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Tag: Faure Gnassingbe

  • Buhari lauds security summit between ECOWAS, ECCAS

    President Muhammadu Buhari has lauded the proposal for a security summit between members of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and countries in Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

    He spoke while receiving ECOWAS Chairman and President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe, in Katsina, on Friday.

    According to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, President Buhari emphasized that terrorism now transcends international boundaries, and no country can combat the scourge alone.

    Read Also:Buhari to attend AU Summit in Mauritania

    “We need to team up to fight common enemies. Terrorists in whatever form are enemies of humanity, and no effort must be spared to protect our people. I will always support anything that is meant to enhance security in our region,” President Buhari said.

    The security summit is billed to hold on July 30, this year.

    President Gnassingbe said he was happy to be in Katsina, the homestead of President Buhari, and thanked his host for his help in calming the political situation in Togo.

    He also briefed President Buhari on Mali elections, billed for next month, saying ECOWAS would ensure that everything went smoothly.

    Answering a question on what the sub-regional body could do to help Nigeria with the problem of clashes between cattle herders and farmers, the ECOWAS Chairman said the problem was not peculiar to Nigeria, but is common to a number of countries, including his own.

    “It is not a religious or ethnic problem and must not be misconceived as such. We will discuss the matter, and try to find a solution,” President Gnassingbe said.

    He also condoled President Buhari on the fire disaster caused by a fallen petrol tanker in Lagos Thursday.

     

     

  • Protesters call for Togo president’s resignation

    Protesters call for Togo president’s resignation

    Thousands of people took to the streets of Lome to protest the autocratic rule of Faure Gnassingbe of Togo,who has ruled the former French colony

    Guarded by Police, gendarmerie and soldiers, demonstrators in the capital city demanded constitutional reforms, including a two-term presidential limit, as they held up posters saying “Faure must go now.”

    Government supporters marched through the streets of Lome earlier on Wednesday.

    The demonstrations come a day after the West African nation announced it will later this week hold a referendum on presidential term limits.

    National Assembly President Dama Darmani announced the referendum at a parliamentary session that was boycotted by the opposition.

  • Togo: Gnassingbe must have exhausted his ideas – Obasanjo

    Togo: Gnassingbe must have exhausted his ideas – Obasanjo

    Former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has urged the President of Togo Faure Gnassingbe to step down “unless he has something new” for his people.

    This is following the continued protest against the 12-year rule of President Gnassingbe by some Togolese in the country’s opposition party.

    The Owu Chief made this known in an interview with BBC, adding that the county should have a new constitution that will reduce the years or term a President will stay in power.

    The former President’s position is in tandem with the demands of the protesters who are seeking a review of the country’s constitution to limit the terms a President will be in power.

    Recall that President Gnassingbe who has been in power for 12 years in power took over from his father ruled Togo for 38 years. Thus, Chief Obasanjo advised the Togolese President to step down, saying he believes President Gnassingbe “must have exhausted whatever ideas he has.”

    According to Obasanjo, “I believe that President Gnassingbe will have to do something about it (the protests),” he said.

    “I believe they should have a new constitution that will have a limit to the number of terms anybody can be president and he should abide by that.

    “I [also] believe whatever he has to do in terms of development, whatever ideas he has, he must have exhausted them by now. Unless he has something new that we don’t know.

    “After twelve to fifteen years, some of them (African leaders) up to thirty…and maybe, if you don’t leave office, office will leave you.”

  • Dangote transforming Africa, says Togolese leader

    Dangote transforming Africa, says Togolese leader

    •Ambode: refinery ‘ll end fuel scarcity

    President of Togo Republic, Faure Gnassingbe yesterday in Lagos, lauded the investment drive of the richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote across the African continent, describing him as a man with a mission to aggressively transform the African economy.

    Speaking during the tour of the Dangote Refinery project in Lagos, Gnassingbe said Dangote is a worthy son of Africa who has chosen to buoy the economic activities of the continent with his investments. “Aliko Dangote is our pride in Africa and his aggressive investment drive towards developing the economies of the continent should be lauded,” he said.

    Welcoming the president to the Dangote Refinery and Fertilizer projects, Governor AkinwumiAmbode said the projects will change the face of the state and Nigeria, once it is completed.

    “I understand your interest in the progress of this project Mr President. This investment is one of the biggest in Africa today and it will have a huge impact not only on the economy of all Nigerians but also of the West African region when completed… Apart from creating jobs, this refinery will also contribute immensely to solving the fuel supply challenge in the West African region.

    “We also thank Aliko Dangote himself for his confidence in the Lagos economy. This project is a strong confirmation that Lagos is a prime investment destination…this project shows that there is a positive investment climate in Lagos which has resulted in massive investors’ confidence. We believe strongly that the future prosperity of West Africa is in collaboration between the government and the private sector,”Ambode said.

    Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment (MITI) Okechukwu Enelamah described Dangote as an African champion that is bent on developing not only Nigeria but Africa as a whole. He said both the projects clearly demonstrate the partnership between the government and the private sector.

