<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="265" height="265" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/WhatsApp-Image-2019-11-30-at-07.51.13.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-351337" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/WhatsApp-Image-2019-11-30-at-07.51.13.jpeg 265w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/WhatsApp-Image-2019-11-30-at-07.51.13-150x150.jpeg 150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 265px) 100vw, 265px" /></figure></div>



By Dr Hanan Morsy, Director, Macroeconomics Policy, Forecasting and Research Department, African Development Bank Group. 



Despite remarkable progress made on women’s participation in policymaking, Africa is still far from achieving the 50 percent gender parity target set by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).



Between
1995 and 2018, the proportion of women in African parliaments almost tripled
from 8% to 23% but remains insufficient. Out of 11,037 African parliamentarians
as of October 2018, only 2,591 were women and out of 1,348 ministers on the
continent only 302, or 22%, were women<a href="#_ftn1">[1]</a>. 



The
challenges in achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment, will be the
focus of the Global Gender Summit to be held in Kigali, Rwanda from the 25-27
November. The Summit, hosted by the African Development Bank in partnership
with the Government of Rwanda, will spotlight innovative financing, fostering
an enabling environment and ensuring women’s participation and voices.



Mainstreaming
gender in policymaking in Africa is crucial for at least three main reasons.
First, women are the main driving labor force in most African countries, making
a vital contribution to the economy. Empirical studies, including the African
Development Bank’s own research<a href="#_ftn2">[2]</a>,
have found that if women had equal access to productive resources such as land,
modern inputs, technology, or financial services, then the gender productivity
gap in agriculture of 20%-35% would almost disappear. 



This
suggests that African countries could significantly increase their production
by just closing the gender gap across economic sectors, particularly in agriculture.
Second, increasing women’s participation in policymaking has been found to lead
to higher GDP growth through increases in higher-skilled women in the labor
force and women’s employment in high-productivity sectors<a href="#_ftn3">[3]</a>. Africa
is therefore losing socio-economic opportunities by not doing enough to
encourage the voices of women. The continent cannot afford to wait any longer
to empower women. 



Gender
empowerment in policymaking can also boost women’s role as business leaders. Although
Africa boasts the world’s highest rate of women entrepreneurs (at 27%) and is the
only continent where more women than men choose to become entrepreneurs, most
female-led enterprises are small businesses, in the informal sector with little
growth prospects. 



Access
to finance is a key constraint and the Bank’s research found that women
entrepreneurs in Africa are more likely to self-select out of the credit market
due to perceived low creditworthiness compared to men<a href="#_ftn4">[4]</a>. 



By
influencing policymaking in their countries, women can help lift barriers to their
participation in labor markets which at 61% remains lower than men at 67%. 



And
to ensure that no voice remains unheard, much work needs to be done. Improving
women’s access to education is key. Better educated women are more likely to
influence policy. Despite commendable efforts, the gender gap in educational
attainment persists in most African countries, creating barriers to women’s
advancement.



For
instance, the average number of schooling years between 2010-2017 was 4.33 for
females but 5.6 for males in Africa. In many countries, the educational
disadvantage of women starts at primary school and by the time girls become
adolescents the educational gap has significantly widened.



One
solution to explore is to ensure universal access to education to all girls and
promote education parity at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Several findings
indicate that countries with greater education parity have realized higher
economic growth<a href="#_ftn5">[5]</a>.
In addition to bringing girls into school, having them complete their grades is
also important, as the drop-out rate of girls in primary education is still very
high in Africa, with a third of girls dropping out between 2010-2017. 



Second,
government efforts to support the development of women’s political competency is
particularly important in raising their participation in policymaking. Mentoring
and training programs can equip women candidates with the necessary skills to successfully
run for political office. For elected women, leadership trainings would
strengthen their influence in policymaking and advocacy. 



Third,
scaling up of programs and initiatives or implementation of laws aimed at fostering
an enabling political environment for women will ensure that women’s voices are
heard. Although many African countries have made legal provisions guaranteeing
equal rights of men and women in policymaking and have even established gender
parity in their electoral systems, only a handful have implemented these laws.



Only
Rwanda, Ethiopia and Seychelles have achieved or are close to achieving gender
parity in their ministerial cabinets. Rwanda is the only country in Africa where
women outnumber men in the parliament (61.3% as of January 1, 2019). Other
countries such as Namibia (46.2%), South Africa (42.7%), or Senegal (41.8%) have
set examples for other nations to follow in mainstreaming gender in policymaking.




In
its own operations, the African Development Bank in 2018 launched a Gender
Marker System to track gender mainstreaming in its work. It has also developed
an Africa Gender Index in partnership with the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa to measure gender parity across economic, social, and political
representation dimensions. 



With
its Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative, the Bank
will extend women’s access to finance through commercial banks and financial
intermediaries, provide technical assistance to women, and engage policy and
regulatory bodies to create an enabling environment for women.



With initiatives such as AFAWA, and the Global Gender Summit in Kigali, the African Development Bank is advancing the course of women and ensuring that no voice is unheard.

Op-Ed: Mainstreaming gender in African policy making: Ensuring no voice is unheard

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="540" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AFAWA_AfDB-1110x540.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-351333" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AFAWA_AfDB-1110x540.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AFAWA_AfDB-300x146.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AFAWA_AfDB-820x399.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AFAWA_AfDB-768x374.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AFAWA_AfDB-1536x747.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AFAWA_AfDB-696x339.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AFAWA_AfDB-1068x520.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AFAWA_AfDB-863x420.jpg 863w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AFAWA_AfDB.jpg 1700w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /></figure>



By Angelique Kidjo



In African cultures, women play a nurturing role, they are the backbone of the continent. Yet, they face a $42 billion-dollar financing gap with over 3/4 of them being financially excluded.



This means that when it comes to lending money,
women are systematically seen as high-risk by financial institutions. In
Africa, viable guarantees often come in the form of land and properties, both
of which are rarely accessible to women. Land is, indeed, the most critical
economic resource for the vast majority of the population in rural areas who
depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Yet, throughout many African
countries, women have less access, control, and ownership of this key assets
and their land rights are less secure. This often limits women&#8217;s economic
opportunities and leaves them more vulnerable to poverty.



As a result of this systemic discrimination
against women, access to financial services disproportionately favours men. For
instance, in Africa men have 50% more global wealth than women and run more
than 86% of businesses. Local barriers are also erected in front of African
women: most of them at the continental level operate in informal sectors or
very rural areas with limited banking facilities, making easy access to finance
almost unheard of. This is a market failure that must be addressed to ensure
equal access to banking and ultimately equal rights.



The capital lost because of the financial
exclusion of women is deeply affecting our economy and most importantly, deeply
impacting our societies. When you are struggling to make ends meet, to put a
meal on the table, to raise your kids, why wouldn’t you try to go to Europe,
despite the risks and the thousands of lives lost at sea?



The AFAWA initiative is a direct response to
the challenges faced by women in Africa, and the need to unlock access to
finance. It is a major step in the right direction for women all over Africa,
but it is certainly not the end of the battle. AFAWA’s primary end
beneficiaries are African women’s enterprises across the continent, often
neglected by the traditional banking system. A more equal – and gender equal –
Africa is not just a political ideal. It will have a ripple effect on Africa’s
development and human capital. It will lay the foundations for a resilient,
prosperous and forward-looking Africa.



The goal here is to work towards eliminating
these structural and cultural barriers, creating wealth, generating growth, and
supporting female entrepreuneurship. It is surely the first of many steps
towards women’s empowerment, which will ultimately lead to economic growth
across the entire continent. But banks and governments need to act, and act
now, for women to be empowered, for these inequalities to be resolved, and for
the economy to grow.



Women in Africa are the heartbeat of the
continent, they are the agents of long lasting change. If we want to invest in
the future, we need to empower women by investing in them. 



Of course, we know that the AFAWA initiative
alone will not by itself tear down the many hurdles inhibiting women’s
abilities and opportunities. However, I believe that this initiative can
significantly shape the future of Africa.

AFAWA_AfDB

Op-Ed: How the AFAWA initiative is empowering women to propel Africa forward

Kigali, Rwanda, 25 November 2019 – African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina has called for greater access to finance for African women when he addressed the inaugural session of the Global Gender Summit.



&#8220;When women borrow, they
always repay. And 90% of them repay their loans without the least problem. So,
where is the risk? The problem is prejudice and the banks&#8217; lack of flexibility.
We must leave this behind to allow women access to financing,&#8221; President
Adesina urged.



The session headed &#8220;Unlocking women&#8217;s access
to finance in Africa&#8221; had a panel of high-level speakers,
including Salimata Diop Dieng, the Senegalese Minister of Women, Family and
Gender; Andrew Temu, President of the African Guarantee Fund; Kennedy Uzoka,
President and CEO of United Bank of Africa (UBA); Joséphine Anan-Ankomah, CEO
of Ecobank Group; and Christine Ngiriye, an entrepreneur.



