15 African Countries With English As Official Language

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In this piece, we are going to look at the 15 African Countries With English As Official Language. If you want to skip our detailed discussion on the outsourcing opportunities available in the African region for businesses outside the region, you can go directly to 5 African Countries With English As Official Language.

Africa comes in as the second biggest continent in terms of size, covering about 30 million square kilometers (11.6 million square miles). It’s also the second most populated continent on the planet, with a whopping 1.48 billion folks calling it home, as of 2024. Over 24 countries exist in the vast continent of Africa where English stands as their official languages, implying the fact that so many African countries are accessible to the world without a barrier such as a language barrier.

By leveraging African talent, businesses can not only enhance efficiency and profitability but also contribute to job creation and economic growth across the continent. This is so due to a vast pool of talent and skill on the continent, which presents viable opportunities for the world outside the continent.

The outsourcing landscape in Africa is a promising opportunity for businesses looking to find fresh talent and cut down on costs. Although the advantages of outsourcing to Africa may not be widely recognized, several countries on the continent have thriving outsourcing industries. Nigeria, with its massive population of over 200 million, is actively promoting outsourcing clients from other countries through initiatives like the National Outsourcing Strategy. Furthermore, South Africa boasts advantages such as native English speakers and a favorable time zone, making it a prime destination for business process outsourcing (BPO) services. Also, South Africa is home to 133,195 software developers.

Moreover, Kenya offers a diverse landscape of BPO services covering multiple sectors, facilitated by an educated workforce and growing infrastructure. Ghana is known for its business-friendly environment, government support, and skilled English-speaking workforce, attracting companies like Trinity Software Center and ACS Ghana. Madagascar, with its reputation for having the fastest internet in Africa and competitive labor costs, sees companies like Bocasay and Oworkers excelling in IT services and data handling.

Furthermore, the education system in Africa has shown remarkable progress over the past ten years. The World Economic Forum recognized 38 African countries among the top 140 in terms of skills development in their education systems. Seychelles, Tunisia, Mauritius, South Africa, and Algeria are among the countries that have been acknowledged for their high-ranking education systems. As a result of this growth in skilled young talent entering the workforce, Africa is becoming a more competitive labor market.

By October 2020, out of the 5.8 million businesses in the U.S., around 140,918 were owned by Black entrepreneurs. Most of these Black-owned businesses, a whopping 96%, didn’t have employees, while only 80% of all small businesses fell into that category. Interestingly, about 32% of Black-owned businesses with employees were in the healthcare and social services sector.

Unfortunately, Black entrepreneurs encounter challenges like limited access to startup funds, less experience in management and industry know-how, and often operate in industries with lower revenue opportunities. Nevertheless, many businesses founded by Black/African people have turned out to be huge success; let’s shed light on some of these before we move on to our list of 15 African Countries With English As Official Language.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) is a real estate investment trust that’s publicly traded and self-advised. They’re all about owning top-notch hotels, mostly focused-service and full-service ones that bring in good profits. Right now, they’ve got a portfolio of 96 hotels, totaling around 21,200 rooms spread across 23 states and Washington, D.C., plus a stake in another hotel with 171 rooms. Their shares have been making some moves lately, up by 0.4% in the last month and hitting a new high of $12.14 on Friday of the previous week. Since the beginning of the year, RLJ Lodging has seen a 1.2% increase, which is a bit lower compared to the finance sector as a whole but better than the REIT and Equity Trust industry.

Urban One, Inc. (NASDAQ:UONE.K)

Urban One, Inc.(NASDAQ:UONE.K) and its crew run as a cool urban-focused media company in the U.S. So, the folks holding Urban One, Inc. (NASDAQ:UONE.K) stocks might be a bit worried seeing their share price dip by 22% last quarter, ending 31st December 2023. But hey, looking back over three years, those returns would likely have put a smile on most investors’ faces. Yup, in the past three years, the share price shot up by a solid 73%, which is even better than the market average.

Broadway Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BYFC)

Broadway Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BYFC) is the big boss behind City First Bank, which is a federally chartered savings bank. Here’s some info on the numbers: the company’s got a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.13, and a quick ratio of 0.02. Their market cap sits at $56.61 million, with a PE ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.71. If we look at their moving averages, they’ve been cruising at $6.71 for the 50-day moving average and $7.06 for the 200-day moving average, as of the start of February 2024.

15 African Countries With English As Official Language

A young African American woman excitedly speaking on her smartphone while using a prepay mobile service.

Methodology

To come up with our list of 15 African Countries With English As Official Language, we conducted research to first list down the African countries with English as the official language. And then to rank those countries, we used the population figures for the respective countries by referring to the data provided by World Population Review. Let’s now jump on to our list of 15 African Countries With English As Official Language.

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15. The Gambia

Population figure 2024: 2,841,803

Businesses have been tapping into The Gambia’s plentiful semi-skilled and unskilled workforce for a long time. Wages there are often lower compared to other West African countries. Right now, the minimum daily pay for unskilled jobs starts from $1.50, while average daily wages range from $2.50 to $4. Having access to this affordable labor pool has been a big help for many companies in cutting down on their operational expenses.

14. Liberia

Population figure 2024: 5,536,949

So, Liberia sits pretty on the West African coast, rubbing elbows with Sierra Leone to the northwest, Guinea to the northeast, and Côte d’Ivoire to the southeast. While English is the official language there, you’ll hear over 20 local languages chatting away, alongside a unique tongue called Liberian English. Liberia’s got quite the linguistic mix going on!

13. Sierra Leone

Population figure 2024: 8,977,972

Sierra Leone is a real melting pot of languages. While English is kind of the main official language, Krio takes the crown for the most spoken one. In schools, government offices, and on the news, you’ll hear English, but Krio is what folks use to chat across the country. About 97% of Sierra Leone’s 7.4 million people speak Krio, whether it’s their first, second, or even third language. Krio’s roots go back to English Creole—it’s pretty fascinating!

12. South Sudan

Population figure 2024: 11,277,092

So, after some pretty rough conflicts, South Sudan finally broke off from Sudan and became independent in 2011. The vote for independence was a landslide, with over 98% of South Sudanese folks giving it a thumbs up. When they became their own country, South Sudan decided to go with English as their official language. They wanted to ditch Arabic, which they saw as a reminder of the tough times—they were all about starting fresh!

11. Rwanda

Population figure 2024: 14,414,910

These days, Rwanda is like a language mixtape! While over 99% of the folks there chat in Kinyarwanda, which is their mother tongue and a Bantu language, they’ve also got French, English, and Swahili as their official languages. It’s like a linguistic smorgasbord over there!

10. Zimbabwe

Population figure 2024: 17,020,321

In Zimbabwe, they’ve got a whole bunch of official languages—16, to be exact! There’s Chewa, Chibarwe, English, and loads more on the list. But most folks there chat in English, Shona, or Ndebele. Shona is like the top dog, with about 70% of the population speaking ChiShona as a first language. Even though Shona’s big there, the official language is still good old English.

9. Zambia

Population figure 2024: 21,134,695

In Zambia, most folks talk Bantu languages from the Niger-Congo family and are linked back to farming and metal-using ancestors who made their home there around 2,000 years ago. Zambia’s like a language party with lots of different tongues floating around. They’ve even got seven official vernacular languages like Bemba, Nyanja, Lozi, and more. English is the big cheese when it comes to official stuff like government, schools, business, and the legal world. Zambia’s language game is pretty diverse!

8. Malawi

Population figure 2024: 21,475,962

Malawi is a real melting pot of languages. Even though English is the official talk, not everyone there is fluent in it—only about 26% of folks 14 and older can chat in English. They’ve got some other major languages bouncing around, like Chewa, Yao, Tonga, Sena, and Elomwe. Lots of language flavors in Malawi!

7. Cameroon

Population figure 2024: 29,394,433

Cameroon sits right in the middle of the action in Africa, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. With French and English as their official languages, it can be a bit tough to kick off a business there. Handling things like payroll, hiring, benefits, and setting up shop can be a bit of a challenge. But, teaming up with a top-notch service company for outsourcing in Africa can really work wonders for your business without all the headaches. While Cameroon might not have as many IT pros as some other places in Africa, they’ve been stepping up their game since 2017, with a big jump in the number of software developers from just 3,000 in 2017 to 7,748 in 2023. Progress is progress, right?

6. Ghana

Population figure 2024: 34,777,522

Ghana is the go-to spot for BPO outsourcing in West Africa. It’s a hit with companies wanting to farm out tech work because of its chill regulatory and tax setup, support from the government, sweet time zone, brainy English-speaking workforce, and strong IT setup. In Ghana’s outsourcing world, you’ll find cool setups like Trinity Software Center, a social enterprise linking up West African and European firms with local tech whizzes. Another star player is ACS Ghana, a tech company in Ghana that hires top-notch African engineers and project managers to provide tech solutions to businesses both here and abroad. Ghana’s outsourcing scene is buzzing!

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Disclosure: None. 15 African Countries With English As Official Language is originally published on Insider Monkey.

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Russia: Moments of Dissent after Two Years of War

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Armed Conflicts, Civil Society, Crime & Justice, Europe, Featured, Headlines, Human Rights, Press Freedom, TerraViva United Nations

Opinion

Credit: Horacio Villalobos/Corbis via Getty Images

LONDON, Feb 26 2024 (IPS) – Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine marked its second anniversary on 24 February. And while civil society is offering an immense voluntary effort in Ukraine, in Russia activists have faced intense constraints. The suspicious death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny is part of a great wave of repression. He’s the latest in a long list of people who’ve come to a sudden end after falling out with Vladmir Putin.

Putin is paying a backhanded compliment to the importance of civil society by suppressing it through every possible means. State-directed murder is the most extreme form of repression, but Putin has many more tricks up his sleeve. One is criminalisation of protests, seen when people showed up at improvised vigils to commemorate Navalny, laying flowers at informal memorials, knowing what would happen. Police arrested hundreds and the flowers quickly vanished.

An unrelenting assault

Human rights organisation OVD-Info reports that since the start of the full-scale invasion, the authorities have detained 19,855 people at anti-war protests, brought 894 criminal cases against anti-war activists and introduced 51 new repressive laws.

Among many other Russians jailed for symbolic acts of protest, Crimean artist Bohdan Zizu was handed a 15-year sentence last June for spray-painting a building in the colours of the Ukrainian flag. In November, artist Alexandra Skochilenko was sentenced to seven years for placing information about the war on supermarket price tags. Now people helping Ukrainian refugees living in Russia are being criminalised.

The government is also making it impossible for civil society and independent media organisations to keep working. Last August, the authorities declared independent TV channel Dozhd an ‘undesirable organisation’, in effect banning it from operating in Russia and criminalising anyone who shares its content. In August, courts ordered the closure of the Sakharov Center, a human rights organisation. Through similar means the authorities have forced several other organisations out of existence or into exile.

The state has also designated numerous people and organisations as ‘foreign agents’, a classification intended to stigmatise them as associated with espionage. In November, it added the Moscow Times to the list. The government has also doubled down on its attacks on LGBTQI+ people as part of its strategy to inflame narrow nationalist sentiments. And it keeps passing laws to further tighten civic space. Putin recently approved a law that allows the government to confiscate money and other assets from people who criticise the war.

The state is criminalising journalists as well. In March, it detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on spying charges, sending a signal that international journalists aren’t safe. The authorities are also holding Russian-US journalist Alsu Kurmasheva of Radio Free Europe, detained while paying a family visit to Russia. Putin is likely planning to use them as leverage for a prisoner swap. State authorities have put other journalists based outside Russia on wanted lists or charged them in absentia.

Meanwhile, Putin has pardoned real criminals for joining the fight. They include one of the people jailed for organising the 2006 assassination of pioneering investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

It’s hard to hope for any let-up in the crackdown, at least as long as the war lasts. A non-competitive election will approve another term for Putin in March. No credible candidates are allowed to oppose him, and recently an anti-war politician who’d unexpectedly emerged to provide a focus for dissent was banned from standing. Last year the government amended laws to further restrict media coverage of the election, making it very hard to report on electoral fraud.

Weak or strong?

For a time last year Putin seemed weakened when his former ally Yevgeny Prigozhin rebelled, marching his Wagner Group mercenaries on Moscow. The two sides agreed a deal to end the dispute, and sure enough, two months later, Prigozhin died in a suspicious plane crash.

Putin has reasserted his authority. He may be gaining the upper hand in the war. Russia has greater firepower and is largely surviving attempts to isolate it financially, with repressive regimes such as China, India and Turkey picking up the slack in demand for its fossil fuels. It’s turned itself into a Soviet-style war economy, with state spending strongly focused on the military effort, although that can’t be long-term sustainable. Some of the world’s most authoritarian governments – Iran and North Korea – are also supplying weapons.

In comparison, Ukrainian forces are running out of ammunition. Support for Ukraine’s effort has come under greater strain due to political shifts in Europe and the breaking of political consensus in the USA, with Trump-affiliated Republicans working to block further military aid.

Putin may be riding high, but such is the level of state control it’s hard to get an accurate picture of how popular he is, and the election will offer no evidence. Given repression, protest levels may not tell the full story either – but some have still broken out, including those in response to Navalny’s death.

A vital current of dissent has formed around unhappiness with war losses. Last September, an independent poll suggested that support for the war was at a record low. Morale among Russian troops is reportedly poor and deserters have called on others to quit. Families of men serving in the military have held protests demanding the fighting ends.

Protesters have offered other recent moments of opposition. In November, people held a demonstration in Siberia against a local initiative to further restrict protests. In January, in Baymak in southern Russia, hundreds protested at the jailing of an activist. There’s also domestic unhappiness at high inflation.

Moments don’t make a movement, but they can offer inspiration that turns into one, and that often happens unexpectedly. Putin’s story is far from over. As with tyrants before, he’ll likely look invincible until just before he falls.

Andrew Firmin is CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

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Voices from the World Social Forum 2024 – PODCAST

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Asia-Pacific, Civil Society, Headlines, Multimedia, Podcast, TerraViva United Nations

Civil Society

Feb 23 2024 (IPS) – After interviewing a member of the Nepal organizing committee ahead of opening day, I was excited about covering my first ever World Social Forum (WSF). He suggested that at least 30,000 and as many as 50,000 activists from over 90 countries would attend the three-day event.

But day 1 disappointed me. The march through the centre of Kathmandu was large, but not the massive showing I expected to see — perhaps because police in the vehicle-clogged city centre didn’t close roads along the route, but squeezed marchers into one lane of traffic. Again, thousands crowded in front of the stage for the opening ceremony but while it was impressive, it was far from a stupendous showing.

But as I hurried to attend various workshops over the next three days I became increasingly impressed. Each session — most held in cold, dusty classrooms in a series of colleges lining a downtown road— was full, some to overflowing.

People were eager to squeeze in, to hear colleagues from across the world explain and advocate on issues that affected all of their lives in very similar ways. Between workshops the chatter of those who had finished early — or at least not late like the rest of us — floated through the open windows of classrooms.

On closing day more than 60 declarations were reportedly issued by the various ‘movements’, the thematic groups that comprise the WSF. I’m sure they assert the need for change: for peace, equality, rights and dignity — for people, nature and the planet. As usual, I support these calls.

But what I learned at my first WSF is that energy and enthusiasm for a world that looks and runs vastly differently than the often terrible one that we inhabit today has not waned among a huge number of people, young and old.

I’d hazard a guess that the ones you’re about to hear, who I recorded at the start of the Forum, would be as engaged and energetic if I had spoken with them after it ended, following hours of listening, learning, and networking about how to create a better world.

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Malawi, the land of broken promises

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By Golden Matonga

In 2020, Malawi was a country on the rise, and its democracy was a beacon of hope.

The year before, relentless street protests followed the results of a general election that saw the incumbent, Peter Mutharika, declared the winner. The vote, widely perceived to be rigged, was contested by the opposition. In the end, constitutional court judges ruled to reject the election outcome.

The presidential elections were held again, votes recast and the Tonse Alliance – a union of the two main opposition parties – emerged victorious. The leaders, Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party and Saulos Chilima of the United Transformation Movement, vowed to rid the country of its endemic corruption.

Malawi’s false dawn


They also promised to create one million jobs. It was exactly what a citizenry struggling to get any form of employment wanted to hear. And the international community duly rewarded the efforts to root out systemic and electoral corruption.

The UK’s National Crime Agency and Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau have linked a Malawi-born British businessman to a procurement scandal

‘We must clear the rubble of impunity, for it has left our governance institutions in ruins,’ Chakwera said at his inauguration. Chilima took the vice presidency.

Euphoria akin to a revolution swept the country. The Economist magazine named Malawi country of the year. The five judges who had presided over the historic election case were awarded the 2020 Chatham House Prize for setting an example ‘for their peers across the world by upholding the centrality of the rule of law and separation of powers’.

‘This is a historic moment for democratic governance,’ said Robin Niblett, then director of Chatham House. ‘The ruling by Malawi’s constitutional court judges is not only crucial for rebuilding the confidence of Malawi’s citizens in their institutions, but also for upholding standards of democracy more widely across the African continent.’

But the applause came too early.

Corruption, once again, has dogged the new government. A recent survey carried out by Afrobarometer found that two-thirds of Malawians believe corruption is getting worse under the Tonse Alliance. The president has responded to the demand for more action by vowing to remove from office all individuals found to be involved in corruption while funnelling more resources into institutions mandated with fighting graft.

