African Leadership Magazine July - August 2020 Edition

Afric n Leadership £5 $8 N3000 ZAR100

JULY - AUGUST 2020

PATRICIA SCOTLAND SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH

RACE AND RECONCILIATION: TIME FOR A TRUTH-SEEKING TRANSITIONAL MECHANISM Can Covid-19 Accelerate Change in Africa?

Samuel Edoumiekumo: Leading a Silent Revolution at Niger Delta University

CONTENT

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CAN A VIRUS ACCELERATE CHANGE IN AFRICA?

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CHINA AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN COVID-19 RESPONSE

PATRICIA SCOTLAND: RACE AND RECONCILIATION- TIME FOR A TRUTHSEEKING TRANSITIONAL MECHANISM

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HOW AFRICA CAN HELP IN THE FIGHT AGAINST RACIAL SEGREGATION IN THE UNITED STATES

30: AFRICA YOUTH SURVEY 2020 37: AFRICA AND ITS AGRICULTURAL PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 44: BLACK LIVES MATTER EVERYWHERE – AND BRITAIN IS NOT INNOCENT! 55: HOW ISIS & AL-QAEDA AFFILIATES MANIPULATE AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AND OTHER NGOs TO SURVIVE IN AFRICA

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LEADING A SILENT ACADEMIC REVOLUTION AT NIGER DELTA UNIVERSITY

61: COVID-19 AND AFRICA’S $31 BILLION FASHION INDUSTRY: LEADING DESIGNERS DISCUSS THE FUTURE 67: SAMCHI GROUP THE JOURNEY INTO THE FUTURE

...A Publication of African Leadership (UK) Limited

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Staff Writer Miracle Nwankwo Executive Assistant to the Publisher Jolayemi Mayowa mayowa@africanleadership.co.uk Contributing Editors Major Aku A Amboson FSS (Rtd) Correspondents / Representatives David Lekpa – New York, USA Sabrenah Sumrah-Kelly – Atlanta, USA Saikou Jammeh – Banjul, The Gambia Erin Lewis - Washington DC, USA Kudzai Mtero – Pretoria, South Africa Nomia Machebe – Johannesburg, South Africa Lady Ngo Mang – Paris France Josephine Adageog – Accra Ghana Linda Kimenyi – Nairobi Kenya Contributors Matshona Dhilwayo, Chifuniro Kandaya Arthur Becker, Charles Peter Yomi Henry-Eyo, Barnabas Thondhlana

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...Promoting Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Development In Africa

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CELEBRATING AFRICAN EXCELLENCE AND MINORITY LEADERSHIP ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS A NECESSITY Over the years, African Leadership Magazine (ALM), has committed itself to discovering, celebrating, and enabling top African achievements and corporate leadership. Since its maiden edition in September 2008, the magazine have tirelessly focused on showcasing the best of Africa to a global audience, telling the African story from an African perspective, while highlighting unique African solutions to peculiar challenges being faced by the continent today.

ALM has grown to become a leading Pan-African flagship publication read by over one million targeted international investors, business executives, government policymakers, and multilateral agencies across Africa and the rest of the world. It is distributed at major international and African Leadership events around the world, and has become a niche and unbiased African voice focusing on key issues facing the continent today; and also to stand up in defence of African and minority leaders globally, that are known for their legacy-based approach to leadership.

Particularly, we believe that Africans can lead themselves into peace, development and prosperity; and contribute their quota to global progress and prosperity for all. For it was in Africa that civilization was born, and humans took their first step towards writing and learning, during the ancient Egyptian civilizations.

However, today, of the world's 28 poorest countries, 27 are in Africa, according to a 2018 World Bank report. and it is projected that Africa. While both African state actors and global collaborators have seen some progress in addressing the poverty burden in Africa, illegal migration, occasioned by this and other issues, continue to be a major concern. This scale of poverty also breeds crime, insecurity, health epidemics, and several other challenges. And with the dire impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which most African countries are still ill-equipped to really address, there are real concerns that the gradual progress that was being seen in this sector may be wiped out.

In Africa, where many of the

countries are known for weak institutions, poor infrastructure and some of the world's horrific conflicts, the inspiring example and impact that one truly effective leader exemplifies and transmits is truly powerful and game changing, not just for the immediate beneficiaries but for the world. And as the Singaporean leader, Lee Kuan Yew said in his book, From Third World to First, “honesty and effective government, public order and personal security does not come about as the natural course of events, but as the products of visionary, ethical and competent leadership�. Such a leader becomes a notable point of reference for what is possible, and also inspires a whole generation of upcoming leaders, who go on and aspire to solve some of humanity's biggest problems in the future.

That is why ALM has made it its’ mission to not only discover and celebrate these outstanding African leaders and institutions, and position them as agents of change that they truly are, but enable them to continue to inspire and lead effectively, so our world becomes a better place for all.

We have published the bi-monthly and highly rated African Leadership magazine and the quarterly Amazons Watch magazine; spotlighted, celebrated and worked with over 20 African Heads of states, over 250 senior African corporate leaders, public servants and community champions, and also women and youths, enabling these leaders to go on to make their communities to become healthier, safer and more prosperous. Two of the heads of states we had worked with and supported went on to win the Nobel prize; while our high-level events and work with business leaders have resulted in over $5

billion in deals and more than 500 partnerships in the last 12 years, creating jobs and opportunities for all. And from a percentage of our corporate profits, we have so far catered and sponsored over 86 children through their secondary and tertiary education through our SEND A CHILD TO SCHOOL program.

This is a resurgent Africa, and all of us have a role to play in it. And together, we will bring back the sunshine and progress to our continent, whose ripple effect shall be seen in the eradication of extreme poverty principally; and the attainment of all the global sustainable development goals, both for our benefits and for the future generations to come.

i m a i G Ken Particularly, we believe that Africans can lead themselves into peace, development and prosperity; and contribute their quota to global progress and prosperity for all.

What notable leaders are saying about AFRICAN LEADERSHIP MAGAZINE

H. E. JOHN MAHAMA

H.E. MRS AMEEN GURIB-FAKIM

DR MANU CHANDARIA

FORMER PRESIDENT OF GHANA

FORMER PRESIDENT OF MAURITIUS

CHAIRMAN, COMCRAFT GROUP, KENYA

“It is always an honour to be in the company of such distinguished fellow Africans, that the African Leadership Magazine events bring together.

Africans who have committed their lives to changing the negative narrative about our continent.”

“It is very gratifying that we now have an organization like African Leadership Magazine, which endeavors to promote good governance and impactful leadership in Africa and bring the best of Africa to the global stages as well as telling the African story from an African perspective.”

“I am honored and deeply humbled to be with the African Leadership Magazine.

The organization have been consistent in tracking Africa’s best and showcasing them to the world, which is quite commendable.”

DR GOODLUCK JONATHAN

H.E. JAMES A MICHEL

H.E. JOHN KUFOUR

FORMER PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA

“African Leadership Magazine has become a brand for Africa and I am pleased to be associated with it. especially because of the caliber of African Leaders on it’s board.”

FORMER PRESIDENT OF SEYCHELLES

FORMER PRESIDENT OF GHANA

“I wish to express my sincere thanks and deep appreciation to the African Leadership Magazine for the work that it is doing on the continent, and especially in advancing the cause of small Islands Developing states, Any effort aimed at increasing the visibility of the good work being done by leadership in Africa does positively impact on the continent and that is what the African Leadership Magazine is doing.”

“I believe people are more important than power and anything that promotes good people and leadership is what we need in Africa, and that is what African Leadership Magazine is doing.”

What notable leaders are saying about AFRICAN LEADERSHIP MAGAZINE

MRS ELLEN JOHNSON - SIRLEAF NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER AND FORMER PRESIDENT, REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA

“I feel deeply honored to be associated with the African Leadership Magazine as it is a veritable platform to honor the true service in Africa. I commend your efforts and assure you of my continued support and the support of the good people of Liberia.”

DR AKINWUMI ADESHINA

H.E JAKAYA KIKWETE FORMER PRESIDENT OF TANZANIA

“African Leadership Magazine is doing a wonderful job of speaking for Africa and Africans. The magazine remain a good example of what young people in Africa can do in the world. Best wishes in keeping the African dream alive.”

DR MO IBRAHIM

HE DAVID MABUZA DEPUTY PRESIDENT, REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

“It is an honour to participate at this African Leadership Magazine's 2020 Ceremony, and I commend the magazine's focus to reshape positively, the dominant narratives about the African continent, especially towards the pursuit of peacebuilding and democracy on the continent”.

MO DEWJI

PRESIDENT AFDB

FOUNDER, MO IBRAHIM FOUNDATION

TANZANIA BUSINESSMAN & PHILANTHROPIST

“I thank you so much, African Leadership Magazine for the great work that you are doing for the content. Your tradition of awarding excellence as I have seen in the line up of African Leaders who have received the African Leadership Awards, is something very commendable”

“The future of African people and improving the quality of Leadership on the African continent is my vision and I find in African Leadership Magazine - a true partner. I am also happy that the African Leadership Awards is doing at a lower level, what I intend to achieve at the Head of State level. That is why I flew to Paris just to be a part of what you are doing here at the African Leadership Magazine”.

“The African Leadership Awards truly captures the essence of my message which is that, success shouldn’t be solely defined by wealth. It should be about the positive impact and influence that one has had in his community.”

Feature

CAN A VIRUS ACCELERATE CHANGE IN AFRICA?

By Carlos Lopes

African intellectuals are calling for a different discussion. Isn't this the right time to propel changes that have often been postponed?

Confinements, lockdowns, social distancing, masks, and protective equipment have all become part of the new vocabulary used in Africa. This may be no different from other parts of the world. But the implications of COVID-19 can be far-reaching for the continent with some of the lowest human development indicators in the globe. African countries have been fast in adopting stringent measures to contain the potential COVID-19 infection surge. They adhered in their great majority to the principle of flattening the infection curve, in order to allow the sanitary authorities' response to be able to cope with the pressure on existing capabilities.

Although the total infection rate and lethality in Africa are far lower than the ones experienced so far in China, Europe or the US, the case can be made that the capabilities of African countries, both in medical personnel and equipment, are extremely limited, suggesting a possibly greater devastating impact of the

pandemic outbreak in the continent if a surge happens.

Africa has been exposed to deadly Ebola outbreaks with a very high death rate, with 25% to 100% loss of life of those infected, against about 1% of mortality for COVID-19 infected individuals.

From what we know so far COVID19 morbidity concerns principally older people or those with other diseases such as diabetes, vascular pathologies, or respiratory failures, less prevalent in Africa. Stormy experiences with HIV-AIDS and high mortality resulting from malaria have created the feeling that Africa is more resilient and its herd immunity probably different from other regions. This can be misleading for three reasons.

The global dimensions of the crisis affect Africa deeply without the continent

First, statistical capacity in Africa is on average low and most of the very recent knowledge about this pandemic's behavior is based on sophisticated modelling that will be challenged by 60% of the population not even having civil registration. Africa's reality is one of projections, or to say it more bluntly, guessing. Comprehensive testing seems to be the most used July - August 2020

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being able to do much about it

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indicator of accuracy for modelling, next to the demographic profile of a country.

Here again (with a few remarkable exceptions, such as Mauritius or South Africa) limited sampling and the dearth of testing data will not help good policy responses.

Second, it has become obvious that this virus loves to travel, as all viruses do. The connectivity levels that have allowed COVID-19 to spread so fast are not a surprise for scientists and health intelligence outfits. They have been warning this would, not could, happen; and will happen again and again, probably more frequently than we care to admit.

But the trajectory of each virus

We should remember during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa the World Bank predicted a $33 billion economic impact even though the three most affected countries—Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea—had at the time a combined GDP of $6 billion.

The final count was a $2.8 billion total loss. This time we have already heard similar fright. It may well ring true but the rush to single out Africa this time seems equally premature and biased.

obeys natural rules we don't completely master. It is a fact that the epicenter of the current tragedy travels too. It is therefore highly likely that Africa's turn to be the epicenter may come later.

end of the commodity super cycle could get much worse than predicted. With historical lows for Brent prices and US oil futures plunging below zero for the first time in history in April, there is little doubt left about the volatility of a commodity that represents 40% of African exports. Since 2007, the volume of Africa's crude petroleum exports to the world has decreased sharply. China's imports are shrinking, following decreases in exports to the US and others. With 7.5% of world oil reserves and 7.1% of gas reserves Africa will never be a big player capable of determining prices or occupy a premium place in this market. COVID-19 has driven this message home.

Third, regardless of the better or worse sanitary impact scenarios being touted by an array of politicians, analysts and pundits, the most devastating impact in Africa is going to be socioeconomic. The global dimensions of the crisis affect Africa deeply without the continent being able to do much about it. A combination of climate phenomena (locust invasion of the Horn of Africa, extended drought in Southern Africa, floods in East Africa and conflicts induced by environmental stress in the Sahel) and the absence of a conducive global economic climate will penalize Africa considerably.

The prices of renewable energy production, on the other hand, are becoming more competitive by the day, often surpassing the fossil fuels matrices. This makes it the right time to shift towards a cleaner, low-carbon production, and consumption base. Africa has the luxury of being able to accelerate its industrialization with greener solutions both in terms of energy and sustainable infrastructure. Extremely low prices for oil and coal (associated with depressed demand in some countries) translate into a unique chance to get rid of heavily subsidized fossil fuel consumption and the option to dismantle the byzantine tax systems plugged into the fuel in the pump.

The debate in Africa could, therefore, easily echo the catastrophism usually associated with such situations. We should remember during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa the World Bank predicted a $33 billion economic impact even though the three most affected countries—Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea—had at the time a combined GDP of $6 billion. The final count was a $2.8 billion total loss. This time we have already heard similar fright. It may well ring true but the rush to single out Africa this time seems equally premature and biased.

Second, although not as dramatic as the fall of the oil and gas prices, the other commodities composing the bulk of African exports, be it metals and extractives or agricultural-related and fisheries, usually exposed to high levels of volatility, have all been driven south by COVID-19.

Africa has 35 out its 54 countries in the highly export-commoditydependent category (referring to countries with 80% or higher dependency). This colonial characteristic is responsible today for rent-seeking behavior and lazy domestic taxation efforts. COVID19 has demonstrated the fragility of the African growth trajectory when a combination of low demand, low prices and limited fiscal space meet any economic storm, even more so with a

African intellectuals are calling for a different discussion. Isn't this the right time to propel changes that have often been postponed?

African leaders fall easily into response mode, not to the crises they face but to the advice they receive. Perhaps COVID-19 can herald structural transformation in the continent. Admitting this is too good a crisis to be allowed to go to waste, here are five reasons to use it to shift gears.

First, the China-US trade war that introduced turbulence in the world markets, followed by the Saudi Arabia-Russia oil prices war have fore-shown that the 2011 July - August 2020

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perfect storm. COVID-19 sends a powerful message to African leaders: they need to adjust to a new normal.

With regard to food security, Africa is home to over 874 million hectares of land suitable for agricultural production. With less than 10% per cent of arable land currently being used for food production, there are windows of opportunities to expand this to increase local production of crops. Only 6% of the arable land in Africa is irrigated, yet the continent has the potential to irrigate nearly 40 Million ha (10%), doubling agricultural productivity.

Looking at the potential offered by the establishment of the African Continental Free-Trade Area, the largest such endeavor by number of countries and population covered, there is an option to use smart protectionism to boost intra-African valueadded tradable products. This is an opportunity to transform, starting with the immediate need for alternative food supplies provoked by the COVID-19 disruption of the existing value and supply chains. Time for love thy neighbor.

tuberculosis, and malaria. The tragedy is that these diseases are treatable: most related deaths could be prevented with timely access to appropriate and affordable medicines.

COVID-19 has demonstrated a hidden capacity to produce masks, tests, and other essentials throughout Africa. This capacity should be nurtured. This is the beginning of a shift towards greater reliance on Africanproduced health products, coupled with investments in R&D.

Africa's capacity for pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) and local drug production is amongst the lowest in the world. Overall, 37 African countries have some pharmaceutical production, although only South Africa produces some active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Where there is local production in Africa, normally there is a reliance on imported active ingredients. As a result, the supply of African pharmaceuticals remains highly dependent on foreign funding and imports. The production of health equipment and consumables follows a similar pattern.

Fourth, Africa must get readier for the impact of new technologies in the world of work and production systems. After being praised for their leadership in mobile banking transactions, Africans should embrace more ambitious goals.

Instead of perceiving technological advancements as threats, Africans can emulate the mobile banking experience to leapfrog infrastructure shortcomings as well as surpass outmoded bureaucratic processes that are hampering entrepreneurship and formalization of the economy.

Without more modern forms of

Third, the restrictions recently introduced by the US and European countries for exports of vital medicines, reagents, respiratory or personal protective equipment affect African countries heavily. It is a wake-up call to think about how the continent should deal with pharmaceutical regulation, health-related procurement and manufacture of medicines and products in areas that are critical for disease control and protect well-being.

Africa carries 25% of the world's disease burden but accounts for less than 1% of global health expenditure. It manufactures less than 2% of the medicines it consumes. Over two-thirds of the world's HIV/AIDS cases and 93% of the deaths due to malaria currently occur in Africa. In addition, the continent bears 40% of the global deaths of under-five children, mainly due to neonatal causes as well as pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, HIV, July - August 2020

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economic transaction, it will not be possible to significantly increase fiscal pressure in the continent—currently averaging 17% of GDP, against a world average of 35%. Such low pressure reduces fiscal space and exacerbates various forms of external dependency.

Fortunately, some of the best reformers in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index are African. The same impetus is needed for innovation. Africa's industrialization and services transformation depends greatly on the capacity to tap into its position as the largest reservoir of digital natives. With the youngest population in the world it is in Africa that new technologies have the highest potential to adapt, provided they are not limited to being passive consumers of content and systems but rather participants as

well. COVID-19 has contributed to the discovery of this potential.

