The International Trade Centre (ITC) has signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pamela Steele Associates Ltd (PSA). The partnership agreement formalizes the cooperation between the two organizations to develop relevant e-learning courses on supply chain management and promote its best practices with a focus on small businesses in Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria.
Procurement costs represent up to 60% of a company’s overall supply chain budget. It is therefore important for small businesses to focus on ways to reduce costs and improve performance, which will lead to substantial savings, competitive benefits, and increased profits. The collaboration affirms the company as a strategic partner in supply chain management for the International Trade Centre within the region.
Small businesses struggle to grow due to lack of capital and a limited access to supply chain skills development. This partnership could not have come at a better time when African countries have just signed a continental trade agreement.

A new initiative by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is supporting African cities to measure their gross domestic product (GDP) – a vital economic well-being indicator.
Findings from the pilot initiative for the first time show that between 2015 and 2020 Harare accounted for an average of 38 per cent of Zimbabwe’s GDP, while Accra and Yaoundé’s contributions in Ghana and Cameroon were 36 per cent and 15.7 per cent respectively.
The GDP estimates will enable a more accurate understanding of the economic weight and performance of cities as well as the design of tailored measures to unlock their full potential. The figures will further help identify priority policy interventions to attract investors, improve competitiveness and strengthen productive economic sectors in cities.

The U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia has trained 650+ Ethiopian broadcast and print journalists and editors on a variety of topics, including fair and balanced reporting on the electoral process and the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the U.S. government’s commitment to supporting democratic reforms including excellence in journalism, trainings focused on transparency and accountability.
A series of 25 week-long workshops designed to empower and educate journalists, the sessions were implemented by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communications Programs (CCP) with support from the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia and in partnership with the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia and Addis Ababa University’s School of Journalism and Communications.
The workshops, facilitated by renowned Ethiopian journalists and professors, are part of a $450,000 (14,730,000 million birr) investment by the U.S. Embassy to improve civic journalism and coverage of elections and COVID-19.
From February 2020 to August 2021, journalists from 66 media houses in 10 regions and city administrations gathered in person to cover topics that included learning how to identify misinformation and adapt reporting techniques with COVID-19 precautions. Staff from five regional and zonal communication affairs offices also participated in the trainings.