Salimata Diop Deng said,
&#8220;It is important that financial institutions support initiatives from
women. They have the market gardens and produce to process. They create
start-ups in innovative areas. But they lack resources and collateral, and the
procedures for accessing loans are complicated. These women have relatively
moderate finance needs, just enough to create projects and jobs. They need
support from the private sector and the banks to help them weave their way into
the economy.&#8221;



Andrew Temu advocated
&#8220;holding discussions with countries to improve the business environment.
What is especially needed is legislation that reassures the banks. There are a
number of actors, banks, investors, entrepreneurs and clients operating within
the economic market. Everyone needs to be in communication to address the
risks.&#8221;



For Anan-Ankomah, ECOBANK is
already making big strides to gender parity. The pan-African bank has signed up
to the African Union gender parity principle of 50/50. “Currently we are at 46%
and out of that, 30% of those women are in senior management positions,” she
said.



Ngiriye said that she had seen
little change in nearly 30 years: &#8220;The problem that comes up again and
again is that of collateral.”



According to Adesina the
financial sector had a responsibility to the women of Africa. And he made an
announcement: &#8220;From now on, we shall be grading every African financial
institution for how well it helps women. Every financial ecosystem must evolve
to support women. And we are going to put pressure on the guarantee
banks.&#8221;



The African Development Bank and the government of Rwanda are hosting the Global Gender Summit from 25 to 27 November in Kigali. The Summit is being organised by the Multilateral Development Banks’ (MDBs) Working Group on gender for the first time in Africa.



Content provided by African Development Bank

gettyimages-870006586-594×594 (1)

Global Gender Summit 2019: “Put prejudice behind us and give women access to finance” says Akinwumi Adesina

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By Mariam Yinusa and Edward Mabaya, Principal Economist and Manager, respectively, in the Agribusiness Development Division of the African Development Bank.



Monica Musonda, CEO of Zambian food processing company <a href="https://java-foods.com/">Java Foods</a>, certainly faced hurdles in her rise
to the top, but she overcame them. 



“Although the barriers to entry for
women can be frustrating, they are often basic and relatively easy to resolve,”
she said, playing down her struggles. “My
climb up the agribusiness ladder has been challenging but definitely
worthwhile.” 



Musonda, whose company produces
affordable and nutritious food snacks made from local ingredients, is one of just
a handful of female agripreneurs who have <a href="http://www.lionessesofafrica.com/blog/2017/5/14/monica-musonda-founder-of-java-foods-zambia-wins-the-african-agribusiness-entrepreneur-of-the-year-award-2017">successfully broken through the
proverbial glass ceiling in Africa’s agribusiness</a> industry. 



Women are
the backbone of Africa’s agricultural sector. From farm to fork, African women
are players along the entire agricultural value chain, be it as farmers,
livestock breeders, processors, traders, workers, entrepreneurs or consumers. While
their influence on the continent’s growing agribusiness industry is undeniable,
more solutions are needed to address the gender-specific challenges they face to
boost their participation. 



The average
African woman is a budding entrepreneur either by choice or by circumstance.
According to the &nbsp;<a href="https://www.gemconsortium.org/report/gem-20162017-womens-entrepreneurship-report">Global
Entrepreneurship Monitor Women’s Report 2016/17</a>,
the continent has the highest percentage of female entrepreneurs in the world,
with one in four women starting or managing a business. The agribusiness
industry is often the natural focus of this entrepreneurial drive. 



Across the
continent, women dominate as primary processors post-harvest, as traders with
bustling market stalls, as owners of fast food restaurants and with
increasingly frequency as manufacturers of packaged ready-to-eat food products.
Yet despite this dynamism, female-led agribusinesses tend to remain small,
fragmented and informal in nature. They struggle to sustain and scale-up their
agribusinesses into well-organized profitable enterprises.



Admittedly,
the challenging business environment in many African countries including poor
infrastructure and unreliable legal and regulatory systems affects all business
activities of both men and women. However, in addition women-led businesses must
also grapple with a number of gender-specific constraints, inhibiting their
expansion into more lucrative market segments.



Firstly, African women often lack the
technical know-how. &nbsp;Despite the gains in
female education on the continent, highly productive agribusinesses require
specialized vocational and technical skills in fields such as food safety, food
conservation, packaging and product certification which many African women do
not readily possess.



Access to
finance is the most frequently cited obstacle by African SMEs. Women
entrepreneurs face multiple difficulties in securing funding mainly due to lack
of collateral in the form of land and other tangible assets and a high-risk
perception. According to the African Development Bank, an estimated $42 billion
financing gap exists for African women across business value chains, including
$15.6 billion in agriculture alone. Women are forced to rely on personal
savings and family loans which are rarely enough to fund their businesses to
scale.



Thirdly, socio-cultural barriers and
stereotypes persist. African women remain the primary caregivers in families
meaning that managing those responsibilities while growing a thriving business
can become a difficult balancing act.



Over the last two decades, many
governments and development institutions have rolled out programs to promote
access to finance, agricultural inputs and provide technical support and
business training to female agripreneurs. The African Development Bank recently
set up the <a href="https://www.afdb.org/en/topics-and-sectors/initiatives-partnerships/afawa-affirmative-finance-action-for-women-in-africa">Affirmative Finance Action for Women
in Africa (AFAWA)</a>, a bold pan-African initiative to bridge the financing gap
facing women. It adopts a three-pronged approach centered on improving access
to finance, providing technical assistance and strengthening the enabling
environment.



It often
takes very little to make a difference. The capital injection required by the
majority of female led SME agribusinesses on the continent is typically less
than $50,000. And women have consistently proven to be more credit-worthy than
men, usually paying back loans within agreed timeframes. Successful solutions
by women for women such as microfinance and saving groups, peer-to-peer
training and information sharing should also be reinforced and taken to scale.



More of such initiatives are urgently
needed across the continent. Solutions must be based on in-depth engagement
with the women business owners themselves to properly understand their
frustrations and needs. Tailored programs designed to specifically address
these pain points are critical. The <a href="https://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/events/global-gender-summit-global-gender-summit">Global Gender Summit</a> is a timely opportunity to
drive this forward.



Women are central for Africa’s agricultural transformation to be successful, sustainable and inclusive. More African female agripreneurs must be supported to grow and progressively transition into the business segments of agricultural value chains which are most profitable. It has been proven time and time again that when African women thrive the entire society shares in those dividends.

Java Foods

Op-Ed: Getting women in the driver’s seat of Africa’s agribusiness revolution

By Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of Zimbabwe 



Two years ago, on November 18th, 2017,
hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans took to the streets in the spirit of
peace, unity and hope, calling for a new start. For a new Zimbabwe.



Coming into office a few days later, we committed to saying goodbye to the ways of the past, and to doing things differently. 



Read: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/zdnl-mc/2019/11/17/op-ed-two-years-on-since-mugabe-was-zimbabwes-president-whats-changed/">Op-Ed: Two years on since Mugabe was Zimbabwe’s president, what’s changed? </a>



I immediately moved to give the people their voices
back, opening new channels of communication between the people and their representatives.



Criticism of the government and the presidency would
no longer be taboo, but welcomed, even encouraged. I answered tough questions
on my Facebook page, as I promised to be a listening president.



We immediately went into an election, in which
opposition parties were free to campaign wherever, whenever and however they
liked. Even when I narrowly survived the Bulawayo bombing attack weeks before the
election, nothing changed. The campaign continued unimpeded.



On July 30th 2018, eight months after
coming to office, we held the freest and fairest elections in the country’s
history. While no electoral process is perfect, all international monitors
noted the new and free environment of the campaigns, and the vast improvement
in the electoral process. 



And we will continue to work closely with our partners
in the international community to improve and refine our democracy. To build a
resolute and open society, a free and fair country for all its citizens. 



Part of this is reforming antiquated
legislation and opening up the political space. We are repealing AIPPA,
replacing it with three new laws, consistent with the ethos of the new Zimbabwe: The
Freedom of Information bill, the Protection of Personal Information bill and
the Zimbabwe Media Commission bill.



Developed in consultation
with a diverse range of stakeholders, these laws meet international media
freedom standards and ensure the right to freedom of expression and freedom of
media. 



Just last week we removed the much maligned POSA, a remnant
of the old Zimbabwe that limited the right to protest, and replaced it with a new
Maintenance of Peace and Order Bill, devised with input from civil society and
our friends around the world. 



These have been key demands of the international community,
and should be interpreted as a sign of our commitment to reform. Yet the
impetus for change and reform comes from within. We are not reforming to
appease the nations of the world, but because reform is necessary to build the
future our people desire. Of course, there is still much work to do, but we are
heading in the right direction.



In November 2017, we also found ourselves mired in an
economic mess. A dark and dangerous fiscal tunnel, with no apparent light at
the end of it.



