The European Union has released €89.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Somalia and Djibouti, as millions are grappling with the consequences of prolonged extreme weather conditions. The funding comes ahead of the Somalia Partnership Forum co-hosted by the European Union taking place next week over 16-17 July.
The EU’s much vaunted private investment vehicle in Africa has moved a step closer to becoming reality after €800 million was unlocked to leverage multi-billion euro investments on the continent. At a meeting on July 10, the board of the European Fund for Sustainable Development gave its green light to a package of financial guarantee programmes worth around €800 million as part the bloc’s External Investment Plan (EIP).
As part of its External Investment Plan, the EU gave its green light to a package of financial guarantee programmes worth around €800 million on 10 July. This will help to leverage an estimated €8-9 billion in public and private investment in Africa and the Neighbourhood. Yesterday's decision is a major milestone towards delivering investments in Africa and the Neighbourhood through the EU's External Investment Plan (EIP), which is expected to leverage €44 billion of investments through an EU contribution worth €4.1 billion.
Africa’s share of the European avocado market fell from 27% to 18% between 2014 and 2017, according to FreshFruitPortal, citing data from Eurostat. While African avocado exports to the EU actually rose by about 5% over this period, from 82,000 to 86,000 tonnes, this increase is marginal compared to the 59% leap in avocado imports to the EU between 2014 and 2017 (from 305,000 to 486,000 tonnes).
Ms Isabelle Grunderbeeck, the Regional Representative for West Africa of European Investment Bank (EIB), says the bank plans to invest 700 million euros in some identified projects in Nigeria. Grunderbeeck disclosed this at the bank’s interactive meeting with its clients and other stakeholders in Abuja on Tuesday. She said that the planned investment was in addition to the fund already committed to the Nigerian economy.