Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Venga: GMI Signs Letter of Intent to Raise $12 Million to Finance Its Liberian Land Based Gold Mining Operations
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0582975.htm
Ellen Holds Bilateral Talks At AU Summit -As Liberia Takes Leadership Role
Liberia: Boakai Dedicates Country's First Peanut Butter Plant, Urges Liberians to Take Initiatives
Liberia's Vice President Joseph N. Boakai has dedicated the country first peanut butter manufacturing plant, urging Liberians to take initiatives and not just to sit supinely and look up to the government for everything.
He said unless the country has people who take initiatives and track opportunities that Liberians can take advantage of, it would be difficult to usher the country out of the scourge of poverty.
Speaking Sunday, January 31 at a program marking the dedication of Liberia's first Peanut Butter manufacturing plant in Rehab Community, Paynesville, Vice President Boakai said the Unity party-led Government "believes in people who do not just sit and expect the government to do everything", and commended Rev. Luther Tarpeh of Transformation International for taking the bold step to establish the plant.
The Liberian Vice President lamented the tendency of many citizens to attribute everything, including their failures, to the government.
"Today in Liberia everything that happens that is bad is blamed on the government. If the grass is not cut, it is the government, if someone does not eat, they hold the government responsible for this," he said.
"But in a country, the government is there to create the environment and conditions and help to bring about safety, protect citizens and help them to move around and build infrastructure and challenge its citizens to work along with the government to get things done," he added.
Vice President Boakai also challenged youths to take advantage of opportunities open to them, noting that "unless something is done to better the lot of youths who are in the majority and who are coming from a bitter experience where they were misused and were forgotten about, the nation will be heading for more problems".
He noted that unless we get our young people prepared to become responsible citizens, whatever we are doing will be just for today," Vice President Boakai emphasized.
In his introductory statement earlier, the Founder of the faith-based NGO, Transformation International, Rev. Luther Tarpeh, said the Peanut Butter manufacturing plant was established with support from the U.S. based Global Strategies for HIV Prevention and the Presbyterian Church of Fort Collins of Colorado.
"Transformation International is a movement God has raised at this moment to be able to give values, to be able to raise a new generation of young people to be responsible, God-fearing and provide leadership for the country in years to come," Rev Tarpeh said.
According to Rev. Tarpeh, Transformation International focuses on raising street kids and giving them hope, education and values that will help them to be good leaders and responsible citizens.
He said the first phase of operations of the Peanut Butter plant will be to manufacture protein food for malnourished children for distribution to health centers, while the second phase will be to manufacture peanut butter for commercial purposes.
The Informer (Monrovia)
Liberia welcomes voluntary resettlement of Haitians in Africa
President Sirleaf, who is the first elected woman president in Africa, said on the sidelines of the AU summit in Addis Ababa that her country was ready to accept Haitians who are interested in re settling in Liberia "voluntarily" and in Africa as a whole.
"As you know, Liberia is home only to 3.5 million people, and we certainly have a lot of free land to welcome the Haitians to my country," said President Sirleaf, whose country is recovering from several years of conflict.
The same offer was made by President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal who has also proposed at the on-going African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa his country's proposal on Haiti.
However, it is not yet clear if the heads of state will make any decisions on the proposals or not.
Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, a number of African countries are showing their solidarity with the Haitian people, with dome extending various kinds of support to the Haitian people.
More than 100,000 people are feared to have been killed by the earthquake while thousands have been displaced.
President Sirleaf is among several African leaders attending the 14th Ordinary Summit of the African Union being held under the theme, "Information and Communication Technologies in Africa : Prospects and Challenges for Development".
Question about the forthcoming elections in Liberia, President Sirleaf reiterated her decision to be a candidate in the October 2011elections.
She also indicated that her country was currently struggling with the fight against corruption, unemployment, and the rehabilitation of infrastructure that had been destroyed during the conflict.
Source - APA
Monday, February 1, 2010
THE ANALYST: Govt. Privatizes Free Port Soon -
If that happened, the nation’s biggest seaport and gateway to the outside world would be in private hands – perhaps modernized and relevant to the nation’s economic recovery process and made more serviceable to the Liberian people.
