News - Afrikan Heroes

Nigerian Traders In Ghana Turn To Beggars Over locked Up Shops — NUTAG

February 24, 2020

The Nigerian Union of Traders Association Ghana (NUTAG) claims their members have now resorted to begging for survival over closure of their shops by the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA).

Speaking to Citi News, Secretary-General of NUTAG, Comrade Evaristus Nwankwo, said the locking up of shops has subjected members to severe economic hardship forcing some Nigerian traders to go back home.

In 2019, over 600 shops operated by foreigners were closed down for engaging in retail business exclusively reserved for Ghanaian traders. Majority of these clocked up shops were owned by Nigerians.

The Nigerian traders have insisted that they are permitted to trade in the country by ECOWAS protocols and have made several appeals to stakeholders for amicable intervention.

Comrade Nwankwo said the Association is still appealing to the government to intervene and have their shops reopened.

“There are serious challenges and that is why we are pleading [with the government]. Most of our members have resorted to begging from some of us whose shops are still open. They come to ask for GH¢100, GH¢50.”

“In one of our meetings, we had to do a freewill donation to accommodate those who are at Circle. Some have children who are sick and need medication all the time. I know about five of them who have gone back to Nigeria. Is this good news for the Ghana government? I don’t think so. It is giving a negative image to this country,” he said.

NUTAG — GUTA impasse

In Ghana, there has been a level of hostility between NUTAG and GUTA over the local retail space.

Ghanaian traders are also pushing for the enforcement of Ghana’s laws that prohibit foreigners from engaging in retail trade.

Hundreds of shops owned by Nigerians have been locked up in a move by GUTA to clamp down on foreigners engaged in retail businesses against Ghanaian laws.

Local retailers in parts of Accra and Kumasi have in recent times locked up the foreign-owned shops, preventing foreigners from going about their business.

NUTAG said its members have endured harassment since 2007, hence appealed to President Nana Akufo-Addo to immediately intervene in its ongoing brawl with the GUTA.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.
He could be contacted at udohrapulu@gmail.com

Lawyers on Demand: Changing the Way Legal Work is Done in Africa by Playing the “Scale Game”

February 14, 2020

Glenda Irvine-Smith,Director of Business Development & International Relations at Centurion Law Group

By Glenda Irvine-Smith

According to the Director of Business Development & International Relations at Centurion Law Group, and Key Coordinator of the firm’s unique Centurion Plus model, Glenda Irvine-Smith the demand for “agile” local lawyers has risen significantly on the African continent. This is why Centurion has developed its Centurion Plus platform to respond to this need.

Despite numerous global and regional challenges, investment in Africa is predicted to grow in 2020; with African M&A values in 2019 valued at around $13 billion in total, there is a lot to play for on the continent.

To take advantage of this positive investment climate, investors must form close working relationships with the best legal counsel, as well as due diligence experts and local advisors on the ground in Africa, who have specialist knowledge and understanding of the particular commercial challenges within their investment locations.

Investors in Africa must also consider geopolitical and economic uncertainty on the continent as well as a plethora of country and region-specific governance, compliance and regulatory challenges when investing in the region. In order to close deals on the continent, investors need access to the right information and data. The success of a transaction depends on having real knowledge instead of relying on market perception.

Furthermore, investors can never assume one country is the same as any other in Africa. Even if they are geographical neighbors, each country is vastly different to the next. The legal systems in many countries are also changing rapidly, stemming from a desire to encourage foreign investment, but also out of a need to protect the rights and resources of a country and its people.

This is why in Africa, the demand for “agile” local lawyers has risen significantly: African legal clients are demanding a practice model that is swift, cost-effective and transparent. With a cost model that is scaled to the client’s needs and a service model that is tailored to the job. Clients are also looking for non-traditional, outside of the box thinking which can seize opportunities in a way that a one-size-fits-all traditional legal approach cannot.

Centurion Law Group has developed its Centurion Plus platform to respond to this need. The firm believes in providing flexible solutions to clients that address mounting workloads and budgetary constraints. Centurion Plus is a platform which provides on-demand-lawyers that can work with clients on-site or remotely, on various flexible models such as secondments, special projects, rotational work or flexible support. Clients also get the benefit of expertise at a far more competitive rate that reflects the significantly lower overhead costs of this model.