With 53 out of 54 countries closing their school system, countries struggled to not let an entire school year go bust. There is a realization digital platform usage can be accelerated for educational purposes. The same is true for services. Remote forms of work have now become increasingly popular and socially accepted. This is a chance to accelerate transformation and leapfrog.

resulting from the instability prevailing since the 2008-09 subprime crisis does not allow recourse to the usual recipes.

Enormous stimulus packages, shooting debt to GDP ratios way above 100%, deeply negative interest rates or monetized fiscal deficits have become acceptable policy. Economic neo-classical theory is turning on its head.

With stagflation or deflation replacing inflation worries, access to the printing machine is the new normal for those who can afford.

With the current way debt is classified and its sustainability framework applied African countries will never be able to get out of COVID-19's long-lasting impact. Most of the reforms made in the last two decades in the continent, producing exceptional growth performance for about half of the countries, are seriously compromised. Calls for debt relief—or more timid debt service moratorium—are drops in the ocean. Something much more ambitious and radical should be envisaged. This crisis allows us to think big.

Fifth, macroeconomic stability rules continue to be challenged across the globe. With the recession or depression distress signals becoming louder the monetarist orthodoxy of Milton Friedman is evaporating fast. The State is back, to salvage the market's biggest disruption since the Great Depression. However, the small margin of manoeuver

To conclude using the language of the IMF, for these exceptional times, we need exceptional solutions. This virus does offer Africa an opportunity to exercise agency and embark on a more robust structural transformation process. Building on the gains of the last few years and the resilience of its population, there will probably be no better time to fast-track change.

Carlos Lopes is an Honorary Professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town, and a Visiting Professor at Sciences Po, Paris. He has served as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

This article first appeared in Pandemic Discourses, a blog copublished by the India China Institute and the Julien J. Studley Graduate Programs in International Affairs at The New School.

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PATRICIA SCOTLAND, QC

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PATRICIA SCOTLAND: RACE AND RECONCILIATION- TIME FOR A TRUTH-SEEKING TRANSITIONAL MECHANISM

Commonwealth charter, which really commits all of our countries to 16 core values, including opposing all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour or any other ground

The Commonwealth, one of the world's oldest political associations of states, has its roots in the British Empire, when countries around the world were ruled by Britain.

And ever since 1949 when the modern Commonwealth was founded, the institution has been at the forefront of promoting world peace, representative democracy, individual liberty and freedom, and the pursuit of equality, among others. As the world battles the twin issue of COVID-19 and Racism, member nations and citizens look to the institution to lead and help in

addressing these challenges.

In this exclusive interview with African Leadership Magazine UK, Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC, the 6th Commonwealth Secretary General and first female to lead the institution, shares some of the efforts of the institution towards addressing these current issues around systemic racism; and calls for a truth-seeking transitional mechanism. Rt Hon Scotland who was also the youngest person to be made a Queen's Counsel, QC at the age of 34, talks about her efforts towards empowering young people. Excerpts.

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There has been large scale protests in the United States and across the world in response to the recent death of George Floyd - an African American, throwing up the agelong issue of Racism.

What are the implications of these developments on Africa and minority groups globally; and how is the Commonwealth Secretariat responding, in line with its mandate of promoting justice and human rights?

I think the really important thing is to identify what the Commonwealth stands for. And

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for the whole of the period since we've been in existence, we have stood for the values that are best in human kind. And you will see this if you look at the way in which the leaders adopted the Commonwealth charter, which really commits all of our countries to 16 core values, including opposing all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour or any other ground. And the Commonwealth has really been helping our members to try to reduce the inequality amongst our citizens; to improve the access to justice through enhancing the National Human Rights bodies and the independence of judiciaries, and really working with our parliamentarians to apply human rights standards. But we all recognise that our systems have

So that is our history. That is our inheritance.

And I believe as a collective representing one third of the world, if we were strong before, we have to be strong now.

barriers to overcome - from equal opportunity to integration. And this therefore, I think, is quite a defining moment in all our histories and the choices that we now make really matter. We cannot allow racism to divide and drive us into social unrest. And for many of us, we thought that the sort of things that we are seeing on our screens today was part of our past and not our future. We thought that we'd come together, that we'd fought, that we had struggled. And that because of all those struggles, we had overcome some of those fundamental beliefs in the inequality and the lack of worth, in some of our country men and women because of the colour of our skin. We thought we had gone beyond that. Therefore, I believe it's a defining moment.

approach to root out the systemic racism, the discrimination and the inequality, which if we don't, may tear us apart. And our approach has always been that we must be inclusive. We must be participatory, transparent and accountable. And if you look at our Commonwealth story, It is one of a family that, at times have been scarred by old hurts and resentments and a relationship, sometimes strained and afflicted by the fissures such as racism. But our Commonwealth history also shows that a strong foundation of our friendship, our shared values, our spirit of collaboration, have allowed us to be brave enough to look evil straight in the face, and boldly call it for what it is.

If you look at Africa's own history, it was the Commonwealth who collectively refused to turn a blind eye to the South African apartheid and the white minority rule in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.

And it is really important, I think, for us to remember that back in 1961, nobody was calling out racism. It was endemic. And after severe criticisms in 1961 over its apartheid policies by our members, South Africa withdrew from the commonwealth. No, it did not withdraw because it wanted to, but they knew that unless they accepted equality, they were not going to be allowed to stay. In 1977, when

It has not always taken a knee on the neck to murder someone. The life and death effects of systemic racism go far beyond police shootings, worsened poverty, and deepened inequalities. For instance, you know, African and minority ethnic people are so much more likely to die of COVID19 than their white counterparts.

We may all be in this pandemic together, but we do not share the risks equally. And so, the Commonwealth is calling for stronger efforts, for mutual dialogue and a human rights

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Commonwealth countries adopted the Gleneagles agreement, to discourage sporting contracts with South Africa so as to step up the pressure on the country's apartheid regime, everybody thought we were wrong about doing that. But the Commonwealth said ‘no’. These are our values. These are our people. And we stand in solidarity with all races and you cannot be a member of our family and do this. And then in 1979, the Commonwealth heads committed to the eradication of what they described as the dangerous evils of racism and racial prejudice. During this time, the Commonwealth provided a system surrounding frontline states to reduce the economic dependence on South Africa, particularly Mozambique, which was not even a member of our family at that time. And I will never forget what Nelson Mandela said in 1995. He was then South African president, and he said, “35 years ago, the Commonwealth took a firm and united stand against the system of apartheid, and it added great impetus to the struggle to secure the international isolation of the apartheid regime”.

of the world, if we were strong before, we have to be strong now. And we have to be united in purpose. And we have to call this out for what it is. And we have to build on that Commonwealth charter, which commits us to these core values. And if you think about it today, we now have 54 countries, small and large, from five different regions, representing all races, cultures, creeds, religions, economic positions, and are bound by the same language, the same common law, and the same parliamentary institutional framework and values. Our leaders sit together in an equal way around the same table, making joint decisions on some of the world's greatest challenges. And so, if people are looking for an example of equality, an example of comity, an example of sharing of respect and solidarity, then look at what we do in the Commonwealth. We are one family, and everyone in our family must be treated equally by everybody else.

So that is our history. That is our inheritance. And I believe as a collective representing one third

I think it's about using our experience, mobilising in support of human rights and against those forces who have been systematically seeking to erode the rights of those who are most in need. So ending apartheid, abolition of slavery, preserving workers rights, promoting women's rights, looking at how we better protect people who are subjected to domestic violence, making sure that people have the access to what is now a digitalized world so that no one is left behind is what we do.

And I think, if you look at the problems in our world, and ours does look sick at times, a truthseeking transitional mechanism is required, which gives all our people and all our communities an opportunity to tell their stories, to share their pain to somebody who listens, and that's an acknowledgment of the testimony and the right to be heard. We saw that in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in

South Africa. And they had the legal mandate to gather testimonies, to hold public hearings, and to seek truth and begin a process of restoration, nation building and healing. This national reckoning, I think, provides a template for justice that today still holds relevance in many of our societies. That dialogue and that recognition of our multiple identities is essential.

And one of the things that I was speaking about in my op-ed, is that we must also acknowledge the lived reality, or the pervasive reach and impact of racism across our society in our institutions. We must approach this challenge through the lens of human rights and ensure that all actions we take are true to those human rights tenets, those inclusive, participatory, transparent tenets. The freedom of speech, the expression, the association, the assembly -they are all crucial, because they allow individuals to express their grievances. And one of the things I am thinking about right now, and I haven't spoken to our leaders yet, is this a time for us once again to have some sort of race and reconciliation summit?

And we will be trying to bring our leaders together, at this time when leadership is so important in a world that is hurting, the Commonwealth could once again bring that touch of healing -because when you look at us, we are one third of the world. And what we are saying is not in our name, and not in our family - but one third of the world are going to stand together. And we are going to call this out, just as we called it out in the 1960s, the 1970s and 1980s. We are calling it out again because we came together to write that charter in 2012. That was calling it out. And if you look at the charter, 1 to 16 reflects the Sustainable Development Goals, and then 17, which is partnerships, is in the preamble of our charter, because it's the way we do it. We do everything in partnerships. So, we call it out by saying we the 54 countries are going to adhere to and promote and deliver that charter, because those are our values. It's been incredibly important because we've got

In your recent Op-ed on Racism, you mentioned that, “unions like the Commonwealth can bring a touch of healing to our sick world.” Can you throw more light on this position?

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examples of these good practices - the New Zealand Human Rights Commission that has a race relations Commissioner, whose primary role is promote positive race relations; the Australian Human Rights Commission has a race Discrimination Commissioner and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island social justice Commissioner; Fiji, now has a National Human Rights Commission, and in South Africa, the deputy chairman of the Human Rights Commission focuses on equality and social cohesion.

All these examples underscore the priority given to this issue by our member states. The Secretariat is also here to help; to support create policy; to do framework laws, framework regulations, implementation, and to enforce.

And what we're also doing is we're looking across the Commonwealth, and we're saying to each other, what works?

What has not worked? Sometimes we learn more from our mistakes than from our successes.

However, it's been quite solitary to look at what is happening right across our Commonwealth. And it's sad. The reason I wrote what I wrote is because I was really so heartbroken by what that nine year old said. I thought, Oh my goodness, I remember when I was nine. And I see all these things happening across the world, and for my whole life I have worked to make sure that the nine-year olds of today would not have to see that. And it's this feeling that we can't go back, we have to go forward.

I think my hope is in the reaction around the world, when people

saw what happened, and there was an instantaneous reaction and a rejection. And it you saw the people, it was not just black people - black people, white people, everybody else. I initially was so upset, and I thought, has nothing changed? And then I realised it has changed - all that fighting and working and driving and bringing people together; seeing we were humans first and everything else second. That's why across the world, people came out immediately to say this is not acceptable in 2020, and that's what we have to hang on to. The protests in all our Commonwealth countries, for local governments to remove statues, to rename streets, buildings named after figures, who sought to preserve and benefit the systems of racial inequality and exploitation, most of this outpouring, is actually saying we want to heal. We do not want the past. We want a new future, a future that is in inclusive and loving and equal and robust enough so that when our grandchildren are nine, or our great grandchildren are nine, they will not be seen. People are suddenly realising that these are things which touch all of us, if my family and those islands have to be safe, your family and those you love, have to be safe. So the interconnection between us as human beings comes before place, nationality, race and religion. We are fundamentally human.

And I think, if you look at the problems in our world and ours does look sick, at times, a truth seeking transitional mechanism is required, which gives all our people and all our communities an opportunity to tell their stories, to share their pain to somebody who listens, and that's an acknowledgement of the testimony and the right to be heard. especially the small island nations to handle the challenges arising from COVID-19 and the looming global economic recession?

Well, given the unprecedented nature of the current pandemic, it was important to immediately get the sort of knowledge and resources needed, and make them available to our member states. So we created the Commonwealth Coronavirus Response Centre on our innovation hub, where we were able to pull together all the data coming from the WHO, and from other sources, including data sets that we had pulled in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals. We did things like embed John Hopkins University information and others so as to create a one stop shop, particularly for the small member states who find it very difficult when they dive into the data of the bigger institutional data base.

They find it quite hard to find their data in a way that makes better sense to them. We also have been looking at how we face some of the economic and financial crises, because we know

Part of the mandate of the Secretariat is to help member countries in solving National problems. How is the Commonwealth Secretariat supporting member countries,

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that most of our countries are locked down to save the lives of their people. And they put the people first. And you've got to do that because if you have no health, you have no wealth. So that was the focus.

But what we also saw, and we've seen from the data, it is likely for the developing world, if you exclude China, to suffer about $220 billion in terms of loss of our GDP and the economy. So, there is a big shock coming. However, it was interesting when you looked at the 2008 /2009 global financial crisis. We think that could offer some insights about the Commonwealth possible performance, because over the years following the global crisis, the Commonwealth’s overall exports of both goods and services grew at a faster rate than the world average. And from 2010 to 2018 the Commonwealth exports in goods, which make up 70% of its trade, grew by around 8% compared to only 5.5% for the rest of the world. And in fact,

ventilators and testing kits. And you know, there was a big problem because many of our small states said that they had huge difficulties getting access to these medical supplies. And we were proud of the commitment from the 54 member states to work together to deliver a coordinated Commonwealth COVID-19 response. And that collaboration is really important because you just cannot underestimate such a critical message of solidarity in the current global climate. And we are seeing divisions and disagreements amongst some of the world's leading countries, as well as the tendency to look inward and to protect your own.

And so what we have set up is an open ended technical working group, to facilitate the exchange of information while promoting innovative solutions between our member states. The group will also seek to respond to the urgent needs and concerns raised by our members, such as challenges in

during the global trade slowdown in 2012 - 2016, the Commonwealth services exports were especially resilient, expanding by 7% on average, more than twice the growth rate for the rest of the world. So when Commonwealth health ministers came together in a virtual meeting on May the 14th and agreed to coordinate their response in tackling the Coronavirus pandemic, they weren't just looking at the medical issues but they were looking at some of the why and what. The health ministers, I think, were quite extraordinary in the way that they committed to coordinate their response in tackling the corona virus pandemic and sharing all the information they had. They endorsed the removing of fees for Coronavirus tests and claimant, especially for migrants and refugees, as appropriate within the National context. And they created a voluntary mechanism to share and to distribute extra medical supplies, including July - August 2020

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human resources and financing.

And I don't know of any group of nations, certainly not across the five regions, who are doing that.

So if nobody else wants to do it, we the Commonwealth are sticking together and showing how we can support each other.

And so, aside from Coronavirus, the ministers also discussed some of the continuing and the coordinated action on other health challenges. In our Commonwealth, we have got a big challenge on noncommunicable diseases. We have got issues on malnutrition, immunisation, malaria, which are all priority areas of concern among our Commonwealth governments. So we are committed to doing all of it.

We started a virtual webinar series on the economics of COVID-19 for all our countries, so we could share the new challenges they're facing. We held webinars on the impact of COVID on income inequality, the population effects, the role of technology and the impact on tourism, debt, disaster risk management. So the big thing for us is we're trying to listen. We're trying to hear what our members are telling us so that we can respond in a way that will really help them to implement the changes that we need to make.

And we're now in the process of tailoring a propriety information and price sharing database for pooled procurement to focus on providing the data on health supplies necessary to combat the pandemic, including drugs, testing kits, personal protective equipments and technology.

We did not just start now. Our health ministers last year in 2019 said they were worried if we have another epidemic like Ebola, but what are we going to do if we have a pandemic? How are we going to help each other? We also identified that some of our countries were paying 30 times more for similar medication because they hadn't got access to that at scale. So that is why our health ministers asked us a couple of years ago that we set up this platform to make it easier for us to buy medication and equipment to help each other in times of need. And look how prescient that was.

Africa has been described as the youngest continent, with over 60% of the population within the ages of 16-25; yet they remain under represented in politics and key decision-making sectors of the continent. How is the Commonwealth helping to address this imbalance?

treated, because we think that they are our leaders of today, not just our leaders of tomorrow.

It is a part of this direct engagement to overtime, support more young people into politics and into public service. I think this is another way that we add that touch of healing, because we know that if our young people feel ignored, and hopeless, as opposed to hopeful, then our future is not bright because they are our future. And unless we can make them absolutely convinced that we see their glory, their potential and we have their back, then I think we will be letting them down. So, my passion for young

60% of our Commonwealth is under the age of 30. And Africa has the youngest population. We are trying to cater to the issues of our young people through the Commonwealth Youth Programme, which has driven the Global Youth Development work of the Secretariat for over 45 years. I think we are probably the first to concentrate on youth in that way. And it really has made a difference, because our young people I believe, are our greatest asset in the whole Commonwealth. And they are in so many of our Member States. In some cases, like Uganda, more than 70% of the population are youths. This is a young Commonwealth. And It maybe important for us just to look at the demographics of what is happening with the race protests, because we have to design and implement a strategic intervention to make sure we assist our young people. We need to give them the right skills, the right support, to enable their talents, and they are brilliant. I am really proud to have one of the oldest intergovernmental youth programmes in the world - the Commonwealth Youth Programme. It's been there since 1973. It offers really coherent interventions. We've got the Commonwealth Youth Council, which is the official voice of young people and they are very integrated. They do human rights, climate change, education, peace, gender rights, disability, everything you could possibly imagine. And I think they are at the very heart of our sustainable development, our strategic thinking, and our planning. And of course, they have been really leading the way on the climate change issue, because it's their future. And I was so proud of the work we did in Africa. So, we're youth main-streaming the challenges, challenging how young people are perceived and

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It is a part of this direct engagement to overtime, support more young people into politics and into public service. I think this is another way that we add that touch of healing, because we know that if our young people feel ignored, and hopeless, as opposed to hopeful, then our future is not bright because they are our future.

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people is to see them fly. I love to see them fly.

I've been to your office, and I see young people all over the place.

You don't just say it, you practice it.

Yes, we try to walk the talk.

