Africa

 

Angola: Kuando Kubango Governor Hail Country's Dimension in Africa

The governor of the eastern Kuando Kubango province, Eusébio de Brito, highlighted on Saturday in Menongue city the country's dimension in Africa with the rehabilitation of over 3000 km of Luanda, Benguela and Moçamedes Railway Companies in ten years. Read more »

Africa's Invitation to Investors

President Paul Kagame, who is attending the World Economic Forum in Tianjin, China, yesterday, told delegates that there is lots of opportunity for investment in Africa. The President was speaking at a session themed: 'Africa's Next Economy' which focused on the role that new investment partnerships are playing in shaping the next economy of Africa.  Read more »

Drop in Fuel Prices Should Give the Economy Further Boost

A fall in fuel pump prices will certainly provide further relief to consumers with general commodity prices expected to follow a similar trend. Transport costs should be going down too. The government's recent decision to slash fuel pump prices was the new sign of a healthy economic outlook for Rwanda. Read more »

Senegal: Call Centres Come Into the Firing Line

"Good morning sir, I'm calling about an offer we would like to make to you ." Assabe S. repeats this sentence on the telephone about a hundred times a day. At the other end of the line are French customers. A threat now hangs over the jobs of nearly 11,000 employees like Assabe in Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia as a result of plans by the new French government to move some call centres back to France. Read more »

Namibia: Banks Give Interest Rate Breather

FNB Namibia yesterday became the first of Namibia's four commercial banks to drop its interest rates by half a percentage point after the Bank of Namibia (BoN) last week decreased its repo rate by 50 basis points. To continue...

Morocco: Minister, we will maintain social investments

The Moroccan government means to continue investing in the social sector - healthcare, education and public housing in particular, said Driss El Azami El Idrissi, the minister in charge of the budget within the Economy and Finance Ministry, in an interview. To continue...

Kenya: Sh 50 Million Dam to Be Built in Meru - Pm

Prime Minister Raila Odinga announced that the government will build a mega dam Tharaka Nithi county. The Sh50 million dam will be known as the Grand High Falls Dam and will be built in collaboration with the Chinese government. Raila made the announcement during a tour of Meru county. To continue...

Tanzanian president meets Chinese vice premier on friendship, cooperation

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete met with visiting Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu here Wednesday on time-honored friendship and cooperation between the two countries. Hui conveyed to President Kikwete warm greetings and good wishes from his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, praising him as an old friend of China who has made an significant contribution to the friendship between China and Tanzania and between China and Africa. To continue...

Mauritius interim PM hails contribution of Mauritians of Chinese origin

The Mauritius interim Prime Minister (PM) Rashid Beebeejaun said on Thursday that the Mauritians of Chinese origin constitute an economically and culturally dynamic section of the Mauritius society. The interim prime minister, who was speaking during the third World Chinese Conference, hailed the efforts of the Mauritians of Chinese origin in the construction of a modern Mauritius nation. To continue...

Congo-Kinshasa: Getting a Grip On Food Security in DR Congo

The Association for Integrated Rural Development is one of a number of rural organisations on the periphery of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which are strengthening the city's food security while demonstrating how to maximise sustainable enty-odd members, To continue...

Liberians Urged to Grow Own Food - As Food Prices Continues to Rise Till 2015

The Minister of Commerce and Industry has asked Liberians to grow their own food and be able to eat what they produce in the wake of the World Bank's estimate of world price increase of food stuff.

Addressing the Ministry of Data, Culture Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) regular Thursday press briefing last week, the Commerce and Industry Minster Madam Miatta Beyslow disclosed the sad news that Liberia remains a food deficit Country because we import everything that we eat. To continue...

Six remarkable African infrastructure projects

The development of sustainable urban infrastructure is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st Century. Professional services firm KPMG recently released its new Infrastructure 100: World Cities Edition, which identified the world’s 100 most innovative and inspiring urban infrastructure projects. To continue...

Algeria: Creative and Business-Minded Algerians Conclude U.S. Visit

Innovators from Algeria visit the United States to get business advice, inclunding to network with their American counterparts as among of the U.S. - North Africa Partnership for Economic Opportunity (NAPEO) Creative and Cultural Economy Incubator program.

