News (1494)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank organized on March 30, a workshop on the development of the digital industry in Cameroon. During the workshop, the various stakeholders and the government discussed issues facing the development of the industry in the country.
According to Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Minette Libom Li Likeng (photo), it was the opportunity to present the current state of the industry, its challenges, and opportunities, the support programs implemented, and ways to accelerate the development of that industry in Cameroon.
"Digital transformation is at the core of Cameroon’s development strategy. This is why we have decided to support the development of that industry, therefore helping Cameroon operate that transformation as quickly as possible,” said Sylvain Kakou, IFC regional representative in Central Africa.
For the regional representative, the workshop is then a brainstorming session to make sure the policies formulated are coherent and consistent and their execution will have maximum impact.
The attending parties are expected to elaborate a digital development action plan by the end of the workshop. The World Bank, which has invested in various stakeholders like entrepreneurs and fintech actors, also awaits a well-formulated national strategy that defines the specific roles of every stakeholder. Minister Minette Libom Li Likeng for her part assured that Cameroon will implement the recommendations made during the workshop.
In 2020, Cameroon adopted a strategic plan for the development of its digital economy. On September 28, 2021, the World Bank approved funds to finance a project to accelerate the country’s digital transformation.
The US$100 million project aims, among other things, to extend broadband internet coverage in rural areas, and promote an environment conducive to secure and resilient development. It also aims to foster the implementation of data-driven solutions in the agricultural sector, encourage innovation in the said sector, and boost the use of digital solutions by small-scale farmers.
Ruben Tchounyabe
French telecom group Orange announced, on Wednesday, the launch of a new telemedicine service. Dubbed DabaDoc Consult, it is the outcome of a partnership between the French telecom group and DabaDoc, the Moroccan start-up specializing in medical appointment management.
Launched in Morocco in March 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic was raging, DabaDoc virtual medical consultation booking will expand into all of the Orange African markets with DabaDoc Consult.
With DabaDoc Consult, the African diaspora can book medical consultations for their loved ones residing in their home countries. For that purpose, a "simple and fluid process was developed jointly by the DabaDoc and Orange Link teams," Orange group explains.
"The customer, from the diaspora, wishing to offer a DabaDoc Consult must connect to the Orange ‘Country Transfer’ platform, choose the type of consultation and pay with his/her bank card. The beneficiary will instantly receive a code to pay for the virtual consultation," it adds.
DabaDoc was created by Zineb Drissi Kaitouni (photo) and Driss Drissi Kaitouni. The mobile platform launched in 2014 has already facilitated access to health specialists for thousands of people in Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria.
To book an appointment with a health specialist through DabaDoc, the requester must first register on the platform, then select the type of medical service being requested, fill in the city, select the health specialist close to the selected area, and choose a time slot. Once the appointment is validated, a confirmation message indicating the date and time of the appointment is sent by email and SMS to the requester.
In May 2015, the platform became fee-based for health professionals who would like to offer their services. According to Zineb Drissi Kaitouni, the subscription fees are "450 dirhams [122.5 USD] for one month, 300 dirhams/month for a 3-month subscription, and 225 dirhams/month for one year" subscription.
In April 2021, Orange Africa and the Middle East acquired a stake in the start-up through a fundraising operation. The telecom company immediately contributed its technological expertise and payment solutions to develop digital solutions that quickly proved beneficial for the entire African healthcare ecosystem.
DabaDoc, available in French and Arabic, has already received numerous awards such as the third prize for the best start-up in Morocco at Seedstars World in May 2014. It also won the top prize for GIS, a competition organized by the US Department of State in October 2014.
In 2016, its co-founder Zineb Drissi Kaitouni was named one of the top three female entrepreneurs in Africa.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Sattelite internet access has become a popular alternative for operators that want to provide internet in remote communities. However, it has limitations that AST SpaceMobile tries to overcome.
Orange, the French telecom group, is moving to test space-based cellular broadband internet in one of its African markets. The group signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with AST SpaceMobile on March 25 in this framework.
Under the terms of the agreement, AST SpaceMobile will deploy its services through the BlueWalker 3 satellite with no additional ground. It will thus allow internet access to Orange users in the targeted market, through standard 3GPP frequency bands.
