Luanda — The Angolan Oil Company (Sonangol) has categorically denied as untrue news published by a certain weekly, according to which it owes Usd 1.2 billion to Banco Millennium Atlântico (BMA) in syndicated loans.

In a press release that reached Angop on Monday in Luanda , the company admits that through its Sonangol Holdings, it owes BMA about Usd 5.0 million which repayment is expected for July 31, 2017.

Sonangol reiterates that the company is committed to a transparent and institutional cooperation, rigour and competence to build a stronger company and better contribute to the economic and social development of the country.

ANALYSISBy Diane Mushimiyimana

The ministry of health and the ministry of finance are planning to see how tobacco taxation can be further increased. This comes after an 11% reduction in consumption since the tobacco taxation policy was started.

Studies have shown that increasing tobacco prices by 10% will reduce consumption by 8%in low and middle income countries.

Figures from Minecofin indicate that basing on the selling price, tobacco taxation stood at 60% in 2001-2006 and at 120%in 2007- 2009. In 2009-2015, it was at 150%.

Based on retail price from 2015, the taxation now stands at 36% i.e. an extra Rwf 20 on each tobacco packet sold at the market.
 

While there are many varieties of tobacco products, the taxation only regards what is produced in industries.In Rwanda, there are two main products: Intore, the local brand which costs Rwf 1,000per packet, and Dunhill (imported) costs Rwf2,000.

Emmanuel Nkurunziza, the head of taxation department at Minecofin, says the ministry is yet to decide on how much tax should be added on tobacco products since it is a decision that needs consultations.

"People should understand that increasing tobacco taxation is not in the interest of increasing the country's revenue. We get revenues but a considerable amount is spent on the expensive treatment of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)yet that money can be used for other development projects.Therefore, will encourage the population to quit smoking," he said.

According to the NCD Risk Factor Survey 2013/14, the adult smoking prevalence stands at 14%. Dr. Marie Aimee Muhimpundu, the head of NCD Unit at the RBC, says measures to curb consumption are crucial considering that tobacco is one of the most common riskNCD factors such as heart disease, stroke, chronic lung disease, type 2 diabetes and many types of cancers.

"Research shows that tobacco increases the risks for NCDs by 80%. Therefore, we are convinced that high taxation on tobacco products can lead to high purchase and hence, discourage consumption which in the process reduces health risks," she said.
 

Dr. Muhimpundu added that diseases linked to tobacco consumption are expensive to treat and advised people to quit consuming tobacco as prevention is better treatment.

She also mentioned that apart from increasing taxes, the ministry of health regularly reminds people of the consequences of smoking on occasions such as the world tobacco day. "We also work with different partners such as the police to reach the youth with anti-tobacco messages, mainly during anti-drugs campaigns," she said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco use was the second leading risk factor for all deaths worldwide in 2000. It is also a significant risk factor for six of the eight leading causes of death globally.

WHO reports indicate that tobacco consumption is reducing in high income countries and many lower and middle income countries. However, deaths from tobacco use will continue to increase in the coming years, with over 175 million people expected to die by 2039.

By Natalie Campbell-Rodriques

Regional integration is still a highly discussed topic with the Brexit vote still fresh in minds across the globe. Of course, over two months on, conversations have moved beyond shock, joy and dismay. The focus is currently on the potential effects of the decision made by the British people.

On surface, it may seem as though African nations will not be directly affected once the British Prime Minister triggers Article 50. While this article will not focus on the potential consequences, it is important to note that there will be both positive and negative aftereffects.

There are analysts, economists and policymakers sharing their thoughts as to the impact on Africa as a region and specifically for individual countries. But what the Brexit vote should teach us is that no one can accurately make predictions about such issues.
 

It is within this vein that the question of the East African Community (EAC) comes to the table.

Should integration in this region still be a priority? Should the pace of the integration movement be hastened or slowed down?

Signs coming out of Arusha suggest that integration for the region is still on course and why shouldn't it be? The revived Community, which is a few years away from its twenty-first birthday, has moved somewhat slowly and that has worked well so far.

There have been criticisms over the years that the process should move faster but to what avail? With a cumulative population of approximately 146 million it makes sense for there to be a union among the member states but there is no rush for it to be defined as desired by economists and analysts.

The Brexit vote has left questions as to the fragility of integration among countries but it would be hasty to assume that regional integration does not work.

Each region is different as should the tenets and patterns of regional agreements. The cookie cutter formulas and the set in stone timelines should be ignored and the process be allowed to continue growing in an organic though structured manner.
 

It is a good sign that the EAC's integration process has managed to implement three of four stages from its Development Strategy: the Customs Union, Common Market and the Monetary Union.

