Category: MIL-OSI

Source: APO

By Osa Igiehon, CEO of Heirs Energies.

As Africa Energy Week wraps up in Cape Town, we are faced with a pressing question: Can we genuinely fulfil the promise of eradicating energy poverty by 2030?

The answer hinges not on foreign investment or external solutions, but rather on a crucial factor—African responsibility for our own challenges.

Currently, around 600 million Africans live without electricity. In Nigeria alone, over 85 million individuals lack reliable access to power, despite the continent’s vast natural gas reserves that could potentially electrify the region.

This paradox of resource abundance juxtaposed with energy scarcity highlights a significant crisis of purpose and execution within our energy sector.

The real issue is not whether Africa can bridge this debilitating energy gap; it is whether we, as Africans, are prepared to take ownership of the problem and act with determination to find solutions.

Breaking free from dependency

For far too long, Africa’s energy narrative has been dictated by external forces. Policies have been crafted by consultants, timelines set by financiers, and agendas shaped by global institutions.

This dependency has fostered a culture of blame, where external factors such as sanctions, market fluctuations, and investor hesitance are cited as reasons for our failures.

However, these excuses do not account for the fact that proven reserves remain untapped, gas continues to flare while millions remain in darkness, and oil production has seen a decline over the past two decades.

The uncomfortable truth is that Africans must develop and implement solutions that are grounded in our local realities.

No one understands our complexities better than we do, nor do they care more about our development. The moment we take full ownership of our challenges is the moment we can begin to make real progress.

Defining Accountability in Energy Management

Accountability is not merely a buzzword; it is a measurable standard. Take Nigeria’s OML 17, for example—one of the country’s most intricate onshore assets.

Under new management, production doubled within just 100 days, achieving a remarkable 99.8% reconciliation factor in a region historically plagued by losses.

Every drop of oil reached the terminal, and every molecule of gas contributed to Nigeria’s domestic market, powering homes and industries alike.

The success of OML 17 serves as a replicable model for other countries like Congo, Angola, and Gabon, which face similar challenges with aging infrastructure and declining production.

The methodology is proven, the approach scalable, and the results demonstrate that African-led operations can achieve world-class performance when accountability is prioritized.

These achievements did not arise from foreign expertise or massive capital influxes. They emerged from rejecting the notion that theft and inefficiency are inherent to African operations.

When Africans apply their skills with purpose, create transparent systems, engage communities as partners, and hold themselves to high standards, transformation is not just possible—it is inevitable.

The Ambitious Goal of 2030

Can Africa truly eliminate energy poverty by 2030? While the timeline is undeniably ambitious, the focus should not solely be on the date itself but rather on establishing the systems and local ownership necessary to make progress a reality.

To meet the energy needs of the continent, Africa requires approximately $2 trillion in infrastructure investment by 2030.

Current investment levels fall significantly short of this target, and global capital increasingly favors markets with proven governance.

To attract the necessary investment, we must demonstrate that African operations can yield returns, safeguard assets, and benefit local communities.

Optimism should not stem from wishful thinking but from tangible evidence that Africans can seize control of their destiny. Each successful operation and community partnership serves as proof that the narrative of needing external management is outdated.

Africa’s energy future

Africa’s energy future must transition from a history characterized by extraction to one focused on sustainable development.

This shift requires measurable commitments: building local workforces, investing in training, developing indigenous expertise, engaging communities as partners, adhering to global standards, and investing local capital alongside foreign investments.

Energy poverty will not dissipate simply because 2030 arrives; it will end when Africans collectively decide that living in darkness is unacceptable and take decisive action to change it. The resources, technology, and talent are already present.

What remains is the courage to fully embrace the challenge and propel the continent toward energy sufficiency.

As we move forward, it is imperative that we harness our collective potential and take ownership of our energy future.

About the Author:
A special recognition to Osa Igiehon,  a transformational energy business executive, thought leader and innovator. He is the CEO of Heirs Energies, an African energy company.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

Source: APO

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Opportunities for mergers, acquisitions and partnerships in Africa’s mining sector are growing, but ensuring long-term resilience remains critical for companies engaging in these transactions, a panel on Mergers, Acquisitions, and Partnerships: Building Resilience in a Consolidating Industry at African Mining Week 2025 highlighted.

According to Jude Kearney, Managing Partner at Africa-focused law firm ASAFO & Co., while consolidation often drives greater efficiency and benefits in host jurisdictions, it can also leave gaps when an acquired company’s activities are not carried forward by the acquirer.

