AfDB Approves a USD 100 million Risk Participation Agreement with Commerzbank AG to Boost Trade Finance in Africa

This facility will help address critical market demand for trade finance in Africa TUNIS, Tunisia, May 23, 2013/ — The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) (http://www.afdb.org) approved on Tuesday, May 22, a USD 100 million unfunded Risk Participation Agreement (RPA) between the AfDB and Commerzbank AG under which the two banks…

Promoting Youth Employment in Africa

As successive editions of the African Economic Outlook have shown, Africa’s rate of growth has outperformed the global rate over the last decade. Yet high growth is not sufficient to guarantee productive employment for all. Large sections of the population, and particularly the young, can be left behind and become frustrated. In the absence of…

Green Growth: A Win-Win Approach to Sustainable Development?

The concept of ‘Green Growth’ is one which has understandable political currency, highlighted by its prominence in this year’s ‘Rio+20’ meeting hosted by the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. In promising to reconcile the goals of low-carbon and sustainable development with other valued outcomes such as job creation, poverty reduction and economic growth, it…

Aid for Trade to Africa surpasses other regions, says ECA-led study

Aid for Trade to Africa surpasses other regions, says ECA-led study ECA Press Release No. 90/2011 Web: http://www.uneca.org/ Addis Ababa, 21 June 2011 (ECA) – African trade experts from member State capitals and the Geneva-based African trade negotiators assembled on Tuesday in Geneva for a roundtable organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa…

LDCs set to jump start to a green economy

With their low-carbon profile, rich natural assets and promising policy initiatives, the world’s 48 least developed countries are well-positioned to jump start the transition to a green economy, according to a new UN report released at the start of the Fourth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV). Carla September reviews the report, titled Why…

Governing Development in Africa – Economic Report on Africa 2011 – Focused industrial policy

To catch up and, more important, to meet its own development objectives, Africa needs to promote rapid industrialization that will promote innovation, technological adoption, entrepreneurship, high value added and employment-generating manufacturing. This will enable the continent to overcome the low contribution of industry and manufacturing to GDP and employment. The formulation and implementation of industrial…

Africa Platform for Development Effectiveness (APDev) | Inspiring Change

Africa Platform for Development Effectiveness (APDev) | Inspiring Change. APDEv is an African-led and owned physical and virtual multi-stakeholder platform and organizing mechanism for mobilizing African policy makers and practitioners towards achieving sustainable development results. The Platform focuses on 3 inter-related themes of Aid Effectiveness and South-South Cooperation with Capacity Development as a core driver…

Africa Platform for Development Effectiveness (APDev) | Inspiring Change

Africa Platform for Development Effectiveness (APDev) | Inspiring Change. APDEv is an African-led and owned physical and virtual multi-stakeholder platform and organizing mechanism for mobilizing African policy makers and practitioners towards achieving sustainable development results. The Platform focuses on 3 inter-related themes of Aid Effectiveness and South-South Cooperation with Capacity Development as a core driver…

EADI EDC2020 Publication: Rising Powers and New Global Challenges

EADI: EDC2020 Publication “Rising Powers and New Global Challenges” – Bonn Sustainability Portal. The challenges facing European development cooperation have changed substantially in recent years. Analysts and politicians have commented on the increasing influence of China in Africa and the challenges this poses for EU influence to the EU strategic and policy objectives. In fact,…

Donors' mixed aid performance for 2010 sparks concern

Aid to developing countries in 2010 will reach record levels in dollar terms after increasing by 35 per cent since 2004. But it will still be less than the world’s major aid donors promised five years ago at the Gleneagles and Millennium + 5 summits. Though a majority of countries will meet their commitments, the…

Diaspora to Promote Job Creation and Youth Development in Africa

More than 50 Washington D.C.-based members of the African Diaspora participated in the launch of the 2008/2009 Africa Development Indicators (ADI) report . As this year’s ADI focuses on ‘‘Youth and Employment in Africa – The Potential, The Problem, The Promise”, the launch targeted Diaspora with an interest in youth development and promoting job creation…

UNCTAD: Economic Development in Africa 2008

The objective of this year’s report is to examine Africa’s export performance after trade liberalization in order to draw relevant lessons that could be used to craft future trade and development strategies. The main message is that the efforts made by African countries in terms of trade liberalization over the last twenty-five years have removed…

Sustainable Development Report on Africa (SDRA)

The Economic Commission for Africa has released the second edition of its flagship publication, the Sustainable Development Report on Africa (SDRA). This edition of SDRA is devoted to a five-year review of the implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development Outcomes in Africa (WSSD+5). Several African countries have made progress in economic governance, public…

Africa's economic growth in 2007 again well above the long-term trend

Africa’s average real GDP grew by 5.7 per cent in 2007. The 2008 African Economic Outlook report , jointly published by the African Development Bank, the OECD Development Centre and the UNECA expects the rate of GDP growth to strengthen to about 6 per cent in 2008 and in 2009. The 2008 African Economic Outlook…