Nigerian government reacts to Nigeria’s position on global corruption index

 The Nigerian government on Thursday discredited the country’s latest position on the 2019 global corruption index.

Nigeria is currently ranked 146 out of the 180 countries on the 2019 corruption perception index, according to Transparency International.

The index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption in the opinion of experts and business people, using a scale of 0 to 100, where zero means “highly corrupt” and 100 means very clean.

The report released on Thursday said Nigeria scored 26 out of 100 points, dropping from the 27 points that it has maintained since 2017. In the 2018 index, Nigeria rose by four places from 148 to 144.

However, Nigeria’s attorney-general and justice minister Abubakar Malami said there are no proofs by Transparency International to rank Nigeria 146 out of the 180 countries on the 2019 corruption perception index.

In an interview on Channels Television’s LunchTime Politics, Malami said the “facts on the ground do not correlate with the information dished out” by Transparency International.

“In terms of the fight against corruption, we have been doing more, we have done more and we will continue to do more out of inherent conviction and desire on our part to fight against corruption devoid of any extraneous considerations relating to the rating by Amnesty International,” Malami said.

In the report, Nigeria also ranked the fourth most corrupt country out of the 19 countries in the West African region.

Transparency International said the position of all countries in the report is based cases of corruption “from fraud that occurs at the highest levels of government to petty bribery that blocks access to basic public services like healthcare and education, citizens are fed up with corrupt leaders and institutions.”

Transparency International’s chair Delia Ferreira Rubio asked the government to urgently address what she describes as the corrupting role of big money in political party financing and the undue influence it exerts on political systems.

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MEN SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO DONATE SPERM AFTER DEATH, STUDY SAYS

BY OLUWAMUYIWA OYEDELE

Scientists in the UK say post-mortem sperm donation should be adopted to address the dilemma of infertility and sperm shortage across the world.

In a study published in the Journal of Medical Ethics (JME), the scientists argued that men should be able to register their desire to donate their sperm after death for use by strangers.

According to Nathan Hodson (University of Leicester) and Joshua Parker (Manchester’s Wythenshawe Hospital), co-researchers of the study, the procedure is no different from an organ transplant.

While they expressed their certainty about the donation mechanics’ feasibility, the researchers said the procedure could be performed either through electroejaculation or surgical methods.

“The ability to reproduce matters to people and donated sperm enables many people to fulfil their reproductive desires. Limitations in numbers and variety of donors have consequences for individuals and couples who require donor sperm,” the scientists wrote in the study.

“Many people hope that after death their bodies will be used to benefit others. It is both feasible and morally permissible for men to volunteer their sperm to be donated to strangers after death in order to ensure sufficient quantities of sperm with desired qualities.

“It is morally acceptable that individuals donate tissues to relieve the suffering of others in ‘life-enhancing transplants’ for diseases.”

Cryopreservation (cooling below freezing point), the scientists said, would follow after the sperms are collected and thawed ahead of use for reproductive purposes.

Explaining that post-mortem sperm harvesting has been possible for years now, the authors added that samples retrieved 48 hours after death can impregnate women and birth healthy infants.

Allan Pacey, professor of Andrology, at the University of Sheffield, however, kicked against the idea, saying it felt like ‘backward’ step when society had moved so far towards uniting sperm donors with their children.

“I’d much rather that we invested our energy in trying to recruit younger, healthy, willing donors who stand a good chance of being alive when the donor conceived person starts to become curious about them, and would have the opportunity to make contact with them without the aid of a spiritualist,” he said.

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Rwanda, Great Lakes Neighbors at Risk of Conflict, ICG Says

By Michael Kavanagh

Rwanda and neighboring countries in Africa’s Great Lakes region are at risk of worsening violence if the different countries back rival rebel forces to destabilize each other, according to a report by the International Crisis Group.

Dozens of people have died in the past year in cross-border attacks involving the four neighbors including Burundi, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo, in which the leaders have blamed each other for backing proxy rebels, the Brussels-based group said Thursday.

“There is a real risk that growing tension will fuel a wider regional security crisis,” the policy group said in the report. It called for more dialogue and diplomacy to stem the drift toward conflict.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has alleged that Uganda and Burundi are supporting rebels opposed to his government and has increased military presence along his country’s borders after recent armed incursions from eastern Congo and Burundi. Burundi in turn accuses Rwanda of backing insurgents in its territory, while Uganda beefed up military presence along its Congo border to check fighters it says are backed by Rwanda, according to the report.

