IBM Boosts Africa Expansion With New Angola Office

19 Sep 2011 11:00 Africa/Lagos


IBM Boosts Africa Expansion With New Angola Office
New subsidiary demonstrates company's increased footprint in key growth markets

PR Newswire

LUANDA, Angola, Sept. 19, 2011

LUANDA, Angola, Sept. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) has announced the opening of a new branch office in Luanda, as part of the company's continued geographic expansion to increase its presence in key growth markets in support of its global strategy.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110919/NY69873-a )

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110919/NY69873-b )

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )

The Angolan arm is part of a broad programme of investment that IBM is making in Africa and follows the recent opening of new locations in Dakar, Senegal and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. This gives IBM a direct presence in more than 20 African countries, including South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria.



The expanded presence in Angola will enable IBM to increase its level of service to clients and partners across the Central African region and deliver more advanced and high-value solutions across many industries.

IBM already serves a number of key clients in Central Africa, spanning sectors including telecommunications, oil & gas, finance and government. For example in Angola, IBM is working with one of the country's major banks to help transform the institution's core banking technology infrastructure and support business growth. With a new system based on IBM Power servers and software technologies, the bank has been able to upgrade its banking services.

IBM is also working closely with other local financial institutions and oil & gas companies in Angola to improve the accuracy and security of information in the country.

"Expanding into Angola offers IBM an important business opportunity as we expand our presence throughout the African continent," said Bruno Di Leo, General Manager, IBM Growth Markets. "This demonstrates IBM's commitment to expand into new markets to provide innovative solutions for our clients and partners. Luanda is one of more than 230 IBM branch offices across 55 growth market countries."

IBM is also engaged in an active programme of corporate citizenship across Africa. Since 2008, IBM has deployed 250 of its most talented employees on projects in Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Morocco and Egypt helping to solve local problems with the aim of fostering economic development and job creation.

"By opening a direct presence in Angola and many other markets on the African continent, IBM overcomes one of the biggest barriers to entry in Africa, namely being able to offer local support and insights to their clients and business partners," says Hannes Fourie, Senior Analyst IDC, Middle East and Africa.

The Luanda office is part of IBM's Central Africa operations and will complement IBM's other branch offices in the region. IBM has supplied products and solutions to Central Africa since the 1940's, and IBM equipment was installed in Angola by the company known as Benguela Railways in 1955.

The new office was inaugurated this week at a ceremony for customers, business partners and government officials in Luanda.

About IBM
For more information on IBM, please visit:
http://asmarterplanet.com/blog/2011/06/ibm-in-africa.html

Contacts:
Arlene Wainstein
IBM External Relations, Middle East & Africa
33 (0) 1 5875-5951
Mobile: 33 (0) 672 759574
arlenewainstein@fr.ibm.com

Marie-Anne (Kui) Kinyanjui
IBM External Relations, Growth Markets Unit
254 20 283 4000
Mobile: 254 721 676 543
mariekin@ke.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM

Web Site: http://www.ibm.com


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Yemen is Burning!

Yemen is burning!
But who will save the innocent women and children?


The Yemeni uprising began when over16,000 protesters took to the steets of Sana'a on January 27 and continued in the following month in Aden in the February 3 "Day of Rage" led by Tawakel Karman. The protesters confronted the police and pro-government supporters. They wanted President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign or be toppled. And the mass defections from the military and government offices have worsened the fate of President Saleh. They rejected his pleas that he would not run for reelection in 2013 and that he would not pass power to his son. Then in the "Friday of Anger" on February 18, there were widespread demonstrations in Taiz, Sana'a and Aden and continued on the "Friday of No Return" on 11 March, 2011 and civil war looms as over 350 people have been killed and President Saleh was wounded in rocket attacks on his presidential compound Friday.


The so called Arab Spring is more of a political revolution of indignation as the masses in the Middle East are fed up with their political rulers who have failed to reform and transform their societies since they have become implicated in the terrorist attacks of al-Qa'ida and other Islamic terrorist groups rubbishing and tarnishing the reputation of Arabs. Islamic terrorism has given Arabs a bad name and majority of them are innocent of these crimes and would prefer to live better, healthier, safer and wealthier lives without the stigma and trauma of Islamic terrorism. That is why they have revolted against their totalitarian leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen with echoes in the rest of the Arab world as the masses unite in their common resolution screaming الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام‎, meaning "The people want to bring down the regime".


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

FOCUS LIBYA: G8, Gaddafi has to go

30 May 2011 13:32 Africa/Lagos


FOCUS LIBYA: G8, Gaddafi has to go

ROME, May 30, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The violence in Libya and Syria needs to stop but the “Arab Spring” must be helped, starting with support for economic and social development. The G8 Summit in Deauville, the first since the rebellions broke out in North Africa, shone the spotlight on the upheaval on the southern shores of the Mediterranean. It also set up an ad hoc fund to support the region (and more in general the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region).


