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The Advocates for Human Rights has launched a new online survey to learn more about people who belong to diaspora communities and the human rights issues they care about. The Diaspora Community Survey is open to all diaspora individuals and organizations, regardless of how connected they feel to their country of origin or ancestry. This survey is part of a larger initiative by The Advocates to create human rights tools for diaspora communities. The tools will help support diaspora groups and individuals as they engage in advocacy on human rights issues people face in their countries of origin. Examples of human rights tools include: how-to guides for lobbying the United Nations, guidelines for writing effective press releases and staging successful press conferences, and strategies for conducting social media campaigns to attract and maintain supporters. The Advocates' Diaspora Community Survey is available online at http://bit.ly/OC3eoM or http://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/diaspora_community_survey.html.
The UK government has recently provided £13 million in new funding to help UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) achieve its aim of doubling UK exports to £1 trillion by 2020. This injection of funds is expected to enable an additional 10,000 UK businesses to export to overseas markets. Approximately £9 million of the total investment is likely to be channelled into boosting trade opportunities for country's small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). A proportion of the new funds will be used to expand the Tradeshow Access Programme, making it easier for SMEs to attend trade shows overseas. The money will also support the Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS), which provides targeted market research to help businesses find those crucial first contacts and to encourage them to develop relationships in new, fast-growing markets. Additionally, £2.5 million will be invested in helping firms access and win some high-value opportunities that UKTI has identified globally. A further £1.5 million will be used to support UKTI's work attracting inward investment into the UK economy. According to UK Trade and Investment Minister, Lord Green, UK Trade & Investment intends to double the number of companies it helps to 50,000 by 2015. UKTI is hosting Export Week from 12-16 November, comprising more than a hundred events taking place throughout the country, designed to encourage SMEs to consider the benefits of branching out into overseas trade.
Training and coaching methods are the most effective career development strategies for employees across all levels of the business, according to new research. The Insala 2012 Career Development Survey Report analysed responses from 320 HR professionals about the most effective career development programmes on offer. For director-level and above, performance driven coaching topped the list as the most effective (52%), followed by special projects or situational challenges (42%) and one-to-one mentoring (36%). For staff below director level, traditional training was deemed most successful (50%), followed by mentoring one-to-one (39%) and special projects or situational challenges (37%). In addition, nearly half of respondents indicate that employees received information about their career development schemes through a company intranet. One third of the respondents revealed that they integrate employee data to help complete staff profiles.
Financial job losses in Western Europe have surpassed 30,000 this year as firms cut positions amid the sovereign debt crisis. Bloomberg reports that while the 33,437 reductions are less than half of the 76,654 made in region during the same period a year ago, analysts expect the cuts to increase. Financial firms have announced more than 60,000 cuts globally so far this year, data compiled by Bloomberg Industries show. According to analysts, cuts in 2011 were designed to deal with the new market paradigm, while this year's cuts show how much deeper the banks have had to go. Job losses are expected to continue through year-end as banks focus on costs rather than revenues.
Nearly two thirds of new graduates secure employment after leaving university but these jobs are "not spread equally around the whole country", new research has shown. Figures from the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU) showed that the employment rate for new graduates remained relatively stable at 61.8 per cent, slightly down from 62.2 per cent in 2011. This indicates career prospects are better than feared despite a weakening economy and further job losses from public spending cuts, HECSU said. However, the data showed that London had the largest share of graduate jobs with 21 per cent of 2010/11 university leavers working there compared to just 3.8 per cent in the North East. Many graduates in the capital were working close to the City and Westminster and more than half of these roles were in business and finance. In its report HECSU said "jobs are not spread equally around the whole country" and warned "[not] everyone can move to any part of the UK in search of a job". However, the report rejected the common perceptions that 'all the jobs are in London' and that there are no jobs for graduates in other parts of the UK. Westminster was the most likely place in London for a graduate in a marketing or sales role but outside London, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire and Manchester were also common places for graduates in these posts. Oxfordshire or Cambridgeshire had the highest number of graduates entering science careers, while Merseyside, Surrey, Norfolk or Aberdeen attracted substantial graduate employment. IT graduates were more spread out across the country but the City of London and Westminster remained the most common place to start in an IT graduate job. Outside the capital, Surrey, Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Belfast and Tyne and Wear were the most common starting areas for graduates going into computing jobs.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Innovation Foundation (AIF) are delighted to announce the call for the 2013 Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA). As innovators/entrepreneurs are not highly profiled on development agenda, IPA acknowledges and encourages their endeavours. The prize honours and encourages innovative achievements that contribute toward developing new products, increasing efficiency or saving cost in Africa. The prize also promotes among young African men and women the pursuit of science, technology and engineering careers as well as business opportunities with potentials of contributing to sustainable development in Africa. The aims are to: mobilize leaders from all sectors to fuel African innovation; promote innovation across Africa in key sectors of interest through the competition; promote science, technology and engineering as rewarding, exciting and noble career options among the youth in Africa by profiling successful applicants; encourage entrepreneurs, innovators, funding bodies and business development service providers to exchange ideas and explore innovative business opportunities. IPA anticipates contributing to the following outcomes: increased commercialization of research and development (R&D) outputs in Africa; increased funding of start-ups, adoption of new and emerging technologies and accelerated growth of an innovative and dynamic private sector; and increased economic activity and African led development that results in lasting impact.
