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29 Dec 2019

Africa’s integration: Investing in our common future

Topics:

Economy

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African and OECD policy makers gathered on 29 November 2019 in Madrid to join Europe’s largest annual conversation on Africa’s ongoing transformation. The 17th International Economic Forum on Africa, jointly organised by the African Union, the Government of Spain, the OECD Development Centre and partners, focused on the theme, “Africa’s integration: Investing in our common future.” With the African population set to hit 2 billion by 2030, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) raises new hopes of an integrated market to support the continent’s industrialisation and productive transformation. However, discussions highlighted that African firms remain ill-equipped to withstand the competition of global players. Read on

14 Nov 2019

Doing business in West Africa is getting easier, notably in Togo

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Topics:

SWAC:

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Togo stands out from the crowd in the latest “Doing Business“ ranking. For the second year in a row, the country is among the ten economies that improved the most. Moving up from rank 156 (2018) to rank 97 (2020), Togo became the best-performing West African country. However, ten West African countries rank in the bottom 50, and only two African countries (Mauritius, rank 13 and Rwanda, rank 38), are among the top 50. Read on

05 Nov 2019

Africa’s Development Dynamics 2019

Topics:

Development co-operation

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“Despite sustained growth and progress in advancing regional integration, West African countries remain at a competitive disadvantage; high GDP growth rates in West Africa have not translated into real productive transformation”, finds the second edition of the Africa’s Development Dynamics 2019 report, which was jointly launched by the African Union Commission and the OECD Development Centre at the 11th Private Sector Forum in Antananarivo, Madagascar on 5 November 2019. Read on

31 Oct 2019

Agendas 2063 & 2030: Is Africa on track?

Topics:

Culture & Society

Democracy & Peace

Demographic trends

Development co-operation

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The African Governance Report, produced by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, is a rich source of information on the continent’s governance challenges. It analyses the progress that has been made in the implementation of Africa’s Agenda 2063 and the Global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Both agendas have overlapping goals, and the report analyses, sector by sector, Africa’s readiness for both agendas. Read on

24 Oct 2019

First Russia-Africa summit

Topics:

Development co-operation

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In a move to expand its footprint across Africa, Russia held the first Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum on 23-24 October 2019 in Sochi under the theme “For Peace, Security and Development.” All 54 African states took part in the event, including 47 heads of state. Moving beyond business as usual dominated by arms and grain sales, the final declaration outlines a set of goals for Russian-African co-operation, including a new mechanism for dialogue. Read on

06 Sep 2019

African Green Revolution Forum 2019: Grow Digital

Country:

Ghana

Topics:

Agriculture & Fisheries

Climate & Climate change

Demographic trends

Environment

Food security & Nutrition

Urban-rural development

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The theme of the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF 2019), which brought together some 2 400 key stakeholders on 3-6 September in Accra, focused on using digital information and tools to support sustainable food systems in Africa. With the facilitation of USAID, the SWAC Secretariat presented the Africapolis database and key findings from its work on urbanisation. Read on

31 Aug 2019

A digital marketplace for investors in Africa

Topics:

Agriculture & Fisheries

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Within the African Investment Forum, the African Development Bank launched a new digital platform to better connect private sector representatives and potential sponsors with investment opportunities in Africa. The database has a bilingual interface and provides information on private and public-private partnership projects, investment opportunities in Africa as well as many other investment support services, trainings, guidelines and tips. Read on

30 Aug 2019

TICAD 2019: Japan to scale up investments in Africa

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Topics:

Agriculture & Fisheries

Development co-operation

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Twenty African heads of state participated in the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7), which was held in Yokohama on 28-30 August under the theme “Advancing Africa's Development through People, Technology and Innovation.” The summit resulted in a three-year joint co-operation plan to move the Japan-Africa relationship from aid to business, and further increase Japanese private investment (estimated at USD 20 billion over the past three years). Read on

28 Jun 2019

Swiss Africa Business Innovation Initiative

Topics:

Children & Youth

Development co-operation

Economy

Industry

Members:

Switzerland

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The Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research has launched an initiative to support entrepreneurs and start-up companies active in the fields of mobile health, pharmacometrics, innovative financing or digital humanities (knowledge transfer) in sub-Saharan Africa. More particularly, the Swiss Africa Business Innovation Initiative (SABII) aims to boost the entrepreneurial know-how and exposure of sub-Saharan graduate students. Read on

15 May 2019

Burkina Faso creates Faso dan fani label

Country:

Burkina Faso

Topics:

Culture & Society

Industry

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The Burkina Faso Ministry of Commerce has decided to protect the “Faso dan fani”, the famous African “pagne” traditionally woven by Burkinabé women. The measure aims to combat counterfeiting and unfair competition and to support local production by consolidating some 30 000 jobs in the cotton sector. It will also protect the cultural identity of the fabric. Faso dan fani means “woven loincloth of the homeland.” Read on

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Africa’s integration: Investing in our common future

Doing business in West Africa is getting easier, notably in Togo

Africa’s Development Dynamics 2019

Agendas 2063 & 2030: Is Africa on track?

First Russia-Africa summit

African Green Revolution Forum 2019: Grow Digital

A digital marketplace for investors in Africa

TICAD 2019: Japan to scale up investments in Africa

Swiss Africa Business Innovation Initiative

Burkina Faso creates Faso dan fani label

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