World Deadliest Lake Nyos in Cameroon Killed 1700 In One Night

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  How Lake Nyos in Cameroon Killed 1700 In One Night

  CULTURE & LIFE

• In 1986, Lake Nyos exploded and killed more than 1,700 people and over 3, 500 livestock animals. A pipe was sunk into the lake allowing gasses to vent out regularly to avert such a tragedy in the future.
• People of Cameroon, especially those who live along the shores of Lake Nyos know very well the story of an evil spirit which emerged from the lake killing all those who lived near it.
  While this was a legend shared and passed across from one generation to another, the truth of the matter was, “the Bad Lake” was in actual fact a killer lake that at one point in its wake, killed more than 1, 700 people and animals around the lake.
  On August 21, 1986, Lake Nyos experienced one of the strangest natural disasters in history, from which over 1,746 people suffocated in one night.

  How did this happen?

  Scientific reports connote that Lake Nyos was formed in a volcanic crater created about 400 years ago. Crater lakes normally contain high levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) formed by the volcanic activity happening miles beneath them. Under normal circumstances, this gas is released over time as the lake turns over.
  That is not how Lake Nyos worked, however: instead of releasing the gas, the lake was storing it, dissolving the CO2 in the calm waters. Pressurized to the physical limit, Lake Nyos was a bomb in waiting.

  

  When the deadly Lake Nyos exploded in 1986 it killed more than 1700 people . Image credit USGS

  On a fateful night, something triggered a commotion in the lake. It is not known what the prompt was- landslide, small volcanic eruption, or small cold rain falling on an edge of the lake. Whatever the cause, the effect was catastrophic.
  The lake exploded like a bomb it was, sending a fountain of water over 300 feet into the air creating a mini-tsunami. Although the water was lethal, more fatal was the gas that masked the countryside. This kind of explosion is known as a Limnic Eruption.
  In about 20 seconds, some 1.2 cubic kilometers of carbon dioxide was released into the atmosphere. The result was instant death as oxygen was squeezed out of the affected areas. The wave of the poisonous gas spread in the villages around the lake. All fire and flames were immediately extinguished spelling doom in the area.
  In a matter of minutes, people and animals perished. The villages of Nyos, Kam, Cha and Subum were wiped out. In a nearby village, out of 800 people only six survived, and according to a report, those who did survive, escaped to higher ground on motorcycles.
  Many people died in their sleep without ever knowing what hit them. Others met their death at their doorsteps, on their way out to find out the cause of the loud sound they had earlier heard.
  In that period, the normally calm and clear blue waters turned into a deep red as if symbolizing the number of people and animals it had swallowed in the violence. Science, however, explains that the deep red color was a result of iron stirred up from the bottom.

  Efforts to degas the lake to avert future disasters

  In a bid to avert future explosions, the lake needed to be degassed especially because deeper studies of the lake revealed that there was more CO2 forming at the depth in the lake that could react again.
  In 2001, an electronic pump that would simulate an eruption was sunk in an effort to degas the lake. A pipe has been installed in Lake Nyos that runs vertically between the lake bottom and the surface. The pipe allows the gas to escape at a regular rate. Due to the pressurized nature of the gas, the water comes out of the vent in a rather lovely CO2- powered jet of water.

  

  Degassing fountains. Image credit: William Evans

  While this has been working over the years, there is a need to do more because according to reports, the CO2 saturation in the lake has gone high again. If it exploded, it would cause a double disaster of both flooding and gassing simultaneously.
  Lake Kivu in Rwanda, which also happens to be created through volcanic explosions just like Lake Monoun (Cameroon) has been shown to have a historical record of causing creatures in the lake to go extinct approximately every a thousand years. According to scientists, a volcanic disturbance on the lake could cause much more harm and destruction than witnessed in Nyos.
  But the Rwandan government with support from foreign organizations are exploiting the lake’s underneath resources such as methane to produce electricity. By so doing, Rwanda is reducing the pressure from below the lake with an aim of reducing the risk of a catastrophic event. If an explosion ever happened at Lake Kivu, more than 2 million that live along the shores would succumb to the deadly gasses.
  For now, the three lakes are still and nobody knows when the disaster will strike again. Governments and foreign organizations are however employing every effort necessary to avert the calamities that could be brought about by explosions in the volcanic lakes.
  
