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Awards & RecognitionWorld

The Africa-Europe Foundation Launches ‘Partners Initiative’ to empower YouthLed Initiatives

by Kwabe Ben
written by Kwabe Ben

The New Partners Initiative of the Africa-Europe Foundation (AEF) will provide support and expertise to develop youth-led grassroots initiatives aimed at engaging new audiences in Africa-Europe cooperation. The first cycle focuses on Blue Economy and Ocean.

We combine micro-awards of up to 5000 Euros with access to mentorship and expertise from AEF’s global network. Supported initiatives can take the form of grass root projects, workshops, town halls, and convenings to scale the visibility and impact of projects on priority areas of Africa-Europe cooperation.

The first cycle of the Partners Initiative in 2023 is on the theme of “Blue Economy and Ocean Governance”, more specifically:

– Youth-led entrepreneurship and innovation in the domain of ocean/blue economy
– Partnership initiatives focused on ocean biodiversity, food systems, and climate mitigation

Award winners will enter a network of experts and leaders working across Africa and Europe and internationally and will have the opportunity to collaborate with AEF in helping to shape policy at the cross-continental and multilateral levels.

Applicants must complete the enclosed application form, which includes a detailed proposal work plan and budget. The deadline for submissions is 17.00 CEST (Brussels time) on Friday 7 th July 2023 and must be sent to partnerships@africaeuropefoundation.org.

Please note that the sign-off of individual grants may be subject to the timing and regulations of AEF cooperation agreements with international donors.

Any questions are to be addressed to partnerships@africaeuropefoundation.org

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NewsTechnologyWorld

IBM Partners With NASA For Climate Change Research Using AI

by Brian Yatich
written by Brian Yatich

IBM has partnered with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to leverage on IBM’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology to discover new insights in NASA’s massive trove of Earth and geospatial science data.

The joint venture will see the application of AI foundation model technology to NASA’s Earth-observing satellite data for the first time.

Foundation models are types of AI models that are trained on a broad set of unlabeled data, can be used for different tasks, and can apply information about one situation to another.

These models have rapidly advanced the field of natural language processing (NLP) technology over the last five years, and IBM is pioneering applications of foundation models beyond language.

Earth observations that allow scientists to study and monitor our planet are being gathered at unprecedented rates and volume. New and innovative approaches are required to extract knowledge from these vast data resources. The goal of this work is to provide an easier way for researchers to analyze and draw insights from these large datasets.

IBM’s foundation model technology has the potential to speed up the discovery and analysis of these data in order to quickly advance the scientific understanding of Earth and response to climate-related issues.

IBM and NASA plan to develop several new technologies to extract insights from Earth observations. One project will train an IBM geospatial intelligence foundation model on NASA’s Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) dataset, a record of land cover and land use changes captured by Earth-orbiting satellites.

By analyzing petabytes of satellite data to identify changes in the geographic footprint of phenomena such as natural disasters, cyclical crop yields, and wildlife habitats, this foundation model technology will help researchers provide critical analysis of our planet’s environmental systems.

Another output from this collaboration is expected to be an easily searchable corpus of Earth science literature. IBM has developed an NLP model trained on nearly 300,000 Earth science journal articles to organize the literature and make it easier to discover new knowledge.

Containing one of the largest AI workloads trained on Red Hat’s OpenShift software to date, the fully trained model uses PrimeQA, IBM’s open-source multilingual question-answering system. Beyond providing a resource to researchers, the new language model for Earth science could be infused into NASA’s scientific data management and stewardship processes.

“The beauty of foundation models is they can potentially be used for many downstream applications,” said Rahul Ramachandran, senior research scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “Building these foundation models cannot be tackled by small teams,” he added. “You need teams across different organizations to bring their different perspectives, resources, and skill sets.”

“Foundation models have proven successful in natural language processing, and it’s time to expand that to new domains and modalities important for business and society,” said Raghu Ganti, principal researcher at IBM.

