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NIS: Over 3.6m Nigerians Migrated in Two Years to Other Countries in Search of Better Opportunities Business
Chinedu Eze
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has disclosed that over 3.6 million Nigerians migrated to other countries within a space of two years.
The Controller, Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command, Mrs. Adeola Adesola Adesokan, disclosed this in a speech during the facility tour of the remodeled ‘E Wing Arrival’ at the airport.
She said data from NIS’s Migration Information Data Analysis System (MIDAS), showed that about 2, 115, 139 persons emigrated from Nigeria in 2022, while 1, 574, 357 left the country from January to September 31,2023, making it a total of 3,679, 496 that have left Nigeria in the last two years.
It was learnt most of the migrants left for greater opportunities overseas due to economic hardship, while some secured admission for further studies.
Adesokan also disclosed that since the Tinubu administration, more investors have been coming into the country adding that about 700 foreign investors apply for visa on arrival every day, a figure she described as encouraging, and higher than what used to be previously obtained.
She disclosed that visa on arrival of the Nigeria Immigration Service has been upgraded and made easier for those who intend to invest in Nigeria.
“In terms of visa on arrival, if you are coming into Nigeria, you have to apply first, and somebody has to recognise and acknowledge you in Nigeria. Sometime ago, we shut down the service in order to upgrade it. We carried out maintenance that will allow you to upload within the comfort of your house, your pictures, put all your documents in the system, pay online and when you pay online, we will be able to see it before you arrive here. And that makes the system seamless. But you know, most times, people want to come and start the process here, which is cumbersome and it will waste your quality time. So, with this visa on arrival, the systems are already waiting and also being in use. It will ease the problem of people coming, particularly the investors don’t want to stay for so long on the queue standing and waiting. The ambience of the place will also enable them to feel comfortable, and they will be processed faster,” Adesokan said.
She further explained that visa on arrival applicants go through serious screening by immigration officials and if the applicants meet the criteria, they are given visa on arrival and because of the new system at the E Arrival, MMIA, the applicants would spend less than 20 minutes before the would receive their visa because the process has been completed before their arrival.
She said that visa on arrival is strictly for businessmen who wish to invest in the country and also for expatriate with special skills who are needed by organisations in Nigeria.
“If you apply for a visa on arrival, we will check whether you have local objections, if there is no local objection, you are permitted. Not everybody is qualified for it. It is meant for investors, special professionals and others who meet similar criteria. We have categories whereby the Nigerian Immigration Service has spelt out conditions for visa on arrival. The first one is for business travellers who are moving and investors who want to come and invest in this nation. So if you don’t fall into these categories and you apply for it, you will be rejected and even if you are coming as a businessman, there are procedures, you have to upload your business CAC (Corporate Affairs Commission) form, the company you want to meet here. That is, the company inviting you, If they do not have that, you are not expected to be granted approval,” she explained.
“Another category of those that could be given visa on arrival are citizens from some countries in Africa. These countries also give Nigeria visa on arrival and Nigeria reciprocates the gesture. Besides, there is a growing disposition to give Africans visa on arrival, those who meet other conditions in terms of security, good citizen record and others.
“The fourth category is the African nationals. Because we have an agreement under the previous administration that Africans who come to Nigeria can receive a visa on arrival. Those are the people who are qualified. They are on this automatic approval in the principle of reciprocity. Of course, those that belong to Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) can come to Nigeria without visa. Those are the people that qualify and they do that for us, too,” Adesokan said.
She insisted that there is upsurge of investors coming into Nigeria since the Tinubu administration, “because many foreigners are interested in investing in Nigeria because of the campaign the President has been mounting to canvass for more investment in Nigeria, which has taken him out of the country many times since he was sworn in.
“This year, since the advent of this new administration we have seen an upsurge of visa on arrival. We record an average of like 700 requests in a day. People have been coming in. We have seen people coming in; I think the president has been going to many nations, asking people to come and they have been responding.”
“So we saw that people are coming to explore; for example the German people they came. We have been receiving people coming into the country and I’m sure they are here for business purposes. That’s the surge we realized,” she said.
On the remodeled the ‘E Arrival ‘of the airport, Adesokan said it had the biggest capacity, more than the ‘D Arrival ‘and disclosed that the Nigeria Immigration Service initiated the plan to remodel the facility and collaborated with NNPC Limited and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).
