<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1920" height="1005" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/PWU3K5SDE5N4XBOT5CAUJSIEMM.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-594536"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Workers walk near a tugboat carrying coal barges at a port in Palembang, South Sumatra province, Indonesia, January 4, 2022, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Nova Wahyudi/ via REUTERS/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



(Reuters) &#8211; The United States is withdrawing from the Just Energy Transition Partnership, a collaboration between richer nations to help developing countries transition from coal to cleaner energy, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday.



Reuters reported on the withdrawal on Wednesday, based on several sources in key participating countries.



Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has withdrawn the U.S. from JETP agreements with South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam, a department spokesperson said.



The move was consistent with an executive order President Donald Trump signed that said the U.S. had previously joined initiatives that &#8220;do not reflect our country&#8217;s values or our contributions to the pursuit of economic and environmental objectives,&#8221; the spokesperson said.



JETP, which consists of 10 donor nations, was first unveiled at the U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021.



South Africa, Indonesia, Vietnam and Senegal were subsequently announced as the first beneficiaries of loans, financial guarantees and grants to move away from coal.



Joanne Yawitch, head of the&nbsp;JETP&nbsp;Management Unit in South Africa, said on Wednesday that the United States had communicated its withdrawal from the plan there.



In Vietnam, two foreign officials with direct knowledge of the matter&nbsp;also said on Wednesday that&nbsp;Washington was withdrawing from JETP in the country.



Another source familiar with the matter said the U.S. had withdrawn from the JETP in Indonesia and South Africa.



&#8220;We have been informed by the U.S. of their withdrawal,&#8221; said another South Africa-based source in the donor group.



&#8220;There remains significant finance available, and the International Partners Group remains fully committed to supporting South Africa to deliver on its just energy transition through the partnership,&#8221; the person said.



Since Trump returned to office in January, Washington has slashed foreign aid and championed development of fossil fuels.



The sources declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak on the matter.



U.S. commitments for Indonesia and Vietnam exceeded $3 billion in total, mostly through commercial loans, while in South Africa the commitment was for $1.063 billion out of $11.6 billion pledged for the country.



(Reporting by Tim Cocks in Johannesburg, Francesco Guarascio in Hanoi, Fransiska Nangoy in Jakarta, additional reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington; Writing by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Tony Munroe, Sharon Singleton and Marguerita Choy)

PWU3K5SDE5N4XBOT5CAUJSIEMM

US withdraws from plan to help major global polluters move from coal

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="534" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-154793123-820x534.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-481529" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-154793123-820x534.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-154793123-300x195.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-154793123-138x90.jpg 138w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-154793123-768x500.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-154793123-1536x1000.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-154793123-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A visitor descends stairs outside the offices of Anglo American Plc in the Marshalltown district of Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday, Oct. 26, 2012. Anglo American Plc Chief Executive Officer Cynthia Carroll , the first woman, external hire and non-South African to hold the job, will quit after Anglo lost $14 billion in value in the more than five years she was in charge. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



CAPE TOWN, Feb 4 (Reuters) &#8211; South African petrochemicals company Sasol, mining group Anglo American and its diamond business De Beers entered into a joint development agreement on Tuesday to pilot the production of renewable diesel from vegetable oil.



Under the terms of the deal signed at the annual African Mining Indaba in Cape Town, the partners will assess the technical and commercial viability of feedstock production, company officials told reporters.



De Beers is providing the more than 20-hectare tracts of land on which the crops for the trial vegetable oil feedstock &#8211; initially the Solaris and Moringa plants &#8211; will be grown, Anglo American&#8217;s Director of Projects and Development Alison Atkinson said.



Atkinson said pre-feasibility studies have been approved and renewable diesel production trials have been initiated. The resulting fuel will be used at De Beers operations.



Biofuels, derived from plant material or animal waste, are among the alternative fuels promoted to reduce carbon emissions.



Although renewable diesel production in South Africa is not yet at a commercial scale, customer demand and decarbonisation targets indicate that the country&#8217;s renewable fuels market is promising, according to Sasol.



&#8220;Renewable diesel is transformative. It meets the technical standards of conventional diesel while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions,&#8221; Sarushen Pillay, executive vice president of Sasol&#8217;s Business Building, Strategy and Technology portfolio, said at the signing ceremony.



(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Jan Harvey)

Anglo American Plc’s South African Headquarters As CEO Cynthia Carroll Quits

Sasol, Anglo American and De Beers to pilot renewable diesel in South Africa

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="573" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/JMH4QG7UXFNEBLQ2OHFWN3ZYEQ-820x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-578172" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/JMH4QG7UXFNEBLQ2OHFWN3ZYEQ-820x573.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/JMH4QG7UXFNEBLQ2OHFWN3ZYEQ-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/JMH4QG7UXFNEBLQ2OHFWN3ZYEQ-129x90.jpg 129w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/JMH4QG7UXFNEBLQ2OHFWN3ZYEQ-768x537.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/JMH4QG7UXFNEBLQ2OHFWN3ZYEQ-1536x1074.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/JMH4QG7UXFNEBLQ2OHFWN3ZYEQ-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Solar panels are seen near the cooling towers of a retired coal-fired Komati Power Station, operated by Eskom, near Komati village, in the Mpumalanga province in South Africa, May 9, 2024. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Jan 24 (Thomson Reuters Foundation)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Inconsistent government and corporate climate strategies may see poorer regions left behind in the transition away from polluting industries to green jobs, according to new research.



Wealthier cities like Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg, have more advanced plans to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts than less affluent regions, said the analysis of more than 50 government and corporate entities by South African non-profit SouthSouthNorth (SSN).



&#8220;If poorer provinces are left behind, the socio-economic divide will widen, disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups such as miners, informal workers and women,&#8221; said Samson Mbewe, an SSN project lead.



The northeastern province of Mpumalanga, for example, is the heartland of South Africa&#8217;s coal production. The closure of coal plants there could lead to sharp rises in unemployment if new green jobs do not fill the void, Mbewe said.



The country&#8217;s new Climate Change Act requires all levels of government to align their policies and actions with its goals of a low-carbon economy through, for example, setting and mandating greenhouse gas emission targets for companies.



But the analysis of these entities showed significantly different levels of preparation, a discrepancy that could lead to the regions with already high levels of unemployment being left behind when it comes to new jobs in the clean energy economy, the report warns.



South Africa is Africa&#8217;s most industrialised nation, with more than 80% of its power drawn from its coal reserves, according to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy. It is also one of the top 15 greenhouse gas emitters worldwide, ahead of France and Britain.



In 2021, South Africa became the first country to accept the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) deal in which richer nations pledged $8.5 billion to accelerate the country&#8217;s shift away from coal to renewables, while protecting local employment.



The term &#8220;just transition&#8221; refers to ensuring job creation in clean energy sectors as countries phase out polluting industries and move towards renewable energy, according to the presidential climate commission.



South Africa&#8217;s vast areas of sun-soaked land make it ideal for renewable energy projects that promise new jobs in a country suffering from 32% unemployment.



But communities are nervous that this type of work may be scarce and struggle to replace coal sector employment of some 90,000 people.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-change-act">CLIMATE CHANGE ACT</h2>



South Africa&#8217;s Climate Change Act was signed into law in July last year, but the SSN analysis found multinational firms and different layers of government had all made varied levels of progress.



&#8220;Our analysis of the climate plans of the key engines of South Africa&#8217;s economy reveals a patchwork of different approaches to achieving a fair, people-focused transition,&#8221; said Camilla Hyslop, data lead at Net Zero Tracker, a report partner.



Some companies&#8217; climate strategies make broad, sweeping pledges linked to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, but lack any wording around local employment and decent wages that need to be protected in the process, the analysis found.



&#8220;Some companies entirely overlook the need for a transition &#8211; just or otherwise,&#8221; Hyslop said.



The SSN analysis also found that the major cities were surpassing provincial climate policy strategies, which should learn from successful city actions.



For example, Durban&#8217;s plan goes into detail about reforestation projects that it says will help capture carbon.



But Kwazulu-Natal province, where Durban is found, speaks little about new, clean jobs that could replace those lost in polluting sectors such as petrochemical industries.