Not only does this alternative to orthodox law firms, work for clients; it works for lawyers too. It is certainly a growing trend that instead of working at a law firm, working extremely long hours, and having a portion of your earnings going into the owners’ pockets, you can become a freelance lawyer, working on demand.

So many companies have adopted this design thinking model for the delivery of its legal services – by telling lawyers what, when and how they need their work completed.; This has led to the successful implementation of on-demand-services, dramatically reducing lawyers’ time on transactions, while improving the insight, judgment, and predictability of outcomes. Furthermore, “buyers” of legal services are increasingly driven to purchase legal services online, decoupled from traditional institutions, to access quality and convenience without the high costs.

While the concept is not new, this hasn’t been done in the unchartered waters of Africa yet. The challenge for African firms operating platforms like Centurion Plus will revolve around the mindset shift of becoming more process-driven, technology-enabled and delivering quality legal services.

Glenda Irvine-Smith is the Director of Business Development & International Relations at Centurion Law Group.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Why Google Backed Out of Kenya’s Lake Turkana Wind Power Project

Renewable Energy Chief Executive, Sundar Pichai

Indications have emerged that the incessant delays in delivering on Africa’s largest wind farm, Lake Turkana Wind Project was responsible for the cancellation of plans to buy 12.5 percent of the stake by global technology giant Google. The Lake Turkana Wind Project which has a capacity to produce 310 megawatt (MW) of electricity was initially set for completion in 2017, after which Google made commitments to buy the stake from Denmark backed Vestas Group, however, sources at Google say that the tech giant became uncomfortable with the slow pace of the project and incessant delays, even though they are yet to make it official.

However, a Vestas source said that the delays were primarily due to the transmission line. With the pullout of Goggle from buying the stake from Vestas, efforts are being made by Vestas to enter into commercial dialogues with potential buyers of their shares. This, the source say is because Vestas’ strategy doesn’t include being a long-term wind park owner.

The wind farm was ready for launch in 2017, but remained idle due to delays in installing transmission lines needed to get the clean power to the national grid and customers. The 428 km power line from Loiyangalani in northern Kenya to Suswa in Narok County was set to be completed by October 2016, but demands for compensation from landowners along the route and other issues delayed it.

The line was further delayed after a Spanish firm contracted to build the line went under. Kenya then tapped a Chinese company to complete it. The Lake Turkana wind farm is expected to provide 15 percent of Kenya’s total electricity needs.

In recent times, Google has shown some hunger in acquisition of stakes in fields outside its online advertising business. It has also runs other ventures, including investments in renewable energy projects. It has invested billions of dollars in solar and wind power plants with a total capacity of 5,475 megawatts to generate returns besides contributing to efforts in fighting climate change.

Speaking on Google’s desire to invest in renewable energy, Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said in 2017 that “we became the first company of our size to match our entire annual electricity consumption with renewable energy (and then we did it again in 2018) as] a result, we became the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world.”

Google now has an interest in 52 renewable energy projects around the world, committing more than $7 billion to construction that will create thousands of new jobs. Norfund’s stake in the Turkana power project was acquired in 2013 at a cost equivalent to 1.2 billion Kenyan Shillings. The project cost a total of €623 million $703 million), with debt investors providing 70 percent of the amount or €436 million ( $492 million).

Shareholders, including Norfund, the Danish Climate Fund, Sandpiper and Finnfund, provided the rest of the capital. The project has been credited with boosting Kenya’s electricity supply while reducing reliance on the more expensive diesel-powered plants that harm the environment through pollution.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Nigeria ’s New Tax Law To Tax Facebook, others

February 7, 2020

Over-the-top (OTT) services providers in Nigeria such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Blackberry Messenger and many others, will soon be required to declare the revenue they generate from Nigerian consumers and pay tax.

This is one of the major fallouts of the new finance Act which now subject all multinational digital companies operating abroad with significant economic presence in Nigeria to taxation.

“So, most digital and multinational technology companies do not have a physical presence in Nigeria, yet make significant income in Nigeria from online activities. They pay no tax to Nigeria because they do not have a physical presence in Nigeria, now we are no longer relying on physical presence,” Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said, confirming the new position.

