Kachikally Gambia

I would like to access websites from the following Africa countries with relevant information posted by webmasters living in this countries.

Burundi ,Comoros , Djibouti , Eritrea , Ethiopia , Kenya , Malawi , Mauritius ,Mozambique , Rwanda , Seychelles , Somalia ,Tanzania , Uganda , Angola ,Cameroon , Central African Republic , Chad , Congo , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Equatorial Guinea , Gabon , Sao Tome and Principe , Algeria , Egypt , Libya ,Morocco , Sudan , Tunisia , Western Sahara , Botswana , Lesotho , Namibia
South Africa , Swaziland , Zambia , Zimbabwe , Benin
Burkina Faso , Cape Verde , Cote d’Ivoire , Gambia , Ghana , Guinea , Guinea-Bissau , Liberia , Mali , Mauritania , Niger , Nigeria , Senegal , Sierra Leone , and Togo

There’s a rally type thing, where participants have to buy a car for less than £100 and then drive through africa to dakar or gambia. what is it called?
Its all done for charity.

Children singing at Joyce’s Nursery School built by the Gambian Children’s Fund in the Gambia, Africa

The US is undoubtedly the biggest arms exporter to Africa contributing to about 50% of all arms to the continent. It is under statement to say that arms exports to Africa, political instabilities, wars, economic underachievement and poverty are intractably linked and that African countries will be unable to achieve any economic development unless they achieve political stability. The continent is littered with hundreds of millions of small arms and light weapons even though South Africa and Egypt are the only countries on the continent with infrastructures that could support huge arms production. Tens of millions of Africans have died from the export of arms to the continent and several millions have been injured as a result of the wars fuelled by the arms exports. About 90% of all civilian casualties in the wars come from the use of small arms and light weapons. Besides, billions of dollars meant for economic and social development have been squandered over the years from diamond, gold, timber, coltan, cassiterite and oil profits to procure arms and fund the instabilities in the continent.

For decades we have witnessed the tragic and the devastating effects of wars on the continent fuelled by arms imports from US, UK, France, Russia, North Korea, China, former Soviet and Eastern European nations. Most of the arms exports to Africa are used for internal repression and external aggression. Some of these arms have found their way into rebel hands, organised criminals and bandits. The arms have been used by totalitarian regimes to hold back critical thinking in their countries. It is estimated that the continent has lost up to 500 billion dollars to arms imports alone while children have no access to education, water and health facilities. 

In the face of mounting poverty, malnourishments, diseases, lack of genuine democracy and civil wars what Africa need at this critical moment are not guns and weapons but the seed of genuine democracy and economic development. 

The failed state of Somalia where armed groups have been battling one another for 19 years should inform the president of the dangers of small arms and light weapons sales to the continent and the importance of banning arms exports to the continent.

The continued instabilities in the Great Lake Region and the constant arm struggles in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and northern Uganda should also inform the President about the dangers arms shipments from America and Europe are posing to the continent. 

The genocide in Darfur cannot stop unless there are concrete efforts to obtain international arms ban against the Sudanese government and the rebel groups who are abducting, raping, terrorising, torturing and massacring the innocent people. In Nigeria where there is no civil war going on the state has used arms to kill about 20,000 of her mostly unarmed civilians. 

In Ethiopia millions of people face starvation every year while hundreds of millions of dollars are used to import arms. This explains why you should work with your allies to ban arms exports to the continent as you take office.

The widely forgotten wars in the Casamance Province of Senegal, Western Sahara, Ivory Coast, Niger and Burundi will negate any economic aid to those countries and territories unless arms shipments to both the governments and the rebels are ceased. 

The wars in Chad will not stop unless the flow of arms to the government and the rebels are cut. 

President Obama, please know that the ever present wars and the instabilities in the continent will make any economic aid less effective and less beneficial to the people.

I want to urge the President Obama to use his good office to help ban the sale of small arms that have been used to terrorise the people for quite so long. President Obama should encourage the other western countries notably the UK and France to also ban the sale of small arms to the continent. The UK and France together account for 10% of the total arms market in Africa. Their companies are heavily involved in the sale of arms that continue to destabilise the continent. 

