Essential The Africa the Media Doesn't Tell You About

[BigMan]

Is Nigeria's Brazilian heritage under threat?

FEATURESARTS & CULTURE22 NOVEMBER 2016
Is Nigeria's Brazilian heritage under threat?
Established by former slaves, residents of the Brazilian quarter of Lagos face a battle against the bulldozers.

A house constructed in Brazilian style is pictured on October 15, 2016 in the Brazilian quarter of Lagos, Nigeria [Chris Stein/Al Jazeera]

by
Chris Stein





Lagos, Nigeria - Though he grew up in one of Africa's largest English-speaking cities, Alexander De Souza remembers a childhood when Portuguese was spoken in the streets, Brazilian dishes were served in the kitchen and friends and family lived in houses styled in the architecture of Sao Paulo.

De Souza spent the early years of his childhood in the "Brazilian quarter" of Nigeria's largest city, Lagos, a part of town so named because former slaves from Brazil settled there to restart their lives in the 19th century.

Decades of British colonisation that ended in 1960 made Nigeria a firmly Anglophone country, with English the lingua franca and thousands of Nigerians living in countries such as Britain and the United States.

But in the Brazilian quarter of Lagos, the festivals, meals and architecture all have a distinctive South American touch, thanks to the legacy of the "agudas", a distortion of the Portuguese word for the cotton that became a moniker for the returned slaves.

Yet, many in the quarter worry that these traditions and cultural relics may not last much longer.

The descendants of the freed slaves are moving out of the neighbourhood. Brazilian-style houses have been sold off and renovated. And, in September, a developer levelled the Ilojo Bar, a 161-year-old house built by a returned slave that had been designated a national monument.

"[The demolition is] a very big, massive loss for this culture, for this community," said Gasper da Silva, a resident of the quarter and president of the Brazilian Descendants' Union, which organises traditional Brazilian events there.

READ MORE: My Nigeria - A day in the life of a house girl

A question of heritage
Da Silva traces his heritage back to Hemengildo Gaspar da Silva, a prince of the Oyo Empire, which held sway over the Yoruba people of southwest Nigeria and parts of neighbouring Benin before colonisation.

Sold into slavery by his guards in the late 18th century, da Silva's great-great-grandfather was taken to Brazil and forced to work as a servant.

After gaining his freedom in the 1800s, he sold fabric, married two wives, had five children and then returned to the shores of Nigeria at the age 66.

"He wanted to come back to trace his history," da Silva told Al Jazeera.

He bought a swath of land in what was to become the quarter, and built a family house in the design of those he'd seen in Brazil.

Families such as the Martins, Da Rochas and Campos - whose very names illustrate the Brazilian influence - did the same: establishing themselves as a unique community of Portuguese speakers in a land that was gradually falling under the influence of British colonists.

When slavery was abolished in the 19th century in the Americas, the number of agudas in Lagos grew as former slaves in Brazil travelled to West Africa.

An Egungun masquerade dances in the street of the Brazilian quarter of Lagos, Nigeria [Chris Stein/Al Jazeera]
A census taken in 1888 by the British colonial government recorded 3,221 "Brazilians" in Lagos, according to a 2010 history of slave repatriation in West Africa published by the Brazilian government.

During the 20th century, the city's population swelled and the post-independence government filled in land around the Brazilian quarter to build modern freeways and high rises for banks and oil companies.

Still, the families in the quarter kept their traditions alive in the face of growing modernity, passing down property and customs from generation to generation.

The neighbourhood continues to hold carnivals every Easter, new year and Christmas, when Brazilian dishes, such as frejon and feijoada, are served to revellers.

An exchange of traditions
The African slaves also influenced the way of life in Brazil. They brought their language, Yoruba, which is widely spoken in southwestern Nigeria today and also in parts of Brazil's Bahia state. Masquerades traditional to the Yoruba people known as Egungun can also be found in Brazil, just as they can on the streets of Lagos.

On a weekend in late October, a crowd of intoxicated young men followed a masquerade, called an Agodongbo, through the Brazilian quarter, hitting each other with tree branches in a show of strength as they trailed the masked performer.

As Graciano Oladipupo Martins followed the muddy Lagos roads that snake between the narrow, multi-storey houses of the quarter to join the crowd, he noted the changes in his neighbourhood.

"You see, most of the houses are undergoing renovation," said Martins, a Portuguese language instructor and great-grandson of an African trader who'd sent slaves to Brazil. "The Brazilian touches are fading, gradually."

Though the name "Brazilian quarter" remains widely used in Lagos today, the neighbourhood's unique style is becoming less and less apparent, residents say.

The Brazilian quarter of Lagos, Nigeria [Chris Stein/Al Jazeera]
Knowing the buildings
Da Silva's family home, an example of Brazilian architecture that included a distinctive penthouse room on the roof, partially burned down years ago.

Martins sold his family's house because it was empty. Most of his relatives had moved to parts of Lagos where they could afford land and build their own homes. Developers bought the house and renovated it. Now it looks like any other structure in Lagos, Martins said.

