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By Paul Ndiho

Born in Rwanda, Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa has consistently overcome adversity– to become one of Africa’s leading businessman and philanthropists. His a personal fortune estimated in the tens of millions of dollars includes a shopping mall, a cement factory, a brewery, tobacco farms, processing plants and several other businesses.  His ability to succeed, despite repeated hardships is remarkable.

“I don’t see myself as Rwandese, I see myself as African… I wish when I die that whatever I started can continue not for looking at expending the business but building up something. And this is what I tell my kids. This is the legacy I’ll leave with my children. I want them to continue building something in Africa.”

At age 73, Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa is one of Rwanda’s most prominent entrepreneurs– and a key player on the African continent.  From an early age, Rujugiro Ayabatwa knew he wanted to be a businessman and philanthropist– and his sons are learning their business skills from their father.

“My dad for example on the business side, I’d say very difficult, very demanding but also fair.”

“Even when I started in business, i mean it wasn’t being appointed here and there… I mean you started from the bottom.

“

Mr. Ayabatwa has always turned adversity into triumph.  After the death of his mother, Tribert obtained a certificate as a clerk and typist and went into exile as a Rwandan refugee in Burundi.  Soon, he found a job as a clerk.  After work, he spent most evenings learning French.  He later became so proficient with French, that he began teaching the language to other Rwandan exiles.

“He’s not really individualistic whether you talk about business, community development, nation building, he wants to involve more people. He’s involved in cement making, tobacco growing as well as cigar rate making; he’s into growing and processing. He’s contribution to Africa is very significant.

Over the years, he has expanded his business holdings across much of the sub-continent, where his work is seen as a model for delivering development and jobs to rural Africa.  Today, Rujugiro Ayabatwa’s brands are sold in more than 27 African countries.

“I was not interested in making money in Rwanda, I was interested the country’s development. We brought electricity to a church in rural Rwanda and build a school and day care center in Kigali. We’ve built roads and bridges in Uganda, and we’re helping widows to find work and feed their families in south Sudan. We had a big – big problem of about one million people coming back and not having a house. So I told them and said, please give me land to build some house for some families. So they gave me the land and I built about a hundred houses and sold them at market price.”

In the last five decades, Ayabatwa launched numerous companies that now employ more than 25-thousand people.

Yes I’m happy with what i have done. Because some people count success in terms of money, in terms of this, for me it’s achieving what you set as a goal.”

Like all great industrialists, Tribert’s success was built on his canny ability to spot opportunities– and take risks.  He also credits the help of many people along the way who recognized his drive and determination– and took a chance on him.  In 2012, Tribert stepped back from directly managing his companies and handed over day-to-day operations to his sons.  He now plans to intensify his charitable works and is taking steps toward development of a private, nonprofit foundation.

Mr. Rujugiro does have his critics; the Rwandan government recently confiscated some of his property including a shopping mall and his official residence which is valued at more than 2 million dollars. They say the property was abandoned– a claim he disputes. The government alleges that Mr. Rujugiro, who resides in South Africa, abandoned the mall because he no longer lives in Rwanda as the justification for seizing his property.

Webster University opens a new campus in Ghana

By Paul Ndiho

Ghana’s ministry of education and the U.S. Higher learning commission have officially accredited Webster University’s new campus in Accra, Ghana.  Graduates from the new Accra campus will earn degrees recognized in both the U.S. and Ghana.

Following a rigorous review, the Accra satellite campus of Webster University based in St. Louis, Missouri, is now open for business.  Student recruitment is ongoing and classes are set to start in January. The approval by the higher learning commission ensures that Webster university graduates in Ghana will hold American equivalent degrees that are recognized internationally.  Hopefully, making it easier for graduates to seek employment and pursue studies in either country. 

Webster university president, Elizabeth “Beth” Stroble, in an interview with Africa 54 says that opening the Ghanaian campus creates new opportunities for students, faculty, as well as businesses.  Dr. Stroble says she is excited about this new initiative.

“Ghana is such a leader already in the world arena, and certainly in sub-Saharan Africa and the continent of Africa.  And if we wish for students to know the world, it’s important to know Ghana because of its political leadership, its economic leadership, the leadership that Ghana is positioned to provide for a better world.

