Mrs Marie-Jeanne Ntakirutimana, Ambassador of Burundi to Nigeria has called on potential investors to invest in her country’s agriculture, mining and other sectors.

The envoy made the call at a news briefing on Wednesday in Abuja ahead of the county’s 60th Independence Anniversary.

Ntakirutimana in her speech titled “Burundi as the heart of Africa” said that “the Burundi of today is a free country, where many dreams can be achieved regardless of gender, political ideologies and religious beliefs.’’

She said that Agriculture was the base of the Burundi’s economy hence “the country is seeking Nigerians to invest in the sector to boost the country’s economy.

“Burundi wants to develop her agriculture sector. And I tell you, we have many kinds of produce. We do not have industries to transform them.

“We have cassava, we need the industry to preserve them for a long time so they get destroyed.

“That is why we need a lot of investors in agriculture.

“We also need cement factories. The Dangote cement is imported through the Zambian, it is a very big cost. If the industry is implanted in Burundi, it will be a good luck to us,” Ntakirutimana said.

Ntakirutimana said Burundi and Nigeria had very good relations with so many Nigerians already living and working in different sectors in Burundi.

“The Embassy of Burundi in Nigeria was established in 2008.

“That means that since that time, Nigeria and Burundi exchanged technologies, goods and teachers.

“We have also been helping in constructions; there are some Nigerians who want to build infrastructure, offices. We cooperate also on political and security issues,” she said.

Ntakirutimana said that Burundi in the heart of Africa was rich in diverse culture and heritage and Burundian President, Evariste Ndayishimiye had invested so much in the tourism sector.

She said that to encourage and support the tourism industry, the government of Burundi since 2021 had made it possible to obtain visas on arrival for all international citizens.

Nigeria and Burundi established diplomatic relations in 1963 and regards each other as important strategic partners.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, there has been an all-dimensional and high-quality cooperation between Nigeria and Burundi.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved projects to shore up power supply across the country.

Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, briefed State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Aliyu said that the projects were aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Transmission Company of Nigeria(TCN) and shore up power supply in the country.

“I presented two memos to council today which council has approved; the first memo council approved the award of contract for design supply and installation of 1x60MBA, 132×33 KV transmission substation with associated 4×132 KV line bay extension at Hong local government and Adamawa in the sum of N6.5 billion consisting of two components one is offshore and onshore.

“The offshore is 6.9 million dollars and the onshore is N3.3 billion at the CBN prevailing exchange rate and 7.5 per cent VAT; the delivery period is 24 months.

“This seeks to raise the capacity of the supply around that area and it’s going to affect so many towns and villages, there’s a very important local government headquarters around that area.

“It is going to affect Song which is a local government headquarters in Adamawa state; Gombi is also another local government headquarters; Garkida town and then Hong.

“Then Mudi, Woba, Michika, Madagari. There is an existing 132 that passes through this area; so, what we’re doing now is to drop a substation there.

“The hope is by the time all these interventions we are making on the grid, reaches up to 11,000 or there about that it will be able to withstand and take it off; so, this is the intervention.”

The minister said that the second memo also was to procure power transformers and associated spare parts for TCN to be deployed to six locations.

“One is to Aiyede in Oyo; Offshore component 1.8 billion dollars, the onshore is N98 million.

`The second one is Gusau in Zamfara; the third one is Kankia in Katsina state; the next one is Minna, Niger; then the fifth one is to Okearo in Ogun.

“The sixth one is in Damaturu, Yobe; this one is very peculiar because as you may be aware, for over one year, Maiduguri has not been enjoying full electricity.

“We were able to take electricity supply through an old line of 33 KV which we repaired and restored and were able to take 10 megawatts to Maiduguri over 130 kilometers on a 33 single circuit.

“We restored that around three to four months or thereabout; so they are enjoying but very little; by the time the electricity reaches Maiduguri, it will drop to six or seven megawatts because of losses along the way.”

