General Electric (GE) announced on Thursday, May 4, 2017 that it will supply the power generation equipment for the Bridge Power plant project in Tema, Ghana. The equipment, which will be used in the first phase of the project, will collectively generate 200 MW of power. An additional 200 MW of power will be deployed in stage two of the project.
GE will supply the power generation equipment for the Bridge Power plant project in the Ghanaian port city of Tema
“The Bridge Power plant successfully brings together the need for a cost-effective fuel solution, in this case liquefied petroleum gas, with an integrated power solution driven by GE’s latest flexible technology,” said Leslie Nelson, CEO, GE’s Gas Power Systems for sub-Saharan Africa.
The 400 megawatt (MW) Bridge Power and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) import, storage, and transportation infrastructure project will address Ghana’s long-term energy requirements by providing enough electricity for the equivalent of up to 17 percent of the country’s capacity. Upon completion, it will be Africa’s first LPG fired power plant and the world’s largest plant of its kind. The fuel-flexible plant will also be capable of being fueled by LPG, natural gas or diesel.
Bridge Power is being developed by the Early Power Limited (“EPL”) consortium under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Electricity Corporation of Ghana (ECG). The EPL consortium comprises of Endeavor Energy, a leading independent power development and generation company focused on Africa; Sage, a leading independent trading firm in Ghana; and GE (General Electric).
The Bridge power plant project will bring much needed electricity to Ghana and is expected to have an immediate positive impact on the reliable operation of schools, factories, offices, other local businesses, hospitals, and households. The project is another example of how GE works with the government, corporate customers and other stakeholders in Ghana. Together, GE and its customers in Ghana support economic growth through infrastructure development in the power, oil & gas and healthcare sectors. In March this year, GE opened a 5,600 square meter oil & gas facility in Takoradi, which will serve as a primary service center for deep-water offshore projects.
The recurrent Fulani herdsmen attack on Benue communities may soon be a thing of the past as the State House of Assembly on Thursday, May 4, 2017 passed into law a bill outlawing open grazing in the state.
Herdsmen grazing their cattle
Cited as the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, 2017, the bill which was passed after the House considered the report of the Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources as presented by its Chairman, Mr James Grange (Kwande East/APC), in the Committee of the Whole Chaired by the Speaker, Mr Terkimbi Ikyange (Ushongo/APC), provides for the establishment of Ranches and Livestock Administration, Regulation and Control.
The bill, which provides that anyone who engage in Cattle Rustling shall be liable on conviction for imprisonment for a term of not less than three years or N100,000 per animal or both also provides that “no individual or group shall after the commencement of this law, engage in open nomadic livestock herding or grazing in the State outside the permitted Ranches”.
Among other things, Section 19 (2) provides that “any person or group of persons who contravenes the above provision shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to five years imprisonment or N1 million fine or both”.
The bill also provides for monetary compensation in case of any damage to a property and imprisonment of two years of the livestock owner or manager in case of injury to any person within the state.
According to the bill, “where such contravention causes the death of any person within the state, the owner or manager of such livestock shall be guilty of an offence of culpable homicide punishable under the Penal Code Law”.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria has maintained the 40th place, the position it previously held, in the latest FIFA rankings.
Super Eagles manager, Gernot Rohr
The three-time African champion also retains the 5th place in Africa. Egypt, who is the highest ranked African side, occupies the 19th position. Senegal is rated 30th, reigning African Champions Cameroon holds 33rd position, while Burkina Faso is 35th.
The Black Stars of Ghana are 45th, while Cote d’Ivoire holds the 48th.
Brazil, however, remains the top of the latest FIFA world rankings. The five-time World Cup champions occupied the position for the first time in seven years at the expense of great rivals Argentina.
In another development, an executive member of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Jonathan Nnaji, is hopeful that the modern Penthalon course in Lagos will help coaches and athletes to be abreast with the techniques in the sport.
The course began at the weekend with about 40 technical instructors from 10 states of the Federation in attendance.
