By Hamisu Muhammad

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has lauded the $15billion (about N5.2 trillion) cash for oil deal negotiated on behalf of the Federation with the Indian Government by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu in a bid to shore up Nigeria’s foreign reserves.

Under the terms of agreement, the Indian Government is expected to make an upfront payment for crude purchase to Nigeria, which is to be repaid on the basis of firm Term Crude Contracts over some years where Indian public sector companies would collaborate in refining as well as exploration and production with long term contracts for supply of crude to Indian PSU companies from Nigeria and possibilities of executing CGD and LPG infrastructure projects by Indian PSU companies in Nigeria.

According to a statement signed by the Commission’s spokesperson, Mr. Ibrahim Mohammed, RMAFC has always been advocating that instead of selling off Nigeria’s strategic assets to solve its short term expenditure requirements, the country should look elsewhere to attract long term investments like this that would bring good returns for the economy through employment generation, wealth creation and sustainable development.

“There is no reason why the country should not have 4 to10 LNG projects which would add value to production, create employment, enhance economic development and subsequently increase revenue generation for the federation”.

In this regard, RMAFC commended Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) on the recent acquisition of Twister B.V., a Dutch company headquartered in the Netherlands delivering reliable, high-yield and robust solutions in natural gas processing and separation to the upstream and midstream oil and gas sectors.

By Fatma Abdu

Tanzania is expected to be among the top five producers of uranium in Africa after the completion of Mkuju River Uranium Project, which is in the final stage of trial, the Urenium One Chief Operation officer, Mr Andrey Shotov said yesterday.

He told journalists that in the coming two years they will start mining activities, the project expected to boost the country’s economy. “We are finalising the Mkuju River project, we are looking forward to start trial as in the coming two years,” he said.

According to Mr Shotov, the project started seven years ago and that it has reached to the implementation stage after various research studies were conducted. He said the project is expected to provide employment to various Tanzanians and promote various economic activities across the country.

“Mkuju River Project in Tanzania is among the world’s most promising uranium projects.

The project is currently maintained in the active status as research work and preparatory operations are under way,” he said. MANTRA Tanzania Mnaging Director Mr Frederick Kibodya said that Mkuju River Project would be the first uranium mine in the country.

He said since establishment of the project, over 200m/- US dollar have already been used in exploration, constructing infrastructure and supporting local communities. “The projects will increase national income and employment to many Tanzanian.

Tanzania will be the leader in mining technologies,” he said. He said upon the completion Mkuju River Project would employ 1,600 people.

By James Karuhanga

Cooper Pharma, a leading Moroccan pharmaceutical company, yesterday signed a deal that paves way for construction of a plant in Rwanda to manufacture antibiotics.

The deal is one of the outcomes of talks between the Government and the visiting high-level delegation from Morocco led by King Mohamed VI that arrived in Rwanda on Tuesday for a three-day state visit.

The drugs that will be locally produced include beta-lactam antibiotics, which are among the most commonly prescribed drugs, including Penicillins, grouped together based upon a shared structural feature, the beta-lactam ring.

The plant, set to be operational in 2019, will be built on a plot of 10,000 square metres in the Kigali Special Economic Zone in Gasabo District.

The plan, according to officials, is to also produce non beta-lactam drugs, in line with local market needs and good manufacturing practices internationally.

Commenting on the deal, Rwanda Development Board (RDB) chief operating officer Serge Kamuhinda said this will play a major role in reducing the trade deficit created by a heavy import bill.

“The market entry of Cooper Pharma, a leading company in pharmaceuticals, is in line with the long held wish by the Government to have a pharmaceutical plant in Rwanda. This will reduce our trade deficit and boost exports,” said Kamuhinda.

According to a statement, Cooper Pharma Laboratories and RDB signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of the first such pharmaceutical plant in Rwanda.

The agreement is reportedly the second of its kind by Cooper Pharma, after the one previously signed in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

King Mohamed VI and his delegation are in the country on the first leg of his three nation tour that will also see them visit Tanzania and Ethiopia.

