The World Leather Congress (WLC) that gathers global players and scholars on the leather sector was held for the first time in Africa at Ethiopian Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa.
The hybrid event was organized by the International Council of Tanners (ICT) and Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI) in partnership of Ministry of Industry, under the theme ‘Leather – a Gift of Nature’.
The 5th WLC is followed by the XXXVI International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies Congress that was conducted for three days starting from November 3 – 5, and exploring the theme of ‘Greening the Leather Value Chain’.
Mekonnen Hailemariam (Prof), Advisor for the Executive Director of ALLPI, said that the global event is crucial for Africa and Ethiopia to show their potential on the leather sector.
“Different research papers on the sector have been presented by experts gathered from the world through webinar and physical attendance. Challenges on the leather industry was also assessed and discussed,” he said.
He said that the event will help Ethiopia to promote its leather potential for global players.
“The event creates an opportunity to link Africans to show their potential. The two events have shown directions for possible solutions to alleviate challenges on the leather sector,” Ghebregziabher Gebremedhin, Acting Executive Director of ALLPI, told media.
The Acting Executive Director said that Africa has abundant potential of cattle, sheep and goat, “despite the availability of this sustainable and renewable resource however the gap between the resource and availability production and trade are tremendous.”
He said ALLPI seeks to transform the continent’s leather sector from production and export of raw or semi processed hide and skins to production and export of finished products and enhance the leather sector trade integration regionally and globally.
Kerry Senior, Secretary of ICT, said that COVID 19 has significantly affected the leather industry by remembering by large the sector’s global enduring of significant pressure that imposed different actors, new techs and interest group in recent years.
ALLPI is an intergovernmental organization established through a Charter signed by 17 heads of state of COMESA countries in 1990. Its mandate was to facilitate the development of the leather sector in the region prior to its rebranding.
ICT was established in 1926, to establish a uniform international contract for the buying and selling of hides, skins and leather in order to facilitate, regulate and promote international trade in the sector.
WLC that is held every two years first happened in 2011 at Rio de Janeiro, while the past three events were conducted in Milan, Shanghai, and New York.
The week has also seen another international event on the leather sector. The All Africa Leather Fair (AALF) that started on November 6 to 9 is showing leather, accessories, components, footwear, leather goods, automotive and furniture in the sector. The 12th All-African Leather Fair gathers over 150 international manufactures and exporters from 20 countries show casing their products and innovations.
Addis hosts World Leather Congress
WFP, UNHCR, ARRA appeal for funding to avoid ration cuts to over 700,000 refugees in Ethiopia
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and ARRA, the National Agency for Refugee and Returnee Affairs, appealed for US$68 million to avoid food ration cuts for over 700,000 refugees in Ethiopia.
The agencies warned of growing risks including increased malnutrition and anemia, stunted child growth, deterioration of the health status due to susceptibility to diseases/infection and a myriad of protection risks further compounded by the COVID 19 pandemic.
Funding shortages will force ration cuts of up to 60 percent of people’s required daily intake, meaning some 710,000 refugees impacted by the cuts will only receive 1,262 kilocalories per person/day. The cuts, starting in November, will impact all refugees living in camps in Gambella, Afar, Shire, Melkadida, Assosa and Jijiga in Ethiopia.
The ration cuts are a last resort to avert a complete break in food supplies across the country. However, even with this reduction, if WFP doesn’t receive an additional funding it will completely run out of food for refugees by January 2022.
“We are appealing to our donors to quickly come to the aid of the refugees, who solely rely on WFP food and cash transfers for survival,” said Steven Were Omamo, WFP’s Country Representative and Country Director for Ethiopia.
“Sadly, prolonged ration cuts affect the refugees’ nutrition and health. The immediate priority for us all must be to restore assistance to at least minimum levels for refugees, many of whom lost the lifeline of remittances due to the global impact of COVID-19.” said Omamo.
If there is an immediate response from donors, however, WFP would be able to buy food available in the region and quickly transport to meet the refugees’ urgent dietary needs and avert the ration cuts. WFP would also be able to transfer cash to refugees immediately so they can buy the food they need from local markets and meet their urgent dietary needs.
“We are grateful to donors for continuing to provide funding to meet the food and non-food needs of refugees”, said UNHCR’s Representative in Ethiopia, Mamadou Dian Balde. “However, the lack of funding to sustain food assistance will greatly undermine the overall protection needs of the refugee population in Ethiopia, with negative effects to the peaceful coexistence between refugees and hosting communities, and plausibly reverse the gains made in reduction of malnutrition.”
