NEPAD Today 10 July 2013

NEPAD Today

10 July 2013

Editor
Yinka Adeyemi
Assistant Editor
Meseret Arega
Editorial Board: Yinka Adeyemi (ECA), ADOU Jean Yves (AUC), Meseret Arega (ECA)

Experts to build partnerships for capacity development in medicines regulation in Africa

The NEPAD Agency in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the support of US-Food and Drugs Administration (USFDA) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) will hold the first biennial Scientific Conference on Medicines Regulation in Africa on 2nd and 3rd December 2013, in Johannesburg, South Africa on the theme “Building Partnerships for Sustainable Capacity Development in Medicines Regulation in Africa”.
The initiative to organise the conference is borne out of the necessity for African regulatory authorities, researchers, academic institutions and industry to work together to address some of the salient issues affecting their areas of delivery of medical products and technologies to the public.
The objectives of the scientific conference are to provide a forum to share scientific advances and current best practices in regulatory science disciplines amongst policy makers, regulators, industry and scientists; review current global developments in the regulatory environment and assess their impact on the commercialization of health research products as part of implementation of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA); Contribute to global knowledge on regulatory science and provide inputs to the third African Medicines Regulatory Authorities Conference

Source: http://www.amrh.org/events/first-biennial-scientific-conference-medicines-regulation-africa-theme-building-partnerships 

Equatorial Guinea donates $30 Million to fight hunger

Equatorial Guinea has made a donation of $30 million to fight hunger in Africa, according to an announcement made during the Elimination of Hunger in Africa Summit that took place in Addis Ababa.
Prime Minister Vicente Ehate Tomi attended the summit on behalf of President Obiang, who was in Russia to participate in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.
The meeting, the High Level Meeting of African and International Leaders/Aim for Renewed Partnership to End Hunger in Africa, was organized by the African Union (AU), the FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) and NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development), a non-governmental organization supported by the Lula Institute and the Government of Ethiopia.
Prime Minister Tomi shared President Obiang's concern over the hunger issue within the African continent and said, "Equatorial Guinea has adopted the call for aid strategies, and for this reason we offer a sum of thirty million dollars to fight this problem."
The conference closed with a statement signed by the attending countries and institutions to conduct joint actions to end hunger and malnutrition by 2025.

Source:  Republic of Equatorial Guinea

Ethiopia 2013/14 budget to focus on infrastructure

Ethiopia's economy is expected to maintain a growth rate of 11 percent in 2013/14 with plans to upgrade infrastructure given prominence in its annual budget, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said on Thursday.
The Horn of Africa nation has in recent years embarked on ambitious infrastructure projects to improve its economic competitiveness, including a multi-billion dollar plan to increase energy output by building a hydro-power dam on the Nile.
“Ethiopia’s GDP grew by more than 10 percent during the past two years and we expect to maintain high growth in 2013/14," Hailemariam told parliament.
The IMF said in a statement on Thursday it expected Ethiopia's economy to grow 7 percent in 2012/13.
The budget of 154.9 billion birr ($8.3 billion) for the 2013/14 fiscal year that runs from July 8 this year to July 7 next year will also focus spending on health, education in one of Africa's poorest but among fastest-growing economies.
Ethiopia has spent over $3.6 billion on road construction over the last decade and its expenditure will amount to 29 billion birr in the current fiscal year.
Hailemariam said the government expects its 2013/14 national budget to have a 3.3 percent deficit of gross domestic product, from 3.7 percent a year before.
Hailemaiam said the budget would be funded 79.1 percent from domestic sources and the rest would come from foreign loans and aid, in the country that is a big recipient of aid.
Ethiopia's growth has been driven by expansion in services and agriculture, with the main exports including coffee, horticultural products and livestock.

Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000087575&story_title=ethiopia-s-budget-to-focus-on-infrastructure

Upcoming events (some dates or venue may change)

  1. The 3rd Steering Committee meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation,  25 to 26 July, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
  2. Seminar on Advancing Regional Integration through NEPAD Implementation: Learning Event on Comparative Analysis of African-European Integration Studies September 2013 South Africa.
  3. Africa-NEPAD Week at 69th UN General Assembly (mid-October 2013)
  4. 21st Africa Partnership Forum – Dakar (tbc) November 2013
  5. High Level Summit and Business Conference on Africa’s Domestic Resource Mobilzation (DRM) November 2013)
  6. 5th GEO Health & Environment Community of Practice (CoP), 23-25 July 2013, Washington D.C., USA
  7. 48th NEPAD Steering Committee meeting – Dakar, End of August/Sept 2013

 

A production of the RCM-Africa Secretariat, AU and NEPAD Support Team, Capacity Development Division (CDD),
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Director: Adeyemi Dipeolu
Email: ecanepad@uneca.org