Nsroma University

Number of migrants now growing faster than world population, new UN figures show.
International Centre for Diplomacy And Regional Integration(ICDRI) of Hawks University College.

The growing number of international migrants has now reached 272 million, outpacing the growth rate of the world’s population, according to new data from the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), released on Tuesday.
A landmark UN migration study published on Monday shows that 93 per cent of Africans making the journey to European countries along irregular routes, would do it again, despite facing often life-threatening danger.

UN Climate Change News, 27 October 2020 : African - European
Centre of Climate Change of Hawks University College.

Increasing temperatures and sea levels, changing precipitation patterns and more extreme weather are threatening human health and safety, food and water security and socio-economic development in Africa, according to a new report devoted exclusively to the continent.
The State of the Climate in Africa 2019 report, a multi-agency publication coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), provides a snapshot of current and future climate trends and associated impacts on the economy and sensitive sectors like agriculture. It highlights lessons for climate action in Africa and identifies pathways for addressing critical gaps and challenges.
"This report shows increasing climate change threats for human health, food and water security and socio-economic development in Africa. Because of this, we need accurate and current data for adaptation planning," said Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Executive Secretary, UN Climate Change.
The UN Climate Change secretariat is supporting countries in identifying and managing climate risks through the formulation and implementation of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).
Advancements in systematic observations and research that WMO is undertaking plays a key role in providing critical input to these efforts.
The report was released on 26 October at a ministerial-level launch to highlight the urgency of climate action in Africa and the current state of capacity. The risks are becoming more severe.
“Climate change is having a growing impact on the African continent, hitting the most vulnerable hardest, and contributing to food insecurity, population displacement and stress on water resources. In recent months we have seen devastating floods, an invasion of desert locusts and now face the looming spectre of drought because of a La Niña event. The human and economic toll has been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
“Science-based climate information is the foundation of resilience building, a cornerstone of climate change adaptation, as well as an oasis for sustainable livelihoods and development. The State of Climate Report for Africa has, therefore, a critical role to play in this respect, including in informing our actions for achieving the goals of the Africa Agenda 2063,” said H.E. Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union Commission.
“The limited uptake and use of climate information services in development planning and practice in Africa is due in part to the paucity of reliable and timely climate information. This report, focusing on Africa, will go a long way towards addressing this gap. The contribution of the Economic Commission for Africa to the production of this report, through the African Climate Policy Centre, seeks to highlight the nexus between climate change and development, and to emphasise that building forward better from the Covid-19 pandemic requires a development approach that is green, sustainable and climate resilient, informed by the best available science. The participation of multiple institutions and agencies in producing the report reinforces our principles and approaches of working as one,” said H.E. Vera Songwe, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
Food security impacts
In the drought-prone sub-Saharan African countries, the number of undernourished people has increased by 45.6% since 2012 according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Agriculture is the backbone of Africa’s economy and accounts for the majority of livelihoods across the continent. Africa is therefore an exposure and vulnerability “hot spot” for climate variability and change impacts.
IPCC projections suggest that warming scenarios risk having devastating effects on crop production and food security.
Key risks to agriculture include reduced crop productivity associated with heat and drought stress and increased pest damage, disease damage and flood impacts on food system infrastructure, resulting in serious adverse effects on food security and on livelihoods at the regional, national and individual household levels.
By the middle of this century, major cereal crops grown across Africa will be adversely impacted, albeit with regional variability and differences between crops.
Under the worst case climate change scenario, a reduction in mean yield of 13% is projected in West and Central Africa, 11% in North Africa, and 8% in East and Southern Africa. Millet and sorghum have been found to be the most promising crops, with a yield loss by 2050 of just 5% and 8%, respectively, due to their greater resilience to heat-stress conditions, while rice and wheat are expected to be the most affected crops with a yield loss by 2050 of 12% and 21%, respectively.
Health impacts
Increases in temperature and changes in rainfall patterns also significantly affect population health across Africa. Warmer temperatures and higher rainfall increase habitat suitability for biting insects and the transmission of vector-borne diseases such as dengue fever, malaria and yellow fever.
In addition, new diseases are emerging in regions where they were previously not present. In 2017, an estimated 93% of global malaria deaths occurred in Africa. Malaria epidemics often occur after periods of unusually heavy rainfall. In addition, warming in the East African highlands is allowing malaria-carrying mosquitoes to survive at higher altitudes.
Economic impacts
According to the International Monetary Fund, adverse consequences of climate change are concentrated in regions with relatively hot climates, where a disproportionately large number of low-income countries are located.
The African Climate Policy Centre projects that the Gross Domestic Product in the five African subregions would suffer significant decrease as a result of a global temperature increase. For scenarios ranging from a 1 °C to a 4 °C increase in global temperatures relative to pre-industrial levels, the continent’s overall GDP is expected to decrease by 2.25% to 12.12%. West, Central and East Africa exhibit a higher adverse impact than Southern and North Africa.
WMO Africa report image 3
Climate Action
Africa’s Agenda 2063, which was concluded in 2013, recognizes climate change as a major challenge for the continent’s development.
Since 2015, the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreementhave become the main instrument for guiding policy responses to climate change. Fifty-two (52) African countries have submitted their first NDCs and are now in the process of submitting revised NDCs in 2020.
Africa and the small island developing States are the regions facing the largest capacity gaps with regard to climate services. Africa also has the least developed land-based observation network of all continents.
Africa has made great efforts in driving the global climate agenda. This is demonstrated by the very high levels of ratification of the Paris Agreement – over 90%. Many African nations have committed to transitioning to green energy within a relatively short time frame. Clean energy and agriculture are, for example, prioritized in over 70% of African NDCs. This ambition needs to be an integral part of setting the economic development priorities of the continent.
One promising approach throughout the continent to reducing climate related risks and extreme event impacts has been to reduce poverty by promoting socioeconomic growth, in particular in the agricultural sector. In this sector, which employs 60% of Africa’s population, value-addition techniques using efficient and clean energy sources are reported to be capable of reducing poverty two to four times faster than growth in any other sector.
Solar-powered, efficient micro-irrigation, for example, is increasing farm-level incomes by five to 10 times, improving yields by up to 300% and reducing water usage by up to 90% while at the same time offsetting carbon emissions by generating up to 250 kW of clean energy.
Women constitute a large percentage of the world’s poor, and about half of the women in the world are active in agriculture – in developing countries, this figure is 60%, and in low-income, food-deficit countries, 70%. Reducing poverty by means of growth in Africa’s agricultural sector is therefore of particular benefit to women. It also may be the case that in some instances, women do not have access to weather and climate services; it is important that all individuals be provided with access to these services in order to enhance their individual resilience and adaptive capacity.
The relevant WMO press release is available here and the full report is available here.

