Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Africa

Photo from  #NCoVAfrica - E-Tracking #Coronavirus Across Africa

Panafrikaniki.com/english/

Africa: The World Before This Coronavirus and After Cannot Be the Same

As COVID-19 Pandemic Rages, Women and Girls Are Even More At Risk

East Africa: EA Health Ministers Draw Covid – 19 Mitigation Plan 

Africa: Aid Organizations Scramble to Plan for COVID-19 Shutdowns
 
Nigeria: ‘Lagos’ COVID-19 Cases May Rise to 39,000′
 
Cameroon: Nation Should Protect Prison Population From COVID-19 

Ghana: Summary of the Restrictions Imposed on Selected Areas by Govt for Two Weeks

Coronavirus: 150 Tunisians self-isolate in factory to make masks
 
Morocco allocates cash for 100 000 coronavirus test kits
 
Nigeria struggles towards shutdown as virus fears grow
 
Central African Republic steps up measures after virus case
 
Coronavirus in Cameroon: Can the virus be a catalyst for peace?
 
WHO warns of ‘dramatic evolution’ of virus in Africa
 
Congo-Kinshasa: Lawyers Oppose Contacting Victims Before Setting Ntaganda Reparations Award 

Kenya: Dozens Injured As Police Brutality Marks Start of Curfew 

Uganda police shoot 2 for violating movement ban

Senegal: 10-minute coronavirus test may be on its way – for $1

Virus fears prompt Zimbabwe to let citizens pay in US dollars

Africa: MSF Calls For No Patents or Profiteering on COVID-19 Drugs, Tests, Vaccines

COVID-10 in Africa

Mozambique: Number of COVID-19 Cases Rises to Seven

Namibia: Lodge Locked Down After French Tourist Tests Positive For COVID-19

South Africa: COVID-19 – Testing to Be Ramped Up and New Tests in Pipeline

South Africa: The First Two Coronavirus Deaths – This Is What We Know

Seychelles: China, Abu Dhabi Donate Tonnes of Medical Supplies to Seychelles to Fight COVID-19
 

African Agriculture

Plant life

Soil and climatic conditions throughout Africa determine not only agricultural practices, such as which crops can be grown, but also whether plant life is capable of sustaining livestock on the land and enabling fishing of the oceans.
Rainfall—the dominant influence on agricultural output—varies greatly among Africa’s fifty-six countries. Without irrigation, agriculture requires a reliable annual rainfall of more than 30 inches (75 centimeters). Portions of Africa have serious problems from lack of rainfall, such as increasing desertification and periods of drought.
Food output has declined, with per capita food production 10 percent less in the 1990’s than it was in the 1980’s. In most African countries, however, more than 50 percent, and often 80 percent, of the population works in agriculture, mostly subsistence agriculture. Large portions of the continent, such as Mali and the Sudan, have the potential of becoming granaries to much of the continent and producing considerable food exports.

Traditional African Agriculture
 
Traditionally, agriculture in Africa has been subsistence farming in small plots. It has been labor-intensive, relying upon family members. New land for farming was obtained by the slash-and-burn method (shifting cultivation). The trees in a forested area would be cut down and burned where they fell.
The ashes from the burned trees fertilized the soil. Bothmen andwomenworked at such farming. Slash-and-burn agriculture is common not only in Africa but also in tropical areas around the world. In areas of heavy rainfall, the rainswash out the nutrients from soil and burned trees in a period of two to three years.
The crops grown depend upon the region. In the very dry, yet habitable, parts of Africa—such as the Sudano-Sahelian region that stretches from Senegal and Mali in the west of Africa to the Sudan in the east—a key subsistence crop is green millet, a grain. Ground into a type of flour, it can be made into a bread-like substance.
In moister areas, traditional crops are root and tuber crops, such as yams and cassava. Cassava has an outer surface or skin that is poisonous, but it can be treated to remove the poison. The tuber then can be ground and used tomake a bread-like substance.Other important traditional crops are rice and corn, which were introduced by Europeans when they came to Africa.
Animal husbandry, or seminomadic herding, is another form of traditional agriculture. Problems that have arisen with this type of agriculture are the availability of water and grass or hay for cattle. Regions that are very moist, such as the Gulf of Guinea, which has rain forest, are not good for cattle because of the tsetse fly, which carries diseases such as sleeping sickness.

Crops

Rice field in Africa

The most widely grown crop is rice, which is grown on more than one-third of the irrigated crop area in Africa. Cultivated mostly in wetlands and valley bottoms, rice is the most common crop in the humid areas of the Gulf of Guinea and Eastern Africa. It is also grown on the plateaus of Madagascar.

In the northern and southern regions, rice represents only a small portion of the total crops under water management. Wheat and corn are cultivated and irrigated, mostly in Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Sudan, and Somalia.

