ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, February 24, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 487th meeting held on 20 February 2015, adopted the following decision on the situation in Somalia:Council,1. Takes note of the briefing provided by the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission for Somalia and Head of the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on the current situation in Somalia. Council also takes note of the statements made by the representatives of Ethiopia, Chair of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the United Nations (UN), the European Union…
Author: apofeed
NAIROBI, Kenya, February 24, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Control Risks (https://www.controlrisks.com), the global business risk consultancy, today launched its annual RiskMap report at an event for East Africa’s business leaders in Nairobi. RiskMap is an established, authoritative guide and a key reference point for policy makers and business leaders seeking to plot global trends over the coming year. RiskMap highlights the most significant underlying trends in global risk and security, and provides a detailed view from the markets that will matter most in 2015.For the full report and the map please click here: https://riskmap.controlrisks.com. • 2015 will start to…
GENEVA, Switzerland, February 23, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Eritrea’s record on women’s rights will be examined by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on Thursday 26 February in meetings that will be webcast live. Eritrea is one of the 188 States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and so is required to submit regular reports to the Committee of 23 independent experts on how it is implementing the Convention. The Committee will engage in a dialogue with the delegation from the Eritrean Government on questions relating…
MOGADISHU, Somalia, February 20, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia (SRSG), Nicholas Kay, condemns, in the strongest terms, today’s attack on the Central Hotel in Mogadishu that resulted in the death and injury of dozens of people, including senior members of the Federal Government of Somalia. Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack. “I condemn today’s appalling attack against innocent civilians and dedicated government officials, many of whom were gathered for Friday prayers,” said SRSG Kay. “Such an indiscriminate attack against the Somali people is a cruel and despicable crime intended to…
MAPUTO, Mozambique, February 20, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Sub-Saharan Regional Pipeline Corporation, Ltd. (SSRPC) recently selected Louis Berger (http://www.louisberger.com) to provide $7.6 million in consultancy services for the rehabilitation of National Road N303 in Mozambique. SSRPC is investing $350 million to transform an approximately 350-kilometer-long narrow and unpaved carriageway into a modern road that crosses the Tete province and ends at the Zambezi River, where Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe have a common border. Photo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=1771Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/louis-berger.pngThe modernized road will be the shortest link to a railway currently under construction between the coal-rich province of Tete and the port…
GENEVA, Switzerland, February 20, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — At least 160,000 people in Mozambique have been affected by the floods since an Institutional Red Alert was issued last month. Initial assessment by Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) estimates 10,000 displaced families (45,000 individuals) are in need of emergency life-saving shelter materials and other goods.Many are currently living under trees or in unsafe, congested accommodation centres, such as schools, churches, mosques and private homes, where cases of malaria and diarrhoea have become rife.“The situation is critical for many families that have lost everything, including their homes and crops for the year,”…
LIBREVILLE, Gabon, February 24, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — On February 18, 2015, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation1 with Gabon.Gabon’s growth performance has recently been strong, but fiscal pressures have increased significantly. Real GDP growth has averaged about 6 percent in the last four years on the back of substantial scaling-up of capital spending as the authorities implement their strategy Plan Stratégique Gabon Emergent (PSGE) to promote economic diversification and growth inclusiveness. The external current account has been in surplus, while inflation has remained in the low single digits. Partly as…
RABAT, Morocco, February 23, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — On February 6, 2015, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the 2014 Article IV consultation.1Morocco has made important strides in maintaining macroeconomic stability in a difficult environment, but challenges remain to reduce fiscal and external vulnerabilities, strengthen growth, create jobs and tackle poverty. Growth slowed in 2014 as a result of a contraction in agricultural activity following an exceptional 2013 crop and weak demand from Europe.However, growth is expected to rebound in 2015 to about 4.4 percent and remain robust in the medium term as external demand…
BERLIN, Germany, February 23, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — A Federal Foreign Office spokesperson issued the following statement in Berlin on 20 February on the bomb attack in the eastern Libyan town of al Qubbah:The German Government condemns this murderous attack in the strongest possible terms. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the families of the victims and to the Libyan people. There can be no justification for this abhorrent act of terrorism.To prevent terrorist groups in Libya from gaining ground, all political forces are called upon to participate in the peace talks in order to end the bloody conflict…
NEW YORK, February 20, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Secretary-General met today with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Chad, H.E. Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat. They exchanged views on the security situation related to the spread of Boko Haram to the Lake Chad Basin region.They also discussed the situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) and reiterated their support to the Brazzaville process.