  
  Image credit USGS

Importance of Value Addition in the Africa Rising Story

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  Importance of Value Addition in the Africa Rising Story

  BUSINESS

• Value addition is not economically exploited in Africa, making it difficult for the continent to grow. The continent needs to invest in industrialization to create jobs as well as increase the foreign exchange.
• Why is Africa, endowed with vast natural resources, still struggling to feed its people? The answer to this is loud and clear- Africa relies majorly on exporting its raw materials only to buy them back in the form of finished products.
  To beat the perpetual poverty, African countries need to invest in creating industries, building up skills and technologies aimed at producing high-quality products for export as well as local use. By industrialization, the nations are also able to address the challenge of jobs, thus creating income for their people.
  African leaders have vigorously stressed the need for the region to industrialize with an aim of adding value to natural resources or beneficiation as it is called. The notion has been captured in Africa’s Development Agenda 2063, which singles out beneficiation as one of the key priorities for the continent.
  Some two years back, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe noted that while Africa “is potentially one of the richest regions in the world, most of its agricultural and natural resources are exported unprocessed, which earns the region 10 percent of their actual value. Through beneficiation, we will be able to increase our returns ten-fold.”
  Most recently, at the just concluded AU Summit held in Kigali (10-18 July 2016), regional leaders reiterated the need for Africa to move away from selling raw materials to exporting finished products, which will not only increase foreign exchange but also create jobs and move millions out of poverty.
  Speaking at the Kigali event, Dr Darlington Muzeza, an expert from the Zimbabwean Ministry of tourism and hospitality industry said that “Africa must focus on technology transfer models to close the existing gaps in value addition, we incur losses in export of raw materials, there is need for technological partnerships with developed countries so we can transform our raw materials into finished goods.”
  It is unfortunate that a continent which still has agriculture as the biggest employer of the population still imports food worth about $40 billion a year to feed its population.

  Specific actions that Africa must take to industrialize

  To make industrialization a reality, Dr John O. Kakonge, a senior consultant and adviser in sustainable development, agrees that to achieve the much needed structural transformation, “value must be added to Africa's commodities, and specific industrial policies and programs such as regional value chains are of key importance.”
  This, Dr Kakonge argues can be achieved by concentrating on the value chains (Value-added products and services) which consist of interlinked value-adding activities that convert inputs into outputs. The outputs end up in markets and bought by clients and customers, thereby adding to a company's profits and helping to create competitive advantage. “A value chain typically consists of, first, inbound distribution and logistics; secondly, manufacturing operations; thirdly, outbound distribution and logistics; fourthly, marketing and sales; and, fifthly, after-sales service,” Kakonge adds.
  To convert its raw materials into finished goods, the 27th African Union Summit was told that Africa also needs to address some of the challenges in the continent such as skills gap, energy, and infrastructure, if it’s to achieve double-digit growth by the year 2030.
  Even as AU continues to address policy issues, Dr Muzeza says that it needs to also deal with “the pessimism that comes with nationalistic interests of member states”.
  “AU must not be a talk show, but a platform to interrogate issues and come up with practical solutions to people’s problems; it needs to revisit its founding principles of a united Africa, the vision of Kwame Nkrumah,” he said.
  Dr Kakonge advises African governments to focus on upgrading the capacity of the people in involved in productive sectors, specifically small and medium-sized enterprises. Even though he acknowledges that the undertaking will not be cheap, he calls on African governments to collaborate with local institutions to set up “tailor-made vocational training courses at certificate, diploma and graduate levels.”
  Quality is of the essence when it comes to attracting and retaining customers and clients. To ensure market growth in the region, African enterprises should focus on producing quality finished products. This will ensure that high-end users do not result into exporting their products from Europe, the US and Asia where they believe quality products exist.
  Moreover, Africa needs to invest in emerging technologies to compete with other continents. Calestous Juma, a Professor of the Practice of International Development and Faculty Chair of the Innovation and Economic Development Program at Harvard Kennedy School, notes that Africa needs to explore emerging technologies like “3D printing” and “genetic engineering” which are relevant to Africa’s growth.
  “So far the role of this technology [genetic engineering] has been discussed in the narrow context of genetically modified (GM) foods,” argues Prof Juma adding that “the intensity of the controversies surrounding the issue, however, has blinded African countries to the benefits of acquiring and applying the same techniques in fields such as the development of vaccines and drugs against emerging infectious diseases.”
  The process of adding value is expensive, but rewarding at the end. To ensure that African nations reach this goal, they need to employ deliberate strategies focused on changing attitudes in order to deliver quality products that are competitively priced. While addressing the issue of value addition, Africa should also focus on adopting innovative technologies that will not only make work easier but also provide solutions to stagnating problems in health, education, social and economic sectors.
  
