Ceo Forum Africa: African patterns rendezvous in Geneva

Ceo Forum Africa: African patterns rendezvous in Geneva

Ceo called Africa Forum, the first meeting of CEOs of large African companies will be held on 20 and 21 November 2012 in Geneva, organizers said in a statement received yesterday in our writing.

This first edition will see the presence of ?300 business leaders from across Africa, more than one hundred investors and financiers of the most influential of the continent and African personalities and leading international,? adds the same Source. Among the patrons whose presence is confirmed, there are business leaders like businessman Issad Rabrab, CEO of Cevital, the first private group in Algeria, Aliko Dangote, the first CEO of industrial conglomerate in Nigeria, Ekpe, banking group Ecobank CEO, Jean-Louis Billon, president of Sifca, largest private employer in the Ivory Coast, Terrab Mostafa, CEO of Moroccan OCP, leading exporter of phosphate, Mark Cutifani, head of South African mining group AngloGold Ashanti or Karekezi Cornelius, CEO of Africa-Re, the No. 1 African reinsurance. Leaders of international groups have also announced their symbolic participation in the appointment of Geneva, as Tidjane, CEO of British insurance group Prudential, and Sunny Verghese, Olam CEO of the multinational agribusiness based in Singapore.

Co-organized by the African Development Bank (ADB) and the group Jeune Afrique, the event aims to be ?a platform for dialogue to develop solutions to accelerate the development of African business and its markets? says the statement. ?The ADB is fully in the initiative of the Africa Forum Ceo. It shares its aims to highlight the initiatives of African companies, to bring the views of entrepreneurs and promote regional trade and intra-African, ?said Donald Kaberuka, the AfDB President, the website devoted to this economic meeting. Ceo Africa Forum will also be an opportunity to promote the success stories of the African private sector.

?Through the many ?case studies?, business leaders will testify about their strategies for expansion and conquest of markets?, say the organizers. Among the key topics chosen for this event, we note that the ?Development of trade and investment within Africa, new ways of financing the business? or ?The relationship between the private and government , ?the statement said. The official presentation of this appointment will take place during a press conference on the occasion of the general meetings of the ADB, scheduled between May 28 and June 2 in Arusha, Tanzania.

Sources:

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Rick Scott Cleans Florida?s Voter Rolls (again)

Image: VeracityStew.com / Cartoon: Flickr/DonkeyHotey

Florida finds itself in the news again regarding voters and registration, but this time the dissatisfaction is arising from within the state, rather than from outside as was the case in the Gore/Bush election of 2000. Democratic Congressman Ted Deutch is claiming Republican Governor Rick Scott is actively attempting to suppress voter turnout by removing ?180,000?citizens from the state?s registration rolls. Deutch?s concerns stem from the fact the list of ineligible voters is incorrect, and several false removals have allegedly occurred.

Critics of the efforts to clean voter rolls acknowledge that?s it is not as much an issue of voter fraud in Florida, as it is voter disenfranchisement. In the months following the disastrous 2000 Presidential Election and Florida?s infamous role in anointing George Bush as president, The Palm Beach Post did an investigation looking at voters purged prior to that election. There were some interesting facts that emerged as the investigation progressed. Unfortunately, they were a bit predictable, too.

While no one is making the overt claim that the purpose in purging voter rolls is discriminatory, it?s hard to ignore the results of that purge. After a Miami mayoral race was discovered to have had dead people voting, a major contract was awarded to a company to weed out those who were registered but ineligible to vote for whatever reason.? What the 2000 Presidential election highlighted was that the purges, in many instances, were incorrect. A Palm Beach Post computer analysis found approximately 1,100 eligible voters who had been incorrectly denied the opportunity to vote. Given that George W. Bush won Florida, and therefore the election over Al Gore, those inaccuracies very well could have cost Gore the election in during the contentious ballot re-count and investigation of hanging chads.

Even more stunning was the revelation that while African-Americans only comprise 11% of Florida voters, an unprecedented 88% of those expunged from the voter rolls were African-American. Does this mean anything when the current governor is making efforts at completing yet another purge from the voter rolls? What do they stand to gain by disenfranchising voters?

What we?re seeing is a typical difference between the two primary political parties. Democrats seek to open the opportunity to register and vote to anyone and everyone who IS eligible to vote. Republicans seek to disenfranchise voters, and limit opportunity through methods such as voter roll purges and redistricting. Is there a possibility that Gov. Scott?s efforts to clear voter rolls are not based on good democratic principles, and is instead another thinly veiled attempt to sway the upcoming presidential election?

As a Republican, Rick Scott has fallen out of favor with his party, perceived as not Republican enough, or a RINO (Republican In Name Only). By capitulating to typical Republican warfare tactics, he may be seeking to ingratiate himself with his own party again. He knows Florida will be a battleground state one more time, and by helping the party machine in advance he?s playing the political game, with little regard for the damage to the principle of democracy.

Congressman Deutch is concerned about the potential for errors, as the state has already experienced. For those inaccurately denied their chance to cast a vote in the 2000, the chance of being singled out again is a real possibility. What Deutch and in all likelihood the rest of the Florida delegation should be supporting is cleaning up the registered voters in an accurate and appropriate manner. No one is arguing that voters shouldn?t be registered per Florida?s laws, but when the state has a history of denying eligible voters the chance to vote, it?s an easy assumption to make that mischief may be afoot. For Rick Scott and Florida?s sake, let?s hope there?s not.

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Devices' embrace of disabled community is improving, but big challenges lie ahead

Brothers Adam, 10, left, and Brendan Koeppl,11, have autism and use an iPad to help with their motor skills, eye/hand coordination, learning facial/verbal expressions and learning to verbalize wants and needs. (Photos by Teesha McClam, Dayton Daily News/Special to The Denver Post)

When the iPad debuted two years ago, there was lots of talk about whether people beyond the iPhone and Mac faithful would use such a thing.

But it became very clear to a particular group of people ? advocates for those with autism spectrum disorders ? that the device could be a new tool for communication and education in that community, something perhaps even Apple didn't foresee. Some autism-related apps aid conversation between parents and children, while others help with learning words or social skills.

In fact, there are now so many autism-related apps for the iPad and other iOS devices that there's "Autism Apps," an app that provides a comprehensive list.

Kel Smith, a blogger, consultant and founder of the Philadelphia-based technology accessibility company Anikto LLC, has been studying technology shifts like this one for a book he's working on, "Digital Outcasts: Moving Technology Forward Without Leaving People Behind."

It revolves around "accessibility," the idea that websites, apps, hardware and other technology should be designed in ways that do not shut them out to those with disabilities including blindness, hearing loss and other physical limitations.

But the concept of the book is changing as Smith works on it.

"I went in with the premise that there's entire populations of people who are being left behind; they're not being considered. Then I realized, they're the ones driving the innovation and moving it forward. They're forming their own solutions at this very grassroots level."

Smith's company Anikto (the word is Greek for "Open") has for years been advocating more accessible web design, hardware and software. In recent years, he says, tech companies are realizing that they're leaving money on the table by not making their sites or products accessible.

"Ten years ago, I was being laughed out of boardrooms for bringing up that we should make things accessible," Smith says. "Now, there's a

Adam and Brendan play HalfBrick-Fruit Ninji on their iPad to help with their motor skills and eye/hand coordination.

greater recognition that there's a market for this type of stuff and it's not just what we do on a secular level."

The idea is that designers should think about accessibility because it's in their own best interests ? in addition to being altruistic.

For companies selling products online, for instance, "You have to understand that people who have a disability that prevents them from leaving the home will be shopping from home. You don't want to have barriers (to) that purchasing decision," he says.

What's more, the cost for individuals and nonprofits to create their own web design tools and apps is falling, making it easier than ever for technology for the disabled to be distributed and for communities online to get the word out about them.

Another big shift is that for years, accessibility was largely focused on how the web is viewed on computers, how the online world interacts with computers, and mice and text-to-speech devices.

But now, much of people's web browsing is moving to mobile devices like smart phones, which have much smaller screens. We're also being introduced to personal tech like Microsoft's Xbox 360 Kinect, which relies on gestures and movement.

