The African continent presents a massive investment opportunity for investors to advance the deployment of climate solutions in the coming decade according to a new report Climate Finance Innovation for Africa. However, this will require innovation in financing structures and the strategic deployment of public capital to ‘crowd-in’ private investment at levels not yet seen.
Current levels of climate finance in Africa fall far short of needs. Africa’s USD 2.5 trillion of climate finance needed between 2020 and 2030 requires, on average, USD 250 billion each year. Total annual climate finance flows in Africa for 2020, domestic and international, were only USD 30 billion (CPI forthcoming), about 12% of the amount needed.
Barriers related to shallow financial market depth, governance, project-specific characteristics, and enabling skills and infrastructure have stifled private investment in African climate solutions to date.
Innovative finance is essential to tackle barriers to investment
Cali confirms status as a ‘cradle of champions’
USA topped the medal table with seven gold, four silver and four bronze medals, ahead of Jamaica (6, 7, 3), Ethiopia (6, 5, 1), Kenya (3, 3, 4) and South Africa (2, 1, 2).
World U20 Championships celebrated as Cali confirms status as a ‘cradle of champions’
The World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 has been celebrated as one of the most successful editions in the history of the event as magnificent medal moments and record-breaking results showcased the future stars of the sport.
Over six days of competition between August 1 and 6, two world U20 records, two world U20 best performances, 14 championship records, nine area U20 records, 10 senior national records, 97 national U20 records and 518 personal bests were achieved in the Pascual Guerrero Olympic Stadium, securing the latest edition of the global showpiece its place in the history books.
USA topped the medal table with seven gold, four silver and four bronze medals, ahead of Jamaica (6, 7, 3), Ethiopia (6, 5, 1), Kenya (3, 3, 4) and South Africa (2, 1, 2).
The event in Cali was also a championships of ‘firsts’, with Uruguay winning its first ever medal, and Dominica, Malaysia and Saint Vincent achieving their first ever top eight positions.
Demonstrating the truly global reach of the sport, 1387 athletes took part from 126 different countries. Their participation pushed the World Athletics U20 Championships past the 20,000 milestone in terms of the number of athletes who have competed since the first edition in 1986.
“I hope you all agree that the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 has been a spectacular success,” World Athletics’ Chief Executive Jon Ridgeon said at the closing press conference. “I think we can say that Cali has once again emerged as the ‘cradle of champions’, much like the World U18 Championships that we enjoyed in this very stadium back in 2015.”
Ramiro Varela, President of the local organising committee, said: “The success of the championships is a three-way affair: World Athletics, Colombia and Valle Del Cauca. The success was because of the presence of the athletes, their teams and their incredible results. And the success is the result of long-term planning and the hard work of a team of professionals who have worked tirelessly to offer these championships to the world.”
Two of the stars to emerge were Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who retained his 100m title in a world U20 record and claimed 200m silver in a brilliant battle with Israel’s Blessing Akawasi Afrifah, and Colombia’s Valentina Barrios, who secured silver for the host nation in the javelin.
“I would like to thank you for hosting us. I am really satisfied with everything I have done in these championships,” said Tebogo, who ran a world U20 record of 9.91 in the 100m. “Of the memories I have from Cali, the 100m final is the one to take back home with me, and also the 200m final.”
Barrios said the U20 championships was a huge stepping stone in her career.
“I was extremely nervous during the qualification round,’’ she said. “I felt a little better during the final, but it was still difficult for me to deal with the pressure. But then I told myself: ‘I am here in Colombia, competing in front of my people. I cannot let this opportunity go.’ I was able to refocus and perform well, and this is something that will help me when I turn senior.”
In just two years’ time, the World Athletics U20 Championships will return to South America, when Lima, Peru, hosts the event between 20-25 August 2024.
(The Star)
Bank profits soared in 2022
The financial sector registered a massive change through the reform period that expanded their asset on average by 24.5 percent every year in the past four years.
Frezer Ayalew, Director of Banking Supervision Directorate at National Bank of Ethiopia, said that in the financial year closed in 2019 the total asset of banks was 1.3 trillion birr and now climbed by 92 percent to reach 2.5 trillion birr at the end of the 2021/22 financial year.
Deposit mobilization is the other area that the financial sector secured a huge success with 25 percent growth every year since 2019. “Compared with 2019 the deposit mobilization has expanded by 93 percent by June 2022 to reach 1.74 trillion birr from 899.8 billion birr. Similarly the banking sector total capital has expanded to 199 billion birr by 27 percent yearly growth from 99 billion birr in 2019,” the Banking Supervision head said.
