Tag: infrastructure

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...

Read More

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...

Read More

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...

Read More

19Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News, South Africa News

AFDB gives ATI support

By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa More and more support is pouring in; in an attempt to beef up the attraction of investment into Africa. Recently the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a USD15 million equity investment in the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) to increase its capital base. A statement reports that this contribution will allow ATI to increase its provision of trade, credit and political risk insurance products that encourage foreign direct investment and trade in Africa. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, ATI was founded in 2001, under an International Treaty by African Member States at the initiative of Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and with the technical and financial support of the World Bank. ATI has a mandate to incr...

Read More

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...

Read More

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 ...

Read More

17Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News, Botswana News, Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea Leads Africa In Per Capita Health Investment

Improvement of public health and health infrastructure is a national priority in Equatorial Guinea. MALABO, Equatorial Guinea, July, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Equatorial Guinea and Botswana lead Africa in per capita investments in health care, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, but the gap in spending between Africa and the rest of the world is still a concern. The statistics are from the WHO's 2012 Health Financing and Health MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) Scorecard and Africa's first Multi Year Health Financing Trends Analysis. The surveys show Equatorial Guinea's per capita annual spending at $612 and Botswana's at $442. The survey results were presented by Rotimi Sankore to the WHO's Joint Conference of Finance and Health Ministers, which met in Tunis Ju...

Read More

16Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News, Ethiopia News, Kenya News

World Bank Approves New Power Transmission Line between Ethiopia and Kenya to Boost Electricity and Economic Growth in East Africa

Washington, July 12, 2012 – The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the Eastern Electricity Highway Project, which will connect Ethiopia’s electrical grid with Kenya’s, create power- sharing between the two countries, reduce energy costs, promote sustainable and renewable power generation, better protect the region’s environment, and pave the way for more dynamic regional cooperation between the countries of East Africa. The new project marks the first phase of a regional East Africa power integration program which is likely to cost US$1.3 billion at completion, eventually benefiting 212 million people living in five countries with a combined GDP of US$107 billion. Together with the Governments of Ethiopia and Kenya, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and ...

Read More

10Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News

Frost & Sullivan: Heavy-Duty Truck Market on the Verge of Increasing Dedicated Global Production Platforms

Nearly one in three trucks manufactured by 2018 to feature platform based lineage MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- After less than 10 years, since Western original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) started entering Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) markets with serious intent, the very face and structure of the global heavy-duty truck market has changed. Markets considered an afterthought a few decades ago are now dictating the course of global commercial vehicle demand and the growth of the industry. Seismic changes shaping the global commercial vehicle industry have truly flattened the world, where OEMs from both triad (United States, European Union and Japan) and non-triad markets are aggressively competing for sustainable and robust growth. As they begin developin...

Read More

10Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News

Africa – Mobile Voice Market and Major Network Operators

Market penetration to reach 60% among Africa's one billion people in 2012 Mobile phones represent more than 90% of all telephone lines in Africa. Market penetration passed the 50% mark in 2010 and is expected to reach 60% in 2012. Subscriber growth across the continent has slowed to around 17% p.a, but several individual markets are still growing at 50% p.a. or more and others stand at only single-digit penetration rates. The continent's most advanced markets have passed the 100% penetration mark. Although the greatest demand is in the major cities, cellular solutions are also being employed to increase accessibility in rural and other disadvantaged areas. In addition to mobile networks, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) systems have been introduced in a large number of countries for the provision...

Read More