![français [French]](/jsp/jahia/engines/images/flags/fr_off.gif)
Menu gauche
Contenu
Conference cycle on perspectives for Africa’s economy
As part of the “Ideas for Development” conference cycle, the AFD is organising three events on perspectives for Africa’s economy: "Macro-economic perspectives for Africa: sustaining growth in a more uncertain global environment", on 29 May in partnership with the IMF; "Macro-economics and politics in Africa”, on 31 May with Politique africaine and Afrique contemporaine magazines, and, on 6 June, "Who does land belong to? The transformation of African agriculture".
From 29 May to 13 June, the AFD will be organising an “Ideas for Development” cycle of five interdisciplinary conferences on a range of topic areas. These events will provide a framework for discussions on development issues with numerous experts with a professional or personal interest in this field. They are intended as a new forum for debates and meetings between researchers, students, professionals from a wide range of fields, and the general public.
The first three conferences, described below, will focus on Africa’s economy and its performance, opportunities, stumbling blocks and prospects.
|
1st conference: "Macro-economic perspectives for Africa: sustaining growth in a more uncertain global environment"
2nd conference : "Macro-economics and politics in Africa"
31 May, in partnership with Politique africaine and Afrique contemporaine magazines
Although macro-economics is an area usually addressed as a theoretical corpus developed by economists and technical public policy experts, it can also be seen as above all an expression of politics. This meeting aims to offer a different perspective on macro-economics, as the theatre of social struggles and conflicts between groups that offers material to gain a better understanding of the logic of the State and the mechanisms of power. A “bottom-up” analysis of the technical aspects of macro-economics can shed light on the emergence of new players, new instruments and new positions and relationships of power – in other words, provide new ways of approaching the realities of African societies.
Speakers
Béatrice Hibou, CNRS, Sciences Po / CERI, FASOPO
Boris Samuel, SciencesPo CERI, FASOPO
To be followed by a debate with the audience.
Conference on 31 May 2011, 10 am to 12.30 pm at the AFD, 5 rue Roland Barthes, Paris 12°.
Admission free subject to seating capacity and prior registration
Find out more and register for the conference
|
3rd conference: "Who does the land belong to? The transformation of African agriculture"
African Agriculture Fund, a first in the fight against hunger
European, African and international partners have set out to tackle the threats to Africa’s food security by pooling their resources and expertise for the first time in a single investment fund (African Agriculture Fund, AAF). The aim is to promote agricultural investments in Africa and increase agricultural production for domestic consumption.
Increasing threat to food security for Africans
The 2008 food riots revealed the number of challenges facing Africa in terms of food security:
- the uncontrolled increase in urban populations, which rely on food imports subject to price volatility in agricultural raw materials;
- the chronic dependence on emergency food aid, particularly in destabilized regions such as the Sahel zone;
- the practice of land grabbing by speculative investment funds to the detriment of the interests of village producers;
- the lack of political will to establish regional strategies based on farmers’ production sectors;
- private agricultural companies and cooperatives’ lack of own resources to increase their production and modernize industries.
African Agriculture Fund: a first
The international community has mobilized to address these issues via various initiatives. For the first time, European partners (AFD, European Union, Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Italian cooperation), African partners (ADB, BOAD, EBID, DBSA and the AGRA Foundation) and UN agencies (IFAD and UNIDO) have pooled their resources and expertise within a single investment fund (African Agriculture Fund or AAF) in order promote agricultural investments in Africa.
A palm plantation in Ghana, © AFD Agency in Ghana
Anti-money laundering and sound land management
This pan-African fund was quoted in the Final Declaration of the G20 Agriculture Meeting in June 2011. It is expected to total over $200m by July 2012 and operates throughout the agricultural value chain (production, processing and distribution), with priority given to the primary sector (cereals, livestock, aquaculture, fruit production…).
The fund’s procedures cover compliance with strict social and environmental standards, systematic due diligence on anti-money laundering and corruption and the application of a code of sound land management.
Two AAF projects already underway
AAF has already invested in two projects: the first aims to refurbish a palm oil processing plant in Sierra Leone via a $10m investment alongside financing from Finnfund . This project is part of the international community’s post conflict initiative. It involves over 8,000 independent planters and will increase production destined for the domestic market.
The fund’s second investment, worth $20m, will extend an egg production farm in Zambia and develop the different sector stakeholders (from soya production for poultry feed to distribution points, including storage improvement).
The next investments are expected to be made in French-Speaking West Africa ( Côte d’Ivoire ) and in a wide range of sectors (mineral water, sugar, crop protection…).
The fund has two instruments which more specifically target small producers or entrepreneurs: a $30m subsidiary fund earmarked for agricultural SMEs and a $15m technical assistance facility to subsidize the professional integration of small producers, capacity building and the development of services for SMEs.
“French teaching” training certificate award ceremony for non-civil servant teachers in Madagascar
One of the main challenges facing Madagascar’s education sector is to train teachers. The National Institute of Pedagogical Training (INFP) is helping non-civil servant teachers to upgrade their professional and language skills with AFD support. It has designed a “French teaching” training course for this purpose. On 15 February 2012, a certificate award ceremony was held at INFP for teachers who obtained the highest grades in this training course.
80% of the teaching staff in primary school
Although teacher training continues to be a priority objective for the Malagasy Government, training for non-civil servant teachers is one of the main challenges for Madagascar’s education sector. These teachers, commonly known as “FRAM teachers”, are teachers hired by parent-teacher associations and do not benefit from any basic training. There are currently about 50,000 of them and they make up over 80% of the teaching staff in the basic education cycle.
A FRAM teacher’s class in the Tuléar region
The certificate award ceremony gave AFD the opportunity to join the Ministry of National Education in paying tribute to the courage and commitment of these teachers who do a difficult job.
A “French teaching” educational kit
The main training tool used by the system is the “French teaching” educational kit. It has allowed the National Institute of Pedagogical Training to build a team of 280 trainers, train 7,000 teachers and develop its partnership with the Alliance Française, the French International Centre of Pedagogical Studies (CIEP) and the NGO France Volontaires.
FRAM teachers receiving their “French Teaching Kit” training certificate
AFD, through its future financing for education in Madagascar, will be aiming to build on the skills acquired by FRAM teachers and to strengthen the central role played by the INFP in improving the quality of teaching.
%202_th_104.JPG)
