Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 25 October 2023

[Bulls n Bears]

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Major International Business Headlines Brief:::  25 October 2023 

 


 

 


 <https://www.nedbank.co.zw/> 

 


 

 


 

ü  Africa: Food Systems in the Spotlight for Change at COP28
#AfricaClimateHope

ü  Africa: In Times of War, Digital Activism Has Power. Here's How to Engage
Responsibly

ü  Ethiopia's Appeal to Gain Sea Access Fosters Mutual Benefits

ü  South Africa: Coal Exporters Asked to Pay Millions to Help Transnet Pay
Debt 

ü  Nigeria: Power Supply Improved, but Challenges Persist At Nyikangbe
Health Clinic

ü  Angola: 'We Could End Up On the Same Road As Angola and Nigeria'

ü  Ethiopia: Banking Services Remain Absent in War-Torn Irob, Tigray Region
Despite Peace Deal

ü  Ethiopia: Working On Lawfulness of Labor Migration to the Middle East

ü  Nigeria: Despite Petrol Subsidy Removal, Crises Linger in Nigeria's
Downstream Sector

ü  Nigerian Oil Industry Is On Steady Growth - Wabote

ü  Nigerian Govt Seeks Home-Grown Solutions to Address Petroleum Industry
Challenges

ü  Instagram sued over harm to young people's mental health

ü  US orders immediate halt to some AI chip exports to China, Nvidia says

ü  Big banks linked to products with pangolin and leopard parts

 


 

 


 <https://www.cloverleaf.co.zw/> Africa: Food Systems in the Spotlight for
Change at COP28 #AfricaClimateHope

Food systems transformation is a critical solution to climate crisis
mitigation and adaptation, reducing food insecurity, and environmental
degradation, according to researchers and representatives from business,
civil society, and indigenous and farmer communities gathered at a virtual
press event.

 

Agriculture and food systems are a major cause of and casualty of the
climate crisis, responsible for roughly one-third of global greenhouse gas
emissions but also losing resilience in the face of climate extremes. Hunger
and malnutrition are on the rise, especially among small-scale producers in
low- and middle-income countries who grow one-third of the world's food.
Additionally, food systems are a major driver of poor health, inequality,
and insecurity.

 

Food systems, which are the way we grow, process, package, transport, and
consume our food, contribute to not only a third of global greenhouse gas
emissions but also many negative environmental and social impacts, said
Patty Fong, the Program director of Climate and Health & Well-being, at The
Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

 

 

"One-third of the food that's produced in the world is either lost or
wasted. Food systems, especially industrialised food systems, are highly
energy-intensive and reliant on fossil fuels throughout the value chain,
from the production and use of pesticides, synthetic fertilisers, and
plastics to the production of crops, fish, meat, and dairy, processing and
transport, distribution, and cooking. Food systems drive 90% of
deforestation and 60% of biodiversity loss. They account for 70% of the
world's freshwater use. And they're a major cause of poor health and
nutrition. Two-thirds of the people living in extreme poverty are
agricultural workers and their families."

 

"Food systems are also a victim of climate change. Climate change is
affecting agricultural productivity, reducing food security, disrupting food
supply chains, and eroding the livelihoods of billions of people," she said.

 

 

"Business as usual is no longer an option," Fong added. "If we want to
provide nutritious food to a growing global population and achieve our
global climate and nature-related goals, we must transform our food
systems."

 

The event exchanged important details on the mounting evidence that supports
this claim, highlighting the interconnectedness of food systems and climate
change. This also comes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the
Russia-Ukraine war, droughts, and heat waves exposing the fragility of our
existing food systems and worsening global food security and hunger.

 

The food sector's contribution is essential to meeting the Paris Agreement
goals. Global food consumption alone could add nearly 1°C to warming by
2100. Food systems are also a major driver of biodiversity loss, with
agriculture being the leading cause of deforestation and habitat
destruction. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has
warned that the world is not on track to meet the long-term goals of the
Paris Agreement, urging decisive action.

 

 

Food systems harm biodiversity, pollute the planet, and sicken people

 

Building on what Fong had already said, Dr. Tim G. Benton, Research Director
of the Environment and Society Programme at Chatham House added that food
systems create huge externalities, or external costs, on people and the
planet. Benton added that about a third of greenhouse gas emissions come
from the food system as a whole, from land use change, driving deforestation
from cattle, and from nitrogen and ammonia used in fertiliser. Overall,
about a third of the surge of greenhouse gases comes from the production of
crops, and about two-thirds comes from animal source food.

 

"Beyond deforestation, about 50% of habitable land is used for agriculture,
of which about half is degraded in some way. Of that land use, about 50% is
used for animal agriculture and about 20% for crops. The biodiversity costs
are multivariate, including intensive monocultural landscapes with no space
for nature, pesticide use, pollution, and a whole range of other different
things."

 

"Food systems are also probably the major cause of pollution on a global
basis. This includes soil runoff from agricultural fields, nitrogen
fertiliser, pesticide runoff into watercourses, and ammonia pollution," he
said. "Ammonia pollution is a major problem because it becomes particulate
matter in the atmosphere, which has a significant health impact, killing
about 5 million people around the world through respiratory problems.
Agriculture is also the major user of water resources across the world. As
patterns of water extraction and supply change due to climate change, this
is increasingly a problem in many parts of the world."

 

"Transforming the food system is front and center in tackling global
environmental and health challenges. To tackle the food system
transformation, we have to think about what is grown, how it's grown, where
it's grown, and how much is grown, and therefore what is consumed," Benton
added. "Transforming the food system is key to tackling climate change,
biodiversity loss, pollution, and human health and well-being."

 

Family farmers are most vulnerable, but also solution providers

 

Millions of people in Africa are already facing the devastating impacts of
climate change, with inadequate funding making the situation even worse. By
2030, up to 118 million people living in extreme poverty in Africa could be
exposed to drought, floods, and extreme heat.

 

Estrella "Esther" Penunia, Secretary General of the Asian Farmers'
Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), asked a poignant
question: who are the most vulnerable and victimised people in the food
system?

 

"We believe that it is family farmers, especially small-scale family
farmers, who are the most vulnerable and impacted by climate change," said
Penunia. "Family farmers depend on agriculture for a living, and agriculture
depends very much on the climate. Unpredictable weather patterns, droughts,
floods, and other extreme weather events can spell disaster for family
farmers' yields and incomes."

 

 

"Climate change can also lead to sudden death for family farmers, especially
during floods. In 2013, Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan)
destroyed 600,000 hectares of agricultural land in the Philippines, causing
$700 million in damage and killing 10,000 people. But even when there are no
sudden deaths, unpredictable weather patterns can have a devastating impact
on family farmers. Less rain and more sun can affect the flowering of
plants, leading to lower yields and incomes," she added.

 

"Despite the challenges, family farmers are stewards of climate resilience.
They are solution providers who are working to adapt to and mitigate climate
change. For example, family farmers are practicing regenerative agriculture,
agroecology, sustainable forest management, and sustainable fisheries
management. These practices can help to improve soil health, increase water
retention, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve biodiversity."

 

"The results of these practices are higher yields, higher incomes, and
empowerment for family farmers. By providing solutions to the climate
crisis, family farmers are able to improve their own lives and the lives of
their communities," added Penunia.

 

"But we need the support of governments, development partners, the private
sector, and civil society organizations. We need favorable policies and
programs to scale up and to scale out the work that we do. To be able to
scale up and scale out the work that we do, we need sufficient financing
that is directed to agriculture and direct financing to small-scale family
farmers. Only 4% of all climate financing goes to agriculture. And only 1.7%
of that goes directly to family farmers. If we can scale this, and have
sufficient direct financing, our organizations and cooperatives can be
effective agents of change," she said.

 

Food Systems at the Center of COP28

 

Professor David Nabarro, Senior Advisor to the COP28 Food Systems Team,
discussed the importance of food systems and the upcoming COP28 summit.

 

COP28 promises to be a watershed moment, with food systems transformation
made a top priority of the presidential action agenda. Farmers, businesses,
and civil society will be coming out in force to support this critical
moment.

