Ever since the Face of Africell competition initiated by Africell, one of the leading GSM companies in the country, started, Gambians have seen a lot of young talented and intelligent girls most of whom would not have been exposed without the competition.

This competition has shed light on the wealth of talented, intelligent and articulate young women that are growing up in our nation. We must ask, seeing these young women in action, what opportunities we are creating for them here in The Gambia and could we be doing more? There has been a notable encouragement and empowerment of women in this country by President Jammeh since he came to power. These girls’ ancestors would not recognise The Gambia as it exists today because of the enormous change that has taken place in terms of women’s rights and entitlement. This notwithstanding, many women in this country still face enormous challenges. Many girls are not educated and are still kept at home doing menial chores while their brothers are sent to school. Africell should be commended for their exposure of these girls and their highlighting of the great wealth of talented intelligent women in The Gambia but is it not disappointing that if not for the GSM company we might never have met these young women? How many more potential contestants are there in the country who will never get a chance to take part because they are not receiving the education to which they are entitled under international law? 

The prizes on offer to the contestants are a fully paid scholarship to study abroad or a brand new Nissan “Pathfinder” 4X4. It will be very interesting to see which prize the eventual winner will choose. Will she choose to go abroad and further her education and on the way broaden her mind and experience through travel? Or will she choose to take the 4X4 and be content to cruise the streets in a brand new vehicle to the admiration of all who see her? The choice will reveal much about the winners expectations in life.

We strongly encourage the eventual winner to choose the scholarship package if they are successful. Even if they have been educated already they should further their studies abroad. Knowledge is never a burden and extra education is always empowering and beneficial. While many might be tempted to choose the vehicle if they are declared the winner they should remember that a vehicle will eventually wear out, especially on Gambian roads, but the intellectual benefits they will reap from furthering their education will stay with them for the rest of their lives. As a well-educated person in the profession of their choice they can get a job that will allow them to purchase any car they wish at a time of their choosing.

We wish the contestants well tomorrow and thank Africell for showing us all the wonderful abundance of intelligent, talented young women living in The Gambia today. They will be wonderful future leaders. Don’t forget the final is tomorrow.

Barclaycard, one of the UK’s leading credit card companies, yesterday donated a good sum of money to Hart House at Sinchu Alhajie in Kombo North.

Robert Brise, a member of staff at Barclaycard, donated £500 to Geoff Hunwicks the chief executive officer of the Gambian Home for Children with Learning Difficulties on behalf of his group.

Robert Brise arrived this week to deliver the money raised through several events organised by himself and other team members at Barclaycard in the UK.

Robert said they chose Hart School for Children with Learning Difficulties after reading about the respite care and education programme they offer. “The lack of resources and funding make it a constant struggle for Hart House to meet the demands of the children who stay there. At times there can be up to 16 children there at any one time all with weekly overnight care facilities for families with a disabled child to get respite,” he added.

 He further said that employees strive to raise funds throughout the year for numerous projects not only in the UK but all around the world.

Robert observed that the running and upkeep of Hart House is a constant challenge for Geoff and Rohey Hunwicks, the founders. “Since Hart House is ongoing there is a need for donations to continue as the service it offers is free of charge to Gambian children. Barclays Bank UK wishes them every success in maintaining the service and care they offer,” he said.

Geoff Hunwicks expressed appreciation and thanked Robert Brise, Barclaycard and his team. “We need more people to see reason and help these kids they deserve it,” he said. He finally informed all those gathered that the Hart House website is www.harthouse.org.  

The highlight of the meeting saw the adoption of the report of the directors and the financial statements for the year ended 31stDecember 2007, the approval of the dividends and proposals by the directors among other businesses.

According to reports of the meeting, the company achieved a gain after tax of D5, 325, 418 against a gain of D17, 090, 939 last year.

The main factors for this performance, reports reveal, are the absence of reversal of provisions on debtors and stocks as in 2006, no exceptional profit as in 2006 due to the sale of assets, heavy investments in marketing and promotion, which resulted in increased volumes of vehicles sold, and the high increase of electricity cost (plus 30%).

Also part of the factors include the instability of the Dalasi during the second semester which had a negative impact on the company’s profits and the investments in cars to equip AVIS car rental fleet, department of CFAO (G) Limited.

“The conditions of the environment are still tense as the Dalasi is not yet stabilised and remains quite strong Vs foreign currencies; this is not helpful for the Gambian economy, especially in the world context of price increment.

“In addition, pressure from The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) became stronger as they force companies into setting duties on materials in stock which affects cash flow and slows down the sales”, said Mr C. Sartini, chairman of the company’s board of directors.