http://www.innovationprizeforafrica.org
The Shell Springboard Awards launched in 2005 and have since attracted over 1,000 applications from small business owners with ideas to combat climate change, allocating more £2.25 million to 62 businesses. The programme provides a financial boost to innovative, low carbon business initiatives from across the UK. The objective is to encourage businesses to see climate change responsibilities as more than compliance and cost. Shell believes there is a marked business opportunity if society is to move from a carbon-constrained world. Nine awards of up to £40,000 are available through the programme with the best two regional entries being forwarded for the overall UK award. Applications are accepted from sole traders, partnerships, limited companies or community interest companies (including government or university spin-outs) that operate in the UK. Businesses must have been established for a minimum of three months and have less than 250 employees. All applications must be made via a form on the Shell Springboard website. The deadline for receipt of applications is 18 January 2013.
The UN's World Investment Report has confirmed that the UK is the top destination in Europe for inward and investment and second, globally, after the United States, up from third place in 2011. Major foreign direct investment in recent years include the Qatar-backing during the development of the Shard, plus Indian and German support of the burgeoning automotive industry.
Ashoka Changemakers® is launching The League of Intrapreneurs: Building Better Business from the Inside Out, an online competition to find employees within multi-national corporations that are applying entrepreneurial skill sets to create positive social and environmental impact. The competition's convening sponsor is Accenture, the global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Although the concept of intrapreneurship is not new, it is now being applied to employees that are finding innovative ways to align business objectives with societal needs. This competition is supported by a unique collaboration between the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, Glaxo-Smith Kline, Standard Chartered, and Imaginals. The League of Intrapreneurs competition seeks social intrapreneurs who are pioneering new projects that have the capacity to transform business and society. These projects can include innovations in product development, supply chain management, human capital, or business models. Successful examples of social intrapreneurship have included employee-driven models like Vodafone's M-Pesa, a mobile banking service with more than 17 million customers in Kenya. Participants can submit entries until December 5, 2012 at changemakers.com/intrapreneurs. The top 15 entrants from the competition will form the inaugural class of the League of Intrapreneurs, becoming part of an elite global network of changemakers. An expert panel of judges will select three winning entries from the League, and the community will vote to determine one additional winning entry. Winners will be announced in April 2013.
South Africa has placed 36th out of 61 countries in the inaugural Web Index, a new global survey of the impact of the internet on the countries and citizens of the world. The survey, conducted by the World Wide Web Foundation and led by Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, is the most comprehensive assessment to date of the impact of the internet worldwide, incorporating indicators that assess countries on the political, economic and social impact of the web, as well as indicators of web connectivity infrastructure and use. According to the study, Sweden is best in the world at putting the internet to work, beating the US and UK for the top spot, with Canada and Finland completing the top five. South Africa, in 36th place, is the second-highest ranking African country behind Tunisia (30), followed by Egypt (39), Mauritius (41), Kenya (42), Ghana (45), Senegal (46) and Nigeria (48). South Africa ranked 27th overall for the social impact of the internet in the country (its affect on health, education and social activities), and 31st for economic impact of the internet (its affect on business and the economy). The country ranked 33rd for its web content, or the extent to which it makes relevant and useful content available on internet. According to the study, the internet remains a largely untapped resource in much of the world, with only one in three people using it globally and fewer than one in six in Africa. Internet access remains a luxury good in most countries, the Web Foundation said, with broadband connections still costing almost half of monthly income per capita across the 61 countries surveyed.