Zach Kauraisa, Head of Advisory at Namibian private equity firm Eos Capital, highlighted that one of the primary drivers of mining M&A activity is the ability to unlock synergies by cutting costs and optimizing revenues. In Africa’s high-risk jurisdictions, consolidation can also strengthen a company’s footprint, making it a larger contributor to government tax revenue, a bigger employer, and a more significant economic player in the host country.

This, he explained, not only enhances negotiation power but also provides merged entities with a stronger social license to operate and greater capacity to reinvest into local economies.

David Roney, Chief Executive Officer of US-based global law firm Sidley Austin, noted that the wave of consolidation across Africa’s mining sector could also serve to elevate environment, social and governance performance and social license standards on the continent, specifically in the case of larger companies acquiring smaller ones. “Securing a strong social license to operate remains one of the most effective risk mitigation strategies available to mining companies,” he emphasized.

Roney noted that, alongside a strong social license to operate, companies should also adopt complementary legal safeguards. These include investment treaty protections, host government agreements with stabilization clauses, and adherence to principles of international law — all of which can help mining firms navigate regulatory uncertainty and strengthen resilience in cross-border transactions.

Roney further pointed to the rise in regulatory scrutiny on foreign investment flows, driven by recent geopolitical shifts and new industrial policies. He explained that M&A transactions are increasingly being assessed through this lens, adding extra complexity to approval processes. “We expect to see similar dynamics unfold in Africa, given the continent’s significant critical mineral reserves,” he said, noting that this could create a more complex investment environment in Africa.

Kauraisa highlighted tensions between governments and mining companies over local beneficiation in Africa. While increased local jobs, investment, taxes, and capital spending are key objectives for governments, the private sector has often been hesitant due to low margins in beneficiation activities.

“As governments increasingly call for greater in-country beneficiation, their participation in funding infrastructure makes these initiatives more viable and attractive for mining companies,” he explained.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.

About African Mining Week:
Organized by Energy Capital & Power, African Mining Week serves as a premier platform for exploring the full spectrum of mining opportunities across Africa. The event was held alongside the African Energy Week: Invest in African Energies 2025 conference from October 1-3 in Cape Town. Sponsors, exhibitors and delegates can learn more by contacting sales@energycapitalpower.com.

Source: APO – Report:

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Egyptian authorities detained prominent independent journalist Ismail Iskandarani over Facebook posts, Human Rights Watch said today. They should immediately and unconditionally release Iskandarani and establish an independent committee to review the detention of thousands of peaceful critics and release all those detained for peaceful speech, assembly, or association.

According to his lawyers, security forces arrested Iskandarani on September 24, 2025, at a checkpoint in Matrouh governorate only two days after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pardoned prominent activist Alaa Abdel Fattah and five others. Iskandarani was previously convicted in an unjust military trial over his journalistic work and subsequently served seven years in prison between 2015 and 2022.

“Instead of using Alaa Abdel Fattah’s release as an opportunity to correct course, Egyptian authorities arbitrarily detained journalist Ismail Iskandarani after a lengthy Orwellian questioning over his Facebook posts,” said Amr Magdi, senior Middle East and North Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “This is a bellwether moment for the Egyptian government and the only way out of its protracted crisis is to stop unlawfully detaining critics and journalists and release all those arbitrarily detained.” 

During the early hours of September 24, Iskandarani posted on Facebook that security forces stopped him at a police checkpoint near Matrouh. According to one of his lawyers, Mahienour El-Massry, a National Security Agency officer then seized Iskandarani’s phone, blindfolded him, and took him to an unknown location. After several hours, officers brought him to Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP), where, El-Massry said, prosecutors questioned him about 17 posts on his Facebook page. Human Rights Watch reviewed the posts in question and determined that, under human rights law, they constitute protected peaceful speech. 

El-Massry said prosecutors refused to let Iskandarani’s lawyers read the investigation file and charges but only explained them verbally. Prosecutors ordered Iskandarani detained for 15 days pretrial and charged him with “spreading false news,” “belonging to a terrorist organization,” and “using a website to promote ideas that incite terrorist acts,” El-Massry said. 

