JULY 05, 2023

Possible EVS plans to expand to over 200 e-taxis across major cities by mid-2024

ELECTRIC VEHICLENIGERIAAFRICATRANSPORT

Abuja-based startup Possible EVS is set to launch its first fleet of electric taxis in Nigeria.

The company’s fleet will have 30 vehicles initially, with plans to expand to over 200 electric taxis across major Nigerian cities by mid-2024, Vanguard News reported.

The e-taxis will provide last-mile solutions for intra- and inter-city trips, offering shared travel options.

To support the operation of the electric taxis, the startup will establish charging stations across Abuja, serving as a pilot program for future expansion, said CEO and founder Mosope Olaosebikan.

(Editing by Seban Scaria [email protected] )

JULY 05, 2023

By Oluyemi Ogunseyin

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said that the average fare paid by air travellers in Nigeria increased by as much as 34% in May 2023.

The NBS disclosed this in its Transport Fare Watch Report for the month in question which was released in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to the report, Kebbi State recorded the highest air transport fare (for specified routes, single journeys) in May with N80,000.

This was followed by Bayelsa with N79,050 while Abia recorded the least with N69,800 as the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes for a single journey increased astronomically within a year.

The NBS said further that the fare increased on a year-on-year basis from N55,906.86 in May 2022 to N74,948.78 in May 2023.

It, however, failed to disclose the reasons behind the significant rise witnessed in the prices of airfares within the period under review.

The NBS nevertheless stated that experts have attributed the high prices in airfares and transportation generally to the fluctuating prices of aviation fuel and forex scarcity.

“In air travel, the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey increased by 0.002% on a month-on-month basis from N74,947.30 in April 2023 to N74,948.78 in May 2023,” the NBS said.

According to the NBS report, the Transport Fare Watch for May 2023 covers bus journeys within the city per drop in regular route.

It also covers bus journey intercity (state route) charge per person, air fare charge for specified routes single journey, journey by motorcycle (Okada) per drop and water-way passenger transport.

The report said the average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop increased by 0.23 per cent in May as N649.59 was recorded relative to N648.12 in April.

On a yearly basis, the NBS in its report said that the average fare rose by 11.66 per cent from N581.79 recorded within the same quarter in May 2022.

In another category, the NBS said the average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity per drop in May was N4,002.16.

“This signifies an increase of 0.19 per cent on a month-on-month basis compared to the N3,994.51 recorded in April,” the NBS noted.

On a year-on-year basis, the NBS said the bus journey fare rose by 9.09 per cent from N3,668.64 last year in May.

Similarly, the report noted that the average fare paid on motorcycle transportation in May was N464.55, a 0.49 per cent increase from the rate recorded in April (N462.29).

“On a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 11.30% compared with the value in May 2022, which was N417.39,” the report said.

It said the average fare paid for water transport (waterway passenger transportation) in May stood at N1,045.15, showing an increase of 1.39 per cent from N1,030.83 in April.

Also, on a year-on-year basis, the rate increased by 10.99 per cent from N941.63 in May last year.

JULY 05, 2023

KEY POINTS

• The consequences of a warmer planet are going to be multifaceted, affecting billions of people.
• A recent report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers sketched out how workers could be affected as temperatures rise.
• Warmer working environments, especially for people who have roles outdoors, can create some very challenging scenarios indeed.

Europe was gripped by punishing heat waves in the summer of 2022, with wildfires, droughts and deaths highlighting what many around the world already know: Weather extremes can have devastating, real-world consequences.  

When it comes to temperatures in warmer months, the direction of travel seems to be going one way.

The U.K.’s Met Office is projecting that summers in the country will be between 1 and 6 degrees Celsius warmer by 2070, and as much as 60% drier. It adds that global heat waves linked to climate change are likely to increase. Just this week it said last month was the U.K.’s hottest June on record.

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The overall picture is challenging. In May 2023, the World Meteorological Organization said there’s “a 98% likelihood that at least one of the next five years, and the five-year period as a whole, will be the warmest on record.”

