Silverbird Galleria, Victoria Island, Nigeria.
Someone asked, so I thought I'll share.
Showing posts with label Uncategorized. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Uncategorized. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
What Does a Mall in Africa Look Like?
Silverbird Galleria, Victoria Island, Nigeria.
Someone asked, so I thought I'll share.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Pictures from ChinAfrica
Do opportunities abound for professionals and entrepreneurs in the African continent? This is really something to consider...
Check out the full photo gallery from TIME Magazine
Friday, March 13, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Nigeria Tops Another List...
The World's Worst Places to Work
No. 1 Lagos, Nigeria
Overall Grade: Very High Risk Location
Severe Problems: Infrastructure, Crime
Major Problems: Pollution, Disease & Sanitation, Medical Facilities, Availability of Goods and Services
Other Problems: Climate, Education Facilities, Physical Remoteness, Political Violence & Repression, Political & Social Environment, Culture & Recreation
There's no more challenging place on ORC's list than the largest city in Africa's largest country. Lagos not only has a severe crime problem and extremely poor infrastructure, the city has inadequate housing, sanitation, and medical facilities. Moreover, according to ORC, "the risk of being caught up in sectarian violence is another concern."
Kenya can boast of the #7 spot on the list and Egypt #18.
SOURCE: BUSINESSWEEK
No. 1 Lagos, Nigeria
Overall Grade: Very High Risk Location
Severe Problems: Infrastructure, Crime
Major Problems: Pollution, Disease & Sanitation, Medical Facilities, Availability of Goods and Services
Other Problems: Climate, Education Facilities, Physical Remoteness, Political Violence & Repression, Political & Social Environment, Culture & Recreation
There's no more challenging place on ORC's list than the largest city in Africa's largest country. Lagos not only has a severe crime problem and extremely poor infrastructure, the city has inadequate housing, sanitation, and medical facilities. Moreover, according to ORC, "the risk of being caught up in sectarian violence is another concern."
Kenya can boast of the #7 spot on the list and Egypt #18.
SOURCE: BUSINESSWEEK
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Africa's Private Sector Flowers
During African Economy week, the BBC's African Perspective spoke to two business gurus about the potential the continent offers for business and for profit.
Click here for the full article
Click here for the full article
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Flogging Teachers in Front of Class!
Tanzanian teacher whipping move
A regional official in Tanzania has been sacked for ordering police to whip primary school teachers as a punishment for arriving at school late.
In a statement, the government said the official had broken public service rules and humiliated the teachers.
Nineteen teachers were caned in front of their pupils after an inquiry into poor exam results at three schools.
The inquiry blamed teachers for being late or not showing up for work and not teaching the official syllabus.
The official who ordered the canings in the northern town of Bukoba, district commissioner Albert Mnali, told AFP news agency that it had been the right way to treat the teachers.
"These teachers often report late for duty and some of them are fond of being absent for several days," he told the agency on Friday.
"They deserved to get corporal punishment."
But Deputy Education Minister Mwantumu Bakari Mahiza called the incident "unfortunate and utterly absurd".
The government asked Mr Mnali to explain his actions and later issued a statement confirming the commissioner had been sacked.
"The government has followed up the issue and heard the explanation from the commissioner," the statement said.
"It has been concluded that Mnali's decision is unacceptable and humiliating to teachers, contrary to public-service regulations."
'Shameful and intolerable'
One of the caned teachers, Ativus Leonard, 33, told the BBC he was now too ashamed to meet his pupils.
Mr Leonard said he had been kicked by a police officer to make him lie down before being beaten.
"He hit me everywhere - my legs, my chest, my arms, my hands. When it was over, I went to the hospital for treatment. I was given medicine but I still have a lot of pain in my chest," he said.
The case comes at a time when parents and human-rights groups in Tanzania have been calling for a ban on flogging of schoolchildren throughout the country.
Before Mr Mnali was sacked, the Tanzania Teachers' Union said it intended to sue him.
"The caning of our teachers is shameful. It's intolerable and it's time the teachers take action against Mr Mnali through the judiciary," Kagera union chairman Dauda Bilikesi told the BBC.
Union officials say the caning happened amid an ongoing row between the union and the government.
Teachers complain that their salaries are often delayed and that they are a denied transfer allowance when they move to a new school.
SOURCE: BBC
A regional official in Tanzania has been sacked for ordering police to whip primary school teachers as a punishment for arriving at school late.
