Here’s why building new cities to meet Africa’s rapid urbanisation is a risky bet
By 2050 an estimated 2.5 billion more people will be added to urban areas, with 90% of this growth taking place in Africa and Asia. According to Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Romer, this will mean the building of more urban areas in the next 100 years than currently exist today.
If managed effectively, Africa’s cities will drive the continent’s economic growth, and thereby help reduce poverty. To date, however, Africa has yet to realise the positive gains of rapid urbanisation experienced elsewhere. Instead, increasingly concentrated populations have become a major stress on the limited infrastructure and services, such as housing, employment, health, education, and safety.
Retrofitting cities, where cities already exist, can be up to three times more expensive than planning for infrastructure in advance of settlement. Therefore, some leaders see the construction of whole new cities as the overall solution to overcome the pressures on existing ones.
The idea of constructing new cities to solve urbanisation challenges is not new. In Africa, for example, the first post-independence wave came with some governments deciding to move their capital cities.
The motivations for this varied. In the case of Yamoussoukro, which was declared the capital of Côte d’Ivoire in 1983, the move reflected the desire of the then president Houphouët-Boigny to have the capital located in his home town.
Nigeria, on the other hand, Abuja became the new capital in 1991 to relieve population pressures in Lagos. The choice of the site for Abuja was motivated by the fact that it was located in the centre of the country. It is also more ethnically neutral as it was located between the country’s northern, majority Muslim population and southern, largely Christian population. The creation of the city of Abuja, therefore, was also to help bridge the divisions in the country in terms of politics as well as economic opportunity.
The fortunes of Yamoussoukro and Abuja offer important lessons for current planners of new cities – 120 are being built in 40 countries.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/financi ... risky-bet/
AFRICA
Op-Ed: Agribusiness: Africa’s new investment frontier
By Mariam Yinusa and Edward Mabaya are Principal Economist and Manager, respectively, in the Agribusiness Development Division of the African Development Bank.
In the past decade, a stroll along the aisles of any African supermarket is revealing: there is a new wave of home-brewed brands that are fast becoming household names. Products like Dangote rice from Nigeria, Akabanga pepper oil from Rwanda and Tomoca coffee from Ethiopia attest to the gradual but persistent evolution towards greater agro-processing and value addition in the domestic agriculture sector.
Africa’s agribusiness sector is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2030, so there is certainly cause for optimism. Consumer demand for food in Africa is growing at an unprecedented rate. But what is fuelling this growth?
First, size matters. At a population of 1.2 billion people, Africa is currently the second most populous continent in the world, superseded only by Asia. According to United Nations projections, Africa’s population could reach 2 billion by 2030 and 2.5 billion by 2050. This means that one in five consumers globally will be African.
Second, quality counts. Sustained GDP growth rates in several countries across the continent have translated into rising incomes for some segments of the population. According to the African Development Bank’s African Economic Outlook Report, the middle-class population is expected is projected to reach 1.1 billion by 2060 which will make up 42% of the population. The average African middle-class consumer is becoming relatively more affluent, sophisticated and discerning in the food they choose to buy and eat. Concerns about price/quality trade-offs, convenience, nutritional content and food safety, amongst others, are central in their minds.
Third, concentration can be powerful. Although most growth poles are small to medium cities, megacities with populations of over 10 million inhabitants, such as Cairo, Lagos and Kinshasa, have gained increased prominence. These metropoles offer ripe opportunities for investment, as a result of the triad of high consumption, concentrated spending power, and agglomeration (i.e. lower and fixed distribution costs).
On the supply side, there is significant untapped potential. Over 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land is in Africa.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/africa-inves ... -frontier/
By Mariam Yinusa and Edward Mabaya are Principal Economist and Manager, respectively, in the Agribusiness Development Division of the African Development Bank.
In the past decade, a stroll along the aisles of any African supermarket is revealing: there is a new wave of home-brewed brands that are fast becoming household names. Products like Dangote rice from Nigeria, Akabanga pepper oil from Rwanda and Tomoca coffee from Ethiopia attest to the gradual but persistent evolution towards greater agro-processing and value addition in the domestic agriculture sector.
Africa’s agribusiness sector is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2030, so there is certainly cause for optimism. Consumer demand for food in Africa is growing at an unprecedented rate. But what is fuelling this growth?
First, size matters. At a population of 1.2 billion people, Africa is currently the second most populous continent in the world, superseded only by Asia. According to United Nations projections, Africa’s population could reach 2 billion by 2030 and 2.5 billion by 2050. This means that one in five consumers globally will be African.
Second, quality counts. Sustained GDP growth rates in several countries across the continent have translated into rising incomes for some segments of the population. According to the African Development Bank’s African Economic Outlook Report, the middle-class population is expected is projected to reach 1.1 billion by 2060 which will make up 42% of the population. The average African middle-class consumer is becoming relatively more affluent, sophisticated and discerning in the food they choose to buy and eat. Concerns about price/quality trade-offs, convenience, nutritional content and food safety, amongst others, are central in their minds.
Third, concentration can be powerful. Although most growth poles are small to medium cities, megacities with populations of over 10 million inhabitants, such as Cairo, Lagos and Kinshasa, have gained increased prominence. These metropoles offer ripe opportunities for investment, as a result of the triad of high consumption, concentrated spending power, and agglomeration (i.e. lower and fixed distribution costs).
On the supply side, there is significant untapped potential. Over 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land is in Africa.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/africa-inves ... -frontier/
VIDEOS
Africa Investment Forum: TDB’s Tadesse on why rail is making a big comeback in Africa
Video:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/ ... in-africa/
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Africa Investment Forum: AfDB on why agriculture remains key to Africa’s growth
Video:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/ ... as-growth/
*****
Africa Investment Forum: AFC’s Sanjeev Gupta on the need to change the narrative on Africa
Video:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/ ... on-africa/
Africa Investment Forum: TDB’s Tadesse on why rail is making a big comeback in Africa
Video:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/ ... in-africa/
******
Africa Investment Forum: AfDB on why agriculture remains key to Africa’s growth
Video:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/ ... as-growth/
*****
Africa Investment Forum: AFC’s Sanjeev Gupta on the need to change the narrative on Africa
Video:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/ ... on-africa/
VIDEO: Africa Investment Forum: We need to translate interests into actual commitments, says AfDB’s Pierre Guislain
Video:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/ ... -guislain/
At the end of the three-day-long Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg, the African Development Bank says 52 deals worth $40.1 billion secured investor interest compared to the $37.8 billion last year. CNBC Africa’s Fifi Peters spoke to Pierre Guislain, AfDB's Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure & Industrialisation about the next steps.
******
Here’s what can be done to change the narrative about Africa’s industrial development
Narratives are essential. Humans are, after all, “helpless story junkies”. Business and economic success depend much more than is commonly acknowledged on getting the narrative right. And if there is a narrative where getting it right or wrong matters hugely, it is the narrative about Africa’s industrial development.
Africa is the poorest continent. It is likely to be the most affected by climate change. It is the continent where terrorist groups are spreading fast.
Therefore, African industrialisation is essential. Unfortunately, the dominant narrative is that Africa has been de-industrialising, even prematurely. In this narrative, it is also questioned whether Africa can ever industrialise. African countries have even been advised not to try. The World Bank’s “Trouble in the Making” report concludes that manufacturing is becoming less relevant for low-income countries.
Fortunately, a very different narrative is possible. In a recent paper, I argue that Africa can industrialise because of three factors. These are “brilliant” new technologies enabling digitisation, smart materials and 3D-printing; a more vibrant entrepreneurship scene; and Africa’s growing middle class (as measured by the share of households that earn between $11 and $110 per person per day), which supports the continent’s first generation of indigenous tech-entrepreneurs.
Consider therefore the following narrative: More than 300 digital platforms, mostly indigenous, are operating across the continent. There are also more than 400 high-tech hubs, and more are being added. In addition, venture capital funding into African tech start-ups increased ten-fold between 2012 and 2018.
Moreover, manufacturing has more than doubled in size in real terms since 1980. And since 2000, manufacturing value added has grown at more than 4% a year. That is double the average between 1980 and 2000 (numbers from the Expanded African Sector Database).
As a result, total employment in manufacturing in 18 of the largest African economies (for which there is data) grew from roughly 9 million in 2004 to more than 17 million by 2014. That is an 83% increase in ten years. The proportion of labour in manufacturing for Africa as a region grew from roughly 5% in the 1970s to almost 10% by 2008.
So, how will these trends shape the future? I argue that they will result in three varieties of industrialisation.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/financi ... velopment/
Video:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/ ... -guislain/
At the end of the three-day-long Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg, the African Development Bank says 52 deals worth $40.1 billion secured investor interest compared to the $37.8 billion last year. CNBC Africa’s Fifi Peters spoke to Pierre Guislain, AfDB's Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure & Industrialisation about the next steps.
******
Here’s what can be done to change the narrative about Africa’s industrial development
Narratives are essential. Humans are, after all, “helpless story junkies”. Business and economic success depend much more than is commonly acknowledged on getting the narrative right. And if there is a narrative where getting it right or wrong matters hugely, it is the narrative about Africa’s industrial development.
Africa is the poorest continent. It is likely to be the most affected by climate change. It is the continent where terrorist groups are spreading fast.
Therefore, African industrialisation is essential. Unfortunately, the dominant narrative is that Africa has been de-industrialising, even prematurely. In this narrative, it is also questioned whether Africa can ever industrialise. African countries have even been advised not to try. The World Bank’s “Trouble in the Making” report concludes that manufacturing is becoming less relevant for low-income countries.
Fortunately, a very different narrative is possible. In a recent paper, I argue that Africa can industrialise because of three factors. These are “brilliant” new technologies enabling digitisation, smart materials and 3D-printing; a more vibrant entrepreneurship scene; and Africa’s growing middle class (as measured by the share of households that earn between $11 and $110 per person per day), which supports the continent’s first generation of indigenous tech-entrepreneurs.
Consider therefore the following narrative: More than 300 digital platforms, mostly indigenous, are operating across the continent. There are also more than 400 high-tech hubs, and more are being added. In addition, venture capital funding into African tech start-ups increased ten-fold between 2012 and 2018.
Moreover, manufacturing has more than doubled in size in real terms since 1980. And since 2000, manufacturing value added has grown at more than 4% a year. That is double the average between 1980 and 2000 (numbers from the Expanded African Sector Database).
As a result, total employment in manufacturing in 18 of the largest African economies (for which there is data) grew from roughly 9 million in 2004 to more than 17 million by 2014. That is an 83% increase in ten years. The proportion of labour in manufacturing for Africa as a region grew from roughly 5% in the 1970s to almost 10% by 2008.
So, how will these trends shape the future? I argue that they will result in three varieties of industrialisation.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/financi ... velopment/
Op-Ed: Getting women in the driver’s seat of Africa’s agribusiness revolution
Excerpt:
Women are the backbone of Africa’s agricultural sector. From farm to fork, African women are players along the entire agricultural value chain, be it as farmers, livestock breeders, processors, traders, workers, entrepreneurs or consumers. While their influence on the continent’s growing agribusiness industry is undeniable, more solutions are needed to address the gender-specific challenges they face to boost their participation.
The average African woman is a budding entrepreneur either by choice or by circumstance. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Women’s Report 2016/17, the continent has the highest percentage of female entrepreneurs in the world, with one in four women starting or managing a business. The agribusiness industry is often the natural focus of this entrepreneurial drive.
Across the continent, women dominate as primary processors post-harvest, as traders with bustling market stalls, as owners of fast food restaurants and with increasingly frequency as manufacturers of packaged ready-to-eat food products. Yet despite this dynamism, female-led agribusinesses tend to remain small, fragmented and informal in nature. They struggle to sustain and scale-up their agribusinesses into well-organized profitable enterprises.
Admittedly, the challenging business environment in many African countries including poor infrastructure and unreliable legal and regulatory systems affects all business activities of both men and women. However, in addition women-led businesses must also grapple with a number of gender-specific constraints, inhibiting their expansion into more lucrative market segments.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/financi ... evolution/
Excerpt:
Women are the backbone of Africa’s agricultural sector. From farm to fork, African women are players along the entire agricultural value chain, be it as farmers, livestock breeders, processors, traders, workers, entrepreneurs or consumers. While their influence on the continent’s growing agribusiness industry is undeniable, more solutions are needed to address the gender-specific challenges they face to boost their participation.
The average African woman is a budding entrepreneur either by choice or by circumstance. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Women’s Report 2016/17, the continent has the highest percentage of female entrepreneurs in the world, with one in four women starting or managing a business. The agribusiness industry is often the natural focus of this entrepreneurial drive.
Across the continent, women dominate as primary processors post-harvest, as traders with bustling market stalls, as owners of fast food restaurants and with increasingly frequency as manufacturers of packaged ready-to-eat food products. Yet despite this dynamism, female-led agribusinesses tend to remain small, fragmented and informal in nature. They struggle to sustain and scale-up their agribusinesses into well-organized profitable enterprises.
