BEEAFRICAN.COM Ghana Make Africa Proud

The World Bank has approved US$3.5 million for Liberia for its Costal Defense programme which will target three cities including Monrovia, the capital City of Liberia and two other major cities in the country, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) communiqué has said.

According to the EPA communiqué, the fund is also targeted to reduce the impact of climate change and build capacity for Liberians on the magnitude of funds needed to tackle climate change.

Addressing the inter ministerial dialogue meeting, EPA acting director, Jerome Nyenkan, said discussions will focus on the impacts of climate change on the key sector of agriculture approaches for more efficient energy uses and ways in which forests can be used to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions causing the global warning.

He said the dialogue will also raise awareness about important international climate talks that are currently underway that could have implications for national policies.

He said climate change is steering up serious issue which makes it very challenging and needs to be looked at keenly in Liberia before it is too late. "At this programme, we must try to solve the threat of climate change in Liberia and globally," he said.

Liberia like the rest of the world continues to experience climate related problems, which continue to devastate human lives through destructions of infrastructure and experiencing a number of water-born diseases.

Source: afrol.com

The intention is that the once yearly fashion week will create a platform where Africa's best designers can show off their work. I was only in Johannesburg for four days worth of shows. The event drew around 50 designers from 20 different countries on the continent who sent their creations zipping down the catwalk on mostly African models and a few stars that were flown in for handsome amounts from international destinations. Between the individual spectacles, socializing, air kissing and networking, I could not help but wonder why a fashion week for a whole continent was needed. Dr. Moloi-Motsepe says that the African continent is a place that several people look to for inspiration. (Who could possibly forget Ralph Lauren's 2009 African spring collection?) Dressed in an iridescent African inspired garment herself she went on to say "It is about time that we start to use our own inspiration to show the world that something good can come out of Africa."

Jan Malan is one person that knows how to find the good in Africa; Malan has been producing fashion shows on the continent for seven years. He is also the brain behind MNET face of Africa -- the continents biggest model search, which launched the career of now top model Oluchi. Over a rushed lunch, Malan said he thought the twenty-first century would be the African century. His hope, like many others is that the Arise Africa Fashion week will unify the continent and bring forth a new identity. "We as Africans want to be recognized for something great. We sometimes wonder are we ever going to get there?" I guess the "will we ever get there?" attitude is a function of Africa's history.

We all know that the images of Africa seen by the world are far from fashionable. With all the problems that plague the continent, coupled with the current economic turbulence some people are asking if a lavish, no-expenses-spared fashion week is what the continent really needs. But Dr. Moloi-Motsepe is looking at this as a long-term investment. She believes that the fashion week was not just about fashion it is about creating commerce in Africa, so the continent can have a slice of the multi-billion dollar pie generated by clothing and textiles.

I was not successful in finding out how much money was spent on the big (investment) bash. The organizers of Fashion week are keeping tight-lipped. However from what I saw, I know it was not cheap. Forget renting the space, which is a five floor convention center, mainly glass, in one of Johannesburg's' trendiest districts -- Sandton. Imagine around four shows a day for eight days, approximately fifteen models per show, hair team, make-up team, a lushly furnished media room, (where finger food was circulated during show intervals), dynamic lighting, elaborate sound systems and large plasma screens. I guess all this stuff is a given for any fashion week any where in the world, but the difference for this event was that most, if not all of the designers were flown to Johannesburg and put up by the event's organizers. Participating designers had to simply turn up with their collections, fit them on models and send them down the ramp.

But despite the generous attempt made by the organizers, there were visible cracks during the week. Some collections were great and others were un-watchable. I spoke to several people just to get some insight and see if I was the only one that saw the discrepancies. Many saw gaping holes which included dodgy hair and make-up on the models.

I was sharply reminded by several people not to be judgmental as I have a tendency to be. But I realize now that my judgment was only because I too want so badly for Africa to be known for something other than poverty, strife and violence. I really want people to see the beauty of the continent and I want the people of the continent to see their own beauty.

Source: Follow Yomi Abiola on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Yomers

First it was Oprah Winfrey's wistful reach for the continent, now other prominent African Americans are finding their roots.

In 2005 Oprah Winfrey underwent DNA testing in an effort to determine the genetic make-up of her body's cells.

The popular American talk show host wanted to know where her ancestors, taken as slaves to the United States, had come from.

Famous genes

Since then thousands of other African Americans have followed suit, many of them household names in the US.

Comedian Chris Rock discovered that he was descended from the Udeme people of northern Cameroon.

Chris Rock is descended from the Udeme people of northern Cameroon

LeVar Burton, an actor who played the slave Kunta Kinte in the TV drama Roots, linked himself up genetically with the Hausa in Nigeria.

Civil rights leader Andrew Young traced his lineage to the Mende people of Sierra Leone and is also believed to be a distant relative of one of the leaders of the 1839 Amistad slave ship mutiny.

