LAWROW IN ANKARA
Handelsblatt:
LAWROW IN ANKARA
Russland und die Türkei: Moskaus Angst vor der Entfremdung
Russland braucht die Türkei als Handelsdrehkreuz und Vermittler in der Nato. Doch im Wahlkampf wendet sich der türkische Präsident Erdogan wieder dem Westen zu.
....... Schließlich dürfte sich auch Europa für das Karfreitagstreffen zwischen Lawrow und Cavusoglu interessieren. Schließlich soll es dabei unter anderem um Energiefragen gehen. Die Türkei möchte Erdgas aus Turkmenistan über das Kaspische Meer in Richtung Europa weiterleiten. Russland will stattdessen, dass die Regierung des zentralasiatischen Landes sich mit dem Iran und Indien über eine Pipeline einigt.
Das hätte Folgen für die europäische Energiewende, bei der preislich akzeptables Erdgas aus Regionen außerhalb Russlands als Brückenenergieträger benötigt wird. Sollte sich die Türkei durchsetzen, winken Milliardeninvestitionen für den Ausbau einer entsprechenden Infrastruktur.
Ob es angesichts der russisch-türkischen Spannungen dazu kommt? Diese Frage dürfte der türkische Außenminister auf seinem Zettel haben, wenn er seinen russischen Amtskollegen trifft.
Die Staatschefs Putin und Erdogan wollen derweil weiter Einigkeit betonen. Ende April soll das erste türkische Atomkraftwerk in Betrieb genommen werden. Gebaut hat es der russische Staatskonzern Rosatom – Putin gehört zu den Ehrengästen bei der Eröffnungsfeier.
(33) Russland und die Türkei: Moskaus Angst vor der Entfremdung (handelsblatt.com)
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A MESSAGE FROM M. OUSMANE DIAGANA, VP OF THE WORLD BANK FOR WCA
Africa’s corridors of life : Financing the infrastructure gap in Western and Central Africa
We often forget that life-changing infrastructure – a road, a powerline, or a fiberoptic cable – is a powerful driver for social and economic transformation. It provides a window of opportunity that opens up and facilitates the movement of people, products, and services.
Yet, across Africa, infrastructure frequently remains inadequate. Carrying goods from one African country to another is often a long and expensive process, partly due to insufficient road networks. Only 35% of people living in rural areas have access to an all-weather road. Less than 1 in 2 Africans have access to electricity, and 4 out of 10 have access to the Internet. Almost all enterprises in Africa experience power outages and identify unreliable electricity supply as a major constraint to doing business.
As several economies in the region experience the compounded effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, bridging the infrastructure gap is essential to put our countries on a path for recovery and help promote longer-term green, resilient, and inclusive development.
African leaders will be gathering in Dakar this week to make a case for a stronger commitment to build development corridors to accelerate Africa’s transformation. In times of climate change and global crisis this agenda is critical for the continent. In the “Dakar Call to Action,” which laid out a roadmap for accelerating economic recovery and transformation, heads of states recognized the importance of infrastructure for job creation and highlighted the World Bank’s commitment to support African countries in scaling up investments in infrastructure through the International Development Association (IDA).
In recent years, Western and Central African countries have seen some progress. An upgrade of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor has helped reduce border crossing times and improve the quality of the roads. A new $470-million project accelerates regional integration and economic opportunities in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Togo. Through the Cameroon-Chad Transport Corridor project, about 12 million people will benefit from the improved road and railway infrastructure, with reduced costs and transport time from the Port of Douala in Cameroon to N’Djamena in Chad, increased safety, and better access to markets. These regional road corridors are critical to promote intracontinental trade. The recent study, “Corridors without borders in Western Africa,” has shown that investing in rural roads supports social mobility and helps workers move out of subsistence agriculture into higher paid jobs in manufacturing and services. These regional corridors are also essential for promoting trade within the continent.
On energy, the World Bank is working with countries and partners to scale up electrification and is on track to deliver access to 75 million Africans by 2030, including 12% of people without energy access in West Africa. As a result, countries like Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria can export their excess electricity to other countries. The new Regional Emergency Solar Power Intervention project (RESPITE) has launched this week to help increase Grid-Connected Renewable Energy Capacity in Chad, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo. The project will also help countries to trade power and will strengthen the capacity of the West Africa Power Pool. In the Sahel, the World Bank Group is working with partners to double access to electricity and the share of renewable energy by 2030.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need to accelerate efforts to integrate digital technology into development solutions. The Digital Economy for Africa initiative supports increasing access to broadband services in Western and Central Africa, from 30% in 2020 to 43% in 2024. The World Bank has set up or increased loans for 17 countries in the region since July 2021, with $3.2 billion committed for digitalization. We also continue working closely with governments and Regional Economic Commissions, such as ECOWAS, to update and harmonize policies and strategies at regional and continental levels and advance the integration of digital markets.
These are just examples of how infrastructure investments can be scaled up to support economic transformation. Yet, despite recent progress, poor-quality roads and weak transport infrastructure remain an issue. With the current pace of electrification and high population growth, more than 238 million people will remain without access to electricity by 2030 and only 36% of the population has access to broadband connectivity. The issue of equal access remains salient, with connectivity gaps disproportionately impacting communities in rural and fragile settings, and women and other marginalized groups.
Africa will need billions of dollars in order to improve connectivity and road safety, accelerate electrification and energy transition, and leapfrog digitalization. Governments alone will not be able to cover the cost. It will require mobilizing private capital, and advancing key reforms, and policy improvements.