You have been many firsts, including first female attorney general in the UK, first female Secretary General of the Commonwealth and you've been a pace-setter for women everywhere. However, there is still so much to be done for gender equality. What's your take on empowering women within the Commonwealth?

I think we have come a long way; my sadness is to discover that we haven't come as far as many of us hoped and that there are so many places to go. But you know, if you look at what has happened in the last year there is a lot for us, to celebrate in terms of women's leadership. I think it's significant if you look at many of the countries who have done remarkably well across the world in facing and dealing with COVID-19. The women leaders have been remarkable and are almost set aside when you think of how they have performed. Many of the other male leaders chose women leaders within their cabinets to lead on these issues. And so I think the leadership that women can

bring can be quite remarkable and I'm very proud to see that many countries look to the direction that has been demonstrated by Rwanda. In Rwanda, you've got about 67% of the Rwandan Parliament as females; more than 50% of the cabinet is female, and what the president of Rwanda, president Kagame said, and he said this to me very directly, he has chosen talent irrespective of gender. If you select talent and if you can see talent, then you will know that you have as many talented women as you have the skilled men.

60% of our Commonwealth is under the age of 30. And Africa has the youngest population. We are trying to cater to the issues of our young people through the Commonwealth Youth Programme, which has driven the Global Youth Development work of the Secretariat for over 45 years

We need both women and men, and as we craft our way out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and the financial crisis that is looming ahead of us, we want to make sure that leadership is both male and female. And the women's voice is heard not because it's tokenism but because we know that we need both our women and our men. We need all our talent to be there, jointly sharing with that burden, and that is our responsibility. So if we're going to succeed, and I know that Professor Margaret Cobia, who is the chair for the women Affairs ministerial meeting, is calling on the Secretariat and we are answering that call to host women Affairs ministers meeting, for us to talk about the impact of COVID-19 and the multiplicity of

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have seen changes where black people, women, people of different religions, people with different economic positions, people with disabilities, have been treated differently, and that's what the Commonwealth stands to change.

What's your final word in terms of what Africans should be looking forward to from the Commonwealth Secretariat in the coming days?

difficulties it is having on our countries. What she said, and I agree with her, is that there is a potential that all of these traumas could put us back a hundred years; and we're not going back on the race issue, we're not going back on gender either, because we know we need to go forward to have the world that we want to have. So, I wish I could tell you that all our struggles are behind us, but they're not all behind us.

Some of them are, and we can be the final judge of our future if we choose, and I'm very proud of how the leadership of women are coming to the fore. For Kenya, it is Professor Margaret Cobia, who

I think that we are focused on the future. This is a radically changed world, a digitalized world which is interconnected, interdependent, and needs that connectivity to make sure no one is left behind.

We have intellectual powers and we have the desire to deliver on all the sustainable development goals. However, we have to choose, because this time in our history is an inflexion point, and what we do will determine what the world will look like tomorrow.

You know people seem not to always to take on board that history doesn't just happen, history is made; it is made by the decisions that we take or refuse to take. So at this moment of global inflexion, where we are together facing a climate crisis that we have never encountered before, and we are the first generation to suffer from this crisis but the last generation to be able to do something about it. So, I would say to the leaders of Africa, we can do this. We just have to choose. The Commonwealth is choosing. I hope that all our leaders will choose with us and they will be the difference that we need, to have the future our children deserve. We have to make that history because nobody is going to make it for us.

has called for the women affairs ministers meeting. Amina Mahammad of Kenya is the chair for the sports ministers meeting, and we are going to be looking at how sports culture can contribute to our recovery. And that virtual ministers conference is again going to be led by a phenomenal African woman, and that is Amina Mahammad.

Hence, I think we are united in saying equality for all includes balance on gender, and race, and disability, and religion.

We are not leaving anyone behind. The truth is most of us have seen so many changes. We July - August 2020

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PROF. SAMUEL EDOUMIEKUMO:

LEADING A SILENT ACADEMIC REVOLUTION AT NIGER DELTA UNIVERSITY

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All over the world, education has been identified as the bedrock of development. However, the defective education system in Nigeria has continued to clog the wheel of progress. From inadequate funding; to poor educational infrastructures, Nigeria's educational system has been plagued with myriads of problems. In addition to these inadequacies, Nigeria’s school system has failed to equip students with the requisite capacity for entrepreneurship needed for life outside of paid employment.

However, the Niger Delta University under the leadership of Professor Samuel Edoumiekumo is changing the face of academic pursuit, by blending education and entrepreneurship. Prof.

Edoumiekumo, a banker turned academic is a firebrand administrator, whose out-of-the-box thinking is helping to reposition the institution for global acclaim.

In this exclusive interview with African Leadership Magazine UK, Prof. Samuel Edoumiekumo the Vice Chancellor of the Niger Delta University talks about his efforts towards building a world-class institution in Nigeria, challenges, as well as opportunities for partnerships.

Excerpts.

You had a brief stint in banking before venturing into the academic field. Tell us more about what spurred your foray into the academic world?

Growing up in life, I have always been so sensitive to my calling to impact humanity and contribute meaningfully to society's growth. I realized that my sojourns into the banking sector at the level where I was, was not directly changing society as I expected. Though I was successful, the success was personal; therefore, I was not deriving satisfaction. Many

discouraged me from leaving the banking industry because I was successful, but they do not understand my calling in life. So I left for the academia where I believe I am excelling. I have impacted on thousands of young men and women and have created a University Leadership style that many are emulating. So I am a fulfilled man.

The Niger Delta University is truly redefining tertiary education in Nigeria as we combine various employability skills for students as part of the curriculum. The University has a policy that every student must graduate with relevant expertise apart from the academic qualification. This policy has led to job creation as well as the development of innovations and products that are addressing socio-economic issues such as poverty, lack of jobs, health and youth restiveness. The University has nine well-developed workshops in the Entrepreneurship

The Niger Delta University is redefining tertiary education in Nigeria, by blending entrepreneurship and academics.

Tell us more about this initiative.

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Centre where students acquire such relevant skills. More so, sports and games facilities exist for the development of athletic skills. The feedback from the students is impressive.

The students from NDU's Department of Marine Engineering recently built and successfully tested a Hovercraft.

How has the school been able to connect such innovations with funding partners for scalability?

The idea of the Hovercraft arose because of the problematic operational terrains of oil and gas explorations and coastal security in the Niger Delta region. It placed a critical need for the design, building and commissioning of low-draught, high-speed surface crafts, HSCs, for the deployment of personnel and delivery of logistics between companies' shore-based and operational fields. Some of the accruable economic and technical benefits of the Hovercraft are: ?

Provision of employment for our youth since it is locally manufactured and commercialized; ?

Human capacity building and development since it is a local content-driven technology; ?

Provision of cheap and effective means of riverine transportation; ?

Production of an all-terrain pliable utility vehicle for oil and gas exploration and exploitation in the Region; ?

Production of a swift and structurally reinforced vehicle for an emergency rescue operation, coastal security, especially for combating militancy and criminality in the creeks Thus, the University is making efforts to collaborate with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the Oil and Gas Companies, the Nigerian Navy and other marine operators to scale up the project.

Efforts are on-going to obtain the patent for the research breakthrough, but the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled it.

The Niger Delta University has been rated as one of the best universities in Nigeria and Africa at

large. What makes the institution stand out?

the name of the University (Niger Delta University) stands out as a brand. These are some of the few things that make the institution stand out.

The only difference is that we do things differently. The staff of the University demonstrate an extraordinary passion for duty. This is equally true with the students.

Thus, our graduates are excelling in their postgraduate studies within and outside Nigerian universities such as University of Dundee, United Kingdom, University of Cranfield, United Kingdom, University of Capetown, South Africa and others.

More so, NDU places a premium on Quality Assurance Control for all disciplines. All the 70-degree awarding programmes of the University are fully accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC). In the same vein, all the professional courses are also certified by the respective professional bodies.

The adoption of the conference and panel grading of students’ scripts in all disciplines is another novel breakthrough. We set the pace for others to follow. Again,

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Nigeria is facing dwindling morals, which used to be the country's forte. How is NDU helping to shape the young people in character and learning correctly?

The University places a lot of emphasis on the character development of students, alongside academic development. grading and certification of students are purely based on character and learning.

Furthermore, the University instils discipline among students through the Students' Disciplinary Committee, where disciplinary cases are handled. The prompt and unbiased functioning of the Committee has promoted discipline and orderliness among students. So in NDU, contravening the rules and regulations is a taboo. Therefore, all the social vices we hear on campus in other

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others. What is NDU doing to set the pace in these fields?

The University has fully embraced this new concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). To achieve this, the University is collaborating with the Santa Clara University (SCU), Santa Clara, California in the United States of America. To this end, distinguished lecturer, Prof Tokunbo Ogunfunmi, who is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of the Signal Processing Research Laboratory at Santa Clara University, California was invited to deliver a lecture on, “Applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to Developing Economies�. The lecture was given at the Niger Delta University on the 22nd of July, 2019 to establish the foundation for the collaboration.

You have been described by many as dogged leader, who strives to achieve monumental feats. What inspires you to pursue and accomplish difficult tasks?

public schools have been curtailed.

Funding has been described as one of the significant challenges to quality tertiary education in Nigeria. Under your leadership, the NDU has managed to work within a limited budget to deliver world-class infrastructure and immersive learning experience for your students. How were you able to achieve this feat?

I am an Economist by profession.

Thus, I apply most of the reliable Economic theories in the administration of finance in the University, and I see them yielding results. We engage in the following to achieve results: Sustainable Business Management Approach, relationship building, prompt payment of salaries, participatory method, staff and student involvement and cost control measures. Mostly, we are just prudent in the utilization of resources. Corruption is not tolerated in NDU.

My inspiration is basically from the Bible when Moses the Prophet was sent by God to deliver the Israelites from the hands of Pharaoh. God admonished him to be courageous, so courage is my driving force alongside the desire to impact on humanity and society. Again, I am also inspired to contribute my quota to the development of my dear state irrespective of the odds.

Many analysts have also described the near absence of quality research and research-tomarket developments as the bane of the country's tertiary institutions. How has NDU fared in the area of research and development?

The University has a reliable and committed Research Committee.

Following the research intervention from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), significant research has been undertaken by scholars in the University. In all, a considerable amount has been spent by (TETFund) to fund forty-five (45) researches in the University. These fundings has helped to improve the research capacity of academics at the University. The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) must be commended for this support.

What would you like to be remembered for, upon the completion of your tour of duty at NDU? Very simple: As the Vice Chancellor who transformed the University to be a Centre of Excellence with the capacity to contribute towards providing solutions to the challenges in the Niger Delta, Nigeria and the world at large. Also, I would like to be remembered as someone who stood for the truth and always seen to do the right thing.

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NIGER DELTA UNIVERSITY AT A GLANCE 1

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International

CHINA

AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN COVID-19 RESPONSE

By Chu Maoming, China's Consul General in Lagos

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International

China has actively participated in and acted upon the Debt Service Suspension Initiative of the G20.

This was disclosed by a white paper, titled “Fighting COVID-19: China in Action�, which was issued on the morning of June 7, 2020 by the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China.

At the virtual event of opening of the 73rd World Health Assembly, Chinese President Xi Jinping made an important statement that is of great and far-reaching significance in boosting global confidence in pandemic containment, promoting international anti-pandemic cooperation and planning for the future global governance system.

As of now, the important measures put forward by President Xi Jinping are being actively implemented.

Regarding the US$2 billion in aid, it includes both anti-pandemic materials and support for postepidemic economic and social recovery and development in relevant countries, and it also involves bilateral assistance and multilateral donations. China is now working with recipient countries in need to confirm assistance projects through consultations on an equal footing, and has provided two batches of cash support totaling US$50 million to the World Health Organization (WHO). Negotiations and preparations for a global humanitarian response depot and hub in China are under progress.

accessibility and affordability in developing countries.

The establishment of a cooperation mechanism for Chinese hospitals to pair up with 30 African hospitals is underway.

In addition to the medical supplies sent to over 50 African countries and the African Union, and the seven medical expert teams dispatched to the continent, China will offer more assistance to African countries, and continue to do all in its power to offer support. This includes sending the most urgent medical supplies, conducting cooperation on medical technologies, and dispatching more medical expert teams and task forces. China will also provide support to the Covid19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan of the United Nations.

China will never forget the invaluable friendship from people around the globe who cheered for China in different ways when China was at the most trying moment of its epidemic response. In the face of the increasingly severe global pandemic, China feels for the pain and reciprocates acts of friendship and kindness from others

China will never forget the invaluable friendship from people around the globe who cheered for China in different ways when China was at the most trying moment of its epidemic response.

In the face of the increasingly severe global pandemic, China feels for the pain and reciprocates acts of friendship and kindness from others. China has done all it can to provide all sides with support and assistance, and shared China's experience and solutions without reservation.

The international community has praised China for its outstanding contribution to international cooperation against COVID-19.

In the face of such a pandemic, the world's most powerful weapon is cooperation and the right way to fight the virus is solidarity. As a responsible country, China stands for the vision of a global community of shared future, and has actively participated in and advanced international cooperation in public health.

China will put into action the six proposals and five measures put forward by President Xi Jinping in his speech at the opening of the 73rd World Health Assembly, and contribute more to securing regional and international public health and building a global community of health for all.

China has actively participated in and acted upon the Debt Service Suspension Initiative of the G20. It has so far announced the suspension of debt repayments from 77 developing countries.

China has taken part in a WHO proposed global initiative on drugs and vaccine development and co-hosted with WHO a video conference on facilitating a Solidarity Trail vaccine development program. The COVID-19 vaccine will be used as a safe, effective and high-quality global public product once it is developed and deployed in China. This will be China's contribution to ensuring vaccine July - August 2020

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Feature

TheAfrica Youth Has Its Say Youth Survey 2020

Africa has the youngest population of any continent. Here, in excerpts an exclusive interview, Ivor Ichikowitz talks about his family foundation's initiative to establish an annual youth survey.

Stephen Williams reports.

Ivor Ichikowitz is a leading South African industrialist who has built a pan-African network of companies across the continent. Speaking with African Leadership Magazine in July - August 2020

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London, he explained why the Ichikowitz Family Foundation has backed the establishment of an annual African Youth Survey.

“For 30 years I've worked on the African continent and found that often appearances and reality don't match. Sometimes you have to listen to your instinct.

“And for years I have seen the

is that there is a new evolving generation of Africans who did not experience colonialism or were not born under apartheid.

They haven't been told all their lives, how incapable they are, and how much help they need from the West.

new business leaders, the next politicians, the next social entrepreneurs.”

It could be said that the survey essentially creates a benchmark, creating a set of data that can be measured. The survey looks at how the youth consumes news, how they see foreign interference on the continent and issues that do not necessarily touch their lives every day, because they're not things that 18-year-olds have to deal with what we really have to see if they even were aware of these issues.

“And that generation is this generation, it's the 18 to 24 year olds of today. The objective of the

The survey sampled participants from Congo Brazzaville, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Ten key findings of the survey included identifying a general optimism about the future, and looking ahead to an 'African Century'; that the nation state remains a strong source of collective identity but African youth overwhelmingly agree that a shared African identity exists, brought forth by common culture and the values epitomised by Nelson Mandela.

Many young Africans say the continent is headed in the wrong direction and call for unity to bring Africa forward. While African youth are divided on whether democracy or stability is more important for the continent, most believe in the democratic values of participation, tolerance and freedom.

African pot-bubbling. I've seen more and more optimism, more and more enthusiasm for the continent.

“As a result, I've made some very bold decisions and investment across Africa, not backed up by anything other than my gut feeling. Part of the reason for this

It is clear that the Survey is not concerned about expressing whatever contrarian views it might uncover. The issue of democracy is a case in point.

Many African youth would appear absolutely willing to sacrifice an electoral voice in the interest of stability and progress – i.e. the concept of benevolent dictatorship.

survey was to, try and get a take on this demographics– the hopes, the aspirations, and the fears of this particular group of people at this particular time in history, against which to measure the future of the continent. This population group is the immediate future, this is the generation that is going to be the July - August 2020

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current affairs – but 'Fake News' is viewed as problematic.

“Young people in Africa are deeply embedded in their local communities, which many describe as ethnically, religiously and economically multitudinous.

“African youth are conflicted in regard to foreign influence – on the one hand, many are wary of new forms of colonialism but at the same time, most consider the influence of specific countries to be positive.'

While climate change is not a front of mind concern, most African youth hold their country responsible for contributing to the exploration of renewable energies and providing better recycling infrastructure.

As for the challenges ahead, African youth see infectious diseases (the survey was pre the Covid-19 pandemic) and terrorism as the most formative developments for Africa in the last five years.

Democracy versus Autocracy Ichikowitz highlights that one of the biggest recurring themes about Africa from the West is that African governments are not democratic enough as there are

still dictators in Africa.

“Many other things have come out of the survey that indicates that cultural and tribal issues still remain very prevalent in the minds of this demographic.

It is clear that the Survey is not concerned about expressing whatever contrarian views it might uncover. The issue of democracy is a case in point.

Many African youth would appear absolutely willing to sacrifice an electoral voice in the interest of stability and progress – i.e. the concept of benevolent dictatorship.

“Certainly the data seems to indicate that there is a sense that democracy can interfere with progress, that a country spends four years making progress to go through an election process and then is stalled for a further four years.

“Because there isn't a western style democracy, he says, “in the west, Africa is in some way considered deficient. We wanted to see what this demographic felt about democracy.

“The West's democratic system of four- or five- year presidential terms actually gets in the way of progress. It's short term.

That is interesting because there is a perception in the West that Africans are short-term thinkers.

“My instinct was this generation is plugged into Western propaganda. This generation is constantly exposed to television and online media that keeps reinforcing the fact that Africa is bad because there isn't enough democracy and therefore, there would be an overwhelming desire for Western-style democracy.

Well, exactly the opposite is true!

