Fisheries and Aquaculture competitiveness in ACP countries will receive a strong boost from an Intra-ACP allocation of the European Development Fund (EDF) aimed at enhancing the key role that Fisheries and Aquaculture could play in social and economic development across African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

Mr. Jean-Louis Ville, the Head of Unit for East Asia, South-East Asia and the Pacific at the European Commission Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development, endorsed the mobilization of the funds in the margins of the 49th Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru. He underlined: ''The EU is proud to support Tonga.

New EU funding will help vulnerable communities in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon The humanitarian crisis in the Africa's Lake Chad basin, affecting parts of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, continues to worsen due to prolonged violence, insecurity and environmental degradation. To help the most vulnerable communities, the Commission has today announced new funding of €138 million combining humanitarian and development assistance.

The issue of how to control migration from Africa may have exorcised European leaders in recent years, but it could also derail the EU’s main political agreement with the continent. Eighteen months of talks on a new agreement to replace the 2000 Cotonou accord with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries will begin in the coming weeks, with EU and African leaders far apart on how to tackle migration policy.

AFRICAN Development Bank (AfDB) president Akinwumi Adesina has told the Dutch government and business leaders that Africa is open and ready to do business. And Adesina says the Bank’s greatest agenda is to unlock Africa’s agricultural potential.