Lagos, Nigeria 28.01.2019 – Sèmè City, the International Knowledge and Innovation City, has partnered with the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), the leading philanthropic organization empowering African entrepreneurs to train and empower additional 50 Beninese entrepreneurs. Sèmè City will join a growing list of governments, development agencies and private sector organisations partnering with the Tony Elumelu Foundation to explore the Foundation’s sustainable model of philanthropy geared at addressing the root cause of poverty in Africa while creating jobs and economic wealth for all.

As part of the partnership with the Foundation, Sèmè City will invest $250,000 for the sponsorship of 50 additional Beninese entrepreneurs with innovative projects across various sectors ranging from tourism to health, energy, ICT, environment, fashion, media, entertainment and agriculture. This partnership aims to provide beneficiaries with the necessary skills to develop high-impact ventures as well as encourage female entrepreneurship.

The 50 beneficiaries will be selected in addition to the 1,000 African entrepreneurs selected during the 5th edition of the Foundation’s flagship Entrepreneurship Program. The beneficiaries will benefit from the training and mentorship programme offered by the Foundation, at the end of which they will receive $ 5,000 each to develop their businesses which will, in turn, contribute to the creation of jobs and wealth in Africa.

Speaking about the partnership, the incoming CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu said: “We have always advocated for a collaboration between the public and private sector and this partnership exemplifies our conviction that working together to empower African entrepreneurs is the only way to create sustainable economic development on the continent”.

The Managing Director, Sèmè City Development Agency, Claude Borna, said: “Sèmè City supports innovative entrepreneurship so that it becomes a key growth factor to boost productivity, create jobs and help improve the quality of life in Benin. With its unique large-scale programme that promotes “Africapitalism”, the Tony Elumelu Foundation is a partner of choice to accomplish our mission of developing a vibrant knowledge-based economy in Benin”.

Other partners of the Tony Elumelu Foundation who have committed to empowering additional entrepreneurs include Indorama, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

Interested entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply for the programme on www.tefconnect.com.

ABOUT THE TONY ELUMELU FOUNDATION
Established in 2010, the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is the leading philanthropy in Africa championing entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs across the continent. The Foundation’s long-term investment in empowering African entrepreneurs is emblematic of Tony Elumelu’s philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions Africa’s private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the continent. The Foundation’s flagship initiative, the Tony ElumeluFoundation Entrepreneurship Programme, is a 10-year, $100 million commitment to identify, train, mentor and fund 10,000 entrepreneurs, capable of changing the face of business across Africa.

ABOUT SÈMÈ CITY
Sèmè City, the International Knowledge and Innovation City, brings together higher education and professional training institutions, research centers, incubators, as well as open innovation spaces. This one-of-a-kind innovation campus is planned over 200 hectares in Sèmè-Kpodji, a peri-urban area of the Republic of Benin, located 5 km from the Nigerian border. Sèmè City’s mission is simple: put knowledge, innovation, and entrepreneurship at the service of inclusive and sustainable development. The objective is to create 190 000 new jobs by 2030 including at least 40% by women and 30% self-employed.

Huge crowds have welcomed the return of league football in Sierra Leone after a four-and-a-half year absence.
The league has resumed despite Sierra Leone being suspended by world football’s governing body Fifa.
Football was initially suspended due to the outbreak of deadly Ebola virus in 2014.
Internal wrangles within the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) meant the league was unable to resume.
Fourteen clubs were invited to play in the new Premier League, however FC Johnasen, the team owned and named after SLFA President Isha Johansen turned down the offer to participate.
Johansen has been set aside by the country’s Anti Corruption Commission pending the outcome of a case against her, however she is still recognised by Fifa as SLFA President.
The opening day of the league on Sunday was preceded by a colourful ceremony and a game between cabinet ministers and members of parliament.
Ten’s of thousands of fans arrived several hours before kick-off to see two of the country’s best supported teams, Mighty Blackpool and East End Lions play each other.

