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Lagos ranked fifth leading destination for Fortune 500 companies

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Lagos ranked fifth leading destination for Fortune 500 companies

Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital city, has emerged fifth among the leading regional destinations on the Fortune 500 list, according to a new report released on Tuesday, April 18, 2017 by Infomineo, a global business research company specialising in Africa and the Middle East.

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Akinwunmi Ambode, Governor of Lagos State

The report focuses on multinationals looking at entering, or already present, in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. Overall, there was a 17% increase in the number of Fortune 500 companies in MEA in 2016 compared to 2015, with Johannesburg being the leading destination for Africa.

The leading regional destinations on the Fortune 500 list include Dubai, Johannesburg, Casablanca, Nairobi, Lagos, and Cairo. Egypt remains behind the leaders due to political instability; however, it has seen a 250% increase in Fortune 500 investment since 2015.

The Middle East Africa (MEA) region has become increasingly important for the majority of global Fortune 500 companies.

The Infomineo analysis includes the regional footprint of multinationals in the MEA region, the most commonly chosen cities, and the factors which influence the selection of a region, country and city – each element revealing the dynamic growth patterns within the region and a clear trend of Fortune 500 companies establishing presence in MEA.

In 2016, 196 Fortune 500 companies had established a dedicated regional headquarters in the MEA region. In the Middle-East, Dubai is the most popular choice with 138 companies establishing a dedicated entity in the city. There has also been a marked uptick in companies deciding to cover MEA from outside of the region – 38 companies up from 22 have established a regional headquarters in areas such as London, Brussels and Paris.

Industry type plays a pivotal role in the selection of city and country. Financial services are more likely to base MEA coverage from London, while technology companies are more inclined towards Casablanca or Lagos. The latter city is also the premier location for organisations looking to manage their operations across Western Africa with 12 Fortune 500 companies already established in the city. Automotive and Healthcare tend to have a presence in both Africa and the Middle East, while Technology is more inclined to having a presence from the outside.

Nairobi, in Kenya, is the leading destination for the FMCG companies and tends to be the top choice for organisations looking to service Eastern Africa. Dubai and Johannesburg are the most popular hubs overall, but both Casablanca and Nairobi are rapidly gaining traction and international awareness. Casablanca has the highest growth rate overall, while Dubai has the highest count. The same can be said for London, which has tripled its number of regional HQs serving the region, acting as an MEA hub. Given the geographical proximity and the talent pool present in the city, it could be that London is playing the role of a first step into the MEA region, especially for Japanese and North American companies.

There are numerous factors which impact on the organisation’s selection of a specific city. These include the local market potential, maturity of the industry, existing competitors, political stability and the quality of the employment market, among others. Determining the attractiveness of a location along these clear lines assures the Fortune 500 companies of a stable and profitable investment and significantly mitigates risk. The most attractive cities are Dubai, Johannesburg, Casablanca and Nairobi, and at the lower end of the spectrum, Cairo, Paris, Algiers and Cape Town

Poll: Voters say U.S. should participate in Paris Agreement

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Poll: Voters say U.S. should participate in Paris Agreement

In December 2015, officials from 197 countries (nearly every country in the world) met in Paris at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) and negotiated a global agreement to limit global warming. On Earth Day, April 2016, the U.S. and 174 other countries signed the agreement, with most of the others following suit since then.

On Friday, Politico reported that President Trump’s senior advisors, including Jared Kushner, Gary Cohn, Rex Tillerson, Rick Perry, Scott Pruit, H.R. McMaster, and Steve Bannon are meeting this week (Earth Week), perhaps Tuesday, to decide whether the US will stay in the Paris agreement or not.

What do American voters think about U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement? And what do Trump voters think.

 

By a more than 5 to 1 margin, voters say the U.S. should participate in the Paris Agreement.

In a nationally representative survey conducted after the election, we found that seven in 10 registered voters (69%) say the U.S. should participate in the COP21 agreement, compared with only 13% who say the U.S. should not. Majorities of Democrats (86%) and Independents (61%), and half of Republicans (51%) say the U.S. should participate (including 73% of moderate/liberal Republicans). Only conservative Republicans are split, with marginally more saying the U.S. should participate (40%) than saying we should not participate (34%).