In a statement, the government said the official had broken public service rules and humiliated the teachers.
Nineteen teachers were caned in front of their pupils after an inquiry into poor exam results at three schools.
The inquiry blamed teachers for being late or not showing up for work and not teaching the official syllabus.
The official who ordered the canings in the northern town of Bukoba, district commissioner Albert Mnali, told AFP news agency that it had been the right way to treat the teachers.
"These teachers often report late for duty and some of them are fond of being absent for several days," he told the agency on Friday.
"They deserved to get corporal punishment."
But Deputy Education Minister Mwantumu Bakari Mahiza called the incident "unfortunate and utterly absurd".
The government asked Mr Mnali to explain his actions and later issued a statement confirming the commissioner had been sacked.
"The government has followed up the issue and heard the explanation from the commissioner," the statement said.
"It has been concluded that Mnali's decision is unacceptable and humiliating to teachers, contrary to public-service regulations."
'Shameful and intolerable'
One of the caned teachers, Ativus Leonard, 33, told the BBC he was now too ashamed to meet his pupils.
Mr Leonard said he had been kicked by a police officer to make him lie down before being beaten.
"He hit me everywhere - my legs, my chest, my arms, my hands. When it was over, I went to the hospital for treatment. I was given medicine but I still have a lot of pain in my chest," he said.
The case comes at a time when parents and human-rights groups in Tanzania have been calling for a ban on flogging of schoolchildren throughout the country.
Before Mr Mnali was sacked, the Tanzania Teachers' Union said it intended to sue him.
"The caning of our teachers is shameful. It's intolerable and it's time the teachers take action against Mr Mnali through the judiciary," Kagera union chairman Dauda Bilikesi told the BBC.
Union officials say the caning happened amid an ongoing row between the union and the government.
Teachers complain that their salaries are often delayed and that they are a denied transfer allowance when they move to a new school.
SOURCE: BBC
Friday, March 06, 2009
Bribe or Business Expense?!?!
In Naija we call it "Egunje" and this is how business is done....or is it? See story below
UK police have arrested a London lawyer accused of moving millions of dollars in bribes to Nigerian officials to win contracts for a US construction firm.
A federal grand jury in Texas charged Jeffrey Tesler, 60, with helping channel money from Kellogg, Brown and Root, a former Halliburton subsidiary.
He was arrested after an extradition request from the US authorities.
It is alleged he channelled money to Nigerian officials, to obtain contracts valued at more than $6bn (£4bn).
The contracts related to the construction of liquefied natural gas facilities on Nigeria's Bonny Island between 1995 and 2004.
Last month, KBR admitted to US federal charges of paying bribes for the contracts. It agreed to pay more than $402m in fines, of which Halliburton, as the former parent company, agreed to pay $302m.
Halliburton also agreed with US securities regulators to disgorge $177m in profits to settle parallel criminal charges.
Second warrant
Mr Tesler was arrested at a business address in Tottenham, north London, on Thursday, British police said.
He was taken to a central London police station and appeared before City of Westminster magistrates on Thursday, when he was remanded in custody.
Mr Tesler returned to the court on Friday.
The US also issued a warrant for the arrest and extradition of another Briton, Wojciech Chodan, 71.
According to the indictment, Mr Chodan and other co-conspirators discussed using Mr Tesler to bribe Nigerian officials.
Prosecutors in Houston, Texas, said that both Mr Tesler and Mr Chodan were charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Lawyers representing the two men could not be reached immediately for comment.
KBR is a major engineering and construction services company with operations around the world. It was split from Halliburton in 2007.
Its former chief executive, Albert "Jack" Stanley, pleaded guilty in September to his role in the bribery scheme and is awaiting sentencing.
SOURCE: BBC
UK police have arrested a London lawyer accused of moving millions of dollars in bribes to Nigerian officials to win contracts for a US construction firm.
A federal grand jury in Texas charged Jeffrey Tesler, 60, with helping channel money from Kellogg, Brown and Root, a former Halliburton subsidiary.
He was arrested after an extradition request from the US authorities.
It is alleged he channelled money to Nigerian officials, to obtain contracts valued at more than $6bn (£4bn).
The contracts related to the construction of liquefied natural gas facilities on Nigeria's Bonny Island between 1995 and 2004.
Last month, KBR admitted to US federal charges of paying bribes for the contracts. It agreed to pay more than $402m in fines, of which Halliburton, as the former parent company, agreed to pay $302m.
