Closer look at AfDB’s ‘High Five’ developmental targets for Africa

May 25,2016

VIOLET MENGO

Lusaka

IN THE words of African Development Bank (AfDB) president Akinwumi Ades ina: “Africa is simply tired of being in the dark. It is time to take decisive action and turn around this narrative: to light up and power Africa and accelerate the pace of economic transformation, unlock the potential of businesses, and drive much needed industrialisation to create jobs.”

The AfDB president has set out the direction that the bank ought to take in addressing challenges that the African continent is faced with.

In his inaugural address in September, 2015 following his election as the eighth president, Mr Adesina set down a new agenda for the AfDB group, building on its existing 2013-to- 2022 strategy.
With the five development primacies for the AfDB dubbed the ‘High Five’ – Light up and power Africa, feed Africa, industrialise Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve the life for the people – bank has taken African issues seriously and is working at making the continent the most comfortable place for all its inhabitants in one way or the other.

Dr Adesina addressing a crowd

The High Five are essential in transforming the lives of the African people and therefore consistent with the United Nations agenda on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The annual meeting taking place in Lusaka under the theme “Energy and climate change” is premised on the fact that over 645 million Africans do not have access to electricity, while 700 million have no access to clean cooking energy, and 600,000 die each year from indoor pollution from over-reliance on biomass for cooking.

 The AfDB is responding to the challenge of supporting inclusive growth and the transition to green growth by scaling up investment and implementation of the Africa’s transformation by focusing on five priority areas.

This is in response to ambitious SDGs agreed upon by world leaders to eliminate poverty from the planet by 2030.

The United Nations on Climate Change (COP21) held in Paris last year, also came up with an equally ambitious agreement on climate change.

Not only are the five priority areas central to Africa, they are also intrinsically linked to SDGs and global commitments on climate change.

The five priorities have also been highlighted as critical priorities in the Agenda 2063 for Africa, developed in partnership with the African Union.

In Lighting up and powering Africa, the AfDB launched a New Deal on Energy for Africa built on five inter-related and mutually reinforcing principles which are: raising aspirations to solve Africa’s energy challenges; establishing a transformative partnership on energy for Africa; mobilising domestic and international capital for innovative financing in Africa’s energy sector; supporting African governments in strengthening energy policy, regulation and sector governance; and increasing AfDB investments in energy and climate financing.

While renewable energy will be prioritised by the Bank, fossil fuels will remain an important part of the overall energy mix, as is the case with several developed economies. The AfDB will finance state of the art technology to minimise emissions.

The Bank’s energy strategy, central to implementing the New Deal, focuses on seven areas, which are: setting up an enabling policy environment; transforming utility companies for success; dramatically increasing the number of bankable energy projects; increasing the funding pool to deliver new projects; supporting ‘bottom of the pyramid’ energy access programmess, particularly for women; accelerating major regional projects to drive integration; and rolling out waves of country-wide energy ‘transformations’.

The Bank will implement these priorities through a series of flagship programmes such as: Independent Power Producers (IPP) procurement, power utility transformation, an early stage project support facility and related catalytic programmess, mobile payment initiatives, and a regional project acceleration program.

It is the Bank’s desire to help the continent achieve electricity access by 2025 with a strong focus on encouraging clean and renewable energy solutions.

This is through the provision of the 160 gigawatt (GW) of new capacity, 130 million new on-grid connections, 75 million new off-grid connections and providing 150 million households with access to clean cooking solutions at an estimated investment ranging between US$60 billion to 90 billion per year.

In the feeding Africa goal, the Bank is working at agricultural transformation where 150 million people across the continent are adequately fed; over a 100 million people lifted out of poverty and about 190 million hectares of land converted to productive use over a period of 10 years (2016-2025).
Although agriculture employs over 60 percent of the African workforce and accounts for roughly a third of the continent’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the region is the most food-insecure area in the world, with more than 232 million under-nourished people, or approximately one in every four.
The Bank has developed a strategy for long-term agricultural transformation in Africa.

This follows a high level Ministerial Conference on Feeding Africa- an action plan for transforming agriculture in Africa held in Dakar to map out how to unlock Africa’s agricultural potential and boost job creation in view of diversifying economies.

