By Cellestine Olilo

Construction work in the five venues earmarked to host the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in January is yet to begin even as Caf inspectors are expected in the country in less than two weeks.

Contractors who expressed interested in facilitating construction in the five venues two months ago are yet to be contacted, meaning that construction work may not commence this month as scheduled.

Addressing the matter, Sports Permanent Secretary Kirimi Kaberia said that the tendering process will be completed by the end of this week, after which construction work will commence immediately.

“We are on the last stage of evaluating tenders, and within the next few days the successful bidders will be notified. We have checked the bids we have and we have identified people who have the capacity to deliver what we want within the set timelines,” he said.

“Once that has been completed, we shall immediately mobilise the contractors and get them on site as fast as possible. We shall be ready for the inspection.”

The African football chiefs confirmed August 20 as the date for yet another inspection visit whose purpose will be “to assess progress following the June 2017 mission”.

The Caf delegation that conducted the June visit openly expressed dissatisfaction with the progress made by the country so far, even revealing that they will explore “Plan B”.

According to the tendering advertisements placed by Sports Kenya in June, the institution was looking to have new grass turfs laid on the five venues, have the stadia fitted with seats, install “electronic and state of the art water reticulation and irrigation system” to maintain the quality of the grass.

As it stands however, work is yet to begin at the Moi International Sports Center Kasarani, Nyayo Stadium, Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos, while the Kinoru Stadium in Meru and the Kipchoge Keino Stadium in continue to lag behind schedule.

Kaberia however revealed that Caf have requested to have the dates of the inspection visit pushed forward due to internal reasons, which will give them more time to get the contractors on the ground.

A former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Monday urged commercial banks to lower their interest rates to enable farmers access loans for improved agricultural production.

Mr. Obasanjo made the call at the opening ceremony of the 2017 Niger State Investment Summit held at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi Conference Centre, Minna.

According to him, doing agriculture and charging the rate of interest in double digit is to promote failure.

“The interest rate of banks in Nigeria is one of the obstacles that are affecting our farmers.

“They are not able to pay banks after taking loans and at the same time still able to run their agriculture business successfully,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the summit’s theme: “Advancing Agricultural Economy through Innovation and Truly Niger,” was organised to attract investors in various fields to boost the state economy.

The summit attracted experts, industrialists, manufacturers as well as governors across the country.

The former Nigerian leader described agriculture as ‘a renewable business’ that could create jobs and catapult the nation to economic prosperity.

He said paucity of funds and high interest rates were part of factors responsible for the under-development of the nation’s agricultural sector.

The former president, however, advised the Niger government to take advantage of the arable land to attract investors to embark on commercial farming in the state.

He urged the state government to create employment and market through agriculture because of its proximity to Abuja.

“A state cannot develop in isolation, you have to work with other states and take advantage of economy of scale and identify areas that are profitable; then utilise them,” he added.

He called on the federal government to develop infrastructures in the state to enable farmers transport their farm produce to urban centres.

Similarly, a former Head of State, Abubakar Abdulsalami, expressed optimism that agriculture was taking a centre stage in the nation’s drive to diversify the economy.

He urged commercial banks to lower their interest rates for farmers to obtain money for their agricultural activities.

According to him, the interest rate in Nigeria is 18 to 25 per cent, while for farmers it is nine per cent and 2.5 per cent in some other countries.

“If we want to make progress as a country, we need to look into our interest rate to make it easier for our farmers to access loans,” he said.

By Anthony Wesaka

Kampala — Property mogul Sudhir Ruparelia has submitted his defence in the case that was recently brought against him by former shareholders of the defunct National Bank of Commerce (NBC).

In his written defence he filed before the Commercial Court last Thursday, Mr Ruparelia denied being involved in the takeover of NBC about five years ago. The NBC was taken over by Bank of Uganda (BoU), which sold it to Crane Bank owned by Mr Ruperelia at that time. Crane Bank too was liquidated in October last year and later sold to dfcu Bank.

“The 3rd defendant (Mr Ruparelia) did not take possession of NBC’s T24 Core Banking System at all nor did he in any way act with dishonesty. The plaintiffs shall be put to strict proof of the said allegations,” Mr Ruparelia states in his defence.

He is represented by Kampala Associated Advocates.

