- Between 75 and 250 million people in Africa stand at the risk of being faced with a serious water supply deficit by 2020, a Ghanaian environmental protection agency director predicted.
William Kojo Agyemang-Bonsu told the United Nations conference on climate change in the capital Accra that "agriculture outputs in some countries could suffer a 50% decrease due to the effects of climate change.
He blamed human activities, which increased by 70% between 1970 and 2004, for causing climate change thus resulting to a rise in sea level.
"The average world rate of the rise in sea level is between 1.8cm and 3.1cm per annum from 1961 to 1993," he said, adding, "Forecasts indicate that the rise in the sea level will be between 18cm and 59cm in the end of the 21st century."
While calling for a stabilisation of the levels of greenhouse gas emissions, the Ghanaian expert said climate change involves a risk management process which includes both subduing and adapting to it.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.