By Russell Simons –I am not in and have never been in the diamond mining business, I am in the jewelry business. My involvement in the diamond business is to help bring greater support around education initiatives for Africans and is a non-profit, philanthropic initiative. I do not profit from my efforts around education for Africans. I do not make money from Africa. I make money for Africa. Below is the full response that Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Governing Board Co-President, Diamond Empowerment Fund and I did for an interview with the Atlanta Post. Can you explain how you came to... Continue Reading
By Novell Zwange – The recent story about Swaziland’s King Mswati III who reportedly threw the country’s Justice Minister into jail after he was caught in bed with the monarch’s 12th wife, makes some interesting reading. Former Miss Teen beauty contestant Mswati Nothando Dube was allegedly discovered in a tryst with the married man who is a friend of her husband’s last weekend. The 22-year-old royal and minister Ndumiso Mamba were said to be found at the lavish Royal Villas hotel in a town near Mbabane. Mr. Mamba was then taken to prison on the king’s orders, while Mswati is allegedly... Continue Reading
South Africa’s ANC party said that the indications by the Democratic Alliance that it will engage in whatever means, including employing underhand methods, to influence targeted ANC MPs to vote against the Protection of Information Bill is a serious affront to the integrity of parliament and established democratic processes. “As the leading opposition party, the DA should respect the available avenues provided for by our constitutional democracy and contribute superior arguments to influence the process, rather than strike secret deals, including dispensing cash parcels, to woo MPs to vote in its favour,” said the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, ANC Parliamentary... Continue Reading
By Emeka Umejei (NIGERIA) – The 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa may have come and gone, but its impact on the economy and people of Nelson Mandela’s country will remain evergreen. This is especially the case with the South West Township (Soweto), a suburb of Johannesburg that stood out remarkably as a ghetto city during the Apartheid era in the country. In it, the World Cup has succeeded in giving boost to many budding entrepreneurs. On a visit to Soweto during the last FIFA World Cup recently held in South Africa, it became evident that transformation had... Continue Reading
NEW YORK, 9 August 2010 (IRIN) – Nearly two weeks after international donors pledged more than a billion dollars in aid to Kyrgyzstan, its caretaker government is busy working out how to turn the promises into hard cash, and experts say there is confusion about who will get how much aid, when. The US$1.1 billion in aid pledged at the 27 July high-level donors’ conference in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, is not a lump sum. It is made up of multiple pledges which, if they materialize, will be distributed on different terms and at different times. “Each international organization has its... Continue Reading
