Hans Rosling shows the best stats you've ever seen

You've never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, statistics guru Hans Rosling debunks myths about the so-called "developing world."

I am putting it up for the simple division of Africa into countries as holiday destination, investment destination, development aid and food aid about half way through. Particularly sad to see where Sierra Leone sits.

African Music Raises Money for Haiti

West and Central African singing stars will record a song in early March in the Senegalese capital Dakar to raise money for victims of last month's earthquake in Haiti, the musical project's leader.

More than 200,000 people were killed and a million left homeless when a magnitude 7.0 quake struck the poor Caribbean country on January 12. Since then, a mass of international relief efforts have been launched.

In the most recent African aid initiative, dozens of singers, among them internationally known names including Senegalese vocalists Youssou Ndour and Baba Maal, Ivorian reggae artist Alpha Blondy and Congolese musicians Lokua Kanza and Papa Wemba, will gather in Dakar from March 1-6 to record a song, all proceeds from which will go to Haitians.

"We have seen many solidarity actions from other parts of the world, we too have to do our share," singer and project coordinator Coumba Gawlo Seck told Senegalese television after a meeting with Senegal"s President Abdoulaye Wade.

Mali and Guinea will also be represented musically, while Coumba Gawlo said a mega-concert in Dakar will be organised to raise more money for Haitians.

Soon after the earthquake, Wade grabbed international headlines but surprised many in his own country by proposing the creation of a new African state to resettle homeless Haitians, comparing the idea to the 1948 birth of the state of Israel.

source http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE6190IV20100210

Gambia News; Gambia Golf Association Formed!

The Gambia Golf Association (GGA) was formed in 2009 and is the Governing Body for Golf in The Republic of The Gambia. It is overseen by an Executive Committee under the General Authority of the National Sports Council, of the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

The GGA Sanction the Gambia Open and Pro-Am.

The GGA is a non-profit making organization with the following main objectives:

To promote golf throughout The Gambia by striving to increase its popularity, raising general standards and twinning with other sports associations.

To ensure strict adherence to the rules of golf as provided by the Royal and Ancient Club of St Andrews, United States and African Associations without prejudice to local rules as they may apply from club to club.

To protect the interest of golf and increase public awareness of the requirements for its development in The Gambia.

To work closely with the appropriate Gambia Government bodies on matters relating to the development of golf within and outside The Gambia.

To promote and/or sponsor within the limits of its means and capacity, the training of young Gambians through golf clinics.

To increase the participation of Gambians in International Golf Competitions, including Pro-Ams and PGA tournaments.

In the name of the Gambia to assume membership of regional and international golf bodies and to comply with their constitutions and regulations.

To acquire, lease or otherwise any land, premises or property anywhere in The Gambia for use as driving ranges or golf courses.

Tourism Business Investments in the Gambia

Tourism sector continues to play a dominant role in the Gambia's economic development process. The sector provides employment opportunities as well as enhances foreign exchange earnings for the country.

The government is committed to an orderly development and expansion of the sector to include cultural and eco-tourism in order to maximize the benefits from tourism. In this regard, the expansion of infrastructures to designated tourism development areas including natural forest parks, land marks and monuments of cultural significance, are considered under the sector's development strategy. Effective marketing and promotional strategies for the U.S. markets and other European destinations is currently under review and it is anticipated that these strategies will take-off.

There are number of hotel development projects seeking for joint venture and/or financing including, construction of 5 Star hotels, bar and restaurants, and recreation facilities. However, the immediate investment priority for the sector is in tour operations targeting the Middle-East, U.S. and Europe. Investments in airline operations linking the Gambia and the targeted destinations have greater potentials and will give impetus to the growth and development of the Gambian tourism industry.

For more information Click here

Free Trade Zones in Africa: Gambia Business & Investment

A free trade zone (FTZ) or export processing zone (EPZ) is an area of a country where some normal trade barriers such as tariffs and quotas are eliminated and bureaucratic requirements are lowered in hopes of attracting new business and foreign investments. It is a region where a group of countries has agreed to reduce or eliminate trade barriers. Free trade zones can be defined as labour intensive manufacturing centers that involve the import of raw materials or components and the export of fast moving consumer goods and other factory products.

Most FTZs are located in developing countries: China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Pakistan, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Madagascar have EPZ programs.. In 1997, 93 countries had set up export processing zones (EPZs) employing 22.5 million people, and five years later, in 2003, EPZs in 116 countries employed 43 million people
Corporations setting up in a zone may be given tax breaks as an incentive. Usually, these zones are set up in underdeveloped parts of the host country; the rationale is that the zones will attract employers and thus reduce poverty and unemployment, and stimulate the area's economy. These zones are often used by multinational corporations to set up factories to produce goods (such as clothing or shoes).

Free Trade Zones are also known as Special Economic Zones in some countries. Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have been established in many countries as testing grounds for the implementation of liberal market economy principles. SEZs are viewed as instruments to enhance the acceptability and the credibility of the transformation policies and to attract domestic and foreign investment.

In 1999, there were 43 million people working in about 3000 FTZs spanning 116 countries producing clothes, shoes, household goods, electronics, and toys. The basic objectives of EPZs are to enhance foreign exchange earnings, develop export-oriented industries and to generate employment opportunities.

For More Information on Free Trade Zones click here

Africa Free Trade Zones - The Gambia Trade Gateway Project

The Gambia Trade Gateway Project is aimed at establishing free trade zones at sites around the seaport, airport and other strategic locations around the capital city, Banjul, and designed to operate within a tax and duty-free environment with fiscal and other incentives accorded to investors.

A free trade zone (FTZ) or export processing zone (EPZ) is an area of a country where some normal trade barriers such as tariffs and quotas are eliminated and bureaucratic requirements are lowered to attract new business and foreign investments.
Investing inside the Gambia Free Trade Zones

The Free Zones Act in The Gambia provides the legal framework for setting up Free Tade Zones and their efficient management. The main thrust is to create a world-class investment climate in The Gambia for businesses engaged in manufacturing, processing and export oriented activities.

Activities authorized for the purpose of investing within the Free Zones include warehousing, breaking bulk cargo, processing and manufacturing opportunities such as assembling, storing, grading, cleaning and mixing goods and products and their subsequent labelling, packaging and repackaging.

Other opportunities include telecommunication and information technology, energy, financial services and off shore services, health and veterinary services and transportation, logistics and distribution services.

Gambia Growth as Africa Destination of Choice

As a holiday destination the Gambia has always provided guarnteed winter sunshine. It is well served by cheap chartered flights from the UK, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway all seeking winter sun and relief from Northern winter climes.

It is a four hour drive to Dakar International Airport, in neighbouring Senegal which is the international air hub for this region of West Africa. Direct flights from here exist to Paris, New York, Torronto, Rio, Dubai, the Middle East, South East Asia and major African destinations such Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.The Gambia is now considered a world class tourist destination. Forty years ago there were just two hotels in the Gambia. Now there are several hundred offering a range from a few pounds to five hundred pounds a night. Saudi Arabian money is funding the building of further five star luxury hotel developments along the coast.

There is a thriving, expanding European ex-pat community which now enjoys the low cost and high standard of living here. This ex-pat community creates a market for good quality rental accommodation. This in turn is driving the investment market to meet the rapidly increasing demand.

Gambia Export Import