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European financial markets chief pledges Africa protection
30 07 2010 Europe’s top internal markets official, Michel Barnier, has pledged to institute special measures to protect African countries from speculation, which is responsible for the fall in key commodity prices and the rise in food prices. Speaking on his second visit to the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Barnier said he was taking steps aimed at ensuring full transparency in the international markets to protect African producers.
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Financing Agriculture
30 07 2010 The 20th Brussels Development Briefing will be on ‘Financing agriculture and will take place on the 15th of September 2010. As an input to the UN Summit on MDGs to be held in New York on 22-26 September 2010, we will discuss issues related to financing development in the context of agriculture and rural development. This will include issue such as Aid and ODA, taxation (Domestic tax revenues), private investment (new donors), revenue generation. Speakers include: Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College in London, the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa in the US, CONCORD, OECD, African Development Bank, Caribbean Development Bank, YARA, African regional framers organizations.
For more information please contact: lopes@cta.int or boto@cta.int
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Land access, land acquisitions and rural development
30 07 2010 Land is an asset of enormous importance for billions of rural dwellers in the developing world, and especially in ACP countries. The nature of property rights and their degree of security vary greatly, depending on competition for land, the degree of market penetration and the broader institutional and political context.
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Delegates want raw material export ban
30 07 2010 Participants at a meeting of the African Union’s Trade and Industry Commission proposed that the continent adopts policies to discourage the export of raw materials to the developed world. During a media briefing at Munyonyo, Kampala, Ms Elizabeth Tankeu, the Trade and Industry Commissioner, said: “We have been exporting our raw materials to Europe since the colonial times when the Europeans came to Africa. They still come here for our resources but we have remained the poorest continent”.
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IMF cancels Haiti debt
30 07 2010 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the full cancellation of Haiti’s US$268 million debt to that institution. It has also approved a new three-year arrangement for that Caribbean country under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) requested by the authorities to support the country’s reconstruction and growth programme.
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Pacific Islands Criticise Stalled Climate Financing
30 07 2010 Despite the creation of a High-Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing (AGF), a group of hard-hit Pacific islands is expressing doubt that aid will be delivered in a timely manner. "The Pacific SIDS (Small Island Developing States) bear almost no responsibility for the onset of climate change, yet we are suffering the consequences today…Climate change is a man-made disaster and redress for the damage being done to our islands is long overdue," said Ambassador Marlene Moses of Nauru.
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FDI Trends and Prospects
30 07 2010 Global foreign direct investment (FDI) witnessed a modest, but uneven recovery in the first half of 2010. This sparks some cautious optimism for FDI prospects in the short run and for a full recovery further on. UNCTAD expects global inflows to reach more than $1.2 trillion in 2010, rise further to $1.3–1.5 trillion in 2011, and head towards $1.6–2 trillion in 2012. However, these FDI prospects are fraught with risks and uncertainties, including the fragility of the global economic recovery.
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Third Africa-EU Summit to Focus on Economic Growth, Security
30 07 2010 The third Africa-European Union summit scheduled to be held in Libya late this year will focus on the economic growth and peace and security of the African continent, a top official of the African Union (AU) Commission said on Wednesday.
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EC launches a survey on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)
29 07 2010 The European Commission has launched a survey on the protection and enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in third countries, in order to collect feedback from EU companies and other stakeholders. This survey is linked to the Strategy for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in Third Countries which was adopted in 2004 by the European Commission. The replies to the new survey will be valuable input in reviewing priorities regarding the necessary actions against IPR infringements beyond EU borders.
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EU unveils multi-billion research fund to boost economy
29 07 2010 The EU commissioner for research and innovation, Ireland's Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, announced yesterday (19 July) nearly €6.4 billion of investment in research and development to be spent by the end of 2011. The package, described as Europe's biggest ever investment drive in the sector, aims to increase European competitiveness and help tackle EU priorities such as climate change, energy, food security, health and the ageing population.
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Africa-Europe underwater cable: West Africa to get high speed internet
29 07 2010 France Telecom and a consortium of 20 members of the telecommunications industry, Saturday, signed an agreement to build an underwater cable between Europe and South Africa. The fiber optic cable is expected to provide broadband internet access to 19 African countries by 2012.
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Old PCs - Do They Help Or Harm Africa?
29 07 2010 COMPANIES are increasingly compelled to control their emissions and their environmental impact. Legislation specific to electronic waste (e-waste) disposal obliges companies to manage the disposal of computers and other equipment. The European Union's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive requires that e-waste is dismantled or recycled by specialists because of its toxic content.
