Waterfund LLC and IBM today announced that they have signed an agreement with the Ministry of Water and Environment of the Republic of Uganda that makes the country the first in Africa to become a member of the pioneering Water Cost Index (WCI).

Waterfund,  a leader in global water risk management, along with IBM acting as calculation agent, will work with the Ministry of Water and Environment to calculate the cost of producing water in Uganda.

This work will reflect estimated water production costs measured in US dollars per cubic metre and be published as part of the Rickards Real Cost Water Index™, to be updated monthly.

As governments are increasingly forced to turn to the private sector to fund the construction and maintenance of complex water networks, the index will provide Uganda with a benchmark for helping measure critical projects on a like-for-like basis.

This makes it a vital tool for attracting funding for the water infrastructure projects critical to national development.

Professor Ephraim Kamuntu, Uganda’s Minister of Water and Environment, said: “Becoming part of Waterfund’s benchmark index for water costs will help place Uganda at the forefront of innovation in finding significant funding solutions to realise our water infrastructure goals.”

 “The unprecedented level of transparency that the index will bring to pricing water sector investments in Uganda will be a great asset in attracting private sector funding that can help us provide clean and safe freshwater to all our citizens. It gives us great pleasure to work with Waterfund and IBM and harness their expertise to make this happen.”

The Rickards Real Cost Water Index™ will highlight the energy costs, interest rate risk, and capital expenditures required to build and maintain large-scale water treatment and delivery networks in Uganda.

The FY 2012/2013 budget for the Ministry of Water and Environment to invest in the water sector is UGX 301.9bn (US$153mn), with plans to supply 77 percent of rural dwellers and 100 percent of urban dwellers with clean water by 2015.

To achieve this aim, however, it will require Uganda to commit at least US$300mn a year of new investment to the water sector until 2020.

President and Chief Exeuctive Officer of Waterfund, Scott Rickards, said: “Uganda is proving itself to be very forward thinking and proactive in the solutions it is seeking to meet the water infrastructure investment challenges it faces.

“This innovative spirit, combined with Waterfund’s first of its kind water cost index and IBM’s unrivalled expertise in Big Data analytics, will bring real financial transparency to Uganda’s water sector and significantly broaden the funding options available to ensure sufficient investment in freshwater infrastructure.”

IBM Public Sector for East Africa Leader, Magero Gumo, said: “Our work with Waterfund and the Republic of Uganda shows the difference that IBM’s expertise in Big Data analytics can make to the lives of people in Africa through creating the tools necessary for enhancing the provision of vital services such as the supply of freshwater.”

A partnership between two leading technology providers has paved the way for a deal with MTN, one of the leading telecom operators in Africa, which has GSM licenses in 21 countries.

Netxcell Limited, a pioneer in providing telecom technology services, has teamed up with Funmobile, a leader in the mobile content domain in West Africa, which offers entertainment and information with richer multimedia forms of video, music and gaming.

Through this partnership, Netxcell will implement services for MTN cross Africa and Middle East leveraging the local know how of Funmobile. 

 Netxcell will provide its cutting edge technology solutions such as IVR based services – Voice Chat & Information and Subscription Dialers in Nigeria.

Netxcell with Funmobile and MTN will be responsible for driving the products from registration phase, profile maintenance, filtration, connectivity usage, promotions and billing.

Funmobile, which is a known player in voice SMS will start offering Voice Chat with Netxcell’s support and with their local know how and expertise handle day-to-day operations.

The company will also engage end customers through its call centre and moderators to increase uptake/calling minutes.

 The association between Netxcell and Funmobile is being hailed as a win-win proposition by the two companies.

It will enable Fumobile to better its offerings for its clients’ customer engagement resulting in enhanced bottom lines,

Meanwhile, for Netxcell, this partnership will increase its footprint across Africa where it already has a presence in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Burundi and now it will have exposure in Nigeria.

Debasis Chatterji, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Netxcell Limited, said: “Africa entry was a strategic move for us at Netxcell and we have been successfully growing and enhancing our presence in Africa.