  

  Image Credit: Africa Business Magazin

How a Bicycle Can Change the Life of a Malawian School Child

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  How a Bicycle Can Change the Life of a Malawian School Child

  CULTURE & LIFE

• Education is an essential element in fighting poverty and the cycle of disease in developing countries. A bicycle could help keep a child in school thus contributing to development in a community.

• Every morning Sheila has to walk more than six kilometers each way to get to and from school. The fifteen-year-old has to depart home early to get to school in time. While many of her friends have dropped out of school, one of the reasons being distance, Sheila is determined to press on motivated by the fact that she wants to be a nurse.

  This is just but one case study in Malawi. World Vision estimates that 51 percent of the Malawi population are children, and 57 percent of these children do not complete primary school. Astoundingly, 50 percent of the girls are married before they turn 18.

  Sheila and her friends should not be forced to endure such challenges when something can be done to make it possible for them to get to school quickly and safely.

  To significantly reduce the distance from home to school, does not necessarily mean building a school in the neighborhood. While this could be a better option, it comes with extra costs such as salaries to teachers and support staff, not forgetting the materials needed to sustain education in the school. But a bicycle to each child – who lives far away from school- could make all the difference.

  That is what World Bicycle Relief (WBR) has been doing since 2009 when it enrolled its first successful program in Zambia. With its Bicycles for Educational Empowerment Program (BEEP), WBR has distributed over 60,000 bicycles to students and teachers in 10 countries including Eritrea, Kenya, and South Africa.

  Building upon the success of the first BEEP, World Bicycle Relief has rolled out a plan using the same comprehensive approach in similar rural communities in Malawi. The organization has already launched its July campaign to raise funds for 2,000 bicycles to students in eight schools in the Southern African nation.

  “We’ve met students in Malawi who are determined to remain in school despite the difficult and even dangerous journeys they must take to get there. A Buffalo Bicycle can provide a path forward for these students and help them realize their full potential and work in fields like medicine, law enforcement, engineering, and more,” says F.K. Day, Founder and CEO of World Bicycle Relief.

  Why bicycles?

  In rural areas in Africa, children travel extensive distances to reach school, often departing more than two hours before the start of school in order to arrive on time. This distance results in increased tardiness, absenteeism, exhaustion, and for many, particularly girls, the complete withdrawal from the educational system. Research shows that education is an essential element in the fight to end the cycle of disease and poverty in developing countries. While the scope of this problem is broad, one way to immediately increase school attendance and children’s wellbeing is to provide access to safe, reliable transportation.
  The idea of having a bicycle to ease her struggles has made Sheila very happy. “I am positive, when bicycles are here, we are going to go far,” she says adding that she wants to become a nurse so that she can help lessen the burden of the overworked health workers. “I want to prevent needless deaths,” she remarks. “Health workers here are overworked and can’t keep up with their patients.”
  Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, according to data from World Bank. More than half of its population live on less than $2 per day, making it difficult for them to afford privileges like dropping their children to school or getting them a bicycle. As such, the goal of BEEP Malawi is to improve the quality of life for targeted children, households, and communities through the Power of Bicycles. The key objectives of BEEP Malawi focus on helping students arrive safely to school, increasing school attendance and improving the academic performance of vulnerable school children and improving retention of girls in primary and secondary school.

  What you can do?