The idea of the project also fits into the larger East African Community’s (EAC) pharmaceutical manufacturing needs.

In the past, East African Community countries set up a platform to address the challenges the region was facing in the provision of safe, efficacious, and affordable quality essential medicines.

The provision of such medicines and other quality health commodities remains a major challenge in the region due to inadequate local production and over reliance on importation of finished pharmaceutical products from outside the region.

Based in Casablanca, the Moroccan capital, since 1933, Cooper Pharma works with health professionals to achieve a mission of offering to a large number of people access to quality drugs.

In the context of globalisation, Cooper Pharma focuses part of its strategy on the international market, thus considering export as a vector of development and competitiveness, the firm said.

The company has reportedly adapted its internal organisation in order to create and maintain a synergy between its In-licensing and Out-licensing activities.

By Ouma Wanzala

The leadership of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has been directed to conclude salary talks within the next 10 days.

The union’s top decision making organ, the National Executive Council, also directed the negotiating team, led by Secretary-General Wilson Sossion, chairman Mudzo Nzili, treasurer John Matiang’i and deputy secretary-general Hesbone Otieno, not to accept anything less than 300 per cent from the employer.

In a day-long meeting that was held on Wednesday at Knut headquarters in Nairobi, the council resolved that a timely conclusion of the talks would pave the way for budgeting.

At the same time, the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) led by Secretary-General Akelo Misori on Wednesday held talks with the TSC on a pay increase for its members.

Mr Misori said the TSC had sought more time to get an offer after a four-hour meeting.

“We have given them more time to prepare for the offer,” said Mr Misori.

The two teachers’ unions have demanded salary increases of between 200 per cent and 300 per cent, with several allowances and other benefits.

Sources told the Nation that the Knut NEC had warned that “it has options if the collective bargaining agreement that has a salary component is not reached”.

Mr Sossion said the top organ appreciated the progress in the talks and directed that they be concluded on time.

HIRE MORE TEACHERS

“We briefed them and with their approval, we are ready to get the CBA that will have all components,” said Mr Sossion.

He added that the issue of employment of teachers was also discussed and they resolved that the government must hire more teachers.

On Tuesday, Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i told Parliament that the country was facing a shortage of 87,489 teachers, with primary schools being in need of 39,913 teachers and secondary schools having a deficit of 47,576 teacher.

He said proper distribution of teachers was required, adding that the urban areas had more teachers than the rural regions.

However, Knut has demanded that more than 90,000 teachers be employed to address the shortage.

Mr Sossion added that the union was also opposed to the relocation of the Kenya Technical Trainers College from Gigiri to the Kenya Science College on Ngong Road, Nairobi.

Mr Sossion added that NEC had demanded the employment of all teachers who have graduated after further studies, saying that government must appreciate their investments.”We want them to be promoted from the day they graduated,” said Other issues that Knut discussed included union dues and other operational activities.This is the first time NEC is meeting after last year’s union elections.The team will resume talks with the Teachers Service Commission on Monday.

By Moses Opobo

A while ago, it was all about the Kigali Convention Center and the AU Summit it was to subsequently host in July. That came and went. Now it’s all about the trailblazing launch of medical-purpose drones on Friday.

I deliberately choose the term ‘drone’ because what’s the logic in using other names that are less popular and that are usually a mouthful when a single known word could drive the same point home? ‘Unmanned Aerial Vehicle’ is such a mouthful of a word, and so is Unmanned Aerial Systems. Of course you could cut these mouthfuls of names down to simply UAV or UAS, but the problem is that these shortened names sound closer to car registration numbers than drones.

The military establishment from which these flying robots originate likes to refer to them as Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA). So in Rwanda’s case, it’s somewhat of a sweet irony that an invention that was initially designed with killer motives, one you would say had been created to ‘look and then shoot’, is instead being deployed to do the exact opposite, which is to save lives. The Rwandan version of drone is here to give, as opposed to spilling blood.

