Search Results for: Zambia
94 results out of 94 results found for 'Zambia'.
SUSTAINABILITY ACCOUNTING STANDARDS – IMPACT ON TEXTILES INDUSTRY
INTRODUCTION
ACCOUNTING used to be restricted to financially measurable matters of profit and loss; expenditure and revenue; taxes and subsidies; investment and liabilities. But the mathematical and statistical skills underpinning a solid set of books and filed accounts are today increasingly being used to measure the environmental and social sustainability of a product, input, production process and supply chain.…
AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES MUST PAY MORE FOCUS ON STUDENT NEEDS TO SECURE FUTURE RELEVANCE
African universities must undertake strategic collaborations, boost innovation and develop entrepreneurial initiatives, targeting the needs of students to remain relevant in the future, a higher education conference in Nigeria has been told. These concerns formed the core of discussions when public and private sector tertiary education experts gathered over Zoom and in-person in Lagos to discuss the future of African universities at the second edition of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) International Week conference.…
MALAWI STRUGGLES TO REMOVE DEEP ROOTED CHILD LABOUR FROM FARMS WHILE ENSURING LEAF GROW
Malawi, one the world’s largest producer of burley leaf tobacco, is making significant efforts to reduce child labour within its tobacco left sector, but the problem is still endemic.
A key sensitivity is that Malawi’s economy heavily relies on tobacco leaf, which contributes to 52% of the total export value for the country, according to the Malawi ministry of finance 2020 annual economic report.…
SÃO TOMÉ & PRÍNCIPE TAPS INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT TO GROW ITS NEW HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM
The under-developed system of higher education of African archipelago country São Tomé & Príncipe is growing slowly amidst expanding demand, being assisted by international projects and funds.
One major potential initiative that may cause significant progress, however, involves this Lusophone country being chosen by the Pan African Institute for Development (PAID) to host a future International University of Development Sciences.…
MOZAMBIQUE TOBACCO LEAF SECTOR FACES TOUGH TIMES
Mozambique’s tobacco leaf and processing sector is facing tough times. Cyclones such as this January’s Eloise, and Idai in 2019 have wreaked significant damage on tobacco plantations. Covid-19 has caused processing disruption and harmed legitimate distribution, encouraging an increase in black market cigarette sales.…
STATE CUTS IN EDUCATION FUNDING PUSHES UP STUDENTS’ COSTS, WORSENS EDUCATION
State cuts in funding for public higher education within Zambia have pushed more costs onto students, making it harder for them to learn and graduate, the country’s education union leader has said. The cuts have also encouraged a sprouting of private universities offering poor quality education, he told UWN.…
COVID-19 HELPS RISK CONSULTANCIES PERSUADE CLIENTS TO PREPARE FOR THE UNCERTAIN, SAYS MAURITIUS BUSINESS AND AUDIT ADVISOR
Covid-19 has ripped through the economy of the Indian Ocean country Mauritius, but it has helped island business advisory agency managing director Sheila Ujoodha make her case to clients that risk assessments and contingency planning are important.
The owner of SmarTree Consulting (SCL) since she created the company in 2018, Ujoodha is busy suggesting how businesses can cope with the pandemic, through its services of internal audit, risk assessment and regulatory consulting.…
TOBACCO SECTOR EXPLORES POTENTIAL OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGIES
The Internet has hardly developed a reputation for honesty, but blockchain technologies where different computers log transactions in separate units, connected to a web of entries (blocks), are tough to falsify.
