A round-up of recent news from the UK, Africa and around the world

Graduates in the UK are faced with fewer job opportunities and lower salaries than their counterparts elsewhere in the English-speaking world, according to a report by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR). The UK recorded the highest number of applicants for each graduate vacancy: 48, compared with 43 in Australia and 40 in South Africa. The average UK graduate starting salary stands at £25,000, more than £3,000 less than in Australia and Canada and £4,000 less than in America. Graduate salaries in Hong Kong were by far the highest in the survey, with university leavers starting in a range of £30-£40,000. The AGR said that the statistics in its survey showed that the UK was an employers' market when it came to graduate recruitment.

The launch of the AFFORD-REMADE Business Club and information evening will take place on Tuesday 9th March 2010 from 6pm to 9pm. Africa is becoming the land of discovery again but this time it is being discovered by people from the African Diaspora. People are increasingly looking at the countries of their heritage as fertile ground for them to settle down roots, start new ventures and contribute meaningfully to its economic growth and sustainable development. In investment terms Africa is an exciting opportunity with a degree of risk but the promise of high returns. Ghana is a country experiencing a high growth and expansion rate; it is a place ripe for new business and actively encouraging new business from those beyond its shores. To assist those in the Diaspora who have recognised this opportunity AFFORD and IntEnt (International Enterprise) have formed a partnership to bring you The REMADE programme. The REMADE programme is an EU co-funded project that will last until December 2011 and is aimed at those who are ready to start a business or a branch of their business in Ghana. The Business Club is an opportunity to learn more about assistance in setting up your business in Ghana, network with like minded people and take the first steps in realising your entrepreneurial ambitions. Register attendance with This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 0207 582 3578. There is no cost and light refreshments will be available.

British Civil Servants come from more diverse backgrounds than ever before according to new research. The new figures also show that in the very top jobs, contrary to many common perceptions, the vast majority of people went to state school a higher number than in many other professions. Alongside the publication of this research, the Cabinet Secretary has announced that, as recommended by the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions in Unleashing Aspiration, a survey will be conducted on the socio-economic background of all entrants to both the Senior Civil Service and the Civil Service Fast Stream. Speaking about the results of this first survey into the socio-economic background of the top 200 Civil Servants, the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell said that the Senior Civil Service is now more diverse and representative of British society than it has ever been and is committed to attracting the best talent from the widest possible pool of candidates.  In addition to this publication, recent figures about the whole Civil Service show there have also been great improvements in ensuring diversity in recruitment. The proportion of women in the Senior Civil Service has more than doubled since 1996.  More than 27% of the top management posts in the Civil Service are now held by women, compared to 12% of Directorships in FTSE 100 companies. The percentage of ethnic minority civil servants has increased by almost half between 1997 and 2008.

Diageo, the world's leading premium drinks business, has launched its annual Africa Business Reporting Awards.  Initiated by Diageo in 2004, the awards encourage more prolific business journalism within Africa in a drive to increase the continent's share of voice in the international media. The number of categories has been extended with sector-specific categories to reflect the important role that various industries play in economic development. African media is increasingly influencing perceptions of the continent globally and shaping investor sentiment. This is why the best journalistic talent and influential media outlets from Africa, as well as international sources, are being encouraged to enter the Awards and be seen by the assessment panels. The Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards 2010 recognises journalists from around the world who have excelled in reporting accurate and unbiased information about the region and have helped shape opinions and create an enabling environment for business in Africa to succeed. The awards ceremony will be held on 1 July, 2010 in Central London.  The closing date for entry is 26 March, 2010. Entries can be submitted online at: www.diageoafricabusinessreportingawards.com. There is no entry fee.

Interested in working for the world's best company? The Pearson Diversity Summer Internship Programme offers bright and talented final year students and graduates from ethnic minority backgrounds the opportunity to work in Pearson's world leading businesses: Penguin Books, The Financial Times, Edexcel, Pearson Vue, The Economist, or Pearson Education, the world's largest educational publisher. We offer Business internships which last for six weeks in the following areas: Sales, Marketing, Finance, Editorial, Research, Journalism, Human Resources, Project Management, Public Relations/Publicity, Internal and External Communications. We also offer Journalism internships at the Financial Times which last for twelve weeks. We offer a training allowance of £1, 100 a month; a generous holiday allowance and a full training and development programme. As for what you will be doing on the internship programme, we make sure you have real and challenging business projects or assignments to work on; so you can be sure that whatever you do during the time you spend becoming a part of the Pearson family, you will obtain valuable skills for a career in media and publishing. Visit: http://summerinternships.pearson.com Deadline: 31 March 2010.

