Friday, November 22African Digital Business Magazine

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Energy, Green Energy, South Africa News

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...
African News

International business must reach out to the global masses

  By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa An initiative aimed at mobilizing the Global business community to achieve sustainable prosperity must be taken seriously. A document released from Washington, D.C reveals that transnational corporations are now so numerous and in some cases so well capitalized that their global influence now rivals and in many cases exceeds that of governments, according to research published by the Worldwatch Institute. And that around 80,000 transnational corporations (TNCs) operate worldwide, a mere 147 of which control 40 percent of the total value of all these corporations' value. Any vision of a sustainable future must include full recognition of the role that TNCs play in shaping the planet's human and ecological destiny, authors argue in Institute's Stat...
South Africa News

Gold Fields Limited: KDC East Mine Resumes Production

JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 6, 2012 /CNW/ - Gold Fields Limited (Gold Fields) (JSE, NYSE, NASDAQ Dubai: GFI) is pleased to announce that employees this morning returned to work at its KDC East Mine (formerly Kloof) to resume production after a 23-day strike. All three of Gold Fields' operating mines in South Africa are now back in production. The mine had dismissed 8,100 employees on October 23 for participation in the unlawful strike over the preceding nine days. However, after a deal with the National Union of Mineworkers, the vast majority of them were reinstated to their previous positions. All employees are also eligible for benefits under the Chamber of Mines Settlement Agreement concluded on 25 October 2012. About Gold Fields Gold Fields is one of the world's largest unhedg...
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 ...
African News, Malawi News

Malawi Economic Conference Affirms Recent Policy Reforms and Calls for Additional Measures to Achieve More Inclusive Growth

LILONGWE, Malawi, November 5, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – The Malawi Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of Malawi and the International Monetary Fund jointly organized a conference in Lilongwe during November 2-3, 2012 aimed at discussing strategies for enhancing the implementation of Malawi’s Economic Recovery Plan (ERP). The high level conference was held under the theme “Toward More Inclusive Growth.” The conference which was opened by Her Excellency President Joyce Banda attracted leaders from the Executive and Legislative branches of Government, and representatives of civil society, labor, business, academia and Malawi’s development partners. In her address, President Banda charged participants to review critically the ERP implementation strategy and come ...
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...
African News, Rwanda News

Africa: Shared benefits require bold economic reforms

  The seventh African Economic Conference ended on November 2, 2012 in Kigali, Rwanda KIGALI, Rwanda, November 3, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – Participants at the closing session of the seventh African Economic Conference (http://www.africaneconomicconference.org), on November 2, 2012 in Kigali, Rwanda, urged African leaders to put in place bold economic reforms, aimed at sustaining growth and boosting human development. Logo African Economic Conference: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/aec-logo.jpg Photo Donald Kaberuka: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/donald-kaberuka—afdb-president.jpg The four-day conference highlighted the need for policy-makers to create diversified economies capable of generating e...
African News

Nigeria’s LAGbook Partners with South Africa’s Umuntu Media to Bring Mimiboard on Board

  Africa's fastest growing social networking website, Ladies And Gentlemen book, today partnered with the South African-based Umuntu Media to introduce a third-party virtual noticeboard app to registered LAGbook users. Lagos, Nigeria, October 11, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Mimiboard is a virtual noticeboard that helps you discover up-to-the-minute information about the things you love, and interested in. You simply discover mimiboards you love, and add them to your existing walls. You can find mimiboards by exploring an easy-to-use map or simply browse through top categories in your location. Mimiboard is the leading product of the South African based Umuntu Media, and backed by Eva-Fund. The virtual noticeboard web application emerged the best at this year's Nairobi Open Innovation Summit A...
African News, Tanzania News

IBM Presents Plan To Speed Timely Agricultural Information To Tanzanian Farmers

  IBM's pro bono consultation also recommends strategy to improve air travel, tourism and education DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, Oct. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A team of IBM (NYSE: IBM) experts today presented recommendations to the Tanzanian government for improving the timeliness and availability of information needed by farmers to grow crops more successfully, feed more people and become more economically sustainable. IBM also suggested ways that information could be made more readily available for schools, leading to a more educated populace prepared for better paying jobs.  In addition, the company presented a plan to improve the convenience of air travel in Tanzania, grow tourism and encourage investment. The 12-person IBM team making today's recommendations, comprising indi...
African News, South Africa News

South Africa: John Thompson flying higher

  By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa Here is a company that knows how to make it big in the international business arena. The South African group, John Thompson is continuing its strong international performance with multiple export orders into the East African tea industry, brewing industry and the highly competitive Far East market, research reveals. According to JT, the tea industry, mostly concentrated in the East African region, has placed orders for a total of five wood-fired boiler units during the year to date. This industry also has vast tracks of land available for planting of blue gum trees making this the cheapest and most sustainable fuel. And the John Thompson Simpac boiler has been custom designed for wood log firing. It complies with latest design code yet is robustly built ...