A new World Bank program is set to strengthen and expand the electricity network, improve sector financial viability, and enable renewable energy generation through private sector participation in Ethiopia. 

Ethiopia has the third largest energy access deficit in Sub-Saharan Africa with about half the population still without access to reliable electricity. Over the past decade, the Government of Ethiopia has made encouraging progress on its electrification program and expanded the grid network coverage to nearly 60% of towns and villages. Yet the electricity deficit in Ethiopia continues to exacerbate the poverty situation, preventing far too many people from fulfilling their basic socio-economic needs and limiting access to opportunity. For Ethiopia to continue to ramp up electricity access through grid connections, it is essential that the electric utilities and backbone infrastructure are fit for purpose.  

“Transforming the electricity sector in Ethiopia requires a medium-term approach to address interlinked structural and operational challenges and send a strong signal to the private sector. Through this program, the World Bank will partner with Ethiopia over the next 10 years with a financing envelope of up to $1.4 billion, to help the government crowd in other development partners and the private sector,” said Wendy Hughes, World Bank Regional Director for Infrastructure for Eastern and Southern Africa.   

The Power Sector Reform, Investment and Modernization in Ethiopia program (PRIME) will be implemented over several phases. The first phases will prioritize critical infrastructure investments and sector reform actions to improve the overall ability of electricity utilities to add new connections. Leveraging the one World Bank approach, the latter phases of the program will focus on mobilizing private sector participation in the power sector. For the implementation of the first phase, the World Bank approved a $522 million International Development Association* (IDA) credit.  

An important feature of PRIME is to enhance Ethiopia’s resilience towards climate change. Ethiopia is prone and vulnerable to climate related disasters. With the electricity production heavily reliant on hydropower, the sector is vulnerable to hydrological variations. The program will help the country to diversify its generation mix and to tap into its vast but underutilized clean resources, including solar, wind, and geothermal.   

“With the goal of substantially improving the quality of electricity service, increasing generation from renewable resources, and mobilizing private capital, PRIME is expected to make a significant contribution towards modernizing and strengthening the Ethiopian power sector. This is essential to sustain the country’s fast pace of electrification,” said Ousmane Dione, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan and Sudan. The program, together with other ongoing and planned energy projects, can potentially support the entire population of the country over the program’s lifetime. 

The PRIME project will be implemented by Ethiopian Electric Utility and Ethiopia Electric Power, two fully government-owned public enterprises.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The World Bank Group.

The South African Government wishes to convey its condolences to the families of the victims as well as the Government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran following the attack on the consular section building of its Embassy in Damascus, the Syrian Arab Republic.

The South African Government views any attack on a diplomatic or consular establishment as a flagrant violation of international law that offers protection to diplomatic as well as consular representatives in a host state.

The principle of protection of diplomatic and consular premises and staff constitutes a basic principle of International Law, which is required for the orderly conduct of relations between states.

An attack of this nature, therefore, should be a matter of concern for the whole international community.

South Africa calls on the United Nations, including the United Nations Security Council, to hold to account those who are responsible under the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter as well as the 1961 Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the 1963 Convention on Consular Relations and Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons of 1973.

Further, the attack was a violation of Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity which must be respected and upheld.

South Africa urges all parties to exercise restraint and not to exacerbate regional tensions.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

Zambia’s crippling drought, the worst its seen in at least 20 years, is leading to widespread food shortages with some children forced to survive on a single daily meal of boiled waterlily roots, nuts and wild fruits, said Save the Children.

Seven out of 10 provinces in Zambia have been impacted by the intense drought, with the El Niño induced dry spell killing crops and drying up water sources. The government has declared the situation a national emergency, with more than 1 million children facing severe food shortages.

Rains have failed in Zambia for nine weeks consecutively at a time when farming families needed it most, with almost half of the nation’s planted area destroyed, according to the Zambian President. Farming families are particularly hit hard by the changes in weather patterns, as they depend on rain to support the production of maize, the country’s principal food crop and have lost one million hectares (2.5 million acres) from 2.2 million planted crops due to the influence of El Nino on the 2023-2024 rainy season.

A combination of factors including limited humanitarian funding, double digit inflation rate, and skyrocketing food and commodity prices are exacerbating the food crisis in Zambia, with mothers in rural areas telling Save the Children they are unable to feed their children and fear for their lives.

Nine-year-old Namushi lives in Zambia’s Western Province with her grandmother Mafelelezo, 55, her two sisters and cousins. Her mother is unwell, so Mafelelezo takes care of Namushi and her sisters. The current drought has left the extended family – who survive by farming a small area of land – in a desperate search for food each day.

Namushi told Save the Children that hunger is the most challenging part of her day and that she doesn’t have the desire to play when she’s hungry.

