By Vera Anyagafu

At the forum organised by members of the Nigerian community in China to address the thriving illicit trade on drugs and its effects on not just China-Nigeria bilateral relationships, but also on Nigerians living and doing various businesses in China, the President, Good Governance Initiative (GGI) Mr. Festus Mbisiogu, while intimating forum on BBC World Service Poll declared that 85 per cent of Nigerians believe that China exerts a positive influence on the social and economic development in Nigeria.

He said that China and Nigeria as closest allies and partners, are not deserving of any bad image which the growing malaise of drug trafficking can rob on both nations integrity.

In this online interview, Festus who also disclosed that in as much as Nigerians transactions in Guangdong Province alone in China is recorded to a cash return of over $5,000,000 Million Dollars a day, Nigerians continue suffering the worst form of stereotyping in every aspect in China and many other host countries abroad in addition to being placed on various diplomatic restrictions.

Excerpt.

How would you describe China-Nigeria bi-lateral relations so far?

Both countries are committed to realising a long lasting bi-lateral relationship and as the Nigeria-China cooperation continues to grow, there are over 50 Chinese official development finance projects identified in Nigeria which cuts across rail, power and telecommunications projects within the last 10 years.

But the underlying fact which Nigerians in China has failed to grasp is that Nigerian immigrants in China should have been the direct recipients of these benefits of trade development and mutual cooperation.

China looks up to Nigeria as a model of trade and economic development in Africa to boost its cooperation with Africa. At present there over 2,000 registered Chinese businesses and companies in Nigeria alone and China seeks for avenues of mutual person to person cooperation between its Nationals, its business owners and Nigerian citizens.

Why are Nigerians placed on various diplomatic restrictions in China?

Today because of the involvement of some Nigerian citizens in illicit drugs and drugs trafficking in China and outside, we cannot truly say that the consummate benefits of this relationship are robbing off on all of us.

Rather we are being profiled on daily basis and denied some privileges which ordinarily should come with our residing in this country.

It is knowledge in the public domain that because of this involvement in drugs, by some miscreants, all of us are paying a heavy price for it. Like our people say, when one finger is dipped in the red oil it will automatically affect all the other fingers even when they do not want to be robbed with oil.

However due to our abusive tendencies to law and order we are on a daily basis denied these benefits and are instead placed on various diplomatic restrictions.

Would you say it is partly the reason Nigerians are denied resident permit and or visa extension?

In Guangdong Province, Nigerians are no longer giving resident permit. There is also no visa extension. Nigerians who are married and residing in China are not given resident permit. That is why many of us do not have our families here with us. Our citizens who come here to study cannot get resident permit and are not allowed to work unlike the citizens of other countries.

There is no doubt that illicit drugs and trafficking undermine state authority and the rule of law by fuelling corruption, compromising elections, and hurting the legitimate economy and significant impact on the livelihoods and quality of life of citizens, most particularly the poor, our women and children including all of us here, because one way or the other, we are involved.

What can the Nigerian authority in China do in this regard?

I plead with the Nigeria embassy and the Consulate General authority in China to find every means to look into the affairs of the many Nigerian citizens present here. The Community gathering known as “Nigerian Union” is vey paramount.

We are a communal people and China recognizes the impact of our community gatherings, as it aids control and management of the numerous Nigerian immigrants resident or transacting businesses across China. Our embassy authority should help in creating a platform of legality in the leadership of the Nigerian Community.

This I believe will aid all our efforts in harnessing the activities of many Nigerian citizens who are here in China for different purposes. Although, the embassy may not be able to follow activities of every Nigerian, a legal platform of the Nigeria Union in countries of abode can combat some of the excesses of a few robbing us the immense benefits of our cooperation with host countries.

What advice do you have for fellow Diaspora Nigerians?

We should all rise and say No to drugs because drugs and crime undermine development by eroding social and human capital. The direct impacts of victimization, discrimination, image problem as well as fear of crime impede the socio-economic development of all.

It also leads to restriction of movements as already highlighted by the position of Chinese authorities on some of us here in China. It also impedes access to possible employment and educational opportunities, and it discourages the accumulation of assets.

Nigerian citizens used to be the most favourite of China’s selection of Africans to partner with in business and other mutual relationship but these unlawful behaviors robbed the average Nigerian immigrant and businessmen in China that privilege.

