Connecting Africa’s Skilled Professionals
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Some 58 percent of hiring managers said they have caught a lie on a résumé, according to a Harris Poll conducted for CareerBuilder. Of the hiring managers who said they found lies, 73 percent were in the financial services industry, followed by leisure and hospitality, health care and retail. The most common lies have to do with an embellished skill set (57 percent), embellished responsibilities (55 percent), dates of employment (42 percent), job title (34 percent), academic degree (33 percent), companies worked for (26 percent) and accolades or awards (18 percent.). The most unusual lies unearthed in the survey included an applicant who claimed to have won an Olympic medal and a "construction supervisor" whose experience was limited to assembly of a doghouse. Older people still in the workforce - the baby boomers and Generation Xers – were less likely to promote themselves. The survey of 2,188 full-time hiring managers and human resource professionals was conducted in May and June for the CareerBuilder website.
Six out of 10 mothers say their careers were “derailed” after becoming pregnant, and admitted they faced open discrimination in the workplace, research from law firm Slater and Gordon has revealed. More than 60 per cent of survey respondents said they felt their boss had a negative perception of working mothers, which meant they were mistreated when they returned to work, and overlooked for career opportunities. The research into the experiences of 2,003 mums in employment found that the majority of women felt they had to reprove themselves after returning from maternity leave. Women often found themselves being offered less senior roles (18 per cent), overlooked for promotion or opportunities (27 per cent) and even demoted (8 per cent) on returning to the workplace. The career path faced by new mothers has been branded “the mummy track” by equality campaigners, as many face being sidelined in the office. According to the research, while the average mum took just under nine months off to have a baby, just under a third of women returned to work after three months. Thirty-nine per cent stated a fear of losing their job as the greatest reason to cut their maternity leave short and six in ten felt under pressure from their boss to return to work as soon as possible.
Employers are wasting money on untargeted graduate recruitment campaigns as research has revealed that a fifth of graduates apply for jobs that do not interest them just to secure their first job. The report from advisory firm CEB explained that new degree holders are using their first job after university to fill their CV while they search for the career they really want. Further findings in the report ‘Driving New Success Strategies in Graduate Recruitment’ showed that two-thirds of university leavers said they regretted accepting job offers as soon as they start in the role. And one in four expected to leave their first employer after less than 12 months. In addition to this, employers told CEB that despite investing millions of pounds a year in the UK graduate recruitment market they cannot find the talent they need. With new graduates struggling to find the job and the employer that really motivates them to achieve, the report’s authors compared the situation to “a game of roulette” for both groups.The report also highlighted an issue with graduate recruitment strategies that appeal to the masses to fulfil application quotas. It suggested that this approach is based on the idea of attracting lots of ‘top’ graduates rather than targeting candidates that are the strongest fit for their business. The result is “massive sunken costs against graduate recruitment programmes” with employers paying more than necessary to initially attract graduates and then paying again to replace graduates that leave 12 to 18 months after they start, the report said. CEB estimated that in the UK the total amount “sunk” in campaigns that fail to deliver quality return on investment was around £112 million on a national spend across UK organisations of £888 million in 2013. The report’s findings are based on analysis of research conducted by CEB and research from external sources including the Association of Graduate Recruiters and Highfliers.
National Grid, Barclays and HM Revenue and Customs were among the award-winning employers praised for their work to boost diversity at the Race for Opportunity (RfO) Awards 2014. The event highlights the management, monitoring and mentoring initiatives of large and small organisations to improve the mobility of their black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) employees. Energy firm National Grid won the Talent Award - Attraction for its work including training managers and recruiters around unconscious bias and launching a development programme for BAME staff, which resulted in an increase in talent mobility and more diverse representation at the firm across all staff levels. HM Revenue and Customs collected the Developing Talent Award – Progression for its programme to address low numbers of BAME staff in management and leadership positions. This work has seen more BAME promotions and a tripling of the number of programme participants. The prize for Transparency, Monitoring and Action was won by the University of Manchester for its equality monitoring, which is a key performance indicator for the organisations. As a result of this the number of minority group staff in senior positions rose by 23 per cent between 2010/11 and 2012/13.
