The migrants arrived mainly in the southern regions of Apulia and Calabria, as well as the tiny island of Lampedusa south of Sicily which is closer to North Africa than to the Italian mainland.

The figures were considerably lower than this time last year at the height of the Arab Spring revolts that swept North Africa but Cancellieri said Italy was on alert for a possible increase in arrivals.

Libya has traditionally been a major transit point for migrants from other parts of Africa making the Mediterranean crossing to Italy.

Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had struck a controversial agreement with then Libyan dictator Muammar Gadaffi in 2008 that allowed for migrants and potential asylum-seekers to be turned back to Libyan shores.

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, on a visit to Tunisia, pledged on Wednesday to help families of missing migrants with updates of their fate while meeting his counterpart Moncef Marzouki.

He said Rome’s “priority is saving human lives”, and added: “We understand the anguish of families whose members go missing and we want to help them to get information.” Report AFP.

‘South Sudan has a larger proportion of its children out of school than almost any other country in the world, along with the deepest gender inequalities, he said. ‘We know that education can be a catalyst for progress in other areas, such as nutrition, child survival and combating infectious diseases. For children trapped in conflict, education can help to create a sense of normality and keep alive the hope of a better future. The time for bold action is now’ Mr. Brown said

‘Access to a basic education is the birthright of every child, no matter where he or she is born,’ said Graça Machel, Co-Convenor of the High Level Panel on Global Education, referring to the need to get more children in school. ‘The international community’s commitment to the world’s most vulnerable children should be measured by its willingness to ensure schooling even for those who are the hardest to reach, including in conflict-affected states’ she said.

A new report titled ‘Education in South Sudan – investing in a better future’ was published to launch the campaign on Wednesday 18th April. The report argues that the world’s newest country provides an ideal opportunity to showcase the rapid progress that can be made towards the international development goals in education, even in fragile states. Thus far, however, international organisations have been slow to address the situation in South Sudan. In particular, the report argues that the Global Partnership for Education’s response to the Government of South Sudan’s education strategy is instead ‘a showcase for what is going wrong in an aid system that is too inflexible, slow-moving and unresponsive to the needs to conflict-affected countries.’

Mr. Brown’s advocacy campaign includes an online grassroots initiative designed to put pressure on the World Bank and GPE to launch an urgent review of South Sudan’s education needs. The petition also demands that the Bank and the GPE set aside at least $180 million in funding for education in South Sudan by July 9, the first anniversary of the country’s founding.

The report includes grim statistics about the state of education in South Sudan including:

• Six years after the end of the Sudanese civil war, more than one million children remain out of school.

• Of the 134 countries for which secondary education enrollment data are available, South Sudan currently ranks last.

• Less than five percent of 13 year-old girls in South Sudan have completed primary school.

• In some parts of South Sudan, the ratio of students to trained teachers is more than 200 to one.

In the report, Mr. Brown outlines an emergency ‘education catch-up’ plan for the country. Through classroom construction, teacher training and targeted incentives to encourage parents to send their children to school, particularly girls, the plan would get another one million children into school by the end of 2015. The plan’s financing provisions for the period 2012-2016 include:

• $180 million in co-financing from the World Bank and the Global Partnership for Education.

• $100 million from OECD bilateral donors, and $30 million from non-traditional donors.

• $30 million from the Africa Development Bank/Africa Development Fund, with their support leveraging additional finance from other sources

Mr. Brown’s action is one component of a wider Education for All campaign that is being led by himself and wife Sarah. Their goal is to boost the number of children in primary schools worldwide, and to partner with government, business and non-profit leaders and organisations around the world to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by 2015.

The countries include South Africa, Mozambique, Lesotho, DRC Congo, Ghana (all Vodafone), Kenya (Safaricom), Rwanda, Uganda (MTN), Uganda (UTL) and Burundi (UCOM).

The company annunced today that customers travelling to these countries can now receive free incoming calls and SMS, lower calls and data rates while roaming on the Vodacom Lesotho, Vodacom Mozambique, Vodacom South Africa, Vodacom DRC, Vodafone Ghana and Safaricom Kenya, MTN Rwanda, MTN Uganda, UTL Uganda, and UCOM Burundi networks.