Vegetables, including root and tuber crops, are present in all regions and almost every country. Vegetables are grown on about 8 percent of the cultivated areas under water management. In Algeria, Mauritania, Kenya, Burundi, and Rwanda, they are the most widespread crops under water management.

Arboriculture (growing of fruit trees), which represents 5 percent of the total irrigated crops, is concentrated in the northern region and consists mostly of citrus fruits. Commercial crops (for cash and export) are grown mostly in the Sudan and in the countries of the southern region and consist mostly of cotton and oilseeds.

Other commercial crops in Africa are sugarcane, coffee, cocoa, oil and date palm, bananas, tobacco, and cut flowers. Sugarcane is grown in all countries except in the northern region. The other commercial crops are concentrated in a few countries.

North Africa

Olives market in Morocco

In Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, the region’s agricultural resources are limited by its dry climate. Its products are those typical of the Mediterranean, steppe, and desert regions: wheat, barley, olives, grapes, citrus fruits, some vegetables, dates, sheep, and goats.
Agriculture employs less than 20 percent of the working population in Libya and as much as 55 percent in Egypt. From about the middle of the twentieth century, North Africa’s production failed to keep pace with its population growth and remained susceptible to large annual fluctuations.
Cropland occupies about 33 percent of Tunisia but less than 3 percent of Algeria, Egypt, and Libya. Some export crops, such as citrus fruits, tobacco, and cotton, have suffered from strong international competition.
The northern region is not a major contributor to the continent’s fish catch. Morocco, however, with its cool, plankton-rich Atlantic waters and access to the Mediterranean Sea, is one of the world’s largest fish producers.

Sudano-Sahelian Region

This region comprises Mauritania, the western Sahara, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Niger, Chad, and the Sudan. Because of the region’s extreme dryness, mostly subsistence farming and seminomadic herding are practiced. Millet is the primary crop.
In the late twentieth century, this region was devastated by long droughts that caused famine and starvation. Mali and the Sudan have the Niger and Nile Rivers flowing through them. These great rivers provide plenty of water for irrigation of fields.
During the rainy season in Mali—typically June through September—the Niger River widens into a great, extensive floodplain. This area is good for the growing of rice. Similarly, in the Sudan the Blue and White Niles meet at Khartoum to form the Nile River.

Gulf of Guinea

This region comprises Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria. With the exception of Nigeria, agriculture there is dominated by rice cultivation. The percentage of total land area that is under cultivation ranges from 60 percent in Liberia to just 9 percent in Sierra Leone.

The total cultivable area of Ghana is 39,000 square miles (100,000 square kilometers), or 42 percent of its total land area. Only 4.8 percent of the total land area was under cultivation at the end of the twentieth century. Much of the cultivation is subsistence farming of yams and other crops.

Ghana’s efforts in agriculture have been hampered by droughts. Additional problems are that organic matter has been leached out of the soils by heavy rainfall and that increasing deforestation has led to additional erosion. This is the situation in much of the Gulf of Guinea and the central regions.

About half of Nigeria’s available land is under cultivation. Increasing rainfall from the semiarid north to the tropically forested south allows for great crop diversity. Principal food crops are corn, millet, yams, sorghum, cassava, rice, potatoes, and vegetables.

Nigeria was the world’s fourth-largest exporter of cocoa beans in 1990-1991, accounting for about 7.1 percent of world trade in this commodity. However, Nigeria’s share of the world cocoa market has been substantially reduced because of aging trees, low prices, black pod disease, smuggling, and labor shortages.

Central Region

This region comprises the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Kinshasa, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Rwanda, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Cameroon has 14.7 million acres of arable land.

In 1997, 55,000 tons of rice were produced, but the country imported 124,000 tons in 1995. In the central region, the percentage of arable land ranges from 0.4 percent for the Congo-Brazzaville to 47 percent for Rwanda.

Cassava is harvested in Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Kinshasa, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Corn is harvested in Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Kinshasa, and Burundi. In Rwanda, 17 percent of the harvested land is used to grow sweet potatoes. Agriculture is not important in the economy of São Tomé and Príncipe.

Eastern Region

Tobacco plantation

This region comprises Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Agriculture employs about 80 percent of the labor force in Uganda and Ethiopia. Approximately 2.5 million small farms dominate agriculture in both countries.

About 84 percent of Uganda’s land is suitable for agriculture—a high percentage compared to the majority of African countries, such as Ethiopia with only 12 percent. Food crops account for about 74 percent of agricultural production.

Only one-third is marketed; the rest is for home consumption. In four years out of five, the minimum needed rainfall may be expected in 78 percent of Uganda but in only 15 percent of Kenya. Somalia and Ethiopia receive almost none of the needed minimum.

Tanzania has almost four million farms. Traditional export crops include coffee, cotton, cashew nuts, tobacco, and tea. Major staple foods (corn, rice, and wheat) are exported in times of surplus.

