Chinese firm markets solar kits based on fintech

BY SAMUEL NABWIISO 

Chinese firm Shenzhen JCN New Energy Technology said early this week it is seeking to introduce financial technology (fintech) in Africa that will boost solar power uptake by targeting low income households.

According to Xinhua, Amdy Luo, the Sales Director, said the firm has developed proprietary technology that enables households to purchase a solar kit and make small mobile monthly payment towards the cost of the power kit.

Luo said during the Seventh Oil and Gas, Africa and Power and Energy 2018 Expo in Nairobi that its technology links customer monthly payments to system function. “If a customer doesn’t make the required monthly pay, their system turns off and this reduces risk of non-payment,” he said.

Luo said that a key impediment to use of the solar for lightning homes is the high cost of the equipment. “With our technology we enable families to acquire a modern solar kit and make monthly payments and thereby avoid high upfront cost associated with solar power,” he said. Plans are to start in Kenya before spreading into the rest of East Africa.

Once the customer makes a payment, he or she receives a code on the mobile phone which is entered via a touch pad to activate the solar home system. The PAYGO solar kits are available for as little as 80 US dollars for 20 watts systems that can light up to two bulbs and charge mobile phones. The more expensive kits retail for 120 watts and can light up to four bulbs, a charge mobile phones and a television set.

Shenzhen JCN New Energy Technology hopes to accelerate the uptake of solar usage in Kenya by allowing the bottom of the pyramid consumers to make a small deposit of 10 pc of the value of the kit and thereafter make small monthly payments of between five and $20 until they complete the payments.

In order to increase uptake of the kits, solar companies can buy the units in bulks and provide loans to poor households in order to improve their accessibility.

The PAYGO Platform has been designed alongside hardware, for seamless integration and field-tested over five years. The solar kits targets rural households with small daily incomes, no access to finance as well as those currently using fossils fuels for lighting and phone charging or those currently using expensive battery-charging systems.

PAYGO can handle contracts with consumers, generate invoices and receive payments automatically, monitor customer’s system data through the mobile phone network (GSM) as well as manage sales.

The lightning system is ideal in Africa because it offers remote monitoring and maintenance. The solar home system has already worked successfully in Cambodia where over 220,000 lives have been positively impacted.

An estimated 600 million households in Africa have no access to electricity and are forced to use biomass for household cooking and kerosene for lightning.

Use of firewood has been associated with respiratory diseases due to the smoke. Luo said that the PAYGO kits will enable Africa to tap into its abundant sunshine that is available throughout the year. He said that solar is a form of renewable energy that has little or low carbon footprint.

Oil Activities In Virunga To Affect Tourism Sector – CSOs Tell M7, Kabila

BYSAMUEL NABWIISO 

Civil society organizations from Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) advocating  for the conservation of natural resources   in the Great Lakes region have written to President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Joseph Kabila of DRC to stop oil activities in the greater Virunga landscape.

Early this year, DRC moved to reclassify two UNESCO-protected World Heritage Sites –Salonga and Virunga National Parks – to allow oil exploration to take place. This move was condemned by regional Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) who believe such actions would be devastating for their unique ecosystems.

Gorillas in the Virunga National Park the CSO,s are telling the two presidents not to allow oil activities taking place  in the National park because it will affects  Tourism sector 

A statement from Uganda based CSO, Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), said destabilizing Virunga ‘could cause a high spread of diseases since animals that have been affected by oil activities in Congo, could cross and affect the ones in Uganda.

AFIEGO added that once the Animals commence migrating, it will affect the development of Tourism sector in both countries but particularly in Uganda  furthermore the livelihoods of Ugandans that have been benefiting from this lake could be shattered because of the pollution that could take place on the other side of Lake Edward in Congo.’

“Your Excellences, it will be recalled that the Greater Virunga landscape, of which Virunga National Park is a part, is a biodiversity hotspot harboring some of the planet’s endangered species. Other biodiverse protected areas so critical to humanity that they are listed by UNESCO as World Heritage and Ramsar Sites in the landscape include Bwindi Impenetrable and Rwenzori Mountains national parks (World Heritage Sites), Queen Elizabeth National Park (Man and Bisophere Reserve), and Lake Edward (Ramsar site) allowing Oil activities to take place will negatively affect the conservation efforts “Reads part of the Comminique form AFIEGO.

Virunga landscape is home to thousands of Tourism species, the common ones being Gorillas.

The comments from the CSOs comes at a time when part of the Virunga National Park was Licensed to  UK based -listed oil company Soco International  to explore for oil in a world heritage site in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) .Soco, has a permit to explore in part of the Virunga National Park, Africa’s oldest national park and home to the critically endangered mountain gorillas made famous by the film Gorillas in the Mist. According to Information 85% of the park has been allocated as oil concessions by the DRC Government

The CSOs totaling 15 say it is ‘disheartening to see that the government of DRC has set in motion plans to redraw the boundaries of UNESCO listed World Heritage Sites, Salonga and Virunga national park with  the Intention of   allowing oil exploration activities in the parks.’

The CSO,s recommends that the presidents cancel indefinitely plans by DRC to redraw boundaries of the Salonga and Virunga national parks to allow oil activities in the parks and indefinitely cancel all plans by the Ugandan government to licence out Ngaji oil block located in Lake Edward and Queen Elizabeth National Park for oil activities.

They also recommend that both governments increase investment in renewable energy  since both countries have enormous renewable energy potential in solar, promote tourism over oil to diversify the economic base and increase investments in social infrastructure such as health services, education, roads and others.

The Conservation lobbyists said in the statement that is   willing to work with both governments to ensure that the sensitive ecosystems in Greater Virunga landscape are protected amidst the oil development threats.

The Kampala based communiqué was signed by), Innovation pour le Développement et la Protection de l’Environnement, CPSC- NK/FPJDD, MAIDENI Asbl, Federation of fishermen of Lake Edward (FECOPEILE), SORADEC/SEPD DR Congo and MERV/SEPD from DR Congo.

Others are Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO, National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), Guild Presidents’ Forum on Oil Governance (GPFOG), World Voices Uganda (WVU) and South Western Institute for Policy and Advocacy (SOWIPA) from Uganda.

Other Ugandan CSOs include Kasese Consortium on Climate Change Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation (CABIC), Center for Constitutional Governance (CCG), Green Organisation Africa (GOA) and Oil Refinery Residents Association (RRA).

Rwanda to Host Key Continental Aviation Meet

Source NEW Times Rwanda

Rwanda will later this month host the Africa International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Symposium, an event that will bring together more than 300 major actors in the aviation industry from across Africa.

This was announced during a news conference yesterday, which was addressed by officials from Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority (RCAA) and ICAO.

"We are here to see how far we have gone with preparations of the ICAO Symposium. We are aware that Rwanda is very good at organising meetings, and are confident that this will be a successful event," Barry Kashambo, the ICAO regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, told the media.

The high-level meeting, which will take place on May 22-25, will focus on safety management, bringing together top decision-makers and technicians to deliberate on issues surrounding safety in the aviation industry in Africa.

"This is a very important meeting when it comes to enhancing aviation safety on this continent," Kashambo noted, adding that the four-day event will feature a Regional Aviation Safety Committee meeting, a Safety Management workshop, and a Symposium, the main component of the event.

He said the meeting partly seeks to prepare countries to observe safety standards to ensure the industry grows fast.

Silas Udahemuka, the director-general of RCAA, said hosting the event is good for a country like Rwanda that is trying to position itself as a regional aviation hub.

"This symposium is coming at the right time and in the right location, because Rwanda sees aviation as one of key enablers to economic development," he said.

Even though safety management has been progressively improving in the region for the past three years, officials said there is a need to invest in preparing countries as traffic continues to increase with the growth in aviation industry.The symposium will take place at the Kigali Convention Centre

ILO signs up to help East Africa on labour mobility

Chibebe and Amb. Mfumukeko want to accelerate regional integration  

BY SAMUELNABWIISO

The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Geneva-based International Labour Organisation (ILO) that among things includes advice on the mobility of workers across regional borders which remains a sensitive issue among member states.

As a Common Market, the six member countries of the EAC, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda have failed to come up with an agreed policy on the free movement of labour against a backdrop of mounting domestic youth unemployment and a reliance on work permits.

EAC Secretary General Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko said in mid-week, the revised MoU provides for the development of a framework for the harmonization of the EAC Partner States’ policies on social security in line with the ILO Convention on Social Security (Minimum Standards) No. 102 of 1952.

He said, “The MoU further provides for the expansion of micro, small and medium enterprises for employment creation.

Also included is the development of an EAC labour migration policy as one of the facilitators of labour mobility in the Community.”

Amb. Mfumukeko said the Community was striving to address youth unemployment as a matter of priority, adding that having well educated but unemployed youth out of work was a time bomb.

Partner States were now addressing the issue by encouraging agriculture as an attractive income generating venture for the youth.

He said the EAC Secretariat will convene a joint meeting of the Chiefs of Immigration and Directors of Labour before mid-year to discuss aspects of Entry/Work Permits/Residence Permits and the impact on immigration in the Partner States. Talks will focus on harmonization of these permits.

ILO Country Director Wellington Chibebe said they will work with the EAC to accelerate regional integration and at the same time ensure that the drivers of integration, that is the free movement of labour, goods and services improves livelihoods of the millions of working women and men and their families.

“We welcome the signing of this new Memorandum of Understanding, which will be based firmly on a new DWP for East Africa, addressing strategically prioritized areas agreed upon by the ILO on one side and the EAC and the East African social partner organisations on the other side,” Chibebe said.