MIL Africa Engine

Source: APO

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Angola recorded the highest economic expansion since 2014, with real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth reaching 4.4% in 2024. According to the latest edition of the Angola Economic Update (AEU) published by the World Bank Group (WBG) today, titled Boosting Growth with Inclusive Financial Development, this growth was driven by the oil sector’s recovery and diamond extraction, along with strong expansion in commerce and fishing.

The report highlights that despite a rebound in economic activity in 2024, Angola still struggles with the lasting impacts of prolonged stagnation. From 2016 to 2020, the economy contracted by approximately 10.4%, averaging a 2.1% annual decline. This sluggish growth stemmed from structural challenges and heavy dependence on the oil sector, making it susceptible to global price fluctuations. Real GDP growth is projected at an average of 2.9% from 2025 to 2027, but this is unlikely to significantly improve living standards. Increased global uncertainty, including falling oil prices, emphasizes the need for Angola to diversify its economy and reduce reliance on oil.

“The Angolan economy is in urgent need of establishing a consistent pathway toward robust growth to address nearly a decade of stagnation and to improve conditions for poverty alleviation. There is optimism that the comprehensive economic reforms currently being implemented by the government will produce positive outcomes and unlock the country’s potential,” said Juan Carlos Alvarez, World Bank Country Manager for Angola. “The country must intensify its support for key sectors that can significantly contribute to the essential process of economic diversification. A deeper analysis of these sectors and the needed structural reforms are discussed in the Angola Country Economic Memorandum, also published today,” he added.

The AEU emphasizes the importance of promoting inclusive financial development in Angola to address the existing significant inequality and exclusion, particularly in rural areas where access to formal banking services is limited. Women and older adults are particularly affected. Compared to other countries in the region, Angolan households have less access to credit, savings, and digital financial services. Advancing financial inclusion can boost economic participation and resilience, leading to sustainable growth and poverty reduction. Access to banking, credit, and insurance empowers small businesses, farmers, and entrepreneurs, enhancing productivity and job creation. Moreover, financial inclusion can reduce income inequality by providing marginalized groups with opportunities to build assets and improve their well-being.

The report highlights that implementing key reforms can create a more robust and inclusive financial sector in Angola, essential for diversifying the economy and fostering growth and job creation. It emphasizes the need for broader access to financial services beyond Luanda, especially as Angola focuses on economic activities in the Lobito Corridor and develops secondary cities. Additionally, the rise of digital banking and mobile payments offers a significant opportunity to reach underserved populations, enhancing economic resilience and promoting inclusive development.

The report outlines essential reforms that Angola can implement to foster the growth of its financial sector and enhance accessibility in an inclusive manner. These reforms include:

1. Developing digital payments to expand access to financial services in remote areas.
2. Making digital payments more accessible and intuitive.
3. Establishing a favorable regulatory framework to increase access to finance for Microcredit and Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
4. Promoting lending to MSMEs and improving the transparency and market alignment of initiatives to finance MSMEs.
5. Implementing the Financial Action Task Force action plan and addressing deficiencies in the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) Framework. 
6. Increasing access to insurance for individuals and MSMEs, including weather-based-index insurance for agricultural activities.

“While addressing financial inclusion in Angola has several challenges, particularly for low-income and rural communities, there are constructive opportunities to address these barriers. By implementing regulatory reforms, embracing digital innovations, and enhancing financial education, Angola can pave the way for a more diverse economy and unlock new avenues for growth and job creation,” said Benedicte Baduel, World Bank Senior Country Economist for Angola.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The World Bank Group.

Source: APO

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• In northern Nigeria, our teams are seeing an ever-increasing number of children in need of treatment for malnutrition.
• We have begun a preventive campaign in Mashi local government area, distributing nutrition supplements for 66,000 children.
• Urgent mobilisation is needed to save lives from this malnutrition crisis.

Northern Nigeria is currently facing an alarming malnutrition crisis. In Katsina state, for instance, where Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been present since 2021, the teams are seeing an ever-increasing number of malnourished children in our therapeutic feeding centres, with increasingly severe conditions and higher mortality rates.

