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Besides establishing new investment regulations and other oversight requirements, the passage of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will help increase recruiting and contracting opportunities for women, Blacks, Latinos and other underrepresented groups. Section 342, a provision sponsored by California Rep. Maxine Waters, will establish an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion at each of the 20 federal financial agencies, including the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the 12 Federal Reserve regional banks, the Federal Depository Insurance Co. and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The goals: to provide equal employment opportunities within the federal government and the financial-services industry and to expand the participation of minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) in agency contracts, "instead of continuing to rely on the same 'old boy' network," writes Waters. This dual-pronged approach is designed to economically stimulate the Black, Latino and female households impacted by the financial meltdown and most underrepresented in financial services. Blacks, Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups account for 17.2 percent of employees at senior pay levels within the Treasury Department, reports Waters. And a recently published report from the Government Accountability Office confirms the lack of diversity within the financial-services industry, with virtually no improvement at the management level from 1993 to 2008. Two years ago, for instance, white men held 64 percent of senior-level positions in the finance profession, versus 3.5 percent for Asians, 3 percent for Latinos and 2.8 percent for Blacks.
Companies across the North West of England can get a grand in cash to employ a graduate to boost their business. Manchester Metropolitan University is offering £1,000 grants through their Graduate Internship scheme. Funding is available for firms to recruit a graduate from the University to work on a short-term project lasting for at least four weeks. Through the programme, businesses can tap into the knowledge and enthusiasm of a talented graduate, who in turn can gain vital work experience and learn new skills to further their career prospects. The scheme is available to all businesses that employ less than 50 staff – for larger firms, grants are only on offer to firms that operate in the following sectors: Low carbon products and services, Digital industries, Life sciences, Pharmaceuticals, Advanced manufacturing, Professional or Financial services, Engineering construction, The opportunities presented by an ageing population. Interested businesses are urged to apply as soon as possible – all participating firms must be signed up by 30 September to ensure their funding will be in place by the end of March at the very latest. For further information about the Graduate Internship scheme and to register an interest in participating, visit the Manchester Metropolitan University website.
The European Commission has announced a potential investment of €6.4 billion in European research and innovation programmes over the next 14 months. The record financial package, to be allocated through the European research and innovation funding mechanisms, covers a huge range of scientific disciplines, public policy areas and commercial sectors. The funding will advance scientific boundaries, increase European competitiveness and contribute to solutions for societal challenges such as climate change, energy, food security, health and an ageing population. The translation of research into new technologies, products and services is key to the overall funding strategy, as is the potential to create 165,000 jobs. Funding will be accessed through calls issued under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) over the next 14 months, including funds allocated by the European Research Council and Marie Cure Actions. SMEs will collectively access up to €800m, and for the first time will have access to ring-fenced budgets in a number of key areas, such as health, knowledge-based bio-economy, environment and nanotechnologies.
An estimated 10 000 jobs are expected to be created for unemployed rural youth through a recently launched programme by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. The National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSC) will be targeting youth from deep rural areas, including those living with disabilities between the ages of 18 to 35 and who have passed Grade 10. The department's head of communications, Eddie Mohoebi, said the NARYSC is a two-year programme aimed at empowering rural youth from each of the 3 000 rural wards across the country. He said the programme is expected to create job opportunities for at least three youths in each of those identified rural wards. However, Mohoebi said successful candidates would undergo an intensive training programme, based on needs identified during the induction by the department and they will receive a monthly stipend for the two year duration of the programme. After the completion of the two-year training programme, candidates will work in their communities providing services in local socio-economic development. Potential candidates seeking more information about the programme can contact the department's toll free number 0800 007 095 or visit the website: www.ruraldevelopment.gov.za.
According to Accenture, companies that recruit employees from the widest possible pool of talent enjoy an advantage in an increasingly competitive global economy. But it's not just a diverse workforce that helps put companies ahead. Top leadership teams drawn from across nationalities, genders and professional backgrounds also contribute significantly to the organisation's performance. Accenture South Africa recently investigated what constitutes successful leadership across various industries and found that there were significant differences in the degree of diversity in respective companies. The research shows a significant correlation between both gender and the international diversity of a company's executive board and stock market performance. Companies with more women among top managers not only provided better returns to stockholders, but were also more profitable. The study found on average, that the more diverse a company's executive board, defined as the team of top managers who actually run the business, in terms of age, gender, nationality, education and other characteristics, the more successful the company. In addition, it found that companies can boost profitable growth if they strive to ensure a mix of youth and experience in their leaders, as well as a diversity of educational and professional backgrounds. The study noted that three out of every four of the companies investigated still have exclusively male executive boards; despite the fact that successful diversifiers are rewarded by higher stock prices and profitability.
