Category: MENA

The launch of the Charter by the Coalition for Fisheries Transparency lays out a new roadmap to advance marine governance around the world.

PANAMA CITY, Panama, March 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Coalition for Fisheries Transparency – a new international community of civil society organizations – today launched the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency. The Charter pinpoints the most essential policy priorities needed to combat fisheries mismanagement, illegal fishing, and human rights abuses at sea. Experts, ministers, and delegates from international organizations and companies around the world discussed the benefits of the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency at Our Ocean conference in Panama this Thursday and Friday – an annual meeting for countries, civil society and industry to announce significant actions to safeguard the world’s oceans.

“Ghana recognizes the critical role that transparency plays in the fight against illegal fishing to protect livelihoods and provide food security to our coastal communities,” said Hon. Mavis Hawa Koomson, Ghana’s Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development. “With the significant progress Ghana has made in the last year on ending harmful fishing practices that have encouraged illegal fishing in our waters, we are now working towards making greater efforts towards sustaining fisheries transparency in Ghana.”

Prof. Maxine Burkett, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans, Fisheries and Polar Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, highlighted how the U.S. plays a leading role in increasing transparency in global fisheries.

“Last year, President Biden released a National Security Memorandum that recognizes the importance of transparency for combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and associated forced labor abuses,” she said. “By enhancing productive information-sharing, the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency will serve as an important complement to the U.S. government’s activities to end IUU fishing through improving fisheries and ocean governance, increasing enforcement efforts, and raising ambition to end IUU fishing globally.”

Additionally, global partnership initiatives, like the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), emphasized the importance of equal, multi-stakeholder collaboration to increase transparency in coastal countries for achieving sustainably managed marine fisheries.

“Given the complexity of fisheries governance, multiple transparency efforts are needed to address the various challenges of unsustainable marine fisheries, such as overfishing, IUU fishing, unequal access to fisheries resources, and unfair benefit sharing,” said Dr. Valeria Merino, Chair of the International Board of the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI). “The 10 principles of the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency recognize the need for a comprehensive and coordinated approach to fisheries transparency, and has the potential to support existing global endeavors, such as the FiTI, through a much-needed mobilization of civil society organizations to ensure that marine fishing activities are legal, ethical, and sustainable.”

Finally, the role of the civil society to maximize collective impact to improve transparency has been underlined by Mr. Wakao Hanaoka, Chief Executive Officer of Seafood Legacy (Japan), and a steering committee member of the Coalition for Fisheries Transparency. “Our membership in the Coalition for Fisheries Transparency represents a voice of an international community that allows us to strengthen and amplify our efforts amongst the seafood industry and government towards achieving our goal of making Japan a global leader in environmental sustainability and social responsibility,” he explained.

The Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency lays out a new roadmap to advance marine governance internationally, by providing a set of advocacy principles that are both effective and achievable by all stakeholders involved in fisheries governance and management.

“Continuous advocacy efforts by civil society organizations are critical to improving fisheries governance internationally as well as protecting the ocean and the people who depend on its resources,” commented Maisie Pigeon, Director of the Coalition for Fisheries Transparency. “The Coalition’s mission to deliver an urgent shift towards greater transparency in fisheries will be achieved through supporting our members in developing joint strategies, harmonizing and strengthening efforts, and finally – closing transparency policy gaps in fisheries governance,” she concluded.

Through civil society organizations from around the world, the Coalition for Fisheries Transparency calls on governments to apply the Charter’s principles in legislation and practice.

Press contact: Agata Mrowiec agata@fisheriestransparency.net +34 608 517 552

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8780726

Johannesburg, March 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

• Partnership offers growth opportunity in Africa, building on MultiChoice’s footprint across 50 markets, its excellent execution track record on the continent and the successful Showmax brand.
• MultiChoice to relaunch Showmax, powered by NBCUniversal’s Peacock technology platform, along with world-class content from NBCUniversal and Sky, offering audiences the best experience with local and global entertainment, as well as live matches of the English Premier League (EPL) football.

