YOUSSOU N'DOUR RETURNS TO SFINKS FESTIVAL

Youssou N'Dour

As large and updated as African music is, one of the names making African music popular is Youssou N'dour. His regal garment in the Senegalese mbalax is thicker than any esteemed armor meant to be achieved in the vibrant Tama, percussion, and marimba-influenced style.

A good product truly doesn't need any advertising. Youssou has dominated African music for over two decades. He has played, toured widely, and collaborated with many international singers. Sfinks festival is not a new place for him.

Youssou played there a couple of years ago. Surprisingly, the 35th edition of this year's festival has brought him back to the podium to entertain the people.

Youssou has succeeded in transporting mbalax to the far extreme of the global platform. His concerts in Europe and America attract a large audience. 

Born in Dakar, Senegal 1959, N'dour is a singer endowed with a remarkable range and poise as a composer and producer. He absorbs the entire Senegal musical spectrum in his work.

Named "African artist of the century" by the English publication Folk Roots, at the threshold of the year 2000, Youssou has made mbalax famous throughout the world for more than twenty years of recording and touring in Senegal.

He remains a revered figure in his country and in the ever-growing worldwide Senegalese diaspora. 

He has a duet with many international stars, including Peter Gabriel and Neneh Cherry. For more information on his second appearance at the Sfinks festival, go to http://www.sfink.be/.

THE ROLE OF SWISS BANK AIDING CORRUPTION IN AFRICA

Ex-Nigerian leader Sani Abacha stole millions of dollars from the country and deposited them in foreign banks.



Dishonesty, immorality, decay, and accepting bribes summed up to corruption, which is an epidemic in many parts of the world, including Africa. 

Every year, large sums of money stolen from the coffers in Africa end up at Swiss Banks, other parts of Europe, and the United States of America. Hypocrisy is a national phenomenon. 

Most European leaders keep on attacking and criticizing African leaders about corruption; however, they are quite happy about what’s going on due to the benefits of the stolen money in Europe.

The exploitation of Africa has taken place in many ways by the Europeans. Slavery was a historical exploitation, whilst assisting or helping corrupt leaders to deposit money in developed countries is the modern version of exploitation. 

They use that money to finance their projects while Africa wallows in poverty. Yet they tagged Africa a corrupt continent while they chose 'misappropriation of funds' to refer to their own corrupt, immoral standard in Europe. 

Every penny taken from state funds in Africa hinders and retards its development, and it was a mark of double standards to label African leaders as corrupt, and be ready safe-keepers of looted funds.

Arguably, Switzerland has one of the best banking systems in the world, and this unique system has attracted to that country's banks a chunk of global foreign financial lodgments. Unfortunately, over the years, a large number of depositors included people with dubious sources of wealth, especially from Africa. 

According to a report from Global Financial Integrity, total illicit outflows from Africa between 1970 to 2008 may be as high as $1.8 trillion; Sub-Saharan African countries experienced the bulk of illicit financial outflows, with the West and Central African region posting the largest outflow numbers. 

The top five countries with the highest outflow measured were: Nigeria ($89.5 billion), Egypt ($70.5 billion), Algeria ($25.7 billion), Morocco ($25 billion), and South Africa ($24.9 billion).

According to an investigation conducted in Europe by a group of African journalists, many African leaders have amassed wealth in Swiss banks. In order not to be detected, some of the accounts are in the names of their relatives. 

In France alone, an investigation revealed that one of the leaders of a French-speaking country in Africa has 19 mansions. Further investigations revealed that he earns 15,000Euros per month. The question is how they could own houses that one is estimated to cost more than a million euros when their salary can't buy one.

In Europe and America, Africans are taken for granted. An African is seen as corrupt, criminal, and uneducated because of the magnitude of corruption that lies in the African sovereignty. Our educational certificates and credentials are considered to be fake because in a country like Lagos and parts of Asia, one could buy a fake certificate as a doctor or dentist. 

The British Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria, has seized most of the documents applicants tried to use for a visa application. Under the hard cane of our teachers, we were taught and forced to know mentally that “wheat from Canada, meat from Argentina, coffee from Brazil, etc, yet don’t be surprised to get “I don’t know” for an answer when you asked about 40 percent Europeans the capital town of Ghana or Sierra Leone. What do they care about Africa, or are they interested in letting them learn about the continent?.

Regarding development, Africa has a long way to go. China was nothing years back, today it rubs shoulders with the advanced countries. A well-balanced economy and highly technically developed. Their success doesn’t mean that there is no corruption in China. 

There is, but they develop their own country. Greed doesn’t permit African leaders to know the destruction and harm they are doing to their country through corruption. The Europeans used stolen money deposited at banks to develop their countries and call African leaders morons.

There is no way corruption will cease in Africa, but there are measures that could ensure that financial institutions in Switzerland will no longer provide a haven for illicit wealth. The Swiss government is trying to prevent stolen assets into its banks. 

This is the way to discourage the mass flow of wealth from Africa to its banking institutions. The question is, how serious are they on this issue? Time will tell. Until then, African leader must realize the responsibility lying on their shoulders to restore the dignity of the countries they are ruling.

EUROPEAN UNION TRADE POLICY AND ACP COUNTRIES

EU-ACP trade negotiations



The European Journalism Center (EJC) and the European Commission’s DG Trade co-organized a two-day seminar recently to discuss the trade between the European Union and ACP countries. 


The seminar also provided an overview of the current EU-ACP trade policy and an analysis of trade limitations. EJC journalists Mr. John Hammond, Cristina Romero, and the seminar moderator Juliane Von Reppert-Bismarck of Mlex Market Intelligence actively interacted with the ACP journalists from both English and French-speaking countries.

As a matter of fact, trade relations between the European Union and countries of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) regions have been entangled by many arguments. 

In the wake of the global economic and financial crisis, ongoing negotiations over Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) have led to often-heated debates over agreements today, from Lomé to Cotonou to EPAs, as well as key issues such as accountability in trade and relevant case studies involving the implementation of EPAs until now.

The seminar brought many speakers, including Mr. Peter Thompson, the director of Trade and Development; Mr. Julius Sen, senior program advisor; Mr. Ralph Kamphoene, senior advisor of international trade/GSP; and Euro Commerce, among others, to discusvarious topics ranging from the overview of EU-ACP trade policy, from Lome to Cotonou to EPSs, defining accountability in trade, and reworking trade and development tools: relevant case studies.

Many traders from the Caribbean and Pacific countries trading with the European Union believe that the new trade agreement between the EU and ACP, though compatible with the World Trade Organization rules, was planned for the benefit of the EU. As a result, they fear that it could affect the economy of the ACP countries. 

One argument is, for example, that the prices of goods offered by the EU are very poor compared to what they demand for their products. Another point that was presented is that developing countries cannot compete with their more advanced European counterparts.

The speakers lecturing on different trade subjects made many points clear to the ACP journalists. For example, it was explained that EPAs were not forced onto the ACP countries, but rather they were designed to meet the WTO rules. 

A visit to the Port of Antwerp revealed how goods from Europe are handled and shipped to the various destinations, including ACP countries. The port combines a long tradition of break-bulk cargo with a state-of-the-art infrastructure. Handling around 15 million tonnes of steel, forest products, fruit, food, and project cargoes every year.

The Port of Antwerp boasts the capacity, productivity, and full range of services you would expect from one of the world’s largest ports. Offering the most convenient inland connections by road, rail, or barge, it isn’t surprising that the Port of Antwerp leads as Europe’s number one break-bulk port. 

At the end of the seminar and the trip to the Port of Antwerp, the ACP journalists were delighted and requested a similar seminar in the future. In fact, it is important that many ACP countries take this advantage to come and visit these international ports and learn how to manage the high volume of workload in the future.