"Some of the Brazilian houses were not well-kept," said Oluyomi MacGregor, a leader of the Brazilian community. "Some people did not know the history of their buildings."

READ MORE: My life in a building - A chapel from the soil

Other structures have fallen into unscrupulous hands. The house of Ramon Campos, a structure built in 1812 and overlooking a square that today serves as a space for football games and street parties, was demolished earlier this year without the consent of the family that owned it.

But perhaps no loss has been felt by the community as acutely as that of the Ilojo Bar.

The building, which had hosted a drinking spot and a musical instrument shop at various points in its long history, was one of the few in Lagos protected under the authority of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments.

But members of the family that owned the building claimed it was unsafe and dilapidated, and decided they wanted to tear it down.

Taiwo Awoniyi, chief heritage officer at the National Museum in Lagos, said the family tried four times to raze the building, only for museum officials to intervene.

READ and WATCH MORE: My Nigeria on Al Jazeera

Young men carry tree branches as they pursue the Agodongbo masquerade through the Brazilian quarter of Lagos, Nigeria [Chris Stein/Al Jazeera]
Demolitions
On a Sunday morning, during the September Eid al-Adha holiday, the bulldozers finally succeeded, levelling the structure.

"It's a death. We are culturally bereaved," MacGregor said. "It seems as if there's a deliberate policy not to have historical heritage in Lagos."

WATCH: [My Nigeria] Gbenga Sesan: Connecting a Million (25:00)


The demolition contravened the law, Awoniyi said. "The demolition as far as we are concerned at the museum is an act of criminality," he explained.

Legacy, a historical group based in Lagos, took measured drawings of the building years ago. It could conceivably be rebuilt.

But before its demolition, long-discussed plans by museum officials to restore the building and turn it into a tourist attraction never got off the ground because there wasn't money to pay for it, Awoniyi said.

Shocked by the building's destruction, da Silva has discussed with other families the idea of rebuilding Ilojo Bar, perhaps by raising money from wealthy families in the community.

The only people he hasn't discussed the demolition with are his relatives back in Brazil, the descendants of the two sons of his great-great-grandfather, who remained in the South American country. He has kept in regular touch with them over Facebook, discussing each other's families and lives on opposite sides of the Atlantic.

"They are going to feel so bad," da Silva said of his relatives. "I feel it is going to be a kind of disgrace on our part here."

 

[BigMan]

 

[Yehuda]

Angola's ruling party meeting set to enthrone dos Santos' successor

08/12 - 21:18

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos will confirm Saturday the end of his controversial reign of thirty-seven years and enthrone his likely successor, AFP reports.

74-year-old dos Santos will make the announcement confirming he will not seek a new term in the 2017 general elections as his party, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) marks its 60th anniversary on Saturday.

Defence Minister Joao Lourenco is expected to take over as the next MPLA leader.

The Angolan Constitution does not provide for a presidential election, but specifies that the post of head of state belongs to the leader of the party that wins the legislative elections.

Dos Santos became president in 1979, making him Africa’s second-longest serving leader — one month short of Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

His reign has seen the end of civil war and an investment boom, but has also been criticised as secretive and corrupt with Angola’s citizens suffering grim poverty as his family became hugely wealthy.

The end of Dos Santos’s regime will shake up Angola, where he has been a looming presence in daily life longer than most people can remember, exercising almost total authority over government, politics, media and business.

He was sworn in 1979 following the sudden death of Angola’s liberation president Agostinho Neto.

Angola's ruling party meeting set to enthrone dos Santos' successor

 

[Yehuda]

Chimps help farmers ‘plant’ cacao in Guinea

6 December 2016 / Morgan Erickson-Davis

A mutually beneficial behavior may help an endangered population endure while boosting profits for farmers.

• Researchers examined the seed-dispersing behavior of western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in southeastern Guinea while interviewing area farmers.
• They found that chimps feeding at cacao plantations in turn "planted" cacao seeds in agricultural fields and forests when they deposited them in their feces.
• Farmers in the region were observed expressing annoyance at chimps feeding on their crops, but also tended cacao established by them.
• The researchers say this behavior could be economically beneficial to farmers and discourage retaliation against chimps.

Human-wildlife conflict is an ongoing drama playing out all over the world, from southern India where plantations are forcing humans and elephants into closer proximity to the western U.S. where wolves and ranchers vie over livestock. But new research published recently in the International Journal of Primatology finds that when it comes to cacao farming in the Republic of Guinea, humans and wildlife engage in partnerships that can benefit both parties.

The study focused on Bossou, a town in the far-southeastern Nzérékoré region of Guinea and the heart of the range of the Critically Endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus). Once covered in lush Upper Guinean rainforest, around 1 percent of the region’s primary forest remains today, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). As forest is converted to farmland or timber, the authors write that wildlife like chimps are increasingly exposed to crops and often consume them.