Now a major scandal is turning into an existential threat to the alliance itself. In a joint investigation, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau have linked a Malawi-born British businessman to a procurement scandal over public contracts.

Zuneth Sattar was arrested in October 2021 by the NCA on charges of corruption relating to three public contracts worth $150 million, awarded between 2019 and 2021, involving the supply of armoured personnel carriers, food rations and water cannons. Sattar strongly denies any wrongdoing, and while he has yet to be formally charged with any offence, it is expected to happen at any moment.

Among those alleged to have had a corrupt relationship with Sattar are Chilima, the president’s chief of staff Prince Kapondamgaga, head of the police service George Kainja, and senior officials in the police, military and procurement agencies.

The collapse of the Tonse Alliance
Following these allegations, President Chakwera stripped his deputy of all delegated powers – the most he can do for an official who cannot be removed constitutionally. The police chief has been fired, and the president’s chief of staff suspended.

In a televised speech, Chilima accused his own administration of scapegoating failures to deliver campaign pledges and of failing to honour terms of agreement on the creation of the Tonse Alliance government.

‘We should not allow history to be changed because someone or some people have now just realized that power which should be shared has become sweeter and begin to display as much excitement as a two-year-old at the sight of candy,’ Chilima said.

Regardless of the Tonse Alliance’s fate, its leaders would struggle to attract support at the next election. On top of the corruption allegations, the already fragile economy has been battered by the pandemic and escalating commodity prices worsened by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since the end of last year, protests have broken out over the rising cost of living.

The leaders of the coalition thought once they got power, the job was done. But this isn’t what the electorate had in mind

Danwood Chirwa, professor of law at Cape Town University, South Africa

‘The Tonse Alliance administration made a number of promises premised on the economic situation at the material time. Then came the devaluation of the kwacha, the war in Ukraine, the two cyclones and skyrocketing inflationary pressures both within and outside the country. All these mean that the promises can no longer be fulfilled in full,’ says Betchani Tchereni, an economist at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences.

He says that while commodity prices have adjusted upwards, revenue generation has not improved. Traditional western donors have not thrown an economic life jacket as expected. ‘Potential developer partners are also going through economic pressures themselves, and the IMF is demanding certain conditionalities before the ECF [Extended Credit Facility] can be approved and have stabilization funds released,’ he added.

While the government cannot be solely blamed for economic instability, it has also mismanaged public expectations and misunderstood the aspirations of the electorate, according to Danwood Chirwa, a law professor at Cape Town University in South Africa and a critic of the administration.

‘The leaders of the coalition thought and still think that a change of government was all that the people wanted,’ he says. ‘Once they got the power, the job was done. But this isn’t what the electorate had in mind. A complete overhaul of the practice of governance and improving the delivery of public services were the main concerns in the minds of voters.’

New government, same bad habits
He argues that instead of delivering on the aspirations of the people, the new government delivered ‘the same pattern of bad governance, the blossoming of corruption networks, the use of state resources to protect those accused of corruption, the continuation of nepotism, wasteful expenditure, lack of vision and planning, lack of interest in action, and more importantly, increased interest in appearances and false promises and self-promotion.’

Gift Trapence, chairperson of the Human Rights Defenders Coalition, a civil society body that organized the post-2019 election protests, agrees.

‘The reason why Malawians voted the DPP [Democratic Progressive Party]out of government was mainly because of the party’s arrogance and nepotistic tendencies. However, the new government is entrenching itself with the same culture. For example, public appointments are skewed towards the Tonse Alliance’s political base of the central region at the expense of those from southern and northern regions,’ says Trapence.

The government argues that the accusations are exaggerated but accepts that there’s room for improvement. ‘We could have done better if most of the factors were equal. Covid-19, disasters motivated by climatic changes, the effects of the Ukraine/Russia war have not assisted our course,’ says Gospel Kazako, Malawi’s information minister and official government spokesperson.

He said the administration has not backtracked on ensuring rule of law, however. ‘Organized syndicates of crime and corruption needed more time for us to thaw them and crack them. We are not on top of issues. All this is being driven by the dictates of the rule of law that plays a central role. We believe it is through strict compliance to the rule of law that we will multiply our achievements as a government,’ he said.

The next general elections will take place in 2025, when the president and ruling coalition will have to convince the electorate that they deserve another chance.

