JediJedi by Olu Maintain featuring Konga

Lagos-

Ecobank is Best emerging market Bank in Cote d'Ivoire

Lagos-

Ecobank Group,is the parent company of the largest independent regional banking group in Africa . The ECOBANK Group currently operates in 22 African countries: Benin, Burkina-Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau , Malawi, Mali , Niger, Nigeria, Liberia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo . In addition, ETI is listed on the stock exchanges in Lagos[NSE:ETI ], Accra[GSE:ETI ] and Abidjan.
The Group has over 8,000 employees in over 450 branches.[ThisDayOnline]

Top 40 urban music blog

The index takes in consideration only the Hip-hop/Rap genre:



The Blog Performance Indicator" measures a percentage of Alexa traffic, Technorati score, Digg, del.icio.us, RSS feeds, social bookmarking reader usage and how much the site has grown in the past month and compares it vs. other "similar category" blogs."[Woohah]

Via the UrbanBlogger

Baby Sham- New Bounce

Kingston-

Dizee Rascal featuring Bun B

Houston-London


.

Sylvia Owori

Kampala-

Sylvia Owori provides a range of prêt-a-porter exclusively on sale in the flagship store in Kampala and in an outlet in Nairobi.

Mobile 2.0

| View | Upload your own

50 cents and the Unit to erform in South Africa

Durban-

Upcoming performances in Johannesburg and Durban of 50 cents' G-Unit[Euronext:VIV]. The concert series are scheduled to take place on May 1st in Jozi and May 3rd in Durban. [TheUrbanBlogger]

The roots jam session

New York-

Rosebud Ldt

Entebbe-

Rosebud Ldt, is the largest exporter of flowers in Uganda with around 35 % of of Uganda's rose exports. The greenhouses cover a total of 36 hectares producing and exporting over 9 million stems per month.
-Red Calypso
-Viva
-Valentino
-Chelsea
-Akito
-Marie Claire
-Blushing Akito
-Poeme
-Meera
-Lambada-
-Saoma

United Bank of Africa ( Ghana) to expand its network to 25

Accra-

UBA Ghana a subsidiary of the UBA group , plans to have a total of 25 branches by the end of the year, amid desire to increase convenience and acessibility to their customers.[ BusinessweekAfrica]

UPS presence in Africa

The African presence of the world's largest package delivery company(49 Billion USD in revenue in 2007,UPS[Nyse:UPS ]

Algeria Contacts Angola Contacts Benin Contacts Botswana Contacts Burkina Faso Contacts Burundi Contacts Cameroon Contacts Cape Verde Contacts Chad Contacts Congo Brazzaville Contacts Democratic Republic of Congo Contacts Djibouti Contacts Egypt Contacts Eritrea Contacts Ethiopia Contacts Gabon Contacts Gambia Contacts Ghana Contacts English Guinea Contacts Guinea Bissau Contacts Ivory Coast Contacts English Kenya Contacts English Lesotho Contacts Liberia Contacts Libya Contacts Madagascar Contacts Malawi Contacts Mali Contacts Mauritania Contacts Mauritius Contacts Morocco Contacts English Mozambique Contacts Namibia Contacts Niger Contacts Nigeria Contacts English Reunion Contacts English Rwanda Contacts Senegal Contacts Seychelles Contacts Sierra Leone Contacts South Africa Contacts English Swaziland Contacts Tanzania Contacts Togo Contacts Tunisia Contacts Uganda Contacts Zambia Contacts Zimbabwe Contacts English

UPS Pressroom Read press releases, announcements, and other media-related information about UPS. Go to the UPS Pressroom

Eshekels

Abuja-

A technology research firm and Nigeria's leading market research house serving the information and communications technology (ICT) industry.

Services include:

• Market Research (ICT) including primary and secondary research, field surveys, market assessments e.t.c.
• Industry Analysis including vertical and horizontal market analysis and investment advisory.
• Data Gathering, Mining and Business Intelligence.
• Content Provisioning (electronic delivery channels), including website content management.

Contact them:
Tel: +234-1-8116899
Fax:+234-1-2642852
Email: info@eshekels.com.

E-tranzact

Lagos-

The initial targets for this electronic payment solution will be payment of telephone bills. However, this payment solution has the potential to handle all payments for utilities, money transfers, and all other transactions, which are currently cash based.

Partner banks to this project are:
-Access Bank
-First City Monument Bank
-Oceonic Bank International
-Platinum Bank
-Standard Trust Bank
-Zenith Bank
-Intercontinental Bank
-Ecobank

Scrap Metal art

Via VideoJournalistAfrica
Click here to see video.

