administrator, Author at African Financial & Economic Data

06 Nov

Spacecom’s Amos-17 Satellite Successfully Completes Critical Design Review (CDR)

AMOS-17 Multi-Band High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) To Service Africa from 17°E Orbital Position, Scheduled for Launch in 2019 via SpaceX Falcon-9

Tel Aviv/Cape Town – 7 November 2017: Spacecom (Tel Aviv Stock Exchange: SCC), operator of the AMOS satellite fleet, announced today that its AMOS-17 communication satellite has successfully completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) and entered full production. Specifically designed for the African continent and scheduled for launch in early 2019, AMOS-17 will operate from 17°E to expand and strengthen Spacecom’s coverage in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. It will offer extensive Ka-band, Ku-band and C-Band HTS services, combining broad regional beams and high throughput spot beams to maximize throughput and spectral efficiency. The satellite’s in-orbit life is expected to be 19 years.

Boeing Satellite Systems International is building the satellite and SpaceX will send it into orbit on a Falcon-9 launch vehicle.

David Pollack, president and CEO of Spacecom said, “AMOS-17, equipped with latest generation digital payload, represents the most advanced satellite over Africa and further delivers on our long-term commitment to the African market. This satellite will bring multi-band high-throughput technologies to deliver unique service capabilities not possible on traditional satellites. We are introducing cutting edge satellite technology to Africa, that combined with our customer-centric approach, makes Spacecom the ideal choice for service providers. AMOS-17 will advance our support in creating a digital Sub-Sahara Africa society.”

About Spacecom:

Spacecom (Space-Communication Ltd.), operator of the AMOS-3 and AMOS-7 satellites co-located at 4°W, and AMOS-4 at 65°E, provides high-quality broadcast and communication services to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia via direct-to-home (DTH) and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) operators, Internet service providers (ISPs), telecom operators, network integrators and government agencies.

With the additions of AMOS-17 in 2019 and AMOS-8 to the 4°W orbital position in 2020, Spacecom will further expand its reach reinforcing its position as a leading multi-regional satellite operator.

For more information, please visit: http://www.amos-spacecom.com/

CONTACTS:

Josh Shuman, S&A Communications

+972-54-498-5833

joshs@shumanpr.com

05 Sep

African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit comes to Gauteng in October to focus on continent’s urban opportunities and challenges

The award-winning African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit comes to Gauteng in October to gather leading built environment and property professionals, architects, project developers, investors, town planners, and city and municipal managers from all over the continent to focus on “Developing Future African Cities”.
“Over the next 20 years, growth in Africa’s urban population will increase the demand for more infrastructure, including transport, housing, hospitals, schools, retail, industrial and fundamental facilities,” says Benjamin Jones, Event Manager of African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit. He adds: “to meet this ongoing demand, public and private sector stakeholders will need to adapt their strategies to develop and fund projects that will need to meet the specific demands and challenges of African cities.” The summit will take place at the Sandton Convention Centre from 25-26 October.

JLL, the global financial and professional services firm specialising in commercial real estate services and investment management, is the official content sponsor for the event. Simon Ardonceau (MRICS), JLL’s Head of Strategic Consulting, Sub-Saharan Africa and speaker at the African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit, says: “driven by strong fundamentals such as sustained economic growth, favourable demographics, emergence of a middle class and rapid urbanisation, the real estate sector is bound to grow.”

Visionary city planning
In November last year, the inaugural African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit in Cape Town provided an innovative space for more than 300 sector experts gathered for interactive sessions that focused on key case studies of visionary city planning, investment opportunities in the commercial and residential real estate sectors across the continent as well as the challenges of urbanisation. A key finding of the conference was that Africa’s cities are facing an urban ‘polycrisis’ and that there is a need for a new urban agenda and an opportunity for innovative solutions to address urbanisation challenges.
The summit was voted Africa’s best Confex (half conference, half exhibition) earlier this year by the AAXO ROAR event industry awards.
More key findings that emerged during the first African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit included:

– African countries need to adopt new development models designed to take
advantage of urbanisation by facilitating structural transformation, creating jobs
and addressing social inequality and poverty, while creating sustainable human
settlements with equal opportunity for all.

