Several groups in Nigeria have declared their intention to join the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to hit the streets tomorrow, Wednesday, to protest the hardship in Africa’s largest economy occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidies.
The NLC, last Sunday, in a statement, urged Nigerians to join them at the Unity Fountain, Abuja, on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, at 7 am to protest President Bola Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy.
“There is nowhere in the world where government leaves its citizens totally to the vagaries of the market without some measure of control and protection. The Federal Government should immediately deal decisively with the criminal content of subsidy instead of exposing ordinary citizens to avoidable pain and hardship.
“As a matter of national importance, it is imperative to fix all our refineries to be able to cater to domestic fuel consumption,” the NLC said.
The NLC said the Tinubu-led administration was playing games with the lives of Nigerians.
The congress also called on the government to be serious about the engagement with labour unions.
Meanwhile, academic unions such as the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities have also begun nationwide mobilisation of their members for the strike scheduled to commence on Wednesday.
The national presidents of the two unions, in separate interviews with local media in Abuja, noted that as affiliate members of the NLC, they would join in the strike.
The National President of SSANU, Muhammed Ibrahim said, “We are actively going to participate.”
Similarly, the National President of ASUP, Anderson Ezeibe said, “Of course, we will join the protest.”
Also, some northern youths, under the aegis of the Arewa Citizen Watch for Good Governance, on Sunday, said they were set to hit the streets of Abuja to protest the subsidy removal, which, they said, had inflicted pains and hunger on them.
The youths also called for the sacking of the Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Limited, Mele Kyari, for allegedly misleading the President on the subsidy removal.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The portfolio has led to a carbon offset of more than 360, 000 tonnes of CO 2 to date.
“This merger will enhance our current capabilities and allow us to deploy Energy and Cooling as a Service on a much larger scale. This is therefore a story of growth. Not only for Starsight Energy and SolarAfrica but also for the renewable energy landscape in Africa,” Van Zijl added.
Powering Africa Through Affordable, Clean Energy
In addition to key markets Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa, the group is working on imminent expansion into Tanzania and Uganda. It brings a range of renewable energy solutions to the table, with solar energy, battery storage and cooling at the top of the list.
“We are excited about making a meaningful contribution to power supply on the continent through our on- and off-site solutions. This will help take pressure off national grids which have been under significant strain in many of the core African markets,” said Charl Alheit, Group Chief Investment Officer.
Providing these solutions to more businesses can also go a long way in developing distributed renewable energy frameworks in each region.
In-Country Focus Unlocks Continent-Wide Growth
The merged group will retain a strong presence within the various countries to further strengthen its footprint across Africa.
“We do not believe in a fly-in fly-out model and will have ‘boots on the ground’ in our geographies. Our country teams consist of dedicated in-country management as well as sales and technical teams who represent our ethos, whilst being supported by the wider group management,” said Van Zijl.
“It’s important to have strong representation in each geography with teams who know and understand their markets and are passionate about transforming these markets into green energy hubs. That’s something both SolarAfrica and Starsight Energy have always had in common: we know that the people in our business have always been the reason for our success, and this new chapter will be no different,” Alheit concluded.
Leveraging Existing Knowledge And Capabilities
Both Starsight Energy and SolarAfrica are represented in the group executive management team, combining their expertise and experience.
Paul van Zijl assumes the role of Group Chief Executive Officer (formerly Group Chief Financial Officer of Starsight Energy), Charl Alheit assumes the role of Group Chief Investment Officer (formerly Chief Investment Officer for SolarAfrica), Max Rieg assumes the role of Group Commercial Director (formerly Commercial Director of Starsight Energy)
The group will also retain its regional management structures, with David McDonald (Southern Africa), Emmanuel Ayifa Baah (Ghana), Ladi Sanni (Nigeria) and Rupesh Hindocha (East Africa) leading their respective regions. 
The experts agreed that one of the strategic tasks facing every state in the modern world is the introduction of technologies that will ensure energy security, guarantee the sustainable development of various sectors of the economy, and increase the scientific and human resource potential of the country.
“Africa is on its way from being one fifth of the world’s population to one third. At the same time, if you look at electricity generation globally, last year, approximately 30 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity was generated on the planet, while Africa generated less than one. And in that sense, this disparity cannot be sustained for long,”said Alexey Likhachev.
“It is clear that states on the African continent will be actively engaged in building power generation capacity in the coming decades,” he added.
Mohamed Shaker El-Markabi, Minister for Electricity and Renewable Energy of Egypt, said that the development of nuclear energy in his country in co-operation with Rosatom has a positive impact on all spheres of life and work.
“We expect the number of jobs to increase ninefold. In addition, the country’s development strategy until 2035 states that by that time renewable energy sources should account for about 42% – nuclear power can help us with this.”
“Right now, only more than 70% of our population has access to electricity,” said Fidele Ndahayo, Chief Executive Officer, Rwanda Atomic Energy Board.
According to the speaker, nuclear energy can remedy this situation. “Nuclear power is about reliability. Nuclear power is not just about money. All studies show: it leads to economic growth in all spheres of life.”
Doto Mashaka Biteko, Minister for Minerals of the United Republic of Tanzania said, “We already have a uranium programme, but we now want to look at new technologies from other countries. We need to add 10% to our GDP, and uranium is one of them. We want to breathe new life into our projects, and we invite everyone to do so. About 30% of our people live below the poverty line, we want to improve their quality of life. We have natural resources. God has given us everything we need, so we will achieve everything.”
Ibrahim Uwizeye, Minister of Hydraulics, Energy and Mining of the Republic of Burundi, said: “I visited the Leningrad NPP. I am impressed. We need energy self-sufficiency, and we will soon sign an agreement with Rosatom to achieve it.”
“Africa is the next stage in the development of global nuclear energy. All eyes will now be on what Russia is offering to its friends at this Forum. What is done today will be inherited by the next generations. If we do not address the energy challenge, Africa’s youth will be vulnerable. For the sake of Africa’s sustainable development, African countries should accept the proposals that come from Russia. Unfortunately, the world media is against Africa–Russia cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. It becomes even more important to properly inform the public. Africans are tired of living in darkness,” said Princess Mthombeni, Founder, Africa4Nuclear; Nuclear Communication and Technology Specialist of South Africa.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com 