Webster has selected programs for the Accra campus based on student interest and employers in the region. University provost and chief operating officer Dr. Julian Schuster says the university will offer both undergraduate and graduate programs.

“The degrees that we are offering actually are meeting the demand it takes to exist in a rapidly growing Ghanaian economy and Ghanaian society.  So as the second fastest growing economy in Africa, there is a definite demand for the business degree but also as one of the leading democracy’s in Africa and i would say the world there is also a demand for the degree’s both in undergraduate and graduate level in the area of international relations as well as in the area of communication at Webster university is poised to meet that demand.”

Webster University was founded in 1915 and it has been an accredited institution of higher learning since 1925.

In addition to its Ghana and North American locations, Webster University also has traditional residential campuses in Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Thailand and the United Kingdom.  It also has a global network of international partners in more than two dozen other locations.  The Accra interim president, Dr. Tom Oates, says the choice to have a new campus in Ghana was not an accident, but it was done after an extensive study of sites in Africa.

“Webster decided it was a good site and i made several visits here to confirm my own commitment to the project in Ghana and I found it fascinating place, full of energy, full of commitment to the development of all its peoples, which is important to the university but also important to me. And so, we decided to start a college here.”

Victoria Dela Adeborna graduated from Webster’s, main campus in St. Louis and over the years she has risen through the ranks to become key part of the faculty staff.

“I started as a student assistant in the library, I was a student, and Webster was coming to Ghana, then I joined the Ghana campus, so I moved from St. Louis with Dr. Oz to Ghana and it’s been a lot of learning, a lot of personal growth, and one thing to re-enforce the personal growth is, I went through the accreditation stage, which you know is a huge project so that alone has taught me a lot.”

The Accra campus also will provide more opportunities for current students from any of Webster’s worldwide campuses to study abroad.  Nearly one-third of Webster’s currents students and faculty take advantage of the university’s global presence and study or teach in another country. With the new Ghana campus opening up a fourth continent for the Webster community, it is anticipated that students and faculty from other campuses will visit Ghana, while students in Ghana likely will study for a semester or two in Asia, North America or Europe.

By Paul Ndiho

Uganda like most countries in Sub – Saharan Africa has a youthful population; about 62 percent of the youth are unemployed according to Action Aid Uganda. But this is about to change, as the country expands its Business Process Outsourcing centers with an aim to employ over 4,000 young people in the country. 

Uganda is working to increase business opportunities in the country that can benefit millions of unemployed youth. Under its National Business Process Outsourcing (OR BPO) center programs, the country recently launched a call center in Kampala that will provide jobs for over 200 young people.

It’s one of the many centers the government hopes will also position Uganda as a major global competitor in providing customer solutions for businesses.

Organizations are increasingly using off-shore customer call centers like this one, believed to be more cost effective in managing their customer services.

Techno Brain is one of the companies taking advantage of the new business opportunity.

Ivan Kahangire, is the organizations Enterprise Solutions Business Development Manager.

“When you look at the market for BPO and IT enabled services, it is really, really huge, according to a KPMG report earlier this year, they projected that this market for BPO and IT enabled services world over is going to be approximately 950 billion US dollars, now that is a huge market for us to tap into and among other players in Africa and when you look at the statistics again from ministry of gender about the unemployed youth, it is staggering, 400,000 youth are churned out to the job market every year and there are only 9,000 jobs available for them.”

Uganda hopes to attract more graduates and trained professionals to take up jobs in its outsourcing market. The center is housed on three floors and agents provide services for clients from around the world in various languages including French and Kinyarwanda.

With about 62 percent of Uganda’s youth said to be unemployed, new recruits at the center like Moses Oteba say the business program is a welcome development in creating more jobs in the country.

“The level of unemployment is very high, I wouldn’t say we earn that much here but it is better to be in here than to be out there doing nothing, this is a great opportunity to make some money, it is very terrible, the level of unemployment it is very painful, it pinches and as a result guys get exploited and they do the worst, they do the least they could ever do.”

Like in many African cities, Kampala’s growing young population is becoming a threat to the government as joblessness and crime spiral.

Education consultant, Fagil Mandy says that while providing youth with education and employment can help deter crime, the country’s education system hardly prepares students enough for the job market.

