In a recent article (Africa - A continent on the Rise! - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/africa-continent-rise-dr-amos-mensah/), I quoted the late Nelson Mandela of South Africa who once said: ‘We stand at the dawn of an African century, a century where Africa will take its rightful place among the nations of the world’- how sweet these words of wisdom from a brave African Hero. Unfortunately, the firm grip on Africa and the determination of neocolonial powers as seen through both covert & overt recent events across the continent (notably the destruction of Libya) has prompted me to ask - Will Africa ever Take its Rightful Place among the Nations of the World? I have written a cursory about the internal weakness hindering the growth and the development process across the continent Africa (see: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/africa-missing-opportunity-reap-full-benefits-golden-age-mensah/ ) and so will not repeat it in this article. The focus of this article is to highlight the reality of external meddling and the continued colonization of the continent. I have no doubt these external meddling has played a huge role in the slowing down of Africa’s progress in development.

As a case study - let look at how the use of the CFA franc has been and still being used to control many African countries. Come to think of it - 14 African countries (i.e. Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon) still use the neocolonial currency – CFA (CFA stands for Coopération financière en Afrique centrale ("Financial Cooperation in Central Africa"). The CFA franc was introduced to the French colonies by France after the colonies gained their independence. Through the adoption and use of this currency, these former colonies still pay what is popularly believed to be a Colonial Tax (perpetual indebtedness to France). How? - Well, by the structure of the Terms & Conditions to use the CFA - these former colonies have to accept to deposit their currency reserves at the French National Bank in Paris. The terms and conditions also dictate that these colonies will have access to only 15% of their own currency deposited at the French National Bank in Paris. The remaining 85% of their own money has to be borrowed from the French Government at the going market rate if they want to access their own deposit. If this is not pure colonialism and the slowing down of progress - I don't know what to call it. Notice that - All finance ministers of these 14 countries must consult and seek directions from the French minister of finance anytime these countries have to meet with the IMF or WB for any financial negotiation. Unlike most real sovereign nations, these 14 countries can’t even print their own money when they need it because the CFA is tired to the EURO.

The fact is democracy in Africa is a facade - France (and all former colonial powers) never really completed the decolonization process; they have deliberately maintained systems and structures (i.e. Monitory/Economic, Political & Security Structures) that allows them to take full advantage of their former colonies. These colonial structures never allow their former colonies to freely decide on their developmental path. So these 14 CFA countries just like the rest of the countries on the continent are still under the firm grips of their colonial powers - mostly being controlled and manipulated through such proxy institutions as IMF & WB. The only time an African politician echoes the sentiments of his people is during elections, but notice how right afterwards, they turn their attention to fulfilling the austerity programs of these proxy institutions instead of the hopes and aspirations of the citizenry.

 For a brief period in the continent contemporary history, the only country which managed to resist the claws of these colonial powers for a while and somehow managed to champion its own development path was Libya. However, through a series of carefully orchestrated lies and deception of neocolonialists – (Championed by Nicolas Sarkozy of France, David Cameroun of UK, Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama of USA) - all hiding behind the banner of Human Right and Democracy - We all know the end story of Libya today. Indeed, the destruction of Libya destabilized and shook the continent to the core. It led to the reintroduction of slave trade and a booming human organ trade in Libya, not forgetting the countless number of Africans perishing in the Mediterranean Sea daily.

So for Mandela’s dream (our dream) of Africa Taking its Rightful Place among the Nations of the World to become a reality, it is incumbent upon all Africans (citizens of the continent) to stand up and confront the ongoing covert & overt Destabilization/Destruction of the continent, while being vigilant of all the other subtle neocolonialist schemes hampering our developmental efforts, because I believe, the Place for African People is Africa - Not the Bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. 

As usual your comments, criticisms, questions and point(s) of correction etc. are welcome. Please kindly comment with positive suggestion(s) on how to develop our continent further, pushing the frontier beyond the current status-quo. Thanks.

Source: Dr. Amos Mensah Lecturer - Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST)

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What one gets in far too many Afro shops in Hamburg isn’t just bad customer service; it’s customer disservice at its most shameful display.

President Magufuli says tests were found to be faulty after goat, sheep and pawpaw samples test positive for COVID-19.

Tanzania's President John Magufuli has dismissed imported coronavirus testing kits as faulty, saying they returned positive results on samples taken from a goat and a pawpaw. Magufuli made the remarks during an event in Chato in northwestern Tanzania on Sunday. He said there were "technical errors" with the tests.

The president, whose government has already drawn criticism for being secretive about the coronavirus outbreak and has previously asked Tanzanians to pray the coronavirus away, said he had instructed Tanzanian security forces to check the quality of the kits.

They had randomly obtained several non-human samples, including from a pawpaw, a goat and a sheep, but had assigned them human names and ages.

These samples were then submitted to Tanzania's laboratory to test for the coronavirus, with the lab technicians left deliberately unaware of their origins.

Samples from the pawpaw and the goat tested positive for COVID-19, the president said, adding this meant it was likely that some people were being tested positive when, in fact, they were not infected by the coronavirus.

"There is something happening. I said before we should not accept that every aid is meant to be good for this nation," Magufuli said, adding the kits should be investigated. 

On Saturday, Magufuli announced that he had placed an order for a herbal treatment for the coronavirus touted by the president of Madagascar.

"I have already written to Madagascar's president and we will soon dispatch a plane to fetch the medicine so that Tanzania can also benefit from it," he said.

The herbal remedy, called "Covid Organics" and prepared by the Malagasy Institute for Applied Research, is made out of Artemisia, a plant cultivated on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar.

