Paradigm Initiative, a pan-African social enterprise working to advance digital rights and inclusion in Africa, has concluded a 3-day Digital Policy Workshop for Tanzanian Digital Rights Stakeholders from 7th-9th July 2020.

Over 100 people applied to attend the workshop with over 65 persons selected to participate.

The workshop was officially opened by Nnenna Paul-Ugochukwu, chief operating officer, Paradigm Initiative and took place over the course of three days, introducing participants to the basic concepts of digital rights and the existing policy, legal and institutional framework in Tanzania.

The workshop specifically examined Tanzania’s Cybercrimes Act and the Electronic and Postal Communications Act (EPOCA).

According to Ekai Nabenyo, program officer at Paradigm Initiative, “It is evident that there is an urgent need to create an empowered civil society and digital rights community for the Republic of Tanzania to be able to safeguard its citizens’ digital rights”.

“The civil society should be empowered to shape and dictate digital policy in the country,” Ekai further states.

Participants urged the government of Tanzania to respect the rights of its citizens and to provide the necessary platform for civil society to oversee government adherence to its human rights obligations as election dates draw closer.

They also expressed concerns that the current digital policy environment provides a fertile platform for human rights violations and a tendency for impunity on the part of state officials.

“As a digital rights advocacy organization, we endeavor to continue to closely monitor the state of digital rights in Tanzania.

“We shall continue to work with other stakeholders to build the capacity of civil society groups to be able to competently influence, protect and safeguard digital rights in Tanzania and in the region, through similar interventions” says Adeboye Adegoke, senior program manager at Paradigm Initiative.

The end goal of the workshop is to ensure that stakeholders in Tanzania that already understand and follow current trends in digital rights, Tanzania civil society groups, and others can leverage the expertise of Paradigm Initiative and its partners to be able to work together with the regulatory authority and the parliament in Tanzania towards improving the state of digital rights in the country.

Participants agreed to work together in order to present a united and formidable force in its advocacy engagements in Tanzania.

By Lukman Otunuga, FXTM Research Analyst

This will be a monumental month for the largest economy in Africa as parliamentary and presidential elections are scheduled to take place on February 16.

Although Nigeria’s economy is expected to accelerate during the first half of 2019 thanks to increased government spending ahead of the elections, the nation’s fate will hang on the election outcome. The nation’s macroeconomic conditions remain worrying with the unemployment rate sitting at 23.1% and the IMF cutting the nation’s growth forecast for 2019. With oil prices heavily depressed and geopolitical risk factors in the form of trade tensions compounding downside risks, major changes are needed in Nigeria to weather against the storm. There was initially a strong sense of optimism over President Buhari elevating the nation by restoring economic growth, fighting corruption and restoring security. However, with inflation rising to worrying levels, Nigeria experiencing a recession and the Naira sharply depreciating under his presidency, will Buhari be offered another chance to fulfil his promises?

Nigeria’s economic potential is unlimited, but this can only be fully unleashed with the right leadership. With a youthful population and fertile land, the ingredients for self-sufficiency are already present. It is widely known that the nation’s illness remains oil reliance with the cure found in diversification. But what has truly been done these past four years to limit the nation’s exposure from oil shocks? The IMF continued to warn Nigeria to intensify economic diversification last year in the light of severely depressed oil prices. Although there have been repeated talks about investment in agriculture and sourcing growth from other non-oil sectors, economic growth in 2017 expanded a tepid 0.8% with growth in 2018 seen hitting 2%. While the current president is pledging to boost infrastructure spending on transportation and electricity, will voters be willing to listen?

Taking a look at the current macro-economics, high unemployment is a sore spot that needs to be mended while inflation is slowly rising due to government spending. Although the encouraging foreign exchange reserve figures for January are good news for the Naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s repeated intervention remains a short-term solution to a longer-term problem. A free-floating Naira if it becomes a reality is poised to attract foreign investors as an element of confusion over the multiple exchange rates is removed. While the encouraging manufacturing figures for January are a welcome development, data needs to respect this positive pattern for sentiment to improve in the near term. It will be interesting to see how the Naira and Nigerian Stock Exchange both react to the presidential elections. Investors may use these as proxies to gauge how markets feel about the outcome.

When looking at the Nigerian elections one must always expect the unexpected, especially when considering how there are no reliable opinion polls. While the outcome remains uncertain, it will certainly have a lasting impact on Nigeria’s economy in the medium to longer term

By Adeniyi Ogunfowoke,

The importance of travel insurance cannot be overstated whenever you travel. Travel insurance is insurance that is intended to cover medical expenses, trip cancellation, lost luggage, flight accident and other losses incurred while travelling. Despite the many advantages of travel insurance, only a handful of travellers buy a travel insurance policy.

Imagine this scenario: you have exited your office and you are on your way to your long-planned vacation. Everything is going smoothly and you are excited and looking forward to it. However, your baggage disappears. To make matters worse, all your travel documents are in your suitcase. This is definitely a nightmare and it is exactly why you need travel insurance.

Where to buy travel insurance

Buying travel insurance is not rocket science. In fact today, you do not need an insurance company to buy insurance. You can buy your travel insurance from Jumia‘s hotel & flight services. There are pocket-friendly plans like Business/Tourism, Students Plan and Pilgrimage Protection. So, if you are visiting Europe (Schengen), for a business trip, you will pay as low as N2,740.23, if you are between the ages of 0 and 79 years. This covers you for up to 7 days.

How to tap travel insurance for a smooth and safe trip

Your lost luggage will be replaced

A lot of travellers go on tour with different types of items from clothes to home appliances and jewellery. If you do not have travel insurance, you will be the one to bear the cost of these lost items. Due to this, it’s advisable to buy a travel insurance cover so as to prevent any kind of loss of cash theft.

Your medical expenses will be covered

Whether you are on a business or leisure trip, you do not know when you are going to fall ill. If you happen to fall ill, you may be unable to cover your medical expenses because the medical bills may be too expensive for you to settle. To avoid this kind of unpredictable situation, just buy travel insurance.

You won’t pay cancellation fees

Every traveller books a trip in anticipation that nothing will disrupt your travel plans. From nowhere, you got an email summoning you to the office, you have no choice than to cancel your trip. For this, you will be charged a cancellation fee. You do not need to pay this fee if you have travel insurance.

Beyond planning and hoping for a smooth trip, you should have it at the back of your mind that uncertain and unpredictable things happen. To forestall and deal precisely with these uncertainties and actually guarantee a smooth trip, then you should never travel without a travel insurance cover.