Category: APO-OPA

TUNIS, Tunisia, March 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — A unique, Africa-led fund designed to improve food security across the continent has become a reality for the first six countries slated to benefit from the initiative.

The Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Niger and South Sudan signed agreements in Tunis with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to receive $2 million each from the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund.

“The Africa Solidarity Trust Fund shows that African countries are ready to step up and work with their neighbours to build a sustainable and food secure region, and to have the future we want,” said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.

The agreements were signed during the FAO Regional Conference for Africa. At the ceremony, Graziano da Silva encouraged other African governments to join the effort and contribute to the Fund.

The contributions will be used to bolster a wide range of projects to improve food security, nutrition, agriculture and rural development. They include policies and programmes to increase opportunities for youth employment; improve natural resources management and the quality of food production; increase the resilience of livelihoods in conflict-affected areas; and rapidly increase the availability of nutritious food through programmes like cash transfers, school feeding and school gardens.

The trust fund, which is housed at FAO, was originally proposed in 2012 by President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo, during the previous Regional Conference for Africa in Brazzaville.

The Fund was launched officially in June 2013 with a funding package of $30 million from Equatorial Guinea. Additional funding from Angola ($10 million) and a group of civil society organizations in the Republic of the Congo have brought the total amount to $40 million. Cameroon has also pledged to add to the fund and other countries are expected to join in the coming months.

“Thanks to the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund’s initial contributors, the political will to end hunger in the region can be transformed into effective action,” said Bukar Tijani, Assistant Director-General/Regional Representative for Africa.

“This will help to increase FAO’s cooperation with African governments and other partners to better coordinate their ongoing efforts to help vulnerable families improve their lives.”

Project highlights

The US$2 million allocated to each country will support projects including:

• Central African Republic: Livelihoods resilience opportunities for conflict-affected rural communities in Central African Republic, such as support in diversifying agricultural production and development of financial services;

• Ethiopia: Enhanced livelihoods and poverty reduction through economic diversification and decent work opportunities for rural communities;

• Malawi: Integrated approaches to building the resilience of vulnerable communities to climatic shocks in one of the most affected districts in Malawi;

• Mali: Improving employment opportunities for young men and women in rural areas, using, for example, FAO’s Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools to increase training in agribusiness;

• Niger: Support to the 3N initiative (Nigeriens Nourish Nigeriens). Improving nutrition, supporting natural resources management and increasing access to financial and social protection services;

• South Sudan: Providing information, equipment, seeds and livestock services to protect and restore livelihoods.

FAO will provide technical assistance for implementation of the projects in cooperation with partners.

JOHANNESBURG, South-Africa, March 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Rotary Family Health Days (http://www.rotary.org) – an innovative international campaign providing free health-care services to underserved families — launches its fourth edition in April 2014, aiming to reach 350,000 people in Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho.

Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/rotary.png

Photo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=916 (Marion Bunch, director and managing partner of RFHD and a Rotary club member from Georgia, USA, became active in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa after losing a son to the disease)

B-Roll package – Rotary Family Health Days: http://bit.ly/1iExmh1

Rotary Family Health Days (RFHD) promotes healthy living and disease prevention by providing free, comprehensive health-care services to tens of thousands of people in underprivileged communities. The program, led by Rotary’s mobilizing arm – Rotarians for Family Health & AIDS Prevention – addresses Africa’s most pressing health challenges, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and reproductive health, as well as conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. An important component is immunizing children against polio, measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

The Rotary-led program is sponsored by The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, the South Africa Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC, USAID, the SABC and Caxton as primary media partners as well as YFM, Media 24 news and Independent Newspapers in the Western Cape.

RFHD launched in 2011 at 160 sites in Uganda and Kenya and immediately exceeded organizers’ expectations by drawing 38,000 people to the one-day event. In 2012, Nigeria signed on and the program expanded to three days. By 2013, RFHD operated 368 sites in Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa, reaching over 275,000 people. More than 5,500 Rotary members from 362 clubs participated.

“We believe we have achieved ‘proof of concept’ and identified the power of our health campaign,” said Marion Bunch, director and managing partner of RFHD and a Rotary club member from Georgia, USA, who became active in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa after losing a son to the disease, and has since expanded the scope of her efforts to address other health issues. “We have learned that when a campaign delivers several interventions at once, the benefits rise exponentially for families and communities.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every year millions of Africans die from diseases that are preventable and treatable. The region faces many challenges including weak and fragmented health systems, inadequate resources for delivering proven interventions, limited access to health-services and extreme poverty. Rotary Family Health Days addresses these challenges by bringing life-saving health services into the communities most at risk.

