About the ''World Oceans Day 2022 - International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture''. By Sofonie Dala

 "Revitalization: collective action for the ocean" is the theme for World Oceans Day 2022

June 8 is World Oceans Day, the United Nations day for celebrating the role of the oceans in our everyday life and inspiring action to protect the ocean and sustainably use marine resources.

Join us: Uniting Ocean Action Worldwide - Oceans Without Plastics Awareness Walk

Hello, Happy World Oceans Day!

My name is Sofonie Dala, I'm from Angola.

To celebrate the Oceans Day (June 08) we are taking part in a joint walk organized by the Government of Angola and the UN System in Angola, under the slogan "Oceans without Plastics".

With an awareness walk, hundreds of people (young people, children, women and men) including Angolan government institutions, un agencies, environmental organizations, fishing cooperatives and civil society in general, gathered on Luanda Island to celebrate the oceans day.

The purpose of the Day is to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean, and mobilize and unite the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the world's oceans.

International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2022 the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022).

IYAFA 2022 aims to raise awareness on the role of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture, strengthen science-policy interaction, empower stakeholders to take action, and to build new and strengthen existing partnerships.

These boys are collecting some juvenile fish and crabs that are still alive, but trapped in the net inside the boat. Next they are using a knife to kill them in order to facilitate their collection.

They are catching Sardina pilchardus and crabs. It is observed that the children are doing this without the supervision of any adult fisherman.

IYAFA 2022 can also act as a springboard towards implementing the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and related documents, like the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication, and take concrete actions towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as we enter the last decade of action to achieve the 2030 Agenda.

There has never been a more urgent need to revive damaged ecosystems than now.

Mozambique elected to serve on UN Security Council as non-permanent member

Mozambique was unanimously elected Thursday as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

In the African and Asia-Pacific group, Mozambique received one hundred ninety two votes and will succeed to Kenya.

It's the first time the Portuguese-speaking country occupies the seat.

Within the two other regional groups: Ecuador, Japan, Malta and Switzerland were also elected. They will replace India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway.

The new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council will take up their positions from the 1st of January 2023 and their mandate will end on the thirty first of December 2024.

Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, said that his country will try to contribute to building peace in the world, advocating dialogue and multilateralism.

The Security Council consists of 15 countries. Five of them are permanent members with the right to veto.

 

SOURCE: AFRICANEWS

Property tax rate reduces 50% with Benefits Code

Luanda – The new Tax Benefits Code (CBF) reduces by 50% the Property Tax (IP) rate on the transfer and ownership of real estate, as well as on rents earned within a maximum period of two years, constituting one of the innovations for this diploma, in force since 14 May 2022.

The fact was announced this Thursday, in Luanda, by the finance technician of the Deloitte company, Luísa Gomes, during the conference on Tax Benefits Code.

 

Talking to the press the representative stated also that for the first time the code will promote savings and professional management of the assets throughout the investment that the companies might apply in the real estate sector.

 

Luísa Gomes advanced that for individual persons the diploma allows the citizens to make their savings by depositing part of the revenues in the pension fund or in the bank account aiming to ensure decent retirement for workers.

 

The technician stressed also that with the entry into force of this code the companies have the possibility to capitalize on the benefits and to get justified tax savings in areas that allow wealth creation and improving the citizens’ living condition.

 

On the other hand, the executive director of the Agency for Private Investment and Exports Promotion (AIPEX), Neide dos Santos appointed out the appearance of Tax Credit, the deduction of up to 80% of the public expenses as the main novelties of the CBF in issues related to the investment.

 

The official considered the CBF one of the extremely important instruments for the attraction of investment in the country by  making competitive the Angolan tax activity, despite the document also contemplating the deferral of tax payment.

  

On his turn, the Deloitte tax area technician, Renato Carreira, considers that the diploma has advantages to gather in only one diploma a set of tax benefits and laws that were scattered over time.

 

Renato Carreira proceeded saying that the CBF brings clarity and facilities to investors as well as it allows the General Tax Administration (AGT) to have better control of the business company despite improving the benefits that already existed in the previous diplomas.  

 

According to Renato Carreira these benefits are also to promote job creation and improve the environmental activity throughout the use of renewable energies by reducing the country´s pollution levels.

 

In addition to this, it is also included in this code of benefits, that essentially aims to attract new foreign investments, capitalization of small, medium and big companies as well as the development of the finance sector and the capital market.

 

Published in the State Gazette nº 8/22, of 14 April, which approves the Tax Benefits Code, the new legal tool came into force on 14 May 2022, with the objective to overcome some gaps in the previous diplomas.