For Chris Ivory (photo), AST SpaceMobile chief commercial officer, with its space-based cellular broadband internet solution, "AST SpaceMobile seeks not only to fill cellular broadband coverage gaps for millions of existing subscribers but also to extend mobile service to areas which currently have little to none at all."
Like most telecom operators, Orange is currently taking new initiatives to meet the growing demand for quality telecom services in Africa. Satellite is one of the options it looks into. It has its limitations, however. For instance, sometimes, ground equipment transmitting satellite signals fails to effectively cover remote areas.
Thanks to AST SpaceMobile's space technology, Orange will be able to bring the signal everywhere it is needed. Its users will be able to directly receive satellite signals. The memorandum of understanding signed by the two parties paves the way for discussions on a potential agreement for Orange to use the BlueBird satellite network being built by AST SpaceMobile.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Kintambo, a northwestern municipality in Kinshasa, DRC, will test a digital population registry system in cooperation with the Brussels-Capital Region. In the framework of that test, the municipality will carry out a digital identification program to register the population residing in the region.
The test project is funded by the Brussels Development Cooperation, managed by Brussels International. It is part of the cooperation agreement signed on Monday 21 March in Kinshasa by the Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region, Rudi Vervoot (photo, left), and the Governor of the city of Kinshasa, Gentiny Ngobila Mbaka (photo, right).
According to Corinne François, director of the Association of the City and Municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region (Brulocalis), a digital register containing an official record of the population "is important for democracy.”
The digital registry is "the foundation of everything. For instance, during elections, there could be fraudulent acts like counting the votes of dead people if there is no digital register. It is also an important tool to identify where to build a school, a hospital, etc…,” she added.
Belgian municipalities have been assisting Kinshasa in the improvement of its civil registration system since 2008. Thanks to the federal program "International Communal Cooperation" being coordinated since 2017, by the Association of the City and Municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region and the Union of Cities and Municipalities of Wallonia (UVCW), six Brussels municipalities (Brussels-City, Ixelles, Uccle, Watermael-Boitsfort, Woluwe-St-Lambert, Saint-Gilles) and seven Walloon municipalities (Court-St-Etienne, Flémalle, Herve, Namur, Olne, Waremme, and Seraing) have already partnered with a municipality in Kinshasa.
If the test planned in Kitambo proves successful, the digital population register could be extended to other municipalities and even to provinces. With a secure database of its population, the Congolese government will have valuable assets to devise effective socio-economic development strategies.
Muriel Edjo
In Mid-March 2022, the Cameroonian government offered free broadband equipment and subscriptions to startups active in Silicon Mountain, Buea, South West. In this interview, Churchill Mambe, founder of AfroVision looks explains the impact those gifts can have on digital transformation and the operations of Silicon Mountain’s innovative ecosystem. He also discusses the importance of the internet for tech entrepreneurs.
We Are Tech: Can you tell us a little about Silicon Mountain?
Churchill Mambe: Silicon Mountain is a tech industrial zone based in Buea and Fako. It's not an association, it's just a zone where young tech entrepreneurs who have created their startups -like me with AfroVision Njorku and Buyam- are concentrated. Those startups include Zinger System, ActivSapces incubator, Jongo Hub, sienfliex [for media, series, movies], Mountain hub, Mountain credit union, Genie computer...
All those startups are part of Silicon Mountain. We don’t currently have an exhaustive list of all the start-ups in that startup ecosystem. It includes anyone earning money through smartphones, in the cities of Buea, Muyuka, Ekona, Tiko, Mutengene, Limbe. In short, all the startups in the department of Fako and the regions surrounding Mount Cameroon are part of Silicon Mountain. However, just some 50 startups active in Silicon Mountain are well-known. Even the Wikipedia list is not complete because not all the startups are listed.
WAT: Please tell us about AfroVision Group, your startup
C.M: AfroVision Limited Group is the first company I launched in 2006. It specializes in consulting, the development of web/mobile solutions for businesses, software engineering, website development, development of mobile applications such as Buyam that we just launched. We also develop IT systems for government institutions, such as the GCE Board. We are currently a team of 10 people. This year, we plan to increase the staff size to 40 people by adding new members, engineers mostly, because we intend to grow with the new partners and investors we have in the U.S.