Rotary Family Health Days 2014

South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho

April 2 – 4 160 sites

Ghana

April 10 – 12 30 sites

Uganda

April 10 – 12 120 sites

Nigeria

April 24 – 26 150 sites

Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of Rotary International.

Contact:

Rotary: Stéphanie Tobler, +41 44 387 714 16, stephanie.tobler@rotary.org

S. Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland: Annemarie Mostert, 0824574558, annemarie@rfha.org

Uganda: Fred Massade, 0753 670020, fmasadde@moreuganda.com

Ghana: Willie Keteku (Accra), 020 201 2348, williekay@gmail.com

Nigeria: Olugbemiga Olowu (Ikeja), 234-802-323-8561, lutaynigeria@yahoo.com

About Rotary

Rotary (http://www.rotary.org) brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.2 million members of more than 34,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work improves lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world. For more information, visit http://www.rotary.org.

Note to journalists:

Video and still images will be available on the Rotary Media Center: https://www.rotary.org/en/news-features/media-center.

SABC will air a 24-minute documentary about Rotary Family Health Days on Sunday, 30 March 2014. To view the trailer, click here: https://vimeo.com/84725512.

KHARTOUM, Sudan, March 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund has approved a Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) for Sudan covering the period January-December 2014. An SMP is an informal agreement between country authorities and Fund staff to monitor the implementation of the authorities’ economic program. SMPs do not entail financial assistance or endorsement by the IMF Executive Board.

Sudan’s economy has been facing major challenges since the July 2011 secession of South Sudan, with low economic growth, high inflation largely driven by the financing of high fiscal deficits, a deterioration in external and fiscal accounts, and a persisting gap between the official and curb market exchange rates.

The new SMP for 2014 provides a comprehensive framework for strengthening the policy mix to engineer an economic turnaround and restore macroeconomic stability while strengthening social safety nets and developing the reforms for sustainable economic growth.

Sudan’s external debt is high and largely in arrears, cutting off the country from access to most external financing sources. In particular, Sudan remains unable to access IMF resources because of its continued arrears to the Fund. А strong track record of maintaining macroeconomic stability and implementing reforms, together with a comprehensive arrears clearance strategy supported by development partners, will be essential for resolving Sudan’s large debt overhang.

Sudan has established good cooperation with the Fund over more than a decade. IMF staff will closely work with the authorities to monitor progress in the implementation of their economic program through quantitative targets and structural benchmarks. In addition, the IMF will continue to provide targeted technical assistance to support Sudan’s capacity-building efforts and its adjustment and reform program. Successful implementation of the SMP will signal to the international community the authorities’ commitment to macroeconomic reforms and in due time will help the authorities in the debt relief process.

OTTAWA, Canada, March 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — At the invitation of Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, the minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation of Burundi, Laurent Kavakure, paid a visit to Canada.
The two m…

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 27, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — IPU deeply regrets the sentencing of opposition leader and MP Diomi Ndongala by the Supreme Court in the Democratic Republic of Congo to 10 years imprisonment.

Without any appeal system in place, the sentence on 26th March is the last step in trial proceedings which IPU is convinced were seriously flawed and eminently political. Neither Ndongala nor his lawyers were in court when the sentence on charges of alleged rape against minors was pronounced.

In a resolution adopted by IPU’s membership last week, the Supreme Court was encouraged to issue an exemplary ruling. It would have ensured there was no miscarriage of justice and that the Law was above politics in a polarized political environment.

IPU, whose Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians has been working on this and other cases involving MPs in the DRC, is also seriously worried about Ndongola’s deteriorating health and about reports that he is being denied medical care.

“With no appeal procedure possible, all pressure needs to be put on the DRC to ensure there is retrial that addresses the concerns repeatedly expressed by IPU, his lawyers and many others over the trial and his treatment,” says Rogier Huizenga, head of IPU’s human rights programme.

The leader of the opposition Christian Democrats party and an MP in the DRC, Ndongala was allegedly kidnapped and illegally detained from June to October 2012. It was an experience that left him requiring urgent medical attention and recuperation with the full knowledge of parliamentary authorities.