Halliburton also agreed with US securities regulators to disgorge $177m in profits to settle parallel criminal charges.
Second warrant
Mr Tesler was arrested at a business address in Tottenham, north London, on Thursday, British police said.
He was taken to a central London police station and appeared before City of Westminster magistrates on Thursday, when he was remanded in custody.
Mr Tesler returned to the court on Friday.
The US also issued a warrant for the arrest and extradition of another Briton, Wojciech Chodan, 71.
According to the indictment, Mr Chodan and other co-conspirators discussed using Mr Tesler to bribe Nigerian officials.
Prosecutors in Houston, Texas, said that both Mr Tesler and Mr Chodan were charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Lawyers representing the two men could not be reached immediately for comment.
KBR is a major engineering and construction services company with operations around the world. It was split from Halliburton in 2007.
Its former chief executive, Albert "Jack" Stanley, pleaded guilty in September to his role in the bribery scheme and is awaiting sentencing.
SOURCE: BBC
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Africans in the Diaspora - Return Home ?!?!
Here is a very compelling piece by Mr. Kilemi Mwiria the Assistant Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology and MP for Tigania West, Kenya
We do not need ‘dream team’ to tap Kenyan talent abroad
Often when I encounter Africans living in Europe and America, I get rather disappointed by their complaining about how terrible things are back home. If you challenge them to come home and make things better some say they are not wanted. Others tell us to make Kenya more attractive in terms of competitive salaries, improved governance and provision of relevant infrastructure as a condition for their return.
Some have a point. African governments have done little to attract our best talents back home. We have even failed to take advantage of external initiatives, which support repatriation of African talents by not offering any incentives to potential returnees. But we seem happy with donors paying exceptionally high salaries to a few returning professionals as with "The dream team" during the Kanu days and expensive consultants in government ministries.
There are Kenyans who would give up high profile jobs with international organisations and top private enterprises in the West if we can match what they earn out there. These Kenyans effectively compete with people from all over the world and get recruited for their competence in societies where merit overrides all other considerations, including whether or not your parent is the boss of the recruiting firm. This category has no visa problem; instead they are offered many incentives such as paid holidays to Africa in order to retain them.
One reason advanced for not tapping such talent is disruption of the public pay structure where new recruits may earn more than their supervisors. Yet, it is never a problem to pay foreign consultants the same or higher salaries than more qualified Kenyans. In any case, there are Kenyans who earn salaries higher than the average top western executive, including MPs, Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission employees and some heads of parastatals.
There cannot be more than a thousand Kenyans out there who would require to be remunerated at the same level, so I think we can afford it. If well managed they will be more than worth their pay and we shall get much better value than we do from many political appointees who are best in retirement.
But there are also Kenyan managers who are threatened by the qualifications, experience, work ethic, attitudes and innovative ways of new entrants and often remind them that "this is Africa where we do it this way", thus discouraging many.
Positive values
I believe that we should offer interested Kenyans in the Diaspora at least the barest minimum pay to make them feel wanted. Given their experience with more efficient bureaucracies they can add much value to our Civil Service and parastatals such as universities. We should also go for the thousands of skilled and semi-skilled workers -teachers, engineers, doctors, etc. There is much to learn from Kenyan electricians, plumbers, carpenters and masons based in the West because of their exposure. With the construction boom, there is enough work for them in Kenya.
In addition to job related skills, Kenyans abroad will bring positive values related to honesty, time management, respect for the rule of law and integrity.
Some overseas based Kenyans will not return for lack of relevant certificates and financial resources for decent living or business or because they cannot find a job. A few such cases have come back only to head back overseas when they find age mates they left behind well settled and because they cannot stomach association with failure when crossing seas has always been associated with great success by those left behind. But there are also the selfish and pompous types who exaggerate their superiority by virtue of having lived in the West.
As we search for overseas-based Kenyan talent, we should recognise and reward top Kenyan professionals who have opted to stay home while ignoring better opportunities abroad. They have chosen patriotism in order to make Kenya a better place for all of us.
SOURCE: THE STANDARD
We do not need ‘dream team’ to tap Kenyan talent abroad
Often when I encounter Africans living in Europe and America, I get rather disappointed by their complaining about how terrible things are back home. If you challenge them to come home and make things better some say they are not wanted. Others tell us to make Kenya more attractive in terms of competitive salaries, improved governance and provision of relevant infrastructure as a condition for their return.
