Construction of power facilities in Africa to receive a boost from AfDB

 The African Development Bank now says that it will focus more on efforts to construct more power facilities in Africa in a bid to tackle the chronic power shortages in the continent.  AfDB new president Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said that the move will help unlock Africa’s economic potential and end its vulnerability to fluctuations in commodity prices.   According to the International Energy Agency, Africa requires an additional $450 billion in power sector.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 8th September 2015

Sino Cement to invest US$20mn in Africa's Construction Industry

 Sino Cement Zimbabwe is setting up a brick and tile manufacturing unit in Gweru, Zimbabwe at the cost of US$20mn Brick Factory - adam fletcher - Wikipedia CommonsThe unit will create about 200 local jobs and manufacture about 60mn bricks annually.  The cement producing company is a subsidiary of China National Materials Group Corporation (SINOMA), which is administered by the Chinese government. Sino Cement managing director Wang Yong told journalists on the sidelines of.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 8th September 2015

Phatisa's African Agriculture Fund invests in General Plastics, Kenya

The African Agriculture Fund (AAF), managed by Phatisa, has invested in General Plastics Limited (GPL), a leading manufacturer of packaging products servicing well-known brands mainly in the food, beverage and agro-chemical sectors in Kenya and the broader East Africa region. GPL is a family business that was founded in 1977 and has since steadily grown into Kenya’s foremost manufacturer of plastic packaging products. Today it operates out of two ISO certified production sites.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 8th September 2015

Polyco launches series of "how to recycle" videos

POLYCO, the non-profit Polyolefin Recycling Company, has just released a series of five informative and fun YouTube-style videos to explain the importance of plastics recycling, how to recycle, what not to recycle, and the various different products that recycled plastics get made into.   According to POLYCO Chief Executive Officer, Mandy Naudé, each video is only approximately 3 minutes in length and features the dynamic and funny sister duo, Nolo and Gee, taking.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 8th September 2015

Constantia Flexibles strengthens position in African market

Constantia Flexibles Group is strengthening its position in the Sub-Saharan African growth market by acquiring the South African flexible packaging company Afripack. The parties agreed not to disclose the price of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the next three months.   Durban-based Afripack is the second largest flexible packaging company in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. The company produces flexible food packaging.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 8th September 2015

Canon's award-winning Oce ColorWave 700 has landed in SA

Canon South Africa has announced that the first award-winning Océ ColorWave 700 printers have landed in South Africa. Launched in Europe in February and available to South Africa since the beginning of August 2015, the Océ ColorWave 700 is already on display in Canon SA's showroom and now available countrywide.   The printer was built to deliver the highest possible productivity in the smallest possible footprint, so it can produce an exceptional range of creative.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 8th September 2015

Sappi sells Cape Kraft recycled packaging mill to Golden Era Group

Following on Sappi's recent announcement of the sale of its Enstra Mill and recycled packaging business, Sappi wishes to announce the sale of its Cape Kraft recycled packaging paper Mill to the Golden Era Group. In March 2015 Sappi initiated a closed tender process after receiving many expressions of interest to buy the mill. It is expected that the transaction will close in September 2015. The disposal is not categorisable in terms of section 9.5 of the JSE Listings Requirements..... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 8th September 2015

Gumtree helps Stickeez fans

The Stickeez tiny plastic toys, given away by Pick n Pay are highly sought after commodities in playgrounds and schools, so much so that enterprising entrepreneurs and desperate moms are putting them up for sale and swop on Gumtree. Head of Gumtree Marketing Claire Cobbledick says they were not surprised to see the little characters pop up online. "As a parent, I know first-hand that children are begging to go to the shops just to complete their collections before the promotion.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 8th September 2015

World Bank approves $80 million for job growth in Tanzania

 The Board said it reached the decision after noting that over the past decade, private sector investment has been concentrated in a few fast growing sectors, such as the extractives, finance, communication, and transport while labor-intensive sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing expanded below the average rate of the economy (about seven percent in 2014/15). As a result, job creation did not accelerate to keep pace with the growth of the working.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 7th September 2015

Four more years of high power bills as Kenya keeps costly thermal plants

 Kenyans will continue to shoulder the burden of expensive thermal generators for at least four more years, despite recent strides in unlocking cheaper sources of energy.   Data from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), which is the energy sector regulator, shows that the earliest the first of the nine thermal power plants could be knocked off from the national grid is 2019. This is in case it is not renegotiated as has been the practice in recent past.   The ERC.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 7th September 2015

A leading agriculture firm marching to Africa market.

 Maize, as source of the staple food for Kenyan people, is mostly ground for sifted and unsifted maize meal or other products like maize grits and by products bran and germ.   Professional and experienced in this field, Beyase offers consumer full solutions to start a real complete milling plant that is easy to operate with accessible life-long service. No matter how small or big kgs you need to pack into, say 1kg, 2kgs or big 90kgs, you will realize them with the machine.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 7th September 2015

Kenya to push for better trade terms at upcoming World Trade Organisation forum

 Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has said the upcoming global conference to be held in Nairobi could have huge gains for the agricultural sector.   Among the issues that her ministry will be pushing in the 10th World Trade Organisation ministerial conference are slashing barriers to cross-border business, which past meetings have failed to resolve.   “Our,” Ms Mohamed said last week. Kenyan exports including horticulture to the European.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 7th September 2015