The protracted closure of Nigeria’s borders with the Republic of Benin which governments on both sides of the divide have kept mute on likely date of opening is causing untold hardships to businesses in both countries. What is more worrying however is the negative impact of the unilateral action the Nigerian government took last month on the economy of the West African region. Many goods worth billions of naira have been trapped at both border posts since the closure while demurrage has been mounting to the tune of hundreds of millions of naira. Also, there are indications that costs of Rice and frozen foods have also skyrocketed in Nigeria, while importers in Benin Republic have been counting their losses as their goods were trapped in the melee.

The government of Nigeria said that the border was closed to checkmate huge influx of smuggled Rice into Nigeria from Benin Republic, which according to government sources, is hurting efforts being made to grow local rice production in Nigeria. The decision however, is affecting many other businesses and even socio-cultural activities as the closure has made it impossible for many people and families that traverse the border so often to do so. When the Border was shut down on the 21^st of August 2019, many travelers were left stranded on both sides of the Border because the action was impromptu. Some had to return back while those on return journey had no option that to remain within the Border posts of both countries. This decision according to our investigations was informed by the fact that many of the travelers were from third party countries such as Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire among others and as tension built up, officials fearing altercations may arise leading to riots appealed to higher authorities to allow such travelers access through the border to douse tension, and also minimize the human traffic buildup at both sides of the Border.

It was after concerted efforts by relatives and colleagues of people stranded at the border posts that it was agreed that all travelers with genuine travel documents should be allowed to go through the border. This came as huge relief for many who otherwise, would have remained locked out at the border.

While sources from the Nigerian government say that the closure was due to a joint military/para-military exercise code-named ‘Ex-Swift Response’ put together at the instance of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) aimed at addressing some of the security challenges facing the nation, some Customs officials speaking under anonymity maintained that the closure was basically to curb the influx of smuggled Rice and other banned goods from Benin Republic to Nigeria. The exercise therefore was in response to the need to keep in check the unbridled imports of such goods that have become a threat to the country’s efforts to industrialization and agricultural revolution.

Babagana Monguno, National Security Adviser

The Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Deputy Comptroller Joseph Attah was quoted as saying that the exercise was part of measures aimed at securing  Nigeria’s land and maritime borders, pointing out that the Ex-Swift Response is a joint operation which involved the armed forces, made up of the Army, Navy, and Air Force on one hand, and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and other security and intelligence agencies. Enumerating the challenges which the ongoing measures are meant to combat, the Customs Spokesperson said they are kidnapping, arms smuggling, terrorism, banditry, proliferation of small arms and light weapons, crude oil theft and human trafficking.

He added that the Exercise would hold in four geopolitical zones – South-south, South-west, North-central and North-west, those that share Border States with Nigeria’s neighbouring countries, and that it would definitely affect movement of personnel, vehicles and equipment within the affected parts of the country. He therefore admonished members of the public not to panic while going about their normal duties. The overall objective he concluded is for the good of the country, and is aimed at ensuring a peaceful and secure country in the interest of our national security.

Inspite of these clarifications members of the public especially business people have been agitated by the action. This is because the cumulative costs of that action on businesses and the economy in general have remained high. A source from the Ministry of Development and Planning of the Republic of Benin was quoted as saying that the overall impact of the border post closure will have a negative effect on the country’s economic growth projections.

This is because Nigeria is Benin Republic’s biggest trading partner and neighbor with goods worth millions of dollars traversing between both countries on daily basis, thus any act that disrupts this movement will have untold consequences not only to the economies of Benin Republic and that of Nigeria but also other neighbouring countries in the sub region such as Togo, Ghana, and Cote d’Ivoire because the region’s economic growth is dependent to a large extent, on the Economic Community of West African States treaty on free movement of goods and services, moreso, the borders of both country play a very important role on the Lagos-Dakar Corridor.

Responding to the above assertion, a top official of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Abuja who would not want to be mentioned because he does not have the authority to speak on such matters told this Correspondent that there are outstanding issues between the government of Nigeria, and the government of Benin, adding that that was reason behind the meeting between President Mohammadu Buhari and his Beninese counterpart President Patrice Talon in Japan during the just concluded Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development (TICAD) in Japan. He pointed out that the Government of Benin Republic has refused to honour all the trade agreements entered into by both countries, giving example with the Beninese Customs that has refused to adhere to the recently introduced interconnectivity agreement meant to facilitate seamless trade at the border.