Despite a lack of scientific evidence, President Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar claimed that the remedy has already cured some Madagascans of COVID-19. Children returning to school have been required to take it.

Source: Aljazeera
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Those affected could stay until June 30, 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic has restricted the mobility of holders of the Schengen Visa, which allows tourists and business travelers to stay in the Schengen area for up to 90 days. However, the numerous national
lockdowns and flight cancelations will inevitably cause many to remain in the Schengen area after their visas had expired.

To prevent that, the German Ministry of Interior has extended the residence permit of all Schengen visa holders who entered the country on March 17, 2020, or later. The temporary protection also implies that those affected may have a  possible means to work until June 30 ("Verordnung zur vorübergehenden Befreiung von Inhabern ablaufender Schengen-Visa vom Erfordernis eines Aufenthaltstitels auf Grund der COVID-19-Pandemie"). However, we do advise holders of the Schengen Visa to contact the Ministy of Interior for further information.

This prevents them from falling into illegal status and allows them to access vital services that are inaccessible to those without legal status.

The extension is from April 16 to June 30, 2020.

Source:https://www.hamburg.de/innenbehoerde/allgemein/13564362/visaverlaengerung-coronavirus/

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Does Africa have the need to continuously borrow Money for her today’s survival while creating debt-burden the next generations? The simplest answer that can be given is “it depends”, -but on what?

In conventional economic theories, we are told that when a government prints money, it exposes itself to inflation because there will be more money in the system to chase fewer goods, causing the money to lose its value.
However, if we can think beyond these theories, and accept the fact that these theories were developed by humans; individuals with brain capacities same as ours and we also have the capacity to device alternative models to solve our own problems, then, we can start to ask questions like: How can there be fewer goods in the system if the money printed is used as an incentive for innovation and production rather than serving as an object for demanding goods and services?; what is the central duty of a sovereign government when it prints paper and calls it money? What are the fundamental differences between monies printed into an economy and those borrowed into the same economy?

Questions of these kinds can help us probe deeper to understand the system that controls us better.

To a very large extent, when a government borrows money, it shows the lack of ability and understanding of that government to an effective management of the economy. Unfortunately, the idea of going to another sovereign country to borrow paper (fiat money) instead of using our sovereign status to print money and manage this printed money to support our developmental projects and programs has become the normal and easy way for almost all African countries since attaining independence status.
Why should someone print paper and hand it over to you as money and let you pay back not with the same paper (paper as used here means what one has the right to print, in this case, if America prints dollar for us to support our economy, we should be able to print our own currencies to pay back after our economy has become stronger and not to pay back with dollar which we do not have the right to print and as such, it becomes a value for us), instead, we are required to pay back these paper loans  in values, resources, and efforts? I know it is not as simple as I am putting it in this piece, but the truth it is that, it is also not as impossible as they make it looks to us.

Before going further, it is important to point out that in an extreme distressed circumstance, a country may borrow money in a 1 or 2 cases (this happened to continental Europe, wherein, after the Second World War when America has to print and loan out money to Europe under the Marshall Plan to help them recover from the total breakdown). However, it is so not normal for a sovereign nation to resort to borrowing of paper money as a way of life. In fact, no one has borrowed her way into freedom or development.

At this stage, I want to point out, first and foremost that every sovereign state, no matter how small it may be, has the right and authority to print and manage its own money.

Second, I want to state categorically that the act of printing money does NOT result in inflation (that concept is a hoax at least). Rather, it is the mode of management of the printed money that causes inflation or deflation.

For example, if the government of Ghana (inset here the name of any African country of your choice) realises that a region/state needs a road and it estimates the cost of constructing the road to be 50 Billion Ghana Cedis (inset here the currency of your selected African country). If the government goes on to print 50 Billion Ghana Cedis for the purpose of this project, and then calls on a Chinese or an European construction agency to construct this road on a condition that 20% of the capital cost is giving to the government or the political party in power as a kick-back, the following is what will happen:

1. The Chinese or the European company will demand that the payment is made in Chinese Yuan or European Euro. This means, the government of Ghana has to place the local currency it has printed on the international financial market to demand for Yuan or Euro. When this happens, there will be more Cedi (than it should be) on the market and if there are not equally more customers on the market demanding for Cedi, then this automatically reduce the value or relevance of Cedi, hence drastic or continuous exchange rate depreciation of the Cedi.

2. Once, the company pays the 20% of the capital cost to the government or party in power, it immunes itself of any system of control that is meant to regulate and manage the economy of the said African countries. In this case, the foreign construction company will construct a road with a quality far below what the money it has received should normally construct, it will under-pay local labour if it ever employs one, and it will invade taxes and all other statutory payments. The compositions of these negative actions will weaken the economic management regime of the said country.

Additionally, it is important to consider that the 20% (paid in kickback) which has gone in the hands of the ruling gangs as a mere paper because they have received that without working, or exchanging any value for it. The effect from this is no different from the damage the economy will suffer when a criminal sits in his or her room and print counterfeit and release them in the economy. Yet this money will be cheerful release in our economy through unproductive and abusive channels such as paying for sex of, and rent for ‘slay queens’ and ‘fuck boys’; sponsoring of political hooliganism to destroy lives and properties in our countries; and embarking on expensive holiday trips abroad and showing  offs at public gathering and events.