Commenting on the new Africa roaming service, Rene Meza, Managing Director at Vodacom Tanzania says, ‘We know that people want to remain connected at an affordable rate whether they are at home or on holiday in South Africa or travelling for work in Ghana and that nobody likes the headache of worrying about roaming bills.

‘What we’re launching today is a solution to give our customers peace of mind when travelling’. Data roaming has been and still is an expensive affair for most operators and today we are so proud to reduce substantially together with voice and SMS our data roaming charges for our customers travelling in any of our African family added Meza.

This and the many products and services we have launched lately at Vodacom Tanzania are in keeping with our promise to stay the best, with the most value network in Tanzania. More should be expected from us in the coming weeks and months concluded Rene Meza, the managing Director of Vodacom in Tanzania.

Vodacom Tanzania Limited is the country’s leading cellular network offering state-of-the-art GSM communication services to more than 9 million customers across the nation. Vodacom Tanzania is a subsidiary company of Vodacom Group (Pty) Limited, South Africa.

May the jubilant voice of the Church reach all of you with the words which the ancient hymn puts on the lips of Mary Magdalene, the first to encounter the risen Jesus on Easter morning. She ran to the other disciples and breathlessly announced: “I have seen the Lord!” (Jn 20:18). We too, who have journeyed through the desert of Lent and the sorrowful days of the Passion, today raise the cry of victory: “He has risen! He has truly risen!”

Every Christian relives the experience of Mary Magdalene. It involves an encounter which changes our lives: the encounter with a unique Man who lets us experience all God’s goodness and truth, who frees us from evil not in a superficial and fleeting way, but sets us free radically, heals us completely and restores our dignity. This is why Mary Magdalene calls Jesus “my hope”: he was the one who allowed her to be reborn, who gave her a new future, a life of goodness and freedom from evil. “Christ my hope” means that all my yearnings for goodness find in him a real possibility of fulfilment: with him I can hope for a life that is good, full and eternal, for God himself has drawn near to us, even sharing our humanity.

But Mary Magdalene, like the other disciples, was to see Jesus rejected by the leaders of the people, arrested, scourged, condemned to death and crucified. It must have been unbearable to see Goodness in person subjected to human malice, truth derided by falsehood, mercy abused by vengeance. With Jesus’ death, the hope of all those who had put their trust in him seemed doomed. But that faith never completely failed: especially in the heart of the Virgin Mary, Jesus’ Mother, its flame burned even in the dark of night. In this world, hope can not avoid confronting the harshness of evil. It is not thwarted by the wall of death alone, but even more by the barbs of envy and pride, falsehood and violence. Jesus passed through this mortal mesh in order to open a path to the kingdom of life. For a moment Jesus seemed vanquished: darkness had invaded the land, the silence of God was complete, hope a seemingly empty word.

And lo, on the dawn of the day after the Sabbath, the tomb is found empty. Jesus then shows himself to Mary Magdalene, to the other women, to his disciples. Faith is born anew, more alive and strong than ever, now invincible since it is based on a decisive experience: “Death with life contended: combat strangely ended! Life’s own champion, slain, now lives to reign”. The signs of the resurrection testify to the victory of life over death, love over hatred, mercy over vengeance: “The tomb the living did enclose, I saw Christ’s glory as he rose! The angels there attesting, shroud with grave-clothes resting”.

Dear brothers and sisters! If Jesus is risen, then – and only then – has something truly new happened, something that changes the state of humanity and the world. Then he, Jesus, is someone in whom we can put absolute trust; we can put our trust not only in his message but in Jesus himself, for the Risen One does not belong to the past, but is present today, alive. Christ is hope and comfort in a particular way for those Christian communities suffering most for their faith on account of discrimination and persecution. And he is present as a force of hope through his Church, which is close to all human situations of suffering and injustice.

May the risen Christ grant hope to the Middle East and enable all the ethnic, cultural and religious groups in that region to work together to advance the common good and respect for human rights. Particularly in Syria, may there be an end to bloodshed and an immediate commitment to the path of respect, dialogue and reconciliation, as called for by the international community. May the many refugees from that country who are in need of humanitarian assistance find the acceptance and solidarity capable of relieving their dreadful sufferings. May the paschal victory encourage the Iraqi people to spare no effort in pursuing the path of stability and development. In the Holy Land, may Israelis and Palestinians courageously take up anew the peace process.