Less affluent, coal-dependent regions found in Mpumalanga have no formal net zero targets with no long-term structured plan on how the transition away from coal will take place.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-patchwork-plans">PATCHWORK PLANS</h2>



The analysis recommendations include creating committees between different levels of government to better align climate plans, increased funding and technical support for poorer regions and incentivising companies to adopt robust transition plans.



Coordination between different government tiers would tackle a &#8220;missed opportunity&#8221; for provinces to draw inspiration from cities&#8217; climate plans said Ian Steuart, a senior economist at the Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS).



But placing communities at the heart of these plans through bringing the policies to them in local forums is key, said Chantal Naidoo, executive director of Rabia Transitions, a South African transitions finance research and advisory non-profit.



&#8220;We work through civil society groups &#8230; saying to them, you need to help government understand what justice looks like at your level,&#8221; said Naidoo, who also worked on the JETP presidential investment plan.



(Reporting by Kim Harrisberg @KimHarrisberg; Editing by Jack Graham and Jon Hemming. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters.)

FILE PHOTO: South Africa’s ANC walks political tight rope over coal plant shutdowns

South Africa’s patchwork climate plans risk widening inequality

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="5000" height="3488" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/FHAFUN3FDVOOFH6LJMRBKOX2FI.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-565245"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Wilted maize crops are seen in Mumijo, Buhera district, east of capital Harare, Zimbabwe, March 16, 2024. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



CHIVI, Zimbabwe, Dec 12 (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe appears to be heading into another dry spell that could worsen hunger for millions of people already suffering from an El Nino-induced drought, the U.N. World Food Programme said on Thursday.



The drought in Southern Africa that started early this year has been the worst in decades and prompted Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries to declare a state of disaster over food shortages.



Rainfall was forecast to resume in October, which is normally the start of a six-month rainy season. But so far Zimbabwe has received only a few days of rain in late November.



&#8220;We are worried. You can see the ground in front of us is bone dry,&#8221; said World Food Programme country director Barbara Clemens during a food distribution event in Chivi, southern Zimbabwe.



Families in the district are already skipping meals to preserve the little food they have.



Georgina Maphosa, 74, said she feared worse hunger next year after the maize crop she planted in late November failed to germinate.



&#8220;I can now afford to eat once a day. I had hoped that this season would be better, but my early crop is already a write-off,&#8221; said Maphosa, who woke up at 5:00 am to queue for food handouts.



More than half of Zimbabwe&#8217;s population of 16 million was in need of food aid this year, the government said in May.



Zimbabwe has failed to feed itself since 2000, when former president Robert Mugabe led land reforms that disrupted production, while climate change has worsened the country&#8217;s ability to grow enough food.



(Editing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by David Goodman)

FHAFUN3FDVOOFH6LJMRBKOX2FI

Zimbabwe at risk of another dry season after El Nino drought, says WFP

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="5000" height="3514" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/YSGCGBAO75MLPM4PMTIL4T6X4E-1.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-556691"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Toyota Motor Corporation&#8217;s bZ SDN is pictured after a briefing on the company&#8217;s strategies on battery EVs in Tokyo, Japan December 14, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI/BAKU, Nov 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;As the evening rush hour descends upon Nairobi, Kenyan motorcycle taxi driver Kariuki Mwangi skilfully weaves through the congestion on his electric bike, acutely aware that a quiet revolution is humming beneath him.



His emissions-free two-wheeler is at the forefront of a movement sweeping across several African cities, where ambitious initiatives are propelling the shift towards cleaner public transport.



&#8220;This bike is more efficient than the fuel bikes. It doesn&#8217;t need to be serviced regularly, the charging cost is cheaper than fuel and it&#8217;s a quiet, smooth and comfortable ride,&#8221; said Mwangi, 38, who bought his electric bike a year ago.



&#8220;If we don&#8217;t take care of our environment, where will we go? We don&#8217;t have any other planet.&#8221;



Africa&#8217;s electric vehicle (EV) sector has mushroomed in recent years with governments and startups in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and South Africa, among others, embracing e-mobility.



However, challenges in accessing investment have slowed the pace of transition and many in the electric mobility sector are looking to the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, to kick-start momentum.



Prince Mustapha Audu, CEO of the Electric Motor Vehicle Company, one of the biggest e-mobility firms in Nigeria which has sold about 10,000 vehicles this year, is attending&nbsp;the&nbsp;annual U.N. climate summit for the fifth time.



&#8220;When you come to COP, a lot of good things are said, but the follow up &#8211; that&#8217;s always been challenging,&#8221; he said.



Audu said momentum was growing, with new initiatives supported by development finance institutions, but he wants more government commitments such as new infrastructure, targets to replace polluting vehicles, or supply agreements for EV taxis.



&#8220;That&#8217;s the kind of transaction that will set you on the right path,&#8221; Audu said. &#8220;The government needs to take an active step in these companies and to push them.&#8221;



The International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers estimates Africa&#8217;s vehicle population surged to more than 60 million in 2020, a 17% increase from 2015.



While more transport has increased economic opportunities for millions of people, it has also led to a rise in carbon dioxide emissions and a fall in air quality.



The transport sector was responsible for 43% of Africa&#8217;s CO2 emissions in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency, while studies in cities such as Nairobi have found vehicles accounted for 40% of the air pollution.



Overall, African countries are responsible for less than 4% of global CO2 emissions. Required to update their national climate plans by February 2025, electrifying transport as the sector grows could have a major impact on future emissions.



Alexander Koerner, manager of global electric mobility at the United Nations Environment Programme, said the transport sector had the fastest-growing energy-related emissions on the continent.



&#8220;It must be in the focus of governments at COP29 if we are to decarbonise African economies,&#8221; Koerner told&nbsp;the Thomson Reuters Foundation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-prioritising-public-transport">PRIORITISING PUBLIC TRANSPORT</h2>



In many African cities, buses, motorcycles and three-wheelers are crucial to achieving COP targets, said Koerner.



&#8220;They are very intensively used, and you don&#8217;t need that huge charging infrastructure to supply them with electricity,&#8221; he said.



Over the past decade, electric vehicles in the shape of motorcycle taxis, buses and tuk-tuks have appeared on the bustling streets of Cape Town to the lush green hills of Kigali.



Researchers project the EV industry in sub-Saharan Africa to be worth more than $21 billion by 2027, almost double from nearly $12 billion in 2021.



Instead of focusing on private cars, countries are targeting the electrification of buses and taxis, the backbone of the continent&#8217;s urban mobility, to swiftly cut emissions and improve air quality.



The limited charging infrastructure and high costs make EVs less accessible for private use, but public fleets can utilise centralised charging.



&#8220;We deploy our charging infrastructure along the bus route so it&#8217;s convenient for bus operators.&#8221; said Jit Bhattacharya, co-founder of Kenya&#8217;s first electric bus company, BasiGo.



The start-up, which sources parts from China and assembles them locally, started in 2020 and has 43 buses in operation.



Bhattacharya said some African countries such as Kenya, where 90% of the nation&#8217;s electricity comes from renewable sources, were in a prime position to leverage their clean energy to power the e-mobility sector.



Kenya&#8217;s unused surplus of renewable energy last year, primarily from geothermal and wind sources, could have powered nearly 20,000 electric buses, he added.



&#8220;We want to see Africa become a leader in low carbon affordable public transport, because we already have the renewable energy,&#8221; said Bhattacharya.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-incentives-and-innovation">INCENTIVES AND INNOVATION</h2>



Many African governments are leading the way, rolling out the red carpet for EV companies and offering tax breaks, reduced fees and subsidies as part of the welcome package.



Rwanda has implemented a slew of policies including import tax exemptions for EVs and equipment, rent-free land for charging stations, and lower corporate tax rates for EV firms.



African start-ups are proliferating, such as JUMO Energy in Kenya offering affordable EV motorcycle rentals, South Africa&#8217;s uYilo providing EV charging infrastructure and Rwanda&#8217;s Ampersand converting fuel-powered motorcycles to electric.



Many of these businesses offer creative financing options to reduce the high upfront costs, such as pay-as-you-go and lease-to-own models, which can prove more economical for consumers as they save on fuel expenses and maintenance costs.



But the region still faces several challenges in accelerating EV adoption.