The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) planned to invest up to R11.7 billion in "green industries" in the next five years, according to its chief executive Geoffrey Qhena. Qhenasaid this was aimed at creating jobs while reducing carbon emissions. It was also part of the IDC's target of injecting R70bn into the South African economy between 2009 and 2015. He said the IDC would fund alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power and improve energy and resource management. To date, the lender had approved R33 million to determine the feasibility of establishing up to 450 megawatts of solar generating capacity in the Northern Cape.It has also approved investment of R16.5m in Soil and More, a company specialising in the production of "organic composted products". This had the potential to create 78 jobs. In addition, funding for the continued development and commercialisation of the Joule, a South African electric vehicle, had been approved. Qhena said investments would also be channelled to other parts of Africa but the bulk of the money would be invested in South Africa. Over the 12 months to March this year, the IDC had approved funding amounting to R9.4bn, creating and saving 25 000 jobs in the process. 65 percent of new funding approved was allocated to start-up companies or expansionary activities, while R1.4bn went to distressed companies.
South African banks, insurers and other financial-services companies have reached an agreement with the nation's government over black ownership targets, ending a dispute dating back almost five years. A target of 10 percent direct black ownership will be retained, Nkosana Mashiya, chairman of the Financial Sector Charter Council, told Parliament's finance committee in Cape Town today. In turn, financial institutions agreed to fund other black empowerment initiatives equaling 5 percent of their market value, he said. Financial firms had agreed on the 10 percent target in a voluntary charter in 2003. In 2005, the trade department published its Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment codes, stipulating a 15 percent target. Both measures were aimed at addressing inequalities dating back to all-white rule, which ended in 1994. South Africa's banking industry is dominated by Standard Bank Group Ltd., Nedbank Group Ltd., FirstRand Ltd. and Barclays Plc's Absa Group Ltd. While the firms agreed that the provisions of the codes and the charter should be aligned, they resisted being forced to sell more than 10 percent of their shares to black partners, who have struggled to raise financing. The voluntary charter allows companies to claim empowerment credentials indefinitely, even if their partners sell off their stake. In contrast, the codes require them to sign up new black investors within three years of a sale. A 2008 assessment by the Financial Sector Charter Council found 11 percent of the industry was under direct black control. Financial services account for about 22 percent of South Africa's gross domestic product, more than any other industry.
The MTN Group has unveiled plans for a long-awaited black economic empowerment (BEE) deal that will see South Africa's second-largest cellular network operator sell a stake of up to 4 percent in the listed holding company to black investors. The transaction is worth R8.1 billion. The proposed vehicle, dubbed MTN Zakhele, represents another significant milestone in a process aimed at increasing the involvement of black people in the economy since the demise of apartheid 16 years ago. Rival Vodacom announced its black empowerment deal in 2008, leaving MTN as the only major telecoms group yet to do a broad-based BEE deal. Under the proposed deal, MTN will gain effective indirect black ownership of up to 29.1 percent in its South African operations. These local operations make up 22.9 percent of the value of MTN Group, which also has major operations in Nigeria and Iran. Nhleko said in a statement that the MTN Zakhele scheme would augment many empowerment initiatives undertaken by MTN to date. These included the Asonge scheme, facilitated by the National Empowerment Fund three years ago. Last year MTN announced its intention to use a portion of MTN shares previously owned by Newshelf 664 to facilitate a new BEE transaction. Newshelf, which was unwound last year, was an entity through which MTN received most of its black investor equity ownership until December 2008. The new BEE deal will be the largest such transaction on record for a South African telecoms company. MTN will offer shares to black investors at R107.46 each and the deal is expected to cost MTN and its shareholders about R2.3bn. With South Africa now a mature market for MTN, the company structured the BEE deal in such a way as to give black investors exposure to growth from its diversified operations. The BEE deal is expected to run for six years from August 30, the date of implementation.
