Business
Africa’s Growth: UNDP Urges More Investment
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has urged governments to invest in African technology innovation to speed up the continent’s growth.
The UNDP Chief Economist and Head of Strategy and Analysis Team for Africa Region, Ayodele Odusola made the call at a news conference shortly after the ninth African Economic Conference (AEC) opened in Addis Ababa, Saturday.
Odusola said that poor technological capability remained a major constraint to Africa’s growth and needed to be scale up for faster growth.
“The pace of skills, technological development and innovation has been slow in Africa because of the absence of critical research institutions and African universities with technology driven manpower and skilled education,’’ he said.
The UNDP, UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank (AfDB) convened the three-day conference with the theme “Knowledge and Innovation for Africa’s Transformation’’.
The conference will hold from November 1 to November 3 in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
Earlier, while declaring the conference open the Ethiopian Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Demitu Hambissa, advocated for more technology institutions that would compete with their counterparts worldwide.
Hambissa said that the continent was also constraint with lack of quality laboratories and scientific equipment as well as the unavailability of long term finance and weak private sector initiative.
“To sustain the impressive economic growth Africa has experienced over the last decade, policymakers of the region should focus and learn the best practices in fostering technology transfer.
“They should identify critical innovation barriers and gaps to achieve increased productivity and structural transformation of its economies,’’ Hambissa said.
The Tide source reports that the theme of conference “Knowledge and Innovation for Africa’s Transformation was drawn from the AU Agenda 2063 and the African Common Position on its Post-2015 Development Agenda.
The agenda identified science, technology and innovation as key to Africa’s growth and development.
In her address, AU’s Chairperson Dr Dlamini Zuma stressed the need for skills, technology, knowledge and innovation to ensure democratic and responsive governance for delivery of effective public services.
“That will facilitate universal access to basic services such as food and nutrition, water and sanitation, shelter, health and education.’’
Zuma underscored the need to strengthen higher education in universities where enrollment had increased by 16 per cent over the last decade.
“We must all support the universities in line with the effort to scale up development of the continent,’’ she said.
She said that a summit had been planned for Dakar, Senegal, in March next year to evolve a strategy for investing in higher education to prevent the absurdity of graduate unemployment.
“As the continent pursues its agenda of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena, success will depend on adequate accumulation of skills, technology and competences for innovation,’’ she said.
Also, the ECA Executive Secretary, Carlos Lopez said the continent was endowed with capabilities.
“Capacities are not the same as capabilities. We have lots of capabilities; but are in need of capacities,’’ Lopez said.
He emphasised the need to build capacity to transform growth into quality growth on the continent.
He underscored the need to build capacity for strategic decision-making, enhanced productive economic activities and aggressive absorption and generation of knowledge intensive technologies.
The ECA boss noted that Africa’s stock of graduates was skewed toward the humanities and social sciences.
He said that the share of students enrolling in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics was less than 25 per cent.
In his remarks, Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa, acting Chief Economist and Vice-President, AfDB, noted that adequate accumulation of skills, technology and competences for innovation were key to Africa’s transformation.
Mugerwa said that most governments recognised the importance of knowledge generation and innovation but failed to implement strategies to address skill deficit in critical areas for realisation of the goal of structural transformation.
“Innovation does not happen by chance or in a vacuum. Innovation cannot be legislated; it takes deliberate policy actions, enablers, positive incentives and entrepreneurship to make it happen.
“To leapfrog and sustain the resurgent, Africa requires smart solutions anchored in knowledge and innovation,’’ e said.
The conference is expected to feature presentations and discussions by prominent academics, policymakers, business actors including emerging technological and digital entrepreneurs.
The sessions will involve in-depth and technical analyses of salient issues arising from the thematic focus of the conference.
The sub-themes will enable a broad range of discussions on the current state of Africa’s transformation capacity and generate valuable insights for improved policy making mechanisms.
The sub-themes include Knowledge Generation for Structural Transformation; Technology for Africa’s Transformation; and Addressing the Skills Deficit.
The Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), the country’s satellite operator, has called for immediate promolgation of policy action that will enable the country to harness the potentials of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
NIGCOMSAT, also warned that Nigeria risks missing out on Africa’s projected $1.2trillion share of the global AI economy by 2030.
Managing Director of NIGCOMSAT, Nkechi Egerton-Idehen, disclosed this in a statement issued at the weekend following her participation in the Meeting of the National Council for Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy.
“Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries, economies, and societies worldwide, with projections that it will contribute up to $15.7trillion to the global economy by 2030. Africa stands to gain $1.2trillion of this if the right policies and innovations are in place”, Idehen said, citing a PricewaterhouseCoopers report.
The NIGCOMSAT MD underscored the transformative potential of AI in agriculture, highlighting its applicability in Benue State, widely regarded as Nigeria’s “food basket.”
According to her, machine learning tools could revolutionize agricultural practices by improving pest detection and optimizing planting schedules using satellite imagery.
“AI offers us the chance to not only flourish economically but also to achieve food security. However, we must ask ourselves if we are prepared to manage this technology responsibly”, she added.
Idehen also noted that internet access remains a significant barrier to AI adoption in Nigeria.
“For AI tools to be effective, basic digital infrastructure is essential. Addressing this gap must be a priority.
“AI is happening. We have the opportunity to manage this technology revolution responsibly, both in Africa and globally, through innovation and governance”, she said.
In August 2024, the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy released a draft National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, aiming to position Nigeria as a global leader in AI.
Corlins Walter
The Chairman of Emohua Local Government Council, Chief David Omereji, has said the council has so far spent over N1 billion for the electrification of communities in the area.
Omereji said this while addressing staff of the council at the council headquarters recently.
He said the move was part of his administration’s resolve to ensure peace and development of the LGA.
According to him, the Council spent about N29 million on monthly basis for the maintenance of the Emohua Local Vigilante group known as OSPAC, with each member being paid a stipend of N100, 000 monthly.
He diaclosed that 11 out of the 14 wards are currently enjoying electricity, while efforts are on to light-up the remaining ones.
“I also want to use this opportunity to inform the political class for purposes of records and for the understanding of the people that the Council under my watch have done more than enough”, he said .
The Emolga boss explained that all that have been achieved were through the personal effort of the Council, without support from anybody as rumoured in some quarters.
Omereji further reaveled that a number of other projects, including roads, fencing of schools, hospitals, courts premises, and reconstruction of some abandoned buildings at the Council Headquarters are being undertaken by his administration.
He enjoined the people of the area to support his administration’s drive to bring purposeful development to the LGA.
The Emohua Council boss, who reiterated his hatred for noise making, stated that his works would speak for him, and solicited the support of staff of the council and the entire people of the area.
He noted the fact that some people may not be happy with his achievements, saying that he would remain focused, while advising critics of his government to do so constructively with facts and figures.
King Onunwor
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has raised some ethical questions over a Financial and Technical Services Agreement (FTSA) between Sahara Energy and West African Gas Limited (WAGL), an affiliate of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
MOSOP said the agreement was not done in good faith, not in the interest of the Nigerian people, and did not follow due process.
Foremost Ogoni born activist and MOSOP leader, Fegalo Nsuke, who made this known in Abuja, weekend, described the Sahara-WAGL deal as fraudulent, deceptive and an insult on the intelligence and integrity of the Nigerian nation.
Nsuke called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to cancel that FTSA between Sahara Energy and WAGL, noting that the agreement is fraught with irregularities and deceptive.
“What Sahara and the NNPC did in the FTSA between Sahara and WAGL is shameful and depicts high level corruption in public service of our country.
“WAGL is an affiliate of Sahara and the NNPC. How then can Sahara go into an agreement with its own affiliate? It’s as good as going into an agreement with itself. This is deceptive and fraudulent”, Nsuke said.
He continued that “Sahara Energy is certainly not a company the Ogoni people want on their soil and we are calling on Mr. President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to terminate any deal between the NNPC and Sahara Energy over OML 11, and to allow for an inclusive arrangement that considers a fair treatment of the Ogoni people in the distribution of revenues from natural resource extraction on Ogoni soil.
“The last Ogoni Congress has been unequivocal on the Ogoni demand for justice and has given a clear path to resolve the three decade old conflict between all critical parties.
“It will be good to explore this path to peace and development for Ogoni and for our country”.
Nsuke accused Sahara Energy and the NNPC of frustrating the progress made by MOSOP to achieve a permanent solution to the Ogoni problem.
He urged a presidential intervention with deep consideration for a fair treatment of the Ogoni people in order to permanently address the problem.
He noted that Sahara Energy should give up on the Ogoni area to allow for an engagement in the interest of the country and the people.
Recall that MOSOP and Sagara Energy have recently been engaged in a row in what MOSOP describes as an unholy relationship between Sahara Energy and the NNPC over OML 11.
MOSOP expressly rejected Sahara Energy and called for a fair treatment of the Ogoni people in natural resource extraction in Ogoni.
It noted that Ogoni people, led by MOSOP, paid the sacrifice to take the oil from Shell, hence “the position of MOSOP must be taken into consideration in decisions relating to resumption of oil production in Ogoni”.