The crowd included Sierra Leone’s president Julius Maada Bio, who saw East End Lions win 1-0 thanks to Alhassan Koroma’s strike in the first half.
The Siaka Stevens Stadium in Freetown was full beyond its official capacity of 35,000.
It was the highest attendance for a domestic game since the 1990 Sierra Leone FA Cup final, when East End Lions lost 1-0 to Ports Authority.
The match was also shown live on national television a first for the Sierra Leone Premier League.
The Premier League Board (PLB) is running the league and its chairman Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai says they are now ready to revive domestic football.
“I’m delighted that our domestic football is back, the turnout of the opening match was massive, I can’t believe my eyes. It’s clear that we’re now ready to revive the game,” Abdulai told BBC Sport.
“After four-and-a-half years it’s time to move away from the past and create a new future for both football and the young people who want to play football in the country.
“Everybody is on board and this is a new dawn. I want to thank everybody including the Sierra Leone government who has given us large sum of money to run the league.

“This is phenomenal, it’s unprecedented that the government of Sierra Leone would put in such an amount of money.”
For the first time the Sierra Leone government is sponsoring the league and they have given the PLB more than US$230,000 and with the promise of a further US170,000 to come.
President Bio says his government has given football back to the Sierra Leonean people as he promised.
“This is just a fulfilment of a pledge we made that we’ll make sure that football resume in this country,” President Bio told BBC Sport.
“I’m not at all surprise at the large turnout because my country is in love with football and the people are been longing for it, they’ve been missing it.
“It’s our responsibility to provide the funds for the league, it’s a moral obligation that we owe to our people to make them happy, to give them what they want and if football makes them happy, we’re giving it to them.”
The head of state also said he was concern about Sierra Leone’s suspension and he hopes it’ll be lifted as soon as possible.
“We want to be part of the Fifa world, but of course we have to make sure that internally we do what we have to do,” he added.
“I’m sure before the end of our league the suspension would have been lifted.
“We’re not just paying attention to the local league, we are also taking action as the suspension is concerned too, so that it can be lifted as soon as possible.”
SLFA officials also attended the match and its director of competitions Sorie Ibrahim Sesay says the league has their full backing.
“We’re happy for the resumption of the league and we’re supporting it,” Seay told BBC Sport
“As a matter of fact we’re providing the match officials and technical support for the league.
“We’ve also provided the match balls for the league as well as training balls for all the participating teams.
“We playing the league with the hope that our suspension will be lifted by the time the league ends so that we’ll be able to engage our clubs in African continental club competitions.”
The league is set to end in July with all the clubs set to play each other twice.

In a remarkable stride Sierra Leone has launched its first Corporate Governance Code seeking to change the way of doing business in the country.The document, which officially becomes a national policy, is a tool design to improve on the business environment by increasing transparency and accountability among state and non-state actors.
It notably makes strong recommendations about transparency for robust internal control environments and the composition and quality of governance boards of business entities.
Officials say the policy specifically seeks to address gender disparity in the governance board of businesses and ensure sustainability of appointments and the desired qualifications and experiences required to bolster the business environment of the country.
A major provision in the code entails the creation of a new investment board, to be chaired by the country’s President, as the highest decision making body for investment in the country.
Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh presided over the official launching in Freetown on Wednesday.
He said the move is part of Government’s efforts to strengthen governance structures and make it easy for investors to invest in the country.
“We are ready to provide the environment they [companies] need to do business and also to compete in the sub region,” he said, noting that the Investment Board will be a game changer and a demonstration of government’s commitment to its seriousness about investment.
VP Jalloh said the new policy seeks to make Sierra Leone an attractive place for credible investors, thereby boosting the country’s economy.
He therefore called on all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as private business entities, to apply the provisions of the code.