ICG warned that a proposal by Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi to let the three nations join his country’s army to fight the militias could backfire.

“Were Burundian, Rwandan and Ugandan forces given a green light for operations in the DRC, the danger would be all the graver, raising the specter of an interlocking proxy war wherein each Great Lakes country is backing its rivals’ enemies,” the report said.

The four countries have participated in conflicts in eastern Congo in various configurations since the mid-1990s. More than 100 armed groups still operate in the region, which is home to one of the world’s largest United Nations peacekeeping missions and is rich in natural resources including gold, coltan, and tin ore.

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REPP-backed solar project of 7.5 MW ready for construction in Burundi

The company inaugurated sub-Saharan Africa’s first utility-scale solar field in Rwanda in 2014. It is active in renewable-energy projects in 10 African countries.

By EYTAN HALON

Burundian Minister of Energy and Mining, Côme Manirakiza, speaks at the solar field groundbreaking event (photo credit: Courtesy)

Renewable-energy developer Gigawatt Global will commence construction work on the first private grid-connected solar field in Burundi, the company announced on Thursday, boosting the energy-poor nation’s power supply.

The 7.5-MW project will be Burundi’s first permanent power station in three decades and will meet the power needs of approximately 87,000 people and businesses, accounting for 15% of the country’s total energy-generation capacity.

Construction will begin after notice to proceed was granted to the solar field located in Mubuga, 10 km. from Gitega, the capital.

Gigawatt Global, an American-backed Dutch company headed by American-Israeli CEO Yosef Abramowitz, worked with a long list of public and private partners worldwide to advance the project. It is the largest private investment in Burundi’s energy sector in 30 years.

The company inaugurated sub-Saharan Africa’s first utility-scale solar field in Rwanda in 2014. It is active in renewable-energy projects in 10 African countries.

“It takes a global village to bring utility-scale green energy to where it is needed most in Africa,” said Abramowitz, named by CNN as one of the world’s six leading “Green Pioneers” in 2012.

“Following the lackluster United Nations climate conference, we are demonstrating to the world that it is possible to create and scale a business model to achieve, especially in frontier markets, many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs],” he said. “Greta Thunberg is rallying the world to stop burning fossil fuels; we are actively transitioning the energy economies of African countries to wind and solar.”

Most of the Burundian population lives in poverty, with food insecurity almost twice as high as the sub-Saharan average, according to the World Bank. Less than 5% of the population has access to electricity, and access to water and sanitation remains low.

Potential for solar-energy production is great in Burundi, according to the UN Environment Program, especially in rural areas not connected to the grid.

“We are proud to kick off the UN’s Decade of Action toward fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals with this landmark solar investment,” Abramowitz said. “We have operations in 10 African countries and look forward to expanding our partnerships so that we can bring power to the people of Africa and actively fight the climate crisis.”

Partners in the Burundi project include Inspired Evolution, UK-based Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP), the US government’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Power Africa. The project is also supported by the Energy and Environment Partnership (EEP), Africa-EU Renewable Energy Cooperation Program (RECP) and the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO).

“Bringing clean energy to one of the world’s least-developed countries fulfills Gigawatt Global’s mission to be a premier impact platform of choice for renewables in Africa,” said Michael Fichtenberg, managing director of Gigawatt Global Burundi SA and vice president of finance and business development of Gigawatt Global Cooperation.

“We accomplished this pioneering project together with supporters from across the entire development spectrum, including innovative financial products being deployed for the first time with this project,” he said, citing the support of the African Trade Insurance Agency’s innovative Regional Liquidity Support Facility. “We believe this demonstrates how solar power can be implemented in other developing markets, while decreasing dependency on costly and polluting diesel generators.”

The project will provide 300 temporary jobs during the solar-field construction phase and up to 50 permanent jobs during the facility’s 25-year operational phase, Gigawatt Global said.

“We hope this historic solar project will further warm our bilateral relations and shine a light in Africa on practical solutions to both economic development and the climate crisis,” said Raphael Morav, Israel’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Burundi and Rwanda.

Construction work on the project in Burundi initiates a 10-country pipeline of solar and wind projects across Africa, totaling 350 MW in energy-generation capacity, Gigawatt Global said. The company is pursuing a Series A institutional investment round to fund its expansion.

