Essential The Africa the Media Doesn't Tell You About
- Thread starter TommyHilltrigga
- Start date
the annual population growth rate for Senegal is around 3% so the growth in GDP has barely managed to keep up with population growth. Compared to a good number of other african countries Senegal’s gdp growth has lagged behind. Good to see it’s beginning to improve.
Only if you ignore the multiple years of decline preceding it.
Mineral revenue to fund Botswana's NDP for next five years
File: A Canadian diamond mining company says it has unearthed the largest gem-quality diamond in over 100 years at its mine in Botswana. Mining revenue will be used to assist with Botswana's National Development Plan. Photo: Lucara Diamond
GABORONE – The government of Botswana says mining revenues will still be used to provide the bulk of the P370.2 billion (US$ 33 billion) budgetary allocation for the 11th five-year National Development Plan (NDP11) which is set to run between 2017 and 2022 because non-mining revenue was too insufficient to finance national budgets.
The implementation of the objectives outlined in the NDP11 will start in January 2017 as a successor national development blue-print for the current NDP10, which is set to end in December 2016.
According to the draft NDP11 document which was unveiled to the media in Gaborone at a consultative conference late last week, the government will focus on continued efforts to diversify the economy away from total reliance on diamond wealth, cross-sectoral public sector investments and education among key national development drivers in a bid to ensure that the country’s diamond wealth is transformed into sustainable national assets.
According to the outline written by Taufila Nyamadzabo, who is Senior Secretary for Economic and Financial Policy in the Ministry of Finance and Development, more than P90 billion would be used to fund top-priority national development programmes including the Economic Stimulus Plan (ESP), which was launched by President Lt. General Seretse Khama Ian Khama in March this year.
Nyamadzabo said the envisaged development expenditure would remain high and generate deficits for the first two years as government ramps up the financing of stimulus projects aimed at building the productive capacity of other sectors of the economy, including industry, manufacturing and agriculture to reduce over-reliance on mining revenues.
“Mineral revenues will therefore be used to finance part of the recurrent budget as well as all of the development budget. With the implementation of the ESP, the development spending is forecast to remain relatively high in the first two years of the plan, resulting in huge deficits.
“This situation is expected to improve in the second half of NDP11, resulting in a small cumulative budget balance of P2 billion at the end of the plan,” Nyamadzabo said.
According to the draft, mineral revenues would contribute up to 36.4 percent while non-mineral revenues are forecast to contribute up to 66.2 percent to national economic growth during the life of the NDP11.
The NDP11 also proposes the investment of 60% of mineral revenues in physical and human capital development while 40% would be invested in a new special fund to be set aside for the development of future generations. However, the outline conceded that some of the goals may not be achieved within the lifespan of the NDP11 due to subdued economic growth, which is forecast to average a sluggish 3.8% per annum for the next five years.
- Africa News Agency
Mineral Revenue To Fund Botswana's NDP For Next Five Years
- AFRICA
- Monday 16 May 2016 - 11:27am
File: A Canadian diamond mining company says it has unearthed the largest gem-quality diamond in over 100 years at its mine in Botswana. Mining revenue will be used to assist with Botswana's National Development Plan. Photo: Lucara Diamond
GABORONE – The government of Botswana says mining revenues will still be used to provide the bulk of the P370.2 billion (US$ 33 billion) budgetary allocation for the 11th five-year National Development Plan (NDP11) which is set to run between 2017 and 2022 because non-mining revenue was too insufficient to finance national budgets.
The implementation of the objectives outlined in the NDP11 will start in January 2017 as a successor national development blue-print for the current NDP10, which is set to end in December 2016.
According to the draft NDP11 document which was unveiled to the media in Gaborone at a consultative conference late last week, the government will focus on continued efforts to diversify the economy away from total reliance on diamond wealth, cross-sectoral public sector investments and education among key national development drivers in a bid to ensure that the country’s diamond wealth is transformed into sustainable national assets.
According to the outline written by Taufila Nyamadzabo, who is Senior Secretary for Economic and Financial Policy in the Ministry of Finance and Development, more than P90 billion would be used to fund top-priority national development programmes including the Economic Stimulus Plan (ESP), which was launched by President Lt. General Seretse Khama Ian Khama in March this year.
Nyamadzabo said the envisaged development expenditure would remain high and generate deficits for the first two years as government ramps up the financing of stimulus projects aimed at building the productive capacity of other sectors of the economy, including industry, manufacturing and agriculture to reduce over-reliance on mining revenues.
“Mineral revenues will therefore be used to finance part of the recurrent budget as well as all of the development budget. With the implementation of the ESP, the development spending is forecast to remain relatively high in the first two years of the plan, resulting in huge deficits.
“This situation is expected to improve in the second half of NDP11, resulting in a small cumulative budget balance of P2 billion at the end of the plan,” Nyamadzabo said.
According to the draft, mineral revenues would contribute up to 36.4 percent while non-mineral revenues are forecast to contribute up to 66.2 percent to national economic growth during the life of the NDP11.
The NDP11 also proposes the investment of 60% of mineral revenues in physical and human capital development while 40% would be invested in a new special fund to be set aside for the development of future generations. However, the outline conceded that some of the goals may not be achieved within the lifespan of the NDP11 due to subdued economic growth, which is forecast to average a sluggish 3.8% per annum for the next five years.
- Africa News Agency
Mineral Revenue To Fund Botswana's NDP For Next Five Years
Ivory Coast attracts $15.4 billion in development funding pledges, that's twice its budget
18 MAY 2016 15:09OLIVIER MONNIER AND BAUDELAIRE MIEU
0000
Abidjan port: President Ouattara's government has built highways and bridges and boosted the energy sector, pushing growth to 10.3% last year, the highest rate in sub-Saharan Africa.