“The 3rd defendant (Mr Ruparelia) avers that he was not party to the transaction for the sake of NBC assets and any allegations in the plaint in relation to the said transaction cannot be attributed to him nor can he be held liable for any alleged loss caused as a result of the said sale of the NBC assets,” he says.

However, Mr Ruparelia admits that the NBC assets were purchased by Crane Bank but for lawful consideration.

In September 2012, BoU took over NBC and sold it to Crane Bank owned by Mr Ruparelia at the time.

NBC was co-owned by former prime minister Amama Mbabazi, city businessman Amos Nzeyi and retired Supreme Court judge George Kanyeihamba, among others.

Last month, Mr Nzeyi sued Mr Ruparelia on account that he and Mr Rasiklal Chhotalal Kantaria acted dishonestly in purchasing NBC assets and did not meet the test of managing, controlling and owning the bank.

Mr Ruparelia is jointly sued with his business associate Kantaria, Crane Bank and BoU.

Mr Ruparelia denies having committed any act of dishonesty or fraud or acted in any irregular way. He argues that the allegations against him have no merit.

His co-accused, Mr Kantaria, Crane Bank and BoU, had not filed their defence by close of yesterday.

“The 3rd defendant (Mr Ruparelia) avers that he did not authorise the execution of the purchase of assets and assumption of liabilities agreement for NBC’s assets and that the allegations of dishonesty are false and misconceived,” Mr Ruparelia further states in his defence to the NBC suit.

In the suit, Mr Nzeyi wants the Commercial Court to declare that BoU’s takeover of NBC and the subsequent sale of its assets to Crane Bank within six hours after the seizure on September 27, 2012, was illegal and in bad faith.

Mr Nzeyi further alleges that the central bank’s takeover and liquidation of NBC was in breach of the Financial Institutions Act 2004, and should be declared null and void.

He also wants court to hold BoU liable for failing to supervise the banking sector, which is its statutory duty.

He is further seeking court to order BoU to provide a register of assets and liabilities inherited from NBC at the time of the takeover, proof of tax compliance in the sale of NBC assets to Crane Bank and a forensic investigation report plus refund of the money paid for purported liquidation expenses.

PRESS RELEASE

On the 7th August 2017 another case of HPAI H5N8 was detected in a commercial layer farm in Mpumalanga Province in the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality. Control measures were applied and all birds culled.

The first cases of HPAI H5N8 in Ostriches were confirmed in two commercial ostrich farms in the Western Cape Province in the Hessequa Local Municipality on the 9th August 2017. Quarantine has been instituted and the application of disease control measures have commenced.

These recently detected outbreaks bring the total number of outbreaks to 16; eight of which were in commercial chickens, three outbreaks in wild birds, two outbreaks in commercial ostrich, two outbreaks in backyard poultry and one outbreak in birds that were kept as a hobby.

The Department has received requests to vaccinate and these requests are under consideration. As can be appreciated, all possible pros and cons have to be carefully assessed in order for a decision to be reached. At the moment, vaccination against Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is prohibited for the long term benefit of the poultry industry at large.

The Department has applied for additional funding to deal with the disease control measures, including compensation where applicable.

Auction houses, buyers and sellers are still required to register with the Poultry Disease Management Agency (PDMA) to ensure traceability. Furthermore, gatherings of chickens should be avoided but in instances where this cannot be avoided, all registration requirements must be complied with.

The continued cooperation of the public and the poultry industry, in the timeous reporting of sick and dying birds to Government Veterinary Services, is vital for the speedy response and the necessary investigations in order to effectively manage the disease threat. DAFF will pay for samples which have been submitted by the State Veterinary Officials to the Onderstepoort Veterinary Research of the Agricultural Research Council. DAFF thanks the public and the poultry industry for their support in this regard.

Issued by: Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

By Berhane Hailemariam

Drought victims continue to live in fear and uncertainty as the recent severe drought has killed two million livestock so far, according to a report of the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The primary reason for the death of the livestock is linked to a rise in drought affected areas and people.

The surge in drought was disclosed by the government after the completion of a Belg assessment Humanitarian Requirement Document (HRD), which was jointly developed by the government and humanitarian organisations, involving more than 200 individuals.

The current food and nutrition crisis is significantly aggravated by the severe blow to pastoral livelihoods, reads the report of FAO.

