Tag Archives: British High Commissioner

AMA, Business

Africa Unveils Landmark Integrity & Equity Principles and Coordination Platform to Strengthen Carbon Markets

MaraviPost

NAIROBI, Kenya, 31 July 2025-/African Media Agency (AMA)/-The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) today announced a series of bold initiatives to elevate Africa’s role in global carbon markets and ensure they deliver both climate and development benefits for the continent.

The announcements were made at a high-level continental dialogue convened in collaboration with the Government of Kenya and Afreximbank. The consultation opened with statements from H.E. Dr. Deborah Mlongo Barasa, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Republic of Kenya; Ambassador Ali Mohamed, Kenya’s Special Climate Envoy; Neil Wigan OBE, British High Commissioner to Kenya; and Estherine Fotabong, Director of Programme Innovation and Planning at AUDA-NEPAD — reflecting strong political and institutional commitment to Africa’s emerging leadership in carbon markets. The United Kingdom is supporting these efforts as a key technical partner to AUDA-NEPAD, including through the secondment of UK climate expert Ravi Raichoora to the agency.

Throughout the consultation, AUDA-NEPAD engaged directly with senior representatives from African Union member states, including Madagascar, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, and the DRC, who shared their experiences, challenges, and aspirations in navigating carbon markets. Member States emphasised the vital role AUDA-NEPAD can play — leveraging its continental mandate to promote greater cohesion, alignment, and technical support across the region. In parallel, perspectives from global standard-setters such as the VCMI and ICVCM, rating agencies like BeZero, and leading project developers offered valuable insights into how African priorities can be better reflected in global frameworks.

At the event, AUDA-NEPAD unveiled three major outcomes designed to advance Africa’s carbon market ambitions:

1. The African Integrity & Equity Principles for Carbon Markets — a pioneering framework articulating Africa’s vision for high-integrity, socially inclusive carbon markets. These principles, which will be shaped through broad stakeholder engagement, place social value at the core of market participation. A draft will be presented for formal consultation at the Africa Climate Summit 2 in Addis Ababa (9–12 September).

2. A Continental Coordinating Mechanism — comprising technical experts and focal points from across the 55 AU Member States and regional carbon market alliances. This mechanism will reduce fragmentation, promote shared priorities, and strengthen Africa’s collective voice in global carbon market negotiations, thereby fostering a more coherent, transparent, and investable environment.

3. A Digital Tracking Platform for Article 6 Readiness — currently under development, this tool will offer real-time insights into country-level progress. It will enable governments, the private sector, and development partners to identify opportunities, monitor implementation, and direct capacity-building support where most needed. In addition, the platform will support the development of a continent-wide glossary of carbon market terminology, enhancing consistency and alignment with international best practices.

The event also featured strong engagement from the private sector, including project developers, advisory firms, and rating agencies. Private actors and Member State representatives alike welcomed these three key outcomes as critical enablers to unlock Africa’s carbon potential.

Tijani Nwadei, Partner and Co-founder of Visuias Limited, a carbon markets advisory firm, underlined the importance of AUDA-NEPAD’s coordinating role in catalysing participation, enabling benefit-sharing, and supporting the actualisation of a market that places Africa at the forefront of global supply. Andrew Ocama, Coordinator for the Eastern Africa Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance, welcomed AUDA-NEPAD taking on a leading coordination role for carbon markets across the continent, emphasising that such leadership is essential to prevent fragmentation and ensure coherent regional implementation. El-hadj Mbaye, Africa’s lead negotiator for Article 6, called on Member States to take an active role in understanding and engaging in carbon markets, stressing that Africa must shape the future of carbon finance — not simply participate in it.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of AUDA-NEPAD

The post Africa Unveils Landmark Integrity & Equity Principles and Coordination Platform to Strengthen Carbon Markets appeared first on African Media Agency.

Regional

Ghana’s police chief accuses UK envoy of interference

Maravi Post Reporter

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Ghana’s Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, has accused the British High Commissioner to Ghana of interfering in the country’s security matters.

It follows the High Commissioner’s tweet over the arrest of a social activist and one of the conveners of the #FixTheCountry movement, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, over a motor offence.

In a four-page letter addressed to the British High Commissioner, Harriet Thompson, the IGP questioned her interest in the arrest of Mr Barker-Vormawor considering the fact that he was among other drivers who were arrested separately for road traffic offences on Tuesday, May 17.

The IGP said the envoy’s tweet was not only “biased” and “uninformed”, but also contravened the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 which enjoins diplomatic missions not to interfere in the internal affairs of their host country.

Following the arrest of Mr Barker-Vormawor on May 17 for a traffic offence, the British High Commissioner tweeted, “Oliver Barker Vormawor, convener of #FixTheCountry movement, arrested again, I understand for a motoring offence on his way to court. I’ll be interested to see where this goes”.

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According to the police chief, “Ordinarily, the Ghana Police Service would not have responded to comments such as yours, obviously made from either a biased or uninformed position.

“However, we have learnt from previous, painful experience that it has not been helpful to ignore such misguided, unwarranted, and biased comments intended to tarnish the reputation of the Ghana Police Service and that of our Country.”

Chronicling the events that led to Mr Barker-Vormawor’s first and second arrests, the Dr Dampare asked, “Against this backdrop and in view of the fact that he is not the only person who is being taken through due process for committing an offence in this country, it is difficult to understand why he is your only focus. Are we to understand that you are concerned about the law enforcement process in Ghana or only as applied to your person of interest?”

The IGP Dr Dampare cautioned Madam Thompson not to interfere in matters that do not concern her.

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“For the moment, we would recommend a Ghanaian saying that might guide you in your diplomatic engagements. The saying goes: – “di wo fie asɛm”— it means learn to keep within the limits of what concerns you.”

But the British High commissioner has reacted to the police chief’s response telling local TV channel GHOne that her tweet was never intended to incite Ghanaians.

Harriet Thompson said “Ghana is peace loving nation where people have the right to express themselves, they do have the right to come out to protest against things that matter to them. A tweet like that will not get Ghanaians on the street in my view. It looks like my tweet wasn’t received as it was intended. I didn’t expect a response from the IGP at all.”

She added that “If I was told there are chances like that, I will not be tweeting like that, that’s clearly not my intention but I haven’t seen anything like that for the time I’ve been here that will suggest his response.”

The Ghanaian social activist Oliver Baker- Vormawor whose arrest sparked this row was first arrested by the police in February this year for making claims of carrying out a coup if a controversial electronic levy policy is passed by the country’s parliament.

Barker-Vormawor was arrested by operatives from the National Security at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).

The lawyer and Cambridge University PhD student was picked up upon arriving from the United Kingdom.

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source: Africa Feeds

District News, SADC

Malawi’s Parliamentary Women Caucus seeks for retain ship program support; Hope for more female lawmaker seats in 2019

MaraviPost
Jessie Kabwira
File Photo: MP Jessie Kabwira

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Parliamentary Women’s Caucus this week hosted a dinner with members of the diplomatic community, Civil Society Organization (CSOs), international and local development partners, to sensitize them on the retention of women parliamentarians in the forthcoming 2019 tripartite elections.

The event was hosted at the British High Commissioner’s resident in the capital Lilongwe.

 

The group has initiated a program that aims at retaining the 32 female legislators in the elections hence and held the function to seek support from the general public through resources mobilization. Continue reading Malawi’s Parliamentary Women Caucus seeks for retain ship program support; Hope for more female lawmaker seats in 2019 →