Africa

Movement of Agricultural Products

Members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) should remove roadblocks that hamper the free movement of agricultural products in the sub-region, said Marc Atouga, ECOWAS Commissioner for Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources. He believes that the free movement of food products is necessary for the alleviation of food insecurity in areas that suffer from food shortages. Lack of communication, Atouga said, was another challenge causing roadblocks to linger on in the sub-region. He stressed the need to educate people about various tax regimes, rules and protocols.

Kenya

Affordable Air Travel

Pan-African low-cost airline Fastjet has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kenyan airline Jetlink to create a joint venture that will give a platform for the launch of the Fastjet brand in Kenya. According to Fastjet CEO Ed Winter, launching operations is an important step toward Fastjet becoming a pan-African airline, offering safe, reliable and affordable air travel to more and more people. Jetlink was launched in 2004 and has traffic rights to all domestic destinations in Kenya, as well as a number of regional destinations.

South Africa

Chinese Tourists Rise

South Africa's Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk embarked on a media tour in Beijing in January to celebrate the growth in tourism between China and South Africa. He attributed the growth to stronger trade relations between the two countries since South Africa joined the BRICS group in 2010. China has become South Africa's fourth biggest source market for tourists. He said that South Africa intended to increase its digital marketing efforts to better communicate with Chinese consumers through online platforms.

Nigeria

Interventions Against Malaria

Up to 48 million long-lasting insecticide nets were distributed in 34 states in 2012 in Nigeria according to Festus Okoh, Program Assistant for the National Malaria Control Program. The distribution of these nets is part of the effort to distribute a total of 64 million nets. According to Okoh, the use of the nets has been quite effective in controlling malaria, adding that other methods should be adopted to complement this measure. The 2010 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey Report showed that 42 percent of households in Nigeria owned at least one treated net.

China

Climate Saver

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd., a leading solar energy company based in the city of Baoding in China's Hebei Province, has become the first Chinese business and also the first photovoltaic (PV) manufacturer to join the World Wildlife Fund's Climate Savers program. Yingli has agreed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions per megawatt (mw) of PV module production by 13 percent, compared to 2010 levels, by the end of 2015. Thirty companies have joined Climate Savers since 1999, setting targets for emission reductions and working with other companies, suppliers and partners to implement solutions for a clean, low carbon economy.

Africa

Strengthening Financial Cooperation

Pan-African commercial bank Ecobank Group is positioning itself to play a bigger role in facilitating the growing trade links between China and Africa, said Anthony Okpanachi, Managing Director of Ecobank Kenya. Ecobank opened a representative office in Beijing in December 2012 and has a strategic partnership with the Bank of China. The bank intends to make it easier for businesses to make transactions by using integrated banking infrastructure in different countries. He said there has been a sustained increase in foreign direct investment from China to Africa in the last few years, and that this trend is bound to continue. The bank plans to scale up its operations to benefit from this high volume of financial exchange.