Zimbabwe's import of locomotives from China is to boost the freight and passenger carrying capacity after the building of new railways in the past few years, said an official with the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ). Zimbabwe has signed a deal with China North Railways for the import of 14 diesel locomotives. Meanwhile, the NRZ has long-term plans to buy passenger train coaches and commuter trains from China to boost its depleted fleet.
East Africa and West Africa have been earmarked for a global research programme that seeks to strike a balance between food production and environment conservation. Faced with the new threat of climate change, the Consultative Group on International and Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) will spearhead the 10-year challenge programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) starting this year. The programme will bring together different scientists and research institutions from all over the world to tackle the three issues that are of global concern.
Kenya has officially launched its Agricultural Sector Development Strategy and signed the CAADP Compact, thus showing the country's commitment to domesticating the continental agricultural programme. Kenya President Mwai Kibaki said the new strategy would propel further development of the country's agricultural sector in line with the CAADP. The strategy will see the country move towards the aspirations of the African Heads of States Maputo Declaration of 2003, where they pledged to support the agriculture sector in their respective countries by scaling up budgetary allocation to the sector to 10 per cent of the national budget. The new programme appreciates private-sector participation as key to sustainable growth in agriculture and aims at positioning the sector strategically as a key driver for sustained economic growth. President Kibaki said his administration will create conducive conditions for the private sector to take over many commercial enterprises currently with the government.
The United Nations rural development arm is helping to improve agricultural programmes in West Africa's Sahel region, especially in Niger, which is currently in the throes of a growing food crisis. Recurrent food shortages have impacted the Sahel, a narrow band south of the Sahara desert also including Burkina Faso, Chad, Eritrea, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan. The last severe drought in 2005 resulted in a famine that claimed 1 million lives and affected another 50 million people. Scant and irregular rainfall since last year has touched off the latest crisis, with Niger – where 7.1 million people, or half its population, is going hungry – at is centre. Nearly 90 per cent of rural households are at risk, including herders, as well as women who head their households and their dependants. A large number of families in the Maradi region of southern Niger are relying on cereal banks to sustain themselves, according to the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Ecobank Ghana, on Friday, signed a partnership agreement with the Bank of China (BOC), to facilitate international trade, projects, and investments between Africa and Asia. With the agreement, Ecobank Ghana becomes the first affiliate of the Ecobank Group to have a dedicated desk of the Bank of China. With the desk, Ecobank's Chinese customers would have access to the resources of both banks, including seconded staff of the Bank of China, which would remove language and cultural barriers that Chinese banking clients tend to face in Africa. The desk is expected to start within the next month.
South Africa's Business Confidence Index (BCI) in July recorded the second highest reading this year at 84.3 points, said the South African Chamber of Commerce Industry (SACCI). The July figure of 84.3 points is 1.1 point above the July 2009 level following on June 2010's 84.8 points. According to the chamber, the month of July 2010 renewed focus away from the sentiment of the World Cup and returned it to the economic reality of a domestic economy struggling to gain momentum. The global economy also reflected tensions as the pace of positive financial market developments outpaced a lagging real economy, SACCI said, adding that business confidence has yet to perceive strong and real economic prospects. SACCI said that relative to July 2009, eight of the BCI sub-indices improved with real retail sales and building construction still lagging recent economic improvements. It said that increase in liquidations is a legacy of the recession and the period of exuberance before the recession. The volatility of the exchange rate at present it said is primarily a function of the global financial flow of funds rather than a current account phenomenon.
SAP AG and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, acting on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), have announced a development partnership to support Ghana in meeting the global standard for transparency in the oil and mining industries as set by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). SAP is donating an enterprise performance management (EPM) solution from its SAP Business Objects portfolio, which the Ghanaian Ministry of Finance will use to monitor and analyze payments and revenue flows from its hard minerals industry as well as from future oil and gas production. The solution will enable Ghana to efficiently quantify revenue flows to government and other stakeholders, identifying reasons for any shortfalls or overshoots. According to Ghana's Deputy Minister of Finance, Seth E. Terkper, the EITI process is a useful tool in augmenting the government's efforts to improve existing structures on accountability and transparency. Successfully introducing an IT system to the EITI process will be a very significant addition to the process in Ghana. The support project for the EITI process in Ghana is closely connected to the GTZ Good Financial Governance program (GFG). This effort is an example of SAP's broad-based social innovation partnerships, aimed at using technology to make society more sustainable and the world's businesses run better. By mobilizing SAP's unique expertise in technology and business, the company seeks to make a measurable impact on countries such as Ghana and South Africa.
