Manning:
Free energy expertise for West Africa
By Juhel Browne
Trinidad Express
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
11 12 06
Trinidad
and Tobago's expertise in the energy sector is to
be offered for free to certain countries in West
Africa, Prime Minister Patrick Manning says.
In
making the disclosure, Manning said it was part
of this country's effort to increase bilateral cooperation
with several African nations in the area of communication,
technical cooperation, energy, sports and culture.
"And
it might be of interest to note that as the leading
energy producing country in our region, and ranked
as we are as the number one exporter of ammonia
and exporter of methanol in the world, we have been
seeking to make our expertise in the energy sector
freely available to a group of countries in West
Africa, to assist them in their own industrial development,"
Manning said.
"You
may wish, ladies and gentlemen, to consider this
as our especial contribution to the development
of Africa and the African diaspora at this time."
Manning,
however, did not identify which West African countries
are to benefit from the free local energy sector
expertise.
He
made the disclosure on Wednesday night as he delivered
the feature address at the opening ceremony of the
Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation
(CBACC) Pan African Conference at the University
of the West Indies in St Augustine.
The
conference, entitled "Advancing and integrating
research and studies in the interest of Africa and
the African Diaspora", is being held jointly
with the Pan African Strategic and Policy Research
Group (PANAFSTRAG), co-hosted by UWI's Faculty of
Humanities and Education and ends tomorrow.
Those
attending the conference's opening ceremony included
Nigerian Deputy High Commissioner to Trinidad and
Tobago, Buba Tekune, CBACC chief executive officer,
Dr Duro Uni, PANAFSTRAG executive secretary, retired
General Ishola Williams, and the Acting Dean of
Humanities and Education at UWI.
CBAAC
falls under the Federal Ministry of Culture and
Tourism in Nigeria and was established by that country's
government in 1979.
It
is charged with the responsibility for the promotion
of public interest in black and African arts and
civilisation and the preservation of works of value
from the second World Black and African Festival
of Arts and Culture held in Nigeria in 1997.
Trinidad
and Tobago and Nigeria enjoy good diplomatic relations
and that West African country is also a major producer
of crude oil.
In
his address, Manning expressed the Government's
gratitude to CBACC for choosing to host its conference
in Trinidad and Tobago.
He
noted the very term pan-Africanism has been accredited
to a Trinidad and Tobago-born barrister who resided
in South Africa about 100 years ago, Henry Sylvester
Williams. He is regarded as the pioneer of the movement.
Trinidad
Express
Friday, November 10th 2006
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