From 17 to 19 April 2024, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, visited Algeria upon the invitation of General Said Chanegriha, Chief of Staff of the People’s National Army. In Algiers, Admiral Bauer met with senior officials and military authorities. He also delivered a speech at the Algerian War College and visited the Special Intervention Detachment of the National Gendarmerie. Building on almost 25 years of cooperation through the Mediterranean Dialogue, the visit provided an important opportunity to look in depth at the military cooperation between NATO and Algeria.

Admiral Bauer had good and frank discussion with General Chanegriha and Mr. Boumediene Benattou, Security and Defence Advisor to the President, about the NATO Algeria Partnership, military cooperation and how regional and global security threats are intertwined. “Algeria is an increasingly active partner and we warmly welcome that. We cooperate for instance on counter-terrorism, military dialogue and consultation, defence reform, crisis management and emerging security challenges,” Admiral Bauer said.

In his meeting with Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Lounes Magramane, Admiral Bauer stated that Allies are now studying recommendations in a new report by independent experts, on how to strengthen NATO’s approach to the Southern neighbourhood, including the MENA region. “The Alliance aims to agree on a set of measures in time for the NATO Summit in Washington in July,” Admiral Bauer said. “We want to strengthen and deepen our partnerships in this part of the world, including with Algeria. We must listen harder, better and more actively to partners and invest in skills and people to do this,” he added.

In his address to the staff and students of the War College Admiral Bauer highlighted the key strategic position that Algeria holds in North Africa. “Your insights are crucial because we face the most dangerous world in decades, with a record amount of violence and conflict,” Admiral Bauer said, noting that Algeria is currently a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. “Understanding one another is the bedrock of any good relationship. No matter how big the differences may seem, there is always more that unites us than what divides us,” the Chair told the audience. He also answered questions about NATO’s role and mission, the Partnership with Algeria and many other topics.

In a visit to the Special Intervention Detachment of the National Gendarmerie, Admiral Bauer was briefed on how this highly professional unit fights terrorism and organised crime in addition to conducting several other missions. “I am impressed by the training programme, your facilities and how the members of the detachment displayed their skills and capabilities during the demonstration I observed,” Admiral Bauer told his host, General Djebbari Abdallah.

Admiral Bauer also addressed and answered questions from local media in a press conference. He visited the National Army Museum and Bastion 23, a world renowned palace in Algiers, to learn about the rich history and cultural heritage of Algeria.

The Mediterranean Dialogue is a NATO partnership forum that aims to contribute to regional security and stability in the Mediterranean through political dialogue and practical cooperation. Algeria became a member in 2000.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Whilst in Athens, Greece attending the 9th Our Ocean Conference, President Wavel Ramkalawan also took the opportunity to meet with some of the members of the Seychellois community working and living in Greece.

The small gathering was held at the Seychelles Honourary Consul office in Athens, whereby the Seychellois present had the opportunity to meet and hold brief discussions with the Head of State.  

Addressing them, the President expressed pride in meeting them in Greece and shared with them some of the recent developments happening in Seychelles.

“I am honoured to have met you all. It is always with a sense of great pride and pleasure that I meet with fellow Seychellois whenever I am on overseas mission. We are all Seychellois in whichever corner of the world we live in, and I am happy we had this chance to connect and exchange ideas” said President Ramkalawan.

The members of Seychellois community living in Greece took opportunity to highlight some of the issues affecting them as Seychellois citizens living abroad.

Matters raised included issues such as the renewal of passports, transition to the Bio-Metric System, housing and land applications, fares paid by foreign spouses when on holiday in Seychelles, as well as pension and retirement benefits.

The discussions also revolved on how some of the Seychellois professionals who have garnered extensive experience in their respective fields could provide support and share their expertise and technical guidance to Seychelles.  

Present was the Honourary Consul for Seychelles in Athens, Greece Mr. Loucas Ellinas and General Secretary, Mr. Athanasios Bastsas.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of State House Seychelles.