 

"I've been working in the area of agriculture and food since 2008, and I've
noticed some really interesting changes taking place in how these issues are
being handled internationally and by individual governments," he said. "For
me, the watershed was in 2021, when the United Nations Secretary-General
invited government leaders to come together and focus on food as a systems
issue. His basic premise was that food is not simple. It's not just about
what we produce and what we eat. Food touches so many aspects of human
existence and the future of our planet that it has to be treated as an
interdependent systems issue."

 

Nabarro stressed the many benefits of food, including nutrition, income
generation for farmers, and its impact on climate and the environment. He
also drew attention to the role of women in food systems, noting that they
make up 75% of food workers but are paid much less than men.

 

"Women work in the food system - 75% of food workers are women - yet they're
paid much less than men. Whatever we look at in food, it's super complex,
but it needs to be untangled. You can't sweep it away," he said.

 

He expressed optimism about the upsurge in interest in working with food
since the 2021 Food Systems Summit. He noted that governments, different
sectors, and scientific disciplines are now working together in new ways to
engage stakeholders fully, including farmers, food workers, and consumers.

 

"Now for the first time, we're going to see food at the centre of one of
these annual COP meetings on climate," he said. "And that's because climate
is damaging food systems. But food systems are also influencing the climate.
For that reason, a declaration has been prepared and heads of state and
government are being invited to sign it."

 

Food systems transformation is a key solution for climate change, and
non-state actors have a critical role to play. We need to urgently scale up
action now, and COP28 is an opportunity to set the trajectory for progress,
added Gonzalo Muñoz, chair of the non-state actors pillar at COP28 and
former UN Climate Change High-Level Champion.

 

"It is brilliant that we've seen rising momentum and energy over the past
few years on food systems, thanks in large part to civil society at COP27
and COP26, and to processes such as the UN Food Systems Summit. But we need
to urgently scale action now, using the opportunity that we have at COP28 to
set the trajectory to COP30 in 2025 when countries will submit their revised
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)."

 

"At COP28, we're launching a non-state actor call to action for transforming
food systems for people, nature, and climate. This call to action welcomes
the Emirates Declaration and supports its implementation. It calls out
explicitly the need to develop targets and metrics by COP29 at the latest,
so we can be able to report on progress. It also calls out the critical need
to respect and value the traditional knowledge of indigenous people and the
local knowledge of farmers, fishers, and other food producers."

 

Diane Holdorf, Executive Vice President of Pathways at the World Business
Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), commended the COP28
presidencies for prioritising agriculture and food systems as key drivers of
climate solutions.

 

"The latest IPCC assessment report, the most authoritative and up-to-date
summary of climate change impacts and mitigation states that agriculture,
forestry, and other land use can deliver large-scale greenhouse gas emission
reductions and enhanced CO2 removal and storage for decades or centuries,"
added Holdorf. "The report concludes that the largest potential emission
management areas are reducing deforestation, adjusting dietary shifts, and
using regenerative agriculture measures such as soil carbon sequestration."

 

"Action is critical not only to mitigate climate change but also to
strengthen resilience and adapt to climate change for the farms on which
farmers and the global food system depend. Businesses are already taking a
lot of action, particularly since the first UN Food Systems Summit," she
said. "A significant focus at COP28 is to accelerate actions on regenerative
agricultural practices, which drives integrated outcomes for climate,
nature, and farmer livelihoods. It also helps to drive the inclusion that is
so necessary for success."

 

The upcoming UN climate change conference, COP28, will be held in Dubai, in
the United Arab Emirates, from November 30 to December 12, 2023.

 

 

 

 

Africa: In Times of War, Digital Activism Has Power. Here's How to Engage
Responsibly

As armed conflict continues to play out in the Israel-Gaza war, a separate
battle is raging to control the narrative being presented to the world.

 

Eyewitness accounts, verified facts and culturally sensitive reporting are
competing with misinformation, political propaganda and irresponsible
journalism.

 

This information warfare has real-world consequences. Pro-Palestinian and
pro-Israeli protests organised through social media have drawn tens of
thousands of people onto the streets, despite anti-protest measures adopted
in some countries.

 

The horrific events of the war, along with responses from across the world,
underscore the dangers of diplomatic inaction. It also raises questions
about the role digital activism plays in shaping the power dynamics that
govern war and politics.

 

Irresponsible messaging fans the flames

 

 

In the Israel-Gaza war, Hamas is spreading propaganda on platforms including
Telegram and X, while Israel's broad propaganda efforts include paid ads
showing images of brutal violence on X and YouTube.

 

Nor can traditional media be blindly considered a reliable source of facts.
Conflict reporting often focuses on specific violent events while ignoring
their context, and news outlets have also made misleading and
unsubstantiated claims in their reporting.

 

At the same time, access for journalists and investigators is extremely
limited and responsibility for events such as the deadly al-Ahli hospital
blast is highly contested and requires more impartial verified evidence.

 

The real-world consequences

 

Violence has spread well beyond Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, many
Palestinians have been killed in attacks by Israeli settlers and forces.

 

 

In the United States, a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy was stabbed to
death and his mother wounded in an Islamophobic, anti-Palestinian attack.

 

In France, a teacher was killed and three students wounded in an Islamist
attack at a school, and the Louvre was evacuated after bomb threats. The
country has enacted its highest state of security alert.

 

In the United Kingdom, Jewish schools have been closed in London and Jewish
institutions across the country have reported a 400% spike in antisemitic
incidents since the war began. In Berlin, violence broke out as petrol bombs
were thrown at a synagogue in an antisemitic attack.

 

What is 'digital activism'?

 

"Digital activism" can be thought of as any digitally enabled form of
activism and political participation. For scholars, however, digital
activism is a conceptual troublemaker that is considered broad, ambiguous
and contested. But its function is especially significant in times of
conflict and war.

 

 

So, does digital activism actually lead to change? What are its
implications, and limitations?

 

Digital activism as a productive force

 

The impacts of digital activism can be varied. In the Black Lives Matter
movement, it was used to articulate counternarratives and reframe major
controversies in ways that engendered social and political action.

 

In the Syrian refugee crisis, digital activism helped galvanise the public
into rapid action. It was also used to coordinate disaster response and
financial assistance in the wake of the 2020 Beirut explosion.

 

Digital activism also helped build collective networks of solidarity and
resistance in social movements such as the 2011 Egyptian uprising and Occupy
Wall Street. In the Russia-Ukraine war, digital activism helped shape
participation in conflict-related mobilisation.

 

And in the context of Israel and Palestine, research has shown digital
activism can influence the opinions of both international and domestic
audiences, which in turn directly affects events on the ground and the
dynamics of conflict.

 

Citizens and public figures have taken to social media platforms to express
outrage and solidarity, perform fact-checking, coordinate aid efforts and
inject cultural and historical nuance into discussions.

 

Online accounts of events allow war to be studied using digital forensics.
They may also become evidence in open-source investigations into human
rights violations, such as those conducted by Bellingcat and Forensic
Architecture.

 

Activists have also used platforms to counter state repression of
information, helping them maintain political autonomy and control how they
are represented. However, these platforms often also become sites of control
and censorship.

 

Digital activism as a weapon

 

While digital activism can serve productive purposes, it can also have
unintended and disastrous consequences. Digital activists on mainstream
social media platforms must navigate a highly complex online landscape.

 

The battle to control the narrative of war in these spaces has become almost
as intense as the physical acts that define war.

 

Digital rights groups monitoring regional social media activity say the
censorship of pro-Palestinian voices is at a level not seen since the May
2021 Israel-Palestine conflict. Researchers say the level of hate speech,
mis- and disinformation on social media is at unprecedented levels. However,
it can't be studied systematically because tools to assess the impact are
not available for independent verification.

 

 

Read more: Social media platforms are complicit in censoring Palestinian
voices

 

There's no shortage of posts using dehumanising language and disinformation
to delegitimise the suffering of Palestinians. And people who rush to
publish content without verifying it can also end up doing harm.

 

How to engage responsibly

 

For those of us bearing witness to the events unfolding, there are ways we
can act responsibly and humanely to maximise benefit and minimise harm.

