A decade ago, most Africans would never have thought that an individual could bring a corporation to its knees in just 140 characters. But in June 2012, Japheth Omojuwa, an economist by training who has become a prominent Nigerian political advocate and social media personality, went to battle over an iPad lost on a flight with Arik Air, Nigeria’s largest indigenous airline. Omojuwa won. Like David fighting Goliath, he used a simple and underestimated tool – launching the “#ArikWhereIsMyIpad” trend from one of his social media platforms – a Twitter account with over 100,000 followers.
Other Arik Air passengers sympathetic to his plight used the same hashtag (#) to narrate their own experiences losing valuables onboard Arik Air flights. The resulting social media campaign damaged the airline’s reputation and ultimately led the company to suspend its Twitter account. “It eventually became popular offline but it was because it became such a dominant campaign on social media,” said Omojuwa of his efforts.
Social media – a set of internet-based applications and websites that allow users to communicate directly with friends and strangers alike – are increasingly changing the way business is conducted in Africa. Social media is modifying the way businesses relate to each other and their customers in areas from customer relations to entrepreneurship, content development and marketing. Their impact on the African economic resurgence narrative has been nothing short of exponential. “Lions go digital: The Internet’s transformative potential in Africa,” a 2013 report by McKinsey & Company, places the continent’s iGDP – or internet contribution to GDP – at $18 billion. According to the 2014 “Emerging Nations Embrace Internet, Mobile Technology” report by the Pew Research Global Attitudes Project, approximately 78 percent of internet usage in Africa is for social media. This lays the foundation for Africa’s estimated $14-billion social media industry. With the internet expected to contribute a minimum of $300 billion to Africa’s GDP by 2025, social media could contribute almost $230 billion to Africa’s remarkable growth by that time.
The internet has witnessed a sustained increase in adoption rates in Africa, with penetration currently pegged at 16 percent and more than 167 million active users across the continent. “Broadband capacity has probably quadrupled, in the last five years,” said Obi Asika, founder of Dragon Africa, and CEO of Storm 360, a Nigerian entertainment company. He attributed most of the increase in internet access to an influx of new and better mobile technologies. “Mobile internet access is now really what’s the key driver,” he said. But Asika considers the inflection point for the adoption of social media in Africa difficult to pinpoint. “You have to go back to Nairaland, back to the early chat rooms,” he said, naming a Reddit-like online community founded by Nigerian Seun Osewa in 2005.
For a continent that has experienced its fair share of censorship and surveillance during long periods of rule by dictatorships and military regimes, social media is a refreshing and important tool. Said Tolu Ogunlesi, a renowned Nigerian political commentator and journalist with over 61,000 followers on Twitter: “In the early 90s, the government took control of almost everything, but now social media has changed everything. People have been able to speak up and pursue causes against governments.”
#Reshaping Engagements
That social media has become a powerful tool for political and social causes became obvious in Egypt and Tunisia during the Arab Spring and during the 2012 Occupy Nigeria protests. But African businesses and brands have also taken note of the communicative power and increased reach social media can give them. “I think social media is simply new forms of engagement by individuals and brands and organisations creating and utilising technology to create new platforms for engagement and to share,” explained Asika.
Michelle Atagana, the editor of Memeburn, one of South Africa’s leading tech blogs, believes that social media in Africa grew in influence alongside blogging. “For Africans, in terms of getting online, I would say maybe in early 2004 and 2006, that was the emergence of blogging,” she said. “If you want a magic period, I’ll say 2008 to 2009.”
Jumia is the leading e-commerce business in Africa, with operations in Nigeria (Africa’s largest economy), Kenya, Egypt, Morocco, and Cote d’Ivoire. Social media networks generate 20 percent of Jumia’s daily traffic. “Because e-commerce was a new idea, we needed a platform that would spread the word quickly, where people would hear and learn about it quickly, so we used social media to do that,” Opeyemi Adetomiwa, one of the online retailer’s social media representatives, explained. “At the beginning, people did not really know about e-commerce but through social media, we were able to increase traffic and awareness about the brand, thereby increasing sales too.” Other e-commerce start-ups such as Konga and Kaymu have also used the strategy. Despite Africa’s relatively low internet penetration, these online operators are now competing with brick-and-mortar retailers.
Even financial institutions such as First National Bank (FNB) – one of South Africa’s largest banks – and Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust Bank are also rolling out technology- driven services on social media. Guaranty Trust Bank, arguably one of the best-known brands in Africa and one of Nigeria’s larger banks, has leveraged social media networks to reach out to potential customers. In 2013, the bank launched its social banking platform, which enables access to services like opening and managing an account via Facebook. In the same vein, South Africa’s FNB has exploited the widespread usage of Mxit, a South-Africa-based instant messaging network with over seven million active users. The bank partnered with Mxit to push FNB Moola+, a fusion of its eWallet solution and Mxit’s mobile-money offering, to South Africans.
In the world of traditional retail, South African firm, Urban Hilton Weiner, created one of the world’s top social media campaigns of 2013. The retailer gave visitors to their store a $10 coupon if they tweeted a selfie of themselves trying on clothes and used the hashtag #urbanselfie. The campaign helped the retailer get more people into its stores and increased visibility for its merchandise across social media platforms.
The massive consumer response and reaction to social media campaigns has made organisations more careful about using these media to efficiently manage their brands. “It is creating a new wave of change in the advertising industry,” said Abasiama Idaresit, managing director and founder of Wild Fusion, a digital agency with operations in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. In marketing, active engagement via social media channels is winning out over static, unidirectional advertising. “Social media is a technology-driven platform that enables two-way interactions between two people. It could be between one person and another, and it could be between a brand and a group of people,” he said. Abasiama noted that the web used to be a one-way channel where content producers put things out there for the consumers without getting feedback on the quality and timeliness of the content, though times have since changed. “The user now has a voice. The consumer has a voice, and they can talk back to the people talking to them. That’s the very essence of social media; being able to connect, interact and being able to have that two-way communication with people,” he added.
Allan Kamau, an associate director in the Kenya office of Portland Communications, a global consulting firm specializing in brand and image management, agrees that companies now see social media as an important channel for communicating with customers. “Consumers are also using the social media as a way of finding out more information about brands. For example, here in Kenya, the power goes out – I’m sure the same thing happens in Lagos – [and] everybody jumps onto Twitter to complain. It is a direct way of speaking to companies, finding out more about brands, but also for companies to communicate with their customers,” he said. “It is becoming a mainstream way for corporations to talk to consumers but also for them to listen in to conversations so that they know what consumers are thinking about and what some of the concerns they have around different brand issues are.” (VENTURES AFRICA)
Nigeria’s mobile payment transactions hit $1.7bn in May
According to the ex- Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor Mr. Tunde Lemo, the value of mobile money payment as at May 2014 has amounted to $1.7 billion (N271 billion) for 25 million transactions, confirming a growing adoption rate of alternative payment services in the country.
This shows an increase in mobile money transaction when compared with the figure posted in August 2013, which amounted to N10.1 billion ($61.9 million) for 1.6 million transactions. Mr. Lemo made this known while speaking at an event organized by Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), the agency responsible for maintaining Nigeria’s financial system stability.
The apex bank of Nigeria, issued a regulatory frame work for the operation of mobile payment services in the country in 2009, to reduce the Number of unbanked Nigerians. As at 2013 the apex bank granted licenses to 15 non-banking operators and 6 banks.
The Cash-Lite policy of the CBN was introduce in a bid to modernize Nigeria’s payment system; reduce the cost of banking services, drive financial inclusion, improve effectiveness of monetary policy, reduce the high security and safety risks, reduce high subsidy, foster transparency and curb corruption and ultimately meet the federal government’s Vision 2020.
The main Factor responsible for lack of traction of mobile money operations is inadequate capital investment on the part of mobile money operators.
“There is need for higher investment on agent network’s marketing than initially forecasted. N500 Million was the initial official requirement for mobile money operators but it has been revealed that 500million was inadequate”. This statement was made by Mr. Dipo Fatokun, Director, Banking and Payment System Department of the CBN.
Operators of Mobile money are complaining of lack of basic infrastructure such as power, telecommunication networks and others. There is also the difficulty in reaching the unbanked especially in remote areas as agents are not available.
According to MEF a global community for mobile content and commerce,15 per cent of mobile media users used mobile payments to pay for goods globally in 2013.
Africa continues to dominate mobile banking uptake with an average of 82 per cent of consumers engaged in this activity last year. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Abraaj Group commences acquisition of Cairo Medical Center
The Abraaj group, a leading global private equity investor, has made a legal tender to purchase a 100 percent stake of Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX)-listed Cairo Medical Center (CMC) through one of its funds.