Thursday March 2, 2023: MultiChoice Group (MultiChoice) (JSE: MCG) and Comcast’s (NASDAQ: CMCSA) NBCUniversal and Sky today announced a new partnership that will bring some of the world’s best content and technology to streaming customers across MultiChoice’s 50-market footprint in sub-Saharan Africa, at a time when Africa is approaching an inflection point in terms of broadband connectivity and affordability.  The new Showmax group will be 70% owned by MultiChoice and 30% by NBCUniversal. (*See Note). It will build on Showmax’s success to date and aim to create the leading streaming service in Africa.

Powered by Peacock’s leading, globally-scaled technology, Showmax subscribers will have access to an extensive premium content portfolio, bringing African audiences the best of local and international programming. The service will combine MultiChoice’s accelerating investment in local content with a unique pipeline of award-winning and critically acclaimed international content licensed from NBCUniversal and Sky, third party content from HBO, Warner Brothers International, Sony and others, as well as live English Premier League (EPL) football.  The partnership will also provide access to all the best African content such as Showmax Originals and local content from MultiChoice’s proprietary channels including Mzansi Magic, Africa Magic and Maisha Magic.

Using a significant portfolio of global media assets and Peacock’s streaming platform, which finished 2022 with over 20 million paid subscribers in the US, NBCUniversal and Sky will provide ongoing support through the licensing of both technology and content.

“We launched Showmax as the first African streaming service in 2015 and are extremely proud of its success to date. This agreement represents a great opportunity for our Showmax team to scale even greater heights by working with a leading global player in Comcast and its subsidiaries,” said Calvo Mawela, Chief Executive Officer of MultiChoice. “The new business venture deepens an already strong relationship and builds on the Sky Glass technology partnership that we announced in September last year. We believe we are extremely well positioned to create a winning platform going forward.”

Dana Strong, Group Chief Executive Officer, Sky, commented, “This new collaboration in streaming and content with MultiChoice, NBCUniversal, and Sky takes our partnership to the next level in one of the world’s most vibrant, fastest growing markets.  Last year, we announced MultiChoice as a customer of the Sky Glass platform and now we are excited to help innovate its Showmax streaming service.”

Matt Strauss, Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer & International, NBCUniversal, added, “This partnership is an incredible opportunity to further scale the global presence of Peacock’s world-class streaming technology, as well as to introduce millions of new customers to extensive premium content from NBCUniversal and Sky’s stellar entertainment brands.”

Further details about the new Showmax service, including launch date, content and pricing will be announced at a later date.

[*NB: In Nigeria, NBCUniversal will hold an indirect 23.7% stake in the local subsidiary]

Elizabeth Ferreira
MultiChoice Group Ltd
+27834825241
[email protected]

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8780187

VILNIUS, Lithuania, March 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Avia Solutions Group, the leading aviation business group, has become an Irish-based company. Following the transfer of its controlling headquarters to Ireland, Dublin, the group also became the second largest Irish-registered aviation business behind aviation giant Ryanair.

“Moving the company’s controlling headquarters to Ireland was a strategically important step for us in terms of our further development plans,” explains Jonas Janukenas, CEO of Avia Solutions Group. “Ireland is known as the hub of aviation. A large number of aviation companies are located here, hence, being closer to the aviation community we will be able to implement the group’s development plans faster and maintain market leadership.”

According to Janukenas, the company’s financial instruments on the Dublin Stock Exchange have been purchased by the world’s largest institutional investors from the USA and Europe, so this was also one of the reasons for choosing Ireland.

The group has offices spanning all across the world: Ireland, Lithuania, the US, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Australia and Asia Pacific.

Avia Solutions Group is the world’s leading and largest ACMI (aircraft leasing, maintenance and insurance) services group with a fleet of more than 165 aircraft. The group also provides various aviation services, such as aircraft maintenance, pilot and crew training, ground handling, and others. Avia Solutions Group employs more than 11,000 highly skilled aviation professionals across different regions of the world.