Human rights lawyer Khaled Ali, who is involved in Iskandarani’s case, told Human Rights Watch that Iskandarani was charged in state security Case No. 6469 of 2025, in which Said Eteik, a Sinai activist, has been detained since late August, also over a critical Facebook post. Ali said that authorities transferred Iskandarani to 10th of Ramadan Prison Complex, in Al-Sharqia governorate east of Cairo, and on October 5, an SSSP prosecutor remotely renewed Iskandarani’s pretrial detention for another 15 days through a videoconference session. Ali said lawyers were allowed to meet Iskandarani but without the ability to speak confidentially with him.

Human Rights Watch has documented the use of abusive video conference systems in Egypt since 2022 to conduct remote hearings for pretrial detention renewal without bringing detainees before a judge. This system severely undermines due process by preventing a judge from assessing the legality and conditions of detention as well as the detainees’ wellbeing. It also violates several fair trial guarantees, including the right to legal counsel.

Iskandarani’s lawyers expressed serious concerns over Iskandarani’s health in detention because he has diabetes and breathing difficulties. They said he requires a medical machine while sleeping, part of which was missing after being confiscated by National Security Agency officers. 

Authorities should end arbitrary detentions, Human Rights Watch said. Rather than piecemeal releases of peaceful critics through sporadic presidential pardons, President Sisi should promptly establish an independent committee consisting of judges, lawyers, and human rights defenders to review the situation of thousands of political opponents, critics, protesters, journalists, and women’s rights activists who have been languishing in jails for years. This committee should release everyone found to be detained unlawfully, including those who are being held simply for exercising their human rights of peaceful speech, assembly, or association. In contrast to prior initiatives, the committee should make decisions based on international human rights law and should operate independently from security agencies. 

Under Sisi’s government, Egypt has ranked among the world’s worst countries in regards to detained journalists almost every year since 2014, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, with more than 170 journalists jailed in the past decade. Authorities have long used vague and abusive charges such as “spreading false news” to imprison critics and stifle free speech. 

The Egyptian Constitution and international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, guarantee the right the right to free expression and a fair trial. International law prohibits arbitrary arrest or detention and requires states to bring anyone detained promptly before a judge (within 48 hours) and only use pretrial detention exceptionally, when necessary in individual cases. States must provide all detainees with a fair hearing before a competent, independent, and impartial judicial body without undue delay, and a right to appeal to a higher judicial body.

“By arresting peaceful voices like Iskandarani and Eteik, the authorities are demonstrating yet again that they have no real intention of ending unlawful restrictions on freedom of expression,” Magdi said. “Genuine reform begins by releasing the unlawfully detained en masse, not by arresting more people.”

– on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Source: APO – Report:

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The 4th International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA 2025) will take place from 22 to 25 October 2025 in Durban, South Africa, under the theme “Moving Towards Self-Reliance to Achieve Universal Health Coverage and Health Security in Africa.”

Co-hosted by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), and the Government of South Africa, in collaboration with AfricaBio’s 8th Annual BIO Africa Convention, the conference will convene political leaders, policymakers, researchers, innovators, civil society, and youth to define Africa’s pathway toward stronger, more resilient health systems and reduce dependence on foreign aid. 

“CPHIA is a vital part of ongoing efforts by African countries and Africa CDC to build stronger, self-reliant health systems” said H.E. Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director-General, Africa CDC. “It provides an important platform for leaders, public health experts, and communities to come together to reimagine and transform health financing, ensuring Africa’s health security is driven by African leadership, innovation and partnerships.”

This year’s conference also holds strategic global significance. It will precede the G20 Health Ministers’ meeting, taking place under South Africa’s Presidency in early November 2025. The CPHIA 2025 Outcome Declaration – the “Durban Declaration” will capture Africa’s collective voice, positioning African-led solutions at the centre of global health reform.

“CPHIA is a critical opportunity to promote an African-led agenda for health, anchored in self-reliance and transformation.” said Professor Olive Shisana, CPHIA 2025 Co-Chair. “We aim to align around a Durban Declaration that ensures these priorities are front and centre during the G20 and Global Fund Meetings in November.”

The G20 Health Ministers’ meeting will focus on accelerating health equity, solidarity, and universal health coverage, addressing the world’s most urgent public health challenges through dialogue, innovation and partnership. These outcomes will feed into the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg in November 2025, where Africa’s priorities on health and development will take centre stage.