Cacao is one of the chimps’ favorite crops, according to the researchers. Native to West Africa, cacao is commonly grown in small-scale plots in Guinea.

Data from the University of Maryland and visualized on Global Forest Watch shows Guinea lost around 6 percent of its tree cover between 2001 and 2014, and the region where the study took place lost nearly 7 percent. Tree cover loss appears to have increased in recent years, jumping 600 percent between 2012 and 2013.

But while humans do the tending of their crops, they don’t always do the planting.

“Chimpanzees ingest the cacao pulp and either spit out the large seeds in unripe cacao fruit or swallow the seeds from ripe cacao fruit, which are consequently deposited in feces,” said Kimberley Hockings, Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University and lead researcher of the study.

Often, these feces – and the cacao seeds contained within – are deposited in forest areas, where thick canopy cover blocks the light needed for cacao to reproduce. Here they grow, but do not produce fruit.

But sometimes, chimps defecate in or near agricultural fields, effectively “planting” new cacao plants and potentially adding to farmers’ yields.

Through interviews, the researchers discovered that even forest-planted cacao could benefit farmers, with established plants at-the-ready if they expanded their fields into adjacent forest. By clearing trees around them, the cacao could fruit and the farmers didn’t need to wait for the plants to grow to maturity. (In an email to Mongabay, Hockings noted that farmers don’t necessarily clear more forest because of chimp-planted cacao, but simply tend it when they choose to do so for other reasons.)

Cacao pods in Madagascar. Photo by Rhett A. Butler

The researchers say their findings show that instead of being a negative behavior, the consumption of cacao crops by wild chimps could be financially beneficial for farmers. This, they write, may help dissuade farmers from retaliating against chimps in ways that could potentially harm the animals.

“In general, farmers express annoyance when chimps (or any other wildlife) feed on their crops,” Hockings told Mongabay. “At Bossou local farmers are quite tolerant due to their traditional beliefs. At other sites farmers can engage in retaliatory killings of ‘problem’ chimpanzees.”

The study states that because of their benefit to farmers, chimps’ cacao-planting behavior could increase their own chances of survival – and with it, those of other species like the brown lemur, which depends on tree species propagated by chimps when they feed on forest fruit. And with data showing tree cover loss rates rising in Guinea as a whole and Nzérékoré in particular, this ecological service may become even more important as time wears on.

“This research has highlighted the possibility that the dispersal of crops by animals at other sites has the potential to positively impact the ability of wildlife to coexist in human-impacted habitats, especially if farmers gain economic benefits through the wildlife’s dispersal of crops,” Hockings said. “It’s also interesting from the perspective of chimpanzees creating their own niche.”



Citations:

• Hansen, M. C., P. V. Potapov, R. Moore, M. Hancher, S. A. Turubanova, A. Tyukavina, D. Thau, S. V. Stehman, S. J. Goetz, T. R. Loveland, A. Kommareddy, A. Egorov, L. Chini, C. O. Justice, and J. R. G. Townshend. 2013. “High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change.” Science 342 (15 November): 850–53. Data available on-line from:Global Forest Change | Google Crisis Map. Accessed through Global Forest Watch on December 06, 2016. www.globalforestwatch.org
• Hockings, K. J., Yamakoshi, G., & Matsuzawa, T. (2016). Dispersal of a Human-Cultivated Crop by Wild Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in a Forest–Farm Matrix. International Journal of Primatology, 1-22.
• Banner image: chimps in Uganda (public domain)

Chimps help farmers 'plant' cacao in Guinea

 

[Bawon Samedi]

Chimps help farmers ‘plant’ cacao in Guinea

6 December 2016 / Morgan Erickson-Davis

A mutually beneficial behavior may help an endangered population endure while boosting profits for farmers.

• Researchers examined the seed-dispersing behavior of western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in southeastern Guinea while interviewing area farmers.
• They found that chimps feeding at cacao plantations in turn "planted" cacao seeds in agricultural fields and forests when they deposited them in their feces.
• Farmers in the region were observed expressing annoyance at chimps feeding on their crops, but also tended cacao established by them.
• The researchers say this behavior could be economically beneficial to farmers and discourage retaliation against chimps.

Human-wildlife conflict is an ongoing drama playing out all over the world, from southern India where plantations are forcing humans and elephants into closer proximity to the western U.S. where wolves and ranchers vie over livestock. But new research published recently in the International Journal of Primatology finds that when it comes to cacao farming in the Republic of Guinea, humans and wildlife engage in partnerships that can benefit both parties.

The study focused on Bossou, a town in the far-southeastern Nzérékoré region of Guinea and the heart of the range of the Critically Endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus). Once covered in lush Upper Guinean rainforest, around 1 percent of the region’s primary forest remains today, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). As forest is converted to farmland or timber, the authors write that wildlife like chimps are increasingly exposed to crops and often consume them.

Cacao is one of the chimps’ favorite crops, according to the researchers. Native to West Africa, cacao is commonly grown in small-scale plots in Guinea.

