IGIHE

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  • Rwanda May Offer Tax Breaks in Revised Investment Code

    Rwanda May Offer Tax Breaks in Revised Investment Code

    {{Rwanda may offer reduced tax rates soon for investors in energy, transport and logistics, as well as to fund managers and export-oriented projects, under a new investment code, Rwanda Development Board (RDB) said.}}

    The new code, which still needs cabinet approval, is part of a broader strategy to wean Rwanda’s economy off aid and speed up the country’s development.

    It could be in place by the end of April, said Vivian Kayitesi, head of investment promotion and implementation at the state board.

    The proposals could see investment in selected areas qualify for reduced corporate tax, now set at 30%.

    They also aim to ease restrictions on employing expatriates and attract investment from financial institutions.

    This could see Rwanda follow the lead of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, a financial center serving Africa and beyond.

    “We are trying to see if we can attract more foreign direct investment and to widen the tax base as well,” Kayitesi told media.

    The priority would be to provide tax incentives to investors in sectors such as energy, transport and logistics, which are vital to clearing bottlenecks to development, although Kayitesi did not give the size of tax reductions to such ventures.

    “Export-oriented projects would probably get a lower rate” than the current 30%, she said, adding there could also be tax holidays of 0% for a couple of years for “really large projects”, without saying what size would qualify.

    Rwanda has won broad acclaim for policies that have ranked it the easiest place in Africa to set up a new company after the nation was left in ruins following the 1994 genocide that killed a million people.

    Kayitesi said Rwanda secured $400 million to $500 million of foreign direct investment in 2013.

    reuters

  • Kiir, Bashir Discuss Ways to Protect South Sudan’s Oilfields

    Kiir, Bashir Discuss Ways to Protect South Sudan’s Oilfields

    {{South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir concluded a one-day visit to Khartoum on Saturday during which he discussed with his Sudanese counterpart Omer Hassan Al-Bashir bilateral relations and security issues.}}

    The two presidents afterwards announced that they agreed to develop joint mechanisms to reactivate the implementation of the cooperation agreements signed between the two countries in 2012.

    An official source told media that Kiir asked for Khartoum’s support through tightening control along the borderline between the two countries, adding that both sides also discussed ways for protecting oilfields against potential attacks by South Sudan rebels.

    The same source also said Juba asked Khartoum to back its stances within the East African regional block IGAD with regard to participation of the seven detained SPLM leaders in the negotiations between the government and the rebels.

    South Sudan’s deadly conflict erupted last December after clashes broke out between rival factions of the presidential guards in Juba when the president ordered the disarmament of Nuer soldiers in the guards division, triggering the subsequent violence.

    Kiir, however, said he was responding to an alleged coup plot by his former long-time deputy Riek Machar, but the latter accused Kiir of instigating the violence in order to get rid of his political opponents within the ruling party.

    Machar has maintained that he was forced into “armed resistance”, accusing president Kiir of “dictatorial tendencies” and calling on him to step down.

    Over 10,000 people have reportedly been killed and nearly a million displaced since violence erupted, according to UN estimates.

    While Machar escaped from Juba with former Unity state governor Taban Deng Gai, when the fighting began, 11 senior SPLM members were arrested and accused of being behind an alleged coup attempt in the country.

    After international pressure and a ceasefire deal signed on January 23rd, Juba released seven of the detainees but kept four, including the SPLM’s former secretary general Pagan Amum in custody.

    Bashir said in a joint press conference with Kiir that they discussed ways for developing bilateral ties through implementation of cooperation agreements, adding they also discussed security situation in the two countries and agreed to coordinate efforts to achieve security and stability.

    He pointed that the visit comes within the framework of the continued consultations between the leadership in both countries in order to strengthen relations, expressing hope that ties between the two countries would be fully normalised and borders opened for the benefit of the two peoples.

    Kiir for his part expressed satisfaction at the visit to Khartoum, noting that the visit was supposed to take place after Bashir’s recent visit to Juba but was delayed due to security developments in South Sudan.

    He said they agreed to set up mechanisms to reactivate implementation of the joint cooperation agreement signed between the countries in Addis Ababa.

    In September 2012, both Sudan and South Sudan signed a series of cooperation agreements, which covered oil, citizenship rights, security issues, banking, border trade among others.

    In March 2013, the two countries signed an implementation matrix for these cooperation agreements.

    {sudantribune}

  • Bagosora & Kambanda in Larvish Prison Life

    Bagosora & Kambanda in Larvish Prison Life

    {{As Rwandans prepare for the 20th commemoration of the Genocide against ethnic Tutsi’s, the memories of the horror are fresh but the strong zeal to rebuild the broken hearts and country is unstoppable.}}

    However, the Architects of the Rwanda genocide are living larvishly in a Mali prison with access to newspapers, super meals, frequent visits and large space among other entitlements.

    The Genocidaires are serving their prison sentences in Mali at a Prison in Koulikoro garrison town on the banks of the River Niger 57 kilometres (35 miles) downstream from Bamako.

    According to a warden supervising Jean Kambanda and Colonel Theonest Bagosora, “the genocidaires are very disciplined prisoners, they do not bother anyone and scrupulously respect the rules.”

    Bagosora now 72 was a member of the Hutu extremist regime that seized power in 1994, he then took over the army and unleashed the notorious Interahamwe militia against the Tutsi population.

    The rate of killing was far faster than the Holocaust of the Jews in World War II — a million Tutsis were murdered in just 100 days — as Kambanda and his ministers toured the country urging on the murderers.

    The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) found that Bagosora had spent years “preparing the apocalypse” and sentenced him in 2011 to 35 years in prison for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

    Kambanda was arrested in Kenya in 1997 and admitted genocide at his trial the following year after he was accused of handing out arms to militias knowing they would be used to massacre Tutsis.

    Mali signed a deal with the ICTR tribunal in 1999, agreeing to become the first foreign country to provide prison cells for the convicts as a symbol of Malian support for African unity.

    Other countries on the ICTR’s list of willing hosts of convicted Rwandans include Italy, Benin, Swaziland, France and Sweden.

    The first convicted Rwandans, including Kambanda, began arriving in Mali in 2001 and a second group of nine prisoners, including two former ministers, have been in the country since 2008 while Bagosora was sent there in 2012.

    Kambanda and most of the others are serving life sentences but some have fixed terms of less than 20 years and Malian officials have voiced concerns in the past over what would become of them if they were released.

    The genocidaires were originally held with local inmates in Bamako’s central prison but the ICTR funded a facility specifically built for them in Koulikoro, where they are segregated from Malians in an air-conditioned cell block.

    The Rwandans, whose day-to-day expenses are covered by Mali, are entitled to receive visits while their meals are better than those served to other inmates and they receive $2 a day to buy newspapers.

    Their lavish unit boasts separate showers, a dining room and a well-appointed library

    {additional reporting AFP}

  • Kenya Recieves its Boeing 787 Dreamliner

    Kenya Recieves its Boeing 787 Dreamliner

    {{After sixteen hours and 10 minutes, the much awaited Kenya Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner dubbed ‘the Great Rift Valley’ landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport where it was welcomed by a thrilled audience.}}

    Though it landed at 11:50am, media crew had pitched camp at the airport as early as 7.30am to receive the aircraft. President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Somali Counterpart Hassan Sheikh Mohamud led the huge audience of enthusiastic Kenyans who wanted to catch a glimpse of the new plane.

    “It will land in the next 20 minutes so set your cameras for the best photos,” a Kenya Airport Authority staff told journalists who had started complaining of the scorching sun outside, just next to the state pavilion.

    To get the best shot for both video and still cameras, we boarded an airport bus to go to the runway to capture the moment the plane touched the ground.

    “It’s a huge plane but I hope I got the landing point,” a reporter said; he had missed a good shot.

  • Prayers for Congolese Boat Accident Victims held in Kampala

    Prayers for Congolese Boat Accident Victims held in Kampala

    {{The Congolese Community in Kampala has held prayers for over Congolese refugees who perished in a boat accident on Lake Albert last month.}}

    The prayers at St, Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church in Rubaga, a Kampala suburb, were presided over by Rev Father Joseph Kalenzi.

    During the function, the Congolese asked God to forgive their fellow countrymen of their sins and grant them eternal peace.

    A total of 109 bodies of Congolese refugees were retrieved from Lake Albert after the boat they were travelling from Kyangwali Refugee Resettlement Camp in Hoima capsized at Kitebere landing site in Kibaale district, a few hours after takeoff, over two weeks ago.

    The refugees who were eager to return home following the return of peace in eastern DRC boarded the ill-fated boat at Kenjojo landing site in Hoima district. It’s suspected that there were over 200 people on the boat. A total of 45 people were rescued by fishermen.

