By Paul Ndiho September 28, 2011 The International Monetary Fund is forecasting solid economic growth for Sub-Saharan African countries. Their prospects are high, but a slowing global economy poses some risks. The IMF says the economic crisis in the developed world, could become a crisis for developing countries– and despite the drought and famine in the Horn of Africa, growth prospects for Sub-Saharan Africa remain robust. Recent economic developments are however expected to reduce the momentum. The downside risks to the current forecast are significant according to the IMF’s Director for Africa. “Financial markets volatility and sharp slowdown in growth in advanced economies, it would affect Sub-Saharan Countries Of course by sub-doing the demand for the regions exports and private financial flows which have been significant in the region in the past couple years, therefore restricting in the regions integrated economies and the middle income countries in particular.”
Sayeh noted that in middle income countries like South Africa where unemployment is high and growth has been severely affected by the global economic crisis. Meanwhile, African Oil exporters are enjoying the fruits of their oil export because of the high prices. Despite this good news the IMF Africa director says there is a significant down side risk for the outlook on the global economy. “Most low income countries have been doing well. One third of them are expected to grow by 6% this year but the poor households have been hit hard by the rising food and fuel prices and the famine that has devastated the Horn of Africa.”
Commonwealth Finance Ministers also met to discuss developing and emerging countries in the fields of international monetary funding and development finance. The group called on the international community to strengthen delivery and the use of aid in order to make it effective in creating jobs, improving livelihoods and combating poverty. Pravin Gordhan, South Africa’s Finance Minister noted that the manner in which aid is delivered may also impact domestic accountability of both partner and donor countries. “It is generally accepted that we need to move away from Donor recipient relations to one where we encourage development partnerships and this is where even if these economies among the 54 nations of the commonwealth might be small and numerically on the margin, they are important potential sources of demand and growth as we go forward.” Analysts say that prior to the crisis– and following more than a decade of steady growth and debt relief African economies have strengthened. But, now if the economic situation in high income countries continues to deteriorate significantly beyond what is currently envisaged in the baseline scenario– growth in Sub – Saharan countries might be downgraded beyond the current moderate slowdown.
By Paul Ndiho September 27, 2011 The President South Sudan says his country needs to invest in massive infrastructure development, so the country is better interconnected. Salva Kiir, president of the world’s newest nation explains: “Our people have been patient for a very long time and what they are expecting from us the people leading them today is service delivery. They need many things, they need education, they need health facilities, they need safe drinking water, they need food security and physical security and there must be security at home. They know that we’re taking measures to address all these things. The South Sudanese President pointed out that while the country has abundant natural wealth, it must diversify its economy so that it is not too dependent on oil. He says that the ambition of the people of South Sudan “is to be able to transform their country into a regional agro- industrial powerhouse.”
“Oil is not a renewable source of revenue. It can be depleted at anytime in future but our main source of economy is agriculture. What we should do is to use the oil money that we have today to refuel the agriculture so that agriculture will become the backbone of South Sudan’s economy. We’re planning on that and we are going to do it.” Security remains a key factor in ensuring the development of South Sudan. Mister Kiir emphasizes that his country is committed to peace both within its borders and with its neighbors. He says the issue of Abeyi will be resolved between the National Congress Party and the SPLM in South Sudan. “I’m confident that we are going to resolve it. Abeyi is not part of the North and they cannot convince anybody. Even at the International court of arbitration, they were defeated there and they don’t have any legal argument on Abeyi. If they have any legal argument on Abeyi it maybe because of oil resources that were found in Abeyi and this is their problem. If there was no oil in Abeyi these people would have not even fought in Abeyi and they would have withdrawn a very long time ago.” Last week while addressing the U-N General Assembly President Kiir called for a speedy resolution of the border demarcation issues with Sudan– and he also wants to begin serious negotiations between the two countries over economic issues, particularly arrangements over oil.