Some have a point. African governments have done little to attract our best talents back home. We have even failed to take advantage of external initiatives, which support repatriation of African talents by not offering any incentives to potential returnees. But we seem happy with donors paying exceptionally high salaries to a few returning professionals as with "The dream team" during the Kanu days and expensive consultants in government ministries.
There are Kenyans who would give up high profile jobs with international organisations and top private enterprises in the West if we can match what they earn out there. These Kenyans effectively compete with people from all over the world and get recruited for their competence in societies where merit overrides all other considerations, including whether or not your parent is the boss of the recruiting firm. This category has no visa problem; instead they are offered many incentives such as paid holidays to Africa in order to retain them.
One reason advanced for not tapping such talent is disruption of the public pay structure where new recruits may earn more than their supervisors. Yet, it is never a problem to pay foreign consultants the same or higher salaries than more qualified Kenyans. In any case, there are Kenyans who earn salaries higher than the average top western executive, including MPs, Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission employees and some heads of parastatals.
There cannot be more than a thousand Kenyans out there who would require to be remunerated at the same level, so I think we can afford it. If well managed they will be more than worth their pay and we shall get much better value than we do from many political appointees who are best in retirement.
But there are also Kenyan managers who are threatened by the qualifications, experience, work ethic, attitudes and innovative ways of new entrants and often remind them that "this is Africa where we do it this way", thus discouraging many.
Positive values
I believe that we should offer interested Kenyans in the Diaspora at least the barest minimum pay to make them feel wanted. Given their experience with more efficient bureaucracies they can add much value to our Civil Service and parastatals such as universities. We should also go for the thousands of skilled and semi-skilled workers -teachers, engineers, doctors, etc. There is much to learn from Kenyan electricians, plumbers, carpenters and masons based in the West because of their exposure. With the construction boom, there is enough work for them in Kenya.
In addition to job related skills, Kenyans abroad will bring positive values related to honesty, time management, respect for the rule of law and integrity.
Some overseas based Kenyans will not return for lack of relevant certificates and financial resources for decent living or business or because they cannot find a job. A few such cases have come back only to head back overseas when they find age mates they left behind well settled and because they cannot stomach association with failure when crossing seas has always been associated with great success by those left behind. But there are also the selfish and pompous types who exaggerate their superiority by virtue of having lived in the West.
As we search for overseas-based Kenyan talent, we should recognise and reward top Kenyan professionals who have opted to stay home while ignoring better opportunities abroad. They have chosen patriotism in order to make Kenya a better place for all of us.
SOURCE: THE STANDARD
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Badagary Historical Resort
Marlon Jackson is involved in a controversial development to turn a former slave port into a luxury resort that will house a Jackson Five museum, five-star hotel and slavery memorial.
A museum for the Jackson Five is to be built in Nigeria, American developers have announced, as part of a $3.4bn (£2.4bn) luxury resort including concert halls, golf courses, casinos – and a memorial for Africa's former slave trade.
The Badagry Historical Resort, located near Badagry's former slave port, will include a multimillion pound memorial, slave history theme park, five-star hotel and Jackson Five museum. The project is supported in part by Marlon Jackson, one of Michael Jackson's brothers.
"The Jackson family had been looking for a place to site their memorabilia collection," explained Gary Loster, chief executive of the Motherland Group, to the BBC. "We visited the site of the slave port in Badagry and Marlon turned to me and said: 'Let's put it here, this is right.'"
The development will cater to the country's growing tourism industry, particularly African-American tourists who wish to trace their Nigerian roots. Visitors will be able to explore the site of the former transatlantic slave trade, honour the hundreds of thousands who died in what were horrific human rights abuses, and then head off for a round of golf or a massage, before gawping at animatronic versions of the siblings who sang ABC and I Want You Back.
By promising to attract 1.4 million visitors in the first year, the Motherland Group has pledged to "enhance the quality of life for millions of people across Nigeria", according to promotional materials. They hope to create more than 150,000 jobs by the end of their fifth year.
"It's such an emotional place, and I think we all felt that it was the right place to have the Jackson family memorial," Loster said.
The developers' plans, which include a lifesize replica of a slave ship, holograms of the Jackson Five and robot versions of 18th-century African musicians, are not without their opponents.
"It is not appropriate from a cultural or historical point of view," Nigerian historian Toyin Falola told the BBC. "Moneymaking and historical memory are allies in the extension of capitalism. You cry with one eye and wipe it off with a cold beer, leaving the other eye open for gambling."
