World
African Union Developing 10-Year Comprehensive Agriculture Programme
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
For three working days, 9th –11th January 2025, in the Speke Resort Conference Centre in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, the African Union Commission (AUC) will host the Extraordinary Summit on the Post-Malabo Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). This Summit is supported by the Government of Uganda.
The event is organized jointly by the African Union Commission, Department of Agriculture Rural Development Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (DARBE) and African Union Development Agency- New Partnership African Development (AUDA-NEPAD).
Dignitaries will deliver statements on the consideration of the Kampala Declaration, the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Ten-Year Strategy and Action Plan (2026-2035); the draft Statute of Africa Food Safety Agency; and the report on selection of African Union Centres of Excellence for Research and Training in Fisheries, Aquaculture, Aquatic Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystems Management.
The Objectives of the Summit:
The convening of the extraordinary session of the Assembly is specifically to:
Endorse the draft Kampala CAADP Declaration. The draft declaration provides a vision for transforming Africa’s Agrifood Systems for the period: 2026-2035.
Endorse Ten-Year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan: 2026-2035. This plan provides details on how to achieve the goals and targets in the draft Kampala CAADP Declaration.
Risk Management and Mitigation
The post-Malabo CAADP strategy will span ten years, from 2626 to 2035. Given the longtime horizon, many risks and uncertainties could affect the strategic positioning of the agri-food systems transformation agenda to deliver on its goals. There are external socioeconomic, environmental, and other shocks that might come up, which will demand that the strategy be agile enough to respond to such unforeseen developments. The strategy will therefore call for institutional adaptation to changes in a complex and rapidly changing context. Major risks and uncertainties will need to be identified and outlined together with their respective mitigation actions.
Key interventions to ensure better risk management include:
- Identify potential risks (e.g., political instability, climate change) and put in place mechanisms for dealing with or mitigating such risks
- Identify health crises, including pandemics or epidemics, early and develop mechanisms for minimizing negative impacts
- Identify and address gender inequalities or biases and restrictive social norms that may limit the access of women and youth to education, resources, and decision making processes thereby preventing them from fully participating in and benefiting from agricultural activities or initiatives
- Invest in durable peace because it is essential for building resilient agri-food systems (from the local to global levels) and affects agricultural production, food security, market access, investment, resilience, and social cohesion. Establishing and maintaining peace is critical for enabling long-lasting investment to unlock the full potential of Africa’s agri-food systems. The Kampala CAADP Declaration will need to emphasize establishing conflict-resolution mechanisms at the community level while strengthening local markets and value chains.
- Promote household insurance and other coping mechanisms that can help mitigate the impact of health shocks on livelihoods. These mechanisms will be key to enhancing the resilience of communities.
- Enhance public health surveillance systems to detect and respond to health threats, including of zoonotic origin. It will also be important to strengthen food safety measures to prevent health shocks related to foodborne diseases.
- Financial resources will be required to achieve the Kampala CAADP declaration’s resilience objectives. Specifically, households need access to credit, savings, and other financial instruments that help them weather economic shocks.
- Food price monitoring: It will be necessary to implement policies that stabilize food markets and prevent price volatility to ensure a steady supply of food and agricultural inputs.
- Capacities development of African governments to formulate resilience-focused policy measures is a critical step and a priority for the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan. Mainstreaming resilience-focused policies will trickle down to operational actions led by various stakeholders towards sustainable agri-food systems.
Background: The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has been crucial in driving agricultural transformation across Africa since its inception in 2003. The program is aimed at increasing food security and nutrition, reducing rural poverty, creating employment, and contributing to economic development while safeguarding the environment. CAADP aims for a 6% annual growth rate in the agricultural sector, with African Union member states allocating at least 10% of their budgets to agriculture.
Building on the Maputo Declaration (2003-2013), the 2014 Malabo CAADP Declaration renewed commitment to CAADP and established ambitious goals for 2025, including eradicating hunger, reducing malnutrition, tripling intra-African trade, and building resilience of livelihoods and production systems. The Malabo Declaration underscored the importance of mutual accountability through agricultural biennial reviews and recognized the essential role of related sectors like infrastructure and rural development. During the Thirty-Seventh Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly in February 2024, the Heads of State and Government expressed concern that the continent is not on track to meet the Malabo CAADP goals and targets by 2025. This has spurred a call for the development of a post-Malabo CAADP agenda to build resilient agri-food systems.