The future of Africa is at stake and the future of Africa will be more and more linked to how cities are managed and the way they choose to contribute to African unity.
Careful, complex, thorough administrative management and pro-poor urban development will turn African cities into world-class cities, not design plans based on fantasy Dubai-esque city makeovers.
The City of Cape Town has invested over R22 billion in infrastructure over the last five years and needs to provide an additional 650 000 housing opportunities over the next 20 years.
Merely pursuing low-density low-cost housing on the outskirts of the cities is not an option. Innovative thinking must be part of the solutions for urbanisation challenges and partnerships between the public and private sectors play an important role.

Leading African cities that have been invited to showcase their major infrastructure and building projects and opportunities in October at African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit include: Abuja, Nigeria; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Cape Town, South Africa; Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania; Johannesburg, South Africa; Kampala, Uganda; Kigali, Rwanda; Lagos, Nigeria; Luanda, Angola; Lusaka, Zambia; Maputo, Mozambique; Nairobi, Kenya; Harare, Zimbabwe and Kinshasa, DRC.

Property Buyer Show
During the same week as African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit, the Property Buyer Show also comes to Gauteng from 27-29 October at the Sandton Convention Centre. The Property Buyer Show, which took place for the first time in Cape Town in April this year, is a unique exhibition aimed at first-time residential property buyers or real estate investors. The innovative exhibition layout is designed to walk buyers through the property buying process and meet with Developers, Agents and Financial Service Providers.

The African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit and the Property Buyer Show are organised by the multi award-winning Spintelligent, well known for organising exhibitions and conferences across the continent in the infrastructure, energy, mining, agriculture and education sectors. Longstanding flagship events by Spintelligent include African Utility Week, Future Energy Nigeria (formerly WAPIC), Future Energy East Africa (formerly EAPIC), Agritech Expo Zambia, DRC Mining Week and EduWeek. Spintelligent is part of Clarion Events Ltd, based in the UK.

Dates and location:
African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit: 25-26 October 2017
Property Buyer Show conference: 27 October 2017
Property Buyer Show expo: 28-29 October 2017
Location: Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa

Websites: http://www.african-real-estate-summit.com/ & http://www.propertybuyershow.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARES_Summit & https://twitter.com/propertyshowsa
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8518271

Media contact:
Senior communications manager: Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone: +27 21 700 3558
Mobile: +27 82 562 7844
Email: annemarie.roodbol@spintelligent.com

23 Jan

Equatorial Guinea Presents Offer to Join OPEC in 2017 and Agrees to Production Cuts

H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang, Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, travelled to Vienna on January 20 to meet with OPEC officials and present the Government of Equatorial Guinea’s offer to become the 14th member of the cartel

MALABO, Equatorial Guinea, January 23, 2017

The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea (http://MMIE.gob.gq) announces that it has submitted its interest to join the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 2017. H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang, Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, travelled to Vienna on January 20 to meet with OPEC officials and present the Government of Equatorial Guinea’s offer to become the 14th member of the cartel. With 32.5 million barrels per day of output projected this year, OPEC is the world’s largest organization of oil producers. The Minister’s trip to Vienna follows the Fourth Africa-Arab Summit, which hosted last November several OPEC members in Malabo, under the patronage of H.E. President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

Equatorial Guinea is the third largest oil and gas producer in sub-Saharan Africa

“For decades, Equatorial Guinea has achieved a sterling track record as a dependable supplier of petroleum to consumers in all corners of the world. We firmly believe that Equatorial Guinea’s interests are fully aligned with those of OPEC in serving the best interests of the industry, Africa and the global economy,” said H.E. the Minister.

On December 10, 2016, Equatorial Guinea agreed to join 10 other non-OPEC countries to reduce 558,000 barrels per day of total oil production in 2017. Equatorial Guinea’s share of the cut is 12,000 barrels per day. Even through a two-year sustained slump in oil prices, Equatorial Guinea has maintained liquid output levels at a competitive level.

“There is a consensus amongst producers that an oversupply of oil has been dragging down the price of the barrel,” the Minister said. “Equatorial Guinea is doing its part to ensure stability in the market and that the industry continues to invest in exploring and developing our resources.”