Rising demand for goods and services

Via AfricaUnchained

100,000 new investors in 2 weeks for Nairobi Stock Exchange

Nairobi-

100,000 new investors have been attracted to the capital markets in the two weeks since the offer timetable[ of Safaricom] was unveiled on March 14 2008. The largest IPO in the history of the kenyan Economy is expected to attract more than one million applicants and increase the number of investment account (CDS) holders[ @ the NSE] from the current 900,000 to approximately two million.

Morgan and Stanley[Nyse:MS] evaluated Safaricom at 3 billion USD. [ BDAfrica]

Interested in Safaricom's Initial Public Offering ?


Update: It is 100,000 not 10,000 new investors

Ida Ljungqvist

The Tanzanian playmate has a degree in fashion design and marketing[and plans to study economics].

She is the first known African woman to be hired by Playboy Entreprises[Nyse:PLA].

Via AfricanGirlAmericanWorld


Go here for more pictures and video.

Nas@ Hammerstein ballroom

New York-
Live performance by Nas[ ] @ the Hammerstein Ballroom. The concert is part of a series of Hip Hop related concerts by live events company, Livenation[Nyse:LYV]

MBOASU

Mboasu is a Web 2.0 service that gives the user the ability to send airtime credit to a phone anywhere in the world.

How does it work:
1.Choose the amount and the airtime which corresponds to the network of the end-user
2.Buy the phone airtime credits by using your credit card. Transactions are protected by Paypal.
3. In his/her country, the end-user uses the airtime code he/she received by SMS and reload his/her credit.

Ericson is hiring

Yaounde-



The sweedish company,Ericson[Nasdaq:ERIC;OMX:ERIC B ], is hiring for their African operations:

Senior Telecommunication Engineer

Junior Telecommunication Engineer

Accountant




Visit Kerawa for more details

Botswana's blueprint

Gaborone-

The diamond wealth has been spent on roads, sanitation, schools and clinics, not on palaces or Swiss bank accounts. AIDS has hit the country hard, but almost 95,000 patients—86% of those who need it—get anti-retroviral treatment.

Economic growth has been steady, inflation moderate. There are no exchange controls. Taxes are among the region's lowest. The government has recently made it easier for skilled foreigners to come to Botswana for work.

The country also wants to be a regional financial hub, with its low taxes and liberal foreign-exchange regime.....With lower labour costs and taxes than in neighbouring South Africa,...is a good base from which to export to..., South Africa,Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland.

Botswana's democracy is steeped in tradition... Most villages and towns are still ruled by chiefs, incorporated into the country's administration. Though unelected, they can lose their position if their subjects are unhappy with them and their decisions can be appealed in court.[Economist Africa]

On the shelves

4.5 billion foreign direct investment for Morocco in 2007

Casablanca-

The Moroccan economy attracted roughly over 4.5 billion USD in the 2006-2007 fiscal year.[ JeuneAfrique]

45million USD to be invested in Angola by Export-import bank of India

Luanda-

Eximbank of India is to inject $45-million into Africa Textil factory located in Angola. [ CNBCAfrica]

Investors look at African assets as a serious bet

"Investors are continuing to look at sub-Saharan African assets despite the global sub-prime crisis, attracted by expectations of strong economic growth and by the region's relatively low correlation to developed markets."[ Reuters Africa]

Art gallery + Fashion+Models in Jozi

Johannesburg-



Brought to you by: The Times Multimedia

Kenya favorite Websites

Nairobi-


Kenya’s top 20 sites are mainly social networking and blogging sites: Facebook, Hi5, YouTube, Blogger, Myspace, Fanbox, Tagged and PerfSpot.

Top 100 include the likes of Adultfriendfinder, Megaflirt and Afrointroductions.

The next top use of the Internet by Kenyans is for downloading software, mostly shareware and openware, and for technical support such as accounting.

Top 8 East African or Kenyan websites are Nation,BusinessDaily Africa,StocksKenya,Kenya Airways,BrighterMonday(Job search site),Safaricom,Examscouncil and EAStandard."[BDAfrica]
 

The Postal Corporation of Kenya to receive subscription payments of GTV's subscribers

Nairobi-

"The Postal Corporation of Kenya formalised a business partnership with GTV that will enable subscribers for the pay- TV service to settle their monthly bill through the corporation’s 300 outlets.

