New Director-General of the World Trade Organisation Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (C) poses for pictures with WTO Deputy Directors-General Alan Wolff (L) and Karl Brauner upon her arrival at the WTO headquarters to take office on March 1, 2021 in Geneva. – Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala takes the reins of the WTO amid hope she will infuse the beleaguered body with fresh momentum to address towering challenges and a pandemic-fuelled global economic crisis. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / various sources / AFP)
Hopes for WTO as Okonjo-Iweala takes charge in Geneva
Hopes are high at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala takes over the Organisation on Monday in its headquarters at Geneva, Switzerland. There are hopes that she will spur the beleaguered body into addressing its towering challenges, including the pandemic-fuelled global economic crisis.
“The WTO is too important to allow it to be slowed down, paralysed and moribund,” the first woman and first African to ever lead the global trade body told AFP a day after her nomination last month.
The 66-year-old Nigerian former finance minister takes the helm after the WTO was left adrift for seven months following the sudden departure of Brazilian career diplomat Roberto Azevedo last August, a year ahead of schedule.
Following a lengthy selection process, development economist Okonjo-Iweala, who spent 25 years at the World Bank, was finally anointed by the WTO’s 164 members on February 15.
From an initial eight candidates, she was the clear favourite among the last two standing in November. However, her appointment was delayed by former US president Donald Trump blocking her nomination.
The arrival of his successor Joe Biden made it possible for her to receive the consensus backing required to end the impasse.
She is hitting the ground running, with her first day on the job in Geneva coinciding with the annual meeting of WTO’s General Council.
Delegates are expected to agree that the organisation’s next ministerial conference, which had been scheduled for last year but was postponed due to the pandemic, will be held in Geneva in December.
The question remains whether the new WTO chief, considered a strong-willed trailblazer, will be able to mould the organisation in her image before then.
While some observers voice hope that Okonjo-Iweala will inject much-needed energy, others stress she has little wiggle room to make dramatic change, given that WTO decisions are made by member states — and only when they can reach consensus.
One of her first tasks will be to nominate four new deputy directors to help recharge the organisation’s negotiating mechanisms.
Okonjo-Iweala has said that one of her main objectives is to push long-blocked trade talks on fishery subsidies across the finish line in time for the ministerial conference, but with negotiations dragging on, that could be a tough sell.
And in the midst of a global economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, she has plenty of other challenges on her plate.
Okonjo-Iweala has voiced concern about growing protectionism and nationalism during the coronavirus crisis and insists trade barriers must be lowered to help the world recover.
Among the issues to be discussed Monday is a controversial push for the WTO to waive intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines.
Dozens of nations say this would help boost production and access and would rein in the pandemic sooner, but the notion has been fiercely rejected by pharmaceutical giants and the countries that host them.
Okonjo-Iweala chaired the Gavi vaccine alliance before running for the WTO and has made tackling the pandemic another of her priorities.
In a likely bid to avoid a row on day one, Ngozi has called for flexibility, encouraging voluntary licencing agreements, such as the one agreed between AstraZeneca and the Serum Institute of India(SII), whereby the SII factory manufactures the pharmaceutical giant’s Covid-19 vaccines.
The Ottawa Group, which brings together the EU and 12 countries including Brazil, Canada and Switzerland, will meanwhile demand that countries commit not to hinder the flow of medical goods during the pandemic, and remove customs duties on those considered essential.
Another daunting challenge facing the new director-general will be following through on her vow to breathe life back into the appeals branch of the WTO’s dispute settlement system.
The Appellate Body, sometimes called the supreme court of world trade, ground to a halt in December 2019 after years of relentless US opposition.
The United States, along with European countries and Canada, want an overhaul at the WTO, believing it has not responded correctly to the trade distortions caused by China.
Ghana gets AfDB $69 million COVID-19 response grant as cases rise
The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF) on Friday approved a $69 million grant to support Ghana’s efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate its socio-economic impact on the nation.
The grant from the ADF, the concessional arm of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org), will provide fiscal budget support to finance the government’s national COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan, and Coronavirus Alleviation Program.
Specifically, the funds will help to upgrade the capacity of healthcare facilities to isolate, diagnose and care for patients, and provide more test kits, pharmaceuticals, equipment and beds. It will also ensure adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers and support financial incentives and an insurance package for health and allied professionals.