The company says it has submitted a mandatory tender offer to acquire the business.
Abraaj has already acquired 50.09 percent of CMC from its shareholders through irrevocable sale undertakings. It intends to buy the outstanding shares for 75 Egyptian pounds a share – valuing the business at 202.5 million pounds ($28.3 million).
By purchasing Cairo Medical Center, a leading comprehensive tertiary care private hospital in East Cairo, Abraaj intends to upgrade the hospital facilities by installing state of the art equipment while making substantial investment in staff training to meet the increasing demand for quality healthcare on the continent.
The announcement to buy CMC – the first private sector hospital built in Egypt – came following a similar acquisition of a stake in Cira, the largest K-12 private schools group in Egypt with more than 17 owned and operated schools.
Abraaj is seeking to gain head-way in the Egyptian business landscape, which is gradually seeing investment pick up following a period of economic uncertainty after the country suffered economy and security collapse in the last three years due to political turmoil.
The Middle-Eastern firm has made several investment in the healthcare across global markets including South Asia, South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa continents.
In 2010, it bought 50 percent of Acibadem, a leading healthcare group in Turkey whose business has grown stupendously in the last four years while creating at least 5,000 jobs.
Partner and Head of MENA at The Abraaj Group, Ahmed Badreldin said the company’s investment in the facility is part of its “wider strategy of supporting resilient and critical industries such as healthcare, and helping to facilitate the provision of quality and affordable healthcare.”
“We are confident that we are best positioned to help better align the hospital’s offering with the increasing demand for medical services,” Angie Helmi, Director at The Abraaj Group added. (VENTURES AFRICA)
British A. Sauvage’s fashion/technology collection could be hot sale in Africa
At first glance, a trouser collection designed by British luxury fashion designer, A. Sauvage seems to offer purely sleek, luxury detailed designed and well-tailored pants. However, a closer look at its pockets confirms the reasoning behind its nickname; The Smart Trousers – the pants can charge mobile phones.
The collection, dubbed “Modern Man”, incorporates the very essence of fashion and technology by infusing the innovative “inductive charging” technology offered by Nokia’s wireless charging plate for its smartphones, into a stylishly built set of pants, making for one of the coolest ways one can charge a mobile devices on the go.
This innovation however, could strike gold on the African continent, given the power challenges still facing the emerging continent and the contrasting surge in mobile penetration and smartphone proliferation.
Africa has experienced an exponential growth in mobile usage in the last decade. The last count placed the continents mobile penetration at 80 percent, implying that over 800 million people or eight out of every ten can boast of owning a handset. This industry still retains a growth rate of 5 percent yearly, one of the fastest in the world, with a recent research confirming that it holds the second largest mobile market globally, only second to Asia.
Smartphone proliferation has also seen a surge in recent years. Despite its relatively low size compared to other global markets, the continent’s smartphone market stands at 20 percent. This is however expected to climb astronomically by 600 percent within the next 5 years, owing largely to a growing middle class in Africa’s top market, particularly Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Ghana.
A major impeder of mobile growth remains the infrastructural backbone needed to further drive patronage from Africa’s vast populace and this infrastructure relies heavily on sustainable power, a key component Africa greatly lacks.
The continent reportedly holds 15 percent of the world’s total population, but according to findings by USAID, it’s energy consumption still lies below a sixth of the world’s average, meaning over 600 million Africans and 70 percent of sub-Saharan Africa still lacking access to sustainable electricity. The continent requires $30 billion to meet current energy demands.
The new mobile charging trousers could however provide a short-term solution to this longstanding power problem. Africans can worry less about issues associated with operating a smartphone on the go. Rather, the easy and flexibility of charging can spur even greater adoption, necessitating an increased mobile penetration in the fast emerging continent.
These pants could become an instant hit in this part of the world given the stylish designs and the appeal it has towards the younger age groups, an advantage Africa holds in great deal, given its young population. Africa is said to have one of the youngest population presently, and has been predicted to hold the youngest working group in the next half-decade.
Let’s hope we see the stylish pants on the continent in the near future. (VENTURES AFRICA)
World Cup: 25m adults viewed Nigeria vs Iran match in Africa
… tops first five-day viewership of other matches
The game between Nigeria and Iran, played during prime time in Nigeria, drew 17.5 million Nigerian adult viewers or 20% of the Nigerian adult population. More than 25 million adults from all the surveyed African nations watched the Nigeria game, making it the most watched game in these markets over the first 5 days of play.
Ghana viewership has remained high across all games, 3.5 million watched the opening game between Brazil and Croatia, and the gripping match between Ghana and the United States on Monday attracted 2.4 million adult Ghanaian viewers.
The US, Ghana game aired at 10pm (Ghana time), which might explain the drop in viewership numbers in the country, compared to the earlier Monday games which saw 3.1 million Ghanaian viewers. On average across the first 5 days of games, 2.2 million Ghanaians have tuned in to every hour of play.
In Kenya almost 900,000 aged 15-24 watched the same game, and in Nigeria 3.5 million youths were watching. In Ghana 1.7 million people aged 15-24 tuned in to the Germany-Portugal game, or about 18% of the youth population.
At peak viewership, during the game between Nigeria and Iran, about 15 percent of adults (grouped under the group age, 15 and older), or 25 million totals across Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, were watching the games.
Nigeria had the highest total viewership numbers, with 17.5 million. Both Nigeria and Ghana have had consistently high percentages of their adult population watching the games: an average of 14 percent per game for Ghana and 10 percent per game for Nigeria.
GeoPoll, the world’s largest real-time mobile survey platform, ran the survey with initial findings revealing the rate of fans tuning into the World Cup in some African countries and represents ratings from 300 million African citizens. The data was gathered via mobile surveys in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. (VENTURES AFRICA)
British Airways’ African operation receives boost with 72 new aircrafts
British Airways is planning to boost its logistics operations in Africa with the purchase of 72 new aircraft before the end of the year, allowing the arliner to expand its existing route network in Africa, particularly its Nigerian market.
The airline said it has already placed an order for the purchase of 12 Airbus 380s, 24 Boeing 787s, six Boeing 777-300 ERs and 10 Airbus 320s aircraft; some of which have been delivered.
Speaking on the new investment drive, BA Country Commercial Manager for West Africa, Kola Olayinka said the airline hopes to strengthen its African business with the acquisitions.
According to Olayinka, about 20 modern aircraft will join the growing fleet of the airline.
These will be used to gradually replace some of the older, less fuel-efficient aircraft in the BA fleet and allow the management to add new destinations and improve schedules, he added.
British Airways currently operates 85 flights weekly to 14 African destinations including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Kenya where it recently introduced the Boeing 747-400s to enhance its operations within the region.
In the West African region, BA plan to increase its flights to Ghana from 10 per week to 11 per week by the last quarter of this year. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Coca-Cola invests $500m on new factories to increase sales in Egypt
World’s largest beverage provider, Coca-Cola is keen to achieve double digit growth from the Egyptian market following the establishment of new factories in the North African country. The factories are expected to commence production by the end of year 2015.
According to Curt Ferguson, Coca-Cola’s Middle East and North Africa President, Egypt is going to be one of Coca-Cola’s key anchor market given the country’s attractive population size.
The Atlanta-based soft drink maker had announced its intention to spend $500 million in investment in Egypt over the next three years.
One of the projects being lined up includes the construction of a $100 million fruit juice plant in partnership with Aujan Coca-Cola Beverages Company which is scheduled to take off by 2017.
Other investment prospects include building a plant for sparkling drinks and water like Fanta, Coke and Sprite in a soon to be acquired property between Cairo and Alexandria, as well as capacity building of its existing factories in the North African nation. The remaining funds will be used to cover capital spending.
From its concentrate plant in Cairo – currently responsible for almost a third of the company’s produce – Coca-Cola intends to double its exports from this facility within about three years; Ferguson told Reuters.
Coca-Cola Egyptian plants exports products to more than 40 countries around the world and provides job for about 12,000 workers. The new investment will create an additional 120,000 indirect job opportunities for people living in Egypt.
The company’s investment is coming at a time when Egypt is recovering from three years political and economic turmoil that has derailed foreign investment, given the challenges and court rulings faced by foreign investors regarding the validity of their contracts signed in last couple of years.
However investors are now expressing interests in investing the country. The transition in electing a new president is expected to subdue majority of the economic challenges faced by many foreign investors which include security and political stability. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Shareholders approve Woolworths’s acquisition of David Jones
Shareholders of Woolworths, the Johannesburg listed food and clothing retailer, on Tuesday approved the firm’s planned acquisition of David Jones, Australia’s iconic department store.