Now in it's third year, the award is focused on helping those with great ideas and vision in African Caribbean voluntary, faith and community groups, whose primary objective is to support and encourage women. You have to be in it to win it, so make sure that you have your application in as soon as possible for this year's £10,000 Creme of Nature Community Action Award. Find out more at www.communityactionaward.com or phone the Community Action Award Team on 01264 355 846

Ms. Thelma Ekiyor has been appointed as the first Executive Director of the TY Danjuma Foundation, an independent private perpetual foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life of Nigerians. The Foundation's initial focus is to support initiatives that increase access to health care and educational opportunities in Taraba State. Prior to joining the Danjuma Foundation, Ms. Ekiyor led the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), based in Accra, Ghana, established by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa. Ms. Ekiyor also served as Director of Programmes at the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) and Senior Manager of Conflict Intervention and Peace-building support at the Centre for Conflict Resolution at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. The T.Y. Danjuma Foundation is based in Abuja, Nigeria.

A scheme to help Yorkshire and the Humber-based businesses improve the skills of their staff has secured an additional £20 million funding. The Enhancement Fund was launched back in November 2008 with investment from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), Yorkshire Forward and European Social Fund (ESF). It has already supported more than 6,000 regional firms to carry out skills development training for their employees, and the new funding means that the programme will now be extended until 2012 at the very least. The scheme aims to improve the region's skills base by offering grants to employers that are not eligible for funding from other existing sources. Further information about the programme can be found at the dedicated Enhancement Fund website

Small grants of up to £10,000 are available to TSOs supporting children and young people. The new scheme marks the first time Children in Need has run a UK-wide small grants programme and it will be aimed predominantly at organisations which have not previously considered applying. The programme is open to any third sector organisation working with children and young people under the age of 18. There will be four funding rounds with deadlines on: 15 January, 15 April. 15 July and 15 October. It is expected the total funding for both the small and large grants schemes will be in excess of £38 million during 2010 and will be administered through seven regional bases. The director of grants and policy at Children in Need, Sheila Jane Malley, explained the programme would seek to fund well-organised projects which can demonstrate commitment and enthusiasm. For more information please click here

Lewisham Council is to utilise multi-million pound funding to develop a youth centre for local teenagers. The funding was secured after a presentation by local young people to the Mayor of Lewisham, Sir Steve Bullock, outlining how a youth centre could help their lives. The fund is part of the government's England-wide 'myplace' initiative which seeks to improve the lives of young people by offering them increased opportunities through youth centres. There will also be provision for free advice services covering education, employment and training, finance, sexual health and housing. For more information visit the website of the Department of Children, Schools and Families (opens in new window).

The HR consulting industry has shrunk by 20 per cent in the past year as demand suffers in the recession, researchers have claimed. The report by specialists sourceforconsulting.com, which included a survey of the largest buyers of consultancy services, concluded that there is still significant demand for HR consulting but it was increasingly focused on elements that offer a measurable financial return. The majority of organisations in the study (84 per cent) had reduced their expenditure on consultants in the past year and half had reduced it by more than 20 per cent. Consulting on organisational design and change management are in particular decline but performance management is a growth area, found the research, entitled 'What is the future for HR consulting? 'Fiona Czerniawska, joint managing director of sourceforconsulting.com and author of the report, said the trend is leading to consolidation in the consulting sector.

A recession relief scheme introduced by the Government has provided more than half a billion pounds worth of loans to UK businesses. Research carried out for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills revealed that 5,840 firms had drawn down more than £580 million in loans from the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme. The programme was introduced in January 2009 and offers companies with an annual turnover in excess of £25 million the opportunity to borrow up to £1 million over a ten-year period to boost their cash flow, create or safeguard jobs, and invest in new equipment. The scheme will now run until April 2011.