  To help keep Sheila and many more children in school, WBR is raising funds through the month of July to help launch BEEP Malawi with a goal of funding 2,000 bicycles.
  “All donations will be matched dollar for dollar up to $75,000 thanks to a generous gift from an anonymous donor,” WBR notes calling on well-wishers to support their initiative in Malawi.
  Already, 523 bikes have been funded. To enable WBR to make a difference in Malawi, visit their website and be part of the global community that will ensure school-going children get to school faster and safely!
  
  
  Image credit: World Bicycle Relief

10 Plants Which Conquered Death

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  10 Plants Which Conquered Death

  CULTURE & LIFE

• This is not photoshop, there are no gimmicks here, just pure remarkable life finding a way to conquer adversity.
• In trying to be comfortable, humanity has unwittingly made life harder for nature. Where plush forests used to be, there are roads and pavements which are not exactly inviting for plants. However, here are 10 plants which refused to submit to the laws of science and lived where life seemed impossible to sustain. Bored Panda compiled the list of these die-hard plants from various sources, some of which remain anonymous. This is not photoshop, there are no gimmicks here, just pure remarkable life finding a way to conquer adversity. Humanity and its various inventions are the adversity in this case!
  1. The Lone Ranger in the lifeless black expanse

  

  Image Credit: Imgur

  2. Even heights are not a problem

  

  Image Credits: Imgur

  3. Who knew this could be a home for a life-form of the plant variety?

  

  Image Credit: Laurent Barkowski

  4. Anything can be a flower-pot….or flower bullet

  

  Image Credit: Markus Gebauer

  5. A mushroom can mushroom anywhere…even on asphalt

  

  Image Credit: Richard Calmes

  6. Far from the madding crowd!

  

  Image Credit: Andy Brii

  7. Brightening up an otherwise boring pavement

  

  Image Credit: Ari C

  8. Unbelievable resolve…and a bit of luck, maybe?

  

  Image Credits:Ireena Nieuwenhuis-Worthy

  9. Barricades are not barriers where nature intends to live.

  

  Image Credits: Dean Forbes

  10. No one is eating this one! Neatly caged away from humans

  

  Image Credit: Imgur

  These 10 plants could teach humans one or two things about surviving in a hostile environment. Some of the best flowers bloom from cracks and not well watered fertile gardens.

Home World Politics Tech Entrepreneurship Business Markets Culture & Life Blogs About Us How A Solar Company Is Lighting Up Rural Tanzania

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  How A Solar Company Is Lighting Up Rural Tanzania

  TECHNOLOGY

• ARTI Energy is providing light to villagers in Tanzania’s rural areas, helping users to save on kerosene and fees for charging phones.

• Inadequate electricity continues to be a stumbling block to development for many people in Tanzania’s rural areas. Renewable energy can solve such challenges, but the cost of packaging the natural energy into electricity, result into expensive solar kits that are out of reach to the villagers.

  One solar company, however, has learned that the best way to light up villages in Tanzania is by selling the solar lamps on credit. Eight years ago, ARTI Energy came to Kiromo village in the eastern district of Bagamoyo, with an aim of providing sustainable energy to the community members. On realization that the lamps were too expensive for the locals, the company had to change strategy and adopt the use of a traditional credit system, called “mali kauli.”

  Tanzania’s Bureau of Statistics, indicate that only 11 percent of its rural population have access to electricity. And while electricity demand is growing at 10 to 15 percent per year, the government says rural households are often excluded from economic activities due to a lack of power.

  But ARTI Energy has made it possible for villagers to access light which they can use to light up their homes and business premises.

  Salum Ali a resident of Kiromo was excited when the lamps were brought to the village. "I really liked those lamps, but I could not imagine then that I would ever own one," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

  Ali, who uses a set of solar lights he bought several years ago - says they still work perfectly. "I have nothing to complain about, I use the lights at home and for my fishing activities," the 48-year-old added.

  Due to the informal credit system, which is widely used in the village founded on trust between customers and shop owners, and interdependence between sellers and suppliers,ARTI Energy has been able to light up more than 6,000 families in Bagamoyo. The initiative has been made possible through the World Bank-funded Lighting Rural Tanzania project, jointly implemented by ARTI Energy and the Rural Energy Agency.

  While solar power is a sure way to boost electricity access in rural communities, maintaining businesses that supply solar products on credit can be challenging. Without the much-needed capital, the businesses are not able to grow.

  Inventive Financing

  Enters SunFunder, a solar energy finance business based in Tanzania and the United States, and such businesses can now access loans to expand their scope.
  Lais Lona, Africa Business Development Manager for SunFunder, told the news agencythat banks are often unwilling to lend money to them (solar businesses) without knowing how the sector works. Aimed at bridging the gap between investors and businesses specializing in off-grid solar energy, SunFunder provides loans to business that want to scale up.
  Using a strategic mechanism, SunFunder has been able to bring in investors in the solar energy sector, who make loans to solar companies. The loans are tailored to meet the needs of a specific business model and to minimize the risk of default. SunFunder’s specialized knowledge of the industry is of great benefit to investors, who do not lend to individual businesses but rather put money into solar loan vehicles, each of which lends to a number of companies, spreading the risk, Lona said.
  With households being able to get clean energy, they save on kerosene for lighting and fees for charging phones. Eliminating the use of kerosene also reduces health damages from indoor pollution, as well as cuts carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.
  
  
  Image credit: Solar Now

Zimbabwe Charges Anti-Mugabe Preacher Who Urges Protests To Go On

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  The #ThisFlag Movement Has Rattled Mugabe's Government

  POLITICS

• Within three months, some have even started likening Evan Mawarire and his adherence to non-violence to Indian anti-colonial hero Mahatma Gandhi, who started becoming politically active as a lawyer in neighboring South Africa in the early 1900s.

• A Zimbabwean preacher leading the biggest protests against President Robert Mugabe in a decade was charged on Tuesday with inciting public violence but, in a video recorded before his arrest, urged supporters to go ahead with demonstrations.

  Baptist minister Evan Mawarire has become a household name in Zimbabwe since he started a social media campaign in April that has tapped into mounting public anger over corruption, high unemployment and economic woes.

  Africa's oldest leader at 92, Mugabe has led the former British colony since independence in 1980. Since then it has gone from being one of the continent's most promising countries to an economic basket case with a reputation for rights abuses.

  After initially ignoring his grainy online videos, shot on a cellphone and calling for a mass 'stay at home', Mugabe's administration has started to push back, especially after they attracted support from thousands of unpaid civil servants.

  "Yes, he has been arrested for inciting public violence and disturbing peace," Mawarire lawyer Harrison Nkomo told Reuters. He said police had raided his client's Harare home, office and church.

  Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba was not available to comment on the charges.

  A copy of a search warrant seen by Reuters said police believed Mawarire was in possession of a stolen police helmet, button stick and "other subversive material" that could be used to incite public violence.

  The law under which the bespectacled 39-year-old has been detained carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. According to Zimbabwean law, he must appear in court within 48 hours. He was summoned by police early on Tuesday morning.

  Mawarire said on Tuesday he broke no law in calling for a one day shut-down last week. That protest closed businesses across the southern African nation, the biggest strike since 2005.

  International Crisis Group analyst Piers Pigou said Mawarira's #ThisFlag movement had rattled Mugabe's government but was still a long way from becoming the first "Arab Spring" south of the Sahara.

  "It's provoked a certain amount of panic from the authorities given the scale of the stay-away," Pigou said. "But a stay-away doesn't translate into active support for rebellion against the regime."

  GANDHI COMPARISON

  More protests are planned for Wednesday and Thursday as part of #ThisFlag, which aims to appeal to Zimbabweans' national pride and exploit the widespread use of social media in the country.

  In a pre-recorded video posted on Twitter under the #ThisFlag hashtag after he was charged, Mawarire said his arrest should not stop Zimbabwe's 13 million people going ahead with demonstrations.

  "No matter what has happened to me, you and I have done well. We have stood up and raised our voices to build this nation," Mawarire said.

  Last Friday police summoned and arrested Prosper Mkwananzi from social media group Tajamuka (We refuse) on charges of public violence. Mkwananzi was released on bail on Monday.

  Mawarire launched #ThisFlag in April after struggling to pay school fees for his two daughters or buy bus fares. His complaints struck an immediate chord with Zimbabweans and 120,000 people watched his video in its first week.

  Within three months, some have even started likening him and his adherence to non-violence to Indian anti-colonial hero Mahatma Gandhi, who started becoming politically active as a lawyer in neighboring South Africa in the early 1900s.

