The meeting of the BRICS Coordination Committee on Antimonopoly Policy, held under the auspices of the Russian Chairmanship, took place on July 2, 2024 in Geneva. The event brought together the heads of the BRICS competition authorities, including Brazil, India, China, Russia, South Africa as well as the new members – Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt and UAE.

The event underscored the commitment of BRICS member countries to fostering a competitive environment that benefits both businesses and consumers. The Russian side brought forward the proposal that an enhanced cooperation platform be launched to institutionalize and thus further deepen the BRICS partnership towards an inclusive, diverse, and just economic order – the BRICS Global Action Platform on Fair Market Competition developed by BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre. Representatives of antitrust agencies participating in the event expressed their support to initiate the next stage of institutionalization of antitrust cooperation. The BRICS Centre will provide intellectual resources to facilitate the launch of the Action Platform.

Additionally, the meeting focused on the widening of BRICS and the procedure for new member countries to join the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Competition Law and Policy of the BRICS countries signed on May 19, 2016, in St. Petersburg. During the meeting, attendees also shared the main significant results of the BRICS competition authorities’ activities, highlighting the progress made in promoting fair competition practices and addressing antimonopoly issues. Finally, the participants adopted a Joint Statement of the Heads of the BRICS Competition Authorities on consolidation of efforts to maintain healthy competition in socially significant markets.

“During the Russian presidency, taking into account the BRICS expansion, a window of opportunity opens, allowing to bring antitrust cooperation in the BRICS format to a new qualitative level. In the future, this will include joint investigations into the activities of international cartels, global monopolies and economic concentration transactions. The need for this is recognized by both the expert community of our countries and antitrust regulators, as demonstrated by the results of an in-depth survey conducted by the BRICS International Center for Competition Law and Policy previous year,” – said Alexey Ivanov, Director of the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre.

The core function of the proposed Action Platform is to assist competition authorities in their enforcement activities by providing the necessary technical and analytical assistance as well as supporting the development and enlargement of expertise and research on competition policy among the member states. The ambition is to establish a BRICS-focused center of expertise aimed at knowledge creation and knowledge sharing in the global market of ideas dominated currently by the legacy institutions of the West.

“This platform, if implemented, will allow antitrust regulators of the BRICS countries to more actively influence the global architecture of economic relations. This is a mechanism for harmonizing positions on how to jointly influence the global economy, global markets and global value chains. The BRICS governments have already supported the idea of creating a grain exchange, and this initiative also represents an element of integration and facilitation of agreements in other sectoral areas. Oversight of industries organized in global value chains requires an approach nested in a three-dimensional, value chain perspective as opposed to narrow, geographically bound markets. Flexible joint cooperation formats involving jurisdictions at different value chain segments can provide a balanced response thus creating a value chain of regulators,” Ivanov concluded. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre.

The African Development Bank (ADB) Group (www.AfDB.org) Board of Directors has approved a grant of $17 million to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to implement the Project for Promotion of Gender-Sensitive Agricultural Value Chains and Women’s Entrepreneurship (French acronym PCVASGEF) (http://apo-opa.co/3ztTpsd).

This project is financed under the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP) (http://apo-opa.co/45XqiJR) and aims to increase productivity and add value to agricultural products to boost women’s income and support female entrepreneurship in Mauritania. The project is a part of the Programme to Support Agricultural Transformation in Mauritania (http://apo-opa.co/45XqkkX) which works to adapt to climate change and promote inclusion.

“This project is an important lever for agricultural transformation in Mauritania. It will help to empower the country’s women by supporting their work in the vegetable production and packaging industry. It will create local market garden production centres and irrigation basins that operate throughout the year, preventing production disruptions at national level,” explained Malinne Blomberg, the Bank’s Country Manager for Mauritania.

The project will create new market gardening plots managed by women (1,014 hectares divided into 321 small modular plots between two and four hectares each) as well as 4,500 hectares of improved drainage basins.

More efficient use of agricultural produce will be made possible by building and equipping 12 multi-purpose, internet-connected centres for the promotion of female employment, two vegetable packaging and storage units and six local vegetable markets. The programme is focused on encouraging entrepreneurial culture among women (creation of innovative start-ups, backing for young entrepreneurs, training, etc). It includes capacity-building for actors in the market-gardening value chain, support for women’s organisations (including 205 women’s market-gardening cooperatives) and the establishment of 12 agricultural savings and loan associations.

The project will be implemented in 12 districts of the Brakna and Trarza regions. These are among the most vulnerable in Mauritania and where the situation of women is particularly precarious. The project will directly benefit up to 22,200 households and will have indirect impact on nearly 90,000 people. It will help to improve food security and strengthen the resilience of households, particularly women and young people, through innovative and efficient irrigation systems, greater use of solar energy, agricultural transformation, access to markets and upgrading of value chains.

The active portfolio of Bank Group in Mauritania now includes 20 operations with net financial commitments of $422 million.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Media contact:
Alexis Adélé,
Communication and External Relations Department,
media@afdb.org

African Export-Import Bank (“Afreximbank” or the “Bank”) (www.Afreximbank.com) is pleased to announce the following Board changes which took place at the Bank’s 31st Annual General Meeting held recently in Nassau, The Bahamas,

Board Changes

Class “A”

Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya was elected to replace Mr. Aliyu Ahmed. Mrs. Jafiya is the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Mr. Amadou Hott was elected to fill the position of the African Development Bank nominated board seat. Mr. Hott is currently the Special Envoy of the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group on the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Hott was Senegal’s Minister for Economy, Planning and Cooperation.

Class “B”

Mr. Noël Mekulu Mvondo Akame was elected to replace Mr. Jean-Marie Mani. Mr. Mekulu Mvondo Akame is currently the Director General of the National Social Insurance Fund (CNPS) of Cameroon.

Class “C”

Ms. Yu Wen was elected to replace Ms Lili Yang. Ms. Yu Wen currently serves as the General Manager of the International Department at the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM).

Increase in Authorised Share Capital

The shareholders of the Bank also approved an increase in the authorised share capital from US$5 billion to US$25 billion. The increase recognizes the rapid growth of the Bank in response to the challenges facing the African continent. It also creates capacity for the Bank to support the growth and development envisaged for the African continent in line with its mandate to promote the continent’s trade and affirm its relevance on the global stage.

Commenting on these significant developments, Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank remarked:

“Afreximbank is most grateful to departing Board Members for their services to the Bank and Africa. They were for many years, part of a formidable team, that made significant contribution to the Bank’s vision for Africa, created alliances, and assisted Africa in navigating major headwinds. We welcome our new board members. We look forward to their support and insight as we strive to build a prosperous Global Africa. Together, we will restore dignity and pride to Africans around the world.”

 He added: “the overwhelming endorsement by Shareholders of the historic increase of the Bank from US$5 billion to US$25 billion reflected their firm belief and trust in the Board and Management of the Bank and in the Bank’s mission. This move gives us the necessary headroom to mobilise the capital we need to create a bank that serves all Africans.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.

Media Contact:
Vincent Musumba
Manager, Communications and Events (Media Relations)
Email: press@afreximbank.com

Follow us on: 
Twitter: https://apo-opa.co/4bC8MfC
Facebook: https://apo-opa.co/4cnX6y7
LinkedIn: https://apo-opa.co/4cq4NE1
Instagram: https://apo-opa.co/4coRh3z

About Afreximbank:
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. For 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries to effectively participate in the AfCFTA. At the end of December 2023, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at over US$37.3 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$6.1 billion. The Bank disbursed more than US$104 billion between 2016 and 2023. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure, (together, “the Group”). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.

For more information, visit: www.Afreximbank.com

The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund, the concessional window of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org), approved a $19.95 million grant for an initiative to provide livelihood for Sierra Leone’s women and youth.

The “Job Creation for Youth and Women in Climate Smart Agriculture Value Chains and Waste Management” project,” targets value chains where the youth and women are more active, such as cassava and fisheries.

The grant, part of the Transition Support Facility’s Pillar 1, aims to tackle the root causes of fragility and insecurity in Sierra Leone. In addition, the Global Center on Adaptation will provide a grant of $159,600 for technical assistance in developing adaptation strategies, including waste management policies.

Halima Hashi, the Bank Group’s Country Manager in Sierra Leone, emphasized that 70 percent of project beneficiaries will be women, promoting gender equality and economic empowerment.

Specifically, the project will focus on:

Enhancing entrepreneurial skills in smart agriculture and waste-management value chains;
Improving access to funding for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), economic groups and cooperatives led by young people and women;
Expanding market access for youth and women-led MSMEs;
Building institutional capacity to improve the business environment and service delivery for entrepreneurs.

Key targets:

Improving funding access for 700 MSMEs;
Strengthening entrepreneurial and digital skills for 2,500 people in the cassava and fisheries value chains (70 percent of them women);
Training 1,000 people in waste-management value chains (250 of them women);
Facilitating business linkages between 700 MSMEs and large businesses;
Creating a digital marketplace benefitting 5,000 smallholder farmers and 4,850 value chain MSMEs.

The project aims to create 9,200 jobs, strengthen climate change adaptation capacity for 3,500 youth and women, and increase MSME revenues by at least 10 percent.

This initiative aligns with Sierra Leone’s BIG FIVE Agenda and medium-term National Development Plan (2024-2030), which targets creating 500,000 new youth jobs by 2030. It also supports the African Development Bank’s Ten-year Strategy (2024-2033) and its Country Strategy Paper (2020-2024) for Sierra Leone.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Media contact:
François Lacombe
Communication and External Relations Department
media@afdb.org

About the African Development Bank Group:
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is the premier multilateral financing institution dedicated to Africa’s development. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NSF).  The AfDB has a field presence in 44 African countries, with an external office in Japan, and contributes to the economic development and social progress of its 54 regional member states. For more information: www.AfDB.org