Nnaji told EnviroNews that the Union of the International Modern Penthalon (UIPN) is backing the event with Egyptian Sam Rusdi as facilitator.
“It is a new sport in Nigeria, which comprises five sports. The essence of the course is that we are training the trainers so as to spread the Sport to the 36 States of the Federation.”
This is the second time the course which consists of Shooting, Athletics, Swimming, Fencing and Horse Riding is holding in Nigeria.
The inclusion of two senior employees of ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco among the authors for a report being prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has incurred the ire of a group of international civil society operatives, who insist that the situation amounts to a conflict of interests on the part of the authors.
The IPCC, which is meeting this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to draft the outline the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), has engaged the services of a team of experts to produce the “Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty”.
But protests have greeted the venture, courtesy of a recent correspondence addressed to IPCC Chair, Dr. Hoesung Lee. Titled: “Conflicts of interest of authors on the IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”, the letter was signed by 108 international and national organisations, who are all active in the international climate negotiations and climate discussions at national, regional and/or international levels.
The campaigners allege that ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco are the second – and third – largest corporate emitters of greenhouse gases worldwide, adding that they bear a large part of the responsibility for causing climate change, along with 88 other major oil, energy and cement companies.
The letter reads in part:
As you well know, the role of the IPCC, as stated in paragraph 2 of the Principles Governing IPCC Work, is to assess, on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis, the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts, and options for adaptation and mitigation. Despite the important work the IPCC does to inform policy makers of the now-overwhelming scientific evidence of human-induced climate change, the climate crisis is deepening.
The delayed and inadequate responses to this crisis can be attributed in part to lobbying by businesses with vested interests in the fossil-fuel-driven economy. Disturbingly, the role of business has gone beyond mere lobbying: to delay urgently-needed climate action, several companies have financed climate change skepticism and denial. This is well documented and the subject of multiple judicial investigations.
The two aforementioned companies are the second – and third – largest corporate emitters of greenhouse gases worldwide. They bear a large part of the responsibility for causing climate change, along with 88 other major oil, energy and cement companies, which together are responsible for two thirds of the cumulative historical CO2 and CH4 emissions since 1854. Moreover, the Exxon staff member selected, Dr. Haroon S. Kheshgi, has been a leading proponent of controversial climate geoengineering proposals since 1995, including carbon capture and storage (CCS) strategies. Exxon holds the most patents related to CCS and other sequestration methods of any company, and on its website, publicly declares an interest in one quarter of existing global CCS facilities. This creates a strong financial interest for this author to favourably promote certain technological pathways to 1.5°C.
In 2010, the integrity and credibility of the IPCC was called into question, resulting in a thorough review by the InterAcademy Council. As a response, IPCC adopted, in its own words, “a rigorous conflict of interest policy” with the aim “to protect the legitimacy, integrity, trust, and credibility of the IPCC.” It is evident that conflicts of interest exist or can be implied in this case. This would constitute a violation of your conflict of interest policy.
The IPCC “Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels” was requested by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to address the particular concern of countries already impacted by global warming such as the small island states. The lives of peoples and in some cases the future existence of these states, depends upon drastic reductions in global emissions, including specifically a shift away from fossil fuel dependency.
It is therefore difficult to understand that the IPCC could include authors from the industries that have caused the most damage, and for whom private profits would be affected if the necessary reductions are carried out. Similarly, it is also worrying that industry representatives are precisely those with interests in promoting unacceptable pathways and high-risk technologies, such as climate geoengineering, which distract from the real emissions reductions that are required to avoid catastrophic warming.
Furthermore, in the list of authors to this Special Report there are other representatives of industry-sponsored associations and institutions, yet there are no researchers from independent NGOs selected for participation, despite several nominations. This is a crucial report that must maintain high standards of scientific independence. The world cannot afford for this report to be converted into an alibi for the industries that caused climate change to continue business as usual, or a platform to promote high-risk technologies such as geoengineering.
