Category: Africa

Source: APO

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The Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) (https://IsDBInstitute.org/) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) have signed an agreement to launch a new project titled ‘Prosper MSMEs’. The project will explore how national postal networks in IsDB member countries can widen access to e-commerce and deliver Islamic finance-aligned digital financial services to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and underserved communities.

The agreement was signed on 21 September 2026 by Dr. Sami Al-Suwailem, Acting Director General of IsDBI, and Mr. Masahiko Metoki, Director General of the UPU International Bureau.

Postal networks often serve communities that commercial banks and private logistics providers do not reach. Through Prosper MSMEs, IsDBI and the UPU aim to leverage this extensive infrastructure to help small businesses participate more effectively in the digital economy.

The project will identify opportunities for postal operators to support MSMEs in selling online, enabling cross-border trade, and accessing Sharia-compliant payment and financing solutions.

The project will be implemented in two phases across eight selected IsDB member countries:

• Phase 1: Regulatory assessment. This phase will examine the regulatory frameworks governing e-commerce, postal services, digital payments, and Islamic finance in participating countries.
• Phase 2: Market analysis. This phase will assess the barriers to e-commerce adoption among MSMEs, identify gaps in financial services, evaluate demand for Islamic financial products, and analyze the capabilities of the existing postal networks in the eight selected countries.

IsDBI is financing the project, and the UPU is contributing its expertise, data resources, and engagement with its global postal network.

Prosper MSMEs seeks to achieve three main objectives:

1. Conduct regulatory and market assessments that can guide practical, country-specific technical assistance for postal-led e-commerce and digital financial services.
2. In the eight selected countries, develop proposals for innovative postal-based e-commerce and financing solutions tailored to the needs of MSMEs, women and youth.
3. Present the findings and proposals to cooperation partners, including IsDBI, in order to mobilize resources for implementation.

The project will culminate in a consolidated master report which brings together findings from the participating countries and outlines a roadmap for implementation. The resulting evidence-based project pipeline will support governments, postal operators, and development partners in expanding digital market access and promoting ethical, inclusive finance for small businesses and underserved communities.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI).

About the IsDB Institute:
The Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) is the knowledge beacon of the Islamic Development Bank Group. Guided by the principles of Islamic economics and finance, the IsDB Institute leads the development of innovative knowledge-based solutions to support the sustainable economic advancement of IsDB Member Countries and various Muslim communities worldwide. The IsDB Institute enables economic development through pioneering research, human capital development, and knowledge creation, dissemination, and management. The Institute leads initiatives to enable Islamic finance ecosystems, ultimately helping Member Countries achieve their development objectives. For more information, visit: https://IsDBInstitute.org/ 

About the Universal Postal Union:
Established in 1874, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) is an intergovernmental organization and a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for the postal sector. With 192 member countries, the UPU is the primary forum for cooperation among postal sector stakeholders, helping to ensure a universal postal network of interconnected services. It sets the rules for international mail exchanges, promotes commong standards and the use of technology, provides technical assistance, and fosters cooperation across the sector. Under its Dubai Postal Strategy 2026-2029, the UPU is committed to supporting the postal sector in developing innovative services in e-commerce, logistics, and financial, social and trade inclusion. For more information, visit: www.UPU.int 

Source: APO

African Collaborations Group (ACG) (www.ACGafrica.com), the leading strategic project origination and collaboration platform focused on the industrialisation of sport in Africa through the origination of bankable sport and entertainment district ecosystems, today announced the appointment of Chantelé Carrington, CEO of Invest Africa, to its Advisory Board.

Ms Carrington became CEO of Invest Africa in January 2024. Invest Africa is a leading business and investment platform with over seventy years’ experience in Africa and a global footprint of member organisations comprising multinationals, private equity firms, institutional investors, development finance institutions, professional service organisations, government bodies, and entrepreneurs. As the trusted entry point into Africa for international capital, Invest Africa connects its network through market intelligence, dynamic events, trade missions, and consulting services, playing a central role in guiding sustainable capital towards key opportunities on the continent for economic development.

She joined from PwC, where she served as Strategic International Markets Leader for the United Kingdom, overseeing investment with Africa, the United States, the Middle East, China, Japan, Germany, India, France, Central and Eastern Europe, South Korea, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Southeast Asia. Prior to this, she served as COO of PwC UK’s Africa Business Group for the UK-Africa Alliance for five years, preceding her roles as Lead for Finance Services Africa and Lead for South Africa, in sectors including Infrastructure, Government and Public Sector, and services including Deals and Consulting, Audit and Assurance, as well as Tax and Regulation.