Data from the University of Maryland and visualized on Global Forest Watch shows Guinea lost around 6 percent of its tree cover between 2001 and 2014, and the region where the study took place lost nearly 7 percent. Tree cover loss appears to have increased in recent years, jumping 600 percent between 2012 and 2013.

But while humans do the tending of their crops, they don’t always do the planting.

“Chimpanzees ingest the cacao pulp and either spit out the large seeds in unripe cacao fruit or swallow the seeds from ripe cacao fruit, which are consequently deposited in feces,” said Kimberley Hockings, Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University and lead researcher of the study.

Often, these feces – and the cacao seeds contained within – are deposited in forest areas, where thick canopy cover blocks the light needed for cacao to reproduce. Here they grow, but do not produce fruit.

But sometimes, chimps defecate in or near agricultural fields, effectively “planting” new cacao plants and potentially adding to farmers’ yields.

Through interviews, the researchers discovered that even forest-planted cacao could benefit farmers, with established plants at-the-ready if they expanded their fields into adjacent forest. By clearing trees around them, the cacao could fruit and the farmers didn’t need to wait for the plants to grow to maturity. (In an email to Mongabay, Hockings noted that farmers don’t necessarily clear more forest because of chimp-planted cacao, but simply tend it when they choose to do so for other reasons.)

Cacao pods in Madagascar. Photo by Rhett A. Butler

The researchers say their findings show that instead of being a negative behavior, the consumption of cacao crops by wild chimps could be financially beneficial for farmers. This, they write, may help dissuade farmers from retaliating against chimps in ways that could potentially harm the animals.

“In general, farmers express annoyance when chimps (or any other wildlife) feed on their crops,” Hockings told Mongabay. “At Bossou local farmers are quite tolerant due to their traditional beliefs. At other sites farmers can engage in retaliatory killings of ‘problem’ chimpanzees.”

The study states that because of their benefit to farmers, chimps’ cacao-planting behavior could increase their own chances of survival – and with it, those of other species like the brown lemur, which depends on tree species propagated by chimps when they feed on forest fruit. And with data showing tree cover loss rates rising in Guinea as a whole and Nzérékoré in particular, this ecological service may become even more important as time wears on.

“This research has highlighted the possibility that the dispersal of crops by animals at other sites has the potential to positively impact the ability of wildlife to coexist in human-impacted habitats, especially if farmers gain economic benefits through the wildlife’s dispersal of crops,” Hockings said. “It’s also interesting from the perspective of chimpanzees creating their own niche.”



Citations:

• Hansen, M. C., P. V. Potapov, R. Moore, M. Hancher, S. A. Turubanova, A. Tyukavina, D. Thau, S. V. Stehman, S. J. Goetz, T. R. Loveland, A. Kommareddy, A. Egorov, L. Chini, C. O. Justice, and J. R. G. Townshend. 2013. “High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change.” Science 342 (15 November): 850–53. Data available on-line from:Global Forest Change | Google Crisis Map. Accessed through Global Forest Watch on December 06, 2016. www.globalforestwatch.org
• Hockings, K. J., Yamakoshi, G., & Matsuzawa, T. (2016). Dispersal of a Human-Cultivated Crop by Wild Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in a Forest–Farm Matrix. International Journal of Primatology, 1-22.
• Banner image: chimps in Uganda (public domain)

Chimps help farmers 'plant' cacao in Guinea

Just hope the don't turn on them.

Chimps are the most VIOLENT primates. More so than gorillas.

 

[Yehuda]

Just hope the don't turn on them.

Chimps are the most VIOLENT primates. More so than gorillas.

 

[Samori Toure]

Drive for vehicle industry in Angola

Pretoria - The African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (Aaam) has entered into a partnership to assist Angola establish its own automotive industry.

Jeff Nemeth, the chairman of Aaam and president and chief executive of the Ford Motor Company’s sub-Saharan Africa region, said that, similar to what the association had done in Kenya, it had offered during a recent trip to Angola to partner with the government in a consultative role.

Nemeth said he told the Angolan government that Aaam, with General Motors, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW and Ford, could bring a lot of experience to the discussion and could help devise a roadmap.

Aaam’s aim is to unlock the economic potential of the African continent by promoting a policy environment that is conducive to the development of the automotive sector.

Several motor manufacturers have, in partnership with locals, established semi-knocked down (SKD) vehicle assembly operations in Nigeria, while VW has established an SKD operation in Kenya.

Nemeth said the Angolan trip was scheduled after it increased the import duty rate on commercial vehicles from 12 percent to 50 percent at the beginning of last year.

Usually when countries did that, they were either doing it to raise revenue or wanted to encourage vehicle assembly in their country, he said.

Diversify

Nemeth said the Angolan government confirmed it wanted to encourage vehicle assembly and diversify its economy. Aaam had asked the Angolan government to consider its appetite for establishing a motor vehicle industry based on their initial discussions.

