BUILD Africa Forum: New three-way partnership to tackle Africa’s infrastructure challenges

 BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of the Congo, December 18, 2013/ -- The BUILD Africa Forum (http://www.buildafricaforum.com) is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with the Institute for Infrastructure Studies (I.I.S.), a leading infrastructure think-tank based in London, UK and Doha, Qatar.

The BUILD Africa Forum will be held in Brazzaville, the Republic of the Congo, from the 5th to the 7th of February 2014

 The BUILD Africa Forum, together with the I.I.S. and the African Development Bank’s Africa50 Fund, have joined forces and committed their combined expertise in infrastructure investment and finance to develop solutions to Africa’s infrastructure funding gap.

The strategic relationship aims to answer the following key questions:

•          How will infrastructure investment risk profiles develop over the next 20 years and what mitigations can governments implement to incentivize investment?

•          How can infrastructure financing and delivery models be developed to attract private finance into the region?

•          How can Africa improve infrastructure delivery and avoid the costly overspends that have afflicted other regions?

Journalists form guild to help improve agriculture in Burkina Faso

Agriculture is a central part of life in Burkina Faso more than 80 per cent of Burkinabé work in the agricultural sector, mostly as smallholder farmers. But they’re isolated and they seldom have the opportunity to learn new information about cropping issues, or to share their own experiences and solutions with others.

Burkinabé journalist Inoussa Maiga is setting out to improve Burkina Faso’s agricultural communications. He initiated the formation of a guild, called the Burkinabé Association of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators (ABJCA), which was made official on May 18, 2013. He currently holds the position of General Secretary.

“ABJCA promotes an open exchange of ideas among agriculturalists, communicators and journalists that will help us to improve our knowledge of local and national issues,” says Maiga.

“Impunity breeds violence against journalists,” UN rights expert tells the UN Security Council

NEW YORK (13 December 2013) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, today warned the UN Security Council that impunity is behind growing acts of violence against journalists in the world.  

“Without paying systematic attention to all attacks against the press, without ending impunity, it is very difficult to ensure the safety of journalists,” Mr. La Rue told the Security Council during a special meeting on the protection of journalists.

“Most cases of violence and threats against journalists are not investigated and those responsible are never identified, prosecuted or tried. The sense of impunity is a main cause for the recurrence of episodes of attacks against journalists around the world,” he stressed.

Gambia: U.S. Embassy gives alert to its Citizens

BREAKING NEWS: The U.S. Embassy alerts U.S. citizens that according to a press release by opposition political parties, political rallies are planned in Serrekunda at the Buffer Zone field on Saturday, December 14, from approximately 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. and in Brikama at the Eid Praying Grounds on Sunday, December 15 from approximately 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. The U.S. Department of State recommends U.S. citizens avoid demonstrations, political rallies, and spontaneous gatherings. We remind U.S. citizens that even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational without advance warning. We recommend U.S. citizens avoid Serrekunda and Brikama as possible on Saturday and Sunday. U.S. government personnel are being asked to avoid Serrekunda and Brikama on those dates as well. U.S. citizens in The Gambia should stay current with media coverage of local events and remain aware of their surroundings.

You can stay in touch and receive Embassy updates by checking the U.S. Embassy Banjul website. Current information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States or a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444 for callers from other countries. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). You can also stay up to date by bookmarking our Bureau of Consular Affairs website. Follow us on Twitter and the Bureau of Consular Affairs page on Facebook, and download our free Smart Traveler iPhone App to have travel information at your fingertips.

Dear Mr. Njie, The Christmas season and its cheerful tidings have arrived! The enjoyment found in decorating a Christmas tree cannot be denied.This year we hope to share that enjoyment with others by decorating the Christmas tree in our foyer with "Wish Stars", which will be exchanged for gifts. Sponsored by FS-Charity, a FS-student initiative, these efforts will support the "Mädchenbüro" in Frankfurt am Main by providing new books for its girls.

GAMBIA: Gov't, CSOs, other to receive US top official

Stephen Schwartz

Stephen Schwartz, director of the Office of West African Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, will be visiting The Gambia on Wednesday, December 11 to meet with government officials and members of civil society in support of the strong bilateral relationship between the United States of America and the Republic of The Gambia. 

US Embassy Banjul Office in a media release stated that  Schwartz will hold a press conference with the media to speak and answer questions about the strong ties between the U.S. and The Gambia, the purpose of his trip, and President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative. 

