ngrclimatereports August 31st, 2009
By Etim Imisim (Abuja)
USA
Peace and security initiative in West Africa received a boost yesterday when the US government gave a Deployable Satellite System to the Standby Force of the Economic Community of West African States.
The mobile system could be deployed any ECOWAS force operated in the continent, both ECOWAS Chief of Staff, Gen. Hassan Lai, and project manager who led the US delegation Mr. Richard Baisley, said during a ceremony in Abuja. Continue Reading »
ngrclimatereports August 31st, 2009
By: Etim Imisim (Abuja)
African Union
African heads of state are meeting today to forge a common position for the continent at the 15th leg of conference of party (COP15) in Copenhagen in December. They encourage African countries to integrate climate change into their development programmes.
The leaders are anxious that the continent presents a common position in Denmark and decisions of regional experts get political backing at the highest level. They will endorse political messages which African ambassadors will carry to Copenhagen. “Major limitations” had been identified in the continent’s negotiation structure. These, including the gap in the coordination of the continental process, are to be remedied at the meeting. Continue Reading »
ngrclimatereports August 14th, 2009
By: Etim Imisim (Abuja)
Hillary Rodham Clinton
US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has asked Americans to connect with the land, the food it grows and their local communities, after he proclaimed August 23-29 the National Community Gardening Week. Community gardening is intended to promote the value and importance of how people can benefit from healthy food in their communities.
A statement from the American government said community garden is an opportunity to educate everyone about from where food comes, and is important to increasing generations of healthy eaters. Community gardens can be in the country, a city or a suburb. It can be one community plot or can be many individual plots. Continue Reading »
ngrclimatereports August 12th, 2009
By: Weneso Orogun (Abuja)
THISDAY Investigation
As the Federal Government perfects plans to borrow $500 million Development Policy Credit from the World Bank, top government officials and oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region may have failed to account for N162.307 billion or twice that amount, THISDAY reports August 8, 2009.
A team of accountants and tax experts assembled by THISDAY to scrutinize the 2005 oil and gas industry audit report just released by the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) returned this verdict in their submission. Continue Reading »
ngrclimatereports August 12th, 2009
Hillary Rodham Clinton
“I am just absolutely convinced Africa’s best days can be ahead,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told students at an interactive town hall meeting at the University of Nairobi on the first country stop of her seven-nation Africa visit, reports By Charles W. Corey for america.gov (Washington, DC).
In an August 6, 2009 town hall meeting with students and faculty, Clinton said that for Africa to enjoy those future best days, the use of its natural resources and its revenue streams must change so revenues belong to the people and to governments that are fully transparent and accountable to their citizens.
Clinton appeared in the same university hall in which President Obama spoke in 2006 as a U.S. senator, before he was elected president. Clinton asked the crowd how many people saw then-Senator Obama deliver his speech and about a third of those in the auditorium raised their hands. Continue Reading »
ngrclimatereports August 12th, 2009
Hillary Rodham Clinton
REMARKS
Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton And South African Minister of International Relations Nkoana-Mashabane
August 7, 2009
Presidential Guest House
Pretoria, South Africa
MODERATOR: Madame Minister, good morning. Secretary of State Madame Clinton, Madame Minister Mashabane, we welcome you to this gathering of the media during Women’s Month. Without further ado, we will now hand over to Minister Nkoana-Mashabane to make her remarks, followed by Madame Clinton.
MINISTER NKOANA-MASHABANE: Well, thank you very much. Once again, welcome to South Africa. We had very, very interesting discussions. In fact, we both agreed that we were doing a catch-up. And we have, among other things, agreed to elevate our bilateral relations to a higher level, a level of Madame Secretary and myself, to lead and coordinate our engagements between the two countries. Continue Reading »
ngrclimatereports August 12th, 2009
Hillary Rodham Clinton
By: Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington — Women may “hold up half the sky,” as the Chinese proverb says, but in Africa, as in much of the developing world, they also do most of the strenuous work of farming and deserve special support in the battle to end hunger on the continent, says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Us.com reports that, in Kenya August 5, on the first full day of her seven-nation August 4–14 trip to Africa, Clinton told hundreds of African economic, trade and finance ministers — most of them men — that the future of Africa’s women is of “great personal importance” to her. Continue Reading »
ngrclimatereports August 11th, 2009
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The Philippines
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USDA
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials are set to arrive the Philippines in October for partnership opportunities in the areas of food production and processing, biotechnology, and biofuels.
According to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, the agri-business mission is the first that will be held in the Southeast Asia, Ellalyn De Vera reports for mb.com August 8, 2009.
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack “expressed deep interest over his proposal on possible investments in the bio-fuels sector, using the Philippines as a staging ground for exports to the region for food and bio-technology,” said Yap who met with Vilsack at the sidelines of President Arroyo’s recent working visit to the United States. Continue Reading »
ngrclimatereports August 10th, 2009
Dr. Rilwan Lukman
The Department of Petroleum Resources, in collaboration with the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, is organizing a two-day workshop on oil and gas accounting today at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja. Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, Minister of Petroleum Resources, is special guest of honour.
The workshop is to benchmark the Nigerian production accounting model with other models to ascertain best practices, a public notice jointly signed by D. O Irrechukwu, for DPR, and Steinar Nja, for NPD, said. Speakers are expected from Brazil, Norway, Nigeria and Angola, the statement added. And to attend are participants from the National Assembly Committee on Petroleum and Gas, the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and other stakeholders in the industry.
ngrclimatereports August 10th, 2009
By: Etim Imisim (Abuja)
Federal Republic of Nigeria
The Economic Affairs Department of the Office of Secretary to Government of the Federation is organizing a roundtable to determine how Nigeria can promote the concept of bio-fuel as an alternative to oil. The forum which will also address the issue of climate change and assess the development of oleo-chemicals holds tomorrow at the conference room of the SGF’s office.
The roundtable will look at the issues of land and the social and environment implications of alternative energy programme, Fadina added. Also for consideration is the implication of commercial farming as well as the variety of seedling and farm production which can meet the commercial production for alternative energy. Continue Reading »