Of course, blockchain’s most high-profile use has been to underpin the reliability of cryptocurrencies, but the principle of this unchangeable and autonomous web of ledgers has so many potential uses – the tobacco sector has been exploring them.…
EDUCATION OFFICIALS WARN ZAMBIAN GOVERNMENT IT MAYBE ENDING LOCKDOWN TOO EARLY
THE ZAMBIAN government’s plan to start reopening universities on July 1 has sparked serious concerns in among senior high education officials that the move is coming too early, and could see Covid-19 spread like wildfire amongst the student body and academics.…
WHISTLEBLOWING RULES IN MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA EMERGE, BUT ARE INCONSISTENT
Only a handful of countries in the Middle East and Africa have dedicated whistleblowing laws – South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Uganda, Ghana, Liberia, Algeria, Morocco, and the Israel-occupied Palestinian territories, according to Blueprint for Free Speech, a charity promoting freedom of expression (https://www.blueprintforfreespeech.net/).…
SLOW PROGRESS ON TOBACCO REGULATION IN BOTSWANA’S STABLE AND PROSPEROUS MARKET
IF there was a sub-Saharan African country expected to steer a middle course between World Health Organisation (WHO) demands on smoking and protecting a stable and prosperous tobacco industry and market, it would surely be relatively wealthy Botswana – with an average per capital income in 2018 USD7,750.…
TRADE DATA ANALYSIS INDICATES WIDE SCOPE FOR TRADE-BASED MONEY LAUNDERING MAY INVOLVE THE SHIFT OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN VALUE
GIVEN the hundreds of billions of dollars spent by banks on fighting money laundering, fears that trade-based money laundering (TBML) remains widespread, as stressed by FATF, the APG (http://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/methodsandtrends/documents/trade-basedmoneylaunderingtypologies.html), and most recently, the European Commission (https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/supranational_risk_assessment_of_the_money_laundering_and_terrorist_financing_risks_affecting_the_union_-_annex.pdf), are of serous concern. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) said that in 2018, global merchandise exports were worth USD19.48 trillion, so there is plenty of place for laundered money to hide.…
ZAMBIAN GOVERNMENT IN BIND – HAVING TO STEER BETWEEN FCTC AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICIES THAT INVOLVE TOBACCO PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURE
ZAMBIA’S government is caught between enforcing World Health Organisation (WHO)-sponsored tobacco control regulations and pushing an economic strategy which touts tobacco leaf as a key component of its goal to transform the Zambian economy to upper middle-income status by 2030. Zambia signed and ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2008 and has since been working to implement its provisions, although progress has been slow.…
COPPER PRODUCTION BOUNCES BACK IN BOTSWANA
Botswana looks set to boost southern African copper supplies with Khoemacau Copper Mining Pty. (Ltd), a subsidiary of a US-based company, Cupric Canyon Capital, planning to open a mine in the country’s Kalahari copper belt.
The planned mine has an initial annual production of 62,000 tonnes of copper (and 1.9 million ounces of silver), with managers hoping to increase yearly production to over 100,000 tonnes of copper and three million ounces of silver.…
ZAMBIA GOVERNMENT TOBACCO SALES REFORMS PROMPTS COURT BATTLE WITH TRADERS
ZAMBIA’S government’s is facing resistance to its bid to introduce new tobacco regulations, with opponents resorting to the courts to block reforms, which – if passed – would immediately affect the operations of auction floors.
Last year, Zambia produced 30 million kilogrammes (kg) of tobacco, up from 23 million kg recorded in 2017, and the Zambian government wants to push that figure to 40 million kg by 2021.…
UGANDA CFO EXPANDS BANK’S DIGITAL SERVICES THROUGH ETHICAL AND HOLISTIC LEADERSHIP
Digital disruption has been transforming banking services worldwide, and Africa, with its important m-commerce sector, has been in the frontline of this change – a fact not lost on established bank executives, such as Samuel Fredrick Mwogeza, the chief financial officer of Stanbic Bank Uganda Ltd.…
KENYAN PAINT COMPANIES FACE RISING COSTS – BUT BOOMING CONSTRUCTION MEANS THAT SALES WILL STILL GROW
WITH Kenya’s economy still growing fast – its GDP is projected to increase by 5.8% this year (2019) east Africa’s economic hub is expected to provide the paint and coatings sector plenty of extra sales. Such growth in the construction industry is reflected in its neighbouring countries, notably Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, offering additional sales for companies with the scale to score regional sales.…
ANTI-CORRUPTION IT SYSTEMS GROW IN SCOPE AND SOPHISTICATION
WITH an estimated USD1.5 trillion lost to the global economy because of bribes, the World Bank is pushing for a diverse array of technology to be deployed – it is a call being answered with anti-graft systems being installed worldwide.
Reducing corruption “is a priority” for the World Bank, it said in a briefing note in September 2017.…
EXPERTS POINT WAY AHEAD FOR INJECTING TECHNOLOGY INTO AFRICAN CLOTHING AND RELATED SECTORS
SUB-SAHARAN Africa may not have been the most fertile ground for technological innovation in the clothing, textile and fibre sectors but speakers at an International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) conference in Nairobi, Kenya, September 7-9, stressed the best way ahead.…
AFRICAN COMMONWEALTH ANTI-CORRUPTION CENTRE TARGETS GROWTH THROUGH FIGHTING GRAFT
CORRUPTION saps economic competition that drives productivity improvements and grows emerging market economies – this is a key reason behind the establishment of the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre (CAACC). Another is the established link between the perception of risk from corrupt practices in a country and foreign economic investment.…
SLUMP IN TOBACCO PRODUCTION - ZAMBIA FEELS THE PINCH.
