The meeting of the committee of experts of the Conference of African Ministers ended Friday ahead of the African Finance Ministers Meeting next week and saw experts pledge to do more to accelerate the implementation of the AfCFTA, improve domestic resource mobilization, deepen digitalization and accelerate the implementation of the global Agenda 2030 and Africa’s Agenda 2063.
The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Vera Songwe, welcomed the move by the G7 Finance Ministers to support issuance of new Special Drawing Rights which will help developing countries better respond to the COVID 19 crisis.
The Ministers agreed to support a new Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation to assist vulnerable countries respond adequately to the health and economic crisis triggered by the pandemic.
Speaking following the G7 Finance Ministers meeting, the United Kingdom’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said: “Today’s milestone agreement among the G7 paves the way for crucial and concerted action to support the world’s low-income countries, ensuring that no country is left behind in the global economic recovery from coronavirus.
The UK currently holds the Presidency of the G7.
“This is a very important and strategic step on the road to a new issuance of Special Drawing Rights by the G7 Finance Ministers today. The SDRs are our chance to do something transformational for a large number of frontier economies. We are grateful for the leadership shown by the G7 Ministers,” said Songwe, who has been at the forefront advocating for international financial institutions and others to provide more liquidity to allow African countries to build forward better post-COVID-19.
“Now we need to work on mechanisms for on-lending so we can stretch the SDRs for countries that need them most. Additional funding for the IMF PRGT from the SDRs of course is critical for low-income countries. We need to get vaccines to countries and also support the recovery with market access instruments that crowd in the private sector such as the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility.”
She added: “SDRs allow us to think out of the box and bigger. There is now real momentum for collective action at the IMF and World Bank spring meetings and also for the African Finance Ministers meeting next week organized by ECA.”
ECA head commends G7 Finance Ministers decision to back SDRs for developing and COVID vulnerable countries
Enat bank selects its architectural landmark
Enat Bank has held an Architectural Design Award Ceremony of the bank’s future headquarters building at Sheraton Addis Hotel on March 13, 2021. The bank had floated an open bid for the architectural design of the bank’s future headquarters building and so, 13 designs participated. During the event, Meaza Ashenafi, President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Supreme Court and ex-board chairperson of the bank noted the architectural design selection is a momentous achievement for the bank even if it’s a late entrant in the banking industry. At the event, Ato Ermias Andarge, president of the bank mentioned the architectural design selection is a landmark move to build the bank’s future headquarters nearby the so-called financial street. He added that the selected design has 35 stories with 140 meters in height and it will be one of the city marks. He further remarked that the bank has secured a plot of land around the Senegatera area, in front of the main gate of the Addis Ababa University College of Commerce, from Addis Ababa City Administration.
MH Engineering is the one who submitted the winning architectural design. The winning design was selected out of the 13 designs by external juries, who have architectural and engineering backgrounds.
ESA ratifies 285 new standards
The Ethiopian Standards Agency has ratified 285 new standards. The Agency has been preparing standards to assure the exchange of quality merchandise within the dynamic market economy. It has also been giving training and technical support to professionals in related fields. The agency alongside a technical committee composed of concerned stakeholders has formulated new standards that were ratified by the National Standards Council on Tuesday January 5th, 2021. Initially 289 detailed standards were presented to the council but 285 of those were approved as national standards. 148 of the approved standards are brand new and 44 were revised.
The ratified national standards include: Agricultural and Food standards have 14 new added standards and 4 revised ones; Fundamental and General standard preparation sector has 23 new added standards and 1 revised and 4 left as they were; Chemicals and Chemical products sector has 17 new added standards, 13 revised; Construction and Civil Engineering sector has 19 new standards and 13 revised; Electromechanical standards preparation sector has 69 new standards; Environment and Health sectors have 6 new standards and 13 revised.
The new and revised standards are considered to be in line with the country’s developmental strategy and are expected to make significant contributions to the growth of the nation, strengthening the economy, and being the beacon of excellence for the manufacturing industry so that it could be competitive globally. The agency will also help with technological advancements and innovations. It has been protecting the society’s health and security, environmental wellbeing and defending the rights of consumers. All manufacturers and importers are expected to know standards and carry on their activities based on these qualifications for merchandise.
The Ethiopian Standards Agency (ESA) is the national standards body of Ethiopia. ESA was established following the restructuring of the Quality and Standards Authority of Ethiopia in 2010. It is a non-profit government body of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Its policy-making and governing body is the standards Council whose members are appointed by government from various organizations.
The mission of ESA is to enable manufacturing and service providing organizations to be competitive in internationally accepted management systems. The development of standards, training and technical support on implementation of standards contributes to the country’s economic and social development through technology transfer.
WORK AFTER COVID-19
Susan Lund is a partner of McKinsey & Company and a leader of the McKinsey Global Institute. As a PhD economist, her research focuses on globalization and trade, and the impact of technology on work and workers. She is also a leader of McKinsey’s team modeling the impact of Covid-19 on economic growth. Her most recent research explores how global value chains and trade flow are evolving, and on how digital flows are transforming globalization and creating new winners and losers. Dr. Lund has an active travel schedule discussing research findings with CEOs and other executives at global Fortune 500 companies and she is a frequent speaker at global conferences. She has authored numerous articles in leading business publications, including Harvard Business Review, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Foreign Affairs.
Susan is on the Economic Advisory Board of the International Financial Corporation; a Board Director of the National Association of Business Economics; and a member of the Center for Global Development Study Group on Technology and Development Prospects.
