JAPAN Archives - AfricaBusiness.com

2Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Africa Travel, Mauritius News, South Africa News

Strong recovery and acceleration for global hospitality brand, Club Med

While still affected by the Covid-19 crisis, trends in business volume for pioneers of all-inclusive holidays, Club Med, has evolved differently in various geographical areas. In the 1st half of 2022 (H1 22) Club Med saw its business volume increase by more than 300% compared to the 1st half of 2021 (H1 21) when ski resorts were closed in France, and international travel was largely restricted. In total, Club Med recorded a turnover of €811 million in H1 22, only 10% lower than in H1 19. In Europe and the Americas (North and South), the 5th wave of Covid-19 impacted activity until February. From March, Club Med experienced a very strong rebound taking advantage of the "Revenge Travel" phenomenon: Europe returned to the level of H1 19 (-1%), despite concerns stemming from the wa...

30May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, Tech, Uganda News

Palletising Robots: Changing How Breweries Stack and Pack

Robotic automation enables remote support possibilities that significantly reduce downtime and address geographical constraints, says Yaskawa Southern Africa Managing Director, Andrew Crackett. Conventional palletisers have been around for over 50 years. While they continue to be operational in many factories around the world, their modern counterparts – robotic palletisers – are solving issues that seemed impossible before. Whether it’s the need to conserve floorspace or to make workplaces safer and better regulated, robotic automation has numerous benefits that other technologies struggle to match in the long run. One of the most appealing factors is that it actually pushes factories towards a more innovative and forward-thinking future. At times, this doesn’t even require everyone to ...

11May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Tech

Robots in the Workforce: No, the Machines Aren’t Taking Over

Robots aren’t here to replace humans, but to create a human-machine collaborative model for a more efficient and productive way of operating, says Yaskawa Southern Africa’s Managing Director, Andrew Crackett. Ever since robots were introduced in the science fiction genre, there’s been a fear that machines will take over and that soon, the days of humans being at the top of the food chain will be gone. The fear mongering has persisted with notions of robots overthrowing the workforce and humans being enslaved to the almighty lords of automation and binary code. Even though it's true that many industries have embraced robotics, the reality is far removed from the plot of a Philip K. Dick novel. Much like every industrial revolution before it, the fourth revolution ensures changes in how we w...

15Sep

By Yaskawa Southern AfricaNo Comments

South Africa News, Tech

The Role Of Pick And Place Robots

In years gone by, manufacturing processes consisted of a line of workers being solely responsible for all the material-handling functions. Whether it was assembly, picking or packaging, it was largely a manual, laborious process. The detrimental effects to the workers’ health have been well documented in the history books, as many employees were subjected to conditions that sometimes resulted in serious illness, injury, and even death. As automation became widely accepted and implemented throughout various industries, robotics took it one step further with robots designed for specific applications, such as handling, packaging and palletising. Suddenly, these new pick and place robots allowed for more speed and consistency in throughput, while being customisable to meet production requir...

Friday@Noon on Foreign Investment in Africa: 2018

10Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Business, Egypt News, Energy, Main

Friday@Noon on Foreign Investment in Africa: 2018

by Johan Burger The NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies publishes a weekly newsletter on issues relevant to Africa. This paper is based on issues addressed in the newsletter. Africa has been the recipient of foreign investment form a variety of foreign countries. In addition to the normal investors such as China, Japan, India, etc., we are also seeing new entrants or countries that are making a comeback. The countries identified below are also not meant to be the only investors, but have been noted in the general media. China in Africa China has been quite active in Africa for the past number of years. In addition to participating in infrastructure development contracts, it has also been financing a lot of Africa’s debt. It is still Africa’s largest trade partner. A prominent development is...

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...