Unlocking Africa - Legatum Africa Prize 2007

Next Einstein

NextEinstein is a program that enables Africans to develop as independent, creative problem solvers and teachers. Grants and scholarships allow students throughout Africa to attend the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences and apply their knowledge for a better continent.

Duet Victoire Africa Index Fund

Duet Victoire Africa Index Fund (DVAIF) is an Open Ended Jersey Expert Fund that tracks the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment returns of large capitalisation stocks listed on Stock Exchanges in sub-Saharan Africa excluding the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The index consists of companies listed on stock exchanges in the following countries, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The Fund aims to replicate the Index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the Index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the Index.

Towards A Vibrant Africa

On May 28th the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development will open in Japan. The Conference's agenda will be the continued development of Africa. UNDP and Japanese partners are working to improve peoples every day lives throughout the continent. Here are five of those projects.

ACTS - African Centre for Technology Studies

ACTS is a Nairobi-based international intergovernmental science, technology and environmental policy think-tank that generates and disseminates new knowledge through policy analysis, capacity building and outreach.

The Centre strives to rationalize scientific and technological information to enable African countries make effective policy choices for improved living standards. ACTS works with partners and networks including academic and research institutions, national governments, UN bodies, regional and international processes and NGOs. ACTS' research and capacity building activities are organised in five programmatic areas: Biodiversity and Environmental Governance; Energy and Water Security; Agriculture and Food Security; Cross-Cutting Issues; and Science and Technology Literacy.

Carol Pineau - Africa Investment Horizons

Carol Pineau's new film, Africa Investment Horizons is a film that showcases where investors should invest in Africa. This film shows where venture capitalists and others are making money and how they're reaping unbelievable returns.

Africa Investment Horizons is about money, and lots of it. Investors – one after another – talk about astounding returns, doubling their money, even tripling. But at its heart, the film is the story of people working to create a new economic future for Africa.

The film shows the three major avenues for investment in Africa: capital markets, equity funds and launching a business. The rewards are shown, as are the risks.

Simba Technology LTD

Formed in 1996, SIMBA TECHNOLOGY LTD (Nairobi, Kenya), part of Simba Group of Companies, supply and integrate best of breed products to provide clients with a seamless business solution.

As a leader in development, applications and system integration Simba have provided business solutions to clients world-wide. To ensure that our clients have access to the highest quality software professionals, our consultants are trained in and fully conversant with new and emerging technologies.

Simba professionals have many years of experience in both the IT and financial management sectors. "The group enjoys accreditation with several international companies of high repute, some of which are Oracle Corporation, IBM, Infosys Technologies, ICICI Infotech, ACI, Integrated Tertiary Software, Sage Pastel."

Biomass 4 Africa

The biomass4africa discussion forum is an email and web based forum to discuss all issues related to the application of biomass energy in Africa. All types of biomass energy can be discussed, from fuelwood use, energy efficient stoves, charcoal to cogeneration at sugarmills.

India losing it's competitve advantage of Outsourcing?

I wrote earlier this year about the global outsourcing market and Africa's potential to grab some market share. Business Week magazine says the fallen dollar and the higher wages in India are hurting some Indian vendors. No one can do anything to stop the fallen dollar. The fact is, the US dollar needs to fall further to bridge the trade deficit if faces.

This is an opportune time for African IT vendors to partner with Indian IT firms who have experience to bring jobs and contracts to Africa.


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Africa Venture Capital Fellows

The Africa Venture Capital Fellows (AVCF) is an initiative of the World Economic Forum's Global Leaders of Tomorrow (GLT) program aimed at promoting venture capital in Africa by educating and training future venture capitalists and leaders of high-growth and early stage companies based in Africa. The initiative is being established based on the important role that venture capital can play in accelerating the entrepreneurial economy in Africa.

All Africa Reports - India Unveils New Plan for Partners on Continent

All Africa has an article about India's prominent role in Africa. Even though China gets more attention because of sheer size of deals it is signing on the continent, India has had closer ties to Africa even before the Chinese stepped a foot on the continent.

From All Africa

Business Daily (Nairobi)

8 April 2008
Posted to the web 8 April 2008

Allan Odhiambo

India unveiled a bag of goodies for African partners attending the first India-Africa summit signalling the extent it is ready to go to win hearts in the natural resource-rich continent.

Key among the offers is duty-free access to India's domestic market and a significant increase in development financing.

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Ethiopia launches new coffee brand

AfricaNews is reporting that Ethiopia, the birthplace of the coffee bean is planning on launching a new coffee brand.

“We are launching a new coffee brand to champion Ethiopia’s famous, unique and distinctive fine coffee in the international market” , Mengistie said.

