After its success in Liberia, the African Development Bank is supporting another digital payment project in line with its agriculture transformation agenda. “AGRIPME” (Agri Porte Monnaie Electronique) is a joint project of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Digital Economy in Togo aiming to provide subsidies to farmers through electronic wallets provided by mobile network operators MOOV and TOGOCEL.

To date, 76,522 out of the 150,000 small-scale farmers have been identified and registered, allowing them to benefit from a US $1.3 million subsidy to buy inputs. The Government is essentially aiming to establish a secure database of small-holder farmers, the digitalization of input acquisition and the selection of input suppliers for fertilizers distribution. This innovative input distribution mechanism is based on the fact that Togo is among of the lowest users of fertilizers in the world. Prior to the ongoing reform of the agricultural sector, approximately 6 kilograms of fertilizers per acre were used in Togo, against the recommended 50 kg for good agricultural performance. Key components of the project were related to farmers’ registration, wallet openings, capacity building and sensitization, technical assistance and setting up an agricultural information system.

The Government is targeting 3 million farmers, which represents 70% of its total population. It is important to note the involvement and alignment of mobile network operators in Togo, in supporting the cost of 107,000 SIM cards, prefunding a communication campaign and establishing of call centres for customer support as part of their corporate social responsibility. In a second phase of the project and to speed up results, the Government of Togo will look to leverage on the latest innovative technologies such as geospatial mapping and biometric identification.

The long-term impact of this digital payment innovation resides in an opportunity for more than half the population to be recognized in the financial system and aspire to additional financial services and improved well-being.

The Togo e-registration of small-scale farmers is encouraging as it demonstrates the role and potential of the private sector in catalyzing the agricultural production by digitally empowering a traditionally excluded portion of the population, making them more attractive to financial institutions.

The third unit at Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme was brought into commercial operation on Tuesday, Eskom CEO Brian Molefe announced on Wednesday.

Each unit adds 333 MW of peak power to the grid, which is key in the power utility's ability to cope with peak demand, especially during winter.

Addressing Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprise, Molefe pointed out that all four units were synchronised on March 3, March 25, May 21 and June 16, which meant 1 332 MW was being fed into the grid in winter. However, the commercial handover is the end date for the completion of the project.

Units 4 and 2 went into commercial operation on June 10 and August 22, while unit 1 went live on Tuesday night.

Unit 3 had a breakdown during synchronisation and would be up and running by the end of the year, Molefe said."The repairs of damaged unit 3 are progressing," he said. "It is the only unit that is expected to come into commercial operation during this financial year."

In addition, Molefe said Medupi unit 5 is on track for commercial operation in the first half of 2018.

"With commercial operation of Ingula and the coming on stream of Medupi unit 5, it will be very hard to go into load shedding," Molefe said.

His positive sentiment about Eskom's finances and operational successes comes as his battle with Treasury reached a turning point on Tuesday evening, when Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown pushed the utility to hand over documents to Treasury over its probe into coal contracts.

"We will submit the information even though the board has not sat down to formally consider the outcome of the report," spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe told Talk Radio 702.

"After our discussions this morning with the public enterprises minister, the decision was we would submit the information (to Treasury)".
 

"Eskom is on a firm financial and operation footing," Molefe said. "Our financial position has improved and our operational performance has stabilised. We do not anticipate load shedding and the new build programme will meet its deadlines. We are prepared to meet excess supply of electricity."

'Almost a miracle'

"We have stabilised Eskom coming from a very poor base with a fleet that was faltering," Eskom chair Ben Ngubane told Parliament on Wednesday. "Plant availability is 80% and more, which is almost a miracle, considering where we were a year ago."

Molefe said there has been a reduced reliance on open cycle gas turbines in 2016, which cost billions to run during South Africa's load shedding crisis. This has resulted in a decrease from R9.5bn in 2014/15, to R8.87bn in 2015/16, to R0.09bn in 2016/17 to date, Molefe explained."Eskom is striving for no further use of diesel to meet demand for the remainder of the year," he said. "The use of diesel in July was zero."

Eskom has come under scrutiny once again over the turbines, as they are massively over budget and delayed, with all four turbines originally meant to go live in 2013.

Carte Blanche interviewed an insider and a mining expert who worked at Ingula, who said the underground contractor was paid billions more than they should have in bonuses, advances and flimsy compensation events, even as the contractors skimped on safety.

