The UAE conveyed its sincere condolences and expressed its solidarity with the Republic of Kenya over victims of floods caused by heavy rainfall, which resulted in a dam collapsing that led to a number of deaths, and severe damage.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) expressed its sincere condolences and sympathy with the government and people of Kenya, and to the families of the victims.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs&International Cooperation.

After serving as the non-resident High Commissioner of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Republic of Seychelles for two years, Mr Muhammad Arshad Jan Pathan paid a farewell call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Mr Sylvestre Radegonde at Maison Queau de Quincy on Monday 29 April 2024.

During their meeting, the two diplomats discussed agreements which have been signed between the two countries in various areas of ongoing cooperation such as Health, Combating Financial Crimes as well as negotiations being undertaken to revise the Bilateral Air Service Agreement between the two countries signed in 1979.

Possible cooperation in the field of Maritime Security was another topic broached on by the outgoing High Commissioner and Minister Radegonde in addition to capacity building opportunities in this field as well as Diplomacy and the Banking sector.

High Commissioner Pathan’s successor is yet to be announced.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tourism – Foreign Affairs Department, Republic of Seychelles.

As a flagship programme of the International Trade Centre (ITC), EFI’s business model has 15 years of success in bringing sustainable, quality fashion products onto the global stage.

The programme encourages circular design and production, so that creators make durable, reusable products with the goal of generating zero waste.

Some 2,500 people from marginalized communities throughout Kenya are expected to receive specialized training, improved working conditions and increased access to the market, with prominent international fashion firms.

EFI launched the new three-year project on 17 April with the Embassy of Italy in Kenya and the Nairobi office of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). The Italian Government is funding the project to foster sustainable fashion production and job creation in Kenya.

The launch took place at the project’s main incubation hub, the Don Bosco Training Centre in Nairobi. The event was attended by:

Susan Mang’eni, Principal Secretary in the State Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development
Mercy Wanjau, Secretary to the Cabinet of the Republic of Kenya
Roberto Natali, Ambassador of Italy
Giovanni Grandi, Head of the AICS Regional Office in Nairobi
Stephen Jackson, the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Kenya
Alex Musembi, co-founder of Africa Collect Textiles
Lilian Kahiro, Director of Ushinde

‘By empowering artisans, micro-producers, and entrepreneurs, our aim is to pave the way for inclusive and sustainable economic growth,’ said Grandi, head of AICS Nairobi. ‘Employment and business creation stand as cornerstones of the Italian Cooperation’s commitment in Kenya, and through this initiative we aim at harnessing the potential offered by the incredible entrepreneurial drive of the Kenya population and of its young population.’

‘Kenyan artisans are already world-class creatives. What they sometimes still lack is access to the markets and systems at the international level that will allow them to take their production to the next level,’ said Jackson. ‘This ITC initiative will provide that, marrying local and international expertise for a win-win situation in the fast-moving world of global fashion.’

Kenya’s economic growth depends on working with small businesses, especially those employing women and youth, Mang’eni said. These efforts enable them to improve their competitiveness in domestic, regional and global trade, she added.

‘I am delighted the Ethical Fashion Initiative, which has a solid track record in supporting MSME’s from the fashion value chain, is launching this project in Kenya, creating new employment opportunities and shining a light on our homegrown creative and productive capacities,’ she said.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Trade Centre.

“Africa does not need that sustainable underdevelopment; Africa needs socio-economic transformation. You cannot have quantitative growth and you think you are doing anything,” he said.

The President made the remarks yesterday during the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA)- Africa Heads of State summit held in Nairobi, Kenya.

President Museveni emphasised the importance of socio-economic transformation and the need for loans that propel prosperity.

He further attributed the current crisis in Africa to persistent philosophical, ideological, strategic economic mistakes that have been in place since the 1960s and advocated for a paradigm shift towards socio-economic transformation and the need to transcend mere quantitative growth and focus on achieving qualitative change.

“When you see the crisis in many African countries, the collapse of the State, we predicted this in the 1960s. But I was very happy to hear the President of the World Bank talking about prosperity instead of profiteering. These were his own words. This has been the problem; aid has been for profiteering. The World Bank people and other groups have been talking about sustainable development, even in your document I have seen those words there. I’m now going to be 80 years old. I have never seen a sustainable pregnancy; that a woman is pregnant this year, the pregnancy continues next year, 3 years and 4 years, it never happens,” he said.

“In life, pregnancy develops sustainably in the womb of the woman quantitatively. The baby is growing bigger and bigger but at some stage, quantitative growth must be transformed into qualitative change. The pregnancy must become a baby. If the pregnancy remains a pregnancy, the fetus will die. Therefore, I would even ask you to change those words in your documents.”

President Museveni also highlighted the main reasons why there’s no growth in Africa. He said this is so because the growth factors like the private sector-led growth are not funded.

“In order for the private sector to grow, it needs low cost of production in transport, electricity and low-cost funding for manufacturing,” the President urged.

“If you are serious, talk about low-cost funding for manufacturing and funding for irrigation to stabilise agriculture. A loan for seminars is very quick to get but for agriculture is hard to get,” he added.

President Museveni also informed the participants that one time he tried to look for foreign funding to help the 39 percent of Ugandans to join the money economy, but he failed because the available funding had conditions. He said he ended up using the country’s limited financial resources to kick off the Parish Development Model (PDM) initiative.

“Uganda is a very rich country but one of the problems we were having is that most people were outside the money economy, they were only producing for eating so I was looking for money to give coffee seedlings to this group so that they can start producing for the economy but I could not get money from anybody because the loans are for capacity building but we funded it ourselves. Each year we spend 300 million USD of our own to make these villagers join the money economy by producing for the stomach and the pocket.”

The President also pointed out the challenge of neo-colonialist civil servants who talk about money for import support that undermines the economic development of any African country.

“But I don’t want to import, I want to export, why don’t you talk to me about import substitution and export promotion?” he inquired.

President Museveni also reiterated his message on the need for Africa to stop exporting its raw materials but instead add value at source in order to steer development.

“This Hemorrhage of Africa must stop. The crisis you see in Africa is because of stagnation of the last sixty years, since independence. The population is increasing and yet the economies are not,” he remarked.

The International Development Association (IDA) is a development finance institution which offers concessional loans and grants to low-income countries. The IDA is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of State House Uganda.