Ghana ranks fourth in COVID-19 infections in Africa after South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria. As of 24 July 2020, the West African nation has recorded 30,366 cases of the disease, with 26,687 recoveries and 153 deaths.
“Overall, the objective is to help contain the spread of the virus, expand testing and ease the impact of the virus on social and economic life, through measures aimed at protecting jobs, sustaining livelihoods and supporting small businesses,” said Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, the Bank’s Director General for West Africa.
The ADF grant is a Crisis Response Budget Support operation, disbursable in a single tranche under the Bank’s $10 billion COVID-19 Response Facility. The grant aligns with one of the Bank’s High 5 priorities, namely to “Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa”.
Under Ghana’s COVID-19 response program, all affected persons will receive free treatment and free water supply. Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs) will benefit from a soft loan scheme with one-year moratorium and two-year repayment period. The private sector will also benefit from a tax freeze and refund, direct subsidies and a guarantee fund, enabling businesses to access bank credit.
The program also aims to increase the percentage of the population tested from one percent to three percent by the end of December 2020, boost the number of points of entry reporting suspected cases of COVID-19 from 1 to 14 by the end of September 2020, and increase designated treatment centers with adequate intensive care facilities to 100% by end December 2020.
As elsewhere, the pandemic has slowed down economic activity in the agriculture, industrial and services sectors. The agriculture sector, in particular, will likely record a lower performance since the disease has coincided with the onset of Ghana’s farming season.
The economy of Ghana, which exports gold, cocoa and oil, is negatively affected by a significant increase in public spending due to COVID-19. Real GDP growth is projected at 2.1% in 2020 compared to 6.1% in 2019, while the current account deficit is forecast to widen to 3.6% compared to 3% in 2019, due to a decline in export earnings and lower tourism revenues and remittances.
The COVID-19 pandemic could also deepen inequalities between men and women, with far-reaching health, social, and economic implications, Bank officials noted.
Infrastructure is so much more than bricks and mortar, By Carl Manlan and Michael Mapstone
OPINION: Infrastructure is so much more than bricks and mortar
By Carl Manlan and Michael Mapstone
Often when people speak about the need for infrastructure development in Africa, they are discussing bricks and mortar, improved physical structures such as transportation links, hospitals and schools. But creating a world in which the African continent can truly flourish and provide long term stability and growth for millions of people relies – arguably more heavily – on invisible infrastructure, the hidden strength behind those physical health centres, roads and community hubs.
Five years ago, the Ecobank Foundation (EcobankFoundation.org) collaborated with the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) to design a strategy that would help us become the ‘go-to’ partner in Africa in development of improved access to health and education, along with financial inclusion. It has been a rewarding journey.
With a financial institution as our foundation, we needed to explore how we could best deliver on what was, without doubt, an ambitious goal. We wanted to leverage what we already knew how to do in order to deliver the Foundation’s mission to achieve social change, while also helping to battle life-threatening diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
We have also been guided by CAF’s more recent in-depth research into growing giving in four countries in Africa – Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa. With an aim to capturing the size and scope of giving among these countries’ respective emerging middle classes, the reports examined not just individual giving, but also the enabling environment. Recommendations included supporting the development of the invisible infrastructure which supports civil society. Among them was promoting new ways of safe and secure giving to develop the potential for mass engagement and individual giving.
For the Ecobank Foundation, the need for secure giving translated into using the access given by the Ecobank Mobile App to reach potential donors, be they local or part of the African diaspora and help them to give across Africa. It meant engaging with our staff to test dedicated fundraising appeals such as World Malaria Day and was used successfully to fundraise for the victims of Cyclone Idai in March 2019 and other initiatives that build on the giving culture of Ubuntu.
To move towards our goals, our foundation has also focussed on harnessing the talents of Ecobank employees across 33 countries. In addition to our direct financial support of malaria prevention programmes in Mozambique and Nigeria, we are supporting the Global Fund and its local partners to develop technology-led solutions to finance challenges such as cash management and delivering mobile money support. Another example of this is providing mobile banking services to street children in Togo with a local charity acting as custodian in order to safeguard their small pockets of savings.
This is a strong example of what we knew from the outset about successful corporate social responsibility – it will only translate into real-world impact if it is borne out of the local context – you have to have a deep understanding of the problem you are hoping to help solve in order to make best use of your resources.