The US should let her influence be bear on China who is increasingly ignoring all calls to halt arms sales to the continent. China in particular is the greatest obstacle to peace and stability as it is not democratic and does not respect international laws when it comes to her interests. China has continued to export arms to Sudan despite mounting evidence that the arms are being used to commit genocide in Darfur. In 2008 when the people of Zimbabwe were starving and was clear that Mugabe had lost the elections all that China could do to support the people and democracy was to ship arms to Mugabe’s repressive regime. Such actions by China, North Korea, Russia and other undemocratic nations must stop. They should be made to sign up to international laws banning and criminalising the sale of small arms to the continent.

President Obama should know that the waves of civil wars that hit and devastated Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Congo, Chad, Central African Republic, Somalia, Uganda, Sudan, Angola, Niger and Guinea were made possible through the sale of small arms and light weapons to governments and rebels alike by western defence contractors and arms companies including US companies. These wars apart from its human cost have contributed to the destruction of roads, harbours, airports, railway lines, telecommunications, hospitals, schools and the livelihoods of the people. The wars have decimated regions, countries, communities and families. It has brought poverty, hunger and misery to the people on the continent. 

Mr. President, the beneficiaries of the wars are not the people but the corrupt politicians, rebel commanders, army generals, western companies, a shadow economy, governments and their allies who enrich themselves while the people face famine, poverty, homelessness, unemployment, diseases, have no access to health, education and have become refugees within and outside their countries. Besides, billions of dollars meant for economic and social development have been squandered over the years from diamond, gold, timber, coltan, cassiterite and oil profits to procure arms and fund the instabilities on the continent.

As you asked Americans to choose hope over fear in your speech so do I ask you to ask African leaders to choose democracy and economic development over dictatorship, arms, conflicts and political repression. It is time for US, Europe, Russia and China to act together and call their defence contractors and arm companies to order and give Africa peace.

Mr. President, please know that so far as people in Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sudan, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Gambia, Tunisia, Cameroon and Uganda cannot democratically change their leaders there will be the constant threat of wars and instabilities in these countries and the desire by the people to overthrow these undemocratic leaders. 

Mr. President please reach out to these tyrants and encourage them to peacefully give up their hold on power. Tell them to unban opposition parties, unban civil and political activists, free political prisoners and organise free and fair elections. President Obama, please do more to encourage them to embark on democratic reforms long needed on the continent. 

Let the leaders understand that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Let them understand that politics is about winning and loosing and that it should be possible for opposition parties to win elections and hell does not need to break loose. The presence of such dictators is not only harmful to the image and the development of the continent but a major factor why impoverishment and underdevelopment is prevalent on the continent.

How on earth should a person continue to rule for 30 years when he is not a monarch? Even monarchs sometimes abdicate in favour of change. Isn’t it? Are these kleptocrats monarchs? Why has Gaddafi of Libya been in power for 39 years now? And Omar Bongo of Gabon has ruled for 31 years, Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea 28 years, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe 28 years, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt 27 years, Paul Biya of Cameroon 26 years, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda 22 years, Omar Al Bashir of Sudan 19 years, Iddriss Derby of Chad 17 years, Yahya Jammeh of Gambia 14 years. Tunisian president has just announced that he is going to rule for life. Are these tyrants monarchs? I do not understand. Mr. President I do not understand. 

Tens of millions of Africans have died from the export of small arms and light weapons to the continent. Please Mr. President, at this critical moment in world history what Africa need is democracy and economic development not arms. Help mobilise international support to ban small arms and light weapons exports to Africa. Encourage African leaders to adopt democracy and to embark on social and economic development that will benefit the people in the continent.

We know USA can help. So please help.

Sizzla Kalonji arrives at Banjul Airport in the Gambia on his first visit ever to Africa www.gambia-holiday-news.co.uk … Sizzla “Sizzla Kalonji” Reggae Dancehall Jamaica Gambia Africa

Christmas in Africa:

Christmas is celebrated throughout the African continent by Christian communities both large and small. There are roughly 350 million Christians in Africa. Christmas Carols are sung from the Congo to South Africa. On Christmas day, meats are roasted, gifts are exchanged and family visits made. The Coptic Christians in Ethiopia and Egypt celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January (rather than the 25th of December) because they follow a different calendar.

