The Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority launched a 13.5 million birr Coffee Innovation Fund.
The current global value for the coffee industry is over $200 billion a year. However, in countries like Ethiopia coffee growers and local economies have been largely excluded from the benefits. In order to improve this reality, the Coffee Innovation Fund (CIF) is launched for the second time in four East African countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. The Coffee Innovation Fund 2.0 is continued support for creating opportunities for investment.
The fund aims to enable smallholder coffee businesses and producers to test new ideas that increase the profitability of coffee farmers and ensure a fairer and equitable share in the coffee supply chain. It calls for innovative approaches that promise to improve the production, processing, and marketing of coffee and boost local value creation.
“Innovation helps humans address daily hardships. There are many obstacles and backward practices prohibiting coffee farmers from realizing their full potentials. Modernization of the coffee value chain, specifically in value addition are essential. The government has plans to enable sustainable changes in the lives of the farmers by supporting innovative ideas, processes and projects” said Adugna Debela, head of Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority.
Coffee Innovation Fund launched
IRENA, AfDB partner to scale up renewables investments in Africa
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and the African Development Bank (AfDB), have agreed to work closely together to advance the continent’s energy transition through joint initiatives that support investments in low-carbon energy projects.
Under the Declaration of Intent, the two entities confirmed their wish to collaborate on supporting the continent’s energy transition under a framework of core activities. These include co-organising renewable energy investment forums as part of IRENA’s contribution to the Climate Investment Platform, and collaboration on the Bank’s annual Africa Investment Forum. Furthermore, strong emphasis will be placed on concrete support for enhancing the role of renewable energy in Nationally Determined Contributions and sustainable development objectives.
The joint declaration was signed by Francesco La Camera, Director-General of IRENA, and Kevin Kanina Kariuki, Vice-President, Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth at the African Development Bank.
UAE, Ethiopia discuss cooperation between interfaith institutions
The United Arab Emirates Embassy in Addis Ababa and the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia (ICE), discussed enhancing of cooperation between the interfaith institutions in the two countries for the promotion of mutual understanding, tolerance and peace.
The meeting deliberated on role of inter-faith institutions to bring understanding and peace. In particular, the meeting was briefed on the Abrahamic Family House, which is one of the UAE’s main initiatives for global tolerance and peace.
The meeting was held, on 2nd December, at the ICE Secretariat, between Talal Al-Azeezi, Head of the Political, Economic, and Media Affairs Section at the UAE Embassy, and Tiguhan Kesis Tagay Tadele, Secretary General of the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia.
Talal said that the Abrahamic Family House is consisting of a mosque, church, synagogue and educational center, to be built in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. “The House embodies the common values between Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and constitutes a platform to enhance understanding and a true reflection of the UAE’s belief in tolerance and peace” he added.
Africa must forge strong partnerships to rebuild faster post-COVID-19
African countries must strengthen governance and international partnerships, while also making better use of abundant natural resources to accelerate economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 period, the International Forum on African Leadership heard.
“We owe it to posterity to leverage the partnerships that we have and forge new ones to expedite the resurgence of our economies,” said Lazarus Chakweras, President of the Republic of Malawi, during the forum, which was organized by African Leadership Magazine .
African leaders must be at their creative best to secure critical global partnerships and to drive the continent’s economic resurgence, said Chakweras, adding that governments also need to build trust with their citizens.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that poor governance damages public trust in government interventions. We cannot attract the world to our nations if our nations are in disarray,” he said.