These first three stages of the integration process lay the foundation for the fourth: the Political Federation. There is talk in some quarters that the political federation should be fast-tracked, but to what end?

With two member states expecting to have national elections in 2017, waiting may not be a bad idea. Why not place the focus on delivering on the first three phases?

The decision to make Kiswahili the second official language of the East African Legislative Assembly, the current plans to phase out the dollar as the cross-border trade currency as well as working together to capitalise on the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) are just a few of the initiatives which, if harnessed, could truly change the lives of individual citizens within the EAC.

While Kiswahili is spoken in all the member states it is most pervasive in Tanzania and Kenya with the other nations having a smaller portion of their population using the language.
 

With only a segment of the bloc's population properly speaking and using Kiswahili, there is need to increase the numbers which in itself requires policy initiatives as well as strategy development and implementation.

Phasing out the dollar for cross-border trade across the EAC partner states will be a game changer for small- and medium-sized businesses. The savings gained from being able to trade in one's own currency is expected to increase income as well as expand the trading industry in all countries involved.

For this plan to work, there will need to be education campaigns as well as changes to banking laws, among other things. Again, this is an area which needs specific attention in order to facilitate successful implementation.

While different member states have different arrangements within AGOA, individual EAC partner states, and the bloc as a whole, stand to benefit.

There is much work to be done with regards to regional integration for East Africa but the Community needs to continue working at its own pace. Delivering on plans which positively affect the livelihood and existence of citizens is more important than meeting timelines.

Luanda — A credit for teachers agreement, estimated at 2.5 billion kwanzas, was signed last Tuesday, in Luanda, between the Sol bank and the Teachers Pension Scheme (CPP).

The protocol, which enters into force on Wednesday (Sept. 07), is intended to dignify Angolan teachers and will focus on credit grants in areas like housing, cars and consumption.

According to the agreement, the refunding of the credits is to be done in four years for consumer credit, five years for car credit and thirty years for housing credit.

On the occasion, the CEO of Sol bank, Coutinho Miguel, explained that the construction of a society of equity and inclusion requires development of human capital, as a fundamental element for any change.

He then stressed that the agreement will contribute to the improvement of the lives of those citizens who have a great responsibility to train and educate people.

On his turn, the chairman of the CPP, Miguel Flávio Bongo, said that the agreement will serve to hold frequent dialogue and, at the same time, will gave is expected to have a real and effective impact on the lives of teachers, including their respective families.

Pretoria — The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has launched a national campaign aimed at raising public awareness of illegal deposit-taking schemes and advance-fee schemes.

Launched on Tuesday under the theme 'Easy Come. Easy Go', the campaign aims to give South Africans practical tips to check whether they are being scammed.

It also encourages the public to exercise extra caution when choosing potential investment opportunities.

"Easy Come. Easy Go draws on the old adage that if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

"One of the responsibilities of the SARB is the prudential supervision of banks. The Banks Act prescribes that only registered banks can take deposits from the general public and it is an offence for unregistered persons to conduct the business of a bank," said Governor Lesetja Kganyago.

Speaking at the launch of the campaign, Governor Kganyago said the SARB is empowered to investigate the activities of unregistered persons suspected of taking deposits from the public in contravention of the Banks Act.
 

Last year alone, the bank investigated 41 illegal deposit-taking schemes. Twenty-eight of these are from previous years, while 13 are new schemes. The SARB is investigating 19 suspected illegal deposit-taking schemes. Over 5 000 advance-fee scams have been reported to the SARB in the past five years.

The central bank said illegal deposit-taking schemes take a number of forms and varying degrees of inventiveness, including Ponzi, pyramid, and related schemes.

"Generally speaking, Ponzi and pyramid schemes fall within the jurisdiction of the National Consumer Commission, but the SARB investigates such schemes to the extent that they may have an element of deposit-taking, in contravention of the Banks Act," said the SARB.

Tread with caution

The bank called on the public to make use of the "stop, check and report" mantra.
 

Stop for a moment and ask yourself some basic questions. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Check to see if you are being targeted and avoid becoming a victim

Report the scam and help others stay vigilant.

Eckard Volker, the Managing Director of Integrated Forensic Accounting Services, who has investigated many scams totalling billions of rands over his career, has endorsed the bank's campaign.

"There is no such thing as a risk-free 'get rich quick' scheme," said Volker.

The Easy Come. Easy Go campaign will make use of radio, billboards, community activations, social media, and online platforms to raise public awareness.

The public can also visit www.easycomeeasygo.co.za for more information on illegal deposit-taking schemes and advance-fee schemes.

Werda — Measles is a threat to the beef industry, the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Patrick Ralotsia, has said.

