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Horus love spells
My Horus spells are used exclusively for married men. Some of the problems that my Horus love spells can solve are
- lack of affectionate or cheating wife
- prevent divorce or rekindling love
- sex problems
- communication problems
Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times.
If you need a love spell to help you with any love problem email BRUJO INCA at firstname.lastname@example.com
The earliest recorded form of Horus is the patron deity of Nekhen in Upper Egypt, who is the first known national god, specifically related to the king who in time came to be regarded as a manifestation of Horus in life and Osiris in death. The most commonly encountered family relationship describes Horus as the son of Isis and Osiris but in another tradition Hathor is regarded as his mother and sometimes as his wife. Horus served many functions in the Egyptian pantheon, most notably being the god of the sky, sun, war and protection.
Horus was born to the goddess Isis after she retrieved all the dismembered body parts of her murdered husband Osiris, except his penis which was thrown into the Nile and eaten by a catfish, and used her magic powers to resurrect Osiris and fashion a gold phallus to conceive her son. Once Isis knew she was pregnant with Horus, she fled to the Nile Delta marshlands to hide from her brother Set who jealously killed Osiris and who she knew would want to kill their son.There Isis bore a divine son, Horus.
Pyramid texts ca. the 25th Century BC describe the nature of the Pharaoh in different characters as both Horus and Osiris. The Pharaoh as Horus in life became the Pharaoh as Osiris in death, where he was united with the rest of the gods. New incarnations of Horus succeeded the deceased pharaoh on earth in the form of new Pharaohs. The lineage of Horus, the eventual product of unions between the children of Atum, may have been a means to explain and justify Pharaonic power; The gods produced by Atum were all representative of cosmic and terrestrial forces in Egyptian life; by identifying Horus as the offspring of these forces, then identifying him with Atum himself, and finally identifying the Pharaoh with Horus, the Pharaoh theologically had dominion over all the world. The notion of Horus as the Pharaoh seems to have been superseded by the concept of the Pharaoh as the son of Ra during the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt.
Horus was occasionally shown in art as a naked boy with a finger in his mouth sitting on a lotus with his mother. In the form of a youth, Horus was referred to as Neferhor. This is also spelled Nefer Hor, Nephoros or Nopheros (nfr r.w) meaning 'The Good Horus'. Wedjat, eye of Horus The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection and royal power from deities, in this case from Horus or Ra. The symbol is seen on images of Horus' mother, Isis, and on other deities associated with her.


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A new methodology for instigating ransomware makes use of Windows' own Encrypting File System (EFS). EFS has been a part of Windows since Windows 2000. Unlike Windows' BitLocker -- which is a full disk encryption feature -- EFS can selectively encrypt individual files or folders. It does this transparently to the user, using a key that is partly stored in an accessible file, and partly computed from the user's account password. Once set up, the user does not need to provide a password for EFS to work.
A potential ransomware process using EFS was discovered by researchers at SafeBreach. This approach entirely uses Windows features -- and can consequently be defined as a form of 'living off the land' -- although the primary difference with traditional ransomware is that this process uses different Windows features that are less likely to be monitored. Eight steps are required for attackers to use EFS ransomware.
Firstly, the ransomware will generate the key to be used by EFS, using AdvApi32!CryptGenKey. It then generates a certificate using Crypt32!CertCreateSelfSignCertificate, and adds it to the certificate store. It sets the current EFS key to this store, and then invokes AdvApi32!EncryptFile on every file to be encrypted.
The ransomware saves the key file (whose name was recorded in step 1) to memory, and deletes it from the two folders %APPDATA% \Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\sid\ (where sid is the user SID), and %ProgramData% \Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\MachineKeys\.
The attacker then flushes the EFS data from memory leaving the files unreadable to either the user or the operating system; and wipes the slack parts of the disk to ensure that no temporary files can be salvaged. Finally, the ransomware can encrypt the key file data, and send the decryption key to the attacker. If asymmetric encryption is used for this, the only way to decrypt the files will be through use of the attacker's private key.
"The EFS ransomware was tested with Windows 10 64-bit versions 1803, 1809 and 1903, but should also work on Windows 32-bit operating systems, and on earlier versions of Windows (probably Windows 8.x, Windows 7 and Windows Vista)," state the researchers.
They tested the methodology against ESET Internet Security 188.8.131.52, Kaspersky Anti Ransomware Tool for Business 18.104.22.1681(a), and MS Windows 10 Controlled Folder Access on Windows 10 64-bit version 1809 (Build 17763). None of these solutions would detect this form of ransomware; however, it should be stressed that this is not a flaw in any security product, nor even a vulnerability in Windows (the Windows code works exactly as it was intended to). It is possibly best described as a potential adversarial manipulation of designed logic -- or a form of living off the land.
The researchers sent their findings to 17 of the major vendors of Windows endpoint protection, anti-malware and anti-ransomware. The majority, ten of the 17, accepted the issue and have developed workarounds for their products. A few did not accept the argument. Avira, for example, replied, "We believe that this potential bypass which is dependent upon a customized use scenario is not a realistic 'failure point'."
Microsoft replied, "We assessed this submittal to be a moderate class defense in depth issue, which does not meet the Microsoft Security Servicing Criteria for Windows (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/msrc/windows-security-servicing-criteria...)."
One vendor -- Panda -- said that its own protection methodology would or could block the approach. "Only processes classified as goodware at our Panda detection cloud can modify the included/protected files," it said.
Only one of the vendors, F-Secure, said 'thank you, we already detect this'. Anthony Joe Melgarejo, service owner in F-Secure's tactical defense unit, gave SecurityWeek further details. "In July 2019," he said, "we were contacted by a researcher at SafeBreach regarding a potential security bypass technique in multiple anti-ransomware vendors' products. SafeBreach had not specifically tested against F-Secure SAFE, but had found that the 'vast majority' of competing products it had tested were vulnerable."
When F-Secure tested the technique, it found that its product already detected and blocked it (detection name Trojan.TR/Ransom.Gen) through its backend AI and heuristic file analysis. However, his colleague, principal security consultant Antti Tuomi, pointed to the importance of SafeBreach's research. "By using tools that exist on the target, such as the Windows EFS in this case, you are more likely to avoid the logistics and potential compatibility issues of bringing in your tooling without getting caught. Seeing the same concept used by more manual attackers be successfully used in more automated malware is an interesting (although not completely unexpected) development. On the defensive side," he continued, "and from an incident response/detection tooling point-of-view, this underlines the need for detecting not just potentially malicious software and tools, but malicious behavior regardless of what tools are used."
The threat from EFS ransomware is greater for individual users than for corporations. "Machines that are joined to a domain," Amit Klein, VP security research at SafeBreach, told SecurityWeek, "have the EFS key automatically backed up to the domain controller, and the domain controller could restore the key without reference to the attacker."
There is also a relatively simple workaround for individual users. If EFS is not required, explain the researchers, "A user with administrator rights for a Windows machine can turn off EFS by setting the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\EFS\EfsConfiguration to 0. Group Policy can be used for enterprise-wise disabling of EFS."
The Windows OS developers, as opposed to the anti-ransomware app developers, could solve the problem entirely by adding a new feature to stand-alone Windows. It would simply require the EFS keys to be backed up safely -- similar to backing up to the domain controller -- in a place or manner that is inaccessible to the ransomware attacker.
In the meantime, individual users should check with their anti-ransomware vendor that their product will detect this type of EFS attack, and use the registry solution if it does not.
Silicon Valley-based SafeBreach was founded in 2014 by Guy Bejerano and Itzik Kotler. It offers a breach and attack simulation platform. It raised $15 million in a Series B funding round in May 2018, bringing the total raised to $34 million.
Related: Vulnerabilities Disclosed in Kaspersky, Trend Micro Products
Related: Vulnerability in McAfee Antivirus Products Allows DLL Hijacking
Related: Open Source-Based Ransomware Targets Fortnite Players
Related: New Technique Allows Ransomware to Operate Undetected

