.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

 director research and capacity development UNHABITAT Nairobi

we chatted at the new school event in new york in july where Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif announced a march 2019 deadline for exchanging good news on goal 11 cities report unhabitat will publish at start of 2020

OCTOBER 2-6 BRAC Bangladesh
I am helping host a women empowerment,livelihoods  education transformation and ultra poverty alleviation dialogue at brac in bangladesh where one of jack ma senior academic researchers tsinghua professor ms ying lowrey will be exchanging ideas- it will, for example, be an opportunity to discuss how recruitment across developing cities is going for jack ma's scholarship to his global entrepreneur business school as well as why jack ma took 20% share in brac's http://www.bkash.com 

I realise that kenya has led the formation of the EFOUNDERS alumni of Jack Ma since thankfully the head of UNCTAD is Kenyan but there are regions and girls empowerment movements like south asia which are only just starting to  understand what jack ma is looking for in youth, livelihood education and in big data small coders- also only last week he upped the excitement by saying that he will work full time on livelihood education from next september; this follows on Guterrez announcement 3 weeks ago that he has asked Jack Ma and Melinda Gates to lead a UN report on Digital Cooperation which will probably just meet Dr Sharif's deadline.

for those who cant get to our dialogue we welcome questions we will aim to document ying's answers to or skype ins- is there any way your tea, would like to join in  or do you have a representative of unhabitat in dhaka who might want to join in?

I have been working for 10 years on bangladesh events with mostofa zaman who is in charge of the whole schedule when ying arrives in dhaka on oct 1 and leaves october 6 -we have both been working for the same period with adam smith scholars in Glasgow coordinated by the Bangladeshi Dr Zasheem Ahmed who launched the Journal of Social Business as the 70th birthday present for Dr Muhammad Yunus- if you prefer to ask them questions please do

In general i would love to know what is the process for contributing to future of cities research - nairiobi used to be my favofite youth empowerment city after dhaka until jamii bora ownership got redesigned-- ingrid munro is up there with my top 5 lifetime heroes of youth's sustainability goals being the only designer of microcredit for youth in slums - i hope her knowhow is being included in goal 11 research JP Morgan Listens to Lessons from Kenya Microcredit Jamii Bora





Yours sincerely Chris Macrae
Norman Macrae Foundation (The Economist's end poverty economist) Washington DC 240 316 8157

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

An Historic Moment: China-Africa — 'A Shared Community of Interest for All Humanity'

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on Monday. Beijing, Sept. 3, 2018 (Xinhua)
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on Monday. Beijing, Sept. 3, 2018 (Xinhua)
The deliberations of the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit yesterday in Beijing mark an historic shift for humanity, for all time. The centuries-long colonialist era, under the British imperium or under whatever other disguises it has been perpetrated—is now over and done with. This was an implicit premise of President Xi Jinping in his keynote, and in the remarks of his fellow speakers—all institutional leaders: President Cyril Ramaphosa, of South Africa, in the BRICS; President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, current chair country of the African Union (AU); Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations; and Moussa Faki Mahamat, AU Commission Chairman. AU Commission Chairman Faki announced that the African Union will open a permanent representative office in Beijing, during his visit.
 Seated on stage behind the speaker's lectern, facing outward to the thousands in the audience, were the heads of state and government of 53 African nations. 
President Xi Jinping announced specific commitments and plans for joint work, and spoke in powerful images of the spirit involved. He said that China and Africa will "walk together towards prosperity." We will "think with one mind, and work with one heart."
Of special note, is that Xi also stressed that China is ready to work with others as international partners. He said that China and Africa will be setting an example, and "presenting a community of shared interest for all humanity." He underscored this metaphorically, saying, "Anyone who isolates himself on an island has no future." Also, "everyone has in himself a little bit of others."
UN Secretary General Guterres called the FOCAC meeting an "historic moment." He spoke emphatically about how the China-Africa collaboration, and the Belt and Road Initiative, are now inherently involved in the UN Agenda 2030 (the anti-poverty global objective), as well as in AU Agenda 2063 (the 50-year continental development perspective announced by the AU in 2013, and which marks the centennial of the OAU Charter in 1963).
Xi announced an eight-point action list of joint China-Africa activity, for 2019-2021 (three years is the FOCAC time cycle, since its founding in 2000). China is committed to $60 billion in funding over that period, for which Xi gave a breakdown in terms of how much will be in private investment, government grants and loans, etc.

