President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr., delivered a compelling Keynote address highlighting Liberia’s investment potential at the 124th National Black Business Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on August 23, 2024.

The President’s message focused on the vast opportunities for investors, particularly businesses, to leverage Liberia’s natural wealth.

He highlighted the country’s fertile land and favorable climate, offering significant potential for agricultural investments, especially in rice production.

With a substantial portion of Liberia’s rice consumption being imported, the Liberian Leader emphasized the critical need for its local production and downstream processing.

He also underscored the significant contribution of cash crops such as rubber, cocoa, coffee, and oil palm to the growth of the agriculture sector, presenting positing investment avenues.

Moreover, he welcomed investors to explore the investment potential across various sectors in Liberia, reiterating the country’s commitment to fostering a business-friendly environment.

Outlining Liberia’s A.R.R.E.S.T Agenda, the President emphasized the Government’s focus on critical interventions in agriculture, infrastructure, education, health, and tourism to spur economic growth and development.

He extended an invitation to the attendees, encouraging them to consider Liberia as an open and promising destination for investment opportunities.

President Boakai emphasized the enduring legacy of the shared journey and the impact it has had on mutual aspirations for progress and prosperity and commended the conference as not only a platform to promote black business enterprise but also a celebration of the remarkable ties across the Atlantic.

The Liberian Chief Executive paid homage to Booker T. Washington, acknowledging his profound influence on Liberia and the broader African American experience. He highlighted the establishment of the Booker T. Washington Institute in Liberia as a testament to Washington’s vision for education, economic empowerment, and self-reliance, inspiring generations of Liberians to pursue education and business endeavors.

In closing, the President highlighted Liberia as an attractive investment destination, showcasing the country’s commitment to partnering with black businesses and investors for mutual economic advancement and prosperity.

The address was marked by warm greetings to the attendees and highlighted the deep ties that link the people of the African continent with those in the African Diaspora.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of Liberia: Executive Mansion.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has assigned shareholder responsibility for each of the state-owned enterprises that previously fell under the Department of Public Enterprises to the respective line-function Ministries.

President Ramaphosa has signed proclamations which, in terms of Section 97 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996, transfer the administration, powers and functions entrusted by the specified legislation as follows:
–    Alexkor: Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources
–    Denel: Minister of Defence and Military Veterans
–    Eskom: Minister of Electricity and Energy
–    Safcol: Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment
–    South African Airways: Minister of Transport
–    South African Express: Minister of Transport
–    Transnet: Minister of Transport

In addition, certain sections of the Overvaal Resorts Limited Act of 1993 and Overvaal Resorts Limited Act Repeal Act of 2019 are vested with the Minister of Water and Sanitation.

The President has signed a proclamation appointing the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation as the executive authority of the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), which will continue to exist and operate until the human and financial resources are transferred appropriately. This appointment empowers the Minister to exercise with respect to DPE all relevant powers and functions under the Public Service Act of 1994 and the Public Finance Management Act of 1999. 

The Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation has also been assigned the responsibility to finalise the National State Enterprise Bill, which will set out the exercise of shareholder responsibility for respective SOEs which will be transferred in a phased manner into the envisaged national enterprise holding company.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa.

The Directorate of Financial Reporting&Grants, under the Department of Internal Services of the ECOWAS Commission, organized an Inter-Offices Working Session from August 19th to 23rd, 2024, in Abuja, Nigeria. This session brings together financial services staff from ECOWAS Representative Offices across the region.

The primary objective of the meeting is to conduct inter-office reconciliations, clear long-standing advances, and update the financial books and records of the Offices.

This critical working session is very strategic and will also facilitate constructive dialogue between the Finance Directorate and the finances representatives to address specific objectives, including Inter-office reconciliations. Monthly reconciliation via financial reporting templates, Analysis of monthly schedules for inter-office and vendor accounts, Monthly reconciliation of bank statements and submission to the Commission, Regularization of advances and Practical discussions on issues raised in previous audits.

The meeting will also develop an action plan to ensure seamless closing processes and reconciliations in the future.

Mrs. Arroua Viviane FAYS, speaking on behalf of Mr. Ahmadou Oury BALDE, Director of Financial Reporting&Grants at the ECOWAS Commission, expressed her best wishes for productive and collaborative sessions. She emphasized the importance of sharing experiences to facilitate reconciliation efforts and harmonize good accounting and financial best practices across ECOWAS Representative Offices.

Mrs. FAYS also reiterated the Directorate’s commitment to ongoing efforts to reconcile financial statements with ECOWAS Representative Offices, aligning with the ECOWAS Vision 2050.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Thirty young men and women from across Libya joined UNSMIL disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) experts on Thursday to share their ideas and recommendations on how to implement a DDR process in Libya based on international standards.

The group continually raised the impact of political and security instability on youth in Libya and stressed that there needed to be dialogue between different actors, armed groups, and a unified legal, security and political structure for a legitimate process to be implemented. They added that there currently was not a conducive environment in Libya for an effective DDR process to take place.

“Integrated DDR processes are multi-stakeholder efforts comprising different, interlinked combinations of DDR programmes and related tools, to complement traditional DDR including community violence reduction” said Aicha Kort, UNSMIL DDR Officer. “These are part of the UN system’s multidimensional approach, which contributes to the transitioning from conflict to sustainable peace. In theory, DDR mandates seem very simple, but the implementation is much more complex. Every single challenge needs tailored engagement.”

Through discussions in breakout groups, the young men and women in the workshop made the following recommendations:

Libya needs unified security, military and governmental institutions.
The UN should consider renewed language and resolutions regarding standards, guidelines, and operating procedures for integrated DDR and embargo violations.
The UN needs to support an enhanced national dialogue between armed groups and all Libyan parties, moderated by a third party, to build consensus and develop a comprehensive and inclusive integrated DDR process for the future.
Provide space for youth in the political sphere though a quota, allowing them to engage in decision-making discussions.
Guarantee alternative economic opportunities for youth engaged in armed groups.
Awareness campaigns about demobilization and reducing the acceptance of armed groups need to be run within the communities most affected by them.
Increase coordination between stakeholders working on this issue and increase youth engagement within CSOs so that they are more aware of rights and civic space instead of joining armed groups.
Provide psychosocial support to members of armed groups to help them reintegrate into society.
Support development of a national policy framework for DDR and provide capacity building within government.
A smaller approach could be piloted with armed groups in the Western region to build support for a larger process across communities.

“Libyan society is too accepting currently of the armed groups,” said one participant. “They are being used to resolve disputes and some families are even proud that their children are involved in them,” said the participant.

Participants said that the current instability meant that armed groups were not going to demobilize or disarm and that this disproportionately affected youth. “Without commitment from all parties, DDR in Libya will face significant challenges,” they said, adding that, nothing could really be achieved without political consensus, as well as broad community participation.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).