“Our cutting edge technology offerings and constant focus on innovation is helping establish Netxcell as the leading solutions provider to the Telecom Ecosystem in Africa. Netxcell has always believed in the strength of local partnerships which helps in unlocking the real potential of any region.

“Our partnership with Funmobile will further strengthen our footprint in Africa is the world’s fastest growing market for VAS/Telecom with almost 17 percent annual mobile connection growth rate.”

Yahaya Maibe, CEO of Funmobile, said: “We are happy to announce our partnership with Netxcell which will help us enhance our offerings by equipping us the technical expertise that we require to provide advanced and cutting edge VAS solutions across Africa”.

 Africa’s fast growing telecom market has tremendous potential in the coming years. In Nigeria alone the mobile market grew to 18.51 percent in 2012, out of which 5.6 percent growth was registered in Q4 only.

According to the Nigeria Telecommunications Report, ten percent of connections of the total subscriber base currently account for 3G according to the Wireless Intelligence Report titled Global Cellular Market Trends and Insight.

 Netxcell already has a dedicated technical and sales team in Africa to handle operations and will be looking at a larger product portfolio through such associations

The Exporta Group’s fifth Annual East Africa Trade & Commodity Finance Conference has been hailed a huge success attracting more than 220 delegates to the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club in Nairobi.

This comprehensive two-day conference opened with a keynote address by Phumelele Mbiyo, Head of Macroeconomic Research at Stanbic Bank.

He addressed the current trends within the East African commodities sector as well as the role of trade in shaping the macroeconomic landscape.

As the biggest trade and commodity finance gathering in East Africa, the conference brought together decision makers from some of the region’s biggest corporate players, such as Kenya Power, Hashi Energy, Gulf Power and Olam International to give their unique insights into today’s market.

The event also attracted many local and international delegates from the banking and financial services sectors to discuss liquidity challenges, corporate demand for capital, opportunities and challenges within the energy market, the impact of changing global trade flows and specific industry case studies.

Conference producer, Paul Greetham, said:  “The economies of East Africa continue to attract attention, despite significant global challenges, with opportunities abound in many sectors.

“With international trade flows developing at an unprecedented rate, the conference was well timed to tackle key market issues and illustrate current commodity market trends.”

Megan McDonald, Director & Head of Structured Trade Finance at Standard Bank, further said: “We have seen that international commodity traders are increasingly turning to African banks to finance trade transactions as the uncertain global economic conditions, the Eurozone debt crisis and tougher capital requirements are forcing major global banks to pull back their lending in Africa.

 “Through its operations in key East African markets, Standard Bank has the presence, experience and on-the-ground support to assist clients with the full spectrum of trade finance requirements in the East African region.”

With so many high-level delegates in attendance, networking was a key feature throughout the two-day event. With numerous networking breaks and an evening drinks reception, there was ample opportunity for anyone serious about doing business in East Africa to create new business contacts and build relationships with the foremost market actors.

“The annual East Africa Trade & Commodity Finance Conference has rightly become a flagship event within the Exporta calendar,” said Peter Gubbins, Managing Director of Exporta.

“Many delegates and supporters return year after year and have helped develop this key industry gathering into a hotbed of contemporary discussion and unrivalled networking. We look forward to facilitating business in the region for many years to come.”

The conference welcomed support from leading institutions, such as Standard Bank, Barclays, Ecobank, FIMBank, Nedbank Capital, Afreximbank, ITFC, Mauritius Commercial Bank, Rand Merchant Bank, Ace Global, PTA Bank, NIC Bank, Volante, ETG and Codix. The event is proud to have institutional partnerships with the IFC and the East African Business Council.

South Africa already has a number of great money transfer solutions, however the real challenge is not getting another banking app, but rather finding locations for these applications to convert credit into cash as well as cash into credit, says Bevan Ducasse of wiGroup.

