AfricaFocus Bulletin
March 10, 2015 (150310)
(Reposted from sources cited below)

Editor’s Note

Africa, the continent with warming deviating most rapidly from
“normal” conditions, could see climate change adaptation costs rise
to US$50 billion per year by 2050, even assuming international
efforts keep global warming below 2 degrees C this century,
according to a new United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
report.

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This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains the press release and excerpts
from the Executive Summary of the new UNEP report Africa’s
Adaptation Gap 2: Bridging the Gap – mobilizing sources.

The report contains updated data on the expected cost of adapting to
climate change under different scenarios for global warming, for the
time horizons of 2020, 2050, and 2100. Key messages include the fact
that Africa is already the continent where climate is already
deviating from normal more rapidly than any other continent.

Projections for impact rise enormously even if global warming is
held to less than 2 degrees C, and even more so if efforts to slow
global warming are insufficient to make that goal. This means that
the most important action to be taken is to limit the damage by
“deep global emission reductions.” Even if this is done, the costs
of adaptation will rise rapidly, requiring action to find new
sources of funding at national, continental, and global levels.

The report suggests a continent-wide levy (transaction tax) on four
sectors: extractive industries, financial and banking transactions,
international trade, and tourism. It also highlights the imperative
for national tax systems to be made more effective, including
minimizing reductions in the tax base from illicit financial flows.

For additional background on the current gap in international
climate finance, see the Feb. 26 article by Brookings Instution
analysts Martin Stadelmann and Timmons Roberts. They note that the
UN has issued a “clarification note” admitting that their estimate
of current levels of annual total North-South climate financing of
$40-175 billion is almost certainly closer to the lower than the
upper end of that range. See http://tinyurl.com/m9zo2pz

For talking points and previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on climate
change and the environment, visit
http://www.africafocus.org/envexp.php

Of related interest:
March 9 Guardian article by Bill McKibben
http://tinyurl.com/p2qg3we

“Pressure is growing. A relentless climate movement is starting to
win big, unprecedented victories around the world, victories which
are quickly reshaping the consensus view.”

++++++++++++++++++++++end editor’s note+++++++++++++++++

Costs of Climate Change Adaptation Expected to Rise Far Beyond
Africa’s Coping Capacity Even if Warming Kept Below 2 degrees C

Climate adaptation costs for Africa could soar to reach US $50
billion annually by mid-century.

United Nations Environment Programme

http://tinyurl.com/kb3llqg

Cairo, 4 March 2015 – Africa, the continent with warming deviating
most rapidly from “normal” conditions, could see climate change
adaptation costs rise to US$50 billion per year by 2050, even
assuming international efforts keep global warming below 2 degrees C
this century, according to a new United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) report.

Released at the 15th African Ministerial Conference on the
Environment (AMCEN), Africa’s Adaptation Gap builds on UNEP’s
Emissions Gap Report 2014, which showed that the world is not
currently headed in the right direction for holding global warming
below 2 degrees C. This latest Africa Adaptation Gap report also
builds on UNEP’s Global Adaptation Gap Report 2014, which found that
adaptation costs in all developing countries together could climb as
high as US$250-500 billion per year by 2050.

Produced in collaboration with Climate Analytics and the African
Climate Finance Hub, the report says deep global emissions
reductions are the best way to head off Africa’s crippling
adaptation costs. It also finds that the continent’s domestic
resources are insufficient to respond to projected impacts, but
would be important to complement international funding for African
countries – including meeting the Cancun climate finance commitments
by 2020.

“The accelerating rate of climate change poses great adaptation
challenges, of which we have been well forewarned,” said UN Under-
Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner. “The
best insurance against the many potential negative impacts of
climate change is ambitious global mitigation action in the long-
run, combined with large-scale and rapidly increasing funding for
adaptation. Investing in resilience and adaptation as an integral
part of national development planning can develop resilience to
future climate change impacts.”

Africa’s looming climate crisis

Africa is the continent where a rapidly changing climate is expected
to deviate earlier than across any other continent from “normal”
changes, making adaptation a matter of urgency, the report says.

Warming projections under medium scenarios indicate that extensive
areas of Africa will exceed 2 degrees C by the last two decades of
this century relative to the late 20th century mean annual
temperature. Under a high warming pathway, temperatures could exceed
2 degrees C by mid-century across much of Africa and reach between 3
degrees C and 6 degrees C by the end of the century. This would have
a severe impact on agricultural production, food security, human
health and water availability.

In a 4 degrees C world, projections for Africa suggest sea levels
could rise faster than the global average and reach 80cm above
current levels by 2100 along the Indian and Atlantic Ocean
coastlines, with particularly high numbers of people at risk to
flooding in the coastal cities of Mozambique, Tanzania, Cameroon,
Egypt, Senegal and Morocco.