Closing the gap in infrastructure is essential to promote opportunities for everyone on the continent. Together with the African Union, development partners and the private sector, the World Bank Group will therefore increase its financing for building resilient and transformative infrastructure in Africa.
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Girl Power! Driving Transformation in Western and Central Africa
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Despite progress, women and girls in Western and Central Africa have a 58% chance of not being enrolled in secondary school, a 20% chance of starting childbearing as a teenager, and can expect to earn less than their male counterparts.
- The World Bank Group is investing in transformative solutions to promote gender equality across the region. Some interventions and reforms demonstrate why investing in women and girls is not only the right thing to do but is smart economics.
- Fostering gender equality means working to address the norms, attitudes, and beliefs that hold back women and girls – and that often means changing the minds and behaviors of men.
Empowering women and girls has transformational potential.
Despite progress, women and girls in Western and Central Africa have a 58% chance of not being enrolled in secondary school, a 20% chance of starting childbearing as a teenager, and can expect to earn less than their male counterparts, regardless of the sector in which they work.
This is why the World Bank Group is investing in transformative solutions to promote gender equality across the region. As the world marks International Women’s Day, learn more about some interventions and reforms that demonstrate why investing in women and girls is not only the right thing to do, but is smart economics.
In Burkina Faso, a new type of school is transforming the habits and mentalities of married men and future husbands.
Husband schools transforming married men in Burkina Faso
Meet 38-year-old Waimbabie Gnoumou, a farmer and father of eight children who attended the Husbands’ School in his village and realized that he could do a lot to improve his relationship with his two wives and his children.
“I have to admit that I was a bit unkind at home” says Waimbabie Gnoumou, a beneficiary of the project. “I was interested [in the program] because it was a chance to make a change in my life.”
In Burkina Faso, the Husbands and Future Husbands Schools – supported through the World Bank-financed Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Project (SWEDD) – are transforming the habits of married men using a curriculum that has proven successful to increase contraceptive use, decrease violence against children and women, and increase the involvement of women in household decisions.
Adolescent girls driving transformation in Nigeria
In Nigeria, the benefits of improving education for women is clear. Each additional year of education can increase future income by at least 10% and decrease the chances of maternal death by 20% and fertility rates by 0.26 births.
To help the country achieve more inclusive development, the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) program is improving access and quality of education to address constraints that girls face and ensure their ability to complete secondary education and fulfill their human potential.
Young women in science breaking the glass walls
“I have to prove myself 200% before being considered for a job as a contractor or a builder. Our society is still in denial about women becoming whatever they wish, irrespective of their skills and potential,” says Sally, a civil engineer and builder who is a graduate from one of the African Higher Education Centers of Excellence (ACE) programs.
Promoting women in science is a key focus of the ACE program. Launched in 2014, the program supports higher skills development in areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These fields tend to be male dominated, especially in Africa. But across the continent, the ACE program is attracting more and more female students for whom “science has no gender.”
Learn more about the ACE program and read Sally’s impressive story that proves women can succeed in STEM.
Gabon and Cote d’Ivoire championing pro-gender reforms
Gabon, Cote D’Ivoire and other countries in the region were already engaged in gender reforms, but the data from the Women, Business and the Law report provided an opportunity to broaden the scope and accelerate the process to ensure greater equality for women.As a result, NGOs such as Malachie in Gabon have seen more women come forward to join empowerment programs and take on the work on the ground. For Pepecy Ogouliguende who heads Malachie, « Access to decent jobs and financial resources are major priorities for achieving the goal of gender equality. This law will make women more interested and confident in the reforms underway. They will realize that no plan is being left behind for real inclusion.».
The latest World Bank report highlights that Gabon and Côte d'Ivoire feature amongst the top reformers in Sub Saharan Africa, with four reforms adopted during the past year, increasing their index score from 82.5 to 95 and from 83.1 to 95 respectively. Gabon reached 100 on Pay by mandating equal remuneration for work of equal value and eliminated all restrictions on women’s employment. Gabonese women can now work in industrial jobs and in jobs deemed dangerous in the same way as men. Côte d'Ivoire reached 100 on Entrepreneurship by prohibiting discrimination in access to credit.
The Future of Development is Gender Inclusive
These interventions – and the men and women they support – are helping to foster more inclusive development by addressing the legal reforms, institutional barriers, and social norms that prevent women and girls’ full participation in society. Together, they are helping to close gaps in earnings and economic opportunity, reduce gender-based violence, and empower women and girls’ voice and agency.
But they are just the start of building a more sustainable and inclusive future for Western and Central Africa.
Going forward, the World Bank plans to intensify its support to countries to accelerate progress on gender equality. This is the goal of the recently launched Regional Gender Action Plan for Western and Central Africa. As part of this strategy, the World Bank will work with countries across the region to identify the priority areas and issues that will drive transformational change at the scale that women and girls deserve to ensure all people are able to achieve their full potential.
RELATED
- OPINION By Ousmane Diagana, World Bank Vice President for Western and Central Africa - Africa: The Transformation of Africa Starts With Our Girls
- PUBLICATION: Advancing Gender Equality : A Regional Gender Action Plan for Western and Central Africa 2023-2027
- FEATURE STORY: Burkina Faso: Welcome to Mamboué’s School for Husbands and Future Husbands
- FEATURE STORY: Did you say, “Women and Girls in Science”? Meet Sally, who proves that women can succeed in STEM
- REPORT: Women, Business and the Law report
- BLOG: Changing the Lives of Adolescent Girls through Learning and Empowerment
- The World Bank in Western and Central Africa
Girl Power! Driving Transformation in Western and Central Africa (worldbank.org)
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