 “Mobile money is growing tremendously,” said Ducasse. “Every one of the big four banks as well as Capitec has a mobile banking solution, and we have MTN and Vodacom offering money transfer services as well.

“The problem of how to enable people without traditional bank accounts to transfer money has been solved. If someone has a cellphone number, you can send them money.”

 What does still need to be solved, said Ducasse, is the problem of how to spend money sitting in mobile accounts and wallets.”

“At some point you still need to be able to deposit and withdraw cash and everything points to the retail footprint in South Africa being the answer,” he said.

wiGroup is a South African pioneering software business with a focus on the development of mobile transaction and application technology, and specializes on the integration into a retailers point of sale software.

 Ducasse believes the logical next step will see retailers teaming up with mobile banking operators to provide that final link.

 “Retailers already have the infrastructure that’s needed,” he said. “They have the bricks-and-mortar presence in every small town, the communications networks, the cash, the security and the customers. Opening up retail points of sale to act as cash deposit and withdrawal points is a no-brainer.”

 Retailers, banks and consumers all stand to benefit with an increase in foot traffic into the store as well as the opportunity to earn a small fee per transaction.

“For the banks and mobile transaction operators, there is the chance to offer a better service to a larger market, at a fraction of the cost of rolling out an entire new ATM network, especially considering rolling out into Africa. And for consumers, there is greater flexibility and access to their money,” said Ducasse.

 “The technology platform to enable this already exists and has been proven. Within the next 12 months to three years I expect to see consumers being able to walk into their local branch of most national retailers, and to transact with the bank of their choice.”

Poor logistic skill is hampering South African firms’ ability to trade effectively, both internally and externally, reveals new research.

The 2012 Supply Chain Skills Gap Survey shows strategic level positions are becoming more challenging to fill with 63 percent indicating difficulties in 2011 and 66 percent in 2012.

The survey was conducted by University of Johannesburg researchers Rose Luke and Gert Heyns.

It shows employers have indicated that, although operational positions are relatively easy to fill (63 percent average over both years) around 65 percent indicated It was difficult to fill tactical positions.

Luke said: “The lack of skills is apparent in that although, in terms of logistics performance, South Africa is currently ranked as number 23 in the world, the country’s ability to perform more effectively is largely hampered by logistics competence.

Heyns said:  “This clearly indicates that skills are an issue within the country, and logistics skills in particular are hampering South Africa’s ability to trade both within the region as well as with other countries and regions.”

 “For this reason, it thus becomes critical to identify the logistics skills requirements in South Africa, so that these acute shortages can be addressed to the benefit of trade in and with South Africa and the SADC,” he adds. 

According to Barloworld Logistics’ 2013 Supply Chain Foresight report, the supply chain skills shortage is viewed as one of the top five constraints to South African supply chains and the single biggest constraint on competitiveness.

 Topping the list of skills that are in most demand, identified by participants in Luke and Heyns’ research, are the following: Customer Focus followed closely by Ability to Plan and Prioritise, and then Business Ethics. 

 “It’s interesting that the top 10 highest ranking skills comprise mostly “softer” and broad management skills,” Luke said.  “Meanwhile, customer focus and the abilityto see the big picture are the two most important logistics awareness skills viewed as essential by respondents.”

 According to Luke and Heyns, the high importance placed on business ethics may be a reaction to a heightened awareness of corruption and mismanagement that currently pervades society.

“Also, the prominence of customer focus in the survey indicates that companies are realising just how important the fact-to-face aspect of the supply chain is,” said Heyns.

While highly educated and skilled individuals are desperately needed in the planning phases of the supply chain, the research confirms the fact that finding, for example, truck drivers who’re also able to interact well with customers, has emerged as an area of great importance.

 It is vital also to note that companies are recognising the role that ‘seeing the big picture’ plays in driving greater productivity and effectiveness across the supply chain.

 “Businesses are placing a high importance on getting all their staff to see the interrelatedness of what they do – that if someone drops the ball, it affects everyone’s work – and therefore to encourage people to perform even better; whether they’re the boss or the driver,” said Luke.

