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The East African
Monday December 21 2020
The Hela Intimates EPZ Ltd factory in Athi River, Kenya. The EABC argues that it would be more beneficial if the region is marketed as a single investment destination. PHOTO | LUCY WANJIRU
Summary
The EABC said that while it supports Kenya’s decision, the region’s enjoinment to the deal would enable the bloc to export larger volumes of goods and enjoy economies of scale by marketing as one investment destination.
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The East Africa Business Council wants the region’s partner states to start negotiations with the United Kingdom, following the signing of the Brexit trade deal between Kenya and the UK.
Application Deadline:January 22nd, 2021.
SDG Impact Accelerator (SDGia), a global accelerator launched by Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNDP in 2018, has opened its second global call for impact entrepreneurs to find innovative solutions for SDG-related complex development challenges. During the second SDGia program, startups will work on products and services in the field of financial inclusion in Bangladesh and digital agriculture in Uganda.
SDGia has introduced a novel approach to startup acceleration thanks to its convening power for private and public stakeholders, with a specific focus on empowering innovative entrepreneurs who are providing impact at scale for low-income groups, the bottom of the pyramid.
70pc of destinations lift travel restrictions, but global gap emerging
The number of destinations closed to international tourism has continued to fall. According to the eighth edition of the UNWTO Travel Restrictions Report, 70 per cent of all global destinations have eased restrictions on travel introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In comparison, just one in four destinations continue to keep their borders completely closed to international tourists.
Launched by the World Tourism Organization at the start of the pandemic, the Travel Restrictions Report keeps track of measures being taken in 217 destinations worldwide, helping to support the mitigation and recovery efforts of the tourism sector. For this latest edition, the methodology has been updated to offer insights into the tourism flows of destinations, as well as to explore the link between health and hygiene infrastructure, environmental performance and any potential connection to travel restrictions.
Matilda Moyo: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 19 December 2020:
Africa faces its worst economic recession in 25 years, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is estimated that the continent’s economy will contract by 2.6% at worst, pushing about 29 million people into extreme poverty and causing 19 million job losses, while remittances to sub-Saharan Africa are likely to decline by 23.1% ($37 billion) in 2020 alone.
Africa’s challenge is not the absence of liquidity or funds to finance development. Its problems are massive illicit financial flows that are draining funding capacity and the lack of ownership over natural resources, coupled with a whole narrative built around managing poverty instead of development, and depicting Africa as a poor continent in need of help from the international community.