Category: Business

Two invasive species — the brown tree snake and the American bullfrog — cost the world more than $16 billion between 1986 and 2020, according to a study.

Researchers say the already-hefty price tag should be seen as a lower limit on the true cost of invasive reptiles and amphibians, especially in under-studied regions such as Africa and South America. The study results were published in the online journal Scientific Reports.

Invasive species are animals, plants or other living things that aren’t native to the places where they live and damage their new environments. Humans spread many of the more than 340 invasive reptile and amphibian species — as stowaways in cargo or through the exotic pet trade, for instance.

Invasive reptiles and amphibians can damage crops, destroy infrastructure, spread disease and upset ecosystems. The damage is costly, but scientists still don’t fully understand the extent of the economic impact wrought by invasive species.

For the study, biologist and study author Ismael Soto of the University of South Bohemia, and Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic, and his colleagues, estimated the global cost of invasive reptiles and amphibians using a database called InvaCost. The database collects the results of thousands of studies, reports and other documents produced by scientists, governments and non-governmental organizations.

The data revealed that invasive reptiles and amphibians have cost at least $17 billion worldwide between 1986 and 2020.

“But this cost mostly focused on two species — the brown tree snake [and] the American bullfrog,” Soto told VOA in an interview via Zoom. “But there are almost 300 invasive species of reptiles [and] amphibians. So, this means that our cost is really underestimated.”

The two species have received a disproportionate amount of attention from researchers, said economist Shana McDermott of Trinity University, who was not involved in the study.

“When you talk about invasives, people immediately will probably say, ‘Oh, the brown tree snake,’ just because its impacts are so wide-ranging,” she said via Zoom. “It’s got ecosystem biodiversity impacts. It’s got impacts to human health — it sends people to the hospital every year with bites. It takes down energy infrastructure. … And so, of course, people are like, ‘Oh God! That’s an incredibly dangerous invasive! Let’s understand it better.'”

The research bias toward a few well-known species also skews the distribution of costs worldwide. For instance, 99.6% of the $10.4 billion in costs from reptile invasions were in Oceania and the Pacific Islands, largely reflecting damage dealt by the brown tree snake in Hawaii, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands. Likewise, most damage from amphibians was in Europe.

But that doesn’t mean invasive reptiles and amphibians aren’t problematic elsewhere. Soto said there are many invasive amphibians in Africa, but their costs probably haven’t been quantified.

“There’s not enough research in these countries [to] detect the economic costs,” he said.

Soto also noted that the current cost estimate only includes costs that are easily quantified. Destroyed crops or property are easier to count than reduced quality of life or indirect damage to human health and assigning dollar values to ecological damage is trickier still, McDermott said.

“We’re still in this very early stage of trying to understand the economic costs, and trying to understand how invasive species impact ecosystems, how they impact people’s quality of life,” she said, adding that she wants to include the price of biodiversity losses in future cost estimates.

Soto and McDermott agreed that future studies should not only quantify the costs of more species in more regions but also project how the costs will evolve with time, especially as climate change continues to facilitate the spread of more invasive species.

“There is a lot still left to be determined. … I do think that quantifying it is the first step, though,” said McDermott. “Unless you can put a dollar value on it, unfortunately, you don’t get [policymakers’] attention for policy. So, this is an incredibly important topic. … We really shouldn’t be waiting on more studies to act.”

Source: Voice of America

Tripoli- The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Oil Corporation, Farhat bin Qadara, revealed that crude oil production in Libya rose to one million and 25 thousand barrels per day, after it decreased as a result of the closure of oil facilities last April.

Bin Qadara expected, in Monday’s statements, that production would reach 1.2 million barrels per day within 10 days, as it was 870,000 barrels per day a week ago, and 1.3 million barrels per day before the closure.

In mid-July, the National Oil Corporation announced the resumption of production and export of crude oil in a number of oil fields and ports, three months after their closure

Source: Libyan News Agency

WASHINGTON— Kenya has secured the immediate release of Ksh 27.8 billion ($235.6 million) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to shore up its budgetary needs.