“I encouraged them to take a really long view on the automotive sector and if that really is an area of strength, because not only do they need to spend money in the form of incentives to bring the manufacturers and suppliers in, but they also need to spend money on infrastructure,” he said.

Nemeth said they needed to have a robust engineering curriculum in their national universities and a stable power base for manufacturing.

Read also: Delegation in Nigeria to promote automotive sector

He had explained that Angola would be competing for an auto industry with its neighbours and the global manufacturing community.

He said it was fine if they were not willing to do this, particularly as there might be better things Angola could spend their money on and that were more aligned to the size of their economy and the available opportunities and industries that made the most sense for Angola in the context of Africa.

“Maybe automotive isn’t one of them. They are going to think about that, which is why they needed some time to digest everything we talked about before they say what they want to do,” he said.

Nemeth said Aaam would assign a task force to assist Angola if it was interested in putting together an auto industry policy.

He admitted it was not feasible for every country in sub- Saharan Africa to have a motor vehicle industry, but looking at the potential of the African continent in 20 years’ time, it looked like the biggest economies in sub-Saharan Africa would be Angola, Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

Drive for vehicle industry in Angola | IOL

 

[BigMan]

Doesnt Ghana have a car manufacturing company?

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

Doesnt Ghana have a car manufacturing company?

As does Nigeria. Praying for Innoson's survival.

 

[Yehuda]

Power, Ports, Roads Lead Liberia’s Resurgence

OPINION | 23 hours ago

The Irish crossing constructed near the powerhouse to protect the dams during heavy rains/P-hoto mtcoffeeliberia.com

To the untrained eye of a layman, the workers were proceeding slowly, much too slowly. A foreman’s shrill voice could be heard shouting instructions after instructions as engineers and technicians, with the help of cranes and robotic arms, delicately guided a large piece of equipment into an even larger shaft.

The workers were right to proceed as gingerly as they were; they were installing the first of four turbines (estimated to cost US$5M apiece) at the Mount Coffee Hydro Power Plant.

The cost aside, fabrication of these key pieces of the Mount Coffee jigsaw took many months in Germany and any mishap would mean doom for the scheduled December 2016 commission date.

Damaged during the civil war, rehabilitation of the Mount Coffee plant is the mainstay of the government’s strategy to increase power production from zero to 128 megawatts by 2017. Already, three HFO plants are operational generating 38 megawatts of power including a new 10 megawatts plant which came online last July.

Also, Liberia is participating in the West Africa Power Pool program which will make available additional power from Côte d’Ivoire. Described as the most critical binding constraint to economic expansion, lack of reliable power has long stunted growth.

The current power rollout will be able to sustain the needs of homes and businesses in the short and medium term with additional options for more power as the country continues its diversification away from primary commodities into agro-processing and manufacturing. Already steady and reliable power is impacting the lives of ordinary Liberians, particularly entrepreneurs running Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

A local barber, Patrick Sarmu who previously relied on a small gasoline powered generator to run his business, summed it up aptly, “Right now I brought in two assistants because we can now work day and night, not only six hours like before, and it’s cheaper.”

More connections to hundreds of households in communities in the capital Monrovia and towns like Ganta in the north (Ganta is connected to the cross-border power line from Côte d’Ivoire) are spurring economic activity and breathing life into these areas.

Away from Mount Coffee, about a hundred miles eastward along the coast, another group of engineers, clad in Ninja-like diving gear are bobbling about seemingly aimlessly in the Atlantic. A skiff with buoys, welding equipment and blinking beacons is the staging post. These are marine engineers installing navigational aids at the Port of Buchanan enabling it to now become a 24-hour port of call.

Liberia’s second largest port, Buchanan is critical as it handles major exports. The expansion and redevelopment of the Ports of Buchanan and Greenville, further along the coast in the southeast of Liberia allows for a move away from over-reliance on the export of iron ore, rubber and timber to cater to agricultural exports including palm oil.

Dubbed ‘The Gateway to the Economy,’ Liberia’s main port in Monrovia has itself been undergoing steady improvements over the past several years. Under the Administrative supervision of the National Port Authority of Liberia, the Dutch group, APM Terminals operates the port. Upgrades, the installation of modern, state of the art equipment and technology have transformed the once derelict, crumbling port to a 24-hour A-Level outfit catering to a brisk upsurge in trade and commerce.

Like power, a good road network is an enabling, catalytic infrastructure which drives economic activity and improves lives and livelihoods. Lack of roads in many parts of Liberia to connect cities and communities has also proven to be a great constraint and contributor to high poverty rates.

One would appreciate the unbridled celebration of the people of Barrakeh, a sleepy hamlet in Maryland County in southeastern Liberia. A historic event was about to take place right before their eyes. Barrakeh is actually closer to the Ivorian border then to Harper, the provincial capital of Maryland County.

The town holds great potential for transnational trade. Work on the Harper–Fish Town highway had begun, and for the first time, a paved road would be connecting towns and villages in the southeastern region of Liberia.