 

1. Develop critical media literacy skills

 

Before you share something online, verify whether the information is
substantiated. Seek out sources such as Reuters Fact Check, Fake Reporter or
disinformation experts, and develop fact-checking skills through tools and
resources.

 

2. Build your cultural literacy

 

The history of the Israel-Palestine conflict is complex and storied. Digital
activism based on ahistorical and culturally illiterate perspectives is
unhelpful.

 

Before you share a post, take responsibility to educate yourself and reflect
on your biases and knowledge limitations. The roots of this conflict have to
be understood within a specific cultural, colonial and imperial historic
context which dates back to the signing of the Balfour Declaration in 1917.

 

3. Foster tolerance

 

Pluralism and healthy debate are essential for democracy. We should find
ways to have difficult but respectful conversations with people who have
different views to us. It is important to have a media diet that exposes you
to different perspectives. Without tolerance, we can't recognise and
reinforce our collective humanity.

 

Kelly Lewis, Research Fellow in the Australian Research Council Centre of
Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S), and the
Emerging Technologies Lab at Monash University, Monash University

 

 

 

 

Ethiopia's Appeal to Gain Sea Access Fosters Mutual Benefits

Ethiopia's quest for securing access to sea and port diversification is
supported by international development laws to foster mutual benefit,
according to a noted economist.

 

Addis Ababa University Economics Lecturer Birhanu Denu (PhD) told local
media that Ethiopia's pursuit to sea access has the backing of international
development laws and the current geopolitical circumstances. Realizing
access to the sea would ensure mutual benefit and strengthen regional
economic integration.

 

"To overcome economic and inflation challenges, all citizens should support
the government's peaceful and diplomatic access to the sea."

 

Apart from being the seat for international and continental organizations,
Ethiopia provides ample opportunities to mutual growth with coastal
neighbors and it has carried out massive infrastructural projects to ensure
regional economic integration, the economist elaborated Birhanu further
stated that international laws, mainly the United Nations (UN) , insists
member countries to solve the quest to port access via discussion and
negotiation and bring shared economic development. "Our coastal neighbors
could benefit more from Ethiopia by allowing uninterrupted access to the
sea."

 

 

Ethiopia's sea pursuit would provide a great opportunity for neighboring
countries as the former's initiative would bring holistic growth and
prosperity in the Horn of Africa. Meeting Ethiopia's demand, coastal
neighbors are expected to create strong regional partnerships.

 

He urged the media to avail timely and accurate information for the general
public and some interest groups in a bid to curtail the dissemination of
false information regarding Ethiopia's appeal to sea outlets. "The media is
also expected to inform neighboring countries and the international
community to learn about Ethiopia's commitment to handle the issue
diplomatically and peacefully.

 

Ethiopia had been accessing the sea for a long time since the Axumite
kingdom, but it lost direct access to ports in 1991, it was learnt.

 

-Ethiopian Herald.

 

 

 

South Africa: Coal Exporters Asked to Pay Millions to Help Transnet Pay Debt


Major coal exporters in South Africa have been asked to contribute hundreds
of millions of rands to assist Transnet in resolving a logistics crisis
stemming from a dispute with a Chinese locomotive supplier, China Railway
Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), reports News24. Transnet is a state-owned
rail, port and pipeline company. The requested total contribution from the
coal industry is around R1.4 billion. This prepayment is intended to settle
Transnet's outstanding debt to CRRC and release locomotives that have been
withheld. The dispute with CRRC is connected to allegations of corruption
and state capture involving the Chinese company. Transnet's rail performance
has suffered due to a lack of spare parts, resulting in a significant
decline in coal transportation capacity. Coal exporting sources told News24
that  several mining companies had agreed in principle to help, but they
have not yet been asked to actually transfer the funds.

 

 

Convicted Bogus Prasa Engineer Faces Asset Forfeiture

 

Daniel Mtimkulu, a convicted fraudster and a central figure in the South
African state capture scandal involving the Passenger Rail Association of
South Africa (Prasa), faces the potential loss of valuable properties in
Cape Town and Johannesburg as the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) seeks to
recover R8.8 million from him, reports Belinda Pheto in an exclusive News24
report. Mtimkulu was found guilty of misrepresenting his qualifications to
Prasa, leading to a fraudulent increase in his salary. The AFU is targeting
his assets, including a house in Bedfordview, a property in Langebaan
Country Estate in the Western Cape, and another property in Bellville, Cape
Town. The AFU is also pursuing movable assets such as a trailer and a Honda
Civic 4. Chief Justice Raymond Zondo recommended that Mtimkulu and others be
criminally investigated for their role in questionable contracts.

 

Self-Proclaimed Philanthropist Malcolm X Arrested for Corruption

 

Malcolm X, a self-proclaimed philanthropist, has been arrested along with
three police officers on corruption charges, reports IOL. The three
officers, from the Silverton K9 unit and crime intelligence unit, allegedly
demanded R2 million from a woman in exchange for her release, claiming her
passport had fake stamps. Malcolm X is accused of being the middleman in
facilitating the payment. The woman eventually paid R580,000, and her son
was threatened with arrest. The case was reported to the Directorate for
Priority Crime Investigation, leading to the arrest of the accused. They
have appeared in court, and a formal bail application is scheduled for
October 26.

 

-South African news

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Power Supply Improved, but Challenges Persist At Nyikangbe Health
Clinic

After years of enduring epileptic electricity supply, health workers at the
Elizabeth Shaba Maternal and Child Health Clinic in Nyikangbe community,
Chanchaga Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State, said power supply has
improved, making it possible for them to preserve vaccines for use in during
the day. Established in 2008 by the Niger State Ministry of Health, a
Nigeria Health Watch report in July 2022 noted that the facility had
struggled with inadequate electricity, affecting vaccine storage, deliveries
and other services. Recommendations for a solar system installation,
however, remain unfulfilled.

 

Despite the recent improvement in power supply, the clinic still lacks
essential equipment in its laboratory, resulting in women being referred to
other facilities for tests. It also lacks solar fridges and cold boxes,
hindering vaccine storage. This forces staff to collect vaccines from the
distant Kpakungun Primary Health Care Centre (PHC) on the administration
day, causing delays for women, disclosed Hauwa Waziri, the second-in-charge
(2IC) of the facility. Waziri added, "Deliveries in the Nyikangbe community
often happen at night, making it impossible to be attended to due to
consistent blackouts at night."

 

 

Functional toilets for women seeking antenatal care (ANC) and child
vaccination are still nonexistent, as existing ones were repurposed for use
as stores due to plumbing issues. "This situation has deterred some patients
from using the facility for fear of contracting diseases and discomfort in
sharing a toilet with a security man," lamented Waziri. Zainab Aliyu, a
resident, expressed her frustration, highlighting that while she appreciates
the health workers, the facility suffers shortages in staff and laboratory
equipment. "Many community members opt to travel to Kpakungun for testing as
they doubt the clinic's laboratory's ability to provide accurate results due
to inadequate equipment," explained Aliyu.

 

 

However, Halimat Mustapha, a resident and long-time patron of the facility
for over three years, shared that she continues to use it due to its
proximity and her husband's preference for it over the distant Kpakungun
PHC. Addressing these challenges is crucial to improving healthcare access
and delivery in Nyikangbe community. Beyond commending the healthcare
workers at the Elizabeth Shaba Maternal and Child Health Clinic, residents
of the Nyikangbe community are demanding that the facility's service
delivery reach its full potential through the following:

 

Install solar-powered systems, refrigerators and coolers to store vaccines.

Repair and reopen the unused toilets, as the current building lacks proper
facilities, discouraging patients. The existing squat toilet is meant for
the security staff.

Equip the clinic with laboratory facilities to prevent pregnant women from
travelling long distances for tests.

 

-Nigeria Health Watch.

 

 

 

 

Angola: 'We Could End Up On the Same Road As Angola and Nigeria'

Graham Hopwood, the excutive director of the Institute for Public Policy
Research (IPPR), says unless Namibia takes measures to safeguard the
upstream petroleum sector from corrupt influences, the country risks
following in the footsteps of Angola and Nigeria.