Women will take two-thirds of all new highly-skilled jobs created in the UK in the next six years because male skills development and academic achievements are failing to keep pace. This is the conclusion of a report by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), which found that the proportion of men with a degree-level equivalent education is set to increase at a slower rate than it will for women. UKCES estimates 49 per cent of all women will have degree-level qualifications by 2020 – rising from 38 per cent today – but while men qualifications will also rise, only 44 per cent of men are expected to have attained the same levels of qualifications by 2020. Predictions about rising female dominance follow many years of good GCSE and A-Level results, where girls have consistently outperformed boys. This year, 73 per cent of girls achieved A-C grades in their GCSEs compared to 64 per cent for boys. Last year data from Pearson, which runs the BTEC awards found 37 per cent of girls achieved a distinction in their chosen subjects, compared to 20 per cent of boys, while in 2012, 62 per cent of girls achieved good GCSEs compared to 55 per cent for boys. Today, the number of boys who fail to achieve at least a C-grade GSCE is double that of girls. According to UKCES, the impact of these statistics is likely to mean the proportion of women qualified to below GCSE level is expected to drop at a significantly faster rate than men – falling from 24 per cent to 15 per cent by 2020, compared to it falling from 23 per cent to 20 per cent by 2020 for men. The report also looked at how UK skills compared to other countries. Better news is the fact it found the proportion of people in the UK holding a degree or equivalent is set to rise to almost half (48 per cent) by 2020, moving the UK above America and most European nations. But Davis said there was no room for complacency. “The productivity gap between the UK and other nations is growing, and addressing this ‘long tail’ of low skills is vital to sustaining growth over the long term,” he said.
The number of self-employed workers has risen to its highest amount in 40 years according to the UK Office of National Statistics. Self-employed people now make up 15% of the total number of people in employment in the UK, putting them at a figure of 4.6 million. The figure in 2008 stood at 13% of the total workforce showing a 2% increase. The jobs that have seen the biggest rise in self-employment include management consultancy, photographers and chartered accountants. The most popular self-employed sectors remain construction and building, taxi drivers and chauffeurs and carpenters and joiners. However, the average yearly income for self-employed workers has fallen to 22% since the beginning of the financial crisis to date. Despite this, 732,000 have chosen to become self-employed since January 2008, making up two thirds of the 1.1 million who have since found employment. The figures have been described as 'worrying' by the Trades Union Congress as the pay for those who are self-employed now stands at roughly half of those in staff positions. The fact that people continue to go down the self-employed route could be evidence that people want more control over their work and to be their own boss. The main reason for the rise is that few people have left self-employment during this period and that more people over the age of 65 are continuing to work with the rate of people going into self-employment among this group doubling over the last five years. The ONS also stated that the economic downturn and resulting job uncertainty across businesses may have discouraged people from taking up staff positions.
Research by Lloyds Bank has found the number of foreign professionals in the UK has doubled since 1997. Those employed in the UK, but born outside of the country now comprise 15 per cent of the workforce – up from 7.3 per cent 17 years ago. Between 2004 and 2014 non-UK born individuals in employment increased by 2 million, from 2.6 million to 4.6 million. However, the research argues these mostly senior or technical workers are net contributors, adding £210 billion to the UK economy – or 15 per cent of economic output – known as GVA (or gross value added). Those working in the UK but born in Europe specifically contribute the greatest amount of GVA, producing £75 billion of value – worth 6 per cent of total UK GVA – although the most qualified people are those that come from America. Of the US expats now working in the UK, 57 per cent have a qualification of level 4 or higher. By comparison, only 26 per cent of UK workers have a level 4 qualification or above. The report, compiled jointly with the Centre for Economics and Business Research, finds two-fifths (41 per cent) of those working in the UK but born abroad are concentrated in London alone, with the South-East adding an extra 15 per cent on top of that. It also found that foreign workers’ skill sets are greater than the skills of home-grown talent. For instance, almost one-third of American-born UK workers are in a professional occupation, but only 17 per cent of UK-born citizens are in a professional occupation. The report found only 40 per cent of UK workers are employed in one of the top three skills categories (managerial, professional and associate professional), while 75 per cent of American-born UK workers are in a managerial role. The figures show public administration, health and education employ the greatest number of inward talent into England and Wales – accounting for 1.1 million, or 14.1 per cent of total employment in those sectors. The sector with the largest proportion of their total talent comprising workers born outside the UK is the transport/communication sector, followed by finance/business services. However, it is the latter sector where ‘inpats’ contribute the largest proportion of GVA for their sector – 18 per cent of it (worth around £68 million). Earlier this year the Home Office’s Migration Advisory Committee concluded those born outside of the UK were increasingly taking low-skilled roles too. Those not born in the UK hold 2.1 million of the total 13 million low-skilled jobs, with nearly half of these coming from the EU.