For Ecobank Foundation, a cornerstone of this approach was the collaboration with the Ecobank Academy, a corporate university which provides training for finance managers working in health programmes that supported large relief organisations such as The Global Fund and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Drawing on our existing strengths, we were able to create an initiative to bridge the knowledge gap between financial institutions and colleagues working in development on the ground. Leadership and financial management training was also specifically designed for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Africa (IFRC Africa) to support national societies.
From here, they were able to not only improve their individual governance and reporting standards, demonstrate their professionalism and thereby strengthen their relationships with funders, they were also able to connect with colleagues in similar organisations in other regions in order to share their successes and lessons learned along the way.
Therein lies a crucial piece of that ‘invisible’ knowledge infrastructure that will help to solve the transformation puzzle of development in Africa.
Amid our work in support of those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, our foundation has not lost sight of the battle against malaria, which continues to inhibit African development. We launched the Zero Malaria Business Leadership Initiative and joined with the RBM Partnership and African Union Commission Zero Malaria Starts With Me campaign so that we can continue to work with like-minded institutions.
Despite the current crisis, we have cause to be hopeful. Both Ecobank Foundation and CAF are committed to working together to help create not only those desperately needed basic systems and services, but also the more complex and detailed and ‘invisible’ civil society infrastructure which, done thoughtfully and with a sense of purpose, provide tangible improvement to the lives of millions.
Carl Manlan is the Chief Operating Officer at the Ecobank Foundation. Michael Mapstone is the Director of External Affairs and Global Engagement at the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). Ecobank Foundation was recently awarded Africa’s Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility for Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2020.
East Africa Remains Africa’s Fastest Growing Region, says AfDB
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has said that East Africa remains the fastest growing African region despite setbacks by COVID-19 pandemic.
This contained in a report released on Sunday by the Bank. It said Economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed East Africa’s growth projection for 2020 down to 1.2 percent, a rate that outstrips other African regions and is forecast to rebound to 3.7 percent in 2021, according to the African Development Bank’s (www.AfDB.org) East Africa Regional Economic Outlook 2020. The projection is under the baseline scenario that assumes the virus is contained by the third quarter of this year.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the region’s economic growth was projected at more than 5 percent, well above continent’s average of 3.3 percent and global average of 2.9 percent. However, COVID-19-induced shocks and a locust invasion have contributed to job losses, increased humanitarian needs and will aggravate poverty and income inequality.
In the worse-case scenario, in which the pandemic persists until the end of 2020, growth is projected at 0.2 percent, still above Africa’s predicted average of -1.7 percent and -3.4 percent under the two scenarios.
At the launch of the report held in Nairobi on Wednesday, Simon Kiprono Chelugui, Cabinet Secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Labour, said East African countries could overcome the effects of COVID-19 and turn their economies around by mitigating the external and domestic risks.
“We need to implement a decisive and coordinated response to contain the spread of COVID-19; mitigate its health and socio-economic effects; accelerate structural transformation; improve the investment climate, and maintain the peace and security of our region,” he said.
The Regional Economic Outlook indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic will affect East African economies in many ways, such as falling commodity prices and trade, and restrictions on travel with a consequent negative impact on tourism. Waning financial flows have affected the region’s fiscal and current account balances, while disruptions in supply chains have hurt food production and distribution. With schools closed, an estimated 90 million learners have been excluded from the classroom.
Nnenna Nwabufo, the Director General of the Bank’s East Africa Regional Office, pledged Bank support to steer the region out of the crisis.
“Our ambition is to address the adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that social and economic development across the continent is accelerated, including through the creation of an African workforce of the future,” she said.
She noted that the Bank had responded swiftly to provide urgently needed support to address the immediate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including support of $212 million to Kenya, $165 million to Ethiopia, $4 million to South Sudan and $10 million to the Seychelles.
Nwabufo called for a collective effort to address the development challenges such as COVID-19, rising public debt, and the locust invasion, in order to re-direct the nations towards a sustainable development pathway.
The report’s authors called for urgent policy measures to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“East African countries should accelerate a real structural transformation by transitioning from low value-added production to higher value-added activities that could mitigate vulnerabilities to domestic and external shocks,” said Dr Marcellin Ndong Ntah, a Bank Lead Economist.
As well as investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the region, this year’s report placed particular emphasis on “Developing East Africa’s Workforce for the Future”. To nurture skills for the future workforce, there is an urgent need for broad reforms in education, investment in education technology, addressing factors that stop children from attending school and establishing linkages between academia and industry, said Edward Sennoga, a Bank Lead Economist, and another of the report’s authors.
Julius Mukunda, Executive Director of the Civil Society Advocacy Group in Uganda, said in order to nurture growth, East African nations must stamp out corruption, and invest in areas in which the region has unique strengths, such as food production, not only to provide food, but also income for farmers to help them to mitigate the effects of COVID-19.
Nigeria’s economy surely going into hard times, says Sustainability Committee
Nigeria’s economy can’t escape hard times, says Osinbajo Committee
Irrespective of whatever measures the government could adopt to refloat the economy, Nigeria’s economy is certainly in such hard times it never experienced in history, Nigeria’s Sustainability Committee, led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has said.
The Committee submitted its 76-page report to President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday.
President Buhari had on March 30 established the nine-member committee to develop a clear Economic Sustainability Plan in response to the health and economic challenges posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic and identify fiscal measures for enhancing distributable oil and gas revenue, increasing non-oil revenues and reducing non- essential spending, towards securing sufficient resources to fund the plan.
Mr Buhari also charged the committee to propose monetary policy measures in support of the Plan; provide a Fiscal/Monetary Stimulus Package, including support to private businesses (with emphasis on strategic sectors most affected by the pandemic) and vulnerable segments of the population; articulate specific measures to support the States and FCT; propose a clear-cut strategy to keep existing jobs and create opportunities for new ones; and identify measures that may require legislative support to deliver the Plan.
The committee wrote as follows in its report;
Nigeria is currently faced with perhaps the most challenging economic downturn in its history just as the global economy is also confronting its sharpest reversal in a generation. With every country dealing with varying degrees of the same problem, there are few places to turn for help.
For Nigeria, this is a multilayered quandary: a health crisis, a near-total shutdown of economic activities, capital flow reversals and a fast increasing unemployment rate, fuelled by layoffs in almost all sectors of the economy.
Nigeria’s status as an oil-dependent developing economy also puts us in a particularly difficult place. Government revenues have declined significantly, first, on account of the fall in crude oil prices to as low as $12 per barrel in April 2020, and then our inability at times to sell oil, despite its being priced below production cost, because of the shutdown in virtually every area of manufacturing, services and commerce all over the world. Where this happens, it means that we get virtually no revenues from our oil.
There is also a glut in the global gas market, on account of which we are sometimes unable to sell our stock of Liquefied Natural Gas, potentially wiping out much of the dividends expected from NLNG.
In effect, our major sources of foreign exchange are gravely threatened and our external reserves get little or nothing by way of augmentation. Rather, they are being depleted for external payments and importation.
Non-oil revenue, largely made up of taxes, has also practically dried up. This is because, like several economies around the world, Nigeria is faced with paralysis of economic activities due to lockdown measures in the Federal Capital Territory and the key commercial and industrial centres of Lagos, Ogun and Kano States. In addition, several other State Governments took similar steps to slow the spread of COVID-19 in their respective territories. These have cumulatively resulted in supply chain disruptions, suspension of commercial activities and large-scale job losses.
The depletion of our dollar earnings have also depreciated the Naira, and pushed up prices, especially of imported goods. This is a cause for concern, coming at a time when the average household purchasing power is falling sharply on account of loss of income.
Businesses that depend on importation for raw materials or other inputs for manufacturing are hampered by the sharp drop, by as much as 90%, in foreign exchange earnings and shutdowns in exporting countries. So, rather than expect taxes (CIT, PAYE or VAT),
we should be prepared, at best, for companies reporting losses or seeking tax payment deferment, while government finds a way of shoring up businesses.
“In the face of these emerging challenges, the onslaught of COVID-19 has also meant radically increased demand for resources in the health sector, to provide for mounting personnel costs, hazard pay, emergency equipment, such as personal protective equipment, ventilators, oxygen tanks, testing facilities, isolation centres and drugs. This means, for the appropriate level of response, we would have to significantly increase our health- care expenditure.
Structural Vulnerabilities
Prior to COVID-19, apart from a major dependence on oil for public revenues and foreign exchange earnings, our economy was susceptible to inflationary pressures and characterized by a high debt service ratio, a weak infrastructural base and unsatisfactory human capital development indices. Although government has been making strenuous efforts to address these weaknesses, the current economic emergency threatens to reverse much of the achievements and push millions of our people below the poverty line.
The Challenge
The immediate challenge is that of business continuity, especially how we protect as many of our Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises as is possible while keeping the economy competitive. We have a large informal workforce, usually daily wage-earning, consisting of street vendors, petty traders, artisans, roadside motor mechanics, etc., who have now been deprived of their income.
With 40% of the population being already classified as poor, i.e., earning less than N137,000 per annum, the COVID-19 crisis is set to multiply the misery, if left unchecked.
The Response
In response to this unprecedented challenge, President Muhammadu Buhari established the Economic Sustainability Committee (ESC). Among other things, the ESC was to:
(i) develop an economic sustainability plan, including a recommendation of an appropriate stimulus package;
(ii) devise measures to create more jobs while keeping safe the existing ones; and
(iii) identify fiscal and monetary measures to enhance oil and non-oil government revenues, in order to fund the plan.
The Scenarios
In determining the level of response or stimulus appropriate for this situation, the ESC found it necessary to consider carefully some probable scenarios. For example, in terms of expected revenues, the fluctuation in global oil prices presages serious economic challenges for the rest of 2020. This is because crude oil accounts for 50% of consolidated government revenues, 30% of banking sector credit and 90% of export earnings. In the circumstance, we cannot but expect large budgetary and payments gaps.
The revenue outlook for the rest of 2020 is depicted in Tables I-IV, showing scenarios for oil prices at $30 per barrel, $25 per barrel, if oil prices average $30 over the rest of the year, estimated oil revenues (with NNPC concurrently reducing JV costs by 20%) would amount to N88.4bn monthly. At the same time, if non-oil revenues are sustained at the lower level projected in the revised budget estimates, then average monthly allocations to FAAC for the rest of the year would only be about N485bn a month. This would be a best-case scenario.
In the worst-case scenario of $14 per barrel, we will incur a net loss of oil production revenues amounting to about $11.8bn monthly. Non-oil revenue would similarly reflect the slowdown in economic activities. Monthly FAAC for the rest of the year, starting from May 2020, may, therefore, be no higher than N384bn.
Monthly FAAC for the rest of the year, starting from May 2020, may, therefore, be no higher than N384bn.
Neither the optimistic scenario nor the worst-case scenario is comforting if compared to the average FAAC disbursement for the first three months of 2020, which was N669.9bn. This means that at a $30 per barrel oil price, total monthly FAAC will be N184bn less every month, while if the price averages $14 per barrel, the FAAC total will reduce by N270.9bn a month. This will have serious implications for personnel costs, overheads and capital expenditures at Federal, State and Local Government levels, especially coming at a time when resources are needed to pay for compelling counter-cyclical and pro-poor policies.
The National Bureau of Statistics has modelled macro scenarios which show that economic growth could fall by as much as -4.40% to -8.91% depending on the severity of the outbreak COVID-19, length of lockdowns and quantum of stimulus deployed by government.
In an optimistic scenario, with an average price of $30 per barrel of crude oil in 2020 and a stimulus of up to N3.6tn, growth will still decline by -0.42% in 2020, possibly rising to 3.03% in 2021 and 5.17% by 2025. A lower stimulus of N2.3tn or 1.5% of GDP at the same oil price of $30 per barrel will result in a fall in output of -0.59% in 2020 and a resumption of growth to 2.54% in 2021.
A more cautious scenario of $20 per barrel with a N3.6tn stimulus will result in negative growth of -2.42% in 2020 recovering to 1.19% in 2021 and 3.32% in 2025. At the same price level, a N2.3tn stimulus will result in an annual growth rate of -2.82% in 2020. and 0.95% in 2021.
In the pessimistic scenario, if oil prices level out at $15 per barrel in 2020 due to a prolonged global recession or continued oil glut, then even with the stimulus of N3.6tn, the economy will decline by -3.01% in 2020 and only rise by 0.45% in 2021. At the same price level of $15 per barrel, a N2.3tn stimulus will still result in a sharp decline of -3.66% in 2020. These figures, as well as those for inflation, reserves and external balance, are shown in Table V.
In the optimistic scenario, and reflecting the stimulus, inflation is expected to rise to 15% by the end of this year and only fall to single digits by 2023 while the cautious and pessimistic scenario will show more moderate inflation reflecting a generalised slowdown in economic activity.
With regard to external financing, the overall balance is expected to deteriorate from -$2.1bn to -$16.2bn, leaving a financing gap of $14.1bn. Some of this can be met through concessional borrowing of about $7bn from international financial institutions, but that will still leave a financing gap of $7.1bn dollars (See Table VI). The external debt situation is also of concern. Nigeria is expected to pay $165m as interest on its bilateral official debts (mostly to China) and will likely get some relief following the G20 agreement in this regard. But a greater problem will arise from interest payments due on outstanding Eurobonds, which amount to $655.48m for the rest of 2020.
Averting a deep recession
In essence, we have to find ways to prevent or limit recession and avert the accompanying prospects of business failures, job losses, and increased poverty. The generally accepted approach today is to deploy a stimulus package, an increase in government spending, tax discounts, loan re-payment deferments or re-structuring, all with a view to increasing aggregate demand by beefing up investments and consumer spending. The question then is not whether or not we should stimulate the economy but what size of stimulus package is capable of preventing a disastrous recession.
What we must do
It is clear that we must now take urgent steps to forestall a severe economic downturn and the largest unemployment situation yet in our history. Consequently, over the next twelve months, the Federal Government will work in close collaboration with State Governments and the private sector to stimulate the economy by preventing business collapse and ensuring liquidity; retaining and creating jobs using labour-intensive methods in key areas like agriculture, housing, digital business services and direct labour interventions.
We must also undertake growth-enhancing and job-creating infrastructural investments in roads, bridges, renewable energy, and communication technologies; and extend the protection of vulnerable groups – including women and persons living with disabilities – through pro-poor spending.
The Membership of the Committee consists of Vice President Osinbajo; Minister, Finance, Budget & National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba; Minister, Industry Trade & Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo; Minister, Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige; Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva; Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele; Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari; and Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office, Babatunde Lawal – Secretary
The committee later co-opted the Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development, Sabo Nanono; the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster, Management & Social Affairs, Sadiya Faruk; Minister of Works & Housing; Babatunde Fashola; Minister, Aviation, Hadi Sirika; Minister, Communication & Digital Economy, Ali Isa Pantami; Minister, Education, Adamu Adamu; Minister of Health, Osagie Enahire; Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola; Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
World economy will shrink on effect of COVID-19—World Bank
Global economy will shrink 5.2% on effect of COVID-19—World Bank
The World Bank has officially stated that the global economy is projected to shrink by about 5.2 per cent this year under the massive ravaging impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The World Bank said on Thursday, stating that the severe contraction in the economy, which compelled various stimulus interventions by most countries to contain the impact and save their economies from going under, would worsen the global poverty level.
During the newly launched growth forecasts of June from the Global Economic Prospects, the World Bank updated global estimates of the impact of coronavirus.
Its forecast shows that between 71 and 100 million people around the world risk being pushed into extreme poverty as a result of the impact of the pandemic.
Recovery from COVID-19, the bank said, would provide an opportunity for countries to build resilience, improve inclusion and ensure economic growth.
This new economic series, the World Bank said, would focus on the ideas and actions that would help countries as they look beyond the pandemic.
Joined by President of the World Bank Group, David Malpass; the Executive Director of UNICEF, Henrietta Fore, and the African Union Commissioner, Josefa Sacko, the discussion focused on how food security was impacted by COVID-19.
Other issues discussed included Gender and COVID-19 and how the World Bank is helping as well as efforts to ensure sustainable recovery as countries around the world respond to the COVID-19 emergency.
On lending and finance, the group focused on alternative lenders using fintech—such as crowdfunding platforms and marketplace lenders— as an increasingly important source of financing for small and medium businesses.
Disaster risk management, the Group noted, has become a new normal, as disasters and health emergencies can come without warning.
It stressed the need for constant dialogue between the entities in charge of finance, risk management and health emergencies to allow for better preparation and planning for a timely response and recovery during crisis.
At the peak of the crisis, the World Bank said about 1.6 billion children across the world were not in school.
Specifics
However, as schools look to re-open, the group identified four messages education systems should deliver to school leaders to improve student well-being and engagement.
World Bank said its calculations on regional perspective suggest that around 20 million jobs would be destroyed in the Latin America and Caribbean region this year.
The current crisis, it said, although deep and painful, offers the unique opportunity to reach broad social and political agreements to move toward these goals.
On food security, the World Bank said even before the global COVID-19 pandemic broke out, food insecurity was becoming a serious concern throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
“Countries must take action now to build more resilient and productive food systems in the region to support food security during this pandemic and beyond,” it said.
The African Natural Resources Center (ANRC) of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) will launch a publication containing a series of articles by leading international scholars whose ground-breaking research and analysis have shaped policy on land reform in Africa for more than two decades.
Titled Rethinking land reform in Africa: new ideas, opportunities and challenges, the publication follows the November 2019 Conference on Land Policy in Africa organized by the ANRC in Abidjan, during the 10th anniversary of the African Union Declaration on Land.
The initiative is expected to inspire innovative and critical insights, and provide a thought-leading platform of inquiry, analysis, and research for breakthrough progress in land reform policy.
The publication includes contributions from: Liz Alden Wily, Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society at University of Leiden; Thomas Bassett, University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign; Sara Berry, Johns Hopkins University; Uchendu Eugene Chigbu, Technical University of Munich; Horman Chitonge, University of Cape Town, among other authors.
The authors will also be available for virtual interviews.
Cosmas Milton Obote Ochieng, ANRC’s Director and co-author of the publication believes a re-examination of fundamental assumptions and perspectives underlying policies on land reform is a key part of the platform for progress.
“We want this to be the beginning of an inspirational debate, and for others to add their voices. We welcome new research, papers and dialogue on this important subject.”
The publication will be available online here from Tuesday 26 May 2020 at 10.00 am
List of contributions
Liz Alden Wily, Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society, University
of Leiden. Adjusting to new era agrarianism: tackling the troubled interface of public and community property.
Thomas Bassett, University of Illinois, Urbana Champagne. Maps and mapping practices in Côte d’Ivoire’s rural land reform.
Sara Berry, Johns Hopkins University. On whose authority? Land reform, power and economic uncertainty in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa.
Uchendu Eugene Chigbu, Technical University of Munich. Negotiating land rights to redress land wrongs: women in Africa’s land reforms.
Horman Chitonge, University of Cape Town. Land governance in Africa: the key to unlock improved productivity and promote equitable and sustainable land use.
Lorenzo Cotula, International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED). The future of land: commercial pressures and the case for systemic law reform to secure rural land rights.
Riel Franzsen, University of Pretoria. A review of property transfer taxes in Africa.
Robert Home, Anglia Ruskin University. Law in African land reform: contested areas.
Sheila Khama, formerly of the World Bank and the African Development Bank. Land tenure policy evolution and impacts on urban land housing markets: a case study of Botswana.
Michael Lipton, University of Sussex. Land reform contexts: demography/employment, farms, soil-water resources/authority.
Matthew Mitchell, University of Saskatchewan. Land reform, peacebuilding and the ‘indigenous’ question in Africa: the promise and perils of Free, Prior and Informed Consent.
Pauline E. Peters, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. The significance of descent-based ‘customary’ land management for land reform and agricultural futures in Africa.
Howard Stein, University of Michigan. Institutional transformation and shifting policy paradigms: reflections on land reform in Africa.
Don’t ask the whereabouts of ‘Chinese doctors’, says Health Minister
Don’t ask the whereabouts of ‘Chinese doctors’, says Health Minister
Nigeria’s Minster of Health, Osagie Ehanire has said it is not right for Nigerians to ask the whereabouts of fifteen Chinese ‘health experts’ who landed in Nigeria last month in the wake of Coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria.
Despite protests against the invitation of the Chinese by the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Nigerian Medical Association, Nigeria’ s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigerian government went ahead to bring the Chinese team.
The minister said the ‘Chinese doctors’ ‘came into Nigeria’ on the Chinese Visa and Nigerians are not supposed to ask their whereabouts.
The Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian, while welcoming the 15-man team said the team had come to “reciprocate the friendship and kindness” offered by Nigeria.
At the same time, the Nigerian Government said the team was invited by the Chinese Construction Company in Nigeria.
The Minister’s response came on Thursday during media briefing of the presidential taskforce on COVID-19 in Abuja when a journalist sought to know where the Chinese ‘health experts’ had been since they landed in Nigeria two months a go
“Not all of them are doctors. Some of them are technicians. Don’t ask about them because they are here on their country’s visa”, the Health Minister said.
The team of Chinese personnel, who were initially introduced as medical professionals arrived Nigeria on Wednesday, April 9th through Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport.
The team also came in with medical equipment and supplies valued at about $1.5 million, “including the other cost like the chartered air flight, it’s around $2 million” the ambassador disclosed.
Minister Osagie Ehanire told reporters: “This is a global problem, you know that this is affecting the whole world in such a way that all countries must help each other and we must also be our brothers keeper.”
Meanwhile the opposition People Democratic Party, PDP, kicked against what it called the importation of Chinese medics.
A statement released by the main opposition party read in part: “The PDP charges Nigerians to hold President Buhari responsible should there be any upsurge in the rate of COVID-19 infection and death in our country following the importation of doctors from China, the epicenter of the scourge, by the Buhari-led Federal Government.
“The PDP is alarmed that President Buhari ignored the protests by Nigerians and professional bodies including the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and allowed the importation of the Chinese doctors despite warnings that bringing in doctors from the hotbed of the plague will expose our citizens to further risks.
“This is even as Nigerians across board have continued to question the status, identity and interest of the Chinese doctors as well as the safety of kits and equipment from China, particularly following scary reports of escalation of the scourge in certain countries reportedly after the arrival of Chinese medical personnel in those countries.”
Russia’s Rosgeo begins Mineral Resources exploration in Equatorial Guinea
Russia’s State firms begin mineral exploration in Equatorial Guinea
JSC Zarubezhgeologia and JSC Yuzhmorgeologia, internationally operating subsidiaries of the Russia’s state-owned joint stock companyRosgeo and the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons (MMH) of Equatorial Guinea have signed two services contracts for the initial phase of seismic acquisition in transit zone and state geological mapping in the Rio Muni area, Equatorial Guinea. These contracts follow the signing of a Memorandum of understanding between both entities during the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi last October.
JSC Zarubezhgeologia will be performing scouting works for state geological mapping, and JSC Yuzhmorgeologia will be performing scouting works for complex seismic acquisition in the transit zone of Rio Muni. The activities are notably aimed at analysing landscape conditions for geological surveying and prospecting, determining the scope of mapping drilling, researching the possibility of mineralogical sampling of channel deposits, analysing technical conditions for the arrangement of geological camp in Rio Muni, and other scouting necessary to prepare for next phases of exploration works.
“Such exploration activities will help in extending additional natural resources potential and reserves in Rio Muni, notably crude oil, natural gas and minerals. This falls under the increasing cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, and will help in building a strong exploration base in the country,” state H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons.
“Russian geologists formed the basis of Equatorial Guinea’s geological exploration industry back in the 1970s, and we are delighted to be reviving this successful collaboration and bring in world-class geological activities to the Rio Muni area,” declared Sergei N. Gorkov, CEO of Rosgeo.
The Rio Muni area is believed to be one of the most promising exploration frontiers in Equatorial Guinea, which could turn the country once again into a hotspot for natural resources exploration. Increased exploration is expected not only to help in sustaining and increasing domestic output of oil and gas, but also in proving additional reserves in key minerals to help Equatorial Guinea further diversify its economy.
South Africa rallies global economy experts as recession sets in
South Africa rallies global economy experts as recession sets in again
South Africa is thinking out of the box to proffer solution to her ebbing economy. Barely three years after it was hit by economic recession, the presumed leader of African economy is back in the muds.
Among economy experts who attended South Africa’s economy roundtable was Nigeria’s ex-Minister of Finance and Coordinator of Economy during the administration of Dr Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Okonjo-Iweala was pictured with South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa and members of the Presidential economic advisory Council in Pretoria discussing sources of growth for the South African economy.
Recall that the rainbow nation’s economy recently entered recession paving way for Nigeria to again, clinch the position of Africa’s largest economy.
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has held many positions in the international scene, including her present position as the Board Chair of Gavi, present Board Chair AR Capacity, two-time Nigerian Minister of Finance, and former Managing Director Operations, World Bank.
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