Month: January 2021

Immigration

Relief among Africans as Biden signs order to end Trump’s travel ban

By Ted Hesson, Mica Rosenberg, Mimi Dwyer, Kristina Cooke | Reuters

WASHINGTON U.S. President Joe Biden signed half a dozen executive orders on Wednesday to reverse several hardline immigration policies put in place by former President Donald Trump. The executive actions, signed at a ceremony at the White House, included immediately lifting a travel ban on 13 mostly Muslim-majority and African countries, halting construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and reversing a Trump order preventing migrants who are in the United States illegally from being counted for congressional districts.

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Uncategorized

Biden takes the helm, appeals for unity to take on crises

By JONATHAN LEMIRE, ZEKE MILLER and ALEXANDRA JAFFE | AP News

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, declaring that “democracy has prevailed” and summoning American resilience and unity to confront the deeply divided nation’s historic confluence of crises. Denouncing a national “uncivil war,” Biden took the oath at a U.S. Capitol that had been battered by an insurrectionist siege just two weeks earlier. Then, taking his place in the White House Oval Office, he plunged into a stack of executive actions that began to undo the heart of his polarizing predecessor ’s agenda on matters from the deadly pandemic to climate change.

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Uncategorized

Rep. Joe Neguse | Eritrean-American to play key role as an impeachment manager in the senate trial of Donald Trump

By Paul Kane | The Washington Post

Just four days into his second term, Rep. Joe Neguse was so focused on his brief as he spoke early that fateful afternoon that he had no idea what was happening outside. Then security personnel whisked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) from the rostrum, and soon afterward lawmakers were crouching on the floor of the chamber and donning gas masks as rioters started banging on the chamber doors.

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Remittance

Ethiopia secures $1.4 billion remittance from diaspora –

By New Business Ethiopia

During the first five months of the budget year of the country started July 8, 2020, the Government of Ethiopia has secured $1.4 billion remittances from the Ethiopian diaspora who used legal banking channels to send money to their relatives. When the year ends, the east African country expects to get $4 billion hard currency from its diaspora.

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Opinion

Does Africa Matter to the United States?

By Charles A. Ray | Foreign Policy Research Institute

Most Americans generally have one of two images of Africa: a primitive home of famine, disease, and civil war, or an idyllic motherland. Neither image is entirely correct. While Africa does have more than its fair share of problems and is the homeland of many Americans, it is a diverse continent of more than 50 nations and hundreds of ethnicities and languages; Africa is also the youngest continent in the world with a host of possibilities for the future. Other than those Americans of African ancestry, does this matter to the people of the United States? Should it matter? Why do we even need to ask this question? We rarely ever see articles about whether or not Europe or Asia matters to the United States. For a whole host of reasons, the answer to these questions is yes.

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Sports

Six Kenyans earn USA college basketball scholarships

 By Dennis Okeyo | The standard Sports

Six basketballers have secured full educational scholarships to United States colleges after impressing coach Robert Lihalakha at one-day trials in Nairobi’s Umoja II Basketball Court. The selection exercise dubbed Life Above the Basketball 2021 attracted over forty upcoming basketballers aged below 18 years from all over the country.

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Education

Two UC Berkeley Students From Africa Grapple With COVID-19, Racial Violence in the US


By Chloe Veltman | KQED

Abdoul Aziz Sandotin Coulibaly has seen plenty of riots and civil unrest in his native Ivory Coast. But the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol this week shocked and saddened the 23-year-old UC Berkeley graduate student.

“I am not really sure if there will be any real inclusion or acceptance of diversity or end to racism in this country,” he wrote in an email to KQED. “Despite the constant praise of the U.S. as being a country that upholds democracy, this is a clear statement that the U.S. today is like a developing country – susceptible to coups and such actions.”

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Uncategorized

Nigerian diplomat’s family sues Boeing over 737 Max crash

BY AP

The family of a longtime Nigerian diplomat killed in the 2019 crash of a Boeing 737 Max in Ethiopia has joined litigation against the company in U.S. federal court. Lawyers for heirs of Abiodun Bashua accused Boeing of negligence in development of the Max.

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Diplomacy

Trump gives award to Morocco’s king in private ceremony

By Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has awarded a top U.S. honour to King Mohammed VI of Morocco, citing his decision to begin normalization of relations with Israel. The Legion of Merit is a rarely awarded decoration that can only be bestowed by the president, and typically on heads of state or government of other countries.

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Uncategorized

Donald Trump deports 70 Somalis from America

By GAROWE ONLINE

At least 70 Somalis were on Friday deported from the US after failing in a lawsuit led
against the State Department of Immigration, in one of the most dramatic incidents which wrap up the unpopular administration of Donald Trump, who was overwhelmingly voted out in November as the US president.