Admittedly, the challenging business environment in many African countries including poor infrastructure and unreliable legal and regulatory systems affects all business activities of both men and women. However, in addition women-led businesses must also grapple with a number of gender-specific constraints, inhibiting their expansion into more lucrative market segments.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/financi ... evolution/
Jacqueline Woodson on Africa, America and Slavery’s Fierce Undertow
The African-American novelist journeys to Ghana, once a hub of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, as the nation invites descendants of enslaved Africans to call it their “home.” But can you go home again?
IN THE COASTAL TOWN of Elmina, Ghana, the Atlantic Ocean crashes against the rocks with such a ferocity, I make our kids move back away from the gray-blue water. Four hundred years have passed since captured Africans were forced across these waves on their way to bondage in the New World and now, standing at the edge of this violent water, startled by my own anxiety, I feel something deep and old and terrifying. Call it hydrophobia. Call it genetic memory. I’ve always had a fear of the ocean, the fierce pull of its undercurrent, the crest of its powerful waves and most of all, its seeming infinity — the way it moves to a place where the skyline caresses it. Then drops off into nothing at all.
As the water lashes near where I stand in this West African nation, from whose ports millions of Africans passed through on their way to the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, it is impossible to not viscerally feel this memory everywhere in my body. Not far from here, captured Africans walked onto slave ships.
I call again to my children. Tell them to be careful. What I want to do right now is pull them close, hug them hard. I think of the people chained and trembling and I know that by the luck of history and by the grace of time, I am standing here, unshackled.
Now, Ghana has invited the descendants of the enslaved to a place it wants us to call “home.” While Ghana is not the first sub-Saharan country from which Africans were forced onto ships, many black bodies, including my own ancestors, were sold and traded from here. In its efforts to bring the African diaspora together, Ghana’s leaders are also hoping to make amends for the complicity of Africans in selling their own people into what would become the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/09/trav ... 3053091215
The African-American novelist journeys to Ghana, once a hub of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, as the nation invites descendants of enslaved Africans to call it their “home.” But can you go home again?
IN THE COASTAL TOWN of Elmina, Ghana, the Atlantic Ocean crashes against the rocks with such a ferocity, I make our kids move back away from the gray-blue water. Four hundred years have passed since captured Africans were forced across these waves on their way to bondage in the New World and now, standing at the edge of this violent water, startled by my own anxiety, I feel something deep and old and terrifying. Call it hydrophobia. Call it genetic memory. I’ve always had a fear of the ocean, the fierce pull of its undercurrent, the crest of its powerful waves and most of all, its seeming infinity — the way it moves to a place where the skyline caresses it. Then drops off into nothing at all.
As the water lashes near where I stand in this West African nation, from whose ports millions of Africans passed through on their way to the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, it is impossible to not viscerally feel this memory everywhere in my body. Not far from here, captured Africans walked onto slave ships.
I call again to my children. Tell them to be careful. What I want to do right now is pull them close, hug them hard. I think of the people chained and trembling and I know that by the luck of history and by the grace of time, I am standing here, unshackled.
Now, Ghana has invited the descendants of the enslaved to a place it wants us to call “home.” While Ghana is not the first sub-Saharan country from which Africans were forced onto ships, many black bodies, including my own ancestors, were sold and traded from here. In its efforts to bring the African diaspora together, Ghana’s leaders are also hoping to make amends for the complicity of Africans in selling their own people into what would become the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/09/trav ... 3053091215
Left Behind by Migrant Husbands, Women Break the Rules and Go to Work
Wives are shocking their traditional West African villages by earning money and running large households while their husbands are in Europe seeking jobs.
KOUTIA, Senegal — Years had passed since her husband had crossed the sea to look for work in Europe. Left behind, Khadijah Diagouraga trudged to the couple’s peanut fields alone every day, struggling to earn enough to provide for an extended family of 13.
When the town’s water pump broke and her faucet went dry, she tied a donkey to a cart to haul water from a nearby well, cursing her absent husband the whole way. Her action shocked this small, conservative village in rural Senegal. Guiding animals was men’s work, village leaders said.
“It’s not a sight I ever wanted to see,” said Baba Diallo, 70, sitting in the shade of a dried cornstalk canopy, shaking his head as if to rid himself of the memory.
Across West Africa, villages have been emptied of husbands and sons in their prime who set out for Europe to look for work and never returned. Women, realizing they might never see the money their men promised to send home, have gradually taken on what are seen as men’s roles, earning money and running large households of in-laws and other extended family members.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/30/worl ... -work.html
Wives are shocking their traditional West African villages by earning money and running large households while their husbands are in Europe seeking jobs.
KOUTIA, Senegal — Years had passed since her husband had crossed the sea to look for work in Europe. Left behind, Khadijah Diagouraga trudged to the couple’s peanut fields alone every day, struggling to earn enough to provide for an extended family of 13.
When the town’s water pump broke and her faucet went dry, she tied a donkey to a cart to haul water from a nearby well, cursing her absent husband the whole way. Her action shocked this small, conservative village in rural Senegal. Guiding animals was men’s work, village leaders said.
“It’s not a sight I ever wanted to see,” said Baba Diallo, 70, sitting in the shade of a dried cornstalk canopy, shaking his head as if to rid himself of the memory.
Across West Africa, villages have been emptied of husbands and sons in their prime who set out for Europe to look for work and never returned. Women, realizing they might never see the money their men promised to send home, have gradually taken on what are seen as men’s roles, earning money and running large households of in-laws and other extended family members.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/30/worl ... -work.html
Why Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey and other major tech figures are suddenly interested in Africa
KEY POINTS
- The Square and Twitter CEO says he plans on spending up to six months in Africa and that “Africa will define the future.”
- Microsoft, Facebook and Google are all involved in the continent with accelerator programs — Visa, Mastercard and Salesforce are making venture investments in African start-ups.
- Early Facebook investor Jim Breyer says Africa “presents some fundamental leapfrog opportunities” that have been unlocked through the rise in mobile phones and other platforms.
Jack Dorsey is in good company when it comes to Africa.
The CEO of Twitter and Square announced in November that he would spend up to six months in the continent in 2020, with few specifics. But he’s one of dozens of U.S. CEOs and global venture capital investors seeing potential for technology disruption — and returns — throughout the continent.
“We’re seeing a lot of the investment opportunity and growth happening in the tech sector,” said Witney Schneidman, a Brookings fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative and former deputy secretary of state Clinton administration.
“Jack Dorsey is in the right place at the right time and investing the appropriate amount of time to begin to understand the complexity of the African market.”
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/zdnl-mc/2020 ... in-africa/
KEY POINTS
- The Square and Twitter CEO says he plans on spending up to six months in Africa and that “Africa will define the future.”
- Microsoft, Facebook and Google are all involved in the continent with accelerator programs — Visa, Mastercard and Salesforce are making venture investments in African start-ups.
- Early Facebook investor Jim Breyer says Africa “presents some fundamental leapfrog opportunities” that have been unlocked through the rise in mobile phones and other platforms.
Jack Dorsey is in good company when it comes to Africa.
The CEO of Twitter and Square announced in November that he would spend up to six months in the continent in 2020, with few specifics. But he’s one of dozens of U.S. CEOs and global venture capital investors seeing potential for technology disruption — and returns — throughout the continent.
“We’re seeing a lot of the investment opportunity and growth happening in the tech sector,” said Witney Schneidman, a Brookings fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative and former deputy secretary of state Clinton administration.
“Jack Dorsey is in the right place at the right time and investing the appropriate amount of time to begin to understand the complexity of the African market.”
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/zdnl-mc/2020 ... in-africa/
Black China: Africa's First Superpower Is Coming Sooner Than You Think
It's midnight in a medieval palace in the oldest city in West Africa: Kano, Nigeria.
Nigeria, if it gets its socioeconomic act together, is positioning itself to become Africa's first superpower. How can this be?
A thousand years ago, this was one of the richest cities in the world, the terminus of the cross-Saharan trade that brought guns and salt to exchange for slaves, gold and ivory. The palace has 5-foot thick walls, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, stone pathways and ornate mosaic domes. On the walls are large color photographs of a serious-looking man wearing a white turban with a veil across the bottom of his face. The two tails of the ceremonial knot that holds the veil in place look like bunny ears.
The man is Muhammadu Sanusi II, the 14th emir of Kano, the second most important religious position in Nigeria. I watch as his assistant crawls across the carpet on his hands and knees. Bowing his head to the floor, he hands my business card up to the emir, then crawls away backward. Sanusi motions me to sit.
I'm here to find out what the future holds for Nigeria. I've been told the emir is one of the "three or four" people who may know the answer. It's an important question, and not just for Nigerians. In 30 years, Nigeria will be, by population, larger than the U.S. By the end of the century it will be the third largest nation in the world, behind India and China, and the most densely populated large country, with more people per square mile than even India. It will have more Muslims than any other country in the world, and more Christians. And if it can get its socioeconomic act together, it may also be the first superpower in the Southern Hemisphere. It's got a tremendous number of advantages that should help it do that: resources, scale, talent, work ethic and a democratic government, but it has an equally long list of challenges.
I'm hoping Sanusi can tell me which will win out.
More...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/bl ... ailsignout
It's midnight in a medieval palace in the oldest city in West Africa: Kano, Nigeria.
Nigeria, if it gets its socioeconomic act together, is positioning itself to become Africa's first superpower. How can this be?
A thousand years ago, this was one of the richest cities in the world, the terminus of the cross-Saharan trade that brought guns and salt to exchange for slaves, gold and ivory. The palace has 5-foot thick walls, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, stone pathways and ornate mosaic domes. On the walls are large color photographs of a serious-looking man wearing a white turban with a veil across the bottom of his face. The two tails of the ceremonial knot that holds the veil in place look like bunny ears.
The man is Muhammadu Sanusi II, the 14th emir of Kano, the second most important religious position in Nigeria. I watch as his assistant crawls across the carpet on his hands and knees. Bowing his head to the floor, he hands my business card up to the emir, then crawls away backward. Sanusi motions me to sit.
I'm here to find out what the future holds for Nigeria. I've been told the emir is one of the "three or four" people who may know the answer. It's an important question, and not just for Nigerians. In 30 years, Nigeria will be, by population, larger than the U.S. By the end of the century it will be the third largest nation in the world, behind India and China, and the most densely populated large country, with more people per square mile than even India. It will have more Muslims than any other country in the world, and more Christians. And if it can get its socioeconomic act together, it may also be the first superpower in the Southern Hemisphere. It's got a tremendous number of advantages that should help it do that: resources, scale, talent, work ethic and a democratic government, but it has an equally long list of challenges.
I'm hoping Sanusi can tell me which will win out.
More...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/bl ... ailsignout
Here’s what to expect at the 5th annual FORBES WOMAN AFRICA 2020 Leading Women Summit
The African continent’s most influential women from all industries and businesses will be gathering at the 5th edition of the Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit which will be hosted In Durban on the 6th of March. CNBC Africa is joined by Managing Editor of Forbes Woman Africa and Forbes Africa, Renuka Methil for more on this prestigious event.
Video:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2020/ ... en-summit/
The African continent’s most influential women from all industries and businesses will be gathering at the 5th edition of the Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit which will be hosted In Durban on the 6th of March. CNBC Africa is joined by Managing Editor of Forbes Woman Africa and Forbes Africa, Renuka Methil for more on this prestigious event.
Video:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2020/ ... en-summit/
Oxford University restores Maasai artefacts
Men with spears come to the dreaming spires
In the oak-panelled Bookbinders Ale House, a group of Maasai tribespeople gathers the day before returning to Tanzania and Kenya, to sip cappuccinos and bitter and to chew over the results of a two-week visit to Oxford. Despite the vile February weather, they are satisfied with their trip, for they are closer to getting back sacred objects that are held by Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum.
Former colonial powers have tended to take a defensive attitude to requests from formerly subject peoples for the return of objects that may have been stolen. In Britain, France and elsewhere, laws prevent museums from letting stuff go.
But in 2017, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said that he wanted to see the return of pilfered artefacts to Africa within five years. Since then, the movement for restitution has gathered steam. Universities are not constrained by the legislation that binds national collections, and several have started to return objects.
The Pitt Rivers, which holds the university’s archaeological and anthropological collections, is in the vanguard. It has returned 28 objects, all of them human remains. But Dan Hicks, curator of archaeology at the museum, believes that the movement needs to accelerate, for “museums are sites of colonial violence”.
Rather than deal with national governments, which can make for tricky politics, the Pitt Rivers is engaging directly with indigenous peoples. The Maasai visit came about after Samwel Nangira, a Maasai from Tanzania, visited the Pitt Rivers when he was at a conference. He questioned the labelling of some of the objects in the museum: “what does ‘collected’ mean? Like when you find something in a forest, so not donated, and not robbed?”
One of the problems with restitution claims is establishing provenance. The Maasai have come at the invitation of Laura van Broekhoven, director of the Pitt Rivers, and InsightShare, an ngo, to establish where and when the objects were taken. To that end, they have brought Lemaron ole Parit, a laibon—a spiritual leader with mystical powers. His family has been providing spiritual leadership for generations. The most famous of his forebears is Mbatian, his great-great-grandfather, who is remembered for foretelling the British arrival. Nick Lunch, InsightShare’s organiser, is impressed that Mr ole Parit has been talking with his father, Mokompo ole Simel, who holds ultimate spiritual power in the tribe but stayed at home, “not just on WhatsApp, but also through his dreams.”
Sitting on the floor of Mrs van Broekhoven’s office, Mr ole Parit breathes into an enkidong vessel packed with stones and snuff tobacco. He then shakes out the stones, whose patterns reveal the artefacts’ history to him. “I’ve identified the circumstances under which objects were taken,” he explains. “The times when they were taken, and how many hands they went through.” Out of the 188 artefacts Mr ole Parit viewed, he has identified only five he thinks are culturally sensitive enough to warrant a return.
Artefacts matter to the Maasai, in part because they represent the continuation of a dead person’s life. Mr ole Parit says an isurutia—a necklace—was taken from a woman who was killed while she was carrying her baby. “If somebody dies, we treat the artefacts as equally as important as a dead body,” says Amos Leuka, a member of the delegation. If an object has been taken violently from somebody, their spirit cannot rest. The Maasai’s ancestors are therefore said to be joining the negotiations.
So is Oxford’s vice-chancellor, Louise Richardson: once the Pitt Rivers has approved a claim, it is sent to her. Her attitude to this unusual method of establishing provenance has not yet been divined. But Mrs van Broekhoven says that the way knowledge systems are judged needs to be liberated. “Real decoloniality is to see each other’s knowledge systems as equal.” British colonial catalogues, she points out, are not models of accuracy. “All we have are labels with question-marks. It would be quite disingenuous to say, ‘Your knowledge system is inferior to ours’.”
https://www.economist.com/britain/2020/ ... -artefacts
Men with spears come to the dreaming spires
In the oak-panelled Bookbinders Ale House, a group of Maasai tribespeople gathers the day before returning to Tanzania and Kenya, to sip cappuccinos and bitter and to chew over the results of a two-week visit to Oxford. Despite the vile February weather, they are satisfied with their trip, for they are closer to getting back sacred objects that are held by Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum.
Former colonial powers have tended to take a defensive attitude to requests from formerly subject peoples for the return of objects that may have been stolen. In Britain, France and elsewhere, laws prevent museums from letting stuff go.
But in 2017, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said that he wanted to see the return of pilfered artefacts to Africa within five years. Since then, the movement for restitution has gathered steam. Universities are not constrained by the legislation that binds national collections, and several have started to return objects.
The Pitt Rivers, which holds the university’s archaeological and anthropological collections, is in the vanguard. It has returned 28 objects, all of them human remains. But Dan Hicks, curator of archaeology at the museum, believes that the movement needs to accelerate, for “museums are sites of colonial violence”.
Rather than deal with national governments, which can make for tricky politics, the Pitt Rivers is engaging directly with indigenous peoples. The Maasai visit came about after Samwel Nangira, a Maasai from Tanzania, visited the Pitt Rivers when he was at a conference. He questioned the labelling of some of the objects in the museum: “what does ‘collected’ mean? Like when you find something in a forest, so not donated, and not robbed?”
One of the problems with restitution claims is establishing provenance. The Maasai have come at the invitation of Laura van Broekhoven, director of the Pitt Rivers, and InsightShare, an ngo, to establish where and when the objects were taken. To that end, they have brought Lemaron ole Parit, a laibon—a spiritual leader with mystical powers. His family has been providing spiritual leadership for generations. The most famous of his forebears is Mbatian, his great-great-grandfather, who is remembered for foretelling the British arrival. Nick Lunch, InsightShare’s organiser, is impressed that Mr ole Parit has been talking with his father, Mokompo ole Simel, who holds ultimate spiritual power in the tribe but stayed at home, “not just on WhatsApp, but also through his dreams.”
Sitting on the floor of Mrs van Broekhoven’s office, Mr ole Parit breathes into an enkidong vessel packed with stones and snuff tobacco. He then shakes out the stones, whose patterns reveal the artefacts’ history to him. “I’ve identified the circumstances under which objects were taken,” he explains. “The times when they were taken, and how many hands they went through.” Out of the 188 artefacts Mr ole Parit viewed, he has identified only five he thinks are culturally sensitive enough to warrant a return.
Artefacts matter to the Maasai, in part because they represent the continuation of a dead person’s life. Mr ole Parit says an isurutia—a necklace—was taken from a woman who was killed while she was carrying her baby. “If somebody dies, we treat the artefacts as equally as important as a dead body,” says Amos Leuka, a member of the delegation. If an object has been taken violently from somebody, their spirit cannot rest. The Maasai’s ancestors are therefore said to be joining the negotiations.
So is Oxford’s vice-chancellor, Louise Richardson: once the Pitt Rivers has approved a claim, it is sent to her. Her attitude to this unusual method of establishing provenance has not yet been divined. But Mrs van Broekhoven says that the way knowledge systems are judged needs to be liberated. “Real decoloniality is to see each other’s knowledge systems as equal.” British colonial catalogues, she points out, are not models of accuracy. “All we have are labels with question-marks. It would be quite disingenuous to say, ‘Your knowledge system is inferior to ours’.”
https://www.economist.com/britain/2020/ ... -artefacts
A Kenyan Painter Casts a Critical Eye on China’s Role in Africa
Michael Soi’s “China Loves Africa” collection examines the symbiotic and often corrupt relationship between Beijing and African elites.
NAIROBI, Kenya — In the painting, one of 100 on the same theme, China’s president, Xi Jinping, appears as he has in all the previous ones: a larger-than-life figure who commands attention because of the goodies he has brought with him.
Decked in a flowing white garment, Mr. Xi is surrounded by a crowd of black men — some with bald heads, others with unkempt beards — all reaching out for the dollars leaking out of a briefcase.
The work of a Kenyan artist and painter, Michael Soi, the collection “China Loves Africa” questions the guiding principles of Beijing’s engagement in Africa, scrutinizes the role of leaders on both sides in shaping the relationship and examines the consequences for ordinary citizens. The bright acrylic paintings on canvas have proven popular and polarizing and have offered a creative and complex approach to China-Africa relations.
But on Jan. 2, after six years and 100 pieces, Mr. Soi said he was finished with the series, having drawn enough attention to the issue.
“I am ready to explore something else,” he said in an interview one recent morning at his studio at The GoDown Arts Center west of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Mr. Soi, 48, has always insisted that his work should be viewed as social commentary, rather than an effort to influence policymaking.
Mr. Soi said he drew inspiration for the pieces from reading books, watching local and international TV programs and speaking with engineers who worked with the Chinese in Kenya.
“My work usually revolves around what Kenyans do or experience but don’t want to discuss,” Mr. Soi said. “I don’t seek change in my work. I document.”
Mr. Soi said that he was aware that he was ending this series at a time when China is becoming an ever more central player in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa. As Africa’s economies and populations have grown over the past two decades, no country has answered the continent’s call for investment opportunities more than China.
China is Africa’s largest trade partner and is the biggest player in the continent’s infrastructure boom, funding and building highways, railroads, ports and presidential palaces.
But as African governments have sought closer ties with Beijing, many like Mr. Soi have inveighed against the partnership, saying it was “one-sided” and amounted to a new form of colonialism.
Western leaders, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week, have warned against growing Chinese investments in the continent, saying they weighed nations under unsustainable debt burdens.
China’s presence in Africa has also brought forth claims of graft, bribery and environmental destruction, along with accusations of racism and discrimination against African citizens. Many have also questioned the commercial viability of the big China-funded projects, particularly multibillion-dollar railways in Kenya and Ethiopia.
In the face of all this, Beijing has insisted its relationship with African countries is based on political equality and “win-win” economic cooperation, along with mutual assistance in security and solidarity in international affairs.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/worl ... 3053090222
Michael Soi’s “China Loves Africa” collection examines the symbiotic and often corrupt relationship between Beijing and African elites.
NAIROBI, Kenya — In the painting, one of 100 on the same theme, China’s president, Xi Jinping, appears as he has in all the previous ones: a larger-than-life figure who commands attention because of the goodies he has brought with him.
Decked in a flowing white garment, Mr. Xi is surrounded by a crowd of black men — some with bald heads, others with unkempt beards — all reaching out for the dollars leaking out of a briefcase.
The work of a Kenyan artist and painter, Michael Soi, the collection “China Loves Africa” questions the guiding principles of Beijing’s engagement in Africa, scrutinizes the role of leaders on both sides in shaping the relationship and examines the consequences for ordinary citizens. The bright acrylic paintings on canvas have proven popular and polarizing and have offered a creative and complex approach to China-Africa relations.
But on Jan. 2, after six years and 100 pieces, Mr. Soi said he was finished with the series, having drawn enough attention to the issue.
“I am ready to explore something else,” he said in an interview one recent morning at his studio at The GoDown Arts Center west of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Mr. Soi, 48, has always insisted that his work should be viewed as social commentary, rather than an effort to influence policymaking.
Mr. Soi said he drew inspiration for the pieces from reading books, watching local and international TV programs and speaking with engineers who worked with the Chinese in Kenya.
“My work usually revolves around what Kenyans do or experience but don’t want to discuss,” Mr. Soi said. “I don’t seek change in my work. I document.”
Mr. Soi said that he was aware that he was ending this series at a time when China is becoming an ever more central player in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa. As Africa’s economies and populations have grown over the past two decades, no country has answered the continent’s call for investment opportunities more than China.
China is Africa’s largest trade partner and is the biggest player in the continent’s infrastructure boom, funding and building highways, railroads, ports and presidential palaces.
But as African governments have sought closer ties with Beijing, many like Mr. Soi have inveighed against the partnership, saying it was “one-sided” and amounted to a new form of colonialism.
Western leaders, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week, have warned against growing Chinese investments in the continent, saying they weighed nations under unsustainable debt burdens.
China’s presence in Africa has also brought forth claims of graft, bribery and environmental destruction, along with accusations of racism and discrimination against African citizens. Many have also questioned the commercial viability of the big China-funded projects, particularly multibillion-dollar railways in Kenya and Ethiopia.
In the face of all this, Beijing has insisted its relationship with African countries is based on political equality and “win-win” economic cooperation, along with mutual assistance in security and solidarity in international affairs.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/worl ... 3053090222
Op-Ed: How data can unlock the future of Africa
It was less than 10 years ago that the world’s most valuable resource was oil. States would do all they could to ensure some sort of control over a portion of the oil economy. Some even went to war for it, and those that controlled the oil industry controlled the world.
However, as our society becomes more technologically driven, a new resource has taken oil’s place as the world’s most important commodity, and it does not exist in the physical plane. I am talking, of course, about data.
Data is reshaping the way we think and approach our world. It impacts every business and industry, from marketing to agriculture to health care. We see it in action every day in our lives. Did Amazon just recommend a product to you? They did that through your browsing and shopping data. Did you recently watch an ad on YouTube? Well, YouTube chose that ad based on its data analysis of your interests.
As data becomes more significant to our economy and a general state of life, it is essential for Africa to take the lead in this new data economy. Data is the key to unlocking the future potential of Africa. Luckily, Africa already has two of the most important pieces of any data set.
The first is its population. Africa has a fast-growing population that skews young. Africa is a very young country, with 60% of its population under the age of 25. That number is expected to go up by 42% by the year 2030. Currently, Africa constitutes about 20% of the world’s youth population, coming in at around 230 million people.
Perhaps more importantly, Africa’s middle-class population is also growing in both numbers and wealth. Consumer expenditures are expected to rise to $2.1 trillion in 2025 and $2.4 trillion in 2030. That is more than double the 2015 rates. Current household consumption is growing at a faster rate than average annual GDP, and Axios estimates that by 2020 more than half of all Africans will have discretionary income.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/content/2020 ... of-africa/
It was less than 10 years ago that the world’s most valuable resource was oil. States would do all they could to ensure some sort of control over a portion of the oil economy. Some even went to war for it, and those that controlled the oil industry controlled the world.
However, as our society becomes more technologically driven, a new resource has taken oil’s place as the world’s most important commodity, and it does not exist in the physical plane. I am talking, of course, about data.
Data is reshaping the way we think and approach our world. It impacts every business and industry, from marketing to agriculture to health care. We see it in action every day in our lives. Did Amazon just recommend a product to you? They did that through your browsing and shopping data. Did you recently watch an ad on YouTube? Well, YouTube chose that ad based on its data analysis of your interests.
As data becomes more significant to our economy and a general state of life, it is essential for Africa to take the lead in this new data economy. Data is the key to unlocking the future potential of Africa. Luckily, Africa already has two of the most important pieces of any data set.
The first is its population. Africa has a fast-growing population that skews young. Africa is a very young country, with 60% of its population under the age of 25. That number is expected to go up by 42% by the year 2030. Currently, Africa constitutes about 20% of the world’s youth population, coming in at around 230 million people.
Perhaps more importantly, Africa’s middle-class population is also growing in both numbers and wealth. Consumer expenditures are expected to rise to $2.1 trillion in 2025 and $2.4 trillion in 2030. That is more than double the 2015 rates. Current household consumption is growing at a faster rate than average annual GDP, and Axios estimates that by 2020 more than half of all Africans will have discretionary income.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/content/2020 ... of-africa/
#LWS2020KZN: Forbes Woman Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women
Video:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2020/ ... ful-women/
Join this panel of Africa’s most powerful women who have blazed a trail in different fields of industry and commerce as they share some of their secrets to success.
Video:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2020/ ... ful-women/
Join this panel of Africa’s most powerful women who have blazed a trail in different fields of industry and commerce as they share some of their secrets to success.
10 African Countries Have No Ventilators. That’s Only Part of the Problem.
Basic supplies like oxygen and soap are needed first to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
DAKAR, Senegal — South Sudan, a nation of 11 million, has more vice presidents (five) than ventilators (four). The Central African Republic has three ventilators for its five million people. In Liberia, which is similar in size, there are six working machines — and one of them sits behind the gates of the United States Embassy.
In all, fewer than 2,000 working ventilators have to serve hundreds of millions of people in public hospitals across 41 African countries, the World Health Organization says, compared with more than 170,000 in the United States.
Ten countries in Africa have none at all.
Glaring disparities like these are just part of the reason people across Africa are steeling themselves for the coronavirus, fearful of outbreaks that could be catastrophic in countries with struggling health systems.
The gaps are so entrenched that many experts are worried about chronic shortages of much more basic supplies needed to slow the spread of the disease and treat the sick on the continent — things like masks, oxygen and, even more fundamentally, soap and water.
Clean running water and soap are in such short supply that only 15 percent of sub-Saharan Africans had access to basic hand-washing facilities in 2015, according to the United Nations. In Liberia, it is even worse — 97 percent of homes did not have clean water and soap in 2017, the U.N. says.
“The things that people need are simple things,” said Kalipso Chalkidou, the director of global health policy at the Center for Global Development, a research group. “Not high-tech things.”
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/worl ... 778d3e6de3
Basic supplies like oxygen and soap are needed first to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
DAKAR, Senegal — South Sudan, a nation of 11 million, has more vice presidents (five) than ventilators (four). The Central African Republic has three ventilators for its five million people. In Liberia, which is similar in size, there are six working machines — and one of them sits behind the gates of the United States Embassy.
In all, fewer than 2,000 working ventilators have to serve hundreds of millions of people in public hospitals across 41 African countries, the World Health Organization says, compared with more than 170,000 in the United States.
Ten countries in Africa have none at all.
Glaring disparities like these are just part of the reason people across Africa are steeling themselves for the coronavirus, fearful of outbreaks that could be catastrophic in countries with struggling health systems.
The gaps are so entrenched that many experts are worried about chronic shortages of much more basic supplies needed to slow the spread of the disease and treat the sick on the continent — things like masks, oxygen and, even more fundamentally, soap and water.
Clean running water and soap are in such short supply that only 15 percent of sub-Saharan Africans had access to basic hand-washing facilities in 2015, according to the United Nations. In Liberia, it is even worse — 97 percent of homes did not have clean water and soap in 2017, the U.N. says.
“The things that people need are simple things,” said Kalipso Chalkidou, the director of global health policy at the Center for Global Development, a research group. “Not high-tech things.”
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/worl ... 778d3e6de3
Sub-Saharan Africa to suffer 23.1% decline in remittances in 2020 – World Bank
Key Points:
- Remittance flows to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are projected to fall by almost 20% in 2020, one of the sharpest declines in history, according to the World Bank.
- Sub-Saharan Africa is projected by the World Bank to suffer a 23.1% decline in remittances over the course of 2020. The region has the highest remittance costs, with the average transfer of $200 charged at about 9%.
The coronavirus pandemic is leaving migrant workers unable to send money or goods home to families, cutting off a vital lifeline for communities already under siege from a barrage of external shocks.
Remittance flows to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are projected to fall by almost 20% in 2020, one of the sharpest declines in history, according to the World Bank.
The coronavirus pandemic has led to mass unemployment and hammered wages in the U.S. and Europe, key destinations for migrant workers, leaving many unable to send money home.
A number of major European countries have introduced furlough schemes to partially subsidize wages for those unable to work, but many of those in less formal employment have still found themselves without income. For workers in the U.S., there is less of a social safety net, which has led to more than 40 million Americans filing for unemployment since the pandemic was declared in mid-March.
Sub-Saharan Africa is projected by the World Bank to suffer a 23.1% decline in remittances over the course of 2020. To compound the tighter financial conditions for African migrant workers, in the first quarter of 2020, the region continued to have the highest average remittance costs, with the average transfer of $200 charged at about 9%.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/2020/05 ... ee9d77dc9f
Key Points:
- Remittance flows to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are projected to fall by almost 20% in 2020, one of the sharpest declines in history, according to the World Bank.
- Sub-Saharan Africa is projected by the World Bank to suffer a 23.1% decline in remittances over the course of 2020. The region has the highest remittance costs, with the average transfer of $200 charged at about 9%.
The coronavirus pandemic is leaving migrant workers unable to send money or goods home to families, cutting off a vital lifeline for communities already under siege from a barrage of external shocks.
Remittance flows to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are projected to fall by almost 20% in 2020, one of the sharpest declines in history, according to the World Bank.
The coronavirus pandemic has led to mass unemployment and hammered wages in the U.S. and Europe, key destinations for migrant workers, leaving many unable to send money home.
A number of major European countries have introduced furlough schemes to partially subsidize wages for those unable to work, but many of those in less formal employment have still found themselves without income. For workers in the U.S., there is less of a social safety net, which has led to more than 40 million Americans filing for unemployment since the pandemic was declared in mid-March.
Sub-Saharan Africa is projected by the World Bank to suffer a 23.1% decline in remittances over the course of 2020. To compound the tighter financial conditions for African migrant workers, in the first quarter of 2020, the region continued to have the highest average remittance costs, with the average transfer of $200 charged at about 9%.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/2020/05 ... ee9d77dc9f
Building Africa’s Prosperity EP1: How can the continent fill the infrastructure gap?
In the second episode of Building Africa’s Prosperity, the spotlight falls on the big part infrastructure plays in the future of Africa and its prosperity. There is no doubt a huge infrastructure gap in Africa. COIVD-19 is likely to make it worse – a lot worse. What can be done at a time when the continent is looking to gear up for the African Continental Free Trade Area?…
Video:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2020/ ... ee9d77dc9f
In the second episode of Building Africa’s Prosperity, the spotlight falls on the big part infrastructure plays in the future of Africa and its prosperity. There is no doubt a huge infrastructure gap in Africa. COIVD-19 is likely to make it worse – a lot worse. What can be done at a time when the continent is looking to gear up for the African Continental Free Trade Area?…
Video:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2020/ ... ee9d77dc9f
#BusinessTomorrow: What is the future of online and social media in Africa?
CNBC Africa’s Chris Bishop and his expert guests look into the future of how the digital space is growing by the day and how it challenges our very view of media and how people get their news….
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6iiEQj ... e=emb_logo
CNBC Africa’s Chris Bishop and his expert guests look into the future of how the digital space is growing by the day and how it challenges our very view of media and how people get their news….
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6iiEQj ... e=emb_logo
Coronavirus Is Battering Africa’s Growing Middle Class
From Kenya to Nigeria, South Africa to Rwanda, the pandemic is decimating the livelihoods of the once-stable workers who were helping to drive Africa’s economic expansion.
NAIROBI, Kenya — James Gichina started out 15 years ago as a driver shuttling travelers from the airport, worked his way up to safari guide, and with the help of some bank loans, bought two minivans of his own to ferry vacationers around.
His clients were, as he is, members of Africa’s growing middle class — bankers from Nigeria, tech entrepreneurs from South Africa, and fellow Kenyans who could finally afford trips to enjoy their own country’s beaches and wildlife preserves.
But when the coronavirus pandemic cratered the tourist industry and the economy, Mr. Gichina removed the seats from his minibus and started using it to hawk eggs and vegetables. With what he now earns, he said, he can barely afford to pay rent, buy food or send his 9-year-old son to school.
“We have been working hard to build better lives,” Mr. Gichina, 35, said of his colleagues in the tourist sector. Now, he said, “We have nothing.”
As the coronavirus surges in many countries in Africa, it is threatening to push as many as 58 million people in the region into extreme poverty, experts at the World Bank say. But beyond the devastating consequences for the continent’s most vulnerable people, the pandemic is also whittling away at one of Africa’s signature achievements: the growth of its middle class.
For the last decade, Africa’s middle class has been pivotal to the educational, political and economic development across the continent. New business owners and entrepreneurs have created jobs that, in turn, gave others a leg up as well.
Educated, tech-savvy families and young people with money to spare have fed the demand for consumer goods, called for democratic reforms, expanded the talent pool at all levels of society, and pushed for high-quality schools and health care.
About 170 million out of Africa’s 1.3 billion people are now classified as middle class. But about eight million of them could be thrust into poverty because of the coronavirus and its economic fallout, according to World Data Lab, a research organization.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/worl ... 778d3e6de3
From Kenya to Nigeria, South Africa to Rwanda, the pandemic is decimating the livelihoods of the once-stable workers who were helping to drive Africa’s economic expansion.
NAIROBI, Kenya — James Gichina started out 15 years ago as a driver shuttling travelers from the airport, worked his way up to safari guide, and with the help of some bank loans, bought two minivans of his own to ferry vacationers around.
His clients were, as he is, members of Africa’s growing middle class — bankers from Nigeria, tech entrepreneurs from South Africa, and fellow Kenyans who could finally afford trips to enjoy their own country’s beaches and wildlife preserves.
But when the coronavirus pandemic cratered the tourist industry and the economy, Mr. Gichina removed the seats from his minibus and started using it to hawk eggs and vegetables. With what he now earns, he said, he can barely afford to pay rent, buy food or send his 9-year-old son to school.
“We have been working hard to build better lives,” Mr. Gichina, 35, said of his colleagues in the tourist sector. Now, he said, “We have nothing.”
As the coronavirus surges in many countries in Africa, it is threatening to push as many as 58 million people in the region into extreme poverty, experts at the World Bank say. But beyond the devastating consequences for the continent’s most vulnerable people, the pandemic is also whittling away at one of Africa’s signature achievements: the growth of its middle class.
For the last decade, Africa’s middle class has been pivotal to the educational, political and economic development across the continent. New business owners and entrepreneurs have created jobs that, in turn, gave others a leg up as well.
Educated, tech-savvy families and young people with money to spare have fed the demand for consumer goods, called for democratic reforms, expanded the talent pool at all levels of society, and pushed for high-quality schools and health care.
About 170 million out of Africa’s 1.3 billion people are now classified as middle class. But about eight million of them could be thrust into poverty because of the coronavirus and its economic fallout, according to World Data Lab, a research organization.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/worl ... 778d3e6de3
How to grow a fortune in the golden fields of Africa.
The African continent is home to what is considered a huge growth opportunity – agriculture. With 65% of the world’s available uncultivated arable land, potential exists for African countries to reach their developmental goals and become major players in the global food system.
Despite the continent’s abundance in arable land and water resources, its economies and communities are yet to reap the benefits. Agribusinesses in Africa still face serious challenges and as a result, the sector remains largely untapped.
With poor supply chain channels, inadequate infrastructure, poor access to markets, and a lack of access to know-how of modern farming practices, tools and equipment, smallholder farmers, who contribute 70-80% of the continent’s food production, cannot migrate from subsistence to commercial farming.
The developed world now considers technology as an essential enabler to modern day farming, and without transformation, sub-Saharan Africa risks falling even further behind on the competitive scale; this while the sector remains an important driver of economic growth and employment on the continent. It then becomes critical to consider ways to support and develop what is seen as Africa’s rural last mile. Technology and mechanisation have proven to enhance productivity, yields, cost reduction at scale, improve quality and farm profitability.
While smallholder farmers remain an important grouping, it is one that is typically overlooked by many financial institutions. Many have tried to crack this market but have been unsuccessful.