Equatorial Guinea is the third largest oil and gas producer in sub-Saharan Africa. Its $10.6 billion of annual oil and gas exports account for 95 percent of the country’s total exports, with shipments sold every day to China, India, Japan, Korea and many other countries. The country has remained committed to investing in the entire energy supply chain through landmark projects such as the Bioko Oil Terminal, the Fortuna Floating Liquefied Natural Gas project, the Riaba Fertilizers plant, compressed natural gas and LNG. Equatorial Guinea is currently hosting its latest oil and gas licensing round, EG Ronda, putting on offer all of open acreage not currently operated or under direct negotiation. Equatorial Guinea has made 114 oil and gas discoveries to date with a drilling success rate of 42 percent.

17 Jan

Hong Kong bans import of poultry meat and products from Uganda and areas in Germany, India and Japan

HONG KONG, The People’s Republic of China, January 17, 2017

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (January 17) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza in the State of Bavaria in Germany and Kottayam District in Kerala State of India, and an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza in Uganda and a notification from the Japanese authorities about an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Gifu Prefecture, the CFS has banned the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above places with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

A CFS spokesman said that in the first 11 months of last year, Hong Kong imported about 9 300 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and 2 million poultry eggs from Germany, and about 6 800 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and 45 million poultry eggs from Japan. Hong Kong at present has established a protocol with India for the import of poultry eggs but not for poultry meat, and no poultry eggs were imported into Hong Kong from India in the same period. In addition, as Hong Kong has not established any protocol with Uganda for imports of poultry meat and eggs, there is no import of such commodities from Uganda.

“The CFS has contacted the German, Indian, Japanese and Ugandan authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE on avian influenza outbreaks in the countries concerned. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation,” the spokesman said.

17 Jan

The European Union gives 270 million Rupees to the Republic of Mauritius to improve the business and investment climate

The objective of the project, which will be implemented by the Board of Investment (BOI) over a period of four years, is to enhance Mauritius’ business and investment climate in line with Government priority

PORT LOUIS, Mauritius, January 17, 2017

The Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Mauritius, Marjaana Sall and the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, the Honourable Pravind Jugnauth signed a new financing agreement of 270 million rupees to facilitate trade and investment.

The Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Mauritius, H.E. Marjaana Sall said: “Today’s event bears testimony to the solid and broad partnership between the European Union and The Republic of Mauritius. Improving the investment and business climate is essential to build competitiveness and is key to economic growth. The EU is keen to support Mauritius in its endeavours to unlock the full potential of the Economic Partnership Agreement.”

The funds will support Mauritius in the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement signed between the European Union and 4 ESA countries Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles and Zimbabwe.

The objective of the project, which will be implemented by the Board of Investment (BOI) over a period of four years, is to enhance Mauritius’ business and investment climate in line with Government priority.

The EU is keen to support Mauritius in its endeavours to unlock the full potential of the Economic Partnership Agreement

Under this programme, Mauritius will be able to process permit applications through an electronic platform which will be a single point of entry for business permits and licences. The project will facilitate the business and investment environment by reducing the number of business permit applications and the time taken to obtain business licences and permits. This will considerably reduce administrative burdens for businesses and will offer the opportunity for reduced business transaction costs and more efficient allocation of resources.

It will also improve regulatory compliance by businesses through better understanding of the investment requirements and improved accountability.

This modern and efficient practice will not only reduce the time and cost to the private sector, but will improve transparency and decrease possibilities for red-tape and corruption. The project targets all businesses including Small and Medium Enterprises, women and young entrepreneurs. The European Union and the Republic of Mauritius have a longstanding partnership. This partnership covers a wide range of policy areas, including maritime security, environmental protection, climate change mitigation, migration, culture, trade and investment opportunities.

EU support to Mauritius in the area of trade

Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles Zimbabwe and the European Union signed an Economic Partnership Agreement in 2009. The agreement has been applied since 2012. EPA is a generous agreement, it is reciprocal and goes beyond conventional free-trade deals. It opens EU markets fully and immediately, imposes no tariffs, no quotas, and allows for long transition periods for partner countries to open up partially to EU imports while providing protection for sensitive sectors. EPAs strive towards bigger regional integration and coherence, they are also ‘development instruments’, comprising the political, economic, social, cultural and environmental aspects of sustainable development. Under the 10th European Development Fund, Mauritius benefited from EU support to the amount of 950,000 euros to implement the agreement. The funds have been used to enhance the capacity at the Mauritius Standards Bureau (MSB) to remove technical barriers to trade and to the Mauritian Revenue Authority (MRA), with the aim to enhance its risk management framework.

