International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant for ex Ivorian Leader’s wife

The International Criminal Court ICC in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Simone Gbagbo, the wife of ex Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo. She will be on record for being the first female to have been arrested by the International Criminal Court. The pre-Trial Chamber (I) of the International Criminal Court decided to unseal the warrant of arrest issued against Simone Gbagbo for four charges of crimes against humanity. The court stated that Mrs. Gbagbo is responsible within the meaning of article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute for the crimes against humanity of murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, other inhumane acts and persecution allegedly committed in the territory of Ivory Coastd during the period between 16 December 2010 and 12 April 2011. This was the period in the Ivorian elections which saw the defeat of the then incumbent Laurent Gbagbo but refused to accept defeat which many analysts believed is due to the influence of his wife. An estimated number of 3,000 people died during the five months period Mr. Gbagbo refused to accept defeat to Mr. Ouattara in the post election violence which was widely divided between the north and the south of the country. Mr. Gbagbo is already waiting for trial at The Hague since transferred from Ivory Coast last year to face prosecution on similar charges. In the arrest document copied to the Ivorian Government, The ICC stated that it had decided to make public the warrant of arrest for Mrs. Gbagbo on four charges of crimes against humanity, which was initially issued in February. ``She was responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, other inhumane acts and persecution" allegedly committed in Ivory Coast between 16 December 2010 and 12 April 2011, the statement said. "Ms Gbagbo was ideologically and professionally very close to her husband, Mr. Gbagbo. She participated in all the meetings during the relevant period. Although unelected, she behaved as the alter ego of her husband, exercising power and taking state decisions," the statement added. The warrant further accused her of participating in the planning and orchestration of the violence, in which members of ethnic and religious groups seen as likely to support Mr. Gbagbo's rival, Alassane Ouattara, were targeted.

Rebels sized Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo amid condemnation from the United Nation and sanctions threats

The March 23 rebels movement, popularly known as the M 23 rebels movement have sized the eastern town of Goma from Government Forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This development has triggered widespread concerns about the humanitarian situation in the region which is divided by armed conflict, widespread displacement and attacks on civilians. The United Nations were due to asses the situation on last week Sunday but was forced to cancel it as a result of the security situation in the North Kivu Province - of which Goma is the capital. Residents told local reporters that rebel spokesman Vianney Kazarama announced that they should carry on with their normal activities, saying the M 23 was there for their security. He also said he provided his own phone number and that of his two intelligence officers for citizens to call if they had any concerns and urged Government force to give up and report themselves to M 23. "We can see the M23 patrolling the main road that runs through our neighborhood, It’s a relief that the fighting ended quite quickly , but we're worried about the possibility of a counter attack by Government forces’’ some residents told reporters. United Nations Security Council backs calls for sanctions against M 23 Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council has moved swiftly to convey emergency meeting with leaders from Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC. Uganda and Rwanda have both been accused by UN expert group of backing the M 23 rebels a case which triggered Rwanda threatened to sue the United Nations. France was reported to have stated that the members of the Security Council strongly condemned the rebel seizure of Goma and asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to look into reports that external support had greatly increased the rebels' military capability. The United Nations therefore agreed to sanctions the rebels group but many people are confused as what the sanction is going to be as the leader of the rebel group is already under sanction by the United States of America.

