Connecting Africa’s Skilled Professionals
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More employers are looking to hire staff as employment confidence has reached its highest level since 2008, according to the CIPD’s Labour Market Outlook (LMO) survey. CIPD survey results show that the jobs market has continued to grow for six consecutive quarters in a row, signalling good news for jobseekers and government ministers alike. The net employment balance — the difference between the proportion of employers who expect to increase and reduce staff numbers — has risen from +9 in the spring, to +14 in the latest LMO, published in association with Success Factors. The private sector continues to show positive growth in hiring activity after reaching a record high in June this year, up from +21 to +26 this summer. For the first time in this year, the public sector has seen a slight improvement at -25 compared to -31 reported in May, but the balance remains negative as employers expect further job cuts. Turnover has declined steadily across most sectors since the 2008 financial crisis, according to this year’s CIPD Resourcing and Talent Planning survey, released in partnership with Hays Resourcing, and competition to recruit remains high. Employers are responding by investing in more flexible and innovative ways to recruit and retain employees. Despite increased openings in the labour market, wage growth is not expected to accelerate significantly and pay remains below the rate of inflation. Among the 1,034 senior HR professionals planning a pay review this year, the average settlement for basic pay (excluding bonuses) is anticipated to be unchanged from the previous quarter, at 1.7 per cent.
This year Commonwealth Writers turns its focus solely on the Commonwealth Short Story Prize as a unique award. The short story is an accessible form for writers across the Commonwealth who are able to enter from countries where there is little or no publishing industry, as well as being able to enter stories translated into English. The 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize judging panel will be chaired by Ellah Allfrey, Deputy Chair of the Council of the Caine Prize, and previously Deputy Editor of Granta and Senior Editor at Jonathan Cape, Random House. The panel reflects the five regions of the Commonwealth: Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize will receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives £5,000. Translators of winning stories will receive additional prize money. Commonwealth Writers is delighted to continue its partnership with Granta Magazine to give the overall and regional winners of the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize the opportunity to have their story edited and published by Granta online. This year Commonwealth Writers is pleased to announce a new association with the London-based literary and media agency Blake Friedmann, who will work with selected writers identified through the Prize. Entry is via the online application form:
www.commonwealthwriters/prizes. The closing date is 30 November 2013.
Banks and other top companies in the UK’s financial sector will be forced to implement quotas for women on boards under plans being devised by City regulators. The move, to satisfy a new EU directive, will call for a nomination committee in large firms to decide on “a target for the representation of the underrepresented gender on the management body”. The quotas will be set internally and apply to the largest financial institutions. But all companies in the sector will be obligated to outline a comprehensive diversity strategy regarding boardroom appointments. This will affect up to 2,400 banks, building societies and investment companies that are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (the successor to the FSA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority. The regulators are currently running a consultation on how to implement the new rules, known as CRD IV. While the requirement only applies to financial institutions at the moment, it may be a taste of things to come for other large businesses. The UK government is against blanket mandatory gender quotas that have been mooted by the EU to address a lack of women on the boards of large companies. But the coalition is pushing for FTSE 100 firms to voluntarily fill 25 per cent of their boardroom seats with women by 2015. Currently, the figure stands at 17.4 per cent.
Organisations face losing their most valuable female employees because they are just as likely as men to want to set up their own businesses to achieve a better work-life balance. This is the message from Inspiring female entrepreneurs, the second in a three-part series of CIPD reports about entrepreneurial practices. According to the report, there are already 1.25 million self-employed women, but many more want to leave corporate life because they are prevented from working in a way that gives them autonomy and flexibility. According to Dianah Worman, the CIPD’s public policy adviser, the drivers motivating women to set up on their own are a desire for more autonomy and the need for greater work-life balance and flexible working. Employers need to act out of self-interest to broaden the pools of talent available to them and ensure they do not lose out on the skills, energy and passion women can bring to their workplaces. Since 2008 there has been a 19 per cent growth in female entrepreneurs in the UK, compared to a 4 per cent rise in male entrepreneurs over same period. This number is in addition to the 2.4 million women who are not currently working, but would like to. Although the report acknowledged that a leakage of women from businesses would be beneficial to the overall economy – to the tune of an extra 10 per cent in GDP by 2030 if current trends continue – Worman said employers have much to gain by creating the conditions that help them stay and thrive in the corporate setting rather than going it alone. The CIPD’s report also revealed that passion, a strong desire for equality and anunhappiness with gender pay gaps and glass ceilings made women better leaders when they did go it alone.
