Africa can lead a revolutionary approach to climate change. One that recognizes Climate Action as the job engine for Africa. James Mwangi and his colleagues at Climate Action Platform Africa have presented this compelling point of view.
They argue that instead of pushing the narrative of Africa as a victim and or insisting on business-as-usual growth which would make Africa a big future emitter...
Africa should instead take the lead in tackling climate change leveraging on its renewable energy potential, young workforce, green technologies, carbon removal and green manufacturing.
In other words, Africa can provide jobs for millions of its young people, prosper and lead in the fight against climate change by becoming the green or carbon free civilization.
And we have the comparative advantage to do so.
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There is some restiveness on the continent which is driven in part by poverty, alienation, environmental degradation and poor governance. The more pressing problem today is the encroachment by franchises of global terror groups in Africa.
Although many African countries have acted vigorously to tackle those terrorist groups but there is so much more that can be done.
The Sahel appears to be the worst hit. According to the 2022 Global Terrorism Index, the Sahel has become home to the most deadly terrorist groups.
The Index reports that Sub Saharan Aftica accounts for 48% of global terrorism deaths. The Sahel is also said to account for 500k internally displaced persons, 1.8million people facing food insecurity and 5.1 million people needing humanitarian assistance.
Africa can take full advantage of the global complexities we see today and thrive in the face of uncertainties and disruption.
The lines have never been more blurred in the various conceptual prisms through which we view the world.
Since the unipolar world of the 1990s, several centres of political and economic powers have emerged.
In addition to the United States, we now have China, Russia, the European Union, the United Kingdom, India and Brazil as dominant regional powers.
When we consider the on-going Russia-Ukraine war, asides from the consequences for international peace, African countries now have to steer their way delicately between major powers.
These price shocks and disruption of supply chains of various commodities across Africa...
Sometime in 2018 in South Africa, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina and I had discussions on how to leverage technology and industry for jobs for young people. He told me at the time that the AfDB was already thinking along the lines of committing some funding to some iteration of the idea.
After nearly 5 years of work with some of the most patriotic Africans, African institutions and several in the local technology and entertainment ecosystem, we arrive at the launch of the I-DICE programme, the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises Programme.
The fruit of that discussion and the hard work of many is what we witness here today. The fund as we were told is $618million, out of which the AfDB provides $170million, the Agence Francaise de Development provides $100million...
Holding political office is more of an opportunity to serve and positively impact the lives of millions of people, rather than the prestige that comes with the position.
In our constitutional democracy, the effectiveness of number 2, the VP depends a great deal on the trust reposed in him by the President.
I am more fortunate than others in my relationship with my principal President @MBuhari.
When he was leaving on medical leave the second time, there were a few things that were outstanding to send to him and he said "I don't want you to send me anything, it is your job now, just ensure you do a good job"
The Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone Programme is a major cross-cutting value chain investment effort driven by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in alignment with the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy of the FG.
SAPZ is specifically designed to develop multiple clusters of Agricultural Transformation Centres (ATCs) and Agro-Industrial Hubs (AIHs) within major clusters of high agricultural production where functional infrastructure like roads, power, water, communication are provided...
...to attract private investment into modern agro-processing and value addition to locally produced crops, livestock and related agribusiness activities.
Today, we are attending the annual ministerial retreat and in reflecting on the journey so far; I shared some of the game changing achievements of the Federal Government and some of the areas of concern in the economy.
The first is the synergy between fiscal and monetary policy. The failure of that synergy has led to unnecessary drawbacks in our economic performance & planning. What imports are eligible for foreign exchange must agree with the fiscal ambitions for manufacturing and industry.
The second is that our exchange rate management continues to be an issue.The exchange rate of the naira to convertible currencies continues to face significant downward pressure because demand substantially outstrips supply. That is just the reality.