Gambia | Peter "Just Loves Flying"

Anti-FGM campaign at UK airports seeks to stop mutilation of girls | Society | theguardian.com

May 11, 2014

Peter Singhatey Medical Africa, FGM, Gambia, peter singhateh, UK Leave a comment

Anti-FGM campaign at UK airports seeks to stop mutilation of girls | Society | theguardian.com.

“Police and UK border officials have been runnning a campaign at airports nationwide to intercept families who could have taken their children abroad for female genital mutilation.

The campaign, designed to raise awareness and promote a zero-tolerance approach to the crime, has been in operation over the last seven days at various airports, including Heathrow.

Police and border officials have stopped families suspected of possibly going abroad for FGM to be performed on young girls, as well as families returning to the UK after cutting of a child’s body might have taken place.

Keith Niven, detective chief superintendent at the Met’s command dealing with sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse, said: “FGM is illegal and constitutes child abuse. Many communities are familiar with the practice but not of its health risks, the fact that it is illegal within the UK, or that there is no religious basis to it…”

Kerry urges steps to ensure democracy in Africa – The Washington Post

May 6, 2014

Peter Singhatey Uncategorized Africa, Democracy, Gambia, peter singhateh, USA 1 Comment

Kerry urges steps to ensure democracy in Africa – The Washington Post.

“ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — America’s top diplomat said Saturday the U.S. is ready to help increase its ties with Africa, but nations across the continent need to take stronger steps to ensure security and democracy for its people.

He called for an expansion of American investment in Africa and noted that U.S. companies IBM, Microsoft and Google already have spent more than $100 million on projects across the continent. “So this is clearly a moment of opportunity for all Africans,” Kerry told about 100 Ethiopians at an environmentally-friendly auditorium on a mountaintop…”

Out of Africa: The great money migration – Features – Al Jazeera English

May 2, 2014

Peter Singhatey Articles on Africa Africa, Gambia, Money Laundering, peter singhateh, Poverty Reduction, Research, West Africa Leave a comment

Out of Africa: The great money migration – Features – Al Jazeera English.

“Almost $2 trillion has left Africa illicitly since 1970, thwarting poverty reduction and economic growth.

The figures are staggering: At least $1.8 trillion illicitly flowed out of Africa between 1970 and 2009.

This is far more than the external aid the continent received over the same period, and almost five times its current external debt. According to researchers, the continent also loses at least $100bn a year in this financial haemorrhage.

African leaders convened this week in the Ethiopian city of Bahar Dar to discuss illicit financial flows and what can be done to staunch them. A study commissioned by the Tana High Level Forum on African Security, which organised the conference, found that illicit flows from Africa grew at an average rate of 12.1 percent per year since 1970, and that capital flight from West and Central African countries accounted for most of the illicit flows from sub-Saharan Africa…”

The science of why most marathon winners are from east Africa – Vox

April 26, 2014

Peter Singhatey Articles on Africa Africa, Gambia, Health, Marathon Runners, Marathon Winners, peter singhateh Leave a comment

The science of why most marathon winners are from east Africa – Vox.

“All six winners in Boston today are originally from the same corner of the world: east Africa. And that’s true of almost every major long-distance race, going back for years. So why is that? Why do runners from two or three medium-sized countries, none of which have much money or highly developed infrastructure, manage to outrun virtually the entire world —virtually every time they compete?

This is a question that scientists and journalists have been asking since the 1990s, when the trend began, a few years after African nutrition rates caught up with the rest of the world. But the question has never totally been answered, in part because merely asking it touches on some of the most sensitive issues in modern history: colonialism, slavery, and persistent racial inequality both in Africa and outside of it…”

How Illicit Financial Flows Drain African Economies | Open Society Foundations (OSF)

April 22, 2014

Peter Singhatey African Center for Strategic Studies Africa, corruption, Development, Gambia, Money Laundery, People & Society, peter singhateh Leave a comment

How Illicit Financial Flows Drain African Economies | Open Society Foundations (OSF).

