The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has partnered with the Burkina Faso government and various energy companies to drive the deployment of renewable energy and battery energy storage systems.

In partnership with the Ministry of Energy and national utility, Société Nationale d’Electricité du Burkina (SONABEL), the IFC has developed a roadmap for increased rollout and use of clean energy and storage systems.

By increasing private-public partnerships within the sector, the IFC states that Burkina Faso has the potential to increase renewables capacity in its energy mix for energy security, sustainability, affordability and decarbonisation.

The bank states that the African state could save between $1.5 million and $3.3 million per annum by installing 60-70MW (160-220MWh) of independent battery energy storage solutions.

In addition, the development could help reduce reliance on fossil fuels and energy imports whilst improving access to affordable energy to those living in energy poverty.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, energy storage deployment in emerging markets is expected to increase by over 40% annually from 2020 until 2025.

With liquified petroleum gas (LPG) company Sodigaz, the IFC seeks to improve access to cleaner energy solutions for the Burkina Faso population. 

The IFC will work together with Sodigaz to increase solar home kit sales and introduce solar mini-grid solutions.

The IFC will assist Sodigaz to increase its distribution of LPG and the number of service stations to enable consumer switches from firewood, charcoal and other higher carbon fuels that dominate the domestic market.

This is in turn expected to help Burkina Faso to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

The Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) has called for a joint effort aimed at protecting the environment and conservation of nature.

The foundation made the call at its 32nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos on Thursday, October 14, 2021.

The NCF Director-General, Dr Muhtari Aminu-Kano, while speaking with journalists, said that Nigerians needed to value nature and protect the environment to avert further disaster.

He added that the foundation was doing everything possible for the ordinary Nigerian to value nature.

He said awareness campaigns and sensitisation had been embarked upon by the foundation to ensure people understood the value of nature and how to protect the environment.

He said that every segment in the society – the local conservation group, farmers, fishermen, among others – needed to stop damaging the environment and nature.

“Firstly, since there is a distinct possibility that the pandemic is of zoonotic (wildlife) origins, we should, therefore, recognise activities that shrink the space available for wildlife, such as deforestation.

“My view is that unless we practice requisite ‘ecological distancing’, we will continue to be forced to practice ‘social distancing’ in future.

“Secondly, as demonstrated during the lockdown, we have seen that wildlife has a remarkable ability to recover fast and recolonise spaces from which it has been hitherto displaced once it is allowed to do so by the exclusion of harmful activities,” he said.

He added that the videos and pictures of charismatic animals roaming empty streets in cities around the world during lockdowns was a symbolic manifestation of this ability.

While speaking at the AGM, he said that most of the foundation’s field projects were not severely affected.

“However, vulnerable initiatives such as the Lekki Conservation Centre, the Vulture Advocacy Project and Field Research across the country came to a standstill for some period because of lockdown.

Britain’s Prince William has criticized some of the world’s richest men for using their wealth to fund a new space race and space tourism rather than trying to fix the problems on Earth instead.

William voiced his disapproval in an interview with the BBC aired Thursday, a day after the former “Star Trek” actor William Shatner became the oldest man to fly to space, in a rocket funded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

“We need some of the world’s greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live,” said William, who is second-in-line to the British throne.

On Wednesday, the 90-year-old Shatner, who is best known for playing Captain James T. Kirk in the 1960s television series “Star Trek,” briefly flew into space with Bezos’ space travel company, Blue Origin.

Billionaires Elon Musk and Richard Branson are also pumping resources into their own space ambitions.