WITH tobacco being a key driver of Zambia’s agriculture sector and a past reliable source of export earnings, a recent decline in leaf production has taken a heavy toll on this southern African country’s economy. Indeed, Zambia saw its agricultural foreign exchange earnings (of all farm-based products) fall by USD100 million in 2017, according to Zambia’s agriculture ministry.…
SOUTH AFRICAN CONSUMERS OPEN MINDED AS THEY GROW COSMETIC PROCEDURES MARKET
SOUTH Africans are boosting their spending on cosmetic surgical and non-surgical procedures, with their national market expected to generate South African Rand ZAR94.15 million (USD7.1 million) in annual receipts by 2024. This reflects a 5.8% annual growth rate from the ZAR61 million (USD4.6 million) spent in 2016, according to US-based market research and consulting company Grand View Research, in figures released in July (2017).…
MIDDLE CLASS STILL DRIVING DEMAND FOR DEODORANTS IN KENYA
THE EVER-intensifying skyline of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, illustrates the rapid economic growth of this equatorial East African country, and its growing workforce is increasingly keen to buy deodorants to keep them dry and comfortable in the office and outside.
An increased focus on banking, industry, manufacturing and construction have raised the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 5.3% year-on-year in 2014 and 5.6% in 2015 (Deloitte Economic Outlook 2016).…
‘TAX INSPECTORS WITHOUT BORDERS’ SEND EXPERTS TO HELP DEVELOPING COUNTRIES BOOST TAX TAKES
Demand is growing for a major international programme designed to support developing countries build up their tax audit capacity and – critically – the funding is there to meet that need. Launched as a joint initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in July 2015 after an initial pilot phase, Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) sees tax experts work side-by-side with local officials in developing and emerging markets.…
AFRICA DIASPORA UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE
KENYA’S EDUCATION MINISTER CALLS FOR LESS GOVERNMENT MEDDLING IN AFRICAN UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
Kenya’s education minister has called for African governments to pull away from direct management of their country’s universities, saying such meddling is unnecessary and can hinder the development of effective management.…
MWANA AFRICA SUBSIDIARY PLOTS ZIMBABWE NICKEL SMELTER REOPENING
Mwana Africa’s Zimbabwe subsidiary Bindura Nickel Corporation (BNC) says it is on course to restart its nickel smelter in the first half of this year as the nickel giant moves to increase revenue and cut operating costs. The company plans that it will initially produce high quality nickel cathodes, copper sulphide and cobalt hydroxide, processing 195,000 tonnes of ore per quarter year.…
OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA OPENS NEW FRONTIERS ABROAD
The Open University of Tanzania (OUT) is reaching out to higher education institutions in other neighbouring countries to establish collaborations that will encourage more foreign students to enroll for distance learning.
University vice chancellor Professor Tolly Mbwette said the institution’s board hoped to spread its influence regionally: “We are now the largest distance learning university in the region and our plan is to take distance learning to most countries in East Africa and those under the Southern African Development Community [SADC] by 2016.”…
AFRICAN APPAREL AND TEXTILE SECTOR NEEDS COOPERATION AMONG NATIONAL INDUSTRIES TO THRIVE
GREATER integration and cooperation among African states is needed to boost business and investment in the cotton, textiles and apparel sector of the continent, a three-day industry conference in Nairobi, Kenya, was told.
The Origin Africa event from November 10-12 brought together clothing and textile industry players and experts heard that national cotton apparel and fabric sectors within Africa were duplicating products when a collaborative approach could be more effective.…
ZAMBIA VICE-PRESIDENT SEEKS SOLUTION TO CHINA COPPER MINE STAND-OFF
Zambia’s vice-president Guy Scott has said his government would attempt to seek agreement with the China Nonferrous Mining Corporation Limited (CNMCL) after the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) shut down construction operations for a new copper mine. Telling MPs in Zambia’s parliament that the halt of work on the Chambishi Southeast Mine Project of CNMCL subsidiary NFC Africa Mining would have a “negative bearing on tax collections and employment”, risking more than 1,500 jobs, he said a government minister would be charged with resolving the problem.…
BOTSWANA’S FIRST PRIVATE UNIVERSITY EYES INTERNATIONAL STUDENT EXPANSION
Botswana’s first private university, the Malaysian-owned Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (Limkokwing Botswana), has continued to flex its muscles in this diamond-rich Southern Africa nation, taking advantage of a fast growing tertiary education sector. Botswana’s college and university student (aged 18-24) enrollment has grown from 11.4% in 2007/08 to 16.4% in 2012, or 46,613 students.…
AFRICA GEARS UP FOR IMPROVED CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
A SALUTARY lesson learnt by the western world since the financial meltdown in 2008, is that there is no easy formula for ensuring economic growth. Despite the resilience of the United States and European institutions, markets and skills, restarting the economic engine has proved sluggish.…
AFRICA CONGRESS OF ACCOUNTANTS SEEKS TO IMPROVE CONTINENT'S TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY
EXPERTS representing accounting bodies from around the world urged accountants in Africa to help reduce corruption and mismanagement in their governments through effective bookkeeping and auditing, as the continent moves towards sustainable growth. The 2nd Africa Congress of Accountants (ACOA) gathered in Accra, the capital of Ghana, from May 14-16.…
LEAD PAINTS STILL WIDESPREAD IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
IF there is one paint ingredient that marketers agree should be left off the label, it has to be lead. General and scientific opinion agrees this metal causes health problems and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), working with the UN Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) has embarked on plans to eliminate architectural and household lead paints in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2020.…
ZAMBIA'S AIRPORTS UNDERGO RENEWAL
CHANGE is coming to Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, with the Zambian government embarking on an ambitious airports renewal programme, which will renovate Kenneth Kuanda International, along with three other international airports. These are Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport, in Livingstone; the Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport, in Ndola and the Mfuwe International Airport, in the country’s eastern province.…
UGANDA: VETERAN ACADEMIC BRINGS ALTRUISTIC DYNAMISM TO CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
BY ANDREW GREEN, IN KAMPALA
Uganda is undergoing a higher education boom. The result of introducing universal primary education in 1997 and universal secondary education a decade later is a surplus of students looking for a university placement. Uganda’s 30 public and private universities offer 50,000 spots for qualified secondary school graduates.…
ACCOUNTING FIRMS SERVICE AFRICA'S ECONOMIC GROWTH
BY VILLEN ANGANAN, IN BEAU-BASSIN, MAURITIUS
INTERNATIONAL accounting firms are exploring opportunities within Africa, and are using the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius – a regional financial centre – as a stepping stone. All the Big Four: Ernst &Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG and Deloitte are already successfully offering their services to African clients.…
AFRICA FACED WITH SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGE
BY GEORGE STONE, IN CAPE TOWN
SUSTAINABLE growth in Africa outside South Africa faces the challenges of strong population growth, commodity price volatility, climate change and food insecurity. The continent’s current population of 1 billion people is forecast to almost double by 2050.…
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA PUSHES FORWARD WITH ATC IMPROVEMENTS
BY BILL CORCORAN, WACHIRA KIGOTHO, PAUL COCHRANE; and KEITH NUTHALL
SUB-SAHARAN Africa has always been regarded as a problem zone for air traffic control, with weak states struggling to provide the sophisticated and flexible communications required for state of the art ATC.…
ILLEGAL URANIUM MINING CONTINUES IN THE DRC CLAIM RESEARCHERS
BY WACHIRA KIGOTHO
RESEARCHERS studying mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are warning illegal uranium mining continues in a country still riven with political violence and weak government authority.
Indeed, militia groups and government soldiers continue to benefit from illegal uranium mining in the eastern DRC, claims Ms Nyambura Githaiga, a researcher with the Nairobi-based African Conflict Prevention Programme.…
WORLD BANK PILOTS NEW MALARIA MEDICINE DISTRIBUTION METHOD
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Bank has claimed a new pilot malaria distribution system could reduce the number of children killed by the disease in sub-Saharan Africa by between 21% and 25%. This system, trialled in Zambia, involved the appointment of district commodity planners coordinating the distribution of drugs already packaged and earmarked for local health facilities.…
CHINA STICKS WITH NUCLEAR AFTER JAOAN DISASTER, BUT EXPECT SHORT TERM REACTOR APPROVAL DELAYS
BY MARK GODFREY
THE HEADLINES said it all. Chinese newspapers have recently been heavy with editorials and op-ed pieces largely favourable to nuclear power: among them ‘This Is Not the End of Nuke Power’ a half-page op-ed in the China Daily, the preferred conduit of China’s official thinking to foreign diplomats and executives.…
FIRST WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROVERSIES HARM THIRD WORLD HEALTH
BY KATHERINE DUNN
WELL-MEANING environmental health campaigners can kill innocent victims through unintended consequences of their positions. Whether it is opposing the use of malaria killing insecticide DDT or opposing the use of vaccines, such campaigns open environmentalists to criticism because they are opposing the use of proven disease control methods.…
TRADE BENEFITS LOOM FOR TOBACCO SECTOR IF WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION GRASPS DOHA NETTLE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
SIGNIFICANT benefits to tobacco and tobacco product companies will present themselves if a deal on the long-running Doha Development Round is clinched next year at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). And some diplomats at the WTO’s base in Geneva are asking if agreement is not reached next year, whether the current negotiations will be scrapped.…
CASE LAW CLARIFIES AML STATUTES WORLDWIDE
BY ALAN OSBORN, KEITH NUTHALL
THE PASSAGE of legislation by parliaments and assemblies worldwide has been the usual route by which anti-money laundering legislation becomes law in most jurisdictions. But to some degree, this is because such laws are relatively new and so have yet to face many legal challenges in court.…
