Publisher's Message
Ricky Muloweni Publisher
“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
4
January-February 2021
A HEARTFELT CONGRATULATIONS TO President Biden and Vice President Harris on their Inauguration as President and Vice President of the United States of America. We are excited at the opportunity to work with the Biden-Harris Administration on USA-Africa development programs. Yes, it does feel different and it is surely a New Day for the United States. The Covid-19 pandemic effects on the African continent continues to reveal gaps in public health service capacity since its beginning in March 2020. The first being a rapid exodus of Expatriates of non-Africans decedents from Africa to their countries and continents of origin. The mass exodus resulted in many of the local African programs, industries, and many expert driven projects coming to a complete halt. The pandemic has revealed major cities dependance on food produced in rural towns and villages. Most of the food importation in the early part of the pandemic came to a grinding halt. This food supplies gap was filled by rural/village agriculture producers in the respective countries. As the cities came to a crushing halt the production demand on villages and rural towns increased due to more home bound stomachs and an increased appetite for organic foods. Meanwhile, the big banks did not facilitate delivery system financing even when it was well known that the village agriculture suppliers could use more capital to ramp up their delivery systems. A case has been laid bare for rural towns to negotiate for a win, win deal with the financial institutions in the cities who have forever denied small business loans and financing for expansion to rural farmers. Clearly it was gratifying to see Villages and small towns escape the first wave of the pandemic in part because they were insulated from regular interactions and movement to and from the cities. Alas, the urgent food needs of the cities necessitated more movement from villages to the DAWN
www.africabusinessassociation.org