 

He said this in response to a statement presidential spokesperson Alfredo
Hengari released on Sunday, rejecting concerns over president Hage Geingob's
reputation due to his association with convicted fraudster AJ Ayuk.

 

"We want to ring-fence the upstream petroleum sector from corrupt
influences. We have to do that now, otherwise we will end up going down the
same road as Angola and Nigeria," Hopwood says.

 

 

The concern is that Namibia runs the risk of experiencing the 'oil curse',
which Angola and Nigeria are suffering, he says.

 

Despite being the two largest oil producers in sub-Saharan Africa, both
countries still grapple with substantial social, economic and political
challenges - largely due to corruption and poor governance.

 

Hopwood says Hengari failed to address this in his statement in which he
criticised Hopwood and various analysts cautioning that Geingob's acceptance
of a recent lifetime achievement award from the African Energy Chamber
(AEC), led by Ayuk, could open the door to corruption in Namibia's oil
industry.

 

Ayuk was convicted of fraud in 2007 for impersonating a United States (US)
congressman, whom he worked for at the time.

 

Ayuk denies all allegations against him.

 

"These allegations are false and have been debunked many times," Ayuk has
said through African Energy Chamber (AEC) spokesperson Gradie Mbono
previously.

 

 

This comes amid Namibia's emergence as an attractive oil and gas investment
hub, propelled by five significant oil and gas field discoveries between
2022 and this year.

 

Concerns over Geingob's association with Ayuk and the AEC deepend when a
recent report by The Namibian disclosed that the Ministry of Mines and
Energy had sought Ayuk's counsel in the assessment and revision of Namibian
petroleum contracts.

 

"My argument remains that it's not advisable to take legal advice or accept
awards from people with fraud convictions. It would seem obvious," Hopwood
says.

 

Concerns regarding Geingob's connections with Ayuk were exacerbated by his
prior associations with contentious figures, including Ernest Adjovi, who
has been linked to N$23 million related to the controversial Kora Awards,
and Jack Huang, who is entangled in N$1 billion worth of tax evasion
charges.

 

"The Presidency is of the conviction that there is nothing that should
concern Mr Hopwood about the legacy of president Geingob. Therefore, he can
store his futile concerns in a box somewhere," Hengari said.

 

He said Geingob's legacy as a freedom fighter and as a post-independence
leader is solid.

 

"That in itself is a result of wisdom and leadership pedigree. Therefore,
the concerns of Mr Hopwood are mislaid, and the president does not need
lectures from Mr Hopwood on which awards to accept," Hengari said.

 

He said while there will be criticism from Hopwood and other experts, the
majority of Namibians can witness a resurgent country, which "is the poster
child of processes, systems and institutions that promote and facilitate
investments in key sectors of the economy, including energy".

 

"The facts of the African Energy Week speak for themselves, where president
Hage Geingob was conferred an award in recognition of his stellar
contributions to the energy sector through the development of a world-class
energy mix, which include green hydrogen and the discovery of oil and gas,"
Hengari said.

 

-Namibian.

 

 

 

 

Ethiopia: Banking Services Remain Absent in War-Torn Irob, Tigray Region
Despite Peace Deal

Addis Abeba — People in Irob, a northeastern district of Tigray, have been
facing the absence of banking services since the war broke out between the
federal government and the Tigray Liberation Front (TPLF) in November 2020.
The closure has continued even after the signing of the Pretoria Peace
Agreement in November 2022.

 

Residents in Irob, a minority group in the Tigray region that shares a
border with Eritrea, have been isolated from the rest of Tigray due to
security concerns. Currently, four kebeles in Irob are under the control of
Eritrean troops, making it challenging to provide and access public services
as well as deliver humanitarian aid.

 

Fana Abrha, a mother of five residing in Dawhan, the administrative seat of
Irob woreda, expressed her difficulties in accessing banking services since
the war started three years ago. She mentioned that she would have to travel
over 50 kilometers from Dawhan to Adigrat city to access banking services,
which also poses a security risk since parts of Irob are under the control
of Eritrean troops.

 

 

Previously, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Lion International Bank, and
Dedebit Microfinance Institution provided banking services but have been
unable to reopen their services, even after the peace agreement.

 

Fana further explained that if a family member sent money from anywhere,
including outside of the country, they would have to travel to Adigrat city,
incurring transportation costs of over 300 birr. Due to security issues and
difficult roads, girls, women, and elderly individuals are unable to travel.
Fana emphasized the urgent need for reopening banking services and other
related public services, as the people of Irob are suffering from
unnecessary expenses.

 

Eyasu Misgina, the head of the Irob woreda administration, informed Addis
Standard that the absence of banking services in Irob has caused residents
to struggle to access their own money, despite the woreda administration's
efforts. The woreda administration wrote a letter addressed to the Mekelle
District Office of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE). However, Eyasu
says banking services have not yet commenced.

 

 

Gebreyesus Bisrat, a former branch manager of the CBE in Dawhan who now
works at the Adigrat branch, revealed that the Dawhan branch couldn't reopen
even after the peace deal due to security issues in the area. He stated that
the branch suffered a loss amounting to over seven million birr during the
war, and it would be difficult to deploy human resources for security
reasons since Eritrean armed forces control parts of Irob.

 

Last month, Addis Standard reported that despite the signing of the Pretoria
Peace Deal in November 2022, Eritrean forces continue to engage in abducting
civilians and perpetrating sexual violence in the northeastern part of the
Tigray region, particularly in the Irob woreda. Officials have reported that
more than 28 youths have been abducted in this area within the past ten
months.

 

-Addis Standard.

 

 

 

 

Ethiopia: Working On Lawfulness of Labor Migration to the Middle East

Labor migration from Ethiopia to the Middle East is not a new phenomenon.
Demand for labor has been increasing in Middle East which has led to labor
migration in these countries. According to Bina Fernandez (PhD), Associate
Professor in Development Studies in the School of Social and Political
Sciences, agencies that facilitate the movement of workers have contributed
to the female dominated Ethiopian labor migration.

 

The narrative about this migration by the international media and literature
is overwhelmingly negative. They wrote about young impressionable migrant
women facing desperate economic situations. They underlined that they have
been deceived by human traffickers into rude and abusive working conditions.
As Anne Kubai et.al, associate professor of World Christianity and
Interreligious studies put it; they had to return to Ethiopia with broken
spirits, perhaps broken bodies, and little to show for it.

 

 

Observers added that labor migration is affecting a lot of young people who
are forced out, cheated by the human traffickers. This has created an
immense socio-economic problem to the country. Despite the information on
the risks of labor migration to the Middle East, young Ethiopian women
continue to move there. Particularly, the rural young women decide to
migrate to the Middle East as domestic workers after being influenced by
labor traffickers.

 

Studies reveal that the desire to migrate arises at a particular moment in
the transition from adolescence into adulthood. This is particularly true
when the local situations before them are not promising avenues to achieve
their life time aspirations. These aspirations are, however, facilitated by
the migration industry that lowers the costs and constraints of leaving the
country of origin. The industry promises the young Ethiopians a significant
capital and change in their socioeconomic status. This shows that migration
to the Middle East is implanted within a wide segment of the youth across
Ethiopia.

 

 

The good life for the rural women is no longer in the village. They move to
the urban center that demands huge amount of resources. In rural Ethiopia,
migration experts assert that the Middle East is often a "short-term,
long-distance strategy" to finance their needs.

 

The migration of Ethiopian women to Middle Eastern countries is part of a
global picture in the international labor migration of women for domestic
work. Domestic workers receive significant attention by the agency of labor
migration as women use it to pass through this corridor. In a research work
on Ethiopian domestic workers in the Middle East, the idea of "trafficking"
is widely and freely applied.

 

 

Some studies make distinctions between regular migration, trafficking, and
smuggling. Mostly, however, trafficking becomes synonymous with informal
labor migration. It is used to describe the experience of domestic workers
who face exploitation irrespective of their legal status. It makes a
compelling case to describe this migration, particularly when it concerns
adolescent girls, in terms of trafficking.