More than 2.2 million working mothers in the UK are now the primary ‘breadwinners’ in their household, a new report has revealed. This is a rise of 1 million since 1996/97 – which means that almost one in three of all working mothers with dependent children now provide the main source of income for their family. This is because they either earn more than their partner, or represent the sole income for their household. The study, by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), also found that mothers with degrees were more likely to be breadwinners than lower skilled mothers. Over one-third of mothers with a degree level qualification earned more than their partner, compared to just over a quarter of mothers without a degree. The report added that breadwinning by young mothers aged 16 to 24 had risen sharply in the recent poor economic climate, increasing by more than five percentage points to 16 per cent since 2007/08. But the IPPR warned that working mums still faced “significant barriers” to entering and remaining in work, including a lack of flexible work opportunities, unaffordable childcare and gendered parental leave entitlements based on outdated stereotypes.
The majority of the country’s “driven and ambitious” GCSE students have already chosen a career path, new research has suggested. The findings come as 600,000 teenagers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland collected their GCSE results earlier this year. However, KPMG’s latest study revealed that 70 per cent of GCSE pupils had already decided on their career, and that one-quarter would like to run their own company. When selecting a career path, obtaining a competitive salary was the most important priority for 66 per cent of respondents, compared to helping people (35 per cent). Six in ten of the 300 GCSE students polled would also only pick a job that could accommodate a good work-life balance. Just 35 per cent were keen that the company they worked for was socially responsible. In a worrying result for some sectors, many respondents wanted to focus on creative skill sets, with only 7 per cent predicting that numerical and analytical skills would be needed by employers in thirty years’ time. KPMG said that employers should take advantage of the entrepreneurial drive exhibited by these future workers. Meanwhile, official figures revealed an annual drop in the number of NEETs in the UK – people aged 16 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training. There were 1.09 million young people classified as NEETs in the quarter from January to March 2013, down 104,000 from a year earlier.
The UK will need another three-quarter of a million digitally skilled workers by 2017, research from O2 has found. More technologically minded employees will be needed to satisfy growth potential in the digital sector, the telecommunications giant said. According to O2’s study, this demand for skills presents particular opportunities for young people, as more than one-fifth (up to 182,000) of the jobs needed to support economic growth will be ideally suited to the current generation of digitally-savvy youngsters. O2’s research also suggested that greater collaboration between the public and private sectors could see another 100,000 jobs created, in addition to the projected three-quarter of a million roles. The report said that existing government initiatives designed to boost the digital economy were expected to generate output worth £7 billion per year by 2017, but there was potential to produce a further £4 billion annually. The study also recommended greater co-operation between government and employers to improve awareness of digital careers amongst young people. And it urged businesses to get more involved with the delivery of digital skills education in schools and offer young people work experience. The O2 research was based on an analysis from the firm Development Economics, which used econometric modelling to identify and predict the UK economy’s digital skills needs over the next five years.
Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond has launched the ScotGrad scheme, with £3.4 million funding over the next three years from the SME Growth Programme. The Scotland-wide ScotGrad programme matches skilled graduates with ambitious growing Scottish businesses to undertake innovative projects which the companies would otherwise not be able to progress. ScotGrad is a Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise programme delivered in partnership with Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (Scotland), Scottish Government, Skills Development Scotland and Scottish Funding Council. Supported projects are designed to benefit the company's growth plan, with graduates undertaking projects to design and develop a new product, adapt products for overseas markets, introduce new processes and systems for the company, undertake marketing and market research, create new websites or online presence for the company, target new international markets, and productivity improvements for business benefit. The host company is responsible for paying their placement's salary. This is set at a minimum rate of £16,000 per year, pro rata, with a maximum project length of one year. Through the programme, ScotGrad carry out the initial placement advertising and can assist with screening and short-listing should the business require it. Free training is included for the graduate. Funding may be available subject to the programme criteria that apply in the employer's specific location. The programme is open to all businesses and social enterprises. Applications may be made at any time. Visit the ScotGrad website for further information.
