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According to the United Nations General Assembly, International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated annually on the 11th day of February. In the past, long-standing biases and gender stereotypes are steering girls and women away from science related fields. Charity Wayua, Scientist at IBM Africa joins CNBC Africa on the impacts achieved thus far.</p>


IBM Africa on how to change the narrative on African women in science

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<p>At the General Debate of the on-going 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari described the controversial $9.6 billion failed gas project case between Nigerian and Process and Industrial Development as an example of a ‘scam’. To breakdown the legalities around the case, Chinedu Anaje, Managing Partner at A02 Law joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


President Buhari: $9.6bn P&ID case, an example of a ‘scam’

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<p>The World Bank predicts that the amount of remittances sent by Africa&#8217;s diaspora to Sub-Saharan Africa will reach the $50 billion mark by 2020, now as world leaders are set to converge in New York for the 74th United Nations General Assembly, a group of the African diaspora will use the opportunity to engage continental leaders on investment opportunities on the continent with an aim of moving away from just remittances to making investments on the continent. Gbenga Omatayo, Founder of USAfricaHub joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Africa’s diaspora: How the continent must move from remittances to investments

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<p>As banks across the globe prepare to adopt the global principles for responsible banking and sustainable financing; CNBC Africa&#8217;s Christy Cole spoke to Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, Head of Sustainability at Access Bank to discuss what to expect before the global principles are finalised and launched on the platform of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this September.</p>


Financing sustainable development in Nigeria

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<p>On the side-lines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings, Melinda Gates handed over the co-chair of an all women led philanthropy group, the Maverick Collective, to South African business woman and Philanthropist, Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe at a special gathering in New York City. She joins CNBC Africa to discuss what it means and the opportunities it presents.</p>


