The Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority announced a landmark achievement for the country’s coffee sector, reporting record-breaking coffee exports in the month of June 2024.

According to the authority, Ethiopia exported 46,000 tons of coffee in June 2024, representing a remarkable 108% increase compared to the previous period. This record-high volume of coffee exports generated $218 million in revenue, a 107% rise.

The exceptional performance in June contributed to Ethiopia’s total coffee exports reaching 298,500 tons for the 2023/24 fiscal year, resulting in $1.43 billion in earnings. This marks a 20% increase in export volume and a 7.5% rise in value compared to the previous fiscal year.

African policymakers, gender experts, and development actors are calling on countries and the region to invest and collaborate more to finance the production and use of gender data to improve the lives of women and girls.

Senior public sector officials and civil society actors from nearly 40 African countries are convened in Gaborone, Botswana for the Africa Gender Statistics Forum 2024 (AGSF24). This year’s AGSF aims to take stock of Africa’s progress and gender perceptions in the Addis Ababa Declaration on Population and Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and the 3rd Africa Program on Gender Statistics.

Held under the theme Pooling Together for Gender Statistics: Financing the Numbers that Make Women and Girls Count, the 2024 theme is informed by the International Women’s Day 2024 call: Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress.

“The financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) stands at $1.3 trillion per year,” said William Muhwava, Chief of the Demographic and Social Statistics Section speaking on behalf of Oliver Chinganya, Director of the African Centre for Statistics, at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

“Africa needs at least an additional $800 million per year towards meeting the SDGs. At the current pace, gender equality will only be achieved in 2094,” said Muhwava.

While development assistance for gender equality has increased every year since 2015, funding for gender data and statistics has fallen by nearly half compared to averages from 2019.

“Investing in the production and use of gender data and leveraging this for gender equality is thus the crucial shared goal of AGSF24,” said Aleta Miller, Representative for UN Women’s South Africa Multi-Country Office (SAMCO). (Press Release)

South Sudan and neigbouring Ethiopia have agreed to enhance border security and trade by building alternate oil infrastructure.

One of the important resolutions is the understanding reached by the two sides is the agreement on infrastructure development.

it has been agreed to work together to mobilize resources to build the road connecting the state of Upper Nile, especially the Gambella-Pagak through Maiwut to Malakal-Maluth and Paloich. This is an important road. (Press Release)