The negative effects of illicit drug trafficking and unlawful behaviors goes beyond the shores of China, I can’t remember any former drug dealer who is at peace with the proceeds made from drug trafficking whether for himself, children and family therefore why should you continue to plot your own ruin in life. We all must rise to say No to drugs.

Nigerians must rise to say No to drugs. Let me emphasize here that religion has become a part of our cultural values, and since it plays a major influence on how we value life, I urge religious leaders to help discourage the temptation rather encourage true blessings of God when we work hard, pray and trust God.

As much as we are foreigners in China and have come here with the sole intent to succeed and take wealth home, the issue of clash of interest and partisan politics among Nigerian citizens whom I believe all has genuine intentions in helping to organize their fellow brothers and sisters should not be viewed in the negative but to be encouraged to take a formal approach with due respect to the laws of the land

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), says it has destroyed another set of illegal oil barges in Rivers.

Group Capt. Ayodele Famuyiwa, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, said the barges were filled with stolen oil.

According to Famuyiwa two of the latest barges filled with stolen oil were set ablaze by NAF helicopters on armed patrol around Okoromabie in the South-East of Port Harcourt Refinery.

Famuyiwa explained that the third barge, surrounded by canoes carrying drums, was sited at Onne, while individuals around the barge and canoes fled.

He explained further that the barge and drums did not explode, indicating the possibility of being empty.

“The latest operations like the previous ones are clear pointers to the fact that it is no longer profitable to steal crude oil in Nigeria,” Famuyiwa said.

NAF, had in the past one month, destroyed a number of illegal refineries and oil barges in Rivers.

Authorities in Mozambique are still trying to determine the cause of a lethal explosion in a village. What’s clear is that a fuel truck went up in smoke, killing more than 40 and injuring scores more.

At least 44 people were killed and more than 100 injured when a fuel truck burst into flames in a village in western Mozambique, according to Jose Mendonca, spearker of the provincial government in the Tete region. State-run Radio Mozambique was reporting a higher death toll of 73.

Mendonca said that 15 children were among the wounded as well as two pregnant women.

“There are two pregnant women with third-degree burns. That worries us a lot. We are monitoring all the necessary information. The whole community is on alert. We’ll have information coming from different places,” Mendonca said, adding that an investigation was underway and that further data could be available as soon as Friday.

The truck had crashed on Wednesday afternoon and was immobilized.

Accounts of how the explosion was triggered varied. Some locals suggested a problem inside the oil tank or a short circuit, others blamed people trying to siphon off fuel from the vehicle, while other accounts suggested that police warning shots – trying to disperse people stealing fuel – could have set off the blast. One witness even blamed police entirely, saying they were the ones siphoning off the fuel.

“Police were siphoning off fuel in order to sell it to the people in Moatize. We were looking. Then I don’t know what happened. A shot and there was a fire.”

Mendonca referred to the ongoing investigation when asked about these allegations, saying authorities still did not know what had caused the fire. Three government ministers were expected on site on Friday to monitor the rescuers’ ongoing work.

mc/msh (AFP, AP)

By Mark Egan

As operations manager at a South African platinum mine, Percy French has faced huge challenges over the past few years because of volatility in commodity prices. The price of platinum has dropped in half, and at the same time the value of the South African currency, the rand, has fallen precipitously. To keep his mine profitable, French had to look for new ways to make it more efficient. He found sensors and software. “We cannot afford any loss of revenues from inefficiencies because our cost to refine one ounce of platinum remains the same even though we get paid half of what we used to,” French says.

French’s company, Lonmin Plc, about an hour’s drive from Pretoria, is the world’s third-largest platinum producer. The process of refining platinum works like this. Once the ore has been crushed and turned into dust, furnaces heat the concentrated powder to over 1,500 Celsius and blow air through it to remove iron and sulfur impurities. This helps to shrink its mass before the refining process. A mix of chemicals and heat are repeatedly applied to the ore until eventually you get pure platinum, which is used in everything from automotive catalytic converters to jewelry and computer hard disks. It can take up to six months and 7 to 12 tons of ore, put through several complex physical and chemical processes, to create one troy ounce (31.1 grams) of platinum, now valued at about $930.