The global economy is likely to grow 2.9 per cent to 3.3 per cent in 2010 and 2011, the World Bank said. The bank, however, said that "Europe's debt crisis poses problems for global growth". In its latest Global Economic Prospects 2010, it said global economic recovery continued to advance "but Europe's debt crisis has created new hurdles on the road to sustainable medium term growth". The report stated that "after a growth of up to 3.3 per cent this year and next, the GDP is expected to strengthen to between 3.2 per cent and 3.5 per cent in 2012, reversing the 2.1 per cent decline in 2009". It also said that developing economies were expected to grow between 5.7 per cent and 6.2 per cent each year until 2012. It, however, said: "High-income countries are projected to grow between 2.1 per cent and 2.3 per cent in 2010 -- not enough to offset the 3.3 per cent contraction in 2009, and between 1.9 per cent and 2.4 per cent in 2011." The report noted that the bank's projections assumed that the International Monetary Fund and European institutions "will stave off a default or major Europeans overeign debt restructuring". It also said while the impact of the European debt crisis had so far been contained, prolonged rising sovereign debt could make credit more expensive and curtail investment and growth in developing countries. The report warned that the global recovery faced "several important headwinds in the medium term, including lower international capital flows, high unemployment and spare capacity exceeding 10 per cent in many countries". The report also added that world merchandise trade had rebounded sharply and was expected to increase by about 21 per cent this year, before growth rates taper down to around 8 per cent in 2011-2012.
South Africa sees growing opportunities for trade with other developing countries as new economic powerhouses emerge and Europe is engulfed by economic and currency weakness, its trade chief said. Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said the changing world economy meant South Africa could intensify trade ties with countries such as Brazil, India and China at the expense of links with traditional partners such as the European Union. “We now see a huge number of possibilities from South-South trade and a lot of our effort is being deployed there," Davies told a news conference. The weakness of the euro and the European economy in general was encouraging this process, he said.
China's engagement with Africa has had a transformative effect on the continent's relations with the outside world, shaking up an old and fraying order dominated by cautious foreign donors and former colonial powers. Trade between Africa and China rose tenfold, from $10bn(€8bn, £6.9bn) to $108bn, between 2000 and 2008, dipping back last year during the global recession. Chinese direct investment is also steadily up, although inflows still trail those from the US and Europe. Thanks to Asian demand, world prices for African commodities have risen strongly over the decade. The price of African imports, increasingly sourced from Asia, has also decreased. Heading into a decade in which investment in infrastructure will be a priority for most African governments and their development partners, Chinese construction companies now have a leading market share.
Tullow Oil will begin a $10bn development of Uganda's oil reserves after completing the $1.45bn cash acquisition of Heritage Oil's 50 per cent stake in the country's Lake Albert oil blocks. The sale means Tullow is the owner of all but one of the landlocked east African nation's oil blocks with proved reserves, located deep in equatorial Lake Albert on the Congo border, that are estimated to hold up to 2.3bn barrels of crude. Tullow will now finalise a sale of two-thirds of the project to be split equally between Total of France and the Chinese state oil company CNOOC. "Total bring their experience in Africa, CNOOC their political relations [in Africa] and access to China's oil supply chain – so there's a very good marriage between us three," said Ian Springett, Tullow's chief financial officer.
Renaissance Capital, the Russian investment firm that has arranged the most stock offerings in the country this year, is helping place Chinese funds in natural resources companies across Africa and the former Soviet Union in a push to be the biggest multi-regional emerging-markets bank. Renaissance is hiring bankers in Beijing and opening an office in Hong Kong, said Chief Executive Officer Stephen Jennings, who co-founded the bank in 1995. The firm advised African Minerals Ltd. on a stake sale to China Railway Materials Corp. this week and Moscow-based United Co. Rusal Ltd. on its share offering to Chinese billionaire Li Ka-shing in April.
Two Chinese banks have announced that they are willing to finance three mega-projects in Mozambique totalling 165 million U.S. dollars. This was disclosed during a meeting with the Mozambican Prime-minister, who is on a five day official visit to China. Of this amount, 65 million will be disbursed by the Export-Import Bank of China, whose vice president Zhu Hongjie said that it is earmarked for the second and final phase of Maputo International Airport upgrade, to begin later this year. For his part, the president of the Chinese Bank for Development, Jiang Chaoling, revealed that his institution will disburse a sum of 80 million US dollars for the construction of a new cement plant in the central province of Sofala, with capacity to produce 500,000 tonnes per year.
A Chinese firm will construct a $12.5 million cement factory in Lindi, south of Dar es Salaam, starting this September. With a capacity of 300,000 metric tonnes per annum, the factory is expected to strengthen Tanzania's position as a cement supplier in East Africa. The firm's country representative, Feng Hu said in a telephone interview last week that Lee Building Materials Ltd will specialise in white cement, which is not produced in abundance locally. Tanzania's cement production stands at three million metric tonnes per annum against a local demand of over 2.1 million tonnes.
The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) has donated computers and other office equipment with a value of 100,000 U.S. dollars to the National Council for Women of Egypt (NCW) in Cairo. This donation is part of the exchange activities between women in China and Africa, which was enhanced by the Women's Forum of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in Cairo last October and attended by delegations from nearly 30 African countries and China. The Chinese ambassador to Egypt Wu Chunhua, on behalf of the Chinese government, submitted the donations to the NCW in a ceremony at the council's headquarters.
Ghana's agricultural industry will receive $100 million from the World Bank this year to fund projects aimed at boosting production in the West African nation. The money, which may be handed out in July, will be used for road-building in farming communities, irrigation projects and farm equipment, said Gladys Ghartey, director of the World Bank unit at the Accra-based Finance Ministry. The Washington-based World Bank had initially planned to give $50 million over three years to 2011 to Ghana's agricultural industry, Ghartey said in an interview on June 18. The increased funding comes because the projects “are in line with the government's medium-term plan of developing the commercial agricultural base," she said. Ghana is the world's second-biggest cocoa producer, after neighbouring Ivory Coast. It exports small amounts of other produce including pineapples, coffee and sheanuts.
Pan-African bank Ecobank has teamed up with Accion International to launch a microfinance operation to serve the Cameroonian market. The joint firm, called EB-ACCION Microfinance, will offer micro credit, savings products, micro-insurance and money transfer facilities to unbanked Cameroonians. EB-Accion aims to attract 83,000 account holders with total deposits of US$36mn within its first five years of operations. In the same period, the company plans to extend loans worth US$37mn to 33,000 borrowers. A staff strength of around 50 Cameroonians has been recruited and will be supervised by a team of senior managers, including Accion experts.
The Elsevier Foundation has announced that it has awarded the 2010 New Scholars grant to the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSDW), formerly the Third World Organization for Women in Science (TWOWS) - for two programs: the National Assessments and Benchmarking of Gender, Science, Technology and Innovation and the OWSDW Awards for Young Women Scientists 2011. The $177,000 grant was announced at the OWSDW 4th General Assembly and International Conference, Women Scientists in a Changing World, hosted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Beijing. The OWSDW National Assessments and Benchmarking of Gender, Science, Technology and Innovation will undertake a seven country assessment in collaboration with WIGSAT (Women, Technology, Society) to provide a picture of the level of support, opportunities and participation of women in innovation systems in developed, emerging and developing countries. A series of policy recommendations will then be developed on the basis of the data analysis and future assessments, for defining and achieving national targets for women's participation in countries with highly accelerated growth in the research arena. The study will cover: China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, the US and Europe. A 2009 Elsevier Foundation New Scholars grant enabled the OWSDW Awards for Young Women Scientists to expand the existing award program from four prizes (one per developing world region) to twelve (three discipline-specific grants per region). The 2010 prizes were announced on June 27th at the OWSDW 4th General Assembly meeting in Beijing and awarded by Xi Jinping, Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China and David Ruth, the Executive Director of the Elsevier Foundation. The 2010 Elsevier Foundation New Scholars grant will also ensure that the OWSDW Awards for Young Women Scientists will be continued in 2011, ensuring that talented young women scientists from the developing world continue to be recognized for their achievements. Targeting the attrition of talented women scientists in the academic pipeline, past Elsevier Foundation New Scholars projects have aimed to support women scholars during the early stages of their demanding careers in science and technology. They have ranged from mentoring to advocacy, basic research to dual career travel and recruiting grants, lactation centers, childcare at professional meetings and work-life balance workshops.
