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Criticism has grown of the bank's efforts to mobilise sufficient support for developing countries to shift to clean energy. The World Bank Group provided $31.7 billion in climate finance to countries in fiscal year 2022, its highest total to date. He later clarified his remarks and said it is clear greenhouse gas emissions are causing climate change. The World Bank uses cash from wealthy nations to offer loans and grants to poorer countries - offering a major route for climate finance to the developing world. We've engaged robustly and will continue to do so with a range of folks at the World Bank," she said.

SummarySummary Companies Money to help farmers adapt to climate impactsTo share tech innovations, help women farmersAdaptation finance a key focus of COP27 talksSHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt Nov 7 (Reuters) - The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $1.4 billion to help smallholder farmers cope with the impacts of climate change, part of efforts at global climate talks in Egypt to scale up supply of so-called adaptation finance. The world is currently not doing enough to help poorer nations withstand the effects of global warming, the United Nations said last week. The Gates Foundation's commitment, announced at the COP27 conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, will help smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia build resilience into their work practices and improve food security. "The climate crisis is causing enormous harm every day as it jeopardizes entire regions of people and economies," Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said in a statement. The foundation said its funding would go towards climate smart agriculture projects, new applications of digital technologies and other innovations, and to support women farmers.

☆ Zelenskyy accuses Russia of creating 'artificial famine' after Moscow suspends crucial grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Hyder Abbasi | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of creating “conditions of artificial famine” and suggested it should be expelled from the G-20 group of nations on Saturday after Moscow withdrew from a crucial grain export deal. “How can Russia be among the G-20 if it is deliberately working for starvation on several continents?” Zelenskyy said during an address on Ukrainian television. President Joe Biden warned that global hunger could increase because of Russia’s decision to suspend the deal. The U.N. negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it.”Secretary of State Antony Blinken also accused Russia of weaponizing food. The grain deal had restarted shipments from Ukraine, allowing sales on world markets, targeting the prewar level of 5 million metric tons exported from Ukraine each month.

CNN —Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving on Saturday tweeted that he “meant no disrespect to anyone’s religious beliefs” after the owner of his NBA team condemned him for tweeting a link to a documentary deemed antisemitic. “I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinformation,” Nets owner Joe Tsai wrote on Twitter Friday night. The ‘Anti-Semitic’ label that is being pushed on me is not justified and does not reflect the reality or truth I live in everyday. Irving should clarify now.”The Nets also spoke out against the star guard’s tweet. “If Kyrie Irving or any Black Celebrity needs ‘back up’ to prove that we are the True Israelites … i am available to assist them on or off the camera so that the world can finally see and receive the TRUTH.”

☆ Kigali is building its way to becoming ‘the Silicon Valley of Africa’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Rachel Wood | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Among its most recent and most impressive designs is a start-up hub called Norrsken Kigali House, commissioned by the Swedish Norrsken Foundation, which supports entrepreneurship globally. A rendering of entrepreneurship hub Norrsken Kigali House. This rendering shows an aerial view of Norrsken Kigali House. A study pod at the African Leadership University in Kigali, Rwanda. Some of these graduates, like Minuifuong Nghombombong, founder of international home rental platform Bongalo, are already using Norrsken Kigali House as their base and helping to grow the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the city.

☆ Concern about climate change shrinks globally as threat grows - study
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Riham Alkousaa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Climate change awareness rose slightly in the United States in 2021, the second biggest global polluter, to 51.5%, it added. Regions with the highest ecological threats are on average the least concerned about climate change, with only 27.4% of the Middle East and North Africa and 39.1% of South Asian respondents concerned about the risks. The findings come ahead of the next round of global climate talks when countries meet in Egypt in November for COP27. But despite the shrinking concern, the ecological bill of climate change is growing globally. "Negotiators at COP27 need to consider the ways in which climate change is exacerbating the impacts of ecological threats ... and how the international community can mitigate them," Steve Killelea, the founder of the Sydney-based institute, said.

☆ Norfund, BII, Finnfund invest $200m in African forestry fund
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Rachel Savage | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The Norwegian, British and Finnish development finance arms have put $200 million into an African forestry fund, the organisations said on Wednesday, as part of a plan to invest in sustainable tree businesses in the region. Norfund has put $76 million, British International Investment (BII) $75 million and Finnfund $48 million into the African Forestry Impact Platform (AFIP), a fund run by Sydney-based forest investor New Forests. Getting companies in these sectors to curb emissions is seen as crucial to limiting climate change. New Forests, which said in May it was being acquired jointly by the Japanese companies Mitsui and Nomura, said it plans to raise a further $300 million for the African forestry fund in the next two to three years to invest in other plantation owners and related companies. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Rachel Savage; Editing by Nick MacfieOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Semafor debuts in a tough media environment, with an aim toward decluttering the news
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Semafor has been preparing for its launch since January, when former New York Times media columnist Ben Smith and former Bloomberg Media Chief Executive Officer Justin Smith quit their jobs to start the venture. The Smiths will take lessons learned from more than 20 years in digital media to steer Semafor into what they hope will be a global, profitable business. Still, advertising-supported digital media is a sector known for recession droughts and low growth — with plenty of cautionary tales. Semafor will immediately stand out from legacy news publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Steet Journal or CNN.com through its unique article structure. To solve for information overload, a key flaw in the current media ecosystem, according to Justin Smith, outside media analysis will be truncated and found in the Notable section.

