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A round-up of recent news from the UK, Africa and around the world.
Banking giant HSBC is set to offer all new parents a part-time role at a pro rata salary following maternity or paternity leave in a bid to help employees balance the demands of family life with career development. The job will be at the same level as their original role and will be equivalent to at least two and a half days a week. This proposal makes HSBC the first large corporate in the UK to guarantee part-time work when it is requested. The bank also supports staff who are looking for extended leave by allowing year long unpaid sabbaticals and a priority returner scheme for staff rejoining the bank within five years.Sue Jex, Head of Employee Relations at HSBC, says: "As a business we see about 1,100 staff each year taking parental leave following childbirth and of this number, 87% want to return to work." Joe Gardner, Head of HSBC UK, adds: "We want our employees to know we value their talent and experience. By guaranteeing part-time work at a pro-rata salary we hope we can help them balance the demands of family life with their on-going careers at HSBC."
Recruitment levels and online job opportunities are looking positive according to two separate studies. A report from Manpower indicates that the majority of the 2,000 employers surveyed are looking to recruit rather than cut back. Furthermore Monster's latest Employment Index suggests that online job opportunities have risen by four per cent since last year. According to Manpower UK, businesses that were battening down the hatches in the last quarter appear to be considering taking on staff. According to Monster's research, IT and engineering are the best sectors for creating job opportunities, having seen a 23% and 16% rise respectively. The worst industries for growth were legal (-15%) and healthcare and social work (-10%). Julian Acquari, managing director, Monster UK & Ireland, noted that while the economic outlook remains uncertain, it is encouraging to observe that more than a third of industries across the UK have exhibited annual growth in online recruitment in February. Other indicators, such as the latest ONS data, also point to positive activity across consumer and business sectors."
The 2012 CIPD Award for SME HR initiative of the year is now officially open to entries. Winning a CIPD Award shows that you've reached the pinnacle of HR success. It's also a great way to demonstrate your credentials to employees, customers and suppliers. The SME HR initiative of the year Award is part of the CIPD People Management Awards, which are the most respected and prestigious Awards in the HR profession. Winning will set you apart from the competition and dramatically raise the profile of your organisation! You'll be judged as one of the best in the profession and receive extensive recognition in the media. Entry is easy and open to organisations with 50 - 100 employees (European Commission definition). The entry deadline is 17 May 2012. Other categories in 2012 include: Building HR capability, Change management, Corporate responsibility, Employee engagement, Health and well-being and Michael Kelly Outstanding Student Awards. Enter the Awards today and get recognition for the HR project that has made a difference to your organisation. Visit cipdpmas.co.uk for more information.
HR practitioners are increasingly using LinkedIn and other social media for recruitment purposes, but most do not believe that online profiles will replace CVs in future, a survey has shown. A third of HR directors surveyed by recruiters Robert Half say they frequently use social media as part of the recruitment process, with the most common uses being communicating with candidates (32 per cent), sourcing candidates (30 per cent), checking online profiles for suitability (22 per cent) and checking up references for potential hires (21 per cent). However, six in ten (63 per cent) think it unlikely that CVs will become obsolete in future as a result of the popularity of online profiles. And seven in ten (70 per cent) said they had reservations about the effectiveness of relying on social media in the recruitment process. According to Phil Sheridan, managing director of Robert Half UK, "While professional networking sites, like LinkedIn, will continue to connect business professionals, our research shows that hiring managers still prefer more traditional recruitment methods, such as using of online job boards, employee referrals and recruitment consultancies. It seems most employers still believe this to be the most effective approach for screening candidates and assessing competencies. Candidates should manage their online reputation by ensuring their profiles remain current and professional. Posting newsworthy articles, participating in relevant discussion groups and conducting periodic online audits will help raise both personal and corporate brand images."
UK middle managers are feeling the squeeze as a result of the economic downturn, according to the CIPD's quarterly Employee Outlook survey of 2,000 employees. Almost half (49%) of middle managers say that they are under excessive pressure either every day or once or twice a week, compared with 30% for those without managerial responsibility and 37% for all employees.
UK Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke is backing plans to make the judiciary more diverse by favouring female appointees and people from ethnic backgrounds over white men. The strategy, which some commentators have called "positive discrimination", has gained support from senior judges and could reduce the dominance of white male magistrates.