Aliyu said that the 330 takes power to Maiduguri was vandalised by insurgents.

He said that the ministry tried a number of times to restore it but the insurgents would go back and pull down the towers.

“So, we now decided, in the main time to take electricity through the 33 KVA which they are enjoying but not as they may like it to be. It’s being rationed around the time.

“So, we are currently procuring another 33 double circuit new one to Maiduguri along the same route.

“So the idea is if someone tampers with it, it is easy to restore it within a day or two, unlike the bigger one which is the 330 which takes weeks or months to restore because it’s in the bush.

“So, as it is now even the one that we have installed, we have been doing hide and seek, sometimes they will pull one two poles, we will repair and this is why we are doing this endeavour by the roadside; it is this to keep on restoring back.”

He said that, at present, the contractor has returned to restore the main line, 330 that was vandalised some time back.

The minister said that, in order to have enough electricity for Damaturu and environs, from that substation Damaturu, and take some to Maiduguri, the project would boost the capacity of Damaturu substation.

“So, the sixth one which is at the cost of 6.7 million dollars while the local component is N1.3 billion for the Damaturu upgrade injection transformer.

“So, the total approved for these is the dollar component is 22. 6 million dollars and the naira component is N5.1 billion and the council graciously approved the two memos,” he said.

The Kenyatta International Convention Centre, or as it is the short name for it KICC, is a 28-story building located in Nairobi, Kenya.

Situated in the center of the capital, KICC is a well known and one of the most popular events venue in Africa.

Commissioned by Mzee Jomo Kenuatta, the 1st President of the Republic of Kenya, in 1967, it was designed by the Norwegian architect Karl Henrik Nøstvik and the construction was carried out by contractors Solel Boneh & Factah.

This was done in three phases. Phase I was the construction of the podium, Phase II consisted of the main tower and Phase III involved the Plenary.

Construction was completed in 1973, with the opening ceremony occurring in September 1973 presided over by President Kenyatta.

The KICC was returned to the state in 2003, when KANU was voted out of the government.

The KICC nowadays is one of the tallest buildings of Kenya.

It is 105 meters (344 feet), with 28 floors, including a revolving restaurant which offers panoramic views of the city, rotating 360° in 76 minutes.

The building’s light teracotta façade reflects traditional African architecture, as does the use of simple solid shapes, cuboids make up the Plenary hall, the tower consists of a cylinder composed of several cuboids and the amphitheatre and helipad both resemble cones.

Also, the KICC is facilitated with state-of-the-art facilities and services and caters mostly towards assuring the comfort and suitability of the visitors and exhibitors.

Further, the Kenyatta International Conference Center is the world class venue which provides advanced meeting rooms, office space for rent, VIP rooms, parking facilities, decoration services, catering services and many more.

The close convenience to various 5-star hotels that gives it an edge over other venues and make Kenyatta International Conference Center, the first choice of many organizers from Africa and abroad.

The Auditorium represents the traditional African hut ideal for symposia and seminars.

This is the place where heritage meets modernity. The courtyard is a paved 75 square meter (802 square foot) courtyard surrounding the Jomo Kenyatta statue.

It was designed as a respite for those attending conferences.

The courtyard includes gardens, pools and geyser fountains. Numerous flag poles and balconies in the courtyard are fashioned to host promotional identities. Truly amazing and breathtaking.

Governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-olu has commissioned the Greater Lagos LBIC Apartments.

He wrote on social media:
Today, I commissioned and handed over the Greater Lagos LBIC Apartments, Ijaiye-Ogba to the new occupants.

This housing project was conceptualized and constructed by our administration to further bridge the housing deficit in Lagos.

I am particularly excited about this project because during the construction of the Pen Cinema bridge, some residents were displaced as a result of the project.

We made a promise to restore their houses and as they said today, they thought the promise of restoring them to the place they had resided for over 30 years would not be fulfilled.

With this project we have again restored the confidence of our people in government and it has confirmed that indeed, Lagos State Government is a promise keeper.