Here Is All You Need To Know

By the move Nigeria is following the steps of many countries, which have policies that guide these services.
Only companies that have a physical presence in the country were being taxed previously

“Under the new Act, once you have a significant economic presence in Nigeria, you are liable to tax whether you are resident here or not,” Osinbajo noted.

Taxation will definitely serve as a means to curb these excesses of the OTTs while also boosting Nigeria’s tax base.
For Association of Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), the umbrella body of telecom operators in the country, it is not right that a company providing traditional telecommunications services has to meet certain regulatory requirements, like those concerning data protection and taxes while a company providing comparable services over the web does not.a

An over-the-top (OTT) media service is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms that traditionally act as a controller or distributor of such content

Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, ALTON, recently said that:

“We are beginning to see the need for regulators to look at regulating technology instead of services.

“These over-the-top services have social, economic and security implications. If they are not licensed, it means they are not regulated, and in that case, there is no limit to the scope of what they can do. There is also no control over services and content they may provide,” he said.

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) which until now has insisted on technology neutrality of the OTTs may be forced to facilitate the revenue generating process with the right technological devices to ensure transparency.

Africa Delivered Largest Profits On Investment For British Companies Than Elsewhere In The World — New Report

British companies have made bigger profits investing in Africa than in any other region of the world, according to a new report from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), which urges firms to seek profits on the continent rather than seeing it as a place to do charitable work.

Here Is All You Need To Know

With 1.2 billion people and eight of the world’s 15 fastest-growing economies, the ODI says Africa offers world-beating returns on investment.
The report looks at investment by British firms in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Its authors say the “young population, growing middle class, and planned industrial growth make the continent a great place to do business.”
In 2019, the rate of return on all inward foreign direct investment in developing African countries was 6.5 percent, higher than the rates in developing Latin America and the Caribbean at 6.2 percent, and also higher than the 6 percent return in developed economies.
The report was published as Britain formally left the European Union on January 31. The government repeatedly has said its ambition is to create a “global Britain” with new trading partners beyond the European continent. As part of the effort to court new partners, London hosted the Britain-Africa Investment summit last week.

Investment in Africa

African entrepreneurs are seeking investment in proprietary technology. Mobihealth is a mobile app that seeks to offer top-level health care access across Africa. Founder Funmi Adewara believes Britain’s expertise in finance could help.

“Ninety percent of our doctors are from Western countries, 10 percent from the rest of Africa,” Adewara said. “They provide video consultation, prescriptions, diagnostic tests. We are looking here to connect with people who can help us to scale up our business and take this global.”

The secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Mukhisa Kituyi, said in a recent interview that African nations need to work harder to attract investment.

“We need to develop this human resource as a contribution to the world’s economy, we need to create the conditions to make Africa the next factory of the world. Then you can say, can Britain step in, just like any other friend of Africa, and offer some of the solution?”

Britain says it can offer solutions. Many analysts warn, however, that negotiations over its future relationship with Europe likely will dominate trade talks in the coming months and years.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.
He could be contacted at udohrapulu@gmail.com

Will Nigeria Reopen Its Borders With Neighbouring Countries Today?

January 31, 2020

David Victor Dimka,new Customs Area Controller,Seme Nigeria

The Nigerian government has hinted that it will announce the reopening of its borders with Benin after months of closure.

According to a report from Accra based Citi FM, the Nigerian government in a memo signed by the Comptroller of its Immigration Service, Victor David Dimka, said a decision will be announced on Friday 31st January on the way forward.

The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) in reaction said they are looking forward to the opening of the Nigerian border for trade activities to return to normalcy.

The General Secretary of GUTA, Alpha Shaban said a reopening will come as a huge relief for traders in the sub-region.

“If they open the border it will be good for us all. Every member country is a sovereign country and every country has its law. Therefore, it is the responsibility of that country to protect their industry as well as the traders. Even though it has affected us seriously it is because some of our people are working with loans and that is why we are complaining,” GUTA explained.

Adding that “But if they open the border, it will be good for us all because it is negatively affecting the ECOWAS agreement of free movement of people and services.”

The Nigerian government in August last year closed its borders to Benin and by extension, other West African countries, as part of measures to prevent the smuggling of cheap goods and weapons into the country.

