As the World Seed Day was observed on Saturday, April 26, 2025, the Ecological Think Tank, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) says it isn’t just celebrating seed as food but as part of our cultural heritage and life. Along with the Environmental Rights Action, the group adds that it honours the resilience, knowledge and ingenuity of small holders farmers all over the world who have for generation preserved the biodiversity of our seeds and our food sovereignty.
Nnimmo Bassey
The group called on the Nigeria Government to withdraw from the International Union for the Protection of New Plant varieties (UPOV 1991), which it said is a threat to our food system. It urged the authorities to develop a “Sui generis” seed protection system in line with the African Model Law.
“HOMEF in partnership with other national and international organisations has since 2021 campaigned against the set up of the Nigeria’s Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Law which was developed as a requirement for membership in UPOV. The PVP Law threatens farmers right, biodiversity and our food sovereignty.
“Despite our collective voice and a lawsuit against some key components of the law, The Nigerian government on 27th February 2025, deposited the instrument of accession and Nigeria was approved as the eightieth member of UPOV on 27th March 2025,” the group submitted in a statement.
HOMEF’s Executive Director, Nnimmo Bassey, stated that “The Nigerian Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Law fails to recognise the country’s unique agricultural landscape, where over 80% of farmers are smallholder farmers who play a vital role in conserving and enhancing plant genetic resources. These farmers depend largely on traditional practices including saving, reusing and exchanging farm saved seeds.
“Furthermore, the law creates an imbalanced environment where Intellectual Property Rights override farmers’ rights. It promotes the dominance of commercial seed systems over farmers’ and indigenous seed systems, thereby marginalising the very people who have sustained our food systems for generations.”
The Project Lead on Hunger Politics, Joyce Brown, noted that careful analysis of the PVP Law has shown that it places severe restrictions not only on the use of farm-saved seed (propagating material) but extends to harvested material (e.g., grain) and even further to products made directly from harvested material (e.g., milled maize).
Brown added that the PVP law encourages the genetic modification of crops which have direct implications on human (use of herbicides and pesticidal crops) and environmental health (monocultures) as well as on biosafety (destruction of non-target organisms)
Food Sovereignty Activist and Deputy Director of Environmental Rights Action, Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje, highlighted that “the process of development of the PVP law was less than transparent, with no public hearings and lack of consultations and participation of smallholder farmers. This is in contrast to the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 which provides for democracy and social justice as per Article 14 (1) and 14(2) (c ).”
In addition, she pointed out that “the law grants final decision-making power to the Minister of Agriculture, particularly in cases of appeal regarding breeder’s rights. This provision violates Section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees every citizen the right to a fair hearing and access to justice through the courts. Concentrating such powers in the hands of a single authority undermines democratic principles and judicial independence.”
The groups call on the Nigerian government to withdraw from the UPOV 1991 framework and halt the implementation of the PVP Law in its current form, adding that the Law which is line with the UPOV’s provisions undermines traditional agricultural practices and threatens farmers rights and freedom by opening the door for corporate control.
Furthermore, the groups advised that “Nigeria should develop a ‘sui generis’ plant variety protection system tailored to Nigeria’s unique agricultural context, drawing from the African Model Law. Such a system should ensure that protection mechanisms do not privilege commercial interests at the expense of communal, farmer-driven seed systems. It is essential that this law be developed through inclusive, bottom-up consultations with farmers, indigenous communities, civil society, and public research institutions.
“This seed law must guarantee farmers’ rights, including the right to save, use and exchange farm-saved seeds without criminalisation; ensure full transparency and public access to breeder applications to protect against exploitation and safeguard indigenous knowledge; support smallholder farmers through credible credit facilities, infrastructure, and support for public research institutions that serve farmers’ needs.
“Also, Nigeria should prioritise the set up of seed banks at community, local government and state levels to ensure the preservation of indigenous varieties.
“In line with the theme for the 2025 World Seed Day: Empowering Farmers-Protecting Biodiversity, Nigeria should promote farmer-managed seed systems and invest in local, resilient seed networks that secure food and ecological justice. Our government should prioritise people over and above corporate interests.”