    “What we are seeing here is a demonstration of partnership between the government and the private sector at its best… nobody goes through this site without understanding the power of the private sector to power an economy…We can all envision about what Africans should be but we know we need champions,, I think one thing everybody accept whether you admire, respect or challenge Dangote or not, is that he is indeed an African champion, he is a Nigerian champion and he will continue to be… he has a choice to invest anywhere in the world but he has chosen to invest and reinvest and reinvest in Nigeria and Africa. So, we are very interested in what u are doing and we assure you of the support of the government,” he said.

    Thanking the president for coming to see the progress of the projects, Dangote said the projects would cost $17 billion.

    He said the $12 billion refinery would have a capacity of 650,000 barrels a day and assured that there will be market for the refined products because even in Africa, only three countries have effective functioning refinery with others importing from abroad.

    Dangote named the countries with refinery as Egypt, South Africa and Cote d’Ivoire.  “Our refinery will be ready in the first quarter of 2019. Mechanical completion will be end of 2018 but we will start producing in 2019,” he said.

  • Nigeria working hard to stabilize power, says Buhari

    Nigeria working hard to stabilize power, says Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday assured that Nigeria is working hard to resolve the power problem facing the country.

    He noted that the problem is also affecting other neighboring countries who are depending on Nigeria for their power supply.

    Buhari spoke while receiving the Togolese President, Faure Gnassingbe, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He said: “They say seeing is believing, you can see the efforts private investors are making. We are also building pipelines but it is not as formidable as what Dangote is doing, we are improving on it. We also have the LNG that is helping us to liquidify the gas and then turn it into gas with modern technology and modern technology is making it flexible.

    “And if you will recall, I made mention to President of Benin, We have power problem and Benin has power problem because they depends on us and we are working very hard to stabilize the situation. The resources are available, the technology is available we are trying to stabilize the situation.

    “If ‎we improve power which means our productivity can be competitive and God’s willing we are going to achieve our objectives.

    He also said that they discussed the unfortunate incidents in South Sudan, Burundi during the closed door meeting.

    “It is an agonising situation, several citizens are living under primitive conditions, we hope at the AU meeting we will be able to stabilise‎ the situation in South Sudan and Burundi with the efforts being made.” He stated

    ‎The Togolese President said that he was impressed by the Dangote investment which brought him to Lagos State.

    He said: “Because we have been talking of Socio-economic integration and promoting trade among African countries. If you want to promote trade you have investors that are very competitive and will contribute to reduce import from non-African countries.

    “I was told the gas pipeline that will be built will be buried under the sea‎ to make it. It means if you want to promote blue economy, our ocean needs to be very safe. We need security,” he said.

    According to him, he was also in Abuja to invite President Buhari for the maritime summit billed for Togo on the 15th of October, 2016.

  • Maritime security summit holds in Togo

    Maritime security summit holds in Togo

     
    The first summit on maritime security in Africa will hold in Togo, Lome in October this year.
    The summit will be hosted by the Togolese President, Faure Gnassingbe against the background of rising cases of banditry, piracy, illegal fishing and dumping of toxic waste in waters in the continent.
    Joint security measures will be adopted at the summit to protect the sea from pirates, terrorists and militants in some affected countries.
    The Lomé summit on maritime security and development in Africa according to the organisers will  take strong and encouraging decisions to restrict the scope of bandits operating with impunity in African waters and indulging in human trafficking through smugglers.
    Of 54 African countries, 37 have openings on the sea. The traffic of goods is more than 75 percent between Africa and other continents, with Illegal trade worth  hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
    The summit will also review tragic cases of movement of Africans by sea in search of better life.
  • Togo’s president to lead ECOWAS Ebola response

    Togo’s president to lead ECOWAS Ebola response

    West African leaders on Thursday appointed Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe to supervise the region’s efforts to contain the deadly Ebola epidemic, which has killed nearly 5,000 people, mostly in the region.

    The leaders who gathered in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, called for accelerated efforts to make vaccines available against the disease, which has infected some 13,567 people in eight countries, Reuters reports.

    Organisations should prioritise the provision of vaccines at subsidized prices to the affected countries, as well as others, they said in a communiqué after reviewing the impact of the disease in the region.

    The Accra meeting is the third called by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) this year to discuss how to tackle Ebola. The meeting also saw additional pledges of financial assistance from member countries and partners in support of measures to fight the disease.

    Ghana’s President John Mahama, who currently chairs the regional grouping, said although some countries had made progress in stabilizing the epidemic, a lot more needed to be done to eradicate it.

    “Ebola is still a serious matter and we still have a lot of urgent work to do to defeat the virus and also seize the moment to strengthen our public health systems for the future,” Mahama said in closing remarks at the meeting, attended by regional leaders and international aid agencies.

    He said members were committed to going the full length to defeat the disease.

    “I wish to acknowledge that our political will is high and our commitment is strong in this battle against Ebola,” he added.

    The European Union announced it was committing 280 million euros immediately and an additional one billion euros for the control of the epidemic in the region.