The Scottish Government has established the £6 million Enterprise Ready Fund to help maintain, develop and grow Scotland’s enterprising third sector. The fund, which will run from 2013 to 2015, will provide grants of up to £250,000 to support the long-term development objectives of new, emerging, developing and established enterprising third sector organisations with an annual income of less than £5 million. Funding will go to those enterprising third sector organisations that demonstrate the greatest potential for sustainability and growth and for which an Enterprise Ready Fund grant will have the greatest impact in enabling them to move forward with their plans. Priority will be given to activities that contribute towards the Scottish Government’s Prevention and Welfare Reform Agendas. Funding will not cover working capital or general running costs of organisations or services nor will it cover activities supported with a grant from a previous Scottish Government programme. Organisations should aim to apply as early as possible once they can show that their projects are ready to be implemented immediately. This is a rolling programme to which applicants may apply at any time before the single final deadline. The deadlines for application are:2 December 2013 for Category 3 (Small Grant Investment of £10,000 to £25,000) and16 June 2014 for Categories 1 (New and Emerging Organisations) and 2 (Established Organisations).
More than a third of line managers have not been trained in how to supervise people creating relationship and culture problems, according to CIPD research. The institute’s survey, titled ‘Real-life leaders: closing the knowledge-doing gap’, revealed that 24 per cent of managers are often forced to put the interests of their organisation above the interests and well-being of their team with damaging results. In addition, managers are under pressure to deal with more immediate task oriented priorities ahead of people management issues. The research showed that employers’ efforts to foster positive manager behaviours are being undermined by the lack of a consistent message of what organisations expect of managers. And, more than a quarter of companies admitted HR had not taken any action when they have received poor feedback on line managers. However, managers who prioritise healthy employee relationships can help drive high performance working rather than undermining it through poor practices. Following the recent culture crises in public health and banking, the CIPD has urged businesses to strengthen support for line managers with robust training and by clarifying their managerial roles and expectations, assessment processes, and incentives. The findings are a wake-up call for businesses to re-align the systems and structures in place in their organisations to support leadership development, says the CIPD, noting that nearly half (48 per cent) confessed that individuals were promoted into managerial roles based on their performance record rather than people management or leadership skills.
A fifth of UK workers predict that they will never be able to completely stop working, according to research from HSBC. Retirement prospects were even worse for people who lived alone – with 36 per cent expecting to work indefinitely, compared to 20 per cent globally. HSBC surveyed 16,000 people in 15 countries – including 1,050 respondents in the UK – for its report, The Future of Retirement. It found that people’s expectations of a work-free retirement dwindled as they got older – with 20 per cent of 55- to 64-year-olds expecting to continue working indefinitely, compared with 15 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds. The study also suggested that UK workers who did eventually retire might not be able to maintain the lifestyle that they wanted. Half of those surveyed in the UK who had already retired reported that they have been unable to realise their plans because they had less money to live on than they had envisaged. Two-fifths said that financially, they had not prepared adequately or “at all” for a comfortable retirement. But only 2 per cent of these respondents said that they were prepared to go back to work to make up the financial shortfall – compared to 44 per cent in the other countries polled. The global picture also revealed that while many people around the world would be forced to work longer than they had planned, a significant proportion looked forward to working in later life. One-quarter of international respondents said that they wanted to start their own business in retirement, compared to just 7 per cent of Britons.
Performance management provides exceptional value for just three per cent of organisations, a global survey has revealed. Employers know that talent offers a competitive advantage in business but say that establishing effective performance management remains a challenge, according to Mercer’s 2013 Global Performance Management Survey. The research, with leaders at 1,050 organisations in 53 countries, showed that more than a quarter of organisations in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region have substantially changed their performance management process within the last year. This is not surprising given that 58 per cent of managers were deemed ‘marginally skilled in providing career development coaching and direction’, by survey respondents, and, only 7 per cent of managers were felt to be ‘highly skilled at having candid dialogued with their direct reports about performance’. Roughly one in three organisations worldwide said improving managers’ ability to have candid dialogue with employees has the greatest impact on overall company performance.” The research also found that no region or country can claim it leads on performance management best practice. In general, organisations in Asia Pacific are more likely to have tools, guidelines, and metrics in place compared to those in Europe that typically place more emphasis on career development in their pay-for-performance policies. According to Mercer, even though there is a lot of talk about workforce segmentation and innovative performance management practices, few effectively support dynamic performance and career development processes, and a minority of companies has made revisions to their practices in the last few years.
