BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

CAPITOL HILL, MONROVIA

NEWS SUMMARY, MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2019

Today’s edition of our daily News Summary highlights stories about Japan and the AfDB Announcing a $3.5 billion to Support Africa’s Private Sector with Japan and Liberia also pledging commitment to strengthen corporation; GoL, CSOs and AfDB brainstorming to establish what they call a win-win collaboration as well as news of the Lassa Fever Outbreak in Liberia as disclosed by the National Public Health Institute of Liberia.

Other stories include: news concerning  the  Labanese Union’s  donation of assorted items to the Ministry of  Labor  as well as story about Liberia’s Central Bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria holding discussions on how to boost trade between the two countries on the fringes of the just-ended joint statutory meetings of WAMZ (West African Monetary Zone).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

DOMINANT STORIES

Japan, AfDB Announce $3.5 Billion To Support Africa’s Private Sector Development Electricity, Transport, and Health Identified as Key Priorities

 Japan and the African Development Bank on Friday, August 30, 2019 announced a joint target of $3.5 billion under the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance for Africa initiative (EPSA4), during the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7). According to an AfDB release, both Japan and the Bank have set a target of $1.75 billion each, from 2020-2022, to enhance the fourth phase of EPSA to spur private-sector-led sustainable and inclusive growth in Africa. EPSA has three components, namely: the Accelerated Co-Financing Facility for Africa (ACFA); the Non-Sovereign Loan (NSL) and the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA). The FAPA is a Multi-Donor Trust Fund for technical assistance and capacity building for the Bank’s public and private sector clients. The Government of Japan is the major contributor to the Fund, managed by the Bank. The NSL is a line of credit from JICA to the Bank on concessional terms to help fund private sector operations, the New Dawn newspaper.

Related Caption:Liberia, Japan Commit to Strengthening Cooperation, International Relations(Heritage) Liberia, japan To Commit To Strengthening  Cooperation                                                                                   (News newspaper).

GoL, CSOs, AfDB BrainStorm To Establish Win-Win Collaboration                                                                     A tripartite dialogue involving the Government of Liberia (GOL), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the African Development Bank ( AfDB) aimed at establishing a win-win collaboration took place on Friday, August 30, 2019 at the AfDB Country Office in Monrovia, Liberia. The participants of the one day CSO open day for mainstreaming civil society engagement in AfDB work were drawn from the 15 Countries of Liberia. The AfDB places citizens at the center of its development policy and approach. According to the News newspaper, AfDB recognizes the importance of integrated approaches to addressing socioeconomic development challenges through programing with citizens to drive governance for enhanced delivery, management and oversight.

Related Caption:Gov’t CSOS and AFDB Brainstorm In Monrovia(Heritage)Caption:TO Establish Win-Win Collaboration: Gov’t, CSOs & AfDB Brainstorm in Monrovia(The Inquirer)

Lassa Fever Kills 21 Authorities Declared Outbreak In Liberia The Nation Public Health

Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health ( MoH) has disclosed that Lassa fever has killed at least 25 persons in Liberia, thus declaring on outbreak of the disease in the country. Addressing a joint news conference Friday, August 30, 2019, Deputy Health Minister Dr. Francis Kateh and the Director General of the National public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) Tolbert Nyenswah said one of the person killed by Lassa fever is a health worker something that calls for concern, pens the the News newspaper.

Related Caption: Lassa Fever Outbreak Spreads To Grand Kru Health Authorities say fatality rate at 36%   ( Daily Observer newspaper)

WLCU Donates Office Equipment To Labour Ministry                                                                                        As a part of its responsibility, the World Lebanese Cultural Union of Liberia (WLCU) last Friday donated serveral computer, printers and accessories to the Ministry of labour to ehance its efficiency. The donation was part of the WLCU institutional assistance program to the Liberian government’s program, the union President, Ahmed Wazni, said. WLCU President Wazni said while government is doing its utmost best with the little resources to improve all sectors, his group is obliged to join as its social responsibility to help government achieve its vision, the Pro-Poor development agenda the News newspaper writes.

Related Caption:WLCU Donates Several Office Equipment To Labour Ministry(The Inquirer) Labanese Union Donates Assorted Items to Labour Ministry                                                         ( Daily Observer newspaper)

Other stories  

CBL & CBN discuss use of LRD and Naira to ease trade in both countries                                                     Liberian’s Central Bank Executive Governor Nathaniel R. Patray, III and his Nigerian counterpart Governor Godwin I. Emefiele have held discussions on how to boost trade between the two countries on the fringes of the just-ended joint statutory meetings of WAMZ (West African Monetary Zone), West African Monetary Agency (WAMA) and West African Institute for Financial & Economic Management (WAIFEM), held in Conakry, Guinea. To further the discussions, the Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is expected to visit Liberia shortly to continue discussions on Liberia-Nigeria trade, following which a scoping mission from Nigeria will be fielded to Liberia to discuss the technical details of the proposed collaboration, the New Dawn newspaper writes

GoL, WFP Sign WFP’s Country Strategic Plan

The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, and the World Food Programme recently signed the World Food Programme’s Country Strategic Plan (CSP) for the period 2019 to 2023.According to a press release, WFP Liberia’s Country Director, Dr. Bienvenu Djossa, termed the signing of the four-year plan with a budget of US$50.2 million as an important milestone in the history of WFP’s engagement with Liberia. Dr. Djossa expressed delight that the CSP is keenly aligned with the government’s Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development and its aim of addressing Liberia’s challenge of poverty alleviation, the New Dawn newspaper write.  

We’re Here to Help Liberia Grow’U.S based Clergymen Promise 

Amid tough economic times for Liberia, two American philanthropists, Jeff Rendar and David Wilkerson, said they are in the country to support the country’s growth at all fronts. The two Americans told journalists shortly after they arrived at the Roberts International Airport (RIA) over the weekend that their visit to the country is to conclude assessment on all sectors, including education, health, agriculture and activities of some of the faith-based teaching institutions. They therefore promised to invest in all sectors that they can prioritize for the growth and development of the country. “We care about the welfare of humanity, therefore, we are here to share with Liberians and other residents our financial resources through education, business, as well as some of the churches,” Jeff Rendar said, the Daily observer newspaper writes.

GoL, Partners to Host Economic Dialogue

The Government of Liberia (GoL) has announced the hosting of a three-day economic dialogue which the funded  UNDP and supported by other partners including European Union, ECOWAS, World Bank etc. According to the GoL, the aim is to reach a national consensus, on feasible short & medium-term policy measure, strategies, programs &a time-bound road map to strengthen economic recovery, growth, peace & reconciliation. The Chairman of the National Economic Dialogue, Dr. Toga Gayewea McIntosh, says the long-term objective strengthen transparent, participatory and accountable economic governance. “The purpose of the Dialogue is to stimulate a broad-base national conversation on the state and fate of the Liberia economy and collectively find ways that would situate Liberia on a path of rapid economic recovery and growth,” McIntosh emphasized. The 4-6^th of September will see at least 250 participants from all parts of Liberia coming together to re-enforce and invigorate the conversation around pressing thematic areas says Heritage.