By Paul Ndiho, Washington D.C September 21, 2012 As Gabon prepares itself to co-host the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations with Equatorial Guinea, a coordinated effort is underway to improve the country’s infrastructure. The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations football tournament, which Gabon is co-hosting with Equatorial Guinea, requires new infrastructure. In Libreville, a new multi-million dollar Hospital and Cancer Research center is nearing completion. It is financed by an Australian based company, VAMED. “This project is a new general hospital and a Cancer Institute that we have here together 15,000 square meters of which 1,400 square meters is for the Cancer Institute and the rest is for the hospital. The Cancer Institute will be operational and running in 2012 and hospital including all departments, cardiology, and operational theatre and so on will be running end of November 2011.The project will be finished in 5 weeks and we have planned to hand over the keys of the project at end of November 2011.”
Meanwhile, across from this new hospital, a football arena, the Sino-Friendship Stadium, is being built for Gabon by the Chinese government. “Chinese construction workers are putting final touches to this stadium that is going to be the place to be – come the next Africa Cup of Nations.” Officials say this and other stadiums will be ready ahead of schedule. Overseeing this development is the new National Agency for Major Projects, with help from the US-based engineering company, Bechtel. Henri Ohayon is in charge of the construction projects. “This project is approximately 140-150 million dollars. The stadium has around 40,000 seats, as explained today, it’s being designed to support and allow some of the best evacuation. If you see the construction you could see that each of the coolants aside one has 48 meters and the other one has 62 meters it’s like a bird whose coming to land and turning …that’s what we call coming from Asia to Africa.” Despite having natural resources such as oil, timber and manganese, Gabon’s infrastructure is underdeveloped. The country’s transport links are in dire need for improvement. Paved roads, and inter-city connecting roads are scarce But earlier this year, a new luxury ferry – MS Bekelya – began service between Libreville and the second largest city of Port Gentile. The ferry is a joint investment between a Gabonese ferry Company, a U-S based company, and Norway. Captain Michael says this ship is the only one of its kind in the region. “The name of this ship is MS Bekelya, it’s a high speed craft, we have two MT engines with 2700 horse power, the ship is made in Norway, and average speed is 32 knots and we take this craft from Port Gentile to Libreville, which is approximately 2.5 hours. We need 30 minutes to at least boat and un-boat the ship. On this ship we have 266 seats, 66 are VIP and business and 200 are economic class. The ship is 22 years old but very well maintained.” Cutting 90 minutes off the previous journey time by an older ferry, the route is proving popular with both commuters and people in the city wanting a weekend getaway. Meanwhile, ferry service between Libreville and Port Mole is running six days a week and is expected to increase. Captain Michael says the MS Bekelya is one of the safest ferries in Gabon. “When we are speaking about safety, this ship is okay. We have life rafts, we have complete safety equipment, fire equipment and we have everything that this kind of ship should have and even more…. Because like I told you, this ship came from Norway and Norway is top when we are speaking about safety because they have this big sailing tradition and this is very good.” Analysts say that this ferry service will be well established ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, when the demand for seats on flights, trains and boats is likely to rise sharply.
The central African nation of Gabon recently launched a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Nkok, near the capital, Libreville. The zone is meant to attract foreign investment and create employment for its local population. Gabon’s government wants to diversify the country’s economy amid declining oil production. Gabon depended on timber and manganese until oil was discovered offshore in the early 1970s. The oil sector now accounts for more than 50% of Gabon’s gross domestic product. Gabon’s special Economic Zone was initiated in July 2010 by President Ali Bongo Ondimba. He says that the time to diversify Gabon’s economy is now.