Tanzania’s climatic growing conditions are favorable for the production of a wide range of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Drought-resistant crops (sorghum, millet, and cassava) and other substaples such as onions, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, bananas, and plantains are also produced.

Areas that have 20-30 inches (50-75 centimeters) of rainfall per year rely on a mixture of agriculture and livestock herding. Regions with a smaller annual rainfall or a long dry season can support only drought-resistant crops such as sorghum, millet, and cassava. Over large areas of eastern Africa, rainfall is inadequate for crop cultivation.

The whole of Somalia and 70 percent of Kenya receive less than 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain four years out of five. In these areas, the only feasible use of land is for raising livestock. Agriculture is not an important factor in the economies of Eritrea and Djibouti.

Southern Region

This region comprises Angola, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and South Africa. The arable percentage of the total land area ranges from 14 percent in Malawi to just 1 percent in Namibia. With the exception of Mozambique, where cassava predominates, corn is the major crop in the countries in this region.

About 13 percent of South Africa’s land area can be used for crop production. Rainfall varies across the country, and varied climatic zones and terrains enable the production of almost any kind of crop.

The largest area of farmland is planted with corn, followed by wheat, then oats, sugarcane, and sunflowers. The nation is well known for the high quality of its fruits, such as apples and citrus.

Agriculture is the predominant economic activity in Zimbabwe, accounting for 40 percent of total export earnings—about 22 percent of the total economy—and employing more than 60 percent of the country’s labor force.

The main export crops are tobacco, cotton, and oilseeds. Zimbabwe is usually self-sufficient in food production. Its main food crops are corn, soybeans, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables, and sugar.

Mozambique’s agriculture has been badly hindered by civil war. However, the country has considerable potential for irrigation due to the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers. The irrigation potential is estimated to be 7.5 million acres. In the 1990’s, only 110,000 acres were irrigated, growing rice, sugarcane, corn, and citrus.

Agriculture and livestock production employ about 62 percent of Botswana’s labor force. Most of the country has semidesert conditions with erratic rainfall and poor soil conditions, making it more suitable to grazing than to crop production. The principal food crops are sorghum and corn.

Namibia’s cultivated area is only 506,000 acres—only 0.8 percent of the cultivable area. Agriculture makes up approximately 10 percent of the economy but employs more than 80 percent of the population. The major irrigated crops are corn, wheat, and cotton.

Indian Ocean Islands

Cassava plantation

This region comprises Madagascar, Mauritius, the Comoros, and the Seychelles. During the 1990’s an estimated 8.7 million people lived in the rural areas, 65 percent of whom lived at the subsistence level.
Only 5.2 percent of Madagascar’s total land area (7.4 million acres) was under cultivation. Of the total land area, 50.7 percent supported livestock production, while 16 percent (1.2 million acres) of the land under cultivation was irrigated.
Cassava, planted almost everywhere on the island, is grown as well as corn and sweet potatoes, with smaller quantities of cotton, bananas, and cloves. The fisheries sector, especially the export of shrimp, has been the most rapidly growing area of the agricultural economy in the Indian Ocean Islands region.
Mauritius has 30,000 acres of sugarcane plantations that have had one of the highest sugarcane and sugar yields in the world. The Seychelles have a total land area of only 72 squaremiles (187 square kilometers), of which only 3,000 acres are cultivated.
This 3 percent of the land area accounts for only 4 percent of the island nation’s economy. The Comoros’ agriculture is heavily weighted toward rice, the staple food of the populace.

Note of our blog: please, see also our tag Cocoa child slavery.

4th Ordinary Session of the Pan-African Parliament: "Μessages of solidarity..."

Orthodox Metropolis of Zambia and Malawi 
In the Orthodox Vineyard of Africa

8 of May 2017 Midrand-South Africa
4th Ordinary Session of the 4th Parliament
from 08th to 19th May 2017 ...
 
ONE AFRICA ONE VOICE
 
The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union and held its inaugural session in March 2004. The PAP exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers in order to ensure the full participation of African peoples in the development and economic integration of the continent.
Two African Heads of State arrived in South Africa for the Pan African Parliament’s 4th Ordinary Session, which runs from 8 to 19 May at the Parliament’s headquarters in Midrand. Their Excellencies, President Roch March Christian Kaboré of Burkina Faso and President Arthur Peter Mutharika of Malawi.
The Heads of States’ presence at the first ordinary session for the year, gives MPs an opportunity to meet with them directly and discuss some of the key issues our continent is facing. About 35 African Ambassadors will also attend the session..
At least 19 new Members of Parliament (MPs) from seven African Countries namely Botswana, Chad, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Seychelles and Somalia will be sworn in as members of the Pan African Parliament. The Chairperson of the African Union, His Excellency Moussa Faki will be gracing the event. The Permanent Representative of the African Union to the United States of America, H.E Dr. Arikana Chihombori, the President of the National Assembly of Serbia, Mrs. Maja Gojković, as well as the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, H.E Pedro Roques and His Eminence Ioannis Archbishop of Zambia and Malawi are expected to deliver messages of solidarity at this event.

