number Archives - Page 3 of 7 - AfricaBusiness.com

6Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Serving up a POWER-GEN-sized slice of colossal Kusile

As part of the inaugural POWER-GEN Africa, taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre from 6-8 November, an intrepid group of delegates had a unique opportunity to visit Kusile, which once operational will be the fourth largest coal-fired power installation in the world. By its scheduled 2018 completion date the station, located in Mpumalanga province, will have a total capacity of 4800 MW. The first of its six 800 MW units is due to commence operations in 2014. Under development by South African state-owned utility Eskom, Kusile is the country’s most technologically advanced coal plant and will be the first to feature flue gas desulphurisation (FGD), a key environmental objective for Eskom. A base-load facility, Kusile forms part of Eskom’s plan to increase...

6Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Nigeria News, South Africa News

Having cracked the feature phone challenge, 2go heads for smartphones

Mobile social network 2go is extending its successful feature phone app to smartphones, while growing its team of software developers and support staff. 2go currently has over 10 million active users who send more than 6 billion messages a month, mostly on lower-end feature phones in Nigeria and South Africa. “Feature phones have been an incredibly successful platform for us and will continue to be so for the next few years at least,” says Alan Wolff, who founded 2go with fellow student Ashley Peter while still at university. “Research firms such as Informa indicate that by 2015 there will still be 5.6 feature phones in the African market for every one smartphone. But now is the right time to start extending to iOS, Blackberry and Android platforms as well.” The secret to 2go...

6Nov

By The African Press OrganizationNo Comments

African News, Equatorial Guinea

American Businessman Talks About Investment In Equatorial Guinea

More than 25,000 Americans Work in Equatorial Guinea Today MALABO, Equatorial Guinea, Nov., 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Investing in Equatorial Guinea is a flexible and friendly process, according to American businessman John James. In a recent interview with Focus Washington, John James, founder and chairman of JD James & Company, an advisory firm serving governments, government sponsored enterprises and the global private sector in West and Central Africa, said that Equatorial Guinea offers more flexibility to establish a business than other African countries because the government has deeply focused on the country’s development. James has lived and worked in Africa for more than ten years. James said that Equatorial Guinea is one of the most dynamic stories in Afric...

5Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Kenya News

Deforestation Costing Kenyan Economy Millions of Dollars Each Year and Increasing Water Shortage Risk, UNEP and Kenya Forest Service Report Finds / Services from Kenya’s Water Towers Underpin Many Sectors of Economy

NAIROBI, Kenya, November 5, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – Deforestation deprived Kenya’s economy of 5.8 billion shillings ($US 68 million) in 2010 and 6.6 billion shillings in 2009, far outstripping the roughly 1.3 billion shillings injected from forestry and logging each year, according to a joint Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report. The ongoing work of the KFS, together with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and international partners, says that the contribution of forests is undervalued by 2.5 per cent, putting the estimate of its annual contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at around 3.6 per cent. Hon. Dr. Noah Wekesa, Kenya’s Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, said the report – entitled ‘The ...

5Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

ICANN to expand in Africa

By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa An initiative aimed at increasing ICANN’s presence and participation across Africa was recently unveiled. It was also announced that the plan has received enthusiastic support of the CEO and Board Chair. News coming from Toronto, Canada say that leaders of Africa’s Internet community have also unveiled a comprehensive plan designed to dramatically increase African involvement in ICANN’s multi-stakeholder model. The initiative was presented to ICANN during the organization’s 45th public meeting in Toronto, Canada by the Africa Strategy Working Group (ASWG). It was formed after ICANN’s new President and Chief Executive Officer, Fadi Chehadé encouraged a stronger voice from the African continent in ICANN’s multi-stakeholder model. “When we met th...

5Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

IQ4News Partner with VHC to Launch South Africa Job Portal

According to a report by Statistics South Africa, unemployment rate in South Africa is at 24.9%, down from 25.2% in the first quarter. A staggering 79% of those unemployed are under the age of 35, with some 26,000 graduates unemployed. The largest decreases in unemployment were seen in Limpopo with 1.7%, Mpumalanga with 1.4% and KwaZulu-Natal at 0.7%. “Approximately 4.5 million persons were looking for work in the 2nd quarter of 2012, of which 3,0 million (or 67.8%) have been looking for work for a period of 1 year or longer,” read the report. “Furthermore, 58.6% of the job seekers did not have matric. Despite overall levels of unemployment declining year-on-year, the number of unemployed persons increased by 24,000 among those with tertiary education”. Some econ...

5Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Zimbabwe News

Zimbabwe develops e-health strategies

by Wallace Mawire ln a bid to move with global developments Zimbabwe has developed ehealth strategies to enhance service delivery and increase competitiveness in the health sector. Globally all sectors are embracing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Health care is no exception.ICTs can transform how health care is delivered and how health systems are run. The use of ICTs in health care service delivery is termed ehealth. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines ehealth as the combined use of electronic communication and information technology in the health sector. "E-health is the means of ensuring that the right health information is provided to the right person at the right place and time in a secure,electronic form for the purpose of optimizing the qual...

3Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

IST Research Deploys Crowdsourcing Technology to Colombia & Zambia

Engaging Populations Utilizing Indigenous Communications Technology Fredericksburg, VA, November, 2012 --(PR.com)-- IST Research has developed novel approaches to collecting highly structured data from indigenous populations in the most austere locations around the globe. The IST Research Data Collection Environment includes new technology development and social engineering efforts necessary to effectively engage populations in information sharing campaigns. IST Research has recently deployed its Data Collection Environment (DCE) to both Colombia & Zambia with the intent of engaging and collecting data from the local residents in these countries using the technology with which they are most familiar. The system was designed to seamlessly launch collection tools...

31Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia News, Kenya News, Rwanda News

Kagame opens African Economic Conference, calls for models that respond to local needs

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, October 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – Rwandese leader, President Paul Kagame today in Kigali opened the 7th African Economic Conference, calling it an opportunity for leading African economists to look beyond purely economic factors for solutions to Africa’s developmental problems. Convened by the Economic Commission for Africa, (ECA), the African Development Bank, (AFDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the three-day conference is focusing on the theme Inclusive and Sustainable Development in an Age of Economic Uncertainty, according to ECA’s Information and Communication Service. He said that analysts might point to issues of governance and lack of sufficient transformational leaders but “the real problem is that our...

31Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

Bunna International Bank Partners With Finacle From Infosys for Banking Transformation

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia and BANGALORE, India, November 1, 2012/PRNewswire-FirstCall via African Press Organization (APO)/ — New Core Banking Solution to Improve Customer Service and Operational Efficiency Bunna International Bank, a leading player in the Ethiopian market, today announced the selection of Finacle[TM] core banking solution [http://www.infosys.com/finacle ] from Infosys for its transformation journey. Finacle will enable the bank to integrate its front and back office operations and deploy a state-of-the-art loan origination system. This will include automating the credit check and loan approval processes for risk-free and efficient loan disbursals. This transformation will help Bunna improve the overall banking experience for its customers. Finacle will also comp...