A cry for the Africa---- By Chidi Emmanuel----
KUWAIT: Africa is a continent blessed with beautiful people, natural resources and good climate. But it is being mismanaged by bad leaders. Everything seems to be working against this world-forsaken continent. Even the HIV virus that was discovered in America is taking its highest toll in Africa. When I hear Al-Qaeda and its cohorts justifying their attack because of Western polices in the Mideast region, I cry for the poor Africans. If there should be any sect or set of people that should take up arms against the West, it should be the Africans. They were humiliated by colonization and downgraded by apartheid on their land.
Africans have suffered the worst form of injustice and humiliation in this world. Many were lynched, a lot were turned into slavery by whites with ‘black hearts’. Civil wars and violence can attract the attention of the world only when it is affecting the global interest like oil production. Otherwise it will remain unnoticed till the rival factions become tired of fighting. The Tutsis, Hutus, Darfuris etc can eliminate themselves or could be eliminated without the world’s concern. But the Middle East crisis will forever be a global issue. Nobody cares about justice in Africa. Shadowy peace is what West seems to care for, neglecting justice, which is the sine-qua-non to peace.
Good a thing- upon all the poverty and penury, many Africans still believe that a living dog is better than a dead lion. They reject suicide bombing and terrorism as the last resort. Many shun the idea of dying in ‘honour’ than living in disgrace upon all that they are passing through in life. Many blacks of African origin were lynched in the US and subjected to slavery by the westerners.
I still wonder why the ‘planet demoters’ have not demoted this continent as a failed continent or as a dwarf continent. Is only in Africa that everything goes wrong. Aid donors only donate rice, meat, flour and other foodstuffs in Africa whereas they donate money, manpower and even cancel debts in other parts of the world. BBC, CNN and other Western media only see Darfur, war-ravaged Uganda, Rwanda, Somalia and the ugly ailing African faces, there by painting the humiliated continent darker than its colour. Beautiful cities like Lagos, Johannesburg, Cairo, Abuja, Abidjan, Accra etc will ‘rather spoil their camera’ if showcased.
Just to mention but a few, when Hariri (former Lebanese Premier) was assassinated, the world cried foul and a panel was constituted to investigate his murder. But most of his kinds in Africa were left unnoticed. John Garang and other African ex-leaders that have been murdered only ended up with lips-condemnation by the manipulated UN and western powers. Hostile treatments to people with African origin have become too visible. Whereas illegal immigrants are treated with little respect elsewhere, African illegals are rather treated like the worst criminals, chased with dogs at canary Island, beaten and sometimes killed.
You can call them anything but you cannot call them terrorists. Recently, Obama the US senate’s only black member (of Kenyan origin) lamented the US absence in Africa. The honourable senator urged Americans to make their presence noticeable in Africa. He noted in dismay how African migrants are being maltreated in Spain and Italy chiding the west to stop treating them like criminals. The cries of dying Darfuris will continue to haunt the world because the whole society is guilty when an innocent man is hanged.
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Called Viridis Africa, the event is dedicated to entrepreneurs and corporates who are seeking funding to introduce clean technology solutions and services.
Principals who would present their business opportunities at this event would have the audience of numerous local and foreign investors, stratified according to their interest and investment criteria.
Investors would include venture capital, private equity, project and corporate finance outfits and others dedicated to the clean tech sector. They would also include North American, European funding agencies, major Asian industrial conglomerates, technology specific investment funds and major companies who seek strategic alliance and acquisitions.
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I have not yet received an e-mail yet on natasja@solarix.nl. May be something went wrong?
Regards,
Natasja
Please send an e-mail to natasja@solarix.nl. I will arrange that you will receive the necessary information for the Training Biodiesel.
regards,
Natasja
I read that you are interested in our Training Biodiesel in Nairobi, Kenya. it is organisized the 15th of September. Are you joining?
Regards,
Natasja van der Vlist
The prime areas of activity will be:
COE- at Lake Chala, with indication that this will evolve to be Univeristy Kilimanjaro East African Sustainable Bioenergy Centre; (includes + 200Ha's of Land).
CHP-Waste to energy and Biomass to Energy Arusha town (+160,000pop) and Moshi Town (+250,000pop).
City Sludge Collection and Processing Centres- Arusha and Moshi.
KIA Biorefinery- Kilimanjaro International Airport. To include CHP-Pyrolysis-MixAlco-Bio Jet Fuel and related value added liquid fuels and lubricants plus other commodity production.
We are currently assessing the requirements that will be essential for the professional agricultural extension of Jatropha Curcas Linn at specific rain fed suitable locations (non-food/non pasture or Miombo woodland/forest land locations). Setting a target of 30,000 Ha's of extension per annum.
(NB: While using Jatropha as our benchmark plant species we are aware of alternative species and waste from current (Sugar, Coffee, General) agriculture for biomass)
We have set a target of $4000 USD per Ha of extension and support; inclusive of Government of Tanzania led land assessments, allocations and community collaborations; placing a premium upon ensuring that correct land areas are identified and allocated to community members under special land title agreements for the cultivation JCL and/or other Biomass/Oil Seed energy marginal land crops with the support of the COE extension professionals, workers and equipment.
The ideology will incorporate a regional calendar of activities to include plant protection and nutrient delivery, harvest collection and transport for processing. Our model will target to harvest Biomass inclusive of oil seeds.
With professional management of the established stands the target will be to obtain up to 6% CJO (Crude Jatropha Oil) from the Biomass and to process 100% of the biomass to usable products, inclusive of recycling nutrients back to the JCL stands.
The intention is to establish a "template" that may guide the cultivation of JCL and other energy crops at strategic locations throughout the subtropical regions and suggest the various biomass processing technologies that can be developed in synergy to deliver a variety of value added energy commodities.
At an average yield of 40Mt of Biomass per Ha the potential is to deliver 1,200,000 Mt of Bio mass from 30,000 Ha, and to increase this each year by a further 30,000 Ha's for ten years. (Target following ten years of harvesting 12,000,000Mt's of Biomass from farming the approved marginal lands of the Kilimanjaro Region.)
National Policy in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Ghana, Nigeria, Angola, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Congo, DRC, Ethiopia, and others countries suggests that a complete bioenergy model is a requirement for obtaining decentralised energy objectives, liquid bio fuels for domestic and export sales and, for completing the cycle of agriculture that delivers nutrient back to the cultivation areas..
KBC has targeted to have Bio Jet Fuel as a lead to market export driver as delivery FOB at rural International Airports allows for a "Least Cost" export sale and minimum GHG emissions associated with manufacturing.
At this time we have not calculated the Carbon reduction accounts anticipated but will relate this TIC application to the national consultant office of the UNFCCC.
Given the objectives outlines above we would be delighted if Jatropha Africa experts would be in a position to offer details related to the DBOT possibilities with CHP waste to energy processes and suggest the complex Biorefinery servcies required to deliver a comprehensive range of energy products at Kilimanjaro International Airport. Indicating the costs of CHP, Biorefinery and other process technologies as well as projected feedstock requirements and operational outputs.
Additionally we are assuming advanced training requirements for Agricultural Extension, Agricultural Machinery Operations, Repair and Maintenance, Basic to professional farm management skills and of course the very wide range of skills that would be required to support the design, build, and operation of Bioenergy technologies at all levels for a complete Agriculture to Industry project.
The over all objective is to establish the opportunity to replicate a comprehensive agriculture to industry model at strategic locations, raising substantial funds to effect this from multi national resources.
Yours Sincerely
Clive Richardson
I read with a tear in my eye your article "A Cry for Africa" perhaps the blame for all of Arfica's ailments lies a little closer to home than this mythical west you write of, Greed, Corruption and Power lust are human conditions and unfortunately they are manifest all over the world. To suggest that the colonial powers are to blame for all that is wrong in Africa is perhaps a view coloured by the distance of being an expat living in Kuwait. As a Jamaican I was born into a country that was under British Rule, sat at the knee of my Grand Uncle who won independence for us and saw with my own eyes the corruption and the stupidity of greed that followed. I cannot blame the colonial power because before they left Jamaica was a paradise today we are struggling with crime, with drugs and with rampant poverty. But to blame everyone else for this is some how avoiding the point that the credit for this lies in someone else's yard, when it belongs in our own.
The problems of the world will never be fixed until we stop refering to ourselves as black men or white men, but simply as men, human beings with the same desires, dreams and wishes. To see our children grow safely and healthily contented and educated, in a world that cares for each individual living in peace. Please stop beating the war drums to sell news papers or articles off the backs of the woes of this world, lets work together to try and find solutions and implement them, because as you rightly suggested no one will help us if we do not help ourselves.