But Loster, Jackson and the other developers have dismissed these criticisms. "We know the problems facing us," Loster said. "We have visited Nigeria several times."
SOURCE: Guardian.co.uk
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
NigeriaTown
We've all heard of Chinatown even in Nigeria. Well, here's an introduction to Nigeriatown in China.
In this issue of the magazine [New Yorker], Evan Osnos writes about African merchants living in China. Here, Osnos narrates an audio slide show about the economic, social, and religious life of African migrants in Guangzhou.
Click here to get the full story
In this issue of the magazine [New Yorker], Evan Osnos writes about African merchants living in China. Here, Osnos narrates an audio slide show about the economic, social, and religious life of African migrants in Guangzhou.
Click here to get the full story
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
A Story of Forgiveness
Jean Paul Samputu
'I forgive friend who killed my family'
John Paul Samputu's family was murdered during Rwanda's genocide of 1994 by a friend and a neighbour. He still calls him a friend because he has forgiven him.
John Paul is now an ambassador of peace and next month he will take part in an international forgiveness conference in his homeland. The BBC World Service's Mark Whitaker spoke to him:
JP: "In Rwanda we need to heal the wounds of the past. It's now 15 years but when you look at what happened in the genocide people are still affected."
MW: "Do you think 15 years is long enough?"
JP: "It's like one year. People still have bitterness, anger and the spirit of revenge."
MW: "You talk about reconciliation and your own reconciliation is perhaps one of the most remarkable that I have heard. Your entire family was killed by your neighbour, someone who was a friend, and you have now forgiven him?"
JP: "Yes I have forgiven him because I didn't have any choice. By forgiving him, I was healed. And me and him together, we are now dedicated to promoting peace and reconciliation."
MW: "Why do you say you didn't have a choice?"
JP: "After the genocide, when I went to my village and I learnt that my best friend was the one who killed my parents, it destroyed me. I couldn't understand why a very good friend would do that. I lost my mind.
"It took nine years dealing with anger and bitterness. I lost my career. I was addicted... drugs. At the end, I realised I was destroying myself."
MW: "You must have wanted to kill him?"
JP: "Yeah - the first time. I didn't see him but I was going to kill him. I have never killed in my life. I decided to forgive him because I wanted to get healing."
MW: "Your friend is a killer. What did he say to you when you said: 'I want to forgive you'?"
JP: "The first time he thought it was a political game. He was thinking: 'How can he forgive me when I can not forgive myself?' It was hard to understand."
MW: "Has he ever explained to you why he did it?"
JP: "Of course. Because now we are together we talk about everything.
"He said: 'You know Samputu, your father was a very good friend. More than you.
"And I asked him: 'If he was your friend, why did you kill him?'
"He said: 'You don't understand. We had the laws of the genocide. In the genocide, the law was that your best friend, your close neighbour, was the one who must be killed by you, because you were close. And I had to kill your father because I was the closest'."
MW: "And that was repeated across Rwanda? Those sort of interpersonal relationships were distorted?"
JP: "Even the husband killed his wife. It was not killing for them, it was working. If you kill many people then you are rewarded."
MW: "Do you think your father will be proud of you?"
JP: "If I revenge or I kill because he was killed, I think he (my father) would not accept that...
"I can't do what they did... If I don't forgive, what do we do to the other children?
"It's a cycle of violence. A cycle of hatred. It's generations. The world, where we live, carries the wounds of not forgiving and future peace depends on what we do with that."
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Thief Transforms to Goat
This is not the thief...I mean goat...I mean thief in question, but the picture for una whey no know what a goat is.
Do any of ya'll remember goat burgers back in the village?
Newspaper claims suspect transformed into a goat
LAGOS, Nigeria – One of Nigeria's biggest daily newspapers reported that police implicated a goat in an attempted automobile theft. In a front-page article on Friday, the Vanguard newspaper said that two men tried to steal a Mazda car two days earlier in Kwara State, with one suspect transforming himself into a goat as vigilantes cornered him.
The paper quoted police spokesman Tunde Mohammed as saying that while one suspect escaped, the other transformed into a goat as he was about to be apprehended.
The newspaper reported that police paraded the goat before journalists, and published a picture of the animal.
Police in the state couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Belief in black magic is widespread in Nigeria, particularly in far-flung rural areas.
SOURCE: Yahoo News
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