On the job training, apprenticeships and internships are the best ways for young people to succeed in their career, according to a new survey by Hays. Hays asked jobseekers what type of qualification or training would help young people succeed in their career and found that workplace training is considered to be the best route to career development. 93% of respondents cited on the job training as the route to success, followed by apprenticeships (90%) and internships (84%). Degrees were considered less important (78%) than actual workplace training. According to Charles Logan, the Director of Hays, in a highly competitive and crowded job market, internships and other career training schemes are increasingly important to make sure employees can get a foot in the door, make their CV stand out from the crowd and continue to learn new skills. Career training programmes give employers the chance to work with potential employees and train new workers from scratch, he said.
Nearly half (48%) of women working in the banking industry believe they face career barriers because of their gender, according to new research. Over one third (36%) of men agree with these findings revealed by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) in the Women in Banking report. The study, sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, is based on in-depth research with over 800 men and women working across the banking sector. At a junior level, 38% of men and women acknowledge there are barriers to female career progression, and this figure rises to 65% for women at a middle management level. According to Charles Elvin, chief executive of the Institute of Leadership & Management, banks need the best and most capable people leading their organisations, irrespective of their gender. With research showing that talented women are still finding it difficult to reach senior positions, banks can boost the number of women in senior positions by taking positive steps towards strengthening and developing transparent management processes, measuring diversity metrics and better management of flexible working, he said.
Almost one in five technology industry executives say that a candidate's social media profile has caused them not to hire that person. This is revealed in the 2012 annual technology market survey conducted by Eurocom Worldwide, the Global PR Network, in association with Johannesburg based Watt Communications. The annual Eurocom Worldwide study has previously found that almost 40% of respondents' companies check out potential employees' profiles on social media sites but this is the first evidence that candidates are actually being rejected because of them. According to Mads Christensen of Eurocom Worldwide, the 21st century human is learning that every action leaves an indelible digital trail and future employees will be challenged by what they are making public in various social forums today. The fact that one in five applicants disqualify themselves from an interview because of content in the social media sphere is a warning to job seekers and a true indicator of the digital reality we now live in, he said. The Eurocom Worldwide survey this year also reveals that while nearly half (49%) of technology executives say that their firm will increase their expenditure on social media in the next 12 months, over half (57%) say they are unable to accurately measure the impact of the investment. By contrast, only 23% say they can measure it. The survey finds that 74% of respondents consider online PR to be very or quite important for their company's search engine optimisation (SEO) with 37% saying it is very important. Respondents to the survey were also asked about the primary source of social media content and messaging for their company. The majority (78%) cite in-house sources with PR agencies the second most important source at 12%. Digital marketing agencies and advertising agencies combined account for the remaining 10%. Of those respondents who work in companies that publish a blog, 57% say that it is done in order to raise profile or create thought leadership. Nearly as many (55%) state that the blogging aims to improve interaction with customers, while 37% say the aim is to boost SEO and 36% say it is to participate in industry debates. According to the responses, the main reason for not blogging is that it is 'too time consuming' cited by 42% of those who don't blog. One in five doesn't see the value of it while 14% fear a negative response. The most popular social media platform for technology companies is LinkedIn (74%), whilst 67% of technology firms tweet, 64% have a Facebook presence and 56% are on YouTube. Only half of respondents surveyed say that their company has a formal process for listening to what is said about them in social media. The Eurocom Worldwide technology confidence survey was conducted online by member agencies of Eurocom Worldwide during January and February 2012. A total of 318 responses were received with approximately 80% from European countries and 11% from the Americas.
The NatWest Everywoman Awards are open to any female business owner whether they operate as a limited company, sole trader or in partnership with others. The awards reward not only businesswomen who have achieved significant success, but also women who have overcome adversities such as financial constraints, social disadvantages or skills gaps. Examples of the awards categories are as follows:Artemis Award for women under 25; Demeter Award for women aged between 26 and 35; Athena Award for women aged between 36 and 49; Hera Award for women over 50. Two finalists and nominees from the categories will be chosen to receive The NatWest Everywoman Award and the Everywoman Iris Award. Winners will also be chosen to receive the Spirit of Everywoman Award and the Everywoman Ambassador Award. The deadline for receipt of nominations is 20 July 2012.
The percentage of recent UK graduates who are employed in lower skilled jobs has increased to over a third, according to new research. Graduates in the labour market – 2012, a report by The Office for National Statistics (ONS)finds that the percentage of graduates employed in lower skilled jobs has increased from around 26.7% in 2011 to around 35.9% in the final quarter of 2011. These types of jobs are deemed as jobs that don't tend to require competence through post-compulsory education. This means that recent graduates are getting jobs that they don't need a degree for. The ONS also found that the unemployment rate for new graduates stood at 18.9% in Q4 2011.