Today, we have a balanced budget for the first time in
living memory, and we have restored our own currency, enabling us to take
control of both our fiscal and monetary policy.&nbsp;




Of course, too many Zimbabweans still suffer, but
austerity is a painful but necessary part of the recovery process. Led by our
internationally recognised Minister of Finance, Professor Mthuli Ncube, we will
continue to restructure, revamp and rebuild our economy. We cannot and will not
hold up our hands.&nbsp; We must reform or perish.



The people of Zimbabwe know perseverance. Just because
the process is tough, we will never take our eyes off the prize. We must never give
up until we have achieved our goals: A middle income economy by 2030.



We are investing in this process like never
before.&nbsp; A process of wholesale economic,
political and social reforms.



I call on the nations of the
world to help us speed up this process, to support the people of Zimbabwe as we
undertake these painful but necessary reforms.



If the goal of sanctions is
to stimulate the reform process, their effect is the opposite. They slow down
our progress, inhibit our economic recovery and empower those who do not wish
to see Zimbabwe change. 



Their removal will therefore
be an important step on the road to a better future for all the people of this
country.



We as leaders have a duty to set a new course for our
people. &nbsp;A course where not only is our
fate in our own hands, but where no one is left behind. A course with a
balanced budget, an open political space, and a thriving economy providing the
jobs and opportunities our people deserve. 



I shall never stop working towards these goals and
will never waver in my determination to realise the dreams of all those who
took to the streets two years ago. I am confident that with patience,
perseverance and our unbending commitment to reform, we will get there.

Op-Ed: This is how Zimbabwe has changed since I became president: Emmerson Mnangagwa

By Chris Bishop, Head of Programming, CNBC Africa 



 It is two years this week since President Robert Gabriel Mugabe stepped down as leader of Zimbabwe. Surely the only question was why it took so long for him the retreat from the ashes of a political career, once so full of promise that left him as arguably one of the most loathed leaders in Africa.



Read: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/zdnl-mc/2019/11/17/op-ed-this-is-how-zimbabwe-has-changed-since-i-became-president-emmerson-mnangagwa/">Op-Ed: This is how Zimbabwe has changed since I became president: Emmerson Mnangagwa</a>



On November 21, the day of reckoning, tens of thousands were
out on the streets calling for Mugabe to go; in Parliament, many politicians
who had spent their careers on bended knee before the man himself, punched the
air in celebration. Business too had high hopes; the new man President Emmerson
Mnangagwa was more business minded and pragmatic people said &#8211; wasn’t he? Even
though he had been in cabinet, overseeing the steady fall of Zimbabwe, for the
best part of 40 years. Old wine in new bottles, said the cynics.



It didn’t start well. I recall reading Zimbabwe’s first post
Mugabe investment prospectus that the new President Mnangagwa was going to
present to us at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2018. It was a <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/zdnl-mc/2018/01/22/zimbabwes-offering/">thrown
together document</a> talking about how the government was going to compensate
farmers who lost their land – the loss that triggered the country’s rapid
decline – with scarce hard currency. It all seemed a little far -fetched at a
crucial time for the economy when investors were looking for certainty and bold
strokes to usher in revival.



Two years on, most of the Zimbabwe business people I speak
to as the Head of Programming of CNBC Africa appear more pessimistic than they
have been since the dark days of the early 2000s when hyperinflation signalled
the end for the Zimbabwe dollar and any vestige of credibility for the economy.
Inflation is about 300 % and on its way to Weimar Republic proportions, for the
second time in two decades. Even the well-heeled business types I know in
Harare have to struggle &nbsp;through power cuts, shortages and a dearth of
hard currency.



The finance minister economist Mthuli Ncube, bless him, has
been one appointment that stood out, in the Mnangagwa years, like a beacon. He
is a technocrat, with international experience, unsullied by the thuggish
politics of the last desperate years of Mugabe. He was also not a party man and
clearly is more at home looking over the books than standing with fist clenched
at political rallies.



Yet, how much power he is going to be allowed remains to be
seen. He is a man who needs to make painful cuts to help revive the economy,
yet, when he did so in the last budget, in the form of reducing MP allowances,
he was soon sent back to the drawing board.



<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/01/23/zimbabwes-plan-to-woo-investors-in-davos/">Ncube
has told CNBC Africa a number of times</a> that he is prepared to reintroduce
the Zimbabwe dollar as if it were as easy as flicking a switch. But the
reintroduction of the small denomination notes in Harare this week, supposedly
to ease the cash crisis, smacks of tinkering. It is unlikely that the flimsy
notes will make much except for a few headlines. Many Zimbabweans have told me
they won’t trust the new notes and a black market has already sprung up. One
wonders whether it was an economic or a political decision.



All in all, a week may be a long time in politics, but the
last two years have been another grinding time of torpor for the Zimbabwe
economy. Investors appear to be fighting shy, the infrastructure is crumbling
and more and more skilled Zimbabweans are leaving the country in despair.



No more politics, give us business, most in Harare say to
me. That was what the end of the Mugabe era was supposed to mean.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Op-Ed: Two years on since Mugabe was Zimbabwe’s president, what’s changed?

By Morsy Hanan



In many ways, Africa needs trade and investment even more
than it needs development aid. This is reflected by the African Development
Bank’s commitment to explore all the possible options of mobilising domestic
resources. 



Africa’s financing needs will remain very
large over the next few decades. Both public and private capital formation will
be necessary to pursue the necessary structural transformation of African
economies into industrial and post-industrial societies. 



Governments, of course, remain critical in
sustaining investment in Africa in the coming decades, and external debt
financing is key to supporting basic infrastructure construction and the
provision of standard public services.



Domestic resource mobilization allows Africa to move
towards financial autonomy. In 2015 African tax revenues had more than doubled
in ten years to over $500 billion, almost 3 times higher than the total value
of foreign direct investment, overseas development aid, and remittances. 



However Africa can do even better. Much can be done by
improving tax administration. For instance the Republic of Togo’s tax reforms
increased its tax revenues to GDP ratio from 16% in 2010 to 20% in 2015 thanks
to the technical and financial advice of the African Development Bank. 



The composition of total financial flows to Africa
reflects the dynamism of its domestic markets. In 2017, total financial inflows
are projected were around $180 billion. Remittances were $66.2 billion, foreign
direct investment inflows were $57.5 billion, supported mainly by greenfield
investments from emerging economies. Tax revenue remains the most important
source of domestic financing in African countries but has slowed down with the
decline in commodity prices. 



There is a clear need to continue with the
policy of developing innovative tools to finance development, concentrating on
deepening domestic capital markets and on crowding in private capital through
risk mitigation instruments to unlock resources that can replace debt. 



Developing more risk-sharing instruments
with the private sector through pre-financing of future tax revenues,
establishing sovereign insurance contracts, and leveraging government and
multilateral guarantees, will contribute to significant de-risking of private
investments in capital intensive projects. 



Private sector participation in infrastructure
development must be increased by putting in place the required regulatory
frameworks and scaling up public–private partnerships. The Bank and other
international financial institutions can help to increase risk-sharing with the
private sector and reduce public borrowing needs. Contingent debt, where
repayment is conditional on the achievement of certain project milestones, can
improve incentives for government officials and private corporations to
complete major projects without delays or quality control problems.
Multilateral lenders can provide benchmarks and guidelines, as well as low-risk
financing tranches for long-term projects. 



The Bank can help develop guidelines and
international best practice principles for the design and implementation of
such new instruments to strengthen transparency, protect borrowers against
commodity price downturns, and ensure competitive tender processes across
infrastructure suppliers to optimize the cost of project development. 



It can also exploit mutually advantageous
exchanges, such as “natural resources for infrastructure” bargains with
traditional or new bilateral lenders. Resources for infrastructure swaps, where
natural resources revenues are used as collateral or direct repayment
instruments in the financing of large infrastructure projects, can be useful in
fostering economic diversification and in reducing the need for direct foreign
borrowing. 



The Bank is also exploring the use of
diaspora bonds to crowd in private sector funds and mobilise domestic and
national resources. Such bonds have already been issued by several African
countries, such as Ethiopia and Nigeria, to tap the increasing flow of
remittances from migrants in advanced economies, and to channel these funds
toward infrastructure investments. The Bank could, for example, provide
guarantees or co-finance part of the return on these bonds to make them
attractive to emigrants and to ensure that they finance efficient investment
projects.



This
is the key to economic transformation – innovation in resource mobilisation and
international investments, presenting a legacy of growth coupled with the
confidence of a new generation of young African entrepreneurs and leaders with
new vision and ambition, incentivised and encouraged to invest and engage in
enterprise and innovation. 



A
transformed Africa cannot be dependent upon commodities, or upon foreign aid,
or on handouts of any kind. Africa is quite simply a great investment, a
collective deal with better numbers and potential than a lot of other
investment packages in developed countries. 



