Monday, October 27, 2014
Global Institutions To Spend $8 billion on Horn Of Africa
Global Institutions To Spend $8 billion on Horn Of Africa
-Sulaimon Mojeed-Sanni
Leaders of global and regional institutions in an historic trip to the Horn of Africa
countries; Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan,
Sudan, and Uganda, have pledge political support and major new financial
assistance for countries in the region, totaling more than $8 billion over the
coming years.
The visit which commences today would be led
by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the World Bank Group (WBG) President, Jim
Yong Kim, as well as the President of the Islamic Development Bank Group and
high level representatives of the African Union Commission, the European Union,
the African Development Bank, and Intergovernmental Agency for Development
(IGAD) are combining forces to promote stability and development in the Horn of
Africa.
On the first day of the joint trip, the World
Bank Group announced a major new financial pledge of $1.8 billion for
cross-border activities in a Horn of Africa Initiative that will boost economic
growth and opportunity, reduce poverty, and spur business activity.
Leading the
trip to the Horn of Africa, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban
Ki-moon said "The countries of the Horn of Africa are making
important yet unheralded progress in economic growth and political
stability. Now is a crucial moment to support those efforts, end the
cycles of conflict and poverty, and move from fragility to sustainability. The
United Nations is joining with other global and regional leaders to ensure a
coherent and coordinated approach towards peace, security and development in
the Horn of Africa."
The European Union also announced that it would support the countries in the
region with a total of around $3.7 billion until 2020, of which about 10
percent would be for cross-border activities; the African Development Bank
announced a pledge of $1.8 billion over the next three years for countries of the
Horn of Africa region; while the Islamic Development Bank committed to deploy
up to $1 billion in new financing in its four member countries in the Horn of
Africa (Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda).
The Horn of Africa is said to have a diverse
system with some of the fastest growing economies and huge untapped natural
resources.
However, it was gathered to also have many
extraordinarily poor people and populations that are now doubling every 23
years.
“Unemployment is widespread among growing
numbers of young people. Women, in particular, face huge obstacles because of
their gender, including limited land rights, limited education, and social
customs that often thwart their ability to pursue economic opportunity, and
improve living conditions for their families and communities,” he was stated in
a press statement posted on World Bank website.
The countries in the region are also said to
be vulnerable to corruption, piracy, arms and drug trafficking.
“Terrorism, and related money flows are
significant and interconnected threats in the Horn of Africa. People-trafficking
is also a growing problem in the region. However, there are commendable efforts
being made through regional cooperation in parts of the Horn to tackle the root
causes of these problems.The new financing announcement will support
those efforts and comes on the first day of the trip (today),” the statement
added.
The global institutions would be led by UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to discuss peace, security, and resilience.
In addition to the UN Secretary-General,
other leaders making the trip are World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim;
Islamic Development Bank Group President Ahmad Mohamed Ali; African Union
Commission Deputy Chairperson Erastus Mwencha; Intergovernmental Agency for
Development (IGAD) Executive Secretary, Ambassador Mahboub Maalim; African
Development Bank Group Special Advisor to the President, Youssouf Ouedraogo;
Deputy Director General for Development and Cooperation, European
Commission, Marcus Cornaro and European Union Special Representative for the
Horn of Africa, Alexander Rondos.
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