Vice President Hamid Ansari on October 1 returned to New Delhi after wrapping up a five-day visit to Nigeria and Mali and other roundups
Vice-President Hamid Ansari on his recent visit to Nigeria
THE CONTINENT
Vice President Hamid Ansari returns after 5-day visit to Nigeria, Mali
Vice President Hamid Ansari on October 1 returned to New Delhi after wrapping up a five-day visit to Nigeria and Mali during which he held talks with the top leadership of the two countries on an entire gamut of issues including terrorism, defence and connectivity. He described the visit to the African countries as “very satisfying” and said it was a follow-up on many ideas discussed during the India-Africa Summit in New Delhi last year.
Nigeria was the first stop for Ansari. In capital Abuja, he held talks with President Muhammadu Buhari and his counterpart Yemi Osinbajo, addressed members of the Nigerian and Indian industry and also the Indian community besides delivering a speech at the National College of Defence. From Abuja, he went to Nigeria’s largest city of Lagos where he met members of the Indian community and also delivered a speech at the University of Lagos. An agreement was signed on standards in Nigeria. Besides a letter of intent on agreements on health, customs, transfer of sentenced persons, and new and renewable energy was signed.
The two countries held discussions on a range of issues including cooperation in the field of security, defence, ICT, culture, oil and gas, concessional credits, bilateral air services agreements, power, IT, telecom, infrastructure and fight against terrorism. Ansari then went to Mali, the first high-level visit by any Indian leader. In Malian capital Bamako, he addressed the National Assembly, Parliament of Mali, and met President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Prime Minister Modibo Keita, CEOs of Indian origin and Indian companies and also Indians posted in the West African country under United Nations Mission.
He also participated in the Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque with the prime minister and hundreds of other devout. Two MoUs were also signed between India and Mali, one on standards and the other on cultural exchange. The vice president was accompanied by his wife Salma Ansari, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal, MPs Bhubaneshwar Kalita, Dilip Kumar Tirkey and Mohammad Salim besides senior officials.
Source: Daily News and Analyses
SA woman among activists on boat captured by Israelis
A South African woman on October 5 made a plea for help after the Israeli government intercepted a boat carrying pro-Palestinian female activists to Gaza. Leigh-Ann Naidoo said she was “kidnapped” during her humanitarian mission. In a video posted on YouTube, Naidoo said: “If you are seeing this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped by the Israeli occupation forces. I want to put [out] an appeal to all my comrades, brothers, sisters and families to put pressure on the South African government to insist that they release me as soon as possible.”
Another crew member, Mairead Maguire, from Northern Ireland, said they were intercepted in international waters and taken into Israel. Naidoo wrote in a diary entry, published by salaamedia.com, that most boats in the “Freedom Flotilla” were rerouted to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where the Israeli Defence Force would question, process, and deport the women. “From here we will either be moved to a prison or our deportation will be done while we are being held at the detention centre. Our embassies will come to help us and our legal representatives will do the same. Hopefully our mission will highlight the unlawful and inhumane blockade of Palestine.”
The Department of International Relations and Co-operation could not be reached for comment. The international Freedom Flotilla Coalition is a solidarity movement, composed of campaigns and initiatives from all over the world, trying to end the Israeli occupation of Gaza.
Source: news24WIRE
German Chancellor Merkel begins three-day Africa trip
Merkel has embarked on an Africa trip to improve conditions for private investment in an attempt to tackle the economic causes of migration. Berlin wants to boost ties with Africa in the wake of the refugee crisis. “We have 10 times more direct investment in the European Union than we have in the whole of Africa,” Chancellor Angela Merkel told leaders at the G20 summit. So could African countries benefit from the G20 meeting?
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s first stop in Africa is Mali, where she is scheduled to hold talks with President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. On her three-day official trip, the German leader will also visit Niger and Ethiopia.
Merkel is the first German chancellor to visit Mali, where more than 550 German soldiers are stationed to battle the Islamist insurgents in the north. France, the African nation’s former colonial power, helped local troops push back the militants in 2013, but armed militias still operate in the area. The battle against terrorism is also expected to feature in Merkel’s talks with the leaders of all three countries.
Merkel will discuss investment opportunities and the need for economic stability in Africa to stem migration to Europe. “I believe we must take a far greater interest in Africa’s destiny,” Merkel said in her weekly video podcast on October 8. “The wellbeing of Africa is in Germany’s interest,” she said, adding that the continent would be the focus of her country’s upcoming G-20 presidency.
The German chancellor is seeking better conditions for private investment in Africa, as she believes that “state support alone cannot advance the development of an entire continent.” Germany recorded the arrival of over 890,000 migrants last year. Most of these refugees are from the war-ravaged countries like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, while many also fled economic hardships across the African continent. The German government wants a similar refugee deal with North African countries as the EU struck earlier this year with Turkey to curb the flow of migrants to Europe. Next week, Merkel will host Chadian President Idriss Deby and Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari.
Source: Deutsche Welle
Kenya ranked 3rd in access to credit in Sub Saharan Africa
Kenya has been ranked third in ease of access to credit in the sub Saharan Africa according to a new report by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). The report dubbed Economic Insight: Africa Quarter 3 2016 says Kenya is ranked after Rwanda and Zambia and before Ghana, Mauritius and Uganda. “Access to finance is a vital driver of economic growth, so this is great news for Kenya. The interest cap enacted in Kenya benefits customers by both keeping the rates regulated, as well as spurring greater competition amongst banks. It could also further incentivise more accurate credit scoring. All of these measures should help Kenyan businesses in the longer term,” said Michael Armstrong, Regional Director, ICAEW Middle East, Africa and South Asia.