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Suspected bandits strike in Zamfara, kill 28, injure others

By Amos Tauna

Suspected bandits have killed 28 while several others have sustained different degrees of injuries on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in recent attacks in Babban Rafi village of Gummi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

The killing is coming on the heels of concrete steps taken by the state government towards ensuring peace and reconciliation in most parts of the state.

A community member of the village, who sought for anonymity, said large groups of bandits besieged the village last Tuesday night and surrounded the unsuspecting community, conducting a house to house maiming and killing of the occupants.

He alleged that in the operation, the bandits killed 21 on that night in complete absence of any help from the military or the police. As the bodies of the victims were buried the following Wednesday, members of the bereaved community never suspected that another danger was looming.

The source narrated that in the late night of that Wednesday, when people were in deep mourning over the loss of the 21 killed, he explained, “The killer bandits suddenly reappeared and once again surrounded the community killing seven in the operation.”

He said several households from the community fled the village for safety, regretting that despite the ongoing peace and reconciliation programme being run by the government, he explained, “Some unrepenting bandits are still attacking and killing innocent people dwelling in the remote areas of the state.”

The spokesman of the state police command, SP Shehu Muhammad, confirmed the invasion by the bandits, adding that according to available record, thirteen persons were confirmed dead in the attack.

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Trump govt moves to block pregnant women from entering US to give birth

Wale Odunsi 

The Trump administration has concluded plans to block pregnant women in foreign countries from obtaining US tourist visas.

The move is to stop, “birth tourism”, the term coined for persons who travel to another to give birth.

“Under this rule, if a consular officer has reason to believe a B nonimmigrant visa applicant will give birth in the United States, the applicant is presumed to be seeking a visa for the primary purpose of obtaining US citizenship for the child,” a draft rule obtained by BuzzFeed News reads.

To rebut this presumption, the visa applicant must establish, to the satisfaction of a consular officer, a legitimate primary purpose other than obtaining US citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States.”

The draft guidance to be issued for consular officers reads: “Any B nonimmigrant visa applicant who you have reason to believe will give birth during her stay in the United States is presumed to be traveling for the primary purpose of obtaining US citizenship for the child.

“The applicant can overcome this presumption if you find that the primary purpose of travel is not obtaining US citizenship for a child.”

A State Department spokesperson told the platform that, “this change is intended to address the national security and law enforcement risks associated with birth tourism, including criminal activity associated with the birth tourism industry.

“We expect the rule will be published shortly. More details will be available when the rule is published.”

However, officers, however, are told not to ask as a matter of course whether the applicant is pregnant or intends to become pregnant, or require an applicant to provide evidence that they are not pregnant.

Meanwhile, the U.S President, Donald Trump is set to slam travel ban on more countries including Nigeria, Africa’s biggest nation.

An announcement is expected on Monday, January 27, exactly three years after Trump signed the original travel ban on January 27, 2017, just a week into his tenure.

It recalls that the ban was upheld by the US Supreme Court in June 26, 2018.

It affected Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, Venezuela and North Korea.

For the new restrictions, countries on the list include Belarus, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania.

White House spokesman, Hogan Gidley, said: “The travel ban has been profoundly successful in protecting our country and raising the security baseline around the world.”

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WHO postpones decision on declaring coronavirus as global health emergency

World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday postponed taking a decision on whether the mysterious coronavirus that killed at least 17 people and sickened hundreds of others in China a global health emergency.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said physicians need more information and asked the committee which he is leading, which held an emergency meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday to reconvene on Thursday.

Tedros told roughly 150 reporters on a conference call that was delayed for almost two hours while the committee met that “today, there was an excellent discussion during the committee meeting, but it was also clear that to proceed, we need more information.”

Tedros said the emergency committee on Wednesday was split on whether to designate the illness a global health emergency, noting that “WHO has researchers in China collecting data.

“The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence.”

Chinese authorities said many of the patients with the new illness, (Coronavirus) had come into contact with seafood and meat markets, suggesting the virus is spreading from animals to people.

WHO physicians said they found evidence of human-to-human transmission within close contacts, citing family members, and within a health-care environment and that the virus was stable and not showing any kind of unusual activity.

WHO defines a global health emergency, also known as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, as an “extraordinary event” that is “serious, unusual or unexpected.”

The Coronavirus that emerged from Wuhan, China, had spread throughout Asia, infecting more than 540 people in China, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan and the Republic of Korea, according to WHO and Chinese state media.