This emerged at the company’s general meeting where the majority of shareholders also approved a proposal relating to a rights offer for the company.
A rights offer is when the firm’s existing shareholders are allowed to buy additional shares directly from the company in proportion to their existing holdings, within a fixed time period.
Earlier this year, Woolworths said it had decided to buy David Jones for $2 billion in cash and new debt.
Woolworths made this acquisition as part of its plan to expand its global presence. This expansion is aimed at changing the firm into a leading “southern hemisphere retailer” with enough capacity to contest well with international apparel retailers.
“The…acquisition is aligned to this strategy, enabling the enlarged group to create significant efficiencies and economies of scale that will over time deliver a material improvement in profitability,” Woolworths said at the time.
Once the acquisition has met all the required conditions and approvals by the relevant competition authorities, David Jones will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Woolworths. It will also be de-listed from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
David Jones was started in 1838 and has grown to join the elite group of Australia’s most well-known department stores since inception.
It has a network totalling 38 stores spread all throughout Australia. Numerous flagship stores in Sydney and Melbourne belong to it.
It stocks many Australian and global brands throughout women’s wear, menswear and beauty products.
Woolworths already has operations in the Australasian market through another of its subsidiaries, Country Road, which has 460 chain stores in this market. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Angola gets $2bn loan from Brazil to fund construction, energy
Angola has received a new credit line of US$2 billion from Brazil to fund the southern Africa nation’s construction and energy industry, strengthening economic relations between both countries.
Angola’s Finance Minister, Armando Manuel said the new $2 billion credit line offered to his country by Brazil is a testimony that bilateral relations between the countries are growing.
“This makes it clear that there is a growing link between the two countries,” said Manuel.
The Southern African country’s construction industry is a sector taking advantage of the growing economy, with various housing projects stimulated by the government that created various initiatives for this.
However, not all public construction projects are functional; with some cases where several hundreds of thousands of people, remains practically uninhabited, largely owing to the high prices of housing facilities, which are beyond the spending ability even for the middle class.
Also despite extensive oil and gas resources, diamonds, hydroelectric potential, and rich agricultural land, Angola remains poor, and a third of the population relies on subsistence agriculture. Since 2002, when the 27-year civil war ended, the country has worked hard to repair and improve ravaged infrastructure and weakened political and social institutions.
High international oil prices and rising oil production have contributed to the very strong economic growth since 1998. (VENTURES AFRICA)
UK willing to support agriculture, women for economic growth in Mozambique
A United Kingdom (UK) envoy has confirmed its government’s willingness to fund agriculture and women projects in Mozambique in support of the Southern Africa nation’s economic growth programmes.
“The UK’s future support for Mozambique will favour economic growth projects involving training, sustainable agriculture and support for women, for example, in partnership with the Mozambican government though always associated to those indicators” said UK ambassador to Mozambique, Joanna Kuenssberg on Friday.
Mozambique’s economy has maintained relative stability since the end of the country’s blood civil war between 1977 and 1992. But it is still one of the world’s poorest and most underdeveloped nation.
In 1987, the country’s government embarked on a series of macroeconomic reforms designed to stabilize the economy. These steps, combined with donor assistance and with political stability since the multi-party elections in 1994, have led to dramatic improvements in the country’s growth rate.
The country remained dependent upon foreign assistance for much of its annual budget, and a large majority of the population remains below the poverty line. Its once substantial foreign debt has been reduced through forgiveness and rescheduling under the International Monetary Fund’s Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and Enhanced HIPC initiatives, and is now at a manageable level. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Nigeria, Kenya as top global investment destinations – Wall Street Journal
Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria has emerged the number one frontier-market economy in terms of attracting the most attention from European and American multinationals, a report titled ‘Frontier Market Sentiment Index’ by Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Frontiers has revealed.
“We collect data about which countries the companies are watching for potential future investment. Over time, that gives us a clear picture of their market priorities—which countries are they including in their future plans and which they are dropping,” said Matt Lasov, global head of advisory and analytics of Frontiers Strategy Group (FSG), the US-based advisory firm that created the index for WSJ.
Countries in sub-Saharan Africa dominate the list, with nine from the region making part of the 11 from Africa in the list of 20 countries.
Kenya ranked 5th on the list, making it the second African country with 23.17 percent corporate sentiment rate, following Nigeria’s 29.57 percent. Rising insurgency in both countries apparently has not discouraged multinationals from venturing into business dealings as opportunities in the countries probably outweigh security risk.
Angola followed at 21.9 percent and Ghana at 18.73 percent.
The top three African countries’ rating may not come as a surprise to many. Firstly, Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and is still growing; Kenya is East Africa’s largest economy; Angola’s oil wealth had in recent times made its economy bigger, with crisis-hit Portugal seem to be relying on the Southern African country as it seeks foreign investments to put its economy back on track.
“The corporate world’s fascination with Africa shows through clearly in the rates of change of sentiment,” the report said.
The report presented four sub-Saharan African countries out of the five with the highest positive change in sentiment; these countries also made up seven of the top 10.
Kenya’s sentiment change from 2013 to June 2014 was 4.18 percent; Nigeria 4.06 percent; Ethiopia 3.58 percent; Tanzania 3.73 percent; Cote d’Ivoire 3.09 percent; Angola 2.31 percent and Zambia 2.02 percent.
The report however said Nigeria remains the clear leader out of the African countries with twice the number of companies in the index considering investing in the West African country. “Nearly three in 10 companies have Nigeria on their watch list.”
Other frontier markets that multinational corporations are most interested in include Argentina and Vietnam, which followed Nigeria as 2nd and 3rd globally.
The report show bias of the multinationals towards frontier markets, although 56 out of the 70 countries considered have seen sentiments towards them decline since 2013. FSG’s global head of advisory and analytics, Lasov, however believes the reduction is because interests in the developed world have been revived.
“In the past few years, there has been a rebound in developed markets, which has attracted companies’ attention,” Lasov says, adding that while this is happening, companies considered frontier markets and realized that many of them have tiny populations, which may not make building a business in such smaller markets be worthwhile.
Frontier markets like Nigeria, with a population of about 170 million is therefore expected to continue its corporate appeal; same as others like Kenya, as sub-Saharan Africa as a whole continue favourable economic growth, with GDP growth projected to be 4.7 percent in 2014. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Oando’s acquisition of ConocoPhillips gets government approval
Oando Energy Resources (OER), a subsidiary of Nigerian indigenous energy company Oando Plc, has been given the green light to proceed with its acquisition bid for Conoco-Phillips Nigerian asset, by the country’s oil minister, Diezani Alison Madueke.
Oando had announced its intention in 2012 to purchase the Nigerian Upstream Oil and Gas Business of Conoco-Phillips for $1.65 billion, but completion of the deal had been stalled by a delayed approval from the country oil ministry.
Some of the assets to be acquired from Conoco-Phillips include Phillips Oil Company Nigeria Limited (POCNL), and other related infrastructure and facilities in the Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC) Joint Venture (NAOC JV).
The deal, which is considered the biggest acquisition by an indigenous oil firm, will position Oando as a leading, indigenous independent Exploration and Production (E&P) player in Nigeria when finalized.
Oando Chairman, Mr Wale Tinubu said the approval satisfied his company’s criteria for assets in production, as well as excellent appraisal and exploration prospects. “The coast now stands clear for us to immediately complete the acquisition,” he added.
Tinubu expressed hope that Oando and Conoco-Phillips will be able to finalize the acquisition by the end of this month. (VENTURES AFRICA)
MTN ranks among Sustainable Global Companies
MTN has been rated among the top 500 global companies on corporate sustainability and environmental impact in the 2014 Newsweek Green Rankings.
The rankings are one of the world’s most recognised assessments of corporate environmental performance. Newsweek partnered with Corporate Knights Capital and leading sustainability minds from non-governmental organisations and the academic and accounting communities, to complete the rankings.
“The ranking is particularly significant for MTN because we are in a small select group of global companies whose revenue is generated off a relatively low environmental impact basis,” says Paul Norman, MTN Group Chief HR & Corporate Affairs Officer.
The 2014 Newsweek Green Rankings measures the environmental performance of large public companies using eight clearly defined performance indicators, including Combined Energy and Waste Productivity. MTN is ranked in position 276, with a Green Score of 35.4 percent.
“This ranking is recognition of our years of hard work on being environmentally responsible across the business. By ensuring we take our environmental responsibilities seriously, we hope to mitigate our impact on our customers’ environments,” adds Norman. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Total sets up solar-powered station for greener services in Africa
French energy giant, Total has opened a $1.5 million environmental-friendly solar powered service station in Lagos, the first of its kind in the West African region, confirming its keenness to offer greener services across Africa.
Total Nigeria said its decision to build a solar-powered service station which is furnished with SunPower solar panels was part of its pledge to provide renewed energy solutions that are environmentally friendly and efficient.
The service station is part of the company’s vow to produce innovative and safe energy that are in line with international health and safety standards, said Momar Nguer, Senior Vice president Total AMO.
“It is not borne out of purely economic reasons but out of Total’s passion to make sustainable and positive impact on the lives of people in developing societies,” he explained.
Total is aiming to expand its green programme reach across Nigeria with an additional solar-powered service station due to be launched in Abuja, the country’s capital city, before the end of the year. It intends to adapt this new identity across its service station in Nigeria by the year 2017.
Meanwhile, Total Nigeria Managing Director Alexis Vovk has noted that while more than 80 million people lack access to electricity in Nigeria, Total has been investing on several creative solutions like the Awango by Total solar lamps, hybrid energy solutions for the telecommunications industry and the newly launched solar-powered service station.
Through the sale of its solar lamps, the company plans to take advantage of the on-going power sector reforms in the country as it seeks to provide access to lighting for 5 per cent “off-the-grid” households in Nigeria in the next three years. (VENTURES AFRICA)
FCm expands African operation with Morocco’s Activ deal
Australia-based global corporate travel business, FCm Travel Solution continues to expand its reach in Africa as it signed a new partnership with Morocco’s Activ Travel to leverage on the booming travel and tourism market in the North Africa country.
FCm hopes to take advantage of Morocco’s well-established market and Activ´Travel’s exclusive business travel management services to add to its business network in the region.
Activ´Travel Company Director, Abdellatif Benmoussa said his company looks forward to building successful business with FCm which he said provides “the best possible local travel service, which is supported by a global team of industry professionals and travel resources.”
General Manager of FCm MEA Network, Ciaran Kelly also concurred that the partnership with Activ´Travel will allow his company build an extensive network in the corporate travel market while forming and maintaining solid relationships with suppliers to negotiate the best deals for clients which will go a long way in strengthening the company’s partnership in the country.
FCm Morocco provides a dedicated Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE) team which includes dedicated specialists that offer general experience in managing large-scale incentive trips and corporate events.
Activ´Travel is a leading business travel agency based in Casablanca, which provides retail travel service as well as MICE travel and logistics. (VENTURES AFRICA)
British mining giant revives Zambian nickel mine
British mining giant, Consolidated Mining Investments (CMI) has taken over struggling Zambian nickel mine, previously ran by Chinese company, Jinchuan Group of China.
Zambian Mines Minister Christopher Yaluma said that operations at Munali Nickel Mine in southern part of the country which shutdown three years ago has been taken over by CMI and will start operating end of June.
“I can confirm that the nickel mine is set for revival and the new investor is expected on site before the end of the month,” said Yaluma.
Zambia, according to Yaluma, is confident that the new investor will bring the desired benefits for the people of Zambia. Munali Nickel Mine operations collapsed in 2011 owing to plummeting base-metal prices on the global market.
Mining is a crucial part of the Zambian economy, with the direct contribution to GDP reaching about 11 percent in 2010 ($590 million) and expected to grow to $1.35 billion in 2015. The indirect contribution might be as much as half the economy. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Nigeria’s oil output may improve as Camac’s Oyo-8 takes off
Drilling had started on Sunday at the new Oyo-8 development well, which is located off-shore Nigeria, Camac Energy, the oil and gas explorer, said on Tuesday.
Camac Energy, which is listed on the Johannesburg (JSE) and New York (NYSE) stock exchanges, is the “operator” of the Oyo-8 well. The firm also holds a 100 percent working interest on the well.
This development well is one of Nigeria’s first deep-water oil finds. It is located about 75 kilometers offshore Nigeria in water pits of about 300 meters.
The Northern Offshore Energy Searcher drillship is drilling the Oyo-8 to a full deepness of about 1,800 meters, Camac said.
The Oyo-8 well is likely to start production in the last three months of this year. The firm said the Oyo-7 well will also be finished following the Oyo-8 well. The two wells are likely to boost production from the Oyo Field substantially, brewing hope that Nigeria may soon see a reversal in oil output fortunes, which is currently experiencing a dwindling trend.
Factors including oil theft, vandalism of oil facilities, and bunkering have all been listed as key challenges facing the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.
Crude production has reportedly shrunk in the last year, with recent figures placed at 2.5 million barrels daily. Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is said to have lost more than $2.5 billion in potential oil revenue, owing largely to the drop in production.
This might have also motivated actions by the US to reduce importation from Nigeria, the country’s largest oil trading partner, accounting for 40 percent of its total oil exports. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Paypal enters Nigeria, three other African markets
PayPal has announced plans to bring its global payment services into 10 new markets, starting today.
“From today, people in more than 200 markets around the world will have the option to pay with PayPal,” said Rupert Keeley, senior vice president of PayPal Europe, Middle East and Africa.
The people of Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Belarus, Macedonia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Paraguay will be able to register for a PayPal account and start making payments on millions of websites around the world without the worry of entering their credit or debit card details online as soon as services go live.
“While technology is breaking down barriers to global commerce, many people are wary of entering their credit or debit card details on the website of an unknown seller, operating in a distant country,” said Keeley.
Paying via PayPal, according to the senior VP, provides peace of mind, “because people never have to expose their financial information during the transaction.”
The global payment service company addition of these markets will bring the total number of markets PayPal serves to 203. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Being too busy is not great compliment
It may be an unavoidable part of modern society but we have turned ‘being busy’ into a kind of accolade. The other day I asked a client how she was and she replied with a sense of glee that she had been so busy. It was as if she had, like so many of us, directly correlated her selfworth to her level of busyness.
In contrast, I recently visited a CEO who presented quite a different picture. When I booked the appointment with his personal assistant I enquired about his availability. She responded by saying: “He leaves a portion of his calendar open for new ideas, specifically for conversations like these.” How nice, I thought, a senior executive who was not chasing his tail. We met at his office, which had an air of calm about it, his desk free of clutter. During the meeting he was completely present in the conversation; there was no checking of cell phones or iPads or pained looks and glances at the time. When I asked how he achieved such presence and seeming calm, he responded by saying: “It’s simple. I don’t wear busyness as a hero badge. I know the value of not being busy and over committed.”
Being too busy and Creativity Cannot Co-exist
What this executive knows and what many others are beginning to understand is that you cannot be creative, innovative and move to new levels at the same time as being busy. Busy is a function of ‘doing’ but moving to new levels requires a new way of ‘being’. It requires introspection, reflection, down time and the interrogation of how we do things. Busyness is, for all intents and purposes, a pattern; a habit that we get into to avoid change. I am not suggesting that you cease to engage in activities but unless busyness is coupled with down time and introspection, you will not know if your activities actually align with your grand vision.
Ditching Busy
So how does one rectify over-commitment? Here are some simple techniques to help you cut to the chase:
• Go back to your vision and check your daily activities against this. Are you busy with the right activities? If not, delegate or let them go.
• Follow Jobs! Steve Jobs was famous for taking time out to go sit in the park and draw. He would come up with new ideas and innovations this way. As they say, don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it!
• Grab a coloured pen – yes you probably have a smart phone, iPad and laptop but there is just something special about writing in colour. Besides which, it connects with the right brain, the creative part of the brain, and allows us to express our creative ideas.
• Make time for nothing. It might sound crazy but ask any Zen master and they will tell you, you cannot fill a cup that is already full. You cannot get new, creative ideas unless you make space for them. Leave your diary free for a couple of hours each week and wait and see what happens.
Wishing you Magic Unlocked! (VENTURES AFRICA)
Gilat Satcom provides connectivity in Africa’s underground mines
Gilat Satcom, a leading provider of satellite and fibre-based connectivity services in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, has announced a new system which will provide high-quality voice connectivity to people working in underground mines.
Traditionally, communication with underground workers has been via temporary coax cables which are prone to damage and unsuitable for many locations. Gilat Satcom’s SuricatePRO service however provides coverage extension for standard satellite phones extending telephony underground without loss of signal quality.
“Communicating with workers in underground mines has always been problematical,” says Dan Zajicek, CEO of Gilat Satcom. “Our system is extremely reliable, cost-effective and market-proven. We are actively reaching out to mining companies in Africa where we know our system will be of great benefit.”
SuricatePRO takes advantage of Foxcom’s leading RF-over-fibre technology.