African leaders are advocating for a new approach to measuring the continent’s green wealth, emphasising that current gross domestic product measures in most African countries are outdated and underestimate their true wealth.
UN Headquarters, New York
They spoke on Thursday, April 24, 2025, at an event hosted by the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank Group at the African Union Mission to the United States on the sidelines of the 2025 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“We need to talk the talk and walk the talk. It is time to turn our commitments and pledges into concrete actions,” said Ambassador Hilda Suda-Mafudze, Permanent Representative of the African Union Mission to the U.S.
“We need to invest in our systems of national accounts. If we want to have accurate measures of our wealth and create a store of assets, we can leverage them to drive our ambitions of shared prosperity and sustainable development.”
The event featured discussion of a 2024 African Development Bank Group report that found that including the value of carbon sequestered in African forests only would have resulted in an additional $66.1 billion of GDP for the continent in 2022, an expansion of about 2.2 percent.
Professor Kevin Urama, African Development Bank Chief Economist and Vice President presented key findings from the report, Measuring the Green Wealth of Nations: Natural Capital and Economic Productivity in Africa.
Leaders emphasised that a proper valuation of Africa’s natural resources would transform the continent’s financial landscape by unlocking access to global financial flows, improving national risk profiles, and creating new capacity for investments in green economies and climate-resilient infrastructure.
This call to action comes ahead of the November UN Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil, where African leaders are expected to press for reforms to the global economic and financial infrastructure, so these better reflect Africa’s green wealth and sustainability contributions.
“It is time for us to redefine our identity as Africa,” said Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine in a panel discussion on practical steps towards implementing the 2025 System of National Accounts (SNAs) in Africa. “Africa is underestimated. We must work strategically to change this.”
Panelists noted that several African countries still use SNAs dating back to 1968. SNAs are an international standard system of concepts and methods for national accounts that have been adopted by most countries worldwide.
Madagascar’s Minister of Economy and Finance Rindra Rabarinirinarison called for more robust technology transfer and technical capacity building to enable African countries to build proper statistical systems for natural capital. She outlined that Madagascar has launched pilot projects to leverage and measure the value of its natural resources.
“Madagascar is a rich country but not rich,” she lamented, pointing to the country’s abundant natural resources.
Erich Strassner from IMF’s Statistics Department described the report as transformational and assured that the Fund was ready to work with the African Development Bank, the World Bank, and governments to implement its recommendations.
He emphasised the need to focus on priorities in each country, “so that together we can put together a plan to bring each country up to speed on the new system of national capital evaluation.”
Quoting African Development Bank figures, Ambassador Suda-Mafudze observed that if countries rebased their GDP based on carbon sequestration by forests alone, the impact would be substantial, with estimated GDP increases of 38.2% in Côte d’Ivoire, 36.7% in Benin, and 33.5% in Niger.
“We need to ensure a proper valuation of Africa’s green wealth. When we know the value of this significant asset base and incorporate its true value into our national accounts, we improve our economies’ risk profiles and enhance access to financial flows for financing our development,” the Ambassador said.
In his presentation, Vice President Urama pointed to the massive economic value of Africa’s natural resources – estimated at $6.2 trillion in 2018 – and the fact that the continent accounts for 26% of global forest-based carbon capture despite contributing only 4% of global carbon emissions.
“Africa’s green wealth and the important global public goods and ecosystem services it provides to the world are often overlooked in economic valuations,” Urama said. “This significantly underestimates African countries’ gross domestic product, despite abundant green wealth.”
He said that in addition to natural capital, ecosystem services and informal economic activities were also not factored into GDP.
Revaluing these assets through Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) and the updated System of National Accounts, which includes the informal sector, could significantly increase Africa’s GDP and improve access to sustainable finance, Urama noted.
“This is not just about correcting statistics. It’s about ensuring comparability of the measures of countries’ GDP in Africa and globally. By updating the System of National Accounts in countries, we can ensure that the basket of goods and services included in the measure of GDP of countries is the same, and avoid comparing oranges and apples,” Urama said.
He called on African countries to allocate appropriate budgets to upgrade their National Accounting Systems and rebase their GDPs, noting that “this is a smart investment that can deliver low-hanging fruit.”
The Executive Secretary of the African Economic Research Consortium, Prof. Victor Murinde, described the new model developed by the African Development Bank as transformative.
“It is a bold step to address a methodological gap in how the GDP of countries is measured to consider the true wealth of nations. Its recommendations provide rich materials for economists to work on in the coming years to improve the methodology for assessing the wealth of nations,” he remarked.
The African Development Bank expressed a commitment to work with the World Bank, the IMF, and other partners to implement the recommendations of the report. It is also advancing practical steps that include creating standard methods to value natural resources, connecting environmental goals with other policies, training local experts across Africa, and helping African countries sell their environmental benefits in worldwide carbon markets.
The Bank Group will also host the African Natural Capital Accounting Community of Practice.
The Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) is implementing a Global Environment Facility (GEF) project titled: Improving Nigeria’s Industrial Energy Performance & Resource Efficient Cleaner Production through Programmatic Approaches & the Promotion of Innovation in Clean Technology Solutions’ though the introduction of industry energy efficiency (IEE), to Arewa Metal Containers Limited (ARMECO) to help reduce energy consumption in the country.
A cross section of the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) technical working group members and industry players during the kick off review meeting in Kaduna State
Engr. Okon Ekpenyong, Industrial Energy Efficiency (IEE) Consultant, ECN/UNIDO, made this known at the KICK OFF Review Meeting with industries in Kaduna on the implementation of Industrial Energy Efficeincy/Energy Management Systems (EnMS).
The project is aimed at accelerating the adoption of industrial energy efficiency (IEE) and improving enterprise environmental performance under the wider umbrella of Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production (RECP) best practices and innovative approaches within selected small, medium and large-scale industrial enterprises in Nigeria.
He explained that the project aims to promote the adoption of industrial energy efficiency best practices and improve environmental performance, as well as reduce energy consumption which helps to lower bills and improved environmental performance.
According to him, industrial energy efficiency, focus on energy management systems and reducing energy waste.
Ekpenyong revealed that UNIDO is partnering with the Bank of Industry to provide financial support for industries adopting energy management systems.
He added that the project is being monitored by multiple agencies, including the Ministry of Environment, Energy Commission, and Standard Organisation of Nigeria.
Speaking further, Ekpenyong called for data base collection which is a baseline to conduct and collect data on energy consumption and costs. The data will help industries measure and manage their energy consumption, leading to potential cost savings, enabling comparative analysis and informed decision-making.
The Managing Director, Arewa Metal Containers Limited, (ARMECO), Engineer Joachim Daudu, assured partnership with UNIDO to implement energy efficiency measures in their company also expresses commitment to implementing energy efficiency measures.
To save energy, he noted the importance for solar power to reduce energy costs.
Daudu echoed that through solar, the company expects to save around 144 million naira in the next six years.
He revealed that the company plans to implement energy efficiency measures in phases, starting with the admin block and factory equipment.
The Lagos State Government (LASG) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an international consortium company, Belstar and ENKA, for the rehabilitation and expansion of water supply works in the state.
Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab
The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, said this in a statement on Monday, April 28, 2025, in Lagos.
Wahab said it was aimed at addressing critical water infrastructure challenges in the state.He said the project entails construction, rehabilitation, installation of water treatment facilities and distribution networks to provide reliable and sustainable water supply to the underserved communities.
Wahab added that the project would see to the establishment of new water works to ease distribution network issues.
He said the state would ensure compliance with relevant regulations, including social and safety standards.
Wahab said the project was divided into two parts: the Brown Field which consist rehabilitation of existing water works and the Green Field, the construction of entirely new water works in various locations across the state.
The Managing Director, Lagos Water Corporation(LWC), Engr Mukhtaar Tijani, said that the LWC would collaborate with the International Consortium, provide support development, technical inputs as well as stakeholder’s coordination to achieve success.
He said the projects would not only provide portable water to communities without water, but would ensure the eradication of water related diseases in the state.
The Group Managing Director, Belstar Capital, Mr Tewodros Polk, said the consortium would remain committed to the project.
Polk said the consortium would leverage strength and technical expertise to ensure long-term productivity and service delivery.
He promised that the consortium would utilise local subcontractors in order to promote capacity building and sustainable development throughout the different phases of the project.
He said the project would be executed using the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Finance model insured by the U.S.International Development Finance Corporation.
Polk said the project would be completed in 36 months.
Founder, Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI), Dr Olumide Abimbola, on Monday, April 28, 2025, said Nigeria should lead the charge for Africa’s climate future through an equitable, homegrown and economically sound energy transition.
Dr Olumide Abimbola
Abimbola stated this ahead of a workshop organised by APR in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, the National Council on Climate Change Secretariat scheduled for Tuesday in Abuja.
The event, which is co-hosted by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, will draw stakeholders from across the Global South for peer learning.
“This convening is not just about knowledge-sharing, it is about defining Nigeria’s leadership role in Africa’s climate future and ensuring that our energy transition is equitable, homegrown, and economically sound.
“At the heart of the event is a shared goal to explore how Nigeria can design its own Country Platform for Climate Action (CPCA).
“The CPCA is a coordinated national framework to drive low-emission growth, mobilise climate finance, and ensure a just, inclusive energy transition,” he said.
Abimbola said the insights from the two-day workshop would contribute directly to Nigeria’s forthcoming National Development Plan 2026-2030 and help to mainstream climate priorities across key sectors, including power, transportation, agriculture, industry, and finance.
He said that in the lead-up to the event, APRI had already released a background paper offering practical pathways for Nigeria’s transition.
According to Abimbola, the document presents lessons from global case studies, outlining bold, locally relevant strategies for implementing a coordinated, fundable, and inclusive climate framework across policy, infrastructure, and industry.
“The workshop will draw lessons from countries like South Africa, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Senegal, which are already implementing Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs),” Abimbola added
National Coordinator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP) Nigeria, Mrs. Ibironke Olubamise, says only genuine political will can develop environmentally friendly technology.
Mrs Ibironke Olubamise, Nigeria National Coordinator, UNDP GEF-SGP
Olubamise said this during an interview on Monday, April 28, 2025, in Abuja.
She noted that environmentally friendly technology would have significant impacts, add value, and sustainably enhance livelihoods.
“Any technology that is not environmentally friendly will eventually fizzle out,” she said.
The coordinator stressed the importance of developing inclusive strategies, policies, and plans that supported data collection and management, awareness creation, and advocacy.
“Policies must be designed to promote learning that reduces environmental impacts, especially among youth and women,” she said.
Olubamise also emphasised the need to enhance national and local digital education platforms and to invest in energy-efficient infrastructure.
According to her, energy-efficient infrastructure will empower communities to engage in sustainable practices and improve the management of solid, plastic, and electronic waste.
“UNDP GEF SGP strongly encourages technological ideas and solutions that address environmental challenges,” she said.
According to her, the programme discourages unsustainable traditional practices that no longer serve environmental goals.
“For instance, traditional tree planting ceremonies have often proven unsustainable, as there is usually no follow-up to ensure the survival of the trees,” Olubamise explained.
She advised the adoption of sustainable, technology-driven tree-planting initiatives aimed at conserving and restoring natural ecosystems.
Olubamise noted that the UNDP GEF SGP was supporting the use of technology and applications to monitor and manage plastic waste, flood, and erosion, as well as to report pollution, especially in remote areas.
Stakeholders from Guinea and across Africa are organising a summit to draw a seed roadmap for the West African country.
Hybrid seeds
The consortium includes the Government of the Republic of Guinea, Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) of the African Development Bank, the Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Cassava Seed System, Phase 2 (BASICS-II) project of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and Sahel Consulting.
The three-day Seed Business Summit, with the theme “Building a Harmonised Roadmap for Seed Sector Transformation,” is being organised in collaboration with the Guinean Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the country’s National Institute for Agricultural Research (IRAG) and other stakeholders.
The summit will be held from April 28 to 30, 2025, in Conakry, the Guinean capital. The summit aims to catalyse an agricultural revolution in the Republic of Guinea by establishing an economically sustainable seed system for priority crops like Rice, Cassava, Maize, Groundnut, and Soybean.
The Guinean Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Felix Lamah, notes that “this summit represents a direct response to the need to hold a more comprehensive audience consultation to identify major challenges, develop solutions, and advocate for more investments in Guinea’s agriculture.”
“This seed summit will bring together policymakers, international financial institutions, scientists, the private sector and farmer organisations to a roundtable discussion to broker investments for Guinean agricultural transformation with quality inputs, particularly seed as a primary entry point,” Lamah added.
“The summit will address factors limiting growth in Guinea’s agricultural sector, including the underdeveloped seed sector characterised by poor quality seeds, a weak seed regulatory framework, a struggling research system for variety maintenance, and a feeble private sector participation in the seed system,” says Dr Solomon Gizaw, the Head of TAAT Clearinghouse.
“A solid seed system will surely change the country’s agricultural landscape. In this summit, TAAT and partners will share the models currently strengthening the seed system in Nigeria, Tanzania, D.R Congo, Benin, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya,” Dr Gizaw added.
The BASICS-II Project Manager, Prof Lateef Sanni, explained that “the seed summit aspires to produce outcomes that will form the basis of future investment in the Guinean seed system. It will produce recommendations to help forge a roadmap to feed into the country’s agricultural policies and plans.”
The Guinean Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Felix Lamah, will chair the summit’s opening ceremony, supported by other dignitaries and development partners.
In addition to the conveners, several national stakeholders, including farmers, seed producers, and International Development partners, will participate in the summit.
They include the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Islamic Development Bank, the Gates Foundation, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Bank, and the European Union.
Others include the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), the AfricaRice Centre, and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).
Nigeria-based non-governmental organisation, The Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), has trained journalists in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on how to access credible data in upscaling their tobacco control reports with specific attention on how they can explore the rich information in the Tobacco Control Data Initiative (TCDI) developed by the Development Gateway.
Tobacco smoking
The training had prominent tobacco control experts including Professor Patrick Shamba – Technical Advisor, TCDI Programme, DRC; Caleb Ayong, founder, Vital Voices for Africa (VVA); Achieng Otieno, founder, Being Africa; Oluchi Joy Robert, a UK-based tobacco control expert; and Philip Jakpor, executive director of RDI, the convening organisation.
In his welcome words, Executive Director of RDI, Philip Jakpor, explained that the training is the first that the organisation is organising with support from Development Gateway, and that in conceiving it, RDI realises that the media is key not only in keeping the public informed as part of its watchdog role, but also in eliciting robust discourse that ultimately translate into policy responses and actions.
Jakpor said that the indispensability of the media to tobacco control is exemplified in the amount of money that the tobacco industry expends annually to market its products using media channels.
He revealed that the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S. recently revealed that in that country alone the amount that the tobacco industry spent on visibility activities including cigarette advertising and promotion increased from $7.84 billion in 2020 to $8.06 billion in 2021. In 2022, it was $8.3 billion.
He revealed that tobacco companies have also been linked to social media influencers who covertly promote tobacco products, using subtle company campaigns.
He went on to say that, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) just like other countries on the continent, smoking is a major public health problem with significant impact on morbidity and mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
He lamented that tobacco control in DRC hardly makes the news, even as he added that the training is premised on the need for more robust and educative reports on tobacco control coming from journalists in the DRC.
He reminded the participants that policy makers rely on what they read or hear or watch to be able to make laws that are rooted in facts and that the task of ensuring the right information gets to them is shouldered by the media.