Christmas in North America:

In the United States and Canada, many elements of modern Christmas celebrations did not emerge until the 19th century. Before then Christmas had been an ordinary workday in many communities, particularly in New England, where early Puritan objections to Christmas celebrations remained highly influential. Among some groups, Christmas was an especially animated event, characterized by huge feasts, drunkenness, and raucous public partying. In an English tradition that survived in some parts of North America, Christmas revelers would dress in costume and progress from door to door to receive gifts of food and drink. Most holiday gifts were limited to small amounts of money and modest presents passed from the wealthy to the poor and from masters to their servants. Families almost never exchanged Christmas gifts among themselves.

Gift Giving:

People who are well-off generally buy gifts for family & friends but the holiday is not as commercial as it is American & European countries, because main emphasis is more on the religious part of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ than gift giving. Usually & most importantly, Christians buy a new set of clothes to be worn to the church service. Majority of African Christians are too poor to be able to afford presents for their children & there aren’t too many toy stores in rural Africa to shop at anyway. If gifts have to be exchanged in poorer communities they usually come in the form of school books, soap, cloth, candles and other practical goods.

Christmas Dinner:

As in most Christian cultures, celebrating Christmas dinner with friends and family is the second priority after attending church. Since Christmas is a public holiday in most countries people take the opportunity to visit friends and family. In East Africa goats are sold out at a blink of an eye at the local markets and roasted on Christmas day. In South Africa the sun is hot and the beaches are full of families enjoying braais (barbeques) or traditional Christmas dinners with paper hats, mince pies, turkey and plum pudding (a vestige of the British colonial legacy.) In Ghana Christmas dinner is not complete without fufu and okra soup and in Liberia rice, beef and biscuits are the order of the day. Zimbabweans make sure there are plenty of bread, jam and tea to eat along with their goat meat.

Church Services and Caroling:

The history of Christianity in Africa dates back to the 1st Century AD. Every missionary have heard & witnessed that Africans are very spiritual people. (Besides Christianity, the other main religions are Islam and indigenous beliefs). Going to church is generally the main focus of Christmas celebrations in Africa. Nativity scenes are played out, carols are sung and in some cases dances are performed.

One of my earliest Christmas memories in Malawi is watching groups of young children go door to door to perform dances and Christmas songs dressed in skirts made of leaves and using home-made instruments. They received a small gift of money in return. In many countries the processions after the Christmas Eve church service is a joyous occasion of music and dance. In the Gambia for example, people parade with large intricately made lanterns called fanals in the shape of boats or houses. Every country has their own unique celebrations no matter how small their Christian population.

Christmas Decorations:

Decorating shop fronts, mango trees, churches and homes is common throughout African Christian communities. There are some reports of fake snow decorating store fronts in Nairobi, palm trees laden with candles in Ghana or oil palms loaded with bells in Liberia.

Christmas in East Asia:

The eastern part of Asia comprises mainly of China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea and Vietnam. Christians in eastern part of Asia, which are China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea & Vietnam celebrate Christmas on 25th December by lighting their houses with beautiful paper lanterns and decorating their Christmas trees, which they call “Trees of Light,” with paper chains, paper flowers, and paper lanterns. Chinese Children hang muslin stockings and await a visit from Santa Claus, whom they call Dun Che Lao Ren (dwyn-chuh-lau-oh-run) which means “Christmas Old Man.”

There is no official celebration of Christmas in Japan because less than one percent of the Japanese population is Christian. But wherever Christmas is celebrated, the trees are decorated with small toys, dolls, ornaments, gold paper fans, lanterns, and even wind chimes. Candles are also placed on the branches. One of the most popular ornaments is the origami swan.

Every Korean church would have some kind of Christmas music program on Christmas day. Koreans also love to decorate for Christmas; every coffee shop is decorated for the season. Christmas day is spent shopping and most of the Korean families spending the day together going from shop to shop just “eye shopping”.

Christmas in India:

Christian community in India celebrates Christmas with splendor, fun and devotion. Celebrations of the festival begin on the eve of Christmas on 24th of December and continue till New Year’s Day. Christians across the country remember birth of Lord Jesus Christ by participating in special masses organized in churches. Celebrations of Christmas are marked by carols, cakes, candles and decoration of Christmas Tree. In several parts of India, especially in metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, Christmas Festival has assumed as one of important holidays of India and is joyfully celebrated by people of all religions and communities join their Christian friends to make the most of the joyous celebrations.

