Browsing: African Development Bank

• Tanzania’s Government is scheduled to open the 2022 Tanzania Energy Congress (TEC) this August in the country’s commercial port city of Dar es Salaam
• TEC will highlight the plans and priorities of the Ministry of Energy with regard to the next strategic steps in both the energy and hydrocarbons sectors in Tanzania
• This annual event premiered four years ago under the steward strategic partnership of Ocean Business Partners Tanzania

Tanzania’s Government is scheduled to open the 2022 Tanzania Energy Congress (TEC) this August in the country’s commercial port city of Dar es Salaam.

Hosted under the flagship of the Energy Ministry, under the patronage of His Excellency January Makamba, Minister for Energy, TEC will highlight the plans and priorities of the Ministry of Energy with regard to the next strategic steps in both the energy and hydrocarbons sectors in Tanzania.

The two-day conference (3 – 4 August 2022) will feature …

Most African countries lag behind the rest of the world in the coverage of key infrastructure classes including energy, road and rail transportation, together with water infrastructure. Development of Africa’s infrastructure has been met by colossal roadblocks, which have largely stemmed from the endemic systemic corruption that continues to ail the continent, making it one of the biggest hurdles to development. Consequently, this has made attracting foreign investment a nightmare.

This further affirms the description by McKinsey and Company that the continent faces an infrastructure paradox whereby Africa’s track record in moving projects to financial close is poor. Despite the high demand for projects, sufficient supply of capital and investors, coupled with voluminous potential projects there is insufficient investment in infrastructure projects within the region. 

Presently, more than two-thirds of the global population without access to electricity is in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is an equivalence of 600 million people. For …

With numerous international companies and organizations operating in Tanzania’s rural areas, input by this sector has huge direct impact on the related communities.

Support ranges from digging of wells to funding irrigation and smart agriculture projects. There is also the matter of lack of adequate financing and poor sanitation all of which gravely hold back social and economic growth across the country.

Also, as the minister pointed out, through CSR, companies have the opportunity to help the government increase water supply by digging wells for rural communities and by protecting water catchment areas in places they operate.…

• The annual meeting for the African Development Bank Group will be held in Accra, Ghana, from May 23-27, 2022
• The theme for the AfDB 2022 meeting is Achieving Climate Resilience and a Just Energy Transition for Africa
• This year marks the 57th AfDB Annual Meeting of the Bank Group’s Board of Governors and the 48th Meeting of the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional arm of the Bank Group
• The Bank will launch the 2022 report for the African Development Bank’s African Economic Outlook during the annual meeting

The annual meeting for the African Development Bank Group will be held in Accra, Ghana, from May 23-27, 2022.

This is the first meeting in two years to be held in person since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Africa. The previous two meetings have been held virtually. This year, however, will be both physical, which will take place at the Accra International Conference …

Detailing on the source of the funding and its uses, the president said the US$100 million  (over TShs230 billion) is from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a loan to Tanzania, and another US$100 million is for the Isles.

“The IMF fund will be directed to health, education, water and power sectors, as well as economically empowering wananchi (citizens/the public),” local media quoted President Mwinyi.

The president went ahead and gave a very detailed explanation of the planned use of the funding detailing each sector and the allocated amount and then he got to the part about funding to support businesses.…

To discourage the use of firewood and charcoal, the European Union (EU) has committed to fund renewable energy solutions specifically designed to set up and support a sustainable cooking solution program.

EU Head of Delegation to Tanzania, Ambassador Manfredo Fanti announced the EU led program late last year in the capital, Dodoma. At the launch, the diplomat said the initiative is part of the EU’s efforts to mitigate climate change through the use of renewable energy solutions for cooking.

However, what is interesting here is that increase in the use of firewood and charcoal is not in rural Tanzania but in the urban centres.…

When the Head of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat told an executive panel in Washington, DC the fact that: ‘Africa is importing too excessively and manufacturing too little…’ what was the expected reaction from the orchestrators of so-called ‘Africa trade support programs’ the likes of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)?

That maybe they will be enlightened to some new ‘fair trade’ concept that they are not aware of or maybe they will be moved to—maybe cut back on their exports to Africa?

Both sides would do well to recall what is buried in the shallow graves, engraved thus: ‘When East African countries suggested ending import of second-hand clothing to boost their own garment manufacturing industries, AGOA contracts forced them to abandon the idea and continue wearing used American apparel.’

When the high ranking African delegate, Wamkele Mene, suggested before top US economic diplomats that ‘…the continent …

African food imports have risen in the last few decades, reaching nearly US$35 billion a year, according to the World Bank. Most imported goods could be made in Africa, creating much-needed jobs in the process.

It is with this knowledge that a coalition of multilateral development banks and development partners has pledged more than US$17 billion in finance to combat rising hunger in Africa and improve food security. This funding was pledged on the final day of the Feeding Africa: Leadership to Scale Up Successful Innovations on April 29-30, 2021.

The two-day high-level debate was held in conjunction with the CGIAR System Organization and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the AfDB and the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). …

• Uganda’s electricity sector has been named Africa’s best regulated for the fourth year running 
• Other strong performers, including its East African neighbours, Kenya and Tanzania, and Namibia and Egypt

Uganda’s electricity sector has been named Africa’s best regulated across several key metrics, according to the African Development Bank’s 2021 Electricity Regulatory Index.

The country was named the best for a fourth year running, ahead of other strong performers, including its East African neighbours, Kenya and Tanzania, and Namibia and Egypt.

The 2021 Electricity Regulatory Index annual report covered 43 countries, up from 36 in the previous edition and assessed their impact on the performance of their electricity sectors.

It covered three countries in the North Africa region, four in West Africa, six in Central Africa, seven in East Africa and 13 in the Southern Africa region.

Commenting on the report, Kevin Kariuki, the African Development Bank’s Vice President …

According to the World Bank, the annual SME credit gap in Sub Saharan Africa is about US$330 million. MSMEs are often neglected by lenders due to a combination of factors.

These include the high cost of customer acquisition and due diligence, insufficient data availability for accurate credit assessments, lack of collaterals, uncertain customer lifetime values, and the high costs of distribution and servicing. There is a large opportunity for lenders who are able to overcome these challenges.…