Raising capital for intermediary cities

10 September 201819 September 2018 Development Matters Africa, Asia, Development finance, Infrastructure Africa, Asia, Development finance, Infrastructure, intermediary cities, sustainable development

By Jeremy Gorelick, Senior Infrastructure Finance Advisor, USAID’s* WASH-FIN (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene – Finance) Programme, and Joel Moktar, Project Leader, Open Capital Advisors

This blog is part of an ongoing series exploring the intersection between intermediary cities in developing countries and sustainable development

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Intermediary cities are the fastest growing cities in the developing world. Often referred to as secondary or second-tier cities, intermediary cities typically have a population of between 50,000 and one million people. They play a fundamental role in connecting both rural and urban areas to basic facilities and services.[1] Driven by population growth and rural-urban migration, intermediary cities worldwide are projected to grow at almost twice the rate of megacities (those with more than 10 million inhabitants) between now and 2030.[2] Of these, the fastest growing cities are in Africa and Asia.[3]

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Migration and Africa: Driving better policy choices by changing the conversation

5 September 201819 September 2018 Development Matters Africa, Migration, policy Africa, Africa Forum, Employment, Migration

By Faten Aggad¹ Non-resident Business Associate and International Consultant, Maendeleo Group, Cape Town, South Africa

Learn more about this timely topic at the upcoming
18^th International Economic Forum on Africa

shutterstock_699139378 The conversation needs to change when it comes to migration and Africa, replacing the narrative about an exodus out of the continent to one about people moving to other countries within the continent. The difference matters.

In its most recent round of surveys in nine African countries, the Afrobarometer revealed that 64% of Africans do not wish to emigrate. Of the remaining 37% who have considered leaving their countries, almost half would like to relocate to another country in their immediate region (37%) or to other parts of Africa (10%). Only 20% would consider Europe as a destination should they actually emigrate. Others opt for North America and Asia.

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Africa’s Development Dynamics

13 July 201821 September 2018 Development Matters Africa Africa, Africa Forum, African Union, Equality, Growth, Jobs

By Mario Pezzini, Director of the OECD Development Centre and Special Advisor to the OECD Secretary-General on Development

Learn more about this timely topic at the upcoming
18^th International Economic Forum on Africa

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The launch this week in Addis Ababa of the new flagship joint report Africa’s Development Dynamics 2018 alongside the African Union Commission reflects a fundamental commitment to an ongoing conversation on Africa, with Africa and for Africa. Thus, we did more than unveil a report on paper about the challenges of growth, jobs and inequalities. What we are also doing is strengthening an inclusive platform for policy dialogue on how best to turn Africa’s own vision and strategy for its development as captured in the African Union’s ambitious Agenda 2063 into reality and practice. And it is a platform in which we envision engaging with and involving more and more diverse actors to tap their expertise and add their perspectives to drafting future editions of our joint analysis.

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Towards sustainable cocoa: financial solutions for smallholders in Côte d’Ivoire

21 June 2018 Development Matters Africa, policy Africa, Environment, Production, Sustainability, sustainable development

By Adeline Dontenville, Land-use and Finance Expert, EU REDD Facility, European Forest Institute

cocoa-1529742 When you buy a chocolate bar, it’s quite likely that the cocoa in it came from Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s top producer. If so, it is almost certain that the cocoa plants were grown where dense rainforest once stood.

Expansion of cocoa production into new areas is amongst the main drivers of deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire. At current rates, the country will lose all its forest cover by 2034. Decoupling cocoa production from deforestation is therefore crucial if Côte d’Ivoire is to achieve its goals of producing zero-deforestation cocoa and restoring forest cover to 20% of its territory by 2030.

One solution for the Ivoirian government is agroforestry, a type of land management in which farmers grow not only crops but also a variety of trees for multiple purposes, like firewood, fruit and timber. It’s a way to produce cocoa while restoring forest cover, improving soil fertility and diversifying the income of producers.