“Applying foundation models to geospatial, event-sequence, time-series, and other non-language factors within Earth science data could make enormously valuable insights and information suddenly available to a much wider group of researchers, businesses, and citizens. Ultimately, it could facilitate a larger number of people working on some of our most pressing climate issues.”

Other potential IBM-NASA joint projects in this agreement include constructing a foundation model for weather and climate prediction using MERRA-2, a dataset of atmospheric observations.

This collaboration is part of NASA’s Open-Source Science Initiative, a commitment to building an inclusive, transparent, and collaborative open science community over the next decade.

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Special reportsWorld

Ukraine’s President Aide Speaks On The Rising Cost Of Commodities

by Ndungu Brian
written by Ndungu Brian

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy’s right-hand man and Head of the President’s Office of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, revealed in a tell-it-all interview with Kenyan digital news platform, TUKO the reason for the global rise in the cost of commodities.

The interview, which sought to encourage bilateral relations with African countries, discussed the current impact of the war on Africa and explained how Africa’s support can greatly accelerate the restoration of food supplies to end the raging food crises on the continent.

Mr. Yermak likened Ukraine’s agitation for liberation from Russia to Africa’s fight against European colonialism, and that while Africa might think she is liberated, Russia’s subsequent attack and intent to colonize will only trigger a chain reaction of chaos across Europe into Africa.

Mr. Yermak has stated that Russia has purposefully imposed a blockade on Ukrainian ports in the Black and Azov seas to prevent the export of Ukrainian food. This is already causing a rise in global food prices especially since Ukraine has traditionally been one of the main suppliers of wheat, sunflower oil, corn, and other products.
“Only Russia is to blame for the problems in the global market. … Russia’s been stealing grain in the occupied territories and trying to sell it by way of smuggling. At the same time, it’s been blocking Ukrainian ports, preventing grain export.

All the food that Ukraine used to supply to Africa usually went through our ports. Any other route is much more difficult, longer, and more expensive. Finally, Russia’s been carrying out rocket attacks on our grain terminals. This is not just non-market competition. The destruction and restriction of access to food are crimes
against humanity. Moreover, Russia’s not only blocking the export of our grain but also limiting
its own export.”

“The aggression against Ukraine is an aggression against the whole world. It is not that I assume that Africa could be drawn into this war, I’m sure that Africa is already in it. …The combination of high inflation and production decline is the worst for Africans. Many people are losing their jobs while prices are skyrocketing. Consequently, there would be a drastic rise in crime rates, unrest, and even war will become almost inevitable.”

The more harsh and unified the response of most countries of the world to Russia’s crimes, the more secure the people of Africa will be.

“It’s in the best interests of all the nations of the African continent to support the efforts to subdue and punish the aggressor. Your voice in international organizations is essential, as well as joining in the sanctions against Russia. To hasten Ukraine’s victory and the end of the war. It’s important to prevent the war from spreading to other countries and regions of the world. When peace comes, it’s in our mutual interest to expand our economic cooperation in order
to mutually reinforce our enormous economic potential.”

According to UN analysts, Russia’s actions could lead to famine and instability in dozens of countries. This has been tagged a deliberate criminal blackmail on Russia’s part.

The rise in food and energy prices translates to higher prices for all goods. Mr. Yermak named three steps to cope with the food crisis: “The first one is to de-occupy Ukrainian territories. For this, we need weapons, and we’re getting them. The second one is to de-block the ports. We are working on this through both negotiations and military means, gradually destroying the Russian fleet. The third one is to massively expand international sanctions against Russia.

Its blackmail must be met with coordinated economic pressure. As a result, only a total military defeat of Russia will deprive it of the opportunity to continue provoking global crises.”

