With nine months before the next General election in Ghana, the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. John Dramani Mahama, is commanding a 20 per cent lead over his closest rival, Dr. Mahamudu Bawunia of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).

This was revealed in a new poll conducted by research agency, Global Info Analytics.

The poll show that over 50 per cent of Ghanaians has expressed interest to vote Mahama as against nearly 35 per cent for the incumbent vice president.

Other candidates in the election shared the remaining percentage of a little over 15 per cent.

The Ghana election is expected to hold on December 7.

Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a left-wing pan-Africanist, has been sworn-in as Senegal’s youngest president after sweeping to a first-round victory on a pledge of radical reform 10 days after he was released from prison.

The 44-year-old has never before held an elected office but several African leaders attended the ceremony in the new town of Diamniadio, near the capital Dakar.

“Before God and the Senegalese nation, I swear to faithfully fulfill the office of President of the Republic of Senegal,” Faye said before the gathered officials.

He also vowed to “scrupulously observe the provisions of the Constitution and the laws” and to defend “the integrity of the territory and national independence, and to spare no effort to achieve African unity”.

The formal handover of power with outgoing President Macky Sall will take place at the presidential palace in Dakar.

Faye was among a group of political opponents freed from prison 10 days before the March 24 presidential ballot under an amnesty announced by Sall, who had tried to delay the vote.

Faye’s campaign was launched while he was still in detention.

The former tax inspector becomes the West African state’s fifth president since independence from France in 1960 and the first to openly admit to a polygamous marriage.

Working with his populist mentor Ousmane Sonko, who was barred from the election, Faye declared their priorities in his victory speech: national reconciliation, easing a cost-of-living crisis and fighting corruption.

The anti-establishment leader has vowed to restore national sovereignty over key assets such as the oil, gas and fishing sectors.

Faye wants to leave the regional CFA franc, which he sees as a French colonial legacy, and to invest more in agriculture with the aim of reaching food self-sufficiency.

But he has also sought to reassure investors that Senegal “will remain a friendly country and a sure and reliable ally for any partner that engages with us in virtuous, respectful and mutually productive cooperation.”

After three tense years and deadly unrest in the traditionally stable nation, his democratic victory was hailed from Washington to Paris, via the African Union and the European Union.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday spoke with the president-elect by telephone and “underscored the United States’ strong interest in deepening the partnership” between their two countries, the State Department said.

On the international stage, Faye seeks to bring military-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger back into the fold of the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc.

New generation of politicians

Commonly known as Diomaye, or “the honourable one” in the local Serer language, he won the election with 54.3 percent of the vote.

It was a remarkable turnaround after the government had dissolved the Pastef party he founded with Sonko in 2014, with Sall postponing the election.

Faye, a practising Muslim from a humble background with two wives and four children, represents a new generation of youthful politicians.

He has voiced admiration for US ex-president Barack Obama and South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela.

However, Faye and the government he must unveil will quickly face major challenges.

He does not have a majority in the National Assembly and will have to look to build alliances to pass new laws, or call a legislative election, which will become an option from mid-November.

The biggest challenge will be creating enough jobs in a nation where 75 percent of the 18-million population is aged under 35 and the unemployment rate is officially 20 percent.

Many youths have considered the future so bleak they have risked their lives to join the waves of migrants trying to reach Europe.

Sall, meanwhile, has been appointed special envoy of the Paris Pact for People and Planet, created to combat poverty, protect the planet and support vulnerable countries.

By Dolapo Aina

On Wednesday, the 20th of March 2024, The African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank)’s Fund for Export Development in Africa inaugurated its’ Kigali office with a keen eye on addressing Africa’s $110 billion equity financing shortfall. The bank unveiled its Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) office in Kigali, capital of Rwanda.

While the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) became the Fund Manager of the US$1 billion AfCFTA Adjustment Fund in 2023, it is noteworthy to state that the Fund for Export Development in Africa is the impact investment subsidiary of Afreximbank set up to provide equity, quasi-equity, and debt capital to finance the multi-billion-dollar funding gap especially in equity which are needed to transform the trade sector on the African Continent.