In the end of all the above scenarios, what will happen is that Ghana has used it sovereign status to print 50 billion in cash/paper but that 50 billion paper has not been properly managed to translate into /create actual wealth in equivalence of 50 billion. This, among many other negative economic consequences will result in inflation (more money in the system chasing fewer goods) because the focus of the money printed was to serve as object for demand rather than being an incentive to induce production and innovation. It will also result in exchange rate depreciation and damaging of the country’s economic sovereign worth because no one can trust a system managing by ineffective heads.

On the other hand, if the government prints 50 billion of the local currency for the purpose of constructing a road and this government ensures that the capacity of local construction companies are strengthened to execute the project, it will have no need to put such huge amount of the local currency on the global financial market for foreign exchange (because local companies are paid in local currency) to damage the exchange rate value of the local currency. Ethiopia has been able to developed strong local Construction, Banking, and Telecommunication system to champion the country’s development internally. Other African countries can learn from the Ethiopian system.

In the event that 50 Billion is printed to embark on road construction, all that the governments has to do to avoid inflation is to internally manage this printed money to ensure that:

1. It is fairly and widely distributed
2. It translates into multiples of actual values and wealth in the economy

Why is Fair and Widely Distribution of Printed Money Important?

First of all, every member of a society has some potential(s) or value in them which when is encouraged and tapped, will contribute to national development. However, this value cannot just be tapped unless regimes of rewards and recognition are instituted as a modality of exchange for these inherent values in the citizens.

After printing money, the government has a management duty to ensure that the money does not get concentrated in the hands of a few people; rather it must be wisely and widely distributed with an objective to use it as a bait to attract and uncover hidden potentials in citizens for national development.

How can this be done?

Whereas the main objectives of businesses owners will be to maximize profit, the government who has a duty to provide social good must at all times aim at maximizing quality and ensure that standards are strictly adhered to. When this is done, contractors are expected to spend the money received fairly on ‘all’ sectors of the economy to ensure widely and fairly distribution of the money.

For example, by insisting on quality and adherence to standards, the construction of a single road can lead to: increase demand for general logistics; available capital for trading and operations of the banking sector; higher employment and welfare for citizens; and capital returns for government to embark on other project generated through efficient and transparent tax system and many other benefits to the economy.

When the printed money is efficiently managed to inject the above benefits in the economy, the beneficiaries, will subsequently use and reuse the money/the benefits to create multiples of values (far higher than the original value of 50 billion) in the economy, thereby, promoting steady and long-term development of the country.

Will Printing of Money rather than Borrowing be an Easy thing to do by any African Country?

Certainly not, no single African country will find it easy to adopt this strategy; it even seems impossible because, lending to keeping Africa and her future in debt is a big business that helps those who want to keep Africans in an unending slavery use in controlling both the labour and human capital, and natural resources on the continent. By this any country/leader that makes such an attempt will face strong sabotage, sanction, and likely power instability from the controllers of the system.

Nonetheless, Africa will certainly win, when all or most African countries come together in unity and make this a continental policy. Without, doing this in unity, we must consider it that we are ready to bring our next generation into a new mode of slavery.

My name is Kwadwo Agyei Yeboah and I love Africa. You can always connect with me on Facebook to talk about Africa.

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Paris: Secret documents leaked on the fiasco in Burkina Faso expose troubling information on the undercover activities of the American Multi-Billionaire Bill Gates in the small African nation and across the region. Intelicor veterans in Paris express unease as the Burkinabe government led by Prime Minister Paul Kaba Thieba resigned  

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46930537

A leading Intelicor veteran thinks that the reason why President Roch Marc Christian Kabore demanded the resignation of the Prime Minister is related to the matter of the proposed release of genetically modified (GMO) mosquitoes in Burkina Faso under the sponsorship of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The story began in January 2018, when Bill Gates pledged USD $45 million to the health initiative in Burkina Faso. Some felt that the funds were a decoy to cover bribery to top government officials for allowing the program to release the GMO mosquitoes in Burkina Faso. The GMO mosquitoes were programmed at Imperial College London under a grant from Bill Gates to sterilize natural mosquitoes and humans across the African continent over time

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/researchers-to-release-genetically-engineered-mosquitoes-in-africa-for-first-time/

The terrifying news of the secret project for Human Sterilization of Africans with GMO mosquitoes alarmed African leaders, who quickly came down hard on President Kabore forcing him to act. Similar teams are working in Mali and Uganda. The homing endonuclease gene (HEG) that sterilizes the female mosquitoes also could be passed through saliva to humans during bites and the human in turn could pass it on through sexual intercourse to another human, in a cascade that could have the entire Black Continent exterminated before anything could be done about it.  This is why 170 Global Groups called for Moratorium on the release of these new genetic extinction technology at the UN Convention

http://www.etcgroup.org/content/160-global-groups-call-moratorium-new-genetic-extinction-technology-un-convention

The GMO mosquitoes were moved into Burkina Faso from UK illegally under EU regulations

http://www.genewatch.org/uploads/f03c6d66a9b354535738483c1c3d49e4/GM_mosquitoes_in_Burkina_Faso_final.pdf

Ànd fresh evidence from trials in Cayman Islands, Panama and Brazil show that the Oxitec’s GM mosquitoes failed to reduce the female mosquitoes  population

https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18275-new-evidence-of-failure-of-oxitec-s-gm-mosquito-trials

It goes to reinforce what critics have always said, that it is not about the mosquitoes but about making people sterile.

