Thursday, November 21African Digital Business Magazine

Tag: demand

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...
Energy, Green Energy

Canadian Solar Supplies Modules for Turkey’s Largest Commercial PV Project: 540 kW Solar Power Plant at Izmir Airport Installed by Gehrlicher Merk Solar

First PV project under the new Turkish 500 kW law   ONTARIO, Canada, Nov., 2012 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company" or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar companies, provided its CS6P-P solar modules for the first project under the new Turkish solar energy legislation, YEK (Law on the utilization of renewable energy resources for the purpose of generating electricity), for solar power plants under 500 kW. The solar park has a capacity of 540 kW (450 kW on-grid and 90 kW off-grid), which marks a new milestone of solar power production in Turkey, making it the largest solar power plant in the country. This is the second project that Canadian Solar has realized in collaboration with the EPC contractor Gehrlicher ...
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 ...
African News, Uganda News

IMF Concludes Staff Mission to Uganda

  KAMPALA, Uganda, November 6, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team visited Kampala from October 24 to November 6, 2012 to carry out discussions with the Ugandan authorities for the fifth review of their IMF-supported economic and financial program. The mission met with Hon. Maria Kiwanuka, Minister of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, and Professor Emanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, Governor of the Bank of Uganda, as well as other senior government officials, development partners, and representatives of the private sector and civil society. At the end of the mission, Ms. Ana Lucía Coronel, IMF senior resident representative and mission chief for Uganda, issued the following statement: “Uganda’s economic growth rate declined fro...
African News

Lubricant Demand Growth Stalls in Mature Markets, Strong Growth on the Horizon for New Emerging Markets, Sees Kline

PARSIPPANY, N.J., Nov., 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite the challenges of a precarious economic environment, the 2011 global lubricant market grew a resilient 2%, with global lubricant demand estimated at 38.6 million tonnes. This growth was largely fuelled by the BRIC countries' resurgent industrial activity and expansion in the commercial and passenger vehicles sales, according to the recent Global Lubricants: Market Analysis and Assessment report by international consulting and research firm Kline & Company. The United States remains the largest lubricant market, but its near 22% global share continues to decrease. China and India are the next biggest markets with a combined total of over 26%, with Russia's consumption expected to surpass Japan's and consequently be the fourth...
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 ...
Energy, Green Energy

Qatar breaks ground on solar stadium

The tender for the first solar-powered World Cup 2022 stadium has been issued and the winners will be announced in November or December, the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee has said. Construction should follow soon thereafter and if all goes according to plan, Al Wakrah stadium will be complete as soon as 2015. “The stadium will be developed in conjunction with Qatar Foundation at Education City,” and an additional five of the 12 planned stadia are in either planning or tender stages. Qatar is taking their world cup planning very seriously, as they hope to create a cultural, economic and social legacy, although this will depend a great deal on how well they treat their foreign workers during the process. “Our aim is to ensure that the event contributes to achieving the targets set...
Energy, Green Energy

Solar Engineering & Manufacturing Association holds outstanding meeting on Supply and Demand Forecasts for Solar

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov., 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Solar Engineering & Manufacturing Association (SEMA) held an informative solar forecast meeting hosted by Stion Corporation, a leading manufacturer of high efficiency thin film solar panels on October 30. The keynote was given by Paula Mints of SPV Market Research on the state of the North American Photovoltaic Industry. While the manufacturing infrastructure has been faced with significant challenges and price erosion, installation of photovoltaic generation capacity in North America continues to grow with CAGR of over 60% from 2006 – 2011. 2011 saw an increase of 781Mw of installed photovoltaic power generation. Matt Holzmann, president of SEMA stated "With the many challenges facing us, this information was invaluable ...
African News

Bunna International Bank Partners With Finacle From Infosys for Banking Transformation

  ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia and BANGALORE, India, November 1, 2012/PRNewswire-FirstCall via African Press Organization (APO)/ — New Core Banking Solution to Improve Customer Service and Operational Efficiency Bunna International Bank, a leading player in the Ethiopian market, today announced the selection of Finacle[TM] core banking solution [http://www.infosys.com/finacle ] from Infosys for its transformation journey. Finacle will enable the bank to integrate its front and back office operations and deploy a state-of-the-art loan origination system. This will include automating the credit check and loan approval processes for risk-free and efficient loan disbursals. This transformation will help Bunna improve the overall banking experience for its customers. Finacle will also comp...
African News, Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea Airline Inaugurates Service To Europe

  Ceiba Intercontinental Adds Malabo – Madrid Route MALABO, Equatorial Guinea, Oct., 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Equatorial Guinea's national airline, Ceiba Intercontinental, made its historic first intercontinental flight on October 4 from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, to Madrid. Ceiba will service the route with a newly acquired Boeing 777 aircraft. The Ministry of Civil Aviation of Equatorial Guinea purchased the aircraft as the first step in the government's efforts to meet the growing demand for air service to the country and support its growing economy. "Flying to Madrid from Malabo, on board an aircraft of this type and owned by Equatorial Guinea, is a dream come true," said Fausto Abeso Fuma, Delegate Minister of Aviation. Upon his arrival in Spain on the inaugural fligh...