According to an official statement by Afreximbank, FEDA pursues a multi-sector investment strategy along the intra-African trade, value-added export development, and manufacturing value chain which includes financial services, technology, consumer and retail goods, manufacturing, transport and logistics, agribusiness, as well as ancillary trade enabling infrastructure such as industrial parks.

The statement by Afreximbank further stated that FEDA was established to tackle Africa’s US$110 billion financing gap for intra-African trade, value-added export development, and industrialisation value chains, with Rwanda being the first among fifteen African nations to ratify its establishment agreement.

The event had in attendance Dr. Edouard Ngirente, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda’ President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah; Executive Vice Presidents of Afreximbank, members of the Board of Directors of FEDA including Ms. Marlene Ngoyi, who is the Chief Executive Officer of FEDA; officials from the Rwandan Government; representatives from the business and diplomatic communities in Rwanda; just to name a few.
Rwanda’s Prime Minister Dr. Ngirente stated: “The establishment of FEDA in Rwanda reflects Rwanda’s commitment to not only fostering economic development within our borders but also to playing a pivotal role in the economic transformation of our continent. This initiative is a step closer to the realisation of the goals outlined in the Agenda 2063 of the African Union which lays great emphasis on the transformation of African economies and acceleration of economic growth on the continent.” The Prime Minister of Rwanda highlighted the fact that despite Africa’s significant resource endowments and contiguous markets, the continent had the lowest level of intra-regional trade in the world, adding that the continent’s share of value created remained the lowest across many products and commodities due to sub-optimal value addition.

President of Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah in his speech stated that: “FEDA adds to the pool of institutions helping Africa to create its own capital base for development. With a focus on providing long-term, patient capital targeting all segments, from SMEs to corporates, and cutting across dynamic sectors of value-addition, services, and technology, FEDA is positioned to drive Africa’s development under a new vision of de-commoditised, growth-oriented pathways underpinned by a dynamic private sector. We all share the view that the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) will be a mirage, and its benefits will accrue to others unless tangible steps are taken to create tradable goods and services for the continental market. We also do recognise that the benefits of the Free Trade Agreement will not be evenly shared among all Participating States if pragmatic steps are not taken to equip all economies, especially small and fragile economies, with the capacity to produce goods or provide essential services necessary for the conduct of trade within the continent.”

Professor Benedict Oramah went further: “Less than four years since the commencement of operations, the evidence of the strategic importance of this institution is beginning to show as it has started to leave impactful footprints across the continent. Funds Under Management under different strategies amount to about 800 million US dollars. FEDA is using some of these funds to create and mobilise additional funds and is currently a co-promoter of a 500 million US dollar Africa Credit Opportunity Fund (ACOF). With seed funding provided by Afreximbank, it is also creating a 100 million US dollar Venture Capital Fund to focus on start-ups and SMEs. In 2023, FEDA became the Fund Manager of the 1 billion US dollar AfCFTA Adjustment Fund. Thanks to the equity and supporting debt instruments offered by Afreximbank, industrial complexes are emerging across Africa. The Fund has supported the emergence of Special Economic Zones in Gabon, Benin, and Togo. These Industrial Zones have changed the profiles of the countries from commodity-exporting countries to exporters of value-added or manufactured goods, attracting multiple times the values gained from commodity exports, helping to achieve economic diversification, creating dynamic local economies with strong domestic supply chains and, above all, jobs and stable incomes for the people. Similar investments are spreading and are expected to reach at least twenty countries, including Rwanda, Malawi, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Kenya, Congo Democratic Republic, the Republic of Chad, and Zambia, by year-end.”

On Rwanda, Professor Benedict Oramah posited in his speech that “Rwanda is also poised to benefit significantly. On the heels of the various supports provided by Afreximbank to Rwandan public and private sector entities, FEDA has progressed a significant deal pipeline in Rwanda. A number of investments are being processed across many sectors and industries, ranging from transport and trade logistics, manufacturing, agro-processing, and power generation. These equity investments, amounting to about 50 million US dollars, when concluded, will complement the over 300 million US dollars disbursed to Rwandan entities by Afreximbank in the past 5 years, boost local industrial actives, create domestic value chains, and elevate Rwanda’s preparedness to harness the benefits of the AfCFTA.”