How Josh Kalisa’s One Africa Business Solution Ltd Is Addressing Energy Gaps In East, Central Africa Using Solar Products (Article)“We applaud the BEAC for listening to the private sector concerns and for adopting a pragmatic approach to foreign currency regulations in the wake of the ongoing crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the historic crash in oil prices. Such a move falls in line with the African Energy Chamber’s commonsense agenda to help Africa recover from the Covid 19 pandemic,” declared Leoncio Amada NZE, President for the CEMAC region at the African Energy Chamber. “This is good for our local industry and for staying competitive. The measure will be a significant boost to local content development, and ultimately local jobs creation across Central Africa,” he concluded. In its latest Commonsense Energy Agenda, the African Energy Chamber notably called on financial institutions and central banks to set up stronger dialogue mechanisms with the private sector and industry stakeholders to address current industry challenges. The Chamber notes the leadership of the BEAC in taking initiatives that will preserve jobs, encourage local content and help the oil & gas sector recover. The Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) is made up of six states: Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, the Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea.
African Energy Chamber Salutes Bank Of Central African States For Relaxing Foreign Currency Control Rules
The Board of Directors of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) has allowed the opening of foreign currency escrow accounts by petroleum and mining operators.
The authorization was given within the implementation framework of key dispositions of Regulation No. 02/18/CEMAC/UMAC pertaining to foreign currency exchanges within the CEMAC region.
In a release, the African Energy Chamber saluted the BEAC’s willingness to offer the best enabling environment for the oil & gas industry in the wake of the ongoing crisis.
Earlier this year, the Chamber had joined several industry stakeholders in calling on the BEAC to relax its currency controls rules adopted in June 2019.
Ghana: Bui Power Authority Trains Over 350 Re-Settlers In Fish Farming
Ghana’s second largest state power producer, Bui Power Authority (BPA) has trained over 350 people whose livelihood were affected by the construction of the Bui Dam in fish farming.
The initiative formed part of BPA’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Resettlement Programme, which is aimed to empower the beneficiaries economically to fend for themselves and their dependents.
The construction of Bui Dam displaced many people within the Bui enclave, and also affected their livelihoods, as many hectares of farmlands were taken over by the project.
According to a story filed by Michael Sarpong Mfum, 369 persons are currently enrolled under the fish farming module.
Community Relations Officer of the Bui Power Authority, Kelvin Asumah, spoke about how the ponds under the fish farming module work.
“This is a concrete system with a tapolin that has a bio system that circulates the waste of the fish. There is a pump that pumps it to the bucket there then it pumps the water back to the system to make sure the system has a healthy water system that circulates the waste to ensure that the fingerlings and fish live in good condition.”
Some beneficiaries who received their training at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) at Fumesua near Kumasi in the Ashanti Region would later serve as mentors for other persons who want to enroll under the project.
Isaac Dugbaza, a beneficiary of the module said, “The training we have received would help us. In fact, we are going to benefit a lot. Our finances are going to improve as we sell. We went to learn how to rear catfish. Now I can say that we have knowledge on how to rear fish.”
Another beneficiary, Samuel Obeng, said, “We went for training in Kumasi on how to rear fish. Initially we did not have any knowledge about the rearing of fishes, but after going for the training, we have acquired a lot of skills. This knowledge is going to help us in our lives especially with our finances. When we harvested the first time, it solved some of our problems because when we came here things were difficult.”
Ghana: Schlumberger Withdraws Workers’ Suspension Letters
Credible information available to energynewsafrica.com has it that management of Schlumberger, an international oil and gas service provider operating in Ghana’s upstream sector, has withdrawn letters it issued to several staff to go home on 12 months’ suspension without pay.
The decision to withdraw the ‘disingenuous’ letters follows a meeting between management of Schlumberger and the workers’ union.
The company, in May this year, issued letters to several staff to go home for a period of 12 months without salary, claiming that the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, which has impacted global economy and slowed activities in the upstream sector, had affected its operations and finances.
However, the company’s action was vehemently opposed by the workers who accused management of abusing their rights.
The General Transport Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union, a mother union of the workers, petitioned the Ministry of Energy and copied the Labour Commission and Petroleum Commission to mediate the matter.