“Today we launched the ‘Deauville Partnership' with the people of the region, based on our common goals for the future, in the presence of the Prime Ministers of Egypt and Tunisia, the two countries that originated the movement, and of the Secretary General of the Arab League”, reads the declaration on the Arab Spring. “We stand ready to extend this long term global Partnership to all countries of the region engaging in a transition towards free, democratic and tolerant societies (‘Partnership Countries'), beginning with Egypt and Tunisia, in association with countries wishing to support transition in the region”.


According to the Final Declaration, “this Partnership is based on two pillars: a political process to support the democratic transition and foster governance reforms, notably the fight against corruption and the strengthening of the institutions needed to ensure transparency and accountable government; and an economic framework for sustainable and inclusive growth”.


The funds will be delivered through the international financial institutions and multilateral development banks and will be linked to support for development and to the reform effort.


The G8 also calls for the immediate cessation of the use of force against civilians by the Libyan regime forces and a political solution that reflects the will of the Libyan people. It states that Gaddafi and the Libyan government have lost all legitimacy and that the Libyan leader must go. It calls on the Syrian leadership to stop using force and intimidation against the Syrian people and to engage in dialogue and fundamental reforms in response to the legitimate expression of the demands of the Syrian people.


The G8 leaders also appeal for an urgent solution in the Middle East. “We are convinced that the historic changes throughout the region make the solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through negotiations more important, not less. We urge both parties to engage without delay in substantive talks with a view to concluding a framework agreement on all final status issues”.


Source: Italy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs



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30 May 2011

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Art, People and Freedom: Artocracy in Tunisia

Art, People and Freedom: Artocracy in Tunisia

The First Community Action from JR’s InsideOut Project is Unveiled

Paris, France (April 14, 2011) /PRNewswire/ — In early March, the artist and TED Prize winner JR announced his wish to turn the world “Inside Out.” Through his InsideOut Project, JR invited people around the globe to share a photo portrait – along with a statement about what they stand for – and paste thepictures in their communities. A group of photographers and organizers in Tunisia were the first to participate in an InsideOut community project, which they named Artocracy.




Through Artocracy, six Tunisian photographers – joined by JR and his team – traveled the country in late March to take pictures and display images of more than 100 Tunisians who represent the nation’s incredible diversity: men and women of every age, profession, cultural background, and geographic location.

“For the first large street exhibition in a new Arab democracy, the pasting promised to be surprising and the confrontation with art not always simple,” said JR. “There is nothing better to understand the weight of traditions, and the willingness to change them, than to post big portraits in the symbolic places of the revolution.”



Artocracy in Tunisia is an art project initiated by Slim Zeghal and Marco Berrebi, created with a group of Tunisian photographers that include Sophia Baraket, Rania Dourai, Wissal Dargueche, Aziz Tnani, Hichem Drissand Héla Ammar.

The team of photographers and pasters spent the first day in La Goulette and the second in Tunis, where the pictures were taken down. The group then moved on to Sidi Bouzid, an isolated region where the revolution began, to work with those who helped start the revolution.

From there the team traveled to Sfax, Sidi Bouzid, and Le Kram where they met with men and women to discuss the InsideOut Project, raise objections, and eventually paste photos and share the concept with neighbors.

“This project gave hope that Tunisia will become a country as open to art as Spain after Franco or Berlin after the wall was taken down,” said JR.
About the InsideOut Project

JR’s TED Prize wish was the InsideOut Project. Using black and white photographic portraits, people can reveal personal – and perhaps untold – stories, beliefs, and convictions. By visiting www.insideoutproject.net, individuals can take a photo portrait of someone whose story they want to tell, including themselves.

After uploading the picture, along with a supporting personal statement (which can be submitted in any language), users will be mailed a poster of their portrait and asked to paste it in their local community – whether as a solitary image in an office window, among other portraits on the wall of an abandoned building, or in a full stadium. The team behind the InsideOutProject also helps connect participants who want to organize community pastings, which will be documented, archived and viewable virtually. Artocracy was the first community organized InsideOut project.

Learn more about JR and the TED Prize here: www.tedprize.org and www.jr-art.net
###

Media Contact:
MARGARET SULLIVAN
GROUP SJR
646.833.0205
msullivan@groupsjr.com

Bye, Bye Mubarak

The Egyptian zealots of Tahrir Square have won!

I salute the brave zealots of Tahrir Square in Cairo who stood their ground against the draconian laws of President Hosni Mubarak.

The will of the people of Egypt has prevailed over the evil reign of President Hosni Mubarak as he surrendered and handed over power to military. This is the end of the kleptomaniac government of one of the most corrupt rulers in Africa.

The wind of change began blowing from Tunisia three weeks ago and sent President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali packing. Now the second autocratic government to fall is that of Hosni Mubarak. Who is next?



The wind of change blowing in North Africa will spread to the rest of Africa and will be welcomed in Zimbabwe where the life president Robert Mugabe will either resign in peace or be disgraced out of office.


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

Our Revolution will be Live on the CNN

Nigerians protest against corruption

As Prof. John Oshodi has analyzed in the following article on the premonition of a popular political revolution in Nigeria as the masses are revolting against oppressive regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, I know that our own revolution will be live on the CNN.