    A total of 88 bodies were handed over to the Congolese authorities at the border between Uganda and DRC for burial. But the Congolese authorities rejected 21 bodies retrieved from the water 72 hours after they had died.

    Addressing a press conference in Kampala on Friday, the DRC ambassador to Uganda, Jean-Charles Okoto Lolakombe, defended the rejection of the bodies saying “They had decomposed and culture does not allow us to burry people 72 hours after they have died. These were buried at Bundibugyo hospital cemetery,” he said.

    The ambassador explained that there would be a tripartite meeting between DRC, Uganda and United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Kampala from April 21 to 24 to agree on the voluntary repatriation of the Congolese refugees from Uganda.

    “All our people want to return home because they know peace has been restored and we want to ensure they are repatriated in a dignified manner,” he said.

    NV

  • EABC Asks Member States to Open Up

    EABC Asks Member States to Open Up

    {{The continued imposing of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) by the East African Community (EAC) member states is limiting the growth of the private sector and slowing down integration, experts have said.}}

    The East African Business Council (EABC) on Friday urged EAC member states to accept to open up and work as one entity if the region is to develop and overcome challenges of unemployment.

    The EABC chairman, Vimal Shah, said the spirit of individualism among member states not only hampers foreign direct investments, but also disables the growth of businesses in the region.

    “We have a population of 130 million people in east Africa with a GDP of $90b. We need to create more jobs to increase our GDP to more than $100b,” Shah said.

    “Nothing is stopping us from reaching there apart from ourselves and our mistrust. The private sector is becoming impatient in terms of implementing EAC agreements.”

    He was speaking at the opening of the 15th EABC annual general meeting at the East Africa Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania.

    Established in 1997, the EABC is the apex body of business associations of the private sector and corporate from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda, the five member countries of EAC.

    It focuses on informing public policy reforms aimed at promoting an environment in the region conducive to business formation and growth.
    Intra-EAC trade has expanded from $1,617.1m to $3,800.7m in 2010, while the growth informal cross-border trade has been estimated to be as much as 40% of formal trade.

    But EABC argues that greater achievements of the integration are hampered by the different measures taken by governments in form of laws, regulations, policies, conditions and restrictions that protect the domestic industries from foreign competition.

    The 2004 Community Customs Union and the 2009 Common Market protocols, already ratified all the five member states, provide for the free movement of labour and goods within the region to spur trade liberalisation and development.

    Shah said he had met many investors especially in Europe who would be willing to invest in east Africa but are let down by the enormous non-tariff barriers.

    He also cited the failure by member states to market east Africa as a single block other than their individual countries as another impediment to foreign investments.

  • Baby Volcanic Island Swallows Older Neighbour

    Baby Volcanic Island Swallows Older Neighbour

    {{In November 2013, a baby volcanic island rose from the sea out of a volcanic blast in the Bonin Islands about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) south of Tokyo, on the western edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a hotbed of seismic activity.}}

    Named Niijima, the newcomer boiled the sea and spewed steam, ash and lava fragments into the air.

    Some thought the small black cone — which sprouted just offshore of a larger volcanic island called Nishino-shima — might slip back into the sea, vanishing under pounding waves. But Niijima kept growing.

    Now a satellite image taken March 30, 2014, by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8 shows that Niijima has actually overtaken Nishino-shima.

    Together, the conjoined islands measure about 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) across, officials with NASA’s Earth Observatory said.

    The landmass has also tripled in height since December, now rising more than 196 feet (60 m) above sea level.

    The smashed-together islands mark the top of a giant submarine volcano that had not erupted since a major outpouring in 1973 to 1974, according to the Japanese Coast Guard.

    Lava flows are now most active in the southern portion of the new landmass, and plumes of ash continue to rise, with tiny particles seeding a stream of white cloud puffs overhead.

    “The intermittent, pulsing shape of the cloud stream might be a reflection of the volcanic eruption itself,” officials with NASA’s Earth Observatory wrote.

    “Strombolian explosions are essentially bubbles of lava and gas rising from Earth’s interior in pulses. Underwater, sediment appears to be stirred up in a green plume that stretches eastward from the island.”

    {Livescience}

  • Nigeria May Topple South Africa to Become Africa’s Biggest Economy

    Nigeria May Topple South Africa to Become Africa’s Biggest Economy

    {{Nigeria could leap-frog South Africa to become Africa’s biggest economy this weekend, when the results of a new way of calculating national output are announced.}}

    Government statisticians will unveil the new figures on Sunday, with widespread expectations that their recalculations will catapult the continent’s most populous nation into the top spot.