GENEVA, Switzerland, February 20, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — In early January 2015, torrential rains and flooding hit Malawi’s southern districts destroying the homes, crops, and livelihoods of over half a million people.The floods left an estimated 230,000 people internally displaced and the Malawi government declared a national state of emergency, activating disaster management clusters and operations.At the request of the Malawi Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) and the UN Resident Coordinator’s office, IOM is addressing critical gaps in Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) and shelter for internally displaced people (IDPs).With funding from the UN Central Emergency Response…
WASHINGTON, February 19, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Press StatementJohn KerrySecretary of StateWashington, DCFebruary 18, 2015I welcome the completion and launch of an 8.5 MW solar installation in Rwanda by Gigawatt Global. This is the first utility-scale solar project to come online under the U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance (ACEF) program, which is now an integral part of Power Africa. The project expands electricity generation capacity by more than 6 percent in a country where more than 80 percent of the people live without access to electricity, and is providing enough grid-connected power to supply 15,000 homes.With continually decreasing costs, minimal…
NEW YORK, February 18, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — United Nations humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, has allocated US$10.2 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support thousands of families displaced by major floods in Malawi and Mozambique. Extremely heavy rains and floods in January displaced 230,000 people in Malawi, and 50,000 people in Mozambique. Many have lost everything, including their homes. “The Humanitarian Country Teams in both countries requested CERF funding to kick-start emergency relief efforts. CERF has been part of the collective effort to provide critical, life-saving assistance for those affected by the floods in Malawi and…
NAIROBI, Kenya, February 18, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — As we witness utilities across the continent struggling to acquire and evacuate electricity sufficient enough to reach a base-load, transmission is fast-proving the biggest barrier to energy access across Africa.Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/energynet1-2.pngPhoto: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=1763Presently, there are never-before-seen levels of investment into the power sector- no longer is it simply the poor cousin of exploration. Investors today view power as an opportunity quoted by some as so vast it will make the returns of the African telecoms giants insignificant by comparison.However, despite over US$8bln of project investments in greenfield projects in South Africa alone,…
HARARE, Zimbabwe, February 18, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — After over 5 years of leadership in the township wall advertising industry throughout South Africa, township media specialists, Keys Communications (http://www.keyscommunications.co.za) are expanding their successful business model to include the rest of Africa. The African operations will be headquartered in Zimbabwe. This unique model has a pivotal CSI component, providing community members with revenue opportunities for the use of the township wall as an advertising platform. In turn brands enjoy a strategic advertising location which facilitates direct access to a captive audience within the context of their daily experiences – be…
WASHINGTON, February 20, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice met today at the White House with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. Ambassador Rice reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the strategic partnership with Egypt and offered condolences to the Egyptian government and people on recent terrorist attacks, including the murders of Egyptian security personnel and civilians in the Sinai Peninsula and twenty-one Egyptian Coptic Christians at the hands of ISIL-affiliated terrorists in Libya. She emphasized the importance of U.S.-Egyptian cooperation to help the Libyan people address threats from terrorism and to promote a unified Libyan government…
DAKAR, Senegal, February 17, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Senegal Ministry of Education and Samsung Electronics Africa (http://www.samsung.com/africa_en) today announced the launch of a mobile education solution aimed at creating positive change and providing an advanced and interactive classroom experience for learners. Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/samsung.jpgInstalled at the Plan Jaxaay Secondary School, the Samsung Smart School initiative is an integrated platform that includes a monitoring and controlling feature – which allows teachers to keep track of educational content on their learners’ screens – a screen-sharing feature and a real-time question-and-answer feature.The future of education is about accessing information and collaborating locally…
GENEVA, Switzerland, February 13, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Gabon’s record on women’s rights will be examined by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on Tuesday 17 February in meetings that will be webcast live. Gabon is one of the 188 States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and so is required to submit regular reports to the Committee of 23 independent experts on how it is implementing the Convention. The Committee will engage in a dialogue with the delegation from the Government of Gabon on questions…
BRUSSELS, Kingdom of Belgium, February 13, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders noted with concern the recent Human Rights Watch report on the armed incidents that occurred in the province of Cibitoke (Burundi) in the beginning of January 2015. The report describes some elements that, if confirmed, are extremely serious and shocking. It indicates that, during the clashes, not less than 47 summary executions were carried out by security forces, the army and police. Minister Reynders is also concerned about indications on the involvement of the youth wing of the CNDD-FDD…
GENEVA, Switzerland, February 12, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Stephen Dungu Karau, the new Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations Office at Geneva, today presented his credentials to Michael Møller, the Acting Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva. Prior to his appointment to Geneva, Mr. Dungu Karau was the African President of the Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA). At the same time, he worked as the Chief Medical Assessor at the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, where he oversaw the work of all the Aviation Medical Examiners…