The pay gap between the public and private sectors has widened to 8 per cent, according to new figures from the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS). Public-sector employees were paid on average 8.2 per cent more per hour than private-sector staff in 2011, up from 5.3 per cent extra in 2007. The gap between the lowest and highest earners was greatest in the private sector, with the top 5 per cent of earners paid around 5.7 times more than the bottom 5 per cent. The difference was 4.5 times in the public sector, found the report. The ONS research also revealed that the public sector was made up of a larger proportion of highly skilled jobs –a trend that has quickened over the past decade as lower skilled public jobs have been outsourced to private companies. Public-sector workers are also more likely to hold a degree or equivalent qualification – with 40 per cent of the workforce having gone to university, compared to 25 per cent in the private sector. The statistics do not include overtime payments, pension contributions, company cars or health insurance. But for consistency, the study assumed that the employees of banks reclassified to the public sector in 2008 were in the private sector throughout. The overall analysis was based on data collected by ONS in its Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and Labour Force Survey. According to separate ONS data published earlier this month, the south-west of England was the region which lost the greatest number of public-sector jobs in the UK last year, followed by the north-west and south-east.
There are only three creative services' occupations on the US News' service list of the Best Jobs of 2012 – architects, artists (illustrators, animators and multimedia artists) and PR specialists. And according to the US Department of Labour, between now and the year 2020, there will be more than 160,000 newcomers required in these three professions to "better bring the world into focus". According to the US report, the increased demand for the three creative sectors was attributed to the fact that "architects mould the world we live in, artists and designers fill it with colour, and public relations specialists keep us in the loop about all the changes happening". The list is compiled each year based on the US Labour Department's employment projections. In addition to the top picks for the next several years, jobs from quick-to-hire industries made the list including business, creative services, healthcare, science and technology and social services. The Bureau of Labour Statistics projects public relations specialists employment growth of 22,5% between 2010 and 2020. Their figures show during that period, an additional 58 200 positions will need to be filled in the US.
The annual limit for migrants from outside Europe will be frozen at 20,700 for the next two years, the UK government has confirmed. The level of the cap was under review after statistics showed that the number of migrants in its first year of operation was likely to be much lower than the limit, with around 10,000 entering the country in the year to April. However, the Migration Advisory Committee warned the government at the end of February that reducing the cap further might risk harming business in the potential recovery. Ministers have now accepted that advice, and fixed the limit for non-EEA workers until April 2014 to provide a degree of certainty. The skill level required to be eligible for the Tier 2 route has tightened somewhat, with some roles - including IT technicians and security managers - being removed from the shortage list. However, for highly skilled roles, the government has answered complaints about red tape by easing the requirement for all posts to be advertised domestically before hiring from abroad. The removal this month of the post-study worker route, which allows employers to recruit foreign students studying in the UK, will effectively cut the number of visas available to non-EU workers by 25 per cent and could have a knock-on effect on the demand for other skilled migrants.
A new National Careers Service has been launched by the UK government, which will offer work advice and learning information to people of all ages. The service will "transform careers advice" in the UK by combining highly-trained advisers with an interactive website, said the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The government estimates that the programme will handle up to one million telephone advice sessions annually and at least 20 million online sessions. Face-to-face guidance for up to 700,000 adults per year will be provided in a range of community locations, offering tailored information on the local labour market so people are aware of their area's growth industries. The website provides tools including a CV Builder and a Skills Health Check, designed to help people identify their strengths and address their weaknesses. Online users will also be able to open a Lifelong Learning Account, providing personalised advice on skills, careers and financial support. The National Careers Service replaces Next Step, which has been providing careers advice for adults since August 2010.
Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk says that South Africa is fast becoming one of the world's favourite destinations for big events, meetings, conferences and exhibitions. According to Van Schalkwyk, the country has already secured over 200 international conferences over the next five years, which are estimated to attract 300 000 delegates and provide an economic boost of more than R1.6 billion. This year sees the introduction of the National Convention Bureau of South Africa, an entity that will give the larger industry a strategic and operational platform from which to boost the country's business tourism global competitiveness. The National Convention Bureau (NCB) will be central to South Africa's ambition to leverage the global opportunities to remain Africa's number one host of meetings and conferences. Van Schalkwyk said South Africa's capability and infrastructure for business tourism is superb. "Besides the three big national convention centres in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, our destination is home to numerous other facilities that give the world's meetings and conference organisers the same quality, variety and choice that South Africa offers across the larger tourism sector." Established in November 2011 and headed up by its Executive Manager, Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, the NCB will act as a 'one-stop shop' for independent information and assistance, giving neutral advice on all aspects of hosting and organising any business tourism-related event in South Africa. The NCB also set a target for 2012/13 of supporting at least 30 bids, with a potential of 18 000 delegates and R162 million direct economic spend.
