World Bank [to 24 May 2014]
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/all

May 23, 2014
Africa Water Week in Senegal: Placing Water at the Heart of the Post 2015 Development Agenda
“Water’s centrality to development is no longer debatable – a fact that has been proven throughout history. And yet, water’s social, economic and environmental value is often overlooked … The Africa Water Week is therefore a call to action and positions us to creatively think and act and win,” said Hon. Sarah Reng Ochekpe, AMCOW Interim President and Nigeria’s Minister for Water Resources, during her welcome statement ahead of the May 26th conference opening. Dakar’s Fifth Africa Water Week (dubbed aww-5) has ambitious plans to advance Africa’s core water agenda. It seeks to place a spotlight on water and serve as a platform for improving understanding of why managing resources wisely is key for the post-2015 development framework…

May 20, 2014
Op-Ed: Powering Science and Technology for Africa’s Economic Transformation
As Africans move to cities in ever-growing strength, we must also address unprecedented rates of urbanization and new needs for housing, infrastructure, and agricultural productivity to feed urban residents as well as increase food security in rural areas. On the environment front, Africa, which has contributed the least to climate change, is bearing its disproportionate impact in terms of droughts, floods, rising sea levels which in turn bring economic losses and hardship. At the same time, these challenges also bring opportunities for joint research that would benefit scientists across the world as well in Africa. There is scope for similar research collaboration between African and foreign scientists in medicine and biodiversity, irrigation, engineering, mining and other fields. But here is the challenge. We will only achieve these exciting research coalitions in Africa if we correct a longstanding imbalance in our education systems…