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Most voters want the U.S. to participate in the Paris climate agreement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About half of Trump voters say the U.S. should participate in the Paris Agreement.

Almost half of Trump’s voters (47%) say the U.S. should participate in the Paris agreement, compared with only 28% who say the U.S. should not.

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About half of the President’s voters want him to participate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will President Trump side with the nationalists on his advisory team who want to withdraw from the Paris Agreement to limit global warming? Or will he side with the moderates, including his family members, a majority of Americans, and a plurality of his own voters, who want the U.S. to continue to participate in the Paris Agreement? This decision may be an important turning point in the future history of Earth.

$177m earmarked for Nigeria under $3.5b Africa ocean economies initiative

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$177m earmarked for Nigeria under $3.5b Africa ocean economies initiative

Africa is once again at the centre of global focus, thanks to an initiative aimed at ensuring that its marine economies are climate-resilient.

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Ocean economy: A coastline in Africa

In the face of a changing global climate, Africa and its coastal communities that rely on the oceans for their food security and livelihoods are considered particularly vulnerable.

But succour may just be around the corner, going by the commencement this year of a three-year continent-wide scheme that is estimated to gulp a whopping $3.5 billion.

The African Package for Climate-Resilient Ocean Economies (or “the Package”), as the initiative is christened, was revisited during the 12th Conference of the Parties (COP12) to the Convention for Cooperation in the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Atlantic Coast of the West, Central and Southern Africa Region (or simply “Abidjan Convention”) that held March 27-31, 2017 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

Three leading multilateral development organisations – the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) – are joining forces to actualise the Package, which consists of technical and financial assistance to support coastal and island states in Africa to address the challenges of climate change as they develop their ocean-based economies and implement their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

To ensure easy access to international finance, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) are reportedly involved in the implementation of the Package, which as been described as a response to the outcome of last September’s African Ministers Conference on Ocean Economies and Climate Change, held in Mauritius.

Out of the estimated $3.5 billion project amount, the sum of N177 million is earmarked for Nigeria under West Africa, one of the five flagship programmes covering four coastal regions and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of Africa over a project implementation period spanning 2017 to 2020. The other programmes are for North Africa, Central Africa, Indian Ocean and SIDS.

Nigeria’s N177 million is expected to be utilised on projects related to fisheries & aquaculture, coastal protection, hydromet system/early warning and waste management.

Other countries under the West Africa programme include: Benin ($152 million), Cape Verde ($33 million), Cote d’Ivoire ($215 million), The Gambia ($3 million), Ghana ($177 million), Guinea ($105 million), Guinea-Bissau ($30 million), Liberia ($39 million), Mauritania ($144 million), Senegal ($238 million), Sierra Leone ($155 million) and Togo ($238 million).

Countries under the North Africa programme are: Morocco ($154 million; focusing on the nation’s Ceinture Bleue project) and Tunisia ($73 million).

Central Africa programme countries are listed to include: Angola ($116 million), Cameroon ($119 million), Equatorial Guinea ($99 million), Gabon ($107 million) and Sao Tome & Principe ($32 million).

Indian Ocean programme countries are: Comoros ($25 million), Kenya ($130 million), Madagascar ($112 million), Mauritius ($42 million), Mozambique ($113 mmillion), Seychelles ($42 million), Somalia ($28 million), South Africa ($50 million) and Tanzania ($30 million).

SIDS programme nations are: Cape Verde ($104 million), Comoros ($23 million), Seychelles ($116 million), Guinea-Bissau ($68 million), Madagascar ($94 million), Mauritius ($213 million) and Sao Tome & Principe ($114 million).

Officials disclose however that stated amounts are objectives based on preliminary estimates of needs and possibilities, and that World Bank, FAO and AfDB will work with countries, GCF, GEF and other development partners to flesh out the Package and design specific programmes.

Based on vulnerability assessments, the Package will nonetheless provide the framework to make the countries’ development pathways climate-resilient, build resilient coastlines and communities, strengthen food security, create decent employment opportunities and facilitate needed policy reforms for those most affected by climate change.