IVORY Coast received more than $15 billion in pledges from donors and lenders to fund its five-year development plan, almost double the amount it sought at a Paris meeting that showcased the world’s top cocoa grower as an investors’ favourite in Africa.
The West African nation wanted to secure at least 4,425 billion CFA francs ($8.8 billion) in pledges to fund part of a $60 billion investment plan for the period 2016-2020, according to a government statement e-mailed late Tuesday. The high level of pledges showed the “full support of the international community” for its policies, the statement said.
“This is really spectacular news for the country,” John Ashbourne, an Africa economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London, said in e-mailed comments Wednesday. “It’s more than twice the country’s total government budget.”
President Alassane Ouattara, an economist who has led the country’s recovery since assuming office in 2011, will complete his second presidential term in 2020.
His government has built highways and bridges and boosted the energy sector, pushing growth to 10.3% last year, the highest rate in sub-Saharan Africa. Ivory Coast wants to be among the top 50 in the World Bank’s global ranking of nations with a favourable business climate by 2020, according to the statement.
Cocoa prices rose last year, strengthening Ivory Coast’s outlook, while South Africa and Nigeria, the region’s two biggest economies, have been battered by a global slump in commodity prices.
The country’s successful Paris meeting will put “a lot more attention on countries like Kenya and Ivory Coast, which have relatively diversified economies and which have avoided the commodity-induced bust we’ve seen elsewhere,” Ashbourne said.
-Bloomberg
Ivory Coast attracts $15.4 billion in development funding pledges, that's twice its budget
18 MAY 2016 15:09OLIVIER MONNIER AND BAUDELAIRE MIEU
0000
Abidjan port: President Ouattara's government has built highways and bridges and boosted the energy sector, pushing growth to 10.3% last year, the highest rate in sub-Saharan Africa.
IVORY Coast received more than $15 billion in pledges from donors and lenders to fund its five-year development plan, almost double the amount it sought at a Paris meeting that showcased the world’s top cocoa grower as an investors’ favourite in Africa.
The West African nation wanted to secure at least 4,425 billion CFA francs ($8.8 billion) in pledges to fund part of a $60 billion investment plan for the period 2016-2020, according to a government statement e-mailed late Tuesday. The high level of pledges showed the “full support of the international community” for its policies, the statement said.
“This is really spectacular news for the country,” John Ashbourne, an Africa economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London, said in e-mailed comments Wednesday. “It’s more than twice the country’s total government budget.”
President Alassane Ouattara, an economist who has led the country’s recovery since assuming office in 2011, will complete his second presidential term in 2020.
His government has built highways and bridges and boosted the energy sector, pushing growth to 10.3% last year, the highest rate in sub-Saharan Africa. Ivory Coast wants to be among the top 50 in the World Bank’s global ranking of nations with a favourable business climate by 2020, according to the statement.
Cocoa prices rose last year, strengthening Ivory Coast’s outlook, while South Africa and Nigeria, the region’s two biggest economies, have been battered by a global slump in commodity prices.
The country’s successful Paris meeting will put “a lot more attention on countries like Kenya and Ivory Coast, which have relatively diversified economies and which have avoided the commodity-induced bust we’ve seen elsewhere,” Ashbourne said.
-Bloomberg
Ivory Coast attracts $15.4 billion in development funding pledges, that's twice its budget
Installing Steam Turbines in the Place of the Rising Sun
17 MAY 2016
As the sun rises over the Kusile Power Station site in Mpumalanga, South Africa, the Steam Turbine Construction team carefully inspects the new turbines being installed. With winter looming, the site is cold and dark in the early hours, however it is already alive with a flurry of activity.
Each day starts with a toolbox tour where the previous day's work is inspected and decisions are made about the day ahead. "Every day is different," says Roland Ester, Centerline Manager Kusile Power Plant, GE Power. "Not one day is the same as we regularly find ourselves facing challenges and issues that we need to solve."
Roland and his team travel the world working on some of GE's biggest steam turbine installation projects. Before taking charge at the Kusile Power Station programme, Roland was based in Saudi Arabia, developing a power plant to help the kingdom meet its growing energy needs. Saudi Arabia faces extremely hot summers, so the power technologies installed needed to withstand high temperatures.
Having spent many years in Saudi Arabia, Roland and his team were moved to Kusile to provide technical support at the site. His team are responsible for the installation of advanced technology turbines that will power Kusile. Roland explains that while Saudi Arabia might have higher summer temperatures than South Africa, similar turbines are being installed at Kusile, which also experiences hot summers.
Kusile Power Station is a coal-fired power plant under construction by state electricity utility Eskom. Development began in August 2008 and is expected to be complete by 2018. The plant integrates six generating units, each with a capacity of 800MW, bringing 4,800 megawatts to the grid. Kusile's first unit is scheduled to start commercial operations in 2014, while the last unit is expected to come online in 2018.
"While the HP turbine arrives on site fully assembled, the low-pressure turbine is too heavy to be transported and has to be assembled at Kusile," says Roland. Building one unit usually takes between six to eight months, and requires a team with the knowledge and skills to do so.
"Our team is highly skilled with on average of ten years of experience," says Roland. "We share our knowledge and skills with the local team so they can learn first-hand about constructing steam turbines." It is challenging and technical work.
Once commissioned, Kusile is expected to become the world's fourth-largest coal-fired power plant. It will be the first South African power facility to incorporate wet flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) technology, a state-of-the-art solution used to remove oxides of sulphur, such as sulphur dioxide, from exhaust flue gasses, ensuring its compliance with stringent environmental requirements and to meet air quality standards.
