Tag Archives: GE

Northern governors, General Electric sign MOU for 5 power plants

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The Northern States Governors’ Forum and the General Electric ?International, on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding, MOU, for the construction of five solar plants some parts of Northern Nigeria.

The plants are expected to generate 500 megawatts of electricity.

Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, and Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, signed the agreement on behalf of the ?Governors, while General Electric’s Senior Executive, Western Europe and Africa, Armand Pineda, and the President/Chief Executive Officer, ?General Electric, Nigeria, Lazarus Angbazo, signed on behalf of their company in a brief ceremony which held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.

Based on the MOU, the General Electric, which has 120 years experience in power generation, is to build five solar power plants to be located in Borno, Kebbi, Nassarawa, Niger and Taraba States.

Each of the plants is expected to generate 100 megawatts of electricity totaling 500 megawatts across the 5 States.

The electricity is meant to stimulate economic activities and social services in the affected States through boosting agricultural food processing, small scale businesses in addition to supplying electricity to schools and hospitals.

“The 19 Governors of the north jointly created this approach. We want to go beyond lamentation to provide solutions and we all know that power is key to industrial development.

“With power, we can create jobs, stimulate our economies and make life better for our people. The General Electric has over 120 years experience in energy solutions and they have been operating in Nigeria for over 50 years, we cannot have a better partner than GE.

“We shall do our part as Governors, this I will assure you. We are deeply committed to this agreement” Mr. Shettima said at the MOU signing ceremony.

The Northern Governors Chairman enumerated challenges of poverty, unemployment, and poor access to education, poor healthcare amongst other underdevelopment indications threatening the north.

He said power could provide a vehicle for the north to reposition itself for a better future.

The Northern Nigeria Global Economic Re-integration Programme, newly created by the Northern States Governors, is coordinating the project, which is a pilot phase.

According to a release by the spokesperson of the Borno Governor, Isa Gusau, the programme aims to serve as vehicle for the economic recovery of northern States through international relations on infrastructure, manufacturing, as well as to stimulate agricultural value chain and trade.

It also aims at making the region a global player in agricultural export in line with the vision of the late Premier of the Region, Ahmadu Bello.

The release also said the Governors Forum engaged the services of Tanimu Kurfi as Chief Executive Officer of the Programme.

Mr. Kurfi was the Chief Economic Adviser to late President Umaru Yar’adua and he has wide contact with leading development companies and financial institutions across the world.

Mr. Kurfi said he took up the challenge ?put forward by the Northern Governors as a result of the strong passion and commitment to the aggressive development of the north so far shown by the Northern Governors since Mr. Shettima became the forum’s chairman in 2015.

Reaffirming their commitment to the MOU, General Electric’s Senior Executive, Western Europe and Africa, Mr. Pineda and the President/Chief Executive Officer, ?General Electric, Nigeria, Dr. Angbazo both pledged that they would work round the clock to realize the project for the benefits of citizens of the five States.

Lagos, GE pledge to boost economy through SMEs

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Lagos State Government and General Electric (GE) on Tuesday, pledged to boost Nigeria’s economy through the development of necessary skills that will empower Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to drive growth in the country.

 

The SME sector is seen as the country’s engine of growth, in terms of development and industrialisation, wealth creation, poverty reduction and employment creation. Majority of Nigerian entrepreneurs are SME players, who employ at least 10 people and above.

 

Speaking at the launch of a hub, ‘Lagos Garage’ built by GE for advanced manufacturing-based innovation, strategy development, idea generation and collaboration, experts said desired growth in Africa, particularly Nigeria is only feasible through sustained effort towards empowering SMEs

 

The United States multinational conglomerate, GE operations span appliances, aviation, finance, energy, healthcare, ideas, intelligent platforms, lighting, oil and gas, power.

 

In Nigeria, GE’s interests are mostly in power and oil and gas, in which it has entered into many contractual agreements with the Federal and some state governments. However, the company is very secretive about its dealings with the Nigerian Government and has blatantly refused to entertain any questions regarding the projects it is executing in the country.

 

SMEs, currently contribute about 48 percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the level of activities across all sectors of the economy. Experts said the sector, which employs about 60 million people, remained crucial to the future of the nation’s economy.

The Commissioner, Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment in Lagos State, Abdul Mustapha, said the country’s growing population and high rate of unemployment put government on the line to provide opportunities that will make entrepreneurship to strive.

 

A United Nations report projected that by 2050, Nigeria, which is currently the seventh most populous country in the world, will be the third just behind India and China.

 

Mustapha disclosed that the ministry, which was recently created under the current administration, had sealed pacts with international organisations, including Oracle, an American multinational computer technology Corporation, to bridge skill gap.