SOUTHERN AFRICAN KNITTING INDUSTRY STRUGGLES - ALTHOUGH MAURITIUS IS BRIGHT SPOT
BY ALISON MOODIE
THE SOUTHERN African knitwear industry has taken a serious knock over the past decade. Tough Chinese competition, a global recession and as regards the regional powerhouse South Africa – an overvalued currency – these are just some of its problems.…
AFRICAN CUSTOMS MAKES SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS
BY BILL CORCORAN and ALAN OSBORN
IT is now some five years since a group of London-based multinationals, among them British American Tobacco (BAT), set up a group aimed at improving the conditions for doing business with and through Africa – named the Business Action for Improving Customs Administration in Africa (BAFICAA) initiative.…
KILLER FISH DISEASE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A KILLER disease is decimating fish stocks in the Zambezi river valley, threatening rural livelihoods in Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned. Its ‘global information and early warning system’ (GIEWS) says the disease ‘epizootic ulcerative syndrome’ (EUS) (caused by a fungus ‘aphanomyces invadans’ with "a high rate of mortality") is spreading through the Zambesi system.…
PERSONAL CARE PRODUCT INDUSTRY FIGHTS TO PRESERVE ITS REPUTATION AGAINST COUNTERFEITERS AND PIRATES
BY KEITH NUTHALL, JULIAN RYALL, in Tokyo, EMMA JACKSON and LEAH GERMAIN
TIME was when counterfeit personal care products were commonly crude fake perfumes pedalled in markets and workplaces during the Christmas and other festive periods to bargain hunters who knew they were buying rubbish.…
INTRODUCTION - RENEWABLE ENERGIES FORGE AHEAD - BUT FROM A LOW BASE
BY KEITH NUTHALL, LEAH GERMAIN and MONICA DOBIE
MAYBE the best sign that renewable energies have hit the mainstream is that they now have their very own international organisation: the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Launched in Bonn, Germany, this January, with the support of 76 countries, including its host nation, Spain, Italy, France and Sweden, the roster of signatory nations has since been swollen by India and Belarus.…
NOVEL TOBACCO CURING TECHNOLOGY COULD BE SAVIOUR FOR MALAWI FLUE-CURED LEAF SECTOR
BY BILL CORCORAN, in Lilongwe, Malawi
THE WIDESPREAD implementation of new technological developments in Malawi’s flue-cured tobacco process could enable local producers to dramatically increase their output and its quality, according to industry experts.
Results from tests run during Malawi’s latest tobacco curing season using a new method of heating have shown a dramatic improvement in energy efficiency over standard methods, and an improved quality of the end product compared to traditionally cured tobacco.…
NOVEL TOBACCO CURING TECHNOLOGY COULD BE SAVIOUR FOR MALAWI FLUE-CURED LEAF SECTOR
BY BILL CORCORAN, in Lilongwe, Malawi
THE WIDESPREAD implementation of new technological developments in Malawi’s flue-cured tobacco process could enable local producers to dramatically increase their output and its quality, according to industry experts.
Results from tests run during Malawi’s latest tobacco curing season using a new method of heating have shown a dramatic improvement in energy efficiency over standard methods, and an improved quality of the end product compared to traditionally cured tobacco.…
TEA PRODUCTION MADE ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY IN EAST AFRICA
BY KEITH NUTHALL
"TEA is known to be good for you, now it is also getting better for the environment:" so said UN Environment Programme (UNEP) executive director Achim Steiner, when launching renewable power initiatives in east Africa. UNEP is coordinating two Global Environment Facility (GEF)-financed projects greening tea production in the region, where it is a pivotal industry.…
BRITAIN IS FERTILE GROUND FOR EU INSTITUTION FRAUDS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
IT is common currency amongst extreme British Eurosceptics that business and government on the continent of Europe is a cesspit of dishonesty and corruption, against which Britain shines like a beacon of virtue and decency.
Allowing "Europeans" who lack Britain’s traditional sense of fair play and transparency control over the laws and regulations mandated by the "Mother of Parliaments" is heresy to such folk.…
AFRICAN WILDLIFE MAROONED ON MANMADE LAKE ISLANDS IS STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE
BY BILL CORCORAN, at Lake Kariba, Zambia
THE SIGHT of thousands of decomposing semi-submerged trees protruding from its murky waters is an eerie clue to the traumatic origins of southern Africa’s Lake Kariba, a 200km long manmade reservoir wedged between Zimbabwe and Zambia.…
GM CROPS FIGHT TO MARKET IN EUROPE THROUGH TOUGH RED TAPE
BY DEIRDRE MASON
FEW issues have proved as globally divisive as the ability to modify crops genetically. For years, a line has been drawn between the cautious European Union (EU) and the go-for-it United States, which has seen them at loggerheads over trading genetically modified crops.…
NUCLEAR SECURITY BOOSTED IN AFRICA WITH EUROPEAN AID
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE SECURITY of nuclear power installations may be a priority in terrorism-fearing rich countries, but not in poorer states, with many other problems. But it is equally important of course: nuclear accidents, sabotage and terror attacks are devastating wherever they occur.…
SCIENTISTS DEVELOP NANOTECHNOLOGY FUEL MARKERS TO BEAT DIESEL AND PETROL THIEVES
BY MARK ROWE
A FUEL marker so complex that it is all but impossible for thieves to replicate has been developed by scientists; the marker is so sensitive, it can identify illegal stolen fuel by using nanotechnology-based components.
