diplomacy&development

  According to the report, Senegal's growth rate accelerated from 3.4% over the period 2008-2013 to 6.4% on average over the period 2014-2019  The African Development Bank (https://www.AfDB.org/) carried out an evaluation of its intervention in Senegal over the 2016-2020 period and a review of the performance of the 2020 country portfolio.  In a completion report of the “Country Strategy Paper” (CSP) covering the period 2016-2020, the Bank “analyzes the context and prospects for Senegal, assesses the progress made in the implementation of the CSP, presents the review of the portfolio, draws lessons and identifies priority areas for the next strategy ”.  The CSP for Senegal was approved on September 14, 2016 by the Board of Directors of the Bank and was based on two pillars, namely: "support for agricultural transformation"; and the "strengthening of infrastructure to support production and competitiveness", particularly energy and transport. This CSP in line wit...

  DRC President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tsholombo with Carlos Robles FRAGA, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Spain The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo received, this Thursday, October 29, 2020 at the Palais de la Nation, the credentials of four new extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors as well as the special representative of the African Union accredited to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mrs. Calliope Penny DOUTI, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Hellenic Republic They are Oliver SCHNAKENBERG of the Federal Republic of Germany,  Mrs. Calliope Penny DOUTI, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Hellenic Republic, C arlos Robles FRAGA, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Spain, were received by the DRC Head of State. Oppewal Jolke FOLKERT, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Oppewal Jolke FOLKERT, Ambassador Extraordi...

The French Ambassador to DRC, François Pujolas with the Participants to the first edition of the Campus France student fair The French Institute of Kinshasa named "Institut Français de Kinshasa", a member of the France in DR Congo Network called "La France en RD Congo", hosted on Saturday 24 October 2020 the first edition of the Campus France student fair, in the presence of the Minister of Higher and University Education, Thomas LUHAKA, including the French Ambassador to the DRC, François PUJOLAS, as well as the sponsor of the France Alumni community, Professor Kodjo NDUKUMA.  At few days left before the launch of the next Campus France campaign, this first edition of the fair was to promote the supplier industry sectors employment in the DRC, in particular through four round tables led by professionals from humanitarian, banking and insurance, medical and hotels and restaurants. In the strict respect for barrier gestures, the event welcomed, on pre-registration, m...

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda I am deeply concerned by public reports and information received by my Office about an escalation of serious violence over the past few days in some towns and cities in Côte d’Ivoire ahead of the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for 31 October 2020. I particularly deplore the allegations of intercommunal violence, which has reportedly led to people being killed  or wounded, and to property belonging to the civilian population being seriously damaged. These acts could constitute crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (“the ICC”). I call on all political actors and their supporters to show calm and restraint. The violence seen in Côte d’Ivoire during the first pre-election crisis of 2010 must not be repeated. Violence by any side of the political divide is not an option. Any person who commits, orders, incites, encourages or contributes in any other way to the commission of crimes ...

H.E. Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi, The First Lady of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Dr Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation Merck Founda tion (www.merck-foundation.com) , the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany announced the winners of the “Stay at Home” Media Recognition Awards 2020 for the Democratic Republic of Congo in partnership with H.E. DENISE NYAKERU TSHISEKEDI, The First Lady of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  The theme of the awards was "Raising awareness on how to stay safe and in good physical and mental health during confinement due to coronavirus ”in an effort to separate facts from myths and misconceptions.  H.E. DENISE NYAKERU TSHISEKEDI, The First Lady of the Republic Democratic of the Congo and Ambassador of ‘Merck More than a Mother’ declared "I am very happy to announce the winners of the Recognition Awards “Stay at Home” Media, with our long-term partner, the Merck Foundation. The media have played an important role in disseminating fac...