It
no longer takes an act of imagination to grasp this. It can be seen in the
growing diversification and industrialisation of African economies and the
accelerating progress made towards the achievement of the High 5s. 



It
can be seen in the inspirational Africa Investment Forum, where these and many
other ideas and innovations can be appreciated at close hand in the
negotiations and bargaining that characterise good deal making on behalf of
Africa.

Op-Ed: Raising capital to finance development – the AfDB as innovator and catalyst

By
Dr. Jennifer Blanke



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-683x1024.jpg" alt="In much of Africa, 60% or more of the working population is employed in agriculture. And yet agriculture only contributes about one quarter of Africa’s GDP, with the continent mainly producing and exporting raw products and importing significant amounts of processed food." class="wp-image-349733" width="574" height="861" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-696x1044.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-1068x1602.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-280x420.jpg 280w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB.jpg 1365w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 574px) 100vw, 574px" /></figure></div>



This week, business leaders, project developers, development finance professionals, institutional investors representing pension and sovereign wealth funds, as well as policymakers meet in Johannesburg for the second Africa Investment Forum convened by the African Development Bank. 



The Forum is an innovative marketplace&nbsp;&#8211; dedicated to
moving development ideas and projects to bankability, to mobilizing capital,
and to accelerating the financial closure of deals that can improve the lives
of millions of people. Among other things, the Africa Investment Forum has the
potential to accelerate Africa’s agricultural transformation.



In much of Africa,
60% or more of the working population is employed in agriculture. And yet
agriculture only contributes about one quarter of Africa’s GDP, with the
continent mainly producing and exporting raw products and importing significant
amounts of processed food. The sector punches below its weight. And yet there
is huge potential for income and job creation if Africa can increase productivity
and move up the value chain to produce more, higher value-added, processed
food. 



The bottom line is
that African agriculture must move from being a “way of life” to a resilient,
sustainable business sector that creates prosperity, jobs, as well as improves
incomes and livelihoods of rural people. The Africa Investment Forum convenes
players in the agriculture and agribusiness sector who come together to roll up
their sleeves and explore business and investment opportunities. The Forum’s concrete
“boardroom discussions” connect investment projects with investors. It brings
together entrepreneurs, project developers and investors interested in
agriculture to make deals. 



Last year’s Africa Investment
Forum saw nearly 2,000 participants from 87 nations gather to discuss more than
$46 billion-worth of boardroom deals. One of the highlights was a transaction
involving Ghana Cocoa Board, designed to help Ghana’s cocoa sector – which
employs some 800,000 farm families, producing crops worth about $2 billion in
foreign exchange annually. The presence of Ghana’s Head of State, H.E. Nana
Akufo-Addo, in the boardroom session galvanized investor interest in a sector
so important for Ghana, one of the world’s top cocoa exporters. 



This year, Ghana’s Cocoa Board
returns to the Forum to sign a Facility Agreement for a $600 million syndicated
receivables-backed term loan aimed at enhancing Ghana’s cocoa productivity. The investment deal – also involving Credit Suisse as well as
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited &#8211; was born out of the Africa
Investment Forum.



This
year’s Forum will also see a focus on Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones,
or SAPZs. There&nbsp; is often little
investment interest in Africa’s rural areas, due to a lack of transport, energy
and other critical infrastructure. SAPZs are a solution to connect rural areas
to regional and global supply chains, so that
they can produce higher value-added processed goods in areas of higher agricultural
productivity. SAPZs gather most or all the elements of an agricultural value
chain in one area: from farm to fork. Aside from attracting investment, SAPZs
are also important from a development perspective because that they help to
raise rural incomes and create job opportunities for Africa’s surging youth
population. 



When
properly designed and well executed, SAPZs are powerful tools toward removing
barriers to access to technology, infrastructure and resources to Africa’s
industrialization. By increasing the transformation of products like cotton,
cashew nuts, cocoa and livestock, for example, SAPZs have the potential to
improve Africa’s overall trade balance. Many African countries have committed
to integrating SAPZs in their national development strategies – the Africa
Investment Forum will showcase SAPZ plans out of Benin, Chad, Ethiopia, Gabon,
Senegal, South Africa, and Togo.&nbsp;



The
Bank provides support to attract investors in the agro processing space via
fiscal, regulatory, and infrastructure incentives.&nbsp;To make the
concentrated, all-in-one-place SAPZ activity work smoothly, innovative
companies pursuing SAPZs in Africa need investors. 



Investor
opportunity abounds, boosted by prospects of an integrated African market via the Continental Free Trade
Agreement (AfCFTA),
which promises to usher in the economies of
scale needed for SAPZ-produced
or processed goods to participate in strong
regional agriculture value chains catering to &nbsp;a population of more than a billion people with
a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion. This
can then provide a springboard to global markets. &nbsp;



We
see this vision for Ethiopia, a nation embracing the SAPZ concept with support
from African Development Bank and other partners, to promote the advancement of
Ethiopian crops like oilseed, wheat and maize, beef and dairy livestock and of
course, its world-famous coffee. With SAPZ projects launched in Ethiopia, the
impact is expected to translate into $1.5 billion in private sector investment
and the creation of 400,000 jobs – with 70% of them targeting youth. 



We often hear the
clichés about ‘Africa Rising’ and Africa being the ‘new hot spot’ for
investment. Yet Africa has not suddenly appeared! It is home to more than half
of the world’s fertile, yet largely uncultivated, cropland. African agriculture
is a big business opportunity – by most estimates, the continent’s food and
agribusiness market will be worth one trillion US dollars by 2030. Yet this
requires investment.



Only $7 billion per
year is invested in Africa’s agriculture sector – that needs to rise to about
$45 billion per year to harness agriculture’s power and move Africa up the
value chain to create jobs and revenue. It is time to put investment money
where many mouths have been talking about Africa’s ‘Green Revolution,’ for
years. It is time to equip Africa with the financial tools to grow into the
reliable food production resource that feeds Africa as well as ensures that
Africa does its part to feed the world. It is time for Africa to move from an
aid paradigm to an investment paradigm &#8211; this is what we are doing this week at
the Africa Investment Forum, in Johannesburg, South Africa.



Dr. Jennifer Blanke is the
African Development Bank Group’s Vice President for Agriculture, Human and
Social Development.

Op-Ed: The #AfricaInvestmentForum: an accelerator for Africa’s agricultural transformation

By Mariam Yinusa and Edward Mabaya are Principal Economist and Manager, respectively, in the Agribusiness Development Division of the African Development Bank. 



In
the past decade, a stroll along the aisles of any African supermarket is revealing:
there is a new wave of home-brewed brands that are fast becoming household
names. Products like Dangote rice from Nigeria, Akabanga pepper oil from Rwanda
and Tomoca coffee from Ethiopia attest to the gradual but persistent evolution
towards greater agro-processing and value addition in the domestic agriculture
sector.



Africa’s
agribusiness sector is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2030, so there is certainly
cause for optimism. Consumer demand for food in Africa is growing at an
unprecedented rate. But what is fuelling this growth?



First,
size matters. At a population of 1.2 billion people, Africa is currently the
second most populous continent in the world, superseded only by Asia. According
to United Nations projections, Africa’s population could reach 2 billion by
2030 and 2.5 billion by 2050. This means that one in five consumers globally
will be African. 



Second, quality
counts. Sustained GDP growth rates in several countries across the continent have
translated into rising incomes for some segments of the population. According
to the African Development Bank’s African Economic Outlook Report, the middle-class population is expected is projected
to reach 1.1 billion by 2060 which will make up 42% of the population. The
average African middle-class consumer is becoming relatively more affluent,
sophisticated and discerning in the food they choose to buy and eat. Concerns
about price/quality trade-offs, convenience, nutritional content and food
safety, amongst others, are central in their minds.



Third, concentration can
be powerful. Although most growth poles are small
to medium cities, megacities with populations of over 10 million inhabitants,
such as Cairo, Lagos and Kinshasa, have gained increased prominence. These
metropoles offer ripe opportunities for investment, as a result of the triad of
high consumption, concentrated spending power, and agglomeration (i.e. lower and
fixed distribution costs). 



On
the supply side, there is significant untapped potential. Over 60% of the world’s
uncultivated arable land is in Africa. 



Policy
makers recognize the huge opportunities these trends present and are making concerted
efforts to create and maintain an enabling business environment to attract both
local and foreign investors. The African Development Bank is at the forefront of
this coalition of the “ready” to transform African agriculture.



Under
its Feed Africa Strategy, the Bank is supporting its regional member countries
to address both demand and supply side constraints along agricultural value
chains. Through initiatives like the Technologies for African Agricultural
Transformation (TAAT), the Bank is boosting historically low yields in priority
commodities such as rice, maize and soybeans. In Sudan for example, the TAAT
supported heat-resistant wheat variety has increased wheat self-sufficiency
from 24% in 2016 to 45% in the 2018-2019 farming season. At the same time, Special
Agro-Processing Zones (SAPZs) are attracting both hard and soft infrastructure
and creating value addition to increased agricultural produce. Together with partners including Korea-Exim Bank and the European
Investment Bank, the AfDB has invested USD 120 million in SAPZs in Guinea,
Ethiopia and Togo which will significantly expand local agro-processing
activities along numerous agricultural value chain.