“African economies have lost between $597 billion and $1.4 trillion in illicit financial flows in the past three decades. That’s nearly equal to the entire continent’s current gross domestic product. This plunder results in missed development opportunities, increased poverty, and continued injustice.

While many African nations are experiencing unprecedented economic growth, illicit financial flows (IFFs) prevent this growth from translating into better overall living conditions for Africans…”

Tragic reality exposed: Rhinos ‘will be extinct by year 2020’ | Nature | News | Daily Express

April 15, 2014

Peter Singhatey African Center for Strategic Studies Africa, Gambia, peter singhateh, Rhinos Leave a comment

Tragic reality exposed: Rhinos ‘will be extinct by year 2020’ | Nature | News | Daily Express.

[

The slaughter of both white and black rhinos has soared in six years. In 2007, 13 rhinos were poached, but last year that number rose to 1,004.

Criminal gangs, and even terror groups like Al Qaeda, are making millions of pounds a year by hacking the animals to death for their horns.

Many of the horns are ground into powder and used as traditional medicine in the Far East to treat ailments such as hangovers.

Will Travers, chief executive of the Born Free Foundation, warned last night: “There are now just 20,000 white rhino and 5,000 black rhino left in the wild. If poaching carries on at the rate it is now for six more years it will devastate the numbers.

“There will probably be no free-living rhinos as the remaining numbers will be fenced off in military-style compounds which are alarmed and heavily guarded by armed patrols.”]

It’s Time for Africa’s Stolen Artefacts to Come Home | Think Africa Press

April 7, 2014

Peter Singhatey Politics Africa, Africa's Stolen Artefacts, Gambia, peter singhateh, The Monuments Men Leave a comment

It’s Time for Africa’s Stolen Artefacts to Come Home | Think Africa Press.

“In a recently-released film, The Monuments Men, in which a group of Second World War soldiers embark upon a mission to save pieces of art before they are destroyed by the Nazis, Lieutenant Frank Stokes, played by George Clooney, notes: “You can wipe out an entire generation, you can burn their homes to the ground and somehow they will still find their way back. But if you destroy their history, if you destroy their achievements, then it is as if they never existed.”

While in London to publicise the film, this basic premise was given contemporary significance as the all-star cast touched a sensitive nerve by suggesting it was time for Britain to return the so-called Elgin Marbles to Greece. Some British commentators hit out at the actors’ suggestions of repatriating the huge marble sculptures and pieces of architecture ‘acquired’ by Lord Elgin from Athens in the 19th century, while the Greek government expressed their “heartfelt thanks” for the show of solidarity…”

Illicit Financial Flows: The Elephant in the Room at the EU-Africa Summit | Think Africa Press

April 7, 2014

Peter Singhatey Politics Africa, Conflict, Gambia, People & Society, peter singhateh Leave a comment

Illicit Financial Flows: The Elephant in the Room at the EU-Africa Summit | Think Africa Press.

“A $35 million mansion in California, artwork totaling €18 million ($25 million), and a $33 million dollar private jet.

These sound like items purchased by the world’s wealthiest oligarchs, Hollywood actors or investment bank CEOs, right?

Well, they were actually acquired by Teodorin Obiang, the son of Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang. When Teodoro convenes with other leaders for this week’s EU-Africa summit, a wide range of topics will be covered, but there’s one issue in particular that should be given a loudspeaker during the talks in Brussels: illicit financial flows.

Africa and Europe have a unique financial relationship. It is one marked by illicit capital flowing out of African countries and into bank accounts in financial centres across the EU. While the younger Obiang’s official salary is less than $7,000 per month, he managed to spend more than $315 million between 2004 and 2011 on sports cars, beachfront mansions, lavish apartments, and even some Michael Jackson memorabilia. And Teodorin is just the tip of the iceberg….”