All tourism businesses, organisations or initiatives from either the public or private sector are invited to enter the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. The scheme aims to raise the profile of travel and tourism by gaining recognition for contribution to national economies and by promoting best practice in responsible tourism development. The following categories make up the 2015 Awards: Community Award, Destination Award, Environment Award, Innovation Award, People Award, and Sustainable Business Award. The programme is open to all sectors of the travel and tourism industry, worldwide. Eligible applicants include tour operators, individual hotels, hotel chains, national parks, heritage sites and all activities or projects associated with tourism. Winners and finalists will be publicly recognised and will meet government and industry leaders at the awards ceremony during the WTTC Global Summit in Madrid, Spain, on 15-16 April 2015. Winners will benefit from international media exposure. The 2014 closing date for entry to the 2015 awards is 21 November 2014.See the website for more details.
Voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations in Wales can apply now for funding to deliver key Wales for Africa projects for a three-year period starting from April 2015. The Welsh Government’s Wales for Africa programme exists to encourage people in Wales to be active in international development and to improve the effectiveness of Wales for Africa interventions, ensuring the mutual benefits to both Wales and Africa. The Welsh Government is seeking applications from third sector organisations (either individually or preferably in collaboration) to deliver key Wales for Africa projects for a three-year period from April 2015. The Government has made available £602,000 per year (2015-2018) to fund this grant programme. Voluntary and community organisations, charities, social enterprises, cooperatives, community mutuals, faith organisations, community interest companies and companies limited by guarantee established for public and community benefit can apply as long as they are financially viable and have their own bank account. Preference will be given to awarding one grant for the entire programme of work - either to one third sector organisation or a group collaborating together. Projects must contribute to delivery of the MDGs in sub-Saharan Africa, or support a Welsh response to international disasters/emergencies and to demonstrate a clear benefit to Wales. Funding can be used for revenue costs, direct project costs, and costs necessary for the organisation to operate but which are not related specifically to one project. Applications should be submitted by email by 18 November 2014 (12 noon) with a signed hard copy received by 21 November 2014 (12noon). Full details can be found on the Welsh Government website
Baker & McKenzie has retained top spot in an annual ranking of law firm brands. The firm led the Global Elite Law Firm Brand Index – published by Acritas – for the fifth year running. The Acritas research concluded that Baker & McKenzie´s “unmatched global footprint as well as its strength in multi-jurisdictional deals and litigation, are driving exceptional brand awareness and favorability levels among in-house counsel”. Clifford Chance was ranked in second place – the report said the strength of the firm’s brand in the US as well as its “popularity for multi-jurisdictional work as well as its prominence in Europe” had contributed to its ranking. The other firms in the top five were Norton Rose Fulbright (third), DLA Piper (fourth), and Linklaters (fifth). Freshfields was in sixth place, Allen & Overy was placed seventh, and Hogan Lovells was in eighth spot. The top 10 was completed by Jones Day (ninth) and Skadden (tenth).The remaining firms included in the rankings were: Herbert Smith Freehills (11th); White & Case (12th), Latham & Watkins (13th); King & Wood Mallesons (=14th); Eversheds (=14th); Sidley Austin (16th); Reed Smith (=17th); Dentons (=17th); Slaughter & May (19th); Amarchand & Mangaldas (20th); Simpson Thacher (20th); and CMS (20th). Acritas’ Global Elite Brand Index 2014 is compiled from data derived from 1,185 interviews with people with “senior responsibility for buying legal services” in organizations around the world with a turnover exceeding $1 billion. All interviews were conducted by telephone in local languages across 55 countries between October 2013 and August 2014. Respondents are asked four open-ended questions which cover: the first law firms to come to mind; the firms most considered for multi-jurisdictional deals; the firms they feel most favourable towards; and the firms most considered for multi-jurisdictional litigation.
Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor says government has set a target of producing 100 000 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) graduates by 2030 to improve research and innovation capacity. Minister Pandor said South Africa needs to train about 6 000 PhDs per annum, which will require an investment of about R5.8 billion a year. Minister Pandor said her department has allocated R80 million to fund 1,000 science postgraduates in the 2014/15 internship programme. The minister said more funding is needed to increase the number of staff at universities with PhDs and that the goal with regards to the average graduation age for a PhD is to have it lowered from just below 40 to below 35. Minister Pandor said her department will invest R497 million on science education, awareness and communication.
Louis Berger, a $1 billion global professional services corporation, has recently signed a five-year project management contract financed by local funds for the construction of the first segment of the Yaoundé-Douala highway in Cameroon. The total construction value of the project is almost €7million. The road segment will connect Cameroon’s government and diplomatic hub in Yaoundé to the country’s economic center and deep water port in Douala. The current road between these cities is extremely congested and is one of the deadliest roads in the Central African region, characterized by its many curves, changes in road grade, poor maintenance and heavy truck traffic, including logging semi-tractor trailers. The improvements will result into a straighter 2-lane road motorway, safer and of better quality. Louis Berger has more than 50 years of experience in Africa and more than 20 years of experience working in Cameroon. The company’s work in the country includes 10 ongoing projects and more than 20 projects completed in the last twenty years. These projects have included a broad range of services from institutional strengthening, capacity building and training of the central public authorities, feasibility studies, urban transport planning, regional transportation strategies and project management and construction supervision.
The University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) has, for the third consecutive year, been rated the top school in the Professional Management Review (PMR.africa) annual survey of accredited business schools offering MBA and MBL degrees in South Africa. USB is celebrating its 50th year of providing business education this year and is known as a pioneer in being the first business school of an African university to have received the triple crown of international accreditations, namely AACSB, Equis and AMBA. The respondents (employers) in the PMR.africa survey rated the MBA graduates and students in the workplace across 19 attributes – USB scored 8.00 out of a possible 10.00. For this achievement the school will receive PMR.africa’s Diamond Arrow Award (highest rated). According PMR.africa CEO, Johan Hattingh, human resource directors/managers and line managers at listed and large companies, national, provincial and local government departments/municipalities and state-owned enterprises participated in the survey. The ratings are based on the perceptions of the respondents. Employees who are studying at or who have graduated from accredited business schools were ranked according to a list of criteria, including academic knowledge, application of knowledge in the workplace, communication skills/abilities, emotional intelligence, entrepreneurial skills/capacity/abilities, environmental awareness, ethical business conduct, financial management and human resource management.