Investigations revealed that, of the $45 million dollars pledged by Bill Gates, $10 million dollars were earmarked for family planning

https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/gates-pledges-45-million-for-health-initiatives-in-burkina-faso

In the secret deal, the Minister of Health of Burkina Faso Professor Nicolas Meda  appointed the wife of the Prime Minister Anne Thieba as ambassador for family planning

https://www.advancefamilyplanning.org/burkina-faso-appoints-her-excellency-anne-thieba-ambassador-family-planning

And so she has authority over the funds. However, some say that “it is to keep it within the family”, that raised the smoking gun prompting in-depth investigation by President Kabore and could have exposed the comprising evidence against Prime Minister Thieba. The Intelicor veteran said “in all cases, we see a pattern, that Bill Gates uses monetary bribes disguised as philanthropic donations to compromise African leaders, to take actions with devastating consequences for their nations”.  

The HIDDEN AGENDA is usually not fully understood by the African leaders the source continues. According to a business consultant who has been involved in tracking Bill Gates’ investments in biotechnology, the main focus for Bill Gates is to have the controlling shares in the biotechnology companies for food production sold in Africa as GMO crops. With partners such as Monsanto (now under the German company Bayer with a troubled Nazi past

https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/bayer-monsanto-merger-cant-erase-nazi-chemists-past/

Bill Gates will control the food security and polity of Africa and could at any moment exterminate the Black Africans in the Continent as his partners did in Vietnam and Auschwitz with agent Orange and Chlorine Gas. Bill Gates used pseudo-names Boko Haram in Nigeria and Al-Shabab (formaerly unknown local Islamic groups with tens of followers) in Kenya to bring Black Africa’s fastest growing populations to a standstill. Boko Haram, Al-Shabab and ISIS are all funded by Bill Gates and were trained by Blackwater

http://www.pravdareport.com/business/companies/14-10-2010/115363-machines_of_war_blackwater_monsanto_billgates-0/

The Western governments are culprits in the crime, until the coming of Donald Trump the U.S. was the main sponsor in partnership with Bill Gates! Bill Gates owns the majority shares in Monsanto/Bayer

http://naturalsociety.com/big-owner-monsanto-shares-bill-gates-depopulation-agenda-exposed/

For example, Bill Gates’ acquisition of Ginkgo a $1 billion USD biotech company in Boston MA that prints DNA for GMO crops https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/21/bill-gates-backed-start-up-ginkgo-bioworks-prints-synthetic-dna.html will give him control over the food security in Africa, should the continent go GMO. Africans would not out of free-will give up their natural crops for GMOs except if they are forced to do so. An agronomist Anaïs Étienne says Africans would be left without choice because all the fields are being cleared by Boko Harma fighters and their farmers driven out to displaced people camps and would be given GMO crops to plant during rehabilitation through NGOs and UN organisations supported by the Gates Foundations.

Ismail Kadir, a real estate agent in Maiduguri, Nigeria says “all my foreign clients operating NGOs are taking rents for 5 to 10 years and I ask them what would they be doing here in ten years, if they do not think that the insurgency would last that long”. Bill Gates is operating a special type of business philanthropy, whereby the aim is to create the problem of insurgency and offer the solution with GMO crops which will guarantee him as the main supplier of seeds and hence food, then grow it into a business worth $1 trillion USD by 2030

https://howwemadeitinafrica.com/seizing-africas-rapidly-growing-food-market-worth-1tn-2030/59729/

On the other hand, Claudia McAnthony a reproductive health expert on sabbatical in an elite laboratory in Paris says “making Africans sterile would mean their women would go for invitro-fertilization (IVF) to seek for help to conceive, but their ovarian eggs would be poached for embryonic stem cell research as young Africans are killed for experiments in European and American laboratories of companies seeking to clone human organs for sale, a business worth over $30 trillion USD by 2030”.

Nigeria and Kenya supply most of the ovarian eggs used in embryonic stem cell research in Europe and America, only to leave the donors die slowing in Africa from kidney failure, liver failure, cancers and infections. It is convenient for Bill Gates to hire for the crimes against humanity, people posing as Islamists paid in US dollars through proxies and blame it on Islamic fundamentalists. Bill Gates shows up frequently for photo-ops on Polio with African leaders and leaves donations to feed the corrupt practices in the continent. The Polio program has been a very big cover for Bill Gates as the good man from America, while he uses it to facilitate clandestine operations including administering sterilizing agents

https://www.lifesitenews.com/new/unicef-nigeria-polio-vaccine-contaminated-withsterilizing-agents-scientis

And using the vehicles marked as vaccination team to convey Boko Haram fighters beyond military checkpoints. The process began since 2009 in the food growing region of Northeast Nigeria.

The mercenaries hired first from Liberia

https://www.counterpunch.org/2009/04/06/blackwater-in-liberia/

Sierra-Leone, and later from Libya, Chad, Niger, by Blackwater/Academie/Xe owned by Bill Gates and Monsanto/Bayer

https://www.voltairenet.org/article179691.html

Fighters are paired $10,000 a month as Boko Haram fighters in Nigeria (https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2009-03-06-voa39-68678567/408730.html ) by Bill Gates. The Boko Haram attacks will intensify as the elections in Nigeria draws near as it is now clear Bill Gates is supporting the opposition leader Atiku Abubakar who he could convince to allow GMO crops in Nigeria. In a recent visit to the U.S facilitated by Bill Gates, at a time there is a government shutdown it is clear Atiku Abubakar was not welcome anywhere within the US government and US Congress, but for a publicity stunt, and an opportunity to seal up the deal with Bill Gates in person.  Atiku Abubakar has been barred from the U.S. pending US Congressional investigation on corrupt practices by him and his family in the United States from Nigeria

https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/report-psi-staff-report-keeping-foreign-corruption-out-of-the-united-states-four-case-histories

Many experts expect Bill Gates to sponsor dramatic Boko Haram attacks aimed at embarrassing the government of President Buhari of Nigeria and to help the opposition

https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/news/274825/us-warns-of-plan-by-boko-haram-to-carry-out-terrorist-attack.html

Some think that Bill Gates using his Boko Haram mercenaries have planned attacks with aim of assassinations of top officials to demonstrate to Nigerians that their government is weak on security. The government of Burkina Faso has been in partnership with the US government under the Obama administration and Bill Gates, and provided its territory for U.S. military bases for training of the top mercenaries for Boko Haram to fight in Nigeria.