The Coca-Cola Company and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have announced they will expand a project leveraging the Company's expansive global distribution system and core business expertise to help government and non-governmental organizations deliver critical medicines to remote parts of the world, beginning in rural Africa. The Company and the Global Fund outlined their plans to expand the reach of "Project Last Mile," a public-private partnership established in 2010 to help Tanzania's government-run medicine distribution network, Medical Stores Department (MSD), build a more efficient supply chain by using Coca-Cola's proven logistics models for delivering beverages most anywhere in the world. The newest phases of the partnership will increase the availability of critical medicines to 75 percent of Tanzania and expand the initiative to Ghana and Mozambique. Originally developed in cooperation with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Accenture Development Partnerships, Yale University's Global Health Leadership Institute (GHLI), and government partners like MSD, "Project Last Mile" demonstrates a proven track record on which to expand. Since 2010, the project has benefitted nearly 20 million people who now have better access to critical medicines in the ten regions where the revised distribution model has been implemented so far, and reduced lead time for medicine deliveries to Tanzanian health facilities by as much as 25 days.
The 12th Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) Annual Report has revealed that white males continue to dominate executive positions in South Africa and that previously disadvantaged groups are failing to receive much needed skills development in the workplace. Commenting on these statistics, South African Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant said that there are 'pockets' of individuals who are trying to resist change. Groups or individuals that continue to oppose transformation were described as one of the biggest barriers to establishing equitable workplaces. However, the minister maintained that the majority of South Africans were supportive of the employment equity process. The report focused on race and gender representation within the four upper levels of employment which consists of; Top Management, Senior Management, Professionally Qualified and Skilled Levels. The Western Cape was identified as the worst performing province across a variety of brackets based on data captured online from large employers throughout the country. With regard to senior management representation in government the report showed that 8 out of 9 provinces were performing well in terms of race while the Western Cape was failing in its representation of race and black females. The report also showed progress at the professionally qualified and skilled levels, but revealed that unnamed barriers continued to bar access to executive management positions. However the single most disturbing fact was said to be the ongoing skills development and training of white males when the most disadvantaged group, black females, were not receiving similar investment in the workplace. This means that under-represented groups are not being positioned to assume top management roles in future, a major point of contention amongst government, employers and labour. By law, companies are expected to have an Employment Equity plan to address equality in their particular workplace. While this is being done to a small degree the report reflects a need for more aggressive Employment Equity plans to be implemented in South African companies. The Commission emphasised its desire to encourage employers to establish their own EE plan rather than create an atmosphere of compulsory participation. However, those who refuse to willingly work towards transformation can expect stricter legislation and stronger law enforcement once the amendments to the Employment Equity Amendment Bill has been finalised by parliament. Reports revealed that many large corporations were choosing to pay low anti-compliance fines. To prevent this practice the Department of Labour has submitted a proposal to increase fines and to determine the maximum fine by reviewing the employer's turnover.
LinkedIn, the world's largest professional network with more than 175 million members worldwide, has announced the opening of its first office in the Middle East and North Africa, where a new team will support a growing membership and client base. Located in Dubai's Internet City, the office will serve as regional headquarters to over five million members in the Middle East and North Africa, one million of which are based in the UAE. Research shows that the MENA region has witnessed exponential growth in social media usage, with usage trends shifting from primarily fulfilling social needs back in 2010 to political and societal usage in 2011. In 2012 strong growth continues, coupled with maturity and yet another shift in usage trends, where a critical mass of users now heavily relying on such social media platforms to develop new business and entrepreneurial initiatives. This latest expansion follows the opening of LinkedIn's Spanish office in March, and brings the number of LinkedIn offices in EMEA to nine, including Paris, Milan, Stockholm, London, Munich, Dublin, Amsterdam, Madrid and now Dubai.
South Africa has made further strides in strengthening ties with its contemporaries across the continent, the Caribbean and European Community. The South African Cabinet has approved the ratification of the second revision of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA) between the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States. It also approved the submission to Parliament of the second revision of the European Community and its member states. In terms of the South-South cooperation, the CPA provides for countries of the 79-member ACP group to meet and discuss issues of common concern, including matters relating to trade, investment, sustainable development, climate change, food security and peace and security. The ACP group of countries was created by the Georgetown Agreement in 1975. The group's main objectives are sustainable development and poverty reduction within its member states, as well as their greater integration into the world's economy. All of the member states, except Cuba, are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement with the European Union.
Zambia's recent $750m bond launch earlier in September has been the most successful in Sub-Saharan African and shows great confidence in the economy and political stability of the country. Investor demand exceeded the offer by 15 times, demonstrating that there is a large interest in the region. According to Zambia's finance minister Alexander Chikwanda, this was not only the largest order book for Sub-Saharan Africa, but also at 5.375 per cent, the lowest coupon, meaning the most favourable price. Zambia becomes the ninth country in Sub-Saharan African, other than South Africa, to issue bonds to sell its debts to overseas investors. Institutional investors are said to make up 80 per cent of the bonds. The funds will be used to improve infrastructure. This success for Zambia is driven by two key factors, political and economic stability and high copper prices. Zambia is Africa's largest copper exporter and has received $5bn of copper mining investment in the last ten years. The country is projected to export 1.5 million tonnes of copper per annum by 2016. Aside from political stability and democracy Zambia has a relatively low government debt of 22 per cent of GDP. The country has also experienced an annual growth rate of 5.8 per cent over the last decade. Zambia has a B+ rating from both Fitch and Standard and Poor's.
