Browsing: Africa Development Bank (AfDB)

Investors from Ireland and Nordic countries are encouraged to consider Africa a promising destination for their investments, as the continent holds significant growth potential.
This call comes after an official visit by Prof. Kevin Chika Urama, the Chief Economist of the African Development Bank Group, to Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden.…

While American businesses handle the USTDA-funded feasibility studies, African partners focus on business development “may acquire funding from any of the parties available. We do not have any requirements about the source of the financing for that initiative; nevertheless, we would prefer that they work with other government agencies in the United States, “Ebong added.

According to Ebong, the return on investment for feasibility studies is approximately $117 for every dollar spent, which converts into jobs in the United States.

She went on to say that infrastructure is “essential to commerce”, that “we are totally competitive,” and that “This is evidenced by the fact that many partners are choosing American companies over Chinese ones when they are in direct rivalry with one another.”…

As would be expected, Total rebutted the claims. Its first move was to make public the related project social and environmental studies and issue a statement in which it pledged transparency.

The company admits that; “The projects for the development of the oil and gas resources of the Lake Albert region and the cross-border pipeline are situated in a sensitive social and environmental context that requires special measures for the environment and the rights of the local communities.”

In a follow-up statement, the investors maintained that; “All the partners are committed to implementing these projects in an exemplary manner and taking into highest consideration the biodiversity and environmental stakes as well as the local communities’ rights and within the stringent environmental and social performance standards of the International Finance Corporation.”…

Uganda’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Ruth Nankabirwa, urged the project beneficiaries to take advantage of the government’s free electricity supply policy it rolled out in 2018, provided wiring of their premises had been certified.

The Bank’s Country Manager, Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, noted that besides promoting small and medium businesses, the availability of stable power would bolster service delivery, especially at health centres.…

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has approved a $137 million loan to support Botswana’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The funds, extended under the Bank Group’s Botswana Economic Recovery Support Program, will be used to enact multi-sector reforms that will increase spending efficiency, create jobs and drive inclusive growth.

The project has three components: enhancing domestic resource mobilization and mitigating fiscal risks to enhance macroeconomic performance and create fiscal space for spending on social safety nets; supporting private sector-led agriculture and industry to bolster productivity and value addition, and increase job opportunities; and offering business development services to micro and small enterprises to advance social protection and gender equity. The three components are expected to reinforce one another.

“The African Development Bank is providing support for reforms to enhance private sector-led agriculture, and transformation of the industrial sector,” said Leila Mokadem, …

On International Youth Day, the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) announces the enrolment of 130,000 users in its Coding for Employment digital skills program.

The milestone comes as Coding for Employment works to equip African youth with information and communication technology, entrepreneurship and soft-skills training to compete in a digital economy. The program’s online platforms offer in-demand technical courses such as web development, design, data science and digital marketing – for free.

With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in lockdowns and school closures across the continent, the Coding for Employment platforms experienced dramatic increases in the number of users. During a one-week period in September 2020, registrations skyrocketed by 38.5%. Through the Bank’s partnership with the Government of Nigeria to launch the Digital Nigeria eLearning platform (https://bit.ly/3xKrJsd) during the pandemic, Coding for Employment has hit a combined total of 130,000 students. Registered students are achieving …

The AfDB hosted discussions on how it can strengthen support of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and channel greater investment towards economic and social infrastructure.

The bank’s digital workshop was under the theme “Designing the African Development Bank’s PPP Framework”. The economic slowdowns caused by the pandemic have sharpened the already urgent need for investment into the African continent.

In his opening remarks, Solomon Quaynor, the bank’s Vice President noted that infrastructure in Africa is already struggling to structure projects made for the private sector which balanced value for money for the public sector against affordability for the user, before COVID-19.

“It is therefore imperative that hybrid solutions such as PPPs must be seen and promoted as a way of building back better, stronger, greener, by clawing back private capital to infrastructure while creating much need fiscal room for governments to address multiple other demands, including building health systems resilience,” said Quaynor.…

Since the September 1995 United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women, one would think that the world would have achieved gender parity in all areas and sectors.

However, while there have been important gains over the years, there are still areas that need more work and revised strategies to reduce the gap and meet the target.

Following the world largest global gathering on gender equality in Beijing, China, 25 years ago, member states agreed that the meeting would be a basis for “comprehensive and transformative agenda for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.”

A recent report: Gender Equality: Women’s Rights in Review 25 years after Beijing aimed at taking stock of progress has concluded that the implementation has flopped short of the initial potential.

The review by the United Nations Women (UN Women), notes that although the last 25 years have recorded growth in some areas …