By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/wim-naude-780658">Wim Naudé</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/united-nations-university-694">United Nations University</a>

Narratives are essential. Humans are, after all, “helpless story <a href="https://psmag.com/social-justice/pulitzer-prizes-journalism-reporting-your-brain-on-story-why-narratives-win-our-hearts-and-minds-79824">junkies</a>”. Business and economic success depend much more than is commonly acknowledged on getting the narrative right. And if there is a narrative where getting it right or wrong matters hugely, it is the narrative about Africa’s industrial development. 

Africa is the <a href="https://worldpoverty.io/">poorest</a> continent. It is likely to be the most affected by <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/ar4-wg2-chapter9-1.pdf">climate </a>change. It is the continent where <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2018/07/14/the-fight-against-islamic-state-is-moving-to-africa">terrorist</a> groups are spreading fast. 

Therefore, African industrialisation is essential. Unfortunately, the dominant narrative is that Africa has been <a href="https://www.odi.org/events/4319-africas-industrialisation-reversing-decline">de-industrialising</a>, even <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w20935">prematurely</a>. In this narrative, it is also questioned whether Africa can ever industrialise. African countries have even been advised not to <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2018/03/20/world-economic-outlook-april-2018#Chapter%203">try</a>. The World Bank’s <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/27946">“Trouble in the Making”</a> report concludes that manufacturing is becoming less relevant for low-income countries.

Fortunately, a very different narrative is possible. In a <a href="http://ftp.iza.org/dp12678.pdf">recent paper</a>, I argue that Africa can industrialise because of three factors. These are “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Second-Machine-Age-Prosperity-Technologies/dp/0393350649">brilliant</a>” new technologies enabling digitisation, smart materials and 3D-printing; a more <a href="https://guardian.ng/business-services/africas-booming-start-up-scene/">vibrant</a> entrepreneurship scene; and Africa’s growing <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/africas-expanding-middle-class/">middle class</a> (as <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/is-a-growing-middle-class-good-for-the-poor-social-policy-in-a-time-of-globalization/">measured</a> by the share of households that earn between $11 and $110 per person per day), which supports the continent’s first generation of indigenous tech-entrepreneurs.

Consider therefore the following <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp12678.html">narrative</a>: More than <a href="https://i2ifacility.org/insights/blog/the-rise-of-african-digital-platforms?entity=blog">300</a> digital platforms, mostly indigenous, are operating across the continent. There are also more than <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tobyshapshak/2019/07/11/africas-booming-tech-hubs-are-backbone-of-tech-ecosystem-having-grown-40-this-year/#10aa3ae524c2">400</a> high-tech hubs, and more are being added. In addition, venture capital funding into African tech start-ups increased <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/05/a-brief-history-of-africa-s-tech-industry-and-7-predictions-for-its-future/">ten-fold </a>between 2012 and 2018. 

Moreover, manufacturing has more than doubled in size in real terms since 1980. And since 2000, manufacturing value added has grown at more than 4% a year. That is double the average between 1980 and 2000 (numbers from the <a href="https://www.merit.unu.edu/themes/3-economic-development-innovation-governance-and-institutions/expanded-africa-sector-database-easd-1960-2015/">Expanded</a> African Sector Database). 

As a result, total employment in manufacturing in 18 of the largest African economies (for which there is data) grew from roughly 9 million in 2004 to more than 17 million by 2014. That is an 83% increase in ten years. The proportion of labour in manufacturing for Africa as a region grew from roughly 5% in the 1970s to almost 10% by 2008.

So, how will these trends shape the future? I argue that they will result in three varieties of industrialisation. 

<h2>Three varieties</h2>

The first variety can be labelled “acquiring traditional manufacturing capabilities”. This variety is <a href="https://www.odi.org/publications/11073-digitalisation-and-future-manufacturing-africa">implied</a> by Overseas Development Institute researchers Karishma Banga and Dirk Willem te Velde. It will be experienced by countries and sectors where technological change is too fast and complex to benefit immediately. These countries and sectors will need time to first put complementary investments in place, while at the same time continuing to promote traditional labour-intensive manufacturing. 

The second variety, “fostering sectors with the characteristics of manufacturing”, is elaborated in a recent <a href="https://www.wider.unu.edu/publication/industries-without-smokestacks-2">UNU-WIDER</a> book. Here it is argued that service sectors can take up “the role held by manufacturing in the past”. In many countries, services such as ICT and telecoms, tourism and transport, financial and farming services can lead to productive development. 

The third variety, “resurgent entrepreneurship-led industrialisation” is based on my <a href="https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/11941/brilliant-technologies-and-brave-entrepreneurs-a-new-narrative-for-african-manufacturing">earlier</a> work. I point to the growing list of achievements of African countries in terms of high-tech manufacturing. For example South Africa leads in advanced manufacturing in having one of the world’s <a href="https://www.businessinsider.co.za/south-africas-largest-3d-printer-is-so-big-that-it-takes-up-to-r75-million-in-titanium-powder-to-fill-it-2018-7">largest</a> 3D-printers, used to manufacture parts for the aviation industry. 

Different combinations of these varieties will dominate in different countries. For example, Kenya is already experiencing the simultaneous development of high-tech financial services alongside growth in traditional manufacturing, such as food processing and textiles, as well as clusters of advanced manufacturing. While every country’s pathway will be a unique combination of these varieties, what they will have in common is that progress will require that they deal with the impact of new technology, especially digitisation, on manufacturing. 

To ensure momentum is maintained, the narrative about industrialisation has to change. As Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/books/review/21-lessons-for-the-21st-century-yuval-noah-harari.html">pointed</a> out, neither land – the core resource of feudalism – nor physical capital – the core resource of 20th-century capitalism – will be decisive for competitiveness in the future. Instead, data and data science, free information flows, ICT (data) skills, and decentralisation of decision-making will be the decisive factors. 

<h2>What needs to be done</h2>

With an outdated story that gives up on manufacturing, Africa will fail to close the huge digital gap it still faces. The gap is reflected in the fact the continent contributes <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-questions-de-communication-2017-2-page-345.htm">less</a> than 1% of world’s digital knowledge production. To reduce this gap, African countries will have to start by expanding internet access and use. If internet use across the continent can be expanded to the same rate as in high-income countries, 140 million new jobs and US$2,2 trillion could be <a href="https://oecd-development-matters.org/2018/03/01/how-to-build-inclusive-digital-economies/">added</a> to GDP. 

