Niamey — Niger President Mahamdou Issoufou on Tuesday morning inaugurated the Niamey General Referral Hospital which was a donation from China.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by China’s ambassador to Niger Shi Hu, as well as the head of Niger’s Parliament Ousseini Tini, heads of public institutions, ministers, members of parliament and representatives of diplomatic corps in Niamey.

Issoufou said the facility with capacity of 500 beds is the largest and most modern referral hospital in West Africa.

The hospital whose construction cost 40 billion CFA Francs (over 68 million U.S. dollars), was built on a 16 hectares piece of land in northern Niamey, for the benefit of Nigeriens and people from neighbouring countries.

The hospital will be able to provide all services, including emergency, cardiology, 16 operation rooms, laboratory, blood bank, imaging and hospitalization.

It will equally serve as a medical training center and will provide both in-patient and out-patient services.

Niger’s Public Health Minister Kalla Moutari said the treatment costs at the hospital will be subsidized. This is expected to reduce the annual medical cost for Niger which spends over 5 billion CFA Francs to evacuate patients to foreign countries.

At the moment, Sino-Niger cooperation covers a wide range of sectors, from politics, economics, energy, culture, security and infrastructure.

Other projects funded by China include General Seyni Kountche stadium, various roads, the second bridge on river Niger, the water project in Zinder as well as schools and training equipment in the health sector.

The Pipelines and Product Marketing Company, PPMC, earned N957 billion from the sales of petroleum products in 12 months, between July 2015 and June 2015, according to data obtained from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

The NNPC, in its Monthly Operations and Financial Reports for June 2016, disclosed that the amount was earned from the sales of white products, comprising Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol; Automotive Gasoline Oil, AGO, and Dual Purpose Kerosene, DPK.

PMS sales accounted for 89.19 per cent of PPMC’s total revenue, with N854.2 billion, while revenue from AGO and DPK sales stood at N41.2 billion and N62.376 billion respectively.

In particular, the report stated that the PPMC sold 10.74 billion litres of white products between July 2015 and June 2016, with PMS accounting for 88.79 per cent of total sales with 9.54 billion, while AGO and DPK sales were put at 403.906 million litres and 800.308 million litres respectively.

For the month of June, the NNPC report noted, “A total of 860.46 million litres of white product was distributed and sold by PPMC in the month of June 2016 compared with 1.256 billion litres in the month of May 2016. This comprised 761.04 million litres of PMS, 66.31 million litres of kerosene and 33.11 million litres of diesel.

“A total value of N101.96 billion was collected as sales revenue for white products sold by PPMC in the month of June 2016 compared with N115.66 billion collected in the previous month of May 2016.”

Giving a breakdown of total white products sales for the period under review, the report stated that in the months of July, August, September, October, November and December 2015, the PPMC earned N48.756 billion, N46.288 billion, N44.236 billion, N38.67 billion, N52.853 billion and N66.958 billion respectively.

On the other hand, the PPMC earned N80.338 billion, N85.23 billion, N85.66 billion, N79.503 billion, N115.66 billion and N101.96 billion from the sale of white products in January, February, March, April, May and June 2016 respectively.

Consequently, the report noted that the PPMC posted a deficit of N3.668 billion in its operations for the first six months of 2016, after recording revenue of N555.078 billion and expenses of N558.745 billion.

Commenting on factors responsible for the unimpressive financial performance of the PPMC, the report said, “Incessant vandalism and products theft have continued to destroy value and put NNPC at disadvantaged competitive position.

“Reduction in vandalism will indeed unlock several industry upsides which include improved upstream oil production due to reduced pipeline disruptions, improved refinery utilisation due to increased crude oil feed from restored pipelines, and reduction of crude/product losses.

“A total of 3,120 vandalised points have been recorded from July 2015 to June 2016. Therefore, crude and products losses have continued to cost NNPC and the nation huge amount of money.”

Conversely, the PPMC earned N5.853 billion, from July 2015 to June 2016, from the sales of special products, comprising Low Pour Fuel Oil, LPFO, among others.

Specifically, the PPMC earned N3.812 billion from the sale of LPFO, while it earned N2.041 billion from the sales of other special products.

The Naira on Monday depreciated against the dollar at the parallel market, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports.

The Nigerian currency lost N3 to exchange at N393, from N390 posted on Friday; while it traded at N505 and N435 against the Pound Sterling and the Euro respectively . At the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the market, the naira closed at N385, N505 and N420 against the dollar, Pound Sterling and the Euro, respectively.

The naira appreciated at the official interbank market to close at N317.34, from N320.25 posted on Friday.

Traders at the market said that the demand for the greenback was still on the high side.

NAN reports that the market was eagerly awaiting the sale of forex by banks to BDCs during the week.

Entrepreneurship remains the only viable solution to the economic problem confronting Nigeria, a professor of Accounting at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Prof Taiwo Ashaolu has said.

He advised Nigerians desirous of ending the current economic quagmire to embrace entrepreneurship.

The don who was a resource person at the one-week High School Residency Programme organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) at Landmark University, Omu-Aran, posited that the naira can only be saved by increasing the nation’s productive capacity.