This nanotech-based tracer, developed by Authentix, a nano-science company based in Dallas, Texas, uses hand-held LSX-based technology, and which has already been taken up by Luke Oil, Shell and BP in the United States.…
NANOTECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS OFFER ADVANCES FOR OIL AND GAS SECTOR
BY MARK ROWE, in London
NANOTECHNOLOGY has huge implications for the oil and gas industry, according to leading scientists who attended a conference on the impact of this cutting edge science on the environment at the Royal Society in London. They stressed the technology offers the prospect of carbon emission reduction, resource use minimisation, hazardous chemical substitution, the chance to dramatically reduce fraud, and pollution reversal techniques.…
EIB PLANS LOAN TO DEVELOP ZAMBIA NICKEL MINE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) has drawn up plans to lend Australia-controlled Albidon Zambia Limited Euro 32 million (US$40 million) to create a new medium-scale underground nickel sulphide mine in Munali, southern Zambia. The money would also help Albidon build and operate an associated ore processing plant and related infrastructure and provide the company enough capital to continue other exploration and business activities.…
UN UNIVERSITY TO PRESS REFORMS FOR ZAMBIA METAL SECTOR
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations University’s Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) has launched a research project in Zambia, to identify failings within its important non-ferrous metals sector, regarding sustainable development, general wealth and environmental management.
The Tokyo-based international higher education institution wants to publish findings generating “clear policy implications” for the Zambian government, noting while copper exports have increased from 201,000 tonnes in 2000 to 423,000 in 2005 – generating GDP growth averaging 4.8% per annum – in December 2005, 67% of the population lived on under US$1 a day.…
EIB PLANS LOAN TO DEVELOP ZAMBIA NICKEL MINE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) has drawn up plans to lend Australia-controlled Albidon Zambia Limited Euro 32 million (US$40 million) to create a new medium-scale underground nickel sulphide mine in Munali, southern Zambia. The money would also help Albidon build and operate an associated ore processing plant and related infrastructure and provide the company enough capital to continue other exploration and business activities.…
EIB LENDS TO DEVELOP NEW ZAMBIA COPPER MINE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) is planning to lend Euro 80 million to help Australian-Canadian company Equinox Minerals Ltd develop a new copper mine in Zambia, that is outside the country’s established copper belt. Equinox wants to invest Euro 709 million in a dual site mine, a processing plant and associated infrastructure.…
AFRICA GM TEXTILES FEATURE - MALI, SOUTH AFRICA, EGYPT
BY STEVEN SWINDELLS, in Johannesburg
SUB-SAHARAN Africa’s biggest cotton producer Mali is mulling GM cotton trials, a development which could open up cheap cotton supplies for the textile and clothing trade.
But resistance from local farmers to high seed costs and tough times for existing GM cotton growers in South Africa – the only African country where GM is commercially grown – may mean that Africa’s potential as a key supplier is still some way off.…
SOUTHERN EASTERN AFRICA REGIONAL ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING BODY FEATURE - ESAAMLG
BY STEVEN SWINDELLS, in Johannesburg
THE FORTEEN countries of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) have their AML/CFT work cut out. Under-funded, lacking resources, short of political will and working in a region that leaks money like a sieve…it is a demanding context for the group’s daunting tasks.…
SOUTH AFRICAN NURSING BRITAIN RECRUITMENT HIT
BY STEVEN SWINDELLS, in Johannesburg
ONGOING recruitment of South African nurses to the UK is pushing South Africa’s already hard pressed public health system close to the brink of collapse and putting patient care at risk, the country’s lead nursing union and health experts have warned.…
SOUTHERN AND EASTERN AFRICA TOBACCO PRODUCTION FEATURE
BY STEVEN SWINDELLS, in Johannesburg
AFRICA’S tobacco leaf producers are facing troubled times.
Instead of capitalising on crop and currency woes in rival Brazil, too many producers across the world’s poorest continent are battling drought and low selling prices.
