Cryptocurrency could help light up Nigeria

Imagine being able to purchase clean energy cheaply and through cryptocurrency. Sounds futuristic? But it's a possibility that OneWattSolar, a startup based in Lagos wants to achieve.

The clean energy outfit has come up with a way of allowing thousands of Africans to pay for solar energy using blockchain tokens without having to pay for the solar system infrastructure, which is funded through financial backers. 

It was a concept Victor Alagbe, the company's vice president of operations and blockchain strategy, had been thinking on when reading about Elon Musk. 

"I did some writing on Tesla and so I thought it is sunny most of the time here, especially in the northern parts where it is quite arid," recalled Alagbe who is a former business writer.

"So why don't we use this to power our own electricity... many Nigerians cannot really afford to set up their own solar systems. 

"They can't afford the start up cost so most people would rather go for generators which is not economical when you think of maintenance costs," Alagbe said.

The idea behind blockchain payments

The aim is for customers to purchase tokens in the local naira currency using the platforms of third party tech finance companies. 

"It provides transparency, you can see the utilization of funds, how many systems we have purchased and how many are being used."

The tokens used have been built on the blockchain platform, Ethereum. 

On a traditional service using fossil fuels, energy usage is around 70 Nigerian naira ($0.19) per kilowatt. "But the blockchain system is 50 percent cheaper than diesel," claims Alagbe because the expensive maintenance costs of generators is mitigated.

Instead OneWattSolar's systems will include solar panels and a fitted internet enabled router that will automatically collect data on energy usage that is charged monthly on a pay as you go basis.

"This will ensure that customers are billed for exactly what they use," said Alagbe.

It is also hoped it will alert OneWattSolar to any potential problems with the systems in real-time.
Although the startup has only been eight months in the making, it's part of GoSolar Africa, a renewable energy company that's been operating in Africa since 2010. The plan is to launch in January 2019 with an initial 1,000 systems that are fully operational the company said. 

Around 41 percent of Nigerians have no access to electricity, according to the World Bank and it is these potential customers the startup is looking to connect. 

"So far there are 6,400 homes who have signed up to be put on our waiting list," said Alagbe.
According to him, the long term goal is to connect one million homes across Sub-Saharan Africa without electricity with solar energy through blockchain. It's hoping to achieve this by 2025.

Africa's renewable energy industry

The young tech company is part of a boom in the renewable energy industry across Africa.
A joint venture between Abuja based Motir Services Nigeria and US based DuSable Capital Management will power 180, 000 homes in Nigeria in a 100MW solar project worth $175m. 

In Morocco - the world's largest concentrated solar power plant called the Noor-Ouarzazate complex - will power more than one million homes when complete later this year. 

It is hoped the complex will decrease Morocco's dependence on oil by about 2.5 million tons per year and reduce carbon emissions by 760,000 tons per year in the country, according to the World Bank who has financed the project's construction.

Ghana is also gearing up its renewable energy capabilities. 

Earlier this year, the West African nation announced a goal of increasing renewable energy consumption from currently one percent to 10 percent of energy usage by 2030. 

While in October, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia also announced that all government institutions would run on solar power to reduce energy consumption costs.

As African nations move towards cleaner and reliable energy, startups like OneWattSolar could prove profitable.

CNN

Video - Boko Haram launches two deadly attacks in Borno State Nigeria

Barely hours after jihadists in Nigeria killed a dozen farmers in Kalla, Borno state, the militants have launched another attack, this time killing three people and injuring several others. Locals say the jihadists arrived in trucks to attack the neighbouring villages, 6 kilometres outside Maiduguri. Over the weekend, the militant group hacked to death around 12 farmers. Their bodies were found in their fields. The villages were raided and burnt to the ground. This comes barely a week after a Boko Haram faction executed a kidnapped aid worker.

Video - At least 12 farmers killed in Boko Haram attack in Borno state

At least 12 farmers have been killed in a suspected Boko Haram attack in the volatile Borno state in Nigeria. Scores of others were injured. According to the leader of a local militia, the militants attacked farmers harvesting crop in the remote village of Kalle. He says they used machetes instead of guns so as not to attract the attention of troops nearby. It was not clear which of the two Boko Haram factions was behind the attack.

Nigerian woman on a mission to save Lagos beaches and turtles from plastic

Doyinsola Ogunye, along with around 20 volunteer children, vigorously combs a sandy shore in the Nigerian coastal city of Lagos, unearthing deeply embedded litter and plastic that can prove deadly to sea turtles.

The tide is low and the layer of scattered debris across a seemingly endless stretch of golden sand emerges as the waves recede into the ocean.

Every type of man-made waste imaginable, from polystyrene, broken ceramic, assorted flip-flops and building materials, is visible. I can even spot a syringe.

This is Elegushi beach - and nothing can beat the beauty this strip of Atlantic coastline, but the sheer scale of litter hits you right away.

"Sometimes it gets very overwhelming," says Ms Ogunye, an environmental activist who has set up a programme to rid the beach of rubbish.

'A bath for the beach'

Every week she and her volunteer crew collect about 50 large sacks of litter.

It's a mammoth task, but the 30-year-old has put herself on the frontline, battling the destruction caused by pollution.