The European Union

The European Union is a unique economic and political union between 28 European countries that together cover much of the continent. Today, the EU has a total population of more than 500 million. Within the EU market, people, goods, services and capital move without any barriers. Euro, which is the single currency adopted by 19 Member States, is used each day by over 300 million people. Main institutions include the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers, and the European Commission. Since the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, the EU has a High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security who heads the European External Action Service. With 139 delegations and offices, the European External Action Service is one of the world’s largest diplomatic services. Ms Federica Mogherini is the EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

16 Jan

Hong Kong bans import of poultry meat and products from Egypt and areas in Poland and Ukraine

The CFS has contacted the Polish, Ukrainian and Egyptian authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE on avian influenza outbreaks in the countries concerned

HONG KONG, The People’s Republic of China, January 16, 2017

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (January 16) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza in Egypt and Odessa and Chernovtsy Oblasts in Ukraine, and a notification from the Polish authorities about outbreaks of H5N8 avian influenza in Klodzki and Krakowski Districts in Poland, the CFS has banned the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above places with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.
A CFS spokesman said that in the first 11 months of last year, Hong Kong imported about 18 700 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and 4.8 million poultry eggs from Poland. Hong Kong at present has established a protocol with Ukraine for the import of poultry eggs but not for poultry meat. About 2.98 million poultry eggs were imported into Hong Kong from Ukraine in the same period. In addition, as Hong Kong has not established any protocol with Egypt for imports of poultry meat and eggs, there is no import of such commodities from Egypt.

“The CFS has contacted the Polish, Ukrainian and Egyptian authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE on avian influenza outbreaks in the countries concerned. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation,” the spokesman said.

16 Jan

Clarity on Growth Rates of South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa

Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to have slowed to 1.4 percent in 2016 from 3.4 per cent in 2015

PRETORIA, South Africa, January 16, 2017

The Presidency has received a number of inquiries about the reference to an economic growth rate of 2.9 percent in the January 8 anniversary statement of the governing party, the ANC.

The 2.9 percent mentioned in the statement is the growth rate for Sub-Saharan Africa.

For 2017 growth in the region is more optimistically projected to rise to 2.9 per cent

Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to have slowed to 1.4 percent in 2016 from 3.4 per cent in 2015. For 2017 growth in the region is more optimistically projected to rise to 2.9 per cent.

In the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, or mini-Budget issued in October last year, the South African government indicated that South Africa is expected to grow at 0.5 per cent in 2016, rising to 1.3 per cent in 2017.

This remains government’s official forecast.

Government will provide further updates on the growth estimates during the 2017 Budget presentation in February.

16 Jan

UKEF supports GE Oil & Gas contract with major energy project in Ghana

UK Export Finance (UKEF) has announced that it will provide $400 million in support for a GE Oil & Gas contract with Ghana’s Offshore Cape Three Points Project

LONDON, United Kingdom, January 16, 2017

GE Oil & Gas, which is headquartered in the UK, is providing subsea production systems to the project, which will develop oil and gas fields approximately 60km offshore from the western side of Ghana’s coast. Following first gas production in 2018, the new fields are expected to continuously feed Ghana’s thermal power plants for more than 20 years.

UKEF will provide US $400 million of support to the OCTP project, including a loan under its Direct Lending Facility

Rt Hon. Greg Hands MP, Minister for Trade and Investment, said: The Offshore Cape Three Points Project will greatly improve Ghana’s energy security. Thanks to the UK Government’s support, via UK Export Finance, and our global leadership in oil and gas, UK companies are ideally placed to support Ghana’s future development and seize the huge export potential that brings.

Lorenzo Simonelli, President and CEO of GE Oil & Gas, said: This contract represents GE’s ability to invest to build local partnership, resource and infrastructure capabilities, and will utilise engineering and manufacturing expertise from the UK, across the supply chain. Export credit agency financing is an important source of support for our customers, and the MoU signed with UKEF in 2015 has helped to support this success.

The Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) project will develop gas reserves expected to generate an additional 1,100MW of power for Ghana, which will alleviate the country’s reliance on energy imports, providing long-term energy security and supporting Ghanaian industrial development. This transformational natural gas project will help the country achieve its COP21 commitments for climate mitigation by displacing heavy fuel oil use with gas – equivalent to taking 1.2 million cars off Ghana’s roads each year or planting 152 million trees.

