Eighty two percent of the wealth generated last year went to the richest one percent of the global population, while the 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world saw no increase in their wealth, a new Oxfam report states.
The report was launched as high level political and business figures gathered at Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum.
The report entitled “Reward Work, Not Wealth” shows how the global economy enables the wealthy elite to accumulate vast fortunes while hundreds of millions of people are struggling to survive on poverty pay.
Billionaire wealth has risen by an annual average of 13 percent since 2010 – six times faster than the wages of ordinary workers, which have risen by a yearly average of just two percent. The number of billionaires rose at an unprecedented rate of one every two days between March 2016 and March 2017.
According to Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International, the billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy. “It is a symptom of a failing economic system. The people who make our clothes, assemble our phones and grow our food are being exploited to ensure a steady supply of cheap goods, and swell the profits of corporations and billionaire investors,” She said.
The report outlines the key factors driving up rewards for shareholders and corporate bosses at the expense of workers’ pay and conditions. These include the erosion of workers’ rights; the excessive influence of big business over government policy-making; and the relentless corporate drive to minimize costs in order to maximize returns to shareholders.
Data shows that it would cost USD 2.2 billion a year to increase the wages of all 2.5 million Vietnamese garment workers to a living wage. This is about a third of the amount paid out to wealthy shareholders by the top 5 companies in the garment sector in 2016.
Women workers often find themselves at the bottom of the heap. Across the world, women consistently earn less than men and are usually in the lowest paid and least secure forms of work. By comparison, 9 out of 10 billionaires are men.
“Oxfam has spoken to women across the world whose lives are blighted by inequality. Women in Vietnamese garment factories who work far from home for poverty pay and don’t get to see their children for months at a time. Women working in the US poultry industry who are forced to wear nappies because they are denied toilet breaks,” said Byanyima.
The report advices that governments ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share of tax through higher taxes and a crackdown on tax avoidance, and increase spending on public services such as healthcare and education. Oxfam estimates a global tax of 1.5 percent on billionaires’ wealth could pay for every child to go to school.
Results of a new global survey commissioned by Oxfam, demonstrates a groundswell of support for action on inequality. Of the 70,000 people surveyed in 10 countries, nearly two-thirds of all respondents think the gap between the rich and the poor needs to be urgently addressed.
Oxfam says 82% of wealth generated last year went to the richest one percent
Somalia’s Federal and state governments reach agreement on new Justice and Corrections framework
A new agreement seeking to streamline the justice and corrections system in Somalia has been endorsed by the country’s Federal Government and Federal Member States.
“This agreement will enable the systematic building of justice and corrections institutions at state and federal levels and increased provision of basic justice chain services for the Somali people,” the Director of the UN Assistance Mission in Somali (UNSOM) Rule of Law and Security Institutions Group (ROLSIG), Staffan Tillander, said at the agreement’s signing ceremony, which took place yesterday in Jowhar, the capital of HirShabelle State.
The accord provides a framework within which the federal and state-level governments can support the rebuilding of the Horn of Africa country’s justice and corrections system – critical institutions which were destroyed during the its civil war.
The event was attended by Federal Justice Minister Hassan Hussein Haji and all of the country’s state ministers of justice. ROLSIG and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) provided technical support for the development of the framework.
“This is a victory for Somalia,” Minister Haji said in his remarks at the event, while also commending the collaborative efforts of all those involved. “It is an agreement on how we are going to organize our justice and corrections system.”
The political agreement, which is considered an important aspect of Somalia’s state-building and federalization process, is the culmination of two years of technical consultations and negotiations between the Federal Government and Federal Member States.
“We are emerging out of conflict that failed to address disagreements. I applaud the painstaking efforts of the various federal and state justice ministries to make this agreement a reality,” noted HirShabelle President Mohamed Abdi Waare, who hosted the signing ceremony.
President Waare expressed hope that the new justice and corrections system will end the injustices endured by local populations for decades.
“It will complement progress that has already been achieved in policing and the implementation of the New Policing Model, which has been successful in allowing international partners to identify areas to provide support,” Tillander added.
The New Policing Model – which sets out a future structure of police services – was agreed upon in March 2016 by internal security ministers from the Federal Government and federal member states. It was subsequently endorsed by the National Leadership Forum, and that backing was confirmed by the agreement on a national security architecture that was reached in April 2017.
The model codifies a two-tier approach for policing by state-level police services and a federal police service, with each reporting to their respective state-level and federal ministries of internal security. Each component will be responsible for recruitment and training of police personnel.
Contraband stymies exports, China top export destination, US third
Contraband trade is negatively impacting Ethiopia’s hard currency earnings. To combat this the government has formed a Contraband Trade Controlling Command Post stretching from the federal to the Kebele level. Political instability has also reduced hard currency earnings.
The export earnings of the first half of the 2017/18 budget year indicated that the contraband of major export items significantly contributed to the lower performance.
