The new ‘jollof wars’ and why Twitter chose Ghana over Nigeria for its first Africa base

Twitter’s announcement Monday that it will set up its first Africa base in Ghana, West Africa, has generated fierce debate among Nigerian users of the social media app, and reignited the never-ending rivalry between the two countries, known colloquially as the ‘jollof wars.’

Many Nigerians believe that Twitter’s decision is a snub to the continent’s largest economy, which is seeing rapid growth and investment in its tech scene.

According to NOI polls, 39.6 million Nigerians have a Twitter account, which is more than the entire 32 million population of Ghana.

Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey capped a whirlwind tour of Africa in 2019 by pledging to move to the continent for several months in 2020.

Now it seems that his business will make that move first.

In a statement announcing the decision, Twitter described Ghana “as a champion for democracy, a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet.”

The social media giant also cited Ghana’s hosting of the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as another reason for moving there, saying it aligns with “its ambition to establish a presence in the region that will support our efforts to improve and tailor our service across Africa.”

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo said “the choice of Ghana as headquarters for Twitter’s Africa operations is EXCELLENT news,” and described it as a “beautiful partnership between Ghana and Twitter and which is critical for the dev’t of Ghana’s hugely important tech sector.”

No ease of doing business

Some Nigerians blamed an “inconducive business environment” for Twitter choosing Ghana over Nigeria.

“Under @MBuhari our ease of doing business is so bad that it’s easier for terrorists to get phone lines than law-abiding residents. You can land at Ghana’s Kotoka Airport and get a SIM card at the airport. But a camel has to pass through the eye of a needle to get one in Nigeria,” said Reno Omokri via Twitter, a former presidential aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Another Twitter user, lawyer Moe Odele wrote: “One of our clients wanted to open shop in Nigeria for their West Africa office. Once we sent them a breakdown of the regulatory requirements for their industry (also tech), they hit us with ‘we will get back to you.’ We haven’t heard back since then.”

Another commenter, Onye Ajuju, said Twitter’s decision was justified and that Nigerians had a “bloated sense of entitlement.”

“It’s unbelievable seeing Nigerians throwing a tantrum because Twitter went to Ghana. The lack of awareness of how bad things are in the country, the bloated sense of entitlement, the unhinged expectations that everyone should accept Nigeria’s dysfunction…it’s incredible!” she said.

In 2019, Ghana ranked 13 places higher than Nigeria in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index.

Google (GOOGL),Microsoft (MSFT) and Huawei are among international tech giants that have expanded their operations in Ghana, targeting software developers and young creatives on the continent.

In 2018, Facebook opened its first community hub space in Africa in Nigeria’s commercial city, Lagos, while announcing plans last year to open an operational office also in Lagos, but for tech investors such as Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, there are lessons to be learned if Nigeria will continue to attract much-needed foreign investment.

“We have to think carefully about the reasons why Twitter chose Ghana — not necessarily in the context of whether we want to bring Twitter to Nigeria or not, but in the context of what it will take for us to remain a competitive destination for investors,” Aboyeji told CNN on Tuesday.

“We need to start thinking very carefully about enhancing democracy and the rule of law, freedom of speech, and most importantly, our role in enabling the Africa Free Trade Agreement. It’s not enough for us to just be a big market… We have next door to us, a very competitive neighbor, who’s doing all the right things to make itself the hub of West Africa,” he added.

‘A more productive market’

Another Nigerian tech entrepreneur and investor Bosun Tijani, told CNN that Twitter simply chose a more productive market to run its Africa operations.

“While Nigeria has a huge market that Twitter would love to target, the business environment here is quite demanding… It’s strenuous…the cost of running a business here is high. But with the AfCFTA single market agreement which Africa is signed up to, a company like Twitter can choose to set up shop in a small market like Ghana — that gives the best opportunity for it to operate — and still serve the Nigerian market,” said Tijani, who heads a tech innovation lab, CcHUB.

From tourism to tech, Ghana has been actively courting investors from the diaspora and in particular African-Americans.
Ghana also ranked as the 43rd most peaceful country in the world, in the 2020 Global Peace Index, placing 104 spots ahead of Nigeria — which grapples with Boko Haram insurgency and periodic outbreaks of violence.

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In Spain, a fourth wave of COVID-19 is taking hold

Infection rates are rising across the country as the race to roll out vaccines is challenged by delays and fears of rare side effects.

A fourth wave of coronavirus infections appears to be emerging in Spain, where case numbers have risen to their highest levels since late February.

Spain’s Health Ministry reported 10,474 new infections on Wednesday, bringing the overall tally to 3.39 million in one of Europe’s hardest-hit countries.

“We have been seeing a rising trend, a slow but continuous rate of growth,” Spanish newspaper El Pais quoted Health Minister Carolina Darias as saying on Wednesday.

The rise in cases also coincided with an uptick in Spain’s death toll, which climbed by 131 on Wednesday to 76,756 overall, according to the health ministry’s figures.

The latest figures mean that for the first time in nearly two months, there are more than 200 cases per 100,000 people. But while a worrying development, this rate is still well below a January peak of 900.