“This generation is looking into the future. They understand the impact of climate change. They understand the importance of preserving their wildlife they understand that the continent as a whole needs to be conserved, which might not have been the way their parents looked at these issues.”

“Around half of the people surveyed believed that a strong, autocratic, benevolent dictatorship is a preferred system over the West's style of democracy.

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In what Ichikowitz describes as “completely predictably” very high on the list of the issues raised by the Survey was the lack of employment opportunities, and

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the necessity to create jobs.

But when the Survey drilled down into that, expecting people to turn around and say, 'Well, you know, governments have failed us, they haven't created jobs.

There's not enough government jobs,'the Survey found exactly the opposite.

What became apparent is that an overwhelming percentage of respondents said, 'we want to be entrepreneurs. We want to create our own jobs. We want to go create jobs for other people'.

A mistaken sense of entitlement “So the sense of entitlement, the sense that we're going to sit and wait for somebody else to do something about our reality seems to be gone,” Ichikowitz says. “You

“African businesses tell us they seek graduates who are ethical, who have an entrepreneurial, 'let's solve this problem' mindset, who can communicate well, and who are comfortable in situations more complex than the examples in their textbooks.”

Patrick Awuah, founder Ashesi University, Ghana

know, in the late 90s, after the end of the apartheid, the attitude was 'Now we're free, we're going to be saved'.

“There's a sense in the rest of the continent that we're all African and we need to help each other.”

“That attitude has disappeared. It is now 'we're going to go and do something about our own reality.

Yes. Government should create policies that support that. Let us have access to capital create a banking system that gives us access to capital, create legislation that encourages the creation of capital. But we're not relying on you to create jobs, you create the enabling environment'.

Ichikowitz is surprisingly critical of his home country, believing that South Africa, rather than being a front-runner in Africa's development is, in reality, holding the continent back “If anything, there are serious wounds that need to be dealt with in South Africa that simply don't exist on the rest of the continent. Based on the findings of the survey, South Africa is pulling the continent back, holding growth and development back, whereas the rest of the continent are way ahead in their thinking,” he says.

“And that, for me was a big, big turning point” Ichikowitz explains.

When Ichikowitz is asked whether he felt that view was very South African, he points out that even though he takes great issue with those that view Africa as a homogenous entity, there are many hopes and fears and kinds of priorities that are common right across Africa, right across the language divide.

It is worth pointing out that Ichikowitz was deeply involved, as a student activist, in the antiapartheid struggle. He was one of the lucky ones in that, while studying at Witwatersrand University, he did not come to the attention of South Africa's brutal security forces, nor was he forced into exile.

“But what did come out in many of the metrics that we looked at is that South Africa isn't an indication of what's going on in the rest of the continent.

“So if you look at the geography on the map that we have is a very, very representative geography – we wanted a really wide distribution. We also wanted countries that in the African context are considered to be developed countries – South Africa, Nigeria, perhaps, Ethiopia, Senegal – and we wanted countries that were way behind in development, such as Malawi and perhaps Mali and DR Congo.

And we wanted to look at a very big mix as well, not just countries that had a wealthy class or a large, wealthy class.

But his commitment to a free, racially-just South Africa is absolutely evident even if his business interests that include defense industries, do arouse concerns among the liberal, left wing thinkers.

Nevertheless, he says that having been brought up in the revolutionary movement in South Africa, and having experienced the transition in South Africa, the overriding issue that was used to shape everybody's sentiment was oppression.

“Now, of course, the oppression was there,” he says, “it very clearly touched all of our lives, and it overrode any ability that we had to be optimistic, but I believe that a lot of growth and development on the continent has been held back by this constant bombardment, with the propaganda that keeps telling Africans that they are in some way deficient.

“There is no question that South Africa stands apart from the rest of the continent in many, many metrics. and South Africa, by the way, doesn't really work. When it comes to issues of optimism, when it becomes comes to issues of xenophobia, for example, a huge problem in South Africa but there is no xenophobia, or very little, in the rest of the continent,

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“It is no surprise that it is an issue in Mali, an issue in Nigeria. But there is evidence that this sentiment is in Zambia and in Ghana. These are not countries that you would have worried about. ”This data has relevance to policymakers, it has relevance to all African governments, indeed all governments.

And we want to put this into the hands of as many people as possible. We're also making the backup data available to whoever will use it.

education. There's too much poverty, there's too much corruption. You're the hopeless continent, is the refrain.

“I bet you 10 years ago, that's how Africans felt about themselves. That's not the case today. That's not how this generation feels about themselves.“ “The challenges in South Africa was so much bigger than anybody anticipated they were, but everybody had to be inward looking in South Africa. What we've done is tried to extend the technology and the skills and competence that South Africa has into commercial projects throughout the continent, and that's what we've done for much of our lives.

“The Paramount Group is part of our family group. We invest in power, extractive industries, and we're invested in metal processing. We're invested in property; we're invested in ecotourism. We're invested in a whole host of activities,” he explains.”

Paramount didn't initially come into the picture when we saw that part of the biggest challenge that existed on the continent at this stage was in fact, peace and security and stability. We saw an opportunity to be able to support African governments The same way as we saw an opportunity to build power plants

and, and rehabilitate transmission lines the same way as we saw an opportunity to, to develop accessible mining to employ people to be their will. It just happened to be one of the categories of things that we got involved in probably the one that we're best known for, because it's probably the most controversial.

“My hope is to see a growing movement of youth who are passionate about ending TB and other infectious-disease epidemics. Their influence can help hold governments accountable for protecting our rights to attain the highest standard of health.” John Paul Dongo, Country Director, Uganda, of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease

“But beyond that, the principles were always exactly the same.

And I'd like to think that is one way we've made a little bit of a contribution. But if nothing else, I think that if Africans themselves aren't investing in the future of the continent, who do we ever expect is going to do so? But suppose we never have success One of Ichikowitz's main concerns arising from the Survey is when you drill into security issues.

“There's a huge awareness around fundamentalism. Three per cent of people surveyed – which in an African context is high – have either had experiences where people have tried to recruit them into fundamentalist movements, and another three per cent say that they know people who are in fundamentalist movements and another three per cent talk about knowing people who are supporting fundamentalist movements.

“That's worrying. That is very worrying. So I think oppression is just changing its face. It's just manifesting itself differently, Ichikowitz says.

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“The idea here is not to keep the stuff secret. It's to distribute it as widely as possible because if policy makers today don't listen to this generation, they're going to land up making policies that are not relevant.”

The Africa Youth Survey 2020 can be downloaded athttps://ichikowitzfoundation.co m/wpcontent/uploads/2020/02/AfricanYouth-Survey-2020.pdf Pull Quotes “I am immensely heartened by the Afro- optimism among the youth of Africa as this survey reveals, particularly their belief in Afro-capability...”

Kgalema Motlanthe Former President of South Africa “African businesses tell us they seek graduates who are ethical, who have an entrepreneurial, 'let's solve this problem' mindset, who can communicate well, and who are comfortable in situations more complex than the examples in their textbooks.”

Patrick Awuah, founder Ashesi University, Ghana

movement of youth who are passionate about ending TB and other infectious-disease epidemics. Their influence can help hold governments accountable for protecting our rights to attain the highest standard of health.”

John Paul Dongo, Country Director, Uganda, of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.

“I am immensely heartened by the Afro- optimism among the youth of Africa as this survey reveals, particularly their belief in Afrocapability...”

Kgalema Motlanthe Former President of South Africa

“We need to begin to introduce environmental stewardship as a core part of early education. So that children and youth grow up understanding and loving the natural world.”

Wanjira Mathai; Kenyan environmentalist.

“We have found that there is a youth in Africa that is imbued with optimism about the future – and wants to shape their own destiny.

We have found a youth that refuses to shy away from the very real challenges of Africa, that is honest about what needs to be done and what their role has to be to achieve this – and they are overwhelmingly keen to make that difference.”

Ivor Ichikowitz

“My hope is to see a growing

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SDG

AFRICA AND ITS AGRICULTURAL PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE I have spent the last 26 years working on promoting the AgriFood sector and mobilizing resources to support regional and national programs in Africa. It is my conviction that Africa can and should feed itself. After all Africa has half the population of India which is food self-sufficient on ½ of the land area of Africa.

The real concern is why is Africa not food self-sufficient despite its abundant resources. This concern is simple but the answer is complex.

Through my experience and convictions that we must strengthen key sectors and highlights issues across the continent, such as: · Economic reforms that broaden the scope and incentives for private sector participation such as land registration, leasing facilities and the establishment of credit bureaus; · Exploitation of opportunities and addressing emerging challenges for agricultural growth, like large scale land leasing

arrangements to local and foreign groups in SSA;

the case of Sierra Leone, the country has a remarkable combination of advantages and challenges. It has a reasonable deposit of minerals and a great potential for agriculture. With a total land area of 71,740 sq. km of which a large amount is arable and a favorable climate for agricultural production, plenty of rainfall, and water resources, Sierra Leone should be a good candidate for agriculturally propelled economic development. Indeed, agriculture is the most dominant sector of the economy accounting for 45% of GDP and engaging 60% of the labor force.

In spite of this combination of advantages agriculture contributes only about 20% to total exports which are solely based on coffee and cocoa; with other commodities like fisheries, livestock, and forest products rarely featuring. Besides, markets have to be developed and organized with appropriate value addition opportunities projected and utilized coupled with adequate capacity strengthening for job creation and industrial

· Increased regional cooperation through organisations like the African Union, NEPAD and CAADP, FARA, EMRC, the CGIAR's regional collaborative action plans, Regional Economic Communities, Sub Regional Agricultural Research Organisations (SROs); · A new professed willingness on the part of African governments and development partners to support agricultural development as a pillar of a broader economic development and poverty-alleviation strategy; The above opportunities and emerging challenges embody important elements that strategies aimed at accelerating growth should consider. Return on investment is an important indicator for attracting private investment, therefore returns from investment in productivity should be pursued both to maximize the benefits from the available resources and to secure further investment.

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development.

The outcome of this is a complex of mutually reinforcing challenges which include food insecurity, malnutrition, hunger and poverty.

Another challenge is the bulging youth population with a high level of unemployment and poverty. In spite of all these challenges, Sierra Leone could become a country of the dream of HE, the President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma if the total system could be transformed. Transformation in Sierra Leone should translate into wealth and job creation for all sectors of the economy, more food and higher incomes for greater prosperity and reduction of poverty.

In my opinion, to make rapid progress on the transformation of Sierra Leone, emphasis would be needed in a few areas as listed below: Agriculture: Buoying up agricultural productivity and markets through Provision of adequate support to the private sector: seed, fertilizers, agricultural lending for optimal use of resources available. Sierra Leone could work through Regional integration to become the food basket for the region.

The major strategy here will be the attraction of appropriate private sector to work in an environment which also provides opportunities for the small holders; attracting the youths into farming and agriculture by making agriculture both lucrative and less laborious; support to SMEs and promote job creation by attracting various donors to help mushroom the development of SMEs in Sierra Leone. The enterprises could go beyond agriculture to touch on other areas of the economy including those for show manufacture, garment making, bags, belt, ICT and mining. · Other related issues to agricultural development that I will like to accomplish are as follows: · ICT: Put in place policies and enabling environment including appropriate partnerships to encourage a boom in ICT industry in Sierra Leone. ·

Fore-sighting: In the light of

climate change and globalization, position Sierra Leone to be an African/Global leader within the shortest possible time. This will include determining where the country should be and how to get there.

· The experts should endeavor to break the walls that separate various entities involved in agricultural research for development and develop integrated and holistic programs that would involve research, extension, education and the private sector under the umbrella of the CAADP. The youths need to be equipped with the right skills for engagement in the transformation process. Therefore collectively all actors need to determine:

· Infrastructure: This requires improving the business environment to remove barriers for entities that want to invest in agricultural development and retain those who are already investing in Sierra Leone; · improve physical infrastructure (e.g. roads, marine transport, water, markets, communication (ICT) and energy to reduce cost of doing business in Sierra Leone and the costs of our product to make them more competitive in regional and global markets;

· How science and technology can be pursued to address the needs of farmers, the private sector and other operators along the value chain. · The type of science and technology and associated innovative processes needed to support the transformation of agriculture.

· improve knowledge infrastructure through harnessing Science, Technology and Innovation to improve competitiveness of our agricultural products; improve the skill-base of Sierra Leonean labour force by creating balanced capacity in under-graduate, postgraduate, vocational and artisan with focus not just on numbers but also on the quality of skill development.

The strategic direction and guidelines that can improve sustained agricultural productivity, competitiveness and markets for economic growth.

The most underlying necessity for the entire region is for our experts to encourage the youths to go back to farming and agriculture by making agriculture an attractive enterprise through provision of inputs such as seeds, fertilizers etc. and adequate simple equipment to reduce the drudgery in agriculture and incentives to improve profitability through innovative funding and tax break.

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THE CHANGES AND TRENDS THAT WILL INFLUENCE THE ART WORLD IN THE NEXT TWO DECADES The future may be uncertain, but some things are undeniable: climate change, shifting demographics, geopolitics. The only guarantee is that there will be changes, both wonderful and terrible. It's worth considering how artists will respond to these changes, as well as what purpose art serves, now and in the future.

Reports suggest that by 2040 the impacts of human-caused climate change will be unescapable, making it the big issue at the centre of art and life in 20 years' time. Artists in the future will wrestle with the possibilities of the post-human and post-Anthropocene – artificial intelligence, human colonies in outer space and potential doom.

The identity politics seen in art

around the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements will grow as environmentalism, border politics and migration come even more sharply into focus. Art will become increasingly diverse and might not 'look like art' as we expect. In the future, once we've become weary of our lives being visible online for all to see and our privacy has been all but lost, anonymity may be more desirable than fame. Instead of thousands, or millions, of likes and followers, we will be starved for authenticity and connection. Art could, in turn, become more collective and experiential, rather than individual.

curator Jeffreen M Hayes tells BBC Culture, “in the sense of boundaries being collapsed between media, between the kinds of art that is labelled art, in the traditional sense. I also see it being much more representative of our growing and shifting demographics, so more artists of colour, more female-identified works, and everything in between.”

The future of art is black – Modou Dieng Hayes's exhibition AfriCOBRA: Nation Time was recently selected as an official collateral event of the Venice Biennale which brings the work of a previously littleknown and uncelebrated group of black artists working on Chicago's south side in the 1960s

A more inclusive art world?

“I imagine art in 20 years will be much more fluid than it is today,”

An installation by Justin Brice Guariglia, just one of the artists who is creating work that concerns climate change July - August 2020

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institutions. During World War One a group of artists calling themselves the Dada started to stage disruptive, experimental interventions as a protest against the senseless violence of the war.

The Dada was considered the most radical avant-garde movement in the early 20th Century, followed by the Fluxus artists in the 1960s, who similarly sought to employ shock and senselessness in order to change artistic and social perceptions.

The legacy of these performative movements continues in works by artists like Paul McCarthy and Robert Mapplethorpe. "Shock functions as part of the movements' attempt to change society," writes Dorothée Brill in Shock and the Senseless in Dada and Fluxus. "This endeavour will be shown to as being linked to the artists' rejection of the idea that artistic production must make sense and be meaningful.”

Senegalese curator and artist Modou Dieng – seen in 2009 – tells BBC Culture “the future of art is black”

to an international audience.

“I'm hopeful that in 20 years, as art shifts and artists help to lead the way, that institutions begin to be, not just intentional, but more thoughtful about the different ways that art can be presented, and that would require a more inclusive, not just curatorial staff, but also leadership,” she says.

Senegalese artist and curator Modou Dieng tells BBC Culture “the future of art is black.” Today, African, African-American, AfroEuropean, and Afro-Latin art is trending globally, marked by an opening to African diaspora artists working with discourses beyond the black body and colonialism.

Black abstraction, curating and performance are all centre stage.

Growing up in a newly independent Senegal looking for an identity as a people, “we saw migration as the solution, not the problem,” says Dieng, whose works are included in the US Department of State's permanent collection.

Activism Activism-art campaigns are indicative of shifting trends toward accountability, also revealing of entrenched power dynamics and dirty money in the art world.

Decolonize This Place, an amorphous group of artists and activists describing themselves as an “action-oriented movement centring around Indigenous struggle, Black liberation, free Palestine, global wage workers and de-gentrification, recently protested inside New York's Whitney Museum of Art against vice chairman Warren B Kanders, who owns a company that manufactures tear-gas used against oppressed people around the world.

“I hope that art will continue to be a space for formal innovation, radical experimentation and lawlessness,” curator Chris Sharp tells BBC Culture, “in order to continue to evade the instrumentalisation of capitalism, politics and ideology, carving out a space for neither right nor wrong thinking, but rather thought which can be neither qualified nor quantified.” When we spoke, Sharp was in Milan for the art fair with his Mexico City gallery, Lulu, before traveling to Venice, where he is co-curating the New Zealand Pavilion for Biennale with Dr Zara Stanhope and artist Dane

The artist-activists of the Decolonize This Place movement aren't the first in history to be disruptive, usually to the dismay of

The change anticipated by Hayes and Dieng does not translate to the new emergence of black, Latino, LGBT, outsider, feminist and 'other' art, as these movements have long histories of their own. But it merely means that they will be further embraced by the markets and the institutions, which will themselves become more diverse and informed by histories outside the dominant, Eurocentric, Western canon.

Activists Decolonize This Place protest inside New York's Whitney Museum July - August 2020

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Mitchell.

Those who believe in 'art for art's sake' might say that art as an unquantifiable force must remain outside social or ideological norms, or risk becoming something else. Some experts like Sharp argue that it's a slippery slope when art starts leaning toward activism because that's just not the point. (Though the curator also argues that it's impossible for art to be apolitical).

It's a viewpoint committed to art as a force on its own, a process of radical experimentation that results in an artwork, one of many along a line of inquiry, not a means to illustrate an end or impregnate an object with meaning. No conclusions should be drawn about art, present or future because it is the force against universalism, which must be interrupted by artists, as if to tell the world “wake up!”

Painting is (not) dead In two decades', time, it will have been 200 years since Paul Delaroche exclaimed “painting is dead”, and there are reasonable arguments against how relevant the medium is as a tool of the avant-garde. Delaroche's original idea has been repeated and recycled endlessly as new mediums have worked their way into and out of the spotlight, but painting isn't likely to be going anywhere.

Painting sales are still the major driver of auction houses, art fairs and galleries, dominating all record-breaking art sales. Modern paintings made during the first half of the 20th Century continue

to hold steady as the most desirable and most expensive artworks on the market. Nine of the 10 most expensive paintings ever sold were made between 1892 and 1955, the only exception being a newly discovered Leonardo da Vinci from between 1490 and 1519, which fetched an extraordinary $450.3m (£341m) at auction, making it the most expensive artwork ever sold. Every painting on the list was made by a white man, however, which doesn't paint a very hopeful picture for equality.

A museum is not just a place for things to exist, but it's a platform for other voices to be heard. So according to Borjabad, the curator is a mediator. Through commissions, for example, the museum isn't just a place to display art, but also an “incubator of ideas” for producing new work.

“I think that the future is multiple and plural, it's not a future,” she tells BBC Culture.

Cultural institutions and collections are highly political and have perpetuated and consolidated a very dogmatic understanding of history,” she continues. “That's why collections like the Art Institute are the perfect material to help us rewrite histories, plural, rather than just a history.”

In 20 years, the market might not be very different than it is today – dominated by modern painting – but perhaps works from the second half of the 20th Century, including more women and minority artists, will begin to accrue value: in 2017 a painting

by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (1984), set a new record for the most expensive contemporary artwork sold at auction for $110.4m (£85.4m). Last year the market for contemporary African and African diaspora also set records, with Kerry James Marshall fetching an astounding $21.1m for his painting Past Times (1997), a new record for living AfricanAmerican artist.

In the year 2040, art might not look like art (unless it's a painting), but it will look like everything else, reflecting zeitgeists as multitudinous and diverse as the artists themselves. There will be artist-activists leading political upheaval; there will be formal experimenters exploring new mediums and spaces (even in outer space), and there will be strong markets in Latin America, Asia and Africa. So in the world of culture at least, the West may find itself playing catch up.

Multi-futurism Maite Borjabad, curator of architecture and design at The Art Institute of Chicago, says that we should be “ready for things to happen that you cannot even anticipate.” In other words, we can't expect to predict one future, but instead should prepare for many futures.

Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi sold at auction in 2017 for over $450m, making it the most expensive painting ever sold July - August 2020

Kerry James Marshall's painting Past Times (1997) sold for $21.1m, a new record for a living African-American artist

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COVID-19 AND AFRICA’S

$31 BILLION FASHION INDUSTRY: Leading Designers Discuss the Future Like any other sector, the fashion industry is not exempt from the devastating impact of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. And it is not difficult to see why: stores are closed, designers are unable to ship their products across borders, orders are being cancelled, planned showcases have been postponed indefinitely and the supply chain is broken. This has terrible consequences on fashion businesses all over the world.

Garment factories in Bangladesh have recorded a loss of $1.5 billion due to mass cancellation of orders. Top European fashion houses shed $54 billion in market value. A report by the Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company expects that the revenue for the $2.5 trillion global fashion industry will contract by 30% this year, further predicting that a large number of fashion

companies will go bankrupt in the next 12 to 18 months.

To discuss the possible long-term effects of the pandemic on the $31 billion Sub-Saharan fashion market, five leading ladies in the fashion industry held a panel session on YouTube. The session, titled #StayHome… In Style – The Future of Fashion in Africa, was live streamed via the Lagos Fashion Week channel. The panel featured Omoyemi Akerele (Founder, Lagos Fashion Week), Adama Ndiaye (Founder, Dakar Fashion Week), Lucilla Booyzen (CEO, South Africa Fashion Week), Gloria Wavamuno (Founder, Kampala Fashion Week) and Claudia Lumor (Founder, Glitz Africa Fashion Week, Ghana).

It was a stocktaking exercise, stepping back to evaluate how

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far the fashion scene has evolved in their respective countries as much as it was about planning for the post-Covid-19 future.

Common themes were the challenges of thriving amidst economic setbacks and the need for the industry to in all countries to forge a stronger platform for common purpose. Wavamuno commenced discussion by talking about the slow process of developing the Ugandan industry through the Kampala Fashion Week. “We started out in a very young fashion industry 6 years ago. Everyone was just personally tailoring on their own. We came onto the scene to display the wonderful creativity and give people a sense of pride and inspiration. We wanted to give a platform to designers to showcase their work.”

Ndiaye spoke about the efforts to move the Senegalese fashion industry forward. Though admitting that “the business side is very limited because we are a small country”, she expressed

needs of Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone Africans alike.

optimism about the growth of the industry, even talking about plans to create an African Fashion Council. She asked for support from her fellow fashion leaders in other parts other continent. “How can we improve our platform in Francophone Africa? We are not in competition but are forces to support each other. This is the time to share and be supportive of one another.”

The speakers were upbeat about managing the challenges of COVID-19, seeing the disruption as an opportunity to transform the industry in Africa. According to Boozyen, “Covid has brought us a blank canvass. It has given us the opportunity to build up again from the bottom. We had originally thought we reached the top because of the fashion weeks and other milestones. But now, Covid is making us rethink everything like fashion education and strategies for reaching out to buyers. But we need to help each other out.”

Nigeria's Omoyemi Akerele added that the world of African fashion must encourage the “cross pollination of ideas and cultures” and “bring together all parts of Africa including Francophone Africa. It is not only Anglophone Africa that exists”, a reference to the perceived domination of the African fashion scene by large English-speaking countries like Nigeria.

Complementing Boozyen's sentiments, Akerele agreed that the only way to surmount through this challenge is to work in unison.

“It's important we come together at a time like this to tap into all our collective and individual strengths to be able to shape the future of fashion on the continent, The MeEconomy is over now. We can only survive by working together.”

The speakers agreed on the need to create fashion schools across the continent with uniform modernized and accessible curriculums which cater to the

She added that this new reality does not have to be so bleak if it is handled as a challenged to embrace new management and creative transitions, “Maybe the future of African fashion isn't travelling (that is, Nigerians traveling to Uganda or Ghanaians going to South Africa for fashion week). Maybe the future of fashion in Africa is us holding fashion weeks in our respective countries and sending a joint press release as one voice.”

When discussing the practicality of working together with their varying schedules, Lumor suggested working with a uniform calendar to ensure that events did not clash. Wavamuno supported the idea, adding that working together will help facilitate even growth. The most notable benefit of working together is the strategic advantage it would offer for attracting funding. The speakers agreed that presenting a united front would make it “easy to get more money from financiers”.

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Opinion

BLACK LIVES MATTER EVERYWHERE AND BRITAIN IS NOT INNOCENT! The death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis USA sparked global outrage, and protests across the world at persistent institutional racism.

Stephen Williams reports.

A run-of-the-mill incident in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota began when two cars and four police officers responded to a call from a convenience store at about 8 p.m. on Monday 25th May. The call reported a July - August 2020

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man suspected of passing a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes.

Later, a car carrying police officers, Derek Michael Chauvin and Tou Thao, joined the four police officers who initially responded, and were on the scene. George Perry Floyd (who was thought to have passed the fake bill) was arrested and handcuffed, but was said to have refused to get into a police car and slumped to the ground. The police pinned Floyd down, and Chauvin knelt on his neck.

This was no longer a run-of-the-mill incident. It was rapidly turning into a watershed event in the appalling litany of the killing of unarmed African Americans by police.

But particularly disturbing about Floyd's killing is that it was later revealed that Chauvin and Floyd had history. Chauvin had moonlighted as a bouncer at the same nightclub as Floyd also worked, and Chauvin earned a reputation for using excessive force on the club's AfricanAmerican guests.

And Chauvin was something of a loose canon. A police officer for 19 years he had faced no less than 18 disciplinary charges, He was said to have responded to fights at the night club by spraying an entire crowd with mace instead of dealing specifically with those fighting.

Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes (8mins 46secs according to the video recordings) and even two minutes after an ambulance arrived on the scene.

At 8.27pm, Chauvin finally removed his knee from Floyd's neck. Motionless, Floyd was rolled on to a wheeled stretcher and taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center in an ambulance, At the medical centre he was pronounced dead.

Protests gather force Witnesses had shot video recordings of the arrest and killing and they went viral arousing general fury amongst the public who poured onto the streets to express their disgust. Protests spread to other US cities – more

than 70 in all from Portland to Miami, New York to Los Angeles.

It was also noted that blacks in China were the victims of racial discrimination. The recent news of evictions and mistreatment of African students in China during the Covid-19 pandemic is rooted in a history of violence and racial discrimination.

Many defied curfews in several cities, but demonstrations were largely peaceful although there was the accusations of right-wing agent provocateurs being involved with outbreaks of violence.

A memorial service for George Floyd was held in Minneapolis.

Those gathered in tribute stood in silence for eight minutes, 46 seconds, the time Floyd is said to have been on the ground, under arrest with a knee choking him.

One of the biggest protests in the US was in George Floyd's hometown of Houston, Texas.

Hundreds attended Floyd's funeral service, which heard a eulogy from civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton. Just days after George Floyd was buried in Houston and nationwide demonstrations against racism and police brutality continued, another black man was killed by police – this time in Atlanta.

Britain is not innocent Britain's geographic distance from colonialism and the slave trade has allowed some Britons to claim that the country is not, at heart, racist.

But many beg to differ, The number of black people who have died in UK police custody continues to rise, and each new incident arouses significant protests at institutional racism within the police force

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Rayshard Brooks, 27, was shot twice in the back. Hours after the killing, Atlanta's police chief stepped down, the officer who shot Brooks was fired and a second officer placed on administrative duty – but Brooks' death rekindled even more large protests.

As the US saw another weekend of protests, with tens of thousands marching in Washington DC, antiracism demonstrations were held around the world. In Australia, there were major protests in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane that focused on the treatment, akin to that of African Americans, of indigenous Australians. There were also demonstrations here at our magazine's home in the UK, and in France, Germany, Spain and several other cities around the world.

Britain is not innocent Britain's geographic distance from colonialism and the slave trade has allowed some Britons to claim that the country is not, at heart, racist. But many beg to differ, The number of black people who have died in UK police custody continues to rise, and each new incident arouses significant protests at institutional racism within the police force.

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Opinion

a 17th century slave-trader, Edward Colston, and threw it into the harbour. Colston is accused of shipping 100,000 slaves from Africa to the Americas (20,000 dying during the passage) and making a fortune that he subsequently donated to various institutions in his home-city and still bear his name.

not in the deep South but 100 years ago, on June 15th, a white mob lynched Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie, three black men who had been falsely accused of a crime in Duluth, a port city on Lake Superior in that northern state.

be made.

Forewarned, authorities then removed a statue depicting Robert Milligan (c. 1746-1809) who was largely responsible for the construction of the West India Docks in London. Milligan was a wealthy West Indies merchant, ship-owner and slaver having previously managed his family's Jamaica sugar plantations.

Within the same act was contained a provision for the financial compensation of the owners of those slaves, by the British taxpayer, for the loss of their "property". The compensation commission was the government body established to evaluate the claims of the slave owners (but not the victims) and administer the distribution of the £20m the government needed to borrow to pay them off.

That sum represented 40% of the total government expenditure for 1834, the modern equivalent of more than £17bn, and that government borrowing was finally paid-off in 2015.

There are also calls for the statue of Cecil Rhodes to be removed from the façade of a university building in Oxford.

Specialist professional skills developed in the UK around each part of the process of slave trading. Financial, commercial, legal and insurance institutions emerged to support the activities of the slave traders: For example, David and Alexander Barclay set up Barclays Bank, still a leading banking institution. Sir Francis Baring started Barings Bank, a major merchant bank until it collapsed in 1995 after suffering losses of £827 million (£1.6 billion in 2019) resulting from fraudulent investments by one of its traders.

A pernicious and persistent legacy The British built a slave industry supplying human labour to work Caribbean and North American plantations. And evil begat evil. It is indisputable that slavery seeded racism, the belief in white supremacy and encouraged the justification of colonialism.

In the UK, the issue of racism revolved around immigration flows, while in the US it was concerned with postemancipation attempts at segregation and Jim Crow laws.

It might be thought that race was only an issue in the deep South, in the Confederate States defeated by the Union States in the US Civil War.

Atlantic slave trade profits also went to anyone who was wealthy enough to buy shares in the newly invented joint stock companies.

The South Sea Trading Company was set up in 1711, and it invested in the slave trade and in plantations. Its shares were very popular and rose rapidly in value.

The profits from the South Sea Trading Company were spread throughout the British upper classes.

But history says otherwise.

Minnesota, for example, the state where George Floyd lost his life, is

These were only three of a long list of black victims lynched in the US, usually from trees, creating what the great blues singer Billie Holiday described as 'Strange Fruit'.

Meanwhile, in the home continent Africa a huge criminal enterprise was underway in the Congo, the so-called Congo Free State, ruled as a personal fiefdom by the Belgian king, Leopold II. He oversaw a brutal system of forced labour to collect rubber.

Those Africans who failed to meet their rubber collection quotas had their hands or arms amputated. A similar system operated in that part of Equatorial Congo that was controlled by the French.

Perversely, Leopold's project was often justified as an anti-slavery initiative.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, slavery was already deeply engrained within US society. It is notable that the nation's founding fathers, those that declared that 'all men are born equal', were slave owners.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison (among other prominent keaders) all had slaves who worked in their homes and agricultural estates.

Today, as the US struggles to resolve the bitter legacy of slavery

Consequently, many wealthy British families were created, grand estates purchased and stately homes built.

Even when the British Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 formally freed 800,000 Africans who were then the legal property of Britain's slave owners, huge profits were to July - August 2020

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Opinion

and the poison of racism, there are calls to disband police forces.

Those proponents for a radical rethink of law enforcement argue that the very reason that US police forces were first organised was to capture runaway slaves, and that racist thinking is imbued – somehow in the DNA – of police officers even if many are black.

But it will take more than a reform of the police to confront the racism. It will take a root and branch reform of the entire justice system.

According to figures issued by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), African Americans are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of whites. The imprisonment rate for African American women is twice that of white women. Nationwide, African American children represent 32% of children who are arrested; 42% of children who are detained, and 52% of children whose cases are judicially waived to criminal court.

However, it is not only the US or western justice systems that need overhaul; but all of humanity everywhere should pause and rethink how we have treated diversity and racism in our communities. We must all rise with one voice to redefine our collective humanity and re-echo the African philosophy of ubuntu – 'I am, because you are'. For at the end of the day, there is only one race in the world – the human race.

Sidebar Quotes "Let's not excuse violence, or rationalise it, or participate in it. If we want our criminal justice system, and American society at large, to operate on a higher ethical code, then we have to model that code ourselves."

Barack Obama, former US President "We need the harm to stop in our communities. We need the damage to be repaired. We need to be able to have the opportunity to have a life of dignity, and the possibility to

thrive."

Opal Tometi, Co-founder, Black Lives Matter movement

"This tragedy – in a long series of similar tragedies – raises a long overdue question: How do we end systemic racism in our society?"

George W Bush, former US President

"Race and racism is a reality that so many of us grow up learning to just deal with. But if we ever hope to move past it, it can't just be on people of colour to deal with it. It's up to all of us – Black, white, everyone."

Michelle Obama, former First Ladt

"Every bit of what I saw was wrong. It was malicious. And it was unacceptable. There is no grey there" Jacob Frey, Mayor of Minneapolis

"I strongly condemn the murder of George Floyd that occurred in the USA at the hands of law enforcement officers, and wish to extend deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission

“Our current model of policing and accountability is rooted in punishment and was constructed as a mechanism to maintain slavery, segregation, and the protection of property rights.."

Isaac Bryan, director of public policy of the Ralph J. Bunche Center, UCLA

"We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form. At the same time, we have to recognize that violence is self-destructive and selfdefeating. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost. Let us pray for reconciliation and peace."

Pope Francis

"Not enough can ever be said about the deep trauma and intergenerational suffering that has resulted from the racial injustice perpetrated through centuries, particularly against people of African descent. To merely condemn expressions and acts of racism is not enough. We must go beyond and do more."

UN Africa leaders: Open letter

“This, this situation here, is the depths of despair. Our situation is grave. If you are black, born in America, you have and will experience trauma."

Corey Yeager: psychologist for the NBA's Detroit Pistons "The black community is used to the institutional racism inherent in education, the justice system and jobs. And even though we do all the conventional things to raise public and political awareness, the needle hardly budges."

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, former Los Angeles Lakers basketball star "It's time for us to stand up in George's name and say, 'Get your knee off our necks!'"

Rev. Al Sharpton, civil rights activist "We cannot leave this moment thinking we can once again turn away from racism that stings at our very soul and from systemic abuse that still plagues American life."

Joe Biden, Democrat presidential candidate

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Interview

HOW AFRICA CAN HELP IN THE FIGHT AGAINST RACIAL SEGREGATION IN THE UNITED STATES – DR JOE BEASLEY

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The racially motivated killing of George Floyd, an African American, by the Minneapolis Police sparked-off protests in at least 140 cities across the United States. A streak of racially motivated deaths of African Americans in the United States in the last two months pushed the black community to a tipping point. From Eric Garner to Gorge Floyd, the story remains eerily familiar, in a country where racial divide continues to tear the people apart. Racially motivated killings in the United States are not new; what is, however, new is the global solidarity that has greeted the recent murder.

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Interview

In this exclusive interview, Dr Joe Beasley, a foremost civil rights leader, retired United States Airforce officer and founder of the Joe Beasley Foundation, share some insights into the race issues in the United States, and how Africa can help. Excerpts:

What are some of the underlying problems that have laid the foundation for sustained racial discrimination in the United States?