The success or failure to manage change is the biggest factor separating great and poor-performing organisations, a study has found. According to research from Roffey Park, the executive education and research institute, there is a direct link between the way organisations manage change and their financial and strategic success. In its annual Management Agenda, a survey of more than 900 managers, the institute found that more successful organisations allow client need, efficiency and quality to drive change, as opposed to simply cost, and they are also better able to deliver change fast and effectively. A gulf between success and poor performance is highlighted by the correlation in certain behaviours. For example, more underperforming organisations said they were focused on core business (56 per cent) than was the case in well-performing organisations (45 per cent). Just 30 per cent of underperforming organisations said they worked in partnerships, compared with 49 per cent of well-performing organisations. And just over a fifth (23 per cent) of underperforming organisations are investing in leadership development, compared with nearly half (49 per cent) of outperforming organisations. Only a quarter of underperforming organisations are investing in sustainability, compared with nearly double this (49 per cent) in outperforming organisations.

The recession hit this year's college freshmen hard, affecting how they chose a school as well as their ability to pay for it, according to an annual nationwide survey. Over all, students were more likely than previous freshmen to have a parent who was unemployed and less likely to have found a job that might help pay for college. About two-thirds of incoming students said they had "some" or "major" concern about their ability to pay for their education. The percentage of those with "some" concern 55.4 was at its highest level since 1971. The number of students taking out loans was at its highest in nine years, at 53.3 percent. The survey, which has been conducted for 44 years, asked about 220,000 incoming students at 297 campuses questions on everything from beer drinking habits and religious and political preferences to anticipated major and life goals. The answers were weighted to represent the 1.4 million full-time first-year students who entered 1,555 colleges and universities nationwide in the fall of 2009. (Each percentage point in the survey reflects the experience of roughly 14,000 students.) Students reported fewer resources to draw on. The number whose fathers were unemployed 4.5 percent was the highest in the history of the survey. The number of students whose mothers were unemployed was higher 7.9 percent and at its highest since 1979. Fewer students reported working as high school seniors 62.8 percent reported having a job, down from 66.4 percent in 2008 and 69.3 percent in 2007. Students were more likely than ever before to weigh financial factors in choosing a college: 41.6 percent of students reported that the cost of their school was a "very important" reason for choosing it, the highest number since the survey asked the question. And 44.7 percent said that an offer of financial aid from the school had been a very important reason for attending, up from 39.4 percent in 2007. About 9 percent of students said they chose their college because their first choice did not offer them financial aid the highest since that question was asked in 1984. Ideas on where the good jobs are may be changing: the number of students saying they expected a career in business had dropped to 12.1 percent, the lowest since 1976.

Campbell Soup Company is the recipient of a 2010 Catalyst Award for its success in advancing women to leadership roles, a critical part of the company's overall workplace and marketplace transformation. The annual Catalyst Award honours exceptional initiatives from companies and firms that demonstrate the strong business case supporting women's advancement to leadership and positions of influence by employing best practices around diversity, inclusion and employee engagement. Campbell is one of four companies receiving the award this year. Catalyst recognized Campbell for its "Winning in the Marketplace, Winning in the Workplace, Winning with Women" initiative, a comprehensive program that utilized employee engagement, knowledge sharing, diversity and inclusion, and innovation to support the company's overall plan to transform its workplace and marketplace performance. Catalyst cited Campbell's strategic focus on promoting and developing women and people of colour, improving the company's sales and transforming some of the lowest employee engagement scores of any Fortune 500 company to world-class levels. Catalyst Award-winning initiatives are evaluated in a rigorous year-long process against a robust set of criteria: business rationale, senior leadership support, accountability, communication, replicability, originality and measurable results.

One six-month fellowship is available for a female social scientist from a developing nation, either pre- or post-doctoral, whose work addresses women's economic and social empowerment in that nation. The goal of the program is twofold: to advance the scholarly careers of women social scientists from the developing world, and to support research that identifies causes of gender inequity in the developing world and that proposes practical solutions for promoting women's economic and social empowerment. In addition to a $4,500/month stipend and housing and office space on the SAR campus, the Campbell Fellow receives travel, shipping, and library resource funds; health insurance; and the support of a mentoring committee of established scholar-practitioners. Applications to the Resident Scholar Program are due on November 1st of each year. This fellowship is made possible through the generous support of the Vera R. Campbell Foundation.