It is in this context that the An Extraordinary Summit of The African Union Assembly of Heads of States and Governments is scheduled for January 9th to 11th 2025 in Kampala, Uganda, to deliberate on the post-Malabo CAADP agenda to consider the draft Ten-Year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan with its associated draft Kampala Declaration on Advancing Africa’s Inclusive Agrifood Systems Transformation for Sustainable Economic Growth and Shared Prosperity.
Format and Structure of the Summit: The Extraordinary Summit will start with a one-day meeting of the Ministers responsible for Agriculture, Rural Development Water and Environment on the 9th of January 2025, to be followed by Joint Session of the Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment together with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs on the 10th of January 2025.
The sessions will feature two presentations the: i) draft CAADP Ten-Year Strategy and Action Plan (2026-2035); ii) draft Kampala CAADP Declaration and both will be done in closed sessions. The Ministerial sessions will be structured to encourage inclusive and interactive conversations and dialogue among the Ministers, as well as between the Ministers and key strategic stakeholders. At the same time, it will enable the Ministers to review the strategic documents presented to them for their consideration and recommendations to the Assembly.
The Assembly of Heads of State and Government will convene on the 11th of January 2025 to endorse the: i) draft Ten-Year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan (2026-2035); ii) draft Kampala CAADP Declaration.
Participants: The Extraordinary Summit on the CAADP Agenda will be attended by Heads of States and Government of the African Union Member State, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, PRCs, Ministers and Experts in-Charge of Agriculture (forestry, fisheries, crops and livestock), Rural Development, Water and Environment, RECs, Youth, Women, Non-State Actors, Media, Academia and Development Partners
African Union: The AU is guided by its vision of “An Integrated, Prosperous and Peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.” The African Union (AU) is a continental body consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of the African Continent. To ensure the realisation of its objectives and the attainment of the Pan African Vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, Agenda 2063 was developed as a strategic framework for Africa’s long term socio-economic and integrative transformation. Agenda 2063 calls for greater collaboration and support for African led initiatives to ensure the achievement of the aspirations of African people.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
For transforming cross-border payments through its deployment with Global Money Exchange, Comviva has been named Best In-Class Cross Border Payments.
The global leader in digital transformation solutions clinched this latest accolade at the IBS Intelligence Global FinTech Innovation Award 2025.
The recognition highlights how Comviva’s mobiquity Pay is helping shape a modern cross-border payment ecosystem that stretches far beyond conventional remittance services.
Deployed as a white label Wallet Platform and launched as Global Pay Oman App, it fulfils GMEC’s dual vision—positioning itself as an innovative payment service provider while digitally extending its core money transfer business.
The solution allows GMEC to offer international money transfers alongside seamless forex ordering and other services. These capabilities sit alongside a broad suite of everyday financial services, including bill and utility payments, merchant transactions, education-related payments, and other digital conveniences — all delivered through one unified experience.
“This award is a testament to Oman’s accelerating digital transformation and our commitment to reshaping how cross-border payments serve people and businesses across the Sultanate.
“By partnering with Comviva and bringing the Global Pay Oman Super App, we have moved beyond traditional remittance services to create a truly inclusive and future-ready financial ecosystem.
“This innovation is not only enhancing convenience and transparency for our customers but is also supporting Oman’s broader vision of building a digitally empowered economy,” the Managing Director at Global Money Exchange, Subromoniyan K.S, said.
Also commenting, the chief executive of Comviva, Mr Rajesh Chandiramani, said, “Cross-border payments are becoming a daily necessity, not a niche service, particularly for migrant and trade-linked economies.
“This recognition from IBS Intelligence validates our focus on building payment platforms that combine global reach with local relevance, operational resilience and a strong user experience. The deployment with Global Money Exchange Co. demonstrates how mobiquity® Pay enables financial institutions to move beyond remittances and deliver integrated digital services at scale.”
“The deployment of mobiquity Pay for GMEC showcases how scalable, API-driven digital wallet platforms can transform cross-border payments into seamless, value-rich experiences.
“By integrating remittances, bill payments, forex services, and AI-powered engagement into a unified Super App, Comviva has reimagined customer journeys and operational agility.