 Another interesting finding that emerged from the study is the high importance placed on education, particularly by those working at an operational level.

A total of 40 percent of respondents felt that high school education is a must for working in supply chain, further emphasising the importance of the education system producing what the economy requires.

 “The results of the study imply that there are significant skills shortages in the supply chain industry in South Africa and that urgent interventions are required to attract and retain the skills needed to operate efficient, effective and competitive supply chains.

“These severe skills shortages have a significant impact on the competitiveness of South African supply chains and the ability to develop commerce with our major trading partners,” concluded Luke.

 Gert Heyns and Rose Luke’s presentation at the SAPICS Conference 2013 is entitled: An Update of the Supply Chain Skills Gap Survey in South Africa. Visit www.sapics.org.za for information and to register.

US President Barack Obama has announced an African tour next month which will see him visit Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.

The trip announced by the White House yesterday is aimed at helping his administration broaden and deepen its relationship with the continent particularly sub-Saharan Africa in a bid to advance regional and global peace and prosperity.

The week-long trip will commence from June 26 to July 3 and the President will meet with a wide range of leaders from Government, business and civil society including youth to discuss America’s strategic partnerships on bilateral and global issues.

There is also growing speculation as to whether or not the President will meet with former South African president Nelson Mandela, whose health has been ailing recently.

Obama will be accompanied by his wife Michelle, on the trip, who has previously met with Mandela.

 A White House spokesman said: The President will reinforce the importance that the US places on our deep and growing ties with countries in sub-Saharan Africa including through expanding economic growth, investment and trade, strengthening democratic institutions and investing in the next generation of African leaders.”

In June 2012, Obama unveiled a sweeping new Africa strategy, with the goal of reinforcing security and democracy on a continent facing the threat of Al-Qaeda and a Chinese economic offensive.

The new US blueprint seeks to boost trade, strengthen peace, security and good governance and bolster democratic institutions, declaring that a continent torn by poverty, corruption and discord could be the world's next big economic success story.

Just last month America came under criticism from Mo Ibrahim, the influential entrepreneur and founder of the Mo Ibrahim foundation which awards an annual prize for governance in Africa.

African Business Review reported that at a presentation ceremony, the renowned philanthropist called on the US to halt its retreat from Africa.

He said: “We are witnessing a gradual and continuous US retreat from Africa. We don’t understand that. The US has been a great friend all these years, but as soon as Africa found itself starting to move up, the US is really disengaging.”

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be a radio telescope, instead of seeing light waves, it will make pictures from radio waves. It will allow astronomers to see back in time before the first stars and galaxies were formed.

The majority of the SKA, the full dish array and the dense aperture array, will be built in Africa with the highest concentration of receivers  being constructred in Northern Cape Province about 80km from the town of Carnarvon.

The video outlines the economic impact this mega project is having on South Africa.

South Africa’s leading manufacturer and distributor of plastic pipes and fittings for reticulation systems Marley Pipe Systems has bought the assets of now defunct pipe producer Petzetakis Africa for in excess of R100 million.

The acquisition represents a significant investment for Marley’s parent company Aliaxis Group and shows confidence in Marley as company to grow and develop the Aliaxis footprint in Southern Africa,

Petzetakis’ somewhat controversial closing in 2010 resulted in liquidation and this acquisition presents a positive public interest outcome which is set to contribute not only to Marley as a brand, but also to the future of the South African economy.

Included in the assets procured by Marley are the land and buildings of the adjacent HDPE and hose sites at Rosslyn, and all productive equipment associated with these sites as well as all the movable assets of the PVC site.

 The purchase of the land and equipment will strengthen Marley’s position to better service the Infrastructure and Building markets by extending their product range and capacity. 

This includes additional solutions for large diameter storm water and drainage pipe applications with the manufacture of well-known structured-wall pipe, Weholite.

The assets further include production equipment to produce the renowned Megaflex Flexible Hose range used in the Mining, Irrigation and Industrial sectors.

 Marley will now also have increased capabilities to cater for the production of Large Bore HDPE pipes in excess of 1m.

 Marley Managing Director, Louis Albertyn, said: “This will put us in a position to add more value to our customers and business partners by ensuring world class service on a complete quality product offering, including Weholite, Megaflex Flexible Hose and Large Bore HDPE.”

 To get to this point, Marley was mindful of regulatory requirements, having received clearance to go ahead with the acquisition from competition authorities back in December 2011.

Thereafter, Marley followed a challenging yet rewarding 18 month process that would allow them to strategically attain this influential acquisition for the benefit of their partners, customers and the country as a whole.

Tanzania will open bids for gas and oil exploratory licences in May next year once it has been revealed by the Minister for Energy and Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo.

The date for bids has been set as May 9, 2014 when the Natural Gas Policy and legislation will have been ratified by government.

The Minister made the announcement in parliament to allay the fears of some sector leaders that the government was planning to offer seven deep offshore blocks and one onshore block in October before policy had been approved.

Prof Muhongo said it was important to advertise for blocks as Tanzania was in competition for investors with other countries.

He said: "So if we say we should not advertise our exploratory blocks today, we will only invite them at a time when they have had enough of it somewhere else."

One of the reasons given for fast tracking legislation was the fact the US is currently exploring for Shale Gas – a natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations.

Prof Muhongo said It was important for Tanzania to develop its own natural gas before the US finds Shale Gas as it was one of the major markets for the hydrocarbon substance, but this may stop if the US discovers Shale gas reserves.

Kenya, he said, is yet another reason for Tanzania to speed up its pace, saying East Africa's largest economy is currently prospecting for natural gas and that it has found some two tcf.

Latest data shows that Nigeria has some 180 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, Mozambique has 200 tcf and Tanzania has some 42 tcf.

Written by Darren Olivier, partner and head of Commercial IP at Adams & Adams

The talk around big corporate law firms is that Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity has been buoyant in 2013 with large deal values in the pipeline.

Intellectual property (IP) firms also report increases in IP filings, another barometer of economic activity and positive sentiment.

This article observes the state of IP within businesses in M&A transactions, which is also the subject of increasing interest and deals with the most nebulous of them all - trade secrets.

Trade secrets are those little nuggets of confidential information contained within a business that give it a competitive edge over competitors. They could be contained in customer lists, technical processes, price lists and tender prices, unpublished trademarks, computer software, business connections or knowhow.

Very rarely are these little nuggets documented or recorded as “trade secrets” yet undoubtedly they are valuable and sometimes even critical to business success. They form part of the goodwill of the business or intellectual property, if you like. But businesses tend to find them difficult to describe, retain, record and value.

There is evidence that their omnipresence is being recognised. The ex-national rugby coach once spoke, amusingly, of the “intellectual property” in his scrum unwittingly referring to their superior techniques or trade secrets.  

The Coca-Cola Company’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken’s secret recipes elevate trade secrets to a means of marketing the business and creating allure. Yet seldom are they, trade secrets, treated with anything more than disdain by most businesses.

It’s a shame really because trade secrets can be more valuable to a business than patents, for example. They have the ability to protect a business indefinitely, whereas patents expire.

For some businesses, like those who rely on superior business methods or develop computer software where patent protection cannot, as a general rule, be sought, the little trade secret can be one of the few ways in which market share can be protected. And there is no cost to registering a trade secret which increases their attractiveness to SMEs.

Moreover, legal due diligences critically analyse trade secret protection which may have a direct impact on purchase price.

Managing trade secrets are not without their challenges though. For example, unlike registered patents, copyright, designs and trademarks, in the absence of strong contractual protection on employees and former employees, businesses frequently need to rely on an amoebic claim based unlawful competition to enforce them, the outcome of which can be difficult to predict or risk disclosure of the trade secret to do so.

We also live in an age where social media and collaboration have a profound effect on business and employees have more information about the business (and others) than in any other era.

