African Development Fund, Smart Africa Alliance launch $1.5 million project to enhance digital trade and e-commerce ecosystems across Africa
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The African Development Fund and Smart Africa Alliance have jointly launched a $1.5 million project to streamline digital trade and e-commerce policies across 10 African countries.
The Institutional Support for Digital Payments and e-Commerce Policies for Cross-Border Trade Project (IDECT) will evaluate policy gaps in the digital trade and e-commerce ecosystems of Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Uganda, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, the Republic of Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Greater Horn of Africa: EU allocates €331 million in humanitarian aid
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The Greater Horn of Africa region is facing multiple and overlapping humanitarian crises with more than 50 million people in urgent need of food assistance. To help, the Commission will provide some €331 million in humanitarian aid primarily targeting food insecurity as well as addressing the needs of displaced persons and refugees, disaster preparedness, and education in emergencies.
Global Gateway: Team Europe invests in transformative green mobility in Nairobi
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Today, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Kenyan President William Ruto, met in Brussels to discuss how to strengthen the partnership between the EU and Kenya and opportunities to drive the green and digital transitions in Kenya under Global Gateway. As a concrete deliverable, on the sidelines of the meeting, Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen and Cabinet Secretary for Transport Cooperation Mr Kipchumba Murkomen signed a declaration of intention to finance the electric bus line “Nairobi Core Bus Rapid Transit Line 3” (BRT 3) for a total amount of €347.6 million, including €45 million in grants from the EU budget. By supporting the implementation of a safe, clean, high quality and efficient public transport system in Nairobi, Team Europe is the key partner in Kenya's green transition.
Nigeria formally joins UN Water Convention
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10 countries from Africa, Middle East and Latin America commit to join key water-sharing treaty, as UN sets membership target for half of all countries by 2030.
In what could constitute a major long-term outcome of the summit, governments are seizing the UN Water Convention to support practical cooperation measures – urgently needed as 153 states worldwide share water resources – as a precondition to tackle the global water crisis.
African Development Bank and partners invest $618 million in Nigeria’s digital and creative industries
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The African Development Bank and partners on Tuesday launched a new Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme.
The initiative, with investments totalling $618 million, will attract direct investments in more than 200 technology and creative start-ups and provide non-financial services to about 450 digital technology, small and medium enterprises. With a potential to generate $6.4 billion into the Nigeria’s economy, iDICE is expected to create 6 million new jobs for young Nigerians.
Speaking at the launch event in the capital Abuja, Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo emphasised the importance of a coordinated approach to innovation across Africa. “Government must provide more support for start-ups and small businesses, and investors must provide more funding," Osinbajo said.
The African Development Bank Group is the largest funder of iDICE, providing $170 million. The French government, through the Agence Française de Développement, will contribute €100 million ($116 million), and the Islamic Development Bank pending approval from its board is expected to provide $70 million. The Nigerian government, through its executing agency, the Bank of Industry, will provide $45 million in counterpart funding. Other institutional and private sector investors are also expected to provide additional funding for the implementation of the strategic initiative.
One Year Later: The impact of the Russian conflict with Ukraine on Africa
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In today’s interconnected world, shots fired in one corner of the globe create ripple effects in other, seemingly far, places. One year since the 24 February Russian invasion of Ukraine, African countries, although physically miles away, have not been spared its aftershocks.
While much can be said about the political and policy intricacies surrounding the conflict, the real and palpable impact on the lives of many ordinary Africans is equally unsettling.
Against a backdrop of soaring food and energy prices and the shrinking basket of global economic cooperation financing, African countries are also contending with how to position themselves within the significant shifts in international energy policies, even as they are approached by various partners who are also grappling with the energy access implications for their own citizens.
In 2020, 15 African countries imported over 50 per cent of their wheat products from the Russian Federation or Ukraine. Six of these countries (Eritrea, Egypt, Benin, Sudan, Djibouti, and Tanzania) imported over 70 per cent of their wheat from the region.
Morocco: African Development Bank Group strengthens its technical assistance to boost water resources
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Financing
Approval Date: 21 December 2022
Project name: Technical Assistance for Dam Design and Interconnection Studies
Amount: €201,000
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Objectives
The grant, extended through the Bank's Technical Assistance Fund for Middle-Income Countries, will support technical assistance to the Government of Morocco for the design of dams, river development and inter-basin interconnection studies. The beneficiary institution is the Directorate of Hydraulic Development of the Ministry of Equipment and Water.
Unlock the impact potential of agricultural SMEs in Africa, experts urge at Dakar 2 Food summit
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Global experts meeting during a panel session at the second international summit on food production in Dakar called for accelerated avenues to close the financial gap in agriculture and address barriers to the growing finance market for agricultural Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
The discussions come in the wake of supply chain disruptions as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, high commodity prices that have led to increased food and nutrition insecurity.
The session, titled, Closing the Financing Gap was moderated by Alan Kasujja, Presenter, BBC World Service.
Africa: Economic growth decelerates before full recovery from pandemic-led contraction
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Economic growth in Africa is forecast to slow down this year while the level of economic activities remains below the pre-pandemic level, according to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2023, which was launched today.
A series of severe and mutually reinforcing shocks — the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and resulting food and energy crises, surging inflation, debt tightening, as well as the climate emergency — battered the world economy in 2022. Against this backdrop, world output growth is projected to decelerate from an estimated 3.0 per cent in 2022 to 1.9 per cent in 2023, marking one of the lowest growth rates in recent decades.
The report presents a gloomy and uncertain economic outlook for the near term. Global growth is forecast to moderately pick up to 2.7 per cent in 2024 as some of the headwinds will begin to subside. However, this is highly dependent on the pace and sequence of further monetary tightening, the course and consequences of the war in Ukraine, and the possibility of further supply-chain disruptions.
The tepid global economic prospects also threaten the achievement of the the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), whose mid-point review lies ahead at the 2023 SDG Summit in September.
Quality education in Africa: EU launches €100 million Regional Teachers' Initiative
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Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen launched today a Regional Teachers' Initiative in Africa and for Africa, a €100 million investment from the EU budget in empowering the world's fastest growing youth population through quality education. This flagship initiative under the EU–Africa Global Gateway Investment Package aims to accelerate the training of teachers for Sub-Saharan Africa, responding to the need for 15 million new qualified teachers for Africa by 2030. The initiative will contribute to regional and national objectives by supporting and complementing national education and teacher reforms, offer opportunities for cross-country collaboration, partnerships, and peer learning in the region and with Europe.