IGIHE

Category: News

  • KIST To Host Clean Technology Business Competition

    {{The KIST Entrepreneurship Club in collaboration with KIST (Kigali Institute of Science and Technology) is hosting a Global Entrepreneurship Week featured event called “The CleanTech Open”.}}

    The Cleantech Open is the world’s largest clean technology business competition. The mission of Cleantech Open is to find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with big ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental and economic challenges.

    From revolutionary ways to generate clean energy to better water filtration to ideas about how governmental policies around climate change can foster new businesses in one of the competition categories.

    For entrepreneurs with a great green idea, this is a chance to share it with the world.

    Anyone from Rwanda who want to enter this competition can use this link: http://www.cleantechopen.com/app.cgi/ideas_competition/countries/154/enter,the , the deadline is 25th October 2012.

    One winner from Rwanda will submit a five-minute video to be shown during the Cleantech Open Global Forum in San Jose, California on the 8 and 9 November, 2012. The audience of 1,000 clean technology experts, investors, and enthusiasts, and press from around the world will vote on the best idea.

    Since their founding in 2006 by Silicon Valley leaders, their organization has established itself as the leading force for accelerating clean technology entrepreneurs.

    Of the nearly 600 companies we have worked with, 80% remain viable today and they have gone on to raise external capital exceeding $660 million.

    {{Who can enter the competition?}}

    Anyone looking to turn their clean technology idea into a thriving business can apply. Entrants can be sole proprietors, teams or early-stage companies.

    All entries must be a startup with less than $1,000,000 from private third party funding (from equity investors such as angel investors and venture capital firms) at the time of entry.

    All entries must be a startup with less than $5,000,000 from all other sources of funding (grants, family and friends, and your own pocket) at the time of paying the application fee; this limit is separate from the limit on private third party funding.

  • Mugabe Urges Africa to Invest in Engergy

    {{Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has said Africa must invest to overturn the energy deficit in many countries.

    He was addressing the Africa Energy Summit on the sidelines of the World Energy Forum.}}

    Mugabe underscored the right of nations to pursue peaceful nuclear options for power generation.

    He said it was disheartening to note that Africa was “a case of energy underdevelopment and energy under-consumption”.

    “My own country, Zimbabwe, sits on huge coal deposits we cannot harness. We also sit on significant deposits of methane gas which remain unexploited.

    “The billion-strong African continent accounts for a mere 3 percent of global power consumption,” said Mugabe.

    “Per capita electricity consumption in Africa, we are told, is about 60kWh compared to 8 000kWh in the United States of America.

    He said Inga Dam in the Democratic Republic of Congo could easily light up the whole continent if fully developed.

    “I am raising issues of creating a good, progressive energy policy environment on the continent which ensures we invest in our energy sector while we value-add on that same resource for greater energy access to our people and for greater export value to our economies,” he said.

    Africa’s marginalisation in the global economy, he said, replicated itself as the continent’s marginalisation on the energy front.

    “We are exporters of primary energy commodity, which is why pipelines and ships daily cart crude from the continent for refinement elsewhere in the developed world before the same commodity comes back to us as huge fossil energy bill; which we can hardly afford.

  • First Lady Meets IKEA Foundation CEO

    {{The First Lady Jeannette Kagame yesterday received IKEA Foundation CEO Per Heggenes who paid a courtesy call on her}}.

    The purpose of Heggenes’s visit to Rwanda is to see first-hand the impact of the UN Delivering as One in terms of achieving results in support of national priorities.

    Heggenes was accompanied by the UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Elke Wisch , UNICEF Director of Private Fundraising and Partnerships, Leila Pakkala and UNICEF Representative in Rwanda Noala Skinner.

    IKEA Foundation is UNICEF’s largest corporate partner and has been supporting UNICEF programmes in the areas of education, child survival and disaster risk reduction for over ten years.

    The Foundation, under Heggenes’ leadership is driven by a vision of ‘reversing the cycle of poverty’ to a ‘cycle of prosperity’ through a holistic and sustainable approach of shelter, health, education and financial sustainability.

    The Foundation also strongly believes in “partnerships” which it demonstrates both in its own long-lasting commitments and in urging its partners to build synergies around their respective strengths.

    IKEA Foundation is interested in sustainable change and structural reform.

    Heggenes and his delegation will be presented with the presentation of the work Imbuto Foundation does as UNICEF is one of the Imbuto’s donors for the different project currently run at Imbuto Foundation.

    {Newtimes}

  • Driver Arrested for Knocking Traffic Officer

    {{A man was on October 22, arrested in Muganza Cell, Runda Sector in Kamonyi District after he allegedly refused to comply with traffic rules when ordered to stop and knocked a traffic officer and two other people who were nearby.}}

    Philbert Hitimana, who was driving vehicle registration number RAB 637R, Toyota Coaster type, according to police, hit Corporal Patrick Akumuyange a traffic police officer, after the former defied traffic orders when asked to stop and tried to speed-away.

    Other victims are identified as Deo Niyonzima and a cyclist identified as Fabien Hagenimana, who were parked on the roadside.

    All the victims were evacuated to University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK).

    The suspect is currently detained at Runda Police Station.

    Two vehicles which were parked at the roadside were also crashed during the incident.

    According to police, the driver was over speeding and refused to stop when ordered to do so.

    The Rwanda Police spokesperson Supt. Theos Badege cautioned drivers against “careless driving and disregarding traffic regulations,” which he said have led to “loss of innocent lives.”

    The suspect now faces charges of assault resulting from lack of foresight and precaution as prescribed under article 158.

  • Burundi Hosts EAC Secretary General’s CEO Forum

    {{The inaugural EAC Secretary General’s Private Sector Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) Forum for Burundi was held 22 October 2012 at the Hotel Club du Lac Tanganyika in Bujumbura, Burundi.}}

    The overall objective of the SG’s CEO Forum is to provide a platform for the EAC Secretary General and CEOs of businesses in the region for continuous dialogue to ensure the integration process works for business and trade, EAC competitiveness, and ultimately economic growth.

    Addressing the CEOs, the Secretary General Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera disclosed that in 2011, EAC Partner States sustained an average of 5% GDP growth against the global average of 3%. All performance indicators depicted significant growth trends, including Foreign Direct Investment inflows, which increased from USD 683 million in 2005 to USD 1.7 billion in 2011.

    Amb.Sezibera informed the CEOs that the State of East Africa Report 2012 shows the value of EAC’s total trade with the world doubled from $17.5 billion in 2005 to $37 billion in 2010.

    “I launched the Doing Business 2012 Report here in Bujumbura, Burundi in mid-April this year, and the Report features Burundi among the top 10 economies that improved the most on the ease of doing business, moving up 8 places in the global ranking (from 177 to 169),” said Amb. Sezibera.

    He noted that according to the 2011 Doing Business indicators, it still takes an average of 47 days for people in Burundi to export a product; as a compared to the Dominican Republic, which takes 8 days for a person to export a product.

    The EAC official reiterated that the problem can’t be accredited to Burundi being a landlocked country. He said an exporter in Vienna, a landlocked city in Europe for example, takes 2 days to arrange for and complete the transportation of cargo to the port of Hamburg some 900 kilometers away.

    “This is almost the same distance from Burundi to the port in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania but that that trip here in East Africa can take one week or longer mainly due to inadequate infrastructure, as well as additional controls and waiting time at our border posts,” said Amb. Sezibera.

    The Secretary General stated that EAC Secretariat is working fulltime to implement policies which have the potential to increase investment and growth, and which also address directly issues of poverty and inequality.

    “I would like to mention one special set of policies which has the potential to increase investment and growth, and which also address directly issues of poverty and inequality. By promoting free trade and movement of labor, the EAC as a region can deploy to the maximum extent possible the law of comparative advantage, leading to higher incomes for their citizens. By lowering barriers to entry into business and improving regulatory frameworks, we would both promote investment and stimulate growth,” he added.