The Gulf Of Guinea set to construct $700m Methanol Plant in West Africa

The Gulf of Guinea Oil Exploration Limited GGOEX has outlined plans to construct the largest West African methanol plant in Nigeria specifically in 2015, for the price of 109 billion naira ($700 million). The plant will have a production capacity of 850,000 metric tonnes of Methanol per year, with the cost of the project to be debt-equity financed by International Financial Corporation (IFC) as well as fund syndication from local banks. The project will be the debut commercial-scale employment of the Mitsubishi Methanol Process (MMP) process in Methanol production technologies in West Africa, and would be located at the Gas Industrial park in Delta State, the oil-rich region of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Gulf of Guinea Oil Exploration Company is currently processing a Due Diligence Assessment with the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria GACN for an approval of the construction and environmental sustainability of the project according to reports from Nigeria. Emmanuel Ejemurua, co-coordinator for the methanol project, disclosed that the global demand for methanol was growing at around 4 percent annually and that the GGOEX project is intended to manufacture and export methanol to meet this demand, thereby enhancing the monetization of Nigeria’s huge gas reserves. “The Delta Methanol Plant is ideally located to supply its major export markets in Europe and expectations are high that it will produce a competitive product, bring added value to society and further contribute to industrial growth in Nigeria,”Mr. Ejemurua said. The Gulf Guinea Oil Exploration is a Nigerian Integrated Energy Company incorporated in 2011, positioned to engage in the exploration, development and production of Oil & Gas reserves in established and emerging frontiers in the Gulf of Guinea.

Ghana: Ghana-turkey export promotion ends successful with much improvement

Accra/NationalTurk The Ghana-Turkey export promotion products exhibition has come to a successful end at the International Conference Centre in the capital Accra. The two-day event started on the 14th-to the 16 of November, 2012 The event which was organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Turkey and supported by the Miridyen International Fair Organization saw wide range of made in Turkey goods being exhibited. The goods include beverages, food processing machines, agricultural products, cosmetics products wood cutting machines, power and telecom cables, automobile, printing machines and many other products for Ghanaians to buy. The Chief Executive Officer of Miridyen International Fair Organization Alper Cekic told the NationalTurk that the event has seen a significant improvement this year with sales and patronage of the products increased. He also urged Ghanaians to continue to patronize goods made in Turkey since goods from elsewhere especially those from the Chinese market cannot march that of Turkey in terms of quality wise. ``our products are quality, durable and affordable, you cannot compare ours to the Chinese products, we hope to continue to give the Ghanaians market the best of our products from Turkey so that we can all grow together to the next level’’ Mr. Cekic added. Some of the people who spoke to the NationalTurk after the fair expressed their delight on the goods they saw at the fair. Those include business owners and individuals who have come to see things for themselves at the Conference Centre. `` I am happy to have had the opportunity of seeing these goods, I never imagined I could see products like these made in Turkey and being displayed here for us, this is my first time that I am attending this fair and I will continue to participate in subsequent event because I am impressed with what I saw’’ Mr. Richard Owusu a business owner told the NationalTurk. The fair started 5 years back with the events being held on a yearly basis but this years’ event has quite improved those who have participated before confessed. The two countries affirmed their commitment to increase their trade base from 290 million USD TO 1 billion USD in 2011 and event like this will help speed up their expectations in the trade industry for both countries. Issaka Adams/NationalTurk Africa News

Investment: Starwood Incorporation to increase Africa investment with 10 new hotels

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide incorporation has announced plans to strengthen its position in Africa by adding 10 new hotels in the next three years as its investment strategies in the hospitality industry on the Continent, Starwood is an international reservation company currently operating 38 hotels in 15 African countries, including: Algeria, Cameroon, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Libya, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Seychelles, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda. By 2015, Starwood plans to have nearly 50 hotels in Africa with new hotels confirmed to open in Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Senegal and Mauritius. The company already has an existing 38 hotels, representing more than 10,000 rooms under its Sheraton and Le Méridien brands but it is aiming to increase its Africa investment by nearly 30 percent while adding more than 4,200 guest rooms to the continent. Many business analysts believed that this is a step in right direction as it is going to create employment opportunities for the local people on the various locations where these hotels will be added. “From a vastly improving infrastructure, major investments from China, rapid economic growth, rising personal incomes and a growing middle class – we are seeing exciting changes that are driving the African future and we intend to be a part of it,” said Simon Turner, President of Global Development & Acquisition, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. “Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and boasts the second-largest economy on the continent, presenting tremendous opportunities for the country to play a key role in our African expansion. With investor-friendly policies in place and on-going economic growth, Nigeria epitomizes the economic ascent of Africa as a development destination,” Mr. Turner added. In addition to the new hotels in the pipeline, Starwood will re-open three of its African hotels in the next 12 months. The Grand Mauritian, which will re-open next year after a major renovation, the Sheraton Cairo following a major renovation as part of Sheraton’s global brand enhancement strategy and the Four Points by Sheraton Tripoli, which closed last year due to the political instability in Libya. Starwood is also looking into entering the key emerging countries like Angola, the Ivory Coast and Ghana in the long time plan to invest more in the continent.

