Global DHL CEO optimistic about Africa’s potential

LIVINGSTONE, Zambia, March 14, 2013/ — “Africa is the last bastion for business globally and, over the next few years, will prove its potential as a stable, lucrative continent for international commerce.” These are the words of Ken Allen, Chief Executive Officer of global express and logistics provider, DHL Express.

Allen is in Sub-Saharan Africa to visit countries including Zambia, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa, as the operator continues to expand into the continent and increase its already vast footprint into the far-flung, rural areas. He will also attend DHL’s internal employee celebration in Livingstone, Zambia, which acknowledges the company’s ‘superstars’ from over 60 countries.

Allen’s visit follows the March 5th announcement by Deutsche Post DHL that the DHL Express division made an EBIT contribution of EUR 1.11 billion in 2012, a 21 percent improvement over 2011. He is also upbeat about commerce in Africa and eager to use this proven global business approach to further entrench DHL in the continent, spurring on trade and connecting the markets to increase the continent’s global competitiveness.

“Much has been said around Africa’s potential and, while it currently only contributes 3% of the global GDP, it is still the fastest growing continent. We have seen positive economic indicators from countries across Sub-Saharan Africa – Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda to name a few – and I believe we will continue to see Africa improve its standing on the international business stage.”

He continues, “The major challenge for Africa and, primarily for us as logistics operators, is to improve infrastructure – whether this is road infrastructure or air capacity. Current road conditions are responsible for approximately 40 percent of transport costs in coastal countries and 60 percent in landlocked countries, and we know that transport costs can make up 50 to 75 percent of the actual retail price of goods in countries such as Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda. We are currently transporting over 80 percent of our cargo by air, which can be between 3 and 9 times more expensive than road or rail. For Africa to become competitive, this situation needs urgent review, with a strong focus on the developments of the transport infrastructure.”

And Allen’s major focus for the next few years? “Continuing to motivate and engage our employees, in both Africa and abroad. We have seen the culture of DHL Express reformed and reshaped through employee engagement and training, and the financial turnaround of the business is testament to this. Putting your human capital at the centre of your company leads not only to great service, but loyal customers and unparalleled business returns. Source: African Press Organization.

Filed under: Africa, Clusters, Development, Economy, Germany, Trade, logistics, value chains

SADC launches new website: www.sadc.int

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat launched its new website www.sadc.int to the public on Monday December 03, 2012 at a function which was held at the SADC Secretariat Head Office in Gaborone Botswana.

The internet is a rapidly evolving technology, and to keep up with it as well as to remain relevant, SADC saw the need to revamp its website. The new website was launched under the banner ‘Our Face to the World” and is intended to be more outwardly focused while engaging relevant stakeholders in SADC Member States. Officially launching the new SADC website, SADC Executive Secretary Dr Tomaz Augusto Salomão said it the SADC website must be continuously maintained and information updated. He called on all the originators of information at the Secretariat to feed it to those who are responsible for managing the website content to ensure that it will not go stale to need another re-launch a few years down the lane.

Dr Salomão expressed his sincerest gratitude to the government of Germany with whose support the website was revamped as a joint effort between SADC and the German Development Cooperation (GIZ). He lauded the all-inclusive website revamping process that allowed all SADC staff Secretariat staff to participate, spearheaded by the SADC Public Relations (PR), and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Units under the leadership of Ms Emilie Ayaza Mushobekwa, SADC Deputy Executive Secretary for Finance & Administration and support from GIZ and Hatfield Consultants, which yielded the new world-class design and content.

Giving an overview on the new website at the launch, Ms Mushobekwa said that the new website was a necessity as it plays an integral role in SADC’s aspirations of becoming a world class organisation. “Realising the importance of becoming a world-class organisation, the SADC Secretariat included a benchmarking exercise as part of the review process. This exercise ranked the old SADC website and those of similar organisations such as the African Union and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa against good website practices. The results highlighted areas that needed most attention and the amount of effort needed to move ahead of the pack,” she said. Furthermore the website contains valuable information about institutional set-up, priorities of regional integration and common projects as well as progress and impact made by all 15 Member States and relevant stakeholders.

Filed under: ACP, Africa, Germany, Links, News, Technology, Web 2.0, SADC

German Aid Allocation and Partner Country Selection. Development-orientation, Self-interests and Path Dependency

The GDI paper examines official country selection and resource allocation of German aid after the end of the Cold War and embeds the analysis into the broader debate about German foreign policy. Overall, the authors find that neediness and democracy levels of recipients have been guiding principles in both country selection and resource allocation.