He was addressing a kgotla meeting in Werda in Kgalagadi District on Friday.

Mr Ralotsia said the measles outbreak was growing at an alarming rate and if stringent measures were not taken, the meat industry would be negatively affected.

He said cattle diagnosed with the disease went not suitable for human consumption, let alone the lucrative European Union market, which was the biggest consumer of Botswana beef.

He, however, pointed out that controlling the disease was easy because all farmers had to do was to build pit latrines at cattle posts because the disease was spread by worms from faecal excretions.

The minister said law enforcement officers in the district had told him that stock theft was also a concern in their area and government was still looking into ways in which it could increase penalties of such offences as way of trying to control the unbecoming behaviour.
 

He advised farmers to look after their livestock and make sure that they know their where abouts because stray animals were prone to attracting thieves.

Mr Ralotsia said by doing this, law enforcement officers wwould in turn be able to carry out their duties effectively.

He cautioned the residents that since they were located in the border line, therefore they should know that by allowing their animals to stray over the border was a crime punishable by law.

For his part the farmers committee chairman, Mr Jacob Matebesi, said they were disadvantaged by lack of tractors during ploughing season and as such the season normally came to an end while most of them had not ploughed yet.

He also pointed out that they needed to be helped with cluster fencing because animals always destroyed their crops.

Most of the beneficiaries of LIMID programme told the minister that procuring officers took long to pay them and at times they do not use the full amount intended for each beneficiary.
 

They said the special economic zone idea is disadvantaging them because they are now stuck with small stock and the situation is worsened by the fact that there is no market where they can take their produce and as such they should be allowed to diversify and try other available programmes.

The minister told residents that cluster fencing programme was there and all they need to do is to group themselves and they will be assisted, adding that there are components such as borehole drilling if they need water.

He went on to encourage residents to buy themselves tractors because government is ready to pay them after ploughing for fellow farmers.

He encouraged residents to utilise their agricultural land so that the country can stop importing food.

BOPA

Kasane — Food production and security is expected to increase in Chobe with the latest handover of agricultural machinery and implements worth over P1 million; courtesy of the United Nations Development Programme through their Bio-Chobe project.

Receiving the implements on Monday, Vice President, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi challenged Chobe farmers to prove their worth and justify why they had to receive the donation instead of other farmers elsewhere.

"The burden is on you to prove that you deserve this more than anyone else, and since these are communal resources, you must put national interests ahead of individual or political agendas," he cautioned.

He highlighted that this could not have come at a better time as agricultural production in Chobe west had gone down as a result of climate change and high levels of human-wildlife conflict.

"As part of the Bio-Chobe project, farmers will be encouraged to adopt modern farming practices such as minimum tillage, crop cover and rotation to reduce the impact of climate change," he noted.He added that to address human-wildlife conflict, the Ministry of Agriculture through Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD) encouraged farmers to cluster fence their fields to reduce crop damage by wildlife.

Nairobi — East African leaders should address issues that impede growth and transformation of agricultural sector to become a key driver of growth and development, a Kenyan Cabinet Secretary, has said.

Mr Willy Bett, Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, said here on Monday that East African leaders need to engage the private sector to review the issues which are hampering growth into the sector.

"The biggest question is what we are going to undertake to bring transformation to agriculture to become a key driver of socio-economic development," he told reporters at an inaugural Africa Green Revolution Forum press conference here on Monday.
 

Mr Betty said it was important that African leaders were committed to transform the sector whose growth and contribution to the economy had declined in recent years.

The East African Community is one of bright spots of growth in sub-Saharan African with growth rate of above six per cent driven by fastest growing sectors of communication, finance and banking which are not labour-intensive.

He said industrialization agenda in the EAC region would not succeed much without transformation of agriculture to support the growth of the manufacturing sector.

The President of Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa, Dr Agnes Kalibata said there was a need for African leaders and the private sector to work together to unleash the great potential of the sector.

She said rapid growing young population and plans for boosting the manufacturing sector were presenting opportunities for meaningful growth in agriculture through transformation of the sector.
 

"We need to step up our actions and take advantage of the moment to bring about transformation of agriculture," she said. "The private sector is engaged and wants to engage more. How do we support them?

How do our leaders seize the moment?" The Managing Director of Africa for Rockefeller Foundation, Mamadou Biteye said it was concerning to see agriculture declining while other sectors were flourishing noting it was something which provides a food for thought. "Since 2005 it is declining.

Is it a result of other sector rising significantly that we don't see its growth of is it just declining because we have not done enough to support its growth," he said.

African leaders, agriculture development partners and other stakeholders are meeting in Nairobi for a week-long conference at the sixth African Green Revolution Forum to discuss various ways of transforming agriculture into a key driver for growth and development.

