The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA) has launched a new project in Kinshasa to explore cassava’s economic potential in agricultural value chains in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Cameroon The project was launched in association with the Regional Platform for Central African Producers Organisations (PROPAC) and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies has arrived in Paris, France where he is leading a South African business delegation to the Viva Technology Conference and Exhibition (VivaTech) that will take place in Paris, France from 24 to 26 May 2018. French President, Emmanuel Macron Il is scheduled to open the Viva Technology Conference and Exhibition. The VivaTech conference and exhibition is dedicated to innovation and digital transformation focused on start-ups.

African Union and European Union Commissioners today adopted concrete measures to address pressing global issues in key areas such as peace and security, migration, job creation and agriculture. This 9th Commission to Commission meeting of the two organisations was co-chaired by the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, with the participation of all African Union Commissioners and 16 European Union Commissioners.

In 2015, the international community agreed on the so-called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that set out a vision to overcome poverty and achieve sustainable development worldwide by 2030. To deliver on this ambitious agenda, different financing sources will have to be used. They include a much better use of domestic resources, public funds such as official development assistance (ODA), and also much increased investments. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the investment gap amounts to more than €2 billion a year.

The 107th Session of the ACP Council of Ministers will be held in Lome, Togo from 29th to 30th May 2018 under the Presidency of Jamaica, at a very crucial time of the ACP-EU Relations.This meeting remains an important milestone towards opening negotiations with the countries of the Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (ACP) and the European Union (EU). Seventy-nine countries from Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific will speak with one voice as they prepare to adopt a negotiating mandate between the ACP and the EU post -Cotonou Agreement.