DATE / TIME:

April 27, 2016    10:00 - 12:00

Location:

Accra

The United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) respectfully invites the general public to a seminar. The seminar aims at sharing information with stakeholders on research being conducted by two of the Institute’s visiting scholars.

Date: 27th April,  2016

Time: 10-12pm

Venue: UNU-INRA Office, 2nd Floor, International House, University of Ghana campus, Legon, Accra

Details of the Seminar

Effects of Barriers to Eco-Innovation within Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturing Firms in the Peripheral Regions of Lagos, Nigeria, by Dr. Maruf Sanni

Small and medium-sized manufacturing firms are usually confronted with the challenges of inadequate financial resources, insufficient skills and technological capabilities when compared with big firms. These challenges even become more critical when such firms are located in the peripheral regions of business hubs and may further reduce the firms’ tendency to eco-innovate. Very few studies have investigated the effects of barriers to eco-innovation among small and medium-sized manufacturing firms in areas surrounding big commercial hubs like Lagos state of Nigeria. Understanding these barriers and their impacts on eco-innovation are key to the development of green business policies for these regions. This study therefore sets out to examine innovation barriers that limit the capability of small and medium-sized manufacturing firms to eco-innovate in the peripheral regions of Lagos state. The study will be carried out with a view to offer policies that would engender more eco-innovation among small and medium-sized manufacturing firms in the peripheral regions of Lagos state.

Challenges Associated with Mining in the Context of Sustainable Development in Burkina Faso, by Tongnoma ZONGO

This research assesses the economic, social and environmental changes relating to mining activities in Burkina Faso in the context of sustainable development. Our hypothesis assumes that mining contributes to the achievement of sustainable development in Burkina Faso. Mining projects are very important in attaining development in mining communities. However, gold extraction in various communities in Burkina Faso, come with irreversible negative impacts on the environment and on the members of the mining communities (land grabbing, displacement of communities, pollution) while the mining companies on the other hand, try to offer compensations to community members in a way of mitigating the impacts of their activities. To analyze these contradictory effects of mining activities, we chose inductive empirical and comparative methods, as well as literature review, survey and direct observation in the field as our methodologies. Findings from these analyses could help promote better management of the effects of mining activities on the lives of local people in Burkina Faso, and above all help improve regulation of the mining sector.

About the Speakers

Dr. Maruf Sanni, a Visiting Scholar of UNU-INRA, obtained his doctorate degree in Public Policy with focus on low-carbon development pathways from the University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. His doctoral thesis examined policy pathways for eco-innovation in the manufacturing sector of Nigeria. He is a Senior Research Officer at the National Centre for Technology Management in Nigeria. He has worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as an Intern on Climate Resilient Development and Action Intelligent Platform projects. His research interests are in the areas of low-carbon innovation pathways, low-carbon learning and competence building, and climate-resilient development.

Tongnoma ZONGO is a PhD Intern at UNU-INRA. He holds an Mphil. Degree in Geography (Land Use Option) from the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and currently a PhD student in the Geography Department of the University of Ouagadougou and University of Paris I, France. His research area focuses on natural resources management, specifically on “Gold Panning and Territorial Dynamics in Burkina Faso”. Zongo has been a Researcher at the National Centre for Scientific and Technological Research (CNRST) since 2014.