“The national curriculum development center has just found out that our school leavers up to a certain level lack employable skills, so that is another problem including the attitudes, so that is another one, the attitude itself, so for me I think that is another problem, one that the school system is not equipping these new worker in inverted comas with the right competitive skills and knowledge and attitudes.”

Across town, young men like Geoffrey Wako, a trained teacher decided to start his “BODA – BODA” taxi business, ferrying passengers around Kampala, after failing to find employment in the formal sector. Now HE is looking for customers at a nearby motorbike taxi stop.

“It was about two years that I was looking for a job, so after which I gave up because I was tired, I had wasted my money, my energy, my time and there was nothing yielding, so I had to give up. That’s when also this one came in, that is when I started developing the urge of joining BodaBoda (motorbike taxi) business.

The World Bank is pushing the east African county to diversify its economic production and process more of its raw produce locally to be able to absorb the growing number of unemployed youth.

The country’s labor force has been growing at above 4 percent annually, according to the World Bank but is likely to add about 10 million potential workers into the labor market by 2020.

By Paul Ndiho

Nigeria is becoming an increasingly popular investment destination thanks to a growing consumer market and growth of over 6 percent. It’s a combination that is producing a new wave of property buyers.

It’s not quite Washington .D.C or London but this area of Nigeria’s Commercial capital is on the up. Investors are clamoring to buy in Lagos, despite big risks in some areas. The construction and real estate sectors are growing at more than 10 and 12 percent respectively, a boom for foreign and Nigerian construction firms. Launched five months ago, Lamudi real estate firm currently has over 200 different sellers on their website and 34 premium partners.

Allie Morse, managing director, says Nigeria represents the perfect storm for real estate investment owing to its huge population and rapid urbanization.

“I think that people really understand that property is an incredible opportunity for investment here in Nigeria. Nigeria is an incredible economy that is booming, there are so many opportunities here and I think a lot of people if and when they have the resources, they want to invest in property because they understand that it’s an asset that has real value.

A successful real estate investment in Nigeria can earn an internal rate of return of 30 to 35 percent, while rental income yields in cities like Lagos and Abuja can easily reach 10 percent, developers and estate agents say. Yet, new quality housing has been slow to materialize because of a lack of building expertise and financing. But several well-financed new developments are rising.

“In the commercial sector, our clients are becoming a lot more sophisticated and they are demanding more purpose built commercial buildings so we have seen a move from residential conversions to buildings which are specifically designed for offices. In the residential market, we’ve seen a huge demand for good quality residential properties.”

Analysts say that the best opportunities remain in Lagos and Abuja, where purchasing land is less risky and more middle-income workers with disposable incomes want to live.

Property in Lagos, a heaving metropolis of around 20 million people, can be among the most expensive in the world with two-bedroom flats costing more than 1 million US dollars in upmarket areas.

Despite this demand, investors are taking on high risks. Developers and buyers both struggle to get financing inside Nigeria where lending rates are typically around 25 percent.

“In England, I own my own property, I bought it not outright obviously, I had a mortgage and getting the mortgage was very simple, easy, hassle free; in Nigeria, it’s not the same and in Nigeria, the interest rates are crippling if you can get it, you know so you have to go through the hassles of getting it and then you’ve got this huge interest to pay in a short time span as opposed to England where you can spread it for 20 years or 25 years.”

Nigerian banks do not like giving out mortgages because reliable information about buyers and land is scarce, while there is no secondary market to offset the risks. The government says it is trying to fix this.

“There are rumors of a credit rating system which is likely to be implemented for individuals, also the fact that we have a burgeoning pension fund industry means that banks will soon get access to long term finance which is often one of the problems preventing them from giving out mortgages which are in effect long term loans so there are a number of things which are changing in our market which will soon make it more convenient and financially attractive for banks to actually provide mortgages to people,”

Developers are also battling with costs, which they say are three times higher than in South Africa, because of woeful state infrastructure and high import costs due to rampant corruption.  But with a population of 170 million – more than Russia – and an economy growing at a rate of 6% Nigeria’s potential is being noticed.

By Paul Ndiho

Across Africa, waste management is a huge problem. Thousands of tons of waste are generated daily, most of which end up in open dumps or along roads and wetlands posing major health problems to local residents.  But in Nigeria, Lagos state government says this is about to change. 