 

Even among minors, migration to the Middle East may be regarded as a means
to improve their opportunities for school and work and to achieve a better
and secure future. Many adolescents move willingly and freely for economic
reasons. It is also argued that family pressure, poverty and limited local
employment opportunities force migration of the youth. Also, reliance on
illegal dealers who provide limited information causes the exploitation of
girls at the country of destination. The persistent frame of migration
consists of both "forced and voluntary" ones.

 

In the case of Ethiopian women migrating to the Middle East face limited
choices, exploitation, and abuses that call for legal protection. Because
human trafficking is obviously appalling, it deserves political action to
assist the migrants. However, individual migrants have the capacity to
develop their aspiration and capability to migrate anywhere. The aspiration
to migrate refers to the conviction that migration is "preferable" to
staying in the country of origin.

 

The objective of migration is more specific such as access to education,
marriage, or work, all of which emerge out of visions for better life. More
than the simple cost-benefit analyses, "aspirations" capture the subjective
hopes and goals that guide decision-making processes. Aspirations to migrate
are shaped by greater socio-cultural norms and improved standard of living.
Because aspirations are "socially grounded," they indicate the value-systems
within which people make decisions to migrate. Aspirations and the social,
economic, and cultural forces allow migrants to make decisions on their
future path.

 

Researchers on migration capture the forces that influence the decisions of
migrants. While there is nothing wrong with the cost-benefit analysis in the
decision-making of migrants, problems arise when "costs" and "benefits" are
defined. Identifying costs within a narrow economic frame is not realistic
because it ignores the social context within which migration decision-making
takes place. Aspirations in migration, for example, reveal the values and
desires that determine an individual cost-benefit analysis.

 

The costs that force the individual to migrate are on balance with the
benefits that accrue to the migrant. Moreover, "capability" of the
individual migrant to have the resources and opportunities to overcome
constraints determine the fulfillment of aspirations. In contrast to
maximizing income, consumption, and happiness, "capabilities" vary from
person to person, shaped by gender, education, social class, wealth,
networks, and social norms.

 

Aspirations depend on skills, ability, dexterity, talent, and gift that
support an individual migrant. This is true for Ethiopians working in the
Middle East in different occupations. If they lack the required skills it
can lead them to adjust their aspirations accordingly. The high wages they
aspired for may have to be adjusted based on the demand for their skills at
the workplace. The broad aspirations of Ethiopian migrants and the
capabilities required to achieve them determine their demand for higher
wages and good working conditions. Also, the aspirations of the young
Ethiopians and what they are capable to do and to be as migrants to the
Middle East is the only viable way to realize a better life.

 

 

The migrant women find the way to the limited opportunities for their
personal advancement. This is confirmed by studies on rural areas that
experienced relatively rapid migration to the urban towns and new forms of
international movement. Unlike many other areas of Ethiopia, international
migration is not yet a strong aspiration of "young men" in the rural
districts. However, for women, international migration is increasingly
viable, particularly to the Middle East for domestic work.

 

Studies have been conducted to understand the internal and international
migration patterns and what social changes drove their modalities. These
studies helped to evaluate what demographic characteristics are associated
with various forms of mobility. Those included in these studies have been
Ethiopian returnees who had worked in the Middle East. They consisted of
different groups in terms of age, sex, migration and experiences.

 

The studies reflected histories of migrants to determine what forms of
mobility characterized their past, present, and future. This helped to
understand how migration abroad as compared to local mobility affected
family members, siblings, husbands, women who had not left but wanted to.
Most women who have not left and never wanted to think of migration to the
Middle East have also been covered by these studies. Thus, the studies have
covered three types of workers: migrants, returnees and non-migrants to have
a clear picture of causes and effects of migration. They have also covered
community leaders, government workers, and women.

 

Studies on migration experiences generated a deeper understanding of the
social forces that shaped migration. These are the aspirations of
adolescents, the opportunities and constraints women encounter in the Middle
East. As poorer countries experience the social change associated with
development, economic growth and diversification, more people tend to leave
the rural areas. Also, with the expansion of formal education, improved
infrastructure and communication, declining mortality rates and a rising
young population, and greater gender equality, more people begin to move to
urban centers.

 

Researchers confidently claim that as low-income countries move toward
middle- and upper-income status, the share of the population living in urban
areas grows. This stimulates an increase in international migration.

 

Though there are variations in the timing, nature, and degree of movement,
mobility seems to be a common experience in "developing" countries. Studies
show that Ethiopia is in the midst of a migration transition. Ethiopians
have always been mobile, but their mobility was initially rural-rural. In
recent years, however, rural-urban and urban-urban migration trends replaced
rural-rural migration as the most common modes of movement within Ethiopia,
observed Sonja Fransen, a research fellow at the Maastricht School of
Governance.

 

Though Ethiopia has a long history of regional cross-border mobility due to
trade, religious ties, and political conflict, more Ethiopians are now
moving as labor migrants to an increasing number of international
destinations. The number of female migrants leaving for the Middle East has
been rising exponentially in recent decades. Irregular migration is
estimated to be rising thereby raising the movement of female workers.
Despite rising rates of rural-urban and international movement, most
Ethiopians remain in rural areas.

 

The young Ethiopians in the rural areas aspire for an urban future, as a
consequence of rising access to formal education. Also, with increase in
family size the economic and social constraints on small-holder farmer
become stronger leading to migration to towns. The expansion of market
forces have push and pull effects on rural labor force. Shortage of viable
economic opportunities pushes job-seekers to urban areas. It also leads to
rising demand for laborers, pulling them to urban areas.

 

The development process that concentrates economic and educational
opportunities in urban areas affects the rural-urban migration. However,
studies reveal that for many rural youth in Ethiopia, aspirations have
shifted toward urban centers faster than the opportunities to realize them.
As a result, many young people remain in rural areas. They are
"involuntarily immobile" aspiring to leave, but lacking the capability to do
so.

 

The consolidation of a "migration system" between Ethiopia and Middle
Eastern countries introduced the capability to migrate internationally for
rural women. This system comprises of brokers, agencies, and networks that
lowers the costs and constraints of the Ethiopian labor migration. However,
the government has recently introduced a policy and program that protect the
rights of Ethiopian migrant workers against illegal human traffickers.

 

-Ethiopian Herald.

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Despite Petrol Subsidy Removal, Crises Linger in Nigeria's
Downstream Sector

The crises hampering operations in the oil sector linger as Nigerians
continue to lament the ripple effect of high pump prices.

 

Five months after the Bola Tinubu administration removed subsidy on petrol,
major crises bedeviling the petroleum sector continue with ripple effects on
the livelihood of Nigerians.

 

President Tinubu had, in his inaugural address on 29 May, announced the
removal of the subsidy, to lift a major financial burden off the back of the
government.

 

The Nigerian government had for decades subsidised and fixed retail prices
of petroleum products.

 

The payment, however, threatened the nation's fiscal position and affected
the government's ability to fund developmental projects.

 

Last year, over N4 trillion was used to subsidise petrol, more than the
government spent on education and healthcare combined.

 

Speaking during his inauguration, Mr Tinubu said the petrol subsidy regime
was not sustainable.

 

 

He also stated that funds for the subsidy will be diverted to other things
like public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs.

 

Apart from helping to save public funds, the removal of the subsidy was also
expected to allow for more private-sector operators in the petrol sector
including in the importation of the product.

 

Following the announcement, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited
(NNPCL) directed its outlets nationwide to sell fuel between N480 and N570
per litre, an almost 200 per cent increase from the initial price below
N200, leading to a significant increase in transportation fares and prices
of goods and services.

 

The pronouncement was trailed by panic buying and gridlock across filling
stations in many parts of the country, even as regulatory bodies called for
calm amid the chaos.

 

Again in July, petrol pump prices rose to about N617 per litre at various
outlets of the NNPCL in Abuja and many parts of the country.

 

 

At the time, the NNPCL attributed the rise in prices to 'market forces'.

 

The NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, explained that with the
deregulation of the oil sector, market realities will force the price of
petrol up sometimes and at other times force it down.

 

NNPCL has since 2016 been the sole importer of PMS in Nigeria. But on 15
June, the company announced it was no longer the sole supplier of petroleum
products in the country.

