Musings From Abroad

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

Published

1 year ago

October 31, 2023

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.

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Musings From Abroad

Finnish court imprisons Nigeria’s Simon Ekpa for aiding terrorism

Published

15 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Simon Ekpa, a Nigerian separatist leader based abroad, has been placed under detention by the Päijät Häme District Court in Finland on suspicion of inciting others to commit acts of terrorism.

According to the local daily, Helsingin Sanomat, the court rendered the ruling on Thursday following his arraignment by the Central Criminal Police for his involvement in the terror attacks that have afflicted the southeast area of Nigeria.

“The police suspect that the man has promoted his efforts from Finland with means that have led to violence against civilians in the region of South-Eastern Nigeria,” stated Otto Hiltunen, the crime commissioner and investigation head.

“The man has carried out his activity, among other things, on his social media channels.”

Hiltunen also informed the court that the police suspected four additional individuals in Finland of funding Ekpa’s activities.

According to the story, Ekpa is of Nigerian descent and was born in the Finnish city of Lahti.

His offence occurred between August 23, 2021, and November 18, 2024, according to court documents cited in the publication.

Ekpa is not the only person the police have arrested. In February 2023, they caught him at a private Lahtian flat, but he was freed the same day.

Through the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, Ekpa has continued to be outspoken on social media, raising money and agitating for a Biafran nation to secede. In the southeast part of Nigeria, both factions have been involved in acts of violence, murders, and maimings.

Since gaining formal independence in 1960, Nigeria has seen the emergence of several separatist organisations. The latest surge of calls for self-determination among different ethnic groups has been louder under its immediate previous President Muhammadu Buhari.

Musings From Abroad

Malian singer Rokia Traore arrested in Italy, to be sent to Belgium

Published

1 day ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

After Italy’s top court denied her appeal, well-known Malian singer, Rokia Traore, who was detained in Rome in June due to a global child custody dispute, will be sent over to Belgium in the next few days, her attorney announced on Wednesday.

The 50-year-old Traore is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR and one of Africa’s most well-known vocalists.

“Rokia suffered an injustice. She was arrested without the Belgian criminal court hearing her voice. Now, the battle for Rokia’s rights moves to Brussels,” lawyer Maddalena Del Re said in a statement to Reuters.

The attorney also stated that in its decision late Tuesday, Italy’s Court of Cassation upheld an extradition decision from the European Court of Justice.

Under a European arrest order, Traore was taken into custody on June 20 at the Fiumicino airport in Rome. In October 2023, she was given a two-year prison sentence in Belgium related to a dispute over her daughter’s custody.

She had flown to perform outside Rome’s Colosseum, and she has been imprisoned in Civitavecchia, close to the Italian city, since her detention at Fiumicino.

Lawyer Del Re said that because a conviction was rendered without the defendant’s presence, the Belgian process goes against both international norms and Italian constitutional standards.

After she disregarded a court order to turn over her baby to her Belgian father, the singer’s divorced ex-partner, she was initially taken into custody in France in 2020 on a Belgian arrest warrant.

She disobeyed orders not to leave France until her extradition case was handled by taking a private jet to Mali months after being conditionally released. Mali is where her daughter resides.