Funded by the African Development Bank and the government of Liberia, the project will link the coast with the interior of the country and create opportunity for increased commerce and trade. Access to health and educational facilities in the region will also be enhanced.

Since its inception in 2006, the administration has paved a total of 611km of roads and is on track to pave an additional 100km by 2017.

Because road infrastructure requires a massive capital investment, the government has proceeded wisely by targeting key economic corridors in its road pavement agenda – Monrovia to Buchanan, Monrovia to Gbarnga, Gbarnga to Ganta and on to the border with Guinea etc.

These roads are changing lives. Kollie Sackie, a vegetable farmer from the central town of Jennipleta now has increased earnings because with the newly paved road, he exercises the option to take his produce into Monrovia for better prices. “Every Saturday, I take the goods to Monrovia, fares are cheaper and the supermarkets in Monrovia pay better,” Sackie said.

The development mosaic is not yet a complete picture and still requires more intricate weaving, but steady progress is taking place in various sectors of the Liberian economy. Boosted by restored and rehabilitated infrastructure, a thriving, burgeoning SME sector of Liberian entrepreneurs has emerged holding the key for growth.

Already, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning has initiated actions to bring the informal sector into the mainstream of the economy and recalculate the GDP of the country.

Under the leadership of President Sirleaf, Liberia’s resurgent growth remains on track. The twin malaise of the ebola epidemic and the steep decline in export of Liberia’s main commodities presented formidable hurdles, but a resilient nation is proving that fortitude and dogged perseverance are indelibly ingrained and entrenched in the fabric of Liberia’s character.

Eugene Nagbe - Liberia’s Minister of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism

Power, Ports, Roads Lead Liberia’s Resurgence

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

Glad to see Sirleaf is supporting economic development - but we must wary of how the transition to replace may go. I hear things about her son...

 

[Frangala]

Congo’s President Has Built a Business Empire. Is That Why He Won’t Step Down?

This is African despot looting perfected. Long but worth the read.

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

Congo’s President Has Built a Business Empire. Is That Why He Won’t Step Down?

This is African despot looting perfected. Long but worth the read.

I'm gonna share this on Facebook. People need to know.

 

[Frangala]

Och-Ziff’s Sprawling Africa Bribery Network Laid Out by U.S.
by
Keri Geiger
,
Matt Robinson
,
Neil Weinberg
, and
Patricia Hurtado
September 29, 2016, 2:22 PM EDT September 29, 2016, 7:00 PM EDT

• Hedge fund billionaire turned blind eye to corruption risks
• Scheme sought to win deals from officials, including a Qaddafi

Daniel Och

Photographer: Adrian Moser/Bloomberg
Hedge fund founder Dan Och overruled his own lawyers and compliance officers when they raised warnings about a potentially corrupt partner in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Then the firm booked a series of bribes there as investments.

Those actions are part of a multiyear bribery conspiracy across Africa that benefited Och’s firm, Och-Ziff Capital Management LP, U.S. authorities said Thursday. The prosecution included regulatory sanctions against Och and another executive, a guilty plea by an Och-Ziff unit and $415 million in fines and penalties. It also broke new ground: Och-Ziff became the first hedge fund to be criminally sanctioned by the U.S. in an emerging-economy bribery scheme.

In court filings in federal and administrative courts Thursday, the government outlined more than $100 million in bribes as well as the questionable takeover of a Congo mining company and “suspicious payments” in Zimbabwe. Though the Securities and Exchange Commission said Och didn’t know about the bribes, the firm acknowledged it failed to accurately reflect how assets were used and didn’t have adequate internal controls.

"Och-Ziff, one of the largest hedge funds, positioned itself to profit from the corruption that is sadly endemic in certain parts of Africa, including Libya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad and Niger," U.S. Attorney Robert Capers in Brooklyn, New York, said in a statement. "Despite knowing that bribes were being paid to senior government officials, Och-Ziff repeatedly funded corrupt transactions."

Och-Ziff’s lawyer, Mark Schonfeld, said in court the firm has already made “substantial efforts” to improve its compliance programs.

Och says his firm is eager to move beyond the multiyear investigation. His success will depend partly on the goodwill of investors who have already pulled nearly $3 billion from the fund in the last two years. Och-Ziff is also likely to come under scrutiny from the SEC and other government agencies, which must determine whether to grant it permission to continue running certain lines of business.

Individual Roles
The U.S. Justice Department and the SEC continue to investigate the roles of individuals in the conspiracy, people familiar with the matter have said, adding that any action against them could come later.

Och, 55, had final authority to approve all private investments by the fund, according to the government. He was aware of the risk of corruption in transactions in Congo and Libya and, in spite of red flags raised inside the firm, approved the use of Och-Ziff investor funds in those transactions, it said.

Joel M. Frank, 61, the fund’s chief financial officer, was among those who raised concerns, authorities said. But he also ultimately didn’t fulfill his responsibility to stop deals with a high risk of corruption, they said.

