Kenya Power changes tack in war on transformer vandals

 Kenya Power transformer suppliers will have to shift to converters that contain aluminium windings, as opposed to copper ones currently in use as the utility firm moves to tame vandals who have cost it dearly.   The electricity distributor says its suppliers will now be required to adhere to new guidelines to save the company from losses that it incurs on vandalism.   The new specifications are intended to increase durability of transformers while making them less.... Read more »

Posted on : Wednesday , 5th October 2016

Seimens to support gas-to-power generation in South Africa

 Siemens has stated that it is committed to support gas-to-power generation in South African through its supplier and enterprise development initiative   “Adding gas-to-power generation to the South African energy mix will be a major driver of economic prosperity, adding billions of rands to GDP and thousands of new jobs”, said Sabine Dall’Omo, CEO of African engineering giant Siemens. Generating clean and efficient power from gas will boost SA’s.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 4th October 2016

South Africa's affordable energy dream

 South Africa will have to wait for more months in order to relaunch its affordable energy programme.   Formalised in 2010, the project for the construction of about six to eight reactors with a capacity of 9.600 megawatts is now being considered as an expected yet difficult to be achieved dream.   South Africa’s energy minister Tina Joemat Petterson had promised that the call for tender will be launched on September 30, but this was not done as.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 4th October 2016

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