The African Legal Support Facility to receive €6 million grant from the Netherlands to fund work in low-income countries
The Netherlands Ministry for Trade and Development Cooperation is extending a €6 million grant to the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF), to support the ALSF’s work providing legal and technical services to low-income countries to give them more clout in commercial dealings.
The funding will be disbursed over a three-year period. ALSF Director Stephen Karangizi thanked the Netherlands, a shareholder of the African Development Bank, for its strong support over the years. “The assistance will help the ALSF to better respond to the impacts of COVID-19 and help countries to recover much faster to enhance sustainable, inclusive development in Africa,” he said.
Since 2013, the Netherlands has cumulatively provided €15.5 million to the ALSF to ensure that African countries achieve maximum economic value for their resources.
The funds provided by the Netherlands enabled the ALSF to successfully assist many African governments to strengthen their legal expertise and negotiating capacities, particularly in the areas of natural resources and extractives.
African Legal Support Facility receives £2.6 million from Norway, UK, to boost debt management capacity, other activities in low-income countries
The governments of Norway and the United Kingdom have extended grants of around £2.6 million to the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) to support its activities over the next two years.
The Norwegian government, through its Agency for Development Cooperation, provided 20 million Norwegian kroner (around £1.6 million) to support the 2021 and 2022 work programs of the ALSF.
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office of the United Kingdom is providing a £1 million grant to the ALSF, which will go to supporting debt management capacity in low-income African countries. The funding forms part of a cooperation agreement signed by the two parties.
The UK grant is in line with the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative, supported by the IMF and the World Bank, and comes as African countries continue to implement urgent measures to manage the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic impacts, including the strain on their debt portfolios.
Gov't hopes to attract domestic, foreign investments with the Special Economic Zones
The government has plans to amend the special economic zones regulations and invited the public to send in their comments or feedback.But even as the call for submission still continues, Faiza Ahmed has been out in the field to check the progress of the Special Economic Zones touted as the panacea to promote and facilitate both domestic and foreign investments in Kenya. Here is what he found out.
Violent ethnic extremism in Ethiopia: Implications for the stability of the Horn of Africa
Yonas Adaye Adeto is Director of the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Bradford, UK, and is an Assistant Professor of Peacebuilding and Security Governance in Africa.
Abstract
Scholarship on the challenges of ethno-linguistic federalism in contemporary Ethiopia is copious; yet a critical analysis of violent ethnic extremism in the country and its implications for the sub-region is rare. This article argues that violent ethnic extremism is a threat to the existence of Ethiopia and a destabilising factor for its neighbours. Based on qualitative empirical data, it attempts to address the knowledge gap and contribute to the literature by examining why violent ethnic extremism has persisted in the post-1991 Ethiopia and how it would impact on the stability of the Horn of Africa. Analysis of the findings indicates that systemic limitations of ethno-linguistic federalism; unhealthy ethnic competition; resistance of ethno-nationalist elites to the current reform; unemployed youths; the ubiquity of small arms and light weapons; and cross-border interactions of violent extremists are the major dynamics propelling violent ethnic extremism in Ethiopia. Thus, Ethiopia and the sub-region could potentially face cataclysmic instabilities unless collective, inclusive, transformative and visionary leadership is entrenched.
African Development Fund: Japan, African Development Bank Group, sign JPY 73.6 billion loan agreement
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the African Development Fund (ADF) – the concessional arm of the African Development Bank Group – on Tuesday signed a loan agreement of 73.6 billion Japanese yen ($668.1 million) to support the 15threplenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF-15).
During a virtual ceremony, African Development Bank Group President Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina and Japanese Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire Kuramitsu Hideaki signed an Exchange of Notes, while the loan agreement was signed by the JICA Chief Representative in Côte d’Ivoire, Fujino Kojiro, and Acting African Development Bank Group Senior Vice President Swazi Tshabalala, in her capacity as Chief Financial Officer.
The concessional donor loan will support the 15th replenishment of the African Development Fund, approved in December 2019 by ADF donor countries. JICA is extending the loan – the largest to ADF-15 – on behalf of the Government of Japan.
CCA High Level Dialogue - H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta & Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet
CCA is honored to present an exclusive dialogue between H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya, and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, focused on the ways in which digital technologies and partnerships can unlock new paths for African economic growth.