Frank also didn’t know about the bribes, according to court filings. The scheme was actually conducted by two senior executives, including the head of the European operation, according to the SEC. Neither of those Europe executives were charged or identified in either civil or criminal actions.

They are Michael Cohen, who started the European operation, and Vanja Baros, according to several people familiar with the investigation.

“Michael Cohen has an unblemished reputation built over the course of a career spent creating value for Och-Ziff’s investors,” said his attorney, Ron White. “We are confident that, when all the facts are known, it will be clear that he has done nothing wrong.”

Baros didn’t respond to voicemails seeking comment.

Four Counts


For more on Och-Ziff’s dealings in Africa, see this 2014 exclusive.

“This has been a deeply disappointing episode. This conduct is inconsistent with our core values and not representative of our hundreds of employees worldwide, who are dedicated to serving our clients with the utmost integrity,” Och said in a statement released by the fund.

Och-Ziff’s shares rose 5.7 percent to $4.49 on Thursday in New York, after a similar gain on Wednesday when news of the settlement became public.

A former Goldman Sachs trader, Och founded Och-Ziff in 1994 with $100 million from the Ziff brothers, whose inheritance came from a publishing empire. It is now the only publicly traded U.S. hedge fund operator.

Other Levers
Apart from the sanctions announced Thursday, the SEC potentially holds other levers over Och-Ziff. Firms subject to criminal and civil action may be automatically disqualified from certain business activities, including issuing shares and raising money, unless they gain permission from the agency in the form of a waiver, which have routinely been granted over the years.

Firms with guilty pleas may also require clearance from the Labor Department to continue managing certain pension and retirement funds.

“Guilty pleas and other types of resolutions with the government can trigger a variety of collateral consequences,” said Kevin Harnisch, a partner at the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.

The granting of waivers has become politically charged over the past couple of years. SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White has resisted pressure to use them as an “additional enforcement tool.”

‘Investment Opportunities’
In federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday, Och-Ziff lawyer Schonfeld told a judge that the firm’s Africa unit created a joint venture in 2007 to invest in African mining rights. He said two former employees paid “substantial amounts of money to secure access to valuable mining assets."

As a result, the two former employees “secured long-term deal flow to the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Schonfeld said. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis asked what the term "deal-flow" meant. Responded Schonfeld: "investment opportunities."

The bribes were routed through a middleman that the SEC complaint described as “DRC Partner” and “an infamous Israeli businessman with close ties to government officials at the highest level” in Congo. A person familiar with the matter identified that partner as Dan Gertler, an Israeli diamond billionaire.

To read more about Dan Gertler’s Congo deals, click here

A spokesman for Gertler’s Fleurette Group said that the firm “vigorously contests any and all accusations of wrongdoing in any of its dealings in the DRC including those with Och-Ziff. The Fleurette Group and Dan Gertler strongly deny the allegations announced today.”

Senior Och-Ziff officials ignored red flags about Gertler before lending him money, according to the SEC complaint, which says that some of them knew that he would use loans from the firm to pay bribes. Gertler “has some skeletons,” an Och-Ziff executive wrote in a 2006 e-mail cited in the SEC complaint.

Bribery Accusations
Among the things Och and Frank were aware of, according to the complaint, were accusations that Gertler was known for paying bribes in the Democratic Republic of Congo. An attorney for the hedge fund seeking a background check on him wrote, in a February 2008 e-mail, that he “will be very easy to find … perhaps the impetus behind the movie ‘Blood Diamonds,’ ” according to the government.

“Och-Ziff allowed these corrupt relationships to continue in an effort to secure a return on investment rather than sever ties with illegal activity,” the SEC said.

After Och-Ziff’s African joint venture loaned Gertler’s company $124 million, some of it was funneled into offshore accounts in Gibraltar and then used to pay bribes, authorities said. Around the same time, Gertler invested $150 million more from Och-Ziff into a company operating in Zimbabwe, they added.

The SEC also outlined allegations of corruption that extended to the upper reaches of Libya. In March 2007, Och Ziff’s senior European executive met with a son of Col. Moammar Qaddafi in Vienna.

After the meeting, the senior executive told Och that “the meetings are amazing,” according an e-mail cited by the SEC. “They have 77 billion, half in cash and no idea who to give it to. I haven’t been this excited in a while.”

Those communications continued throughout the year, the SEC said. Bribes were paid to persuade Libyan officials to invest the country’s sovereign funds with the firm, according to its complaint.

Qaddafi Son
In November, the Libyan Investment Authority agreed to invest $300 million in Och-Ziff funds and the next month paid the agent a fee through a shell company, the complaint said. Some of the millions of dollars Och-Ziff transferred reached Qaddafi’s son, it said.

The top European executive also made an $18 million personal loan to a Libyan agent in 2008 so the official could build a “super yacht,” the SEC said. But by 2010, the agent was unable to pay him back. So, without informing Och-Ziff, the top executive directed funds to a London-based mining company with the understanding that $4 million would be routed to him to help offset the personal loan, the SEC said.