In April 2013, he was imprisoned awaiting trial on alleged rape charges. This was followed in June 2013 by the decision to invalidate his parliamentary mandate for unjustified and prolonged absence from parliament.

OTTAWA, Canada, March 27, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, today announced more than $11 million in additional funding to help meet widespread humanitarian needs in the Central African Republic (CAR).

“Canada remains profoundly concerned by the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic,” said Minister Paradis. “The humanitarian situation has deteriorated at an alarming rate, violence has devastated many parts of the country since early 2013, and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. Canada will provide additional humanitarian assistance to trusted partners working on the ground to help them address the urgent needs and save lives.”

The Government of Canada is providing support to key partners such as the United Nations World Food Programme, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and UNICEF, to address the needs of those most affected by the inter-communal violence, looting, destruction of housing and property, displacement, and grave human rights abuses.

Quick Facts

• The United Nations is estimating that 2.5 million people—more than half of the Central African Republic’s population—are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

• Over the course of 2013, Canada provided close to $7 million in humanitarian assistance to those affected by the crisis in CAR. This amount more than doubled the total Canadian humanitarian assistance provided to those affected in that country in 2012.

• In 2013, Canada was the sixth-largest humanitarian country donor responding to the needs in CAR.

• On February 11, 2014, Canada’s Minister of International Development and La Francophonie announced $5 million in new humanitarian assistance to address urgent needs in CAR.

TOKYO, Japan, March 27, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — On March 12, from at 5:30 p.m., Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Fumio Kishida met for approximately 20 minutes with H.E. Mr. Abdirahman Duale Beileh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E. Ms. Nadifo Mohamed Osman, Minister of Public Works and Reconstruction and H.E. Mr. Said Abdullahi Mohamed, Minister of Planning. Those ministers accompanied H.E. Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of the Federal Republic of Somalia during his working visit to Japan upon invitation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The outcome of the meeting is as follows.

1. Minister Kishida welcomed the visit to Japan by Minister Abdirahman, Minister Nadifo and Minister Said shortly after their appointments as ministers of Government of Somalia in January this year. He stated that he would continue to strongly support Somalia as a key country in the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), under the pillar of “Peace and Stability.” Minister Abdirahman stated that Japan and Somalia have enjoyed a historical relationship from well before the outbreak of Somalia’s civil war, and that he was pleased to have the opportunity to discuss with high-level officials of the Government of Japan, including Minister Kishida.

2. Minister Abdirahman stated that he also would like to use this visit as an opportunity to engage in practical discussions regarding Japan’s continuous support to Somalia. Minister Kishida replied that Japan would continue to provide assistance to Somalia from the perspective of human security, and that he hopes to continue the bilateral discussions regarding challenges facing Somalia.

3. In addition, Minister Kishida explained that there is a concern about the security situation in Somalia, as demonstrated by the attack against Somali Presidential Palace by Al-Shabaab last month. In this context, Minister Kishida stated that Japan continuously render its assistance, together with international community to bolster security measures and anti-piracy measures. In return, Minister Abdirahman expressed gratitude to Japan’s contributions, and expressed Somalia’s determination to work with its partners in the international community including Japan, toward stabilizing the Horn of Africa region.

4. At the end of the meeting, Minister Kishida said he sincerely hopes that President Hassan’s visit be productive.The ministers agreed to further strengthen the bilateral relationship following the visit.

(* The foregoing is a provisional translation. The date indicated above denotes the date of issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

TOKYO, Japan, March 27, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — On the evening of March 13, Prime Minister Mr. Shinzo Abe held a meeting with H.E. Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of the Federal Republic of Somalia during his working visit to Ja…

KHARTOUM, Sudan, March 27, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Joint statement attributable to the UNAMID Deputy Joint Special Representative, Mr. Joseph Mutaboba, and the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Mr Ali Al-…

NDJAMENA, Chad, March 27, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — On February 21, 2014, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation1 with Chad.

Macroeconomic performance continued to be stable in 2013, with some deceleration in economic growth and inflation. Real GDP is projected to have grown by 3.6 percent in 2013, down from 8.9 percent in 2012. The slowdown reflects a reduction in oil GDP of 3.9 percent in 2013 due to a sharper than expected decline in the mature field’s oil production and delays in new oil production. Non-oil GDP is forecast to have grown by 5 percent in 2013 compared to 11.6 percent in 2012, mainly reflecting a return to trend agricultural production levels after the bumper harvest that took place in 2012. Inflation fell sharply in 2013 due to a sizable fall in food prices following the strong harvest in 2012. Consequently, annual average inflation rate is projected at around 0.4 percent, compared to 7.7 percent in 2012.

