Ghanaian press focuses on Puma Energy’s solar installation projects, others
The company in a statement said the development comes after Puma’ s 14 solar projects at its retail stations and terminals in Ghana proved to be a huge success. The 14 Puma Energy sites in Ghana demonstrate that the concept of solar installation works and Puma will now invest USD 33 million to offer solar solutions to its commercial and industrial customers in…
APA – Accra (Ghana) The announcement by Puma Energy that it will from 2023 offer its commercial and industrial customers the chance to install solar on their sites and the report that majority of Ghanaians are overweight or obese are some of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that Puma Energy has announced that from 2023 it will offer its commercial and industrial customers the chance to install solar on their sites.
The company in a statement said the development comes after Puma’s 14 solar projects at its retail stations and terminals in Ghana proved to be a huge success.
The 14 Puma Energy sites in Ghana demonstrate that the concept of solar installation works and Puma will now invest USD 33 million to offer solar solutions to its commercial and industrial customers in Ghana and across Africa.
In July 2022, Puma Energy’s ESG strategy set out plans to install solar generation at 200 sites across its global network by the end of 2022. The 14 sites in Ghana contribute to the target. These projects benefit from Ghana’s high solar energy potential and have a total capacity of 447kWp and associated battery storage of 227 kWh.
Puma Energy also announced that, by 2027, 30% of its income (EBITDA) in Africa will come from clean and transition fuels and the rollout of solar generation partnerships with Puma’s commercial and industrial customers will contribute to that aim.
The Puma Energy GM in Ghana, Christophe Dantcikian said, “The roll out of solar generation across our assets in Ghana has been a huge success and proves the technology works from an economic and technical perspective.
“Africa and Ghana in particular, have a great potential for solar power. So, having shown the concept works we are now offering our commercial and industrial customers the chance to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Ghana was the first country in Africa to benefit from our programme to add solar power to our sites and we are now excited to be able to share the benefits of our solar expertise with our customers.”
The solar power generation at 11 of the 14 sites is supported by battery storage meaning the sites can run from the power of the sun up to 100% of the time.
The newspaper says that majority of Ghanaians are overweight or obese, the Ghana Obesity Survey 2021 has found.
The first ever most comprehensive survey on obesity and other lifestyle behaviours in the country found that 85 per cent of Ghanaians do not eat healthily, while more than 50 per cent are either obese or overweight.
The study, conducted in the country’s three largest and most cosmopolitan metropolises — Accra, Kumasi and Tamale — also found the results not surprising, given the alarming evidence the study gathered on eating habits and physical inactivity.
“More than half of the population do not exercise at all, while almost 90 per cent of the people do not eat well, based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended level of fruits and vegetable consumption,” it indicated.
Public health experts fear the results of the study are a testament to the upward trajectory which, if left unaddressed, will cause massive health risks for millions of Ghanaians.
The full-scale obesity study, which was under the auspices of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), saw more than 3,380 people interviewed in the three metropolises.
The sampling and collection of data, which were done by the GSS, considered the height and weight of respondents.
The WHO currently recommends the consumption of at least 400 grammes of fruits and vegetables each day – or five servings of 80 grammes each.
The Graphic also reports that Ghana Health Service (GHS) began conducting a mass deworming exercise across 15 regions from yesterday, November 21 to December 9, 2022.
The exercise is targeted at 1.94 million schoolchildren aged between five and 14.
It is being undertaken in 11,322 public and private schools in 89 districts spread across the 15 regions, except the Ahafo Region.
The Deputy Director-General of the GHS, Dr Anthony Adofo Ofosu, said at a media briefing that the exercise was aimed at improving the health of the children.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Ministerial Session of the Accra Initiative (AI) ended in Accra yesterday after further deliberations on the need for joint actions by member States to address cross border security issues.
The conference brought together Ministers of Security and Defence of member States of the AI, which are Benin, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Niger.
Other participants were some representatives of the United Nations (UN) and the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS).
The AI was established in September 2017 as a mechanism to enhance intelligent and security cooperation between the security agencies of member states.
Its formation was necessitated by the urgent need to address the deteriorating security situation in the Sahel region and curb the southward drift of the threat of terrorism to Coastal West African States.
Opening the session, Minister for National Security, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, said with strong collaboration between African countries, winning the fight against terrorism in the sub-region could be possible.
He stated that the seemingly deteriorating security situation in some African countries did not mean efforts of leaders of the affected countries to combat violent extremism were in vain.
Rather, the minister stressed that the situation could have even been worst without some interventions like intelligence sharing and capacity building, put in place to monitor situations and avert further misfortunes.
He commended the AI for the dedication towards ensuring that terrorists and extremists do not take refuge in its member states.
Commissioner, Political Affairs, peace and security of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Abdel-Fatau Musah, in his remarks bemoaned that terrorism was steadily gaining foothold in the region, especially in the Sahel with the onslaught of Boko Haram in Nigeria and the southward movement towards the coastal member states, especially in Benin, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire.
The newspaper says that Ghana together with two other African countries will be benefiting from a project dubbed “Technology-enabled Open School for All” project meant to transform the future of schools systems and learning through digital economy.
The project is a joint one by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and Huawei.
Addressing a side event about the project at the COP 27 climate change conference in Egypt, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, Mrs Stefania Giannini, said the harnessing of technology and changing education models was imperative.
She noted that the partnered project could help Ghana and other countries re-think and build new generation of schools and learners considering the increasing challenges youth faced and the risk caused by climate change.
The event, dedicated to a partnership developed by the UNESCO Education sector with Huawei and the Ministries of Education of Egypt, Ethiopia and Ghana, also presented preliminary results of the open schools in the three African countries.
On her part, the Head of Huawei’s TECH4ALL programme, Mrs Catherine Du said “aiming to leave no one behind in the digital world, enabling equity and quality in education is one of four focused domains in Huawei TECH4ALL digital inclusion initiative.”
“Moreover, we believe that ICT is a key enabler for a greener world with approaches like reducing carbon emission, renewable energy, circular economy and conserving nature with technology,” she added.
Commenting on the value of the UNESCO-Huawei project, Dr Reda Hegazy, Egyptian Minister of Education and Technical Education said “it is closely aligned with the general orientation of the needs and issues of the Egyptian state”.
“I would like to emphasise the critical need for collaborative efforts among all stakeholders to ensure not only equitable access to educational resources, but also to fulfill social obligations towards students,” Dr Hegazy added.
Working with more than 20 different partners, TECH4ALL’s education program has helped connect schools, promoting digital skills, and supporting STEAM curriculum to K12 students and teachers in more than 400 schools globally as well as unemployed young people and elders.
Huawei has operated in Africa for more than 20 years, helping connect more than 1 billion people in more than 50 African nations, as part of the company’s overarching commitment to help bridge the digital divide and enrich people’s lives.