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Stevie Wonder celebrated his 74th birthday by becoming a Ghanaian citizen

Details: Written by Super User; Category: Africa; Published: 10 July 2024; Hits: 251

ACCRA - The high-profile ceremony was a reminder of one of the legacies of outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo, who in 2019 invited the Black diaspora to come “home” in a “Year of Return.” It amplified the West African nation as a major end-of-year holiday destination. He also oversaw a ceremony that granted citizenship to more than a hundred African Americans and Afro Caribbeans.

Since 2017, 268 Americans have obtained Ghanaian citizenship, Ghana’s Director of Diaspora Affairs, Akwasi Awua-Ababio told Semafor Africa. “Most of them see it as a right to restoration of their citizenship and the fact that they are one of us. It is a response to the president’s call,” said Awua-Ababio.

Ghana has been a popular place for settlement, often because many believe their families exited Africa through the forts and castles around Ghana’s coast, Aqua-Ababio explained. Others have also been drawn to Ghana’s positioning as a welcoming nation and a gateway to Africa. The majority of those granted citizenship, particularly those in the 2019 group, were already residents of Ghana and merely requested the opportunity to become citizens.

Ghana has long given citizenship to diasporan Africans who have established residency. Former President John Mahama oversaw a naturalization ceremony “restoring” citizenship to 34 diasporan Africans in December 2016, just before he left office. From the founding of the modern nation in 1957, early Ghanaian leaders led by the first president Kwame Nkrumah preached Pan-Africanism, one that transcended the shores of continental Africa.

Calls for 'restraint on all sides' as demonstrators storm Kenya's parliament

Details: Written by Super User; Category: Africa; Published: 26 June 2024; Hits: 241

NAIROBI - Ambassadors in Kenya have called for “restraint on all sides” after at least five people were killed and sections of the nation’s parliament set ablaze as demonstrators tried to storm the building.

The incident came on Tuesday as nationwide protests over tax reform escalated.

Lawmakers had just passed a contentious bill that would introduce new taxes.Police opened fire on demonstrators trying to storm Kenya's legislature in Nairobi, with at least five protesters killed, dozens wounded and sections of the parliament building set ablaze.

In a joint statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, ambassadors said: “We regret loss of life and injuries sustained, including the use of live fire.”

“We call for restraint on all sides and encourage leaders to find peaceful solutions.”

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga also demanded an immediate end to violence against protesters and has called for dialogue and international intervention, KTN News reported.

In chaotic scenes on Tuesday, protesters overwhelmed police and chased them away in an attempt to storm the parliament compound. Flames could be seen coming from inside.

Police opened fire with bullets, after tear gas and water cannon failed to disperse crowds of hundreds of demonstrators.

A Reuters journalist counted the bodies of at least five protesters outside parliament. A paramedic, Vivian Achista, said at least 10 had been shot dead.

Another paramedic, Richard Ngumo, told news agency Reuters more than 50 people had been wounded by gunfire. He was lifting two injured protesters into an ambulance outside parliament.

Legislators fled through a tunnel, but protesters allowed opposition legislators who voted against the bill to walk out of the besieged building, according to reports.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission shared a video of officers shooting at protesters and said they would be held to account.

Two people died in similar protests last week.

"We want to shut down parliament and every MP should go down and resign," one protestor, Davis Tafari, trying to enter parliament, told Reuters. "We will have a new government."

Protests and clashes also took place in several other cities and towns across the country.

Parliament approved the finance bill, moving it through to a third reading by lawmakers. The next step is for the legislation to be sent to the president for signing. He can send it back to parliament if he has any objections.

The protesters oppose tax rises in a country already reeling from a cost-of-living crisis, and many are also calling for President William Ruto to step down.

Ruto won an election almost two years ago on a platform of championing Kenya's working poor, but has been caught between the competing demands of lenders such as the International Monetary Fund, which is urging the government to cut deficits to access more funding, and a hard-pressed population.

Kenyans have been struggling to cope with several economic shocks caused by the lingering impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, two consecutive years of droughts and depreciation of the currency.

The finance bill aims to raise an additional $2.7billion (£2.1billion) in taxes as part of an effort to lighten the heavy debt load, with interest payments alone consuming 37 per cent of annual revenue.