Golden Matonga: Director of Investigations, Platform for Investigative Journalism in Malawi

CDEDI full report on the Malawi Government claims on Passports

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STATUS OF PASSPORT PRINTING


As a mouth-piece of the voiceless citizenry, and in exercise of its governance watchdog role, the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) zeroed in on the current passport crisis in the country and hereby shares its key findings as follows:

To start with, it is important to say that President Lazarus Chakwera has not only lied to the world but, also, proved himself to be a security threat to the nation by hoodwinking Malawians into believing that the country’s passport printing system has been hacked, and that the hackers are demanding a ransom.

In other words, we have reasons to believe that the President disguised Techno Brain as a hacker, and further disguised the GIT’s maintenance contract fee as ransom in order to earn himself and his administration public sympathy.

Background

Malawians may wish to know that on March 22, 2019 the Malawi Government engaged Techno Brain on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis where the company used its money to build the system for printing
passports on the understanding that it would recover its money through passport fees and later hand over the operations of the system to the Malawi Government after three years. Important to note here is that passports are
not printed using Other Recurrent Transaction (ORT) but money that people pay when they apply for passports.

At the expiry of the BOT contract, Techno Brain handed over everything to the Malawi Government. However, for purposes of the smooth running of the system, Techno Brain recommended a Dubai-based company, known as
GIT, as a maintenance consultant. Apparently, this was done in view of the need for replacement of the system’s parts, including servicing.

The above is now the genesis of the current crisis. Some well-known Malawi Congress Party-connected ICT gurus, including officials from e-Government, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) and National
Registration Bureau (NRB), against technical advice from internal ICT team at the Immigration Department, bypassed Techno Brain and GIT and tampered with the system in an effort to run away from paying licence fees.
Investigations show that the system was tampered with through the Lilongwe saver office at Malawi Postal Corporation Training Centre, along the Paul Kagame road where the Department of Immigration and Citizen
Services headquarters is earmarked to be located. When their attempts proved futile, they invited a Techno Brain team which came for assessment, hence the public notice by the Department of Immigration titled
‘MAINTENACE OF PASSPORT ISSUANCE SYSTEM’ dated January 28, 2024.

According to the assessment report, the Techno Brain team recommended to government that they needed eight days to bring back the system and printing could resume in Lilongwe and Blantyre. To be followed by Mzuzu
and Mangochi. The Techno Brain team said all it needed was a mandate to start working to recover the system, but the MCP ICT team acted wiser and convinced government that they did not need Techno Brain’s assistance,
hence the government has not granted Techno Brain mandate to recover the system.

THE HACKING NARRATIVE

The growing public rage and the ever-inquisitive citizens forced the MCP ICT gurus who were still trying to apply the try-and-error tactics to recover the system, to use the agenda setting theory to churn the hacking narrative,
which is senseless and dangerous.

Unfortunately, President Chakwera has been caught lying under oath! Forget about the report, here is why Malawians should be living in fear:

By publicly informing the nation that the Immigration system has been hacked, the President has played in the hands of professional hackers. In fact, the President has just told the world: “Here we are, a helpless and
vulnerable nation whose systems are susceptible to hacking!” But the hacking narrative also begs some serious question:

  1. The mode of communication with the hackers to demand the so-called ransom, assuming it is in person, why not unleash State apparatus to apprehend the messenger if they are within the country? If they are elsewhere in the world, why can’t government seek assistance from governments of those countries to apprehend them? Assuming they are communicating via WhatsApp call or e-mails, is it that difficult to use modern technology to trace them?
  2. Further question to the above would be; as a nation, have we failed to trace the hackers due to lack of expertise? If that is the case, are we safe as a country? If it is out of lack of interest, why is government not interested to flush out the hackers in the first place?
  3. The other question would be: Is President Chakwera telling Malawians that as huge and important the Passport Issuance System is, it doesn’t have backup servers elsewhere? For starters, any computer-based system, no matter how small it might be, has a virtual backup system, and this was one of Techno Brain’s expected deliverables. To hear that the system crushed and loss of data occurred is a huge mockery, especially for the kind of operations we are talking about.
    Malawians may recall that between 2018 and 2019 one of the commercial banks in the country had its system hacked, but it was up and running within an hour because they had servers in Lilongwe, Mzuzu and in the country they had procured the system.

Servers are important because no matter how watertight a system can be, it is prone to hacking for, among others, the following reasons:

  1. Malice
  2. Theft and or ransom
  3. Frustration from the super users
  4. Natural disasters and calamities

Now the critical question President Chakwera should answer is: Out of the 20 million plus Malawians, did we not have skilled ICT personnel that could advise on the need for the Immigration Department to have redundant servers in place?