China will launch 8 major initiatives in close collaboration with African countries
1 indudstrial promotion initiative- open china africa economic trade expo in china; will encourage chinese companies to increase investment in Africa and will build number of trade economic zones in Africa, support Africa achieving security by 2030, work with africa to formulate  and implement a program of action to promote cooperation on agricultural modernisaion -impleent 50 agricultural assistance programs; provide Ibn rmb emergency food assistance- to countries affected by natural disasters , send 500 senior agricultural experts to Africa and train young researchers in agriscience and  entrepreneurs in agribusiness- we will support Chinese corporations to form alliance of csr,  make good use of china africa dev fund, china africa fund for industrial cooperation and special  loans for development of African smes

Second china will launch an infrasstructure connectivity initiative with the afriican union – we will support chinese companies in participating in infra development with focus on enhancing cooperation on energy, transportation,  info, telecommunication and cross border water resources – we will wokl with africa to undertake key connectivity projects- support africa developing single air transport market and open more direct flights between china and Africa – we will facilitat6e bond insurance by African companies and their fianancial instititions in china- following multilateral ;procedures we help African countries make better use of Asian infrastructure investment bank, new dev bank and the silk road fund

3rd china will launch a trade facilitation intitiative- we will increase  imports from Africa- we support African countri9es in participating in the Shanghai International import expo – the least developed african participants will be exempt from paying exhibition stand fees- we will strengthen exchanges and cooperation and implement 50 trade facilitation programs for africa. we will hold on regular basis marketing activitiess for African and chinese brand products  and support the building of the African continental free trade area an will continue to hold free trade negotiations withy interested african countries and regions -we set up relevant mechanisms to promote ecommerce with Africa

Fourth we will develop a green development initiative with 50 project sto expand capacity om climate change , ocean, desertification prevention and wildlife protection- a china africa environmental cooperation centre will be set up and more policy dialogue and joint research on environmental issues will be conducted- the china Africa green envoys program will be implemented to strengthen Africa human capacity for environmental management , pollution reduction and green development; a china africa bamboo centre will be established to help Africa make bamboo products – china will also work with Africa to raise public awareness of environmental protection

5th we will launch a capacity building initiative -china will share more of its development practices with  Africa and will support cooperation with africa on economic and social planning – 10 Luban workshops  to provide vocataon training for young africans -china will support opening chain africa cooperation innovation centre to promote youth innovation and entrepreneurship- a tailor made program will be developed to train 1000 high calibre africans- china will provide 50000 gov scholarships and 50000 training opportunities for seminars and workshops and will invite 2000 young africans to visit china for exchanges

6 we will launch a healthcare initiative- to upgrade 50 medical and health aid programs for Africa particularly flagship projects such as hq for africa centre of disease control and  and china-africa friendship hospitals- exchange  info  on public health – eg prevention communicabale diseases hiv malaria - china will train more specialists for Africa  and continue to send african teams that better meet african needs -medical services will be provided for patients with cataracts, heart diseases and dental problems - targeted health care services will be provided to women and children of vulnerable groups in africa’
7 we will launch people to people initiative- we will launch an institute of african studies to enhance exchanges on african civilization – china africa joint research platforms will be upgraded; 50 joint cultural, sport, tourism events will be organised – china welcomes africa participation in silk road international league of theaters, the silk road international museum allinace and the network of silk road art festivals, china Africa media cooperation network will be established – more african culture centres will be opened in china and more Chinese centres opened in Africa—qualified Africa  institutes are welcome to host confucius institutes- more African countries are welcome to come destinations for chinese tour groups