UK-based, non-governmental, not-for-profit organisations working to reduce poverty in developing countries will get a £120 million boost over the next three year thanks to a UK Government match funding scheme. Through UK Aid Match, the Department for International Development (DFID) will match pound for pound public donations to appeals made by not-for-profit organisations for work that is carried out in developing countries to reduce poverty. It is not necessary to be a registered charity to apply. UK Aid Match is open to any UK based not-for-profit organisation running an appeal in the UK for public donations from the UK public for projects which reduce poverty in developing countries. The appeal must be promoted through a communications partner, and be expected to achieve a minimum of 400,000 opportunities for the general public to view information about the appeal, in addition to any direct communications with regular supporters. Organisations must have a reasonable expectation of raising at least £100,000 in public donations. DFID will match all donations from the public to the appeal, up to a maximum of £5 million per appeal, providing that the UK Aid Match funding is no more than 40% of the organisation’s annual income. There will be two funding rounds in each of the next three years, with up to £20 million available in each round. Any uncommitted funding will be rolled forward to future funding rounds. At least £1 million per funding round has been set aside for small organisations with an annual income of less than £1 million (averaged over the last three years). Some of the organisations benefitting from this scheme include: Action Against Hunger to improve access to food and nutrition for people in Niger, Burkina Faso and Liberia; Islam Relief to improve food security by improving livelihoods, water and sanitation and climate change adaptation in Niger, Bangladesh, Kenya, Yemen, and Pakistan; Retrak to help street children in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda to rebuild their lives, receive education and develop livelihood skills. There is a two stage application process. Applicants must first submit a concept note. Those who are successful at the concept note stage will be invited to submit a full application. The full application and assessment process is expected to take 18 weeks.
The Social Investment Business Group (SIB) has launched a new type of social investment called Local Impact Funds. Local Impact Funds are a new type of social investment model that will bring national investors, like the SIB Group and Big Society Capital, together with local investors such as local authorities, community foundations and individuals, to provide funding and support to local charities and social enterprises. Local Impact Funds will be led by local sector bodies and will bring together local and national partners and investors to provide tailored support for charities and social enterprises throughout their investment journey; from investment readiness support and mentoring to help them to develop their business plans, to loans and other investment products to help them scale up, develop assets and grow. The funds are designed to work closely with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), which will distribute EU funds from 2014, so that the money could potentially form part of the investment mix. SIB Group is investing £2 million to support a pilot fund in Liverpool and another one in Northamptonshire. A broad partnership of local and national organisations have joined together to support the initiative. Further information can be found on the SIB Group website
As many as 10 million people are professionally unfulfilled in the UK which is behind low employee productivity, an international survey on job satisfaction has found. Britain’s workers are amongst the least satisfied in Europe and the English-speaking world, according to survey of 45,000 employees conducted by recruitment firm Randstad over three years. The report on the findings, called Fulfilment@Work, revealed that British workers have had the lowest satisfaction scores in nine out of the past 13 quarters when compared to their European peers including France and Germany – and nine out of the last 11 quarters in English speaking countries. When asked “how satisfied are you with your current employer”, in quarter three of 2013, 67 per cent of British workers said they were satisfied, compared with 68 per cent in France and Germany and 73 per cent and 74 per cent in The Netherlands and Belgium respectively. Poor levels of job satisfaction and professional fulfilment drive up absenteeism affecting the bottom line, the report said, with average costs of absence estimated to be £975 per employee per year. Across the UK, roughly 160 million working days a year are lost due to absence from the workplace with the total direct cost to the economy now standing at £14bn. The report said that job satisfaction (as well as commitment and work-life balance) also has an important effect on levels of engagement and intention to quit. In addition, high staff turnover in an organisation makes it more likely that employees will feel dissatisfied with their job. To counter this the report recommended that employers increase job variety, individual autonomy and recruit more women, and younger and older staff – who have higher rates of professional fulfilment. This would boost overall job satisfaction and, therefore, profits, it said.
