Create a designer home without breaking the bank

 THE diversity of South Africa’s design industry is good news for cash-strapped households who now have inexpensive options to freshen up their homes in a makeover.   Monique Nel, interior designer and showroom manager, as well as graduate of the Independent Institute of Education (IIE) and Design School Southern Africa (DSSA), explains.   According to Stats SA, South Africans now have less disposable income in their hands to spend on luxuries.   This.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 27th August 2016

Plastics – boring for some, but a thriving business for this East African company

 People generally don’t give much thought to the plastic bottle from which they drink their Coke, or the hangers they store their clothes on.   However, East African company Silafrica, established in 1967, has built a successful business from plastics, and is seeing plenty of scope for future growth.   Akshay Shah, managing director for Silafrica, says that while in the past consumers didn’t really care which brand of plastics they bought, they are.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 27th August 2016

Simulation Software Reduces Turbine Maintenance Downtime

 The maintenance arm of a South African electricity provider is better able to plan for ultrasonic testing of the steam turbine blades in its power plants.   Part of why people seem skeptical of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), in my opinion, is that they expect it to be some sort of magic pill, and then they don’t think it can possibly live up to the hype. Well, if you expect it to be a magic pill, then it won’t live up to the hype.   But if.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 27th August 2016

Kenya: Japan to Offer Technology Support to Kenya

 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said his country is focusing on sharing high-quality technology and skills with African countries to help boost agricultural productivity.   Mr Abe said by so doing, Kenya wouldl be able to improve the efficiency of human resources in industrialisation and development.   During a press briefing when he visited President Uhuru Kenyatta at Statehouse in Nairobi on Friday, Mr Abe said he was accompanied by 76 representatives from.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 27th August 2016

The Effort to Restore Tropical Forests Gets a Massive Cutting Edge

 Research by scientists from the UK and Tanzania has revealed that assisted ecological restoration can lead to dramatic increases in growth of new and established trees—helping to mitigate climate change and boost biodiversity.   All that is required, they say, is effective control of lianas, the fast-growing, woody climbing vines that, left to their own devices, quickly take over forest in which most or all of the merchantable timber has been cut, and crowd out.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 27th August 2016

East Africa: DR Congo Shows Interest As Uganda-Tanga Port Oil Pipeline Preps in Top Gear

 As the Vice-President of Total East Africa, Mr Javier Rielo, assured President John Magufuli that preparations for the construction of the 1,410-kilometre oil pipeline from Lake Albert in Uganda to Tanga Port in Tanzania are in good progress, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has shown interest in using the facility.   Mr Rielo made the assurance in Dar es Salaam yesterday when he met with President Magufuli to brief him on the progress of work on the construction of the.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 27th August 2016

Industrial parks spreading across East Africa, with eye on economic growth

 It is around midday when I meet Idris Luwasa outside the cotton godown where he works as a records officer.   He is yet to receive any cotton lint from farmers for the day. But he tells me this is not new. Farmers no longer deliver the commodity as regularly as they used to.   “There are days I go without logging any deliveries,” said Luwasa. “Sometimes that goes on for three straight days.”   Launched in late 2014 as part of an.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 27th August 2016

Miners Find South African Gold Recovers Its Luster

 JOHANNESBURG—After years battling depressed prices and cost-cutting, South African gold miners are regaining their shine.   Over the past two weeks, the country’s top four gold producers have announced soaring profits and dividends, reaping the benefits of yearslong restructuring and a 25% jump in the benchmark gold price this year.   The rise has been leavened by weaker currencies in South Africa, Brazil and Argentina, as well as Australia, which also.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 27th August 2016

Wind, solar can supply bulk of South Africa’s power at least cost, CSIR model shows

The dramatic fall in the cost of supplying power from wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) plants has moved the global electricity supply industry beyond a critical “tipping point”, which leading energy scientist Dr Tobias Bischof-Niemz says is irreversibly altering the operating model, with significant implications for sun-drenched and wind-rich South Africa.   Instead of renewable energy playing only a modest and supportive role in the future supply mix, research.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 27th August 2016

Ethiopia: Effective Irrigation Dev't to Boost Production, Productivity

 Agriculturalists frequently indicate that irrigation development can be taken as one of the prominent ways to ensure food security and increase productivity. As irrigation can be considered as an agricultural technique to utilize water gained from rain and wells for farming, currently the use of irrigation in Ethiopia has become common and growing from time to time.   Ministry of Farming and Natural Resource Irrigation Drainage Researcher Tilahun Hordofa said that though.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 27th August 2016

AFDB Group and Jetro to Sign MOU in Infrastructure and Private Sector Development

 The African Development Bank Group (comprised of the African Development Bank and the African Development Fund (AfDB/ADF) and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on August 26, 2016 at the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) in Nairobi, Kenya   The objective of the MOU is to establish a general framework to promote collaboration between them in matters of common interest such as.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 27th August 2016

Tanzania’s rural electrification plan gets $470m boost

 Tanzania's plans to increase electricity connections in rural areas have been boosted by a $470-million loan that the East African country has secured from a consortium of development partners. The country has made efforts to tackle abject poverty in rural Tanzania, where electricity access has remained a pipe dream for the majority, but the loan – from the World Bank, the Norwegian, Swedish and UK governments, the European Union (EU) and the African Development Bank.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 27th August 2016