Lagos, one of Africa’s largest cities, generates tons of trash every day and most of it ends up at the Olusosun dump site.  The massive piles of garbage are a major health hazard– and it’s also contaminating the environment.

The state government says its pilot waste-to-energy project is now generating electricity at a demonstration center in the country’s commercial capital.  The project turns organic waste into electricity, which will supply residents with regular power.

The waste to energy project presents a major opportunity for renewable energy and waste management. A pilot project run by the Lagos waste management authority is working to generate power using methane extracted from rotting fruit waste and then turn it into latent power.

Officials are hopeful the proposed technology will help to address the energy supply shortages in many regions, create jobs and promote development.

“The gas is building up over a period of time in the digester, also you will have digesters in there in form of organic composts like a sludge; over a period of time it could actually open up here and collects the sludge. This is also good as a fertilizer for the soil and the plants,”

Implementation of the project will be a new approach to waste management and treatment in the West African nation.  Adeyo says that about 45 percent of the city’s trash is made up of organic waste and converting it into something more useful and cleaner for the environment is long overdue.

The plan, modeled on similar ones being used in Norway and Sweden, is part of a broader effort to clean up a city that has become known as the ‘garbage capital of the world.’

“Energy is in demand, waste is a headache so there’s a link between the headache and the demand so if Lagos is able to convert more of its headache into that demand then it will bring out a smart city program because the city becomes smarter and there’s a kind of resilience that you introduce in the city program and that’s exactly what Lagos is looking at.”

Traders at the Ikosi market say the project will help to clean up the local plantain market and also enable them switch off their generators when the power comes on.

“I’ll feel happy because you know, to make fruits so the fruits can turn to gas and bring us light, yes, I’ll feel happy and will enjoy it more than… Now we’re buying fuel for 100 Naira per litter i think this one will be better than using petrol.”

The Lagos state government is planning to bury the Olusosun site in dirt and transform it into a green park with grass and trees built over it.  Pipes in the ground will harness the methane bubbling underneath for the power plant.  Analysts say that Africa needs to rethink how it handles its waste and that the waste to energy project will provide a diversion away from trash dumps and landfills.

By Paul Ndiho and Ndimyake Mwakalyelye

Former South African President Nelson Mandela has not been seen in public for months, since falling ill, but Washingtonians get to see him every day, in the form of a statue in his likeness, unveiled Saturday.

South Africans from all over the world, could not be prouder. A larger than life statue of their former president, Nelson Mandela, now stands tall at the South African embassy, along a major road, in Washington. High level officials from south Africa’s government, members of the U.S. Congress, civil society who advocated for an end to apartheid through boycotts and calls for sanctions, and so many others, gathered by the renovated embassy to witness the unveiling of the larger than life statue, more than two years in the making. Ibrahim Rasool, South Africa’s ambassador to the U.S., said Mandela’s legacy is enduring. 

“For me there is no post Mandela. Whatever happens mortally to Mr. Mandela is between Mr. Mandela and his creator. I think what we are doing is to make sure that his legacy endures, to make sure that his example endures, and therefore whoever comes after Mandela anywhere in the world, will always refer to the man who changed the fortunes of a nation, who united irreconcilable forces, and who gave power to the values of reconciliation, forgiveness and mercy. ”

The world has been concerned about the health of Mr. Mandela, discharged recently after a long period of hospitalization for lung infection. His daughter zindzi, Mandela, dispelled rumors that Mr. Mandela has passed, saying his alive, and statue will preserve his legacy.

“It’s a very proud moment for us as a family and south Africans as a whole. And especially now that he’s frail. His health is very frail. I think it’s the greatest way of gifting him, in terms of the preservation of his legacy….He’s a fighter, he’s strong, he’s still with us…I think it’s great to say, that here’s an ordinary boy from the village of Qunu, who’s impacted on the global landscape. That his values are there to share beyond the borders of South Africa.”

The fight to end apartheid was a global fight that had roots here in the United States. Key players in the anti-apartheid movement including people like Randall Robinson, founder and former president of Trans Africa forum, advocates who later became members of congress like Maxine Walters, and others led protests and called for U.S. Sanctions against South Africa. U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

“There is a wealth of emotion that I cannot express. The connectedness of unveiling this statue in the very year that martin king who had great admiration for this great warrior, this man of peace, nelson Mandela, Madiba. To come together at the same time of martin’s speech, the inspiration that we received, from this person, who with shackles, from Robben Island, freed himself and freed his people”

William Lucy, president emeritus, congress of black trade unions.