The contractor – CMI Joint Venture – comprises two Italian companies, which allegedly have a track record of over-runs and corruption. The third company is PG Mavundla Engineers, which is owned by Philani Mavundla, a friend of President Jacob Zuma who offered to pay for his Nkandla homestead, according to Carte Blanche.

Source: Fin24

Watumishi Housing Company (WHC) is planning to construct 500 housing units for public servants in Dodoma as the government relocates there.

The public entity which is a licensed fund manager for management of the WHC Real Estate Investment Trust (WHC-REIT) has already bought 50 acres and expects to start with 100 houses in the current financial year, according to the company’s chief executive officer Fred Msemwa.

“The WHC board has endorsed the move after we acquired land at Njedengwa near University of Dodoma, which is conducive for the project. The area has tarmacked roads, water supply and electricity.”

He said the houses will be sold to public servants at between Sh35 million and Sh65 million.

WHC-REIT is the main implementor of the Tanzania Public Servant Housing Scheme.

The programme is tasked with building 50,000 housing units in five phases — from the 2014/2015 financial year.

So far, the firm has constructed 700 houses.

The first phase of constructing houses in Dodoma will start this financial year. Other phases will depend on the availability of funds.

He called on public servants to purchase WHC houses which are sold at reasonable prices instead of constructing their own houses which will involve a lot of money.

Meanwhile, WHC sold its units to pension funds through collective investment schemes.

The Presidency has said that the country’s ailing economy would bounce back fully after the 2016 statutory budgets of corporations and agencies are passed by the National Assembly and subsequently assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.

This is even as the President assented to the N241 billion FCT budget for 2016 fiscal year.

The government attributed the difficulty it was having in revitalizing the troubled economy to the delay by the National Assembly to treat and pass the budgets for urgent assent and implementation.

It also said the development was negatively affecting job creation and as a result, tasked the legislature to brace up towards doing the needful.

President Buhari’s expectations on the passage of budgets of the 38 agencies among which include Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Nigeria Customs Service, etc, was stated yesterday by his Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters ( Senate ) Senator Ita Enang, at a media briefing in Abuja.

Enang at the briefing said passing of budgets of the statutory corporations and agencies was a requirement of the law that must be carried out by the National Assembly .

According to him, the urgent need for the passage of the budget of the statutory agencies was imperative because the total expenditure of their collective budgets almost equal the total budget profile of the country which stands at N6.06trillion.

Hear him:”Now, if the corporations and agencies’ budget is up to about N4 trillion, that means we will be having a budget of about N10 trillion in the country to implement for this year and when approved, it will make additional money available in the economy with its positive multiplier effects”, he said.

He added that passing the budget of government corporations would also create and open up employment opportunities in different agencies and parastatals.

He noted that the Federal Capital Territory Appropriation Act, which has been assented to by President Buhari will also create job opportunities in formal and informal sectors of the economy.

He said: “The Federal Capital Territory Appropriation Act, 2016 passed by the National Assembly has been assented to by Mr. President.

“The legal implementation of the Budget, therefore comes into effect now, which will result in employment in the formal and informal sectors within the territory through projects implementation.

“Some Nigerians have asked questions as to the legal and Legislative grounds for the laying of the Budget of Statutory Corporations before the National Assembly for consideration and passage.

“The Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 requires that the Budget of the Agencies among others be laid before the Assembles by Mr. President, in addition to, and independent of the annual Appropriation Act.

“The rationale are: It is a requirement of the law that the National Assembly as a Legislative body should consider and pass the Budget of each of them.

“It is what is spent in the National Budget together with the totality of the expenditure of the collective of the Government Corporations that amount to the total Annual Expenditure of the Country.

“The vacancies created by retirement in each of these parastals and the new employable vacancies are determined by the Budgetary requirement of the Agencies as will be approved by the National Assembly. Therefore the other rationale for this is to create, regulate and open up employment in the different parastals.

“It is also to stimulate the economy, in that there are so many capital project in the parastals which when approved by the National Assembly, the parastals will award thus releasing money and stimulate cash flow into the economy.

“It will also ensure accountability by the Corporations because they will only raise and spend as approved by the National Assembly and will increase activism of the National Assembly in her oversight Responsibility because they will be overseeing implementation as approved, and know surplus Revenue to capture for subsequent years, Appropriations.

