Nigeria, Ghana, Somalia, Senegal and Ethiopia has been listed to benefit from UK Governments support in growing solar technology companies.

The project is designed to help more than 11 million people across the sub-Saharan Africa countries have access to solar electricity.

A statement from the British High Commission in Abuja noted that the UK Minister of State for Africa, Harriett Baldwin, made the announcement on Wednesday.

Baldwin, who accompanied Prime Minister Theresa May to Nigeria, said that supporting such companies to provide clean energy to off-grid households in Africa would improve the livelihoods of people.

Africas solar industry is vibrant and exciting, full of potential to transform the lives of millions of people who are still living off the grid.

By sharing British expertise were allowing this industry to flourish, helping the poorest to access clean, sustainable energy, while also opening up opportunities for UK business and investment.

This is a win for African countries and a win for the UK, she said.

The high commission, in the statement, mentioned that the UK aid through the Department for International Development (DFID) was helping to boost opportunities for early stage businesses in Africa.

It stated that the opportunities were made available through the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) and a new round of the fund was being launched in five sub-Saharan African countries.

The countries are Nigeria, Ghana, Somalia, Senegal and Ethiopia.

A new round of the AECF, 16 million, is being launched, providing grants, loans and business development support to small businesses creating innovative household solar products and appliances.

This programme will help up to 1.5 million poor people in sub-Saharan Africa by 2022 access clean, affordable modern energy, with a focus on women and children.

It added that the UK aid would also help governments reduce the barriers in the growth of solar companies in Africa and lay the groundwork for 14 partner sub-Saharan African countries in clean energy.

Support to DFIDs Clean Energy Technical Assistance Facility (15.5 million) will work across 14 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria and Kenya.

It pointed out that the UK aid would increase its support to the Energise Africa impact investment platform to help 1500 new UK small investors provide the necessary finance needed.

It added that the platform would connect 125,000 more people to affordable solar energy, allowing the programme to reach a total of 325,000 people.

Energise Africa to date has raised 4.8 million from 1000 investors to help more than 195,000 access affordable solar energy.

Strengthening the solar market in Africa is opening up opportunities for the UKs own pioneering solar industry to access the untapped potential offered by African markets. (NAN)

Source: NAN

No fewer than 1,700 Nigerians are serving various jail terms in accessible prisons in Libya and many others are held in rebels areas.

The Charge D Affairs, Nigeria Mission to Libya, Mr Alex Kefas, confirmed as he also report that 165 stranded Nigerian irregular migrants were on Thursday evacuated from Libya by Nigeria.

Kefas, said that were still many other Nigerians held for various offences in various prisons in the area being controlled by the rebels which still remained inaccessible to the mission.

Our major issue now, apart from bilateral issue with Libya, is the issue of migrant crisis; the Federal Government as at today evacuated 3,801 irregular migrants in the last few months.

He said that the 165 irregular migrants arrived at the Murtal Mohammed Airport in Lagos on Thursday .

There are six of them that are dead and are in the mortuary as we cannot locate their families because many of them change names when they get there, he said.

According to him, out of the 165 irregular migrants that arrived are 109 that appealed for rescue through a video few weeks ago.

We have 109 that few weeks ago appealed t the president and religious leaders to come to their help through a video that went viral

We are happy that they are in this very group that are arrived today (Thursday).

The mission has been doing a lot to ensure the welfare of the migrants; some of them were taken to the hospitals for child delivery, he said.

He said that the mission had been getting support from the Federal Government of Nigeria to improve funding to take care of challenges that it had been facing.

The issue we are talking about is not that we are not doing anything; the European Union, International Organisation on Migration and UN have been doing their best.

But one of the challenges is that some of the migrants have insisted that Europe is their destination and we cannot stop them according to international law.

Some of them refused to be repatriated and nobody could be forced to come back home, it is not possible, he said.

According to him, about 65 of those categories were rescued from the high seas recently and this is almost on weekly basis.

Some are still there as we speak, even among those that sent the video recorded have refused to be repatriated, so but we are still appealing to them to reconsider their steps, he said.

