Tag Archives: Chinedu Nebo

Nano news from Malaysia and from Nigeria

I have two nanotechnology news bits, one concerning Malaysia and the other concerning Nigeria.

There’s a March 24, 2014 news item on Bernama ((national news agency of Malaysia) about a recent signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU),

NanoMalaysia Bhd [aka, NanoMalaysia Berhad] is looking at jumpstarting nanotechnology development to enable it to contribute one per cent to Malaysia’s gross national income (GNI) by 2020, said Chief Executive Officer, Rezal Khairi Ahmad.

“The company would use four sectors — electronic devices and systems; energy and environment; food and agriculture; and, healthcare, medicine and wellness — to achieve the target, which would be equivalent to RM15 to RM17 billion then,” he said.

Rezal said this at the signing of memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) here Monday [March 24, 2014].

I took a look at the NanoMalaysia site and found this on their ABOUT US page (Note: A link has been removed),

Nanotechnology was identified as one of the new growth engines for the New Economic Model (NEM).

NanoMalaysia Berhad was incorporated in 2011 as a company limited by guarantee (CLG) to act as a business entity entrusted with nanotechnology commercialisation activities. It will also support the operations of the NanoMalaysia Centre. Some of its roles include:

Managing and developing NanoMalaysia Centre and other approved Strategic Infrastructure and Facilities for the NND [National Nanotechnology Directorate Division]
Pre-commercialisation and commercialisation of nanotechnology products
Education and public awareness programmes
Bringing in venture funds and international investments in nanotechnology
Building capacity and R&D facilities
Health, safety and environmental initiatives
International linkages and networking

NanoMalaysia Berhad is Malaysia’s Lead Agency for the:

Commercialization of Nanotechnology Research and Development
Industrialization of Nanotechnology
Facilitation of Investments in Nanotechnology
Human Capital Development in Nanotechnology

On the other side of the world in Nigeria, a nanotechnology conference is being held, March 24 – 28, 2014 at the University of Nigeria at Nsukka. Here’s a bit more about the African International Conference/Workshop ON Applications Of Nanotechnology To Energy, Environment And Health, from its homepage,

The economic, social and developmental arguments for organizing the African International Conference/Workshop at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) are strong, compelling and urgent.

First, it is an incontrovertible fact that science and technology have emerged to become critical to economic growth and sustainability in modern economy. The developments in materials science have contributed significantly in man’s quest to conquer his environment. More importantly, renewable energy is likely to be man’s long term solution to increasing demand for energy.

The conference/workshop is being organized by the Nano Research Group, University of Nigeria at Nsukka In collaboration with Energy Materials, Materials Science and Manufacturing, CSIR [Council for Scientific and Industrial Research] Pretoria, South Africa.

In a March 25, 2014 news item on leadership.ng, Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo commented on the conference and the importance of nanotechnology to Nigeria’s plans,

The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, on Tuesday said increase access to electricity was crucial and fundamental to economic and social development of Nigeria.

Nebo made this known at the “1st African International Conference/Workshop on Application of Nanotechnology to Energy, Health and Environment’’, at the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka.

Represented by Mr Albert Okorogu, his Senior Special Assistant to Access to Power and Renewable Energy, Nebo said about 30 million households in Nigeria had no access to electricity.

Nebo quoting the United Nations said about 600 million people of Sub-Sahara Africa lacked access to electricity.

“In Nigeria, 30 million households have no access to electricity. This is the reason why the Federal Ministry of Power is rolling out comprehensive roadmap on access to power.

“This roadmap will systematically connect households through grid and off-grid solutions,’’ he said.

Nebo said that President Goodluck Jonathan had in January [2014] inaugurated “Operation Light Up Rural Nigeria Initiatives’’, as part of efforts to ensure that all households had access to electricity.

“The pilot programme will provide energy-efficient lighting to homes, streets and community centres and villages with up-to-dates solar technologies.

“There is plan [sic] to replicate this pilot project across the 36 states of the federation,’’ he said.

He said that solar system made from nanoparticles had been used to produce steam, purify water and disinfected dental device. [sic]

According to him, the exploitation of nanotechnology in Nigeria will provide sustainable solutions to our environment, social responsibility, overall wellbeing as well as increase access to electricity.

I think someone was in a rush to write the news item hence the errors I’ve noted; there may be more.