Along
with these key investments in Africa’s agricultural value chains, the continent
is starting to consolidate its wins. A case in point is regional integration,
exemplified by the recent ratification of the African Continental Free Trade
Area (AfCFTA), which has the potential to make Africa the
largest free trade area in the world.



Agribusiness
has already caught the eye of investors. Last year, it was one of the main
attractions at the inaugural Africa Investment Forum conference, which is
becoming the continent’s premier marketplace for global and pan-African
business leaders, and an innovator in accelerating deals.



Agriculture
was one of the nine sectors that attracted investor interest at the 2018 Africa
Investment Forum. The sector held its own against big hitters like financial
services, infrastructure, energy, and ICT. &nbsp;One such transaction was the Ghana Cocoa Board
(COCOBOD) deal in which USD $600 million loan financing was mobilized from the
AfDB and other investors to boost annual production of cocoa beans from 880,000
tons to 1.5 million tons. &nbsp;Within the
next three years, the project is also expected to promote growth in the domestic
cocoa value chain by increasing processing capacity two-fold from 220,000 tons
to 450,000 tons per annum.



Africa’s expanding consumer base will
undoubtedly lead to more spending on food and beverages on the continent. This
should be enlightening for would-be investors in food processing and value
addition ventures. 



The
front door to these opportunities is the Africa Investment Forum, scheduled for
November 11-13 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Op-Ed: Agribusiness: Africa’s new investment frontier

By Bajabulile “Swazi” Tshabalala, Vice President for Finance and Chief Finance Officer for the African Development Bank Group



2019 will be one
of the defining moments in Africa’s investment landscape. Bigger, bolder and
more ambitious projects await delegates and investors as we prepare to kick off
the second edition of the Africa Investment Forum. 



A multi-billion-dollar
petrochemical project in Egypt and the Kigali Innovation City Project in
Rwanda, are only two of the projects which featured during the maiden edition
of the Forum held in November last year.



Alongside a greater
emphasis on helping transactions reach bankability and in pushing ahead the
regional integration agenda, project sponsors and investors continue to flock
to our digital<a href="https://platform.africainvestmentforum.com/"> Platform</a>,
with <a>interest already shown in 151 projects from 34
African countries worth $112.4 billion.</a>



Following the immense
success of the inaugural edition held in November 2018, the Africa Investment
Forum, a brainchild of the African Development Bank, is becoming a firm fixture
in the calendars of the global investment community.<a> The
2018 event saw close to 2,000 participants, representing 83 countries, out of
which some 277 were delegates from development finance institutions that are
active in Africa. </a>



The 2018 Forum
was instrumental in showcasing up to 49 different transactions at different
stages of development and with a total value of $40 billion. These projects were presented to a
large audience of investors and financiers. Judging from the interest
generated, the Forum promises to play a major role in catalyzing investment
flows into Africa, so instrumental in moving the continent forward into the future.



Some of the key projects for which the
Forum is expected to play an invaluable role, include the Desert to Power
initiative – that aims to provide 10,000 MW of solar-generated electricity to 250 million people
across the Sahel. Projects like the Inga Hydro-electric
scheme in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and other major cross-border
infrastructure projects in road and rail, are all highly transformative projects
with important social and economic impacts.



The timing of
the coming into being of the Forum is fortuitous, coming on the heels of the Africa
Continental Free Trade Area and the Single African Air Transport Market,
ratified by the majority of African Union members. 



New investments made
possible through the Africa Investment Forum have the potential to spur an
explosion in trade, contribute to Africa’s re-industrialization and promote
cross-border regional economic integration. 



Indeed, while
the platform continues to ramp up and grow, the Forum offered some very
important lessons. In particular, additional resources are required to
adequately prepare projects which are crucial for Africa’s development. Well-prepared
projects minimize negative environmental and social issues, while maximizing
development and economic outcomes, thus contributing to enhanced bankability. This
notwithstanding, projects originated through the Forum will benefit from the Bank’s
wider ecosystem and the numerous instruments and partnerships with other development
finance institutions which will help transform project ideas into actual investments
that create jobs and economic opportunities on the ground. 



While the Forum
is a practical and transactional platform for project deals and potential
financers to interact, it has also become a staging post for new financing
product innovations that compliment and contribute to de-risking and making
investment opportunities more attractive for investors. Examples of recent
innovations in this regard include the co-guarantee platform that was
established in 2018 by the African Development Bank alongside its partners the Islamic
Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), African
Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) and GuarantCo. 



As we prepare again
to put Africa on global investors’ radars, I would like to see tied to the
Forum more activities with the potential of bringing increased dynamism and
depth to African domestic capital markets; initiatives that help mobilize African
domestic resources into projects coming to this platform for funding. 



Beyond this, there
are opportunities for the African diaspora whose annual remittances to the
continent now top $60 billion a year, making it an immense pool of money that
can actively participate in Africa’s development story and benefit from the
myriad investment opportunities. 



I would like to
see diaspora bond issuances and/or collective investment vehicles discussed and
presented at the Forum, as they can represent significant financing that can be
put to work for the benefit of Africa’s development.



I also strongly
encourage and welcome greater participation of the South African institutional
investment management industry.



We look forward to a successful Forum and to greater acceleration of the development of the continent.

Africa Investment Forum

Op-Ed: Why global and Pan African investors need to set their sight on the 2019 #AfricaInvestmentForum

By: Mateus Magala, Vice-President of Corporate Services and Human Resources at the African Development Bank



Economic reforms, a burgeoning middle class and regional diversity against the background of the new African Continental Free Trade Area &#8211; are making Africa’s Portuguese-speaking countries a hotspot for investor interest. Additionally, new tools – such as the Development Finance Compact for Lusophone Africa – give investors and lenders more comfort to enter into these markets.



The six African countries called “PALOPs”, their
Portuguese acronym – Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea,
Mozambique and São Tomé e Principe – are very diverse. They range from
Equatorial Guinea, Africa’s richest country per capita, to lower income economies;
from Angola’s and Mozambique’s populations of over 30 million to Cabo Verde’s
and São Tomé’s, of less than one million; and from southeastern Africa to the
northwest of the continent.



These states also share important traits. They have a
common heritage and language. As independent states, they have fostered trade ties
with Portugal and Brazil, among others.&nbsp;
And, most importantly for our current consideration they have all
recognized that they must do more to unleash the potential of the private
sector in their countries.&nbsp; The private
sector here faces constraints, ranging from lack of affordable financing to
difficulties in project preparation. The good news is that the PALOP governments
are determined to tackle these issues – with the help of their partners, such
as the African Development Bank. 



In November 2017, Bank President Akinwumi Adesina
visited Lisbon for discussions on how Portugal and the Bank could work in a more
integrated manner. Out of this meeting emerged a vision for a new partnership,
one that is open to other partners: the Development Finance Compact for
Lusophone Africa.&nbsp; Signed at the November
2018 Africa Investment Forum, its goal is very simple: to accelerate the
diversified, sustainable and inclusive growth of the private sector in the six
PALOPs. And it is completely focused on transactions to deliver practical
results on the ground. 



How does the Lusophone Compact propose to do this? Put simply, it is
results-based and focused on two types of interventions: financing and risk
mitigation from the partners for specific private sector and public-private
sector partnership (PPP) investments in the PALOPs; and technical assistance
projects that enable the private sector or specific investments, such as project
preparation and access to finance. It is operationalized through
country-specific Compacts, with concrete targets, that have been signed for
each PALOP. 



For its part, Portugal
has made available €400 million in guarantees in 2019 to back Bank financing
for private sector and PPP projects in the PALOPs.&nbsp; And the Bank is contributing its own
financing as well as resources for the administration of the Lusophone
Compact.&nbsp; Additionally, it is important
to stress that the PALOPs themselves are equal partners in this initiative:
they have a responsibility to work on enabling the private sector investments
in their countries, and the Compact also seeks to leverage intra-PALOP
investments and sharing of best practices.&nbsp;
Finally, we are encouraged that other states and development finance
providers want to join or partner with the Lusophone Compact.



This brings me back to
the initial point: now is the time to invest in Lusophone Africa. 