The IPCC needs to maintain a broad and balanced approach to highlighting the necessary conditions to enhance real pathways to stay below 1.5°C, including: peasant and agro-ecological food systems; public transportation; ecologically-sound and locally-controlled renewable energy sources; and ecosystem protection and restoration, among many other proven and effective solutions. We therefore request the IPCC to reconsider the selection of authors, both for this and all upcoming reports, to ensure that no conflict of interest exists, and that multiple disciplines, regions and viewpoints are included.
Out of the 108 groups that endorsed the letter, three – CCN Nigeria, Centre for 21st Century Issues, and Health of Mother Earth Foundation – are from Nigeria.
Stakeholders from across the globe have commended Africa’s trail-blazing web-based monitoring and reporting system for the water and sanitation sector.
Participants at the Review workshop on the harmonised, region-wide monitoring and reporting framework for Water and Sanitation sector in Africa
The laudatory remarks were made in Accra, Ghana on Wednesday, May 3, 2017 at the opening of a week-long review workshop on the harmonised, region-wide monitoring and reporting framework for Water and Sanitation sector in Africa. The workshop draws participants from over 42 African countries as well as stakeholders from the global water family including the UN Water, WSSCC, UNICEF, UNESCO, UNECE and WHO GLAAS. Also in attendance are representatives of the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Water Facility (AWF).
Developed in 2016 by the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), the Pan African Monitoring and Reporting System serves as a platform to report progress on the implementation of the AU Heads of States and Governments’ Sharm el Sheikh Commitments which seek to accelerate the achievement of the Africa Water Vision 2025, as well as the global high level political commitments on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on water and sanitation.
Considered as one of the most ambitious attempts at tracking sectoral progress, the system, according to Dr. Canisius Kanangire, AMCOW’s Executive Secretary, represents Africa’s readiness to learn from past mistakes in monitoring the implementation of the MDGs as well as efforts being made to attain Africa’s Agenda 2063.
The Ghanaian Sanitation and Water Minister, Joseph Koffi Adda, while declaring open the workshop, expressed his delight at AMCOW’s decision to convene the first review process for the Pan African Water and Sanitation Sector Monitoring and Reporting System in Ghana which is the home of Pan-Africanism. Represented by the Ministry’s Chief Director, Joseph Obeng-Poku, the minister recalled the words of the late Pan Africanist leader, Kwame Nkrumah, who on the 24th of December 1957 described access to water as a barometer for measuring the progress and welfare of the people.
“I therefore see the decision by African Political leaders to set up a Pan-Africa Harmonised Monitoring and Reporting System for the water and sanitation sector in order to report regularly to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government under the Africa Union as a desire to fulfil the vision and dreams of founding fathers of the continent,” Adda said.
Sylvester Matemu, AMCOW’s Technical Advisory Committee Chair, in his remarks lauded the workshop idea as a credible way of “reviewing the AMCOW monitoring system and deepening partnership with relevant global agencies for effective and harmonised monitoring and reporting processes.” According to Matemu, the workshop which also serves as the first inaugural meeting of the Integrated Monitoring Initiative under the UN Water Family “provides an opportunity to launch the 2017 data collection and submission campaign.”
Representative of UN Water, William Reidhead, in his remarks stated: “UN-Water is very pleased to have a chance to join efforts with AMCOW in this work. During the week to come we look forward to learning about the established mechanisms for national and regional monitoring in Africa, and steps that can be taken to harmonise the regional and global efforts.
“We are excited to explore opportunities for collaborating with AMCOW and with participating countries in the 2017 baseline process; and we are additionally interested in learning about communities of practice in Africa which can serve as an example for other regions in the world.”
Olushola Olayide of the AU Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture while delivering the statement of the African Union at the workshop expressed delight over the fact that “the Monitoring and Reporting System for the Water and Sanitation Sector in Africa allows AMCOW, through the Specialised Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment of the AUC to report periodically on the progress of Water and Sanitation in Africa vis-à-vis progress made towards achieving the Africa Water Vision 2025; the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs); the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR); and our Africa Agenda 2063.”
The African Union Commission in its statement urged UN Agencies and Partners to ensure that monitoring and reporting processes at Global level are aligned and linked with the Pan Africa Water and Sanitation sector Monitoring and Reporting System by working closely with the AMCOW Secretariat. This, according to Olayide, is to “avoid unnecessary duplication and placing an unwarranted additional monitoring burden on Member States.”
Francis Konu, representative the African Water Facility (AWF), hailed the continental monitoring and reporting platform established by AMCOW as timely and highly appropriate as “it is in sync with the African Development Bank’s drive to Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Integrate Africa, Industrialise Africa, and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.”
The web-based Reporting system was developed with funding from the African Water Facility (AWF), and supported by the M&E Task Force, the German Cooperation as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and with technical assistance from UNEP-DHI. The highlight of the portal which can be accessed at http://www.africawat-sanreports.org is the 2016 Status Report of 42 African member states submitted using an online reporting framework. It also contains the 2013 and 2014 data submitted by Member States using a temporary paper based template.
The system which serves as database on water and sanitation for Member States in Africa is expected to promote cross-sector learning and knowledge dissemination within the water, sanitation, food, energy and climate nexus while supporting joint sector reviews. The online portal comes with maps and tabular view options which makes it easy to compare progress on various indicators across Member States in Africa.
A two-day stakeholders inception workshop for the preparation of Nigeria’s Third National Communication (TNC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held from Tuesday, May 2 to Wednesday, May 3, 2017 in Keffi, Nasarawa State.
According to officials of the Department of Climate Change (DCC) of the Federal Ministry of Environment and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), organisers of the event and promoters of the venture, the preparation of the TNC would, among others, enable the country to prepare improved climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.
Dr Yerima Peter Tarfa, Director, Department of Climate Change, delivering a welcome addressClimate change expert and negotiator, Prof. Olukayode Oladipo, making a presentationMrs Kolo Mohammed making a contributionParticipants at the workshopFormer Director of DCC, Dr Samuel Adejuwon, making one of several presentations
The Government of Afghanistan on Tuesday, May 2, 2017 deposited its instrument of accession, thereby becoming the 43rd future Party to the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
Dr Ashraf Ghani, President of Afghanistan. Photo credit: AFP PHOTO/Wakil Kohsar
This comes after Burkina Faso and Canada ratified the global treaty on April 10 and April 7, 2017 respectively. Canada’s ratification was preceded by those of Ghana, Honduras, Liechtenstein and Togo, among others.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury, a global treaty aimed at protecting human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury, was agreed at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC5) in Geneva, Switzerland on Saturday, January 19, 2013.
A minimum of 50 nations are required to ratify the Convention to make it legally binding, a scenario that will ensure that the First Conference of the Parties (COP1) to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, scheduled to take place in the last week of September, 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland, becomes a reality.
Nigeria is one of the 128 signatories to the global treaty, but she is yet to officially ratify it. The nation’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday, April 12, 2017 approved the ratification of the Convention.
Ratification automatically makes a nation a Party to the Convention with the duty to domesticate its content.
The signing of the Convention would enable such a country to:
Develop a National Implementation Strategy (NIS)/Action Plan to holistically address challenges relating to the reduction and elimination of Mercury;
Undertake a comprehensive inventory as a basis to develop and implement a more robust Mercury preventive programme which will include the identification and location, contaminated sites and extent of contamination, storage, handling and disposal to ensure that mercury related activities do not result in further damage to health and the environment;
Enhance national capacities with respect to human resources development and institutional strengthening, towards addressing concerns about the long-term effects of Mercury on both human health and the environment and also to ensure the effective domestication of the instrument that will be implementable at national level;
Sensitise the populace and policy makers on the hazards of mercury;
Develop and implement Mercury Release Minimisation Projects; and,
Control mercury supply and trade.
