The Consulate General of the UAE in Lagos Bulletin (November edition)

UAE
ECONOMIC BULLETIN
NOVEMBER 2020
THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES AND THE FEDERAL
REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA SIGN TO ESTABLISH A JOINT
COMMISSION.
On the 49th National Day of the UAE,
we remain grateful to those who
planted the seeds of our union. We
are proud of what we have achieved
so far, and we will honor our
forefathers by continuing to take the
country forward into an ever brighter
future- His Highness Sheikh
Mohammed Bin Zayed
Contents
Pg.2 The UAE launches an initiative
to educate one million people in 191
countries
Pg.3 Emirates airlines emerges safest
airline worldwide
Pg.4 Abu Dhabi confirms massive oil
discovery of 2 billion STB.
Pg.5 The UAE gives aid to visually
impaired persons in northern
Nigeria.
Pg..6 Zayed sustainability prize opens
submissions for 2022 edition.
The United Arab Emirates, represented
by the Ambassador to Nigeria; His
Excellency Dr. Fahad Al-Taffaq and His
Excellency Mr Geoffrey Onyeama,
Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, met on
Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at Nigeria’s
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital
Abuja.
During this event, a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) was signed. This
MoU, establishes a Joint Commission
between the two friendly countries,
seeking to enhance cooperation and
coordination between both
countries in all fields.
UAE and Nigeria currently enjoy
numerous relationship and
strategic partnerships in the area of
trade, and development. The MoU
will take the relationship between
both countries to another level, for
the mutual benefit of all, and it
provides the platform through
which both countries can engage
each other bilaterally in many areas
i.e., legal, commercial, etc.
@UAEinLagos

THE UAE SET TO
EDUCATE
1MILLION PEOPLE
IN 191 COUNTRIES
A new Digital School initiative
was launched in the UAE, with
aims to provide certified online
education specifically for students
who do not have easy access to
formal education, the initiative
will be well tailored and
personalised, but will also be a
flexible remote learning
experience to young students
irrespective of their social,
economic and educational
backgrounds anywhere in the
world.
The initiative was created
primarily to empower
underserved students with
programs that will blend live and
self-paced virtual classes in
Maths, Science, Arabic,
Computer Studies and English
powered by interactive
simulation, game-based learning,
and AI-driven adaptive learning
modules.
Teachers will be selected based
on their research, interpersonal,
organisational and leadership
skills, creativity, initiative and
affinity for working with young
people, a statement said.
Attendees will receive a
“globally-recognised and
transferable.” school certificate or
credentials that will enable them
to complete their university
education or apply for jobs. The
Digital school aims to reach one
million students from 191
countries in its first five years, the
statement added.
The initiative, will be overseen by
the ‘Alliance for the Future of
Digital Learning’ that brings
together specialised education
and technology experts from all
over the world. The alliance’s
advisory board features experts
from leading global universities
including Harvard, Stanford, New
York and MIT.
In its initial phase, the digital
school will operate from
November 2020 to August 2021
with 20,000 participating students
in 4 countries, featuring 3 virtual
classes a week over 3 months.
The system will be further
developed based on feedback and
a research and development
process. After adjustments are
made to the system, the school
will officially receive its first
batch of students in September
2021 for the first academic year.
It will coordinate with education
ministries and relevant entities in
the region to establish an
accreditation model for digital
education and provide curricula
aligned with the national
education system.
@UAEinLagos 2

protocols for cabin crew and
airport employees in customer
facing roles, and elevated aircraft
cleaning procedures including the
frequent cleaning and disinfecting
of aircraft lavatories every 45
minutes during flights, amongst
many other measures.
EMIRATES
AIRLINES
EMERGES SAFEST
AIRLINE
WORLDWIDE
Emirates has been rated the safest
airline in the world in its response
to the COVID-19 Pandemic
according to the Safe Travel
Barometer.
This is the world’s most
comprehensive benchmark
supplier in the travel, tourism and
hospitality industry. Its rating
mechanism considers safety
measures and hygiene standards
across all touchpoints of a
traveller’s journey which
Emirates has consistently
delivered on. The airline, which
has set industry-leading safety
standards since the resumption of
its operations back in May, has
topped the ranks with a ‘Safe
Travel Score’ of 4.4 out of
5.0 among 230+ airlines
evaluated worldwide. The score is
based on an independent audit of
26 health and safety parameters
evaluating safety protocols,
traveller convenience and service
excellence announced by airlines.
At every step of the journey,
Emirates has spared no effort to
prioritize the care, health and
safety of its customers,
employees and communities.
Enhanced biosafety measures
taken by the airline include the
distribution of complimentary
hygiene kits, protective barriers at
check-in desks and immigration
counters, personal protective
equipment and new safety
Emirates has also led the way in
traveller convenience which
was another subcategory
considered by the Safe
Travel Barometer. The airline
was first in the industry to offer
its customers free Covid-19 cover
to help them travel with more
confidence, knowing that medical
expenses of up to EUR 150,000
and quarantine costs of EUR 100
per day for 14 days will be
covered if they are diagnosed
with COVID-19 during their
travel, while they are away from
home. Emirates' booking policies
also offer customers great
flexibility and confidence to plan
their travel. Customers have
options to change their travel
dates, or extend their ticket
validity for 2 years. In addition,
the airline launched initiatives to
help its loyal Emirates Skywards
members retain their tier status
and introduce new ways for them
to earn and spend their Miles.
@UAEinLagos 3