Employers can take advantage of a new short-term scheme offering them a £2,500 grant to take on an unemployed young person. Until the end of March, companies can claim the funding from the National Apprenticeship Service's AGE 16 and 17 programme to recruit a 16 or 17 year-old apprentice. Young people have been hit hard during the economic downturn, with 16 and 17 year-olds not in full-time education seeing the largest absolute fall in their employment rate since the start of the recession. However, around 70,000 young people started an apprenticeship during the past year, and the AGE 16 and 17 programme now aims to provide similar opportunities for another 5,000 individuals. Funding will be targeted at companies who are not currently in a financial position to recruit an apprentice. The incentive will be available until the end of March. For further information about the AGE 16 and 17 scheme, visit the National Apprenticeship Service website.

One of the largest law firms in the City is to allow its top partners to work part time as it strives to attract more women into senior roles. Allen & Overy already supports flexible working for junior lawyers and support staff, but until now equity partners, the most senior lawyers, have been required to work full time. But from May the firm will give them options such as working four days a week or taking additional leave of up to 52 days a year, the Times has reported. The measure is intended to help correct the gender imbalance which exists at the top of many law firms. This year, 62 per cent of the graduates hired by Allen & Overy were female, but women make up only 15 per cent of its partners. David Morley, Allen & Overy's senior partner, said that the reason for the lack of female partners was not sexism but because many young women found the prospect of becoming a partner unappealing. Law firms have not been active enough at offering alternatives to keep them, and they would have to do so if they wanted to remain competitive, he added.

There has been a "marked increase" in demand for accountancy and finance professionals over the past month, it has been reported. The most recent Professional Talent Spotlight from recruitment firm Badenoch & Clark reveals that banking and financial services are one of the main sources of the recruitment drive, as well as the retail and fast-moving consumer goods sectors.

South Africa is one of nine African countries that has managed to slash malaria-induced illness and death by half, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). This was revealed in the WHO's World Malaria Report 2009, released in December. The document profiled the status of malaria in 108 countries around the world. The nine African nations are Botswana, Cape Verde, Eritrea, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zambia. The semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar in the United Republic of Tanzania also achieved a 50% reduction. This can be attributed to the use of insecticidal nets and proper treatment of patients, said the WHO. Aggressive malaria control strategies have been implemented across the continent, according to WHO director-general Dr Margaret Chan. This is due to a drastic increase in funding for malaria control and prevention, which gives health workers the opportunity to cover greater areas with preventive measures. Between 2003 and 2009, global funding rose from $US300-million (R2.2-billion) to $1.7-billion (R12.6-billion) although this falls short of the estimated $5-billion (R37-billion) needed annually to successfully combat the disease. The report said that four of the 31 African nations considered to be high-burden, as well as five of the seven low-burden countries, have achieved more than a 50% reduction in malaria cases compared to 2000. The report also showed that incidence of the disease has been halved in 29 of 56 countries surveyed outside the African region. One of the aims of the UN's Millennium Development Goals is to reduce the under-five mortality rate by 66% between 1990 and 2015. According to the WHO, the survey shows that some countries are on track to meet this significant goal, as well as other malaria targets set.

The Elsevier Foundation has announced the 2009 grant recipients, committing a total of $600,000 to twelve institutions from around the world to support the work of libraries and scholars in science, technology and medicine. The grant recipients were selected from 250 applicants worldwide for their innovation and potential for impact in the developing world, academic workplace and nursing community. Six new grants have been awarded under the Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries program. The award recipients include institutions across Africa and Asia, and demonstrate how information resources can be used to address a variety of development issues - emergency management, the environment, boosting authorship and research skills and the distribution of clinical care information. Within the New Scholars program, the Elsevier Foundation has awarded four new grants to a range of international institutions pioneering new approaches to childcare, mentoring, networking, and policy advocacy in order to support scholars during the early stages of their demanding careers in science and technology. An additional Elsevier Foundation grant has been awarded to the International Council on Nurses (ICN) and the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) to hold "The International Summit on Nurse Faculty Migration," a three day 2010 policy summit on the economic and health ramifications nurse faculty migration has had on both developing and developed countries. The summit will host thirty internationally recognized global nurse leaders who will commit to using the outcomes from the summit to advance the issue at the global level, consult with local entities on implementation, and coordinate and disseminate the results of local initiatives. The Elsevier Foundation provides grants to institutions around the world, with a focus on support for the world's libraries and for scholars in the early stages of their careers.