Susan holds a Ph.D. in applied economics from Stanford University and a B.A. in economics from Northwestern University. She has lived and worked in Africa and Asia and currently resides in Washington, DC. Capital linked up with Susan Lund for an inside look into MGI’s recent report titled, ‘Future of work after COVID-19.’Excerpts;
Capital: Over the past four years, the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) has published a series of reports exploring aspects of the future of work in a time of technological change, including an analysis of jobs that could be displaced by automation and AI. What were the challenges observed while reporting on a global pandemic, that is relatively new, sudden and unpredictable?
Susan Lund: COVID-19 had an immediate and jarring impact on work, but its long-term impact is likely to be significant. We identified how COVID-19 has changed the trajectory of trends that shape the future of work. We know from McKinsey survey of consumers in April, for instance, that three quarters of the respondents using digital channels for the first time during the pandemic plan to continue using them when life becomes more “normal.” Also, we know from our colleagues at McKinsey that many companies are already planning to reduce office space and deploy their employees differently going forward because of their successful experience with remote work. Many companies say they will accelerate their use of automation and AI technologies coming out of the pandemic as well. In general, some changes that the virus forced on consumer behavior and business models turned out to increase convenience and efficiency, making them more likely to endure.
Capital: This research uses as highlighted the “micro-to-macro” methodology. Can you expound why you chose this approach?
Susan Lund: The value in the research done by the McKinsey Global Institute is that we try to examine and analyse microeconomics on the ground, inside companies, inside sectors, and in particular places. That micro understanding of how the business operation and how consumers make decisions then allows us to have a point of view on business and economics at a macro level. This is one of the benefits of being part of McKinsey & Company – it gives us access to this micro perspective that provides insight and understanding on a larger, broader scale.
Capital: What are the standout trends in the “Future of work after COVID-19” report that are accelerated by the pandemic?
Susan Lund: COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of physical proximity in jobs. It catalysed three trends – e-commerce and other virtual transactions, remote work and digital interaction, and automation and AI – that are likely to change the trajectory of the future of work over the next decade. To better understand the role proximity plays in work, we analysed the activities and tasks required in more than 800 occupations and assigned each to one of ten work arenas.
Capital: Women, young, less-educated workers, ethnic minorities, and immigrants may need to make more occupation transitions after COVID-19 as per your report. Can you brief us on the analysis that went into arriving to this?
Susan Lund: COVID-19 had an immediate impact on women in the workplace that is well documented. Research by the McKinsey Global Institute found that women’s jobs were 1.8 times more vulnerable to COVID-19’s impact that men’s jobs. Women make up 39 percent of global employment but accounted for 54 percent of overall job losses early in the pandemic. One reason for this greater effect on women is that the virus significantly increased the burden of unpaid care, which typically falls primarily to women.
In looking at how COVID-19 is likely to change the future of work, our research found the COVID-19 is likely to have its greatest impact in “work arenas” that are home to jobs requiring close physical proximity and human interaction. These arenas – onsite customer service, leisure and travel, and computer-based office work – are home to many of the low-wage jobs that are more vulnerable to disruption due to the three trends accelerated by COVID-19. These jobs, in retail sales, food service, customer service, and office administration, are disproportionately held by women, young people, ethnic minorities, immigrants, and less-educated workers.
We find that across the United States, France, Germany, and Spain, women are 4.1 times more likely than men to need to change occupations because of shifts COVID-19 has caused in the three trends. The virus’s impact may fall even harder on 15-to-24 year-old workers, requiring them to find jobs in new occupations 4.2 times more than workers aged 24 to 55. Blacks and Latinos in the United States could face occupation transitions 1.3 times more than white workers, while in France, Germany, and Spain, workers not born in the EU face 1.7 times as many transitions compared to workers born in those countries.
Capital: In alignment with your report, workers will need to learn more social and emotional skills, as well as technological skills, in order to move into occupations in higher wage brackets. Can you expound further on this with the analytical data and plausible recommendations for this trend?
Susan Lund: The long-term impact of COVID-19 on work means that many low-wage jobs will not return, while demand for the skills needed for higher wage jobs in areas like healthcare and the STEM professions will increase. This means that to find a job, displaced low-wage workers whose previous jobs involving primarily physical and manual tasks. In advanced economies, workers in the lowest wage bracket on average spend half their time engaged in such tasks and much less time, 13 to 17 percent, using higher cognitive skills. In higher wage jobs, workers in advanced economies spend one-third of their time on the job using cognitive skills and only 3 to 5 percent of their time doing physical and manual tasks.
Before the pandemic, middle-wage jobs in manufacturing and production were declining, but those displaced workers did not necessarily need retraining or new skills because low-wage jobs continued to grow, offering them a landing pad. Because of COVID-19’s impact on trends affecting the future of work, however, we project that low-wage jobs are also, for the first time, likely to decline. Both low- and middle-wage workers, therefore, may need to look for jobs one or two wage quintiles higher than they previously held and requiring different skills.
Businesses and policymakers thus face an urgent need for programs that train and educate mid-career and vulnerable workers for better paying jobs. Last fall, for instance, the EU established the Pact for Skills, which offers businesses and other stakeholders’ incentives to devise programs aimed at overcoming the mismatch between skills and available jobs. Under the pact, automakers have pledged €7 billion to retrain each year 700,000 auto workers whose jobs are at risk.
Capital: Your research looks into 8 countries which account to 62% of the global GDP. Will similar trends be translated to the African continent? If trends might differ, what are your projected trends on Africa?
Susan Lund: We did not include African economies in this analysis, but in general we find that the long-term impact of Covid-19 on work in developing economies will be lower because the structural changes going on in their economies are the more important drivers of change. This includes the shift out of agriculture and into manufacturing and services, and the fact that with growing populations, demand for all types of jobs will rise in the coming decade. The challenge for these countries will be to create enough good jobs for all the young people entering the workforce.