SIERRA LEONE – President Bio Commissions 3 Brand New Kingho Railway Locomotives

His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio has commissioned three (3) brand new locomotives to enable Kingho Mining Company haulage its iron ore from the New Tonkolili Iron Ore Mines in Ferengbey, Tonkolili District to the port of Pepel in Port Loko District.

The commissioning took place on Tuesday 24th May 2022 on a separate event after the president earlier unveiled a Le 5.3 billion paid into the accounts of the Community Development Agreement (CDA) fund by Kingho Mining Company, a subsidiary of Leone Rock Metals. The fund is 1% of annual revenue made by the company during its operation at the mines.

 

Speaking during the commissioning ceremony at the Train Load Out (TLO), Jay Chen, Deputy General Manager of Kingho Railway and Port Company said that when the company took over in 2020, the rail system was not operational at all. He added that the company made enormous efforts and invested a huge sum of money for the restoration of the railway facilities.

Jay Chen added that the commissioning is significant because it is the first time locomotives have been imported into this country in ten years. He said it is important to note that his department is gender sensitive as a result they currently have female Sierra Leonean train drivers.

He assured that the railway department of the company also plans to hire more locomotives and upgrade the railway in the future.

It is worth noting that the locomotive is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. A single locomotive has the capacity to pull 30 wagons which are used to transport iron ore from the mines to the port. So far, the train sets 112 wagons to 4 locomotives and 90 wagons to 3 locomotives.

The commissioning of three additional locomotives by the President himself will improve the haulage capacity of the company to achieve a target of 25,200 tonnes daily and 9 million tonnes annually.

©️ LRMG, PR & Media Unit

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Four million at risk amid Kenya food crisis – UN

More than four million people are facing high levels of food insecurity in Kenya, according to new data released by the UN.

This figure has risen from just over three million people last year.

Over 900,000 children below the age of five have been found to be acutely malnourished.

The entire country’s north, and much of the north-eastern regions, are facing food insecurity at crisis or emergency levels, the data classification shows.

The March to May rainfall has been low, irregular and poorly distributed in much of the distressed regions, which has affected production of food.

Aside from a prolonged drought, the crisis has been worsened by a rise in food prices because of the spike in the cost of fuel, resulting from the war in Ukraine.

Some of the affected counties also face ongoing insecurity and gun violence.

Large parts of eastern Africa have suffered a devastating drought for much of 2022, aggravating food insecurity for countries still reeling from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this week, the UN also warned that more than half a million people in Uganda’s north-eastern region of Karamoja were facing a high risk of hunger and starvation.

And in Somalia, more than 200,000 people are on the verge of starvation due to the drought that has swept through the region

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Donald Trump Behind Attempted Coup To Overthrow US Govt

Thousands of Donald Trump’s supporters, fueled by his claims of voter fraud, flooded the nation’s capital to protest the expected certification of Joe Biden’s White House victory by the US Congress, and the former president was behind it, an inquiry by Capitol Hill lawmakers has found.

A congressional inquiry on Thursday, June 9, heard the former president played a crucial role in trying to violently stop the presidential elections from being authorized.

Trump said the election had been ‘stolen’ and ‘rigged’ by supporters of Joe Biden, claims which have been categorically proven false.

A huge mob, some of them armed, forced their way through police lines, many threatening to kill politicians inside, including vice president Mike Pence as they overran the building where legislators were meeting to certify the results of the election he lost to Joe Biden on January 6, 2021.

The inquiry on Thursday heard an account that claimed Trump said his former number two ‘deserves it’ as crowds chanted they would hang Mr Pence.

Five people died and more than 130 police officers were injured, as they battled to stay in control of the capitol hill.

Congresswoman Liz Cheney said: ‘President Trump summoned a violent mob.

‘When a president fails to take the steps necessary to preserve our union – or worse, causes a constitutional crisis – we’re in a moment of maximum danger for our republic.’

The hearing was played 12 minutes of new footage of the deadly violence, as well as testimony from Trump’s inner circle including his daughter Ivanka and son in-law Jared Kushner.

The House committee said the former president’s ‘repeated lies’ about election fraud and his public effort to stop Joe Biden’s victory led to the capitol attack.

Congressman Bennie Thompson, chairman of the panel, said during the hearing: ‘Democracy remains in danger.

‘January 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup, a brazen attempt, as one rioter put it shortly after January 6, to overthrow the government.

‘The violence was no accident.’

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