Originally from South Africa, Ms Carrington is a member of the UK Government’s Africa Investor Group, a member of the External Advisory Board of the UK-African Investment Summit, and served as Advisory Group Chair of the Technical Assistance Facility for the UK-Africa Investment Summit 2020. She brings more than 20 years of experience in financial services, investment advisory, and cross-border capital mobilisation across Africa, the United States, the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

Her previous board and advisory positions include Non-Executive Director of SIAT Group, Advisory Board Member of the South African Chamber of Commerce UK, Board Trustee of help2read, and Advisory Board Member of innovaBRICS & Beyond. She is an accountant and consultant by background with a specialisation in financial services.

Her appointment to the ACG Advisory Board addresses a critical dimension of ACG’s origination process: connecting bankable projects to institutional capital. Every Victory District™ project that ACG originates must ultimately attract investment from private equity firms, institutional investors, and development finance institutions. Ms Carrington sits at the centre of that ecosystem. Through her Invest Africa network and relationships with the UK Government’s Africa investment architecture, she brings ACG the pathway to the investor community that can finance Victory District™ projects.

Her experience at PwC in international trade and investment across more than a dozen markets is equally relevant. ACG’s projects involve cross-border capital flows, multi-jurisdiction structuring, and the alignment of international investors with African government mandates. Ms Carrington has spent her career navigating exactly that complexity.

“Chantelé brings to our Advisory Board the one thing that every infrastructure origination platform ultimately needs: access to the investor community,” said Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard (www.Pompigne-Mognard.com), Founder and Executive Chairman of ACG. “As CEO of Invest Africa, she leads a platform of over four hundred member organisations that include the exact institutions, private equity firms, DFIs, and multinationals that can finance and participate in Victory District™ projects. As a member of the UK Government’s Africa Investor Group, she connects at the policy level where investment decisions are shaped. Her appointment strengthens ACG’s ability to connect bankable projects to bankable capital.”

The Advisory Board provides strategic guidance as ACG originates and structures large-scale sport and entertainment district projects across the continent, aligning governments, development finance institutions (DFIs), investors, sport bodies and infrastructure partners to support the development of financially sustainable, mixed-use district ecosystems.

Africa’s sport economy is projected to reach USD 20 billion by 2035, yet the continent continues to lack the integrated district ecosystems required to support large-scale development. ACG addresses this gap by originating bankable sport and entertainment district projects, moving beyond single-venue development models towards mixed-use, revenue-generating and financially sustainable district ecosystems.

Through its collaborative model, ACG convenes governments, PPP authorities and regulators, development finance institutions, private investors, developers, designers and engineers, legal and transaction advisors, operators, sport federations and leagues, event promoters, media and broadcast partners, academic institutions and host communities, creating structured pathways from concept to feasibility, bankability and delivery.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Collaborations Group (ACG).

Media contact:
marie@apo-opa.com

Source: APO

Burundi is set to win re-election to the United Nations Human Rights Council in a vote on October 12, 2026, with no competition, Human Rights Watch said today. Burundi is seeking to retain its seat even though the government of this Central African country has not improved its abusive human rights conditions.

Burundi is one of the four African countries running for the same number of seats on the 47-nation council. The regional slates for the Western group, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, and Asia also lack competition. This effectively guarantees all 15 candidates, fit or unfit, spots on the UN’s premier rights body for three years beginning on January 1, 2027. 

“This uncompetitive vote makes a mockery of the word ‘election,’” said Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch. “UN member states should insist on competitive slates so they can reject candidates with poor human rights records. No one should have a seat on this crucial body handed to them on a silver platter.” 

Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia are candidates for Africa’s other three available seats. In Asia, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, and Nepal are running for the region’s four seats. In Latin America and the Caribbean, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay are set to take the region’s three spots. For the Western group, Germany and Ireland are on track to get the group’s two available seats, while Moldova and Ukraine will take Central and Eastern Europe’s two spots.

Despite some positive government statements, Burundi has not carried out meaningful reform to address longstanding concerns related to governance, justice, or accountability. Grave abuses persist with impunity, including extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and detention. Freedom of expression, assembly, and association remain severely restricted.

Burundi is in the third year of its current term and is allowed to run for another consecutive term. On October 6, the country’s delegation tried to use their membership to prevent UN scrutiny of Burundi’s poor human rights record, first by calling a vote to renew the mandate of the UN special rapporteur on Burundi and then by voting against it. The resolution was adopted, though, 22 to 7, with 17 abstentions. 

That resolution not only expressed concerns about ongoing rights violations but highlighted Burundi’s refusal to cooperate with the council and most of its mechanisms, including the special rapporteur.

General Assembly Resolution 60/251, which created the Human Rights Council in 2006, says that countries voting for members should “take into account the contribution of candidates to the promotion and protection of human rights.” Council members are required to “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights” at home and abroad and to “fully cooperate with the Council.” 

Candidates only need a simple majority in the secret-ballot vote in the 193-nation General Assembly to secure a seat on the Human Rights Council. That makes it highly unlikely that any candidate will lose, no matter how unqualified. Nevertheless, UN member states should not cast votes for abusive governments that are demonstrably unqualified for council membership.

Among the other candidates, Nigeria should ensure accountability for serious international crimes committed by all parties—including security forces—during the conflict with the armed group Boko Haram. Brazil should investigate and curb police abuse after law enforcement officers set a grim record in 2025 by killing more than 6,500 people, the vast majority of them Black. 

Ukraine has suffered countless atrocities committed by Russian forces on its territory since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. At the same time, Ukrainian authorities have unjustly prosecuted Ukrainian civilians living under Russian occupation, including teachers, medics, municipal workers, and volunteers for doing essential work that international humanitarian law permits civilians to perform under occupation. 

The Human Rights Council scrutinizes all UN member states’ rights records in the Universal Periodic Review process. In November 2025, the United States refused to participate in its review. If the US government does not participate in its rescheduled review in November, it will become the first member country not to complete its review.

The Human Rights Council has played a crucial role in ensuring independent investigations of abuses in Syria, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, Afghanistan, Sudan, and elsewhere. Council members should press for investigations of abuses by other countries in need of scrutiny, including major powers. These should include China’s crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and others in Xinjiang, as well as the US military’s unlawful strikes targeting vessels the Caribbean and Pacific, amounting to extrajudicial killings. 

The council should also explore possible action to support global justice in the face of a US assault on international accountability mechanisms. The US on October 9 imposed unjustified sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Trump administration has made clear its aim to destroy the ICC to shield US and Israeli officials from facing charges before the court. The US had previously sanctioned ICC officials, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, and several prominent Palestinian human rights groups.

“The human rights movement is under increasing attack by powerful governments, including established democracies,” Charbonneau said. “The Human Rights Council has done victims of human rights abuses a huge service with investigations that often deter governments and armed groups from committing violations. We need the council now more than ever.” 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Source: APO

The Honourable Minister of Information, Communications, Science, Technology and Innovation, Nthati Moorosi, alongside the Principal Secretary (PS) Mr. Kanono Ramashamole and the Ministry’s management team, held a pivotal meeting with a high-level delegation from the World Bank’s Urban, Resilience, Disaster Risk Management and Land unit to align strategic urban planning with Lesotho’s aggressive digital transformation agenda.

Co-led by Megha Mukim (Lead Urban Specialist) and Collen Masango (Senior Urban Economist), the expert World Bank team—which also included Edward Anderson (Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist), Sheenagh Bruce (Urban Specialist), Tjark Gall (Urban Specialist), and Bradley Riley (Disaster Risk Management Analyst)—engaged with the Ministry of Information, Communications, Science, Technology and Innovation to map out future collaboration, build technical dialogue, and leverage geospatial data and digital tools for advanced national planning and decision-making.

During the discussions, the World Bank highlighted its vital mission to tackle youth unemployment in Lesotho by developing innovative digital public works programs and equipping young Basotho with essential digital skills for the modern economy.In a major breakthrough, the delegation expressed strong interest in supporting the Government through the Ministry to implement a nationwide Digital Address system.

This initiative represents a monumental shift for the country, as a standardized digital address has long been recognized as the greatest missing piece of the local ecosystem, essential for unlocking the full potential of e-commerce, digital ID systems, and other core components of national digital transformation.

Looking ahead, this strategic partnership marks a historic milestone in building a sustainable, digitally inclusive, and economically vibrant Lesotho.By combining regional urban planning with cutting-edge digital infrastructure, the Ministry of Information, Communications, Science, Technology and Innovation and the World Bank are laying down the foundation for sustainable employment, secure service delivery, and streamlined governance. Follow our page for more updates on this exciting journey toward a fully connected and resilient Kingdom.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Government of Lesotho.