Over the past 10 years, technological advancements have seen Kenyans adopt new channels of communication eating into the snail mail market." [ BDAfrica]

Mobiguide

Johannesburg-


The company produces audio/visual multilingual[ English, German, French and Mandarin] content which is focused on certain sites of interest in South Africa. As well as enhancing the actual destinations, mobiguide gives tourists a brief snapshot experience of the destination, helping you plan your South African travel itinerary.


The company is based in Johannesburg and plan to expand outside South Africa's borders in the 3rd and 4Th quarter of 2008.


Mobiguides are priced at roughly 4 USD( 31 rands).




Courtesy of: The Times Multimedia

African Broadcast Market report

General content of the report:

Industry Trends

African industry overview – Slow but steady liberalisation

1) Battle for Pay-TV subscribers in newly competitive market
2) Ready for a brand new beat – MTV Base reaches 50 million viewers

Digitilisation and High Definition– Slow progress but it is on its way
Africa’s film industry – Low output but big changes afoot

The potential market size for Pay Television

Reaching African diaspora audiences – competing for eyeballs away from home

Mobile TV – a technology for Africa?

to find out more, order the African Broadcast and Film markets report here

Change is possible: Perfect example Dubaii

Before


After


All of this in less than 18 years amid oil revenue,foreign direct investment,good management,vision,actual work and no democracy western style.

N.B: pictures from writer's block media

7.8 % economic growth for Tanzania

Dar es saleem-

The governement forecasts an 7.8 % economic growth for this current fiscal year and that is a bit better than the 7.3 % and 6.2 % of  the past two years.

24 % GDP growth for Angola

Luanda-

Angola is going to experience another strong growth of its economy for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.

Do you wonder ?

GRADUATION ALBUM LISTENING EXPERIENCE PT. 3 - I WONDER from kwest on Vimeo.

The philosophy of [ Myspace] a web 2.0 company

Steve Pearman, Vice President of Product Management at MySpace[Nyse:NWS] explains the philosophy guiding the company.

Africa Entreprise Fund is hiring

Marketing Department
AEFL now requires marketing managers to market the company to private customers,institutions,pension funds and other high net worth individuals and companies. The candidate will have working bank and finance experience for a minimum of 5-7 years, he will have the relevant banking qualifications and will be assertive, dynamic and result-oriented.


Country Managers
AEFL now requires Country Fund Managers to be kept initially on a consulting basis .The candidate will have worked in bank and corporate finance not less than 10 years and has all the relevant banking qualifications.
We need country managers for almost all countries in Africa.

INVESTMENT AND PROJECT SUPPORT ANALYSTS
Background: The African Enterprise Fund Limited (www.africafundltd.com) is recruiting individuals on a contract basis to serve as resident advisors in Africa. Various individuals will be contracted on a personal service basis to be based in various countries in Africa. The contractors' primary responsibility will be to provide marketing and project assistance to AEFL partner organizations in Africa in marketing and techniques of business analysis, market and financial analysis and proposal development for development for projects to be proposed for funding by the company. The partner organizations are local investors, strategic partner organizations (NGOs) which provide support to AEFL applicants and grantees in each country in which AEFL operates. The contractor will be based in one of the countries in which AEFL is actively funding various business projects; Benin, Botswana, Ghana, guinea, Mali, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda or Zambia, and after an initial orientation should be capable of handling assignments on his/her own.


Apply to: info@africafundltd.com

Africa Fund Debit Card

This multi-use debit card gives you the power to:
-purchase at retail,
-transfer money to loved ones without the high cost of wire transfers,
-give cards to children and monitor spending, or
-give gifts without having to deliver unsecured cash.


Card holders enjoy multi-currency capability and extreme functionality globally. Users enter a PIN (personal identification number) just like all other debit cards, at point of sale, an ATM, or on the internet. Card holders can track and monitor all activity day to day with a ,secure cardholder login at the Africa Fund Debit Card website.


.Secure PIN protection
Access to local currencies 24 hours a day 7 days a week .Competitive conversion rates
The power to top up your card on the Internet
2 extra cards connected to the accountfor extra security .24 hour assistance
24 hour assistance

Sharing knowledge and best practise in Banking accross Africa

Nairobi-




See program here.




Register here.

Africa-investor interviews funder of Blue

Q. Why does your company Blue focus on microfinance for the bottom of the pyramid?


The opportunities in the microfinance area across the continent are just enormous - banks are simply not servicing this market....for instance, you can’t get a home improvement loan or even a loan to buy a vehicle from a commercial bank - the restrictions and costs are too high.


