Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa water, Sanitation May-June2015 Vol. 10 No.3 | Page 5

NEWS in brief

Around Africa

in placing TVET at the front burner because “the real
route to the provision of jobs is through the provision of
sustainable skills to our population, especially the youth.”
According to him, vocational and technical training is the
premier strategy for youth employment and empowerment
due to the fact that Liberia is a post-conflict country.
VP Boakai indicated that Liberia is faced with the challenge
of the lack of available skills to take up jobs created by the
concessions and that jobs meant for Liberians are being
leveraged to competitors in the sub-region because of the
lack of capacity.
The Liberian Vice President pointed out that it is time to
change the paradigm, because for so long the country has
focused its direction in the “holey buckets” that produces
accountants, economists, political scientists, public
administrators, and sociologists, while little emphasis has
been placed on technical education.

Mauritius
Mauritius Holds SADC National Water Week
The SADC Water Division is holding SADC Water Weeks
in the 14 SADC Countries to gather input towards the
formulation of the fourth phase of the Regional Water
Programme known as the Regional Strategic and Action Plan
(RSAP IV) on Integrated Water Resources Management
and Development. In Mauritius the SADC Water Week will
be held from 3 to 5 June 2015 at Voila Hotel in Bagatelle at
the initiative of the Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities,
SADC and the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa
office.
Programme
Held under the theme “From Vision to Action”, the SADC
Water Week will be a three-day event. Two parallel sessions
comprising media training and a youth forum will be held
on the first day followed by the main workshop. The main
workshop, to be attended by water stakeholders and other
relevant sectors, will focus in mapping the strategic direction
of the fourth RSAP IV.

Senegal
Senegalese Citizens and Environmental Groups Call For
Renewable Energy, Not Coal
Environmental
groups
and
people
in
S e n e g a l
celebrated the
good news that
the
world’s
4

Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • May - June 2015

largest sovereign wealth fund, the Norwegian Government
Pension Fund, has divested shares from the Jindal coal
company. It was the primary sponsor of a proposal to build
the largest coal plant in Senegal.
“Coal is the dirty energy of the past that pollutes air, water
and the climate” said Mbacke Seck the Hann Baykeeper
and Vice President of RENOP. “The people of Senegal
are very happy that shares have been divested from Jindal
and send our heartfelt appreciation to the Norwegian
Government Pension Fund. We prefer to see international
funding support renewable energy projects that will power a
sustainable future for Senegal.”
“We call upon the Government of Senegal and the African
Development Bank to follow the wise decision of the world’s
largest sovereign investment fund and divest its financial
interest in the Sendou coal-fired power plant. It would be
better for future generations of the Senegalese people if the
CFAF 118 billion needed to build the Sendou coal plant is
reinvested in responsible renewable energy projects that will
provide clean jobs that power Senegal’s economic future,”
said Mr. El Hadji Daouda Gueye, the Imam of Bargny.
Source: Waterkeeper Alliance