Some have suggested that, Bill Gates and George Soros financed the coup in Burkina Faso in 2015 to maintain these military bases for sponsorship of the insurgency in Nigeria and for destabilization of the entire West African region

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2015/09/21/did-africom-engineer-military-coup-in-burkina-faso.html

The Bill Gates sponsored Jihadists have now turned against the Burkinabe government as relations soured because of pressure from African leaders  (https://m.news24.com/Africa/News/13-dead-in-burkina-faso-after-suspected-jihadist-attack-20190102 ). There is growing dissatisfaction among African leaders with actions of Bill Gates on the African Continent. Even more distressful is the connivance with leaders of Western Countries like France, Germany and Britain, who have collaborated in the destabilization of Africa.

The growing popularity of China is a direct reflection of the feeling of unease in African capitals that the entire Western countries have gone rouge. According to Laurent Kosic, a political analyst in Paris, who has lived for over a decade in Africa, said “ this is typical of Africa, they would rather avoid you than pick a fight, but what they need now is a total ban of genetically modified organisms across the continent”. “The effort by Bill Gates to sterilize the entire black people of Africa with GMO foods and GMO mosquitoes all fits well with UNFPA targets to depopulate the continent and provide a means for perpetual colonialism” – he added.

The watch is on as President Kabore names Christophe Dabire as the new prime minister, but the last is yet to be heard from the events unravelling in Burkina Faso.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46930537

Source: Sussy Vozniak, reporter for Intelicor Press, Vienna

CEO of Livenat SAS, Dr. France Aimée Gaïl, in an interview on Radio TopAfric’s health show, encouraged the use of natural-based cosmetic products because it has proven to be a much healthier option.

Dr. France Aimée Gaïl graduated from the University of Orléans with a PH.D. in Organic Chemistry and has expertise in the Pharmaceutical field as well as product development. Her experience as a chemist has driven her to develop healthy products for all hair types.

The company’s brand, DEVANCE COSMETIQUES based in France, has since 2013 produced the best natural based cosmetic products, she says.

DEVANCE COSMETIQUES has products for all hair types, namely; shampoos, conditioners, hair oil, to mention a few.

 In response to a question from a listener, Dr. France Aimée reiterated that people experiencing alopecia, a common autoimmune disorder that often results in unpredictable hair loss, can use DEVANCE COSMESTIQUES natural based oil to restore hair mostly if the condition is not genetically transmitted.

WHAT ARE NATURAL BASED COSMETICS?

Natural based cosmetics are cosmetics made from raw materials sourced from nature, such as plants and minerals, and a renewable natural source.

People who live in Hamburg can access the hair products at the Modern Hair Creation Salon, Lübecker Straße 82, 22087 Hamburg.

Alternatively, one can visit www.devance-cosmetiques.com or place your order on Amazon.de.

A new discovery could explain why obese people are more likely to develop cancer, scientists say. A type of cell the body uses to destroy cancerous tissue gets clogged by fat and stops working, the team, from Trinity College Dublin, found.

Obesity is the biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK after smoking, Cancer Research UK says.  And more than one in 20 cancer cases - about 22,800 cases each year in the UK - are caused by excess body weight.  Experts already suspected fat sent signals to the body that could both damage cells, leading to cancer, and increase the number of them.

Now, the Trinity scientists have been able to show, in Nature Immunology journal, how the body's cancer-fighting cells get clogged by fat. And they hope to be able to find drug treatments that could restore these "natural killer" cells' fighting abilities.

'Lose some weight'

Prof Lydia Lynch said: "A compound that can block the fat uptake by natural killer cells might help.  "We tried it in the lab and found it allowed them to kill again.

"But arguably a better way would be to lose some weight - because that is healthier for you anyway." Dr Leo Carlin, from the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, said: "Although we know that obesity increases the risk of 13 different types of cancer, we still don't fully understand the mechanisms underlying the link.

"This study reveals how fat molecules prevent immune cells from properly positioning their tumour-killing machinery, and provides new avenues to investigate treatments. "A lot of research focuses on how tumours grow in order to find metabolic targets to stop them, so this is a reminder that we should consider the metabolism of immune cells too."

Four years ago a publication was made Ghanaians living in Hamburg, Germany demanding answers from authorities about the rampant death of their countrymen. Years have passed but the toll of such deaths has neither ceased nor decreased. It is clear that death is inevitable but the frequency and circumstance is what is worrying.

It is upon this back drop that a discussion on that topic was held on the health show hosted by Effya on TopAfric radio and was covered by the NDR Das. This could be a huge step to drawing the attention of the right authorities to come to the aid of the Ghanaian community.

Within the public sphere the theory such as doctors intentionally killing their victims is purported to be one of the causes of such deaths.