Algerian cultural entrepreneurs spent three weeks in the United States meeting with investors and other experts to share ideas, get advice and find avenues to forge new business partnerships and opportunities. To continue...

How to Invest in Africa's Infrastructure

The African Development Bank (AfDB) wants SADC countries to put five % of their monetary reserve towards the establishment of an infrastructure bond that would help speed up infrastructure development in rail, water, ports and energy. The bank's chief Donald Kaberuka made the proposal at the start of the SADC Heads of National Summit in Maputo on Friday.

"I understand the need for security, but the proposal we are putting to you is that instead of investing this money in other instruments, let us take a small amount of it and invest it in what we can call Africa infrastructure bond," Kaberuka said.

It was not clear whether the proposal will receive the needed support from the Heads of National present at meeting but it's understood, it will be discussed. Infrastructure development in the form of a mooted master plan will feature prominently in the discussions during the two-day summit. Malawi and South Africa were among the first countries to endorse the plan that seeks to address infrastructure deficit in rail, water and energy infrastructure. To continue...

Gabon: Regulating insurance

Two new changes to Gabon’s insurance market are expected to develop the reinsurance segment and professionalise premium payment collections but with insurers still struggling to pay claims within a new three-month grace period, there are still challenges ahead to increase.

The government has taken the lead in developing the country’s reinsurance market with the recent creation of the Gabonese Reinsurance Commercial Society (La Société Commerciale Gabonaise de Réassurance, SCG-RE). The government has a 67.5% stake in SCG-RE, while local insurers hold the remaining share. SCG-RE was created to keep insurance premiums in the country. The proportion of premiums transferred to reinsurance companies such as Swiss Re, Munich Re and Cica Re (amount outside Gabon) stood at 37.3% in 2009, largely unchanged from 37.1% in 2008 but down from 40.9% five years previously. to continue...

Senegal: Making Cashews Pay

As the cashew harvesting season draws to a close, producers in the Casamance region of southern Senegal are starting to organize themselves so as to have additional say in the price that will be set for their product.

Middlemen - mostly from India - who export the raw nuts, usually walk off with the bulk of the profit, while producers struggle to get by. "We are organizing - we think we can solve this problem," Ismaila Diémé, a member of the Agricultural Producers' Cooperative of Casamance, told IRIN.

Diémé harvested tons of cashews in 2011. "Logically, the revenue generated by the sale of these nuts should have got me through the whole year, but the poor price meant that I won't get by. Amount the growers in the region are in the same situation," he told IRIN.  to continue...

Tanzanian mobile phone operators move into financial services

The country’s Deputy Minister for Communications, Science and Technology, Mr January Yusuf Makamba, that mobile phone operators have been licensed to conduct financial transaction business.
Tanzania's government has confirmed that mobile phone operators have been licensed to conduct financial transaction business.

According to the statement Tigo, Vodacom, Airtel and Zantel are licensed to offer communication and Internet services by Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), but are as well licensed to add financial services to their portfolios.

Mr Makamba told parliament that communication technology globally has added price to financial transaction activities. Addressing a query over thefts perpetrated through communication facilities, including mobile phones, the Deputy Minister said the TCRA and Bank of Tanzania had agreed to conduct surveillance through the Bank of Tanzania Act. The government as well discussed the issue of telecommunication infrastructure and connectivity in rural areas. The National Assembly heard that a total of 2,175 villages have erratic or no mobile phone communication.

According to Mr Makamba in November 2011 a tender was issued for the construction of communication towers in 140 villages, with the communication relay station scheduled for placement in Lyabukande Village.

Gabon: Facilitating housing projects

After several years of stalled efforts, Gabon is beginning to see some traction in the effort to overcome its housing deficit.Work is set to begin on a handful of large-scale residential projects and, in a promising move for investors, the government has streamlined the procedure for land ownership.  In May, the newly created National Agency for Urban Planning, Topographical Works and Land Registry (Agence Nationale de l’Urbanisme, des Travaux Topographiques et du Cadastre, ANUTTC) introduced a “guichet unique”, or “single-window” system to simplify the procedure for land purchases. By coordinating with amount ministries involved, the single-window is expected to reduce the time required to obtain a title deed from 10 years to only 180 days, inclunding cut the number of administrative steps from 134 to 7.to continue...