HARARE, Zimbabwe, November 27, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund (ZimFund) is a short to medium term infrastructure development programme which supports Zimbabwe’s economic recovery by improving the quality of life of ordinary citizens, particularly the poor. It is a major collaborative effort between members of the international donor community (Australia, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom),the Government of Zimbabwe, and the African Development Bank Group designed to rehabilitate infrastructure and restore basic services in water and sanitation initially in six municipalities:(Harare, Chitungwiza, Chegutu, Kwekwe, Masvingo and Mutare) and energy throughout the country.…
Author: apofeed
LAGOS, Nigeria, November 27, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Tony Elumelu, the entrepreneur, philanthropist and chairman of Heirs Holdings Limited (http://www.heirsholdings.com), a pan-African investment company, argues that responsible resource-based industrialisation can power Africa’s economic growth, in an article co-authored with Carlos Lopes, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). Photo Tony Elumelu: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/tony-elumelu.jpg Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/heirs-holdings.jpg Elumelu and Lopes argue that while governments must ensure that they build more enabling business environments, the private sector must take the lead in ensuring that Africa’s abundant natural resources are developed in a way that spreads prosperity throughout the…
TUNIS, Tunisia, November 27, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The African Development Bank Group’s (AfDB) (http://www.afdb.org) efforts to improve sustainable energy supply and access in Africa took a leap forward with the Board of Directors’ approval of the Regional Rusumo Falls Hydropower Project. The Bank Group allocated US $97.3 million from the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund for the multinational project, which will support the development of sustainable energy infrastructure. An additional US $16 million grant from the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) window of the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund was recently mobilized by the AfDB…
PARIS, France, November 27, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The UN Security Council met two days ago to discuss different options on how to respond to the growing crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR), and are expected to vote next week on a draft resolution presented by France. In an open letter sent yesterday to the UN Security Council, FIDH calls for a comprehensive and decisive response to the crisis, notably through the creation of a UN Peacekeeping Mission in the CAR. “The UN Security Council must immediately authorize the creation of a UN Peacekeeping Mission in the CAR,”…
GENEVA, Switzerland, November 27, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Thousands of people in eastern Puntland are trying to cope with the aftermath of a devastating cyclone. Further south, in Middle Shabelle, tens of thousands are struggling to recover from major flooding by the River Shabelle, especially in and around the town of Jowhar. In Puntland, a cyclone that struck on 10 November left dozens of people dead and up to a million head of livestock wiped out by freak freezing temperatures, high winds and severe floods. “The regions of Nugal and Bari were the most affected,” said Abshir Omar Jama,…
WASHINGTON, November 27, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The World Bank Board of Directors today approved an IDA* credit of $US12 million to support the Government of Sierra Leone’s plans to improve budget planning, accountability, and oversight of government finances. The funds will support Sierra Leone’s Public Financial Management Improvement and Consolidation (PFMIC) Project, designed to implement the core of the government’s Public Financial Management (PFM) reform strategy. The project is a follow on to the current Integrated Public Financial Management Reform Project that will close on March 31, 2014. “Improved public financial management is a prerequisite for enhanced efficiency…
TUNIS, Tunisia, November 27, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The African Development Bank (AfDB) (http://www.afdb.org), together with the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) (http://www.cddep.org), the Commission on Investing in Health (CIH) (http://www.globalhealth2035.org), The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) (http://www.gatesfoundation.org) and The Lancet (http://www.lancet.com) invites you to the release of a report on investing in health and health financing titled: Global Health 2035: A World Converging within a GenerationTuesday, December 3, 2013 at 9 a.m.Novotel Tunis, TunisiaThis report, released for the first time in Johannesburg, Tunis and London on December 3, 2013, “suggests investment framework to achieve…
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, November 27, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union (AU), Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, on Monday, 25 November 2013, met with the team of experts, led by Professor Ibrahim Gambari, who are undertaking an assessment of the progress made towards the operationalization of the African Standby Force (ASF, including its Rapid Deployment Capability (RDC), at the AU Headquarters. Dr. Zuma commended the team of experts for their commitment and underscored the importance of their mandate in the pursuit of peace and security in Africa.The mandate of the Assessment Team is…
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, November 26, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Remarks by amb. Adonia ayebare, AU permanent mission to the United NationsMr. President,Members of the Security Council,Mr. Secretary-General,Secretary-General of the Economic Community of Central African States,Ladies and gentlemen, I would like, from the outset, to thank the United Nations Security Council, for convening this meeting at a critical moment in the history of the Central African Republic. I also thank the UN Secretary-General for his report on the situation in the CAR, submitted pursuant to paragraph 22 of Security Council resolution 2121 (2013) and, more generally, for his efforts towards…
BERN, Switzerland, November 26, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The 5th session of the South Africa-Switzerland High-Level consultations taking place in Fribourg was co-chaired by Mr Yves Rossier, Swiss State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and Mr Marius Fransman, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa. The high-level representatives of both countries agreed on principles that underscored their conviction that the enhancement of bilateral economic relations and scientific cooperation be pursued and their intention to intensify cooperation at regional and multilateral levels.Over the last five years Switzerland has strengthened its economic ties and scientific cooperation…