The U.S. had also confirmed its first case on Tuesday, a Washington state man who was travelling in China, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said.

Meanwhile, Lawrence Gostin, a professor and faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law at Georgetown University, said “WHO does not enact emergencies easily. The international health agency only applied the emergency designation five times since the rules were implemented in mid-2000.

“The last time WHO declared a global health emergency was in 2019 for the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo that killed more than 2,000 people.

“The agency also declared global emergencies for the 2016 Zika virus, the 2009 H1N1 swine flu and the 2014 polio and Ebola outbreaks.”

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South African army drops ‘defiance’ charges against officer

South Africa’s army has withdrawn charges brought against a Muslim officer who refused to take off her headscarf in 2018.

Maj. Fatima Isaacs was charged with willful defiance and disobeying a lawful command after she failed to comply when her superior asked her to remove her headscarf.

The army withdrew the charges at a military court at the Castle of Good Hope near Cape Town and said Major Isaacs was allowed to wear a headscarf as long as it did not cover her ears and was “plain in colour.” (BBC)

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Rwanda hands over body of slain Ugandan

 

A casket bearing the body of Ndagijimana. Courtesy photo

Rwandan officials Wednesday handed over the body of Teojen Ndagijimana, a Ugandan national who was shot dead by Rwandan security forces in Kumugu Trading Centre in Musanze District, inside Rwanda, about three kilometres from the Uganda-Rwanda border, on Saturday.  

The body was received by a Ugandan delegation that was led by Rtd Capt Peter Mugisha, the Kisoro District Resident Commissioner, at   Chanika border.

Mr James Nsaba Buturo, the former Ethics and Integrity Minister and Bufumbira East Member of Parliament, attended the event.

The Rwandan delegation was led by Ms Marie Chantal Uwanyirigira, the mayor of Burera District.

The body was taken to Chahafi Health Centre IV, where another post mortem was scheduled to be carried out before a burial at Kabingo village, Chahafi Parish.

Ndagijimana is the fourth Ugandan to be shot dead inside Rwanda by Rwandan forces since the Kigali government closed its border with Uganda at Katuna in February last year, stopping the movement of goods and people from either country.

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Joint UN-Congolese strategy needed to address insecurity following deadly attacks

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the UN peacekeeping operation in the country, MONUSCO,  are  being urged to develop a comprehensive joint strategy to address insecurity in Beni territory, located in the east. 

UN Photo/Martine Perret. Ebola survivors and other parishioners gather at a church in Beni, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. (August 2019)

The recommendation follows an independent assessment into deadly attacks allegedly carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group during the latter part of last year, which sparked violent protests against the Government and the UN. 

The assessment team—which included political, military and logistics specialists—sought to establish the circumstances surrounding the attacks in Beni, located in North Kivu province, as well as  assaults in Mambasa territory in neighbouring Ituri province targeting the national and international response to the deadly Ebola virus outbreak . 

Team members were evaluating the MONUSCO Force’s ability to deliver on mandated tasks that include civilian protection, neutralizing armed groups, and providing a secure environment for those tacking the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the region.  

They found that presumed ADF combatants killed more than 260 people, mostly women and children, during November and December 2019 alone. Most of the attacks occurred at night. 

“The high number of civilian casualties was one of the main triggers of violent demonstrations against MONUSCO in North Kivu, including the destruction and looting of a MONUSCO Office in Beni on 25 November,” said the team. 

“The attacks against civilians occurred against the backdrop of a major offensive that the Congolese Army launched against the ADF on 30 October 2019.  Since 2014, the ADF have systematically retaliated against civilians to thwart the Congolese army’s operations against them.” 

In addition to the joint strategy, the assessment team recommended that the UN and countries that provide troops to the mission coordinate action towards supporting the MONUSCO Force Intervention Brigade in better addressing the “unconventional threat” posed by the ADF, particularly in a challenging environment. 

Furthermore, strengthened cooperation between MONUSCO and the Congolese Army and Police is critical to sustain the gains made by the Congolese forces during this latest offensive against the ADF. 

The UN Department of Peace Operations is developing an Action Plan to implement the key recommendations of the assessment.    

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Burundi president to get $530,000 golden parachute

 

President Pierre Nkurunziza has said he will not run in May this year.  