About Schwartz

Stephen Michael Schwartz began his assignment as director of West African Affairs on August 14, 2013.  This follows his tours as deputy chief of mission in Lusaka, Zambia and as deputy director in the Office of Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Island Affairs.

“HAVING YOUR OWN ENTREPRISE REWARDS MORE”- CU Consultant Tulinabo

Mr. Aloysius Tulinabo Consultant CU-Gambia

Mr. Aloysius Tulinabo Consultant Concern Universal-Gambia (CU-Gambia) ascertain that for someone to have his or her own enterprise rewards more, by justifying his words, he said that entrepreneurship offers a greater possibility of achieving significant financial rewards than working for someone.

Making a PowerPoint presentation at a four days training (2^nd to 5^th Dec.) on Entrepreneurship for MDFT members at the Agricultural Rural Training Centre at Jenoi in the Lower River Region

He defines entrepreneurship as someone who engages in the creation of new business with the aim of achieving “success, growth and profit”.

Gambia: Entrepreneurship training is crucial to fight poverty

PS Cole giving his speech

Mr. Asheme Cole, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture has emphasized on the importance of entrepreneurship training saying that entrepreneurship training is very crucial if The Gambia as a nation want to fight the ills of poverty, through increase food production along the entire food value chains citing rice and vegetable.

Cole was addressing 60 participants-MDFT’s at the Jenoi Agricultural Training Centre in Lower River Region organised by the National Agricultural Land and Water Management Development Project best known as Nema  and is been conducted by Concern Universal-Gambia who won a bid to implement the training.

Smallholder farmers’ faces poor access to markets- Banky Njie Nema

Banky Njie Nema addressing 60 MDFT Members

The livelihood of our smallholder farmers are often constrained by poor access to markets and limited entrepreneurial skills for adding value to produce with the Nema training, MDTF’s will show vulnerable farmers how to penetrate the markets been it in The Gambia or beyond- Banky Njie Business Development Officer, National Development Agricultural Land and Water Management Project (Nema) told a gathering of 60 participants.

Nema in collaboration with Concern Universal-Gambia is conducting Entrepreneurship training from the 2^nd -5^th December, 2013 for Multi Disciplinary Facilitation Team members (MDFT’s) at Jenoi Agricultural Training Centre in Lower River Region.

After 31 years of successful work empowering smallholder farmers in The Gambia to increase their productivity, IFAD is now scaling up activities to cover agricultural areas across the whole country. A new IFAD-supported project, the National Agricultural Land and Water Management Development Project (Nema), known in the local Mandinka language as Nema – meaning “peaceful and prosperous.”

Infrastructure in Africa: AfDB Group’s Africa50 Fund partner of the BUILD Africa Forum on infrastructure in Africa

BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of the Congo, December 2, 2013/ -- The BUILD Africa forum (http://www.buildafricaforum.com) is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with the African Development Bank Group’s Africa50 infrastructure fund.

The forum will take place on February 5-7, 2014, in Brazzaville, Congo

Held under the High Patronage of Denis Sassou N’Guesso, President of the Republic of the Congo, the BUILD Africa Forum will address Africa’s infrastructure challenges by bringing leading public and private sector stakeholders to the table. The forum will take place on February 5-7, 2014, in Brazzaville, Congo.

Working together, the BUILD Africa forum and Africa50, the AfDB's single-A infrastructure delivery vehicle, will showcase innovative projects in Africa and develop a structural framework for these and other future projects.

LHDP income generating activities, improves rural farmers' livelihood

Small Ruminants Bani Kekoro village, URR

The Livestock and Horticulture Development Project (LHDP) aims to help small-scale rural producers, who are mainly women, to increase their incomes by improving the yield and quality of their horticultural and livestock products. The project also targets young people through the establishment of pilot gardens and market-oriented small livestock and poultry production units.

LHDP which is a co-financing project- the International Fund for Agricultural Development (ifad.org)  at a cost of US $8.0 million grant and the African Development Bank (afdb.org) US $4.9 million and the project is directly benefiting 10,390 households from 2010-2015. The IFAD component was approved in December 2009 and was signed and launched a national level on 15^th March, 2009. 

The project which provides practical support to the villager groups known as Kafoo-has today increased our income, reduce poverty and promote our small businesses and entrepreneurship in our local communities says Mrs. Fatou Kanteh President Bani Kekoro village, Upper Fulladu East in Upper River Region.