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AfDB’s Fund Ranks 2nd For Dev Assistance Quality In 2021

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4 years ago

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The African Development Fund (AfDF) has been ranked second among 49 international agencies for the quality of its development assistance, the Quality of Official Development Assistance (QuODA) says.
The AfDF is the concessional arm of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group.
The QuODA is a tool developed by the Centre for Global Development (CGD) and the Brookings Institution to measure which donors provide “higher quality aid” and how they can improve.
It also provides an assessment of efforts to comply with development commitments.
It assesses the bilateral programmes of 29 member countries of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the 20 largest multilateral agencies that provide official development assistance (ODA).
According to the fifth edition of the QuODA report, the AfDF is serving its constituency well by focusing on poverty and the least-aided countries.
QuODA consists of 17 indicators comparable across agencies, organised into four dimensions which are Prioritising, Ownership, Transparency and Untying and Evaluation.
The 2021 report singled out the AfDF and its peers for being adept at ensuring that development reached the intended recipients.


The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) ranked first on QuODA overall.
The AfDF was second overall, continuing its strong performance from prior QuODA iterations scoring well on prioritisation coming second in displaying a strong focus on poverty and the least-aided countries.
The report, however, noted that the AfDF had room for improvement on the Evaluation dimension.
Also, the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) ranked third, with strong scores across all four dimensions.

Furthermore, the Global Fund and GAVI completed the top five.
The report also noted that the multilateral agencies outperformed bilateral agencies on prioritisation, with the top five ranks held by the Global Fund, GAVI, AfDF, IDA, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), respectively.
Three of the top six places on Ownership were taken by regional development banks, with the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) first, the AfDF coming second, and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) seventh.
For each, over 80 per cent of recipients reported alignment with their objectives.
The AfDF consists of 32 contributing states and benefits 37 countries.

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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2 days ago

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September 22, 2025

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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2 days ago

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September 22, 2025

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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2 days ago

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September 22, 2025

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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