    At the same occasion, Amb Laurent Kavakure, the Minister of External Relations and International Cooperation of the Republic of Burundi said much effort had been done by the government to make sure that the private sector become stronger. He noted that the progressive liberalization of trade and banking reforms that are underway will primarily benefit the private sector.

    Amb. Kavakure informed the CEO’s that progressive elimination of non-tariff barriers; the ongoing construction of one-stop order posts and the creation of the Single Customs Territory will facilitate trade and improve the living standards of the people.

    The Secretary General CEOs Forum in Burundi is the fifth edition of CEOs breakfast meetings at the national level. The other four CEO’s breakfast meetings have been held in each of the Partner States’ capitals. A regional forum is expected to take place on 15 November 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya.

    The SG’s CEO Forum is hosted by the East African Community Secretariat in partnership with East African Business Council (EABC) and Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA), based on the three organizations’ shared objectives of fostering the interests of the business community in the integration process.

    The Forum was attended by among others the Vice Chairperson of Burundi Private Sector Mr. Antoine Ntisigana; the EABC Executive Director Mr. Andrew Luzze; Country Director, TMEA, Burundi, Anthe Vrijlandt and over 60 CEOs.

  • Regional Judges Trained to Promote Justice

    {{Judges from the East African Community member states are undergoing a three-day training aimed at equipping them with modern skills discharging their duties expeditiously to solve the backlog problem.}}

    According to a statement, the East African Community secretariat, Chief Justices, Judge Presidents, Principal Judges, Heads of High Court Divisions and all judges with Administrative Responsibilities are being equipped with leadership skills advancing justice to a higher level in their respective countries.

    “The aim of the training is to enhance leadership and management skills in the judiciary as well as in promoting legal and judicial knowledge and harmonization of processes in the judicial sector in the regional bloc,” the secretariat said in the statement.

    Addressing participants, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Finance and Administration Mr. Jean Claude Nsengiyumva hailed the East African Judicial Education Committee for the tireless efforts in putting together the training programme for the highest cadre of the national judiciaries, with particular emphasis on leadership skills.

    He said the training was a very important step in operationalizing the provision of Article 126 of the EAC Treaty which sets out the scope of co-operation in judicial and legal affairs to include approximation and harmonization of legal learning and certification; encouraging the standardization of the judgments of the Courts within the Community; promoting exchange of legal and judicial knowledge; and the revival of the East African Law Reports and journals among other wider objectives of the Community.

    Nsengiyumva urged the participants to use the forum to identify modern innovations to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the judicial systems of the Partner States so as to positively impact on their mandate which is effective and timely delivery of justice to people of East Africa.

    The Deputy Secretary General said the training was providing a perfect opportunity for the Members of the judiciary to learn from and to share the different leadership experiences from their respective Partner States.

    He encouraged the East African states to adopt judicial practices both from the common law regime and civil law regime.

    “We hope to learn from the Chief Justices lessons from the common law regime as practiced by the Republic of Kenya; Republic of Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania as well as that of civil law regime practiced by the Republic of Rwanda and the Republic of Burundi,” Nsengiyuma said.

    The programme has been attended by Chief Justices of the Supreme Courts of the EAC Partner States; the President and the Principal Judge of the East African Court of Justice; Judges of the High Court and Heads of High Court Divisions of the Partner States, Principal Judges of the Partner States, Chairmen of the National Judicial Training Committees, and the Registrar of the East African Court of Justice Prof. John Ruhangisa, among others.

    NV

  • ICC prosecutor Meets Kibaki Amid Concerns

    {{The International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Tuesday met with Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki following concerns that Kenya has been reluctant to surrender key evidence required in the prosecution of four Kenyans accused of crimes against humanity following the 2008 post-election violence.}}

    During the meeting between ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Kibaki pledged that Kenya will hold peaceful elections to ensure the country does not follow the route of 2008.

    “The Head of State said that the government is committed to ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections next year. President Kibaki emphasised that measures are underway to ensure that the country will be fully prepared by March next year for the polls,” a statement from the Presidential Press Service indicated.