The government has already made some concessions, promising to scrap proposed new taxes on bread, cooking oil, car ownership and financial transactions. But that has not been enough to satisfy protesters.

Africa Travel Connect to help revolutionize African tourism

Details: Written by Super User; Category: Africa; Published: 12 June 2024; Hits: 302

LONDON - Africa Travel Connect (ATC) will officially launch its innovative platform on June 13th, 2024. This groundbreaking initiative is dedicated to promoting and enhancing travel and tourism across the African continent. Founded by Yared Bizuneh, a seasoned industry expert with over 25 years of experience, Africa Travel Connect aims to redefine the way African destinations are marketed and experienced.

To mark this momentous occasion, a special launch event is taking place in London with the presence of over 80 distinguished guests from all sectors of the travel and tourism industry, including Tourist Boards, Airlines, Local Travel companies, Tour operators, Travel Software providers, Financial Service providers and Journalists.

Africa Travel Connect is a dynamic, membership based organization committed to fostering collaborations with leisure stakeholders from both the public and private sectors. Its mission is to significantly increase tourism numbers while showcasing Africa’s rich cultural heritage and natural beauty.

“Our vision is to capture 25% of the global tourism market share by 2030, up from the current 7%”, said Yared Bizuneh, ATC director general.

Africa’s tourism potential is undeniable, as is the potential of tourism to drive inclusive development across the continent.

The continent possesses immense potential in terms of tourism to drive economic growth, foster cultural exchange, and create opportunities for development. By working with all stakeholders, ATC board aims to address the challenges facing African tourism and promote sustainable practices that benefit local communities.

Refugee camps in Chad overcrowded and running out of aid

Details: Written by Super User; Category: Africa; Published: 22 March 2024; Hits: 393

By JSARH NGARNDEY ULRICH and JESSICA DONATI

METCHE CAMP, Chad — Overcrowded refugee camps in eastern Chad are set to run out of money soon, exacerbating a dire humanitarian crisis caused by the spillover from a deadly conflict in Sudan, the United Nations said.

More than a million people in Chad, including refugees, face losing access to lifesaving aid unless more funding is raised to help, the U.N. World Food Program said this month.

The devastating conflict between feuding generals in Sudan has killed more than 5,000 people there and displaced over 5 million, the United Nations said. In Chad, refugee numbers are at a 20-year high. The U.N. has warned that the conflict is on course to become the world’s worst hunger crisis, with a third of Sudan’s 18 million people facing acute food insecurity already.

At refugee camps in eastern Chad, lack of clean drinking water and sanitation is causing dangerous diseases to spread. Doctors Without Borders said it has recorded almost 1,000 cases of hepatitis E in the camps and several pregnant women have died.

“The situation is dire in all camps,” said Erneau Mondesir, the group’s medical coordinator in the region. “Without swift action to improve sanitation infrastructure and enhance people’s access to clean water, we risk witnessing a surge in preventable illnesses and unnecessary loss of life.”

At the Metche Camp, which is sheltering some 40,000 refugees, people are in dire need of water, food, shelter and basic sanitation. Earlier this month an Associated Press reporter saw aid workers unload sacks of grain from trucks for distribution as fierce winds blew across the rocky, sandy terrain.

Aid workers used loudspeakers to explain the work and distribute tokens among refugees. “Here we do distribution in a targeted manner,” Ahmat Absakine, an aid worker with Caritas, another aid group in the region.

Water shortages are causing diseases to spread, and aid workers fear a catastrophe if supplies run out.

“The spillover from the crisis in Sudan is overwhelming an underfunded and overstretched humanitarian response in Chad. We need donors to prevent the situation from becoming an all-out catastrophe,” said Pierre Honnorat, the World Food Program’s top representative in Chad.

Analysts also fear the humanitarian situation could cause Chad’s own political tensions to erupt. In February, opposition leader Yaya Dillo was killed in the capital. He was the president’s cousin and a strong contender in the presidential election scheduled for May.

Finances and aid supplies at humanitarian operations are critically low. This will increase competition over resources between refugees and host communities in eastern Chad, further fueling local tensions and regional instability,” said Andrew Smith, senior Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft.

Chad’s interim president, Mahamat Deby Itno, seized power after his father who ran the country for more than three decades was killed fighting rebels in 2021. Last year, the government announced it was extending the 18-month transition for two more years, which led to protests across the country.