Brazil’s problems should have opened a door of opportunity for leading African producers to claim back at least part of the world leaf market lost to south American and other producers when Zimbabwe’s crop collapsed amid the violent seizure of white-owned farm land.…
SOUTHERN AFRICAN PAINT AND COATINGS - BOTSWANA, NAMIBIA, ZIMBABWE, SWAZILAND, LESOTHO AND ZAMBIA
BY RICHARD HURST, in Johannesburg
THE PAINT and coatings industries in the Southern African states of Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho and Zambia are closely linked to that of the regional economic giant South Africa in the that the major manufacturing plants are located in the industrialised area of South Africa’s Gauteng province with branch offices in the neighbouring states acting as agents for the parent companies in South Africa.…
MIGA INVESTMENT GUARANTEES MINING SECTOR WORLD BANK
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE MULTILATERAL Investment Guarantee Agency, or MIGA, is the international organisation companies turn to when they want to invest in a jurisdiction where their assets might not be that safe. Mining companies have long used MIGA to cover risks that are too tasty for the private insurance industry, and the agency has issued 58 guarantees for the sector since it was formed in 1988.…
GM FOOD SOUTHERN AFRICA FEATURE - MONSANTO SYNGENTA
BY STEVEN SWINDELLS in Johannesburg
DROUGHT-HIT and AIDS-ravaged southern Africa is faced with a looming humanitarian crisis with almost 12 million people in need of food aid. But genetically modified (GM) crops remain off the menu for most African governments who remain reluctant to allow their farmers to do business with GM giants Monsanto and Syngenta.…
AVIATION FUEL
BY DEIRDRE MASON
IT may never equal the four-fold rise in the price of a barrel of crude oil that took place between 1973 and 1974, but this year’s hike to more than US$60 a barrel has given all those industries dependent on the stability of fuel prices a severe shock, and the aviation industry is one of those reeling from the increases.…
SOUTHERN AFRICAN PAINT AND COATINGS - BOTSWANA, NAMIBIA, ZIMBABWE, SWAZILAND, LESOTHO AND ZAMBIA
BY RICHARD HURST, in Johannesburg
THE PAINT and coatings industries in the Southern African states of Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho and Zambia are closely linked to that of the regional economic giant South Africa in the that the major manufacturing plants are located in the industrialised area of South Africa’s Gauteng province with branch offices in the neighbouring states acting as agents for the parent companies in South Africa.…
GM FOOD SOUTHERN AFRICA FEATURE - MONSANTO SYNGENTA
BY STEVEN SWINDELLS, in Johannesburg
DROUGHT-HIT and AIDS-ravaged southern Africa is faced with a looming humanitarian crisis with almost 12 million people in need of food aid. But genetically modified (GM) crops remain off the menu for most African governments who remain reluctant to allow their farmers to do business with GM giants Monsanto and Syngenta.…
MIGA INVESTMENT GUARANTEES MINING SECTOR WORLD BANK
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE MULTILATERAL Investment Guarantee Agency, or MIGA, is the international organisation companies turn to when they want to invest in a jurisdiction where their assets might not be that safe. Mining companies have long used MIGA to cover risks that are too tasty for the private insurance industry, and the agency has issued 58 guarantees for the sector since it was formed in 1988.…
ZAMBIA - EIB: COPPER
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) has drawn up plans to lend up to Euro 50 million to Zambia’s Mopani Copper Mines Plc (MCM), to help it rebuild and modernise the Mufulira Copper smelter. The project, said an EIB memorandum, would involve the installation of a new primary smelting furnace, a matte settling furnace, a sulphuric acid plant, an oxygen plant and an update of the associated infrastructure.…
LIFE EXPECTANCY
BY KEITH NUTHALL
HIV and AIDS are savagely shrinking life expectancy rates in southern Africa, said the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). In Zambia, 32.7% HIV infection rates for adults aged 15-49 has cut average mortality ages from 47.4 in 1990 to 32.7 in 2002.…
AIDS LIFE EXPECTANCY
BY KEITH NUTHALL
HIV and AIDS are so-ravaging southern Africa that local life expectancy rates are tumbling to where 30-year-olds are considered old men. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has reported cataclysmic falls in life expectancy in Zambia, where 32.7% HIV infection rates for adults aged 15-49 has cut average mortality ages from 47.4 in 1990 to 32.7 in 2002.…
ZAMBIA GRANT
BY RICHARD HURST
THE WORLD Bank and the Nordic Development Fund have announced that they will be donating US$52 million to Zambia to tackle environmental problems associated with its copper and cobalt mines. Ohene Nyanin, World Bank country manager in Zambia said that the funds would be used to strengthen existing regulatory and institutional frameworks to improve mine compliance with environmental guidelines.…
EIB ZAMBIA
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) has drawn up plans to lend Canada’s First Quantum Minerals Ltd up to Euro 50 million to help develop a new open pit copper mine in north-western Zambia and an associated dedicated power supply.…
SUB-SAHARA SUPERMARKETS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A SUPERMARKET boom in sub-Saharan Africa is raising standards in food production and distribution, which many small producers struggle to meet, said the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). It says the growth of mass retail in South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland is having “a direct impact on the lives of millions of small farmers.”…
KONKOLA MINES LATEST
BY RICHARD HURST
ZAMBIA’S Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has announced that it expects its copper cathode production to increase to 300,000 tons per year in 2004, due to the 50,000 tons which will be produced from the residues of its Nchanga operation.…
ZAMBIA LOAN
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Bank is granting Zambia US$10 million so it can deal with the withdrawal of Anglo American plc (AA) from Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), without the company being wound up and its operations halted. AA acquired majority control of Konkola in 2000 under a World Bank-assisted privatisation, however, in 2002, in announced its abandonment of the mine, threatening to sell, liquidate or transfer the company to the Zambian government.…
ZAMBIA COPPER
BY RICHARD HURST
ZAMBIA’S Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has announced that has launched an investigation to extend the working of its Nchanga open pit mine beyond its current planned three year lifespan.