“This is not just a question of money; millions of people and their
livelihoods are at stake,” said Binilith Mahenge, President of AMCEN
and Tanzania’s Minister of State for Environment. “Africa’s
population will be at an increasing risk of undernourishment due to
increasing food demand and the detrimental effects of climate change
on agriculture on the continent. Global warming of 2 degrees C would
put over 50 per cent of the African continent’s population at risk
of undernourishment. Yet, the IPCC showed that without additional
mitigation we are heading to 4 degrees C of warming.”

“Rising to the challenge and addressing the systemic harm that
climate change may cause in Africa, thus undermining the post-2015
sustainable development agenda, warrants leaving no stone unturned
in exploring opportunities for supporting adaptation actions and
measures in Africa,” he added.

Closing the funding gap

The report explores the extent to which African nations can
contribute to closing the adaptation gap – especially in the area of
identifying the resources that will be needed.

The evidence suggests that African countries – such as Ghana,
Ethiopia and South Africa – are already committing some resources of
their own to adaptation efforts. Country-case studies in the report
suggest that by 2029/2030, under moderately optimistic growth
scenarios, Ghana could for example – based on hypothetical scenarios
– commit US$233 million to adaptation financing, Ethiopia US$248
million, South Africa US$961 million and Togo US$18.2 million.
However, international funding will be required to bridge the
growing adaptation gap even if African nations commit to ways to
increase domestic sources. Current levels of international finance,
through bilateral and multilateral sources, are not sufficient.

“Because of the magnitude of the challenge, further examination of
the potential and the feasibility of mobilizing untapped
international, regional and domestic sources should be explored
further,” said Mr Steiner.

Scaling up international climate finance under the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) may lead to sufficient funding
for adaptation, but even in that case, implementation can only reach
its full potential if complemented by comprehensive and effective
national and regional policy planning, capacity-building and
governance.

The promotion of an effective enabling framework for private sector
participation in adaptation activities would also be a key
contributor to closing the funding gap, the report finds.

For more information please contact: Michael Logan, News and Media
Officer, UNEP, michael.logan@unep.org, +254 725 939 620

**********************************************

Africa’s Adaptation Gap 2

Technical Report: Bridging the Gap – Mobilising Sources

Executive Summary

Climate change represents a clear and present danger to the
development prospects of Africa. African countries are going to have
to adapt to protect their peoples from the harsh impacts of climate
change and to ensure that they are not derailed from their current
development pathways.

Developed country Parties to the Climate Convention committed to
“assist the developing country Parties that are particularly
vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change in meeting costs
of adaptation to those adverse effects.” (UNFCCC Articles 4.3 and
4.4)

The first edition of Africa’s Adaptation Gap Technical report
(AAGr1) in 2013 provided an overview of the most relevant impacts of
climate change in different sectors across Africa, as well as cost
estimates for adaptation.

This report (2015 AAGr2) is directed towards exploring the extent to
which African countries can contribute to closing the adaptation
gap, in order to better understand the gap in the resources that
will be needed and, thereby, the likely extent to which
international climate finance must be urgently raised, leveraged and
deployed in service of Africa’s pressing adaptation needs.

Given the increasing severity of the adaptation challenge posed by
climate change to Africa, no stone should be left unturned in
looking for solutions for closing the adaptation gap, for two major
reasons: firstly, the case for international solutions is even
stronger if national and regional options are considered and
evaluated; secondly, it is in the interest of African nations and
their stakeholders at all levels to hedge against the possibility
that the funding provided through the Green Climate Fund and other
channels is insufficient or ineffective.

Building on the report’s findings, and relating to the current
negotiations towards the post-2015 agreement context under the
UNFCCC, African policymakers may consider the three following
findings:

1.  The best insurance against potentially catastrophic impacts of
climate change and unmanageable adaptation and (residual) damage
costs in Africa is effective and ambitious mitigation action that
leads to deep global emission reductions;

2.  Cancun climate finance commitments need to be met by 2020, the
historical imbalance between adaptation and mitigation in the
allocation of resources needs to be corrected, and ease of access
(‘modalities’) for African countries needs to be improved. Adequate
(large-scale, rapidly increasing) and predictable funding must be
mobilised for the subsequent periods;

3.  The potential for – and the feasibility of – mobilising untapped
international, regional and domestic sources should be explored
further.

An update on climate impacts shows increased urgency

*  Africa is beginning to experience annual-mean temperatures higher
than any locally experienced in history. This is already happening
in Central Africa and is projected to cover the entire continent in
the next two to three decades; earlier across Africa than any other
continent.

