According to a World Bank report ‘Facing the Challenges of African Growth: Opportunities, Constraints, and Strategic Directions’, boosting economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is dependent on expanding infrastructure investments, improving the investment climate, harnessing skills for innovation and building institutional capacity across the continent. Africa's slow and erratic growth performance, particularly when compared to other developing regions, has been identified as the single most important reason behind its lagging position in eradicating poverty.

Climate Change Funds for Developing Countries

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change will receive Ksh.2.7 billion from Britain. The funds will be given over the next three years to help developing countries plan ways of adapting to climate changes. At the ongoing climate change meeting in Nairobi, a campaign in which a billion trees would be planted was launched.

Africans Should Reduce Regional Trade Agreements 

Harry Broadman (Economic Adviser, World Bank) while speaking at a briefing for reporters, diplomats and government officials urged African nations to reduce the number of its regional trade agreement to spur trade with non-members and remove barriers to investment. African countries belong to at least 12 regional trade agreements in addition to several bilateral trade agreements. Their membership often overlaps prompting economists to refer to them as a ‘spaghetti bowl’. The spaghetti bowls of intra-African regional trade agreements provide little incentives for new trade and investment.

CEO and Groups Get Investors Awards

The Chief Executive Officer of United Bank of Africa in Nigeria, Mr. Tony Elumule, is this year's African Business Leader, while the CEO of the Oceanic Bank in Nigeria, Ms. Cecilia Ibru, is the Business Woman of the Year. The awards were presented by Africa Investors Awards which was established  two years ago with the aim of promoting and awarding companies investing in Africa and showing exemplary leadership in investment and social responsibility. Barclays Bank Africa is Employer of the Year while The Kenya Flower Council won the Smart Regulation Award. Infrastructure Deal of the Year went to PesaPoint while International Marketing Council of South Africa took the Investment Promotion Agency of the Year Award. The Venture Capital Deal of the Year award went to Africap.

Japan Doubles its Assistance to Ghana

The Japanese Government will double its development assistance to Ghana within the next three years in appreciation of its sound management of the economy, good governance and the rule of law. Ghana is to submit technical details on its railways system and the energy sector where the assistance is going to be received. Japanese bilateral aid to Ghana by way of grant aid, technical co-operation and development loans totalled 115.42 million dollars in the year 2004, according to statistics at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan.

Promoting Regional Trade and Investment

The 20-member Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is holding its annual heads of state meeting in Djibouti this week to discuss promotion of regional trade and investment. Africa's biggest trade bloc planned to launch a fund to help push regional infrastructure projects and deepen economic integration ahead of a customs union planned for 2008. The EU has given E80 million (R743 million) for the fund while its members have pledged an initial $10 million (R72.5 million). With a combined population of about 374 million and gross regional product of $203 billion, COMESA launched a free-trade area in 2000 and is targeting a Customs Union by 2008.

SADC Meeting on DDT

The five-day annual Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Health Ministers’ meeting started in Namibia’s capital on Monday. The theme for this year's meeting is ‘Scaling up Indoor Residual Spraying with DDT’.  In attendance are ministers of Health from the SADC countries: Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo, senior officials and their delegations. The meeting will also focus on an Implementation Plan of the SADC Protocol on Health, review the Progress Report on Major Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases, the SADC Pharmaceutical Programme, and discuss reports of international meetings and conferences.