What must be done to change the narrative? What do African governments need to do? The first is that its leaders need to start telling more stories about the future than about the past. Perhaps, like China’s leaders, they can even be inspired by science fiction. British best-selling author <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/24/neil-gaiman-face-facts-need-fiction">Neil Gaiman</a> relates how China started to embrace science fiction after sending a delegation to 

<blockquote>
“the US, to Apple, to Microsoft, to Google, and they asked the people there who were inventing the future about themselves. And they found that all of them had read science fiction when they were boys or girls.”
</blockquote>

Helping to imagine the future of African industrialisation, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa recently <a href="https://www.itweb.co.za/content/4r1ly7RoGOVMpmda">stressed</a> that fact that Africa is one of the early adopters of mobile telephony and moreover that the continent needs to aspire to more:

<blockquote>
We need to focus on the new technologies that are going to revolutionise the world, and we need to be ahead of the curve.
</blockquote>

This is the right narrative. It is necessary, although not sufficient for African industrialisation. For this, words need to lead to actions. And some consistent actions, at least for a start, would be for African governments to refrain from creating stumbling blocks for their brave new tech-entrepreneurs, such as curbing access to the internet, restricting digital information flows, under-investing in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, neglecting data-privacy legislation, and restricting the rights of women to work in manufacturing.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125516/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important">

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/wim-naude-780658">Wim Naudé</a>, Professorial Fellow, Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/united-nations-university-694">United Nations University</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/african-countries-cant-industrialise-yes-they-can-125516">original article</a>.

Here’s what can be done to change the narrative about Africa’s industrial development

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; State airline South African Airways (SAA) has cancelled “nearly all” flights scheduled for Friday because of a strike over wage increases planned by a majority of employees, television news channel eNCA said.



Unions representing about 3,000 of its 5,000-strong workforce said on Wednesday that cabin crew and other workers at SAA would strike over the airline’s refusal of salary hikes and a plan to cut more than 900 jobs.



According to the report, only flights directly operated by SAA would be affected. Flights by subsidiaries Mango, SA Express and SA Air Link, as well as those of private operators, would not be affected.



An SAA spokesperson did not immediately responded to telephone calls and emailed questions from Reuters seeking details about the cancellations and how long they would last.



Unions say the strike will begin at 4 a.m. (0200 GMT) on Friday. They are calling on SAA’s check-in, ticket sales, head office, technical staff and ground staff to take part.



The state-owned airline flies around 6.8 million passengers annually to six continents with dedicated routes to New York, London and Hong Kong among its eight international offerings.



But it has struggled in recent years, failing to turn a profit since 2011 while relying on state bailouts to fund a growing financing gap.



The airline is also without a permanent chief executive and has yet to file annual results for the two most recent financial years because of concerns about its viability as a business.



Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Christopher Cushing

South Africa’s SAA cancels flights, here’s why

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

Johannesburg, South Africa, 12 November 2019&nbsp;&#8211; The African Development Bank, Credit Suisse AG, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited and Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) signed a $600 million syndicated receivables-backed term loan on Tuesday, to boost cocoa productivity in Ghana &#8211; the world’s second-largest cocoa producer.



Ghanaian President&nbsp;Nana&nbsp;Addo&nbsp;Dankwa Akufo-Addo,&nbsp;the President of the African Development Bank Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, senior officials from Credit Suisse and ICBC, oversaw the signing of the facility, at a ceremony held on the second day of the 2019 Africa Investment Forum.



The multi-million dollar agreement is a milestone for the Bank-convened Africa Investment Forum, a transactional platform dedicated to transforming the continent’s investment and development agenda, which kicked off in Sandton City Johannesburg on Monday.



The COCOBOD transaction was launched at the&nbsp;Africa Investment Forum&nbsp;in 2018, and a year later, the signing is a demonstration of the Forum’s ability to raise much needed financing, including from international commercial financiers, for projects in Africa. Prior to the agreement, COCOBOD did not have access to long-term debt capital.



At a press conference following the signing, President&nbsp;Akufo-Addo said the agreement would help to ensure higher incomes for Ghana’s cocoa farmers.



“It was critical that we find a mechanism for scaling up the value chain for our farmers and that is where the Bank came in,” Akufo Addo said. “We see this agreement as a turning point and…to what is possible on this continent.”



The Bank,&nbsp;as Original DFI Lender and Initial Mandated Lead Arranger, is partnering with&nbsp;Credit Suisse as&nbsp;Original Commercial Lender, Global Commercial Coordinator, Co-



Mandated Lead Arranger. Credit Suisse is also acting as Joint Commercial Underwriter and Bookrunner&nbsp;to structure and fund a&nbsp;dual-tranche facility comprising a $250 million, 7-year DFI tranche with the Bank, as well as a $350 million, 5-year commercial tranche.



The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited London Branch joined as an Original Commercial Lender, Co-Mandated Lead Arranger and Joint Commercial Underwriter and Bookrunner ahead of syndication.



Syndication of the facility is underway.



Making sure that Africa gets to the top of the value chain is one of the African Development’s Bank’s top priorities, President Adesina said, adding that Africa could become a global hub for cocoa and cocoa-based products.



“All cocoa producing countries will get similar support (from the Bank). Ghana is bankable, cocoa is bankable and of course Africa is bankable,” Adesina said.



COCOBOD will use the facility to raise cocoa yields per hectare and increase Ghana’s overall production. These include financial interventions to sustainably increase cocoa plant fertility, improving irrigation systems, rehabilitating aged and disease-infected farms. The funds will also help increase warehouse capacity and provide support to local cocoa-processing companies.



Signing&nbsp;for Credit Suisse,&nbsp;Madthav Patki&nbsp;said the “landmark” transaction would facilitate future long-term investment in the Ghanaian cocoa sector.



“This is a positive contribution to a key sector of Ghana’s economy. “It is a moment of tremendous pride…This is what the Africa Investment Forum is all about,” Patki said. He also commended the Bank’s signature expertise in financial instruments, that enabled them to leverage financing for the deal.



