African press review 16 January 2017

The 27th Africa-France Summit for Partnership, Peace and Emergence headlines in Nigeria, while the doctors' strike continues in Kenya, and Tanzania vows to end poaching.

Nigeria’s This Day leads with a story headlined “Buhari Asks France to Help Africa Overcome Its Challenges.”

President Muhammadu Buhari has said the partnership between the African continent and France has yielded fruits in so many positive ways, but that France can do more to help Africa overcome its challenges.

The statement rounded-off the 27th Africa-France Summit for Partnership, Peace and Emergence taking place in Bamako, Mali.

Buhari called for a strengthening of African Defence mechanisms such that the continent would be able to transform decisions arising from the partnership into concrete action plans that will help Africa confront and overcome its challenges.

But he also called for intensification of efforts that would stimulate the African economy, address social imbalance and steer its youths away from high risk and unproductive ventures.

Kenya’s Daily Nation leads with the ongoing doctors strike. Two senators from the Opposition will convene a meeting on Thursday the article says, a meeting bringing together the doctors union and the health ministry to discuss how to end to the strike now on its 43rd day.

They described the ongoing doctors’ strike as a national health crisis. The doctors two weeks ago rejected a Government offer of a forty per cent increase in salaries and non-monetary benefits such as mortgage and car loans.

The doctors are insisting on the implementation of a June 27, 2013 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that they signed with the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation Permanent Secretary, Mark Bor.

The CBA covered a spectrum of issues such as a review of job groups, promotions, deployment and transfer of medical officers, working hours and remuneration.

In particular, the CBA directly addressed understaffing, with the ministry asked to employ at least 1,200 doctors per year for the next four years to reduce the doctor -patient ratio, which currently stands at one to 16,000 Kenyans.

In South Africa, the Mail & Guardian headlines with the mega-bank Absa - the South African Reserve Bank - which could be forced to pay 156 million euros to the tax authorities for an unlawful apartheid-era bank bailout if a preliminary report by the public protector remains unchanged.

The report has its roots in a 1997 investigation by Ciex, a covert United Kingdom-based asset recovery agency headed by former UK intelligence official Michael Oatley. Oatley allegedly approached the South African government to investigate and recover public funds and assets misappropriated during the apartheid era.

The government, through the South African Secret Service, represented at the time by Billy Masetlha, contracted Ciex to investigate the allegations of large-scale looting of the state under the apartheid government.

The preliminary report, which the Mail & Guardian has seen, has been sent to Absa, the treasury and the presidency, and the head of government, which is implicated in the report.

Absa defended itself by describing the preliminary report as containing “several factual and legal inaccuracies”, adding it perpetuated an incorrect view that Absa benefited from the bank bailout in question. In a statement responding to detailed questions, Absa said it was “regrettable” that the interim report had been leaked.

The Tanzania Daily News leads this morning with former president Benjamin Mkapa calling on the international community to support Tanzania in its war against poaching.

The former head of state, who doubles as Vice-Chairman of the board of Africa Wildlife Foundation (AWF), asked other countries to imitate the Chinese government's recent ban on ivory trade in China.

He said the move will strongly help to end poaching activities in Africa. "We have the will to protect and preserve, but the resources are obviously limited. We are described as a developing nation. Our needs are numerous but resources are few," he said.

The article concludes by saying that it was estimated that in every 15 minutes an elephant is killed somewhere. African elephants are disappearing at 8 per cent per year faster than they are being born.