Tuesday, March 19

World

World food prices increased in April, for the first time in a year.
  • The FAO Food Price Index averaged at 127.2 points in April 2023, up 0.6 percent from March.
  • According to FAO, the April rise reflected higher prices for sugar, meat, and rice.
  • Price declines were, however, recorded for cereals, dairy, and vegetable oil price indices.
  • FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero terms the increase in rice prices “extremely worrisome”.

Global food prices edged up in April for the first time in the past year. The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly price changes, averaged 127.2 points in April, up 0.6 percent from March.

The Index was 19.7 percent below its level in April 2022, but still 5.2 percent higher than in April 2021. “As economies recover from significant slowdowns, demand will increase, exerting upward pressure on food prices,” FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero said. 

April rise reflected higher prices for sugar, meat and rice, which offset declines in cereals, dairy

Read More
1594844475.0228
  • Competition for workers is rising significantly as populations age in rich and middle-income countries.
  • In Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, people with tertiary education are 30 times more likely to emigrate than those who are less educated.
  • This migration can aggravate a shortage of skilled workers to provide essential services such as health care. And since governments cannot prevent people from leaving, they need to expand the training capacity for such skills, experts say.

Populations across the globe are aging at an unprecedented pace, turning many countries increasingly reliant on migration to realize their long-term growth potential, according to a new report from the World Bank.

The World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees, and Societies, identifies this trend as a unique opportunity to make migration work better for economies and people.

Wealthy countries, as well as a growing number of middle-income countries—traditionally among the main sources of …

mpesa
  • The GSMA’s State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023 shows adoption rates are even more significant than expected.
  • Registered accounts, transaction values, and deployments exceeded industry predictions. 
  • In 2022, daily transactions via mobile money reached $3.45 billion, exceeding the $3 billion amount predicted in 2021.
  • Total transaction value for mobile money grew by an incredible 22 percent between 2021 and 2022, from $1 trillion to around $1.26 trillion.  

Mobile money services are growing faster than predicted around the globe, as digital services continue to rise in popularity, according to the GSMA’s annual State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023.

The report, published annually by the GSMA and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, demonstrates that rates of adoption are even quicker than expected, with the number of registered mobile money accounts growing by 13 percent year on year.

This is from 1.4 billion …

www.theexchange.africa

The returned items include the Shiva and his Disciples, Worshipping Shakti and Lord Vishnu and his Forms.

The news portal noted that the artefacts date from as early as the ninth to the tenth century.

The artefacts are primarily made of sandstone, marble, bronze and brass.

According to the publication, the antiques are from various places In India, including Rajasthan, Gujarat, and West Bengal.…

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India has bought three million barrels of crude oil from Russia, despite ongoing pressure from countries in the west to resist such purchases. www.theexchange.africa

Further, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) revealed that India’s demand might jump by 8.2 per cent in 2022, to hit 5.15 million barrels per day. This would be on the back of continued recovery against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country’s demand for the commodity increased by 5.61 per cent from 4.51 million barrels per day in 2020 to 4.76 million BPD in 2021.

OPEC further noted that oil demand would recover in 2022, amid the expected containment of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and economic growth of 7.2 per cent this year.…

8

To understand the new politics stance and other pro nationals of recent times, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation.

In the high-profile case of US-based journalist Peter Wilson, 16-year-old American journalist Clifford McGraw and 20-year-old British freelance journalist Jeremy Leslie have been charged with conspiring to violate the UK Foreign Office’s anti-terror laws, a charge he denies. On Monday, UK attorney Andy McDonald revealed that he had spoken.

“Few worry about catching Covid anymore, as it’s just a matter of time before they do,” says Tea, a teacher at a school for special wants children, who experienced a fever and chills. “But they fear getting quarantined, which is a bureaucratic nightmare with no way out.”

Speaking to The Andrew Jackson Society, he added: “I want to express to the people of Scotland: as you know, we are a country of …

The flooding crisis in Africa (1)

Has Africa stumbled upon an environmental apocalypse? The numerous natural disasters that have descended upon the continent hitherto—from the plague of desert locusts that have ambushed the Horn of Africa, tropical storms, floods across Eastern and Central Africa, severe droughts and heat waves to massive cyclones whose devastating effects are still felt across Southern Africa. The aftermath is a trail of death and destruction, threatening to erode hard-won development that most African countries have struggled to achieve, inflicting cascading economic consequences. Loss of lives, displacement of people, sources of income compromised, destruction of infrastructure and numerous development projects have been the ill-fated victims across the continent and have succumbed, in the wake of these natural disasters, to such events that have all stemmed from climate change.  …

Subscribe to unlock this article

Login to read

img 1479

Iran’s development of economic and trade ties with Africa has been facing some problems.

The problems include lack of planning, lack of recognition and interest by the private sector organizations such as chambers of commerce and trade unions, lack of appropriate infrastructure and lack of government resources and facilities.

As part of its plan to gradually solve the above problems, Iran’s National Development Fund (NDF) has opened a €200 million credit line for the country’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO).

The credit line will be used for developing exports of commodities and services to African countries.

According to Farzad Piltan, the director-general of TPO’s Office of Arabian and African Countries, the fund has been allocated as part of a $2-billion support package which has been allocated by NDF for developing the country’s non-oil exports.

“The board of directors of the National Development Fund has approved this fund and it has scheduled …

Ngozi Okonjo Iweala

Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was on Monday, February 15 confirmed as the World Trade Organization (WTO) director-general.

Her appointment came after the last remaining rival candidate, South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee, withdrew from the race, allowing her to become the first woman and the first African to lead the global trade body.

She will take up her post on March 1, initially for a term that runs until August 2025.

The Geneva-based body has been without a permanent director-general since Roberto Azevêdo stepped down a year earlier than planned in August.

However, as she takes over, much is expected from her.

Trade spats

Despite WTO being established in 1995 with the aim of promoting open trade for the benefit of all, the organization has struggled to prevent trade spats among member states, most notably the United States and China.

The organization negotiates and administers rules for international trade and tries …

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

STAY INFORMED

Unlock Business Wisdom - Join The Exchange Africa's Newsletter for Expert African Business Insights!

Stay ahead of the game with our weekly African business Newsletter
Recieve Expert analysis, commentary and Insights into the enviroment which can help you make informed decisions.