As you know, we endured two hundred and forty-six years of chattel slavery in the United States, which meant we were considered a commodity, less than a full human being. In the U.S. Constitution, we are identified as 3/5th of a human being.

African American Slaves were freed on January 1, 1863.

Ironically the slaves were fighting on both sides in the war. In the South, as someone else's property, in the North, as runaway slaves, fighting for their freedom! At the end of the Civil War, Union Army Commanding General Sherman met with 20 formerly enslaved Africans in Savannah, Georgia and asked them what they wanted. They unanimously asked for a separate county because of long-standing animosities among the races. Sherman issued Field Order 15, which was approved by President Lincoln. Our new county started from the Barrier Islands beginning in Charleston, SC extending to Jacksonville, Fl., then extending 30 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. It comprised 400,000 acres. Over 40,000 Africans had moved into their county before the land was returned to the slave owners.

With the death of Lincoln, President Johnson nullified Field Order 15, and the land was returned to the former white owners in the fall of 1865. In 1877 the Union Troops were withdrawn from the South. The formerly enslaved Africans became Sharecropper living on the white man for the next 100 years and endured 100 years of terror and lynchings by the KKK. In 1954 the US Supreme Court struck down segregated schools, hence, the beginning of the Civil Rights

Movement. So the struggle continues today. In the latter '50s'60s when African Americans were forced off the plantations with the coming of automation, tractors, cotton pickers, combine harvesters, farming no longer was “labour intensive,” and we relocated to the urban areas, like Atlanta, which began “white flight” to the Suburbs, hence gentrifications. In the 1970's Atlanta was over 70% African!

Today it is 50% black and 50% white. Ten years from now Atlanta will be 60% white and 40% black, second gentrification. Frankly, we have so little in common until both races want to live among their people. What is sinister is that gentrification forces poor people to move because they can't afford to live in the newly gentrified area. After all, the property values are very inflated.

Since most Black people are poor, they are forced to move outside these areas. People like me who are neither rich nor poor are secure as long as we can pay our way. To better understand the dilemma, you'll have to go back to 1493 when Pope Alexander VI issued the Doctrine of Discovery, which is the basis for stealing the land from the Native American Indians, who, for the most part, live on reservations! That is a long answer.

appealed to the African Union to come to our rescue because of the killing of African American men. A response from the African Union was forwarded to our government in Washington. Some African Americans are seeking refuge from the United Nations. Of course, all the resources that will be needed to fuel the global economy for the next century are for the most part, in Africa! Our job, as I see it, is to stop the Europeans and Asians from stealing Africa blind. After all, our birthright is in Africa. We can take solace in understanding that the DRC has more wealth than all of Europe and the United States combined.

Of course, all the resources that will be needed to fuel the global economy for the next century are for the most part, in Africa! We can take solace in understanding that the DRC has more wealth than all of Europe and the United States combined.

What do you think can or should be done to bring about a lasting solution to this problem?

We are now living in a global village due to advances in transportation and communication. We can have breakfast in Atlanta and dinner in Accra, Ghana or Lagos, Nigeria.

There will be no such thing as a lasting solution. Those of us who are of African extraction must more and more acknowledge that we are Africans and identify with Africa. We must move away from Nationalism and Tribalism. In the Age of Space-X, the Caucasians want to move to another planet.

How can Africans help in solving the issue of racial segregation in the United States?

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HOW CAN THE

AFRICAN DIASPORA HELP THE CONTINENT'S DEVELOPMENT? Donald Agaba

Diaspora

With over 30 million Africans living outside of their home countries, the continent's diaspora has the potential to be a major source of development financing. The financial power of the diaspora shows in the high remittance figures that Africa receives annually from its foreign-based communities. In 2010, estimates reached a record US$ 40 billion, or 2.6% of the continent's GDP, not counting informal money transfers. Further, the diaspora saves an estimated US$ 53 billion annually.

These statistics, coupled with the fact that around one-third of the diaspora population are in the middle class, make it a formidable force for potential development partnerships. To engage with members of the diaspora and host a conversation about trade

more socially conscious investors than their foreign counterparts due to social, cultural, and/or religious connections to their homelands. Their in-depth understanding of local contexts can lead to well-informed business choices and thus translate into more sustainable investments.

And this engagement is vital to the continent. The need for sustainable investments has never been more pressing, as youth unemployment numbers of over 50% and job-creation remain urgent issues across the continent.

The ability of diaspora populations with much-needed capital to create jobs can contribute to local employment. In addition, the affinity that diaspora populations feel for their countries of origin creates a balance

and education, the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank have organized the first annual African Diaspora Trade, Investment and Skills Forum on June 10, 2015.

Those unable to attend can watch some of the sessions live here.

At this forum, participants will discuss and brainstorm around the potential benefits that Africa can reap from its diaspora population.

Foreign-based Africans are often eager to invest and trade in their countries of origin. The benefits from such investments are numerous for both the potential investors and recipient countries.

African investors are likely to be

between purely profit-driven business motives and social investing, allowing for greater local value-addition.

Additionally, skilled diaspora populations have significant technical expertise. The continent's brain-drain problems are a widely-known hurdle to development; it is also known that significant numbers of Africans abroad are highly skilled in areas that the continent severely lacks.

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partnerships with their home countries.

In spite of the diaspora's eagerness to contribute to their countries of origin, significant barriers exist that threaten the realization of these interests. If African countries are to overcome these hurdles and benefit from the large potential that their diaspora populations offer, there is need for a deliberate and coordinated diaspora engagement effort. The World Bank Group and African Development Bank hope to use the diaspora forum and a related survey as a launchpad to kickstart meaningful debate and knowledge sharing that will provide a solid and informed foundation for these efforts to occur.

With over 30 million Africans living outside of their home countries, the continent's diaspora has the potential to be a major source of development financing.

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Education

University of Ghana students listen to their political science professor, Dr. Evans Aggrey-Darkoh in Accra, Ghana.

CREDIT: Dominic Chavez/World Bank

DEVELOPING YOUTH SKILLS TO GROW AFRICA'S DIGITAL ECONOMIES Jerome Morrissey

To become more competitive and follow the fast pace of technological innovation globally, developing economies need to reskill their workforce with the skills for the jobs of the future. Where does Africa's developing economies fit into this trajectory?

This post is the seventh in a blog series published in 2019 in the context of a collaboration between the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Today, it is becoming increasingly important for developing economies to adapt to the rapidly changing skills landscape. To become more competitive and follow the fast pace of

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Education

attractive career option for young people.”

Challenges of ICT in Africa often relate to a lack of human and financial resources, which translate into inadequate and insufficient skills supply and skills gaps as well as inadequate infrastructure and communication platforms. To close this digital divide with the developed world, Africa must lower the cost of capital, provide reliable energy resources and raise the pace of digitization and the provision of high-speed internet.

technological innovation globally, developing economies need to re-skill their workforce with the skills for the jobs of the future.

Nevertheless, is this optimistic account of a future of high-skilled work for all justified? Where does Africa's developing economies fit into this trajectory?

African digitally-driven economies Modern economies are transforming from agricultural and industrial economies to information and knowledgebased economies. Such rapid transformation has had significant impact on social, economic,

The future of jobs in Africa Africa must match today's skills to tomorrow's jobs. With more than 60% of its population under the age of 25, sub-Saharan Africa is the world's youngest region. By 2030, the continent's working-age population is set to increase by two-thirds, from 370 million adults in 2010 to over 600 million in 2030.

At current rates, 15 to 20 million increasingly well-educated young people are expected to join the continent's workforce every year until 2030. This poses a challenge to governments and businesses: how can they make the most of the talent of this up-and-coming generation as well as those undereducated and under-skilled youth who outnumber those with postsecondary education?

Within the – still small – pool of tertiary-educated Africans exists a wide range of specializations: 16% of this group have studied engineering, manufacturing and construction; 11% ICT and 11% natural sciences, mathematics and statistics.

Fast-growing professions on the continent include food technologists, 3D designers and data collection and analysis workers, as well as people working in healthcare and education. The digital media-enabled creative and cultural industries offer huge opportunities for employment.

Strong demand for STEM and ICT skills already exists across a wide range of sectors.

political and cultural development across the world.

For such development and growth, information and communication technology (ICT) is seen as both a driver and an enabler towards establishing and developing the various sectors that contribute to stronger, more developed and richer societies.

Africa is on a journey of transformation towards information and knowledge societies.

“The use of ICT systems will revolutionize the growth and management of the underdeveloped agricultural sector across Africa and make it an

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The future of skills in Africa In unpacking the different skills needs across types of tasks, core skills that need to be developed include: - job-neutral digital skills - job-specific digital skills 53

Education

- job-neutral soft skills such as communication, management, analytical and critical thinking and creativity.

Ancillary skills that can support the digital economy include physical skills that require dexterity and socio-emotional and interpersonal skills for low-skilled service and sales occupations.

The digital economy core skills nexus The 2016 World Economic Forum Report finds that the percentage of jobs requiring cognitive abilities as a core skill is expected to rise to 15%, from a current level of 11%.

Similarly, there are going to be changes in skills requirement within a job. For instance, among all the jobs requiring cognitive abilities as part of their core skill sets, 52% of the jobs do not have such requirements now and are expected to have increasing demand of cognitive abilities by 2020. As per the report, cognitive abilities, system skills (i.e. evaluation and analysis of systems) and complex problemsolving skills are expected to be the top three skills demanded in the future.

Clearly, education and training systems, at all levels, must play central roles in providing the new skills required to drive the development of African knowledge economies.

“Urgent curricula design and developments are required to reflect current employer-led consensus that a strong emphasis must be placed on creativity, teamwork, employability, selfemployment, and lifelong learning.”

National technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems require

comprehensive reforms and increased funding to allow for curriculum reforms, tutor trainings and a wide range of digital equipment.

Some African governments are already focusing on TVET and technical and vocational skills development (TVSD) reforms as the key route to youth employment, and have earmarked additional funding for the sector. Increasingly, young people are looking to TVET/TVSD to get the technical skills and entrepreneurial know-how they need to launch start-ups.

The key role of the Global eSchools & Communities Initiative The Global e-Schools & Communities Initiative (GeSCI) is an international non-profit, nongovernmental organization, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, that works with developing country governments and state agencies to integrate ICT in education, science, technology and innovation systems through professional, institutional and technical capacity building.

In addition, GeSCI has adopted the approach of integrating 21st century skills at school, vocational and tertiary levels and has sought to improve the capacities of youth and children to engage in the digital economy.

In the last few years, GESCI has pioneered a new model for digitally driven skills and entrepreneurship for youth, which can be scaled across Africa. The original focus of using “living lab” to empower youth in the digital creative media is now being developed with partners as an accredited, internationally recognized certificate in animation and visual effects for disadvantaged youth in refugee

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camps and host communities.

The model is a 9 to 12-month digital training hub that provides a mix of expert tuition and skills development to industry standards in three areas: animation, digital games and apps, and music design and production.

Using industry mentors and support, a cohort of up to 40 young entrepreneurs collaborate, leading to the formation of startups. The model allows one to develop blueprints and models for scaling and applications in other ICT-based skills environments.

Incorporation of the living lab methodology and outcomes from policy fora are used to refine the model.

GESCI has also developed an ereadiness system assessment tool for the education sector that helps countries to assess their enabling environment, their approaches to school management of ICT integration, teacher development, integration of ICT in the curriculum, community outreach and the necessary levels of ICT infrastructure and equipment for successful integration.

Additionally, we have developed a tool that allows government to estimate various scenarios of the likely purchase and roll-out costs of ICT integration in education depending on the type of equipment and infrastructure proposed.

Finally, as an international nongovernmental organization (INGO), GESCI's approach, in developing and trialing new whole school digitally - driven models for teaching and learning as well as new digital skills for employment programs, is to provide Governments with realistic, scalable and sustainable models for reforms of education and training systems.

Jerome Morrissey is the CEO of GeSCI – Global e-Schools and Communities' Initiative – founded by the United Nations in 2003.

GESCI's mandate is to improve quality and access in education: to empower communities through technology-assisted learning and to accelerate socio-economic growth and development.

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Column: Security

HOW ISIS & AL-QAEDA AFFILIATES MANIPULATE AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AND OTHER NGOs TO SURVIVE IN AFRICA

By David Otto

“ it is not the most powerful nor the most intelligent of actors that will survive new conflicts, it is the ones that are most adaptable to change to paraphrase Charles Darwin.

For the past 5 years, ISIS and AlQaida affiliates in AfricaAlshabaab, Boko Haram and ISWAP (Boko Haram) have mastered the tactic of manipulating the eco-system of field researchers working for local and international Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs). The Jihadist take advantage of NGOs like Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights (HRW) and others to generate exaggerated and untrue Gross Violations of Human Rights (GVRH) and war crimes reports against the security and military forces of state and regional partners pursuing the global war on terror.

While there ports distract, demoralise state security and military forces and place them on the defensive, they legitimise and

embolden the jihadists. The regularly produced and strategically published reports provide fresh oxygen for terrorist groups to survive, recover, build more violent capacity; produce online propaganda; and maintain the capacity to launch deadly attacks targeting soft civilian and hard military positions in Africa.

states establish a social contract and duty to respect and protect the basic and fundamental human rights of all its citizens from violations and interference. The right to life; to private and family life; to freedom of thought; to freedom of speech; freedom of assembly and association; freedom of movement; to a fair hearing; to education; freedom from unlawful arrest and detention; to freedom of conscience and religion. These limited or qualified rights belong to everyone. To balance national security and to safeguard the rights of others and the wider community, States and public authorities face the challenge of interfering with some inalienable rights in pursuit of restoring order, peace and security in asymmetric warfare against terrorist and nonstate armed groups (NSAG) embedded within the civilian population.

In Africa, ISIS and Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist groups operate predominantly in North East Nigeria states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY States);the fringes of Lake Chad Basin countries (Cameroon, Tchad, Niger Republic) and the Horn of Africa.

A field research, operations and reporting policy review of humanitarian watchdogs like Amnesty International (AI) and others operating in the Lake Chad Basin, the Sahel and Horn of Africa is overdue.

Background:

‘Amnesty International reports thrive on the common perception

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that state military and security authorities will always deny allegations of GVHR and War Crimes even if they were caught red-handed'.

NGOs specialised in reporting on GVHR and war crimes against citizens in asymmetric warfare by the security and military forces of state actors (SA) ignore existential operational challenges faced by frontline battlefield troops in distinguishing friends from foes in a mix of innocent civilians, unarmed and armed non state groups dwelling in the same community.

Timing and Immediate Impact: The timing of Amnesty International (AI) reports on alleged GVHR and war crimes against state and regional security and armed forces is counter productive to the ongoing global war on terror.

Each stakeholder including Humanitarian organisations should play a positive role in the global quest to defeat terrorism from its roots. Not so, when AI reports of alleged GVHR coincide with state announcements of battle field successes and precision strikes on Boko Haram strongholds by Nigeria, Chad and regional Multinational Joint Task Forces (MNJTF). These reports have a texture of slowing down and interrupting planned military offensives against high value terrorist targets in the theatre of operations. The moral of frontline troops is disturbed. Their professionalism, legitimacy and credibility as defenders of the civilian population is questioned, creating further fear and distrust between frontline military and security forces and the civilian community. Untrue and exaggerated reports by AI amount to tacit support, encouraging terrorist manipulative tactic of hijacking and using the most vulnerable civil populace to shield their activities and sustain the war on terror.

Wider Impact: Exaggerated and untrue reports severely impact on state and regional counter insurgency (COIN) efforts. Partners against

terrorism organisations and states are quick to pull out from needed technical and resource funding where accusations of GHRV are reported without adequate verification and context interpretation. At worst, State and Regional COIN interventions are curtailed, allowing terrorist groups like Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab the time and space to increase their capacity, moral and criminal operations.

recognised authority; they do not answer or defer to any authority or legitimate international organisation. Therefore, any allegations of GHRV are meaningless to terrorist groups, above all, Boko Haram factions have no reputation to protect – state actors do. These imbalances mirror the real rational of such reports.

Condemning The Terrorist:

The business continuity model of Human Rights watch dogs - AI, HRW - is to write 'chilling' reports alleging GVHR and war crimes etc. targeting state actors that can be investigated and held accountable either by the United Nations (UN), The International Criminal Court (ICC) or local judicial systems. This consistent reporting on GVHR is necessary to justify donor funding and maintaining operational relevance in an ever changing and complex asymmetric warfare environment. This is the NGO version of the 'street light effect'

Follow the Money:

GHVR reports may appear balanced and impartial to ordinary readers in condemning terrorist violent activities against the civilian population. The AI report accuses Boko Haram of committing a series of 'widespread atrocities'. It acknowledges that such violations are impossible to verify 'due to security and access challenges'. Terrorist groups are categorised as non-state belligerents with extreme ideologies. They enjoy no legal or July - August 2020

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phenomenon. But for these reports, local staff will have little or no justification for continued employment and funding.

Jihadist Manipulating Theatre.

From the experiences of US led global coalitions pursing the war on terror in Afghanistan – Iraq – Syria – Somalia and Nigeria, local terror networks and sponsors linked to either Al-Qaeda (AQ), Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS), Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab have mastered the act of manipulating and coercing NGOs and the most vulnerable local population including women and young children to provide untrue but incriminating statements of GVHR and war crimes against frontline state military and security forces and their partners. These single sourced unverified statements from unidentified victims and witnesses form the basis of damning reports generated and published at strategic times by NGOs. These reports seem to thrive on the common perception that state military and security authorities will always deny allegations of GVHR and War Crimes even if they were caught

red-handed. In the 21st century era of technology, state authorities are developing innovative methods of conducting asymmetric warfare to minimise civilian casualties and deploy cutting-edge tools to investigate reports alleging GHRV and war crimes. Civilian organisations like AI do not have access to these tools.

were injured in the midst of terrorist as a result of US AFRICOM air strikes but not as reported by AI. AI report was blind sided by AlShabaab's traditional tactic of hiding key fighters and weapons in civilian populated areas; using civilian population as human shield and coercing vulnerable civilians into making untrue claims against Somali state and AFRICOM forces. Intentionally or otherwise, AI reports have consistently served the interest of Al-Shabaab terrorist by slowing down COIN operations and preventing AFRICOM and Somali security forces from deploying proportionate planned precision air strikes as one method of eliminating high value terrorist (HVT) targets and capabilities.

