Investing in local production capacity to keep Africa’s fashion industry alive

 AfDB NEWS & EVENTS

19-Feb-2021

Emanuela Gregorio, coordinator of the African Development Bank’s Fashionomics Africa initiative, recently sat down with Alan Kasujja, the presenter of BBC’s Africa Daily podcast, to discuss how the Bank is boosting the continent’s fashion industry.

The two also discussed the impact of second-hand clothing on local industries. Gregorio said investing in production capacity is crucial for the industry’s survival.

Launched in 2015, Fashionomics Africa promotes investment in the textile and fashion sector by leveraging data, information and communication technologies as drivers of development. It aims to increase entrepreneurs’ access to finance while nurturing the business skills and digital tools for start-ups as well as micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

We invite you to attend the upcoming Fashionomics Africa webinar, which will explore the opportunities the African Continental Free Trade Area offers African fashion entrepreneurs.

African Development Fund: Japan, African Development Bank Group, sign JPY 73.6 billion loan agreement

 AfDB NEWS & EVENTS

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the African Development Fund (ADF) – the concessional arm of the African Development Bank Group – on Tuesday signed a loan agreement of 73.6 billion Japanese yen ($668.1 million) to support the 15th replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF-15).

During a virtual ceremony, African Development Bank Group President Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina and Japanese Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire Kuramitsu Hideaki signed an Exchange of Notes, while the loan agreement was signed by the JICA Chief Representative in Côte d’Ivoire, Fujino Kojiro, and Acting African Development Bank Group Senior Vice President Swazi Tshabalala, in her capacity as Chief Financial Officer.

The concessional donor loan will support the 15th replenishment of the African Development Fund, approved in December 2019 by ADF donor countries. JICA is extending the loan – the largest to ADF-15 – on behalf of the Government of Japan.

Ambassador Kuramitsu Hideaki, whose country has been the fifth-largest contributor to the ADF in cumulative terms, said the loan formed part of Japan’s commitment to promote industrial human resource development, innovation and investment, and to invest in quality infrastructure to enhance connectivity, expressed at the TICAD 7 conference in August 2019. At the same conference, Japan also announced that it would contribute to phase 4 of the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance Initiative (EPSA), a joint flagship project with the Bank.

“I sincerely hope that this loan in yen will allow the (African Development Fund) to execute concessional financing and grants for African countries facing emerging challenges caused by COVID-19 and contribute to the economic and social development of these countries,” he said.

JICA President Kitaoka Shinichi said: “The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated global structural changes. Africa is still in the midst of this crisis, facing serious challenges from coronavirus variants and the cold storage requirements for vaccines. Only a united Africa can defeat this threat to humanity. We should not allow this virus to jeopardize the steady progress of freedoms, independence and democracy that African countries have made so far. I firmly believe that today’s contribution to ADF-15 will further boost our cooperation with African countries and strengthen our partnership with the African Development Bank Group.”

Mimura Atsushi, Deputy Director-General/ADF Deputy, International Bureau, Ministry of Finance Japan, said: “The African Development Fund is a key source of financing for Africa’s low-income countries heavily affected by COVID-19. The Yen Loan we are providing today has a higher grant-element compared to the Yen Loan provided for the last ADF replenishment, with a lower interest rate and longer maturity. Going forward, I would like to see our partnership further developed with the African Development Bank Group.”

Dr. Adesina highlighted the African Development Bank’s long-standing partnership with the Government of Japan, including the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance Initiative, which was launched in 2005. As of February 2021, Japan’s total contribution to the initiative amounts to $4.6 billion.

Adesina pointed out that Japan’s concessional donor loan was almost 10% of the total ADF-15 resources of $7.5 billion. “This is a continuation of the strong leadership role of Japan in providing concessional loans to the African Development Fund. Japan was the largest provider of concessional donor loans to the African Development Fund’s 15th replenishment, just like Japan was also under the African Development Fund’s 14th replenishment,” he said.

“Japan continues to add great value to the overall replenishment cycles of the African Development Fund,” Adesina said, adding that the latest loan “will greatly boost the liquidity of the African Development Fund and allow us to ramp up much-needed support to the ADF countries…especially now at this critical time when they are struggling to cope with and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

By the end of the ADF-15 period (2020-2022), it is expected that the ADF’s projects will have changed the lives of millions of Africans. Up to 28,000 km of new or improved power distribution lines will have been installed, around 9 million people will have improved access to water and sanitation and up to $1.6 billion of turnover will have been generated from investments in micro, small and medium-size enterprises.

The fifteenth replenishment of the ADF will deliver investments to support Africa’s poorest countries in building economic resilience and reducing systemic vulnerability. It will pay special attention to gender equality, climate change, the private sector, and promoting good governance principles, while emphasizing two Strategic Pillars: sustainable and quality infrastructure that bolsters regional integration; and governance and institutional capacity development to boost decent job creation and inclusive growth.

The African Development Fund is made up of 32 contributing states. It benefits 37 countries, including fragile states that need special support to ensure basic service delivery, and countries that in recent years experienced higher growth rates. The Fund’s resources are replenished every three years.

Sahel: the African Development Bank supports the region facing multidimensional challenges

 AfDB NEWS & EVENTS

The African Development Bank has become, thanks to its many actions with transformative effects, a trusted partner of the Sahel countries facing enormous challenges. Support for the Sahel region responds to the priorities set by the Bank for this region, which relies on its significant opportunities to help realize its development potential.

Over the years, the Bank has broadened its scope and adapted its intervention to the needs of the region. The priority areas of the Bank's engagement in the Sahel are as follows: resilience and the fight against fragilities, infrastructure development, food security, youth employment, women's empowerment, adaptation to climate change, aid to refugees, governance, integration region and fight against the coronavirus.  

The Bank Group has thus provided sustained and diversified support in recent years to development programs in Sahelian countries. As of September 30, 2020, its portfolio in the G5 Sahel countries comprised 105 projects for total commitments of $ 3.2 billion.

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bank has helped these countries mitigate the health, social and economic consequences, and supported their economic recovery plans. Thus, the Bank granted targeted emergency budget support of US $ 285 million as well as a grant of US $ 20 million to Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad.

The African Development Bank is a founding member of the Sahel Alliance(link is external), with the World Bank, the European Union, the United Nations Development Program, France and Germany. The Sahel Alliance, which receives decisive support from the Bank, pursues the objective of providing an appropriate and effective response in six priority sectors, in particular: "education and youth employment", "agriculture, rural development, food security" , “Energy and climate”, “internal security”.

The Bank's contributions relate in particular to the financing of the Priority Investment Program (PIP) drawn up by the Executive Secretariat of the G5 Sahel.

In September 2019, the President of the Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, launched, during the summit of the heads of state of the G5 Sahel in Ouagadougou, the initiative “Desert to power” (from the desert to energy), which aims to produce 1.1 gigawatts of solar power by 2030 to provide electricity to 250 million people in nine Sahelian countries.

As part of supporting fragile states, the African Development Bank is supporting the implementation of important transformative programs. In Niger, the Bank is contributing US $ 130 million to the flagship Kandadji dam construction program, for which it is the lead partner for technical and financial partners. With a global cost of approximately US $ 1.2 billion, Kandadji is an integrated and strategic program of national and cross-border scope. The program will transform the lives of more than three million direct beneficiaries and contribute to a marked improvement in the living conditions for ten million people.

In Mali, the Bank is financing the Support Project for the Socio-Economic Reinsertion of the Populations of Northern Mali (PARSEP-NM) , plans to reach 635,000 people, for a total investment of 8.5 billion CFA francs.

The economy of the Sahel is regularly confronted with the effects of climate change with droughts and floods which undermine the means of subsistence of the populations and further accentuate the already precarious living conditions. This situation fuels community conflicts, migration, and is the bedrock of terrorism, maritime piracy and trafficking of all kinds. Young people, faced with inactivity, are particularly exposed to these scourges. To help the countries of the region face these challenges, the Bank has allocated more than $ 2.1 billion over the past ten years to support the activities of the Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), including the G5 Sahel countries.

Through the strategy to combat fragility and strengthen resilience in Africa and the Transition Support Facility (TAF) as a financing instrument, the Bank will continue to make the Sahel a priority, by increasing its assistance to countries fragile areas. It is about strengthening their resilience, laying the foundations for lasting peace, and achieving the dual strategic objective of inclusive and green growth and the reduction of extreme poverty. The Bank works for a prosperous, stable and resilient Sahel.

Appointment Announcement: Mr. Ifedayo Orimoloye as The Group Chief Risk Officer

 AfDB NEWS & EVENTS

The African Development Bank Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Ifedayo Orimoloye as the Group Chief Risk Officer, effective 1 April 2021.

Ifedayo, a US national, brings over 20 years of risk management and corporate finance experience from international and diverse financial institutions in Africa, Europe and North America.

As Bank Group Chief Risk Officer, Ifedayo will lead the preparation and implementation of strategic plans within the Bank’s overall risk management framework, including the Bank’s risk appetite statement, credit risk, operational risk and market risk guidelines, policies and procedures.

Ifedayo, who holds an MBA (Finance) from California State University, started his banking career with Wachovia Bank in 1995 in corporate finance and later moved to senior risk management roles at Citibank, HSBC and Wells Fargo Bank.

Between 2010 and 2017, Ifedayo was the Group Chief Risk Officer at Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, the continent’s largest pan-African banking group, where he provided oversight of risk-taking activities in the 40 African countries and other regions where Ecobank has a presence. Furthermore, he provided the Board of Directors with independent assessments of all sovereign, sub-sovereign and non-sovereign default risks, including the establishment of sectoral, country and cross-border limits on risk assets of $24 billion.

He joined Sterling Bank in 2018 as Chief Risk Officer, a role he positively transformed by implementing a strong framework that ensured rigor in the application of group-wide risk management policies and practices. He also embedded independent oversight and guidance for managing risk and ensuring compliance, including the development and implementation of risk and capital management measures across the organisation.

Ifedayo said he was excited to join the talented senior management team that President Akinwumi A. Adesina has been attracting to the Bank. “I am passionate about the Bank’s development agenda that has attracted global attention as bold and innovative for accelerating Africa’s development. The African Development Bank Group already has a globally acclaimed and high-performing risk management team. I am honored to join to lead the outstanding team to further achieve accelerated development in Africa.”

Commenting on the appointment, President Adesina said: “I am delighted to appoint Ifedayo to lead the Bank’s risk management function. His hands-on risk management experience will be key in safeguarding the Bank’s financial integrity and in providing leadership on all core risk management activities of the Bank. Ifedayo is a respected professional, with a solid track record in risk management and his experience in Africa, Europe and North America, will help to further strengthen the Group’s risk management function.”

KIX Observatory: ADEA and AU-CIEFFA launch a brief on teacher and learner well-being amid the COVID-19 pandemic

 

AfDB NEWS & EVENTS

12-Feb-2021

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE)(link is external) Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) Observatory on COVID-19 Responses in Educational Systems in Africa, a consortium that includes the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA(link is external)), has released its first brief, which promotes evidence sharing about policy and education interventions as well as targeted recommendations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The brief, titled Teaching and Learner Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic, focused on these two specific aspects of the COVID-19 crisis. Since mid-March 2020, according to UNESCO, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected an estimated 1.6 billion learners worldwide due to global school closures.

The KIX Observatory, launched in November 2020, collects, synthesizes, and mobilizes evidence about COVID-19 responses in primary and secondary education in Africa, pertaining to the operation of education systems and the well-being of learners.

The observatory is a consortium of ADEA and the African Union’s International Centre for Girls’ and Women’s Education in Africa (AU/CIEFFA(link is external)), with technical support from the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC(link is external)), and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS(link is external)).

200 Days Countdown Event to the 2021 World Forestry Congress

 

AfDB NEWS & EVENTS

• Forests are at the heart of a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic

23-Nov-2020

Forests are at the heart of a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic – that was the key message that emerged in the 200 Days Countdown Event to the 15th World Forestry Congress.

The event, organised on 9 November by the Korea Forest Service, sought to draw international attention to the upcoming 2021 Congress in Seoul, themed, “Building a green, healthy and resilient future with forests”.

In a video message,(link is external) former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged nations to “take decisive action” on climate change, which is fuelled by forest destruction. He noted that “COVID-19 may be one of nature’s responses to the climate crisis.”

In his opening ceremony(link is external) remarks Park Chong, the Minister of the Korea Forest Service, said: “Forests can be an imperative solution to the climate crisis…The world should work together to achieve sustainable development.”

Julius Chupezi Tieguhong, Chief Forestry Officer of the African Development Bank’s African Natural Resources Centre, urged leaders to respond to the socio-economic impact of forest destruction. “This requires sustainable solutions at the local, national, regional and international levels,” he said. 

“The effectiveness of desirable climate outcomes will be dependent on adequate allocation of human, financial and material resources, in which case, the role of multilateral development (institutions) cannot be underestimated,” he added.

As countries respond to challenges created by the pandemic, they are also recognising the opportunities such a crisis presents to shift the global development paradigm towards greater sustainability and greener, more inclusive economies.

Sustainable forest management can play a vital role in building resilient economies and societies that can withstand pandemics, climate change and other global challenges.

The World Forestry Congress(link is external), the largest and most significant gathering of the world’s forestry sector, is held every six years. It will take place 24 to 28 May 2021.

Africa Industrialization Day: Unlocking Africa’s “value-added” industrial potential

 AfDB NEWS & EVENTS

20-Nov-2020

Africa Industrialisation Day(link is external), which falls on Friday, mobilizes the commitment of the international community to the continent’s industrialisation and gives us the opportunity to reflect on the Bank’s impact in this sector, one of its High 5 priorities. 

From oil to cocoa, cotton to vanilla, Africa is rich in naturual resources but its heavy dependence on commodity exports means it has yet to take full advantage of the added value that processing raw materials and manufacturing can bring.

The African Development Bank is working to change this by promoting successful industrial policies, attracting funding to infrastructure and industry and supporting the growth of capital markets to create quality employment that alleviates poverty.

The last decade has seen progress, with manufacturing growth in Africa outpacing the global growth rate. In 2019, Africa’s industrial GDP expanded by 17% to $731 billion (in 2010 dollars), with the value-added of manufacturing surging by 39%, according to the Bank’s 2020 Annual Development Effectiveness Review (ADER).

But Africa’s industrialisation is geographically limited, with around two-thirds of value-added manufacturing taking place in just five nations: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa.

This year, progress has been reversed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has upended economic growth, disrupted trade and financial flows and triggered losses of millions of jobs.

The economic and social impact of the pandemic has injected more urgency into the drive to industrialise Africa, just as the African Continental Free Trade Area is set to reshape the continent into a singular market of 2.5 billion people by 2050.

As the African Development Bank joins the international community to mark Industrialization Day, some stories of women and men turning the tables on Africa’s industrialisation front merit all our attention.

 

PROCESSING, MANUFACTURING AND TECH

Just outside Cairo, the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC), a greenfield petroleum refinery, is one of the largest industrial units of its kind in Africa.

With nearly $222 million in funding from the Bank, the refinery converts the lowest-value fuel into 4.7 million tons of refined products and high-quality oil derivatives per year, meeting domestic consumption needs, cutting emissions from dirty fuels and reducing Egypt’s balance of payment deficit.

The huge project created more than 15,000 jobs at peak construction and 1,000 permanent local job opportunities.

“From day one they were able to see that this project, which has been 12 years in the making, was going to have a transformative effect on Egypt’s economy,” said Ahmed Heikal, chairman and founder of ERC’s parent company, Qalaa Holdings.

In 2019, 1 million people across Africa benefited from the Bank’s industrial investee projects. Turnover from Bank investments in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) almost trebled, reaching $1 billion and far exceeding targets.

Some of the best opportunities for Africa’s industrialization lie in agriculture. Crucial to this sector is the Bank’s support of Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), which strengthen African countries’ ability to attract private sector investment by bringing policy, investment and infrastructure together, usually in a rural area with high agricultural output.

Take South Africa, where the Bank is supporting the development of 22 SAPZs. One of them, Bokomoso Ba Rona SAPZ, aims to rehabilitate an area and develop a post-mining economy on a 30,000-hectare site owned by mining company Sibanye-Stillwater.

“We are aiming to attract private sector investment, which will drive agro-processing and build a strong value chain,” said Noxolo Mtembu, Project Manager at the Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency, which is responsible for developing the SAPZ.

Africa’s emerging connectivity and a workforce increasingly familiar with the digital world and new technologies will make it possible for the continent to take advantage of the fourth industrial revolution to improve productivity, create jobs, and extend social welfare.

New industries have transformed the fabric of local economies, for example in Nabeul, in north-eastern Tunisia, once most famous as a craft and tourist centre.

Now Nabeul is becoming as well known for its high-tech industries. With financing from the Bank, the MEDIS pharmaceutical laboratory was established to produce generic medicines, creating thousands of skilled jobs and becoming one of the region’s biggest employers.

The laboratory has provided formal, secure jobs for many who otherwise would have been confined to informal work or unemployment.

“My job with MEDIS has given me freedom and dignity. I’m not asking for a handout and I’m not asking anything of anyone,” said employee Sabra Gmati.

“If MEDIS or a business like it wasn’t in Nabeul, I’d be unemployed and I would stay at home.”