Sub-Saharan focused private equity fund Agri-Vie will reach its $100 million target for investment in agricultural projects by March, and could triple this amount in a second fund, according to a top official. Agri-Vie funds food and agricultural projects in Africa seeking to make equity investments across the agribusiness spectrum, including processing and product distribution. Africa's agriculture sector, largely subsistence-based and underdeveloped, is set to boom as European, Asian and Middle Eastern countries invest in the world's poorest continent to boost food security in their own backyards. The first fund was launched in May 2008. Agri-Vie's backers include South Africa's Development Bank of Southern Africa and private entities such as the W.K. Kellog Foundation. Strauss said the firm plans to invest up to $25 million on five new projects during 2010, including a new $4 million eco-tourism project in Tanzania. He did not elaborate. Earlier this month, Agri-Vie invested slightly more than $10 million in two ventures in the east African agribusiness sector, which it considered an "investment hotspot" because of positive economic growth forecast in the region. Strauss said Agri-Vie invested $6.7 million in New Forests Company (NFC), a forestry and timber products group with operations in Uganda as well as Tanzania, Rwanda and Mozambique and with a British holding company. East Africa has so far been a net importer of sawn timber and electrical poles and NFC aims to replace these imports with locally-produced goods. The second investment was $3.5 million in africaJUICE, a company establishing fruit production and processing operations in East Africa, and which wants to capture a piece of the lucrative European and Middle East juice market.

Addis Ababa is selling vast fertile swaths to international companies in an effort to introduce large-scale commercial agriculture. Ethiopia's great land lease project is moved swiftly ahead. In an effort to introduce large-scale commercial farming to the country, the government is offering up vast chunks of fertile farmland to local and foreign investors at almost giveaway rates. By 2013, 3m hectares of idle land is expected to have been allotted equivalent to more than one fifth of the current land under cultivation in the country. The move is part of a wider trend that has seen other African and Asian countries seek to take advantage of high global demand and the cost of crops by offering agricultural land to foreign companies, private equity funds and governments, particularly those of import-dependent Gulf countries. If done properly, the investments have the potential to increase local food availability and create badly needed jobs. In a food-insecure country such as Ethiopia, where several million people rely on food aid, the idea of offering fertile land to outsiders has raised concerns. But government officials point out that Ethiopia has vast reserves of underused land 60m hectares of the country's 74m hectares suitable for agriculture is not cultivated and insist no local farmers will be adversely affected. Esayas Kebede, investment support co-ordinator at the agriculture ministry, said that foreign companies were essential for the move from subsistence to commercial farming, a key part of the country's development strategy.

The full results of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance are now freely available at (http://www.moibrahimfoundation.org/en/section/the-ibrahim-index). The Ibrahim Index of African Governance is a comprehensive ranking of African countries according to governance quality. Funded and led by an African institution, the Ibrahim Index aims to be Africa's leading assessment of governance that informs and empowers citizens to hold their governments and public institutions to account. Thus the index aims to stimulate debate in a constructive way and establish a framework for good governance in Africa. It is also an important research tool for think tanks, academics and investors looking for extensive data on African countries. The Ibrahim Index measures the delivery of public goods and services to citizens by government and non-state actors.  The Ibrahim Index uses indicators across four main pillars: Safety and Rule of Law; Participation and Human Rights; Sustainable Economic Opportunity; and Human Development as proxies for the quality of the processes and outcomes of governance.

Philanthropyni.org is a new online resource providing support and advice for businesses interested in social giving. The portal has been developed by the Community Foundation NI in association with communications company Smarts and is designed to offer information and resources to companies interested in philanthropic activities. To view the website click here.

