Business
GEF Approves $40m For Wildlife Pogramme
A United Nations backed
partnership fund has approved 40 million dollars to expand its support for global programme fighting against illegal trafficking to a total of 19 countries in Africa and Asia.
The expansion for the Global Wildlife Programme was approved by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with contributions from the Asian Development Bank and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Other organisations contributing to the programme are the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Bank Group and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Executive Director of UNEP, Achim Steiner, said in a statement that was issued recently that humans, not animals only, are devastated by poaching.
“The victims of wildlife crime are not only the animals and ecosystems that are devastated by poaching and trafficking, they are people as well.
“The human cost of poaching and illegal trade in wildlife is measured in lives lost to the criminal networks involved and livelihoods destroyed by the erosion of a natural economic foundation.
“Ending the illegal trade in wildlife requires a concerted and cooperative effort between all sectors.
“These new projects will further these efforts and help bring us closer to ending wildlife crime once and for all,” he said.
According to him, the Global Wildlife Programme was specifically established to address the growing poaching crisis and an international call to action.
Steiner said the value of illegal trade has been estimated at between 10 and 23 billion dollars per year.
He said this has made wildlife crime the fourth most lucrative illegal business after narcotics, human trafficking and weapons.
He said that the new 131 million dollars agenda was expected to leverage 704 million dollars in additional co-financing over seven years.
“The national projects aim to promote wildlife conservation, wildlife crime prevention, and sustainable development in order to reduce adverse impacts to known threatened species from poaching and illegal trade.
“Additionally, a global coordination grant from the GEF will strengthen cooperation and facilitate knowledge exchange between national governments, development agency partners and leading practitioners,” the UNEP chief said.
GEF Chairperson, Ms Naoko Ishii, said that poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking was reaching unprecedented levels, robbing the livelihoods of local communities and eroding the global commons.
“In response, the GEF has launched a major international effort to help tackle the supply, trade and demand for wildlife products.
“Importantly, the project is not only about stopping the slaughter of animals in the forests and savannas of Africa, and it also aims at reducing the demand in Asia,” Ishil said.
Also, UNDP Administrator, Helen Clark said that, wildlife poaching and the illicit trade of wildlife and forest products are abhorrent.
“This multi-billion dollar worldwide trade is a security issue, an environmental issue, and a development issue, and it is pushing vulnerable and endangered species toward extinction.
“The illicit trade is also fuelling corruption and conflict, destroying lives, and deepening poverty and inequality.
Some Commercial drivers in Port Harcourt have said that the Federal Government’s N1,350 fuel discount is yet to reduce their daily operating cost.
A cross session of commercial drivers who spoke to The Tide correspondents in Port Harcourt said they are yet to feel the impact of the government discount, adding that most filling stations in the city are even selling above the pump price
A driver Jude Ogbo who operates the mile 1 Rumuokoro axis of Port Harcourt said plies the discount has not reflected in his daily fuel expenses.
“Since the discount was announced, many filling stations still sell at the old price. When you go there, you discover they sell you two litres at the price of one. For now, we have not seen any reduction,”_ he said.
Another commercial driver, Comrade Ishmael Uzeho who operates within the Port Harcourt metropolis, said the discount is not being implemented across the country.
“How has the discount affected us? I will say it has not. Many stations are not working. Only NNPC is working and that is just one person in the whole country. If government really wants to help, let the fuel price go down properly,”_ he said.
Uzeho added that if the price of fuel goes down, transport fares will also go down. He noted that his route fare has remained at N500.
On his part, Mr. Moses Dapa, Supervisor at Sam Jaja Foundation Transport Company, said the company has not increased its fares despite the high cost of fuel.
“We are still running normal price. We charge N2,000 and N5,000 depending on the destination. We will not increase our price. I don’t know about other parks, but for Sam Jaja, we are maintaining normal price,”_ Dapa said.
He appealed to passengers to understand that drivers are not using high fuel price as an excuse to charge excessive fares.
Other drivers who spoke said the federal government should monitor the NNPCL retail stations to ensure that the directive is implemented.
Recalled that The Federal Government in abid to reduce transportation cost in the country had announced a 30-day margin discount at NNPC Retail stations across the country from October 1 to 31,
However investigation revealed that the policy is yet to affect transportation cost in the country.
By; Stephens Sopakriba and Saint Davies
In a press statement released to The Tide’s source on Friday in Abuja, the group said Nigeria had a significant resource advantage due to its vast natural gas reserves.
“At a time when global energy markets face unprecedented volatility and rising operational costs, Nigeria stands on a massive resource advantage with its vast natural gas reserves,” the group said.
Highlighting this potential, Alfa Designs urged the nation to move past complaints over energy costs and aggressively embrace Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a sustainable engine for economic growth.
While federal policy adjustments have sought to cushion the impact of global energy shocks, industry experts emphasised that long-term relief hinges on a rapid, nationwide transition to gas.
“Transitioning away from expensive traditional petroleum products promises to ease the financial burden on ordinary citizens.
“It will also reposition Nigeria as an attractive industrial hub capable of drawing foreign direct investment and driving job creation,” it said.
To demonstrate the practical feasibility of this transition, the group said it recently partnered with a global Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to lower the entry barriers for commercial drivers.
“By negotiating directly with the manufacturer, we reduced the total cost of acquiring and installing a CNG conversion kit for commercial tricycles (commonly known as Keke NAPEP) from up to N700,000 down to under N450,000.”
The group said this shift offers dramatic immediate financial benefits for local operators, with petrol currently selling at roughly N1,390 per liter.
It said that, in comparison, at a CNG equivalent price of about N98 per liter, a daily commercial driver using 10 liters of fuel reduces its daily energy expenditure from N13,900 to N3,980.
“This represents a daily net savings of N9,920, or more than 71 per cent.
“Over a standard 26-day working month, drivers save over N257,000, allowing them to fully recover the cost of the CNG conversion in less than 46 operational days.”
The company further stated that when scaled nationally, the economic implications are monumental.
“Nigeria consumes approximately 50 million liters of gasoline daily, costing roughly N69.5 billion per day.
“A nationwide 71 per cent reduction in fuel expenditure would generate daily national energy savings of N49.6 billion.
“On an annualised basis, this shift equates to approximately N18.1 trillion, or $13.5 billion, kept within the domestic economy.”
The group added that those recurring national savings would offer a vital mechanism to help address Nigeria’s estimated $2.3 trillion infrastructure deficit.
It said reinvesting those funds into the economy helps eliminate the 30 to 40 per cent operational overhead currently consumed by imported fossil fuels.
“The resulting boost to corporate margins expands the national tax base, generates reliable user-fee revenues to make major transit projects bankable, and creates a self-sustaining financial cycle,” it said.
