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Kenyan President William Ruto has signed a $60 million dollar grant agreement with the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session in New York. The grant will help improve urban transport in Nairobi by concentrating on four projects, making the Kenya program the largest of its kind within MCC’s portfolio.

Kenyan President William Ruto lauded the new agreement with the U.S. foreign aid agency MCC, at the signing in New York City Tuesday evening where he is also attending the 78th session of this year’s U.N. General Assembly.

“There is a whole one million people who come in and out of Nairobi every day; that poses a very significant challenge on the transport infrastructure. Apart from the Matatu transport system, the mass bus transport system is a very important component,” he said.

Threshold grants help countries to reduce constraints to faster economic growth and increase transparency and accountability in the provision of public services.

Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO Alice Albright says this grant — the second one to Kenya since 2003 — will be the largest and most ambitious threshold agreement that MCC has signed in its 20-year history.

“We like to measure with all of our work, and in this case we estimate to about 4.3 million people could be helped by this threshold agreement,” she said.

James Gerard, MCC’s managing director for threshold programs, told VOA this program, which includes four projects, will help support the Kenyan government in improving transportation and land use planning in the capital, Nairobi.

“One, to help build the capacity of the Nairobi metropolitan area transport authority [NMATA] with their transportation planning needs,” he said. “Second project will focus on what we call, non-motorized transport, so helping citizens — particularly citizens of working class — who use non-motorized transport as well as informal forms of transport, such as Matatus.”

Matatus are privately owned public transport vehicles. Some are old and not in the best shape but often beautifully decorated with famous sayings and/or people. A vast majority of commuter trips in and out of Nairobi are taken using Matatus.

“The third project will focus on land use in and around certain areas of Nairobi trying to help urban planning around transportation hubs to better make use of that land. And finally, the fourth project is really to focus on helping finance future options around bus rapid transit in Nairobi and particularly looking at greener options to move citizens around the city perhaps using electric vehicles,” said Gerard.

Korir Sing’Oei, Kenya’s principal secretary for foreign affairs in the ministry of foreign and diaspora affairs, has been one of the lead negotiators for this grant. He told VOA it is exhilarating to finally get to this point.

“It’s a moment of pride for Kenya because eligibility for MCC programs financing is predicated on democratic governance, economic freedom and investment in people that is evident in a particular country. So, to have Kenya be eligible for this program under MCC represents an acknowledgement on the part of the U.S. that Kenya sits in a very big space in relations to these issues,” said Sing’Oei.

Additionally, he says this program will allow Kenya to build the necessary capacity to become eligible for a much bigger financing program under MCC known as the compact program, which could be worth around $800 million.
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A leading global risk consultancy says that despite the impacts of the war in Ukraine, global inflation, climate and security challenges, Africa continues to find resilience. A new report by Control Risks and its economics consulting partner, Oxford Economics Africa, finds that as global tensions create disruptions, they are also providing many African governments significant political, economic, and security opportunities.

The research, released on Tuesday, examines how African countries, governments, and corporations navigate a world marked by global tension and competition for resources and alliances, particularly among China, Russia, and the United States.

Given the continent’s security measures and developing financial sector, the researchers focused on African states’ efforts to retain neutrality while under pressure to join with global geopolitical corporations.

Patricia Rodrigues, a Senior Analyst at Control Risks, a firm specializing in political, security, and integrity risks, said Africa is attracting investment from various countries vying for support and access to the continent’s economic opportunities.

“What we’ve seen from major geopolitical actors, be that the U.S., China, Russia, or the EU as a bloc, everybody’s increasingly viewing Africa as a place where they can entice to either align with them on key geopolitical or global affairs. And in doing so, there’s a lot of at least pledged investment that is being directed towards the continent. In addition to this, African governments are attempting to, I guess, play all sides, attempting to secure pledges of investment,” she said.

During the U.S.-Africa Summit in December, Washington committed to allocate $55 billion to Africa over the next three years, focusing on healthcare, trade, climate change, and women’s issues.

Recent reduced U.S. involvement in Africa has created opportunities for China, which has invested $10 billion in the continent from 2017 to 2022, and has also led to increased trade between Africa and Russia, growing from $9.9 billion in 2013 to $17.7 billion in 2021.

These three major global powers compete to secure access to Africa’s mineral resources, which are critical in advancing new technologies. Africa holds almost one-third of the world’s mineral reserves and eight and twelve percent of global gas and oil reserves.

Vincent Rouget is the head of Control Risks. He said the demand for African mineral wealth has also created the urge to industrialize in the continent.

“What we have seen in the last few months is more assertive moves by various countries to try to make sure that this surge in interest also benefits their economies. And we’re seeing what you could call a critical resource nationalism coming back in some economies, where we see an insistence on local processing, more stringent local content requirements and generally an attempt to integrate these critical mineral supply chains with a broader drive for industrialization,” he said.