The company has been providing a similar system to underground bunkers operated by military forces around the world for a number of years. It has adapted this system to cope with the harsh conditions found at many mines, particularly in developing economie
A decade ago, most Africans would never have thought that an individual could bring a corporation to its knees in just 140 characters. But in June 2012, Japheth Omojuwa, an economist by training who has become a prominent Nigerian political advocate and social media personality, went to battle over an iPad lost on a flight with Arik Air, Nigeria’s largest indigenous airline. Omojuwa won. Like David fighting Goliath, he used a simple and underestimated tool – launching the “#ArikWhereIsMyIpad” trend from one of his social media platforms – a Twitter account with over 100,000 followers.
Other Arik Air passengers sympathetic to his plight used the same hashtag (#) to narrate their own experiences losing valuables onboard Arik Air flights. The resulting social media campaign damaged the airline’s reputation and ultimately led the company to suspend its Twitter account. “It eventually became popular offline but it was because it became such a dominant campaign on social media,” said Omojuwa of his efforts.
Social media – a set of internet-based applications and websites that allow users to communicate directly with friends and strangers alike – are increasingly changing the way business is conducted in Africa. Social media is modifying the way businesses relate to each other and their customers in areas from customer relations to entrepreneurship, content development and marketing. Their impact on the African economic resurgence narrative has been nothing short of exponential. “Lions go digital: The Internet’s transformative potential in Africa,” a 2013 report by McKinsey & Company, places the continent’s iGDP – or internet contribution to GDP – at $18 billion. According to the 2014 “Emerging Nations Embrace Internet, Mobile Technology” report by the Pew Research Global Attitudes Project, approximately 78 percent of internet usage in Africa is for social media. This lays the foundation for Africa’s estimated $14-billion social media industry. With the internet expected to contribute a minimum of $300 billion to Africa’s GDP by 2025, social media could contribute almost $230 billion to Africa’s remarkable growth by that time.
The internet has witnessed a sustained increase in adoption rates in Africa, with penetration currently pegged at 16 percent and more than 167 million active users across the continent. “Broadband capacity has probably quadrupled, in the last five years,” said Obi Asika, founder of Dragon Africa, and CEO of Storm 360, a Nigerian entertainment company. He attributed most of the increase in internet access to an influx of new and better mobile technologies. “Mobile internet access is now really what’s the key driver,” he said. But Asika considers the inflection point for the adoption of social media in Africa difficult to pinpoint. “You have to go back to Nairaland, back to the early chat rooms,” he said, naming a Reddit-like online community founded by Nigerian Seun Osewa in 2005.
For a continent that has experienced its fair share of censorship and surveillance during long periods of rule by dictatorships and military regimes, social media is a refreshing and important tool. Said Tolu Ogunlesi, a renowned Nigerian political commentator and journalist with over 61,000 followers on Twitter: “In the early 90s, the government took control of almost everything, but now social media has changed everything. People have been able to speak up and pursue causes against governments.”
#Reshaping Engagements
That social media has become a powerful tool for political and social causes became obvious in Egypt and Tunisia during the Arab Spring and during the 2012 Occupy Nigeria protests. But African businesses and brands have also taken note of the communicative power and increased reach social media can give them. “I think social media is simply new forms of engagement by individuals and brands and organisations creating and utilising technology to create new platforms for engagement and to share,” explained Asika.
Michelle Atagana, the editor of Memeburn, one of South Africa’s leading tech blogs, believes that social media in Africa grew in influence alongside blogging. “For Africans, in terms of getting online, I would say maybe in early 2004 and 2006, that was the emergence of blogging,” she said. “If you want a magic period, I’ll say 2008 to 2009.”
Jumia is the leading e-commerce business in Africa, with operations in Nigeria (Africa’s largest economy), Kenya, Egypt, Morocco, and Cote d’Ivoire. Social media networks generate 20 percent of Jumia’s daily traffic. “Because e-commerce was a new idea, we needed a platform that would spread the word quickly, where people would hear and learn about it quickly, so we used social media to do that,” Opeyemi Adetomiwa, one of the online retailer’s social media representatives, explained. “At the beginning, people did not really know about e-commerce but through social media, we were able to increase traffic and awareness about the brand, thereby increasing sales too.” Other e-commerce start-ups such as Konga and Kaymu have also used the strategy. Despite Africa’s relatively low internet penetration, these online operators are now competing with brick-and-mortar retailers.
Even financial institutions such as First National Bank (FNB) – one of South Africa’s largest banks – and Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust Bank are also rolling out technology- driven services on social media. Guaranty Trust Bank, arguably one of the best-known brands in Africa and one of Nigeria’s larger banks, has leveraged social media networks to reach out to potential customers. In 2013, the bank launched its social banking platform, which enables access to services like opening and managing an account via Facebook. In the same vein, South Africa’s FNB has exploited the widespread usage of Mxit, a South-Africa-based instant messaging network with over seven million active users. The bank partnered with Mxit to push FNB Moola+, a fusion of its eWallet solution and Mxit’s mobile-money offering, to South Africans.
In the world of traditional retail, South African firm, Urban Hilton Weiner, created one of the world’s top social media campaigns of 2013. The retailer gave visitors to their store a $10 coupon if they tweeted a selfie of themselves trying on clothes and used the hashtag #urbanselfie. The campaign helped the retailer get more people into its stores and increased visibility for its merchandise across social media platforms.
The massive consumer response and reaction to social media campaigns has made organisations more careful about using these media to efficiently manage their brands. “It is creating a new wave of change in the advertising industry,” said Abasiama Idaresit, managing director and founder of Wild Fusion, a digital agency with operations in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. In marketing, active engagement via social media channels is winning out over static, unidirectional advertising. “Social media is a technology-driven platform that enables two-way interactions between two people. It could be between one person and another, and it could be between a brand and a group of people,” he said. Abasiama noted that the web used to be a one-way channel where content producers put things out there for the consumers without getting feedback on the quality and timeliness of the content, though times have since changed. “The user now has a voice. The consumer has a voice, and they can talk back to the people talking to them. That’s the very essence of social media; being able to connect, interact and being able to have that two-way communication with people,” he added.
Allan Kamau, an associate director in the Kenya office of Portland Communications, a global consulting firm specializing in brand and image management, agrees that companies now see social media as an important channel for communicating with customers. “Consumers are also using the social media as a way of finding out more information about brands. For example, here in Kenya, the power goes out – I’m sure the same thing happens in Lagos – [and] everybody jumps onto Twitter to complain. It is a direct way of speaking to companies, finding out more about brands, but also for companies to communicate with their customers,” he said. “It is becoming a mainstream way for corporations to talk to consumers but also for them to listen in to conversations so that they know what consumers are thinking about and what some of the concerns they have around different brand issues are.” (VENTURES AFRICA)
Nigeria’s mobile payment transactions hit $1.7bn in May
According to the ex- Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor Mr. Tunde Lemo, the value of mobile money payment as at May 2014 has amounted to $1.7 billion (N271 billion) for 25 million transactions, confirming a growing adoption rate of alternative payment services in the country.
This shows an increase in mobile money transaction when compared with the figure posted in August 2013, which amounted to N10.1 billion ($61.9 million) for 1.6 million transactions. Mr. Lemo made this known while speaking at an event organized by Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), the agency responsible for maintaining Nigeria’s financial system stability.
The apex bank of Nigeria, issued a regulatory frame work for the operation of mobile payment services in the country in 2009, to reduce the Number of unbanked Nigerians. As at 2013 the apex bank granted licenses to 15 non-banking operators and 6 banks.
The Cash-Lite policy of the CBN was introduce in a bid to modernize Nigeria’s payment system; reduce the cost of banking services, drive financial inclusion, improve effectiveness of monetary policy, reduce the high security and safety risks, reduce high subsidy, foster transparency and curb corruption and ultimately meet the federal government’s Vision 2020.
The main Factor responsible for lack of traction of mobile money operations is inadequate capital investment on the part of mobile money operators.
“There is need for higher investment on agent network’s marketing than initially forecasted. N500 Million was the initial official requirement for mobile money operators but it has been revealed that 500million was inadequate”. This statement was made by Mr. Dipo Fatokun, Director, Banking and Payment System Department of the CBN.
Operators of Mobile money are complaining of lack of basic infrastructure such as power, telecommunication networks and others. There is also the difficulty in reaching the unbanked especially in remote areas as agents are not available.
According to MEF a global community for mobile content and commerce,15 per cent of mobile media users used mobile payments to pay for goods globally in 2013.
Africa continues to dominate mobile banking uptake with an average of 82 per cent of consumers engaged in this activity last year. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Abraaj Group commences acquisition of Cairo Medical Center
The Abraaj group, a leading global private equity investor, has made a legal tender to purchase a 100 percent stake of Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX)-listed Cairo Medical Center (CMC) through one of its funds.