Installing Steam Turbines in the Place of the Rising Sun
17 MAY 2016
As the sun rises over the Kusile Power Station site in Mpumalanga, South Africa, the Steam Turbine Construction team carefully inspects the new turbines being installed. With winter looming, the site is cold and dark in the early hours, however it is already alive with a flurry of activity.
Each day starts with a toolbox tour where the previous day's work is inspected and decisions are made about the day ahead. "Every day is different," says Roland Ester, Centerline Manager Kusile Power Plant, GE Power. "Not one day is the same as we regularly find ourselves facing challenges and issues that we need to solve."
Roland and his team travel the world working on some of GE's biggest steam turbine installation projects. Before taking charge at the Kusile Power Station programme, Roland was based in Saudi Arabia, developing a power plant to help the kingdom meet its growing energy needs. Saudi Arabia faces extremely hot summers, so the power technologies installed needed to withstand high temperatures.
Having spent many years in Saudi Arabia, Roland and his team were moved to Kusile to provide technical support at the site. His team are responsible for the installation of advanced technology turbines that will power Kusile. Roland explains that while Saudi Arabia might have higher summer temperatures than South Africa, similar turbines are being installed at Kusile, which also experiences hot summers.
Kusile Power Station is a coal-fired power plant under construction by state electricity utility Eskom. Development began in August 2008 and is expected to be complete by 2018. The plant integrates six generating units, each with a capacity of 800MW, bringing 4,800 megawatts to the grid. Kusile's first unit is scheduled to start commercial operations in 2014, while the last unit is expected to come online in 2018.
"While the HP turbine arrives on site fully assembled, the low-pressure turbine is too heavy to be transported and has to be assembled at Kusile," says Roland. Building one unit usually takes between six to eight months, and requires a team with the knowledge and skills to do so.
"Our team is highly skilled with on average of ten years of experience," says Roland. "We share our knowledge and skills with the local team so they can learn first-hand about constructing steam turbines." It is challenging and technical work.
Once commissioned, Kusile is expected to become the world's fourth-largest coal-fired power plant. It will be the first South African power facility to incorporate wet flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) technology, a state-of-the-art solution used to remove oxides of sulphur, such as sulphur dioxide, from exhaust flue gasses, ensuring its compliance with stringent environmental requirements and to meet air quality standards.
Installing Steam Turbines in the Place of the Rising Sun
Cote d'Ivoire: Abidjan Regains Its Glamour
By Franck Kuwonu
Lit by an elaborate display of orange lights, one of the three colours of Côte d'Ivoire's flag, the city of Abidjan ushered in 2016 with a spectacular fireworks display. For 25 minutes revellers in the commercial capital that calls itself the "perle des lumières" (pearl of lights) were treated to dazzling displays of colour in the sky above the Ebrié Lagoon.
On the lagoon shore, in the towering hotels along the shallow waters and in the Treichville Cultural Palace, some of the Ivorians Africa Renewal talked to were upbeat and hopeful for a good year ahead. The celebrations apparently captured the mood in the country and the official narrative is that Abidjan is now "back in business."
"Pheno-me-nal!" was how Fraternité Matin, the main daily newspaper in Abidjan, described the fireworks show. But beyond the fun and the dazzling fireworks, there are signs that Babi (as Abidjan residents affectionately call their city) is getting back its lustre and rebuilding its infrastructure in dozens of construction sites across the city.
The combined effects of an armed conflict, which began in 2002, and an intense post-election crisis in 2011 left much of the city infrastructure dilapidated. The swift completion in 2014 of a much-needed bridge on the Ebrié Lagoon was the first sign of the city's renewal. Construction of the bridge had been delayed for almost two decades.
Infrastructure renewal
Linking the north and the south of the city, the 1.5 km toll bridge saves commuters hours they would have spent in slow-moving traffic. In early January 2016, for example, after a holiday weekend, a rush-hour 17-km ride to the airport from the Deux-Plateaux area of Cocody took just 35 minutes; in the past such a distance during rush hour would have taken two hours or more.
The new Henri Konan Bédié Bridge, named after a former president, and its connecting bypass on the Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Boulevard in Marcory are other major infrastructural developments. New hotels under construction and old ones being rehabilitated are part of the city's urban renewal programme.
A growing number of foreign travellers are once again flocking to the city, attracted by the country's economic performance. In 2015 Côte d'Ivoire posted an economic growth rate of about 8%, according to the World Bank. The economy is forecast to maintain the same rate in 2016.
The African Development Bank's (AfDB) decision in 2013 to bring back its headquarters from Tunis to Abidjan was considered one of the earliest signs of international institutions' renewed confidence in Côte d'Ivoire.
The AfDB, which helped finance the new bridge in Abidjan, along with the World Bank, the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), the China Exim Bank and several French companies, has invested heavily in infrastructure financing, including for road rehabilitation and construction.
High-end retail
With the economic boom and the city's growing influx of expatriates, and a flourishing middle class with disposable income and a willingness to spend, the service industry, including restaurants and high-end retail shops, is picking up.
In December 2015 a new 20,000-square-metre shopping mall opened in the southern neighbourhood. Named the PlaYce Marcory, the mall comprises 55 shops, in addition to a hypermarket and a food court. The shops include a Carrefour hypermarket, the first branch of the French retail and grocery group to be opened in sub-Saharan Africa, and branches of L'Occitane en Provence, an international skin care and fragrance retailer, and Brosway, an Italian jeweller.
"PlaYce represents something good for Africa. It shows that Africa has now entered the consumption market," trade minister Jean-Louis Billon said at the opening.
