Industry Opinions

Killer Corruption

By John Prendergast WASHINGTON, DC – COVID-19 is a ticking time bomb in Africa. Some of the risks are widely documented. Health-care systems are weak and overburdened, with ten African countries reportedly having no ventilators at all. Food supplies are unstable, and have already suffered major disruptions. And over 18 million people are refugees or […]

Markets Opportunities Wellness

AfDB approves $13.7m to strengthen health system, boost anti-COVID-19 efforts

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a $13.7 million grant to finance the COVID-19 response in Zimbabwe. The funds will provide an immediate lifeline for targeted frontline responders and health personnel and boost the country’s Global Health Security Index in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Approval for the grant was made […]

Leisure Opinions

Nature Is Our Best Antiviral

By Enric Sala WASHINGTON, DC – The Seychelles, a string of 115 verdant, rocky islands in the Indian Ocean, recently announced – in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic – that it would protect 30% of its glittering turquoise waters from commercial use. Safeguarding some 410,000 square kilometers (158,000 square miles) of the sea will […]

Agribusiness Opinions

COVID-19 response must target African agriculture and the rural poor (by Olusegun Obasanjo and Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe)

Agriculture contributes 65 per cent of Africa’s employment and 75 per cent of its domestic trade ROME, Italy, May 14, 2020/ — By Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe, former Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Africa has so far escaped the worst health […]

Industry Opinions Uncategorised

Emerging Economies Need New Finance, Not Moratoriums

By Mauricio Cárdenas BOGOTÁ – Many are calling for a temporary moratorium on all debt repayments by developing and emerging economies, in order to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from triggering a tsunami of sovereign defaults. Rather than waiting passively until debtors stop meeting their obligations, the argument goes, creditors would be better off agreeing now […]

Agribusiness Markets Opinions

A Pandemic of Hunger

By Esther Ngumbi URBANA, ILLINOIS – Around the world, food insecurity is spiking. Experts predict that the number of hungry people will double during the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout Africa, governments struggle to provide for the neediest. In Burkina Faso, which at one point had the highest number of deaths from COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa, more […]

Agribusiness Opinions

The New Empty Argument Against Trade

By Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg   NEW HAVEN – The COVID-19 crisis has emboldened advocates of protectionism and deglobalization. Familiar concerns about lost manufacturing jobs and rising inequality, or the desire in some circles to “punish” (scapegoat) China with higher tariffs, have now been augmented by an argument against global supply chains. According to this view, […]

Industry Uncategorised

AfDB welcomes $10 million Clean Technology Fund investment for Ethiopia’s energy mix

Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, 8 May, 2020 – The African Development Bank has welcomed a decision by the Trust Fund Committee of the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), one of two funds within the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), to extend a $10 million  concessional senior loan for development of the 50 MW Tulu Moyo Geothermal Power Plant project […]