In four years time the number deposit accounts has increased by 108 percent to reach 83.3 million.
Regarding profitability the banking sector has amassed close to 50 billion birr net profit in the just ended finical year that increased by 122 percent compared with the year that ended in 2019. In the financial year that ended on June 2019, the banking sector net profit after tax was 22.5 billion birr.
In the loan and advance development the private sector has accessed 889.6 billion birr in the past financial year that was 377.6 billion birr in 2019, while the total loan and advance excluding bonds has climbed to 1.09 trillion in June 2022 that is over double compared with four years ago.
Frezer said that the banking sector has continued its safe and sound operation. “The banking sector capital adequacy ration stood at 16.04 percent above from the internationally required standard of eight percent. Similarly the non performing loan ration is 3.87 percent against five percent of the requirement, while liquidity ratio at the banking sector is 27.05 percent, which NBE expected it to be 15 percent,” he said.
“Our banks are operating in an internationally required model that makes them financially sound,” the Director added.
He reminded that the policy bank, Development Bank of Ethiopia, attains massive progress in the past few years to return back to prudent operational status.
The banking industry that registered significant change is the interest free banking (IFB) with two full-fledged banks already operational besides one that transformed to bank from micro finance institution and one more has secured license to open its door. Besides the two full-fledged banks 11 banks are providing IFB services through windows. As of March 2022 over 11 million accounts holders registered for the deposit mobilization of 117.2 billion birr in the IFB.
“35.5 billion birr have been availed through 4,842 IFB credit accounts on the financing side,” Frezer said.
How to bet on Hollywoodbets
Hollywoodbets is an old bookmaking provider from South Africa that operates mostly for English-speaking countries. The particular focus is Britain and all the culturally close countries, meaning that stuff like cricket, horseracing, and other niches of British entertainment are plentiful here.
It started in 2000, which is respectable enough, but there are older providers. There are many websites from that age, and plenty is big established companies. This one is relatively small. It’s also unique in the way that a bet is processed here. So, let’s discuss a few examples of how to bet on Hollywood.
Is Hollywoodbets legit?
In terms of transparency and goodwill, Hollywood isn’t much worse than most. They won’t actively try to ruin you financially or install malware onto your computer. But there’s no telling if they’ll be careful with your personal data or offer a good user experience here.
They have a blog that offers a lot of tips on how to bet on Hollywood and sports in general. It’s an adequate read that gives you valuable insights. That could boost their trustworthiness in the eyes of some people, but it’s not necessarily a redeeming quality, because blogs are made to attract new users before anything else.
What sports betting does Hollywoodbets offer in their events feed?
Hollywoodbets has an extensive library of casino games and gambling solutions. Sports betting is a popular chapter on their website (possibly the most popular one), but it doesn’t offer that much stuff to bet on. The two main sports they are dealing with are soccer and horseracing.
You can access the newest events directly, and most major events from Britain, South Africa, Ireland, and abroad are shown. This betting site is outstanding for domestic games from these countries, but international competitions are also represented on the roster.
How can I deposit and withdraw on Hollywoodbets?
Before you learn how to bet on Hollywood bets, you need to know a thing or two about funding your account. There are three main ways to get your money on Hollywoodbets South Africa:
- Credit card
- Bank transfer
- PayFast
The latter is the payment system popular in South Africa, as well as abroad. The other methods are self-explanatory. To withdraw the funds, you’ll have to use one of these solutions, as well. To deposit the money, you need to wait 10-15 minutes (usually), but withdrawing can take longer.
What’s more, there are strict security procedures that force people to submit their personal data, documentation and ID to establish an account here. It’s more or less standard throughout the industry, but the same scrutiny applies to the withdrawing process, which means it can even take weeks to go through.
What are the bonuses on Hollywoodbets?
The main bonus of Hollywoodbets is the free 25 rand (of the equivalent) that you can spend on a free bet for anything offered in the sportsbook. You can simply claim it by creating an account. The other bonuses include a 50 rand bonus for referring the website to your friend, as well as some others.
What are some tips to bet on Hollywoodbets?
The main tips on how to bet online on Hollywood include giving horseracing a chance. Soccer is good and all, but good racing bets are scarcer, and there are plenty to go around on Hollywoodbets. It is a potentially interesting form of entertainment that could make you a fortune. Other than that, the content here is basic.
