News

President-elect Joe Biden's incoming economic team unveiled Tuesday pledged to take urgent action as soon as they are sworn in to correct an economy struggling from the global coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking in Wilmington alongside Biden, Treasury Secretary Nominee Janet Yellen described the economic crisis brought on by the COVID pandemic as an "American tragedy" and warned that without quick action to address it, the damage will get worse.

Yellen spoke about the "historic crises" of the pandemic and the economic fallout resulting from it, as well as the "disproportionate impact" it's had on "the most vulnerable among us."

Talking about the pandemic that has cost 268,000 American lives, Yellen referenced the "lost lives, lost jobs" and struggles Americans face "to put food on the table and pay bills and rent."

She went on to say that "it's essential that we move with urgency" because "inaction will produce a self-reinforcing downturn causing yet more devastation." She pledged to Americans that the Treasury would be "an institution that wakes up every morning thinking about you."

In Biden’s team is Nigerian-born Adewale Adeyemo, who would serve as the new Deputy Treasury Secretary. Adeyemo will work with Janet Yellen, the nominee for Treasury Secretary. He'd be the first Black person to serve in the role.

"The challenges before us today are unlike anything we have ever faced", Adewale, better known as Wally Adeyemo told the audience.

"... I know that what the President-elect so often reminds us of is true. The American people can do anything when given a chance. And I'm honored to be a part of this talented team and to work with them and all the American people to build an economy that gives everyone that chance and turns our nation once again from crisis to hope. " he added.

Moments after, Biden's choice to run the White House budget office said social programs helped her family when she was a young girl being raised by a single mother in a Boston suburb and she pledged to promote those same programs when she's in office.

Neera Tanden said her mother faced hard choices after divorce left her to raise two young children. She said her family survived on food stamps and federal housing vouchers until her mother got a job and eventually bought a house.

Tanden said she wants to give people the same chance at a fair shot.

Tanden would help prepare Biden's federal budgets as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Word of her expected nomination has encountered early disapproval from some Republican senators who will vote on whether she becomes the first woman of Indian descent to lead the office.

The new administration would be sworn in on 20 January 2021.

Samuel Afari Dartey is becoming one of the household names in Ghana’s hospitality industry. Since 2015, his investment in the sector has been concentrated on providing eco-friendly resorts for Ghanaian and foreign holidaymakers.

Dartey started with Aqua Safari Resort in the Volta Region of Ghana, a unique venture at the time. Following the success of the resort, he decided to replicate it in other parts of the country. His latest resort, Safari Valley Resort, located in the Eastern Region of Ghana, is a breath-taker. 

Termed the “African Disneyland,” Safari Valley Resort is built in a way to allow visitors to engage with nature. It focuses more on forest resources, wildlife resources, and the ocean and marine environment.

The eco-resort sits on a 500-acre land that provides visitors with modern comfort as it has other facilities such as theatre and arts. It also boasts of caves and lakes. One can enjoy luxury accommodations, spa services, golf and organic meals as well.

Building resorts across Ghana was not easy to conceptualize, Dartey told Paakwesiasare.biz. “A friend of mine invited me to visit his farm and encouraged me to get into the same enterprise,” the CEO of the Aqua Safari Group said.

“We acquired a few acres and started to develop some rubber plantations but anytime I visited, I thought the place was unique and I knew I had to come up with some idea, an idea that could optimize the use of this beautiful renewable natural resource.”

“I started one business in the hospitality industry already, Aqua safari resort, which was doing extremely well, one of its kind in the country so it wasn’t difficult to conceptualize something that will relate,” he added.

The first phase of the project is currently in operation. It consists of 102 rooms and surrounded by palm trees, lush, green landscapes and infinity pools. According to Dartey, the resort was developed in such a way as not to destroy the environment. 

“Because it is an Eco-lodge, we’re planning to put into consideration that we won’t destroy the environment, such that where a tree has to be taken out, we will make sure that four trees replace that particular tree,” he said.

The resort facility is home to dozens of species of wildflowers and wildlife with local and exotic animals such as antelopes, zebra, and giraffes. This environment will enable visitors to “engage with the animals without any form of fear”, Dartey said.

The natural resource economist said he will expand his resort venture to every region of Ghana with Safari Palm Lands in the Western Region and Safari royal gardens soon to hit the Ashanti Region.

A Black resident in a Jacksonville neighborhood in Florida has filed a federal lawsuit against his local homeowners’ association after he was told to remove a Black Lives Matter flag he hung from his house.

But Antoine Mickle claims his neighbors also displayed paraphernalia with politically-charged themes including some in support of President Donald Trump as well as Blue Lives Matter flags, the Florida Times-Union reported.

