Policy News
China skirting African corruption in direct aid – As China’s strategic interest in East Africa grows, instead of simply giving cash as foreign aid, China prefers to pay Chinese companies to improve infrastructure, bypassing local politicians and construction crews. Just last month, Chinese workers built two towers in Kampala, in what “aid watchdogs applaud as a model to help defeat the inefficiencies and cash-pocketing corruption associated with other systems of foreign aid delivery.” This new model could help to “cut the risk of aid scandals like the one that rocked the $22.6 billion Global Fund.” (AP, Rodney Muhumuza)
World Bank: Break Down African Trade Barriers – In a new World Bank Report, De-Fragmenting Africa: Deepening Regional Integration, they say that regional trade barriers are preventing African countries from earning billions of dollars. Combining the individual country markets would “bring a lot of opportunities for people to trade across borders, but (also) to exploit the benefits of a much larger market.” The World Bank is expected to increase funding to regional trade integration projects for 2012. (VOA, Joe DeCapua)
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A decision by the Nigerian government to halt a hefty fuel subsidy on January 1 prompted one of the largest and most coordinated protests in Nigeria’s history. Though the protests are over, the issues that prompted them remain.
UPDATE, 2/9/2012: Yesterday, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed his rival in last year’s presidential election, Nuhu Ribadu, as chairman of a new oil task force dedicated to tracking revenues paid to the government, and monitoring crude oil production and exports. Mr. Ribadu is formerly the chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and accepted the post at the helm of the 21-man Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force despite his political affiliations because of the “national consensus” on the “deadly impact of corruption.”
Occupy Nigeria movement. Photo credit: Temi KOGBE/ fatcityafrica.com
What is the fuel subsidy?
Though Nigeria produces more than 2 million barrels of oil a day, the vast majority of Nigerians see limited benefits from their country’s natural resources. Nigeria has four oil refineries that only operate at about 23 percent of their potential capacity — and as a result, the government has had to import refined products such as petrol to meet the needs of citizens. The government paid the importers in order to control the price, kept low at $1.70 a gallon, thus ensuring that Nigerians were able, until January 1st, to enjoy the low fuel price as one of the benefits of the crude oil they produce.
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Funding squeeze, apathy mean another half century of AIDS – UN expert – Paul De Lay, the deputy executive director of UNAIDS said that while the world could soon reduce new HIV infections to zero with enough funding, “global apathy and the financial crisis mean it might take another 50 years to stop the AIDS epidemic.” De Lay called on developing countries to take responsibility for eradicating HIV in their own countries instead of relying completely on foreign assistance, especially at a time when HIV/AIDS efforts are facing an unprecedented drop in funding. (AlertNet, Thin Lei Win)
World Bank Warns on Africa Trade – A new World Bank report shows that African countries are “sacrificing billions of dollars in potential trade each year to inefficient border crossings and discordant regulations that make it difficult to do business on the continent.” The World Bank urges these countries to streamline border protocols, invest in infrastructure, and coordinate legal and financial rules to help boost international trade. (WSJ, Patrick McGroarty)
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Horn of Africa Famine Six Months Later – In a recent briefing about the famine in the Horn of Africa, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy for the Bureau of African Affairs, Bruce Wharton, explained that we need to “work with regional governments and others to establish longer-term food security assurance,” and fill the “fundamental need for stable, secure, and citizen-focused governance in Somalia.” The U.S. has been the largest humanitarian donor to the region. (VOA)
Malaria death toll falling – A recent study by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) indicates that despite the fact that malaria kills about 50% more people than previously realized, “efforts to combat the disease have however evened out reducing the totally number of global deaths.” The report also shows that malaria deaths peaked in 2004, at 1.8 million people, and have since been declining. (Digital Journal, Robin Okuthe)
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An introductory look at the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Enhanced Social Accountability, currently under construction and inviting comments on how it can help civil society organizations hold their governments to account for more effective development.
What is the Global Partnership for Enhanced Social Accountability?
In April 2011, World Bank President Robert Zoellick addressed the Peterson Institute for International Economics about the implications of the political revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa on how we should think about development. He focused specifically on the importance of citizen action and civil society: “An empowered public is the foundation for a stronger society, more effective government, and a more successful state,” he said. The World Bank is currently developing a proposed Global Partnership for Enhanced Social Accountability to support civil society organizations (CSOs) in developing countries to hold governments accountable and improve development outcomes.
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Paul Bugala, Senior Sustainability Analyst for Extractive Industries at Calvert Investments, explains why Wall Street and the developing world need mandatory oil and mining payment transparency. This piece is part of a larger blog series on transparency in the extractives industry. Stay tuned for more updates on this topic.
Imagine you had to make one decision that could change your community and livelihood dramatically. Wouldn’t you want to be 100 percent sure your decision created the best opportunities possible for you and your family?
On the flip side, what if that decision involved an investment of millions of dollars? You would want all the information you could find about the possible outcomes and risks of your decision, wouldn’t you?
Today, across the globe, citizens of resource-rich yet poor countries and investors in oil, gas and mining companies have a problem just like this. These odd couples both need to make very important decisions about natural resource projects and the companies that undertake them, but they don’t have enough information to make sure their choices are right.
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Improving Governance Through Budget Transparency – The current fiscal crises in the US and Europe has led to “greater scrutiny of the efficacy of public expenditures,” which will likely have the greatest impact on “foreign aid and development assistance, as countries demand greater accountability for each dollar or euro spent.” This scrutiny has led to a recent surge in government-led initiatives that aim to increase fiscal transparency and make “aid to conflict ridden countries dependent on improved governance.” (Huffington Post, Michael Lipsky)
Is Malaria Twice as Deadly Than We Think It Is? – The news last week that malaria kills nearly twice as many people per year as we had previously thought “plunges the current multibillion-dollars anti-malaria campaign, and the push to reach a 2015 deadline for achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals, into grave doubt.” Previous statistics have underestimated the scope of the malaria problem, believing that it was a disease that primarily afflicted children. (TIME, Alex Perry)
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