In the just concluded Reactive Measles Vaccination Campaign in Kambia District, which started Saturday 19th January and ended on Friday 25th January, 2019 the Honorable Paramount Chief Member of Parliament, Bai Farma Tass Bubu Ngbak IV of Magbema Chiefdom in Kambia District exhibited leadership quality.
During the campaign, the Communication and Social Mobilization Team faced series of refusal cases in schools which would have hampered the whole Measles exercise, but with the prompt involvement of the Paramount Chief, who summoned a stakeholders’ meeting at the Court Barray he admonished Traditional Leaders and stakeholders of the benefits of the Measles Vaccination Campaign to their children and urged them to support the measles campaign so as to ensure compliance for smooth vaccination of the children in their respective communities.
While addressing chiefs and stakeholders, Chief Bai Farma admonished his colleague chiefs to mobilize their subjects and ensure that children within the ages of 6 months to 15 years are vaccinated. “If there is any reported case of refusal in any community or school without any action taken to address the situation, the Chief of that community will be held responsible,” Hon. P.C Bai Farma warned his colleague Chiefs.
Bai Farma recalled that they have developed Bye-Laws for their communities during the Ebola Period and that these laws are still applicable for all infectious diseases of which Measles is one of them.
He further stated the benefits of Measles Vaccination, noting that it prevents their children from blindness, deafness and other related illnesses .He continued by applauding the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and Partners for their efforts in ensuring that their children are vaccinated not only for measles but also other preventable childhood diseases.
In another development, the Communication and Social Mobilization Team in Kambia District also faced a scenario where the authorities of a privately owned preparatory school prevented eligible children of the school to be vaccinated on the grounds that their parents had asked them not to allow their children to be vaccinated.
When the team reported the issue to P.C. Bai Farma, he immediately summoned the school authorities and arranged for the children to be vaccinated on Wednesday 23rd January, which was eventually done.
The refusal issue in Kambia Town is one of many refusal cases that were addressed by the Communication and Social Mobilization Team with support from the Chiefs and Stakeholders. The main reason for these refusals is the fact that the fear of Ebola (Ebolaphobia) still lingers in the minds of people not only in Kambia but the country as a whole.
Parents/Caregivers still hide/ send their children to nearby bushes upon arrival of health workers in communities to vaccinate their children, but this was swiftly and amicably addressed by the Communication and Social Mobilization Team on the ground.

As at present free voting for the Big Brother 2019 is going on intensely as the competitors are fighting tooth and nail to convince the judges to select them to the final stage. Already, 40 contestants have been shortlisted the Big Brother 2019 is fever pitch as people are looking forward to watch an interesting TV Reality show.
The Judges decided to shortlist 40 finalists but at the end of the day it will be 20, 10 male and ten female, who will be allowed to enter the House on 14 February 2019. The stage is now set for the finale.
It will interest readers to know that, for transparency sake, the organisers of this TV Reality Show, have decided to give the general public the opportunity to participate in the selection of the 20 contestants who should enter the House. The opportunity will take the dimension of the public voting through the Africell Sierra Leone TOLL FREE LINE – 5500.
In the final analysis, the first twenty participants with the highest votes will qualify to enter the Housemates Salone 2019 House. Voting is absolutely free.

This will be the premier Big Brother Reality Show in this country but ironically despite the name, it will be a mixed combination of male and female housemates in the House.
The organisers continue to remind the public that every housemate will receive Le100, 000 for every day they stay in the House with the exception of the winner and the criterion for staying in the House depends on the amount of votes the individual polls per day.

Would be housemates are encouraged to galvanise their fans and supporters to be in readiness to cast their votes for them if they fall in the number of the 20 housemates selected to be in the House.

The competition is going to be keen, especially after Sierra Leoneans have enjoyed a successful Big Sister Salone and saw the handing over of the star prize to the eventual winner.

The show is another opportunity for the Africa Young Voices Media Empire (AYV) to not only entertain, but to empower young people to showcase their talents and at the same time create new millionaires among Sierra Leoneans.

With the launch of this latest TV Reality show, Big Brother Housemates Salone 2019, AYV in partnership with Africell seeks to further raise the stakes and empower more youths.

Following a successful nationwide audition, the Judges of the Housemates Salone 2019 Television Reality Show have released the list of Top 40 Applicants for the show.

The public is hereby invited to vote for their favourite applicants.

The Top 20 Applicants with the highest votes will make it to the House on February 14th 2019.