“We have to follow the aspirations of our people and we feel that the time has come to move to another era and preparing for the post-oil era, so it’s important for me to diversify our economy.” President Ondimba says that his government is putting more emphasis on investment and infrastructure development. “We are a country of forestry, mining and also oil but we now want to go into processing because it’s important for us to have more revenue in order to satisfy the aspirations of our people. It’s also important for us to attract foreign direct investment because in our country the Government can no longer be the business man and do everything as was the case in the past.” In 2010, the government signed a 200 million dollar strategic agreement with Singapore-based OLAM International, to jointly develop a special economic zone (SEZ) at Nkok for timber processing which will be completed in March 2012. Mr. Gagan Gupta, OLAM’s Director General, oversees the S-E-Z and says it will be of great advantage to investors, and the local population. “An economic zone is not about creating infrastructure, so you can spend 200 million dollars on building roads, water supplies and electric supplies that is what’s called hardware. But an economic zone is only successful if you are able to attract private companies to come and set up industries there. So what has been good about the economic zone is that in a very short span of time which is less than one year we have been able to attract an investment close to 1.2 billion dollars in this country.” Mr. Gupta aslo acknowledges that when the project started very few people believed in it. “In Africa you get 20,000 projects like this announced every year. And you hardly see one project taking off on the ground, so when we signed last August 2010, six people believed this probably could happen. But as we started progressing, people came and saw the sight so how the progression was happening more and more people started turning favorite sites. Today Gabonese believes this project can happen. It’s a reality; it is no more a dream.” Analysts say that a successful economic zone will create employment for Gabon. “This economic zone is the first of its kind in this region. It’s going to solve the problem of unemployment in Gabon and there is going to a spin off a lot of other industries that will come off from this… This is a great job.” Theophile Ogandaga, the government coordinator, notes that this economic zone will make Gabon more competitive: “This project, is perusing two specific objectives, one is to contribute the diversification of our economy and to create employment for our young people.” Critics say despite the abundance of natural wealth, poor fiscal management continues to hobble the economy and that on paper, Gabon enjoys a per capita income four times that of most sub-Saharan African nations, but because of high-income inequality, a large proportion of the population remains poor. A drive through the suburbs of the capital Libreville changes the narrative. People are on the streets trying to make living by selling everything from fresh foodstuffs, clothing and house hold items.
In February, peaceful protests against the rule of Muammar Gaddafi were met with violence by the regime. Six months later, Gaddaffi, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders is a fugitive– looking increasingly like other ousted autocratic leaders of the Arab Spring. Here is a look back at Gaddafi’s 42 years in power.
Muammar Gaddafi was born in 1942 in the coastal area of Sirte to nomadic parents. He went to school at Sebha, then to Benghazi University to study geography, but he dropped out to join the army.
Gaddafi debuted on the world stage in September 1969 when he led junior army officers in toppling King Idris in a bloodless military coup. The aging king had ruled the former Italian colony since gaining its independence 1951.
Gaddafi oversaw the rapid development of his poverty-stricken country, formulating his “Third Universal Theory,” a middle road between communism and capitalism.
One of his first tasks was to build up the armed forces, but he also spent billions of dollars of oil income on improving living standards, making him popular with the poor.
Inspired by Arab nationalist sentiments, Gaddafi abandoned ties with Western powers and pursued the aim of uniting Arab countries. He instigated the Arab Federation with Syria and Egypt in April 1971, which soon crumbled in argument and recrimination.
Gaddafi’s relations with the West, in particular the United States, became increasingly strained during the early 1980’s. He denied involvement in bankrolling hijackings, assassinations and revolutions while insisting on his right to support national liberation movements.
Accusations that Gaddafi sent agents to blow up a Berlin club frequented by United States marines in 1986 led to U.S. airstrikes on Tripoli and Benghazi just days later. Gaddafi’s home in the Aziziya barracks was attacked and his adopted daughter killed.
Gaddafi designed a political system of local congresses, where people were allowed to air their views and appoint representatives to the General People’s Congress. In theory, the People’s Congresses hold legislative and executive power but critics dismiss them as dedicated to maintaining power and wealth in the hands of Gaddafi and his family.