Protecting, documenting and valuing trade secrets is therefore much trickier than ever before but arguably so is their importance and strategic use. Engaging with experts has become necessary to properly protect and understand these little nuggets, Kentucky Fried or, as you like.

Grocery stores are not just grocery stores anymore. Most South African retailers have added some form of product line extension to their standard offering of household items and produce.

 Even corner cafés are selling electricity and airtime, while the larger chain stores now allow customers to pay their bills and speeding fines, or even book flights or join incentive programs.

While these services  are effective as a lure to draw more traffic to the store – the real opportunity is the valuable customer data they generate, which is often overlooked or mismanaged. Rather than operate independently they should form part of a coherent customer engagement strategy that enables retailers to track and measure their success.

 Retailers should be using their existing infrastructure – whether it is their till, a customer call centre or a self-service kiosk (or all of the above) – to make the most of the opportunities these services offer them. IT companies tend to lump these together as “value-added services” – but I’d argue that term should be defined far more broadly, to include a host of other virtual services that make life more convenient for the customer or help in other ways to keep them coming back.

 Let’s take loyalty programmes as an example. Many retailers have or are considering one – whether it is a points system that generates paper vouchers after a few months, or stickers placed on a card that acts like a voucher and can be redeemed for a free coffee when full.

Over the years, these have been brought into question by marketers and retailers alike – mostly because these programmes were introduced simply “because our competitors have one”. Now, the ground is shifting.  Companies have realised a cookie-cutter approach to loyalty, where every store hands out cards and points that can be redeemed, definitely doesn’t work for everyone.

A retailer that takes customer engagement seriously needs to be asking itself: What drives MY customers’ loyalty?

 The answer will vary depending on exactly what business you’re in. For a computer store, support house calls and maintenance plans might keep your customers coming back even when the competition is offering deep discounts. For a high-end clothing store, maybe it’s a free wardrobe evaluation; a pharmacy might offer an annual cholesterol test. It’s about what’s relevant to the customer.

 Then there are gift cards, vouchers and coupons. At the moment few retailers link all of these together into broader marketing efforts – losing a great deal of the value in the process.

 The point is that every retailer should know its own customers well enough to know what works – and fortunately, the tools to support that knowledge are now available. With the right technology, you should be able to track in real time exactly what vouchers have been redeemed, when every gift card is presented and how much extra is spent, and what loyalty rewards have been claimed.

 Gift cards, vouchers and coupons and loyalty programmes are the big three that need to be included in the mix. They’re very different animals, but if handled correctly as part of a high-level customer engagement strategy they can have a measurable impact on footfall and turnover.

 Armed with this real-time information, marketers can fine-tune their campaigns in ways that have never been possible before. If there’s low uptake on one loyalty offer, try another next week – you can, because you’ll know.

 Above all, these services should be driven by an overarching customer engagement strategy that’s carefully attuned to the needs of the business.

Duplication, wasteful ad-hoc projects that go nowhere and services that work against each other don’t belong in this picture. What does belong is intimate knowledge of the customer, enabled by real-time measurement and reporting of how marketing efforts are reflected in sales at the till. Without that, value-added services are anything but.

Sable Mining Africa Limited, the AIM listed exploration company has announced encouraging results from recent exploration tests on its Kpo Iron Ore Project in northern Liberia.

The Kpo Project is located in the highly prospective West African Shield, where a number of world class iron ore projects are currently being developed.

The tests found positive initial in-house XRF results from a total of 314 soil samples taken across the central-northern and north-eastern section of the Kpo Project.

The XRF results together with field evidence support the potential for two zones of enhanced iron mineralisation consistent with the regional mapping and geophysical results.

Sable Mining Chief Executive Officer Andrew Groves said: “These positive findings from preliminary exploration work support the potential for two zones of enhanced iron mineralisation within our licence area and reinforces the Kpo Project’s potential to be a major new iron ore discovery. 

“The XRF work provides real time analytical results, which enable us to plan and define appropriate follow-up infill sampling strategies, which we hope will inform our planned prospect drilling strategy.” 