Professor Patrick Shamba, Technical Advisor, TCDI Programme in DRC, while speaking on the current state of tobacco control in the Democratic Republic of Congo, explained that smoking is a major public health problem in the DRC with significant impact on morbidity and mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Shamba revealed that tobacco control in the DRC is hampered by lack of specific regulatory measures, lack of detailed provisions for the effective implementation of the 2018 framework law, tobacco industry interference, illicit trade in tobacco products, and difficulties in controlling and regulating the parallel market.
To address these issues he said that the media has the task of raising public awareness, Informing the public about the dangers of tobacco and promote preventive measures, Monitoring industry actions and the expose of tobacco industry’s attempts to interfere in public policy. The media must also support legislative initiatives, and report on progress and challenges in implementing smoke-free legislation, among others.
He called for collective engagement, especially greater collaboration between government, civil society and the media to achieve effective tobacco control measures. He also wants the development of detailed regulatory measures; and setting up monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.
The don also took the participants on a tour of the TC Dashboard of the Development Gateway explaining that the platform wharehouses data and information cutting across six themes – Prevalence of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation, Tobacco Industry Interference, Tobacco Taxation, Morbidity, and Illicit Trade. The dashboard is regularly updated with new information as it becomes available.
In his intervention on Using Data to Make Tobacco Control Stories Relevant, Caleb Ayong, founder of Vital Voices for Africa (VVA), said that data is information collected, stored, and processed for analysis or decision-making. They can be numbers, text, images, or any other form of recorded details.
On their relevance, he stressed the quality of being closely connected or appropriate to a given topic or situation and he added that data determines how useful or meaningful something is in a specific context.
He told the journalists that in presenting their facts it must be relatable and speak to emotions. For example, when it is said that approximately 25,000 die every year from tobacco-related deaths in DRC, it is relatable to the number that fills a stadium.
On the kinds of stories that expose the industry he said that poverty caused by tobacco, corruption, health emergency, environment and human rights violations top. He also cited various case studies to drive home his point.
Picking up from there in a presentation on How Tobacco Industry Targets Young People in Africa, Achieng Otieno, founder, Being Africa, said that rising tobacco use especially among African youth is influenced by urbanisation and western cultural imports.
Otieno also said that tobacco and nicotine use have devastating conasequences especially on the health of the smoker and represents a growing burden on healthcare systems across the continent.
He revealed that the youth demographics show that Africa has the world’s largest youth population, making it a prime target for tobacco marketing. There is also a market shift from the west to Africa as a result of declining sales there. The industry is also adopting aggressive marketing tactics, often targeting vulnerable populations.
Weak enforcement of tobacco control laws also allow for continued exploitation of loopholes. He revealed some of the strategies of the industry. They include introduction of flavoured products, social media and street advertising as well as product visibility.
In her presentation on Tobacco and Conflict, Oluchi Joy Robert, a UK-based tobacco control expert, said that the tobacco industry’s history of profiteering from war and crisis spans centuries. Citing an opinion piece published in the British Medical Journal blog in October 2024, she said that the report noted that there are no winners in war, just terrible pain, destruction, and fatalities.
Nevertheless, the tobacco industry continues to make money by taking advantage of humanitarian crises and human suffering, making money in war-torn places while leaving consumers hungry, homeless, and displaced.
Oluchi explained that since World War I (1914-18), tobacco companies have targeted troops with free cigarettes, direct mail, branded merchandise, and “welcome home” events, thereby creating a new market and normalising smoking.
In World War II (1939-1945) cigarettes were included in soldiers’ rations, further solidifying smoking’s popularity.
With the onset of the Cold War (1947-1948) tobacco companies started targeting developing countries, expanding their markets.
She explained that with more recent conflicts in regions like the Middle East and Africa, tobacco companies have been exploiting weak regulations and targeting vulnerable populations. Their approach has only been modified with the distribution of tobacco products and nicotine to soldiers, promotion of tobacco products in countries weakened by conflict, involvement in illicit trade, etc.
She revealed that after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, many large transnational corporations, including tobacco companies, said they would pull out of Russia but Philip Morris International (PMI), British American Tobacco (BAT), and Japan Tobacco International (JTI) did not, prioritising profits over human rights and health.