The future of cybersecurity in Africa relies on youth skills- African Centre For Cybersecurity(ACCS) of Hawks University College.

Cybersecurity has risen to become a national concern as threats are taken now more seriously. Africa has been among the fastest growing regions in terms of cybercrime activities to the extent that the continent is considered as a source of significant cyberattacks targeting the rest of the world.
According to the British consulting firm O**m, a billion people in Africa will have Internet access by 2022. Analyzing the trend of cybercrimes across countries back in 2013, analysts have suggested 10–15% Internet pe*******on as the threshold level for the generation of significant hacking activities. Today, internet pe*******on rates in many African economies have already reached this level. Bulent Teksoz of Symantec Middle East noted, “Cybercrime is shifting towards the emerging economies. This is where the cyber criminals believe the low-hanging fruit is”. Unsurprisingly, many African economies have become important sources as well as victims of cyber-threats.
Attacks range from simple email scams to large-scale theft of customer data using malware, ransom attacks and disinformation or fake news. These can have wide-ranging effects, including financial losses, reputational damage, and disruption of business and government operations. Moreover, Africa is witnessing the emergence of cyber criminal gangs available for hire – globally. Renting their “know-how” to extort ransoms or provide another tool in the armory of terrorist groups such as al-Shabaab and Boko Haram. The Islamic State, it has been extensively reported, is already honing its cyber skills. Senior figures from the National Prosecuting Authority in South Africa say they are aware of at least a dozen of such criminal networks for hire within the country.
In South Africa, around 570 suspected cyberattacks happen each second. In a continent of 1.2 billion people, where hundreds of millions of citizens will go online in the next three years, the scale of future risk from abuses is clear. This is why it is imperative to implement cybersecurity regulations to try to reduce this number.
source: Telecom Review Africa

The Institute of Business and Leadership Management (IBLM) in collaboration with Africa Centre for Cybersecurity (ACCS) of Hawks University College on Strategic Crisis Management; A Crisis Management Training, a virtual Seminar. In view of the current global crisis that the world is facing which is the COVID-19 pandemic, IBLM and ACCS have decided organizing a seminar for companies, firms and institutions who are going through crisis and to help them plan and manage towards any unforeseen crisis in the future.

We had the opportunity to be part of the Business Mastering Session, The Institute of Business And Leadership Management of Hawks University College at the University of Ghana, Department of Economics. The Black Mastermind group from the USA.