Victor Uzoho
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), has partnered with Earth Networks, a global provider of weather intelligence, to deploy and operate a comprehensive early warning lightning detection network in Nigeria.
The move is toward the actualization of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13, and to confront all climate risks and help regions that are prone to natural disasters caused by weather.
The partnership, which was announced on Wednesday during a virtual signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), includes a five-year collaboration to build the Nigeria Total Lightning and Mesoscale AWS Network (NTLMAN) for early warning of severe weather.
Under the agreement, Earth Networks and NiMet will deploy and operate a comprehensive early warning lightning detection network, and jointly co-market new sources of weather and lightning data to public and private industries in Nigeria.
Also, precision weather stations and lightning sensors will be hosted at NiMet locations and maintained by NiMet staff, while Earth Networks will provide training and development for NiMet staff in the use of comprehensive weather data, including real-time and historical lightning data, weather observations, sensor forecasts, and live storm-tracking and alerting.
When fully operational, the network will provide government agencies and private enterprises in Nigeria access to a complete suite of visualization, forecasting, storm identification, alerting, and tracking services, developed and offered jointly by NiMet and Earth Networks.
With this collaboration, industries affected by the weather in Nigeria, including aviation, oil and gas, mining, and manufacturing, can take advantage of the advanced severe weather alerts and data to promote safety and ease operational challenges caused by weather.
Speaking on the partnership, Vice President of Global Sales at Advanced Environmental Monitoring, Earth Networks’ parent company, Jim Anderson, said: “We’ve been working in more than 25 countries in Africa since 2013, to save lives and protect property with high-resolution weather and lightning data.
The partnership between Earth Networks and NiMet would help expand Nigeria’s capacity to accurately provide critical weather forecasting information and climate services.
“We are excited to partner with NiMet to help accelerate the expansion of their high impact weather forecasting capacity and bring new weather warning services to enterprise customers in Nigeria.”
In his remarks, the U.S. Embassy Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer, Adam Jagelski, said the partnership between Earth Networks and NiMet would help expand Nigeria’s capacity to accurately provide critical weather forecasting information and climate services.
It will also support Nigeria’s economic development by protecting the lives and property that are critical to several key sectors.
Jagelski said: “The signing of this MOU is exemplary of the mutually beneficial partnership model U.S. businesses can employ to engage the Nigerian market.
“I am thrilled to see Earth Networks using the partnership model to bring the expertise of one of America’s truly innovative companies to the strategic infrastructure sector in Nigeria.
“We hope to see more of America’s premier companies developing partnerships as a means to bring their best-in-class products and services to Nigeria and the whole of Africa.”
