UNITED NATIONS, Oct 2 (NNN-Xinhua) — United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that more than 9.2 million people across the southern Africa region are now severely food insecure due to a climate crisis that is impacting parts of the region, a UN spokesperson said.
Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said at a press briefing that the figure is expected to grow to 12 million at the peak of the lean season between October and next March.
Parts of the region are experiencing the lowest rainfall since 1981, which is leading to increased humanitarian needs, he added.
According to OCHA, some parts of the region have endured destruction by cyclones, pests and disease, and are working to recover from the multi-faceted impacts of those shocks, Dujarric said. “For example, in Mozambique, drought, two cyclones and violence in the north are expected to leave nearly two million people severely food insecure from October through March.”
Namibia has received its lowest rainfall in 35 years and at least 290,000 of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the north of the country are suffering from an acute food security crisis, with up to 90,000 livestock reported to have died due to drought, the spokesperson added.
Separately, the UN urged African countries to reform their fiscal laws in order to enhance their tax revenues from the digital economy.
Uzumma Marilyn Erume, economic affairs officer, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa told journalists in NAIROBI, KENYA that the digital sector in Africa is growing by approximately 40 percent annually.
“African countries need to review their tax policies to ensure that governments capture their rightful share from the digital economy,” Erume said on the sidelines of the seventh pan Africa conference on illicit financial flows and taxation.
The three-day annual gathering brings together policymakers, academia, civil society from Africa to review efforts to curb illicit financial flows and enhance domestic resource mobilization in the continent.
Erume said that Africa has one of the lowest tax revenue to gross domestic product (GDP) rates in the world.
She called for the continent to explore areas where it can expand the tax net without necessary affecting macroeconomic stability.
Erume said that even developed countries are also grappling on how to tax the digital companies including those in the social media space.
According to the UN official, taxation of some technology companies poses a challenge because they operate in countries where they do not have a physical presence. — NNN-XINHUA
