Africa Archives - The Nigerian Diplomat

13 African Countries Partner With India To Enhance Agricultural Industrialization [2017]

Thirteen (13) African countries have signed a series of partnership agreements (including Nigeria) with India to enhance agricultural industrialization, which includes supply of agricultural machinery, credit advancement to farmers and scientific cooperation.

These partnerships were announced as African Ministers of Agriculture, private sector associations and industry representatives from India and Africa, converged for crucial sessions of deal-making at the 52nd session of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Annual Meetings in India, to rapidly advance cooperation.

To ensure a trade balance between the two regions, the Indian Government is currently preparing an aide memoire – an informal diplomatic communication to all African countries, as well as the country’s readiness to accept imports of key cereals and grains from African producers. In addition, the Indian Government has made a proposal to provide vaccines to enable West African countries to deal with foot and mouth disease – an illness that affects livestock production, as well as its eagerness to advance cooperation through rapid expansion of agriculture.

According to Gujarat State Minister of Agriculture, Chimanbhai Dharamshibai Shaparia:

“We feel the areas identified for cooperation could raise agricultural productivity in Africa because these include our support to the Pan African University Institute of Life and Earth Sciences in Ibadan, Nigeria. We want to ensure that capacity building is given full priority.”

The proposals to invest in Africa’s climate-smart future in farming, providing high quality but low-cost farm machinery and opening avenues for cooperation between Indian and African industry group representatives, stood out as one of the most practical highlights of the 52nd session of the AfDB Annual meeting in the outskirts of the Gujarat capital, Ahmedabad.

German Government unveils proposed “Marshall Plan” with Africa at the AfDB

The German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Gerd Müller, has unveiled his Government’s proposed “Marshall Plan” with Africa at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), saying the Plan can help resolve some of the challenges facing Africa.

Briefing the Bank’s leadership in Abidjan on Thursday, Müller noted that while Africa remains a continent of opportunity with very dynamic development and a strong and promising youth, it faces many challenges.

The Minister and his delegation arrived in Côte d’Ivoire from Burkina Faso on the second segment of an African tour which includes Tunisia and Egypt.

The continent, he said, would have to create 20 million jobs per year and expand training and education facilities for a growing population expected to reach 2 billion by 2050.

This scenario, he said, calls for a new initiative with the dimensions of a “Marshall Plan with Africa (not for Africa),” a term, which, he said, underlines the strong concerted efforts from Africa, its partners and the global multilateral system.

With the African Union’s 2063 Agenda as the framework, the Minister said the plan will focus on economic mobilization, education, training and entrepreneurship programmes that would give millions of Africans better prospects that are vital for Africa’s future and for Europe and the world.

The blueprint proposes a “new level” of equal cooperation between Africa and western countries in areas such as education, trade, business development and energy.

It also calls for better and more equitable market access for African exports, an end to illicit financial flows from Africa and tax evasion by multinational companies. The plan, he said, would further support the development of agricultural value chains within African countries to enable them derive appropriate benefits from the products, citing cotton in Burkina Faso and cocoa and coffee in Côte d’Ivoire as examples.

IBM Digital – Nation Africa: Investment, Knowledge & Economy

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) with its “IBM Digital – Nation Africa” initiative is investing $70 million in building much-needed digital, cloud, and cognitive Information and Technology (IT) skills to help support a 21st century workforce in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and other parts of Africa.

The initiative, “IBM Digital – Nation Africa”, provides a cloud-based learning platform designed to provide free skills development programmes for up to 25 million African youths over five years, enabling digital competence and nurturing innovation in Africa.
The IBM Digital – Nation Africa is designed to boost overall digital literacy, increase the number of skilled developers able to tap into cognitive engines, and enable entrepreneurs and prospective entrepreneurs grow businesses around the new solutions.

The initiative will be supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which has a special focus on fostering market-driven ICT skills in Africa and the Middle East.

The plan is expected to take many African youths out of the labour market and secure them with the right information that would enable them contribute positively to economic growth.

This is part of IBM’s global push to build the next generation of skills needed for “New Collar” careers.

“New Collar” is a term used by IBM to describe new kinds of careers that do not always require a four-year college degree but rather sought-after skills in cybersecurity, data science, artificial intelligence, cloud, and much more.