extended Archives - AfricaBusiness.com

13Dec

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

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...

8Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Central African Republic News

IMF Concludes ECF Review Mission to the Central African Republic

BANGUI, Central African Republic, November 8, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – A mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) led by Mr. Norbert Toé visited Bangui, Central African Republic (CAR), during October 24 to November 8, 2012 to conduct the first review of the three-year program supported under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The mission assessed progress achieved under the program as at June 30, 2012, updated program objectives for remainder of 2012 and discussed the government’s economic and financial policy objectives for 2013. The mission met with the President of the Republic, H.E. François Bozizé Yangouvonda; the President of the National Assembly, Right Honorable Célestin Leroy Gaombalet; the Prime Minister, H.E. Faustin-Archange Touadéra; the ...

6Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

Aviat Networks to Showcase LTE-Proven Microwave Networking Solutions at AfricaCom 2012

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Aviat Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVNW), a leading expert in microwave networking solutions, today announced that it will be exhibiting at AfricaCom 2012, November 13-15, in Cape Town, South Africa. The company will highlight its LTE-proven microwave solutions at this leading telecommunications conference in Africa. For Africa’s mobile operators planning their rollout of LTE wireless technology, this is an important opportunity to learn about the advantages of Aviat’s LTE-proven technology. Aviat’s understanding of large national LTE deployments provides relevant lessons for all African operators who are modernizing their networks to add capacity, reduce complexity and migrate to IP—all of which will be critical for the eventual introduction ...

3Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Science

A*STAR’s Data Storage Institute Launches Next Generation 5mm Hybrid Hard Disk Drive

Singapore, Singapore, November 03, 2012 --(PR.com)-- The “A-Drive,” one of the world’s thinnest 5mm hybrid hard drive in a 2.5’’ form factor, was officially launched by Mr. S. Iswaran, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade & Industry, to commemorate the Data Storage Institute’s (DSI) 20 years of R&D in the area of data storage capabilities. The “A-Drive” represents the next generation of storage innovation providing capacities of up to 1 TB Hard Disk Drive (HDD) with 32 GB Solid State Drive (SSD). This potentially allows the “A-Drive” to store over 250,000 songs in its 5mm body. The “A-Drive” also addresses limitations of the popular, yet expensive, flash-based SSD, as well as the conventional HDD for the consumer and ...

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...

25Jul

By The African Press OrganizationNo Comments

African News

IBM To Boost Technical Skills In Mauritius

New programs to help develop technical talent in the Indian Ocean Island Region PORT LOUIS, Mauritius, July 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced a collaboration agreement with the University of Mauritius to help meet the demand for Computer Science skills in the Indian Ocean island region. The joint academic initiative will provide technology and training resources while boosting support for computer science professionals at the University. In tandem, IBM also launched a Mauritian technical skills training pilot initiative for IT specialists, which will be rolled out to nine other African countries. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO) As part of the agreement with the University of Mauritius, IBM will provide access to the latest open...