“Management served us letters last month to negotiate on a redundancy package. We met to negotiate, but after the third sitting of negotiations, management started becoming recalcitrant and also started issuing out unlawful letters of suspended employment without pay for one year to members. Some of the conditions in the letter are so appalling. So all we are trying to make management aware is that when we are on the negotiation table, you do not do such things. The moment you start doing such things, then, you’re putting us under duress to accept something that is not right. We have an MoU signed with management in 2016, which I took my time to read the document to management so that it would guide all of us in our negotiations.
“They said that they had heard, but instead of paying us our four months’ consolidated salaries, they are choosing to pay us something around 40 percent of that. The union, including the national [union], rejected it since that cut is in breach of the MOU.
“When we asked why they are trying to cut our benefits, they said COVID-19. But this company has been making millions of dollars, in fact, one particular department can make eight million dollars in revenue a month, and this same company is telling us they are broke because of COVID-19.
“We should be fair to ourselves when workers elsewhere have been paid their redundancy packages. Our point is that, they should give us what is due us and let us go home. I don’t know my future if I’m going to get a job now. We have expatriates that have gone home and paid almost two million dollars.
“In fact, they are cutting off about 60 percent of what is due us when, in Nigeria, they have paid all the workers their due. So why is it that when it comes to Ghana, they do that? They took the matter to arbitration and as we speak, the Petroleum Commission and Labour Commission are not sitting because of this COVID-19,” Bright Kwabena Danquah, Chairman of the Schlumberger Workers’ Union, said in an interview earlier.
Speaking to energynewsafrica.com later, Bright Kwabena Danquah said management and the workers Union had met and resolved all the issues they raised and had gone ahead to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), thus, bringing the matter to its finality.
“We have resolved all the lapses and reached an agreement. We have signed an MOU and we will submit it to the Petroleum Commission on Monday to let them know that what we have done,” he said.
According to him, management has agreed to pay in full severance package for all staff affected by the redundancy exercise.
He said instead of the initial two months’ salary multiplied by the number of years in the company by each worker, management has now decided to pay three months’ salary multiplied by the number of years a worker had been employed.
He added that management had agreed to recall the affected workers when activities in the upstream begins to pick up.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Electric Power Industry Needs Urgent Transformation, Huawei’s New ICT Empowers Smart Grids
Today marked the Seventh Huawei Global Power Summit themed “Bits Drive Watts, Building a Fully Connected Smart Grid”. Held online, the summit invited global customers, partners, industry experts, and thought leaders in the electric power industry to discuss the impact and response to this year’s pandemic, and political and economic uncertainties. The electric power market continues to represent huge potential while the industry need to build reliable, cost-effective, efficient, and green power grids with a more efficient and reasonable energy supply.
Seize the Opportunity to Transform the Electric Power Industry
Electric power companies around the world are looking to improve quality and efficiency by deploying data centers and reconstructing management platforms. They aim to provide more reliable, efficient, and green energy while ensuring grid security, and offer more value-added services through the energy Internet to drive social development. However, conventional operational models and technologies fail to support this transformation. As such, the global electric power industry needs to consider how to adapt to new trends; how can grids detect security issues in real time and respond quickly; how can we make better use of clean energy and reduce carbon emissions? How can energy networks match the rapidly expanding charging pile network and achieve efficient management?
To change agents, challenges mean opportunities. “Huawei helps customers cope with these industry challenges and seize future opportunities through digital transformation,” said David Sun, Vice President of Huawei Enterprise BG and President of the Global Energy Business Unit.
Huawei seamlessly integrates 5G, IoT, optical, IP, cloud, big data, and AI technologies into power systems. Together with partners, Huawei has launched smart service solutions, such as AI-powered grid inspection and distribution IoT, covering power generation, transmission, transformation, distribution, and consumption. These enable comprehensive sensing, interconnection, and service intelligence of various power terminals.
Mr. Sun also noted that “Huawei looks forward to sharing the digital transformation experience of China’s electric power and other industries with more customers, drive watts with bits, and build smart grids to help global electric power companies accelerate development.”
New ICT Empowers Smart Grids
An increasing number of electric power companies identify their digital transformation strategies as their priority. At the summit, Huawei and industry leaders illustrated the importance of 5G, AI, big data, and cloud computing for this process.
For example, China Southern Power Grid (CSG) finds that power distribution networks and users require power grid communication that features wide connectivity, high bandwidth, low latency, high reliability, and fast deployment. These features ensure intelligent power distribution and metering, and facilitate the development of smart home and Internet of Vehicles (IoV). In response, Huawei’s advanced 5G slicing technology enables end-to-end communication of smart grids, ensuring secure and reliable power distribution networks as well as improved efficiency.