A multimillion-rand project that aims to develop 300 "committed future leaders", drawn from economically disadvantaged communities across sub-Saharan Africa, has been launched by the University of Cape Town (UCT). This initiative, which will start in 2015 as part of the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program, will help reverse the effects of 'brain drain' on the continent. The foundation has committed US$23.5-million over the next 10 years to finance the project. Around 60 South African students from disadvantaged communities, as well as 240 students from other sub-Saharan countries, are expected to benefit from the programme. Scholarships will be offered to deserving candidates, who would otherwise not have the economic means to study at tertiary levels. The candidates will be educated at UCT, either as undergraduate or postgraduate students and will then return to their home countries to apply their new skills towards contributing to social and economic progress on the continent. The candidates will have the opportunity to obtain either their first degree or to advance to postgraduate studies, with postgraduate students making up 80% of the total cohort. UCT will target "first-generation" students, those who will be the first members of their families to earn a university degree. Candidates in the programme will be required to sign a declaration that will commit them to returning home after completing their studies. "
While Africa's middle class may be smaller than the oft-reported figure of 300-million, it is growing at a strong rate - and the broad-based income growth is likely to encourage more companies to invest in the region, according to a report released by Standard Bank. There are 15-million middle-class households in 11 of sub-Saharan Africa's top economies this year, up from 4.6-million in 2000 and 2.4-million in 1990, the report states. This represents an increase of 230% over 14 years. The report, titled "Understanding Africa's middle class", found that the combined GDPs of the 11 measured economies - Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia - had grown tenfold since 2000. Income discrepancies, however, are vast among the 11 economies, with almost 86% of the 110-million households falling within the low-income band. This is expected to fall to around 75% by 2030. The study used the Living Standards Measure (LSM), a South African methodology based on a wider range of analysis than income alone. Under the LSM, households with an annual consumption of under US$5 500 are classified in the low-income band, while households that consume between $5 500 and $42 000 a year are classified as lower-middle, middle, and upper-middle classes. The report shows there is cause for optimism among investors as the results suggest even greater scope for future growth. The number of middle-class households in the sub-Saharan African countries is likely to increase significantly in the next 15 years. "Including lower-middle-class households, the overall number swells to over 40-million households by 2030, from around 15-million today," the report says. The 11 countries covered by the report account for half Africa's total GDP (75% if South Africa is excluded) and half its population. The figure of 300-million middle-class Africans - one-third of Africa's people - comes from a study by the African Development Bank in 2011, which defined "middle class" as earning between $4 and $20 a day. The report found there was "an undeniable swelling" of Africa's middle class, irrespective of which methodology was used.
The South African Cabinet has approved the ratification of the treaty on the Grand Inga hydropower project between South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), paving the way for the next phase of what could eventually become the largest hydroelectric project in the world, with the potential to power half the continent. The Grand Inga project will seek to harness the power potential of the Congo River, sub-Saharan Africa's greatest waterway. Once all seven of its planned phases are complete, it is expected to generate a massive 40 000 megawatts (MW) of renewable power. Two existing dams, Inga 1 and 2, have been in operation since 1972 and 1982 respectively, together generating nearly 1 800 MW. The next phase of the Grand Inga project, Inga 3, is expected to cost in the region of US$12-billion and produce around 4 800 MW of electricity. Subsequent phases, adding up to an eventual total capacity of 40 000 MW, will allow countries in southern Africa, north-east Africa and parts of west Africa to benefit from production at the site. The Grand Inga treaty provides the framework for the facilitation of power generation from the Grand Inga project and its delivery to the border between the DRC and Zambia and its ratification paves the way for the development of Inga 3, which will provide 2 500 MW of electricity to South Africa and contribute to regional integration, energy security and economic growth in an environmentally sustainable manner. The project has the potential to supply clean and affordable imported hydroelectric power to meet the needs of the DRC, South Africa and surrounding countries, and to fast-track SADC development, alleviate energy poverty, stimulate economic growth and facilitate infrastructure development.
South Africa and the United Kingdom have signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing to support science, technology and innovation in the two countries. Following the signing of the agreement, the two countries have jointly committed R140 million per year under the Newton Fund. The department said both countries are looking forward to working closely with other African countries. The Fund will support projects in the thematic areas of public health, environment and food security. It will also support science and technology capacity building with a focus on seeking to ensure that activities have a regional footprint with the ultimate aim of encouraging research that boosts jobs and growth. The Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor welcomed the cooperation, saying the two countries enjoyed strong bilateral relations in various areas and highlighted the importance of the Fund, saying it would focus on prioritising human capital development, focus on active involvement of industry to ensure science, technology and innovation investments contribute to economic growth and employment creation. Medical research councils of both countries also announced three-year partnerships to collaborate on research projects in the areas of tuberculosis and non-communicable diseases. The Newton Fund is part of the UK’s official development assistance. Its aim is to develop science and innovation partnerships that promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries.