subset: commoncrawl


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5 Easy Tips to Train a Boxer Dog
A Boxer is a super energetic dog, a perpetual clown, and a great human companion. A pet of this breed will love you like crazy, wear you out during playtime, and safeguard your life by risking its own, whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Boxers are also strong and intelligent by nature. Therefore, you will see them in many assisting roles. Humans use them as service dogs, guard dogs, guide dogs, and even as therapy dogs.
In any role, they take their duties very seriously. In contrast to their serious looks, they are also quite playful by nature. In fact, they are more playful than other dog breeds out there.
Basically, they have all the good traits you would need in a good companion. With the right training and attention, they truly make great pets.
The fact that Boxers are decently strong and well-built, they are capable enough to cause some damage as well if they are not handled/coached properly.
The good news is that Boxers are quite trainable. So, you will find it easier than usual to teach them good manners and lessons on socialization and self-control. So, let's look at some Boxer dog training tips.
Box Dog Training Tips:
By nature, Boxers are a smart breed. They often learn a lot by watching what's going on around them. Like most dogs, they respond well to positive and scientific training methods.
They enjoy challenging activities, puzzles, and even games that require a fair deal of thinking. But then, you need to go slow and steady.
You can start with simple stuff, such as fetching a ball, along with basic commands like 'sit,' 'come,' 'stay,' and so on. To prepare the dog for training, we suggest that you follow the steps given below.
Before you even start your training, make sure that new puppies are addressed by their name. You should teach them their name first to ensure that they know that you are communicating with them. Let's get to the training steps now.
Step 1: Exercise your Boxer
Step 2: Get rid of all the distractions
Step 3: Offer treats
Step 4: Socialize them
Step 5: Get a Crate
Step 1: (Exercise your Boxer)
Let's explain the reasoning behind these steps. As you might already know, it's difficult to expect undivided attention from a highly energetic creature.
Plus, puppies get distracted very easily. A semi-tired Boxer will be less distracted than usual.
By following step 1 (exercising the pet), you will burn off some of their energy and make them calmer in the process.
Of course, don't exhaust your pet in an attempt to burn off the excess energy.
If all the energy is drained off, your Boxer won't have the mental or physical power to follow your directions.
Step 2: (Eliminate Distractions)
For the dog to follow all your commands, you should eliminate all the things that can distract your pet.
For instance, Boxers like to chase a cat. If there is a cat around the training area, expect your pet to get easily distracted.
The key is to choose a training area with minimum distractions. So, choose a no-distraction room for training.
Yes, start training them at home or even your backyard before exposing them to the big wide world.
Step 3: (Offer Treats)
If the Boxer doesn't feel that your commands are worth following, he/she won't obey your instructions.
**So, make it a point to offer food treats during training. **
Of course, your dog should be able to relate the treat with a positive outcome. You can cut back on treats once your pet masters a given command.
Also, don't forget to shower your dog with verbal praises to reward his/her good behavior. Always say that you are very proud of him/her. Boxers simply love praises.
Step 4: (Socialize Them)
Boxers like being around humans. They are not the loner-type dogs. So, their training should involve socialization with human beings.
If you fail to socialize with them on a regular basis, you will notice aggressive behavior in them, which can be, barking, chasing, or even biting people.
Step 5: (Get a Crate)
Boxers feel safer in their crates, which is why we recommend getting a crate. A crate will curb the instances of inappropriate pooping and peeing.
If you leave a Boxer in the house without a crate, you will see the dog create a mess. It will chew on unwanted things, lie on its own poop, and whatnot.
If you include some food and other play items in the crate before leaving the dog alone on its own, you will notice a dramatic difference in these behavioral issues.
How to stop your Boxer from Jumping on People?
As hinted earlier, Boxers love human companionship. Given their human-friendly characteristic, they tend to jump on people. It's their unique way of getting attention/showing their excitement.
It looks cute when your pet is still a puppy. However, an adult Boxer jumping on people is not a pleasant sight, keeping in mind that an average adult Boxer can weigh anywhere between 50 to 70 pounds.
This means that a Boxer can easily knock off kids when greeting them. So, how do you stop this potentially problematic behavior? Ignorance is bliss, over here.
Yes, you should ignore this behavior. This is to say that you should avoid making eye-contact with your dog when it jumps on you. Ideally, you should showcase zero excitement too.
Try to turn to your side when the dog jumps on you and stop talking to him/her. Keep turning to the side and talk to your pet only once he/she settles down.
Shower him/her with praises for calming down. Keep repeating this until your dog realizes that you don't appreciate him/her jumping on human beings.
Of course, get your whole family involved in the act. Everyone in the family should do the same for the dog to understand that his/her behavior needs correction.
If you feel that your Boxer is slow at learning things, don't get mad at him/her. Keep in mind that the problem often lies with the training method/pet owner and not the dog.
If you think that you can't do a good job at training your Boxer, don't shy away from taking help from a dog expert or the dog's vet.
Final Words:
Keep in mind that any type of negative treatment can backfire. Boxers don't respond well to harsh corrections. So, be kind to them at all times.
Also, you will benefit if you start obedience training at an early age before they start developing bad habits. Ideally, you should start training Boxer puppies when they turn three weeks old.
Training aside, you should try to spend extra time with your Boxer to reassure your pet that you love him/her. Needless to say, he/she should feel like an important family member.
All the training will not only make your dog obedient, but it will also create a 'special' bond with your furry friend. Both of you will love each other more than ever before.


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You want to exercise but can't find the time. Gyms are expensive, and there's traffic. When you do go to the gym, you don't know what to do, and you're not really sure how to use the equipment anyway. You could get a personal trainer, but they're really expensive. You've tried working out in the past, but you got bored, lost motivation, and you didn't see any results.
We designed Quick Sweat Fitness Dice for you. With these dice, you can work out anywhere. Got 5 minutes three times a day? That's perfect. No preparation, no planning. Just take out your dice and play a quick game. Games are fun and competition is motivating. You'll never do the same workout twice, so it's always fresh and exciting. Multiple small workouts several times day are scientifically proven to be one of the most effective ways to burn fat and build muscle.
For even more fun, play with your friends and family. Challenge each other and get fit and strong together!
About Stack 52 and Sergeant Volkin
Sergeant Michael Volkin has a master's degree in science, has authored 5 books, and has over 20 years of fitness experience. The US Army awarded Sergeant Volkin the Army Commendation Medal for the fitness programs he designed for the troops while stationed overseas. Stack 52 exercise games have been sold in over 24 countries.
What comes in the Box:
There are 5 colored exercise dice representing 5 different muscle groups, and one white repetition count dice. There are 6 different bodyweight exercises on each colored dice:
· Green: 6 Chest exercises
· Red: 6 Core/Ab exercises
· Blue: 6 Cardio exercises
· Yellow: 6 Leg exercises
· Orange: 6 Arm exercises
· White: Repetition count, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14
· 1 black velvet storage pouch


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Check out the on-demand sessions from the Low-Code/No-Code Summit to learn how to successfully innovate and achieve efficiency by upskilling and scaling citizen developers. Watch now.
With the launch of its consumer credit card Apple Card now only days away, Apple has activated an application website for the offering, including a short video explaining how the signup process works on iPhones. As recently suggested, the site indicates that users will be able to apply for the Apple Card using an iPad.
Launched under the domain wallet.apple.com, the application site provides a straightforward process: Open the iPhone's Wallet app, press the plus button in the upper right corner, choose Apple Card from the list of Payment Cards, fill in your personal information, then accept the card's offer terms. iPad users can instead see the same general process by opening the Settings app and going to Wallet & Apple Pay.
The preview video suggests that accepting the terms will be as simple as looking at mandatory disclosures such as your offered Credit Limit, APR, and Fees — the latter notably presented as "None," consistent with Apple's "no fees" marketing for the Card. You can tap on a button to read the offer's terms and conditions, or just hit a button to Accept Apple Card; if you don't like the terms, you can press "No Thanks" instead.
Apple's site doesn't currently allow uninvited customers to apply for the card. Rather, it says that some people have "received an email invitation to the Apple Card Preview," an opportunity to try out the system before general availability later this month. Users who weren't invited to the preview can opt to receive a notification when the card is available.
For the time being, the site says that Apple Card will be available to U.S. citizens and lawful residents 18 years of age or older, using the latest version of iOS, on an iPhone that can use Apple Pay — anything newer than the iPhone 5s, apparently. iPad models with Touch ID or Face ID are supported for Apple Pay, but it's unclear at this point whether Apple will require the iPad user to also own an iPhone for some reason.
Apple Card is scheduled to launch at some point in August, as confirmed by Apple CEO Tim Cook on a recent earnings conference call. The card is backed by Goldman Sachs, and expected to be offered to a very large number of iPhone users, including those with limited or weak credit histories.
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings.


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Israeli first-responders rush to the scene, to save lives and treat victims, regardless of their religion, ethnicity, or nationality, earning a top honor this week from the Jewish state.
Arieh Levi, founder and president of Israeli organization "Hatzalah Lu-Le Gvulot," or Rescuers Without Borders, was honored this week with the Global Impact Award in Tel Aviv based in his organization's tireless efforts to save lives in the Holy Land.
Founded in 2000 in response to horrific attacks perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists, Rescuers Without Borders provides emergency medical support, training, and other services.
Check out the amazing work this organization does.


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Bonfire night..
The girls are not too keen on them..they like watching them out the dining room window..we call it the worlds biggest wide screen tv..so instead we will buy them a DVD they want and have burgers,hotdogs and popcorn..then turn out the lights and watch all the neighbours fireworks..cheap or cheeky?
We saw some absolute stunners last night..must have cost a small fortune some of them..but we got to see how pretty they are from the warmth and safety of the window.
So if you are having any tonight..remember safety first ,but above all enjoy them.


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Elmore County Pet of the Week
Holley is a two-year old Labrador/Bulldog mix girl, about 65 pounds. She sadly came to the shelter as a stray and is really a sweetheart who loves children, is playful but not hyper, and is great with other dogs.
Holley has been at the shelter since November, so let's get her a loving home this week!
Our adoption fees are $100 for dogs and $50 for cats under 1 year old; cats over one year old can be adopted by approved adopters for a fee of their choosing. This adoption fee completely covers the mandatory spay or neuter, basic immunizations, de-worming, microchip, heartworm check for dogs, rabies vaccination if old enough, 45 days of pet health insurance and a free health exam with a participating veterinarian.
To meet all the great pets at the shelter go to 255 Central Plank Road in Wetumpka, visit www.elmorehumane.org for more information, email firstname.lastname@example.com or call 567-3377.
Hours for adoptions are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.


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At Cain Family Chiropractic, we offer patient forms online so you can complete them in the convenience of your own home or office. Fax us your printed and completed forms or you may bring them during your visit.
Adult New Patient Application – Download PDF
Child New Patient Application – Download PDF
If you do not have AdobeReader® installed on your computer, Click Here to download.


