African development
Google Announces 30,000 Developer Scholarships for Africans
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What the Global Oil Crisis Means for Africa
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France, African leaders push to redirect $100 billion in IMF SDR reserves by October
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday a summit in Paris on Africa financing had agreed to work towards persuading rich nations by October to reallocate $100 billion in IMF special drawing rights monetary reserves to African states. Impoverished African economies must not be left behind in the post-pandemic economic recovery and a substantial financial package is needed to provide much-needed economic stimulus, African and European leaders concluded at a summit in Paris. In the immediate term, that meant accelerating the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and creating the fiscal breathing room for African nations, which will face a spending shortfall of some $285 billion over the next two years, the summit communique showed. The communique set out a two-pronged response based on addressing...
How Digital Payments could Foster African Development
The World Bank has estimated that Africa could potentially hold 90% of the global poor population by 2030 and has recently cut its economic growth predictions to between -2.1% and -5.1% in 2020 from the 2.4% of 2019. The situation has been significantly worsened by the global pandemic, as the continent hits its first recession in 25 years. But this is not the picture that defines a continent that has long defied expectation and prediction. In fact, a young population, a growing consumer market, and the rapid movement towards mobile inclusion and connectivity are shifting the conversation. Africa is poised on the cusp of change introduced by mobile and internet technology. Africa has undergone a remarkable journey over the past 30 years. It has not only leapfrogged legacy technolo...
VP Osinbajo urges destination countries to insist on repatriation of illicit funds
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has urged leaders of destination countries to insist on repatriation of illicit funds and proceeds. Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said the Vice President made the submission at the virtual inauguration of a publication by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on the impact of illicit financial flows (IFFs) on African Development. Osinbajo called for an overhaul of the international tax system in order to tackle the scourge. “The enormity of efforts required to tackle illicit financial flows is evident in the many dimensions the scourge presents itself. “It manifests through harmful tax policies and practices, abusive transfer pricing, trade mis-pricing and mis-invoicing illegal exploitation of natural resou...
Is the Global Pandemic an Opportunity to Reimagine Urban Development in Africa?
Sourced from SA Commercial Prop News. The need for social distancing and better sanitation could leapfrog development of African cities into a more sustainable future. This is according to Duncan Bonnett, Director of Market Access & Research at Africa House, and research partner of exhibition organiser Messe Muenchen South Africa. He says that, while Africa’s architects and planners have long been pushing for greener, smarter better designed urban spaces, the COVID-19 pandemic may help fast-track moves to better living spaces. New opportunities arise from disruptions Speaking ahead of the bauma CONEXPO Africa trade show, Bonnett says “The pandemic has certainly caused delays and disruptions across construction and infrastructure development, but there are some silver linings for the se...
Tech is Essential in Developing a Flourishing Agriculture Sector in Africa
Sourced from Getty Images. Africa should be in a great position to feed itself and play a significant role in feeding about nine billion people by 2050. For this to be realised, however, significant reforms have to be made to leverage the current standing optimally. The World Economic Forum reports that the African continent has 65% of the uncultivated arable land left in the world and creates about 60% of the continent’s employment. Africa boasts a wide diversity of agro-ecological zones, heavy rain-forest vegetation with bi-annual rainfall to relatively sparse, dry and arid vegetation with low uni-modal rainfall is positioned to be a World’s supplier of Agricultural produce. With these factors at play, it is difficult to find that Africa is still stuck with the burden of being a net food...