Angola and Equatorial
Guinea have both embarked on ambitious programs to diversify their economies
away from natural resources. Mozambique, which is beginning to receive massive
investments related to the natural gas sector, also recognizes the need to grow
sectors like agribusiness and industry, to increase employment.&nbsp; Cabo Verde, already a middle-income country,
is seeking to diversify its economy too – attracting new types of tourists
while also growing its fishing and agribusiness sectors. São Tomé e Principe
and Guinea-Bissau, members of the Alliance of Small Island States, seek
sustainable investments that both promote growth and deal with their exposure
to climate change, including through the so-called “blue economy”.&nbsp; &nbsp;



All of these countries
are determined to increase trade, both among themselves and within their
regions, which include Africa’s largest economies. 



That is why the PALOP’s
are eyeing the 2019 Africa Investment Forum – the unique investment marketplace
for regional investments, pioneered by the African Development Bank last year.



A specific panel on Investing
in Lusophone Africa at this year’s Forum will shine the spotlight on these
opportunities. And, just as last year, numerous Board Room sessions will
involve projects in the PALOPs – including at least four that are eligible
under the Lusophone Compact. 



The African Development Bank is proud to be part of
this new dawn for the continent’s Portuguese-speaking economies. And we invite
you to join us.

Op-Ed: It’s time to invest in Portuguese-speaking African countries, here’s why

By Patience
Koku, Nigerian farmer, owner of Replenish Farms and member of the Global Farmer
Network



When food
systems are supplied by rain-fed agriculture, changes in rainfall can throw not
only farming, but also food security, into complete disarray.



This is
what farmers are experiencing in Nigeria, where the rains come much later now
and stop earlier than they once did. Whilst some areas of the country deal with
unseasonably wet periods, other areas contend with prolonged and more frequent
droughts.



These
changes have put unprecedented pressures on Nigerian farmers, with many of them
finding it difficult to cope. 



Thankfully,
Nigerian farmers can learn lessons from food producers elsewhere, who have also
coped with changing conditions, and one proven solution is the adoption of
“no-till” farming.



No-till
farming is the practice of growing crops without disturbing the soil through
tillage, which allows the soil to breathe, naturally maintaining its moisture
and reducing &#8211; or even eliminating – the risk of soil erosion.



What is
needed now is nothing short of a no-till revolution, a new period of Nigerian
farming that will build resilience for farmers across the country, helping them
contend with new climate pressures. 



But to
scale up the practice of no-till in Nigeria, we must overcome three fundamental
barriers.



Firstly,
many farmers are reluctant to adopt new practices that could help maintain soil
health, even in the face of extreme droughts. 



Nigerian
farmers, like those anywhere, tend to be very cautious when changing what they
do on their farm, which are already beset with risk. 



These
practices, known as agroecology, are essentially <a href="http://www.fao.org/family-farming/detail/en/c/415959/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">farming practices designed to make
the most of nature’s resources</a>
whilst limiting the negative effects in return, but have yet to make a stamp in
the country.



Yet, we
have evidence from New Zealand, Argentina and many other countries of the
benefits of these approaches. Our colleagues in New Zealand, for example, have
shared stories about the impact no-till farming has had for them, including the
ability to <a href="https://www.no-tillfarmer.com/articles/6230-new-zealanders-benefit-from-no-till?v=preview" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plant seeds
within days of a harvest</a>
or <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/article.cfm?c_id=16&amp;objectid=12143141" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eliminating
soil erosion entirely.</a>



These types
of stories have the power to convince farmers of the need to work much more
closely with natural processes, since farmers more likely to adopt a new
practice once they can be sure it will work. 



Secondly,
even if farmers were willing to take on new practices, many are missing the
necessary funding and finance needed to help put these new techniques into
practice. 



At
Replenish Farms in Nigeria, I am working to solve this by encouraging farmers
to share resources. Crop farmers are giving their harvest residue to
pastoralists, for example, in exchange for manure that can be used to naturally
fertilize crops. 



This means
less pressure to use mineral fertilizers, lower costs and more support towards
increasing the organic matter in soil, which provides optimum conditions for
plant growth. 



Lastly,
when it comes to farming with minimal disturbance of the soil, specialised
planting machinery in Nigeria is often expensive or not suited to our soils. 



My company,
1Hectare1Family, is addressing this by working in collaboration with a number
of partners to find cheaper, more efficient tools. 



<a href="http://www.crossslot.com/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cross-Slot</a>, a New Zealand-based company, is one of these
partners. They make the right equipment for efficient no-till farming in New
Zealand and are advising us on how to achieve this in Nigeria. 



We are also
attempting to forge a collaboration with the Registrar of the National Soil
Science Institute, in the hope that we can provide smallholder farmers with
both the right training and equipment to be able to convert their practices to
no-till.



In the
first year of adopting no-till at Replenish Farms, just one per cent of
production used it. In the following season, that was quickly scaled up to
around 10 per cent. 



Next
season, we will be expanding it to more than 50 per cent &#8211; evidence of just how
successful no-till has been. 



But my farm
is not unique. The potential of Nigerian farming is huge when we embrace the
lessons of elsewhere and adapt them to help us meet our needs.

Op-Ed: Three challenges to overcome for more sustainable farming in Nigeria

By Cobus De Hart – Chief Economist West and North Africa, NKC African Economics



After trending lower for three consecutive months, headline inflation increased by a larger-than-anticipated margin in September. 



The
consumer price index (CPI) rose by 11.2% y-o-y last month compared to an 11.0%
y-o-y rise in August. While fairly broad-based, upward pressure stemmed
primarily from the food price channel, with the reading on the sub-index up by
30 bps to 13.5% in September. So-called core inflation (all items less farm
produce) also trended higher, rising from 8.7% to 8.9%.



Nigeria
decided to shut its border with Benin in late August, reportedly to clamp down
on smuggling. According to Reuters, this strategy has now been elevated to a
whole new level. 



On
October 15, the news agency quoted Hameed Ali, comptroller-general of the
Nigeria Customs Service, as stating: “All goods for now are banned from being
exported or imported through our land borders and that is to ensure we have
total control over what comes in.” 



Reporters
at the news conference in Abuja understood Mr Ali’s comments in the context of
stating that legal trade across land borders will also be stopped, at least
temporarily or until authorities come up with a plan on “how best the goods can
be handled when we eventually get to the point where this operation will relax
for the influx of goods”. 



While
not explicitly mentioned, certain points are reportedly equipped with special
scanners where goods will still be allowed to cross the border. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://dk9s2z6zfj98v.cloudfront.net/publications/42265/OE_CHART_1_16-10-2019-0945263608.png?Expires=1602755126&amp;Signature=oQKd67pr5nc1xApprpSwY17EFYyqsVSlGAXy018tvepceHnknBsrC0Zu2jChWzHO6W10fyHtIcWxJFkweiah--Zxxwnx5JkUq1uwak043z1c4h~mZUabgxYG0AOVjRowsvKCViWsGBVzStYmC~nHAfA-EJb1-tNjePVPlsiNOk460odBOIVsH-x4T9QwxZkgHe1FXnbGN1JlGkdtrI45cWmBfR0YZfmBfzb~mk-cu5uyNCh7f0YrdxqzTDrusyjK7GAlUh-yAqpv4IXEv-iZS53lG8WYgTFWOb6E86D~wypz0Rn8sbOPKdvL1DqVJAiLLtMnstQ2ljeKwDD02RNLMg__&amp;Key-Pair-Id=APKAJVGCNMR6FQV6VYIA" alt=""/></figure>



The
closure of the land borders will have a significant impact on both the monetary
and real sides of the economy. The latest inflation print, with upward price
pressures fairly broad-based but still disproportionally stemming from higher
food prices, may already be an indication of the effect of the partial border
closures announced in August. 



Again,
as has been the case with Nigeria on numerous occasions over recent years, the
appropriateness of the latest policy is highly debatable. 



One
can certainly see the merit of the case being made in favour of formalising
trade and ensuring the necessary rules and costs are abided by; however,
outright banning of all land-based trade seems extreme. 



The
real issue arguably reflects the ineffectiveness of border controls more than
the incentive for people to smuggle goods, with the latter partially stemming
from the domestic opportunity arising as a result of market inefficiencies and
a lack of capacity and competitiveness.



Regardless,
the land-border closure will now add significant upward pressure on inflation
in the coming months as food items in particular will be in shorter supply.
Exporters of certain goods will also be affected. The extent of the impact will
partly depend on the duration of the land-border closure and whether traders
can find alternative routes. 



Smugglers will likely be more capable of finding these alternatives, with the real burden then falling on the law-abiding poor.

Op-Ed: Nigeria’s disinflation trend ends, as does land-based trade

By Victor Oladokun, Director Communication and External Relations, African Development Bank.



This
week, Nigeria and Nigerians at home and abroad, celebrate 59 years of political
Independence. It&#8217;s been a long chequered road with many ups and downs. Of
dreams come-true and of visions unrealized. While there is still much to do and
many mountains to climb, I just thought to scribble down a few thoughts about
what it is we love to love about this absolutely amazing country.



