The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) have approved a loan of US $26.55 million to Togo to implement the second phase of the Agro-Food Processing Zone Project.

The aim is to provide the country with an industrial hub for processing agricultural products and establish a business zone to offer opportunities to young people and women in the Kara and Savanes regions, in the north and far north of the country, respectively.

The project, approved in Abidjan on 19 July 2024, will also help to attract a significant level of private investment into key agricultural sectors, such as rice, maize, soya, sesame, cashew nuts and broiler chickens.

The funds come from the Transition Support Facility, an African Development Bank Group mechanism aimed at countries in transition, and will support investments that encourage inclusive agricultural growth that creates jobs and reduces food imports into the small West African country located on the  Atlantic Ocean.

“As well as consolidating the achievements of the first phase of the project, it was essential to support the structure of the Togo Agro-Food Processing Zone Project (Togo Agropole) with a second phase. This will focus on the construction and operationalization of the agro-industrial park (the central hub), including building a network of infrastructure (various roads and networks, administrative buildings, electrification, water and fibre optics) to create the right conditions for establishing private businesses,” said Wilfrid Abiola, the African Development Bank’s Country Manager in Togo.

Among others, the project will support the creation and operationalization of the company that will manage the agro-park and the construction of an agro-industrial park in Broukou (in Doufelgou prefecture, in the north of the country) by opening roads, developing electricity and street lighting networks, and building an administrative, financial, civil protection and access control centre.

The project will also fund the purchase of small agricultural equipment for vegetable-growing plots, particularly for women. The plan is also to build the capacity of agricultural producers, including women, in production, processing, storage and marketing to help them find markets and sell agricultural products. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Media contact:
Alexis Adélé,
Communication and External Relations Department, 
media@afdb.org

About the African Development Bank Group:
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is the premier multilateral financing institution dedicated to Africa’s development. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NSF). The AfDB has a field presence in 41 African countries, with an external office in Japan, and contributes to the economic development and social progress of its 54 regional member states. For more information: www.AfDB.org

A new survey carried out by Epicentre, Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF) epidemiological and medical research arm, among displaced people in four camps around Goma in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), shows alarming rates of violence, particularly sexual violence, continuing daily in and around the camps. More than one in 10 young women report having been raped in the period covered by the survey, November 2023 – April 2024. MSF renews our appeal to the authorities and aid agencies to guarantee the protection of displaced people, and to respond adequately to the epidemic of violence.

Conducted among households of displaced people living in four camps, in total housing more than 200,000 people, to the west of the city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, this survey follows on from the one carried out by Epicentre in 2023. Led in collaboration with the authorities in the health zones concerned, the survey was conducted in April 2024. While it examines a number of themes (retrospective mortality, frequency and type of violent events suffered by displaced people, measles vaccination coverage, and nutrition status of children aged between 6 and 59 months), it especially reveals that the overall frequency of violence is still high in these camps.

The main form of violence people report remains sexual violence. Physical and psychological violence are also frequently reported. Among adult women aged between 20 and 44, more than 10% said they had been raped in the five months preceding the survey, including more than 17% in some camps. The incidence of sexual violence was also high among teenage girls (more than 4% of teenage girls aged 13 to 19 on average) and women aged over 45.

“The percentage of displaced people reporting episodes of violence during the survey period is similar to that in 2023,” says Erica Simons, epidemiologist at Epicentre. “We continue to observe a very high rate of reported cases of violence among the population in the four camps, particularly sexual violence.”

“Living conditions in displaced people’s sites remain extremely precarious. By fleeing the conflict in North Kivu, hundreds of thousands of displaced people have lost their usual means of subsistence,” continues Simons. “They no longer have access to the fields they used to cultivate and are dependent on irregular and inadequate food aid, while they continue to suffer daily violence linked to the ongoing conflict.”

