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The Power of the Rising Development Generation Africa
The Power of the Rising Development Generation Africa
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IFC and Partners to Mobilize Up to $1 Billion to Strengthen Private Health Care
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A new report from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, says spending on health in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to double over the next 10 years. Investments of $25-30 billion will be needed to meet the demand, with the private sector playing a key role. Entitled The Business of Health in Africa: Partnering with the Private Sector to Improve People’s Lives, the report says the private sector already plays a significant role in delivering and financing health care for the region’s people. On average, the private sector delivers 50 percent of health care goods and services. The report, partly financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has prompted IFC and its partners to announce a new strategy for addressing Africa ’s health challenges, a major aspect of the region’s poverty. This involves mobilizing up to $1 billion over the next five years in investment and advisory services to boost socially responsible health care.



“This is a chance to increase access to health care for millions of Africans,” said Lars Thunell, IFC Executive Vice President and CEO. “If we can get all the critical players – governments, donors, investors, and providers – to leverage the private health sector and integrate it effectively with public systems, we can also greatly improve the quality of care.” Thunell added, “The private sector already provides about half of health care goods and services in the region. And a poor woman in Africa today is as likely to take her sick child to a private hospital or clinic as to a public facility.” “I am delighted to see IFC moving forward with this new investment strategy, which is a promising way to improve access to important health services,” said Tadataka Yamada, M.D., President of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Health Program. “IFC’s report underscores the significant role the private sector in Sub-Saharan Africa plays in delivering health interventions, including critical services to the poor. It also makes a compelling investment case for private capital seeking financial and social returns on investment.”



The report had input from a wide range of stakeholders, including governments, investors, and civil society. It makes clear that the private sector – for-profit as well as not-for-profit institutions – is only part of the solution and that it must work with the public sector to develop viable, sustainable, and equitable health care systems. But it says t he private sector is sometimes the only option for people living in remote rural areas and urban slums. By 2016, Africa ’s health care expenditure is likely to reach $35 billion, up from $17 billion in 2005. The report points out that people in Sub-Saharan Africa have the worst health on average in the world. It suggests that donors and governments consider using private providers and risk-pooling programs to reach the poor.



IFC will partner with donors, development finance institutions, and other entities to mobilize up to $850 million for development of a socially responsible private health sector in Africa over the next five years. IFC and its partners will also mobilize up to $150 million for a number of initiatives to improve the operating environment for private health care organizations. (See attached Fact Sheet for more information.) IFC’s efforts form a key part of the World Bank Group’s larger health, nutrition, and population strategy, and they reflect a commitment to helping African countries reach the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. “The report from IFC is the most comprehensive analysis to date of the private health sector in Sub-Saharan Africa,” noted Prof. Eyitayo Lambo, a leading international health economist and former Minister of Health for Nigeria , who served on the project’s steering committee. “IFC’s new strategy reflects important first steps to act on the report’s findings. It suggests new ways for health care organizations to access capital and world-class advisory services while working to strengthen the business climate. I am optimistic that it will create an environment for change, offer practical solutions, and facilitate sustainable investment.”



Guy Ellena, IFC Director, Health and Education, concluded, “IFC is committed to supporting private health care in Sub-Saharan Africa to improve people’s health and reduce poverty, and joining forces with our partners will help us understand what works and what doesn’t. I am very happy to note that the African Development Bank was one of the first development finance institutions that supported the initiative and agreed to collaborate with us in establishing the equity investment vehicle, a key component of our strategy.” Going forward, IFC and partners will continue to engage with stakeholders. A series of health and investment forums in Cameroon , Kenya , Nigeria , Senegal, and South Africa and civil society meetings in Europe are planned for the first quarter of 2008.



About IFC

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment, mobilizing private capital in local and international financial markets, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. IFC’s vision is that poor people have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. In FY07, IFC committed $8.2 billion and mobilized an additional $3.9 billion through loan participations and structured finance for 299 investments in 69 developing countries. IFC also provided advisory services in 97 countries. For more information, visit www.ifc.org

December 23, 2007 | 10:45 AM Comments  0 comments
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MALAWI: Malnutrition still a threat
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Despite two years of bumper harvests, malnutrition, partly a consequence of Malawi's famine in 2005, still lingers. "The scale of the malnutrition problem in Malawi is clearly very large and, given its consequences for economic development and child survival, calls for immediate and large-scale action," said Aida Girma, UNICEF Resident Representative.

"Micronutrient deficiencies, which are often referred to as hidden hunger, are also very high." Malnutrition is characterised by key indictors, such as the number of underweight children and levels of stunting, wasting and micronutrient deficiencies: stunting levels were at 46 percent, 19 percent of children up to 59 months were underweight, and wasting was 4 percent, the UN Children's Fund representative added.

After the drought

Malawi has turned the page on the 2005 drought that left about five million people in need of food aid. According to government estimates the 2007 maize harvest, the staple food, increased by 22 percent over the 2006 crop, and was 73 percent higher than the average for the past five years.

Mary Shawa, principal secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet responsible for nutrition and HIV and AIDS, described malnutrition as a silent crisis. She called for a comprehensive study to establish whether the bumper harvests in the 2005/06 and 2006/07 growing seasons had had any impact on reducing malnutrition levels.

"We have started to see improvements in the food security situation in Malawi in the past two years [but] malnutrition is still a challenge," UNICEF's Nutrition Officer, Stanley Chitekwe, said.

He said malnutrition was caused by three underlying causes: the first, household food security, had shown improvement; the other two - care for children and women, and the availability of health services - were still inadequate.

"Malawi is heading in the right direction by meeting one of the three requisites for nutrition," he commented, but addressing the other issues would "require more investment in building capacity to improve care practices and health seeking behaviours", because "there is still more work required in promoting diversified crops rich in vitamins and nutrients, and in food processing and preservation."

HIV/AIDS also "undermines nutrition improvements by directly causing ill-health and eroding capacity at various levels - family and institutions - to care, produce food and provide services," Chitekwe added.

The hunger gap, a pre-harvest period when food from the previous crop was often depleted, meant that seasonal variations in household food availability still resulted in higher levels of malnutrition from September to March/April each year, he said.

Filling the hunger gap

A 2005 National Nutrition Survey found that 90 percent of children in Malawi were malnourished. Tapiwa Ngulube, principal nutritionist in the ministry of health, said since then the government had established 95 Nutrition Rehabilitation Units, where free food was given to malnourished children and mothers were trained to feed them correctly.

"Our aim is to ensure that the children are healthy and have gained weight by the time they leave rehabilitation units; children who are malnourished lose up to 11 centimetres in height if they are not treated for malnutrition and stunting," Ngulube noted.

Around 39,000 children are still being treated at rehabilitation centres throughout the country, but "our efforts are hampered by a shortage of medical personnel," Ngulube said.

UNICEF's Girma attributed micronutrient deficiency to the low nutrient content in local diets, which are based mainly on cereals, roots and tubers and said diets needed to be supplemented with micronutrient-rich foods like fish, meat, eggs, milk and dairy products.

But in a country where over half the people live on less than US$1 a day, most households struggle to come up with two meals a day.

December 23, 2007 | 10:45 AM Comments  0 comments


Nigerian Government Targets Massive Infrastructural Upgrade
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Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has unveiled a budget proposal of N147,338,106,045 for the 2008 fiscal year with a massive focus on infrastructural upgrade, peace and security and human capital development. Presenting the budget proposal to the State House of Assembly yesterday, Governor Uduaghan described it as "a budget of Consolidation of the achievements of the immediate past Administration of the State and of Hope for planned development initiatives that will take us to the next level of improved socio-economic well-being." The amount is made up of N70,782,559,481 or 48.04% for Recurrent Expenditure and N76,555,546,564 or 51.96% for Capital Expenditure and it shows a decrease of N42,621,794,107 or 22.44% compared to the year 2007 approved budget ofN189,959,900,152.