Gaddafi has poured money into giant projects such as the Great Man-Made River, a vast network of underground pipes that pump water from desert wells to coastal communities. The project, which Gaddafi has described as the eighth wonder of the world, is estimated to have cost 20 billion dollars.
United Nations Security Council sanctions, imposed in 1992 and strengthened in 1993, crippled Libya’s economy, but did not appear to dampen Gaddafi’s revolutionary spirit and his anti-capitalist, anti-Western rhetoric.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela played a key role in persuading Gaddafi to surrender two Libyan nationals suspected of involvement in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people.
Libya subsequently agreed to accept civil responsibility for both the Lockerbie bombing and the bombing of a French UTA airliner over Niger in 1989– and to pay compensation to relatives of the victims.
Gaddafi caught the world by surprise in December 2003 when Tripoli announced it would abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs and agreed to short-notice checks of its nuclear sites by U.N. nuclear inspectors.
The announcement drew swift praise from London and Washington and virtually ending Libya’s international isolation. British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Gaddafi in Tripoli in March 2004 and over the next two years the United States ended a broad trade embargo, removed Libya from a list of state sponsors of terrorism and resumed full diplomatic relations.
In 2006, Gaddafi made international headlines, the United States re-establish full diplomatic ties with Libya because Gaddafi had abandoned his nuclear weapons programs and helped in the campaign against terrorism.
In April 2009, Gaddafi’s fourth eldest son Mutassim made an official visit to the U.S. State Department as Libya’s National Security Adviser and was met by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In 2009, Gaddafi was elected by African heads of state as the new Chairman of the African Union, replacing Tanzanian President, Jakaya Kikwete.
In June 2009, Gaddafi made his first trip to Italy, Libya’s former colonial ruler. Wearing a picture of hanged resistance hero Omar Al-Mukhtar pinned to his military uniform, Gaddafi was welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and given a red carpet reception. He returned to Italy the following month to attend a G8 Summit in his role as African Union chairman- there he also met U.S. President Barack Obama.
The return to Libya of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, who was released from jail in Scotland for health reasons in August 2009, was welcomed with celebrations. Gaddafi’s second eldest son, Saif al-Islam, accompanied al-Megrahi back to Libya and state television showed coverage of the Libyan leader greeting the former intelligence agent later that evening.
In September 2009, Gaddafi marked the 40th anniversary of his leadership with six days of festivities designed to show that the long-isolated oil exporter was again open for international business after years of heavy sanctions. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was guest of honor at a military parade held to kick off the celebrations.
Later that month, in his first visit to the U.S. since taking power, Gaddafi addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In his speech, Gaddafi accused major powers on the U.N.’s Security Council of betraying the principles of the U.N. charter and condemned the veto power held by the five permanent members of the Council.
The advent of the “Arab Spring” which saw autocratic rulers toppled in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt in early 2011 encouraged a popular revolt against Gaddafi’s four decades in power.
Gaddafi’s violent crackdown on dissent sparked a civil war, prompting the Arab League to call for a United Nations no-fly zone over Libya. On March 17th the U.N. Security Council voted to authorize a no-fly zone and “all necessary measures” to protect civilians against Gaddafi’s forces. Two days later a five-country coalition made up of the United States, France, Britain, Canada and Italy, launched air strikes on Libya in a joint operation called “Odyssey Dawn”.
On June 27, the International Criminal Court issued warrants for Gaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam, and the head of Libyan intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi, for atrocities committed during a violent uprising that began mid-February.
In spite of the rebellion, NATO air strikes and the defection of some of his closest aides, Muammar Gaddafi has remained defiant and appears to be hunkering down for a long siege. He has not been seen in public since a barrage of airstrikes hit his compound in Tripoli on May 1st, killing his youngest son, Saif al-Arab, and three grandchildren.
The Prestigious New York Film Academy is holding film training sessions in Nigeria for filmmakers who want to make it big in in the nation’s “Nollywood” film industry. Nigeria is the leading producer of feature films in Africa.
