Month: July 2019

Java’s strategic approach is building robust value chains which are essential for ensuring that they are capturing the full value of East African coffee. …

Societe Bic, the global owner of the Bic brand has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of Lucky Stationery Nigeria Ltd (LSNL). The transaction has been reviewed and approved by the Nigerian Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (“FCCPC”). The closing is expected end of 2019.

LSNL is Nigeria’s number one Writing Instruments manufacturer, with approximately 5 million euros in Net Sales and approximately 30% market share in volume. Its main Writing Instrument manufacturing facility is currently located in Ilupeju-Lagos and will be relocated to a new modern facility north of Lagos in Shagamu.

BIC has been operating in Nigeria for more than forty years through a distribution partnership with CFAO – Nipen. LSNL’s brand, product portfolio, and distribution network will strengthen BIC’s current position in Nigeria.

This acquisition is consistent with BIC’s continued growth strategy in Africa. Nigeria is the largest economy and most …

Due to lower levels of technology adoption and the smaller manufacturing base, automation is not likely to displace many workers in the coming years in Africa. …

African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), one of Africa’s largest and most experienced infrastructure-focused private equity fund managers, has announced the final close of its flagship pan-African infrastructure fund, AIIF3, which raised US$320mn from a diverse investor base across Africa, Europe and Asia.

Since inception, AIIM has raised cumulative commitments of US$2.2bn over 7 funds and executed more than 56 transactions in target pan-African markets.

With a focus on diversification and predictable cash flows, AIIF3 targets significant influence investments across the power, transport and midstream energy sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa – areas with the biggest disconnect between demand for critical infrastructure and supply of available capital.

The Fund focuses on mid-market opportunities in these sectors, a space which is less competitive and carries less execution risk than the larger marque deals; gaining exposure to opportunities in countries with high growth prospects but lacking the scale to support mega deals.

A key …

Jervois has completed its merger with eCobalt after receiving eCobalt’s nod from its Canadian shareholders and Supreme Court of British Columbia approvals. According to a joint announcement, following the successful completion of the Arrangement, all conditions precedent have been met and settlement of the A$16.5 million equity placement in Jervois has occurred.

The expanded company has projects in Australia, East Africa, and the US, including eCobalt’s Idaho Cobalt project, which boasts the highest combination of cobalt grade and scale in North America.

The acquisition of M2 Cobalt gave Jervois an entry into Uganda, complementing its East African strategy looking at opportunities around the historic Kilembe mine and Kasese cobalt refinery.

Idaho Cobalt Project has been renamed Idaho Cobalt Operations (“ICO”) to reflect its advanced stage of development and Jervois’s intention to transform the site into a mining operation. The site has had an estimated US$100 million invested to date in …

Plasco Limited in Tanzania is the largest manufacturer of plastic pipes for water supply and sanitation in
the country has launched a USD 4million factory expansion using‘Weholite’ technology, the first of its
kind in East and Central Africa used to produce Structured Wall High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipes
for Sewerage and Drainage, Manholes and Tanks forstorm water retention and drinking/potable water.

The company aims to provide modern water storage and sanitation solutions to the region through the
use of this new technology that is now available in Tanzania and East Africa as  a whole. The factory was
inaugurated in Temeke, Dar es Salaam by the Minister of Industry and Trade, Innocent Bashungwa;
other government official in attendance included the Deputy Permanent Minister of Water, Emmanuel
Kolobelo.

Speaking during the event, Hon. Bashungwa remarked on the company’s use of innovative technology to
accelerate the progress of the pipe manufacturing industry in …

The Phantom 9 is the newest edition in the TECNO Phantom series following release of the Phantom 8 in 2017. In collaboration with TIGO, this package of advanced smartphone technology comes with 98 GBs for its customers.

According to TECNO, Communication Manager, Eric Mkomoye the Phantom 9 is the leader in smartphone camera technologies and will undeniably beat competition “In this new digital age, the traditional camera is getting a lot of competition from the smartphone camera technologies and the Phantom 9 has all the features that meet the needs of our customers who love capturing events with their phone cameras,” he said.

He went on to point out that the Phantom 9 camera redefines smartphone camera tech, with its three-pack camera package. The Phantom 9 sports the first of a kind set of cameras that have Artificial Intelligence sensors dubbed the AI triple (16MP+8MP+2MP).
With, a high resolution …

The Bill proposes a big brother-like real-time monitoring system using the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).…

MEST Africa, one of the pioneer incubation centers in Africa has seen a change of guard. Out goes Aaron Fu and in comes Ashwin Ravichandran.

The incubation house has announced the appointment of Ashwin Ravichandran as its new Managing Director, as the Pan-African entrepreneurial training program, seed fund and incubator continues to grow and strengthen its portfolio of startups and expand its reach and impact across the continent.

Aaron Fu who has been influential in the management of the institution for two years announced through his social media accounts that he was seeking new challenges and has joined South African based Africa Leadership Academy as a venture partner.

Ashwin joined MEST in 2015 as a Technology Teaching Fellow and has since served as the Incubator Manager for MEST Accra, and currently is Director of Portfolio Support and Country Director of Ghana. With a background in Computer Science and Engineering and …