Mr. Yemark has appealed to the average African to stand on the side of truth and be on the side of Ukraine. He asked, “To tell everyone the truth. That Russians behave like occupiers, who they are, no matter what picture the Russian propaganda shows. Their soldier’s rape, kill and rob. The state behaves like a marauder. Because of them, our citizens are faced with a humanitarian catastrophe. People are illegally kept in filtration camps. Tens of thousands of people are deported from the occupied territories to Russia’s depressed regions. They are being stolen. Including children.”

Bringing the interview to a close, Mr. Yemark reiterated the country’s similarities with the African continent. “Our people are very brave. Courage is the trait we have in common with the people of Africa. We cannot be conquered with words or weapons. We always want freedom. The Ukrainian people are fighting for their freedom and are ready to continue doing so. This is the primary motivation – to expel the invaders from our land. I am sure that this is familiar and close to African people.”

Courtesy of Tuko for The East African Business Times

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NewsWorld

About 49 Inmates Die In Colombia Prison Escape Attempt

by Ndungu Brian
written by Ndungu Brian
At least 49 inmates were killed and dozens more injured early Tuesday during an attempted prison escape in southwestern Colombia, an official from the national prisons agency told AFP. 

“So far there are 49 dead,” said a spokesperson for the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, adding that the toll from the city of Tulua was preliminary and “may change.”

 

The tragedy occurred during an escape attempt followed by a fire, Caracol Radio quoted authorities as saying.

According to that report, more than 40 people have been injured.

 

Outgoing President Ivan Duque sent a tweet offering his solidarity with relatives of the victims.

 

He did not provide a death toll.

 

“We regret the events that occurred in the prison in Tulua, Valle del Cauca,” Duque said.

 

“I have given instructions to clarify this terrible situation. My solidarity is with the families of the victims.”

 

Fatal prison riots are not uncommon in Latin America. In Colombia’s neighbor Ecuador, nearly 400 prisoners have been killed in six riots since early 2021.

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Awards & RecognitionEducationWorld

Ugandan School Ranked Among World’s Best

by Ndungu Brian
written by Ndungu Brian

Ugandan school, Project Shelter Wakadogo, which supports vulnerable and hard to reach children, has been named as one of the top 10 schools globally by World’s Best School prizes in the Overcoming Adversity category.

The category recognizes that adversity will come in many forms for schools, including conflict, climate-related disasters, poverty, or a pandemic. It assesses how the school builds character, both individually and as a community, to support the greater resilience of all students.

Wakadogo was founded in 2009 in the aftermath of two decades of civil war and violence committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda, which displaced over a million people.

The school, which is located in Pece Accoyo in Gulu District, has grown from two classrooms to serve over 450 students and currently has one of the highest student retention rates in the country.

At the onset of COVID-19, Uganda, like many other countries around the world, faced government-imposed lockdowns, which adversely affected the running of major sectors, including education.

With less than 9% of the rural population having access to the internet, many schools could not continue with other learning models. But, the team at Project Shelter Wakadogo was determined to continue providing education to their students.

They developed a home-schooling program and distributed learning kits and government study modules to students to support face-to-face learning, led by the teachers. By the end of the lockdown, they had conducted over 36,000 door-to-door lessons.

The decision to run this program was critical, particularly for girls, because school closures across Uganda saw children forced into the labor market, a rise in teenage pregnancy, and gender-based violence.

Ugandan school ranked among world’s best

The result is the need to prepare and plan for hybrid learning.  If they win the prize, Project Shelter Wakadogo will use the funds to set up an online learning platform to facilitate hybrid and catch-up learning, in case of schools should ever close again and share its approach and technology with schools in the region.

“It is a great honor for Wakadogo to feature among the top nominees for the World’s Best School Prizes,” says the school’s head teacher Odong Charles Kigundi. “Our greatest desire is to see more children receive a quality education. This prize will enable us to provide more scholarships for marginalized and underprivileged children in the community. It will also help set up an online learning platform to facilitate hybrid and catch-up learning if schools close again, which we will share with schools in the region to reach more children, ” he said.

