General News
UNCTAD Says Continent-Wide Policy Coherence can Yield Employment, Growth Benefits
Better leveraging of services trade in Africa could yield major employment and growth benefits, the UNCTAD Economic Development in Africa Report 2015 argues, while ongoing negotiations towards a continental free trade agreement offer a unique opportunity to align national and regional policies on services trade to that end.
The report, subtitled “Unlocking the Potential of Africa’s Services Trade for Growth and Development”, and officially launched in Lagos Nigeria, also argues that building continent-wide policy coherence in financial services would boost economic productivity and help reduce poverty.
“Africa must bridge the policy disconnect of services trade in order to unlock the sector’s potential for the continent’s growth and economic transformation,” Mukhisa Kituyi, UNCTAD Secretary-General said.
“Furthermore, the impact of a continent-wide free trade area will only be meaningful for Africa if services are opened up in parallel with trade in goods. This is because services, such as transport and storage services, are necessary components of trade in goods.”
The establishment of a continental free trade agreement, most recently on the agenda at an African Union summit in June 2015, is in itself a unique opportunity for African countries to align their existing national, regional and global policies on services trade, the report argues.
The report finds that many national development plans mention services trade as a vehicle for development but fail to link it to existing regional plans or regulation on services in the context of their regional economic communities.
For example, several countries such as Burkina Faso have become leading exporters of cultural services, and Kenya and Senegal of business process outsourcing, but these sectors are not integrated with the countries’ commitments made at the World Trade Organization.
Another major area identified by the report where African Governments need to make efforts in aligning the existing national, regional and multilateral regulatory frameworks is in the financial services sector.
The report argues, for example, that it is important for African countries to extensively examine how to align their domestic financial sector regulation with existing regional regulation, as some regional economic communities already have some protocols in place covering aspects of financial sector integration and/or investment at the regional level.
This is the case of the Arab Maghreb Union, the East African Community, the Economic Community of West African States and the Southern African Development Community.
These protocols envisage the free movement of capital in their respective subregions and will need to be adequately reflected in national policy and regulation so that financial market integration becomes a reality.
At national level, the report recommends that services trade be adequately mainstreamed into national development plans.
This requires that a policy formulation exercise be informed by country-wide consultations with all the major stakeholders.
At regional level, the report notes that greater coherence could be achieved if a pan-African mechanism is established to allow for the continuous consultation and coordination of a regional agenda and concerns relating to services trade that arise within the regional economic communities and the African Union.
Ugo Nwokolo, Nollywood actor, has shared a controversial opinion on internet fraud, saying it has been keeping the nation’s economy afloat amid a tougher economic climate.
Ugo Nwokolo, Nollywood Actor
Nwokolo made the assertion in a video interview currently circulating on social media.
According to the actor, the cost of living and soaring house rent have made life unbearable for legitimate income earners.
He said high rent in major cities like Lagos and Abuja has edged out those earning N50,000 and N90,000 monthly.
Nwokolo said, “Personally, I think Yahoo has helped keep the economy afloat. Do you expect a civil servant to afford house rent of N3 million or N5 million in Abuja?”
The actor maintained that only the rich, including fraudsters, could meet up with the rising cost of living.
“If you go to Lagos now, the least you’ll see for a two-bedroom apartment is about N7 million or N8 million. Who is supposed to afford it? The civil servants? Of course, it’s the fraudsters,” he stressed.
However, he argued that he was not justifying crime but merely stating fact.
“I’m not justifying crime, but yes, Yahoo is helping the economy. How do you expect people to live in this kind of economy?” he said.
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, plans to dedicate one-third of his wealth to charity as part of his succession plan, Halima Dangote, his daughter, has revealed.
Aliko Dangote
Halima, a trustee of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, disclosed this in an interview with Bloomberg published on Tuesday, saying the billionaire had secured the support of his family to commit 33 per cent of his estate to philanthropy.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote’s net worth is estimated at $35.1 billion, meaning one-third of his current wealth would be worth about $11.7 billion if his fortune remains at that level.
Halima explained that her father views philanthropy as a key part of his legacy and has incorporated it into the family’s long-term succession plans.
She said Dangote had structured his estate to ensure that charitable giving continues across generations, particularly in areas such as healthcare and education.
“He sort of put all the structure in place whereby we focus a lot on health and education. He actually donated 25 per cent to the foundation. If you look at it, it is what we call in Sharia Code in Islam; it means he has donated 33 per cent of his whole inheritance to his foundation,” she said.
Halima added that Dangote believes giving back is central to the success of his businesses and the family’s values.
She said the billionaire asked her, her two sisters, and his mother to sign the agreement allowing 33 per cent of his inheritance to be dedicated to humanitarian causes.
The planned donation builds on Dangote’s longstanding philanthropic activities through the Aliko Dangote Foundation, which was established in 1994.
According to Halima, the foundation received an endowment of $1.25 billion about a decade ago and has since received an additional $700 million in funding.
She said about 70 per cent of the foundation’s spending goes to programmes in Nigeria, while 20 per cent supports projects across Africa, with the remaining funds directed to initiatives in other parts of the world.
The foundation’s interventions focus on healthcare, education, nutrition, and humanitarian support, including partnerships that contributed to the eradication of wild poliovirus in Africa.
Dangote’s planned charitable commitment adds to increasing global attention on billionaire philanthropy.
Although the proposed 33 per cent allocation is below the 50 per cent commitment associated with the Giving Pledge, it would rank among the largest philanthropic commitments announced by an African billionaire.
Earlier this year, Dangote was named among the world’s most influential philanthropists by TIME magazine’s inaugural TIME100 Philanthropy list, recognising the impact of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, which reportedly spends more than ₦50 billion annually on programmes across Africa.
Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC), has said that there are plans for Nigeria to begin to generate electricity from nuclear sources.
Mr Anthony Godwin Ekedegwa, chief executive, NAEC stated this when he recently visited Mr Umar Yusuf Girei, acting managing director, National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA),in Abuja.
He was at NIWA’s office to solicit the support of NIWA in achieving the numerous advantages of using nuclear energy technology in the country.
According to him, the partnership of critical stakeholders in Nigeria will position the country well in developing and maintaining its nuclear power plant.
The NAEC chief said Nigeria intends to begin the generation of electricity from nuclear sources instead of fossil-based power plants and hydro-based power plants, stressing that for Nigeria to develop, there is a need for the country to diversify its energy needs.
In his remarks, Mr Girei assured NAEC of his agency’s readiness to collaborate on the advancement of a nuclear power plant in Nigeria.
He promised the full support of NAEC for the success of a nuclear power plant in the country, saying that as the organisation saddled with the responsibility of regulating and developing Nigeria Inland Waterways, his entity is strategically positioned to play a critical role in the federal government’s quest for sustainable energy through the new technology.
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