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank or the Bank) (www.Afreximbank.com) announced today that it has extended a USD 25 Million term loan facility to Kensington Oval Management Inc. (KOMI), a major sports facility in Bridgetown, Barbados, ahead of the 2024 Cricket World Cup which is set to take place from June 4th to 30th in Bridgetown.

The term loan facility is backed by a guarantee from the Government of Barbados given the importance of cricket to the country’s heritage. The Kensington Oval Cricket Ground in Barbados is one of the iconic centers for cricket around the world and has regularly hosted test matches between the months of January and April, with teams drawn from the West Indies, England, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan and South Africa. The facility will go towards renovation and refurbishing works; upgrading of the Garfield Sobers Players’ Pavilion; upgrading A/V and electrical systems as well as procurement of temporary stands.

Speaking at the facility signing ceremony, the Chairman of KOMI, Mr. Damien Gaskin said: “I would like to thank both Afreximbank for the support and partnership to help with the renovation of the sports complex, and the Government of Barbados under the Ministry of Finance for the provision of an interim bridge loan facility. With the renovated sports facility, we envisage increased utilization of Kensington Oval not only as a destination of choice to host world class events but also as a tourist attraction offering specialty tours leaning on the legacy of this historic venue. This will be a boost to sports and heritage tourism in Barbados.” 

Prof. Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Afreximbank said: “We are delighted to be signing this historic agreement in Ilaro Court, the Residence of the Prime Minister of Barbados, named after a village in Western Nigeria. It is remarkable that we are consummating the first Afreximbank loan transaction in Barbados in this building, where less than 3 years ago, we signed the Memorandum of Understanding that set the stage for the partnership Afreximbank has formed with Caricom member states. With USD 2.4 billion in implementable pipeline deals in the Caribbean, I see this as the first of many deal signings to follow.”

He added: “The relationship between Africa and the Caribbean is growing as is evident in the fast-paced progress we have witnessed in just two years. And today Kensington Oval will form part of the legacy in the history of our partnership, which can see Cricketers from the region play a role in developing the sport in Africa.”

Prime Minister Mia Mottley said: “World Cup Cricket is the 3rd most important sport in the world after the football Olympics. Barbados is home to some of the greatest cricketers of all time, and once this sport picks up in the rest of Africa, jointly we can elevate it to become the world’s second sports. Barbados has a central role to play in the evolution of cricket, as it has the full potential of flattening the annual tourist curve to an all year-round sports tourism attraction.”

She added: “I salute President Oramah for his vision and commitment to the region. The Caribbean is in a unique position to work with Africa through trade and investment. Our regions have a demographic dividend that can drive and sustain a vibrant tourism economy.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.

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About Afreximbank:
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance, facilitate and promote intra and extra-African trade. For over 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative instruments to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the AfCFTA, Afreximbank has in partnership with the African Union Commission and AFCFTA Secretariat launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement. The AFCFTA Secretariat and the Bank have created a USD 10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries to effectively participate in the AfCFTA. At the end of December 2023, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at US$ 37.3 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$ 6.1 billion. The Bank disbursed more than US$ 104 billion between 2016 and 2023 through various interventions for the advancement of the continent. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure, (together, “the Group”).
For more information, visit: www.Afreximbank.com

Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla notes with concern and condemns in strong terms the acts of anarchy, violence and criminality targeting healthcare facilities with the intention to disrupt the provision of essential health services, depriving patients of life-saving treatment.

The recent acts of violence committed in Themba Hospital in Mpumalanga which threatened the safety and security of the health workers, patients, service providers and infrastructure is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. These acts disrupt the provision of essential health services, threaten the safety and security of health workers, patients, and health infrastructure.

We welcome the swift response and interventions by members of the South African Police Service and other law enforcement agencies to normalise the situation to enable the health workers to perform their life-saving duties in a safe and protected environment without disruption and acts of violence, and at the same time enable the patients to access essential health service including life-saving treatment.