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The consequences of a warmer planet are going to be multifaceted, affecting billions of people — and the world of work is no exception.

A recent report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) sketched out how employees could be affected as temperatures rise.

“Thermal comfort is very important in a workplace and if it is not achieved, morale, productivity, health and safety will all likely deteriorate,” the analysis said.

According to those involved in the report’s production, warmer working environments can create some very challenging scenarios indeed.

“There’s a whole range of things in addition to just people becoming fatigued and exhausted and not being able to focus on the industrial tasks they’re trying to undertake,” Tim Fox, its lead author, told CNBC.

That includes “increased potential for accidents, because people’s cognitive thinking isn’t as sharp as it would normally be.”

Issues relating to productivity also apply to equipment, facilities and buildings, Fox said. “Overheating ultimately results in economic productivity loss, [it] impacts on national and international economics.”   

Sectors bearing the brunt

Fox and his co-authors are not alone in highlighting the difficulties of a hotter world.

In 2019, the International Labour Organization published a report which contained some sobering details. 

“The economic losses due to heat stress at work were estimated at US$280 billion in 1995,” the U.N. agency said.

This, it added, “is projected to increase to US$2,400 billion in 2030, with the impact of heat stress being most pronounced in lower-middle- and low-income countries.”

The ILO’s report also highlighted which sectors would likely bear the brunt of rising average temperatures.

Workers in Italy picking grapes, August 2022. People who work outdoors are expected to be significantly affected by rising average temperatures.
Marco Bertorello | AFP | Getty Images

Those working in construction and agriculture, it said, were “expected to be the worst affected, accounting for 60 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively, of working hours lost to heat stress in 2030.”

Heat stress is a serious matter. The ILO describes it as referring to “heat received in excess of that which the body can tolerate without physiological impairment.”

Other outdoor jobs may be affected, too. In his interview with CNBC, Fox highlighted the potential challenges faced by workers in oil refineries, gas plants and chemical works.

All the above roles, he said, involve “quite a lot of external activity,” with workers also needing to wear personal protective equipment, or PPE, thanks to the nature of their job.

“This clothing can be quite cumbersome … and quite hot to wear, even under cold conditions,” Fox said.

That in turn makes employees “particularly at risk or vulnerable to … these sort of conditions.”

Factories are another area of concern. Fox noted that buildings of this type haven’t particularly been designed with heat ingress — especially extreme heat ingress — in mind.

“They’re full of equipment that’s generating a lot of heat, and it’s very difficult for factories, buildings, big warehouse buildings, to passively cool themselves,” he said.

Air conditioning is common in offices, but that’s not the case everywhere, he added.

Fox noted that office buildings in countries with temperate climates, like the U.K., “can get quite hot” because not a lot of air-conditioning had been installed.

Tackling the problem

The overall situation appears grave. For many, preparation and adaptation will be crucial.

The IMechE says this will involve “changes to the design of buildings, infrastructure and other physical assets and systems, both with regard to those that already exist and those that are yet to be built or manufactured, as well as the work, educational, leisure and other activities that humans undertake.”

In a statement issued alongside its report in April, the organization said it also wanted an urgent update to “guidance related to heat impacts on the workforce” so firms can come up with plans and enact changes in their working environments.

At the time, Laura Kent, the IMechE’s public affairs and policy advisor, referenced the challenges authorities face.

“We acknowledge that it would be difficult for the Health and Safety Executive to set a meaningful upper temperature limit due to variations between industries in both working conditions, required PPE and workload,” she said.

“However, HSE guidance needs to be updated to support sectors and industry in the development of appropriate strategies.”

The HSE did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment ahead of this story’s publication.

A street sweeper cools off at a fountain in Ronda, Spain, on July 21, 2022.
Jorge Guerrero | AFP | Getty Images

In other parts of the world, plans are being made to ban work when it’s too hot.