Boko Haram terrorist's faction's copy-cat similar tactics in Nigeria and the Lake Chad area.

USAFRICOM: In March 2019, AI released a accusing US Africa Command (AFRICOM) that 8 of its air strikes targeting Al-Shabaab positions resulted in the killing of innocent civilians. These coordinated planned air strikes between AFRICOM and Somalia security forces were assessed and found to be proportionate in denying jihadist the ability to build capacity and attack innocent Somali citizens. Of the 13 allegations submitted by AI, joint US and Somalia independent investigations and post strike analysis not available to AI, revealed that no civilians were either injured or killed as a result of US – Somali coordinated air strikes.

These investigations were expanded to find that two civilians died and three others

Nigeria Army: A recently published 2019-2020 AI report targeting the government of Nigeria and the Nigerian Army is no different in context and form – coincidentally, the reporting patterns are the same with previous allegations in the Horn of Africa against Somali-AFRICOM. AI alleged GVRH violations and war crimes rely squarely on unverifiable eyewitness and victim accounts of security and military extra judicial killings, torture; child abuse; arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention without trial; poor detention facilities and pitiable medical facilities; The report claims to have interviewed more than 230 people from 15 Local Government Areas (LGAs); informal settlements and Internally Displaced Camps (IDPs). It says 119 children were interviewed. Of this number, 48 children were detained for months or years by the military and 22 adults detained with children across North East states of Borno and Adamawa.

Boko Haram ISWAP Tactic: In North East Nigeria and the fringes of the Lake Chad Basin, Boko Haram factions have moulded a psychological operation consisting of human

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community shield – coerced and vulnerable men, women, young boys/girls and children, some as young as 6 years old. In 2019, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that over 800,000 people still live in remote and inaccessible villages. There is no accurate data on exact figures due to the vast and complex ungoverned space but these communities are mostly under the control and at the mercy of Boko Haram factions.

Most of these communities consist of families that have either refused to move to refugee/IDP settlements; are Boko Haram families or have voluntarily returned to their villages in preference to living in refugee/IDP camps. The true nature of individual interaction between these communities and Boko Haram factions is impossible to comprehend. least by anyone with limited access. However, Boko Haram factions are known to brainwash and recruit hundreds of women, girls, boys and children and deploy them as fighters, spies and suicide bombers to target vulnerable IDP communities and military positions.

Detention Camps (DCs) Challenges: Safe corridor In a volatile environment with a manipulative invincible enemy, caution and vigilance is the key.

When state and Regional MultiNational Joint Task forces (MNJTF) launch offensives on Boko Haram strongholds and rescue or capture individuals, groups, in remote communities the safety of frontline security forces is a priority.

This is to avoid past cases of hidden explosives in bags and garments of unsuspecting women and young children.

All captured and rescued persons are treated as suspects. They are detained and transferred for debrief at Giwa Barracks and Kainji holding facilities. This depends on the LGA they are rescued or arrested from; the number of people, the time and available logistics, it could take days or weeks before these persons or groups reach resourced Detention centres

from adults, there have been instances where families insist on staying together as a unit, citing Right to family life.

The detention policy is clear, the Nigeria Army does not detain minors in DCs with adults, children have a separate holding centre.

But staff face field challenges when parents insist on staying together in one unit with their young families citing human rights related issues like sickness, breast feeding etc. Éeven when they are major culprits of acts of terrorism – staff sometimes have to balance these issues and allow parents in exceptional cases –this is the main source of allegations of children mixed with adults – its rather some children with their parentsÓCol. Sagir Musa concluded.

The detention policy is clear, the Nigeria Army does not detain minors in DCs with adults, children have a separate holding centre. But staff face field challenges when parents insist on staying together in one unit with their young families citing human rights related issues like sickness,

On the contrary, Operation SAFE CORRIDOR is faced with .

Advocates for conventional Correctional Services Facilities point to better sanitary conditions, better quality and quantity of food, medical treatment, vocational training and community reintegration in DCs for Boko Haram suspects - than ordinary criminals. These criticism is a reflection of the support for modernisation received from the European union and other donors for Operation SAFE CORRIDOR programmes at Giwa Barracks and Kainji DC.

(DCs) in Maiduguri – Borno State.

While at DCs, the prevailing task, time and technical knowledge required for evidence gathering; debrief of suspects, overstretched personnel could mean that suspects are not processed through as quickly and safely as they would like to be on arrival.

This logistics and structural complexity in the North East accounts for most delays in processing Boko Haram suspects through DCs to the court system for prosecution and judgement.

The Nigeria Army Leadership and Human Rights: ÒGHRV perpetrated by a few bad cases cannot be used as a blanket reporting policy to systematically condemn the entire state and security forces above the greater goal of a collective effort to winning the war on terror.

According to the Acting Director Army Public Relations Col. Sagir Musa, DCs have been modernised over the years by the Nigeria Army.

Nigeria Military Detention facilities have modernised feeding, sanitary and medical conditions in tune with international best practice and standards. Red Cross, Human Rights Watch and other Human Rights organisations have visited the detention centre at Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri – key observations raised have been implemented by the Nigeria Army.

Some level of collateral damages and instances of GVHR are unavoidable in asymmetric warfare where prompt identification of threats and the real enemy is a primary challenge. All safeguard measures should be put in place to prevent further abuses, and all reported allegations should be condemned, promptly investigated and punished accordingly.

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Column: Security

In the last 5 years, the Nigeria Army under the leadership of Lt Gen. TY Buratai has improved HR record with the introduction of HR reporting desk across all units and formations. These desks are open to the public. All allegations of violations of HR are received, investigated by the military police (MP) and appropriate actions taken by impartial qualified public affairs personnel while serious breaches go through the stringent military justice system. The introduction of information and reception centres during exercise and operations, checkmate and prevents abuses by some rogue Nigeria Army personnel. Civilians have access to these centres where complaints are presented to information officers, who relay such complaints to the appropriate quarters for follow up action.

GVHR perpetrated by a few bad cases should never be used as a yardstick for a blanket reporting policy to systematically condemn the entire state and security forces against the greater goal of a collective effort towards winning the war on terror. The Nigerian Army has enhanced its rules of engagement and training curriculum to reflect respect for and promotion of Human Rights, erring personnel were arraigned and tried through court martial.

GVHR reports should balance the steps taken by the military and

security and military forces.

Armed with direct contacts of Humanitarian NGOs like AI and HRW, these individuals and families are trained on and how to provide false and incriminating statements against state and regional military and security forces.

security forces and situate same in its rightful context.

Boko Haram infiltrates refugee/IDP camps: In areas of operation, Boko Haram factions deploy their families (often sick, pregnant women and young children under 5years) to seek medical treatment and refuge into nearby state and NGO managed refugee/IDP camps in North East Nigeria and the fringes of Lake Chad Basin.

These camps are used as safe haven; and strategic spying spots for the jihadists. Factions also radicalise communities of local farmers, fishermen and hunters.

Factional commanders coerce and groom these communities on simple methods of gathering and reporting information on troop movements and other activities of state and regional forces within and outside refugee and IDP camps.

Within refugee/IDP camps in North East Nigeria, World Food Programme (WFP) and local delivery partners selected and trained 100s of refugees on monthly food distribution techniques. Some of these IDPs are Boko Haram members. Behind the scenes, these members provide information on vital relief materials and operational activities of nearby state security forces. Boko Haram uses this information to plan attacks on military positions, divert or launch raids for food, medication and petroleum products.

In May 2017 – about 126 suspected Boko Haram members were rounded up at DamboaBorno IDP camp with one suspect found in possession of an ID card of a soldier killed by Boko Haram insurgents in another attack in a near-by location given as SabonGari. These Boko Haram members and supporters posing as refugees, lie in wait to vomit false statements to incoming International Human rights organisations and observers like

NGOs Fatten Boko Haram: Boko Haram family networks blend into surrounding refugee/IDP camps and gather vital information such as routine food and relief supply and activities of military and security forces. They radicalise and recruit young and vulnerable men and women within refugee/IDP camps; and pose as victims of GVHR by state and regional

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Column: Security

AI.

forces.

NGO staff – Boko Haram Alliance:

The manipulative and shrewd modus operandi of Boko Haram jihadist provides a false platform by anonymous persons posing as victims from affected areas and refugee/IDP camps and the basis of AI damaging GVHR and war crimes against state and regional military and security forces.

Boko Haram factions coerce local NGO Staff, at times in collaboration with local vendors and delivery partners to inflate the number of registered IDPs/refugees in camps and remote settlements. Some are kidnapped or killed for not complying. By multiplying the actual need assessment figures, a higher quantity of humanitarian relief in the form of food; nonedible items; petroleum; medical and other essential supply is dispatched to IDP/Refugee camps or vulnerable communities. These humanitarian items are either diverted to Boko Haram jihadist links before they arrive designated IDP camps or jihadist factions operating a few miles within IDP settlements will be given prior information on when these items arrive (even if they are delivered by air) in IDP/refugee camps. Many Boko Haram violent raids on IDP camps for essential items often coincide with the delivery of humanitarian relief items.

Several food convoys en-route to IDP camps are subject to violent raids by Boko Haram factions following leaked information from camp residents, local NGO staff, contracted vendors and delivery partners. Some regional states have threatened to shut down IDP/refugee camps after suspecting infiltration and insider leaks from 'Fake refugees', local staff and delivery partners linked to NGOs. The of expelling several Refugees to Nigeria and threatened to close down a notorious UNHCR administered IDP/Refugee camp in Minawao/Kolofata town after internal investigations revealed that Boko Haram Jihadist had infiltrated the overcrowded camp and spies posing as IDPs were responsible for leaking timely information that led to several raids on IDP camps and deadly attacks on nearby military (Rapid Intervention Force - BIR) positions – these Boko Haram loyalist were equally behind several damning reports generated by AI against Cameroon special/Regional

incentive for good behaviour and for others to emulate.

There is an urgent need for NGOs to review operations and intervention methodologies and coordinate their activities with state and regional authorities as a crucial step towards winning back the trust of local stakeholders to achieve a sustainable goal of a return to peace and security in Northern Nigeria, the Lake Chad Basin and the Horn of Africa.

Recommendations for States and NGOs:

Note: For security reasons – detailed operational and intervention recommendations for NGOs and states actors will not be published here. To paraphrase Charles Darwin, it is not the most powerful nor the most intelligent of actors that will survive new conflicts, it is the ones that are most adaptable to change.

In North East Nigeria, the Lake Chad Basin and the Horn of Africa, Key stakeholders treat NGOs as unhelpful partners and rarely as part of the solution in the ongoing war against ISIS and AlQaeda affiliates. In a complex asymmetric warfare and widespread environment where the enemy can be anyone and anywhere (urban and rural) --fluid, horizontal, invincible, and extremely manipulative. There is an urgent need to re-evaluate the role of some of the Humanitarian actors and allegations of GVHR reports by these International NGOs.

About the Author David Otto – Counter Terrorism & Organised Crime Expert and Certified Master (CMAS) Anti Terrorism Specialist with the Anti Terrorism Accreditation Board (ATAB) – Twitter: @ottotgs

Winning the global war on terror (GWOT) requires a short, medium and long term multi-level, multiagency and sustainable counter insurgency strategy. The monitoring and reporting of alleged incidence of GVHR and war crimes by Humanitarian NGOs is an important component to curtail abuses by all parties engaged in the war on terror.

State and public authorities have a duty to investigate and safeguard against all incidence of GVHR and war crimes.

Several food convoys en-route to IDP camps are subject to violent raids by Boko Haram factions following leaked information from camp residents, local NGO staff, contracted vendors and delivery partners. Some regional states have threatened to shut down IDP/refugee camps after suspecting infiltration and insider leaks from 'Fake refugees', local staff and delivery partners linked to NGOs.

Reports alleging GVHR should not deliberately ignore success records of state military and security forces in mitigating against GVRH and war crimes. As non-military organisations with limited capabilities and access to real time field operational information, NGO reports are often blind sided to the extraordinary measures military and security state authorities go to reduce the likelihood of GVHR and War crimes.

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Feature

COVID-19: USP OFFERS GUIDANCE The world faces an existential threat owing to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic that has now shut down major economies and caused significant global disruption. The World Health Organization estimates that about 44 million people could get infected by the Virus in the continent, and a projected 200 thousand deaths. A recent survey by the African Union shows that about 20 million jobs are at risk in the continent, as economies are fast shrinking in response to COVID-19 induced disruptions. In this exclusive interview with African Leadership Magazine, Dr Lawrence Evans, Senior Technical Director, USP's Global Public Health team, talks about the impact of the pandemic on the continent's public system; the agency's time-tested guide for a response during an outbreak like COVID-19; the dangers

ON STRATEGIC RESPONSE MODEL TO AFRICAN REGULATORY AUTHORITIES

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of substandard medicine as the continent battles the pandemic, among other issues. Excerpt.

According to data by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA, under the worstcase scenario, with no interventions against COVID-19, Africa could see 3.3 million deaths and 1.2 billion infections, due largely in part to the continent's fragile health systems. What in your view can be done to limit the projected disruptions?

COVID-19 is bringing to light additional vulnerabilities across African health systems that can disrupt an already fragile system.

One of the most critical disruptions the COVID-19 pandemic is causing is to the supply of quality essential medical products. We are seeing shortages of some medical products needed for the COVID19 response as well as shortages of those for non-COVID-19 related treatments. As a result, it's leaving a vacuum for poor-quality medical products to enter, and is the reason for the uptick in falsified medical products which may compromise efforts against both COVID-19 and other diseases.

This pandemic requires us to go beyond business as usual. Based on decades of experience, USP has offered guidance to regulatory authorities on how to respond to medical product shortages and protect patients from poor-quality medical products during the crisis.

Regulators must take steps to stem the proliferation of substandard and falsified medical products during this pandemic, which is particularly challenging given travel restrictions. Our guidance recommends strategies to remotely monitor product quality using various types of information including patient reporting and product serialization.

Local manufacturers must also be part of the solution. The guidance includes ways that governments can help incentivize the production of quality-assured medical products locally. In some African countries, local

pharmaceutical manufacturers are ripe to rapidly scale up their production capacity to support COVID-19 efforts.

According to the World Health Organization, WHO, Africa accounts for around 42% of the world's cases of fake and counterfeit drugs. How is USP helping towards solving this obvious challenge, especially in line with its vision of a world in which all have access to high quality, safe and beneficial medicine and foods?

USP is also continuing to provide quality standards for medical products, which are disseminated to over 150 countries, while also supporting vaccine developers and manufacturers of COVID-19 therapies during this crisis.

In Africa, USP works at the country, regional, and continental levels to help regulators protect patients from substandard and falsified medical products.

At the continental level, we work with the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization Initiative (AMRH) to encourage collaboration and establish policies that each individual country can adopt with the goal of improving the health of their citizens. AMRH focuses on policy alignment, regional integration and harmonization, and human and institutional capacity development – and we will be expanding our assistance across the board.

At the country level, we work with individual regulatory authorities to help them strengthen their medical product quality assurance systems, including building the capacity to find and remove poor quality medical products from the market. Our guidance on Pandemic Preparedness for Regulators in Low- and Middle-Income Countries recommends strategies to prioritize quality surveillance using a risk-based approach and applying technology to remotely monitor product quality.

In addition, USP has a continentwide training hub in Ghana that has trained more than 1300 regulatory professionals from 45 African countries. Through our training, we are helping to build the workforce that is protecting patients from substandard and falsified medical products.

USP also works with the eight regional economic communities to support specific initiatives such as the West Africa Medicines Regulatory Harmonization Program. These initiatives are harmonizing medical product regulation and increasing collaboration to detect and remove poor-quality medical products in vulnerable crossborder areas.

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USP has over the past 200 years created unique Standards for different ranges of medicines through it's chain of production for over 140 countries. What are the peculiar challenges USP continues to face when dealing with Manufacturers in African Countries?

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A major challenge for African pharmaceutical manufacturers is that they don't have easy access to raw materials. They must source active pharmaceutical ingredients – an essential component in medical products – primarily from Asia. There are very few manufacturers of active ingredients on the continent.

Other components such as inactive ingredients and packaging are also imported and are heavily taxed. The taxation combined with local currency devaluation make it difficult for African manufacturers to remain cost-competitive with imported medical products. In 2019, USP developed a that also describes the situation in Africa.

Another challenge is limited access to the broader ecosystem of services that are needed to produce medical products. For instance, manufacturers of generic drugs need to show they are equivalent to the brand name products. But in Africa, there are few facilities that can do such bioequivalence studies. There is also very limited capacity to support manufacturers in properly maintaining and qualifying their equipment, so they often rely on experts from Europe and the US to provide these services – and this can be expensive and lead to delays.

As the impact of the deadly virus unfolds, we see the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in global supply chain of medicines globally. How has USP ensured that quality of medicines manufactured and distributed are not compromised?

USP sets public standards for the quality of medical products to facilitate the supply of qualityassured medical products. Our standards are used in more than 150 countries and required by law in 40 countries. Ultimately it is up to national regulators to ensure that medical products are qualityassured, safe, and effective. Over the years, USP has collaborated with regulators in many African countries to strengthen their quality assurance systems, and this work continues. We have also widely distributed specific to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Substandard medical products can result from poor manufacturing practices and improper storage. USP supports manufacturers to produce quality-assured products locally, which shortens the supply chain thereby minimizing vulnerabilities– particularly for products that are sensitive to temperature conditions. We also provide insight on proper storage of products throughout the supply chain in keeping with good storage and distribution practices to help ensure that they maintain their quality. USP's efforts to support local manufacturing of priority essential medical products in Africa and to strengthen regulatory quality assurance systems has been in collaboration with USAID.

of antimicrobial resistance. In addition, research conducted by USP and our partners through our and other programs is continuing to shed light on the links between poor-quality medical products and antimicrobial resistance and helping identify solutions to inform policies.