Ground mapping and sampling at Sable Mining’s 60 percent owned Kpo Project commenced in February 2012.  The Kpo Project is located in a highly prospective area between Sese Goa’s Western Cluster (Bong Mine) and Wologisi. 

 Recent exploration work has focused on the length of the north-central and north-eastern sections of the license, across the main target structure identified by a high resolution airborne geophysical survey flown during 2011.

Sable Mining Africa Ltd has a world-class portfolio of iron ore projects with multi-billion tonne potential in West Africa, primarily Guinea and Liberia as well as a coal portfolio with a multi-billion tonne attributable resource across near-term production and exploration/development assets in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

MTN Rwanda is still the predominant mobile phone company in the country with more than 3.4 million subscribers and latest figures from the Rwanda Utilities Regulator Agency (RURA) reveal more than half the population now use a mobile phone.

Between January and March 2013, mobile telephone subscribers increased from 5,690,751 to 6,039,615 representing a 5.8 percent increase.

Similarly, the quarter recorded growth in mobile penetration rate to reach 57.3 percent from 53.1 percent recorded at the end of the previous quarter.

The growth is largely attributed to the new mobile telephone subscriptions and the actual population which was found to be less than the projected population.

It is also due to increased competition among telecoms companies and while MTN remains in the top spot, Tigo follows as a close second and Airtel Rwanda, the newest player in the market, has seen its number of subscriptions rise from 570,739 in January to 781,162 in March.

Fixed telephone subscriptions decreased from 44,363 to 42,323, this shows a decrease of 4.6 percent this impacted the fixed telephone penetration rate negatively by falling from 0.41 percent to 0.40 percent in the quarter under review.

On internet data, the number of internet subscriptions increased from 903,964 for the previous quarter in 2012 to 935,125 for the quarter under review, which records an increase of 3.3 percent.

Mobile data/internet subscriptions continue to dominate the internet market contributing 99.5 percent of the total Internet/data subscriptions.

The tariffs for both voice and internet almost remained the same except the off net tariff of Tigo Rwanda Ltd which fell from 90Rfw in the quarter under review.

The sixth edition of the show boasts more than 85 exhibitors and is set to be 100 percent bigger than last year’s with an estimated 2,000 attendees, 90 conference sessions and delegations from 10 MENA ministries with more to be confirmed.

This must-attend event will be held at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Dubai between October 28-29.

Also new for 2013 is a new country focus featuring Ghana, Ethiopia, Niger and Sudan; more investor introductions, extra meeting spaces to facilitate one-on-one meetings onsite and enhanced hosted VIP programme for maximum ministerial presence.

The conference, scheduled for May 21 and 22 is aimed at allowing companies to exhibit their products and services and will be held at the Innovation Hub, Pretoria.

A number of leading experts are set to take to the podium including: McLean Sibanda, CEO, Innovation Hub - South Africa; Olayinka Oni, National Technology Officer at Microsoft, Nigeria; Stafford Masie, CEO, Thumbzup, Former Google Country Manager and Rodney de Koch, CIO, Department of International Relations & Cooperation – SA.

The conference will focus on Enterprise Technology and Mobile Applications and will discuss a number of hot IT topics including mobility, cloud, big data, security and startup funding.

Safaricom has announced bumper profits recording a pre-tax profit of Sh25.5bn and a turnover of Sh124.3bn, which is the highest result recorded by a Kenyan firm in one trading year.

Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore says his company is not just about making big profits. It is looking to develop new products and services as well as maintain the quality of its core services.

Ina an interview with NTV’s Wallace Kantai, Collymore talks about what is next for the Kenyan mobile communications company which brought the country its first successful mobile money transfer service M-PESA.

The report highlights the fact Africa is standing on the edge of enormous opportunity and African policy makers and their partners have critical choices to make.

They can either invest their natural resource revenue in people to generate jobs and opportunities for millions in present and future generations. Or they can squander this opportunity, allowing jobless growth and inequality to take root.