The effects of low rainfall also continue to have a devastating impact on the food security conditions of the country as the number of people who are in need of immediate assistance has increased from 7.8 million to 8.5 million, becoming the third worst drought in half a century.

Oromia and Somali regional states remain severely affected by the drought, accounting for over half of the drought victims in eight regions of the country, affecting 10.6pc and 31pc of their population, respectively.

Also, the number of priority Weredas has grown from 454 to 461, half of which are severely affected by the drought.

The report is released as the average price of food has reached its highest level since October 2015, hitting 12.5pc in the past month, growing by an unprecedented level against the target of the government to keep the rate at a single digit.

The document showed a significant change in the humanitarian context, requiring urgent life-saving interventions, pushing the humanitarian requirement of the country to 1.2 billion dollars from 948.6 million dollars as of January 2017, of which about 771 million dollars is covered by the government and donations from humanitarian partners.

The United States, the government of Ethiopia and the United Kingdom are the major donors to the drought with a fund of 179 million dollars, 147 million dollars and 40 million dollars, respectively.

The increase in the humanitarian need is mainly attributed to the poor performance of Belg (spring) rains this year, especially in Oromia, Somali and Southern Nations, Nationalities & Peoples’ (SNNP) regional states, where the effects of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) was very high, according to the report.

Two months ago, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), in its report, disclosed that the food stocks of the World Food Programme (WFP), the National Disaster Risk Management and Control (NDRMC) and the Joint Emergency Operation Plan (JEOP) will be depleted owing to the deteriorating food security rate in the country.

Now with the rise in the number of drought victims, NDRMC and WFP are expected to supply 84pc of the total food in the drought affected areas whereas the remaining will be covered by support through the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) consortium.

The food shortage is also exacerbated by the attacks of the Fall Army Worm (FAW), induced in some of the regions of the country, affecting 2.7 million hectares of land in six regional states.

First seen in South America, an irrigated maize farm in Yeki Wereda, in SNNP, was the first to be attacked by the FAW.

Maize, whose price has doubled over the past two months, is highly attacked by the armyworm among all crops. Of the 1.7 million hectares of planted maize in the country, about 22pc has been heavily infested, with all maize-growing areas at risk of damage.

The chance of spreading to sorghum-growing areas in Afar, Amhara, Tigray and Somali regional states is also very high, according to the mid-year review.

“We are preparing a protocol to conduct a study on yield loss assessment at the FAW infested areas,” said Woldehawariat Assefa, director of Plant Health & Quality Control at the Ministry of Agriculture & Natural Resources (MoANR).

By Frederic Musisi & Jonathan Adengo

Kampala — Government has turned to a consortium of American and Italian firms for financing and construction of the $4 billion (about Shs14 trillion) Greenfield oil refinery in Hoima, in mid-western Uganda.

General Electric (GE) and Yaatra Ventures LLC/Intra-continental Asset Holdings of the United States and Saipem SpA of Italy, were initially competing against each other for the refinery venture following the abrupt departure of RT Global Resources, a consortium led by Rostec of Russia, late last year.

However, according to the ministry of Energy, the firms teamed up and formed a special purpose vehicle, the Albertine Graben Refinery Consortium (AGRC), in which each will undertake a specific role during Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) of the refinery.

The joint initiative was reinforced by the intense lobbying by top government officials and diplomats.

General Electric, is an American multinational conglomerate with a chain of businesses including oil and gas. It boasts an estimated turnover of $300b.

Since last year, the company has been scouting for investment opportunities in East Africa, which climaxed in a meeting between President Museveni and the company’s CEO for Africa Jay Ireland on November 10 last year.

On the other hand, Saipem, an affiliate of the Italian oil giant ENI, has designed and built more than 37 oil refineries across the world.

In East Africa, Saipem, was involved in the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET), a transport corridor from Lamu in Kenya through South Sudan to Ethiopia, whose development has since hit snag.

The Energy ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Stephen Isabalija, said in a statement that the consortium has already proposed to government “a financing approach and a path to establish, develop and operate a commercially viable refinery company.”

“The agreement of the core project terms signals the start of government discussions and negotiations with the Consortium on the Project Framework Agreement (PFA) The PFA will detail the proposed solutions, validation of the solutions, risk mitigation measures, and additional due diligence necessary for accelerating investments and financing for the project,” the statement reads in part.

