The Odum of Ala Igbo
Hail Biafra!
Wayo-wayo politicians. I don tire ooo
Essential The Africa the Media Doesn't Tell You About
- Thread starter TommyHilltrigga
- Start date
Wayo-wayo politicians. I don tire ooo
He's back at it again...
https://www.economist.com/news/midd...-control-everything-now-they-dont-angolas-new
@Claudex @Frangala
I gotta say that following African politics is more fun than Western.
https://www.economist.com/news/midd...-control-everything-now-they-dont-angolas-new
@Claudex @Frangala
I gotta say that following African politics is more fun than Western.
It's dope as hell to be living this moment but Mr. Marques de Morais is right...he's not necessarily substituting the worst for the best so we'll see how that goes. It's gonna be a hard time for the new president, but yes, as of now he has come out the gate swinging.
There's still a high chance all this goes south, so we don't party too hard.
West Africa's biggest solar farm launched in Burkina Faso
Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban with AFP | 30/11 - 09:07
Burkina Faso is now home to West Africa’s biggest solar farm, a 33-megawatt plant located in the town of Zatubi, outside the capital Ouagadougou.
Built at a cost of $56.7 million, the 55-hectare (approximately 135-acre) farm is expected to power tens of thousands of households in the country.
It was funded through donations from the European Union and a loan from AFD – France’s development agency. French President Emmanuel Macron who is on a regional visit joined Burkinabe president Roch Marc Kabore to launch the farm.
Records indicate that only about 20% of Burkina Faso’s 17 million population have access to the national power system. The majority depend on other unsustainable power generation options.
The country is aiming to meet 30% of its power needs through solar energy by the year 2030. Most African countries that have longed depended on hydroelectric and thermal energy are now shifting to solar energy with abundance of the sun in the region.
South Africa has continent’s biggest solar farm
South Africa hosts the biggest solar farm on the continent with a 175MW facility (Solar Capital De Aar) in De Aar, located in the country’s Northern Cape region. The facility spans across 473 hectares and was officially opened in 2016.
“The inauguration of the Solar Capital De Aar 3 marks the commercial operation of the 17th Solar Photovoltaic plant in the Northern Cape Province, which has become the country’s mecca for the development of renewable energy sources,” the sector minister Joemat-Pettersson said at the launch.
“The 4.8 billion rand ($315 million) development by the department in partnership with Solar Capital will be exported into the national electricity grid and be able to power approximately 75 000 houses in South Africa,” CNBC Africa reported at the time.
The facility is also reputed to be the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere and the Middle-East region. It took a little over two years to build and at the time was said to have employed over 369 people during its construction.
West Africa's biggest solar farm launched in Burkina Faso
Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban with AFP | 30/11 - 09:07
Burkina Faso is now home to West Africa’s biggest solar farm, a 33-megawatt plant located in the town of Zatubi, outside the capital Ouagadougou.
Built at a cost of $56.7 million, the 55-hectare (approximately 135-acre) farm is expected to power tens of thousands of households in the country.
It was funded through donations from the European Union and a loan from AFD – France’s development agency. French President Emmanuel Macron who is on a regional visit joined Burkinabe president Roch Marc Kabore to launch the farm.
Records indicate that only about 20% of Burkina Faso’s 17 million population have access to the national power system. The majority depend on other unsustainable power generation options.
The country is aiming to meet 30% of its power needs through solar energy by the year 2030. Most African countries that have longed depended on hydroelectric and thermal energy are now shifting to solar energy with abundance of the sun in the region.
South Africa has continent’s biggest solar farm
South Africa hosts the biggest solar farm on the continent with a 175MW facility (Solar Capital De Aar) in De Aar, located in the country’s Northern Cape region. The facility spans across 473 hectares and was officially opened in 2016.
“The inauguration of the Solar Capital De Aar 3 marks the commercial operation of the 17th Solar Photovoltaic plant in the Northern Cape Province, which has become the country’s mecca for the development of renewable energy sources,” the sector minister Joemat-Pettersson said at the launch.
