Infiltrating Villa Somalia. While several Britons head the main international institutions operating in Somalia, others even work inside the presidential palace, Villa Somalia. President Hassan Sheikh`s PR advisor is Richard Bailey, whose salary is paid by the FCO. He is a consultant with Albany Associates Ltd, a former PR advisor to the European Union`s (EU) special representative for the Horn of Africa in Nairobi and the former head of media relations of the African Union/UN Information support team in Nairobi and Mogadishu. Another one of Albany`s consultants, Justin Marozzi (the former civil affairs director in Iraq for Aegis Defence Services) is currently the PR advisor to Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon. Other Britons are: David Clapp, the head of UNDP Somalia (UN agency that channels and controls the majority of international aid to Somalia); Deborah (Bella) Bird, who has served in the DfID, is the World Bank country director for Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan; Nicholas Kay, the head of the UN`s new integrated mission to Somalia (UNSOM) will be deployed on 3 June. Djibouti not left out. In the wake of the Somalia conference, the FCO also sponsored the first UK-Djibouti Trade & Investment Forum in London on the following day. This was attended by around a hundred British firms (see newsflash sent to subscribers on 10 May), whose delegates appeared to be only just discovering the country. Apart from two banks (Standard Bank and Barclays) and secure document printing company De La Rue, a substantial portion of those present were business lawyers (K&L Gates, Clyde & Co, Denton Wilde Sapte), consultants of all kinds (Newstate Partners, Hogan Lovells International, Crown Agents, Omnia Strategy, Nuvidium, Aegis Advisory) and lobbyists (Raitt Orr & Associates). A significant number of finance companies (Africa Practice, Eleven Capital and African Frontier Capital Partners) were also present, as were a handful of energy and mining juniors (Stratex, Thani Ashanti, EasthStream Global, Britannia Mining, Allied Petroleum & Allied Gold and Setanta Energy). FULL STORY PLEASE CLICK. biyokulule/view_content.php?articleid=5985
Posted on: Wed, 21 May 2014 20:09:21 +0000
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