*  Warming projections under medium scenarios indicate that, by the
last two decades of this century, extensive areas of Africa will
exceed 2 degrees C relative to the late 20th century mean annual
temperature. Under a high warming pathway (“over 4 degrees C
world”), that exceedance could occur by mid-century across much of
Africa and reach between 3 degrees C and 6 degrees C by the end of
the century.

*  Combined with changes in water availability, for example, this
will likely have a severe impact on agriculture. 97% of sub- Saharan
agricultural systems are rain-fed, and 60% of the labour force
relies on agriculture.

*  Sea level rise is generally higher along Africa’s coastlines than
the global average, particularly along the Indian and Atlantic
Oceans. Sea levels are projected to rise at least 40cm above 2000 by
2100 in a below-2 degrees C scenario (close to 1.5 degrees C), and
to 80cm in an over 4-degrees C scenario (compared to roughly 70cm
globally). There are chances it could be much worse, with a 15%
chance of 100cm sea-level rise above 2000 by 2100 and a considerable
5% chance of a rise exceeding 130 cm by 2100.

*  Particularly high numbers of people are at risk of flooding in
the coastal cities of Mozambique, Tanzania, Cameroon, Egypt, Senegal
and Morocco.

Estimated adaptation costs point to a very rapid divergence between
globally low and high warming scenarios

*  The first Africa’s adaptation gap report (2013) stressed already
that past (global) emissions commit Africa to adaptation costs of
USD 7-15 billion/year by 2020.

*  This second report estimates that adaptation costs could rise to
about USD50bn/year 2 by 2050 for a scenario holding warming below 2
degrees C.

*  The estimated costs double to about USD100bn/year by 2050 for a
scenario reaching over 4 degrees C by 2100.

*  In the longer term, and relative to Africa’s (growing) GDP,
adaptation costs could rise to as much as 6% of African GDP by 2100
in an over 4 °C world, but in a below 2 °C world, these would be
less than 1% of GDP.

Adaptation cannot prevent all damages: residual damages will always
remain and are large

*  In a more general sense, the IPCC’s recent Fifth Assessment
Report (AR5) noted that even after implementation of potential
adaptation options, residual risks remain for many sectors in
Africa.

*  This, second Africa Adaptation Gap report confirms this in a more
specific sense: even if all cost-effective adaptation is realised,
Africa will still suffer large “residual” damages, which are
estimated to be double the adaptation costs in the period 2030-2050.

*  Africa and the international community will need to find ways to
cope with these residual damages, under any scenario of global
mitigation and local adaptation efforts. Current international
funding falls short and must be scaled up rapidly

*  The climate change challenge exceeds the capacity of the African
continent to respond to projected damages and impacts through
domestic resources, even if the base to raise additional funding is
broadened. Scaled-up international support for African countries is
therefore critical.

*  Current levels of international funding are not sufficient. So
far, while difficult to estimate, roughly USD$1-2bn a year is
flowing to Africa for adaptation, through a variety of sources.

*  A steep increase in adaptation funding from developed to
developing countries would contribute significantly to closing the
adaptation-funding gap. Therefore, increased adaptation funding
disbursements – in line with the USD100-billion target as agreed by
the Parties at the UNFCCC conferences in Copenhagen in 2009 and
Cancun in 2010 – could result in bridging the deepening adaptation
gap by 2020.

*  Such disbursements subsequently need to continue to grow rapidly
to keep pace with warming, and most rapidly if global mitigation
fails to put the world on a pathway to hold warming below 1.5 and 2
degrees C by 2100.

*  Recent positive developments in the operationalisation of the
Green Climate Fund are of critical importance for adaptation
financing in Africa. The GCF initial capitalisation was completed in
December 2014, with pledges amounting to around USD10.2bn. The GCF
Board has decided that 50% of its portfolio should be allocated to
adaptation and, in turn, that 50% should go to particularly
vulnerable developing countries including Least Developed Countries
(LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Africa.

The report’s approach: African case studies on adaptation

This report has taken the approach of exploring the additional
options and opportunities that may exist in Africa through four
country case studies – representing a reasonably diverse sample of
the great variety of countries and economies to be found within
Africa (Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa and Togo).

*  Each of these case studies explores aspects of the adaptation
response and, in particular, the scope for domestic adaptation
financing, in terms of the increased domestic adaptation resources
that could be generated through economic growth and tax reform,
through adaptation-specific taxes and fees, and through regulation
and market-making aimed at eliciting greater private investment.