“The 4.8 billion rand ($315 million) development by the department in partnership with Solar Capital will be exported into the national electricity grid and be able to power approximately 75 000 houses in South Africa,” CNBC Africa reported at the time.
The facility is also reputed to be the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere and the Middle-East region. It took a little over two years to build and at the time was said to have employed over 369 people during its construction.
West Africa's biggest solar farm launched in Burkina Faso
the kid
Real Esquire, Not the Magazine
Went to Ghana for my honeymoon last month. Beautiful country with beautiful people. Will post some pics of the sights.
The Odum of Ala Igbo
Hail Biafra!
The President of Ghana with the President of France. Fascinating speech:
what he say?
The Odum of Ala Igbo
Hail Biafra!
West Africa's biggest solar farm launched in Burkina Faso
Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban with AFP | 30/11 - 09:07
Burkina Faso is now home to West Africa’s biggest solar farm, a 33-megawatt plant located in the town of Zatubi, outside the capital Ouagadougou.
Built at a cost of $56.7 million, the 55-hectare (approximately 135-acre) farm is expected to power tens of thousands of households in the country.
It was funded through donations from the European Union and a loan from AFD – France’s development agency. French President Emmanuel Macron who is on a regional visit joined Burkinabe president Roch Marc Kabore to launch the farm.
Records indicate that only about 20% of Burkina Faso’s 17 million population have access to the national power system. The majority depend on other unsustainable power generation options.
The country is aiming to meet 30% of its power needs through solar energy by the year 2030. Most African countries that have longed depended on hydroelectric and thermal energy are now shifting to solar energy with abundance of the sun in the region.
South Africa has continent’s biggest solar farm
South Africa hosts the biggest solar farm on the continent with a 175MW facility (Solar Capital De Aar) in De Aar, located in the country’s Northern Cape region. The facility spans across 473 hectares and was officially opened in 2016.
“The inauguration of the Solar Capital De Aar 3 marks the commercial operation of the 17th Solar Photovoltaic plant in the Northern Cape Province, which has become the country’s mecca for the development of renewable energy sources,” the sector minister Joemat-Pettersson said at the launch.
“The 4.8 billion rand ($315 million) development by the department in partnership with Solar Capital will be exported into the national electricity grid and be able to power approximately 75 000 houses in South Africa,” CNBC Africa reported at the time.
The facility is also reputed to be the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere and the Middle-East region. It took a little over two years to build and at the time was said to have employed over 369 people during its construction.
West Africa's biggest solar farm launched in Burkina Faso
While this is cool, solar isn't gonna cut it if Africa really wants to industrialize.
Grid power now lights up 70pc
HAZLA OMAR IN ARUSHA / 05 DECEMBER 2017
Acting Commissioner for Energy and Petroleum Affairs, Engineer Innocent Luoga (Standing)
NEARLY 70 per cent of Tanzanians are now said to have access to grid electricity, an increase of some 30 per cent within two-years.
This means at least 35 million Tanzanians have access to main grid electricity across the country, with the figure set to rapidly increase with ongoing rural electrification programmes – billed the highest electricity penetration in East Africa.
The Acting Commissioner for Energy and Petroleum Affairs, Engineer Innocent Luoga revealed here that people’s access to electricity jumped from 40 per cent in 2015 to slightly above 67.5 per cent in 2017 — and climbing — whereas grid power penetration ranges from 97.3 per cent in urban areas and 49.5 per cent in rural areas.
Tanzania is currently home to an estimated 50 million people, the largest of the six countries making up the East African Community. Commissioner Luoga was addressing the ‘International Conference on Water Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy Future in a Changing Environment,’ WISE-Future for short, against the backdrop of ongoing concerns over effects of global warming and climate change.
“The government is committed to developing the energy sector. At present the grid installed capacity is 1263.60MW … the auxiliary contribution from natural gas is 615MW, hydropower (567.7MW), diesel (70.4MW) and biomass 10.5MW,” Engineer Luoga revealed, adding that off-grid installed capacity now stands at 82.4MW.