Limited charging infrastructure, high import costs, unreliable electricity supply, a lack of government policy and low consumer awareness remain obstacles for most countries.



The biggest hindrance is access to finance.



Joanna Cheong, chief financial officer of ARC Ride, which sells electric motorcycles and offers a service to switch used batteries for charged ones, said high investments were needed to cover the high upfront costs of the EV sector.



These include research and development, expenditure on joint vehicle technology from countries such as China, as well as costs to install new charging infrastructure.



&#8220;We will be hoping for initiatives to boost investment in e-mobility from the COP climate talks,&#8221; said Cheong, whose company employs 75 people and has sold 1,100 vehicles since it started in 2020.



&#8220;Africa is one the last emerging markets in the world, so if you are not going to invest now, you will have missed the boat,&#8221; she warned.



(Reporting by Nita Bhalla; Editing by Jon Hemming. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters.)

YSGCGBAO75MLPM4PMTIL4T6X4E

Africa’s electric vehicle firms look to COP29 for finance boost

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="4032" height="1960" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/NB4Q7CHLRFODVLN7TXTDGJIBOY-1.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-554153"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Homes are submerged in water after a massive flood in N&#8217;djamena, Chad, October 14, 2022. REUTERS/Mahamat Ramadane/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



N&#8217;DJAMENA, Nov 14 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The deputy director of Chad&#8217;s National Meteorological Agency waggled his finger up and down to demonstrate how a motionless humidity gauge at the agency&#8217;s headquarters should have been working.



The broken hygrothermograph was among the dustblown outdoor equipment in the capital N&#8217;Djamena that is meant to help the agency known as ANAM to track weather patterns.



The situation in Chad is replicated across much of Africa, a continent sorely lacking the reliable forecasts that are a keystone of disaster management as climate change makes extreme weather more frequent.



At COP29 climate talks on Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for urgent action to overcome a shortage of data and funding. The aim is to meet a target for universal protection by end-2027 from early warning systems to help preparation for extreme weather events.



For Chad, that appears a particularly ambitious goal.



Around 80% of the devices at the agency&#8217;s site in N&#8217;Djamena are not operational, Deputy Director Hamid Abakar Souleymane told Reuters in October, as Chad battled another season of devastating floods.



&#8220;The reliability of weather information depends on the resources invested in producing it,&#8221; he said, describing a relentless push for more funding and trained personnel.



Africa, a continent of 1.5 billion people, has the world’s least developed weather and climate observation network with fewer stations operating to global basic standards than Germany, according to the World Meteorological Organization.



&#8220;There are many declared stations that exist or may not exist. In fact, many of them are not sharing data,&#8221; said Albert Fischer, director of the WMO Integrated Global Observing System division.



As of the third quarter of 2024, only two out of 53 African WMO countries were compliant with basic requirements for ground-level observation stations, Fischer said.



Being unprepared has deadly consequences. Floods not only happen more often across Africa than in Europe and North America combined, but they kill four times more people on average due to a lack of preparedness and warnings, a 2023 article in the journal Nature said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-no-one-warned-us">&#8220;NO ONE WARNED US&#8221;</h2>



Good weather data alone is not enough, as evidenced by deadly floods in October in Spain when some local authorities were blamed for failing to raise the alarm in time.



Chad&#8217;s plight nevertheless shows the scale of what can happen when disaster strikes one of the most vulnerable and data-poor regions on earth.



Heavier-than-usual seasonal rains in parts of West and Central Africa drove rivers to break their banks in recent months, leading to floods in every one of Chad&#8217;s provinces with 1.9 million people affected, over 570 killed, and 72,000 heads of cattle swept away.



&#8220;Everywhere is flooded. We have lost our fields of sorrel, beans, and grain. Everything is destroyed now because no one warned us of such a catastrophe,&#8221; mother-of-four Josiane Allasra said, speaking at a makeshift camp for displaced people on the outskirts of N&#8217;Djamena in late October.



&#8220;We&#8217;re hungry and we have nowhere to shelter our children.&#8221;



ANAM did not have the resources to track the worsening conditions as the disaster unfolded across a country the size of France and Spain combined.



&#8220;We have significantly less than we need. We need stations and we need funding,&#8221; Souleymane said during a tour of ANAM&#8217;s N&#8217;Djamena facilities, where stacks of old weather data spilled out over the floor of the archive and packaged equipment gathered dust.



A 2023 review of Chad&#8217;s hydromet capacity, found that it had just two trained forecasters, making round-the-clock forecasting and warning impossible.



The agency also lacks the financial and technical means to maintain a network of new automatic weather stations from the U.N. Development Programme, which anyway only covered the south and centre of the country, the report said.



&#8220;There&#8217;s a lot of wasted investment and infrastructure that is scattered &#8230; around Africa,&#8221; said Ana Heureux, programme management officer at a U.N. fund that supports countries like Chad to close their vast data gaps.



Under a five-year programme, the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF) plans to help Chad upgrade or launch 34 weather stations to global observation standards. Chad currently has one surface-land weather station.



To avoid a situation in which authorities find themselves with technology they do not have the expertise and funds to maintain, SOFF&#8217;s strategy includes making use of advisers from developed countries. Once up-and-running, countries will continue to receive SOFF support provided they share their data internationally, Heureux said.



&#8220;Finally, we have one fund that&#8217;s really dedicated to long-term support,&#8221; said the WMO&#8217;s Fischer.



Since mid-2022, SOFF has supported 23 African countries. However, its own funding outlook is uncertain. Since 2020, it has raised $94 million out of a target of $200 million by 2025.



There &#8220;has been a bit of a challenging fundraising donor environment, with everything happening in the world,&#8221; said Heureux, adding that SOFF hoped to close the gap including via a big fundraising push at COP29.



(Editing by Barbara Lewis)

NB4Q7CHLRFODVLN7TXTDGJIBOY

Africa has world’s least developed weather observation network

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TE3RFSDQENJTFFYC6SW6PIPCBE-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-529685" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TE3RFSDQENJTFFYC6SW6PIPCBE-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TE3RFSDQENJTFFYC6SW6PIPCBE-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TE3RFSDQENJTFFYC6SW6PIPCBE-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TE3RFSDQENJTFFYC6SW6PIPCBE-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TE3RFSDQENJTFFYC6SW6PIPCBE-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TE3RFSDQENJTFFYC6SW6PIPCBE-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters building is seen ahead of the IMF/World Bank spring meetings in Washington, U.S., April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Nov 13 (Reuters) &#8211; The International Monetary Fund should sell 4% of its gold to help offer debt relief to low income countries devastated by climate-related catastrophes, a study said as climate financing dominates early talks at the COP29 summit.



From the Caribbean to Africa, low income countries have turned to the IMF in recent years for support in the face of shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic, driving up repayments to the lender of last resort in subsequent years.



Although the IMF has a facility known as Catastrophe Containment Relief Trust (CCRT), this only covers 30 poor countries and has just $103 million available, said researchers from the Boston University Global Development Centre.



The CCRT is used to pay off an eligible member state&#8217;s loans to the IMF for up to two years, providing immediate relief and allowing those funds to be targeted at other priorities.



&#8220;Many climate-vulnerable countries have been unable to access the CCRT as its eligibility criteria fails to account for climate vulnerability &#8230; and funding is severely limited,&#8221; the researchers said in a report.



The solution lies in selling some of the IMF&#8217;s 90.5 million ounces of gold reserves, the report said, taking advantage of elevated prices to boost the fund and cover more countries.



Selling 4% of the IMF&#8217;s gold would generate $9.52 billion, the study said, covering debt relief for 86 countries.



&#8220;With current gold prices exceeding $2,600 per ounce, selling a small fraction of gold has the potential to generate significant revenues and easily replenish the CCRT,&#8221; it said.



Gold was trading at $2,606.42 per ounce on Wednesday.



IMF gold reserve sales are rare. The last was in 2009/10, when it offloaded an eighth of its reserves, which was triggered by the need to boost its lending capacity.



At its inception in 1944, member states used to pay their IMF quotas with gold, the research report said, meaning it accumulated reserves at a historical cost of just $45 per ounce.



Repayments of IMF loans are taking a bigger chunk of annual debt servicing costs for vulnerable economies, the report said.