According to Wondimu Filate, Public Relations head of the Ministry of Trade (MoT), contraband trading of major commodities like gold, coffee and livestock continues to be a major factor in the low performance.
He pointed to the lack of coordination between federal and regional governments to cut contraband trading, particularly for livestock, as a major hindrance to solving the problem. “Lack of cooperation of stakeholders has affected the hard currency earnings from gold,” Wondimu added.
In the stated period the government expected USD 2.2 billion, but the actual performance was USD 1.23 billion. This is 61 percent of the projection. It is an increase of 9 percent compared with a similar period a year ago. Agriculture is on the top, earning over one billion USD, while the manufacturing industry is second, generating USD 224 million.
Coffee has contributed to nearly one fourth of the hard currency earnings by USD 381 million and oil seeds has amassed USD 215 million.
The mining sector has suffered. The MoT report indicated that the country’s hard currency earnings from mining declined to USD 58 million from USD 107 million a year ago. For the stated six months the ministry is projected to secure USD 323 million from the mining sector and the gold sub sector was expected to generate USD 301 million.
According to the report from the total earnings of USD 58.3 million gold revenue was USD 47 million, which is almost over six times lower than the target.
Wondimu claimed that the gold sector still suffers from illegal actors and stakeholders have to work strongly to combat the problem.
Political unrest
Wondimu added that the instability in the eastern part of the country has negatively contributed to hard currency earnings.
“The eastern part of the country, which is the major export outlet, has been affected greatly by the instability which has harmed export earnings,” he explained.
In addition, one of the country’s major hard currency sources, Khat, has been suspended from export for several weeks in Somaliland and a few days in Djibouti.
This has decreased Khat earnings, he explained.
For the year the country was expected to earn USD 167 million from khat but the actual achievement was USD 125 million. At the same time the export value and volume of the stimulant plant has declined compared with the similar period the preceding year. The MoT report indicated that khat export for the first six months of 2016/17 was over 25,644 tons with a revenue of USD 143 million, but during the first six months of the current budget year it went down to 22,386tons. .
Destination
In the first six months of the budget year Ethiopia exported products to 137 countries. China replaced Somalia, which imports a large amount of khat and vegetables, as the top destination. Ethiopia exported USD 144.4 million worth of commodities to China or 10.7 percent of its total exports, while revenue from Somalia brought in USD 119 million. The US has risen from 7th to 3rd place at USD 99.5 million. The US is a country Ethiopia has sought to tap but has experienced difficulty doing so in the past.
The top ten export destinations make up 62.2 percent of the country’s hard currency earnings. Besides China and USA several countries switched places. The export rankings of the UAE, Israel, Belgium, and Italy went up while Somalia and Saudi, which were first and third went down to second and fourth respectively, The Netherlands, Djibouti, Vietnam, Switzerland, UK and Turkey also went down from their previous positions.
Asia is the continent Ethiopia exports the most to, followed by Europe and Africa, at 42 percent, 28 percent and 21 percent respectively.
Free skies for Africa means growth for African economies
The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) is set to be launched by the African Union today, January 28, 2018. The initiative is expected to spur more opportunities to promote trade.
The launch of SAATM, which is scheduled on Jan. 28, is expected to spur more opportunities to promote trade, and cross-border investments in the production and service industries including tourism, resulting in the creation of an additional 300,000 direct and two million indirect jobs.
According to Ahmed Shide, Minister of Transport, Ethiopia has always been one of the pioneers in promoting the free skies in Africa and it is also one of the 11 champion countries that declared their commitment to establishing a single African air transport market. Ethiopian Airlines has been lobbying for free skies for many years.
“The realization of SAATM is vital to the achievement of the long term vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, which is AU’s Agenda 2063,” the minister said.
During a press conference held at Ethiopian Airline’s office on Tuesday, January 22, 2018, it was stated that the realization of SAATM would be attained through the immediate implementation of the 1999 Yamoussoukro Decision, which is the full liberalization of intra-African air transport services in terms of access, capacity and frequency.
According to the World Bank (WB), Africa is home to 12 percent of the world’s people, but it accounts for less than one percent of the global air service market.
Part of the reason for Africa’s under-served status, according to a study done by the WB, Open Skies for Africa – Implementing the Yamoussoukro Decision, is that many African countries restrict their air services markets to protect the share held by state-owned air carriers.
This practice originated in the early 1960s when many newly-independent African states created national airlines, in part, to assert their status as nations. Now, however, most have recognized that the strict regulatory protection that sustains such carriers, has detrimental effects of air safety records, while also inflating air fares and dampening air traffic growth.
Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group stated during the press conference that the initiative is a huge milestone for the continent. “African countries need to integrate trade and invest cross border investments among each other,” he stated. He underlined that air connectivity is the economic driver that would help the expansion of tourism, trade and other important sectors on the continent.
Currently, 23 African countries out of 55 have subscribed to the Single African Air Transport Market, whereas 44 African countries have signed the Yamoussoukro Decision in 1988.