The Tanzania government has signed a five-year livestock and fishing agreement with China that would see Chinese firms invest in aquaculture and livestock projects. The agreement was signed in Dar es Salaam by Livestock and Fisheries Development minister Dr John Magufuli and the China's deputy minister for Agriculture Niu Dun. According to the Tanzania government, the agreement seeks to help Tanzania raise contributions to the GDP from livestock and fisheries sectors from the current 4.7 per cent and that of fisheries from 1.6 per cent to 10, respectively. China, which leads globally in aquaculture, will expose Tanzanians to new technology from their Chinese counterparts. Highlighting terms of the agreement, the deputy minister for Livestock and Fisheries Development, Dr James Wanyancha, said the agreement would be implemented by a special committee to draw members from the two countries and the agreement would be renewed after every five years.

Because of the world economic and financial crisis, the African Development Bank (AfDB) last year more than doubled its financial commitments to Africa to US$11 as against US$5.0 billion, says the chairman of the financial institution, Donald Kaberuka. Speaking to ambassadors from AfDB member countries and representatives of international institutions accredited to Tunis, he said the institution last year was the top donor agency in Africa, ahead of the World Bank. Mr Kaberuka said because of the strong demand, and pressure put on AfDB resources, particularly in a period of crisis, the ambition of the bank is to increase its capital and to build the African Development Fund again. According to the AfDB forecasts 22 countries are expected to record a growth rate of more than 4%, while a dozen others will stagnate with rates of 3%.

Thailand, the World's largest exporter of rice, is to support the Irrigation Company of Upper Region (ICOUR), to expand local rice production under the Tono and Vea Irrigation Schemes in the Region. Consequently, a four-man investment delegation from Thailand, led by Vichai Sriprasert (President of Riceland International), has visited the Region to have first hand information about the operations of the Tono and Vea Irrigation schemes. Managing Director of ICOUR, Alhaji Issah Bukari that it was government's intention to make the country become self-sufficient in rice production within two to three years and would partner organizations that could help the authorities to achieve this objective. Mr. Sriprasert said a team of experts in rice production from Thailand would soon arrive in Ghana to support the farmers to undertake large scale production of the crop. He further assured the rice farmers that not only would rice increase in production but rice farming technology would be transferred to them to facilitate their farming activities. He asked the rice farmers to collaborate with the team of experts to enable Ghana to achieve its dream of becoming self-sufficient in rice production. He said that increase in rice production in the region create employment for the youth and reduce poverty in the area.

A US$20 million loan to the Republic of Zambia from IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) will directly benefit 30,000 small-scale farming households, many headed by women. A US$20 million loan to the Republic of Zambia from IFAD will directly benefit 30,000 small-scale farming households, many headed by women. The programme will focus on reducing rural poverty by stimulating rural economic development through the transformation of small-scale producers into profitable farmers. It will allow farmers to: access technology to increase their yields and improve quality of their produce; enhance their capacities for activities such as sorting, grading, drying and storing; make better commercial decisions based on appropriate market information and get higher and more stable prices with farming contracts. Agribusiness and marketing practices and policies will be improved by direct interventions to connect small-scale farmers with input suppliers and markets. The programme will also promote an environment that enables agribusiness development. The farmers require help to improve their market operations; they face a particular need to diversify and add value to their produce. The programme's overall goal is to increase the income levels of poor rural households involved in the production and trading of specific agricultural commodities. IFAD has funded 11 projects in Zambia for a total investment of more than US$ 207.0 million.

In what is being considered a significant milestone for communications in the country, the number of South Africans to have access to the Internet has hit the five million mark. Research conducted by local analyst house World Wide Worx, in conjunction with Cisco, shows that local Internet penetration has increased to 10%.

Legal firm Eversheds South Africa is to pilot an innovative joint venture with Eversheds UK to provide a range of outsourced legal services more cost-effectively to the firm's UK clients. This initial project acted as a catalyst in developing discussions to provide services for other clients, from February 2010 onwards, in a joint venture between the firm's UK and Johannesburg offices. The new services will include high-volume work such as mortgage repossessions and insurance recoveries on a case-ownership basis, while personal injury claims and employment tribunal work may be taken on at a later stage. During the pilot, two associates from Eversheds' Johannesburg office will be sent to Eversheds' Cardiff office to acquire an understanding of their clients' requirements. Once they move back to South Africa, after about six months, they will continue to liaise directly with the UK clients, while still reporting to their team leader in Cardiff, UK.

