My Ghana Electronic Desk

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE A slum in Ghana The Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2013, released April 29, 2013 by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), states that although urbanisation helps pull people out of poverty and advances progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it can also lead to burgeoning growth of slums, pollution, and crime if not managed well. Explaining this assertion, the report says urbanisation has been a major force behind poverty reduction and progress towards other MDGs and that with over 80 per cent of global goods and services produced in cities, countries with relatively higher levels of urbanisation, such as China, and many others in East Asia and Latin America, have played a major role in lowering extreme poverty worldwide.

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Monday, April 29, 2013 announced it will soon open its first hub office in Istanbul, Turkey, though a firm date was not given. Making the announcement, President and Chief Executive Officer, Fadi Chehadé, said: “ICANN is becoming increasingly international in terms of our outlook, policies and the makeup of our staff.  Now our global hub strategy will take our internationalism to an improved operational level. These hub offices will become part of the core fabric of ICANN.” Divulging what informed the choice of location, Fadi Chehadé said: “We looked closely at a number of possible global locations. We chose Istanbul because of the quality of its infrastructure, growing ICT sector, business-friendly environment and its close cultural and geographic proximity to Europe, the Middle-East and Africa.”