Lonmin’s operations were suffering from bottlenecks, French says. Downtime in the drying area of the smelter sometimes caused the whole production line to come to a standstill, resulting in the platinum being ruined. “If we lose one hour of availability, that costs us roughly 1.72 million rand per stoppage,” French says.

Operators also struggled to calculate just how much crushed ore to mix with chemicals and water to produce the right amount of concentrate powder so it could be dried at a steady pace in the furnace.

French found the tools he needed to keep the plant running smarter in GE’s Digital Mine solution, which uses data gathered from sensors on equipment to make operations run more smoothly. Digital Mine helped make those calculations and kept powder flowing to the furnace at a steady rate, meaning the entire plant used less power ramping up and cooling down the furnaces.

The improvements made as a result of Digital Mine led to less wasted production time, French says, and helped Lonmin produce 1.5 percent more platinum from the mine. “GE products have brought stability to our operations, boosting the recovery of ore and significantly contributing to our bottom line,” French says. “A minor improvement in recovery causes a major improvement in profits, which can lead to significant cost savings for the plant.”

For example, French says that at a price of 10,800 rand ($804) per basket of platinum, the improvements made with Digital Mine boosted profits by 800 rand ($60) — a gain of more than 7 percent. French says Digital Mine has also helped cut sulfur dioxide emissions from the mine by optimizing the gas cleaning plant.

French has been using Digital Mine since 2007 and says it has become “very difficult to exist without it.” He says that over the past decade the software has been added to more and more operations, helping him to “highlight more and more potential areas for improvement.” As a result, he plans to upgrade his technology to leverage Predix, GE’s new cloud-based platform for the Industrial Internet, and Asset Performance Management software to add predictive-monitoring capabilities so that he knows in advance when equipment is going to require maintenance.

When applied to some of the smelter’s critical equipment, including fans and blowers, Lonmin can avoid costly, unplanned downtime, French says.

GE Digital Mine Global Strategic Marketing Leader Kevin Shikoluk says the mining industry could particularly benefit from following Lonmin’s example by adding digital capabilities, particularly real-time, data-driven insights. He says the world’s top 40 mining firms alone had 2014 operating expenses of $531 billion and that if they captured a 1 percent efficiency improvement they would yield $5.1 billion annually.

BLOGBy Melissa Britz

Marrakech — When industrialization is mentioned I get a bit uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong I’m not “anti-progress”. It’s just that that word conjures up images of big polluting factories, low-wage labour and soul-deadning boredom. But as Meghan Trainor says: “You need to let it go, you need to let it go”.

On the sides of COP22, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa launched its Economic Report on Africa 2016. Former chair of the commission, Carlos Lopes says that U.S. $50 billion of manufactured goods are exported from Africa every year. So African countries can and do manufacture goods on a large scale.

While Africa is late to the industrialization bandwagon it presents an opportunity for countries to take a more sustainable development path. He points out a number of advantages that the continent has: in particular, greater potential to harness renewable energy than other regions and the much-touted demographic dividend, which means we have the largest and youngest labour force. While skilled labour remains a challenge, Africa has enough people who are educated to a level that makes the manufacturing of basic goods possible.

The dichotomy of development versus the environment is a false one, says Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Nigerian finance minister and currently a Global Commissioner on the Economy and Climate. “Global CO2 emissions are flat for three years in a row. This means you can have growth and lower emissions.” She emphasised the need to invest in the sustainable infrastructure required for green growth as well as sound macro-economic policies on exchange rates, inflation and debt.

The African Union’s Commissioner on the Rural Economy and Agriculture, Rhoda Tumusiime Peace, says that “Africa’s Agenda 2063 puts people at its centre and shows where Africa should be in the next 50 years”. It has has an ambitious implementation strategy that looks at progress in 10-year increments. This strategy together with the Sustainable Development Goals highlights the need for green industrialization for African growth. The early adopters of green policies and renewable energy are the countries that are currently doing well, she says.

“There will always be reasons for you to be pessimistic” says Lopes. “But there is much reason for optimism.”

Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe has said China will provide Malawi with 160 million yuan [about K16.5 billion or a $23 million] to improve Internet connectivity .

Gondwe said this after the signing of framework agreement on the provision of a concessional loan with China for the Malawi National Fibre Backbone Project.