“It will increase Non – Oil Revenue internally generated. The Agencies are under the Law to keep 20% their operational surplus and remit 80% to the Federal Government”.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa will not move his office from Dar es Salaam to the designated capital today as earlier announced, it has been revealed.

Regional Commissioner Jordan Rugimbana said yesterday the Premier would move to Dodoma after completion of the Bunge Sitting which starts on Tuesday next week.

Speaking to The Citizen there yesterday, Mr Rugimbana said the Prime Minister opted for brief delay to move to Dodoma to enable ministers and other relevant authorities to concentrate on issues pertaining to the Parliament sitting.

“As we announced earlier, during Bunge sessions, we would not like to see Dodoma hosts an event of great magnitude, or ministers and some Members of Parliament engage in other activities that can compel them to miss some sessions,” said Mr Rugimbana.

He said the decision by Mr Majaliwa was also aimed at providing the regional authorities with ample time to work on some important isues before the government shifts its seat from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma.

“Moving the Premier’s office from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma will go down in history as one of the major events to happen in our country,” said the RC.

“We, therefore, need ample time to address some of the challenges the region faces before his arrival,” he added.

According to the RC, regional authorities have planned for a grand reception for the Prime Minister.

The Dodoma residents, he said, were to host a special ceremony for him at Mtumba Municipality premises, a few hours after his arrival.

A number of artistes and traditional dancing groups were to spice up the event.

“The Premier was to address a public rally at the Jamhuri Stadium here in the afternoon,” he said.

For her part, Dodoma District Commissioner Christina Mndeme appealed to residents here continue with their preparations for the Premier’s arrival.

On July 25, this year, Mr Majaliwa said he would move his office from Dar es Salaam to the new capital on September 1, this year (today).

Addressing the Dodoma residents during the Heroes Day, Mr Majaliwa said he was setting the pace for the execution of President John Magufuli’s directive of moving the government to Dodoma before 2020, when his first term ends.

He said he had instructed relevant authorities to ensure his residence is ready for him to move in today. “On that note, I order all Cabinet ministers to pack their bags with me. I know they all have houses and sub-offices here in Dodoma,” he said.

The PM also challenged residents here to make the best out of the mass shifting of the government offices by investing in service provision.

prepare enough to welcome the premier said his arrival and stay here would play a pivotal role at boosting the region’s economic status.

“We are continuing well preparing to welcome Mr Majaliwa with much fanfare,” she briefed.

President John Magufuli promised that the government will shift to the country capital, when he was accepting CCM chairmanship in June.

President Magufuli said he would ensure his government moves to Dodoma before the end of his first five-year term in 2020.

Mr Majaliwa is moving to Dodoma to fulfill President John Magufuli’s order that the government must shift its seat from Dar es Salaam over the next four years.

Speaking during the Heroes Day on July 25 in Dodoma, Premier Majaliwa pledged to move to Dodoma in September and asked other ministers to start thinking of how they were going to follow suit.

Regional authorities have organised a special welcoming ceremony for September 1, in honour of Prime Minister, who will permanently shift his office here from Dar es Salaam.

Minister in Prime Minister’s office (Policy, parliament, employment, youth and disabled) Jenister Mhagama moved to Dodoma to prepare for the premier’s arrival.

n Cameroon, a volunteer youth group "Human Bulldozers" is shifting piles of mud to make roads passable. On one routes, they have cut the journey time from five to three hours.

They waited for years but no help came from the government. Enough was enough, they said, and came up with a solution. Hundreds of youths made their way to Nkondjock market square in Nkam Division of the littoral region of Cameroon.

Via loud speakers, they rallied their peers to join a movement for the repair of damaged roads. "We thought that before asking what the state has done for us, we should also show what we have done for the state," said Koumba Ernest, one of the team leaders.

Ernest and his colleagues organized themselves into working groups. They began work using rudimentary tools such as battered hoes, shovels and diggers to make some of the roads passable.

"The state has forgotten Nkondjock, not only Nkondjock but Nkam in general. It is now upon us, the population, to begin such community development initiatives," Ernest said.

Nkondjock residents soon saw the impact the group was making and gave them the nickname "Human Bulldozers." As the name suggests, the youths had bulldozed their ways along the only passable 80-kilometer stretch of road, dug drains, filled up potholes and leveled the heavily muddied road.