The Indian Ocean island of Madagascar will pay $106 million to the IMF next year, a quarter of its debt service, rising to $158 million and 41% in 2026, the report added.



Mozambique will also experience an increase in repayments to the IMF during a similar period, the researchers found.



Any sale of IMF gold would require support from the bulk of its executive board members, and for member states to pledge to channel their share of the proceeds to the CCRT, they said.



&#8220;Replenishing the CCRT should be considered a high priority because, in contrast to other IMF lending programs, the CCRT comes with no conditionality,&#8221; they concluded.



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Alexander Smith)

FILE PHOTO: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters building is seen ahead of the IMF/World Bank spring meetings in Washington

IMF urged to cash in on gold price to help poor countries hit by climate change

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="615" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/3TYBNL5NNRKODOQ2WWXYLQHUFE-820x615.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-545417" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/3TYBNL5NNRKODOQ2WWXYLQHUFE-820x615.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/3TYBNL5NNRKODOQ2WWXYLQHUFE-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/3TYBNL5NNRKODOQ2WWXYLQHUFE-120x90.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/3TYBNL5NNRKODOQ2WWXYLQHUFE-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/3TYBNL5NNRKODOQ2WWXYLQHUFE-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/3TYBNL5NNRKODOQ2WWXYLQHUFE-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Residents walk in a flooded area during rescue operations in Maiduguri, northern Borno state, Nigeria September 12, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Kingimi/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



Oct 23 (Reuters) &#8211; Devastating rains that triggered deadly floods in Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan in recent months were worsened by human-caused climate change, a team of international scientists said on Wednesday.



Global warming made the seasonal downpours this year about 5-20% more intense across the Niger and Lake Chad basins, said World Weather Attribution (WWA), a group of scientists studying the link between climate change and extreme weather.



It also said such intense rainfall could occur annually if warming continues.



&#8220;Spells of heavy summer rainfall have become the new normal in Sudan, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad,&#8221; said Izidine Pinto, Researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, in a WWA statement.



This year&#8217;s floods killed around 1,500 people and displaced over 1 million more in West and Central Africa, according to the U.N. aid agency OCHA. The rainfall also overwhelmed dams in Nigeria and Sudan.



If global warming reaches 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), which could happen as early as the 2050s, such downpours are expected to occur nearly every year in the affected regions, WWA said, calling for more investment in early warning systems and dam upgrades.



&#8220;Africa has contributed a tiny amount of carbon emissions globally, but is being hit the hardest by extreme weather,&#8221; said Joyce Kimutai, researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College in London.



She said the onus was on this year&#8217;s COP29 climate talks in November to ensure rich nations contribute &#8220;meaningful finance&#8221; to help.



(Reporting by Alessandra Prentice; editing by Barbara Lewis)

FILE PHOTO: Residents walk in a flooded area during rescue operations in Maiduguri

Climate change worsened rains in flood-hit African regions, scientists say

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="520" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/4SUMNVX4NJLMHGKOGXXS3REQBI-820x520.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-542390" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/4SUMNVX4NJLMHGKOGXXS3REQBI-820x520.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/4SUMNVX4NJLMHGKOGXXS3REQBI-300x190.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/4SUMNVX4NJLMHGKOGXXS3REQBI-142x90.jpg 142w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/4SUMNVX4NJLMHGKOGXXS3REQBI-768x487.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/4SUMNVX4NJLMHGKOGXXS3REQBI-1536x974.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/4SUMNVX4NJLMHGKOGXXS3REQBI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A man carries bread as he walks towards a grocery store, on a flooded street in Bamako, Mali September 23, 2024.REUTERS/Aboubacar Traore</figcaption></figure>



N&#8217;DJAMENA Oct 15 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Father-of-seven Dah Toubada Kadapia stood on a stack of homemade sandbags in his backyard in Chad&#8217;s capital N&#8217;Djamena, surrounded by floodwaters that locals say have risen higher than past years, causing more damage than ever.



Over the last few months, heavy rains have flooded every one of Chad&#8217;s 23 provinces, burst a dam in northern Nigeria, damaged ancient buildings in Niger&#8217;s desert town of Agadez, and killed more than 1,460 people in the countries on the fringes of the Sahara, according to U.N. aid agency OCHA.



On one hand they were annual rains flagged up in advance with forecasts of particularly heavy downpours, raising the question, said Kadapia, why officials were not better prepared.



&#8220;If only the authorities could find a solution in advance, so that every year it wasn&#8217;t just water, water, water and floods,&#8221; he said.



On the other, some of the inundations were not so predictable. Rains fell further north than usual, flooding desert areas that usually see little rainfall in Chad and elsewhere, exposing gaping holes in infrastructure and official preparedness plans.



Africa&#8217;s economic losses linked to&nbsp;floods&nbsp;have been rising. A&nbsp;report by&nbsp;the World Meteorological Organization, published in&nbsp;2021, said they jumped to $12.5 billion in 2010-19,&nbsp;more than double&nbsp;the&nbsp;average of the&nbsp;preceding three decades.



And experts say there is worse to come.



The Sahel is increasingly threatened by floods due to changes in natural climate patterns, greater rainfall intensity, poor urban planning and other causes, according to a 2021 study in the Journal of Hydrology, which noted that &#8220;widespread havoc and devastation are becoming commonplace&#8221;.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-we-lost-everything">&#8216;WE LOST EVERYTHING&#8217;</h2>



A year after that paper was published, West and Central Africa was swept by one of the worst seasonal flooding disasters on record with more than 8.5 million people affected across 20 countries, according to OCHA.



This season, intense heat over the Sahara and other factors pulled the monsoon belt further north than usual, causing downpours in usually arid desert areas, said Wassila Thiaw, deputy director of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration&#8217;s Climate Prediction Centre.



Compared with the 1991-2020 rainfall record, this July-September period was among the five wettest years in much of Niger, Chad and parts of western Mali.



Some areas in western Niger and Mali, and the border between Niger and Nigeria, saw more rainfall than in the calamitous 2022 season, Thiaw said.



Social media was awash with videos of roads turned to rivers, half-submerged trucks and&nbsp;displaced people desperately trying to salvage their belongings from flooded homes.



Mali declared a state of national disaster and pushed back the start of the academic year by a month as schools filled with families driven from their homes by the floods.



Grandmother Iya Kobla sought shelter after a river in the Mali&#8217;s capital Bamako burst its banks, swamped her fishing village in ankle-deep water, and destroyed some of its mud-built homes.



&#8220;We lost everything and now my grandchildren are all sick,&#8221; she said, next to makeshift beds on a school floor.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-critical-moment">A CRITICAL MOMENT</h2>



Some of these events were foreseeable. Climate experts say global warming has increased the frequency and intensity of rain. West Africa is also going through a decades-long natural cycle of wetter&nbsp;monsoons following prolonged drought from the 1970s to 1990s, NOAA&#8217;s Thiaw said.



In 2023, the WMO and other international organisations launched an action plan to improve early warning systems for impending natural disasters in Africa, which has the lowest rate of access to such systems of anywhere in the world.



However, data show that the vulnerable communities most in need of these warnings are often the worst equipped to act on them, Andrew Kruczkiewicz, senior researcher at Columbia University&#8217;s Climate School, said.



In Chad, more than 40% of the population live in poverty. Meagre resources are stretched further by the presence of 2 million refugees, many living in basic camps.



&#8220;It&#8217;s incomplete to say if there were an early warning system, that action would have been taken and impact would be averted &#8230; There are many other elements that must be addressed,&#8221; Kruczkiewicz said, referring to the need for a pre-agreed plan, funding, community buy-in and other essentials.