May the Lord, the victor over evil and death, sustain the Christian communities of the African continent; may he grant them hope in facing their difficulties, and make them peacemakers and agents of development in the societies to which they belong.

May the risen Jesus comfort the suffering populations of the Horn of Africa and favour their reconciliation; may he help the Great Lakes Region, Sudan and South Sudan, and grant their inhabitants the power of forgiveness. In Mali, now experiencing delicate political developments, may the glorious Christ grant peace and stability. To Nigeria, which in recent times has experienced savage terrorist attacks, may the joy of Easter grant the strength needed to take up anew the building of a society which is peaceful and respectful of the religious freedom of its citizens.

Happy Easter to all!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and throughout the world!

But many Senegalese were disappointed because they thought that Wade, himself a long-time opposition politician before he finally won the presidency in 2000, should have behaved better given his own political experience. But he somehow atoned for his initial recalcitrance by accepting defeat when voters plumped for Sall, 50, in the run-off on March 26 when most of the other 12 candidates in the first round backed Sall.

In February’s first round Wade fell short of a majority, polling only 34.8 per cent while Sall came second with 26.6 per cent.

The groundswell of opposition to Wade ensured that if he had attempted to rig the poll in his favour it would have been obvious that something fishy had gone on and this would have led to more violence in the only country in West Africa that has never had a military coup. The threat of more violence could have informed the decision of Wade to concede defeat to Sall who held several ministerial positions under Wade before becoming prime minister.

Senegalese voters have bucked the recent trend in Africa where aged politicians still rule the roost. For instance, when 74-year-old Rupiah Banda lost the presidential election in Zambia in September 2011, the winner was another 74-year-old, Michael Sata, who had challenged for the position three times before.

A month later, in Cameroon, President Paul Biya, 78, was re-elected for another seven-year term. By the time he finishes this current term he would be 85 and would have been in office for 36 years.

During the election campaign in Senegal, Sall promised that, if elected, he would shorten the presidential term to five years from the current seven, and enforce the two-term limit. This is a promise that the people of Senegal would want their new leader to keep. In Africa, where politicians of a certain age abound, there is a need to build a new community of younger leaders to take on the challenges of the 21st century.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there has been a 33% decrease in malaria deaths in Africa over the last decade. Despite this progress, the current global funding crisis – as evidenced by the postponement of the Global Fund Round 11 – threatens momentum.

ALMA estimates that there is a gap of USD $3.3 billion in funding needed to achieve and sustain universal coverage of essential malaria interventions including artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) to the end of 2015.

‘The malaria campaign is emerging as a standout success in the effort to improve the health and welfare of mothers and children, but we cannot lose focus now,’ said President Sirleaf. ‘There is a moral and economic imperative to fill the malaria funding gap.’

ALMA members agreed to intensify efforts to close financing gaps. Seven ALMA member countries –Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Tanzania – received special recognition for removing all taxes and tariffs on malaria-related commodities, banning dangerous monotherapy treatments, or on making significant progress on malaria control.

The ALMA meeting featured a tribute to President Kikwete, the founding Chairperson of ALMA. ‘We have come a long way in the fight against malaria,’ said President Kikwete of Tanzania. ‘Many challenges lie ahead, but working with partners we will continue our progress toward creating an Africa where no one dies of a mosquito bite.’

Speaking to journalists Friday February 10th, Chambas declared 2012 to be a ‘year of restoration’, underlining plans to enhance the ACP as a ‘forward-looking international organisation.’

In 2012, the Group will focus on strengthening South-South solidarity and collaboration, intensifying attention on the Millennium Development Goals, advancing sustainable development programmes in ACP communities, and boosting the collective voice of ACP countries and their role as a group in the global arena.

‘The ACP Council of Ministers took the decision late last year to hold the 7th ACP Heads of State Summit in 2012. A theme has yet to be set, although a task force has been appointed to mobilise preparations for this meeting. As the ACP has not had a Heads of State Summit since 2008, we will certainly have a lot to talk about,’ remarked the Secretary General.

