SPECIAL FEATURE PHOTO: fivepointsix/
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The human touch “Harnessing Africa’s human capital is the most sustainable way for economic transformation and social progress. IFAD partners with governments to drive the regional integration agenda to help attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – but this will not be achieved without the right human capital in place. According to the World Bank, Africa’s
working-age population will grow by approximately 450 million people between 2015 and 2035. By 2050, Africa will have 362 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years old. Youth therefore has a critical role to play in regional integration, as young people will be the future labor force. Thus, they need to have the right skills, equipment and technologies. We are starting to see some of this training in West Africa, where universities are equipping youth with skills to work in the finance sector, and hubs of excellence are emerging in the EAC for sectors including health, digital engineering and legal. This approach is critical as it signals to the world that the regions have the right skills and institutions to do business.”
IFAD considers the OPEC Fund a key partner… Together we have truly made a difference to the lives of millions of rural people.
“ Sara Mbago-Bhunu
Mobilizing member states “The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of international global trading and food systems. With the disruption of supply and demand chains, there are a lot of lessons we can draw to reinforce the strengths and address the weaknesses of regional integration. One of the greatest lessons is the ability of regional blocks to mobilize their member states to address a common issue. As the pandemic spread in Africa, it was projected that the already fragile health systems on the continent would not be able to cope with the influx of COVID-19 patients. In response to this, we saw ECOWAS
stepping up and calling on their member states to dedicate 15 percent of their national budgets to boost their health systems in readiness. This experience
underscores the importance of harmonizing policies that address issues of public goods across borders. As the pandemic ravaged the world, measures to mitigate it were put in place, including border closures that left many countries at risk of food insecurity. As a response to this, the EAC mobilized its member states to create food corridors that allowed truck drivers to transport food across borders within the set COVID-19 health protocols. Going forward, there are a number
of key lessons that can be drawn from this, including the need to build regional capabilities to supply diverse products and produce; putting in place policies that facilitate priority sectors like agriculture during times of crisis; and identifying natural assets that go beyond borders as public goods.”
The OPEC Fund and IFAD “The OPEC Fund supports development projects that align with the SDGs, and it adds value to IFAD finance that focuses on resilience, building productive assets of smallholder farmers and facilitating public-private partnerships to improve rural community access to services. IFAD considers the OPEC Fund a key partner; it has participated in over 50 IFAD-supported projects across the 16 countries in the East and Southern Africa region that I lead. Together, we have invested in irrigation technologies that are helping farmers reduce their reliance on rain-fed agriculture, and we have built storage facilities that have contributed to reduced post-harvest losses. Together we have truly made a difference to the lives of millions of rural people in the region. As part of the post-
COVID-19 response, there is a lot that the international community can do. Namely, it must support rural stimulus packages to mitigate
financial volatility faced by agri- SMEs to safeguard jobs and incomes; promote and deploy digital solutions to mitigate supply chain disruptions; address demand-shocks for households that cannot afford rising food prices; retool and reskill young people to participate in the digital economy; and reinforce the capacities and capabilities of government to manage national food reserves, national crop/ livestock insurance schemes, as well as enact policies to reduce disruption. The international community must also collaborate with the private sector to promote investments through de- risking and guarantee instruments. These are important areas for IFAD and the OPEC Fund to keep in mind as we help to promote recovery and build a sustainable post-COVID world.”
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PHOTO: IFAD/Flavio Ianniello
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