In addition to providing a safe and child-friendly environment for students, Wakadogo School offers school meals, medical care, sports and music programs, and quality education for vulnerable children.

“Our current annual operating cost is about 125,000 USD, which will only continue to increase as more students enroll at the school. “As a school entirely funded by donations and contributions from the community, we are always looking for partners to support our various programs and allow us to keep providing a safe and quality learning environment for our little ones,” concludes Kigundi.

The World’s Best School Prize is a project by T4 Education, a global organization committed to providing engaging tools, initiatives, and events for teachers to improve education.

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LeadershipNewsRegionalWorld

AU Head Macky Sall to Speak to Putin in Russia

by Kwabe Ben
written by Kwabe Ben

The African Union Chairman Macky Sall, Senegalese President is set to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the south Russian city of Sochi this Friday.

Talks are aimed at enabling the freeing of stocks such as cereals, and fertilizers for since the invasion and high inflation of prices, several countries in Africa have been affected severely by the blockage of products.

The Head of the African Union is set to also effect talks aligned with the easing of the Ukraine conflict whereby a video address from Zelensky is expected.

This visit having been orchestrated by an invitation from Putin seems to behold several possible outcomes in matters to do with the Ukraine- Russia conflict escalation.

African nations have acutely faced challenges in the economy as the war in Ukraine sent a skyrocketing cost of fuel, grain, and fertilizers which has adversely affected the economy on the global stage.

Both Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat and other cereals throughout the globe whereas Russia is a key producer of fertilizer.

According to a UN statement last month that Africa is faced with an unprecedented crisis as a result of the blockade as well as difficulties facing the continent like climate change, and coronavirus pandemic effects that keep compounding.

Russia faces several sanctions, including expulsion of Russian banks, from the West effected after the gruesome February 24 invasion of Ukraine as a bid to punish Moscow for the military intervention.

Instead, Sall stated in an address, “when the SWIFT system is disrupted, only means that as much as products are available, payment remains complicated in other words impossible.”

Further adding, “I would like to insist that this issue be examined as soon as possible by our competent ministers in order to find appropriate solutions.”

An impact that has become evident after Russia’s blockade of Odesa has seen a deterioration in Ukrainian food exports.

Macky has backed the UN-led efforts at freeing the port for the greater good.

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Elon Musk Space X Satellite On The Rescue For Ukraine
NewsWorld

Elon Musk Space X Satellite On The Rescue For Ukraine

by Kwabe Ben
written by Kwabe Ben

With the increasing pounds of Russia by the Ukraine government and its military, the Ukrainian government has sought assistance from Space X.

Elon Musk, the renowned conqueror of the space through his expeditions for Mars, has swiftly taken an initiative to provide Starlink connectivity in Ukraine.

The Space X founder, speaking on February 26, says the Space X Starlink broadband is now accessible in the Ukraine as more terminals are incoming to the country.

The call coming from twitter as the country highlighted, “Dear @elonmusk, Ukraine needs your support. your stance and your actions matter. An appeal by our minister of Digital Transformation here.”

This followed after a tweet from the Ukrainian prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov quoted, “@elonmusk, while you try to colonize Mars-Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space-Russian rockets attack Ukrainian Civil people.”

A plea that comes at a rock-hard moment for the nation under attack as there have been lockdowns, failures in power that have hindered the communications among safeguarding troops.

ELON MUSK’S STARLINK

The starlink connectivity having built a legacy of providing high-speed, low-latency broadband internet throughout the globe, enables connectivity of internet from the satellites.

“Through the use of advanced satellites in a low orbit, starlink enables video calls, online gaming, and other high data activities that earlier on would not have been possible satellite internet,” read a description from the company website.

For the case of Ukraine, the connectivity aims at helping the besieged country where connectivity has been trampled. As this is going to boost the country’s communication systems through the war of defending themselves from Russia.

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly turned down an evacuation plea from the United States of America, as he insists on fighting with his people against the Russian military forces who are attacking Kyiv and its surrounding.