T h e Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) supports the realisation of key SDSs through the development of an inclusive and competitive African agribusiness sector.

Underpinning this vision are four specific goals: contribute to the end of poverty; end hunger and malnutrition; make Africa a net food exporter; and move Africa to the top of export-orientated value chains where it has comparative advantage.

Through its strategy, the AfDB will help unlock the potential of low-income countries using an approach where countries start treating the sector as a business and a starting point for industrialisation.

Through the Industrialise Africa priority, the Bank addresses a diversity of challenges and foster value creation, formal employment and positive commercial gains, including regional trade and enhanced balance of payments.

It supports productivity enhancement through automation, quality management, improved processes and training.

In l ine with the Bank Group’s Private Sector Development Strategy, the AfDB targets improving the capacity of Africa’s producers, particularly manufacturers and related industries, to compete with imported products in local markets, and help to link them to regional and international markets.

It will also support the development and expansion of small and medium entrepreneurs, industrial clusters and the establishment of private-public partnerships as a means to leverage resources for financing the industrialisation process.

Furthermore, the Bank’s Group Regional Integration Policy and Strategy, approved by the Board in 2014, acknowledges the opportunities provided by regional integration in boosting infrastructure, trade, industrialisation and the movement of people.

As part of its mandate, the Bank’s Group Regional Integration Policy and Strategy continues to lead in several continental wide initiatives targeting both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ infrastructure (trade and services facilitation policies and instruments).

These initiatives are, among others: the Continental Free Trade Area; comprehensive Africa agriculture Development Programme; Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa and the Boosting Intra- African Trade agenda.

In improving the quality of life for the people of Africa, the AfDB has continued to work at promoting an enabling human development policy environment and strengthening institutions that deliver basic services, particularly in health systems in countries most vulnerable to epidemics such as ebola and cholera.

Job creation has remained central to this initiative and the Bank has prepared a ‘Jobs for Youth in Africa’ strategy designed to increase direct and indirect employment, resulting in reduced poverty, inequality, and economic and conflict driven migration, and increased social cohesion and political stability.

Electricity gets US$12 billion investmentElectricity gets US$12 billion investment

VIOLET MENGO, KALONDE NYATI
Lusaka
THE African Development Bank (AfDB) will invest US$12 billion in the energy sector to unlock
Africa’s potential, its president Akinwumi Adesina has said.
And the continental financial giant says Africa projects a creation of 25 million jobs for the youth in the next 10 years.
Dr Adesina said Africa aspires to achieve economic growth through industrialisation and agricultural productivity.
He said initiatives that will support access to electricity for the sectors will therefore remain important.

2016 AfDB Annual Meetings to focus on energy and climate change

Watch the space for the AfDB taking place in Lusaka, Zambia

The 2016 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank will take place from Monday, May 23 to Friday, May 27, 2016 at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka, Zambia.
The theme of this year’s meetings is “Energy and Climate Change”, and draws on one of the Bank’s “High 5” priority areas, namely to “Light up and Power Africa”. It also reflects the Bank’s New Deal on Energy and the key resolutions from the recent UN climate talks (COP21) on global warming.
The 2016 Annual Meetings theme is aligned with two of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 7 to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” and SDG 13 to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”.
The Bank’s Annual Meetings are its largest annual event, and its biggest window on the world.  They bring together some 5,000 delegates and participants, and feature some 40 official events in addition to the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors, which constitutes the core purpose of the Meetings. 
The Bank’s Governors are the Finance, Trade or Economic Development Ministers from its 54 Regional and 26 Non-Regional Member Countries).  The Meetings represent the definitive forum for representatives of Government, business, civil society and media – from Africa and beyond – to debate the social and economic development of the continent.

All people must get involved in the fight against climate change

VIOLET MENGO

Lusaka

May 19, 2016

Violet

Climate change is everyone’s business. This is because it has affected all sectors of development especially in developing countries where countries are just beginning to take off in their development. The earlier all people especially key stakeholders get involved the easier it will become in finding a lasting solution to the many challenges posed by climate change. I am encouraged as I read the Chapter one of the Laudato Si an encyclical letter of the holy pope Francis on the care for our common home. Here is one of the quote though proving I must say. “Some form of pollution are part of people’s daily experience. Exposure to atmospheric pollutants produces a broad spectrum of health hazards especially for the poor and causes millions of pre mature deaths.  People take sick for example from breathing high levels of smoke from fuels used in cooking or heating. There is also pollution that affects everyone caused by transport industrial fumes, substances which contribute to the acidification of soil and water, fertilisers, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and agro toxins in general. Technology which, linked to business interests is presented as the only way of solving these problems, in fact proves incapable of seeing the mysterious network of relations between things and so sometimes solves one problem only to create others.”

Pope Francis

ZEC, traditional leaders discuss climate change

VIOLET MENGO

 Lusaka

chief Mumene of the Kaonde people of Solwezi district participating at ZEC

“IT is imperative to promote an economy which favours productive diversity and business creativity; small scale food production systems which feed the greater part of the world’s peoples using a modest amount of land and producing less waste.”

This is an extract from the Laudato si page 129, an encyclical of Pope Francis on care for people’s common home–earth.

Pope Francis’ encyclical on ecology, Laudato si, a Latin phrase which means Praise be, stresses the fact that climate change is real and mainly “a result of human activity”.

The encyclical notes that the problem of climate change is urgent, and that reducing greenhouse gases requires honesty, courage and responsibility.

Laudato si encyclical accepts and affirms what people know about climate change: that it is mostly due to greenhouse gases emitted by human activity; that seas are rising, oceans acidifying, polar ice melting; that the weather is at the extremes; and that basic systems of life on earth are being disrupted.

It calls on all people to change their daily actions for them to live more sustainably.

The encyclical, written in May 2015, came ahead of the United Nations climate change conference that took place in Paris in December 2015, where governments reached a universal climate change agreement to keep the average global temperature from rising beyond two degrees Celsius.

On a larger scale, the encyclical urges global leaders to be held accountable for those who will have to suffer the consequences of environmental degradation.

Pope Francis’ encyclical underscores the moral imperative for urgent action on climate change to lift the planet’s most vulnerable populations, protect development and spur responsible growth.
His call that “humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home . . . Truly, much can be done!” is what prompted the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) through the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflections and Caritas Zambia to hold a two-day conference in Lusaka recently.

The conference, held on the theme ‘Care for Our Common Home in the Context of Large- Scale Investments – Mining and Agriculture’, brought together the clergy, civil society organisations and selected community leaders for dialogue.

The conference was aimed at discussing Pope Francis’ encyclical, with a special focus on mining and agriculture.

Catholic priest Leonard Chiti said the Church felt it was important for the Pope’s message to be passed on to all people in an effort to protect the planet.

“We organised the conference to contextualise the message from the document in the Zambian situation,” he said.

Father Chiti said the conference was aimed at looking for ways to address climate change by discouraging harmful practices such as cutting down of trees indiscriminately.

The conference sought to understand what is leading to environmental degradation, ecological damage and fuelling global warming.

“The basic message is that if we do not do something to address climate change, which is largely being accelerated by human activities, then in a few years’ time, we will have no home nor planet,” Fr. Chiti said.

And Chief Mumena of the Kaonde people of Solwezi said his participation in the conference was aimed at finding ways of addressing environmental degradation, which is adversely affecting the country.

“I am here as a community leader as well as a national leader to see how best we can enforce the norms and regulations that can help save the environment,” the traditional leader said.

His chiefdom is working with First Quantum Minerals under the Kansanshi Foundation and has introduced hundreds of farmers to ecological farming practices.

“We are working with Mutanda Farms Limited in poultry farming and we distribute manure to various parts of the chiefdom so that the farmers can use more manure and less fertiliser,” he said.

And Minister of Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Christabel Ngimbu said government has welcomed the call by Pope Francis for all people to dialogue on the importance of preserving planet earth.

“We fully share the concerns expressed by the Pope regarding the plight of our earth and the need for us to take stock of our actions and commit to prudent environmental management,” Ms Ngimbu said.
She said government has put in place several policies, strategies and programmes aimed at helping to prudently manage the environment and natural resources.

The minister said government has also formulated specific policies on such natural resources as forests, wildlife, fisheries and water to govern their sustainable utilisation.

