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As Germany’s Chancellor rounds off African tour, its President begins own tour in Tanzania

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While German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is rounding off a tour of West Africa, Germany’s President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, began a three-day visit on Monday, seeking to boost relations in East Africa, Tanzania.

As part of a two-country African tour, Steinmeier is also scheduled to visit Lusaka, Zambia, later this week. The visit is intended to “strengthen historic relations that have lasted more than 60 years,” according to the Tanzanian government.

President Steinmeier’s delegation consists of investors from twelve German companies, as well as government representatives on this business-oriented trip. Along with fostering trade and investment, he wants to improve diplomatic and development ties with Tanzania.

Both German leaders are working to strengthen the position of German investors in Africa, particularly in the field of green energy. Earlier this year, Scholz visited Kenya to discuss similar ideas with President William Ruto.

The German president and his host, President Samia Suluhu Hassan held talks at Ikulu (state house) in the commercial capital of Tanzania, Dar es Salam, and are expected to participate in a business forum with businesspeople and investors from both countries and receive a report on the forum’s deliberations later on Tuesday.

The German president is also expected to visit the Twiga Cement plant in Dar es Salaam which is run in collaboration with the German business Scancem International, and meet with young entrepreneurs involved in innovative technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), with funding provided by the German government.

In addition, he is scheduled to visit the Maji Maji Primary School and War Museum in Songea, which is located in the Ruvuma Region. The Maji Maji War was fought against German colonial rule, and this museum is the only one in Tanzania that tells the story of that conflict.

For the past sixty years, Tanzania and Germany have enjoyed friendly diplomatic relations. Trade and investment, water, health, gender equality, women’s empowerment, biodiversity protection, financial supervision, tourism, culture, and traditions are just a few of the strategic areas in which the two nations collaborate.

Tanzania imports $237.43 million worth of goods from Germany each year, primarily pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, cars, deodorants, and electrical appliances. Germany is also one of the top 10 nations in the world for attracting foreign investment to Tanzania. According to TIC data, by August 2023, 178 projects totalling $408.11 million had been registered in the nation, generating 16,121 jobs.

 

Musings From Abroad

Prince Harry, Meghan treated to street-style dances in Nigeria as their trip winds down

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On Sunday, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were treated to street-style dances in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, where they announced a partnership between their Archewell Foundation and the non-profit Giants of Africa, which utilizes sports to empower young people.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are making their first visit to Nigeria, where they were welcomed by the country’s chief of defence staff. The couple watched basketball practice at Ilupeju Senior Grammar School on Lagos Mainland, where Harry participated in ball-bouncing drills and shot a hoop.

“What you guys are doing here at Giants of Africa is truly amazing,” he said. “The power of sport can change lives. It brings people together and creates community and there are no barriers, which is the most important thing.”

The couple watched basketball practice at Ilupeju Senior Grammar School on Lagos Mainland, and Harry stepped on the court for some ball-bouncing drills and to shoot a hoop.

Former Toronto Raptors star Masai Ujiri, president of Giants of Africa, wished Meghan a happy Mother’s Day and said his organization was uniting communities and uplifting young people through sport, especially. Archewell Foundation and Giants of Africa will construct a basketball court in Nigeria’s capital Abuja.

“Talk about full circle again – never did I think we would be able to be here all those years later supporting the expansion of this incredible organization,” she said.
Harry and Meghan were set to round off their Lagos trip by attending a reception for a local charity. The couple live in the United States with their two children after Harry gave up working as a member of the royal family in 2020.

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Musings From Abroad

Binance accuses Nigeria of setting dangerous precedent with detention of its executives

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After its executives were invited to Nigeria and subsequently arrested as part of a crackdown on cryptocurrencies, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, warned that the African nation was creating a dangerous precedent.

The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, Binance, and two of its executives are being tried separately for tax evasion and money laundering, charges that the business is contesting.

CEO Richard Teng declared in a statement that it was time to voice opposition to the imprisonment of a US citizen and head of financial crime compliance at Binance, Tigran Gambaryan.

Former executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British Kenyan who works as a regional manager for Africa, escaped detention in Nigeria last month. While in Nigeria, Anjarwalla and Gambaryan were arrested by the country’s anti-corruption body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), after arriving on February 26, after which the country banned several websites that traded cryptocurrencies.

In a follow-up meeting on February 26, he stated that the authorities had declared the Binance concerns to be matters of national security and that they wanted the exchange to remove the naira from its site and disclose “granular-level” information on every Nigerian user. After that, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were taken into custody.

“To invite a company’s mid-level employees for collaborative policy meetings, only to detain them, has set a dangerous new precedent for all companies worldwide,” Teng said, in his strongest comments yet since the case started in February.

“For spurious reasons,” Teng said that Gambaryan had been detained in Nigeria for almost two months. Early in March, Binance declared that it will no longer be accepting any new naira transactions.

“Our hope when we took this drastic step was that our colleagues would be released and Binance could continue to work with the Nigerian government to resolve any further concerns. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen,” said Ten.

He stated that Gambaryan ought to be permitted to return home while Binance and the Nigerian government work out any kinks. “We will continue engagement with Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on resolving potential historic tax liabilities,” he said.

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