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BRIEFS [African Business](African Business Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) COMMUNICATION Strangest deliveries for DHL »For courier company DHL, it's increasingly common to see 'packages' such as live animals, specially prepared food or lifesaving medicines being transported across the continent, as well as some unique personal client requests. A highlight in 2012 was moving three endangered black rhinos from the UK to the Kilimanjaro National Park in Tanzania. The 10-hour journey from the UK airport to Tanzania included a refuelling stop in Italy and took place aboard a specially outfitted Boeing 757. Special accommodation included specialised life-saving devices and temperature-controlled conditions in the cabin, and the transport team included two rhino keepers, two aircraft engineers and a specialist veterinarian. $1bn ThecurrentvalueoftheNigerianinternetsector today is estimated at $250m and by 2016 it will be close to $1bn Which East African country received most funding from China, 2001-2011? RWANDA $469m BURUNDI $165m KENYA $1.6bn UGANDA $4.5bn Tanzania $4.6bn TECHNOLOGY 13m Nigerians to get smart ID cards Nigeria will roll out 13m MasterCard-branded national identity smart cards - the largest formal electronic payment solution in Nigeria and the broadest financial inclusion initiative of its kind on the African continent. Nigerians over 16, and all residents for more than two years, will get the new multipurpose identity card with 13 applications including MasterCard's prepaid payment technology. The National Identity Smart Card will incorporate unique National Identification Numbers. The database will provide the platform for identity verification. The Nigerian National Identity Management Commission plans to introduce more than 100m cards to Nigeria's 167m people, aiming to reduce financial exclusion by half by 2020. BANKING New electronic payments for Kenya Equity Bank and Google launched BebaPay, Kenya's newest cashless innovation and the first payments system of its kind for Kenya. With BebaPay, bus passengers can sign up for a card and top up for free at Equity agents and top up their cards via mobile money. All users do is to swipe their card on the card reader in order to pay. Bus conductors can use BebaPay on a Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled Android phone to accept payments from BebaPay smart cards. EMPLOYMENT $100m to help youth go digital Digital Jobs Africa is new initiative to focus on Africa's youth and employment. The US Rockefeller foundation has pledged $100m to Africa's digital sector and aims to impact 1m people. The initiative will focus on skills training and digital jobs such as data entry, service centre support, online research and web design for highpotential youth. It will work from the Foundation's office in Nairobi, Kenya, for seven years, leveraging other funds and support. South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco and Egypt are the six countries selected for the project, based on high levels of youth unemployment, the growth of their ICT-enabled sectors, the existing level of governmental support and the potential to create significant numbers of jobs. INTERNATIONAL Turkey boosts African presence »The Turkish government's Africa drive is a big help to Turkish businesses, though the Turkish presence is relatively new in the sub-Saharan region and it is hard to compete against Chinese competitors with state financing. Turkish Airlines, 49% owned by the state, now flies to 34 destinations in Africa, including Accra, Lagos and Mogadishu. Ankara has opened 22 embassies in Africa in the past four years, 34 in Africa as a whole and 29 south of the Sahara. Embassies in Eritrea and Botswana are scheduled to open this year. Trade has also soared. Since 2005, Turkish exports to Africa have risen from $3.5bn, including $1bn to sub-Saharan Africa, to more than $13bn last year, including $4bn south of the Sahara. Construction companies moved southward from their more-established grounds in the Maghreb when the Arab revolutions rocked North African markets. Turkey's interest in Africa reflects more than just government initiatives and the efforts of individual business people. Mostly it is smaller Turkish groups, hungry for profits wherever they find them, that come to new markets in Africa. So far, moves by larger companies into the continent, such as the $325m acquisition of Defy, a South African white goods group, by a subsidiary of Koç, Turkey's biggest industrial concern, are relatively rare. Sales to all of Africa are relatively small compared with Turkey's total exports of $152bn for 2012 - just under 9%. Turkey is perhaps the most notable foreign presence in Somalia. $8bn AfDB'scurrentprivate sector portfolio of $8bn will grow to $10bn in 2014 $1.26bn Airtel, the world's fourth largest telecoms company by subscribers, has sold a 5% stake in its business to the Qatar Foundation Endowment for $1.26bn as part of a plan to reduce leverage and raise funds for future investments in its African division INTERNATIONAL Sweden looks to Africa Sweden is the latest country to target Africa to revive trade as the Nordic region's largest economy adjusts Europe's slump. It needs to diversify and Swedish companies are now seeing investment opportunities in Africa. A main driver of growth in 2014 will be the strengthening of activity in South Africa and other middle-income countries. Of Sweden's total exports in 2012, only 3% were to Africa. The Swedish government forecasts