This agreement he noted was initiated to eradicate smuggling, wrong declaration of cargo and other anti-economic vices, and to facilitate trade between Nigeria and Benin, but the Beninese government has been foot-dragging of signing that agreement, he said. Continuing, he said that this agreement, which is in line with the ECOWAS Protocole on movement of goods, would have offered Customs officials from both countries unhindered access to electronic data on goods transiting the border and the duty paid on them. He concluded that the only plausible explanation to their refusal to sign the agreement is that they are gaining from the criminal activities going on at the borders while Nigeria has been at the losing end for the last 30 years. Time has come to address this anomaly, he said.

Collaborating the above views, a Customs Official who has very good knowledge of both Seme and Idiroko Borders told this Correspondent that the Beninese authorities are also frustrating efforts by the Nigeria government to clean up activities at the Border by pulling the plug on smuggling while creating ease of movement to genuine goods from both countries, this however, is yet to materialize as the Beninese frustrates the movement legitimately  made-in-Nigeria goods into their country by throwing in clogs in the wheel of existing bilateral and multilateral agreements.  If Nigeria’s effort at growing local production and reindustrialization must be fruitful, how the country manages its relationship with Benin Republic should be of priority, analysts say. A Lecturer at the Lagos State University, Ojo who spoke on the issues warned that if not properly handled, it may be counterproductive as basic food items may become out of reach to many people leading to food inflation.

Lending his voice to the issue, the Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Muda Yusuff has condemned the decision to shut down the Border as being inimical to efforts by different multilateral organizations in the continent such as the African Union, ECOWAS, and the African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) to boost inter-state trade, commerce and investment within the continent. “It is very unfair and not good for business. Those doing business at the borders should have been adequately informed and given prior notice before the closure,” he added.

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.

There are growing concerns that Proptech which has become a growing trend across Africa will finally disrupt the continents real estate sector in ways never before envisaged by both real estate practitioners, developers and the general public. Proptech which is the use of information technology (IT) to help individuals and companies research, buy, sell and manage real estate though still in its growing stage has got to a level that major actors in the industry have taken notice of its disruptive tendencies in Africa. Described as the Uber of real estate, there are about 6,000 Proptech firms registered globally and this new frontier will play a key role across every aspect of real estate on the continent.

This becomes more apparent as a lot of startups especially in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, and Botswana are pioneering the use of digital technology to leapfrog ahead and overcome traditional market challenges, such as land titles, mortgages, leasing, tenants, while also providing greater improved data and transparency for investors seeking to invest in new markets and assets.

Analysts say that funding for Proptech has grown significantly from $20 million in 2008 to an average of $12BN annually since 2016 with the number startups and seed funding rising each year. This is basically why the upcoming Africa Proptech Forum taking place in Johannesburg South Africa is attracting a lot of attention from across the continent. Organisers say the Forum will provide select Startups with an opportunity to pitch their disruptive business models to Africa’s most high-profile real estate investors and developers.

This opportunity to ‘pitch’ to a high profile and diverse gathering of capital players is fundamental to the growth of this emerging sector according to the organisers, especially as more and more venture capital funds look to Africa’s growing markets for the next big Unicorn.

“There is more capital available, and this year we will have a number of investors attending and two of our keynote speakers include Clive Butkow of Kalon Partners and Ashwin Ravichandran, the Managing Director of African tech incubator MEST.”

With both having recently closing significant seed funds transactions with Kalon investing $660,000 in Flow, a South African Proptech Firm, and MEST confirming the African 11 startups that will receive $100,000.000 in funding by what is one of Africa’s influential tech incubators. The rampant proliferation of Proptech, and subsequent investment, is due to the inherent ‘vertical’ integration opportunity between real estate and technology across the entire value chain.

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.

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 Mohamed Fuaad Daboh believes businesses cannot grow without trust backed by strategy. That is why since he was vested with the day-to-day administration of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), the agency empowered to administer Sierra Leone’s National Pensions Scheme and to provide retirement and other benefits to meet the contingency needs of workers and their dependants, and he has raised the stakes. In this interview with Kelechi Deca, he highlights the issues at stake. Excerpts.

NASSIT was established by an Act of Parliament to provide retirement and other benefits to meet the contingency needs of workers and their dependants. To what extent would you say this has been met?

NASSIT is a well-conceived scheme, and it took off very well. There have been challenges over time, as a result of a number of risky investments that didn’t sit well with the public, as well as other issues bordering on the operations of the scheme. Since we arrived here, we have taken a number of steps to enhance our capacity to deliver on our mandate and to also earn public trust.  While we continue to address these challenges, I can state with a level of confidence that we are capable of paying benefits to members without compromising the sustainability of funds, and we will continue to touch the lives of Sierra Leoneans, members and non-members of the scheme alike.

How would you describe the NASSIT scheme, what distinguishes it from other social security schemes operating in the country?

Unlike other schemes operating in the country that are mostly tax-based financed or donor-driven, NASSIT is a partly funded scheme, where members contribute while employed and receive benefits when they face social risks or on retirement. It is partly funded by employers.

In this age when technology is pivotal to virtually every area of life, how has NASSIT deployed technology in its operations?

Oh, you and I would agree that ICT is the way of the world in every sector, and social security administration is no exception. Timely and accurate payment of benefits is one area where the scheme has employed efficient and effective ICT support. Also, ICT has also been very useful in enhancing and maintaining beneficiary records, which improves the benefit payment systems. We have, over the years used technology to modernize operations through the establishment of the Electronic Documentation and Records Management System (EDRMS). This will lead to the full operationalization of an efficient biometric registration and verification system. We are also working on a complete replacement of our current Pensions Operating System (NAPOSII) with a highly efficient web-based Integrated Biometrics Pension Administration System that has the capacity to improve on our institutional efficiency.

The New Direction of President Maada Bio is keen on reducing poverty and enhancing the welfare of citizens. What is the role of NASSIT, as a social insurance scheme, in achieving this national objective?

We are aware that poverty reduction is a central policy objective of the Government of His Excellency Rtd. Brigadier Julius Maada Bio. Over the years, NASSIT has been very efficient in providing support to our members to mitigate the social and economic risks that push many individuals and families into poverty. Realizing that health shock is also one of the reasons why households fall into poverty, we have been taking the lead, as an institution, to establish a Social Health Insurance Scheme that particularly addresses health issues in the country.

You assumed leadership as DG of NASSIT slightly over a year ago, what would you like to highlight as key achievement that you have made and what are your immediate future plans for the institution?

My appointment as Director General of NASSIT in May 2018 came at a time when the institution was experiencing serious challenges and needed strong leadership. With this in mind, my initial action upon assuming office was to undertake structural reforms and policy decisions that would lay a stronger foundation for the efficient running of the scheme.  We have redirected our focus to the Trust’s core business, namely, operations and benefits payments. We have developed a well thought-out Strategic Plan that will guide our actions in the next three years (2019 – 2021). We have also rebranded the image of the Trust, particularly in the area of service delivery. I am also determined to ensure that the scheme remains sufficiently liquid to meet its statutory obligations, even in the long-run.

NASSIT is one of the most important institutional investors in the country, with strategic stake in projects ranging from the agribusiness to the tourism sector – a function that some sectors of the society seem not to understand completely. What are NASSIT’s main criteria at the time of deciding in which projects to invest?

Investment is at the heart of the strategy of the scheme. It is crucial to the attainment of equilibrium, the solvency and the overall financial wellbeing of the scheme. One thing the public should know is that all investments are guided by the NASSIT Act. As always, investment decisions are made through the lens of safety, liquidity and yield of the investment, as well as its value and spread, the maintenance of the fund and the diversification of the investment portfolio.

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.

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Jean-Jacques Muyembe is not your run of the mill medical doctor. And he is unlike any White Coat wearing Scientist. He is known as The Ebola Hunter, in a similar manner like the Hurricane Hunters of North America. His enthusiasm at uprooting the Ebola Virus became a sort of an obsession such that he dedicated 43 years of his career towards finding solution to the ravaging Ebola Virus since 1976 when the Virus was first discovered in his native Congo Democratic Republic (DRC). His activities in the field of virology have earned him a lot of accolades both within Africa and outside the continent.

The year 2015 turned out to be a big turning point for a man who has spent all his life as a medical doctor and also as a career virologist with the caliber of awards and prizes he won that year. First, he won the Christophe Mérieux Prize to study further research in the Congo. Same year he was awarded the Royal Society Africa Prize “for his seminal work on viral hemorrhagic fevers which includes Ebola. That study according to scientists who have been working in the field of viral hemorrhagic fevers and virology generated the foundation for a deeper understanding of the epidemiology, clinical manifestations and control of outbreaks of these viral infections, mostly in Africa. In same 2015, Dr. Muyembe was equally awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2015 International Symposium on Filoviruses. And in 2018 he was named as one of Nature’s Top 10 Personalities in the world.