Filmmakers in Nigeria are taking advantage of a unique opportunity to sharpen their production skills during month long training session organized for them by the prestigious New York Film Academy and Del York International, a full-service media and broadcasting company and the sole representative of the New York Film Academy throughout Africa.
Students from several parts of the country are taking classes that offer training in acting, directing, cinematography, editing, animation and screen writing.
The tuition for the month of training costs 35-hundred dollars. Nearly 3,000 students are enrolled on the program. Linus Idahosa, Chief Executive Officer of Del York International, explains his company’s relationship with the prestigious film school.
“Del York is partnering with the New York Film Academy which happens to be the best hands on film school in the world to train aspiring and professional film makers in the industry. We chose the New York Film Academy because it of its history for being a hands on film school. We were very particular about the kind of academy we would be partnering with because of the talents here present in the country,”
Thirty instructors from the New York Film Academy and some Hollywood practitioners are in the country to conduct the classes.
“The students here in Lagos, they’re very responsive. They take to it very quickly. It’s something they instinctively see like they just get it. They don’t mind questioning why I’m giving them the information which is always important because if you don’t understand, you should ask why and they’re very free to ask why and once they get it, they’re fine,”
It’s the second time the training program is being held in Nigeria, Abuja hosted the sessions in 2010.
The four-week program hopes to inspire rising and established filmmakers to get needed hands-on training in film production and help increase their understanding of African culture.
Nigeria’s movie industry has greatly evolved since the 1960’s – to become Africa’s largest film industry according to the U-N Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
But, despite the industry’s growth, government investment in the industry is still slow. Most movies are shot on digital cameras, with tight budgets — often compromising the sound and picture quality.
Nollywood films have grown in popularity across Africa, because they often touch on issues many on the continent can relate to. Many young and eager Nigerians are waiting for a chance to launch careers in the film industry.
“I thought I knew some things basically for over five years but this experience has shown me that there’s some nitty gritty information that I would have missed out of and makes it, it refines, it kind of refines your talent for those that are professionals, those that those that are green, they stand a lot to gain here,”
Nollywood also has a growing audience among Africans living abroad, keen for a taste of home. The movies may be watched in a south London beauty shop or rented from a video store in Texas.
Nollywood actress, Stephanie Okereke who helped organize the program encouraged more students to sign up and use the chance to improve their skills.
“We just felt it was something that was needful and having been in the industry for a long time and we just thought it was something that was needful that people need to get training in fully in our industry, we need to get better and also be able to compete in the international world,”
Nollywood employs tens of thousands of people, bringing in over 200 million dollars annually. An average Nollywood film sells about 50-thousand copies, but in Lagos alone, millions of bootleg copies sell for just one US dollar undercutting Nollywood’s price by one dollar.
But this has not stopped Seun Aisan and his crew from making more movies; he’s working on their latest production called ‘Ewe Aje’ or Leaf of Prosperity in the Yoruba language.
Aisan says with new technology and training, Nollywood films are getting better.
“Now it’s changed, there are changes in everything. Before, you don’t enjoy this job. I believe now, things is changing through the different equipments we have now, it makes things easier. Before, the camera man is the light man, the camera man is the sound man but now, there’s division of labour in the production. So I believe things have changed now,”
About one-thousand movies are produced in Nollywood each year – most are in local languages – Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo, while English accounts for more than 40 percent of the films produced.
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa or COMESA, is a free trade area with more than 20 member states. Created in 1994, COMESA replaced the preferential trade area which had existed since 1981. As the organization has grown, it has made significant strides in attaining sustainable development through the promotion of trade and investment into the region.
Since its inception, the COMESA trading bloc has undergone a tremendous transformation and it continues to strive to achieve greater mutual integration among its members. Through various declarations and agreements; such as the Economic Partnership Agreements– and the establishment of the Free Trade Areas — that have been entered into by member states, it is becoming increasingly evident that the need for an integrated commercial front is more desirable than ever. Brian Chigawa, a legal advisor for COMESA says that there is cooperation among member states in all fields of economic activity.