See also

The Orthodox Church in Zambia & Malawi (Orthodox Archdiocese of Zambia and Malawi)
Orthodox Malawi, Orthodox Zambia, Orthodox Mission, (tags)

Orthodox Mission in Tropical Africa (& the Decolonization of Africa)
How “White” is the Orthodox Church?
The Church as the Liberated Zone: "All we Christians are terrorists..." 
"THE WAY" - An Introduction to the Orthodox Faith
Theosis (deification): The True Purpose of Human Life

Less poverty in Africa but numbers remain stubbornly high!

A child works in a forge in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. (AFP PHOTO / ISSOUF SANOGO)

Accra, Ghana | October 17, 2015 | By: Emmanuel VORGBE
Seychelles news agency

(AFP) - Poverty has slightly eased in sub-Saharan Africa in the past 20 years but the population boom means the numbers living in extreme conditions remains stubbornly high, a World Bank study showed Friday.

Almost half of the continent's population (43 percent) was living below the poverty line in 2012, defined as surviving on less than $1.90 a day. In 1990, it was 56 percent.

Strong economic growth has helped achieve advances in health and education, but the rapid rise in population has led to an increase in the overall number of extreme poor, the study says.

Poverty remains more deep-rooted in Africa than in any other continent. Some 388 million people were considered to be living in poverty in 2012 compared to 280 million two decades earlier.

Africa's population has grown from around 600 million in 1990 to over a billion in 2012 and will continue to grow to an estimated 1.6 billion by 2030, according to the African Development Bank.

Poverty figures mask wide disparities from country to country and also between urban and rural areas, the report shows, highlighting the difficulty of bringing together data from across the African continent.

Ghana, where the report was launched by World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, is a success, having cut its poverty rate from 53 percent in 1991 to 21 percent in 2012.

Rwanda and Ethiopia have also made clear progress thanks to advances in agriculture, World Bank vice-president Makhtar Diop told AFP in an interview.

"Rwanda has done impressive work in hill terracing," Diop said, which had led to a doubling of the corn harvest and a 130-percent increase in the potato crop.

In a continent where 60-70 percent of people live in rural areas, "the growth rate in agriculture makes an enormous contribution to reducing poverty," said Diop, a Senegalese economist.

Other countries, including Tanzania and Senegal, have achieved success using a scheme pioneered in Brazil under which the state gives non-financial aid to the poorest families, for example in the form of free vaccines.

Accra, Ghana | October 17, 2015, Saturday @ 13:00 in World » AFRICA | By: Emmanuel VORGBE | Views: 704 - See more at: http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/articles/3917/Less+poverty+in+Africa+but+numbers+remain+stubbornly+high#sthash.uG90NyPi.dpuf

Unsurprisingly, war and violence remain the principal obstacles to reducing poverty.

In Burundi, the proportion of people living under the poverty threshold went from 21 percent before the 1993-2006 civil war to 64 percent in 2007.

But "there are fewer conflicts than before and they are changing in nature and are more local," Diop said.

The report also points to the "worrisome development" that people living in countries rich in resources such as oil, gold and diamonds are paying what it calls "a human development penalty".

Their life expectancy is 10 percent shorter on average, they are less literate, suffer higher levels of malnutrition and also experience more domestic violence.

The six countries where the inequality is greatest -- Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia -- are all situated in the south where diamond and mineral deposits are high.

The disparities in wealth can also be seen within countries -- in Kenya, for example, 8,000 people hold almost two-thirds of the wealth.

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

(AFP) - Poverty has slightly eased in sub-Saharan Africa in the past 20 years but the population boom means the numbers living in extreme conditions remains stubbornly high, a World Bank study showed Friday.

Almost half of the continent's population (43 percent) was living below the poverty line in 2012, defined as surviving on less than $1.90 a day. In 1990, it was 56 percent.

Strong economic growth has helped achieve advances in health and education, but the rapid rise in population has led to an increase in the overall number of extreme poor, the study says.

Poverty remains more deep-rooted in Africa than in any other continent. Some 388 million people were considered to be living in poverty in 2012 compared to 280 million two decades earlier.

Africa's population has grown from around 600 million in 1990 to over a billion in 2012 and will continue to grow to an estimated 1.6 billion by 2030, according to the African Development Bank.

Poverty figures mask wide disparities from country to country and also between urban and rural areas, the report shows, highlighting the difficulty of bringing together data from across the African continent.

Ghana, where the report was launched by World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, is a success, having cut its poverty rate from 53 percent in 1991 to 21 percent in 2012.

