Oseyiza Oogbodo Blog

Simi Music stars 2Baba, Simi, Pasuma, Falz, Timi Dakolo, Waje, Illbliss, Mr P, Slim Case and Classiq have joined voices on a song, No Shishi 4 Bribe, which urges Nigerians not to sell their votes in the 2019 elections.

Abudu Nigerian television executive and entrepreneur, Mo Abudu, has been appointed a director of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the organization responsible for staging the world famous International Emmy Awards.

Carolina Cerqueira, Minister of Culture of Angola, and Firmin Edouard Matoko, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Priority Africa and External Relation, have signed an agreement for the creation of the Biennale of Luanda – Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace, which’s first edition will take place in September 2019.

With widening violence, large scale displacement, poor harvests and endemic poverty nearly doubling the number of acutely food insecure people in DRC this year to 13.1 million, the World Food Programme (WFP) significantly expanded its operations, reaching a record 5 million, a twofold increase from 2017.

Kenya has implemented the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund’s Enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS) by publishing critical data through the National Summary Data Page (NSDP).

The International Rescue Committee has said that the continuous postponement of elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have become worrying and potentially dangerous for the Congolese people and for aid agencies working to address the massive humanitarian need in the country, including the second largest Ebola outbreak in history.

Theresa May, UK Prime Minister Hundreds of thousands of people in sub-Saharan Africa will get access to electricity for the first time thanks to an extra £100m of funding from the UK government announced at COP24 in Poland.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, and NGO partners, are seeking $2.7bn to address the life-saving humanitarian needs of South Sudanese refugees in 2019 and 2020.

Cyril Ramaphosa, President, South Africa The South African mission in Shanghai has informed the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Lindiwe Sisulu that the seven South African nationals in Jiangsu Province have completed their detention period and will be released and deported back to South Africa.

Ghana’s Environmental Sanitation and Health Directorate under the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, UNICEF and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands have launched an innovative and affordable loan scheme for people living in urban areas to build their own household toilet.

At its 60th anniversary celebrations this week in Addis Ababa, the Economic Commission for Africa launched the Africa Poverty Clock.

In affirmation of its commitment to the Paris COP 21 agreement which is still one of the world’s major issues, Cote d’Ivoire has unveiled a fleet of buses which will be fuelled by compressed natural gas.

A year on from the brutal killings of 15 Tanzanian United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the head of peacekeeping operations paid a visit to some of the victims’ families recently to honour the memory of the soldiers who died in what was the biggest single loss of ‘blue helmets’ in recent history.

Belgium and Guinea have signed a new five-year cooperation programme to work together on strengthening entrepreneurship, women's rights and education.

The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) has approved an additional funding support of €115m to Rwanda’s Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Program, enabling 1.5 million people to access improved, reliable and sustainable water supply services.

Paul Kagame, President, African Union African leaders have been reminded to honour their commitment to allocate 10 percent of their budgets to agriculture if the continent is to improve food security, reduce poverty and spur economic growth.

In line with its commitment to skills development and the empowerment of entrepreneurs in Nigeria, GE (www.GE.com) (NYSE: GE), the world’s premier digital industrial company, has launched an e-learning portal for its Lagos Garage advanced manufacturing training program with the objective of extending the training program’s reach to thousands of Nigerians across the country.

US President Donald Trump An Open Skies Air Transport Agreement between the United States and the Republic of the Congo has been signed by the appropriate representatives of both countries. 

There’s clear evidence of sustained demand growth across Africa. Consumer spending will reach $2.5trn by 2030, while business-to-business investments will reach over $3.5trn in the same period.

GROHE, leading global brand for integrated bathroom solutions and kitchen faucets, and the World Architecture Festival (WAF), have chosen the winner of the first International Water Research Prize.

Working with Big Win Philanthropy and Aliko Dangote Foundation, the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) has unveiled a new Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Action Plan (https://bit.ly/2E4d3vW) that aims at raising investments towards reducing stunting by 40% in African children aged under 5 by 2025.

Kenyatta Kenya President, Uhuru Kenyatta, has launched the Huduma Halisi Public Service Campaign, an initiative of the Economic Commission for Africa.

The United States’ Global AIDS Coordinator & Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy, Ambassador Deborah L. Birx, M.D, and South Africa’s Minister of Health, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, have announced U.S., through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (U.S. PEPFAR), is investing $1.2bn (more than 16 billion rands) over two years to support SA efforts to reach HIV epidemic control by 2020.

Respected female entrepreneur, Gloria Serobe, has said she doesn’t want other women to go through what she did.

Kelej Merck Foundation CEO, Dr. Rasha Kelej, together with H.E. Madam Brigitte Touadera, The First Lady of Central African Republic – C.A.R. & Merck more than a Mother Ambassador, conducted a special meeting with more than 100 infertile women who have been enrolled in Empowering Berna to establish small businesses for them.

