Accra, Nov. 13, GNA - Vice President Alhaji Alui Mahama on Monday pledged the Government's support to efforts and initiatives aimed at creating a regional fund for the development and use of bio-fuels in place of fossil fuel in Africa.

In a speech read on his behalf by Professor Dominic Fobih, Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, at the opening of a two-day Regional Workshop on Financing Bio fuels and Jathropha Plantation Projects with Special Emphasis on Clean Development Mechanisms, Vice President Mahama noted that the dependence on fossil energy had burdened the economies of developing countries in Africa, while most of the Continent's alternative energy resources remained unexploited.

He said even though Africa had a great potential and was well endowed with natural energy resources, investments on the Continent for the development of renewable energy such as bio-fuels was woefully inadequate.

The workshop is being organized by the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and sponsored by the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID). It is being attended by about a 100 Ministers, Directors and players in the bio-fuels industry from both West Africa and the European Union (EU).

The workshop would culminate in the creation of a fund for investment into the expansion of jathropha plantations and the development of bio-fuels in West African states.

Alhaji Aliu said jathropha plantations and their resultant bio energy development would go a long way to reduce the tax burdens that came with fossil fuel importation and consumption in African economies.

"Bio diesel extracted from jathropha could be used in running stationary engines like corn mills, irrigation pumps and cottage industries - the use of bio-diesel in houses would reduce harmful carbon emissions that could cause respiratory problems," he said.

In a speech read for Mr Ernest Debrah, Minister of Food and Agriculture, he noted that jathropha oils had an advantage over vegetable oil in terms of health and besides bio-fuels from jathropha would give African economies greater independence from the shocks of constantly fluctuating international crude oil prices.

Mr Abraham Dwumaa Odoom, Deputy Minister of Local Government, said large acreages of jathropha plantation could impact on climate change in a positive way and moreover bio fuel from jathropha would ease the burden on Ghana's hydro and thermal energy sources.

The workshop would streamline all successful initiatives, identify the role of stakeholders in development of the bio-fuel supply chain and consolidate strategies and adopt a regional approach for the promotion and development of bio-fuel in Africa.

Excerpts from a research by the Netherlands-based Fuels from Agriculture in Communal Technology (FACT) Foundation made available to the Ghana News Agency indicated that jathropha plantations had been identified as a major bio-fuel alternative for West African economies. The research stated that to date, Brazil and Malaysia were world leaders in the cultivation of jathropha, which had several additional benefits, including cure for constipation (seeds) and malaria (leaves), healing for wounds (latex or sap).

It said the jathropha plant, besides being a major source of bio-fuel when processed, also served as an effective form of hedges around gardens, farms and fields to protect crops against roaming animals, as a wind and water shield and to reduce erosion. The report also noted that an investment into jathropha plantation, especially in Africa promised to reduce unemployment among women because the oil from the seeds was also good for soap making.

"Although Malaysia and Brazil are the biggest investor destinations for the cultivation, production and processing of jathropha, investors will select the African region if production cost in West Africa is lower," the research said.