This is why we at CDEDI, on behalf of Malawians, conclude that the President lied before the House of records the day he appeared in Parliament and, among other questions, he was asked to explain the passport crisis.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Malawi is at crossroads, the MCP ICT team is holding the country at ransom. But empty threats from the President won’t work. The system is ours since it was handed over to government, but government is trying to dodge user licence fees to GIT. Government is now accusing GIT for demanding user fees, which President Chakwera has described as ransom, after some so-called local ICT experts tampered with the system to bypass both GIT and Techno Brain. The noble thing to do is for the Tonse Alliance administration to swallow its pride and let Techno Brain do the needful that will allow Malawians acquire passports as and when they need them.

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Malawians may wish to know that all this is stemming from an election campaign promise to make a passport affordable, at K14,000, down from the current K93,000. As this campaign promise was being made, passport printing, according to the initial contract of 800,000 books, was pegged at $76 each translating into US$60.8 million about MK108 billion. Malawians may remember that the cost of $76 per passport was used to cost the project with deliverables. Techno Brain was requested through the office of Attorney General to inform the country the cost of a single booklet, but they declined. It simply meant that if the passport fee was to be reduced as promised, government should have subsidised the fee.

The three-year e-Passport project had deliverables attached to it as follows:

  1. Digitalization of the registry.
  2. Digitalisation and networking of all embassies to cut on costs for sending
    documents through DHL, and fraud where passports were manipulated.
  3. Printing facilities at Chileka and Kamuzu International Airports.
  4. Disaster recovery site
  5. Airport forensic laboratories
  6. Training of personnel
  7. Study tours
  8. Provision of five Toyota Hilux Twin cabs
  9. Upgrade current passport system
  10. Provision of additional printers
  11. Stock management system
  12. Provision of cctv cameras
  13. Enhance access control of building and printing rooms
  14. Protective gear for printing rooms

As it stands, the Immigration Department Director General (DG) General Charles Kalumo owes Malawians an explanation or two, as to whether all the deliverables were met. If not, he needs to explain why that is the case after full payment of contract money was paid.

OUR STAND

President Chakwera is shielding the trio that is holding this country atransom, by allowing them to feed the nation lies that they will be able to run the system, through bypassing GIT and Techno Brain, at the expense of
people requiring to travel for medical attention, business and school.

The system requires a disaster recovery site, which was among Techno Brain’s deliverables as per provision of the expired contract.

The three weeks the President has promised to have the system up and running is a clear indication that he trusts the so-called ICT gurus that have failed for the past four weeks, and our fear is that this will be a fruitless
effort, likely to end in tears for us.The said 21 days is too long a wait when Techno Brain had suggested for eight working days, especially given that some people have waited for their passports for ages.

WAYFORWARD

Malawians have a right to know who did what; therefore, CDEDI implores the relevant committee in the august House to immediately call for a live public inquiry over the matter, where Techno Brain would also be heard.
By public convenience, the government should immediately recall able hands that have full knowledge and skills of the said ‘hacked system’ but were unceremoniously interdicted, posted and/or transferred, to go back
and solve this national crisis, and save the country from the embarrassment government has pushed it into.

Meanwhile, the seven (7) working days’ ultimatum stands! CDEDI will mobilise Malawians to conduct peaceful demonstrations, protesting the 21 days and forcing a public inquiry on the same.

Sylvester Namiwa
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Funding, Policy Changes Could Result in Countries Reaping Benefit of Migration

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Migration & Refugees

The African Unions Migration Policy Framework for Africa (2018-2030) provides guidelines to manage migration and reap the benefits of well managed migration which contribute to global prosperity and progress. Credit: UNHCR

The African Unions Migration Policy Framework for Africa (2018-2030) provides guidelines to manage migration and reap the benefits of well managed migration which contribute to global prosperity and progress. Credit: UNHCR

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Feb 23 2024 (IPS) – Amid an escalation of global conflict and climate change-induced displacements, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is escalating its donor campaign.

For the first time since the organization’s formation in 1951, the IOM says it is “proactively approaching all partners to fund this vital appeal,” at a time when the number of migrants making perilous intercontinental journeys has increased.

“Irregular and forced migration have reached unprecedented levels and the challenges we face are increasingly complex,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope at the launch of the Global Appeal in Geneva in January.