"The decrease is primarily as a result of the cautionary approach to statutory revenue expectations and the need to cut down on the level of budget deficit," he said and enumerated the broad objectives of the 2008 budget, among other things, as: completion of all on-going projects in the State; poverty reduction and the empowerment of the citizens; improving the quality of infrastructure, particularly roads, water and power distribution to riverine areas; increasing access to improved quality healthcare, education and social services; and diversification of the economic base of the State to ensure the optimization of the opportunities offered by the unique position of the State as an oil producing State; Others include re-defining the role of Government as a facilitator and catalyst for the private sector to thrive and create wealth; emphasizing public-private sector partnership in all facets of the socio-economic and infrastructure development of the State; cultivation of an investment-friendly climate to encourage investors, especially in the Small and Medium Scale Industries; enhancing agricultural production and the promotion of sustainable linkage between agricultural production and industries; and accelerating capital development projects in the oil-producing areas;



According to the governor, "the sectoral allocation of funds shows clearly that emphasis in the 2008 capital estimates proposals is on the economic and environmental sectors which are the growth-driving sectors of our economy. "We are resolved to stimulate economic growth by providing conducive operational environment and creating employment opportunities in order to increase productivity in our economy. We believe that these pursuits will stimulate self-dependent economic pursuits by our people, boost personal incomes and reduce poverty in our midst."



Dr. Uduaghan emphasized that the 2008 budget of Consolidation and Hope will focus on the completion of on-going projects and cover new initiatives, especially the Integrated Development programme. Among the ambitious infrastructure projects outlined for next year are the construction of the Ode-Itsekiri bridge, Olomu bridge, Okerenkoko to Kokodiagbene and Ubafan to Madagho roads, Koko-Ugbenu road dualisation and Asaba airport. Reconstruction of township roads in Asaba Capital Territory and the on-going dualisation of PTI-Jakpa road will also receive adequate attention, he said, adding that the dredging of the Orogodo river and the construction of associated erosion control measures in Agbor and environs will not be left out.



To enhance commerce and industry, the governor said vigorous efforts would be made to kick-start the Asaba Business District "to take advantage of the vibrant Onitsha market and the Warri Business District to take advantage of the oil and gas sector in that environment," adding that the construction of the Asabaairport and the Asaba International Conference center as well as an entertainment center would also receive attention with the support of the private sector. "We are approaching the Federal Government on the possibility of increasing the runway of the Osubi airport to take bigger aircrafts," he said, adding that vigorous efforts would also be made towards the completion of the Ogbe-Ijoh, Ogheye, and Sapele modern markets while the Uwvie modern market in Ogbolokposo, Uwvie Local Government Area and Ogbogonogo modern market in Asaba will be put into use early in the year.



On port development, the governor said among other plans, the state government's application for the conversion of the Koko port to an Export free zone is being pursued with new vigour and seriousness just as the state government has also identified a 26km stretch in the coastline which can take at least four Deep Seaports and will be the quickest route in and out of Nigeria in terms of port activities. "Our IDP team is already packaging a proposal that will be sent to the Federal Government for the development of this port in conjunction with the Private Sector," he said, adding "if developed, this port will decongest all the other ports in Nigeria."



According to the governor, the IDP has also developed a Delta State Gas Master Plan that would be integrated into the National Gas Master Plan. He said: "The IDP is working seriously with the Private sector and NNPC officials to have gas gathering facilities and a 'gas village' in the Forcados-Escravos axis that will mainly target the domestic market. In addition, we have indicated interest in being part of the construction of the Delta State stretch of the National Gas Network. "Issues such as water supply, housing, sewerage and urban and regional planning which is part of the environmental sector and the social sector comprising health, education, social development and information, have similarly been addressed," he said.