We are currently working on our project "Buyam," an online marketplace with stores in the cloud. Through that marketplace, customers can directly contact merchants, via their mobile phones, to buy what they need.
WAT: On March 15, the Cameroonian government offered one year of free broadband internet subscription to 35 startups, including yours, active in Silicon Mountain. What does this gesture mean to you?
C.M: It's a sign that the government is ready to support us and help us make Silicon Mountain more viable and create more jobs for young Cameroonians. Some startups chose fiber internet connection. It is very fast but, it will take four weeks to install it. The 15 startups that chose cellular modems received their equipment the same day with a 135-gigabyte subscription per month.
We at Afrovision Group chose the fiber internet connection because it is more stable and we need a fast and secure Internet to communicate with our customers in Africa, Europe, and the United States. We are still waiting for the installation of the cables. This can take up to a month.
WAT: What prompted the Cameroonian government to offer those amenities to you?
C.M: A year ago, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications (Minpostel) sent a delegation to Buea. During a meeting with this delegation, its members asked us what challenges we were facing in our work. We replied that those challenges were the unavailability of quality internet connection and repeated power outages. Without the Internet we cannot work with our clients, we cannot manage our web platforms and applications. Without the internet, our work is jeopardized.
As far as electricity is concerned, we received a generator from the French embassy in Cameroon and French businessmen operating in our country. The generator is installed on the premises of ActivSpaces incubator in Buea. During that meeting, the Minpostel delegation offered to support us by providing an internet connection.
WAT: What criteria were considered for the selection of beneficiary start-ups?
C.M: The Minpostel asked us to make a list of the startups that need an internet connection. We created a google form and shared it with all the startups and tech firms active in Silicon Mountain so that they could register. To register, startups were to be based in Buea or anywhere in Silicon Mountain, specialized in mobile/web development, be a legal person, and pay taxes
WAT: What is the impact of that extra Internet connection on your business?
C.M: I usually spend XAF40,000 monthly to buy a 100-gigabyte internet subscription for the office and my home. It is an ADSL connection whose speed is between 1 to 3 megabytes per second. With the broadband internet connection we are being offered, speed will improve to 6-10 megabytes per second. It will greatly improve our working conditions. It will allow the young engineers I am working with to study online and attend meetings with our partners in South Africa and other parts of the World without much disruption. The rapid speed of the internet connection will make it easier and quicker for us to deploy our solutions in the cloud. With the new Buyam solution we are working on, at one point we had to move to a high capacity server. This took us about 3 weeks to complete the transfer. With a fiber internet connection, it would have taken just three hours. When you save time, you make more money.
WAT: Between January and April 2017, the government shut down the internet in the North-West and the South-West. That decision surely affected Silicon Mountain since it is located in the Southwest. What were the consequences of that government decision on startups in Silicon Mountain?
C.M: It was the most harmful experience ever faced by startups here in Buea. I can estimate that our company lost between 70,000 and 100,000 US dollars. When we were cut off, we first moved to Douala. Then, we rented a place at New Bonako, between Douala and Buea, where we could have internet access. I don't want to talk about it. It is a thing of the past. We are past it.
WAT: Can the internet connection and equipment the government recently provided compensate for the losses you suffered at that time?
C.M: We can't compare the two periods because the realities were different. The internet shutdown happened in 2017. We are now in 2022. We needed an internet connection and the government is offering it. We are happy and we will use it to improve our business, upgrade and hire more people. With the internet connection offered, we will be able to train more young people, work with more clients and develop more solutions
Interview by Ruben Tchounyabe
Novissi, the social assistance program developed by NGO GiveDirectly, was implemented by the Togolese government to support poor communities during the coronavirus pandemic. US$22.5 million was distributed to 817,154 people in its framework.
Cash transfer program Novissi received the Special Recognition Award of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Innovation Show, held March 11-20 in Austin, Texas, USA. The program, termed MobileAid, set itself apart during the Covid-19 crisis. Indeed, in 2020, when the coronavirus was raging, Togo implemented Novissi to assist the less privileged.