IBM, the international technology company, is to open a new research and innovation laboratory in Nairobi. A major focus of the lab will be on how to use technology to make more effective decisions, according to Nick Redshaw, the company's general manager for North and Central Africa. This includes systems for aggregating data from the city's CCTV cameras and from cellphones to try to ease traffic pinch points. IBM has been involved in East Africa for decades, and created its first regional office in Nairobi in 2009, supplying services to the financial services and telecoms sector. The Kenyan government's Vision 2030' plan to build up its knowledge industry, and public sector support was a key factor for IBM in deciding to place the Africa research lab in Nairobi.
The regulatory body of Human Resources practice in Nigeria, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) has honoured leading telecommunications services provider, Airtel Nigeria with the Best Human Resources Practices Award within the Telecommunications sector. The award was based on a comprehensive, independent audit conducted by CIPM among major GSM operators in the country. The award was at the opening of the 44th annual conference of CIPM in October and at the event, a citation in honour of Airtel commended the leading telecommunications services provider for complying with global HR standards and for following best practices in its employee relations. CIPM was established in 1968 to regulate the Practice of Human Resource Management in Nigeria and promote excellence in the Acquisition and Application of Knowledge and Skills by Practitioners, thereby contributing to sustainable National Development.
The South African government has launched a programme to encourage private sector partnership with government to support incubators that will develop small business. The Incubation Support Programme (ISP) is aimed at encouraging the private sector partnership with government to support incubators in order to develop small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) so that these are nurtured into sustainable enterprises that can provide employment and contribute to economic development. The incentive is provided in pursuit of ensuring that small micro and medium enterprises are eventually graduated into the mainstream economy through the dedicated support provided to the incubators, thus creating successful enterprises with a potential to revitalise communities and strengthen local and national economies. ISP will be effective from the 16 September 2012 and will be administered for a period of 10 years up to March 2022. It is envisaged that the programme will bring enterprises from a survivalist stage and informal economy into being the main players in the mainstream economy. The support the incubators will receive can be used for infrastructure and business development services necessary to mentor and grow enterprises. The package of support offered by the DTI to incubators on cost-sharing basis will be 50:50 for large businesses and 40:60 for small micro and medium enterprises.
Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves rose to more than 29-month high of $41.12 billion by September 26, and were up 7.16 percent month-on-month, the central bank's latest figure showed. Africa's top crude oil exporter's forex reserves have not been as high since April 19, 2010, when they stood at $41.16 billion. Foreign reserves are up from $38.37 billion on August 27 and from $34.39 billion a year ago.
In honour of the former president and the father of the nation, Nelson Mandela, South Africa will soon boast a new array of banknotes, bearing the image of Mandela's face. These new banknotes are due for release by year-end, but while this is an honour to Mandela, the result is that current cash counting systems will no longer be able to recognise the currency of the day. The size of the notes will remain the same, but these notes will feature updated security measures. As a result, cash-counters, recyclers, authentication machines, parking machines and ATMs will either need to be updated or replaced. Upgraded machines will be able to count both series of notes. The Reserve Bank has confirmed that it will eventually recall the old edition notes once the new currency has been released and anticipates completing the process within a year.
South Africa's four major banks - Absa, FirstRand, Nedbank and Standard Bank - outperformed their Western global peers in several key areas, including return on equity, in the first half of 2012, professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a recent report. Combined headline earnings of R21.3-billion and an average return on equity (RoE) of 15.9% saw the country's banks beat a benchmark group of their Western counterparts, who recorded an average RoE of 2.1% for United States commercial banks and 14.7% for Canadian banks. This performance came against the backdrop of the global economic crisis and financial instability. "While there are some headwinds in the domestic economy and significant uncertainties from Europe, [South Africa's] banks continue to demonstrate that they have the capability to manage and adapt," the report said. To build on this success, the report said it is necessary to respond to changes in customer expectations; this includes harnessing technology for customer convenience and improving operational efficiencies. "With growth of more than 5% a year over the past decade, a population of over 800-million and total purchasing power over US$1.9-trillion, Africa is emerging as one of the most attractive frontiers for growth." South Africa's financial institutions, in particular, offer a gateway, as the country's banking sector accounts for more than 40% of Africa's assets and the insurance sector comprises more than 70% of the continent's premiums. This allows these institutions to provide trade finance and support for companies looking to invest in Africa, the report said.