The company says it has submitted a mandatory tender offer to acquire the business.
Abraaj has already acquired 50.09 percent of CMC from its shareholders through irrevocable sale undertakings. It intends to buy the outstanding shares for 75 Egyptian pounds a share – valuing the business at 202.5 million pounds ($28.3 million).
By purchasing Cairo Medical Center, a leading comprehensive tertiary care private hospital in East Cairo, Abraaj intends to upgrade the hospital facilities by installing state of the art equipment while making substantial investment in staff training to meet the increasing demand for quality healthcare on the continent.
The announcement to buy CMC – the first private sector hospital built in Egypt – came following a similar acquisition of a stake in Cira, the largest K-12 private schools group in Egypt with more than 17 owned and operated schools.
Abraaj is seeking to gain head-way in the Egyptian business landscape, which is gradually seeing investment pick up following a period of economic uncertainty after the country suffered economy and security collapse in the last three years due to political turmoil.
The Middle-Eastern firm has made several investment in the healthcare across global markets including South Asia, South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa continents.
In 2010, it bought 50 percent of Acibadem, a leading healthcare group in Turkey whose business has grown stupendously in the last four years while creating at least 5,000 jobs.
Partner and Head of MENA at The Abraaj Group, Ahmed Badreldin said the company’s investment in the facility is part of its “wider strategy of supporting resilient and critical industries such as healthcare, and helping to facilitate the provision of quality and affordable healthcare.”
“We are confident that we are best positioned to help better align the hospital’s offering with the increasing demand for medical services,” Angie Helmi, Director at The Abraaj Group added. (VENTURES AFRICA)
British A. Sauvage’s fashion/technology collection could be hot sale in Africa
At first glance, a trouser collection designed by British luxury fashion designer, A. Sauvage seems to offer purely sleek, luxury detailed designed and well-tailored pants. However, a closer look at its pockets confirms the reasoning behind its nickname; The Smart Trousers – the pants can charge mobile phones.
The collection, dubbed “Modern Man”, incorporates the very essence of fashion and technology by infusing the innovative “inductive charging” technology offered by Nokia’s wireless charging plate for its smartphones, into a stylishly built set of pants, making for one of the coolest ways one can charge a mobile devices on the go.
This innovation however, could strike gold on the African continent, given the power challenges still facing the emerging continent and the contrasting surge in mobile penetration and smartphone proliferation.
Africa has experienced an exponential growth in mobile usage in the last decade. The last count placed the continents mobile penetration at 80 percent, implying that over 800 million people or eight out of every ten can boast of owning a handset. This industry still retains a growth rate of 5 percent yearly, one of the fastest in the world, with a recent research confirming that it holds the second largest mobile market globally, only second to Asia.
Smartphone proliferation has also seen a surge in recent years. Despite its relatively low size compared to other global markets, the continent’s smartphone market stands at 20 percent. This is however expected to climb astronomically by 600 percent within the next 5 years, owing largely to a growing middle class in Africa’s top market, particularly Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Ghana.
A major impeder of mobile growth remains the infrastructural backbone needed to further drive patronage from Africa’s vast populace and this infrastructure relies heavily on sustainable power, a key component Africa greatly lacks.
The continent reportedly holds 15 percent of the world’s total population, but according to findings by USAID, it’s energy consumption still lies below a sixth of the world’s average, meaning over 600 million Africans and 70 percent of sub-Saharan Africa still lacking access to sustainable electricity. The continent requires $30 billion to meet current energy demands.
The new mobile charging trousers could however provide a short-term solution to this longstanding power problem. Africans can worry less about issues associated with operating a smartphone on the go. Rather, the easy and flexibility of charging can spur even greater adoption, necessitating an increased mobile penetration in the fast emerging continent.
These pants could become an instant hit in this part of the world given the stylish designs and the appeal it has towards the younger age groups, an advantage Africa holds in great deal, given its young population. Africa is said to have one of the youngest population presently, and has been predicted to hold the youngest working group in the next half-decade.
Let’s hope we see the stylish pants on the continent in the near future. (VENTURES AFRICA)
World Cup: 25m adults viewed Nigeria vs Iran match in Africa
… tops first five-day viewership of other matches
The game between Nigeria and Iran, played during prime time in Nigeria, drew 17.5 million Nigerian adult viewers or 20% of the Nigerian adult population. More than 25 million adults from all the surveyed African nations watched the Nigeria game, making it the most watched game in these markets over the first 5 days of play.
Ghana viewership has remained high across all games, 3.5 million watched the opening game between Brazil and Croatia, and the gripping match between Ghana and the United States on Monday attracted 2.4 million adult Ghanaian viewers.
The US, Ghana game aired at 10pm (Ghana time), which might explain the drop in viewership numbers in the country, compared to the earlier Monday games which saw 3.1 million Ghanaian viewers. On average across the first 5 days of games, 2.2 million Ghanaians have tuned in to every hour of play.
In Kenya almost 900,000 aged 15-24 watched the same game, and in Nigeria 3.5 million youths were watching. In Ghana 1.7 million people aged 15-24 tuned in to the Germany-Portugal game, or about 18% of the youth population.
At peak viewership, during the game between Nigeria and Iran, about 15 percent of adults (grouped under the group age, 15 and older), or 25 million totals across Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, were watching the games.
Nigeria had the highest total viewership numbers, with 17.5 million. Both Nigeria and Ghana have had consistently high percentages of their adult population watching the games: an average of 14 percent per game for Ghana and 10 percent per game for Nigeria.
GeoPoll, the world’s largest real-time mobile survey platform, ran the survey with initial findings revealing the rate of fans tuning into the World Cup in some African countries and represents ratings from 300 million African citizens. The data was gathered via mobile surveys in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. (VENTURES AFRICA)
British Airways’ African operation receives boost with 72 new aircrafts
British Airways is planning to boost its logistics operations in Africa with the purchase of 72 new aircraft before the end of the year, allowing the arliner to expand its existing route network in Africa, particularly its Nigerian market.
The airline said it has already placed an order for the purchase of 12 Airbus 380s, 24 Boeing 787s, six Boeing 777-300 ERs and 10 Airbus 320s aircraft; some of which have been delivered.
Speaking on the new investment drive, BA Country Commercial Manager for West Africa, Kola Olayinka said the airline hopes to strengthen its African business with the acquisitions.
According to Olayinka, about 20 modern aircraft will join the growing fleet of the airline.
These will be used to gradually replace some of the older, less fuel-efficient aircraft in the BA fleet and allow the management to add new destinations and improve schedules, he added.
British Airways currently operates 85 flights weekly to 14 African destinations including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Kenya where it recently introduced the Boeing 747-400s to enhance its operations within the region.
In the West African region, BA plan to increase its flights to Ghana from 10 per week to 11 per week by the last quarter of this year. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Coca-Cola invests $500m on new factories to increase sales in Egypt
World’s largest beverage provider, Coca-Cola is keen to achieve double digit growth from the Egyptian market following the establishment of new factories in the North African country. The factories are expected to commence production by the end of year 2015.
According to Curt Ferguson, Coca-Cola’s Middle East and North Africa President, Egypt is going to be one of Coca-Cola’s key anchor market given the country’s attractive population size.
The Atlanta-based soft drink maker had announced its intention to spend $500 million in investment in Egypt over the next three years.
One of the projects being lined up includes the construction of a $100 million fruit juice plant in partnership with Aujan Coca-Cola Beverages Company which is scheduled to take off by 2017.
Other investment prospects include building a plant for sparkling drinks and water like Fanta, Coke and Sprite in a soon to be acquired property between Cairo and Alexandria, as well as capacity building of its existing factories in the North African nation. The remaining funds will be used to cover capital spending.
From its concentrate plant in Cairo – currently responsible for almost a third of the company’s produce – Coca-Cola intends to double its exports from this facility within about three years; Ferguson told Reuters.
Coca-Cola Egyptian plants exports products to more than 40 countries around the world and provides job for about 12,000 workers. The new investment will create an additional 120,000 indirect job opportunities for people living in Egypt.
The company’s investment is coming at a time when Egypt is recovering from three years political and economic turmoil that has derailed foreign investment, given the challenges and court rulings faced by foreign investors regarding the validity of their contracts signed in last couple of years.
However investors are now expressing interests in investing the country. The transition in electing a new president is expected to subdue majority of the economic challenges faced by many foreign investors which include security and political stability. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Shareholders approve Woolworths’s acquisition of David Jones
Shareholders of Woolworths, the Johannesburg listed food and clothing retailer, on Tuesday approved the firm’s planned acquisition of David Jones, Australia’s iconic department store.