The Africa Investment Forum, an initiative of the African Development Bank is an innovative, multi-stakeholder transactional marketplace, dedicated to raising capital, advancing projects to bankable stage, and accelerating financial closure of deals.&nbsp;



Ghana’s cocoa sector employs some 800,000 rural families and produces crops worth about $2 billion in foreign exchange annually.&nbsp;COCOBOD&nbsp;is a fully state-owned company solely&nbsp;responsible for Ghana’s cocoa industry, controlling the purchase, marketing and export of all cocoa beans produced in the country.

#AfricaInvestmentForum: Ghana’s COCOBOD signs historic $600 million cocoa deal

KHARTOUM (Reuters) &#8211; Sudan needs up to $5 billion in budget support to avert economic collapse and launch reforms after the ouster of veteran ruler Omar al-Bashir, its finance minister told Reuters.



The country, in crisis since losing most of its oil wealth with South Sudan’s secession in 2011, has only enough foreign currency reserves to fund imports for a few weeks, said Ibrahim Elbadawi, part of a transitional government formed in August.



Sudan has had some support for fuel and wheat imports but about 65 percent of its 44 million people live in poverty and it needs up to $2 billion in development funding along with a hoped-for $2 billion from Arab development funds, he said.



Outlining reform plans in detail for the first time, Elbadawi said public salaries would need to be increased and a social support network established to prepare for the painful removal of fuel and food subsidies.



Months of demonstrations over price hikes for fuel and bread and cash shortages&nbsp;triggered the uprising against Bashir, who was toppled in April by the military. Protests have continued since, with people killed in clashes with security forces.



“We have started the process (of reforms),” Elbadawi said in an interview on Thursday. “The people of Sudan deserve to be seen in a radically different prism than the international community used to see Sudan, as a country ruled by a pariah state.”



“Now we have a revolution,” he said. Asked how much budget support was needed for 2020 he said: “Some estimates say between three to four billion (US dollars), maybe even five billion.”



The civilian government Elbadawi is part of has taken over for three years under a power-sharing deal with the military. It has drawn slightly more than half of $3 billion in support for imports of wheat and fuel offered by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates in April, he said.



A “friends of Sudan” donor meeting is planned for December and the government had agreed with the United States it could start engaging with international institutions while still on a list of countries deemed sponsors of terrorism, Elbadawi said.



The designation, which dates from allegations in 1993 that Bashir’s Islamist government supported terrorism, makes it technically ineligible for debt relief and financing from the IMF and World Bank. Congress needs to approve a removal.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">CURRENCY</h3>



The first experts from international institutions had arrived in Khartoum to help with reforms and a delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would come this month for Chapter IV discussions, Elbadawi said. There was no immediate comment from the IMF, World Bank or U.S. State Department.



Part of a roadmap agreed with the IMF and World Bank was that Sudan did not have to pay back $3 billion in arrears from international institutions.



“We don’t need to pay anything. What we need to &#8230; deliver really is policy,” he said. Sudan is one of the most indebted countries, owing $60 billion, which needs to be settled separately.



Sudan would start to increase its tax base and overhaul the civil sector, Elbadawi said. Salaries — eroded by double digit inflation rates — could be raised as much as 100 percent by April.



In the second half of next year a social support network would be set up to allow the lifting of subsidies by June or later.&nbsp;Some donor funding would be used to collect data to allow cash transfers for the needy.



Sudan also wanted to produce bread based on sorghum, a local cereal, to import less wheat. He said he hoped a spread between official and black market would be ended by June. But this week the local pound dropped to 80 for a dollar on the black market versus the official rate at 45.



He said the 2020 budget would have sustainable development targets for education, health care and social spending, suggesting Sudan might move away from the dominant military spending choking development.



Writing by Ulf Laessing; editing by Philippa Fletcher

This African country needs up to $5 billion in budget support to prevent collapse

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emma-elfversson-800607">Emma Elfversson</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/uppsala-university-1826">Uppsala University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/paul-d-williams-439129">Paul D. Williams</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/george-washington-university-1262">George Washington University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sara-lindberg-bromley-880383">Sara Lindberg Bromley</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/uppsala-university-1826">Uppsala University</a>

In an ever more urbanising world, peacekeepers will <a href="https://cpr.unu.edu/peacekeeping-in-cities-is-the-un-prepared.html">increasingly operate in cities</a>. In a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23802014.2019.1678399">recent article</a>, we analysed how attacks against the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) affected the peacekeepers’ ability to operate in Mogadishu.

Cities host key logistical and political assets and institutions. They are frequently the object of fierce contestation among warring parties. Cities may also <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030280901">remain divided and insecure</a> long after formal peace agreements are signed, posing significant challenges to peaceful transitions.

Securing strategically important cities and protecting key institutions are thus <a href="https://cic.nyu.edu/publications/UN-Peacekeeping-in-Urban-Environments-The-Legacy-of-UNMIL">crucial tasks</a> for peace operations. However, operating in densely populated urban areas brings significant challenges.

For one, the density of cities makes it more difficult for peacekeepers to distinguish armed fighters from the civilian population. Militants with intimate knowledge of the city’s infrastructure may also counteract <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-review-of-the-red-cross/article/future-war-in-cities-urbanizations-challenge-to-strategic-studies-in-the-21st-century/D1999E08103B58ECB46D25B9F42C049A">peacekeepers’ technological advantage</a>. The city’s symbolic and political importance often makes it a prime target for large-scale attacks which can be difficult for peacekeepers to anticipate and prevent.

<h2>Attacks on urban peacekeepers</h2>

Some peace operations deployed in cities have come under attack by forces opposed to their presence. Such attacks, in turn, affect peacekeepers’ ability to operate and sometimes have led to their withdrawal. In Kigali, Rwanda, the killing of ten Belgian peacekeepers posted to the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/Geno15-8-01.htm">UN mission there</a> on 7 April 1994 led the country to withdraw its contingent. 

The <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/mission/past/unsom1backgr1.html">United Nations Operation in Somalia</a> was also forced to leave after the United States pulled out its troops. This was after the infamous <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/legacy-black-hawk-down-180971000/">“Black Hawk Down”</a> battle in Mogadishu in October 1993. 

<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13533312.2018.1512858">Recent research</a> has shown such responses may be the exception rather than the rule. But attacks on peacekeepers may have other important effects for operational effectiveness.

In our article, we focus on the African mission in Somalia between 2007 and 2009, the mission’s first three years of operations. The <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/fighting-for-peace-in-somalia-9780198724544?cc=se&amp;lang=en&amp;">mission</a> was deployed where there was little “peace to keep”. It quickly came under attack from al-Shabaab, the main armed group opposing Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

Using data from the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343317735882">Peacemakers at Risk (PAR) dataset</a> we analysed patterns of violence involving the peacekeepers. An estimated 50 peacekeepers were killed in direct acts of violence in Mogadishu between 2007 and 2009. This affected AMISOM’s operations in several ways.

First, the insecure conditions in Mogadishu forced it to concentrate on its core military tasks – protecting the TFG and its own troops. Patrolling and civilian engagement were limited, which also reduced the mission’s access to intelligence.

Second, attacks on AMISOM significantly hampered its ability to deploy throughout the city. After securing a few key locations, the mission had to focus on protecting these sites. It was not able to spread out across the city for several years. The concentration to a few key locations was partly the result of delays in the deployment of troops and mission support. However, the fact that many states were <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17531055.2018.1418159">unwilling to contribute</a> was partly due to the violence targeting the mission.

Third, attacks on peacekeepers at times led to heavy-handed responses. This prolonged fighting where civilians were caught in the crossfire. In turn, such cases increased popular criticism of the mission and led to pressure on the mission to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13523260.2017.1291564">reduce the levels of civilian harm</a>. 

Such instances also exemplify the challenges of peacekeeping in cities, as al-Shabaab often attacked from positions in civilian neighbourhoods.

<h2>Lessons from AMISOM’s experiences</h2>

These experiences illustrate the particular challenges that can result when peacekeepers face armed groups that know the urban terrain and rely on asymmetric tactics. These challenges appear to have hampered the implementation of some mandated tasks. These tasks included the wider stabilisation of the city of Mogadishu, promotion of dialogue, and the facilitation of humanitarian assistance. 

Instead, the mission had to act defensively, focusing on protecting the contested transitional government and the mission’s supply lines.

These problems were amplified by another factor. For the first three years of its operation, the African mission was under-resourced. Later, it gained more troops and additional external support. It was eventually able to drive al-Shabaab’s main forces <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14430283">out of Mogadishu</a> in 2011.

In summary, our analysis indicates that al-Shabaab was able to exploit its knowledge of Mogadishu and the city’s density to attack mission positions. This restricted the mission’s ability to operate effectively. However, despite these challenges, troop contributing countries did not withdraw. Instead, these countries <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/fighting-for-peace-in-somalia-9780198724544?cc=se&amp;lang=en&amp;am">added more troops</a> to the mission. This enabled AMISOM to prevent the overthrow of the Somali TFG, its core mission.

AMISOM’s experiences suggest that urban peace operations must be given sufficient resources from the outset – that is, personnel, equipment and relevant training. They must also invest in gaining detailed knowledge of the urban environment by engaging local populations. And they must prepare for spoilers to hide among the city’s civilians.

Many of the peacekeeping objectives associated with effective operations – such as extensive patrolling and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022343316682063">civilian engagement</a> – seem difficult to accomplish in urban contexts where peacekeepers themselves become the target of attacks. As peacekeeping continues to become more urban, these issues warrant further attention.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126524/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emma-elfversson-800607">Emma Elfversson</a>, Post-doctoral Researcher, Department of Peace and Conflict Research, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/uppsala-university-1826">Uppsala University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/paul-d-williams-439129">Paul D. Williams</a>, Professor of International Affairs, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/george-washington-university-1262">George Washington University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sara-lindberg-bromley-880383">Sara Lindberg Bromley</a>, Post-doctoral researcher, Department of Peace and Conflict Research, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/uppsala-university-1826">Uppsala University</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/urban-peacekeeping-what-weve-learnt-from-aus-mission-in-somalia-126524">original article</a>.

What have we learnt from AU’s mission in Somalia on urban peacekeeping?

By David S. Levin, writer from New York



Things
are getting pretty edgy here in the United States these days. The 2020 presidential
election is a year away and the storm clouds are forming on the horizon. They
are dark and foreboding for sure. The country is still reeling from an
emotionally unhinged and acrimonious election in 2016 that the majority of the
people, half the Congress and roughly 30,000 U.S. journalists have never quite gotten
over. 



This
election though, will be one for the ages. There are 18 Democratic candidates,
all outraged at just about everything, and each fighting to be the one that
takes on the great orange cyclops, Donald Trump; a rabid and unfiltered army of
one, shooting Machiavellian twitter missiles at friend and foe alike. 



So,
the question is, who will emerge for the Democrats as the nominie and face Trump
in the general election next November? That is, assuming he even ends up being
the Republican candidate to begin with. He might not. And that’s because the Democrats
have a few missiles of their own to help ensure victory in the election and
eliminate Trump entirely. One way or the other. 



They’ve
launched a rancorous and partisan impeachment proceeding against the president intended
to crash head-on into the election and ensure that the Democrats win the White
House in 2020. And it’s going to blow the country to ideological smithereens. Anyone
who thinks that America is a polarised tinderbox now, “ain’t seen nothing yet.”




Since he took office, Trump has been under constant
legal and political attacks from all sides. Most of his wounds though, are largely self-inflicted
thanks to his complete disregard for the rule of law and any sense of presidential
etiquette or protocol. Even Richard Nixon looked honorable by comparison. But Trump
has a large, impassioned base of supporters, not to mention 66 million Twitter
followers, that he is counting on to push him over the finish line in November.




So,
is there a Democrat out there who can beat him? To be sure, they’ve assembled a questionable lineup of
candidates. First, there’s former Vice-President Joe Biden, a 77-year-old
“moderate” that I’m not sure would actually be able to stay awake for the full
four-year term. He’s got a solid resume as a statesman and is well respected in
corridors of Washington. But to the younger, more progressive Democrats who are
starting to define the party ideologically, he’s part of the problem and from a
political era gone by. 



Then you have Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth
Warren. Two socialists that want to disassemble America piece by piece. Warren, for one, wants
to dismantle the U.S. free enterprise system in favor of something called
“accountable capitalism” which is essentially a fundamental reordering of
American business and a redistribution of most of the profits to everyone other
than the shareholders. 



And,
finally, there are the other fifteen unimportant Democratic candidates who, if
you listen to them, seem to be on some kind of pilgrimage to save mankind from
itself. None of them will be in the conversation for long.



