Saturday, November 23African Digital Business Magazine

Tag: year

African News

VAALCO Energy Provides Update on Mutamba Iroru Block Onshore Gabon

HOUSTON, Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE: EGY) today announced that the N'Gongui 2 exploration well being drilled onshore Gabon in the Mutamba Iroru concession has encountered hydrocarbons in the objective Gamba sandstone section. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100316/NY71495LOGO ) Robert Gerry, Chairman and CEO, commented: "With our partner, Total Gabon, we have elected to drill this well as a "tight hole" and therefore specifics of the operation will not be released until a later date. Suffice to say that VAALCO is excited about the results as the reservoir encountered is the same oil bearing sandstone that produces so prolifically from our offshore fields in Gabon. We are presently conducting additional operations to ascertain the size o...
African News

Frost & Sullivan Award Recognises 1Stream’s Exceptional Entrepreneurship

Year-on-year growth exceeding 100% in 2011 caps company's stellar performance CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Nov. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the hosted contact centre market, Frost & Sullivan recognises 1Stream with the South African Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award. Since its inception in 2008, 1Stream has managed to grow its business phenomenally in response to the strengthening demand for hosted contact centre solutions. The company has witnessed exceptionally strong growth in the last year, with year-on-year growth exceeding 100%. 1Stream boasts a client list including multinational companies such as wonga.com and Bloomberg. Undoubtedly, the most important milestone achieved by 1Stream was the signing of a deal in October 2010 ...
African News

Lubricant Demand Growth Stalls in Mature Markets, Strong Growth on the Horizon for New Emerging Markets, Sees Kline

PARSIPPANY, N.J., Nov., 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite the challenges of a precarious economic environment, the 2011 global lubricant market grew a resilient 2%, with global lubricant demand estimated at 38.6 million tonnes. This growth was largely fuelled by the BRIC countries' resurgent industrial activity and expansion in the commercial and passenger vehicles sales, according to the recent Global Lubricants: Market Analysis and Assessment report by international consulting and research firm Kline & Company. The United States remains the largest lubricant market, but its near 22% global share continues to decrease. China and India are the next biggest markets with a combined total of over 26%, with Russia's consumption expected to surpass Japan's and consequently be the fourth...
African News

Air Products Supplying ASUs for Copper Smelter Project in Zambia

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Nov. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE: APD) today announced it has been awarded the contract to supply two oxygen plants at the site of a copper smelter being built in Zambia by Kansanshi Mining Plc.  The scope of the agreement includes Air Products supply of two 750 metric ton per day oxygen plants, and all air separation unit (ASU) related equipment and design. The construction of the facility will be undertaken by Kansanshi Mining Plc, with cooperation from Air Products.  The ASUs are planned to be onstream in 2014. Air Products has oxygen plants operating at other copper mines also located in Zambia and the local expertise and work at those facilities was of benefit in winning this contract.  "The basis for the design of this new plant for K...
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, Uganda News

Tánaiste welcomes commitment from Government of Uganda to repay funds misappropriated from Irish Aid

DUBLIN, Ireland, November 5, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore, T.D., today welcomed the Government of Uganda’s commitment to repay €4m in Irish Aid funds which was misappropriated by officials in the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Uganda.   The Tánaiste stated:   “I have received assurances from the highest level in the Government of Uganda that they will repay in full the €4 million in Irish Aid funding which was misappropriated by corrupt officials.   “I welcome this swift response to the very grave concerns which I conveyed to the Ugandan Government and the speed with which the Government has moved against officials who were implicated in this ...
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...
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

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...