About Avia Solutions Group

Avia Solutions Group is the largest global ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance) provider with more than 165 aircraft fleet, and a parent company of SmartLynx Airlines, Avion Express, BBN Airlines, KlasJet, Magma Aviation and more operating in all continents in the world. The Group also provides various aviation services such as MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul), pilots and crew trainings, ground handling and other interconnected solutions. Avia Solutions Group is backed by over 11,000 highly skilled aviation professionals worldwide.

For more information, please visit www.aviasg.com

Media contact:
Silvija Jakiene
Chief Communications Officer
Avia Solutions Group
[email protected]
+370 671 22697

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 1000795760

LONDON, March 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The world’s latest investment migration option — and Africa’s second — the Namibia Residence by Investment Program has been launched by Henley & Partners, the global leaders in residence and citizenship planning.

The Namibian government is actively seeking foreign investment to boost the country’s economic growth and diversify the economy. The program provides numerous opportunities for international investors seeking a foothold and growth on the African continent, including tax incentives, financing, and a one-stop bureau service for international companies. For a minimum real estate investment of USD 316,000 in the new luxury golf and eco-friendly President’s Links Estate in Walvis Bay, successful investors will receive a five-year, renewable work permit which gives them the right to live, do business, and study in Namibia.

Group Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners, Dominic Volek, says, “We are delighted to announce this innovative new residence by investment offering in Africa. Namibia’s stunning landscape, attractive tax system, and business-friendly environment make it an ideal option for international entrepreneurs, high-net-worth individuals, or retirees. There are fewer than 600 real estate units available in this exclusive coastal estate that qualifies for residence, so investors need to move quickly if they want to take advantage of this limited opportunity to secure residence rights in one of the most nature- and wildlife rich countries in the world.”

One of Africa’s fastest growing private wealth markets

The total private wealth currently held on the African continent is USD 2.1 trillion and is expected to rise by 38% over the next 10 years, according to the Africa Wealth Report, published by Henley & Partners in partnership with New World Wealth. Namibia is expected to be one of Africa’s fastest growing markets going forward, with high-net-worth individual (those with wealth of USD 1 million or more) growth of over 60% forecast for the next decade (until 2032). According to New World Wealth’s December 2022 statistics, Namibia holds USD 26 billion in total investable wealth. The average wealth of a resident of Namibia (wealth per capita) is USD 10,050, ranking as the third highest in Africa after Mauritius and South Africa. The nation is home to around 2,100 high-net-worth individuals and three centi-millionaires (with wealth of USD 100 million or more).

To attract inward investment, the government has made major improvements to its tax system in recent years. Namibia operates a source-based tax system, which means that foreign residents are generally only taxed on the income they generate in the country. What is more, tax rates are relatively competitive compared with many other emerging markets and particularly with neighboring countries such as South Africa. The top rate of income tax in Namibia is a modest 37%, but perhaps most notably there are no capital gains, estate, gift, inheritance, or net wealth/worth taxes.

Unprecedented interest in domicile diversification

Currently, the President’s Links Estate is the only investment route for the Namibia Residence by Investment Program. Group Head of Real Estate at Henley & Partners, Thomas Scott, says international real estate has always been a reliable asset class for global investors due to its long-term staying power. “Real estate–linked investment migration programs such as the offering in Namibia have the additional advantages of enhancing your global mobility and expanding your personal access rights as a resident or citizen of additional jurisdictions, creating optionality in terms of where you and your family can live, work, study, retire, and invest. The potential gains over the lifetime of this investment include the core value of the asset, rental yields, and global access as an ultimate hedge against both regional and global volatility.”

Volek points out that there has been significant and ongoing growth in the demand for residence and citizenship by investment options over the past few years. “The appeal of investment migration for affluent families is truly universal due to its many benefits, ranging from domicile diversification to global mobility enhancement, to accessing world-class education and healthcare, to having a plan B in times of turmoil. No matter where you were born, or where you currently reside, wealthy investors can futureproof themselves and their families for whatever might lie ahead through investment migration options such as the new Namibia Residence by Investment Program.”

Media Contact

Sarah Nicklin
Group Head of PR
[email protected]
Mobile: +27 72 464 8965

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 1000795319