A source said: “A flagship approach optimises the impact of the interventions, while maximising their multiple benefits. It does so in an integrated and holistic way while supporting commitments from the agencies such as the World Bank’s Climate Business Plan, the AfDB’s Ten Year Strategy (2013-2022) and High Fives, and FAO’s Blue Growth Strategy.

“The assiatance provided by the three agencies in each country is through new investments funded by them as well as from the GCF and the GEF.”

According to World Bank officials, the Package draws together currently fragmented climate change knowledge and activities for ocean-related sectors and focuses on:

  • Understanding vulnerabilities specific to geographical context, economic sectors, including fisheries, and communities directly and indirectly dependent on those sectors.
  • Combining policy, technological and management best practices to improve social, economic and ecological resilience.
  • Identifying low-cost options for resource efficiencies, and supporting resilience and mitigation efforts.
  • Enhancing sustainable use of coastal ecosystems to optimise their carbon sequestration potential.
  • Developing hydromet and ocean observation systems for early warning and disaster readiness.

Transparency agency urges government to revisit transfer of oil assets

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Transparency agency urges government to revisit transfer of oil assets

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called on the Federal Government to revisit and re-valuate the transfer of the Federation oil assets by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to its subsidiary – the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

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Executive Secretary of NEITI, Waziri Adio

Executive Secretary of NEITI, Waziri Adio, made the call while answering questions from newsmen on the highlights of the recently released NEITI Policy Brief entitled “Unremitted funds, oil sector reforms and economic recovery”.

Mr. Adio stated that the review has become imperative in view of the under-valuation, non-payment for the assets and the inability of the NPDC to either make returns on the investments or be accountable to the federation over its management of Nigeria’s oil assets in its custody.

The NEITI Policy Brief has put the total unremitted revenues to the federation by the NPDC at about $5.5 billion and another N72.4 billion as shown below:

 

Summary of Outstanding Remittances to Federation Account by NPDC

$                                            N

Transfer of 8 OMLs from SPDC JV                                       1,700,000,000.00

Transfer of 4 OMLs from NAOC JV                                      2,225,000,000.00

Cash-calls paid for transferred OMLs (not refunded)     148,278,000.00                          2,420,507,000.00

Legacy liabilities                                                                    1,458,618,285.76                        70,014,589,266.45

Sub-total                                                                                 5,531,896,285.76                       72,435,096,266.45

 

NEITI IN THE Policy Brief also observed that beyond the issue of unremitted monies, there are issues of transparency and efficiency with the operations of NPDC noting that, ‘‘since 2005, NNPC has transferred 16 OMLs to NPDC. However, the process of transfer of these assets raises serious questions, as there appears to be no clear-cut criteria for transfer of oil mining assets to NPDC. The process for the transfer of Federation’s assets to NPDC does not seem to pass the transparency test. One of the upshots of this is the undervaluation of these assets, thereby depriving the Federation of optimal value for the assets’’.

The undervaluation NEITI reported, results from NNPCs divestment of its 55% shares in the Shell Joint Venture which it valued at $1.8 billion. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) valuation of the same assets was $3.4 billion. In addition, four other assets were divested in 2012 by NNPC to NPDC under the NAOC JV which the DPR valued at $2.225Billion. NPDC is contesting these valuations even though it currently operates these 12 OMLs without paying in full, the undervalued rates (Paid only a $100 million) nor the new figures arrived at by PwC and the DPR. In total, the non-payment for the 12 oil blocks by NPDC sums up to $3.925 billion.

NEITI questioned the situation where NPDC deliberately refuses to be accountable in its management of Nigeria’s oil assets entrusted in its care.

“NPDC continues to be unaccountable to state institutions and the laws of the country. NPDC has consistently declined to give account of its operations and its management of national oil assets in its possession. NPDC failed to cooperate with the forensic audit ordered by the Auditor-General of the Federation in 2015. Similarly, the company failed to cooperate with NEITI for five audit cycles and only partially cooperated during the 2013 and 2014 audits’’.

In the Policy Brief, NEITI also expressed concerns over NPDC’s technical expertise and financial capability to manage Nigeria’s oil assets.

The transparency agency stated: “The lack of technical know-how has been evident since the mid-2000s when the NPDC started engaging in service contracts with international oil companies. Also, NPDC’s lack of finances has been evident since the beginning of the 2010s, when the company resorted to Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAAs) with indigenous oil companies to carry out production on the fields in its possession.”

NEITI maintained that if NPDC was established to foster indigenous participation in the upstream sector, the Company has not in the past three decades, demonstrated ability to either maximise its production capacity or show that it has the financial muscle to operate independently.

“In mid-2006, total output from its wholly owned production was just 10,000 bpd. On the other hand, production from its service contract agreement with Agip was 65,000 bpd. Despite NPDC’s clear operational and capacity deficiencies, the company continues to be allocated valuable concessions of Nigeria’s most productive OMLs.”

The NEITI boss concluded that the call on the FGN to revisit and re-valuate the divestments of Nigeria’s oil assets at a time the country is passing through very difficult economic challenges is therefore appropriate and timely.

12m Euro SOS scheme to help carnivores, humans coexist

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12m Euro SOS scheme to help carnivores, humans coexist

Protecting lions, cheetahs and other iconic African species by helping local communities coexist with these predators is the goal of a new 12 million euro programme, funded by the European Commission, to be managed by IUCN’s SOS – Save Our Species initiative.

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Leopard (Panthera pardus), listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List

The new programme aims primarily to halt the decline of lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs and Ethiopian wolves, increasingly threatened by poaching, habitat fragmentation and human encroachment on wild habitats.

Made possible by funding from the European Commission’s B4Life initiative, the SOS African Wildlife project will enable coordinated conservation work across the species’ natural habitats. A call for project proposals is seeking civil society organisations’ participation.

“We are extremely grateful for the support from the European Commission,” says Jean-Christophe Vié, Deputy Director, IUCN’s Global Species Programme and SOS Director. “This new programme is an important step in the journey of helping people to build resilience and wealth by cherishing their unique natural heritage. It will help us protect Africa’s fast-disappearing apex predators as well as their main prey species, large ecosystems and support local livelihoods.”

Despite successful conservation action in southern Africa, the lion (Panthera leo) remains listed as globally Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ due to declines in other regions across Africa. A recent study determined that just 7,100 cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) remain in the wild. Meanwhile, only 500 Endangered Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis) survive, confined to isolated mountain ranges in Ethiopia’s highlands. Leopards are also said to be declining in most of their range.

The new programme will enable coordinated conservation action by financing a portfolio of conservation projects undertaken by civil society organisations across the continent. It will address human-wildlife conflict, which is at the root of much of the decline, by generating alternative livelihoods for local communities.

It will also contribute to ensuring the long-term survival of smaller carnivores and prey species such as various antelope species by empowering civil society organisations which will work with relevant authorities and involve local communities in finding solutions to prevent their extinction.

Concrete outputs expected include increases in the populations of species targeted by each project and in critical habitat area as well as the reduction of direct threats and conflicts.

Co-Chair of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group Urs Breitenmoser says: “Conserving lions, leopards and cheetahs will help us conserve other species. Meanwhile, we will have to address a broad range of threats and conflicts and involve many parts of society in different ways depending on the species in question.”

The SOS African Wildlife programme will support anti-poaching efforts which comply with the aims of the EU Action Plan against wildlife trafficking. This will be achieved by ensuring smaller projects funded through SOS are complementary to larger projects which will be directly supported by the European Commission to implement its strategic approach to Wildlife Conservation in Africa, “Larger than Elephants”.

Claudio Sillero-Zubiri, Chair of the IUCN SSC Canid Specialist Group, says: “On the roof of Africa a few hundred Ethiopian wolves – Africa’s rarest and most threatened carnivore species – survive against the odds in tiny mountain enclaves. In contrast, wild dogs require vast areas across Sub-Saharan Africa to eke out a living.

“The destiny of these iconic carnivores inevitably depends on diminishing prey populations, the advance of the agriculture frontier and our ability to protect them from resulting conflicts. SOS African Wildlife offers a great opportunity to empower and support dedicated organisations and individuals across Africa to protect these threatened carnivores and the habitats they represent.”

The new programme builds on the experience and results of the first five-year phase of IUCN’s SOS – Save Our Species in which over 100 grants were awarded to support the conservation of 250 threatened species worldwide since 2010. It also complements IUCN’s Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme funded by the German government, initiated in 2014, as well as the recently announced SOS Lemurs initiative. These first five years of conservation action under SOS achieved important results in the protection of numerous threatened species.

Dr. Roberto Ridolfi, Director, “Sustainable Growth and Development” at the European Commission Directorate for International Cooperation and Development, says: “The role and importance of large carnivores is recognised as being of critical significance for the protection of fragile equilibriums of entire ecosystems. Yet, increasing pressures on land and water resources are leading to conflicts between man and animals and eventually the irreversible degradation of whole landscapes.

“The involvement of local communities as forefront actors in the conservation of threatened carnivore species is of crucial importance and has proven to be a long underestimated key to success when it comes to sustainability and efficiency.

“The European Commission is proud to support the SOS – Save Our Species initiative because of its coherence with the EU’s Biodiversity for Life strategic approach which combines coherence, coordination and cross sector partnerships to tackle the challenges related to the protection of biodiversity and the building of sustainable livelihoods.”

World Malaria Day: Researcher suggests ways to improve diagnosis of ailment

Michael Simire
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World Malaria Day: Researcher suggests ways to improve diagnosis of ailment

A medical researcher, Dr. Bamidele Iwalokun, has called on government authorities to increase the coverage of Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) by 80 per cent to improve the diagnosis of submicroscopic malaria.

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The mosquito, a malaria vector

Iwalokun, the Head of Immunology and Vaccinology Research Group, Nigeria Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos State, made this plea on Monday, April 17, 2017 in an interview with the News Agency Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He spoke on the sideline of the preparation for the commemoration of the World Malaria Day, which holds on April 25 every year. The 2017 global theme for the World Malaria Day is: “End Malaria for Good.”

NAN reports that the World Health Organisation (WHO) is focusing attention on prevention mechanism, a critical strategy for reducing the toll of a disease that continues to kill more than 400,000 people annually.

Iwalokun said that the malaria burden of the country in the last five years had not improved as expected.

He said that the national malaria positive rate either by RDT or by microscopy was still above 32 per cent compared to 38 per cent rate in 2007.

Iwalokun said: “With this development, Nigeria is still far from the malaria elimination phase, which is set at five per cent.

“Nigeria is among the 15 countries of the world responsible for 78 per cent of global malaria cases and 80 per cent of global malaria deaths.

“This is highly unacceptable in a country that desires to reduce her current under-five mortality of 109 per 1,000 live births by 75 per cent by 2020.”

According to the researcher, malaria diagnosis in Nigeria has improved, following the national malaria policy of 2011 that recommended the use of RDT.

Iwalokun added: “With the exception of the North Central Nigeria, RDT now detects malaria more by 20 to 67 per cent than microscopy across the other geographical zones.

“RDT detects parasite antigens while microscopy detects the parasite at different stages of its life cycle in the red blood cell.

“Unlike microscopy that takes an average of 45 to 60 minutes to get a result, RDT takes 15 minutes maximum.

“RDT can be performed without electricity at home and by mothers and so on.”

Iwalokun said that many Nigerian primary health centres lack a functional microscope and certified trained microscope specialists.

He said: “There is the need to increase the awareness that malaria can be treated at home with RDT and that anybody can use it.

“The training of pregnant women on how to use RDT during antenatal care at primary health centres and nursing mothers during routine immunisation services should be encouraged.”

Farm inputs gulp N9.5b during dry season cultivation

Michael Simire
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Farm inputs gulp N9.5b during dry season cultivation

The Federal Government spent more than N9.5 billion for the distribution of farm inputs to farmers during the dry season farming, an official of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has said.

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Youths involved in farming. Photo credit: smeonline.biz

Ohiare Jatto, the Director, Farm Input Support Services Department in the ministry, said this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday, April 17, 2017.

Jatto said the inputs were distributed to no fewer than 458,498 farmers across 30 states of the federation between December 2016 and February 2017 dry season farming.

Jatto said the inputs were provided under the governments’ Growth Enhancement Support (GES) Scheme to guarantee improved food production and security.

