6 Years Into African Women’s Decade: Are Women Better Off Now?

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  African Women’s Decade: Are Women Better Off Now?

  CULTURE & LIFE

• Did you know that 2010-2020, is dedicated by AU as a period to advance gender equality under the name ‘African Women’s Decade’? What are some of the gender issues that should be addressed urgently and why?
• In October 2010, the African Union took a bold initiative to launch the African Women’s Decade themed “Grassroots Approach to Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment.” African Women’s Decade (AWD) is aimed at advancing gender equality by accelerating implementation of Dakar, Beijing and African Union (AU) Assembly Decisions on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment through dual top down and bottom up approaches which are inclusive of grassroots participation.
  Six years since the launch of the African Women’s Decade 2010-2020, a lot has been achieved, according to a 2014 report which highlights the milestones in each country in the continent. The report cites that women have made their way into leadership positions such as Catherine Samba-Panza, who became Central Africa Republic’s first female head of state (interim President), making her the 3rd African woman head of State.
  In terms of legislation changes for institutional support to facilitate healing and justice for women survivors of sexual violence, major breakthroughs were observed in 2014. Algeria adopted an executive decree recognizing women who have been raped during the “dark decade” as victims of terrorism. Uganda’s parliament, on the other hand, passed a resolution to provide gender-sensitive reparations to the women and men who suffered at the hands of the Lord’s Resistance Army during the 20-year insurgency in Northern Uganda, including crimes of sexual and gender-based violence. In Morocco, the parliament addressed violence against women with an important vote, amending a law that allowed rapists to marry their victims. Most recently, a Tanzania High Court raised the legal age of marriage for girls to 18, a move that could help end child marriages in a country, where two of every five women are married before their 18th birthday, and often against their will.
  The progress is laudable, however, much more has to be done in the remaining three years to ensure that the targets are met by 2020. Leaders and women need to discuss what has to be done now to address existing challenges by the lapse of the decade and in years to come.
  The initiative which was based on ten thematic areas including fighting poverty and promoting economic empowerment of women and entrepreneurship; health, maternal mortality and HIV and Aids; education, science and technology; peace, security and violence against women; governance and legal protection among others, has achieved a lot in local societies and across the continent. But there are still some glaring issues that need to be addressed soon.

  High Rates of HIV infection among young women

  Whereas the rate of new HIV infections among children has reduced, the opposite is happening among young adults. At the recent International HIV/Aids conference in Durban, Bill Gates, a multi-billionaire and founder of Microsoft noted that “more than 2,000 young people under the age of 24 are newly infected every single day,” in sub-Saharan Africa. “The number of young people dying from HIV has increased fourfold since 1990,” he added.
  Out of these numbers, the majority of those infected are young girls and women, according to a report by UNICEF. The report cites that “the total number of infected girls and young women (15-24 years) is more than twice as high as among their male counterparts – 1.9 million compared to 780,000.”
  Some cultural practices that subject women into sexual activities without their consent including rape within, and outside relationships, is a major contributor to increased numbers of HIV infections among women and girls.
  Take the case of Kusasa Fumbi (cleansing camps) in Malawi where teenage girls as young as 12 have been forced to have sex with older men hired by the girls’ parents. In an unfortunate turn of events, Eric Aniva, one of the man who has been ‘deflowering’ the young girls in Nsanje district, southern Malawi, confessed to BBC that he is HIV positive, and his clients had no knowledge of his status. The number of girls he has slept with is over one hundred, and among those, some have become victims of the HIV menace. Reason- a backward culture.

  Employment inequality

  While women have been taking up leadership positions in the public sector, a recent report on Women in Power and Utilities Index 2016 indicates that over the last three years, the number of women in public utility boardrooms has risen by a meager one percent. The Ernst and Young (EY) report further notes that it would take as long as 42 years to reach 30 percent women on boards, and 72 years to reach 40 percent.
  It is not just the representation of women that is an issue. Equal pay is also a matter of concern when it comes to gender equality. A 2015 World Economic Forum Report, predicts that global gender parity on the economic and social equality of the sexes would not be a reality until 177 years. That is how far issues of gender equality are apart- over a hundred years!

  Female Genital Mutilation

  Despite the fact that there has been a global outcry to end Female Genital Mutilation, more than 200 million girls and women across the globe have been cut in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia where FGM is concentrated, according to World Health Organization. Often, the cut is done on young girls between infancy and age 15, when they do not have a say on what should be done and shouldn’t be done on their bodies.
  The practice, which is a violation of human rights, takes the form of partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
  With less than three years to the end of AWD, there is a need to change strategy not only to address the above mentioned but also other gender-related inequalities and challenges including gender-based violence which is prevalent among women.

Gender Inequality: Women Representation in Boardrooms Rises By 1% Over 3 years!

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  Women Representation in Boardrooms Rises by 1% Over 3 years!

  WORLD

• With the current rate of a 1% rise every three years, it would take as long as 42 years to reach 30% women on boards, and 72 years to reach 40%.

• The representation of women in public utility boardrooms is growing at a very slow pace, which is a worrying trend, a new research has indicated.

  The Ernst and Young (EY) report on Women in Power and Utilities Index 2016 shows that over the last three years, the number of women in public utility boardrooms has risen by a meager 1%.

  Although a positive trend, the slow growth shows that much more has to be done to ensure that women take up leadership positions in the boardrooms.

  The pace of growth needs to be accelerated. Otherwise, with the “current rate of a 1% rise every three years, it would take as long as 42 years to reach 30% women on boards, and 72 years to reach 40%. That’s too long” part of the report reads.