This is why it’s no co-incidence that our drones came draped in bright and striking colors, and I guess this was no co-incidence as the message seemed clear; ‘Stop killer drones. Let’s spread some love (read blood), not war, because war is never nice.’ Away from medical utility, the drone first made its first major public appearance locally at the annual gorilla naming ceremony – Kwita Izina in Kinigi, Musanze in 2014.

A Nigerian TV crew had brought it in to capture superb aerial footage of the ceremony. And the stampede and air of confusion that resulted from the machine’s overhead maneuvers would ensure that most talk about the ceremony was about the ‘small helicopter’ as many people knew it. Many admitted it was their first time to see ‘such a small helicopter’.

And hardly was anybody in the crowd aware that, two years from then, a next set of drones would emerge on the country’s horizon, only this time for a different, nobler cause. Speaking at the launch of the project in Muhanga district in the Southern Province on Friday, President Paul Kagame explained something that caught my own ears -that drone technology had the potential to transform business in a wide spectrum of sectors, not just health. And for a start, here’s my modest suggestion; The good folks at Hellofood Rwanda, who are tasked with delivering food to people either too lazy to walk to a restaurant or too lazy to cook or both, should now seriously consider drone deliveries of food orders to we, their esteemed clients.

Of course this would be an ambitious and expensive undertaking, so for a start I would suggest they begin with one or two drones that would make quicker deliveries to clients that order for expensive food. Like if I’m going to pay a cool Rw f 25,000 for sea food like I did a while ago at the Century Restaurant in Nyarutarama, it had better be delivered by drone. The motor taxis should be condemned to deliveries of only brochette orders to clients in dusty, inaccessible suburban locations.

MAKOMO Resources has obtained licence from Government to build a 660 megawatt thermal power station in Hwange, general manager Samson Mavhura said. In a sideline interview during the company’s 6th anniversary celebrations on Friday last week, Mr Mavhura said the company would build 2×330 units, with the project expected to take about two years from the start.

“We got the licence from the Government two weeks ago and we are looking at activating our financiers,” said Mr Mavhura adding the power project would be constructed at a cost of at least $2 billion.

Mr Mavhura also said Makomo, which has over taken Hwange Colliery Company Ltd as the country’s largest coal miner, was looking at raising output to 300 000 tonnes per month.Makomo Resources is a coal mining company in Hwange with its mineral resource at Entuba Colliery, which is situated approximately 17 km from Hwange town in Matabeleland North province.

Makomo produces thermal coal mainly used by power stations for the generation of electricity. Ash values are generally between 20 percent and 28 percent.It also mines coal sold as peas, mainly used to fire coal based boilers for agriculture, electricity generation, as well as refineries.Its cobbles coal is are used by tobacco farmers for curing produce, as well as refractories, similarly it also extracts rounds for use by tobacco farmers and refractories.

By Vincent Achuka

A huge red-and-white motivational banner that says “Unskilled worker today, engineer tomorrow” stands on a wall at the Mtitu Rail Girders and Sleepers factory at Kilometre 253 from Mombasa on the standard gauge railway route.

By the time President Uhuru Kenyatta rides on a train from Mombasa to Nairobi, probably in June next year, when construction of the railway is complete, some 600 bridges and at least 12,000 track sections will have been produced at the expansive factory.

As machines compete to out-roar each other, drowning instructions from the Chinese supervisors, Mr Fredrick Musau carefully studies some graphs and numbers on a computer screen.

Whatever decision he makes from his work station moves production from one stage to another through the complex conveyor system.

“The system is synchronised and each person has to do whatever they are supposed to do within the specified time and do it perfectly otherwise the whole railway project slows down,” he says.

The Sunday Nation recently drove around the eight counties where the railway will pass through: Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, Makueni, Taita Taveta, Kajiado, Machakos and Nairobi.

Every so often motorists would stop to take pictures of the spectacular piece of engineering that was taking shape.