CSG has summarized 53 typical service scenarios covering power generation, transmission, distribution, transformation, consumption, and integrated services, according to Yang Junquan, Deputy General Manager of CSG Power Dispatch and Control Center. He also expects more 5G applications to emerge in the near future.
HUAWEI CLOUD and data platform provide mass data storage and computing capabilities. Together, they integrate data assets from multiple systems of a power grid company into one platform. Through high-speed data processing and sharing, the platform helps complete various challenging tasks.
For example, Qinghai Province in China aims to achieve 100% green energy consumption and supply in the long term. Together with Huawei, the province has leveraged cloud computing to construct a new energy data center powered by AI and big data capabilities. Now, the provincial electric power company can predict the renewable energy yield simply based on the weather forecast. With multi-energy compensation, the total power output to access the grid will be more stable. By implementing these high-tech strategies, in 2019, Qinghai maintained 100% green energy generation for 15 consecutive days. In this case, clean energy consumption has been supported through digital and smart means.
New ICT can also improve the O&M efficiency of electric power companies. The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) worked with Huawei to build a digital platform, IoT platform, and cloud, which reduces the time it takes to collect and store data from four hours to 30 minutes for its Henan branch.
Huawei embeds AI modules into cameras and drones, enabling the O&M team to remotely monitor power transmission lines and detect faults. Thanks to this, the Shenzhen Power Supply Bureau reduced its grid inspection time from 20 days to 2 hours and the time to capture images from hours to minutes. It has also achieved over 90% image analysis accuracy.
Huawei will centrally deploy and remotely manage millions of EVs and charging piles through the cloud, improve charging efficiency and battery lifespan management through AI-powered data analysis, and increase management efficiency using 5G high-speed networks.
Providing digital services by leveraging abundant fiber and site resources and innovative ICT solutions has become one of the major digital transformation trends for global electric power companies.
Huawei has worked with over 190 electric power companies worldwide, including 10 of the industry’s top 20, to implement digital transformation. Huawei’s solutions are widely used by electric power companies such as the Saudi Electricity Company, Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation, Provincial Electricity Authority of Thailand, SGCC, and CSG .For more information about Huawei Global Power Summit, please visit https://bit.ly/32bYD9i
Nigeria: EKEDC Warns Against Tampering With Meters
Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), one of the power distribution companies in the Republic of Nigeria says it had intensified efforts to curb cases of meter tampering by customers within its operational network.
A statement issued by Mr. Godwin Idemudia, General Manager for Corporate Communications, warned that those involved in such nefarious activities would face prosecution.
The warning follows the recent arraignment of three persons before an Ojo Magistrates’ Court on a four-count charge of conspiracy to commit fraud, impersonation, forgery, and tampering with electricity installations.
Nigeria: IBEDC Decries Vandalism Of 38 Transformers, Other Electrical Installations In Four MonthsAccording to the company, the accused persons allegedly received a sum of N70,000 from unsuspecting customers who wanted to get their prepaid meters repaired and placed them on a direct connection. “It is rather unfortunate that people go about parading themselves as our staff when they are not. “We will go the full extent of the law and this will serve as a deterrent to others aiming to do the same,” the statement said. The statement urged EKEDC customers to always go through the appropriate channels for all complaints or issues and make no form of payment to unauthorised persons or channels. It also advised customers to report any staff or partners that make demands on them for EKEDC’s services via its social media platforms and other designated channels. Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
India: Mahanadi Coalfields Unions Call For Strike On July 24 Against Wage Cut
The trade unions at the Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd, a subsidiary of Coal India, have called for a strike on July 24 to protest against the miner’s decision to cut wages for workers who had participated in a three-day nationwide cease work early this month.
According to Energyworld.com, the four trade unions – AITUC, HMS, BMS and INTUC – have jointly served the notice of a day’s strike to the management of the Odisha-based subsidiary of the Maharatna PSU.
MCL had issued wage-cut order for workers who took part in the three-day strike from July 2 to protest against the Centre’s decision to start commercial coal mining.
The miner had termed the three-day strike illegal. Most of 20,000 mine workers did not report for work during the cease work.
This was the second time when such a wage-cut order was issued for a strike, the officials said.
The first instance of such an order was in 2010 when a section of workers went on a day’s strike.
