The Africa Population Report has revealed that poverty, unemployment, poor health and malnutrition are some of the biggest challenges facing social growth and development on the continent. Speaking at the opening of the 6th General Assembly of the African Population Commission in Johannesburg on Monday, Deputy Minister for Social Development, Dr Jean Swanson-Jacobs, highlighted these issues and advocated a call to action. "Effective change will not come about merely by deliberating on population and development challenges in boardrooms and conference halls. Our agreements have to resonate in community-based actions," said the deputy minister. Delegates from various organizations such as the African Union (AU), United Nations Population Fund, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Development Bank, African Ambassadors and High Commissioners met to deliberate on the release of the State of the African Population Report 2006. Africa's population was estimated at 924 million in 2006 and is expected to rise to 1.4 billion by 2025.

The 6^th AGOA Forum in Accra

The Sixth Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum will be held this week in the Ghanaian capital Accra from July 18 to 19.  AGOA, which was passed by the U.S. Congress in 2000, is the cornerstone of the United States’ trade and investment policy with sub-Saharan African countries.  Ahead of the Sixth AGOA Forum, the U.S. Trade Representative submitted a comprehensive report to the Congress on U.S. trade and investment policy with sub-Saharan Africa.  Florie Liser, Assistant US Trade Representative for Africa, told VOA that a two-way trade between the U.S. and sub-Saharan Africa has been increasing. “We have a total of 38 countries that are eligible for AGOA, and that’s out of 48 sub-Saharan African countries. We added Liberia on January 1, 2007,” she said. However, she said that they would like to see the countries expand the number of products that they send to them, especially those that are value-added and processed.

Africa’s Aviation Industry Asked to Improve

A five-day conference on aviation safety and security opened in Nairobi on Monday with experts calling on African governments to make improvements in this field. The 19th African Civil Aviation Commission is discussing challenges which hinder the development and operations of the continent's aviation industry. There was a growing concern internationally about the safety of civil aviation in Africa, said International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Secretary General, Taleb Cherif, in his opening remarks, urging the authorities to make their skies safer. The ICAO chief said safety concerns prompted the European Union to place a number of African carriers on a blacklist from its airspace last year.

Meanwhile, the European Space Agency has signed a cooperation agreement with the African air safety agency, with the objective of using satellite navigation to improve air traffic safety over the African continent.

Nelson Mandela Celebrates 89^th Birthday

Nelson Mandela is celebrating his 89th birthday today (July 18, 2007) by launching a humanitarian campaign along with former President Jimmy Carter, ex-U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other "elders" of the global village. The initiative stems from an idea by British entrepreneur Richard Branson and musician Peter Gabriel to create a world council of elders to tackle issues such as conflict, AIDS and global warming. "This group of international leaders will share how they intend to work together to contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity in addressing some of the world's toughest problems." Branson and Gabriel, who founded an international human rights organization and championed the anti-apartheid cause are expected to attend this event.

Don’t Rush into Signing EPA,  Actionaid Urges

Actionaid, a Non-governmental Organization aimed at fighting poverty in Africa, has called on African governments to seek alternatives that would enable them to continue to sell some of their products to the European market and not rush into signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with their European partners. According to Actionaid, such an agreement will give an unfair opportunity to small scale farmers in Africa and infant industries to compete with well established and subsidized products and services from Europe. Actionaid urged African governments to pursue an advanced generalized system of preferences that includes both least developing and non least developing countries.

Enhancing Efficiency in the Public Sector

Over 300 delegates from across Africa converged in Nairobi for a three-day international conference aimed at enhancing efficiency in the public sector. The biennial Knowledge Management Africa conference, coming at a time when Kenya is basking in glory after scooping the United Nations Public Service Award, aims to enhance governance and service delivery through the use of knowledge as a fundamental resource in development. According to Dr G. Odera-Outa, a research and communication advisor at the Ministry of Planning and National Development, the conference will be hosted by the ministry in a joint partnership with the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) and the University of Witwatersrand.

Compiled by Anne Mugoya
Inter Region Economic Network