AC Hotels by Marriott (ACHotels.Marriott.com), Marriott International’s (www.Marriott.com) European-inspired lifestyle brand, has announced the opening of AC Hotel Cape Town Waterfront marking the debut of the brand in Middle East and Africa.

The EU Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF) for Africa is a flexible tool for providing assistance in areas such as food, education, health, security and sustainable development, according to a new report by the European Court of Auditors ( www.ECA.Europa.eu ).

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Accenture have announced the launch of YAS! (Youth for Africa and Sustainable Development Goals) (www.YASDG.com), a pan-African entrepreneurship portal-platform which addresses four main pillars of the entrepreneurship ecosystem: information, mentorship, funding and network.

The Ebola epidemic continues to spread through the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s North Kivu province.

Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Africa, has said ECA’s management is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities have the right support to access all services, technologies and systems at the institution and that their rights are fully realized.

Germany has announced new contributions of $4m to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in support of refugees from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Trump, left, and main trade foe, China President Xi Jinping The world, especially in the area of trade, is no longer the same since Donald Trump became America’s President.

Vantage Capital (www.VantageCapital.co.za), Africa’s largest mezzanine fund manager, has announced that it has provided €19 million of mezzanine funding to Pétro Ivoire, a leading distributor of oil & gas products in Côte d’Ivoire.

A Forum on Artificial Intelligence in Africa, organized by UNESCO and Mohamed VI Polytechnic University from 12 to 13 December in Benguérir (Morocco), will explore the opportunities and challenges of technological innovations relating to artificial intelligence (AI) in Africa.

The World Bank, the World Food Programme, UNICEF and the World Economic Forum Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution have come together to support the Government of Tanzania in the organization of the Lake Victoria Challenge, an initiative that aims to explore drones as a new mobility model for the hard-to-reach, rural communities of the Lake Victoria region.

At the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100, HP (NYSE: HPQ) announced a new commitment to reach 100,000 learners across Africa over the next three years through the HP Foundation’s HP LIFE (https://bit.ly/2QuAzsD) program, and kicked off the commitment by opening a new tech-enabled HP LIFE Center in South Africa.  

In line with its commitment to growing Africa’s technology startup ecosystem and its passion for developing diverse, young talent, Facebook (www.Facebook.com) is returning as the headline sponsor of TechCrunch Startup Battlefield Africa 2018 (https://tcrn.ch/2uxSylb).

Reina APO Group (www.apo-opa.com), the leading media relations consultancy and press release distribution service in Africa and the Middle East, has announced the appointment of Lionel Reina as its chief executive officer (CEO).

Bachelet UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has said the Tunisian cabinet’s approval of a draft law that provides for equal inheritance rights for women is a significant step towards gender equality in the country, and sets an example for the region.

Family Bank Limited (FamilyBank.co.ke), a leading bank in Kenya, has partnered with London-based financial technology firm, SimbaPay (www.SimbaPay.com), to launch an instant money transfer service from Kenya to China through WeChat – a service that will help boost Kenya-China trade.

The South Africa Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Bulelani Magwanishe, and the MEC for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) in Eastern Cape, Oscar Mabuyane, have welcomed the R502 million investment into the East London Industrial Development Zone (ELIDZ) announced by two local investors, Meek Mines South Africa, and Nulatex Condoms South Africa, which will create 450 local jobs, according to the Chief Executive Officer, ELIDZ, Simphiwe Kondlo.

Nigerians once again dominate this year’s New African magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential Africans, followed by Kenyans.

Human trafficking drama, Nona , is set to open in New York on December 7 and then Los Angeles on the 14 th .

Donald Trump, current US President The US Secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo, has announced the latest results achieved by American leadership and partnerships through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) which has now saved more than 17 million lives.

After making good progress on financial inclusion (https://GlobalFIndex.WorldBank.org/), Senegal has turned its attention to digitizing payments in order to speed up its growth and inclusive development.

Accelerating solutions to Africa’s infrastructure gaps must be taken seriously if Africa is to realise the aspirations of its people as enshrined in the continent’s blueprint for development, Agenda 2063 and the global agenda for sustainable development.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded Cameroon a grant of $27 million (approximately 14 billion CFA) for a nutrition and literacy program targeting primary schools in four regions of the country.

GE Healthcare and Beyond Zero (www.BeyondZero.or.ke) Initiative are teaming up to improve access to quality and affordable primary healthcare services in Kisumu County.

The Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has announced that a randomized control trial has begun to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of drugs used in the treatment of Ebola patients.

Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) (www.Canon-CNA.com), a leader in imaging solutions, recently hosted its annual partner conference held in Mauritius.