million Archives - Page 6 of 8 - AfricaBusiness.com

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 The African Press OrganizationNo Comments

Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

World Cocoa Foundation and First Lady of Cote d’Ivoire Partner to Improve Cocoa Communities

Agreement Provides for Social and Economic Support [19-July-2012] WASHINGTON, July 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) and the office of Dominique Ouattara, first lady of Cote d’Ivoire, announced today an agreement to develop and implement educational and vocational training programs to benefit cocoa farmers and their families in Cote d’Ivoire. The three-year agreement is valued at $3.6 million and will benefit more than 12,000 Ivorians through successful WCF educational programs that are active in the country and in other West African countries. The agreement was signed in a ceremony today in Washington by First Lady Dominique Ouattara and Bill Guyton, president of the World Cocoa Foundation. The collaboration expands access to quality universal basic e...

22Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News, South Africa News

Deskbags can help children gain their educational independence

by Madelain Roscher DeskBags - ShopSA (Microsoft Word) According to a recent report by UNESCO, there are as many as 95 million school children who do not have access to a school desk in Africa. In Southern Africa, the statistics are equally alarming, with over 4 million scholars requiring desks. This is a statistic that doesn’t sit well with Madelain Roscher, Managing Director of PR Worx.“Education is one of the most important elements in a child’s life and while many children are eager to learn, their lack of facilities can considerably hamper their educational development and they subsequently struggle to become positive contributing members of society.” Ideally, this issue could be solved by building more classrooms with relevant furniture, but...

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 Sanday Chongo KabangeNo Comments

African News, Ethiopia News, Ghana News, Kenya News, Nigeria News, South Africa News

Ethiopian Airlines buys additional plane for US$276 million

By Sanday Chongo Kabange (ABN) HONG KONG - Ethiopian Airlines has ordered an additional 777-200LR aircraft valued at US$276 million from Boeing, bringing the number of similar planes to six. The Addis Abba-headquartered carrier is to add an additional aircraft to its fleet, less than two months after two plane crashes in Ghana and Nigeria notched up the question of aviation safety in Africa. The 777 is Boeing's second-biggest plane, with 321 seats as flown by Ethiopian Airlines, which already has five of them. "The 777-200LR has been a fantastic airplane for Ethiopian Airlines," Tewolde Gebremariam, Ethiopian Airlines chief executive said in a news release. “This additional airplane will let us take full advantage of the performance and economics of this great airplane." The 777-200...

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...

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

Messy, Inaccurate, Confusing: Study Finds Corporate Travel Managers Waste Over 400,000 Hours Reconciling Travel Data

GBTA Foundation Study Finds Travel Managers Lack Single Solution to Efficiently Manage Multiple Data Streams Costing Companies Millions Effective Use of Travel Data Can Help Companies Control Travel Spend ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Travel data can play a key role in helping travel managers control travel spend, increase compliance, negotiate with suppliers and manage safety and security risks – but data management systems need to be improved. Research released by the GBTA Foundation, the education and research arm of the Global Business Travel Association, found that despite the demonstrated value of travel data, travel managers struggle to manage and process multiple travel data sources to realize their business goals. The survey, The State of Expense Data ...

17Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News

Online ID OD: Illegal Web Trade in Personal Information Soars

LONDON, July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Experian CreditExpert's identity web monitoring service reveals more than 12 million pieces of personal information traded online globally between January and April 2012 More than 12 million pieces of personal information were illegally traded online by identity fraudsters in the first four months of 2012, new figures from Experian CreditExpert reveal. Bespoke research* from Experian CreditExpert's web monitoring service - which helps people to quickly detect ID theft - shows that the first four months of 2012 have already outstripped the entire of 2010 when 9.5million pieces of personal information were illegally traded. Approximately 90% of the illegally traded data during January - April this year consisted of password and login combina...