Head of State appoints board of AIPEX

 Luanda – President João Lourenço appointed on Tuesday the board of directors of the Private Investment and Exports Promotion Agency (AIPEX).

According to the Presidential Order, the new CEO of AIPEX is Lello João Francisco, while the executive directors are Cláudia Gonçalves Pedro, Neide Natalícia Cardoso Miguel dos Santos, José Chinjamba and José Afonso Gama. 

 

In a different Presidential Order, the Head of State terminated the mandate of the previous board, which was chaired by António Henriques da Silva.

 

AIPEX is tasked with promoting and attracting private investment, both from inside and outside the country, with the aim of contributing to the country’s socioeconomic development, as well as helps to stimulate the increase and diversification of exports.  

PRODESI: Over 1000 projects approved in 2022

 Luanda - At least 1,800 projects have been approved since 2019, under the Production Support, Export Diversification and Import Substitution Programme (PRODESI), 800 more than expected.

With the 1000 projects initially planned for 2019-2022 period, it was expected to make available 41 billion kwanzas.

But with the increase in the number of projects made feasible, the amount reached 71.9 billion kwanzas, the secretary of State for Economy, Ivan dos Santos, said Tuesday.

Of the amount of 71.9 billion kwanzas approved, 61 billion has already been made available, the official added.

In terms of the sector of activity sector, agriculture leads with 723 approved projects, followed by trade and distribution with 460.

Livestock with 187 projects, the manufacturing industry sector with 157, fisheries 155, tourism 85, solid and urban waste 32 and textiles and garments only eight projects.

As for the disbursement, to date, a total of 45 billion went to Luanda, 13 billion for Benguela, 4 billion for Uíge, and 600 million for Lunda Sul.

In terms of activity sectors of the projects that benefited from funding, agriculture leads with 413 projects already benefited, commerce and distribution 268 projects, livestock 143, processing industry 106, fisheries 82, tourism 53, solid and urban waste 22 and textiles and clothing only 6 projects disbursed.

During the said period, 2,071 processes were sent to the Development Bank of Angola (BDA).

PRODESI is a programme of the Angolan Executive aimed at ensuring the swift diversification of national production and wealth generation.

Vice-President’s Office promotes Solidarity Christmas

 Luanda - Employees of the Support Bodies for the Vice-President of the Republic celebrated Christmas with children and teenagers from accommodation centers in Luanda.

Attended the session were minors from Santa Isabel Center and the Solidarity Association for Children and Teenage.

 

Divided into groups, the children received food products, toys and, above all, encouragement, according to the tradition on the eve of the festive season.

 

The move of is part the “Christmas Solidarity” campaign launched by the Head of the Executive Branch.

 

Anticipating the Christmas, the Vice-President Esperança da Costa along with her husband António José da Costa Júnior provided unforgettable moments for the children of employees of the Support Bodies to the Vice-President of the Republic.

Benin Bronzes: Germany returns looted artefacts to Nigeria

 Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has handed 22 artefacts looted in the 19th Century back to Nigeria at a ceremony in the capital, Abuja.

The return of this set of Benin Bronzes follows a deal made earlier this year to transfer ownership of more than 1,000 of these precious objects.

In July, Nigeria said it was the first time a European country had entered into this kind of agreement.

Ms Baerbock said it was part of efforts to deal with a “dark colonial history”.

Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, she added that it was an opportunity to right some of the wrongs of the past.

“Officials from my country once bought the bronzes, knowing they had been robbed and stolen.

“After that, we ignored Nigeria’s plea to return them for a very long time. It was wrong to take them and it was wrong to keep them,” Ms Baerbock is quoted as saying by German broadcaster DW.

Among the objects returned were some of the famous ceremonial heads, an ivory carving, as well as a decorated plaque.

Moves to return artefacts stolen in the colonial era have been gathering momentum in recent years as European countries and museums grapple with how they came into their possession.

Nigeria’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed said at the handover ceremony that attitudes have changed quickly, DW reports.

“Twenty years ago, even 10 years ago, nobody could have anticipated these bronzes returning to Nigeria, because the obstacles to achieving repatriation were seemingly insurmountable,” he added.

The term Benin Bronzes refers to thousands of metal sculptures, plaques and carvings made between the 15th and 19th Centuries and looted by British troops in 1897 from the West African kingdom of Benin, in modern-day Nigeria’s Edo state.

The sculptures, prized for their beauty and technical artistry, are of spiritual and historical significance for the people from that part of Nigeria. Their theft still remains a point of pain for the descendants of those from the ancient Benin kingdom.

After being shipped to the UK in the late 19th Century, many were auctioned off in London and some were bought by German collectors, Germany’s foreign ministry has said.

The country has been holding around 1,100 of the estimated 5,000 that were taken, it added in a statement.

Others are in the archives of museums in the UK, including the British Museum, which has the largest single collection of around 900 objects. An act of parliament prevents the British Museum from returning them.

But last month, London’s Horniman Museum, which is a private charity, handed back dozens of items including some Benin Bronzes to Nigerian ownership – making it the first museum in the UK to officially take such action on this scale.

Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments has issued formal repatriation requests to museums across the world.

In 2026, the government plans to open the Edo Museum of West African Art in Benin City, which is being designed by British-Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye, to house the largest collection of Benin Bronzes ever assembled.

In the colonial era Germany governed parts of West, East and Southern Africa until the end of World War One.

Last year, it officially acknowledged committing genocide during its occupation of Namibia.

German colonisers killed tens of thousands of Ovaherero and Nama people there between 1904 and 1908.

In recent years, Germany has returned human remains to Namibia, some of which were used in now-discredited research into racial classification.