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American Alumnus

Brenda Anzeze | Kenyan Woman Finds Success in Consultancy After Leaving 6-Figure Salary in the US

By John Wanjohi  | Mwakilishi.com

Brenda Anzeze ditched her lucrative job in the US and returned to Kenya, where she has established a successful consultancy company. Brenda says she was earning a six-figure salary before she quit in 2018 after having worked for top US multinationals including JPMorgan Chase, Fidelity Investments, and the Bank of America. Shortly after relocating to Kenya in July 2018, she formed a company named Brenda’s Diaspora Consultancy, which helps Kenyans abroad to invest in real estate in Kenya.

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Opinion

Trump is out, but US evangelicalism remains alive and well in Africa

By  Dion Forster | The Conversation

On the day before the 2020 US presidential election, Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, the leader of the African Christian Democratic Party in South Africa, tweeted: “Please pray… for President Donald Trump to be re-elected”. It seems bizarre that a black African Christian would support an overt racist who disdains people who come from “shithole countries”.

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African Food

West African fufu is the latest viral food on TikTok

By ARIT JOHN | Los Angeles Times

Joeneen Hull had never tried fufu, but for weeks the 31-year-old nail artist watched mukbangs of people dipping warm chunks of starchy dough into rich, spicy soups.

“One day, I was just like, ‘you know what? Today’s gonna be the day’,” she said. “I’m craving it so bad. I don’t even know what this food tastes like and I’m craving it.”

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Uncategorized

Moncef Slaoui | Moroccan born Warp Speed head will stay on as a consultant for President Biden


By John Tozzi | Bloomberg

WASHINGTON — Moncef Slaoui, the Moroccan-born head of Operation Warp Speed, will serve as a consultant in the Biden administration, he confirmed Wednesday. He suggested it would be a less active role than his current position, as the initiative’s chief adviser.

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Appointments

Funmi Badejo | Biden Appoints Nigerian-American as Associate Counsel

By Ojomo Olusegun Adebambo | FirstNigeriaTV

Nigerians are in a celebratory mood as another one of their daughters, Funmi Olorunnipa Badejo, has been appointed by US President-elect, Joe Biden, as Associate Counsel to President-elect. She is the third person with Nigerian heritage who has been given a role in the Biden Administration”

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Business

Adebayor Ogunlesi | Global Infrastructure Partners agrees £3.4bn deal for Signature Aviation

  by Philip Georgiadis and Kaye Wiggins | Financial Times

Global Infrastructure Partners, the private equity firm founded by Nigerian-born billionaire, Adebayo Ogunlesi, has agreed to buy private jet services company Signature Aviation for £3.4bn, outbidding buyout group Blackstone and Bill Gates’ wealth manager Cascade Investment.

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Uncategorized

Global Infrastructure Partners Announces Acquisition Of MAP® Energy’s Renewable Energy Business

NEW YORK, /PRNewswire/ — Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a leading global, independent infrastructure investor founded by Nigerian-born billionaire, Adebayo Ogunlesi, has announced the acquisition of MAP® RE/ES, the renewable energy business of MAP® Energy (MAP®).  GIP’s fourth flagship fund, GIP IV, will acquire 100% of the MAP® RE/ES investment platform, team, and renewable energy assets under management from MAP®, a private fund manager and energy investor. 

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People

Yohannes Abraham | Meet the Ethiopian American who is the head of the Biden Transition team

By Ebimo Amungo

Ethiopian-American Yohannes Abraham currently serves as the Executive Director of the Biden-Harris Transition, overseeing preparation for the implementation of Biden-Harris policy, personnel, and management priorities. He has also been announced as the Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary of the White House National Security Council (NSC)

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Giving Back

Samuel Quarcoo | This man is a waiter at a Md. country club. He also helps support thousands of students in Ghana, his home country.

By Cathy Free | Washington Post

Samuel Quarcoo’s crusade started by happenstance in 1999, when a third-grade teacher asked him to visit her class and give a presentation about Ghana, his African homeland. Quarcoo, who lives in Rockville, Md., was then a math teacher at Wheaton Woods Elementary School in Montgomery County. He showed the kids some photos of his old neighborhood school in Ghana and explained that the students often did not have basic supplies such as pencils and notebooks.