The external current account deficit averaged 8 percent of GDP between 2009 and 2012 and is projected to have deteriorated further to 8.8 percent of GDP in 2013 on account of the drop in oil exports. The overall balance of payments would record a deficit in 2013, the first time since 2009, bringing the international reserve coverage ratio to about 1.7 months of imports of goods and services (compared to 2.4 months in 2012).

Fiscal policy has been gradually tightened over the last few years, anchored on reductions in the non-oil primary deficit (NOPD). NOPD fell by 1 percent of non-oil GDP over 2011-12 and the 2013 budget was anchored on a further 1 percent of non-oil GDP reduction in the NOPD to 18.2 percent of non-oil GDP. However, the 2013 budget execution was affected by an unexpected fall in oil revenue and spending pressures from regional security operations, resulting in an overall fiscal deficit of about 6 percent of non-oil GDP (compared to a surplus of 1.7 percent of non-oil GDP in 2012). This deficit was partly financed by non-concessional borrowing against future oil receipts.

The medium-term economic outlook is driven by developments in oil production and associated fiscal revenue. Real GDP is projected to grow at around 9 percent per year over 2014–15 as new oil-related projects come fully on-stream. Oil GDP is projected to peak in 2016 and fall steadily thereafter absent new oil discoveries. Non-oil GDP is projected to grow by around 5 percent per year over the medium term, driven by agriculture, commerce, and transportation. The main sources of risk to the outlook stem from the volatility of fiscal oil revenue and the difficult regional security situation.

Executive Board Assessment2

Directors welcomed Chad’s relatively strong macroeconomic performance amidst considerable regional insecurity, characterized by solid non-oil GDP growth and relatively muted inflation. They also commended the authorities’ significant contribution to regional security efforts. Noting that a decade of rapid economic growth has not significantly reduced poverty rates, Directors called for decisive policy measures to achieve diversified, inclusive growth and improved socioeconomic outcomes.

Directors noted that, despite the positive medium-term outlook, Chad is facing challenges from the volatility and trend decline in oil revenue. While welcoming the improved fiscal stance in recent years, including under the staff-monitored program, they advised building fiscal buffers over the medium term, by enhancing domestic revenue mobilization, public financial management, public sector efficiency and expenditure prioritization. Directors welcomed the recent commitment to limit the use of extra-budgetary emergency spending procedures, and recommended careful prioritization of public investment in line with absorptive capacity. Efforts to significantly reduce the non-oil tax collection gap, building on progress and by following through on Fund technical assistance recommendations regarding tax policy and revenue administration, will be crucial.

Directors called for greater coherence in the authorities’ debt management strategy and a prudent external borrowing policy, given Chad’s high risk of debt distress. They acknowledged the authorities’ commitment to ensuring debt sustainability, as evidenced by the cancelation of the Master Facility Agreement with Eximbank China. While recognizing the exceptional circumstances that led to the nonconcessional oil sale advances in 2013, they advised against recourse to such advances going forward, and stressed the need for corrective actions to cover the ensuing financing gap in 2014. Directors looked forward to the timely preparation of the new debt management law, and recommended centralization of debt approvals and operational management. They supported the authorities’ commitment to achieve the completion point under the Enhanced Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries. They looked forward to continued close engagement with the Fund in the period ahead, including discussions on reaching agreement on a possible ECF-supported program.

Directors underscored the importance of critical structural reforms to help boost external competitiveness and promote diversified, inclusive growth. They called for the removal of key supply-side bottlenecks and measures to strengthen the business climate. Directors commended the authorities’ initiatives under the National Development Plan, designed to raise agricultural productivity and promote infrastructure investment. They also advised the authorities to implement reforms conducive to enhanced financial sector development and inclusion.

Chad: Selected Economic and Financial Indicators, 2009–2014

2009 2010

2011 2012 2013 2014

Prel. Proj.

Proj.

(Annual percentage changes, unless otherwise indicated)

Real economy

GDP at constant prices

4.2

13.5

0.1 8.9

3.6

10.8

Oil GDP

-3.7

-1.1

-0.4 -4.0

-4.0

37.0

Non-oil GDP

6.4

17.2

0.2 11.6

5.0

6.5

Consumer price index (period average)

10.1

-2.1

1.9 7.7

0.4

3.8

Consumer price index (end of period)

4.7

-2.2

10.8 2.1

2.5

3.2

Oil prices

WEO (US$/barrel)2

61.8

79.0

104.0 105.0

104.1

99.3

Chadian price (US$/barrel)3

55.5

73.6

97.7 102.0

103.4

98.2

Oil production (in millions of barrels)

43.6

44.7

43.6 41.2

36.0

52.0

Exchange rate FCFA per US$ (period average)

471.0 494.4 471.4 510.2 493.9 …

Money and credit4

Net foreign assets

-74.7 13.3 25.3 14.8 -12.0 0.9

Net domestic assets

70.1 12.0 -11.0 -1.3 20.2 8.6

Of which: net claims on central government

67.7 7.2 -18.8 -13.1 0.9 -2.6

Of which: credit to private sector

5.9 10.7 9.0 12.9 9.2 8.4

Broad money

-4.6 25.3 14.2 13.4 8.2 9.5

Income velocity (non-oil GDP/broad money)

7.3 6.6 5.9 5.9 5.7 5.7

External sector (valued in CFA francs)

Exports of goods and services, f.o.b.

-26.1 23.3 22.3 -4.1 -8.2 26.7

Imports of goods and services, f.o.b.

4.5 18.1 11.3 3.8 -6.4 18.6

Export volume

0.3 -5.6 -2.8 -8.6 -7.3 27.2

Import volume

12.0 15.1 4.0 4.9 -5.3 17.7

Overall balance of payments (in percent of GDP)

-8.0

0.1

2.9 1.6 -1.5 -3.4

Current account balance, including official transfers (in percent of GDP)

-9.2

-9.0

-5.6 -8.3 -8.8 -6.5

Terms of trade

-21.1 27.2 17.6 6.0 0.2 -1.2

External debt (in percent of GDP)

17.6

20.2

23.0 20.9

23.2

18.3

NPV of external debt (in percent of exports of goods and services)

36.3

30.9

48.2 36.6

53.1

38.6

(In percent of non-oil GDP, unless otherwise indicated)

Government finance

Revenue and grants

18.6 26.7 34.6 33.4 25.5 28.7

Of which: non-oil

7.3 8.1 7.6 7.7 8.4 8.8

Expenditure

28.1 32.2 31.3 32.8 31.5 29.5

Current

18.0 19.2 17.9 15.7 17.4 16.6

Capital

10.0 13.1 13.3 17.0 14.1 12.9

Non-oil primary balance (commitment basis, excl. grants)5

-17.1 -20.1 -19.6 -19.2 -18.2 -16.1

Overall fiscal balance (incl. grants, commitments basis)

-9.4 -5.5 3.3 0.6 -6.0 -0.8

Overall fiscal balance (incl. grants, cash basis)

-9.3 -4.2 0.6 1.7 -6.0 -1.9

Total debt (in percent of GDP)6

23.1

25.6

31.1 28.0 30.2

23.8

Of which: domestic debt6

5.5

5.4

8.1 7.0 6.9

5.5

Memorandum items:

Nominal GDP (in billions of CFA francs)7

4,369 5,279 5,736 6,579 6,627 7,602

Of which: non-oil GDP

3,515 3,999 4,108 4,614 4,812 5,296

Nominal GDP (in billions of US$)7

9.3 10.7 12.2 12.9 13.4 15.9

Of which: non-oil GDP

7.5 8.1 8.7 9.0 9.7 11.1

Sources: Chadian authorities; and IMF staff estimates and projections.

1IMF, Chad-Staff Report for the Staff Monitored Program (EBS/13/103).

2WEO 2014 Winter Production.

3Chadian oil price is Brent price minus quality discount.

4Changes as a percent of broad money stock at the beginning of period.

5Defined as the total revenue excluding grants and oil revenue, minus total expenditure excluding net interest payments and foreign-financed investment.

6Central government, including government-guaranteed debt.

7GDP using National Accounts, base year 2005.

1 Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country’s economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board.

2 At the conclusion of the discussion, the Managing Director, as Chairman of the Board, summarizes the views of Executive Directors, and this summary is transmitted to the country’s authorities. An explanation of any qualifiers used in summing up can be found here: http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/misc/qualifiers.htm.