Pan Africa Sustainability Conference Live Stream Day 2

0:00and look at it as purely an entrepreneur. What do you see will be the biggest commercial opportunity untapped in this sector?

0:15Thank you very much. Uh it will be the use of our resources currently. um the fee stocks that we are having is not enough to feed um modern facilities built like the Aricop Aup etc. It's it's one of the things and then the opportunity again will be for us to set up an aggressive aggregation system for Ghana. Uh making sure that we make waste source aggregation mandatory and I think

0:47this will go a long way to help us. Okay. So um let me come to you again Mr. Sete. My question to you is that has the privac industry itself become too comfortable? Have we become too comfortable with collection and transportation and are we looking at developing beyond this uh linear systems? Thank you very much. For comfortability is zero because um to become comfortable it means the company should be a little fun. So let me let me re ask the question again so that it is premised on on so the the question is has the private waste industry don't want to scale up you see we are not comfortable every

1:31entrepreneur at least wants something in addition to what he's doing but when you tackle the waste management as a body the money that goes into establishing waste management and its subsidiary is very very very very huge very very very very huge. So once we cannot make income from what the little that we are doing, how do you go for a facility to even

1:56come and look at the next level? So the comfortability no waste management at least those of us how many years have you been operating? I've been operating since 1989 and my company Yes. And my company doesn't grow. You can you can give him a round of applause. You can give him a round of

2:15applause. And and the companies doesn't grow. It doesn't grow. It is always stagnant. Why? Financially, you pick somebody's waist. It's the time assembly who determines how much you should take and you talk for the next 5 years, they withdraw your contract and give it to another person to go and work because you didn't pick a director's w terminate your contract and that ends it. You see that is the the type of system that is why people don't want to invest because once the assembly give you the contract you he sits in the office template the contract so how do you repay the facility that you've gone

2:52for and the little that you do for government also doesn't pay but we are looking at it from the point that government must make a deliberate effort to see that waste management in the count in this country is not for the good for the contractor but it's also benefit fit the citizenry in terms of health

3:14in terms of health. Okay. So it is my prayer that government make deliberate effort to see that we as businessmen we are not doing charity. Okay. So I think you've made your point. Um to you you are able to scale but if the business enabling environment helps you you are able to to scale and do more and also grow on the value chain. maybe uh from downstream to maybe upstream

3:43where you are looking at valorization. So madame mama let me come to you uh your esper and with all the knowledge that you have gathered over time sitting where you sit there needs to change in the enabling environment for resource recovery to become a bankable private sector proposition rather than a collection of pilot projects like uh we

4:07just discussed. Thank you. I'm of the opinion that um we also need to move away from just um it's it's time as a country we have a law in place where we can do the segregation at source. Then what is going to happen? We can now have the green jobs, have the green transition, have the circular economy where a lot more uh job will be there for the teaming youths. So we need a lot more innovation in the sector but this can only be backed by law. So this is where we need to work with government and then government should also create that enabling environment where we can

5:04have the policies the public private partnership um done properly. We shouldn't have a private sector where h government the enabling environment is not properly created. Currently the situation we have is um such that the private companies are suffering. The fee fixing regimes are not done properly. Those who are in government um those who provide services on behalf of government are not paid on time and um how can a private sector uh go into continue with innovation sector where we have good policies in place to support

5:56the private sector. Okay. So um my final round of questions will be looking at we've looked at the challenges we've looked at the opportunities now we are beginning to query something very significant what must change what must change and uh I would like to premise uh my questions for all of you by saying this mature private sector must be willing to ask difficult questions about itself if the industry wants longer contracts, if they want better tariffs, if they want greater access to finance and a stronger role in policym uh investments, citizens are equally entitled to demand performance, transparency, professionalism from these

6:43service providers. That having said, I will start with you, Mr. Cetree. uh what must private operators themselves do to better earn greater confidence and trust from governments investors and also I think the contractors they've done their part their part is to get the money you see what is happening in the system now is look our trucks that we are having are specialized trucks and I could remember as far back as 198 uh 92 293 thereabout when we were telling the government at least to when you buy the truck from outside the taxes alone are more than the cost of the trucks you imported from outside the taxes alone. So we have done our

7:34part although some of our colleagues have they've died because of some of these things because they can't repay the loans they've disposed of their properties the banks have dis a lot of them have passed on it's only those of us who are this there is no finances government is not ready to support by waving taxes government is not ready to support so that you work and pay no everything is on your strength And how how how we I mean at one point when we are getting old and older that's why the generation now they are not interested in waste management. Look I can what you want to say now is that you pay

8:17commercial rates at the point of clearing your that's how much we pay. Yes. Just like any other person who has brought it into commercial. Okay. And our truck are specialized trucks. I mean if you see a compactor everybody even a class one child can see that this is a compactor it's not a a cheaper drop but still government is not ready to we have done our part and we continue to do our part but we are pleading with the government authorities all the policies that they have on their shelves at least they should pick one policy look into it and see that this policy can help we

8:48don't need more policies we have a lot of them since 1992 what are they doing on the shelves every government comes with a policy every government part and you go into them the same policies every year and no action. So we are pleading with them. I think I think your point is well made. Thank you very much. I'll move to uh Madame Viviian. My question to you madam is that what do you think the next generation of Ghanaian waste management companies can do differently if they are going to become resource management businesses rather than waste collection

9:24companies. So that is scaling up on the value chain. If anybody wanted to scale up on the value chain from collection and transportation to value addition, what must they do differently? Um they must actually shift from the traditional waste management and see themselves as resource managers. Um it must be datadriven. uh we must try as much as possible to also uh consider the ESG reporting system even when you are starting as as a small company. And then uh we should have also um database um information that would help investors come in because you see it is important when an investor knows what the f stock is in a

10:11particular sector in order to invest in which is actually also lacking. It gives also the opportunity for a young person which we have missed to have proper records to attract investors because they want to know what your cash flows are. Trump for example and therefore it is important for you to do proper reporting for yourself and also to also look at technology. For example, our system can be driven our waste collection system can be driven by technology with um some uh short codes some softwares that would enable people to identify for example um Mr. Kofi in a

10:50shaman uh will take e-waste from you. Aricop will take your your t your lorry ties from you. City waste will take your old fridges etc. So it makes it easier for accessibility for data information. Exactly. Thank you. You inculcate traceability models in Okay. So I think I think that is well well said. Um coming back to you uh madame mama. Um and I'm applying the same principle to Esper and my question then to you will be um what must Esper do differently for example if it is going to lead not simply represent the transformation of this industry? What do you think Esper

11:30must do differently? Currently as a body we need to be on top of our game. And how can we be on top of our game? By having evidence data. More often than not, um um I've over the years I've realized we try to push for policy change and all that. But one thing that I'm lacking as a secretariat and which I want to improve on and then also let my membersh

12:10invest into is um data. We keep making the claims. We are not breaking even. Um the households are not paying. We need to do the policy briefs. We need evidence to prove to government so that we can have the policies that we are advocating for to favor the private sector. So going forward we are going to improve on our research the research and development um units and also ensure we do more engagement and dialogue with government by having the policy briefs and then engaging properly with data because more often than not I do a lot of policy advocacy but if you do not have data to show I'm saying my

13:09companies are collapsing. What are the figures? What happened? So going forward, happy to say two of them are sitting here. So after this dialogue, the next neck meeting, those are some of the things that we need to do as a secretariat to change the narrative. And so we have data evidence to prove to government. I think they would think that all the time we are just making

13:38noise or we are doing propaganda. Oh, do you have a followup? Uh Madame Vivven, you can make your contribution. I I think it is important that uh Esper also as an uh association uh we have our own self-regulatory uh rules to govern us uh and also set standards and certification for companies that are permittable have a compliant company is the one suffering in the system and the people who are polluting who are not getting any permits and are just dumping the waste

14:12by the roadside within our communities. ities are the ones cashing in on the system. So I think going forward these are some of the things that we need to do as an association ourselves to help uh clean up the system to make uh the polluter visible uh for clients to stay away from them. Thank you. I think I like that contribution because I can see the whole lot of standards that when you deploy uh for your members can help them also unlock capital on the green market. So for example the VRA plastic standard and all these other standard that regulates plastic credit, carbon credits, they are things that you

14:50should also begin to explore to make sure that your your members also um are able to assess some of these untapped opportunities around the sector. Uh Mr. Set you had something you wanted to say. Can you make your contribution? Yes, I wanted to add to what Vivian just said. uh we will only plead with government the NOS's who feel they can help the secretariate supporters financially to build all these things because members by themselves are dying they are dying they are sophisticating when you are traveling on the main s road if you don't count are the members dying or the enterprises the enterprises I mean the the the

15:38enterprises Yes, [laughter] that's killing the enterprises are dying. Every day you see more than 15 trucks from let's say from Labadi to Adipa. You so we are pleading the NGOs's those who think we can get it. Thank you. So thank you very much. Thank you very much. But please do not leave the podium yet. Um would like to open the floor if there are any questions, contributions, criticisms from the for from all members here. The floor is open. Okay. So sir, I'll take you first. Um, can you help

16:10him with the microphone? So, one, two, three. Uh, I'll take three questions first and then we'll move on to a second set. And if you have anybody specifically here who you would want to answer what you are querying, please kindly direct it to them so they can give you the appropriate answers. Thank you. One,

16:35two. Yes. So

16:47thank you very much madame moderator and actually I like the way all the analyst focus on how government has shed its responsibility as far as waste management is concerned especially Mr. etc. Once upon a time the government used to engage the ISD that's the information services department of the ministry of information to do public sensitization on everything including waste these days that has stopped and and you can see the effect it is having on all of us. We all know where waste normally comes from. From our homes, from the stadiums, from the parks, and from the markets. Yet, very little is done to sensitize the general public on

17:33on waste. To resolve this waste problem. I see two things, waste management and waste prevention. The entrepreneurs in waste are doing a lot of work, yet those who are supposed to do the work on waste prevention are doing very little. Madame asked what must change? I think that what must change is that once or twice a year the entrepreneurs will also sit down and do nothing. Then the general public will will be sensitized on the importance of their work. They will then come in and compel the government to come back and do what it's supposed to

18:10do. Thank you very much. Okay. So um the second person I think I'll take you Okay, thank you. My name is Peter. I'm a PhD student from KUSD. My question is to the one who is representing ESPAR. Um, currently there are new research do with new ways of collecting waste such as waste with Uber. looking at the landscape of your clients and those who work with you is it possible is it f to thank you I think we didn't get the last bit of your question okay so looking at the landscape of your clients those who work with you is it possible to adapt an innovation like

19:05waste Uber thank you oh okay okay so I'll direct that question to um Madame Vivian because he's an operator And so she's able to uh give you practical experience from what they do in their plant. And then whilst Amma addresses the first uh issue and so at the waste I'll let her address it and probably yeah from from an operations point of view is this feasible? it is feasible because like I mentioned earlier um in this day and age we need um smart technology to improve our sector and therefore if you're looking at the fuel cost and our carbon footprint you said you are mitigating we are promoting circular

19:53economy so you are driving your um let's say the the boa wuba if if he's picking on day two or let's say Wednesday the person is able to pick about four homes before coming back. In that vein, he's saving on energy. His footprints are less and then he makes more in terms of value because plastic has a lot of volume. He's able to bring back otherwise he brings back air into the system. But what is also in the systems that are are working currently and we would like to promote that as well. And to add to what you have just said, uh no, so I I would let Madame Mama

20:34answer him on that. so we can save on time. So madame mama um this man says let's not do anything to prove to people what we are worth considering that the effect of poor waste management falls disproportionately on the poor. Do you think it is an approach waste management or waste management services providers

20:56should adopt? And it's one of the reasons why more often than not we do not like to go on strike because if any interruption even for a day we all know the consequences and we don't want to encourage that. However, there are times that when you are pushed, we we can embark on it. But we've never believed in that. Then I'm happy to say this because the National Executive Council has never believed in that even though we we normally would have one or two who would push for that because the kind of service we are providing is a health service. So as um a sector is

21:47always good for us to dialogue. However, we need the education the continuous education and awareness creation just as he said and for us to get attention from government. I think we need to continue with the dialogue uh advocacy and what have you. But just to add to what um my boss said with the innovation, I'm happy to have been digitized and then even the collection there. I have members that are able to even know when Dasmin has been picked and they even using the Momo system, the cashless system for service payments. The segregation has source

22:30that we need to do more as a country. Okay. So thank you Mr. Set. Do you want to add to public uh education do all the sensitization if enforcement is not in place as a people we are not going to complete uh the cycle and so we need a closed slip system with a proper ext uh EPR system and proper enforcement at all

22:51levels. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So um um just to I just want to find out from you traceability models. Do you think this baller Uber will set a tone for Ghana to implement EPR? Because we can easily integrate traceability systems into this bowler Uber to know how much in terms of tonnage has been picked from one location to another and also to even tell what type of waste so that we can charge the producer for the tonnages of waste that we have picked on their behalf. Do you think that as Ghana is making aggressive preparation for the implementation of the EPR that models like this will help speed it up or that

23:34you think that we can run parallel systems with um something like the Bola Uber for example? I think as um as we speak currently it's still in parliament and so we can start with what we have within the system but what is also key is to strengthen the industrial capacities because the volumes that for example the Uber taxi would take at the industrial level we are talking about also volumes and they are the waste generators. So we need to start like I said we need to have a bottom up approach by making sure that uh everybody is compliant when it comes to this. But Espa is also preparing itself

24:15uh to be a a pro which is also very key and we are encouraging other h organizations to also go into that and this will actually help us clean the system but for the EPR system it will take the stone for circular economy uh in Ghana. Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations, Espa. H uh this is new to us. So at least Espa is transitioning into becoming you are lobbying. Okay, that's very good to become a pro for for organizations. I I think that's a very good one. Congratulations. We'll take the third round of questions. So I'll

24:50start from you sir. What is EP? Uh okay. So pro is a producer responsibility organization and EPR is extended producer responsibility. The principle is that the polluttor must be able to pay for collection and valorization of what they put out there as waste. that is for EPR and then PRO means that this is an organization that uh is an embodiment and an umbrella of uh either service provider companies and be compensated for it as well one uh madame thank you very much my name is Gifty um I heard that one of your policies in parliament I'd want you to throw more light because there are members of

25:39parliament here and they want to know where exactly it is so that if they need to follow up and assist in one way or the other. So if you could throw more light on it. Thank you. So um I must say that um Ghana has done very well um with the help of parliament the com the environment committ committee on on waste man sanitation has been working on this for a very long time. uh but we are wondering why it's still there and so to trace it we should try and speak to the committee head to see how far they are with it currently in parliament uh what

26:17is in there currently they are trying to adjust some of the things but we think uh there's still room for improvement since technology keeps evolving uh that there are some rooms left for us to build on but I must say that so far um this is what it it is currently so thank you very much for the interest. Okay. So, Madame Mama, do you want to add on or Mr. Set, do you want to add on? Okay. Madame, sorry, there's a follow up here on the

26:45question I asked. Okay. So, sir, we'll take your question. Thank you. My name is Was uh with it's a follow up to what she said. Uh just uh tableabling such a policy before the committee is not enough. uh we need proactive followups so that there could be an interwoven uh effort from various committees to argument that side otherwise the sanitation and environment committee will will just discuss it give you feedback and that will be the end the pushing has to be done by another committee so I think from here we will do a link up and then follow up with it yeah we are really grateful for this

27:34interest shown because uh norly I want to ask to give us a a round of applause to the organizers of this program for making it possible for us to have parliamentarians in our midst who will listen and go back and make sure that whatever we've discussed here is put to use now um EP EPA and the ministry of environment that is me they are the ones who are leazing on behalf of the sectors so they are communicating currently with parliament but as requested here we will do Esper will do a follow up because uh some of the disadvantages that we spoke about for example h E esper will not be

28:12invited at that that level to come even though we've made it an effort to visit the sanitation committee we've we keep reporting what is happening in the system so if you are on another committee Espa will be willing to come and share uh some of our challenges and also the opportunities in our sector with you thank you so much. We are

28:32really grateful. Thank you. Okay. So, Madame Mama, if you have any other Okay. So, she tells me she's okay. So, I'll take the last round of questions. The last round of questions. All right. Solomon Assasari is my name. Okay. Lecturer, School of Hygiene, Acra. Yeah, I I've made some observations especially this waste collectors when they come to the communities. I'm much more concerned about their health as well. May I know do you provide PPEs for them that they don't normally use or they don't know how to use it because sometimes when I see them some normally use bare hand sometimes some normally wear this uh slippers chaliote and I

29:21feel I feel pity for them. Yeah. So let us also think about their health status. Okay. So um Mr. Sete you can take that. Thank you very much. You see in the west industry I believe no one's son here who has even completed GSS will allow his son to go into that business. I believe so even GSS the waste contractors we are doing our best for them but you see you give them the warranting boos they go to the dumping site there are buyers there anybody who ever visit the dumping site will see that there are about three categories of markets those who buy diesel they are there who

30:06buying boots they are there those who buy hand gloves they are there those who buy no smacks they are there. So you provide this thing on weekly basis and every other day they will request for no smacks. They will request for clothes. We go there we buy it from them from the market. We bring it the following week we have to go back to the

30:27market there to go and buy. So it is not in any contractor's interest not to buy. You go to the office we buy but they'll go and sell. So if you go to that market they call it well market where trade center anything you want here and the boys who are leaving on the trucks what they take in in the morning they don't care even if you have left that is why I always advise those drivers are normally our drivers have accident I say why you leave the car there and go that ends it okay so I would like to address this particular one in addition to what he said you see

31:10I spoke about compliance and enforcement as we have currently it's a free area okay where people are buy tricycles and they on their own they are not registered okay so such a person he decides whether he's wearing the PPS or not and so when enforcement is in place these people will be controlled so that their health becomes what safer because we are asking that our fees are raised. It is not but as contractors we make sure that we provide all the necessary PPEs for our staff. But for those you see out there who are operating on their own they are their own bosses. They don't care what happens

31:56to them. But there's one thing here I want us to be mindful of. In the ISA report, it shows clearly that annually Ghana spent 62 billion Ghana cities on what? On health related issues from typhford, corella, community diseases etc. And so what do we do? Are we not better off the rules? Why are we not enforcing it? So that that person who lives in your community will not come and pass on that corridor which can and become an outbreak within your community and please when you see them tell them to do the right thing some we'll take the last two questions the last two questions and we'll wrap up the

32:42session the last two sessions okay so I'll take you but Francis from Ara school of hygiene and I want to know in the morning the time they collected because I had the opportunity to go to Akosumbbo to experience how their waste is being managed. What I realiz is they do it differently as a camp because it leaves the stench

33:12on the street. But with Akosumbo, there's nothing like that. You see and they make us understand that the operators in Ara they don't use the same compacture track as Aosumbbo although they are both contact tracks but then at aosu is a different compact track they use so is it what they practice here in Ara is it environmental friendly Mr. Mr. set your first and then yes so that's my question thank you thank you very much you know when if you go to Akosumbo everything in Akosu is be sponsored by V everything in Akos is being sponsored by V some level of recycling they do some level of recycling and the