December 21, 2007 | 2:47 PM Comments  0 comments
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Data and the Power Crunch
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South Africa has some of the cheapest electricity in the world but paradoxically it is one of our scarcest resources. Eskom is in the strange position of having to ask its customers to use less of its product and of having to pay them subsidies to convert to alternative energy sources. In the corporate environment this energy shortage is equally apparent. Increasingly, IT managers are being told there is no more electricity available for their data centre, forcing organisations to relocate it to accommodate their continuing growth or to look at other strategies to reduce power consumption. A moderate-sized data centre with 100 servers and 10 terabytes of networked storage uses 1300 megawatt hours (MWh) of energy a year. It is estimated that data centres represent 2% of global energy consumption; about the same as all the world's airlines combined. With ever increasing demands on IT, how do organisations rationalise energy consumption in the data centre while accommodating growth?



In an attempt to reduce consumption, organisations are increasingly turning to server consolidation using virtualisation technologies, such as VMware. Studies have shown that the typical server in the data centre is running at between 10% and 15% average utilisation. Virtualisation consolidates workloads onto fewer servers running at higher utilisation. Consolidating these servers can save 650MWh of electricity per year -- reducing energy consumption by 50%, and having a significant impact on the company's bottom line and helping solve the data-centre sprawl dilemma. Storage is another area where savings can be made in energy consumption. Storage arrays are typically configured for performance with low-capacity, high-performance drives. But when we examine data usage , we find over half the data on a normal storage area network typically has not been accessed in the last three months.



Moving this data to lower-speed, higher-capacity disks can significantly reduce energy costs: per terabyte of storage, high-performance drives use four times the energy of slower high-capacity disks. Making this substitution in the data centre can save another 40MWh of energy, not as much as consolidating servers but a critical reduction if it saves you having to build a new multimillion rand data centre. Combined, these two common strategies can reduce energy consumption by more than 50% and extend the life of a data centre. But there is another imperative driving energy reduction: global warming. In Europe organisations are being compelled to reduce their CO' , one of the principal greenhouse gasses, and the developed countries that signed the Kyoto Protocol are obliged to reduce CO' emissions by 2012 to 95% of their 1990 levels. For most countries this represents a 15% reduction in current emissions. SA is a signatory to the protocol but, as a developing nation, is not bound by reduction targets. The Kyoto Protocol does, however, demonstrate the increasing pressure being brought to bear on countries and organisations to reduce emissions. It is only a matter of time before this affects us.



In the average organisation, data centre energy consumption represents 9% of total energy consumption. For example, a data centre of 1300MWh annual consumption represents nearly 3000 tons of CO' over the typical five-year life span of equipment. Applying our two energy reduction strategies can reduce CO' emission by 1480 tons and reduce the organisation's energy consumption 4,5%. As IT organisations are being increasingly constrained by the energy available for their data centres, server consolidation and storage rationalisation provide two viable strategies to reduce data centre power consumption by half -- while at the same time contributing to the reduction in greenhouse gasses.

December 21, 2007 | 2:47 PM Comments  0 comments
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Cocoa Industry's Future Looking Sweet
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After almost a decade of poor cocoa production during the 1980s, the Ghanaian government is upbeat about the subsequent growth in output of the product which is the country's main export, providing more than 60 percent of foreign earnings. Swollen shoot disease remains a headache, though. The virus, which is transmitted by mealybug vectors and eventually destroys cocoa trees, has led to the loss of over seven million trees in the Eastern Region of Ghana, with another 360,000 affected, according to Antwi Agyei, deputy regional manager of the swollen shoot virus disease control unit of the state regulator, the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod).



This is especially worrying as the government has signed a barter agreement with China. The Chinese will build a new hydroelectric dam at Bui in the Brong Ahafo region in exchange for cocoa beans. However, Cocobod executives remain optimistic about increased output. Their positive outlook is based on the cultivation of a new variety of cocoa which takes less time to mature. It was introduced by the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) under its former director Roy Appiah.