MSF teams are present in most of the camps, providing general healthcare, health promotion, treatment for malnutrition, and care for victims and survivors of sexual violence. Every day, our teams witness the acute vulnerability of women, children and adolescents, while Goma is now surrounded by front lines, protection mechanisms in the camps are rare, and the socio-economic insecurity of displaced people is increasing. ​

“The results of this survey are consistent with the extremely high number of cases of sexual violence treated by MSF’s medical teams in the various displaced people’s sites around Goma,” says Camille Niel, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Goma. “Once again this year, victims and survivors of sexual violence report being attacked by men, often armed, in the forests and fields where they have to go to collect firewood or the food they need to feed their families.”

“They also report numerous incidents of violence committed on a daily basis inside the camps,” says Niel. “Their precarious situation, and that of their makeshift shelters, make them particularly vulnerable to this type of violence.”

Although the systemic nature of the violence is known and documented, our teams note that it continues, leaving the patients we treat medically and psychologically at very high risk of attack again once they leave our clinics. ​

MSF reiterates our requests to the authorities to guarantee the security of displaced people’s sites. To protect women and children in particular, MSF also calls again on aid agencies to step up food assistance, access to income-generating activities and safe shelters on the sites, and to support accommodation and shelter for victims and survivors of sexual violence in serious danger of being attacked again.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Médecins sans frontières (MSF).

Mr. Amanuel Woldetsion, head of seed development, reported that improved wheat and hybrid corn seeds are significantly contributing to boosting agricultural produce.

Mr. Amanuel stated that this year 29,300 hectares of land have been cultivated, with 81% planted with crops, 14.4% with cereals, and 4% with oil crops. He also mentioned that the 2,500 quintals of improved wheat seeds that was distributed to farmers are significantly contributing to the successful implementation of agricultural activities.

Mr. Amanuel went on to say that the improved wheat seed has strong resistance to pests and crop diseases, and one of the types, “Sidra,” has been well-received by farmers. The expansion of hybrid corn, which was distributed to 20 farmers as a pilot project in 2021, is currently being cultivated on 10.34 hectares of land and is in good condition.

Mr. Amanuel also called on farmers to reinforce participation in water and soil conservation activities, with a view to ensuring water supply, frequent crop rotation, and the application of organic fertilizers.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has approved a $39.2 million loan to Burkina Faso for a project to boost skill development and resilience among young people, particularly women.

The Multisectoral Project to Support Skills Development for Resilience will be financed through a $13.2 million contribution from the African Development Fund, the Bank Group’s concessional window, and $26 million from the Transition Support Facility, a mechanism designed to assist countries facing significant challenges.

The initiative is timely as Burkina Faso continues to grapple with socioeconomic challenges stemming from a decade-long security crisis. The project is expected to create at least 20,000 jobs and indirectly benefit 175,000 individuals. Its primary goal is to offer young people an alternative to violence and prevent radicalisation by creating opportunities for skill development and employment.

Key project components include occupational training for 61,830 people affected by the security crisis, support for 800 youth entrepreneurs, equipping and capacity building for 35 vocational training centres, financing for 1,200 youth-led projects and 2,000 women-led enterprises, and constructing 1,000 poultry farms and 1,000 small ruminant pens. There will be models on human rights and peacebuilding, civic education, and the promotion and adoption of climate-resilient technologies, including nature-based solutions.

Daniel Ndoye, the Bank’s Country Manager in Burkina Faso, emphasised the project’s importance. “The project comes at just the right time, given the challenging social and security context, characterized by high numbers of internally displaced persons and young people who are facing either unemployment or under-employment and are therefore vulnerable to terrorists,” Ndoye said. He added that the project, to be implemented across seven regions, would strengthen Burkina Faso’s efforts to reduce youth vulnerability by creating decent jobs and providing access to essential social services.

The project will also improve access to basic social services and support distance-learning at Koudougou University (Centre-Ouest region), which currently has the largest number of internally displaced students. At least 1,000 of these students will receive computers to aid them in learning.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Media contact:
Alexis Adélé
Communication and External Relations Department
media@afdb.org

About the African Development Bank Group:
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is the premier multilateral financing institution dedicated to Africa’s development. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NSF). The AfDB has a field presence in 41 African countries, with an external office in Japan, and contributes to the economic development and social progress of its 54 regional member states. For more information: www.AfDB.org