Presented by the International Monetary Fund
An ambitious bid to make next-generation antimalaria nets in Nigeria bucks the trend against such “risky” investments.
Also in today’s edition: U.K. Labour borrows a development idea from the last government, and the “brutal cycle of debt crises” amid food shortages.
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Safety net
Several multinational firms have shut down African operations in recent years, blaming everything from poor infrastructure and dollar shortages to falling demand and government red tape. Investments can be “extremely risky,” admits Amar Ali, CEO of Vestergaard, a major mosquito net producer.
However, that hasn’t stopped Vestergaard from signing a memorandum of understanding with the Nigerian government, paving the way for it to enter into a joint venture with a local company to build the continent’s first manufacturing base for a new generation of nets seen as crucial in the fight against insecticide-resistant mosquitoes.
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The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria believes that within three years, some 60% of these nets used to prevent malaria will be a dual-active ingredient type — such as the PermaNet Dual nets set to be made in Nigeria, once a local manufacturing partner has been secured.
Once fully functioning, the facility is expected to produce 10 million nets each year, creating 600 local jobs and, potentially, lowering the current $3 cost of each net.
Ali explains to Devex Senior Reporter Jenny Lei Ravelo that the initiative needed both a “very supportive” Nigerian government and the “political cover” of backing from development financing institutions in donor nations to bring it to fruition.
“This is about localization, local ownership,” the CEO says, adding: “That is the correct trend.”
Read: Africa to get first manufacturing hub for next-generation malaria nets
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‘Worse by the hour’
As the Middle East tips closer to an all-out war, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres asked donor governments to fork out $425.7 million to ramp up a relief effort in Lebanon, saying the conflict in the country “must stop.”
Guterres assured Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati in a telephone conversation that the “entire United Nations system in Lebanon is mobilized to assist all those in need in the country,” Devex Senior Global Reporter Colum Lynch tells me.
The cost requirements are said to include $131 million for food security and agriculture; $44 million to build shelters; and nearly $80 million for health care services and water and sanitation rehabilitation.
During the past year, more than 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced or affected by the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, according to the Lebanese authorities, and between Sept. 16 and 27, 1,030 people were killed, including 87 children and 156 women.
The conflict escalated dramatically last month when Israel opened an offensive — detonating the pagers and walkie-talkies of Hezbollah militants — and assassinated top Hezbollah commanders, including the movement’s leader Hassan Nasrallah. That was followed on Monday by what Israel called its ground troops’ "limited, localized and targeted" invasion.
“Thousands of children and families are now living in the streets or in shelters; many having fled their homes without essential supplies and belongings,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement,“ adding: “Humanitarian conditions are growing worse by the hour.”
Starmer reads “the bible”
The words were spoken by the United Kingdom’s new Labour prime minister, but the inspiration was a strategy set out by the previous Conservative development minister Andrew Mitchell — who is wearing a satisfied smile.
“We are creating a new facility in British International Investment which will work with the City of London to mobilize billions in pension and insurance funds, to invest in boosting development and fighting climate change. This is a great British innovation,” U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the U.N. General Assembly.
Intriguingly, the idea is lifted from last year’s Mitchell-generated white paper, which argued London’s powerhouse financial services must “mobilise the money” to address global poverty — because shrinking state aid budgets can never provide the finance required.
Private investors shun emerging economies because of high risk and uncertain returns. Now BII’s “mobilization facility” will provide guarantees to persuade them to put their capital where it is most needed.
Some Labour members of Parliament are suspicious about the City of London’s muscle, but Starmer’s speech nailed his party’s colors to the mast. Two days later, at the Conservative Party conference, Mitchell said during an event: ‘There is clear evidence that Labour are sticking to the key parts of the white paper. I hope it will continue to be the bible upon which the development effort works.”
ICYMI: UK puts City of London finance at heart of new development strategy (Pro)
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Debt despair
Public debt servicing in the 16 countries hardest hit by food crises surged by 56% over two years, reaching $40.3 billion in 2023, according to a new U.K. study.
The burden gobbled up an average of 15.8% of government revenue in those countries – including 10 in Africa, five in Asia, plus Haiti — nearly double what they allocate to health care.
These are shocking figures echoing a familiar theme: that the G20’s 2020 Common Framework for Debt Treatments failed to ease the pain and new methods are desperately required. Results UK, the organization behind the study, is calling for U.K. legislation to compel private creditors to participate in debt relief deals, a move previously supported by U.K. development minister Anneliese Dodds.
“The new Government has a real chance to transform the UK’s relations with the Global South and fulfill its international obligations. Taking action on unjust global debt, including through domestic legislation, would help to break the brutal cycle of debt crises,” said Sunit Bagree, the study’s author.
ICYMI: Global south now repays more in debt than it gets in grants and loans (Pro)
Related op-ed: UK and New York laws have to be part of global debt crisis fix
UNGA corner
UNGA is over, but there’s still some catching up to be done. Our team was busy talking to the major players at the U.N. General Assembly last week as part of our Devex @UNGA 79 summit. Here are some highlights:
An electrifying leap: The World Bank and the African Development Bank have set a goal of delivering electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030, but can it really happen? Devex caught up with Andrew Herscowitz, CEO of the M300 Accelerator, who explained why the dream is within reach.
Listen to the podcast episode: How a quantum leap is needed to bring energy to 300 million Africans
Nigeria CDC’s coming of age: It takes blood, sweat, and tears to build a global health institution, as a new book about the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention sets out. Authors Vivianne and Chikwe Ihekweazu explained how, under Chikwe’s leadership, it was built from the ground up with labs, staff, and surveillance infrastructure — as it was confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read: Global health's ‘power couple’ documents Nigeria CDC's coming of age
A seat at the table: How much use are digital health tools unless developers give community health workers a say when designing them, to ensure their needs are considered? Not that much, Dr. Ruchit Nagar, co-founder and CEO of the India-based nonprofit Khushi Baby, told us.
Read: How to design digital health tools for impact
In other news
The World Health Organization urged countries to radically overhaul their approach to eldercare or face dire consequences as aging populations strain current support systems. [UN News]
A world hunger watchdog reported that 5.41 million people are facing “high levels of acute food insecurity” in Haiti, driven primarily by gang violence and soaring inflation. [Al Jazeera]
Rescuers in Nepal are searching for 24 missing people after recent floods and landslides that killed 224 and damaged 16 hydroelectric power plants and 18 other projects under construction. [AP]
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About the author
Rob Merrick
Rob Merrick is the U.K. Correspondent for Devex, covering FCDO and British aid. He reported on all the key events in British politics of the past 25 years from Westminster, including the financial crash, the Brexit fallout, the "Partygate" scandal, and the departures of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Rob has worked for The Independent and the Press Association and is a regular commentator on TV and radio. He can be reached at rob.merrick@devex.com.
