Wednesday 29 October 2014

COULD GOLD COINS OFFER SHINING RETURNS?


130 years ago gold was discovered in South Africa, and 20 years ago the country became a democracy. This has seen the release of the 1oz 20-Year Democracy Gold Coin. Alan Demby, Chairman of The South African Gold Coin Exchange joins CNBC Africa for a look at whether the gold coin market could offer shining returns.

ACHIEVING INCLUSIVE GROWTH IN AFRICA


From the recently concluded World Economic Forum on Africa CNBC Africa's Wole Famurewa spoke to Jabu Mabuza, Chairman of Telkom and discussed how business leaders can achieve inclusive growth and create jobs.

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN AFRICA


The east3Route Investment Seminar 2014 recently took place at the International Convention Centre in Durban. At the event a panel of high profile delegates in the tourism sector took to the stage to discuss the policy environment to improve the investment landscape in the east3ROUTE region. CNBC Africa's Nozipho Mbanjwa spoke to BUSA president, Jabu Mabuza about investment opportunities on the continent.

AFRICA STILL ATTRACTIVE DESPITE CHALLENGES

The confidence index for Africa among business leaders has remained unchanged over the third quarter of 2014, according to YPO Global Pulse.

The Young Presidents’ Organisation (YPO) Global Pulse Confidence Index for Africa released on Tuesday puts Africa at 61.9 points despite the Ebola outbreak that is rampaging West African states.
According to Paul Kavuma, CEO at Catalyst Principal Partners, business leaders in Africa maintained a cautious optimism.
“Any sought of confidence rating over 60 per cent still shows strong confidence and optimism in the economy. So generally Africa although it remains stagnant from one perspective, it is actually stagnant but at a high level and while it may have been stagnant because there are some economics that have been under more pressure while others have been really racing well  and doing extremely well,” Kavuma said in a statement.

Uganda: Liquid Telecom announces UGX 2 billion investment in pan-Ugandan internet infrastructure

Liquid Telecom has announced UGX 2 bn of investment in its Ugandan subsidiary Infocom, to extend its pan African fibre cable infrastructure across Kampala’s Central Business District and to multiple rural towns across Uganda, including Mukono, Jinja, Masaka, and Mbarara.

“Fibre represents a completely superior quality of internet, in line with the advanced Internet offering from Infocom. Utilising Africa’s largest cable network to reach rural towns in Uganda, and to offer a world class service within Kampala’s CBD, is in line with our vision of fuelling the country’s accelerated economic growth,” said Mr Hans Haerdtle, Liquid Telecom’s Chief Technical Officer East Africa and CEO of Infocom.

The demand for data services is growing in Uganda at a time when data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) shows the country as leading the East African region in attracting FDI in 2013.

‘Our aim in investing so heavily in this new Ugandan internet infrastructure is to achieve better service delivery and improve the country’s internet penetration, which stands at 133rdposition globally, with 16.2 per cent of Ugandans currently accessing the internet,” said Mr Haerdtle.

Viettel to invest $1 billion on 3G telecoms network in Tanzania: officials

(Reuters) - Vietnam-based telecoms operator Viettel plans to invest $1 billion in a new third-generation (3G) mobile phone network in Tanzania, the office of the east African country's president said on Tuesday.
The mobile telecoms sector in east Africa's second-biggest economy has grown rapidly over the past decade, driven by demand for 3G mobile services. There are about 29 million mobile subscribers, representing market penetration of 64 percent, according to the country's telecoms regulator.
"Viettel will invest $1 billion in telecoms and other services in Tanzania, hence making Tanzania the second country after Peru to receive its state-of-the-art telecoms technology," the Tanzanian President's office said in a statement.
State-owned Viettel, which is run by Vietnam's Ministry of Defence, won its Peruvian mobile license in 2012.

How youths can become successful entrepreneurs, by Adesina, Utomi, others

MD ADESThe inability of Nigerian youth to set their priorities right is responsible for their inability to run successful enterprises.
This was brought to the fore recently by speakers at the second ICcube National Youth Training Conference and Job/Enterprise Fair. The three-day event took place at the Alfred Martins and Enuha Halls of the St. Leo Catholic Church, Toyin Street, Ikeja, Lagos.
Quality speakers from different fields were at the event to provide tips on Employability, Job Sustainability and Entrepreneurial Realities of the Nigerian Youth in the 21st Century Global Economy: Winning in Business and Career.
Chairman of the event, Senator Kola Bajomo, observed that with such a programme, arresting restiveness in the country was an achievable feat.

Unilever Nigeria Suffers 49% Fall In 9-month Pre-tax profit

Unilever (1)VENTURES AFRICA – Nigerian unit of Anglo–Dutch multinational company Unilever said on Tuesday pre-tax profit for the nine months ended September 30 fell 49 percent to N2.54 billion ($15.38 million), compared with N5.03 billion of the corresponding period of last year.
The NSE-listed household product maker’s revenue also dropped to 4 percent to N43.63 billion, from N45.61 billion last year, the company- Nigeria’s oldest manufacturing- said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange.Unilever said in September that it will be investing as much as 150 million Euro ($194 million) across its Nigerian production lines in a move to enhance local production capacity as well boost relations with domestic raw material suppliers. Unilever global CEO, Paul Polman said then that the company has invested 50 percent of its turnover in Nigeria in the last three years with the the country now holding around 50 percent of all its investments in Africa.
The company’s Kenyan unit also said last month that it intends to invest $190.7 million in infrastructural development as it seeks to exploit East Africa’s growing middle class, armed with more disposable income whose demand for consumer goods have increased.
“Our Nairobi-based site, which is the hub of the East African business, will not be able to meet the rapidly growing business needs of our consumers by 2016,” said Paul Polman, Unilever chief executive in an interview with Smart Company.
The new development – a factory and a warehouse- is expected to replace the current one which dates back to 1950s when the international FMCG firm opened shop in Kenya when it acquired a 50 percent stake in East African Industries at the time.

NIGERIA'S BANKING SECTOR DRIVES NSE DOWN


Equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange closed down, falling 0.63 percent at the start of the week following the global trend. Nigeria's banking sector closed down 0.21 percent on the back of third quarter earnings from UBA, Zenith and Sterling Bank. European stocks dropped throughout Monday, helping to pull down US markets as investor sentiment in Europe's economic prospects continued to sag. Joining CNBC Africa is Chigozie Muogbo, research and market intelligence executive at Diamond Bank