In May, for instance, Spain’s Minister of Labour and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, tweeted that carrying out “certain jobs during daylight hours” in extreme temperatures would be prohibited.

Speaking to reporters, Díaz said such prohibitions would take effect when AEMET, the State Meteorological Agency, issues red or orange weather alerts.

Citing Spain’s Labour Ministry, Reuters said the move would affect roles in sectors like agriculture and street cleaning. According to Reuters, in the summer of 2022 a street-sweeper in Madrid died from heatstroke.

Trade unions are also making their voice heard when it comes to working in extreme conditions.

Take Unite the Union, which has a presence in Britain and Ireland. It’s listed a range of advice provided by its health and safety representatives to both workers and employers.

Among other things, it stresses the importance of adequate ventilation for internal workspaces, the provision of cover for workers who are in direct sunlight, and stopping all work in extreme conditions.

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Among a wide range of actions, Fox stressed the importance of design in creating safe and comfortable working environments in the face of hotter weather.

He said there needs to be a completely new approach to cooling that does not rely on the use of air conditioning, which has a significant environmental footprint.

“We need to explore … more traditional solutions of natural ventilation, use of shade, internal courtyards,” Fox said.

He noted that there’s “an awful lot” that can be done to prepare for the future. Raising awareness would be key. “In many cases, industries and workforces are just not aware that this challenge is coming, and are not preparing for it,” he said.

On top of that, identifying priorities in research and development and updating engineering methodologies and approaches would be needed.

Unless something is done, there will be, “in the coming years and decades, an increase in the economic impact of more extreme heat waves and just the general raising of the ambient seasonal temperature,” Fox warned.

JULY 05, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian dockworkers and their employers remained deadlocked as a strike crippling West Coast trade entered its fifth day, threatening the country’s economy.

Negotiations broke down Monday when the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association walked away from the bargaining table, accusing the International Longshore & Warehouse Union Canada of trying expand its jurisdiction over maintenance activities at ports, said Rob Ashton, president of the union. Talks remained paused Wednesday morning pending discussions with federal mediators, the BCMEA said.

A total of 51 ships were either berthed or at anchor near Vancouver, port data show, including at the Port of Vancouver. Two of seven terminals at Prince Rupert have been affected, the Prince Rupert Port Authority said. Almost 20% of Canada’s traded goods flow through both ports, the country’s first and third largest, representing more than C$800 million ($604 million) worth of cargoes a day, according to BMO Capital Markets Corp. 

More than 120 business associations sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging the government to safeguard the supply chain and pass back-to-work legislation. Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. and Canadian National Railway Co., the country’s two rail companies, said they reduced movement of rail cars to West Coast ports. 

In April C$4.9 billion of goods were exported from British Columbia, including more than C$1 billion of coal, Statistics Canada data show. Imports totaled C$5.8 billion and included gas liquefaction equipment, vehicles, airplane parts and biodiesel. Grain shipments have continued as required by the labor code.

JULY 06, 2023

BY Yihui Xie and Xiao Zibang, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- China has seen an increase in suicides among young people in recent years, prompting researchers to call for a special program to help them deal with academic pressure.

The number of children aged five to 14 that died by suicide jumped nearly 10% annually from 2010 to 2021, according to a recent study from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The figure for people aged 15 to 24 fell 7% through 2017 then posted a nearly 20% increase the next four years. 

The increase is small in absolute numbers yet it contrasts with a decline of 5.3% annually in the 2010-2021 period among all age groups in the country, a drop the researchers said was due to a nationwide mental health program.

They said that children and adolescents have faced severe mental disorders and elevated suicide risks from intense competition to do well at school. Half of people suffering from depressive disorder in China are students, according to a 2022 national survey. 

The researchers called on the government to prioritize developing programs targeting children and adolescents that adopt best practices from abroad and allow for the early identification of suicidal behavior.