Mr Isabalija said the project framework agreement is expected to be signed within the next two months and the consortium “will have the benefit of exclusivity during this period of negotiations and should the parties agree on all terms, they will be granted the rights and licences to develop and manage the refinery as lead investor in a joint venture partnership with government.”

He separately told Daily Monitor yesterday that it was the will of the three companies to form a consortium to work together.

“We have letters of agreement from them to that effect,” he added.

The conclusion of the Project Framework Agreement is expected to pave way to pre-Final Investment Decision (FID) activities such as Front End Engineering and Design (FEED), look at the technical aspects of the refinery, Project Capital and Investment Costs Estimations (PCE), Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA), and eventually to EPC.

The decision to turn to the American-led consortium comes two months after the government’s preferred bidder, China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (CPECC), withdrew from the race.

CPECC was linked to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), one of the world’s largest oil companies, and had already been appraised as the best bidder.

CPECC was part of the consortium led by Guangzhou Dongsong Energy Group, which was in 2014 awarded the tender to develop the Sukulu Hills phosphate reserves in Tororo district including investing at least $620m, but has since been struggling.

Others in the consortium included EXIM Bank of China, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Guangzhou Silk Road, East China Design and Engineering Institute, and China Africa Fund for Industrial Cooperation (CAFIC).

However the Chinese consortium collapsed, according to sources, after CPECC departure from the race as a result of disagreements.

According to the ministry of Energy, the second search process attracted 40 companies, but eight companies were selected for talks with government.

They are: SNC Lavalin of Canada, Yatra Ventures LLC and Apro, both from the US and IESCO of Turkey. Others included, Chinese firm Guangzhou Dongsong Energy Group, Spain’s Profundo, Bantu Energy, a Canadian and Ugandan consortium as well as Italy’s Maire Tecnimot.

The refinery will be financed/owned in Public-Private- Partnership (PPP) arrangement with the Uganda government in a 60:40 equity ratio.

Early this year, TOTAL offered to buy a 10 percent (investing close to $400m) stake in the project. Kenya and Tanzania have also made public pronouncements to buy 2.5 percent and 8 percent stakes in the project respectively.

Construction of the first phase of the refinery for 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) is expected to be completed by 2020.

Another phase 30,000 bpd will be subsequently added in about 2022.

The government targets a refinery capacity of 60,000 bpd, which the Russians were opposed to and, according to sources, has similarly been a sticking issue, during the fresh negotiations.

The collapse of the refinery discussions on both fronts hit the government’s plan to start commercial oil production by 2020.

According to preliminary estimates, the cost of the refinery includes expenses for construction of the 205km product pipeline and a distribution terminal in Buloba, Wakiso district. In 2015 Uganda hired a Danish engineering firm Ramboll Group A/S, a consultant, to conduct “an early phase” detailed route study for the project.

Already, 29-square kilometre land to accommodate the refinery and its attendant infrastructure such as staff quarters, chemical treating plants, and other amenities has already been secured.

The government and joint venture partners, France’s TOTAL E&P, Anglo-Irish Tullow Oil and China’s Cnooc, in 2014 signed a framework for commercialisation in which they agreed to develop both a crude oil export pipeline and an oil refinery.

The first search for refinery investor started in in 2013.

More than 60 companies responded to a government announcement seeking a potential investor to build the $4b refinery.

RT Global Resources was selected as best preferred bidder and a South Korean consortium led by SK Energy as the alternative, but all walked away last year leaving government stranded.

By Ndapewoshali Shapwanale

Namibian architects and quantity surveyors have given works minister Alfeus !Naruseb until the end of today to commit to revoking the exemption he granted Zimbabwean expatriates within the next 10 days.

The two countries signed an agreement in 2012, under which 85 Zimbabwean engineers are to work on capital projects in Namibia and to allow for skills transfer.

!Naruseb exempted 29 of the Zimbabweans – 11 architects and 18 quantity surveyors – from fulfilling certain registration procedures. The decision has not been well-received by the Namibians, who said !Naruseb should not give the expatriates special treatment.

The Namibian professionals have, through a letter written by their lawyer Sisa Namandje, asked !Naruseb to withdraw the exemption.

They said if the minister refused to withdraw, they would file an urgent application with the High Court to compel him to review his decision, or declare it invalid.

They said the decision is unlawful, irrational, and taken for ulterior motives. They also accused the minister of not doing due diligence before deciding to exempt the expatriates.

“The decision is unreasonable, particularly given the non-exemption of Namibians who have to go through the requisite training processes,” the letter reads.

The minister’s decision does not satisfy the provisions of the Architects’ and Quantity Surveyors’ Act with regards to giving the exemption, the group stated.

Namandje challenged the validity of the agreement, saying it expired on 16 May 2017, and that there was no action by the two states to extend the agreement, as provided for in the agreement. Works spokesperson Julius Ngweda told The Namibian yesterday afternoon that they had not received Namandje’s letter, which was sent by fax.

Earlier this week, the ministry’s permanent secretary Willem Goeiemann defended the exemption, saying it was to fulfil the agreement.

By Collins Mwai

Richard Niyonzima, a 23 year-old university graduate from Bugesera District, is upbeat on the job and entrepreneurship prospects in the near future.

He has his sights on securing a job at the proposed Bugesera International Airport after construction of the facility was launched on Wednesday by President Paul Kagame.

Niyonzima hopes to be among the 6,000 employees to be hired by Bugesera Airport Company, a joint venture between the government, through Aviation Travel and Logistics Holding Limited and the contractor, Mota Engil Africa.

He has also had conversations with partners on setting up a restaurant close to the construction site to provide meals and drinks to the thousands of workers at the site.

Marcel Uwajeneza, a Kigali-based pharmacist, says that, together with his family, they are working on building a rental house on a piece of land they own close to the airport, to tap into the growing demand for housing in the area.

Among the low hanging fruits of the project is the thousands of jobs that the construction of the facility will create with officials saying most of the opportunities will go to locals.

Local business people, especially in the construction industry, are also set to see increased business in the course of the facilities construction.

Already in phase of leveling the ground on which the facility will be set up, a number of local firms have been sub-contracted to provide earth moving machines.

The Mayor of Bugesera District, Emmanuel Nsanzumuhire, told The New Times that in the coming days, they expect to see a more thriving business environment in the area as entrepreneurs move to provide goods and services to staff on site.

“We also expect construction of new hotels, infrastructure,” he added.

Along the road and the surrounding areas one can see new homes coming up.

“This project will change people’s lives in terms of jobs and business opportunities,” the Mayor said.

Opportunities loom in almost every field; entertainment, financial services, medical and food supplies among other household consumables. The airport will not only transform the lives of the Bugesera people, but their city as well.

Rilima, the site of the airport, is approximately 15 kilometres off the main road and has inadequate supply of utilities such as piped water, electricity and internet connection.

According to the Minister for Infrastructure, James Musoni, in the course of next year, these utilities will be available and not only for the airport but the residents too will be catered for.

“We will set up an airport city around the facility which will have hotels, banks and a logistics centre, among others. This will see a new city come up around the area,” Musoni said.

To ensure that the contractor delivers as per the agreement, they were required to prove their financial capacity which included signing two bonds. This is an addition the extensive due diligence carried out by the government.

Rwanda Development Board chief executive Clare Akamanzi told The New Times that there are also penalties involved in the event the firm does not deliver as agreed.

“We do due diligence before engaging such firms. Like for this firm, they signed about two bonds including a performance bond and there are also penalties in the event they do not perform,” she explained.

Akamanzi added that the government’s willingness to share the risk has exhibited Rwanda’s seriousness in the project.

“The government was willing to take part in the risk by putting in some equity as well as some shareholders bond. This showed them that we were serious in the project.

“The investment in RwandAir shows that there is confidence in the aviation industry. They have also seen that we are growing our tourism sector which currently attracts over 1 million tourists per year,” Akamanzi said.

Lucky Cheong the chief executive of Aviation, Travel and Logistics Holding Limited (ATL Ltd), said that, to ensure that the project meets the set standards, independent engineers have been brought in as well.

“As Bugesera Airport Company, we have hired independent engineers to have a lot of checks and balances,” he said.

The first phase, which is set to be complete in December 2019, will see the airport have capacity of about 1.8 million annually costing about $400m.

Consequent phases, which are estimated to cost about $414m, will see the airport have capacity of about 6m passengers every year by 2045.

Among the expected features of the facility include, a 30,000sqm passenger terminal, modern cargo handling facilities, 22 check-in counters, six boarding bridges, and multiple commercial spaces.