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Sep 2, 2022Energy Capital & PowerHighlighting the need for African unity and the importance of strong partnerships across the continent and globally, H.E. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal and Chairperson of the African Union, opened this year’s MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power 2022 conference and exhibition – taking place from September 1-2 this year in Dakar. During his address, H.E. President Macky Sall called for the exploitation of Africa’s gas resources and improved access to development finance for the continent.“In this new configuration of the world, energy resources are major assets for Africa. Therefore, we must not accept that our continent is an object of world geopolitics, but an actor, aware of its natural wealth of interests, which acts on the competition instead of suffering it,” H.E. President Sall stated, adding that, “While remaining committed to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, we must continue to defend the interests of our countries in the run-up to COP27 next November in Egypt.”Calling for a just energy transition that allows Africa the same opportunities afforded to the world’s most industrialized nations, the President discussed enhancing regional partnerships and spurring investment within the MSGBC region, emphasizing the role that megadevelopments within the basin will play in meeting domestic demand while addressing global energy needs.“It would be an aberration to give up the exploitation of our resources while more than 600 million Africans still live in the dark,” the President continued. “We will need to train qualified human resources at all levels to master the knowledge and know-how in the complex field of hydrocarbons, from welders to design engineers, financial experts, and contract specialists, to name just a few areas.”The President concluded his opening address by highlighting the region’s potential to address the global energy crisis while improving the conditions and socioeconomic development of West Africa and the continent as a whole.“Because what counts in the end is that the exploitation of our resources is done in the best conditions of transparency and efficiency, for the improvement of the conditions of our populations and the progress of our countries. This is our duty,” the President concluded.

BBC News 2022. 6. 4(Picture: BBC)African countries are innocent victims of the war in Ukraine and Russia should help ease their suffering, the head of the African Union has told Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Russia.After talks in Sochi, Macky Sall said the Russian leader had promised to ease the export of cereals and fertiliser, but gave no details.Mr Putin denied Moscow was preventing Ukrainian ports from exporting grain.Over 40% of wheat consumed in Africa usually comes from Russia and Ukraine.But Ukraine\'s ports in the Black Sea have been largely blocked for exports since the conflict began. Kyiv and its allies blame Moscow for blockading the ports, which Ukraine has mined to prevent a Russian amphibious assault.\"Failure to open those ports will result in famine,\" the UN\'s crisis coordinator Amin Awad said in Geneva.He said a grain shortage could affect 1.4 billion people and trigger mass migration.The war has exacerbated already existing shortages in Africa caused by bad harvests and insecurity.Food prices have shot up across the continent since Russia invaded Ukraine 100 days ago, pushing huge numbers towards hunger.The head of the World Food Programme, Mike Dunford, said more than 80 million people were acutely food insecure, acutely hungry in Africa - up from about 50 million people this time last year.Chad has declared a national food emergency. A third of the population needs food aid, according to the UN and the government has appealed for international assistance.Mr Sall, who is Senegal\'s president, told Mr Putin he should be \"aware that our countries, even if they are far from the theatre [of action], are victims of this economic crisis\".He said he was also pleading on behalf of other countries in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.Mr Putin said Russia was ready to guarantee the safe export of Ukrainian grain via ports on the Azov and Black seas it controls. He said the best solution would be to lift sanctions on Belarus, a close Russian ally, so the grain could be shipped that way.Some analysts argue the Kremlin is hoping that a looming food crisis will put political pressure on the West by provoking big new refugee flows towards Europe from food-insecure countries in the Middle East and Africa.Before Friday\'s meeting, Mr Putin said he was always on the side of Africa, but didn\'t explicitly mention the continent\'s food crisis.Like many African countries, Senegal has avoided taking sides in the conflict and the Senegalese leader also said food supplies should be \"outside\" the West\'s sanctions on Russia. He said he had made this point when he spoke to the European Council earlier in the week.Last Friday, US President Joe Biden dismissed the idea that the West bore responsibility for the global price rises.\"This is a Putin price hike. Putin\'s war has raised the price of food because Ukraine and Russia are two of the world\'s major bread baskets for wheat and corn, the basic product for so many foods around the world,\" he said.