The
U.S. is in unchartered waters now and everything is riding on the impeachment
proceedings. The strategy of “weaponizing” them was not lost on the Democrats. They
were smartly timed to either destroy Trump completely or wound him badly enough
with the public that he simply can’t win. By their calculus, this is how the Democrats
believe they can retake the White House in 2020. 



But
the prevailing wisdom says the Republican controlled Senate will hold party
lines and not impeach him. For all the pomp and circumstance, the votes just
aren’t there, and it is unlikely that enough Republicans would cross over and
vote to impeach the president. This would leave the Democrats reeling and
scrambling for answers. And on the heels of a stinging impeachment defeat, the party
would mostly assuredly move even further left. This would badly weaken the
moderate, Joe Biden, in the polls leaving Warren or Sanders as the presumptive nominee.




The
Democrats remember all too well watching the hapless Republicans stand idly by as
Trump steamrolled their party in 2016. Now, many of them shudder as they
consider the specter of Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders doing the same thing
to them. The threat of a socialist taking the helm of the party is simply unthinkable
to many Democrats. 



So,
if Warren or Sanders continue to surge in the polls, and it looks like either one
could become the Democratic nominee in July, then you can quite possibly expect
a dark horse to enter the race, a late entry by the name of Hillary Clinton. 



That’s
right, Hillary Clinton. Round Three. Crazy? Not so much. She’s just waiting for
the opening. For the right moment. Her public statements of late certainly make
it sound like she’s ready to rumble again. And with Biden having likely faded by
that point, it will give her the opportunity she’s been looking for. 



Hillary
to the rescue.



There
is a school of thought that believes that Clinton gives the Democrats someone
who is electable and a real alternative to Warren and Sanders, who many in the
party are terrified of. She would position herself as the sensible, moderate
choice who can beat Trump and restore America to respectability. 



There’s
also another school of thought that says Clinton entering the race is
preposterous. Ridiculous. She’s old news. But, don’t be so sure. Because the
rules have changed, in large part, thanks to Trump himself. He turned
everything upside down in 2016 and now, anything can happen. 



Clinton
still has a huge following among baby boomers, women, LGBT, African Americans, Jews,
Latinos, and many independent voters. And here’s the best part. Just like
Hillary herself, they’re all still fuming about losing the 2016 election. If
she runs, they will turn out in force. 



Nothing
like four years of angst to bring out the voters.



Head
to head, Clinton would likely beat Trump in the General Election. Currently,
54% of the public disapproves of his job performance and it is slipping even further
among Republicans as the impeachment proceedings take a daily toll on his
electability. With 29% of the country registered as Democrats, 26% as
Republicans and 43% as Independents, Trump will need to capture a big chunk of
the independent vote to win, which would be difficult. Maybe even impossible. 



Given
the bitter, wall-to-wall media coverage, and the soon to air live impeachment hearings
on television, public sentiment will continue to turn definitively against him.
And many of the Independents that he desperately needs to win the election, would
almost certainly back the safer, more moderate choice. 



Even
if it is Hillary Clinton. 



For
her, who knows, maybe the third time will be the charm. Or maybe, it’s just the
law of unintended consequences.

Op-Ed: The U.S. election, impeaching a president, and the law of unintended consequences

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) &#8211; Italy’s Saipem has been awarded a contract in Equatorial Guinea worth $90-$100 million to build a 70 km subsea pipeline linking the Alen platform with the Punta Europa petrochemical hub, the oil ministry said on Thursday.



Gas deliveries from the project, operated by Noble Energy, are expected to begin in early 2021, Oil Minister Gabriel Obiang Lima said in a statement. 



The pipeline will serve offshore gas fields and have a capacity for 950 million cubic feet of gas per day as Equatorial Guinea looks to extend the life of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production assets.



“We anticipate that this contract, which is being approved exceptionally under the given circumstances, will contribute immensely to improving the performance of local businesses and the creation of employment,” Obiang Lima said.



Equatorial Guinea, a small West African member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, derives more than 90% of its foreign revenue from oil and gas.



The pipeline forms part of plans to link various offshore gas fields to onshore LNG facilities and turn the island of Bioko into a gas processing hub.



Reporting by Wendell Roelf; editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Jason Neely

Saipem wins $100 million Equatorial Guinea pipeline contract, what you need to know…

HARARE, Nov 4 (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe police have given public sector workers permission to march for better pay on Wednesday in what is widely seen as a test of President Emmerson Mnangagwa&#8217;s willingness to tolerate dissent.



A notice received from police by the Apex Council of public sector unions said the protest could go ahead but also warned that police would stop the march if it turned violent.



&#8220;The regulating authority still reserves the right to stop the gathering should it turn out to a public order threat or violent. Police will monitor,&#8221; Oscar Mugomeri, police commander for Harare central district, wrote in the letter.



Mugomeri could not be reached for comment on Monday.



Unions say Mnangagwa&#8217;s government has not responded to demands for U.S. dollar-indexed salaries to cushion public sector workers against inflation that economists say reached 380% in September.



Daily life in Zimbabwe is getting harder, with prices of basic goods, fuel and electricity rising as hope fades for a quick economic recovery under Mnangagwa, who took power after the late Robert Mugabe was ousted in a coup in 2017.



Mnangagwa has banned several opposition protests and faces accusations that he is using Mugabe&#8217;s heavy-handed tactics.



Police have been on high alert since January, when fuel protests turned violent and at least a dozen people were killed during a security crackdown.



Unions want the lowest government employees paid the equivalent of $475 (7,251 Zimbabwe dollars) a month compared to the 1,023 Zimbabwe dollars they earn now.



Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube, who projects the economy to contract by 6.5% this year, has said the government cannot meet the workers&#8217; demands.



Charles Chinosengwa, spokesman for the Apex Council, which represents 230,000 workers &#8211; excluding the health and security sectors &#8211; said unions were mobilising members from across Zimbabwe.



&#8220;This is strictly a labour issue. We don&#8217;t need support from politicians, we are saying hands off to politicians,&#8221; he said.



Shortages of foreign currency, fuel and power are among the most visible signs of a crisis that has revived memories of 2008, when hyperinflation wiped out savings and forced the government to abandon its currency.



Mnangagwa says Zimbabweans should be patient while his government pursues economic reforms, including gradually cutting subsidies on fuel and electricity and the re-introduction of the domestic currency.



$1 = 15.2654 Zimbabwe dollars 



(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

Zimbabwe police give unions green light for public sector protest, what you need to know…

The Diamond Conference speaks to the core aspirations of the partnership between Government and De Beers Group in support of the aspirations of our producer governments to continue to play a leadership role in the diamond value chain and create economic impact for the communities.



Africa is the world&#8217;s largest producer of diamonds, producing as much as 50% of global production. To date, Africa has produced over 75%, in value, of the world&#8217;s diamonds with more than 1.9 billion carats worth an estimated $US 158 billion mined.



The Diamond Conference is the only Diamond specific forum on the African continent and over the past 4 years has evolved in size, influence and significance as a key platform for engagement for the global Diamond Industry.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The theme of the 2019 conference is: Consumer | Community | Cluster Development | Collaboration</h2>



In accordance with the principles of the De Beers value proposition the 2019 Diamond conference will further facilitate our engagement strategy with a primary focus on the 4Cs:



Consumer Confidence&nbsp;– the changing consumer landscape, trends and its impact on the diamond value chain.



Community&nbsp;&#8211; The importance of establishing a multi-stakeholder approach to enhancing the sustainability of diamond equity focusing on Economic, Social and Environmental imperatives.



Cluster Development&nbsp;– in terms of the diamond supply chain, innovation, disruption and various factors that impact the industry directly or indirectly. There is need to explore the opportunity to create a self-regulating, evidence-based innovation pipeline that will support commercial longevity in the current global context.



Collaboration&nbsp;– the value of collaborative relationships to address shared risks that impact the diamond sector.



For more info visit <a href="http://www.thebotswanadiamondconference.com/index.html">http://www.thebotswanadiamondconference.com/index.html</a> 



Content provided by De Beers Group

Why the Diamond Conference remains a key platform for engagement for the global diamond industry

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 <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sean-mfundza-muller-298216">Seán Mfundza Muller</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-johannesburg-1275">University of Johannesburg</a>

Over the past decade South Africa’s public finances have <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-finance-minister-delivers-a-budget-designed-to-steady-the-ship-112162">come under more and more strain</a>. The days when the economy was growing and former finance minister Trevor Manuel brought baskets of fruit to parliament have been replaced by declines in the <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/south-africa/gdp-per-capita">size of the economy per person</a> and rising unemployment. This was symbolised earlier this year when finance minister Tito Mboweni <a href="https://www.fin24.com/Budget/mboweni-plum-season-is-over-but-it-can-come-again-20190220">brought</a> a few drought-resistant bitter aloes to his budget speech.

These hard times have three main origins: the economic legacy of apartheid, the effects of the 2008 global financial crisis, and the massive <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramaphosas-new-dawn-will-break-slowly-for-south-africas-finances-105302">damage done</a> by inaction and state capture during President Jacob Zuma’s tenure. 

Apartheid systematically limited the human development of the majority of the population. It destroyed communities, created costly spatial inequalities and led to extreme inequalities between race groups. Among the negative consequences were its contribution to skills shortages, high unemployment, high <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2015-11-15-commuting-costs-the-poor-dearly">transport costs for workers</a>, dependency on the state and high crime rates. 

Twenty-five years later the country’s debt levels continue to exceed targets despite additional measures to raise tax revenue. The situation has been compounded by the worsening finances of state-owned enterprises. The result is that public finances are becoming a burden on the economy because of the tax revenues required. And due to increasing borrowing costs resulting from credit rating downgrades.

Because of these and other factors, South Africa faces a unique combination of challenges. This makes addressing the country’s economic problems vastly more difficult. Economic and fiscal policies used successfully in other countries cannot simply be imitated.

The presidency of Cyril Ramaphosa has shown a dramatic shift from the Zuma era. The main change is that it appears to genuinely carry good intentions – a focus on rebuilding the state and growing the economy, rather than looting both. 

But good intentions are, unfortunately, insufficient. On top of this, the quality of advice Ramaphosa and Mboweni have to draw on for bright ideas in these dark times appears very low and often ideologically tainted. That doesn’t bode well for the country’s prospects.

<h2>Bad advice across the spectrum</h2>

Good political leaders rely on the expert advice of others. This is also true when it comes to public finances and economic policy. But South Africa is thin on such expertise.

This is evident in the kinds of solutions put forward by commentators such as the former deputy finance minister, Mcebisi Jonas. He has <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-08-16-shock-therapy-to-shield-sa-from-collapse-plus-5-highlights-from-the-new-vrye-weekblad/">repeatedly called</a> for <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-26-mn-343-story.html">“shock therapy”</a> for parts of the economy. Shock therapy was a term used for extreme measures taken in former Soviet countries. It was driven by ideologically conservative economists, to introduce various aspects of capitalism. 

This would be an inappropriate path to follow in a country like South Africa where, in any case, the private sector controls more of the economy than the state. It also reflects ignorance about the <a href="http://johnmarangos.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/43-2007-Int.%20J.%20Economic%20Policy%20in%20Emerging%20Economies.pdf">history of shock therapy</a> and its failings. 

This is perhaps unsurprising. Even one of the most highly qualified economists on the presidential economic advisory council <a href="https://twitter.com/thabileoka/status/1156709421415878656">recently claimed</a> that austerity might help reduce South Africa’s high rate of unemployment. An assertion like this is, in my view, shocking. It ignores the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jun/05/imf-underestimated-damage-austerity-would-do-to-greece">harm caused by austerity measures</a> and fails to acknowledge the structural origins of South Africa’s high unemployment rates.

On the left of the spectrum, some commentators still seem to be stuck in the arguments of the mid-1990s. There are calls for “<a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2019-06-04-part-one-lets-build-a-new-economy-for-the-many-not-just-the-few/">fiscal stimulus</a>” or <a href="https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-09-05-ramaphosa-must-act-now-economists/">changes in monetary policy</a> to unlock economic growth. 

There are many reasons to believe that these proposals <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/energy/327305/south-africa-wont-consider-quantitative-easing-to-help-eskom/">are inappropriate</a>. In any event, they would have only a small chance of success. Worse still, the advocates of these policies <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/letters/2019-08-08-letter-high-debt-cannot-be-ignored/">selectively ignore threats to public finances</a> and fail to consider the damage that would result from their proposals not working. 

