AU, Dangote, others for Africa Business Health Forum - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Top African leaders including Heads of States, Ministers, CEOs as well as representatives from the African Union and United Nations will converge at the inaugural Africa Business: Health Forum (AB:HF) (www.AfricaBusinessHealthForum.com) taking place in Ethiopia on 12th February 2019 on the margins of the 32nd African Union Summit, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Forum will unify Africa’s key decision makers in exploring opportunities for catalyzing growth in the continent’s economy, through business partnerships to invest in the health sector.

The inter-relationship between the health of employees and economic growth is increasingly taking center stage in many African countries, and business is being pushed to exploring how to maximize shareholder value as a complex interplay between financial, human, social and environmental return.

African business entrepreneurs are waking up to the reality that good health is good business, and investing in health is both a business and social imperative, with studies showing that by 2030, business opportunities in the health and wellness sector will reach $1.8 trillion in current prices.

Investing in African health systems is an opportunity to accelerate economic development and growth, contribute to saving millions of lives, prevent life-long disabilities, and move countries closer to achieving SDGs and Africa’s Agenda 2063.

“From a business standpoint, we are beginning to see the opportunities that could be created by focusing on improving and investing in health,” says Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, a renowned financier and Co- Chair, GBCHealth. “There is a need to close the gap on the inequality of life in Africa from a healthcare standpoint and we must look to develop a universal plan that shifts the needle as far as healthcare in Africa is concerned. Health must cease being a source of pain, and become a source of prosperity instead.”

The AB:HF is the vision of GBCHealth, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the Aliko Dangote Foundation, with the objective of driving business leadership, strengthening partnerships, and facilitating investments to change the face of healthcare in Africa.

The Forum will culminate in the launch of the African Business Coalition for Health (ABCHealth), a coalition that will mobilize a core group of private sector champions through a coordinated platform to advance health outcomes and shape health systems across Africa.

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Tutu fellows write AU, UN against Libya slave exploit

NaijaAgroNet:

The Archbishop Tutu Fellows have written to the African Heads of State and the international private sector, Civil Society and multilateral organisations on its stand against the Libyan slave exploits, describing it as the ”great stain’ on African soil, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Mimi Kalinda of the African Communications Group of African Leadership Institute (AFLI) called on the leaders of private sector and civil society organisations, policy makers at the United Nations and the African Union and fellow Africans, saying that slavery in Libya is a crime against humanity.

They also said immediate action is required by all stakeholders, including African governments, to put an end to this outrageous practice and hold responsible parties accountable.

AFLI equally said that there are three great stains on humanity; war, genocide and slavery.

They are the great stains not only because they are the fertile soil for many other debasing evils; they are Great Stains because they are assaults and crimes against humanity.

The prevalence of war, genocide and slavery historically, they said, is by no means the measure by which “we as humanity can accept such behavior as normative, then or now.”

Slavery, AFLI said, has spawned intergenerational social and economic disruption to the Continent of Africa and other areas; and has stolen the liberties and lives of people for the commoditization of their bodies against their will.

Further, they said, the slave trade is a crime against humanity, saying in part, “It is abhorrent to humanity. It is monstrous. It is an assault on the dignity of all. Slavery can and must be stopped.”

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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USAID lifts African CNC with agro transformation grant

NaijaAgroNet:

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is advancing undisclosed grant to the Africa Lead II and the CAADP Non-State Actors Coalition (CNC) in support of initial CAADP four countries including Nigeria, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This was a key resolution from the just ended meeting of Africa Lead II and the CAADP Non-State Actors Coalition (CNC) in Ghana.

The grant is to support CAADP in Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, and Kenya in the first phase.

The official communique from the meeting made available to NaijaAgroNet invited interested organizations to submit a brief concept paper in order to earn the chance to apply for resources and support, build relationships and networks with key actors in CAADP, and put their idea into action.

The grant activities, NaijaAgroNet reports, would help to create and effectively bring about approaches towards improving citizen engagement in national food security investment priorities as outlined by the CAADP themes.

NaijaAgroNet equally reports that interested non-state actors should submit proposals with focus on aligning Non-State Actors (NSA) programme design and development to the CAADP agenda to support relevant National Agriculture Investment Plan (NAIP) priorities.