Kenya Airways will spend $3.6 billion over the next five years on new planes and routes, mainly to connect travellers between Africa and Asia, its chief executive is quoted as saying by Reuters. Titus Naikuni said trade between Africa and China and India had soared in recent years, growing at an annual rate of about 200 percent, creating huge opportunities in the travel market. Ranked as one of Africa's largest airlines, the carrier that is 26 percent held by Air France KLM, is undertaking a $250 million cash call that will go towards funding the plan. According to the company, Air France KLM and the government, which holds a 23 percent stake, had agreed to take up their rights, and "a number of foreign investors are very keen". If the cash call is successful, Kenya Airways will get a boost to its debt equity ratio, which stands at around 1, allowing it to borrow a further $2.2 billion. The balance of the required funds would be generated from internal resources, he said, giving the airline a chance to double its passenger fleet to 68 planes and add eight freighters. It operates a sole, leased freighter. Extra aircraft would enable the carrier to start six new routes to China, six new routes to India, a service to Madrid as well as increase frequencies on its numerous African routes. The airline is expecting 10 E-190 Embraer jets due for delivery between July next year through to 2013. It also signed a deal for the purchase of 787-8 Dreamliner planes with Boeing in April last year. The main risk facing the firm's plan is the expansion of Nairobi's main airport, which although built in 1978 to handle 2.5 million passengers a year, manages 5 million. Kenya Airways expects to carry 4 million passengers in its 2012/13 (April-March) financial year, up from 3.7 million in the previous year.
A new multi-billion Rand Port of Ngqura, situated outside Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape, has been unveiled. The port is said to be the deepest container terminal in sub-Saharan Africa and will accommodate the new generation of giant container ships that regularly visit the country's shores. State freight logistics group Transnet has for the past 12 years been hard at work building the port, which forms part of the Coega Industrial Development Zone. The National Ports Authority (NPA) of South Africa is investing R3.2 billion in the project. With further construction in sight, Public Enterprises Minister, Malusi Gigaba believes the port would be even "greater" than it currently is by 2019, when additional structures are expected to be in place. Experts say the development of the port, with its mega container terminal, will represent Transnet's solution to South Africa's long-time shortage of container capacity, resulting from the growth in container traffic globally. According to the South African government, given its positioning and size, the Ngqura Trade Port, will go a long way in boosting South Africa's trade with other countries in the region and is expected to support the country's new growth path and, over time, the strategic positioning of the country's ports would lead to a reduction in shipping time and costs. With the country's infrastructure programme requiring skills, the Ngqura build programme has helped create a rare pool of people with artisan skills with 8000 people having been trained. The National Ports Authority is also drawing up plans for a R21.3 billion infrastructure upgrade programme of the country's busiest harbour in Durban over the coming seven years. Transnet chairperson Mafika Mkwanazi said it would ensure that the port became as economically viable as those in Richards Bay and Durban. Eastern Cape Premier Noxolo Kiviet said the port would place the Eastern Cape at the centre of the logistics thrust of South Africa and was crucial in changing the face of the region in the next 50 years.