While left-wing commentators are scathing about importing ideas from institutions like the International Moneary Fund (IMF), their own arguments about fiscal and monetary policy <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/letters/2019-06-13-letter-quantitative-easing-cannot-be-used-as-policy-tool-to-drive-development-in-sa/">inappropriately parrot</a> those made by so-called heterodox economists in developed countries. An <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/southAfricaNews/idAFL8N23B29A">infamous</a> manifestation of this was the African National Congress secretary-general’s damaging call for quantitative easing.

Another shibboleth is <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/budget/south-africa-to-reach-the-fiscal-cliff-by-2042-19443575">that</a> the country faces a “fiscal cliff” and must contain or cut public sector wages and social expenditure. 

In my view the <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&amp;pid=S0041-47512014000100009">concept is deeply flawed</a>. It is based on overly simplistic assumptions about trends in government spending and a conception of public finance sustainability that has no credibility internationally. 

<h2>Bold words, but timid policy</h2>

Ramaphosa and Mboweni have been doing their political part in playing up the prospects of the national treasury’s economic strategy paper. But the document is made up mostly of recycled ideas that are likely to have limited effect, or are simply bad. One example is that of introducing transport and water regulators, in the face of evidence that <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-is-planning-more-regulators-this-is-a-bad-idea-123572">this would be a bad idea</a>.

The composition of the <a href="http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/press-statements/president-appoints-economic-advisory-council">advisory council</a> established by the presidency, while clearly well-intentioned, also leaves a lot to be desired. The presence of two high-profile international economists with limited local knowledge, along with private sector economists and academics who specialise in commentary rather than substantive analysis, makes the council appear rather superficial.

The country’s high debt levels, repeated under-collection of tax revenue, flailing state-owned enterprises and non-existent economic growth mean that there is very little room for creativity in public finances. Instead, while the upcoming medium-term budget may try to paint a positive picture of prospects in distant years it will – as is now the norm – be focused on crisis management.

In the absence of a clear-eyed vision for the role of the state in relation to the economy and socio-economic outcomes, only good fortune will spare South Africa from stagnation, or a further worsening of public finances.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125990/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sean-mfundza-muller-298216">Seán Mfundza Muller</a>, Senior Lecturer in Economics and Research Associate at the Public and Environmental Economics Research Centre (PEERC), <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-johannesburg-1275">University of Johannesburg</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/tough-times-and-bad-advice-are-holding-back-south-africas-economy-125990">original article</a>.

What’s holding back South Africa’s economy?

JOHANNESBURG &#8211; South Africa’s rand firmed on Friday as an unexpected bounce in Chinese factory activity helped offset concerns over prospects of a U.S.-China trade pact and skittishness ahead of a long-awaited decision on South Africa’s credit rating.



The rand traded at 15.0600 versus the greenback by 0505 GMT, 0.31% stronger compared with the previous day’s close.



The currency had been losing ground following a bleak budget speech on Wednesday, where Finance Minister Tito Mboweni slashed growth forecasts and predicted ballooning debt.



That raised fears that South Africa could lose its last investment-grade credit rating on Friday, when Moody’s is set to announce its ratings decision following a review, also knocking confidence in the rand.



However, investor sentiment was given a boost on Friday after a survey showed that manufacturing activity in China expanded at its fastest pace in more than two years in October, lifting Asian shares.



Throughout the day, though, the rand is likely to be driven by Moody’s decision. Peregrine Treasury Solutions said in a note there was no telling the impact a negative adjustment in its rating could have: “For now, it’s just sit back and hold tight, with a new support level of R15.00 having been set.”



Government bonds inched lower, with the yield on benchmark 2026 instrument rising 1 basis point to 8.505%.



Reporting by Emma Rumney; Editing by Aditya Soni

Unexpected bounce in Chinese factory activity lifts South African rand ahead of Moody’s review

By Chris Bishop, Head of Programming, CNBC Africa.



Xolani Gwala, veteran broadcaster, hard-working professional and outstanding human being; the sort of comrade you would want next to you in a trench &#8211; farewell. I will never forget your joyful laughter, nor your kind and gentle spirit. In this bitchy, back stabbing world of the media I never heard an unkind word from you or about you. That is the measure of the man.&nbsp;&nbsp; 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="693" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/AJAV3879-1110x693.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-348931" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/AJAV3879-1110x693.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/AJAV3879-300x187.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/AJAV3879-768x479.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/AJAV3879-696x434.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/AJAV3879-1068x666.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/AJAV3879-673x420.jpg 673w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/AJAV3879-1920x1198.jpg 1920w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/AJAV3879.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /><figcaption>Veteran broadcaster Xolani Gwala with South Africa&#8217;s President Cyril Ramaphosa. Photo courtest EWN and 702 </figcaption></figure>



The last time we met, a few months ago, we laughed from the
first second we spoke to the last moment we hugged farewell on the car park at
Cresta in Johannesburg where we had spent a joyful few hours at a restaurant.



The get together, in May, was born of Xolani’s famous
mischief. I had phoned another comrade of ours, political analyst Aubrey
Matshiqi, to ask him to sit with me on the desk for CNBC Africa’s election
coverage. Xolani, who was with Matshiqi at the Cresta restaurant, saw my number
come up on the phone and pretended to be the man himself. He proceeded to ask
me all kinds of strange and personal questions. I was taken in for about three
minutes before realisation hit me.



“Gwala!!” I shouted in mock indignation at the other end of
the line. I can still hear his trade mark rapid-fire laughter at the other end;
a laugh that could light up the sky. 



It took me 20 minutes to get to the restaurant and the three
of us sat for hours of stories and more laughter. Xolani was clearly in pain
and was preparing to go to Israel for another bout of treatment. He told me how
he was diagnosed with cancer when he got the sweats after completing a marathon
in London.



“Ï just thought it was just flu!” he said.



I am still struck by the bravery and serenity with which he
faced his illness. He told me of his treatment and showed me the remains of his
poor liver in pictures on his phone.



