ECOWAS Business News

This post is simulcast on: Ecowasbusinessnews.blogspot.com & East-Africarising.blogspot.com Recent tensions in Mali and Cote d'Ivoire have called into question the regional solidarity that had hitherto been part of ECOWAS' exceptionalism.  Thirty years ago this week, Ghana dispatched 3500 troops to join other West African soldiers, fighting under ECOMOG, into Liberia on an offensive mission to oust Liberia's Charles Taylor.  ECOMOG, ECOWAS' military force, would fight a simultaneous war in Sierra Leone alongside Liberia  between 1990 and 1997 culminating in a departure from ECOWAS' economic integration mandate. In the latest edition of Agenda2063 TV show, we return to an appreciation of Agenda2063's aspiration 3.  Here are some key questions we shall be asking: Questions : 1. What is relevance of AU's Transitional Justice Policy? 2. Thirty years after Ecomog's intervention in Liberia, can Liberia enjoy "benefits" of a TJ policy? 3. Can AU&

* GENERAL NOTICE: MAIDEN EDITION OF AFCFTA POLICY NETWORK WEBINAR SERIES * Dear Members & friends, As we count down to the maiden edition of the APN's WEBINAR series, we want to encourage you all to register and join whenever practicable.  There will be opportunities to be part of these WEBINAR series over time.  Do let us know if you encounter any difficulties Kind regards, Emmanuel K Bensah Jr Deputy Executive Director HOW TO JOIN Topic: AFCFTA POLICY NETWORK GHANA & DIASPORA WEBINAR SERIES  Entrepreneurship and Innovation: The Drivers of the African Continental Free Trade Area.  Time: Aug 14, 2020, 11:00 AM Eastern Time (the US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2140866636 Meeting ID: 214 086 6636 * HOW TO REGISTER * https://forms.gle/wa138tHoRC7cB5JKA Please register with this link ENDs

ASKY partners with Sabre, supporting growth across Africa through next-generation technologies Agreement will help power recovery of travel in West Africa and beyond   NEWS PROVIDED BY Sabre Corporation  Aug 05, 2020, 07:22 ET LOME, Togo and SOUTHLAKE, Texas, Aug 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- West-African airline, ASKY, has signed a multi-year agreement with  Sabre Corporation  (NASDAQ:  SABR ), enabling the carrier to move forward with innovative, next-generation technologies that will facilitate further expansion. The agreement will allow ASKY to leverage the global travel technology leader's passenger service system and its recently-launched Sabre Commercial Platform – the industry's only intelligent retailing platform. (PRNewsfoto/Sabre Corporation) Under the new agreement, ASKY will expand its shopping and payment capabilities, improve airport operations and offer a superior experience to travellers.  The carrier will also make use of Sabre's Revenue Optimiser, a real-time r

PRESS RELEASE     WHO ramps up COVID-19 support to hotspot countries in Africa   Brazzaville, 6 August 2020  - The first members of a surge team of health experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) have arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa to bolster the country's response to COVID-19. As the continent nears one million cases, WHO is expanding support to countries experiencing a significant uptick in cases.   South Africa is among the five countries in the world most affected by COVID-19. After their arrival, the WHO surge team went into quarantine in line with the national regulations. A second group of experts will deploy next week. Altogether more than 40 public health experts are expected to provide surge support, working with national and provincial counterparts on key areas of the response.    "As the impact of the virus intensifies in a number of hotspots in Africa, so too are WHO's efforts ," said Dr Matshidi

* Simulcast on *: Agenda2063tvshow.blogspot.com Ecowasbusinessnews.blogspot.com Eastafrica-rising.blogspot.com ****** Pretoria, Monday 03 August 2020 –  Members of the media are invited to join the e-symposium on the impact of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on the African Continental Free Trade Area's infrastructure development, under the 'new normal' posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The webinar will be held on Thursday, 6 August 2020 at 12h00 Southern African time (18h00 Chinese time). The e-symposium is aimed at discussing BRI strategies to accelerate the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) infrastructure development. Invited delegates from both the Chinese and African Think Tanks and regional organisations will address key issues such as whether the planned BRI projects under the new normal will be able to come to fruition in the current economic climate. They will also interrogate whether Chinese development banks will be able to continue financing

Seven years after the launch of Agenda2063, 2020 is arguably the only time this AU blueprint has faced an existential threat of being realized. The first major casualty was in July, when trading under Afcfta failed to take off, triggering a postponement in January 2021. COVID's onslaught has undoubtedly affected #SilencingTheGuns, which is a cross-cutting theme in Agenda2063. An equally-troubling development has been COVID's impact on schools. That parents are at their wits end as to whether to sacrifice their children's education at the altar of safety offers a harbinger of how education will be adversely impacted. There's no gainsaying education of Agenda2063 itself may be compromised as priorities and resources are understandably shifted towards health. In the 7 August edition of Agenda2063, we shall be asking hard and important questions to Association of African Universities' Dr.Violet Makuku as to whether COVID19 has come to veritably-derail the Agenda2063 nar