*  The conceptually-simple calculations this report presents are
primarily intended to be illustrative of the limits and potential
for adaptation financing from domestic sources in a context where
strong growth is assumed and tax reforms are successfully achieved.

*  The evidence suggests that African countries are already
committing some resources of their own to adaptation efforts and
that there are opportunities for doing more that can be considered
and debated across the continent, with lessons to learn and share.

Options for sources of adaptation funds – international, national,
continental

As the report shows, there are a lot of adaptation options, measures
and sources that countries can mobilise and implement from the
national level to the international level to limit the deepening of
the adaptation gap under any level of global mitigation. The report
assesses:

*  Options at the international level – scaling up countries’
commitments and channelling through the Green Climate Fund and other
channels

*  Options at the national level – resources from national budget

*  Options at the continental level – levies

…

To address the multiple challenges of adaptation in Africa, there
will be no single solution that solves all the funding and
implementation issues African countries face. Addressing these
challenges will require the deployment of measures at the
international, continental and national levels.

A levy on transactions to pay for adaptation?

This report assesses, amongst other complementary options, the
potential effects of a levy applied on transactions.

Building upon similar international experiences in both developed
and developing countries, and political as well as economic
analyses, a levy on transactions in Africa is explored in four
sectors: extractive industries, financial and banking transactions
(including remittances), international trade and transportation
(including exports) and tourism. The estimated revenue shows that
even if such regional revenues were generated by the application of
these levies, however, adaptation costs would exceed the
revenue generation capacity as early as 2020.

Current and projected adaptation costs for Africa far exceed average
climate finance over the 2010-2012 period. Addressing this urgent
lack of funding will require the deployment of complementary
measures at the international, continental and national levels. Even
if for example a levy were regionally applied on transactions to
raise revenue for adaptation costs which would already exceed the
revenue generation capacity by 2020. Only a steep increase in
adaptation funding from developed to developing countries will
contribute to closing the adaptation-funding gap in Africa.

…

*****************************************************

AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication
providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with a
particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus
Bulletin is edited by William Minter.

AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at africafocus@igc.org. Please
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or to suggest material for inclusion. For more information about
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mentioned. For a full archive and other resources, see
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http://slavyangrad.org/2015/03/05/attack-of-the-doomed/#more-5046

AfricaFocus Bulletin
March 3, 2015 (150303)
(Reposted from sources cited below)

Editor’s Note

Lake Turkana, in the far northwest of Kenya and extending over the
border into Ethiopia, is the world’s largest desert lake, in a
region that is central to archaeological investigation into the
origin of humanity. It is now also central to two different projects
for expanding renewable energy due to come on-line in the next three
years, one based on hydropower and the other on wind. While both
will significantly expand the input to the East African power grid,
critics charge that expansion of hydropower on Ethiopia’s Omo River
also poses serious threats to the livelihood of local people both
around Lake Turkana and upstream along the Omo River.

For a version of this Bulletin in html format, more suitable for
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The hydropower project, the Gilgel Gibe III dam, is expected to
generate its first power in June 2015 and grow to a capacity of
1,870 MW. It would also serve Kenya as well as Ethiopia through a
transmission line to be completed in 2018. The Lake Turkana Wind
Power project, which completed a complex financing package in late
2014, is expected to begin production of power in a little more than
two years, with an eventual capacity of 300 MW, increasing Kenya’s
electricity capacity by about 20% from current levels.

While the Turkana wind project has minimal environmental impact, the
Gibe III, like other such large hydropower projects, has a much
larger environmental footprint, raising multiple questions about the
impact on downstream populations of the dam and of large-scale
irrigated agricultural projects displacing local populations. The
Ethiopian government has rejected such criticism as uninformed. But
both the World Bank and the African Development Bank declined to
support the Gibe III project, which subsequently gained significant
Chinese backing. In contrast, the African Development Bank is the
lead financing partner for the Turkana wind project.

This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a press release and project
profile from the Lake Turkana Wind Power consortium responsible for
the project, and excerpts from two critical documents on the
potential impact of the Gilgel Gibe III dam on Lake Turkana, from
International Rivers and from Dr. Sean Avery, a consultant who
prepared impact reports for the African Development Bank and for the
University of Oxford African Studies Center.