The government will continue to respond proportionally to these criminal acts to protect those who need help in the hospital, the healthcare workers and the healthcare infrastructure we have. We are already working with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to ensure that healthcare service continues undisrupted and prevent future incidences. We want to assure the healthcare workers and community at large that the similar acts will not happen unattended and will be responded with speed and appropriately.

The National Department of Health (NDOH) and the South African Police Service (SAPS) have signed Memorandum of Agreement in 2019, at which have committed to cooperate to ensure security and safety of patients, workers in the health facility and the entire infrastructure. The SAPS in response to criminality in the health facility will deploy a dedicated team to ensure security of the facility.

We call upon anyone with evidence of unethical behaviour by health officials or concerns about the level of service delivery, operations of the health facility or whatsoever, to raise them through proper channels instead of resorting to violence and intimidation because that will not be tolerated, and the law will take its course.

We will not entertain any form of anarchy and feeling of entitlement in our facilities because we follow normal procurement processes like any other public institution. We implore people to exercise their constitutional rights to protest peacefully within the confines of the law, without infringing the rights to life by others and access to healthcare.

We can confirm that no life has been lost in the facility due to the recent unfortunate violent incidents, but a number of patients couldn’t access their chronic medication, while some planned surgeries had to be rescheduled. Other patients were transferred to nearby hospitals, while stable patients were discharged. The situation is now under control and the hospital is fully operational. Staff members are back at work.

Human Resources for Health

The Department of Health continues with efforts to address the challenge of unemployment of health professionals, including medical doctors who completed statutory community service programme. We are working closely with Provincial health departments focused on all critical vacant posts to strengthen healthcare delivery to adequately respond to the needs of our people. We are making progress in the recruitment of the qualified health professionals across the country. Let me dispel the myths by some critics and allay fears that the department is dragging its feet to recruit and appoint unemployed health professionals.

There are 2012 unfunded vacant posts of medical doctors on the health sector establishment at the current moment across nine provinces which require R2,4 billion to fill them. This numbers excludes other categories of health professionals like nurses, pharmacists, radiographers, dentists et cetera. We are happy to announce that a total of 2066 health professionals have been appointed between January and March 2024 across the country.

This consists of 1121 medical officers on Grade 1 of entry level, 579 professional nurses, 127 Allied Health workers, 100 pharmacists, 91 Radiographers, 23 Dentists Grade 1 and 9 Environmental Health Officers. The recruitment processes are continuing in provinces to finalize more appointments scheduled to enable the successful candidates to assume duties in May 2024.

The Ministry continues to work closely with the provincial Health MECs to activate unfunded vacant posts using the allocated additional budget to enable recruitment of more health workers. It is our wish to employ as many health professionals as possible to play a meaningful role in the public health system of the country. It is important to emphasize that the filling of posts is done in line with the employment guidelines as issued by the Department of Public Service and Administration. This means the applicants should not limit themselves to the provinces or districts of their residence.

Cholera Update

The country has recorded more than 150 suspected cholera cases, 12 laboratory- confirmed cases and one death between 1 January and 18 April 2024. Eleven of these cases were recorded in Limpopo and one in Gauteng. Three of these cases are imported from Zimbabwe, with no definite history of contact with other confirmed cases. The demised patient was a 48-year-old male South African citizen from Musina, in Vhembe District who experienced diarrhoeal symptoms and was admitted in hospital on 16 March, unfortunately he passed away on 21 March 2024 in Pietersburg hospital.
 
The risk of both imported cases and local transmission remains high due the cross- border movements to and from both Zimbabwe and Mozambique. We appeal to the organisers of social gatherings including religious and traditional events to ensure strict compliance with personal hygiene (including handwashing) especially during food preparation and serving, and ablution facilities to prevent possible transmission of cholera and other foodborne and waterborne diseases.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: Department of Health.