“The focus of the organization has been trade, improving intra-regional trade by removing tariffs and also non – tariffs buriers. I can competently say that by now 14 member states of COMESA are trading in a free trade area which was launched in the year 2000. COMESA has also launched a customs union and we are in transitional phase which was three to five years from 2009. When we talk of promoting COMESA trade, it goes also with putting up measures that facilitate trade.”
Chigawa also says there are many trade and investment opportunities available in the region, plus, he notes that the continent is a potential world leader in several specialized trade and investment areas.
“When the free trade area for COMESA was launched in 2000, we had figures of intra-COMESA regional trade at about two three billion dollars, now we are talking about trading 15 billion dollars. So there is a remarkable improvement.”
COMESA members are working around the clock, focusing on promoting and enhancing free labor movement across regional borders.
“If I travel from Zambia to Kenya or if I travel from Zambia to another country, I do not need a VISA before I get into that country. I can get a VISA at the point of entry. And there is another legal instrument which is the protocol of free movement of persons, services and labor which was adopted and we got the first signatures in 2006 it has not entered into force.”
Some political analysts say the economic bloc will create a free trade zone which will help streamline access to markets throughout Africa. Analysts also note that the economic group is capable of overcoming some of the barriers that are faced by individual states. Brian Chigawa says that job creation, especially for the young people is one of COMESA’s top priorities.
It’s a conviction of COMESA member states that if we increase our trade first among ourselves and also with the rest of the world, we’ll be in a position so as to create employment for our populations. How do we achieve that? If you look back, over the years we’ve been as a region exporting raw materials, this is one of the challenges that we have is to transform our raw materials into value added materials and by making our products very competitive. And we believe that to be able to attain that, we need a certain level of industrialization and through trade and investment, we should able to create jobs for our populations.
COMESA’s critics say that the region has some of the highest poverty levels of any developing region in the world. And that COMESA has not achieved its ultimate targets, especially in the areas of common currency, faster economic growth, and reduction in both rural and urban poverty and improved standards of living.
Since attaining its independence in July, citizens of South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, are returning home from Khartoum to take part in the rebuilding of their country.
Having fled southern Sudan during decades of war, hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese are returning home to drink in the spirit of their month-old republic.
Since last year, the United Nations says over 300,000 South Sudanese have travelled by barge, train and bus back to their homeland, gathering in a place near the border that they have dubbed “New Khartoum.”
“This Khartoum is better than the old one. This is the place where I was born. It is my home. I was only displaced from here to the other Khartoum. Now I have come back to my real Khartoum. This is my home.”
Many of the returnees are brimming with patriotism for their new country, but the reality of rebuilding a nation after years of war and neglect is proving to be a challenge.
South Sudan is poorly developed, and Warrup is the fledgling country’s least developed state. Some already say they miss the comforts of old Khartoum in the north.
“I prefer the north. It is beautiful. They have buildings and electricity and things,”
Swapping from urban to rural life can be difficult, and Warrup state governor Nyandeng Malek has called for South Sudanese to take land on the periphery of Kuajok, causing its population to double. But her generosity is stretching the limited resources of the state. 64 percent of the population in Warrup state lives below the poverty line, and many are in need of food.
“When they went to Khartoum, they went fleeing the war, the hunger and all that. Now we have our country so we are still asking more of them to come. When they come it is better for them. Being in your country, there is nothing like it.”
According to the United Nations, some 20,000 people are waiting for their land in South Sudan, while another 60,000 people are yet to return from the North which is likely to put further pressure on states in the south like Warrup.
Tourists and local residents alike are flocking to a market in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria’s economic and financial capital. The market with its dazzling array of African artwork, beads, colorful cloths and hand crafted jewelry attracts thousands of people each year.