The road is a lifeline for Nkondjock residents who use it to transport goods to nearby villages. Transport vehicles used to take about five hours to make the journey assuming they didn't get stuck in mud. After the back-breaking effort by the youths, vehicles now require less than three hours for the trip.

"We are actually angry because despite the fact that we are in an agriculture basin that supplies food to western Cameroon and beyond, our roads are abandoned to deteriorate," said Kwemo Isaac, a notable resident of Nkondjock.

Cameroon has several food basins and Nkondjock is one of them. Nkondjock farmers supply maize and cash crops like coffee and cocoa to the rest of the country. But poor roads forced them to consider other ways of making a living.

"We have many buyers coming here for our goods. But because of bad roads, they push the buying price down to a level where we are being discouraged from working in our farms. This is because we hardly recover what we invest. We are working at a loss just because of the roads," Kwemo Isaac said.
 

Isaac added that the youths are helping but the government still needs to step in. "We have the farms but we are not able to give in our best. So we are on our knees before the government, before the state, saying that we have tried our best but this human bulldozer initiative alone is not enough."

The youths meet every Wednesday and Saturday to work. The men do the heavy liftings, while the women cook and run other errands. Even children are allowed to work. But 9-year old Prisca Berka said she didn't mind working.

"The other children and I fetch water for our parents who cook for those working on the roads," Berka said. "We also pass on drinking water to the workers when they are thirsty."

The administrative office of Nkondjock turned down DW's request for an interview, but an official said the government of Cameroon was aware of the road conditions.

South African businessman Mr Niko Shefer is reportedly siphoning millions of dollars from the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration as facilitation fee for the $206 million loan accessed from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to refurbish the Plumtree-Mutare Highway. It emerged Zinara is depositing a staggering $300 000 in Mr Shefer’s FNB account in South Africa monthly and that contract is running for 10 years.All Mr Shefer did to deserve such a golden handshake was to link Zinara and DBSA.

He charged 2 percent of the loan amount extended to the road fund.

At the lapse of the 10-year contract between Zinara and Mr Shefer, the road fund would have paid him $36 million.

The money that Mr Shefer is receiving is over and above the interest that Zinara is paying to DBSA for the $206 million loan.

Papers in possession of The Herald showed that Mr Shefer used four different companies to claim money from Zinara.

These firms are Sela, Sentinelle, Santanah and Golden Road.

In some of the internal communications among Zinara executives, the issue was raised as far back as 2014 when it was agreed that Mr Shefer was being overpaid.

Former Zinara chief executive officer Mr Frank Chitukutuku sent the then financial director, Mr Thomas Mutizhe, and company secretary Ms Mathelene Mujukoro to South Africa to renegotiate the deal.

According to a report by Mr Mutizhe, Mr Shefer was only supposed to get 2 percent of the $206 million on a reducing balance until the full loan had been disbursed.

The minutes that Mr Mutizhe compiled and submitted to Zinara management after meeting Mr Shefer said: “Sela was being paid two percent of the principal amount regardless of the fact that some amounts had been disbursed which the financial director queried with the CEO (Frank Chitukutuku) and he agreed that there was overpayment.

“Mr Chitukutuku then sent finance director and Mathelene Mujokoro to South Africa to represent him in bringing and documenting this issue.

“We did that and minutes were done to the fact that there has been overpayment and that from 2015 the proper interpretation was supposed to be followed until the loan had been fully disbursed. The current Zinara executive continued to overpay administration fee to date (and) this indicates that there is something going on since the loan has already been disbursed and what is left is repayment.”

Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Joram Gumbo, yesterday said he was aware of the issue and measures were being taken to correct it.

“I was not minister then. I have heard about that and Cabinet has directed us to look into the whole agreement between Zinara and Univern,” he said.

“At the top there is Zinara and Univern and Infralink is just a kid of those agreements.”

In another case of extravagance, Zinara board members and top managers claims board fees when they attend Infralink meetings.

Infralink is a special purpose vehicle formed by Zinara and Group Five for the Plumtree-Mutare Road project.

In one of the payments to the board members on Infralink business seen by the The Herald, board chairman Mr Albert Mugabe was paid ($1, 900), acting CEO Engineer Moses Juma ($1, 710), Mr Jeffrey Nkomo ($1, 400), director human resources Mr Precious Murove ($1, 710) and Mr Davison Norupiri ($1, 400).