As well as cleaning the public beach, she plants trees and rescues endangered sea turtles.

"I always have to look at it from a positive light. Every morning when I wake up, I have my bath. Every morning when I wake up, I try to clean the beach. It's basically a bath for the beach."

Ms Ogunye founded the Kids' Beach Garden, a space stretching over seven hectares (17 acres) of land along the coast, where children come to learn about the environment.

As I watch the playful way Ms Ogunye interacts with the children, teaching them about marine life and recycling using sport, games, chants and songs, it's obvious why the children keep coming back.

Ms Ogunye believes change starts with the young. She credits a childhood spent outdoors in Lagos for her love of nature.

Although Ms Ogunye trained as a lawyer, she realised that she wanted to pass on her passion for the environment to the next generation.

She decided to set up a charity for that purpose seven years ago while she was studying. The Kids' Beach Garden grew out of that initial venture.

"Every time I wanted to have fresh air from studying, I would come to the beach and relax.

"I realised that the beach was very dirty. There was no way I would even be comfortable in a place like that."

Ms Ogunye decided to take action. She used her database from previous charity projects to sign up volunteers to clean the beach and sort the recyclable waste on a regular basis.

'Turtles eat more plastic than food'

But it was not long before she realised that beach-cleaning and rescuing sea turtles would have to go hand in hand.

She found many of the reptiles washed up on the shore.

"Most of the time the turtles are disoriented, especially when they're caught in the garbage or caught in grass," Ms Ogunye explains.

"We tend to keep them in a very dark place and later on we release them."

Many of the baby sea turtles that hatch on the shore die because of the conditions of the beaches.

"Right now the sea turtles are eating more plastic than even food," Ms Ogunye says.

"That's basically what's been killing sea turtles."

She says it is essential that people living in coastal communities are educated about the need to conserve the creatures.

According to the activist, fostering relationships with people in these neighbourhoods and involving them in the process plays a central role in the education process.

She says it is crucial to explain to communities, who mainly depend on fishing, what they stand to lose if sea turtles are wiped out.

Ms Ogunye explains that a sea turtle's diet consists of jellyfish, seaweed and sea grass.

"Jellyfish are toxic. If [we] have [too] much jellyfish in the ocean, we're going to have a reduced amount of fish and that will cause food shortages."

Before I leave her, she promises to call when she next releases a rescued turtle.

'Meat in the sea'

A few weeks later I get an urgent call from her asking me to meet her at the beach garden.

She has bought a sea turtle from a fisherman who, she had heard through social media, was attempting to sell it in a village for food.

Of course Ms Ogunye has other ideas, wanting to release it back into the ocean.

When I arrive I find her digging a ditch in the sand with the help of a few volunteers and the fisherman who sold her the turtle.

The turtle, which had been bleeding from the mouth earlier, is floundering in the sand in distress.

Ms Ogunye is trying to contact a marine biologist for advice, but the turtle dies later that evening.

The marine biologist explains the cause of death was internal bleeding and there was little they could have done to save it.

It is illegal to catch and sell sea turtles and if anyone is caught they will be fined and possibly jailed.

Despite this, selling the creatures can prove too much of a temptation for fishermen.

The fisherman in this instance boasts that he can make more than $200 (£126) for one turtle and refers to them as "meat in the sea".

Changing these attitudes can make her work feel like an uphill struggle, but Ms Ogunye says she will never give up.

"I call it a burden because it's all I think about sometimes," she says.

When I wake up in the morning, when I'm having my bath, I'm wondering how we can take care of the environment. It's so precious and so important to me.

"I want in my lifetime to see Nigerians and Africans taking care of the environment."

BBC

Curfew declared in Kaduna after violent clash leaves 55 people dead

Nigerian authorities declared a 24-hour curfew Sunday in Kaduna after clashes between young Christians and Muslims left at least 55 people dead.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai posted a statement on Facebook from his spokesman stating: "The state government has declared a curfew in Kaduna metropolis and its environs to manage the situation."

"The governor appealed to all residents to do their best to uphold peace," the statement added.

Kaduna was plunged into communal violence this week after fighting broke out between Hausa Muslim and Adara Christian youths in the town of Kasuwan Magani's market following a dispute among wheelbarrow porters.

'RETALIATORY ATTACKS'

Two people were said to have been killed in the initial market fracas on Thursday. The violence then dramatically escalated when Adara youths later attacked Hausa residents, burning homes, and killing dozens.

"Most of the killings were done in the second attack which took the Hausa community off guard," Muhammadu Bala, a Kasuwar Magani resident who lost his home, told AFP over the weekend.

Kaduna state police commissioner Ahmad Abdur-Rahman told reporters on Friday 22 people had been arrested in connection with the violence.

Kaduna state is where Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north meets the predominantly Christian south, and has seen previous bouts of sectarian violence.

In February clashes left at least 10 people dead and hundreds of homes and businesses burnt. Major bouts of sectarian rioting in 2000 and 2002 killed thousands.

The latest outbreak prompted President Muhammadu Buhari to express concern that Nigerians were too frequently resorting to violence over misunderstandings that could be resolved peacefully.

"No culture and religion supports the disregard for the sanctity of life," he said, adding that "peaceful coexistence is necessary for the progress of any society and its wellbeing".​

AFP