According to the report released on October 14, Rwanda has made six reforms to facilitate getting credit during 2010-16, through strengthening borrowers’ and lenders’ collateral laws. “Angola came in at the bottom of the rankings, and it is much more difficult to get credit there than in SSA on average. Angola only made one reform to facilitate access to credit in 2010-16. While Angola has the third largest banking system after Nigeria and South Africa in SSA, only a small portion of the population uses the banking system and few businesses apply for loans,” the report states.
The report however says the Kenya’s credit market will be distorted in the short term following the new enacted a law in August 2016 prohibiting banks from lending at rates of more than 4 per cent over the Central Bank Rate that is currently at 10 per cent taking the rates down from weighted average lending rates of 18.2 per cent as at June 2016. But on a more positive note the report states the new law could spur greater competition and incentive more accurate credit scoring. “Both would be positive for access to finance in the longer term. Given that banks will require some time to adjust to the new regulation, and considering uncertainty related to global financial conditions, Kenyan authorities are expected to adopt a cautious approach towards monetary easing,” the report observes.
Sub Saharan Africa, the report indicates performs relatively poorly in terms of getting credit compared to other regions of the world, with a regional average Distance to Frontier score of 35.9 per cent – only the Middle East and North African region does worse. According to Making Finance Work for Africa in 2015 only 23 per cent of African households had access to formal or semi-formal financial services.
Source: CAPITALFM
CENTRAL AFRICA
Fighting kills 30 in Central African Republic
Fighters with the former Seleka rebel group attacked a northern town in Central African Republic and clashes left at least 30 dead and 57 wounded as United Nations peacekeepers confronted them. Peacekeepers repelled the attackers, killing at least 12 of them, the UN said. The attack in Kaga-Bandoro was likely retaliation for the death on October 11 of a suspected former Seleka member, the UN mission said in a statement.
Central African Republic descended into conflict in 2013 when the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels overthrew the Christian president Francois Bozize. That ushered in a brutal reign with many atrocities committed. When the rebel leader left power, a backlash by the Christian anti-Balaka militia against Muslim civilians followed. “There is, today, no legitimate reason for any armed group to use weapons,” said the UN mission’s chief Parfait Onanga-Anyanga. “The people have suffered enough and are tired of this war that has lasted too long.” The UN condemned the violence overnight on October 12 that saw rebels attack civilians, target authorities, and loot aid organisations.
Armed men attacked a secondary school during teacher training, witnesses told the UN children’s agency, saying among those killed were three teachers, the director of an educational centre, and the vice president of the parents association. “We are deeply shocked by these developments and saddened that teachers have been targeted,” said Mohamed Malick Fall, UNICEF’s representative in the country. A local priest said two humanitarian workers were also among the dead. He spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.
More than 5,000 people already displaced by years of violence have taken refuge next to the UN base, their informal settlements burned, the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs said. Hundreds of former Seleka fighters have regrouped in Kaga-Bandoro, along with Muslim civilians, after fleeing the capital, Bangui, two years ago.
Source: Al Jazeera (Doha)
Burundian envoy to the US says African countries will leave ICC
Burundi’s pending decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) likely presages the same action by other African countries, the Burundian ambassador to the United States said on October 13. “African countries will quit the ICC one by one in the coming months and years”, Ambassador Ernest Ndabashinze said.
While declining to comment specifically on threats by some Kenyan leaders to remove the country from ICC jurisdiction, the envoy cited a common sentiment in Africa about the ICC. “Many African governments now view the court as an instrument used to control, manipulate and impose foreign decisions on Africa,” Mr Ndabashinze said in a telephone interview with the Nation. He pointed to African Union’s call earlier this year for formulation of a strategy for withdrawal from the ICC. He said African disgruntlement with the court stems primarily from the ICC’s nearly-exclusive focus on countries in the continent in cases related to genocide and war crimes. But some African governments have themselves been the source of requests for ICC action in the case of six of the nine investigations initiated in the continent. In addition, some African countries have said they have no intention of withdrawing from the ICC.
Burundi’s Parliament voted decisively earlier this week to pull the country out of the ICC. That step awaits ratification by President Pierre Nkurunziza, but Ambassador Ndabashinze said that the move is final and irreversible. Burundi would thus become the first country in the world to withdraw from the 14-year-old court. “The ICC is part of a process that is dividing Burundians,” Mr Ndabashinze claimed. He said government opponents allegedly involved in an unsuccessful coup attempt last year are using the ICC to protect themselves. “Others outside Africa are also involved in this process of destabilising Burundi,” the envoy added. ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced in April that the court would open an investigation into reports of “killing, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as cases of enforced disappearances.”
The United Nations says that more than 500 Burundians have died in political violence arising from President Nkurunziza’s decision last year to seek a third term in office, which he went on to win. Nearly 300,000 Burundians have fled the country amidst fears that the unrest could lead to mass killings. Withdrawing from the ICC cannot occur instantaneously under the terms of the Rome Statute that established the court. A country must first submit an official letter to the UN secretary general stating its intention to opt out of the Rome Statute.
The necessary letter triggering Burundi’s pull out from the ICC had not been received as of October 12, a UN spokesman said. The Rome Statute gives the ICC power to move ahead with criminal investigations that were initiated prior to the effective date of withdrawal. In his comments on October 13, Mr Ndabashinze brushed off a US warning this week that withdrawal from the ICC would “isolate Burundi from its neighbours and the international community at a time accountability, transparency, and engaged dialogue are most needed.” The United States is not itself a member of the ICC and cannot criticise Burundi’s move, the envoy stated.
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