Diageo's East African Maltings plant (EAML) in Kenya has celebrated its achievements in water conservation at a special Environmental Breakthrough Workshop. EAML is part of East African Breweries Limited, the region's leading branded beverage alcohol company in which Diageo is a majority shareholder. The workshop brought together Diageo's key African supply sites to share best practice and showcase the project work that has taken place at EAML and other sites. EAML is setting a high standard for operational water conservation in East Africa, by improving water efficiency. Through a combination of employee engagement, operational efficiencies and creative engineering projects, including an innovative water recovery system, the team at EAML has improved water efficiency at the site by 35% between 2008 and 2011. It now takes 6.7 litres of water to process 1kg of malted barley, as opposed to the previous figure of 10.5 litres. The EAML's water conversation efforts heralded such strong results in 2011, the plant was awarded a coveted gold GREENiQ medal for water conservation. GREENiQ is an inspirational engagement programme developed by Diageo to help deliver its challenging 2015 environmental targets. The programme is designed to capture the interest of the 23,000 employees around the globe and to encourage them to think of more environmentally friendly ways to work. Teams across the business compete to win gold, silver, or bronze Olympic style medals. Globally, Diageo has committed to increasing water efficiency by 30% by 2015, reducing water wasted at water stressed sites by 50% and reducing the polluting power of waste water by 60%, against a 2007 baseline. East African Breweries Ltd is East Africa's leading branded alcohol beverage business and has an outstanding collection of beer and spirit brands. With breweries, distillers, support industries and a distribution network across the region, the group's diversity comprising of over 1,700 employees is an important factor in delivering the highest quality brands to East African consumers and long-term value to East African Investors. Some of the brands include mainstream beer- Tusker Lager, Tusker Malt Lager, White Cap Light, Bell Lager, and Guinness. Non- Alcoholic brands are Malta Guinness and Alvaro (Pineapple, Pear and Passion fruit). Spirits include Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff Vodka, Richot, Bond 7 and Uganda Waragi. EABL is cross-listed in the three East African Countries- Nairobi, Uganda, and Dar es Salaam Stock Exchanges and is the largest business by market capitalization in the regional bourses.
The December 2011 Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey shows that the number of people employed in the formal non-agricultural sector of the South African economy increased by about 23 000 persons (+0.3%) from September 2011 (an estimated 8 358 000 employees) to December 2011 (an estimated 8 381 000 employees)," said Stats SA. Between the quarters ended December 2010 and December 2011, employment in the formal non-agricultural sector increased, reflecting an annual increase of about 130 000 employees compared with December 2010's estimated 8 251 000 employees. The survey is conducted quarterly, covering a number of private and public enterprises in the formal non-agricultural sector of the South African economy. The information received is used to estimate employment and gross earnings that are used as inputs to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), among others. Gross earnings paid to employees in the formal non-agricultural sector increased between the quarters ended September 2011 and December 2011. South Africa aims to create five million jobs by 2020.
Ghana has been ranked top in Africa as the country with the highest Internet speed, according to the latest global internet speed report by US-based, Ookla. Ookla is the global leader in broadband testing and web-based network diagnostic applications, and its report was based on millions of recent test results from Speedtest.net. Its NetIndex compares and ranks consumer download speeds around the globe, and reported Ghana had an average broadband speed of 5.13 megabits per second. This year's results for Ghana were obtained by analyzing test data between Feb 10, 2012 and Mar 14, 2012; tests from 31,183 unique IPs have been taken in Accra, and of 182,596 total tests, 10,624 were used for the current Index. According to the index, Ghana beat Kenya to second place with 4.49Mbps, South Africa to sixth place with 2.98Mbps, and near-by Nigeria to the eighth place in Africa with 2.3Mbps. Morocco, Angola, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Libya were also in the top ten. Vodafone maintained its position from last year as the network with the highest internet speeds in Ghana. Ghana placed 72nd in the global rankings; ahead of Italy at 73rd with 5.05Mbps and several other European countries. Kenya came in at 75th; South Africa, 105th, and Nigeria, 129th.
Global retailer Gap Inc. has opened two stores in South Africa as a base for expansion into the continent - and said it expected more retailers to enter the country in the next few years as the local retail sector matured. According to the company, South Africa is the natural next step for expanding their presence on the continent, given its thriving economy and high Gap brand awareness. Gap's opened its first store in Johannesburg, followed by a second in Cape Town, with plans to open a third in Pretoria later this year. Each store will house product from the international Gap, GapKids and babyGap collections, and the assortment will be customized seasonally to best suit the needs of local customers and the warm South African climate. Gap's move follows that of Spain's Inditex Group - Europe's largest fashion retailer - which opened its first South African Zara store in Sandton late last year, and its second at the Gateway Shopping Centre outside Durban in March. According to the company, as demand gas slowed in Europe and the US, more retailers were seeking growth in emerging markets such as South Africa. Gap sells clothing, accessories and personal care products for men, women, children and babies under the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime, and Athleta brands.
The Euro crisis is expected to weigh heavily on Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Africa because the European Union (EU) is the largest aid provider to the continent, an Economic Report on Africa 2012, released by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) warns. The report, 'Unleashing Africa's Potential as a Pole of Global Growth', released at the meeting of African Finance Ministers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, notes that a handful of countries, such as France and Italy, had already reduced bilateral assistance to Africa because of the global economic crisis.