In a press conference on November 24, Mickle, who has been a resident in the Kernan and Atlantic boulevards neighborhood for almost 19 years, detailed how the association as well his neighbors, have subjected him to harassment during his stay.

“I felt lonely and just all by myself that I couldn’t do anything against this powerful force, an HOA that has attempted to take my home away from me before,” Mickle said. “I have been threatened by the HOA. I have been threatened by particular neighbors who stand in front of my yard and gawk until I would leave. I’ve had harassment for the last 20 years or so from things like I don’t have red mulch in my yard when others [also] don’t have it.”

Responding to the allegations, the River Point Community Association board released a statement claiming that “unfortunately, the homeowner took offense to a letter sent to him that would have been sent to any other homeowners not following Association guidelines that have been in place for some time.”

The association claimed the disagreement did not stem from the Black Lives Matter flag in question, but rather had to with Mickle mounting it on his house instead of on a flagpole below the American flag, the Florida Times-Union reported.

In the letter to Mickle to take down the flag, the board said his flying of the Black Lives Matter flag was in contravention of a “nuisance clause” which prohibited “noxious or offensive activities.” They also claimed flags and other signs that are displayed on properties should be “seasonal in nature”, adding that “flags flying underneath the American flag on a flagpole are subject to enforcement under the state statutes, and not subject to enforcement by the Association.”

Meanwhile, Mickle’s lawsuit reportedly provided several photos of residents hanging flags – including a Blue Lives Matter flag, a Thin Blue Line flag and a host of other Trump flags – the same way he hung his, which is on his house instead of a flagpole.

In their statement, the board announced they weren’t going to pursue the case any further, claiming they were just doing their job.

“Unfortunately, this is a politically charged time and the timing was ill-advised. We were obviously not thinking about that and just simply doing our job as we would have with any other type or flag or sign outside of the guideline,” the statement said.

A representative from the HOPE Fair Housing Center in Miami, Keenya Robertson, however, told the Florida Times-Union Mickle’s lawsuit was justified as his case was a “modern-day version of discrimination and tactics that are meant to harass and intimidate someone who lives in their community.”

Lawyers for the plaintiff also told the news outlet they want the association to amend its policies and partake in training.

“Homeowners associations have a lot of power,” attorney David Cronin said. “They have a lot of power in Jacksonville. They can, as we saw in the housing crisis, take your home away from you.”

Another attorney, Matt Dietz, added: “These folks need to understand and know that this is wrong and by doing this you’re not only harming Mr. Mickle, you’re harming everybody’s right to live in an integrated community.”

The dire blow of COVID-19 — causing over 40% of Black-owned businesses to close this year — has not blocked Omar McGee from expanding his luxury car dealership in Los Angeles. In fact, McGee is proceeding with fresh bold strategic moves that include building up clientele, expanding into new business via partnerships, and positioning his company for future revenue growth.

The CEO of Posh Luxury Imports, McGee runs the only Black-owned exotic vehicle sales and rental dealership in the nation’s second-largest city. It offers everything from Honda Accord to Rolls Royce. Vehicle prices run from $30,000 to $330,000 and sometimes higher.

Yet, keeping his enterprise running has not been easy. McGee was forced to apply some creativity and business acumen in March 2020 after scheduling the grand opening of a new $700,000 showroom with many L.A. celebrities, athletes, and influencers committed to attend. McGee had to cancel the gathering as the pandemic spread and Los Angeles was abruptly shut down on the day of the event.

Driven to get a return on his investment, McGee developed a plan to sell cars amid the crisis. Leveraging a strong clientele of medical professionals and corporate workers, he informed them he was still open and explained why they might need his services.

He found a niche in demonstrating to his core clientele that, includes doctors, celebrities, athletes, and other high-income individuals, why now is an ideal time to buy their next luxury vehicle despite the pandemic. That move allowed those customers to transition from renting vehicles from Posh to making an additional purchase of its luxury vehicles. That pivot not only uplifted the exotic sales business to the forefront temporarily, it also provided an opportunity for the dealership’s core exotic rental business to endure and even expand amid the crisis.

The moves paid off, allowing McGee to realize a 30% increase in sales largely from new and existing clients during the crisis.

Another game-changer came this summer. Meeting a new customer need and demand, McGee in July 2020 formed a strategic partnership with Amalfi Jets, providing exotic vehicles to the private jet company’s clients landing in Los Angeles.

He says the jet deal will boost car rentals, not necessarily the sales. “The exotic car rental and jets will be a package offering.” For all the jet clients that fly into LA, the exotic vehicles will be waiting for them at the hangar as they leave their jet, he says.