Local regional airline SA Express is expanding into the Democratic Republic of the Congo with the launch of a new regional airline, Congo Express, which will provide a much-needed air service between Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Mbuji Mayi from February onwards. Congo Express corporate offices are based in Lubumbashi and Kinshasa, and the airline will operate seven days a week between Lubumbashi and Kinshasa, and four times a week between Lubumbashi and Mbuji Mayi. This new airline is a joint venture and collaboration between established Congolese business, BizAfrika Congo and SA Express, one of the fastest growing regional carriers on the continent. SA Express and its partner, BizAfrika Congo, have been engaged in collaborative discussions regarding Congo Express over the last four years, with SA Express holding 49% of Congo Express' shares in the joint venture.

More small African companies will be able to venture into e-commerce, thus expanding their business, thanks to the new toolkit developed by UCT. Professor Jean-Paul van Belle of Cape Town University's Faculty of Commerce has won an international IBM Faculty award for developing an innovative toolkit to enable small businesses to break into e-commerce. The project is designed for small, often cash-strapped African organisations that want to add an e-commerce component to their operations. The system is cost-effective and simple to use, and will encourage more small businesses to take the leap into the world of online transacting. Belgium-born Van Belle, head of the Information Systems department within the commerce faculty, receives a prize of US$21 500 (more than R162 000). Thanks to initial funding from NGO ConnectAfrica, Van Belle has already been able to develop a prototype of his information and communication technology (ICT) toolkit. The IBM award will help the professor to further develop and distribute the handy package. This resource helps small enterprises set up their e-commerce venture through step-by-step guidance and exposure to IBM programmes aimed at small and medium enterprises and NGOs.The toolkit will be available online, and on CD and DVD as well, all at no charge. Van Belle hopes to encourage small African businesses to make greater use of ICT applications. The IBM Faculty Awards programme is a worldwide initiative that aims to link researchers from universities in all countries with those working on IBM research projects. It also encourages the development of courseware and curricula that may drive technology development.

Small-scale fruit farmers in Uganda and Kenya will soon be able to start making good money from their produce, thanks to a multimillion-dollar deal that will see them supply Coca-Cola. The beverage giant has joined NGO TechnoServe and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to form a partnership that will help more than 50 000 small farmers in Uganda and Kenya increase their output and generate a sizeable income. The three organisations have invested a combined amount of R87.5-million (US$11.5-million) to sustain the initiative over the next four years. The new partnership was launched in Uganda's capital, Kampala, on 20 January. Coca-Cola will use mango and passion fruit from the two East African countries to make new fruit juice products for local markets. Coca-Cola plans to replicate the project in other parts of the world to grow its fruit juice range. One such product in the range, Minute Maid, has already become a global hit. The company, together with one of its bottling partners, invested about R30.4-million ($4-million) in the scheme. The beverage company said there's an increasing demand for fruit juice both in East Africa and across the world, and therefore a critical need to increase production. As part of the deal the small farmers will be supplied with tools to help them increase their productivity. TechnoServe, one of the leading NGOs that help communities grow their own enterprises, will work closely with the governments of Kenya and Uganda as a hands-on partner in the implementation phase. It will also teach the farmers how to increase yields and improve quality, and help them gain access to the donor funds.The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which donated R57-million ($7.5-million), said the initiative is very important in the global drive to reduce poverty among poor communities.