Cocoa takes about six to seven years to mature but the CRIG variety takes between 18 and 24 months. According to the Cocobod, production has improved steadily from 389,000 tonnes in 2000/2001 to a high of 740,457 tonnes during the 2005/2006 crop year. Opanin Kwadwo Dwemoh must be one of the few unlucky cocoa farmers in Ghana this year. Just about the time when he was thinking of taking advantage of the incentives that the government has put in place to expand his farm, swollen shoot disease hit. Dwemoh has a 20 acre farm near Suhum in the Eastern Region of the country. He will now have all his cocoa trees cut down and replanted with the new CRIG variety. "This year, I had expected to benefit from the bonus scheme that the government has introduced to pay those who produce more on their farms," he told IPS. Besides the scheme, his five children are benefiting from a government scholarship scheme for the children of cocoa farmers. These incentives are intended to boost cocoa production. At a recent press conference in Accra, deputy minister for finance and economic planning, George Gyan-Baffour, confirmed that "cocoa output has doubled since 2000/2001 crop season". He attributed this to effective policies aimed at helping farmers improve their farming methods.



This year, for example, Gyan-Baffour said the government has been able to raise a total of 900 million dollars from a consortium of foreign banks to support the purchase of cocoa from farmers. "This is to avoid the delayed payment that the farmers have suffered in the past," he added. In addition, the deputy minister said the government has commenced with the tarring of selected roads in remote cocoa growing areas while solar energy systems are to be provided to some villages. "This is aimed at increasing the efficiency of transporting cocoa and to improve the living standards of our farmers," he said. An amount of 50 million dollars was allocated for the tarring of approximately 513 km of roads. Another 150 million dollar has been secured by Cocobod of which part will be used to expand new warehousing facilities at the ports of Tema near Accra and Takoradi in the Western Region. In order to satisfy its customers, the Cocobod has also intensified its education programme for farmers to prevent the use of harmful fertilizers and anti-disease chemicals. In this regard, Cocobod's chief executive Issac Osei has announced a ban on several chemicals.



Given all these efforts, one would expect that the country is enjoying the full benefit of cocoa production. However, cocoa is still being exported in its raw form. Consequently, the government has decided to encourage the processing of the cocoa locally to add more value. This is expected to generate more jobs. Osei says there are attempts to increase the local processing capacity to 350,000 tonnes by the end of next year. The Cocoa Processing Company, the largest chocolate manufacturer in the country, is gearing up to expand its capacity from 30,000 tonnes to 65,000 tonnes. US cocoa processor Cargill has already started construction of a plant to start work in the country. Some local processors have also joined the fray to produce cocoa powder that CRIG says has some curative qualities. In addition, the government is also planning to implement a "cup of cocoa drink a day" for every school child in an attempt to make more Ghanaians taste what the farmers have been producing all these years. Dwemoh is one of the farmers who are delighted at the thought that the cocoa drink will become more available inside the country because, "for many years, I just produced cocoa and did not see what it ends up as. Now I will see with my own eyes what my little seedlings that I have tended end up as."

December 21, 2007 | 2:47 PM Comments  0 comments
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AGRA roll out programme for Africa Development
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Launching an intensive effort to revive small-scale farming and agricultural markets hobbled by the scarcity and high costs of basic farm supplies such as seed, tools and fertilizer, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has awarded US$13 million in grants to establish nationwide networks of rural agro-dealers in Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya.

“All three country programs aim to achieve a 30 percent growth in rural smallholder incomes; a 40 to 50 percent reduction in the average distance farmers need to travel to purchase farm supplies; and an up to 15 percent decrease in the price of inputs within three years,” said A. Namanga Ngongi, the new president of AGRA.

The agro-dealers will operate small businesses that reach poor farmers in remote areas. In addition to selling affordable farm supplies in the quantities needed by small-scale farmers, the agro-dealers will be trained in the safe handling, efficient and environmentally sound use of farm inputs, and will pass this knowledge on to farmers.

These agro-dealer networks will give poor farmers access to basic farm supplies that are otherwise beyond their reach. Now, it is common for rural farmers to travel great distances just for the opportunity to purchase seeds or fertilizers. And at the end of their journey they frequently find stores lack the specific items they need or are selling them at unaffordable prices. Lack of access to basic farm supplies has made it virtually impossible for small-scale farmers to increase their yield or incomes, reinforcing widespread poverty.