&#8220;We&#8217;re at a critical moment and the West and Central Africa case exemplifies that, because the (rain) forecasts were there.&#8221;



(Additional reporting by Idrissa Sangare in Bamako; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

A man carries bread as he walks towards a grocery store, on a flooded street in Bamako

Monsoon havoc exposes West and Central Africa’s rising flood risks

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="519" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/HWVA22ZQGVJL3J2BEPNBYS7R4M-820x519.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-536707" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/HWVA22ZQGVJL3J2BEPNBYS7R4M-820x519.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/HWVA22ZQGVJL3J2BEPNBYS7R4M-300x190.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/HWVA22ZQGVJL3J2BEPNBYS7R4M-142x90.jpg 142w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/HWVA22ZQGVJL3J2BEPNBYS7R4M-768x486.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/HWVA22ZQGVJL3J2BEPNBYS7R4M-1536x971.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/HWVA22ZQGVJL3J2BEPNBYS7R4M-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A drone view of Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station in Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire, Britain September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Molly Darlington/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



Sept 30 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Abu Dhabi-based International Resources Holding (IRH) has signed an agreement with South Africa&#8217;s Public Investment Corporation (PIC) to invest in rail infrastructure and green energy projects, the two entities said on Monday.



IRH is a subsidiary of International Holding Company&nbsp;IHC.AD, the United Arab Emirates&#8217; (UAE) richest company, while the state-owned PIC is Africa&#8217;s largest asset manager. The PIC&#8217;s 2.89 trillion rand ($169 billion) assets under management include mining, agriculture, manufacturing, real estate and financial services investments.



IRH and PIC would cooperate on South Africa&#8217;s planned replacement of its coal-dominated power generation with cleaner sources of energy, they said in a joint statement, without giving details.



They would also seek to expand South Africa&#8217;s logistical capacity by addressing persistent freight rail and port bottlenecks which have throttled commodity exports.



South Africa&#8217;s state-owned logistics firm Transnet, which operates the country&#8217;s freight rail and ports, has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3K711G&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">struggled</a>&nbsp;to provide adequate services due to equipment shortages and maintenance backlogs after years of under-investment.



The agreement would also &#8220;bring underperforming and undeveloped mining assets&#8221; in South Africa to full production capacity, they said. They did not name the assets.



Earlier this year, IRH completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in Zambia&#8217;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3DH25C&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mopani Copper Mines</a>. The IRH has also been pursuing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3IV091&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">other copper assets</a>&nbsp;in Zambia as the UAE and seeks to secure critical metal supplies from Africa amid a global shift to cleaner energy.



The IRH also has operations or prospects in Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, according to its website.



($1 = 17.0983 rand)



(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

FILE PHOTO: A drone view of Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station in Ratcliffe-on-Soar

UAE’s IRH eyes mining, energy and logistics projects in South Africa

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/37HZYNFOE5LE3CMVPDV6SEO76Y-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-534695" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/37HZYNFOE5LE3CMVPDV6SEO76Y-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/37HZYNFOE5LE3CMVPDV6SEO76Y-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/37HZYNFOE5LE3CMVPDV6SEO76Y-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/37HZYNFOE5LE3CMVPDV6SEO76Y-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/37HZYNFOE5LE3CMVPDV6SEO76Y-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/37HZYNFOE5LE3CMVPDV6SEO76Y-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A turbine of the WindFloat Atlantic Project, a floating offshore wind-power generating platform, is seen 20 kilometres off the coast in Viana do Castelo, Portugal, September 23, 2021. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NEW YORK, (Reuters) &#8211; World leaders on Tuesday called for far more investment in renewable energy to tackle climate change, with developing nations saying they need financial support to make the transition.



Speaking at a Global Renewables Summit, Kenyan President William Ruto made the case for investing in renewables in Africa as part of the global pledge made at last year&#8217;s COP28 summit to triple clean energy capacity by 2030.



&#8220;Africa receives less than 50% of global investment in renewable energy despite being home to 60% of the world&#8217;s best solar opportunities,&#8221; Ruto told the summit, which is being held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly



The continent is rich in resources needed for development, he said, but can&#8217;t always access those resources due to the current mix of &#8220;unreliable or expensive energy.&#8221;



Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said that fossil fuel subsidies outnumber renewable energy subsidies, which makes it more expensive for small states to develop clean energy projects.



&#8220;Small states face the reality that the cost of renewable energy &#8230; will probably be higher than traditionally fossil fuels,&#8221; she said.



Recent reports, including one by the International Energy Agency, suggest that tripling the world&#8217;s renewable capacity is feasible within this decade. But the effort will require robust regulation including strong rules for issuing project permits as well as investments in building out transmission and battery storage.



Azerbaijan, which is hosting this year&#8217;s COP29 climate summit in November, said it was planning to rally governments to make a new global pledge to increase electricity storage sixfold.



Earlier in the day, a coalition of some of the world&#8217;s biggest companies, finance houses and cities called Mission 2025 urged governments to adopt policies that they said could unleash up to $1 trillion in clean energy investments by 2030. The policies include setting new capacity targets and offering tax credits or long-term electricity contracts that would encourage investment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-we-did-it">&#8220;WE DID IT&#8221;</h2>



Giving his final major speech on climate change at a forum attended by clean energy business leaders, U.S. President Joe Biden celebrated his $369 billion signature climate law.



&#8220;We were told it couldn&#8217;t get done and we did it,&#8221; he said of passing the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, adding that the legislation has since encouraged innovation and created hundreds of thousands of jobs.



&#8220;Private companies have announced investments of over $1 trillion in clean manufacturing,&#8221; he told the event. &#8220;We are just getting started.&#8221;



Some companies and investors are looking at artificial intelligence technologies with excitement for the solutions they might bring but there is also concern about the energy-intensive data centers that are needed to power them.



AI is &#8220;a problem, and it&#8217;s part of the solution,&#8221; Andres Gluski, the chief executive officer of U.S. power firm AES Corporation told Reuters in an interview.



&#8220;With AI, we could come up with new materials that are better for batteries, that are better than copper,&#8221; he said.



&#8220;If we have labor shortages, AI will help us. If we have to do demand management, AI will help us.&#8221;



(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Simon Jessop in New York; Additional reporting by Laila Kearney. Editing by Katy Daigle, David Evans, Aurora Ellis and Edwina Gibbs)

FILE PHOTO: A turbine of the WindFloat Atlantic Project, a floating offshore wind-power generating platform, is seen 20 kilometers off the coast in Viana do Castelo

World leaders call for investment in clean energy, developing nations seek help

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="548" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/S7AF7BNBK5OYLGLCXAI33SOPYA-820x548.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-527198" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/S7AF7BNBK5OYLGLCXAI33SOPYA-820x548.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/S7AF7BNBK5OYLGLCXAI33SOPYA-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/S7AF7BNBK5OYLGLCXAI33SOPYA-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/S7AF7BNBK5OYLGLCXAI33SOPYA-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/S7AF7BNBK5OYLGLCXAI33SOPYA-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/S7AF7BNBK5OYLGLCXAI33SOPYA.jpg 1616w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Simon Stiell, talks to the press on the sidelines of the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial, in Helsingor, Denmark March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Ali Withers/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Sept 5 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The impact of global warming is costing African nations up to 5% of their economic output, the United Nations climate chief said on Thursday, calling for more investments to help adapt to climate change.



The 54-nation continent, which has borne the brunt of climate change despite releasing far less polluting emissions than the industrialised world, receives just 1% of annual global climate finance.



&#8220;The climate crisis is an economic sinkhole, sucking the momentum out of economic growth,&#8221; Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), told a meeting of African ministers of environment in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.



African governments and their climate negotiators are considering various strategies at the pre-COP29, or Conference of the Parties, preparatory meeting in the West African country.



Although the continent has attracted new investors in climate mitigation and adaptation projects in recent years, it gets a very small portion of the $100 billion in financing available globally, African government officials say.



That is a drop in the ocean of the $1.3 trillion required, the officials say, without providing a time frame for by when the amount would be needed.



&#8220;Africa&#8217;s vast potential to drive forward climate solutions is being thwarted by an epidemic of underinvestment,&#8221; Stiell said.



The required investments include $4 billion annually to eliminate the use of traditional fuel for cooking on the continent, such as wood, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, Stiell said.



&#8220;Of the more than $400 billion spent on clean energy last year, only $2.6 billion went to African nations,&#8221; he said.



Climate change has been blamed for protracted drought and bouts of catastrophic flooding across Africa that have hit food production, driving up commodity prices and worsening hunger.



Stiell said there have been growing calls for Africa to secure more climate financing in the run-up to COP29 in Baku, where nations will be looking for consensus on new international climate finance goals.



