Saturday, November 23African Digital Business Magazine

Tag: Sub-Saharan Africa

African News, Rwanda News, South Africa News

International Gateway Traffic Verification System Now Fully Operational in Rwanda

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, November 8, 2012/PRNewswire via African Press Organization (APO)/ — A Joint Realization of Global Voice Group and SGS Societe Generale de Surveillance for the Rwanda Utility Regulatory Agency Global Voice Group (GVG) and SGS Societe Generale de Surveillance are proud to announce that the International Gateway Traffic Verification System (IGTVS), commissioned by the Rwanda Utility Regulatory Agency (RURA) earlier this year, is now fully operational. This successful rolling-out represents the outcome of a procurement process that began in November 2011 with an international tender issued by the RURA for a system “that would enhance their technical capacity to effectively exercise their regulatory mandate”. The bid was won by a consortium made of GVG and...
African News

World Bank: Unleashing the Power of Africa’s Private Sector Key to Continent’s Growth

  TOKYO, October, 2012 – The private sector is a key but underused resource for Africa’s development, as much of the continent’s savings go yet untapped for investment. Speaking at the Africa Investor CEO Summit in Tokyo, Makhtar Diop, World Bank Vice President for Africa, stressed that public private partnerships (PPPs) can be an important instrument to mobilize these resources and address the estimated US$30 billion per year infrastructure financing gap in Africa, particularly in energy and transport. Diop highlighted that despite the global economic crisis, growth prospects in Sub-Saharan Africa remain very positive at an expected 4.8% in 2012, while private capital flows will slow somewhat. According to him, the region’s resilience in face of the international crisis is a testam...
African News

Despite Global Slowdown, African Economies Growing Strongly― New Oil, Gas, and Mineral Wealth an Opportunity for Inclusive Development

WASHINGTON, October, 2012 – Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow at 4.8 percent in 2012, broadly unchanged from the 4.9 percent growth rate in 2011 and largely on track despite setbacks in the global economy, according to the World Bank’s new Africa’s Pulse, a twice-yearly analysis of the issues shaping Africa’s economic prospects. Excluding South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is forecast to rise to 6 percent. African exports rebounded notably in the first quarter of 2012, growing at an annual pace of 32 percent, up from the -11 percent pace recorded in the last quarter of 2011. African countries have not been immune to the recent bout of market volatility stemming from the Euro Area crisis, as well as the growth slowdown that is occurring in some ...
Science

New Study Finds Greatly Elevated HIV Infection Rates Among Young Black Gay and Bisexual Men in the U.S.

  RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., July 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Study results released today by the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) show disturbing  rates of new HIV infections occurring among black gay and bisexual men in the U.S. (also known as men who have sex with men, or MSM), particularly young black MSM. The HPTN 061 study showed that the overall rate of new HIV infection among black MSM in this study was 2.8% per year, a rate that is nearly 50% higher than in white MSM in the U.S. Even more alarming, HPTN 061 found that young black MSM—those 30 years of age and younger—acquired HIV infection at a rate of 5.9% per year, three times the rate among U.S. white MSM. The overall infection rate among black MSM in this U.S study is comparable to the rate seen in the gen...
African News, Malawi News

Fight on Malaria rages in MALAWI

  By Rabecca Chimjeka Fight on Malaria rages in Malawi (Microsoft Word)   Malaria remains a threat and a major cause of deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa and Malawi in particular, confirms  the country’s 2010 Demographic and Health Survey. Malawi government, through the Ministry of Health is implementing a five year called  Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) targeting communities in the country’s five lakeshore districts of Karonga,Nkhatabay, Nkhotakota,Salima,Mangochi and the two Lower Shire districts of Chikhwawa and Nsanje. According o the Doreen Ali of the Malaria Control Program in the Ministry of Health, the  IRS drive  that rolled out in 2007 is on track. She confirms that  77,647 structures have been sprayed out of 82,629  targeted translating into about 88 percent su...
Africa Travel, African News, Tanzania News

Four Seasons Sets Up Camp in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park; Lodge is First of Three Launching Brand’s Sub-Saharan Expansion

Existing property to be renamed Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, Tanzania; additional new properties planned in Ngorongoro Conservation Area and on the island of Zanzibar TORONTO, July 10, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has signed a long term management agreement with the owners of Bilila Lodge, a resort in the Serengeti National Park, and is now operating the property, which will be upgraded and renamed Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, Tanzania in fall 2012. "We have long wanted to expand into Sub-Saharan Africa and offer new outdoor adventure experiences to our guests," says Kathleen Taylor, president and CEO, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.  "Now, we're thrilled to have an outstanding location and partners who share our vision to create a wo...
African News

Evaluating enterprise policy interventions in Africa: a critical review of Ghanaian small business support services

Obeng, Bernard and Blundel, Richard (2012). Evaluating enterprise policy interventions in Africa: a critical review of Ghanaian small business support services. Journal of Small Business Management (in press). Abstract Enterprise policies play a central role in economic development across Africa, but more effective, evidence-based policy evaluation is required to inform future interventions. The paper aims to: (i) contribute to filling this gap; (ii) develop more rigorous and appropriate evaluation methodologies. It examines the issues through an empirical study into non-use of small business support services in Ghana. Survey evidence from 253 owner-managers was complemented by interviews with owner-managers and service providers. It concludes that policy evaluation in Sub-Saharan Africa...