8 we will launch a  peace and security initiative – and fund to boost our cooperation on peace security peacekeeping and law and order- we will continue military aid to african union – we will support countries in sahel region and those gulf of aden and guinea in upholding security and combating terrorism
Dear colleagues the future of china-africa relations lies in our young people – many of the measures in the 8 initiatives I outlined are designed to help young people in Africa- these will provide young africans with more training and job opportunities and open up more space for their development -Last october I wrote back to the exchange students of the institute of south south cooperation and development - moss were from africa and I encouraged them to make the best of what they have learnt and keep working hard to promote china-africa and south-south cooperation=- I believes they have new roles to play and accomplishments to make – I am confident that the baton of China Africa friendship will be cast from one generation to the next and that china-africa working together will build an even more vibrant community with a shared future

Monday, September 3, 2018



today summit china 50 african leaders

xi jinping pledgges 60 billion dollars to africa belt road
videos from cgtn include https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cgtn+africa 
Ethiopian PM hopes Beijing summit will cement relations The Forum on China-African Cooperation provides an excellent platform for the Asian powerhouse to deepen relations and forge ... NewCoexist Initiative aims to end violence against women in Kenya Gender based violence and discrimination remain a threat for many women around the world. In Kenya, an organisation is looking ... Uganda's president calls for expanded collaboration in trade Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni gave his views on the blossoming relationship between China and Africa, before heading to ... Somalia signs MOU with China to join the Belt and Road Initiative Somalia has signed a memorandum of understanding with China to join the Belt and Road Initiative. The country's president is in ... New President of Sierra Leone shares views on FOCAC aspirations Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio is on his first state visit to China, after assuming office earlier in April. President Bio ... What can we expect from the FOCAC Summit? The 2018 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will be held on Monday and Tuesday in Beijing. What's on the ... China-Africa Ministerial meeting held in Beijing Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and foreign ministers from 53 African countries met in Beijing on Sunday for the 7th Ministerial ... New African technology employed in designing world's largest terminal In about a year's time the world's largest airport terminal will open in the Chinese capital. 'Beijing Urban Construction Group' is the ... 2:57 China welcomes CNN report on Chinese investment in Africa CGTN Africa • 3K views 2 days ago China's foreign ministry is welcoming a recent report by the U.S. media outlet, CNN, on the contribution of Chinese companies to ... New 29:29 Talk Africa: FOCAC Beijing Summit 2018 CGTN Africa • 2.5K views 1 day ago Now into its 18th year, The Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has become a key platform to promote China-Africa ... New 1:17 Interview with Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba CGTN Africa • 427 views 17 hours ago CGTN's French channel sat down with Gabon's President Ali

can we help eleni and ethiopia youth progress end poverty goals as well as urgent progress across africa-
 if eleni skypes in to jack ma researchers week at brac in bangladesh between oct 2-6
or
- can ethiopia diaspora in dc connect round her market idea presented at jim kims tedx-

-beijing summit details this week transcribed at my blog http://www.economistafrica.com 

here's eleni at jim kims tedx 2 years ago which shelly end-tb networker also spoke at from india
Building a big, bold, beautiful market | Eleni Gabre-Madhin | TEDxWBG sir fazle said if he was given 6 months notice he would join in the next tedx in this series if wanted




eleni i live in dc but i have mainly worked in asia; i try to connect sustainability goal driven youth tech networkers everywhere- over many years now i have seen that stefanos (he runs a tech consultancy in dc while hos brother runs a youth hub in addis) knows far more about connecting that across africa than i will ever do- 

mostofa is organising what jack ma's main academic at tsinghua university debates with who during a 5 day period she has given us- recent jack ma's fintech group made their first investment in bangladesh at Home | bKash - even bill gates says if a billion unbanked women are ever to be served financially and sustainably it will be some variant of bkash that scales-  this has already headhunted the original genius of mpesa

oct 2 to 6 is really about future exchanges bewteen alumni of jack ma and everhwhere =- his main guide to africa is the kenyan who runs unctad - ying knows the several hunder youth entrepreneurs untad has altready asked jack ma to train

thanks chris macrae whats app 1 240316 8157 norman macrae foundation Norman Macrae : Books & Surveys at The Economist