  Further, the report indicates that Africa and the Middle East have the lowest fraction of female board executive directors.

  The Americas led by Latin America topped the list with nine percent. North America and Europe followed closely with seven percent. Looking at the representation of women in non-executive board functions, these regions still had the highest representation.

  Compared to Asia-Pacific region which stands at 3% in board executives category, the Africa/Middle East has double the executives (6%).

  According to the report, government mandates on gender diversity are relatively new to Asia-Pacific and, in some countries, cultural factors remain an issue, which has contributed to the low numbers.

  During the recent commemoration of the International Women’s Day (IWD) by Exchanges across the globe, the Nairobi Stock Exchange Chairman Mr Eddy Njoroge noted that the overall percentage of women board directors on the boards of Africa’s top listed companies stands at 12.7%. Mr Njoroge added that the survey which was carried out by the African Development Bank in 12 African countries showed that out of 2,865 seats only 364 were taken by the female board of directors. He insisted on the need to support and elect more women to the executive positions.

  The Standard quoted Gitahi Gachahi, EY Eastern Africa Regional Managing Partner who lobbied companies to strive to have a corporate culture that allows women to sit on their boards. "Most women are very industrious, enterprising and focused on bringing difficult perspectives in the boardroom, thus enriching the corporate agenda. They have a longer-term vision, with a keen eye on business sustainability." 

  “Having women on the board makes good business sense. It’s a performance issue with bottom-line impact,” the report advised noting that there is a “well-documented body of evidence that shows the links between the presence of more women on the board and increased profitability, return on investment and innovation. Well-known global organizations have done the analysis, and we’ve presented it in previous issues of the Index.”

  How can aspiring women get these positions?

  According to EY, aspiring women need to differentiate themselves by acquiring the right skill sets. The report encourages women to be thoughtful about how they develop expertise and understand how this expertise aligns with the priorities of the boards they are interested in.
  The report points out a few areas through which women can achieve these positions. They include:
  • Be extraordinary at your current job.
  • Think about the collaboration model, and how you work across your organization. You need to develop and demonstrate impact and influence.
  • To stand out and be noticed, have a point of view. It doesn’t have to be polarizing. But don’t fall into the trap of trying to be all things to all people. Be thoughtful, have a point of view and share it.
  • Take lateral moves. If you stick to one area of the business, you will reach a point where you’re blocked. That won’t happen if you move across the organization and broaden your operational and functional experience. This also puts you in a better position to have a point of view because you have been part of the broader organization. 
  
  

  Image credit: Fast Company

Writing Revolution—The Autobiography of Stokely Carmichael

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  Ture Urged Black Activists To Tell Their Stories

  CULTURE & LIFE6

• Ture writes, “the formative presences for me in the beginning were women, and that has continued true... I’ve always been... educated and protected by them”
• The autobiography of Stokely Carmichael—who would later rename himself Kwame Ture in esteem for two of his African forefathers, Kwame Nkrumah and Sekou Toure—highlights a number of the challenges and triumphs of the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20th century, including a detailed personal account of the shift from nonviolent action to armed self-defense and reflections on racial and gender inequalities and ambiguities within factions of the movement. Ready for Revolution is a powerful collaboration on the history of the civil rights movement between Ture and comrade Ekwueme Thelwell.

  Childhood

  Son to Adolphus and Mabel Carmichael, Ture was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad in 1943. As a child, he was frustrated with the Eurocentric British educational system. He recalls being surrounded by powerful and resourceful women, including his grandmother, his Tante Elaine, and his Mummy Olga. Ture writes, “the formative presences for me in the beginning were women, and that has continued true... I’ve always been... educated and protected by them” (p. 26).
  His respect for women continued into his adulthood and throughout his activism. During his year with the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO), Ture recognized that “as usual, our sisters were the backbone of the organization and as usual have never been sufficiently recognized” (p. 670). Later he would write that the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), even prior to the official decision to exclude whites from participation, had always been mired by “racial/sexual tensions” and that “the apparent color-free harmony had always been just a myth” (p. 306). This reference to existing “sexual tensions” echoes his highly criticized comment that the “position of women in SNCC is prone” (p. 432).
  At twelve, Ture joined his parents and two sisters in New York. Here he would live in an all white neighborhood, attend the Bronx High School of Science as the lone black student, participate in Young Communist League study groups and rallies, and become influenced by the political philosophies of Carl Marxi, C. L. R. James, and George Padmore.

  Time at Howard

  It is during his attendance at Howard University that Ture became more exposed to and involved in the Civil Rights Movement. During conversations with fellow students he began to understand “what segregation was like, the constant humiliations, the random brutality, the economic exploitation and ever-lasting dependence” (p. 132). Ture also came to recognize contradictions inside the system at Howard University, where students adopted affluent lifestyles and administrators and faculty members existed in a precarious system in which Southern Democrats controlled many university financial matters. In this system, politicking and seeming obedient to the whims of these politicians were tools for maintaining the university budget.
  Ture became a member of the Nonviolent Action Group (NAG) on campus and it was out of this organization—alongside the non-violent Greensboro sit-in of 1960, to which angry whites responded with violence by hitting the men and pouring ketchup, ashtrays and coffee on them (p. 139) and the subsequent sit-ins across the country—that SNCC would form.

  Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

  Originally the brainchild of activist Ella Baker, SNCC was composed of American youth interested in boldly and bravely “transforming the entire social structure of the South” (p. 141). Nonviolent direct action was a founding tactic of the organization and its members. Ture describes nonviolent action as a technique of social struggle—one that is not synonymous with passivity. Instead it is “directly confrontational, even aggressively so, only in a nonviolent way” (p. 166). He writes, “We were secular and militantly confrontational within the framework of a nonviolent activism” (p. 259).
  Although committed to the tactic of nonviolence, Ture’s respect for Civil Rights leaders who did not embrace the same approach (for example, Malcolm X) was unchanged. Ture recalls sympathizing and understanding when fellow activist Robert Williams deemed that violence needed to be met with violence after a string of white-on-black violence went unprosecuted.
  Ture’s own commitment to nonviolence would shift with time. Ture became the honorary prime minister of the Black Panther Party in 1967—signaling a shift from the non-violent campaign held by SNCC and CORE. During a speech in Trinidad in 1996, Ture spoke of revolution and change as emerging from both violent and nonviolent action, friction, and conflict. A reflective Ture recalls Freedom Summer: “I sure would not venture into those swamps and woods again unless I was well armed. And I’m talking superior firepower too” (p. 379).

  Freedom Rides

  Despite the Supreme Court ruling outlawing racial segregation of facilities and services for interstate passengers, the Interstate Commerce Commission failed to implement the legislation and Jim Crow laws remained the norm across the South. In response, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) devised a plan that, in the words of Ture, “could [not] be more harmless…in any even marginally healthy society” (p. 178). The implication was clear: America’s racism fostered a deeply unhealthy society.
  CORE sent an interracial team to travel from Washington D.C. to New Orleans on public transportation. This team was to ignore the signs marking “white” and “colored” spaces. They would use facilities openly.
  The public response was explosive. The riders progressed relatively unharmed until they reached Anniston and Birmingham, where the group was accosted and beaten by organized mobs of Klansmen. SNCC members assembled to join the Freedom Riders to ensure that the journey would continue as planned despite imprisonment and injury. Among them was Ture, who was jailed several times, including a sentence of forty-nine days in the Mississippi Parchman Penitentiary. The Freedom Rides revealed the permeation of racism within all levels of American politics.

  Freedom Summer

  “The most important thing Mississippi first taught me was to really love blackness” (p. 282), Ture reflected as he prepared to return to the South for the Mississippi Freedom Summer of June 1964, during which he served as a regional director, leading SNCC workers. Freedom Summer was a statewide campaign to organize community voter registration and booster the network of local leaderships.
  Throughout the summer, Ture heeded the guidance and philosophies of Ella Baker in important ways. Adopting an approach that differed significantly from a leadership style that oriented from the educated and professional classes (such as the NAACP, CORE, and SCLC), Baker believed that radical social transformation would not be achieved without consulting the people at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Baker believed that “if local people did not have ownership of the struggle they were engaged in, they would be beholden politically to others who would not necessarily experience the consequences of that struggle” (Ransby 2003, p. 280). Ture’s leadership was similarly infused with the stories of Mississippians—stories that guided him during the summer.
  An editorial commentary from Thelwell confronts the complex issue of race in the Freedom Summer Project. “The Mississippi staff was mostly black, Southern and poor, and the volunteers mostly white, Northern and middle class” (p. 367). Thelwell explores sections of Sally Belfrage’s memoir, “Freedom Summer,” which highlights the complexity of the black/white relationship inside the movement, in this case from the perspective of the difficulty of assimilation for white volunteers, expectations of gratitude on the part of whites, and historical circumstances that inherently place whites in the position of being “guilty” and blacks in the role of being “bitter” (p. 369).
  Ture likewise confronts the multifaceted issues surrounding racial integration in the movement. He writes, “My position was clear. Whites should organize in white communities” (p. 566). This determination was made after years of working side-by-side with white activists in the South as well as witnessing white allies beaten. Thelwell quotes Ruby Sales, an African American social activist, as having said, “White presence would incite local white people to violence” (p. 467). After the death of a white activist, the project staff of LCFO took the position that “to allow whites in would be tantamount to inviting their deaths” (p. 470).
  Ture had begun to seriously question racial integration following the all-white national Democratic Party’s refusal to seat the multi-racial Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) delegation at the DNC. First, LBJ sabotaged Fannie Lou Hammer’s testimony about her beating in the Winona jail by airing a policy discussion at the same moment that Hammer’s speech was on TV. Second, the Democrats refused to admit the MFDP’s delegates—Fannie Lou Hammer, Annie Devine, and Victoria Gray—to the Democratic National Convention. The MFDP, in Ture’s words, was “a bold, creative response to the political realities that confronted us in Mississippi in the South” (p. 400) but had been crushed by pre-existing racism within the Democratic Party.

  Lowndes County Freedom Organization and Black Panther Party

  After Mississippi and the assassination of Malcom X, SNCC underwent a change as it faced new issues and decisions and Ture himself decided to move in another direction. The Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) was an intensive effort to mobilize black voters across a county whose history was deep in racial tension. Approximately eighty families owned 90 percent of the land and of a total population of fifteen thousand, twelve thousand were African Americans being denied voting rights. The LCFO was a success as the number of registered voters rose significantly.
  In 1966, Ture became chairman of SNCC. After James Meredith was attacked during his solitary March Against Fear, Ture joined fellow activists to continue the march. He was arrested and upon his release, he gave his first Black Power speech, using the phrase to urge black pride and socio-economic independence. In 1967, Ture voluntarily stepped down as chairman.

  Travels to Guinea

  Ture became a strong critic of the Vietnam War, traveled and lectured, visited Guinea, North Vietnam, China, and Cuba. In 1969, he moved to Guinea and became aide to Prime Minister Ahmed Sekou Toure. Ture’s attention to the politics of history-making as world-making is reflected in his reaction to the coup d’etat that removed Sekou Ture from power. He referres to the French neocolonialists as guiding agents in the coup and responds, “History was rewritten in the media for real, Jack, and the economy opened up to foreign imports” (p. 719). Ture was diagnosed with colon cancer later on and died in 1998. He believed that the U.S. government was behind his illness.

  Remembering as reclaiming

  Composed in conversational tone, the narrative is a mélange of Ture’s first person narrative juxtaposed with personal, political, and historical commentary from Thelwell, which is clearly defined by italic print enclosed by brackets. This mode of writing emphasizes that this history, although expressed through written word, is ultimately an oral history. The pair recorded dozens of hours of conversation for the writing of the text (p. 634). This act of remembering and telling is both deeply political and meaningful.
  Ture’s language is fluid and quotidian as he draws the reader into conversation, “the mountain sure nuff came…” (p. 51), “the world was changing, wasn’t it?” (p. 117), “give praise and thanks” (p. 137), “so…black people were happening, Jack. If you cared at all about your people, it was an exciting, hopeful spring to be alive and active” (p. 326). Conversational jargon creates an active effect of informing or telling the reader in a sustained dialogue, rather than through an inactive effect of language being read. He writes,

  Language, and especially the spoken word, has always had a serious hold on me. From my earliest childhood I’ve been just fascinated by words and the sounds and rhythms of words and our people’s voices […] Our people take pleasure in wordplay and in the rhythms, tones and music of spoken language. Usses jes’ loves to play with our language. (p. 286)

  His declaration of historic ownership—“what we are writing here is history” (p. 3)—is all the more powerful coming as it does after years of having his ideas intentionally falsified and marginalized by mainstream media outlets. He describes the media’s reporting of Freedom Summer, writing, “I’m talking about a deliberate, systematic, unchallenged campaign of disinformation put out by the local media, much of which originated with the governor […] and ran down the legislature” (p. 360). Ture urged fellow black activists to tell their stories before they were forgotten or obscured by the “latecomers, outside observers and foreign correspondents who have done most of the writing” related to the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20th century (p. 297). He explains the importance of words as a form of reclamation,

  [The] fundamental notion was that black folks needed to begin openly, and had the right and the duty, to define for ourselves, in our own terms, our real circumstances, possibilities, and interests relative to white America. To determine what the relationship was. Simple as that. To consciously and publicly free ourselves from the heritage of demeaning definitions and limitations imposed on us, over centuries of colonial conditioning by a racist culture. Cultural and psychological self-determination, that’s all. (p. 527)

  References
  Carmichael, Stokely and Ekwueme Michael Thelwell (2003). Ready for Revolution: The Life and Struggles of Stokely Carmichael. New York: Scribner.
  Ransby, Barbara (2003). Ella Baker and the Black freedom movement: a radical democratic vision. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
  Image credit: http://d.lib.ncsu.edu/

Chicken Odor: Is This the Latest Invention to Fight Malaria?

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  Chicken Odor: Is This the Latest Invention to Fight Malaria?

  CULTURE & LIFE6

• Scientists have discovered that there is something in the smell of live chicken that keeps mosquitoes away, and could help protect against malaria.
• Mosquitoes spreading malaria among humans have been found to avoid chickens and other birds, some Ethiopian and Swedish scientists have discovered.
  The mosquito, Anopheles arabiensi, is a dominant vector of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. It is known to feed indoors and outdoors on human and other hosts, making it a difficult species to regulate with existing control methods.
  Thus, finding new solutions to the mosquito peril, that killed about 400,000 people in Africa last year according to UN, is necessary.
  “Investigating the mechanisms underlying the host discrimination process in Anopheles arabiensis could provide valuable knowledge leading to the development of novel control technologies,” the scientists said in their research.
  While the World Health Organization (WHO)) acknowledged that Africa is making progress in fighting malaria, more has to be done because “mosquito resistance to insecticides used in nets and indoor residual spraying” persists. According to the international public health agency, the parasite is also resistant to “a component of one of the most powerful antimalarial medicines.”
  The new research which included suspending a live chicken in a cage near a volunteer sleeping under a bed net found that mosquitoes tended to avoid the area.
  Mosquitoes spread malaria from person to person when the drink blood of an infected individual. Malaria parasite initially hides in the liver before going into the bloodstream.
  The study which was published in the Malaria Journal concluded that since mosquitoes use their sense of smell to locate a host they can bite, there must be something in a chicken’s odor that does not appeal to the insect.
  “An. arabiensis avoids chickens despite their relatively high abundance, indicating that chickens are a non-host species for this vector,” read an extract from the study.
  Habte Tekie from Addis Ababa University, who worked on the research, told the BBC that compounds from the smell of the chicken can be extracted and could work as a repellent.
  He said that field trials for this stage of the research are now “in the pipeline”.
  Other researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences were also involved in the project. They noted that compounds from chicken feathers were also used in the experiments, as well as live chickens.
  They concluded that the use of chicken and the compounds “significantly reduced” the number of mosquitoes that were found in the trap nearby.
  With mosquitoes developing resistance to insecticide “novel control methods” need to be invented and embraced.
  Motivated by this fact and the need to fight other mosquito related diseases, two young Africans invented malaria fighting soap, Faso. The two enterprising young men used locally available insect-repelling herbs which they say have an effect on mosquitoes. They said the soap worked in two ways: it protected the users as well as the environment in which the waste water ended. The water contains substances that prevent the development of mosquito larvae.
  With innovative ideas and continuous research in efforts to control the spread of malaria, the continent could rid itself of the disease. Already, six countries in the region could be free of malaria by 2020, according to the WHO

