african countries Archives - Page 2 of 3

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, South Africa News

African Banking innovation sees AfDB approving multi-currency line of credit of USD 300m

By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa The African Development Bank has extended the equivalent of USD 300 million to FirstRand Bank Limited to support projects across Africa This week an announcement from Tunis, Tunisia, revealed that the African Development Bank has approved a seven-year multi-currency line of credit for an amount equivalent to USD 300 million to FirstRand Bank Limited (FRB) of South Africa to finance a wide range of projects in local currencies and across Africa. And most African countries are characterized by low discretionary rates of domestic savings. As a result, the intermediation capacity of the financial sectors is limited, leading to the gap currently being filled with borrowings denominated in foreign currency. However, this introduces a currency mismatch in the fi...

12Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

Former President of the African Development Bank Babacar Ndiaye to lead Investment Day at this year’s AgriBusiness Forum.

African expert calls on everyone involved in agriculture to step up to the fore for the sake of the entire continent’s development and in the fight against poverty. 12th November 2012, Brussels, Belgium With the AgriBusiness Forum 2012 just around the corner, Babacar Ndiaye, former President of the African Development Bank and founder of the African Business Roundtable (ABR), outlines his demands towards the African and international community to act and establish basic and fundamental financial policies to create real change, after years of debates and establishing potential visions and objectives. “Africa’s agricultural potential cannot induce people into a self-righteous optimism, but should instead incite a responsible and pro-active approach from the sector’s various players because ...

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...

6Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Ethiopia News

The 5th African Private Sector Forum gets underway under the theme “The Role of Private Sector in Promoting Investment and Agro-Industry in Africa”

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, November 6, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – The 3 day 5th African Private Sector Forum was launched today in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire with strategic aims to promote investment and trade through partnerships and joint ventures between the African Union Commission’s (AUC) Member States, the Middle East and the world at large in key sectors such as infrastructure development, transportation, telecommunication amongst others. Held under the theme “The Role of Private Sector in Promoting Investment and Agro-Industry in Africa”, the annual Forum will bring the African and Arab business communities on one platform to explore business opportunities, focusing primarily on how the private sector actors from both regions can forge sustainable partnerships with a v...

6Nov

By The African Press OrganizationNo Comments

African News, Equatorial Guinea

American Businessman Talks About Investment In Equatorial Guinea

More than 25,000 Americans Work in Equatorial Guinea Today MALABO, Equatorial Guinea, Nov., 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Investing in Equatorial Guinea is a flexible and friendly process, according to American businessman John James. In a recent interview with Focus Washington, John James, founder and chairman of JD James & Company, an advisory firm serving governments, government sponsored enterprises and the global private sector in West and Central Africa, said that Equatorial Guinea offers more flexibility to establish a business than other African countries because the government has deeply focused on the country’s development. James has lived and worked in Africa for more than ten years. James said that Equatorial Guinea is one of the most dynamic stories in Afric...

3Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Rwanda News

Africa: Regional integration can boost FDI, experts at AEC say

KIGALI, Rwanda, November, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – Experts at the ongoing African Economic Conference in Kigali today agreed that Africa would need to strengthen regional integration in order to boost increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the continent, because it creates larger domestic markets and stimulates trade, two elements that can attract FDI. “At a time when China, India, Brazil and other large emerging markets are taking on such a prominence in the global economy, we must surely focus the minds of African policymakers, particularly from smaller, landlocked countries, on the importance of pushing forward the regional integration agenda”, said Andrew Mold, a senior Economic Affairs Officer of ECA. Mold said that attracting FDI in Africa c...

3Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Rwanda News

Africa: Shared benefits require bold economic reforms

The seventh African Economic Conference ended on November 2, 2012 in Kigali, Rwanda KIGALI, Rwanda, November 3, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – Participants at the closing session of the seventh African Economic Conference (http://www.africaneconomicconference.org), on November 2, 2012 in Kigali, Rwanda, urged African leaders to put in place bold economic reforms, aimed at sustaining growth and boosting human development. Logo African Economic Conference: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/aec-logo.jpg Photo Donald Kaberuka: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/donald-kaberuka—afdb-president.jpg The four-day conference highlighted the need for policy-makers to create diversified economies capable of generating e...

13Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea Gives US$30 Million To FAO For Food Aid In Africa

Equatorial Guinea Gives US$30 Million To FAO For Food Aid In Africa Equatorial Guinea joins the fight to end hunger in Africa MALABO, Equatorial Guinea , Oct. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Equatorial Guinea has offered US$30 million to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to assist African countries with food shortages and improve food security across the continent. The donation comes after a meeting between the President of Equatorial Guineaand Jose Graziano Da Silva , Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization at the 67th United Nations General Assembly in September. "We believe that with this contribution, the FAO will advance plans to end hunger in Africa ," said President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. The remarks wer...

10Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, South Africa News

Frost & Sullivan: Mobile Operators Reap the Benefits from Infrastructure Investment in Sub Saharan Africa

Decline in retail price to push growth of voice and internet services CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Oct., 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadband penetration in African countries is significantly low, with a majority of countries recording penetration levels of less than 5%. This has had a considerable impact on internet usage levels in the region. African countries, however, have experienced a steady uptake of mobile communications and are poised to witness an appreciable growth of mobile, broadband and internet services over the next 4-5 years. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.wireless.frost.com), Sub Saharan African Communications Quantitative Quarterly Tracker Q3 2012, covering key countries in the region, finds that the market had 181.7 million mobile and fixed telephon...