Uncategorized Archives - Page 188 of 217

GHANA : Visa-on-arrival scheme planned for nationals of 54 African countries

Ghana has announced that it plans to offer a new class of visas on arrival to nationals of member countries of the African Union.

Tourist made gesture by ghana flag colored hands showing symbol of heart and love

Once the new scheme is introduced (approximately July 2016), nationals of all but one African country will no longer need to secure a visa from either a consulate or the Ghana Immigration Service before traveling to Ghana for visits of up to 30 days and, as a result, it is anticipated that this new and progressive immigration policy of the Ghanaian Government will significantly facilitate travel and stimulate business contacts between Ghana and the rest of Africa.

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Why Freight And Logistics Companies Make Such a Killing In Africa

Most sub-Saharan Africa countries including Nigeria do not own their own shipping fleets, putting them at the mercy of foreign shipping companies.
Nigeria is working towards creating an enabling environment for public-private partnerships in transport through new policies, legislation and institutional frameworks that support improved trade, according to a report in the NationalMirror.
The CEO of the Nigerian Shipping Council appealed to the governments and people of sub-Sahara to invest in ship building and vessel ownership to promote international trade.
This will help improve connectivity and lower the cost of African transport, said Hassan Bello, CEO of the Nigerian Shippers Council.
“A new premium is being placed on being able to move goods from A to B rapidly, reliably, and cheaply,” Bello said. “Being able to connect to what has been referred to as the ‘physical Internet’ is fast becoming a key determinant of a country’s competitiveness.”
Here’s an idea of how much poor transportation connectivity coats sub-Saharan African countries compared to developed economies.

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‘Africa Can Finance Its Own Development’ Says AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina

African countries should look within to the private sector to fund their own infrastructure rather than borrowing from international markets to plug financing gaps, said Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank.
Nigeria’s former minister of agriculture, Adesina spoke at the Fourth African CEO Summit underway in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, SABC reported.
Motivational speaking is a strong point for Adesina, who was named 2013 Forbes African of the Year. In his acceptance speech, he urged young Africans to see agriculture as a business rather than a development tool and predicted that Africa’s future billionaires will get rich from agriculture, according to AfricanFarming.net.
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, says he’s rolling out an investment plan with hopes of expanding Nigeria’s sugar sector to make the country self-sufficient. “These are hard times, but hard times bring opportunities,” Dangote said at the African CEO Summit, according to TheAfricaReport.
Financial experts worry that African countries could slip back into debt crisis as local currencies depreciate, demand for Africa’s natural resources sink and global interest rates rise, SABC reported.

“What we have to see now from Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa is austerity, cutbacks in government spending and budget cutbacks,” said Martyn Davies from Deloitte.
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Boko Haram Terrors in West Africa

The group was named the deadliest terrorist group of 2014 having killed 6 644 people that year.
Twenty-two worshippers were killed when two female suicide bombers attacked a mosque in North-Eastern Nigeria’s Maiduguri on the 17th of March. It is reported that eighteen others were injured in the attacks which coincidentally happened in the birth-place of Boko Haram.

“We were just a few metres away from the mosque when a loud bang erupted and all we could see was dark smoke and bodies littered around,” said a witness told the Associated Press. This attack comes at a time when it is apparent that Boko Haram has now adopted a new approach to its terror attacks after losing considerable territory to the Nigerian army. Interestingly, the Nigerian President claimed Boko Haram had been defeated last December and this proclamation brought with it considerable scepticism and for good reason too now that Boko Haram is manifesting itself through suicide bombings by women and children. The Boko Haram death toll is now way over 20 000 and this is a ridiculously high number.

Boko Haram is the most aggressive response to Western civilization yet in Africa. It is now an extension of the Islamic State as it declared allegiance last year. ISIS is bad news on its own and pursues the same objectives of resisting the West by killing off people. The logic is hard to follow but clearly in the case of Boko Haram, Western civilization and education is “haram” (forbidden) and abductions of school children together with killings are meant to remind people of just how “haram” their way of life is.

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