The loan which is the third review under the 38-month arrangement with the lender was approved Monday by the IMF Executive Board and brings the total amount disbursed to Ksh 142.7 billion ($1.2 billion).

Under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangements reached between Kenya and the IMF in April last year , Kenya is entitled to receive a total of Ksh 276 billion ($2.34 billion) within a three year period.

“Kenya’s economic programme supported by the Fund’s Extended Fund Facility and the Extended Credit Facility arrangements is providing an essential policy anchor to debt sustainability and public confidence. Despite the resilient economic recovery, the programme remains subject to downside risks, including from deeper disruptions from the war in Ukraine, unsettled global market conditions, and an increase of food insecurity. In this context, the authorities’ continued steadfast commitment to prudent policies and advancing structural reforms remains essential to maintain macroeconomic stability and safeguard Kenya’s positive medium-term prospects,” said Antoinette Sayeh, IMF Deputy Managing Director.

Despite giving a favourable outlook in the medium-term, IMF projects a GDP growth of 5.7pc this year dented by rising inflation which is projected to ease in 2023, uncertainties from the Russia-Ukraine war, continuing drought in the semi-arid regions, unsettled global financial market conditions and the coming general election slated for Aug 9.

While there has been a strong performance in revenue collection which has support fuel subsidy programmes to cushion vulnerable groups, IMF warns that the measures should be within budget.

“Strong fiscal performance is providing a welcome resilience. Although the authorities are adjusting domestic fuel prices to international levels more gradually, program targets are still being met thanks to strong tax revenues. Nevertheless, more targeted programs to support vulnerable households should accompany the ongoing review of the fuel pricing mechanism and plans for reforms to ensure that pricing actions are always aligned to the approved budget,” added Sayeh.

IMF is also advising the National Treasury to sustain fiscal consolidation efforts through efficient spending and additional tax measures to reduce debt vulnerabilities and release fund needed for social and development spending.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

CCRA— The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, is optimistic that Ghana will, this time around, emerge stronger after going to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for support.

Ghana has already begun discussions with the IMF to provide balance-of-payments support as part of a broader effort to quicken Ghana’s build-back in the face of challenges induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and, recently, the Russia-Ukraine crises.

Speaking at the official launch of the Accra Business School’s IT Programmes, Dr Bawumia said it will take a lot of hard work and difficult decisions for Ghana to bounce back.

“With enhanced fiscal discipline and structural reforms to restore debt sustainability and growth, we should emerge stronger than we have with the previous 17 IMF programs,” he said.

“But it will take hard work and difficult decisions. With great pride and personal pleasure, it is good that we are all part of this launch of three new programmes by the Accra Business School in collaboration with the South East Technical University”.

“It’s a day when the neglect of many decades comes to an eventual end. It’s a beginning to lay the foundations of strengthened institutions to take up the challenges of time with an able and apt workforce. It’s a day when a new beginning is being made by forging a common alliance between the government and academic leaderships to protect, preserve and promote above all, democracy via digitalisation.”

Dr Bawumia stressed that the twin external factors of covid-19 and the war in Ukraine, which he said, has also led many countries to the IMF for support, following the rising cost of living and inability to sustain debt levels, has also exposed the need for Ghana to put in place measures to be more fiscal-discipline.

“The major lesson of the last two years is that we have to be more self-reliant as a country,” Dr Bawumia said.

“It is important that we make decisions that will inure to the benefit of the country regardless of whether we are going to the IMF for a program or not.”

“The immediate task is to restore fiscal and debt sustainability – through revenue and expenditure measures and structural reforms.

Non-concessional borrowing should be curtailed to enhance debt sustainability,” the Vice-President added.

Dr Bawumia also observed that successive governments have failed to achieve long-term economic stability after each of the past 17 IMF programmes due to the lack of systems to ensure sustainable stability, hence the government’s focus on ensuring such systems are put in place.

“I should note that Ghana has gone to the IMF for a program 17 times since independence and after each IMF program, the underlying system and structure of the economy remained the same,” Dr Bawumia said.

“It is important to note that the focus of economic management by successive governments since independence in Ghana has been on crisis management as a result of factors such as the collapse in commodity prices, increase in oil prices, debt unsustainability, political instability, macroeconomic instability, etc. Governments, have by and large, not focused on building systems and institutions that underpin economic activities in a modern economy.”