1.
Tenacity, a can-do spirit, and the Nigerian hustle at every level.



2.
Hardwork and a youthful entrepreneurial spirit.



3.
Diversity: 200 million people living together though tribe and tongue differ
significantly.



4.
Faith, Hope, Dreams &#8230; inspite of challenges



5.
Resilient Nigerian women



6.
Family and social gatherings for every occasion



7.
Happiness, humor, and the ability to laugh even when we are crying on the
inside. AY, Kenny Black, Bovi, Akpororo, SeyiLaw, Helen Paul, and&nbsp; Chigul.



8.
Lasgidi. A hotbed of innovation, creativity since &#8217;19-gbogboro.&#8217;



9.
Food: Suya, Designer Rice, pounded yam, Jollof Rice like none other, Moin Moin,
etc.



10.
Languages, especially pidgin English, which should soon be designated a
national and official language. If Prince Charly and Emmanuel Macron have tried
to impress us with their verbal dexterity, &#8216;wetin we dey wait for my people?&#8217;



11.
Art: Bruce Onabrakpeya, Ben Enwonwu, Yusuf Grillo, Aina Onabolu, Chinwe
Chukwuogo-Roy,&nbsp; and a younger generation of hyper realistic artists such
as 12 year-old Waris Kareem Olamilekan, Raji Bamidele, Chiamonwu Joy, and Arinze
Stanley.



12.
Music: Don Jazzy, Tiwa Savage, Frank Edwards, Cobhams Asuquo, Mercy Chinwo,
Onos Ariyo, Sinach, Jeremiah Gyang, Flavour &amp; Semah, and Timmy Dakolo.



13.
#Nollywood: Excellent storylines, highly improved production values, and all of
sometimes too obvious&nbsp; imperfections. A creative landscape waiting for the
best of money, technology, and people to organize systems and structures into
the multibillion dollar enterprise it deserves to be.



14.
My favorite Ondo Town Peeps: #Omatola, #MoAbudu,



15.
Awoof: newspapers, airtime, wifi. Man must connect by force by force.



16.
Fashion and textiles. From Balogun to Barcelona, we are strutting our stuff.



17.
Hospitality and generosity. You don’t appreciate it until you travel to other
parts of this great continent. 



18.
Parliamentarians with incredibly bad grammar but super native intelligence.



19.
Sports and physical strength. Still a wasted asset waiting for the addition of
tremendous value. Long may the memories of visionary administrators such as
Isaac Akioye and Sam Ogbemudia live. Waiting for the birth of a new generation
of visionary leaders to turn rough stones into fine diamonds.



20.
The heart breaking Super Eagles. They have you rejoicing when you least expect,
and weeping when you never thought you would.



21.
Abundant natural resources including solid minerals of every kind waiting to be
tapped, utilised, and to transform Nigeria&#8217;s development 



22.
Positive cultural values and humungous tourist potential. A low hanging fruit,
which with infrastructure and security can create millions of much-needed jobs
across a vast value chain.



23.
The endemic, unmistakable, Nigerian energy and buzz that no one can put down.
Naija no dey carry last.



24.
The Nigerian paradox: You want to get out when you are in and you want to get
back in fast when you are out.



25.
Diaspora Nigerians.



Long
may Nigeria and the indefatigable Nigerian spirit live. Happy 59th Independence
Anniversary!

Op-Ed: Celebrating Nigeria: 25 things to love about the West African country

By Sebsebe Demissew, Professor of Plant Systematics and Biodiversity at Addis Ababa University and Executive Director of the GulleleBotanic Garden in Addis Ababa.



The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, asked
countries to announce new national commitments for cutting greenhouse gas
emissions at the Climate Summit that took place last week in New York. The
results were mixed. In the end,&nbsp;69&nbsp;countries came forward saying they
were willing to enhance their targets under the Paris Agreement, although the
world’s biggest emitters remained silent.&nbsp;



Ethiopia was one of the countries to pledge to increase its climate ambition, after hosting an important meeting in August to rally support amongst African nations for declaring a climate emergency. At the Summit itself, Prime Minister Ahmed committed to planting 4 billion trees a year as part of our climate effort. This follows the record-breaking initiative the Prime Minister led that saw 350 million trees planted in one day. 



In short, the current government&nbsp;is putting the country at the
forefront of the global response to climate change. But there is a lot of hard
work ahead, particularly in terms of&nbsp;finding&nbsp;the best
possible&nbsp;ways to use&nbsp;land to ensure&nbsp;it&nbsp;serves&nbsp;as a
climate solution, a source of sustainable development and food production, all
at the same time.



Ethiopia isn’t alone in this challenge.&nbsp;It’s no secret global
food and land use&nbsp;systems are in&nbsp;crisis and no longer fit for
purpose.&nbsp;The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have told us,
for example,&nbsp;that&nbsp;food and land use&nbsp;is&nbsp;responsible&nbsp;for
up to 30 percent of global&nbsp;greenhouse gas
emissions&nbsp;and&nbsp;is&nbsp;the leading cause of damage to biodiversity,
forests, grasslands, wetlands and other natural habitats.



At the
same time, more than 500 million people&nbsp;around the world&nbsp;find
themselves&nbsp;without adequate investment in&nbsp;or access to land and
resources to institute changes, let alone the collective voice and power to
change them.



The
devastating sum of these inefficiencies are more than obvious in Sub-Saharan
Africa.&nbsp;New modelling released earlier this month by the Food and Land Use
(FOLU) Coalition found environmental degradation, poor diet, inequality and
rural poverty are estimated to cost sub-Saharan Africa US$680 billion per
year.&nbsp;Inaction is&nbsp;clearlynot an option.&nbsp;We either choose a
different path, or nature will choose for us. We will not meet global goals
designed to support people and the planet if we do nothing.&nbsp;



The good
news is that there&nbsp;are huge&nbsp;win-win&nbsp;incentives for
governments&nbsp;to lead a transformation. The same modelling from the FOLU
Coalition revealed that&nbsp;cultivating sustainable food and land use systems
could unlock an estimated US$320 billion a year for Sub-Saharan Africa&nbsp;in
new business opportunities by 2030, at the same time&nbsp;as&nbsp;restoring
health and resilience to the land, population and economy.



To unlock
this&nbsp;potential in Ethiopia, we need&nbsp;the&nbsp;government,
business&nbsp;sector&nbsp;and civil society alike&nbsp;to commit&nbsp;to
transforming the existing ways of doing things, which includes
investing&nbsp;inregenerative agricultural practices and promising emerging
technologies.&nbsp;



We&nbsp;have&nbsp;taken
the first step in this journey.&nbsp;Ethiopia&nbsp;is&nbsp;one of a handful of
countries to take on this challenge&nbsp;and is partnering with FOLU to develop
a&nbsp;strategy&nbsp;to identify appropriate long-term targets and the policies
we&nbsp;need to achieve them.&nbsp;



This will
arm the government with the necessary data to make smarter decisions;
identifying key sectors and the most effective projects and
initiatives.&nbsp;If done right, these transformations are predicted to save
the Ethiopian&nbsp;from harmful hits to the&nbsp;economy, including&nbsp;<a href="https://rd.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-19168-3">US$4.3 billion</a>&nbsp;lost to land
degradation.&nbsp;Ethiopia would also stand to avoid&nbsp;a 16.5% loss to GDP
per year due to chronic malnutrition,&nbsp;and a further 10% to climate change
impacts.



These transformations can, and must,&nbsp;work hand in hand
with other national&nbsp;development&nbsp;strategies. The government, for
example, plans&nbsp;to create 3 million new jobs.&nbsp;The FOLU Coalition
modelling found, for example, that there are 120 million new jobs on the table
if we get these transitions right. This could be a renaissance moment for rural
farming communities desperate for investment in human capital and
infrastructure.



The next
decade is critical. Global and regional trends are putting new pressures on
food and land use systems. But the potential for transformation has never been
greater. A new generation of agricultural leaders is coming of age, and the
initial steps taken by the Ethiopian government are promising.&nbsp;But now is
the time to match words with action.&nbsp;

Op-Ed: Ethiopian food and land use systems ripe for transformation

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/tom-corley/">Tom Corley</a>



Unless you were born into a rich family,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/04/5-traits-that-separate-millionaires-like-jeff-bezos-mark-zuckerberg-bill-gates-from-those-who-never-succeed.html" class="">building wealth</a>&nbsp;can be very hard — depending on the path you choose.



Many people look at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/24/self-made-millionaire-5-biggest-money-mistakes-that-are-making-american-millennials-poor.html" class="">multi-millionaires</a>&nbsp;and desperately want to know: What’s their secret? How did they get there? What does it&nbsp;take?



Those are the things I wanted to know back in 2004, when I began my&nbsp;<a href="http://richhabits.net/rich-habits-study-background-and-methodology/" class="">“Rich Habits”</a>&nbsp;study, in which I spent five years interviewing and researching the daily activities, habits and traits of 233&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/26/money-mistakes-millionaires-like-warren-buffett-bill-gates-google-eric-schmidt-never-make.html" class="">wealthy individuals</a>. All of them had at least $160,000 in annual gross income and $3.2 million in net assets.