Source: BBC

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4 persons jailed 10 years each for kidnapping Canadian girls

 Four persons who kidnapped two Canadian girls at Nhyiaso, Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region in 2019, have been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment each by an Accra High Court.

This was after the court found them guilty on the charges of conspiracy to kidnap and kidnapping at the end of a three-year trial.

The accused persons are: Sampson Agalor, a 27-year-old Computer Engineer, Elvis Ojiyorme, a 27-year-old businessman, Jeff Onarsar, a 28-year-old tiler and Yusif Yakubu, a Ghanaian.

Soon after the judgment, Elvis Omarsar, now a convict, knelt down and apologised to the victims and their families.

The victims: Lauren Tilly and Bailey Chittey, who were in Ghana for voluntary service, were kidnapped at the entrance of their hostel in Kumasi.

It would be recalled that the Canadian young ladies were reportedly forced into a vehicle at about 8:20pm on June 4, 2019.

They had just stepped out of their apartment at Silver Spring in Kumasi.

One person, an Uber driver, was arrested over the kidnapping.

Subsequently, a team of experts from Canada and the United Kingdom arrived in Ghana to assist National Security operatives with investigations.

Source: GNA

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I’m Open To Criticism – Nana

 President Akufo-Addo says he is not in any way averse to criticism.

Rather, he takes it in good faith since it helps make informed decisions.

He has therefore noted that persons who criticise him and his government only bring different perspectives to the decisions, actions and inactions of his administration which in the long run, has helped to shape the decisions of government.

This was when he addressed a delegation from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service (OHCS) who called on him at the Jubilee House Monday evening to introduce the newly elected Ghana President of the International Organisation Development Association (IODA), Professor Noble Kumawu, to the President.

As leader of the country, he said he sees himself as the main object of criticism which according to him, helps to reflect on his work as President.

“I am the main object of criticism in Ghana and it helps me because it brings different perspectives to me and it allows me to reflect on the work that I am doing”, was how he put it, whilst insisting that “nevertheless, criticisms are an important part of the enhancement of everyone job.”

Even though he admitted that “there are a lot of criticism about the Public Service, and the Civil Service in Ghana” the President said “I tend not to join in the criticism because I know the difficult work that you do and the difficult circumstances in which that work has to be carried out.”

He thus commended the country’s Civil and Public Service workers for the yeomans work they continue to do for mother Ghana.

On his part, Head of the OHCS, Nana Kwasi Agyekum Dwamena said it was a great privilege for the IODA to have selected a Ghanaian to be its global head.

This is a body that he said is on all the continents of the world. It currently active in 50 countries including the US, UK, Netherlands, Canada and a host of other countries and for that reason a plus to Ghana.

The new IODA leader, Professor Noble Kumawu expressed appreciation to the President for the priviledge to meet him and the delegation.

According to Professor Kumawu, the OD institute which is accredited and affiliated to the University of Cape Coast (UCC), started as a partnership in 2003 with UCC.

He indicated that the institute considers the selection of a Ghanaian to head the international association, as such a goodness that they certainly had to share with the first gentleman of the land.

IODA

IODA is an international network of organisation development (OD) professionals, consultants, practitioners, academics, students and social scientists.

They are a non-profit association with members from over 50 countries who are initiating and supporting organizational and societal change processes.

It is a community as well as a membership platform for OD professionals to connect, share and exchange ideas.

Using its rich, diverse network of OD practitioners, students and change agents, the IODA connects people globally.

They believe in creating the space for true wholeness – connecting across differences – through differentiation and celebrating unique traditions and divergent worldviews.

IODA is simultaneously global and local, drawing people out of their worlds to connect and inviting the world to settle in for a deep appreciation of what OD looks like on the ground in each location.

The body provides support to practitioners across cultures and national boundaries and encourages cross-fertilization of methods, theories and schools of thought as well as modelling OD values based on global ideologies and inclusive perspectives.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com

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Ukraine President Accuses FIFA Boss…Of Sabotage

 Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday the world still had heard his call for peace despite soccer governing body FIFA’s decision to decline to allow a video message to be broadcast ahead of the soccer World Cup final in Qatar.

Zelensky had asked for the video to be broadcast, including his call to hold a global peace conference to help resolve the war triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian soccer players and other officials had publicised the message, he said.

“Even though FIFA blocked this message from being aired at the stadium before the final game in Qatar, the world still heard our appeal,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address to Ukrainians.

The World Cup, he said, was the essence of striving to win.

“But the competition is on the playing field and not on the battlefield. The worst that can happen is a red card — and not the red button,” he said, alluding to the possibility of a nuclear strike.

CNN reported on Friday that Zelensky had asked FIFA to let him share a message of peace before the final.

“We offered [a] peace formula to the world. Absolutely fair. We offered it because there are no champions in war, there can be no draw,” Zelensky said in a video issued by his office.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February and the conflict has killed thousands of civilians and displaced millions from their homes.

“I announce the initiative to hold a Global Peace Formula Summit this winter. The summit to unite all nations of the world around the cause of global peace. Stadiums’ stands get empty after the match, and after the war cities remain empty,” the Ukrainian president said.

Russian news agencies reported that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin had “warmly congratulated” Argentine President Alberto Fernandez on Argentina’s victory over France in the World Cup final at Doha’s Lusail stadium on Sunday.

Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter that FIFA “shows a lack of understanding of the disaster that the Russian federation is dragging the world into by starting a war in Ukraine.”

FIFA rejects any political messages in organising World Cup matches.
The global television audience for Sunday’s final was expected to have been in the hundreds of millions.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com

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