Q. How successful has the venture been so far?

We’re currently the top-listed company on the ALTX, with a market capitalisation of about two billion rand (U S$281m). We have strong international shareholders like IFC, part of the World Bank; AIG, one of the largest insurers in the world; Stanlib from South Africa, and the Dutch Development Bank recently also placed funding with us.
We want to become Africa’s biggest credit provider, and our intention is to be in the majority of African countries in the next five years. We’ll go where others fear to...


Q. What financial services do people in this market need?

People primarily need day-to-day finance - they need salary advances, which is instant finance. Second, they need term loans, which are essentially personal loans that can be used for a variety of purposes from home improvement to an emergency. Our third most popular product is the home improvement loan.

Q. Why don’t the banks serve these customers?

The banks are not geared for this market..., if you’re a bank, you’re looking at banking that person first, to get them a track record, and a history to be able to grant the credit on.... - we don’t measure our customers’ credit ability or credit worthiness from his bank account, we look at a number of[other] factors...In Tanzania, 35% of civil servants don’t have bank accounts. They get paid by collecting cheques from banks assigned by the government, but they don’t have an account there. These are civil servants, your more educated, higher level employees - it just illustrates the limited nature of banking in Africa.

Q. Africa’s low-income market is perceived to be credit-risky - would you agree?




In our experience, people who have new access to credit don’t want to disappoint the lender because they’ll never be able to borrow from you again...we have a much better payment history...the more informal or rural the country, the better the payment culture. [Africa-Investor]

Ethiopia's bubbling present and promising future

Addis-Abeba-

Below is an excerpt of the interview of a private equity investment manager with [journal] Ethiopianreporter.
Does Ethiopia’s market look promising for private equity investments?

Kavuma: Ethiopia is the second largest populous country in Africa. In the last couple of years, the economy has been demonstrating all the strongest indicators we have seen in few African nations. With a ten percent of consistent economic growth over the last few years and a proactive government investment in infrastructure, including telecom, road and other sectors, we are seeing the emergence of a growing private sector which looks promising for private equity investments. And we are basically investing in emerging markets. For all the accounts I described, we consider Ethiopia to be an emerging market.

Don’t you have specific areas of interest you will immediately invest in?


Kavuma:With an 80 million people and rising income, consumer goods, be it food or beverage or the like Ethiopia, is going to be the most attracting. It is an area which will be very interesting for us to look at. Agribusiness is another area of interest. The government is providing sound incentives for those who are investing in agribusiness and we have successful experience in the floriculture sector in other African countries which we like to invest in here as well. As for now, we are engaged in an analysis. We are exploring various sectors and can not be definitive about the investment(s) we will be engaged in by now.


More

Malawi's GDP growth to be above 7 % in 2008

Lilongwe-
"Helped by sound policies, including better management of public spending, another good harvest, high aid inflows and high tobacco prices,  Malawi's real GDP growth is estimated to have been almost eight percent in 2007,and it is estimated to stay above seven percent in 2008." [Reuters Africa]

Djibouti believes in its future

Djibouti city-

Djibouti is to follow the example of the booming gulf emirate or perhaps even of Malaysia, a Muslim model where many children of Djibouti's elite head for university. Dubai Ports now runs Djibouti's upgraded port.
There is also a spectacular plan said to have the backing of Tarek bin Laden, a half-brother of Osama bin Laden, to build the world's longest bridge, across the Bab al-Mandib (Gate of Sorrows), the strait between Djibouti and Yemen.Expected GDP growth for the year 2008 is 6%.[Economist]

The Problem in Africa has never been lack of money, but rather the inability to exploit the African mind,

Click here to download individual essays by the panelists that included:

Donald Kaberuka

An African Einstein

Visit TED Africa.

e-math for Africa
e-physics for Africa
e-chemistry for Africa

Memento Mori by Ol'Kainry

Paris-

J'etais comme eux by Soprano featuring Demon one

Paris-

Mali Forever by Mokobe featuring Salif Keita

Bamako-

Egotripping by Kery James

Paris-

Soul amazing by Blu

Los Angeles-

Good Morning from Kanye West

Chicago-


GOOD MORNING 2001 from kwest on Vimeo.

Small to Medium Business road show 2008 ( March 25th)

Casablanca-

Partners include Dell [Nasdaq:DELL] Wana.


Themes and issues:
Scalable Infrastructure – Optimizing investment flexibility for SMBs
Securing Business – Managing the transition from controlling manual systems to exposure online
Mobility for Middle East SMBs – Creating worker flexibility with flexible worker solutions
Data Management – Storage, archiving, recovery (storage made simple for SMBs)
CRM – Using technology to save time and improve customer relations
Technology and SMBs – Best practices for using IT in an SMB
Outsourcing for SMBs – One size does not fit all

Register here.

