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The race to lead the African Development Bank (AfDB) picked up pace this week as the Zambian, Senegalese and Mauritanian candidates pledged to boost faster development of the world’s poorest continent.



Ex-World Bank senior official Samuel Maimbo of Zambia formally launched his campaign today and will fight it out against Senegal’s Amadou Hott, the special envoy of the bank’s Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa, and Mauritania’s Sidi OuldTah, former Director General of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa.



Since assuming leadership of the African Development Bank in 2015, Akinwumi Adesina, a former Nigerian agriculture minister whose term ends in October, has championed Africa’s agriculture as a unique investment opportunity and last week, together with the World Bank, launched an $8 billion drive to provide power to 300 million Africans.



Announcing a candidacy he said was backed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Community for Eastern and Southern African States (COMESA), Maimbo said Africa needed bold leadership to achieve this, citing his role in helping raise a $90 billion financing package under the International Development Association replenishment.



“Africa stands at a critical juncture,” Maimbo said in a statement from Lusaka, Zambia. “We need to get one billion people to work as quickly as possible by strategically supporting the industries that will improve livelihoods and ignite prosperity on our continent.’’



The AfDB, the only African financial institution rated triple A by Moody’s, Standard &amp; Poor’s and Fitch, selects a new leader next May to replace Nigeria’s Adesina who is not eligible to run again under the bank’s constitution.



Maimbo is bidding to become the second Zambian to hold the Presidency after compatriot Wila Mungomba, who led for a single term between 1980 and 1985. Senegal’s Babacar Ndiaye succeeded him and served two terms till 1995 when Morocco’s Omar Kabbaj took over, also serving two terms. Rwanda’s Donald Kaberuka succeeded him from 2005, also for two terms before Adesina’s arrival.



South Africa, Africa’s largest economy and the bank’s third largest African shareholder after Nigeria and Egypt, initially backed its national Bajabulile Tshabalala, a former Vice President of the Bank,&nbsp;before the Presidency publicly withdrew the support and threw its weight behind Maimbo as the SADC candidate.



Tanzania’s Frannie Leautier, CEO of Kigali based Southbridge Capital and also a former Vice President of the bank, had also been tipped to be in the running but may also have fallen victim to the SADC consensus on Maimbo.&nbsp;



Maimbo says his presidency will focus on boosting Africa’s share of global trade from the current 3 percent by unifying the efforts of its 1.4 billion people, strengthening regional markets and modernizing the continent’s infrastructure and agriculture while accelerating energy access in a region where almost two thirds of the population has no access to electricity.



“Africa needs significantly higher rates of growth to successfully navigate today’s development challenges and capture tomorrow’s opportunities,” he said. “I’m ready on day one to support governments in reaching their goals. It’s time to stop talking about Africa’s potential and start realizing it.”



Maimbo’s recently served as the Vice President of Budget, Performance Review, and Strategic Planning at the World Bank where he also served as Chief of Staff to successive World Bank Presidents. The election will be held on May 29 at the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, commercial capital of Cote D’Ivoire.

SM Headshot 1

Race to lead Africa’s top development finance institution hots up

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="492" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/bill-and-melinda-gates-t-820x492.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-401148" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/bill-and-melinda-gates-t-820x492.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/bill-and-melinda-gates-t-300x180.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/bill-and-melinda-gates-t-768x461.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/bill-and-melinda-gates-t.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Bill and Melinda GatesFrederic Stevens | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says new technology and learnings are being turned into new tools and interventions that could substantially lift survival rates for mothers and babies in developing countries.



The report highlights seven new innovations that could save two million mothers and babies’ lives by 2030. They include a dollar package that can reduce post birth bleeding – the biggest maternal deaths cause – a new probiotic supplement, multiple micronutrient supplements and a new one time infusion of iron for women.



“That’s 2 million families spared an unimaginable heartbreak – and 2 million more people who can shape and enrich our world,” the foundation says in its 7th Goalkeepers Report, co-authored by Bill and Melinda French Gates. “We need policy changes, political will, more investment into women’s health, and health care workers – including midwives.”



Globally, a mother dies every two minutes from complications due to childbirth, according to research by the foundation. The picture is worst in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is estimated that 390 women will die in childbirth for every 100,000 live births by 2030, more than five times the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals target.



The World Bank says while sub-Saharan Africa’s health systems appear to have avoided a catastrophic impact from the coronavirus, and in fact benefitted from a strengthening of its public health systems, improving them remains critical in the short-, medium- and long-term.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GoalKeepers_2023_Intro-01-800x800.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427390" style="width:731px" width="731" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GoalKeepers_2023_Intro-01-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GoalKeepers_2023_Intro-01-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GoalKeepers_2023_Intro-01-90x90.jpg 90w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GoalKeepers_2023_Intro-01-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GoalKeepers_2023_Intro-01.jpg 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Two SDG target that are off track graphic. Source: Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation. https://www.gatesfoundation.org/goalkeepers/report/2023-report/#Intro</figcaption></figure>



The Gates Foundation says this is especially important given how far the world is from fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals, half the way from the 2030 targets.



“The ambition was to end all preventable child deaths by 2030, and to cut the maternal mortality rate to less than 70 out of every 100,000 births. We are far off-track on both goals— but that didn’t have to be the case,” it says. “We need to listen to what women want and ensure women have a say in their own healthcare. And ultimately, we need to commit together that we no longer accept preventable deaths of mothers and babies around the world.”



And the lack of progress isn’t restricted to developing countries alone, the report found. Even in high income countries like the United States, black and indigenous women are dying at three times the rate of white women.



That needs to change,” writes Melinda French Gates. “We have seen over and over again that when countries actually prioritize and invest in women’s health, they unleash a powerful engine for progress that can reduce poverty, advance gender equality, and build resilient economies.”



The other interventions include the provision of:



· Antenatal corticosteroids, which are given to women who will give birth prematurely toaccelerate fetal lung growth



· Azithromycin, which reduces maternal infections during pregnancy and prevents



infections from spiraling into sepsis and,



· An AI enabled portable ultrasound that empowers nurses and midwives to monitor high-risk pregnancies in low-resource settings to ensure that risks are diagnosed and addressed early



The foundation is calling for more research into ways of saving lives and also in empowering women in their motherhood journeys.



“The world has come so far, so quickly in our understanding of how to save the most fragile lives,” said Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation. “The world can and must do more to achieve a healthier, more prosperous, and equal world.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GoalKeepers_2023_Intro-02-800x800.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427392" style="width:731px" width="731" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GoalKeepers_2023_Intro-02-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GoalKeepers_2023_Intro-02-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GoalKeepers_2023_Intro-02-90x90.jpg 90w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GoalKeepers_2023_Intro-02-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GoalKeepers_2023_Intro-02.jpg 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Opportunity to save millions of lives graphic. Source: Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation. </figcaption></figure>

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Bill and Melinda Gates Says new Technology to boost maternal survival rates dramatically

By Kandeh Yumkella, former UN Under-Secretary-General and Chair of UN-Energy and Nick Hurd, Senior Adviser to Bboxx and former UK Minister*



Access to modern clean cooking services, especially via Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), is a key part of achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7 – to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. However, it is too often overlooked.



It is unacceptable that in 2020 the <a href="https://www.esmap.org/the-state-of-access-to-modern-energy-cooking-services">vast majority of the population</a> in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to clean, reliable, and affordable fuels and technologies for cooking. More global attention urgently needs to be given to this ‘silent killer’ development issue.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-costs-of-inaction-on-clean-cooking">The costs of inaction on clean cooking</h2>



The underlying failure to act on the clean cooking crisis carries an exponentially high cost. The World Bank recently noted that this currently <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/09/24/nearly-half-the-worlds-population-still-lacks-access-to-modern-energy-cooking-services">costs the world over $2.4 trillion each year</a>, due to the negative impacts on people’s health, the environment, gender equality, and lost economic opportunities. Cooking with dirty fuels is expensive and there is a high opportunity cost attached to the longer time needed to cook and to collect firewood.



The costs to the environment are dire as cooking with wood has been responsible for vast swathes of deforestation and land degradation. In Uganda alone, 80% of rural households use firewood for cooking which is contributing to <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2019/05/31/ugandan-government-steps-up-efforts-to-mitigate-and-adapt-to-climate-change">deforestation at an alarming rate</a>. Similarly, cooking with charcoal emits extremely damaging carbon emissions.



The World Health Organisation has warned that indoor air pollution from cooking with dirty fuels is causing <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/household-air-pollution-and-health">four million premature deaths</a> a year, due to heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. These profoundly negative impacts are also disproportionately harming women. On the front line &#8212; <a href="https://www.wlpga.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Cooking-with-Gas-Why-Women-in-Developing-Countries-Want-LPG-and-How-They-can-Get-It.pdf">collecting, transporting and cooking with firewood</a> &#8212; women are shouldering the physical burden and are predisposed to risks of violence. Additionally, the time spent on these actions cuts into the time that could be spent on leisure and employment.&nbsp;



However, it is now increasingly well-known that LPG can be a more viable, affordable and significantly cleaner alternative to traditional fuels used to cook in the Africa. LPG is a clean burning fuel and its <a href="https://www.wlpga.org/publications/communications-toolkit-2/proof-points/">carbon footprint is 50% lower</a> than coal.&nbsp;



Yet inaction continues – and it is simply costing too much. This issue cannot be ignored any longer.



A historic lack of concerted political urgency has been the key factor in the slow progress to resolve the clean cooking crisis. Greater political will is now fundamental if we are to significantly move the needle on this issue.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-momentum-to-build-on">Momentum to build on</h2>



Looking at intra-governmental progress, a High-Level Coalition of Leaders for Clean Cooking, Energy and Health has been established, which includes political representatives from ministries of health, energy, and finance from around the world. Led by Kandeh Yumkella, this body has accomplished significant developments to-date in rallying political leaders around this important issue. In addition, global bodies like the World LPG Association and the Clean Cooking Association are doing important work in raising awareness of this global problem.