South African defence equipment manufacturer Denel and Russian Helicopters, a leading international designer and manufacturer of helicopters, have signed an agreement to create a helicopter servicing hub for sub-Saharan Africa. Through the agreement, Denel Aviation, a division of Denel, is now the only company in sub-Saharan Africa accredited to perform maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for models produced by Russian Helicopters. Denel Aviation CEO Mike Kgobe said Denel's objective was to become the maintenance hub for most of the modern commercial and military aircraft operating in sub-Saharan Africa.
Democratic Republic of Congo's economy will grow by 8.2 percent in 2013 but rising debt levels and continued poor governance in the extractive industries sector will weigh on performance, the International Monetary Fund said. Congo, which relies heavily on its copper and cobalt mining sector to drive growth, is expected to achieve expansion of 7.2 in 2012, the IMF said as part of an annual review of the country's finances. Rich in an array of minerals but plagued by decades of misrule, the former Belgian colony has gradually attracted investors as it seeks to recover from two wars, the last of which officially ended in 2003. The Fund said that the commercialisation of state owned enterprises - treating them as if they were privately-owned companies -in 2010 had created what it called "gaps" within the sector, without giving further details. The IMF has delayed the release of some $180 million from Congo's credit facility due to concerns over Kinshasa's secretive sale of mining contracts, often at knock down prices. The communiqué also warned that weak management was risking debt levels once more reaching unsustainable levels, after the country received $8 billion of external debt relief in 2010. The government has vowed to improve the business climate with a view to hitting the double digit economic growth needed in the medium term to dent poverty in the vast nation of over 65 million people.
Hilton Worldwide has opened a regional office in Johannesburg as the hotel group moves to exploit growth opportunities and develop existing and potential properties across the African continent and the Indian Ocean islands. The office is expected to act as a springboard for Hilton to build on its Africa interests and spearhead activities in the region. The newly opened office is a milestone in Hilton Worldwide's 50-plus year history in Africa, the company said. Hilton Worldwide has 33 hotels across Africa and Indian Ocean and a further 19 in the property pipeline, and the opening of the office follows the addition of the luxury Pezula Resort Hotel & Spa to the Conrad Hotels & Resorts of the Hilton chain in June this year, as well as the launch of a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Cape Town in September. "In 2012 Africa's projected growth rate is 6%, which gives us confidence to invest even further," said Hilton Worldwide's area president for the Middle East & Africa, Rudi Jagersbacher. The company's long-term goal is to have a Hilton hotel in every key city across the continent, Jagersbacher said.
Africa is a major target for tobacco industry sales and marketing, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS) and World Lung Foundation. Tobacco industry activity is booming across the African continent, according to ACS. Between 1990 and 2009, cigarette consumption in the Middle East and Africa increased by 57 percent. According to The Tobacco Atlas – Fourth Edition, four African countries – Mozambique, Zambia, Mali and Ghana – are among the top five countries with the greatest increase in tobacco production in the last decade. Women in Africa, who have a relatively low smoking prevalence compared to other regions of the world, are of particular concern because of aggressive targeting by the industry. In comparison to Senegal's 12 percent smoking rate in boys, in other French speaking African countries the rate is higher and likely to keep growing - Cote d'Ivoire (19 percent), Algeria (18 percent) and Congo (15 percent). Almost 48 percent of Senegalese youth live in homes where others smoke in their presence. Similarly alarming levels of exposure to deadly second-hand smoke occur in Mali (48 percent), Sierra Leone (44 percent), and Mauritania (43 percent). According to the Atlas, almost 20 percent of youth in Senegal report having an item with a tobacco logo on it, with even higher percentages in Chad (30 percent), Niger (30 percent) and Mauritania (28 percent). This data suggest young people are being subjected to health harms and an aggressive marketing is already underway to grab a new generation of users. "In many countries, the higher percentages of smokers are adults, but in Africa, youth are catching up and even surpassing the previous generation," said Peter Baldini, Chief Executive Officer, World Lung Foundation. In 2011, according to The Tobacco Atlas, tobacco use killed almost 6 million people, with nearly 80 percent of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. If trends continue, one billion people will die from tobacco use and exposure during the 21st century – one person every six seconds. Globally, tobacco-related deaths have nearly tripled in the past decade, and tobacco is responsible for more than 15 percent of all male deaths and 7 percent of female deaths.
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