Gabon Oil Company (GOC) will participate as a Platinum Sponsor at the Invest in African Energy 2024 forum, affirming its commitment to maximizing production and attracting new players to Gabon’s upstream space.

As Gabon’s national oil company (NOC), GOC is leading efforts to increase production to 220,00 barrels per day on the back of accelerated on- and offshore exploration and the redevelopment of mature and marginal fields. Last February, the NOC acquired the Gabonese assets of US private equity firm Carlyle – the owner of Gabon-focused oil and gas company, Assala Energy – which included seven onshore production licenses, a pipeline network and the Gamba export terminal. While historically serving as a partner to the country’s leading operators – operating only the onshore Mbouma field – GOC is seeking to transform into a more competitive upstream player and is in talks with foreign partners to acquire new technologies aimed at halting declining production.

IAE 2024 is an exclusive forum designed to foster collaboration between European investors and African energy markets. Taking place May 14-15, 2024, in Paris, the event offers delegates two days of intensive engagement with industry experts, project developers, investors, and policymakers. For more information, please visit www.Invest-Africa-Energy.com.

Meanwhile, gas monetization has emerged as a key focus area for Gabon, as the country seeks to eliminate gas flaring, harness untapped associated gas reserves and establish a broad range of gas-based industries. GOC is currently evaluating commercial gas reserves and outlining the investments needed to develop the country’s downstream sector and associated infrastructure. A dedicated “Invest in Gabon” session at the upcoming forum will unpack the country’s oil and gas sector revitalization strategy, with a view to attracting new investments from IOCs.

“GOC has made clear its commitment to revitalizing Gabon’s oil production through renewed exploration and a field optimization strategy. Its participation at IAE 2024 supports Gabon’s efforts to attract new investors and promote its investment opportunities on the global stage,” says Sandra Jeque, Event&Project Director at event organizer, Energy Capital&Power.

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

A music concert in connection with the 33rd Independence Day anniversary was held for students yesterday evening, May 7, at Bahti Meskerem Square here in the capital.

The concert, featuring participation from students ranging from junior school to colleges, showcased various musical, cultural, music dramas, and dances.

Lasting for two hours, the event saw performances from cultural troupes such as Aser, Kewakibti Rim, and Meras, along with a comedic act by Dawit Eyob and his team.

Speaking to Erina, Artist Fitsum Yohannes, one of the coordinators of the concert, highlighted that the program was organized as part of the 33rd Independence Day anniversary commemoration and expressed gratitude for the students’ enthusiastic participation.

Similar events are scheduled for members of the Eritrean defense forces on May 11 and residents of the 13 sub-zones of Asmara on May 17.

It is noteworthy that the commemoration of the 33rd Independence Day kicked off with a music concert for students ranging from pre-school to elementary school on April 27.

The Students’ Week, officially commencing on May 7, will run until May 20, featuring participation from students across 256 schools, spanning from kindergarten to high school.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

The celebration of 2024 African Vaccination Week was launched on 3rd May in the community of Madalena, in the district of Mé-zochi.

The event organized by the Minister of Health, Ângela COSTA, was attended by the President of the District Chamber of Mé-zochi, Anahory Dias, WHO Resident Representative, Dr. Françoise BIGIRIMANA, health professionals, partners and the community of Madalena. The special event also included a health fair with exhibition of health and promotive materials, prevention and care services for the community of Madalena that benefited free of charge primary health care, out-patient consultations, gyneco obstetrics services, Sexual and Reproductive services, lab exams, ultrasounds, and treatments.

This year the world is also celebrating the 50th years of the creation of the Expanded Immunization Programme (EPI). In São Tomé and Príncipe, it is the 46th anniversary of EPI.

Among key results of the immunization program, São Tomé and Príncipe eliminated wild Polio and interrupted cases of measle. In fact, the country recorded its last case of polio in 1982 and measles in 1994.

For many years, São Tomé and Príncipe has been at the forefront of vaccination coverage in the central Africa sub-region, for example, Pentavalent 3 vaccine coverage was 94% compared to 74% for the region in 2019 (source: WHO Report 2019). 

The WHO Representative, Dr. Françoise BIGIRIMANA congratulated Sao Tome and Principe for the good performance and said, “This is the result of high political leadership, the commitment of the authorities, the partners, the health professionals, parents and community leaders.”