Source: NAN

The UN has renewed support for the stability and resilience to take embattled Lake Chad Basin out of crisis and to put it on the path to sustainable development.

Mr Edward Kallon, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria, said Abuja at the Ministerial Conference on the Validation and Adoption of the Regional Strategy on stabilisation of Boko Haram affected areas of the Lake Chad region.

The UN said the resilience of the Boko Haram group in the Lake Chad basin since 2009 posed enormous security, humanitarian and governance challenges.

Four countries caught up in the insurgency are Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

UN said the Boko Haram had displaced nearly 2.4 million people in the Lake Chad sub-region.

UNDP and the entire UN system stand ready to support the Lake Chad Basin countries and partners to ensure an inclusive, sustainable and accountable implementation of the regional stabilisation strategy.

And, put the Lake Chad sub-region on the path to sustainable development.

According to him, the UN is working closely with the government of Nigeria and other Lake Chad Basin countries in their relief and recovery efforts in addressing the needs of affected population.

He said that the visit of the UN Security Council to the region in March 2017 and the subsequent adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2349 (2017) further galvanised the world attention to the crisis in the Lake Chad.

The adoption of the strategy fulfilled the Security Councils Resolution 2349 that, among others, called for regional organisations to develop a comprehensive strategy.

This will effectively address the drivers conflict that contributed to the emergence of Boko Haram and ISIL, with a particular focus on longer term development needs, he said.

Kallon stressed the need for the collaborative efforts to mobilise resources to implement the strategy.

Our task now is to take this forward and mobilise required resources to implement the strategy.

The high level conference on the Lake Chad Region in Berlin slated for Sept. 2 and 3, will have a concrete regional stabilisation strategy to build on, he said.

Also speaking, the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr Ketil karlsen, said that the strategy was more needed now than any other time.

The ambassador said that EU would support the depth implementation of the strategy.

Karslen stressed the need to recognise the significant progress and the achievement by the stakeholders in solving the crisis in Nigerias northeast and Lake Chad basin regions.

He expressed concern that with the magnitude of the crisis it had been one of those overlooked crisis in the global scale.

He said that the EU supports the integration approach to solving crisis, stressing for need to combine political and financial strength to end the crisis successfully.

He said the EU has been and will remain supportive in the fight against insurgence in the lake Chad basin, stressing that the union had spent more than 700 million Euros in its humanitarian assistance in the area. (NAN)

Source: NAN

President Muhammadu Buhari has hosted South West Caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to a dinner to strategise on Osun governorship election coming up on Sept. 22.

The national chairman of APC, Comrade Adams Oshiohmole, had on Wednesday inaugurated a 63-member national campaign council for the Osun governorship election.

The Campaign Council is headed by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State.

The dinner was attended by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, South West APC NEC and NWC members as well as Governors of Osun, Ondo, Oyo and Kano states.

Mr Gboyega Oyetola, the Osun APC gubernatorial candidate, was officially presented to the President at the event. (NAN)

Source: NAN

The Earths forests, deserts, landscapes and vital ecosystems risk a major transformation in the next century due to climate change, international scientists have warned.

Some of these changes are already under way in the southwestern United States, where massive wildfires are destroying pine forests and transforming swaths of territory into shrubland.

In the next 100-150 years, these changes will likely extend to savannas, deserts, and woodlands, upsetting ecosystems and imperiling plant and animal life, particularly in areas like Europe and the United States, researchers warned in the journal Science.

If we allow climate change to go unchecked, the vegetation of this planet is going to look completely different than it does today, and that means a huge risk to the diversity of the planet, said co-author Jonathan Overpeck, dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan.

The report is based on fossil and temperature records from a period that began 21,000 years ago, when the last Ice Age ended and the planet warmed seven to 13 degrees Fahrenheit (4-7 degrees Celsius).

But experts say their predictions are conservative, since this historical warming, caused by natural variability, took place over a much longer period from the Last Glacial Maximum 21,000 years ago until the early Holocene, about 10,000 years ago.