Njeri Rionge, Founder of The Wananchi Group, Sets a Great Example for Kenyan Women Entrepreneurs

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  Wananchi Makes Internet Affordable for Average Households

  ENTREPRENEURSHIP6

• What keeps Njeri on top the business game is the fact that she remains disciplined and is passionate about her job. She puts consistency as one of factors that helps her open doors that seem impossible.
• Njeri Rionge is one of Africa’s leading woman entrepreneur, a pioneer in the ICT sector on the African continent and has been named one of Forbes Most Successful Women. She has actually demonstrated a full capacity of taking up any kind of business and turning it into a success.
  Popularly known as “the serial entrepreneur”, Njeri co-founded East Africa’s first mass market oriented Internet service provider (ISP), “Wananchi” Online, which made Internet connectivity affordable for the average household, for the first time in Kenya.
  “I thought of Wananchi.com as an easy way to access information via the internet,” she said. She added that her main goal was to bridge the gap between East Africa's educated elite and the rest of the population.
  At the time she was launching Wanainchi.com, Njeri notes that many of Kenya’s movers and shakers still had no concept of the opportunities the internet would offer. She faced strong resistance from essential factors such as the government, industry regulators and existing competition.
  It is through the challenges and setbacks that Njeri persevered through that made Kenya get the gift of affordable access to the Internet. She was also allowed to expand Wananchi Online into something bigger, which is today known as “The Wananchi Group”. It is now one of the leading providers of broadband internet, cable television and internet-based mobile services in East Africa.
  Apart from this she runs Ignite Consulting, a firm that specializes in coaching, strategy facilitation, organizational effectiveness and skills training. Ignite Lifestyle, a health care consultancy; Insite, one of Kenya’s most successful digital marketing companies.
  She also heads BusinessLounge; a firm that helps other entrepreneurs to build successful businesses. “The Lounge acts as a business incubator for start-up companies and as a business club for more established firms and individuals,” Njeri said.
  Njeri is passionate about startups and does not envision herself sticking to any one project for too long. She believes that Africa is the next economic frontier and is thus motivated to build indigenous organizations that will support this growth. “I build organizations and then hand them over to someone else; that is my type of entrepreneurship,” she confirmed.
  All seem to be well with Njeri. Hardly can someone notice that she had humble beginnings and had to work her way to the top. “I grew up in Nairobi, my father was the head architect for the city council of Nairobi and my mother a farmer. My entrepreneurial journey started after I finished high school. I sold yoghurt during school breaks,” Njeri notes.
  She later opened up a shop in the back of a friend’s car where she did her hairdressing job. It was during this time that she discovered her mainly wealthy clients wanted more access to luxury goods. Seeing this opportunity, Njeri took economy courier trips to London to buy branded clothing, flew back to Kenya and sold her wares to her clients for a tidy profit.
  What keeps her on top the business game is the fact that she remains disciplined and is passionate about her job. She puts consistency as one of factors that helps her open doors that seem impossible and the fact that she is always excited about growth makes her want to achieve more.
  Njeri takes no break from her role as serial entrepreneur. She has lived in seven countries apart from Kenya. She is well travelled with countries such as Italy, Canada, Greece, London, Spain and the United States being particularly impactful to her as a businesswoman with a gift for identifying innovations. Her driving force is to develop Africa into the “next big economic miracle”.
  Image Credit: http://gmauthority.com/

White Citizens are Africans Too!

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  White Citizens are Africans Too!

  CULTURE & LIFE

• If race defines being African, what makes the modern African better than the authors of apartheid and even the slave-trade?
• Who is African and who is not? Inconsequential question? The reality of the matter is that the wrong answer has been proffered over and over again. This is the reason why there is such prejudice and racism in the African continent even now. A controversial answer was given by Sentlese Diakanyo for Thought Leader when he said, “No white person can either through birth or naturalisation assume an identity of African.” He stirred up a hornets’ nest, of course, and in the process started a discussion Africa needs to have. In response to Diakanyo, one Khaya Dlanga said, “We are Africans. All (of) us. Black, white, Indian, mixed, Chinese.”

  The fallacy of an African-ness defined by skin colour

  African Holocaust is one of the most radical sites that anyone will stumble upon. Its definition of what an African is obviously the expression of radicalism. It goes something like this, “‘African’ refers exclusively to the historical people of Africa and their descendants in the Diaspora. In plain language, no one is an African unless they can also be considered a ‘Black’ person. But not every ‘Black person’ is an African.”
  This definition is deliberately coined to exclude other ethnicities from the definition just as Diakanyo intended to do with his blog post. The idea is akin to what scholar and filmmaker, Alik Shahadah said, “African identity is not an open door, it does not have open membership. You cannot just come in like that. It does not work like that. It is exclusive because it has to be, it is exclusive because our experience is exclusive.” The unfortunate reality of all these profound observations is that they promote fragmentation of African society on the basis of skin colour. The African experience that is used as a benchmark for determining whether one fits the bill to be “African” is something exclusive to black people thus meaning anyone else though identifying with the continent is denied of the identity. Diakanyo for example uses the argument of how during the slave trade there was never a demand for an African to be any colour but black and yet now there is a huge drive to “redefine the colour scheme of an African”. This essentially means because other ethnicities particularly whites do not share the history and experience of the blacks, they cannot claim to be Africans. It is an emotional understanding of what it means to be African and yet emotions are rarely ever progressive. Is this scholastic understanding of the African identity what Africa needs? It is one thing to write an impressive blog post that proves one ascribes to a unique understanding of Africanism and another to have a progressive mind-set that embraces the possibility of a united continent.

