2010 Archives - AfricaBusiness.com

14Dec

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

DHL Global Connectedness Index shows signs of progress for Africa and others

By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa The latest reports on African Connectedness are showing great things for the future. And African countries are showing the largest increases in their global connectedness, according to DHL. While recent announcements from Cape Town, South Africa reveal: • The countries with the largest increases are Mozambique, Togo, Ghana, Guinea and Zambia • Global connectedness has yet to recover from its steep drop at the onset of the financial crisis • The world’s shifting economic center of gravity is reshaping industry connectedness DHL recently released the second edition of the DHL Global Connectedness Index (GCI), a comprehensive analysis of the state of globalization around the world. The report, drawing on over one million data points fr...

13Dec

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

African Medical Device Market: Facts and Figures 2012

NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: African Medical Device Market: Facts and Figures 2012 Why look at Africa? With a population of over a billion people, Africa represents a vast potential market. The political and economic picture is improving in many areas, as conflicts are brought under control, and governments show a new willingness to use export revenues to boost healthcare. Levels of external aid remain strong. While this can be a double-edged sword for the economy of the country in question, a large number of development projects are ongoing. Virtually the entire continent is wholly reliant on imports, which rose by an average of 7.5% per year in the 2006-10 period. The least-develop...

4Dec

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy

SunPower Corporation to Supply Toshiba with 20.1 Percent Efficiency Solar Panel for Japanese Market

New 20.1 Percent Efficiency Module Continues Toshiba’s High Efficiency Leadership in Japanese Residential Market SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) today announced that it will supply Toshiba with its new world-record efficiency solar panel beginning in December, extending Toshiba’s solar efficiency leadership in the Japanese residential market. SunPower’s new E20/250NE solar panel features a 20.1 percent efficiency rating delivering 250 watts per 72-cell module, and will be marketed exclusively by Toshiba in the Japanese homes segment. The module features the all-back contact Maxeon™ solar cell designed and manufactured by SunPower Corporation which offers world-record efficiency. Since SunPower first partnered with Toshiba in 2010, it has de...

20Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

MITSUMI IT Distribution Africa concluded its GITEX 2012 debut on a high note

MITSUMI IT Distribution has concluded its GITEX debut successfully which run from October 14 – 18, 2012 at Dubai World Trade Centre. GITEX is the ICT business gateway to the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region. This year, for the very first time, MITSUMI has exhibited its world-class product portfolio from renowned global vendor partners HP, Dell, Acer, Toshiba, Lenovo, Samsung, Microsoft, Western Digital, BenQ and Tripplite at the prestigious event. With GITEX having an “Africa in Focus” theme this year, our stand attracted serious business visitors from all over the region. Numerous delegations from Algeria, Kenya, Libya, Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tunisia have visited MITSUMI stand and have shown interest. MITSUMI's participation at ...

12Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, South Africa News

Smarter infrastructure needed to handle exploding data traffic

By Peter Karaszi Mobile operators across the globe are being squeezed by decreasing revenues per user, and a seemingly insatiable demand by users for more data. To efficiently manage the rapidly growing increase in data traffic in their networks, mobile operators need to build and improve their infrastructure in a much smarter way than they have hitherto done. Telecoms expert Peter Karaszi takes a look at some new infrastructural solutions that can help mobile operators do just that. According to Cisco, the mobile data traffic in the world’s mobile networks grows by 150 per cent per year, driven by the emergence and use of smartphones, apps and videos. Traffic is expected to increase 26-fold between 2010 and 2015. Other sources have even scarier estimates but th...

8Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, South Africa News

Coface projections on SA, Africa and the global economy will have to be tested

By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa Africa is best positioned to provide a thriving business environment, a leading International credit insurer attests. Coface has projected that by 2016, South African exports into Africa will increase significantly but will be offset by an equivalent drop in trade with Europe. The group also says that the will also be an increase in trade with Asia but trade with the US will remain at the current levels. And Garth de Klerk, CEO of Coface South Africa, says: "China will play an important role in SA’s economic future. Currently, 13% of total SA’s exports are to China. They consume 65% of all primary aluminum produced in SA and 70% of all iron ore mined in SA. Notably, China’s biggest export markets in 2011 was the EU at $356-billion followed by the US at...

7Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

Frost & Sullivan Award Recognises 1Stream’s Exceptional Entrepreneurship

Year-on-year growth exceeding 100% in 2011 caps company's stellar performance CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Nov. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the hosted contact centre market, Frost & Sullivan recognises 1Stream with the South African Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award. Since its inception in 2008, 1Stream has managed to grow its business phenomenally in response to the strengthening demand for hosted contact centre solutions. The company has witnessed exceptionally strong growth in the last year, with year-on-year growth exceeding 100%. 1Stream boasts a client list including multinational companies such as wonga.com and Bloomberg. Undoubtedly, the most important milestone achieved by 1Stream was the signing of a deal in October 2010 ...

5Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Kenya News

Deforestation Costing Kenyan Economy Millions of Dollars Each Year and Increasing Water Shortage Risk, UNEP and Kenya Forest Service Report Finds / Services from Kenya’s Water Towers Underpin Many Sectors of Economy

NAIROBI, Kenya, November 5, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – Deforestation deprived Kenya’s economy of 5.8 billion shillings ($US 68 million) in 2010 and 6.6 billion shillings in 2009, far outstripping the roughly 1.3 billion shillings injected from forestry and logging each year, according to a joint Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report. The ongoing work of the KFS, together with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and international partners, says that the contribution of forests is undervalued by 2.5 per cent, putting the estimate of its annual contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at around 3.6 per cent. Hon. Dr. Noah Wekesa, Kenya’s Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, said the report – entitled ‘The ...

10Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Science

The Falcon Project – the Most Penetrating Search for the Legendary Sasquatch Ever Undertaken

St. George, UT, October, 2012 --(PR.com)-- The Falcon Project proposes to conduct an extensive aerial search for an unrecognized North American primate, a.k.a. sasquatch or Bigfoot, by means of an helium-filled airship, upon which a platform supporting thermal-imaging and high resolution wireless videography equipment is mounted. The Aurora Mk II airship offers major advantages over similar applications with helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft platforms, foremost, stealth and maneuverability. The former permits approach and observation with minimal or no disturbance of the subject’s natural behavior. The latter is critical for surveying in areas of dense stands of forest where a sustained vertical perspective is essential for locating animals on the forest floor. The unmanned 45' du...

26Jul

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, South Africa News, Zambia News

Regionalism

by Chikomborero Dengu (chikodengu @ gmail.com) Regionalism (Microsoft Word) Introduction There is an increasing recognition for the need to improve the political and economic environment of a country or region via collective action . This recognition is borne out of the realisation that countries or indeed regions are competing with themselves for scarce resources . This essay intends to dissect the concept of new regionalism and whilst briefly looking at how it has evolved . With reference to the last point this paper will attempt to link the concept of new regionalism to the recent surge in Regional Trade Agreements (RTA).[1] The crux of this essay however lay in establishing the reasons for increases in RTA’s , that is to say both economic and political positives of jo...