Kenya plans to sell a 51 percent stake in five sugar millers

 Kenya plans to sell a 51 percent stake in five sugar millers to strategic investors starting this month as it looks to complete reforms aimed at making its sugar industry competitive, a top official said on Friday.   East Africa's largest economy is expected to fully open up its market to imports from the regional Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) states after more than a decade of an arrangement that allowed it to charge high tariffs to protect its.... Read more »

Posted on : Wednesday , 13th August 2014

Tanzanian firm becomes first publicly owned oil, gas group in E Africa

 Tanzania-based energy group Swala Oil & Gas has listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), becoming the first publicly owned oil and gas company in East Africa.  The company is the twentieth to list on the DSE and the second to list under the Enterprise Growth Market (EGM), an equity market specifically intended for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups.   The company listed on the EGM with 99-million shares after a successful initial.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 12th August 2014

Dr Mark Michalski is ready to print a 3-D brain (maybe yours)

 In a year's time, the 3-D printers at Yale's Center for Engineering Innovation and Design (CEID) have churned out countless parts, prototypes, and curiosity-driven experiments in plastic - rotorheads and racecar uprights, cardiac pump pieces and thermostats, snowmen, keychains, and fantastical geometric shapes. Radiology resident Dr Mark Michalski uses them to print organs - arteries and bones, a liver, a heart, a knee. "The next step will be a brain," he.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 6th September 2014

Kenya Plans To Build Wind Energy Program

 The Kenyan government is planning to scale up its wind power programme in the near future, planning to increase their own use of renewable energy as well as attempting to increase interest in wind power investment. A Kenyan governmental delegation has been touring Europe, visiting countries such as Germany and Denmark, facilitated by the World Wide Energy Association (WWEA) and organised by Windforce Management which is aiming to analyse and improve the Kenyan wind.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 12th August 2014

NAPM calls for elimination of VAT on life saving medicines

 The National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (NAPM) has proposed a zero Value Added Tax (VAT) rating on medicines in its submission to the Davis Tax Committee, tasked with assessing the country's tax policy framework and its role in supporting the objectives of inclusive growth, employment, development and fiscal sustainability in South Africa. Although the proposed Zero VAT rating requested consideration for all medicines, it particularly targets Schedule 3 to.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 6th September 2014

Multi-strain vaccine for HPV, suitable for girls, boys, women, men

 The Human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cervical, anal and penile cancers, along with genital warts, has more than 130 strains, 40 of which affect the genital area. "While most people clear the virus naturally, others are not able to," says Dr Trudy Smith, Johannesburg-based gynecologist and obstetrician. "HPV is a particularly strong virus that can cause infections that lead to cancer in both men and women. There are often no symptoms of HPV infection.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 12th August 2014

Tanzania: Bauchi PHCDA Immunises Children of IDPs Against Polio Virus

 Dr. Adamu Gamawa, new Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (PHCDA), said on Tuesday that efforts had been intensified to immunize against polio virus, children of internally displaced persons living in the state.   Gamawa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi on Tuesday that although he inherited an agency that had worked hard to ensure that the state was free of the wild polio virus, his greatest challenge was the influx of.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 12th August 2014

Kenya: Counties, Rotary Club Enter Polio Deal

COUNTY governments have signed an agreement with the Rotary Club to eradicate the spread of polio by 2018. The two are expected to roll out nationwide campaigns to increase the scope of vaccinations.   Dubbed 'This Close', the campaign is expected to boost government efforts of vaccinating children, while mopping out high risk counties. The initiative was launched at Laico Regency Hotel, Nairobi, yesterday.   Rotary Club of Nairobi District governor Kamal Sanghani said.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 12th August 2014

East Africa surpasses Middle East with high paying jobs in oil and gas

 The study by Von Essen, providers of tax advisory services to international contractors, said that a growing number of oil and gas jobs offering more than US$171,172 per annum are being created due to increased exploration and extraction activity in the continent. Von Essen added that Africa is now second to Europe for the number of highly paid roles advertised for top UK oil and gas industry professionals. Europe accounts for 41 per cent of the share. There has been increased.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 11th August 2014

Kenya's import bill has accelerated by 727 million U.S. dollars

NAIROBI, (Xinhua) -- Kenya’s import bill has accelerated by 727 million U.S. dollars in the first six months of this year, compared to a similar period in 2013, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) said on Saturday.   The bill swelled from 7.9 billion dollars in the first half of 2013 to 8.6 billion dollars this year on account of increased inflows of industrial supplies and petroleum products.   The non-food industrial and petroleum products are the East.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 11th August 2014

Africa Oil and Tullow Oil seek partner for Kenyan oilfields

 The Canada-listed company said that the partners have discovered oil reserves in Block 13T and Block 10BB in northern Kenya’s South Lokichar Basin, estimated to hold a combined 600mn barrels. Keith Hill, CEO of Africa Oil, said, “We will likely bring on a partner to help develop Lokichar Basin reserves but no timetable has been set.” Oil discoveries in Uganda and Kenya and gas deposits found offshore Tanzania and Mozambique have turned east Africa into a hot.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 11th August 2014

Gas Discoveries Fuel Investments in East Africa

 Significant gas discoveries in Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique have put East Africa in the global spotlight, according to DHL’s executive. Steve Harley, president of energy sector at DHL, said that while Angola and Nigeria have always been the most notable producers within the sub-Saharan region, oil and gas activities in East Africa are now creating a stir amongst global exploration companies and potential investors. “Oil discoveries in Uganda and Kenya have also.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 11th August 2014