“The country has remained committed to international agreements that address climate change and environmental challenges,” she said.

In April 2015, Zambia joined the rest of the world in signing the Paris Agreement, which was adopted at the climate change conference in Paris.

And Cardinal Peter Turkson gave an overview of the Pope’s encyclical and urged the Lusaka conference to translate the message into action and change attitudes towards all creation.

The two-day conference ended with participants unanimously agreeing to promote Pope Francis’ encyclical on caring for the environment.

In a communique read by ZEC president Telesphore Mpundu, the bishops urged government to harmonise all policies on mining, game management, agriculture, water and land.

The bishops also expressed concern about the environmental impact of large-scale mining and agriculture.

“While appreciating that the two sectors are cardinal in creating jobs and meeting our daily needs, there is need for prudent and sustainable management of earth’s resources to reduce poverty among people for the benefit of future generations,” Archbishop Mpundu said.

The conference participants challenged the mining sector to begin to practise responsible mining that takes into account the needs of the environment and the affected communities.

They also challenged mining companies to put in place measures to ensure that the land that has been used for extracting minerals is re-used for other purposes.

Participants resolved to continue promoting honest and open dialogue with mining companies, investors in agriculture and policy-makers to raise awareness on the need to take care of the planet.
They further committed to empowering citizens to meaningfully engage in environmental impact assessment community hearings.

In view of the challenges brought about, especially drought, the delegates urged government to improve the country’s early warning system for farmers before the onset of the rainy season to guarantee food and nutrition security.

They also agreed to promote water harvesting, tree regeneration and establish innovative, cheaper and alternative sources of energy.

On mining concessions and agreements, the conference participants demanded that there be transparency and accountability, starting from the affected communities to policy makers such as government, traditional leaders and mining companies.

And the participants pledged commitment to the promotion of conservation and organic farming, which allows the earth to regenerate.

They further noted that although large- scale agriculture is necessary for increased production of food, it must be responsive to the needs of the environment.

Women Deliver 2016 Conference Opens With Call to Put Girls & Women at Forefront of Development

 VIOLET MENGO

Lusaka

May 17, 2016

WOMEN Deliver Conference opened in Copenhagen, Denmark yesterday, May 16, 2016. The meeting has brought together Heads of state and global leaders.

Over 5, 000 advocates, experts and young people from 168 countries have gathered for the fourth Women Deliver Conference, one of the largest gathering on the health, rights and wellbeing of girls and women in over a decade.

Her Royal Highness Princess Mary of Denmark, who is also the Patron  of the Women Deliver 2016 conference said at the official opening of the conference that all people shall a common conviction  that girls and women are key to building healthy, prosperous and sustainable societies.

She said the evidence is sound when investment in girls and women is made, society as a whole benefits.

More than 200 sessions and side events will focus on solutions and how investments in health, rights, gender equality, education and economic empowerment have broad benefits across the development spectrum. 

The Women Deliver 2016 Conference is the first major gathering of girls’ and women’s health and rights advocates since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals last year, bringing together leaders from UN agencies, civil society, the private sector, academia and more.

“This week, more than 5,500 world influencers from more than 165 countries are gathered here in Copenhagen to make change [and] ensure that the world delivers for women and for girls,” said His Excellency Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark.

“That is a joint responsibility. The fight for equal gender opportunities is not just a women’s fight [or] a fight for women. It is a fight for all of us – women and men. It is a fight for a better and more prosperous world.”

To accelerate progress for girls and women, Women Deliver launched a new advocacy platform during the Conference’s opening session that promotes 12 critical investments in girls and women: Deliver for Good. 

This new platform brings together diverse organizations to show how a simple focus on investments in girls and women can be transformative for global development.

“The Deliver for Good campaign will drive action toward what we know is true: investing in girls and women unlocks untapped potential, and creates a ripple effect that benefits families, communities and entire nations,” said Katja Iversen, CEO of Women Deliver. “It’s 2016: now is the time to turn the conversation from ‘if and why’ to ‘how and now.’”

The campaign highlights evidence showing that when leaders make political, financial and programmatic investments in the health, rights and wellbeing of girls and women, there are big returns for countries striving to build more equitable, healthy, peaceful and productive societies.

And Chief Strategy Officer Manisha Bharti says the evidence is clear that girls and women have less access to resources and opportunities and are subjected to exploitation, violence and abuse. 

“And because these global challenges are complex, demanding and interwoven, the solutions have to be connected as well, We are proud to support Women Deliver’s new Deliver for Good campaign, and to contribute to the body of evidence of what works and what doesn’t,” said Manisha Bharti.

Ms Bharti said it's time to meaningfully engage girls and women as equal partners at all levels and stages of development to help ensure they have the decision-making power necessary to shape their societies and their own lives.

Over the next three days, delegates will discuss the latest trends, innovations and research to drive solutions for girls and women around the world. Each day of the conference will focus on ways to accelerate progress including.

 

Agriculture engine for economic growth

May 12, 2016

VIOLET MENGO

Lusaka

Agriculture remains the key priority sector in the growth and poverty reduction agenda of Zambia. Over 70 percent of the population derives its livelihood from agriculture.

The sector contributes significant proportion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) averaging about 18 percent per annum. 

Agriculture is significant for Zambia because of the country’s largest tracts of well-watered land suitable for different kinds of cultivation and animal husbandry.

Zambia has potential to expand agricultural production given the vast resource endowment in terms of land.

Despite the suitable land, the sector has not performed well.

In  an effort to fully   exploit   agriculture,  the country has developed   well-articulated  agricultural  policies  and  strategies  which  emphasise  objectives  such  as attainment   of   food   security,   maximising   farmers’   incomes,   promoting   sustainable agriculture, and enhancing private sector roles in input and output markets.

And the country has continued to receive support from different stakeholders and partners aimed at enhancing agriculture.

The European Union (EU) is prepared to support the development of an environment that is required for Zambia’s agriculture to transform into one of the main drivers of economic growth and poverty reduction, bearing in mind that poverty is concentrated in rural areas.

EU ambassador to Zambia and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Alessandro Mariani on Tuesday said the union wants to do more, better and faster in recognition that agriculture sector is a primary source for the very much needed diversification of the Zambian economy.

The Financial Agreement for the second Performance Enhancement (PEP) to support both the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock was signed.

Mr Mariani said the support to the agriculture sector will focus on efficient and effective public- private partnership to facilitate farmers to quality inputs and services, on the one hand and farmers’ access to domestic, regional and international

The European Union has been engaged in supporting the development of Zambia’s agriculture sector since 2006.

Under the ongoing 11th European Development Fund, the European Union and Zambia have agreed to scale up their development partnership in the agriculture sector with an allocation of  K110 million.

Support to agriculture from the European Union has focused on assisting smallholder farmers to increase their productivity by getting a better access to inputs, services and markets by adopting conservation agriculture.

But the European Union is among the cooperating partners directly supporting capacity and management reforms within the ministry of agriculture and the ministry of fisheries and livestock.

A first phase of PEP was implemented between September 2012 and December 2015 and had a budget of K70 million. 

It also improved the sector policy development, planning and for ministerial staff in the field and enhance the ministries monitoring and evaluation.

PEP assisted the ministry of agriculture, fisheries and livestock to establish a change management mechanisms for better service delivery and organizational, efficiency of the ministries.

The II PEP will assist the two ministries to improve their capacity to deliver quality service to smallholder farmers in extension services, research and nutrition.

More specifically, PEP 11 will strengthen three core functions of the two ministries.

1.     The use of evidence based data in policy making, planning and budgeting will be supported.

2.     The ministries staff will receive specific training and support to deliver extension services in a manner that contributes to increased productivity and improved food and nutrition security in small scale farming households.

3.     The vital role of agriculture in addressing nutrition outcomes will be strengthened by better strategic planning and mainstreaming of nutrition services at front line.

It is expected that the two ministries play their role in ensuring that PEP works according to plan and make the best of the opportunities provided by this project.

It is also expected that the two ministries will continue providing adequate ownership of the reforms and advocated by stakeholders both at central and field level. 

This including effective extension services for farmers and diversification from maize to allow the development of nutrition sensitive crops and foster agricultural research in support of evidence based policy development and state of art extension work.