Coldhubs unveils 5 units 20- tonnes refrigeration trucks to curb food wastage

ColdHubs, manufacturers of solar powered cold rooms, has unveiled five units, 20-tonnes refrigerated trucks into its refrigeration transportation services in Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the five additional refrigerated trucks make it a total of seven trucks ColdHubs is deploying to ensure the safe transportation, storage and distribution of temperate-sensitive products.

Speaking at the “Launch, Showcase and Induction” of the trucks in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of ColdHubs, Mr Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu, said that it’s innovation solutions was aimed at reducing food spoilage at key points along the food supply chain.

Ikegwuonu said that the core goal of its refrigerated transportation services is to ensure the safe transportation, storage and distribution of temperate sensitive products such as fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy produce, seafood, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, flowers, wines and other perishable goods.

He said that the trucks offered global standard refrigerated transportation pick-up and delivery for the aforementioned items across Nigeria and West Africa, always maintaining the integrity of all products.

The CEO said that the state-of-the art refrigerated trucks were insured and equipped with the latest tracking devices that keep the temperature of the product in check , controls the activities of the drivers and reports performance to customers in real time.

“Our services maintain the integrity of your products 100 per cent

“It increases your operational efficiency, increases production rates, inventory control and increases your customer and supplier satisfaction and experience,” Ikegwuonu said.

The CEO said that before expanding its operations to integrating refrigerated transportation services,

ColdHubs had installed and currently operates 58 solar powered cold rooms in farms, aggregation centers and outdoor marketplaces across 28 states of Nigeria.

He said that the need to expand into refrigerated trucks came on the demand of it’s customers.

” Most of our customers came and said, Listen, it’s not enough to have cold rooms. We also need truck that will move our products from those your cozy rooms to our destination.

“So we tried initially with a van and it was successful. This is just the beginning of what we want to do.

“You know, what we want to do is to connect the whole cold chain so that you have refrigerated warehouses, you have the trucks and you have packaging materials, ” Ikegwuonu said.

He said that plans have been concluded to add more fleets to the trucks before the year ran out.

“So, the trucks that we are showcasing today is really to show that it is possible to have refrigerated trucks running in Nigeria for public use”.

He added that ColdHubs aim at eliminating the impact of food spoilage facing 470 million smallholder farmers globally due to lack of reliable and we’ll situated cold storage at key points within the food supply chain.

Highlights of the events was the official showcasing and induction of the trucks into ColdHubs refrigeration transportation services.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

EU Delegation calls on government to combat illegal resource harvesting

The Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Namibia, Gosia Lachut, has urged the Namibian Government to implement stringent measures to combat poaching and illegal resource harvesting.

During a roundtable discussion on poaching and Namibia’s forestry resources, themed ‘Stop Poaching Namibia’s Forestry Resources,’ hosted by the EU Delegation, Lachut emphasised the need for Namibian laws to enforce strict measures in order to prevent the ongoing issues of poaching and illegal resource harvesting.

Lachut said one-fifth of Namibia’s forestry resources have been lost over the past 30 years.

She attributed the loss primarily to wildfires, agricultural activities, and the illegal harvesting of forestry resources.

“We should be more ecologically mindful of our resources. Forestry should be equally considered just as oil and gas, and we should take care of the little we are left with, as Namibian resources all belong to Namibians as well as to the new generation,” she said.

Assuring continued support, Lachut affirmed the EU’s commitment to collaborate closely with Namibia and assist forestry stakeholders in safeguarding the country’s resources.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

South Africa gas leak kills 17, official blames illegal gold mining

The death toll from an overnight gas cylinder leak in a South African shantytown rose to 17 on Thursday, as one local official blamed the accident on an illegal mining operation that went wrong. Gauteng Province Premier Panyaza Lesufi said investigations were under way to determine how the leak happened and what type of gas was involved.

Source: France24.com

Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa updates media on implementation of Energy Action Plan: 9 Jul

The Minister of Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa will on Sunday, 9 July 2023 brief the media on progress made regarding the implementation of the Energy Action Plan.

Members of the media are invited to attend the proceedings as follows:

Date: Sunday, 9 July 2023

Time: 10h00

Venue: GCIS Auditorium, Tshedimosetso House, 1035 Francis Baard Street, Hatfield, Pretoria

Live Streaming details:

Facebook: http://facebook.com/GovernmentZA

Twitter: http://twitter.com/GovernmentZA

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/GovernmentZA

NB: This briefing will be held every Sunday until further notice.

Enquiries:

Nomonde Mnukwa

Acting Government Spokesperson

Cell: 083 653 7485

Source: Government of South Africa

SA’s economy continues to create jobs despite challenges – Cabinet

While economic growth remains subdued, Cabinet says South Africa’s resilient economy continues to create jobs, though not at the preferred pace.

The Cabinet on Thursday reflected on the latest quarterly employment statistics released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

Stats SA announced last week that the total employment in the country dropped by 21 000 in the first quarter of 2023, bringing the level of employment to almost 10 million.

The survey showed that 97 000 jobs were lost between March 2022 and March 2023.

The hardest hit sectors include business services, trade, transport and construction.

However, according to Cabinet, interventions such as the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme are helping to turn the tide.

In addition, it said it was encouraged that by March 2023, more than 1.2 million people had directly benefited from the programme since its inception in 2020.

“So far, about 800 000 short-term jobs, mostly for young people, have been created in the critical areas of education, early childhood development and community safety.”

The programme, the Cabinet added, has also ensured that many vulnerable South Africans participate in meaningful work and receive a stable income.

“It has helped ease the economic hardships of thousands of families,” read a Cabinet statement issued on Thursday.

Illegal mining

According to the statement, Cabinet was concerned about illegal mining and that government was taking measures to end it through the National Coordination and Strategic Management Team (NCSMT).

The NCSMT seeks to coordinate government’s efforts to combat illegal mining and the trafficking of precious metals.

“Illegal mining and trafficking of precious metals are harming our economy, and have a negative impact on the safety and health of surrounding communities.”

Community protests

Meanwhile, Cabinet reiterated that violence is not a solution to community problems and called on citizens to use existing channels to address their concerns.

Cabinet announced that a Ministerial Task Team has been deployed to Diepsloot in Gauteng to work with community leaders to address their issues of concern.

“Cabinet called on the community of Diepsloot and other areas to work with government, local councillors and the police to resolve issues such as crime.”

Source: South African Government News Agency

NERSA approves Bid Window 6 generation licenses

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has approved generation licences for five preferred bidders of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

The five preferred bidders were approved for the department’s Bid Window 6 at the regulator’s 29 June meeting.

“The five preferred bidders applied for generation licences in accordance with section 7 of the Electricity Regulation Act, 2006 (Act No.4 of 2006), which requires that no person may operate a generation facility without a licence issued by the Energy Regulator.

“NERSA analysed the applications and determined that they meet all the licensing requirements. No objections to the applications were received,” the Energy Regulator said on Friday.

The preffered bidders are: Doornhoek PV (Pty) Ltd; Boitumelo Solar Power Plant (RF) (Pty) Ltd; Kutlwano Solar Power Plant (RF) (Pty) Ltd; URSA Energy (RF) (Pty) Ltd and Antlia Energy (RF) (Pty) Ltd.

The sixth round of the REIPPPP Bid Window 6 is the second bid window to be procured in response to the Second Ministerial Determination.

The Bid Window called for new generation capacity of 4 200MW, made up of 3200 MW wind energy resources and 1000 MW Solar Photovoltaic energy resources.

The detailed Decision and Reasons for the Decision documents regarding the above decisions will be available on the NERSA website (www.nersa.org.za) in due course.

Source: South African Government News Agency