MAKING OVER LAGOS - EKO ATLANTIC In his epic 1976 anthem "Go Slow," Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti described the traffic in his hometown of Lagos, casting it as a metaphor for Nigeria's spiritual standstill. "Then your head start to ache because car crush they for your head," he sang. "Lorry they for your front, tipper they for your back, motorcycle they for your left, taxi-moto they for your right." It's a far cry from this vision of the city put forth by the developers of a new seafront business and residential district for Lagos called Eko Atlantic: "It will be a masterpiece of urban planning ... with its wide boulevards [and] tree-lined avenues with views over the marina and waterway, dynamic waterfront [and] traffic that flows." If it seems there is a gulf between the two, there is — literally. Eko Atlantic is an artificial island, just offshore, being created entirely from scratch, built of sand dredged from the ocean floor. It will ...
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Funding Development through Diaspora Remittances Click here for original article - http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/decapua-dev-remittances-20may11-122337514.html A new initiative was launched this week to spur development with funds from the Diaspora. The Diaspora Investment in Agriculture [DIA] initiative is co-sponsored by the U.S. State Department and the International Fund for Agricultural Development [IFAD]. The program aims to tap into the hundreds of billions of dollars a year in Diaspora remittances – money sent from foreign workers to their home countries. The initiative will target Somalia, Angola, Burundi, Ivory Coast, the DRC, Egypt, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Tunisia, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq. “Last year, over $320 billion was sent to developing countries. That’s more than foreign direct investment or [development assistance] combined. That just gives you an idea of the importance that remittances have,” said Pedro De Vasconcelos, coordinato...
THE SECRETARY'S GLOBAL DIASPORA FORUM Washington D.C - May 17 - 19 2011 Diaspora, Diplomacy and Development The Secretary of State’s Office of Global Partnerships, in collaboration with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), is organizing an action-oriented Global Diaspora Forum. The goal is to: •Recognize and celebrate the contribution of diaspora communities to America’s relationship with their countries of origin or ancestry; •Foster diaspora-centric partnership models; •Encourage intra-diaspora collaboration and learning. The Forum will take place over three days (May 17 - 19). While Forum attendance is by invitation, every effort is being made to deploy social media and online tools to make the Forum accessible to as wide an audience as possible. Follow the Secretary’s Global Diaspora Forum online via Twitter @DiasporaAtState and using #diaspora. You can also watch a live videostream of the Forum’s ...
Through the m:lab, growth-oriented start-up enterprises in the mobile applications space have a chance to access a set of focused and inter-related business and capacity development services, designed to help them grow and compete effectively in the global market. Young companies are particularly vulnerable during the start-up phase of operations. This vulnerability is especially pronounced in emerging markets where critical services are scarce or prohibitively expensive. m:lab's business incubation offering is for start-up firms with a mobile technology focus, specifically mobile applications. m:lab's incubation program is designed to accelerate successful development of mobile application entrepreneurs through an array of business support resources and services which include :- •Privileged access to market research information and knowledge repositories •Linkages with financiers for seed capital and venture capital •Facilitated access to markets, deals and contracts ...
The successful Global Xchange youth programme is being enhanced to offer a range of new opportunities as a part of the government’s new International Citizen Service (ICS) Programme. We are now running two programmes, Youth Xchange and Youth Action, for 18-22 year olds. Youth Xchange is our longest running programme. It gives 18-22 year olds the chance to spend six months tackling important issues, making an impact overseas as well as back on home soil. Youth Action is a 12 week project spent working in a community overseas. It gives 18-22 year olds the chance to work on issues that really matter. For more information go to - http://www.globalxchange.org.uk/pages/default.aspx