Due to certain slow-downs in the sales, the report further states, the company plans to focus on after-sales activities (parts and service) to consolidate its professionalism and remain a reference in the market. “More over, customers will start to come more and more to service their vehicles as they grow older. That is why we recruited an engineer at the workshop last September. He has already improved things in a big way in terms of quality and figures,” he stated.

The company’s report also confirmed the good results of 2006 despite an uncertain economic environment during half of the year. “2008 will be harder and we need to keep on improving on procedures and monitoring our expenses so as to sustain our efforts. Consequently, our target for this year is mostly to improve internal control and settlement of procedures to be in line with CFAO shareholders”, the report added. During the “Any Other Business” section it was unanimously agreed by the stakeholders that the name of the company be changed from CFAO to CFAO Motors to be in line with international standards.

How frustrating it is to see big tobacco companies targeting Africa. It has been a growing trend in recent years and yet not enough is being done by anyone to stop it. As soon as life became too difficult for the purveyors of death in Europe and the United States, they began to immediately target the less safeguarded markets in Africa. In Europe, not only is advertising is banned, but there are also strict regulations around sponsorship. Cigarettes are heavily taxed and they can only be sold in large numbers. All these steps aim to make smoking not only prohibitively expensive but unattractive to young people. Unfortunately none of these things are happening in Africa and the big unscrupulous tobacco companies are moving in for the kill. A recent BBC investigation has revealed that a British tobacco giant is breaking its own marketing code covering the sale of cigarettes to young people in Africa. The BBC has found evidence in Nigeria, Malawi and Mauritius of rules being broken. In particular, BBC Two’s This World found single cigarettes - which campaigners say are attractive to young people - were being promoted and sold. The company involved, British American Tobacco (BAT), says it does not encourage the sale of single “sticks”. This investigation was carried out in the countries mentioned above but it begs the question what would be found if similar investigations were carried out in all the other countries on the continent? One would have to believe that things might not be all that different.

Africell Gambia Limited, one of the three cellular companies in The Gambia, has again doled out D1 million to yet another lucky winner in the first draw of the company’s D10 million 2008 promotion.

Mary Jatta, 20, on Saturday 3rdMay, went home D1m richer after emerging as the first winner of Africell’s 2008 mega Thank You prize.

A trainee nurse currently on attachment at Medical Research Council (MRC) and resident in Old Bakadaji Latrikunda, Mary was short-listed alongside Foday Baldeh and an unknown person but edged her way to the prize following what was described as a free, fair and transparent draw.

Speaking to The Point Ms Jatta said: “I thank God for making this possible,” while thanking Africell for what she called their benevolence and steadfastness in helping government eradicate poverty in The Gambia.

As to how she would spend the money, Mary said she would use it to further her educational career as a nurse and help enhance the living condition of her parents, adding that her family is already well-to-do.

“Africell is really here for Gambians. A lot of Gambians are today benefiting from things that they never think of, all thanks to Africell,” she said.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony held at Africell head office, Mr. Badara Mbye, Africell’s Managing Director, described the occasion as a clear manifestation of the fact that Africell always stand by whatever they say.

“We said that we are going to alleviate poverty in this country and this is a move in the right direction. This goes to show that we are committed. Africell is here for Gambians,” he said.

According to MD Mbye, being an Africell subscriber makes one always a winner, noting that this is the first of a 10 million dalasis to be given out in the space of 10 months. “We have more surprises for you during the course of the year,” he concluded.

“This time around logging will allow greater participation by the rural population in the benefits of log exports,” Blamo Robinson, spokesman of the Liberian government’s Forestry Development Authority (FDA) told IRIN.

The forestry expert for the World Bank’s Liberia office, Peter Lowe, told IRIN that forestry has “huge economic potential” for improving the lives of people in Liberia. "The Liberian forestry sector will contribute 14 to 15 percent of the gross domestic product and will be the main engine of rural economic growth,” Lowe said.

The UN Security Council banned exports of Liberian timber in July 2003 after determining that proceeds from the industry were providing local warlords with cash to buy weapons that were fueling civil wars in Liberia as well as neighbouring Sierra Leone.

Timber accounted for 6 per cent of the national GDP before the civil conflict started in 1990 and swelled to 20 percent at the time of the Security Council imposed the ban, the FDA said. Liberia has since been losing US$17 million per year in taxes from log exports, a report by the UN panel of experts on Liberia issued in August 2003.

The UN lifted the sanctions in 2006, although recommended 10 further mechanisms be put in place to avoid corruption and track revenues – measures which a UN report in March 2008 concluded had been enacted.

Trickling in

Lowe said it will take at least five years before commercial forestry reaches its potential output levels but benefits will start trickling in before then. “Logging will help fund overall development needs such as roads, schools and hospitals through increased government revenue, which are projected to grow from $1.77 million in 2007/08 [fiscal year] to $26 million in 2009/10 [fiscal year],” he said.