Led by Professor Olive Shisana (President, Evidence Based Solutions) and Professor Placide Mbala Kingebeni (Director, National Institute of Biomedical Research, DRC) as Co-Chairs, the CPHIA 2025 scientific programme committee will bring together scientists and public health experts from over 20 countries to shape a dynamic, evidence-driven agenda. The conference will focus on three strategic pillars:

• Financing the Future: Investing in resilient, efficient and sustainable health systems, while unlocking innovative funding models that give African countries ownership of their health priorities.
• Boosting Local Manufacturing:  Scaling up vaccine, medicine, and diagnostic production in Africa to reduce dependence on imports and strengthen health sovereignty.
• Transforming Primary Health Care: Highlighting African-led innovations – from telemedicine to AI driven digital health solutions – that expand access and improve quality of care in rural and underserved communities.

“The BIO Africa Convention is proud to join forces with Africa CDC to connect science, innovation, and enterprise with public health,” said Dr. Nhlanhla Msomi, President of AfricaBio. “Together, we can harness the continent’s life sciences ecosystem to drive health resilience and self-reliance.”

– on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

Source: APO – Report:

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To restore professionalism and discipline in managing Uganda’s workforce, Members of Parliament have endorsed tough penalties against unqualified and unlicensed human resource (HR) practitioners.

The proposals are among many others contained in the Human Resource Management Professionals Bill, 2025, introduced by Workers’ MP, Hon. Margaret Rwabushaija.

The Private Member’s Bill seeks to regulate the HR profession through strict registration, licensing, and disciplinary measures.

Practicing HR without a valid practicing certificate is also a criminal offence and punishable by a fine of up to Shs10 million or six months in prison. Those who forge documents or pretend to be registered HR professionals will face even heavier penalties up to Shs 20 million or two years in jail.

Lawmakers said these tough measures are necessary to eliminate unqualified people who have damaged the reputation of the profession.

“Last week, we lost a mother because she went to a fake doctor. Today, I read of another mother who has died at the hands of an unqualified doctor. Even in HR, we have fake practitioners who have no clue about managing people. This Bill is going to save organisations from such quacks,” said Hon. Rwabushaija.

She made these remarks during a joint meeting between the Minister of State for Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations, Hon. Esther Anyakun, and MPs from the Committees on Gender, Labour and Social Development and Public Service and Local Government, on Tuesday, 07 October 2025.

The Bill provides that practicing certificates will expire every December 31, and renewal must be done at least two months before expiry. However, some MPs felt that this timeframe could be too limiting for some professionals.  

“The two-month renewal period could limit many individuals. What happens if one fails to renew within that timeframe? Should we leave the window open or expand it? We must consider its practical implications,” said Hon. Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, Chairperson of the Committee on Public Service and Local Government.

Wakiso District Woman MP, Hon. Ethel Naluyima, welcomed the Bill but questioned whether it caters for all categories of workers, especially those in small businesses and informal sectors.

“Given all the labour laws already in place, should we not consolidate them into one comprehensive framework? Many small enterprises rely on diploma holders managing dozens of staff. What happens to them if this Bill restricts practice to degree holders?” she asked.

In her response the minister defended the strict standards, saying renewal timelines and qualifications are necessary to preserve professional integrity.

“For you to be called a professional HR person, there must be a practical limit. Renewal should take place before expiry. This Bill inspires young people to aim for higher HR standards, just like in medicine or law,” she said.

The Bill also seeks to establish the Human Resource Management Professionals Society to regulate the profession, issue licences, and enforce a code of conduct. It further protects HR professionals from employer victimisation and sets up disciplinary mechanisms for cases of misconduct.

– on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.

Source: APO – Report:

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The Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation welcomes the release of the six South African activists from Israel and wishes them a safe return home via Jordan. The activists formed part of the Global Sumud flotilla and are expected to arrive tomorrow in South Africa.

The activists were enroute to Gaza to deliver food and medical supplies when they were arrested in international waters and detained by the Israeli government. Former Member of Parliament Inkosi Zwelivelile Mandela raised the alarm on their arrest and the world joined the call for the release of the 470 activists and the end of the conflict between Palestine and Israel.

The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Supra Mahumapelo, said: “We are thankful for the release of the six South African activists and we wish them a safe return home.

“We call on all the countries of the world to support the two-state solution approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestine conflict by creating two states. Palestine supports the creation of the two states however Israeli currently does not support the proposal. We call for the end of the conflict where the lives of innocent babies, children and women were lost. We call for the seize fire and destruction of both countries.”

– on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.