Wednesday, November 27African Digital Business Magazine

South Africa News

South Africa News

Energy, Green Energy, South Africa News

Serving up a POWER-GEN-sized slice of colossal Kusile

  As part of the inaugural POWER-GEN Africa, taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre from 6-8 November, an intrepid group of delegates had a unique opportunity to visit Kusile, which once operational will be the fourth largest coal-fired power installation in the world. By its scheduled 2018 completion date the station, located in Mpumalanga province, will have a total capacity of 4800 MW. The first of its six 800 MW units is due to commence operations in 2014. Under development by South African state-owned utility Eskom, Kusile is the country’s most technologically advanced coal plant and will be the first to feature flue gas desulphurisation (FGD), a key environmental objective for Eskom. A base-load facility, Kusile forms part of Eskom’s plan to increase...
African News, South Africa News

Google conference attracks over 800 industrial experts

  By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa The popular Google Conference makes its return to Cape Town next week. And tech enthusiasts are expected to gather at the Pavillion Conference Centre, Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront in Cape Town on 12th-13th November. This meeting of experts in the various industries will be the third G-South Africa event presented by Google. Also, the two day conference will host over 800 business people, marketers, entrepreneurs and web developers, together with Google experts from around the globe, to share tools and best practices for digital marketing and web development. “G-South Africa represents Google’s commitment to driving the web forward in South Africa and across the continent, as well as highlighting the business opportunities that are brought...
African News, Nigeria News, South Africa News

Having cracked the feature phone challenge, 2go heads for smartphones

  Mobile social network 2go is extending its successful feature phone app to smartphones, while growing its team of software developers and support staff. 2go currently has over 10 million active users who send more than 6 billion messages a month, mostly on lower-end feature phones in Nigeria and South Africa. “Feature phones have been an incredibly successful platform for us and will continue to be so for the next few years at least,” says Alan Wolff, who founded 2go with fellow student Ashley Peter while still at university. “Research firms such as Informa indicate that by 2015 there will still be 5.6 feature phones in the African market for every one smartphone. But now is the right time to start extending to iOS, Blackberry and Android platforms as well.” The secret to 2go...
South Africa News

Gold Fields Limited: KDC East Mine Resumes Production

JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 6, 2012 /CNW/ - Gold Fields Limited (Gold Fields) (JSE, NYSE, NASDAQ Dubai: GFI) is pleased to announce that employees this morning returned to work at its KDC East Mine (formerly Kloof) to resume production after a 23-day strike. All three of Gold Fields' operating mines in South Africa are now back in production. The mine had dismissed 8,100 employees on October 23 for participation in the unlawful strike over the preceding nine days. However, after a deal with the National Union of Mineworkers, the vast majority of them were reinstated to their previous positions. All employees are also eligible for benefits under the Chamber of Mines Settlement Agreement concluded on 25 October 2012. About Gold Fields Gold Fields is one of the world's largest unhedg...
African News, South Africa News

Growing role for Africa in the “Golden Age of Gas” – Report

    Opportunities will extend in most areas to the smaller, local E&P players as well, most often in partnerships with larger, more-experienced players JOHANNESBURG, South-Africa, October 30, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – With open access and attractive leasing terms, Africa’s oil and natural gas resources continue to attract a broad spectrum of investors, according to a new report from Ernst & Young (http://www.ey.com/za) Natural gas in Africa – The frontiers of the Golden Age launched at Africa Oil & Gas Week. Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/ernstyoung.jpg Elias Pungong, Ernst & Young’s Oil & Gas Leader for Africa says, “Natural gas development holds tremendous opportunity for Africa. It can be a primary dr...
Science, South Africa News

UCT Graduate School of Business is the best in Africa

  By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa The University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business, has been voted the top business school on the African continent for 2012. A report released this week showed that by a vote of its international peers, the UCT Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB) has been rated the top business school in Africa at the 5th Eduniversal World Convention of the Best Business Schools, held from 17 to 19 October in Lima, Peru. "This is the fifth time that the UCT GSB has walked away with top honours at the event, five Palmes. Five Palmes go to business schools with major international influence. Second to the GSB in Africa, the University of Stellenbosch Business School also received five Palmes." Also reported is that the annual meeting was hosted by CENTR...
African News, South Africa News

South African red tape may not be that bad

  By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa A report this week reveals that entry as a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) is not so restrictive after all. And according to Gerrie van Biljon, Executive Director of Cape Town-based Business Partners, the general sentiment in South Africa’s business landscape is that the environment is plagued by challenges that hinder commercial activity. Further,in recent months much has been said about the significant red tape that hampers business growth in the country, however, despite all the negative reports, South Africa’s business environment is performing significantly well in key areas. Van Biljon then refers to the World Bank’s Doing Business 2012 Report, which ranks countries across the globe according to how easy or difficult it is for a local en...
African News, South Africa News

Western Union Announces Commitment to Design and Launch a New Financial Platform for NGOs

  President and CEO Hikmet Ersek announces commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative to help NGOs bridge the last mile JOHANNESBURG, South-Africa, October 29, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) (http://www.westernunion.com), a leader in global payment services, today announced its commitment to creating a financial platform specifically designed to meet the payment needs of non-profit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the people they serve. Logo Western Union: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/western-union.jpg The platform, Western Union® NGO Global Pay, will be created to help NGOs overcome the ‘last mile’ and bridge the gap between funds that need to be disbursed and the people who need them...
South Africa News

South Africa Holiday Ownership Expert Stuart Lamont to Speak During Timeshare and Fractional Event GNEX 2013

  The Executive Chairman for Club Leisure Group will give his viewpoints of the South Africa shared ownership industry during Perspective Magazine’s third annual timeshare and fractional industry event. Orlando, FL, October, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Perspective Magazine announces that Stuart Lamont, Executive Chairman, Club Leisure Group will provide his expertise regarding the South African vacation ownership market during the Third Annual Global Networking Expo, GNEX 2013 – The Global Meeting of Minds. “GNEX 2013 is a refreshing initiative for visionaries to collectively redefine resilience protocols in turbulent times,” said Mr. Lamont. The Club Leisure Group comprises a variety of leisure and accommodation clubs, structured around the needs of its members. The Clubs acquire o...
African News, Angola News, Madagascar News, Mauritius News, Seychelles News, South Africa News, Tanzania News, Zimbabwe News

SADC initiative to harmonize seed policies advanced

  by Wallace Mawire The Southern African Development Community (SADC) initiatives on harmonization of seed policies are at an advanced stage with  only a few countries still to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The initiatives are being conducted under the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) Harmonized Seed Security Project. According to Dr Lindiwe Sibanda, FANRPAN CEO and Head of Mission, farmers in the SADC region remain seed insecure due in part to conflicting seed laws, regulations and procedures. These are reported to hinder the timely movement of seed across the region's borders. Sibanda says as a solution, FANRPAN has proposed the seed policies harmonization to increase seed flow across national borders. She says there is n...