UNHCR, WFP and ARRA continue to prioritize the food needs of refugees, in accordance with their Tripartite Memorandum of Understanding, and have established effective food assistance identification systems through the biometric verification, which ensures accountability and entitlement of the food and cash assistance to refugees on a monthly basis. UNHCR is calling on all partners to increase efforts to address the medium- to long-term food needs of refugees, in line with the Government of Ethiopia’s 2019 Refugee Proclamation, and the commitments contained in the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) and its Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). “We must all do more, in support of refugees and their host populations”, said Balde.
At present Ethiopia provides protection to more than 800,000 refugees, the majority of whom are from South Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea. Of these refugees, 710,000 are fully dependent on the food assistance.
ARRA, the government refugee agency, is distributing the food both in kind and in cash in a more accountable and transparent manner. The refugees’ full profile is registered in the level three registration, and assistance distribution is based on the biometric database. ARRA will continue to ensure asylum-seekers and refugees have access to level three registration to meet their protection and assistance needs.
ARRA, WFP and UNHCR continue to count on the donor community for the extended funding support for the refugees in the principle of shared responsibility to implement basic humanitarian life-saving activities.
“ARRA strongly appeals to the donor community to extend their generous hands to the refugees, in the principle of shared responsibility before the refugees impacted seriously by continuing cut off from the recommended minimum food basket,” said Eyob Awoke deputy director of ARRA.
WFP also provides specialized fortified foods to young children, and pregnant women and nursing mothers, to stave off malnutrition. As an additional measure to avoid a pipeline break – nutrition support will be limited to only children under two years of age (instead of the current under five years old) as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women.
The triple burden of food insecurity, under nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies is expected to worsen, behind the background of the already high global acute malnutrition (GAM) rates in 16 of the 24 (2/3) refugee camps. In 19 of the 24 camps anemia levels are above the UNHCR standard (of <20% for children 6-59 months of age).
UNHCR, WFP and ARRA are jointly implementing the ration cuts and have begun to work together on sensitising the refugee leaders and refugees in the camps of the changes in their entitlements.
East Africa’s economic outlook bullish despite Covid-19 setback, AfDB report projects
East Africa’s economic growth is expected to recover to an average of 4.1% in 2021, up from 0.4% posted in 2020, according to the African Development Bank’s latest economic outlook report for the region. In 2022, average growth is projected to hit 4.9%.
The flagship report, launched on 28 October, reviews the socio-economic performance of 13 countries: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
According to the report’s findings, Covid-19 containment measures and global supply and demand disruptions hit businesses and livelihoods hard and increased poverty, while political fragility in some countries and limited economic diversification in others were significant impediments to growth.
The report, themed Debt Dynamics in East Africa: The Path to Post-Covid Recovery, notes that the rapid recovery of the region is being driven by sustained public spending on infrastructure, improved performance of the agricultural sector, and deepening regional economic integration.
According to the report, while East Africa is undergoing a shift toward a more service-oriented economy, some countries are experiencing deindustrialization.
To accelerate recovery and build post-Covid-19 resilience, the report recommends that countries accelerate structural transformation through digitalization, industrialization, economic diversification and consolidation of peace, security, and stability.
In his keynote address at the launch, Somali Finance Minister Abdirahman Dualeh Beileh warned the pandemic could continue to impede progress toward inclusive growth.
“The contraction of economic activities, increase in fiscal deficits due to high public spending to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic amidst reduced public revenues, and exchange rate depreciation following reduced income from commodity exports, created fiscal and debt distress risks in the region in 2020,” Beileh said.
The outlook report projects a full recovery from 2023, due to the increased roll-out of vaccines, recovery in the global economy, rising commodity prices, and growing economic diversification in the region.
“A mix of policy interventions is needed to accelerate East Africa’s economic recovery and build post-Covid-19 resilience. These include scaling up vaccinations, designing and implementing economic stimulus packages and stabilizing public debt by dealing with debt related to state enterprises, among others,” said Nnenna Nwabufo, the African Development Bank’s Director General for East Africa.
She noted that the region’s resilience in 2020 was due to relatively higher economic diversification and governments’ swift policy responses to counter the pandemic’s impacts.