Caseloads rise in most regions

Infection rates are currently rising in all but a handful of Spain’s regions, including the Canary and Balearic Islands, Valencia, Galicia and Murcia, according to El Pais.

In the central region of Madrid, which houses Spain’s capital, the 14-day cumulative case rate now stands at 347 per 100,000 people, according to the newspaper.

Madrid has consistently opted for looser measures to contain the virus than the rest of Spain and kept bars and restaurants open since last summer.

Infection rates are highest in the northern region of Navarre, where the 14-day figure stands at 433 cases per 100,000 people, El Pais reported. Only the Spanish exclave cities of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa have registered worse incidence rates.

The surge in infections has put pressure on hospitals across Spain, where one in five beds in intensive care units are currently occupied by COVID-19 patients, El Pais reported.

Darias called for Spain’s regions to adopt restrictive measures in a bid to control the outbreak, such as banning bars and restaurants from serving customers indoors, according to the newspaper.

Mass vaccination drive

Darias also said on Wednesday that she was confident Spain could maintain its coronavirus vaccination targets despite global concerns over the Johnson & Johnson shot – and consequent delays.

Like AstraZeneca’s jab, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine has raised fears of blood clotting as a rare side effect.

The early delivery in the second quarter of 50 million doses produced by Pfizer and BioNTech vaccines to European Union countries partially offset the doubts caused by the United States’ suspension of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine.

Spain will receive between four and five million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine than expected in the second quarter, Darias said.

Spain received an initial delivery of 146,000 Johnson & Johnson’s doses on Wednesday, which the Health Ministry said would be kept in storage pending new guidance from the European Medicines Agency, expected next week.

Darias echoed earlier statements by Industry Minister Reyes Maroto, who remained optimistic about getting 70 percent of the population vaccinated by the end of the summer – a level considered to aid herd immunity.

Spain aims to have half its population of 47 million fully inoculated by the end of July. So far about 6.7 percent have been fully inoculated.

The mass immunisation programme has become increasingly urgent amid the rise in infections nationwide.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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India’s biggest cities shut down as new virus cases hit 200K

India’s two largest cities imposed stringent restrictions on movement and one planned to use hotels and banquet halls to treat coronavirus patients as new infections in the country shot past 200,000 Thursday amid a devastating surge that is straining a fragile health system.

The soaring cases and deaths come just months after India thought it had seen the worst of the pandemic — and have forced the country to delay exports of vaccines abroad. India is a major producer of COVID-19 shots, and its pivot to focus on domestic demand has weighed heavily on global efforts to end the pandemic.

New Delhi announced stay-at-home orders for the weekend, though essential workers will be able to move about if they have a pass from local authorities. Restaurants, malls, gyms and spas will be shut down. Movie theaters will close on weekends, but can operate on weekdays at a third of their capacity.

Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi’s top elected official, said that despite rise in infections, 5,000 hospital beds are still available in the capital and more capacity is being added. But still, more than a dozen hotels and wedding banquet halls were ordered to be converted into COVID-19 centers where doctors from nearby hospitals will treat the moderately ill.

“The surge is alarming,” said S.K. Sarin, a government health expert in New Delhi.

The moves in the capital came after similar measures were imposed in the worst-hit state of Maharashtra, home to financial capital, Mumbai. The bustle of India’s biggest city ebbed after authorities closed most industries, businesses and public places Wednesday night and put limits on the movement of people for 15 days. Train and plane travel was still allowed, however.

In recent days, the city has seen an exodus of panic-stricken day laborers, hauling backpacks and flocking to overcrowded trains.

Dozens of other towns and cities have also imposed nighttime curfews.

The surge in cases was weighing on hospitals in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and several other states, where many reported a shortage of oxygen tanks. Imran Sheikh, a resident of the city of Pune in Maharashtra, said he was asked to supply his own oxygen tank for a relative undergoing COVID-19 treatment.

Cremation and burial grounds in the worst-hit areas were finding it difficult to cope with the increasing number of bodies arriving for last rites, according to Indian media reports.

Shahid Jamil, a virologist, said the recent local and state elections with massive political rallies and a major Hindu festival during which hundreds of thousands of devotees bathed in the Ganges river were super-spreader events.

The 200,739 new infections recorded Thursday are about twice the number of daily cases that were recorded during the last peak, in September. The Health Ministry also reported 1,038 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, pushing the toll over 173,000.

India’s toll of 14 million cases puts it second behind the United States. It ranks fourth in deaths after the U.S., Brazil and Mexico — though, with nearly 1.4 billion people, it has a much larger population than any of those countries. Experts say even these figures are likely an undercount.

As it struggles with the caseload, India is ramping up its vaccination drive. The Health Ministry said the total vaccinations crossed 114 million with more than 3 million doses administered on Wednesday.

When infections began plummeting in India in September, many concluded the worst had passed. Masks and social distancing were abandoned. When cases began rising again in February, authorities were left scrambling.