The conference is hosted by Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa.

Stakeholders in the construction industry have welcomed a new system to manage building permits in secondary cities across the country.

The Building Permit Management Information System (BPMIS) was launched by Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA) in Musanze District, Northern Province, in collaboration with the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).

BPMIS is designed to help fast-track organised housing in the country’s six designated secondary cities of Musanze in Northern Province, Rubavu and Rusizi in Western Province, Muhanga and Huye in Southern Province, and Nyagatare in Eastern Province.

BPMIS is designed to allow applicants to submit online permit requests, shorten the time required for one-stop centres to assess, approve and report on permit applications and efficiently provide feedback on sites and plots inspections.
It is expected to enhance transparency in the issuance of building permits because it will contain clear instructions to follow and it will help keep the data that would otherwise be scattered across district offices in the country.

The Executive Secretary of the Engineers Institute of Rwanda, Bonny Rutembesa, said the new system will reduce the cost of doing business because most submissions for permits will now be made online.

“This is really a good answer; it’s a milestone for us. This is an answer that the Government has just given us in line with easing the cost of doing business. It will tremendously cut costs that engineers and architects were making in the process to submit their applications,” he said.

Jean Damascene Habyarimana, the Musanze vice-mayor for economic affairs, said the new system will further improve the district’s services.

“It is a good step in the development of our country. The system will help many people to easily acquire their building permits,” he said. “I don’t mean we were not giving good services but I admit that we were not doing it fast enough.”

The system has already been rolled out in Musanze and Rubavu and will be taken to the remaining four secondary cities by the end of the year, officials said.

Among other information, it will help to collect and store data about applications for building permits, profiles for licensed engineers and architects, and keep data on cities’ master plans.

It will operate in Kinyarwanda, French, and English while people will be paying for its services online through Irembo portal.

The software is a World Bank Group-owned open source application that was successfully deployed in the City of Kigali and is now being extended to secondary cities in the countryside.

The support in construction permits is part of the Bank’s third phase of Rwanda Investment Climate Reform Programme funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) for a total amount of $7.2 million.

At the launch of the software, acting World Bank country manager Norah Kipwola said Rwanda is globally known for making strong gains in building its economy and that modernising the construction industry in secondary cities will in sustaining that feat.

“The World Bank will continue to work with the Government of Rwanda in making the six secondary cities an investment destination and exemplary for other cities in the country,” she said.

Under the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy, the six secondary cities will be developed to achieve sustainable, well-managed and integrated economic growth.

The country also has ambitious targets of moving online most of its services to the people and seeks to achieve at least 95 per cent of the digitisation of the services in the next two years.

The Division Manager of Housing Regulations and Standards at RHA, Harouna Nshimiyimana, urged both the media and leaders to sensitise the public about the new system.

“What we want is for the organised city you see in Kigali to be replicated in other parts of the country. Changing old mindset is not easy but it’s possible. People need to understand that they need to move from the old system and embrace a new thinking,” he said.

Officials also say the system will improve Rwanda’s ranking in annual World Bank Doing Business Report related to dealing with construction permits.

It will also contribute toward the mitigation of environmental impacts through reduction of use of paper by completely eliminating manual processes.

The Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, on Tuesday said there was no going back on the Federal Government’s plan to concession the four major airports in the country.

Mr. Sirika made the remark while speaking at an interactive session with Aviation correspondents in Lagos.

The Federal Government had indicated interest to concession the Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt international airports, to improve their safety and capacity.

Mr. Sirika noted that the protest by some aviation unions against the government’s plan was due to the misconception that the airports were going to be privatised and sold to private individuals.

According to him, the concessioning of the airports will ensure that they are properly managed, while the government will still retain their ownership.

The minister said that the current condition of airports in the country had made it extremely difficult for Nigeria to attract the desired number of passengers to transform the country into an aviation hub.

“Nigeria has potential to do between 70 to 100 million passengers annually, within the next five years, if the right things are put in place.

“The 15 million annual passengers which is the country’s current capacity can be improved upon if private investors are allowed to participate in the sector.

“Government does not have money to put into these businesses and we don’t want to sell these facilities either; so that is why we are concessioning them because it is the only way to go,” he said.

The minister noted that aviation was a money spinner and could help the government to generate revenue which would be used to revitalize the Nigerian economy.

To this end, he said the government was committed to the establishment of a national carrier, a Repair, Maintenance and Overhaul (MRO) facility and an aviation leasing company which would all be privately funded.

The minister noted that their absence in the country had constituted a huge challenge to the growth of the aviation sector.

Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman, League of Aviation and Airports Correspondents, Chuks Iwelunmo, pledged that the group would continue to partner with the ministry to take aviation to greater heights.