Rwanda and Ethiopia have also made clear progress thanks to advances in agriculture, World Bank vice-president Makhtar Diop told AFP in an interview.

"Rwanda has done impressive work in hill terracing," Diop said, which had led to a doubling of the corn harvest and a 130-percent increase in the potato crop.

In a continent where 60-70 percent of people live in rural areas, "the growth rate in agriculture makes an enormous contribution to reducing poverty," said Diop, a Senegalese economist.

Other countries, including Tanzania and Senegal, have achieved success using a scheme pioneered in Brazil under which the state gives non-financial aid to the poorest families, for example in the form of free vaccines.

- Fewer conflicts -

Unsurprisingly, war and violence remain the principal obstacles to reducing poverty.

In Burundi, the proportion of people living under the poverty threshold went from 21 percent before the 1993-2006 civil war to 64 percent in 2007.

But "there are fewer conflicts than before and they are changing in nature and are more local," Diop said.

The report also points to the "worrisome development" that people living in countries rich in resources such as oil, gold and diamonds are paying what it calls "a human development penalty".

Their life expectancy is 10 percent shorter on average, they are less literate, suffer higher levels of malnutrition and also experience more domestic violence.

The six countries where the inequality is greatest -- Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia -- are all situated in the south where diamond and mineral deposits are high.

The disparities in wealth can also be seen within countries -- in Kenya, for example, 8,000 people hold almost two-thirds of the wealth.

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse - See more at: http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/articles/3917/Less+poverty+in+Africa+but+numbers+remain+stubbornly+high#sthash.uG90NyPi.dpuf

(AFP) - Poverty has slightly eased in sub-Saharan Africa in the past 20 years but the population boom means the numbers living in extreme conditions remains stubbornly high, a World Bank study showed Friday.

Almost half of the continent's population (43 percent) was living below the poverty line in 2012, defined as surviving on less than $1.90 a day. In 1990, it was 56 percent.

Strong economic growth has helped achieve advances in health and education, but the rapid rise in population has led to an increase in the overall number of extreme poor, the study says.

Poverty remains more deep-rooted in Africa than in any other continent. Some 388 million people were considered to be living in poverty in 2012 compared to 280 million two decades earlier.

Africa's population has grown from around 600 million in 1990 to over a billion in 2012 and will continue to grow to an estimated 1.6 billion by 2030, according to the African Development Bank.

Poverty figures mask wide disparities from country to country and also between urban and rural areas, the report shows, highlighting the difficulty of bringing together data from across the African continent.

Ghana, where the report was launched by World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, is a success, having cut its poverty rate from 53 percent in 1991 to 21 percent in 2012.

Rwanda and Ethiopia have also made clear progress thanks to advances in agriculture, World Bank vice-president Makhtar Diop told AFP in an interview.

"Rwanda has done impressive work in hill terracing," Diop said, which had led to a doubling of the corn harvest and a 130-percent increase in the potato crop.

In a continent where 60-70 percent of people live in rural areas, "the growth rate in agriculture makes an enormous contribution to reducing poverty," said Diop, a Senegalese economist.

Other countries, including Tanzania and Senegal, have achieved success using a scheme pioneered in Brazil under which the state gives non-financial aid to the poorest families, for example in the form of free vaccines.

- Fewer conflicts -

Unsurprisingly, war and violence remain the principal obstacles to reducing poverty.

In Burundi, the proportion of people living under the poverty threshold went from 21 percent before the 1993-2006 civil war to 64 percent in 2007.

But "there are fewer conflicts than before and they are changing in nature and are more local," Diop said.

The report also points to the "worrisome development" that people living in countries rich in resources such as oil, gold and diamonds are paying what it calls "a human development penalty".

Their life expectancy is 10 percent shorter on average, they are less literate, suffer higher levels of malnutrition and also experience more domestic violence.

The six countries where the inequality is greatest -- Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia -- are all situated in the south where diamond and mineral deposits are high.

The disparities in wealth can also be seen within countries -- in Kenya, for example, 8,000 people hold almost two-thirds of the wealth.

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse - See more at: http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/articles/3917/Less+poverty+in+Africa+but+numbers+remain+stubbornly+high#sthash.uG90NyPi.dpuf

AFRIKA MAGHARIBI: Hatua za Pamoja Dhidi ya Uharamia

Picha hapa : No country for Pirates

Noël Kokou Tadégnon  

Tayari kuna zaidi ya mashambulizi matatu ya meli yaliyofanywa na maharamia katika Pwani ya Afrika Magharibi mwaka huu. Serikali za kikanda zitakutana mjini Cotonou, Benin mwezi Oktoba kujadili jitihada za pamoja za kutokomeza uharamia.

LOME, Oct 10 (IPS) - Takwimu za mashambulizi zinatokana na matukio yaliyoripotiwa na waongoza meli kwa Kituo cha Kimataifa cha Kutoa Taarifa za Uharamia Baharini na zinaonyesha tishio linalozidi kuongezeka la usafiri wa meli katika ukanda wenye utajiri wa mafuta.