This emerged at the company’s general meeting where the majority of shareholders also approved a proposal relating to a rights offer for the company.
A rights offer is when the firm’s existing shareholders are allowed to buy additional shares directly from the company in proportion to their existing holdings, within a fixed time period.
Earlier this year, Woolworths said it had decided to buy David Jones for $2 billion in cash and new debt.
Woolworths made this acquisition as part of its plan to expand its global presence. This expansion is aimed at changing the firm into a leading “southern hemisphere retailer” with enough capacity to contest well with international apparel retailers.
“The…acquisition is aligned to this strategy, enabling the enlarged group to create significant efficiencies and economies of scale that will over time deliver a material improvement in profitability,” Woolworths said at the time.
Once the acquisition has met all the required conditions and approvals by the relevant competition authorities, David Jones will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Woolworths. It will also be de-listed from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
David Jones was started in 1838 and has grown to join the elite group of Australia’s most well-known department stores since inception.
It has a network totalling 38 stores spread all throughout Australia. Numerous flagship stores in Sydney and Melbourne belong to it.
It stocks many Australian and global brands throughout women’s wear, menswear and beauty products.
Woolworths already has operations in the Australasian market through another of its subsidiaries, Country Road, which has 460 chain stores in this market. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Angola gets $2bn loan from Brazil to fund construction, energy
Angola has received a new credit line of US$2 billion from Brazil to fund the southern Africa nation’s construction and energy industry, strengthening economic relations between both countries.
Angola’s Finance Minister, Armando Manuel said the new $2 billion credit line offered to his country by Brazil is a testimony that bilateral relations between the countries are growing.
“This makes it clear that there is a growing link between the two countries,” said Manuel.
The Southern African country’s construction industry is a sector taking advantage of the growing economy, with various housing projects stimulated by the government that created various initiatives for this.
However, not all public construction projects are functional; with some cases where several hundreds of thousands of people, remains practically uninhabited, largely owing to the high prices of housing facilities, which are beyond the spending ability even for the middle class.
Also despite extensive oil and gas resources, diamonds, hydroelectric potential, and rich agricultural land, Angola remains poor, and a third of the population relies on subsistence agriculture. Since 2002, when the 27-year civil war ended, the country has worked hard to repair and improve ravaged infrastructure and weakened political and social institutions.
High international oil prices and rising oil production have contributed to the very strong economic growth since 1998. (VENTURES AFRICA)
UK willing to support agriculture, women for economic growth in Mozambique
A United Kingdom (UK) envoy has confirmed its government’s willingness to fund agriculture and women projects in Mozambique in support of the Southern Africa nation’s economic growth programmes.
“The UK’s future support for Mozambique will favour economic growth projects involving training, sustainable agriculture and support for women, for example, in partnership with the Mozambican government though always associated to those indicators” said UK ambassador to Mozambique, Joanna Kuenssberg on Friday.
Mozambique’s economy has maintained relative stability since the end of the country’s blood civil war between 1977 and 1992. But it is still one of the world’s poorest and most underdeveloped nation.
In 1987, the country’s government embarked on a series of macroeconomic reforms designed to stabilize the economy. These steps, combined with donor assistance and with political stability since the multi-party elections in 1994, have led to dramatic improvements in the country’s growth rate.
The country remained dependent upon foreign assistance for much of its annual budget, and a large majority of the population remains below the poverty line. Its once substantial foreign debt has been reduced through forgiveness and rescheduling under the International Monetary Fund’s Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and Enhanced HIPC initiatives, and is now at a manageable level. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Nigeria, Kenya as top global investment destinations – Wall Street Journal
Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria has emerged the number one frontier-market economy in terms of attracting the most attention from European and American multinationals, a report titled ‘Frontier Market Sentiment Index’ by Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Frontiers has revealed.
“We collect data about which countries the companies are watching for potential future investment. Over time, that gives us a clear picture of their market priorities—which countries are they including in their future plans and which they are dropping,” said Matt Lasov, global head of advisory and analytics of Frontiers Strategy Group (FSG), the US-based advisory firm that created the index for WSJ.
Countries in sub-Saharan Africa dominate the list, with nine from the region making part of the 11 from Africa in the list of 20 countries.
Kenya ranked 5th on the list, making it the second African country with 23.17 percent corporate sentiment rate, following Nigeria’s 29.57 percent. Rising insurgency in both countries apparently has not discouraged multinationals from venturing into business dealings as opportunities in the countries probably outweigh security risk.
Angola followed at 21.9 percent and Ghana at 18.73 percent.
The top three African countries’ rating may not come as a surprise to many. Firstly, Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and is still growing; Kenya is East Africa’s largest economy; Angola’s oil wealth had in recent times made its economy bigger, with crisis-hit Portugal seem to be relying on the Southern African country as it seeks foreign investments to put its economy back on track.
“The corporate world’s fascination with Africa shows through clearly in the rates of change of sentiment,” the report said.
The report presented four sub-Saharan African countries out of the five with the highest positive change in sentiment; these countries also made up seven of the top 10.
Kenya’s sentiment change from 2013 to June 2014 was 4.18 percent; Nigeria 4.06 percent; Ethiopia 3.58 percent; Tanzania 3.73 percent; Cote d’Ivoire 3.09 percent; Angola 2.31 percent and Zambia 2.02 percent.
The report however said Nigeria remains the clear leader out of the African countries with twice the number of companies in the index considering investing in the West African country. “Nearly three in 10 companies have Nigeria on their watch list.”
Other frontier markets that multinational corporations are most interested in include Argentina and Vietnam, which followed Nigeria as 2nd and 3rd globally.
The report show bias of the multinationals towards frontier markets, although 56 out of the 70 countries considered have seen sentiments towards them decline since 2013. FSG’s global head of advisory and analytics, Lasov, however believes the reduction is because interests in the developed world have been revived.
“In the past few years, there has been a rebound in developed markets, which has attracted companies’ attention,” Lasov says, adding that while this is happening, companies considered frontier markets and realized that many of them have tiny populations, which may not make building a business in such smaller markets be worthwhile.
Frontier markets like Nigeria, with a population of about 170 million is therefore expected to continue its corporate appeal; same as others like Kenya, as sub-Saharan Africa as a whole continue favourable economic growth, with GDP growth projected to be 4.7 percent in 2014. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Oando’s acquisition of ConocoPhillips gets government approval
Oando Energy Resources (OER), a subsidiary of Nigerian indigenous energy company Oando Plc, has been given the green light to proceed with its acquisition bid for Conoco-Phillips Nigerian asset, by the country’s oil minister, Diezani Alison Madueke.
Oando had announced its intention in 2012 to purchase the Nigerian Upstream Oil and Gas Business of Conoco-Phillips for $1.65 billion, but completion of the deal had been stalled by a delayed approval from the country oil ministry.
Some of the assets to be acquired from Conoco-Phillips include Phillips Oil Company Nigeria Limited (POCNL), and other related infrastructure and facilities in the Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC) Joint Venture (NAOC JV).
The deal, which is considered the biggest acquisition by an indigenous oil firm, will position Oando as a leading, indigenous independent Exploration and Production (E&P) player in Nigeria when finalized.
Oando Chairman, Mr Wale Tinubu said the approval satisfied his company’s criteria for assets in production, as well as excellent appraisal and exploration prospects. “The coast now stands clear for us to immediately complete the acquisition,” he added.
Tinubu expressed hope that Oando and Conoco-Phillips will be able to finalize the acquisition by the end of this month. (VENTURES AFRICA)
MTN ranks among Sustainable Global Companies
MTN has been rated among the top 500 global companies on corporate sustainability and environmental impact in the 2014 Newsweek Green Rankings.
The rankings are one of the world’s most recognised assessments of corporate environmental performance. Newsweek partnered with Corporate Knights Capital and leading sustainability minds from non-governmental organisations and the academic and accounting communities, to complete the rankings.
“The ranking is particularly significant for MTN because we are in a small select group of global companies whose revenue is generated off a relatively low environmental impact basis,” says Paul Norman, MTN Group Chief HR & Corporate Affairs Officer.
The 2014 Newsweek Green Rankings measures the environmental performance of large public companies using eight clearly defined performance indicators, including Combined Energy and Waste Productivity. MTN is ranked in position 276, with a Green Score of 35.4 percent.
“This ranking is recognition of our years of hard work on being environmentally responsible across the business. By ensuring we take our environmental responsibilities seriously, we hope to mitigate our impact on our customers’ environments,” adds Norman. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Total sets up solar-powered station for greener services in Africa
French energy giant, Total has opened a $1.5 million environmental-friendly solar powered service station in Lagos, the first of its kind in the West African region, confirming its keenness to offer greener services across Africa.