In its golden days during the 1980s and up to the early 1990s, Abidjan, with its towering skyline and surrounding lagoon, was often referred to as "the Paris of West Africa" and its business district "the Manhattan of West Africa" because it was considered one of the foremost African cities in terms of fashion, culture and the standard of living. To many, the opening of a shopping mall with European and American brands is proof that the city can now rival the trendiest world capitals in fashion and quality consumer goods.
"Let me tell you," Sonia Ngoyet told Africa Renewal, "the quality and taste of the burger or the hot dog at the food court is as good as the ones I've tasted in Europe. Having a Burger King here in Abidjan is just fantastic." Ms. Ngoyet and Christelle Amou, both salespersons at the Aseke Oro Jewellery store, one of the locally owned stores in the mall, said they were happy to be working at the mall.
Youth employment lags
Aly Diallo, a regional correspondent for the state-run Fraternité Matin, travelled from the countryside to spend the holidays with his family. He went window-shopping and ended up buying a few items from the French Carrefour hypermarket. But what he wanted most was to have his picture taken in the mall to show that he "was a part of history." After trying a few photo spots, he finally settled for a clothing store with a huge photo of the Eiffel Tower in the background. "A very fitting spot," he said, striking a pose. "The developed world has come to Babi and I need to show people that I was here."
Yet despite the festive New Year's celebrations, chronic problems of income inequality continue to fester. Gbich, a satirical and arguably the most popular news magazine in Abidjan, carried a headline: "Before we knew it, 2015 is over. Yet we have nothing to show for it." Not all Ivorians have shared in the nation's new wealth. "Some of us are left behind," Anselme Kouadio, a street hustler on Rue des Jardins in Cocody, complained. "Talks of bridges and roads being built don't fill the belly. Real jobs are what we need, so we also can enjoy what the city offers. But unfortunately, they are few and far between for young people like us."
Even the World Bank observed in 2015: "There are disparities in access to basic services, and gender disparities across wealth and urban-rural groups". It is estimated that only 57% of the Ivorian population had access to clean water and improved sanitation by 2009, far below the 81% target of the MDGs".
A recent World Bank report, "The Might of the Elephant -- Benefitting from Strong Growth to Create Better Jobs," says about 9 out of 10 young graduates are still struggling to make a decent living.
Campaigning in 2010, "President Ouattara promised to create a million jobs for the youth," Kobri Borgia, the editor of the biweekly La Tribune de l'Economie told Africa Renewal. "Five years later, the jury is still out," he says.
Again in 2015, President Ouattara pledged to make youth employment a priority for his last mandate. While time will tell, Mr. Borgia asserts that "making sure the strong economic growth works for all, including providing employment, is key to Côte d'Ivoire's sustainable growth." The World Bank report came to the same conclusion.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201605040031.html
By Franck Kuwonu
Lit by an elaborate display of orange lights, one of the three colours of Côte d'Ivoire's flag, the city of Abidjan ushered in 2016 with a spectacular fireworks display. For 25 minutes revellers in the commercial capital that calls itself the "perle des lumières" (pearl of lights) were treated to dazzling displays of colour in the sky above the Ebrié Lagoon.
On the lagoon shore, in the towering hotels along the shallow waters and in the Treichville Cultural Palace, some of the Ivorians Africa Renewal talked to were upbeat and hopeful for a good year ahead. The celebrations apparently captured the mood in the country and the official narrative is that Abidjan is now "back in business."
"Pheno-me-nal!" was how Fraternité Matin, the main daily newspaper in Abidjan, described the fireworks show. But beyond the fun and the dazzling fireworks, there are signs that Babi (as Abidjan residents affectionately call their city) is getting back its lustre and rebuilding its infrastructure in dozens of construction sites across the city.
The combined effects of an armed conflict, which began in 2002, and an intense post-election crisis in 2011 left much of the city infrastructure dilapidated. The swift completion in 2014 of a much-needed bridge on the Ebrié Lagoon was the first sign of the city's renewal. Construction of the bridge had been delayed for almost two decades.
Infrastructure renewal
Linking the north and the south of the city, the 1.5 km toll bridge saves commuters hours they would have spent in slow-moving traffic. In early January 2016, for example, after a holiday weekend, a rush-hour 17-km ride to the airport from the Deux-Plateaux area of Cocody took just 35 minutes; in the past such a distance during rush hour would have taken two hours or more.
The new Henri Konan Bédié Bridge, named after a former president, and its connecting bypass on the Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Boulevard in Marcory are other major infrastructural developments. New hotels under construction and old ones being rehabilitated are part of the city's urban renewal programme.
A growing number of foreign travellers are once again flocking to the city, attracted by the country's economic performance. In 2015 Côte d'Ivoire posted an economic growth rate of about 8%, according to the World Bank. The economy is forecast to maintain the same rate in 2016.
The African Development Bank's (AfDB) decision in 2013 to bring back its headquarters from Tunis to Abidjan was considered one of the earliest signs of international institutions' renewed confidence in Côte d'Ivoire.
The AfDB, which helped finance the new bridge in Abidjan, along with the World Bank, the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), the China Exim Bank and several French companies, has invested heavily in infrastructure financing, including for road rehabilitation and construction.
High-end retail
With the economic boom and the city's growing influx of expatriates, and a flourishing middle class with disposable income and a willingness to spend, the service industry, including restaurants and high-end retail shops, is picking up.
In December 2015 a new 20,000-square-metre shopping mall opened in the southern neighbourhood. Named the PlaYce Marcory, the mall comprises 55 shops, in addition to a hypermarket and a food court. The shops include a Carrefour hypermarket, the first branch of the French retail and grocery group to be opened in sub-Saharan Africa, and branches of L'Occitane en Provence, an international skin care and fragrance retailer, and Brosway, an Italian jeweller.
"PlaYce represents something good for Africa. It shows that Africa has now entered the consumption market," trade minister Jean-Louis Billon said at the opening.