Live performance by Lupe Fiasco

New York-

Top Notch by Lazee

Stockholm-

Million Dollar Baby by Henok

Stockholm-

Pipeline to link Uganda and Rwanda

Kigali-

Rwanda and Uganda signed an historic deal for the laying of a pipeline for the transportation of petroleum products from Kampala to Kigali.


Tamoil Africa Holdings which was purchased by Private investment firm Colony Capital  for an estimated  5.4 Billion US Dollars is to lead the development of the project.[ NewTimes]

Paying taxes 2008

"Paying Taxes 2008" offers data on total tax rates, payment frequency, and the time needed to comply with tax regulations in 178 economies.

It identifies five types of taxes that firms pay: profit, social, property, turnover, and other taxes, such as municipal fees and fuel taxes. The number of steps, time requirements, and various cost indicators are used to determine the overall burden of paying taxes.

Remarks:

-Burundi and Burkina Faso have the fewest number of payments for the Corporate income tax.

-Mauritius(13 hrs),Ethiopia(24hrs) and Swaziland (8 Hrs)are the economies where you spend the least amount of time doing your taxes

-Countries that reduced their profit taxes in 2007: Cote d'Ivoire,Lesotho,Mauritius,South Africa,Tunisia

-Countries that reduced their labour taxes and/or contributions: South Africa and Seychelles.
-Country that revised their tax code: Sierra Leone

-Countries that made a significant cut to their corporate income taxes: Cote d'Ivoire(35 to 27),Lesotho(35 to 25) Mauritius(25 to 22.5),South Africa(12.5 to 10),Tunisia ( 35 to 30)

-Countries with the lowest total tax rate:Zambia(16.1%),Lesotho(20.8%)


Download report

Paper by Pacific division

Los Angeles-

A day in offices of Jamhuriwear

New York



Visit and purchase at
www.Jamhuriwear.com

Sex to survive

Nairobi-

Chronic (a drug) in Kibera

Kibera-Nairobi

Ethiopia's 10% GDP Growth

Addis Abeba

The Ethiopian government forecasts a 10 % economic growth for their economy in 2008.
[JeuneAfrique]




Ethiopian Chamber of commerce

Conversation with Bill Gates

Seattle-

Toronto_Addis Abeba

Orange Money

Abidjan-



Cellphone carrier Orange Cote d'Ivoire(Parent comapny is orange[Euronext:FTE;Nyse:FTE] introduces a new service and enters digital money and mobile finance territory.

Erup-Gal nuh run me head

Kingston-

Head magazine

Head Magazine

Jamaican girl

via AfflictedYard

BLK JKS- Lakeside Music

Johannesburg-


Afro-jazz riffs segue into tribal rhythms, which swagger through street-level sociology before exploding into hardcore bursts of noise, kwaai kwaito beats and addictive rock hooks.

Banner

Nodd" by Knucklez

London-

Latest Lupe Fiasco-Hip Hop saved my life

Chicago-

Lupe Fiasco - Hip Hop Saved My Life (Ft. Nikki Jean)
by illRoots

Alternate energy source in Uganda

Kampala-



via TimbuktuChronicles

East African Business week interview of Executive Director of Rwanda Capital Market Advisory

Kigali-

How does an OTC market work?

The concept of the OTC market in Rwanda is unique in this region in the sense that the other markets started with fully-fledged stock exchanges. An OTC market is a negotiated market where by transactions can take place either on the open central live trading facility or outside the market unlike fully fledged stock exchanges where all transactions are carried out in a central live place.

You are now operating a debt market. When are you planning to put in place the equities market?

It depends on when we get the first company listed from privatisation. The government of Rwanda seeks to float its minority shares in private companies on the market and this will mark the beginning of the equities market.


Do you believe that establishment of capital market in Rwanda adding to other capital markets within the region will boost regional economy?

Yes it is. Given the growth rate of the Rwandan economy, which has been impressive, investors in the region will have an opportunity to divert their investments here. Equally, Rwandese investors will have an opportunity because of availability of that infrastructure to access higher investments in the region.

What are possible incentives on listed companies on Rwanda OTC market?

Obviously, there are certain incentives on listed companies, which include fiscal incentives about the level of tax between listed companies and levels of tax and income earned within the capital market.

[East African Business Week]

Credit Reference Bureau

Kigali-
 A credit Reference Bureau responsible for providing accurate information on borrowers’ debt profiles and repayment history, which has been a duty for banks; will soon be effective in Rwanda.