Remember that voting through Africell’s 5500 is completely free.
Below are the names of the 40 shortlisted contestants:

1. Abu Turay
2. Affise Odubella
3. Alusine Kamara
4. Amina Konneh
5. Aruna Lamin
6. Bintu Kaba
7. Derick Kelvin
8. Diana Decker
9. Dwight Smith
10. Dyllis George
11. Emmanuel Coker
12. Enid Boston-Jones
13. Fatmata Sankoh
14. George Wyndham
15. Habbi Jalloh
16. Hassan Hallowell
17. Henry Fonah
18. Monica Yeani Ghaliwa
19. Ibrahim Shuhab
20. Ibrahim Sorie Barrie
21. Isata Marion Musa
22. Ishmael Mauzi
23. Jalikatu Conteh
24. Jennifer Jabba
25. Jonathan Fitz John
26. Kenchine Palmer
27. Kariatu Mansaray
28. Magdalene T Williams
29. Marvina MK Davies
30. Mohamed Alie Jalloh
31. Moriana Walker
32. Precious Kamara
33. RaIford Rollings-Bull
34. Rashid Dyfan
35. Regina B Jombo
36. Saheed Komkanda Bangura
37. Salamatu Kargbo
38. Salim Sahid Kamara
39. Sebatu Bright
40. Suad Koroma

Full-year zircon production rose from 312,000 tonnes in 2017 to 349,000t last year, with the boost coming from the higher ore grades and improved recoveries at Jacinth-Ambrosia in South Australia and additional release of zircon in concentrate.
Demand for zircon did slow in the fourth quarter although demand in Europe and India slowed more than Iluka expected, but there was minimal impact to Iluka’s sales attesting to strong underlying demand in China, although that remains contingent on a healthy global economy.

Rutile production for the year was down 46% to 163,000 tonnes, including just 122,000t from the Sierra Rutile business.
Lower rutile production had been expected with the end of processing in the Murray Basin, and the strike in Sierra Leone.

The strike, which the company considered unlawful, helped production fall almost 30% for the year, compounding commissioning and operational issues with the in-pit mining unit and dredge issues.

There has been some good news on Sierra Leone, where Iluka is progressing expansions, with an inaugural rutile resource for the Pejebu deposit, adjacent to current mining operations.

Pejebu consists of 23.4 million tonnes of 0.95% in situ rutile, containing 220,000t.

Synthetic rutile production was up 4% to 220,000 tonnes with production from the SR2 kiln in eastern Australia setting a new record for the 22-year-old facility.

The kiln will undergo am eight week major maintenance outage from February, and when it returns it will process around 200,000tpa of material from the new ilmenite-rich Cataby mine.

While the company was hit with operational issues, revenue was up 22% for the year to A$1.25 billion thanks to a 41% spike in average zircon prices to US$1351/t, and a 21% increase in rutile prices to an average $952/t but sales were down 7% to 827,000t due to the production constraints.

Overall fourth quarter zircon, rutile and synthetic rutile production eased 7000t to 187,000t, but pricing was higher with zircon commanding $1530/t and rutile $1038/t.

The company’s primary zircon mine, Jacinth-Ambrosia operated at full capacity over the course of 2018, delivering higher than anticipated ore grades and improved recoveries through the Narngulu mineral separation plant in WA.

The company ended the year with net cash of A$2 million.

Shares in Iluka, which have ranged between $7.02 and $12.20 over the past year, were up 3.2% to $7.75 earlier today, valuing the company at some $3.3 billion.

Members of a secret society in Sierra Leone went on a rampage in the South-East of the country to protest a new ban on initiation rites prompted by deadly unrest, Police said on Thursday.
Vowing to defy the ban, the assailants attacked the village of Liema, near the third city of Kenema, on Wednesday, storming the police station and freeing detainees, said police spokesperson Brima Kamara.
“They targeted peaceful citizens in Liema village chanting Poro songs and forcing the inhabitants to hide,” Kamara said, adding that they looted homes.
Poro societies – widespread in Sierra Leone and other West African countries – carry out initiation rites for boys involving ritual scarring during retreats in “sacred woods” that can last for several months.
The ban followed clashes on Monday near a site occupied by agricultural giant Socfin, which residents accused of trying to occupy land they say belongs to a local secret society.
Sierra Leone police said they had opened an investigation into two deaths during the clashes, which also left one of their officers injured.
In a separate incident, a secret society kidnapped nine people as they travelled to work for mining firm Sierra Rutile in Moriba, in the southwest of the country.
“We will go ahead with our secret society initiations because it’s our tradition,” a member of the Poro society affirmed from Kenema.
More than 90% of Sierra Leoneans are thought to undergo such rites of passage.
Girls undergo a Bondo ritual, which follows a similar pattern but also involves female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice banned in many countries and condemned as potentially lethal by the World Health Organisation.
Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of FGM in the world.