Continue reading “Samuel Quarcoo | This man is a waiter at a Md. country club. He also helps support thousands of students in Ghana, his home country.” →
Immigration

Trump’s parting gift echos his immigration policies toward Africa

By ANTHONY AKAEZE  |  Baptist News Global

Africans look with dismay on the parting gift U.S. President Donald Trump has given them:  On the last day of 2020, Trump extended the U.S. government’s ban on green cards and work visas, which his administration imposed in April last year as the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe. The new order, like the first one, was meant to ensure that American workers didn’t lose jobs to foreign nationals desiring to migrate to the United States, the administration said. But in Africa, even before the coronavirus outbreak, Trump’s immigration policies had been particularly felt.

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Uncategorized

Newly-elected US Democratic Senator, Jon Ossoff, thanks Nigerians who helped him win in Georgia

by The Eagle Online

United States of America newly-elected Democratic Senator from Georgia, John Ossoff, has expressed his gratitude to Nigerians and other Africans in the Diaspora who helped in his campaign. Ossoff defeated incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue with a nearly 25,000-vote margin, or 0.56 per cent of the entire votes, with 98 per cent of the expected votes counted, NBC and ABC projected.

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Religion

Four U.S.-Based Pastors Admonish Church Leaders In Liberia Despite Economic Challenges

By FPA Staff Reporter | FrontPageAfrica

Four renowned and acclaimed pastors and Church Leaders based in the United States of America are encouraging Pastors and Church Leaders in Liberia to continuously remain focus and dedication to the assignments given them to disseminate the gospel of Jesus Christ in transforming humanity to the Kingdom of God.

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Communities

Nigerian community celebrates outgoing UN ambassador

 by Hassan Muaz | The Eagle

Members of the Nigerian community in the US have celebrated Ambassador Samson Itegboje, who just rounded off his duty tour as Deputy Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations. Itegboje was honoured with a farewell reception hosted by the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, US chapter in collaboration with Nigerian professional bodies based in the country.

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Uncategorized

300 Kenyans in America Team Up to Build Multi-Million Estate in Nairobi

By EDDY MWANZA | Kenyans.co.ke

A group of at least 300 Kenyans currently living in the United States of America has teamed up to embark on a multi-million housing project in Nairobi. Christened Kitisuru Amani Gardens, the housing project is located slightly off Limuru Road, with the adjacent suburbs comprising of Runda, Rosslyn, and Muthaiga. 

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Uncategorized

Ethiopian Immigrant shares perspective on chaos at US Capitol

By Jennifer Meckles| 13newsnow

AURORA, Colo. — Immigrants who came to America fleeing political upheaval and violence in their home countries saw political violence on American soil Wednesday. For many, it was shocking.

“What just happened today in the Capitol, just kind of reminds me of what our parents went through… in the 70s,” said Endale Getahun, who immigrated from Ethiopia to the U.S. in the early 1980s, when he was 10 years old.

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Music

Kelechi Is Musically Unapologetically Himself

By Ahmad Davis | | KAZI. MAGAZINE

Kelechi is a Nigerian-American artist that is always 100% himself. His art speaks for himself, but his eclectic personality made him even more of a star. His interesting perspective and awesome work ethic give him an impressive view of the creative world. Born on Atlanta’s Northside, Kelechi always knew he had a better start than his Nigerian parents. The rapper-singer-producer-engineer is one of the most talented upcoming creatives in the game.

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American Odessey

James Magot| Lancaster City man commemorates 20th anniversary arriving in America from Sudan with children’s book about multi-cultural identity

By Jermaine Rowley | fox43

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — An active leader in Lancaster refugee communities is taking a creative approach to inform children and their parents about multi-cultural identity. James Magot, 40, a former South-Sudanese “Lost Boy” refugee is developing his first children’s storybook with the help of illustrator Tess Feiler and a few other local collaborators in honor of his 20th anniversary of arriving in America.

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People

Bukola Ayodele | How this 25-year-old making $210,000 per year in New York City spends her money

By Alicia Adamczyk | CNBC

Sitting in her immaculately organized bedroom, Bukola Ayodele recalls some of the challenges she’s faced as a black woman in tech. She doesn’t work with many people who look like her, she says, which can feel isolating. Occasionally, the security team in the office building where she’s worked for three years will stop her in the lobby, not believing she belongs there until she shows her badge.

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Communities

Colorado’s Ethiopian communities split on political conflict

By Associated Press | TheGrio

Denver area resident Mohammed Warid is monitoring the political conflict in Ethiopia — at least, as much as he can with a communication blackout in parts of the country. The chairman of the Oromo Community of Colorado is worried about his family, and for him, that includes all those living in the Oromia region in Ethiopia. He’s at least been able to speak to loved ones, unlike those struggling to reach their families and get news about the northern Tigray region. Under the latest political regime, people are suffering; they’re living in fear; they’re being imprisoned for their ideologies; they’re being tortured and killed, he said.

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