During the three coming weeks community health workers and health professionals are engaged to identify and vaccinate children with zero doses or incomplete vaccinations in the districts. The focus will be on the lowest performant districts in terms of vaccination in the country, namely the district of Mé- zochi, Lobata and Água-Grande.

Lowest performant districts are leading the reduction the vaccination coverage in the country. In fact, in the last four years, the country has seen a reduction in vaccination coverage from 94% in 2019 to 86% in 2023 for Pentavalent 3, aggravated by the COVID pandemic during 2021 and 2022 (source: national EPI report)

Regarding the children fully vaccinated in the country the numbers also dropped from 70.2% in 2017 to 65.2% in 2023 (source: National Vaccination Coverage Survey – ICV 2023).

If the country continues to drop the vaccination coverage, there is the risk of outbreaks as said the WHO representative.  Minister Health, Angela Costa, called for a higher engagement of health professionals, parents and partners to increase vaccination coverage.

The event was also an opportunity for the minister of health to publicly recognize the efforts of best performant professionals including nurses, doctors, drivers, and Cantagalo as the best performing district in immunization.

WHO Representative, Dr. Françoise BIGIRIMANA, stated during her speech that WHO is committed to reinforce the technical support through mentoring and capacity building of Expanded Immunization Programme and districts teams to improve vaccination coverage, supervision, and production of quality data. The support will include the development of a new national vaccination strategy “with innovative approaches to reach the regional and global targets aligned to 2030 goals of vaccination”.

The celebration of 50 years of EPI was an opportunity to highlight that globally, during the last 50 years, vaccination has always been at the forefront of global health efforts, saving millions of lives! Just in Africa it is estimated that 51.2 million lives have been saved through vaccination. For every infant life saved over that period, life expectancy was increased to 60 years and above, according to World Health Organization (source: Safeguarding Our Future: Humanly Possible report).

Among the main results of EPI in the world are the eradication of smallpox in 1979 and wild poliovirus in 2020. The vaccination has also reduced drastically deaths caused by meningitis by 39% between 2000 and 2019 in Africa. Since 2017, no cases of meningitis caused by the type A strain have been found. The progress made in eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus in Africa region has also been commendable.

The rollout of new vaccines such as the first ever malaria vaccine, has also set up a new hope of future generations in Africa free of malaria. More than 30 countries in the African region have already expressed their interest in the malaria vaccine and scheduled to roll it out by the end of 2024.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization (WHO) – Sao Tome and Principe.

Springbok Women head coach Louis Koen praised his squad for transferring the work they’ve done on the training field to match day in their big victory over Kenya in Madagascar on Wednesday, something they have not always mastered in the past.

Koen said they decided to tweak their approach for the match at Stade Makis in Antananarivo and worked on that on the training field after they overcame Cameroon in their opening match last Saturday. The changes worked out for the Bok Women in their 63-5 victory (https://apo-opa.co/3UpFbPO), much to the delight of their coach.

“We wanted to play in a slightly different way today, so our preparation was a bit different – the players executed those changes very well and that was very pleasing,” said Koen.

“In the past, we were gulity of not transferring the training ground executions to match day, but I cannot fault what they did out there today. In fact, it was exactly what we asked them to do and they responded accordingly, and as a coaching staff, we are really pleased about that.”

The bonus point victory with a big margin confirmed the Springbok Women’s position at the top of the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup log, but it will still come down to Sunday’s match against Madagascar to confirm the passport to Rugby World Cup 2025, to be played in England.

The host nation are also unbeaten after their 12-5 victory over Cameroon on Wednesday afternoon, their match taking place straight after the South African victory over Kenya.

Koen said that while their execution was good, there are still enough aspects for the Bok Women to work on as they prepare to face the hosts on Sunday.

“We conceded a try when our defensive line did not hold and that was disappointing, as we did not want to concede any points today,” said Koen.

“That will provide some food for thought for the rest of the week and the preparations leading into the weekend’s match. We have one more match to go and all our focus for the rest of the week will be on that clash against Madagascar.”

Issued by SA Rugby Communications

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of South African Rugby.

Note to editors: Audio notes of Louis Koen can be downloaded here (https://apo-opa.co/3JRlpHV).

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