 

He added that the State Government is working hard to seriously address infrastructure challenges and ease business operations, noting that efforts are underway to end epileptic power supply in the state.

 

GE’s garage, which is co-located with the Lagos office, is expected to offer a year-round series of skills training programmes focused on building the next generation of Nigerian entrepreneurs. Participants will be trained to use the latest in advanced manufacturing technologies; 3D printers, CNC mills, and laser cutters in the first-ever fabrication lab in Nigeria, to drive innovation in the country. They will also learn how to apply the core principles of design thinking, product development, finance, marketing, sales, and customer acquisition in real-time to their ventures.

Kaduna partners GE to equip 278 hospitals.

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Kaduna State and global corporate giant, General Electric, Thursday, flagged-off a programme to equip 278 health care facilities in Kaduna State.

This is the biggest ever refit of the public healthcare infrastructure in the state.

It represents the Kaduna State Government’s effort to provide a comprehensive solution to the healthcare challenges in the state, including maternal and infant mortality, communicable illnesses and the problems caused by the growth of chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

At its first health summit held last year, Nasir El-Rufai, governor of the state, announced the determination of the government to the perils that pregnant mothers and infants face.

He said it is a priority to improve health outcomes for ordinary people.

To achieve these goals, Kaduna State is striving to improve primary healthcare for all people, while at the same time, improving the quality and readiness of health service delivery by ramping up the supply and quality of health professionals.

Under the partnership between GE and Kaduna State, 255 primary health centres will be equipped along with 23 general hospitals across the state. The programme also includes a package of training for the healthcare professionals and a three-year maintenance agreement for the equipment. The project will deliver at least one refitted hospital in each of the 255 wards in the state.

Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, welcomed the flag- off of the partnership with GE.

“The Kaduna State Government is seeking better health outcomes for its people. This partnership with GE will accelerate the development of our health facilities and equip them to deliver better services. The equipment, technologies and training our state is getting under this partnership will help to improve standards of maternal and infant care, implant safer surgical standards and raise our capacity for disease prevention and infection control.”

He added that “As one of the largest states in Nigeria, with a growing population many of whom live in the rural areas, Kaduna is innovating through comprehensive approaches that improve health facilities and equipment, service delivery, clinical protocols and patient referrals. Given its track record, we are delighted to be working with GE in deploying this first-of-a-kind programme.”

Farid Fezoua, CEO of GE Healthcare Africa, said that “GE applauds the Kaduna State Government for its vision to improve health care for the citizens”.

Kaduna State is putting units of relevant medical technology including ultrasound, heart monitors, neonatal incubators and anaesthesia machines – into the hands of our health workers. Ultrasounds are used to detect a range of conditions. It improves the accuracy of tests conducted on the foetus when pregnant women undertake ante-natal visits and can aid early detection of and referral of pregnancy complications. V-Scan Access assists primary healthcare workers – such as midwives, general practitioners, paramedics and clinical officers – in low-resource settings to provide information to the user during pregnancy assessments.

The heart monitoring devices will address cardiovascular screening issues and improve the management of high blood pressure, cholesterol or high blood glucose. GE’s basic cardiac screening device connect hearts to digital ECG, helping clinicians test more patients in less time.

The multi-year partnership between Kaduna State and GE will increase access to essential technologies for better maternal and infant care, heart screenings to tackle the rise of cardiovascular illnesses and improved care during surgeries.

This combination of new technology, maintenance and training will improve healthcare outcomes in Kaduna State.

GE Confirms ‘Keen Interest’ in $2 billion Nigeria Railway Concession

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General Electric (GE) confirmed its a “keen interest” in acquiring a Nigeria railway concession project worth around $2 billion, the U.S. company said on Monday.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said this month that GE would be investing $2.2 billion in a concession to revamp, provide rolling stock, and manage some of the country’s railways.

“Given the size and scope of the proposed project, it is likely that the debt and equity commitments required from lenders, consortium partners and other co-developers will be in the range of $2 billion or more,” GE said in a statement mailed to Reuters.

It said the concession was in the formal procurement process.

Nigeria has been looking for partners to overhaul its aging railway system, which was mainly built by British colonial rulers before the country’s independence in 1960.

The West African nation has also signed two deals worth around $5 billion with China Civil Engineering Construction Corp (CCECC), part of China’s state-owned railway construction firm, to modernize and build railways in the north and south of the country, the Nigerian transport ministry said last month.

Growth in Nigeria – an OPEC member whose economy has slipped into recession for the first time in more than 20 years after being hammered by low oil prices – has been stunted for decades by a lack of investment in roads and railways.

GE said the railway concession project came on top of around $150 million the firm was currently spending on capital expenditures in Nigeria as cited by a senior company executive last week.