According to him, some of the inputs provided to the farmers include two bags of Nitrogen Potassium Phosphate, one bag of urea, one bag of organic fertiliser each, 25 kilogram rice seeds and 20kg maize seeds depending on the crop value chain.

The director said that the government under the GES usually paid 75 per cent worth of seeds and 50 per cent for fertilisers and pesticides while farmers settled the remaining percentage of the money.

He said the scheme attained 92 per cent success during the planting season.

Jatto said: “The dry season farming was very successful. We targeted 500,000 farmers and we were able to reach 458,498 farmers in 30 states. All the northern states and many southern states benefited.

“We only reached out to farmers that our funds were able to accommodate.”

The director said that the Federal Government was also targeting no fewer than one million farmers to give inputs for the wet season farming.

Jatto said the reason for the delay in the commencement of the inputs distribution for the wet season was due to the delay in the passage of the budget.

Jatto appealed to farmers to be patient with the government, adding that the inputs distribution would begin as soon as the budget was passed.

AfDB president predicts Dangote will be largest exporter of rice by 2021

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AfDB president predicts Dangote will be largest exporter of rice by 2021

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), has said that billionaire businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, may become the largest exporter of rice in the world by 2021.

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Alhaji Aliko Dangote

Speaking at the Mo Ibrahim Forum in Morocco over the weekend, Adesina said Africa must focus on agriculture to drive growth and create jobs on the continent.

“I remember when I was minister of Agriculture in Nigeria. Aliko Dangote was there, and he was our biggest importer at the time, and he and I used to have all the time to dialogue,” Adesina said.

“One day, I was in my office, about 10 O’clock, Aliko walks in, Ngozi was minister of finance. Aliko bangs on my door and said ‘minister I came to see you’, and I said ‘what are we going to disagree on this time?’

“He said no, I have actually looked at the policies, and the policies you put in place for import substitution are very right policies. So, I have changed my business model from being an importer to being a local producer.”

Adesina narrated the role Dangote played in his happiest day as a minister in Nigeria.

“I said what exactly are you going to do. He said I will put in $300 million into producing and processing rice in Nigeria. I said yippee! I went home, I told my wife, my best day as minister,” he said.

“He comes back three months after that, he says I have changed my mind, I said ‘what in the world happened?’ He said no, I have changed my mind from $300 million to a billion dollars.

“If they continue that policy, he would probably be the single largest producer of rice in the world, in about four years. The reason why I was so excited about that is that agriculture is cool, agriculture is a business…agriculture pays.”

Adesina was named Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2013, while Dangote won the same award in 2014.

It will be recalled that a tripartite agreement put together by the Dangote Rice limited to create jobs for 16,000 outgrower rice farmers in Sokoto was recently signed with the Sokoto State Government and rice growers in the country after which he launched the rice outgrowers scheme in Sokoto.

Aliko Dangote , the Chairman of Dangote Rice Limited, said he was moved to go into rice cultivation because of the genuine interest of the federal government to revive agriculture as the mainstay of the economy, and reduce importation of foods that could be produced locally.

He lamented that Nigeria consumes 6.5 Mtn (metric tonnes) of rice which costs the nation over $2 billion annually, pointing out that it is heartening that the government now has policy direction that encourages private sector’s active participation in agriculture.

He disclosed: “In the next three years we want to produce one million tons of quality rice and make it available and affordable to the people. We hope to do 150, 000 ha (hectares) and when we are done, Nigeria will not have anything to do with importation of rice.

“Dangote Rice outgrowers scheme is committed to creating significant number of jobs, increasing the incomes of smallholders farmers and ensuring food security in the country by providing high quality seeds, fertilisers and agro-chemicals as well as technical assistance on best agricultural practice to farmers.

“This Scheme will help to diversify the economy, alleviate poverty and reduce the nation’s import bill. The scheme has been designed as a one stop solution for the rice value chain,” Dangote stated.

Recycling contaminates plastic toys with toxic chemicals from electronic waste

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Recycling contaminates plastic toys with toxic chemicals from electronic waste

Some banned toxic flame retardant chemicals are now found in recycled plastics in form of e-waste, which are being made into several toys for children to play with. It is believed that the popular magic puzzle toys called “Rubik” contain these harmful chemicals.