The bustling Lekki market in Nigeria’s sprawling city of Lagos has become a must-see destination for tourists and locals, with its wide selection of masks, traditional clothing and hand crafted jewelry and paintings.
Phillip, a Brazilian tourist, says he likes to visit the market.
“At all times, we have some friends that come from Brazil, we usually come here to show the beauty of Africa and all the things,”
But it’s not just tourists who visit the market. Lekki market is also a favorite for local residents.
“I like it because; I get to feel the African vibe when I’m here, like I get to see different artworks. It tells me a lot about my culture as an African so I like the work,”
The market, which has over 150 stalls, also sells fruits, vegetables and fresh fish, and attracts traders from the region, like Ghanaian trader, Walter Eto.
Eto, who has been making handbags and other leather goods for more than 20 years, says Lekki market provides a good business opportunity for his products.
“Bring catalogue for me, anyone with catalogue anyone with a design or catalogue, you can bring catalogue for me now or I have a catalogue for myself. I have catalogue for myself, if you come, I’ll show you, and you decide, you choose your choice your design, I can make it for you,”
Taofeek Adeshina is an artist and says the market gives him a chance to show and sell his work.
“We have many type of wood you know to do this kind of work you understand. We have like ebony wood, mahogany wood, eh tin wood and some other kind of wood like that so when you want to, you make sure you use quality wood to do this kind of work,”
With more than 200,000 visitors streaming into Lagos this year Lekki market offers a unique aesthetic in Nigeria’s most populous state.
In South Sudan, Juba University remains closed due to the decay of its facilities, following years of war.
Juba University is in the heart of the bustling capital of the world’s youngest nation, South Sudan, which celebrated its independence in July. It is hard, however, to see the signs of post-independence jubilation and development here. Juba University was closed last November until further notice, unable to serve the students flocking to its gates.
Many of them still live on or visit the campus, and are urging the government to re-open the university as soon as possible.
“We need our people to study, because through education development can be easy and we could fast develop our country, though it is newly-born nation in Africa and in the world. So education is important, because it is the key to life. Though the university remains closed we are wishing the government and the international community to support us so that we can go on with our studies.”
Juba University was opened over 35 years ago during a peaceful period between the civil wars.
In 1989, however, it was closed for security reasons and relocated to Khartoum in the north.
While in Khartoum, the university grew to accommodate over 10,000 students. The university is in the process of relocating the university to Juba, but there are many logistical problems, according to the school’s vice-chancellor, Agrey Abbate: .
“With the relocation process back to Juba, we were now faced with the challenge of having to come into the infrastructure that did not develop during these 20 years of war, it remained as it was when we left in 1989. So that is our major problem: not enough space for lecture halls, not enough laboratories for all this expansion that went on when we were back in Khartoum, and not enough student accommodation.”
The university’s facilities are in dire need of repair. The classrooms are dusty, stuffy, badly lit and crumbling with age. There is an acute lack of teaching equipment, such as maps, tables and lab equipment.
Accommodations are in a similar state. In one of the residence halls, aptly named ‘Titanic,’ there is no running water or sewage system. Students who want to wash need to fetch water from outside the campus, a walk that takes half an hour. John Ibrahim is an electrical engineering student:
“We can live anywhere, even under trees. Our reason is that, wherever we stay, we are ready to change that place, so I hope that we need to bear the situation we are in and we need also to be hopeful and work hard to change the situation.”
In Juba, where the private sector is less developed than that of Khartoum, life is also much more expensive. Students say that the delay in re-opening the university has already cost them a year of their time, and John Ibrahim says he expects there will be further delays:
“So it will be two years [for] no reason while the country waits for its graduates to participate in the development of the country. Or elsewhere we will acquire foreigners to work in our city that is in our country, because they are qualified. Yet we are not qualified because we are not graduates”.
Students say that the troubles of Juba University are affecting not only the youth of South Sudan, but the future of the new nation as a whole.
Ndiho Media,LLC. 