By Lauren M. Poteat (The Washington Informer/NNPA Member)
Despite living in a democratic country, more than 100 families in Zimbabwe are now being forcibly evicted from their home farmlands by First Lady Grace Mugabe.
In spite of a recent court hearing last month that ruled against the first lady’s move to seize farmland for personal gain or to expand her empire in the farming area of Mazowe, many villagers who have lived in the area for over 17 years still find themselves being forcefully displaced by law officials.
The NewZimbabwe.com reported that a village spokesman said, “It was not easy for us to hand over our petition to [the Southern African Development Community], because of the absence of Swaziland’s embassy here in Zimbabwe. Initially, we approached the South African embassy which referred us to [the] Botswana embassy, saying Botswana was the SADC secretariat, which again referred us back to the South African embassy, saying that they were the ones representing Swaziland here in Zimbabwe.”
The village spokesman continued: “They finally received our petition and took down our contact details before they promised to get back to us.”
Cape Town Readies For Female-Centered Business Summit
In an attempt to accelerate the economic empowerment and advancement of African women and girls, Cape Town, South Africa, will host the third edition of the Africa Women Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) Conference and Exhibition.
The Oct. 5-6 conference is expected to attract leading women in business, entrepreneurship, technology and government and incorporate panel discussions and workshops.
The AWIEF exhibition is also expected to offer an opportunity for organizations to showcase their products, innovations, technologies and contributions to the African economy and society. Small-business owners will also have a chance to market brands and network with prominent business leaders and corporate organizations.
To register for the conference, go to awieforum.org.
Rwanda to Host Transform Africa Summit
For the third year in a row, Smart Africa, a leadership-based organization for the betterment of business-minded Africa, will host their Transform Africa Summit in the country of Rwanda next month.
The summit is expected to attract more than 4,000 participants.
Based on the ideology for a connected Smart Africa, the event will highlight the organization’s five principles, including: putting Information Communication Technology (ICT) at the center of the national socio-economic development Agenda, improving access to ICT, improving accountability, efficiency and openness through ICT and putting the private sector first and leveraging ICT to promote sustainable development.
Smart Africa’s mission is to transform other African countries into emerging economies by the year 2030.
Lauren Poteat writes a weekly column for The Washington Informer about the culture, business and politics of African nations. You can follow her on Facebook.
Lauren Poteat writes a weekly column for The Washington Informer about the culture, business and politics of African nations. You can follow her on Facebook.