Recent commitments and targeted actions by African governments should also be celebrated. Just last year, the <a href="https://www.renewablescongress.org/2020/01/mru-conference/">Mano River Union sub-regional conference</a> on renewable energy and clean cooking, including Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, led to a joint call by MPs and Ministers for ‘determined actions on clean cooking, at the highest level’. Earlier this year, Rwanda’s government introduced a <a href="https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/government-ban-charcoal-use-kigali">charcoal cooking ban in Kigali</a>. Kenya will soon be launching the second Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project facility which includes a subsidy for clean cooking.



Private technology companies also have a significant part to play. Next generation utility Bboxx, which has positively impacted the lives of over one million people through access to solar energy, recently <a href="https://www.bboxx.com/press-releases/bboxx-and-usaid-partner-to-expand-clean-cooking-access/">partnered with USAID</a> to increase clean cooking access in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is one of largest Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) clean cooking programmes in Africa to-date. <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.CFT.ACCS.ZS?locations=CD">Only 4% of the DRC population</a> has access to clean cooking facilities – and this initiative will leverage innovative PAYG technology to make clean cooking accessible at scale. This shows how technology and innovations in this sector have grown in leaps and bounds in recent years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-oil-and-gas-companies-can-also-play-a-role-in-the-shift-to-sdg-7">Oil and gas companies can also play a role in the shift to SDG 7</h2>



It is vital to consider the other pieces of the puzzle in making clean cooking access a reality for everyone in Africa. Oil and gas companies will be instrumental in developing this area as many are repositioning their businesses and pivoting towards clean energy, with a key focus on how to increase access to LPG which is needed for clean cooking.



For example, a coalition which brings together a wide variety of industry actors, including Bboxx, is exploring ways in which LPG can accelerate progress on UN SDG 7. Looking at developments across the sector, Shell has been <a href="https://www.shell.com/sustainability/communities/access-to-energy/clean-cooking-solutions.html">working with the Clean Cooking Alliance</a> to help tackle this issue using innovative technologies, and Vitol-backed Eni Ghana and the World Bank <a href="https://bioenergyinternational.com/heat-power/eni-ghana-and-world-bank-sign-mou-on-clean-cooking">signed a Memorandum of Understanding</a> earlier this year to expand access to clean cooking too.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-political-will-must-be-backed-by-a-drastic-scale-up-of-funding">Political will must be backed by a drastic scale-up of funding</h2>



Nevertheless, the lack of collective political urgency and consequently funding, is a major stumbling block to this sector’s development. While there is indeed momentum to build on, billions of dollars will still be required in public and private funding for modern energy cooking solutions to take off.



Whilst the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/09/17/world-bank-project-to-boost-household-access-to-affordable-energy">World Bank officially launched</a> the $500 million Clean Cooking Fund within Rwanda in recent months, it is vital that more countries be made recipients to the Fund. Other investors need to join and contribute too, as no one entity can tackle this issue alone. Subsidies should increasingly be explored by governments across Africa to ensure that clean cooking solutions can be scaled in a way that is affordable for all.



Catalysing private sector participation and synergies with governments will be the key to unlocking the true potential of the nascent clean cooking sector. Companies like Bboxx can leverage existing expertise gained from off-grid Solar Home Systems and apply this to the clean cooking sector. Know-how of the business models, distribution networks and customer relationships are needed to get this sector off the ground.



Ultimately, we need to build a policy environment that helps companies to lower costs, grow and innovate more quickly, and blended financing is required at scale to achieve this.



We are still a long way off meeting UN SDG 7. But if we can collectively convey the political urgency of this essential sector, we can truly transform lives and drive forward meaningful progress on clean cooking access in Africa.&nbsp;



__



* The Right Hon Nick Hurd is Senior Advisor to Bboxx, a next generation utility which manufactures, distributes and finances decentralised solar powered systems in developing countries. He served as a Member of Parliament in the UK for fourteen years before standing down in December 2019. His experience includes service as UK International Development Minister at the Department for International Development (DFID), where he led the Energy Africa campaign to support the acceleration of the off-grid movement. He also served in the Department for Business, Energy &amp; Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as Minister of State for Climate Change and Industry, and in the Cabinet Office as Minister for Civil Society.



Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella is the Former United Nations Under Secretary-General. He was also previously the first Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and chaired UN-Energy, the coordination body of United Nations agencies dealing with energy related issues. Additional roles have included the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and a former Minister for Trade, Industry and State Enterprises of Sierra Leone from 1994-1995. He holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois, a M.Sc. Agricultural Economics, Cornell University; and a B.Sc. in General Agriculture, from Njala University College, Sierra Leone.

Godfrey Mutizwa

Race to lead Africa’s top development finance institution hots up

Bill and Melinda Gates Says new Technology to boost maternal survival rates dramatically

Greater Political Will Urgently Needed to Tackle Clean Cooking crisis in Africa

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Godfrey Mutizwa

Race to lead Africa’s top development finance institution hots up

Bill and Melinda Gates Says new Technology to boost maternal survival rates dramatically

Greater Political Will Urgently Needed to Tackle Clean Cooking crisis in Africa

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