The AGRA Agro-dealer Development Program (ADP) will provide emerging, small retailers in rural communities—many of who farm themselves—with the training, capital and credit they need to become certified agro-dealers. These agro-dealers will in turn reach a total of 1.6 million rural households, potentially benefiting 8.8 million farmers and their family members.

December 18, 2007 | 1:21 PM Comments  0 comments
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ECA Head Abdoulie Janneh brokers partnerships with Europe for a science driven development in Africa
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“We need no less than a scientific revolution in Africa,” said Abdoulie Janneh, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) to EU parliamentarians last week in Brussels. The EU parliamentarians as well as representatives from the Council, Commission officials, industry representatives, stakeholders and policy makers had gathered for a preliminary hearing on the “Science with Africa” Conference to be hosted by ECA and other partners in March 2008 in Addis Ababa. The Conference will add momentum to a process started by African Heads of State and Government when they dedicated their January 2007 Summit meeting to the issue of Science, Technology and Scientific Research for Development.

The objective of the hearing was to explore ways to help African scientific organizations to gain better access to collaborative research and development projects in industrialized countries. It also provided background information for the future adoption by EU parliamentarians of a resolution on scientific collaboration with Africa.

The EU Parliament hearing was chaired by Member of European Parliament (MEP), Pilar del Castillo Vera who called for establishing a practical mechanism that could bring African and European scientists together.

Mr. Janneh indicated that building Africa's scientific and technological development framework depends on how we support a constructive dialogue between the scientific community and policy makers. “For Africa to accelerate its development and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), African countries have to scale-up their investments in science and technology,” added Mr. Janneh, who highlighted the numerous bottlenecks to the benefits generated by science and technology innovations, including low incomes and poor state finances as well as lack of adequate infrastructure and institutional framework.

The ECA “Science with Africa” Conference will bring together African policy makers, scientific experts, science and research project managers and their counterparts from industrialized countries to discuss challenges and opportunities for an enhanced collaboration.

In its new strategic orientation, which includes helping to meet Africa's special needs, ECA's work programme now includes a major science and technology component, which is aimed at:

• Ensuring that science is targeted at the economy and the productive sectors

• Managing capacity-building programmes for science institutions especially in harnessing innovation

• Facilitating collaborative partnerships in science and

• Advocating the role of science and innovation in decision-making and in development processes.

December 7, 2007 | 1:22 PM Comments  1 comments
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Africa Needs to Prevent HIV/Aids Despite Its Origin
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Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have been given thumps up by the Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Prof. Sekyi Awuku Amoa for contributing immensely to reducing HIV/AIDS infection in the country. Prof. Amoa said the role of the CSO in supporting efforts of his outfit in particular cannot be overemphasized. "The Ghana AIDS Commission- led multi-sectoral national response for instance is based largely on a participatory process, strong networking and partnership with key stakeholders, especially CSOs for HIV/AIDS intervention," he stated. Prof. Amoa said this at the 1st International African HIV/AIDS Conference, which was organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Woyome Foundation for Africa under the theme "Strengthening interventions towards the Elimination of HIV/AIDS in Africa". Prof. Amoa explained that actively engaging the CSOs is key if the grassroots are to be reached. "We have engaged CSOs at all levels of our national response in our efforts towards achieving Universal 2010 to which Ghana is fully committed in the UNGASS Declaration, Brazzaville Commitment and the Abuja Declaration as well as Abuja +5," the Director General said.