 

[Yehuda]

African Development Bank Group approves €769.78 million to improve urban transport in Abidjan

16/12/2016

• 87.9 kilometers of developed urban motorways and a fourth bridge in Abidjan
• 60 young engineering jobs created for young Ivoirians
• The African Development Bank, a major partner for Côte d'Ivoire

This financing will contribute to improving the living conditions of the people living in Abidjan through the development and rehabilitation of road infrastructures. More specifically, the project involves the development of 87.9 km of fast urban roads, a 1,400-meter bridge, six interchanges, the rehabilitation of traffic lights at 89 intersections, urban waste management, and the strengthening of existing capacity for traffic control, urban planning, local revenue enhancement, road safety and the protection of natural ecosystems.

"The project will be implemented from March 2017 to December 2021 and will improve traffic flow, reduce road accidents, strengthen urban management, improve air quality, increase household revenues, recycle waste, reduce greenhouse gases and improve the quality of life of the people," said Amadou Oumarou, Director of Transport and ICT department at the African Development Bank.

Abidjan is the economic hub of Côte d'Ivoire and a port city with an estimated population of 4.71 million (21% of the country's total population in 2014), projected to reach 8.5 million by 2030. This city is the main supplier of products and services that make Côte d'Ivoire the third largest exporting country in Africa, after Egypt and South Africa.

With the combined effect of population growth, rapid rise of vehicular traffic and the decline of public transport systems, the road network and the traffic control systems have proved inadequate to ensure free flow of traffic. Due to the socio-political crisis of the last fifteen years and the strong demographic pressure, the accessibility of urban areas, transport systems, traffic control, waste management and urban planning have deteriorated. This is a major constraint to the city's economic potential.

Almost all intersections have severe congestion and road conditions are slowing down traffic, leading to road accidents, air pollution, and a slowdown in economic activity not only in the city of Abidjan but also in the West African sub-region.

Abidjan is a port city and a dynamic economic center, not only for the country, but also for West Africa in general, with an estimated GDP growth rate of 8% in the short term and 7.7% in the long term. It is the services sector that, through the transport and strong urbanization of the country (the total urban population of the country rose from 28% to 51% between 1970 and 2010), which supports these economic performances.

The Bank's added value in financing the project is threefold. It participated in the elaboration and validation of the master plan for urban transport in Greater Abidjan (SDTUGA), which is the benchmark tool for all donors. Secondly, the objectives of the project are in line with the Bank's 2012-2022 Decade Strategy and its five operational Priorities (High 5s) and focus on building infrastructure to support industrialization, stimulate agricultural production, improve the living conditions of the urban population and mitigate the effects of climate change. Finally, by supporting this project, which is the first operation of the SDTUGA, the Bank affirms its leadership in the urban development sector in Côte d'Ivoire.

Addressing the Board, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina underlined the importance of this funding, whose outcomes will benefit the entire population, in particular state and local institutions, women's associations, industrialists, transporters and agricultural producers.

At the request of the Government, the African Development Bank Group also brought together many partners to complete the financing of the HKB Bridge (named after former President Henri Konan Bédié) and thus contributed to a significant resolution of the problems of transport and urban planning in the city of Abidjan.

Focus on the fourth bridge

With a total length of 1,400 meters, the 4th bridge in Abidjan will span a stretch of the Ebrié lagoon to connect the communes of Plateau and Adjamé with Yopougon. With a population estimated at nearly two million, Yopougon is the most populous municipality of the Abidjan conurbation, and also an important industrial center. The communes of Adjame east of the Plateau are the main poles of the country’s business and administration.

"The bridge and the access roads associated with it will facilitate the daily travel of hundreds of thousands of Abidjanese and help to decongest the existing roads. It is estimated that more than 70,000 vehicles will pass through the bridge," said Jean Noël Ilboudo, Transport Engineer in charge of coordinating the project at the African Development Bank. The construction is expected to start in 2017 and end in 2020.

A port city, the 6th metropolis of the continent and economic powerhouse for West Africa, Abidjan has experienced in recent years strong demographic and economic growth which strained its transport network. The annual cost of malfunctions in the transport system in Abidjan (accidents, congestion, air pollution, greenhouse effects, noise) is estimated at 8% of national GDP.

"Reducing urban congestion will in particular contribute to strengthening the city's economic competitiveness. The 4th bridge will facilitate the movement of goods between the southern part of the city where the port and industrial zone of Vridi are located and the western and northern zones, where new industrial zones are rapidly developing," Ilboudo further said.

From a regional perspective, the 4th bridge will be a privileged transit route between the port of Abidjan and the international road corridors, especially to Burkina Faso in the north and to Liberia in the west. The accessibility to the port will support integration in the sub region by stimulating exchanges with the countries in the hinterland.

African Development Bank Group approves €769.78 million to improve urban transport in Abidjan