About 120 years since the British colonialists imported some 30,000 Indians to build the “Lunatic Express” — as some nicknamed the Kenya-Uganda railway — hundreds of Kenyans are at the centre of the country’s most ambitious infrastructure project since independence.

But unlike the Indians who in 1896 were brought in because of their experience in similar projects elsewhere, the Kenyans in the process of rewriting history are learning on the job.

Conceived as a flagship project under the Kenya Vision 2030 development agenda in October 2009, the Sh400 billion first phase — Mombasa to Nairobi — has been flaunted by the government as critical to the local and regional growth.

When complete, the railway is expected to reduce passenger travel time and allow more cargo to be transported.

WORK OF ART

Going hand in hand with the work, through its “train first and deploy later” policy, the China Road and Bridge Corporation, which is constructing the line, is turning out to be an interface for knowledge transfer between the world’s second largest economy and East Africa’s largest economy.

“We have an elaborate training programme for Kenyan employees after which they are awarded a certificate to enable them remain relevant even after the project is complete. This is part of the key objectives of the contract we signed with the government of Kenya,” says Julius Li, external resources manager of China Bridge.

Before joining the railway construction as a conveyor belt operator, Mr Musau, who is among those learning on the job, had worked in a number of construction sites in Nairobi as a mason and later as a supervisor.

“I had some basic computer and site supervision knowledge which was necessary for this position but the Chinese standard of doing things is very different, technical and advanced,” he told the Sunday Nation.

Mr Musau says he is impressed by the attention to detail.

Like all employees, he had to undergo a three-month training at a facility in Voi for up-skilling the practical aspects of his job and to advance theoretical knowledge.

However, others like Mr Jacob Mutua, 26, despite having a degree in mining and processing engineering from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, still had to undergo further training in Shanghai, China, before being deployed as an aggregate ballast lab technician in Voi. It is his first job since he graduated in 2013.

While in China, Mr Mutua also took some time to learn the Chinese language beyond learning how to test the strength and suitability of ballast.

Ballast is one of the main materials used in rail construction since the lines lie on it and the young engineer’s role is to ascertain the level at which it would succumb if subjected to weight or chemicals.

This is just one of the numerous tests and procedures being used by China Bridge to ensure the railway will last at least 200 years.

Every material used during construction including water, sand, cement, steel beams and even the soil and composition of the air where the railway or its bridges would pass is subjected to several tests to ascertain suitability.

LANGUAGE BARRIER

According to the builders, some 98 bridges forming 28.2km and 967 culverts will be on the stretch between Mombasa and Nairobi.

This includes the 1.6km bridge at Tsavo set to be among the longest in Africa when complete.

Ms Isabella Khaemba, whom the Sunday Nation found testing cement to be used on this particular section of the railway, is thrilled to be part of history.

“This thing (the railway) is changing the face of Kenya, and for a young person who came all the way from Bungoma to be part of this historical piece of infrastructure it is thrilling,” she says.

Mr Joseph Githuku, firm’s deputy spokesperson, says maintaining a high skill level among employees is key to delivering a high quality railway line.

“We recognise the uniqueness of this project. Most importantly, we recognise that for us to discharge our mandate, all components, including our workforce at all our 33 sites, have to work at optimal levels,” says Mr Githuku.

He says Kenyans who speak Chinese have also been hired to act as interpreters and teach others the language.

Some like Mr Caleb Bisonga, a senior lab technician now on his third project with Chinese companies, have mastered a bit of the language, something that has come in handy since most of the machines used are made in China.

“I can easily work using most machines even without them being calibrated to English,” he says.

Mr Bisonga was part of the construction of Thika Road, Limuru-Ndumberi Road and the Voi-Mwatate Road.

COLUMNBy Kasera Nick Oyoo Midastea

The dust has settled and Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) is now the proud owner, nay operator of two brand new aircraft. That is good news, but blind patriotism can be a bad business advisor.

