growth Archives - Page 7 of 9 - AfricaBusiness.com

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...

23Jul

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Nigeria News

Kola Aluko Hails $4.5 Billion Deal for New Refineries

LONDON, July 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nigerian government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with US firm Vulcan Petroleum Resources and Nigeria's Petroleum Refining and Strategic Reserve to build six new oil refineries in a deal worth $4.5 billion. Two of the plants, each of which will have a capacity of 30,000 barrels per day, are set to be operational within a year. Nigeria - Africa's top oil producer - has been held back by its lack of refining capacity, which has made it a net importer of processed crude and subject to global price fluctuations. Until recently, a generous fuel subsidy protected consumers from high import prices. Though not yet lifted entirely, six months ago President Goodluck Jonathan announced that this support was no longer affordable. Fund...

22Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News, Algeria News, Egypt News, Ethiopia News, Mauritius News, Nigeria News, South Africa News, Zambia News

Africa to gear up for more meaningful engagement with China

The partnership with China should aim to boost Africa's overall capacity, competitiveness and trade in a way that supports African development. African nations must use the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to complement the continent's regional institutions and policy agenda. This is according to a report by Standard Bank Group economists Jeremy Stevens and Simon Freemantle ahead of the fifth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, China, that starts on 19 July 2012. Jeremy Stevens, Standard Bank Group's Beijing-based economist, says that the summit comes at a time when China is distracted by domestic economic challenges and political matters. Meanwhile Africa is now even more reliant on China, in particular Chinese demand for African commodity exports, but even ...

22Jul

By The African Press OrganizationNo Comments

African News

IN CHINA, AFRICA, UNITED NATIONS WILL CONNECT THOSE WHO FACE CHALLENGES WITH THOSE WHO HAVE SOLUTIONS, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS AT BEIJING FORUM

NEW YORK, July 20, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, in Beijing, 19 July: It is a great honour for me to participate on behalf of the United Nations at this important Forum on China-Africa cooperation. I thank the Government of China and the people for their kind invitation and warm hospitality. I commend the leadership of President Hu Jintao in organizing this forum at this very important time in Beijing. I also thank the Government of Egypt for their contribution and leadership and for co-chairing this Forum during the last several years. As the largest developing country, and as the region with the largest number of developing countrie...

22Jul

By The African Press OrganizationNo Comments

Energy, Gabon News, Green Energy

AfDB supports Gabon renewable energy sector with €57m loan

LIBREVILLE, Gabon, July 20, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group (http://www.afdb.org), through its private sector window, approved on 18 July 2012 in Tunis, a senior loan of €57.5 million to the Coder Hydropower Project for the design, construction and operation of two run-of-river hydro projects in Ngounie Province and North Gabon. The project consists of two run-of-river hydroelectric power plants, a 70 MW plant in the Ngounie Province and a 52MW plant in north Gabon. Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/african-development-bank.jpg Despite a high electricity access rate of up to 83 percent, the Gabon electricity sector still faces frequent electricity shortages and blackou...

20Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News, South Africa News

Explore business process outsourcing in the South African context and climate at CEM Africa Summit

Explore business process outsourcing in the South African context (Microsoft Word) The anticipated Customer Experience Management Africa Summit will be held in Cape Town from 2 to 3 August 2012. The event will bring together Africa’s industry leaders, and provide a unique platform to build relationships, share ideas and most importantly, to do business. The summit is produced by international business-to-business conferencing company, Kinetic Events. The South African government, together with combination of resources with other South African business advisory and support groups, is committed to actively promoting South Africa as a business process outsourcing destination of choice within the customer service industry. Industry executives and professionals are seeking advic...

19Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News

5bn Euros Spent on Fairtrade Products in 2011

5 Billion Euros Spent on Fairtrade Products in 2011: World’s Most Recognized Ethical Label on Solid Ground in Established Markets, Taking Off in New Ones Bonn, Germany, 17 July 2012. Women, men and children around the globe spent almost 5 billion euros (€4.9bn, US$6.6bn) on Fairtrade certified products last year, according to figures released today by Fairtrade International. “Fairtrade is the norm for millions of people. It is a part of the regular weekly shopping. And now sales of Fairtrade certified products are taking off in new countries, as entirely new groups of people discover Fairtrade for the first time,” said Tuulia Syvaenen, Executive Operations Officer at Fairtrade International. In Fairtrade’s biggest market, the UK, shoppers spent 12% more on Fairtrade certif...

17Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News

Instant Asset Tracking for Enhanced Security Heightens RFID Usage in Data Centers, Observes Frost & Sullivan

Corporate accountability regulations compel data centers to invest in RFID to maintain and manage their IT assets MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The growing requirement for faster and more accurate tracking and tracing of IT assets in data centers is prompting data center operators and hosting service providers to increasingly adopt radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. This technology can rapidly locate, identify, and track assets without needing a clear line of sight, thereby reducing manual labor and errors. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.autoid.frost.com), Analysis of RFID in the Data Center Market, finds that the market earned revenues of $96.3 million in 2011 and estimates this to reach $952.6 million in 2017, with the widespread...

17Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News

Global Investment Management Industry Continues To Face A Regulatory Avalanche Of Disparate Rules: KPMG Report

Progress is Slow, But Moving toward More Consistent Rules across Every Region NEW YORK, July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In its fourth annual analysis of global financial regulations, KPMG, the audit, tax and advisory firm, says investment managers continue to face daunting challenges brought on by a changing global regulatory environment, which is fraught with unanswered questions and an array of differing rules in each region. Observers, however, are beginning to see some consistency regarding the implementation of new regulations across the globe, with the U.S. and Europe setting the bar and Asia catching up. "We are beginning to see progress toward more consistency with regard to global regulations but there still remains disparity in the regulatory requirements across the regions," said ...

17Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News

Mobile Retail Commerce Rises While Social Shopping Drops in Second Quarter, Reports IBM

ARMONK, N.Y., July 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile shopping rose while social media sales fell, providing an indication of where US retailers may invest in order to capture the attention and loyalty of the digital consumer, according to a new report from IBM (NYSE: IBM). The IBM Retail Online Index, a cloud-based analysis of the online retail sector reported that retailers experienced 15 percent growth in sales from mobile devices but saw a 20 percent decline in sales traced to social media based on a much smaller base over this three-month period. This report follows today's news from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Census Bureau which announced its estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales. According to the findings, retail sales fell 0.5 percent in June from May, the third ...