Total Nigeria said its decision to build a solar-powered service station which is furnished with SunPower solar panels was part of its pledge to provide renewed energy solutions that are environmentally friendly and efficient.
The service station is part of the company’s vow to produce innovative and safe energy that are in line with international health and safety standards, said Momar Nguer, Senior Vice president Total AMO.
“It is not borne out of purely economic reasons but out of Total’s passion to make sustainable and positive impact on the lives of people in developing societies,” he explained.
Total is aiming to expand its green programme reach across Nigeria with an additional solar-powered service station due to be launched in Abuja, the country’s capital city, before the end of the year. It intends to adapt this new identity across its service station in Nigeria by the year 2017.
Meanwhile, Total Nigeria Managing Director Alexis Vovk has noted that while more than 80 million people lack access to electricity in Nigeria, Total has been investing on several creative solutions like the Awango by Total solar lamps, hybrid energy solutions for the telecommunications industry and the newly launched solar-powered service station.
Through the sale of its solar lamps, the company plans to take advantage of the on-going power sector reforms in the country as it seeks to provide access to lighting for 5 per cent “off-the-grid” households in Nigeria in the next three years. (VENTURES AFRICA)
FCm expands African operation with Morocco’s Activ deal
Australia-based global corporate travel business, FCm Travel Solution continues to expand its reach in Africa as it signed a new partnership with Morocco’s Activ Travel to leverage on the booming travel and tourism market in the North Africa country.
FCm hopes to take advantage of Morocco’s well-established market and Activ´Travel’s exclusive business travel management services to add to its business network in the region.
Activ´Travel Company Director, Abdellatif Benmoussa said his company looks forward to building successful business with FCm which he said provides “the best possible local travel service, which is supported by a global team of industry professionals and travel resources.”
General Manager of FCm MEA Network, Ciaran Kelly also concurred that the partnership with Activ´Travel will allow his company build an extensive network in the corporate travel market while forming and maintaining solid relationships with suppliers to negotiate the best deals for clients which will go a long way in strengthening the company’s partnership in the country.
FCm Morocco provides a dedicated Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE) team which includes dedicated specialists that offer general experience in managing large-scale incentive trips and corporate events.
Activ´Travel is a leading business travel agency based in Casablanca, which provides retail travel service as well as MICE travel and logistics. (VENTURES AFRICA)
British mining giant revives Zambian nickel mine
British mining giant, Consolidated Mining Investments (CMI) has taken over struggling Zambian nickel mine, previously ran by Chinese company, Jinchuan Group of China.
Zambian Mines Minister Christopher Yaluma said that operations at Munali Nickel Mine in southern part of the country which shutdown three years ago has been taken over by CMI and will start operating end of June.
“I can confirm that the nickel mine is set for revival and the new investor is expected on site before the end of the month,” said Yaluma.
Zambia, according to Yaluma, is confident that the new investor will bring the desired benefits for the people of Zambia. Munali Nickel Mine operations collapsed in 2011 owing to plummeting base-metal prices on the global market.
Mining is a crucial part of the Zambian economy, with the direct contribution to GDP reaching about 11 percent in 2010 ($590 million) and expected to grow to $1.35 billion in 2015. The indirect contribution might be as much as half the economy. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Nigeria’s oil output may improve as Camac’s Oyo-8 takes off
Drilling had started on Sunday at the new Oyo-8 development well, which is located off-shore Nigeria, Camac Energy, the oil and gas explorer, said on Tuesday.
Camac Energy, which is listed on the Johannesburg (JSE) and New York (NYSE) stock exchanges, is the “operator” of the Oyo-8 well. The firm also holds a 100 percent working interest on the well.
This development well is one of Nigeria’s first deep-water oil finds. It is located about 75 kilometers offshore Nigeria in water pits of about 300 meters.
The Northern Offshore Energy Searcher drillship is drilling the Oyo-8 to a full deepness of about 1,800 meters, Camac said.
The Oyo-8 well is likely to start production in the last three months of this year. The firm said the Oyo-7 well will also be finished following the Oyo-8 well. The two wells are likely to boost production from the Oyo Field substantially, brewing hope that Nigeria may soon see a reversal in oil output fortunes, which is currently experiencing a dwindling trend.
Factors including oil theft, vandalism of oil facilities, and bunkering have all been listed as key challenges facing the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.
Crude production has reportedly shrunk in the last year, with recent figures placed at 2.5 million barrels daily. Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is said to have lost more than $2.5 billion in potential oil revenue, owing largely to the drop in production.
This might have also motivated actions by the US to reduce importation from Nigeria, the country’s largest oil trading partner, accounting for 40 percent of its total oil exports. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Paypal enters Nigeria, three other African markets
PayPal has announced plans to bring its global payment services into 10 new markets, starting today.
“From today, people in more than 200 markets around the world will have the option to pay with PayPal,” said Rupert Keeley, senior vice president of PayPal Europe, Middle East and Africa.
The people of Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Belarus, Macedonia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Paraguay will be able to register for a PayPal account and start making payments on millions of websites around the world without the worry of entering their credit or debit card details online as soon as services go live.
“While technology is breaking down barriers to global commerce, many people are wary of entering their credit or debit card details on the website of an unknown seller, operating in a distant country,” said Keeley.
Paying via PayPal, according to the senior VP, provides peace of mind, “because people never have to expose their financial information during the transaction.”
The global payment service company addition of these markets will bring the total number of markets PayPal serves to 203. (VENTURES AFRICA)
Being too busy is not great compliment
It may be an unavoidable part of modern society but we have turned ‘being busy’ into a kind of accolade. The other day I asked a client how she was and she replied with a sense of glee that she had been so busy. It was as if she had, like so many of us, directly correlated her selfworth to her level of busyness.
In contrast, I recently visited a CEO who presented quite a different picture. When I booked the appointment with his personal assistant I enquired about his availability. She responded by saying: “He leaves a portion of his calendar open for new ideas, specifically for conversations like these.” How nice, I thought, a senior executive who was not chasing his tail. We met at his office, which had an air of calm about it, his desk free of clutter. During the meeting he was completely present in the conversation; there was no checking of cell phones or iPads or pained looks and glances at the time. When I asked how he achieved such presence and seeming calm, he responded by saying: “It’s simple. I don’t wear busyness as a hero badge. I know the value of not being busy and over committed.”
Being too busy and Creativity Cannot Co-exist
What this executive knows and what many others are beginning to understand is that you cannot be creative, innovative and move to new levels at the same time as being busy. Busy is a function of ‘doing’ but moving to new levels requires a new way of ‘being’. It requires introspection, reflection, down time and the interrogation of how we do things. Busyness is, for all intents and purposes, a pattern; a habit that we get into to avoid change. I am not suggesting that you cease to engage in activities but unless busyness is coupled with down time and introspection, you will not know if your activities actually align with your grand vision.
Ditching Busy
So how does one rectify over-commitment? Here are some simple techniques to help you cut to the chase:
• Go back to your vision and check your daily activities against this. Are you busy with the right activities? If not, delegate or let them go.
• Follow Jobs! Steve Jobs was famous for taking time out to go sit in the park and draw. He would come up with new ideas and innovations this way. As they say, don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it!
• Grab a coloured pen – yes you probably have a smart phone, iPad and laptop but there is just something special about writing in colour. Besides which, it connects with the right brain, the creative part of the brain, and allows us to express our creative ideas.
• Make time for nothing. It might sound crazy but ask any Zen master and they will tell you, you cannot fill a cup that is already full. You cannot get new, creative ideas unless you make space for them. Leave your diary free for a couple of hours each week and wait and see what happens.
Wishing you Magic Unlocked! (VENTURES AFRICA)
Gilat Satcom provides connectivity in Africa’s underground mines
Gilat Satcom, a leading provider of satellite and fibre-based connectivity services in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, has announced a new system which will provide high-quality voice connectivity to people working in underground mines.
Traditionally, communication with underground workers has been via temporary coax cables which are prone to damage and unsuitable for many locations. Gilat Satcom’s SuricatePRO service however provides coverage extension for standard satellite phones extending telephony underground without loss of signal quality.
“Communicating with workers in underground mines has always been problematical,” says Dan Zajicek, CEO of Gilat Satcom. “Our system is extremely reliable, cost-effective and market-proven. We are actively reaching out to mining companies in Africa where we know our system will be of great benefit.”
SuricatePRO takes advantage of Foxcom’s leading RF-over-fibre technology.
The company has been providing a similar system to underground bunkers operated by military forces around the world for a number of years. It has adapted this system to cope with the harsh conditions found at many mines, particularly in developing economie