 

The development came months after the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream
Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said it was fast-tracking the
process of issuing oil marketers licenses to import petroleum products in
its bid to break the monopoly of the NNPCL in compliance with the Petroleum
Industry Act (PIA) 2021.

 

On 19 July, Emadeb Energy Services Limited imported the first batch of
petrol of about 27 million litres into the country.

 

 

According to the company, the product came into the country in a cargo
valued at over $17 million with huge foreign exchange components.

 

Speaking in Lagos at an event to mark the inaugural importation of petrol
into the country by Emadeb Energy, the Chief Executive Officer of the
company, Adebowale Olujimi, said the company had proven its capacity and
readiness to actively play its part in ensuring steady product supply in the
country.

 

He noted that despite the removal of petroleum subsidy, local refining
remained the best option for the country to guarantee energy security,
considering the huge foreign exchange implication of the imported products.

 

"The value of this cargo here, you cannot find it in the market just like
that. It is over $17 million, and you can't, in any way, with what the FX is
today. Today, we have imported 27 million litres of PMS, but local refining
is the way forward for us in this country.

 

"We want to be one of the early comers into this game. In conjunction with
some of our trading partners, we decided to source for the licences and that
is what has brought us here today," Arise TV quoted Mr Olujimi as saying.

 

But contrary to public expectations, in recent days, there have been
speculations that the government had partly reintroduced petrol subsidy,
unannounced, to keep the pump price at N617 given the continued fall in the
value of naira against the dollar and the price of crude oil in the
international market.

 

Since Nigeria depends on imported refined products, the exchange rate is a
key determiner of the prices they are sold to consumers.

 

In August, Mr Tinubu assured Nigerians that there would be no further
increase in the pump price of petrol, despite the deregulation of the
product.

 

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale,
disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja after a closed-door
meeting with the president.

 

"The president wishes to assure Nigerians, following the announcements by
the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) just yesterday, that
there will be no increase in the pump price of petroleum motor spirit
anywhere in the country," the spokesperson said. "We repeat, the president
affirms that there will be no increase in the pump price of petroleum motor
spirit."

 

Mr Tinubu also acknowledged that there are inefficiencies within the
downstream sector that are contributing to the fuel price controversy. He
assured that all loopholes associated with the smooth delivery of petroleum
products in the country will be addressed immediately.

 

 

Meanwhile, on 6 October, the National President of the Petroleum and Natural
Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Festus Osifo, insisted
that the Nigerian government had restored the subsidy on petrol, despite the
official government policy of ending the subsidy regime.

 

Mr Osifo, who is also the president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), one
of Nigeria's two largest workers union coalitions, while featuring on a
Channels Television programme, Politics Today, said due to the cost of crude
oil in the international market and the exchange rate, the government still
pays subsidies on petrol.

 

"The government has to come clean. In reality today, there is a subsidy
because as of when the earlier price was determined, the price of crude in
the international market was somewhere around less than $80 to a barrel. But
today, it has moved to about $93/94 per barrel for Brent crude. So, because
it has moved, then the price (of petrol) also needed to move," Mr Osifo
said.

 

In its reaction, NNPCL however said the Nigerian government has not resumed
payment of subsidy on petrol.

 

"No subsidy whatsoever. We are recovering our full cost from the products
that we import. We sell to the market and we understand why the marketers
are unable to import," Mr Kyari told State House correspondents after a
meeting with the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

 

"We hope that they do it very quickly and these are some of the
interventions the government is doing. There is no subsidy."

 

In the midst of the uncertainties, many of the crises hampering smooth
operations in the oil sector linger as Nigerians continue to lament the
ripple effect of skyrocketed pump prices.

 

Forex crisis

 

Over the past four months, the naira has depreciated by over 50 per cent at
both the authorised and unauthorised market segments, after the Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN) announced in June that it had collapsed all forex windows
into the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window.

 

The move, according to the central bank, is part of the Nigerian
government's efforts to improve liquidity and stability in the market and
attract foreign investors into the Nigerian economy.Although the policy was
widely applauded as well-intentioned and necessary, it has put additional
pressure on the local currency and manufacturers, with ripple effects on
domestic prices.

 

Oil marketers that had allocations to import and supply petroleum products
are unable to do so due to scarcity of foreign exchange.

 

Some fuel marketers said they are hardly able to access dollars and open
letters of credit for their imports.

 

Speaking at the National Executive Council meeting of the Natural Oil and
Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA) in October, Benneth Korie, the
national president of the association, said many petroleum products depots
are currently deserted due to a lack of products caused by foreign exchange
rate volatility.

 

"Depot owners are so terribly affected by the increasing cost of crude oil
and exchange rate, to the extent that many depots are practically deserted
as their owners are unable to secure bank loans to fund their business due
to high-interest rates.

 

"Banks are not willing to guarantee funds release to stakeholders as a
result of the difficulty, instability and galloping rates of foreign
exchange and high cost of the dollar. Many depots are presently dried up or
out of stock, and this is no gainsaying as it is evidently verifiable.

 

"Worst hit are filling stations whose owners find it extremely difficult to
secure funds to procure products for their retail outlets. Both the
independent and major marketers are so terribly affected," Mr Korie said at
the time.

 

NNPCL recently confirmed it has returned to being the sole importer of
petrol in the country.

 

Mr Kyari who disclosed this during the Energy Labour Summit organised by the
Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in
Abuja said licensed private oil companies are unable to obtain foreign
exchange for importation.

 

"We are the only company importing premium motor spirit (PMS) into the
country.

 

"None of them (oil companies) can do it today. For them, access to foreign
exchange is difficult. We create foreign exchange (FX), therefore we have
access to FX, while their access to FX is limited," Mr Kyari said.

 

Crude oil

 

Crude oil and refined petroleum products are subject to the volatility in
the international oil market, and a spike in crude oil price directly
impacts retail prices of refined petroleum products at filling stations.

 

Recently, due to global economic uncertainties, crude oil prices have
fluctuated, with direct impacts on the retail petroleum product prices.

 

On 3rd October, the prices of crude oil fell more than two per cent.

 

Brent crude oil futures were down $2.02, or 2.22 per cent, to $88.90 a
barrel at 1228 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) fell
$2.10, or 2.35 per cent, to $87.13 per barrel, Reuters reported.

 

In many cases when the global oil price falls, Nigerians do not usually
benefit.

 

The fall raises more concerns for Nigeria at a time when the country faces
severe revenue problems, pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft in its
oil-producing region.

 

Earlier in September, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen
Abbas, said Nigeria lost N16.25 trillion to crude oil theft between 2009 and
2020.

 

He said crude oil theft had hampered the growth of the country's oil
production, with between five and 30 per cent of crude oil production lost
daily.

 

Distribution Challenges

 

In recent weeks, this newspaper noticed that many petrol stations in the
Federal Capital Territory, Abuja were shut, resulting in long queues at the
few outlets that were selling.

 

Petrol marketers attributed it to the inability to secure funds to run their
businesses.

 

"As of today, filling stations are shutting down in great numbers on a daily
basis and dealers are going out of business, with many more on the verge of
bankruptcy because of their inability to secure funds to facilitate orders
for their stations," Mr Korie said earlier in October.

 

The NMDPRA and other relevant organisations in the oil sector had recently
announced moves to resolve the major challenges faced in the importation and
distribution of petroleum products across the country.

 

Speaking to journalists in Abuja after a meeting at the headquarters of the
NMDPRA, the operators said they seamlessly discussed the issues hampering
the distribution of petroleum products in the country and came out with
results.

 

According to the operators, the meeting was convened to address the major
challenges faced by the oil marketers which include foreign exchange
scarcity for the importation of petroleum products, non-functional
refineries, banks' refusal to provide loans, and bad roads across Nigerian
cities.

 

On the foreign exchange challenges faced by marketers, Mr Ahmed explained
that engagement had been ongoing with the CBN in that direction to make the
dollar available.

 

"We have been discussing with the government and if you must have observed
that a lot of work is going on within the CBN in terms of their internal
restructuring which will make available the dollar as soon as everything
stabilises," he said.

 

"We are also working towards improvement in crude oil production, which will
bring more revenue into the country and then, of course, boost our foreign
reserves. These are all part of the factors that we are all working on
towards stabilising the naira."