But human-caused climate change is different. The burning of fossil fuels like oil and coal emits heat-trapping gases around the planet. The Earth is currently heating up at much quicker pace.

Were talking about the same amount of change in 10-to-20 thousand years thats going to be crammed into a century or two, said Stephen Jackson, director of the US Geological Surveys Southwest Climate Adaptation Center.

Ecosystems are going to be scrambling to catch up.

Researchers described their work as the most comprehensive study to date, based on pollen and plant-fossil records from 594 sites worldwide, dating back to between 21,000 and 14,000 years ago.

Every continent except Antarctica was included.

The most significant changes were seen in the mid-to-high latitudes of North America, Europe and southern South America.

These were regions that had been most covered in glaciers, and which warmed up the most as the climate shifted.

Researchers calculated that if little is done to contain current emissions, the probability of large-scale vegetation change is greater than 60 percent.

However, if greenhouse gasses are limited to levels targeted in the 2015 Paris Agreement, the probability of large-scale vegetation change is less than 45 percent.

Shifting landscapes would affect not only the forests, but drinking water, river flow, and water recreation.

And the loss of forests could unleash even faster global warming, because important carbon sinks would disappear.

A lot of the carbon now locked up by vegetation around the planet could be released to the atmosphere, further amplifying the magnitude of the climate change, Overpeck said.

*AFP

Source: NAN

Lenovo launched the world's first laptop with two screens Thursday as it looked to continue momentum from a recent rebound in PC sales.

The Yoga Book C930 is a 999 euro ($1,164) Windows device with the following features:

• Two screens with a digital keyboard,

• One screen that turns into an e-reader,

• A bluetooth pen to write on the screen.

In refining what the Yoga Book is, and who is should be for, Lenovo has narrowed its potential customer set down to those who have enough disposable income to afford a Yoga Book as a secondary computer, or as a travel device. It’s hard to fathom millions of people buying this. At the same time, Lenovo—which has managed to expand its image beyond that of a strictly-enterprise laptop maker over the past several years—deserves credit for experimenting once again.

Lenovo says the Windows version of the 2016 Yoga Book sold much better than the Android version did; as a result, this new Yoga Book (with the forgettable name C930) will ship only as a Windows 10 device. In some ways this means it’s really more of a laptop than a tablet. It ships with a 7th generation Intel Core i5 or Core M processor—not the latest, but an upgrade from the Atom processor in the 2016 Yoga Book. It has four gigabytes of memory, and 258 gigabytes of SSD storage. There’s also the option for LTE, which will come in handy for those frequent travelers Lenovo is targeting.

The device will be available from the end of September in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Its dimensions are almost the exact same as the last Yoga Book. This one weighs 1.7 pounds; the first model weighed 1.5 pounds. The top display on the new one is slightly larger: a 10.8-inch, quad HD, touchscreen display, compared with the earlier 10.1-inch display.

It’s the “keyboard” part of the laptop that’s changed the most. It was a digitizer before; now it’s basically a second display. And it’s an E-Ink display, replacing the “Halo” keyboard from the previous generation. Users can choose between a couple different E-Ink keyboard styles to start, and control the ink color and contrast in settings.

The inclusion of E-ink also means you can fold it over and use it as a reading device. When it first ships, though, it will only support a PDF reader and not apps like Kindle. You can use a Wacom stylus on both top and bottom displays, switching to a Lenovo-made note-taking app on the bottom. In pre-briefings, Lenovo described a use case in which you can write a note on the bottom half, select it and transform it into text, and then drag to copy it into a Word document on the upper display.

It’s still a zero-travel keyboard, meaning it’s totally flat, but Lenovo says the sensory feedback has been improved both in terms of vibration and sound. This haptic feedback is meant to give you a sense of keys bouncing off your fingertips, even when you’re just plunking them on a flat surface. Each individual key is also a little larger. The biggest adjustment might be on the AI side: Lenovo says it’s storing learning patterns for how users type on the device. This isn’t to offer predictive typing, the company says, but more about offering accurate typing. If you tend to hit your “J” key a little high, for example, the keyboard will “know” that that’s the key you mean to hit.