Other relevant sources of interest include:

On Lake Turkana Wind Power:

Carlos Van Wageningen (Chairman of Lake Turkana Wind Power, talks
about Lake Turkana, the largest wind power plant in Africa. 10-
minute video interview, November 15, 2013,
http://tinyurl.com/kbkgagp

On the Gilgel Gibe III dam and its impact:

Official site for project, including page responding to issues
raised by critics
http://www.gibe3.com.et/issues.html

World Bank, “The Eastern Electricity Highway Project under the First
Phase of the Eastern Africa Power Integration Program,”
http://tinyurl.com/88bw6vq (on the Ethiopia-Kenya transmission line
to be constructed)

Human Rights Watch, “Ethiopia: Land, Water Grabs Devastate
Communities,” Feb. 18, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/q6q4oue

For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on the environment and climate
change, visit http://www.africafocus.org/envexp.php

Ebola Perspectives

[AfricaFocus is regularly monitoring and posting links on
Ebola on social media. For
additional links, see http://www.facebook.com/AfricaFocus]

New and of particular interest:

“Renewed spread in Freetown, Sierra Leone – how easily virus can
take off again”
New York Times, March 1, 2015  http://tinyurl.com/ntojzqb

“Overview of economic impact & enormous difficulties of recovery,
particularly in Sierra Leone & Liberia”
Reuters, Feb. 27, 2015 http://tinyurl.com/l39qz9x

++++++++++++++++++++++end editor’s note+++++++++++++++++

Africa’s Largest Wind Power Project Achieves Full Financial Close

Lake Turkana Wind Power receives first disbursements of funds

Nairobi, Kenya, 19 December 2014

Following the financial close of Lake Turkana Wind Power Project
(LTWP) on 11 December 2014, LTWP has received the first disbursement
of funds pursuant to financing agreements signed in March 2014.

“Reaching this important milestone today caps a year of major
achievements by LTWP,” said Mugo Kibati, LTWP’s Chairman of the
Board. “This includes signing the financing agreements in March,
issuing notice to proceed by KETRACO to the transmission line
construction contractor in August, financial close of the LTWP
equity partners in September, as well as notices to proceed to
LTWP’s contractors in October.”

The LTWP project, Kenya Shillings 70 billion (623 million Euros), is
the largest single wind power project to be constructed in Africa
and is, to date, the largest private investment in the history of
Kenya and arguably one of the most complex and challenging project
financing undertaken in the renewable energy space in sub-Saharan
Africa. The project is a key deliverable under the Government’s
commitment to scaling up electricity generation to 5,000MW and is a
flagship project within the Vision 2030 program. The LTWP project
will provide cost effective renewable power to the Kenyan consumer
and will comprise approximately 20% of Kenya’s currently installed
generating capacity.

The LTWP consortium is comprised of KP&P Africa B.V. and Aldwych
International as co-developers and investors, and Finnish Fund for
Industrial Cooperation Ltd (Finn Fund), Industrial Fund for
Developing Countries (IFU), KLP Norfund Investments, Vestas Eastern
Africa (VEAL) and Sandpiper as investors. Aldwych Turkana Ltd, an
affiliate of Aldwych International, will oversee construction and
operations of the project on behalf of LTWP.

The support, interaction and uplifting of local communities is a
high priority for LTWP. As such, LTWP adopted a Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) Program which will be implemented by the Winds
of Change Foundation (a wholly owned subsidiary of LTWP). This
foundation aims to uplift local communities through programs such as
the CHAT HIV awareness campaign, water, sanitation, electrification,
sustainable development of agriculture as well as the education of
boys and girls.

Initially, activities will be concentrated around the wind farm
communities (Loyangalani, Korr and Laisamis divisions, with South
Horr). CSR activities will gradually expand to the wider project
area.

The financing agreements were signed in March 2014 with the African
Development Bank (AfDB), European Investment Bank (EIB), Nederlandse
Financierings Maatschappij Voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO),
Société De Promotion Et De Participation Pour La Coopération
Economique (Proparco), Eastern And Southern African Trade And
Development Bank (PTA Bank), Nedbank Capital, The Standard Bank of
South Africa, Eksport Kredit Fonden (EKF), Deg — Deutsche
Investitions – Und Entwicklungsgesellschaft Mbh, East African
Development Bank and Triodos.

After eight years of development with the full support of the
Government of Kenya, Kenya Power, the Energy Regulation Committee
(ERC) and Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO),
utilization of the funds signifies the completion of the project’s
financing stage, which will allow the project to move towards
implementation and to commence producing electricity in 2017.

– Ends –

For further press information please contact: Mary E O’Reilly, Phone
: + 254 733 751 799 or +254 711 667 670, Email: media@ltwp.co.ke

Please also visit http://www.ltwp.co.ke for further information.

Notes to Editor:

The wind farm site, covering 40,000 acres (162km2), is located in
Loyangalani District, Marsabit West County, in north-eastern Kenya,
approximately 50km north of South Horr Township. The project will
comprise 365 wind turbines (each with a capacity of 850 kW), the
associated overhead electric grid collection system and a high
voltage substation. The project also includes upgrading of the
existing road from Laisamis to the wind farm site, which is partly
financed by the Dutch Government and is a distance of approximately
204km. In addition, the project will build an access road network in
and around the site for construction, operations and maintenance.
The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (Ketraco), with
concessional funding from the Spanish Government, is constructing a
double circuit 400kV, 428km transmission line to deliver the LTWP
electricity along with power from other future plants to the
national grid.

*************************************************************

Lake Turkana Wind Power

Project Profile, August 2014

http://ltwp.co.ke/the-project/project-profile

[Excerpts]

1. The Project Profile

The Lake Turkana Wind Power Project (LTWP) aims to provide 300MW of
reliable, low cost wind power to the Kenya national grid, equivalent
to approximately 20% of the current installed electricity generating
capacity. The Project is of significant strategic benefit to Kenya,
and at Ksh76 billion (Euro 623 million) will be the largest single
private investment in Kenya’s history. The wind farm site, covering
40,000 acres (162km2), is located in Loyangalani District, Marsabit
West County approximately 50km north of South HorrTownship.

Transmission line and access roads in relation to the wind farm

The Project will comprise 365 wind turbines (each with a capacity of
850 kW), the associated overhead electric grid collection system and
a high voltage substation. The Project also includes upgrading of
the existing road from Laisamis to the wind farm site, a distance of
approximately 204km, as well as an access road network in and around
the site for construction, operations and maintenance. The Kenya
Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (Ketraco), with concessional
funding from the Spanish Government, is constructing a double
circuit 400kv, 428km transmission line to deliver the LTWP
electricity along with power from other future plants to the
national grid.

The Project proponent is the LTWP consortium comprising KP&P Africa
B.V. and Aldwych International as co-developers, Industrial Fund for
Developing Countries (IFU), Wind Power A.S. (Vestas), Finnish Fund
for Industrial Cooperation Ltd (Finnfund),and Norwegian Investment
Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund). LTWP is solely responsible
for the financing, construction and operation of the wind farm.
Aldwych, an experienced power company focused on Africa, will
oversee the construction and operations of the power plant on behalf
of LTWP. Vestas will provide the maintenance of the plant in
contract with LTWP. The power produced will be bought at a fixed
price by Kenya Power (KPLC) over a 20-year period in accordance with
the signed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

2. Background

Several sites in Marsabit County were explored for suitability of
wind power generation. The proposed site was selected following an
extensive survey of the region focusing on environmental, social and
sustainability, technology and commercial considerations, including
the remoteness of the area, the strength and stability of the winds,
proven technology, benign environmental setting, low population
density, security of the area, fresh water availability and road
accessibility. In addition, in order to avoid possible bird contact
with the turbines, the proposed wind farm is sited at least 9 km
from the shore of Lake Turkana. A 12 month ornithological study has
been concluded and annual environmental audits will be done for the
entire wind farm during the 20 year operations period.

…

3. Who is LTWP?

Joint Development Parties

1. KP&P BV Africa
2. Aldwych International Limited
3. Wind Power A.S. (Vestas)
4. Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund)
5. Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU)
6. Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Ltd (Finnfund)

Lenders

The lead arranger of the debt financing is the African Development
Bank with Standard Bank of South Africa and Nedbank Capital of South
Africa as co-arrangers.

4.Project Benefits

4.1 Reliable Power

* Largest single wind farm in sub-Saharan Africa

* Optimal site location: According to the National Wind Resource
Atlas, as compiled by the Ministry of Energy, MarsabitWestCounty is
generally gifted with exceptional wind resources.

* Reliable wind: The site lies between 450m at the shore of Lake
Turkana and 2,300m above sea level at the top of Mt.Kulal. The area
around the site has a unique geographical phenomenon whereby daily
temperature fluctuations generate strong predictable wind streams
between Lake Turkana (with relatively constant temperature) and the
desert hinterland (with steep temperature fluctuations) and as the
wind streams pass through the valley between the Mt. Kulal and Mt.
Nyiru ranges (2,750m above sea level) which effectively act as a
funnel causing the wind streams to accelerate (known as the Turkana
Corridor low level jet stream). The Turkana wind phenomenon stems
from the East African jet stream which stretches from the ocean
through the Ethiopian highlands and valleys to the deserts in Sudan
in a south-east direction all year round.

* Data collected and analysed since 2007 indicate that site has some
of the best wind resources in Africa, with consistent wind speeds
averaging 11 meters/second and from the same direction year round.

4.2 Renewable Energy

* LTWP has registered with the UNFCCC and approved at the Gold
Standard rating; the income from the carbon credits will be given to
with the government and invested in the community (see below).

