On Thursday 21 September, the CSC Alumni Team were joined by Commonwealth Scholar Prince Anthony Okoro for the Development in Action webinar series. Prince delivered a presentation on ‘Generating energy from agricultural waste in Nigeria: A case of Abakaliki rice mill cluster’.
This webinar addressed the CSC development theme of Science and technology for development.
The CSC’s Development in Action webinar series aims to highlight the work and research of Commonwealth Alumni across a range of development impact areas.
About the speaker
Prince is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Bebeque Energy, a start-up company that is using an innovative solution to generate energy from agri-residues (agricultural waste products) to support the activities of a rice processing cluster in Nigeria.
He was a winner of the inaugural British Renewable Energy Awards in 2022 in the Future Gamechanger category for renewable energy and technology. He was also a 2019 EnergyNet Student of Africa at Lisbon’s Energy Forum.
Prince Anthony Okoro is a 2017 Commonwealth PhD Scholar from Nigeria. He is completing his PhD in Bioenergy in Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI) at Aston University.
Turning waste into an energy source
In this webinar, Prince discussed how his work with Bebeque Energy is supporting rice processors access affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy, enabling them to improve the quality of rice they produce and increase their net income.
Prince began by emphasising the challenges faced by the Nigerian agriculture sector in disposing of large quantities of agri-waste and the harmful effects of agri-waste disposal to the environment. He talked about how Bebeque Energy in using an innovation technology to repurpose agri-waste and reduce the environment and health risks associated with burning of agri-waste. Prince explained how this in turn is helping to improve rice quality and yields and contributing to greater food security in Nigeria.
This webinar presentation was followed by an interactive Q&A session with Commonwealth Scholars and Alumni. A recording of this webinar is available to view on the CSC’s YouTube channel where you can also watch previous events in the series.
Join future Development in Action webinars
The CSC’s Development in Action webinars take place each month and are open to all Commonwealth Scholars and Alumni.
To find out about upcoming webinars, please visit the CSC’s events webpage.