The blockade has had a ripple effect on trade in the West African sub-region; compelling some to use alternative routes for their exports.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.
He could be contacted at udohrapulu@gmail.com

New Collaboration to Transform Employment Process Across Africa

January 23, 2020

A new collaboration between ROAM Africa and Interview Mocha aimed at significantly transforming the way African organizations recruit talent across the continent has been birthed. This was cemented through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ROAM Africa and Interview Mocha. ROAM Africa which is a member of Ringier One Africa Media operates the leading career portals across East and West Africa and are owners of Jobberman.com and Brightermonday.com. Interview Mocha on the other hands, provides candidate assessment software with the most comprehensive skill range. It is hoped that this collaboration will provide an affordable and scalable way to empower employers to identify the top talent, by integrating candidate assessments into the hiring and application flow.

Finding the right talent to execute strategies is the largest internal challenge of African CEOs, according to a 2019 survey by consulting company Deloitte. Employers hiring are facing an increasingly larger number of applications, with up to thousands of applications per job and an inability to identify the best candidates at scale. Together with ROAM Africa’s BestMatch technology, the solution creates unparalleled opportunities to recruit at scale and ensure quality.

The new solution will be launched in the upcoming weeks and will be transformative across multiple dimensions, as it brings multiple elements together: deep insights through customized assessments, the mass scale of the leading job boards, as well as product affordability to ensure wide adoption.

Clemens Weitz, ROAM CEO states that “we believe that Africa is the future, and that talent is equally distributed across the world. Today we see largely broken recruitment markets, with most organizations hiring rarely the best available talent. We are pioneering a solution that will change this. We match the best talent into organizations and create happier employees, more productive teams and markets. Our new offering in partnership with Interview Mocha is cutting edge and will transform how employers select candidates.”

ROAM Jobs which is part of the ROAM Africa Group is the leading digital classifieds group in Sub-Saharan Africa. Unified by its mission to connect Africans to opportunities and be Africa’s most user-centric marketplace company, it operates across eight Sub-Saharan countries. ROAM Jobs operates in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana, with a multi-brand strategy, including Jobberman in West Africa and BrighterMonday in East Africa.

Interview Mocha on the other hand is the world’s largest API based skill assessment platform. We leverage our product and services to align the best resources with employers. We aim to contribute to the ever-changing skill matrix with our in-depth market research, battery of global domain experts, and technology to prepare the world’s largest and latest, quality skills assessment repository.

The CEO of Mocha Amit Mishra stated that his organization believes in “the vision ROAM has for the African job market. We see a huge void in the best practices for recruiting; hence having a leak-proof recruitment environment adds immense value to the recruitment process. By integrating with ROAM’s existing solution we are certain to connect the best employees with employers.”

This is part of ROAM Africa’s wider matching and insights strategy. ROAM also aims at leveraging the data to create insights for jobseekers around their strengths and weaknesses, as well as with partner organizations to improve policy decision making and address wider employment and education issues.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

European Union Lifts Ban on Gabon Airlines After 11 years Ban

January 21, 2020

The European Union air space management agency has lifted the ban placed on airlines from Gabon eleven years ago, the removal of the airlines from the European Union Air Safety blacklist since 2008 is as a result of what the agency described as “improvements in aviation safety”. The list is meant to ensure the highest level of air safety for passengers traveling to and within the European Union.

With this development, airlines in Gabon such as the National Regional Transport (NRT), Solenta Aviation Gabon, Tropical Air Gabon and Afrijet Business Service can commence flights to and from Europe. EU Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean was quoted by CTGN saying, “I am pleased to announce that the European Commission was able today to clear all Gabonese air carriers from the EU Air Safety List.

Other African countries that remain banned from flying into European Union skies include carriers based in the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Liberia, Libya, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Sudan. Certain airlines such as Med-View Airlines of Nigeria and Air Zimbabwe were also banned “based on safety concerns with regard to the airlines themselves.”

In the case of Angola all carriers with the exception of TAAG Angola Airlines and Heli Malongo remain banned, “due to a lack of safety oversight by the aviation authorities of these States,” the EU Commission confirmed.