Mashambulizi ya karibuni zaidi ni yale ya Sep. 15 dhidi ya meli ya mafuta ya Mattheos I ikiwa na wafanyakazi wake 23 katika pwani ya Togo. Siku kumi baadaye, wamiliki wa meli kutoka Hispania waliviambia vyombo vya habari kuwa meli hiyo na wafanyakazi wake wameshaachiliwa huru; bila kulipwa kwa fedha zozote zile zilizodaiwa na watekaji lakini baadhi ya mafuta ya dizeli yaliibwa katika meli hiyo.

Serikali katika mwambao wa Afrika Magharibi zimeonyesha wasiwasi wao kuhusu kuongezeka kwa idadi ya mashambulizi dhidi ya meli za mizigo, na zinataka kukusanya rasilimali chache walizonazo kuendesha hatua za pamoja, kama vile kushika doria katika Ghuba ya Guinea.

"Lakini hatutaki kuishia tu kwenye doria za pamoja kati ya Benin na Nigeria; hivi karibuni tutaenea na kuhusisha majeshi ya Togo na Ghana," Kamanda Maxime Ahoyo, mkuu wa Jeshi la Majini la Benin, aliiambia IPS.

"Kama tutakabiliana na matatizo ya uharamia katika maji ya Benin lakini, kwa mfano, tutaacha kuchukua tahadhari za kiusalama katika maji ya Togo, na kama hatutaungana na wenzetu wa Togo na nchi nyingine, hali hii – ambayo ina mtandao mpana – itazidi kuenea."

Madhara ya kiuchumi

Rais wa Jumuiya ya Kiuchumi ya Mataifa ya Afrika Magharibi, James Victor Gbeho, ametoa wito wa kuchukuliwa kwa hatua dhidi ya uharamia na kupanuliwa na kuingiza mataifa yote katika pwani.

"Majeshi ya majini katika mataifa yetu yote ya ukanda wa pwani yanapaswa kuunganisha nguvu zao siku zote," Gbeho aliiambia IPS, huku akisitiza imani yake kuwa tatizo la uharamia lazima kupatiwa ufumbuzi kamilifu. "Hali hiyo inazidi kutisha na inaweza kuwa na madhara makubwa ya kiuchumi kwa nchi zetu. Hii ndiyo sababu tutachukua hatua dhidi yake."

Uharamia tayari umeshasababisha makampuni ya bima ya vyombo vya baharini mjini London kuiingiza Benin katika orodha ya kuwepo katika ukanda wa hatari kubwa ya usafiri wa meli. Makampuni ya bima ya vyombo vya baharini yanayowakilishwa na chama cha ‘Lloyd's Market Association’ yanadai ada kubwa kulipia meli zinazopita katika ukanda huo.

Kulingana na Bénetti Gagalo, Katibu Mkuu Msaidizi wa Chama cha Walaji cha Togo, hali hiyo ni wazi itakuwa na madhara katika kipato cha bandari za ukanda huo ikiwa ni pamoja na gharama za bidhaa za walaji.

Msaada kutoka nje

Dharula ya hali hiyo imesababisha serikali za kikanda kuomba msaada kutoka Ufaransa na Marekani, ambao wameshapeleka vifaa vya majini katika eneo hilo.

Manuwari ya Kifaransa ya Germinal, tayari inafanya doria katika pwani ya Benin, Togo na Ghana kujaribu na kupunguza uharamia, ikiwa ni pamoja na kutoa mafunzo kwa askari wa majini kutoka nchi zote tatu.

"Tumewapatia mafunzo askari hawa wa majini, na wameshiriki katika mazoezi yote ya kiusalama na kufanya doria ambayo tumeyafanya kuzuia uharamia. Na wametusaidia na maarifa yao waliyonayo katika eneo hili la oparesheni," Sébastien Chatelin, nahodha wa manuwari hiyo ya Kifaransa, aliiambia IPS.

Manuwari ya Kimarekani, HSV Swift, pia imefika katika Ghuba ya Guinea, ikisaidia kupambana na uharamaia huku ikitoa mafunzo kwa askari wa majini wa Benin, Togo na Ghana kama sehemu ya mpango wa kijeshi wa Marekani ujulikanao kama "Africa Partnership Station".

"Lengo letu ni kujaribu na kutoa mafunzo kwa washirika wa Afrika juu ya usalama," alisema nahodha wa chombo hicho cha Marekani, Rhett S. Mann.

"Mpango wa APS utaturuhusu kufanya kazi pamoja kukabiliana na matatizo ambayo yanaathiri maji ya pwani yetu," aliongeza Sam Nkruma, ofisa kutoka jeshi la majini la Ghana.