“This is disgraceful, shocking, and callous! It is shameful for us as a nation,” a visibly angry and deeply emotional President Julius Maada Bio has said in reaction to graphic and disturbing details of the nature and numbers of rape and sexual violence cases.

He had requested the meeting to learn more about the work of the Rainbow Centre and to solicit their views on how to stem the alarming increase in the number of reported cases of sexual violence and abuse all over the country. The Rainbow Centre is a national non-governmental organisation that works with survivors of sexual violence and abuse.

Dr. Gladys Claudius-Cole, a medical doctor who had worked pro bono with the centre since its establishment in 2003, presented a history of the establishment and expansion of the centre around the country, stressing that they were overwhelmed by cases of rape and sexual violence but were also dismayed that the rate of successful prosecution was abysmal.

She furthered that in spite of the anxiety about acquiring a sustainable funding stream to support their work, more interagency collaboration is needed especially with the Ministries of Health and Gender and the Sierra Leone Police’s Family Support Unit (FSU).

The justice sector had also been continually engaged, Dr Cole continued, adding that the trend is worrisome, particularly because of the ages of the victims and perpetrators and the cruelty of violence meted out to the survivors.

“Girls below 10 years and as young as 3 months have been subjected to sexual violence. The perpetrators are also getting younger and there have recently been multiple cases of gang-rapes by children as young as 12,” Dr Cole pointed out.

She concluded that significant deficiencies in existing laws and legal processes meant that fewer than 5 per cent of reported cases countrywide were successfully prosecuted.

Dr Bintu Mansaray, another medical doctor who volunteers at the Rainbow Centre, added that the complexity of cases is daunting, especially as a higher number of rapes and sexual violence had ended in unwanted teenage pregnancies. She recalled that there had also been recent cases of necrophilia and bestiality and more cases of HIV and STD transmissions in addition to rabies after a perpetrator set a dog on a victim.

Dr Mansaray also discussed the issue of safe homes for survivors as there had been multiple cases of survivors being raped again by their perpetrators who were family members. Social responses to and perceptions of sexual violence had resulted in silence, compromise, and outright complicity by families and communities, she said.

She also lamented the worrying trend of video centres, across the country, showing pornographic films to audiences of underage children, emphasising the point earlier made by Dr Cole and calling for forensic facilities. She called for a change in the legal processes so that rape experts, rather than just registered medical professionals, could testify in court in order to increase prosecution rates throughout the country.

Daniel Ketoh, Executive Director of Rainbow Centre, disclosed that the NGO was 100 per cent donor-funded but that was not assured and not sustainable. He added that a recent increase in the number of centres, to five regional headquarter towns had led to increases in the number of reported cases of sexual violence. He also drew attention to the fact that the centre is presently staffed by mainly interns and volunteers and that Government could play a role in enhancing cooperation between the FSU and the Police Medical team.

Responding, President Bio thanked the Rainbow Centre for its selfless but relentless work in treating survivors and providing training for police and the judiciary in order to develop their capacity to deal with sexual violence. He offered that a holistic approach to the issue was more desirable and promised to immediately constitute a taskforce comprising the experts at the Rainbow Center, the judiciary, Police, MDAs, and other stakeholders.

The President announced that he had already directed the Ministry of Social Welfare to comprehensively review the Sexual Offences Act but he also believes that Government could take a lead in a comprehensive plan of action, including part funding, interagency support, the provision of mobile and other forensic labs, and dealing with cultural attitudes towards rape and sexual violence.

“We must face this menace boldly. We must face this challenge and we must win as a nation,” the President concluded.