34:00type of equipment V has 17 years that is what our money can import and that's a reality that's a reality the the competent that we import that our money is not possible we can't buy that's enough you saying you can afford a€65,000 euro capacity. Okay. So Mr. Set with with what you are saying is it a sector issue or is an enterprise issue? Is it that the sector cannot afford is it a problem of affordability or or it's um a sector an

34:31enterprise specific? It is not an enterprise specific. If you take Zoom Lion out, Zoom Lion out, look at all other contractors who can tell me in his house man of Zoom Lion has ever seen a very good compactor that what this gentleman is describing. It's not there. The best one you can see is a brand new

34:54that's a fact. That's that's what you can see. That's a brand new you can see because 5,000 workers I buy fuel well I maintain the trucks and you pay me 90 Ghana cities and you say you take 100 Ghana cities government say I will terminate your contract that is the level of which we are that's what we do I'm being very realistic that's what is happening okay okay so um madame can I um yes so I'll take you madam so um uh sir um what um V is doing uh it is because they are doing waste source segregation within the community. I'm doing the same thing with Anglo wood on you segregate

35:38the waste accumulation so it doesn't stay within he rightly said you go the amos already in the thing so when I park in front of your gate what do you expect the stench will be there and so there's the need for us to try as much as possible to segregate the waste and it will also even help us to add value to the waste because there you have the plus the communities have even higher specs than what V has but what do they

36:06do? They pay the service provider there. I have tended for their services before they pay them on time. In our case, we don't even get money so that the car can go to the washing bay. You see where the difference lies. So it's not that they are doing something uh extraordinary but what they are doing is replically have a look at what is happening within their system to start piloting even some within some communities where they are operating from. So about the trucks it's not about their truck it's the same h compassion trucks that we are using that they are using it's just that they have

36:44the opportunity to clean them and also they are doing very well with the segregation as source. So a round of applause to them but it's not about the technology. Thank you. Okay. So thank you. Uh I think my questions are done. I cannot take any more questions. Okay. So I'll allow this very last one and then that ends the Q&A

37:04session. We have wrapping up. Thank you ma'am. I remain my humble self Christopher Tuya from Nigeria. I from Nigeria. Yes. Okay. I want to leers Mr. orchestra pardon me if I from must get waste management right there must be enforcement there must be policy that we don't have any other environment it's only this planet that are good for human habitants in the next 50 years if we presently destroy the earth where will our children gener where will they live are we thinking at all we are talking how do operation let us sustain the industry that all these thing we are preaching will come to place sir that's why I'm

37:56I'm I'm challenging you to take it as a lead if the names like zoom lion we are proud of him because recently he came to Lagos he did some things that the system has failed to do to manage our dump site so trust can now roll in and come back to for lion please give them a round of applause please so we Nigeria we are proud of them And we are ready to partner with them in progress. Sir please there is need take it at a challenge there must be a collaboration to if is going to United Nation compel all head of it to ensure they bring enough budget

38:39to the table to cater for waste management per state by country. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you madame. Thank you madam. Unfortunately, we are not able to. It's a very Ghana has a copy from the Equas parliament here because they have a representation to address this issue of budgeting. We had constantly used um um Rwanda as an example where some of our parliamentarians have even paid visit to

39:11see how they have been able to do it. They are not outside Africa, they are within Africa. And so like you're saying, there's a need to keep pushing and we'll keep pushing until we get the results. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So a another big round of applause for my panelists. [applause] I mean [cheering] there could not have been any better assembly of people to contribute to sector discussions than these people that we have brought on the podium today. Another round of applause, ladies and gentlemen. [applause] So to bring this whole meeting to a close I get these very three critical

39:51things that for the waste management sector to transform these three actors must work together. GOG government of Ghana providing regulatory the business enabling environment for the sector to thrive through policies and all other regulatory incentives that they will need to thrive. The Esper itself providing collective leadership and advocacy for the sector such that it will get the attention of parliament and government to make the right decisions and policies that will support the enabling environment we seek to get and also for the industry players the actors to also embrace innovation in the sector. From all the discussions that we have had these three things resonates and it is my anticipation that

40:43by the time we meet here next year same time hopefully [gasps] that we are going to announce some milestone achievements from some of these discussions that we have had today. Thank you very much for having us ladies and gentlemen and on the basis of that I bring this very important discussion to a close. Thank you for your prompt attention. All right, [applause] a round of applause for the moderator herself. Please don't go in. All right, so

41:18all right. So, and I'm honored to announce the presence of Madame Gifty Jag Goa, Principal Cler, Parliament of Ghana. Please join us. [applause] A round of applause. Please come up stage and join the photo. And then we also have um Madame Pel Isia Mensa, executive director, Ghana Climate Innovation Center. [applause] A round of applause for her, please. Yes, come come up. And then we also have Honorable Wasi Pi, MP4 Quu AR Plains,

41:57member of Committee on Communications. Please join us for the group photo. And then we also have Miss Gloria Opoku MT executive director ENS primary. Please join us. And we have Madame Duray Bua Batin, the chief operating officer of commercial and allied services climate innovation center. Please join [applause] for the group photo.

42:45Oh, okay. Sorry. Uh, we left one honorable out. Honorable Dominic Napari, please join us. A round of applause for him. [applause] Right. Right. Member of Parliament for Senate East.

43:18All right. Thank you so much. A round of applause for them once again. Thank you honorables. In fact, as I listened to the panel discussion, in fact, for for the just one group of companies, uh we've made waste management like a is more of engineering and health like a school whereas every day we are learning, every day we are innovating and you could see that there's I mean clear uh significant success made in the waste management space but there's also a huge gap up uh and commitment in terms of financing and enforcement of uh rules and regulations and and you could clearly see that from Mr. Ceter's

44:06presentations. uh he actually gave us the how it feels to be on grounds and so clearly uh there's a a significant lack of commitment to financing waste management and so we are glad to have our honorables here who in fact take it take this conversation up and help us make our case. All right, thank you so

44:28much. We are going to take another presentation um which is on beyond sustainability building businesses that can power Africa's green future and this is going to be done by Mrs. Pel Isa is messa executive director Ghana climate innovation center. Please a round of applause for her as she comes up on stage. [applause]

45:08If it's working, I'm fine.

45:19Good afternoon. Um, what a very passionate discussion we've just listened to. Uh, hopefully what I'm going to talk about, answers some of the questions or brings up some more some of the issues that we raised um by the last panel. I was listening and there were a lot of things that were going through my mind on maybe building the businesses in a stronger way. How to fund such businesses. What I'm going to talk about is not just for the waste um industry but generally on anything because that

46:04is why we're here. That is the future. So let me say a big thank you first of all to the organ or organizers and the chair of the um of this meeting for having us here today and giving me the privilege and the opportunity to speak to you. My topic is beyond sustainability building businesses that can power

46:31Africa's green future. So, one of the things that we keep talking about at GCIC is that it's about time that Ghanaians realize that climate resilient businesses or green businesses are actually is actually good business. I mean, from what has been said already, it seems like it's a pointless exercise, but there are reasons why it is what it is. And hopefully we

47:03in climate finance in 2021 and 2022. Um, ask me how much we came to Ghana. It sounds a lot, right? 44 billion. But it met less than a quarter of the financing needed to deliver Africa's climate plans by 2030. Less than a quarter. In other words, the headline figure is large and the gap is even

47:30bigger. The harder number is this. Private capital supplied only 18% of the total. A lower share than in any other region in the world. Even that limited investment was highly concentrated with half flowing to just three countries, South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria. Half which means that the rest of Africa will share the other half including Ghana. The challenge is therefore not only to attract more private capital but also to distribute it across a broader range of

48:06African markets. So our problem is not a shortage of ideas. I mean we heard about uh Bola Uber and there they are from where we sit at GCIC we see amazing ideas and projects that people have started and and are trying to set up as businesses. So the problem is not ideas or entrepreneurs. We have we're one of the few countries that just have amazing entrepreneurs and people come from all over the world to work with our

48:40entrepreneurs. It is a broken connection between promising businesses and the capital that could help them grow. So we have the businesses but there's no money or the money that's available is not suited to the businesses that we have. Entrepreneurs struggle to become investable while investors also struggle to find deals that they can understand

49:07price and trust. So when we talk about beyond sustainability here's what I mean. Environmental value is essential. It is the future. But it is not enough. A green business must also make money. It must grow. It must create jobs and repay its investors. If it cannot do those things, it cannot deliver lasting impact at scale. That is why we will have so many business start off and they don't last enough years to make an impact or even to feed an

49:48industry. My discussion is around three six key points and I want us to try and think about that. I want us to try and think about today and all these key points lead to one conclusion. Africa will close its climate finance gap only by building investable businesses, reducing the risks that hold capital back and creating a market in which local and international investors much more private capital. Let's start at home because in everything you have to start at home that are holding large pools of long-term savings. Much of that capital remains concentrated in government

50:34bonds. Mobilizing even a share of it for credible green assets would deepen domestic markets and give international investors greater confidence to follow. Three moves will shift it. One, give pension funds and insurers clear rules and green assets they allowed to buy. I mean, we're talking about policy changes, right? Grow local currency green bonds. I know that has started, but at a very slow rate so that investors would avoid currency

51:10risk. Pull small deals into larger packages that big investors want to buy. We keep hearing from big investors that our our ticket prices um values are too small. So they cannot come into I mean it's too much work you know to invest for maybe $500,000 or $1 million. They want $10 million deals, $50 million deals, $100 million deals, and we can't do that. But if we pull deals, then maybe we can

51:43start to attract some good money. Foreign investors follow local investors. So when our own money and they follow. So that's one of the key things. Let's start from home. Let's give the foreign investors or other investors something to want to follow and there are ways in which we can do that. We've talked about the money. The second point is are climate businesses

52:13investment ready? Why is it that promising climate businesses fail to become investment ready? Our experience at the Ghana Climate Innovation Center because we [clears throat] incubate uh climate smart businesses to try and make them sustainable businesses that will last for years. Our experience shows that sustained business support can achieve a lot. Over 10 years, we've worked with 383 businesses that have created over 4,000 jobs, generated over $21 million in revenue, and cut nearly 1 million tons of carbon. And please, these figures I'm telling you are the figures that we took at the time that we did the incubation and completed. Some of these businesses we finished our

53:05incubation with them 10 years ago. So you can imagine how this will be multiplied as of today. So and and these numbers are also verified by ENY largely. So I say this from experience. The gap is not the idea. It usually sits in five places. One, no clean financial records. We just don't like keeping good records. We have this idea that when we keep good records, the tax man will come and take all our money or we have to pay uh too much money to the accountants to do the work. So we are happy to see the money coming and have enough to go without actually tracking exactly how the money

53:49is coming and going. weak governance. Often we have one founder and that one founder is the CEO, procurement manager, h sales uh director, accountants and everything because they're not making enough or they don't feel that they're making enough to pay for others to join. We have no proof that customers will pay. Um we are in a financial environment that is actually difficult to enforce

54:22payment for credit sales for example. Most of the business plans that these businesses write are written for the donor and not for an investor. There's a different way in which you would write a proposal to a donor and a different way in which you would write a proposal to an investor who wants to use somebody's hard earned money to put into your business to make a return and we don't usually have track records with the bank. I mean now with the momu um even though the track record may not be with the bank you could still have some kind of you know um statement that shows um the volume of business that

55:09you're doing because a lot of people are doing business on Momo and not so much in cash. The fix is possible. The fix is patient hands-on support. The fix is bookkeeping, board building, sales and investor coaching that runs for months. They don't run for one day. when we go for one day, two day workshops, it's not enough. It just tells you what needs to to be done. By the time the business uh person leaves the room is being called by their creditor, you know, a production is telling them that something's they've forgotten half of what you've taught them and they keep postponing the need to get somebody

55:54professional to help them. So, it is consistent patient support. It also means bringing investors in early. Now what that does is that these investors will help shape the deals that they will later fund. So sometimes what we do is to get investors at the table to tell us before we start the incubation especially if we want um some of these uh businesses or we know that they will they may end up being able to

56:26um get funding from these investors. Tell us what is it exactly you're looking for so that we can try as much as possible to put these businesses in the shape that they have a chance of talking to these investors and getting some of attracting some of their money. So readiness is not a certificate that you've gone to do a workshop you've gone you've even done a 12 month incubation and you get a certificate and you're done. It is a habit that a business must

56:59build and continue to build. The third issue is that do we have financing tools that reduce the risk? You know, we're talking about new ideas, innovations, small businesses. These are typically uh businesses that funders run away from because the risk is too high. How do we reduce this risk? Investors don't really fear Africa. We we hear that investors don't want to come to Africa. They don't they just don't understand us enough to be able to put their money here. And we haven't done enough to cushion the risk that they will take if they bring their

57:44money. Okay? They cannot respond to risks that they don't understand or they cannot price. If they don't understand the risk, they cannot price and they cannot manage it. So those risks they they vary from country to country. I mean we're talking about Africa. The risk in Ghana will be different from the risk in Nigeria be

58:02different from Rwanda and South Africa. And they are also different for different stages of businesses and different sectors. But we have the tools. They already exist. Our task is to match the risk with the right instrument and use those in instruments at scale. We need the scale. Remember one blended finance it can be public or donor money that will take the first loss. So when you have some kind of guarantee and we've had some I mean governments have have put some in place probably they don't go as far as they need to go. So if you have um some kind of guarantee for first losses the banks feel a little

58:50less um um fearful of giving money to such institutions and then once that is taken care of then private money can follow because remember private money they want returns. Government money may want but the private the private investor has to pay school fees and feed you know people and all of that and have um employees you

59:19know to pay. We can also have partial credit guarantees. So a granter can cover part of a loan so that local banks will feel more comfortable to lend. And then there could also businesses that are coming up, the climate resilient businesses that will take us to the future. And then of course we have the green bonds. Um green bonds has started. We we are actually working with one bank that is creating one but it is slow and it has to be faster. So the rule is simple. Use public money to carry risks that private markets cannot yet absorb. As these pro projects establish a track record and

1:00:03private capital becomes willing to take those risks, public support can reduce or move to the next market gap.

1:00:16And then we asked the question, how do governments, developing partners and financial institutions crowding private capital? Everybody has their role. Governments, the government sets the rules. I think I mean from the previous panel, it's been made very clear that we need strong clear rules from the government. So they said rules of the game. You have policy on energy prices, carbon, land, stable and predictable policies and then government has to pay suppliers on time because late payments kill businesses and especially um a lot of businesses within like waste management and stuff are doing work that maybe government pays for rather than private

1:01:11sector. and to use public buying power to create demand for green products. All of these things you can see they're not new. They're being done in various ways but maybe a bit more concentration on climate resilient businesses. For example, if we say that all the schools should use um re uh should should use reusable school bags or as as has been um done um a certain kind of packaging cannot be used anymore in a few years time. So that those who are getting into paper or recyclable products will now have a good industry you know will will have the support or

1:01:59guaranteed sales to some extent. So that's government development partners. What is their role? Their role probably is to take the first risk. See development partners give a lot of grants. These grants rather than being maybe given to businesses can actually be used to provide the firstbased risk. So they stop funding scattered pilots and fund platforms that last. Especially we're able to group to do the grouping so that we can get bigger deals. it will be easier for this to be done to put money in first loss positions and guarantees and not only grants. So first loss positions uh especially for innovative ideas because they are not you're not really

1:02:52sure that they will survive. Okay. And then private sector banks financial institutions they can build the bridge based on this foundation. They can then take the next step. train loan officers especially to understand green business models. They don't. A green business has too much trouble getting a loan from financial institutions because they just don't

1:03:20understand where you're coming from. Design green loans with sensible collateral rules and partner with incubators who already know the businesses so that they can help you know mitigate some of the risks that they perceive. So when governments, development partners, and financial institutions act together, investors see a coherent market, they see predictable rules, shared risk, and a credible pipeline of businesses. When they act alone, the pieces remain fragmented, and

1:03:53capital stays on the sidelines. So we have to act together. And then there's one that some people frown at. But then opening doors for womenmemes and early stage firms. Why do the f among the first to absorb the effects of climate shocks at the farms? I mean when things go wrong it's the womens are the the women are the ones who do a lot of the you know um manual labor in the farms and

1:04:24stuff. Do they suffer? And yet the design of climate finance frequently works against them. Fund sizes are too large, application processes are too demanding, and conventional collateral requirements exclude viable businesses. Inclusion therefore depends not only on allocating more money, but also on redesigning how that money is delivered. Right now, GCIC is running a pro a program with 30 womenowned businesses in the cashew value chain. The ideas are strong. You'll be amazed what holds these women back is collateral, networks, and time. And our incubation, you know, um process will try and build bridge the gap, but it needs everybody to come together to be able to make it

1:05:12work. And then last but not the least, what must change for Africa to move from climate finance commitments to bankable projects and real money deployed? We don't lack pledges. We don't lack a suffic we lack a sufficiently a pledge just signals intent. If you're not able to meet the conditions of the pledge, it goes away money up front. Few

1:05:44projects reach investors without them. So, we need money for that. We have to build national pipelines. Every country needs a public list of ready projects linked to its climate plan so that there's a pipeline that investors can look at and even start to think about to invest in. And we have to speed up

1:06:04approvals. when it takes five years for one fund to say yes, by then the business is dead. They can't wait. And then if we're tracking the money that's deployed and report it every year, maybe it will encourage more money to follow and not just money that's promised, but money that's actually deployed and we can see the effect of the deployment of that money. So that these these commit the commitments they they are nice to have them in speeches long speeches but it's the deployments that will fill the business's order order books create invoices create uh revenues create employment create wealth create ecosystems industries and build our

1:06:50nations. So let me end with these three asks because we have various people in this room. If you're an investor here, please start earlier. Come and help us structure the businesses and so that we can help build the deals that you want to fund for the governments. And I'm happy to know that we have parliamentarians here and

1:07:12developmental partners. Carry the first risk please so that you can make room for private money and that will cover go back to cover the risks that you have carried. Keep books. Know your numbers. Prove that customers will pay. Build governance structures that can support growth. And turn your green idea into a profitable, investable business. Beyond sustainability lies something bigger. An African green economy that creates jobs, attracts capital on its own terms, and generates

1:07:50the revenues needed to keep growing. Reaching it will require each of us to move from supporting promising initiatives to building durable markets and investable businesses. So as they say we have the people, we also have the ideas. We know what is holding the capital back. Now let us all work together. Let us [applause]

1:08:20thank you madam. Okay, you can be here. I don't know if there are questions for madame because she spoke about business. Aha. Okay, I'm coming.

1:08:41Right.