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Burkinabe ex-President Compaore charged in Thomas Sankara murder

Military court indicts Burkina Faso’s exiled former president for alleged complicity in 1987 murder of man he removed in coup, Thomas Sankara.

A military court in Burkina Faso’s capital has indicted former President Blaise Compaore in connection to the 1987 murder of his charismatic predecessor, Thomas Sankara.

A statement issued by the court on Tuesday cited “complicity in assassination” and an “attack on state security” by Compaore, who ruled the country until 2014, when he was forced to resign in the face of mass demonstrations against an attempt to extend his 27-year rule.

Thirteen others – including Gilbert Diendere, Compaore’s right hand man, and Hyacinthe Kafando, his security chief – were also indicted on charges ranging from “assassination” to “concealment of corpses”.

Benewende Stanislas Sankara, a lawyer representing the relatives of the slain former president, described the indictment as “a victory and a step in the right direction”.

“It’s with a sigh of relief the family can now go ahead with all the guarantees that surround Burkinabe justice,” he told Al Jazeera. “We can now calmly go to trial.”

Burkina Faso’s communications minister said an official government statement on the indictment will likely be issued on Wednesday. Eddie Komboigo, leader of the Compaore-founded Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) party, declined to comment on the court’s announcement.

Compaore, who has been in exile in neighbouring Ivory Coast since 2014, has always denied involvement in Sankara’s assassination.

Sankara took power in 1983, but he was killed aged 37 along with 12 other government officials during a coup led by Compaore on October 15, 1987.Many Burkinabes regard Sankara as a national hero. A prominent pan-Africanist, he is sometimes also referred to as the continent’s “Che Guevera”, in reference to the Argentinian Marxist revolutionary who led a number of armed struggles, including in Cuba.

In 2015, authorities exhumed what are thought to be Sankara’s remains from a grave in Dagnoen, on the outskirts of Ouagadougou. Sankara’s widow said an autopsy revealed his body was “riddled with more than a dozen bullets”.

To this day, graffiti calling for “Justice for Sankara” is a common sight throughout the capital.

“It is a matter for the Burkinabe people – and, I have to say, the African people. So this transcends Thomas Sankara’s family,” said Benewende Sankara.

‘Decisive step’

Following his re-election last year, President Roch Kabore appointed a minister for national reconciliation, Zephirin Diabre, who pledged to address the issue of justice for Sankara.

In 2015, Burkinabe courts had issued an international arrest for Compaore, but Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara has prevented his extradition back to Burkina Faso despite an extradition treaty between the two countries.

During his election campaign in the lead-up to the November 2020 polls, Kabore had also said he would be open to Compaore returning to the country to live out retirement.

A national debate ensued over whether the former president, now 70, should face trial upon his return or be effectively pardoned in the interests of national reconciliation.

“The warrant can be executed at any time if Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso implement the existing agreements between the two states properly,” Benewende Sankara said. “I must specify that it can happen very quickly.”

Tuesday’s indictment may put further pressure on Ivory Coast to follow through on the extradition treaty.

It is unclear when the trial will take place.

Sankara’s relatives initially brought the case to the courts in 1997. It was closed soon after, before being reopened by the country’s then-transitional government in 2015.

“We can say that the Sankara case has now passed all the stages needed to see judgement,” Lassane Sawadogo, executive secretary of the ruling People’s Movement for Progress party (MPP) told Al Jazeera.

“This represents a decisive step forward for the manifestation of the truth.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

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Africa World Airline to embark on test flight to Ho airport today

After years of lying fallow, the Ho airport will host its first commercial test flight on Thursday afternoon.

The news of the landing of Africa World Airline’s commercial airbus at the Ho airport, according to industry players, will present tremendous opportunities for the local economy and also enhance tourism in the region.

“As the region industrializes, it is necessary to diversify entry routes into the region. With the coming on board of the Ho airport, there should be a boom in business activities in the region”, Dela Gadzanku, Chairman of Association of Ghana Industries for the Volta, Oti and Eastern Regions told Citi Business News.

With the region noted for its cleanliness and rich tourism potential, the tourism authority in the Volta Region says it has begun preparing Volta’s tourist centres for an increased number of visitors.

Director of the Tourism Authority in the Volta Region, Alexander Nketia told Citi Business News that the authority has “helped a number of tourism centres” while training tour guides in anticipation of increased visits.

It’s not just the tourism authority that is getting ready for the boom. The Volta Hoteliers Association has also prepared packages especially for tourists and businessmen and women who will be visiting the Volta Region.

Stevie-Derrick Armah, Manager of Volta Serene Hotel in Ho told Citi Business News that the Hoteliers Association has come together to prepare affordable packages for tourists and business people who will visit the Volta Region henceforth.

For the regular market women, they are hopeful that increased visits to the Volta Region through the Ho Airport will result in increased purchases.

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Hallelujah Song by Pentatonix

I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do ya?
Well it goes like this: the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, hmm

Well, your faith was strong, but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew ya
She tied you to the kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well baby, I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew ya
And I've seen your flag on the marble arch
And love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well, maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who has seen the Light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah