Africa's Leadership: Wave of Change
There are many elections taking place on the African Continent that will determine its continued stability and development growth. The African continent has moved forward with the Continental Free Trade Area Agreement which aims to make the movement of people as well as products and services seamless.
There are various reports that strong correlations exist between sub-Saharan Africa’s entrenched leadership and its developmental and security challenges, including conflict or instability, stagnant or declining economies, and democratic backsliding.
African countries progressive move towards democratic change is always watched by the rest of the World, and here is a statement by the Department of State which highlights that "The United States is committed to supporting free, fair, inclusive elections. The conduct of elections is important not only for Africans, but also for defenders of democracy around the world. We believe all sides should participate peacefully in the democratic process. (…) We will watch closely the actions of individuals who interfere in the democratic process and will not hesitate to consider consequences – including visa restrictions – for those responsible for election-related violence. As long-time partners to the nations of Africa, we care about the region’s democratic trajectory and are committed to working constructively with international and regional partners." Read the full statement
Click here for more information about the African election calendar.
US-Africa Engagement
United States Announces New Kenyan Pension Consortium to Mobilize Investment in Large Scale Infrastructure Projects
"The United States Government is pleased to support a Kenyan institution that presents an innovative approach to infrastructure investment in Kenya as it follows recent changes to the Retirement Benefits Authority guidelines allowing pension funds in Kenya to invest up to 10% of their assets into infrastructure, potentially unlocking over KES 100 billion ($917 million)," said U.S Ambassador Kyle McCarter. Read more
View the map: visit All Active Projects.
DFC published the Roadmap for Impact report, which shows what DFC aims to achieve. The investment targets and development goals over the next five years are:
Technology and Infrastructure
- Commit to $5 billion in technology and critical infrastructure.
- Expand logistics, warehousing and transportation infrastructure to increase regional and global connectivity through 10 major infrastructure projects in LICs, LMICs, and fragile states.
Energy
- Commit to catalyze $6 billion directly and indirectly in 2X qualifying transactions.
- Commit to $100 million in projects that include innovations in financial technology.
Health
- Commit to $3 billion and catalyze $6 billion more from the private sector in health.
- Increase access to health care by supporting 10 new healthcare facilities in LICs, LMICs, and underserved communities in UMICs.
Food Security & Agriculture
- Commit $500 million over 50 investments.
- Commit 75% of projects in LICs, LMICs, and fragile states.
Water, Sanitation, & Hygiene
- Commit to at least $250 million in WASH projects globally.
- Commit to at least 25 WASH projects in LICs and LMICs.
Read the full report
AfCFTA Trade & Investment: A Game Changer
We partnered with Squire Patton Boggs to host a webinar to discuss AfCFTA, FTA and WTO. The AfCFTA, Trade and Investment: A Game Changer for Africa webinar was held on Wednesday October 28th, 2020. Rahel G had an opportunity to moderate the discussion where Frank Samolis Partner and Co-Chair of Trade practice, Peter Stewart Partner Co-Chair of Africa Practice and Board Secretary of Invest in Africa, Roslyn Ng’eno Senior Investment Expert to the AfCFTA Support Unit of the African Union Commission and Samuel Mwale an Economist and Public Policy expert and KEPSA US Representative presented their perspectives on various trade and investment issues.
As a branding company, we find it opportune for countries to brand their respective countries and join as one region to brand Africa, harmonize the African narrative and transform the image of the continent as a collective.
You can read Frank Samolis's views and Samuel Mwale's views.
The video will be posted soon on our website. We thank all participants and panelists. We are also grateful to the African Union and Squire Patton Boggs team.
Interesting Articles
Empathy: Four Action Steps that help you Win by Guest Author Christopher Kolenda
Empathy is the ability to see a situation from someone else’s point of view. It’s different than sympathy. You do not need to agree with the other person or take on the same emotions. As a leader, you need to understand other people’s points of view and the implications so that you can learn and adapt successfully. It’s an essential leadership quality. (...) Empathy helped us build a bridge and begin to cooperate. We started with small measures and worked towards larger ones. Read more
How Africa can manufacture to meet its own pharmaceutical needs
The Covid-19 pandemic exposed Africa’s inadequate capabilities and capacity to manufacture and supply essential drugs and personal protective equipment (PPEs) needed to curb the disease. Read more
Google and Amazon Showing Investment Interest In E-Commerce Within AfCFTA
"We have an opportunity with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement as we implemented to negotiate a digital trade e-commerce protocol per the agreement that will set the regulatory framework for e-commerce to take place in Africa for digital trade to take place in Africa, and in this regard we have already been approached by Google and Amazon who are interested in investing where of course we establish the right regulatory framework to invest in data storage centers on the African continent.” said Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Read more
AfCFTA To Roll Out Electronic Cross Border Trade Platform For SMEs in 2021
A major hurdle to intra-African trade has been the high cost of foreign exchange transaction costs which curbs SMEs’ ability to trade across the continent. In 2019, the AfriEximbank unveiled the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to domesticate payment and settlement to cut high transaction costs and delays. The new system will save Africa US$5 billion in payment transactions per annum. Read more
UNECA hopeful AfCFTA will address Africa’s investment challenges
"African economies continue to punch below their weight in terms of attracting foreign direct investment. Moreover, FDI to the continent continues to weaken. While FDI inflows reached $56.6 billion in 2015, they had fallen to less than $42 billion by 2017. This figure represents less than three percent of the global investment flows..." Read more
‘Travel Pass’ to accelerate AfCFTA implementation
Econet, which developed a mobile app called the ‘Travel Pass’ that is embedded on Africa CDC’s Trusted Travel Platform, says the use of technology is essential in achieving the AfCFTA’s objectives. The continental free trade area presents a major opportunity for African countries to bring 30 million people out of extreme poverty and to raise the incomes of 68 million others, who live on less than US$5.50 per day. Read more
Time for Integrated Regional Value Chains in Central Africa
ECCAS was established on 18 October 1983 with the signing, in Libreville - Gabon, of its Constitutive Treaty. The treaty was the subject of a revision adopted on 18 December 2019 and which entered into force on 28 August 2020. ECCAS is made up of eleven Member States which are: Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda and Sao Tome and Principe. Read more
Digital trade is next big thing in Africa
How would you describe the impact of COVID-19 on AfCFTA so far? Well, the impact has been, as anybody can imagine, extremely negative, starting with just the state of the economy in Africa. According to the African Development Bank, the (African economy) was set to grow between 4% and 5% this year. And so, the dynamism in African economies was there, right up until COVID-19 hit. We know that over 53% of Africa’s exports go to countries particularly in Europe, but those consumers are now suffering from the pandemic. That has had a subdued effect on our export markets. The services sector in Africa, especially travel and hospitality, is set to fall by between 20% and 30% this year. In general, the virus has had a devastating effect on Africa. We have to find ways to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. But, for now, the primary focus should be on saving people’s lives. Read more
Fun Facts
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AFRICA IS THE SECOND LARGEST CONTINENT ON EARTH. With a total area of around 11.73 million square miles (30.37 million square kilometers) that account for 5.7% of the earth’s surface as well as 20% of the total surface of land on our planet, Africa is 2nd largest continent on earth. One of the most interesting facts about Africa is that the length and breadth of the continent are about the same, Horizontal Width: 4,355 miles (7,009 km) from Dakar, Senegal, east to Mogadishu, Somalia and Vertical Length: 4,504 miles (7,248 km) from Cape Town, South Africa north to Tripoli, Libya.
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THE WORLD’S LARGEST HOTTEST DESERT IS IN AFRICA- covering 60% of land surface area Africa is the world's second driest continent (after Australia). The Sahara is the world’s largest hot desert and one of the harshest environments on the planet. It is third largest desert overall after Antarctica and the Arctic, which are cold deserts. At 3.6 million square miles (9.4 million square kilometers) bigger than the entire USA! The desert covers 11countries (large sections of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and Tunisia).
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