The World Bank has forecast a 7.1% 2010 Gross Domestic Product growth rate for Zimbabwe in line with the Finance Minister's own projections of 7% made in his Budget Statement presented in December 2009. In their Global Economic Prospects Sub-Saharan Report for 2010, the World Bank puts Zimbabwe in second place after the Republic of Congo, whose GDP is expected to grow by 11%, but first in the SADC region. Zimbabwe's growth figure for 2010 nearly doubles the average for the entire sub-Sahara Africa of 3.8% forecast in the same report which also expects Zimbabwe to go on and register a 6.3% growth in 2011. Looking back to 2009, the World Bank report notes that Sub-Saharan Africa as a major commodity exporting region, lower commodity prices, declining export volumes, as well as lower tourism revenues, and declining remittances undermined income and private consumption. The weak external demand for commodities, excess capacity, scarce credit, and tight liquidity all led to delays and scaling back of investment spending. Zimbabwe's economy is expected to have a strong growth in the mining sector of around 40% through the improved production in platinum and gold. Agriculture was expected to grow by 10% but an inconsistent rainfall pattern could see that drop to as low as 2%. Zimbabwe is however currently reeling from a US$6 billion debt and is expected to register a -23.6% current account balance deficit in 2010. Debate is currently raging in the country should apply for the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) programme as way to deal with its debt problems to pave way for an accelerated double digit growth.

The Zimbabwean economy is set to continue on its recovery path of 2009 across all sectors, Kingdom Stockbrokers have said in their 2010 first quarter economic outlook report predicting an improved 7% growth in the Gross Domestic Product from the 4.7% achieved in 2009. With industrial capacity expected to reach 60% by end of 2010, Kingdom have predicted that the manufacturing sector will grow by 10% saying, "the manufacturing sector stands to benefit from a continued existence of the existing current stability in the macroeconomic environment". Tourism is expected to grow by 10% in 2010 having registered a 6.5% growth in 2009. In a recessionary period where global tourist arrivals declined by 6% in 2009, Zimbabwe's arrivals increased on the back of positive political development through the formation of the Inclusive Government. This positive development led to the traditional sources of tourist arrivals such as USA, Sweden and Germany among others lifting travels warnings on Zimbabwe. An expected upsurge in the production of gold and platinum is projected to result in the mining sector achieving a 40% growth having managed a 9% growth in 2009 but Kingdom saw a moderate growth in the rest of the minerals during the same period. The rainfall pattern in the country is pointing to a poor agricultural season potential undoing the positive gains of 2009 when the sector grew by 10%. With agriculture accounting for over 60% of all manufacturing inputs, Kingdom now predict that due to the poor rainfall, the sector may actually register a growth of only 2% as opposed to a repeat 10% growth as predicted in the National Budget. A lot of Zimbabwe's economic prospects in 2010 however hinge on the sustainability of the current political arrangement.

Zain, Africa's leading mobile telecommunications company, has announced the expansion of its mobile banking service, 'Zap', into Sierra Leone, Niger and Malawi. The service was initially launched in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in February 2009, and currently boasts more than 10 million users. Zap is Africa's most comprehensive mobile banking service, enabling customers to send and receive money or airtime, pay for goods or services, withdraw cash and manage bank accounts. Users are not required to have a bank account or fixed address, and the service can be accessed on the most basic mobile phone handsets. Zap is a part of Zain's 'One Platform' service, which enables customers to travel to other countries where Zain operates and pay local rates for calls and services, without roaming surcharges. "The expansion of this revolutionary mobile commerce service to Malawi, Niger and Sierra Leone is an extremely important step in pushing the boundaries of mobile communications ... We already saw the impact Zap has made in the economies of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and we are confident that we will see a similar impact in Malawi, Niger and Sierra Leone, where formal banking services are largely restricted to urban hubs," said Dr Saad Al Barrak, chief executive of Zain Group. Zain is currently the world's largest mobile phone service provider in terms of geographic coverage, with more than 41.9 million customers in 16 countries.

The African Union (AU) summit has nominated South Africa for another non-permanent term on the UN Security Council for 2011 to 2012. South African diplomats hailed this endorsement of South Africa's bid to represent Africa on the council as a triumph for Pretoria's hard lobbying at the summit in Addis Ababa. South African officials suggested the AU's nomination of the country for a second term indicated satisfaction with South Africa's performance during its first stint on the Security Council in 2007 and 2008.

African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), a project of the CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program, is now accepting applications for its 2010 fellowships. African women working in agricultural research and development from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia who have completed a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree in selected disciplines are invited to apply. Applicants must be nationals of the above listed countries and be available in Africa throughout the fellowship period. The deadline for all applications is 22 March 2010.