* The Project reduces the need to depend on unreliable hydro and on
expensive, unpredictably priced fossil fuel based power generation
and insulates Kenya’s power tariff by providing a low and consistent
power price.

* If the wind is less than predicted then only LTWP suffers as Kenya
Power only pays for the power produced at a fixed price per kWh.

4.3 Low Cost Power

* The Government of Kenya’s Least Cost Development Power Plan shows
that LTWP wind power will be the least cost power generation option
available in the country along with geothermal power and at even
less cost than the feed in tariff for other wind projects set at
US$11 cents/kWh.

* The LTWP tariff will be approximately 60% cheaper than thermal
power plants

4.4 Community Development and Environmental Impact

* MarsabitWestCounty is among the poorest counties in Kenya;
Loyangalani is one of the poorest districts in Marsabit.

* LTWP has all the required environmental and social approvals in
line with the IFC Performance Standards

* A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme is being
finalised based on extensive input from the communities in order to
ensure that livelihoods are improved; LTWP will use a combination of
revenue from carbon credits and profit to form and fund a trust,
which will ensure a well targeted plan over the 20 years of the
investment.

4.5 Macroeconomic Impact

* Largest single private investment in Kenya

* Will replace need for Kenya to spend approximately Ksh13.7 billion
(Euro 120 million) per year on importing fuel

* The LTWP tax contribution to Kenya will be approximately Ksh2.7
billion (Euro 22.7 million) per year and Ksh58.6 billion (Euro 450
million) over the life of the investment

* Jobs

…

*************************************************************

Turkana’s “Forgotten People” Call for Halt to Ethiopia’s Imminent
Water Grabs

International Rivers, Press Release, January 8, 2015

http://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/8489

Berkeley, US: International Rivers is today publishing a report and
video with voices from Lake Turkana, which tell an emotional story
of a people facing a major crisis.

Media contacts: Peter Bosshard, Policy Director, +1 (510) 848-1155
ext. 320, peter@internationalrivers.org, @PeterBosshard

The world’s largest desert lake — Lake Turkana in Kenya — is at
imminent risk from upstream water grabs that will dramatically
reduce the lake’s main water supply, shrink the lake, and kill off
ecosystems and productive fisheries. Some 300,000 of the world’s
poorest people depend on the lake for their survival. The imminent
filling of Ethiopia’s Gibe III Dam and other water grabs on the Omo
River will mean the difference between marginal livelihoods and
famine for most. International Rivers calls on the Ethiopian
government and its donors to ensure sufficient downstream water
flows before closing the Gibe III Dam gates.

Ethiopia is building huge dams and plantations in the Omo River
Valley, displacing its own people in addition to causing lost
livelihoods in Kenya. Gibe III Dam (now nearing completion) is one
of Africa’s largest hydropower projects. The filling of its
reservoir will take an estimated three years and reduce water flows
by up to 70% in the Omo River.

The associated expansion of water-intensive sugar and cotton
plantations poses an even greater threat: if current plans described
by the Ethiopian government move forward, hydrologists estimate the
lake level could drop between 16 and 22 meters. The average depth of
the lake is just 31 meters. “These water grabs will disrupt
fisheries and destroy other ecosystems upon which local people
depend,” comments Lori Pottinger, International Rivers’ Africa
Campaigner. “Local people have not been consulted about the project
nor informed about its impacts on their lives.”

The new International Rivers report — called Come and Count Our
Bones: Community Voices from Lake Turkana on the Impacts of Gibe III
Dam — is based on interviews with more than 100 people in
communities around Lake Turkana. “Once the dam is operating,
everything people feed on will disappear. Starvation will take
over,” said pastorialist Rebecca Arot.

Kenya is planning to purchase electricity from Gibe III, and the
World Bank is supporting the transmission line from the dam to
Kenya. In spite of losing livelihoods and food security, the
downstream victims of the Omo River water grabs are unlikely to
receive any benefits from the power production. “We cannot eat
electricity. What we require is food and income for the Turkana
community,” said Christopher Eporon Ekuwom of the Turkana County
Government’s Ministry of Pastoral Economy & Fisheries.

“The lake is like our farm,” one pastoralist told International
Rivers. “The life of this place is fish . . . if this lake was not
there, the fish would not be there, and life in this place would
almost be impossible,” said a local businessman.

The Ethiopian government has thus far failed to acknowledge the
impacts of its Omo developments on Lake Turkana. The Kenyan
government has not publicly requested protection for the lake from
water diversions. Turkana residents who were interviewed had many
messages for these two governments.