Young people in China have long engaged in fierce competition to get ahead in school and get good jobs upon graduation. Three years of the Covid-19 pandemic — which in China meant snap lockdowns, including many imposed on college campuses — and record youth unemployment have also piled pressure on youth.

Earlier this year, the apparent suicide of a boarding school student named Hu Xinyu gained widespread attention in China, both because the 15-year-old boy had expressed concern beforehand about his grades and how the police handled their investigation. 

Also, many people took to Chinese social media Thursday to express sadness over the death of Hong Kong-born singer and songwriter Coco Lee. The 48-year-old had been suffering from depression for several years, her sisters said in a statement posted on Facebook.

One person wrote on Weibo that “Coco’s passing is also a wake-up call for us to take our mental health seriously.”

Read: Why China Is Cracking Down on After-School Tutoring: QuickTake

In 2021, Beijing unveiled a sweeping overhaul of its education tech sector, banning companies that teach the school curriculum from making profits. Many parents complained that pressure to engage private tutors caused excessive anxiety at home.

The researchers at the Center for Disease Control & Prevention also warned that the widespread belief among parents and teachers that getting good scores trumps anything else risks obscuring mental health issues plaguing children.

(Updates with more detail. An earlier version of this story corrected the percent figure in the third paragraph.)

JULY 06, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- London’s Gatwick Airport Ltd. is seeking planning permission to bring its second runway into full-time use, potentially raising capacity by tens of millions of passengers annually as air travel rebounds post-pandemic.

The UK’s second-largest airport wants to open the strip, currently used as a taxiway or as an emergency measure when the main runway is out of service, for regular operations. It would handle departures only, with the existing runway facilitating landings.

The move would create about 14,000 jobs and inject £1 billion ($1.3 billion) into the local economy each year because of the tourism and business opportunities it would generate, Gatwick said in a statement. It has submitted an application to the UK’s planning inspectorate.

Gatwick is attempting to resurrect plans to expand its emergency runway even after the UK in 2016 endorsed larger Heathrow airport, which has long planned to build a third runway, as the best candidate for growth. So far, Heathrow hasn’t yet started construction amid legal challenges. Gatwick said it could begin upgrades on the so-called Northern Runway project in 2025 and complete it by 2030.

The airport handled about 33 million travelers last year, though that was below pre-pandemic levels. Airports are seeing more passengers rush through their doors this summer season as demand for air travel booms following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The northern runway would offer new international connections to increase competition in London’s airport market, as well as helping Gatwick meet passenger demand in the future and boost its resilience, Gatwick Chief Executive Officer Stewart Wingate said in the statement.

JULY 06, 2023

By Henry Umoru

ABUJA- THE President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio has assured foreign investors of the safety of their investments in Nigeria.

Senator Akpabio who spoke yesterday in Abuja when he received in his office, the JAMPUR INTERNATIONAL GROUP FZE, led by the CEO, Mohanmed Shafiq, said, ” I welcome you on behalf of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigeria is very safe and ready for investors. I am aware you are already investing in Nigeria in the area of mining, power and trading. Thank you for employing Nigerians in your companies”.

In a statement from his Media Office, yesterday night, Akpabio noted that the decision of the Federal Government to put in place a single rate for foreign exchange was a deliberate attempt by the government to further assure foreign investors of the safety of their investments anywhere in the country.

The President of the Senate said, “The current administration has been able to normalize our foreign exchange rate by having only one window. Investing in Nigeria is worth the while because of the returns in investments based on our population of over 200 million and the land mass.

“The President is ready to ensure that people get value for their investments, himself being a strong businessman. He has a track record of achievements in Lagos State when he was the governor. Lagos today, has become one of the largest economy in Africa because of the foundation he laid.”

Akpabio assured his visitors of the safety of their investments through legislations, saying ” I assure you that the Federal Government will do everything humanly possible to protect your investments by putting in place enabling laws on investments and security for its citizens and foreign investors. “

Earlier in his speech, Muhammed Shafiq said he was in the Senate to formally congratulate the President of the Senate on his emergence as the Chairman of the National Assembly and to wish him well in office.