1:08:49Thank you very much for the very interesting um presentation and so many insights that I was um capturing and will definitely be taking forward. I just have two questions. Um one of them is related to the work that you have been doing um uh in terms of incubating businesses and providing support in that space. Something that has been sitting on my mind for quite a while on a project that we worked on was a reflection from an entrepreneur that said they were able to get started and they unlocked a grant. Um but after that they found themselves in this rut of only being able to access grant funding

1:09:29but not being able to make that next step um into um accessing financing to grow their business. And so I'm just wondering whether you perhaps see this as a challenge that you're facing in this part of um the continent as well or in the areas that you've um worked. It would be interesting to hear whether there are any examples of um or ideas of how businesses can be supported on that front. And then the other one was with regards to your recommendation to um have a database or um or a pipeline of um of businesses that uh that can be followed on an annual basis and it's an

1:10:11opportunity for investors to come in and select from the list of investment ready businesses. I'm wondering whether you have examples or insights as to how that works and what process you've taken. My organization has been doing something similar in the climate space, not directly for entrepreneurs, but mainly for municipal um projects that can be funded and I've seen that that has been a successful process. Um so I'm just interested in various examples of how other organizations might be doing this because I think there would be really nice lessons that we can um learn from there in terms of building our databases

1:10:47as well. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um yes, your first question about um businesses being able to move to the next step to get what we call accelerator funds, right? Growth funds. We we have seen that as a big problem. We have some um businesses that we've incubated who've been able to raise I think on average for every $9 that we have spent in incubating a business uh no every $1 that we spent in incub incubating a business $9 have been raised. So but but it is not even okay and we call this the missing gap. So one of the things that in our strategy for

1:11:32the next few years at GCIC is to try and build um either a fund or opportunities for at least the businesses that we have incubated to get funding for the next stage. one of the two of the ways in which we're doing it. The first one is actually starting to build uh a service where we are getting the businesses investor ready because as I said it's very diff different to build a proposal for a donor and then a proposal for invest investors. So that's one of the things that we do I spoke about like take the first risk um maybe guarantee something so that um financial

1:12:13institutions can then follow or um fund will survive but we want to give it the best chance of surviving. So those are two ways in which we're doing but in addition to that we are also working with some financial institutions to telling them that listen we have a pipeline and we want to help tell us what you want from the businesses and we'll try and get them ready to I mean feed your part to feed your your your funding uh

1:12:43request and we have started doing that. So we we are literally putting our mouth our money where our mouth is. Now the second thing about um collecting it was collecting data right so we also relaunched our alumni platform a couple of months ago what we're trying to do is to make sure that we have a pool of businesses that we know have received a certain basic uh structural training and be able to give them opportunities So when we want to do like a trade fair we have to continue to build their capacity through um training through exposure to you know uh markets through you know anything that we think will

1:13:36help them grow because we don't want we don't want this um constant um cycle of businesses get the grants they have interesting businesses but in two three years time they're dead because they were not able to continue. So, we're trying to do that and doing that through the alumni network means that you have access to them. So, you can get data and you can use the data data to um get information that you can use, you know, effectively to to build them up in one way or the other. Yeah,

1:14:12there's another question at the back. Hello. Hello. I spoke yesterday. I'm from the United States. I want to tell you how impressed I was with that presentation and the recommendations that you have and I would say there are the same recommendations that and same challenges and barriers that we have in the United States in many ways. I don't have a question for you but I want to reinforce

1:14:34something that you said. Okay. And it's the role of women and it's creating more opportunities for women women leadership innovation and entrepreneurship. In fact, there's an SDG that's focused entirely on this SDG number five, gender equality. And I would advocate strongly to everybody in this room, particularly men, that we need to do more to advocate for women and women's leadership, and just get out of the way because it's amazing what we'll see happen. And in my country, the indigenous people, the Native Americans, it was the clanmothers that were respected in the various nations and tribes for their leadership and

1:15:12sustainability. We have formed some women leadership groups in the United States focused on sustainability and recycling in order to advocate for more women engagement, women businesses, and women leadership. So, I just applaud you for saying that, and I think it's something we all need to get behind globally. Thank you very much. Thanks.

1:15:41Thank you for such an impactful presentation. Mine has to do with prototypes. Um, and this is for the whole continent and especially for Ghana. There are very unique and amazing prototypes innovations sitting at various levels of our education and I would like to know from your experience before women and girls. Don't you think that will be appropriate to have a fund set up solely for prototype um uh prototypes uh to help them upskill to a level before they move into the businesses that your presentation said we should build because um at that level that is where you need a support to groom yourself to make your

1:16:30products bankable but that is where we are lacking and there are lot of young people who are currently loitering around our communities, going to financial institutions and being turned away because they don't understand what the green products or what the secularity and will help a lot of young people come up with a lot of

1:16:50innovations. Thank you. Okay, I have to be very careful when I answer this question because I am I've been a banker for years now. Banks don't fund prototypes. Full stop. unless they're doing it as some kind of CSR, you know, because their money has to retain a certain um interest, you know, but that's what why I said that there's because the the funding prototypes is

1:17:23actually quite a bit of money for that. Of course, there'll never be enough, but there is and I think that um some people just don't know that that those grant monies exist and they have to maybe we have to do a little bit more to let them know that some of these um uh funds

1:17:45exist. Um, it'll never be enough though. But this is where and you need grant money for that. Um, because you're lucky if it works. And even if it works, then you probably are changing something and probably starting all over again. And that is money that is gone. But it will end up in something that's viable and could build an industry. But it's just it's it's like um a startup going to a bank for money. You have to first go to your family and friends who know you and believe you and know that okay uh I don't she doesn't have the numbers or anything but I trust the

1:18:25person who's asking and so I can support them. Unfortunately that's how it works. Thank you.

1:18:41They can't cover the risk. They they have to cover the risk. That's their process. Yeah.

1:18:55Yeah. Well,

1:19:09yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

1:19:20Yeah. Actually, that's very true. Um, one of the things that we do as part of our incubation process is to support these services. Aessi has um a fund for it's called EVI, right? Yeah. For um venture uh um incubation. is for Ashesi alumni but I wouldn't be surprised if there are other uh institutions that may have some it's exclusively it's not okay so I'm just I'm being corrected here that it's not exclusively for alumni so that's why I said some of this information is not is there but people don't know about it so probably we have to do better to to let people know but again I have to emphasize that

1:20:08they never be enough, you know. So, when you see a good business or a good uh idea, maybe you can support them to open the right doors, but a prototype going to a bank, it's it's just not their business. Yeah. Okay. Thank you.

1:20:34Yeah. Um, thank you very much. Um what we have heard you said in your presentation is something we have been hearing of late over and over again with regards to um fun for that matter and uh country don't have bankable projects to solicit for funding just quoted some figures and the portion uh Africa and for that matter Ghana apart from maybe South Africa and

1:21:07Nigeria who got something meaningful. The rest of the countries are not able to access the funding. In fact, we keep saying that we don't have money. When we got the earlier panels, he kept lamenting about how to get money for their uh uh uh uh sanitation companies and other things and it come. So um how can we is your organization trying to get you also indicated that there are different type of uh proposals that you write for funding globally at the state level. what we can do to assess this funding internationally to mitigate this our climate issues that we have been and how we can fund this uh uh climate

1:21:52change the some call blue economy some call secular economy and all that is about money the our state social work they are doing things that health issues and we all know so what can we do as countries particular developing countries to really be able to assess or prepare proposals to have bankable projects that can attract this funding. You earlier on mentioned that there's big money sitting somewhere which we cannot access. Ever last two weeks uh the Echoas was here and he made she made a presentation there. Equas keep also lamenting how we cannot assess the to be able to assess this funding or what can we do? Uh maybe

1:22:35if you have some thought on my next point is discipline. Businesses in our part of the world lack discipline. So when we say that they are not bankable as I mentioned there simple reasons why they're not bankable. One they're not keeping good records. Two their governance structures are poor. Avoid things like it's not even about what you are getting today or what what you the re revenues that you're getting

1:23:05today. They want to see consistency. They want to see your ideas and how the ideas have started to uh come to fruition. They want to see the quality of the stuff that you have that will take you forward, you know. So sometimes it's not even about you're making so much money so I'm going to put money in it. They just they want to see the potential. But a lot of the time we are not disciplined enough to keep the books. We are not disciplined enough to get the governance structures in place because somebody will tell you the words is my business. I'm the owner. Who are

1:23:37you as the board chair to come and tell me what to do? Me because I about sinking in. Um we spend a lot of time with our businesses that we incubate to teach them this to teach them to understand the numbers that they are producing. And sometimes they realize that by not recording the numbers and and and keeping the books, they're actually doing themselves a disservice because then they start to see, oh, so I'm losing money here, but this one is more profitable. Why didn't I know this

1:24:12before? And then they start to to do it. So a lot of it is our own discipline, and that's why we don't have the bankable is like a word that we keep throwing about. It's very simple. Discipline. You want to add Then there was a question I missed right help people to also get I mean there's there's a way in which investors want to see proposals so there's a whole that's another buzz word that goes around in the industry investor readiness investor but it's a process investor readiness is a process that you can start and then maybe in the first year or two you can only access a certain kind of investment

1:24:56because of where you are and then as you grow, if you continue, you can access bigger and bigger. So, it's a process. It's um it's a bouquet of behaviors and information that you have to collect and have so that when the investors come, they see the information, they can assess or analyze your numbers is to be able to have a good prediction of what that money will will uh generate. Thank

1:25:24you very much. I've been told to tell you that it's a service that we provide at GCIC. Yes, we do provide that. Yeah, I think I already said that. All right. Thank you so much. A round of applause for Mrs. Spellel is Mensa. I think that um this is I mean revealing and eye opening and so if you want to know more into detail just like she said get in touch with her and then learn more about green jobs and other

1:25:57businesses that uh supports our agenda. All right so pretty soon we'll be going for break I mean for lunch but there's one more presentation to be taken before we do that. Uh before that I want us to stretch a little bit because we've been sitting for too long. So there's this video I think somewhere last week we used to stretched and I want us to play here. Are you ready? Some chicken dance video will be like that. I know um Madame Dura was there so she can she she she can help us [laughter] but this one there. Forgive me. I'm putting you on the spot. We all do it

1:26:39together. Okay. Are you ready?

1:26:53Okay.

1:27:03Yeah. Can we have the sound? Uhhuh. Please can [music] can you be on your feet? Oh, we are stretching. We are stretching. [music] Uh-huh. So, you can copy me. I didn't really pay attention, but I think it's nice. Uh-huh. [music]

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1:28:02[music] Okay. Yeah, that's right. [music]

1:28:18Heat. [music]

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1:28:37Heat. [music]

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1:29:02Heat. Heat. [music]

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1:29:26Thank you so much. You can resume your seat is uh I would say a sneak peek into what you are to witness uh on the field tomorrow. And so uh it touches some private sector approach to reh madame Matil [applause] good morning good afternoon everyone thank you I won't I won't take much of our time I know lunch is waiting and I don't want us to keep us waiting my name is Matilda I'm from Acra compost and recycling plant um a leading waste management company in in Ghana and a

1:30:06subsidiary of the Josborn group as well. I think when Madame Pel was talking, he mentioned a climate resilient um institution must have impact and must be self- sustaining. It must create jobs and must also save the environment and that is one thing that AKAB does so well. So here I'm going to do a quick presentation hopefully. So this is the private sector approach to resource recovery and this is the case of Acra compost and recycling plant AAP

1:30:40was established in 2012. Yes. And then concerning waste management management in Ghana and there was a need to provide a holistic approach. When I say holistic approach that mean from the up to the bottom where we do a 360 recovery a 360 management of this waste that we we want to manage and that is what Akab ke been to do. Currently the plant is processing about 120 metric tons of the waste that is per day and then it receives this municipal solid. Mind you the waste we receive are municipal solid waste. It doesn't include hospital waste or any form of hazardous waste. The waste we are receiving here are basically

1:31:24municipal solid waste and then we produce compost out of it and recover other recoverable materials out of this compost as well. the vision our vision feeds into the bigger vision of the just one group I saw so I won't go into that as um into that I we sort and then produce compost and recycling materials out of the compost as I said earlier the capacity is about 200,200 tons of municipal solid waste per shift and then when we go onto a double shift we are doing about 2,400 metric tons currently I I think Ara generates about 400 4,000 tons of waste per day and Ara alone is off taking

1:32:12about,200 of these waste and when we go on a double shift we are doing about 2,400. So that tells us how integral we are in this circular economy and this topic of sustainability. So if aka alone is doing this then you can imagine hi if this waste were not recovered what would have happened to the waste.

1:32:36Okay, sorry.

1:32:46So our key focus and operations at AAB like I said earlier we recover all the recoverables materials that can recovered are all recovered from AAB and then the primary screening the secondary screening and then a curing system which cures the compost and make it ready for use by consumer basically um compost material. And then we also recover the plastic side where we have a designated area at the at the facility where we recover pl an automated plant that recovered and recycles these pets into pets for

1:33:25consumers. The sighting of AKAB came through a research where we realized that 62% of organic of waste generated in Ghana are all organic and you can bear me with this they are all organic as well. You all the organic we generate in your home are sent here and then also the testiles the leather the metal portions are also recovered. When we go further, I will tell you what we do with the paper, the testiles and the leather portions of the

1:33:56waste that we recover. Like I said earlier, these are the product that are recovered from the material at AKAB through research. Apart from the the plastic which are recovered, we have the AKAB compost which is the organic compost you see which is used by farmers through the galam. I know a lot of these land had been um destroyed. So akab compost was one of the compost that was recommended to to be used to reclaim those lands that um galam site have destroyed. And we have the aab liquid compost which is through research. We also came out with organic liquid compost. If you don't want to use organic the solid one

1:34:40there's a liquid compost. And there's one that being used by government um we are working with the cocoa board. They are now using this soil as medium to now plant seedlings, cocoa seedlings for farmers and that is what a does right now. And so that tells you that within the circular economy we are nothing goes

1:35:00waste. So these are the product from the pelletized plastics what we call recover from the PL. You have the pelletized PP, the pelletized HD, the pelletized LD and then the shredded PET which you see on the on your on your tables. These are all shred. You see them in the pictures over there. These cells are secondary material for the recycling industry. So after we do this we have a sister company and even beyond that we we have opters from private entities and some use these materials to produce um reflectors and then Jesse the the Jesse we use for football. They are opt who who come for these materials and then

1:35:44use it for these material and so realize that nothing goes to waste here. Everything we are recovering from the plant at the end of the day is being used for something back into the environment and that is secularity. I said I'm going to talk about a RDF here. Yes. be through our research we've been able to come up with a RDF where the the combustible material that are recovered when I say combustible I'm talking about the ties the papers the testiles which are recovered from the waste are now put together to produce what we call ADM that is refuge derived fuel and currently we did a pilot um

1:36:30production and we are producing about 780 tons per here and there are plans to upscale with time and then there's another research that is ongoing that is plastic to fuel where we are using plastic to produce fuel at the plant and because we want to go entirely sustain we want to now embody the sustainability system well there's a plans to go solar where we are going to use the energy produced even through our RDF now to power ourselves this is still something undergoing research We've also had the opportunity to produce compo compa now goes in there to detox the soil and at the end of the day is being used. We

1:37:15have we are going through a pilot system with the institution right now and also there's a plan to also have organo mineral where we mix the organic compost with inorganic fertilizer to produce compost for farmers. So I want to now talk more about the AAB RDF. So like I said these are materials that are recovered from the AAP um the waste that we generate that that comes to our facility. The testiles, the plastic, the wood and the paper. These are all recovered from the material and at the end of the day they are now blended together at a very specific ratio to generate the AAB RDF. Currently

1:38:02we are targeting a chloric value of about 15 to 25 megaj per kg and that is what we are taking. We have an offtaker currently um at our customer testers are currently our key offtakers for our LDF where they are using to generate energy for their plant and so we're also opening for opportunities in that area for our contribution to sustainability like I said earlier a serve intermediary between waste holage and waste landfill hither to these waste the 11,020 tons of waste would have been taken to the landfill site that is Not to say that we can't have we there will be a zero landfill. There can be no way we have a

1:38:45zero landfill. By the end of the day, we are able to expand the landfill of the knowledge and the waste landfill. So at the end of the day, the waste that goes to landfill are very minimal and we can extend the lifespan of this landfill site. A clear example is the pawn landfill site. Per research was supposed to last for were designed to last for about 33

1:39:06years. But because of the volumes that were going all the time, I think the lifespan was now shortened to about 20 years because of the volume. But if these waste were recovered where facility of like Akab we had a lot of more of these facilities in the system could have recovered most of the waste and then taken few of the inet to the landfill and that could have even expanded the lifestyle of these waste landfill site

1:39:33and so that is what AKAB comes in to do. Like I said, we are closing the organic loop by creating compost and secondary material for the plastic market recoverable from these plastic. And so at the end of the day, these PET bottles, these LP, this HM that are recovered from the environment and serve as secondary materials for the recycling industry, we now they've produced the same dust beans and other material back

1:39:59into the environment for it to be used. Currently AKAB have direct job about 200 people but that's a sustainable industry like what Madame Pel said also reduction of the carbon footprint by reducing greenhouse gases these waste are recovered these organic we all know the importance of what we does in the landfill site are all by trapping these organic waste from the environment and then generating compost out of it and so reduce the carbon footprint print at the end of the day for opportunities waste generation is not going to reduce I think waste generation is a direct function of waste population and the lifestyle of the people and once our lifestyle keeps

1:40:48increasing we keep changing our lifestyle population 10 years ago we're about 15 million now population has doubled we about 30 million and even more and so the waste volumes are not going to reduce waste volumes are going to increase with time is up to us how we can sustainably manage the waste that we are generating and so we are open for collaboration institutions. I think currently we have an MOU with key institution with acra school of hygiene where student come in for research. We have a research farms and and so student come in with research we give them research topic which we think will to bridge the gap between the industry and

1:41:27academia. So they go through our research farm test our materials on the field also use the data they have for their research work as so we are open for collaboration with the institution CSR and then internship every year we receive not less than 100 student in total from various institutions internship for to learn and also impart what they have in the academics to the industry our lessons learned from Akab like I said aab was Um we AKAB was being existent since 2012 and so it has gone through a lot of transformation. When we started AAB the primary product was the AAB solid compost with time we have

1:42:12about three variants of of compost of fertilizer that's the AAB compost plus the AAB liquid compost and then now we are going into RDF we are going to waste to um waste to time to influence policies and energy to create the enabling environment for these companies to thrive. There are a lot of things that um I know government is here. Some of the challenges are crosscutting to every industry. Sustainable financing is one of them. And so we are open to work with government as we have always done to share the lessons. and how we can create the enabling environment for more of such industries or more of such

1:42:55companies to be established to bridge to now help with waste that had that would have been gone to the landfill site for indirect offtaken opportunities for farmers like we said we work with farmers we work recycling industry we work with individuals we are open to work with these industries to serve at off ticket for our product to be used in other part of the country and even in Ghana and beyond provide service that help producer brand and brand manage their packaging waste and miss sustainability for this particular we've worked with Nestle Ghana where the because of the nature of the of of the of what they do

1:43:36and the and the kind of waste they generate they may need specific industry to now manage the waste. We have worked with Nestle Ghana where we collect their waste as a form of extended project responsibility services. We collect the waste and then the organic portions are used for organic compost. The plastic portions are now then being used for the plastic recycling industry. We've worked with fan milk Ghana. We've worked with Trellum. We are working with Vortic now where they are defective bottles. They don't know what to do with it. We collect them as part of the EPL service we are providing for them and then find

1:44:18a sustainable means of managing these waste now because all these ways are now going they want to be sustainable and so we we we we collect their ways manage sustainable for them give them sustainable report sustainability reports and even certificates to now to use for their businesses as well.