It added to its appeal this week, asking for USD 112 million to provide urgent humanitarian and development assistance to over 1.4 million migrants and host communities in the Horn of Africa, Yemen, and Southern Africa. Routes from the Horn of Africa to Yemen and the Gulf States, and the Southern route from the Horn of Africa through Kenya and Tanzania to Southern Africa, are among the most dangerous, complex, and under-reported migratory routes in the world. In 2023, nearly 400,000 movements were recorded across the Eastern route, while an additional 80,000 movements were recorded on the Southern route, particularly to South Africa, the statement read.

“The evidence is overwhelming that migration, when well managed, is a major contributor to global prosperity and progress. We are at a critical moment in time, and we have designed this appeal  to help deliver on that promise. We can and must do better,”  Pope said at the launch.

The IOM has broken down the appeal as follows:

  • USD 3.4 billion for work on saving lives and protecting people on the move.
  • USD 2.7 billion for work on solutions to displacement, including reducing the risks and impacts of climate change.
  • USD 1.6 billion for work on facilitating regular pathways for migration.
  • USD 163 million for work on transforming IOM to deliver services in a better, more effective way.

“Full funding would allow IOM to serve almost 140 million people, including internally displaced people and the local communities that host them. Crucially, it would also allow for an expansion of the IOM’s development work, which helps prevent further displacement,” the IOM said in a media briefing.

However, experts and researchers say the global migration that has peaked in recent years has deeper, more complex roots that will require more than just responding to after the fact.

“What we’re seeing is a willingness from officials and citizens to thoroughly dehumanise migrants,” said Loren Landau, professor and chair at the University of Witwatersrand African Centre for Migration and Society.

“Not only can they be left to suffer, but they should be made to suffer. Only by doing this can ‘we’ send a message that others are unwelcome. The policies of the EU, Australia, and even South Africa are all designed to broadcast this sentiment,” Landau told IPS.

The IOM estimates that there are more than 140 million displaced people, and it’s global appeal for donor support will “save lives and protect people on the move, drive solutions to displacement, and facilitate safe pathways for regular migration.”

Thousands continue to make efforts to illegally enter Europe and the USA with assistance from traffickers,.

According to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, 60,000 people have died or disappeared on perilous journeys to seek economic opportunities over the last nine years.

Migration has in recent years become a political hot button, with right-wing political parties in Europe accused of whipping up public sentiment against migrants.

However, Landau says global inequality has worsened the displacement of millions of people.

“Migration has long been a crisis, although it has often been framed differently. There have always been displaced people. There has long been violence and corruption on the border. However, it has now moved from the edge of public debate to the centre,” Loren said.

“Global inequality, labour demand, conflict, and environmental factors are encouraging people to move, but movement is natural,” he told IPS.

Claims that migrants steal jobs from locals and force governments to divert social spending to accommodate migrants have fueled anti-immigrant sentiment.

Researchers, however, have always questioned those claims as the IOM ups its efforts to assist migrants in their new domiciles.

“Migrants are generally not why fewer people have secure employment, social protection, or feel their cultures and values are under threat.  But in light of those anxieties, migrants have become the fetish on which politicians and the public fixate,” Landau added.

In its appeal for donor funding, the IOM says well-managed migration “has the potential to advance development outcomes, contribute to climate change adaptation, and promote a safer and more peaceful, sustainable, prosperous, and equitable future.”

“The consequences of underfunded, piecemeal assistance come at a greater cost, not just in terms of money but in greater danger to migrants through irregular migration, trafficking, and smuggling,” said Pope.

“Getting the job done requires greater investment from governments, the private sector, individual donors, and other partners,” said Pope.

The African Union, which has seen the bulk of global migration, says the continent has witnessed changing patterns of migration, “a phenomenon that has become both dynamic and extremely complex.”

As part of efforts to address this and in what is expected to aid the work being done by the IOM, the AU set up the Migration Policy Framework for Africa (2018–2030).

The Framework provides “guidelines to manage migration in a coherent manner and therefore reap the benefits of migration.”

Those benefits are captured in IOM findings that “281 million international migrants generate 9.4% of global GDP.”

Despite the dangers that have come to define migrant experiences, especially on the high seas, the factors that drive millions to leave their homelands remain unresolved.

“There are immediate practical concerns about ensuring people can migrate safely,” said Landau.

“Beyond this, there is a broader need to recalibrate how we speak about these issues. Migration is not going anywhere so there’s a need to shift the framing from one of crisis to one of ‘the new normal’, Landau told IPS.
IPS UN Bureau Report

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