SA's mining leadership needs to grab opportunities

 Signs of resurgence in platinum, a stronger gold price and growing coal exports to India should be triggers for South Africa's mining leadership to grasp the opportunities that it missed in the last commodity boom.   “It’s time for the mining sector to get some traction from the National Development Plan, Mining Operation Phakisa and the Mining Lekgotla – all crucial initiatives that have yet to be given real substance,” says Marcin Wertz, partner.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 3rd September 2016

China Makes Biggest South Africa Auto Investment in 40 Years

 A Chinese state-owned car manufacturer agreed to build an 11 billion-rand ($759 million) auto plant in South Africa, the biggest investment in a vehicle-production facility in the country in four decades. The Beijing Automotive International Corp. plans to start production at the facility in 2018, International Chief Executive Officer Dong Haiyang told reporters in the southern coast city of Port Elizabeth on Tuesday. The plant will be built in partnership with South.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 3rd September 2016

Africa: Dar Committed to Improve Investment Climate - PM

 Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said that government's decision to host the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF) in Tanzania was part of a wider strategic drive to improve the country's investment climate and demonstrate it is open for business.   "By hosting a Pan-African organization and leading by example in investment climate reform, we could demonstrate our commitment to improving regional collaboration and as a member of SADC and the EAC, we felt.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 3rd September 2016

Tanzania: Govt to Auction Nearly 1,000 Tonnes of Abandoned Sugar

 Tanzania is to auction thousands of tonnes of brown sugar abandoned at the Dar es Salaam port by importers reportedly fearing President John Magufuli's tax crackdown.   The Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) has put the consignment in 44 containers for auction in the first week of October should its owners fail to show up and claim the cargo in 30 days.   A notice issued through the media on Wednesday listed the brown sugar containers among several other items that.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 3rd September 2016

Solar Power - Most Affordable Source Of Energy In South Africa

 In the Budget Speech on 24 February 2016, the Honourable Mr Pravin Gordhan, Finance Minister of South Africa, announced that the Department of Energy’s (DoE) Independent Power Producers Procurement (IPPP) Programme will be extended to include coal and gas power projects.    The IPPP Programme will be rolled out in order to replicate the successes achieved in the South African renewable energy sector. Although the replication in other sectors will allow for.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 3rd September 2016

East Africa: Ethiopia Envisions to Generate 17,000 MW From Renewable Energy

 Environment and Climate Change Minister Dr. Shiferaw Teklemariam said that Ethiopia looks to lead Africa in planing and constructing large hydro-power projects from solar, wind, geothermal and hydro power sources.   Opening a two-day International Conference and Exhibition on Renewable Energy with the theme: 'Powering Resilience with Renewables' here yesterday, the Minister said by the end of 2020, Ethiopia planned to generate about 17,000 MW energy from renewable energy.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 3rd September 2016

Grab opportunities in oil, gas, companies challenged

 Dar es Salaam — Experts have called upon Tanzanian companies to grab opportunities available in the discovery of helium gas and construction of oil pipeline and the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Plant as the projects have potentials to boost Tanzania economy.   This was revealed yesterday during the Tanzania Oil and Gas Suppliers Conference (TOGSC) that brought together local and foreign players with other stakeholders in the industry to discuss opportunities and.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 3rd September 2016

Kenya eyes Chinese investments to hasten economic growth: official

 The Kenyan government has intensified efforts to attract Chinese investments in key sectors of the economy like manufacturing, energy, transport, tourism and real estate, a senior official said on Friday.   Speaking during the China (Guangdong)-Kenya Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference in Nairobi, Cabinet Secretary for Labor & East African Community Affairs Phyllis Kandie said Kenya is open to Chinese investments to hasten economic and social renewal in line.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 3rd September 2016

African nations endorse trade partnerships to boost growth

 Africa’s biggest economies want one trade bloc for the continent which they say would shield it from global commodity shocks and improve living standards.   Foreign and trade ministers from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt issued a communique after meeting on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad) held in Nairobi last week.   This came just before the Ticad summit endorsed the Nairobi Declaration, a document.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 3rd September 2016

South Africa’s 3D Printing Sector Shows Potential Growth Across the Board

 All across the world, the 3D printing sector is expanding at an exponential rate, and South Africa is no exception to this growth. The country has gained recognition from the 3D printing community for Hans Fouche’s large-scale Cheetah 3D printer, which was recently put to the test by South Africa’s I Maker Lab. Meanwhile, the German-based Aachen University of Applied Sciences has been hosting 3D Printing Summer School sessions in South Africa, training local students.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 3rd September 2016

South Africa to become wind energy hot spot

 As recently as 2012, South Africa had very little wind energy capacity—10 MW to be precise—and it had taken ten years to get to that point. Now, in 2016, it is right around 2 GW. That's something like a 1900% increase in four years by my (admittedly math-addled) brain. And according to consulting firm GlobalData, another 3 GW are due to be added in the next four years.   This matters for all of us.   According to Wikipedia, South Africa meets a full 77%.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 3rd September 2016

EOI: EPCM contractor for Phase 1, Corbetti project, Ethiopia

 In a release yesterday, Corbetti Geothermal PLC is seeking expressions of interest (EOI) from interested parties for EPCM services for the first phase of the Corbetti geothermal project in Ethiopia, Africa.   Corbetti Geothermal PLC is developing a geothermal power project in the Corbetti caldera in Ethiopia.  The first phase of the project includes plans to install two (2) new wellhead backpressure turbines with total capacity of 10 MW.   To provide steam to.... Read more »

Posted on : Friday , 2nd September 2016