“This Best-in-Class Cross-border Payments award win stands as a testament to Comviva’s excellence in enabling financial institutions to compete and grow in a digitally convergent world,” the Director for Research and Digital Properties at IBS Intelligence, Nikhil Gokhale, said.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
At the end of an extensive consultation with African foreign ministers, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has emphasized that Moscow would advance its economic engagement across Africa, admittedly outlining obstacles delaying the prompt implementation of several initiatives set forth in Strategic Action Plan (2023-2026) approved in St. Petersburg during the Russia-Africa Summit.
The second Ministerial Conference, by the Russian Foreign Ministry with support from Roscongress Foundation and the Arab Republic of Egypt, marked an important milestone towards raising bilateral investment and economic cooperation.
In Cairo, the capital city of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Lavrov read out the final resolution script, in a full-packed conference hall, and voiced strong confidence that Moscow would achieve its strategic economic goals with Africa, with support from the African Union (AU) and other Regional Economic blocs in the subsequent years. Despite the complexities posed by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, combined with geopolitical conditions inside the African continent, Moscow however reiterated its position to take serious steps in finding pragmatic prospects for mutual cooperation and improve multifaceted relations with Africa, distinctively in the different sectors: in trade, economic and investment spheres, education and culture, humanitarian and other promising areas.
The main event was the plenary session co-chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration, and Egyptians Abroad Bashar Abdelathi. Welcome messages from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdelhak Sisi were read.
And broadly, the meeting participants compared notes on the most pressing issues on the international and Russian-African agendas, with a focus on the full implementation of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan for 2023-2026, approved at the second Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg in 2023.
In addition, on the sidelines of the conference, Lavrov held talks with his African counterparts, and a number of bilateral documents were signed. A thematic event was held with the participation of Russian and African relevant agencies and organizations, aimed at unlocking the potential of trilateral Russia-Egypt-Africa cooperation in trade, economic, and educational spheres.
With changing times, Africa is rapidly becoming one of the key centers of a multipolar world order. It is experiencing a second awakening. Following their long-ago political independence, African countries are increasingly insisting on respect for their sovereignty and their right to independently manage their resources and destiny. Based on these conditions, it was concluded that Moscow begins an effective and comprehensive work on preparing a new three-year Cooperation and Joint Action Plan between Russia and Africa.
Moreover, these important areas of joint practical work are already detailed in the Joint Statement, which was unanimously approved and will serve as an important guideline for future work. According to reports, the Joint Statement reflects the progress of discussions on international and regional issues, as well as matters of global significance.
Following the conference, the Joint Statement adopted reflects shared approaches to addressing challenges and a mutual commitment to strengthening multifaceted cooperation with a view to ensuring high-quality preparation for the third Russia-Africa Summit in 2026.
On December 19-20, the Second Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum was held in Cairo, Egypt. It was held for the first time on the African continent, attended by heads and representatives of the foreign policy ministries of 52 African states and the executive bodies of eight regional integration associations.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Social media platform, TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance has signed binding agreements with United States and global investors to operate its business in America.
Half of the joint venture will be owned by a group of investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX, according to a memo sent by chief executive, Mr Shou Zi Chew.
The deal, which is set to close on January 22, 2026 would end years of efforts by the US government to force ByteDance to sell its US operations over national security concerns.
It is in line with a deal unveiled in September, when US President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a law that would ban the app unless it was sold.
In the memo, TikTok said the deal will enable “over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community”.
Under the agreement, ByteDance will retain 19.9 per cent of the business, while Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX will hold 15 per cent each.
Another 30.1 per cent will be held by affiliates of existing ByteDance investors, according to the memo.
The White House previously said that Oracle, which was co-founded by President Trump’s supporter Larry Ellison, will license TikTok’s recommendation algorithm as part of the deal.
The deal comes after a series of delays.
Business Post reported in April 2024 that the administration of President Joe Biden passed a law to ban the app over national security concerns, unless it was sold.
The law was set to go into effect on January 20, 2025 but was pushed back multiple times by President Trump, while his administration worked out a deal to transfer ownership.
President Trump said in September that he had spoken on the phone to China’s President Xi Jinping, who he said had given the deal the go ahead.
The platform’s future remained unclear after the leaders met face to face in October.
The app’s fate was clouded by ongoing tensions between the two nations on trade and other matters.
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