Burundi lawmakers on Tuesday adopted legislation offering a golden parachute to outgoing presidents, including a luxury villa and a one-off sum equivalent to more than half a million dollars.
The move comes four months ahead of May 20 elections for which President Pierre Nkurunziza has said he will not run.

In 2015, his campaign for a third term plunged the country into violence and led to an enduring political crisis.

The new law states that at the end of the mandate, the president will receive "a luxury villa built with public funds in the location of his choice within five years, as well as a one-off allocation of one billion Burundian francs" ($530,000, 480,000 euros).

This amount is a fortune in Burundi where more than 65 percent live in poverty and where 50 percent of the country is food-insecure, according to the UN's World Food Programme (WFP).

The legislation, adopted with 98 votes for and two against, differentiates between former heads of state elected via universal suffrage -- of which Nkurunziza is the only candidate -- and those who came to power via peace deal or military coup.

"A president who came to power via the simple consensus of a group of politicians does not have the same regard as one who was democratically elected," Justice Minister Aimee-Laurentine Kanyana told the national assembly.

The retired president will also get the same benefits as a serving vice-president for seven years after he steps down, and will for the rest of his life get an allowance equal to that of a lawmaker.
The cost and size of the villa that will be provided are not specified.

"The benefits that will be given to a president at the end of his mandate are exorbitant if one takes into account the crisis in the country, but it is a positive measure as it seems to indicate very clearly that Nkurunziza will in fact not run for the presidency," a diplomat in Burundi told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Nkurunziza surprised observers when he announced he would not seek another term in office, despite a new constitution in 2018, adopted by referendum, allowing him to do so.

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US army criticises Kenyan Defense Force action during Manda Bay attack

The Manda Bay Attack

Americans have highly criticised the Kenya Defence Forces over the January 5 attack at Camp Simba in Manda Bay.

According to the New York Times, Kenyan soldiers hid in the grass during the attack that saw three Americans killed when al-Shabaab attacked the base. 

"Many of the local Kenyan forces, assigned to defend the base, hid in the grass while other American troops and support staff were corralled into tents, with little protection, to wait out the battle," NYT says in the article published on Wednesday.

The article is likely to draw criticism from the Kenyan audience and government due to the manner in which it paints the KDF soldiers.

International media has been criticised in the past for painting the African continent in bad light especially when covering Western interests in the continent.

One US service member and two contractors were killed during the al Shabaab attack.

In addition, the US Africa Command confirmed that two Department of Defence members were wounded in the attack.

The American newspaper further insinuates that the Americans believe that the terrorists may have been assisted by Kenyan workers at the camp.

"Investigators are looking at the possibility the attackers had help from Kenyan staff on the base. The performance of the Kenyan security forces during and after the battle frustrated American officials,"the article states.

It claimed that Kenyans announced they had captured six al Shabaab, but they all turned out to be "bystanders and were released."

According to the New York Times, on the morning of the attack, contractor pilots Dustin Harrison, 47, and Bruce Triplett, 64, were taxiing their Beechcraft King Air 350 on Manda Bay’s tarmac.

"They throttled down their engines, according to one person familiar with the attack. The two men reported that they saw animals darting across the runway," the article states.

It adds; "They were wrong. The animals were in fact Shabab fighters, who had infiltrated the base’s outer perimeter — a poorly defended fence line — before heading to the base’s airstrip."

The newspaper says that as the twin-propeller Beechcraft, loaded with sensors and video equipment for surveillance, began to taxi, the Shabab fighters fired a rocket-propelled grenade into the plane, killing Harrison and Triplett.

"With the plane on fire, a third contractor, badly burned in the rear of the aircraft, crawled out to safety," it states.

United States deployed one of its top elite military units to guard its interests off the Kenyan Coast immediately after the attack.

The deployment was made after al-Shabaab militia killed the three Americans.

On January 9, Senior US Africa Command officials visited partner forces and American troops stationed at Camp Simba and Manda Bay Airfield.

US Africa Commander Gen Stephen Townsend directed an investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding the attack by al-Shabaab of the airfield at Manda Bay.

"I want ground truth to assess the situation and hear from the troops to ensure they have what they need to accomplish their mission.," Townsend said on January 9.

On November 5, al-Shabaab released a 52-minute video narrated by al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Omar Abu Ubeyda calling for attacks against Americans wherever they are.

The terror group stated that the American public is a legitimate target, and echoing a number of other global jihadist themes observed in Usama Bin Laden historical videos.

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Unrest as Militants Overran Airfield, Killing 3 Americans in Kenya

By Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Eric Schmitt, Charlie Savage and Helene Cooper

In recent months, missions against the Shabab along the Kenya-Somalia border have dwindled, and military officials have sought to end the American Special Operations presence at Manda Bay, Kenya.Credit...Farah Abdi Warsameh/Associated Press

The brazen Shabab assault at Manda Bay, Kenya, a sleepy seaside base near the Somali border, on Jan. 5 left three Americans dead, raising complex questions about the military’s mission in Africa.

Armed with rifles and explosives, about a dozen Shabab fighters destroyed an American surveillance plane as it was taking off and ignited an hourslong gunfight earlier this month on a sprawling military base in Kenya that houses United States troops. By the time the Shabab were done, portions of the airfield were burning and three Americans were dead.

Surprised by the attack, American commandos took around an hour to respond. Many of the local Kenyan forces, assigned to defend the base, hid in the grass while other American troops and support staff were corralled into tents, with little protection, to wait out the battle. It would require hours to evacuate one of the wounded to a military hospital in Djibouti, roughly 1,500 miles away.

The brazen assault at Manda Bay, a sleepy seaside base near the Somali border, on Jan. 5, was largely overshadowed by the crisis with Iran after the killing of that country’s most important general two days earlier, and is only now drawing closer scrutiny from Congress and Pentagon officials.

But the storming of an airfield used by the American military so alarmed the Pentagon that it immediately sent about 100 troops from the 101st Airborne Division to establish security at the base. Army Green Berets from Germany also were shuttled to Djibouti, the Pentagon’s major hub in Africa, in case the entire base was in danger of being taken by the Shabab, an East African terrorist group affiliated with Al Qaeda.

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This is how much money the average taxi operator makes in South Africa

 SOUTH AFRICA - SA Taxi owner, Transaction Capital has published its annual report for 2019, showing how much taxi operators in South Africa earn each month.

According to Transaction Capital, approximately 69% of households use minibus taxis in 2019, up from 53% in 2003. This equates to around 15 million commuter trips daily, handled by over 250,000 vehicles.

In 2019, the group concluded a strategic partnership with the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco), where the council acquired a 25% stake in SA Taxi, for R1.7 billion in 2018.

This partnership was delivering returns that “far exceeded expectations,” Transaction Capital said, with a major boost to the group’s operational and financial performance in the year.

SA Taxi provides developmental finance, insurance and other services to empower minibus taxi owners, thus enhancing the sustainability, reliability and safety of South Africa’s public transport infrastructure.

Although not immune to difficult economic conditions, the minibus taxi industry is supported by population growth and increased urbanisation, which have resulted in higher commuter density, Transaction Capital said.

However, the group noted that there are also a number of issues facing the industry including the rising costs of vehicles and petrol.

Taxis in South Africa

Transaction Capital says that South Africa has 250,000 taxis operating nationally, primarily in Gauteng (30%), and Kwa Zulu-Natal (21%). Each minibus averages 6,000km per month, or 72,000km a year.

According to Transaction Capital’s report, the average price for a Toyota HiAce – most commonly used as minibus taxis in South Africa, making up 88% of all taxis – increased by 4.2% in 2019 to R451,600.

Fuel costs, meanwhile, have climbed 10% (for diesel), over the same period, while taxi fares have averaged only 7% higher in KwaZulu Natal, and 6% in the Eastern Cape (with no fare increases in other provinces).

Despite operating within this constrained environment, taxi operators remain resilient, the group said, taking home profits of more than R25,000 a month.

Over shorter-distance routes (like a 23km trip between Soweto and Johannesburg), operator profits are around R25,000 a month, while longer distance trips (like the 595km trip between Joburg and Durban) can lead to profits of around R37,000 per month, the group said.

The minimum monthly profit recorded by the group was R6,000 a month, as per its credit profiles on loans on book.

The average taxi operator in South Africa has 1.2 vehicles per customer, with a vehicle age of around 3.6 years, Transaction Capital’s data showed.

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Ogar Assurances left Togo

By Séna Akoda

(Togo First) - Ogar Assurances exited Togo and thus closed its last operation in West Africa. 

The exit comes after a meeting of the regional regulator of insurance markets (CRA). During the meeting, held in December 2019, the regulator retrieved all of Ogar’s accreditations. 

