Endeavour Magazine June 2022

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NATIONAL ENERGY CORPORATION OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO LIMITED

BUNKER HILL MINING CORP Changing fortunes LYDIAN INTERNATIONAL Greener Armenia NBS GHANA Keeping on the case

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Editor’s Note

A

highlight this month was having the pleasure to speak with two separate mining companies who are making pro-active shifts towards greener, cleaner practices. This is always uplifting to learn about - any move to align the mining industry with the green revolution is an encouraging one for the future of both, as well as for our planet. These two companies both take this move seriously, treating it as far more than just lip service. Green practices are not simply an element within their goals: instead, it is fair to say that they are a primary focus for both.

The first of these mining companies is Bunker Hill Mining Corp, a self-described ‘turn around team’ that purchased the North American silver and metals mine site in order to do just that. With a history that has carried a negative reputation, and a vast wealth of as-yet untapped resources, the mine had been forced to sit formant for decades due to its previous negative environmental impact. The goal of the site’s new owners was clear: to open a mine that meets and exceeds modern environmental standards, and in doing so, to re-inject some life back into what used to be a mining community.

Not only this, but the company selected Bunker Hill specifically for the green applications of its silvers and metals, in contrast with the purely aesthetic and monetary value of gold.

The second company, Lydian International, impressed us yet further. Not only is being a clean, green mine the company’s primary focus, but it will be the first active mine in Armenia to achieve this aim. The company is acting as a trend-setter, hoping to inspire a new wave of clean mining in the country, and it is doing so at no small expense. You can read both stories, and far more besides, in this month’s issue of Endeavour.

Oh, and of course – as a UK-based publisher, we can’t launch this month’s magazine without a ‘Happy Platinum Jubilee’ to Her Majesty!

Well done, Queenie.

by Alice Instone-Brewer Copyright© Littlegate Publishing Ltd 2022

Endeavour Magazine | 3

NBS GHANA

Features 13

Bunker Hill Mining Corp

21

Lydian Armenia

27

NBS Ghana

39

NEC Trinidad and Tobago

47

Industrial Logistic Systems

57

Nigerian Insurers Association

63

Magdalena

69

Rwanda Hospitality Association

Changing fortunes Greener Armenia

Keeping on the case Powering a nation

Down to the details Better protected

Highly productive, deeply human

More than welcome

75 LYDIAN INTERNATIONAL 4 | Endeavour Magazine

MPIA

A bright future

MAGDALENA TIERRA DULCE

Articles 6 7 8 10 11

34

Business Headlines

Asia Africa Americas Middle East Europe

Amazing World

Ivan Kupala

INDUSTRIAL LOGISTIC SYSTEMS Endeavour Magazine | 5

Business Headlines

Asia Yasin Malik, top Kashmiri separatist, given life in Indian jail A court in India has sentenced senior Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik to life imprisonment after convicting him of funding terrorism. He was found guilty of participating in and funding terrorist acts and involvement in criminal conspiracy. Malik told the court he gave up arms in the 1990s.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Muslim-majority Kashmir since an armed revolt against rule by India erupted in 1989. The court in the capital Delhi gave Malik, 56, two life sentences and five 10-year jail terms, all to be served concurrently, NDTV reported. “Verdict in minutes by Indian kangaroo courts,” Malik’s wife Mushaal Hussein wrote on Twitter, saying he would never surrender.

Shops in some areas of Srinagar, the main city in Indian-administered Kashmir, were shut and police fired tear gas to disperse stone-throwing protesters outside Malik’s residence. Mobile internet has been suspended in the region as a security precaution.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif of Pakistan, which disputes India’s claim to Kashmir, called it “a black day for Indian democracy”.

“India can imprison Yasin Malik physically but it can never imprison [the] idea of freedom he symbolises,” he tweeted.

Ahead of sentencing, he was escorted into the court surrounded by security forces.

Pakistan raises fuel prices to meet IMF loan conditions Pakistan’s government has increased local fuel prices to meet a key condition set by the International Monetary Fund for reviving its bailout program.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration raised the cost of gasoline and diesel by 30 rupees a liter each, finance minister Miftah Ismail said in a Twitter post. The decision comes a day after the two sides ended week-long talks without reaching an agreement to revive the stalled loan.

The resumption of the bailout will provide a much-needed relief to keep the South Asian nation’s economy afloat and avert a default. The stocks have tumbled and the Pakistani rupee dropped 9% in the past month, the worst performer among Asian nations, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The program announced in 2019 was suspended earlier this year after ousted prime minister Imran Khan reduced fuel prices and then froze them for 6 | Endeavour Magazine

four months that cost the government $600 million a month in subsidies. Premier Sharif deferred price increase three times since coming to power on April 11, causing a panic in markets over whether the government will be able to resume the IMF program.

The resumption of the program will unlock the remaining $3 billion from the loan program. Pakistan has also requested the IMF to extend its loan program for a year and increase the loan size by a further $2 billion.

Bangladesh to relocate 100,000 Rohingya refugees to uninhabited, flood-prone Bhashan Char The UN refugee agency chief has agreed to boost support to Rohingya refugees relocated to a remote and flood-prone island in Bangladesh, despite concerns people were moved there against their will. Bangladesh aims to eventually relocate around 100,000 Rohingya refugees to the previously uninhabited Bhashan Char to ease overcrowding in the refugee camps near Cox’s Bazar.

Around 920,000 members of the stateless Muslim minority are currently packed into border camps there, after they fled vthe 2017 military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar.

UNHCR signed a deal last year with Bangladesh authorities to help aid and protect refugees on Bhashan Char, where about 20,000 refugees have already been shifted. Only 13 percent of the UN refugee agency’s $881 million annual response plan for the Rohingya is currently funded.

Human rights monitors have said that Rohingya leaders have been coerced into persuading camp residents to move to Bhashan Char, while hundreds already sent there have since been arrested in coastal towns after fleeing the island by sea.

Bhashan Char sits at the heart of an estuary prone to powerful cyclones.

Africa Ghana increases interest rates again as inflation rises Ghana’s central bank has raised its main interest rate by 200 basis points to 19% to control inflationary pressures and promote macroeconomic stability.

Experts had predicted that the BoG was going to increase the policy rate following increases in the past two months.

In March, the Bank of Ghana raised its policy rate by 250 basis points to 17% - the largest hike in its history.

Subsequently, in April, the consumer inflation rate in the gold, oil and cocoa producer hit an 18year high of 23.6%.

“The committee took the view that it needed to decisively address the current inflationary pressures to re-anchor expectations and help foster macroeconomic stability,” commented Ernest Addison, governor of the central bank.

Business analysts had observed that the rapid depreciation of Ghana’s cedi has slowed but the currency has still lost over a quarter of its value since the year began.

Capital outflows have entirely offset a $1.3 billion trade surplus gained from a 61% jump in crude oil export revenues in the first quarter, the Reuters reports.

Addison said that had created an overall balance of payments deficit of $934.5 million in the first quarter compared with $429.9 million in the same period last year.

This growth is leading to increasingly frequent incidents with humans: 60 people have been killed by elephants in the country so far this year and 72 the year before, according to the government.

Elephants have also taken to roaming off reserves.

There are about 100,000 elephants in the country, nearly double the capacity of its parks, according to conservationists.

The country also has a natural stockpile of ivory from natural deaths or confiscations. Zimbabwe is arguing that selling this stockpile could finance conservation. In total, this stockpile is work $600 million. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe faces an economic crisis.

Three years ago, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia already requested a right to trade, but this request was rejected by CITES in Geneva.

Zimbabwe seeks allies to legalise international ivory trade Zimbabwe, home to a quarter of Africa’s elephants, is trying to find allies to legalise the international trade in ivory.

International ivory trade has been banned for more than 30 years. Zimbabwe is one of the few countries whose elephant population is actively growing, by 5% per year.

The country invited representatives of 15 countries to a conference on the subject this week in the Hwange reserve, the largest in the country, located on the border with Botswana and a success story in elephant protection.

Here, 50,000 specimens share 14,600 km2 of vegetation. The nature park is as big as half of Belgium, but because large areas are needed to feed the pachyderms, the reserve is overpopulated.

Endeavour Magazine | 7

Americas Texas shooting: 21 dead following school shooting in Uvalde The shooting took place on May 24th. It was Texas’ most deadly school shooting to date. Officials say gunman Salvador Ramos, 18, was inside the school in Uvalde for up to an hour before he was killed.

Nineteen children and two adults died, while 17 others were injured.

Police have been accused of delaying entry into the school. Authorities said the gunman locked himself in a classroom which officers then struggled to gain access to.

Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told a news conference that the gunman was on site for between 40 minutes and an hour before law enforcement were able to contain him. It has also emerged that the attacker sent messages on social media about the shooting minutes before it happened.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Ramos had promised to shoot his grandmother in private messages sent 30 minutes before the attack.

A later message declared he had done so, and in a final one sent 15 minutes before the shooting, he announced he would target an elementary school.

According to CNN, the private messages were sent to a 15-year-old girl in Germany who Ramos had met online. In a statement, Meta, Facebook’s parent company, said the “private one-to-one text messages” were “discovered after the terrible tragedy occurred”. It added that it was “closely cooperating” with investigators. It is legal to buy a gun at 18 in Texas, and according to US media, the attacker bought his soon after his birthday.

Buffalo shooting

An 18-year-old white man shot dead 10 people in a black neighbourhood of New York state in what authorities are calling a racially motivated attack.

The man, named as Payton Gendron in court papers, was arrested after a stand-off at the scene - a supermarket in the city of Buffalo.

He began firing in the store’s car park before entering and continuing his rampage, streaming the attack online via Twitch. CBS news reported that the attacker shouted racial slurs during the shooting and suggested that he had a racial slur written on his weapon. He also posted a manifesto online which included racist language and ideas.

The suspect is believed to have driven for some 200 miles to reach the predominantly black area of the city. Three people were shot dead in the car 8 | Endeavour Magazine

park and the other seven were killed inside the supermarket, police said. Most of the victims were black. He said the suspect surrendered his weapon after a tense stand-off and was taken into custody.

He later appeared in court charged with first degree murder. Three more people, all supermarket staff, were wounded in the shooting but did not sustain life-threatening injuries.

Some 40,000 deaths a year involve firearms in America, a figure that includes suicides.

Mining giant pleads guilty to bribery A subsidiary of Swiss-based mining giant Glencore has pleaded guilty to seven counts of bribery in African and South America, and other subsidiaries pleaded guilty to bribery in the US. The firm will pay up to $1.5 bln as a plea agreement.

Speaking to the media, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland gave more details on the settlement: “Glencore has agreed to pay approximately $700 million in penalties for its decade long scheme to bribe foreign officials in seven different countries. The second plea involves Glencore’s U.S. commodities trading arm, Glencore Limited, which engaged in a scheme to manipulate fuel oil prices at two of the busiest commercial shipping ports in the United States over the course of eight years. Glencore has agreed to pay approximately $485 million in penalties. This represents the Justice Department’s largest criminal enforcement action to date for a commodity price manipulation conspiracy in oil markets.”

According to the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO), company agents and employees paid bribes worth over $25m for preferential access to oil in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and South Sudan. All, with Glencore’s approval between 2011 and 2016.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, presented some of the findings of the American probe: “Glencore paid over $100 million in bribes to government officials in Brazil, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Venezuela. The bribery scheme here spanned the globe. Glencore paid bribes to secure oil contracts. Glencore paid bribes to avoid government audits. Glencore paid bribes to judges to make lawsuits disappear. Why did Glencore do it? They did it to make money.

Hundreds of millions of dollars. And they did it with the approval and even the encouragement of top executives.”