“It is noted that the employees of Lakhanpur OCP, Belpahar OCM, Lillari OCP and GM office of Lakhanpur area, who have participated in this illegal strike which is violation of rule 26.10 of the certified standing orders of MCL.
“In view of this misconduct on their part, eight days wage deduction as per Section 20 of the Code on Wages Act 2019, is hereby ordered for their act of participation in the illegal strike,” the MCL said in a notice dated July 3.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: Gas Tanker Drivers Accuse Police Officers At Biriwa, Nchaban Barrier Of Extortion
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tanker drivers, who lift LPG from the Takoradi Harbour in the Western Region of the Republic of Ghana, are accusing police personnel at the Biriwa and Nchaban police barriers in the Central and Western Regions of extortion.
This development, they explained is causing them pain and stress.
According to the drivers, the police officers at the barriers are supposed to only check their road worthy certificate, income tax stickers and waybill covering the products.
However, they alleged that the police officers now demand Unified Petroleum Price Fund (UPPF) receipt which they explained are only needed when they are transporting products to the northern part of the country.
The drivers alleged that when they fail to produce the UPPF receipt, the officers would detain their truck and demand between GHc200 and GHc500 before they would be released.
On Saturday, July 11, 2020, two fully loaded LPG tankers with registration numbers GN-2706-12 and GN-1228-16 driven by Ganiyu Yussif and Eric Martey from Takoradi and on their way to Accra were stopped at the Biriwa Police Barrier and detained.
Ganiyu Yusif told energynewsafrica.com that he and his colleague were asked to cough GHc 1000 each before they would be released.
It took the intervention of Shafiu Mohammed, who is the Chairman of the Gas Tanker Drivers Union, to call a senior police officer to order the officers to release the trucks.
Mr Shafiu told energynewsafrica.com that they are not happy about the frustration their members have been going through in the hands of the police officers at the Biriwa and Nchaban barriers and would, therefore, stop conveying LPG from the Takoradi Harbour and Atuabo Gas for consumers in Accra and other cities.
He explained that the police are not to inspect the UPPF receipt.
In his view, the only way their members could save themselves from the embarrassment is to stop going to Western Region for LPG.
Speaking to energynewsafrica.com, Samuel Asare -Bediako, who is the Coordinator of the Unified Petroleum Price Fund at the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), however, disputed the claims by the drivers that the police officers are not supposed to inspect the UPPF receipt.
He explained that previously, the UPPF receipt was generated manually and due to the volume of work at that time, it was restricted to only Bulk Road Vehicles consigned to Tamale, Bolga, etc.
He said the UPPF document is now electronically generated, adding it has been extended to cover every part of Ghana.
The UPPF document shows the destination of the product. Additionally, when the product gets to its designated destination, officials of Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) attest by appending their signatures to prove that the product has reached its destination.
Mr Asare-Bediako told energynewsafrica.com that his outfit had been notified of the extortion by the police and promised to follow up.
He, however, urged the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to do well to generate the UPPF document for the drivers to avoid the frustration they have been going through.
When contacted, the Central Regional Police Commander, DCOP Paul Manly Awuni, who was not aware of the development, assured the tanker drivers of commissioning an investigation into the allegation of extortion.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Mozambique: Sasol Relinquishes Blocks 16 & 19 License
Sasol has announced its decision to relinquish its exploration license in Blocks 16 & 19 offshore Mozambique.
This follow an evaluation of the exploration potential of the blocks and an assessment of the report of the pre-feasibility phase of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
The integrated chemicals and energy company which operates in 31 countries was awarded Blocks 16 & 19 in June 2005.
According to the company, it conducted deep-water exploration activities in the license areas in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.
“With the relinquishment of the deep-water part of the license on 1 July 2013, the shallow water area of the license was retained with a view to define a future work programme to assess the remaining hydrocarbon potential,” the company said in a press statement.
South Africa: Sasol Invests In Chemical And Energy Portfolios Instead Of Oil“Sasol undertook a robust and transparent pre-feasibility assessment through Golder & Associates, an independent, reputable environmental specialist consulting firm, prior to any exploration activity,” it added. This process-involved consultation with all relevant stakeholders, from government, on all levels, industry, such as tourism and fisheries, to academia. Sasol acknowledges all the comments received during the pre-feasibility phase of the EIA process and values the input that all stakeholders contributed. “Sasol will relinquish Blocks 16 & 19 in their entirety to the Government of Mozambique. A withdrawal notification has been issued to the relevant Mozambican authorities,” it concluded. Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Cairn Oil & Gas Lays Off 300 Workers
Cairn Oil & Gas has trimmed its workforce by 300 workers in a redundancy exercise as low oil prices hit India’s largest private oil producer.