In its golden days during the 1980s and up to the early 1990s, Abidjan, with its towering skyline and surrounding lagoon, was often referred to as "the Paris of West Africa" and its business district "the Manhattan of West Africa" because it was considered one of the foremost African cities in terms of fashion, culture and the standard of living. To many, the opening of a shopping mall with European and American brands is proof that the city can now rival the trendiest world capitals in fashion and quality consumer goods.
"Let me tell you," Sonia Ngoyet told Africa Renewal, "the quality and taste of the burger or the hot dog at the food court is as good as the ones I've tasted in Europe. Having a Burger King here in Abidjan is just fantastic." Ms. Ngoyet and Christelle Amou, both salespersons at the Aseke Oro Jewellery store, one of the locally owned stores in the mall, said they were happy to be working at the mall.
Youth employment lags
Aly Diallo, a regional correspondent for the state-run Fraternité Matin, travelled from the countryside to spend the holidays with his family. He went window-shopping and ended up buying a few items from the French Carrefour hypermarket. But what he wanted most was to have his picture taken in the mall to show that he "was a part of history." After trying a few photo spots, he finally settled for a clothing store with a huge photo of the Eiffel Tower in the background. "A very fitting spot," he said, striking a pose. "The developed world has come to Babi and I need to show people that I was here."
Yet despite the festive New Year's celebrations, chronic problems of income inequality continue to fester. Gbich, a satirical and arguably the most popular news magazine in Abidjan, carried a headline: "Before we knew it, 2015 is over. Yet we have nothing to show for it." Not all Ivorians have shared in the nation's new wealth. "Some of us are left behind," Anselme Kouadio, a street hustler on Rue des Jardins in Cocody, complained. "Talks of bridges and roads being built don't fill the belly. Real jobs are what we need, so we also can enjoy what the city offers. But unfortunately, they are few and far between for young people like us."
Even the World Bank observed in 2015: "There are disparities in access to basic services, and gender disparities across wealth and urban-rural groups". It is estimated that only 57% of the Ivorian population had access to clean water and improved sanitation by 2009, far below the 81% target of the MDGs".
A recent World Bank report, "The Might of the Elephant -- Benefitting from Strong Growth to Create Better Jobs," says about 9 out of 10 young graduates are still struggling to make a decent living.
Campaigning in 2010, "President Ouattara promised to create a million jobs for the youth," Kobri Borgia, the editor of the biweekly La Tribune de l'Economie told Africa Renewal. "Five years later, the jury is still out," he says.
Again in 2015, President Ouattara pledged to make youth employment a priority for his last mandate. While time will tell, Mr. Borgia asserts that "making sure the strong economic growth works for all, including providing employment, is key to Côte d'Ivoire's sustainable growth." The World Bank report came to the same conclusion.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201605040031.html
Premeditated
MANDE KANG
I feel like Mombasa has crazy potential
Have yall seen the city's masterplan?
GE exec on why Obama’s Power Africa has been slow to take off
by Dinfin Mulupi on '19 May 2016'
General Electric’s John Rice at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Benedikt von Loebell
In 2013 US President Barack Obama unveiled an ambitious initiative, dubbed Power Africa, to “double access to power in sub-Saharan Africa”. Initially focused on six partner countries – Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia – Power Africa drew support from various public entities as well as a host of private sector players.
And at the US-Africa Leaders Summit, held in Washington, D.C. in 2014, new financial commitments were made by various partners, raising total funding pledges and investment guarantees for the Power Africa initiative to $26bn. Today the project has attracted a total of about $43bn in commitments.
Power Africa’s goal is to add about 30,000MW of electricity and benefit at least 60 million homes and commercial entities in sub-Saharan Africa.
President Obama’s mega project is one of several initiatives developed recently to combat lack of energy in a region where an estimated 600 million people do not have access to electricity.
Slow progress
However, according to John Rice, vice chairman of General Electric (GE), Power Africa has so far not had much of an impact.
“There have been some very good initiatives contemplated, Power Africa being one of them, but if you look today at the number of megawatts that are actually on the grid directly related to the Power Africa initiative, it is very little,” said Rice.
The GE executive was speaking on a panel at the recently concluded World Economic Forum on Africa held in Kigali, Rwanda. According to a White Housefact sheet on Power Africa, GE committed its technologies, expertise and capital to help develop 5,000MW of new energy in Tanzania and Ghana.
“[Power Africa] was a well-intentioned effort, with a lot of smart people, a lot of willing participants, financial institutions and yet, for some reason, it couldn’t come together. I think there is a number of factors [behind that],” said Rice.
“One is finance – everybody says that they’ll put capital into these projects, and then we define risk in our traditional old-school ways. [And] if you don’t get capital to these power projects, they are not going to happen. So we have to think differently about how we assess risk.”
Rice added the public sector should also change the way it operates. “I think governments and bureaucracies have to act differently – very few are paid to go fast, because they think if they go fast they are going to be accused of being corrupt.”
“We are working on an emergency power project in Ghana that has taken us 16 months to get to the purchase price agreement approval by parliament. That is an emergency power project, so I don’t know how long it would take if it wasn’t an emergency.
“And so we have to condition governments and bureaucracies to be ready to… push these projects forward or they are going to languish – and that contributes to the absence of power connected with Power Africa.”
Rice also faulted stakeholders for taking a short-term approach, revolving around election cycles. “When you are talking about infrastructure investments and power projects, you got to have the ability to get way past the next election. And if you don’t, those projects probably aren’t going to happen.”
Reason for optimism
However, Dana Hyde, CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an independent US government foreign aid agency, noted although deal closing has been slow, Power Africa does have “a robust pipeline”.