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Village of Sebring Residents to Receive NOPEC Natural Gas Enrollment Letters
By Rachel Duthie on July 16, 2020
(Sebring Village, OH) – The Village of Sebring has joined the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) Natural Gas Aggregation Program. Residents and small business owners will be able to take advantage of natural gas supply rates negotiated exclusively for NOPEC customers beginning with their September 2020 meter read date. Eligible customers will be receiving an enrollment letter that explains NOPEC's program options and rates, along with providing customers the option to opt-out of the aggregation program.
NOPEC is required by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to send these enrollment letters to all eligible residential and small business natural gas customers in NOPEC member communities.
To enroll, you do not need to take any action. Your account will automatically be enrolled in NOPEC's Standard Program Price Option. There will be no disruption of service during this switch. The local
natural gas utility will still be responsible for delivering natural gas to homes and businesses, reading meters, and sending bills.
NOPEC also offers a Monthly Variable Rate program that is always a discounted rate below the Utility's Standard Choice Offer (SCO). Enrollment in this program is limited and subject to availability. Additional program choices include 12- and 24-month fixed term options. For more information on program choices, visit www.nopec.org/gas or call NOPEC's Customer Care Center at 855.667.3201 (855-NOPEC01).
If you would like to opt-out of NOPEC's natural gas program and choose your own supplier, fill out and return the opt-out form included with your enrollment letter by August 12, 2020.
If you have additional questions about the enrollment process or NOPEC's natural gas program, please contact NOPEC's Customer Care Center at 855.667.3201 (855-NOPEC01). NOPEC's customer service team is available 24/7 to answer your questions.
About NOPEC
NOPEC is a non-profit group of over 235 communities that negotiates lower utility rates. As Ohio's largest governmental energy aggregator, NOPEC buys gas and electricity in bulk to help lower your utility bills. Since 2001, NOPEC has saved Ohio consumers hundreds of millions of dollars on their energy costs.
Categories: Newsroom


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The Quilt Patch
Georgi Giraffe Kit
Regular price $89.00
Unit price
Everybody loves Georgi! This quilt is perfect for a newborn or toddler.
Kit includes:
- pattern
- applique
- piecing
- sashing
- binding
Finished size is 40 x 50 inches.
To pick your purchase up in-store, type "In-store pick-up" in the discount box when checking out.


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For the DUDE in your life
Made from ACAI beads harvested from the Amazon Rainforest, these awesome DUDE gifts are exotic, natural and wondrous
ACAI Beads are filled with potent anti-oxidants and energizing health benefits
Shown here in BROWN, each bead is a seed and is designed by Mother Nature herself! ( my college son chose this one)
Each one has a silver "globe" bead in the center. The BLACK shown here is classic, timeless and CHIC
ACAI ( AAH SIGH YEE) the wonder-fruit, grows on ACAI palms in South and Central America. The GREY bracelet is neutral and my husband is wearing this one.
ALL these bracelets are available in limited quantities on www.plattersandpearls.com


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Get smart: The Oprah-approved Echo Show 15 is $80 off for Black Friday
Oprah has made her list and we've checked it (more than) twice. Oprah's Favorite Things 2022 is packed with great stuff on sale, just in time for holiday gifting season. Yep, right now, Amazon is having a Black Friday sale on one of her picks: the Echo Show 15 — it's $80 off. The genius gadget lets you create the ultimate smart-home command center and get your household in order once and for all. It makes a fab little entertainment center too. You won't find a better deal on this, unless Oprah happens to be giving them away somewhere.
Amazon Echo Show 15 | Full HD 15.6" smart display with Alexa and Fire TV built in | Remote not included
Amazon's Black Friday sale, already underway, includes many great deals on Amazon devices. But this Echo Show 15 deal is a true standout. For just $170 (was $250), you can control all your Alexa-compatible devices in one easy hub. It makes an incredible gift for a busy young family (hint, hint, Mom and Dad) or anyone, really.
Oprah wrote that her pick "almost looks like a piece of art" and recommended using the Echo Show 15 "to sync family calendars, write digital notes to one another and create to-do lists." Even O magazine editorial director Adam Glassman keeps one in his kitchen and uses it daily, she explained. "Like Adam, you can stream your favorite show while you cook."
Not only do Oprah and Co. adore it, but it's beloved by over 8,600 five-star Amazon shoppers (and counting) who use it for a variety of tasks — from kitchen companion to organizational guru to scrapbook savior.
"I can now happily stream YouTube, Netflix and Prime or enjoy Audible books while I cook," wrote a delighted five-star reviewer. "I can also control all of our Alexa devices, monitor Ring devices and leave "sticky notes" as reminders for myself and hubby. It 'recognizes' us when we walk into the kitchen and displays the appropriate screen and preferences. Shopping lists and shared calendars are making us uber efficient and hubby is taking YouTube cooking classes from Gordon Ramsey right in our own kitchen!"
You read right, it has facial-recognition capabilities, which is great for security, privacy and clarity.
A grateful reviewer explained: "Face and voice-recognition work like a charm, hence restricting kids' access to items that they shouldn't be accessing. ... This device truly has transformed our lives at home and has given us more control and organized our weekly schedules."
If you or someone you love is seeking a more efficient way to stay on task, this is probably it.
"I have it synced with my Apple and Google calendar to show all our family plans," wrote a happy shopper. "Having my shopping list is excellent too on my home screen, and reminders like flipping the laundry because I forget ... I have mine hung up in my kitchen in portrait style with the mount it came with; it was super easy to set up and install. My son sets timers and reminders on it and loves to talk to Alexa."
Fans are as impressed by the good looks of this device as they are by its capability. A five-star shopper raved, "The resolution is crisp and the colors are brilliant and beautiful. It looks great sitting on my bar on a stand that I purchased separately that lets you tilt the Show in Portrait or Landscape modes with ease. You can personalize this Echo Show and make it a really impressive organizer with widgets that you can add or delete on your screen showing different things like your personal calendar, weather, music suggestions, video suggestions, shopping lists and more!"
Amazon Echo Show 15 | Full HD 15.6" smart display with Alexa and Fire TV built in | Remote not included
The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
Looking for more great Amazon tech deals? Check these out:
Headphones and earbuds
Apple AirPods (2nd Generation)$115$159Save $44
Bose SoundLink Around-Ear Wireless Headphones$239
Beats Studio Buds$100$150Save $50
Beats Studio3 Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-Ear Headphones$170$350Save $180
Insignia 24-inch Class F20 Series Smart Fire TV$90$170Save $80
Insignia 42-inch Class F20 Series Smart Full HD 1080p Fire TV$170$270Save $100
Sony 65-inch 4K X80K Series Smart Google TV$698$1,000Save $302
Hisense Premium U7H QLED Series 65-inch Google 4K Smart TV$698$1,050Save $352
Tablets and tech
Fire TV Stick Lite with Alexa Voice Remote Lite$20$30Save $10
Lenovo IdeaPad 1 14 Laptop$197$300Save $103
Blink Outdoor HD Security Camera 3-pack$150$250Save $100
Kindle Paperwhite$140


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112 Boeykens Place Suite 3F
Normal, IL 61761
(309) 530-5620
Specialty Sessions
Learn Your Machine is a session designed to be 1-on-1 helping the personal owner of the sewing machine learn how to use their new (or inherited machine) effectively. If you are interested in a duet session (2 people/2 sewing machines), we will accommodate.
Looking for something different to do for a birthday party? Birthday celebrations for people of all ages (children OR adults) have been held here at The Sewing Room.


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Author has written 20 stories for NCIS: Los Angeles, and NCIS.
I'm just an ordinary person. I watch way to much televison and read way too much. I've lurked in the backgrounds of fan fiction for years, content to read and enjoy the wonderful extensions of some of my favorite characters. Just recently, I decided to take the plunge and try writing something myself. Its a big deal as I have never tried to write anything before. Lets hope it goies well.
My favorite shows are; Firefly, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe, Crimminal Minds, NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles.
I have a hard time believing how much fun I'm having writing and posting on this site. I have met so many wonderful people thru reivews and messages and they have helped me grow as person and as a writer.
As of Sept, many things have occurred in life that have slowed down my writing time. I still plan to finish every story I have started and I'm trying not to start anymore until I've finished the old ones. Some stories like Projects will be an ongoing project, it takes me alot longer to put together those chapters than the others.
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posh brats
Fantasy Island Skull Bath Bomb
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Hell Yeah—Championing indie designers since 2018.
We believe that cards shouldn't end up in the bin the day after your birthday, cushions aren't just for boring back support, and a good tote bag doesn't need to be resigned to the bottom of the boot solely to save 5p.
Think the same? You've come to the right place. We want to help you find the creme de la creme of indie design.
We're passionate about independent designers—they're innovative, quirky trend-setters with an eye for great products—and have made it our mission to seek out the best small businesses about.
Meet our founder, Zoe.
I LOVE stationery, especially cards. In fact, you could say I'm a little obsessed. It was while working at a lovely home and giftware shop in Glasgow that I realised there were hardly any cards that showed my personality. So many cards used the same stock phrases, and although they looked fantastic, I couldn't help but want a little more pizzaz.
I wanted my friends to enjoy the cards I gave and not just forget them on the mantlepiece. The idea for the first range of Zoe Brennan cards was born. Since 2012 Zoe Brennan Cards has grown and flourished but now it's time for a new adventure!
Hell Yeah was born from the desire to create a platform showcasing indie design. We specialise in stationery but also have an innovative range of homewares and accessories. My obsession with stationery and indie design has continually grown over the years and I'm proud to be able to share with you my 'indie finds'—here's to good design!
Tropical ylang ylang balance with sensual jasmine and hints of rose to form a rich floral accord which is surrounded with green leafy accents.
These bombs are a single colour bomb with an airbrushed overlay of bright vibrant colours that give the bomb and initial colour-stream pop in the bath. To get this effect you must hold the bomb just at the surface of the water, once the initial colour stream stops then the regular colour of the bomb will take over.
Safe for all ages but children should be at least 2yrs and up.
These are NOT safe for those with tree nut allergies.
Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate,Citric Acid,Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil ,Theobroma Seed Cocoa Butter,Sucre,parfum
*may also contain: biodegradable veggie cosmetic glitter/confetti CI 18050, CI 15880 (Red 34), CI 19140 (Yellow 5), CI 45410 (Red 27), CI 45380 (Red 21), 73015 (Blue 2), CI 18050, CI 16035 (Red 40), CI 42090 (Blue 1), CI 19140 (Yellow 5)*
Poshbrats ONLY use recyclable and biodegradable plastics. Their shrink-film is a corn-based polylactic acid (PLA) by EarthFirst and glitters/confettis used to decorate some products are a vegetable cellulose base that is fully biodegradable.
Approx Weight: 170g