ABU DHABI
CONFIRMS
MASSIVE OIL
DISCOVERY OF 2
BILLION STB.
The announcement of the oil
discovery exceeds some of Abu
Dhabi’s major fields in terms of
resources. The resource
assessment was supported by
extensive well data as well as a
dedicated appraisal programme
by ADNOC covering an area of
25,000 square kilometres onshore
in the emirate.
The 2 billion STB of
conventional oil reserves
announced by the Supreme
Petroleum Council, SPC
increases the UAE’s conventional
oil reserves base to 107 billion
STB of recoverable oil,
strengthening the country’s
position in global rankings as the
holder of the sixth-largest oil
reserve, underpinning its position
as a reliable energy provider to
the world.
This increase in reserves is a
result of the ongoing strides of
ADNOC’s developments,
towards its 5 million barrels per
day (mmbpd) oil production
capacity target by 2030. Both the
conventional and unconventional
oil resources offer the potential to
provide ADNOC with additional (AT) and ADNOC Global
amounts of Murban-grade crude, Trading (AGT).
its signature grade crude,
recognised for its intrinsic
ADNOC delivered Dhs62bn
chemical qualities and consistent
($16.8bn) in foreign direct
and stable production volumes.
investment (FDI) to the UAE this
year producing a capacity to over
The SPC also reviewed the
4 million barrels per day
transformation in ADNOC’s
(mmbpd), taking the total FDI
marketing, supply and trading ADNOC has driven since 2016 to
(MS&T) directorate, which has Dhs237bn ($64.5bn).
evolved to offer customers a
broader service, while further
ADNOC is also set to begin the
increasing the value from every
trading of refined products before
barrel that ADNOC produces,
the end of the year.
refines and sells. The directorate
has transformed into a more
integrated shipping and logistics
and trading-focused entity,
establishing two new trading
companies – ADNOC Trading
@UAEinLagos 4

THE UAE GIVES
SUCCOUR TO
VISUALLY
IMPAIRED
PERSONS IN
NORTHERN
NIGERIA.
Noor Dubai Foundation in
partnership with Katsina State
government has established a
four-year (2019 to 2022)
sustainable comprehensive eye
care programme, aimed at
improving the quality of life and
socio-economic status of people
in the state and in neighbouring
states through improved access to
quality eye care services.
The foundation started as a
personal initiative by His
Highness, Sheikh Mohammed
Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime
Minister of the United Arab
Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, and
was launched with the vision of a
world free of preventable
blindness. With budgetary
provision of $2 million, the
programme is projected to
provide a socio-economic yield of
$8 million in increased
productivity as well as tackling
major cases of visual loss,
including cataract
surgeries, free healthcare
screening, human resource
development, rehabilitation
support services for the
permanently blind persons and
health education.
The choice of Katsina resulted
from a survey conducted across
the state, which revealed that
there were at least 122,000
visually impaired people in the
state, out of which 25,000 were
blind with only four
ophthalmologists spearheading
the affairs of its eye care centre to
patients in three senatorial zones
of Katsina, Daura and Funtua.
Accordingly, as of November 28,
2020, the organisation conducted
2,454 successful cataract
surgeries and eye screening for
over 5,238 patients in Katsina,
Daura and Funtua general
hospitals. The intervention is
greatly reducing the spate of
blindness in the state.
"Also, we are currently training
250 community health extension
workers drawn from the three
senatorial districts of Katsina
state, namely; Katsina, Daura and
Funtua. These health personnel
will be assigned to different
healthcare facilities in
communities across the state.
@UAEinLagos 5

ZAYED
SUSTAINABILITY
PRIZE OPENS
SUBMISSIONS FOR
2022 EDITION
The Zayed Sustainability Prize,
the UAE’s pioneering global
award for rewarding impact,
innovation, and inspiration, has
officially announced that the
2022 edition is now open for
submissions. The opening for
submissions follows a decision
that was taken by the Prize’s
management earlier in
September to postpone the 2021
Awards Ceremony in efforts to
safeguard all attendees’ health
and wellbeing, in light of the
prevailing global pandemic.
Applicants that had submitted for
the now postponed 2021 cycle
will be automatically entered into
the 2022 edition.
Entries will be accepted until 6
May 2021, via the Prize’s online
portal – across five sustainability
categories: Heath, Food, Energy,
Water and Global High Schools.
The six world regions of the
Global High Schools category are
The Americas, Sub-Saharan
Africa, Middle East & North
Africa, Europe & Central Asia,
South Asia, and East Asia &
Pacific.
Winners will be announced in
2022 during an Awards
Ceremony as part of the Abu
Dhabi Sustainability Week
(ADSW). More details will be
shared in the coming months.
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Sources: Wam.ae, Emirates.com, UAE Forsan, Businesswire.com, UAE Embassy In Nigeria