MCC is a supporter of Power Africa having committed about $1.5bn to the initiative. Last year, MCC and the US Department of Commerce led an energy sector-focused trade mission to Tanzania with 10 American companies seeking opportunities in the east African country.
“I think results are not coming in terms of closing deals as quickly yet – but I see a great reason for optimism over the next year,” said Hyde.
GE exec on why Obama’s Power Africa has been slow to take off - How We Made It In Africa
by Dinfin Mulupi on '19 May 2016'
General Electric’s John Rice at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Benedikt von Loebell
In 2013 US President Barack Obama unveiled an ambitious initiative, dubbed Power Africa, to “double access to power in sub-Saharan Africa”. Initially focused on six partner countries – Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia – Power Africa drew support from various public entities as well as a host of private sector players.
And at the US-Africa Leaders Summit, held in Washington, D.C. in 2014, new financial commitments were made by various partners, raising total funding pledges and investment guarantees for the Power Africa initiative to $26bn. Today the project has attracted a total of about $43bn in commitments.
Power Africa’s goal is to add about 30,000MW of electricity and benefit at least 60 million homes and commercial entities in sub-Saharan Africa.
President Obama’s mega project is one of several initiatives developed recently to combat lack of energy in a region where an estimated 600 million people do not have access to electricity.
Slow progress
However, according to John Rice, vice chairman of General Electric (GE), Power Africa has so far not had much of an impact.
“There have been some very good initiatives contemplated, Power Africa being one of them, but if you look today at the number of megawatts that are actually on the grid directly related to the Power Africa initiative, it is very little,” said Rice.
The GE executive was speaking on a panel at the recently concluded World Economic Forum on Africa held in Kigali, Rwanda. According to a White Housefact sheet on Power Africa, GE committed its technologies, expertise and capital to help develop 5,000MW of new energy in Tanzania and Ghana.
“[Power Africa] was a well-intentioned effort, with a lot of smart people, a lot of willing participants, financial institutions and yet, for some reason, it couldn’t come together. I think there is a number of factors [behind that],” said Rice.
“One is finance – everybody says that they’ll put capital into these projects, and then we define risk in our traditional old-school ways. [And] if you don’t get capital to these power projects, they are not going to happen. So we have to think differently about how we assess risk.”
Rice added the public sector should also change the way it operates. “I think governments and bureaucracies have to act differently – very few are paid to go fast, because they think if they go fast they are going to be accused of being corrupt.”
“We are working on an emergency power project in Ghana that has taken us 16 months to get to the purchase price agreement approval by parliament. That is an emergency power project, so I don’t know how long it would take if it wasn’t an emergency.
“And so we have to condition governments and bureaucracies to be ready to… push these projects forward or they are going to languish – and that contributes to the absence of power connected with Power Africa.”
Rice also faulted stakeholders for taking a short-term approach, revolving around election cycles. “When you are talking about infrastructure investments and power projects, you got to have the ability to get way past the next election. And if you don’t, those projects probably aren’t going to happen.”
Reason for optimism
However, Dana Hyde, CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an independent US government foreign aid agency, noted although deal closing has been slow, Power Africa does have “a robust pipeline”.
MCC is a supporter of Power Africa having committed about $1.5bn to the initiative. Last year, MCC and the US Department of Commerce led an energy sector-focused trade mission to Tanzania with 10 American companies seeking opportunities in the east African country.
“I think results are not coming in terms of closing deals as quickly yet – but I see a great reason for optimism over the next year,” said Hyde.
GE exec on why Obama’s Power Africa has been slow to take off - How We Made It In Africa
Premeditated
MANDE KANG
some of the work has already started btw
The Odum of Ala Igbo
Hail Biafra!
Chibok girls are coming out of the woodwork now. I hope it's true but I don't trust Buhari's APC
Can live band events bring the Nigerian industry up a level?
BENJAMIN LEBRAVE
With the burst of Afrobeats on to the international scene, much of the world now looks to the Nigerian music industry as the leading charge to establish a permanent African presence on the global pop landscape. In spite of these successes, several players in the local entertainment industry have identified bottlenecks in the Nigerian music scene, and are looking at ways to improve the business that surrounds it.
On a recent trip to Lagos for Gidi Music Festival, I was fortunate to have two separate yet overlapping conversations about the state of the Nigerian music industry. Chin Okeke and Teme Banigo, co-founders of Gidi Music Festival, explained to me that they are trying to raise the bar in terms of music performance in Nigeria. They are doing this by prioritizing live acts over pre-recorded and playback sets.
For those who don’t know, it is rare in much of Africa to see a festival line-up of both established and up and coming artists performing with a full band. On the contrary at Gidi Music Festival, this was a common occurrence. To add to their successes promoting live music through the festival, Chin and Teme’s longer term goals also include opening up mid-sized venues to expand the live music offerings in Nigeria.
Later on my trip I spoke to Jenny Tan, co-founder of Lagos Music Conference, a 2-day event taking place in Lagos this weekend. Jenny’s thoughts illustrate that the conference is sure to stir up a lot of debates in regards to how music is handled both in and outside of Nigeria.
The following interview excerpts contain highlights from these two discussions:
What’s the live music landscape in Nigeria today?
Chin: There’s a lack of infrastructure. What was here in the 1960s and 1970s has been entirely dilapidated. We’re now building up. Most events are sponsorship-driven. If you look at the event space, you’ve got weddings, normally one person foots the bill, or if it’s a branded event, the brand foots the bill. Technically, it doesn’t generate money.
What about venues?
Jenny: There are no medium size venues, so if you’re not an A-list artist, and want to go on a national tour, it’s really difficult. In Lagos you might just about find something, but outside Lagos it becomes really difficult, because either you are looking at stadiums or you’re looking at clubs.