 

-Premium Times.

 

 

 

Nigerian Oil Industry Is On Steady Growth - Wabote

Mr Wabote, an engineer gave the assessment on Monday while delivering the
keynote address at the 3rd Biennial International Conference on Hydrocarbon
Science and Technology, organised by the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI)
in Abuja

 

The Nigerian oil and gas industry is growing steadily across several fronts
despite reduced investments due to the global quest for cleaner energy and
divestments of some onshore and shallow assets by a few international oil
companies, the Executive Secretary Nigerian Content Development and
Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Kesiye Wabote has said.

 

Mr Wabote, an engineer gave the assessment on Monday while delivering the
keynote address at the 3rd Biennial International Conference on Hydrocarbon
Science and Technology, organised by the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI)
in Abuja, with the theme "The Future of the Oil and Gas Industry:
Opportunities, Challenges, and Development."

 

 

He identified the industry's positive trends to include the growth of oil
reserves, gas production, gas utilisation, local refining, and skills
acquisition, noting that they "portend great opportunities for the future of
the oil and gas industry in Nigeria."

 

He suggested that the manifestation of these trends and projections could
lead to Nigeria achieving zero crude oil export and becoming a gas-powered
economy, which translates to the socio-economic development of the nation.

 

According to him, achieving zero crude oil export would mean that Nigeria
fully refines all the oil produced from our fields and exports excess
refined products, noting that the impact on in-country value addition will
be massive on our GDP.

 

 

He expressed optimism that Nigeria would meet the target in view of the
various refining investments such as the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote
refinery, the Bua group refinery project, Waltersmith modular refinery,
Duport Midstream refinery, OPAC Refinery, Edo Refinery, Aradel Holdings
refinery as well as the existing 445,000 barrels per day capacity from the
Kaduna, Warri, and Port Harcourt refineries.

 

The realization of these projects would culminate in Nigeria achieving a
combined refining capacity of approximately 1.5 million barrels per day by
2025, he added.

 

Dwelling on the growth trends in gas, the Executive Secretary stated that
Nigeria's proven gas reserves stand at 208.83 TCF, although the nation's gas
production had dropped from an average of 4.8billion standard cubic feet per
day in 2020 to 4.3bscf/day in 2022.

 

He stated that the renewed focus on gas production and utilization of gas
within the declared Decade of Gas programme, coupled with the various
upstream and midstream gas development projects would turn the tide and lead
to a 50% increase in the volume of gas that will be produced and utilized
in-country. Some of the projects on the cards include H-block gas
development projects, NLNG Train 7 project, UTM Offshore Limited's Floating
LNG project, and other mini-LNG and CNG projects.

 

 

This envisioned outcome, he said, would lead to the nationwide adoption of
gas for power generation, domestic cooking, Autogas, and utilization in
methanol, fertilizer production, and other industrial applications, with
Nigeria harnessing the vast potential of its natural gas reserves.

 

Delivering his remarks at the event, the Minister of State for Petroleum
Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri challenged participants at the
conference to develop homegrown solutions to the challenges facing the
Nigerian oil and gas industry, some of which are pipeline vandalism and low
productivity. He mandated all the agencies in the Ministry of Petroleum
Resources to collaborate closely to invent relevant technological solutions
needed to address challenges in the industry. He reiterated that all efforts
must be directed towards increasing Nigeria's crude oil production and
enhancing revenue from crude oil sales.

 

Also making a presentation, the Secretary General of the African Petroleum
Producers Organisation (APPO), Dr. Farouq Ibraham recognised that the energy
landscape was evolving and emphasized the dual imperatives of sustainability
and innovation. He articulated the pivotal role that the oil and gas
industry must play in shaping a responsible, low-carbon energy future while
navigating a dynamic world of opportunities and challenges.

 

The APPO scribe further underscored the significance of collaborative
research and development among African oil-producing nations, with the goal
of driving transformative solutions and ensuring safe, efficient, and
environmentally conscientious hydrocarbon operations.

 

-Premium Times.

 

 

 

 

Nigerian Govt Seeks Home-Grown Solutions to Address Petroleum Industry
Challenges

"My expectation is for us to come up with our home-grown solution to address
our problem in the petroleum industry," an official said.

 

Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) on
Monday charged stakeholders and experts in Nigeria's oil and gas industry to
come up with home-grown solutions to the myriad of problems bedevilling the
country's oil and gas sector.

 

Mr Lokpobiri gave the charge in his address at the 3rd Biennial
International Conference on Hydrocarbon Science and Technology (ICHST)
tagged "The Future of the Oil and Gas Industry: Opportunities, Challenges
and Development" held in Abuja on Monday.

 

 

In recent years, Nigeria has failed to meet OPEC production quotas.

 

The country has recorded a surge in pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft
incidents in its oil-producing region, a development that worsened the
nation's revenue challenge.

 

To curb crude theft, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL)
launched an application in August last year to monitor the incidence of
theft and vandalism.

 

The NNPCL also awarded a multibillion naira pipeline surveillance
procurement to a former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger
Delta, Government Ekpemupolo.

 

Speaking on Monday, Mr Lokpobiri urged oil experts to come up with
home-grown solutions to address petroleum industry challenges.

 

"My expectation is for us to come up with our home-grown solution to address
our problem in the petroleum industry. You will agree with me that in
Nigeria today, we have so many problems developing the oil industry
beginning with pipeline vandalization, oil theft, low productivity and we
can't even meet our OPEC quota," Mr Lokpobiri said.

 

 

"As a ministry, our expectation is that all the agencies in the ministry,
beginning with PTI to Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) to NNPCL,
to Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to Nigerian
Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA)."

 

He said all parastatals will be able to collaborate and evolve relevant
technology needed to be able to address the country's local oil and gas
production problems.

 

"Nobody will come here and find solutions to our own problem and the
solution to the problem in the Middle East may not be the solution to the
problem here.

 

"And that is why from time to time, it is important that you the experts
come together and therefore share ideas on how we can address our problems
in the industry.

 

"My expectation is that at the end of this two day conference, we will be
able to have a document that is implementable, not academic," he added.

 

On his part, Minister of State Petroleum Resources, (Gas) Ekperikpe Ekpo,
said it was imperative to focus on tackling the issues of energy transition,
sustainability and energy security, which will guarantee that Nigeria
maximizes the value from her abundant gas resources.

 

Mr Ekpo remarked that recent world events like the Russia-Ukraine conflict,
had accentuated the fragile nature of the dynamics of energy demand and
supply.

 

Last month, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Nigeria's
crude oil production climbed to 1,269 million barrels per day in August 2023
from 1,171 million in July 2023.

 

Nigeria's August crude production was 98,000 barrels higher than its July
production figure as it continues to recover from a heavily disrupted crude
sector plagued by oil theft and pipeline vandalism.

 

The Nigerian government had said it is targeting 2 million barrels per day
(bdp) of crude oil production by the end of the year.

 

-Premium Times.

 

 

 

Instagram sued over harm to young people's mental health

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has been accused of
misleading the public about the risks of using social media and contributing
to a mental health crisis among youth.

 

The claims were made in a federal lawsuit, which was announced by dozens of
US states.

 

They say the company used addictive features to "ensnare" users, while
concealing the "substantial dangers" of its platforms.

 

Meta said it was "disappointed".

 

The lawsuit said Meta had broken consumer protection laws by engaging in
"deceptive" conduct.

 

It also said that the company collected data on children under the age of
13, flouting its obligations under the Children's Online Privacy Protection
Act.

 

"Social media companies, including Meta, have contributed to a national
youth mental health crisis and they must be held accountable," said New York
Attorney General Letitia James, one of 33 attorneys general who signed the
lawsuit.

 

Another nine states also made similar claims in lawsuits of their own.

 

A spokesperson for Meta said the company shared the commitment of the
attorneys general to "providing teens with safe, positive experiences
online" and had "already introduced over 30 tools to support teens and their
families".

 

"We're disappointed that instead of working productively with companies
across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many
apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path," the
spokesperson added.

 

Meta, and other social media companies, already face hundreds of lawsuits in
the US filed by families, young people and school districts over the impact
on mental health.

 

This marks the biggest action to date.

 

It follows an investigation in to the company's practices in 2021 by several
state prosecutors, after a whistleblower, Frances Haugen, testified in the
US that the company knew its products could harm children.

 

That Instagram is damaging to young peoples' mental health is contested by
Meta.

 

"It is simply not accurate that this research demonstrates Instagram is
"toxic" for teen girls", Pratiti Raychoudhury, vice president and head of
research at Meta said at the time.

 

"The research actually demonstrated that many teens we heard from feel that
using Instagram helps them when they are struggling with the kinds of hard
moments and issues teenagers have always faced", Ms Raychoudhury said.

 

There are studies that do suggest that Facebook's growth is not linked to
psychological harm.

 

But there is also plenty of research that has found spending long periods of
time on social media can have a detrimental impact on young peoples' mental
health.

 

In the UK, a coroner looking at the death of Molly Russell concluded the
schoolgirl died while suffering from the "negative effects of online
content".

 

The states are seeking financial damages and a halt to Meta's alleged
harmful practices.

 

Large portions of the lawsuit are redacted from the public. But it
specifically names features such as likes, alerts and filters that it says
are "known to promote young users' body dysmorphia". Body dysmorphia leads a
person to spend a lot of time worrying about flaws in their appearance, and
often these perceived flaws are unnoticeable to others.

 

"Meta's design choices and practices take advantage of and contribute to
young users' susceptibility to addiction," the lawsuit said.-bbc

 

 

 

 

 

US orders immediate halt to some AI chip exports to China, Nvidia says

Tech giant Nvidia says the US has told it to stop shipping some of its
advanced artificial intelligence chips to China immediately.

 

The restrictions were supposed to be introduced 30 days from 17 October.

 

That was when President Joe Biden's administration announced measures to
block countries, including China, Iran and Russia, from buying high-end AI
chips designed by Nvidia and others.

 

Nvidia did not say why the timeline had been moved forward.

 

In a statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nvidia
said the US government said these curbs were "effective immediately", but
added that "given the strength of demand for the Company's products
worldwide, the Company does not anticipate that the accelerated timing of
the licensing requirements will have a near-term meaningful impact on its
financial results".

 

The new restrictions bar exports of Nvidia's advanced AI chips, which had
been designed for the Chinese market to comply with earlier export
regulations.

 

The acceleration of the introduction of the US curbs is the latest move in
the ongoing technology dispute between Washington and Beijing.

 

Nvidia: The chip maker that became an AI superpower

China attacks latest US chip restrictions

Chinese authorities have yet to publicly comment on Nvidia's announcement,
but it hit back at the Biden administration's decision to impose new
restrictions on advanced chip exports when it was announced last week.

 

The country's foreign ministry said the curbs "violate the principles of the
market economy and fair competition".

 

The move was seen as an attempt to close loopholes that became apparent
after an initial wave of chip controls last October.

 

At the time, the US said the measures were designed to prevent China from
receiving cutting-edge technologies that it could use to strengthen its
military, especially in the field of AI.

 

Soaring demand for Nvidia's AI chips has pushed up its share price more than
threefold, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world.

 

In May the firm joined technology giants Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and
Microsoft in the elite club of companies with stock market valuations of
more than $1 trillion (£822bn).

 

California-based Nvidia has come to dominate the market for chips used in AI
systems.

 

Chip giant Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which also supplies AI chips to
China, has not made any announcement about the accelerated export curbs. It
did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.

 

The US Department of Commerce did not immediately respond to a BBC request
for comment.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Big banks linked to products with pangolin and leopard parts

Global banking giants are investing in companies which produce traditional
Chinese medicines containing leopard and pangolin parts, a report has found.

 

Both species are classed as threatened.

 

The Environmental Investigation Authority (EIA) identified 62 banks and
financial institutions which are investing in three pharmaceutical groups
making nine products which they say contain leopard or pangolin.

 

The BBC has contacted the companies in question for comment.

 

The companies include UK financial services giants such as HSBC, Prudential,
and Legal & General, as well as global investment firms including Goldman
Sachs, UBS, Deutsche Bank and BlackRock.

 

Leopards and pangolins are threatened, which means they are likely to become
endangered in the foreseeable future. Both are also listed on the CITES
(Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora) treaty which prohibits international commercial trade in them and
their parts, in a bid to ensure their survival in the wild is not
threatened.

 

The three pharmaceutical companies, highlighted in the EIA report are Tong
Ren Tang group, Tianjin Pharmaceutical group and Jilin Aodong Pharmaceutical
Group.

 

Not all the companies listed in the EIA report invest in all three of them,
but they all invest in at least one.

 

In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) leopard bone is used as a tiger bone
substitute. Tiger bone is believed to strengthen bones and sinews, provide
pain relief and help get rid of wind. Pangolin scales are said to aid blood
circulation, lactation and help with rheumatic pain relief. These claims are
not backed up by scientific fact.

 

Following the report's publication, EIA Legal & Policy Specialist Avinash
Basker called on the Chinese government to "fulfil CITES recommendations and
prohibit the use of the body parts of leopards, pangolins, tigers and rhinos
from all sources for all commercial purposes in its domestic markets".

 

"The use of highly threatened animals such as leopards, pangolins, rhino and
tigers in traditional medicine products disregards CITES recommendations
made by the international community to protect these species. This is use on
an effectively industrial scale which can only push these species
ever-closer to extinction, simultaneously sending mixed messages to
consumers, fuelling demand for their parts and derivatives and tainting the
global reputation of TCM," he said.

 

Pangolin scales are said to aid blood circulation, lactation and help with
rheumatic pain relief, in traditional Chinese medicine

"It's particularly disappointing to see so many major banks and financial
institutions effectively endorsing this damaging exploitation, especially as
so many have pledged to do otherwise," he added. "If their environmental
credentials are to have any credibility, they need to divest from TCM
manufacturers using threatened species at the soonest opportunity."

 

The EIA said it was unable to find how the leopard or pangolin derivatives
were being sourced.

 

In a statement, HSBC said it is "not a direct investor and does not have
direct exposure to these companies". It added that the EIA report includes a
response from HSBC Global Asset Management Canada that the company's
"investments in the TCM companies were limited to passive or 'tracker' funds
rather than actively managed funds". This means that funds are automatically
invested in shares based on a linked index - for example, the FTSE 100 -
which they track.

 

Deutsche Bank said that the report focuses on asset managers and directed
the BBC to DWS, the asset management company that was once part of DB but is
now a separate listed entity.

 

In a statement, DWS said it has "different ESG-related [environmental,
social and governance] policies that provide guidance on the integration of
ESG information into our investment processes, engagement, and proxy voting
activities, where we combine our voting rights for active and passive funds.

 

"Globally, there are no actively managed DWS funds invested in any of these
three issuers," it said.

 

Legal & General Investment Management said it "manages many funds against a
range of different index providers to meet a wide variety of different
client demands".

 

"LGIM is aware that one of the key drivers of nature-loss, as identified by
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Service (IPBES), is 'natural resource use and exploitation', that covers
exploitation of wild species," the firm said.

 

"As such, we are developing a 'nature framework' that targets these IPBES
drivers, that includes integration and disclosure of high-quality,
consistent, location-specific data, that relates to company behaviour around
these key nature-related issues."

 

BlackRock declined to comment.

 

The BBC has approached UBS, Tong Ren Tang group, Tianjin Pharmaceutical
group and Jilin Aodong Pharmaceutical Group, for comment.-bbc

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2023

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


CBZH

GetBucks

EcoCash

 


Padenga

Econet

RTG

 


Fidelity

TSL

FMHL

 


 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of
Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not
constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or
subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has
been compiled from s believed to be reliable, but no representation or
warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All
opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without
notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be
suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth
companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than
the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any
other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability
whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its
contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this
report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent
investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of
any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are
for guideline purposes only and d from third parties.

 


 

 


(c) 2023 Web: <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com>  www.bullszimbabwe.com Email:
<mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> bulls at bullszimbabwe.com Tel: +263 4 2927658 Cell:
+263 77 344 1674

 


 

 

 

 

 

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