1:44:41So you can see that all our pro our operations provide us the opportunity to contribute to SDG not only SDG6 for poverty you have livelihood there for zero hunger we are providing livelihood food for families as well and let me add that when you visit when you do the technical tour tomorrow hopefully you realize that the nature of the plan has we have intent intentionally provided both the auto the mechanical and the manual sorting system which has been deliberate to provide livelihood for the people within the community. So when you go there and you see waste makers picking their waste and all that it is intention

1:45:24we've been intentional about it to provide work for the people serving as a quality control measure to serve as a provide livelihood for the people within the recovered from the system. So I I wish that you do visit us tomorrow. So you see our operation hinges on all the all the SDG good climate action is the opportunity for what we do. Thank you

1:45:47very much. [applause]

1:45:54Any questions? I hope all right thank you. I I I wouldn't want people to ask questions because uh tomorrow we are going to Akab to see things for ourselves. That's why you have the opportunity to ask the right questions and so make it a point to be part of our plant. You have a reorientation of how waste management is done. So uh another round of applause for our sister bunch. But before that I want to the maid desire where family breaks prayer um holds. This is a book that um made a record sale how marketable the book has become and so as young people being uh equipped for tomorrow's

1:46:39sustainability reading is one of the key thing you are young people here uh this is for you the mate desire where family breaks prayer holds. All right. So, uh, if there's nothing more to add, then I release you to go for lunch. And so, make sure you have your your card. Is it coupon? Yes, this coupon. Make sure you

1:47:04have one else you'll be hot. Mhm. is um please make sure all our guests the via

1:49:13[music] For all of us, the dream is the same. A future that [music] endures, where sustainability is not just an aspiration, but our reality.

1:49:30[music] Through our engineering mastery, the build space emerges as the keystone [music] in building that sustainable future we all aspire to have. But there are times [music] when the path to a secure future leads us back to confront the [music] past and meant what was broken.

1:50:00In Ara Ghana, we had to go back and reshape the skyline. At the center of the world, there stood a mountain, a mountain of waste that threatened the very existence [music] of the people living nearby.

1:50:22The Kong landfill site in Ara, Ghana was once a dire environmental and public health crisis causing deep distress for the government and residents of Pong Katamansso. But it is killing people. It is not it is not healthy. It is part of this that we are calling that the boiler should be removed. Enough is enough. We are demonstrating to register our displeasure on some of the things that

1:50:50are happening. For over a decade this landfill grew, collecting refues from all over Ara. It's too tall. A grim symbol of a failing waste management system with consequences that weighed heavily on both human lives and the fragile ecosystems around it. A catastrophic fire engulfed the landfill, marking a critical turning point. The fire intensified an already dire situation, serving as a stark reminder of the longstanding neglect that had allowed

1:51:35this environmental crisis to persist.

1:51:42United by a shared vision for sustainability, stakeholders from the government, the private sector, and the local community came together to tackle the issue. After thoughtful consultation and [music] deep engagement, we rolled up our sleeves, put boots on the ground, and began to move the air.

1:52:16Every stage of this remarkable project was executed with meticulous care. The result of the [music] engineers's hard work on this once heavily polluted landfill is now a stunning triumph both architecturally and engineering wise through a line of bone landfill has been reshaped and sustainable haven has emerged from the ashes.

1:52:55What we are seeing now is actually the foundation for a solar farm. [music] This is a very wide surface and you know how sometimes connect it to either your traffic light or to the neighboring community with electricity. Looking at it from the engineering perspective, engineering is all about solving problems beyond the challenged to bring some useful benefits to society. We were all so much excited about it. So what you see now is as a result of moving of waste, reshaping of the waste, covering with latrite, receiving a jewel membrane, covering Latite again, a geo textile, a jewel membrane, and then we have finally the T layer which you see there. I must say I

1:53:37was quite excited when executive chairman nominated me to lead a legal aspect in the acquisition of closure tests from Atlanta Georgia and United States. I must commend my legal team that helped me put this together. I must say we were very professional and likewise the team in Atlanta they was also very professional and in the end we can always say that we're happy that we met and we did a beautiful job. This project is a unique project, the first of its kind in Africa with the government of Ghana as a client and Zumion Ghana Limited as a main contractor. This was a design and build contract. Therefore, Feds Limited led

1:54:15the design team alongside Joint Tech from the USA to secure a sustainable future for generations to come. The visionary just group of companies, [music] Africa's waste management giants, embarked on a grand mission. The group began constructing [music] state-of-the-art material recovery facilities across Ghana and beyond, tackling [music] the waste disposal challenge and safeguarding the environment for the generations yet to

1:54:49be. This remarkable feat serves as a reminder that even in the [music] face of seemingly insurmountable challenges, when we put our engineering experience together with a shared purpose, we can overcome, rejuvenate, and create a brighter future.

1:55:52in one day. We receive all this from the greater Kumasi catchment area and its adjoining districts.

1:56:04[music] So we have the largest recycling and composting facility in Africa. Organic compost is the lifeline for our agricultural sector. We are the first in Africa to use compost tunneling as a way of finishing our compost on site. This isn't just [music] a plant. Behind these walls, we mine the blackboard. This is where and [music] how it's made

1:56:31here in Ghana. We've never consumed this much and a lot of it is organic. The

1:57:25In one day, we receive all this from the greater Kumasi catchment [music] area and its adjoining districts.

1:57:37[music] So we have the largest recycling and composting facility in Africa. Organic compost is the lifeline for our agricultural sector. We are the first in Africa to use compost tunneling as a way of finishing our compost on site. This isn't just a plant. Behind these walls, we mine [music] the black gold. This is where and how it's made here in

1:58:05Ghana. We've never consumed this much and a lot of it is organic. [music] The plastics are shooting up. Waste is on the rise. Global solid waste generation could [music] rise from the current 17 billion tons to 27 billion tons annually by 2050. Waste recovery and recycling is the way forward. We cannot keep sending all our waste to landfills and dump sites for much longer. Because of urbanization, land to use for landfilling is becoming more difficult to find. Not to mention the cost to government of operating and maintaining many landfills around the country. The good thing is that a lot of what we call waste are materials that

1:58:52are reusable. One person's waste is another person's resource. Our facility is set up to receive municipal solid waste, recover reusable items from the waste, and recycle the recovered items into raw materials for industry. By recovering and recycling, we are taking giant [music] steps in preserving a clean and green environment for present and future

1:59:16generations.

1:59:22because

1:59:30[music]

1:59:36[music]

1:59:43[music]

1:59:50Machine [music]

2:00:06Kap is situated at Ada within the Bosum district of the Ashanti region. The plant has the capacity to receive and process 1,200 metric tons of municipal [music] solid waste in a daily shift. It also has the tendency of working more than a shift. This caters for all the waste that is generated within Kumasi

2:00:28and it adjoining communities. Waste now directed to the [music] site is Fed's way to ascertain the tonnage of waste entering the facility. This is achieved with a state-of-the-art [music] weighing bridge on site. From here the waste is tipped at the receiving bay of the sorting plant for the sorting process to begin. The trucks comes in there and then

2:00:54offload the waste onto the bay. This is the control room for the whole plant. This where we change the speed of each [music] machine. We can on each machine here and also have a cameras around of which can also monitor what is going on on the field. The wheel loader goes in there and scoop the weight from the receiving bay and then push it through to the apron feeder. There is a bunker conveyor which runs through from the apron feeder into what we call primary sorting cabin. There are human intervention whereby they pick materials that we don't need to go through the process flow such as car batteries flows

2:01:34through the shredder or the terminator. The shredder have been designed to break into any fold up waste. Then from there it's also moved into another conveyor which runs through into what we call the trac organic waste that we need drops down when they are of a smaller particles of 80 mm. The magnetic separator has been designed to attract all the metals that find itself in the municipal solid waste. The process flow continues to the

2:02:08second trimester screen. From here it moves the ballistic separator then to the 2D and 3D carbon. There are human intervention whereby they try to sort out all the other materials that we need in terms of segregation of the waste. The start screen also do further separation to make sure that all the unwanted materials that find itself within organic line are also further being

2:02:36separated. All the organics are finally conveyed through an overhead conveyor system which lands in tunnel zero. So after our feed stock has gone through the sorting process, the organic component is kept in the tunnels for a period of time. Within that period, all the parameters are monitored and within a time range, they are out and sent out for curing. Before we have our compost in the right nutrients for our market, we try to check or analyze for the nutrient level of the organic feed and then the compost that is produced. We also [music] do heavy metal analysis here to ensure that the heavy metals are

2:03:16not in the compost that are produced. And then we also ensure that the compost contains the right level of NPK that is the nitrogen, the phosphorus, the potassium and then the CN ratio. Our compost is easy to apply on farms. It rejuvenates the soil and [music] enables it to supply the needed nutrients for crops to ensure high crop

2:03:38production. Our biggest obstacle [music] is the government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. We will therefore recommend our compost to farmers in general, especially those along the cocoa belt, vegetable growers, horiculturists to use or try our compost. Our compost is also good for land reclamation, especially on lands that have been depleted by mining activities. Matured compost is bagged on site. This compost is excellent organic fertilizer for agriculture and horiculture. K Cup can produce 3,000 bags of finished 50 kg compost daily. The sorted inorganic matter, plastics, metals, textiles, paper, and glass among others are semi-processed on site. At the plastics recycling center, the plastics undergo washing, shredding, extrusion, and

2:04:34pelletizing. The pellets are bagged and sold to plastics products manufacturers as raw material. Metals and paper are also further sorted by type and build for customers in the metals and paper [music] industries respectively. The residual waste not currently needed is brought here. The engineered residual landfill 90% [music] of waste is recovered. There are plans to convert

2:05:01even the residual waste to energy. We also have a state-of-the-art [music] conference and lecture rooms for your meetings and conferences. mechanic workshop to meet your every need on site. We also offer ecourism for students, institutions [music] and the general public. Our employees are most valuable assets and they are treated as such. We have created a conducive, healthy and happy work environment which ensures employee job satisfaction and engagement. Each employee has a well-defined reporting relationship which makes [music] goals

2:05:37and objectives easily achievable. An on-site clinic also allows employees to receive care and first aid assistance quickly and conveniently. We are working towards [music] becoming an employer of choice. Our activities are also in support of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. We wish to encourage [music] the general public to dispose waste properly. But when they do they should make sure it

2:06:04comes to K cup. So anything to do with the testing, monitoring, analyzing of soil, of water and air, we are able to provide customized solutions [music] to customers. We can provide engineering and consultancy services in all things [music] environmental. This is our future with KAP. a better environment.

2:06:37In one day, we receive all this from the greater Kumasi catchment area and it's adjoining [music] districts.

2:06:50[music] So, we have the largest recycling and composting facility in Africa. Organic compost is the lifeline for our agricultural sector. We are the first in Africa to use compost tunneling as a way of finishing our compost on site. This isn't just a plant. Behind these walls, we mine the black gold. This is where and how it's made here in Ghana. We've never consumed this much and a lot of it is organic. The plastics are shooting up. [music] Waste is on the rise. Global solid waste generation could rise from the current 17 billion tons to 27 billion tons annually by

2:07:372050. Waste recovery and recycling is the way forward. We cannot keep sending all our waste to landfills and dump sites for much longer. Because of urbanization, land to use for landfilling is becoming more difficult to find. Not to mention the cost to government of operating and maintaining many landfills around the country. The good thing is that a lot of what we call waste are materials that

2:08:04are reusable. One person's [music] waste is another person's resource. Our facility is set up to receive municipal solid waste, recover reusable items from the waste, and recycle the recovered items into raw materials for industry. By recovering and recycling, we are taking giant steps in preserving a clean and green environment for present and future

2:08:29[music] generations.

2:08:41society.

2:08:47[music] Wash

2:08:57[music]

2:09:08for Kap is situated at Adja within the Bosum district of the Ashanti region. The plant has the capacity to receive and process 1,200 metric tonses of municipal [music] solid waste in a daily shift. It also has the tendency of working more than a shift. This caters for all the waste that is generated within Kumasi and its adjoining communities. Waste now directed to the site is Fed's way to [music] ascertain the tonnage of waste

2:09:41entering the facility. This is achieved with a state-of-the-art [music] weighing bridge on site. From here the waste is tipped at the receiving bay of the sorting plant for the sorting process to begin. The trucks comes in there and then offload the waste onto the bay. This is the control room for the whole plant. This where we change the speed of each machine. We can on each machine here and also have a cameras around of which can also monitor what is going on on the f. The wheel loader goes in there and scoop [music] the waste from the receiving bay and then push it through to the apron feeder. There is a bunker

2:10:24conveyor which runs through from the apron feeder into what [music] we call primary sorting cabin. There are human intervention whereby they pick materials that we don't need to go through the process flow such as car batteries, bulky engines, waste that are not needed to be parts of the process. The material flows through the shredder or the terminator. The shredder have been designed to break into any fold up waste. Then from there it's also moved into another conveyor which runs through into what we call the tra screen. At the tra screen all the organic waste that we need drops down when they are of a smaller particles of 80 mm. The magnetic

2:11:11separator has been designed to attract all the metals that find itself in the municipal solid waste. The process flow continues to the second trimest. From here it moves the ballistic separator then to the 2D and 3D carving. There are human intervention whereby they try to sort out all the other materials that we need in terms of segregation of the waste. The starcreen also do further separation to make sure that all the unwanted materials that find itself within organic line are also

2:11:48further being separated. All the organics are finally conveyed through an overhead conveyor system which lands in tunnel zero. So after our feed stock has gone through the sorting process, the organic component is kept in the tunnels for a period of time. Within that period, all the parameters are monitored and within a time range they out and sent out for curing before we have our compost in the right nutrients for our market. We try to check or analyze for the nutrients level of the organic feed and then the compost that is produced. [music] We also do heavy metal analysis here to ensure that the heavy metals are not in

2:12:28the compost that are produced. And then we also ensure that the compost contains the right level of NPK that is the nitrogen, the phosphorus, the potassium and then the CN ratio. Our compost is easy to apply on farms. It rejuvenates the soil and enables [music] it to supply the needed nutrients for crops to

2:12:49ensure high crop production. Our biggest obstacle is the government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. We will therefore recommend our compost to farmers in general, especially those along the cocoa belt, vegetable growers, horiculturists [music] to use or try our compost. Our compost is also good for land reclamation, especially on lands that have been depleted by mining activities. Matured compost is backed on site. This compost is excellent organic fertilizer for agriculture and hoticulture. Kup can produce 3,000 bags of finished 50 kg compost daily. The sorted inorganic matter, plastics, metals, [music] textiles, paper and glass among others are semi-processed on site. At the plastics recycling center, the plastics

2:13:43undergo washing, shredding, extrusion and pelletizing. The pellets are bagged and sold to plastics products manufacturers as raw material. Metals [music] and paper are also further sorted by type and build for customers in the metals and paper [music] industries respectively. The residual waste not currently needed is brought here. The engineered residual landfill. 90% of waste [music] is recovered. There are plans to convert

2:14:13even the residual waste to energy. We also have a state-of-the-art conference and lecture rooms for your meetings and conferences. mechanic workshop to meet your every need on site. We also offer ecourism for students, institutions [music] and the general public. Our employees are most valuable assets and they are treated as such. We have created a conducive, healthy and happy work environment which ensures employee job satisfaction and engagement. Each employee has a well-defined reporting relationship which [music] makes goals

2:14:49and objectives easily achievable. An on-site clinic also allows employees to receive care and first aid assistance quickly and conveniently. We are working towards [music] becoming an employer of choice. Our activities are also in support of the sustainable [music] development goals of the United Nations. We wish to encourage the general public to dispose [music] waste properly but when they do they should make sure

2:15:16it comes to kup. So anything to do with the testing monitoring analyzing of soil of water and air we are able to provide customized [music] solutions to customers. We can provide engineering and consultancy services in all things environmental. This is our future with KAP, a better environment.

2:15:50In one day, we receive all this from the greater Kumasi catchment [music] area and its adjoining districts.

2:16:02[music] So we have the largest recycling and composting facility in Africa. Organic compost is the lifeline for our agricultural sector. We are the first in Africa to use compost tunneling as a way of finishing our compost on site. This isn't just a plant. Behind these walls, we mine [music] the black gold. This is where and how it's made here in

2:16:30Ghana. We've never consumed this much and a lot of it is organic. [music] The plastics are shooting up. Waste is on the rise. Global solid waste generation could [music] rise from the current 17 billion tons to 27 billion tons annually by 2050. Waste recovery and recycling is the way forward. We cannot keep sending all our waste to landfills and dump [music] sites for much longer. Because of urbanization, land to use for landfilling is becoming more difficult to find. Not to mention the cost to government of operating and maintaining many landfills around the country. The good thing is that a lot of what we call waste are materials that

2:17:17are reusable. One person's waste is another person's resource. Our facility is set up to receive municipal solid waste, recover reusable items from the waste and recycle the recovered items into raw materials for industry. By recovering and recycling, we are taking giant steps in preserving a clean and green environment for present and future generations.

2:17:47because

2:17:55[music] Foreign [music]

2:18:23speech. Foreign speech.