The total balance sheet for commercial banks in this country of 9 million  is 724,637,681.159 USD (Frw393.7 billion) in 2007. The company providing the technological logistic and know how is South African Compuscan. [Newtimes]

500 Million Euros real estate project in Central Africa

Bangui-

The project led by a consortium of investors from the Middle East,China,India and Europe will cost 500 million Euros and be [Cite Lumiere], the Central African region’s first special economic zone.
Cite Lumiere is:
-A central commercial district
-Two residential communities.
- An office park
-Civic zone
-Five and four-star hotels
-Apartments
-A shopping centre.

[EmiratesBusiness]

Google is hiring for its African operations

South Africa
• Account Manager -
• Account Strategist -
• Industry Leader -
• Strategic Partner Business Development Manager, Media and Publishing -

Kenya
• Associate Product Marketing -
• Geographic Consultant -
• Office Associate -
• Strategic Partner Development (SPD), Local Markets -
• Technical Support Associate, Google Applications -

Senegal
• Office Lead, Francophone West Africa -

Nigeria
• Office Lead, English Speaking West Africa -

Rwanda
• Office Lead -

Republic of Uganda
• Office Lead -

United Republic of Tanzania
• Office Lead -

Ghana
• Office Lead -

Find out more

Safaricom is hiring

Nairobi-

M-PESA Marketing Manager
Date advertised:Tuesday, March 18, 2008
expires on Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Radio Planning Optimization Engineer
Date advertised:Monday, March 17, 2008
expires on Monday, March 24, 2008

RAN SENIOR DATABASE ENGINEER
Date advertised:Monday, March 17, 2008
expires on Monday, March 24, 2008

RAN SENIOR FREQUENCY PLANNING ENGINEER

Date advertised:Monday, March 17, 2008
expires on Monday, March 24, 2008

RAN SENIOR DESIGN ENGINEER
Date advertised:Monday, March 17, 2008
expires on Monday, March 24, 2008

M-PESA Operations Officer
Date advertised:Friday, March 14, 2008
expires on Friday, March 21, 2008

Enterprise Pre-Sales Engineer
Date advertised:Thursday, March 13, 2008
expires on Thursday, March 20, 2008

M-pesa proves Mobile money here to stay

The service,  launched in March 2007,has handled $145 million, thanks to  the growing user base of Safaricom numbered at nearly 10 million ( to date) of which 1.6 million subscribers have M-Pesa accounts .[ Nationmedia]

Nation media Group to enter West African Newspaper market

Nairobi-

 The Nation Media Group[NSE:Nation Media] recently outlined plans to venture into the West African market, as the company powers on with its Pan-African growth strategy. The idea is to become the dominant media house in Africa, in line with its mission to be the “media of Africa for Africa.”
The company recorded market share gains that boosted its newspaper and television advertising revenues, increasing its Group turnover by 21%.[ BDAfrica]

Health sector is promising

Nairobi-
According to McKinsey, sub-Sahara Africa’s health care expenditures will more than double by 2016 to $35 billion.McKinsey forecasts that investments in the sector in Sub-Saharan Africa alone will reach at least 10,928,961,748.63 USD over the next decade.[BDAfrica]

Health care companies to lead the investment in Eastern Africa include:

AAR Health



Resolution Health

Africa Rail 2008

Some of the themes and issues that would be discussed @ the 2008 Africa Rail in June[2-6] in Johannesburg:
-The role of rail as the backbone of the transport system
-Railway interconnection on a continental scale
-Maximising the integration of railway systems in Africa
-Firmly identifying and laying the groundwork for the ‘Pan-
African Railway Network

-Building Africa’s rail transport capacity
-Resolving capacity problems for continent-wide effectiveness
-Planning and implementing rail policies of the future
-The African debate: Privatisation vs. Concessioning
-Creating partnerships to improve cross-border transportation


-Investing in refurbishments to maximise return on asset
investment
-Sustainability of tracks and services – who should pay for the
rehabilitation?
-Maintenance and refurbishment strategies to improve rails
traditional low returns



-Sustainability of tracks and services – who should pay for the
rehabilitation?
-Maintenance and refurbishment strategies to improve rails
traditional low returns


-A fresh look at the rail-ports relationship: top port operators
tell rail operators what needs to be done
-Improving infrastructure efficiency – optimising the transition
of goods from ports to rail

-How many freight corridors are needed to improve the flow
of goods


-Improving infrastructure efficiency – optimising the transition
of goods from ports to rail


Register here

Hostile Gospel ( Behind the scenes)

Lagos-



American performer Talib Kweli shot his latest video in Lagos, check out the behind the scenes footage to know how everything went down. The video is visual rendering for the single of his latest production,Eardrum[ Nyse:WMG ].

The video was directed by Nigerian native Andrew Dosunmu, the video features the BKMC traveling through the lively streets of the most populous city in Africa.

See more of Talib Kweli here

Ethiopian Railway corporation to raise 78.000.000 US Dollars

Addis-Abeba

“As the country develops its natural resources in the field of mining - exploiting its vast deposits of iron ore in the west, gas and oil fields in the east and commercial agriculture - it requires an effective transportation system,argues a country official.The Ethiopian railway Corporation will play this role after completion of the 5000 km network.

To achieve this goal  78.000.000 US Dollars ( 750.000.000 Birr) will be raised in the near future.

Manufacturer of cement to invest 168 millions in their Mozambique operations

Maputo-

Portuguese Cimpor[Euronext:Cimpor ] which is present in 5 other African markets in addition to Mozambique is planning a 168 million US dollars( 4,060,560,000.00 MZN) investment to meet increasing demand for building material cement.

Other markets in Africa are in:
Morocco

South Africa

Tunisia

Cape Verde

Egypt

HSBC targets African banking sector

HSBC [Lse:HSBA;Nyse:HBC;Euronext:HSBC;BSX:1077223879 ] the world's largest financial group in terms of market capitalization. The bank is already present and operating in the following African markets:
-( HSBC)Egypt
-(HSBC) Mauritius
-(HSBC) South Africa





The bank now wants to expand its African operations, probably realizing the earning potential of the region amid dynamic economies,increasing trade volume between Asia and Africa and the moving in of Asian corporations(with their goods and services).[FT]

Our best bet would be,Angola,Senegal,Rwanda,Mozambique,Ethiopia,Nigeria,RDC,Cameroon and Sudan.

Youssoupha-Eternel recommencement

Youssoupha
by afriktv

Aime M-Chances to live

Bujumbura-

She moves her body like snake

Durban-

Banky W. - Ebute Metta

Lagos-

Hefty prize for Kora Awards Winner

“One Billion Viewers…..One Hundred countries….One Hundred Artistes…….One Amazing Prize………….One Million US Dollars."As the slogan for the upcoming Kora Awards 2008 reads, the winner of the grand prize of best group/artist of the year will walk away with 1 million US dollars,courtesy of [ NSE:FirstBank  ] First Bank PLC.

one million US Dollars=421,216,227.98 CFA


one million US Dollars=7,931,800.00 Rand


one million US Dollars= 968,786.81 Cedi


one million US Dollars= 65,286,000.00  Kenyan Shillings

Institutional Investor Credit Rating

1 South Africa 66.7
2 Botswana 66.4
3 Mauritius 56.2
4 Namibia 50.2
5 Nigeria 40
6 Ghana 37.6
7 Lesotho 37
8 Senegal 35.5
9 Gabon 32.9
10 Swaziland 32.6
11 Angola 31


More

N.E.R.D

N.E.R.D. at the Levi's®/FADER Fort from The FADER on Vimeo.

Dicaprio la Merveille

oddly enough

Africa is the future for Chinese goods and services

As Beijing consolidates its burgeoning ties with Africa, there will be five special Chinese economic zones for Africa. They are to be strategically dotted around Africa, in Zambia in the south, in Tanzania in the east, in Egypt in the north, and in Nigeria in the west.

The Shanxi Tianli Enterprise Zone(in Mauritius) is arguably the most revolutionary of the five,two hours(away) by plane from the mainland it will also provide a hub for African business people seeking Chinese goods, sparing them the journey to Beijing.

Chinese companies understand that Africa is a big market in the future.  They want to get there as early as possible for [best] advantage.

China Development Bank is one of the main financier of the project. [FT]

Magazines on the shelves

shelves

Mapping the business environment

Take a trip around the world to discover how easy (or difficult) it is to do business in 178 economies.

Click here.

Nayo-African girl

Lagos-

Mavado-Last night

Kingston-



You probably heard from this artist through this song

Nigerian Gangster

Lagos-

Download Mixtape

El Prez- U are not upon this

Inglewood-

El Prez Uaintuponthis! ft U-N-I and Danja
by elprezzo

G-Unit XXl Magazine's cover

Snoop is the life of the party

Los Angeles-

LS- Mon rayon de soleil

Libreville-

Habib Kane- Les gens biens

Paris-

Kriss Brown feat T-Pain- Kiss Kiss ( Remix)

Oluchi in Jozi

Johannesburg-



Brought to you by: The Times Multimedia

Actis the positive power of capital

Actis, who can rely on US$3.5 billion of funds under management and over 100 investment professionals located in 14 offices working together to deliver what they call the positive power of capital, is behind (among others) the following companies in Africa:

Accra Mall
Accra Mall is the first shopping mall in Ghana that has 19,000m2 of lettable space and 800 car parking spaces on an 11 acre site and provides a one-stop shopping complex comparable in standards to sites in United States, Europe and South Africa.