He said: “I will suggest entrepreneurship. Irrespective of our profession, we should combine it with entrepreneurship. There are so many things that we acquired without going out. These are the things that we can do easily. These are things that are innate in us. We do not need to sweat before we demonstrate the ability. This will stem youth unemployment substantially.

“We need to be very careful with the way things are being run in the country. Look at our forex policy; it is either there nor there. It is as if Nigeria as a nation, we have found ourselves in the midst of an ocean and there is no direction.

Naira is daily depreciating and there seems to be no depth to the level it’s going. Things are very difficult for an average Nigerian.

“There is the need for us to increase our production capacity in Nigeria. That is what I said entrepreneurship. We do not need to depend on imports as a nation for our existence.

“It is obvious that the 2016 budget is already hampered by the currency crisis in the nation. We are already in August. What do you think that has happened so far? Nothing! In fact, the initial thought of an average Nigerians was that once the budget was passed, the following day everybody starts to enjoy.

“It is a serious problem. There is the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to bring in experts who are knowledgeable in these areas to assist the economy of this country. We cannot continue like this.”

While delivering his paper titled “Creative Confidence and ABC Principles of entrepreneurship”, Ashaolu told participants that the creative approach is appropriate when there appears to be either no solution or more than one solution to a particular problem.

According to him, “the Creative approach is an idea-producing process specifically intended to generate a number of solutions, any of which will solve the problem at hand. There are a number of creativity techniques available for problem solving situations. Some are for use by individuals working alone, other for use by groups. All the techniques provide a method or mechanical procedure to help the user generate more solutions to his creative problems. The various techniques provide formats for mental stimulation.”

Use of Internet and automated systems has been growing steadily spurring productivity and economic development, according to experts.

Internet users rose to 2,895,662 (about 5.3 percent) this year up from 2,742,269 (or 5.1percent) last year according to International Telecommunication Union (ITU), World Bank and United Nations Population Division reports.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that Tanzania is the first country in the world where mobile money transactions are worth more than half the country’s GDP. But despite these positive trends, a multiplier effect is on middle class and most likely to reduce jobs in the market.

Among Economists, Business leaders and others the debate is on how best the advancement of technology can help promote economic growth, yet generate job opportunities. Despite rapid global technological advancement and economic development, Tanzania has not made greater investment in its education systems to replicate the new developments.

“The government is well placed to improve Information Communication Technology-ICT among its units to spur growth,” said Minister for Works, Transport and Communication Prof Makame Mbarawa, at the launch of Technological Festival held in Dar es Salaam.

However, observers question on availability of infrastructures in public schools, not to mention in remote areas. The 2016, Huawei Tanzania Technology Festival was meant to showcase, the firm’s latest innovation especially on the concept of ICT transformation, infrastructure and business transformation operations. Prof Mbarawa outlined that Tanzania has a strongest National ICT Broadband (NICTBB) covering around 24 regions across the country.

“This provides conducive framework for investments.” The NICTBB, according to the minister, is connected to submarine optic cable, offering services to cross-border countries; Kenya, Malawi, Burundi, Zambia, Rwanda and Uganda.

Themed “Open roads to a better connected Africa,” the three days festival has provided a mechanism to redefine that technological unemployment can be twisted to create more jobs than killing the existing ones.

Former University of Dar es Salam Business School Dean, Prof Marcelina Chijoriga said technology in development is inseparable and that if well applied can address development challenges and create jobs. ” Currently, there are more ICT graduates without jobs.

As the government shifts to Dodoma, these jobless graduates can help facilitate the Dar es Salaam- Dodoma migration process,” Dr Chijoriga believes. Likewise, the University of Dar es Salaam Telecommunication Engineer student, Ms Faith Asenga says the expansion of knowledge, advancement of technology as well as globalization issues stakeholders must invest in education sector to help penetration of technology for development.

“The profession is quite challenging. There is also a challenge with competent teachers requiring new planning and technological adaptation to cope with cultural dynamism,” she says. Teachers are implementers, and thus need to learn and apply new technologies into their classroom instructions.

Governments in East African countries as elsewhere, are more conscious than ever about the importance of ICT in the development of a nation in several aspects, such as educational development, economic growth, social awareness, cultural enrichment and political leadership.

The use of ICT in schools is crucial for the development of economic and social change worldwide. ICT provides opportunities to stimulate learning and increase motivation that enables teachers and students to interact productively with neighboring communities and global economy in a wider and higher scope.

To realize this opportunity, however, technologies need to be part of the curricula. Experts say ICT plays a greater role in generating of knowledge and processing information for problem solving and further exploration.

However, it remains to be seen how teachers use, integrate and invite students to learn, access, gather, process, analyse, transmit and simulate information. “The use of ICT in classroom instruction is a more practical, interactive and innovative aspect rather than theoretical.

In effect, the impact of ICT on education is one of the most critical issues,” Mr Juma Suleimain a computer studies teacher said. Adding: “It’s a powerful instrument that enables practical environment and assists new ways of teaching and learning, and helps students to develop knowledge and skills for cooperation, communication and problem solving.” In many African countries, particularly in East Africa, most teachers do not integrate ICT into their instruction as it should be owing to interrelated factors.