During my research, I found there are four predominant paths toward accumulating wealth. The “Savers-Investors” path is the easiest, while the other three involve much more risk.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">1. The Saver-Investors path</h2>



Just less than 22% of the millionaires in my study chose to take the Saver-Investors path. Not only is it the easiest way to build wealth, but if you&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/15/self-made-millionaire-this-is-the-no-1-way-to-get-rich-ramit-sethi.html" class="">start early</a>, it almost always guarantees a lot of money.



The Saver-Investors in my group reached their first $1 million around their mid-to-late 30s, and accumulated an average net worth of $3.3 million by their mid-50s.



They also had four things in common:



<ol class="wp-block-list"><li>They typically had a middle-class income (many reached a six-figure salary early in their career, and if they didn’t, they lived&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/28/i-saved-100000-in-3-years-at-age-27-here-are-my-money-saving-tips.html" class="">very frugally</a>.)</li><li>They had a low cost of living and preferred to save, rather than spend lavishly.</li><li>They saved 20% or more of their income.</li><li>They started investing their savings early in life and continued to do so prudently for many years.</li></ol>



No matter what their day job was, this group made saving and investing part of their routine; they were constantly thinking about smart ways to grow their wealth.



The Savers-Investors path isn’t for everyone. It requires enormous financial discipline and long-term commitment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">2. The Dreamers path</h2>



This is perhaps the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/26/how-to-raise-money-smart-children-who-grow-up-to-be-successful-wealthy-financially-literate.html" class="">hardest path</a>&nbsp;to building wealth because it requires the pursuit of a dream, such as starting a business, becoming a successful actor, musician or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/28/harry-potter-novelist-jk-rowling-famous-advice-to-harvard-students-is-dark-but-so-brilliant-and-true.html" class="">author</a>.



Approximately 28% of the folks in my study were Dreamers, and they accumulated an average net worth of $7.4 million — far more than any of the other groups — over a period of about 12 years.



All of them told me that pursuing their dreams was one of the most rewarding things they had done in their lives. They loved what they did for a living, and their passion showed up in their bank accounts.



Those who want to take this path, however, must be willing to work long hours and able to handle financial stress. The Dreamers in my study worked more than 61 hours per week before finally achieving their dreams. Weekends and vacations were almost non-existent.



Trying to make ends meet was not easy. At first, getting a steady paycheck was “nearly impossible,” one Dreamer said. It was even harder for those who had families to support. To finance their dreams, some decided to put off buying a home, while others dipped into their retirement savings.



If you’re risk-averse, this path may not be for you.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">3. The Company Climbers path</h2>



Climbers are individuals who work for a big company and devote all of their energy into climbing the corporate ladder until they land a senior executive position.



This is the second-hardest path to becoming a millionaire, and about 31% of the rich people I studied fell into this group. It took them an average of 22 years to accumulate a net worth of $3.4 million or more. In most cases, their wealth came from either stock compensation or a partnership share of profits.



To be a Climber, you must have strong relationship-building skills. Networking and making lasting connections with powerful people in your industry is essential.



Like Dreamers, however, Climbers also have long work hours. The ones I interviewed all arrived at the office early and left late. Many were required to travel frequently and even had to sacrifice a lot of their vacation time.



Profitability is a huge factor in determining a Climber’s success. If their company struggles financially, their time and investment there might not be rewarded to the extent they had expected.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">4. The Virtuosos path</h2>



Roughly 19% of the participants in my study chose this path. Virtuosos are among the best at what they do in their profession. They are paid a high premium for their knowledge and expertise, which sets them apart from the competition.



It took the Virtuosos in my study about 20 years to reach an average net worth of $4 million. Some worked in the medical field, while others worked in law. A handful either worked for large, publicly-held corporations, or they were small business owners with highly profitable enterprises.



Of course, Virtuosos aren’t necessarily born with natural intelligence. They must spend many years continuously studying and learning. Formal education, such as advanced degrees, is usually a requirement.



This means investing an enormous amount of money and time before seeing any payoff at all. Not everyone has the ability to devote significant hours every day practicing their skill or the financial resources to pursue advanced degrees.



<a class="" href="http://richhabits.net/">Tom Corley</a>is an accountant, financial planner and author of <a class="" href="https://www.amazon.com/Rich-Kids-Raise-Children-Successful/dp/1626529868">“Rich Kids: How to Raise Our Children to Be Happy and Successful in Life”</a> and ”<a class="" href="https://secure.mybookorders.com/Orderpage/160">Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals.”</a>



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/27/4-main-paths-to-becoming-millionaire-here-is-the-easiest-way-says-money-expert.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/27/4-main-paths-to-becoming-millionaire-here-is-the-easiest-way-says-money-expert.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

There are 4 main paths to becoming a millionaire—and this is the easiest one, says money expert

By Gary van Staden, Head of Research, NKC African Economics



The third date since July by which Lesotho Prime Minister Tom Thabane was supposed to reopen Parliament came and went this week with no indication that the embattled leader of the All Basotho Convention (ABC) is ready to face down a motion of no confidence, let alone implement the agreement brokered by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa some two months ago.



Mr
Thabane prorogued Parliament sine die (without stipulating when it would
reassemble) in June to avoid a no-confidence vote brought by his own party. The
three dates on which the legislature was meant to reopen – August 5, August 16,
and September 25 – have passed into the clouded history of the country with no
indication of when or even if Parliament will be reopened. 



The
much-heralded July agreement signed by Mr Thabane, opposition parties, and NGOs
and labelled a major breakthrough has apparently joined several other
‘breakthrough’ agreements on the trash heap of Lesotho’s toxic politics. 



The
thrust of the July Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was to give legislative
authority to a so-called National Legislative Reform Authority (NLRA) that
would co-ordinate the national reforms process in the kingdom. The reform
authority will be constituted in terms of an act of Parliament, which will
guide the country in effecting constitutional governance, security, and media
reforms. 



Mr
Ramaphosa welcomed the signing as a “historic milestone that firmly set Lesotho
on the road to reform. The Basotho people can celebrate the convergence of
consensus that has led to this historic agreement and has built a strong
foundation for reforms to go ahead.” 



But
Mr Thabane had other ideas and at first suggested that Parliament be reopened
only to legislate the NLRA and then immediately prorogue again to avoid the
no-confidence vote; a suggestion even elements of his own party rejected. 



He
has since looked for ways to avoid or defeat the no-confidence vote – including
this week’s extraordinary attempt to secure the support of his arch enemy,
Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) leader Mothetjoa Metsing. 



With
the support of Mr Metsing and all 11 LCD Members of Parliament (MP), the prime
minister might just survive by a narrow margin of two votes. That is of course
assuming that all the MPs back Mr Thabane, all his coalition partners vote
against the motion, and all of Mr Metsing’s MPs comply. 



That
seems a tall order, but Mr Thabane is that desperate. 



Some
of Mr Metsing’s demands for his support – that Mr Thabane forms a government of
national unity and that former army commander Tlali Kamoli be released from
prison – are unpalatable to many MPs, so the initiative seems doomed.



Meanwhile,
a growing row between Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) commander Lieutenant General
Mojalefa Letsoela and Defence Minister Tefo Mapesela is straining
civilian-military relations to the increasing concern of civil society. The
army has been at the centre of Lesotho’s instability over the years, with its
critics accusing it of meddling in politics. 



The
LDF commander claimed that unnamed political elements were trying to infiltrate
and destabilise the forces, but local media reported it was common knowledge
that the defence minister was the target. 



Lt
Gen. Letsoela vowed never to allow “outsiders” to interfere with the army,
while Mr Mapesela has accused Lt Gen. Letsoela of “revolting against civilian
authority and taking major decisions without consultation.” Strained relations
between the military and civilian authority is probably the very last thing
Lesotho needs right now.



It
is clear that Mr Thabane regards his treaty and other agreement obligations as
secondary by some measure to his own political survival. While the
‘breakthrough’ agreements that could assist Lesotho find some measure of
stability sit on ice, the prime minister continues to break agreements to
reopen Parliament and spends most of his time looking for unlikely alliances to
save his political skin. 



We
remain convinced that agreements that depend on Mr Thabane’s integrity and
compliance, including the July MoU, are doomed to fail. Unless Mr Ramaphosa, as
the Southern Africa Development Community facilitator in Lesotho, ends the
obsession with keeping Mr Thabane in power, nothing is going to change. 



Agreements
that suit Mr Thabane and South Africa will not help Lesotho.

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There are 4 main paths to becoming a millionaire—and this is the easiest one, says money expert

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Op-Ed: Mainstreaming gender in African policy making: Ensuring no voice is unheard

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There are 4 main paths to becoming a millionaire—and this is the easiest one, says money expert

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