Dr. Muyembe had a very humble background. Growing up is a poor rural community where it took the intervention of the Jesuits to see him through school because his parents could not foot for his education bills from their meager resources. His contributions to the field of medicine could be described as one of the most inspiring stories on giving back to humanity, from someone whose life was greatly impacted by humanity.

It is but a twist of fate that Ebola, which was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is also going to face its demise through the instrumentation of the genius of a man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). A man whose entire life could be said to have revolved round finding a cure to the disease as scientists all over the world have been at a loss as to where Ebola virus comes from. However, based on the nature of similar viruses, they believe the virus is animal-borne, with bats being the most likely source. The bats carrying the virus can transmit it to other animals, like apes, monkeys, duikers and humans.

Of all the health epidemics that have hit the African continent, none was as feared and as immediately devastating as the Ebola Virus. Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), a rare and deadly disease most commonly affecting people and nonhuman primates (monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees) is caused by an infection with a group of viruses within the genus Ebolavirus. But of the six known Ebolavirus, only four (Ebola, Sudan, Taï Forest, and Bundibugyo viruses) are known to cause disease in people. Reston virus is known to cause disease in nonhuman primates and pigs, but not in people. It is unknown if Bombali virus, which was recently identified in bats, causes disease in either animals or people.

Growing up in Bandundu Province of Congo and was educated by the Jesuits. Dr. Muyembe studied medicine at the Lovanium University in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he became interested in microbiology and graduated in 1962. In his quest for more knowledge in the field of Virology, he earned a PhD in virology at the University of Leuven in Belgium, working on viral infections with mouse models. Unlike many highly educated Africans of that era, he returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1973 and worked in outbreak control. In 1974 there was a cholera outbreak in Matadi, which was the first crisis that Muyembe worked on. From then on, his enthusiasm, and passion was kindled, and he has never looked back.

He was appointed the Dean of the University of KinshasaMedical School in 1978. In 1981 Muyembe joined the Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal, working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study the ebola and marburg virus. In 1998 he was made the Director of the Democratic Republic of the Congo National Institute for Biomedical Research. He has acted as an adviser to the World Health Organization Emergency Committee on ebola. Here he leads 15 researchers studying sleeping sickness, bas-Congo virus and the ebola. He has advised political leadership in West Africa.

His first contact with the Ebola Virus was at a Belgian hospital in Yambuku in 1979, using very unconventional means, he used a long steel rod to collect liver biopsies from three nuns who had died of the Virus, unfortunately, the findings from that initial experimentation turned inconclusive, but Dr. Muyembe was undeterred. It was as if the first contract to seal the fate of the Ebola Virus was signed that day.

As legendary Bob Marley sang, “he who fights and run away, lives to fight another day”, that encounter with the Ebola Virus was a turning point for Dr. Muyembe, he became the first scientist in the world to come into contact with the virus and survive. As some of his friends joked, Ebola Virus biggest mistake was its failure to kill Dr. Muyembe, because Muyembe would grow to becomes a menace to the Virus, but that was after the Virus had taken a huge toll on Africa, wrecking havocs from central to the tip of west Africa, bringing economies to its knees while wiping out several villages.

Without Dr. Muyembe’s intervention, the world would not have known what it knows about Ebola Virus when it knew it, because it was the blood samples he collected from a sick nurse that was later sent for analysis at the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, and then to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where Peter Piot discovered Ebola Virus as a new filoviridae.

Before Dr. Muyembe’s invention ZMapp was the available drugs used during the massive Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. But with this development, it has been dropped along with Remdesivir after two monoclonal antibodies, which block the virus, had substantially more effect. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases which co-sponsored the trial of the drugs said that all Ebola treatment units will now use the two monoclonal antibody drugs.

Declaring the death of the Ebola Virus ability to inflict such mass health scare again, Jean-Jacques Muyembe enthused that “from now on, we will no longer say that Ebola is incurable.” Dr Muyembe, who is the director general of the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale in DRC, which has overseen the trial, added that “these advances will help save thousands of lives.” He noted that “now that 90% of their patients can go into the treatment centre and come out completely cured, they will start believing it and building trust in the population and community”.