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Do you think your local golf course, public, private, would allow a group of well meaning folks to set up a picnic in the middle of the 16th fairway one Saturday afternoon?
Do you think the golfers would be concerned to find a mother and small kids building sand castles in one of the sand traps mid – game?
Should the 4 grandmas that live up the street, use the bike lane on your local streets for their powerwalking? Or could that cause a problem for an actual biker?
There are unspoken rules in most athletic activities. Rules on where some activities are permissible, and where they should not be done. Yes, a golf course may be a lovely picnic spot, but such activity would really take away from the original purpose, golf.
As a mountain biker, what would you do if a teenager was walking her 3 small dogs down a designated mountain bike path?
Would you zoom past hoping not to squish her dorkie, or stop and explain the danger of her actions? What if you were on a treadmill at the gym and the guy next to you was on his cell phone the whole time? Would you be willing to do more than give him the stink eye?
If you had a quick answer for my not so rhetorical question, then I need your advice.
What should I do (or what should I have done last night) when a man and his son use the only two swim lanes at my local athletic club, to "float."
Please, if you will, imagine a 6 lane, 25 yard pool, but only two lanes are lined and have lane-lines. To me, this communicates 2 lanes are for swimming laps, and the other area is for whatever kind of swimming one desires: Aqua jogging, snorkeling, floating, sunbathing, etc.
Not only were the man and his son floating in the only swim lanes, they determined it was better to each have a lane, than share one. This way they can talk about their feet, the temperature of the water and what else comes to mind mid-float.
As I stood there with cap, goggles, kickboard in hand – should I have said something? I certainly can't ask the wee 16 year old life guard to do my bidding. So, I decided perhaps I would communicate without words. I swam next to the lane lines, where there are no lines, kicking, splashing as hard as I could to frankly disrupt the float. I had 35 minutes to hopefully swim 1 mile and no time to waste.
Ouch. $^[email protected]$(%_! Flip turns are not easy without lines and marked walls. Turn two and my head cracked against the wall. I spent the next 10 minutes drafting the lawsuit I will file against these jerks in my head, when I have a brain hemorrhage and require cranial surgery.
Did Larry and Moe notice? Did they even care?
Thirty laps into my swim, I realized these guys are not going to get it. They are not going to figure out the lanes are for actual swimming, or that my attempts at swimming outside the lanes are some what dangerous. Nor did they consider sharing a lane so I could enjoy the other.
At one point, the dynamic duo decided to "swim" a lap. Heads out, on back, feet forward, they paddled toward the other end. It took 3 minutes. I know, I timed them.
Finally, the hot tub opened up and daddio decided he would rather float over there then in lane 2. Perhaps the pressure was too great, so he took his exit. "Praise Jesus," I say out loud, immediately taking his lane to finish my swim.
While I will be working on my own anger, and how to control it in silly frustrating situations like this one so it doesn't ruin my favorite activity, I need advice.
What should I have done? These folks clearly didn't get the unwritten rules. The lanes aren't for adults – they are for swimmers. There is a difference.
Have you guys ever had to explain the rules of the road, pool, trail or fairway? Is there a gracious way to do this? Am I a selfish jerk who needs to just get over it?
Let me know your thoughts. And if man and son are reading this, email me the time of your next scheduled float. I want to make sure I'm not there.


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Positivity rate drops to 6%, recovery rate increases to 89% at Ganderbal: DC
Ganderbal: The Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ganderbal, Krittika Jyotsna today stated that the cumulative positivity rate has come down from 11.5 percent to 6 percent in the district, besides the recovery rate has also increased to 89 percent.
The DC said this during a press brief and related the drop in positivity rate and increase in recovery to the hard work of health workers and cooperation by the general public of the district during the last 4 weeks.
Elaborating on Red Zones, the DC said that about 59 areas are declared as Red zones in the district and around 44 percent positive population is in these zones.
While giving details about the tests done at Covid Care Centres (CCCs), Jyotsna said that last week around 446 RAT tests were done among which 5 tests were positive and appealed the people who lack isolation facility at their homes to avail the benefits of these centres activated at all 126 Panchayats of the district.
She added that establishing CCCs can prove imperative in combating the 3rd wave of Covid pandemic and complimented the DDCs, BDCs, Sarpanchs and Panchs for their support in establishing the CCCs in the district.
While giving details on Vaccination for 18-44 years for priority groups, the DC said that about 3180 persons are vaccinated and appealed Shopkeepers, transporters and Amarnath Service Providers to visit vaccination centers and get first dose of vaccination which is prerequisite for saving themselves from Covid pandemic.
She again appealed to the people to keep following the restrictions and SOPs issued by the Administration as they are for their own benefits and protection from Covid infection.