The meeting was held at the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology (NM-AIST)’s Tengeru Campus, in Arumeru District -- where ‘WISE-Future,’ Central Director, Dr Hans Komakech pointed out that effects of climate change would stifle ongoing efforts to ensure wide and reliable electricity supply around the globe.
He said more than 600 million people within Sub-Sahara Africa still did not have access to grid electricity, accounting for 46 per cent of all people living without power across the world.
Overall, at least 1.3 billion people around the globe are still in the dark – with the global population now clocking at 7.2 billion. The delegates from various research institutes, as well as scholars met in Arusha to chart out strategies to increase electricity supply without compromising efforts to conserve water sources.
Grid power now lights up 70pc
HAZLA OMAR IN ARUSHA / 05 DECEMBER 2017
Acting Commissioner for Energy and Petroleum Affairs, Engineer Innocent Luoga (Standing)
NEARLY 70 per cent of Tanzanians are now said to have access to grid electricity, an increase of some 30 per cent within two-years.
This means at least 35 million Tanzanians have access to main grid electricity across the country, with the figure set to rapidly increase with ongoing rural electrification programmes – billed the highest electricity penetration in East Africa.
The Acting Commissioner for Energy and Petroleum Affairs, Engineer Innocent Luoga revealed here that people’s access to electricity jumped from 40 per cent in 2015 to slightly above 67.5 per cent in 2017 — and climbing — whereas grid power penetration ranges from 97.3 per cent in urban areas and 49.5 per cent in rural areas.
Tanzania is currently home to an estimated 50 million people, the largest of the six countries making up the East African Community. Commissioner Luoga was addressing the ‘International Conference on Water Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy Future in a Changing Environment,’ WISE-Future for short, against the backdrop of ongoing concerns over effects of global warming and climate change.
“The government is committed to developing the energy sector. At present the grid installed capacity is 1263.60MW … the auxiliary contribution from natural gas is 615MW, hydropower (567.7MW), diesel (70.4MW) and biomass 10.5MW,” Engineer Luoga revealed, adding that off-grid installed capacity now stands at 82.4MW.
The meeting was held at the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology (NM-AIST)’s Tengeru Campus, in Arumeru District -- where ‘WISE-Future,’ Central Director, Dr Hans Komakech pointed out that effects of climate change would stifle ongoing efforts to ensure wide and reliable electricity supply around the globe.
He said more than 600 million people within Sub-Sahara Africa still did not have access to grid electricity, accounting for 46 per cent of all people living without power across the world.
Overall, at least 1.3 billion people around the globe are still in the dark – with the global population now clocking at 7.2 billion. The delegates from various research institutes, as well as scholars met in Arusha to chart out strategies to increase electricity supply without compromising efforts to conserve water sources.
Grid power now lights up 70pc
Frangala
All Star
Trajan
Veteran
Senegal opens new $600m airport built over 10 years
Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban | 08/12 - 00:10
Senegal has a new airport as the west African country seeks to underline its status as an airline hub in the subregion.
The Blaise Diagne International Airport was officially opened on Thursday (December 7) by President Macky Sall. He called it a “source of satisfaction and legitimate pride” for the country.
Whiles expected to increase air traffic to the country, the authorities are also hoping it will translate in increased tourism and by that an economic boost.
Here are a few facts about the facility.
1. Construction of the airport started in 2007. Therefore it took a decade to complete the project.
2. The cost of the project is put at $600m. It was started by a Saudi firm but later completed by a Turkish firm after a dispute with the Saudis.
The financing is said to have come from the African Development Bank, the French Development Agency, the West African Development Bank, and other banks from South Africa, Canada and Saudi Arabia.
3. It is located in the town of Diass, located some 29 miles from the Senegalese capital of Dakar.
4. It has a capacity for three million passengers per year as compared to the current travel traffic of 1.9 million passengers per annum.
5. The Blaise Diagne International Airport is named after the first African to be elected a lawmaker in France, as far back as 1914.
Some African presidents who joined the Senegalese people at the opening were: Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon; The Gambia’s Adama Barrow, Jose Mario Vaz of Guinea Bissau.
Senegal opens new $600m airport built over 10 years
Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban | 08/12 - 00:10
Senegal has a new airport as the west African country seeks to underline its status as an airline hub in the subregion.
The Blaise Diagne International Airport was officially opened on Thursday (December 7) by President Macky Sall. He called it a “source of satisfaction and legitimate pride” for the country.
Whiles expected to increase air traffic to the country, the authorities are also hoping it will translate in increased tourism and by that an economic boost.
Here are a few facts about the facility.
1. Construction of the airport started in 2007. Therefore it took a decade to complete the project.
2. The cost of the project is put at $600m. It was started by a Saudi firm but later completed by a Turkish firm after a dispute with the Saudis.
The financing is said to have come from the African Development Bank, the French Development Agency, the West African Development Bank, and other banks from South Africa, Canada and Saudi Arabia.
3. It is located in the town of Diass, located some 29 miles from the Senegalese capital of Dakar.
4. It has a capacity for three million passengers per year as compared to the current travel traffic of 1.9 million passengers per annum.
5. The Blaise Diagne International Airport is named after the first African to be elected a lawmaker in France, as far back as 1914.
Some African presidents who joined the Senegalese people at the opening were: Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon; The Gambia’s Adama Barrow, Jose Mario Vaz of Guinea Bissau.
Senegal opens new $600m airport built over 10 years
Nairobi: From swamp to one of Africa’s top cities
TUESDAY DECEMBER 12 2017
By JOHN KAMAU
Nairobi’s skyline as viewed from the UAP Tower on Upper Hill Road in Nairobi on July 4, 2016. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
When Charles Rubia was elected as “His Worship” the mayor of Nairobi in 1963, he was 41, the same age as the current governor Mike Sonko.
As Kenyans mark the 53rd Jamhuri Day, the place of Nairobi within the bigger picture appears to dim. Again, its significance remains largely hidden by the myriad problems that its residents and leadership faced over the years.
RAILWAY TOWN
Compared to other cities in Africa, Nairobi has not grown as fast – but it has also surprised many of those who had written it off.
When it was first mooted as a small railway town in 1899, few people thought that Nairobi would grow to become among the top 10 most important cities in Africa thanks to economic activities and consumer size.
On the early maps it had no name. The railway surveyors had marked it as Mile 327 and they had proposed that the site was suitable for the building of a depot to prepare the engineers and the workers to “corkscrew” up to 2,000ft over the next 43km towards the lake.
If the Nyika plains had been a painful exercise – forget the lions of Tsavo – the climb to the escarpment was to test the engineers and the workers.
Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi as viewed from the UAP Tower on Upper Hill Road on July 4, 2016. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
MIRACLE CITY
Nobody expected a city here. The naysayers said that no city without a waterfront – and in the middle of the Nyika and without minerals would rise to equal Cairo founded in 969, Johannesburg founded in 1886 or Cape Town in 1652.
Unfortunately, Nairobi did not have any of those advantages and it is today taken as a miracle city that emerged in the middle of Africa by simply becoming a railway town.
As the railway and the settler economy turned Nairobi to become its administrative hub, the traders who had followed the line to Uganda built a city on what was once described by railway engineer George Whitehouse as a “desolate, windswept swamp.”
PERENNIAL PROBLEMS
Because of ad hoc decisions made by pioneers, some of Nairobi’s problems have become perennial.
During the colonial days, the number of workers who could be accommodated was restricted through a kipande system – and a notorious race segregation that marked the Asian, African and European areas.
Development of road networks, lighting, water and sewer systems in these areas also took a racial angle and that is the kind of City that Charles Rubia inherited in 1963.
With independence, Mr Rubia’s City Hall inherited the colonial bylaws that were in nature anti-African and anti-business.
While there were early attempts to revise these bylaws, the council over the years found itself stuck with rules that had been proposed in 1920s by the powerful Muthaiga Township Committee – which was governing what is today’s Muthaiga Estate – then an exclusive suburb of Nairobi’s European community.
POWER
This township committee, formed by residents, had powers to impose rates for street maintenance and advise the colonial governor on the rules that should be promulgated for the good order and government of the town (meaning Muthaiga area).
The collection of rates was strict – and since Nairobi had a population of 350,000 people in 1963 (the same as Thika town today), it was easier to manage the metro which had only a few estates.
But as the rural economy started to crumble as the proposed land settlement promise began to wither, the multitude of those who had taken advantage of independence to seek white-collar jobs thronged the city.
Infrastructure development in Nairobi had been based on income levels rather than density and this saw the mushrooming of slums as the poor and unemployed found solace in valleys such as Mukuru, Kibera and Mathare – where the city fathers hardly collected taxes.
Over the years, this has become the norm – and today, the slums hold 2.5 million people in about 200 settlements, a big challenge to Governor Mike Sonko who has inherited a dysfunctional city.
A photo of Kibera slum in Nairobi taken on October 9, 2016. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
MIGRATION
Nairobi has had an unprecedented rate of urbanisation that is linked to massive migratory movements of workers – despite a 1970 campaign of Turudi Mashambani.
While this natural growth is also a vital for the city, it has brought with it challenges in urban planning and thereby causing environmental problems with far-reaching effects.
While the low quality of housing and the general lack of basic infrastructure, especially sanitation, drainage, and access to energy and clean water supply, Nairobi needs a new fillip going forward.
SERVICES
At the moment only 220,000 households in the city are supplied with water and although Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company pumps 550,000 cubic litres a day to the city, officials say that 40 per cent of this is never accounted for and is either stolen or leaks to the ground – thanks to aged pipes and illegal connections.
The transport in the city has been a nightmare ever since the city fathers allowed the rise of matatus – once known as pirate taxis – into the city centre where they pushed out Kenya Bus Service, which had a transport monopoly.
It is some of these problems that have over the years accumulated to pose a challenge to the city administration as we mark the 53rd Jamhuri as a nation.
The Standard Gauge Railway passenger train at the Miritini Bridge, Mombasa, in this photo taken on October 16, 2017. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP
TOP CITIES
Despite these challenges, Nairobi is among the top 20 African cities in terms of economic activity, consumer size and connectivity.
With the building of a Standard Gauge Railway that now connects Nairobi and Mombasa, and as plans to connect it with other east African cities continue, chances are that the Nairobi of the future will be based on these connections.
Still, at the moment, it stands in the middle of the route towards Uganda and Rwanda.
Thus, it is a city with its own unique problems – and opportunities.
Nairobi: From swamp to one of Africa’s top cities
TUESDAY DECEMBER 12 2017
By JOHN KAMAU
Nairobi’s skyline as viewed from the UAP Tower on Upper Hill Road in Nairobi on July 4, 2016. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
When Charles Rubia was elected as “His Worship” the mayor of Nairobi in 1963, he was 41, the same age as the current governor Mike Sonko.
As Kenyans mark the 53rd Jamhuri Day, the place of Nairobi within the bigger picture appears to dim. Again, its significance remains largely hidden by the myriad problems that its residents and leadership faced over the years.
RAILWAY TOWN
Compared to other cities in Africa, Nairobi has not grown as fast – but it has also surprised many of those who had written it off.
When it was first mooted as a small railway town in 1899, few people thought that Nairobi would grow to become among the top 10 most important cities in Africa thanks to economic activities and consumer size.
On the early maps it had no name. The railway surveyors had marked it as Mile 327 and they had proposed that the site was suitable for the building of a depot to prepare the engineers and the workers to “corkscrew” up to 2,000ft over the next 43km towards the lake.
If the Nyika plains had been a painful exercise – forget the lions of Tsavo – the climb to the escarpment was to test the engineers and the workers.
Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi as viewed from the UAP Tower on Upper Hill Road on July 4, 2016. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
MIRACLE CITY
Nobody expected a city here. The naysayers said that no city without a waterfront – and in the middle of the Nyika and without minerals would rise to equal Cairo founded in 969, Johannesburg founded in 1886 or Cape Town in 1652.
Unfortunately, Nairobi did not have any of those advantages and it is today taken as a miracle city that emerged in the middle of Africa by simply becoming a railway town.
As the railway and the settler economy turned Nairobi to become its administrative hub, the traders who had followed the line to Uganda built a city on what was once described by railway engineer George Whitehouse as a “desolate, windswept swamp.”
PERENNIAL PROBLEMS
Because of ad hoc decisions made by pioneers, some of Nairobi’s problems have become perennial.
During the colonial days, the number of workers who could be accommodated was restricted through a kipande system – and a notorious race segregation that marked the Asian, African and European areas.
Development of road networks, lighting, water and sewer systems in these areas also took a racial angle and that is the kind of City that Charles Rubia inherited in 1963.
With independence, Mr Rubia’s City Hall inherited the colonial bylaws that were in nature anti-African and anti-business.
While there were early attempts to revise these bylaws, the council over the years found itself stuck with rules that had been proposed in 1920s by the powerful Muthaiga Township Committee – which was governing what is today’s Muthaiga Estate – then an exclusive suburb of Nairobi’s European community.
POWER
This township committee, formed by residents, had powers to impose rates for street maintenance and advise the colonial governor on the rules that should be promulgated for the good order and government of the town (meaning Muthaiga area).
The collection of rates was strict – and since Nairobi had a population of 350,000 people in 1963 (the same as Thika town today), it was easier to manage the metro which had only a few estates.
But as the rural economy started to crumble as the proposed land settlement promise began to wither, the multitude of those who had taken advantage of independence to seek white-collar jobs thronged the city.
Infrastructure development in Nairobi had been based on income levels rather than density and this saw the mushrooming of slums as the poor and unemployed found solace in valleys such as Mukuru, Kibera and Mathare – where the city fathers hardly collected taxes.
Over the years, this has become the norm – and today, the slums hold 2.5 million people in about 200 settlements, a big challenge to Governor Mike Sonko who has inherited a dysfunctional city.
A photo of Kibera slum in Nairobi taken on October 9, 2016. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
MIGRATION
Nairobi has had an unprecedented rate of urbanisation that is linked to massive migratory movements of workers – despite a 1970 campaign of Turudi Mashambani.
While this natural growth is also a vital for the city, it has brought with it challenges in urban planning and thereby causing environmental problems with far-reaching effects.
While the low quality of housing and the general lack of basic infrastructure, especially sanitation, drainage, and access to energy and clean water supply, Nairobi needs a new fillip going forward.
SERVICES
At the moment only 220,000 households in the city are supplied with water and although Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company pumps 550,000 cubic litres a day to the city, officials say that 40 per cent of this is never accounted for and is either stolen or leaks to the ground – thanks to aged pipes and illegal connections.
The transport in the city has been a nightmare ever since the city fathers allowed the rise of matatus – once known as pirate taxis – into the city centre where they pushed out Kenya Bus Service, which had a transport monopoly.
It is some of these problems that have over the years accumulated to pose a challenge to the city administration as we mark the 53rd Jamhuri as a nation.
The Standard Gauge Railway passenger train at the Miritini Bridge, Mombasa, in this photo taken on October 16, 2017. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP
TOP CITIES
Despite these challenges, Nairobi is among the top 20 African cities in terms of economic activity, consumer size and connectivity.
With the building of a Standard Gauge Railway that now connects Nairobi and Mombasa, and as plans to connect it with other east African cities continue, chances are that the Nairobi of the future will be based on these connections.
Still, at the moment, it stands in the middle of the route towards Uganda and Rwanda.
Thus, it is a city with its own unique problems – and opportunities.
Nairobi: From swamp to one of Africa’s top cities