    Bensouda in her first press conference on Monday complained that the Kenyan government had delayed in submitting information the court had requested to use in the two cases against four Kenyans.

    She also raised concerns over the continuing harassment and intimidation of victims and witnesses of the post election violence saying that the court was interested to tighten talks with the government to ensure their protection is assured.

    Bensouda reiterated to the government officials that the court was independent and its main interest is to pursue justice for the victims of the 2008 violence.

    She further clarified that the court will not bend its operations to fit in Kenya’s politics but will follow its judicial calendar irrespective of the country’s political process.

    “She stressed that she is not against the Kenya government or any ethnic community, adding that the ICC will not interfere with the ongoing political processes in the country,” the statement indicated.

    The meeting held at the Office of the President for the better part of Tuesday morning was also attended by Internal Security Minister Katoo ole

    Metito, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Attorney-General Githu Muigai.

    Later, Bensouda held meetings with members of the diplomatic corps.
    She is later in the week expected to meet victims of the post election violence in the Rift Valley before giving a final briefing on Thursday evening following her five-day visit in the country.

  • DRC Elephants Attack Village in Katanga

    {{In DRC, A row has erupted in the province of Katanga following the continued attack by Elephants on the population.

    It was reported that on October 20, a herd of elephants ravaged ten fields before killing a woman when she was plowing her field.}}

    Another person went missing, according to the deputy administrator of the territory.

    The attack by elephants angered residents who later protested the laxity of territorial authorities…They burnt the office of police chief supervision and beat the police commander who was trying to contain the protestors.

    The Elephants attacked in Mangi village, located Bukama nearly 500 kilometers from Lubumbashi. This area has experienced repeated attacks from elephants.

    Protesters said they are angry because the politico-administrative authority has long remained deaf to their complaints about animal attacks.

    The demonstrators attacked the police station as well as the office of police chief supervision they burned the buildings.

    Contacted, the deputy administrator of the territory Bukama, Oscar Kanza said that elephants are animals under state protection.

    He said that the issue of insecurity caused by elephants Mangi was treated at a Security Council meeting held in the district a few days ago.

  • Foreign Jihadist Fighters Seen in Mali

    {{In Mali, Foreign Jihadist fighters have arrived in a northern town of Gao.

    Sadou Diallo said between 60 and 100 Algerians and Sahrawis had come into the town about four or five days ago.}}

    Two weeks ago, the UN Security Council gave the regional bloc Ecowas 45 days to draw up a plan with the details of its offer to send 3,000 troops to the vast desert region.

    Residents in the area say that Sudanese Islamists had arrived over the weekend.

    The Islamist groups and Tuareg rebels took control of northern Mali following a coup in March.

    Plans are under way for military intervention after Islamists took over northern Mali earlier this year.

  • Syrian Government Won’t Bomb on Eid

    {{International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi has said the Syrian government has agreed to a ceasefire during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, a decision Damascus would announce shortly.}}

    “After the visit I made to Damascus, there is agreement from the Syrian government for a ceasefire during the Eid,” Brahimi told a news conference at the Cairo-based Arab League on Wednesday.

    The holiday starts on Thursday and lasts three or four days.

    Brahimi, a mediator appointed by the United Nations and League, did not specify the precise time period.

    Brahimi, who arrived in Cairo on Tuesday, is due to meet with the head of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi for talks on the 20-month conflict.

    The envoy wanted “a long-lasting ceasefire that will enable a political process to unfold”.

    The 15-member Security Council is bitterly divided over the conflict with Western nations pressing for international actions against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and Russia and China blocking these moves.

    UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous spoke on Monday of tentative plans top assemble a peacekeeping force if the ceasefire takes hold.

    “We are getting ourselves ready to act if it is necessary and a mandate is approved,” Ladsous said..

    The Syrian authorities “are still optimistic,” deputy foreign minister Faisal Muqdad said. “The visit was successful and [Syria’s] co-operation with Brahimi is without limits.”