Askari mwenzake wa Benin, Christian Oussa, alikaribisha mafunzo waliyopata wakiwa katika meli mbili za jeshi la majini. "Hii itaturuhusu kukabiliana na uharamia na wafanyabiashara haramu katika bahari. Tumejifunza jinsi ya kupanda meli zinazotiliwa mashaka na kuzikagua; mafunzo ni mazuri mno," aliiambia IPS. (END/2011)

‘Nchi za Afrika ziungane kudhibiti uharamia’

Ili kukabiliana na vitendo vya uharamia kwenye wa Bahari ya Hindi, nchi za Afrika zimetakiwa

Mwananchi

Dar es Salaam. Ili kukabiliana na vitendo vya uharamia kwenye wa Bahari ya Hindi, nchi za Afrika zimetakiwa kuweka nguvu katika ushirikiano, kwa kuwa si rahisi nchi moja kudhitibi uhalifu huo unaofanya na watu wanaodaiwa kuwa ni raia wa Somalia.

Hayo yalisemwa jana na mkurugenzi wa Mashtaka Tanzania (DPP), Biswalo Mganga wakati akifungua mkutano wa waendesha mashtaka na wapelelezi wa kesi za uharamia kwa nchi zilizopo ukanda wa Afrika Mashariki.

Alisema kuna baadhi ya meli zinakwepa kupita pwani ya Somalia kwa hofu ya maharamia na kulazimika kuzunguka umbali mrefu.

“Matokeo yake, bei za bidhaa zinazoingizwa na meli hizo zinakuwa juu kutokana na kufidia gharama za usafirishaji zinazotokana na meli kutumia njia ndefu,” alisema Mganga.

DPP alisema meli zinazopita pwani ya Somalia zimekuwa zikitozwa kiasi kikubwa cha bima na kwamba gharama hizo zimekuwa zikifidiwa na watumiaji wa bidhaa zinazoletwa na meli hizo.

“Wakati maharamia wanaungana kufanya uhalifu, nasi kama mataifa tunaoathirika na matukio haya tunatakiwa kuungana ili kupambana nao,” alisema.

Aliwataka waendesha mashtaka na wapelelezi wa masuala ya uharamia kubadilishana uzoefu na mbinu za kushughulikia wahalifu hao ili waweze kuadhibiwa.

Naye, balozi wa Umoja wa Ulaya (EU) nchini, Filiberto Sebregondi alisema umoja huo umekuwa ukitoa rasilimali fedha kwa ajili ya kupambana na uharamia kwenye Bahari ya Hindi.

“Tunataka waendesha mashtaka wa makosa ya uharamia katika nchi zilizoko katika pwani ya Bahari ya Hindi, kubadilishana uzoefu kwa lengo la kuwadhibiti maharamia hawa,” alisema.

Sebregondi alisema maharamia hawana mipaka na kwamba nchi mbalimbali zinatakiwa kuweka mtandao wa ushirikiano ili kuwakamata.

“Ni jambo muhimu kwa nchi husika kuliangalia kwa ukubwa zaidi suala hili, kwa kuwa kinyume chake ni kuruhusu uharamia kuendelea,” alisema.

Mkutano huo unashirikisha waendesha mashtaka kutoka nchi za Tanzania, Somalia, Djibouti Shelisheli, Mauritius, Yemen na Kenya.

Ona pia

Uharamia Afrika Magharibi

Uharamia biashara katika Pembe ya Afrika (2008)

An Orthodox Archbishop exile to the Seychelles

A part from our post Orthodox Mission in Tropical Africa (& the decolonization of Africa) 

[...] A similar struggle against colonial rule in Cyprus was being led by Archbishop Makarios, who in March 1956 was exiled to the Seychelles. In April 1957 he was released, and returned via Kenya, where people were still engaged in the struggle against colonial rule. He celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Orthodox cathedral in Nairobi, and preached against colonialism (Lemopoulos 1993:122). This was a tremendous encouragement to the leaders of the Kenya independence struggle, many of whom (with the Orthodox clergy) were still in prison at the time. It also caused consternation among the British authorities, and questions were asked in the British parliament about why Archbishop Makarios had been allowed to preach in Kenya.
A close friendship developed between Archbishop Makarios and Jomo Kenyatta, the future president of Kenya. Cyprus became independent in 1960, and Kenya in 1963, and in 1970 Archbishop Makarios, the first President of Cyprus, was invited to Kenya on a state visit by President Kenyatta of Kenya. Archbishop Makarios, as well as being President of Cyprus, was head of the autocephalous Church of Cyprus, and as such had no ecclesiastical jurisdiction in East Africa. But though he was visiting Kenya in his capacity of head of state, he also met church leaders, and visited Orthodox churches in various parts of Kenya.
Archbishop Makarios was struck by the poverty of the church and the people, and wrote to the Patriarchate of Alexandria offering to help. President Kenyatta provided a site for an Orthodox seminary at Riruta, on the outskirts of Nairobi, and Archbishop Makarios raised the money for the buildings. In 1971 he visited Kenya again to lay the foundation stone for the new seminary, though the patriarchate was not in a position to staff it and utilise it until 1982. At Kagira he baptised 5000 people, and at Nyeri he baptised 5000 more. These were both places where Bishop Alexander had visited and taught nearly 40 years previously. [...]
For several years there was no Metropolitan, but Bishop Anastasios Yannoulatos was appointed acting Metropolitan. Bishop Anastasios is one of the foremost Orthodox missiologists of the twentieth century, and since the 1950s had been encouraging a revival of interest in mission in the Orthodox Church.
The seminary in Nairobi opened in Bishop Anastasios’s time, and it began with 19 students. It was originally only for students from East Africa, but in 1995 it began taking students from other African countries as well, and there were 42 students from seven countries – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Cameroun, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Madagascar. The aim is that the seminary should be a pan-African institution, and should foster a sense of unity in the Patriarchate. [...] 