Agritech solutions, for example, are transforming traditional farming practices and there are now more than 350 active agritech start-ups on the continent who are responding to the potential opportunity. But without connectivity or access to finance, it is often difficult for emerging farmers to take advantage of the benefits of modern farming technologies.
The real challenge lies in delivering a range of financial and non-financial services to farmers and food producers on the continent. It is impossible to overcome this alone. An ecosystem involving multiple players will ultimately close the gap.
This type of ecosystem and platform thinking are the latest themes coming out of international research and stems from the exponential growth of businesses like Alibaba and Amazon. These businesses bring together a network of ecosystem participants to create new markets for producers and consumers.
Standard Bank believes there is a significant opportunity to grow sectors on the continent by partnering with other players to build new platforms and models that enable clients to access services for their financial needs and beyond.
We are embedding this design thinking across all areas of the business, but more actively in Agribusiness where, in 2019, we started on-the-ground research in Uganda to understand the pain points experienced across the agricultural value chain. This would be the starting point of the agriculture ecosystem project.
Our team engaged over 150 stakeholders from farm to fork (input suppliers, farmers and aggregators, to industries involved in processing and value-addition) with a view of building the OneFarm platform to help address these pain points.
This platform aims to bring together a network of digitised solutions that could unlock the ability of all our clients – from input suppliers to off takers and corporates who facilitate the trade – and ultimately improve the quality and quantity of agricultural output across the continent.
Through this exploration, we have learned that education is a fundamental enabler to help farmers to realize the benefits of digitised solutions. The team employed an agronomist to provide training on best practices to the farmers and manage demo farms to better understand the effects of adopting good agronomic practices. In this first iteration, some farmers have increased their capacity by over 100% simply as a result of being able to access finance.
We hope that through OneFarm, we can create a culture where farmers and co-operatives embrace the opportunity to formalise themselves knowing the benefits it will unlock.
In Nigeria, through our investment in Founders Factory Africa, we partnered with local agritech FoodLocker to create a marketplace platform, where machine learning is leveraged to forecast foodstuff demand. This enables large-scale buyers to efficiently procure fast-moving consumer goods and fresh produce from smallholder farmers.
The intention of OneFarm and other initiatives that we have launched within Agribusiness is to leverage platforms to impact a lasting difference in the lives of rural agricultural players. This forms part of greater vision to go beyond the role of financiers or bankers to provide all-encompassing services that drives the ecosystem and helps communities move forward.
Louis van Ravesteyn, Head: Agribusiness – Pan Africa, Standard Bank Group.
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/economy/2020 ... ee9d77dc9f
The African continent is home to what is considered a huge growth opportunity – agriculture. With 65% of the world’s available uncultivated arable land, potential exists for African countries to reach their developmental goals and become major players in the global food system.
Despite the continent’s abundance in arable land and water resources, its economies and communities are yet to reap the benefits. Agribusinesses in Africa still face serious challenges and as a result, the sector remains largely untapped.
With poor supply chain channels, inadequate infrastructure, poor access to markets, and a lack of access to know-how of modern farming practices, tools and equipment, smallholder farmers, who contribute 70-80% of the continent’s food production, cannot migrate from subsistence to commercial farming.
The developed world now considers technology as an essential enabler to modern day farming, and without transformation, sub-Saharan Africa risks falling even further behind on the competitive scale; this while the sector remains an important driver of economic growth and employment on the continent. It then becomes critical to consider ways to support and develop what is seen as Africa’s rural last mile. Technology and mechanisation have proven to enhance productivity, yields, cost reduction at scale, improve quality and farm profitability.
While smallholder farmers remain an important grouping, it is one that is typically overlooked by many financial institutions. Many have tried to crack this market but have been unsuccessful.
Agritech solutions, for example, are transforming traditional farming practices and there are now more than 350 active agritech start-ups on the continent who are responding to the potential opportunity. But without connectivity or access to finance, it is often difficult for emerging farmers to take advantage of the benefits of modern farming technologies.
The real challenge lies in delivering a range of financial and non-financial services to farmers and food producers on the continent. It is impossible to overcome this alone. An ecosystem involving multiple players will ultimately close the gap.
This type of ecosystem and platform thinking are the latest themes coming out of international research and stems from the exponential growth of businesses like Alibaba and Amazon. These businesses bring together a network of ecosystem participants to create new markets for producers and consumers.
Standard Bank believes there is a significant opportunity to grow sectors on the continent by partnering with other players to build new platforms and models that enable clients to access services for their financial needs and beyond.
We are embedding this design thinking across all areas of the business, but more actively in Agribusiness where, in 2019, we started on-the-ground research in Uganda to understand the pain points experienced across the agricultural value chain. This would be the starting point of the agriculture ecosystem project.
Our team engaged over 150 stakeholders from farm to fork (input suppliers, farmers and aggregators, to industries involved in processing and value-addition) with a view of building the OneFarm platform to help address these pain points.
This platform aims to bring together a network of digitised solutions that could unlock the ability of all our clients – from input suppliers to off takers and corporates who facilitate the trade – and ultimately improve the quality and quantity of agricultural output across the continent.
Through this exploration, we have learned that education is a fundamental enabler to help farmers to realize the benefits of digitised solutions. The team employed an agronomist to provide training on best practices to the farmers and manage demo farms to better understand the effects of adopting good agronomic practices. In this first iteration, some farmers have increased their capacity by over 100% simply as a result of being able to access finance.
We hope that through OneFarm, we can create a culture where farmers and co-operatives embrace the opportunity to formalise themselves knowing the benefits it will unlock.
In Nigeria, through our investment in Founders Factory Africa, we partnered with local agritech FoodLocker to create a marketplace platform, where machine learning is leveraged to forecast foodstuff demand. This enables large-scale buyers to efficiently procure fast-moving consumer goods and fresh produce from smallholder farmers.
The intention of OneFarm and other initiatives that we have launched within Agribusiness is to leverage platforms to impact a lasting difference in the lives of rural agricultural players. This forms part of greater vision to go beyond the role of financiers or bankers to provide all-encompassing services that drives the ecosystem and helps communities move forward.
Louis van Ravesteyn, Head: Agribusiness – Pan Africa, Standard Bank Group.
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/economy/2020 ... ee9d77dc9f
Redefining Africa’s Workforce Through Digital Transformation
Covid-19 has forced businesses globally to re-evaluate their business models and to adapt to new working environments. As whole industries adjust and new ones are born, many occupations will undergo a fundamental transformation. Technological, socio-economic, geopolitical and demographic developments and the interactions between them will generate new categories of jobs and occupations while partly or wholly displacing others. Given the rapid pace of change, business model disruptions are resulting in near-simultaneous impact on employment, demanding new skill sets and it is critical for businesses to stay ahead of these trends and changes.
Through a series of expert panel discussions, CNBC Africa; a leader in business, financial data, news and insight, in partnership with Forbes Africa and prominent sponsors, will be hosting a first-of-its-kind virtual Pan African summit on 20 August 2020. The Future of Work Virtual Conference aims to find solutions to the crisis in Africa’s work and job system, and to drive home the need for a much more effective implementation strategy. The day-long summit is a must for all business owners, C-suite decision makers, tech specialists, and leaders in digital innovation and development to attend.
“This pandemic has also forced us as a media company to find alternative means to broadcast captivating and informative content, while adhering to Government’s health and safety protocols, and to identify digital platforms that would allow us to keep our viewers informed. Using the power of technology and our newsroom, we are able to connect the continent through live in-person and online virtual experiences.” Says Roberta Naicker, Managing Director of the ABN Group. “This virtual conference, consisting of industry leading panellists, will examine how technology will enable digital transformation and change the way we work in the future.” She further added.
What will organisations look like after the pandemic? How will we collaborate and conduct business? What productivity gains can we unlock through robotic process automation, AI and cloud computing. What are the new threats companies need to identify and mitigate against? These are some of the critical questions that will be addressed, with themes like cybersecurity, cloud computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI), forming the main focal points of this half-day virtual conference, set to take place on the 20th of August.
Attendees will be able to register to attend this virtual event, and watch it live for free. Allowing them to take part in the day’s discussions via Q&A sessions, and also get the opportunity to network with other attendees.
For more information on the Future of Work Virtual Conference or to register for the event, please visit https://www.cnbcafrica.com/future-of-work/, or follow us @cnbcafrica for more updates
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/coronavirus/ ... ee9d77dc9f
Covid-19 has forced businesses globally to re-evaluate their business models and to adapt to new working environments. As whole industries adjust and new ones are born, many occupations will undergo a fundamental transformation. Technological, socio-economic, geopolitical and demographic developments and the interactions between them will generate new categories of jobs and occupations while partly or wholly displacing others. Given the rapid pace of change, business model disruptions are resulting in near-simultaneous impact on employment, demanding new skill sets and it is critical for businesses to stay ahead of these trends and changes.
Through a series of expert panel discussions, CNBC Africa; a leader in business, financial data, news and insight, in partnership with Forbes Africa and prominent sponsors, will be hosting a first-of-its-kind virtual Pan African summit on 20 August 2020. The Future of Work Virtual Conference aims to find solutions to the crisis in Africa’s work and job system, and to drive home the need for a much more effective implementation strategy. The day-long summit is a must for all business owners, C-suite decision makers, tech specialists, and leaders in digital innovation and development to attend.
“This pandemic has also forced us as a media company to find alternative means to broadcast captivating and informative content, while adhering to Government’s health and safety protocols, and to identify digital platforms that would allow us to keep our viewers informed. Using the power of technology and our newsroom, we are able to connect the continent through live in-person and online virtual experiences.” Says Roberta Naicker, Managing Director of the ABN Group. “This virtual conference, consisting of industry leading panellists, will examine how technology will enable digital transformation and change the way we work in the future.” She further added.
What will organisations look like after the pandemic? How will we collaborate and conduct business? What productivity gains can we unlock through robotic process automation, AI and cloud computing. What are the new threats companies need to identify and mitigate against? These are some of the critical questions that will be addressed, with themes like cybersecurity, cloud computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI), forming the main focal points of this half-day virtual conference, set to take place on the 20th of August.
Attendees will be able to register to attend this virtual event, and watch it live for free. Allowing them to take part in the day’s discussions via Q&A sessions, and also get the opportunity to network with other attendees.
For more information on the Future of Work Virtual Conference or to register for the event, please visit https://www.cnbcafrica.com/future-of-work/, or follow us @cnbcafrica for more updates
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/coronavirus/ ... ee9d77dc9f
COMMENT: How Africa should used data and digital to protect itself.
Across Africa hundreds of thousands of people have contracted Covid-19 since the outbreak in late 2019.
While official statistics are cause for concern the true numbers are undoubtedly much higher.The outbreak has exposed the weak underbelly of our Continent’s health care systems. For too long they have been under-resourced, under-funded and sometimes mismanaged. As Africa braces for a rise in infections it is time to look at what can be done to improve healthcare before it is too late.
Health is an investment in a nation’s wellbeing and a vehicle for national value creation. Healthy girls and boys go to school, healthy women and men contribute to society, live longer and lead more productive lives. Healthy people are able to save financially, vaccinate their children and do not place added strain on a country’s health infrastructure.
There is a direct benefit to investment in healthcare and unlocking economic growth.
If only it was that simple.
Across Africa there is still much work to be done in building our ability to cater to the millions of patients who need vital medicines or hospital care each year. Many pharmaceutical companies, like MSD, have the capacity to be part of the solution. But, one thing is clear: We cannot do it alone. To radically improve access to medicines and vaccines and for improved healthcare, we need partnerships. The investments that have really paid off in terms of exponential increase in health impact have been done with partners.
Medicines Save Lives.
Partnerships Save Nations.For decades, vast parts of West Africa were suffering from deadly outbreaks of Ebola for which there was no cure.
The 2014 outbreak was one of the largest, resulting in over 4000 deaths as the virus spread across DRC, Guinea,Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
In 2014, MSD had a vaccine in its portfolio to prevent the damaging consequences of an Ebola outbreak.
There have been further Ebola outbreaks since 2014, but they have been curtailed. We now have over 300 000 doses of the vaccine saving lives in the region.
This breakthrough was only possible due to partnerships with African governments, the World Health Organisation,NGO’s, the scientific community and the local communities.
Accelerate towards One African Market I am often caught saying ‘vaccines don’t work, vaccination does’. If you don’t get a vaccine, you are not protected. It is not good enough to just make the product available, we have to ensure it gets to those who need it.
We want to support the acceleration of ‘One African Market’. Right now patients in sub-saharan Africa are often not getting access to lifesaving products due to regulatory delays. The vision of having one African Medicines Agency,like the European Medicines Agency in Europe, is a great one. If we all focus on patient access as the goal, we should be partnering to make this vision a reality so that patients don’t have to suffer.
Let’s aim to leapfrog not catch up Big data and the power of digital have the potential to transform health in a fundamental way. Already in many African countries, a whole generation jumped from no internet to accessing internet on their phones – completely leapfrogging dial up on their desktops. Rather than playing catch up, Africans should be using data and digital to enable a fundamental shift in how we seek and provide healthcare. We have an opportunity to reimagine healthcare.
Dr. Priya Agrawal – Managing Director, MSD South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/opinion/2020 ... ee9d77dc9f
Across Africa hundreds of thousands of people have contracted Covid-19 since the outbreak in late 2019.
While official statistics are cause for concern the true numbers are undoubtedly much higher.The outbreak has exposed the weak underbelly of our Continent’s health care systems. For too long they have been under-resourced, under-funded and sometimes mismanaged. As Africa braces for a rise in infections it is time to look at what can be done to improve healthcare before it is too late.
Health is an investment in a nation’s wellbeing and a vehicle for national value creation. Healthy girls and boys go to school, healthy women and men contribute to society, live longer and lead more productive lives. Healthy people are able to save financially, vaccinate their children and do not place added strain on a country’s health infrastructure.
There is a direct benefit to investment in healthcare and unlocking economic growth.
If only it was that simple.
Across Africa there is still much work to be done in building our ability to cater to the millions of patients who need vital medicines or hospital care each year. Many pharmaceutical companies, like MSD, have the capacity to be part of the solution. But, one thing is clear: We cannot do it alone. To radically improve access to medicines and vaccines and for improved healthcare, we need partnerships. The investments that have really paid off in terms of exponential increase in health impact have been done with partners.
Medicines Save Lives.
Partnerships Save Nations.For decades, vast parts of West Africa were suffering from deadly outbreaks of Ebola for which there was no cure.
The 2014 outbreak was one of the largest, resulting in over 4000 deaths as the virus spread across DRC, Guinea,Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
In 2014, MSD had a vaccine in its portfolio to prevent the damaging consequences of an Ebola outbreak.
There have been further Ebola outbreaks since 2014, but they have been curtailed. We now have over 300 000 doses of the vaccine saving lives in the region.
This breakthrough was only possible due to partnerships with African governments, the World Health Organisation,NGO’s, the scientific community and the local communities.
Accelerate towards One African Market I am often caught saying ‘vaccines don’t work, vaccination does’. If you don’t get a vaccine, you are not protected. It is not good enough to just make the product available, we have to ensure it gets to those who need it.
We want to support the acceleration of ‘One African Market’. Right now patients in sub-saharan Africa are often not getting access to lifesaving products due to regulatory delays. The vision of having one African Medicines Agency,like the European Medicines Agency in Europe, is a great one. If we all focus on patient access as the goal, we should be partnering to make this vision a reality so that patients don’t have to suffer.
Let’s aim to leapfrog not catch up Big data and the power of digital have the potential to transform health in a fundamental way. Already in many African countries, a whole generation jumped from no internet to accessing internet on their phones – completely leapfrogging dial up on their desktops. Rather than playing catch up, Africans should be using data and digital to enable a fundamental shift in how we seek and provide healthcare. We have an opportunity to reimagine healthcare.
Dr. Priya Agrawal – Managing Director, MSD South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/opinion/2020 ... ee9d77dc9f
African farmers are younger than you think. Here is why
Over the past 20 years sub-Saharan Africa has registered the highest rate of agricultural production in the world. There have been knock-on effects with the region also seeing the fastest growth in off-farm employment and non-farm labour productivity.
There’s a widely held view that Africa’s agricultural growth trajectory could be jeopardised by an ageing farm population because young people are fleeing from farming. Several sources indicate that the average age of Africans in farming has risen to 60 years or more. But we are unaware of any empirical evidence to support this claim.
To understand what’s really going on, we used nationally representative survey data collected by the government statistical offices of six African countries – Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria and Tanzania. Because these surveys were replicated multiple times in each country between 2000 and 2018, we can compute how much time people spent annually in farming and off-farm jobs. We can examine trends in the age distribution of the labour force in farm and off-farm employment since 2000.
This was done as part of our research into young people’s access to land as well as their migration decisions and employment opportunities.
Breaking the myth
Our findings debunk the myth that most farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are over 60 years of age – far from it in fact.
According to the national government-administered data in the six countries, the average age of the agricultural workforce ranges from about 32 years to 39 years. Even when not counting young adults in the 15 to 24 year old range, the average age of the agricultural workforce ranges from 38 to 45 years of age. And even going beyond the generally accepted labour force age range of 15 to 64 years to include all elderly people of any age working in farming, the mean age of farmers barely changes.
This is explained by the fact that only 3% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population is 65 years and over. And less than half of this group is economically active and engaged in farming.
Secondly, the average age of the agricultural workforce in the six African countries examined has either increased by one or two years or remained constant over the past decade. Between the first and latest survey periods, which spanned from seven to 12 years, the average age of the labour force in farming increased by less than two years in four of the six study countries (Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia). The mean farmer age remained unchanged in Nigeria and declined slightly in Tanzania.
In other words, the age of Africans in farming is barely rising, if at all. Considering that roughly 7 million to 10 million young people are entering the labour force in sub-Saharan Africa each year, it is easy to understand why the average age of the farming population is not rising, even with large numbers of young people partially or fully moving out of farming.
Based on these nationally representative surveys, it is clear that of the region’s many agricultural challenges, an ageing workforce in farming is fortunately not one of them.
Third, our study found that individuals in off-farm jobs are on average one to three years younger than those in farming, especially when the sample excludes the 15-24 year old age group.
How to make farming profitable for young people
As highlighted in previous studies, the share of employment in farming has been declining over time as opportunities for off-farm employment expand in Africa’s rapidly transforming economies. But farming still accounts for a significant proportion of the jobs held by working-age individuals and remains the single largest employer of rural youth. Most of the jobs, however, are, part time.
It is true that many young people from rural areas are leaving farming as off-farm opportunities continue to expand. Nevertheless, most young people who are economically active remain engaged in farming. What is missing, however, is a critical mass of skilled young Africans with access to finance and know-how to drive productivity growth in farming and related value chains.
The idea of keeping young people in farming for fear of African agriculture becoming the preserve of the elderly is misplaced. A more effective strategy would prioritise resourcing the millions of rural youth already engaged in farming to make farming more profitable. Making agriculture “sexy” is not nearly as important as making it profitable. Young people will flock to agriculture if and when it becomes clear that it can make good money.
A related priority is to encourage skilled young Africans to apply their expertise to address the many policy, regulatory, and financing barriers that inhibit them from starting and expanding agribusiness firms that provide important services to African farmers.
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/insights/ene ... ee9d77dc9f
Over the past 20 years sub-Saharan Africa has registered the highest rate of agricultural production in the world. There have been knock-on effects with the region also seeing the fastest growth in off-farm employment and non-farm labour productivity.
There’s a widely held view that Africa’s agricultural growth trajectory could be jeopardised by an ageing farm population because young people are fleeing from farming. Several sources indicate that the average age of Africans in farming has risen to 60 years or more. But we are unaware of any empirical evidence to support this claim.
To understand what’s really going on, we used nationally representative survey data collected by the government statistical offices of six African countries – Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria and Tanzania. Because these surveys were replicated multiple times in each country between 2000 and 2018, we can compute how much time people spent annually in farming and off-farm jobs. We can examine trends in the age distribution of the labour force in farm and off-farm employment since 2000.
This was done as part of our research into young people’s access to land as well as their migration decisions and employment opportunities.
Breaking the myth
Our findings debunk the myth that most farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are over 60 years of age – far from it in fact.
According to the national government-administered data in the six countries, the average age of the agricultural workforce ranges from about 32 years to 39 years. Even when not counting young adults in the 15 to 24 year old range, the average age of the agricultural workforce ranges from 38 to 45 years of age. And even going beyond the generally accepted labour force age range of 15 to 64 years to include all elderly people of any age working in farming, the mean age of farmers barely changes.
This is explained by the fact that only 3% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population is 65 years and over. And less than half of this group is economically active and engaged in farming.
Secondly, the average age of the agricultural workforce in the six African countries examined has either increased by one or two years or remained constant over the past decade. Between the first and latest survey periods, which spanned from seven to 12 years, the average age of the labour force in farming increased by less than two years in four of the six study countries (Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia). The mean farmer age remained unchanged in Nigeria and declined slightly in Tanzania.
In other words, the age of Africans in farming is barely rising, if at all. Considering that roughly 7 million to 10 million young people are entering the labour force in sub-Saharan Africa each year, it is easy to understand why the average age of the farming population is not rising, even with large numbers of young people partially or fully moving out of farming.
Based on these nationally representative surveys, it is clear that of the region’s many agricultural challenges, an ageing workforce in farming is fortunately not one of them.
Third, our study found that individuals in off-farm jobs are on average one to three years younger than those in farming, especially when the sample excludes the 15-24 year old age group.
How to make farming profitable for young people
As highlighted in previous studies, the share of employment in farming has been declining over time as opportunities for off-farm employment expand in Africa’s rapidly transforming economies. But farming still accounts for a significant proportion of the jobs held by working-age individuals and remains the single largest employer of rural youth. Most of the jobs, however, are, part time.
It is true that many young people from rural areas are leaving farming as off-farm opportunities continue to expand. Nevertheless, most young people who are economically active remain engaged in farming. What is missing, however, is a critical mass of skilled young Africans with access to finance and know-how to drive productivity growth in farming and related value chains.
The idea of keeping young people in farming for fear of African agriculture becoming the preserve of the elderly is misplaced. A more effective strategy would prioritise resourcing the millions of rural youth already engaged in farming to make farming more profitable. Making agriculture “sexy” is not nearly as important as making it profitable. Young people will flock to agriculture if and when it becomes clear that it can make good money.
A related priority is to encourage skilled young Africans to apply their expertise to address the many policy, regulatory, and financing barriers that inhibit them from starting and expanding agribusiness firms that provide important services to African farmers.
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/insights/ene ... ee9d77dc9f
COMMENT: Green revolutionaries to boost African growth
The Green Economy has long been seen as a key player in Africa’s transformation.
This week the Tenth Annual Summit of the African Green Revolution Forum – hosted in Kigali by Rwanda -is discussing how best to move African agriculture forward.
The farming industry hosts 60% of the continent’s workforce and creates more than 40% of its GDP. Hundreds of thousands of livelihoods depend on it.
This virtual Forum has often been described as the world’s premier forum on African agriculture and this year is meeting at a time of global crisis in which the Covid-19 pandemic threatens jobs, yields and food security.
The virus has seen food processing plants slowing production or closing down completely, while the demand for exports such as flowers and fruits have been hit hard bringing economic hardship to many farmers.
The pandemic disguises the reality that agriculture in Africa has much to be proud of. In South Africa, for instance, maize production this year is expected to be more than 30% higher than in previous years –and digitalisation is transforming the sector.
The impact of the African Green Revolution Forum can be seen from last year’s event when some 2,400 delegates from 89 countries took part, and $3 billion worth of deals were concluded in the wings of the Forum.
Last year Isaac Sesi from Ghana shared a $100,000 prize with Tswana Bonolo Monthe of Botswana. Isaac employed affordable technologies to help reduce post harvest losses while Tswana developed a technique to turn underused, indigenous fruits into gourmet low sugar preserves.
The Rwandan organisers hope these successes will be repeated this year – and they say the key is digitalisation as farmers embrace data to boost production and sales and increase yields and profits.
Pilot studies across the continent have seen yields rise between 50% and 300% through better use of information, better seed selection, irrigation and mechanisation.
The Digital revolution provides the sector with enormous opportunities. There are innovations to help overcome challenges in land and soil mapping, water management, pest and disease management, particularly important as climate change starts to impact on Africa with locust invasions, floods and drought becoming more commonplace.
Today, a farmer in a remote area of the country can use his or her phone to see satellite images of their farm, and select the best seeds, the best type of fertilizer, the best soil health package for their crops, and the best markets to sell their produce.
Other innovations are less widespread but could catch on soon, like the use of drones and artificial intelligence to help with pest and disease monitoring.
It is fitting that just down the road from the Forum is the home of the Agriculture Growth Network (AGN), (www.agnetwork.rw ) a social enterprise that helps some 800 small and medium scale farmers increase their productivity while creating jobs for the youth.
AGN was founded by Daniella Uwase and her fellow students from Kigali’s African Leadership University. The students train the local farmers in the latest techniques through e-learning platforms and provide microloans while connecting them to better markets for their products.
African Green Resources (www.afrigreenresources.com ) is another leading agribusiness company that trains farmers in good agriculture practices to achieve higher yields and build a sustainable agriculture economy.
African Green Resources also provides farmers with microfinance, particularly important during the pandemic when production and sales have been hit.
It’s chaired by Zuneid Yousuf who also works with the Economics Association of Zambia. Together they support a community entrepreneur development programme which places great confidence in the ability of continent’s farming revolution to achieve food security, create jobs and build economic growth.
One of the long-term aim of groups like the African Green Resources, AGN and the delegates at the African Green Revolution Forum is to help millions of young Africans find meaningful employment in agriculture. And all are convinced that embracing digitalisation will speed up that ambition.
The World Bank has pledged to invest US $50 billion in Transforming Africa’s Digital Economy, and it’s clear that if the delegates at the Forum have their way Africa’s farmers will be at the forefront of this investment.
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/article/2020 ... ee9d77dc9f
The Green Economy has long been seen as a key player in Africa’s transformation.
This week the Tenth Annual Summit of the African Green Revolution Forum – hosted in Kigali by Rwanda -is discussing how best to move African agriculture forward.
The farming industry hosts 60% of the continent’s workforce and creates more than 40% of its GDP. Hundreds of thousands of livelihoods depend on it.
This virtual Forum has often been described as the world’s premier forum on African agriculture and this year is meeting at a time of global crisis in which the Covid-19 pandemic threatens jobs, yields and food security.
The virus has seen food processing plants slowing production or closing down completely, while the demand for exports such as flowers and fruits have been hit hard bringing economic hardship to many farmers.
The pandemic disguises the reality that agriculture in Africa has much to be proud of. In South Africa, for instance, maize production this year is expected to be more than 30% higher than in previous years –and digitalisation is transforming the sector.
The impact of the African Green Revolution Forum can be seen from last year’s event when some 2,400 delegates from 89 countries took part, and $3 billion worth of deals were concluded in the wings of the Forum.
Last year Isaac Sesi from Ghana shared a $100,000 prize with Tswana Bonolo Monthe of Botswana. Isaac employed affordable technologies to help reduce post harvest losses while Tswana developed a technique to turn underused, indigenous fruits into gourmet low sugar preserves.
The Rwandan organisers hope these successes will be repeated this year – and they say the key is digitalisation as farmers embrace data to boost production and sales and increase yields and profits.
Pilot studies across the continent have seen yields rise between 50% and 300% through better use of information, better seed selection, irrigation and mechanisation.
The Digital revolution provides the sector with enormous opportunities. There are innovations to help overcome challenges in land and soil mapping, water management, pest and disease management, particularly important as climate change starts to impact on Africa with locust invasions, floods and drought becoming more commonplace.
Today, a farmer in a remote area of the country can use his or her phone to see satellite images of their farm, and select the best seeds, the best type of fertilizer, the best soil health package for their crops, and the best markets to sell their produce.
Other innovations are less widespread but could catch on soon, like the use of drones and artificial intelligence to help with pest and disease monitoring.
It is fitting that just down the road from the Forum is the home of the Agriculture Growth Network (AGN), (www.agnetwork.rw ) a social enterprise that helps some 800 small and medium scale farmers increase their productivity while creating jobs for the youth.
AGN was founded by Daniella Uwase and her fellow students from Kigali’s African Leadership University. The students train the local farmers in the latest techniques through e-learning platforms and provide microloans while connecting them to better markets for their products.
African Green Resources (www.afrigreenresources.com ) is another leading agribusiness company that trains farmers in good agriculture practices to achieve higher yields and build a sustainable agriculture economy.
African Green Resources also provides farmers with microfinance, particularly important during the pandemic when production and sales have been hit.
It’s chaired by Zuneid Yousuf who also works with the Economics Association of Zambia. Together they support a community entrepreneur development programme which places great confidence in the ability of continent’s farming revolution to achieve food security, create jobs and build economic growth.
One of the long-term aim of groups like the African Green Resources, AGN and the delegates at the African Green Revolution Forum is to help millions of young Africans find meaningful employment in agriculture. And all are convinced that embracing digitalisation will speed up that ambition.
The World Bank has pledged to invest US $50 billion in Transforming Africa’s Digital Economy, and it’s clear that if the delegates at the Forum have their way Africa’s farmers will be at the forefront of this investment.
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/article/2020 ... ee9d77dc9f
Millions of African children rely on TV education during pandemic
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Five-year-old Kenyan student Miguel Munene sits between his parents, holding their hands as he watches cartoon characters teaching him to pronounce “fish”.
The television has replaced Munene’s teachers and classmates after the government shut schools indefinitely in March to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. They are closed until at least January.
Many children don’t have the option to learn online – the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF says at least half of sub-Saharan Africa’s schoolchildren do not have internet access.
So some, like Munene, watch a cartoon made by Tanzanian non-profit organisation Ubongo, which offers television and radio content for free to African broadcasters.
“Other programmes are just for fun, but Ubongo is helping children,” Miguel’s mother Celestine Wanjiru told Reuters. “He can now differentiate a lot of shapes and colours, both in English and Swahili.”
In March, programmes by Ubongo – the Kiswahili word for brain – were broadcast to an area covering about 12 million households in nine countries, said Iman Lipumba, Ubongo’s head of communications. That rose to 17 million in 20 countries by August.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has really forced us to rapidly grow,” Lipumba said.
A group of artists, innovators and educators set up Ubongo TV in Tanzania in 2014. It has received around $4 million in grants since, and earned $700,000 from YouTube, product sales, character licensing, and co-production of programmes.
For Munene and other schoolchildren, programmes like Ubongo’s are their only option to learn for now.
Kenya’s education ministry says schools can only reopen when the number of COVID-19 cases drops substantially.
Kenya has had over 36,000 confirmed cases and more than 620 deaths, health ministry data showed.
“You have the kid with you all the time so when you have such programmes, they are a big help,” Patrick Nyaga, Miguel’s father, a security guard, told Reuters.
But television cannot completely replace teaching.
“The way the children learn through programmes is different (from) the way they interact with others and teachers,” Nyaga said. “We are hoping that they open soon.”
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/insights/202 ... ee9d77dc9f
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Five-year-old Kenyan student Miguel Munene sits between his parents, holding their hands as he watches cartoon characters teaching him to pronounce “fish”.
The television has replaced Munene’s teachers and classmates after the government shut schools indefinitely in March to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. They are closed until at least January.
Many children don’t have the option to learn online – the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF says at least half of sub-Saharan Africa’s schoolchildren do not have internet access.
So some, like Munene, watch a cartoon made by Tanzanian non-profit organisation Ubongo, which offers television and radio content for free to African broadcasters.
“Other programmes are just for fun, but Ubongo is helping children,” Miguel’s mother Celestine Wanjiru told Reuters. “He can now differentiate a lot of shapes and colours, both in English and Swahili.”
In March, programmes by Ubongo – the Kiswahili word for brain – were broadcast to an area covering about 12 million households in nine countries, said Iman Lipumba, Ubongo’s head of communications. That rose to 17 million in 20 countries by August.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has really forced us to rapidly grow,” Lipumba said.
A group of artists, innovators and educators set up Ubongo TV in Tanzania in 2014. It has received around $4 million in grants since, and earned $700,000 from YouTube, product sales, character licensing, and co-production of programmes.
For Munene and other schoolchildren, programmes like Ubongo’s are their only option to learn for now.
Kenya’s education ministry says schools can only reopen when the number of COVID-19 cases drops substantially.
Kenya has had over 36,000 confirmed cases and more than 620 deaths, health ministry data showed.
“You have the kid with you all the time so when you have such programmes, they are a big help,” Patrick Nyaga, Miguel’s father, a security guard, told Reuters.
But television cannot completely replace teaching.
“The way the children learn through programmes is different (from) the way they interact with others and teachers,” Nyaga said. “We are hoping that they open soon.”
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/insights/202 ... ee9d77dc9f
Star Quality Speaker Line-Up at Africa Tech Festival 2020
Springbok Captain, Siya Kolisi to join industry luminaries at AfricaCom and AfricaTech
London, 14 October 2020 – AfricaCom and AfricaTech are anchor events of the new Africa Tech Festival, which will take place – online – from 10-12 November this year. Acknowledged as the world’s largest Africa-focused digital infrastructure and emerging tech event, the Africa Tech Festival has always attracted a stellar line-up of critical thinkers, analysts, futurists, keynote and inspirational speakers. 2020 will more than deliver on that reputation, with a stimulating array of visionary industry presenters, raconteurs and even some sporting greats.
Register here to attend the event.
https://registration.gesevent.com/surve ... 49PBANNERF
Below are just some of the more than 200 speakers who will be at this year’s not to be missed, virtual event.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/brandcom/202 ... ee9d77dc9f
Springbok Captain, Siya Kolisi to join industry luminaries at AfricaCom and AfricaTech
London, 14 October 2020 – AfricaCom and AfricaTech are anchor events of the new Africa Tech Festival, which will take place – online – from 10-12 November this year. Acknowledged as the world’s largest Africa-focused digital infrastructure and emerging tech event, the Africa Tech Festival has always attracted a stellar line-up of critical thinkers, analysts, futurists, keynote and inspirational speakers. 2020 will more than deliver on that reputation, with a stimulating array of visionary industry presenters, raconteurs and even some sporting greats.
Register here to attend the event.
https://registration.gesevent.com/surve ... 49PBANNERF
Below are just some of the more than 200 speakers who will be at this year’s not to be missed, virtual event.
More...
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/brandcom/202 ... ee9d77dc9f
As Virus Resurges in Africa, Doctors Fear the Worst Is Yet to Come
The coronavirus killed far fewer people in Africa than in Europe and the Americas, leading to a widespread perception that it was a disease of the West. Now, a tide of new cases on the continent is raising alarms.
PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa — At the center of a terrifying coronavirus surge, 242 patients lay in row after row of beds under the soaring metal beams of a decommissioned Volkswagen factory.
Workers at the vast field hospital could provide oxygen and medications, but there were no I.C.U. beds, no ventilators, no working phones and just one physician on duty on a recent Sunday — Dr. Jessica Du Preez, in her second year of independent practice.
In a shed-like refrigerator behind a door marked “BODY HOLD,” carts contained the remains of three patients that morning. A funeral home had already picked up another body.
On rounds, Dr. Du Preez stopped at the bed of a 60-year-old patient, a grandmother and former college counselor. Her oxygen tube had detached while she was lying prone, but the nurses had so many patients they hadn’t noticed. Now, she was gone.
As two porters placed her corpse in a bag, a worker peeked through the door to tell them another patient, a 67-year-old diabetic man, had died.
Meanwhile, the condition of a teacher in her 50s was deteriorating. Dr. Du Preez tried to find I.C.U. space for her elsewhere in the city, to no avail. She called the teacher’s husband, who asked what he could do. “Not much,” the young doctor responded.
“Shame,” she said again and again that day.
For hours, the alarm on the teacher’s bedside monitor bleated. Her oxygen level was dangerously low, her pulse racing and her blood pressure soaring. Still, she remained conscious, saying she could not breathe. That evening, she died alone. A book, “A Heartbeat of Hope: 366 devotions,” lay on her bedside stand alongside a pair of reading glasses.
When the pandemic began, global public health officials raised grave concerns about the vulnerabilities of Africa. But its countries overall appeared to fare far better than those in Europe or the Americas, upending scientists’ expectations. Now, the coronavirus is on the rise again in swaths of the continent, posing a new, possibly deadlier threat.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/worl ... 778d3e6de3
The coronavirus killed far fewer people in Africa than in Europe and the Americas, leading to a widespread perception that it was a disease of the West. Now, a tide of new cases on the continent is raising alarms.
PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa — At the center of a terrifying coronavirus surge, 242 patients lay in row after row of beds under the soaring metal beams of a decommissioned Volkswagen factory.
Workers at the vast field hospital could provide oxygen and medications, but there were no I.C.U. beds, no ventilators, no working phones and just one physician on duty on a recent Sunday — Dr. Jessica Du Preez, in her second year of independent practice.
In a shed-like refrigerator behind a door marked “BODY HOLD,” carts contained the remains of three patients that morning. A funeral home had already picked up another body.
On rounds, Dr. Du Preez stopped at the bed of a 60-year-old patient, a grandmother and former college counselor. Her oxygen tube had detached while she was lying prone, but the nurses had so many patients they hadn’t noticed. Now, she was gone.
As two porters placed her corpse in a bag, a worker peeked through the door to tell them another patient, a 67-year-old diabetic man, had died.
Meanwhile, the condition of a teacher in her 50s was deteriorating. Dr. Du Preez tried to find I.C.U. space for her elsewhere in the city, to no avail. She called the teacher’s husband, who asked what he could do. “Not much,” the young doctor responded.
“Shame,” she said again and again that day.
For hours, the alarm on the teacher’s bedside monitor bleated. Her oxygen level was dangerously low, her pulse racing and her blood pressure soaring. Still, she remained conscious, saying she could not breathe. That evening, she died alone. A book, “A Heartbeat of Hope: 366 devotions,” lay on her bedside stand alongside a pair of reading glasses.
When the pandemic began, global public health officials raised grave concerns about the vulnerabilities of Africa. But its countries overall appeared to fare far better than those in Europe or the Americas, upending scientists’ expectations. Now, the coronavirus is on the rise again in swaths of the continent, posing a new, possibly deadlier threat.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/worl ... 778d3e6de3
Africa must use continental new trade agreement to plan Coronavirus recovery plan
KEY POINTS
- The continent seeks to return to macroeconomic stability and fiscal responsibility.
- Africans should make every effort to generate for themselves the additional funds they need to advance.
Africa needs to find its own resources in order to drive a sustainable post-Covid-19 recovery and reconstruction plan built on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the President of Ghana told this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said this was crucial as the continent seeks to return to macroeconomic stability and fiscal responsibility while leveraging rapidly changing digital technologies to improve livelihoods.
“The multilateral system is under strain, and we must do all that we can to generate the needed resources to achieve sustainable development,” the Ghanaian leader told a session entitled `Building Inclusive, Sustainable and Job-Creating Growth in Africa’”.
“We in Africa should make every effort to generate for ourselves the additional funds we need to advance, and hopefully our external partners – private and public – will lend their backing to the priorities we set.”
The agreement connects 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at US$3.4 trillion. The World Bank says it has the potential to pull more than 30 million people out of extreme poverty.
Akufo-Addo said goodwill towards the continent remained strong as shown by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who told the virtual WEF Davos Dialogues that South Africa had mobilised around $51 billion (R774billion) in new investment commitments over the last three years.
Ramaphosa said around a fifth of the committed value had already been invested in construction and essential equipment for mining, manufacturing, telecoms and agriculture.
Naspers SA Chief Executive Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa told the meeting that digital had the ability to help reduce some of the inequalities exacerbated by the coronavirus.
“Africa’s digital transformation has the potential to leap frog many cycles of development. We can make significant advances enabling sustainable economic growth ensuring we move forward collectively so that no one is left behind.”
Absa Group Chief Executive Daniel Mminele said the there was an opportunity to leverage public funds and infrastructure investments better to uplift communities.
“We need to find sustainable solutions to some of the funding problems we have but funding is very key and a responsibility that sits on the shoulders of both the public and private sector and banks.”
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africa- ... ee9d77dc9f
KEY POINTS
- The continent seeks to return to macroeconomic stability and fiscal responsibility.
- Africans should make every effort to generate for themselves the additional funds they need to advance.
Africa needs to find its own resources in order to drive a sustainable post-Covid-19 recovery and reconstruction plan built on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the President of Ghana told this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said this was crucial as the continent seeks to return to macroeconomic stability and fiscal responsibility while leveraging rapidly changing digital technologies to improve livelihoods.
“The multilateral system is under strain, and we must do all that we can to generate the needed resources to achieve sustainable development,” the Ghanaian leader told a session entitled `Building Inclusive, Sustainable and Job-Creating Growth in Africa’”.
“We in Africa should make every effort to generate for ourselves the additional funds we need to advance, and hopefully our external partners – private and public – will lend their backing to the priorities we set.”
The agreement connects 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at US$3.4 trillion. The World Bank says it has the potential to pull more than 30 million people out of extreme poverty.
Akufo-Addo said goodwill towards the continent remained strong as shown by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who told the virtual WEF Davos Dialogues that South Africa had mobilised around $51 billion (R774billion) in new investment commitments over the last three years.
Ramaphosa said around a fifth of the committed value had already been invested in construction and essential equipment for mining, manufacturing, telecoms and agriculture.
Naspers SA Chief Executive Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa told the meeting that digital had the ability to help reduce some of the inequalities exacerbated by the coronavirus.
“Africa’s digital transformation has the potential to leap frog many cycles of development. We can make significant advances enabling sustainable economic growth ensuring we move forward collectively so that no one is left behind.”
Absa Group Chief Executive Daniel Mminele said the there was an opportunity to leverage public funds and infrastructure investments better to uplift communities.
“We need to find sustainable solutions to some of the funding problems we have but funding is very key and a responsibility that sits on the shoulders of both the public and private sector and banks.”
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africa- ... ee9d77dc9f
Foreign Aid Is Having a Reckoning
The Black Lives Matter movement has given leaders from the Global South new traction for change.
Sending aid to Africa became popular in the 1980s, when a famine in Ethiopia prompted some of the most famous singers in the world to raise money for food aid with concerts and songs like “We Are the World.” Images of malnourished children with distended bellies primed an American public to support some of the most ambitious humanitarian relief efforts on record: airlifts of supplies to Sudan, which ran from 1989 to 2005, and a military intervention that aimed to deliver food to war-torn Somalia in the early 1990s. Such efforts have helped shaped outsiders’ perceptions of a diverse continent that is home to 54 countries and 1.3 billion people. Generations of American children were told to eat their vegetables “because there are starving children in Africa.”
Today, a rising African middle class on a continent that is home to nearly two-dozen billionaires is challenging previous assumptions about foreign aid, from who donates money, to who should get paid to deliver aid, to whose metrics ought to be used to determine whether it was a success. A growing group of intellectuals, aid workers and civic leaders from Africa say the “white savior” mentality of the world’s foreign aid system can end up doing more harm than good.
They point out that planeloads of free American corn can help famine victims in the short term, but they can also put local farmers out of business, making the food supply in the long term more precarious. Relief efforts in Sudan may have saved countless lives, but they also emboldened combatants who controlled access to food, prolonging a brutal war. The international efforts in Somalia to stand in for the government have sometimes harmed attempts by Somalis to create governing structures of their own, fostering long-term dependency. The images of starving children used to raise money for famine relief are now decried as “poverty porn” that portrays Africans as helpless victims so that American and European organizations can collect funds.
Degan Ali, executive director of Adeso, a Nairobi-based organization that works in Somalia and Kenya, is among the most outspoken African activists demanding an overhaul of the way foreign aid works. The daughter of a Somali military officer who moved the family to Washington when Ms. Ali was a child, she returned to Somalia as an employee of the United Nations but quickly grew disillusioned. She watched her mother, an award-winning environmentalist in Somalia, struggle to raise funding, while big grants went to international organizations led by white Americans and Europeans who made influential decisions far from the places they were trying to assist.
For years, Ms. Ali decried a system of foreign aid that seemed to replicate the colonial hierarchies of the past and overshadow local efforts to respond to crises. Ms. Ali is a founder of NEAR, a network of organizations led by people from the Global South who are trying to reinvent foreign aid by shifting money and power closer to the communities that aid is meant to serve. Ms. Ali believes that if global institutions were more fair when it comes to lending money and removing barriers to trade, African countries wouldn’t need so much aid. She wants to make the top-down, foreigner-dominated system of handing out assistance a relic of the past.
“The first step is to immediately cease the marketing of people in the Global South as passive ‘beneficiaries’ of aid who need ‘white saviors,’” she wrote. International fund-raising “should be based on amplifying the dynamic work our communities themselves are engaged in.”
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/13/opin ... 778d3e6de3
The Black Lives Matter movement has given leaders from the Global South new traction for change.
Sending aid to Africa became popular in the 1980s, when a famine in Ethiopia prompted some of the most famous singers in the world to raise money for food aid with concerts and songs like “We Are the World.” Images of malnourished children with distended bellies primed an American public to support some of the most ambitious humanitarian relief efforts on record: airlifts of supplies to Sudan, which ran from 1989 to 2005, and a military intervention that aimed to deliver food to war-torn Somalia in the early 1990s. Such efforts have helped shaped outsiders’ perceptions of a diverse continent that is home to 54 countries and 1.3 billion people. Generations of American children were told to eat their vegetables “because there are starving children in Africa.”
Today, a rising African middle class on a continent that is home to nearly two-dozen billionaires is challenging previous assumptions about foreign aid, from who donates money, to who should get paid to deliver aid, to whose metrics ought to be used to determine whether it was a success. A growing group of intellectuals, aid workers and civic leaders from Africa say the “white savior” mentality of the world’s foreign aid system can end up doing more harm than good.
They point out that planeloads of free American corn can help famine victims in the short term, but they can also put local farmers out of business, making the food supply in the long term more precarious. Relief efforts in Sudan may have saved countless lives, but they also emboldened combatants who controlled access to food, prolonging a brutal war. The international efforts in Somalia to stand in for the government have sometimes harmed attempts by Somalis to create governing structures of their own, fostering long-term dependency. The images of starving children used to raise money for famine relief are now decried as “poverty porn” that portrays Africans as helpless victims so that American and European organizations can collect funds.
Degan Ali, executive director of Adeso, a Nairobi-based organization that works in Somalia and Kenya, is among the most outspoken African activists demanding an overhaul of the way foreign aid works. The daughter of a Somali military officer who moved the family to Washington when Ms. Ali was a child, she returned to Somalia as an employee of the United Nations but quickly grew disillusioned. She watched her mother, an award-winning environmentalist in Somalia, struggle to raise funding, while big grants went to international organizations led by white Americans and Europeans who made influential decisions far from the places they were trying to assist.
For years, Ms. Ali decried a system of foreign aid that seemed to replicate the colonial hierarchies of the past and overshadow local efforts to respond to crises. Ms. Ali is a founder of NEAR, a network of organizations led by people from the Global South who are trying to reinvent foreign aid by shifting money and power closer to the communities that aid is meant to serve. Ms. Ali believes that if global institutions were more fair when it comes to lending money and removing barriers to trade, African countries wouldn’t need so much aid. She wants to make the top-down, foreigner-dominated system of handing out assistance a relic of the past.
“The first step is to immediately cease the marketing of people in the Global South as passive ‘beneficiaries’ of aid who need ‘white saviors,’” she wrote. International fund-raising “should be based on amplifying the dynamic work our communities themselves are engaged in.”
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/13/opin ... 778d3e6de3
In Bid to Boost Its Profile, ISIS Turns to Africa’s Militants
Violence by Islamist extremists in Africa reached a record high last year. Now, the Islamic State is using those attacks to project an image of strength.
JOHANNESBURG — The Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate has fallen, its fighters have dispersed and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has been killed.
But two years after it suffered stinging defeats in Syria and Iraq, the terrorist group has found a new lifeline in Africa, where analysts say it has forged alliances with local militant groups in symbiotic relationships that have pumped up their profiles, fund-raising and recruitment.
Many of those homegrown insurgencies are only loosely connected to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Still, over the past year, as violence from Islamist extremists on the African continent reached a record high, the Islamic State has trumpeted these battlefield wins to project an image of strength and inspire its supporters worldwide.
Most recently, the Islamic State claimed credit last week for a days-long rampage in war-afflicted northern Mozambique, where militants with distant ties to the terrorist organization attacked a key port town. The attack left dozens of people dead, including at least one South African and one British citizen, and set off talk on the Islamic State’s online forums of the establishment of a new caliphate there, according to researchers.
“As an organization more broadly, ISIS is hurting,” said Colin P. Clarke, a counterterrorism analyst at the Soufan Group, a New York-based security consulting firm. “To improve morale among its supporters, its leadership is seeking to elevate regional branches showing the most promise in launching attacks and maintaining a robust operational tempo.”
The siege on Palma, the town in Mozambique, was the most brazen attack yet by the local insurgency and is part of an alarming rise of brutal clashes involving militant Islamist extremists across the continent. Violence associated with those groups spiked 43 percent in 2020 compared with 2019, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a U.S. Defense Department research institution.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/07/worl ... 778d3e6de3
Violence by Islamist extremists in Africa reached a record high last year. Now, the Islamic State is using those attacks to project an image of strength.
JOHANNESBURG — The Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate has fallen, its fighters have dispersed and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has been killed.
But two years after it suffered stinging defeats in Syria and Iraq, the terrorist group has found a new lifeline in Africa, where analysts say it has forged alliances with local militant groups in symbiotic relationships that have pumped up their profiles, fund-raising and recruitment.
Many of those homegrown insurgencies are only loosely connected to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Still, over the past year, as violence from Islamist extremists on the African continent reached a record high, the Islamic State has trumpeted these battlefield wins to project an image of strength and inspire its supporters worldwide.
Most recently, the Islamic State claimed credit last week for a days-long rampage in war-afflicted northern Mozambique, where militants with distant ties to the terrorist organization attacked a key port town. The attack left dozens of people dead, including at least one South African and one British citizen, and set off talk on the Islamic State’s online forums of the establishment of a new caliphate there, according to researchers.
“As an organization more broadly, ISIS is hurting,” said Colin P. Clarke, a counterterrorism analyst at the Soufan Group, a New York-based security consulting firm. “To improve morale among its supporters, its leadership is seeking to elevate regional branches showing the most promise in launching attacks and maintaining a robust operational tempo.”
The siege on Palma, the town in Mozambique, was the most brazen attack yet by the local insurgency and is part of an alarming rise of brutal clashes involving militant Islamist extremists across the continent. Violence associated with those groups spiked 43 percent in 2020 compared with 2019, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a U.S. Defense Department research institution.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/07/worl ... 778d3e6de3