Middle East UN envoy expresses concerns over Taliban’s ‘erasure of women’ The United Nations special reporter on human rights in Afghanistan has expressed concern about the deteriorating situation in the country, as the governing Taliban imposes new restrictions on women and attacks against religious minorities mount. Richard Bennett has said that Afghanistan’s authorities – referring to the Taliban – have failed to acknowledge the magnitude and gravity of abuses being committed.

In recent weeks, Taliban authorities issued edicts requiring women to cover their faces except for their eyes, including female reporters on TV, and the orders are to be enforced by punishing the closest male relatives of women who do not comply. The Taliban has also banned Afghan girls from attending school past the sixth grade.

The new edicts have brought the country closer to the harsh measures imposed by the Taliban when they first ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. At that time, they subjected women to overwhelming restrictions, banning them from education and participation in public life and requiring them to wear the all-encompassing burqa.

During his visit, Bennett held talks with Taliban leaders as well as toured the country, meeting civil society groups, rights activists and minority communities, including the Hazaras.

Afghanistan has seen persistent bombings and other attacks on civilians, often targeting the mainly Shia Muslim ethnic Hazara minority. Most of the attacks have been claimed by the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K) group, which is a rival of the Taliban.

Iraq criminalises relations with Israel Violators of the anti-Israel law could face penalties including life imprisonment or even the death sentence. Iraq’s parliament has passed a law that makes it a crime to normalise ties with Israel, and violations of the law can be punishable with a death sentence or life imprisonment.

The law, titled “Criminalising Normalisation and Establishment of Relations with the Zionist Entity”, was approved on Thursday with 275 legislators voting in favour of it in Iraq’s 329-seat assembly.

The parliament said in a statement that the legislation was “a true reflection of the will of the people”. Iraq’s parliament has been unable to 10 | Endeavour Magazine

convene on any other issue bar the law prohibiting ties with Israel, including electing a new president and forming its own government, which has prolonged a political standoff in the country.

Iraq has never recognised Israel, and Iraqi citizens and companies cannot visit Israel; the two nations have no diplomatic relations.

The new legislation also entails risks for companies working in Iraq and found to be in violation of the law, which applies to all Iraqis, state and independent institutions, as well as foreigners working in the country, according to a text carried by the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

Al Jazeera to refer journalist’s killing to ICC Al Jazeera Media Network has assigned a legal team to refer the killing of its journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The network said in a statement that it has formed an international coalition that consists of its legal team along with international experts, and is preparing a dossier on the murder of Abu Akleh for submission to the ICC prosecutor.

In addition to the killing of Abu Akleh, who was shot dead by Israel forces on May 11 near the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the ICC submission will also include the Israeli bombing “and total destruction” of Al Jazeera’s office in Gaza in May 2021, and “the continuous incitements and attacks” on Al Jazeera journalists working in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Al Jazeera network statement said the killing or physical assault on journalists working in war zones or occupied territories is a war crime under Article 8 of the International Criminal Court’s charter.

Europe

Moldova says Europe’s security policies need ‘paradigm shift’ Amid fears that Moldova could be drawn into the Ukraine war, Ana Revenco, Moldova’s interior minister, has told Al Jazeera that Europe needs a “paradigm shift” in its security policies.

Neither a European Union nor NATO member, Moldova is worried about its future – particularly because Russian troops are present in its Moscowbacked separatist region of Transnistria. The country is seeking help, hoping the international community does not forget its humanitarian contributions.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres told President Maia Sandu in the Moldovan capital on May 8 that “the UN would not abandon Moldova”. That came days after the EU promised to “significantly increase” military aid to the country.

A neutral state where society is deeply divided politically, Moldova has not sought to join NATO. But soon after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, it officially applied to become an EU member.

Russia’s presence in Transnistria, home to about 500,000 people, is a constant cause for concern for Moldova. Kyiv believes Russia wants to use the area to attack Ukraine. At the end of April, a series of explosions rattled the breakaway region. No casualties were reported and while Russia and Ukraine traded blame for the attacks, Moldova pointed to pro-war “factions” within Transnistria.

How Estonia became Europe’s leader in cyber security Russia’s war on Ukraine is not just being fought with bombs, but bytes, causing nations to ramp up their cyber defence capabilities.

One country they can learn a lot from is Estonia.

The nation, which shares a border with Russia, was one of the first to come under attack from this modern form of hybrid warfare 15 years ago.

Since then, this small nation that has a population of 1.3 million people has built its cyber defense infrastructure and ranks third-best in the world behind the United States and Saudi Arabia, according to the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI).

Estonia has been occupied twice throughout its history. The last time was by the Soviet Union, from 1940 until 1991. Since then, the country put in all the protections to ensure this could not happen again.

“There was this short opportunity window when Russia was going in, I assume, by our estimates, the right direction. And then we used this opportunity window to join all the possible clubs that we could, which is NATO, which is the European Union,” Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said at a press gathering.

“And then actually, we had people asking us, why do you need this? Because Russia doesn’t pose a threat anymore. And we said, ‘we know our neighbour’”.

The February 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia has brought back painful memories in Estonia.

“Being in the geographical location where we are, you have two choices: Either to be with the West, to be with Europe or to be with Russia,” Kallas said.

Russia offers to lift port blockade in exchange for sanctions relief Russia’s defence ministry says it will lift its blockade of Ukrainian ports in exchange for sanctions relief. Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko has said that Moscow will grant passage to foreign vessels if the international community reconsiders its embargoes.

More than 20 million tonnes of grain have been grounded at Ukraine’s Black Sea ports since Russia invaded the country more than 3 months ago.

Experts say the fall in wheat and grain exports has contributed towards the growing global food crisis.

Speaking at a news conference in Sarajevo, UK Foreign Secretary Lizz Truss accused Moscow of “holding the world to ransom” and of hurting the world’s poorest people. “It is completely appalling that (Vladimir) Putin is trying to hold the world to ransom and he’s essentially weaponising hunger and lack of food amongst the poorest people around the world,” she said.

Endeavour Magazine | 11

Written by Alice Instone-Brewer

CHANGING FORTUNES Bunker Hill Mining Corp chevron-square-right www.bunkerhillmining.com phone-square +1.208.627.7586

Bunker Hill Mining Corp

Since the 1980s until recently, Bunker Hill mine had sat closed, and more-so than that, had become a ‘bad’ name in the mining industry. However, under the surface, the conditions of the mine had the perfect potential to form the cornerstone of a new company’s portfolio: it just needed the right company to recognize it, and put in the work needed to turn this ‘no go’ site around. This team emerged in Bunker Hill Mining Corp: we spoke with Richard Williams, Executive Chairman, about the company’s plans for the mine site, what attracted them to it, and the ways in which its safe and clean resurrection could make change for not only the company’s investors, but the North American communities around the site in general.

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14 | Endeavour Magazine

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F

or 20 years, Richard Williams served in the British armed forces, and the final three years of that career were spent in the not so minor role of running the SAS – the Special Air Service. It is no shock, then, in speaking with Richard, to discover that he is as strategic and precise in his business calculations as he is a natural-feeling leader. We spoke with Richard about Bunker Hill Mining Corp, of which he is now the Executive Chairman, to learn about how his self-described “turn-around team” has tackled the Bunker Hill mine site – a closed mine that not only needed to change in order to meet environmental code, but had past market scandal and a notable debt to its name. Why take on this challenge? Because Bunker Hill is rich in everything the company was looking for, and could become a beacon of positive and profitable mining in the right hands. A true underdog story, it took a team with experience to come in and achieve with Richard and his team have managed. We found out how, and why.

North America’s history is closely, famously tied with mining. We are all familiar with the image of prospective overseas settlers coming to the nation to seek their fortunes, but as well as the many social injustices and tragedies that were interwoven with that glorious-feeling period of time, these mines that were established were also a far cry from the environmentally conscious operations that modern mining companies are encouraged to strive for today. In time, therefore, these mines were eventually called to meet a new environmental code, and if they couldn’t, they would need to close. This saw thousands of mines, many of which had been on private land, close throughout North America. Richard told us about this history in more detail: “Bunker Hill ran for nearly 100 years before it was shut down for environmental mismanagement in 1981. It was a lead, silver and zinc mine, but it was also a smelting operation, but the technology at the time was very damaging to the environment, due to the emissions and issues such as lead affecting the water. In 1968, It was bought on the New York stock exchange for US$1billion, but one year later, North America passed an iteration of the Environmental Protection Act, which was designed to protect the environment in North America from that which threatened it, and that included industries such as mining.” The following years saw many other acts

Changing fortunes

come into play – between ‘72 and ‘74, there were iterations of the clean air act, follows by the clean water act. Finally, in 1980, the Superfund Act ruled that an industry had fallen short of these acts, the cost of the remediation would sit with the industry.

A number of mines were shut down across North America, and Bunker Hill was one of them. Once closed, the site was cleaned up, which included the removal of its valuable but environmentally unsound smelter. The site passed hands for very little as this clean up happened, and the mines sat dormant.

“It sat fallow as a mine for 40 years,” Richard told us. “Around it, you had trees growing again, ski resorts built above the mine, and the valley – which is known as Silver Valley in Idaho – turned to its beautiful pre-mining state of rivers and forests and wildlife and so-on. But the town, Kellogg, was devastated economically.”

Over time, groups occasionally looked to restart the mine, but there was an additional major issue in

the way: it owed money - US$20 million, to be exact – to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and this debt was obviously not attractive to investors. The bill had been built up due to the level of acidity that the mine released into its water: disturbing rock that bears lead and zinc was leading to a pollution of this water, and it was the EPA’s water treatment plant in the area that was cleaning it up, for a cost. When the mine failed and closed, this bill - which had already built up to a notable size – went unpaid, and followed the dormant mine as it was exchanged from hand to hand. In 2017, the EPA sued the mine for this amount.

With this hurdle in the way, why would any company – especially one that was newly forming – be interested in taking Bunker Hill on? It was no light or impulsive decision, and the reasons behind it were many-fold. Richard talked us through them: “You need to find a metal that has a market, and ideally in an inflationary environment for that commodity price, as far as you can guarantee that – commodity prices go up and down. We were very interested in the nexus between precious metals

Richard Williams Endeavour Magazine | 15

Bunker Hill Mining Corp

and energy metals, and that nexus is silver. Gold, although it does conduct electricity very well, is used purely for its precious metals value. Silver has that too, but a considerable portion – 60% plus – is used to feed energy systems, be that in a mobile phone or in a photovoltaic cell for solar energy. So, not only is it a part of the green revolution, it also has Store Of Value. Coming from a gold space, we were familiar with the precious metals market, but we were also interested in what was happening in the world, and mining’s role within an energy transition.

So, silver suited us quite well.” Additionally, silver mines tend to come with other metals – in Bunker Hill’s case, lead and zinc – into the mix, maximizing its market value.

“When the group of us had a look at this mine, there was no doubt that there was significant metal in the ground, and there was also quite a lot of existing infrastructure.” Even though the smelter and other above-ground assets had been removed, below ground was another story. “There was nearly 200 km of underground drift tunnels, ramps and so on, and three underground shafts. This was a very large, if not the largest for its time, underground mine in North America.

This was infrastructure that we could use.”

There were also some reserves, under the classifications used at the time - up to about 9 million tons of it, with an average zinc grade of 8.5%. Although some parts of the mine were flooded, the upper part wasn’t, and we could gain access to those areas and mine as easily as we were walking to the shops.”

“If you’re building a company in a mining sense, you need assets that are potentially very long life.

I’m talking several decades – not 10 or 20 years, but ideally 30 or 40. Now mines don’t generally have that life, but they have the potential for it, so we were looking for that potential. To survive the commodity cycle, which goes down as well as up, you’re also looking for a mine that structurally can operate at the lowest quartile of the cost curve. So, when zinc, lead and silver prices drop, in the case of Bunker Hill, we can still make money. We wanted to be able to do that without using some remarkable new technology, although we’re very interested in that.

We didn’t want unproven new technology to be the key to unlocking value, but instead to optimise value should it be applicable.”

“Lastly, we were looking for something low risk, which North America is usually referred to. When you look at those three things we needed - low risk, low cost, long life – they don’t exist unless they’re distressed, because otherwise somebody would already own them. Either they’re closed or there’s been some problem and they’re about to close.”

It seems like Richard and his team were asking for a pie-in-the-sky list of traits, and yet, they were realistic and practical in how they went about searching for these traits. This knowledge that good things are worth the effort paid off: in identifying the Bunker Hill mine site, they found everything they were looking for, and were able to focus on this potential rather than the potholes.

However, they were also too experienced to run in blind: instead, they worked out how to deal with these issues strategically. Richard’s history both in the military and the mining industry would come into play in this mindset, and the team he pulled together around him proved critical for achieving what other mining companies had shied away from.

He himself had previously been the COO of Barrick Gold, and this is where he had encountered the team he initially brought with him: Sam Ash had

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16 | Endeavour Magazine

Changing fortunes

been a mining engineer who, in his late 30s, Richard entrusted with a billion-dollar mine to run for Barrick – which he did extremely successfully. Brad Barnett was an agricultural development entrepreneur, formally working with the US government, who had worked with Richard for 15 years by the time Bunker Hill Mining Corp was forming. He had come in to help Barrick manage its closed assets, evaluating those with resale value and those that could be turned to other businesses uses instead. All in all, a strong team to head in armed with.

Since then, this team has grown and added two more key figures: Cassie Joseph, the company’s lead independent Director, now runs the governance compensation and nominations committee. She is on the general counsel at Nevada Copper and previously worked at the DA’s office in California and Nevada over environmental matters. “She’s a fantastic, dynamo, experienced individual who really knows how to get the most out of companies, and keeps us to a high standard of governance,” Richard explained.

“I also brought in Pam Saxton, who her whole life, has been auditing and managing

complicated financial scenarios.” Altogether, this line-up reads like the perfect A-Team to take on what they would need to face, and this collective armoury of expertise seems to be what had made the different for Bunker Hill – both the company and the mine site.

Sam Ash, now Bunker Hill’s CEO, bought a house five minutes’ walk from the mine site and, along with his wife, who is a geologist, began working on the early assessments, as well as the early business and on-the-ground relationships that would need to be built.

Meanwhile, Brad Barnett tackled perhaps the biggest and most important early challenge of all. Well versed in environmental management, permitting and government relations, Brad was tasked with forming a relationship with the EPA, who Bunker Hill still owed US$19 million to. At this stage, it is noteworthy that this ambitious company did not yet officially own the mine site: whilst they had an exclusive option, its owners – two Idaho businessmen – were reluctant to sell whilst this debt still existed, and it would also be a sticking point for the team to gather the funds needed to

Endeavour Magazine | 17

Bunker Hill Mining Corp

get the mine running if this giant bill needed paying first. It was all on Brad.

“The EPA really wanted mines to restart again in superfund sites, in the modern way that wouldn’t damage the environment. It’s not well understood - they’re often seen as the bogeyman, but Brad came in and he was perfectly placed to start those discussions. Every week, for many hours, over 52 weeks of the year, for 2 ½ years now, he did, and we now have a very close relationship now with the EPA.”

“So, we had to negotiate with the EPA that yes, we owed them £19 million, but could we pay that out of cash flow once we got the mine up and running? That required the EPA to take a leap of faith in us as a team. Brad successfully renegotiated that $19 million, and that was a big step for the EPA, and a demonstration of how good our relationship was. To build a trusting partnership with them, one of the first things we spent money on was understanding the water system, so that we could reduce the level of water acidity coming out of the mine ourselves, before it got to their water treatment plant, and we could collectively work out what was going on. In order to ensure transparency, we put in a water monitoring system that updates on our website every two minutes. We also paid

18 | Endeavour Magazine

the EPA US$2million upfront as a good will payment.” With that, they were able to buy, and they were on the move.

Next, the company needed to find affordable and timely ways forwards. For example, rather than commissioning a new processing plant, which would cause a lengthy wait due to current supply chain constraints, they purchased one secondhand and are transporting it the 140 miles to their site! Fortunately, one hold-up they are not waiting on is permits – the site is already fully permitted, which saves what could be a 15-20 year wait. For this reason, Richard is passionate that revived mines such as Bunker are a more meaningful, and certainly more timely contribution to the green revolution than the fresh assets that many big-name investors are seeking.

Whilst it’s all systems go, however, Bunker Hill hasn’t forgotten the lessons of the past, and in fact understands that ESG responsibility goes beyond simply box-ticking compliance. “We’re primarily about mining the silver. You’re focused on capital, quite rightly, but to reduce the risks of mining, you’ve got to think about its impact on the people and land around you.” Brad’s current task applies what he had done for Richard at Barrick Gold – just as he had sought ways to turn closed mine sites into other business ventures, he now leads Bunker Hill’s investment in its mine site in ways other than mining.

Changing fortunes

Some of these ventures invest in the environment and a greener footprint, and all of them invest in the community’s future: in the past, the closure of this mine left the area devastated, but not, Bunker intends to leave multiple ventures behind it even after the finite mine itself closes.

Real estate ventures, water distribution to both sky resorts and local towns, the use of forest waste (a main cause of forest fires) as biochar for fertilizer: in many ways, the company seeks to avoid waste by making the most of its, land, and in doing so, it also creates jobs, resources, and prepares the area for a future without it.

“We look at the land we have, the water, the forests, as a total asset that can be utilized for economic and social resources. Our focus as a company in North America is to create value through regeneration, with Bunker Hill as a cornerstone asset of a multi-asset north American portfolio.”

When talking about Bunker Hill, we could go on and on. The company already have a second venture, in the form of a partnership with Mine Water, whose primary business is to clean mine water and sell it to local towns. Through partnering with this

company, whose operations have led to it having mineral rights where it operates, Bunker has found itself with three closed gold mines in its reach. This is but a sign of the way forwards for the company, and Richard knows it: “Our plan is to get Bunker Hill up and running by the end of next year, then use the cash flow to expand Bunker Hill’s value from, let’s say its $100 million start up value to $500 million. Then, we use that cash flow to conduct exploration or study work on a range of other closed or closing sites through North America where our particular approach can be very value enhancing and value creating. We’d like to see ourselves as being part of an industry that is increasingly green in its purpose and its outlook, with our particular focus in North America.”

“We’re focused on mining useful metals, and on delivering to those around our mine sites useful social and economic benefits that will out-last mining.” This is the future of mining, and Bunker Hill Mining Corp have embraced it fully. It is our hope that other closed mines will begin to turn into similar clean, community boosting success stories, in North America and around the world. As for Bunker Hill, it should be fully operational in around 18 months, and we’ll be sure to check in for a followup with them when it is.

Endeavour Magazine | 19

Written by Alice Instone-Brewer

GREENER ARMENIA Lydian Armenia chevron-square-right www.lydianarmenia.am phone-square +374 10 586037

Lydian Armenia

Armenia is home to many mines, both active and inactive, that began life back in the Soviet Union. In the Amulsar Gold Mine, Lydian Armenia has made history: firstly, this gold site is the first discovered in the country since Armenia achieved its independence in 1991, and secondly, it will therefore be the first active mine to open operations that meet modern, clean, sustainable mining standards. This, coupled with the fact that the deposit in question is the largest gold deposit in the region, makes this an exciting and significant project for many reasons, and one which, all going well, could blaze the trail for a greener mining industry in Armenia – something that much of the population are passionate to see.

L

ydian Armenia was established in 2005, and in the same year, its incredible flagship project was discovered, located on the border of the Vayots Dzor and Syunik regions of Armenia.

This discovery saw the company receive Mining Journal’s ‘Outstanding Achievement’ Award. We spoke with Hyak Aloyan, co-founder and MD of Lydian Armenia, who was within the geological team that first made this discovery, as well as being one of the people now at the helm of this gamechanging project. Since that point, exploration continued to be carried out until 2014, and in 2016, the mine was granted its license, having completed its Environmental Impact Assessment. With 23 years of experience behind him and a PhD in geology, Hayk has published 51 scientific articles and three books in his field, extremely well-equipped to appreciate the tremendous potential of the Amulsar deposit, as well as able to help steer this project towards it ambitious and admirable goals, despite the obstacles.

Lydian Armenia is a 100%-owned subsidiary of Canadian-American Lydian Canada Ventures company owned by Osisko Gold Royalties and Orion Mine Finance. This connection to mining companies outside of Armenia has leant towards the efforts to develop this mine to a new, cleaner global standard – the first of its kind in the country. This direction also came from the project’s two early main investors, as Hayk told us:

“When we started, we had as investors the International Finance Corporation and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development: these two banks have set high standards for the entire mining industry around the world, and we were following these standards. We are different to other mines in Armenia, in terms of environmental, safety and social standards, most probably because we’ve started from zero, whereas other mines have heritage in the Soviet Union. Industry has changed in the past 30-40 years in terms of environmental, social, health and safety – this is number one priority for the modern mining industry.”

Lydian Armenia was the first mining company to apply Equator Principles in Armenia, as well as IFC and EBRD performance standards and requirements, on which the modern mining is based. It is also the first 22 | Endeavour Magazine

Greener Armenia

Armenian mine to be a signatory to International Cyanide Management Code. Yet despite the improved and, in some cases, world-leading standards being applied and met at the Amulsar project, the mine’s development has been met with a fierce and organised backlash within Armenia, which put significant strain on its development.

“For the last four years, there was a well-funded, large scale anti-Amulsar campaign conducted by various groups. It was one of the hardest periods in the history of the company, with a lot of challenges and losses, but today we are looking forward, and hopefully this year we will start construction.”

As the company explained to us: “As a result of this campaign, Lydian had to suspend the construction of the mine and underwent several local and international audits by the Government.

All the audits confirmed that the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment implemented by Lydian has addressed all the possible risks of the Amulsar mine and designed the necessary prevention and mitigation measures and technologies, as well as

proved that accusations of environmentalists were groundless.”

It is ironic the Lydian Armenia should have had to face this backlash, when the company’s aim is to open a mind cleaner, safer and more responsible than those that have come before it, but Hayk was sympathetic to people’s unease:

“The Soviet Union quality of operation in the mining sector wasn’t good, so there is still mistrust from the public about modern, responsible mining, especially in Armenia.

We are trying to work with NGOs and environmentalist groups to show that it is possible to build a modern mine in Armenia.

It’s not easy, of course – it’s one of the biggest challenges in our industry. However, I think as soon as we start production, or during construction as well, everything will change in terms of the mistrust to the company. A 1000 people will be working for us - there will be evidence that we are working differently.”

www.global-resource-eng.com / info@global-resource-eng.com 600 Grant Street, Suite 975, Denver, CO 80203 US PART OF THE AMULSAR TEAM SINCE 2014

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The Only Western Mining-Focused Engineering Consultancy with an Armenian Branch Office

Endeavour Magazine | 23

Lydian Armenia

Earning this trust, and developing a relationship with the local community, has all been of high importance to Lydian. Towards this aim, the company has a policy in place that at least 40% of its workforce must come from the local community: this both means the 1000 workers currently or imminently needed during the construction process, but also 950 permanent job roles which the company plans to create once it goes into operation. As well as this 40% coming from the direct local area, the aim/prediction is to have 80% from the two wider local regions.

The mine is already creating jobs, both with Lydian itself, through exploration and construction, and through the wider ripple effects of this business activity in the area: “New shops have been opened,” Hayk told us.

“New enterprises have been established. The local community has been very busy. I hope that operation will start soon, and they will be busy again.” Construction is predicted to begin in the summer of this year, with first gold in 2023. This transformation of new business, with the mine and its employees at its centre, is a miniature economic eco-system that has sprung up partially as an organic response to new money and activity in the area, but it is also a process that Lydian has leant its support to, establishing 50 small and medium enterprises itself in 2017-2018 alone.

The company has also made an active effort to invest in CSR. Again, this all works towards gaining trust, and is also carried out because of Lydian’s genuine passion to see a greener, kinder Armenian mining industry (and a global one). “$4 million has been invested in CSR projects in surrounding communities,” Hayk told us. “Renovating and building a new kindergarten, schools, irrigation pipelines, gas pipelines, helping students who want to get a geology degree or a degree in the mining sector. We’ve invested in youth, education and sport. And of course, we will continue to do so.” This is an incredible amount for a company not even in active operation in its mine yet, and Hayk sounded adamant that this amount would only increase once the company’s mining cashflow finally began.

The company’s largest single CSR project is the Jermuk National Park. This is not merely a Park that Lydian is involved with – it is one that it agreed to establish. This agreement was made in 2016, and represents a cost of around US$5.7 million.

When complete, this National Park will be 25,000 24 | Endeavour Magazine

hectares large, with obvious boons to preservation, biodiversity and tourism within the country.

On top of these very active and intentional acts of CSR, the sheer scale and value of the Amulsar project means that it has an instant beneficial impact of Armenia from an economic sense: the mining sector is an important contributor to the national economy of Armenia. 32% of the country’s exports come from mining: the sector contributes 4.1% to the country’s GDP and have created over 70,000 jobs (direct and indirect). This 4.1% GDP contribution puts into context how remarkable it is that, once it is in operation, it is predicted that Lydian will have a 1.5% positive impact on the GDP all by itself. On top of this, it will be paying over US$100 million in taxes and royalties annually in operation, as well as US$1 million to the local communities in land rental. Even today, before it has gone into operation, it is paying this yearly rent.

About US$500 million has already been invested into the Amulsar project, and a further US$250 million is anticipated before it is in full operation. US$80 million will be going on environmental programs alone, again proving how committed the company is to its goals of green operation. It has been a long

Greener Armenia

road, and at one point, during those four challenging years, it was uncertain whether all of this effort and investment was even going to have a chance to pay off. Hayk was quick to credit his team for collectively getting them through that challenging time, as well as some of the company’s suppliers.

Global Resource Engineering has worked with the company for over 10 years now and has worked closely alongside them for the entirety of this project, including those rough years: “GRE advised us in several sectors: water management, acid rock drainage, surface water – everything connected with water. They are a very helpful, professional company that has worked with us during design and construction, during the permitting process, and including the last four years.

In those four years, water was a main issue. GRE had to present the design to the government and explain how efficient our water management would be. GRE was an active support for us regarding those presentations, and the GRE team was with us during all the tough time. They opened an office in Armenia whilst working on Amulsar, and hopefully they will keep this office, as we will be sure to need them in the future as well!”

It has been an emotional and high-stakes journey for Lydian Armenia, but a worthwhile one, and one that could not only produce much good in its own right, but could inspire a wider movement towards similarly green, contentious mining throughout the country. We are thrilled that the project made it through the backlash – a true cautionary tale of the power that public opinion can have, even if it isn’t backed up by facts, yet also, a tale in how taking the correct precautions and operating at the right standard can future-proof against such hiccups along the road.

“After a challenging 4 years,” the company concluded, “Lydian Armenia is working a new phase of financing for the Amulsar Mine to complete the construction and start the operation. We are expecting our first gold in 2023.

Our goal is to have a modern, responsible mine operating in line with international best practices, ESG standards and requirements that will operate in favor of the local communities, Armenia, our employees, and other stakeholders of the mine.”

You can’t hope for fairer than that, and we can’t wait to see this company’s dreams and goals come to fruition.

Endeavour Magazine | 25

Written by Alice Instone-Brewer

KEEPING ON THE CASE NBS Ghana chevron-square-right nbs.gov.gh phone-square 030 266 3701

NBS Ghana

One positive outcome of the recent global pandemic is that our appreciation for health services has undoubtedly never been higher.

These were some of the groups working the hardest during the pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic and were unsurprisingly those we were looking to the most. As we tentatively eye the hope of a postCovid world, it is important to remember that these organisations still exist and are just as essential as they always were. We took a look at NBS Ghana, Ghana’s National Blood Service, to see how this organisation impacts the health of Ghanaians for the better.

Dr. Justina K. Ansah (CEO of the NBSG)

N

BS Ghana is still a relatively new entity, first founded in 2006. As a single blood service provider, it is NBSG’s job to coordinate the supply of safe blood and blood products to public and private health care institutions in Ghana and make sure that this supply is of sufficient quantity and standard. We spoke with Dr Justina K. Ansah, NBSG’s Chief Executive Officer, who told us that the Blood Service’s goal is to “attain a sustainable national supply of safe blood that relies on 100% voluntary unpaid blood donations in a manner responsive to the needs of patients requiring blood transfusion therapy.”

One of the challenges facing blood service providers is that blood only has a short shelf-life and that all blood groups must be readily available in adequate proportions for transfusion to patients.

Therefore, it is not simply a case of collecting blood donations but establishing a reliable enough supply of regular donations that the needs of healthcare services are consistently met. Another challenge is to manage the efficient and reliable distribution of this blood once it is procured and processed.

However, as Justina told us, “NBSG continues to face a challenge of weak coordination and the lack of standardization in blood services nationwide”.

In an attempt to counter this, the Government of Ghana stepped in at a time when the health care services needed as much support as they could get: the Covid pandemic. In December 2020, Ghana passed the National Blood Service Act (Act 1042), making the NBSG the primary agency through which all blood-related activities, including education, recruitment of blood donors; collection, testing, processing, transportation, storage and other matters, would be coordinated. Empowering NBSG as this central hub allows it to streamline the processes and remove confusion in communication or inefficiencies in cooperation, thus saving time, funds and the most essential resource of all – the efficient procurement and use of the blood and blood products.

There are many elements in the blood safety chain, hence the need for this central coordination.

The NBSG processes just over half of blood donations in its designated Blood Centres. The blood donations are processed into fresh frozen plasma (FFP), concentrated red cells (CRC), and cryoprecipitate or platelet concentrates distributed

28 | Endeavour Magazine

Keeping on the case

to hospitals for component therapy. Currently, it has three such centres: the operational wing of the NBS– one in Accra in the Southern Zone, one in Kumasi in the Central Zone, and one in Tamale, the Northern Zone. Coordinating these is the Service’s headquarters, which is primarily the administrative arm and responsible for setting standards.

However, many elements within the chain happen through other stakeholders. For example, as well as the blood collection and transportation, hospitals and care providers must run and oversee their respective blood banks and are responsible for patient blood grouping, compatibility testing etc.

The NBSG also works with societies and professional bodies like the Africa Society for Blood Transfusion (AfSBT) and the Safe Blood for Africa Foundation. On the international level, the NBSG works with professional bodies like the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) and the Global Blood Foundation.

The Spectra Optia Apheresis device from Terumo BCT is just one of the many solutions they are offering in therapeutic apheresis, cell processing and cell collection platform making a difference in patient care and bringing relief to clinicians.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Terumo BCT impacted lives through the convalescent plasma program. In Ghana, Arcoa Ghana Ltd is their local partner who provides sale and after sale of blood components processing equipment and technologies amidst other laboratory equipment – www.arcoaghana.com

Endeavour Magazine | 29

NBS Ghana

Another challenge that NBSG faces, Justina explained to us, is that “blood supply in Ghana remains heavily dependent on family replacement donations, a model that compromises blood safety and results in inadequate supply, particularly for emergencies like maternal bleeding. In 2017, a national plan for blood donor education, recruitment and retention to improve voluntary unpaid blood donation nationwide by 2022 was developed. A key strategy in the national plan was to strengthen collaboration with major stakeholders such as religious bodies, educational institutions, corporate organisations and other governmental agencies to increase collections from voluntary blood donors.”

As one can imagine, the number of blood units donated in Ghana, just as in the rest of the world, was also significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Lockdowns and social distancing greatly reduced both those willing to give blood and the ability to gather it from those who were. “We saw the cancellation of scheduled mobile blood donation sessions”, Justina told us; “The closure

NBSG presents award to NGO (Kwaaba Foundation) for supporting blood donation

30 | Endeavour Magazine

of institutions involved in blood donation; reduced individual and group blood donations at fixed sites due to restrictions and fear of visiting hospitalbased collection sites; and reduced prioritisation of blood donation due to public anxiety and economic stress accompanying sudden lockdown.”

The NBSG was faced with the challenge of coming up with an emergency response to this situation: simply not having the blood supplies was not an option. Therefore, it carried out several urgent measures, attempting to mitigate the impact of these restrictions however it could. These included the provision of exemption passes for those who wanted to donate blood during lockdown – whilst these numbers were still low, this allowed those who were willing to reach donation centres and sites.

Then, there were public education campaigns on NBSG’s safety measures in the hope that more people may feel safe attending organized donor clinics. A. Lastly, the Service worked with healthcare providers to have non-emergency surgeries deferred in order to preserve the lower than usual blood stocks for when they were most needed.

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checks and monitors those working with and through it to ensure that standards are maintained.

“The NBSG strives to meet international standards in all its activities.” To this end, it carries out its activities following policies and guidelines, including the Clinical Blood Transfusion Policy, National Guidelines for Clinical Use of Blood and Blood Components, Standards for the Practice of Blood Transfusion in Ghana, Blood Donor Selection and Care Manual and National Strategy for Screening of Donated Blood and Immuno-haematological Testing. The Service also participates in external quality assessments to assess the competence of its laboratory staff.

Furthermore, to monitor its standards and practices as well as blood safety and traceability, the NBSG has implemented a blood safety information system (BSIS). This system manages information on blood donors and donations.

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32 | Endeavour Magazine

being rolled out to the other two centres as well.

As was demonstrated in the 2020 Act, the smoother the communication and more central the flow of information, the more efficient the operations and the less room for error, all of which means that the blood collected can be put to best use.

We asked Justina what she felt stood out the most about NBSG and its commitment to her task.

“One of the key things that sets the NBSG apart,” she answered, “ is the commitment to improve access and adequacy of safe blood products amid the lack of resources to expand blood service infrastructure across Ghana. These efforts include initiating a national programme to upgrade selected Regional Hospital Blood Banks into Blood Distribution Centres improving access to safe and adequate blood; strengthening the national haemovigilance programme, and collaborating with the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority and other local and international stakeholders to develop a National Haemovigilance Framework/Guidelines; and heightening efforts to establish hospital blood transfusion committees in all facilities providing blood transfusion therapy and regular feedback and monitoring of clinical and bedside transfusion practices.”

Blood Grouping at NBSG blood centre

Keeping on the case

Currently, the NBSG has about 160 staff members in its team, but with so many vast undertakings, it is no surprise that it is looking to grow this team to support these efforts. It is also hoping to expand in order to increase its capacity further and thus its ability to provide for Ghana’s blood needs.

These staff members are continually trained and supported on the job to make sure that they are up to the standard required. On top of this training for its staff, the Service also provides a Continuing Medical Education program on safe blood transfusion practices for clinicians, nurses, biomedical scientists, and pharmacists in Ghana, again working to not only support its own operations but the safety and efficiency of the country’s blood services as a whole.

This is typical for NBSG. As we have seen, the Service works extremely hard for the sake of Ghana and its people. No longer in full swing of a pandemic, its strains are not as great as they have been for the past few years, but that does not mean that all is simple. However, with sensible leadership and reliability, centralisation of efforts, information and coordination, life-saving feats can, and are, achieved on a daily basis.

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NBSG presents award to religious organisationfor supporting blood donation

Endeavour Magazine | 33

Amazing World

Written by James Lapping

IVAN KUPALA

F

or almost everyone, the return of the sun to the summer sky is a more than a welcome sight. And for thousands of years, Europeans across the continent have celebrated the summer solstice – the longest day of the year. Throughout the Slavic regions of Eastern Europe, Ivan Kupala is the night when magic is at it’s most powerful, and evil spirits are awakened!

The celebration in question was originally a pagan celebration known simply as Kupala Night.

However, during the spread of the Christian Church during the 1st Millennium, St John’s Day was declared as midsummer holiday in the 4th Century and was used as a way of converting longstanding pagan rituals into those that adhered to Christianity. The Slavic name for John translates to Ivan, hence why the Orthodox regions where Kupala Night is celebrated changed the name of the holiday to Ivan or sometimes Ivana Kupala. The name Kupala comes from the Slavic pagan god of fertility and may even have a vague link to the famous Roman god of 34 | Endeavour Magazine

love, Cupid! The night is usually celebrated on the exact day of the summer solstice, and in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia, this is on 23rd/24th June. However, in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia, the night is celebrated on 6/7th July. This aligns the date so that it is exactly six months away from the Orthodox celebration of Christmas, on 7th January.

To align Ivan Kupala with such an important date in the Christian calendar shows how significant Kupala Night is to those Slavic cultures that celebrate it.

Traditionally, Kupala Night is a celebration steeped in pagan ritual. Rites to do with fertility and purification are practiced throughout the evening. Various rituals foretell the strength and integrity of future relations. As bad spirits are prevalent throughout the night on Kupala, it is essential to purify oneself by swimming in a river, however water-spirits remain a threat, so it is advised to just have a quick dip and to get in and out as quick as possible!

To further protect from the evil spirits that run rampant on Kupala Night, many people collect bunches of herbs and grasses, such has St John’s wort, lemon thyme, wildflowers, and whatever else is available locally at that time of year. These herbs and grasses are bound together and hung from houses as charms to warn away the evil spirits as residents remain safe.

Dressed in traditional Slavic clothing, decorated with embroidered beautiful red rushnyk patterns, young women and girls weave wreathes for themselves that are adorned with bunches of flowers. One fertility rite includes lighting candles on these wreathes, then setting them out onto a river. It is believed that the further your wreath travels, the more likely you are to fulfill your wish of meeting the partner of your dreams and having a happy family. If your wreath does not travel so far or worse, sinks, then you are out of luck. This ritual is also an opportunity for the young men to discover their future partner. If they are able to catch a

wreath from the water, and return it to the wearer, then they may be in luck. If the wreath is refused by the woman and worn by the man, this means that she wants to be with him. But if the wreath isn’t offered to the man, she doesn’t want them to be together.

For those who are unlucky in the wreath ceremonies, there are many other ways of finding love. Herbal spells can be cast on the water, and with some prayers, a loving partner may well be found. Alternatively, you can find luck by searching for the blossoming ferns in the forest. Mythology says that the fern only blossoms around the time of Kupala Night, and this is why people enter the woods with such vigor in an attempt to find the illusive fern flower. Unfortunately, this may not be a fruitful endeavour, as ferns don’t actually flower at all. It is said that only the most virtuous can seek them out, so clearly not everyone is as virtuous as they make out to be! And similar to the wreath rituals on the lake, if a man enters the woods with a Endeavour Magazine | 35

woman in search of the fern flower, and returns with her wreath on his head, then it is known that they shall be married in time.

It wouldn’t be a pagan celebration without fire, of course, and huge bonfires are lit of the eve of Ivan Kupala, as young men and women come together to hold hands and dance around the fire and in some regions, an effigy of Kupala is burned on the fire. The elements play a major role in the rituals of Kupala, and it is believed that the flames of the fire purify the surrounding energy and put an end to any evil spirits lurking about. Once the flames of the bonfire have died down, everyone jumps over the remaining embers for a chance of luck. If a couple holding hands jumps over the fire, and are still holding hands afterwards, then the rites of Ivan Kupala have been a success and their love is meant to prosper.

Ivan Kupala is a captivating example of traditions remaining ever present. Though Orthodox Christianity has aimed to claim the holiday as its own, there is no doubt that the defining characteristics of the celebration are undoubtedly pagan. And despite current global affairs, Ivan Kupala is glowing evidence of the shared and unique beautiful

36 | Endeavour Magazine

heritage of the Slavic countries. Customs vary from country to country, but themes of fertility, purity, and the dawn of a new day remain the same. Elsewhere across Europe, many holidays are celebrated at the same time and include very similar ritual aspects.

Jaanipäev in Estonia, Jāņi in Latvia, and Juhannus in Finland are all midsummer celebrations that share elements such as bonfires, casting away evil spirits, and searching for love and the rare flowering fern.

Similar midsummer celebrations are even in parts of the Middle East too.

Ivan Kupala has been celebrated for thousands of years, and there is no doubt that it will be celebrated for thousands more. Ivan represents new beginnings, and Kupala represents pure love.

These concepts remain ever present, now more than ever, and who knows, maybe there is a fern out there that is to blossom soon. Who’s going to find it?

Written by Alice Instone-Brewer

POWERING A NATION National Energy Corporation Trinidad and Tobago Limited chevron-square-right nationalenergy.tt phone-square 868 636.8471

National Energy Corporation Trinidad and Tobago Limited

When it comes to supplying energy to an entire country, the demand for reliability and efficiency are high, but National Energy Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Limited - better known simply as National Energy - has been making it look easy for over 40 years.

I

ncorporated in 1979, National Energy is a 100% owned subsidiary of another national body, The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC). Initially set up to assist in the monetising and development of the country’s energy resources, National Energy quickly grew and absorbed extra responsibilities, including industrial and marine infrastructure management and the construction of petrochemical plants; but it was in 1999 that things really started to gear up as the company was re-operationalised and given an expanded mandate. In 2004, its mandate was further expanded with the responsibility for developing new energy-related projects in Trinidad and Tobago. In 2013, it rebranded to National Energy to reflect its modern and efficient approach to its responsibilities.

Today, National Energy carries a mandate to “conceptualize, promote, develop and facilitate new energy-based and downstream industries” For these islands, whose energy sector is largely centred around oil and gas, this means not only involving itself in the gas industry, but in all infrastructure surrounding and supporting this,

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Facilities One floating drydock of 50.00 x 22.00 x 1.60 meters with breadth of 18.00 meters between the wing walls and a lifting capacity of 1100 tons One floating drydock of 30.00 x 13.40 x 1.22 meters with breadth of 10.05 meters between the wing walls and a lifting capacity of 150 tons 40 | Endeavour Magazine

One slipway with a capacity of 100 tons and one for new buildings and repairs of vessels up to 600 tons with a length of 70.00 meters One machine shop for repairing and machining of shafts, bearings and parts One propeller shop for repairing several kinds of propellers such as manganese bronze, bronial, aluminum and stainless steel

Representative of: Damen Shipyards Gorinchem

National Energy Corporation Trinidad and Tobago Limited including deep water ports and other marine assets. Harbour operations are as essential as the islands’ power plants themselves, and especially for these islands, who ship natural gas as a major export. As National Energy wrote, “National Energy has been mandated by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to identify and develop new industrial estates and ports for the location of petrochemical, inorganic and downstream industries.”

One such port development was the Port Galeota. Now complete, this project cost $100million, and took place in conjunction with improvements being made to the islands’ existing Port of Brighton. This work vastly expanded the marine operations that National Energy is responsible for overseeing. This work is essential, yet this industry and these operations are also seen as significant carbon emitters. Whilst this can be so, National Energy is putting its mind to countering and limiting such environmental impact, as well.

As the entity says of itself: “We are committed to the sustainability of the local and regional energy sectors through the development of gas and energybased industries while providing the associated

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infrastructure to support these industries.” It is not only providing energy, therefore, that is National Energy’s bottom line, but finding ways to do so sustainably, including – where possible – cleanly, and to set up Trinidad and Tobago’s infrastructure so that its future is as strong as its present (if not stronger).

The biggest step towards this, for National Energy, has been to look in more detail at energy efficiency.

Reducing waste through inefficiency reduces the energy used, and thus the environmental impact. In looking into this issue, National Energy has opted for the development of a Super ESCO efficiency model – an Energy Services Company model developed for entities to improve efficiency and reduce emissions.

By implementing a Super ESCO, National Energy hopes to not only improve its own efficiency, but boost the message and promote these same approaches to the wider industry and country. It plans to do this via an internationally developed model, which includes research, marketing, and education, as well as to promote and even facilitate private sector investment in energy efficiency programmes. Meanwhile, the company is investing in its own energy efficiency, and it is using the data from its own experiences and learning curves to further aid others that follow their example.

National Energy Corporation Trinidad and Tobago Limited These developments are exciting not only for National Energy, but for Trinidad and Tobago as a whole and, beyond that, they are yet another step in the right direction for the planet. Looking at Trinidad and Tobago in particular, its growing affluence, success and, of course, access to energy is National Energy’s focus, and the future looks set to include even more branching out. As National Energy describes:

“Today, National Energy is well positioned as the force that will drive the expansion of the energy sector into the future. The company is taking a proactive approach to promoting Trinidad and Tobago’s energy brand regionally and internationally, as well as continuing to execute the development of energy projects and infrastructure under the guidance of the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries.”

However, as well as looking out for Trinidad and Tobago’s energy sector interests, National Energy also takes its position as a market leader seriously by honouring its CSR. In its own words, the company pledged that, when embarking on such initiatives: “National Energy will be a leader and innovator in the field of CSR, create shared value for the company

and its multiple stakeholders, with a focus on socioeconomic development and human development, support initiatives which preserve the national identity and heritage and will seek to be sustainable in the way we conduct our daily operations and in the social interventions we develop, implement and support.” This was recently evidenced in its company-sponsored Energy Efficiency Audit and Solar PV installation trainings for residents of its fenceline communities. These training programmes also demonstrate the company’s commitment to ensuring its fenceline communities are well equipped with the skills necessary to ensure they are active players in the energy transition.

Always looking to the future and underpinning new innovations and ideas, with over four decades of market-leading expertise, National Energy is an admirable commodity in the modern business world.

With a clear desire to be always moving forward for the good of the people that it serves, the coming years are set to be exciting and successful ones for National Energy, as well as Trinidad and Tobago as a whole.

Our fleet • 15 Vessels consisting of ASD Tug and pilot boats • 60 ton+ bollard pull • STCW certified crew • ISO 9001 14001 Standard

35 years of experience in Harbor and Off Shore services in the Caribbean Basin www.ktktugs.com 44 | Endeavour Magazine

Written by Alice Instone-Brewer

DOWN TO THE DETAILS Industrial Logistic Systems chevron-square-right www.ils.co.za phone-square +27 11 656-1100

Industrial Logistic Systems

Distribution is a key factor in any industry, as recent challenges in global shipping have shown. Distribution gets your products from the factory to the shelves or from the warehouse to the customer; meanwhile, distribution also gets suppliers’ products to you, to enable you to continue doing business. Wellorganised logistics are essential for smooth business operations, and they have never been more possible. This is especially true when companies such as the South African Industrial Logistic Systems exist, to aid in the assessment, planning and implementation of your logistics needs. We took a look at Industrial Logistic Systems to see what they do for their clients to aid their distribution journey, both in South African and beyond.

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n essence, Industrial Logistic Systems can be described as a Supply Chain & Logistics consultation company. It has been recognised for its expertise in its field both locally and internationally. This recognition has been earnt both for its design of distribution operations and distribution centres themselves, both of which it is able to provide in order to assist other companies when seeking to plan an efficient and streamlined distribution service. This assistance has been wide-spread: to date, the company has had a hand in the design of over 600 facilities, which it has worked on over an impressive span of 32 years. These distribution centres stand on five different continents, and for a spread of over 200 customers. All this was achieved with a team 200-strong themselves, producing results that have won awards and made a name for them as a go-to in South Africa and beyond it.

These customers come to Industrial Logistic Systems for their specialist knowledge in the design and development of the elements needed by the logistics chain, from warehouses and distribution facilities themselves to distribution strategies and operations. This also includes supply chain strategies – after all, logistics are a two-way street. Incorporated in both their distribution and supply chain analysis, market and location analysis is involved, and once the analysis and design stages are over, the company continues to be on the case. It can offer operations setup, actual operations systems, and can even stay on to project manage. In whichever way they are required, they are on hang to assist in their clients’ logistics needs, from concept to execution.

In their own words, the aim of Industrial Logistics Systems is to “design and develop Supply Chain and Logistics facilities and infrastructure that give our customers a competitive edge.” This edge includes enabling their clients to meet a high standard of excellence amongst their peers and competitors: “We have been developing skills and service offerings to enhance operations and ensure our customers can achieve a world-class standard.

ILS has adopted certain world-class best practice benchmarks as the standards to which a facility should be measured. Your success is a measure of our success.”

The company describes how it strives to do all of this whilst, at the same time, maintaining “the

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Down to the details

highest ethics and principles on behalf of our clients”. To do so, it also acknowledges that it is forever learning – after all, the demands of logistics in the modern world is ever moving and changing, and thus, Industrial Logistic Systems must move and change too. Their attitude is to “advise as though it was our own business”, putting true care into the needs of their clients, putting their needs, and not – it states explicitly – those of any supplier or service provider first. Their loyalty is, they describe, with their customer first and foremost, making their needs, their own needs.

The Supply Chain aspect of their work takes up much of their focus. From analysis and design, all using world-class standards as a benchmark, to setting up the practical results, the company gets into the nitty gritties. Facility sizing and OPEX estimates; on-line fulfillment; slow vs. fast movers network set-up; site development strategies, and strategies for technology, IOT and digitalisation – ILS covers it all, and does so in a way that makes sure the eventual supply chain will support the client’s business strategy as well as its other needs.

Much of this planning focuses on processes and data, but ILS is also involved in the bricks and mortar

development of infrastructure, from first design to final, practical result. It covers both greenfields and brownfields site development planning, looking into the building requirements in conjunction with the company’s sizing requirements, and serving as a technical liaison to the site’s construction and development team. As well as these design and technical consultation elements, the company will also be on-hand throughout the project’s set up and continuation to manage vendors and procurement.

“We will provide a complete design based on your operation, space and budget requirements. ILS then assists with the implementation.” This goes beyond what one might expect, making enquiries on behalf of the client in regards to their equipment requirements, making sure that it will meet the project’s specifications, and overseeing the purchase of said equipment on behalf of their customer.

This same level of detailed involvement is the case for every area that ILS can advise on or be involved in. Software, and especially data

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Industrial Logistic Systems

management, is naturally a large portion of this, whether this is behind-the-scenes in order to assist their consultation, analysis and project management, or if this is indeed a service you have gone to them for directly. The company is able to assist in the set-up of digital management systems for its customers – the provision of this software is carried out with care, with changes made to the final product as per each customer’s needs, but with the same successful program at its core. These systems can be used for many areas of monitoring and management, from driver routes to warehouse stocks to employee time. In every way, ILS is able to help its clients become as thorough and organised as it is itself:

“Our focus has been to develop a total strategy and system that incorporates various management and materials handling components, which have been combined to optimise on the strengths and weaknesses of the labour force, production environment and quality requirements. Industrial Logistic Systems’ vast experience and understanding of business ensures we are in an ideal position to assist any client in developing the

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new operations and systems suited to their particular environment.

We would be able to assist from the planning stage right through to implementation and commissioning the facilities. ILS begins by evaluating your operation and getting to know your company, as well as an assessment of business and supply chain strategy or added developments if needed. We then move on to a detailed data collection and analysis, including information related to sales, inventory, business trends and practices. We then model the projected growth and expected changes to see what capacity requirements are needed. Once the capacity and strategy components are known, ILS moves onto developing solutions to meet these requirements.”

For those in South Africa looking to keep the logistical sides of their business streamline, ILS are the people to turn to. It doesn’t matter how strong a company’s concept it, how essential its product or service, or how dedicated its team: if the logistical side does not function, then everything falls down.

The receipt of needed supplies and the reliable, successful shipping of stock to the market and customer is essential, which is what makes ILS’s services so worth the investment.

STORAGE SOLUTIONS

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info@acrow.co.za www.acrow.co.za

Convey

Sort

Modular Pallet Conveyor Platform

High-Performance Crossbelt Sorters

Modular Conveyor Platform

Horizontal Crossbelt Sorters

Drum Motors, Drives & Controls

Vertical Crossbelt Sorters

Belt Curves & Spiral Lifts

Split Tray Sorters

Modular Pallet Conveyor Platform

Pallet Flow

Stacker Crane

Transfer Car

Store

Interroll’s solutions for all your needs Interroll offers key solutions for units handling in specific industries such as Warehousing & Distribution, Courier Express and Parcel, E-commerce & Retail,Airports, Food & Beverage, Tire & Automotive and Industrial Manufacturing Logistics.

Interroll S.A. (Pty) Ltd 37 Director Road - Spartan EXT 2 Aeroport - South Africa Tel: +27 11 281 9900 Email: za.sales@interroll.com

Visit interroll.com for more information

Carton Wheel Flow

Carton Versi Flow

Pick Tunnels

Pick

About Interroll The Interroll Group is the world’s leading provider of material handling solutions. The company was founded in 1959 and has been listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since 1997. Interroll supplies system integrators and equipment manufacturers with a comprehensive range of platform-based products and services in the categories “Rollers” (conveyor rollers), “Drives” (motors and drives for conveyor systems), “Conveyors & Sorters” (conveyors & sorters) and “Pallet Handling” (pallet conveying and storage). Interroll solutions are used in express and postal services, e-commerce, airports, food & beverage, fashion, automotive and other industries.

The company counts leading global brands such as Amazon, Bosch, Coca-Cola, DHL, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Siemens, Walmart and Zalando among its users. Locally in South Africa our customers include of Takealot, Shoprite, PicknPay, CourierIt, The Spar Group, Mr Price and TFG to name a few.

Headquartered in Switzerland, Interroll has a global network of 35 companies with sales of CHF 640.1 million and 2,600 employees (2021).

Interroll South Africa is located in Spartan in Gauteng where we produce majority of our products that services the South African market and includes Rollers, Conveyors and Pallet flow lanes states “Kerr Walker Managing Director” of the local entity.

Interroll South Africa is in a position to supply a globally recognized quality assured product that is manufactured in South Africa that we have termed “Global yet local”. We can offer the product with shorter lead times at a competitive local price. Over the years we have increased our manufacturing facility to cope with the demand of the local industry who requires a quick turn around time on small to medium sizes projects. Larger projects normally have a longer project time line which allows us the flexibility to supply part of the project locally and part to be imported if required.

The new show room was completed in 2020 and this allows System integrators and end user customer to bring their product to us and we can simulate how the product will be conveyed. The show room has majority of products available which include, high speed diverts, transfer modules, lift up gate, inclines and declines and is all operated with the DC platform that incorporates zero pressure accumulation.

We have also made significant progress in developing our sales expertise with the help of the Interroll Academy. For us, “Good is not good enough” We strive to offer our customers optimal solutions.

We focus worldwide on continuing to cultivate a ‘Climate of Excellence” in which our employees can develop their competences and skills in the best way possible. Over the past two years we have focused our attention on customer service and with our three internal sales personnel and three dedicated external sales personnel we are delivering on our promise of been a customer centric organisation. In addition, we also offer a significantly expanded range of customer training courses, not least with the provision of e-learning offerings and apps.

Interroll has you sorted Sorters are required at various points in intralogistics, such as in incoming goods, in the picking area and in outgoing goods. With the horizontal and vertical crossbelt sorters, Interroll has offered two proven solutions with over 400 installations completed world wide.

In 2020 Interroll launched the High Speed Horizontal sorter MX 025H to answer the demands of the market that needed high speeds and to sort heavier items. The MX 025H can sort goods up to a maximum of 50kg and up to 20,000 parcels per hour.

Based on this proven mechanical design principles of Interroll sorters, Interroll has added a fourth sorter to their line-up with the launch of a new Split Tray Sorter MT 015S. This allows for a wider range of potential users to its successful range of automated sortation solutions already known in the market.

The new Split Tray Sorter ensures maximum availability, very long service life, and fast payback times for the automatic sortation of conveyed goods weighing up to 12 kilograms. This makes these compact and flexibly expandable systems particularly suitable for companies who want to implement e-commerce or omnichannel strategies that are as powerful as they are economical, for example in the fashion or pharmaceutical industries.

In addition, the new Split Tray Sorter in combination with Interroll’s crossbelt sorters provides logistics service providers and courier, express and parcel service providers with an ideal solution for making customer-oriented distribution centres even more productive by efficiently separating small parts sortation from other transport goods

Modular Conveyor Platform Interroll’s Modular Conveyor Platform (MCP) offers perfect functionality for conveying within the manufacturing, distribution, tire and automotive, and e-commerce industries. The applied ease-of-use philosophy provides customers with a smart, flexible, economical and reliable solution for their material handling.

It starts with the planning: Interroll provides an AutoCAD-based layout tool to easily help design and select a system with integrated modules. The modules themselves will be delivered largely preassembled to accelerate the installation on-site, while setting a high standard for reliable and solid technical performance. The MCP’s independently adjustable side guides, infinitely adjustable supports, integrated electrical conduits and a universally applicable master gauge for holes to attach add-on components are only a few of the details that reduce the installation effort and ensure simple handling during assembly and expansions.

Customer needs, conditions on-site, and type of materials to be conveyed define the requirements for a system. Zero-pressure-accumulation conveying can be implemented with proven DC RollerDrive. For higher performance, efficient DC drives that enable future-proof zero-pressure-accumulation conveying are used together with roller conveyors with 400 V flat belt drives. Pneumatics, which creates high

operating costs, is completely omitted here, adding to the cost-effectiveness of the MCP. A feature that has stood out with customers is the energy savings experienced because of the EC5000, 24V and 48V RollerDrive. Compared with the 400volt technology, a 24-volt solution achieves around 30 percent energy savings; as far as the accumulating function is concerned, energy consumption can be reduced by as much as 50 percent. Furthermore, the costs of initial outlay can also be reduced by using 24-volt technology for short conveyor segments.

This really helps when there is a lot of starting and stopping on the line. The overall quiet and efficient performance of the conveyors despite speeds of up to 3,500 units per hour continues to impress customers worldwide.

The new RollerDrive product family is impressive thanks to a number of new technical features. For instance, the RollerDrive EC5000 is available in a 24volt and 48-volt version. What’s more, customers can now choose between three power levels 20W, 35W and 50W—for the motor rollers. Thanks to their 60 mm diameter, the new motor rollers are also suitable for transporting heavy goods, and are equipped with both an analog interface and bus interface.

Pallet Handling Most companies involved in the distribution of goods on pallets would like to smoothen operations between incoming and outgoing goods with automated processes that are as lean as possible. System integrators and plant engineers can fulfil this wish in a tailor-made manner with the Modular Pallet Conveyor Platform (MPP) and the Pallet and Carton Flow offering from Interroll. Thanks to the technology provider’s modular platform and plug-and-play strategy, this applies to standard and special solutions right through to complete high-performance systems that integrate compact flow storage solutions.

The MPP is a modular pallet conveyor platform.

