Tag: #África

Latest Gran Canaria News, Views & Sunshine

Foundation Investigated for Alleged Mismanagement of Public Funds Meant for Care of Unaccompanied Migrant Minors

The 7th Investigative Court of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has opened a preliminary investigation into the Social Response Foundation Siglo XXI and four of its directors. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office in Las Palmas filed a complaint against them, alleging crimes that could include forgery of commercial documents, mismanagement, and embezzlement of public funds. The investigation aims to determine whether this nonprofit organisation, and its officials, could have misused public funds intended for the care of unaccompanied migrant minors, during the migration crisis of 2020 that was precipitated by the pandemic confinement on the islands, leading to a build up of arrivals having to be assessed and cared for by the Canary Islands Regional Government, using hotels left empty due to the lack of tourism. The estimated amount involved in the alleged misuse stands at around €12.5 million between 2020 and 2022 on Gran Canaria alone.

 

Canary Islands Expect Rain and Potential Storm Weather Next Week

The Canary Islands are preparing for a change in the weather next week, as a significant increase in cloud is expected bringing higher probability of rain. The effects of a powerful storm forming in the Atlantic Ocean are likely to extend to the Canary Islands as well as neighbouring Madeira and The Azores.

 

The Canary Guide #WeekendTips 2-4 June 2023

June is here and that means that summer is just around the corner. The Patron Saints’ festivities in honour of San Juan de Bautista and San Antonio de Padua are just getting started on Gran Canaria, and in Pueblo de Mogán the main Romería pilgrimage for San Antonio El Chico is this first Saturday of June, as well as the start of the build up to those in Arucas, Santa Brígida and Moya. This weekend also brings the biggest outlet fair shopping experience back to INFECAR and a collectables fair in Gáldar.
OPERATION KILO is this weekend, at all participating supermarkets, asking you to add a few non-perishable food items to the Food Bank collection boxes to help families in need.

Vox Enters Canarian Politics, Stage Right: Anti-Migrant, Anti-Feminist, Anti-Green, Anti-Autonomy, Anti-LGBT, Anti-Multiculturalism, Pro-Franco politics find a foothold on The Canary Islands

The Canary Islands were unable to avoid the rise of the far right on Sunday, unlike in 2019, writes Natalia G. Vargas in Canarias Ahora. Vox, which previously had no representation on the islands, managed to make its presence felt in several municipalities and councils this May 28. They also secured seats in the Canary Islands’ regional parliament, securing four deputies. “Defending what is ours, our own, and fighting against insecurity” were the slogans that underpinned Vox’s campaign in The Canary Islands, along with “family, employment, and freedom.” This rhetoric, coupled with an electoral program that was repeated across all local elections in Spain, proved sufficient. Dozens of cities and towns on the islands welcomed their first far right candidates of the modern democratic era into Canarian politics, with urban areas serving as their main strongholds.

La Alcaldesa Bueno Secures Incredible Majority in Mogán

Mogán, May 29, 2023 – The often controversial incumbent, O Bueno, La Alcaldesa, has achieved an unprecedented and resounding victory once more in Mogán. The candidate who switched her party’s name, for these elections, to “Juntos por Mogán”, a local ally of the regionalist conservatives “Coalición Canaria” (CC), will once again assume the role of mayor. Her party has clinched a rather noteworthy 17 out of the 21 seats in the Municipal Council of this popular tourism destination located on the sunny southwest of Gran Canaria.

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Casa África Las Palmas: Investing in “the continent of the future”

African economies are growing at an average rate of 3.5% and the vast majority of countries on the continent welcome with open arms the arrival of foreign capital to maintain the current dynamism of their economies.
Over recent years, both political stability and better governance have been improved to a large extent, but there remains important obstacles for business. West African leaders this week joined the Casa África  international economic forum, Outlook for economic growth in West Africa, in Las Palmas and among other subjects discussed corruption in its various forms – evasion of capital gains, tax fraud & money laundering, among others – which can be detrimental to investment in the western zone of ​​the continent and considered sharing resources to eradicate the scourge.
“It is useless for Ghana to have a legal framework to attract investment if the same does not happen in the surrounding countries,” said the Ghanain Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, during the forum. 
The event, hosted by Spain´s primary hub for African business & culture, Casa África, sought to influence the wide range of investment possibilities available on the continent just off the Canary Island´s coastline.
The first to be harmed by corruption are African states themselves, which are prevented from receiving large sums into their respective coffers. “We must create an institutional framework,” Kyerematen insisted, to surround those who seek to bargain away the legal frameworks for their own benefit and to the detriment of the community.
From another perspective, also a lack of solidity in legal and fiscal security offered by West African states, can often determine to a large extent that boards of directors from large companies have take into account the potential for sudden changes in their expansion plans. However, the Canary Islands Government’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Action, Luis Padilla , played down the issue pointing out that there have been circumstances of this kind “here and there.” He referred to the annual “Doing business” report , which reflects the level of facilities or difficulties for investment in different countries; pointing out that the progress made by the West African countries has been remarkable.
The meeting brought together ministers and representatives, from the highest levels, of the governments of six countries, to the Gran Canaria capital: Mauritania, Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Cape Verde, who discussed “new strategies” that, in the opinion of the director of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mario Pezzini, must ensure the balanced growth of African economies. “There can not be one part of society that develops and another part that does not,” said Pezzini, for whom it is very likely that the current growth “will increase”.
This will also help the eradication of tariff barriers for a free trade agreement, in which 44 countries have already expressed their wish to participate, pointed out by the director of Casa África, Luis Padrón. This favourable wind makes our neighbouring continent a natural partner for foreign investment, directly linked to the Canary Islands’ own goal of internationalising its economy. The president of the Canary Islands’ regional government, Fernando Clavijo, explained that forums of this nature bring the islands closer to the goal of becoming the “strategic centre facing West Africa”, either due to the existing business niches that can attract Canarian investors, or to operate as a logistics platform that serves as a base for incoming multinationals that seek to settle in the region.
Spain´s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alfonso Dastis, was also present at the meeting, and laid claim the leading role of Spain in the task of boosting the economies of those countries that make up what he defined as “the continent of the future”. Within this framework, the Canary Islands constitutes “a very important asset for the State’s relationship with the neighbouring continent,” said the minister.

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