“This project was initiated by the Nigerian Immigration Service in collaboration with NNPC/ SNEPCO. They were there for us. We are partnering with them. Government cannot build a nation all by itself. So, collaborating in terms of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) with corporate bodies and organizations will be so helpful to build this nation. This nation is all ours and we need to do it rightly,” she added.
Source: ThisDay, 8th December 2024
AfDB: EU’s carbon tax could cost Africa $25bn a year
The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism will penalise Africa’s value-added products and force it to remain an exporter of raw materials to Europe, warned AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina at COP28.
December 7th, 2023
By
Image : AfDB
Speaking at the Sustainable Trade Africa Conference on the sidelines of Cop28 in Dubai, Akinwumi Adesina argued that the mechanism could significantly constrain Africa’s trade and industrialisation progress by penalising value-added exports including steel, cement, iron, aluminium and fertilisers.
“With Africa’s energy deficit and reliance mainly on fossil fuels, especially diesel, the implication is that Africa will be forced to export raw commodities again into Europe, which will further cause de-industrialisation of Africa. Africa has been short-changed by climate change; now it will be short-changed in global trade,” he said.
Why is Europe introducing the CBAM?
The European Commission describes the CBAM, which entered its transitional phase on 1 October, as its “landmark tool to fight carbon leakage”. Carbon leakage occurs when companies based in the EU move carbon-intensive production abroad to countries where less stringent climate policies are in place.
It is intended to equalise the price of carbon between domestic products and imports, “ensuring that the EU’s climate policies are not undermined by production relocating to countries with less ambitious green standards or by the replacement of EU products by more carbon-intensive imports.”
The CBAM will initially apply to imports of certain goods and selected precursors whose production is carbon intensive and at most significant risk of carbon leakage – cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen. When fully phased in it will capture more than 50% of the emissions in sectors covered by the EU’s Emissions Trading System.
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Speaking at the time of its introduction, Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission’s executive vice-president for an economy that works for people, said that the mechanism was compliant with World Trade Organisation rules.
“The EU needs the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to achieve its ambitious emission reduction targets and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The CBAM will tackle the risk of carbon leakage in a non-discriminatory way and in full compliance with WTO rules. The EU will be leading by example and encouraging global industry to embrace greener and more sustainable technologies.”
CBAM undermines Africa’s competitiveness
Citing data from the International Renewable Energy Agency, Adesina said that Africa is already being overlooked in the global energy transition and the legislation will only serve to drive inequalities between the regions.
“Africa received just $60bn or 2% of the $3 trillion of global investments in renewable energy in the past two decades, a trend that will now impact negatively on its ability to export competitively into Europe.”
In response, Adesina called for “Just Trade-for-Energy Transition partnerships,” which he said would enable Africa’s renewable ambitions without restricting its trade prospects.
“This system does not take into consideration the principle of common but differentiated responsibility as per the Paris Accord, which requires developed countries to peak on carbon emissions and achieve net-zero in the first half of the century, while developing countries peak and achieve net-zero in the second half of the century,” he underlined.
Benedict Oramah, president of Afreximbank, also warned of the danger that Africa must manage its pace of decarbonisation given the financial costs.
“Preliminary results of a study recently commissioned by Afreximbank reveal that rapid decarbonisation by fossil fuel-exporting countries in Africa could cut merchandise exports by $150bn,” he warned.
Source. AfricanBusiness, 7th December 2023
Kenya court suspends privatisation of 11 companies
Kenya court suspends privatisation of 11 companies
Kenya
A court has suspended the privatisation of 11 state-owned companies in Kenya, including the national oil and gas company, following an appeal by the main opposition party, a court source said on Tuesday.
According to main opposition leader Raila Odinga, the sale of the state’s holdings should be subject to a referendum because of the strategic importance of the companies concerned in this country, the economic powerhouse of East Africa.
In his decision handed down late on Monday, High Court judge Chacha Mwita said he was “satisfied that the (opposition) application raises constitutional and legal issues of public importance that require critical examination”.
The sale process has therefore been suspended until 6 February, when the case will be examined on its merits.
On November 27, the Kenyan government announced the sale of stakes in 11 public companies in order to replenish the state coffers, at a time when tax revenues are falling short of its targets.
The Kenyan economy is plagued by galloping inflation and a plummeting currency, which has caused the cost of debt repayment to soar.
The 11 companies, including the national oil and gas company and one of its operators, agricultural enterprises and a publishing house, are among the 35 that President William Ruto announced last week that he wanted to privatise.
At the end of June, the public debt of the country of some 53 million inhabitants stood at more than 10,100 billion shillings (64.4 billion euros), according to the government, or around two-thirds of gross domestic product.
The cost of servicing the country’s debt, mainly to China, has soared while the Kenyan currency has plummeted to record levels, with the shilling now trading at around 153 to the dollar.
The agricultural sector, which accounts for 21% of GDP in 2022 and is the biggest contributor to the Kenyan economy, has been hard hit by the recent drought, followed by torrential rains.
Since Kenya passed a privatisation law in 2005, only six public companies have been partially sold, including the largest telecommunications operator Safaricom and electricity producer KenGen.
Source: africanews, 5th December 2023
Kenya court suspends privatisation of 11 companies
Kenya
A court has suspended the privatisation of 11 state-owned companies in Kenya, including the national oil and gas company, following an appeal by the main opposition party, a court source said on Tuesday.
According to main opposition leader Raila Odinga, the sale of the state’s holdings should be subject to a referendum because of the strategic importance of the companies concerned in this country, the economic powerhouse of East Africa.
In his decision handed down late on Monday, High Court judge Chacha Mwita said he was “satisfied that the (opposition) application raises constitutional and legal issues of public importance that require critical examination”.
The sale process has therefore been suspended until 6 February, when the case will be examined on its merits.
On November 27, the Kenyan government announced the sale of stakes in 11 public companies in order to replenish the state coffers, at a time when tax revenues are falling short of its targets.
The Kenyan economy is plagued by galloping inflation and a plummeting currency, which has caused the cost of debt repayment to soar.
The 11 companies, including the national oil and gas company and one of its operators, agricultural enterprises and a publishing house, are among the 35 that President William Ruto announced last week that he wanted to privatise.
At the end of June, the public debt of the country of some 53 million inhabitants stood at more than 10,100 billion shillings (64.4 billion euros), according to the government, or around two-thirds of gross domestic product.
The cost of servicing the country’s debt, mainly to China, has soared while the Kenyan currency has plummeted to record levels, with the shilling now trading at around 153 to the dollar.
The agricultural sector, which accounts for 21% of GDP in 2022 and is the biggest contributor to the Kenyan economy, has been hard hit by the recent drought, followed by torrential rains.
Since Kenya passed a privatisation law in 2005, only six public companies have been partially sold, including the largest telecommunications operator Safaricom and electricity producer KenGen.
Source: africanews, 5th December 2023
South Africa: Scatec amongst winners of 513 MW battery storage tender
By Cameron Murray December 1, 2023
A separate solar and storage project Scatec is building in South Africa, awarded to the firm through another procurement. Image: Scatec.
Norway-based IPP Scatec has won preferred bidder status for a 103MW/412MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in South Africa, part of a 513MW tender.
The firm has won the award for the Mogobe BESS, one of four to be granted preferred bidder status under the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP), it said yesterday (30 November).
BESIPPPP is being run by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), which issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the procurement seeking five 4-hour BESS projects back in March this year. Four out of five projects have now seen a party given preferred bidder status with a fifth ‘to be appointed’, the South Africa state body said on the same day as Scatec’s announcement, though the companies behind them have not been revealed.
All five will be located at various substations run by grid operator Eskom and will provide it with capacity, energy and ancillary services, specifically Instantaneous Reserves, Regulating Reserves, Ten Reserves and Supplemental Reserves.
The ones to have a preferred bidder status are Agganeis (77MW), Mookodi (77M) Nieuwehoop (103MW) and Scatec’s at the Ferrum substation, with the largest, Garona (153MW) still to be announced.
Eskom has struggled to prevent regular blackouts from occurring in South Africa, and is aiming for large-scale BESS projects to help increase resiliency and stability on the grid.
“This marks another significant achievement for Scatec in South Africa and for the renewable energy transition in the country. Today’s award reaffirms our standing as a leading renewable energy player in South Africa. We applaud the South African government’s commitment and dedication to the battery storage procurement programme,” says Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog.
The firm, controlled by the Norwegian state, is already building solar-and-storage projects in South Africa awarded through a separate procurement, the Risk Mitigation Power Procurement Programme (RMIPPP) programme.
BESIPPPP’s minimum round-trip efficiency (RTE) requirement of 70% for the energy storage technologies provoked some debate over where flow batteries would be eligible. Analysis given to Energy-Storage.news by consultancies Clean Horizon and Harmattan Renewables suggested they wouldn’t, to which integrated vanadium producer Bushveld Minerals – which has a stake in vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) firm CellCube – swiftly responded in disagreement.
Both BESIPPPP and RMIPPP are separate from another procurement which has awarded contracts for 1,440MWh of BESS capacity, with the first system from that scheme coming online last month.
In its BESIPPPP announcement, the DMRE also said a new RMIPPP project award has been granted, for a 75MW solar and BESS project in De Aar, Northern Cape, though didn’t say which company was behind that.
Source: Energy Storage News
By Cameron Murray December 1, 2023
A separate solar and storage project Scatec is building in South Africa, awarded to the firm through another procurement. Image: Scatec.
Norway-based IPP Scatec has won preferred bidder status for a 103MW/412MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in South Africa, part of a 513MW tender.
The firm has won the award for the Mogobe BESS, one of four to be granted preferred bidder status under the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP), it said yesterday (30 November).
BESIPPPP is being run by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), which issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the procurement seeking five 4-hour BESS projects back in March this year. Four out of five projects have now seen a party given preferred bidder status with a fifth ‘to be appointed’, the South Africa state body said on the same day as Scatec’s announcement, though the companies behind them have not been revealed.
All five will be located at various substations run by grid operator Eskom and will provide it with capacity, energy and ancillary services, specifically Instantaneous Reserves, Regulating Reserves, Ten Reserves and Supplemental Reserves.
The ones to have a preferred bidder status are Agganeis (77MW), Mookodi (77M) Nieuwehoop (103MW) and Scatec’s at the Ferrum substation, with the largest, Garona (153MW) still to be announced.
Eskom has struggled to prevent regular blackouts from occurring in South Africa, and is aiming for large-scale BESS projects to help increase resiliency and stability on the grid.
“This marks another significant achievement for Scatec in South Africa and for the renewable energy transition in the country. Today’s award reaffirms our standing as a leading renewable energy player in South Africa. We applaud the South African government’s commitment and dedication to the battery storage procurement programme,” says Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog.
The firm, controlled by the Norwegian state, is already building solar-and-storage projects in South Africa awarded through a separate procurement, the Risk Mitigation Power Procurement Programme (RMIPPP) programme.
BESIPPPP’s minimum round-trip efficiency (RTE) requirement of 70% for the energy storage technologies provoked some debate over where flow batteries would be eligible. Analysis given to Energy-Storage.news by consultancies Clean Horizon and Harmattan Renewables suggested they wouldn’t, to which integrated vanadium producer Bushveld Minerals – which has a stake in vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) firm CellCube – swiftly responded in disagreement.
Both BESIPPPP and RMIPPP are separate from another procurement which has awarded contracts for 1,440MWh of BESS capacity, with the first system from that scheme coming online last month.
In its BESIPPPP announcement, the DMRE also said a new RMIPPP project award has been granted, for a 75MW solar and BESS project in De Aar, Northern Cape, though didn’t say which company was behind that.
Source: Energy Storage News
By Cameron Murray December 1, 2023
A separate solar and storage project Scatec is building in South Africa, awarded to the firm through another procurement. Image: Scatec.
Norway-based IPP Scatec has won preferred bidder status for a 103MW/412MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in South Africa, part of a 513MW tender.
The firm has won the award for the Mogobe BESS, one of four to be granted preferred bidder status under the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP), it said yesterday (30 November).
BESIPPPP is being run by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), which issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the procurement seeking five 4-hour BESS projects back in March this year. Four out of five projects have now seen a party given preferred bidder status with a fifth ‘to be appointed’, the South Africa state body said on the same day as Scatec’s announcement, though the companies behind them have not been revealed.
All five will be located at various substations run by grid operator Eskom and will provide it with capacity, energy and ancillary services, specifically Instantaneous Reserves, Regulating Reserves, Ten Reserves and Supplemental Reserves.
The ones to have a preferred bidder status are Agganeis (77MW), Mookodi (77M) Nieuwehoop (103MW) and Scatec’s at the Ferrum substation, with the largest, Garona (153MW) still to be announced.
Eskom has struggled to prevent regular blackouts from occurring in South Africa, and is aiming for large-scale BESS projects to help increase resiliency and stability on the grid.
“This marks another significant achievement for Scatec in South Africa and for the renewable energy transition in the country. Today’s award reaffirms our standing as a leading renewable energy player in South Africa. We applaud the South African government’s commitment and dedication to the battery storage procurement programme,” says Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog.
The firm, controlled by the Norwegian state, is already building solar-and-storage projects in South Africa awarded through a separate procurement, the Risk Mitigation Power Procurement Programme (RMIPPP) programme.
BESIPPPP’s minimum round-trip efficiency (RTE) requirement of 70% for the energy storage technologies provoked some debate over where flow batteries would be eligible. Analysis given to Energy-Storage.news by consultancies Clean Horizon and Harmattan Renewables suggested they wouldn’t, to which integrated vanadium producer Bushveld Minerals – which has a stake in vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) firm CellCube – swiftly responded in disagreement.
Both BESIPPPP and RMIPPP are separate from another procurement which has awarded contracts for 1,440MWh of BESS capacity, with the first system from that scheme coming online last month.
In its BESIPPPP announcement, the DMRE also said a new RMIPPP project award has been granted, for a 75MW solar and BESS project in De Aar, Northern Cape, though didn’t say which company was behind that.
Source: Energy Storage News
By Cameron Murray December 1, 2023
A separate solar and storage project Scatec is building in South Africa, awarded to the firm through another procurement. Image: Scatec.
Norway-based IPP Scatec has won preferred bidder status for a 103MW/412MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in South Africa, part of a 513MW tender.
The firm has won the award for the Mogobe BESS, one of four to be granted preferred bidder status under the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP), it said yesterday (30 November).
BESIPPPP is being run by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), which issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the procurement seeking five 4-hour BESS projects back in March this year. Four out of five projects have now seen a party given preferred bidder status with a fifth ‘to be appointed’, the South Africa state body said on the same day as Scatec’s announcement, though the companies behind them have not been revealed.
All five will be located at various substations run by grid operator Eskom and will provide it with capacity, energy and ancillary services, specifically Instantaneous Reserves, Regulating Reserves, Ten Reserves and Supplemental Reserves.
The ones to have a preferred bidder status are Agganeis (77MW), Mookodi (77M) Nieuwehoop (103MW) and Scatec’s at the Ferrum substation, with the largest, Garona (153MW) still to be announced.
Eskom has struggled to prevent regular blackouts from occurring in South Africa, and is aiming for large-scale BESS projects to help increase resiliency and stability on the grid.
“This marks another significant achievement for Scatec in South Africa and for the renewable energy transition in the country. Today’s award reaffirms our standing as a leading renewable energy player in South Africa. We applaud the South African government’s commitment and dedication to the battery storage procurement programme,” says Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog.
The firm, controlled by the Norwegian state, is already building solar-and-storage projects in South Africa awarded through a separate procurement, the Risk Mitigation Power Procurement Programme (RMIPPP) programme.
BESIPPPP’s minimum round-trip efficiency (RTE) requirement of 70% for the energy storage technologies provoked some debate over where flow batteries would be eligible. Analysis given to Energy-Storage.news by consultancies Clean Horizon and Harmattan Renewables suggested they wouldn’t, to which integrated vanadium producer Bushveld Minerals – which has a stake in vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) firm CellCube – swiftly responded in disagreement.
Both BESIPPPP and RMIPPP are separate from another procurement which has awarded contracts for 1,440MWh of BESS capacity, with the first system from that scheme coming online last month.
In its BESIPPPP announcement, the DMRE also said a new RMIPPP project award has been granted, for a 75MW solar and BESS project in De Aar, Northern Cape, though didn’t say which company was behind that.
Source: Energy Storage News