2:18:31Kap is situated at Adja within the Bosum district of the Ashanti region. The plant has the capacity to receive and process 1,200 metric tons of municipal solid waste in a daily shift. It also has the tendency of working more than a shift. This caters for all the waste that is generated within Kumasi and its adjoining communities. Waste now directed to the [music] site is Fed's way to ascertain the tonnage of waste

2:18:59entering the facility. This is achieved with a state-of-the-art weighing bridge on site. From here the waste is tipped at the receiving bay of the sorting plant for the sorting process to begin. The trucks comes in there and then offload the waste onto the bay. This is the control room for the whole plant. This where we change the speed of each machine. We can on each machine here and also have a cameras around of which can also monitor what is going on on the F. The wheel loader goes in there and scoop the weight from the receiving bay and then push it through to the apron feeder. There is a bunker conveyor

2:19:44which runs through from the apron feeder [music] into what we call primary sorting cabin. There are human intervention whereby they pick materials that we don't need to go through the process flow such as car batteries, bulky engines, waste that are not needed to be parts of the process. The material flows through the shredder or the terminator. The shredder have been designed to break into any fold up waste. Then from there it's also moved into another conveyor which runs through into what we call the trac organic waste that we need drops down when they are of a smaller particles of 80 mm. The magnetic separator has been

2:20:31designed to attract all the metals that find itself in the municipal solid waste. The process flow continues to the second trimest. From here it moves the ballistic [music] separator then to the 2D and 3D carving. There are human intervention whereby they try to sort out all the other materials that we need in terms of segregation of the waste. The starcreen also do further separation to make sure that all the unwanted materials that find itself within organic line are also further being separated. All the organics are finally conveyed through an overhead conveyor system which lands in

2:21:14tunnel zero. So after our feed stock has gone through the sorting process, the organic component is kept in the tunnels for a period of time. Within that period, all the parameters are monitored and within a time range they out and sent out for curing before we have our compost in the right nutrients for our market. We try to check or analyze for the nutrients level of the organic feed and then the compost that is produced. [music] We also do heavy metal analysis here to ensure that the heavy metals are not in the compost that are produced. And then we also ensure that the compost contains the right level of NPK that is the

2:21:55nitrogen, the phosphorus, the potassium and then the CN ratio. Our compost is easy to apply on farms. It rejuvenates [music] the soil and enables it to supply the needed nutrients for crops to ensure high crop production. Our biggest obtaker is the government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. We will therefore recommend our compost to farmers in general, especially those along the cocoa belt, vegetable growers, horiculturists [music] to use or try our compost. Our compost is also good for land reclamation, especially on lands that have been depleted by mining activities. Matured compost is backed on site. This compost is excellent organic fertilizer for agriculture and hoticulture. Kup can

2:22:45produce 3,000 bags of finished 50 kg compost daily. The sorted [music] inorganic matter, plastics, metals, textiles, paper and glass among others are semi-processed on site. At the plastics recycling center, the plastics undergo washing, shredding, extrusion and pelletizing. The pellets are bagged and sold to plastics products manufacturers as raw material. Metals [music] and paper are also further sorted by type and build for customers in the metals and paper [music] industries respectively. The residual waste not currently needed is brought here. The engineered residual landfill 90% [music] of waste is recovered. There are plans to convert

2:23:32even the residual waste to energy. We also have a state-of-the-art [music] conference and lecture rooms for your meetings and conferences. mechanic workshop to meet your every need on site. We also offer ecourism for students, institutions [music] and the general public. Our employees are most valuable assets and they are treated as such. We have created a conducive, healthy and happy work environment which ensures employee job satisfaction and engagement. Each employee has a well-defined reporting relationship which makes goals and

2:24:08objectives easily [music] achievable. An on-site clinic also allows employees to receive care and first aid assistance quickly and conveniently. We are working towards becoming an employer of choice. Our activities are also in support of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. We wish to encourage the general public to dispose waste properly. But when they do they should make sure it comes to K

2:24:36cup. So anything to do with the testing, monitoring, analyzing of soil, of water and air, we are able to provide customized solutions [music] to customers. We can provide engineering and consultancy services in all things environmental. This is our future with KCAP. a better environment.

2:25:08In one day, we receive all this from the greater Kumasi catchment area [music] and its adjoining districts.

2:25:24So, we have the largest recycling and composting facility in Africa. Organic compost is the lifeline for our agricultural sector. We are the first in Africa to use compost tunneling as a way of finishing our compost on site. This isn't just a plant. Behind these walls, we mine [music] the black gold. We've never consumed this much. And a lot of it is organic. The plastics are shooting up. [music] Waste is on the rise. Global solid waste generation could rise from the current 17 billion tons to 27 billion tons annually by

2:26:022050. Waste recovery and recycling is the way forward. We cannot keep sending all our waste to landfills and dump sites for much longer. Because of urbanization, land to use for landfilling is becoming more difficult to find. Not to mention the cost to government of operating and maintaining many landfills around the country. The good thing [music] is that a lot of what we call waste are

2:26:28materials that are reusable. One person's waste is another person's resource. Our facility is set up to receive municipal solid waste, recover reusable items from the waste, and recycle the recovered items into [music] raw materials for industry. By recovering and recycling, we are taking giant steps in preserving a clean and green environment for present and future

2:26:53[music] generations.

2:27:10[music]

2:27:15Wash

2:27:21[music]

2:27:28open. [music]

2:27:37Kap is situated at Adja within the Bosum district of the Ashanti region. The plant has the capacity to receive and process 1,200 metric tons of municipal solid waste in a daily shift. It also has the tendency of working more than a shift. This caters for all the waste that [music] is generated within Kumasi and its adjoining communities. Waste now directed to the site is Fed's way to [music] ascertain the tonnage of waste

2:28:06entering the facility. This is achieved with a state-ofthe-art [music] weighing bridge on site. From here the waste is tipped at the receiving bay of the sultan plant for the sorting process to begin. The trucks comes in there and then offload the waste onto the bay. This is the control room for the whole plant. This where we change the speed of each machine. We can on each machine here and also have a cameras around of which can also monitor what is going on on the F. The wheel loader goes in there and scoop the weight from the receiving bay and then push it through to the apron feeder. There is a bunker conveyor

2:28:50which runs through from the apron feeder into what we call primary sorting cabin. There are human intervention whereby they pick materials that we don't need to go through the process flow such as car batteries, bulky engines, waste that are not needed to be parts of the process. The material flows through the shredder or then from there it's also moved into screen. All the organic waste that we need drops down when they are of a smaller particles of 80 mm. The magnetic separator has been designed to attract all the met to the second

2:29:28trimester. From here it moves the ballistic [music] separator then to the 2D and 3D carving. There are human intervention whereby they try to sort out all the other materials that we need in terms of segregation of the waste. The start screen also do further separation to make sure that all the unwanted materials that find itself within organic line are also further being

2:29:56separated. All the organics are finally conveyed through an overhead conveyor system which lands in tunnel zero. So after our feed stock has gone through the sorting process, the organic component is kept in the tunnels for a period of time. Within that period, all the parameters are monitored and within a time range they are out and sent out for curing. Before we have our compost in the right nutrient for our market, we try to check or analyze for the nutrient level of the organic feed and

2:30:29then the compost that is produced. [music] We also do heavy metal analysis here to ensure that the heavy metals are [music] not in the compost that are produced. And then we also ensure that the compost contains the right. Our compost is easy to [music] apply on farms. It rejuvenates the soil and enables it to supply the needed nutrients for crops to ensure high crop

2:30:52production. Our biggest [music] obstacle is the government through the ministry of food and agriculture. We will therefore recommend our [music] compost to farmers in general, especially those along the cocoa belt, vegetable growers, horiculturists to use or try our compost. Our compost is also good [music] for land reclamation, especially on lands that have been depleted by mining activities. Matured compost is bagged on site. This compost is excellent organic fertilizer for agriculture and hoticulture. K Cup can produce 3,000

2:31:29bags of finished 50 kg compost daily. The sorted inorganic matter, plastics, [music] metals, textiles, paper, and glass among others are semi-processed on site. At the plastics recycling center, the plastics undergo washing, shredding, extrusion, and pelletizing. The pellets are bagged and sold to plastics products manufacturers as raw material. Metals and paper are also further sorted by type and build for customers in the metals and [music] paper industries respectively. The residual waste not currently needed is

2:32:07brought here to energy. We also have a state-of-the-art conference and lecture rooms for your meetings and conferences. Mechanic workshop to meet your every need. Employees are most valuable asset and they [music] are treated as such. We have created a conducive, healthy and happy work environment which ensures employee job satisfaction and engagement. Each employee has a well-defined [music] reporting relationship which makes goals

2:32:35and objectives easily achievable. An on-site clinic also allows employees to receive care and first aid [music] assistance quickly and conveniently. We are working towards becoming an employer of choice. We wish to encourage the general public to dispose waste properly but when they do they should make sure it comes to kup. So anything to do with the testing monitoring analyzing of soil of water and air we are able to provide customized solutions to customers. We can provide engineering and consultancy

2:33:13services. This is our future with Kup, a better environment.

2:33:24In one day, we receive all this from [music] the greater Kumasi catchment area and its adjoining districts.

2:33:37[music] So we have the largest recycling and composting facility in Africa. Organic compost is the lifeline for our agricultural sector. We are the first in Africa to use compost tunneling as a way of finishing our compost on site. This isn't [music] just a plant. Behind these walls, we mine the blackboard. This is where and how it's made here in

2:34:04Ghana. We've never consumed this much and a lot of it is organic. The plastics are shooting up. Waste is on the rise. Global solid waste generation could rise from the current 17 billion tons to 27 billion tons annually by 2050. Waste recovery and recycling is the way forward. We cannot keep sending all our waste to landfills and dump sites for much longer. Because of urbanization, land to use for landfilling is becoming more difficult to find. Not to mention the cost to government [music] of operating and maintaining many landfills around the country. The good thing is that a lot of what we call waste are materials that are reusable. One

2:34:53person's waste is another [music] person's resource. Our facility is set up to receive municipal solid waste, recover reusable items from the waste and recycle the recovered items into raw materials for industry. By recovering and recycling, we are taking giant steps in preserving a clean and green environment for present and future generations.

2:35:21because

2:35:28[music]

2:35:35[music]

2:35:42[music]

2:35:47first machine expert

2:36:05K Cup is situated at Adja within the Bosum district of the Ashanti region. The plant has the capacity to receive and process 1,200 metric tons of municipal solid waste in a daily shift. It also has the tendency of working more than a shift. This caters for all the waste that is generated within Kumasi and it adjoining communities. Waste now directed to the site [music] is Fed's way to ascertain the tonnage of waste

2:36:34entering the facility. This is achieved with a state-of-the-art weighing bridge on site. From here the waste is tipped at the receiving bay of the sorting plant for the sorting process to begin. The trucks comes in there and then offload the waste onto the bay. This is the control room for the whole plant. This where we change the speed of each machine. We can on each machine here and also have a cameras around of which can also monitor [music] what is going on on the field. The wheel loader goes in there and scoop the weight from the receiving bay and then push it through to the apron feeder. There is a

2:37:17bunker conveyor which runs through from the apron feeder into [music] what we call primary sorting cabin. There are human intervention whereby they pick materials that we don't need to go through the process flow such as car batteries, bulky engines, waste that are not needed to be parts of the process. The material flows through the shredder or the terminator. The shredder have been designed to break into any fold up waste. Then from there it's also moved into screen. All the organic waste that we need drops down when they are of a smaller particles of 80 mm. The magnetic separator has been designed to attract

2:38:00all the met to the second trimestream. From here it moves the ballistic [music] separator then to the 2D and 3D carving. There are human intervention whereby they try to sort out all the other materials that we need in terms of segregation of the waste. The starch screen also do further separation to make sure that all the unwanted materials that find itself within organic line are also further being separated. All the organics are finally conveyed through an overhead conveyor

2:38:35system which lands in tunnel zero. So after our feed stock has gone through the sorting process, the organic component is kept in the tunnels for a period of time. Within that period, all the parameters are monitored and within a time range they out and sent out for curing before we have our compost in the right nutrients for our market. We try to check or analyze for the nutrients level of the organic feed and then the compost that is produced. [music] We also do heavy metal analysis here to ensure that the heavy metals are not in the compost that are produced. And then we also ensure that the compost contains

2:39:16the right level of NPK that is the nitrogen, the phosphorus, the potassium and then the CN ratio. Our compost is easy to [music] apply on farms. It rejuvenates the soil and enables it to supply the needed nutrients for crops to ensure high crop production. Our biggest obstacle is the government through the Ministry of Food and

2:39:39Agriculture. We will therefore recommend our compost to farmers in general, [music] especially those along the cocoa belt, vegetable growers, horiculturists to use or try our compost. Our compost [music] is also good for land reclamation, especially on lands that have been depleted by mining activities. Matured compost is backed on site. This compost is excellent organic fertilizer for agriculture and hoticulture. Kup can produce 3,000 bags of finished 50 kg compost daily. The sorted inorganic matter, plastics, [music] metals, textiles, paper and glass among others are semi-processed on site. At the plastics recycling center, the plastics undergo washing, shredding, extrusion

2:40:28and pelletizing. The pellets are bagged and sold to plastics products manufacturers as raw material. Metals and [music] paper are also further sorted by type and build for customers in the metals and [music] paper industries respectively. The residual waste not currently needed is brought here to energy. We also have a state-of-the-art [music] conference and lecture rooms for your meetings and conferences. Mechanic

2:40:57workshop to meet your every need. Employees are most valuable assets and they are treated as such. We have created a conducive, healthy and happy work environment which ensures employee job satisfaction and engagement. [music] Each employee has a well-defined reporting relationship which makes goals and objectives easily [music] achievable. An on-site clinic also allows employees to receive care and first aid [music]

2:41:23assistance quickly and conveniently. We are working towards becoming an employer of choice. Our activities are also in support of the sustainable development [music] goals of the United Nations. We wish to encourage the general public [music] to dispose waste properly. But when they do, they should make sure it comes to kup. So anything to do with the testing, monitoring, analyzing of soil, of water and air. We are able to provide customized [music] solutions to customers. We can provide engineering and consultancy [music] services in all

2:42:01things environmental. This is our future with KAP, a better environment.

2:42:16In one day, we receive all this from the greater Kumasi catchment area and its adjoining districts.

2:42:28[music] So we have the largest recycling and composting facility in Africa. Organic compost is the lifeline for our agricultural sector. We are the first in Africa to use compost tunneling as a way of finishing our compost on site. This isn't just a plant. Behind these walls, we mine the blackboard. This is where and how it's made here in Ghana. We've never consumed this much and a lot of it is organic. The plastics are

2:43:05shooting up. Waste is on the rise. Global solid waste generation could rise from the current 17 billion tons to 27 billion tons [music] annually by 2050. Waste recovery and recycling is the way forward. We cannot keep sending all our waste to landfills and dump sites for much longer. Because of urbanization, land to use for landfilling is becoming more difficult to find. Not to mention the cost to government of operating and maintaining many landfills around the country. The good thing is that a lot of what we call waste are materials that are reusable. One person's waste is another person's resource. Our facility is set up to receive municipal solid

2:43:51waste, recover reusable items from the waste and recycle the recovered items into raw materials for industry. By recovering and recycling, we are taking [music] giant steps in preserving a clean and green environment for present and future generations. [music]

2:44:13because

2:44:20[music]

2:44:25[music]

2:44:32[music]

2:44:39first machine expert

2:44:57K cup is situated at Adja within the Bosum district of the Ashanti region. The plant has the capacity to receive and process 1,200 metric tons of municipal solid waste in a daily shift. It also has the [music] tendency of working more than a shift. This caters for all the waste that is generated within Kumasi and it adjoining communities. Waste now directed to the site is Fed's way to ascertain the

2:45:24tonnage of waste entering the facility. This is achieved with a state-ofthe-art weighing bridge on site. From here the waste is tipped at the receiving bay of the sorting plant for the sorting process to begin. The trucks comes in there and then offload the waste onto the bay. This is the control room for the whole plant. This where we change the speed of each machine. We can on each machine here and also have a cameras around of which can also monitor what is going on on the field. The wheel loader goes in there and [music] scoop the weight from the receiving bay and then push it through to the apron feeder. There is a

2:46:09bunker conveyor which runs through from the apron feeder into what [music] we call primary sorting cabin. There are human intervention whereby they pick materials that we don't need to go through the process flow such as car batteries flows through the shredder or the terminator. The shredder have been designed to break into any fold up waste. Then from there it's also moved into mesh screen. All the organic waste that we need drops down when they are of a smaller particles of 80 mm. The magnetic separator has been designed to attract all the metals that find itself in the municipal solid waste. The process flow continues to the second

2:46:53trimest. From here it moves the ballistic separator then to the 2D and 3D carving. There are human intervention whereby they try to sort out all the other materials that we need in terms of segregation of the waste. The starch screen also do further separation to make sure that all the unwanted materials that find itself within organic line are also further being

2:47:21separated. All the organics are finally conveyed through an overhead conveyor system which lands in tunnel zero. So after our feed stock has gone through the sorting process, the organic component is kept in the tunnels for a period of time. Within that period, all the parameters are monitored and within a time range they out and sent out for curing before we have our compost in the right nutrients for our market. We try to check or analyze for the nutrients level of the organic feed and then the compost that is produced. [music] We also do heavy metal analysis here to ensure that the heavy metals are not in

2:48:01the compost that are produced [music] and then we also ensure that the compost contains the right level of our compost is easy [music] to apply on farms. It rejuvenates the soil and enables it to supply the needed nutrients for crops to ensure high crop production. Our biggest obstacle is the government through the Ministry of Food and

2:48:24Agriculture. We will therefore recommend our compost to farmers in general, especially those along the cocoa belt, vegetable growers, horiculturists to use or try our compost. Our compost is also good for land reclamation especially on lands that have been depleted by mining activities. Matured compost is bagged on site. This compost is excellent organic fertilizer for agriculture and hoticulture. Kup can produce 3,000 bags of finished 50 kg compost daily. The sorted inorganic matter, plastics, metals, [music] textiles, paper and glass among others are semi-processed on site. At the plastics recycling center, the plastics undergo washing, shredding,

2:49:12extrusion and pelletizing. The pellets are bagged and sold to plastics products manufacturers as raw material. Metals and [music] paper are also further sorted by type and build for customers in the metals [music] and paper industries respectively. The residual waste not currently needed is brought here to energy. We also have a state-of-the-art conference and lecture rooms for your meetings and conferences. Mechanic workshop to meet your every need on site. Employees are most valuable asset and they are treated as such. We have created a conducive, healthy and happy work environment which ensures employee job satisfaction and engagement. Each employee has a well-defined reporting relationship which makes goals and

2:50:02objectives [music] easily achievable. An on-site clinic also allows employees to receive care and first aid assistance [music] quickly and conveniently. We are working towards becoming an employer of choice. Our activity we wish to encourage the general public to dispose waste properly but when they do they should make sure it comes to kup. So anything [music] to do with the testing monitoring analyzing of soil of water [music] and air. We are able to provide customized solutions to customers. We can provide engineering [music] and consultancy services in all things

2:50:42environmental. This is our future with KAP. A better environment.

2:50:57In one day, we receive all this from the greater Kumasi catchment area and its adjoining districts.

2:51:12So we have the largest [music] recycling and composting facility in Africa. Organic compost is the lifeline for our agricultural sector. We are the first in Africa to use compost tunneling [music] as a way of finishing our compost on site. This isn't just a plant. Behind these walls, we mine the black. We've never consumed this much and a lot of it is organic. The plastics [music] are

2:51:39shooting up. Waste is on the rise. Global solid waste generation could rise from the current 17 [music] billion tons to 27 billion tons annually by 2050. Waste recovery and recycling is the way forward. We cannot keep sending all our waste to landfills and dump sites for much longer because of urbanization. Land to use for landfilling is becoming more difficult to find. Not to mention the cost to government of operating and maintaining many landfills around the country. The good thing is that a lot of what we call waste are materials that are reusable. One person's [music] waste is another person's resource. Our facility is set up to receive municipal

2:52:25solid waste, recover reusable items from the waste and recycle the recovered items into raw materials for industry. By recovering and recycling, we are taking giant steps in preserving a clean and green environment for present and future [music] generations.

2:52:47because

2:52:55[music]

2:53:07[music]

2:53:15machine expert [music]

2:53:27[music] Kup is situated at Adja within the Bosum district of the Ashanti region. The plant has the capacity to receive and process 1,200 metric tons of municipal solid waste in a daily shift. It also has the tendency of working more than a shift. This caters for all the waste that is generated within [music] Kumasi and it adjoining communities. Waste now directed to the site is Fed's way to ascertain the tonnage of waste entering

2:54:00the facility. This is achieved with a state-of-the-art weighing bridge on site. From here the waste is tipped at the receiving bay of the sorting plant for the sorting process to begin. The trucks comes [music] in there and then offload the waste onto the bay. This is the control room for the whole plant. This where we change the speed of each machine. We can on each machine here and also have a cameras around of which can also monitor what is going [music] on on the field. The wheel loader goes in there and scoop the weight from the receiving bay and then

2:54:38push it through to the apron feeder. There is a bunker conveyor which runs through from the apron feeder into what we call primary sorting cabin. There are human intervention whereby they pick materials that with bulky engines waste that are not needed to be parts of the process. The material flows through the shredder. Then from there it's also moved into another conveyor which runs through into what we call the tra screen. At the tra screen all the organic waste that we need drops down when they are of a smaller particles of 80 mm. The magnetic separator has been designed to attract all the metals that find itself in the municipal solid

2:55:24waste. The process flow continues to the second trimesh. From here it moves the ballistic [music] separator then to the 2D and 3D carving. There are human intervention whereby they try to sort out all the other materials that we need in terms of segregation of the waste. The starcreen also do further separation to make sure that all the unwanted materials that find itself within organic line are also

2:55:54further being separated. All the organics are finally conveyed through an overhead conveyor system which lands in tunnel zero. So after our feed stock has gone through the sorting process, the organic component is kept in the tunnels for a period of time. Within that period, all the parameters are monitored and within a time range they out and sent out for curing before we have our compost in the right nutrients for our market. We try to check or analyze for the nutrients level of the organic feed and then the compost that is produced. We also do heavy metal analysis [music] here to ensure that the heavy metals are not in

2:56:35the compost that are produced. [music] And then we also ensure that the compost contains the right level of NPK that is the nitrogen, the phosphorus, the potassium and then the CN ratio. Our compost is easy to apply on farms. It rejuvenates the soil and enables it to supply the needed nutrients for crops to

2:56:55ensure high crop production. Our biggest offtaker [music] is the government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. We will therefore recommend our compost to farmers in general, especially those along the cocoa belt, vegetable growers, [music] horiculturists to use or try our compost. Our compost is also good for land [music] reclamation, especially on lands that have been depleted by mining activities. Matured compost is bagged on site. This compost is excellent bags of finished 50 kg compost daily. The sorted inorganic matter, plastics, metals, [music] textiles, paper and glass among others are semi-processed on site. At the plastics recycling center, the plastics undergo washing, shredding, extrusion and pelletizing. The pellets

2:57:49are bagged and sold to plastics products manufacturers as raw material. Metals and paper are also further sorted by type and build for customers in the metals and [music] paper industries respectively. The residual waste not currently needed is brought here. the engineered residual landfill. 90% of waste is recovered. There are plans to convert even the residual waste to

2:58:16energy. We also have a state-of-the-art conference and lecture rooms for your meetings and conferences. Mechanic workshop to meet your every need on site. We also offer ecourism for students, institutions [music] and the general public. Our employees are most valuable assets and they are treated as such. We have created a conducive, [music] healthy and happy work environment which ensures employee job

2:58:44satisfaction [music] and engagement. Each employee has a well-defined reporting relationship which makes goals and objectives easily achievable. An on-site clinic also allows employees to receive care and first [music] aid assistance quickly and conveniently. We are working towards becoming an employer of choice. Our activities are also in support of the sustainable development goals of the

2:59:08[music] United Nations. We wish to encourage the general public to dispose waste properly. But when they do, they should make sure it comes to kup. [music] So anything to do with the testing, monitoring, analyzing of soil, of water and air, we are able to provide customized solutions to customers. We can provide engineering and consultancy

2:59:34services in all things environmental. This is our future with KAP, a better environment.

2:59:50In one day we receive all this from the greater Kumasi catchment area [music] and it's adjoining districts.

3:00:04[music] So we have the largest recycling and composting facility in Africa. Organic compost is the lifeline for our agricultural sector. We are the first in Africa to use compost tunneling as a way of finishing our compost on site. This isn't for all of us. The dream is the same. A future that endures [music] where sustainability is not just an aspiration

3:00:36but our reality.

3:00:46Through our engineering [music] mastery, the build space emerges as the keystone in building that sustainable future we all aspire to have. But there are times when the path to a secure future leads us [music] back. to confront the past and men what was broken.

3:01:14In Ara, Ghana, we had to go back and reshape the skyline. At the center of the world, there stood a mountain, a mountain of waste that threatened the very existence of the people living nearby.

3:01:36The Kong landfill site in Ara Ghana was once a dire environmental and public health crisis causing deep distress for the government and residents of Pong Katamso. But it is killing people. It is not it is not healthy. It is part of this that we are calling that the boiler should be removed. Enough is enough. We are demonstrating [music] to register our displeasure on some of the things

3:02:04that are happening. For over a decade, this landfill grew, collecting refues from all over Ara. It's too tall. A grim symbol of a failing waste management system with consequences that weighed heavily on both human lives and the fragile ecosystems around it. A catastrophic fire engulfed the landfill, marking a critical turning point. This disaster brought the urgent need for sustainable waste management into

3:02:45sharp focus. The fire intensified an already dire situation, serving as a stark reminder of the long-standing neglect that had allowed this environmental crisis to persist.

3:03:05United by a shared vision for sustainability, stakeholders from the government, the private sector, and the local community came together to tackle the issue. After thoughtful consultation and deep engagement, we rolled up our sleeves, put boots on the ground, and began to move the air.

3:03:39Every stage of this remarkable project was executed with meticulous care. The result of the engineers's hard work on this once heavily polluted landfill is now a stunning triumph. Both architecturally and engineering wise through the collaborative efforts of the government, private sector, and resilient community, the skyline of Bone Landfill has been reshaped and the sustainable haven has emerged from the

3:04:11ashes.

3:04:23What we are seeing now is actually the foundation for a solar farm. This is a very wide surface and you will not have trees growing on it. Therefore, it means that you have a direct sunshine and you can tap into it and then generate electricity and sometimes connect it to either your traffic light or to the

3:04:39neighboring community with electricity. looking at it from the engineering perspective. Engineering is all about solving problems beyond the challenge to bring some useful benefits to [music] society. We were all so much excited about it. So what you see now is as a result of moving of waste, reshaping of the waste, covering with latite, receiving a jewel membrane, covering latite again, a geoteexile, [music] a jewel membrane, and then we have finally

3:05:08the 10th layer which you see there. I must say I was quite excited when executive chairman nominated me to lead the legal aspect in the acquisition of closure tests from Atlanta, Georgia, United States. I must commend my legal team that helped me put this together. I must say you were very professional and likewise the team in Atlanta. They were also very professional and in the end we can always say that [music] we're happy

3:05:31that we met and we did it. The food please. Did you enjoy the food? Great. Thank you so much for the feedback. All right, we have important and so in a few minutes time we'll be having a panel discussion as I indicated earlier. Yes minute.

3:06:06State

3:06:18process

3:06:25control where you machine and also came arounds

3:06:52All right. So, we've been talking about Africa's future when it comes to sustainability and secular uh economy. And it says the future of Africa's green economy depends on empowering today's youth with the right knowledge, skills and innovation to drive sustainability. And on this uh against this backdrop uh is what we are going to have the panel discussion. And so it's my singular honor and privilege to welcome up on stage Mr. Isaac Ado who is going to be the moderator [applause] for the next engagement. And so Mr. Isaac Ado,

3:07:44I hand over there. Thank you.

3:07:56All right. Thank you so much, Chris. Um good afternoon and um welcome back to this section. Obviously this section promises to be very interactive and very interesting cuz it's for the youth. So thank you so much. Um good afternoon once again executives. Good afternoon distinguished invited guests, ladies and gentlemen. I welcome you all to this section and um I am very honored to be the moderator for this particular section. My name is Isaac. I'm from medical waste kumasi and by way of information medical waste we are into the collection the transportation the treatment and the safe disposal of waste from our various

3:08:52health services. So um that's by way of information and then I'm not going to do this alone. So um without much ado want to zoom in and then call our various panelists. So we kickstart um before we move on um you realize that this year's theme says advancing sustainability and circular economy from for Africa's future and then this particular topic it will interest you to know that what we are going to discuss today cuts right into the heart of this particular yes theme. It says beyond the sustainability talk, how young professionals, right? So um for those of us that have been here from the beginning of the

3:09:49program, we've realized that we've heard so many uh presentations from great people from the bigger technologies, the technological terms, the jargon and bring it to a level where the young professionals can so much relate to it. So um uh we want to move on and call the panelist and then um to start in no particular order I will start with um Benita Bonita is from Akab Ara compost okay the challenge okay so that's about um benita we get um we move on to the next person and that's Harry Dumasi if Harry is here. Harry is also um a district manager at the Doma West if I

3:10:47have it right. Dom West is also a member of the ISBG that's the international the Institute of Sustainability and Professional Managers Ghana. Okay. He's also a founder actually. He's a founder of um Echosource Initiative if I have that right. Is that right? Okay. And then um he holds an MSE in environmental research management resource. Uh Mr. Steven from

3:11:20SSGL Tamil. He's also a researcher. He's a quality control um service supervisor. He's okay. He's also a biochar specialist, a scientist as well. Ladies, ladies and gentlemen, you're welcome. Okay. So, without much ado, we want to zoom in quickly into the activities. Um we've had a very interactive sessions from yesterday through to today. We've heard so many words and so many jargon but today we wanted to be at our level the young professionals level um sustainability actually to you in your dayto-day activities. I mean when you get up in the morning and you are moving on the principal streets of Tamale to get to your office to start

3:12:21your day and then you get to the operation field what what's really does sustainability mean to you in these activities in your day. All right thank you. So um good afternoon everyone um very way that it is um in our operations. So when we talk about sustainability that is where we talk about achieving the set objectives of our operations without any harm and then also making sure that we do that based on the

3:13:02principles of sustainability. So that is where you tend to look at what comes in. Um as I mentioned getting your objectives, your products from your treatments um as um waste management companies without any harm which stands on some pivotal points and what will that pivotal point be? The first will be social fairness and

3:13:35safety. um cost reduction [snorts] and then also making sure that your personnel are very abressed with your techniques and then the principles of sustainability as you bring in your your daily activities to achieve as I mentioned earlier on what your treatment seeks to to do. I'm coming from the wastewater treatment sector and so we are looking at how best we are deploying our safety measures, how best we are reducing our consumption, how best we are reducing our emissions, our water conservation and all that. So you realize that at the end of the day when you put all these together you are able to do your

3:14:40operations in a sustainable manner. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you very very much. That's very insightful. So if I understand you clearly for you it starts from our various homes where h the septic tanks are emptied and then the water that we call waste the liquid we call waste it comes to you you do all that you want to do with it you turn it and then you get the good things out of it you make value out of the water we call waste that's that's I think that's insightful that's very very much educative thank you so much I I will come back to you but um Let me quickly

3:15:19run to Harry. Um the same question whilst you think about it. I want to know in your workplace cuz Harry you are at um Doma West right? Yes. Okay. You are on the grounds. So I would say if you are walking on the streets of Doma West the principal streets you work with um the the sweepers the janitors and all those people. Tell me looking at your workplace where do you see the biggest opportunity to reduce waste and

3:15:50actually save energy? Thank you very much for the question. Um it's an honor to be here this afternoon. Good afternoon everyone. Um the [clears throat] biggest opportunity um in terms of waste reduction in my district would be roots optimization. For instance um I was having a conversation with um a colleague of mine and then he was telling me that in his district he used to um he was allocated 250 liters worth of fuel well every month. But then he noticed that that amount is so much. So he decided to incorporate um technology into it by

3:16:41using GIS software application. So he rerouted the whole district and then he noticed that the fuel consumption rate came down to um 235 saving him roughly about 15 L worth of fuel in a month. In a year that's around 180 lit. If you save such an amount by just rerouting your district, this is huge and um a huge amount of um money has been saved um you you save that

3:17:18amount of money for your organization. So I am thinking about um rerouting um the whole district. Okay. So with that that will be the biggest um opportunity for me in terms of waste um reduction in my district. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much Mr. Harry. Um very educative. Um so if I understand very well it means that for you um a mission is one of your problems and so if you are looking to solve something that's where you tackle and you reroute it to reduce your fuel and the consumption of um other um consumables from the vehicles and other

3:18:07things. Right. Precisely. Precisely. So um a quick followup to that um just recently the executive chair of um just one he made mention of um relying on um electrical vehicles that would transport um waste. So this is a process which um zoom lion and the entire just one will be relying on very soon and this is a great achievement just as you were even saying. Okay. So if um we use electrical vehicles within our operations you see that there will be zero emission within that sector. And come to think of it, okay, zero

3:18:57emission. You are saving enough um Yes. You're saving quite and you are not even relying on diesel. Yes. Exactly. So that that's that's a a huge one. Yes. Yes. I I I I think I think that is very very um I mean I I I can side with you. I I I I I think for that zero emission, I think I can side with you cuz these days when you look at certain trucks on the street and you see the kind of gases

3:19:22coming out, it's really really bad. That's that's very Thank you very much. Um let me quickly run to Benny. It looks Benny has been quiet for some time. Quick one. Benny, you are at AKAP, right? Yes. You are taking charge of all the electricals and the controls and the other things. Um tell me in the mornings you move to your office and you look at your plant and everything. Can you share with me one sustainability problem or opportunities that you have noticed in your subsidiary and in your own way what you think could

3:20:03be done differently to salvage that? Okay. Thank you very much. Good afternoon everyone. One of the problems we have at AKAP is the high dependency on national grid system which is the electricity and diesel fuel as well. When uh because we are a waste management processing operation we depend solely on ECG then on diesel fuel. Most of our operation about 80% of what we do or the machines we use over there depends on the ECG and if this ECG takes out their power we turn to the what do you call it the gen set the gen set also uses diesel fuel we already identified that already the the

3:21:05integration of solar pan panel. We can install solar panels at our plants and in the what do you call it administration blocks. We can channel some of these uh power supply to solar panel. Then the solar panel will be feeding the plants will be feeding on the solar panel or the h the solar panel will be h be a standby

3:21:35when the national gray system goes off. We will turn to the solar panel because we get the sun directly. It is not something that we buy. It is not the installation the money involved but because it is a long-term h project we are not looking at the money we are going to feed into this project we are looking at the long-term plan what this uh solar panel can uh we can get from this solar panel so the the EC has already initiated this project and I recommend them on that and there is Another thing that we can do whilst we are waiting for the installation of the

3:22:19solar panel, me being a electrical automation engineer, most of our uh plants or our machines that we use over there, they are automated. So we can uh monitor the current flow, the consumption and everything. So when some of these machines are not in use, we can just put them off and when uh we can also educate those in administration block because most of them are not technical people. So we can educate them on h how to turn off their gadgets that they use in the various offices before going home. So I think we we uh managing the consumption of electricity and fu we can uh do these things whilst we are

3:23:13waiting for the chairman to uh start with the integration of solar panel. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you very much. I mean the the the the reliance of um the the the whole plants on the national grid is actually a problem and it's not only with your side. I think it has a lot of areas it's affecting. So that's

3:23:36very very fine and um uh let's move on. I I I'll I'll I'll ask a follow-up question on that but for now let me move quickly to um Okay, Stephen, I'll come back to you. But but do you side with me that when you move to um a certain organization or office, you you you realize that especially the young professionals, they are able to detect so much easily things that are not really moving on well in the

3:24:10particular organization. You walk up to a a particular organization and the ones that they just employed them or the new ones coming that are now rising from the ranks are those that are able to detect certain things and um they are able to you know sit back and then they feel ginger to go and do something I is it is it right because I have a follow up question for that do do you side with me so that I'll follow up Har I'm asking you so I come to DMA and then I see that you've been there for some time. But the young ones that you just took, you took them up,

3:24:45you realize that they have a lot of things they want to talk to you about, do you side with them? Do you side with me? Yes, I with you. Okay. So the reason why I'm asking that is that if you side with me, if young ones who are not in authority, the the young professionals who don't have the final say or who if you like work under somebody directly and they find these things, what do you think are the things that they can do even though they are not the final say? What do you think

3:25:15they can do to salvage these situations? This is a very important question. Um as you you rightly said young professionals have brilliant ideas but then the implementation becomes a problem or a challenge but then one thing that I have noticed is that influence does not always come with authority. It comes by understanding the problem after knowing it and then um having a practical solution to that problem. Um I noticed that um a driver drives the truck goes to the final site for some time. Um I noticed that the um the time that he uses in lifting the container and then notice that the um driver has um a farm

3:26:09around a particular route that he he takes. Okay. So Okay. Okay. So while he's going to the the final site, he passes through the the farm the farm in order to check up one or two things. When I say one or two things, I know that Ghanaians understand what I mean here. So So when he gets there, he tries to do one or two things before he goes to the final site. So I have I now understand the problem. So how do I find

3:26:39a solution to this problem? Now um there is a shorter route which will also cut down cost and then at the same time reduce the number of um the amount of time that the driver has to use. So I now have to find a way to speak with the driver. I am not I I do not have the authority. I can influence decision. M. So I have to go to the driver, find a way to speak with the driver to use the right route which will save us that amount of full well and

3:27:19amount of time in um doing the the work. Okay. So with this even if you present it to the management every every good management will buy into this um idea. I don't think when you present this idea this beautiful idea to the management they they will deny you of um implementing this idea it come it comes with no cost to you but rather reducing um cost to the organization at the same

3:27:48time um saving the um the environment. Okay. So it's very important as well. Young professionals have to build um um have to have some kind of relationship with every department that they work in in their organization. For instance, sustainability is not just um something for just one um department. it cut across the finance, the IT, the HR, everyone is involved. Okay. So when you build meaningful relationship with um each department or every department within your organization, you see that when you work to the management or the each department maybe the finance to go to I want us to be paperless and I have a system that I want us to implement

3:28:43within this organization. Do you think they will reject it? No. Because you already have that meaningful relationship within the organization. Very smooth conversation. So um I believe in summary I believe that when um we have we build meaningful relationship within the department or within our fluence decision. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you very very much. Okay. Thank you. to just do something small for me. When we went for the coffee break, I had a chance of talking with some fellow young professionals from the school of hygiene. In fact, they they they told me not to call their names out, but I spoke to them on a certain initiative. They

