Indonesia Embassy in Nigeria celebrates Ei El Fitr with other diplomats

T

he Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Nigeria celebrated Ei El Fitr with diplomats from sundry countries in Abuja-Nigeria on Saturday, 22nd April 2023.

The event which showcased the apex traditional meals of the Indonesian people was characterized by a variety of men of timber and caliber.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Nigeria, AVM Dr. H. USRA Hendra Harahap, M.Si (ret) while speaking to newsmen during the event, stated that the ceremony is aimed at enhancing togetherness within the diplomatic community in Nigeria irrespective of religion, pointing out that this kind of event is not the first of its kind in the country.
“We have invited our guests to share our happiness during this Ramadan celebration.

“Back there in Indonesian, this is a period where the younger ones visit the older and others make open house visitations and seat outs”.

Also speaking at the event, the Egypt Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency, Ihab Awad Moustafa stressed the significance of the Salah celebration while appreciating the Indonesian Ambassador in Nigeria for such a program.
“It is a very kind gesture from the Ambassador of Indonesia to invite the diplomatic corps to celebrate salah. And this becomes also all the more important since over the past couple of years during the COVID period, people were deprived of this privilege of coming together to celebrate Salah. As you can see from the participating Ambassadors and members of the diplomatic community, this is not only about the Muslim diplomatic community or the ambassadors representing Muslim countries, it cuts across all faiths and different countries from the north and the south coming together to celebrate Salah together with the Muslim diplomatic community. So the significance of this is a show of solidarity. A show of cultural affinity that cuts across the religious and cultural front lines that we see nowadays in our world. So, what you see here today is very positive and very engaging, feeling the depth of unity of the world, represented by the diplomatic community here in Nigeria.
“, he added.

The highlight of the event was the cutting of the Salah cake, music rendition, and photographs.

In attendance were, The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to Nigeria, His Excellency, Luong Quoc Thinh, the Mexico Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency, Alfredo Miranda, the Canadian Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency, James Christoff, H. E Mr. Humphrey D. !Geiseb, Namibian Ambassador to Nigeria amongst many others.

Maryam Aminu

…Dr. Simeon Koffi Receives Recommendations From Experts On ERCA Draft Communication

Recommendations of Media Experts following the review of ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority Draft Communication Plan, the three (3) Media Experts from ECOWAS Member States, namely Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia; after meeting in the Senegalese capital Darkar for three days, from March 29-31, 2023, to review the draft Communication Plan of ERCA has proffer lots of recommendations as outcome of it’s three (3) days group meeting on the draft.

While making the presentation to the Executive Director, ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority, ERCA, Dr. Simeon Koffi. The chief Executive Officer, Zenith Global Media Services and Consultancy, Publisher, Africa Security Investigation News, Mr. Emmanuel Huleji Daudu thanked the Executive Director, Dr. Simeon Koffi and his Team for their preferment from among hundreds of other professionals in West Africa, to perform the review task.