~ The Publisher/Editor




As Revolutionary Anxiety Grips Africa, the Nigerian Masses of Different Ethnic and Religious Backgrounds Must React With Supportive and Peaceful Expressions

As peaceful uprising fills the air of Africa, the days and weeks ahead could pose questions for other near and far countries in the continent, and underneath the turmoil are traces of corruption, unemployment, underemployment, brutality, dangerousness and lawlessness.

These painful factors remain realistic and vivid in the hearts of ordinary Nigerians, and these are tests for the power-that-be, who find themselves constantly being suspicious of each other, cruel to each other, killing each other, bribing each other, mis-educating each other, lying to each other and pilfering from each other.

These daunting and never-ending forces and pressures on the people have in the last decade created gross societal and institutional neglect as evidenced in squandered treasury, deadly roads, school mismanagement, oil exploitation, inadequate healthcare, rampant violence, electric supply instability, poor policing, and other misguided institutions.

Nigeria has become a country where accountability, transparency, objectivity and high standards in governmental and private practices are almost void, and leadership is defined in fragility due to being accountable mainly to godfathers/godmothers rather to the people.

These signs of institutional tensions should bring the people together in spite of their regional, socio-economic, ethnic and religious differences, and help create a peaceful uprising, protest and revolution. It now appears that the people have in the process internalized these leadership problems and tensions, and as a consequence are turning against each other, resulting in peculiar or abnormal practices as in kidnapping, religious violence, family brutality, cult slaying, ethnic strain, cash laundering, and general insecurities.

The painful and recent history of poor law and order, and the shaky political/economic insecurity, which mainly threatens the lives of ordinary Nigerians, the students, market women and struggling workers especially, makes it proper for a revolution which must be constructive and peaceful with a focus on provoking positive change.

The Nigerian people are known for just wanting to live their lives, and as we all know rallies, protests and outcry for social justice have not traditionally been a part of their collective or individual psyche. So the desire to spontaneously express and peacefully lash out against spoiled Nigerian leadership will not be easy to reveal itself.

But what is clear is that the signs to anticipate popular outcry for change appears to around the corner, and as the April elections draw near the people will be justified to demand for their right and freedom through a participatory, responsive and God-fearing democracy.

A national unity among demonstrators will have more power if good-faith Nigerians in the Diaspora, in America particularly, tell those at home that help is on the way, and actually go home, and present a show of collective force against leadership who need to be held to higher standards.

As we all know April, May, and June are fast coming and the world is watching as to when change will be in the air in Nigeria!

~ By John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D , DABPS, FACFE, is a Forensic/Clinical Psychologist and an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Science, North Campus, Broward College, Coconut Creek, Florida. joshodi@broward.edu

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Statements by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton on Tunisia and Egypt

29, 2011




Thousands of Egyptians break a curfew to continue their protests against President Hosni Mubarak.

© 2011 Reuters


28 Jan 2011 21:23 Africa/Lagos


Statements by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton on Tunisia and Egypt

PR Newswire

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2011

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, today made the following statement on Tunisia:

"I spoke earlier today with the newly appointed Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Ounaies.

I congratulated the Minister on his appointment and confirmed the EU's solidarity with the

Tunisian people in their efforts to build a stable and pluralistic democracy with full respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights and freedoms. I expressed the EU's hope that the transitional Government will be able to organize free and fair democratic parliamentary and presidential elections as soon as possible. I welcomed the liberation of political prisoners and I stressed that freedom of association and legalization of all political parties are key components for the transition.

I confirmed the EU's readiness to provide its assistance and expertise for the preparation and organization of the electoral process and political reforms. I underscored the need to help and empower the civil society. The EU will review and update its strategy and assistance. I also emphasized the EU's commitment to continue our economic cooperation and the need for investors to redouble their confidence in Tunisia.

Minister Ounaies and I agreed to meet in the coming days.

The Tunisian Foreign Minister welcomed the EU's engagement and the offer to accompany his country's transition towards democracy with assistance."

Regarding the situation in Egypt, High Representative Ashton stated:

"I have followed very closely and with profound concern the reports of increased violence, clashes and arrests during today's demonstrations in Egypt.

The continued use of force against demonstrators by police and state security forces is deeply troubling. In order to avoid further deterioration of the situation in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt, and to avoid more casualties, I reiterate my call on all parties to exercise restraint and calm and I urge the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all peaceful demonstrators from detention.

I also reiterate my call upon the Egyptian authorities to urgently establish a constructive and peaceful way to respond to the legitimate aspirations of Egyptian citizens for democratic and socioeconomic reforms.

I will discuss these developments with my colleagues in the Foreign Affairs Council meeting on

Monday in Brussels."

SOURCE Delegation of the European Union to the United States

CONTACT: Silvia Kofler, +1-202-862 9523, or Kasper Zeuthen, +1-202-862 9530, both of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States

Web Site: http://www.eurunion.org

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