Heinrich Böll Stiftung | Abuja office

Building Alliances and Changing Policies: Women Farmers in Nigeria Respond to the Climate Crisis

Osara is a rural community in Kogi State where farming is central to livelihood. Perspectives spoke to Azubuike Nwokoye, the agricultural programme coordinator for ActionAid Nigeria, about the challenges faced by female farmers in Osara, how the climate crisis will affect them, and what ActionAid has been doing to support them.

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Watch: How Solar Energy can Improve Public Health in Nigeria

Nigerians could enjoy better health care for less money if the already existing budget were invested in solar power as this animated video explains. The video is based on a study supported by the Abuja office of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung.

LATEST PUBLICATIONS

Free, Fair, and Alive: The Insurgent Power of the Commons

Ambitious, sophisticated, and resolutely grounded in everyday realities, "Free, Fair and Alive" present a compelling vision of a future that can actually work. Written by two highly experienced commons activists, this book is at once a penetrating cultural critique, table-pounding political treatise, and practical playbook for building a new world of commoning.

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Perspectives #02/2019: Ecological and Social Transformation in Africa: Rethinking food systems for a +2°C world

This special edition of Perspectives was compiled with the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s North Africa offices and the Transform Africa project. It is dedicated to the emerging conversation of alternative approaches that challenge the historical bias towards the industrialisation of agriculture and the food system as the main strategy to address food insecurity while preparing for a +2°C world.

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Improving Access to Reliable Energy for Primary Healthcare Centres in Nigeria

This is a study report that examines the deplorable energy situation faced by Nigerian Primary Health Centres as well as the possibilities of improving clean energy access to the health centres through responsible fiscal policies targeted at off grid electricity.

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Perspectives Africa

Perspectives is a publication series of the Africa offices of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung. The series provides a platform for experts from Africa to express their views about issues pertinent to the democratic and sustainable development agenda in the region.

The latest edition of Perspectives tackles questions of state capture, and how the concept can contribute to understanding and strengthening democracies across Africa. Our contributors also open the possibilities that emerge when “state capture” is released from particular institutional settings and national boundaries.

Explore the Series

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Power distributor engineers are working on the damaged pole in Lagos Nigeria, 23rd June 2019. Nigeria

Can Nigeria Meet its Electricity Goals by 2030? We found out.

Study Summary

Nigeria has been unable to provide its growing population with reliable power supply. Despite the billions of dollars spent in the energy sector, about 80% of the population still does not have access to on-grid electricity. Meanwhile, 4 out of 5 people that do have a grid connection have to rely on expensive, dirty petrol and diesel back-up generators to complement the electricity coming from the weak and unreliable power grid.

By Chibueze Ebii

Solar Import Duty and Tariffs. To Exempt or Not?

As the renewable energy sector in Nigeria booms, more solar panels and components continue to find their way into the Nigeria market to meet up with the ever-surging demand for solar solutions. In this article, the author analyses how the Nigerian import tariff policy on solar products could impact on this booming market.

By Chibuikem Agbaegbu

(Photo by HBS Nigeria from Apo, Abuja; November 22, 2016)

Africa’s Challenge with Used Lead Acid Batteries (ULAB) – Can Nigeria take the Lead?

Most Nigerian residents still rely on diesel and petrol powered generators to complement the unstable energy they get from the national grid. However, there is a surging demand for standalone solar solutions, how will Nigeria handle the potential toxic lead-acid battery waste from solar products? This article tries to find out.

More articles on Sustainable Development

The Ways Forward

Urban Planning Processes in Lagos

In a series of discussion papers, partners of the Heinrich Böll Foundation Lagos program give thought-provoking suggestions for an inclusive and climate-resilient city building to the new Lagos State government which will take over on May 29, 2019. The ideas are based on the findings of our research “Urban Planning Processes in Lagos”; many of them could be implemented within a short time span requiring in general low funding but transparent and efficient cooperation between different stakeholders; above all it will require political will.

Urban Planning Processes in Lagos: The Ways Forward

Dossier

In a series of discussion papers, partners of the Heinrich Böll Foundation Lagos program give thought provoking suggestions for an inclusive and climate resilient city building to the new Lagos State government which will take over on May 29, 2019. The ideas are based on the findings of our research “Urban Planning Processes in Lagos”; many of them could be implemented within a short time span requiring in general low funding but transparent and efficient cooperation between different stakeholders; above all it will require political will.

Is the Lagos Tech Sector a Bubble?

Innovation, creativity and financial power – Lagos has all the necessary ingredients for a thriving startup sector. Hackathons, boot camps and startup weeks regularly attract local and international participants. Ayodeji Rotinwa, a freelance journalist, asks himself whether these are signs for a healthy growth potential.

By Ayodeji Rotinwa

Kelechi's Quest: A Docu-Drama Series

Kelechi Udegbe, a budding Nigerian actor in the city of Lagos, features in this 6 part documentary drama series where he weighs his option of finding a suitable accommodation within his budget, thereby sparking a debate about new ways of accessing affordable accommodation and about the equitability of housing policies of Lagos State.

DEMOCRACY

Tackling hate speech requires the protection of freedom of expression

Analysis

In a digitalized and increasingly polarised world, questions about how to protect freedom of expression online while curbing hate speech and online abuse, are at the centre of discussions about human rights protection.

By Patricia Meléndez

Women in Nigerian Politics – Are female candidates facing cyber bullying?

Social media report

Compared to their male counterparts there are a limited amount of women vying for political positions in the 2019 Nigerian elections. In this article, the writer tries to analyse how these women are faring in the social media space as they take their campaign online.

By Celine Isioma Uduh

Moving Past Afrofuturism

Interview

The international blockbuster Black Panther created a global awareness for the Afrofuturistic. However, a growing number of African creatives are pushing back against the term that was coined in the United States, seeking a more distilled way to describe their speculative work. Speculative-fiction author Rafeeat Aliyu speaks to writer, photographer and activist Masiyaleti Mbewe about a vision of the African future that Mbewe draws from her life and experiences in various African countries, including Zambia, where she was born, and Namibia, where she is currently based.

By Rafeeat Aliyu