Still, Marcellin Ndong Ntah, a lead economist at the African Development Bank, warned that the risks to the region’s positive outlook remain substantial due to the uncertainties surrounding the longevity and severity of the pandemic, the slow uptake of vaccines, rising global oil prices for the non-oil exporting countries in the region, the slow pace of structural transformation, conflicts and civil unrest, and weather-related shocks and locust invasions in the region.
Emmanuel Pinto Moreira, Director of the Bank’s Country Economics Department, said many East African economies continue to need short-term debt relief and emergency external financing from multilateral lenders. He added that many had received budget support under the Bank’s Covid-19 Response Facility, and emergency financing from the International Monetary Fund.
Economic experts attending the launch called for better economic governance, notably clearing domestic arrears, improving debt management and transparency, and dealing with debt related to state-owned enterprises.
“For countries with substantial external financing risks, innovative financing instruments like non-debt equity, risk-sharing with the private sector, including through collateralization and increasing foreign investor participation in local-currency debt markets, should be explored to diversify the sources of development finance,” said Edward Sennoga, lead economist at the Bank. This, he added, will insulate the region’s economies from global volatility shocks.
Louis Kasekende, Executive Director of the Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa, pointed out that policies to diversify public financing sources, improve public revenue mobilization and prioritize infrastructure investments will be critical to ensure debt sustainability. “Public debt, if used correctly, can help boost essential services, leading to improved economic growth,” he said.
Humanity’s Crossroads Will Be Defined in Glasgow
By Fentay Alemu
World leaders are currently convening on one of the most crucial issues of our generation. During the course of this conference, leaders attempt to come to a joint agreement on prevention of the direst consequences of climate change. The COP26 meeting is a critical crossroads; some may even say fateful. If we, as human society, can agree on the target of net zero emissions by 2050, then we may likely avoid crossing the warming threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius. This will ensure that we shall avoid the most serious consequences of the climate crisis. However, if an agreement is not reached, we will inevitably move far closer towards the wide variety of natural disasters that are threatening our future.
The challenge is immense, but it is possible: for the first time in human history, the effort needed demands that all major global players, including governments, the private sector, civil society, the media, academia, as well as religious leaders be mobilized. For the first time, humanity is also facing a tangible threat unprecedented in scope and power that will have far-reaching implications for many generations. We must therefore make every possible effort to ensure that the Glasgow climate conference is a success, and set ourselves on a path that will secure climate stability, security, and prosperity for all the world’s citizens.
In this context, swift implementation of practical and inexpensive solutions on a broad scale are what we now need to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience and adaptation to the effects of the climate crisis. In these areas, Israel stands out as a significant country in climate innovation, possessing a diverse range of companies and start-ups working in this field as well as major investment in R&D and more. Together, these elements have created an exceptional climate innovation ecosystem that includes over 1,200 companies and start-ups – and which is constantly growing, according to Israel’s first State of Climate Tech 2021 Report. The fact that some 10% of all new high-tech companies founded in Israel last year were in the field of climate innovation is just one example that speaks to the vibrancy of Israel’s start-up landscape.
The range of solutions that Israel has to offer is diverse. In agriculture, Israel offers drip irrigation and precision agriculture, and in the field of water and water loss prevention in urban systems, Israel holds the world record with its 3% water loss rate and 90% wastewater reusage rate. Israel also has solutions to offer in desalination, energy storage in compressed air or ice, energy efficiency, reforestation, sustainable transportation and mobility. These technologies have paved the way for increased global food security during an era of climate crisis.
Israel seeks to share its knowledge and collaborate with Ethiopia and countries around the world in order to implement these solutions, which will greatly assist in reaching global mitigation targets, building resilience among already-affected countries and communities, and implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Earth is the sole suitable residence of the human- kind. If we fail to protect it, the existence of human for generations to come will remain in question. International cooperation in the field of climate innovation is an important opportunity to strengthen the economy for all, create new job opportunities, and allow humanity to prosper and flourish while preserving nature, the climate, and our planet’s ecological diversity.
In welcoming the New Year with Ethiopia, Israel hopes to take steps forward in combating this global problem by closely working with Ethiopia and other countries around the world, through sharing and learning innovative means to sustain life while protecting the climate.
We sincerely hope that the climate conference in Glasgow will be the positive turning point in the future of humanity that we so sorely need. It is within our power to make that happen.
Fentay Alemu is Deputy Chief of Missions at the Embassy of the State of Israel in Ethiopia