Government in Tanzania has been doing a lot of initiative in the last 40 years when it comes to the development of ICT in the country. In 1960 The Ministry of Education designed educational programmes for students to listen through radios and televisions; The Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE) has developed an ICT curriculum, for primary and pre-primary education which is currently implemented in few schools near district headquarters and the schools that have ICT facilities 2007 they started Distance Education Learning Services (DILES).

The DILES project develops and provides the teaching and learning materials for secondary school students in printed and electronic format. 2007 – There were Procurement of Computers for Secondary Schools.

The Tanzania Computer Literacy for Secondary Schools Trust Fund (TCLSS) procures computers for secondary schools and helps them to set up computer laboratories 2010 – There was The Bright Education Trust Fund (BETF) initiative which developed the capacity of teachers and school administrators by teaching them how to use ICT to improve both classroom teaching and the administrative tasks of their respective schools.

Despite these initiatives by the government, many learning institutions from primary to higher learning institutions are conducting teaching and learning process with limited ICT facilities which include few computer laboratories with few computers, few computer access points, limited electricity supply, inadequate infrastructure, the cost of bandwidth is still out of reach of many schools.

To address some technological difficulty, Tanzania inked a Chinese leading technology provider–Huawei in 2015 as the official advisor in the field of ICT. The agreement saw the two developing ‘Seeds for the Future Programme’.

Huawei Managing Director Mr Bruce Zhang Yongquan noted his firm was completely dedicated to the development of ICT industry in Tanzania and to the development of Mobile Broadband services. “Huawei has trained many professional and technical personnel for Tanzania.

This year Huawei invited 10 students to China for cultural exchange and ICT training, to bridge the digital divide for Tanzania and in the future, the firm will continue to cooperate with their partners to empower Tanzania through ICT.”

The program will produce 10 students each year that will be dispatched to its headquarters in Beijing to shape their expertise. The arrangement is designed to take ten years according to Mr Yongquan.

Dar es Salaam — Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) is planning to start at least 11 new regular routes including Dodoma after receiving the two new aircraft expected next month.

The state-run airline currently flies only two routes – Kigoma and Comoros – with only one aircraft but the new fleet is expected to restore the company’s business competitiveness, according to acting managing director Mr Patrick Itule.

Tanzania signed agreement with Canadian Bombadier to purchase two commercial aircraft – D8 Q400 and they are expected to arrive in the third or fourth week of September this year.

“As a company we are expecting a smooth run after the planes’ arrival and we will be logged in a competitive business since our long time biggest challenge which is the shortage of planes would be solved, ” promised Mr Itule in a statement issued yesterday.

“The company will not be willing to tolerate employees who fail to conform to the current pace of change,” he stressed.

President Dr John Pombe Magufuli has promised to replenish the ailing ATCL fleet and return it to its lost glory. He said will revive the national flag carrier.

The planes are currently undergoing final touches by the Canadian Bombardier Company, he said.

Some of the destinations the company would conduct its regular flights include Dodoma, Mwanza, Arusha, Mbeya, Kigoma, Tabora, Mpanda, Kilimanjaro, Mtwara, Zanzibar, Pemba, Bukoba and Comoros Islands.

However, he stressed that the mentioned destinations and many more will be established basing on the company’s business feasibility study.

According to Mr Itule, company already has created a task force that oversees various issues including preparations of human resource in order to conform to the current business requirements.

New York–Close to half-a-billion dollars in US development funding for Tanzania remains in limbo despite the Obama administration’s recent announcement of a $407 million aid package for the country, US officials say.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US government entity that gives conditional grants to developing countries, is continuing its freeze a $473 million development “compact” for Tanzania, an MCC spokeswoman tells The Citizen on Sunday.

Suspension of planning for the initiative was announced in March. MCC officials said then that the Tanzania government’s conduct of elections in Zanzibar and its application of the Cybercrimes Act put the country out of compliance with US criteria for Millennium Challenge assistance.

The US embassy in Dar es Salaam had announced two days earlier that the Obama administration would be providing Tanzania with $407 million in new aid.
That money is being allocated by the US Agency for International Development (Usaid) and is separate from the MCC compact.

The $407 million from Usaid represents the first tranche of a five-year programme intended to help empower Tanzanian women and youth and to sustain inclusive economic growth. The funding also seeks to improve democratic governance in Tanzania, US officials say.

The success of the initial compact with Tanzania led MCC to agree tentatively in 2012 to provide the additional $473 million that is now being withheld. MCC’s board of directors said in March that planning for that compact was being suspended because elections in Zanzibar earlier that month had been “neither inclusive nor representative.”

In addition, the Cybercrimes Act was being used to “limit freedom of expression and association,” MCC said.

The decision by the MCC board means the government will have to carry the burden alone or shelve some of the projects that are key to the energy, infrastructure and agricultural sectors development plans over the next few years. The government was, however, quick to give a reassurance that plans were underway to cover the gap.