    The figures, which will include new and fast-developing sectors such as telecoms and the local film industry, Nollywood, should give foreign investors a better picture of the country’s economy.

    Some predictions say the revision could see the size of Nigeria’s economy increase by as much as 60 percent, taking it from $264 billion past South Africa’s $384 billion.

    But analysts cautioned against viewing the new figures as a sign of development, noting that South Africa was still way ahead in terms of GDP per capita, infrastructure and governance.

    Although pockets of vast wealth exist, the last available World Bank figures from 2010 indicated that a staggering 84.5 percent of Nigeria’s 170 million people lived on less than $2 a day.

    Key services such as electricity and water provision remain notoriously poor.

    “Nothing will really change in real time. It is not as if everyone is going to have twice as much salary,” Chuba Ezekwesili, an analyst with the Nigeria Economic Summit group, told AFP.

    “It (the rebasing) is really more cosmetic in nature. But, we do think it will increase investment opportunity in Nigeria.”

    Dawie Roodt, chief economist at the South Africa-based Efficient Group, added: “In term of infrastructure and strong monitoring systems, South Africa is still a giant, miles ahead of Nigeria.”

    Nollywood, mobile phones

    United Nations statisticians recommend that countries rebase their gross domestic product calculations every five years to reflect changes in the structure of production and consumption.

    But Nigeria has not recalculated GDP since 1990.

    Africa’s leading crude oil producer has enjoyed high rates of growth, notwithstanding widespread corruption, poor governance, rampant oil theft and a raging Islamist insurgency in the north.

    The annual growth rate averaged 6.8 per cent from 2005 to 2013 and the economy is projected to grow this year at a rate of 7.4 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund.

    That compares to a little over five per cent between 2005 and 2008-9 in South Africa, which has struggled to go beyond 3.5 per cent since.

    Figures for the telecoms and film sectors are likely to be seized upon as an indication of how much Nigeria’s economy has changed since the last calculation of GDP was carried out.

    In 1990, even fixed landline provision in Nigeria was low but Nigeria is now Africa’s biggest mobile market with an estimated 167 million subscriptions, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission.

    Nollywood’s annual revenue may be as high as $590 million, according to Robert Orya, head of the Nigerian Import-Export Bank.

    Momentum required

    Roelof Horne, from Investec Asset Management said the rebasing will “reflect Africa’s reality far better”, having a “psychological effect” on foreign perceptions of the continent.

    It was also evidence that countries other than the continent’s only G20 member, South Africa, were “increasingly asserting their economic voice”, he added.

    Pat Utomi, professor of political economy at the Lagos Business School, said Nigerian policymakers would likely seize on the new figures.

    But he added: “For the average person on the street, it really does not have any meaning.

    “To a very large extent, Nigeria remains a poor country with very serious infrastructural challenges…

    “The focus should be on how to transform the huge human capital available in the country to output that will help to reduce poverty and create jobs.”

    At just under 52 million people, South Africa’s population is less than a third the size of Nigeria’s.

    GDP per capita figures ($7,508 against $1,555 in 2012) also demonstrate the gulf between the two nations.

    Nevertheless, the editor of Financial Nigeria magazine, Jidi Akintunde, said: “There will be the perception that the country has more capacity to absorb foreign direct investment.

    “But the GDP rebasing itself cannot be the end. It must (shape) government policy. We have to focus our reforms on the ease of doing business in Nigeria. Nigeria has to address these problems.”

    -AFP-

  • Irish Farmer Claims to Have Bred Goat-Sheep Hybrid

    Irish Farmer Claims to Have Bred Goat-Sheep Hybrid

    {{An Irish farmer who claims to have bred a cross between a sheep and a goat is launching a charity competition to find a name for the rare creature.}}

    Paddy Murphy, who also runs a village pub in Ballymore Eustace, County Kildare, has been overwhelmed by the interest after a YouTube video of his new arrival went viral.

    The hybrid – sometimes referred to as a geep or a shoat – is believed to be extremely unusual.

    Murphy said he delivered the animal late at night, and it was only the next morning that he realized it was a bit different.

    “I only have white-faced Cheviot sheep, and when this one came out it was black,” he said.

    “That sometimes happens. But the next morning I said to myself this isn’t a lamb at all, it’s more like a goat.”

    He added: “It was moving a bit too quickly for a lamb, its legs were very long and he even has horns like a goat.”

    Murphy said he had noticed a goat mating with his sheep on the mountainside but assumed nothing would come of it.

    The newborn has been the talk of the village pub.

    A video by the Irish Farmers Journal posted on YouTube has reached more than 16,000 hits.

    Murphy said he was hoping to raise money for a sick child in the village with a competition for the best name for his young geep.

    And he has invited scientists to come to his farm to prove the rare cross-breed. “I have no interest in that side of it at all, but if someone wants to come and do tests they are welcome,” he said.

    Similar crossings have been reported before in Chile, Jamaica, Malta and Botswana, where scientists found that a hybrid – known as the Toast of Botswana – had 57 chromosomes, a number in between that of sheep and goats.

    In most cases the offspring are stillborn.

    Source: the guardian

  • Zimbabwe Man Begs for Sex in Court

    Zimbabwe Man Begs for Sex in Court

    {{In Zimbabwe court session, a Bulawayo man who claimed that his wife had slapped him with sex sanctions caused a raucous in court when he begged the magistrate to halt proceedings and briefly allow him to have sex with his wife.}}

    The “quickie”, he said, would subsequently stop him from self-pleasuring.

    Nhlanhla Khumalo apparently justified his demands to turn the courtroom into a love nest saying at home his wife, Sithembisile Khumalo, had turned their 12-year relationship to that of a mere brother and sister.

    In a bid to draw the magistrate’s mercy, Khumalo produced a yellow cloth which he said was never used despite the fact that he bought it from South Africa with the sole purpose of using it after intimacy.

    Nhlanhla further claimed that if his wife continued sexually starving him he would resort to using mubobobo on her.
    His claims came after his wife, who was seeking a protection order against him, had told the magistrate that he was in the habit of emotionally, physically and verbally abusing her.

    “My husband is an excessive drinker and he turns violent against me every time he drinks. He physically, verbally and emotionally abuses me in front of our children. At one time he threatened to kill me,” said Sithembisile.

    Responded Nhlanhla: “The problem is that my wife is denying me my conjugal rights. I get sex once in three weeks but I would want it every day. Today as I am speaking I didn’t get the morning glory. When I am deprived sexually I become angry leading to a misunderstanding.

    “Your Worship I am going through hard times. Can you smell this cloth to ascertain whether it has been used? I bought it from South Africa with the sole purpose of using it . . . after the act but it is almost two months and it has not been used. I will be grateful if you give me an order to have sex here as a way of stopping me from m****bating because at home she refuses to sleep with me,” said Khumalo before he went all over his wife kissing and caressing her.

    The magistrate would have none of it.

    “Stop doing that Khumalo this is not your bedroom but a court of law. So do you want to have sex before me? Don’t be funny I can have you arrested now for contempt of court,” said the magistrate.

    “I am very sorry Your Worship but to tell you the truth my wife is sexually starving me and at one time I told her that uyavuza because she is not treating me as her husband. I love her and if she continues starving me I will definitely use mubobobo on her,” he said. In her defence,

    Sithembisile disputed her husband’s claims saying she gives him as much conjugal rights as he wanted.

    At the end of the dramatic session, presiding magistrate Mr Victor Mpofu granted the protection order in Sithembisile’s favour.

    Meanwhile, Prosper Dembedza reports that a man yesterday told the Harare Magistrates’ Civil Courts that he separated from his wife after his in-laws barred him from having sexual intercourse until he paid the balance on the bride price.

    Shephered Gumbo said after siring one child with his wife Patricia Sabawo, his in-laws banned sexual intercourse with his wife saying the comfort he had enjoyed was equivalent to the lobola he had so far paid.

    The revelations came after Gumbo was arraigned before the court by Sabawo, who was claiming US$120 maintenance for the upkeep of their child.

    “He is not supporting me in taking care of his child and I want the court to order him to pay US$120 each month as maintenance. The US$120 will be enough to take care of our child and to finish roofing the house that we are currently staying in,” she said

    Gumbo said he was unable to pay that amount and could only afford US$70 monthly.
    “Your Worship US$120 is too much for me because I now have another wife to care for and I can manage to give her US$70 per month,” he said.

    Magistrate Mr Tafadwa Muvhami ordered Gumbo to pay US$100 per month as maintenance starting April 30.

    {herald}