Another new feature: the Yoga Book C930 includes a “knock to open” feature. Because of the laptop’s chiseled edges, it might be hard to wedge a fingertip in its front lips to get the thing open, even though there is a slight indent there. So the laptop’s accelerometer detects when you double-knock on the top of the laptop, and sends a current to a shape-shifting alloy that contracts, pushes some magnets around, and pops open the laptop. It also goes into “bag mode,” so it doesn’t accidentally open in your bag, when the laptop is placed at a certain orientation and motion is detected.

Lenovo has looked to diversify revenues away from its core PC business with investments in so-called internet of things (IOT) technology. This term refers to internet-connected devices.

At the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Germany, Lenovo unveiled a series of smart home products including an internet-connected plug, camera and light bulb. These will be compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant products with availability in the U.S. starting in November.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday met behind closed doors with the British Prime Minister, Theresa May at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that May who had earlier visited South Africa, is in Nigeria as part of her tour of some African countries.

The meeting started in the President’s office shortly after May arrived at the forecourt of the State House, Abuja.

She was received on arrival by President Muhammadu Buhari and top government officials.

The meeting is expected to touch on how to strengthen the existing cordial relationship between Nigeria and Britain.

The two countries will later sign agreements on security and defence partnership and economic development

25 states yet to domesticate UNs security resolution on women

By Angela Atabo

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equity and Empowerment of Women (UNWomen) on Wednesday in Gombe, said 25 states in Nigeria were yet to domesticate UNs resolution on women security.

UnWomens Deputy Program Manager, Mr Peter Mancha, stated this at the opening of a training on The Role of Media in Implementing National Plan on United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) 1325 for Electronic Media in Northern Nigeria.

According to Mancha, the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) 1325 is premised on the important roles and responsibilities of women in peace-building.

He said that Nigeria keyed into the resolution in 2013 and created a National Action Plan (NAP) which was upgraded in 2017.

He said that the action plan was under the ambit of Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

Mancha, however, said that only 11 states in the country had domesticated the plan, and deplored the situation where 25 states were yet to accept the plan.

The states that have domesticated the NAP are Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Kaduna, Adamawa, Kano, Plateau, Rivers, Yobe, Gombe and Kogi.

More effort needs to be made to fully implement the NAP in states to help equip women to air their voices in decisions that concern them as the major victims in crisis situations.

The domestication of the NAP will equip women in peace-building, conflict-resolution, enhance accountability and promote gender equality.

Mancha said that domestication of NAP was imperative because conflicts affected women and men differently, adding that in most cases, women and children were the most affected.

He said that the plan had five pillars which echoed the governments commitment in ensuring the security of women and enhancement of their active participation in peace-building process.

He explained that the action plan would enable government and stakeholders to be alert and look out for and identify early signs, conflict prevention, peace-building and post conflict remedy.

Mancha said that such would provide a good road map for the implementation of the UN plan 1325 with practical operational tools for supporting those affected by armed conflicts.

He urged the media to increase sensitisation on the UNSCR1325 to ensure its full domestication to promote peace and security in the concerned states.

Mr Obinna Chukwukezie, Media Consultant, Search for Common Ground, an International Non-Governmental Organisation, described the media as critical stakeholder in the implementation of the plan.

Chukwukezie urged the media to engage more in the dissemination and enlightenment of the NAP.

He also encouraged newsmen to be objective in their reportage and deliberately play up issues of gender inequality to give women and the voiceless a voice.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was organised by Search for Common Ground in collaboration with UNwomen, UNICEF and the European Union.

It is to equip journalists with the necessary tools and information in the promotion of womens role in peace-building.

Source: NAN

Lagos State, the commercial nerve-center of Nigeria, has retained its position as the state with the highest foreign debt in the country, with a foreign debt put at 1.45 billion dollars as at June 30.