Prof. Amoa acknowledged that CSOs have the potential of keeping Africa policymakers on their toes towards Universal Access. "I must however state that despite the contributions being made many CSOs do not actually realize the power they have to influence decisions and in prioritizing national strategies. Many CSOs lack the capacity for offering their services and are not even aware of the Declaration of Commitments," he observed. He stated that Africa cannot realize its Universal Access goals when the rights of Peale living with HIV and also marginalized groups are not protected. The Board Chairman of the Woyome Foundation for Africa, Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome said the announcement by the UNAIDS that HIV/AIDS figures had been exaggerated must not lead Africans to rest on their oars. "The threat posed by HIV to generations of young people is not an exaggeration and has certainly not reduced because of this announcement," he mentioned. "As far as Africans are concerned, whether it was created in a laboratory, whether it came out of monkeys or not, or it originated from the gay community is not the relevant questions at the moment but the questions Africa should ask themselves is how they can stop the virus from spreading,"



According to him, people should leave their national, political and religious differences out and think about Africa and the millions of people whose lives depend on the outcome of the conference. "There would be no future for Africa if our hard-working people are allowed to be wasted away by HIV/AIDS. HIV can be likened to a new form of slavery and a new form of colonialism which threatens the very existence of our people," He called on Africa governments particularly the Ghanaian government to demonstrate true leadership by showing examples of voluntary testing in order for people to know their HIV status. "I was impressed when Women Caucus in Parliament underwent voluntary screening for Breast Cancer. How wonderful it would be if the entire parliament were to declare a day for a similar exercise in HIV testing," the Board Chairman urged.



Mr. Woyome suggested that if people do not want to disclose their status, the traditional leaders, political leaders and religious leaders should be brave and openly go for the testing in order to encourage the people to do it. "Leaders in Africa should show responsible leadership in order to motivate and inspire people to get counseling and testing to know their status." The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr. Abraham Odoom explained that stopping HIV/AIDS is the top priority of governments on the African continent because HIV/AIDS has the potential to erode all social and economic gains Africa have made over the years. Mr.Odoom mentioned that a few years ago the only tool Africa had against the pandemic was the message of prevention but as the infection rates increase in the developing world, it was clear that "prevention measures" were not stemming the spread of the disease. According to him, African governments are painfully aware that people would not be able to provide treatment to all of those in need on the continent and that is why Africa needs them to support in their efforts at finding alternate sources for funding. "It is critical that a long-term, sustainable solution to the crisis of lack of access to medicines be developed. Not one that relies solely on the good will of pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily offer discounts on certain medicines," he stressed.

December 4, 2007 | 1:29 PM Comments  0 comments


Africa Needs Real-Practical Solutions
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There was nothing significantly new as business leaders at the recently concluded Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) continued the same story of Africa's latent and unexploited potential but fell short of clear and realistic work plans for Africa's way forward. One meeting themed, "Enhancing intra-African Trade" which was a sub-discussion at the Commonwealth Business Forum held at the Kampala Sheraton clearly demonstrated that if only Africa could jump start a quicker inward trade revival process, real and tangible progress and better livelihood would be achieved for her poor masses. Inward, because the continent has the potential to achieve a lot within itself without venturing outside. Dr. Yvonne Muthien, director special projects, Coca-Cola, Africa illustrated that even a 1% increase in Africa's share of world trade which would amount to $70 billion per annum in earnings would translate to more than four times the amount of foreign trade the region receives. "We can clearly see there is enormous potential. Africa's profitability is the world's best kept secret," intoned Muthien.



Exports from Sub-Saharan Africa increased to $177 billion in 2005 indicating a 27% increase up from the $129.4 billion realised in 2004.CHOGM, in many ways, produced the positives that accrue from business networking especially among the private sector as opposed to round table talk shops. But clearly it was the mention of the challenge of government's failure to provide sufficient infrastructure, a lack of well coordinated coherent trade strategies and overlapping memberships in trade blocs, matters that have been sung for years and have brought no freshness. "The biggest challenge is the lack of capacity in customs operations. A mere 5% of goods are inspected. We need a more sophisticated system of detecting smuggling and smuggled goods, promote local content and improve financial structure," said Muthien.



But clearly it was also evident that the continent is riding past the days of pessimism, for the business leaders clearly know that in the same challenges, there in lies the magical opportunity to grow their businesses and transform Africa. "To conclude therefore, it is not a gloomy picture but a challenge and an enormous opportunity. We are operating in a buoyant phase of growth in the history of the continent, the opportunity is there, let us grow our continent," said Muthien. They recommended the easing of cross border trade and efficient use of ICT, customs reforms and support to SMEs. "It is critical Africa's progress depends on a vibrant and modern SME sector. We are encouraging partnerships between SMEs and multinational organisations," said Muthien.



There was also a general consensus about the need for increased trade above all other efforts to spur Africa, because essentially and ultimately, trade creates wealth and consumers get quality competitive products. But Africa is not trading enough. In the mid 1990s, Africa controlled 4% of world trade, today it is just about 2%. "Africa should look to trade more with one another and the focus needs to be in quality and not quantity," said Sir John Kaputin, BAT director for Sub Saharan Africa.


December 4, 2007 | 1:29 PM Comments  0 comments


Money, Media And Tradition Complicate Women's Political Aspirations
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The challenges confronting women politicians in Africa were given an airing recently during a press conference in South Africa's commercial hub, Johannesburg. Four politicians -- from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya and Lesotho -- fielded questions Nov. 28 by reporters from South Africa and other African states, at the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The politicians were in South Africa at the invitation of Inter Press Service (IPS) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women for a three-day workshop with journalists. The briefing was told many women have the desire to enter public office, but that various factors prevent them from realising this goal. "Women are interested in leading, but politics has become big business in Africa and women don't have such enormous resources to compete effectively," said Akua Dansua, a member of parliament for the North Dayi constituency in Ghana. The number of women trying for elective posts in Africa is growing.



During the 2002 general elections in Kenya, for instance, 44 women contested the polls, while over 100 are on the ballot for this month's vote. However, tradition and culture prevent still more women from standing, explained Akua. These factors continue to play a role even when women are in office. Those who manage to be elected are often appointed to ministries viewed as dealing with "soft" issues -- matters not at the top of the governmental agenda -- such as women's and youth affairs. This furthers the perception that women don't have the ability to be in power, said Marie Helene Ngoa, mayor of Akono district in Cameroon.



Women may not always be able to rely on other women when seeking election. Both men and women are more comfortable with male leaders because they have been socialised to believe that men are "the strong ones -- the leaders -- while men ride on women's backs to get to parliament, and once there they forget us," said Akua. Nonetheless, noted Pamela Mburia -- who is contesting a parliamentary seat in Kenya -- women bring a different perspective to issues and must therefore be represented in decision making. "If women are not there, then we are moving ahead without half of the population," she observed.



Certain female politicians had shown the difference women could make in public life. Thanks to former Kenyan health minister Martha Karua, women could now access free maternal services in government hospitals; Karua is currently justice and constitutional affairs minister. The press conference was also told that the media could be harsh in its coverage of female politicians -- while not necessarily holding men to the same standards. "In politics women are a minority, but if one or two are quiet the media says all women are silent. When the same men are quiet nobody raises a voice against them. We shouldn't be judged differently," said Rosemary Mants'o, a local councillor in Lesotho's Leribe district.



In the course of the workshop, which preceded the press conference, the politicians were exposed to various ways of addressing issues that affect their constituents, such as HIV/AIDS. They also picked up tips on the most effective ways of dealing with the media in efforts to publicise their policies. For their part, journalists learnt how to avoid stereotypes when writing about women politicians. The media tended to report on women in standard ways, casting them predominantly as mothers, grandmothers or wives -- which indicated "that women are not really good leaders as they are busy playing these other duties," said workshop co-ordinator Pat Made.



Quoting a 2005 study from South Africa, she also noted that coverage of women did not reflect their actual numbers in political leadership. "Yet the media should mirror society, which is composed of men and women." Reporters were further encouraged to question why government was not implementing protocols they had signed which committed them to increasing the number of women in decision making structures. Many governments presented rosy pictures of progress they had made in regard to these protocols, yet nothing was happening at grass roots level. "They are safe (in doing so) because the media is not playing their rightful watchdog role," said Jan Moolman of Women'sNet, a South African non-profit.

December 4, 2007 | 1:29 PM Comments  0 comments
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