KEY DEVELOPMENT UPDATES
OAGF advances on remittance of operating surplus
The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has been making advances in the remittance of Operating Surplus by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government. The Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 provides that the MDAs should remit into the Consolidated Revenue Account their unspent budget at the end of the fiscal year.
Last November, the OAGF in a circular provided additional list of corporations, agencies and departments to the schedule of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. It later provided the approved template for the computation of Operating Surplus of the MDAs. At 2016 ending, the initiatives led to the recovery of N80 billion from the MDAs for the period of 2010-2015.
In the same vein, the OAGF had recovered at the end of 2016 the sum of N12.12 billion in outstanding revenue from the MDAs for the period of July 2013 to October 2015.
Five African countries selected for global critical thinking project
The Human Science Lab, a global centre for world-leading research on human life based in London and Oxfordshire, has identified five African nations as world's potential Critical Thinking Hubs. The countries, namely Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, will join a league of nations drawn from all continents for the 'Global Critical Thinking Project.'
These countries were selected by an international panel, using five principal indicators – human development profile, demographic profile, education index, innovation index, and the space for critical thinking provided by each country.
Critical thinking has been crucial to all human innovations and will be the propelling force behind all future human accomplishments. However, there is a recorded decline in critical thinking across the globe that holds a strong potential to hinder scientific and technological advancement. This is inimical to a prosperous and healthy society.
The Global Critical Thinking Project is founded with the support of several international agencies to address these concerns on an international scale. Its activities involve engaging countries to initiate reforms in their current educational system and triggering global critical thinking movements through the development of thinking hubs in every continent.
African girls encouraged to seek tech careers on UN 'Girls in ICT Day’
To mark this year's United Nations 'Girls in ICT Day', which was celebrated on April 27, the agency introduced girls from several African countries, to careers in coding and robotics at an international conference on Information Technology held in Ethiopia.
Similar events took place around the world to encourage women and girls to pursue careers in the field of information and communications technology (ICT). The event was actualised with support from UN Women, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Economic Commission for Africa, and the Africa Union Commission.
Globally, there is a 12% gender gap in internet use. In the least developed countries, the gap widens to 31%, according to UN statistics. Current and emerging technology is fundamentally changing the type of jobs that will exist in the future employment market, and the skills that will be required by those jobs.
The UN Women estimates that women will gain only one science, technology, engineering and mathematics-related (STEM) job for every 20 jobs lost in other areas, whereas men will gain one new job for every four lost elsewhere.
To tackle these challenges, policy tools and focused programmes must be implemented to shift priorities and investments, and to change the stereotypes and perceptions of women and girls in STEM fields that begin in early childhood, the agency advised.
Since the inception of the International 'Girls in ICT Day' in 2014, over 240,000 girls and young women have taken part in more than 7,200 celebrations in 160 countries worldwide.
AfDB reviews implementation of Ghana's Northern Rural Growth Programme
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has published a review of the successful implementation of the Northern Rural Development Programme (NRGP) in Ghana. The $92.79 million project was initiated in 2009 by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), with funding support from AfDB.
The NRGP was designed to ensure the equitable and sustainable reduction of poverty and improvement in food insecurity among Ghana's poorest rural households in the Northern region. Amongst others, the programme was aimed at eliminating the challenges to access to market, financial services, inputs, capacity building opportunities, and promoting agricultural value chain development in the region.
According to the report, the productivity of targeted commodities increased significantly, from 0.8mt to 3.5mt for maize; 0.5mt to 2.2mt for Soybean; 0.5mt to 1.90mt for Sorghum; and 1.90mt to 3.5mt for rice. Also, the cultivated area by the beneficiary farmers of these crops has increased from 30,000 hectares to nearly 50,000 hectares.
The AfDB contributed $54.27 million for the implementation of the programme, while IFAD added $21.92 million. Other supporters of the initiative, which include the Government of Ghana, gave an additional $16.60 million.