“This trial – the first-ever multi-drug randomised trial for Ebola – has happened despite such highly complex and challenging circumstance,” said Dr Jeremy Farrar, the director of Wellcome and the co-chair of the WHO Ebola therapeutics group. “A long-running outbreak like this takes a terrible toll on the communities affected and it is a sign of just how difficult this epidemic has been to control that there have already been enough patients treated to tell us more about the efficacy of these four drugs.”

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.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

A couple of weeks ago, the announcement of the appointment of US-based Nigerian Doctor, Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye as Surgeon-In-Chief at America’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio once more brought to the fore the emergence of scholars and professionals of African descent as forces to reckon with across the world. This announcement highlights the growing profile of Dr. Oluyoye who few years ago was part of a team that carried out a surgery on a baby in-utero in a Texas hospital in 2016. That was a medical feat as such had not been recorded anywhere before then. That great medical procedure was achieved by saving the baby’s life by taking her out of her mother’s womb at 23 weeks old, and cutting off the tumor, then placing her back into the mum’s womb safely. Such was the type of wire edge medical procedures the genius of Dr. Olutoye gets entangled with.

Dr. Olutoye received his medical degree from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, in 1988 and his PhD in anatomy from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA, in 1996. He completed his residency in general surgery at the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, Virginia Commonwealth University, and his fellowship in pediatric surgery at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pa. Dr. Olutoye is a member of the International Fetal Medicine and Surgery Society and is a Fellow of the Surgical Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics and American College of Surgeons; he is also a Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons.

In his new role as the Surgeon-in-Chief, Dr. Olutoye will lead one of the largest children’s hospital surgery departments in the world. Through his leadership of 11 surgical departments, Dr. Olutoye will work to advance Nationwide Children’s common mission, philosophy and approach to excellence in patient care, dedication to outstanding clinical outcomes, commitment to academic excellence and education of the next generation of leaders in children’s surgery. This new appointment equally guarantees him a professorship and the E. Thomas Boles Chair of Pediatric Surgery at The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine while serving as the primary surgical liaison between Nationwide Children’s and the Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Speaking on this development, Dr. Richard J. Brilli, Chief Medical Officer at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Ohio said that the entire management and staff of the institution is tremendously delighted to welcome Dr. Olutoye to the Hospital to further elevate the visibility and reputation of one of the best overall children’s surgical programs in the country that, through its clinical care and research, is forging the future of children’s surgery. Dr. Brilli added that having a world-renowned fetal and pediatric surgeon join the Hospital’s leadership team will further advance Nationwide Children’s commitment to establishing a preeminent fetal surgery program.

Responding to his appointment, DR. Olutoye said that he was happy to be opportune to join such a great leadership team at Nationwide Children’s Hospital because of the institution’s highly respected and outstanding integrated research and clinical programs. Continuing, he said that the Hospital is a leader in improving pediatric health outcomes with a seminal work in healthcare quality and patient safety. This appointment according to him will offer him the opportunities to help build upon an already impressive “success of surgical services to help children around the country and increasingly around the world. I look forward to the privilege of leading and collaborating with this team in the next phase of our journey,” he noted.

Before joining Nationwide Children’s, Dr. Olutoye was the co-director of the Fetal Center and the immediate past president of the medical staff at Texas Children’s Hospital. While at Texas Children Hospital, he was a tenured Professor of Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Pediatrics, and Chair of the Faculty Senate. Dr. Olutoye is bringing with him, specialized clinical expertise in fetal and neonatal surgery. Fetal surgeons according to medical analysts, work closely with obstetricians and maternal-fetal medicine specialists to provide exceptional care for babies who need surgery in-utero and to improve outcomes for a range of conditions such as congenital diaphragmatic hernia, spina bifida and other congenital anomalies.

Add to his much celebrated clinical expertise, Dr. Olutoye leads a well established research program which focuses on the role of the inflammatory response in scarless fetal wound healing, in-utero correction of severe congenital malformations, and the early detection of necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants.

Dr. Olutoye’s rise to medical stardom has been one of upward and forward. He was certified by the American Board of Surgery in Surgery and Pediatric Surgery. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the West African College of Surgeons. Dr. Olutoye is a member of the American Surgical Association, the American Pediatric Surgical Association and past president of the International Fetal Medicine and Surgery Society.

Dr. Olutoye is truly blazing the trail in a profession that would lay solid foundation in a way that it will have a solid and very positive impact on upcoming African professionals.

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.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/