EDF Energy and the Crown Prosecution Service were among the winners at this year's Race for Opportunity Awards for diversity and inclusion. The accolades, given by Business in the Community, recognised organisations seen to be leading the way in unlocking the talent potential and business opportunities of having a diverse workforce. EDF Energy picked up the employee network award for its Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Network, which has substantially grown its membership and developed a pilot mentoring scheme for BAME engineers and scientists. The Crown Prosecution Service was recognised with the developing talent award for its work in widening the talent pool of potential future BAME leaders, while the recruiting diverse talent award went to Teach First for its graduate recruitment diversity strategy. Meanwhile, the future workforce gongs were awarded to Homes for Haringey in the public sector and Rare in the private sector. Homes for Haringey won for its Project 2020, which aimed to decrease the number of NEETs in the London borough through skills training and apprenticeships. The judges selected Rare for its Articles Programme – a cross-industry collaboration to support BAME students committed to a career in commercial law. Transport for London won the collaboration and partnership award for its work in helping unemployed Londoners into sustainable employment in its supply chain. The transparency, monitoring and action award went to the Home Office for its employment monitoring programme, which linked workforce diversity information into HR processes at the highest level. The champion award was presented to Paul Cleal, the head of government and public sector at PwC, for his role in establishing the company’s Multicultural Business Network, implementing diversity monitoring and supporting sponsors for high potentials from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Equity Bank and Airtel Kenya have entered into a partnership that will offer comprehensive mobile commerce solutions to their customers in Kenya, through Airtel Money. The service, available to all Equity Bank customers with Airtel lines, will enable customers from both Airtel and Equity Bank to access Airtel mobile banking platforms, perform agency cash transactions at Equity Bank branches and also enable Airtel services customers to withdraw money at any Equity Bank countrywide. Airtel Money will also enable customers to pay their utility bills, receive bank transaction alerts, check account balance and receive mini statements, among other services. Airtel Money is fast becoming the preferred way of sending and receiving money across the Kenya and the region with customers widely using to pay utility bills such as electricity, water and pay-television subscriptions. The process is fully automated and reflects in real time providing customers with a faster and more secure mode of carrying out their transactions. Airtel ventured into the local mobile commerce business two years ago and now has a vast dealer network of more than 10,000 agents which include banks, bank agents, supermarket chains and Posta outlets. The partnership with Equity Bank will also help drive mobile money adoption in sub-Saharan Africa where Airtel Money has expanded to 16 operating countries and demand for provision of convenient financial transaction processing services for governments, corporations and institutions across is rising.
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group) have approved US $43.27 million (UA 28.845 million) to finance Sierra Leone’s Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project, which aims to increase access to water and sanitation in the rural areas of the country. The overall goal of the project is to contribute to the Sierra Leone’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Agenda for Prosperity and achievement of the water supply, sanitation and hygiene targets set out in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The project’s specific objective is to: (i) increase sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation in rural areas, and (ii) develop a comprehensive national framework for rural water supply and sanitation investments. The project will benefit an estimated 625,000 rural Sierra Leoneans, and result in nine percentage points increase in safe water coverage, including restored access, and at least six percentage points increase in improved sanitation coverage, besides a better managed sector and improved knowledge, attitudes and practices of the primary beneficiaries.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has unveiled a modernised customs management system that will reduce the cost of doing business with South Africa, boost the country's competitiveness and exports, and promote intra-African trade. The new system has already been implemented and that early indications are that it had more than halved the time it takes to move goods across South Africa's borders. The new automated customs management system centralises the clearing of all import and exports declarations using a single processing engine, replacing a multiplicity of older systems involving paper-based, manual administrative processes. The new system will also curb cross-border corruption, while enabling Sars to detect false declarations automatically and so to increase its revenue. The use of paper for end-to-end processing and declarations will be reduced by up to 95% as declarations are digitised. Supporting documentation will no longer be required, except in the case of a risk identification, and mobile inspections using iPads will be introduced. Under the previous system, it took customs officials between four and eight hours to inspect goods. Now, physical inspections will take an average of two hours. Gordhan said the new system was in line with the requirements of the National Development Plan (NDP), which stresses the importance of lowering the cost of doing business, improving exports, and linking up with other economies.
Kenyans last year transacted more than Sh1.5 trillion using mobile money transfer services like M-pesa and Airtel Money, Central Bank statistics show. The financial stability report released by CBK shows that mobile phone money transfer services grew by 31.5 per cent in the value of transactions on the back of growth in the number of agents. The number of agents rose by 52.4 per cent to stand at 76,912 up from 50,471 as competitors rolled out more outlets. In the period, the number of users rose 9.9 per cent to stand at 21.1 million, up from 19.2 million. The platforms moved about 575 million money transfer messages worth Sh1.53 trillion representing an increase of 32.8 per cent and 31.5 per cent in volume and value respectively compared to 2011. But the value of transaction per user declined to Sh2,672 down from 2,700 in 2011 reflecting increased small value transactions probably to support more people faced with economic difficulties in 2012. Safaricom's M-pesa service is the most popular in the country with more 16 million Kenyans now using it. Airtel has however kicked off a vigorous campaign to grow the use of its mobile money service Airtel Money. Other mobile services are offered by Orange and Yu.