3:29:28they they told me that they are they are waste is a mixed waste and so nobody sorts it out for them. And then who who whoever is trying to do it is because the person wants to gain something. So I asked who does that and they said oh is the alumi and the people that come for the 10 days separate. And I'm like okay fine when they go they will leave some there. So for me I I I would advise them that um just put some old baskets there and tell them that when you come with bottles put it here. When you come with this put it

3:30:03here. But I want you Stephen in your own words give them some few advice to for me. Okay. So um I think that the little advice I would give is for them to internally try and practice um waste segregation um in it will be something that will be very easy for them to do and I believe that this is where um they can leverage on um our uh uh corporate social responsibilities and our right uh business development offices to have various beings to be able to do the the segregation of the waste internally um so that all that we are preaching uh will will be escalated and then will be

3:30:53advanced. Yes. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Um um um are you have something small to also advise them on because at at I am coming from from Kumar say right my office is situated at I don't know if you know the place adja I have young pupils that I meet every day in and day out and I try to advise them on put this in your bag when you get to the house put it in the bin I am trying to inculcate the sustainability bits into them you coming from the ground, seeing how the streets and the places you keep

3:31:31tidy are always dirty every 24 hours. What advice will you give to your young professionals who are actually looking up to you? Just a little advice. Okay. Um I think my co-panelist made mention of most of them already. um sorting at um when we when we sort from source it helps a lot hardly before you

3:31:56can even see a liter around. Okay. Yes. So when the bins are there they are for taking the the drop it into the into the bin. You do not need any extra h force. So sometimes it it it becomes very challenging you see. So I think they should just use the the bins that have been allocated on the street. They should just put it inside. So I think that's okay. Thank you so much. I think you made a profound statement. You were like do is not really that dirty. If I got

3:32:31that right. Yes. Yes. I think you deserve some applause. If it's if it's not that dirty, then I think you are doing some good job or that clean. And I think you deserve I I think Steven and the others will learn from you and um they need [laughter] to learn. Okay. Okay. Fine. Now Steven moving companies are working and they have their core I mean if I should say the protocols they are following and so um sometimes they don't really realize some of the things that we realize. So I want to ask you how can young professionals help their companies move beyond simply managing waste to if you like

3:33:10um find a way of they would have gotten from the productions that they do. What what what do you think can be the right way to be? Okay, thank you. So um look and then circular economy um solutions, right? And then looking at the future of Africa, right? Right. Yes. And then with ours here with the the team for how we can what um advance to what

3:33:40actions. Yes. From the green everything the green solutions to what to actions. Not just being ambition but we take it to action. Exactly. So personally um I'm a research bias person. Right. Right. So I believe that the key I would like to borrow do that through research but then you realize that from our point of view just has done so much he has done so well in advancing our research um Dr. Aandam is here is a good testimony. Our research from Zumion, we have um engineer Teni here and our uh

3:34:22our seniors here. They've been advanced in researching. But what is the way what is the next step? I believe in moving further from the research to practical experimentation. So after obtaining the everything the hypothesis drawing the hypothesis making your conclusions from the research we need to make a deliberate attempt to be a experimentation. So that is where we

3:34:52talk about waste characterization. So the various waist streams you have you are able to characterize the waste. So for instance with a solid waste um uh we had uh Matilda coming to talk about Aup and you saw the statistics she drew. Yes. The waste characterization is able to let you know the the the fraction of the organics we have the plastics and all

3:35:16that. Once you do that you are able to preempt and know exactly what you'll be able to do is what will lead you to the composting. Because if you are able to know that you have 60 or 61 65% of organics in your waste then you know that you can pay particular attention or you can dedicate a lot of attention to

3:35:37to composting. What will the what will you do further? The research and the practical exper experimentation will let you move further from composting going into co-composting where you are able to blend the MSW organics with other organics or other biomass or other bioolids to get different products which of course will be more advanced or better than what you've already

3:36:07developed. Where does it go from there? you are able to go into biochar okay from the research because once you've been dealing in composting you get to know that carbon sequestration and through this research and practical experimentation um just last week about a few weeks ago we just returned from New York where the Jobong group represented Ghana Wow with um a project called G infinity where we are seeking to generate carbon credit oh wow And come to think of it, we topped the whole

3:36:42world. The whole world. So we emerged wina. Oh wow. We emerged from that's that's that's great. 22 countries initially. Oh fine. Coming up to the top five and then getting to US and then emerging. Okay. The the the best the best are the United Nations uh global compact solutions. That's that's that's good news. You realize that once you are able to advance in these areas, it makes you have detailed [snorts] and obtain all the best resources and valuables you need from the waste whereby nothing goes waste and then you

3:37:21recover all that you you need to. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. And congratulations group just you you you made Ghana proud, right? You you you you did a very good job out there. New York, you know, you know Hill. Benny, do do you side with um Steven um with the fact that you need to start from and that reminds me Stephen I'll come back to you. I know that you are a biochar expert um some of us here we might not have in-depth knowledge about the biochar itself what it means and what we can use it for. So I'll come

3:37:59back to you and give me a brief explanation of what biochar really is. But I'll go back to Benny. Benny, tell me, I want to know, do you side with what Steven is saying that um you you you move from research and then you go to the practicality has to start from research then you move to the

3:38:18practicality. Do you side with him? Because I have a follow-up question. Do do you side with him? Yes, I do. Okay. So if you do um at AKAP tell me what what what do you think that are the skills that young professionals need to gather we need to gain we need to study we need to be in tune and align with so that even as a progresses even up uh as SSGL progresses or zoom lion progresses or medical waste progresses we the young professionals will not be left out but always remain relevant in whatever activities that the company seeks to do or the direction the company seeks to

3:38:57go. What do you think are the relevant things that young professionals need to pick up? Okay, thank you very much. Uh we the young professionals I think before we will be able to h as the business is growing and is growing more greener and the circular economy to part I think uh the technical skill has to come in. then the sustainability mindset then the degalization as well I'm putting myself in this context as I said earlier on I am an electrical engineer to be specific auto automation engineer so for me to be relevant as the business is moving forward I have to be learning more I

3:39:47have to conduct more research because most of our machines are automated H I I I remember last year, ending of last year, we had the technical team in Josbond, we had a meeting with uh EC and he was like because we are into uh waste management. He wants the team to conduct more research. We should h do research and equipment that we will be using here in Ghana because most of the machines that you have been using they are manufactured outside and they they have that condition. So he told us to conduct more research. After the research we should p uh practicalize everything. We don't need huge amount of

3:40:38money. We can start from our subsidiaries. H the recycling plant per se, the recycling unit. H I remember there was an issue issued happened at the recycling unit. They brought a machine and [snorts] the machine they brought the what do you call it the the kind of PE bottle they designed that particular machine for. Okay. is different from this packed

3:41:07bottles we are using here. Okay. So we the engineers on site we were supposed to h work on it in such a way that when we use it for this particular uh pet bottles to shred it and make it suitable for our uh customers to come for them. So we worked on it. So I think we the young one thing is to become a manager or a supervisor before you'll be able to do anything. You can you can work on the little that you have receive another alternative so that the plants can me the key word for me is to be ready to

3:41:50learn and adapt to new changes. Ready to learn. Ready to learn. I think I think I I'll take that key word too. Ready to learn. Thank you so much, Ben. You're ready to learn. Okay. So, um I I har Okay, fine. Let me come back to Stephen cuz I I told I gave him a promise. Stephen, I I want you to tell us about the biochar we've been

3:42:15talking about. I I'm quite interested. Tell me the biochar bit of it cuz I know there are other people who wants to also know what biochar really is and what we can use it for. If you can help us. Okay, thank you. So um when we say biochar it's a basically a very carbonri material okay which you you generate from either bioolids or biomass um which is prepared under the condition

3:42:44where there is less oxygen or no oxygen. So for instance, you have seaweed sludge, dry seaweed sludge, you have coconut husk, you have sawdust. So you burn it in the absence of oxygen just like the process of how they they produce um charcoal. The charcoal. Yes. And it's it's very rich in carbon and it has a very complex um comp uh compound structure. Okay. um it has very good molecular structure. So we talk about the pH, we talk about the surface area and what it does is that when you put it of materials to it. So um with what we've done right at the moment over

3:43:31the past 2 years, we've used it in reclaiming the degraded mine soils from the galam sites. And what it does is that when you put the biochar in the soil, you know the the carbon is sea. So it tends to bond with the mercury, it tends to bond with the acinic, it tends to bond with the lead and then it takes it out from the soil or it's able to reduce its bioavailability or its movement, it spread within the

3:44:02soil. So uh basically that is what biochar is and it's very rich in nutrients. So you have the nitrogen. You have the phosphorus, you have the potassium. So it it does two things. It goes in to remove organic and inorganic contaminants from any environmental medium that you have being it water, being it soil. So at the moment we are even advancing research to how we can use it to remove contaminants from the air as well. So in seaway systems um we've advanced we've been able to use it

3:44:35for further wastewater treatment. advanced wastewater treatment is similar to what we call the activated carbon. Right? So basically that is what uh biochar is all about. I I I I I think I I asked the right question because the way you called out the gam sites and the way this biochar is able to salvage certain situations all our various waist streams right so we are looking at the solid and then the the liquid and even to some extent the medical right

3:45:05um um dry sludge. Mhm. Um uh corn cops. Mhm. Cow dunk. Right. Uh granite husk and then uh coconut husk. Great. Great. Now I'm um we I'm I'm speaking with Benjamin. Okay. And then we are bringing in the shredded um waste from the medical side. We are trying to characterize it and see. Okay. To see how best we can also chart that

3:45:30one as well. Okay. and probably blend a few materials to see how the concrete tiles that is being produced from the medical waste can also do that. And to add up to the biochar is also used in construction. So now biochar is replacing 20% of cement. Really? Yes. So um in advanced countries now so you have if your cement is 50 kg you pick 30 kg of the cement then you add 20 kg of

3:45:56of the bio is deemed as a carbon sink. Okay? Because it traps carbon and then it prevents the emission of heat makes it more and other things in the in the in the environment more suitable for people to live in. Yes. So very soon you'll hear that uh biochar is being used to augment cement in in in making concrete and then construction field. That's that's super that's that's super. But in in in any ways I I I I I had my subsidiary in there medical I think you should pass through me because in fact I I I won't let this thing pass me by. [laughter]

3:46:38All right. That's on the lighter side. Okay. So quick one Harry. Um um uh uh I I want to I want I want to find out from you. Um these are great ideas that um my brother here Steven is um pouring out very wonderful ideas and then some are actually in um um um um in production already. I want to know I know young professionals and other people out there they have these great ideas that they also want to put into action. Can you outline or can you tell me a few points that is actually becoming a hindrance to these particular ideas for not becoming um something that will see the light of

3:47:25day? Can you can you tell me what actually is preventing some of these ideas that comes into becoming um realities if if if you understand me well? Yes. Um I got your question. I think there are several of um these limiting factors but but then I will try to limit limited to this. Um it is mainly due to lack of uh fund. Yes. Mostly in um organizations sustainability is not something a core

3:48:01business priority in most organizations. Yes. But then you notice that when sustainability becomes a priority, the organization grows but we do not think about it as a priority in our organizations. So there is lack of funding within the organizations. Okay. Sometimes to um there's no clear pathway for young professionals to bring out their ideas. Okay. you you have beautiful ideas but you do not know exactly um who to even

3:48:38present it to. You do not even know how to go about it within your organization but you know that this um sustainability idea is it's a very good one but you do not know where to go. So these are some of the limiting factors. So your second part of the question is what should be done. So I think there should be a dedicated um funding in organizations towards sustainability. So when an idea is born, how is it implemented within the organization? So um you have the fund available readily available. You do not look elsewhere for uh funds so that it does not compete with the business

3:49:21priorities. So I think that when there's a a dedicated funding within organizations this will help as well when there is a clear pathway in uh communicating sustainability um issues as when the um idea is born how is it implemented within the organization I think it will also help. Thank you very much. Thank you very very much. And um I've just been noticed notified that and then a very big thank you to the my members here the panel members here. You guys are really wonderful. I am so happy and I am so honored to have moderated such a wonderful panel. Thank you so much. Um I don't know I'm not sure we may take

3:50:05questions but um maybe I can make way for two just two. Right. Right. Right. Um okay. So uh yes um good afternoon my name is uh but Fifi Francis from ACRA school of hygiene please I want to ask uh this question consider being a student although you're not a student put yourself in the shoes of a student okay okay who is interested in um waste management waste management You do all your segregations and then also engage your stakeholders and one of your challenge is because most of it for which you see for that reason when you complete your education or when you graduate and leave that

3:50:58which you started never get sustained. What will you do differently to sensitize these your people and also to let this um waste segregation plan that you started be sustained so that it will be part of the institution. Thank you very much. If I can uh if I really understand your question, I mean you started something in your school like the wast segregation and it's time for you to leave. you started it but the lens with which you see the thing they don't so when you leave um the tendency of that thing being haunted is high is that the question okay um my special learned ones please that's

3:51:48the question who would want to take that for me just to say something probably before my colleague go a little bit um that is where the collaboration comes in um the uh my colleague Matilda in her presentation spoke about where we collaborate with institutions. So for instance what we are doing what we are doing with um school of hygiene in Tamil is that every semester they are coming to our facility and we go and haul their waste. So when we haul their waste their waste water we haul it this week and then two weeks time they follow up for a visit. When they come we we take them

3:52:30through how the waste is treated. After that we send the compost. So Tamil school of hygiene now what we are doing with them now is that we have a project with them where we use the compost and the effluent to green their their compound and you'll find it interesting that because of that now some of the students have have found passion in even um agriculture or have found passion in doing their own something small. So I believe that some of these collaborations and this practical experiences as I mentioned earlier on will be able to bring out our passion our individual passion so that one one day when some they even leave school

3:53:14posting they they are learning how to do where um we do we let teach them how to write proposals. Thankfully our nextgen team lead we are very grateful to her with all these initiatives once we do these things we let it go out there and then we also let the students and other people that we come into contact learn it and then it also improves and then

3:53:38helps themselves as well. Yeah. Yes. Um thank you very much. Thank you so very much. Um just to add up he made mention of something I told you where I'm coming from medical ways right. So we have something we call edutor where people like yourself they come to our facility the other facilities SSG or other places to learn something about what we are doing. I think that alone is an eye openener when they come and you tell them what we go through or what we we we pass their waste through and they see the processes that it goes through and you tell them that okay fine let us

3:54:14shorten that processes by you helping me by we also sink something into their minds if that's clear enough for you I don't know if okay okay so um unfortunately because of for what of time there's somebody at the back there Let's pick that and see if we can um put that together and then

3:54:33Thank you. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Now my question goes to Mr. You know in the days of Vice President Aliama and regional minister Mustafa Idris Ali Tamil used to be the cleanest city in this country. Today it is no longer so. And I'm just wondering what has made it impossible for Tamil to sustain that law title and what do you think we can do going forward to ensure that at least Tamil comes back to the title that it

3:55:08held years ago. Thank you. Thank thank you. Okay. This is this is this is very passionate to me sir and thank you for asking this question. So I've been in Tamil um close to 4 years. Our plant started operation about four years. Febru next year, February be four years. Okay. The only viable trees, alternative trees you can talk about now is the ones that was planted during the canuluate that is moving towards the the stadium road, the bular road. You come to the ministries and then you realize that now all the trees Russian bangalow all the

3:55:46trees there are being cut. So I've I've I've gone in contact with forestry commission the uh RCC where we are having discussions on taking up greening initiatives. So we very soon we're going to start that where we want to green bring back the the greening of Tamali and then you know normally these things comes together once you want to green you clean and then you green. I'm of the firm belief that if you clean a place and you don't green the place and the

3:56:21place is brown, it will still get dirty. Yes. So these are some of the initiatives that we we are taking. Like I mentioned, I'm a I'm a a field practical bias person. So after all my research that I want you I want to put it on the field there for it to be evident for you to see that hey your waste water you are bringing your your your solid waste you

3:56:42are bringing this is the benefit of it. You are in the city, you are briefing in uh good air, your city is clean. It's because of your poo poo is because of your baller. So now it's it's and then that will lead us to how they handle the waste and then how they manage and and take care of the waste itself. So sir be rest assured I'm giving you my word. Um I mean yeah we is here she'll stick she'll stick her neck out for that. Uh [laughter] my my my pig people are here in about a year or two we'll transform

3:57:14Tamil [clears throat] for you. Yes indeed I we'll transform Tamale for you. My time is up as interesting as it is. I promise you it will be so interactive and so interesting and you know this is one of a kind throughout this whole session. Thank you so much my my my people for what you have done and

3:57:31I'll leave the rest to the Thank you. A bigger round of applause. Don't go yet please hold on. Um I would like to invite Reverend Engineer Sen to join them for a group photo. Um Dr. Rebecca Yandam, please come up for a group photo with them. And Mrs. and and my

3:58:03for all of us the dream is the [music] same. A future that endures where sustainability is not just an aspiration but our reality.

3:58:21Through our engineering mastery, the build space [music] emerges as the keystone in building that sustainable future we all aspire to have. But there are times when [music] the path to a secure future leads us back to confront the past and meant what was broken

3:58:49in Ara Ghana. We had to go back and reshape the skyline. Uh especially with COP 31 that is coming up in uh next month in Turkey. The theme is turning climate commitment into concrete actionable results. So it is no coincidence that the key word that actually characterized this particular panel discussion was action because we have enough research uh uh uh you know document take a move. So it is no coincidence that we are all talking about action action action and so it means that um we are taking a presentation on community based sustainability projects a case study of Kylegono community and this presentation is coming from the school of hygiene and

3:59:40this will be led by Gladis and Emmanuel. A bigger round of applause for them as they mount the stage.