that exports to sub-Saharan Africa will grow 5.2% this year, followed by a 9.3% expansion in 2014 and growth of 12% and 14% in 2015 and 2016 respectively. World Bank and AfDB to fund $1.26bn EthiopiaKenya power line 73,282 Nigerian tourists visited South Africa last year, a 13.8% increase on 2011, contributing $88.6m to South Africa's economy Per capita GDP in Africa has expanded at 2.4% per year since 1996, making a total average increase in GDP per capita of 50% 65% of Liberia's population in under the age of 25 Kenya's internet users hit the 16.2m mark INNOVATION Malaria is no match for African students An app: Three students and their mentor from Makerere University, Uganda, have formulated a mobile phone app 'Matibabu' that can diagnose malaria patients without pricking the skin, and show the location of a treatment centre. Josiah Kavuma, Simon Lubambo, Brian Gitta and Joshua Bujjo - Code8 - won the Imagine Africa Cup competition, held for the first time in Uganda, and will compete at the worldwide Imagine Cup in St Petersburg, Russia, in July. For the first time, two East Africa teams will compete, the other being the Kenyan winners, three students from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Collins Omwenga, Paul Mutie and Somboriot Kipchillat, with Protégé, an app which support giving donations to children's homes and other charitable organisations across the world. A soap: Two African students have created a malariarepellant soap, and have won a $25,000 Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) award, the only international competition of Social Business Plans dedicated to students, young graduates, and entrepreneurs with high social and/or environmental start-ups. Moctar Dembélé from Burkina Faso and Gérard Niyondiko from Burundi are the first non-US-born or US citizens to win. Both are students at the International Institute of Water and Environment Engineering in Burkina Faso. The invention, Faso soap, is made from karate citronella and secret local herbs. ECONOMY Plug the gaps in Africa's growth, economists warn »Africa is on the rise but gaps in key areas are putting the continent's economic boom to question, economists have warned. The 2013 Africa Competitiveness Report, launched at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, highlighted that regional integration was critical in increasing Africa's competitiveness. The report noted that Africa's growth needs to be seen in the wider international context, where encouraging gains in economic growth belie an underlying weakness in its long-term competitiveness. Regional integration is key to addressing this weakness through the delivery of wider social and economic benefits. Africa's leaders should prioritise this as they seek to ensure that Africa delivers on its promise. Africa needs to diversify its economic base and create adequate jobs for its young and fast urbanising population. Gap such as poor exports, infrastrucure deficit and low levels of investment needed attention. Sustainable high economic growth often occurs in an environment where there is a meaningful infrastructure development. It is imperative that planning for both national and regional infrastructure projects is coupled with the legal and regulatory framework that will allow for increased involvement of the private sector in infrastructural development on a public-private partnerships model. To turn its economic gains into sustainable growth and shared prosperity, Africa's public and private sectors must work together to connect the continent's markets, deepen regional integration, and adopt reforms that enhance national competitiveness. $1bn Kosmos Energy to invest $1bn to develop Ghanaian oilfields $33m Switzerland will grant Burkina Faso and Mozambique general budgetary assistance of $33m each for the years 2013 to 2016, focused on broad-based and sustainable growth GDP per capita in resource-rich African countries grew 2.2 times faster during 1996-2011 than in resource-poor countries. Yet despite the better growth performance, poverty declined substantially less in resource-rich countries Only 4 or 5 countries on the African continent are expected to still be without mineral exploitation by 2020 By 2020, projections are that Africa's consumerfacing industries are expected to grow by more than $400bn RENEWABLE ENERGY Islands in the sun The Comoros island of Mohéli has initiated a solar power project, constructing six solar photovoltaic micro-power stations in rural villages over a two-year period, at a cost of $4m, of which the EU will finance three quarters. The remainder will come from the archipelago's state-owned water and electricity utility, Mamwe, and its partner, Leignon synergie Comores (LSC), local subsidiary of a Belgian company, Semlex. It will raise access to the electricity grid to 25% of the population from 10%. Less than 10% of Comoros' electricity generation comes from renewables. Ghana solar to go ahead Nzema is a $400m 155 MW solar project to be built by British company Blue Energy in western Ghana, 85km west of the Takoradi deepwater port and close to the main electricity transmission line for the Western Region. First generation is expected in early 2014, with the plant due to reach full capacity by late 2015. A renewable energy law provides incentives for investors and the government is looking for $1bn of investment in renewables. Kenya going geothermal The $135m Olkaria geothermal power project is set for completion by April next year, adding 28 MW to the national grid. Sinopec International began