Climat : la Banque africaine de développement fortement impliquée au Sommet international sur l’adaptation au changement climatique
Le président du Groupe de la Banque africaine de développement, Akinwumi A. Adesina, prendra une part active au Sommet international sur l’adaptation au changement climatique qui s’ouvre ce lundi 25 janvier.
Le président de la Banque interviendra dans trois sessions, dont celle consacrée au dialogue interministériel sur l’adaptation globale au climat et une autre au dialogue avec l’Afrique.
Lors de ce sommet, qui se poursuivra le 26 janvier, Akinwumi A. Adesina participera également au dialogue avec les chefs d’État et les autres dirigeants de la planète.
Pour saluer son engagement en faveur de la finance climatique, la Banque a été choisie en 2020 par les partenaires au développement pour abriter le Bureau régional pour l’Afrique du Centre mondial sur l’adaptation.
Le président Adesina avait inauguré ce nouveau centre le 16 septembre 2020 en présence des chefs d’États africains et d’autres personnalités éminentes, dont Ban Ki Moon, ancien secrétaire général de l’Onu, et Kristalina Georgieva, directrice générale du Fonds monétaire international.
Commerce intra-africain : la Banque africaine de développement souligne le rôle central des grandes villes du continent
La Banque africaine de développement qui a fortement contribué à la création de la Zone de libre-échange continentale africaine (ZLECAf), à travers des appuis multiformes aux pays membres régionaux, et qui s’implique pour sa mise en œuvre opérationnelle, souligne dans sa Revue annuelle 2019 de l’efficacité du développement (RAED) le rôle important des grandes villes du continent dans le renforcement des investissements intra-africains.
La ZLECAf est entrée en vigueur le 1er janvier 2021, après ratification à la date du 20 janvier 2021 par 36 pays africains.
Casablanca au Maroc, Johannesburg en Afrique du Sud, Lagos au Nigeria, Le Caire en Égypte et Nairobi, au Kenya, sont les villes africaines les plus attractives en termes d’investissements intra-africains, selon la RAED publiée en décembre 2020.
Ces cinq grandes villes se distinguent par le dynamisme de leur marché de consommation et de leur marché de travail, précise l’étude de la Banque, qui souligne qu’elles sont à la fois source et destination d’investissements intra-africains.
Federal Council stresses Africa’s importance and adopts first continent-wide strategy
Bern, 13.01.2021 - At its meeting on 13 January 2021 the Federal Council approved a strategy on Sub-Saharan Africa for the first time. The countries of North Africa are already covered by the MENA strategy adopted by the Federal Council on 14 October 2020. The new strategy recognises the great diversity of the African continent and the challenges and opportunities it presents. It sets out Switzerland's priorities and measures in the region for the 2021–24 period. In addition to peace, the core elements of the strategy are security and human rights, migration, prosperity, sustainability and digitalisation, areas in which the strategy builds on a tradition of partnership with the states of Sub-Saharan Africa.
The new strategy lists separate priorities for different regions to reflect the tremendous diversity of Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to the three regions of the Sahel, the Greater Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes, Switzerland focuses on the lion economies and regional organisations. This takes account of the growing importance of multilateral organisations on the African continent. For each of these regions, the Federal Council has set out objectives and implementing measures. Migration is an issue that cuts across all thematic areas, with the strategy seeking to reduce migration pressures through the implementation of the four priorities.
EU mobilises €82.5 million to strengthen cooperation with Africa in digital and space technology
The EU has announced today €82.5 million for six new projects under the Pan-African Programme to strengthen its cooperation with Africa in multiple sectors, including sustainable resource management, regional integration and trade, air transport and digitalisation.
Many of the new projects share the innovative use of digital technologies or space applications, such as satellite imagery, to contribute to sustainable economic growth and climate action in Africa.
Jutta Urpilainen, Commissioner for International Partnerships, said: “We are scaling up our long-standing partnership with Africa with a boost to the Pan-African Programme. The versatile use of satellite technology not only contributes to building resilient ecosystems and maintaining sustainable land use, but also safer air transport. Together with our African partners, we are harnessing digital technologies to prioritise the climate and sustainable economic growth.”