4:00:06Good afternoon to you all. Please, my name is Gladis Doi Abiqu. I graduate from Akra School of Hygiene and a teaching assistant in the environmental health and sanitation department. And I'd like to first of all thank the head of department for environmental health and sanitation Dr. Michael Afford who has given us this opportunity. Grateful for the

4:00:36opportunity. Okay. So we would like to share on the topic community based sustainability projects a case study of polygonal community. Okay. So this the presentation outline sorry. So this is the presentation outline. So we'll talk briefly about the school. We'll talk also about some collaborations with NOS's. We'll talk about the projects we've involved in so

4:01:12far. So we have the project in phases. So someone may ask what is Acra School of Hygiene. So you've heard the just spawn group saying they've collaborated with the school. So the school was established in 1925 and is the oldest training health training institution in Ghana. So we are 101 year this year. We are very professionals through excellent teaching and learning skills for empowerment, research and dissemination of knowledge and we have a moto which says knowledge for

4:01:52sustainable health. So some of the programs we offer in the school are environmental health and sanitation at the degree level that's bachelor of science and the diploma level and we have um occupational therapy program at the diploma level and occupational health and safety at the diploma level also. So due to our commitment in maintaining sustainability in communities, we work closely with community- based NGO and also partner with some organization in water sanitation and hygiene intervention in other communities as

4:02:37well. So because of population of close to 28,000 people, this community is where most of our students and staff of the Kalibu teaching hospital, the biggest referral hospital in Ghana access food and resides. We therefore believe that we have a collaborative intervention with a afro climate change organization and it's a nonprofiting organization that provides training and consultation to communities. So recently they trained some um members of the community on the con construction of um some basic sanitation like the toilet facilities and they also ch so diving into our community intervention. So the phase one was based in a community as I said the polygonal community. So we

4:03:37first of all did community engagement where we identified assembly member and unit committee members. So we identified them and we held a deba household listing with the use of some technologies like the geographical information system where we gave codes to various households and these codes were very unique in nature. after which students were given or assigned to these communities the community and the households. So a group of four students were given a unique code to follow on the household. So these households were inspected to identify sanitation and related sanitation concerns and we were very surprised to realize that some household members were practicing open defecation. Some of them

4:04:40were poorly managing their waste by dumping the waste in open drains. Some of them too poorly discharged their waste water into the drains. And with identification of all these problems, we went back to the community. We projected all our findings to the community. We made all the things we realized in the community evident to them. So we projected to them and we also spoke to them in their native language. That's the Ghana language. So they were able to understand whatever we were talking

4:05:18about. Then we later were deployed to the community and with the help of the community members there were um general cleanups um done by them. Because of the general cleanup we did in the community. They realized the need to form task force to monitor compliance. So they did the task force um formation to monitor compliance of all the things they came up for. Also when we went to

4:05:53them we didn't impose anything on them. We made all the choices available to them and we gave them the opportunity to decide on which intervention they will go for so that they can own the intervention. So this is a picture of um the stakeholders, students from the Acra School of Hygiene and some students from the primary schools in Kyleo and we have here the some of the chiefs and

4:06:26opinion leaders in the community. So this is also a picture. These are pictures of student um involved in um enlisting the households. So they were giving the households codes and they also engaged the household members. They didn't just go there to do anything at all. They didn't want to um do anything illegal. So they went to engage the

4:06:58community members. So this is just um a picture of um the um the sketch of the community layout showing the targeted households and where they are located. So this is the cleanup exercise conducted by students and community members of the polygonal community. Then this is also a stakeholders engagement meeting and feedback. As I said, we did not just go to identify the nuances and left them hanging because we realized that they had many people come to them to identify the challenges to identify the problems and they left without telling them what exactly the problem was. So we went a little bit further by commun um communicating our

4:08:00findings to them for them to have a behavioral change. Then this the phase two of the projects we are doing and this one is targeted in schools. So as they to tackle the young ones in the basic schools. So we use the echos schools methodology by forming echo communities with teachers and students. So we didn't just go to um engage the teachers in the school but we also engaged the student or the pupils in the school and also the staff such as the um staffs in the

4:08:42kitchen. Then we appointed echo ambassadors. So the echo ambassadors were chosen from each class. So two people from each class and it's they were the leads of the class. So one person as the main and the other person as the assistant. Then we gave them the opportunity to go around the school and identify the challenges they are facing in the school. So we realized that they brought a lot of challenges on waste management, plastic pollution among others. So after the identification of all the problems in the school they ran the problems and they prioritized. So each school had a specific um problem they would want to handle at a

4:09:31particular time. So the teachers and students made action plan. We didn't impose anything on them. We made them handle everything to own whatever intervention they would like to bring on board. Then students were made to declare action to combat plastic waste on campus. So these are pictures of some of the interventions we taught them. So, we taught them how to um reduce the size of the sache rabber and we positioned um plastic bags at vantage point or conspicuous places in the schools for

4:10:16them to drop their waste in them. So, we help we gave them were not just to handle the problem in the schools but also to carry the message to their various homes. picture of them and one kilog for two Ghana cities. So they quantity of waste sent to the facility and you are paid based on the quantity of waste you bring and it will shock you that some of these waste were ling and the sanitation clubs are doing so so well when it comes to the management of waste in the schools. So we delivered bags to them, 400 bags to them. And

4:10:59these bags were made from sache rubber. The sache rabers they gathered, these bags were made from them. We didn't just give them their bags, we gave them exercise books as well to motivate them. So the sanitation clubs were not for everyone in the school were for some selected people. So we started to motivate them to make sure that others also um realized the need to join the clubs. So the bag contained exercise books, it contained toothbrush and paste. It's also kid when they received

4:11:42this items. What we also did was we realized they lack um the lag beans in some of the schools. So we um by the help of the sanitation club and NOS's we donated some daz beans to the schools and some of them also complained of the collection of the waste that they do not have um a collection um organization or a transport system for the collection of the waste. So we introduced them to the um submetros collection system that helped them in the collection of their waste. So this is from the sub metro public south submet of the Ara metropolitan assembly and this is also a picture of um Ara

4:12:42school of hygiene and some stakeholders of the sub metro and we can see the ACRA mayor there. We can see the member of parliament also there. Then the director of education for the sub metro also there. So what they did or what we did was we drilled a ball hole for one of the basic schools we've adopted and the ball hole was intended to serve only the school but we did a connection that could also help the community as well. So the community members benefits from the boho. So we convene the school before they can access the and we are also with the help of the NGO

4:13:32we are working with we got 500 seedlings from the ministry of for forestry and we are planting trees along the streets of Kono and we've planted a lot of trees and we had a lot of chall challenges from being a city around the community were stealing the laurate ties for singing of the animals. We have the edible ones like coconuts, mangoes, we planted them and we have the non-edible ones also there. We are trying to as much as possible reduce the quantity of um carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere whereby the trees can also use the carbon dioxide in

4:14:24photosynthesis.

4:14:32Okay. Thank you very much. Uh my name is Emmanuel Young. I'm a lecturer at Acra School of Hygiene and with time I've actually uh taught waste management for a very long time and also moved with other companies in terms of practical concepts on waste management and so with all that you have mentioned the question is how did you get to those things you mentioned earlier on. It was through the empowerment of the students that we teach and we did so well and you want to see the approach that we used. So one of the approach we have been using is that you know research is something that as

4:15:16an institution we take part in and you do so with other institutions both local and then also from the Canada and we site you and did this program where we had a sofa and this sofa is made up of lorit ties and then plastics. If they were here, we would have felt it and then realized the material in there. And you sold it around 1,200 CDs for the sofa for and then people bought them. We also did a lot of and this particular sofa side table is right in my office. People want to buy but because it's a model that you are using is still there. And what is it

4:15:58made up of? You have plastic in there. You see the uh the brownish design around this is the top of what the the bottle water that you have covered with the clothing and these cloths were something that were thrown away from the host and we needed to wash them and made them clean then sew them together to have a sofa table this way and so the students were presenting on these handwork activities that they have actually done. This is myself where I was actually taking part in e-waste h this month the resources that we needed you need to do it the proper way and that is what the way to

4:16:36go you could see the picture on your the bottom flower v there you may be thinking that you bought it from the one of the malls in Ara right yes can somebody tell me what actually it is having watched it carefully Okay. So right now what I want to tell you is that this particular uh uh vase there is actually from a sink. So the sink is is from the laboratory that you not you to throw away and we had to redecorate it and make it as a what a

4:17:13flower vase. So where are we building this strength from? We are building this strength from our collaborations with partners as she mentioned and one of them is the Afro climate change organization. You also build partnership with the MMDAs with the school support officers and then that of the Jobspawn groups of company. Let's clap for them. They have been so good to us. You have the trashy bag. You have the assembly members and then unity unit committee members. They have actually been to this support that we are talking about. However, there are only few challenges and the few challenges are that we needed logistics for some of these intervention. So, if

4:18:02you are an organization, a partner that you also want to do community participation, but you realize that the participation is slightly low and you want to enhance it from Kleono, you want to move to other communities as well. So these are the very few challenges that we have actually encountered. So what is the way forward? Our way forward is that I scaled up. Thank you very much. All right. Keep clapping. Keep clapping [applause] this. So they couldn't have done this without collaboration. And so please a round of applause for her as she's

4:18:39coming.

4:19:18Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. [laughter] I see the drawing the curtain a marvelous technical tour that would show us in practice what we are doing in the industry to with NOS's like tomorrow will be amazing so let's participate you can still register today is not too late and then we can include you in the technical tour so that we see what is happening how Ghana is transforming and

4:19:48transitioning into a green GH Ghana. So we came here recognizing the enormous environmental and development challenges confronting our continent. We have discussed the growing pressure of waste generation, climate change, our resource depletion, environmental pollution and the urgent need to transition towards a more sustainable and that yes we can do it when we have the right resources. there are right people in our network and the right um guidance we can go far and if there's one message that that should remain with us as we leave this conference room is this Africa sustainability story must not must no longer be told only through the lens of its challenges we've gone

4:20:43past talking about challenges we should be talking about increasingly looking for the opportunities are already there. We have seen it with Ghana story. We have seen it in how we transform organic waste into compost. How we transform the plastic into pallets that can be recycled. We have seen it's been demonstrated the blueprint is there. What we need is the

4:21:12commitment. So I want to have just three volunteers to come up here and tell us what have you learned from these two days and what are you committing to do what action do you want to do just three MC can you coordinate this for me just three volunteers tell me what you've learned from these past two days what you are committing to do from here three people any hand What have you learned from these two

4:21:46days and what are you committing to do? Do we have a hand up? I have a gift for the first person. [laughter] I see the hands up coming now. First person. I'm here. All right. Thank you. Go ahead. So the first thing I have learned is that we thought that US and other developed countries were without waste to that particular caption that they are fine that is it and they have cleaned up certain places and they've taken some photographs and videos to show us the good part of them and and we realized that we can do better and in fact we were reminded that Africa depended on more sustainable materials

4:22:34in terms of our uh uh let's say the food materials that where we package our materials. Now we are reverting back to the original sources like the the the leaves that was what we were using and we neglected them and we needed the white man's h product and that has actually gone bad against us. So having spoken to that issues that we heard earlier, it made me to understand that we can do the best that we have and

4:23:03follow them keenly. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. You see, I like what you said about the fact that we are not that different. Maybe they might be showing us we are. So it's how we want to present our story, how solutions that are consistent with our culture. You know sustainability have been there since I remember my grandparents used they never threw anything away nothing went to either feeding poultry feeding domestic animal our own vegetable that were very healthy way but we are reverting back there is hope for us and the hope begins with we the youth and we

4:23:41would get Ghana there thank you so much and I'm a research person for a pre- startup which is about to begin or operationalize And I think yesterday yesterday the major thing I learned is that there's nothing like waste and so everything we have is valuable and so we don't have to see anything as waste and that was one thing I really took and like he also said every country is suffering from waste or is suffering from sustainability issues and that it's up to us to have a change of mind to make a difference and for today as well from listening to the agencies that came the sustainability agencies or the waste

4:24:22collection agencies that came I realized that is it's not that there are no um um I mean measures in place there are but then we are making it difficult for these associations to work and so we have to still have a change of mind and as as someone who is also um sustainability I have a heart for sustainability I'm hoping to also implement all these things I've learned and tomorrow I'm super excited for the tour because I'm going to learn a lot of technical lessons from there for my startup as well. Thank you so much. It was an amazing amazing amazing. So I like what you said

4:24:55about the fact that yes there are initiatives out there. There are institutions that are trying to push solutions. So the critical issue here is how do we collaborate? How do we plug in our ideas into what they already doing to make sure we achieve and we achieve the goal of sustainability together. So let's leave here with a plan to at least talk to somebody, another institution, another person who you know have some

4:25:27ideas that can be put into practice. Let's see how we can do it together. The Panaffrica Sustainability Conference two years ago was just an idea. We kept saying, "Oh, Ghana, we have built such a big conglomerate in waste manage. We've transformed the sector. We've become thought leaders in Ghana when it come to sanitation in Africa. So how do we make sure that we bring stakeholders to come to Ghana to study what we have done and today we have Panaffrica sustainability conference for the first time and that is amazing that from here when we commit to partner with others we can make it

4:26:09happen. Do we have a third person? Hello. Last one. Thank you so much. Okay. So two more. Okay. Okay. Okay. So first of all, I'd like to thank our HD for giving us a platform. All right. So first of all, I would like to thank our HD for giving us a platform to join this honorable program and as well thank the organization for this successful program. So okay. So okay. So yes

4:26:38since we started yesterday from today. So since yesterday to now we've learned that yes indeed there's nothing like and um in order for us for for a sustainable economy or in promoting circular economy yes collaboration is indeed a key as well and as of yesterday to Mr. Someone made mention of his BSF program like uh where the black soldier flies are also an upcoming ideas for innovations as well which also valuates on that and also the ESPA who made mention of them lobbying on the uh Uber yes the Uber Uber Uber so yes that's a very nice initiative as an intervention and yes as a whole. So I

4:27:28would like to thank you for this. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You you know one amazing and interesting thing about the black soldier fly thing you know they are lover you know they turn into magos and it's the magots that um digest the compost. It's so nice when you fetch the magots in your hands. It feels next year please participate. We would partner with that organization and we

4:27:56would take you there. I know [laughter] when I heard the amount I wanted to ask whether it's B, M or B, but then I got to know that is B and our three big giant brothers Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria. We go get some our what we are going to do is that we are going to try as much as possible to bring in all our ideas draft all the proposals that we can. This is a good conference. This conference needs to be sustained and it involves a lot of money. So from today this 22 nakano wherever we will pass to get some to sponsor our next panaffrican

4:28:40sustainability conference we are going to do that. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. You have made my work so easy. So, Kelby, can we have the flyer here? Um, he mentioned something. We must sustain the Panaffrican Sustainability Conference. And I want to announce to you that so we would have it displayed here,

4:29:05Kelby. We have it displayed so that we already it will be displayed soon. It will be in August next year. So let's plan, let's start implementing whatever we've learned here because everything you've said here is on record and I'm going to develop a report from here. All the action points will be listed and then we will share it to everyone via your email that you have supplied and then we make sure that to

4:29:38but I'm not seeing the dates. I'm not seeing the date. Is the date there? So the year is there. So it will be in August. Yes. So I need to confirm the date. I need the date. I need the date. So let me confirm the date for you so that we leave here knowing when we would be coming back

4:30:04here. 2027.

4:30:22All right. Panaffrican Sustainability Conference 2027 will be will come off in August 17th to 19th. 17th to 19th. And we have the team already set for to guide us in preparation in partnership in collaboration. The theme will be scaling Africa's circular economy. We've talked about the pilot project. The black soldier flies a good pilot. How do we make it bigger? That is what the conference is about. Every idea we spoke about here, how do we make it bigger? If it is nationwide in Ghana, how do we extend it to Africa? How do we show the world what Africa can do? The kind of solutions we have. That is what the

4:31:11conference is about. So, watch out for Panaffrica Sustainability Conference 2027. Thank you so much.

4:31:28All right. Thank you so much, Dr. Rebecca Yandam. A round of applause for her once again. She's on top of her game. She's She has already brought out the theme and the date. Chal is it? Can I say you are the man? You You are the woman, right? Okay. So, um we are wrapping up, but I cannot do it this way. So, there's this uh very wonderful woman coming up to say a few words and then she will finally draw down the curtains then we are out of here. All right. So please help me welcome on stage

4:32:14Madame Anestina. No no no the Cintim is no more. Cintim is her actual surname but now she is an o of mame. Yes. Pro here. I'm imagining uh it's off and we he said it's off and we cannot find the owner. Uhhuh. So he and his IT guys will help us to identify the true owner. [laughter]

4:32:58That's so mean. We need that could help us put this together for our body. It will help. You can reach out to me or Dr. Yandam. You'll be available. Okay. All too soon we have come to the end of another wonderful session and we can't do it without thanking God. God has brought us this far from the preparation stage to this stage where we are here sharing ideas. I'm so happy when I see the students in the also on behalf of the organizers of the panaffrican sustainability conference which is spearheaded by swag. Somebody will ask me what swag is. It's not the swag type. SWAG is the [laughter]

4:33:49solid waste association of Ghana. It h was established in Ghana. You know the chapters are in other countries but it wasn't in Ghana. So we had to push for West Africa so that we also have our chapter here and they together with the Panaffrican sustainability team put this together. Please let's give it up for

4:34:10them. Also we have some strategic partners. So we have Isa and also the state university of New York. They also helped us putting this together. And as I said we are open next year maybe Acra School of Hygiene you can come on board as a sponsor and also I want to encourage all of us as takeaways from here. Let's all try the partnerships that we have established here the networks. Let's try and ensure that everything is put into practical solutions as Dr. Yandam said so that it will not be talk shop all the time. They should see the action. You know there are some funds that sit in

4:35:01certain places that needs the action for you to get the money. So let's put the action in place. Also I would like to acknowledge our partners. We have some partners in the just spawn group. We had sp uh partners collaborations and sponsorships from some please allow me to call their names so that they don't come from my head. So the technical and logistics cluster so just one group is clusted. We have different clusters. The environment and sanitation cluster. We have technical and logistics cluster sponsoring ICT group. They also sponsored us with some

4:35:45money to make sure this was a success. We also have some sort of uh sponsorship from the executive chairman and Zoom Lion Ghana Limited and also our sponsors who are seated in front of us. Please give a round of applause for yourselves. [applause] So there's one call of action call to action that I want to put across that the commitment with which we put to

4:36:14heading towards a common goal.

4:36:22Heading towards a common goal and the commitment level we put together. you know when we do it individually we might achieve a certain milestone but we cannot go far we cannot do the greater good so let's harness our if I should say let's harness our potentials and our commitments together as h we are in strong commitment with Ara school of hygiene and I hope we strengthen it and other stakeholders in the room so

4:36:57Before I step down, I'm done. I'm done. I'm done. So, I'd like to acknowledge ADB. ADB also gave us sponsorship to ensure that this was subsidized for again we'll meet with solutions and the milestones that we have achieved so far. Thank you all so much. Thank you.

4:37:33Thank you also and team. All right. So last thing then we we are we are out of here. I want to Okay. Okay. All right. So I would like to invite upstage Mame Sawa to give us the closing prayer.

4:38:12Thank you very much. Please shall we be all upstand? Let us pray. Our heavenly father we thank you for such an event. We ask that oh Lord as we have concluded for today's session we ask that for everything we have studied will make practicable solutions and make an impact in our various societies and where we live. We pray that for all the organizers of pan African sustainability travel to wherever we are going. At the end of the day we will say all glory and honor belongs to you. In Jesus's name I

4:38:41prayed with thanksgiving. Amen. Amen. Okay. So, we're going to we're going to have uh one large group photo. Aha. But before that, I I would like to invite upstage the organizers. Um Kelby, I know you are one of them. Dr. Rebecca Yandam, this one I don't want to make a mistake, so please come and call them.

4:39:12Okay. So, the Panaffrica Sustainability organizers please we know ourself the committee let's come up stage a swam a swam team asam team let's get you up stage

4:40:37Okay. So, the lesson

4:40:52All right, please. Um, they are ready for the photo

4:41:10please. One straight line.