Also, NaijaAgroNet  reports that proposal should include on how to make use of agricultural performance data relevant to specific CAADP themes for advocacy and strategic communication purposes; and ready to generate relevant data sets to support the ongoing monitoring of CAADP progress.

“Applicants may propose new projects or scale up small projects that have demonstrated success. Awardees will be expected to share evaluation results and key lessons, and periodically disseminate activities and outcomes with the broader community.  If your organization is working towards creative solutions for these objectives in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, or Senegal, please review the application and submit your idea,” our source told NaijaAgroNet.

Chuks Egbune/GEE 
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Conde urges improved fisheries governance in Africa, reiterates AU commitment

NaijaAgroNet:

The President of the Republic of Guinea, Professor Alpha Conde, has urged for improved fisheries governance on the continent of Africa, reiterating African Union (AU) commitment to conducive environment, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Conde in a keynote address at the 32nd Session of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Committee on Fisheries (COFI) held recently in Rome, declared that his initiatives as champion will reinforce the efforts already undertaken by the African Union in creating an environment conducive to dialogue on African development issues.

Conde who also doubles as the NEPAD Agency’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Champion, implored African Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives to the United Nations agencies based in Rome to drum support for continuous improvement in the governance of the fisheries sector in Africa.

President Conde further committed himself to support the implementation of reforms in the fisheries sector for effective governance of this important sector towards Africa’s development.

The contribution of fisheries to national economies in Africa is quite significant.  Revenues amount to nearly $24 billion per year, representing 1.26 per cent of the continent’s GDP and 6.02 per cent of its agricultural GDP.  Moreover, the sector provides more than 12 million people with direct employment. Women account for a quarter of the workforce in the sector and are also active in fish processing.

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, in his remarks, emphasised that fisheries and aquaculture are not only important for eradication of poverty and hunger, but are also key to improving nutrition.

Challenges, he said, exist in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors that require urgent action, stressing that among them are the over-exploitation of fishery resources, the growing expansion of international demand for fish to which is added the lack of capacity of African institutions for adequate management of fisheries resources on the continent. 

Mr. Jose further said that the result of this is that Africa generally has the lowest fish consumption, estimated at 9 kg per capita, which represents less than half of the world average of 21 kg.  The per capita consumption is expected to decline further due to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

NaijaAgroNet, to counter the challenges of fishing on the continent, African Heads of State and Government adopted a policy framework and a fisheries and aquaculture reform strategy in July 2014 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, with the aim of improving governance of the sector for the benefit of its people.

In addition African countries including Benin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa and Sudan are party to FAO’s international accord aimed at stamping out illegal fishing which came into effect in June 2016.  The Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (PSMA) is the world's first illegal fishing treaty.

Mr. Jose Graziano da Silva encouraged other countries to also be party to this agreement as soon as possible. “The agreement must be used with other tools in order to attain sustainable and legal fisheries. Generations to come will recognise the importance of this achievement,” he said.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Kilimanjaro Initiative heads to AU Summits

NaijaAgroNet:

As part of the action plans for the Kilimanjaro Initiative, which commenced since March, this year, will in the coming months head to the headquarters of the African Union Commission (AUC) to register the advocacy and call for action, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This, NaijaAgroNet gathered, will come as part of their participation via delegation at selected AU summits between the month of July and August 2016.

Confirming these plans in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire during a presentation at a workshop hosted jointly by the Africa Media Initiative (AMI) and World Bank in Abidjan, the Africa Advocacy Officer, ActionAid International, Mr. Buba Khan, informed NaijaAgroNet that the plan to AU Summits is a continental call to action so as to push the advocacy to the heads of governments and states in Africa.

Khan also said that the march to AU Summits, will be heralded with a launch of a flagship report on the status of women land rights in Africa.

The target for this specific action will be regional actors in support of rural women to engage in African Union (AU), Southern Africa Development Commission (SADC), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) heads of states summits.

Further, he said, the journey to Kilimanjaro as scheduled between September and October this year, will see to the launch of Caravans to Kilimanjaro as a creative digital engagement tools will be made available to communicate, mobilise and engage supporters from global North.

Additionally, he revealed that stunts, speaking tour, lobby visits and story-gathering will be planned to engage the public and decision makers in the north.

“Rural Women across Africa, Latin America and Asia will be mobilized to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa,” he said, stressing they will reclaim their power and demand right to access and control of land. Just as government officials and high profile women leaders will be called upon to witness and hear direct voices from rural women.

Key demands the initiative will be asking from AU, Khan hinted will include full implementation of the AU guiding principles on large scale land based investment and the tenure guidelines on land, fisheries and forests through participatory, inclusive mechanisms that prioritise the rights and needs of legitimate tenure users, especially women.

The summit will be charged to ensure free, prior and informed consent for all communities affected by land transfers, including the fair and equitable participation of local communities, especially excluded and marginalised groups such as women, youth, children, minorities, the elderly and disabled.

Participation of the delegation, he explained, will spur review of public policies and projects that incentivise land grabbing, and instead support policies that prioritise the needs of small-scale food producers – particularly women – and sustainable land use.

This, he pointed out will help in regulating businesses involved in land deals so that they are fully accountable for respecting human rights, tenure rights and environmental, social and labour standards. This includes ensuring that investors carry out comprehensive human rights due diligence, are transparent and are fully accountable throughout all their operations at home and abroad, to name a few.

+Remmy Nweke in Abidjan/ED Ops 

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Nigeria, Zambia, 3 others selected as AU disease control centers

NaijaAgroNet:

 

Five countries including Nigeria, Zambia Gabon, Kenya and Egypt, have been selected as sub-regional disease control centres by the Africa Union (AU), reports NaijaAgroNet.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the Director, Social Affairs, African Union Commission (AUC), Mr. Olawale Maiyegun, as saying at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, weekend, that these designated centres represent a cluster of regional collaborating centres for AU on disease related control efforts.

He explained that these countries have a coordinating office within the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia based on laid down criteria which was approved last year, 2015 under the Article 26 of the Africa Centre for Disease Control (ACDC) statutes.

“We are in Nigeria and our aim is to determine if the National Centres for Disease Control, which serves as centre for disease control in West Africa, meets the criteria that are contained in the statutes. We are not comparing the countries with each other rather we are evaluating and assessing them to ensure they meet every criteria.”

He stressed AU expectation on its mandate through government commitment, human resources, infrastructure and funding.

Maiyegun further commended efforts of the current Nigerian government toward the CDC concept fulfillment.

Isaac Oyimah with agency report/GEE

 

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Malabo funding facility to leverage development partners relationship

NaijaAgroNet:

The African Union (AU) has advanced plans to ensure that the continent leverages its relationships with Development Partners (DPs), mostly in the implementation of the recently endorsed Malabo funding facility, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Revealing this to NaijaAgroNet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the inaugural conference of Specialized Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment (STC-ARDWE), the Coordinator of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), Mr. Komla Bissi, assured the judicious use of the facility.

Reacting to DPs commendations to AU at the opening session of STC, he reiterated that African Union is working with the development partners to explore and leverage on the options that could be available for financing some of continent programmes.

He also affirmed that the current ‘Malabo facility’ would not disturb in any way the various on-going projects across the continent.

“We just concluded a discussion on the new financing facility, which we’re calling the Malabo facility,” he asserted.

Mr. Bissi explained that this facility is being put together from various sources, namely the AU, development partners, and private sectors to support countries particularly in implementing the commitment made in the Malabo facility and the programmes that have been identified.

His office through the AU is presently consulting with “Our member states. So, these discussions will be concluded this afternoon at the ongoing meeting of ST-ARDWE in Addis Ababa, whereas specific recommendations will be tabled for Ministers for consideration.”

NaijaAgroNet recalls for instance that recently, the World Bank highlighted that across Sub-Saharan Africa, poor infrastructure is a major bottleneck for sustainable development, just as signaling a new push and renewed commitment, could boost investment and catalyzes greater cooperation.

While infrastructure deficit has remain atop challenges of the continent’s ability to lay the foundations for sustained economic growth and productivity improvements needed to end poverty and boost shared prosperity on the continent.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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