DNA testing has also resulted in some African Americans being bestowed with honorary African titles.

The Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker, who portrayed the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, was made an honorary chief of Igboland in south-eastern Nigeria.

He was given the title of Nwannedinambar of Nkwerre which means "brother in a foreign land", during a visit to Nigeria in April.

Getting results

There are more than two dozen genealogy organisations in the US selling genetic ancestry tests but African Ancestry is the only black-owned firm.

It is also the first to cater specifically to African Americans. Of the half a million Americans who have purchased DNA tests, around 35,000 of them are African American.

African Ancestry charges $349 to test either a person's maternal or paternal lineage.

Once the fee is paid, swabs used to collect a DNA sample from the inside of the cheek are sent to the customer and then back to African Ancestry's laboratory.

We did not talk about where we came from when I was growing up   Lyndra Marshall

The DNA's genetic sequence is extracted and compared to others in the firm's database.

The company claims this contains 25,000 samples from 30 countries and 200 ethnic groups, and is the largest collection of African lineages in the world.

African Ancestry say that they are very precise in tracing where a person's ancestors originate from.

Once this is known, a "results package" is sent out, including a print-out of a person's DNA sequence, a certificate of ancestry and a map of Africa.

"It's a kind of welcome to Africa package," said Ghanaian-born Ofori Anor, editor of the African expatriate magazine, Asante.

Transformation

Gina Paige, a founder of African Ancestry, wants to transform the way people view themselves and the way they view Africa.

When many African Americans visited Africa in the past, they were interested mostly in kente cloths and masks, nowadays they want to know more about the country they are visiting.

The company has been accused by critics of being inaccurate

Although they still visit the slave castles, they are now also interested in the price of property.

Purchasing a townhouse in the Ghanaian capital Accra or a commercial property in Sierra Leone's Freetown feels less implausible.

"What we need now is for people to get deeply involved in one particular country or region or culture," said Andrew Young, the civil rights leader whose consulting firm acts as a liaison for American companies wanting to do business in Africa.

There has been a change too in the way Africans see African Americans and claims of kinship that were once viewed with amusement are now embraced.

This is partly due to the emergence of President Barack Obama and because of the role played by African Americans in his historic election.

As a result, African politicians and businessmen want African Americans to lobby in the US on the continent's behalf.

Traditional African rulers have also been busy handing out honorary chieftaincies to African Americans in the hope it will lead to an increase in investment and a boost in tourism.

With Obama being both African and American, and our president, this has made many of us interested in where we came from   Lyndra Marshall

Guinea-Bissau's Tourism Ministry encouraged comedian Whoopi Goldberg to visit when in 2007, DNA tests showed she was descended from the Papel and Bayote people of the country.

Unfortunately, Goldberg has not taken up the offer as she has a fear of flying and has not been in an aeroplane for 20 years.

Unlike the Hollywood actress, as soon as Lyndra Marshall, a 56-year-old retiree from Maryland near Washington DC discovered her African heritage, she immediately boarded a plane for Ghana's Ashanti region.

"We did not talk about where we came from when I was growing up," said Ms Marshall.

Since she found out she was of Ashanti descent, she has been trying to get other people to visit and invest in the country.

Along with DNA technology, Ms Marshall credits President Obama with kindling an interest in Africa.

"With Obama being both African and American, and our president, this has made many of us interested in where we came from, too."

Getting it right

Although many people are excited about the prospect of tracing their ancestry, critics say the work of America's genealogy companies is far from accurate.

African Americans just want to be able to say they were once kings and once ruled the world   Ofori Anor Editor, Asante magazine

On a visit to South Africa in 2005, Oprah Winfrey said that DNA testing had conclusively revealed where she is from. She thought she was Zulu but subsequent DNA testing showed she was a descendent of the Kpelle people of Liberia.

Professor Deborah Bolnick of the University of Texas is particularly critical of African Ancestry.

She says its database is too small to fulfil its marketing promise that it is "the only company whose tests will place your African ancestry in a present day country or region in Africa".

"Consumers should know the limitations and complexities before they spend hundreds of dollars thinking they're going to find an answer to who they really are," said Professor Bolnick.

"It's really much more uncertain than the testing companies make out."

Despite these limitations, African Ancestry customers like Ms Marshall are convinced her results are correct.

"I have lots of family that look very Ghanaian, they are short like them, dark like them and I have a cousin that looks just like the Ashanti king."

However, comments like this offend the Editor of Asante magazine.

"African Americans just want to be able to say they were once kings and once ruled the world," said Mr Anor.

He feels that African governments and traditional rulers should stop the practice of granting citizenship and chieftaincies to African Americans.

"Just because your genetics show you came from a place, should that mean you can lay claim to that group of people or place now?.

Source: bbc news Africa