In collaboration with the local authorities, we have begun distributing nutrition supplements for 66,000 children in the local government area of Mashi, as a method for emergency prevention. In the context of drastic cuts in international funding, the need for prevention and treatment of malnutrition is enormous in northern Nigeria, and urgent mobilisation is required.

By the end of June 2025, nearly 70,000 children with malnutrition had already received medical care from our teams in Katsina state, including nearly 10,000 who were hospitalised in serious condition. Without taking into account the new healthcare facilities opened by MSF during the year in the state, this represents an increase of approximately one-third compared to last year.

In addition, between January and June 2025, the number of children with nutritional oedema,1 the most severe and deadly form of malnutrition, rose by 208 per cent compared with the same period in 2024. Unfortunately, 652 children have already died in our facilities since the beginning of 2025 due to a lack of timely access to care.

A worrying sign of the growing severity of this major public health emergency, is that adults—particularly women, including pregnant and breastfeeding women—are also affected. A screening carried out in July, in all five MSF malnutrition centres in Katsina state, on 750 mothers of patients, revealed that more than half of adult caregivers were acutely malnourished, including 13 per cent with severe acute malnutrition.

To cope with the massive influx of children expected by the end of the lean season in October, we have increased our support to the local authorities in several states in north Nigeria where we provide care to communities. In Katsina state for instance, we opened a new outpatient therapeutic feeding centre in Mashi and an additional inpatient therapeutic feeding centre in Turai, to provide a total of 900 beds in two hospitals where MSF teams work.

“The year 2024 marked a turning point in northern Nigeria’s nutritional crisis, with an increase of 25 per cent from the previous year,” says Ahmed Aldikhari, country representative of MSF in Nigeria. “But the true scale of the crisis exceeds all predictions. We are currently witnessing massive budget cuts, particularly from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, which are having a real impact on the treatment of malnourished children.”

Earlier this week, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced it will be forced to suspend all emergency food and nutrition aid for 1.3 million people in northeast Nigeria by the end of July due to “critical funding shortfalls”.2

“At the same time, we observe ever-increasing needs, such as in Katsina state, where an increasing number of people cannot afford to buy food anymore, even though it is available in markets,” says Aldikhari.

A food security survey carried out by humanitarian organisations in the local government area of Kaita, in Katsina state, before the lean season began at the start of 2025 revealed that over 90 per cent of households had reduced the number of meals they ate each day.

Across the north, other factors worsening the malnutrition crisis include disease outbreaks, which are worsened by low vaccine coverage, availability, and accessibility of basic health services, and other socioeconomic indices complicated by insecurity and violence.

“The most urgent way to reduce the risk of immediate death from malnutrition is to ensure families have access to food,” says Emmanuel Berbain, nutrition adviser at MSF. “This can be done through large-scale distribution of food or nutrition supplements, as we are currently doing in the Mashi area, or through cash distributions when and where it is possible.” 

The capacity to care for and treat malnourished children must also be expanded, both by increasing the number of beds in health facilities, and by providing funding and access to ready-to-use therapeutic food. These actions must be undertaken as a priority in areas where the needs, such as the number of malnourished children, are greatest.

People over the age of five, who are also increasingly affected by malnutrition but are currently not covered by any assistance, should also be included in prevention programmes.

On 8 July, His Excellency Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima publicly sounded the alarm on the scale of malnutrition in Nigeria, warning that it deprives almost 40 per cent of children under the age of five of their full physical and cognitive potential. He described the situation as a national emergency requiring urgent and collective action.

MSF treated over 300,000 children with malnutrition in seven northern states in 2024, a 25 per cent increase from 2023. In the northwest alone, where MSF tackles malnutrition in the states of Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, and Zamfara, we have already treated almost 100,000 children suffering from severe and moderate acute malnutrition in outpatient treatment centres in the first six months of 2025, and hospitalised around 25,000 malnourished children.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Médecins sans frontières (MSF).

Source: APO

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The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture welcomed the briefings it received yesterday from the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC), and the Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) on their performance in the fourth quarter of the 2024/25 financial year and commended their notable performance.