” We are here to congratulate you on your election as the President of the Senate and to intimate your on our readiness to continue to partner with the government in the area of mining, agriculture and power.”

JULY 07, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Air France-KLM said it may be forced to adjust operations after the Dutch government won permission to curtail capacity at Amsterdam Schiphol, the main airport for the KLM subsidiary.

The number of flights at Schiphol airport can be scaled back between the end of the year and October 2024, an appeals court ruled Friday, revoking an earlier decision by a local court. The state has outlined plans to eventually cut Schiphol Airport’s annual flight capacity to 440,000 flights by 2024, equal to a 12% reduction. 

The verdict is a loss for airlines including KLM, Delta Air Lines Inc, EasyJet Plc and the International Air Transport Association lobbying group, which has dubbed the Amsterdam airport the worst in the world because of what it sees as a disconnect between low performance and high fees. 

Almost 53 million passengers flew through Schiphol last year. It has the most direct flight connections of any airport in Europe, according to data from Airports Council International Europe, beating out Istanbul and London Heathrow. 

“Air France-KLM Group will have no choice but to adjust its strategy to maintain its European market share within a global industry,” should the Dutch government enforced this reduction, according to a statement by the airline group. The Dutch Cabin Crew Association also voiced concern about possible job cuts as airlines might move capacity elsewhere. 

The ruling comes three months after a court concluded that the government’s attempts to minimize noise by cutting the number of flights that can go in and out of Schiphol airport did not follow the correct procedures.

In its ruling, the court said that any fear by airlines of suffering serious damage as a result of the proposed measures was no reason to arrive at a different outcome.

World’s Worst

The court ruled that the government’s proposed measures aren’t in conflict with the rules of national and European law, nor are they against “the general principles of good administration,” according to a statement. It said that European rules of the balanced approach, which is a process that outlines best practices for implementing airport capacity restrictions for purposes of noise control, don’t apply to the government’s proposal. 

Airlines and lobby groups maintain the reduction plan violates international regulations and inconveniences travelers. As a first step, the government proposed a temporary regulation to cap the number of flights from November this year at 460,000 — down from the current limit of 500,000.

Schiphol airport said it expected the Dutch government to provide further clarity about the number of flights within two months, which will be needed for it to determine the capacity declaration for the 2024 summer season. It plans to continue plans for a night closure, banning of private jets and the noisiest aircraft announced in April. 

Lobby group IATA had recently dubbed Schiphol airport the “worst airport in the world,” with reference to a recent landing fee increase. 

“The disruption is terrible, performance is dreadful and at the same time they want to increase charges,” IATA’s Willie Walsh said in June at the group’s annual meeting in Istanbul.

(Updates story with comments from Air France-KLM)

JULY 09, 2023

  Sanwo-Olu issues quit notice to traders, squatters to prevent future damage to flyover

BY   Iwok Iniobong

The long wait for the re-opening of Eko Bridge in Lagos State has ended. The flyover is now open for vehicular traffic, 15 months after it was closed by the Federal Government for a major repair.

The bridge was severely damaged at Apogbon section during a fire caused by illegal trading under it. The intensity of the inferno was said to have weakened major components and supporting pillars of the bridge, prompting its closure for extensive repair on the entire stretch.

Eko Bridge is one of the three bridges linking the mainland to the Island of Lagos.

The bridge’s reopening brought huge relief for motorists and commuters, who endured months of pain transiting in and out of Lagos Island.

Scores of excited commuters, on Saturday evening, received Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Federal Comptroller of Works, Olukorede Keisha, at a drive through ceremony for the reopening of the flyover.

Sanwo-Olu said the repair at the Apogbon axis had been completed, but disclosed that maintenance work would continue on the infrastructure, which would lead to intermittent closures in the coming months.

