Announcing Africa Accelerating 2023 in Toronto: October 10-12

PRESS RELEASE

Announcing Africa Accelerating 2023 in Toronto: October 10-12

Following the success of the 2022 conference, the annual highlight of the Canada-Africa Chamber of Business calendar will bring together decision-makers in one of the world’s most dynamic cities

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TORONTO, Canada, January 10, 2023/ -- The three-day conference will address and advance the immense opportunities for rapidly accelerating Canada-Africa trade and investment ties. ‘’The 2023 conference in Toronto provides a phenomenal opportunity to welcome African business delegates to Canada’s largest city, while offering an enabling platform for networking, B2B meetings and dealmaking in and around the 3-day program,’’ said Garreth Bloor, President of The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business. Last year’s 2022 Africa Accelerating conference in Johannesburg, South Africa - sponsored by Ivanhoe Mines Ltd - took place under the theme, Leading from Africa: Toward a new global era enabled through Canada-Africa Collaboration.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was among those who addressed the event in October, joined by government heads, African Union leaders, corporate executives and entrepreneurs.

Registration for Africa Accelerating 2023 opens on 16 January 2023. 

The official theme to be announced will encompass raising investment capital, trade opportunities, new business partnerships, infrastructure, and responsible resource development - building on the track record and lessons learnt on the foundation of billons already invested into African markets, through Canada.

Africa Accelerating 2023 will once again include a live interactive virtual participation option. Plenary proceedings will be broadcast to 47 countries, with a reach of an estimated 20 million viewers – showcasing the immense opportunities for all through the acceleration of Canada-Africa trade and investment.

‘’Toronto is a gateway to North American markets and directly connected by air to the African continent,’’ noted Garreth Bloor. ‘’For all joining us in-person, our host city provides vital linkages to project partners and investors, driving the two-way trade and investment for deal-making that is at the core of our action-driven agenda for Africa Accelerating 2023.’’

The event will be hosted at the McKinsey & Company Toronto office located at 110 Charles Street West, Toronto, Canada. Interested participants seeking to join us in Toronto, including Chamber members, partners and prospective sponsors may email president@canadaafrica.ca

View 2023 Partnership Options (https://bit.ly/3CAS29U):

View Africa Accelerating 2022 (https://bit.ly/3fyXgKN) which welcomed a range of leading voices over three days, hundreds in-person and thousands of registered online attendees.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business.

SOURCE
The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business

PRESS RELEASE
Announcing Africa Accelerating 2023 in Toronto: October 10-12
Following the success of the 2022 conference, the annual highlight of the Canada-Africa Chamber of Business calendar will bring together decision-makers in one of the world’s most dynamic cities
Access Multimedia Content
TORONTO, Canada, January 10, 2023/ -- The three-day conference will address and advance the immense opportunities for rapidly accelerating Canada-Africa trade and investment ties. ‘’The 2023 conference in Toronto provides a phenomenal opportunity to welcome African business delegates to Canada’s largest city, while offering an enabling platform for networking, B2B meetings and dealmaking in and around the 3-day program,’’ said Garreth Bloor, President of The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business.		Last year’s 2022 Africa Accelerating conference in Johannesburg, South Africa - sponsored by Ivanhoe Mines Ltd - took place under the theme, Leading from Africa: Toward a new global era enabled through Canada-Africa Collaboration.

When Citizens Revolt: Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State pelted with stones

Timipre Sylva, Governor of Bayelsa State, Nigeria


Insight

When Citizens Revolt

I

T IS NO longer news that Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State, Nigeria, was pelted with stones, shoes and packets of pure water on Friday October 22, 2010. The incident occurred while the governor was delivering his formal welcome address to President Goodluck Jonathan and his entourage at the Samson Siasia Stadium, Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

Sylva’s ordeal is not without historical antecedents. On Monday December 15, 2008, barely one month to the end of his second tenure as President of the United States of America, George Walker Bush was pelted with a pair of shoes by Muntandar al-Zaidi, a reporter with a Cairo-based television network at a press conference in Baghdad. The incident marked the height of the scandals that had rocked the Bush presidency over the American invasion of Iraq.

In like manner, on Saturday September 4, 2010, an equally scandalous scenario took place in Dublin, Ireland, when former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was pelted with shoes and eggs as he arrived at a bookstore to promote his controversial memoir entitled, A Journey. That was another clear expression of disgust at the unpopular role played by Blair in the Iraqi conflict.

On its part, the Yenagoa missile drama remains a most unique occurrence because it does not have any precedent in Nigerian history. Coming as it did in the month when the state was celebrating its fourteenth birthday anniversary, and in a cardinal year of transition when Nigeria was marking her Golden Jubilee with great pomp and colour, the incident becomes even more significant for all its novelty. Needless to say, it has since gone down in world history as yet another example of what happens when a patient and long-suffering people have had enough.

What makes it all the more shocking is that this unflattering event took place right before the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria. The entire scenario becomes even more painful to contemplate in the light of the fact that the President was on his maiden visit to his home state since becoming helmsman in Nigeria, the first to emerge from the Niger Delta in the 50-year history of the nation.


Since the event, several theories have been bandied about in the popular media, and the debate continues even today on social networking sites such as Facebook. One respondent offered that the citizens of Bayelsa revolted because Sylva’s government has become one of billboards showing nothing but the face of the governor all over the state. On its part, the government of Sylva has given swift reasons as to why it was ridiculed openly, attributing the disgraceful and provocative onslaught to political opponents in the state. The Commissioner for Information has equally given assurance that security agencies are investigating the matter with a view to bringing the culprits to book.

But the plot of the story thickened when Governor Sylva held a press conference on Monday October 25, and laid the blame squarely at the feet of his cabinet members. He announced that some of his commissioners had performed abysmally, a situation that has become manifest in the general perception that his government had practically failed. According to him, the poor performance of his government is attributable to the “attitude problems” of his commissioners, some of whom he condemned as having become “mentally lazy.”

The regrettable incident, he said, was a reaction to the fact that his government lost direction after the re-run elections of April 2008. He also admitted that if his government did not abandon construction of projects following the nullification of the election results that brought him to office, the people of the state would not have had any reason to stone him during the President’s visit. The governor went further to ascribe his non-performance to a sharp drop in allocations accruing to the state from the Federation Account. It is on record, for instance, that in the first six months of 2010 alone, the government of Bayelsa received N49 Billion from the federal allocation, as against N90 Billion and N99 Billion for the neighbouring Delta and Rivers States respectively.

As may be expected, the governor’s statements have only drawn attention to the staggering fortune at the disposal of the governments in the oil producing region, in the light of which their touted achievements amount to very little. Yet, according to Sylva, profligacy is the only thing missing in his administration. Even so, he would be hard put to prove what he did substantially with the cumulative sums that have entered the coffers of the state since he came into office, before the drop in income.

At any rate, we find it gratifying that Governor Timipre Sylva was gracious enough to admit that his administration lost steam in the governance of the state, and willfully abandoned projects that were earning it some measure of credibility. It takes courage to own up to the truth, and Sylva has done so. “I lost momentum after coming back in 2008. It’s not easy,” he said.

If anything, the press conference provided one rare opportunity for the governor to acknowledge in public that his government has failed woefully to deliver the proverbial dividends of democracy that it had so lavishly promised when it came into office on May 29, 2007, advertising itself as a new generation government that had to be taken seriously. It is truly sad that it took so long for the governor to come to this realization.

While we sympathize with Governor Timipre Sylva over the stoning incident and his avowed loss of focus, the reasons he has adduced for his poor performance are debatable. That is why we are obliged to call upon the Sylva government to forgo the pursuit of its perceived enemies, and to concentrate instead on a soul-searching appraisal of its conduct since coming into office. Besides, having publicly identified the problem with his government, the governor should act timely to earn the trust of the electorate if indeed he hopes to return to office in the next dispensation.

Ultimately, the great October showdown demonstrates that the Bayelsa electorate are fully aware of the power of their votes, and are eager to express their discontent with any government that fails to perform, even if it means hauling stones to underscore their frustration. To be sure, President Goodluck Jonathan was suitably embarrassed at the turn of events, but the crowd did well to assure him of their loyalty with a cheerful rendition of solidarity songs when he stood up to speak, a clear indication that his support base is intact at the home front.

In the best tradition of a peace-loving diplomat, President Jonathan called on Bayelsans to have mercy upon Governor Sylva in much the same way that a tolerant father would call his erring children to order in a riotous household. Yet, it is worrisome that Sylva has been presiding over a complacent cabinet for so long, an executive body composed of mentally lazy bureaucrats who have virtually imposed a mentally lazy way of life on the active conscience of the good people of Bayelsa State.

It is truly disturbing that, knowing the kind of cabinet he is burdened with, Sylva has continued to tolerate mediocrity and indolence in his government, and has been compelled by brick-throwing Bayelsans to advertise his shortcomings to the world. It says a great deal about the governor’s sense of propriety and good judgment -- or lack of both -- that he should condone high-level incompetence at the expense of the state and its law-abiding citizens thus far.

When citizens revolt, it can only mean that they are tired of the policies and programmes of a government in which they had placed so much trust. The earlier Governor Timipre Sylva-Sam separates the dons from the dunces in his cabinet, the better for the land and people of Bayelsa State.


QUOTE: When citizens revolt, it can only mean that they are tired of the government in which they had placed so much trust.


~ By Nengi Josef Ilagha


About the Author:
His Royal Majesty Nengi Josef Ilagha Mingi XII, is the Amanyanabo of Nembe Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

Also recommended: Epistle to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Matters

Click here for more published works of the author.


© 2010 - Nengi Josef Ilagha Mingi XII. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be copied or reproduced in any format or medium without the prior permission of the author and copyright owner(s).

Gordon Brown Bows Out and David Cameron becomes New PM of UK

Happy Birthday to Quenn Inih Ebong, the First Lady of Nigerians Report

Gordon Brown Bows Out and David Cameron becomes New PM of UK




Gordon Brown, the former PM of the United Kingdom

Without much ado, Gordon Brown bowed out for David Cameron who moved into 10 Downing Street Tuesday as the New British Prime Minister and marking the end of the 13 years reign of the Labour Party.


David Cameron, the new PM of the United Kingdom

David Cameron who is 43 years old is the youngest British Prime Minister since 1812 and the first to lead a coalition government for seven decades

Mr. Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party will head the coalition government with the Liberal Democrats.

You can read more on the Mail Online.

I ignored the British elections, because I do not have much interest in British politics. My heart beats more for America and I reported the last U.S. Presidential Campaign and Election 24/7 and the detailed reports have resulted in my new book that is a historical documentary of the circumstances and events surrounding the phenomenal emergence of Barack Obama from 2007 to his nomination and election as the first ever black President of the United States of America.


I wish the new PM of the United Kingdom a better reign and I hope Mr. Cameron loves immigrants.


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima