Month: May 2019

French electric  utility multinational—ENGIE (www.Engie-Africa.com) has been selected for the operation and maintenance of the Orange Services Group’s data center in Abidjan, for a five-year contract that will start early June 2019.

This data center of the latest generation, built by the Orange Service Group (GOS), is one of the few data centers existing in West Africa complying with the Level IV classification.

READ:How Dimension Data and SAP will roll out Intelligent enterprise solutions in East Africa

According to the classification, it has the required redundancies to ensure continuity of service in all circumstances. It received the award of Best Data Center from Africa at the 2017 “Data cloud Congress” in Monaco.

The perimeter of the contract includes preventive maintenance of the multi-technical lots of the data center buildings, including the electrical substations, high voltage, cooling and air conditioning, Central Management Technology, fire alarm systems, security and …

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has signed a Transhipment Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) charter with stakeholders at the port of Mombasa to enhance cargo clearance efficiency and boost regional trade.

As part of a commitment to boost port operations and clear bottlenecks affecting efficient cargo movement, KRA has signed the Transhipment SOPs for the Port of Mombasa with the Kenya Ports Authority and the Kenya Shipping Agents Association.

READ:New equipment at Mombasa port to reduce expenses by 30 per cent

KRA Customs and Border Control Commissioner, Mr. Kevin Safari, KPA General Manager Operations Captain William Ruto and the Kenya Shipping Agents Association CEO Juma Ali Tellah have described the formulation of the transhipment SOPs as a key milestone for the shipping stakeholders.

The adoption of a bidding SOPs, they explained, will play a key role in raising efficiency levels at the port of Mombasa.

“The SOPs have been developed …

Companies are likely to install small solar powered plants for their internal use following due to incentives like a friendly tax regime and the availability of affordable solar equipment.…

Nine out of ten (87 per cent) of Kenyans are dissatisfied with the country’s direction on economic management, a survey has revealed, casting doubt on governments’ commitment to deliver on its promises.

The proportion of citizens who express dissatisfaction, according to a report released in Nairobi this week, has been increasing since 2016 when five out of ten citizens (53%) were unhappy.

Citizens are equally dissatisfied with the country’s direction on job creation (82 per cent) which again is higher compared to the past years, since 2016, when half of citizens (51%) were unhappy.

This is despite the Economic Survey 2019 by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS)-released in April-indicating the economy grew by 6.3 per cent in 2018 compared to 4.9 per cent in 2017, creating 840,600 new jobs.

READ:How Kenya managed to grow its economy by 6.3%

Corruption is one of the major concerns by majority …

Data and M-pesa transactions accounted for almost 50 per cent of Vodacom Tanzania Plc`s income last year thanks to an over Tshs.170 billion ($73.9 million) investment to expand and modernize the network.

Vodacom`s Finance Director, Jacques Marais said in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday 14<sup>th</sup> May 2019 during a briefing to investors and the media of the company`s annual results for the year ending March 2019.

Marais said M-pesa remained a leading revenue growth with an increase of 14.5 per cent during the period with seven million customers using the service regularly transacting a record Tshs.49.3 billion ($21.4 million) per month.

`During the year, we added 620,000 new M-pesa customers, a growth of 9.7 per cent M-pesa transaction volumes increased 16.4 per cent and M-pesa values transacted grew 16 per cent,` he said while noting that `Lipa kwa M-pesa` platform had 11,000 merchants who processed Tshs.1.1 trillion ($478.2 million) …

IFC in cooperation with L.E.K. Consulting released a new report showing the demand for digital skills in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow at a faster rate than in other markets.

The report estimates that 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa will require digital skills by 2030, presenting investors and education operators with an estimated $130 billion opportunity to train the future workforce in digital skills. IFC launched the report, ‘Digital Skills in Sub-Saharan Africa: Spotlight on Ghana’, at the group’s office in Accra, Ghana. Nearly $4 billion of the opportunity in digital skills will be in Ghana.

The report sheds light on the crucial need for digital skills as a driver of economic growth and competitiveness across sectors in the region—from agriculture to services. The demand for digital skills is evolving and presents opportunities for different stakeholders to play a role, particularly the private sector.

The report finds …

Ahead of the Baker McKenzie African Transactional Summit taking place in Johannesburg in May 2019, Baker McKenzie lawyers based in Africa, alongside the Firm’s global Africa specialists, as well as lawyers from our African Relationship Firms from across the continent, share their knowledge about what investors should consider when transacting in Africa.

Accept the uncertainty and gather knowledge

Investors in Africa must consider geo-political and economic uncertainty on the continent as well as a plethora of country and region-specific governance, compliance and regulatory challenges when investing in the region. They must also contend with a critical lack of infrastructure and poor integration when transacting across borders in Africa.

In order to close deals on the continent, investors need access to the right information and data. The success of a transaction depends on having real knowledge instead of relying on market perception. For markets where there is a lack of …

South Africa’s Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom met with representatives of global online accommodation booking platform Airbnb to discuss various policy issues, in particular, the regulation of short-term home rentals, the department said on Friday.

The meeting took place in the context of the current call for public comment on the Tourism Amendment Bill, published on April 15, to provide stakeholders an opportunity to make submissions.

The Tourism Amended Draft Bill aims, amongst others, to address the regulatory vacuum on short-term rentals by defining short-term home rentals as “the renting or leasing on a temporary basis, for reward, of a dwelling or a part thereof, to a visitor”.

It also seeks to enable the minister of tourism to determine thresholds regarding short-term home rentals, through a notice in the Government Gazette, according to the department.

“The Amendment Draft Bill in its current form proposes that the minister of tourism be empowered …

The United Association of South Africa (Uasa) on Friday night celebrated 125 years of involvement in the labour market with an event in Muldersdrift, just outside Johannesburg.

“Uasa elected leaders also signed a pledge to always put Uasa members first by operating only on the mandates issued by members in a transparent and honest manner,” Uasa spokesman Stanford Mazhindu said on Saturday.

Uasa celebrated its achievements over the past one and a quarter century while at the same time looking ahead to envisage how, as a trade union, it could remain relevant in a constantly changing world.

“When a group of 16 engine drivers met on a Saturday evening, 7 July 1894, to form the Transvaal Engine Drivers Association, they had no idea that we would still celebrate the existence of this proud organisation in 2019, albeit under a different name,” he said.

Over the years, the organisation grew and …

A group of 25 South African business people was in high spirits ahead of their departure to Kampala, Uganda, to explore trade and investment opportunities in the agro-processing, capital equipment, energy and furniture sectors in the East African country.

This is according to the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) who said in a statement on Friday that the delegation will participate in the Outward Trade and Investment Mission to Kampala from 19-24 May.

According to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Rob Davies, the main objective of the mission is to increase bilateral trade and investment between South Africa and Uganda.

“The mission will also introduce South African exporters to the Ugandan market with the aim of assisting them to gain entry into this market, identify trade and investment opportunities, and generate export sales. It will also contribute positively in strengthening bilateral economic relations between South Africa,” said …