  "There is nothing wrong from learning from the people like Gandhi because they achieved a lot of things in pushing the non-violent aspect of things," he said in an interview this month with the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper.

  "If we fight violence with violence, the result will be more violence," he said. "There comes a time when we have to use a different strategy to that being used by the people we are confronting."

  (Additional reporting Pete Vernon; Editing by Joe Brock, Ralph Boulton and Sonya Hepinstall)

  Image Credit: http://www.reuters.com/

Bloodshed in Burundi: Is There Hope for The Country?

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  Bloodshed in Burundi: Is There Hope for The Country?

  POLITICS

• Ranging wars continue with thousands of Burundian refugees seeking refuge at camps in neighboring countries.

• It is unfortunate that the crisis in Burundi continues to escalate day in day out, resulting in more deaths and many more Burundians swarming refugee camps in neighboring countries.

  Since the break-out of the political turmoil in the country, reports say that hundreds of people have died and thousands more fleeing the country due to rising fears of even a worse war if nothing is done now.

  Reporting on the status of refugees in the Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania, The Guardian said that even though the situation at the camp is not conducive, refugees from the war-torn Burundi are more than happy to have escaped alive.

  Thierry, who asked his name to be changed for security reasons, said that "blood flows everywhere in Burundi.” The 27-year-old refugee is a victim of the torture in the country and his raw cuts and bruises are a representation of an experience he wants to forget.

  Another refugee said that he wanted to forget everything about the country even their names. He had collapsed at a refugee registration post after carrying his 16-year-old sister, pregnant after rape, across a river to safety. Last year, the two siblings buried another sister, killed by a government bullet.

  These are just a few case studies of the situation in the East African nation whose unrest was roused when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced his decision to seek a third term, which he went on to win in a July election.

  Burundi not ready to ‘compromise’ the mandate of its police force for law and order

  As these happens, and the world looks on in dismay, the government of Burundi, continues to resist the deployment of the peacekeeping troops from neither the African Union (AU) nor the United Nations.
  On Friday (April 1, 2016) United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted a resolution to deploy UN police to Burundi to monitor the security situation, promote respect for human rights and advance the rule of law.
  As usual, the local government countered the resolution arguing it will not compromise the mandate of its police force to maintain law and order.
  “We don’t want deployment of hundreds of police officers. The United Nations has to remember that there are AU observers who are on the ground, so we just need a few to help stabilize the situation in the country,” said Burundi’s Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Nyamitwe.
  The UNSC- a 15-member council- urged the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in consultation with the Burundian government and AU to present options within 15 days for deployment of UN police in the country.
  Although the Burundian government welcomed the French-drafted resolution, they warned that they will not tolerate external authority that will control its operations and conduct of its affairs.
  “We really welcome the resolution that indicated our concerns and condemned Rwanda’s involvement in the military training of Burundian refugees,” said Mr Nyamitwe.
  But the UN is not optimistic about the promises offered by the government citing incidences in the past where the state failed to fulfill its pledges.
  US Assistant Secretary for Democracy and Human Rights, Tom Malinowski who visited Bujumbura and he met the government officials in efforts to defuse the current political crisis said, they are “not focusing on what they say but on what they do”. Mr Malinowski appreciated the Burundian government for making promises but urged it to take actions and actualize the pledges.
  He cited a past situation where the government promised to allow 200 AU monitors into the country but has not yet signed a memorandum of understanding with the Addis Ababa-based continental body.

  Situation could get out of hand

  Even as UNSC waits for the 15-days hiatus to know the way forward on the deployment of the UN police monitors in the country, survivors at the Nyarugusu camp, that has since become third largest camp in the world, say there are fears that the war might escalate.
  With ongoing rumors that the opposition militias are training in neighboring countries, the refugees said the government has resorted to ethnic propaganda that fueled the country’s past wars and the genocide in the neighboring Rwanda.
  Genevieve Kanyange, a senior defector from the ruling party who spent weeks in hiding before fleeing into exile told the Guardian: “Our country is on the brink of war, and we feel forgotten. If we don’t get help soon, it may be too late.”
  
  
  Image Credit: theinsider.ug