The Prize is to be awarded annually to individuals or institutions within one of the proposed three fields (Food Security, Health and Education) The Amir of the State of Kuwait, His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, announced an initiative to the third African Arab Summit hosted by the State of Kuwait. This initiative established an annual award by the State of Kuwait for the advancement of economic, social, human resources, and infrastructure development in the African continent titled the “Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Sumait Prize”, after a Kuwaiti physician who spent his lifetime dedicated towards helping the poor in Africa in…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
The Kenyan Cabinet, chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta, has approved the commercial planting of Bt cotton after the 5-year field trials showed positive results. The biotech crop is expected to increase the cotton production of Kenyan farmers and thus boost the manufacturing pillar of the Big 4 Agenda where it is stated that Kenya aims to be at the forefront of global textile and apparel production. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta chairing Cabinet meeting that approved planting Bt Cotton in the country Researchers from Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization had announced that Bt cotton seeds will be available to farmers…
By Abdallah el-Kurebe, Editor Nigerian Government has approved the registration and release of a new Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) Cowpea variety for commercialization. The approval was granted by the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, chaired by Mr. Oladosu Awoyemi, at its 28th meeting, which held in Ibadan on December 12, 2019. The new cowpea variety, SAMPEA 20-T, was developed by scientists at the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in collaboration with various partners under coordination of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF). PBR Cowpea event AAT709A, was earlier in the year,…
Equatorial Guinea is currently developing its Gas Megahub project which aims to make the country a regional hub for gas distribution Algeria’s Sonelgaz and Equatorial Guinea’s Sonagas have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the Gas sector. The Memorandum of Understanding covers the regulatory framework for the gas sector, the transport and distribution of gas through pipelines, the supply and installation of gas meters and all other areas of the energy sector of mutual interest; the Algerian government is focused on strengthening the role of its gas sector in its national and international economy, as well as optimizing energy efficiency;…
The book was distributed during the 2nd Gas Exporting Countries Forum International Gas Seminar. The publication highlights key achievements in corporate social responsibility projects within Equatorial Guinea’s oil and gas sector; notable projects include the Bioko Island Malaria Elimination Project, Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program and former Program for Education Development of Equatorial Guinea; the book was distributed during the 2nd Gas Exporting Countries Forum International Gas Seminar and will be further distributed throughout the 2020 Year of Investment international events and roadshows.Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons has launched its first official publication documenting the country’s key corporate social…
The report looks at key developments in major African oil and gas producers and offers key insights into the growth potential of the industry The African Energy Chamber (https://EnergyChamber.org/) is pleased to announce the launch of its inaugural African Energy Outlook for 2020.Providing a thorough look at the continent’s oil and gas sector, the report analyses the state of the industry, highlighting current trends, opportunities, and key challenges and how they will impact the future of Africa’s energy and economic development.With a focus on key strategic and operational developments for 2020, the African Energy Outlook forms part of the African…
The GMO debate is over again. Last week, the prestigious National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine issued what is probably the most far-reaching report ever produced by the scientific community on genetically engineered food and crops. The conclusion was unambiguous: Having examined hundreds of scientific papers written on the subject, sat through hours of live testimony from activists and considered hundreds more comments from the general public, the scientists wrote that they “found no substantiated evidence that foods from GE crops were less safe than foods from non-GE crops.” The National Academies process was both impressively inclusive and explicitly consensual. As…
The continent’s 55 countries sign a 5-point declaration to strengthen food security By Kiran Pandey Fifty-five African countries recently signed a five-point declaration to increase the climate adaptation and resilience of the continent’s food systems. The declaration, signed by government representatives at the African Green Revolution Forum – 2019 in Accra, Ghana on September 4, 2019, recognises climate change as a challenge to Africa’s food security. Africa’s population will increase to 2.4 billion by 2050, requiring the continent to scale up its food production while tackling the challenge of climate change. The declaration lists five measures that should be…
The National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), says it is getting purer seeds due to the technological innovations of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) funded BASICS project for cassava in Nigeria. BASICS is the acronym for Building a Sustainable, Integrated Seed System for Cassava. Dr Ishiak Khalid, the Director of Seed Certification and Quality Control of the NASC made this known in an interview on Friday in Abuja. Khalid said that one of the innovations put in place by the BASICS project was a seed production system called Semi- Autotrophic Hydroponics (SAH). “This system provides for massive multiplication of…
The biotech Oxitec had released the genetically engineered insects with the hope that they would breed with wild populations and produce offspring that die young. But that’s not always happening. By Kerry Grens Update (September 18) Scientific Reports has issued an editor’s note, stating that “the conclusions of this paper are subject to criticisms that are being considered by editors.” In a statement sent to The Scientist, Oxitec says it takes issues with a number of conclusions the authors made in their report. Among them, “The authors infer that Oxitec’s self-limiting genes persist in the environment. Yet as confirmed by…