Four conditions were required to access government assistance. First, the applicant must be a Togolese residing in the country. Secondly, he/she must be an employee whose job was affected by the coronavirus response measures issued by the government. The third and the fourth conditions were respectively being aged over 18 and having a voters card.
Applicants meeting all those four conditions can self-enroll by dialing the USSD code *855# and following the enrollment procedure.
Male beneficiaries used to receive monthly stipends of XOF10,500 (US$17.76), against XOF 12,250 for women. Beneficiaries were advised to use the stipends to buy food and water, pay for water and electricity bills, or purchase airtime.
Developed by the non-governmental organization GiveDirectly, Novissi was born out of the Togolese government's desire to guarantee a minimum income for the poor amid the coronavirus pandemic that forced travel restrictions.
Overall, 1,631,101 people self-enrolled on Novissi but only 817,154 were approved. They included 516,847 women and 300,307 men. According to the Togolese government, The beneficiaries received a total of XOF13.308 billion.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Over the past five years, Senegal's startup industry has gained the attention of many investment and venture capital funds. Thus, the moment seems to be ripe for boosting the local tech ecosystem, to hatch even more golden nuggets.
The French Embassy in Senegal and the General Delegation for Rapid Entrepreneurship of Women and Youth (DER/FJ) officially launched this Monday the "Support for the acceleration of Senegalese Tech companies" program.
A partnership agreement was signed to this effect by Mame Aby Seye, the General Delegate to the DER/FJ, and the French Ambassador, Philippe Lalliot. With the expertise of the Public Investment Bank of France (Bpifrance) and the French Development Agency (AFD), the two partners have each mobilized €2 million to support the development of Senegal’s entrepreneurial tech ecosystem.
According to Mame Aby Seye, besides financing companies, the project “aims to support networks of Senegalese investors but also make Senegalese startups more visible to investors from the African and European continents.”
BPIfrance and AFD's support is the fruit of strategic steps taken to benefit innovators, notably on the regulatory and financial fronts. These efforts stimulated the growth of the startup industry and contributed to the emergence of Senegal’s first unicorn, Wave, in September 2021. Now, the ecosystem needs to be better structured to spur its maturity and birth new super startups.
Isabelle Bebear, BPIfrance's Director of International & European Affairs, said that "the digital community hosted on Bpifrance EuroQuity, led by the DER and animated with the actors of the Senegalese Tech ecosystem, will allow startups to connect to international investors and other ecosystems in Africa and Europe."
Muriel Edjo
The LOGIRAD is DRC’s new integrated public finance management system. It was adopted last Friday, March 25th, in Kinshasa, during the council of ministers.
The new digital system is aimed at making the collection of taxes, duties, and fees more secure for the central government. Additionally, LOGIRAD will help the government optimize domestic revenue mobilization, knowingly by helping it better manage administrative and legal disputes, protect the tax collection circuit, limit human intervention and tackle fraud.
Per Article 3 of the tax law No. 13/003 of February 23, 2013, amended and supplemented by Article 47 of the 2022 finance law, the Democratic Republic of Congo will issue a statutory law, making LOGIRAD the compulsory platform for tax and non-tax procedures.
In the country’s 2022-2024 medium-term budgetary framework presented in September 2021, the Ministry of Finance makes LOGIRAD a key asset in the public revenues’ protection arsenal. The digital system is expected to heavily contribute to the collection of additional revenues for the implementation of essential socio-economic development projects.
According to DRC’s medium-term budgetary framework, provincial governments’ overall expenditure budget over 2022-2024 amounts to some FC89,999.8 billion (US$44.7 billion) against FC74,797.8 billion for the central government.
Muriel Edjo
Burundi validated last March 17 the final plan of its digital tax collection project. The plan was validated by provincial governors, council tax officers, and communal administrators during a workshop organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The final plan provides for the adjustment of the legal framework, identification and allocation of identification numbers to every taxpayer, and the acquisition and deployment of IT equipment. It also plans for the connection of every municipality to the national power and internet network as well as training for the communal staff that will be in charge of daily communal revenue collection. The plan’s pilot phase will be launched next July in sixty townships.
For Niteretse Martin (photo), permanent secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the collection of communal tax revenues is being digitized to improve efficiency, boost transparency and improve the relationship between the public administration and citizens by offering efficient services to users.
The March 17 workshop is the ultimate result of instructions issued by President Evariste Ndayishimiye at the end of the January 4-5, 2022, government retreat. After the retreat, on January 27, another workshop was organized to validate the diagnostic assessment of communal tax collection in the country. The digitalization of communal tax collection is perceived as a solution to poor communal management. The latter translates into financial losses for the government. However, the authorities expect digitalization to guarantee good governance and steady communal tax incomes.
Ruben Tchounyabe
Egypt’s Ministry of Finance, on March 9, commissioned German software provider SAP and US tech firm IBM Consulting to install a digital platform for the country’s tax procedures. This move aims to improve tax procedures and optimize revenue collection.
The two contractors will roll out an integrated solution based on the SAP® Tax and Revenue Management for Public Sector. Designed to provide the Ministry of Finance with comprehensive business automation tools, the platform will help the Ministry streamline and automate its processes, enhance collaboration and improve citizen experience. The system was successfully tested in 10 tax offices in Greater Cairo but this year, it will be rolled out in every region.
Under the terms of the contract binding the three parties, IBM will also install IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation solution, a tool designed to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into the ministry of finance’s processes. It will streamline and automate the tax procedure, ensuring accurate tax declarations, offering taxpayers more knowledge of the taxation process while allowing tax authorities to focus on high-value tasks like reducing tax evasion and improving revenues.
The project is part of the Egypt Vision 2030 development strategy launched in 2016. One of the main focuses of that strategy is the modernization of public services.
Meanwhile, the digitization of the tax system is part of the unified tax procedure law aimed at maximizing government revenues. On February 22, Ragab Mahrous, spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, explained that taxes account for 75% of the Egyptian government’s revenues. Therefore, it is crucial for the country, which has several development projects, to optimize tax collection.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
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Uganda started digitizing its public services more than 10 years ago. Subsequent achievements confirm the soundness of the decision that the Ugandan government took much earlier than most African countries.
Uganda saved an average of USh4 trillion (US$1.1 billion) yearly over the last ten years thanks to digitization. The figure was disclosed by Hatwib Mugasa, executive director of the country’s information technology authority NITA-U, in Kampala last Wednesday, March 23, during the Huawei ICT Congress 2022.
“This cost would have been spent on paper, manual processes, and data centers’ service fees for each ministry, department, and agency,” the government official explained. As part of its digitization project, the government has “rolled out over 4172km of backbone fiber cable in over 62 Districts of Uganda,” he added. It also includes “rolling out last-mile fiber cable to extend connectivity to the grass-root user all the way to the Parish.”
“In a few weeks from now we shall have completed 764km under the Last Mile Phase and citizens shall be able to access e-government services at 1,400 administrative locations,” he concluded.
The financial gains aside, digitization also helped save time for citizens who can now pay their taxes, request passports, and register a business online, Hatwib Mugasa indicated.
Uganda is currently one of the African countries with the highest e-government readiness score. In its latest "E-government development index 2020", the International Telecommunication Union ranked the country 18th out of 54 on the continent. The country's score of 0.4499 out of 1 is above the East African (0.3738) and African (0.3914) average. In 2010, its e-government development score was 0.2812.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
The last two years have demonstrated to officials in Madagascar how important transforming the economy is. As a result, the country started digitizing several strategic sectors for more efficiency.
On 22 March 2022, the Malagasy Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MINAE) signed a partnership agreement with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to digitize the country’s agri-food systems.
As part of this agreement, digital platforms will be developed to make agricultural services more accessible, interactive, and efficient for the whole agricultural value chain. The platforms will take advantage of available opportunities and tackle challenges the sector may face in the future.
According to the MINAE, the partnership also includes support for "digital innovation” and it will focus on improving efficiency of coaching, training, intermediation, and partnerships. It will also entail “the publication of crucial information” related to trade, health, and regulations.