These modern systems for sustainable economic development, Dr Bawumia said, are: “the systems that will reduce bribery and corruption, the systems that will make the delivery of public services efficient, the systems that will enhance domestic revenue mobilization, and the systems that will make life generally easier for Ghanaians.”

The Vice President noted that since 2017, the government has been focused on building these systems, which include a biometric national identification card, a functioning digital property address system and an aggressive financial inclusion programme, digitisation of government services and many others, which he said, are enhancing services and making access easier, reducing corruption and strengthening domestic revenue mobilisation.

He, therefore, called for a renewed focus on building and strengthening these systems, alongside enhanced fiscal discipline, to ensure sustainable economic recovery after the latest, 17th IMF programme.

Source: Nam News Network

The African Development Bank (AfDB) agreed this week to help Zimbabwe clear its $13.5 billion debt during a visit by the Abidjan-based lender’s president. The AfDB has also started releasing loans from a $1.5 billion fund to help Africa avert a looming food crisis fueled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Zimbabwe is one of 38 countries set to benefit from the bank’s fund, which is known as the African Emergency Food Production Facility.

African Development Bank, or AfDB, President Akinwumi Adesina said during his visit that Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa had sought his assistance for Zimbabwe to clear its external debt, which started accumulating after the late Robert Mugabe’s administration defaulted.

“I believe that Zimbabweans, ordinary Zimbabweans, have suffered long enough. You have a country, a beautiful country in which you now have 40 percent of the population that is living in extreme poverty. And they do not have the resources to get out of that. So, we have to create a new hope, a new pathway so that tomorrow can be a better day than yesterday. Zimbabwe has a significant amount of debt areas that it needs to clear. But you cannot run up the hill if you are carrying a backpack of sand. So, Zimbabwe cannot run up a hill for its economic recovery and growth and prosperity if it’s carrying a backpack of sand,” he said.

AfDB and Zimbabwe are looking for ways Harare can get access to international financial money while the debt is being settled over a long period.

Mthuli Ncube is Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister.

“What we have done so far is to begin token payments for the African Development Bank, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, and also all the 17 Paris Club partners. But what needs to be done is to fully implement the full roadmap for the arrears clearance. But for us to work well, we need a champion, and I am pleased to say that Dr. Adesina has agreed to be the champion, to cajole all partners around the world for us to be able to implement our arrears strategy,” he said.

Gift Mugano, an economics professor at Durban University of Technology, said the post-Mugabe government is still “reckless and careless,” and so the AfDB will not be able to satisfy the world on a plan to clear Zimbabwe’s arrears.

“In four years, our debt has doubled. Doubled because we were borrowing money recklessly, doubling because we created a new debt through white farmer compensation deed. There is also a component of debt, which we do not know where it is coming from because minister of finance is not going to parliament at each and every time he assumes new debt. If the government wants to clear the debt, it must stop increasing the debt,” said Mugano.

During his visit to Zimbabwe, AfDB President Adesina said his organization was filling a food security gap of 30 million metric tons caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That will come through the African Emergency Food Production Facility, a fund worth $1.5 billion.

“It will support Africa, produce 38 million metric tons of food with a value of $12 billion. Wheat, corn, maize, that will include 6 million metric tons of rice, 2.5 million metric tons of soyabeans. So, we are very sensitive to this. Africa has no business of going around with bowls in hand to beg for food. Africa has a business and must be in the business of putting seed in the ground and producing its own food and making sure that it can unlock tremendous agriculture potential that it has, but we can’t eat potential. We have to unlock the potential of agriculture,” he said.

Africa, Adesina said, imports mainly wheat and corn from Ukraine and Russia, as well as 2 million metric tons of fertilizers.

Source: Voice of America

Somalia is normally a top exporter of livestock to the Middle East, especially during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. But a record drought in the Horn of Africa has wiped out millions of livestock, leaving Somali livestock farmers struggling — some forced to live in camps for displaced people. For VOA, Mohamed Sheikh Nor reports from Mogadishu, Somalia.

Source: Voice of America