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Argentinean Foreign Policy Under-Secretary’s visit to African Development Bank underscores partnership opportunities

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The Under-Secretary who visited the Bank’s Abidjan headquarters on 12 September, held meetings with the Bank’s Executive Director for Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Japan and Saudi Arabia, Takaaki Nomoto, as well as senior Bank executives

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, September 18, 2023/APO Group/ — 

On a visit to the African Development Bank (http://www.AfDB.org), Argentina’s Under-Secretary for Foreign Policy Claudio Rozencwaig has expressed keen interest in deepening the existing partnership and exploring opportunities that benefit Argentinean and African businesses, notably in agriculture and pharmaceuticals.

The Under-Secretary who visited the Bank’s Abidjan headquarters on 12 September, held meetings with the Bank’s Executive Director for Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Japan and Saudi Arabia, Takaaki Nomoto, as well as senior Bank executives. He was accompanied by Argentina’s ambassador to Nigeria, Alejandro Herrero.

African Development Bank Vice president for Technology and Corporate Services Simon Mizrahi, welcomed the visitors. Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure & Industrialisation, Solomon Quaynor and Alex Mubiru, Director General in the Office of Bank head Dr. Akinwumi Adesina also participated in the meeting, as did several managers from across the Bank’s complexes.

Rozencwaig said Argentina has much to offer in the agriculture sector, particularly in livestock production, machinery and techniques for minimising post-harvest losses. He said his country also had capability in satellite imaging for research and transport, as well as animal pharmaceuticals.

The government had experience of participating in “triangular cooperation” agreements with donors,  including the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Islamic Development Bank. Under these arrangements, Argentina provided technical assistance and expertise, he said. Rozencwaig also expressed an interest in learning more about the Bank’s procurement processes.

Quaynor noted that Argentina’s agricultural expertise was of particular interest to the Bank. He stressed the importance of the agriculture sector to the African Development Bank’s strategic plans, including its Feed Africa High-5 priority (https://apo-opa.info/3OiFCJL).

“Synergies between the Bank’s regional member countries and the South American country extended beyond trade. For example, post-harvest losses were as much as 40% in some African countries, Quaynor said, an issue the Bank was working to overcome. He also cited Botswana as an African country that might welcome partnerships with Argentinean beef producers.   

Quaynor said the Africa Investment Forum (www.AfricaInvestmentForum.com/) Market Days, scheduled for 8-10 November, represented a great entry point for Argentinean companies looking to invest in Africa.

Argentina became a member of the African Development Fund in 1979 and the African Development Bank in 1985

Damian Ihedioha, Division Manager for Agribusiness, said the Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts produced during the Dakar Food Summit (https://apo-opa.info/3pcmbZA) were another potential entry point for Argentinean businesses. Ihedioha said the compacts would attract investment in raising agricultural productivity and building out climate smart agricultural systems along the food value chain.  He named aquaculture and the blue economy as another area of convergence.

African Development Bank Acting Director for Agricultural Finance Richard Ofori-Mante said the Bank was working to support development of  Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones and that these need would  require agricultural machinery.  He said satellite technology offered a way to assess the quality of soil to boost productivity.       

Another avenue for partnership and engagement that came up in the conversation is the Bank’s South-south cooperation Trust fund, which was established under Brazil to support African countries in mobilising and taking advantage of development solutions and technical expertise available in the South.

Eduardo Rolim de Pontes Vieira, Senior Advisor to Executive Director Nomoto, said although the fund had been established in partnership with Brazil, it was being reconstituted as a multi stakeholder trust fund, a move that would enable Argentina to become a donor.

Discussions also covered attracting more Argentinean professionals to the African Development Bank, potentially through its Young Professionals programme, with Mubiru suggesting a recruitment seminar in the country.

Argentina became a member of the African Development Fund in 1979 and the African Development Bank in 1985. The country pledged $15 million to the African Development Fund’s 12th replenishment.  

Other topics discussed included the Bank’s Business Opportunity Seminars, held twice each year, as a means to learn more about African Development Bank procurement processes. The next seminar is scheduled for October 2023.

The visit took place as Argentina is seeking to expand its footprint across Africa. The country has opened embassies in Mozambique and Angola in recent years and is mulling re-opening an embassy in Côte d’Ivoire.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

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China’s digital hub Hangzhou hosts conference on AI, OPC

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June 30, 2026

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OPC

HANGZHOU, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 June 2026 – The inaugural AI+OPC Innovation and Development Conference was held from June 29 to 30 in Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, capital city of east China’s Zhejiang Province. Centered on one-person company (OPC), a new form of smart economy in the AI era, the conference program comprised one opening ceremony and two parallel breakout sessions.

It gathered around 400 delegates from government departments, industry associations, financial institutions, AI enterprises and OPC startup operators across the country. Participants exchanged insights on AI innovation pathways and cross-industry integration strategies, injecting strong impetus into Hangzhou’s ambition to develop a national benchmark hub for AI+OPC entrepreneurship.

A series of key launches and milestone ceremonies took place during the opening segment. Official releases included the 2026 national OPC development observation report, Hangzhou’s 2026–2028 action plan and supporting policies to build a national AI+OPC entrepreneurship hub, and a catalog of actionable AI+OPC application scenarios. Attendees also received an in-depth interpretation of the specifications for AI-enabled OPC community services and evaluation.

The ceremony featured multiple landmark initiatives: plaque awarding for Hangzhou’s priority AI+OPC incubation communities and dedicated observation sites, the official launch of the AI+OPC Community Alliance initiative, and a kickoff marking the official construction of the national AI+OPC entrepreneurship hub.

The open forum session featured keynote speeches from distinguished industry and academic leaders. Speakers included Pan Yunhe, former executive vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor at Zhejiang University; Liang Gui, former executive vice governor of Jiangxi Province and ex-director of the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; and Zou Ling, head of Hong Hub, Shangcheng District’s single-member unicorn startup acceleration community, who shared cutting-edge insights from varied perspectives.

A panel dialogue followed, bringing together representatives from Moshu OPC Community (Beijing E-Town), the School of Future Science and Engineering at Soochow University, Qingju Hub · Future Digital Intelligence Port (Shangcheng District), and Puhua Capital for in-depth industry exchanges.

Complementary concurrent events held throughout the conference included an OPC capital-industry matchmaking salon, a symposium on industry-education integration for AI-powered OPC sectors, and a national exchange forum for AI+OPC community practitioners.

OPC has emerged as a vibrant new engine driving economic vitality and underpinning high-quality development. Against the backdrop of a new development era, the inaugural Hangzhou AI+OPC Innovation and Development Conference unites OPC innovators nationwide.

Drawing on the creative energy of millions of independent super-individual operators, the event delivers sustained digital momentum to fuel Hangzhou’s super-individual economy, while rolling out replicable local practices and actionable Hangzhou solutions to advance high-quality growth of smart economies nationwide.

 

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Hainan FTP marks 6-month milestone of special customs operations, signs deals during Hong Kong visit

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June 30, 2026

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Hong Kong

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 June 2026 – As the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) marked the six-month milestone since the launch of its full special customs operations, a Hainan provincial delegation wrapped up a three-day visit to Hong Kong. During the visit, the delegation signed deepened cooperation agreements with several major local chambers of commerce and promoted the latest policies introduced since the island-wide special customs operations took effect.

According to data released by Hainan Province during the visit, Hainan’s foreign trade has surged since the launch of special customs operations. As of June 17, the province’s total goods imports and exports reached RMB 173.98 billion (approximately US$24 billion), up 54.6% year on year. Imports of zero-tariff goods hit RMB 2.645 billion, a 120% jump that generated tariff savings of RMB 440 million. A total of 172,100 new market entities were registered—a 61% increase—including 1,240 foreign-invested enterprises. Zero-tariff items now account for 74% of all tariff lines, benefiting more than 12,000 market entities.

During the Hong Kong visit, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Hainan Provincial Committee (CCPIT Hainan) signed separate deepened cooperation MOUs with the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. Under the MOUs, the parties will establish a regular liaison mechanism for the periodic exchange of economic and trade information, and will promote collaboration in areas including professional services, green finance, the digital economy, supply chain management, and cultural tourism. Mutual enterprise service desks will be set up to provide consulting services regarding policies and projects. The parties will leverage their complementary strengths to help Chinese mainland enterprises access overseas markets via Hong Kong, while facilitating Hong Kong companies’ entry into the Chinese mainland through Hainan.

The delegation also held talks with the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, exploring ways for British and American businesses to leverage Hainan’s value-added processing tariff exemptions and multifunctional free trade accounts to position themselves in regional supply chains and cross-border investment and financing. HSBC, De Beers, and other British firms are already active in Hainan, and the UK served as the Guest of Honor country at the 2025 China International Consumer Products Expo.

According to industry analysts, amid the shifting international trade landscape, Hainan is leveraging Hong Kong’s “super-connector” role to accelerate its integration with global capital and business networks, while simultaneously offering the Hong Kong business community a policy testing ground for entering the Chinese mainland market.