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- African governments should enhance efforts to employ suitable green growth financing mechanisms (eg, accelerating investments in infrastructure and renewable energy, establishing or revamping green/environmental funds and other market-based mechanisms, ensuring stimulus investments focus on the Green Economy, implementing green fiscal reform, redirecting existing funding, greening the financial sector and developing green segments) that they deem appropriate to their domestic markets and developmental challenges.
- In particular, green bonds are one of the most readily accessible and economical options to help raise large amounts of capital for infrastructure development to meet environmental targets in Africa.
- To catalyse the transition to a Green Economy, targeted public finance is needed to decrease investment risk, create a stimulus for green investments and leverage private finance for green investments – especially now that private capital shows growing interest in supporting the achievement of SDGs.
Executive summary
To counter the devastating impact of COVID-19, calls are growing for countries to 'build back better' in an effort to create a more inclusive and sustainable economy that is climate resilient. Africa is facing glaring development and climate risk challenges, but the post-COVID-19 recovery plan offers it an opportunity to revitalise its economy using a green framework. In particular, green finance mechanisms can be employed for the continent's green recovery. The objective of this policy briefing is to explore best practices in channelling investment towards a green economic recovery to promote inclusive and sustainable investment. Examples of such best practices include investment infrastructure and renewable energy, green/environmental funds and other market-based mechanisms, ensuring stimulus investments focus on green fiscal reform, redirecting existing funding, greening the financial sector and developing green segments.
COVID-19 has had an unprecedented negative impact on African economies, heightening their vulnerability to the effects of climate change. Beyond the immediate health crisis, the pandemic has triggered an economic slowdown that has severely hampered Africa's development ambitions, curtailing two decades of macroeconomic improvements and socio-economic gains. The dramatic decline in industrial production, energy demand and transport activity (which in turn has led to lower levels of pollution) has prompted debates about long-term shifts in consumer and industrial behaviour. Such shifts could reorient economic policy towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) despite rising debt levels and falling export revenues, which will make financing green investments a challenge for African countries.1Godwell Nhamo, "Green Economy Readiness in South Africa: A Focus on the National Sphere of Government", International Journal of African Renaissance Studies 8, no. 1 (2013): 115–142, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263339273.Finance is one of the pillars of Green Economy readiness in Africa. In particular, political will is a critical success factor in unlocking green finance, which encompasses financial policies, programmes, products and services that support the transformation of an economy, as well as its systems and institutions, to attain sustainable development.2Zanizeni Sustainable Finance, "Green Finance Concept Document to Inform the 2019 Partnership for Action on the Green Economy (PAGE) Conference" (Working Paper, Department of Environmental Affairs, Pretoria, January 10–11, 2019), https://www.tips.org.za/images/Green_Finance_Concept_Document.pdf.
Africa is now facing at least $500 billion in economic costs (2020) owing to the coronavirus.3Kingsley Ighobor, "AU Study: COVID-19 Could Cost Africa $500 Billion, Damage Tourism and Aviation Sectors", African Renewal, April 15, 2020, https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/au-study-covid-19-could-cost-africa-500-billion-damage-tourism-and-aviation-sectors.Seven of the world's 10 most climate-vulnerable nations are in Africa.4Alnoor Amlani, "Africa Shapes Its Own Green Financing Destiny", ACCA Global, April 1, 2019, https://www.accaglobal.com/my/en/member/member/accounting-business/2019/04/in-focus/green-financing.html.In 2020 alone the continent's interest repayments on its debt amount to $400 billion, indicating that it lacks the financial capacity to mobilise green stimulus packages and as such needs help.5Carlos Lopes, "How a Covid-19 Recovery Could Lead to a More Resilient Africa", The Telegraph, May 20, 2020, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/how-to-be-green/covid-19-climate-smart-growth-africa/.Many African countries rely heavily on foreign income and earnings from exports and tourism markets, which have been severely damaged by the pandemic.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) estimates that Africa's financial requirements to adapt to climate change range from $20–$30 billion per year until 2030, but they can be met through diversification of both finance mechanisms and funding sources.6Mindy Hauman and Tallat Hussain, "Green Finance in Africa", White & Case LLP, February 7, 2018, https://www.whitecase.com/publications/insight/green-finance-africa.The continent is facing a twin COVID–climate crisis. If it can successfully 'build back better'7Global Centre on Adaptation, "Is a Green Recovery in Africa Possible after Covid-19?" (Policy Brief, GCA, Rotterdam, May 22, 2020), https://cdn.gca.org/assets/2020-05/GCA-AAI_Policy_Brief.pdf.as it recovers, it will achieve a triple dividend by reducing pandemic risks while increasing climate resilience and strengthening economic recovery.
The relevance of green finance has grown in the last few years, but COVID-19 has made it even more prominent as a central theme underpinning new sustainable economic recovery strategies and policies in the wake of the pandemic. It is against this backdrop that this policy briefing explores various green growth financing mechanisms that can be used for Africa's green recovery. It also focuses on green/environmental funds and other market-based mechanisms such as green and ethical banks. The policy briefing then looks at renewable energy and infrastructure investment. This is followed by an exploration of green stimulus investment packages, green fiscal reform, greening the financial sector and the development of sustainability segments.
Green/environmental funds and other market-based mechanisms
Climate finance has become important in addressing both climate change and sustainable development objectives. This has led to a broadening of the scope and mandate of environmental funds (EFs), which are vital financing mechanisms for the implementation of national environmental action plans and green programmes. Some of the key success factors of EFs include:
- a strong government commitment to ensuring that they are used only to provide funding and technical expertise, build capacity and support the transition to a Green Economy;
- a strong governance system with representation from diverse sectors;
- long-term financial commitment; and
- strong legal and financial practices.8Najma Mohamed et al., "The Green Fund of South Africa: Origins, Establishment and First Lessons", Development Southern Africa Journal 31, no. 5 (2018): 658–674, https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2014.935295.
Adding stakeholders from the private sector and non-governmental organisations will ensure greater transparency in the governance and management of EFs. Government funding should be used to capitalise EFs and to act as a stimulus to crowd-in private and donor investments. EFs should, however, aim to have diverse revenue streams in the medium to long term. Having clear priorities will also help attract grant funding. It is important that proper due diligence processes be followed to ascertain the bankability, scalability, additionality, replicability and sustainability of the project. This will help to identify the key sectors driving the Green Economy transition in a country while highlighting sectors that may need additional support. EFs should also consider funding innovative and strategic capacity-building programmes to support and strengthen domestic capabilities (infrastructure, resources and products, skills, etc.) in pursuit of a transition to a Green Economy.9Mohamed et al., "The Green Fund of South Africa".Any economic support by the government, private sector or donor community should be consistent with resilient and climate-smart growth in order to ensure that the investments made now have long-lasting impacts.
In order to attract private sector investment in climate-resilience programmes, governments must improve the policy and regulatory environment and create market-based mechanisms to incentivise businesses. For any market strategy to be successful in unlocking green finance, it should focus on creating a dedicated green fund, de-risking investments and credit enhancement, and co-investing with local financial institutions. De-risking can be done by providing long-term grant and concessionary funding to an investment. Public capital can be used to provide credit enhancements (by government-owned development finance institutions [DFIs]) that will attract private capital to sustainable green investments and serve to partially de-risk investments for the private sector, allowing the investment to meet the required rate of return. Market practice strategies to unlock green finance should also include co-investment by the private sector for large projects and the creation of umbrella facilities to local financial institutions. DFIs or green banks can advance the minimum financing required to make the investment viable, with the remainder of the financing requirement topped up with private capital. This way, public funds are used to leverage private sector funding. In instances of lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with good investment opportunities but high transaction costs per dollar invested owing to their small size, international funders can provide a large umbrella facility to a local financial institution with low transaction costs to on-lend those funds to smaller entities and projects.10Zanizeni Sustainable Finance, "Green Finance Concept Document".
African countries are starting to experiment with innovative financing approaches such as 'green market-ready products', a green growth fund that will be replenished through proceeds from trading credits from emission reduction projects, crowd-funding for clean energy and green bond financing, etc, to finance adaptation and sustainable development projects. The creation of green and ethical banks has been an interesting development in sustainable finance. Ethical banks are financial institutions that invest ethically and sustainably. These banks only offer ethical investments developed by ethical borrowers to attract ethical investors, which may allow greater mobilisation of local currency funding for sustainable investments. Green banks are defined as public-purpose finance institutions dedicated to green investment with the aim of addressing the local market's climate investment shortfall. Green banks will have to compete with local development banks in Africa, as they have been trying to take up the green finance space. Be that as it may, the keen exploration of green banks in Africa (in Morocco, South Africa and Malaysia), together with profitability, sustainability and deposits, shows that there may be gaps in the provision of finance that existing institutions are not able to fill.11Zanizeni Sustainable Finance, "Green Finance Concept Document".For instance, Mozambique is a climate-vulnerable state that has recently experienced (October 2020) extreme flooding, prompting the government to launch a Green Economy Action Plan solidifying commitments towards sustainable infrastructure, among others. Mozambique will need to build investor confidence after its sovereign default in January 2017, but the currency (the metical) rose by 19% (against the dollar) last year, making foreign debts easier to service.12Hauman and Hussain, "Green Finance in Africa".South Africa's National Strategy for Sustainable Development and Action Plan is a policy framework that sets out steps to a just transition to a Green Economy. It also laid the foundation for establishing its Green Fund in 2012. The fund is part of a national environmental programme managed and implemented by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) on behalf of the Department of Environmental Affairs. One of its mandates is to leverage and attract additional resources to support South Africa's transition to a Green Economy by using public finance as a stimulus for green investments.13DEA, "The Green Fund", https://www.sagreenfund.org.za/wordpress/.Other African countries with EFs include Namibia and Mauritius.
Renewable energy
According to Stanford University, the world could save ZAR14Currency code for the South African rand.200 trillion ($12.2 trillion) on fuel costs and a further ZAR 180 trillion ($11 trillion) per year by reducing the health and ecological effects of fossil fuel pollution if it managed to achieve a 100% renewable energy system. This is because renewable energy is becoming increasingly cheaper than fossil fuels.15Dharna Noor, "Could We Have a Global Green New Deal?", Gizmodo, December 20, 2020, https://earther.gizmodo.com/could-we-have-a-globalgreen-new-deal-1840535860.The difference between the 2008 global financial crisis and the current COVID-19 crisis is that the cost of renewable energy generation is now competitive with that of fossil fuels.16Oxford Business Group, "Can Emerging Economies Afford a 'Green' Recovery from Covid-19?", April 28, 2020, https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/news/can-emerging-economies-afford-green-recovery-covid-19.As such, a green recovery plan in Africa should consider renewable energy as one of the main components of economic stimulus packages post-COVID-19. Renewables offer a way to align short-term policy action with medium- and long-term energy and climate goals, and as such must be the backbone of national efforts to restart economies in the wake of the pandemic. Policy reforms to enable a decrease in renewable power costs can shift markets and contribute to a green recovery. As lockdowns are eased, energy demand will increase as additional energy capacity is required, giving countries an opportunity to provide clean and affordable power and the energy security needed for a sustainable economic recovery. Governments can use this opportunity to stimulate demand by electrifying their economy with renewable energy. This could be a key building block in economic recovery as it can deliver new electricity infrastructure with private investments, and help the continent achieve sustainable economic recovery. Governments should proceed with speed to implement regulations that are fit for purpose, putting clean energy investments at the centre of economic recovery and economic stimulus packages, including market designs that provide long-term price visibility and streamlined permitting that enables rapid ramp-up of the deployment of renewables.17PowerinfoToday, "SAWEA Pushes for Green Recovery Plan in South Africa", Press Release, https://www.powerinfotoday.com/renewable-energy/sawea-pushes-for-green-recovery-plan-in-south-africa/.For instance, the South African Wind Energy Association is of the view that a green recovery plan in South Africa can be achieved by removing regulatory barriers. This will enable the private sector to freely purchase renewable energy and promote 100% renewable energy demand by end-consumers in order to allow corporates to extend production to meet sustainability targets. In order for private capital to flow into renewable energy, African states must allow private actors in this sector to participate meaningfully by supplying energy directly to the national grid. Governments must deregulate to allow competition – competition does not necessarily mean privatising state-owned enterprises (SOEs); it means allowing other companies to operate in the same market as SOEs.
According to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency, accelerating investment in renewable energy could underpin the global economy's COVID-19 recovery by adding almost $100 trillion to gross domestic product by 2050. Increasing renewable energy investments would in the long term pay for itself by returning between $3 and $8 for every $1 invested, and quadrupling the number of jobs in the sector to 42 million over the next three decades.18Oxford Business Group, "Can Emerging Economies Afford"Low-carbon solutions are cheaper over their lifetimes and offer an investment opportunity, as 77% of the projected $13.3 trillion in new power generation investment by 2050 will go to renewable energy.19Bloomberg NEF, "New Energy Outlook: Investments", 2019, https://bnef.turtl.co/story/neo2019/page/2/2?sf107867015=1.Studies have shown that if South Africa had a renewable energy system it could cut energy costs by a quarter, create 200 000 more jobs in the energy sector alone, lower the cost of energy by 25%, save 196 billion litres of water annually, make the energy system more reliable, and remove coal, which is the biggest source of air, water and climate pollution.20Alex Lenferna and Jennifer Wells, "To Recover from COVID-19, South Africa Needs Green New Deal", Daily Maverick, April 24, 2020, https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-04-24-to-recover-from-covid-19-sa-needs-green-new-deal/.Although infrastructure spending is a tool for stimulating economic growth after the pandemic, green energy projects should still be vetted carefully to ensure they are well planned, efficient and cost effective.
Infrastructure investment
With increased protectionism part of the post-COVID-19 future,21Antonio Ortiz-Mena, "COVID-19 and Protectionism: The Worst May Be Yet to Come", Brinknews, July 23, 2020, https://www.brinknews.com/covid-19-protectionism-the-worst-may-be-yet-to-come-nationalism-trade-supply-chains/.some countries will pursue a strategy that places the state at the centre of their economic recovery, as infrastructure will be the driver of growth. Africa has persistently under-spent on infrastructure. In order to bring real growth, its infrastructure requirements are $130–170 billion per year.22African Development Bank, African Economic Outlook 2018 (Abidjan: AfDB, 2018), https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/African_Economic_Outlook_2018_-_EN.pdf.Aggregate demand is expected to remain depressed for some time, leaving governments to enact further policy measures to stimulate economic activity through spending. They can be made 21st-centuryready by catalysing investing in a modern, zero-carbon infrastructure system and a green energy environment. This will be effective in addressing depressed demand by creating jobs while also laying the foundation for sustainable long-term growth. Although feasibility in developing countries could be a concern, countries could explore various avenues for funding green infrastructure. These include redirecting fossil fuel subsidies towards more productive and sustainable areas of the economy, and introducing energy or carbon taxes. Private equity could also be an effective alternative source of funding, as many funds are now assessing new strategies to allocate capital, including finding appeal in links to the SDGs.23Oxford Business Group, "Can Emerging Economies Afford".
Investment in modern, resilient, sustainable and adaptable infrastructure is fundamental to sustain the continent's growth and enable it to operate effectively in future. EU research suggests a $4 return on every $1 invested in infrastructure.24GCA, "Is a Green Recovery".Central to the economic recovery strategies of African countries will be measures taken to stimulate supply and demand through substantial infrastructure build programmes. South Africa's answer to reviving its economy – which is currently under severe financial constraint, as outlined in its June 2020 supplemental budget – is investing in infrastructure to support structural transformation, growth and job creation. Its sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium has pulled in financial institutions such as the New Development Bank (NDB), the DBSA and the AfDB, which have all agreed to help.25Tshegofatso Mathe, "Jury's Out on Green Recovery", Mail & Guardian, July 9, 2020, https://mg.co.za/business/2020-07-09-jurys-out-on-greenrecovery/.The plan is to galvanise ZAR 2.3 trillion ($141.1 billion) in new infrastructure investment over the next decade, estimated to create more than 1.8 million jobs. The government is also considering raising a green infrastructure bond to crowd-in private investment in sectors such as energy and water reticulation.26Songo Didiza, "Breathing New Thinking into Social Upliftment Towards a Green Recovery Plan for South Africa", GreenEconomy.Media, https://greeneconomy.media/breathing-new-thinking-into-social-upliftment-towards-a-green-recovery-plan-for-south-africa/.
Stimulus investments focus on green
Most African countries have managed to deploy fiscal stimulus packages, but they need to be re-focused on the twin COVID–climate crises in order to achieve a green recovery and come out of these crises more resilient. The Global Center on Adaptation and African Adaptation initiative have made recommendations on ensuring stimulus investment in Africa is used to 'build back better' by focusing on resilient infrastructure and food and water security – all three having been affected by both the pandemic and climate change. COVID-19 could create a severe food security crisis in Africa, where 400 million people live in poverty and 74% of the population is already food insecure. Sub-Saharan Africa relies on massive food imports for its fast-growing population, which is estimated to increase from $35 billion in 2017 to $110 billion by 2030. Over 320 million people in Africa do not have access to safe drinking water, and over half the population does not have access to sanitation.27GCA and African Adaptation Initiative, "Integrated Responses to Building Climate And Pandemic Resilience in Africa" (Policy Brief, GCA and African Adaptation Initiative, Rotterdam, May 2020), https://www.africaadaptationinitiative.org/assets/AAI-GCA%20Policy%20Brief.pdf.It is therefore imperative to use stimulus packages to enhance access to water and sanitation. This should happen in parallel to improving water governance by promoting investments that take into account the management of 'natural infrastructure' and support the effective distribution of scarce water resources for multiple uses.
A green stimulus should be at the core of Africa's recovery effort. Such a plan should be tailored to domestic socio-economic conditions instead of transplanting green stimulus models from developed countries. Green stimulus packages should also be guided by the principles of harnessing domestic solutions and building local capacity, as well as improving climate resilience and reducing carbon intensity and resource inefficiencies in African countries. These packages should be broadened beyond renewable energy to include water and other ecological infrastructure.28Terence Creamer, "Placing Green Stimulus at Heart of South Africa's Post Pandemic Recovery Would Yield Big Co-Benefits", Polity, June 4, 2020, https://www.polity.org.za/article/placing-green-stimulus-at-heart-of-south-africas-postpandemic-recovery-would-yield-big-co-benefits-2020-06-04.Five key pillars for green recovery packages29Creamer, "Placing Green Stimulus at Heart".can be adopted by African countries:
- Build the network infrastructure needed for a green and just transition, such as smart electricity and water grids, e-mobility and broadband infrastructure and improved rail and waste management; and maintain ecological infrastructure.
- Make the regulatory changes to unlock private sector investment in sustainable energy, water, waste and sanitation systems. For instance, governments have rolled out emergency water and sanitation provisions to un/under-serviced informal communities as they are considered hotspots for the spread of COVID-19. However, these provisions are done in a temporary manner, making them expensive. GreenCape's Market Intelligence Report 2020 shows that investment opportunities in infrastructure in agro-processing and water and sanitation could be significant; for example, non-sewage sanitation for informal settlements and schools in communities that do not have access to sewage infrastructure.30"Unpacking the Green Economic Recovery in South Africa", ESI Africa, June 30, 2020, https://www.esi-africa.com/industry-sectors/business-andmarkets/unpacking-the-green-economic-recovery-in-south-africa/.
- Support localisation of manufacturing technologies such as smart meters, biomaterials, electric vehicles, batteries and green hydrogen, while stimulating sustainable tourism and agriculture. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has hit, investors have been looking for investment opportunities in the Green Economy that will deliver returns, including green technology solutions. There should also be a re-evaluation of technologies that could be deployed in communities that will be more sustainable and affordable for local government.
- Improve access to sustainable services such as sustainable housing and mobility.
- Implement fiscal reforms to remove fossil fuel subsidies, incentivise new green solutions, promote resource efficiency and preservation, and reform energy and water tariff structures to make pricing inclusive and drive behavioural change.
Green fiscal reform