The Governor conveyed the Federal Government’s apology to Lagos residents for the delay in getting the bridge back to use, stressing that it would be risky to reopen the bridge without proper reconstruction of the damaged section.

Sanwo-Olu said: “It is with great delight to announce that we have carried out comprehensive tests with the contractor from the Federal Ministry of Works and we believe that Apogbon section of the Eko Bridge can now be opened for motorists. But the maintenance work on the entire bridge has not completed. There are lots of bearings that still need to be reinforced along the entire stretch of the infrastructure.

“In future, there will be more intermittent closures at different sections of the bridge but the period may not be longer than one or two weeks. This is necessary for us to jerk up the bridge and complete the maintenance work. We are reopening the bridge to bring relief to road users, who have endured hardship due to the repair work.”

The Governor said the contractor handling the work would also be reconstructing ancillary roads along the corridor to prevent further misuse of the bridge.

Sanwo-Olu said continuous trading activities under the bridge would no longer be permitted to prevent further damage to the flyover.

The Governor issued a seven-day ultimatum to all traders and illegal squatters to remove their belongings and vacate the space under the Eko Bridge. He directed the Lagos State Environment and Special Offences Enforcement Unit (Taskforce) to clear any illegal structure found under the bridge after the ultimatum.

He said: “We are using this medium to warn those trading under the bridge that we will not tolerate any form of illegal activities under this bridge and other bridges in the State. The bridges are important assets to the State and we cannot fold our arms and allow a few people to destroy them.

“We have seen the effect which the destruction on Eko Bridge caused the entire city. We cannot afford to have these bridges shut down again because of illegal activities. We will clear all squatters from Ijora Olopa to Costain and there will be zero tolerance for market activity under the bridge.”

Keisha thanked Lagos State Government for collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Works to hasten up the repair work on the bridge, noting that the reopening of the bridge was made possible because of the intervention of the State Government.

She said comprehensive maintenance work had already started on Eko Bridge before the fire incident happened, which made the contractor to abandon the work to focus on the damaged sections. Having repaired the parts damaged by the fire, Keisha said the contractor would continue the maintenance work to reinforce the bridge for public safety.

She said: “The reopening of the bridge would not have been possible if the Lagos State Government had not come to our rescue. If not for the intervention of the State Government, what is happening here would not be achieve. We appreciate this collaboration and timely support. Having considered the hardship on motorists, Governor Sanwo-Olu brought the machinery of the State to the assistance of the Federal Government and get the work done.”

JULY 10, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- EasyJet Plc canceled almost 2,000 flights this summer from its London Gatwick hub citing air traffic control disruptions, an indicator that airlines are preemptively scrapping flights to limit travel chaos.

Europe’s second largest budget carrier scrapped 1,700 flights that were due to operate in July, August and September, which will affect around 180,000 passengers. That amounts to less than a day’s worth of flying, with more than 90,000 flights due to operate during the peak summer months, an EasyJet spokesperson said. 

Customers who’ve had flights canceled will be rebooked onto alternative flights or can receive a refund. 

The flight adjustments will help to reduce the challenges presented by congested air space due to the war in Ukraine and air traffic control delays, the spokesperson said. EasyJet isn’t the only airline which has had to pare its summer schedule. Ryanair Holdings Plc,  Air France-KLM and Deutsche Lufthansa AG have all canceled flights citing strikes by air traffic controllers and disruption. 

Aviation is surging as it rebounds from the lows of the pandemic. July 6 was the busiest day ever for commercial aviation globally with 134,386 flights, aviation tracking website FlightRadar24 said last week. 

Eurocontrol, which manages air space in Europe, last week warned of more disruptions this summer as some destinations could become overloaded with air traffic. Industrial action has also hit the aviation industry hard this year as many air traffic controllers across Europe walk out over working conditions. 

A union representing Eurocontrol staff in the operations center threatened to strike over a period of six months. The USB union, representing the workers, said it was currently in negotiations with Eurocontrol’s Director General but hadn’t “received written assurances or agreements yet”.