Day: December 10, 2023

As Conference of the Parties (COP28) Wraps Up, We Must Remember, Aid to Africa Is (Still!) Not the Answer (By NJ Ayuk)

Mr Mohammed

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, December 10, 2023/ — By NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber (www.EnergyChamber.org). There was an era when Africa and Western pop music were closely linked. Western entertainers spearheaded a number of internationally renowned events to raise awareness about the plight of starving Africans and generate funds for famine relief. In December 1984, the supergroup Band Aid sang about feeding the world, asking “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” Within a year, the group had raised over USD9 million. Three months later, USA for Africa released “We Are the…

African Nations Must Reject Promises of Aid and Handouts to Abandon Their Oil and Gas As COP28 Wraps Up

Mr Mohammed

By NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber There was an era when Africa and Western pop music were closely linked. Western entertainers spearheaded a number of internationally renowned events to raise awareness about the plight of starving Africans and generate funds for famine relief. In December 1984, the supergroup Band Aid sang about feeding the world, asking “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” Within a year, the group had raised over USD9 million. Three months later, USA for Africa released “We Are the World” and banked USD44.5 million after one…

African Development Bank approves $66 million loan for equity enhancement of Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank

Mr Mohammed

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, December 10, 2023/ — The African Development Bank Group’s (www.AfDB.org) Board of Directors has approved a $66 million loan to the government of Tanzania for additional equity in Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB). The financing will enable TADB to strengthen its capital and enhance the structure and effectiveness of financial and non-financial services it offers to entrepreneurs in the agriculture and related value chains. The Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank Phase II project will also receive $950,000 in technical assistance from the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in…

Amid rising corruption, most Africans say they risk retaliation if they speak up, new Afrobarometer Pan-Africa Profile reveals

Mr Mohammed

ACCRA, Ghana, December 10, 2023/ — A majority of Africans say that corruption in their country is rising, that their government is failing in its efforts to fight it, and that ordinary citizens risk retaliation if they report corruption to the authorities, Afrobarometer’s (www.Afrobarometer.org) latest Pan-Africa Profile (https://apo-opa.co/41k8N4i) reveals. Download document (1): https://apo-opa.co/3NmOey6 Download document (2): https://apo-opa.co/3RDm193 Released ahead of International Anti-Corruption Day (9 December), the Afrobarometer report is based on nationally representative surveys in 39 African countries. Findings show that among key public institutions, the police are most widely perceived as corrupt. In…

South Africa: African Development Bank approves $1 billion guarantee from the United Kingdom to support SA’s Just Energy Transition

Mr Mohammed

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, December 10, 2023/ — The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has approved a $1 billion guarantee program in collaboration with the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), which will allow the Bank to increase its lending capacity in support of South Africa’s Just Energy Transition (JET). Developed in close collaboration with the government of the Republic of South Africa, the program will support projects aligned with South Africa’s JET investment plan, such as transmission and grid-balancing storage, renewable energy generation, energy…