The Republic of Tanzania has received endorsement from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) for an investment plan which will help the country to scale-up the development of its abundant renewable energy resources. The plan is designed to transform the country’s energy sector, shifting from its increasing dependence on fossil fuels and climate-sensitive hydro resources to a more diversified energy mix making use of the country’s abundant, reliable and cost efficient geothermal and solar resources. The plan will be funded by US $50 million from the CIF’s Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Program in Low-Income Countries (SREP) and the balance from the African Development Bank (AfDB), World Bank, Government, private sector, commercial sources and other development partners. It features a geothermal development component and a renewable energy for rural electrification component. The geothermal development component, which is expected to receive US $25 million from SREP and US $45 million support from the AfDB, will catalyze development of more than 100 MW of geothermal power, principally by the private sector, and will establish an enabling environment for large-scale geothermal development. The renewable energy for rural electrification component will seek to: (i) build an efficient and responsive development infrastructure for renewable energy-based rural electrification and (ii) demonstrate its effectiveness by supporting a time-slice of private-sector investments in off-grid electricity enterprises. It is expected that SREP Tanzania will have a transformative impact on the country by supporting low carbon development pathways through reducing energy poverty and increasing energy security.
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a financing package consisting of US $120 million multi-sector line of credit (LOC) and US $30 million subordinated debt to The Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB). This financing package will allow MCB to increase its foreign currency lending to medium- and large-sized enterprises operating in Mauritius, neighbouring countries and mainland Africa, thereby enhancing sustainable and inclusive growth through private sector development in the region. MCB Group is the largest financial institution in Mauritius with over US $7 billion in total assets and around US $940 million in shareholders’ funds. It has a 175-year-old history and is a respected regional financial institution, with subsidiaries in Madagascar, Mozambique, Seychelles and Maldives as well as presence in Reunion and Mayotte through its associate while having representative offices in Paris and Johannesburg. MCB’s continental portfolio straddles several countries in mainland Africa. The proposed facility is aligned with Mauritius’ 2012-2015 Government Strategy which aims to increase and diversify private sector and financial sector development. Ultimately, this package is expected to have positive impacts on private sector development and job creation alongside increasing taxes and government revenues across the continent, particularly in Eastern and Southern Africa. Additionally, proceeds of the financial package will benefit projects that have high development outcomes and promote regional integration.
Africa continues to increase its investor allure, with South Africa still the continent's most attractive investment destination, now closely followed by Nigeria, according Rand Merchant Bank's (RMB's) latest Where to Invest in Africa report. Nigeria moved from third to second place in RMB's report and is "close on the heels of South Africa", RMB said in a statement, adding that Nigeria could overtake South Africa in the next two to four years "or even sooner" depending on its rate of economic growth. Another notable change in RMB's latest rankings is Ghana's climb up the rankings, from 10th in 2007 to 4th in 2013, despite being economically one-fifth the size of continental giants South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt. While continued political unrest counted against Egypt, RMB said, the country's sizeable market, large population and decent operating environment should support increased investment once tensions subsided. Of the 52 countries surveyed, 42 showed improved investor attractiveness, RMB said, with the biggest improvements coming from some of the continent's most troubled countries, notably Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Congo, Mauritania and Liberia. Backsliders over the last year included Algeria, Angola and Equitorial Guinea, while, over the last decade, 41 countries improved their attractiveness and only three - Equatorial Guinea, Swaziland and Zimbabwe - deteriorated. RMB's report gauges investment attractiveness using three factors: market size (GDP), economic growth (GDP forecasts for the next five years), and operating environment. As a supplementary ranking, the report also considers the effect of regional affiliation on countries' economic attractiveness. In terms of this regional methodology, South Africa is ranked third, "underscoring its importance as a gateway into Africa", Rwanda climbs to second spot, and Mauritius comes first based on its access to broader markets within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa). However, RMB notes, African countries still have a way to go in order to compete with the most attractive investment destinations worldwide, with China and the US topping the overall list and only two African countries - South Africa at 33rd and Nigeria at 38th - making the top 40.
South Africa is home to Africa's two top-ranked universities, including the only African university to be ranked in the top 200 in the world, according to the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings. Quacquarelli Symonds, a British education research company, released its university rankings for 2013/14. According to the rankings, the University of Cape Town is Africa's top university, moving up nine places to 145 from 154 last year. The country's second-highest ranked institution, Wits University in Johannesburg, improved by a huge 50 positions to 313. The next-highest ranked African university is the American University of Cairo at 348, up by 44 places from 392 last year. The University of Cape Town (UCT) currently has 416 National Research Foundation (NRF)-rated researchers, including 33 A-rated scientists. Wits University has 16 A-rated scientists and around about 250 NRF-rated scientists. Some of South Africa's other universities were also ranked: the University of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape at 387, the University of Pretoria in Gauteng in the 471-480 range, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in the 501-550 range. Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape was rated between 551-600, while the University of Johannesburg was ranked for the first time, falling in the 601-650 range. South Africa currently ranks 11th in the world for attracting international students. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), the country hosted around 61 000 international students in 2009, two-thirds of whom came from countries in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). UCT has some 26 000 students, 4 500 of whom come from 104 countries. Over half of their enrolments consist of black students, while just over half comprise women. Competition for entry into UCT is high - every year it receives 26 000 applications for just 4 000 first-year placings. The university is home to more than a quarter of South Africa's A-rated researchers - academics who are considered world leaders in their fields, as ranked by the National Research Foundation of South Africa. It also has 32 of the 152 national chairs awarded under the SA Research Chairs Initiative, established by the Department of Science and Technology and managed by the National Research Foundation, to build scientific research and innovation capacity in South Africa. QS has been ranking universities for the past nine years, and this year assessed more than 3000 universities, ranking 800 of them.
Chad will embark on an ambitious plan to eliminate food insecurity and boost progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in this Sahelian country where up to 25 percent of the population face the risk of going hungry and more than a third of children are chronically malnourished. Deployed over a period of three years, the USD 1 billion scheme will bring together government and local and international development actors to identify bottlenecks and practical solutions to tackle food security over time. The objective is to cut the country’s malnutrition rate in half and reduce the percentage of the population suffering from chronic hunger to less than twenty one per cent by 2015. Consistent with Chad’s National Development Plan, these efforts are expected to reduce poverty further and accelerate progress on other development goals, including those relating to maternal health and child mortality. The programme will focus on the development of small-scale irrigation, access to seeds, fertilizer and equipment for small producers, with a particular emphasis on women. It will also aim to diversify crops and train farmers on climate change adaptation techniques. Chad has faced recurring food crises since the 1970s, due to a combination of climate-related events such as droughts and floods, the massive spread of locusts and of conflict. Similar issues perpetuate vulnerability elsewhere in the Sahel. The programme aims to help all people living in these areas – be they local or from other countries -- to grow and sell food, as well as manage the environment more sustainably. It will also support local authorities as they draw up development plans to deliver better services, preserve the rule of law, and prevent conflict through further strengthening of local peace committees.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group in Tunis has approved Sierra Leone’s Country Strategy Paper (CSP) 2013-2017, which outlines the Bank Group’s programmatic support to enable Sierra Leone to transition out of fragility while ensuring the country’s overall development sustainability. Based on a participatory approach and guided selectivity, the Sierra Leone CSP is aligned with Government’s Agenda for Prosperity (A4P), as well as Bank Group’s key policies including the evolving New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States for which Sierra Leone is a pilot country. It emphasizes the Bank’s mandate and comparative advantage in ensuring recovery of Africa’s fragile states by leveraging the strategy focused on the following two pillars that are designed to support Sierra Leone’s transformation and transitioning towards a more resilient development path. The first pillar, Enhancing Economic Governance and Transparent Management of Natural Resources Revenue, will build on existing public financial management (PFM) reforms and promote the transparent management of natural resource revenues. The second pillar, Supporting Transformational and Sustainable Infrastructure Development in energy, roads and water, will facilitate inclusive green growth, foster regional integration and enhance private sector development and competitiveness. Support to the above-mentioned critical areas also seeks to diversify the economy into areas that are employment driven and inclusive in nature across demographic, gender and geographic groupings. The regional dimension of fragility is also considered in the formulation of the strategy as this would provide additional opportunities to the country in terms of trade and diversification, potential resources, regional operations, co-financing and public private partnerships.
Participants in the African Development Fund have reaffirmed their commitment to supporting Africa’s continuing process of economic transformation, with a total replenishment amount of $7.3 billion for 2014 to 2016. Millions of Africans stand to benefit from improved energy supply, transport networks, water and sanitation, education and agricultural productivity. Representatives from 27 participating countries (four of which are African) concluded their discussions on the thirteenth replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF-13). The ADF is the concessional window of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, which contributes to poverty reduction and economic and social development in low-income African countries. Participants agreed on a replenishment amount of $7.3 billion for the 2014 to 2016 cycle, of which $1 billion will be dedicated to a special facility for fragile states. The replenishment includes donor contributions of $5.8 billion, representing a slight increase over their contributions for ADF-12 (2011-2013). Several countries made significant efforts to ensure a robust replenishment despite a tough budgetary context. The Fund will help to improve the lives of millions of people across Africa. Under ADF-13, an estimated 20 million are expected to be connected to reliable and affordable energy; 19 million to gain improved access to transport; 7.5 million to have access to water and sanitation; 3 million will have opportunities for vocational and technical training; and 7 million to benefit from increased agricultural productivity. Participants welcomed the fact that African countries continued to increase their role, with Libya and Angola joining South Africa and Egypt as contributors to the Fund. Recognizing the importance of the private sector in promoting growth in low-income African countries, participants endorsed two new credit-enhancing instruments – the Partial Credit Guarantee and the Private Sector Credit Enhancement Facility – which are designed to attract private capital for transformational development projects.
