| Africa Business Confidence Index continues to show growth |
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The Africa Business Confidence Index (ABCI) for December shows expansion in both the index for manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors in Africa. The difference compared to November in the manufacturing index is a decrease of 1.2 percentage points, and in the non-manufacturing index a plus of 3.6 percentage points. The index measures business confidence in the manufacturing and non-manufacturing private sector throughout Africa. Results are published on a monthly basis.
The December ABCI results indicate confidence and growth with an index of 52.2 and 56.1 for the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors respectively. A level of 50 and above indicates expansion.
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| Realising greater value from technology investments in Africa |
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This week Africa Business Communities speak to Jonathan Tawiah, CEO of Ostec Ghana Limited.
Tell us about your company.
'Ostec is a leading IT infrastructure services provider, we provide a single source of technology, skills and expertise to help companies and their IT departments realise greater value from their technology investments. Our services capability spans three key areas: Technology sourcing, Infrastructure integration and Managed services...
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| World Bank appoints Diop as new Vice President for Africa |
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The World Bank on Tuesday announced Makhtar Diop, a Senegalese national, as its new Vice President for Africa. He succeeds Obiageli "Oby" Ezekwesili who will return to Nigeria in early May after serving as the region's Vice President since 2007.
Diop, the World Bank's Country Director for Brazil since 2009, will take up his new position on May 6th. A former Finance Minister in Senegal and Chair of the West African Monetary Union (WAEMU) Board of Finance Ministers, Diop joined the World Bank in 2001.
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| Bank of Ghana releases additional 104 million dollars to mitigate cedi-fall |
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The Bank of Ghana has released additional 104 million dollars onto the market today to shore up the value of the cedi after releasing 218.5 million dollars last week. 74 million dollars of this new amount will go to support the country’s oil imports needs with the remaining 30 million dollars going into the operations of commercial banks.
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| World Economy: Entering the Gates of Hell |
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By Jon Quirk in Johannesburg, South Africa. A year ago, writing about prospects for 2011, I said “I fear shades of Dante’s DivineComedy; in that in order to hopefully eventually find the Beatrice phase of ‘Paradiso’ we must first drop deeper into the inferno and pass through Canto 111, reading at the Gates of Hell, All hope abandon, Ye who enter here, on our way past.”
Well, sadly we are still not through the Gates and the heat is still building, and the probability is that a further, extended period of economic pain, dislocation and unemployment will be with us for a few more years at least..
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| South Africa: Online banking targeted in 2012 |
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By Moyagabo Maake. South African banks are confident in their security systems' ability to withstand attacks on their online banking platforms, even as Kaspersky Lab warned the number of crimes committed in this area is rising rapidly all over the world as hackers bypass technical measures taken by banks.
"In 2012, attacks on online banking systems will be one of the most widespread methods of stealing money from rank and file users," the security software developer said in its Cyberthreat Forecast for 2012.
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| Brand Communication: Essence of listening |
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By Yinka olaito in Lagos, Nigeria. Effective brand communication rests on certain pillars. Some of which include listening, speaking, writing, message, medium and target. Each pillar is important and none can be overlooked if brand communication effort is going to be successful.
In this piece, we will be looking at one of the pillars which is listening. Listening is an act that many never learnt. Many people are taught to speak. The essence of listening is often overlooked. This error affects communication process in many ways. Listening refers to one’s ability to pay attention, taking note and ‘pinning’ one hears to the floor.
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| GTI Microfinance bank board approves N150 million raise in share capital |
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The board of directors of GTI Microfinance bank limited has approved an increase in share capital from N50 million to N150 million for a state license.
The approval is in line with the revised regulatory guideline for microfinance banks which states that a Unit microfinance bank that intends to transform to a State MFB shall be required to surrender its licence and obtain a State MFB licence, subject to fulfilling stipulated requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
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| Social media crucial during Nigerian protest |
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By Peter Vlam in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. As another day of protests started in Nigeria and people started marching on the streets of Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, Sokoto and elsewhere, one could see the virtual world awake as well. "Now, Nigeria controls its own media and Nigerians control their own anger... Nigerians are united."
Follow #fuelsubsidy for just a couple of minutes and you'll see tweets coming in so fast at times, its impossible to keep up with the conversation. For days now #occupynigeria is trending on Twitter in Nigeria. Bloggers like Sahara Reporters, Gbenga Sesan, El-Rufai and many more have provided extensive coverage, commentaries and documents regarding the ongoing #OccupyNigeria protest on their websites.