&#8220;We must use innovative financing solutions for adaptation without exacerbating debt burdens,&#8221; Hanan Morsy, chief economist at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), told a climate finance conference last week.



Such innovations include debt refinancing and swaps as well as&nbsp;carbon markets, she said.



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; editing by Mark Heinrich)

Climate ministers meet in Denmark ahead of COP29

Climate change costs Africa up to 5% of GDP, UN climate head says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Workers-inspect-the-Repository-in-ONKALO-a-deep-geological-disposal-underground-facility-designed-to-safely-store-nuclear-waste-on-May-2-2023-on-the-island-of-Eurajoki-western-Finland.webp" alt="Workers inspect the Repository in ONKALO, a deep geological disposal underground facility, designed to safely store nuclear waste, on May 2, 2023, on the island of Eurajoki, western Finland." class="wp-image-524629" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Workers-inspect-the-Repository-in-ONKALO-a-deep-geological-disposal-underground-facility-designed-to-safely-store-nuclear-waste-on-May-2-2023-on-the-island-of-Eurajoki-western-Finland.webp 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Workers-inspect-the-Repository-in-ONKALO-a-deep-geological-disposal-underground-facility-designed-to-safely-store-nuclear-waste-on-May-2-2023-on-the-island-of-Eurajoki-western-Finland-300x169.webp 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Workers-inspect-the-Repository-in-ONKALO-a-deep-geological-disposal-underground-facility-designed-to-safely-store-nuclear-waste-on-May-2-2023-on-the-island-of-Eurajoki-western-Finland-160x90.webp 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A worker walks at the turbine room linked to the OL3, the latest among three reactors at the nuclear power plant Olkiluoto on May 2, 2023, on the island of Eurajoki, western Finland. Jonathan Nackstrand | Afp | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Finland is on the cusp of burying spent nuclear fuel in the world’s first geological tomb, where it will be stored for 100,000 years.



The pioneering project has been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/finlands-spent-fuel-repository-a-game-changer-for-the-nuclear-industry-director-general-grossi-says" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hailed</a>&nbsp;as both a watershed moment for the long-term sustainability of nuclear energy and “a model for the entire world.”



At some point either next year or in early 2026, highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel will be packed in watertight canisters and deposited into bedrock more than 400 meters below the forests of southwest Finland.



The durable copper canisters will be isolated, separated from humans and kept underground for thousands of years.



“Onkalo,” which is the trademark name of the long-term disposal facility, is the Finnish word for a small cave or pit. It is an apt name for the repository, which sits atop a warren of tunnels and is situated next to three nuclear reactors on the island of Olkiluoto, approximately 240 kilometers from the capital of Helsinki.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="929" height="523" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-3.jpeg" alt="A worker walks at the turbine room linked to the OL3, the latest among three reactors at the nuclear power plant Olkiluoto on May 2, 2023, on the island of Eurajoki, western Finland. - Finland's next-generation Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor, the largest in Europe, has gone into regular production on April 16, 2023 after months of delays, hours after Germany ended its nuclear era. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP) (Photo by JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images)" class="wp-image-524636" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-3.jpeg 929w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-3-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-3-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-3-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-3-768x432.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 929px) 100vw, 929px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A worker walks at the turbine room linked to the OL3, the latest among three reactors at the nuclear power plant Olkiluoto on May 2, 2023, on the island of Eurajoki, western Finland. Jonathan Nackstrand | Afp | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Established in 1995, Posiva is tasked with the responsibility of handling the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel rods at Onkalo. The Finnish company is jointly owned by nuclear power company TVO and utility Fortum.



“Basically, the Onkalo project is that we are building an encapsulation plant and disposal facility for spent fuel. And it’s not temporary, it’s for good,” Pasi Tuohimaa, head of communications for Posiva, told CNBC via videoconference.



Tuohimaa said the first-of-its-kind geological disposal facility had received a lot of interest from industry players, citing what he described as a nuclear “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/26/morgan-stanley-on-how-to-play-the-global-nuclear-power-renaissance.html">renaissance</a>” in recent years and an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/16/europes-energy-crisis-is-making-the-market-nervous-ahead-of-winter.html">energy crisis</a>&nbsp;that gripped Europe and parts of Asia from mid-2021 through to late 2022.



“Having a solution for the final disposal of spent fuel was like the missing part of the sustainable lifecycle for nuclear energy,” Tuohimaa said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-role-of-nuclear-power"><a></a>The role of nuclear power</h2>



The Onkalo project has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/22/nuclear-energy-the-answer-to-a-sustainable-future-experts-are-divided.html">stoked debate</a>&nbsp;about whether anyone can guarantee the long-term safety of spent nuclear waste and the extent to which atomic power should be used in the fight against the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/08/climate-world-surpasses-key-warming-threshold-across-an-entire-year.html">climate crisis</a>.



Nuclear energy currently provides about 9% of the world’s electricity,&nbsp;<a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/nuclear-power-in-the-world-today" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to the World Nuclear Association.



As it’s low-carbon, advocates&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/14/ukraine-war-europe-is-still-quietly-importing-russian-nuclear-energy.html">argue</a>&nbsp;that nuclear energy has the potential to play a significant role in helping countries generate electricity while slashing emissions and reducing their reliance on fossil fuels.



Some environmental groups, however,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/nuclear-power/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">say</a>&nbsp;the nuclear industry is an expensive and harmful distraction to cheaper and cleaner alternatives.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="929" height="523" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-2.jpeg" alt="Finland is poised to bury spent nuclear fuel in the world's first geological tomb. The Onkalo site is situated next to three nuclear reactors on the island of Olkiluoto in southwest Finland." class="wp-image-524635" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-2.jpeg 929w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-2-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-2-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-2-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-2-768x432.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 929px) 100vw, 929px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Finland is poised to bury spent nuclear fuel in the world’s first geological tomb. The Onkalo site is situated next to three nuclear reactors on the island of Olkiluoto in southwest Finland. Credit: Posiva</figcaption></figure>



“I work both in nuclear waste disposal and nuclear accidents and I have experienced the best and worst of what the nuclear industry can offer,” Gareth Law, professor of radiochemistry at the University of Helsinki, told CNBC via videoconference.



“Clean energy, cheap energy, good baseload but then I have seen the bad side too, accidents, waste creation and the problems that we have there,” he continued.



“To have a country now that’s demonstrating that you can actually take this very dangerous waste that’s going to be here for 100,000-odd years into the future, and we actually have a disposal solution for it, I think that shows it can be done.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-finland-at-least-a-decade-ahead"><a></a>Finland ‘at least a decade ahead’</h2>



Law described the Onkalo project as a “big milestone” for both Finland and the international nuclear power industry.



“Posiva are very correct in selling this as a world first. It is going to be the first repository to take spent nuclear fuel and dispose of it in what I think is going to be a very safe and robust manner into the future.”



Law said that while many countries will want to follow in Finland’s footsteps when it comes to the geological disposal of spent nuclear fuel, the Nordic country is “at least a decade” ahead of neighboring Sweden, the next country that’s likely to achieve such a feat.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="929" height="523" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-1.jpeg" alt="Visitors are shown the Repository in ONKALO, a deep geological disposal underground facility, designed to safely store nuclear waste, on May 2, 2023, on the island of Eurajoki, western Finland. - Finland's next-generation Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor, the largest in Europe, has gone into regular production on April 16, 2023 after months of delays, hours after Germany ended its nuclear era. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP) (Photo by JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images)" class="wp-image-524634" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-1.jpeg 929w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-1-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-1-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-1-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-1-768x432.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 929px) 100vw, 929px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Visitors are shown the Repository in ONKALO, a deep geological disposal underground facility, designed to safely store nuclear waste, on May 2, 2023, on the island of Eurajoki, western Finland. Jonathan Nackstrand | Afp | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



“Scientifically and engineering-wise, it is a very difficult thing to put it into place and to enact, but also politically, it is very, very difficult to get the impetus to do this disposal scenario,” Law said.