Green fiscal reform is the umbrella term for the application of pricing mechanisms that internalise externalities and mobilise public revenues. Thus, Environmental Fiscal Reform (EFR) uses a number of tax and pricing instruments that can raise revenues while furthering environmental goals such as mitigating climate change. There is a range of EFR instruments, but their suitability differs by country and sector. In particular, environmental taxes are used to deal with negative externalities. Cap-and-Trade systems are 'internalising' mechanisms for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that set maximum levels of emissions and provide incentives to remain below those levels through a trading system. Investment incentives that are used include low-interest loans, tax exemptions and micro finance. Other incentives that offer direct support are subsidies and feed-in tariffs.31Zanizeni Sustainable Finance, "Green Finance Concept Document"Green fiscal policy instruments such as carbon tax and fossil fuel subsidies can help generate and re-allocate significant resources for economic recovery measures by incentivising greener solutions and energy efficiency recovery plans (eg, business and industrial re-engineering, etc).32Gilbert E Metcalf, "A Conceptual Framework for Measuring the Effectiveness of Green Fiscal Reforms" (Paper, Green Growth Knowledge Platform Third Annual Conference, University of Venice, Venice, January 29–30, 2015), https://greengrowthknowledge.org/sites/default/files/Metcalf_A_Conceptual_Framework_for_Measuring_the_Effectiveness_of_Green_Fiscal.pdf.For instance, South Africa, which also has a carbon tax, provided subsidies for the roll-out of one million solar water heaters in an effort to reduce GHG emissions from the use of coal-powered electricity.33Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, "Solar Water Heating", http://www.energy.gov.za/files/swh_frame.htmlOn the other hand, the removal of harmful subsidies or feed-in tariffs is also a financing mechanism employed to achieve certain SDGs.34Zanizeni Sustainable Finance, "Green Finance Concept Document".One example is Egypt's halving of the fiscal cost of subsidies to bring average electricity tariffs closer to cost recovery, using the World Bank's Energy Sector Management Assistance Program.35World Bank, "Reforming Fossil Fuel Subsides for a Cleaner Future", November 21, 2017, https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2017/11/21/reforming-fossil-fuel-subsidies-for-a-cleaner-future.
Green fiscal reforms, if designed well, can be a valuable instrument for medium- to long-term rationalisation of inefficient expenditures, such as environmentally harmful subsidies, and the alignment of domestic budget processes with national development plans aimed at achieving sustainable and inclusive growth. Green fiscal reform has not taken off owing to obstacles such as special interest groupings' lobbying against it; lack of political will; limited transparency and awareness; and administrative, institutional and technological constraints.36Sirini Withana, "Overcoming Obstacles to Green Fiscal Reform", The International Journal on Green Growth and Development 2, no. 2 (2016): 161–188, http://bookstore.teri.res.in/docs/journals/IJGGD_Vol%202%20Issue2_Article_4.pdf.It is, however, important to assess the efficiency and distributional implications of any proposed environmental fiscal reforms.
Redirecting existing funding
Sustainable finance is more than just increasing investments through new funding streams – it is also about finding ways to reorient existing financing streams to advance multiple SDG goals at the same time. Public procurement can be used as a lever to achieve development impact. For example, public sector regulations can be amended to set a requirement that at least 30% of public procurement must be allocated to green projects or used as green finance. The European Investment Bank and the African Export-Import Bank have made $355 million available to ensure that African businesses have the working capital to sustain jobs and maintain vital imports. A quarter of these funds is earmarked for climate change mitigation and adaption to help the continent maximise opportunities for a green recovery. Support for green projects such as renewable power, energy efficiency and climate change adaptation measures to reduce emissions and reduce energy use will help propel Africa towards a sustainable economic growth path. A total of $234.3 million of these funds was previously allocated to trade-related investment – now it is redirected to those sectors most impacted by the pandemic.37"Sparking a Green Recovery to Keep Africa's Economy Going", ESI Africa, August 7, 2020, https://www.esi-africa.com/industry-sectors/renewableenergy/sparking-a-green-recovery-to-keep-africas-economy-going/.
There should be a review and update of existing government expenditure plans with the aim of adding energy and public transport projects, since they take a long time to prepare. Also, national budgets can be reallocated with the view of putting national climate/green/ environmental funds at the centre of economic recovery plans.
Greening the financial sector
Following a lack of clarity about which activities and assets can be defined as green, which was a barrier to scaling up green finance, the World Bank published guidelines for developing a green taxonomy. This will help to scale up green finance and assist regulators in emerging economies to 'green' their domestic financial systems. A 'green taxonomy' is a common language on environmental issues for use by the financial sector. It identifies activities or investments that deliver on environmental objectives, thereby helping the financial sector to efficiently channel capital towards environmentally sustainable projects by originating and structuring green banking products such as loans, credits and guarantees.38"World Bank's Guide to Scale Up Green Finance in Emerging Markets", ESI Africa, July 14, 2020, https://www.esi-africa.com/industry-sectors/financeand-policy/world-banks-guide-to-scale-up-green-finance-in-emerging-markets/.In such a market, investors seeking impact investment opportunities can easily identify those opportunities that comply with sustainability criteria. The methodology and recommended approach avoids one-size-fits-all definitions and standards by developing a taxonomy based on a country's particular environmental objectives.
Central banks play a key role in facilitating the development of green finance in their domestic markets. They are urged to intervene as regulators to unlock green and sustainable finance by reducing information asymmetries and requiring financial institutions to change risk management frameworks to take environmental, social and governance factors into account. Central bank regulatory intervention can also ensure that financial institutions provide a technically sound justification for those activities and investments considered green. This is because environmental risks are not taken into account in Basel III, which provides the main regulatory guidelines for the global banking system. A voluntary approach is recommended for countries that have not started integrating green finance considerations into central bank regulations.39Zanizeni Sustainable Finance, "Green Finance Concept Document".An example of central bank intervention in South Africa is the case of the Land Bank. It owns 29% of the country's agricultural debt, and recently defaulted on two of its domestic medium-term notes (ZAR 50 billion [$2.63 billion]) owing to liquidity shortfalls. This led to Moody's downgrading the bank further into junk status to B1, despite its having crossdefault clauses. The South African Reserve Bank responded by suspending (on 12 May 2020) the qualification of the Land Bank's short-term debt (which was previously considered 'High Quality Liquid Assets') as collateral to obtain funding for liquidity from its repo auctions. Effectively, local banks were prevented from using the Land Bank's debt for their Liquidity Coverage Ratio calculations.40"South Africa Strips Land Bank Debt of High-Quality Asset Status", Reuters, May 12, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/safrica-landbank-idUSL8N2CU3W4.Climate risk poses a serious risk to the agricultural sector, and its effects are impacting the quality of the bank's loan book, with some farmers struggling to repay loans. Half of the bank's debt matures in 2021. The government has had to guarantee the Land Bank's debt and adjusted bank capitalisation funding during the COVID-19 crisis.41Planet Tracker, "South Africa: A Call for Green Recovery", May 14, 2020, https://planet-tracker.org/south-africa-a-call-for-green-recovery/.
Central banks have a role to play in 'greening' financial systems, especially in developing and emerging economies where environmental regulation is badly implemented by weak public institutions. In developing and emerging markets, central banks are powerful and sophisticated institutions overseeing the dominant banking sector within the financial system. If central banks were assigned an environmental mandate, they could effectively exert influence over private investment decisions through their command over the banking sector.42Ulrich Volz, "On the Role of Central Banks in Enhancing Green Finance Inquiry" (Inquiry Working Paper 17/01, UN Environment and Centre for International Governance Innovation, London, February 2017), https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/57004893/banks-in-enhancing-greenfinance.In addition, central banks' financial market expertise and transnational networks through their various regional and continental initiatives can promote 'best practice' reforms in the financial sector. The UN Environment Programme43Volz, "On the Role of Central Banks".recommends, with caution, potential tools that central banks can use to impact investment decisions, create and allocate credit into green investments, and direct credit away from environmentally harmful activities.
- Introduce green macroprudential regulation and climate-related stress testing to address environmental systemic risk. The former includes ceilings on credit extension to certain carbon-intensive or polluting activities and exemptions from credit ceilings that can be used to channel investments into priority sectors. Suggested macroprudential instruments include higher risk weights either for carbon-intensive and dependent sectors (such as transport, mining and energy) or for particularly carbon-intensive and dependent companies in these sectors. Climate-related stress testing would assess the likely impact of hypothetical climate scenarios on the financial health of individual financial institutions and the financial system as a whole with the aim of ascertaining their resilience to adverse shocks.
- Use directed green credit policy instruments such as differential rediscount rates to incentivise commercial banks to extend credit to green investments with rediscounted bills at lower loan rates. There will be some compensation (partially or fully) for lending at subsidised rates of interest when they rediscount priority loans at the central bank on concessional terms.
- Green differentiated reserve requirements allow central banks to lower required reserve rates on privileged green assets, thereby favouring green investments over traditional investments.
- Institute differentiated capital requirements for low-carbon activities or green projects as it is done for loans to SMEs under BASEL III.
- Accept carbon certificates for low-carbon projects as part of commercial banks' legal reserves – this will will enhance their market and make them exchangeable for concessional loans, thereby reducing the capital costs of low-carbon projects.
- Encourage green quantitative easing, whereby asset purchases are directed toward green financial assets such as green bonds, and reserve management to allow central banks to manage their assets according to social impact investment standards. This would release an additional $24 trillion to the funds already pledged under the UN Principles on Responsible Investing.
- Develop green finance guidelines and frameworks aimed at guiding banks towards greener lending.
- The Financial Stability Board44Financial Stability Board, Final Report: Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (Geneva: Bank for International Settlements, 2017), https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/FINAL-2017-TCFD-Report-11052018.pdf.recommends mandatory disclosure requirements for all financial organisations in their public financial filings in order to improve the transparency of climate-related risks. This will provide the basis for green macro-prudential regulation and climate-related stress testing.
Other initiatives that contribute to the greening of the financial sector include the Sustainable Banking Network, which was established in 2012 to encourage the development of national policies or road maps for sustainable banking. The Sustainable Insurance Forum brings together industry players to share learning and best practice on greening the insurance industry. African countries such as Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria are also developing sustainable banking standards, initiatives, policies or regulations. Voluntary approaches may be effective in encouraging riskbased environmental due diligence and incentives, while mandatory requirements may be necessary to mobilise funding into specific green investment areas.45UN Environment, Green Finance for Developing Countries: Needs, Concerns and Innovations (Nairobi: UN Environment, July 2016), http://unepinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Green_Finance_for_Developing_Countries.pdf.The Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance, a grouping of 30 CEOs, asset managers, banks and bourses, has agreed to urge the global investment community to integrate the SDGs into their core business models, introduce long-term performance metrics, accelerate company disclosure and report on social and environmental issues. The GISD is also calling for a coordinated international approach to financial regulation and encouraging ratings agencies to incorporate sustainable development considerations into their decision-making.46UN, "SDGs: Joint Statement by Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance (GISD)", https://www.un.org/esa/ffd/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/GISD-joint-statement.pdf.
Developing green segments
Green bond issuance and green infrastructure investment account for less than 1% of total bond issuance and total infrastructure investment in 2016, respectively.47UN Environment, Green Finance for Developing Countries.The global green bond market has risen from $155.5 billion worth of issues in 2017 to an estimated $250–$300 billion in 2018.48Amlani, "Africa Shapes Its Own".Central banks have the convening role and soft power to promote the development of new green market segments or products. According to the Climate Bond Initiative, green bonds were created to fund projects that have positive environmental or climate benefits. Issuing green bonds can become an important financial mechanism to support a green economic recovery, because they are aligned with the objective of curbing the climate crisis and can further boost struggling domestic economies in Africa through investments in the renewable energy market. Green bonds have considerable potential for growth, with investors keen on containing global warming, but they may shy away from markets with negative credit ratings. Green bonds tend to be oversubscribed and have advantages such as tax exemptions, making them a good option for countries that have had to approach financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund for funding to mitigate the effects of COVID-19.
It is important for first-time African sovereign, sub- and quasi-sovereign green bond issuers to develop green framework legislation to encourage green finance within their jurisdictions. This will also promote transparency while signalling a commitment to green finance of global markets. In light of the COVID-19 crisis, efforts to develop green bond frameworks and identify a pipeline of eligible green projects should be enhanced. Sub- and quasi-sovereign issuers are diverse in terms of geography and project type, demonstrating the flexibility of green bonds and their ability to be tailored to local circumstances. Encouraging green finance in African markers also requires governments to make public policy shifts in favour of greener and more climate-resilient economies while creating fiscal policies that make holding green assets more attractive.49Hauman and Hussain, "Green Finance in Africa".
The GISD is working on defining sustainable development investing and developing a global voice to encourage the international investment community to actively invest in vehicles like COVID-19 bonds and the SDG500 fund, as well as renewable energy projects in the Middle East and a waste-to-energy project in India.50Leila Fourie, "Covid-19 Offers Chance to Build Back Better than Before", Business Day, June 26, 2020, https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2020-06-26-leila-fourie-covid-19-offers-chance-to-build-back-better-than-before/.This coincides with reports that sustainable funds attracted record inflows in Q1 2020 amid the COVID-19-induced financial crisis – a strong signal by investors that their interest in sustainable investments is growing.51Paul Chesser, "Study Debunks BlackRock Claims that ESG Funds Did Better During COVID", National Legal and Policy Center, August 26, 2020, https://nlpc.org/2020/08/26/study-debunks-blackrock-claims-that-esg-funds-did-better-during-covid/.There is currently limited fiscal space for African governments to fund a green recovery, making the attraction of private capital essential and international capital through green bonds invaluable.52Hauman and Hussain, "Green Finance in Africa".As African financial institutions are becoming more active in facilitating green finance, the AfDB issued its seventh green bond in 2018 after publishing a green bonds framework as early as 2013.53Amlani, "Africa Shapes Its Own".The AfDB also mobilised around $12 billion between 2011 and 2015 for climate-resilient projects as part of its Climate Change Action Plan. It has also established the Africa Climate Change Fund aimed at providing funding for African countries to scale up green finance. In addition, African countries have access to the $2 billion Green Cornerstone Bond Fund (jointly provided by the International Finance Corporation and Amundi), designed to buy green bonds issued by emerging market banks that would not otherwise attract institutional investors owing to their risk–return profiles.54Hauman and Hussain, "Green Finance in Africa"
Hauman and Hussain55Hauman and Hussain, "Green Finance in Africa"have looked at developments that make the continent a prime candidate for funding through sovereign green bonds.
- As the largest producer of hydropower in Africa, Ethiopia hopes to increase its current output five-fold by 2030. To reduce reliance on hydropower, it is developing power stations and grids based on other renewable energies. These developments are prime candidates for funding through sovereign green bonds.
- As Nigeria prepares to transition to a sustainable future it can unlock the success of green bonds and enhance investor confidence by complying with its green bond framework together with the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission's new listing rules, which codify the criteria and approval process of green bonds in the country. For a project to qualify as green, the investment must fall into one of eight listed categories similar to the categories of the Green Bond Principles. The latter's requirements include a green use-of-proceeds commitment; a process for evaluating and selecting projects; and reporting. Nigeria's debut sovereign green bond came to market in December 2017 and was the first sovereign green bond to gain the coveted certification of the Climate Bonds Initiative, setting a strong precedent for other African states to follow.
- Angola must invest in other sectors to reduce exposure to fluctuating oil prices. With many rivers, it could meet its ambitious hydroelectric energy generation target of 9 000 MW by 2025.
- Gabon, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo were hit hard by falling oil prices in 2016 and, in an attempt to diversify their economies, their focus has shifted to forestry, agricultural and mining industries.
- Among those spearheading the development of a green bond market in Africa and the regulatory infrastructure to support it, the Moroccan Capital Market Authority (AMMC) has published a green bond framework and practical guidelines for green bond issuance. The Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (Masen) issued Morocco's first green bond to finance the country's development of solar power projects.
- Kenya cross-listed its first green bond at the London Stock Exchange in January 2020 and the country is set to focus on creating an investment environment for sustainable finance through the development of a green bond framework and segment at the Nairobi Stock Exchange.56Dipo Olowookere, "Kenya Lists Green Bond on London Stock Exchange", Business Post, January 21, 2020, https://businesspost.ng/economy/kenyalists-green-bond-on-london-stock-exchange/.
- Namibia and Zambia need capital injection for sustainable tourism infrastructure and wildlife conservation.
- South Africa is considered to be a municipal bond innovator, having issued green bonds at the municipal level (the City of Cape Town and the City of Johannesburg have each issued green bonds to fund local climate change mitigation and adaptation projects). The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) announced plans to expand its current green bond segment launched in 2017 by introducing a sustainability segment, which will include social bond principles and sustainability guidelines.57Johannesburg Stock Exchange, "JSE to Evolve Green Bond Segment to All-Encompassing Sustainability Segment", Media Statement, February 21, 2020, https://www.jse.co.za/articles/jse-to-evolve-green-bond-segment-to-all-encompassing-sustainability-segment.Nedbank launched the first-ever renewable green bond on the green segment of the JSE. The investment proceeds will be used by the bank to deliver financial support to solar and wind renewable energy projects with the potential to deliver positive, long-term sustainable energy outcomes for the country. The bonds, worth ZAR 1.7 billion ($104.3 million), were three times oversubscribed after receiving bids of ZAR 5.5 billion ($337.5 million), demonstrating strong investor appetite for good-quality environmental-, social- and governance-focused assets.58Nedbank, "Nedbank Becomes the First SA Bank to Issue a Renewable Energy Bond", Media Statement, April 30, 2019, https://www.nedbank.co.za/content/nedbank/desktop/gt/en/info/campaigns/Nedbank_become_first_in_SA.html.There is no doubt that although impact investing is a relatively young concept that still places priority on financial returns, this model is rapidly evolving in Africa with the primary focus now being the project's ability to make a positive sustainable contribution to the environment.
Emerging and developing countries are the least prepared to recover from the twin COVID– climate crises. A return to business-as-usual after the pandemic is not possible and innovative ways of reshaping Africa's recovery and long-term sustainable growth and development are an imperative. Owing to the pandemic, it is now even more urgent to reduce African countries' vulnerability by building climate resilience. Given the worsening debt profiles of African nations in the wake of COVID-19, among others, economic recovery plans have set ambitious targets such as large infrastructure build programmes. This makes it an opportune time to turn to green financing initiatives that will help these countries to tap into an investor base looking for exposure to green assets. Although there is no silver bullet and no blueprint to a green economic recovery, it is recommended that African governments enhance efforts to employ the various green growth financing mechanisms presented in this policy briefing (ie, accelerating investments in infrastructure and renewable energy, establishing or revamping green/environmental funds and other market-based mechanisms, ensuring stimulus investments focus on the Green Economy, implementing green fiscal reform, redirecting existing funding, greening the financial sector and developing green segments). In particular, green bonds are one of the most readily accessible and economical options to help raise large amounts of capital for infrastructure development to meet environmental targets in Africa. In addition, to catalyse the transition to a Green Economy, targeted public finance is needed to decrease investment risk, create a stimulus for green investments and leverage private finance for green investments – especially now that private capital has been showing growing interest in supporting the SDGs. With appropriate support, Africa can revitalise its economy using a new and resilient green framework driving national development to leapfrog old development pathways, setting in motion African-owned growth models that are sustainable, inclusive and resilient.
The author is grateful to Ian Heffernan for peer reviewing this policy briefing.
About CoMPRA
The COVID-19 Macroeconomic Policy Response in Africa (CoMPRA) project was developed following a call for rapid response policy research into the COVID-19 pandemic by the IDRC. The project's overall goal is to inform macroeconomic policy development in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by low and middleincome countries (LMICs) and development partners that results in more inclusive, climate-resilient, effective and gender-responsive measures through evidence-based research. This will help to mitigate COVID-19's social and economic impact, promote recovery from the pandemic in the short term and position LMICs in the longer term for a more climate-resilient, sustainable and stable future. The CoMPRA project will focus broadly on African countries and specifically on six countries (Benin, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa). SAIIA and CSEA, as the lead implementing partners for this project, also work with think tank partners in these countries.
Our Donor
This project is supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The IDRC is a Canadian federal Crown corporation. It is part of Canada's foreign affairs and development efforts and invests in knowledge, innovation, and solutions to improve the lives of people in the developing world.