I have time and again heard comments along the lines of: “If a small country like Rwanda has a successful national carrier, we surely can make ATCL a success too.” This is not sound business advice.

It is better we carry out a thorough institutional audit, conducted not by political mavericks in the ruling party or otherwise, but by seasoned independent business advisors.

Terms of reference could include a clause that they are free to advise against the revival of ATCL if their findings strongly point in that direction. The horse may already have bolted by now as ATCL’s resuscitation is in full throttle.

There are strong grounds both for and against the revival of ATCL. Proponents of the airline’s revival have put forward their arguments. These include the fact that Tanzania is a vast country, which requires quick, reliable and affordable air transport to enable people travel faster and safely.

That two new aircraft have been bought shows that proponents of ATCL’s revival have won hands down, but there is an old saying that you can take the cow to the river but cannot force it to drink water.

In other words, we can buy aircraft, settle ATCL’s debts and restart flights between various domestic destinations, but can this alone ensure the airline’s survival, let alone make it a profitable entity?

Operating a commercially viable airline is no child’s play as carriers such as once-mighty European carriers Lufthansa, Alitalia and Sabena, among others, can attest. Closer to home, Kenya Airways could also make a good case study. Known as KQ, the public listed airline has in recent years been lurching from one crisis to another and its rosy days are definitely behind it.

Air transport business is not solely about owning aircraft. Although having own aircraft is good, leasing can make plenty of business sense. ATCL has a small fleet, which may work in its favour. However, reality will soon dawn on us when our two new beauties take to the skies. The airline that earned itself the moniker “Any Time Cancellation” must ask itself why it failed to meet its obligations to its faithful customers in the past.

The intention of this column is not to belittle what President John Magufuli has delivered for long-suffering ATCL customers. This is a wake-up call that should make pilots, cabin crew, ground staff and other ATCL employees rethink their role as the carrier is about to rise from the dead.

In a market where similar businesses are facing imminent collapse, wisdom demands that you shouldn’t test the depth of the river with both feet. It is risky. Let the staff rededicate themselves to delivering nothing but the very best customer service. The business-as-usual attitude of wives, daughters and sons of leaders who have turned ATCL into a kijiwe must come to an end.

Airlines from the Gulf, notably Qatar Airways and Emirates, seem to be doing well. They get government subsidy on jet fuel and are generally cushioned from currency fluctuations, but it is a different story for ATCL and other African carriers.

ATCL it will remain relevant only if it focuses on delivering unmatched service. It needs passengers to vote with their feet and walk away from the competition, but this can be achieved only if their experience exceeds expectations. In this day and age of social media frenzy, every action will be closely watched and commented on.

Winning the battle of the skies depends not on the two newly acquired beauties, but on excellent customer service. In other words, the sky should be the limit for ATCL as far as customer service is concerned.

By Zephania Ubwani

Arusha — Aviation experts from Dar es Salaam will arrive here today to investigate yesterday’s incident in which a light aircraft heading to Zanzibar was forced to land on a maize field shortly after taking off from Arusha Airport.

An official of Coastal Aviation confirmed yesterday that the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) was sending experts to investigate the accident in which four passengers and the pilot escaped unhurt.

“The mishap was caused by a mechanical problem experienced soon after the plane took off at 12.50pm,” he said. Details of the incident were not readily available as Coastal Aviation officials were busy seeking an alternative charter flight for their passengers.

The plane involved in the mishap was a 13-seater Cessna 208 Caravan, which crash-landed on a maize field about one-and-a-half kilometres from the airport.

Eyewitnesses said the plane came down after failing to gain altitude after taking off from Arusha Airport.

A statement issued later by Coastal Aviation Accountable Manager Julian Edmunds said the pilot executed a forced landing following a sudden power loss after taking off.

“There were no injuries to the passengers or the pilot. There was no damage to the aircraft. Coastal Aviation is assisting the Tanzania Air Accident Investigation branch, TCAA and other relevant authorities in their investigations.” Arusha Regional Police Commander Charles Mkumbo and other security officials rushed to the airport located 12 kilometres west of Arusha, off the road linking the city with Dodoma.