Support for the contract is a result of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between GE and UKEF in 2015, affirming UKEF’s support for GE and GE’s commitment to continued investment in its UK operations.

UKEF will provide US $400 million of support to the OCTP project, including a loan under its Direct Lending Facility. This will be UKEF’s first direct loan for a project in Africa. UKEF support will finance the specialised systems and equipment, a significant proportion of which has been sourced from the UK.

OCTP is understood to be the world’s first upstream oil and gas development transaction where a European export credit agency (ECA) has supported a major hybrid finance structure comprising both project finance and reserve-based lending. As the sole ECA, UKEF played a pioneering role in establishing this precedent, reinforcing its growing reputation as one of the world’s most innovative and flexible ECAs. The transaction has been named Project Finance International’s African Oil & Gas Deal of the Year for 2016.

Total investment in the development of the OCTP are estimated to be $7.9 billion over the life of the project, represents the largest foreign direct investment in Ghana’s history. UKEF’s support is provided as part of a larger USD$1.35 billion financing package alongside that of the International Finance Corporation and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank Group, as well as commercial banks HSBC Bank plc, Standard Chartered Bank, Société Générale (London Branch), ING Belgium SA/NV, Natixis, Bank of China, Singapore Branch, Mizuho Bank Ltd and MUFG (Europe) N.V.

12 Jan

Mauritania aims to boost food production through new UN agency agreement

The first phase will focus on horticulture, poultry farming, goat milk and non-timber forest products; the second phase could include fishing and new income generating crops or activities

NEW YORK, United States of America, January 12, 2017

A new partnership between the United Nations rural poverty agency and officials in Mauritania could boost finances and nutrition for nearly 300,000 farmers in the southern part of the country.

“It will reduce the country’s dependence on food imports, create jobs and increase the incomes of rural households, especially women and youth,” said Philippe Rémy, the Country Programme Manager for Mauritania at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in a news release announcing the initiative, for which the agency is providing $21 million.

The agreement for the Inclusive Value Chain Development Project (PRODEFI), which was signed in Rome by Michel Mordasini, Vice-President of IFAD and Mariem Aouffa, Ambassador of Mauritania to Italy and Permanent Representative to Rome-based United Nations agencies, will cost a total of $45.2 million.

It will reduce the country’s dependence on food imports, create jobs and increase the incomes of rural households, especially women and youth

The first phase will focus on horticulture, poultry farming, goat milk and non-timber forest products; the second phase could include fishing and new income generating crops or activities.

If successful, the agreement would assist 285,600 farmers in six regions of the country which currently imports 60 per cent of its staple foods.

The agreement will also address issues of climate change through solar energy, and promote sustainable management techniques for natural resources.

11 Jan

UK and Malawi renew their strong historic ties

New High Commissioner to Malawi, Holly Tett, presents her credentials while reaffirming UK’s commitment to Malawi

LILONGWE, Malawi, January 11, 2017

The new British High Commissioner to Malawi, Holly Tett, says the deep and strong bilateral relations between the UK and Malawi will be more important during this time that the countries are experiencing major changes like Brexit and the pushing of a reform agenda respectively.

The UK currently runs a £150 million (approximately K150 billion) development programme in Malawi to help progress and lift her people out of poverty

Ms Tett was speaking to local press at Kamuzu Palace in the capital Lilongwe shortly after presenting her letters of credence to President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika.

Accompanied by her partner Mark Kalch and the deputy High Commissioner Stephen Phillips, Ms Tett said that as a long-standing development partner of Malawi, the UK will continue supporting Malawi in a range of priorities.

“I talked to the President about a really true historic friendship that Malawi and UK have; we talked about deepening that friendship through what will be period of significant changes like Brexit in UK and as the President pushes through his reform agenda,” said Ms Tett.

Ms Tett said she will support Malawi to deal with the current humanitarian crisis (where the UK has already provided £43 million, approximately K43 billion), to continue with the momentum of the reform agenda and a broad range of priorities like education, health and issues that affect women, girls and children, and to further boost the sporting links between the two countries.

Holly Tett succeeds Michael Nevin whose tour of duty ended in September last year. Before her arrival into the country earlier this month, Simon Mustard served as the UK’s temporary High Commissioner. The UK currently runs a £150 million (approximately K150 billion) development programme in Malawi to help progress and lift her people out of poverty.