In May 2024, JTI announced that it would continue its operations in Russia to satisfy investors, despite previously announcing that they were leaving. In 2022, the two companies JTI and PMI earned a whopping $7.9 billion and $7.4 billion in profits, respectively, and paid hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate taxes to Russia – Philip Morris $206 million and Japan Tobacco $193 million respectively.
She also pointed out that, in Ukraine, PMI controls 24 % of the cigarette market.
After temporarily suspending production in 2022, it continued to supply its cigarettes to Ukraine from eight factories located outside the country and by partnering with Imperial Brands which still operates in Ukraine.
In 2024 the UK and Ukraine government agreed to provide cigarettes, nicotine sachets and electronic cigarettes to Ukrainian soldiers who came to train across the Channel. The products were donated by an anonymous international tobacco company, and distributed to the soldiers as part of their rations.
An unnamed source claimed that smoking “poses a smaller threat to these brave soldiers than fighting Putin’s illegal invasion of their country.”
Going further, she said that, in Syria, the civil war since 2011 has led to forced displacement of more than 12 million people disrupting agriculture, yet the country remains a tobacco exporter. In 2023, the World Bank database recorded Syrian exports of cigars or cigarettes to importers Lebanon, Jordan and Qatar.
Also, Yemen, which has been in conflict for nine years, and facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, imported 3,361,440Kg worth of cigarettes in 2019, mostly from the UAE.
Then British ambassador to Yemen attended the opening of a tobacco manufacturing plant jointly owned by the Yemeni government, cigarette manufacturer Kamaran and BAT in late 2019, as revealed by the University of Bath Tobacco Control Research Group.
For journalists in the DRC she said that their area of interest should be that two major tobacco corporations – BAT Congo and Pan African Tobacco Group (PTG) with subsidiary Congo Tobacco Company – operate in the country and across six other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The corporations have significant presence and influence in the DRC tobacco market. Additionally, the DRC government faces challenges in regulating the tobacco industry, with issues such as illicit trade and the need for stronger tobacco control policies.
She urged the journalists to take up the following issues:
The tobacco industry exploits vulnerable situations, including conflicts, to market and promote their products, Targeting of vulnerable populations especially youth, women, and low-income communities with aggressive marketing tactics, Illicit trade, weak regulations, and tobacco in humanitarian settings, among others.
The training was supported by the Development Gateway, an IREX Venture.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, on Thursday, April 24, 2025, announced a ban on the issuance of waivers for the importation of threaded pipes for use in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Dignitaries at the commissioning of Monarch Alloys Limited’s concrete weight coating plant at Ikorodu
The directive, which signals a strong push to support local manufacturing, was handed over to the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) at the commissioning of Monarch Alloys Limited’s concrete weight coating plant at Ikorodu, Lagos State.
The plant has an annual external capacity coating capacity of two million square meters and an internal square meters coating capacity of one million square meters. The facility supports onshore and offshore pipeline requirements where increased line lengths and sea-bed depths demand advanced corrosion protection and deploys full range of coating systems.
The event attracted several dignitaries including the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Owan Enoh, federal legislators and the Secretary to Lagos State Government, Ms. Bimbo Salu-Hundeyin.
In his speech, Lokpobiri emphasised that investments like the Monarch Alloys Limited’s must be patronised, to encourage similar projects in the sector. He underlined the importance of the local content policy to the nation’s economy, assuring that the Federal Government would continue to support manufacturers, with a view to creating jobs in the country.
“We would not allow dumping of pipes or such things anymore, we have a duty to support our industries to grow,” he stressed.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment lauded the promoters of Monarch Alloys Limited’s for decreasing Nigeria’s dependence on importation and expanding the value chain. He said the investment aligned with the agenda of his ministry to promote value addition, job creation and partnership for the growth of the economy.
The investment also serves as a model for continuous collaboration between the private sector and government and created opportunities, he said. Enoh stated further that Nigeria’s economy would only grow through industrialization, assuring that government would continue to provide enabling environment for investments to thrive.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Felix Omatsola Ogbe, commended the investment, noting that it underscored the mandate of the Board.
The facility, he added, aligns with the intent of the Nigerian Content Equipment Certificate (NCEC) – a key instrument under the NOGICD Act, which is issued to manufacturers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) who commit to establishing production in Nigeria for components, equipment and systems used in the oil and gas industry.
The NCDMB boss confirmed that such manufacturers and OEMs are given priority consideration during technical bid evaluations in the oil and gas industry. This means companies like Monarch Alloys are not just contributing to industrialisation but are also positioned to benefit directly from local contracting opportunities, he noted.
He admitted that sourcing critical elements such as pipeline coating from abroad drains both opportunity and value from our economy. He noted the the situation had started to change, with the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act by the NCDMB.
Speaking further, the NCDMB boss remarked that the new facility brings high-performance 3LPE and concrete weight coating capability into the country, delivering not only technical excellence but economic benefit that stays within our borders.
He pointed out that “the economic implications are significant, including job creation, skills development, stimulation of local manufacturing and logistics. Monarch Alloys is not only serving a sectoral need; it is actively contributing to national development.”
He also challenged industry stakeholders, especially operating companies to deepen their collaboration with local players such as Monarch Alloys.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Managing Director of Monarch Alloys Limited, Mr. Atul Chaudhary, confirmed that the company completed the investment within 18 months. He also announced the company’s plans to establish an LSAW pipe mill in the country to meet the needs of the oil and gas industry.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Pakistan‘s Ministry of National Health Services have sounded the alarm over a sharp rise in malaria cases across the country, linking the surge directly to the impacts of climate change.
Pakistani Federal Health Minister, Syed Mustafa Kamal
With more than two million cases reported annually, officials warned that intensified action is urgently needed to contain the growing threat to Pakistan and the wider region.
The warning was issued on the occasion of World Malaria Day, with both WHO and Pakistani authorities calling for a collective push to combat the disease.
“Malaria is a major global threat, and we are seeing first-hand how climate change is increasing both the risk and the cases in our country,” said Federal Health Minister, Syed Mustafa Kamal.
He emphasised that ending malaria is not only a health priority, but also an investment in a safer, healthier, and more equitable future for all nations.
Under the international theme “Reinvest, Reimagine, Reignite,” WHO urged governments, organisations, and communities to step up support for malaria elimination efforts. Pakistan’s battle against malaria was severely impacted by the catastrophic 2022 floods, which triggered an additional 6.6 million cases over the 2022-2024 period.
Cases peaked in 2023 at 2.7 million, a steep rise compared to 399,097 reported in 2021. Consequently, WHO‘s Eastern Mediterranean Region saw malaria cases spike to an estimated 10.2 million in 2023, marking a 137 percent increase since 2015.
Despite the surge, Pakistan has made notable progress over the past decade in malaria prevention and treatment. Working alongside WHO and with funding from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the country screened more than 11.4 million suspected cases and treated 2 million confirmed malaria patients in 2024 alone.
Pakistan also distributed 7.8 million insecticide-treated nets across 22 high-burden districts, which contributed to a decline in cases from 2.7 million in 2023 to 2 million last year.
“WHO is proud to partner with Pakistan to continue saving lives by preventing and treating malaria,” said Dapeng Luo, WHO Representative in Pakistan. However, he warned that climate change is undermining hard-won gains and poses a threat not only to Pakistan but to the entire region.
“We know how to end malaria, and we can do it if all stakeholders invest and work together to reinforce the response and adapt to the new risks triggered by climate change,” he said.
Data collected from 5,575 medical facilities across 80 endemic districts reveals a clear upward trend in malaria cases linked to rising temperatures and frequent floods. Other contributing factors include deepening poverty, limited access to quality diagnostics and treatment, security challenges in Balochistan, the tribal areas, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as gaps in healthcare access in parts of Sindh.
While malaria control efforts have proven effective, experts stressed that sustained, coordinated action will be crucial to overcoming the impacts of climate change, protecting lives, and securing a healthier future for Pakistan.