She said: “The crops have all dried up compared to last year. It’s due to poor rainfall. When I see this, I feel hungry. We eat once a day. We eat the mashwa (waterlily root). We eat it boiled.

“When I’m hungry I don’t have the desire to play. I feel hungry at school. At times I feel like collapsing due to hunger. Last year things were a little better and there was food.”

Seven-year-old Lawrence also lives in the Western Province with his mother, Inonge, 38, his 13-year-old sister and grandmother. They are a closely-nit family who rely on growing their own food to survive but the current drought has left the family with very little to eat.

Lawrence said: “There’s no rain. The maize has not grown well because of the hot sun. The food has been burnt by the sun. I feel bad. Sometimes we only eat once [a day]. Sometimes we go to sleep hungry. I feel bad when there’s no food to eat.”

Sitting across from Lawrence, his mother said:

“When my children miss meals and sleep on an empty stomach, you would think they are sick from the way they look. When we get food, and they eat a little food, then they start playing around and you realise it’s just the hunger that makes them sleep. When they’re hungry, they’re not energetic, they even look like they’re confused.”

_“_We’re asking the government to help us with food, so our children’s progress won’t be affected. If they give us food, we can prepare food for our children daily. When they’re well-fed, then they won’t fail to go to school, especially the little children. When they go to sleep on an empty stomach, they’ll fail to go to school.”

Save the Children said the El Niño weather phenomenon, which has brought the extreme drought, exacerbated by the climate crisis, is causing harrowing impacts for families and children in Zambia with delayed response. For a third year in a row, Zambia topped a list of the world’s underreported crisis in 2023 as other emergencies overshadowed the slow creeping yet catastrophic suffering and enormous needs in this large, peaceful country in Southern Africa.

Jo Musonda, Save the Children Country Director in Zambia, said:

“Many hard-hit families are being forced to take desperate measures to cope with the crisis, such as reducing their daily meal intake, selling off livestock and foraging for hours each day for wild fruits, roots and nuts. Children report feeling dizzy from hunger and find it hard to concentrate during class, sometimes forcing them to skip days of school each week.

“Access to clean water is huge problem as some streams, wells and flood plains have dried up and people often travel hours each day to collect water. Some families report digging shallow holes in the ground to find water when their traditional water source runs dry.

“We are calling for urgent national and international action and funding to provide families and children with basic services including food and water.”

Save the Children is calling for child-sensitive government interventions such as introducing and scaling emergency school feeding programmes. Evidence from our previous interventions shows that this will guarantee a nutritionally balanced meal to vulnerable children across all drought-affected communities and ultimately will help combat stunting and malnutrition and boost school attendance and educational performance.

The organisations is initially responding to the drought crisis in Zambia by collaborating with the government of Zambia to assess the extent of the drought. We are further supporting the Disaster Mitigation and Management Unit in the distribution of relief maize in some of the affected areas. We will also be providing meals to school going children in the worst affected areas.

Save the Children has been working in Zambia for 40 years, running health, nutrition, education, and protection programmes across the country.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Save the Children.

The alumni of the University of Ghana Association in Liberia paid a courtesy call on the Head of Mission, H.E. Kingsford Amoako, at the Chancery on 3rd April, 2024. The alumni executives were led by the President, Daniel Blamo Nah, and Vice President, Uomah Witherspoon. The rest included the Legal Adviser, Treasurer and Chaplain to the alumni.

The group indicated that it had formed a strong bond with the Mission, which culminated in the visit of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof Nana Aba Amfo, to Liberia to inaugurate the alumni association. They expressed their desire to continue the excellent relations with the Mission, hence the courtesy call on Amb. Amoako.

The Head of Mission welcomed the leaders and urged them to bring their experience to bear on the alumni association for the benefit of all Liberians. According to him, Liberia stands an excellent chance of growth by relying on home-grown solutions. He said he was hopeful that Liberia would regain its past glory to the benefit of the entire West Africa sub-region. Speaking about the alumni association, Amb. Amoako indicated that the group entailed highly skilled professionals indicative of the sharing of skills and knowledge across West Africa. He urged them to put those skills to the service of democracy in Liberia. The alumni President noted that the alumni is focused on helping with improvements in agriculture in Liberia as part of its strategic plans. The association also intends to set up resource centres for the benefit of Liberians.

Furthermore, the alumni has put in motion plans to make UGAL a recruitment hub in Liberia. According to them, the University of Ghana continues to improve on its services which can be beneficial to all Liberians. The University of Ghana Alumni Association in Liberia expressed their appreciation to His Excellency the Ambassador and the entire mission for its good work in Liberia and promised to keep the mission abreast of its activities for the participation of the mission.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of Ghana in Liberia.