Nevertheless, geostrategic considerations and the avoidance of conflict-affected countries have also impacted on country selection but less on resource allocation. Moreover, non-linear estimation techniques identify a relatively high threshold of income levels, below which the poverty orientation disappears – a finding that refines previous studies identifying a middle income-country bias of German aid allocation. Finally, official selection decisions to concentrate aid on a reduced number of countries did not have the intended concentration effect.

2012/07 – German Development Institute/ Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE); Authors: Jörg Faust and Sebastian Ziaja

Filed under: Research, Germany, Development, Publications, Poverty, aid allocation, bmz, country selection, gdi

Strengthening EU development cooperation under the Lisbon Treaty

The expected introduction of the European Union’s (EU) Lisbon Treaty in 2010 will fundamentally alter how EU external action is conducted. This presents both risks and opportunities for EU development cooperation. The general expectation of EU Member States’ Senior Officials is that progress in EU integration and a stronger EU profile in the world would strengthen EU development cooperation and improve policy coherence for development This would also help to ensure better cooperation with partner countries in the South. But there were varying assessments on how these aspirations might best be achieved. See the ECDPM background document. Source: ECDPM. http://dev.afflux.com/ecdpm/manager2/link.php?ID=1125

Filed under: Development, European Union, Germany, OECD

Please welcome new staff at AGEG’s Head Office

AGEG Consultants eG has two new Managing Directors, who share general management tasks. Both are experienced Consultants and are named Harald, but are not relatives. Harald Himsel will lead the business development, while Harald Speidel looks more on the administration and financial management. Martina Jacobson joined the team as Project Manager for Training, E-Learning, and Sustainable Tourism. All activities of AGEG Consultants are coordinated from AGEG’s Head Office in Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany. A team of 16 people is responsible for the acquisition and management of short and long term projects as well as for the provision of services to AGEG’s members and associates. http://www.ageg.de/headoffice/headoffice_team/

Filed under: Development, Directories, Economy, European Union, Germany, News

World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development

The United Nations Conference on the world financial crisis adopted a wide-ranging Outcome Document (http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/CONF.214/3&Lang=E). The Outcome Document recognizes that the incoherence of the global economic system needs to be urgently addressed. It stresses the importance of the United Nations’ role in international economic issues,emphasizing that its universal membership and legitimacy makes it well positioned to participate in various reform processes aimed at improving and strengthening the effective functioning of the international financial system and architecture. It makes references to issues and recommendations of the Stiglitz Commission which presented an advanced report to the Conference, including on resources and policy space for developing countries to mitigate the crisis, debt restructuring and standstills, reform of the global reserve system and an independent panel of experts on the world economic and financial crisis that would inform international action, political decision-makin and foster constructive dialogues and exchanges among policy makers, academics, institutions and civil society. The precise role of the UN in global economic governance reform will likely be hotly debated in the coming months. Source: UN-NGLS

The European Commission stressed that the crisis shows how deeply the prosperity and the future of advanced economies, the emerging economies and the developing countries are linked. The cooperation and contribution of all developed, emerging and developing countries is needed. Source: European Commission, http://www.eu-un.europa.eu

As developing countries face the full impact of the economic crisis, European governments are falling short by nearly €40bn on their aid promises, a new report from CONCORD, the European confederation of Relief and Development NGOs, reveals. Source: Concord, http://tinyurl.com/numbm8

A groundbreaking study coordinated by ODI finds that developing countries are being hit harder than expected by the global financial and economic crisis, and that, sooner or later, they will need to respond. Research in ten developing countries, carried out by 40 researchers, provides a vivid picture of how these countries are faring in the crisis. The research examines the transmission belts — such as remittances, private capital flows and trade — that have been affected and are now carrying the crisis from the rich industrialised countries of the north to the poor developing countries of the south. Source: ODI, http://tinyurl.com/nc5yoy

The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group called for urgent solutions to financial crisis. ACP states are amongst those hard hit by the crisis and want solutions to focus on countering the effects of the crisis. Since the crisis started, ACP states have experienced major falls in their export earnings; foreign direct investment has slowed down, official development aid declined and remittance flows have shrunken. The ACP Group believes that the crisis poses a severe threat to its members, compromising not only the efforts and economic gains achieved over the past years, but also the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The ACP Group underscores that the impact of the crisis would undoubtedly exert strong pressure on the macro-economic balance of the ACP countries. ACP cited sub-Saharan Africa as an example, where growth outlook has dropped to 1.5% for 2009, against 5.4% in 2008 and 6.8 percent in 2007. Source: ACP Secretariat, http://www.acp.int/en/press_releases/financialcriisis/pressrelease_financialcrisis09.html