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| Africa may have first commercial 4G network in 2012 |
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By Erika Amoako-Agyei in Phoenix, USA. A public stament put out late last year by an Ericsson executive said:
Africa could have its first commercial long-term evolution (LTE) or 4G network as early as 2012, as wireless phone operators gear up to meet growing data demand from smartphone users.
Mobile carriers worldwide are increasingly upgrading to LTE networks that support high-speed wireless services as consumers use tablet computers and smartphones to surf the web.
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| Will the African Integration Revolution be Televised? |
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By Emmanuel Bensah Jr in Accra, Ghana. Even if the cover story of the latest Economist is somewhat of a redemption of Africa's “loneliness” on the global stage, truth is Africa did not need that kind of endorsement before realising it is going places. Admittedly, the apology-of-sorts by the magazine for calling Africa “a hopeless continent” back in 2001 can only serve to vindicate the efforts made by the eight AU-recognised regional economic communities populating the continent.
Truth be told, it is almost hard to believe that it was only two weeks ago that the African Union rejected the Economic Partnership Agreements, telling the EU that their priority is regional integration.
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| Minerals boost demand |
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Unsustainable maybe, but Africa's main sources of wealth remain under the surface. Its the construction industry that helps get them out. While most industrialised countries remain mired in financial uncertainty China goes on acquiring Africa's mineral wealth, both solids and hydrocarbons – and often winning lucrative construction contracts in the process.
Facilities to extract these valuable commodities remain inadequate and sub-standard in global terms, and it is the contracting industry that has to implement the change.
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| SABMiller to strengthen Castel ties |
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SABMiller, would be interested in acquiring French brewer Groupe Castel’s African operations, head of media relations Nigel Fairbrass said yesterday.
SABMiller would strengthen its ties with Castel by making a few organisational changes in its African operations. This involved combining the operational management of Castel’s and SABMiller’s businesses in Nigeria and Angola, with the Nigerian businesses to be managed by SABMiller and the Angolan businesses by Castel.
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| International banks tap Africa’s high growth rates |
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Bankers say the shift is driven by the stagnation of developed economies, writes Andrew England.
IN SPITE of the cloud hanging over western banks amid concerns about a double-dip recession and the euro-zone crisis, several international institutions have been increasing their presence in Africa to tap its fast growth rates.
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| A Meaningful Approach to Transition |
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By Barbara Johnson in Durban, South Afica. As the end of another year is upon us, we are surrounded by outplaying energies of the known, the unknown and transition. We have young school leavers, pre-career, venturing out onto stepping stones that bridge their 15 year schooling experience with the big wide world of commerce, career building and new responsibilities.
On the other hand, we have retiring post-career business people, who too, are questioning the stepping stones that which lie ahead for them.
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| UNESCO organized safety training for East African journalists |
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UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) sponsored an inaugural safety and protection training workshop for East African journalists, from 6 to 8 December 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya. Organized by Article 19 within the framework of the IPDC project, “Bolstering the safety and protection of journalists in East Africa”, the event brought together 25 journalists from six East African countries: Burundi, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Rwanda.
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| Migration and Development Fund donates 1.4 million euros to six remittances projects across Africa |
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The Migration and Development Fund's oversight committee recently approved a series of grants amounting to € 1.4 million to six remittances funded local development projects across the African continent.
Six initiatives in Northern and Western Africa including Algeria, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Morocco, Togo and Tunisia were funded. Four of these projects are located in the Maghreb and support private investments and implement capacity building supported by the Diaspora.
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| Boko Haram: The Dilemma of Human Ignorance, Religion Fideism and Failure of Leadership. |
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By Adewale T Akande in Spain. Without mincing words, I am using this opportunity to console the souls of innocent citizens that lost their lives, commiserates with the families of those who lost their loved ones and wish those injured speedy recovery from the “absurd” (according to the White House) and “senseless” bombblasts by the islamist group called Boko Haram.
It was the firstbloody Christmas ever experienced by Nigerians since 1960. Albert Einstein, the German-born physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, have this to say on the life of individual.
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| Acquisition of Fudge hair care brand |
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PZ Cussons Plc, a leading consumer products group in Europe, Asia and Africa, announces the exchange of contracts for the acquisition through its beauty division of the Fudge hair care brand from Australian-based Sabre Group.
