Nigeria: South Africa to Probe Threats Against MTN, Sacoil
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Feb 08, 2012 | Leave a Comment
By Babatunde Oso, The Moment
THE South African Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation has revealed that it will investigate threats against South African companies with investments in Nigeria by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
The movement has reportedly threatened to attack the holdings of companies, including MTN Group Limited, Africa’s biggest cell phone operator, and...
IFC partners with ABC Holdings to support SMEs
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Feb 06, 2012 | Leave a Comment
By Natasha Odendaal, Engineering News
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) on Monday launched an advisory services programme to complement a $13.5-million investment in three banks under Botswana-listed ABC Holdings.
The Africa Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (AMSME) programme, along with the investment, would help banks increase their lending, as well as develop tailored financial products for small and medium-sized...
East Africa: Common Market – Why EAC Dreams Are Not Coming True?
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Feb 06, 2012 | Leave a Comment
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By Yasiin Mugerwa, The Monitor
Common Market Protocol. For the sake of the integration dream and the credibility of the five Heads of State, East Africans need a realistic common market with no taxes on import-export trade and harmonised tax regimes with free movement of labour and capital.
We were all told lies as children, and some of these lies still affect us in some ways. If you took time to study...
Credit guarantees boost German exports to Africa
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Feb 04, 2012 | Leave a Comment
From DW-WORLD.DE
German companies want to emulate their Chinese competitors and become more active in Africa. But doing business in developing and emerging markets is risky. Export credit guarantees are a useful safety net.
The past decade has seen China intensify commercial activities in Africa to become the continent’s major trading partner. Not surprisingly, German companies want a piece of the action as African...
WAMI signs $2 million grant agreement on capacity building
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Feb 03, 2012 | Leave a Comment
From Ghanaweb
The West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) and the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), have signed a $2million grant agreement to strengthen the ability of the Institute and stakeholders to attain the monetary union goal by 2015.
The move is aimed at facilitating the preparatory activities for the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) among member countries.
The deal was clenched in Accra by Mr John...
Africa’s economic freedom lies in intra-trade and clean energy
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Feb 01, 2012 | Leave a Comment
By Abdul Milazi, Times Live
The adoption by the African Union of a plan to create a continental free trade area by 2017 brings fresh hope that Africa may be finally waking up from its centuries of slumber and taking an initiative towards its economic freedom.
The plan is an ambitious one, and if continental leaders can keep their egos aside long enough for it to succeed, it could be the catalyst for Africa’s economic...
Mining to drive African investment
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Feb 01, 2012 | Leave a Comment
From Business Report
Development in mining of metals and bulk commodities including copper, coal and iron ore will continue to drive investment in Africa as a result of strong demand from emerging markets including China and Brazil.
This according to Rajat Kohli, the global head of mining and metals at Standard Bank.
Kohli told members of the media during a lunch hosted by Standard Bank, that countries African countries...
Thorns in the African dream (1)
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Feb 01, 2012 | Leave a Comment
From China Dialogue
The importance of Africa to China is easily understood: it offers a huge market, rich supplies of natural resources and raw materials and cheap labour. Thirty percent of China’s oil imports come from Africa, and Chinese investment in the continent is growing at a rate of 40% a year.
Africa also offers China the chance to upgrade and relocate industry. The enormous demand for new infrastructure on...
Civil Unrest, Middle East/North Africa Pose Greatest Risks to International Business Travelers This Year, According to Industry Survey
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Feb 01, 2012 | Leave a Comment
PRNewswire via COMTEX
Corporate security professionals, travel managers and human resources specialists revealed that civil unrest is a top concern for their mobile workforce in 2012, via a survey conducted by International SOS and Control Risks on January 18, 13 months after uprisings in Tunisia sparked the Arab Spring. Nearly one-fourth of respondents (23 percent) said they were most worried about the impact of political...
Nigeria: Oando denies benefiting from oil subsidy, claims N4bn outstanding
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Jan 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment
BY Peter Egwuatu, Vanguard
The Group Chief Executive Officer of Oando Plc, a quoted company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Wale Tinubu, has denied alleged reports that his company was a beneficiary of fuel subsidy, just as he disclosed that the company has outstanding N4 billion of unpaid subsidy in 2011.
Tinubu noted that Oando Plc is the largest publicly quoted energy company in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa’s...
South Sudan: Government Welcomes Partnership With the Private Sector
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Jan 29, 2012 | Leave a Comment
By Matata Safi, Government of South Sudan Press Release
Juba — A two-day workshop organized by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, that was aimed at underscoring the importance of Private Public Partnership (PPP) in attaining sustainable development closed yesterday in Juba with the Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan Hon Dr Riek Machar Teny asserting the government’s...
Rural Broadband Summit at Broadband MEA Tackles Digital Divide in Middle East and Africa
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Jan 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment
LONDON, Jan 26, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Broadband MEA, the premier event driving sustainable growth of broadband in the Middle East and Africa, is attracting top industry representatives in the region to its first ever Rural Broadband Summit to be held on 25 March 2012. As MEA governments and industry players alike work towards bridging the digital divide to improve rural broadband, the summit will explore the opportunities...
SA’s strong FDI recovery not enough to lift Africa
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Jan 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment
By Terence Creamer, Engineering News
A 269% recovery in South Africa’s foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in 2011, which climbed to $4.5-billion from a revised 2010 figure of $1.2-billion, was not sufficient to reverse the decline in overall inflows to Africa as a whole, which fell for the third consecutive year.
The recovery in Africa’s largest economy was also not enough to offset a significant decline in FDI...
Tough for SA to keep credit rating
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Jan 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment
From Business Report
South Africa should be paying more attention to what major credit rating agencies have had to say recently. While they may still attract criticism for not calling the 2008 financial crisis in time, or for losing some level-headedness in certain of their corporate credit assessments, the agencies still generate the most objective economic analyses I know of.
And independent, objective assessments of...
Poor Market Infrastructure Hampering Africa’s Appeal to Investors
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Jan 25, 2012 | Leave a Comment
From Aicio
Technical failings rather than corruption create challenges for investors in Africa, a survey of investors present in the region has found.
(January 24, 2012) — Poor capital market infrastructure and limited liquidity in African companies are larger concerns for institutional investors already investing in the continent than fears about bribery and corruption, a survey by Middle Eastern investment asset...
West African states to work together against terror
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Jan 24, 2012 | Leave a Comment
NOUAKCHOTT — Representatives from Sahel states and Nigeria vowed Tuesday to help each other fight terrorism from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Islamist sect Boko Haram, which are said to have ties.
Ministers from Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Algeria are in Nouakchott for the second day of a security meeting to which Nigeria has been invited to examine links between the two organisations.
“We invited Nigeria...
Nigeria approves US$3 million to audit mining, oil and gas sector
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Jan 20, 2012 | Leave a Comment
From Esi-Africa.com
Further to the resolve of the Federal Government to promote transparency and accountability in the management of Nigeria’s oil, gas and mining revenues, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the sum of US$2.3 million for the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, (NEITI) to audit the revenue of that sector.
Minister of information, Labaran Maku made the disclosure at...
World Bank assists West Africa with over $1bn in bonds
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Jan 19, 2012 | Leave a Comment
From Citifmonline. com
The International Finance Corp. (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group is to issue over $1 billion bonds in cedis and CFA francs over the next 10 years to strengthen domestic capital markets in West Africa.
This follows approval from Ghana and the eight member countries of the West African Monetary Union to establish local currency bond programs to strengthen domestic capital markets and support...
De Beers announces new Chief Financial Officer
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Jan 19, 2012 | Leave a Comment
From Diamond News
The Board of De Beers s.a. announces the appointment of Gareth Mostyn as the company’s Chief Financial Officer. He will report directly to Philippe Mellier, De Beers Group CEO, and be appointed to the Board of De Beers s.a.
A qualified Chartered Accountant, Mr. Mostyn will join De Beers from Anglo American plc, where he has served as Head of Corporate Finance reporting to Finance Director, René...
Google Launches Project for S. African Businesses
Posted by Accountancy Africa on Jan 19, 2012 | Leave a Comment
By Donna Bryson, Associated Press
Getting more small companies wired will help their businesses grow, and help their country fight unemployment, officials said Thursday as Google launched a project that makes it easy to showcase South African entrepreneurship on the Internet.
With a few clicks Thursday, the first entrepreneurs used Google Inc.’s Woza Online to create their own websites. Woza Online, which Google...
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