A document obtained from the Debt Management Office (DMO), on Wednesday in Abuja, titled: States, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Federal Governments External Debt Stock as at June 30, 2018, also detailed other states external debts.

The document also stated that the external debt stock of the entire nation stood at 22 billion dollars with the Federal Government incurring 17.8 billion dollars, while the states and the FCT owed 4.28 billion dollars.

This means that the Federal Government accounts for 81 per cent of the countrys external debt, while the states and the FCT account for 19 per cent.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that as at Dec. 31, 2017, Lagos State also had the highest foreign debt portfolio 1.47 billion dollars, but the figure reduced to 1.45 billion dollars by June 30.

Following Lagos in a distant second is Edo, which incurred 279 million dollars.

Others are Kaduna, 232.9 million dollars; Cross River, 193.7 million dollars; Bauchi, 134.9 million dollars and Enugu, 127.9 million dollars.

According to the DMO, other top debtors are Anambra owing 107.4 million dollars; Oyo, 106.34 million dollars; Ogun, 105.3 million dollars; Osun, 101.5 million dollars and Abia with 100.2 million dollars.

Following closely are Ekiti with 97.9 million dollars; Ondo with 81.4 million dollars; Rivers, 79.5 million dollars; Ebonyi, 67.9 million dollars; Kano, 65 million dollars; Katsina, 64.7 million dollar and Delta, 63.8 million dollars.

The statement also revealed that Imo incurred 61.2 million dollars; Nassarawa, 61.4 million dollars; Adamawa, 57.8 million dollars; Niger, 55.7 million dollars; and Bayelsa with 57.2 million dollars.

Others are Akwa Ibom with 48.3 million dollars; Kebbi, 46.7 million dollars; Kwara, 49.8 million dollars and Sokoto with 40.2 million dollars.

States with the lowest debt portfolio include Taraba, with 22.1 million dollars; Borno, 22.2 million dollars; Yobe, with 28.4 million dollars and Plateau with 29.6 million dollars.

Others are Kogi, with 32.37 million dollars; Jigawa, 32.80 million dollars; FCT, 32.83 million dollars; Zamfara, 34.2 million dollars; Benue, 34.7 million dollars and Gombe, 38.5 million dollars.

NAN reports that the Director-General of DMO, Ms Patience Oniha, had at a media conference on Aug. 14, said as at June 30, the nations public debt stock increased marginally by 3.01 per cent from that of Dec. 2017.

One of the beneficial outcomes is the rebalancing of the debt stock, the ratio of domestic debt to external debt inching towards the target of 60:40 and the target of 75:25 between long term domestic debt and short term domestic debt.

According to the figures for June 30 released by the DMO, the ratio between domestic and external debt stood at 70 to 30 compared to 73 to 27 in Dec. 2017.

Oniha said the ratio of 60 to 40 was important to ensure that the nation was not 100 per cent indebted externally, and that it was also easier to raise money domestically.

Oniha also said the Federal Government had been borrowing from the external debt market to refinance maturing local debts because of the lower interest rates obtainable from foreign sources.

Source: NAN

The Nigerian Police have arrested a customs officer for shooting a motorist at Iya-Afin checking point, Badagry, on Wednesday.

Police sources told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Badagry that the customs officer (name withheld) allegedly shot the victim at the right arm because he allegedly refused to stop fora check.

According to the source, the motorist, who was coming from Seme Border, refused to stop at the check point and the officer opened fire which hit him at the right arm.

Friends and relations of the victim who were around, mobilised the people to attack the officer and it almost degenerated into chaos, a witness said.

However, SP Samson Akinromen,the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Badagry, immediately visited the scene and ordered the arrest of the customs officer.

The officer was taken to Badagry Police Station while the victim was rushed to an unknown hospital for treatment, the source said.

The source further said that some of the relatives of the victim who visited the police station were told that the case had been transfered to Police Area K Command at Morogbo.

Saidu Abdullahi, Seme Border Customs Spokesman, told NAN that the incident was yet to be reported to the command.

Source: NAN