Bharti Airtel, the company that acquired the African operations of Zain for $10.7billion, is pumping $200million to expand its operations in Ghana. It reiterated its long-term commitment to Ghana and contribute to the growth of the telecommunications sector by providing “affordable services that touch the common man". The company also plans to introduce its Corporate Social Responsibility programme in Ghana under which it will set up schools that offer free quality education to underprivileged children in rural areas.
The jobless rate for Blacks ages 16 and older hovered at 15.4 percent last month, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly the same as May when Black unemployment hit an all-time high of 15.5 percent. The jobless rate represents the percentage of the working-age population that's unemployed. To be officially counted as unemployed, a person must not have had a job and have been actively searching for work the previous month. The economy is showing signs of recovery for some groups, but not for Blacks and Latinos who were most hurt by the financial crisis. In its latest "Work in the Black Community" report, University of California, Berkeley's Center for Labor Research and Education found June's double-digit unemployment rate for Blacks—who represent nearly 14 percent of the U.S. population—as being far worse than for whites, who saw a decline in joblessness: from 8.8 percent in May to 8.6 percent last month. Although teen employment rates are "extremely volatile from month to month," say the report's authors, the jump in unemployed Black teens—those between the ages of 16 and 19—is alarming. In June, the number hit a staggering 39.9 percent, up from 38 percent in May, compared with a 23.2 percent and 24.4 percent jobless rate, respectively, for whites. When broken down by gender, Black male teens were hardest hit, with an unemployment rate of 43.2 percent, up 7.8 percentage points from 35.4 percent in May. The Black female teen unemployment rate dropped from a high of 40.1 percent in May to 36.5 percent in June. Black men of all ages experienced a higher jobless rate. In June, their unemployment rate hit 18.4 percent, up from 17.8 percent the previous month, versus 9.5 percent for white men for the past two months. Black womenof all ages experienced a slight increase in unemployment in June, moving to 13.5 percent from 12.4 percent in May. Joblessness for white women of all ages, on the other hand, dropped from 8 percent in May to 7.6 percent in June—more than 2 percentage points below the national average.
The West Africa Agricultural Investment Fund (“WAAIF") and Injaro Investments Limited (“Injaro") have announced the First Closing of the first ever West African fund focused on investing in indigenous seed production companies. The initial investors in the fund are The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the Lundin For Africa Society, a Vancouver-based foundation. The launch of this fund will provide capital that is desperately needed by West Africa's critical but nascent seed production industry. The sole purpose of WAAIF is to provide high quality seeds to smallholder farmers in West Africa, thereby improving income and quality of life. Direct investment in local seed companies will allow West African enterprises, working with local public crop breeders and local farmers, to act as a catalyst for prosperity amongst smallholder farmers. WAAIF is the first fund of its kind in West Africa: targeted specifically at promoting the growth of small- and medium-sized African seed companies through long-term loans provided at reasonable rates. WAAIF will thus fill a critical funding gap in West African agricultural development—financing for its seriously underdeveloped and undercapitalized seed sector. Across West Africa there are around 20 small-to-medium sized seed companies, compared to over 50 in East and Southern Africa and the hundreds that operate in Europe or in the United States. To help fill this gap, WAAIF will initially operate in five countries—Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria. Africa's plant breeders have begun developing high yielding, locally-adapted seed that would enable farmers to double or triple their yields, said Joseph DeVries, director of AGRA's Seeds Programme. In addition to capital investment, Injaro and AGRA will provide business development services, including continual advice on issues like seed production, storage, and distribution and seed company management. Distributors will also be trained on the appropriate use of seeds and other inputs such as fertilizer, to ensure the most efficient, safe and environmentally sound use of all. WAAIF will seek to actively involve women as entrepreneurs, workers, and smallholder farmers. Women make up the majority of Africa's smallholder farmers and have the greatest impact on the livelihood of their families, yet face many impediments to education, training and access to finance.
US firm Merck & Co has entered into a five-year strategic partnership with South Africa's second-largest pharmaceutical company, Adcock Ingram, to jointly promote and distribute their products in the country. The products include over-the-counter products and selected prescription medicines currently registered in South Africa by MSD (the name used by Merck outside the USA) and Schering-Plough, a subsidiary of Merck. Merck expects emerging markets to account for more than 25% of its global pharmaceutical and vaccine revenue by 2013, based on the implementation of the company's emerging markets strategy. Adcock Ingram and MSD have been working together successfully in South Africa for a number of years. The collaboration between MSD and Adcock will be managed by a joint operating committee consisting of management members of both companies.
An experienced South African team of developers, financiers, professional designers, engineers and contractors are involved in the development of a new US$40-million regional shopping centre – set to feature several South African retail stores – in the Malawian capital of Lilongwe. The 18,000 square metre development is financed by the Malawi Property Investment Company (MPICO), the National Bank of Malawi and two major financial institutions, while the group of South African experts will manage the development and construction of the project – set to commence at the end of June. The South African architects on the project are leading SA retail architects, Stauch Vorster, who have in-depth experience in major retail centre design throughout Africa. They are partnered with local architects Kanjere and Associates. MPICO's instruction to the development managers, following a detailed market research study, was to create a regional centre, the first in Malawi, with institutional investment grade finishes of a standard comparable with those used in similar centres in South Africa. The centre will accommodate some 80 retail outlets anchored by a major South African national food retailer – reported in the press as Pick n Pay – who will occupy 3 500 square meters in a strategic position within the mall so as to ensure maximum exposure for each of the other tenants.
Transnet has secured a loan of up to US$400-million (over R3-billion) from the African Development Bank to revitalise and expand South Africa's rail infrastructure, as part of a five-year, R93-billion capital investment programme that will improve regional integration and lower the cost of doing business in the country. In a statement, the Bank said the loan would help Transnet to "revitalise and expand vital rail infrastructure" and thus to stimulate trade and boost sustainable economic growth. It also aims to support local suppliers and increase their competitiveness, the Bank said. The Bank said the loan would go towards financing Transnet Rail's capitalised maintenance plan, which forms part of Transnet's capital investment programme. The project is well-aligned to South Africa's national priorities and the Bank's country assistance, regional integration, and the private sector strategies. The Bank added that its participation Transnet's investment programme would provide direct support for infrastructure development, which was a key focal area for the institution. By improving the South African transportation network, regional trade and integration will be facilitated.
The World Bank has approved financing in the amount of US$44.7 million from the International Development Association (IDA) to the Government of Ghana as additional funding for the ongoing eGhana Project. The original eGhana Project of US$40 million was approved in 2006 to support the Ghana Information Communication Technology (ICT) for Accelerated Development Program. The overall objective of the eGhana Project is to assist the Government of Ghana to generate growth and employment by leveraging ICT for growth and development. The Project consists of three main components which seek to: (i) create the enabling environment necessary for the growth of the sector; (ii) support local ICT Businesses and IT enabled services (ITES); and (iii) promote e-Government applications and Government Communications. The proposal for additional financing is in response to the Government of Ghanas request to bring revenue and expenditure management agencies under a uniform ICT platform, and create an enhanced project impact through inclusion of scaled-up activities for more effective, transparent and accountable government. Additional resources will also go towards the establishment of a Business Process Offshoring Center to position Ghana as a destination of choice for IT business. This additional financing brings in positive synergistic advantages in Ghana, arising from the introduction of an electronic platform for the Ghana Revenue Authority as part of the overall public revenue and expenditure management system in Ghana, says Ishac Diwan, the World Bank Country Director for Ghana. It also ensures that access to electronic services can be decentralized at the District Levels, and that Ghana truly becomes a destination of choice for business. This additional funding extends the original timeline by two years, and will end on June 30, 2014. It involves co-financing arrangements with DFID and the European Union in respect of the fourth component of Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).
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