Depending on the application scenario and customer requirements, conveying of pallets is provided by gear motors or compact drum motors, and even zero pressure accumulation conveyor sections for pallets can be realised - in normal ambient temperatures and in deep-freeze areas. The intelligent PC 6000 Pallet Control serves as the link between the 400 V AC Pallet Drive, the pallet conveyor and the 24 V MultiControl from Interroll, which provides the complete logic for zero pressure accumulation conveying. With the Pallet Control Configurator, the direction of rotation and other parameters can be easily changed via the USB connection of the pallet controller without having to change the wiring. Power and performance can be monitored and the current status is displayed. In addition, the total operating time of the respective pallet drive is displayed so that necessary maintenance work can be arranged preventively.

Combined with the Interroll flow storage solution, particularly compact high-performance systems are created from a single source, where the usual engineering interface problems between the driven and gravity-based systems are eliminated. Flow storage systems for cartons and pallets offer many advantages: In addition to their particularly spacesaving design and high operational reliability, these dynamic storage solutions also impress in terms of operating costs. Pallets are not moved here by using electrical energy, for example by a forklift or a radio shuttle system. Instead, flow storage systems make use of the principle of the inclined plane: The pallets “flow” automatically, using gravity, through flow channels from the point of entry to the point

of retrieval. These systems can be connected to autonomously operating stacker cranes, transfer cars and lifts, which can handle an hourly throughput of up to 100 pallets, for fully automated retrieval.

At the heart of a highly dynamic pallet handling system is a stacker crane, designed to connect seamlessly to the Interroll Pallet Flow storage system. The lightweight construction and integrated energy recovery make the system extremely energy-efficient. The overall height is 12 meters, the horizontal travel speed is 3 meters per second and the lifting speed is 0.8 meters per second. The system is equipped with an integrated lifting speed control and powerful braking systems. Thanks to the modular and preassembled design of the steel construction, the stacker crane requires little maintenance and is easy to deliver and install. The initial system is designed to transport pallets with a maximum weight of 1000 kilograms.

Interroll South Africa is in a position to supply a globally recognised, quality-assured product that is enabling Africa to prosper through synergies between our passionate and committed team, valued customers and proven solutions.

Quality-Speed-Simplicity

Written by Alice Instone-Brewer

BETTER PROTECTED Nigerian Insurers Association chevron-square-right www.nigeriainsurers.org phone-square +2348170784444

Nigerian Insurers Association

Insurance exists to protect us in the case of events we couldn’t prepare for, whether that be related to our health, our home, our vehicles or each other. An Insurance Association exists to protect the insurers themselves. This protection includes advocacy, education, networking opportunities and the provision of resources that keep track of relevant information for the industry. We spoke with the Nigerian Insurers Association to see how the NIA is impacting this sector for Nigeria.

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he NIA has a substantial history behind it, having been formed in 1971. That now puts it as having been in operation for over 50 years, and much has changed since then, from the pace of life in Nigeria to the items and activities being insured. Originally, it was formed simply to serve as an umbrella for Nigeria’s insurance and reinsurance companies, but it had since gone on to expand its offerings and turn that gathering into something that’s beneficial for all included.

Now, it offers its members a platform in which to speak, and takes these shared views to the Nigerian government, in order to make sure the industry’s voice is heard and considered when relevant law is being passed. It also allows insurance companies’ voices to be heard by each other, creating conferences and seminars, as well as other networking or educational events, that allow groups to come together to meet each other and swap ideas. Further supporting education on the industry, including for those within it, it also publishes books and journals, both on insurance and also statistics – a key area of knowledge for anyone looking to work in insurance.

Within the NIA, there are different committee groups for different areas of the industry.

After all, insurance is a wide field of expertise to master, as one must not only know the insurance industry itself, but the industry or area to which the insurance in question pertains. For example, home insurance or car insurance will be drastically different to health, which will be different again to marine insurance. Therefore, NIA has committees for all of these areas and more, as well as its overall governing council, which is currently chaired by Ganiyu Musa and has been since 2020.

Through these different expert groups, the association offers advice and consultation both to the government on the activities of the industry, and to the industry on the activities and views of the government, as well as helping its members in knowing how best to respond to new government acts to make sure that they are compliant with new legislations, as well as aware of how said legislation could impact either them or those that they insure.

Again, this is the challenge of insurance: even if one specialises in on a type of product or industry sector, one still has to understand legal impact both 58 | Endeavour Magazine

Nigerian Insurers Association

on one’s own business and the activities of those they are insuring, to make sure that their cover stays relevant and the statistics remain favourable.

This assistance extends both to general advice in responding to trends, and also specific compliance regarding new laws. In addition, the Association collects data on various industrial activities and makes it easily accessible to its members, and again, this is divided between these committees to make sure that data is understood and correctly handled by people well versed in each area.

For example, one such database is the only central record of all insured vehicles in Nigeria. This makes it an essential tool for ensuring that only insured vehicles are driven, meaning that although it was the NIA who put it together, the database is also used by Nigeria’s law enforcement. Overall, in all of these ways, the NIA seeks to be a reliable source of information and guidance – in some cases, so much so that even law enforcement rely on it!

As well as providing information to its members internally, the NIA reaches outwards in ways additional to its communication with the Nigerian government. It reaches out to the public for a number of reasons: primarily, to “promote and

60 | Endeavour Magazine

advance”, in its words, the public perception of the insurance industry.

Additionally, as well as supporting and furthering relationship-building opportunities for its members, it also builds and maintains relationships with other trade associations within the Insurance sector, or who have similar goals and outcomes in mind as the NIA. After all, instead of several disconnected groups working towards the same goals without communication, it is far more efficient to avoid a redoubling of efforts by aligning the goals of the various groups and allowing them to benefit from what each other have learnt and achieved. NIA strives to achieve all of this and more through its platform.

The 2022 AGM for NIA will be held at the end of this month, and with it are sure to come a new wave of initiatives for insurance companies and insurance-related businesses in Nigeria. In addition to this, NIA’s various monthly meetings continue, with every one of its different, subject-focused committees coming together to discuss any newly arising issues facing their segment of the industry.

Better protected

In addition, it continues to gather data and maintain the resources of its research and statistics department; continues to organise conferences, seminars and even full training courses; to go back and forth with the media to fairly represent Nigeria’s insurance industry in all relevant matters, and continues to supply information for technical journals, statistical digests and other official, informative publications.

Associations make a fast difference to those within an industry, as we have seen. No matter the sector or nation, it helps to have a go-between that allows the government to understand the industry being impacted by their decisions, and equally, it helps those within the industry to be able to communicate with and learn from each other with ease, coming together in a neutral platform or forum, rather than the sense of competition that can exist in the market space itself. NIA does what it can to go above and beyond the needs of its members, helping them from an individual to a national level – and even helping out law enforcement along the way!

General Insurance Annuity Health

Life Insurance

Endeavour Magazine | 61

Written by Alice Instone-Brewer

HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE, DEEPLY HUMAN Magdalena chevron-square-right www.imsa.com.gt phone-square +(502) 2364-5900

Magdalena

Magdalena knows sugar. Not only is a magdalena a delicious type of Spanish and Latin American cupcake, but this Guatemala-based company has a 33-year history as a sugar producer – the largest sugar producer in Central America, and second largest in Latin America. That is quite the sweet claim to fame. Yet, the company’s operations do not end here: curiously enough, Magdalena has branched out into energy production, and it also produces alcohol. We decided to investigate Magdalena and what had prompted this diversification of operations.

M

agdalena prides itself on two things – its productivity and its ethics. The company’s slogan, “Altamente productivos; profundamente humanos” translates to “Highly productive; deeply human”, and this attitude is exhibited throughout the way the company addresses its business. It describes itself as “committed to business sustainability, social and environmental development” as it pursues its various avenues of agriculture, energy and alcohol products. The ‘highly productive’ element is no exaggeration: as well as being the largest sugar producer in Central America and second-largest in Latin America, its sugar production also includes the world’s largest sugar refinery that is attached to a mill. On top of all this, the company is also the third-largest power producer in Guatemala, and its alcohol production exports internationally.

These are no small enterprises, and yet in all areas, Magdalena says that it combines its “passion for achievement” with “honesty” and “humility”. We had a look to see how these attitudes are applied to Magdalena’s practices.

Starting at the beginning, Magdalena’s first sugar mill was purchased in 1983: originally, this mill had been used to product honey for rum, but was converted for its new purpose in 1976. This mill was able to grind up 2000 short tons of sugar a day. A year later, this mill was joined by four more, raising Magdalena’s daily grinding capacity to 3,500 MT. That year’s harvest, in total, the company managed to produce 18,200 MT of sugar – it was already well on its way to be a powerful part of the sugar market.

By the end of the ‘80s, 3,500 MT had risen to 5,500 MT, and by the end of the ‘90s, further mill and tandem installations had risen this capacity to 20,000 MT. It used this time to not only develop its milling, but also to expand its plantations, as well as making improvements to its cutting and hoisting systems. This was also when the company first went into the production of sugarcane seed – a sensible addition, as it had the resources required available to it from its own ongoing plantations.

Come the early years of the new millennium, and the company’s production capacity had gone up by another 9,200 MT, bringing the total to almost 30,000 MT. This was achieved by becoming the first company in the region to have three tandem 64 | Endeavour Magazine

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Magdalena

millions operating in the same production centre.

This was supported by one hundred trucks and fourth mechanical harvesters to better cut, hoist and transport the company’s sugar harvest. Since then, the company’s efficiency, infrastructure and equipment have all continued to growth and develop, with the result that its current production capacity is such that a storage dome was constructed – the largest in the region – in which it can store 75 thousand MT of refined sugar at a time.

But what about the company’s energy and alcohol production? It may be surprising to learn that the energy element of this diversification happened relatively early on. Far from a modern participant in what could be seen as a green energy bandwagon, Magdalena was acting consciously about its energy consumption and production since the 1990s. Cogeneration is a form of biomass energy production: that is, a renewable energy source that uses energy generated from decomposing plant matte. Bagasse is the dry pulp bio-waste that is left over once sugarcane has been crushed and processed, and this plant matter can be used effectively in cogeneration to product electrical power. In this way,

Magdalena has been reducing waste and producing clean power since the 1990s – a

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move that is both better for the environment and more profitable for the company itself.

At this time, the company was able to build its capacity to 53 MW: in the 2010s, this more than tripled, with one generation plant opening with a capacity of 62.4 MW and another two opening with 61.5 MW each. As mentioned, this makes Magdalena the thirdlargest energy producer in Guatemala, and fantastically, that energy is produced from a renewable source!

Lastly, the company’s foray into alcohol production began in 2001. Producing hydrated ethyl alcohol, the company began in its first year by producing 120,000 liters daily – no small start! Today, this production capacity has reached 420,000 liters, with 26.95 million liters worth of storage capacity in its plants and a further 34 million liters or storage at shipping terminals.

Magdalena provides housing for much of its staff: it has housing complexes for both its cane cutters and its technicians, Infact, the company strives to apply every aspect of its business attitude towards its staff, from its provision for them through to their training and company culture: “We sow honesty, humility and passion for achievement in order to harvest better people.” Throughout its

Highly productive, deeply human

strategy, vision and mission statements, this idea of sustainability keeps reoccurring, as do mentions of people’s quality of life. This company combines conscientiousness with success, showing that the two are not mutually exclusive. As the company states; “In Magdalena, we have become a solid company and we seek to generate a sustainable economy through productive activities to meet the needs of present and future generations... progressively reducing environmental impact.

“We develop different activities and programs focused on four axis: education, economic development, road infrastructure and health.

That is why we are positioned as one of the companies with greatest and best levels of coexistence with various segments of our captive audience. Our Sustainability model, as well as our social responsibility policy allow us to build, manage and strengthen relationships sustainably for the benefit of the business and for the development of the territories where we are present.”

infrastructure such as roads, Magdalena seeks to make a positive impact on the lives and areas it touches. On top of its renewable energy endeavours, it also involves itself in conservation and restoration work in the Sipacate-Naranjo National Park and beyond, and encourages local people to do the same. It is also involved, in conjunction with the National Council of Protected Areas and Private Institute for Research on Climate Change, in the protection of sea turtles through the collection of Parlama sea turtle eggs.

“Our reason for being is the motor that guides our actions; therefore, we have created a code of ethics, which is the instrument that gathers our philosophy, values and politics. Living these, we grow our business and we contribute to the development of our society, fostering our values in our behavior and work performance.” Magdalena’s level of output is admirable, as is the way it keeps its priorities and values in check. We could all stand to learn a little from Magdelena: ‘tierra dulce’ indeed, this company really has harnessed the sweet side of success.

Forming alliances with local communities, investing in local education and particularly in the training and empowerment of women, investing local health and the development of essential

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Written by Alice Instone-Brewer

MORE THAN WELCOME Rwanda Hospitality Association chevron-square-right rha.rw phone-square +250 788304524

Rwanda Hospitality Association

The Republic of Rwanda is a nation with a rich culture, beautiful land and a growing tourism trade. The sector started out small but is growing at an impressive rate, and is now the country’s biggest earner of outside capital. This makes it a sector of extreme importance to Rwanda, and thus, the efforts of the Rwanda Hospitality Association are critical. We took a look at this association to see how it is supporting its members and, through them, boosting the country and its growing economy.

R

wanda is still regarded as a developing economy. Whilst the country has much to recommend itself, it has not been without its troubles, and both its economy and global image, not to mention its people, have suffered some major setbacks – particularly following the tragic events of 1994. However, refusing to let this tragedy in its history define it, the country has since grown and thrived, and its recovery and now rising tourism industry is a part of this turn-around. This sector shares the weight of Rwanda’s economic success along with its agriculture, which mostly consists of subsistence farming rather than overseas trade (with some exceptions, such as coffee and tea). This keeps the wheels turning internally, but it is tourism that brings in the external. It has also been pegged as an emerging tech hub within the continent of Africa, but for now, it is the growth to tourism that is snowballing and bringing in that overseas trade.

Rwanda is well-connected with its global neighbours: it is a member of the United Nations, as well as the African Union, COMESA and the East African Community.

It also has much in the way of culture and incredible local sights to make it an appealing tourism location: for one thing, and possibly its most exciting, it is possible to view mountain gorillas in the wild. Whilst many countries in Africa offer different safari possibilities, Rwanda is notably one of only two countries that allow travelers the chance to view these incredible creatures. Gorilla tracking permits are available at a high cost, to make sure that these animals are not over-visited, but with such a rare opportunity on the cards, holidaymakers are willing to pay the price.

In addition to this, there is the stunning wildlife and its views, a vibrant culture of music and dance – particularly percussive – and there is also a strong tradition of arts and crafts, with the vibrant and striking imigongo art the most recognizable and iconic. The country has a young population, which has its downs as well as its ups, but one understandable ‘up’ is that sports are extremely popular throughout the country. Most popular are football, volleyball, basketball, cricket, cycling and athletics. As for food, the local cuisine includes a range of delicious meals using bananas, sweet potatoes, pulses, cassava and fish. The local drinks 70 | Endeavour Magazine

More than welcome

include ikivuguto, a fermented milk or yoghurt that is commonly drunk, and particularly fortifying when at work or on the move. Whilst ‘fermented milk’ might sound odd to some ears, this writer was able to try an extremely similar drink in Mongolia and can verify that it is surprisingly tasty and undoubtedly more-ish. There is also a traditional local banana beer called ikigage.

Overall, there are many reasons to visit Rwanda, and it is the job of the country’s Chamber of Tourism both to promote this fact to the world, and to assist and guide the companies seeking to participate in and further this industry sector. The Rwanda Hospitality Association (RHA) is one of the six associations that make up this Chamber, which itself is one of the ten chambers that currently make up the Rwanda Private Sector Federation (previously the Rwanda Chamber of Commerce).

Other related associations include the Rwanda Tours and Travel Association, the Rwanda Safari Guides Association, the Rwanda Association of Travel Agencies and the Rwanda Hospitality & Tourism Educators Association.

All this puts RHA in context. Its story began in 2001: this was the year that the Chamber of Commerce (as it was known then) came together to form the general framework through which Rwanda’s private sector could have a back and forth with the government, particularly with a view to aligning with the government’s 2020 vision for the country.

In response to this, members of the tourism industry came together to for the RHA, and by the following year, it had a modest membership of 10-20 members. From there, it grew. By 2012, it was granted the ability to represent members as a full national trade association: originally, it could only represent hotels, restaurants and bars, but not, this list was added to by resorts, holiday apartments, guest houses, eco lodges, game lodges, nightclubs and even coffee shops, and this is what it continues to do today. Many categories on that list are of great importance to Rwandan tourism – especially resorts and game lodges. Now, it can cover them all.

Currently chaired by Mr Nsengiyumva Barakabuye, the RHA describes its vision as being “to position as the advocate of all operators in Hospitality related

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Rwanda Hospitality Association

businesses by being a key resource for reliable information and capacity building for the Hospitality & Tourism Industry in Rwanda.” Its mission, as it describes it, is to “represent the common interest of members in the Hospitality Industry through lobby for industry friendly legislation, promotion of quality products and services, offering value added member services, and to be the resource for industry information and education to our members, their employees, government, media, and all other interested parties.”

So what do members actually receive? As described, the RHA provides support for its members in the form of advocacy, and they can have their voice heard when it is being decided how and when the association will lobby for industry friendly legislation. It also boosts its members’ visibility by providing marketing for their business, both locally and internationally, and it provides platforms through which their members can interact with each other and other associated companies and groups.

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This networking aspect can prove to be extremely beneficial in terms of building bonds and opening up new opportunities, as well as making companies more aware of the general market that they are a part of. Entry fees are staggered, so that businesses that offering higher-star services are charged more than those who offer cheaper services, to take their earnings and level of activity into account.

These criteria change from category type to type: for example, for coffee shops, the pricing is instead determined by location and capacity. This is a fair way to make the RHA’s services available to all, from all levels of the industry: after all, it is the industry as a whole that needs support, and moving their interests forward together will help to better every element of the sector.

It is exciting to see the tourism industry on the rise for Rwanda. A stunning country with a vibrant and brilliant culture, a growing tourism trade will both bring more money into the country from overseas, which is always a great boon to an economy, and will also improve global awareness of this country and its unique qualities. Come for the gorillas, stay for the surprisingly tasty alcoholic milk!

Written by Alice Instone-Brewer

A BRIGHT FUTURE MPIA chevron-square-right www.mpia.org.my phone-square +6 03 - 6151 7227

MPIA

The Malaysian Photovoltaic Industry Association (or MPIA, and it’s better known) looks out for the interests for Photovoltaic companies and operations within Malaysia. What does ‘photovoltaic’ mean? The conversation of light in energy.

In other words, this association looks out for all things Solar Power – the largest renewable energy source available within the country.

T

he science of photovoltaics was first observed in 1839 by Edmund Bequerel, a French physicist who noticed that some materials absorbed light on an atomic level and released electrons. These, when captured, could make electricity: a process better and more thoroughly described by Albert Einstein in 1905. This understanding, then, has existed in some form since electricity’s early days, and yet the first photovoltaic module was not built until much later, in 1954. This invention was known as a solar battery, and yet, despite how long a form as this technology has existed, it was decades again before solar energy and its potential was being seriously invested in and considered.

It is interesting to view the solar power industry with this long history behind it – a reminder that it is nowhere near the new concept we sometimes take it for. However, it has taken many years to get where it is today, and this is partly due to a lack of education, lack of normalisation and a lack of investment. Critically, all of this comes down to support by governments, as well as interest from the private sectors. All of these areas are exactly what associations exist to protect and interact with: their goal is to further an industry’s interests, and when it comes to solar power, this is something extremely needed and worthwhile. After all, imagine where we would be if solar had reached its current point ten years ago? The best thing we can do for this sector is to keep driving it forwards, which is why work like that of the MPIA is so important.

For Malaysia, solar power is an extremely potential-filled avenue for renewable energy, due in part to the extremely sunny weather that the country often enjoys. This potential was highlighted in a Renewable Energy Roadmap that was published for the country by its Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, December 2021.

Currently, the amount of solar power produced by Malaysia is relatively low, but the future looks bright, and the country intends to make this potential into a reality. MPIA is here to make it happen. The country’s current capacity is less than two gigawatts (GW), but the roadmap predicts its potential as being as great as 269 GW solar PV capacity. This is because the country receives approximately 1,575 – 1,812 kWh per square metre of solar irradiance, which is close to the average solar irradiance for Southeast Asia.

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A bright future

This even higher than Inidia, which is currently a leader in solar power capacity.

The roadmap proposes various ways to promote the development of solar technology, included the acceleration of the country’s Net Energy Metering program and the introduction of new, incentivising business models that will implement peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading, and well as corporate power purchase agreements.

The development of these ideas and incentives all relies on the input the MPIA, which is currently the only trade association representing the solar PV industry in Malaysia.: governments rely on such expert input from the relevant industries to put through rulings and measures, and now is clearly a crucial period for MPIA’s continued lobbying, input, advice and involvement to keep Malaysia’s government and its solar industry moving towards the same goal in the same way. This input goes in both directions – it is also able to work with solar and solar-associated companies to make sure that they understand the views of the government, what support and incentives exist for them etc.

The association also provides training in all matters

solar, which is another essential offering in a young but growing industry.

Progress is going well. According to MPIA President Davis Chong, the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) approved more than 350 MW solar photovoltaic projects under the Net Energy Metering program in 2020, the highest in a year since the program was introduced in 2016. This suggests a strong and rising interest in the sector.

Chong pointed out that many businesses were moving towards a partially solar energy system, in order to cut down on costs, but were not moving fully over, as the technology is not yet at the point where it could comfortably fully support these companies’ total power needs.

“SEDA revealed that there were close to 4,000 completed NEM installations towards the end of year 2020. In fact, the entire 500 MW NEM quota was fully taken prior to the deadline, and a further 500 MW quota under NEM 3.0 was subsequently announced,” Chong explained.

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MPIA

Chong also explained that the Large-Scale Solar program that had begun in Malasia in 2016 had reached more than 850 MW operational capacity by the end of 2020. 2,400 MW of projects were also awarded to successful bidders. All in all, this line of development is moving along at a very promising rate.

As Chong put it, “All this will translate into a significant milestone for Malaysia in terms of sustainability and renewable energy accomplishment.”

As the only association promoting the solar industry in Malaysia, it is down to the MPIA to raise public awareness and make opportunities for those involved in the sector to come together. This occurs through the MPIA’s Solar Roadshow, which takes awareness around the country through a travelling event. These offer b2b level opportunities, but also serve as a major piece of public outreach, with the main aim being to educate home and business owners who do not yet use solar power on their buildings. According to the MPIA’s statistics, there are over four million buildings in Malysia that could install solar paneling on their rooftops, and yet

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have not done so yet. If every one of these buildings joined the movement, they could generation a collective estimated 34,194 MW of electricity, which would be enough to meet the country’s entire collective need! Malaysia’s current aim is to increase its renewable energy generation from the 2% it was at in 2018 to 20% in 2025 - it is no wonder, then, that effort is being poured towards reaching these property owners and attempting to interest them in the benefits that solar paneling would offer.

In fact, the association is meeting with people at all levels, and even with those abroad. In November 2021, MPIA President Davis Chong and Vice President Dato’ Ir. Guntor Tobeng met with H.E. Bulat Sugurbayev, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Malaysia, as well as Counsellor Samat Zhanabay, also from the Embassy of Kazakhstan. During the discussions, the possibility of MPIA members participating in Kazakhstan’s solar projects was discussed: the country has also begun its green transition, with an ambitious target to have half of its power generated by renewable sources by 2050. This makes it these opportunities fantastic ones to get involved with, and is an example in action of how MPIA can benefit its members.

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