Full Coverage: West Africa

28.02.2006 That technological breakthrough and advancements would continue to impact positively on humanity and their activities is not in doubt, what one can not boast about is how prepared society is, due to the limitations of cultural, religious, social, political and economic circumstances, to imbibe such innovations.

28.02.2006 Nella regione del Delta del Niger nuovi attacchi sono stati condotti da sospetti militanti contro postazioni petrolifere e impianti di gas, dove lo scorso 18 febbraio sono stati sequestrati 9 dipendenti di multinazionali straniere. Di grande valore è la condanna che l’Alta Corte Federale della Nigeria> ha dato alla Shell Petroleum Development Corp. La sentenza impone un risarcimento di 1,5 miliardi di dollari alla comunità aborigena Ijawa, che vive nella regione del Delta del Niger, per l’impatto nocivo conseguente alle perdite di petrolio nel loro territorio con il ‘gas flaring’. E’ stato calcolato che il gas flaring nella regione del Delta del Niger arriva a produrre ben 70 milioni di tonnellate di Co2 all’anno, ovvero più delle emissioni di Norvegia, Portogallo e Svezia messe insieme. Delle malefatte della Shell nel Delta del Niger se ne è parlato anche per la tragica uccisione dieci anni fa da parte dell’allora dittatura nigeriana del poeta e attivista Ken Saro Wiwa.

28.02.2006 Intian valtameressä sijaitseva Mauritiuksen saarivaltio on löytänyt kosolti uutta viljelymaata – 800 kilometrin päässä sijaitsevasta ja 300 kertaa suuremmasta Madagaskarista. Mauritius tuottaa jonkin verran sokeria, hedelmiä ja vihanneksia, mutta se joutuu tuomaan valtaosan ruoastaan ulkomailta.

23.02.2006 Armed youths killed dozens of people and set fire to mosques and Muslim properties in more revenge attacks against Muslims in the mainly Christian southern Nigerian city of Onitsha yesterday.

22.02.2006 Shell has temporarily shut its operations in Nigeria--one of the U.S.'s largest oil sources--after seven international workers were abducted and oil facilities attacked this weekend. But the corporation, which has long been condemned by rights activists for its practices in Nigeria, seems caught up in a civil conflict this time, explains the country's Vanguard newspaper.

21.02.2006 About 100 youths are to enjoy free computer training in the first batch of free computer training scheme of the Faruk Bamusa Education Foundation in Gombe State in Nigeria.

16.02.2006 As Information and Communications Technology, ICT, continues to revolutionarise human activity around the world, the International Telecommunications Union, ITU, has put together a workshop on Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) to bring a spotlight on what is now referred to as “Internet of Things”.

16.02.2006 Simple, inexpensive and community based solutions are yielding big rewards in a country with the highest child and maternal mortality rates in the world. Programs that focus on local participation, education and integrated approaches to improving healthcare are giving people the tools needed to treat and prevent the biggest killers: malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia.

10.02.2006 Nigeria Investment Promotions Commission (NIPC) revealed that the investment friendly atmosphere prevalent in the country in the last five years have attracted well over $5 billion worth of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into the country in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector.

07.02.2006 The Security Council has authorized the transfer of U.N. troops from Liberia to Cote d’Ivoire in the wake of anti-U.N. violence. 200 soldiers from the Nigerian contingent will be transferred to the Cote d’Ivoire mission until March 31 and individual sanctions against members of the Young Patriots movement are expected on Tuesday, a move many fear will incite more violence.

06.02.2006 A small radio station 120 miles from the Ghanaian capital is transformed into a community multimedia centre.

05.02.2006 Living up to her name and keeping true to her promises, "Iron Lady" Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has taken a decisive step towards curbing corruption in Liberia. She dismissed every political appointee from the previous administration at the ministry of finance and official investigations of ministry staff will be conducted by a former World Bank official.

03.02.2006 The primary goal of this project is to solve the information and communication problems of farmers in the Mandé region, south of Bamako in Mali. The almost total lack of infrastructure in this region makes it very difficult for the implementing organisation Fabema to reach its constituent members and to inform them about activities, awareness workshops and market prices.

03.02.2006 For the first time in three years the number of polio-endemic countries has dropped and eradication efforts will enter a new phase that targets the two surviving strains of the virus. Egypt and Niger have been polio-free for 12 months, the first time in recorded history, thanks to efficient and intense immunization campaigns designed to halt Africa's polio epidemic.

02.02.2006

02.02.2006 The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has begun series of ICT training for journalists and judges as key stakeholders in the development of the telecommunication sector.