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Through the Let Girls Learn, the U.S. is funding over 50 programs and projects that support girls’ education around the world.
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In the Africa of yore, it was simply enough for women to be satisfied with traditional roles of raising children, cooking and other roles assigned to them by their respective society. Those roles have traditionally greased the ambitious wheels of their husband and male counterparts, and often in the past led to discriminations, repressions and subjugations of women by men. Right now, a cultural shift is taking place among men- fathers are now valuing their daughters as much as their they valued sons and thus encouraging girls to pursue education and work outside of home, and as a result, there are a new breed of leaders in Africa: Women.
In the last decade, Africa now counts a historic five female presidents. Rwanda- the once war-torn country now ranks highest in Africa as the most inclusive society for women in sub-Saharan Africa for having women majority in its parliament.
Continue reading African Development Bank is using this year’s Sustainable Energy for All Africa conference to push forward its renewable energy agenda for Africa as well as raise awareness among African countries and development partners about ensuring gender equality.
During a three-day meeting held last week in Abidjan, AfDB’s Acting First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Charles Boamah told a group of more than 100 international and domestic business, government, and civil society leaders that an expeditious improvement of access to renewable energy has become a top priority of many African countries and leaders, and that the Bank plans to “ramp up its investments- equity, loans, grants and guarantees along with co-financing and syndication,” under the New Deal on Energy for Africa.
Continue reading Africa’s rise challenges the imagination. During the last decade, Sub-Saharan Africa was home to six of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies. During the next five years, the region’s GDP is expected to grow 30% faster than that of the rest of the world. And, during the next 35 years, the continent will account for more than half of the world’s population growth, according to the United Nations. Earlier this summer, the US Congress, recognizing these gains and underscoring the strength of America’s commitment to Africa, overwhelmingly approved legislation to reauthorize AGOA for another ten years. Even as we consider how to make the most of AGOA’s historic renewal, we need to look beyond 2025 and imagine what a deeper, more mature economic partnership might entail.
As President Obama made clear at the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington, DC, a year ago, the US is not new to Africa. We have been engaged in Africa for decades, not as a colonial power, but as a partner. And that partnership is based not on extracting resources from the region, but on unlocking growth for all. As representatives from across Africa gather in Libreville, Gabon, this week for this year’s AGOA Forum, we have an opportunity and an obligation to take that partnership to the next level.
Continue reading In Burundi where the current political situation has cast a dark cloud over the country’s democratic process and reconstruction efforts, a ray of light is peeking through that cloud in form of local organizations that are trying to bring some sort of normalcy and stability to their communities.
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