The Crisis in Europe took a Big Bite out of Foreign Aid – A new report from the OECD shows that “among wealthy countries, foreign assistance dropped 2.7 percent in 2011.” Among countries “plagued by debt woes, only Italy managed to become more generous to the rest of the world, boosting aid by 33 percent.” Even though the US provides more development assistance than any other country,” when “you look at aid as a percentage of ‘gross national income,’ the most generous countries in the world are still Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, Denmark and the Netherlands.” (Washington Post, Brad Plumer)
Drought affecting millions in Africa’s Sahel – Across the Sahel region of Northern Africa, rising food prices, crop failures and drought have left more than 10 million people in danger of starving to death and 1 million children at risk of malnutrition. UNICEF has launched the #SahelNOW campaign in hopes of raising $120 million to treat and feed the region’s children. At present, the organization has only $30 million on hand. (CNN, David McKenzie)
Controlling the Typhoid Epidemic Plaguing Sub-Saharan Africa – Since November 2011, there has been a “surge of typhoid fever outbreaks in central and southern Africa,” affecting both children and adults. According to the World Health Organization, about 21.6 million cases of typhoid occur every year. The recent cases of typhoid in Zambia and Zimbabwe can be “directly attributed to problems with water and sanitation,” yet “typhoid has remained on the back burner of the global public health agenda, allowing the cycle of endemic disease and episodic outbreaks to continue.” (The Atlantic, Chris Nelson)
Brian Atwood: Why transparency matters – Brian Atwood, the chairman of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee called for “donor and recipient governments and organizations [to] develop a strong culture of transparency,” as suggested at last year’s Fourth High-level Conference on Aid Effectiveness. Atwood explains that transparency strengthens the relationship between governments and citizens, allows developing country citizens to track development flows, and builds trust among governments. (Devex, Ivy Mungcal)
Growing With Africa’s Consumers – When “Africa proved resilient to the 2009 global downturn, companies without a presence in Africa started taking another look,” and those already there began to boost their presence. The diminishing overall political risk, the rapid rise of a new consumer class, and the emergence of trading blocs have all significantly improved the business environment in Africa. As “growth slows in developed markets and categories in other emerging markets quickly consolidate, Africa may be the next best place on Earth to look for a new growth engine.” (Forbes, Matthew Meacham)