Ultimately, the ministry believes, the agreement will "accelerate the positive transformation of food systems and make them more sustainable, resilient and inclusive.”
The said agreement is one of the numerous actions carried out by the Malagasy government to improve the efficiency of its agriculture sector. Last year, the MINAE, the Ministry of Digital Development, and technical/financial partners announced the implementation of a geo-referencing system to collect and manage data on farmers, their operating segments, and the various supports received from the government. As part of this initiative, digital farmer identification cards were distributed in November 2021.
Ruben Tchounyabe
Orange S.A. is gradually implementing its digital skills development strategy in Africa. Initiated in 2019, the strategy has already benefited millions of people on the continent.
Orange S.A. inaugurated one of its Orange Digital Centers (ODC), in Rabat, Morocco, yesterday, March 23.
The center is the result of a partnership between Orange Morocco and the German Agency for International Development Cooperation (GIZ). It hosts four strategic programs: a coding school, a digital fabrication program (FabLab Solidaire), a start-up accelerator (Orange Fab), and Orange Ventures, Orange group’s investment fund.
Young Moroccans with tech business ideas and innovative projects or those willing to acquire digital skills can access coaching and mentoring resources at the center.
Alioune Ndiaye, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, says ODC Rabat further enhances the network of 32 Orange Digital Centers the group plans to build in all the African and Middle Eastern countries where it operates, but also in Europe.
“This project is a key step in our social responsibility plan to promote digital inclusion, for young people and women notably,” adds Elizabeth Tchoungui, Executive Director CSR, Diversity and Philanthropy, and Deputy Chair for the Orange Foundation.
In the framework of its strategic plan Engage 2025, which focuses on developing connectivity, energy, education, and financial inclusion, Orange is committed to deploying an ODC in each African country where it operates by 2025. Besides Rabat, the group has inaugurated ODCs in Tunisia, Senegal, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mali, and Egypt. It also plans to inaugurate more ODCs this year.
According to Hendrik Kasteel, CEO of Orange Morocco, to impact Moroccan society more, Orange will complement its ODC Rabat investment with support to higher education institutes in the country. To this end, several “ODC Clubs” are expected in the country, starting with Hassan II University in Casablanca.
Muriel Edjo
Africa’s digital transformation comes with threats of escalating cyber attacks. It is therefore crucial for the continent to take appropriate measures to protect itself from such attacks.
Togo is currently hosting an international cybersecurity summit. Started on March 23, the summit -the first of its kind in Africa- was organized by the Togolese government and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
According to the organizers, the event aims “to initiate high-level dialogue on avenues of cooperation and coordination to address the pressing challenges and issues of cybersecurity.” Above all, it will serve as a medium to “boost cooperation and agree on a cybersecurity strategy for Africa.”
Nearly 600 participants are attending the summit, including officials from a dozen countries, experts, private sector leaders, and civil society actors.
"The issue that brings us together today is one of the major challenges of our time. Africa must be ready for it and even play an active part [in the fight against cyberattacks],” said Faure Gnassingbé (photo), President of Togo, in his opening speech.
After this speech, the Head of State received the symbolic award of UNECA Champion for Cybersecurity in Africa for his commitment to cybersecurity.
“Africa offers economic opportunities in virtually every sector. The digital economy is a key asset to unlocking these opportunities. (...) Also, cybersecurity is an important pillar for any digital transformation,” said UNECA Executive Secretary, Vera Songwe.
Alarming figures
For the UNECA, the cybersecurity summit -whose organization was postponed in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic- is necessary given the numerous challenges the continent will have to face. As the Addis Ababa-based institution explains, even if Africa has been quick to jump onto the 4th industrial revolution’s bandwagon, it is increasingly faced with cyber governance and cyber security issues.
Over the past two years, cybercrime incidents have escalated in Africa. In June 2020, South Africa became the third country in the world with the highest number of cybercrime victims. The same month, the Ethiopian Information Network Security Agency (INSA) announced that it thwarted a major attack. Also, in the first half of 2021, South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria recorded about 80 million cyber-attacks.
Meanwhile, “more than 90% of African firms operate without adequate cybersecurity procedures,” the UNECA reminds.
Octave A. Bruce