The government of Malawi does not have centralized control over the international gateway, which the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) characterizes as competitive.14

Malawi has a total of six fiber gateways to the SEACOM and EASSy cable landings, three each through MTL and the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi Limited (ESCOM).

The state-owned Malawi Sustainable Development Network Programme (SDNP), a licensed ISP, oversees the local traffic hub that connects the country’s internet service providers (ISPs.)

Gondwe said with the Chinese loan concenssion Malawians will benefit from the project because most rural areas will now have Internet through the Malawi National Fibre backbone.

He said the issue will be taken to Parliament and once approved, government will go ahead to get the money from China.

According to Gondwe, under the framework agreement, it will be concessional at 21 percent interest and have a five-year grace period. It has 15 years repayment period.

The connectivity, whose lines will be carried using Escom electricity transmission poles, will have drop points at Capital Hill in Lilongwe, Government Office Complex in Blantyre and government offices in Zomba.

Chinese Ambassador Shi-Ting Wang said with the building of the Malawi National Fibre Backbone, Malawians will have ” timely benefits of this information era in the near future.”

Currently, onnection speeds for Malawian users are frustratingly slow, decreasing to an average of 1.7 Mbps from 1.9 Mbps a year prior, compared to a global average of 6.3 Mbps, according to Akamai’s “State of the Internet” report.6

The Freddom House index report for 2016 has also noted that slowing speeds have coincided with rising costs, likely due to poor infrastructure management and lack of investment.

Malawi’s flagging economy in the past year has reinforced its status as a least developed country, with soaring inflation having a negative impact on the ICT sector.

Low rates of internet and mobile phone access in Malawi are largely a result of the high cost of service for consumers, including 17.5 percent value-added tax (VAT) on mobile phones and services, and 16.5 percent VAT on internet services.

In May 2015, the Malawian parliament implemented an additional 10 percent excise duty on mobile phone text messages and internet data transfers.

Consequently, access to the internet is extremely expensive for average Malawians.

A low literacy rate of 64 percent also hinders access to ICTs, and there is a significant digital divide along gender lines.

Unreliable electricity and the high cost of generator power strain ICT use. Less than 10 percent of the country has access to electricity, giving Malawi one of the lowest electrification rates in the world, according to the World Bank.

The electricity grid is concentrated in urban centers, but only 25 percent of urban households have access, compared to a mere 1 percent of rural households.

Half of Malawi’s private sector enterprises rely on backup generators.

The high cost of infrastructure development in rural areas makes companies unwilling to invest in the country’s remote regions.

ANALYSISBy Alex Gitta

If your country’s police force has a reputation for corruption, how comfortable would you feel as a motorist about spot checks for drink-driving? One software developer came up with his own solution.

A group of police officers are engaged in an altercation with a driver who they have just stopped at a checkpoint. He has been asked to take a breathalyzer test to determine if he was in a fit state to drive. He wasn’t.

In Uganda, these checks are known as Kawunyemu, which means “smell it.” Before the introduction of the breathalyzer, Ugandan police would use their noses to detect whether a suspect had been drink-driving or not.

One Ugandan software developer has designed a smartphone app with which motorists can warn fellow drivers of the location of police drink-drive checkpoints.

This developer has refused to be interviewed by the media face-to-face or reveal his name but claims that his invention has been welcomed by the many people who are using it.

Drunken friends

He says inspiration for the app came after six friends of his – all in the same vehicle – were arrested. They were all drunk.

He defends himself against criticism of his app.

“While people may think it’s a bad thing and so forth, if you look at the way the police operate sometimes, you just have no option but to do what you can, so we decided to come up with this app.

The Ugandan police have been listed as among the most corrupt government departments in the country.

Drivers have the responsibility “not to drink and drive,” the developer said. “People who are drunk should watch the speed at which they are driving and try and get somebody else to drive them instead.”

Police say they are looking for the developer, who can expect to face cyber crime-related charges.

They say they have been monitoring users of the app and could be closing in on the developer.

The police have also launched a campaign to specifically discourage people from downloading the app.

DW asked a few Ugandan drivers whether they would use the app to avoid a police drink-drive checkpoint. Some said they would install the app to avoid corrupt policemen who were always soliciting for bribes. Others believe the app will cause more accidents.

