Guinea Bissau: African Development Bank Group president announces $30 million package for infrastructure, budget and governance support
African Development Bank Group President Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina has announced a financial package of $30 million dollars to the West African nation of Guinea -Bissau.
Adesina made the announcement on Friday during a visit to Bissau, where he met President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and senior government officials. Discussions covered a range of strategic issues, including strengthening the already close cooperation between the African Development Bank and the Government of Guinea-Bissau, as well as ongoing and future Bank-financed strategic projects to support the country’s economic transformation.
Following the meeting with Embaló, Adesina told reporters that the African Development Bank had earmarked $30 million in financing for projects in Guinea-Bissau. Of this amount, he said $14 million would be allocated to building road networks between Guinea Bissau and Senegal, while $8.7 million and $7 million would go to budget support and capacity building, and government reforms, respectively.
Liberia: African Development Bank extends $10 million grant to enhance climate information systems
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a $10 million grant from the Green Climate Fund, for which the Bank is the accredited agency, to improve Liberia’s early warning weather systems.
The project will also receive $431,969 from the Bank’s ClimDev Africa Special Fund and $1 million from the government of Liberia. The funding will strengthen the country’s capacity to produce tailored, sector-specific climate information services for the benefit of the most vulnerable. Weather disasters cost the country around $6.17 million each year, a figure that is expected to almost double in the next decade, and triple by 2040 under the baseline scenario.
Samuel D. Tweah, Jr., Liberia’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning, said: “Liberia will be better equipped to generate and disseminate accurate climate and weather information for climate change mitigation and early warning, food security, water security and environmental protection. These improvements will enable us to understand how disaster losses occur and how to avoid them in the future, saving lives and preventing economic losses.”
Africa Investment Forum Senior Director Chinelo Anohu, AfCFTA Secretary General discuss EU-Africa cooperation and trade
Ahead of the EU-African Union Summit scheduled for 17-18 February 2022, African thought leaders stressed the importance of trade agreements and regional integration as keys to drive investment into the continent in a discussion organised by the European parliament to discuss Africa’s partnership and cooperation with the EU.
Chinelo Anohu, Senior Director of the Africa Investment Forum, joined Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Wamkele Mene and others, to reflect on deepening Africa’s relationship during the public hearing on African trade and finance held Monday.
In a keynote address, Mene cited the EU as a model for African integration. He described a strong Africa-Europe partnership as a “win-win.” Africa’s youthful population and middle class presented significant opportunities for European businesses, he said, stressing the pharmaceutical, automobile and agro-processing sectors as hungry for investment.
Mozambique: $47.09 million grant from African Development Fund for special agro-industrial processing zone
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a $47.09 million grant for the first phase of Mozambique’s Pemba-Lichinga Integrated Development Corridor, a Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone.
The grant, from the African Development Fund, will help improve agricultural productivity and agribusiness development in the Niassa province by advancing institutional capacity, skills, and entrepreneurship to spur agricultural value chain growth.
The project will pilot improved policy and development coordination between the Niassa province and national departments, especially with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
African Development Bank Board approves $170 million for investment in Nigeria’s digital and creative start-ups
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a loan of $170 million to finance a digital and creative enterprises program in Nigeria.
The investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises Program (i-DICE) is a Federal Government of Nigeria initiative promoting investment in digital and creative industries. It is part of Nigeria’s efforts to build back better, greener, and more inclusively, to create more sustainable jobs for the teeming youthful population.
The program targets more than 68 million Nigerians aged 15 to 35 years who are recognized as leaders of innovative, early-stage, technology-enabled start-ups or as leaders of creative sector micro, small and medium sized enterprises. The program is co-financed by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).
African Development Fund grants $1.5 million to Smart Africa Alliance to strengthen the policy environment for digital trade and e-commerce across Africa
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a $1.5 million grant to assess policy gaps in the digital trade and e-commerce ecosystems in 10 countries in Africa.
The funds, sourced from the African Development Fund, the Bank’s concessional window, will go to the Smart Africa Alliance, an alliance of 32 African countries, international organisations and global corporations with a vision to create a single digital market in Africa by 2030.
African Development Bank loans Nigeria $210 million for Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones
A $210 million loan approved by the African Development Bank’s Board of Directors on Monday could impact the lives of millions of people in Africa’s most populous country. The loan will co-finance Phase 1 of the Nigeria Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone Program. The program will help to unlock Nigeria’s agriculture sector potential. It will promote industrialization through the development of strategic crops and livestock.
African Development Bank financing for this program represents one of the Bank’s most ambitious operations in terms of scale and scope to date. It is made up of an African Development Bank loan of $160 million and an Africa Growing Together Fund loan of $50 million. Phase 1 of the project will target seven Nigerian states and the country’s Federal Capital Territory.
The project will support Nigeria’s efforts to raise agricultural productivity, promote investment, create wealth and jobs, and transform rural areas into corridors of economic prosperity. Its first phase will be implemented with co-financing from other partners in the amount of $538.05 million.
Global Europe: EU launches a global €1.5 billion programme to support civil society organisations
The Commission has adopted the Global Europe Civil Society Organisations programme worth €1.5 billion for the period 2021–2027. Funding will specifically support civil society organisations outside of the EU, as independent actors of governance and development in their own right and their engagement to contribute to inclusive and participatory democratic processes and better development outcomes.
Civil society organisations are vital to the attainment of human rights, the rule of law, democracy, and stability. They help devise and implement external EU policies and programmes so that they meet people's needs, reduce inequalities, and fulfil the central commitment of the 2030 Agenda to leave no one behind.
High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell said: “Civil society organisations play an essential role in protecting human rights, exposing their violations, and demanding action from governments to protect their citizens. Sadly, their work is under threat in many parts of the world. We are not just aware of the challenges they face, we are listening and we are taking action. This new programme is proof that we will support and stand by their courageous daily work.”
Nurmara News 10 December 2021
Militaries in West Africa’s unstable Sahel region are being outmanoeuvred by tech-savvy militants, with access to new technological advances, Niger’s president Mohamed Bazoum
warned this week.
Among the factors making it hard to keep up are the use of satellite phones, advanced weaponry smuggled from fragile Libya, and the use of motorcycles for increased mobility, he
said, giving militants the upper hand and requiring a new strategy to ‘make the war less
unbalanced’.
His comments are worrying.
EU pledges €2.5 billion to combat malnutrition with partner countries
At today's Nutrition for Growth Summit in Tokyo, the Commission announced a new pledge of €2.5 billion for 2021-2024 to reduce all forms of malnutrition. This contribution covers humanitarian assistance to address urgent needs as well as support to tackle the underlying causes of malnutrition, including a longer-term food systems transformation in EU partner countries.
Speaking at the Summit, Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen said: “The COVID-19 pandemic is compounding the global nutrition crisis. The need for more equitable, resilient, and sustainable food and health systems has never been as urgent. Today's pledge will contribute to addressing malnutrition in a comprehensive manner, by supporting sustainable and resilient food systems. We want to create a healthy future, free from hunger and malnutrition, for all”.
Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič said: “Nutrition is an important aspect of EU humanitarian aid. From helping children in their first years of life to supporting those affected by crises, which have left them without food, good nutrition is a basic essential. We will strengthen our support to ensure malnutrition treatment reaches the most vulnerable, helping millions to have healthier lives.”