeking to invest around 90 million meticais to encourage livestock breeding in the peasant family sector”, said Mutombene.
Maputo province has the third largest cattle herd in Mozambique, much of which is concentrated in Manhica.
Mozambique: Nyusi Inaugurates Industrial Slaughterhouse
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
Mozambique: Nyusi Inaugurates Industrial Slaughterhouse
Maputo — Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Saturday inaugurated an industrial slaughterhouse in Manhica district, about 90 kilometres north of Maputo.
The Matama slaughterhouse and its equipment cost a total of about 450 million meticais (about 7.3 million US dollars, at current exchange rates), and the capital is entirely Mozambican. According to one of its founders, Boavida Mutombene, the project began in 2012, and initially the idea was that it should take the form of a cooperative. In the end, however, Matama became a company, with 82 shareholders.
The slaughterhouse employs 80 workers, and has the capacity to slaughter 60 animals a day. Its cold stores are able to hold 150 tonnes of meat. Most of the industrial equipment is of German manufacture.
Although the slaughterhouse is currently at an experimental stage, Mutombene was convinced that the project is viable and will help substitute imported meat, thus saving the country foreign exchange.
At a later stage, Matama will also set up a factory to produce animal feed. This should stimulate the production of maize as the main raw material for such a factory.
“The company is also seeking to invest around 90 million meticais to encourage livestock breeding in the peasant family sector”, said Mutombene.
Maputo province has the third largest cattle herd in Mozambique, much of which is concentrated in Manhica.
Mozambique: Nyusi Inaugurates Industrial Slaughterhouse
Angola plans to produce rice on a large scale in Moxico province
JUNE 21ST, 2016
HOME
Large scale rice production will be relaunched this year in Angola’s Moxico province, in order for the country to once again become one of the world’s main rice producers, the Minister for Agriculture said Monday in the city of Camanongue.
Afonso Pedro Canga said that the study of fertile areas to sow rice has already been concluded and recalled that the province has the large water resources needed to produce rice.
The minister told Angolan news agency Angop that training was underway for farmers, on new planting techniques and new technologies that will allow an increase in production and productivity.
“A focus on agriculture can contribute to the country’s growth and ensure the increase of farmers’ income, and it is necessary to invest in the quick sale of products from small producers, particularly of corn, rice, soy, beans and vegetables,” said the Minister. (macauhub/AO)
Angola plans to produce rice on a large scale in Moxico province
JUNE 21ST, 2016
Large scale rice production will be relaunched this year in Angola’s Moxico province, in order for the country to once again become one of the world’s main rice producers, the Minister for Agriculture said Monday in the city of Camanongue.
Afonso Pedro Canga said that the study of fertile areas to sow rice has already been concluded and recalled that the province has the large water resources needed to produce rice.
The minister told Angolan news agency Angop that training was underway for farmers, on new planting techniques and new technologies that will allow an increase in production and productivity.
“A focus on agriculture can contribute to the country’s growth and ensure the increase of farmers’ income, and it is necessary to invest in the quick sale of products from small producers, particularly of corn, rice, soy, beans and vegetables,” said the Minister. (macauhub/AO)
Angola plans to produce rice on a large scale in Moxico province
AfDB approves USD 245 million to finance Uganda-Rwanda transport project and boosts regional trade in East Africa
22/06/2016
Share
On Wednesday, June 22, 2016, the African Development Bank approved USD 245 million in loans and grants to the Governments of Uganda and Rwanda to finance a transport project that will boost regional trade and decongest traffic from Kampala (Busega) city to Mpigi. Uganda and Rwanda are landlocked countries and transport infrastructure is a key factor to stimulate socio-economic activities and improve competitiveness.
In Uganda, the Bank’s USD 151 million will finance the construction of a 23.7-kilometre expressway, which will facilitate the journey between Kampala (Busega) and Mpigi on the Northern Corridor, a major trade route in the region. In Rwanda, the USD 94-million Bank loan will finance the rehabilitation of a 208-km road (Kagitumba-Kayonza-Rusumo) in eastern Rwanda. These roads are vital links, which support the regional integration objectives of the East Africa Community (EAC) and the Great Lakes Region, contributing to poverty reduction and regional integration across Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. The project also includes the construction of two cross-border markets at Kagitumba and Rusumo; training of women traders and entrepreneurs.