According to official statement by USP from the website, USP is currently helping to accelerate the work in developing vaccines and treatment and helping to build a more resilient global medicine supply chain. With regards to the current global pandemic, An African Country, Madagascar has openly claimed to have locally manufactured organic cure for the COVID-19 and we see African government making plans for huge patronage.

One may begin to wonder why this "Cure" has not received the desired attention it should have.

The country having recorded about 183 cases and 105 recoveries with no death recorded. This should be good enough to attract attention to put the substance to clinical testing.

Has USP considered this a possible cure for the Virus?

We understand that one of the major challenges in quality medicine is Antimicrobial resistance and according to statistics, it is responsible for over 700,000 deaths annually. How has USP taken up this challenge especially in Developing countries where quality may easily be traded for gains?

Increasingly, the use of poorquality medical products—which can result in sub-optimal dosing and lead to treatment failure—is considered a contributing factor in the development of antimicrobial resistance. When poor-quality medical products are used, they can allow drugresistant bacteria to survive and multiply, which can ultimately harm other patients.

If not, what advise would you give to consumers of this substance?

USP's role is to ensure that quality is built into the equation as soon as possible so that any treatment or vaccine that may be successful is quality-assured and meets regulatory requirements. We help facilitate development of COVID19 treatments and vaccines through the implementation of our quality standards, which are available to developers and manufacturers worldwide. This accelerates regulatory acceptance worldwide. We do not make recommendations regarding specific products. We are also working on creating additional training opportunities to help manufacturers use new techniques to evaluate therapeutics and vaccines.

USP develops quality standards for antimicrobial medical products that can help regulators and industry ensure quality. We also help build regulators' capacity to ensure antimicrobial medical products are produced, procured, distributed, stored, dispensed, and used appropriately; and raise awareness of how poor-quality medical products contribute to antimicrobial resistance. A major part of our work includes strengthening laboratory networks to detect and remove poorquality antimicrobials and improving local capacity to test for and monitor the emergence July - August 2020

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Opinion

AKINWUMI

ADESIN: The Trials of an Unapologetic Pan-africanist

In 1981 when the African Development Bank, AfDB, sought it's Board of Governors approval for nonAfrican equity participation in the Bank, all member countries, except Nigeria, supported the move. The argument by Nigeria under the leadership of President Shehu Shagari, was that a critical institution like the AfDB must be extricated from western influence. Nigeria had at the outset in 1964, premised its provision of the take-off facility for the Bank on an assurance that “under no circumstance should the Bank's equity be offered to non-Africans in the future”.

Narrating how the AfDB was eventually opened up to non-regional member countries, Nigeria's former President Shagari in his book, “Beckoned to Serve,” stated that,” it is surprising that all member countries, except Nigeria, supported the proposal, as the Bank was hard-pressed. No other African country was willing to come to its aid financially.”

Nigeria had to use its voting powers to veto the proposition.

After holding out for two years, amidst pleas from other member countries, Nigeria gave-in to the demand and the Bank was opened-up to nonAfrican member countries on December 30th, 1982.

This move increased the Bank's authorized capital; but it set in motion, the gradual erosion of the principles upon which the Bank was established in the first place.

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Today, some non-regional members, as rightly predicted by Nigeria, are at the centre of clogging the wheel of progress at the AfDB. The U.S., a non-regional member, is subjecting the leadership and integrity of the Bank to needless rancour, in the middle of a global pandemic, that is threatening human existence.

What began as a title-tattle, has now become crystal clear – some non-regional shareholders of the African Development Bank are uncomfortable with Dr Akinwumi Adesina's continued leadership of the African Development Bank.

However, the crude tactic that has been deployed to achieve this failed project betrays every sense of decency.

Earlier this year, some members of staff under the aegis of “concerned staff members” forwarded a petition to the board of governors listing about 16 infractions against the President, and calling for an investigation. In April, details emerged confirming that the petitioners may have been inveigled by Mr Steve Dowd, the United States Executive Director at the AfDB, and some of the non-regional countries. In an email denouncing the petition, a faction of the “Concerned Staff members” said that the petition was spearheaded by an elected staff member to “discredit” Adesina's candidacy for reelection. “This denunciation is made in accordance to with the whistle-blowing and complaint handling policy of the African Development Bank,” the email read.

“This note is brought by a group of staff members outraged by the actions of an elected staff member, an executive director who uses a group called Group of Concerned Staff Members to take hostage of our institution” it further said. “We were members of the group called Group of Concerned Staff Members, until we understood that a group of non-regional executive directors was manipulating us; not for the good governance of the African Development Bank but to discredit the candidacy of the current president for his reelection.”

This revelation notwithstanding, the ethics committee went on to investigate the petition and cleared Dr Adesina of all accusations levelled against him.

The Ethics Committee of the Board of Directors, headed by Takuji Yano, cleared him of all the 16 charges preferred against him; and the findings of the committee transmitted to both regional and non-regional shareholders.

However, The U.S. is now calling for another round of fresh investigation, this time by an independent body. The call by the United States government is not only inconsistent with the established rules, laws, procedures and governance systems of the Bank, but it is also unprecedented in the history of the 56 years old institution.

Bretton Woods practices and expectations of the World Bank and IMF. This is the invisible ink that has unsettled Washington.

Additionally, Dr Adesina is a resolute unapologetic PanAfricanist. His hope-laden speeches continue to reverberate across the continent, inspiring a new wave of optimism, not just in young leaders eager to contribute to building a new Africa on their own terms but also helping to leapfrog Africa's infrastructural development.

In his speech during the launch of the Africa Economic Outlook 2020 at the Bank's headquarters in January, Dr Adesina stated that “Africa is where the focus of the world is right now as the growth and investment frontier.”

Continuing, he averred that, “There has been China-Africa Summit, Japan-Africa Summit, India-Africa Summit, Korea-Africa Summit, Russia-Africa Summit, USAfrica Summit and several others.

What do all these countries see?

They see the opportunities that Africa offers.”

“With a population of 1.2 billion people that is expected to rise to

From 1964 to 2015, the Bank had been manned by seven different presidents, with only three presiding over the Bank for two terms of 10 years. The trio of Babacar N' diaye, Senegal; Omar Kabbaj, Morocco; and Donald Kebrauka, Rwanda, presided over the Bank between, 1985-1995, 1995-2005 and 2005-2015, respectively. Traditionally, the second term run for the presidency of the Bank has always been an uphill task, and not without a contentions or contenders. For the first time in the history of the Bank, however, a president is making a second term bid unopposed, yet, the external opposition seems sturdy.

It is, therefore, gratifying to see African Leaders speaking with one voice. The call by Nigeria's former President Olusegun Obasanjo to other former presidents in the continent to rise in defence of the institution presents a template for the kind of Africa-focused solidarity that should guide the continent's engagement going forward.

It is noteworthy that the opposition against Dr Adesina isn't new. He emerged 8th President of the AfDB, despite a US-led campaign to discredit his candidacy. This opposition has obviously continued through his tenure.

Also, the opposition isn't based on charges of malpractice preferred against the President, which has now proven to be bogus or his capacity to lead the continent's leading development institution.

Far from it. The opposition to Dr Adesina's presidency is primarily due to his commitment to employing the principles of bestin-class development economics to run the AfDB and seemingly not according to the traditional July - August 2020

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2.5 billion by 2050, a rising middle class, rapid urbanization – and a workforce that will rise from 705 million today to well over 1 billion in the next ten years – Africa offers a huge market and investment opportunities. The Africa Continental Free Trade Area makes Africa a market worth $3.3 trillion. Africa can no longer be ignored”, he said.

This narrative of a resurgent Africa isn't quite pleasing to those bent on pulling Africa's developmentalstrings.

Last year, an article by Daniel Runde, published in The Hill, frowned at the AfDB's efforts to increase its capital. The tantrumstyled report called on the U.S. to seek more controlling stake in the Bank. “At the World Bank, the U.S. has 15.7 per cent of voting power and a de facto veto, and the U.S. does not hold similar veto power in the AfDB. The U.S. has 12.7 per cent of the voting power at the Asian Development Bank and 30 per cent of the voting power at the IDB, yet only has 6.649 per cent of the voting power at the AfDB”, the article read. Simply put, the U.S. needs to dictate the pace of development in the continent via the Bank.

Therein lies the unstated grouse against the second term bid of Dr Adesina. His capacity on the job is not in doubt. Since his emergence as the 8th President of the Bank in 2015, Dr Adesina has led the Bank on what many analysts have described as an exceptional tenure.

really ready or willing enough to make the necessary sacrifice or, at least, there is a limit to the kind of sacrifice that they and their countries could or would make”.

The prevailing realities show that things haven't changed much.

The African Union still battles to remain relevant, as many member states have become perpetual defaulters in meeting their annual financial obligation to the institution. If things remain unchanged, Africa will continue to lose its cherished institutions to those who seek to control her destiny. We have another unique opportunity to make things right.

Africa's position on matters of this nature should be unmistaken.

It is, therefore, gratifying to see African Leaders speaking with one voice. The call by Nigeria's former President Olusegun Obasanjo to other former presidents in the continent to rise in defence of the institution presents a template for the kind of Africa-focused solidarity that should guide the continent's engagement going forward.

Similarly, the Nigerian government's strongly worded letter, rejecting the call for a fresh probe is a step in the right direction.

As in the word of former President Obasanjo, “…if we do not rise and defend the African Development Bank, this might mean the end of the African Development Bank, as its governance will be hijacked away from Africa.” Now more than ever, African leaders past and present, young and old must rise in defence of the continent and the Bank, as this has become a fight for the soul of the continent.

However, this issue has again thrown up the question of our leaders' commitment to its obligation to regional and continental institutions. According to Nigeria's former President Shehu Shagari in his book, “Beckoned to Serve,” “…it dawned on me that many African leaders who shout at roof-tops in international gatherings were not

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Feature

We are in interesting times as businesses. But as I have come to know, great disruptions birth even greater innovations and solutions.

Having started my entrepreneurship journey over 20 years ago, I must say this has been a worthwhile journey. I have enjoyed every bit of it. I have established businesses in Telecommunications, hospitality, Micro-Financial services, Digital Media and Entertainment, Events design and management, Fintech, Real Estate, Health and Agribusiness. My diversification has really helped to reduce my business risks during these uncertain times of Covid-19.

Various sectors were affected differently and some cushioned the bottom line of otherwise a challenging season.

In this, my business focus will be growth and diversification in more sectors, regions and having more collaborations. I have taken this downtime to prepare myself and my team for what will be the best time in business.

I strongly believe, our partners and collaborators must represent the future we want for Kenya, Africa and the world at large. We must be the shining light in this “dark continent�. As an entrepreneur in the market place,

SAMCHI GROUP

THE JOURNEY INTO THE FUTURE Esther Muchemi

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I am aware I will be the greatest influence in the population of an emerging markets like Africa and therefore must set out with the right foundation and values. My vision is to create shared valuebased wealth.

I believe in honesty and integrity, a strong entrepreneurial spirit, care and concern for all we engage in business with, focus and consistency in delivering to our customers, fairness and equality in our business dealings and putting God above all things that we do. These have been our guiding principles over the last 20 years. This is the solid rock upon which Samchi Group is founded.

The rest have been anchored on that bedrock.

To grow and diversify, we have to ask what's the next big thing?

Where is the next opportunity?

Which is the next frontier market?

Most of my business ideas and ventures were born in challenging times. Infact, during this Covid-19 period, I have managed to start two new business ventures and started publishing a new book.

As I look into the future of Samchi Group, some of the new businesses I want to be engaged in is in Digital education and training. Transforming the mindset and attitude is high on my agenda. I want to be able to share and disseminate the knowledge, wisdom and experience I have acquired in the last 20 years. By creating an elearning platform, I will be able to conduct Master classes and webinars, share nuggets and videos on various aspects of business.

Any business that affects the Youth is close to my heart. We must design business models that are youth facing and BOP focused. Those models are sustainable and forward facing since over 54% population in Africa is youthful.

A few factors have favoured business in this region. A pool of affordable medium and high skilled labour and a growing substantial domestic market of about 1B puts Africa as the next frontier to do business. However, more needs to be done to make this the next frontier as the Next-

Generation Manufacturing Ecosystem.

In the immediate future, I see a lot of opportunities arising from technology driven ventures and enterprises. Some of the emerging and

Decentralization of manufacturing centers to reduce the risks associated with one location manufacturing. Chinese manufacturers and a few American companies that had outsourced their manufacturing to China are reconsidering their locations with Africa being on high priority list due to their cheap factors of production and availability of a 1B market.

Final Words The question on every business owners mind now is, when the Foundations have been shaken, what do we do.? Is my business foundation fortified enough on principles to withstand such possible future shocks?

I will encourage us to take stock and relook at the WHY our businesses exist. Then build from that strong conviction into a great future. To build a generational and legacy business. 10 years from now, we should look back and thank God for this dark Covid-19 season. It has helped us recalibrate and strategize.

Let's grow, diversify, collaborate and partner. We strong. together.

Power to Our Economic Recovery and Growth Covid-19 has had many socio economic effects in continental Africa and especially the emerging markets. In May 2020, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) revised the continent's growth projections downwards to from 4% to 2%. Last week, The World Bank said that Africa is headed towards its first recession in 25 years. These gloomy figures can largely be attributed to disrupted value chains, reduction in FDI and remittances and direct hits to sectors such as tourism and oil.

While no industry can truly be recession-proof, tech-enabled sectors may be more likely to withstand these shocks. Digital technology is getting a boost as people find new ways to work and communicate and sectors take their services online. There are three sectors that are likely to survive and even grow in the face of the coronavirus-sparked economic crisis.

Fintech Mobile payments are likely to become more popular, spurred by stay-at-home orders and debates over the risk of infection due to the handling of cash.

Companies like Kenya's Safaricom, which operates mobile money service M-PESA, and Nigeria's Paga are enabling that shift by reducing fees during this period.

Most of my business ideas and ventures were born in challenging times.

Infact, during this Covid-19 period, I have managed to start two new business ventures and started publishing a new book.

Digital Supply Chain The traditional value chain has been disrupted. Producers and final consumers' interaction will be shortened to create value to end user. This is especially in the Agribusiness sectors Manufacturing FDIs and Technology Transfer The realization that global crisis can adversely affect supply chains will make manufacturers and companies rethink their manufacturing models.

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Sports

SPORTS FOR DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA sustainable usage and maintenance Trains multipliers such as teacher, coaches or social workers in offering quality sports-based activities that promote education, peace, violence prevention, gender equality, and health To promote private sector engagement to foster corporate social responsibility in achieving development goals The partners include ministries, schools, technical and vocational colleges, municipalities, universities, national sports associations, local and international non-governmental organisations.

Context Africa is a continent of opportunities, dynamic development and youth. Half of the 1.2 billion residents of Africa is under the age of 25. Soon, the continent will be home to more than two billion people; one quarter of the global population.

For this young generation to be a driver of sustainable development it needs peace, access to education and prospects. The young generation often only has limited access to qualitative, participative formal and nonformal education offers and development opportunities. Sport is an effective means to promote education, peace, violence prevention, gender equality, and health. Young people engaging in sports acquire important life skills such as communication, collaboration and leadership skills that increase their confidence and better qualify them for the labour market.

Results The first phase of the project between 2014 and 2019 recorded a total of 130 grassroots sports grounds that were built or rehabilitated in 12 countries, benefiting more than 651,000 children and young people. 90 per cent of the organisations running the sports facilities have a booking plan that promotes the sustainable use of the grounds.

More than 90 per cent of all the partner organisations with sports facilities have strategies to integrate the Sport for Development approach into their offers. Roughly 650 trainers have been trained to integrate the Sport for Development approach into their trainings. They have an important part to play as role models for children and young people, both on and off the field.

Almost all the Sport for Development trainers receiving support have shown to provide high-quality training in line with pre-defined standards. More than

Objective Development perspectives of children and youth with regard to education, employment, health, gender equality, and peaceful coexistence are improved through sport.

Approach In close collaboration with governmental and nongovernmental partner organisations, with the private sector and academia, The Sport for Development in Africa (S4DA) project: To consults governments and other partner organisations on promoting development perspectives for youth through sport, for example by integrating Sport for Development in national agendas and curricula To creates safe spaces for disadvantaged children and youth by constructing or renovating grassroots sports grounds and facilitating its

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Sports

190 instructors have received training on the Sport for Development methodology. They act as multipliers to train other trainers. Around 15,000 children and young people regularly take part in trainings promoting life skills, education and prevention of violence.

In Namibia, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Sport are integrating the Sport for Development approach into national curricula for secondary schools.

In Ethiopia, the Sport2Work method has been developed.

Trainers use the method to teach children and young people at vocational schools' skills that they will need on the labour market.

State-run vocational colleges are beginning to set up sports departments for the first time.

In Kenya, the Football Kenya Federation has incorporated the Sport for Development approach into its training for trainers to disseminate it across the country.

A gender quota has also been established.

In Mozambique, the Pedagogical University in Maputo has integrated Sport for Development into its training for physical education teachers. University

graduates can apply their new knowledge directly in internships in schools and municipalities.

In Togo, the National Institute for Youth and Sport (INJS) at the University of LomĂŠ integrated Sport for Development in its curricula. The trained physical education teachers and social workers carry the approach to schools and social institutions across the country.

Regional Project Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Country: Multi-country project in Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Senegal Lead executing agency: National and regional ministries of education, youth and sport Overall term: 2019 to 2022

Project title: Sport for Development in Africa (S4DA)

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