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By Paul Ndiho, Washington D.C
September 20, 2011

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.

By Paul Ndiho

September 5, 2011

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.

By Paul Ndiho

September 2, 2011

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.

By Paul Ndiho

August 29, 2011

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.

By Paul Ndiho

August 26, 2011

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.