A Joint Statement by the African Development Bank, European Commission, and World Bank calls to align support to mitigate the impact of the economic crisis. The crisis calls for more coordination of infrastructure development in Africa. This statement outlines the concerns shared by the three institutions and highlights the priority interventions required at this time. Responding to urgent needs, the three organisations have announced their willingness to increase their aid volumes to provide much needed counter-cyclical spending in support of rapid recovery, job creation and to promote long-term growth. In this context, the three institutions call on development partners to support harmonized spending and interventions around the following strategic areas of alignment with proven high impact: development of regional infrastructure: transport corridors, power networks and ICT; maintenance of existing assets; and enhancement of policy, regulatory and administrative frameworks. Source: European Commission, http://tinyurl.com/mjz86l

The recent second Global Review of Aid for Trade demonstrates that despite the crisis, there is good news for developing countries: in 2007, total aid for trade reached USD 25.4 billion, USD 4.3 billion (21%) more than the 2005 baseline. Even so, World Bank estimates show that 53 million more people are expected to be living on less than USD 1.25 a day. And while a few countries have slightly reduced the targets they set in 2005 for 2010, the bulk of the commitments remain in force. DACnews describes the action being taken on many fronts. A survey recently concluded by OECD and the WTO – the second of its kind – demonstrates that the Aid-for-Trade Initiative is a success. Since its inception in 2005, developing countries have given higher priority to trade in their development strategies. Donors have responded by offering more funds to help them overcome their supply-side constraints. Source: OECD, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/43/52/43150493.htm

Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation released the publication Re-Defining the Global Economy (http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/global/06293.pdf) after forum in April 2009. The current global economic crisis presents an opportunity to to engage the political governance of the global economy. Leading economist and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz introduces this publication for which FES invited expert authors to discuss three approaches to Re-Defining the Global Economy namely, necessary institutional arrangements for a just well-governed and well-functioning financial system, the question of national or regional versus global regulation of such a system and the necessary political and economic arrangements for securing social protections.

Canadian IDRC suggested solutions for Global Economic Governance based on their project findings: http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-139286-201-1-DO_TOPIC

Filed under: Crisis, Development, Economy, Employment, European Union, Germany, OECD, Poverty, Crisis

GTZ requires Capacity WORKS certificates from Consultants

Capacity WORKS is GTZ’s new management model for sustainable development. It supports the steering of international cooperation projects and programmes. Using five success factors, the cooperating partners structure the projects, evaluate each step along the way and identify necessary interventions. This makes the measures more transparent and increases the scope for action by the partners involved. Capacity WORKS facilitates the management of complex projects and boosts their sustainable results. Capacity WORKS also provides the basis for knowledge and quality management in cooperation activities. Capacity WORKS is now being systematically introduced in GTZ’s international cooperation projects and programmes, and integrated into all the company’s relevant standard instruments. Not least, GTZ will also be making expertise in Capacity WORKS a requirement in its future job openings. GTZ has concluded a framework agreement with AGEG Consultants eG to act as ‘Capacity WORKS multipliers’ by training both individual consultants and consulting companies in Capacity WORKS, and keeping them updated on a regular basis. GTZ will accept certificates of participation issued by AGEG. See our German Website for courses: http://www.ageg.de/capacity_works_training

Filed under: Development, Germany, Methods, GTZ

A comprehensive plan to drive Europe’s recovery from the current economic crisis

The European Commission presented a Recovery Plan based on short-term measures to boost demand, save jobs and help restore confidence, and also on ”smart investment” to yield higher growth and sustainable prosperity in the longer-term. The Plan calls for a timely, targeted and temporary fiscal stimulus in 2009-2010 of EUR 200bn, or 1.5% of EU GDP, with every Member State taking major measures good for its own citizens and good for the rest of Europe. ”If Europe acts decisively to implement this Recovery Plan, we can get back on a path of sustainable growth and pay back short-term government borrowing. If we do not act now, we risk a vicious recessionary cycle of falling purchasing power and tax revenues, rising unemployment and ever wider budget deficits”, warned president Barroso. http://tinyurl.com/6gyhon

Filed under: Economy, European Union, Germany

Remittances from Germany and their Routes to Migrants’ Origin Countries

Germany is one of the most important countries of origin for remittances— money transfers from migrants. In 2006 they amounted to approximately ten billion euros. However, as this study shows, migrants face considerable difficulties with the transfer process. Despite its large volume, the market for money transfers is extremely intransparent. Intensive research is needed to discover which financial institutions offer what kind of services, and at what cost. In some cases the cost of these services is extremely high. The result is that transfers are frequently made through informal channels. http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/07-1374.pdf

Filed under: Development, Germany, Migration, Remittances, Research