Day: May 17, 2023

A report on the safety of girls and women shows that 95 per cent of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) cases in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Niger and Nasarawa state communities are perpetrated by men and boys.

Ms Comfort Bello, the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of Talitha Cumi Foundation (TCF), made the assertion at the Flash Light Actions on Girls Safety (FLAGS) project midline dissemination meeting held in Abuja.

Bello said that the three-year FLAGS project is being funded by the UN Trust Fund and implemented by TCF to end GBV and support 750 marginalised schoolgirls between 10-19 years.

She explained that poverty, culture, lack of skills and parental care and neglect are some of the causes of GBV.

She added that “on the midline assessment conducted in our FLAGS communities, the major cause of GBV as identified by the respondents is poverty.

“About 71 per cent cases of GBV are due to poverty and 75 per cent of major perpetrators are men, 20 per cent are boys.

” Therefore, basically 95 per cent are men and boys who are the major perpetrators of GBV in the country.”

Bello explained that the survey also showed that most of the perpetrators of GBV were family members such as brothers, fathers and uncles.

“We believe that if they are continually sensitised in the community, they will be able to protect the girls and GBV will reduce to minimal.

“We also encourage skill acquisition training for girls to keep them busy and be empowered, as the respondents requested for more police stations in their communities,” she said.

She also stressed the need for the establishment of police stations and swift judicial process to ensure arrest, investigation and prosecution of perpetrators to serve as deterrent to others.

Ms Tayo Erinle, the Executive Director, TCF, stressed the need for the establishment of shelter for the safety of GBV survivors.

She said it was important to empower women and girls with skills to enable them have psycho-social support.

Erinle decried the inadequate shelter to carter for the GBV survivors, especially for girls above 18 years, urging stakeholders to provide more for the safety of girls and women.

“We need shelter, places where we can keep the survivors safe and rehabilitate them, while justice is taking its cause and government

can support in this regard.

“If we are unable to take survivors out of where they are being abused, it will continue because of their level of vulnerability.

“So, shelters are very important and as it is now, shelter is inadequate; we don’t have enough, especially for people above 18 years.

“People who have access to the fund and facilities should provide shelter, that is a great way to support the war against GBV.”

She also revealed that slow judicial process stalled justice for GBV cases, increased the act and further affected the mental health of survivors.

“The will of justice is very slow and can be very frustrating for the survivors and us.

“This is because sometimes when you pass through the stages of gathering required evidence, getting the support from the health

and community level, FIDA, Police and ends up in the court and it is taking forever.”

According to her, the issue has to be looked into so as not to make it appear as if nothing is being done.

She said that when people suffer GBV, the harm could be soothed or some comfort could come when they see justice, but not while these cases are ongoing.

Mrs Gloria Ekanem of Women Development Department, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, said every opportunity to talk about girls

safety was an opportunity to discuss the future of young Nigerian women.

Ekanem expressed regret that the issue of rape was still rampart, and urged girls to “know how to protect yourselves and be armed

with the right education from the right people so that you will not be misled.”

Also, Mrs Funmi Kolawole, the Gender Desk Officer, Nigeria Police said “most of the cases reported are from villages,

communities and most of the perpetrators are relations that are supposed to take care of the survivors.

“The number of people reporting GBV cases are more than how it used to be and the culture of silence has been broken

and we have a lot of reports now,” Kolawole said.

Miss miracle, 12 year-old school dropout, said the FLAGS project exposed her to GBV preventive measures, how to seek

help, improve her self-esteem and menstrual health hygiene management.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a $11.7 million budgetary allocation to the African Fertilizer Financing Mechanism (AFFM) for its 2023 operations. The approval on May 16 increases the fund allotted to the programme to a total of $16.4 with $4.7 million out of the money carried over from the previous year. The Board also validated the AFFM’s activities for the year, which include strengthening the fertilizer sector through access to finance, supporting the development of sustainable policy reforms to improve fertilizer production, trade and use, and facilitating of access to inputs and technical assistance for smallholder farmers. AFFM plans to continue implementing three commercial credit guarantee projects amounting to $8.3 million to recipient countries, including Zimbabwe ($4.3 million), Côte d’Ivoire ($2 million), and Ghana ($2 million). For 2023, it plans to implement trade credit guarantee schemes of $9.7 million in Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, and Kenya. Three more new projects could be launched in Senegal, Zambia, and Ghana if the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) follows through on its $15 million commitment to the AFFM. The implementation of the projects is in line with the second pillar of the Bank’s African Emergency Food Production Facility, which was launched to avert a looming food crisis in Africa following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In addition, AFFM will actively work with African countries and other key stakeholders to develop the national food and agriculture pacts that the continent’s leaders presented at the Feed Africa Summit in Dakar in January 2023. A press release on the approval said AFFM would facilitate smallholder farmers’ access to inputs and extension services through credit guarantee projects and capacity building for farmers and input distributors. It said it would continue to work with the International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) on initiatives to improve fertilizer production, trade and use, launched in 2021. It would also conduct an in-depth analysis of fertilizer policy in at least ten African countries, which would map the current situation, identify gaps, and prepare an action plan. The aim is to support policy orientations that will address the identified shortcomings. Established by the African Union in Abuja in 2006, the African Fertiliser Financing Mechanism is a special fund that aims to improve agricultural productivity by providing the necessary financing to boost fertilizer use in Africa and achieve the 50 kilograms of nutrients per hectare target. It is hosted and managed by the African Development Bank. AFFM has a strategic plan for the 2022 – 2028 period. In Africa, AFFM’s work is crucial in addressing food crises and various threats to food security caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, climate change (drought, floods, soil depletion, etc.), conflict, locust infestation and disease.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Stakeholders in the packaging, plastics, food processing, and printing industries will converge in Accra next month to discuss issues affecting the industry and proffer sustainable solutions to boost the local economy. The maiden edition of Propak Ghana – a conference for industry players – which will take place on June 6 to June 8, 2023, is expected to feature more than 40 speakers, who will hold sessions on the circular economy, sustainability, and financing options for Small Medium Enterprises and Multinationals, among others. Speaking at the media launch, Mr George Pearson, Regional Director of Afrocet Montgomery, organisers of the event, said it had been designed to support manufacturers, who needed to foster business partnerships and trade exchanges. ‘Visitors to the event will be able to explore the latest innovations and products from leading suppliers from the local region as well as international companies from all corners of the globe, who will be showcasing the newest advances in industry innovation and products that are collectively supporting the local manufacturing industry. ‘Visitors will also be able to speak to technical experts and benefit from seeing live demonstrations of machinery in action,’ he said. He said investment in manufacturing, use of state-of-the-art equipment and machinery, as well as human capital development, were requisites for ensuring that the country maximised revenue from its exports. ‘This approach can ensure Ghana’s plan at transforming its economy from one heavily reliant on natural resources to a true value-added exports-lead economy,’ he said. Mr Albert Kassim Diwura, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), called on manufacturers especially the packaging industry to invest in technology and adopt environmentally sustainable solutions. The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) is the headline partner with support from GEPA, and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), among others.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The oil tax revenue stood at 1.3 billion kwanzas in the first quarter of this year, Kz 800 billion less compared to the same period of 2022, during which the sector collected Kz 2.1 billion.

The value (Kz 1.3 billion) resulted from the sale of 96.84 million barrels of oil at an average price of USD 79.31, based on data available on the Ministry of Finance website, through the Special Taxation Directorate (DTE) .

As for the first quarter of 2022, in which the State collected 2.1 billion kwanzas, the country exported 103.144 million barrels, at an average price of USD 87.

The first quarter of this year (2023) loses with 2022, both in terms of the average price per barrel and in terms of the quantities of crude oil exported.

The revenue collected results from the payment of taxes on the transaction, sharing and production of crude oil.

Block 17 remains in the main position with the best performance, producing 32.5 million of the total barrels of crude oil exported, followed by Block 32, with 12.9 million, Block 0, with 12.8 million and Block 15 with 11.06 million barrels.

In 2022, oil tax revenues were around 9.108 billion kwanzas, in 2022, representing a growth of 51% compared to the same period (2021), which recorded revenues of Kz 6. 034 billion.

Revenue collected last year resulted from the sale of around 417 million barrels of oil, as well as the payment of taxes on the transaction, sharing and production of crude oil, according to the manager of the General Tax Administration (AGT), Tiago Santos, who was speaking at a press conference this Monday, in Luanda.

For this economic year of 2023, the Budget proposal has a reference price of USD 75 per barrel of oil, and an average daily oil production of 1.18 million barrels.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

Angola’s currency Kwanza depreciated 3.1% last Friday (12th), due to the drop in the amounts of currency made available to the market, breaking a period of apparent stability, ANGOP has learned.

Angolan currency had been under pressure for some time, and the situation is visible in some movements in the unofficial market, with the “spread” (buying and selling difference) widening in the exchange of dollars, but also euros, states BFA bank on its publication.

The source highlights that the inflow of foreign currency into the country has been lower, mainly due to the decrease in export earnings.

The publication stresses the first quarter of 2023 as a reference, in which exports of goods will have totaled US$8.3 billion, a drop of 11.1% compared to USD 9.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022.

As for imports of goods, adds the bank, the drop in the same period was 10.7%, to USD 4.1 billion, which would not point to the current imbalance.

Still, the BFA publication mentions the drop in the sale of currency to the private economy, in a greater amount due to the decrease in the provision of foreign currency by the Treasury, which generally provides more than 25% of foreign currency to the market.

The inflows of currency in April and May of this year have been falling with greater intensity due to the drop in the price of oil, which is another factor of imbalance in the market.

According to the document, there is also an expectation that the Kwanza will stabilise at a level closer to USD/AOA 540/550, at the end of the year.

Year-on-year inflation in April stood at 10.6%, a fall of just 0.2 percentage points (pp) compared to March, signaling the fifteenth consecutive month of decline, thus remaining at 0.9 % for consecutive months.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)