The brand and associated inventory are being acquired for a consideration of £25.5m in cash with completion expected by the end of January following the satisfaction of certain regulatory obligations.
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| SA assumes presidency of UN Security Council |
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SA has taken up the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the month of January 2012. "Consistent with the practice of the UNSC (United Nations Security Council), the office of the president of the security council rotates monthly among its members on the basis of the English alphabetical order, and the council is organised to be able to function continuously," the department of international relations and co-operation said.
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| Oil Security: A central focus in Africa |
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By Isaac Twumasi-Quantus in Accra. The political turmoil in Northern Africa and the Middle East has demonstrated how fragile energy security in particular oil supply security is for all of us. And just weeks ago, consensus among IEA members released oil stocks in the face of a continuing disruption from Libya, and as a bridging action to further production increases from Saudi Arabia.
The move has helped to reassure markets to the benefit of the entire global economy. It also highlights, above all, the importance of unity among all major market players during such crises.
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| Investment in Africa Renewable Energy Reaches $3.6 Billion in 2011 |
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By John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com. First, the bad news. Although Africa has vast fossil and renewable energy sources, only twenty percent of its population has direct access to electricity and in some rural areas, four out of five people are completely without power. According to the UN, over 600 million Africans currently do not have access to electric power. A depressing 70 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population is living without access to clean and safe energy for their basic needs such as cooking, lighting and heating, making energy poverty among the most urgent issues facing Africa.
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| Ecobank, Oceanic shareholders okay merger |
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Shareholders of Ecobank Nigeria Plc and Oceanic Bank International Limited, yesterday, approved their proposed merger, just as the merged banks will commence operation as one bank in the new year.
Under the merger scheme, the shareholders approved that all the assets, liabilities and undertakings of Oceanic Bank, including real property and intellectual property rights, be transferred to Ecobank Nigeria.
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| New dawn calls for bold leadership |
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By Piet Naudé in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. What are the core trends that will intensify in this year, 2012, the start of the second decade of the 21st century?
Despite significant advances, we stand at only the beginning of the digital revolution. We saw the invention of the personal computer, email, and hand-held devices that have fundamentally altered the way the world works. (My MA treatise was still typed on an Olympia machine with tippex for corrections). Looking back at earlier revolutions - agriculture, industrial and scientific - it takes up to 150 years for a revolution to mature.
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| Tanzania secures Sh434 billion from AfDB and World Bank |
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Two multilateral institutions, the African Development Bank and the World Bank have given Tanzania $255.2 million (Sh434 billion) to help support the health sector, private sector reforms and economic governance.
The AfDB approved $155.2 million (Sh263.5 billion) while the WB approved $100 (Sh170 billion) according to statements released yesterday.
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| Sudan to invite bids to run six new oil, gas blocks. |
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Sudan will invite bids from firms to operate in six new oil and gas blocks early next year, the oil minister has said, as the country moves to compensate for the loss of the crude-producing south.
Sudan has been aiming to boost crude production since South Sudan split off in July under a 2005 peace deal, taking about three quarters of the formerly united country's roughly 500,000 barrels per day of oil output with it.
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| Afren finds oil in offshore Nigeria well |
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British oil firm Afren found oil at one of its wells in offshore south east Nigeria, and said it planned to drill another well in offshore Ghana later this month.
Afren, whose main producing fields are in Nigeria but owns assets across Africa, said it found 549 feet of net oil pay the zone of a reservoir that contains economically producible oil and 41 feet of net gas pay at the Okoro East exploration well.
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| Kenya's new port project takes off in 2012 |
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A Kenyan port project linking three countries will start next year, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said.
The Lamu-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor, which aims to construct another port in Lamu and build roads, will open up the Coast, Eastern and northern Kenya regions.
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| 2012: Domestic activity to the rescue |
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At this time of the year, there is one burning question in the mind of investors and business decision makers alike, that is: what economic conditions can one expect for the year ahead?
With global economic conditions expected to continue deteriorating in early 2012, much depends on domestic economic activity to prevent SA from stagnating or even dipping into recession as is anticipated for Europe this year.
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| Africa Business Communities launches Africa Engineering Network |
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Recently we have launched the LinkedIn Group Africa Engineering Network.
You are more than welcome to join!
Click here to join Africa Engineering Network
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| Africa Business Communities launches Africa Automotive Industry |
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Recently we have launched the LinkedIn Group Africa Automotive Industry.
You are more than welcome to join!
Click here to join Africa Automotive Industry
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