During the radio discussion the following factors were enumerated to be possibly contributing to such premature death; Irresponsible self medication, unhealthy and sedentary life styles, physical inactivity, under utilisation of the health care system, religious and cultural beliefs and practices, ignorance and lack of information, double and quadruple jobs to cater for families and acquisitions of properties back home, genetics, environment etc. 

Recommendations to counteracting the problem will be to negate the above enumerated possible causes.

 As public Health scientists we see the issue as public health emergency which threatens the human security within the Ghanaian community in Hamburg. An anecdotal evidence of the issue at stake could be true but not enough deal with the problem.

To a achieve the desired result, a holistic approach is needed hence an urgent need for scientific research that encompasses needs assessments , data collection, analysis  and findings to draw and implement a comprehensive public health intervention which is participatory and culturally tailored to mitigate the problem.

The negative impacts of the continuous premature death of Ghanaians cannot be overemphasised. It affects the families and society at large as well as the economy here in Germany and Ghana. For this reason we would like to call on stakeholders to support the worthy course by funding such project. We are looking up to the Ghana Embassy, German Health ministry and other such interested institutions to heed to this call so as to ensure that such premature deaths would be a thing of the past through the implementation of public health interventions.
Ghanaians dying premature in Hamburg!!!

Aileen Ashe (Public Health scientist and language and culture mediator)
Ursula D’Almeida (pharmacist and  Public Health Scientist)

Obesity is a growing problem within the African/Black community in Germany and Europe at Large.
With foods such as Fufu, Rice, Yam, Plantains as the staple unit, it makes it easy for Africans to gain weight so easily.

Akoto Degross was an obese individual who lived in Hamburg, Germany for a while where he was attending University and it was during this period that he decided to make a drastic change in his obese life by loosing half his body weight.

He had tried numerous times to loose weight but not until he lost his mother did he buckle up and strictly jump into loosing weight and living a healthier lifestyle.

In the video below, he discusses different reasons why Africans in the diaspora are over weight. He explained what they are doing wrong and how they can change and live better and healthier lives.

Although the Covid-19 pandemic was a huge distraction in terms of planning and implementation, TopAfric e.V. was able to run the “Youth Leadership Programme” successfully. The mentoring programme aimed to deepen educational awareness and empower young people of African descent in Germany. It aimed at creating a spontaneous willingness on the part of the youth to become involved in civic engagements, strengthen social cohesion, and charge them with being more socially responsible.

The programme brought together mentees and working mentors to exchange views on various topics based on mutual respect and understanding. The project pursued active community building with the aim of networking and improving the academic and professional qualifications of the mentees. The young people benefitted greatly from the experiences and skills of the mentors, while the mentors had the privilege of sharing their successes and setbacks productively and passing on their experiences to the younger generation. The programme was implemented within two years with some challenges along the way, but these were managed well by the mentors and mentees.

The mentees were actively involved in the activities of TopAfric e.V. by accompanying people to offices, assisting them in filling out forms and providing translations in schools for parents who are not fluent in the German language. Though not part of the initial plans, the African students from Ukraine were supported by helping them to find accommodation and searching for German-language schools, as well as organizing Zoom seminars for them on how to navigate their stay in Germany. 

The African Youth Education Awards (AYEA) that crowned the project were amazing and witnessed the biggest attendance since 2012. Initially, the event was slated for the 15^th October 2022, but two months before that date, the Chamber of Commerce had to change our schedule to the 22^nd October 2022. Panic broke out as we had to create additional posters, flyers and promotional videos. The new young team was able to adjust quickly to implement the programme in an amazing way. Over 500 people attended, far exceeding the target of 300 people, with the participation of state institutions, consulates, embassies, and agencies from Africa, leaders from the African communities and members of the media. The ripple effect went far beyond the attendees.

The mentoring programme builds on the activities of TopAfric e.V. and its network of partners in the field of educational equity and empowerment. The mentees did not only participate in the programmes we run, but took up leadership roles and helped operate them successfully. 

We wish to express our sincere gratitude to Aktion Mensch which sponsored the leadership programme. With Covid-19 gone, we would be in a better position to implement such a noble project more successfully.

Desmond John Beddy

Reading with 4 authors from the Afro Diaspora on World Book Day!
The event was organized at the Afrotopia Culture and Innovation Centre in collaboration with Lukulule e.V., Schlaufox e.V., Kamerun4AfrikaClub e.V., Southern Cameroons Community Germany-Hamburg (SCCG-Hamburg e.V.) and other diaspora communities in Hamburg. The interaction with the authors was crucial, as the importance of reading cannot be overemphasized! Reading the right materials and books helps the reader to focus and develop their communication skills, reduces stress, improves mental health, vocabulary, and concentration and assists mental well-being. Some books and storylines enable one to understand others (empathy), to succeed at work and relationships and above all enhance a person’s knowledge base.

The programme’s goal was to awaken the desire to write and inspire the mentees to believe in themselves and understand they are also capable of writing books for others to read. 

The participants were Dr Akuma Saningong, motivational speaker and personal life coach, Gloria Boateng, a teacher, author, fitness trainer, and moderator who has received multiple awards for her social engagements, Elizebeth Boehme, a supply chain and logistics manager, author and community activist, and Agatha-Genoveva-Ombeni Stickdorn-Ngonyani, an author, radio presenter and moderator.

The program was sponsored by Aktion Mensch

Desmond John Beddy

Chancengleichheit – ein Wort, das oft genutzt und doch immer noch nicht verstanden wird. Eine Auswertung von Daten des Statistischen Bundesamts, zeigt deutlich, dass die Bildungsgerichtigkeit in der Realität anders aussieht. Die ist stark von dem Bildungsstand der Eltern abhängig. Kann man in so einem Fall von Chancengleichheit sprechen?

Sozial benachteiligte Schüler:innen, haben überwiegend einen migrantischen Hindergrund oder stammen aus der Arbeiterschicht. Über Diskriminierungserfahrungen wie subjektive Empfehlungen für die Hauptschule, gehören zum Alltag. Auch wenn die Kinder die intellektuelle Kapazität hätten, das Gymnasium zu besuchen. Statt Chancengleichheit und Bildungsgerechtigkeit zu verwirklichen, vertieft unser Bildungssystem die strukturellen Defizite solcher benachteiligter Schüler:innen.

Und wenn es doch jemand versehentlich auf dem Gymnasium landet? Ganz besonders am

Gymnasium, dem heiligen Gral des deutschen Bildungsideals, durchlässig auch für mäßig begabten Akademikernachwuchs, dafür umso selektiver bei Migranten- und Arbeiterkindern.

„Wir sind nicht sehr viele hier", meint Daniel. Mit hier, meint er das Gymnasium, das er seit 7 Jahren besucht. Er trägt zwei Lasten mit sich, die er aber meistert. Seine Eltern stammen aus Ghana und Geld ist immer knapp. „Meine Eltern sind meisterhafte Ökonomen. Sie schaffen so viel mit so wenig", lacht er. Trotzdem ist er ein guter und fleißiger Schüler. Vielleicht gerade auch deshalb? Er möchte sein Abitur bauen und später auch Studieren. Nicht Medizin, Maschinenbau oder Jura. Sagt er explizit.

First Contact, Menschen treffen auf Außerirdische

„Wir sind eine Schule ohne Rassismus. Von uns gibt es nicht so viele hier. Wir werden aber immer mehr," fügt er nach kurzem Innehalten hinzu. „Ich möchte mir nicht vorstellen, wie es damals in den 90ern gewesen ist. Damals soll es überhaupt nur 4 schwarze Schüler auf unserer Schule gegeben haben. In 10 Jahren. Der erste wirklich schwarze Schüler kam aus Ghana. Er war ein echter Quotenschwarzer hier. Ich stelle mir das immer noch bildlich vor. Es muss ähnlich wie bei Star Trek zugegangen sein.

First Contact, Menschen treffen auf einen Außerirdischen," lacht er.

Was die ersten Barrierebrecher damals erlebten mag zwar persönlich gewesen sein. Diese Erfahrungen sind aber gesellschaftliche Probleme geblieben. Nur wenig hat sich geändert. Das Versprechen der Politik, Bildungsgerechtigkeit und Chancengleichheit durchzusetzen, ist ein Mythos geblieben. Lippenbekenntnisse wie der "American Dream", der Traum, dass es jeder zu etwas bringen mag, wenn er oder sie nur hart und fleißig genug (an sich) arbeitet.

Sind Ganztagsschulen die Lösung?

Die Wirklichkeit sieht anders aus. Das muss man ernüchternd feststellen. Lehrkräfte raten den Cenks, Daniels und Kevins häufiger zum Schulwechsel als den Felix, Sophies und Pauls. „Cenk, kann ich also damit rechnen, dass du ab dem kommenden Halbjahr nicht mehr in meiner Stufe bist?“ Laut Daniel soll ein Oberstufenlehrer sich gegenüber einem türkischstämmigen Mitschüler so geäußert haben. Die

Startbedingungen sind ungleich, es wird von Schülern aus migrantischen, einkommensschwachen oder bildungsfernen Schichten erwartet, mit Akademikerkindern konkurrieren zu können. Eine Illusion. Denn um Parität herzustellen bedürfe es, so die österreichische Autorin und Journalistin Melisa Erkurt,

Ganztagsschulen die hochwertig und auf die Bedürfnisse von benachteiligten Schülern ausgerichtet sind und umfassende Bildungsangebote machen.

Davon sind wir in Deutschland ja noch meilenweit entfernt. Ganztagsschulen in diesem Land fungieren dazu, Eltern den Wiedereinstieg in die Arbeitswelt zu ermöglichen. Unabhängig davon stellt sich die Frage, wie benachteiligten Schülern geholfen werden kann. Denn bis strukturelle Ungleichheiten ausgeräumt sind und Ganztagsschulen Probleme und Bedürfnisse von Schülern wirksam ansprechen können wird noch viel Wasser den Rhein runterfließen. Wie soll es also weitergehen?

„Die Benachteiligung ist da, das kann ich nicht wegreden. Und ich bin mir auch bewusst, dass wir das auch nicht so leicht und schnell überwinden werden. Wir müssen das tun, was wir tun können um unsere Situation an den Schulen zu verbessern," ist sich der Oberstufenschüler Daniel sicher.

Tatsächlich ist Introspektion nötig. Und wir müssen uns fragen: Tun unsere Eltern und Community auch genug um die Bildungssituation unserer Kinder zu verbessern? „In meinem Alter möchte ich meinen Eltern nicht länger zur Last fallen. Mein Vater ging mit 19 Jahren nach Nigeria um dort zu arbeiten. Ich lebe hier, mir geht's gut. Dafür bin ich dankbar", sagt er etwas nachdenklich. „Ich gebe Nachhilfeunterricht", fährt er fort. „Ich habe Einblick in den Zustand in vielen unserer Familien. Die Bedingungen für eine erfolgreiche Bildungskarriere sind oftmals nicht gegeben. Viel zu viel Dysfunktionalität."