“The idea of having roadblocks to catch people who are driving under the influence is a good one. The intention is good, but is has been abused, it has been misused, because the police are there to collect money. If this application is there to help me know where they have put the roadblocks, I would use it,” one motorist said. But another motorist is more cautious. “It gives a lot of loop holes so that people can beat the police. I have heard about it, but I haven’t used it,”

By Ouma Wanzala

The Teachers Service Commission has launched a new online system for appraisal of more than 290,000 teachers across the country.

The system contains the teacher performance appraisal and development tools.

TSC acting director for teacher management Mary Rotich has directed all county education directors to ensure that they upload appraisal data for teachers on a termly basis in the system.

In a memo seen by the Nation dated November 3 addressed to TSC county directors, Mrs Rotich has directed them to ensure that all sub-county directors activate and create online appraisals for the heads of institutions in their sub-counties.

In a collective bargaining agreement that was signed by TSC and teachers’ unions leaders last month, teachers will be evaluated annually as per the code of regulations.

The move is aimed at dealing with absent teachers in schools who have been blamed for poor performance in national examinations.

DO NOT ATTEND CLASS

A recent report by the Education Commission, a United Nations’ backed agency, which consists of former and current heads of state, business and education leaders, revealed that nearly a half of primary teachers in Kenya do not attend class.

The report showed that absenteeism costs Kenya Sh27 billion a year in wasted pay, with 47 per cent of teachers staying away from classes while 16 per cent of them choose not to report to school at all.

The appraisal of teachers which started this year is fundamental shift in policy in public employment and is aimed at enhancing and maintaining high performance standards in teaching service.

TSC, Kenya National Union of Teachers and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers also agreed to ensure continuous professional development and annual appraisal evaluation system.

There will be career development for those who perform well.

“All heads of institution activate and create appraisal of teachers and their institutions and the data is uploaded at the institutional level,” said Mrs Rotich.

Maputo — Mozambique has taken “very important steps” in recent weeks to deal with the “hidden debts” inherited from the previous government, the Deputy Director of the Africa Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), David Owen, told reporters in Maputo.

He was speaking on Monday, after he met with Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario.

The “hidden debts” refer to loans of over 1.1 billion US dollars from European banks (Credit Suisse and VTB of Russia) to the quasi-public companies Proindicus and MAM (Mozambique Asset Management) that were illicitly guaranteed in 2013/14 by the government of the then President Armando Guebuza.

Owen was pleased that terms of reference for an audit of Proindicus, MAM and the Mozambique Tuna Company (Ematum) have been agreed between the Mozambican Attorney-General’s Office, the IMF and the Swedish government, which is financing the audit. The US company Kroll has been chosen as the auditor. It has a reputation as the foremost company in the world for undertaking forensic audits.

Owen expected the contract with Kroll to be signed very soon, after which it would have 90 days to complete the audit.

The IMF official praised the “significant tightening of macro-economic policy”, and particularly the dramatic rises in interest rates announced by the Bank of Mozambique in October. This, he said, had led to the stabilization of the exchange rate of the Mozambican currency, the metical.

Such measures should be continued into 2017, Owen continued, but he warned of “the need to protect the poorest in society from the effects of fiscal adjustment”.

He noted that the government “has taken the first steps to talk to creditors about restructuring the private external debt”.

“We want to see the result of the audit, and progress in the discussions with creditors, so that we can be confident that Mozambique’s debt is set on a sustainable path”, said Owen.

But hedge funds who purchased Ematum bonds are creating problems for debt restructuring. They have formed a “creditors’ committee”, after taking alarm at the October warning by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Adriano Maleiane, that the country’s current debts are unsustainable and must be restructured.

The “creditors’ committee”, according to a report from the Reuters news agency, was formed by 60 per cent of the holders of Mozambique’s 2023 Eurobond. This is what remains of the bonds for 850 million dollars issued in 2013 Credit Suisse and VTB on behalf of EMATUM.

This debt has already been restructured once and the “creditors’ committee” object to a second restructuring. They have refused to negotiate until the audit of Ematum, Proindicus and MAM has been completed and published.

If the bondholders stick to that position, negotiations with the government could not start before February, at the earliest.

Asked about this obstacle, Owen declined to comment. “The creditors will take their own decision”, he said. “The IMF is not involved in discussions between the creditors and the government”.