Major highlights of the Minamata Convention include a ban on new mercury mines, the phase-out of existing ones, the phase out and phase down of mercury use in a number of products and processes, control measures on emissions to air and on releases to land and water, and the regulation of the informal sector of artisanal and small-scale gold mining. The Convention also addresses interim storage of mercury and its disposal once it becomes waste, sites contaminated by mercury as well as health issues.
From May 2 to May 13, the U.S.-based, non-profit organisation Clitoraid on Tuesday, May 2, 2017 launched a two-week humanitarian mission in Nairobi, Kenya, offering for the first time clitoral restorative surgery to victims of female genital mutilation (FGM).
Dr. Marci Bowers, Clitoraid’s gynecological surgeon
According to Clitoraid spokesperson, Nadine Gary, this new mission is part of the multiple actions planned during the month of May, the month of Clitoris Awareness.
“Dr. Marci Bowers, Clitoraid’s gynecological surgeon, will operate on 40 women in Kenya.
Clitoraid is partnering with the Kenyan non-governmental organisation Garana and Dr. Abdullahi Adan, a plastic reconstructive surgeon in this endeavor.”
“Dr. Bowers will restore sexual pleasure to 40 patients,” Gary said. “But those having surgery next week are only a few of the many FGM survivors who have contacted us, desperately seeking to be made whole again.”
According to a 2013 UNICEF report, a quarter of all Kenyan women are victims of the barbaric custom of FGM, also known as “cutting.”
Gary said Bowers will also train local surgeons during her stay in Kenya.
“She’ll present the clitoral restorative technique developed by French urologist Dr. Pierre Foldes,” Gary explained. “Clemence Linard, our clinical sexologist in France, will also participate, offering counseling to patients and sharing her expertise with Kenyan sexologist Dr. Tammary Esho, who volunteered to assist.”
Clitoraid’s humanitarian mission began in 2004.
“International spiritual leader Maitreya Rael during one of his visits to West Africa in 2003, learned of the gruesome practice of mutilating girls’ genitals,” Gary said. “He launched Clitoraid not just to launch an educational campaign against FGM but to provide the surgery that repairs the damage inflicted on its victims.”
Gary said Clitoraid has already operated on over 250 FGM survivors, mainly in the United States, where 500,000 victims reside today.
“Among our former patients is Jaha Dukereh, a U.S. resident born in the Gambia,” Gary said. “Last year she was named one of Time Magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People’ in recognition of her anti-FGM activism. She calls her restorative surgery through Clitoraid ‘a life-changing experience’.”
Meanwhile, Clitoraid’s first hospital dedicated to FGM victims and their medical needs in West Africa is still awaiting licensure in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.
“Corrupt male politicians and greedy doctors prevented our 2014 opening, oblivious to the anger and despair of countless local FGM patients,” Gary said.
The latest Africa Attractiveness Survey, which provides an analysis of Foreign Direct Investment into the continent, has ranked Nigeria as the 17th destination for FDI in Africa.
President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria
The report, which was released on Wednesday, May 3, 2017 by EY Africa, a financial advisory services company that carried out the survey, showed that South Africa remained the biggest FDI hub in Africa.
Morocco was said to be Africa’s second largest recipient of FDI, followed by Egypt.
The report added: “In the west of Africa, recession in Nigeria resulted in FDI projects easing 3.8 per cent compared with 2015.
“With the plunge in crude prices, Africa’s largest oil exporter has been hit by a scarcity of foreign exchange, impacting businesses that are already grappling with issues, including insufficient power supply and complexity in paying taxes.
“On a more positive note, the sheer size of the Nigerian market and its diversification initiatives has led to a significant shift in the nature of FDI to the country.
“Should progress be made on various dimensions notably business enablement, governance and human development, Nigeria remains well-placed to become the largest FDI market in Africa over the next decade.”
According to the report, China was the biggest investor in Africa, with diversified investments across sectors such as mining and metals, services, pharmaceuticals, technology, infrastructure and manufacturing.