Wenig Solidarität in Elternhäusern

Dysfunktionale Elternhäuser. In unserer Ursachensuche berücksichtigen wir oftmals die Situation in den Elternhäusern nicht. Wir stützen uns auf statistische Erhebungen, um die Lage in den Familien einzuordnen. Dass das gewonnene Bild nicht immer genau und sehr lückenhaft ist, übersehen wir schnell. Dabei ist die wirtschaftliche Situation trotz aller Widrigkeiten längst nicht so prekär wie von den Behörden angenommen. Aber wenn die Mutter ihr eigenes Haus in der Heimat baut, weil sie ihrem Mann misstraut, wenn beide getrennt statt gemeinsam Vermögen aufbauen, wird es letztendlich auch knapp mit dem Geld. Eine Einzelbeobachtung ist das nicht. Es ist die Norm. Unsere Familien müssen den solidarischen Umgang miteinander lernen. Es fehlt der Zusammenhalt, das berühmte Wir-Gefühl. Und so zieht man nicht am selben Strang um ein gemeinsames Ziel zu realisieren.

Unsere Eltern tun dies aber nicht aus Böswilligkeit oder Egoismus. Auch sie erkennen den Wert der Bildung und möchten ihren Kindern dieses auch ermöglichen. Das Interesse an Nachhilfe ist laut Daniel sehr hoch. Wir müssen die Eltern deshalb besser Verstehen lernen. Auch wenn sie seit Jahrzehnten in diesem Land leben, wirken sich ihre Traumata immer noch auf ihr Handeln aus. Die Gefahr abgeschoben zu werden hing lange Zeit über sie wie das Schwert über Damokles. Zudem mussten sie auch ihre

Familie daheim mitversorgen. All diese Faktoren prägten sich in einer rückwärtsgerichteten bzw. heimatorientierten Lebensführung aus. Ihnen war wichtig sich zunächst in der Heimat gut aufzustellen.

„Sie sind noch nicht richtig angekommen und planen schon ihre Rente in Ghana," beschwert sich Daniel über seine Eltern. „Ich erkenne, welche Eltern ein echtes Interesse an Bildung haben und welche nicht. Erledigen die Kinder ihre Hausaufgaben die ich ihnen gebe, erscheinen sie pünktlich und regelmäßig zur Nachhilfe? Wissen Sie, nur wenige Eltern fragen mich ob ich sie zum Elternsprechtag begleiten könnte. Viele von ihnen nehmen an der Bildung ihrer Kinder nicht teil. Und meiner Meinung

nach ist Geldmangel nicht das Problem. Mangel an Bildungsinteresse ist es. Bildungsinteressierte Eltern achten auf schulische Leistung ihrer Kinder." Die Lebens- und Wohnsituation in vielen Familien belastet die Kinder. Sie erleben Konflikte ihrer Eltern, die oft über Wochen und in ihrem Beisein ausgetragen werden.

Jeder isst für sich allein, und viele Kinder vereinsamen zuhause, weil die Eltern sehr viel arbeiten müssen. Das Leben in beengten Räumen mit nur wenig Rückzugsmöglichkeiten ist ein weiteres Problem.

Die Idee der Ganztagsschulen im außerschulischem Raum umsetzen

Es ist nicht von der Hand zu weisen, dass die Verhältnisse zuhause die Leistung im Klassenzimmer negativ beeinträchtigen. Migrantische Schüler befinden sich oft im Zangengriff zweier Defizite: strukturbedingte Diskriminierung in der Schule und Vernachlässigung im Elternhaus. Diese Probleme, beziehungsweise Hürden, sind Kennern unserer Communities bekannt. Offen spricht sie jedoch keiner an. Aus falsch verstandenen Sinn für Anstand und Höflichkeit. Die Suche nach Lösungen gestaltet

sich indes unnötigerweise schwierig. Unnötig deswegen, weil wir die Voraussetzungen für die Aufwertung von Bildung und Besserung der Bildungssituation unserer Kinder kennen. Melisa Erkurt plädiert für ein Angebot qualitativ hochwertiger Ganztagsschulen mit „MusikpädagogInnen, SportpädagogInnen, Gesundheitspersonal, Nachhilfe und Mehrstufen- und Integrationsklassen, damit möglichst viele verschiedene Kinder miteinander lernen könnten."

Dieses Konzept im außerschulischen Raum umzusetzen ist wenig erfolgversprechend. Trotzdem können wir uns einige ihrer Elemente bedienen um unter Einbezug lokaler Netzwerke die Bildungssituation unserer Kinder entscheidend zu verbessern. Ausgangspunkt sollten unseren Kirchen sein. Unsere Gemeinden sind sehr einflussreich. Mittlerweile findet man mit der zweiten Migrantengeneration viele

professionelle Mitglieder in ihnen. Gesundheitsexperten, Sportpädagogen, Lehrer und Verwaltungsangestellte. Musikunterricht kann problemlos organisiert werden.

Ebenso stehen ausreichend Zimmer zur Verfügung um Erlebniswelten und Rückzugsorte für unsere Kinder zu schaffen. Die Nachhilfe könnten begabte Jugendliche wie Daniel übernehmen. Natürlich müssen sie angemessen vergütet werden. Das Ziel sollte sein, die Defizite im familiären Umfeld durch attraktive Bildungsangebote auszugleichen. Es stehen für diese Programme kommunale Finanzhilfen bereit. Geld sollte also nicht das Problem sein, denn wie Daniel meint mangelt es an Bildungsinteresse. Und das gilt es zu wecken.

Dr. Ama Edem Tamakloe
Kwame Sekyere

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