MEF, the global community for mobile content and commerce, has today announced the inaugural MEF Connects Kenya event for mobile industry leaders in Kenya.

The pan-African business partnering event will be held at the Sankara Hotel on the fringes of East Africa Com on Wednesday, May 22.

MEF, which is the leading trade organisation for companies wishing to monetize their goods, services and digital products via the mobile connected device, launched its dedicated Africa office in association with Vodacom in November 2012 to help promote African mobile growth and showcase innovation.

Often lauded as one of the most innovative mobile markets in the world, Kenya is a key market in MEF Africa’s continued roll-out across the continent.

With a mandate to help drive mobile growth and innovation at both a continental and country level MEF Africa is advancing regional market initiatives aimed at boosting consumer trust and promoting monetisation as well as providing business development and dedicated analytics across the African region.

The African members’ steering committee comprises BlackBerry; Comviva; Content Connect Africa; Digital; EA; Integrat, KPMG; Mira Networks; Mondia Media; MTN; Nokia; Prieskel & Co LLP; Redbull Mobile; Vodacom; Samsung; Spice and Spinlet among others.

 MEF is now looking to Kenya’s mobile opinion-shapers to take a leadership role in driving MEF Africa’s agenda.

Emma Kaye, MEF EMEA Co-Vice Chair, said: “We’re delighted to extend MEF Africa’s reach to Kenya, an exciting mobile market with a burgeoning consumer base. 

“MEF brings with it over a decade of mobile heritage as a truly global trade body and we are looking forward to working with the key mobile content and commerce players in Kenya to showcase home-grown innovation on a pan-African and international platform.”

 MEF Connects Kenya is sponsored by Spice VAS Africa, a leading telecommunications player with expertise in mobile value added services. Spice is headquartered in Singapore, but is focused on the African market.

Spice VAS Africa Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director and MEF Africa steering committee member, Arun Nagar, said: “Kenya has a strong and dynamic mobile industry, which Spice has proudly been part of since 2010.

“MEF can provide this industry with a strong platform to drive the regional agenda and connect local businesses to MEF’s global member base. We are pleased to support MEF Africa’s continued rollout across the continent.”

The Namibian Manufacturers Association has launched the country's first ever Manufacturer of the Year Awards 2013

Through the awards ceremony, the NMA hopes to recognise and reward those Namibian manufacturers who are putting in the extra effort needed to successfully compete against international competition.

Scheduled to be held on June 20, the event is the first the NMA has organised since coming into being almost 20 years ago. The NMA’s 140-strong membership will also be given the opportunity to participate in a project geared towards showcasing their products at the ceremony.

Awards up for grabs include the NMA Corporate Manufacturer of the Year, NMA SME Manufacturer of the Year, NMA New Manufacturer of the Year, NMA Innovator and Designer of the Year, NMA Ambassador for Manufacturing, NMA Most Environmentally Friendly Manufacturer of the Year and the inaugural NMA Manufacturer of 2013.  

NMA Chairperson, Brian Black, said: “Prior to independence, Namibia simply did not have a manufacturing industry. Everything was happening outside; even water was imported from South Africa. Obviously the NMA, with government and various stakeholders’ support, has to start somewhere in encouraging local manufacturing.

“We believe that the time has now come to start showcasing what our members are capable of. We are looking forward for these specific awards to grow year on year.”

Keen to address the challenges facing Namibian manufacturers, NMA Chief Executive Officer, Ronnie Varkevisser said: “Retailers should buy from local manufacturers and not import all their products from South Africa. I can state that there are certain retailers in Namibia that don’t carry one Namibian manufactured product on their shelves.

 “The time frame to get the VAT refund paid back to manufacturers, the time frame to put in an application for a work permit to import skilled workers – it takes a long time. We know the government is busy looking at (certain tenders to be exclusive to Namibian manufacturers).

“We had a discussion with the Trade & Industry Minister, Calle Schlettwein two weeks ago and we brought up this issue of tenders.”