Producing COVID-19 vaccines in Africa came one step closer today after Team Europe formally agreed to support large-scale investment in vaccine production by the Institut Pasteur in Dakar, alongside other support measures. The new manufacturing plant should reduce Africa\'s 99% dependence on vaccine imports and strengthen future pandemic resilience on the continent.The agreement is part of a major package of investment in vaccine and pharmaceuticals production in Africa launched by Team Europe in May, which brings together the European Commission, EU Member States, and the European Investment Bank, and other financial institutions, in line with the EU\'s Strategy with Africa and the strategy of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM).Team Europe, together with other international partners, has committed to a significant package of support for the medium- to long-term sustainability of the project. This includes: Germany\'s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is supporting the manufacturing hub in Senegal with a €20 million grant through KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau), the German development bank.France, through the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), has already granted two initial financing packages totalling €1.8 million to the MADIBA project (Manufacturing in Africa for Disease Immunization and Building Autonomy) at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar for feasibility studies and initial investments. The AFD Group and its private sector subsidiary, Proparco, are also working within the group of technical and financial partners to structure the project in order to reach financial support at a larger scale.Belgium will support Senegal in structuring initiatives to produce vaccines and pharmaceuticals, such as the Pharmapolis pharma hub. Belgium also welcomes the fact that a Belgian biotech company in novel bio-manufacturing platforms is forging, with the support of Wallonia, a partnership with the Institut Pasteur in Dakar, as a key partner for building capacity and transferring technology.The European Commission is discussing with the Senegalese authorities the possibility of mobilising further financial support by the end of 2021 under the new NDICI / Global Europe instrument to support this project. This is part of the €1 billion Team Europe initiative to boost the manufacturing of, and access to, vaccines, medicines and health technologies in Africa, which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in May 2021.At a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Dakar, the President of the Republic of Senegal, His Excellence Macky Sall, European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton and representatives of Germany, France, Belgium, the European Investment Bank and other development finance institutions, including the IFC, today confirmed details of Team Europe support to accelerate project preparation, expand manufacturing capacities and undertake technical feasibility work. These will be crucial to unlock large-scale investment in the new plant. This will be built over the next 18 months and will equip the African continent with a state-of-the-art facility for the production of authorised COVID-19 vaccines.Today, Team Europe is providing €6.75 million in grant support to enable technical feasibility studies and project preparation for the new facility at the Institut Pasteur in Dakar. This amount includes €4.75 million from the European Commission and the European Investment Bank, €200,000 from Germany, and €1.8 million from France. This will also enable the total investment cost and financial structures to be defined and agreed with Senegalese and international partners. Construction of the new plant is expected to start later this year, with 25 million vaccine doses being produced each month by the end of 2022.

NAGOYA, Japan — President Macky Sall of Senegal and Lutheran pastor Munib Younan were awarded the Sunhak Peace Prize Saturday for their work promoting peace and prosperity in Africa and the Middle East.The Sunhak Peace Prize Committee also chose former U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for its Founders Award, citing his service with the international body and his commitment to addressing climate change.The fourth peace prize awards were announced by Hak Ja Han Moon, widow of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and leader of the Unification movement that arose from the Unification Church he founded in 1954. She is the head of the Universal Peace Federation, which held its leadership summit and conference this weekend in Nagoya, Japan. The peace prize committee honored Mr. Sall for “spreading mature democracy to neighboring countries in the African continent, where dictatorship and poverty are still rampant, by successfully shortening the presidential term [from seven years to five] and leading an economic revival through transparent policy.”The committee noted that Mr. Sall’s two-phase economic program has stabilized Senegal’s growth at around 6%.Bishop Younan, an Arab Christian born in Jerusalem, served as president of the Lutheran World Federation from 2010 to 2017, where he “led efforts toward religious harmony on a global scale,” the committee said. He is credited with helping to foster a closer dialogue with the Catholic Church and devoting his life to promoting harmony among Jews, Christians and Muslims.They will share the $1 million prize.Mr. Ban will receive $500,000 as the winner of the Founders Award at a ceremony in Seoul in February, to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Rev. Moon, whose ministry grew from a tiny, embattled church in his native South Korea to a global spiritual movement and an affiliated commercial empire comprising real estate, manufacturing and agricultural operations, and media properties including The Washington Times.He was chosen for “his devotion in leading the U.N. toward a sustainable world in the face of unprecedented global challenges and crises, such as the global economic crisis, climate change, terrorism and refugee issues during his term,” the committee said.The laureates were selected from a total of more than 80 nominees worldwide.Original article is available in the link below:https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/oct/5/senegal-president-lutheran-pastor-win-peace-prizes/