“After scrupulously and critically reviewing and discussing the 38-page draft communication document, intended to provide wider visibility for ERCA, one of the Specialized Agencies of the Regional Body ECOWAS with the Consultant, Mr. Bakary Kone’, we are pleased to recommend the following:
That the Communication Plan, following review and approval, be implemented using the three recognized Languages of ECOWAS, English, French and Portugese. That ERCA also considers using at least two other popular and widely spoken languages from each of the ECOWAS Member States. That ERCA begins considering a comprehensive budgetary allocation for the effective implementation of the Communication Plan when approved. That the approved Plan be implemented over a three-year period, considering monitoring and evaluation during the halfway period annually.
That ERCA in addition to the use of Radio and TV advertisements, considers Google Ads. That the use of documentary in gathering basic facts and information dissemination of ECRA, be considered. That the production of a monthly Newsletter on ERCA activities also be considered. That ERCA creates and manages all its social media platforms, considering the boosting of its Facebook and YouTube platforms regularly. That ERCA does a bi-weekly voice pops, engaging the final consumers and business sectors on their experiences of the business climate in West Africa, especially on competition, subsequently getting reactions from the Hierarchy of ERCA. That ERCA in addition to the production of souvenirs, including diaries and calendars, also considers the printing of customized T-shirts and Paper Bags. That a continuous collaboration be brokered between ERCA, the Consultant and the Team of Media Experts to enhance efficiency regarding the implementation of the Communication Plan. The collaboration should also lead to support to the Team of Experts in setting up Media Networks in their respective Countries and subsequently to other West African Countries.
That ERCA considers imploring the expertise of the Media Experts in the capacity building of its Communication Department. That the ERCA takes into consideration, the regular decentralization of its media and other activities in other ECOWAS Member Countries.That the ERCA considers gender sensitivity, the youth, student groups and the civil society in its activities. That ERCA solicits web Ambassadors and Influencers known to deal with economic issues to talk about the Agency and its attributions while urging the targeted stakeholders not to hesitate to solicit it. That ERCA has a free download or package the ERCA logo in high definition to allow the media especially to have a file every time they visit the website. As part of the evaluation of the impact and the effectiveness of the deployment of the communication campaign, that the official pages of ERCA on the social networks Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp be used to carry out regular surveys on the level of knowledge of the Agency by Internet users. That ERCA makes use of the International Web Media ”BRUT” to do interviews with the Executive Director of ERCA and certain stakeholders. That ERCA produces video capsules to make a web series for broadcast on the ERCA website and on its various social media platforms, including Youtube. This web series will highlight information on the ARCC and regional provisions on competition as well as practices to avoid in order not to be in breach of the sub-regional rules established by the institution. In furtherance of its visibility campaign via information websites, that ERCA considers the production and posting of useful web articles for publication and dissemination via web banners. The web banners used in this case must be in HyperText Markup Language HTML and after the click by Internet users it will redirect to the ERCA website. From the point of view of Internal communication at ERCA, that the Regional Body’s Agency updates the Mail signature of its Executive Director to make it clickable and effective for redirections via its website and its Social media networks.
From the point of view of TV communication; Radio and Press releases, that ERCA includes in the final communication strategy, the three media selected by broadcast channel (TV; Radio, Press) justifying their choice, if possible, with figures on their audience in their respective countries. That ERCA includes in the Agency’s website and in the paper presentation, brochure on Infographic presenting the Key Figures of ERCA’s activities. That ERCA builds its own image bank that will serve as an archive but above all allow the Agency to have images of its own areas of intervention of which it owns the copyright, and which can be used to illustrate its Facebook posts, its activity reports and to produce its Campaign visuals. That ERCA considers collating testimonies from users on its website to motivate other players such as the business sectors in playing fairly within the Ecosystem.
That ERCA considers the purchase of photo and video cameras for the coverage of its activities.
That ERCA considers web referencing strategy through Google.
Done this day 31 March 2023 in the Senegalese Capital of Darkar at Fleur de Lys Hotel, Plateau
By: Mr.Emmanuel Huleji Daudu, Chief Executive Officer, ZENNITH Global Media Services & Consultancy. Mr. Nehemie M’BOKE, Executive Director, Communication-Trader BTP-Technology-Agro business; and Mr. Raymond Kolubah Zarbay, News Director, ECOWAS Radio”.

Dr. Koffi while reacting to the recommendations made by the team of media experts, expressed satisfaction in the work done pointing out that the team has indeed done a great job stressing that soon as the communication draft is approved, activities of the agency would unfold in full force in all the ECOWAS member Nations.

The ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ERCA) in collaboration with the National Competition Authority of Cabo Verde (AdC) has organized a joint advocacy and sensitization workshop on the ECOWAS Regional Competition Framework and the mandate of ERCA as well as the national competition regime on 4 April 2023 in Praia, Republic of Cabo Verde.

The objective of the workshop was to create awareness on the mandate and operations of the ECOWAS Regional Competition Framework towards engendering ownership as well as strengthening collaboration with key stakeholders.

In his opening remarks, Dr Simeon Konan Koffi, Executive Director of ERCA, stated that the awareness-raising meeting was organized in an international, continental, and regional backdrop, especially in relation to trade and commerce, which is constantly changing and faced with new issues and challenges. He further underscored the fact that with the current political and economic uncertainty that the whole world is experiencing, particularly in our region, the dynamism of regional trade is more relevant than ever, and the strengthening of free competition is a sine-qua-non for achieving the objective of regional integration agenda.

The Chairman of the Competition Authority of Cabo Verde, Eng. Emanuel Barbosa, in his own remarks, expressed the willingness of the AdC to work in harmony with ERCA in support of the competition. This he stated, is demonstrated by the recent establishment and inauguration of the Board of Directors of the Cabo Verde Competition Authority.

Several presentations were made during the two-day meeting on ERCA’s mission and its framework for collaboration with the AdC, ERCA’s mandate and its implications for businesses and trade in the ECOWAS, Competition Policy in relation to the AFCFTA, Competition and Consumer Protection Regime in Cabo Verde and Cross Border trade issues with trading partners within the ECOWAS region.

Participants at the workshop include officials of the Competition Authority of Cabo Verde, the Civil Society organizations, Government officials, Consumer Protection Associations, Civil society actors, private sector operators, and the media.