“There are many countries in the world that are still very much in the planning stages and even just trying to find somewhere to put the waste. So, the fact that Finland [has] built a repository now and in the next year or two we’re going to be operating it and start the disposal process … I don’t want to call it a miracle, but it wouldn’t be a bad way of framing it in the global context.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-model-for-the-entire-world"><a></a>‘A model for the entire world’</h2>



The Onkalo project is&nbsp;<a href="https://group.vattenfall.com/press-and-media/newsroom/2023/finland-to-open-the-worlds-first-final-repository-for-spent-nuclear-fuel" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">based</a>&nbsp;on the so-called “KBS-3” method developed by the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company, which is working on what could be the world’s second final repository.



KBS-3 is based on a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.posiva.fi/en/index/finaldisposal/releasebarriers.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">multi-barrier principle</a>, where several engineered barriers seek to ensure the long-term safety of the spent nuclear fuel. In practice, it means that if one of the barriers were to fail, the isolation of the radioactive waste is not compromised.



“It is a way to showcase that such a small nation sometimes is able to solve one of humankind’s maybe top 20 problems or challenges,” Finnish Climate Minister Kai Mykkänen told CNBC via videoconference.



“As we have seen during the past 10 years, nuclear seems to be required in a very important way for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/05/climate-eu-backlash-over-plans-to-label-nuclear-and-gas-as-green.html">green deal in Europe</a>&nbsp;… but especially if we want to see Asia and the U.S. get rid of fossil electricity production,” he added.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="929" height="523" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image.jpeg" alt="The Repository in ONKALO, a deep geological disposal underground facility, designed to safely store nuclear waste, is pictured on May 2, 2023, on the island of Eurajoki, western Finland. - Finland's next-generation Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor, the largest in Europe, has gone into regular production on April 16, 2023 after months of delays, hours after Germany ended its nuclear era. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP) (Photo by JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images)" class="wp-image-524633" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image.jpeg 929w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-768x432.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 929px) 100vw, 929px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Repository in ONKALO, a deep geological disposal underground facility, designed to safely store nuclear waste, is pictured on May 2, 2023, on the island of Eurajoki, western Finland. Jonathan Nackstrand | Afp | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Asked whether the Onkalo project could be seen as a solution to the sustainability of nuclear waste, Mykkänen replied: “Yes, definitely.”



He added, “I am sure that the clear majority of the Finnish population, and also an even larger population near to Onkalo, they are seeing it in a similar way. People really see it as a solution that replaces more harmful energy.”



Mykkänen said he hoped the Onkalo project would be “a model for the entire world.”

Workers inspect the Repository in ONKALO, a deep geological disposal underground facility, designed to safely store nuclear waste, on May 2, 2023, on the island of Eurajoki, western Finland.

Finland will soon bury nuclear waste in a geological tomb that’s built to last for 100,000 years

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="548" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/U7UJE54KWRKWNHMXF7IAKVVUWM-820x548.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-515813" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/U7UJE54KWRKWNHMXF7IAKVVUWM-820x548.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/U7UJE54KWRKWNHMXF7IAKVVUWM-300x201.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/U7UJE54KWRKWNHMXF7IAKVVUWM-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/U7UJE54KWRKWNHMXF7IAKVVUWM-768x514.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/U7UJE54KWRKWNHMXF7IAKVVUWM-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/U7UJE54KWRKWNHMXF7IAKVVUWM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Township residents carry bottles collected from a municipal water tanker in drought-stricken Graaff-Reinet, South Africa, November 17, 2019. Picture taken November 17, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, Aug 6 (Reuters) &#8211; The U.N. World Food Programme has faced challenges in raising $400 million for its southern Africa drought response, collecting just one-fifth of what it needs to help seven countries in the region, a WFP spokesperson said on Tuesday.



The funding environment had become increasingly difficult as&nbsp;drought has dramatically raised the region&#8217;s food needs, Thomson Phiri told Reuters.



Southern Africa is experiencing its worst drought in decades, forcing Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe to declare states of disaster. The drought was a result of the El Niño climate phenomenon,&nbsp;which can change world weather patterns, bring extreme seasonal temperatures, rainfall or dry spells and hurt crop yields.



About 70% of the Southern African population that relies on rain-fed agriculture had their harvests &#8220;wiped out&#8221; by lack of rains, Phiri told Reuters in May.



The WFP aims to&nbsp;use the proceeds raised so far to&nbsp;feed&nbsp;5.9 million out of 27&nbsp;million&nbsp;in the region who are food-insecure&nbsp;until the next harvest season in 2025, and had started sourcing white grain from Tanzania, South Africa and Latin America to feed regional communities.



Despite notable donor support, current food needs were &#8220;exceptionally high and outpacing available resources,&#8221; during a historical drought, Phiri said.



Some donors have had to trim their aid budgets and &#8220;people in places such as southern Africa are now facing&nbsp;a double whammy where they are reeling both from the historic drought and severe funding cuts,&#8221; he said.



The UN&#8217;s climate crisis coordinator for the El Niño response, Reena Ghelani, called for urgent action.



&#8220;We are very worried,&#8221; Ghelani told Reuters last week. &#8220;In fact we are seeing a sharp increase in the number of people going hungry.&#8221;



Ghelani warned of a prolonged dry spell and frequent droughts across the region in coming years as a result of climate change.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Editing by Tannur Anders and Bernadette Baum)

U7UJE54KWRKWNHMXF7IAKVVUWM

UN agency raises just 20% of needed southern Africa drought aid in tough funding environment

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1203" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/FarmerLifeLine_Edit_November06_125-scaled.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-514255" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/FarmerLifeLine_Edit_November06_125-scaled.webp 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/FarmerLifeLine_Edit_November06_125-300x176.webp 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/FarmerLifeLine_Edit_November06_125-820x482.webp 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/FarmerLifeLine_Edit_November06_125-153x90.webp 153w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/FarmerLifeLine_Edit_November06_125-768x451.webp 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/FarmerLifeLine_Edit_November06_125-1536x902.webp 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Farmer Marion Nyawira Mburu uses her phone to pay for FarmerLifeline crop pest detection device at her farm in Nairobi, Kenya, on November 6, 2023. Royal Academy of Engineering 2024/Handout via Thomson Reuters Foundation</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Aug 2 (Thomson Reuters Foundation)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Growing up in rural Nigeria, Adaeze Akpagbula spent her school years baby-sitting her family&#8217;s chicks through the night, adjusting the coal heater, food and water needed to keep the poultry, and the family income, alive.



Despite her best efforts, unpredictable temperatures, humidity and air quality changes led to the deaths of thousands of chicks, a lesson that would propel her to commit her life to making African farms more climate-resilient.



&#8220;Nigeria&#8217;s unprecedented rainfalls and weather patterns are not predictable, and with heat and cold stresses our birds were dying,&#8221; the 34-year-old agricultural engineer said in a telephone interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.



&#8220;We understand that innovation is pivotal to combating climate-related issues around food insecurity,&#8221; she said.



Akpagbula last year launched a remote-sensing device called PenKeep that monitors and controls environmental conditions in poultry farms. She is now extending the technology into aquaculture and greenhouse farms.



Alongside container farms in South Africa cultivating soldier flies for animal feed, solar-powered fish and crop dryers in Tanzania and machine-learning pest detectors in Kenya, Africans are coming up with innovative solutions to overcome the effects of climate change on food production.



Such solutions are going to be needed as Africa, according to a new United Nations report, is the continent most impacted by hunger.



Together with conflict and economic crises, climate shocks are leaving Africa at the epicentre of a hunger crisis, with one in five &#8211; some 300 million people &#8211; short of food.



It is also the continent most vulnerable to climate shocks, while contributing the least to carbon emissions.



&#8220;Current societal inequalities, such as resource constraints, make it even more difficult to source funds to adapt to these changes,&#8221; said Mulako Kabisa, from the Global Change Institute research platform at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.



&#8220;Home-grown solutions matter because they take into cognizance the local context &#8230; and what will be sustainable in the long run,&#8221; she said in emailed comments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sensors-and-solar">SENSORS AND SOLAR</h2>



PenKeep&#8217;s solar-powered device interprets data from sensors that monitor environmental changes including temperature, water levels and air quality in poultry coops. Farmers are alerted of condition changes through SMS, email or an alarm.



It is being used by more than 1,200 chicken farmers in western and northern Nigeria, with more than 100,000 chickens monitored in the company&#8217;s first six months. Subscriptions of around $15 a month make it more affordable for farmers, Akpagbula said.