Chin: There’s a lack of venues, we have hotels and tents, some can seat 2,000 people. There are no arenas, and this is an area we want to move into quickly. Right now we’re working on a site that we don’t own [for Gidi festival], but we want to look into acquiring land and building it up, developing the festival and around the festival.
What about promoters?
Jenny: There are also no promoters: not many artists pull a crowd; fans are not particularly loyal or specialized. Mainstream music does not have die-hard fans, so most artists alone are not able to pull a crowd. So if a promoter wants to put on a show, they have to bring the big guns, which you can only do with big sponsors.
Chin: We don’t have promoters in Nigeria because we don’t have enough venues. The cost of putting together a production at the venues we have can never make sense if you look at the numbers. Renting out Eko hotel costs US$80,000, it seats 3,000 people, so if you charge US$50, the numbers never add up.
Jenny: Our system is kind of broken. As a promoter, you look at the potential revenue you can make. You budget about 50% on production, and 30% is supposed to go to the artists. If you were to book talent and apply this formula, nobody can put together an event here, because the artists are too expensive to support the industry. There’s a real disconnect between money they expect and the money they would get without a sponsor.
So the only way to make it work is to do it with sponsors, and I imagine this approach has its own challenges?
Chin: Most brands don’t get it. Their idea of success and their criteria are so warped, because they pay attention to the wrong details. Some brands just want their logo on a flyer, they’re not about creating an experience. Then you have brands who are just interested in the 20 VIP tickets.
Teme: we have brands of consumer goods more interested in the red carpet aspect, instead of their customers’ experience.
Chin: for Heineken, all I had to do was show the brand manager a few things trending, she saw how much engagement had come from a simple event. They do more research, pay attention to the customer experience. Rather than just ask to have their logo everywhere.
Jenny: 90% of events are branded shows. The promoters are the sponsors, they mostly care about banners, VIP seats for the management teams, etc. Nobody cares about the experience.
It sounds like this system doesn’t push the music or experience?
Jenny: There’s no curation of content. Recently a promoter tried to convince me to put so and so on the bill for an event I was organizing, “otherwise people won’t come”. As opposed to saying for instance, we just want the real hip hop fans, and you put together a hip hop line up. Then you’ve got the hip hop crowd. But what we see is a little bit of everything, and the die hard fans don’t want to go, because they will feel like they’re wasting their time and money.
The fact that people never have a great time, and never share a great experience with fellow fans, makes people not want to attend shows. Most shows start late, drag on til late, it makes it costly or dangerous to go home. It’s a mostly shytty experience to go to a large event. Sometimes they run out of drinks, or don’t even sell drinks altogether. Not to mention security guys treating every single people in attendance like they’re football hooligans, girls getting harassed or robbed. So the overall experience is… not great.
Chin: As long as there are people like us ready to up the game, it will continue to grow. Not as fast as we wish because there aren’t enough platforms, but it’s growing.
Teme: In Nigeria we have an environment where we copy success, so as we grow, people look at our model and try to mimic it. If you even look at what’s happened since we started Gidi Festival, we’ve literally seen other events now calling themselves festivals! So I feel that as our model becomes more and more successful, the industry will lean towards this model of live entertainment. I think artists will now be forced to have a live act that will be more attractive to promoters like us.
It sounds like you all agree that Nigeria needs good promoters and more variety in music?
Chin: The industry is evolving, people are watching, production’s gone a long way. But again there’s a lot of top line and very little bottom line. Everybody’s running with it, it looks great, but there’s very little underneath. Everything sounds the same, so the next wave will be stuff that sounds different, that’s what people will be buying into, just because the other stuff is not sticking anymore. Right now I think we just need a few more people to guide the industry, to be responsible for taking decisions, for deciding what is good or bad, what needs to be done. There’s a storm brewing, there’s the mainstream and there is the stream which influences the main. That’s the idea behind the Collective.
Teme: the audience can now be critical, once they’ve been exposed to better, they can be more critical.
Jenny: When I did parties in New York City, we wouldn’t promote on a Clear Channel radio, we’d promote through the scene. Same thing goes for the music at LMC festival. We’ll drill down social media analytics, we’ll find fans who commented on Kid X’s content, we’ll geotarget, then we’ll let these people know the artist is in town. With a line-up of 15 artists, if you find the fans, if each artist pulls 100 fans, then we can pull a crowd. We don’t need to speak to everybody.
What we are doing this weekend is pioneering in a totally different way, we have booked a non-commercial, non-mainstream line up, but it’s not aspiring artists, it’s good music, it’s curated to fit together. I’m now going to have to prove that it is in fact possible to pull a crowd specific to a genre, and prove that curation can help fill the space.
Can live band events bring the Nigerian music industry up a level?
BENJAMIN LEBRAVE
With the burst of Afrobeats on to the international scene, much of the world now looks to the Nigerian music industry as the leading charge to establish a permanent African presence on the global pop landscape. In spite of these successes, several players in the local entertainment industry have identified bottlenecks in the Nigerian music scene, and are looking at ways to improve the business that surrounds it.
On a recent trip to Lagos for Gidi Music Festival, I was fortunate to have two separate yet overlapping conversations about the state of the Nigerian music industry. Chin Okeke and Teme Banigo, co-founders of Gidi Music Festival, explained to me that they are trying to raise the bar in terms of music performance in Nigeria. They are doing this by prioritizing live acts over pre-recorded and playback sets.
For those who don’t know, it is rare in much of Africa to see a festival line-up of both established and up and coming artists performing with a full band. On the contrary at Gidi Music Festival, this was a common occurrence. To add to their successes promoting live music through the festival, Chin and Teme’s longer term goals also include opening up mid-sized venues to expand the live music offerings in Nigeria.