In welcoming the briefings from the three entities of the Department of Agriculture, the Chairperson of the Committee, Ms Dina Pule, said the committee was happy about the progress that the entities reported to the committee. She said the committee notes the hard work the entities have demonstrated and called for more improvement in all the areas of work that included implementation of the Auditor General’s recommendations on their last audit outcomes.

The ARC reported that funding for building of the new Foot-and-mouth Disease (FMD) Vaccine Facility is still a challenge and that, efforts to obtain the required funding for the new facility remains a priority. The entity reported that field assessment of the FMD vaccine in Mpumalanga and Limpopo is ongoing and the study on vaccine safety in pregnant cows and young calves has been initiated.

In appreciating the performance of the NAMC, the committee called on the entity to do more on finding market access for the small-scale farmers as markets are alfa and omega for their growth, survival and meaningful contribution to the South African economy and for national food security.

The Chairperson told the Deputy Minister of the Department of Agriculture, Ms Zoleka Capa, who led the departmental delegation, that the committee notes with appreciation the accountability of both the Minister and his Deputy that they demonstrate to the committee.

The Chairperson also said that accountability is a critical starting point for the success of the department. “We deeply appreciate your availability to our meetings with the department. Your presence solidifies the accountability of the department to the committee and the oversight responsibility of the committee over the department,” emphasised the Chairperson.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.

Source: APO – Report:

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• Development Minister Baroness Chapman will reset the UK’s approach to international development at the G20 Development Meeting in South Africa today (Friday, 25 July).
• Economic development underpins the UK’s new approach, as the Minister visits a South African food producer supported by the FCDO’s development arm BII.
• The UK is supporting countries to transition from traditional aid to innovative financing for development, as the Minister visits a centre for survivors of gender-based violence funded by both the UK and the private sector.

The UK is resetting its relationship with countries in the Global South and helping countries exit the need for aid, as Baroness Chapman attends the G20 Development Ministerial Meeting in South Africa today (Friday 25 July 2025).

This follows the publication of ODA allocations earlier this week (Tuesday 22 July 2025), which indicate how the UK is going to spend its aid budget for the next year.

The UK will move from being a donor to a genuine partner and investor, ensuring every pound spent on aid delivers for the UK taxpayer and the people we support.

Economic development underpins the UK’s new approach, to help countries grow fairer, more resilient economies and ultimately exit the need for aid, in support of the government’s Plan for Change.

The Minister saw this in action yesterday (Thursday 24 July 2025) as she visited an Agristar farm which produces macadamia nuts in Mbombela, eastern South Africa. British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution, is supporting Agristar to expand – supporting jobs and growth and helping to stock British supermarket shelves. 

The Minister also visited a UK supported care centre for survivors of gender-based violence in Mbombela, alongside South African Minister for Women, Youth and Persons with Disability, Sindisiwe Lydia Chikunga. The centre is supported by a multi-donor fund which has seen increased backing from South African and international private investors. The innovative funding approach has supported over 200 community-based organisations in South Africa working to prevent violence in schools and communities and provide response services for survivors of gender-based violence. This demonstrates the UK and South Africa’s shared commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

By mobilising private finance and empowering partners to take charge of their own development, the UK is moving away from a paternalistic approach to aid.

Minister for Development, Baroness Chapman said:

We want to help countries move beyond aid. In South Africa, I’ve seen the impact we can have with genuine partnerships, rather than paternalism. Our work is supporting jobs and generating global economic growth – and bringing high quality South African produce to UK shops. 

At the G20 in South Africa, I have one simple message: the world has changed and so must we. The UK is taking a new approach to development, responding to the needs of our partners and delivering real impact and value for money for UK taxpayers.

At the G20, the Minister is due to discuss the UK’s new approach to international development with counterparts from Egypt, India and Germany.

The Agristar farm in Mbombela, which the Minister visited yesterday, has benefitted from UK investment as part of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). BII support has enabled the macadamia nut producer to expand its operations across Africa, invest in measures to mitigate climate risks, and support nearly 400 jobs. BII is also supporting Agristar’s expansion into Malawi.

BII, which aims to make a return on its investments, has so far supported 92 companies in South Africa and over 35,000 jobs.   