FDA spokesman Robinson said logging companies will be made to sign social agreements with local communities to help fund development needs such as schools, health centers and roads.

The Liberia Forest Initiative, which is an international coalition of Liberia’s development partners including the World Bank and US for International Development (USAID) has put in place systems to track logs and to avoid illegal logging and loss of revenue.

“As part of this reform, all timber from Liberia will be tracked under a state-of the art electronic tracking system administered by an independent trade surveillance company”, Lowe said, adding that “all payments from private companies to government would be monitored.”

Liberia’s neighbour Sierra Leone banned logging activities in January 2008 because of foreign companies were cutting down trees illegally. However Lowe said illegal logging is “not a major issue” in Liberia.

“The situation in Liberia is not comparable with Sierra Leone,” the World Bank expert said, “[as] all payments from private companies to the government will be monitored under the international Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.”

The sixth edition of the National Inter-Departmental sports Association (NISA) is expected to stage its tournament on the 19th of April 2008 at the Independence Stadium.

According to the Secretary General of NISA, Saihou B.  Jarju, the kick-off will be officially taken by the Secretary of state for Youth and Sports Hon Mass Axi Gai and the keynote address will be delivered by the President of NISA Major General Lang Tombong to the participating companies.

Mr. Jarju said the deadline for registration is Monday April 7th 2008 and the registration fee for companies is pegged at D6000. This will allow companies to register both male and female teams.

He seized the opportunity through the NISA President to send a message of condolence to the late Director General of The Gambia Prison Department, later Aunty Rose who has contributed immensely towards NISA activities.

The European Union (EU) competitions commission has announced its decision to fine the Microsoft Corporation €899 million (US$1.35 billion), approximately 1/10th of the company's gross yearly earnings, for failing to comply with the 2004 antitrust order. It is the highest ever fine charged by the EU (also being the largest fine of its kind ever imposed upon a company), and the first time that the EU has fined a company because of non-compliance with an antitrust decision.

The first decision in this antitrust case was given in 2004 citing that Microsoft withheld needed interoperability information from rival software companies which prevented them from making software compatible with Windows. The commission ordered Microsoft to provide this information. Microsoft agreed to this, providing the information for royalty fees of 6.5% of the licensee's revenues for the product on grounds of innovation (specifically, 3.87% for the patent license and of 2.98% for the information license). The EU found these royalty fees unreasonable and Microsoft was ordered to lower them. Microsoft complied with this, adjusting the royalty rates to 1.2% (changing the rates for the licenses to 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively) in the European Union, while keeping the rate the same for the rest of the world. The EU still saw this as an unreasonable rate, and Microsoft, two month after lowering the rates, reduced the rates yet again to a flat rate of €10000 or a royalty of 0.4% applicable worldwide. Microsoft's royalty rates, which were deemed unreasonable for the period of 15 months between June 21, 2006 and October 21, 2007 are the cause for the fine. So far, the EU has fined Microsoft €1.68 billion in 3 separate fines in this case. This fine will go towards the European Union annual budget.

The European Anti-trust commissioner Neelie Kroes stated that the fine was "reasonable and proportionate", as the figure could have gone up as high as €1.5 billion, the maximum that the EU commission can impose. She also said that it should act as "a signal to the outside world, and especially Microsoft, that they should stick to the rules" and that "Talk is cheap. Flouting the rules is expensive". Although she also expressed hope that "today's decision closes a dark chapter in Microsoft's record of non-compliance with the Commission".

There is no certainty whether Microsoft will appeal this decision, a Microsoft Spokesperson has stated that Microsoft will review this latest fine, citing that "The commission announced in October 2007 that Microsoft was in full compliance with the 2004 decision, so these fines are about the past issues that have been resolved." Microsoft`s General Counsel Brad Smith commented "It's clearly very important to us as a company that we comply with our obligations under European law. We'll study this decision carefully, and if there are additional steps that we need to take in order to comply with it, we will take them." Microsoft had appealed to fines by the EU before, but all the charges were defeated. If Microsoft does not appeal the decision, the company will have 3 month (starting February 27th) to pay the fine in full. The fine must be paid in Euros.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stated that the company had news that the fine was pending. "We knew it was pending," Ballmer told interviewers. "We didn't know it was this week, but we knew it was coming at some point."

This may not be the end of Microsoft's troubles with the European Union yet, as the commission is currently investigating two other complaints about the company's anti-competition practices.

The decisions came after Microsoft announced they were disclosing 30,000 pages of previously secret software code last Thursday (February 21st). The EU competition commissioner's commented that this move "does not necessarily equal a change in business practice."

Microsoft was set to launch three new products: Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 at its "Heroes Happen Here" event today. Microsoft shares slipped 12 cents to $28.26 on NASDAQ after news of the fine.