Russell Alley, KCM chief executive officer, said that the company was exploring additional adjacent resources within the Nchanga area to replace the tonnage of copper ore mined.…
ZAMBIA COPPERBELT
BY RICHARD HURST
ZAMBIA’S Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC), the supplier of electricity to the country’s mining industry, has embarked on a diversification growth programme, aimed at increasing its role in the Zambian and other southern African electricity markets through appropriate investments.…
KONKOLA RESULTS
BY RICHARD HURST
ZAMBIA’S Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has posted a consolidated loss of US$159-million for the 2002 financial year which saw the exit of its key shareholder, the diversified mining giant Anglo American.
Barry Ireton, KCM chairman, blamed the loss on a continued depressed metal price during the year and a write off, (naming it a “negative impairment adjustment”), of US$104-million, about which he would not give details.…
MILLENNIUM EDUCATION GOALS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
AS with many projects inspired by the start of the next 997 years and the last three, the framing of the United Nations’ (UN) Millennium Development Goals was an ambitious enterprise.
Imposing statistically measurable targets for international organisations and national governments in making improvements in global poverty, education, gender equality, health, the environment and education, they have proved tough to attain.…
ZAMBIA COPPERBELT
BY RICHARD HURST
THE WORLD Bank and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) have agreed to fund a US$55.77 million environmental management programme in Zambia’s copper mining region. The Copperbelt Environmental Project (CEP) will try to improve the compliance of Zambian copper producers with the country’s environmental regulations.…
ZAMBIA COPPERBELT
BY RICHARD HURST
THE WORLD Bank and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) have agreed to fund a US$55.77 million environmental management programme in Zambia’s copper mining region; the decision should tackle concerns that the bank – which has long been suggesting the programme – has been dragging its feet over releasing funding.…
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION ROUND UP
BY KEITH NUTHALL
*A supermarket boom in sub-Saharan Africa is raising food production and distribution standards, which many small farmers cannot meet, said the UN’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). It called for the funding of cooperatives, micro-loans and training, especially in South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland.…
SOUTHERN AFRICA FEATURE
BY RICHARD HURST
MONEY laundering is all about fake respectability, transforming the seedy and ill-gotten into the legitimate and well-earned; so in Africa, where better to launder criminal money than through the continent’s most developed economy, South Africa.
Mike Savage, partner at Ernst & Young South Africa, said that the biggest problem facing African governments wanting to seriously tackle money laundering is to pinpoint the movement of funds that are moved across porous borders in a bid to cover tracks and conceal sources.…
ZAMBIA COPPER
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank has drawn up plans to lend First Quantum Minerals Ltd up to Euro 14 million to expand the Bwana Mkubwa hydrometallurgical copper production facility in Ndola, in the Zambian copper-belt.
Its aim is to boost its copper production from 10,000 tonnes per annum to 30,000 tonnes per annum, extending the useful life of the plant by at least six years.…
CONGO LATEST
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A MORATORIUM in the trade of illegally exploited Congolese minerals has been proposed by a panel of experts, which has examined how the stripping of resources by foreign military forces has prolonged the ongoing war in the country.…
AFRICAN QUOTAS
BY RICHARD HURST
USA President George W. Bush has approved 35 African countries as eligible for tariff preferences regarding clothing and textile exports to America under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), with Zimbabwe and Gambia being notable sub-Saharan African pariahs from the move.…
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS ROUND UP
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A HOLISTIC global campaign against HIV/AIDS has been agreed by Rome-based UN agencies: the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the International Fund for Agriculture Development and the World Food Programme. The trio will work to minimise the effect on food production of AIDS epidemics in countries where the disease is particularly widespread, namely Cambodia, China, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.…
AFRICAN QUOTAS
BY RICHARD HURST, in Johannesburg
THE UNITED States’ House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly to double the quota of clothing and textile products that a group of African countries can export to the US duty free, increasing them from 1.5 per cent of overall US imports to three per cent.…