Statistician-General Pali Lehohla says while the number of black youth in employment has grown over the last 20 years, the acquisition of skills has not grown at the same rate within this group. Lehohla was presenting a 20-year review on employment dynamics among the youth of the country by population group, from 1994, to date. He said the total workforce amongst black people almost doubled from 1994 to 2014, having increased by 95%. Lehohla revealed that employment amongst black people grew from 5.6 million workers to 10.9 million. Employment in the Indian/Asian youth population grew by 47%, 45% for coloureds and 9% for whites. Lehohla said despite the increase in the workforce over the past 20 years, the black population recorded the lowest increase in skilled employment when compared to other population groups. Lehohla said the proportion of skilled employment decreased amongst the age group of 24 to 34 years old black African population between 1994 and 2014. The lowest increase took place within the black African population by 2.9%. The highest increase occurred within the Indian/Asian population, which recorded 25.5%, followed by 19.3% within the white population and 10.9% within the coloured population, according to Lehohla. Youth unemployment stands at 36.1%, with jobless youth making up 75% of the country's unemployed. Generally, Lehohla said the number of skilled workers in the country has increased from 1.8 million to 3.8 million between 1994 and 2014, recording a percentage growth of 108%, whilst semi-skilled workers have increased by 66% and low-skilled by 49%.
The University of South Africa (Unisa) and the Thabo Mbeki Foundation (TMF) have announced the establishment of the Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library. The first of its kind on the African continent, the library will serve as a vehicle through which his legacy will be bequeathed to current and future generations and is borne of the realisation and acknowledgement that both official and private papers of political leaders in African countries are often not preserved or archived properly by their governments. In many instances, if not always; institutions outside the African continent claim and retain the ownership and control of this material; thus denying Africans the opportunity to retain institutional knowledge about their own countries and the continent’s leaders. The dire consequence of this is that knowledge about the continent and its leaders is interpreted by others while African scholars are almost always obliged to travel outside the continent to research about their own institutions and leaders. The Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library (TMPL) will endeavour to redress this anomaly and will become a ‘living library’ that will address important matters of knowledge production, peace building as well as advancing prosperity and equality for the transformation of Africa. It will be wholly-owned and managed by Africans and will connect and collaborate with similar centres across the world whose objectives are to advance the renaissance and unity of Africa. The TMPL has been deliberately conceptualised in such a way that it will not only focus on the life and times of former President Mbeki, but also on the larger context within which his political life took place. It will also provide the space to reflect on the processes and realities which have created the conditions where Africa is today through the three broad time-periods: (1) the pre-colonial and colonial period; (2) the struggle against colonialism; and (3) the post-colonial era) and serve as an important institution to re-energise the broad African Renaissance Movement aimed at contributing towards Africa claiming the 21st century. The TMPL will be jointly owned and run by Unisa and the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, and will be located on a dedicated wing of the Unisa Main Library at its Muckleneuk Campus in Tshwane.
Dubai-based flydubai has announced the launch of flights to Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Flights to the East African country will expand the airline’s network in Africa to 12 destinations. flydubai recently announced the launch of flights to Bujumbura in Burundi, Entebbe in Uganda and Kigali in Rwanda. Tanzania is a regional hub for tourism in East Africa and in 2013 the country welcomed over 1 million tourists. According to the Tanzania Tourism Board, this figure looks set with to double with 2 million tourists forecast by 2017. The airline’s expanded network supports Dubai’s Tourism Vision 2020 that aims to attract 20 million visitors to the Emirate by 2020. By offering travel services from Tanzania, it will provide passengers with the opportunity to travel to Dubai and connect onwards to more than 200 worldwide destinations through Dubai International Airport.