Users can also use an artificial intelligence (AI) management app called FS Manager that provides farmers with information including management advice, weather updates and book-keeping services.



&#8220;Nigeria has millions of poultry farmers &#8230; but they are not producing enough &#8230; because they are spending so much on energy and they have a lot of poultry mortality as a result of their environment,&#8221; said Akpagbula.



Farmers using PenKeep have seen poultry mortality rates decrease by 72%, Akpagbula said.



In east Africa, Tanzanian Evodius Rutta also utilises the continent&#8217;s abundance of sun through his MAVUNOLAB Solar Dryer that helps subsistence fish processors and farmers rapidly dry out produce including fish, fruits and vegetables, preventing post-harvest food loss.



Small-scale fish processors at Lake Victoria in western Tanzania have begun using his dryer, reducing the drying time of 250 kg of fish from 12 hours to four.



Climate variability has led to erratic rains that can spoil up to 50% of fishermen&#8217;s harvests as they do not have access to cold storage, said Rutta, a sustainability researcher and MAVUNOLAB innovation hub founder.



&#8220;Because of the rains and high tides, it has also become very dangerous for fishermen that go to the sea and the lakes,&#8221; Rutta, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview.



&#8220;We need low-cost solutions for farmers to adapt to changing climate patterns because it&#8217;s going to be unavoidable,&#8221; Rutta said, adding that he was getting requests from farmers in Zimbabwe, Uganda and Kenya to use his invention.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pest-detection">PEST DETECTION</h2>



Climate change can impact environmental factors such as temperature and humidity that can in turn influence the life cycle and spread of crop pests, according to the U.N.&#8217;s Food and Agriculture Organization.



Pests are already responsible for at least 40% of crop loss worldwide.



Kenyan computer scientist Esther Kimani witnessed this first-hand growing up when pests decimated up to one-third of her family&#8217;s pea, potato and maize crops in the south of Kenya.



By the time the pests were detected, the destruction was so severe that even using pesticides became pointless.



Kimani was inspired to invent the Early Crop Pest and Disease Detection Device &#8211; a solar-powered tool that uses AI and machine learning-enabled cameras to rapidly detect and alert farmers of pests and diseases.



Kimani&#8217;s invention is being used by more than 5,000 farmers across Kenya since its launch in 2020. A group-leasing model reduces the cost to each farmer to $3 per month.



The device also advises farmers about which pesticides to use when, according to predicted climatic changes.



Kimani estimates that more than 3,000 acres of land have been protected from pest infestation by her invention.



She recently won the Royal Academy of Engineering&#8217;s African Prize for Engineering Innovation, for which Akpagbula and Rutta were also short-listed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-crisis">CLIMATE CRISIS</h2>



Some home-grown innovations are also focusing on protecting agricultural output while reducing carbon emissions.



South Africa&#8217;s Philafeed helps build tailor-made black soldier fly container farms. The fly larvae feed on food waste, diverting planet-heating methane emissions from landfills.



The larvae can also be used as a protein feed for livestock, reducing the need for carbon-intensive soya and fish meal.



The larvae manure, a byproduct known as frass, helps increase soil and plant tolerance against drought and flooding, and in turn can increase crop yield in times of climate uncertainty.



&#8220;Through black soldier flies we want farmers to be able to diversify their income if there is a failed season due to climate change,&#8221; said Maya Zaken, Philafeed co-founder.



Philafeed is currently piloting its new container model in Cape Town.



Despite initial funding challenges and struggles to get farmer buy-in, Akpagbula has faith that her innovation, alongside others on the continent, will soon become essential to farmers as climate shocks become more severe and more frequent.



&#8220;People always say why now? Why you doing this now?&#8221; said Akpagbula. &#8220;I tell them it&#8217;s because of the urgency of the climate crisis.&#8221;



(Reporting by Kim Harrisberg in Johannesburg; Editing by Jon Hemming. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters.)

FarmerLifeLine_Edit_November06_125

Solar dry, soldier fly, AI: Africans fight hunger with innovation

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="960" height="608" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/MK64OLDHRZI2LCLTTB33FOO77I.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422324" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/MK64OLDHRZI2LCLTTB33FOO77I.jpg 960w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/MK64OLDHRZI2LCLTTB33FOO77I-300x190.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/MK64OLDHRZI2LCLTTB33FOO77I-820x519.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/MK64OLDHRZI2LCLTTB33FOO77I-142x90.jpg 142w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/MK64OLDHRZI2LCLTTB33FOO77I-768x486.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"> Locals walk past electricity pylons during frequent power outages from South African utility Eskom, caused by its aging coal-fired plants, in Orlando, Soweto, South Africa, September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



LUSAKA, Aug 1 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zambia&#8217;s state-owned power utility ZESCO has agreed to buy 218 megawatts (MW) of electricity from South Africa and Zimbabwe to cushion a shortfall caused by reduced hydropower capacity, its energy minister said on Thursday.



Zambia has a deficit of more than 1,000 MW which is expected worsen as water levels at the key Kariba hydropower plant recede due to lower rainfall and drier conditions. Hydropower generates over 75% of Zambia&#8217;s installed capacity of 3,777 MW.



Energy Minister Makozo Chikote said the coal-fired Maamba Energy would also shut down for routine maintenance from the end of August into September, taking out a further 135 MW of power generation in Africa&#8217;s second-largest copper producer.



&#8220;ZESCO has negotiated the procurement of 218 MW of power from Eskom, South Africa and Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) to cushion the anticipated deficit,&#8221; Chikote said.



The electricity from the two neighbouring power utilities was expected to supply Zambia&#8217;s national grid this month, he said in a statement.



(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Wendell Roelf and Bernadette Baum)

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Zambia to buy electricity from South Africa, Zimbabwe amid shortfall

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1292" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-scaled.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-416545" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-scaled.jpeg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-300x189.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-820x517.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-143x90.jpeg 143w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-768x484.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-1536x969.jpeg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A participant stands near a logo of World Bank at the International Monetary Fund &#8211; World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, October 12, 2018.
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LONDON, July 17 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The World Bank is looking to issue its first drought bond in the next 12-18-months and broaden its offering of catastrophe bonds supporting countries suffering devastation from storms and earthquakes, a senior executive at the lender said.



The drought bond would be a new instrument in the multilateral lender&#8217;s suite of so-called cat bonds &#8211; fixed income instruments that pay out to countries in the event of a natural disaster.



&#8220;We would love to do something in the drought space, that is something we are working on,&#8221; said George Richardson, director of the capital markets and investment department at the World Bank Treasury told Reuters, adding this would be most likely focussed on Africa.



The World Bank has arranged and issued cat bonds though its lending arm, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), to help emerging economies mitigate the fallout from storms and earthquakes for well over a decade. It has made $568 million of insurance payouts on these instruments.



The vast majority of the World Bank&#8217;s existing cat bonds cover countries in the Pacific and Caribbean regions, with Mexico dominating issuance.



The lender was now in talks with more countries to broaden the geographic scope, Richardson said.



Southern Africa is reeling from its worst drought in years, owing to a combination of naturally occurring El Nino &#8211; a warming of waters in the eastern Pacific leading to hotter weather across the world &#8211; and higher average temperatures produced by greenhouse gas emissions. This led to a number of record-breaking weather extremes last year.



Richardson said modelling droughts, wildfires and floods was a little more difficult than earthquakes or storms for a parametric cat bond, an instrument where triggers depend on physical parametres of an event.



&#8220;The fundamental challenge is that you need data, and you need to have some history of that so that it can be modelled by various agencies,&#8221; Richardson said.



The World Bank has also recently offered vulnerable, low income countries the option of introducing clauses into their borrowing from the Washington-based lender that would allow governments to defer repayments for up to two years if they were hit by a severe natural disaster.



So far, seven countries have signed up to the so-called Climate Resilient Debt Clauses (CRDC) &#8211; Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Montenegro.



&#8220;Some of these are evaluating whether they should activate this clause after hurricane Beryl but so far, no decision has been made from what we know,&#8221; said Richardson.



Beryl left a trail of devastation across several Caribbean islands earlier this month, destroying as many as 90% of homes in parts of Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.



(Reporting by Karin Strohecker and Marc Jones; Editing by Mark Potter)

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