The Ethiopian government and its infrastructure development plans
are highly dependent on aid from Western governments, China, the
World Bank, and other international institutions. International
Rivers calls on Ethiopia and its donors to avert this human-made
humanitarian disaster, stop water grabs from the Omo River and make
sure the Gibe III Dam is only operated with sufficient downstream
flows to sustain ecosystems and livelihoods in the Lower Omo Valley
and around Lake Turkana.

[Additional sources, including reports and video, available at link
above]

*************************************************************

Lake Turkana and the Lower Omo: hydrological impacts of major dam
and irrigation developments

University of Oxford, Africa Studies Centre, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/nzb26xu

This study, by the Nairobi-based consultant hydrologist and civil
engineer, Dr Sean Avery, is one of the outcomes of the AHRC (Arts &
Humanities Research Council) funded project, ‘Landscape people and
parks: environmental change in the Lower Omo Valley, southwestern
Ethiopia’, run by Professor David Anderson and Dr David Turton
between 2007 and 2010. As work on this project proceeded, it became
clear that the landscape of the lower Omo would soon undergo one of
the biggest transformations in its history, thanks to the Gibe III
hydropower dam which had just begun construction in the middle basin
of the Omo, about 600 kilometres upstream from Lake Turkana. Due for
completion in 2014, Gibe III will regulate the flow of the Omo and
permanently modify the annual flood regime upon which the agro-
pastoralists of the lower Omo depend for their livelihoods.
Furthermore, by uplifting the natural low flows in the river, the
dam will make possible reliable large-scale irrigation development
in the lower basin.

Since the Omo supplies 90 per cent of the water entering Kenya’s
Lake Turkana, the regulation of the Omo flows and the abstraction of
Omo water for large-scale irrigation will alter the hydrological
inflow patterns to Lake Turkana. This will directly impact the
ecology of the lake, which is Kenya’s largest, and the world’s
largest desert lake. The consequences of large irrigation
abstractions were not mentioned in any of the environmental impact
assessments commissioned by the Gibe III dam builders. An assessment
was made, however, by Dr Avery in a report commissioned by the
African Development Bank (AFDB) and submitted in 2010. This was
before any official announcement had been made of the extent of
planned irrigation in the lower Omo. Nevertheless, by using
irrigation water demand forecasts from the Omo Basin Master Plan and
a future hypothetical scenario, it was shown that the lake could
drop by 20 metres or more, causing, amongst other things, a
significant reduction in the productivity of its fisheries. The AFDB
report also warned of the cumulative impacts of other associated
developments and recommended that these be evaluated.

A few months after the AFDB report was submitted, the full extent of
planned irrigation development in the lower Omo became clearer, with
the announcement that the state-run Ethiopian Sugar Corporation
would soon begin developing 150,000 hectares of irrigated sugar
plantations. This was on land largely taken from existing protected
areas and was additional to other land in the lower Omo that had
already been allocated to, or earmarked for development by, private
investors. It appeared that the lower Omo was set to become by far
the largest irrigation complex in Ethiopia. We therefore asked Dr
Avery to undertake a second study, on behalf of the ‘Landscape,
people and parks’ project, updating and consolidating his earlier
findings on the hydrological impacts on the lower Omo and Lake
Turkana. This report, which can be downloaded below, constitutes the
most complete, detailed and authoritative assessment yet made of the
impact of river basin development in the Omo Valley on the Lake
Turkana Basin.

[full report available at link above]

*****************************************************

AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication
providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with a
particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus
Bulletin is edited by William Minter.

AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at africafocus@igc.org. Please
write to this address to subscribe or unsubscribe to the bulletin,
or to suggest material for inclusion. For more information about
reposted material, please contact directly the original source
mentioned. For a full archive and other resources, see
http://www.africafocus.org

Revolução e Democracia

Blog sobre temas de Política, Economia e História.

terça-feira, 24 de fevereiro de 2015

Syriza: a salvação do capitalismo | Syriza: saving capitalism

Referências/References

[1] JN 4/2/2015, Bolsas aprovam plano grego mas próximos dias são cruciais.

[2] JN 20/2/2015, Vão todos a jogo mas no fim quem ganha é a Alemanha.

[3] JN 21/2/2015, Grécia diz que «deixou para trás a austeridade, o memorando e a troika»

[4] JN 23/2/2015

[5] Eugénio Rosa, A União Europeia e o Euro Serviram para Enriquecer a Alemanha, 31 de Janeiro de 2015, http://www.eugeniorosa.com/Sites/eugeniorosa.com/Documentos/2015/4-2015-AlemanhaUE.pdf

[6] José A. Tapia, Salvar el capitalismo, o las confesiones del ministro de finanzas griego, Rebelión, 13/2/2015, http://rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=195383.