In 2016, according to the report, Chinese FDI created jobs three times the number of jobs created by the next biggest investor, which is the US.
The report said: “Besides trade and FDI, Chinese companies and state-related entities have financed and built many infrastructure projects across the continent.
“These include ports, roads, railways, dams, telecom networks, power stations and airports.
“One notable example is the October 2016 launch of a Chinese-built railway linking Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to the port of Djibouti, involving an investment of over 4 billion dollars.”
On US investment in Africa, the report said speculation that President Donald Trump’s foreign policy may be unfavourable to Africa was creating some uncertainty regarding the future of the US engagement with Africa.
Brexit was said to have negatively impacted Western European investment in Africa, with FDI easing from 10 per cent in 2015 to 6.1 per cent in 2016.
Also, jobs created by Western European investors declined by 81 per cent.
The report advised: “Governments across the continent will need to redefine their trade and investment relations with a post-Brexit UK.”
Also, according to the report, the biggest bottlenecks to achieving inclusive growth in Africa were globalisation, demography and technology.
It said: “Institutions such as the Africa Development Bank and the African Union, must take the lead in investing in cross-border infrastructure, such as connecting regional power systems, railway networks, air and maritime transportation.
“Governance must be tightened to help Africa compete globally for the capital required to support infrastructure development.
“Government need to invest in education and vocational training programme, adopt more flexible labor market policies and improve the regulatory environment for businesses to facilitate the growth of SMEs.”
The Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (FUNAI) in Ebonyi State has distinguished itself among other universities in Nigeria. This came to the fore in the 9th edition of the Nigerian National Mathematics Competition for university students held recently at the National Mathematical Centre, Abuja.
Leader of the FUNAI delegation, Dr. Louis Omenyi
Declaring the competition open, Executive Director of the Centre, Professor Stephen Onah, noted that Nigeria was in dire need of mathematicians to enable it surmount its present developmental challenges.
He added that the competition “is one of the Centre’s initiative to produce quality future mathematicians for Nigeria”, adding that “the best team will represent the country in the International Mathematics Competition.”
FUNAI was participating for the first time in the event, which also had 33 other Nigerian universities in attendance.
At the end of proceedings, the university was placed 8th overall and 1st among the universities that were participating for the first time in the competition.
The university was represented by a team of four students, namely: Nkume Friday Uzochukwu, Edigbo Vincent Onyebuchi, Ozor Emmanuel Ifeanyi and Onuora Ogochukwu Theresa, all of the Department of Mathematics/Computer Science/Statistics/Informatics.
The university representatives won medals in different categories. Ebigbo Vincent Onyebuchi won Silver medal with a total score of 71 points, taking 12th position out of 128 students from all the universities that took part in the competition. Nkume Friday Uzochukwu also won a silver medal with total score of 66 points in another category and Ozor Emmanuel Ifeanyi won a bronze medal with a total score of 43 points.
Speaking after the event, the leader of the university delegation, Dr. Louis Omenyi, said: “Though we got the invitation very late and the time of the competition was also very close to the first semester examinations, yet we still made an impressive result.”
He added: “The success is excellent and marvelous and I hope that by the next competition we will come first”, and thanked the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba, for his unquantifiable support to the team which made them to excel in the competition.
Speaking on behalf of other participating students, Edigbo Vincent Onyebuchi, a final year student of the university, thanked the University Management for giving them the opportunity to represent the university in the competition, noting that their success was as a result of the Vice Chancellor’s uncompromising stance towards academic excellence.
He further expressed optimism that the university, having come this far in its first attempt, would definitely clinch the overall first position in the nearest future.
Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Nwajiuba, has congratulated the students and their handlers for making the university proud; charging them to ensure that by the next edition of the competition the university would occupy the prime position.
The competition was won by University of Uyo, while Federal University of Technology, Akure and University of Ilorin were 2nd and 3rd respectively.