construction last December and has laid 3,000 pipe support out of an estimated 8,000. Africa's largest PV plant Africa's largest solar photovoltaic (PV) plant was launched in Nouakchott, Mauritania's capital. Built by Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy specialist Masdar, the $32m 15 MW scheme, which is the first utility-scale solar power installation in the country, will provide up to 10% of Mauritania's power. OIL AND GAS Nigeria's biggest refinery planned The Dangote group intends to build a $8bn petroleum refinery in southwest Nigeria. The 400,000 barrels per day capacity refinery will be financed with loans totalling $4.25bn provided by a consortium of foreign and Nigerian banks. Construction will start by late 2016. POWER $600m Nigerian power plant Fertiliser producer Notore Chemical Industries is investing $600m to build a power plant at its factory in the southern town of Onne.The 500 MW plant will be built jointly with ContourGlobal LP, a New York-based investment company specialising in the electric-power industry. Financing will come from export credit agencies and development banks, with local lenders making up the balance. Japan's Mitsubishi will build the plant and construction will start next year.Nigeria plans to boost electricity output and the government is offering incentives to investors. CHINAWATCH New database reveals China's projects »China has committed $75bn on aid and development projects in Africa in the past decade, according to US research. A controversial database of Chinese development finance in Africa, with information culled from the media, reports almost 1,700 projects in 50 countries between 2000 and 2011. According to the website, China's financial commitments are significantly larger than previous estimates, though still less than the estimated $90bn the US committed over that period. There are few mining projects in the database and, while transport, storage and energy initiatives account for some of the largest sums, the data also reveals how China has put hundreds of millions of dollars towards health, education and cultural projects. In Liberia, China has put millions towards the installation of solar traffic lights in Monrovia and financed a malaria prevention centre. In Mozambique, China's projects include a National School for Visual Arts in Maputo. China has also sent thousands of doctors and teachers to work in Africa, welcomed many more students to learn in China or in Chinese language classes abroad and rolled out a continent-wide network of sports stadiums and concert halls. Only a fraction of the database's projects (totalling $16bn) would count as official development assistance under the rules set by the OECD. Researchers found evidence that almost 1,000 projects, totalling $48.6bn, are under way or complete. Other programmes can be linked to China's trade agenda. $50bn Kenya plans to spend $50bn over the next 20 years to meet a 14% annual increase in electricity demand $4.5bn More people use mobile money than have bank accounts in Uganda. Mobile money usage tripled in 2012 to reach 8.9m, up from 2.9m users the previous year. The total value of money transacted via mobile services grew to a record $4.5bn More than 100 South African companies do business in Nigeria. Nigeria's growth rate is almost double that of South Africa Since 2002, the overall size of the African economy has more than trebled Unilever Ghana expects sales to grow by 10% in 2013 as it starts making Lipton Tea in Ghana for export Sub-Saharan Africa produces as much energy as Spain but has 20 times the population Make a date with Debt Capital Markets The 3rd Africa Debt Capital Markets Summit, the premier event on this niche market, takes place on the 27th June at Bloomberg, London, UK. Delegates will benefit from time with investors and issuers including: Hon. Nizar Baraka, Minister of Economy and Finance, Morocco; Hon. Maria Kiwanuka, Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Uganda; Hon. Saara Kuugongelwa, Minister of Finance, Namibia; Hon. Alexander B. Chikwanda, Minister of Finance, Zambia; Mme Faouzia Zaaboul, Director of Treasury and External Finance for Morocco; and Archer Mangueira, Chairman, Capital Market Commission of Angola. www.ic-events.net/2013/adcm TECHNOLOGY Microsoft targets Tanzania Microsoft has partnered with the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology and UhuruOne, a local internet service provider, to bring wireless broadband access, Windows 8 devices and technology skills to universities in Dar es Salaam. Wireless broadband is provided by tapping into unused portions of the wireless spectrum in the frequency bands used for television. $1m for Nigerian tech companies Internet entrepreneurs of iROKOtv and Nollywood fame, Jason Njoku and Bastian Gotter, launched SPARK, a $1m-backed company to support and develop aspiring Nigerian tech and internet entrepreneurs. SPARK, a company that builds companies, is based in Lagos and is set to fill the vacuum in the country's angel investment ($30-75,000 funding level) eco-system. SPARK has, to date, seed funded or created 13 start-ups to the sum of $35-75,000 each. INTRA-AFRICA S Africa is biggest investor South Africa has invested in more projects in the rest of Africa than any other country. Despite China and the EU being the largest investors in monetary terms, South Africa plays a key role as its multinational organisations expand into the region. Most current projects are in the service sectors including banking, retail and telecommunications, creating far more jobs than