Its success highlights how the UK’s investment in international development is driving green growth and jobs, boosting global prosperity and stability to help create the conditions to deliver the government’s Plan for Change at home.   

The Minister will also announce today a new £2 million commitment to support local agribusiness projects by partnering with South African investment funds to drive more private finance for the farming sector.

In G20 talks on tackling illicit financial flows, the Minister will highlight how money and assets siphoned away as part of criminal activity deprive lower-income countries of vital resources which could otherwise support growth and development. The Foreign Secretary is leading a campaign against illicit finance, mobilising the best UK expertise and international partnerships, so dirty money has nowhere to hide. This is also vital to deterring threats to the safety and security of Britain, as part of the government’s Plan for Change.

– on behalf of United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Source: APO – Report:

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While conflict persists across much of Sudan, pockets of relative safety have emerged, and to date over 1 million internally displaced Sudanese have made their way home. A further 320,000 people have crossed back into Sudan since last year, mainly from Egypt and South Sudan, some to assess the current situation in the country before deciding to return.

People are mainly going back to Khartoum, Sennar and Al Jazirah States, where the impact of more than two years of war is immense.

Regional Directors from UNHCR and IOM recently visited Khartoum and witnessed widespread devastation and a chronic lack of services for its remaining inhabitants. These include thousands of internally displaced Sudanese, as well as refugees and asylum-seekers hosted in Sudan, many of whom had been completely cut off from assistance since the war began. The visits followed an earlier mission to Sudan in February by the UNDP Regional Director aimed at developing long-term solutions for internally displaced people and refugees to secure livelihoods and basic services.

With humanitarian operations massively underfunded both inside Sudan and across neighbouring countries hosting those who fled, an urgent increase in financial support is needed. Humanitarian partners stress that recovery efforts must begin in areas that are becoming accessible and relatively safer. At the same time, funds are desperately needed to improve conditions for refugees in host countries.

“More than evidence of people’s desire to return to their homeland, these returns are a desperate call for an end to the war so that people can come back and rebuild their lives,” said Mamadou Dian Balde, Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan crisis, who has just returned from Khartoum and Wadi Halfa at the border with Egypt. “Not only do they mark a hopeful but fragile shift, they also indicate already stretched host countries under increasing strain. We urge stronger international solidarity with the Sudanese people uprooted by this horrifying war and with the countries that have opened their doors to them.”

While fighting has subsided in the areas to which people are returning, conditions remain perilous. Public infrastructure – power supply lines, roads and drainage systems – have been completely destroyed. Schools and hospitals have been ruined or turned into collective shelters hosting displaced families. Lost or destroyed civil documents and the inability to replace them means people cannot access existing services. In addition to the dangers posed by unexploded ordnances, sexual violence and child rights violations are widespread.

Speaking from Port Sudan immediately after his visit to Khartoum, IOM Regional Director Othman Belbeisi underlined the need to support returnees in their voluntary choice to return:

“Those heading home are not passive survivors, they are vital to Sudan’s recovery. Yes, the humanitarian situation is dire, but with the right support, returnees can revive local economies, restore community life, and foster hope where it’s needed most. But they cannot do it alone. We must work alongside local partners to ensure that people return not to shattered systems, but to the foundations of peace, dignity, and opportunity. The thousands of people seeking to return home are driven by hope, resilience, and an enduring connection to their country. However, it is essential to emphasize that return must remain a voluntary, informed, and dignified choice.”

“Anyone who’s been forced from home knows the overwhelming urge to return,” said UNDP Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States, Abdallah Al Dardari. “But without urgent action, people will be coming back to cities that are in ruins. We are in a race against time to clear the rubble and provide water, power, and health care. We also need to offer longer-term support for jobs and businesses and to address the unseen damage of war, including with counselling and legal aid for women victims of violence.”

Despite these returns, hundreds continue to flee both within Sudan and across its borders daily, due to ongoing conflict particularly in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. More than two years in, the people of Sudan have suffered enough and deserve an end to the fighting. A political solution to the crisis in Sudan must be found for a lasting peace that will allow people to fully return and rebuild their lives.

– on behalf of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).