Prior to the ultimate move, the CRA had prohibited the insurer from registering any subscription or renewing expired insurance policies, unless Ogar produced a solid financing plan. This was at a session in Douala, on July 22-27, last year. 

Unfortunately for the insurer, it couldn’t meet this condition and subsequently had to end its activities in West Africa, a market it intended to conquer.

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Burkina Faso president calls for two days of mourning after 'terrorist group' kills dozens

Militants killed 36 civilians when they attacked villages in northern Burkina Faso, the government said Tuesday, appealing for local volunteers to bolster its fight against jihadists.

Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore (pictured in November 2018) © AFP/File

 A "terrorist group" killed 32 civilians when they attacked and burned the market in Nagraogo village before killing four more people in Alamou village on Monday, the government said.

Three other people were wounded in the attacks, it added.

"The Burkina government has learned with consternation and anger of the deaths of 36 Burkinabe in Sanmatenga province, after a terrorist attack," communications minister Remis Fulgance Dandjinou said.

Hundreds of people have fled the area and taken refuge in the city of Kaya, in Sanmatenga province, according to residents contacted by AFP. 

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore announced a two-day period of mourning, for Wednesday and Thursday, during which flags will be flown at half-mast and festivals will be prohibited. 

Volunteer plan 

Faced with these "repeated attacks" against civilians, the government launched an appeal for the people's "frank collaboration" with the defence and security forces.

The Burkina parliament on Tuesday adopted unanimously a law allowing for the recruitment of local volunteers in the fight against jihadists.

According to a document seen by AFP, volunteers aged over 18 will be recruited in their regions in agreement with local populations. 

They will be given 14 days military training, after which they will be given small arms and other communication equipment. 

The recruits would be expected to conduct surveillance and provide information and protection for their local communities in the event of an attack while waiting for security forces to deploy, according to Defence Minister Cheriff Sy. 

Burkina Faso, as well as neighbouring Mali and Niger, has seen frequent jihadist attacks which have left hundreds of people dead since the start of 2015 when Islamist extremist violence began to spread across the Sahel region.

According to the UN, around 4,000 people were killed in jihadist attacks in the three Sahel countries last year.

The Burkina Faso army is ill-equipped and poorly trained to deal with the threat posed by jihadists in the country.

However, in recent months they have enjoyed a series of successes, claiming to have killed a hundred jihadists in many operations.

There are 4,500 French troops deployed in the Sahel region as well as a 13,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in Mali to fight insurgents, backing up national forces of the G5 -- Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. 

In the wake of the latest attack European Commission diplomatic spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson said it was a reminder of the "urgency" of a plan to increase European security and development action in the region. 

"Thoughts for the families of the victims of this new terrorist attack in a market in Burkina Faso," she said on Twitter.

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Terrorism: US Plans More Travel Restrictions On Nigeria, 6 Others

By Dapo Falade

The rating of Nigeria as a terrorist country has taken a further dip as the administration of the President Donald Trump of the United States of America (USA) plans to impose expanded travel restrictions on the country and six others.

As reported by an online medium, Per Second News, the new restrictions would apply to travellers and immigrants from Nigeria, Tanzania, Sudan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Belarus and Eritrea, even as citizens of the affected countries could restrictions on some types of visas, including business and visitors’ visas.

It was gathered the expanded travel restrictions would be rolled out next week, as Washington officials, in justifying the new policy, said it was necessary to prevent potential acts of terrorism, as countries on the list don’t adequately vet their travellers to the US.

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US senate rejects demands by democrats in Trump’s impeachment trial

By Fikayo-Olowolagba

The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate on Tuesday rejected three separate motions proposed by the Democrats to acquire documents and evidence in the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump.

The motions, brought up by Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, are amendments to the Republican-proposed resolution guiding the trial process, NAN reports.

The first one, rejected in a 53-47 party-line vote, called for subpoenaing any “documents, communications and other records” kept by the White House that were stonewalled from Congress during the House-led impeachment inquiry.

An earlier four-page resolution proposed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell does not require additional witnesses to be subpoenaed and does not allow House prosecutors to admit evidence into the Senate trial record until the opening arguments from the two opposing sides are heard.

Schumer then introduced a second amendment seeking to subpoena the State Department for certain documents and records.

But the second one was rejected by the same voting result as the first one.

The Democratic senator from New York later offered a third amendment to subpoena relevant documents from the Office of Management and Budget.

The third amendment was unsurprisingly nullified along party lines.

McConnell in a floor speech earlier in the day vowed to block any early votes on witnesses.

“If a senator moves to amend the resolution in order to subpoena specific witnesses or documents, I will move to table such motions because the Senate will decide those questions later in the trial,” said the Kentucky Republican.

Tuesday marked the formal start of the impeachment trial against Trump, who was accused by the Democratic-controlled House of abusing power and obstructing Congress.

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Wife of SA man held captive in Burkina Faso hopes for news after release of fellow hostage

Christo Bothma and his wife, Amanda Bothma. Image: Bring Christo Bothma Back Home/Facebook

The family of mineworker Christo Bothma, who was abducted in Burkino Faso in 2018, are hopeful they will receive information about him after the release of a man who was taken hostage with him.

On a Facebook page titled “Bring Christo Bothma back home", his wife, Amanda, posted: “Patel's son was released on Saturday. We are waiting to hear from the son what happened to Chris."

She was reacting to a Reuters report that Kimar Akoliya, the son of Akoliya Patel, an Indian gold mine owner in Burkina Faso, had been released. He was kidnapped by unidentified assailants with two colleagues in September 2018, one South African and one from Burkino Faso.

Amanda has previously shared her anxiety about her husband's circumstances. In November 2018 she heard he had been released, which turned out to be untrue. In September last year she received news that he had died, but refused to believe it. 

On the one-year anniversary of his abduction, Amanda told TimesLIVE: “It may not be today, tomorrow, next month, but one day he will return home. Only then will I believe that he’s dead or alive. Until I see his body, he is not dead."

When asked how she’d been coping, she said: “Days are not the same. On some days I sleep, on some I don’t. It's just not easy."

The couple have six children, aged between 20 and 30.

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UGANDA ISSUES PROTEST NOTE AFTER LOSING $360,000 TO KENYA MILK SEIZURE

By Ahmed Iyanda

Uganda has lost over $360,000 in milk exports due to the consignment of milk seized by Kenyan officials on alleged quality concerns, sparking a fresh diplomatic row between the two neighbouring countries. The information was revealed by Kampala’s government spokesman Ofwono Opondo, in a tweet.

According to The EastAfrican, Uganda, which is Kenya’s trading neighbour in the region has issued a protest note expressing deep concern about “illegal seizures of Ugandan-made milk products under the Lato brand.” The Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the seizure by Kenyan authorities, which happened on January 2, has caused “heavy financial losses to the company”

In the protest note, Uganda said the decision by Kenya contravenes the “principle of good neighbourliness” and Kenya’s obligation under the treaty establishing the East African Community (EAC) Customs Union protocol, Common Market protocol, and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) trade facilitation agreement.

“This has resulted not only into confiscation of 54,310 kilos of powder milk valued at $203,630 and 262,632 litres of UHT milk valued at $157,106 but also have witnessed a sustained negative campaign against Uganda’s milk and milk products, contravening the principle of good neighbourliness and Kenya’s obligations under the Treaty Establishing the East African Community, Customs Union Protocol and Common Market Protocol and the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement,” the Ugandan ministry said.

The protest note, directed to Kenyas High Commission to Uganda on January 15, followed tense stakeholders meeting in Kampala. The dialogue came after warehouses owned by Uganda’s Pearl Diaries and those of its distributors in Nairobi were raided and its stock confiscated by officials of Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), without any court orders.

Between January 1 and 12, the DCI confiscated 54 tonnes of powdered milk and 140,000 litres of Long Life milk from Pearl Dairies and its distributors, citing nonconformity to standards and smuggling.

A review of documentation relating to the impugned consignments by Uganda’s Trade Ministry, however, revealed that they had been issued certificates of conformity by the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya Dairy Board, Kenya Bureau of Standards and Kenya Revenue Authority, among others.

The escalating trade rift between Kenya and Uganda over milk exports is one of many cases in the East Africa region, which over time has seen Tanzania shut it borders to Ugandan timber, sugar and maize, while Kenya, which is open to imports of maize and beans from Uganda, has been reluctant to open its market to manufactured products from Kampala. 

Dr Gideon Badagawa, the Executive Director of the Uganda Private Sector Foundation warns that unless resolved early, these trade tiffs could affect the investment profile of the region, which is widely recognized for notable economic growth driven by regional integration.

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