The President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has called for more partnerships to accelerate development of the African continent. “Africa is now the place to be,” he told businessmen and representatives of the Portuguese private sector, during a roundtable co-chaired with Teresa Ribeiro, Portugal’s State Secretary in charge of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Vice-Governor of Portugal to the AfDB and the African Development Fund.

Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon said in spite of some challenges, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) has the potential to help local and regional companies penetrate European markets. “It (the EPA) has the potential to expand market opportunities for the regional private sector within the European Union (EU) ” she said. Gopee-Scoon spoke yesterday at the Third Meeting of the CARIFORUM-EU Parliamentary Committee Meeting at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port-of-Spain.

The first symposium dedicated to the cooperation between the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (ACP), took place on 24th October at the ACP Secretariat in Brussels. The Secretary General of the ACP, Dr. Patrick I. Gomes and UNIDO Director General, LI Yong, took part in the event, which focused on “Boosting ACP Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization through job creation, value chains, and productive investment.”

Around 264 million children worldwide don’t go to school. The Education Coalition in France denounces the country’s lack of education focus on development aid programs. EURACTIV France reports. The Education Coalition, uniting 16 civil society organisations, met with Brigitte Macron on Monday (6 November) to discuss the country’s commitment to boosting education abroad. The French president wants to spend 0.7% of the nation’s GDP on development aid by 2030 (and 0.55% by 2022). This means an increase of at least €3 billion.

The European Commission has announced a €106 million support package - €46 million in humanitarian assistance and €60 million for development - to directly assist people in Sudan affected by forced displacement, undernutrition, disease outbreaks and recurrent extreme climatic conditions. Some 4.8 million people in Sudan currently need urgent assistance.