March 8th marked the International Women’s Day for 2018 globally, celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. As we Press for Progress, this blog post focuses on women on in the extractive, energy industry and beyond.

Happy reading!

Research EITI brief on Gender and Equity  The brief among other things shows that  the extractive industries can have significant social, economic and environmental impacts on host communities. They can change the natural environment, employment opportunities, the cost of living and social dynamics.  These negative impacts are frequently faced by women and girls and the most vulnerable and most marginalized members of those communities.   Women’s History Month 2018 Cambridge University Press are celebrating International Women’s Day (8 March) and Women’s History Month throughout March 2018 by sharing  a free collection of work across the subjects of Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and STEM. The collection contains a wide range of online book chapters, articles, journals and blog posts written by, or about, leading academics and pioneers such as Marie Curie, Margaret Atwood and Angela Merkel. Barnard College Professor Anja Tolonen Analyzes Gender-Specific Effects of Extractives–  Tolonen’s research focuses on how natural resources affect labor markets, criminal behavior, health and social welfare, and, in particular, gender inequality. Tolonen also focuses on the economics of gender in the household and child health in developing countries. AfDB- Africa Economic Outlook is out. The African Economic Outlook, with five regional reports shows decline in regional economies with East Africa having the best economic performance of the continent.

 

Training

Tanzania Employment Services Agency (TaESA) under the Prime Minister’s Office Labour, Employment, Youth and People with Disability has begun a registration exercise of all Tanzanian professionals with expertise and expertise in the Oil and Gas Sector expected to be completed on 30/03/2018. This exercise is to ensure that many Tanzanians participate and benefit from the potential opportunities for the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project. This registration is done by filling out a specific form available through the www.taesa.go.tz Agent site or arriving at regional offices located in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Dodoma and Mwanza. Filled forms can be submitted to regional offices or by e-mail: eacop@taesa.go.tz.

Clean energy entrepreneur keen to train women Rahel Shigela is a self-taught cookstoves maker based in Mwanza, north-western Tanzania. Thanks to the support she received from Energy 4 Impact’s Developing Energy Enterprises Project in 2008, Rahel’s business has gone from strength to strength. Now, Rahel has ambitious plans to expand her cookstoves workshop and train the next generation of clean energy women entrepreneurs. Energy 4 Impact is supporting her through this new phase under an initiative focussed on strengthening women’s integration into renewable energy markets in East Africa.

 

In The News International Women’s Day –  The URT President Dr. John Joseph Magufuli saluted Tanzanian Women by sharing a tweet noting; “We will continue respecting you, we’ll continue cooperating with you and recognize your contribution in improving the welfare of our society” 11 Tanzanian women get women day gift; their own wikipedia profile Photo credit: ippmedia A great moment for these amazing ladies. Closing this gender gap online, was initiated by Swedish Embassies worldwide. In celebration of International Women’s Day, on March 7, the U.S. Embassy and University of Dar es Salaam’s Gender Center held a panel discussion titled “Leave No Woman Behind” for 300 women at the prestigious Nkrumah Hall on the University of Dar es Salaam campus. (Photo credit: ippmedia) UN women theme for International Women’s Day, 8 March, is “Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives“. Time is Now: Rural and Urban Activists Transforming Women’s Lives a statement by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women for International Women’s Day. Remarks by the UN Resident Coordinator for International Women’s Day 2018  “We are at a pivotal moment for women’s rights. The historical and structural inequalities that have allowed oppression and discrimination to flourish are being exposed like never before…Achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls is the unfinished business of our time, and the greatest human rights challenge in our world…..” In addition at another meeting we share the opening remarks by Ambassador Roeland Van De Geer, head of the European Union delegation to Tanzania on the occasion of the International Women’s Day 08 march 2018 POWERFUL and HEARD – Economic & Political Empowerment: Women and girls around the world are denied the right to vote, to access education, to open bank accounts, and to apply for jobs – let alone be paid the same amount as a man for the same work. Global Fund works with women who are changing this status quo every day. By partnering with groups who are creating jobs, encouraging entrepreneurship, fighting for workers’ rights, and supporting women running for leadership positions so that all women can enjoy full political and economic rights. Congratulations to the Ambassador of Norway, Hanne-Marie Kaarstad who took over the social media account (tweeter) of UN to answer questions and share progress on Kigoma Joint Programme (KPJ) on the 15th March 2018 for an hour with the hashtag #OngeaNaKaarstad. The Kigoma Joint Programme is an area-based UN joint programme that cuts across multiple sectors to improve development and human security in Kigoma. The programme involves 16 different UN Agencies and was developed in cooperation with the regional and district authorities based on the development needs of Kigoma and the capacities of the UN in Tanzania. Kigoma region is one of two regions in Tanzania which has experienced a relative increase in poverty levels between the two household surveys. The Kigoma Joint Programme applies a comprehensive approach to address a wide range of issues facing both the refugees and migrants in the region as well as the surrounding host communities. The natural gas market environment is changing rapidly, and the suppliers are responding to the change. Qatar, one of the major natural gas exporters, for example, is now goring for market mix, accepting shorter term sale and purchase agreements as illustrated by the agreement between Qatargas (joint venture between Qatar Petroleum & Shell) and OMV of Austria late last year. Data is the new oil, says everyone. The analogy has become something of a cliche, widely deployed in media coverage of the digital economy.The Guardian’s article looks at Big data for the people: it’s time to take it back from our tech overloads: Natural gas expected to remain most-consumed fuel in the U.S. industrial sector. EIA expects a 40% increase in natural gas consumed in the U.S. industrial sector, from 9.8 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2017 to 13.7 quadrillion Btu in 2050, according to the Annual Energy Outlook 2018 (AEO2018) Reference case. Norway’s Statoil to rename itself Equinor; The board of Statoil announced 15th March 2018 it wants to rename the firm Equinor as Norway’s state-owned energy company seeks to diversify its business from the oil and gas sector.

 

Upcoming events

The 23^rd REPOA’s Annual Research Workshop will be held in April with the theme “Towards an industrialized society by 2025: Why National Competitiveness Matters”
Location: Dar es Salaam Dates: 4 to 5 April 2018

The Association of Uganda Oil and Gas Service Providers (AUGOS) in collaboration with the Association of Tanzania Oil and Gas Service Providers (ATOGS), will host the AUGOS-ATOGS Local Content Stakeholder Dialogue on March 28th-29th 2018 at Hotel Africana in Kampala under the theme, “Unlocking local content opportunities in the oil and gas sector”.  Register online http://asd.augos.org/ FEES for participation apply.

The UNECE Resource Management Week 2018 (Geneva, 23-27 April) will explore the use of UNFC (United Nations Framework Classification for Resources) for the sustainable management of all natural resources.  To participate in the meetings and workshops during the week, please register here. https://www.unece.org/index.php?id=47092

 

The Tanzania Petrostate Programme Blog is produced by the joint programme of three institutions: REPOA and the NBS in Tanzania, and CMI in Norway with support from the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Dar es Salaam. The purpose of the blog is to draw attention to publications and reports on the gas and petroleum sectors, which may be of interest to researchers, politicians and the general public. The blog does not state opinions but merely links to relevant postings on the world wide web with a brief description and/or quotes of the content and opinions stated by authors.

The Petrostate Programme runs a website at http://www.tanpetstate.org/ where the participating institutions and researchers are presented and the aims of the programme, research results and publications are posted. The programme is also gradually building up a Resource Hub  (http://data.tanpetstate.org/) where researchers and other users can download important statistics and information pertaining to the petro sector and its effect on the Tanzanian economy and society. The database covers 20 categories including production and sales of petroleum products, environmental issues, poverty, public budgets etc.

The programme and its cooperating institutions are extremely grateful for constructive comments, advice on the blog and website (link below) as well as information on important web posting that deals with the petro sector and its role in Tanzania.