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Nelson Mandela fighter against apartheid

With deep respect for his life long fight against apartheid and for human rights, ICCO has learned about Nelson Mandela's death, the first black president in South Africa.
Nelson Mandela's death means the departure of a grand person. Madiba (a clan name for the Mandela’s) as he was respectfully called, has been an example and inspiration for all of us. He was imprisoned for 27 years thereby sacrificing a great part of his life for a more peaceful and just society.
Today South Africans reflect, mourn and celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela, reports Gerrit de Vries, regional manager of the ICCO  office in Pretoria. “We hope that his legacy of peace, reconciliation and unity in South Africa remains alive.”
Symbol of righteous fight
During all his life, including his 27 years on Robben Island and in the prisons of Pollsmoor and Victor Verster, Mandela was the inspirer and symbol for the righteous fight against apartheid of millions of suppressed South Africans.
Madiba became the first President of the new democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and peaceful South Africa. He taught us important values such as humility and the strength of reconciliation and forgiveness. Through his teachings of peace amongst all persons, he gained Apartheid - a totalitarian ideology - that resulted in a violent, artificial segregation of people based on their skin color and origin. At the time of his release, Marinus Verweij, chairman of the executive Board of ICCO worked in Zimbabwe. “I experienced apartheid and the end of this regime from close by.  I have deep respect for the fact that Mandela, after all he had endured, has never become bitter.” (Photo: www.sabc.co.za)
Without truth no justice
After his release in 1990, 'Madiba' preached truth, forgiveness and reconciliation and guided the torn country to national unity and racial equality. Though the Peace and Reconciliation process, led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu did not solve all the problems, this unique approach has inspired many. Without truth there can't be any justice.

In 1990, Mandela visited the European Parliament. Church and NGO representatives, including ICCO, were also present.  He expressed his gratitude for the support he had received at the time of his release and the end of apartheid. In 1998, Mandela held a speech during the Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Harare. He said:  ‘To us in South and Southern Africa, and indeed the entire continent, the WCC (World Council of Churches) has always been known as a champion of the oppressed and the exploited.’

ICCO recruited observers
ICCO supported various organizations and persons that fought against apartheid. An important partner was South African Church Council (SACC). In 1994, the first democratic elections were held in South Africa. ICCO recruited more than twenty Dutch observers for this unique landmark in South Africas history. This action was in accordance with Ecumenical Monitoring Programme South Africa (EMPSA), a program from the World Council of Churches and SACC. One of the observers was an ICCO employee.

The work of ICCO today
Apartheid was abolished nearly 20 years ago. Today, ICCO still works in South Africa. Gerrit de Vries, regional manager of the ICCO office in Pretoria says that the country still bears the marks of the apartheid regime. “The gap between black and white is still unacceptably large. An important point on ICCO's agenda is the right to land. We support black people, whose land was expropriated during apartheid, to get their land back. ICCO also contributes to sustainable agriculture development and product marketing. Moreover there is the HIV-AIDS program as the AIDS epidemic strikes South Africa in particular.”

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Agric sector attracted $8bn private sector investment in 2 years - Minister

• Monday, 09 December 2013 00:00
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The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has said that agriculture attracted private sector investment valued at eight billion dollars in the past two years.

Adesina said this in an a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum on Sunday in Abuja.

He said that the huge investment was realised because of the positive impact of the Federal Government’s Transformation Agenda on agri-business in the country.

“In the last two years, we have been able to attract eight billion dollars of private investment commitment in to agriculture sector in Nigeria and four billion dollars is being implemented as we speak.

“ Dangote  has put nine billion dollars into a petrochemical plant and a fertiliser manufacturing plant; Indorama put 1.3 million dollars into fertiliser manufacturing.Indorama is an Indonesian company.

“Notore  has invested 1.5 billion dollars to expand its fertiliser manufacturing plant in Nigeria.

“Why are they doing that? It is because they see that the direction we are going with agriculture as a business is working.”

The minister said Syngenta, the world’s leading seeds production company, had established a company in Nigeria and hired 14 Nigerians as staff.

He quoted Michel Demare, the Global Chairman of Syngenta AG, a specialized chemicals company which markets seeds and pesticides, as saying: “the direction Nigeria is going makes me feel that the demand for seeds is going to rise in the country.”

Adesina added that the best performing stocks in the Nigerian market today were agriculture-related stocks, which he said, “perform better than banks.”

The minister pointed out that through the Federal Government’s Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme, banks had begun to offer loans to farmers, seed companies, and agro-businesses “like never before.”

He said the banks were currently adapting their profit-driven business to accommodate the agriculture sector owing to the massive potentials inherent in the sector.

“Last year, the banks lent to those agro-dealers, 3.5 billion naira, first time ever.

“Tthis year, the banks lent 20 billion naira to those agro-dealers.“

The minister said banks’ readiness to extend the loans offered to farmers and agro-dealers testified to the significant progress that had been made in the sector.

He commended the Central Bank Governor, Malam Lamido Sanusi for his contribution to the growing confidence of the banks in the agriculture sector.