Saida — Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal laid, on Wednesday, the foundation stone of a public housing project of 4,900 units in Saida.

This project, carried out in Hai Boukhars, includes 3,000 public rental housing units, including 2,000 units that will be constructed by a Turkish company and the 1,000 remaining ones by a Chinese company.

This project, which is budgeted at more than DZD3.3 billion, will be delivered in September 2018, according to the provided explanations.

Sellal insisted on the need to respect the architectural standards and the quality of constructions.

He also underlined the interest granted to the socio-economic infrastructures that must be carried out on the spot, including green spaces, schools, playgrounds and the different administrations.

Sumbe — The level of intervention of the road rehabilitation will be profound aiming at structurally recovering the physical characteristics of primary roads.

This was said on Tuesday in Longa locality in the coastal Cuanza Sul province by the Construction minister, Waldemar Pires Alexandre, after the signing of contracts for the reconstruction of 328 kilometers of the sections on National Highway 100 on the roads that connect Luanda to Cuanza Sul, under the operational plan of the Chinese credit line.

He noted that to achieve the objectives inspection of ongoing works will be carried out with the utmost rigour, based on the current legislation on the law of public procurement.

The minister stressed that this whole range of interventions will enable to have national roads rehabilitated, as well as users' mobility, safer and acceptable movement and comfort.

According to the minister, work is being done so that these works may have the necessary durability.

Under the agreements signed between the governments of Angola and China, it was subjacent that at least 20 percent of resources allocated to projects awarded to Chinese companies local companies to work in this process must be subcontracted.

Regarding the cities of Sumbe, Porto Amboim and Gabela, the official said part of the integrated infrastructure projects, which began a few years ago, most unfortunately are stopped due to financial constraint.

Nigeria's Dangote Cement has started its shake-up of the Kenyan market with importation of the commodity from its plant in neighbouring Ethiopia as it prepares to establish a local manufacturing plant.

Dangote's targeting of the Kenyan consumer with low-cost cement from Ethiopia is expected to further drive retail prices downward in a market where they have remained static for nearly 10 years.

Importing cement into Kenya is seen as Dangote's short-term market entry plan as it prepares to establish a local plant in 2019.

"In addition, we have begun exporting cement to neighbouring Kenya," the company, which is owned by Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, said in its latest trading update.

Dangote said the cement exported to Kenya is priced at about $74 (Sh7,400) per tonne, making it up to 40 per cent cheaper than locally manufactured brands.

The price is expected to incorporate the cost of transporting the cement to Kenya as well as taxes where applicable, while still leaving the company with a profit.

Dangote, which plans to topple LafargeHolcim as the largest producer of cement in Africa, rides on economies of scale to set lower prices that in turn grows its market share. Its plant in Ethiopia has an annual production capacity of 2.5 million tonnes.

However, cement industry sources said the exports mainly covered supplies to road construction projects in northern Kenya.

Dangote also started selling cement in Tanzania early this year after completing its factory in Mtwara about 400 kilometres from Dar es Salaam.

The company cut prices in Tanzania to rapidly gain market share at the expense of rivals, including Kenyan multinationals with a presence in that market.

ARM Cement said in a commentary accompanying its latest results that cement prices in Tanzania fell by a third in the half year ended June as a result of Dangote's entry.

Dangote said in the trading update that it took market share from its competitors in Tanzania despite incurring higher transport costs since its factory is located relatively farther away from Dar es Salaam.

"We estimate that in June we achieved 23 per cent market share across Tanzania and were the leading supplier of cement in the key market of Dar es Salaam," Dangote said.

The Nigerian firm's price in Tanzania stood at about $80 (Sh8,000) per tonne in June, undercutting its competitors by more than 20 per cent.

The company is expected to replicate its lower-pricing strategy in Kenya when it starts to produce cement locally in 2019.

Dangote, which already has a licence to prospect for limestone in Kitui, says it has revised the upcoming factory's annual production capacity to three million tonnes from the previous 1.5 million.

It has incorporated two majority-owned subsidiaries to house its local limestone mining and cement production operations. It has a 90 per cent stake in Dangote Cement Kenya Limited and a similar stake in Dangote Quarries Kenya Limited. The minority interests in the subsidiaries are not disclosed.