Preparations for Christmas in India:

In Christian homes, preparations for Christmas begin at least a month in advance. People get their homes whitewashed and involve in spring cleaning of the house to give it a fresh new look. The women Ladies start preparations for the traditional Christmas cake which is anxiously awaited not just by the entire family but also by the neighbors. Shopping activity takes place as everyone buys new clothes for the festival. Christmas Gifts are also bought for friends, relatives and kids in the family. Christmas is also the time for family reunions because people staying in different cities for job or higher studies come back to their homes to celebrate this festive season with their near & dear ones.

Christmas in Goa:

Most exciting celebration of Christmas can be seen in the vivacious state of Goa. A large number of domestic and international tourists flock to the beaches Goa during Christmas festival to watch Goa at its cultural best. One can also get amused in the best of Goa music and dance during Christmas festivities. Catholics in Goa participate in the traditional midnight mass services locally called Missa de Galo or Cock Crow as they go on well into early hours of the morning.

On Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, a special meal is usually served. In some regions, particularly in Eastern Europe, these family feasts are preceded by a period of fasting. Candy and treats are part of Christmas celebration in many countries.

i want to know all the tax free zones in Africa. All African countries having freezones. Liberty to import and export and no tax. Example Gambia has freezone, likewise i would like to know all other african coutnries how have freezones. I dont want Nigeria.

for example in Gambia and senegal or Guinea conakry ,from them no problems in making these moves to Africa.whilst even our traditional groups couldn’t respect their calendar because of refusal from certain embassies.Is the earth not a free place for humans to live in without restriction of movement?

This incident needs to make Africans realise that there is the need to depart from the dependency syndrome of relying on developed countries to help Africa resolve

its economic problems and issues relating to sustainable development. Although some

assistance might be necessary in this regard, African countries need to empower themselves at national, sub-regional and regional levels, in order to prevent the occurrence of such events. Africa needs to conduct a self-evaluation of the reasons which lead to such sad incidents. Apart from blaming developed countries where laws are stringent above everything else, Africa also needs to take stock  of the factors which are responsible for such acts. These factors include the promotion of economic activity, corruption, lack of laws or their weak enforcement when they exist, insufficient public enlightenment, inadequate educational curricula in primary and high schools as well as universities and low capacity. The answer to these lies in Africa empowering itself to deal with these issues by prioritizing and addressing them accordingly.

Such empowerment has begun to an extent. When African countries, under the OAU, adopted the Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa in 1991, it took seven years for this treaty to come into force. The main aim of this convention is to ban the entry of toxic waste into Africa, that is, the prevention of cases such as Probo Koala. This convention, adopted two years after the global Basel Convention on Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste with developed countries in 1989, showed a dissatisfaction on the part of these countries with developed countries’ dumping toxic waste in Africa, a trend which had become very common in the 1980s.  Basel sought to regulate the importation and exportation of certain categories of toxic waste between developed and developing countries, subject to the incorporation of environmentally sound principles. This treaty further aimed at banning trade in extremely high forms of toxic waste such as PCBs altogether. On the other hand, Bamako prohibited any form of toxic waste imports or exports from the first world to Africa, but permitted African countries to promote such trade in some forms of toxic waste, subject to the inclusion of ecologically rational principles. However, with Basel’s Ban Amendment which seeks to forbid the transboundary movement of hazardous waste from OECD to non-OECD countries, Basel could have similar aims to Bamako. The Ban Amendment is still not yet in force though.

Both the Basel and Bamako Conventions require that importing countries and countries in transit need to receive prior information and documentation about the characteristics of future imports of hazardous waste from exporting countries. Countries also need to enact national legislation which conforms to the ideals of these two conventions. Parties need to ensure that any waste which they produce is recycled or disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. Member states of these conventions also have an obligation not to accept any substances if they are not sure about the scientific effects, thereby, promoting the important precautionary principle of international environmental law. This principle is essentially one of foresight and alertness.

Under the Bamako Convention, African countries need to establish a Dumpwatch mechanism to play a watchdog role by alerting the secretariat of this convention, the then OAU (now the AU), in Addis Ababa of such potential shipments. Hence, when in 2000, the MJ Jona vessel suddenly appeared in Banjul ports carrying about 1600 tonnes of substances suspected to be toxic waste, the Gambian National Environmental Management Agency, the Gambia Police Force and the Gambia Ports Authority sent a Note Verbale to the OAU, reporting this incident. The OAU quickly liaised with these authorities in The Gambia, UNEP in Nairobi and other agencies, and these agencies collaboratively sent the vessel out of The Gambia. In that same year, the Orient Flower, a Romanian ship carrying material which was suspected to be toxic waste, appeared in the ports of Senegal. This information was sent to the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs which communicated this news to the OAU. The OAU then collaborated with the Senegalese authorities to dispatch the ship back to Romania. These two cases show that contrary to certain perceptions, the Bamako Convention is functional in a sense and African countries have to an extent, implemented the Dumpwatch, as required by this treaty. However, these are just very few examples, because even after Bamako, with the occurrence of Probo Koala, such a precautionary approach needs to be enforced by every African country. Furthermore, toxic waste dumping is not an issue of the past and keeps re-occurring.

