Paul Kagame, the current (and ever-lasting) president of Rwanda has recently traveled to Nigeria to meet with various officials and non-government actors. Over the weekend, at a breakfast meeting of Young Nigerian Professionals on Victoria Island, in the Lagos region, Kagame made a rather bold (yet accurate, in my opinion) statement:

“Ngeria can change, but it is the young people that can make the changes. I believe the change has started already. What is required to make a change is in the hands of youths. Rwanda is ready to work with Nigeria and failing to do what is necessary will make prosperity a major challenge on the continent.”

This is a great statement, coming from a leader of an African country which has actually made a stunning progress when it comes down to literacy rates and educational programs. In Rwanda, 71% of all citizens are literate.  However, school enrollment plummets when it comes down to secondary and tertiary enrollment (with only 36% of all students continuing their education past primary school). For more details on education statistics in Rwanda, go here.

Lake Malawi (known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania) is the third largest body of fresh water in Africa and the eight largest lake in the world. Tensions have been rising since last year when the Malawian government granted  British company Surestream Petroleum rights to explore the lake for oil and gas. On the other hand, Tanzania is claiming 50 percent of the lake but the international partition of the lake (who country it belongs to) has never been fully solved. Though some compromise has to be reached, the stubbornness exhibited by both governments shows one more that doing business in Africa is never easy. Or dull… Full story here. 

On October 19, 2011, on the occasion of his first 120 days in office, Kenyan Chief Justice Dr. Willy Mutunga will host a briefing for international journalists to outline the progress made in implementing the reforms enshrined in Kenya’s new Constitution. In his first ever briefing, Dr. Mutunga will highlight the judiciary reforms which have been implemented since the passage of the new Constitution.
 
Dr. Mutunga is the head of Kenya’s first ever Supreme Court, which was established by the new Constitution following an historic referendum in August 2010. Following a stringent nomination, vetting and approval process, Dr. Mutunga, a former Ford Foundation officer, was appointed as Kenya’s chief justice in June 2011. Dr. Mutunga was sworn into office June 20, 2011 and President Kibaki signed a bill officially operationalizing the Supreme Court on June 22, 2011.
 
WHAT:            International press briefing on Kenya’s judicial reforms
 
WHO:              Chief Justice Dr. Willy Mutunga
 
WHEN:            Wednesday, October 19, 2011
10:00am
 
WHERE:           Supreme Courts Garden
Nairobi, Kenya

Kenyan Olympic Marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru, 24, committed suicide on Sunday evening by jumping off the balcony of his home. Wanjiru, who specialized in long distance running, broke the world record in the half marathon in 2006 when he was only 18 years old. He was the first Kenyan national in history to win a gold medal in the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008). He apparently committed suicide after his wife caught him in bed with another woman late last night. May he rest in peace!

Delegates from 21 African countries will meet in Dar es Salaam this week, during a three day forum starting on Wednesday, to discuss various strategies and reforms that will allow the restructuring of the African Free Trade Zones. The main theme of this convention is “The Role of Free Zones in Achieving Millennium Development Goals in Africa”. Experts from the World Bank, the European Union and Asia are also expected to attend the conference. One Tanzanian official stated that he hopes this event will assist African countries in “attaining sustainable competitiveness.” The event is sponsored by the World Bank.