The EU Air Safety List is an overall record of airlines failing to meet regulatory oversight standards of the EU, and which are banned from entering the airspace of any member state. The record however contains two lists. The first list (Annex A) includes all airlines banned from operating in Europe. The second list (Annex B) includes airlines that are restricted from operating under certain conditions in Europe. Both lists are updated regularly and published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The first version of the list was published in 2006 and the next version of the list was published on the 30th of November 2017.

According to the Mobility and Transport section of the EU website, the process by which an air carrier is listed is laid out in Regulation (EC) No 2111/2005 of the European Parliament and Council. It involves consultation among the regulatory agencies of the member states, the institutions of the European Community, the authorities with responsibility for regulatory oversight of the air carrier concerned, and the air carrier itself. It details that despite this each air carrier has the right of appeal before being listed and the list is subject to periodic review.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Kenyans Abroad Sent Home $2.7 Billion in 2019-Central Bank of Kenya

Kenyans living abroad sent in more money in 2019 than they did in 2018. According to the country’s central bank, Kenyans abroad sent home Sh280 billion last year, a 3.7 percent rise compared to Sh269.7 billion dispatched in 2018.

“Kenyans staying in the US accounted for half of the total cash sent while those in North America, Europe and the Rest of the World accounted for 50 percent, 20 percent, and 30 percent, respectively, of the total remittances in December,” reads the report.

Here Is All You Need To Know

Data from the Central Bank of Kenya shows that majority reside in the United States, who contributed a huge chunk compared to the rest staying in different parts of the world.
However, the results failed to reflect the projection of the World Bank Group of Kenya’s diaspora remittances, hitting Sh286 billion, despite slow growth since 2015.

“The rate of growth of remittance inflows will rise by just 5 percent compared to a 39 percent growth between 2017 and 2018,’’ World Bank said in December 2019.

Remittances in Kenya has become the biggest source of foreign exchange, with tourism, tea, coffee, and horticultural exports, following in second, third, fourth and fifth position respectively.
Kenya Diaspora Alliance project that there will be an increase in flows by 2022 to hit Sh500 billion.

“The Kenya shilling was exchanged at Sh101.38 per US Dollar on January 16, compared to Sh101.47 on January 9,” says CBK.

Meanwhile, the money market was liquid during the previous week that ended January 16, which reflected government payments with more than offset tax remittances.
Commercial banks excess reserves stood at Sh22.5 billion in relation to the 5.25 percent cash reserves required under the review period.
CBK further said that the average number of interbank deals fell from 28 to 25 during the week while the value traded declined to Sh13.7 billion from Sh16.9 billion in the previous week.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.
He could be contacted at udohrapulu@gmail.com

English-speaking ECOWAS Countries Reject Rebranding CFA As Eco

January 18, 2020

It doesn’t look like the controversy generated by the coming on board of eco in West Africa is far from over. Six countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have rejected the eco currency adopted by eight mostly francophone countries.

“The meeting notes with concern, the declaration by the chairman of the authority of the heads of state and government of the West African Economic and Monetary Union on December 21, 2019, to unilaterally rename the CFA Franc as Eco by 2020,” the communique read.

“WAMZ convergence council wishes to emphasise that this action (is) not in line with the decision of the authority of heads of state and government of ECOWAS for the adoption of the Eco as the name of an independent ECOWAS single currency.’’

Here Is All You Need To know

Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia and Gambia, who are all English-speaking, as well as Guinea, a francophone country, stated their position on Thursday.
Eight mostly francophone countries had adopted eco as their the currency through their union, West African Economic and Monetary Union.
The six countries reached their decision at a council meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors that held in Abuja.
At the end of the meeting, delegates recommended that an extraordinary general meeting of ECOWAS heads of state and governments in the West African Monetary Zone be convened to discuss the matter.

“WAMZ convergence council reiterates the importance for all ECOWAS member countries to adhere to the decisions of the ECOWAS authority of heads of state and government towards the implementation of the revised roadmap of the ECOWAS single currency programme,” the Communique further reads.

In July, ECOWAS agreed that ‘eco’, the proposed single currency for the zone, will be launched in January 2020.
They also agreed that a flexible currency regime would be adopted.
On December 21, eight countries — Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo — announced that they would be changing from the CFA to eco.
Guinea-Bissau is Portuguese-speaking while the rest speak French as official language.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.
He could be contacted at udohrapulu@gmail.com