The University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business is launching a new Postgraduate Diploma in Management Practice to overcome the lack of qualified and skilled middle managers which is aggravating Africa’s already turbulent economy. South African business schools offer excellent top-end and lower-end business qualifications – but there is a gap in the middle of the business education ladder. It is this gap that Africa’s premier business school, the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB), aims to fill with its vitally important new course – the Postgraduate Diploma in Management Practice (PgDip). The qualification speaks to middle managers and young senior managers and goes beyond functional insights. At this level, people need not only knowledge of finance and accounting, but also how to go beyond this and use it in a broader framework, according to the director of the UCT GSB, Professor Walter Baets. Launching with an Admissions Information Sessions in Cape Town on 15 September and in Johannesburg on 30 October, the PgDip is a pre-masters programme, which delivers a business education programme that builds vital business skills for success in uncertain economic times. It consists of a choice between three specialisation streams: Innovative Leadership, Wine Business or Business Administration. The School believes companies need employees who are skilled at post-graduate level, who have some kind of basic management knowledge but need the expertise that comes with the deeper business and psychological insights that traditionally come with longer and more expensive courses such as an MBA. The PgDip takes a systems thinking and action learning approach, a proven educational method developed successfully at the UCT GSB in their other business education courses. Students implement knowledge at their workplaces in between modules via action learning projects. This means companies and organisations see immediate benefits from employees participating in the course – while individuals are able to witness how theories work in practice – a valuable educational tool. The PgDip programme will launch officially on 15 September 2014 in Cape Town and on 30 October in Johannesburg.
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will expand its African route network with the launch of a daily service to Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania. Flights between Abu Dhabi and Dar es Salaam will be operated using Airbus A320 aircraft and will be Etihad Airways’ 110th destination globally, and its 11th destination in Africa and the Indian Ocean. It is anticipated that the demand for the new route will be boosted by strong flows of business and leisure travellers, as well as cargo volumes, between the East Africa region and the Indian Subcontinent and China. The UAE is the primary trade partner of Tanzania in the GCC region. Between 2007 and 2012, trade between UAE and Tanzania increased by more than 350 per cent to US$761 million. Tanzania has the sixth largest population in Africa (51 million), with over four million people living in the largest city, Dar es Salaam. The large proportion of the community consist of market traders and proprietors of small businesses whose families originated from the Middle East and Indian Subcontinent—areas of the world with which the settlements of the Tanzanian coast have had long-standing trading relations. Tanzania has the second largest economy in East Africa, and Dar es Salaam provides a strategic gateway for the transportation of goods and commerce to the surrounding six land-locked countries of Zambia, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
The Western Union Company and the Angola Post Office, provider of postal and financial services in Angola, have announced the signing of an agreement to provide Western Union money transfer services to consumers across their network. This agreement will enable consumers to send and receive local and international payments in minutes from Angola Post Office and Western Union agent locations in Angola. With growth estimated at 4.8% in 2014, Angola has retained its status as one of the fastest-growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa. According to an Oxford Economics report, this growth has been fueled by significant Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) capital inflows, thanks to Angola’s substantial oil and mineral reserves, as well as the period of political stability following 27 years of civil war. Additionally, Ernst and Young reports that between 2003 and 2011, over US$10 billion was spent on FDI into Angola in sectors other than oil and gas. Subsequently, the number of migrant workers in the country has increased, as investors send skilled and semi-skilled workers to assist local Angolans complete projects in industries as diverse as infrastructure development, agriculture, education and real estate. Postal networks tend have a greater reach into rural and remote areas than do banks and are significant players for expanding remittance services. According to a study by the Universal Postal Union (UPU), more than 80 percent of post offices in Sub-Saharan Africa are located outside the three largest cities in each country, where 82.5 per cent of the population is concentrated -providing unique outreach to unbanked citizens and migrants. Because of this extended reach, there is a large potential for post offices to more fully participate in providing remittances and to bring the unbanked into the formal financial system. By associating remittance services with postal account-based services, Western Union will be supporting and facilitating the possibility of creating savings accounts more easily and affordably, encouraging remittance recipients to store their money instead of immediately cashing or sending it. This in turn, the company says, will contribute to the creation of an enabling environment for a more productive use of remittances as well as the creation of small enterprises.
Dow Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd has for the first time been named in the Top Employers South Africa 2015 certification. According to the Top Employers Institute’s independent research, Dow Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd provides exceptional employee conditions, nurtures and develops talent throughout all levels of the organisation and has demonstrated its leadership status in the HR environment, always striving to optimise its employment practices and to develop its employees. The first step in the certification process is a company’s participation in the HR Best Practices Survey: a comprehensive analysis of the Human Resources environment. This research critically assesses HR management and employee conditions within the organisation. The certification is only awarded to organisations that achieve the highest standards of excellence in employee conditions. Following validation and an external audit, performance scores are rated against an international standard. Only employers that achieve the required level will qualify for certification. Dow Southern Africa was among more than 700 companies that were scrutinised under stringent selection process to qualify for the exclusive Top Employers certification. The programme examines what each organisation offers its employees and how it ensures that there are quality initiatives in place for them to develop, both professionally and personally. Dow has been in Africa for more than 50 years, and enjoys a growing commercial and manufacturing presence across the continent with more than 700 customers in 38 countries and more than 240 employees active in six commercial offices and five manufacturing facilities in South Africa, Egypt and Kenya manufacturing facilities supplying the automotive, agro sciences, coatings, textiles, furniture and personal care industries.
The JSE has launched the first currency futures which track the exchange rate between the Rand and select African currencies. The JSE listed three new currency futures contracts which track the exchange rate between the Rand and the Zambian Kwacha, Kenyan Shilling and Nigerian Naira. Currency futures allow investors as well as importers and exporters to protect themselves against the currency movement in the foreign country. The latest trade statistics from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) show trade flow between South Africa and Nigeria amounted to R34,4 billion between January and July this year. In the same period, trade between South Africa and Kenya amounted to R4,6 billion and trade between South Africa and Zambia was valued at just less than R18 billion. The JSE has partnered with Barclays Africa and specialist brokers, Tradition Futures, to bring this new offering to market. The new futures contracts will provide the market participants with the ability to get exposure on the JSE to the exchange rate between the US Dollar and the Zambian, Kenyan and Nigerian currencies through trading synthetic cross currencies. For example, investors can get exposure to the exchange rate between the US Dollar and the Kenyan Shilling by trading both against the Rand.
Kenya’s economy has overtaken those of Tunisia and Ghana after the statistics agency overhauled its data to increase the size of gross domestic product by a quarter. GDP was measured at $55.2 billion last year from $44.1 billion previously, according to Zachary Mwangi, acting director-general of the statistics agency. That compares with the World Bank’s estimates of $48 billion for Ghana and $47 billion for Tunisia. Kenya revised its data to take account of expanding industries such as mobile-phone money transfers and informal businesses, while also changing the base year of the figures to 2009 from 2001. Last year’s growth rate was adjusted to 5.7 percent from 4.7 percent, Mwangi said. A higher figure for GDP will help to lower Kenya’s debt ratios, improving the nation’s ability to borrow. It may also reduce Kenya’s access to low interest-rate loans, although the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have said the move won’t close off Kenya’s access to concessional funds. Kenya follows Nigeria, which earlier this year rebased its GDP data to overtake South Africa as the largest economy in Africa, estimated now at about $500 billion. Tanzania, East Africa’s second-largest economy after Kenya, plans to revise its GDP data later this year, which may increase the size of the $33 billion economy by a fifth. Kenya is the world’s biggest exporter of black tea and it supplies a third of the flowers traded in Europe.
Oracle Corporation has announced an initiative designed to enrich and increase the skills capacity of IT practitioners in Africa. The four-pronged program was devised as a response to the rapid adoption of new technologies by governments and businesses in Africa, exacerbating the shortage of suitably skilled practitioners to use the systems to best advantage. According to Oracle, the dramatic advancement of technology over the past five years has resulted in a gap in IT competencies and skills availability. Organizations in Africa are adopting new technologies at a rate which is outstripping the availability of appropriately qualified staff. Consisting of four elements – employee readiness, ecosystem readiness, workforce readiness and youth readiness, Oracle is reaching out to governments, the private sector and non-profit organizations to implement a long term skills strategy that will help fulfill demand for relevant IT skills.
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