“We are pleased that we made any contribution to the democratization of South Africa. Secondly, the location of the statue here at the South African embassy, will forever be a tribute to the work that was done right here in Washington, DC. In raising the issue of apartheid so the country as a whole could understand the implications of a system like that continuing.”

Nicole lee, president, Trans Africa:

“I think it shows the full revolution circle that we all wanted to see happen, years and years ago. African Americans, students, leaders, all came to this embassy to protest what we saw as one of the greatest injustices on the planet, which was the apartheid regime, but also the U.S. Support for the apartheid regime. Through hard work and dedication and just not believing all things are possible, apartheid crumbled.”

The chair of African union commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-zuma, also a South Africa, says the task now is to ensure the legacy of Mr. Mandela lives on, through concerted efforts to improve the lives of ordinary people.

“Mandela has taught us that we should love other people, we should respect other people, we should fight for children to have food, have education, we must make sure that people have houses, water, electricity, and that the well-being of all people, is what we should be struggling for.”

South Africans in the crowd said they could not be prouder of Mr. Mandela, and the light he has shone on South Africa;

“It’s a historic moment for us as south Africans, we are so proud, because you know, we’ve been long in the struggle, and eventually we are free — the legacy of Mandela must continue and we still want people to do whatever Mandela taught us.

Onlookers posed, and gazed admiringly at the statue, made out of bronze. Gene Doyle is the sculptor.

“I was ask to sculpt it as Nelson Mandela looked as he came out of prison, with his arm up in salute, which is to represent unity and strength—“when I sculpted him, I wanted to capture the man in the moment, and I hope that is what I achieve.

By Peter Clottey and Paul Ndiho, New York

Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has called for international cooperation in combatting and defeating terrorism.  He made his appeal following a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama.  

His comments also follow the attack in Nairobi, Kenya, on the Westgate shopping mall by members of the Somali-based terror group, Al-Shabab.

The West African nation is also facing security challenges due to the violence carried out by Islamic sect, Boko Haram. Based in Nigeria’s north, the group uses violence in an attempt to force the country to adopt strict Islamic law. Human Rights Watch says Boko Haram has killed an estimated 3,000 people since 2009.

In an exclusive interview with VOA, Mr. Jonathan says there is no justification for armed groups who use violence to terrorize unarmed civilians.

“Now, we are confronted with people who can just kill people without provocation. You ask what the reason is, is it religious? If it is religious that means there is a wrong teaching because there is no major religion in the world that I know that asks you to kill somebody you don’t even know,” said Jonathan. “I believe that a terror attack anywhere on the surface of the earth is a terror attack on all of us, and the world must come together to fight terror.  Nobody should use any excuse.”

 

Jonathan says security has improved significantly since the declaration of a state of emergency in some northern parts of Nigeria. He also vowed that his administration will continue with its partnership with Washington as well as international partners to confront terrorism.

Over the years, Nigeria has faced electricity or power shortages, which affect manufacturing industries. President Jonathan promised to address the problem. He refused to criticize previous administrations for their inability to solve the problem.

“We are addressing it in different [ways]. First and foremost, we are increasing our generation, we are increasing the distribution facilities,” said Jonathan.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, and the petroleum industry is the main generator of the country’s GDP. But, critics say successive Nigerian governments have failed to improve living standards in spite of the country’s enormous natural resources. But, President Jonathan says his government is determined to diversify the economy to improve living standards.

In its 2012 ranking released by Transparency International on global corruption, Nigeria placed 139th position out of the 176 countries surveyed.

But, President Jonathan says his administration has implemented aggressive measures to address the problem in Africa’s most populous nation.

He acknowledged that there is a perception among Nigerians that public officials are often involved in corrupt activities, but he quickly added that his government seeks to end the menace by ensuring transparency in all levels within the administration.

“I can tell you that as a government we are addressing it aggressively,” said Jonathan.

Some analysts say that the governments of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are not proactive in resolving political instability in the region often brought about by military coups. But, President Jonathan rejected the criticism.

“That is an area in [which you] should commend the heads of state and government of West Africa.  Because of the ECOWAS position [on] unconstitutional governance, [military rulers] didn’t stay long, and we conducted elections very quickly, unlike before”.

He cited instances where heads of state intervened in countries including Niger and recently Mali to hasten the return to constitutional rule.

“In the case of the Niger republic, immediately after the coup came up we said ‘you [military] cannot stay long.’  We put pressure on them, and they did not stay long. Then we had the case of Cote d’Ivoire where the election was stalemated, where somebody wanted to stay long. We said ‘no, you must obey your laws, so you must go.’  You don’t lead the country into crisis, and of course because of the strong position of ECOWAS, we have been able to stabilize the country”.

President Jonathan discussed his legacy ahead of the 2015 general election where some analysts say he faces a lot of opposition.

“I want people to know first and foremost that within the period that I have served this country that I meant well for Nigerians. I did not serve because of my own personal interest, [and] that I have interest for this country at heart,” said Jonathan. “We have shifted Nigeria out of this mono-economy, where everything begins and ends with petrol.  [Now], agriculture, mines and solid minerals and even manufacturing are playing a key role in our economy.”

He expressed hope that the security challenge from recent violence perpetrated by the Boko Haram could be decisively dealt with.

“One thing that I want to leave behind is that elections in Nigeria are credible.  Nigerians should be able to vote [for] who they want not somebody hiring boys and weapons and shooting themselves into office or buy themselves into office, and that the votes of Nigerians matter.  The world should know that our method of electing those who govern us either at the executive level, governors, chairmen of local governments or presidents or at the parliamentary level are duly elected by their people,” he concluded.

By Paul Ndiho

In the eastern democratic republic of Congo, M23 rebels fighting United Nations and Congolese military forces say they are ready to disarm and return to peace talks.  But there are major hurdles to clear before any peace deal can be agreed upon.  

African leaders trying to end an 18-month-old uprising in eastern Congo are calling on Kinshasa and the M23 rebels to restart negotiations after the army, backed by U.N. Troops, bolstered the government’s position with rare military successes in recent fighting.

Armed with a tough mandate to crush armed groups, the Congolese army and the U.N. Intervention brigade, have forced the rebels to retreat from positions in the hills overlooking Goma– but it has not extended its gains deep into m23 territory.

Reacting to the DRC summit held in Kampala last week, m23 president Bertran Bisimwa, told reporters over the weekend in Bunagana near the eastern city of Goma, that his troops are ready to lay down their arms, provided the government meets certain conditions.  Bisimwa also reiterated a long-standing demand that the government eradicate the Rwandan Hutu FDLR rebels.

“Yes we’ll disarm; yes we want to disarm because when we’re fighting it is our soldiers who die on the frontlines. Yes we want to disarm if the disbarment can resolve the problem of war then we have to disarm. But we’ll disarm on two conditions, first to resolve the problem of FDLR who are in our country for twenty years now. Secondary, we’ll disarm after refuges coming into our side that are in Uganda, who are in Rwanda and if they can bring them back to their country and their homes then we are ready to disarm.”

The m23 insurgency is the latest incarnation of a Tutsi-dominated rebellion that has repeatedly tried to integrate into the Congolese army– only to withdraw.  M23 took up arms last year accusing Kinshasa of reneging on the terms of a 2009 deal to end a previous uprising.  Tensions have been fueled by accusations from U.N. Experts who say that Rwanda is backing the rebels. But the administration of Rwandan president Paul kagame denies those allegations.

Sultani Makenga, the leader of the m23 rebels, says that his group would send a delegation to the peace talks which reopened earlier this month in Kampala.  But he said the rebels were not interested in pursuing a new reintegration deal.

“I’m not fighting for my own benefit but I’m fighting for the Congolese people. If all the problems that we’re fighting for are resolved for the Congolese people then I’ll be deceiving myself. Secondary, i don’t know which person is looking for me to arrest me. I’m right here – you can come and arrest me and there is no country where I am going to run to because I’m Congolese and I’ll die here in Congo. So I’m not going to run away and I’ll die in Congo. We are not fight to enter the Congolese army; we are fighting to liberate ourselves from the Congolese army.”

