BusinessDay 24 Aug 2018

6 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556
NEWS
Daystar Power to light up Nigeria’ agric
bank branches with solar energy
ISAAC ANYAOGU
Bank of Agriculture
has signed
agreement with
Daystar Power,
a pan-African
electricity company specialising
in the generation
of solar energy, to light up
its 158 branches in Nigeria
with solar energy. The
company has also entered
a comprehensive cooperation
for rural electrification
in Nigeria, it said in a release
sent to BusinessDay.
Daystar Power will partner
Sunray Ventures, a venture
builder with locations
in Frankfurt, Dubai and
Lagos, founded to identify
economically attractive
and high impact opportunities
that address core
growth sectors with a focus
on renewable energy and
circular economy in Africa
and the Middle East, to develop
the project including
solar projects in rural communities
in Nigeria.
Established in 1972,
the bank of agriculture a
state-owned bank created
As part of efforts to
develop indigenous
solutions to society’s
problems, EdoJobs,
in partnership with WeAre-
Bits, a global Information
Technology (IT) company,
have completed a two-day cocreation
workshop to map out
the peculiar needs that will
influence a one-year training
for Edo youths on the use of
Information and Communication
Technology (ICT).
Speaking at the end of the
two-day co-creation workshop
organised at the Edo Innovation
Hub in Benin City, head of
EdoJobs, Ukinebo Dare, said
the programme would afford
the youths the opportunity to
acquire practical skills in the
use of ICT to improve their
employability within and out-
The National Home
Grown School
Feeding Programme
(NHGS-
FP), which commenced in
2016, has only been beneficial
to 24 out of 36 states of
the federation, and the remaining
12 states feel they
are being treated partially.
As of Wednesday, the
programme was currently
feeding 8.6 million pupils
in 24 states across Nigeria,
4.9 percent growth from 8.3
million pupils in May 2018.
The states currently involved
in the programme
are Taraba, Plateau,
Gombe, Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa,
Kano, Niger, Kaduna,
to lend support relevant
activities in the agricultural
production chain, will see
all its branches in the country
switch to renewables.
This follows the growing
realisation that solar energy
can help firms reduce energy
cost which the Manufacturers
Association of Nigeria
say represents 40 percent of
business cost. Sterling Bank
is also powering some of
its branches in the country
with solar power.
“In Nigeria there is a
large gap between electricity
production and demand.
The rural population
in particular suffers
from a lack of reliable electricity
supply, which has a
negative impact on agricultural
productivity. By supplying
Nigeria’s population
with clean solar power,
Daystar Power enables increased
productivity and
higher crop yields through
better cooling. In this way
we contribute to increasing
prosperity for the local
population,” Christian
Wessels, managing director
of Sunray Ventures, said.
The cooperation agreement
was signed in the
presence of the Regina Hess
deputy ambassador of the
Federal Republic of Germany
to Nigeria, and Ulrich
Rieger, senior ministerial
Council of the Internationalization
Department of the
Bavarian State Ministry of
Economic Affairs, Energy
and Technology.
“The recently agreed
cooperation offers a great
perspective for Nigeria
and is a forward-looking
signal for further projects
of this kind. We very much
welcome projects of private-sector
cooperation to
promote African development,”
Hess said.
In remarks made the
signing ceremony, Rieger
said, ““The secure supply
of electricity is central to
Nigeria’s sustainable development.
That is why we
particularly support cooperation
between Bavarian
companies that are active
in Africa and thus make a
contribution to economic,
social and ecological development”.
Edo’s tech revolution: EdoJobs, WeAreBits to commence 1-year training for 50 Edo youths
NHGSFP: why 24 states instead of 36 states, citizens lament
CYNTHIA IKWUETOGHU
side the country.
Dare, who is the senior
special assistant to the Governor
on Skills Development
and Job Creation, noted, “The
programme was designed by
EdoJobs and WeAreBits for
the training of youths who
don’t have access to computer
education. The beneficiaries
fall within the age range of
15 to 35, who had little or no
knowledge in using computers
before now.”
She said the co-creation
workshop was to create a
sense of ownership among
stakeholders including the
community youths, civil society
organisations, and the
state government.
She said EdoBits was set
up to benefit from the initiative
of the We Are Bits, a
Zamfara, Katsina, Osun,
Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Delta,
Anambra, Enugu, Imo,
Abia, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi,
Cross River, and Benue.
The states excluded are
Rivers, Bayelsa, Sokoto, Kebbi,
Yobe, Kogi, Nassarawa,
Kwara, Lagos, Ekiti, Edo,
and Adamawa.
“Why not 36 states,” a
concerned citizen asked
on social media. “How will
I know why my state was
not included? Is it only 24
states that voted for President
Muhammadu Buhari?
Such selective approach is
not befitting a man of his
approach,” another citizen
complained.
A citizen of Rivers State
said for his state, “Buhari
global organisation with
programmes across African
countries, aimed at availing
the youths the opportunity
to be part of the global tech
movement.
She noted that co-creating
with stakeholders in the
education sector is to target
people from different backgrounds
and ensure that
within the space of one year,
different communities within
the 18 local government
areas in Edo State would
have benefited.
Director, We Are Bits, lsmail
Eltabrook, said the idea
behind the initiative was to
create an avenue for youths in
Edo State to acquire training
in the use of computer and
assist the state reduce unemployment
among youth.
and APC, what has Rivers
State done to Nigeria, as it
is always excluded in anything
that may bring help
to the people. The sharing
of Abacha loot and the
N5,000 for the aged were
all excluded in Rivers State,
and now feeding of school
children.”
On the reason why Lagos
is not included for
now, deputy governor, Idiat
Adebule, at a 2018 Ministerial
Press Briefing of the
Ministry of Education said
they were planning properly
to ensure no student
was left out as the number
of students in Lagos State
schools was about the
number of students in five
or six states put together.
Friday 24 August 2018