In Uganda, the existing Busega-Mpigi road is highly congested especially at Busega, handling over 26,000 vehicles per day on a two-lane road. Average vehicle travel time from Busega to Mpigi will be reduced from one hour to 20 minutes on the completion of the project. In Rwanda, the average vehicle travel time on the Kagitumba-Kayonza-Rusumo road will be reduced by 50%, from six to three hours. The road construction will be completed in 2½ years.
The direct beneficiaries of the project are traders and transporters who use the Northern Corridor via Mirama Hills/Kagitumba and the Central Corridor, via Rusumo and the 2.14 million people living within the Busega-Mpigi and Kagitumba-Kayonza-Rusumo areas. “The project will contribute to poverty reduction, improve the quality of life of people in the area by providing socio-economic facilities. It will also contributes to agriculture development and food security; and facilitates industrialization through reduced transportation and logistics costs”, said Amadou Oumarou, Director of the AfDB’s Transport & ICT Department.
The total project cost is estimated at USD 376.5 million, co-financed by AfDB (USD 244.6 million), Japan International Cooperation Agency (USD 56.3 million), European Union (USD 22.4 million) and the Governments of Uganda and Rwanda (USD 53.2million).
Documents
Related Sections
Contacts
OUMAROU, AMADOU
AfDB approves USD 245 million to finance Uganda-Rwanda transport project and boosts regional trade in East Africa
22/06/2016
Share
On Wednesday, June 22, 2016, the African Development Bank approved USD 245 million in loans and grants to the Governments of Uganda and Rwanda to finance a transport project that will boost regional trade and decongest traffic from Kampala (Busega) city to Mpigi. Uganda and Rwanda are landlocked countries and transport infrastructure is a key factor to stimulate socio-economic activities and improve competitiveness.
In Uganda, the Bank’s USD 151 million will finance the construction of a 23.7-kilometre expressway, which will facilitate the journey between Kampala (Busega) and Mpigi on the Northern Corridor, a major trade route in the region. In Rwanda, the USD 94-million Bank loan will finance the rehabilitation of a 208-km road (Kagitumba-Kayonza-Rusumo) in eastern Rwanda. These roads are vital links, which support the regional integration objectives of the East Africa Community (EAC) and the Great Lakes Region, contributing to poverty reduction and regional integration across Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. The project also includes the construction of two cross-border markets at Kagitumba and Rusumo; training of women traders and entrepreneurs.
In Uganda, the existing Busega-Mpigi road is highly congested especially at Busega, handling over 26,000 vehicles per day on a two-lane road. Average vehicle travel time from Busega to Mpigi will be reduced from one hour to 20 minutes on the completion of the project. In Rwanda, the average vehicle travel time on the Kagitumba-Kayonza-Rusumo road will be reduced by 50%, from six to three hours. The road construction will be completed in 2½ years.
The direct beneficiaries of the project are traders and transporters who use the Northern Corridor via Mirama Hills/Kagitumba and the Central Corridor, via Rusumo and the 2.14 million people living within the Busega-Mpigi and Kagitumba-Kayonza-Rusumo areas. “The project will contribute to poverty reduction, improve the quality of life of people in the area by providing socio-economic facilities. It will also contributes to agriculture development and food security; and facilitates industrialization through reduced transportation and logistics costs”, said Amadou Oumarou, Director of the AfDB’s Transport & ICT Department.
The total project cost is estimated at USD 376.5 million, co-financed by AfDB (USD 244.6 million), Japan International Cooperation Agency (USD 56.3 million), European Union (USD 22.4 million) and the Governments of Uganda and Rwanda (USD 53.2million).
Documents
- Infographics Uganda-Rwanda final (181 kB)
Related Sections
Contacts
OUMAROU, AMADOU
AfDB approves USD 245 million to finance Uganda-Rwanda transport project and boosts regional trade in East Africa
calixprynce
...
If I wanted to import some cocoa beans from Ivory Coast , anybody know where I'd start? 
im new to this whole import game
im new to this whole import game