With African Development Bank (AfDB) Group support, Zambia has received approval for a $38 million infusion of support from the Climate Investment Funds’ (CIF) Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR) to undertake the Strengthening Climate Resilience in the Kafue Sub-Basin project. The project will have two components: strengthening the capacity of 800,000 rural communities who depend on rain-fed agriculture and natural resources to better respond to the consequences of climate change including floods and droughts; and strengthening the climate resilience of rural roads that link farmers to markets and to the Kafue National Park. The project, to be implemented by the AfDB, is particularly significant for Africa’s climate resilience efforts because it is the last project in the current AfDB PPCR portfolio to receive approval. Of the $292 million allocated for PPCR by CIF to Africa (or roughly 30 percent of the total PPCR resources available globally), $110 million – around a third – is being channeled through the AfDB for in-country investments. The full AfDB PPCR portfolio will now move to implementation, the first MDB PPCR portfolio to do so.
In response to a request for technical support from the Government of Sierra Leone, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched a comprehensive report outlining the key challenges and major opportunities for mainstreaming inclusive green growth into Sierra Leone’s 2013-2018 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, known as the Agenda for Prosperity. Sierra Leone: Transitioning Towards Green Growth; Stocktaking and the Way Forward, finds that there are three main advantages for Sierra Leone as it moves towards an inclusive green growth path: ensuring quality growth; an improved international reputation; and an economy that is more efficient and competitive, generating employment opportunities while attracting additional development financing, including from the private sector. Transitioning towards Green Growth outlines key principles of green growth and explores the main development opportunities and challenges for engaging in green growth in Sierra Leone. The authors also make a number of suggestions for further integrating green growth in the country’s development strategy. At the same time, the report cautions that there are specific conditions for the successful implementation of green growth, including political leadership, adequate policies and incentives, development partner support and communications.
With its acquisition of a 49% stake in Nigeria’s oldest fast food brand, Mr Bigg’s, South Africa’s Famous Brands has almost doubled its operations in the rest of Africa. Mr Bigg’s, which is housed within UAC Restaurants, is a 25-year-old brand which serves everything from hot meals to chicken pieces, pies and pastries to burgers. “This transaction catapults us to a completely different level, enabling us to meaningfully expand our presence in this burgeoning, currently low consumption per capita organised food service market,” says Kevin Hedderwick, CEO of Famous Brands told Moneyweb. The move will see Famous Brands, which boasts brands like Steers and Debonairs, now supporting 342 franchises in Africa, up from 177.
South Africa’s consumer confidence improved in the second half of 2013, according to the latest MasterCard Index of Consumer Confidence conducted between April and May 2013. The index is calculated with zero as the most pessimistic, 100 as the most optimistic and 50 as neutral. Johannesburg scored 69.9 (up from 63.5 previously), Durban’s sentiment rose to 55.3 from 44.6 previously, while Cape Town recorded 34.2 from 32.2. South Africa’s consumer confidence remains the lowest in Africa, where the continental average is 78.1. Nigeria’s are the most optimistic (94.3), followed by Morocco (85.2) and Kenya (76.5).
The Rwanda Revenue Authority has introduced a mobile telephone facility that allows people to declare and pay their taxes using mobile phones. The facility dubbed M-declaration was launched by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Claver Gatete. While unveiling the online facility, Gatete urged taxpayers to embrace easy and cost effective facilities in paying taxes as they will save time and money spent while declaring and paying taxes. Other online facilities such as online non-fiscal payment, Electronic Billing Machines and RRA service charter have also been introduced. According to RRA officials, the online facilities will transform the business environment by reducing the time spent by taxpayers to declare and pay taxes as well as queuing while waiting to pay taxes at RRA offices and banks. The introduction of these services is also expected to help further widen the tax base and reach some taxpayers who still slip through the tax net by introducing easy and cheap processes of paying taxes.
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