The airport, one of the oldest in the country and used mainly for charter flights to national parks, has seen an increase in traffic in recent years with operators preferring it because of its proximity to the city.

The airport was last in the news in December 2013 when an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 airliner skidded off the runway during an emergency landing. It took about two days for the aircraft to be towed to safety. It later safely took off.

Several fatal accidents have occurred, the last one being in April 2013 when a prominent businessman in Moshi, Mr Peter Joseph Mallya, alias Bob Sambeke, died on Saturday evening when the light plane he was piloting crashed near the airport.

By Gtbank Rwanda

In line with the objectives of the “National Payment System Framework and Strategy: Vision 2020” one of the action steps to create a cashless society in Rwanda is to further build the electronic transaction infrastructure in the country and develop policies and guidelines which will be implemented to stimulate investment in and expansion of e-payments and acceptance touch points. The objective is to ensure further penetration of these touch points by encouraging private sector investments in e-payment channels. The consolidated effort of the BNR and banks in implementing the National Payment System Vision 2020 will ensure that the demand for retail electronic transactions is created to justify providers’ investment in the market.

It is in this regard that GTBank Rwanda has put in place various initiatives to enhance our alternative service delivery channels and ensure a cashless society. These include:

• GTBank Automated Payment System (GAPS)
• Internet banking
• Mobile Banking via the Mobile App
• Mobile banking via the USSD platform
• GTBank Collection System (GTCollection)
• ATMs
• Guaranty Trust Bank Notification System (GeNs).
• Cards

These e-banking services are reliable and flexible ways to manage your finances and banking needs efficiently and conveniently. These platforms ensure customers experience banking from the comfort of their homes, offices or abroad. They allow one to conveniently perform virtually all the bank’s transactions from anywhere. Indeed the future of Banking is in the alternative delivery channels, convenience and ensuring customers have access to banking services 24/7.

MasterCard is a leading global payments provider. It operates the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone.

MasterCard not only grants access to an unsurpassed network of merchants, one also gets to experience an array of outstanding features and benefits such as paying for goods and services, making reservations for flights, hotel rooms, rental cards etc. MasterCard has over 40% market share of cards globally.

GTBank Rwanda is pleased to be associated with a leading global payments & technology company like MasterCard. Some of the cards presently available include the GTBank Classic MasterCard debit card, GTBank platinum MasterCard and GTCrea8. The debit card is denominated in Rwandan Francs, but can also be used to settle purchases in all currencies.

MasterCard is accepted worldwide as a means for payment of goods and services at 34 million MasterCard locations and over 2.1 million ATMs in more than 210 countries. The GTBank Rwandan Francs MasterCard card is linked online, real-time to a customer’s account; all transactions done using this card are reflected on the account instantly. The card is capable of making all forms of local and international payments across all channels (ATM, POS, Online). The Platinum Debit MasterCard offers premium benefits to the cardholder beyond the Standard Rwandan Francs MasterCard. These includes a mix of travel benefits, preferential treatments and rewards, higher transaction limits, and access to exclusive products and clubs by partner organizations.

GTCrea8 MasterCard is a variant of the Rwandan Francs MasterCard issued to students of tertiary institutions to give them 24/7 access to their GTCrea8 accounts anywhere in the world. Whether you choose to school in Rwanda or abroad, having a GTCrea8 card simplifies the process of receiving pocket money from parents, guardians or relatives who may be living far away from you. All they have to do is pay Rwandan Francs into the student accounts and with their card, they can carry out transactions on POS terminals, ATMs and online anywhere in the world.

As part of ensuring security on the cards, GTBank Rwanda will soon launch 3-D Secure, an XML based protocol designed to be an additional security layer for online credit and debit transactions. It actually reduces possibility of stolen cards or card data being used in online transactions.