See also

The Orthodox Church in Kenya & the Orthodox Patriarchal Ecclesiastical School of Makarios III  
The Life & Legacy of the pioneer missionary Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos

Orthodox Easter 2015 in Seychelles...

 

ORTHODOX EASTER CELEBRATION IN SEYCHELLES

Ex2x2lettersfromgreece.wordpress.com

Mayotte of my heart

Seychelles Islands

Father Sergios Janosevic & 

Deacon Father Simon-Petros Nellist

of Seychelles Islands

The Holy Archdiocese of Irinoupolis, also known as Dar es Salaam, is a diocese under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. Its territory includes the parishes and missions located in the countries of Tanzania, and the Seychelles Islands (from here).

Africa of my heart

The Orthodox faithful in Seychelles celebrated the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ on Sunday, 15th of April, in a service at the conference room in Berjaya Beau Vallon hotel.

The divine liturgy was celebrated by Seychelles’ first Orthodox priest, Father Sergios (Janosevic) and archdeacon Father Simon-Petros (Nellist), both of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa.

This year for Easter Liturgy we had more faithful than ever, almost all received Holy Communion. Among many children we welcomed wit lit candle, one year old baby- girl Irina, who had her first Holy Communion.

The liturgy was attended by the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Seychelles, Mikhail Kalinin as well as Seychellois, Russian, Ukrainian, Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, Ethiopian and Egyptian faithful living in Seychelles, and a number of Russian tourists spending their Easter holiday in the islands.

“Let all of you then enter into the joy of our Lord. The first and second enjoy your reward….All of you enjoy the banquet of faith. All of you enjoy the richness of His goodness,” said Father Sergios during the Catechetical Homily of St John, the Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople.

The victory of the Resurrection of Christ was then proclaimed.

“Let no one grieve over sins for forgiveness has dawned from the tomb. Let no one fear death; for the Death of our Saviour has set us free. He has destroyed it by enduring it.”

Father Simon-Petros, who is British, and formerly worked for many years in Seychelles, was ordained an archdeacon in 2010. With the blessing of His Eminence, Archbishop Dimitrios of Tanzania and Seychelles, Father Simon-Petros came to assist in the Paschal celebration, and conveyed good wishes from His Eminence to the faithful in Seychelles. During the liturgy father read the Easter message from the  Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa Theodoros II, who spoke of the need for peace between religions, especially in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Christ is risen! The joyous announcement of the Resurrection of Our Lord finds the Middle East, the place where God as Creator communed with man, still struggling with great sacrifices to look for justice, the eye of God on Earth, said the message of Patriarch Theodoros II.

The Patriarch’s message also lamented the spread of religious fundamentalism and the  violence that it spreads, together with the lack of tolerance between different religious groups in Africa.

It is time for everyone to realize that a multicultural society essentially means a multi-religious society. In this society, peace is not possible without peace between religions. And peace between religions cannot exist without dialogue between religions. If someone think that real peace of religions, as an essential factor for world peace, is an illusion, they have only to consider that they doubt the almighty will of Gog to reveal the human race in its genuine dimensions, to place the human race on its authentic pedestal; the almighty will of God which was factually certified by the incarnation and Resurection of the Son and Word of God so that the human race be redeemed from spiritual death; said the Patriarch.

After the Liturgy, the faithful joined together for festive celebrations at the Coral Strand Hotel that were sponsored by the establishment, with many traditional Russian specialties and refreshments served. All faithful stayed long hours together talking in joyous Easter mood.

Christ is Risen , indeed He is Risen !

Father Sergios Janosevic

SOURCE:
Serbian Orthodox Church (official website)

See also
The Orthodox Church in Tanzania

 
Orthodox Christians in Malawi, with Easter eggs (from here)