Sources said they were certain that the results would be released on schedule because the committee reviewing the proposals of the two bidding companies – the Bollore Group, a leading company in port management and operation, and APM Terminals, a port operation company based in the Hague – has substantially completed analyses of the bidding offers.
Of the two bidders, the sources, the Bollore Group has offered the highest amount in the tune of US $210 million, which it feels is suitable to undertake the kind of work needed to modernize the port and also to generate the needed revenue.
Port experts have hinted that under its present state of degradation, it would take some US $200 million to modernize the Freeport of Monrovia under a 20 to 25-year contractual management contract.
They said this was especially true if the modernization takes the form of infrastructural improvement and the provision of modern port equipment to provide basic and high-demand services to the international shipping community.
According to sources, the Bollore Group, considering the financial threshold, has offered a US $210 million investment package to bring the Freeport of Monrovia to the required modern standard.
They said the Bollore Group’s investment would cover areas of the port that are in dire needs of repair and modernization.
The group has offered, the sources revealed, US $100 million for equipment, being fully aware that such a project cannot be successful without modern equipment or state of the art equipment. For the construction of the quay, Bollore has offered US $60 million; and for other infrastructure, civil, and related works – including communication, its systems, training, capacity building – it has earmarked US $50 million.
This makes the total investment package of US $210 million, an amount port experts say is far above what should be the threshold package.
With a US a package of over the threshold US $200 million, according to the experts, the Freeport become a modernized port ready to compete with such regional preferences as the Port of Abidjan.
Reports say the secret behind the modernization and serviceability of the Abidjan Port is that the Bollore Group has signed a management contract with the Ivorian government and port authority since 2004 to reverse its then deteriorating standards.
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According to the report records show that the Port of Abidjan is the most functional, up to date, and profitable port by far and for sure, in West Africa and on the Continent of Africa comparatively.
A Bollore source has meanwhile noted that believing that the port is strategic, the group saw the need make the offer that believe will make the Freeport of Monrovia a strategic global partner in the international logistics chain in the region.
As a strategic global partner, the Bollore sources said, the port would generate increased revenue by providing services to larger vessels, and certainly but critically, introducing new shipping lines.
The sources said that Bollore, which has guaranteed the services of large vessels upon the modernization of the port, believed that additional service would stimulate competition at the Freeport of Monrovia, which is currently not the case.
As much as they stimulate competition, they said, improved condition at the port would also certainly benefit Liberian shippers, seafarers, and consignees.
They said a significant advantage the Bollore Group’s package brings to the bidding competition, investment port’s General Cargo handling area.
“The Bollore group has a long-term vision and commitment for Liberia and its company in Liberia, UMARCO and the port sector,” said one Bollore source.
According to the source who preferred not to be named, the group is prepared, as it has done in other countries in Africa, to increase its investment in related sector of the transportation chain, by linking other ports of Liberia to the operation to the Freeport of Monrovia or by developing these ports’ transport facilities.
Not much is known about the background and investment package of Bollore Group’s bidding competitor, APM Terminals of The Hague, but reports said Bollore was in a better position to snatch the bid.
The Bollore Group, a Paris-based French investment and paper-energy-plantations-logistics conglomerate, is basing its bid on having a wide range of experience and know-how of break bulk, timber products, bulk, vehicle, project, oil and gas-related cargo handling virtually, across many African ports within its global network.
The group presently through one of its partners, SETV operates the port of Abidjan following the signing of a concession in October 2004. The group now has new branches in Namibia, Djibouti , Mauritania , Maputo, and Ethiopia .
Statistics of the operation in 2008 show a turnover of 75 Euros, with 309 permanent employees as well as intensive training program with a yearly budget above 500,00 Euros. The group has its presence in 41 countries, with more than 200 agencies and 16,650 permanent staff.
Financially, sources said it earns 1.600 Euros annual income and more than 200 million Euros investment; five million square mile of warehouse space.
Source: The Analyst