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Africa’s Grid Constraints Come into Focus as Regional Markets Push Toward Integration

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4 days ago

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June 26, 2026

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Africa

Regional power pools are advancing and renewable pipelines are growing, but the regulatory and financial architecture needed to connect them remains the continent’s most critical infrastructure gap – an issue central to the Power Africa Today conference at AEW 2026

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 25, 2026/APO Group/ –Africa’s electricity demand is projected to nearly double to 2,291 TWh by 2050, requiring an estimated $30 billion in transmission and grid infrastructure investment to unlock and integrate new generation capacity. Yet across the continent, grid systems are struggling to keep pace with rapidly expanding supply pipelines and rising demand.

In Nigeria, repeated nationwide grid collapses as recently as February 2026 underscore the fragility of aging transmission infrastructure. In East Africa, tower failures along the 428 km Loiyangalani-Suswa line temporarily stranded output from Lake Turkana Wind Power – Africa’s largest wind installation. Meanwhile, demand growth pressures are accelerating across North Africa, where electricity consumption is expected to rise by around 50% by 2035, driven by urbanization, desalination projects, and climate-related temperature increases.

Despite these constraints, generation investment continues to accelerate across Africa, particularly in renewables, gas-to-power and hybrid systems. However, without equivalent investment in transmission and interconnection, much of this new capacity risks being underutilized or stranded. This growing imbalance between generation and grid capacity is driving a sharper focus on system-wide planning and regional market design – issues that will be central to the newly launched Power Africa Today conference at African Energy Week 2026. The platform will bring together policymakers, utilities, investors and developers to explore how regional interconnection, cross-border trading frameworks and financing structures can better align generation growth with grid expansion.

Power Markets Experiment with Reform

Alongside infrastructure challenges, Africa’s electricity sector is undergoing gradual – but uneven – market reform. Most countries still operate vertically integrated systems dominated by state utilities, but a growing number are introducing competitive frameworks to attract private capital and improve efficiency.

Zimbabwe opened its electricity market to full private participation across generation, transmission and distribution in 2025, targeting $9 billion in new investment. South Africa is advancing one of the continent’s most ambitious grid expansion programs, with plans for 14,500 km of new transmission lines and 133,000 MVA of transformer capacity by 2034, alongside mechanisms designed to crowd in private financing. Kenya, meanwhile, has introduced open access regulations enabling independent power producers to wheel electricity directly to multiple off-takers, reshaping how generation assets interface with the grid.

Interconnected electricity markets are the foundation of Africa’s industrial future

Regional Integration Remains Fragmented

Efforts to connect Africa’s fragmented power systems are progressing, though at different speeds across regions. In Southern Africa, the World Bank’s RETRADE SAPP program, approved in 2025, is deploying $12 million to strengthen renewable integration and transmission capacity across 12 member states. In East Africa, the Ethiopia–Kenya–Tanzania Electricity Highway is now in trial operations at up to 2,000 MW, marking a significant step toward a more interconnected regional grid.

West Africa is also moving toward deeper integration, with permanent synchronization of the West Africa Power Pool expected in 2026. Analysts, including the African Finance Corporation, argue that such synchronization is critical to unlocking large-scale hydropower potential and industrial demand across the region. Longer term, full synchronization between the Eastern and Southern African power pools – targeted for the end of 2026 – could create one of the world’s largest cross-border electricity trading corridors.

Building Bankable Financial Architectures

While interconnection is advancing, infrastructure alone is not enough to create investable electricity markets. Investors consistently cite the lack of standardized offtake structures, creditworthy counterparties, and cross-border payment guarantees as key barriers to scaling capital deployment.

New models are emerging to address these constraints. Africa GreenCo, operating across Zambia, Namibia and South Africa, is helping to aggregate independent power producers under a single creditworthy intermediary, standardizing power purchase agreements and reducing counterparty risk. At a broader level, AUDA-NEPAD estimates that Africa requires around $30 billion in additional investment to complete priority transmission corridors and establish three fully interconnected regional trading blocs by 2030.

“Interconnected electricity markets are the foundation of Africa’s industrial future,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “The question at Africa Energy Week is not whether integration is possible – the evidence is already there. The question is which regulatory frameworks and financial structures will get projects to financial close, and which markets will be ready when capital is looking to move.”

The Power Africa Today conference will run alongside AEW 2026, taking place October 12–16 in Cape Town, and will focus on the regulatory, financial and infrastructural architecture needed to build interconnected electricity markets capable of attracting institutional capital and delivering reliable, cross-border power at scale.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

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