Plus, McGee this year captured other significant partnerships. They included deals with LA Lounge, a high-income, members-only cigar lounge, and Gauntlet Private Investments, a real estate private equity firm.

McGee is reaching out to others for potential partnerships. They include record companies, liquor brands, sports brands, jet rental companies, hotel chains. boutique properties, and general concierge services. He noted that many of these potential conversations and deals are in the works.

“I have been able to flourish as a result of the strategic business moves, we’ve consistently made in the face of the global crisis,” McGee says.

Still, he is uncertain how much the new expanded moves will contribute to the bottom line. He says while 2019 revenue was 60% higher than in 2018, 2020 was a rough year though there were a lot of successes. He says revenue for this year will not be known until next year.

“We are just grateful to not only be open and surviving but thriving!” McGee says. “Whatever number that looks like, we are grateful.”

A seasoned entrepreneur and financial literacy advocate, McGee learned the business from his father who owned an auto body collision shop in Flint, Michigan. Omar McGee became his own boss in 2017 when he launched Posh Luxury Imports. His regular customers include actors, actresses, athletes and other celeb and VIP clients. He offers them luxury car rentals as well as concierge services among his offerings.

Further, McGee counts his wife, Teresa, as a credit to his success. “I enjoy running new strategies by her before I launch them and she always shares her honest opinions about my creative offerings and ideas.”

Now, Omar McGee wants to take Posh Luxury Imports to another level. And McGee is confident his business is well equipped for future growth. He projects sales and rentals will top $2 million for 2021. He expects the revenue to come from his exotic rental business exploding once the pandemic is lifted and LA opens back up. He expects to pick up new business from rivals who unfortunately failed during the crisis. He expects other revenue contributions from such as the jet business. tourism and award shows.

Soldiers from Ghana’s armed forces have been deployed to the volatile eastern Ghanaian region of Volta ahead of the general election which is scheduled for Monday, December 7.

The move is part of what the government says are security measures put in place to forestall feared attacks that may spring up in the lead-up or during the elections. Volta Region, in recent weeks, has been hit with protests and threats from a group that is demanding secession from the Ghanaian republic.

The group, known as the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF), has been campaigning to break away some parts of Ghana into an independent state called Western Togoland.

The HSGF IS based in the Volta Region and was founded in 1994 by Charles Kormi Kudzordzi Papavi. The founder claims the group was founded as a platform to discuss the political, civil and human rights of the people of Western Togoland, a pre-independence territory between Ghana and Togo that voted in a 1956 United Nations plebiscite to be part of Ghana.

The ruling New Patriotic Patriotic Party (NPP) led by the country’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, has reiterated the need to secure the region that it deems liable to terror attacks. However, the region is also the stronghold of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ghana’s largest opposition party which was founded by the late Jerry Rawlings.

The NDC has called the decision to send soldiers to Volta, a political tactic of intimidation from the government. Its leader and candidate for the presidential election, John Mahama, a former president, has campaigned for the withdrawal of the troops before the election.

Mahama’s advocacy has been supported by the Volta regional house of chiefs, a council of tribe leaders. Last week, a letter from the chiefs to Ghana’s president said the council is of the view that the presence of soldiers will intimidate and “prevent [the people] from going out on 7th December 2020 to cast their votes in a peaceful manner.”

For Alioune Ndiaye, chief executive of Orange Middle East and Africa, and a tele­coms veteran since the 1980s, the past few months have presented a challenge to rival any seen in the industry’s recent history. 

“This pandemic has had a tremendous impact on our lives, on our jobs, on our families and activities – it’s impossible to overstate how much change we’ve had to withstand since March,” says Ndiaye. 

As the coronavirus hit the company’s 18 markets throughout the region, businesses and customers facing lockdowns and home-working sparked a huge increase in data use, putting a strain on the operator’s mobile and fixed broadband infrastructure.  

“Some of our countries have seen data traffic increase by 60% in only one or two weeks, usually during the lockdowns, and this has put our mobile and fixed networks under some stress, but thanks to all our previous investments we could withstand the sudden increase with almost no decline in quality or availability of our services, and this could explain why we’ve been resilient in our financial results,” he says.   

While the pandemic has buffeted corporates across the continent, Orange Middle East and Africa revenues grew 3.8% year-on-year in the first half of 2020 to €2.8bn ($3.3bn) and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation rose by more than 7%. The regional performance was driven by a 40% increase in 4G customers year on year to 27.9m, by broadband, and by mobile money service Orange Money. 