☆ IMF's Georgieva says 28 countries have expressed interest in new IMF support
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva holds a news conference at the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund during the Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, U.S., October 13, 2022. REUTERS/James Lawler DugganWASHINGTON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday said that the Washington-based lender has provided $90 billion on 18 new and augments programs since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, and 28 countries have expressed interest in receiving new IMF support. Georgieva said during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Washington that the Fund's lending is "aligned with our counter-cyclical role," and since the pandemic began it has provided $260 billion in financial support to 93 countries. "And we now have 28 additional countries expressing interest in receiving support from the Fund," she added during a press conference, without providing any further details on which countries are on the list or what kind of support they are seeking. "We need stronger efforts to confront food insecurity — 345 million people are acutely food insecure," Georgieva added.

☆ This Y Combinator-backed fintech provides loans to small businesses in Africa. Check out the 10-slide pitch deck Numida used to raise $12.3 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Numida, a Ugandan fintech that offers credit to small businesses, has raised $12.3 million in new funding. The startup, which was founded by three Canadian Y Combinator graduates in 2015, wants to expand access to working capital for businesses across Africa. Numida believes there are 20 million small and micro businesses lacking working capital, an opportunity it values at around $5 billion. "Our initial process was simple: How do we provide the best form of working capital to excluded people?" Serena Williams' fund Serena Ventures is leading a $7.3 million portion of equity funding alongside Breega, 4Di Capital, Launch Africa, Soma Capital, Y Combinator, and MFS Africa.

☆ The climate crisis and the energy transition are exacerbating inequality, putting those least responsible in the worst position
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Leaders gathered for the United Nations General Assembly and Climate Week focused on inequality. The climate crisis and the energy transition are widening disparities, leaders said. Rich countries must meet pledges to help those least responsible for the crisis, advocates say. These regions combined have contributed less than 1% of historical carbon-dioxide emissions yet are bearing the brunt of climate impacts. Meanwhile, Europe is in the midst of an energy crisis because Russian President Vladimir Putin has scaled back natural-gas supplies to retaliate against Western sanctions.

☆ The flat-pack electric OX Truck is making deliveries on Rwanda's dirt roads
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-20 | by ( Tommy O'Callaghan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But British-Rwandan delivery startup OX Delivers is looking to change that through its electric OX Trucks, which are designed to negotiate dirt roads while carrying up to two tons of goods – roughly 20 times a cyclist’s capacity. “They were taking bikes from their farm … and they would be gone for a long time – around two days.”The OX Truck boasts large tires and high ground clearance. “Bananas cost 10 times in Kigali (Rwanda’s capital) what they cost in a village,” says OX Delivers managing director Simon Davis. OX Delivers says its truck is an effective solution for areas that lack paved roads. But OX Delivers is aimed squarely at undeserved rural traders looking to get their goods to market.

☆ Meet the Ghanaian Canadian Lego sculptor building a Black universe
▼ + stars: | 2022-01-11 | by ( Amarachi Orie | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —For 42-year-old Ghanaian Canadian artist Ekow Nimako, Lego is more than just a kids’ toy. “I started realizing that not only did I enjoy making art with Lego, but it was important that I made Black art very specifically,” he said. Nimako uses black Lego bricks specifically for three main reasons. Nimako is a futurist who used approximately 100,000 Lego pieces to construct a reimagining of the medieval kingdom of Ghana, titled "Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE." Sam EngelkingIn his “Building Black: Civilizations” series, Nimako reimagines medieval sub-Saharan African narratives.

Persons: Ekow, “, ”, It’s, it’s, there’s, Sam Engelking, they’ll, Nimako, didn’t, ’ Nimako, Africanfuturism, Kumbi Saleh, ” Nimako Organizations: CNN, Museum, Lego Locations: Ghanaian, Canada, Ghana, Toronto, West Africa

☆ Nigeria is oil rich and energy poor. It can’t wait around for cheaper batteries
▼ + stars: | 2021-11-03 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

But it’s coming under huge pressure from developed countries to abandon fossil fuels and shift to renewable energy in order to help save the climate. AKINTUNDE AKINLEYE/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockLike the United States, Europe and Britain, Nigeria sees a prominent role for renewable energy, notwithstanding its investments into gas power. “In Nigeria, clean energy is central to our government’s plan to transition to net-zero emissions,” Osinbajo, the vice president, continued. In Nigeria, energy poverty is itself a major driver of emissions, according to Olu Verheijen, the founder of Lagos-based energy advisory business Latimer Energy. This means that in some cases, certainly for Nigeria, gas has an important role to play in providing power.

We have also added Arab and West Indian ancestry groups to this list, since they represent significant ethnic groups when counted together even if they don't make the list when tracked for specific countries. Notable Americans with Mexican ancestry include Tony Romo, Eva Longoria, Salma Hayek, Mario Lopez, Jessica Alba, Joan Baez, Carlos Santana, and Louis C.K. 19,911,467 AmericansA large number of people claim American ancestry, either as a political statement or because their pre-American ancestry is mixed or uncertain. Notable Americans with Native American ancestry include Wilma Mankiller, John Herrington, Sitting Bull, and Armie Hammer. Notable Americans with Indian ancestry include Mindy Kaling, Kal Penn, Padma Lakshmi, M. Night Shyamalan, Indra Nooyi, and Aziz Ansari.

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