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EU urged to promote 'territorial vision' of farming
29 07 2010 Meeting in Brussels, agriculture stakeholders from across Europe have called on the EU to move away from intensive farming to a more sustainable model that supports the economic renaissance of rural areas. A conference organised by the European Commission in Brussels (19-20 July) heard contributions from a variety of interest groups as the EU executive prepares proposals to reform the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) later this year.
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ACP chief Chambas commends outgoing chair
29 07 2010 The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Bureau of the Committee of Ambassadors last week farewelled its Chairman and Gabonese Ambassador, H.E Mr. Rene Makongo. Secretary-General Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas in a brief intervention spoke highly of the Ambassador who served the Group from February to July 2010.
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Somalia: EC allocates €35 million for victims
29 07 2010 The European Commission has adopted a €35 million funding decision to support humanitarian activities in Somalia. It is estimated that approximately 3,200,000 people, about 42% of the population of Somalia, would need emergency humanitarian assistance and/or livelihood support in the first half of 2010; at the same time field assessments suggest that the situation is unlikely to improve in the second half of this year.
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Women Break Traditions to Show That Fishing is Not a Man's Job
29 07 2010 A few years back, it would have been almost taboo for women to get into the waters to fish. A recent harvesting at Baraka Makongeni Conservation Group in Kenya's south Coast where a record 130 kilos of fish was netted in less than two hours has brought new meaning to generating income in the rural areas. Traditionally, women did not undertake such tasks but with the new trend in fish farming they are now showing the way.
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INTERNATIONAL TRADE, EUROPEAN VALUES
28 07 2010 We need to keep working hard to conclude the Doha Development Round. It will greatly benefit the world economy, plus it holds a range of systemic advantages that cannot be allowed to slip out of reach. The political reality however is that concluding the Round in 2010 will be very difficult. We will therefore need to be prepared to continue the negotiations into 2011, if that is necessary to adjust the draft package in a way that is acceptable for all WTO members.
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Citrus from Southern Africa in Europe
28 07 2010 As always a large volume of oranges from, amongst others, South Africa and Zimbabwe will arrive in Europe this year. Because of the difficult climate for entrepreneurs in Mozambique and Zimbabwe compared to South Africa only small volumes come from these countries.
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ACP ambassadors and representatives meet the EIB
28 07 2010 On 22 July 2010 the European Investment Bank welcomed the representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries to Luxembourg. The 80-strong delegation consisted of ambassadors, chargés d'affaires and other diplomats. It was the second meeting of this kind and provided an opportunity for the Bank to discuss key activities with senior representatives of the ACP region: the ACP countries’ Committee of Ambassadors and the Brussels-based ACP Secretariat.
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Commission proposes to gradually resume development aid to Niger
28 07 2010 Today the European Commission has proposed to the Council to close consultations under article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement – the political framework for EU relations with countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific - thereby offering to resume progressively delivery of development aid to Niger alongside the return to the constitutional order in the country.
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European Union - Africa Partnership on Cotton
28 07 2010 This document provides an update of the EU-Africa cotton Partnership concluded between the EU and African countries in July 2004 (at the Paris Forum). This Partnership led to an action plan, which developed into a framework for action following a midterm review (in June 2009)1, The revised action plan became the Partnership’s Action Framework.
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Food industry's green efforts may hit price wall
28 07 2010 The European food and drinks industry is finalising plans to measure its environmental performance but increasingly price-aware consumers might derail their efforts, the European Commission cautioned. A European round table bringing together the food industry, farmers and consumer groups has drawn up a series of 10 guiding principles to assess the environmental impact of food and drink products during their entire life cycle.
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EU reaches out for new powers at United Nations
28 07 2010 European Council President Herman Van Rompuy will in future be able to address the UN chamber no differently from US President Barack Obama or Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmedinejad under draft reforms agreed by member states. EU countries at meetings in Brussels and New York have agreed to table a resolution in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to give the union the right to speak, according to a UK ministerial letter sent out to British MPs on 14th July.
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Financing Agriculture
26 07 2010 The 20th Brussels Development Briefing will be on ‘Financing agriculture and will take place on the 15th of September 2010. As an input to the UN Summit on MDGs to be held in New York on 22-26 September 2010, we will discuss issues related to financing development in the context of agriculture and rural development. This will include issue such as Aid and ODA, taxation (Domestic tax revenues), private investment (new donors), revenue generation. Speakers include: Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College in London, the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa in the US, CONCORD, OECD, African Development Bank, Caribbean Development Bank, YARA, African regional framers organizations.
For more information please contact: lopes@cta.int or boto@cta.int
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Commissioner Piebalgs pushes for maternal and child health
26 07 2010 From 24th to 26th July, European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, will address the 15th African Union Summit in Kampala, Uganda. Maternal, infant and child health will be the core theme of the meeting gathering the 53 African Union Member States. The EU Commissioner will stress the need for concrete progress in these areas.
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