DRC – Africa Business Forum : de hauts dirigeants africains souhaitent développer des batteries et véhicules électriques sur le continent
Plusieurs hauts dirigeants africains ont appelé à « transformer le rêve en réalité » lors du forum des affaires sur les batteries et véhicules électriques en Afrique, appelé « DRC-Africa Business Forum », qui s’est ouvert, mercredi à Kinshasa, en République démocratique du Congo (RDC).
Le président de la RDC, Félix Tshisekedi, a inauguré le forum aux côtés de son homologue zambien, Hakainde Hichilema, de représentants des chefs d’État du Gabon et du Maroc, et du président du Groupe de la Banque africaine de développement, Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina, dont l’institution est partenaire de l’événement.
Nurmara News 26 November 2021
The U.K. government this week urged its citizens to leave Ethiopia immediately due to the risks from its escalating civil conflict, following similar warnings by the likes of Germany, France, the U.S., and Turkey.
This comes just over a year into fighting between the federal government and forces in its northern Tigray state - originally aimed at neutralizing the Tigray People's Liberation Front. It has left thousands dead, displaced at least 2m people according to the UN, while threatening to further escalate already simmering ethnic tensions.
Prime minister Abiy Ahmed declared this week that he would personally lead the war effort from the front, following reports that rebel forces - which have announced a coalition to remove his government - have gained the upper hand over government troops, and could attack the capital Addis Ababa.
Madagascar : la Banque africaine de développement accorde un prêt de 178 millions de dollars pour stimuler les échanges commerciaux régionaux
Le Conseil d’administration du Groupe de la Banque africaine de développement a approuvé, mercredi à Abidjan, l’octroi d’un prêt de 178,75 millions de dollars américains au gouvernement de Madagascar pour la mise en œuvre du Projet d’aménagement de corridors et de facilitation du commerce.
« Le projet contribuera au désenclavement du sud de Madagascar et participera au renforcement de la résilience des populations, face à l’insécurité alimentaire récurrente dans cette partie du pays », a souligné Adam Amoumoun, le responsable-pays à Madagascar de la Banque africaine de développement.
African Development Effectiveness Report credits African Development Bank with impressive results despite Covid-19 pandemic
The African Development Bank played a critical role in supporting millions of people across the continent, affected by the impact of the Covid19 pandemic in 2020. This is according to its latest Annual Development Effectiveness Review released on Tuesday.
The pandemic caused fiscal deficits to double and indebtedness to rise sharply, reducing the capacity of African countries to invest in economic recovery. The African Development Bank responded swiftly with a Covid-19 Response Facility that provided $3.6 billion in emergency budget support. The funding went into key areas such as health, social protection, and economic assistance, benefitting 12.3 million vulnerable households across 31 countries.
African Development Bank, Burundi sign agreement for $29 million grant to finance national energy access project
The African Development Bank Group and the Government of Burundi on Tuesday signed a $29 million grant agreement to finance Phase 1 of the Access to Energy Project, which is part of the country's infrastructure development program.
The agreement was signed during an official meeting in Bujumbura between the African Development Bank Group's Director General for East Africa, Nnenna Nwabufo, and Burundi's Minister of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Domitien Ndihokubwayo.
Nurmara News 19 November 2021
U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken will visit Senegal on Saturday, the final stop on a three-country Africa visit this week that also took him to Kenya and Nigeria.
It’s Washington’s top diplomat’s first trip to the continent under the Biden administration, which in July said it plans to revamp U.S. - Africa relations, aimed at ‘substantially increasing’ trade and investment.
There’s been little sign of said revamp this week, which has focused on security, climate, and Covid. The press statement for Blinken’s trip didn’t even mention trade, or investment.
Some of this could be blamed on the distracting effect of upheaval from recent crises in Sudan and Ethiopia, but the apparent lack of interest is nothing new.
Washington has long been criticized for being slow to recognize Africa’s investment potential - for good reason. The most notable piece of legislation aimed at boosting trade is the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA), from 2001.
Biden isn’t the first to promise a revamp. Obama’s ‘Power Africa’, and Trump’s ‘Prosper Africa’ are part of a number of initiatives launched in recent years, supposedly aimed at promoting trade and investment.
African Development Bank and Agence Française de Développement sign €2 billion co-financing partnership agreement for Africa
The African Development Bank Group and the Agence Française de Développement on Wednesday signed a co-financing and partnership agreement to strengthen their relationship and leverage additional resources for impactful projects in Africa.
African Development Bank President Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina and Agence Française de Développement CEO Rémy Rioux signed the agreement in Paris on behalf of their two institutions.
The agreement, which runs for five years, from 2021 to 2026, targets an indicative amount (€2 billion) in co-financing over its first three years. It will complement the current partnership between both institutions through mutual understanding, by facilitating staff exchanges, sharing knowledge, and jointly organizing events. The existing partnership already covers such key sectors as infrastructure, water and sanitation, agriculture, and the private sector. The new agreement supersedes an earlier framework agreement signed in November 2015.
African Development Bank approves $150 million to support ETC Group’s trade and agriculture value-chain development in Africa
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a $150 million facility to ETC Group Limited to address the company’s working capital requirements and support its food production expansion plans across 10 countries in Africa, in a boost for smallholder farmers.
The investment will take the form of a trade and agri-finance package comprising a $75 million soft commodity finance facility to support the group’s pre and post shipment working capital requirements, with a particular focus on export-oriented activities. It also includes a $75 million agriculture value-chain program to increase agriculture production and productivity, by providing improved agricultural inputs and agronomic advisory services to local farmers.
Ghana: African Development Fund extends $40 million grant to establish The Development Bank Ghana
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group on Friday approved a grant of $40 million from the African Development Fund to the Republic of Ghana to further capitalise The Development Bank Ghana (DBG), a newly established development finance institution in Ghana.
The Development Bank Ghana is designed to provide financing to micro, small and medium sized enterprises as well as small corporates in agribusiness, manufacturing and information and communication technology (ICT).
Ghana is pursuing an economic transformation agenda that requires the availability of affordable capital for medium and long-term investment by the private sector. However, there are constraints to private sector development, particularly for MSMEs, which account for the majority of businesses in the country, due to the lack of access to medium and long-term credit.
Nurmara News 12 November 2021
Sudan on Thursday unveiled a new governing council, with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan - the leader of a military coup on October 25 that dissolved a power sharing arrangement between the military and civilian politicians - appointing himself as chairman.
The council, which excludes the main body pushing for civilian rule, consolidates the military’s control over Sudan’s fraught transition following the ousting of longtime ruler dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. Already bogged down before October 25th’s military takeover, the country’s political process is facing an uncertain future.
The same is true for Sudan’s economy, which is at risk of being side-lined amid the current turmoil.