Sustainable economy

Opinion
Aquaculture will be key to global food and nutrition security
Aquaculture already plays a significant role in food and nutrition security. Yet, in order to reach its full potential and deliver sustainable and equitable aquatic food in the future, the sector needs to innovate and anticipate coming challenges.
Other news

Opinion
COVID-19 and inequality: the blind spots of “whatever the cost”
The political response to the COVID-19 pandemic, guided by the European Central Bank, could contribute to exacerbating the inequalities already deepened by the health and social crisis.

Opinion
COVID-19: a super spreader of inequality
In a world where the COVID-19 pandemic is drastically increasing poverty, a report shows that the most resilient countries are those resolutely committed to reducing inequality. They can show us the way.

Opinion
“Green budgeting”: paths to creating real added value
Few green budgeting initiatives have led to concrete reforms or revisions of priority investments. How can we move from simple theoretical exercises to concrete action for the environment?

Opinion
Urban citizen funds, a means to improve housing in Dakar
In Dakar, residents are joining forces to improve their housing and flood-damaged neighbourhoods, through rotating funds from the Senegalese Federation of Inhabitants. This solidarity-based initiative aims to rethink the role of stakeholders, financing, and the management of urban development at...

Opinion
To tackle inequalities, we must be able to measure them
Data on inequalities remains fragmented. Improving the measurement of inequalities is a key issue for democracy to help guide public policies, monitor their impacts and provide citizens with a means of verifying government action.

Interview
Inclusive growth in Africa: “We must hand over the reins to the private sector”
How can African population growth drive more sustainable and inclusive economic growth? The International Monetary Fund’s Papa N’Diaye thinks that part of the answer will come from the private sector.

Opinion
Progress in microfinance should be a source of inspiration for digital finance
Fintech, mobile banking… Digital finance needs to capitalize on the experiences of microfinance to bring smallholder producers and entrepreneurs in emerging and developing countries real added value.

Opinion
Social Impact Bonds: A new development finance tool?
A Social Impact Bond is a new financial tool that can be set up in an emerging or developing country in order to finance public policy of general interest. Julien Sciau, AFD account officer, explains this tool and its potentialities.

Interview
Could tax policies designed to mitigate inequalities ultimately increase poverty?
Financing social policies through taxes may ultimately generate poverty. Nora Lustig, an Argentinian economist, explains this fiscal paradox.

Interview
South Africa : “Inequalities hinder economic growth”
An interview with Murray Leibbrandt, Professor at the School of Economics of the University of Cape Town and Director of the South African Labour and Development Research Unit.

Interview
“Africa’s main competitive asset is Africa itself”
For Jean Michel Severino, the challenges facing Africa call for a renewal of the traditional vision of African development. Africa alone can define its destiny. Donors and development actors can be sparring partners in a win-win relationship.

Opinion
How Fablabs contribute to the digital challenges in Africa?
Fablabs serve at the same time as production, creation and prototyping workshops, hands-on training spaces and facilitators of social ties. They contribute to reducing the traditional head-on opposition between “knowing” and “doing”.

Opinion
A “world in common”: The avatars of a concept still subject to question
Our planet is a finite space which humanity needs to share: this is the image of the world in common which AFD has taken up as its distinctive signature. This idea of a world in common to a certain extent carries with it the idea of a common, or at least coordinated, governance. In the brief and...

Interview
Inequalities in Latin America are falling for 20 years
Latin America is no longer the most unequal region in the world. While inequalities remain high, they have seen a marked decline over the last 20 years. For Stephan Klasen, Professor of Development Economics at the University of Göttingen (Germany), there are two main reasons for this phenomenon...

Interview
Increasing inequalities: A danger as serious as the climate
Economist Kaushik Basu is concerned about the increasing inequalities observed all over the world. Challenging the invisible hand theory, he is convinced that this issue cannot be left to the market alone and that the State has a key role to play.

Opinion
Official Development Assistance in France: in search of national consensus
While public development policies have been evolving positively for about fifteen years in the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States, what are the factors behind the relative decline of official development assistance in France?

Interview
Development of Africa: the perspective of the German cooperation
Germany plays a key role in the development of Africa, to which it dedicates over 50% of its bilateral financing. In the context of its G20 presidency, it has launched “Compact for Africa”, an ambitious initiative for the continent.

Interview
Microfinance: for a more realistic and risk-based supervision
To adapt to the advent of new players in the field of financial inclusion (limited companies, mobile phone operators…), regulators have had to change their approach to the legislation and supervision of microfinance.

Interview
TDB Group: “Financing Africa’s future with a collective, not national approach”
The mandate of the TDB Group is to support regional trade and finance infrastructure projects in Africa. Founded in 1985, this development bank now works in 20 countries of Eastern and Southern Africa.

Interview
Intra-country inequalities: what reforms for a more inclusive growth?
In developing countries, growth only benefits a very small proportion of the population. These intra-country inequalities undermine the political, social and economic balances. How to make this growth more inclusive?

Development news
Universal access to the internet: what role for tech giants?
Facebook and Google are eager promoters of universal access to the internet. Each of them is devising new ways to close the digital divide. Doing so, they position themselves as development players. But these new ambitions are raising concerns.

Opinion
Insurance in Africa, a driver of economic development?
To realize the full economic development potential of insurance in Africa, insurers need to adapt their products and distribution channels to the specific features of local markets.