In a video addressing the people he says, “According to the information we have, the enemy has marked me as a target No. 1, my family as target No. 2. They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state. We are all here. Defending our independence. our country. And so, it will continue.”

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World

President Macky Sall of Senegal, elected as the New Chairperson of the African Union (AU)

by Ndungu Brian
written by Ndungu Brian

The Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) have elected H.E. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal, as the new Chairperson of the African Union for the year 2022.

The event took place today during the ongoing Thirty-Fifth (35th) Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, holding physically at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa under the theme: “Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent: Strengthening Agro-Food Systems, Health and Social Protection Systems for the Acceleration of the Human, Social and Economic Development”.

President Macky Sall of Senegal is taking over the baton of command from H.E. Felix- Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who has concluded his term as the Chairperson of the African Union for the year 2021.

The event took place during the official opening of the 35th AU Summit of Heads of State and Government, in the presence of the Chairperson of the AU Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Deputy Chairperson of the AUC, H.E Dr. Monique Nsanzabaganwa, representatives of the UN, the Regional Economic Commission, dignitaries and invited guests as well as the AU staff.

The composition of the new bureau of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union for 2022 as presented by the Dean of the Permanent Representative Committee (PRC) is as follows:

  1.  Chairperson of the African Union (AU) – Republic of Senegal,  (West African region)
  2. First Vice Chair of the Union – Consultations are still ongoing;
  3. Rapporteur – Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – (Central African region);
  4. Second Vice  Chair of the Union –  Libya,  (Northern Region); and
  5. Third Vice  Chair of the Union –  Angola, ( Southern Region);

In his handing over speech, President Felix- Antoine Tshisekedi wished the new AU Chairperson, a successful Chairmanship and thanked the Heads of States of AU Member States as well as the AU outgoing bureau, for their support during the tenure of his mandate which he said, was marked by the prevailing sanitary crisis caused by the COVID19 pandemic.

President Tshisekedi highlighted some of the achievements under his chairmanship of the Union notably, the economic empowerment of the women and youths, the enhancement of democracy and good governance, among other development programs under Agenda 2063.

The outgoing Chair of the Union further underlined the initiatives undertaken under his leadership to address the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his acceptance speech, President Macky Sall said he appreciates the honor coupled with the responsibility and the trust invested in his person, and the members of the new Bureau, to lead the destiny of the Organization for the next one year.

“I thank you and assure you of our commitment to work together with all member countries in the exercise of our mandate” indicated the incoming Chair of the Union.  “I pay tribute to the founding fathers of the Organization. Six decades later, their luminous vision continues to inspire our living together and to illuminate our united march towards the ideal of African integration” He added.

President Macky Sall further noted that, it is precisely in this pan-African spirit that President Léopold Sédar Senghor had proposed, at the OAU summit of July 1964, to establish “a permanent political and moral authority of the Conference of Heads of State and Government” to give high-level impetus to the management of the affairs of the continent.

Commending the work done by his predecessor, he expressed appreciation to the considerable efforts devoted to the service of the African continent by the outgoing Chair.

He further noted that, “as our Union celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, we can be proud of the progress made under major initiatives such as NEPAD, PIDA, APRM, Vision 2063, institutional reform, the Great Green Wall, the AfCFTA and more recently our coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the same time, our challenges remain numerous and pressing; notably in the areas of peace and security, the fight against terrorism, environmental protection, health and economic and social development…” “I do not forget the resurgence of the phenomenon of coups d’état which constitutes a major attack on democracy and institutional stability on the continent”. Concluded the new AU Chair.

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World

Africans celebrate the African Languages Week

by Ndungu Brian
written by Ndungu Brian

The African Union has launched the African Languages Week as a way of promoting African languages and cultures across the continent and is currently ongoing until January 30.

The African Languages Week was launched as a perpetual rendezvous and major annual event that should be observed by all member states of the African Union, to commemorate the relevance of African languages and cultures in Africa and the African diaspora, as a special moment of African identity and in celebrating African patrimony, culture, identity and heritage.