mining and helping to reduce dependence on natural resources. The primary South African companies investing in Africa are MTN, Sanlam, Standard Bank, Tiger Brands, Shoprite, and Nampak AID 60% SABMiller has a 60% share of the formal beer market in Africa Global aid figures must be reassessed »The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says it needs to reassess how global aid figures are measured. Leaving out the interest repayments that donors receive from developing countries inflates the value of official development assistance (ODA) loans by $5bn each year. Some donors, including Japan and Germany, receive hundreds of millions of dollars each year in interest repayments on the loans they give. Net ODA figures subtract repayments made by recipients, but, according to current OECD rules, only account for principal repayments. Instead, interest repayments are recorded only as a memo item in OECD statistics. Donors can give aid as grants or loans - if they are deemed "concessional in character" and include a grant element of at least 25%. This grant element, which is calculated using the repayment schedule and total cost of the loan to the recipient, varies widely by donor: loans from South Korea and Australia, for example, have average grant elements of almost 90%, while those from Finland (35%) or France (45%) are significantly less concessional. Not all donors give loans. However, since 2007 growth in ODA loans has outstripped growth in overall ODA. The metric used by the OECD to measure concessionality allows loans with high interest rates to count as aid. The issue of how to define concessionality will be the subject of a meeting in Paris this month, bringing together the IMF, World Bank, aid donors and recipients. Analysis was by independent research group Development Initiatives. 500m No other continent depends on cassava to feed as many people as does Africa, where 500m people consume it daily. Africa's small farmers produce more than half of the world's cassava, or about 86m tons, from over 10m hectares AGRA urges African states to invest 10% of national budget in agriculture Africa has the youngest population in the world today, with the number of people between age 15 and 24 expected to double to 400m by 2045 US v China Aid 2001-2011 China gave Kenya $1.6bn US gave Kenya $5.5bn 500m No other continent depends on cassava to feed as many people as does Africa, where 500m people consume it daily. Africa's small farmers produce more than half of the world's cassava, or about 86m tons, from over 10m hectares AGRA urges African states to invest 10% of national budget in agriculture Africa has the youngest population in the world today, with the number of people between age 15 and 24 expected to double to 400m by 2045 US v China Aid 2001-2011 China gave Kenya $1.6bn US gave Kenya $5.5bn Private equity and commodity traders DVK launched a $1bn pan-African Africa Development Fund for Somalia, Somaliland, Kenya and Malawi across aviation, commodities, PPP infrastructure and real estate AWARDS Fly factory wins innovation award A fly factory that transforms blood, guts, manure and discarded food into animal feed has won a $100,000 UN-backed prize. The South Africa-based initiative beat 900 entrants from 45 countries to win the Innovation Prize for Africa. The flies, fed human-grade food, lay eggs which are collected and added to the waste where they hatch into larvae. The larvae munch through the waste and are then harvested, dried and ground up into the consistency of cornflakes and sent to a feed manufacturer. "We've created the first industrial farming operation for flies," said Jason Drew of AgriProtein Technologies, which devised the concept. AGRICULTURE Cassavabase.org launches African farmers will benefit from a new database with open access to shared information about cassava, which features all phenotypic and genotypic data generated by cassava breeding programmes involved in the NEXTGEN Cassava project. It will allow them to share in information on the best technologies available to improve the yield and quality of cassava that is needed for food and income. Cassavabase will be hosted at International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Nigeria by the NEXTGEN Cassava project, providing a one-stop shop for cassava researchers and breeders worldwide. MINING Tanzania to be major minerals force Tanzania is poised to become Africa's leading producer of both nickel and uranium.?It will produce 80,000 tonnes of nickel annually within few years, overtaking South Africa, which currently accounts for 2% of the world's nickel production. The country has three nickel mines under feasibility studies. Tanzania issued its first uranium mining licence to a major company, Mantra Tanzania, to build and operate the Mkuju River uranium mine in southern Tanzania. The decision could catapult the nation into the top five producers. The site is said to contain at least 36,000 tonnes in known uranium deposits and could extract 14,000 tonnes of annually. The project will bring in $448m in foreign direct investments and eventually bring in £249m in annual revenue. MOBILE MONEY New West Africa payment systems Tunisian company Bitaka is due to start operations in Nigeria as Bitaka Synergy Nigeria, with local partner Hamed Alade, marketing electronic recharge machines, mobile payments and handheld point-of-sale machines. Operations have also begun in Côte d'Ivoire, where Bitaka has sold products to Atlantique Telecom. (c) 2013 IC Publications Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |