AFRICA/ CARIBBEAN NEWS
RALEIGH DURHAM AFRO-CARIBBEAN
ASSOCIATION TO HOST CARIB MASK CARNIVAL
s
RALEIGH, NC - Donnae Ward (right) was
crowned Miss CaribMask 2013 in August. She
is the first recipient of the Miss CaribMask
Scholarship. If you have a deep appreciation
for the Afro-Caribbean culture, are interested in
winning a scholarship and like to wear crowns,
you could be the next Miss CaribMask 20142015. If you are interested, please fill out the
application at www.. Join the ranks of carnival
queens all around the world.
FIGHTING FOR
LIBERIA’S FUTURE –
ONE ISSUE AT A TIME
— A Conversation with
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
By Reed Kramer & Tami Hultman
DUBAI, UAE - In her second and final
six-year term as Liberia’s president, Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf has continued a heavy
schedule of international travel, despite
seemingly intractable challenges at home.
It is an uneasy balance, she acknowledges
– courting international investment and aid
while struggling with a fractious democracy
still scarred by a war that killed hundreds of
thousands of people, displaced two-thirds of
the population, and destroyed nearly all the
country’s infrastructure. After attending the
Africa-Arab Summit in Kuwait in December
2013, Johnson Sirleaf visited Dubai, where
she sat down with AllAfrica’s Reed Kramer
and Tami Hultman to discuss her priorities
and principles. Here are some exerpts from
that interview (www.allafrica.com)
Note: Questions in bold; Responses in italics
Madam President, what do ties in this
region mean to Liberia?
In Kuwait there was an opportunity to
meet with leaders of the Arab world, who
are increasingly good partners to Liberia.
The same thing continues in Dubai, where
conversation is ongoing between the
Dubai Port Authority and our National
Port Authority, whose managing director
[Matilda Parker] is on the mission. We
were honored to meet with the Emir and
discuss possible collaboration between
Dubai and Liberia in several areas, and
with bankers - in terms of financial
support of investment and development.
So this trip is meant to promote more
cooperation.
You’ve made job creation a top priority,
so why does unemployment remain such
a challenge?
The private sector and the substantial
amount of direct foreign investment
- over $1