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Capcom's Resident Evil 2 was awarded Best of Show for E3 according to the Game Critics Awards, an annual process where independent groups of media and influencer outlets vote on which publishers and platforms win awards based on different categories.
Resident Evil 2 taking home Best of Show is interesting given that it's a remake of the original title published back in 1998, beating out new games showcased at E3 like Cyberpunk 2077.
In addition, Sony won awards in several categories including Best Original Game for Dreams on the PS4 and Marvel's Spider Man sweeping up Best Console and Best Action/Adventure title.
For a full breakdown of wins by publisher and platform, click here.


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8 Must Try Gambian Foods
1. Benechin
A sort of fried rice type of dish, with various spices mixed in with meat or fish and vegetables. A favorite dish for parties and events, but also a weekly staple.
2. Domada
A white rice dish with a peanut (groundnut) sauce, with chicken or beef.
3. Afra
Take a slab of meat, with bones, chop it up into small pieces, rub oil and spices on it and grill it up and you have Afra! A local favorite, particularly for dinner.
4. Akara
Generally served at breakfast and often with bread, this is a deep fried vegan dish, made from ground black-eyed peas, sort of like the Gambian version of falafel.
5. Superkanja
A sticky, gooey, okra stew, made with beef or fish and usually served over White rice.
Photo by The Great Gambian Adventure
6. Tapalapa
The Gambian version of baguette, which is a breakfast favorite and can come with tons of different things on it, including even pasta! Served at small stands all over the country. Best, in our opinion with mayo and boiled eggs.
7. Yassa
Onions are the primary focus of this dish, which is usually served with chicken. The dish mixes mustard, chile, lime, and Maggi, with onions, to serve as a sauce over chicken and then is served with or over white rice.
8. Wonjo
Awesome juice made from hibiscus flowers and sugar (if you have the authentic kind, lots of sugar!)