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A child with the puzzle toy

Though these chemicals are already banned, the Stockholm Convention is however yet to address their use in recycled form so the case is for the Convention to take action in extending the ban to their not being used in recycled plastics, which is considered a threat to children’s health. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) is an international environmental treaty, signed in 2001 and effective from May 2004, that aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of POPs.

Observers see the situation as a case of another toxic dump on Africa by Asian countries, where most of the toys come from.

Indeed, a new global survey has found out that recycling plastics containing toxic flame retardant chemicals found in electronic waste results in contamination of the world’s best-selling toy along with other children’s products. Ironically, the chemical contaminants can damage the nervous system and reduce intellectual capacity but are found in Rubik’s Cubes – a puzzle toy designed to exercise the mind.

The study was performed by IPEN (a global civil society network), Arnika (an environmental organisation in the Czech Republic) and SRADev Nigeria (a national NGO). The toxic chemicals, OctaBDE, DecaBDE and HBCD, are used in the plastic casings of electronic products and if they are not removed, they are carried into new products when the plastic is recycled.

The survey of products from 26 countries, including Nigeria, found that 90% of the samples contained OctaBDE or DecaBDE. Nearly half of them (43%) contained HBCD.

In Nigeria, SRADev purchased 18 rubik’s cube-like toys and sent them for analysis to the Czech Republic. Fourteen samples were chosen for laboratory tests. The analysis found that all 14 samples contained OctaBDE and DecaBDE at elevated concentrations. One of the samples from Nigeria  tested with the highest concentration of OctaBDE among 111 samples from 26 countries. These chemicals are persistent and known to harm the reproductive system and disrupt hormone systems, adversely impacting intelligence, attention, learning and memory.

“Toxic chemicals in electronic waste should not be present in children’s toys,” said Leslie Adogame, Executive Director of SRADev Nigeria. “This problem needs to be addressed globally and nationally.”

The result of the study emerges just a few days before the global Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Stockholm Convention will decide whether to continue allowing the recycling of materials containing OctaBDE and possibly make a new recycling exemption for DecaBDE. The treaty’s expert committee has warned against the practice.

“Recycling materials that contain toxic chemicals contaminates new products, continues exposure, and undermines the credibility of recycling,” said Joe DiGangi, IPEN. “Governments should end this harmful loophole.”

Another critical decision of the Stockholm Convention Conference will be to establish hazardous waste limits. Protective hazardous waste limits would make wastes subject to the treaty’s obligations for destruction – and not permit their recycling. Surprisingly, some of the toxic chemical levels in children’s products in this study exceeded proposed hazardous waste limits.

An overwhelming majority (13) of tested cubes purchased in Nigeria (14) exceeded the proposed waste limit of 50 ppm for PBDEs/OctaBDE. The cubes contained 395 ppm OctaBDE on average. One exemplar containing 1174 ppm OctaBDE was far beyond the protective level.

“We need protective hazardous waste limits,” said Jitka Strakova, Arnika. “Weak standards mean toxic products and dirty recycling, which often takes place in low and middle income countries and spreads poisons from recycling sites into our homes and bodies.”

The application of strict hazardous limits is also critical for brominated flame retardants due to their presence in e-waste. In many countries, the Stockholm Convention standards will be the only global regulatory tool that can be used to prevent import and export of these contaminated wastes, in many cases from countries with stricter legislation to countries with weaker legislation or control.

Monsanto Tribunal: Judges to deliver legal advisory opinion

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Monsanto Tribunal: Judges to deliver legal advisory opinion

Five Monsanto Tribunal judges, who have in the past 18 weeks been analysing the testimonies of witnesses and experts on alleged damage caused by Monsanto, will on Tuesday, April 18, 2017 publicly present their conclusions and legal advisory opinion in The Hague, Netherlands.

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Speakers and organising committee members of the Monsanto Tribunal & People’s Assembly

The Monsanto Tribunal is an international civil society initiative to hold Monsanto accountable for human rights violations, for crimes against humanity, and for ecocide.

