Musings From Abroad

USAID pledges $1bn assistance over drought in Horn of Africa

Published

2 years ago

July 24, 2022

Amidst the current drought in Eastern Africa, the United State Agency for International Development (USAID) met residents of Turkana village, northwest Kenya to find ways to improve their support.

USAID’s administrator, Samantha Power, promised to finance more than 1bn $ of assistance.

“All of their livestock has been wiped out, decimated by this drought. So we are talking about the massive loss of livelihood and the risk of the massive loss of life”, declared Power after speaking to locals.

He also revealed that the funding would go to “partners who are doing everything from building boreholes or repairing boreholes, so there can be some source of water, to providing food, to providing medicines”. Power pledged.

The United Nations in June said more than one million people living in the Horn of Africa have been rendered homeless as a result of the droughts ravaging the region, coupled with famine, lack of clean water and pasture for animals.

The situation has become dare. A 51-year-old community leader in Turkana, Enos Lochul, in her lamentation said “my children ask me for food and yet I can neither provide food for them nor steal it. I am too old to become a thief. This desperate situation makes me shed tears.”

The USAID intervention is timely because aside the humanitarian crisis and famine, more than 12 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia cannot access enough clean water.

Women and children are walking further to fetch water, risking dehydration and physical and sexual violence. Families also face heightened risks of disease.

Related Topics:Featured Horn of Africa USAID

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Musings From Abroad

Brazilian meatpacker JBS invests $2.5 billion in Nigeria, builds six facilities

Published

4 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Brazilian meatpacker JBS says it has inked a memorandum of understanding with the Nigerian government for a $2.5 billion investment plan that will include the construction of six new plants in the African nation.

Three of the plants would deal in poultry, two in beef, and one in pork, according to a statement from JBS.

In accordance with the memorandum of understanding, JBS stated that it would develop a five-year investment plan in Nigeria, which would include budget estimates, feasibility studies, and an action plan for the development of the local supply chain.

The Nigerian government would then guarantee the sanitary, regulatory, and economic conditions required for the project’s viability, JBS continued.

Musings From Abroad

China’s Xi meets with Morocco’s Crown Prince

Published

4 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Morocco’s official media reports that Chinese President, Xi Jinping, visited Morocco briefly on Thursday.

According to Morocco’s MAP, Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan welcomed Xi in Casablanca. The visit demonstrated the close ties of camaraderie, collaboration, and solidarity between the Moroccan and Chinese peoples, it said.

China’s official broadcaster, CCTV, said that Xi and Hassan had a “cordial conversation” at the airport after being received by the Crown Prince and Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch.

After attending the G20 Summit in Brazil, Xi paid the visit.

In recent years, China has increased its investments in Morocco’s rail and infrastructure. Morocco is desirable for Chinese electric car battery manufacturers because of its proximity to Europe, free trade agreements with important EU and US markets, and an established automotive sector.

Morocco was chosen by Chinese EV battery company Gotion High Tech in June to establish Africa’s first gigafactory, which will cost $1.3 billion in total.