The two new members bring a wealth of experience in international policy, international trade, judicial reform and economic development. The African Legal Support Facility (the ALSF) (www.AfLSF.org), is pleased to announce the appointment of Christine Anyango Agimba and Ambassador Arve Ofstad to its management board. The two new members bring a wealth of experience in international policy, international trade, judicial reform and economic development. Agimba, a Kenyan national and current Deputy Solicitor General State Law Office and Department of Justice (Office of the Attorney General), has more than 25 years of experience in the public and private legal sectors.  She has advised on a wide range of legal, governance and policy matters, including managing public sector reform programs in judicial and financial sectors in Kenya. Agimba previously served as project manager and legal sector specialist at the Ministry of Finance; lawyer at the Trade and Development Bank (formerly PTA ...

The two new members bring a wealth of experience in international policy, international trade, judicial reform and economic development. The African Legal Support Facility (the ALSF) (www.AfLSF.org), is pleased to announce the appointment of Christine Anyango Agimba and Ambassador Arve Ofstad to its management board. The two new members bring a wealth of experience in international policy, international trade, judicial reform and economic development. Agimba, a Kenyan national and current Deputy Solicitor General State Law Office and Department of Justice (Office of the Attorney General), has more than 25 years of experience in the public and private legal sectors.  She has advised on a wide range of legal, governance and policy matters, including managing public sector reform programs in judicial and financial sectors in Kenya. Agimba previously served as project manager and legal sector specialist at the Ministry of Finance; lawyer at the Trade and Development Bank (formerly PTA ...

The rating is supported by ITFC's ‘Very large capital buffers’, ‘Prudent treasury investment practices and adequate liquidity management policies’ and ‘Very high implicit member support. On October 01, 2020, Moody's Investors Service reaffirmed the rating of A1 with stable outlook assigned to the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) (ITFC-IDB.org), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB Group). The rating is supported by ITFC's ‘Very large capital buffers’, ‘Prudent treasury investment practices and adequate liquidity management policies’ and ‘Very high implicit member support’. According to Moody’s, “The implementation of a stringent liquidity policy starting November 2018 in light of the transition to a leveraged balance sheet supports the corporation’s robust liquidity and funding profile”. Moody’s also stated, “In addition to the upgraded liquidity risk policy, management has also upgraded its credit risk management capacities which is re...

Stories must have been broadcast or published between 1st January and 31st October 2020. Stories are judged on content, writing, analysis, creativity, human interest and community impact. All stories must be submitted in electronic format: Print: upload the scan(s) of the published article;Radio: upload the SoundCloud link;Website: upload the URL orTV: upload the YouTube link. TV material must first be uploaded to YouTube (YouTube.com) and radio material to SoundCloud (SoundCloud.com). If one is not a member of these sites, one will need to sign up in order to upload the video or radio material. Once one has obtained the link, one must enter it in this online entry form when inputting one's story details. The online entry form is available here: bit.ly/APOaward The deadline for entries is 31st October 2020. The finalists will be announced on 20th November 2020 while the winner will be announced on Thursday, 3 December 2020. Cassien Tribunal Aungane, Editor

The DRC Prime Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba The DRC Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba received this thursday in audience several diplomats stationed in the DRC, on the sidelines of the address of the Head of State to the nation on Friday and the swearing-in of the constitutional judges last Wednesday.  The first to be received on Thursday evening was Zimbabwe’s charge of DRC affairs and the Republic of South Africa (RSA) ambassador. This Friday, October 23, 2020, at the Hôtel du Gouvernement located in Kinshasa in the town of Gombe, the Prime Minister, Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba, spoke with the Ambassador of the European Union (EU) in the DRC, Jean-Marc Chestnut. According to the prime minister who delivers this information, the exchanges between the two personalities revolved around the political situation in the country, characterized by the crisis within the ruling FCC-CACH coalition. Regarding the current political situation in the DRC, Jean-Marc Châtaignier let it be know...

A UN human rights expert said today that Brazil has a unique opportunity to recognise the right to reparations for individuals who as children were separated from their parents affected by Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy, and segregated from society. Some 16,000 children were separated from their parents affected by Hansen’s disease and sent to institutions between 1923 and 1986, in line with the State’s then-forced segregation policy. A number of cases have been filed by the separated children in state courts over the past decade, but they are still pending. “The Supreme Court now has an opportunity to redress this injustice, which, given its enduring effects must be considered as a permanent violation that falls out of any limitation period” said Alice Cruz, who in 2017 became UN’s first Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members. “They have endured a lifetime of pain as a result of this inhumane treatm...

The OPEC Fund and West African Development Bank (BOAD) boost cooperation in Western Africa The agreement focuses on increased engagement and knowledge-sharing between the two institutions and ensures enhanced cooperation in co-financing public and private sector projects. The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) (OPECFund.org) and the West African Development Bank (BOAD) have signed a Framework Agreement to further strengthen their development cooperation in the member countries of the Western African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU): Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte-d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The agreement focuses on increased engagement and knowledge-sharing between the two institutions and ensures enhanced cooperation in co-financing public and private sector projects, as well as supporting international trade and regional integration. It also enables the OPEC Fund and BOAD to join forces to directly mitigate the negative impact of COVID-1...

  The ten key elements, emerged from the virtual event, build a flexible framework for innovation, broadly suitable to enable decarbonization of the energy sector. Ten key priorities for successful long-term energy transformation; Decarbonized energy systems build more sustainable, inclusive and resilient economies; More than 2,500 people joined the virtual conference. Siemens Energy (Siemens-Energy.com) today published the main priorities to enable facilitate a successful long-term energy transition and enable countries to thrive in the lower-carbon world. These findings were based on the discussions held during the MEA Energy Week. The virtual conference, which was held from 19 – 21 October, brought together regional government and the private sector representatives, from across the energy and finance sectors, to share perspectives and inform opinions on how best to navigate the energy transition. Advancing the decarbonized energy transformation and fostering an ecosystem of coll...

In total, 41 km of road were rehabilitated at the end of the project, against 22 km planned during its appraisal. The rehabilitation project of the RN13 national road in its phase 1 (Makebuko-Butaganzwa section), carried out between 2014 and 2018 in Burundi, contributed to facilitate the traffic of goods between the economic capital, Bujumbura, and the interior of the country, and to improve the living conditions of populations in rural areas. Funded to the tune of US $ 12.34 million, the project's direct area of ​​influence covers the communes of Itaba and Makebuko in Gitega Province and Butaganzwa and Ruyigi in Ruyigi Province.  While indirectly the area of ​​influence is larger and covers the provinces of Gitega, Ruyigi, Cankuzo, Rutana as well as western Tanzania, including part of the flow of manufactured products, coming from or going to Burundi, goes through the RN13. In total, 41 km of road were rehabilitated at the end of the project, against 22 km planned during its appra...

  This year’s Summit will host over 1,000 attendees and 60+ speakers calling in from 10 different time zones across 6 continents. The fifth Africa Fintech Summit (AfricaFintechSummit.com) will be hosted virtually this year through the Accelevents (bit.ly/3ki0PC8) platform on November 9th, 10th, and 12th, 2020. The Summit takes place at the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic that has brought unprecedented need for digital trade & finance and positioned fintech as key to economic recovery. This year’s Summit will host over 1,000 attendees and 60+ speakers calling in from 10 different time zones across 6 continents. Each day’s theme has been built to explore the new insights we uncovered in preparing the soon-to-be-released Africa Fintech: State of the Industry 2020, a 63-page report dedicated to the bright minds and innovations. With a focus on the geniuses behind the innovations leading the industry, panelists include: Co-Founder & CEO of Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola...

The project will reduce potential risks along the agricultural value chain, and improve access to quality inputs, including fertilizers, in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) has approved the participation of the Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism (AFFM) (www.AfDB.org/en/affm) in a $4 million partial trade credit guarantee with OCP Africa (www.OCPAfrica.com), a subsidiary of the OCP Group. The project will reduce potential risks along the agricultural value chain, and improve access to quality inputs, including fertilizers, in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. The three-year project (2020-2023) will support 430,000 smallholder farmers, including 104,000 women, in the two countries and facilitate their access to quality and affordable agricultural inputs, as well as provide training in good agricultural practices. The project will build on OCP Africa’s Agribooster, an initiative that relies on an inclusive approach to provide farmers access to quality...

I FAD aims to deliver an overall programme of work of US$10 billion for the IFAD12 period (2022–2024), with over half of investments allocated to Africa. Ten African Heads of State have issued a strong call to other world leaders to increase their funding to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) (IFAD.org) or risk jeopardizing Sustainable Development Goal targets for eradicating poverty and hunger, particularly in Africa. “We share IFAD’s vision of vibrant rural communities where people live free from poverty and hunger,” wrote the leaders of of Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Kenya, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo in letters to their counterparts in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania.   “Investing in building the resilience of rural people is now more important than ever in order to secure food supplies, safeguard rural livelihoods, ensure that progress made over the years is not lost and prevent more...

Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany announced the winners of “Stay at Home” Media Recognition Awards for African Countries.   The theme of the awards was ‘Raising Awareness on how to Stay Safe and Keep Physically and Mentally Healthy during Coronavirus Lockdown’ with the aim to separate facts from myths and misconceptions. The “Stay at Home” Media Recognition Awards were introduced in partnership with African First Ladies of Ghana, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Namibia, Niger, Guinea Conakry, Burundi, Central African Republic (C.A.R.), Chad, Zimbabwe, Zambia, The Gambia, Liberia and Congo Brazzaville, Angola and Mozambique.  Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation emphasizes, “I am very proud of our winners. We received a tremendous response from African journalists in form of their entries. I truly believe that Media plays a crucial role in educating and sensitizing our communities about health and sensitive issues such as COV...

During the period 2014-2019, the Bank approved 354 operations totaling US $ 6.45 billion in Transition States. The African Development Bank (https://www.AfDB.org/), the continent's main multilateral development institution, has increased its commitments to states in transition by 51 % between 2014 and 2019. This is what emerges from the report of the Bank's Independent Development Evaluation Department (IDEV). During the period 2014-2019, the Bank approved 354 operations totaling US $ 6.45 billion in Transition States (TEs), that is, States where the main development challenge is fragility, according to the Bank.  This corresponds to an increase of 51% compared to the period 2008-2013, despite a decrease of 17.9% in the resources of the African Development Fund (ADF), according to IDEV, the office of independent development evaluation. form the bank. Over the period, the resources of the ADF, the concessional window of the Bank Group where the ETs originate, increased from US $...

Relief packages composed of masks, hydroalcoholic gels, soaps and some food such as spaghetti, milk and sardines, to the athletes and leaders present The Federation made a point of delivering these relief packages composed of masks, hydroalcoholic gels, soaps and some food such as spaghetti, milk and sardines, to the athletes and leaders present. The distribution of Rugby Africa prizes for the fight against the spread of covid-19, which has been postponed several times, finally took place Saturday, October 17, 2020 in Kinshasa in the Lemba commune on GD ground, during the launch of the championship by the Kinshasa League and the official resumption of oval ball activities in DR Congo. On this occasion, several friendly matches were played.  The U14 and U12 category of schools of rugby of the Panthères, Matete, Kisenso and Star Source "La Source des Stars" rugby schools offered the public the beauty of the game of rugby playing with great enthusiasm. Then, women's rugby (R...

This financing, authorized in May 2019, enables Guinea's project to support the competitiveness of the honey value chain, currently under implementation, to achieve its objectives. The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) has granted a donation of 846,360 Canadian dollars to the Republic of Guinea to help it develop its competitiveness in the chain value of honey. This funding, authorized in May 2019, enables Guinea's project to support the competitiveness of the honey value chain, currently under implementation, to achieve its objectives. The Bank's financing, through the African Trade Fund (AfTra), represents 86.8% of the total project cost, with a counterpart of 122,550 Canadian dollars coming from the beneficiaries, or 13.2% of the total. The funding is intended for the Peanut, Shea and Honey Production Cooperative (COPRAKAM), which has 1,500 members in the honey sector.  The project, carried out in three prefectures - Dabola, Kouroussa and Faranah - has several obje...