Indeed, hazardous waste does not only suggest scenarios where it is transported on a ship and dumped from one country to another. On the contrary, hazardous waste affects the existence of the daily life of every individual. When bleaching cream is brought in from neighbouring countries such as Togo for sale and use in Ghana, some of these creams contain hazardous chemicals such as PCBs, which are poisonous and deadly for the human body. When used batteries from torches, radios and other electrical equipment are placed at dump sites where scavengers and children can freely open them up, it must be borne in mind that these batteries contain deadly chemicals such as cadmium, which inflict perils on the respiratory organs of human beings and cause other diseases, as well as atmospheric pollution, pollution to rivers and others. When car batteries are being recycled for use and sale, these substances contain a form of lead which is another hazardous substance but is recycled in an environmentally sound manner with sophisticated technology. This is a practice which is promoted by the Johannesburg-based Fry’s metals company and is indeed worthy of emulation. This is why used car batteries, upon being recycled for sale in certain rural communities of Niger, in the face of meagre infrastructure and lack of sound ecological principles, caused all manner of disasters to the human beings practising this business, their livestock and other forms of lives.

When companies such as Ghana’s Tema Oil Refinery and Côte d’Ivoire’s Société Ivorienne de Raffinage import crude oil for recycling and refining for sale, the crude oil is processed with some amount of toxic chemicals which need to be managed carefully lest they cause a negligent spill and cause hazardous perils. These two companies are success stories which can be followed in other parts of the African continent.  Fluorescent tubes, clinical themometres and certain forms of medical waste are said to contain some amount of mercury which affects the nerves and can cause physical paralysis, psychological disorders and other forms of sickness in human beings. Hence, the manner in which they are disposed of, after being used, is one which requires caution. Certain categories of asbestos used in roofing sheets, named as carcinogenic asbestos, can cause cancer in human beings. The desire to phase out lead in gasoline, as evidence in the UNEP Dakar Declaration on the Phase-Out of Leaded Gasoline in Sub-Saharan Africa and the intent to eliminate leaded petrol, as shown in the WSSD Declaration on the Phase-Out of Leaded Petrol in Sub-Saharan Africa, is a move to enable African and other countries to depart from using leaded gasoline and petrol, as lead can cause nervous disorders. Based on these  which are just a few examples of the instances where hazardous wastes and chemicals are present, hazardous/toxic waste is obviously an inevitable part of every human activity.

These examples also confirm that toxic waste is evidently not a thing of the past, but continues to affect the everyday lives of people. Its inherent transboundary nature means that when it causes an accident in one country, the effects can be felt in neighbouring countries. This happened in the Sandoz Spill in Switzerland, when in 1986, a factory in Switzerland accidentally spilled chemicals which inter-alia, polluted the Rhine River in Germany and other European countries, and many fishes were killed. One toxic waste accident can also have a persistent effect for many years, as in Love Canal. Here, the adverse impacts of chemical emissions by factories in the US in 1940 were felt 37 years later, that is, in 1977, when these substances oozed from the basement of people’s homes. The mismanagement of toxic waste, as well as its illicit importation and exportation can also cause other environmental problems such as pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases. This could in turn result in climate change. Above everything else, toxic waste accidents not only cause fatal diseases in human beings, but result in their death as well.

In African countries, incidents of pollution of rivers in a village or town and deadly sickness  have resulted from the careless dumping of mining waste and the use of certain chemicals in mining activities. Cases in point are Zambia’s copper mining activities in its Copperbelt area and Ghana’s gold mining projects in parts of Ahafo, Tarkwa and Abekwasi. Hence, toxic waste incidents do not only suggest the occasional fatal tragedy where ships carry deadly chemicals to export or dump in a country, but are inextricably linked to the daily lives of Africans.

