African Development Bank Group President Akinwumi Adesina says “Africa must prepare for the inevitability of a global food crisis.” He was speaking about Africa’s priorities, as a guest at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center on Friday.
Fielding questions from the Council’s Africa Center Chair, Ambassador Rama Yade; Senior Fellow Aubrey Hruby; and Washington/UN correspondent for Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report, Julian Pecquet, the Bank chief called for an increased sense of urgency amid what he described as a once-in-a-century convergence of global challenges for Africa.
According to Adesina, the continent’s most vulnerable countries had been hit hardest by conflict, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic, which had upended economic and development progress in Africa. He said Africa, with the lowest GDP growth rates, had lost as many as 30 million jobs on account of the pandemic.
Speaking about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, Adesina expressed sympathy for the people of Ukraine, describing their suffering as unimaginable. He said the war’s ramifications spread far beyond Ukraine to other parts of the world, including Africa. He explained that Russia and Ukraine supply 30% of global wheat exports, the price of which has surged by almost 50% globally, reaching identical levels as during the 2008 global food crisis. He added that fertilizer prices had tripled, and energy prices had increased, all fueling inflation.
Africa must prepare for the inevitability of a global food crisis says AfDB President
Volvo Trucks strengthens its position in Ethiopia
From April 2022, Wereta International Business PLC, is the sole distributor of Volvo Trucks in Ethiopia. To enable a new level of customer support in Ethiopia, a new service center is being set up in the Dukem area.
A brand-new service center has been built in the Dukem area an important step towards a new level of customer support. The center is operational and will be officially inaugurated in the beginning of June. It currently employs 12 engineers and service technicians.
“Through our cooperation, Wereta is a highly valued business partner to Volvo Trucks and bring us closer to the customers in the Ethiopian market, which shows in their investment in the new service center. The global strength of Volvo Trucks combined with Wereta’s local know-how and service focus brings the best of two worlds together,” says Martin Björkman, Market Director at Volvo Trucks.
“Volvo Trucks is a first-class brand with premium products, and we look forward to work together with them and our customers for a safer, cleaner and more productive transport market in Ethiopia, says Tadesse Mehretie, Managing Director of Wereta.
New UNCTAD figures show COVID-19 boost to e-commerce sustained into 2021
New UNCTAD figures show that the significant uptick in consumer e-commerce activity fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic was sustained in 2021, with online sales increasing markedly in value, despite the easing of restrictions in many countries.
The average share of internet users who made purchases online increased from 53% before the pandemic (2019) to 60% following the onset of the pandemic (2020/21), across 66 countries with statistics available.
But the situation prior to the pandemic and the extent of the boost to online shopping experienced vary between countries. Many developed countries already had relatively high levels of online shopping (above 50% of internet users) before the pandemic while most developing countries had a lower uptake of consumer e-commerce (Figure 1). More
eCommerce Week: Better digital governance needed to balance data opportunities and risks 25 April 2022.
USAID launches new malaria surveillance program to help Ethiopia eliminate malaria by 2030
The United States launched a new $9.5 million malaria elimination program in Adama city that will work hand-in-hand with the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health (MOH) to help end malaria in Ethiopia by 2030. The USAID Surveillance for Malaria Elimination activity will rapidly track malaria cases and accurately identify mosquito breeding sites, giving the MOH the capacity to track every case of malaria nationally.
The launch of the Surveillance for Malaria Elimination activity at the Adama Malaria Training Center was attended by USAID/Ethiopia’s Mission Director, Sean Jones; State Minister for the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Dereje Duguma; State Minister of Finance for Economic Cooperation, Ms. Semereta Sewasew; and the Head of the Oromia Regional Health Bureau, Dr. Mengistu Bekele.
Since 2007, the United States has invested more than $480.5 million in malaria control efforts in Ethiopia, and over the last 10 years, malaria cases have been reduced by more than half and deaths by nearly 90%. However, to reach the MOH’s goal of zero cases by 2030, a strong malaria surveillance program is vital.