Later on my trip I spoke to Jenny Tan, co-founder of Lagos Music Conference, a 2-day event taking place in Lagos this weekend. Jenny’s thoughts illustrate that the conference is sure to stir up a lot of debates in regards to how music is handled both in and outside of Nigeria.
The following interview excerpts contain highlights from these two discussions:
What’s the live music landscape in Nigeria today?
Chin: There’s a lack of infrastructure. What was here in the 1960s and 1970s has been entirely dilapidated. We’re now building up. Most events are sponsorship-driven. If you look at the event space, you’ve got weddings, normally one person foots the bill, or if it’s a branded event, the brand foots the bill. Technically, it doesn’t generate money.
What about venues?
Jenny: There are no medium size venues, so if you’re not an A-list artist, and want to go on a national tour, it’s really difficult. In Lagos you might just about find something, but outside Lagos it becomes really difficult, because either you are looking at stadiums or you’re looking at clubs.
Chin: There’s a lack of venues, we have hotels and tents, some can seat 2,000 people. There are no arenas, and this is an area we want to move into quickly. Right now we’re working on a site that we don’t own [for Gidi festival], but we want to look into acquiring land and building it up, developing the festival and around the festival.
What about promoters?
Jenny: There are also no promoters: not many artists pull a crowd; fans are not particularly loyal or specialized. Mainstream music does not have die-hard fans, so most artists alone are not able to pull a crowd. So if a promoter wants to put on a show, they have to bring the big guns, which you can only do with big sponsors.
Chin: We don’t have promoters in Nigeria because we don’t have enough venues. The cost of putting together a production at the venues we have can never make sense if you look at the numbers. Renting out Eko hotel costs US$80,000, it seats 3,000 people, so if you charge US$50, the numbers never add up.
Jenny: Our system is kind of broken. As a promoter, you look at the potential revenue you can make. You budget about 50% on production, and 30% is supposed to go to the artists. If you were to book talent and apply this formula, nobody can put together an event here, because the artists are too expensive to support the industry. There’s a real disconnect between money they expect and the money they would get without a sponsor.
So the only way to make it work is to do it with sponsors, and I imagine this approach has its own challenges?
Chin: Most brands don’t get it. Their idea of success and their criteria are so warped, because they pay attention to the wrong details. Some brands just want their logo on a flyer, they’re not about creating an experience. Then you have brands who are just interested in the 20 VIP tickets.
Teme: we have brands of consumer goods more interested in the red carpet aspect, instead of their customers’ experience.
Chin: for Heineken, all I had to do was show the brand manager a few things trending, she saw how much engagement had come from a simple event. They do more research, pay attention to the customer experience. Rather than just ask to have their logo everywhere.
Jenny: 90% of events are branded shows. The promoters are the sponsors, they mostly care about banners, VIP seats for the management teams, etc. Nobody cares about the experience.
It sounds like this system doesn’t push the music or experience?
Jenny: There’s no curation of content. Recently a promoter tried to convince me to put so and so on the bill for an event I was organizing, “otherwise people won’t come”. As opposed to saying for instance, we just want the real hip hop fans, and you put together a hip hop line up. Then you’ve got the hip hop crowd. But what we see is a little bit of everything, and the die hard fans don’t want to go, because they will feel like they’re wasting their time and money.
The fact that people never have a great time, and never share a great experience with fellow fans, makes people not want to attend shows. Most shows start late, drag on til late, it makes it costly or dangerous to go home. It’s a mostly shytty experience to go to a large event. Sometimes they run out of drinks, or don’t even sell drinks altogether. Not to mention security guys treating every single people in attendance like they’re football hooligans, girls getting harassed or robbed. So the overall experience is… not great.
Chin: As long as there are people like us ready to up the game, it will continue to grow. Not as fast as we wish because there aren’t enough platforms, but it’s growing.
Teme: In Nigeria we have an environment where we copy success, so as we grow, people look at our model and try to mimic it. If you even look at what’s happened since we started Gidi Festival, we’ve literally seen other events now calling themselves festivals! So I feel that as our model becomes more and more successful, the industry will lean towards this model of live entertainment. I think artists will now be forced to have a live act that will be more attractive to promoters like us.
It sounds like you all agree that Nigeria needs good promoters and more variety in music?
Chin: The industry is evolving, people are watching, production’s gone a long way. But again there’s a lot of top line and very little bottom line. Everybody’s running with it, it looks great, but there’s very little underneath. Everything sounds the same, so the next wave will be stuff that sounds different, that’s what people will be buying into, just because the other stuff is not sticking anymore. Right now I think we just need a few more people to guide the industry, to be responsible for taking decisions, for deciding what is good or bad, what needs to be done. There’s a storm brewing, there’s the mainstream and there is the stream which influences the main. That’s the idea behind the Collective.
Teme: the audience can now be critical, once they’ve been exposed to better, they can be more critical.
Jenny: When I did parties in New York City, we wouldn’t promote on a Clear Channel radio, we’d promote through the scene. Same thing goes for the music at LMC festival. We’ll drill down social media analytics, we’ll find fans who commented on Kid X’s content, we’ll geotarget, then we’ll let these people know the artist is in town. With a line-up of 15 artists, if you find the fans, if each artist pulls 100 fans, then we can pull a crowd. We don’t need to speak to everybody.
What we are doing this weekend is pioneering in a totally different way, we have booked a non-commercial, non-mainstream line up, but it’s not aspiring artists, it’s good music, it’s curated to fit together. I’m now going to have to prove that it is in fact possible to pull a crowd specific to a genre, and prove that curation can help fill the space.
Can live band events bring the Nigerian music industry up a level?