We talked of the old days when he was a young producer and
aspiring TV presenter at the SABC and I was his Senior Executive
Producer/mentor more than two decades ago. We laughed about the snotty,
privileged, people who used to ring up to complain about his Zulu accent. To
their annoyance, and often to a heap of abuse in return, I would tell them Mr
Gwala was going to be a big name in broadcasting in South Africa and they had
better get used to it. Down the years a big smile of satisfaction spread across
my face when I heard him going like a steam train on the airwaves.&nbsp; 



As the evening around the restaurant table drew to a close.
We talked of the best of the gilded days. The laughs and mishaps at work, the
frenzied parties and how Xolani always knew a place downtown where we could buy
booze around the clock.



As we hugged goodbye on the car park, Xolani looked me
square in the face.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“They were the best of times,” he said before turning away
to his car.



Indeed Mr Gwala they were and you were the best of
broadcasters. I salute you.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

7024946

Farewell to Xolani Gwala: veteran broadcaster, hard-working professional and outstanding human being

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/alicia-adamczyk/">Alicia Adamczyk</a> 



As online shopping heats up ahead of the holiday season, consumers should be aware of an increasingly common scam called “e-skimming,” the <a class="" href="https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/current-activity/2019/10/23/fbi-releases-article-defending-against-e-skimming">FBI warns</a>.



Skimming involves thieves installing devices in ATMs or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/24/use-of-credit-cards-skimmers-at-gas-stations-atms-is-exploding.html" class="">gas station credit card machines</a>&nbsp;that secretly record an unsuspecting user’s financial information as he or she enters it. In the electronic version, scammers edit JavaScript code and “capture the credit card data in real time as the user enters it,” per the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/portland/news/press-releases/oregon-fbi-tech-tuesday-building-a-digital-defense-agaist-e-skimming" class="">FBI’s announcement</a>.



That data is then sold to other malicious actors, or used by the scammer to buy things online. Small- and medium-sized retailers are most at risk of being targeted, per the FBI.



While the FBI and security experts make clear it’s primarily the responsibility of merchants to secure their sites and educate employees on the best cybersecurity practices, there are a number of measures anyone can take to help keep their financial information secure. Here are seven things you can do now.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">1. Use a virtual credit card</h2>



Virtual credit cards are temporary numbers that allow you to use your real credit card without exposing your account information to a retailer’s website. You can use these only once, or however many times you choose.



If your information is skimmed or revealed in a data breach it’s okay; you won’t have to replace your real credit card, only close down the virtual card. You can create these virtual cards on&nbsp;<a href="https://privacy.com/virtual-card" class="">Privacy.com</a>, or on your&nbsp;<a href="https://www.americanexpress.com/us/payment-solutions/amex-go-virtual-cards/index.html" class="">card issuer’s website</a>.



<a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/27/debit-cards-are-dangerous-warns-fraud-expert-and-ex-con-artist-frank-abagnale.html">Never use a debit card</a> when shopping online. Credit cards offer <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/17/when-to-use-a-debit-card-instead-of-a-credit-card.html">better protections for consumers</a>. Debit cards act essentially as cash, whereas if a thief uses your credit card, no money is actually taken from you.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">2. Pay using a third party</h2>



Rick McElroy, principal security strategist at Carbon Black, a cybersecurity firm, tells&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/" class="">CNBC Make It</a>&nbsp;that if you’re not using a separate credit card for online purchases, it’s smart to pay through a third-party processor like PayPal or Venmo if the retailer’s site gives you that option.



If you use PayPal, for example, the online retailer never sees your information, says McElroy. “They see your email address, but other than that PayPal just sends a token that says the payment was made.” There’s no personal information to steal.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">3. Keep your tech updated</h2>



Consumers should keep their internet browsers and phone and computer operating systems up-to-date, particularly at this time of year, McElroy says. He suggests everyone turn on the auto-updates on their personal tech.



“The attacks on retailers ramp up between Thanksgiving and the first of the year,” he says. “The vendors are already seeing it, so they are putting out continual updates.”



He also suggests installing secure browser plug-ins.&nbsp;<a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sitejabber/" class="">SiteJabber</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/wot-safe-browsing-tool/" class="">Web of Trust</a>, for example, provide community-sourced security ratings for websites.&nbsp;<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/https-everywhere/gcbommkclmclpchllfjekcdonpmejbdp?hl=en" class="">HTTPS Everywhere</a>&nbsp;ensures that the sites you visit are automatically encrypted and secure (when you’re browsing, you want site addresses to begin with “https://” as opposed to “http://”).



And if you’re shopping locally, go in person to make a purchase. Small retailers often do not have the resources to completely secure their sites.



“From a consumer perspective, stick to the major retailers. They do a pretty decent job of ensuring that stuff is protected,” says McElroy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">4. Be careful with gift cards</h2>



Scammers are now using the same tactics they use to steal credit card information to steal gift card balances, McElroy notes. Whereas you’d likely notice a mysterious credit card transaction or money missing from your checking account right away, that isn’t the case for gift cards.



“Who checks their gift card balances on a daily basis?” McElory says. “Thieves get a lot longer to hide.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">5. Watch out for phishing emails</h2>



Emails from companies purporting to be Apple and Amazon, among others, abound during the holiday season, McElroy warns. Always double check for spelling and grammatical errors, and be weary of emails asking you to click certain links, which might be a phishing attack that gives scammers access to your financial information.



“Always be weary of incoming communications,” he says.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">6. Regularly monitor bank accounts</h2>



With all of the sophisticated financial scams that abound these days, consumers are wise is to proactively protect their financial information.



Regularly check bank and credit card statements, and set up credit card and bank account withdrawal alerts. If you receive an alert about a purchase you did not make, immediately alert your bank and credit card issuer.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">7. Keep tabs on your credit report</h2>



On top of your bank and credit card statements, you’ll want to regularly check your credit reports, as well. Though legally you can pull your reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion just once a year for free from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action" class="">AnnualCreditReport.com</a>, there are a variety of apps and other financial platforms that will now monitor your report for you, like Credit Karma. If you see something that’s amiss, you’ll want to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/14/how-to-remove-bad-marks-from-your-credit-report.html" class="">dispute it immediately</a>.



And if you regularly shop online, you may also consider freezing your credit reports to protect against an inevitable data breach at a site you’ve purchased something from. Here’s <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/30/capital-one-data-breach-5-things-to-do-if-you-were-affected.html">how to freeze and unfreeze your reports</a>.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/how-to-protect-your-credit-card-info-from-e-skimmers.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/how-to-protect-your-credit-card-info-from-e-skimmers.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

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