But how can Côte d’Ivoire’s smallholders invest in agroforestry when they live below the poverty line and have limited access to finance? And how can large chocolate manufacturers that buy cocoa from smallholders help?
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Jeunes : oser, innover, entreprendre !

22 March 2018 Development Matters Africa, policy, SME, Youth Africa, Agriculture, GFD, Global Forum on Development, Production, SMEs, Youth

Par Awa Caba, Co-fondatrice, Sooretul ¹

Pour en savoir plus sur ce sujet :
Le Forum mondial de l’OCDE sur le développement 2018
Cliquer ici pour vous inscrire

THIES, SENEGAL - Senegalese woman sells fruits at the market.jpg — *Vendeurs de fruits à Thiès, Sénégal*. Photo: shutterstock.com

Au Sénégal, les Petites et Moyennes Entreprises (PME) ou structures de production et transformation des produits agricoles se trouvent essentiellement dans la banlieue de la capitale (Guédiawaye à 15 km de Dakar) et dans les zones rurales autour de Kaolack, Ziguinchor, Kédougou, Thiès et Saint-Louis. Elles disposent de peu de moyens techniques et financiers pour se développer et commercialiser leurs produits. Leurs produits manquent notoirement de visibilité et de présence sur le marché local, dans les boutiques et les grandes surfaces.

La stratégie de pénétration du marché par ces structures s’effectue, en général, à travers la participation aux foires internationales. Ce sont malheureusement les seules occasions de vente à très grande échelle. Ce déficit des produits locaux sur le marché a plusieurs causes: peu de moyens mis en œuvre pour développer le secteur, des PME insuffisamment sensibilisées aux enjeux du packaging, et un manque de d’incitation au niveau politique pour favoriser la consommation de produits locaux.

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Are women holding up Chinese and African skies?

9 March 20188 March 2018 Development Matters Africa, Asia, Gender Africa, China, Gender, GFD, Women

By Hannah Wanjie Ryder, CEO, Development Reimagined, and China Representative, China Africa Advisory

Learn more about this timely topic on the upcoming
OECD Global Forum on Development
Register today to attend

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In 1968, Chairman Mao might have proclaimed that women hold up half the sky, but it remains a sad fact that the majority of top African and Chinese politicians are still men. This is also the case for CEOs of state-owned and other large Chinese and African businesses. No woman has been president of any African country since Ellen Johnson Sirleaf stepped down last year, and in a recent study by the World Economic Forum (WEF), China was ranked 77th out of 144 countries in terms of female political representation, and 86th for economic participation and opportunity. Only eight sub-Saharan African countries featured overall in the top 50 of the same index. When I attended the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2015, which has been running since 2000 and tends to be a very government-led affair, only two women were prominent – the head of the African Union Commission at the time Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and Kenya’s then Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed.

But I am now noticing an interesting new phenomenon: Women from all over the world seem to be aiming to shape China-Africa relations.

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Gender equality in West Africa? The key role of social norms

8 March 201812 March 2018 Development Matters Africa, Gender, policy, Social Protection Africa, Equality, Gender, GFD, Social Protection, sub-Saharan Africa, Women, women's empowerment

By Gaëlle Ferrant, OECD Development Centre, and Nadia Hamel, OECD Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat

Learn more about this timely topic on the upcoming
2018 OECD Global Forum on Development

WOMENS-DAY-2018 — Photo courtesy of: www.lesenfantsdebam.org

Despite some progress, gender equality remains unfinished business worldwide, including in West Africa and particularly in the Sahel¹. Such West African countries as Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone have closed the gender gap in primary school enrolment. However, youth (aged 15-24) illiteracy rate in Chad is still twice as high for women than for men. In Liberia, only one-third of girls were enrolled in secondary school in 2015. Women are increasingly represented in the Senegalese parliament, and the proportion of female MPs almost doubled in the last five years, from 23% in 2012 to 42% in 2017. Nevertheless, women’s equal political participation remains a major challenge throughout the region. Women in parliaments increased only marginally from 13% in 2007 to almost 16% in 2017, with wide disparities across countries ranging from 6% in Nigeria to 42% in Senegal.

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