Just two months into the 2024 rainy season in West and Central Africa, torrential rains and severe flooding have affected 716,473 people in the Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Mali and Togo. In addition, at least 72 people are reported to have lost their lives due to drowning and 699 others have been injured.

“Every year, we sound the alarm on the effects of climate change and what it means for people’s actual lives: their homes, their ability to farm and to eat, to send their kids to school, to access basic health care,” noted Charles Bernimolin, Head of the UN Humanitarian Coordination office for West and Central Africa. “Meaningful and strategic investments need to be made to ensure communities are prepared and that the worst impacts are mitigated ahead of time,” he stressed.

So far, Chad is the worst-hit country, with 246, 883 people affected by the high waters in just a few weeks.

The floods, which in many cases affect the same communities year after year, have also severely affected livelihoods and basic social services, undermining the ability of communities to provide themselves and forcing them into reliance on aid to survive in dignity.

Access to health care and basic education is hampered with dozens of schools and medical centres destroyed or damaged.

Food production and food security are also at stake with at least 25,726 hectares of farmland damaged and 4,205 livestock killed.

Key buildings and infrastructure are also hit: about 62,000 houses have been destroyed or damaged, leaving 54,772 women, children and men homeless and displaced. Nigeria and Chad recorded the highest number of people displaced due to flooding: 45,797 and 5,286 respectively.

The 2024 seasonal forecast predicted above-average cumulative rainfall over the June to August and the July to September periods in areas already prone to flooding in the Sahel and some countries in West Africa. This will deepen the needs of a population already vulnerable due to chronic poverty, underdevelopment, conflict and political instability, and increase the resources required for the humanitarian response.

This year, the Central Emergency Response Fund allocated almost US$10 million to Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Niger, in response to emergencies related to climate shocks, including floods.

“Thinking we have time to address the climate crisis in West and Central Africa is a mistake. If we don’t proactively reduce the effects of heavy flooding, drought and soil degradation, a myriad other consequences await, with much higher costs for the regions’ most vulnerable people,” explained Charles Bernimolin. “The solutions to manage this exist, but it requires immediate action and sufficient funding,” he added.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

On 9 August 2024, New Chinese Ambassador Han Jing paid a courtesy call on Hon. Chipoka Mulenga, the Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry of Zambia, and exchange views on China-Zambia economic and trade cooperation.

Ambassador Han said it’s a great responsibility for him to be appointed Chinese Ambassador to Zambia and expressed  gratitude to the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry for the strong support in the field of economic and trade cooperation in past years and appreciation for the great achievements in the Year of China-Zambia business cooperation. Both China and Zambia should make good use of the platform of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) to strengthen communication, deepen cooperation, tackle the concerns from the two sides, and promote transformation and development of Zambian Economy.

Minister Mulenga welcomed Ambassador Han to assume his office, and promised to provide more convenience in future to assist him in fulfilling his duties. The Minister elaborated on the long-term traditional friendship between Zambia and China and the landmark achievements in economic and trade cooperation, and said that China are warmly welcomed to participate in the economic and social development of Zambia. He believed that the upcoming FOCAC summit would inject new and greater impetus into bilateral cooperation.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Zambia.

On 16 August 2024, the University of Cape Town and the Metropolitan University of Hong Kong will sign a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which is the first of its kind to establish official working relations between the two universities.

This is one of the projects that the South African Consulate coordinated to promote people-to-people relations as well as relations between institutions of higher learning of South Africa and Hong Kong.

The Consulate has established good working relations with various universities in Hong Kong, including the Metropolitan University of Hong Kong. Recently, the Consulate and the Metropolitan University of Hong Kong collaborated in partnership with Freedom Park to host the 30 Years of Democracy activities that took place in June as well as a month-long 30 Years of Democracy and Mandela legacy exhibition courtesy of Freedom Park, which ended on 31 July 2024 at the University.

The MoU is based on the principle of mutual benefit to promote and enable collaboration for joint educational, cultural interactions, training and research purposes.

The areas proposed for collaboration include:

Joint activities such as lectures on general topics and topics related to South Africa and the African continent for audiences in Hong Kong
Introducing study tours and online courses of the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies to learners in Hong Kong
Exploring possibilities of establishing joint award programmes
Professional exchanges on university continuing education and lifelong learning for staff of both Parties
Any other academic activities deemed to be of mutual benefit in promoting lifelong learning exchanges between Hong Kong and South Africa.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with Prime Minister, Dr. Moustafa Madbouly, and Minister of Finance, Ahmed Kouchouk, to follow-up on the financial performance indicators of the general budget.

Spokesman for the Presidency, Counselor Dr. Ahmed Fahmy, said the meeting discussed the government’s efforts to implement the budget targets and achieve a fiscal balance, while continuing the implementation of development programs. This aims to bolster the competitiveness of the national economy and improve productivity so as to achieve higher growth rates, enhance the indicators of the general budget and reduce government debt.

President El-Sisi placed high priority on continuing intensive efforts to curb inflation, through integrated and consistent programs and policies. He confirmed that this shall  take place while ensuring the availability of goods and services in the markets for the citizens, and continuing to increase spending on health, education, and social protection sectors. The President also stressed the need to enhance the quality of services provided in these sectors to the citizens.

The meeting also focused on mechanisms to achieve tax stability in order to spur investment flows as part of efforts to boost economic growth rates. President El-Sisi was briefed on efforts by the government and the Ministry of Finance to implement the presidential directives to prepare a comprehensive package of tax incentives to govern and improve the services as well as the relationship between investors and the tax authority. These measures primarily include maximizing the utilization of the advanced technological infrastructure to improve the tax system and realize tangible progress in terms of enhancing the confidence with the business community and building a genuine development partnership between the state and the private sector.

President El-Sisi also gave directives to continue efforts to tighten the fiscal balance of the general budget, increase state revenues and invest them optimally, while focusing on enhancing spending on human development sectors. This would reflect positively on improving the performance of the national economy, the competitiveness of the business community, and the standard of living.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt.