General
Canon Trains Nigerian Teenagers to Celebrate UN SDGs
By Dipo Olowookere
Leading provider of imaging technologies and services, Canon, has marked the anniversary of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals along with thousands of individuals, organisations, and institutions across the globe.
In 2015 world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which aim to serve as a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.
Canon marked the anniversary of those SDGs by celebrating Global Day to #Act4SDGs on September 25 with a special event in Nigeria in collaboration with Slum Art, a charity organisation with a mission to mentor and build creative talents in children from the neighbourhoods of Lagos.
During the event, and over a course of two weeks, photography training will be given to participants aged between 15-19 from three neighbourhoods in Lagos with the aim to give these young individuals the skills to be able to talk about the SDGs that are most important to them and the solutions they want to see through the art of visual storytelling.
The event forms part of Canon’s Young People Programme and will be hosted by fully certified trainers from Canon’s Miraisha programme in Africa. The Miraisha programme was established in 2014 with the aim of building the capacity and skills of people in photography, videography and print in the African countries where Canon operates. The programme clearly demonstrates Canon’s commitment to its corporate philosophy of Kyosei: living and working together for the common good.
Roman Troedhandl, Managing Director, Canon Central and North Africa, said: “The art of visual storytelling is a powerful tool to bring recognition to social and environmental issues. Through the training we aim to support youth and give them the skills to be able to document in an image the critical issues they want to talk about from their local living environment. We are particularly honoured to have the trainers from the Miraisha programme because it demonstrates the initiative’s success.”
Now in its fourth year, Canon’s Young People Programme seeks to contribute towards the achievement of the SDGs by giving young people a voice through harnessing the power of positive visual storytelling to drive change. The programme uses the SDGs as a framework to give young people the opportunity to talk about the global issues that affect their futures and by providing the right tools and coaching, it aims to bring participants’ stories to life. Canon has been delivering visual storytelling workshops for young people to date in 23 countries across Europe and has run events reaching more than 3,000 students.
‘Young people must be mobilized to participate in Agenda 2030 especially in Nigeria where they constitute the majority of the population. This initiative by Canon is an opportunity to leverage the innovativeness of Nigerian youth to deliver the SDGs in the country,’ said Edward Kallon, the UN Resident Coordinator for Nigeria.
“If we want to make the SDGs happen, we need everyone to take action. Through our work with Canon we are giving young people an opportunity to get involved in the issues they care about, to tell their own stories of SDG Action and share them the world, and to join the global movement making the SDGs happen,” said Marina Ponti, Head of the Global Campaign Center, UN SDG Action Campaign
Once the participants have selected their final imagery, Slum Art and Canon will place the imagery in the World Largest Photo Album, as per the Guinness Book of Records. In doing so, the young people’s images will get the attention of local people, policy makers and help inspire action.
By Dipo Olowookere
A $15 million debt facility has been obtained by Watt Renewable Corporation from the AfriGreen Debt Impact Fund to finance hybrid solar power plants to be built and operated by the former, especially in Nigeria.
WATT intends to use the projects to serve commercial and industrial clients in Nigeria, particularly in the telecommunication and financial services sectors.
By integrating solar hybrid solutions, the firm aims to significantly reduce diesel consumption and CO2 emissions, enabling its clients to achieve substantial energy cost savings while promoting environmental sustainability.
As a pioneer in renewable energy solutions, WATT continues to drive innovation in Nigeria’s energy sector.
The company’s robust roll-out plan includes deploying hundreds of hybrid solar power sites nationwide to meet the growing energy demands of commercial & industrial clients.
This strategic expansion aligns with WATT’s vision to revolutionize energy access across Africa, enabling sustainable development and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The funds from AfriGreen provide the critical capital needed to accelerate WATT’s ambitious projects, strengthening its market position and empowering businesses with reliable and affordable energy solutions.
Business Post gathered that to mitigate the currency risk for WATT in the event of devaluation of the Nigerian Naira, AfriGreen is offering a local currency facility that matches the payment structure of the power purchase agreements.
“We are thrilled to partner with AFRIGREEN on this transformative journey to expand reliable and sustainable energy solutions across Africa.
“With this support, it enables us to accelerate our shared mission of providing hybrid solar power to businesses, reducing carbon emissions, and supporting economic growth while enhancing energy security for our clients,” the Managing Director of WATT, Mr Oluwole Eweje, said.
“We are delighted to support WATT in rolling out hundreds of hybrid sites across the country.
“This represents another key transaction for AFRIGREEN in Nigeria. The combination of high energy prices, good solar irradiation, and strong demand from industrial and commercial energy users makes this market particularly attractive for companies like WATT.
“By leveraging these favourable market conditions alongside WATT’s exceptional operational performance and a well-structured financing solution, we are setting the stage for a strong and lasting business partnership,” the Managing Director of AfriGreen, Mr Alexandre Gilles, stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has denied issuing a directive that gas supply to power generating companies (GenCos) be halted.
In a statement on Wednesday, the authority also denied instructing wholesale gas suppliers to stop further supply of gas to companies due to failure in payment obligations.
The NMDPRA described reports stating that it has directed the stoppage of gas supply to GenCos over N2 trillion debt as “false and completely unfounded”.
“It has absolutely no bearing on the information shared at a recent stakeholders’ engagement held in Lagos between the Authority, the OPTS, IPPG and other stakeholders in the oil and gas industry,” the NMDPRA said.
“The purpose of the engagement was to sensitise stakeholders on the requirements, opportunities and benefits associated with the implementation of the wholesale supply license as provided by sections 142 and 197 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
“It was a follow-up to an earlier stakeholder engagement held at the NMDPRA corporate headquarters in Abuja on November 27, 2024.
“The Authority wishes to reassure all our stakeholders and indeed the general public that at no time was the false statement made at that event and anywhere else, and are advised to completely disregard the publication as every effort is being made to ensure that the supply and distribution of natural gas and petroleum products to end users is seamless and unabated as we head into the festive season and indeed all through the coming year 2025.”
Recall that Nigeria’s national grid experienced another collapse on Wednesday, the 11th time in 2024 as Gencos couldn’t generate enough power, compounding issues facing the Nigerian power sector.
This was the first time in over a month as the last time the nation witnessed a nationwide shutdown in electricity supply was on November 7, 2024.
Before then, the country was experiencing an incessant collapse of the grid, which prompted the federal government to set up a team to address the issue.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nigeria is currently experience a cut in power supply after the national grid collapsed for the 11th time in 2024.
This is the first time in over a month as the last time the nation witnessed a nationwide shut down in electricity supply was on November 7, 2024.
Before then, the country was experiencing an incessant collapse of the grid, which prompted the federal government to set up a team to address the issue.
However, just when Nigerians were thinking they will not witnessed another national grid collapse in the year, it issue reared its ugly head again.
On Wednesday afternoon, most of the energy distribution companies suffered power outage, prompting them to inform their customers of the situation.
One of the DisCos, Ikeja Electric Plc, in a message to electricity consumers under its franchise area, said, “Please be informed that we experienced a system outage today, December 11, 2024, at about 13:32 hours affecting supply within our network.
“Restoration of supply is ongoing in collaboration with our critical stakeholders. Kindly bear with us.”
Recall that on Tuesday, in a report, Google listed national grid as one of the top trending searches by Nigerians this year.
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