This has brought down Cairn’s employees count to 1,400 from 1,700, according to sources.
“Cairn Oil & Gas, Vedanta Ltd follows a robust performance management system and made the humane choice of delaying appraisal cycles and related exits due to the untenable situation caused by the pandemic. The recent exits are a result of organic career progression, voluntary movements, job rotations within the conglomerate, natural exits on account of annual appraisals, retirement and non-renewal of contracts,” Cairn said in response to Economic Times query.
“We will continue with our recruitment process to ensure growth and business continuity.”
India: Gov’t Plans To Privatise Electricity Distribution CompaniesCairn’s CEO Ajay Dixit left the company at the end of May after his employment contract expired. Cairn, which contributes about a quarter of India’s oil output, is facing a double whammy of declining production and a slump in oil prices. Its oil and gas production fell 14 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter as it struggles with ageing fields. Oil and gas revenue fell 24 per cent year-on-year during the quarter. A dramatic fall in oil prices that began in March has hurt Cairn and other oil producers. Prices had fallen to under $20 a barrel in late April but have now recovered to $40 but are still way below $66 at the beginning of the year. Vedanta, which is seeking to delist its shares from local bourses, reported a loss of Rs 6,732 crore on a revenue of Rs 35,417 crore in 2019-20. Vedanta also deals in zinc, aluminium, copper, iron ore and steel. Low prices have pushed several oil and gas producers around the world to reduce capital-spending plans and cut jobs. Some oil companies have also filed for bankruptcy. Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: COVID-19: Petroleum Commission Estimates Over 450 Job Losses
Ghana’s petroleum upstream regulator, Petroleum Commission, is estimating that over 450 Ghanaians working in the upstream sector will be losing their jobs because of the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Already, Tullow Ghana, Aker Energy, Halliburton, as well as Schlumberger, have reduced their workforce and more are yet to be sent home.
Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the West African nation, most of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) had planned to undertake drilling campaign, acquisition and interpretation of geological and geophysical data of their oil wells.
However, the outbreak of the virus has forced the IOCs to suspend all these activities.
Delivering a Keynote address at the opening of a three-day webinar organised by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), an energy think in the Republic of Ghana, Chief Executive Officer of Petroleum Commission, Egbert Faibille Jnr. mentioned the suspension of the development of the Eban 1X exploratory well of Eni, Nyankom 1X and Kyenkyen-1X appraisal programme of AGM, Afina -1X appraisal programme of Springfield, Exploratory well drilling campaigns of Amni, Eco Atlantic and GOSCO.
According to Mr Faibille, these projects worth US$324 million would have injected life into Ghana’s economy but for the outbreak of COVID-19, they have all been put on hold.
“The consequential effect of the cancellation of these contracts amid already reduced work force in the industry resulted in layoffs both expatriates and local personnel. Over 450 Ghanaians in Aker Energy, Tullow, Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, etc. are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the pandemic,” he said.
He noted that though the upstream industry had chalked modest success in localising various positions including critical positions in major oil companies, the Commission expects about 40 more roles to be taken over by Ghanaians.
Egbert Faibille, however, expressed fear that the Coronavirus pandemic would have serious ramifications on local content development and localisation efforts of the country.
He said the Commission, on its part, would strive to ensure that upstream companies create the organisation of the future and urged IOCs to review their corporate structure to cut cost, improve operational efficiencies, redesign business models, empower local business, realign job roles and positions as well as reduce headquarters influence on local operations.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
South Africa: Load Shedding Is Back
South Africa’s utility company, Eskom has announced that it is implementing Stage 2 load shedding from Friday due to an increase in generation unit breakdowns that led to a loss of capacity exceeding 3 000 MW.
This will continue until 22:00, with pressure on the grid expected to last over the weekend.
“While five generation units were taken off the grid last night and this morning, a breakdown at the Matimba power station has today resulted in the need for load shedding,” Eskom said in a statement.
Two units at Arnot, as well as a unit each at Kendal, Tutuka and Majuba were taken off the grid last night and this morning, adding up to the loss of 3 000 MW.
There was also a delay in the return to service of a unit at Duvha.
Eskom has managed to avoid load shedding thus far during the lockdown, although Gauteng has faced bouts of localised rolling blackouts known as “load rotation”, which Eskom has attributed to a prevalence of vandalism and illegal connections.
In a separate statement, the City of Cape Town said while Eskom-supplied customers would be on stage 2 load shedding, City-supplied customers would be on stage 1 from 12:00 until 22:00.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
COVID-19: African Energy Chamber Launches New Energy Jobs Portal
The African Energy Chamber and its partners have launched a free-of-access jobs portal for trained and qualified African workforce.
The initiative is aimed at saving local jobs and assisting in the recovery of African energy markets after the Covid-19 crisis.
The collaborative platform is accessible at www.EnergyChamber.org/jobs and relays the latest jobs opportunities for Africans across the continent’s energy markets.
The platform will assist local and international companies in attracting local talent across 30 different skills set in the oil & gas, power and renewable energy sectors.
All energy companies operating in Africa are able to post their job offers for free, and these will be relayed on the platform and via the Chamber’s communications channels after approval by the Chamber’s admin and team.
The jobs portal will be operated and maintained by the African Energy Chamber in order to avoid all fraud and guarantee the credibility of the offers available.
“Local content has always been the number one priority of the African Energy Chamber when advocating for an energy industry that works for Africans and builds truly sustainable business models. With this new platform, we are getting rid of a lot of entry barriers set on the job market by expensive recruitment agencies. This initiative of the Chamber is non lucrative and we encourage all African and international companies to work with us on boosting local jobs creation to support the recovery of our industry and build true sustainability,” declared Nj Ayuk, Executive Chairman at the African Energy Chamber.
The African Energy Chamber is encouraging all companies in search of African talent across the energy industry to submit their job offers directly online via the platform. Any related requests or queries can be addressed to [email protected].
Angola: Gov’t Bows To OPEC+ Whip To Cut Oil Output
OPEC+ decision to crack whip on its cheating members has sent shivers to the spine of oil producing Central Africa nation, Angola, to express its readiness to cut oil output.
Three weeks after a crackdown on members of the oil coalition lagging in their delivery of promised oil output cuts, the last main straggler has given assurances that satisfy the group’s leadership.
Angola, a Central African oil country, has sent a new letter to OPEC’s president committing to full compliance with its output target, as well as additional cutbacks in compensation for earlier cheating, according to a delegate who asked not to be identified.
Algeria: Minister Calls For Strengthening Of Local Content SectorAccording to Worldoil.com, Angolan Oil Minister, Diamantino Pedro Azevedo issued the letter expressing their commitment to the newly appointed Algerian Energy Minister, Abdelmajid Attar who, this year, holds OPEC’s rotating presidency pledging the country’s “best efforts.” The follow-up correspondence this week, combined with signs that Luanda has cut loading programmes, has assuaged concerns about Angola’s commitment. The assurances from Angola, plus data showing other lagging countries implemented a larger share of their cuts in June than May, suggest the issue of compliance will be less contentious than recent OPEC+ meetings.
Ghana Power Compact: Providing Vital Power Infrastructure To Meet Ghana’s Development Needs
Very few people across the world expected to begin the year 2020 locked up in their homes, and faced with restrictions on some of their social freedoms. While many heard the news about the soaring coronavirus infections in China in December 2019 and the early months of 2020, there was little expectation that the disease, named COVID-19 will turn out to be a pandemic.
Even prior to the time when the World Health Organization (WHO) had recognized more than 11 million confirmed cases and over 500,000 deaths in 216 countries as at July 6, lockdowns and restrictions on social activities, especially movements across borders had become a common global feature. Ghana was not an exception. Ghana’s confirmed case count reported by the Ghana Health Service as of July 6, 2020, shows over 20,000 infections, more than 14,000 recovered and 122 deaths.
As part of the measures to fight the spread of the COVID-19 disease, people all over the world have been strongly advised by the WHO and their Governments to observe certain protocols, including social distancing, washing their hands or cleaning them with alcohol-based sanitizers, and wearing face and nose masks. Additionally, the protocols advise on covering the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, self-isolating if one develops symptoms or is asymptomatic, while persons who contract the disease are quarantined and given emergency care.
