By Jeffrey Moyo
MWENEZI, Zimbabwe (ACP-IDN) – Deep in Vesera village in Mwenezi district in Zimbabwe’s Masvingo Province, 34-year-old Albert Chindiro emerges from his pole and dagga thatched hut holding a medium size solar panel which he positions on the roof to recharge solar batteries for lighting when night falls.
The house of neighbour Alphios Mhike is linked to power lines from the state energy utility, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), but has long been disconnected from the after Mhike failed to keep up payments for prepaid electricity supplies. He too has now turned to solar energy.
By Kizito Makoye Shigela
DAR ES SALAAM (ACP-IDN) – Resting on her bed, Maimuna Saguti recalls the harrowing suffering she went through two months ago when she had to give birth under a mango tree while on her way to hospital.
“I don’t want to remember that day. The waters had broken hours before we reached the hospital,” she told IDN.
The 35-year-old food vendor from the village of Lukanga in Tanzania's coastal Pwani Region suffered childbirth-related complications that not only caused an obstetric fistula, she also lost her child a few hours after giving birth.
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![*Benjamin William Mkapa is a former President of Tanzania (1995-2005) and the Chair of the South Centre Board. This article was first published in Daily News of Tanzania. [ACP-IDN – 13 August 2016]](/images/Mkapa2009b.jpg)
By Benjamin William Mkapa*
GENEVA (ACP-IDN | Daily News) - The EPA issue has once again re-emerged when Tanzania informed EAC (East African Community) Members and the EU that it would not be able to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between EU and the six EAC Member States in early July.
The European Commission reportedly proposed signature of the EAC EPA in Nairobi, on the sidelines of the 14th session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIV).
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By Dr. Patrick I. Gomes
Following are excerpts from a statement ACP Secretary General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes delivered on behalf of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, at the 14th session of the Conference of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIV) on July 21, 2016 in Nairobi, Kenya.
BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) - Since its establishment in 1964, UNCTAD has been the appropriate forum to ensure a comprehensive dialogue between developed and developing countries on trade and development and interrelated issues.
The ACP Group expresses satisfaction with the work of UNCTAD and calls for its further strengthening. We recognize UNCTAD’s role as a major institutional stakeholder of financing for development in supporting the follow-up to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other recent international agreements.
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By Robert Johnson
LONDON (ACP-IDN) - The outcome of the Brexit referendum on June 23, 2016 has set the UK on a path to leave the European Union (EU) that will also result in an end to its membership of the bloc’s Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) the free trade deals between the European Union (EU) and the 79 countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group.
According to experts, while Brexit will have consequences for the UK, its impact on the ACP countries could be far reaching. Precisely how and in what ways was the subject of a brainstorming session of leading experts organized by the Ramphal Institute on July 15.
Named after Shridath "Sonny" Ramphal, second Commonwealth Secretary-General (1975-1990), the Ramphal Institute’s mandate is to tackle development issues and the wider world. So the focus was on Brexit and the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).
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By Rita Joshi
BERLIN | BRUSSELS (IDN) - The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) have agreed to embark on concrete joint initiatives to foster South-South and triangular cooperation amongst their mutual constituencies, according to the ACP Press Office.
The ACP Secretary General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes and the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for South-South Cooperation and UNOSSC Director Jorge Chediek exchange letters at the ACP headquarters in Brussels on July 11.
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By Roland Joshua
BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) - The implications of BREXIT on the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group could be far-reaching and may give rise to many consequences for trade, services, investments and development finance assistance, according to ACP Secretary-General, Dr. P.I Gomes.
In each of these areas, the ACP-UK relations have been longstanding and mutually beneficial, not only for Caribbean countries and other Commonwealth member states, but for the ACP Group as a whole.
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Analysis by Ramesh Jaura
BERLIN | BRUSSELS (IDN) - Perhaps it would be an exaggeration to say that the world would never be the same again when leaders from the 79 countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States conclude their three-day “pivotal Summit” on June 1 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG).
But top echelons of the bloc are determined to turn it into “a watershed event” that would discuss the future of the ACP Group as a revitalised cohesive force advocating the interests of its member states in the international arena.
- Ramesh Jaura
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- South-South cooperation
By International Press Syndicate
BRUSSELS (IDN) - Ministers representing African, Caribbean and Pacific countries will take key decisions when they gather in Dakar, Senegal, on April 25 to address sustainable economic development, trade and political issues in ACP countries, reports the ACP Press Office.
The Senegal Prime Minister Mohammed Dionne will open the 103rd session of the ACP Council of Ministers on April 26. The three-day programme from April 25 to 27 will include preparatory meetings of the Development Finance Committee, ministerial consultations on commodities (sugar, cotton, bananas), and the plenary session chaired by Leon Raphaël Mokoko, the Minister of Planning and Integration of the Republic of Congo.
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