Key achievements for the Group in 2011 include the first ever symposium on South-South relations between the ACP and IBSA states – India, Brazil and South Africa.

The stadium has a 320metre long metal arch structure, the largest in Africa, built to represent the friendship that has been established between Gabon and China, whilst also representing the partnership that has been present between the two countries, since their diplomatic relations began in 1974.

With more than 600 Chinese workers to build this 40,000 seat stadium, it took 22 months to complete, and includes everything necessary to make it a place where young Gabonese people will be able to develop their sporting skills, including facilities for track events, long jump, triple jump, basketball, volleyball, handball and tennis.

In order for the stadium to host the final of African Cup of Nations in January 2012, two competition stadiums, six training stadiums, a sports complex, six residential complexes, two hotels for the press and three hotels for guests have been built or renovated in Libreville and the second Gabonese city, Franceville, with a total of 6,500 rooms and 2,400 rooms in private houses being built.

The African cup of Nations Organising Committee is finalising workflow plans, whilst construction work is ending. New turf is to be laid in the stadium to ensure it will be ready for the start of the competition, whilst interchanges for traffic flow improvements in Libreville are due to finish in December.

The organisation, Made In Africa Foundation, is dedicated to bringing innovative ideas and capital to Africa, whilst also focusing on the first stage of funding for infrastructure.

With little capital available in the past, the International Finance Corporation estimates that Africa’s infrastructural deficit amounts to US$93 billion annually right through 2020. The fact that a large amount of this money was available was irrelevant, as it could not be applied until business plans and feasibility studies were sufficiently developed; a void the Made In Africa Foundation will try to fill.

Atlantic Energy has committed to underwrite US$7 million for an independent power project feasibility studies across Africa, as well as the Ugandan urban renewal master plan for Kampala’s Naguru Nakawa redevelopment, and the Foundation’s running costs for the first three years.

Founder, Ozwald Boateng said, ‘It is a well known statistic that US$400 million of funding for feasibility studies and master plans across Sub-Saharan Africa would develop over US$100 billion of infrastructure projects, which in turn would create a value of a trillion dollars across Africa.’

With this in mind, the organisation believe infrastructure is the key to transforming the economy from a developing to emerging market status and propose to provide ‘first mile’ finance to people and businesses that are involved in contributing to the development of major infrastructural projects in the region.

Dayo Okusami, General Counsel and Executive Director of Atlantic Energy, a private upstream oil and gas group that operates in Nigeria, said, ‘Atlantic Energy is pleased to be a founding donor and supporter of this exceptional charity and we look forward to fostering a continent wide push for sustainable infrastructure development.’

With the first step of infrastructural projects often being the hardest, the foundation hopes that its work will now make that step easier for Africans.

The Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) is comprised of six countries located in Central Africa; Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo. These countries offer investment opportunities in strategic sectors of their economies, ranging from telecommunications to urban planning and construction.

The conference focused on presenting the positive potentials these countries offer, whilst also discussing the progress and advancements individuals governments have been able to achieve. These include promoting both economic and political development in line with the specific needs of their communities, as well as looking to bridge the current gap that exists with countries in the northern hemisphere.

Many European investors have recently turned to Africa, mainly Central Africa, to explore the possibility of investment. They have looked to support local economies whilst also benefiting from various petroleum operations. At present, Cameroon offers significant agricultural potential whilst countries such as Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo offer the possibility of natural gas explorations.

With the CEMAC region currently in the process of a political and economic renewal, better governance is being implemented, and the introduction of social developments are being explored, enabling continual progress and moving away from political instability and corruption.

With more countries across the African region becoming open to the prospect of tourism (CAN 2012), guest speaker Robert Tashima of the Oxford Business Group said, ‘the potential to stimulate revenue growth is enormous, particularly in light of the rich biodiversity of the region.’

However, the conference highlighted CMO London’s belief that the most important change is the need to listen to Africa’s diverse population and for Africans themselves to be proud of their ethnic background to enable continual growth within the region.

The strides currently undertaken by governments in the region, supported and publicised by CMO London, are bound to make business opportunities a reality and enable the CEMAC area to break free and become a destination for serious investors around the globe.

CMO London annual conference 2011 has been a success for the organisers and the special guests and in particular to the CEMAC region.