Where the lives of citizens in local communities are affected as have been in these cases here, how do these victims seek timely, adequate and effective legal redress in the absence of a national law which addresses these issues?

In light of incidents such as Probo Koala and these examples, is it sufficient for an African country to simply rely on the provisions of Bamako or Basel, or should each one of the 53 African countries have a national law which forbids illicit imports of toxic waste, as each of these conventions do require? Why have these countries not all conformed to this requirement, and in cases where there are fragmented laws, simply consolidated them? With a national law, individuals, companies and other parties in countries can easily resort to provisions for interpretation, and it could be easier to ensure penalties—imprisonment, fines and other measures for such acts which are crimes against humanity. Such a law could clearly illustrate the classes of waste which should be traded in but subject to which internationally acceptable and recognized standards and which ones should be banned. This recommended municipal legislation could also provide a definition of what amounts to toxic waste, with relevant explanatory memoranda where necessary, and the exact effects of each type of waste on human health and the ecology, based on empirical scientific evidence. Compliance and liability at municipal level then become easy to deal with.

Such recommended national laws should also conform to the obligations of African countries under the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals in International Trade (1998) and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001). Where they have not ratified Rotterdam and Stockholm, it may be advisable to do so, as these two treaties, in addition to Basel, regulate wastes which also include chemicals and pesticides, all of which are used in Africa. In addition to sending officials from ministries and customs officers for the green training programmes of such treaties, African countries also need to train other affected members of the society such as farmers on the objectives of these treaties, as ideally reflected in a national law. Many farmers, particularly those in Africa’s rural communities, owing to reasons of insufficient levels of awareness, continue to use obsolete pesticides and chemicals during their farming practices, for ripening tomatoes and other purposes. The long-term effects become damaging to their health. Farmers could then benefit from receiving training on the requirements of a national law, in a language they can easily grasp and comprehend, with the provision of alternative and more suitable chemicals which they need to use.

Regarding the proposed national legislation, Côte d’Ivoire enacted its law on toxic waste as far back as 1988. It also has provisions which seek to promote a human right to a decent environment in its constitution of 2000. Its Loi. No. 96-766 of 1996 portant Code de l’Environnement (1996) also seeks to enhance the precautionary and other environmental principles. Egypt enacted its law on toxic waste in 1994 and Nigeria in 1988, after its similar disaster where PCBs and other toxic waste were dumped from Italy to Nigeria that year. Ghana and South Africa both have a series of fragmented legislation covering the regulation of pesticides and other chemicals. In a case such as Nigeria which currently witnesses the illicit dumping of obsolete and toxic computers, some amendments could be made to its law, so that the aims of Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm are all realized at respective national levels. In the cases of South Africa, Ghana and other African countries which have pieces of policies and law, they could consolidate these laws for more uniformity, and also, ensure that the requirements of these globally ratified treaties are reflected accordingly in national law.

It is further important that regional blocs such ECOWAS and the EAC, just like AU, SADC and COMESA provide stipulations which govern environmental issues including waste imports and exports. This is precisely what the EU and NAFTA have done. These African regional blocs should spell out clear and specific guidelines on how each form of waste should be treated, recycled and disposed of. Africa’s regional mechanisms can further liaise more closely with the Basel Regional Centres in Dakar, Ibadan and Pretoria, in order to monitor relevant trends, organise collaborative workshops and regulate toxic waste trade. These regional blocs should further enforce the Protocol on Liability and Compensation under the Bamako Convention, as Basel’s Protocol on Liability and Compensation, adopted since 1999 is still not yet in place. At the regional level of the European Union (EU) though, EU member states have diligently ensured that there are sufficient stipulations on compliance and liability at respective national levels and at the regional level, to promptly and efficiently hold offenders accountable when necessary. Africa can follow this example. The US may not be a member to the Basel Convention for instance, but this country has diligently ensured that at various federal levels, different laws are enacted in its states to promote sound waste management practices in reality.

As such, it is imperative that African countries enact and enforce appropriate national laws to conform to their requirements under the Basel, Stockholm, Rotterdam and Bamako Conventions, with the exact procedures and penalties in the absence of compliance. With the occurrence of Probo Koala and other pressing toxic waste issues faced at home, these are some of the lessons and recommendations which African countries could adopt to suit their peculiar circumstances, as they strive to attain the goals of sustainable development.