Category Archives: Africa

CDM Enhancing Africa’s Profile Among Investors

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The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is an extremely simple concept. Companies in developed economies can continue with their polluting ways so long as they pay for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere in the world. Substitute Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Zimbabwe and a string of other African countries for ‘elsewhere’. CDM may not figure highly on the financial radar screens of many entrepreneurs and business people across the globe. They’re probably much more exercised over the merits or otherwise of business banking services, But maybe they should be looking at CDM, not least because entrepreneurial activity and green make interesting bedfellows these days. … Continue reading →

Water Crisis in Egypt and Degeneration of the Nile

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Egypt is struggling to cope with water shortages and food production. It is expected that Egypt’s per capita annual water supply will drop from 600 cubic meters today to 500 cubic meters by 2025, which is the UN threshold for absolute water scarcity. Egypt has only 20 cubic meters per person of internal renewable freshwater resources, and as a result the country relies heavily on the Nile for its main source of water. Water scarcity has become so severe that it has been recorded that certain areas in the country could go days without water, with pressure sometimes returning only … Continue reading →

Sustainability in the MENA Cement Industry: Perspectives

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The population in the MENA countries has doubled during the last 30 years (from ca. 110m in 1980 to almost 484m in 2018). As per conservative estimates, the rate of urbanisation in the MENA countries will exceed 70% five years from today (average for all developing countries: 54%). The proceeding urbanisation and the population increase involve several problems and challenges for the national governments and also for the cement industry. The cement production of countries in the MENA region has almost tripled during the last 15 years up to approximately 500m tons. Since the start of national revolts and demonstrations … Continue reading →

Mobile Agriculture in Egypt: Food for Thought

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The phenomenal spread of smartphones and the fact that they are practically hand-sized computers, have opened way to the creation of countless ‘mobile applications’ or simply ‘apps’. The first apps that came to light were as expected, for social media and different entertainment channels. They were followed by ‘modern life’ apps in the areas of health, education, agriculture and many more. Almost every area imaginable in our life now has a mobile app that caters to it. Mobile Agriculture in Africa During the course of my work at Orange Egypt, I’ve seen a great amount of interest in mobile agriculture … Continue reading →

Solid Waste Management in Tunisia

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Solid waste management has emerged as a big challenge for the Mediterranean country of Tunisia. The country, having an estimated population of around 11 million people, produces more than 2.5 million tons of waste each year. Tunisia is experiencing an average increase in waste volume by 3% with per capita waste generation in urban areas being 0.8 kg per day. Biodegradable organic fraction constitutes around 68% of the MSW stream. MSW collection is covered at 80% in urban areas and 10% in rural areas. The country has 10 controlled landfills with a capacity of 1,788,000 tons per year and four … Continue reading →

The Blue Belt Initiative: Promising Ambition To Transform Challenges Into Opportunities That Protect The Oceans

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It is good for the African continent to wrap itself with the belt of sustainability and the protection of marine biodiversity. What’s even better is for the ‘Blue Belt Initiative’ to launch from the furthest northwest point of the African continent (Marrakech, Morocco), a Mediterranean and African region, and in a global forum where the international community discusses a crucial issue for our planet’s security, the issue of climate. The “Blue Belt Initiative” started during the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP22), hosted by Morocco in 2016. The initiative serves as an international … Continue reading →

Role of CSP in South Africa’s Power Sector

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Demand for electricity in South Africa has increased progressively over several years and the grid now faces supply and demand challenges. As a result, the Department of Energy has implemented a new Integrated Resource Plan to enhance renewable energy generation capacity and promote energy efficiency. Solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) are set to be the main beneficiaries from the new plan having their initial allocation raised considerably. Daily power demand in South Africa has a morning and evening peak, both in summer and winter. This characteristic makes CSP with storage a very attractive technology for generating electricity … Continue reading →

Waste Management in Morocco

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Solid waste management is one of the major environmental problems threatening the Mediterranean Kingdom of Morocco. More than 5 million tons of solid waste is generated across the country with annual waste generation growth rate touching 3 percent. The proper disposal of municipal solid waste in Morocco is exemplified by major deficiencies such as lack of proper infrastructure and suitable funding in areas outside of major cities. According to the World Bank, it was reported that before a recent reform in 2008 “only 70 percent of urban MSW was collected and less than 10 percent of collected waste was being … Continue reading →

Renewable Energy in Algeria

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Algeria plays a key role in world energy markets as a leading producer and exporter of natural gas and liquefied natural gas. Algeria’s energy mix in 2010 was almost exclusively based on fossil fuels, especially natural gas (93%). However, Algeria has enormous renewable energy potential, mainly solar, which the government is trying to harness by launching an ambitious Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program. “Everywhere there is someone or something trying to make a difference. In this case, Algeria is playing an important role in producing and exporting natural gas and liquefied natural gas. But, sometimes it’s just about understanding … Continue reading →

Climate Change Impacts in North Africa

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In North Africa, rising temperatures associated with climate change are expected to decrease the land areas suitable for agriculture, shorten the length of growing seasons and reduce crop yields. The decrease in annual precipitation that is predicted for Northern Africa in the 21st century will exacerbate these effects, particularly in semi-arid and arid regions that rely on irrigation for crop growth. Whilst extreme events associated with climate change, like floods and droughts, will probably set economic development back many years, approaches to climate change adaptation are not usually aligned with development issues. Climate change mitigation will divert resources from programmes … Continue reading →

الطاقه المتجددة بالمغرب العربي

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المغرب، كونها أكبر مستورد للطاقة في شمال أفريقيا، تبذل جهودا مركزة للحد من اعتمادها على الوقود الأحفوري المستورد. وتعتبر الطاقة المتجددة  مصدر موثوق في بلد مثل المغرب العربي التي لديها الاعتماد الكامل تقريبا على شركات الطاقة المستوردة.والمغرب تنفق سنويا  أكثر من 3 مليارات دولار على واردات الوقود والكهرباء في حين انها تشهد نمو الطلب على الطاقة بمعدل 6.5 في المئة سنويا. وفقا لتقرير الوزارة المغربية للطاقة والتعدين، الطاقة الإجمالية المركبة للطاقة المتجددة (باستثناء الطاقة المائية) ما يقرب من 300ميجا وات في عام 2011. وقد حققت الحكومة المغربية بالفعل هدفها المتمثل في توفير حوالي 8٪ من إجمالي الطاقة الأولية من مصادر … Continue reading →

Solar Energy Prospects in Tunisia

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Tunisia is an energy-dependent country with modest oil and gas reserves. Around 97 percent of the total energy is produced by natural gas and oil, while renewables contribute merely 3% of the energy mix. The installed electricity capacity at the end of 2015 was 5,695 MW which is expected to sharply increase to 7,500 MW by 2021 to meet the rising power demands of the industrial and domestic sectors. Needless to say, Tunisia is building additional conventional power plants and developing its solar and wind capacities to sustain economic development. Wind Energy in Tunisia Wind power represents the main source of renewable energy in … Continue reading →