These new interfaces can be a double-edged sword. They provide "a whole new array of possibilities," Smith says, "and a whole new array of problems... We're almost back to square one in terms of web accessibility."

Improvements in tech accessibility are likely to benefit an increasing number of people as aging baby boomers will soon dictate the demand for devices suitable for people with limited motor skills, hand-eye coordination, poor vision and hearing.

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California says it shouldn't have to return foreign-bought execution drug to FDA

CDCR

California's lethal injection chamber at San Quentin State Prison.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is arguing that it doesn't have to give up its stock of the lethal injection drug sodium thiopental to the federal government. In a letter dated May 1, 2012, CDCR General Counsel Benjamin Rice told Domenic Veneziano, director of the FDA's Division of Import Operations and Policy, that "CDCR must decline to return the thiopental in its possession at this time."

The letter was in response to the FDA's order in April that states that imported the execution drug from abroad stop using them and return them to the FDA.?

The drug, sodium thiopental, is an anesthetic used by many states as an execution drug. In California, the drug is the first of three used ? the condemned inmate is first put to sleep using thiopental, then given a paralyzing drug, followed by a third drug that stops his or her heart.

In 2010, the US experienced a massive shortfall in sodium thiopental supplies because the sole US manufacturer lacked a necessary ingredient. That firm, Hospira, was also the only source of the drug approved by the FDA. The company has since completely abandoned making the drug, as it had always objected to its use in executions.

Amidst this scarcity, California and several other states purchased sodium thiopental from?a company in the United Kingdom. Some have used the drug in executions. At the time, the FDA, did not interfere with the states importing the drug.

In April of this year, following a lawsuit by death row inmates, the FDA issued a letter ordering the states that bought foreign drugs to return their supplies to the agency. The inmates had argued the drugs had not been reviewed for their effectiveness. If the drug didn't work properly, they argued, they could experience severe pain during an execution, a violation of the Eight Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.?

The CDCR, in its May 1 letter, the CDCR urged the FDA to appeal the ruling in the death row inmates' suit, Cook v. FDA. The FDA apparently agrees. On Friday, the agency?filed papers in federal court?to appeal the ruling's ban on importing foreign sodium thiopental.?

?

Domenic Veneziano FDA

Audio: KPCC's Julie Small on the decision.

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Denver Auto Repair: Auto Repair Denver

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The Kobe That We Used to Know: Gotye Parody Laments Decline of Lakers Star

L.A. Lakers fans Dan Rib and Ken Belcher rip Kobe Bryant for not being “The Kobe That We Used to Know” in this hilarious parody of Gotye's hit song.

Following the Lakers' unceremonious dismissal from the playoffs at the hands of Oklahoma City this week, the duo took out their frustration musically.

With references to the triangle offense, Bryant's maligned teammates, his running Shaq out of town after the 2004 season and, of course, Kobe's ball-hogging tendencies, the video set almost perfectly to Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" is classic:

Kobye - The Kobe That We Used To Know

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Royal Bank of Canada reports 7% decline in Q2 net income

BBR Staff Writer
Published 24 May 2012

Royal Bank of Canada has reported net income from continuing operations of $1.6bn for the quarter ended 30 April 2012, a 7% decline from $1.7bn in the corresponding quarter previous year.

The company has registered diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.01 for the quarter, down $.09 from $1.10 in the same quarter in 2011.

Excluding the previously announced loss of $202m after-tax related to the bank's agreement to acquire the other 50% in its joint venture, RBC Dexia Investor Services, net income from continuing operations was $1.76bn, up $83m or 5% from last year.

Strong growth in Canadian Banking, improved results in Capital Markets and solid growth in Insurance and Wealth Management have contributed to improved performance of the company.

The bank registered $937m net income in Canadian Banking operations, up $42m when compared to last year.

RBC president and CEO Gordon Nixon said Canadian Banking delivered another quarter of consistently solid results with strong organic volume growth driven by our ability to offer our customers unmatched advice, value, service and convenience.

"Our recent recognition as Best Retail Bank in North America by Retail Banker International is yet another testament to the success of our strategy," Nixon said.

Wealth Management net income was $212m for the second quarter, down $15m compared to same quarter last year, the company said.

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