“Data usage by mobile phones has nearly doubled in a year. There were three phases – acceleration in the second quarter, more stable progression in the third quarter and a renewed progression from September,” says Ndiaye.  

Data revenue grew by 26% in the second quarter, while home working contributed to the number of fixed broadband customers increasing 31% year-on-year to 1.4m, enabling fixed broadband revenue growth of 33% in the second quarter. Yet adapting to this surge in demand has been an immense technical challenge for Orange, says Ndiaye.

Annual infrastructure investments of €1bn helped it to withstand the pressure at the height of the pandemic, but the firm has had to further boost its technology and work more closely with the US tech giants who account for the majority of its traffic. 

“The huge increase in traffic was mainly on Google and Facebook content, so we had to work closely with these players in order to better control the impact on our networks. This rapid increase in international capacity also had to be implemented on submarine routes in Morocco and Jordan, and we also increased our capacity on satellite in the DRC and Central African Republic. Some data network cores had to be resized and we did this in Jordan, Morocco and Senegal.” 

As well as improvements to physical infrastructure, Ndiaye also had to oversee an operational restructuring as Orange attempted to meet customer demand while  adapting to remote working and new in-country regulations. 

“We set up a crisis committee in each country chaired by the CEO of the operation in the country. We also updated our national business continuity plans to comply with new requirements. We cancelled all seminars and events and used barriers in physical workspaces and changed to digital modes where possible. The entire ecosystem of our operations had to adapt – this crisis has really exceeded in its form and scope the working hypothesis we had until now.” 

Data consumption and mobile money fuel growth 

As well as thrusting the telecoms sector to the fore as a critical communications medium for governments and citizens, the pandemic is accelerating industry trends that have long been brewing in Africa, including increased data consumption and smartphone ownership, widespread mobile money adoption and the installation of broadband for homes and businesses. Orange is positioning itself to capitalise on these shifts, says Ndiaye. 

“Our digital portals show traffic increased by 40% and data usage by business customers went up in many of our countries. We have started reflecting on the impact of the crisis, particularly the increase in teleworking for companies and employees, most clearly formulated in the widespread demand of B2B customers to increase the flexibility of the office and adapt to the uncertainties inherent in this crisis. This reflection could lead us to keep the traffic going, going forwards.” 

Nowhere is this acceleration more evident than in mobile money. Orange Money’s active customer base totalled 19.6m by June 30, having registered 18.9% year-on-year growth as governments encouraged citizens to avoid physical cash. Revenues for the service grew 12.5% in the second quarter of the year.

Orange is planning to build on this momentum through this year’s launch of Orange Bank Africa, which will work with Orange Money to offer a range of savings and microcredit services which will allow customers to borrow as little as CFA5,000 ($9) using their mobile phone. 

The bank aims to attract 10m customers and €100m in net banking income within 5 years. The first commercial launch will be in Côte d’Ivoire before branches open in Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso, subject to approval from BCEAO, the region’s banking regulator.  

“We are relying on growth levers like mobile money and banking,” confirms Ndiaye.  

In the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing unrests and protests in many cities across the United States, there have been concerns expressed in corporate America about lack of diversity and low investment in Black talent.

Since then, several firms have implemented wide-ranging diversity reform policies and programs and also invested in Black talents. Another company that is also charting a new course is the brewery giant Anheuser-Busch, which has brands including Budweiser and Bud Light.

The company has been in existence for nearly 200 hundred years but had never appointed a senior Black female official until recently when it appointed Natalie Johnson as senior brewmaster, making her the first Black woman to be appointed a brewmaster for the beer brand.

Johnson is a native of St. Louis and according to her, Anheuser-Busch, which is said to be the world’s largest beer company, has strong ties with her community. Before college, she interned with the company through Inroads. She then became involved in the production activities of the company. Through the internship, she acquired lab experience which helped her in college as a science student.

After college, she was hired by Anheuser-Busch where she learned brewing processes and how to conduct her own analysis. She told POPSUGAR in October that as a brewmaster, the “goal is to make sure, regardless of where you have a beer, what brewery it’s produced at, that it smells the same, it tastes the same, and has the same mouthfeel and finish, regardless of which brewery. So the brewmaster’s role is all about process control.”

Johnson’s journey in a field that is white and male-dominated has not been smooth sailing. “This is certainly a male-dominated field—110 percent,” Johnson told St.Louis. “Not only are women in the minority, but Black people are in the minority, too. In a lot of cases, I was an unexpected rarity in the situation. At times, people were shocked by me, and in some situations, I had to showcase my knowledge and talent before they could fully recognize me for who I am.”