Though Ethiopia is a historic birth place of coffee, Ethiopia is way back in proactively managing and promoting its famous fine coffee.

The move Ethiopia took is a land mark moment for the nation says Getachew.

“This is a land mark moment for Ethiopia and we are proud to project the identity of Ethiopian coffee this way and we look forward our coffee farmers to reap the rewards in short and long terms.”

Lebone - off grid energy delivery in Africa

Lebônê Solutions, Inc. is a social enterprise working in off-grid energy delivery and lighting technology. The mission of Lebônê is to end the energy and lighting crisis in Africa by identifying and harnessing emerging technologies, developing and adapting them for the African market, and delivering them to rural villages in an innovative and accessible manner.


The Problem

There is currently a dramatic shortage of electrical power in Africa. One billion Africans, constituting a sixth of the world’s population, generate only 4% of global electricity. In most African countries, 95% of the population is living off-grid with no access to electricity (World Bank Millennium Goals Report, 2006). This has a devastating effect on socio-economic development, education, health, and safety. Imagine a village at night in which students are walking to distant highways to study under streetlights, where small merchants are investing half of their resources to pay for kerosene lighting to run their operations, and where emergency health workers, if operating at all, are trying to stitch up wounds and perform surgeries by candlelight. Lack of energy is one of the Africa’s biggest obstacles to development, and a major deterrent for foreign investors.

ASARECA - promoting agribusiness research in Africa

Mission

Promoting economic growth, fighting poverty, reducing hunger and enhancing resources through regional collective action in agricultural research for development, extension and agricultural training and education.

Strategic Goal

ASARECA's primary goal is to facilitate agricultural research in ECA that will promote agriculture oriented towards markets and income generation. Its secondary goal is to serve as the main forum where strategies and ideas for agricultural research and their relationship to agricultural development in the sub-region are conceived and exchanged.

Solar Aid - sustainable solar energy projects

SolarAid aims to enable the world’s poorest people to have clean, renewable power. Solar power leads to better education, health, safety and income by allowing poor communities to cook, pump water, run fridges, store vaccines, light homes, schools, clinics and businesses, power computers and homes, farm more effectively, and much more.

SolarAid carries out DIY solar projects – training local communities how to build small scale solar devices such as solar powered radios and lanterns – and installs small solar systems for community centres, medical clinics, schools and other such communal infrastructure.

Mozambique: Consortium with South African, Chinese and Mozambican capital invests in steel plant

Maputo, Mozambique, 18 April – A consortium with South African, Chinese and Mozambican capital has invested US$44 million in the construction of a steel tube factory at Beluluane Industrial Park 16 kilometers outside Maputo, the Notícias newspaper reported Friday.

The factory should begin producing at the end of the year or in early 2009, with markets already assured in Africa and the United States linked to the industry of transporting petroleum and natural gas derivatives, the newspaper indicated.

In the first phase the plant will have the capacity to produce 200,000 tons of steel tubes per year, with prospects of increasing to 700,000 tons per year.

Equatorial Biofuels-Crude Palm Oil via Timbuktu Chronicles

Timbuktu Chronicles reports on Palm Oil for Biofuels.

CS Monitor reports on David Parker's company Equatorial Biofuels,which :

Has taken over the 36,000-acre Palm Bay plantation and plans to invest up to $10 million initially to rehabilitate the estate and begin producing palm oil industrially again.

Their goals are to:

Working Villages International

Forty years ago, the residents of the Ruzizi Valley, in Eastern Congo, had a peaceful prosperous happy life. Today, after more than a decade of civil war, the entire area is devastated, and the people have been reduced to the status of refugees, dependent on foreign assistance.

Now, in a unique partnership with Working Villages International, the people of Ruzizi are working hard to rebuild the paradise they once enjoyed. The development formula is simple – village based redevelopment with an emphasis on self-reliance and appropriate technology.

EPROM - Entrepreneurial programming and research on mobiles

EPROM, part of the Program for Developmental Entrepreneurship within the MIT Design Laboratory, aims to foster mobile phone-related research and entrepreneurship. Key activities include:

• the development of new applications for mobile phone users worldwide
• academic research using mobile phones
• the creation of a widely applicable mobile phone programming curriculum

EPROM has now expanded to 10 countries within Sub-Saharan Africa!

System Specs | Nigeria's leading software house

Founded in 1991, SystemSpecs has since emerged as a leading provider of Financial and Human Capital Software Solutions for the Nigerian and African environment.

SystemSpecs is a software house with a focus on providing the most qualitative Human Capital Management and Financial software solutions for the Nigerian and African market.

SystemSpecs offers business-centric applications, which lie at the core of enterprises.