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|Clinging to a spar
Ivan Constantinovich Aivasovisky, The Ninth Wave, 1850
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02 April 2012
Two swimmers wrestled on the spar –
4 comments:
Wrestling on the spar--- they were trying to balance with each other on the spar to stay afloat and hence stay alive.ReplyDelete
They were complimenting one another to accomplish survival.ReplyDelete
There is no stronger of the two-- you are so wrong. But the one that turns violates a trust between the two and the "other one!!!!!!!" drowns on account of this betrayal. Selfishness, ego and instinct is involved here.ReplyDeleteReplies
I think both parties would have ended up drowning. Here, one is saved. It may be that land represents safety and conformity and so swimming to it represents a rejection of passion, depth, and mystery, but very few of us can survive in such a sea. Your thought of 'instinct' is useful here. Perhaps to one, shore is a sort of death, while to the other it is safety and sanity.Delete


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Pirmdienas teikumā izceļu teikumu no tā, ko pašlaik lasu vai nesen esmu lasījis.
There was some back-and-forth about what are you having, no what are you having, I was thinking this, oh I was thinking that too, well if you're going to have that then maybe I'll have something else, you can try mine, oh good good.
Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor – It Devours! (Welcome to Night Vale novels #2)


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One Size
Bust 106 cm
Waist 140 cm
Length 130 cm
Sleeve Length 53 cm
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