Millions of people have died from violence, disease and hunger since the 1990’s, as foreign-backed ethnic rebel groups have battled for control of eastern Congo’s rich deposits of gold, diamonds and tin. The fighting has destabilized the great lakes region.

On a recent trip to Goma, the U.S. Government’s newly appointed special envoy to region, former senator, Russ Feingold said that the Africa Union and the international community are working together to resolve one of the world’s worst situations of violence and humanitarian needs.  Feingold says President Barack Obama has made the Congo conflict a top priority.

“The united states believes that is one of the most serious situations in the world. I think president Obama know that we haven’t put enough emphasis on it in the past and although there’re many other crisis , things like Syria, things like Egypt and issues all around the world. This president, this secretary of state has made this a top priority.””

The former U.S senator also noted that the people of eastern Congo have endured violence, including sexual violence for the last twenty years.  He said now is the time for everyone to pull together and try to do something about it.

“This should be a sign to all the people in the United States and all over the world that this a high priority for this administration and of the American people to try to do the right thing here for everybody in the world particularly the people that continue to suffer in the eastern Congo.”

M23 briefly humiliated Congo’s army and the country’s 17,000-strong U.N. Peacekeeping force by temporarily occupying Goma last November, forcing Kabila to accept the Ugandan-brokered peace talks as a condition of the rebels’ withdrawal.

However, with the help of a new U.N. Intervention brigade, the army has pushed m23 fighters away from the city of one million people.

By Paul Ndiho

Somalia has endured a mountain of political and economic strife and caution is the key word if you are looking to invest in a start-up.  But the negative image of doing business in the east Africa nation is changing.  New ventures are sprouting up daily– including a new taxi service in the country’s capital.

A new organized taxi company in Mogadishu is generating a buzz.  The company is revamping the old transportation sector on roads that were once considered the most dangerous in the world.  These once deserted streets are now bustling with traffic as the country rebuilds its devastated economy after nearly two decades of civil war.

 

The Mogadishu taxi company has been operating for three months and it’s the first taxi service to bring the yellow cabs to the city, after the Islamist militant group Al Shabaab was driven out by a military offensive led by a U.N.-backed African union peace keeping force.

Suleiman Mohamed Daras and his partners introduced the branded “yellow and blue” taxis and charge their clients one U.S. Dollar per kilometer.

“We started with 25 cars and we have been working for three months. Taxis in Mogadishu used to charge a lot of money. For example, when we pick a passenger from Bakara market and take them to the airport, we charge them between six and seven dollars whereas they used to pay up to 30 dollars.”

Clients call into the station on their mobile phones and a taxi is dispatched to their location. The taxis not only ease the crowded streets, but they also add color to the city.   The cab service is also source of employment for the country’s young people.

Wiping the dust off his taxi, Abdirizaq Mohamed, is a former member of one of the many militias groups that once controlled parts of Mogadishu.  He traded-in his weapons for new wheels.

“We all come from different backgrounds. Some have come from different countries and they used to be taxi drivers there. Now, they’ve come back to practice their skills here. This company has enabled many youth who were not doing much to engage in gainful employment. If all the youth were employed, there wouldn’t be problems in this country.”

A majority of the drivers at the Mogadishu taxi company are young men who either own the cars or are renting them on a daily basis. They pay the company 25 U.S. Dollars per day and whatever they make on top of that is theirs to keep.

On a slow day, Abdirizaq makes close to 70 U.S. Dollars and can now provide for his family.

Across the city, other taxi companies can now be seen working the streets, funded mostly by money from the diaspora.

Suleiman and his partners, however, say they are not threatened and believe competition is good for their business.

“Competition is crucial for any business. We welcome all other alternative ideas. They are our colleagues and they have affirmed our business models and we welcome this. We don’t see it as a challenge.”

As Somalia rebuilds, only just 10 percent of its roads are paved, while 95 percent of the country’s 10 million people have no electricity. Mushrooming construction sites, solar-powered street lamps and beach front cafes point to a slight rebound, albeit one largely confined to the city.

“When we look at Somalia now, i feel that the future looks good. Personally, I’m very optimistic.”

Despite Somalia’s improving business developments, risks remain high.  Al shabaab’s suicide bombers have been able to attack sites in Mogadishu with alarming ease and a-u peacekeepers still patrol the streets in armored vehicles.