Precious Moloi-Motsepe to co-chair global all-women philanthropy group

<p><strong>By: Mary-Jean Nleya * </strong></p>
<p>The 72<sup>nd</sup> United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) runs until Monday 25 September. Speeches from different heads of state commenced on 19 September. The much-anticipated debut of President Donald Trump on the world stage took place on Tuesday. He applauded the African Union and United in his debut speech for “[leading] peacekeeping missions [and] to have invaluable contributions in stabilizing conflicts in Africa”.</p>
<p>Among African heads of state, President Alpha Condé of Guinea was the first African to take the international stage. He was fifth on the list, directly after President Trump. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was the second African head of state to address the assembly and eighth on the general debate list.</p>
<p>While there are many issues heads of state have to cover in the time granted them to address the international community, the entire programme, including the side events, provides an opportunity to discuss issues that may or may not be directly addressed by the respective heads of states. One of the important topics is on bridging the digital divide and harnessing technology to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.</p>
<h4><strong>Rapid innovation versus digital inclusivity </strong></h4>
<p>The 21<sup>st</sup> century has brought about a significant rise in the use and advancement of technology. In recent months there have been widespread <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/07/musk-vs-zuck/535077/">debate and discussion</a> on the <a href="https://www.inc.com/kevin-j-ryan/elon-musk-says-artificial-intelligence-bigger-threat-than-north-korea.html">perils</a> or conversely the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/24/mark-zuckerberg-elon-musks-doomsday-ai-predictions-are-irresponsible.html">advantages</a> of artificial intelligence (AI), with tech giants painting various images on the future use of AI.</p>
<p>Debates on the future of technology have become so futuristic that there is a need to pause and look at the current issues surrounding existing digital infrastructure. The various debates on AI ought not to surpass the important discussions on <a href="http://www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/digital-infrastructure-overcoming-digital-divide-emerging-economies/">overcoming the digital divide</a> and the current inequalities as they relate to the basic infrastructure and access to technology, e.g. internet connectivity in some parts of the world.</p>
<p>While debates on the future uses of AI should be considered and <a href="https://qz.com/1061404/we-need-to-shift-the-conversation-around-ai-before-elon-musk-dooms-us-all/">genuinely</a> debated; practical and critical issues of preventing an irreparable digital divide have to be given due recognition, too.</p>
<p>Therefore, it is imperative that in the midst of the headline grabbing futuristic debates by tech billionaires that actions, strategies and methods of ensuring access to the internet should be implemented to connect those that are still unconnected. We’re talking here about the use of basic internet services, through affordable methods such as the <a href="http://whitespaces.microsoftspectrum.com/">TV White Spaces spectrum</a>. The digital divide affects certain segments of the populace, such as low-income and rural localities – due to unaffordability and inadequate skills.</p>
<h4><strong>Discussions on tech   </strong></h4>
<p>During a panel discussion on “The Digital Transformation of Social Impact”, co-founder of Xbox, Otto Berkes, said: “Technology is a powerful enabler of communication and outreach, [particularly] when internet &amp; mobile devices come together”, and that the way to harness technology as an enabler is to “harvest the intellectual capability across the globe”.</p>
<p>A subsequent side event during the UNGA was the “High Level Event on Innovation and Technology: SDG Innovation”. Here, Aliko Dangote had this to say, “There is no way we can reach the Sustainable Development Goals’ targets without leveraging on technology and innovation”.</p>
<p>Ashish Thakkar, dubbed “Africa’s youngest billionaire”, said: “By 2020, Africa will have 700 million cellphones online”. This emphasises the importance of finding ways to ensure that mobile penetration in conjunction with access to basic internet services, especially on the African continent, is leveraged to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and break inequalities as they currently exist in areas such as access to education and healthcare.</p>
<h4><strong>Tech &amp; globalisation </strong></h4>
<p>Globalisation as it exists in the 21<sup>st</sup> century has been <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10433.html">credited</a> with a lot, among others, ensuring an interconnected and vibrant world economy; maintaining multilateralism; improving the standard of living exponentially for over half a billion people in emerging economies such as China, Brazil and India; and <em>viz-a-viz</em> being a proponent which has reduced inequalities <em>across</em> nations.</p>
<p>Conversely, globalisation has also been <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10433.html">critiqued</a> for having been the cause of inequalities <em>within</em> nations by benefitting a privileged elite, and having been the cause of the contagion effect all over the world during the 2008 economic crisis, etc.</p>
<p>It is essential to find ways to ensure that technological innovation is inclusive and does not widen socio-economic inequalities that exist today in order to preempt societal unrest from taking place as seen with complexities and paradoxes of globalisation in recent years and more so in recent months.</p>
<h4><strong>Conclusion </strong></h4>
<p>Bridging the digital divide and ensuring that indeed access to basic internet services and access to other forms of enabling technology is equalised and available to all requires unconventional and bold steps.</p>
<p>To buttress this point, the president of the 72<sup>nd</sup> session of the UNGA, Miroslav Lajcak, at the “High Level Event on Innovation and Technology: SDG Innovation” session highlighted the importance of “unleash[ing] innovation to unlock the potential of every person, everywhere, especially [among] young people”.</p>
<p>In this regard, bold and unconventional steps are required to harness technology and innovation for the SDGs. Countries such as Estonia have moved to offer the internet as a right to all citizens and offers it to all its citizens.</p>
<p>The step undertaken by Estonia is indeed ambitious; however, if one country has made access to internet services possible for <em>all </em>its citizens, there are other approaches that can be followed by leaders of governments and business to afford opportunities to all citizens (despite social and economic strata) and “unlock the potential of every person, everywhere”.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>* Mary-Jean Nleya is the founder &amp; editor of <a href="http://www.theglobalcommunique.com/">The Global Communiqué</a> , a current affairs online magazine. She has been selected as a 2017 UNLEASH SDG Talent and is a G20 Young Global Changer. Mary-Jean is attending the SDG Media Zone at the 72<sup>nd</sup> United Nations General Assembly in New York City and will be covering the event. Twitter handle: <a href="https://twitter.com/thegloco">@thegloco</a>.</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


Op-Ed: Harnessing tech innovation for the SDGs – Leaving no-one behind

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<p>In a bid to drive reforms in Nigeria&#8217;s judicial systems, the chief justice of the country has given the go-ahead for special courts to try corruption cases across the country.</p>


Nigeria sets up special courts for corruption cases

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<p>Nigeria&#8217;s President Muhammadu Buhari will address the United Nations General Assembly later today. Niyi Falade, CEO Crusader Sterling Pensions joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Buhari to address UN general assembly today

<p>By: Mary-Jean Nleya *</p>
<p>The 72<sup>nd</sup> United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) kicked off today at the UN Headquarters in New York City. A lot of world and international issues are on the table for debate, discussion, and clarification.</p>
<p>The leader of the free world, President Donald Trump, is set to take the world stage on Tuesday, September 19<sup>th</sup> – and the international community awaits to hear the clarification over some of the rhetoric he conveyed, both pre-and post his presidency, concerning the UN.</p>
<p>Among the other international issues to be addressed, is around the human rights concerns over the Rohingya crises in Myanmar. Many local and youth-focused issues are also sure to be given due regard.</p>
<p>On the morning of Saturday, September 16<sup>th</sup> 2017, two Nigeria youths were interviewed in the community of Agodo in Lagos. The purpose of the interview was to put a human face on the youth unemployment statistics, as well as to get a grassroots understanding of the circumstances that the youth face and their views on what they expect from the meeting of world leaders, one of whom will be their own country’s president, at the UN. Below is an excerpt from the interview – condensed for clarity.</p>
<p>Q: What is your name and how old are you?</p>
<p>Aanuoluwapo: My name is Aanuoluwapo. I am 28 years old.</p>
<p>Efemena: I am Efemena and I am 26 years old.</p>
<p>Q: What is your educational level and are you currently employed?</p>
<p>Aanuoluwapo: I have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and I am unemployed. It has been difficult to get a permanent job after graduating.</p>
<p>Efemena: I have a BSc in Mathematics from Covenant University in Ogun State. I am looking for a job. To keep myself busy, I teach secondary school students Math. It is part-time and temporary. They pay me some little money; it is too small to even sustain me.</p>
<p>Q: Have you made attempts to secure a job? If so, at what kind of companies? And if not, why?</p>
<p>Aanuoluwapo: I have tried everything. I see job postings online – I visit online job seeking sites. I apply. They call me for interviews, but when you get to the interviews – you see that the employers are looking for just one person and there are thousands of applicants who pitch up. I apply to both big and small companies – but it is the same: there are just too few jobs available for the number of graduates and applicants – unemployment levels are high in this country. I applied for a training programme at Shell; I did not get it.</p>
<p>Efemena: I want to be a teacher. I have applied for jobs, even at the school I am doing part-time teaching at, they don’t have a permanent opening where they can place me. That is why they can only allow me to teach part-time for small money.</p>
<p>Q: Aanu, what do you do to sustain yourself and keep yourself busy?</p>
<p>Aanuoluwapo: I am an IT person – so I look for small IT business opportunities – like to design logos for people. This is just to sustain myself.</p>
<p>Q: Is it like a business?</p>
<p>Aanuoluwapo: No. It’s not a business – it is just what I do sometimes to sustain myself. It will be difficult to do logo designing as a business because I will be competing with big established companies. To get a big hit is hard in IT.</p>
<p>Q: Aanu, Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg was in Nigeria in September last year [2016] to offer support to Nigeria’s youth in IT. What did him coming to Nigeria do for you and others like you? And in what ways can practical and relevant support be offered for people like you?</p>
<p>Aanuoluwapo: Mark Zuckerberg came here to Nigeria to try and close the bridge. He signed some contracts and if something comes out of those contracts that he signed – Nigerian youth will somehow gain from it. As for me and what I gained, all I can say is that he came and he went. It was inspiring to learn that there are some Nigerian programmers employed by Facebook and that some of his senior staff in Facebook are Nigerian.</p>
<p>Q: Efemena, are you entrepreneurial?</p>
<p>Efemena: Anyone can be entrepreneurial. You don’t need education to be entrepreneurial. But I don’t want to start my own business. I want to continue with teaching – it is only that the pay is small, but I like to teach – I want to teach Mathematics.</p>
<p>Q: But with no jobs currently available what are your immediate plans?</p>
<p>Efemena: I hope to get funding to enroll for a Master’s degree and continue to look for a permanent job.</p>
<p>Q: What are your views on continuing education – do you know of any free online courses, e.g. EdX and others? Are these kinds of online programmes and tools even relevant and helpful for you?</p>
<p>Aanuoluwapo: I have enrolled for one online course on Alison.com. The only thing these online courses can do is put someone at some kind of competitive-edge because they are knowledge-based.</p>
<p>Efemena: I registered for EdX to get tutorials. Online courses can only educate – maybe it is helpful in that way. But it is not helpful to get a person a job.</p>
<p>Q: Do you think the government is doing enough to offer young unemployed Nigerians support?</p>
<p>Aanuoluwapo: The Nigerian government is doing the bit that they could. There are unemployment schemes, they also offer graduates short-term loans.</p>
<p>Q: Have you applied for any of the government-offered programmes?</p>
<p>Aanuoluwapo: Yes. I have applied for the schemes. The process ended last month.</p>
<p>Efemena: All I can say is that the government can do much more.</p>
<p>Q: Next week the United Nations will have its 72<sup>nd</sup> General Assembly. What can you say about these kinds of gatherings by world leaders including the leader of your own nation, Nigeria? What is your message to them?</p>
<p>Aanuoluwapo: The UN is involved in youth empowerment initiatives and I appreciate those initiatives as a Nigerian youth.</p>
<p>Efemena: The UN should assist the Nigerian government in getting ways to create employment opportunities in this country.</p>
<p>Q: Any final words?</p>
<p>Aanuoluwapo: I am not discouraged. This phase is something for me to face and go through.</p>
<p>Efemena: I just have to keep pressing and I hope to one day inspire my students in the classroom.</p>
<p>The interview is a snapshot of the views of some Nigerian youth, who form part of the youth on the continent of Africa – the young continent. While the interviewed youth are hopeful and are taking positive strides to alleviate the discomfort of their current social and economic situation; some youth engage themselves in illicit activities and vices.</p>
<p>With the automation of different industries and the current employment deficit, one wonders whether today’s youth are being prepared for the jobs of the future and what can be done about it. These are some of the issues that require attention today and there is no better time to highlight this, than on the heels of the official commencement of the 72<sup>nd</sup> UNGA.</p>
<p>As leaders of different countries and organizations convene in New York City, let us ask the right questions and pay attention to the challenges of today to ensure that in 2030 no one is left behind.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>* Mary-Jean Nleya is the founder and editor of <a href="http://www.theglobalcommunique.com/">The Global Communiqué</a>. Mary-Jean is attending the SDG Media Zone at the 72<sup>nd </sup>United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City and will be covering the event.</p>


United Nations General Assembly

IBM Africa on how to change the narrative on African women in science

President Buhari: $9.6bn P&ID case, an example of a ‘scam’

Africa’s diaspora: How the continent must move from remittances to investments

Financing sustainable development in Nigeria

Precious Moloi-Motsepe to co-chair global all-women philanthropy group

Op-Ed: Harnessing tech innovation for the SDGs – Leaving no-one behind

Nigeria sets up special courts for corruption cases

Buhari to address UN general assembly today

Grassroots reporting on youth issues on the eve of the 72nd UNGA

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United Nations General Assembly

IBM Africa on how to change the narrative on African women in science

President Buhari: $9.6bn P&ID case, an example of a ‘scam’

Africa’s diaspora: How the continent must move from remittances to investments

Financing sustainable development in Nigeria

Precious Moloi-Motsepe to co-chair global all-women philanthropy group

Op-Ed: Harnessing tech innovation for the SDGs – Leaving no-one behind

Nigeria sets up special courts for corruption cases

Buhari to address UN general assembly today

Grassroots reporting on youth issues on the eve of the 72nd UNGA

News Tips

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