The theme of this year’s celebrations is “African Languages: Levers for Building the Africa We Want” which is being coordinated by the African Languages Week Coordinating Committee, established by the Executive Secretariat of ACALAN.

The main role of the Committee is to stimulate more dynamism for the development and promotion of African languages across the African continent and in the African Diaspora by assisting ACALAN in the annual celebration.

It will also ensure smooth running of activities of the African Languages Week by proposing the theme for each year, and mobilizing resources (human, technical and financial) for planning and organizing the activities of the week throughout the continent and in the Diaspora, in collaboration with National Language Structures in the Member States serving as ACALAN’s national focal institutions.

In a press statement, the AU Commission said that the main objective of the inaugural edition of the African Languages Week is to increase awareness and appreciation of African languages by looking at pragmatic ways of empowering and rendering them relevant to the lives of Africans; promote the dynamics of African worldviews and philosophies of life, through the empowerment and use of African languages; demonstrate the indispensable role of African languages in the integration and sustainable peace and development of Africa.

“The African Languages Week is also geared to taking stock on how African languages are faring in the world of global languages so as to see where we stand in our language development endeavors. “

“It is also a way of developing linguistic cooperation and exchange, and assessing the necessary and vital work of developing the languages and the work that still needs to be done. ” read part of the statement.

The commemoration will help to determine ways and means of making African languages more functional, acceptable and part of the development discourse of Africans and African global citizenship.

Various activities are designed around marking the African Languages Week 2022. ACALAN’s working structures in the AU member states will be expected to play a leading role in this regard.

Members of the African Languages Week Coordinating Committee, policy makers, resource persons, experts in African languages and key stake holders will take part in the activities. Representatives of the various Departments and Directorates of the African Union Commission and African Union Member States will also participate. Representatives of the Assembly of Academicians of ACALAN, Members of ACALAN’s Secretariat and working structures, as well as members of the African Diaspora and institutions of culture and languages worldwide.

Meetings are expected to take place on 25 and 26 February in virtual plenaries and breakout sessions owing to the Covid pandemic to chart the path forward. Participants (experts in the various domains) will make presentations on best practices, lessons learned and make suggestions on the way forward.

The African Language Week was made possible by ACALAN, the specialized linguistic arm of the African Union charged with the development and promotion of African languages. The language body made the proposal for African Language Week which was endorsed by the Ministers of Culture in AU member states.

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World

Armenian President resigns over lack of influence

by Ndungu Brian
written by Ndungu Brian

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has announced his resignation, citing the inability of his office to influence policy during times of national crisis.

“I have been thinking for a long time, I have decided to resign from the post of the President of the Republic after working actively for about four years,” Sarkissian said in a statement published on the president’s official website.

“The question may arise as to why the President failed to influence the political events that led us to the current national crisis. The reason is obvious again, the lack of appropriate tools … – the Constitution. The roots of some of our potential problems are hidden in the current Basic Law.”

“The president does not have the necessary tools to influence the important processes of foreign and domestic policy in difficult times for the people and the country,” said the outgoing president

Sarkissian assumed office as the president in 2018 and was at the center of a domestic political crisis last year that erupted in the wake of a war between Armenia and its long-standing rival Azerbaijan for control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

“I hope that eventually the constitutional changes will be implemented and the next president and presidential administration will be able to operate in a more balanced environment,” he added.

After a referendum in December 2015, Armenia became a parliamentary republic, and presidential powers were significantly curtailed making the prime minister to be seen as more powerful. The Prime Minister Pashinyan has also been under pressure, with regular street protests demanding him to step down over the terms of the peace agreement. Under the 2020 deal brokered by Russia.

 Since the Soviet collapse, Armenia’s economy has been struggling, with money sent by Armenians abroad aiding in the construction of schools, churches and other infrastructure projects.

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