The new Nelson Mandela Digital Archive is now live on the web, giving the global public - along with historians, educationalists, researchers and activists from around the world - free access to extensive information about the life and legacy of this extraordinary African statesman. In 2011, internet giant Google gave a US$1.25-million [R8.6million] grant to the Johannesburg-based Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory (NMCM) to help preserve and digitise thousands of archival documents, photographs and videos about Mandela. The resulting online multimedia archive - archive.nelsonmandela.org – is now a reality. According to the NMCM, the archive includes Mandela's correspondence with family, comrades and friends, diaries written during his 27 years of imprisonment, and notes he made while leading the negotiations that ended apartheid in South Africa. The archive will also include the earliest-known photograph of Mandela, rare images of his cell on Robben Island in the 1970s, and never-seen drafts of Mandela's manuscripts for the sequel to his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. Luke Mckend, country manager for Google South Africa, said the archive currently included over 1,900 unique images, documents and videos, and would grow over time.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had announced the creation of two new departments as part of its internal reforms exercise. The two new departments are: Corporate Communications department and Consumer and Financial Protection departments.
Government has engaged independent advisors for the restructuring of Agribank through a private placement of 49% shareholding to a strategic partner. Agribank, owned 100% by the Government, was also considering an initial public offering on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange as part of options to raise funds.
Bharti Airtel, "Airtel", has announced the launch of its operation in Rwanda, expanding its footprint on the African continent to 17 countries. Airtel has already said that it will invest over USD 100 million in its operations over the next three years and generate direct and indirect employment opportunities. Bharti Airtel Limited (http://www.airtel.com) is a leading integrated telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 5 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers.
The Ghana Stock Exchange is finalising plans for a new Ghana Alternative Investment Market (GAIM) for SMEs, to be launched in June, Bloomberg reports. Modelled after London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and South Africa's AltX, the market will make reporting easier for small companies, lower listing fees and set up a revolving fund to pay for them. Companies will only need a minimum stated capital of GHS250,000 (USD145,000), and regulators hope it will take no more than 15 days to vet listing documents. In 2011, GSE signed a deal with Ghana-based private equity fund Fidelity Capital Partners to promote the new board as an exit avenue for their portfolio companies. The exchange has also partnered with Ghana's Venture Capital Trust Fund. GSE is hoping for four companies in the first year, but observers say there could be as many as 40 SMEs looking for public market exits.
Nestle Zimbabwe (Private) Limited is investing US$14.5 million for the next eight years on a milk and dairy project, Kumbirai Katande, Managing Director has said. The project will include, among other things, importing 4,000 dairy cows from South Africa to boost the country's dwindling herd. Zimbabwe's national dairy herd has dwindled since the introduction of the controversial Land Resettlement Programme (LRS) in 2000 by President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF. "This will be part of our Corporate Social Responsibility Programme (CSR)," a senior manager at Nestle said in Harare. "The programme will include dealing with our management skills, breeding cows well, as well as a rural development programme where we will import 4,000 dairy cows from South Africa to boost our herd in Zimbabwe. He said Nestle would involve several partners such as ARDA by using its Training Centre, the Ministry of Local Government for involving chiefs, the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) and the National Association of Dairy Farmers (NADF), a commercial farming section of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) in the ambitious programme.
The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) has earmarked US$207 million for Zimbabwe's dilapidated road rebuilding exercise. DBSA Executive Vice President, Admassu Tadesse, said the project would involve rebuilding poor roads which had gone bad and were seriously affecting Zimbabwe's investor attraction prospects. The soft loan of US$207 million for the rebuilding exercise will involve toll road building for freight and personal use. He said the DBSA wanted Zimbabwe to have a sophisticated road network that would easily attract international investors who are wanted in the country right now. An improvement of 1 percent in infrastructure can represent a 1 percent growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which would benefit Zimbabwe tremendously and in many ways, said Tadesse who stated that the road project was tried and tested in South Africa and in Nigeria where international investors are currently flocking instead on Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's roads are dilapidated and virtually all the country's councils are seriously cash-strapped and cannot repair them.
Shandong Iron & Steel Group Co. Ltd ("SISG") has completed a US$1.5 billion investment in African Mineral's Tonkolili project in Sierra Leone. In November 2011 the Tonkolili project, in which SISG has acquired a 25% interest, became the first Sierra Leone iron ore mine to commence export shipments for more than 30 years. Phase 1 of the Tonkolili project has included the development and refurbishment of major rail and port and power facilities, which is expected to lead to increasing growth opportunities for Sierra Leone's burgeoning iron ore industry.
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