  The progressive definition of an African

  The progressive definition of an African is a politically correct understanding that encourages integration of society. Where people cling to academic definitions that support their own prejudice, it is hard to unite the people. As Khaya Dlanga says, “If a white person is born in a particular country in Africa, that white person is a native of that country. Since they happen to have been born in a country in Africa that means they are African.”
  That is a simple definition that is straight to the point. There is a fear that such understandings steal away from the history of the black people in Africa but history should never be the justification for exclusion and veiled prejudice. There are so many white people in Africa who would not feel at home anywhere else in the world. Are they not Africans if Africa is their home? It has been said that every struggle that forgets history repeats but also true is the fact that an obsessive focus on history inhibits movement to the future. Surely this continent is more than just its history. It is very possible to include everyone who identifies with Africa: every citizen of an African country regardless of skin colour in the definition of African without downplaying the continent’s history. This flawed understanding that tells people that acknowledging the white citizen’s African identity is selling out should be discarded. The future of Africa should not be determined by complexion. If race defines being African, what makes the modern African better than the authors of apartheid and even the slave-trade?

Top 10 Cheapest African Countries to Live or Retire

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  Top 10 Cheapest African Countries to Live or Retire

  CULTURE & LIFE

• If you are planning on moving to one of the countries in Africa, this list should make your pick easier. It provides you with the top ten countries to live or retire in the continent.
• Have you been thinking of making a move to Africa for business, family, or for leisure?
  Using four key affordability metrics, GoBankingRates has tiered cheapest nations across the world. Here are the top ten African nations you should consider to live or retire:

  1. South Africa

  According to data, South Africa has one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Cape Town, leave alone Africa. The country has scooped several prestigious international travel awards due to the city which nestled between the ocean and the mountains, giving it a great mix of work and play.
  Along with the aesthetic backdrop, South Africa still remains the cheapest country to live in Africa as well as in the world. Being the world’s largest producer of gold, platinum, and chromium, the country has a rich economy. This results in a high local purchasing power compared to New York’s, thus placing the country at No.1.
  Additionally, South Africa offers lower prices on consumer goods and groceries, as well as rent. With one-bedroom in Durban going for around $280 a month and monthly expenses of just under $400, this is an ideal country to spend time with minimal cost implications on your budget.

  2. Zambia

  For the past ten years, Zambia economy has been growing fast with real GDP growth averaging roughly 6.7 percent per annum. The growth, however, slowed down (growing at about 3%) in 2015 due to falling copper prices, reduced power generation, and depreciation of the Kwacha. Zambia’s currency, the kwacha, also depreciated sharply against the dollar through 2015, before the central bank restricted lending.
  Compared to many countries in Africa, Zambia has the highest rent. Yet, it is one of the cheapest countries to live thanks to its high local purchasing power.

  3. Algeria

  Algeria has a number of natural resources; the country is ranked 10th in the world in terms of natural gas reserves, and sixth- largest gas exporter. It ranks 16th in oil reserves.
  Even in the modern day world, Algeria’s economy remains dominated by the state, a move that was taken in the country's socialist post-independence development model.
  The major contributor of foreign earnings is Hydrocarbons which accounts for about 60 percent of budget revenues, 30% of GDP, and over 95% of export earnings.
  Bordering the Mediterranean Sea, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya, the North African country has a population of 39.5 million. Consumer goods are relatively cheap in Algeria. Excluding rent, a single person's monthly costs average $400 in Algiers, the nation's capital.

  4. Tunisia

  The coastal nation in North Africa borders the Mediterranean Sea, Algeria, and Libya. It is inhabited by about 11 million people.
  Over the years Tunisia's diverse, market-oriented economy has long been cited as a success story in Africa. Since the 1960s, the country has been implementing successful strategies focused on bolstering exports, foreign investment, and tourism, all of which have become central to the country's economy.
  In addition to textile apparels, food products, and petroleum products the northern Africa nation also exports phosphates. 80 percent of the country’s exports are bound for Tunisia's main economic partner, the EU.
  Tunisia's liberal strategy, coupled with investments in education and infrastructure, fueled decades of 4-5% annual GDP growth and improving living standards.
  The country offers low cost of living, cheaper rent and consumer goods making it a relatively cheaper country to live.

  5. Egypt

  The Nile bisects Egypt, leaving a part of the country, fertile Nile valley, lush with most economic activities. After President Gamal Abdel NASSER, the country decentralized its economy opening it up for investment and business.
  Placed on the northeast corner of the African continent, Egypt has been experiencing public revolts due to uncertain political, security, and policy environment since 2011. Consequently, this slowed the economy, hurting tourism, manufacturing, and other sectors and pushing up unemployment.
  Last year, higher levels of foreign investment contributed to a slight rebound in GDP growth after a particularly depressed post-revolution period.
  With its historic sceneries, Egypt has been able to sustain its large population of 88.5 million through tourism which is the biggest industry in the country. Egypt is also known for textiles and food processing industries.
  Consumer goods and rent are cheaper in Egypt; a one-bedroom in Cairo costs just $350 a month.

  6. Morocco

  Also in North Africa like Tunisia and Algeria, Morocco is just across the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain. The country is occupied by a population of 33.3 million. Its main industries being aerospace, phosphate mining, and processing, and manufacturing automotive parts.
  One thing that Morocco does very well, is capitalizing on its proximity to Europe. Its economy is also driven by agriculture, tourism, textiles, apparel, and subcomponents.
  Moreover, the country has invested in its port, transportation, and industrial infrastructure to position itself as a center and broker for business throughout Africa. This is clearly demonstrated by a new port and free trade zone near Tangier which are improving Morocco's competitiveness.
  The country has a bilateral Free Trade Agreement with the US since 2006 and an Advanced Status agreement with the EU since 2008.
  In a bid to support its growing economy, the country seeks to expand its renewable energy capacity with a goal of making renewable more than 50 percent of installed electricity generation capacity by 2030.
  To live in the Capital of Rabat, one needs monthly expenses of about $750.

  7. Namibia

  Namibia is highly dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export. Mining accounts for 11.5 percent of GDP, providing more than 50 percent of foreign exchange earnings. With its rich diamond deposits, Namibia produces gem-quality diamonds which contributes to the country’s foreign exchange.
  Apart from that, Namibia is the world's fifth-largest producer of uranium, it also produces large quantities of zinc and is a smaller producer of gold and copper.
  The capital city, Windhoek, boasts a clean, relatively safe environment, with efficient transport. It has both taxis and buses providing efficient transport. The roads are well-maintained too.
  With about $120, one can get an average apartment with basic utilities like water and electricity.

  8. Kenya

  With the growing economy, Kenya’s Nairobi is becoming a city for multinational companies seeking a foothold for their African operations. Almost as sophisticated as the South African cities, Nairobi offers its visitors a “kinder and gentler” atmosphere.
  For the last seven years, Kenya’s real GDP growth has averaged over 5 percent. Since 2014 Kenya has been ranked as a lower-middle-income country because its per capita GDP crossed a World Bank threshold.
  Agriculture, the backbone of the Kenyan economy contributes about 25 percent of GDP. More than 70 percent of the country’s population (42 million) work at least part-time in the agricultural sector, including livestock and pastoral activities. Tourism also contributes heavily to Kenya’s economy.
  Although there is tension due to the upcoming elections, the Kenyan government is generally seen as stable.
  Transport within the city may prove challenging due to congestion, but with other transport options like the mini-bus commonly known as a matatu, and boda-boda motorcycle taxi, one can enjoy a different mode of transport.
  A variety of apartments within the city and the suburbs are affordable and often with some land for your kitchen or flower garden.

  9. Zimbabwe

  The contraction period in Zimbabwe between 1998 to 2008, helped the country’s economy which recorded real growth of more than 10 percent per year in the period 2010-13. Due to poor harvests, low diamond revenues, and decreased investment, the growth dropped to merely 3 percent in 2014 and has continued to decline ever since.
  To counter the economic melt-down, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) introduced bond coins denominated in 1, 5, 10, and 25 cent increments on a par with the US dollar in December 2014, more than five years after the Zimbabwe dollar was taken out of circulation. In the following years, the country introduced the Indian rupee, Australian dollar, and Japanese yen as legal tender.
  Even with the economic challenges, Zimbabwe still remains one of the top ten countries in Africa that are affordable enough. With about $135 per month, an individual can get an apartment with average utilities covered for.

  10. Ethiopia

  For more than a decade now, Ethiopia has grown at a rate of 8-11 percent, making it the fifth-fastest growing economy among the 188 IMF member countries.
  The growth is majorly contributed by the country’s agriculture (which employs about 80 percent of Ethiopians) and service sectors. Despite the high growth rate, the country is still struggling with poverty due to rapid population growth and drought.
  Ethiopia’s service industry led by Ethiopian airlines contributes to the country’s export earnings. Coffee remains the largest foreign exchange earner, but lately, the country is diversifying its exports and commodities such as gold, sesame, khat, livestock and horticulture products.
  Ethiopia remains a one-party state with a planned economy. In the fall of 2015, the government finalized and published the current 2016-2020 five-year plan, known as the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II). GTP II emphasizes developing manufactures in sectors where Ethiopia has a comparative advantage in exporting, including textiles and garments, leather goods, and processed agricultural products. New infrastructure projects are to include power production and distribution, roads, rails, airports and industrial parks.
  Rent costs about $45 a month. Food and other amenities are also affordable for anyone who wants to live in the country

East Africa: Integration In Region Deepens Trade And Development

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  EA: Integration In Region Deepens Trade And Development

  MARKETS

• Although there have challenges since the re-establishment of the EAC, there is no doubt that partner states have made considerable progress in their efforts to integrate.
• Integration has played a key role in growing East Africa (EA) as a region even more rapidly after the re-establishment of the East African Community (EAC).
  Such development in the region has been made possible through support from Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) which has particularly helped EAC reduce the transport transfer time of containers from Dar es Salaam-Mombasa port to Bujumbura, Kigali by 12%.
  To further discuss the way forward between the two organizations, EAC Secretary General, Amb Richard Sezibera, held discussions with TMEA CEO, Mr Frank Matsaert to plan for TMEA’s support for the next phase, 2016-2022.
  Noting the role played by TMEA in developing the region, Dr Sezibera said in appreciation: “I wish to express my gratitude to TMEA for supporting the Integration Agenda.” He added: “As we move more towards monetary and fiscal integration, we need to strengthen institutional capacities, nurture vibrant trade and enhance financial markets within the region.”
  With the aim of improving the quality of life of East Africans through competitiveness, value added production, trade and investments, the EAC, through TMEA support, has improved the infrastructure at Mombasa Port; constructed road network between Ntungamo to Mirama Hill in Uganda and Port Reitz to Kipevu West in Kenya; improved on the customs clearance time along the borders and carried out several sensitization campaigns to small cross border traders on the opportunities and facilities of the Integration Process.
  “We are very keen on continuing [to] support the Integration Agenda,” said Mr Matsaert. “With strong commitment and guidance from the Secretary General and his team, we will be able to carve out key priority activities to carry out in the next phase,” he added.
  Although there have challenges since the re-establishment of the EAC, there is no doubt that Partner States have made considerable progress in their efforts to integrate. Efforts have been made in the harmonization of policies, while improvements have been made in the areas of trade, macroeconomic policies, infrastructure, and ICTs.
  The decision by Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) to establish a single free trade zone for the 26 member countries goes a long way to deepen the integration agenda for the Community.

The 10 Most Peaceful African Countries

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  The 10 Most Peaceful African Countries

  CULTURE & LIFE

• Lots of the usual suspects, but also plenty of surprises in the Global Peace Index.
• Despite an increase in geopolitical tensions and an upsurge in violence in certain parts of the world, last year saw the overall level of global peacefulness remain steady, according to the latest Global Peace Index report.
  Four regions experienced an improvement in peace: Europe, North America, sub-Saharan Africa and Central America and the Caribbean. The remaining five regions – Asia Pacific, South America, Russia and Eurasia, South Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa – saw a deterioration.
  
  Guinea-Bissau and Cote d’Ivoire registered the largest score improvements worldwide. In both cases, this reflects a substantial improvement in the societal safety and security and the ongoing domestic and international conflict domains, due respectively to the holding of credible and predominantly peaceful elections and a decline in the number of attacks by former rebels. Overall, 81 countries became more peaceful while 78 countries were worse off.
  The Global Peace Index, issued by the Institute for Economics and Peace, ranks 162 independent states covering 99.6% of the world’s population.
  Methodolgy
  The Global Peace Index is a composite index comprised of 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators that gauge the level of peace in 162 countries. These indicators can be grouped into three broad themes: the level of safety and security in a society, the number of international and domestic conflicts and the degree of militarisation.
  The only statistical measure of its kind, the Global Peace Index allows us to understand what makes societies peaceful and what we need to do in order to mitigate violence in the future.
  The 10 Most Peaceful African Countries
  
  More on the methodology
  
  
  (Header Image Credit: restbee.ru)

Namibian Teen, Simon Petrus, Creates a Sim-Less Phone That Doesn’t Use Airtime

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  Namibian Teen Creates a Phone That Doesn’t Use Airtime

  TECHNOLOG

• Upcoming African inventors are continuously calling on other young people to invent things that could make life much easier.
• There has been a rapid increase in the number of unique subscribers and connections in sub-Saharan Africa over the last five years. By June 2014, there were about 330 million unique subscribers which is equal to 38 percent of penetration rate, according to a GSMA report.
  Consumers, governments and businesses alike are now more than ever able to adopt mobile technology not only as a basic communication tool but also as a means to get information and a growing range of new applications and services.
  Africa is set to grow even faster due to increasing affordability of mobile services. With emerging tech solutions like that of the Namibian schoolboy, Simon Petrus, the mobile technology could grow even faster reaching to those in inaccessible areas.
  Petrus the Grade 12 learner in the country’s Ohagwena region has invented a sim-less mobile phone that does not require airtime to make calls.
  The pupil at Abraham Iyambo Senior Secondary School created the phone using spares from a phone, television parts, and other electronic devices, CCTV Africa reported.
  The new creation which comes with a light bulb, fan, and charger socket, functions off power supplied through a radiator and is able to make calls to anyplace through the use of radio frequencies.
  Apart from being used as a mobile device to communicate, Petrus brainchild, made up of a radio system, is attached to a box and reports indicate that it can also allow the user to view one TV channel on it.
  Using the many-in-one unit, Petrus can make calls to wherever without any interruptions provided he is in an area where there are radio frequencies. His latest invention like one in the past has received recognition in the country. His new creation won first place at the regional level and he is now heading to the national competition, the Herald reported.
  Last year, the young pupil won a gold medal at the national level for his inventive two-in-one machine that works as both a seed drier and cooler.
  According to local reports, the invention which took two years to create was sponsored by his unemployed parents, and the schoolboy hopes that the creation would be a success and be able to be carried further to the rest of the continent.
  The young innovator wants to become an electronic engineer after he completes Grade 12.

  Emerging young inventors

  Petrus is not the only young inventor who is creating tailor-made solutions to resolve local challenges.
  Inspired by Alexander Graham Bell, Josua Nghaamwa a young Namibian invented a cellphone some years back using scrap radio parts and toy telephones parts. In 2014, using scrap material, the young inventor built a satellite dish booster which is created to enhance people’s internet connectivity in rural areas where there is a significant weak signal.
  The satellite created by the self-taught inventor is small enough to fit in a laptop bag and has a USB port to allow it be connected to a modem, router or cell phone, increasing the internet speed allowing for a better online experience.
  With such inventions aimed at making mobile and internet experiences in Africa better and faster, the region is set to continue expanding.
  
  

  Image credit: Answers Africa