Tanzania Scales Up Competitive Ranking Ladder

 Tanzania competitiveness ranking has improved, moving up nine places to 116th position from 125th in the past four years.   According to this year's Global Competitive Report released in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Tanzania ranks 116 out of 138 countries. Briefing journalists on the report, Acting Policy Research for Development (REPOA) Executive Director, Dr Lucas Katera, said that Tanzania has been moving up for the past four years, an indication of good performance in the.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 4th October 2016

Saving power bills with new LED lights

 Nairobi; Kenya: A local company has unveiled new lights that cut the cost electricity by more than 90 per cent. This is after realising how high cost of electricity deeply affects factories, homes and offices.   High power costs have seen institutions and individuals employ new measures to reduce operational costs. Kenya Power has also been sensitising Kenyans on the importance of saving power by issuing households with free energy saving bulbs instead of the conventional.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 4th October 2016

South Africa: 3-D technology brings a lost mammalian ancestor back to life

 At the very beginning of the 1960s, a South African palaeontologist embarked on a series of ambitious works. Dr A.S. Brink wanted to better understand the anatomy and evolution of humans' pre-mammalian ancestors, the therapsids.   Brink worked with therapsid skulls found in South Africa's Karoo region. He ground the skulls at thin and regular intervals to assess their internal cranial anatomy. The technique, known as serial grinding, was commonly used at the time. As he.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 4th October 2016

First African Development Bank funds for PPP forestry project

 The African Development Bank (AfDB) is joining with private sector investors for a project to restore degraded forest reserves and double the area of sustainable forest plantations.   A press release from the AfDB says “This agreement is a first-of-its-kind Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in its forest sector and is backed by a US$10 million concessional loan from the Climate Investment Funds' Forest Investment Program (CIF FIP). It is also supplemented by US$14.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 4th October 2016

Dental Students Spend Summer Break Treating Children in Kenya

 While most dental students spend their summer breaks recharging and getting ready for the next school year, a team of 7 fourth-year students from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry travelled to Kenya to treat about 2,200 children between the ages of 6 and 18 years.   As part of the school’s Kenya Summer Program, the students stayed in and around Meru, a village 5 miles north of the equator and about 150 miles away from Nairobi. They also travelled 2.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 4th October 2016

Kenya: Construction of solar farm gets green light

 Power plant developer, Rural Electrification Authority (REA), announced last week that it has concluded a PPA with Kenya Power to sell electricity generated from the solar farm at $0.12/kWh.   According to the Daily Nation, REA chairman Simon Gicharu made the announcement when he attended a meeting in Nairobi with officials from China who will be funding the solar project.   It is reported that China Jiangxi is the contractor of the project and will be backed by.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 4th October 2016

Tanzania Microfinance Sector to Drive Housing Growth

 There is an enormous potential for housing microfinance in Tanzania, the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance (CAHF) in Africa indicates in its latest report on Africa’s housing finance markets. CAHF attributes the potential to the fact that 41% of Tanzanians who borrow microloans plan to use them for housing construction or improvements. Nonetheless, Tanzania’s mortgage market is among the smallest in the East African region. According to 2014 Findex, only 4.5%.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 4th October 2016

South Africa’s mining school heads form collaborative industry body

 Mining Engineering Education South Africa (MEESA) will allow more cooperation and information sharing among institutions, which will be important in addressing the challenges that the South African mining industry is currently facing.   Established last year as the Mining Heads of School Forum and recently re-branded, MEESA is currently chaired by Professor Ronny Webber-Youngman of Pretoria University's Department of Mining Engineering, and includes his counterparts.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 4th October 2016

Hero MotoCorp develops three Dawn motorcycles for Africa market

 Hero MotoCorp Ltd has developed three motorcycles for Africa as it seeks to establish itself in overseas markets, six years after the company ended a partnership with Honda Motor Co. that restricted exports.   Powered by 100cc, 125cc and 150cc engines, the Dawn brand of motorcycles will go on sale in some African markets by March, with a large focus on Nigeria, the region’s largest two-wheeler market, according to Hero MotoCorp’s annual report for.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 4th October 2016

Yingli Europe and SolarAid launch solar lights in Africa

 The European subsidiary of leading module manufacturer Yingli Green has partnered with climate change charity SolarAid to launch an affordable solar-powered light for distribution in rural Africa.   The light, known as the SM100, was designed and developed by Yingli Europe for SolarAid who had designs to provide a solar light for use in Africa to make electricity more accessible to those without use of the grid and eradicate the harmful kerosene lamp.   The.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 4th October 2016

Tanzania: Dodoma to Get Maize Milling Plant

 Dodoma — Dodoma Region will soon get an ultra modern factory for maize milling and oil which will employ 250 workers.   In his remarks while handing over a cheque for about 3.7 bn/- for the said factory, the Director General of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), Professor Godius Kahyarara, said the plant will be a blessing to the people and farmers as it will be using raw materials obtained locally.   The money is intended for the purchase of grain and.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 4th October 2016

Tanzania: Patients to Undergo Knee Surgery in Dar

 Dar es Salaam-based Regency Hospital has started performing knee surgeries domestically, envisaging to operate between 10 and 15 patients monthly.   The hospital's surgeon, Dr Phuljit Patowary, speaking in the city over the weekend during the launch of the new service, said: "We had a successful surgery last Saturday where one patient was operated in an exercise that lasted for an hour."   He pointed out that people who hitherto receive the services from.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 4th October 2016