Transition To Renewable Energy Is Not An European Solution, It Is In Africa’s Interest – IES AnalystsWhile the global search for a vaccine to conquer coronavirus lingers, many discussions fail to include a critical factor which enables most of the measures deployed to combat the disease to be effective. The availability of adequate, quality and reliable electric power is this critical factor. It is required to ensure that ‘lockdown’ directives are successful and to give people infected with the virus, a better chance to go through prescribed treatments and achieve recovery. It is Power that ensures that potable water flows through taps, to use for the regular hand-washing exercises needed to fight the disease. Health Facilities, Emergency Care Centres, factories that produce sanitizers and PPEs, etc, need sustainable electricity supply, while electricity in homes makes people comfortable enough to stay at home and curtail non-critical outdoor activities. Like oxygen, it is easy to forget the worth of electricity when it is available. The unavailability of quality and sustainable electricity breeds poverty, poses security threats and stunts economic growth. Indeed, global access to electricity is envisioned as critical for the World’s sustainable development and is underscored in SDG 7, among the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is for these reasons that the Ghana Power Compact, signed between the Governments of Ghana and the United States, through its Agency the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), is providing Ghana with funding of US$308 million for investments in her electricity distribution system, and thereby make it reliable and available for use, not only to propel economic growth but also to equip and make Ghana ready to meet challenges like those posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and other natural disasters. The five-year Compact Program, which became operational in September 2016, was developed at a time when Ghana suffered an unprecedented power availability crisis. Funds under the Compact Program are being disbursed across four key Projects to build infrastructure that will improve the quality and reliability of electricity supplied to homes, factories, businesses, markets, economic enclaves, institutions and health facilities among others. The major infrastructural interventions include the construction of two large Bulk Supply Points (BSP) at Kasoa and Pokuase, to forestall overloads at the distribution service points in ECG’s Southern Region and to meet the high projections for electricity demand in future. On completion, communities and towns in and around Kasoa and Pokuase will experience significant improvements in the adequacy, quality and reliability of supply, as well as reductions in power outages. The construction of two vital Primary Substations at Kanda and in the University of Ghana, Legon, all close to three critical health facilities – the 37 Military Hospital, the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, the new University of Ghana Teaching Hospital and the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, a major testing Centre for COVID-19, will be helpful in meeting the power supply needs of these facilities. These are the frontline health facilities supporting the fight against this deadly pandemic as inputs into the resources needed in the effective management of Ghana’ health delivery infrastructure. These prioritized Projects also highlight the Compact’s objective of improving the quality of life in all the beneficiary communities and ensuring that power is always available at the beneficiary Institutions to allow all to have access to quality health care at all times. “The Compact’s flagship Projects, now under construction, will fill an infrastructure gap with assets that will contribute to the resolution of the perennial power supply challenges experienced by the beneficiary health facilities, enabling these critical facilitates to fulfil their full obligations as life-saving facilities”, said Martin Eson-Benjamin, Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), the Accountable Entity for the implementation of the Power Compact Program. Besides, the provision of some vital power supply assets, the Power Compact’s Race to Retrofit Program, is also helping some public Institutions to reduce their energy costs by an estimated 30 per cent. The intervention is replacing high energy-consuming appliances such as refrigerators, air-conditioners, fans and lighting systems in these Institutions with energy-efficient types, at an estimated cost of US$3.0 million. The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, the Adabraka Polyclinic and the Ministry of Health are the primary beneficiaries of the Race to Retrofit Activities, together with three others, namely; the Ministry of Education, the Department of Urban Roads, the University of Ghana and the Ghana Education Service’s Head Office Building. Ms Esther Tetteh, Administrator for the Child Health Department at Korle-Bu, lauds the Compact’s intervention and confirms that most of their electrical appliances were obsolete, consequently the cost of maintaining them was high. The retrofitting initiative by MiDA would therefore significantly reduce the Department’s maintenance costs and their energy consumption. The intervention carried out in four blocks of Korle Bu, the nation’s premier hospital, will also reduce the Hospital’s electricity consumption, estimated at 2.8 million kilowatt/hour per year, by 40 per cent. Collectively, the three Health Institutions could save over GHS 2million of their annual energy costs. As Ghana makes progress in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of electricity in providing access to quality health care for Ghanaians cannot be overlooked. Through the Ghana Power Compact Program, it is expected that the investments now being made into the country’s power distribution infrastructure, shall result in a resilient and brighter Ghana. Source:Millennium Development Authority (MiDA)