In most African countries, natural capital accounts for between 30% to 50% of their overall wealth.

The continent loses $195 billion yearly of its natural capital due to illicit financial flows, illegal mining, logging, the illegal trade in wildlife, unregulated fishing and environmental damage.

Researchers say North African countries are positioning themselves as manufacturing destinations as Western countries are looking to disengage from China.

The head of Africa Macro at Oxford Economics Africa, Jacque Nel, said African economies will face challenges in an increasingly competitive global environment.

“We continue to see progress. It wasn’t a short-term boost to access to financial services that we’ve seen. We continue to see the expansion and access to financial services improve across the continent, which is really important because, secondly, this is a catalyst for broader economic growth. Access to financial services is required and supports economic growth in most, if not all, other sectors of the economy,” said Nel.

According to researchers, wars on the continent are receiving little attention from the international community, although it is affecting the continent and attracting external actors, such as Wagner and terror organizations. 
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Tourism industry watchers say one of the top overseas destinations for US travelers this summer was Britain, where Americans helped the recovery of the British tourism industry after the crisis caused by the COVID pandemic. Marcus Harton narrates this report from Umberto Aguiar in London. (Camera and Produced by Umberto Aguiar)
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The leaders of Nigeria and South Africa held talks Monday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, with the goal of increasing cooperation, especially in mining and telecommunications.

Experts say more cooperation between Africa’s two largest economies in line with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement would boost growth and development across the continent.

A spokesperson for Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said Tinubu’s discussion with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was the first meeting the Nigerian leader is expected to hold with counterparts from around the world this week at the 78th U.N. General Assembly. His intent is to attract investments that will strengthen Nigeria’s economy.

On Monday, Tinubu and Ramaphosa discussed cooperation in the mining and telecom sectors — specifically about easing stringent business policies that discourage investment.

Tinubu said improving economic ties would create more jobs and benefit both countries. 

Nigerian economist Isaac Botti agreed, saying, “It’s expected that having a strong alliance with South Africa will also enhance our economic growth, particularly recognizing that South Africa is the second-largest economy in Africa.”

Botti also said that an agreement between the two nations would “enhance, within the U.N. system, opportunities for expanding investments, opportunities for improving sources of revenue.”

“For example,” he said, “if they could get into a concrete agreement on mining, it means that as a nation we will be able to diversify our economy.”

Political affairs analyst Rotimi Olawale said African nations need to work together if they are to improve health and living standards for the millions stuck in poverty.

“It’s high time to begin to see deeper collaborations between players on the continent,” Olawale said. “When push comes to shove, like we saw during Covid, every continent looked inward. European Union began to negotiate as a bloc for the purchase of vaccines. So it’s much more important for especially the big countries to lead the way in seeking closer ties and collaborations.”

During his campaign this year, Tinubu promised to boost Nigeria’s economy if elected president. Since assuming office in May, the president has embarked on the country’s boldest economic reforms in decades, including scrapping a popular but highly expensive fuel subsidy.

This week, Tinubu is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden and executives from Microsoft, Meta and Exxon Mobil.

Olawale said the president is likely to hold other such meetings designed to pave the way for foreign investment.

“I expect that we’d see many more of such meetings,” Olawale said. “Nigeria is in dire need of investments in many sectors — construction, telecoms, innovation, science and technology. I expect that many of these things will be at the top of the president’s agenda as he begins to discuss with many of these countries.”

Last week, Tinubu visited the United Arab Emirates and met with the country’s president. The visit led to the UAE lifting a visa ban on Nigerian travelers. Tinubu’s office said the UAE also promised to invest several billion dollars in the Nigerian economy across multiple sectors, including defense and agriculture.
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The United Auto Workers’ strike against the three biggest U.S. automakers reached into its third day on Sunday with no resolution in sight, although union negotiations with General Motors were set to resume.

About 12,700 UAW workers were on strike at three factories, one each owned by Ford, Stellantis, and GM, in the most significant U.S. industrial labor action in decades. It was the first time the UAW union had gone on strike simultaneously against all three automakers.

The union and the companies appear far apart in settling on a new pact, with the automakers offering raises of about 20% over a 4½-year contract proposal, including an immediate 10% raise. The unions are demanding a 40% increase.

UAW President Shawn Fain told MSNBC on Sunday that progress in the talks has been slow. Union talks with Stellantis and Ford were set to resume on Monday.

“I don’t really want to say we’re closer,” he said. “It’s a shame that the companies didn’t take our advice and get down to business from the beginning of bargaining back in mid-July.”

Asked in a subsequent appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation” show whether workers would walk out at more plants this week, Fain said the union was “prepared to do whatever we have to do.”

U.S. President Joe Biden, who has signaled support for the union’s efforts, dispatched acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and economic adviser Gene Sperling to Detroit, the hub of the U.S. auto industry, to speak to the UAW and the automakers.
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