Kinshasa: United Nations report finds arbitrary killings by Rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

The United Nations Human Right Investigation groups have accused various rebels group in the Democratic Republic of Congo of carrying out arbitrary killings against civilians in the eastern part of the volatile country.

The UN Human Rights Office said most of the victims were hacked to death with machetes while scores of others were burnt alive in their homes while they were sleeping in more than 75 rebels attack incidents recorded by the UN Human Rights Office.

"Investigators found that the victims were often those least able to flee the attacks, largely children and the elderly," the UN Human Rights Office said in a statement.

The investigators conducted more than 160 interviews with victims and witnesses during six missions and prompted the UN human rights chief to call for the immediate solution to the problem as it is likely to continue if not checked.

In the news release, the UN Rights Office also warned that the actual number of atrocities could be "considerably greater" because security restraints prevented the investigators from being able to confirm "many more" reports of human rights violations.

"The figures noted in the report reflect cases documented in only some parts of Masisi over a relatively limited period of time, and are thus far from presenting a comprehensive overview of the human rights situation throughout eastern DRC," it said added in the news released.

                  Rebels activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Various rebels groups have stepped up their activities in the region with the leading among them being the M 23 rebels’ movement group.

Early this year, M 23 rebel fighters managed to defeat the national army of the Democratic of Congo who were then pursuing the rebels and the army fled leaving their supplies behind.

Rebels’ activities in the region can therefore be said to be very active since the rebels have much grounds making security very volatile in the region.

Various reports by the UN experts group on rebels’ activities have sparked a serious wrangling between the UN and countries such as the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda in recent times

But this time, the report did not accuse any of these countries but blamed the rebels and many see it as a step in right direction from the United Nations.

Issaka Adams/NationalTurk Africa News

Technology in Africa: Huawei Technologies expects 30 percent growth in Africa in the next 3 years.

The Chinese Technology giant has predicted its revenue and investment growth in the next 3 years in Africa to be up by 30 percent as mobile internet and communication devices penetration expands on the Continent.

This was made known by the Chinese Telecommunications giant in the Venture Africa Business Forum which by far, is the biggest on the Continent when it comes to business reports.

The company based its vision growth predictions on the fact that Africa is already progressed in most other areas in terms of demand expansion, leading Huawei to pick up both interest and expectations especially for East and South African regions which are experiencing the most profound increase in mobile penetration.

President of Huawei Technologies for East and South Africa Li Dafeng told reporters that it is the relatively low penetration of mobile broadband that in particular holds greater potential for the company in terms of African growth.

``Now with Huawei expecting to push penetration through the increasing demand for smart phone devices and other communication devices in the region, we are quite confident that we will grow at the projected rate of 30 percent in the next 3 years in Africa’’ he said.

The telephone equipment producer boasts operations in 25 countries across the African continent, with Mr. Li disclosing 2011 revenue figures for the African operations totaling $3.42 billion, which was increased by 15 percent as compare to the previous year’s results.

               South Africa is the biggest market place for Huawei Technologies in Africa

The Republic of South Africa alone in Africa accounts for 30 per cent of the company’s revenue, and as such will be a focal point for Huawei’s growth strategy over the coming years analysts believe. 

The Government of South Africa is targeting 100 per cent internet penetration in its ICT Vision 2020 – and achievement of this target depending largely on penetration through mobile devices.

Many in South Africa see this as an opportunity for the Government to achieve its vision since Huawei is committed to providing quality and increase their market base in its strongholds in Africa.