41-year-old Johnson is now hoping to help address the lack of diversity in the industry through her position in the company as well as the “Budweiser Natalie Johnson Scholarship”. The million-dollar scholarship fund named in her honor was created to provide opportunities for women of color to pursue STEM degrees. Anheuser-Busch partnered with Dwyane Wade and the United Negro College Fund to create the scholarship fund.

Johnson believes a career path in the brewery sector for women of color is possible and has advised other Black women who are interested in the brewing industry to pursue it. “Throughout my career, there haven’t been a lot of Black women,” Johnson said in an interview with St. Louis Post-Dispatch this month. “We do want more diversity, not only at Anheuser-Busch but also in the brewing industry.”

A huge debate on the regulation of social media has come up recently, following recent chaos that came after the #ENDSARS protest. Once more, people are arguing whether social media spaces should remain avenues of free expression or whether it’s time for the government to step into this space. However, many have overlooked the more important question of why we need social media even in political turmoil.

For a movement which pulled as much weight as that of #ENDSARS, mainstream media was mostly ineffective in following it leading to social media being at the forefront of covering the movement. This raises the question of how important social media and freedom of expression have become to individual liberty. 

From a hashtag on Twitter, the movement grew with young people around the country sharing their stories of police brutality which led to the realization of the enormity of the problem and then to a call to action. While mainstream media was slowly catching up to the magnitude of this movement, social media users made it trend and also ensured it attracted an audience both locally and internationally, drawing attention to the plight of young Nigerians. 

The human rights abuses against protesters were mostly documented by private individuals and shared on social media. Many of these events were not covered by mainstream media. The live video of the Lekki Massacre which was watched by over 150,000 people serves as infallible proof of the event which has otherwise been consistently denied. Despite the fact that the chaos that ensued cannot be directly blamed on social media interactions, social media has become the scapegoat in Nigerians’ quest for a return to sanity and safety. 

This important help social media provided comes barely a year after the uproar surrounding the social media bill and reaffirms why the bill had to be resisted and why any attempt to bring it up again must be vociferously challenged. The question of whether the movement would have gathered as much traction as it did or whether the human rights violations committed during this period would have been covered up if social media was being regulated by the government now has a clear answer.  

The government’s obvious attempts at covering up these events—the denials, terming it fake news, the persecution of protesters—freezing of their bank accounts, terming them threats to the nation and the fact that many of the key figures in the protests have had to flee the country for their lives is proof that we can’t trust this same government with control over what we can and cannot share on social media.

One may be tempted to acquiesce to some sort of regulation to prevent fake news or hate speech especially in these volatile times, however, a clampdown on free speech doesn’t always end at the extremities regulators claim they’re trying to prevent. A good example is the cancel culture that’s slowly growing around the world and on social media. At first, it started with hate and violent speech but has moved on to target conspiracy theories and speech deemed politically and socially incorrect or offensive.

The media has always been at the forefront of the struggle for liberty in whatever form it has taken over the years. There is no doubt that social media is a new and powerful tool for advocating freedom and if we are to diligently guard our liberty, we must also diligently guard freedom of expression and in particular, our freedom to use social media even for those whose words we dislike. We mustn’t forget so soon after, the role social media has played in exposing the failures of the government.

Even though things might be scary in these times, Nigerians should be careful of making the very common mistake of trading safety for freedom. While the government taking charge might give a facade of calm and sanity, greater dangers to liberty and even safety can arise from there.

Nigerian startup Autochek is aiming at playing a pioneering role in building a digital infrastructure to coordinate the sales, servicing and vehicle records of the auto market in Africa.
“We’re basically focused on technology solutions to build the rails of [Africa’s] automotive sector to run on. We’re focusing on three foundations of the market: transactions and trading, maintenance, and financing,” Autochek CEO Etop Ikpe told.

It’s different in the type of technology we’re building and that it’s asset-light. I don’t have any inventory. I don’t buy cars. I don’t transact any [physical] cars. I don’t own any inspection locations. I don’t own any dealerships,” he said.

Autochek this month raised a $3.4 million pre-seed round co-led by TLcom Capital and 4DX ventures in a bid to digitize Africa’s automotive sector. It plans to use the fund to expand its operations and geographic scope. 

Autocheck has over 20,000 unique vehicles as well as more than 12,000 dealers and private sellers. Currently, it operates only in Nigeria and Ghana. It is planning to start operations in Ivory Coast, Senegal, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt and Algeria.

“Acquisitions are going to be a core part of our expansion strategy,” said Ikpe. Also, the startup is exploring to add associated auto-related services, such as insurance and blue book pricing products.