The advisory opinon aims to contribute to the development of international law by the inclusion of new issues, such as the responsibilities of business with respect to human rights, and by formulating new concepts, in particular the concept of ecocide. Being also an educational tribunal, the Monsanto Tribunal is a way also to enable the public to understand the impacts of Monsanto’s activities.

Eminent judges heard testimonies from victims, and will deliver a legal opinion following procedures of the International Court of Justice. A distinct and parallel event, the People’s Assembly, was a gathering of social movements from all over the world that exchanged ideas and planned for the future we want. The Tribunal and People’s Assembly took place between October 14 and 16, 2016 in The Hague.

The process of holding the “Poison Cartel” accountable for its crimes is the culmination of 30 years of scientific, legal, social, and political work by movements, concerned citizens and scientists, it was gathered.

The People’s Assembly is a gathering of leading movements and activists working to defend the ecosystem and food sovereignty, to lay out the effects of industrial agrochemicals on lives, soils, the atmosphere and climate, as well as to chart the road to the earth’s future based on Seed Freedom and Food Freedom, agroecology and farmers rights, commons and economies of sharing, rights of nature and earth democracy.

With multinationals closing ranks through mergers to become bigger and more powerful, the civil society movements at the People’s Assembly have committed to joining forces to, according to them, reclaim people’s rights to healthy food and a healthy and safe environment and to defend human and environmental rights as well as regulations gained through years of social struggle.

In 2016 more than 1,100 People’s Assemblies took place in 28 countries to join forces and collectively defend the Seed Freedom, Food Freedom and Democratic Rights to shape the future of food that protects life on Earth and the well-being of all.

This global mobilisation is now continuing and movements across the world are said to be converging in a new unity across diversity to end a century of ecocide and genocide.

As a response to the series of announced mergers of chemical-based giant corporations, the Monsanto/Bayer merger being the latest, Navdanya is organising multiple actions over the next months.

In Germany, from April 25 to 29, 2017: Along with the Coalition against Bayer Dangers eV-., IFOAM Organics International, Colabora and many other civil society movements and organisations, Navdanya is co-organising a “Stop Bayer / Monsanto” mobilisation. More and more farmers movements, environmental groups, trade unions and students organisations are joining the series of actions, which will converge in Bonn on April 28, for a demonstration in front of the World Conference Centre where the 2017 Bayer shareholders meeting will be held.

In India, Navdanya, an Indian-based non-governmental organisation which promotes biodiversity conservation, biodiversity, organic farming, the rights of farmers, and the process of seed saving, is challenging the process of the Monsanto-Bayer merger, as well as the Dow Dupont merger.

Recently, the Competition Commission of India rejected the Monsanto-Bayer merger application. Navdanya also sent a letter to the CCI warning them about the existing conflict of interest with CropLife which submitted the complete data for the evaluation of the Dow / Dupont merger and cannot be considered a “third independent party” as the same two multinationals are members of it. Navdanya is also organising a mass mobilisation from April 13 to 23, 2017. For the “Satyagraha Yatra” (Satyagraha means “Force of Truth”), Navdanya has gathered movements for democracy which will undertake a pilgrimage for Seed Freedom and Food Freedom.

In Greece, from April 20 to 22, 2017, Navdanya will join Peliti at the Olympic Seed Freedom Festival, along with people and organisations from all over the world to join forces to sow the seeds of the future and sow the seeds of another vision for the planet and its inhabitants.

Over the last months Navdanya has joined the widespread opposition against poisons in our food system and is calling citizens throughout Europe to sign the European Citizens Initiative to #StopGlyphosate and demand the EU to reform its pesticides approval procedures.

In May, Navdanya will join a day of action which will take place across Europe to raise awareness on the dangers of pesticides, while, in Italy, towards the end of May, Navdanya International will launch a Report on Poisons in our Plate, together with ASud and CDCA.

“It has become ever more critical for people to organise to stop the corporate takeover of our food, our health and our planet. We invite you to join with people and communities around the globe, in this renewed ‘Call to Action against the Corporate Takeover of our Food and Health’ and organise a People’s Assembly wherever you are to shape another future of our food and our planet,” says Navdanya.

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