BCR
In December 2004, Actis saw a significant opportunity to buy the bank and use it as a platform to leverage the growth and development of the Rwandan financial sector, taking an 80% stake in the business and making this Rwanda's first financial institution privatisation, Actis is now working to position BCR as the leading commercial bank in the country.. The Government of Rwanda retained a 20% shareholding in the bank.

UAC
">UAC of Nigeria Plc is a publicly quoted conglomerate with a major focus on food and quick service restaurants. It operates a chain of 180 fast-food restaurants located mainly in Nigeria and Ghana. UAC also produces snacks, cereals and vegetable oils.

SAVCIO
Savcio is the largest provider of maintenance and repair services for rotating electrical equipment and transformers in Africa and has been in operation for more than 90 years. It currently operates two manufacturing facilities, nine workshops and 16 distribution centres throughout South Africa.


FLAMINGO
Flamingo is an integrated horticultural business involved in the growing, processing, packaging, marketing and distribution of cut flowers and fresh vegetables, whose operations are split predominantly between Kenya and the UK

Return to Goree Island

Official site

Getting Bootylicious in Abidjan

Abidjan-

Comment les ivoiriennes font grossir leur fesses
Uploaded by djosondjo

Newscast from Ivory Coast

http://tv.wafbu.com/page_video_bis.php?code=283

New York-

Nigerian Show host interviw Madeleine Albright

Lagos-

East Africa Google Gadget Competition

If you have some technical skills, and are enrolled in a Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD course in 2008 in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, or Burundi, Google[Nasdaq:GOOG] would love to hear your gadget ideas. Find more information about the competition as well as the submission form on the competition page.

February 25, 2008 Registration Open
March 17, 2008 Registration Close
February - July, 2008 Students Build Gadgets
July 14, 2008 Gadget Submissions Due
Mid-August 2008 Winners Announced

Old but still new: Busta rhyme-Give me some more

New York-

Nigeria has most internet user in Africa

Lagos-
Nigeria has scaled up from five million to eight million Internet users between December 2006 and December 2007 and currently has the highest number of Internet users on the African continent.[Businessday]

Morocco,6.1 million users.
Egypt, six million users.
South Africa 5.1 million users.
Sudan, 3.5 million users.
Algeria, 2.5 million users.
Tunisia ,1.6 million users.
Zimbabwe , 1.2 million Internet users.
Uganda,800,000 users.

Birima.org

The great King Birima spoke little but always honored his word, and his people greatly respected him. His code of honor inspired the idea of Birima, a new microcredit scheme supported by Youssou N'Dour. In Birima, the bond between lender and borrower is the bond of trust.Birima helps the people of Senegal start their own businesses and develop small enterprises. It supports emerging artists and musicians, too. It is open to all, particularly women and young people, and it lends both to individuals and groups. Birima works with its clients, giving them the support they need to achieve business success.

How does it work ? See here

Aura- Poto Poto

Dakar-

300.000 customers in one day for Warid in Uganda

Kampala-

WARID Telecom officially launched(in Uganda) its commercial services yesterday switching on their network countrywide to be accessed by  over 300,000 and expected to have over 1.3 million customers in a short while because of the attractive tariffs on offer. In Pakistan, the firm had subscribed over one million people within four months.[Red pepper]

Rwandese government shares in private companies to be listed on the Rwanda bourse,

Kigali-

The government of Rwanda minority shares, in Rwanda's only brewery, BRALIRWA, Cement Company -Cimerwa, local insurance company-SONARWA, MTN Rwandacell, Rwandatel, Banque Commerciale du Rwanda(BCR), FINA bank and many others, will be put to sale on the Rwanda Stock Exchange.[Busiweek]

Related news:
Rwandatel[ Landline telephony and internet provider] signs $35 million deal with Huawei Technologies

Abidjan-

Justice-DVNO

Paris-

Fez city clan

Fez-



Best hip hop group in Morocco.

780.000 and counting

Nairobi-

Stock owners in Kenya are estimated to be 780.000 as of 2007.

Teradata and Omnidata to improve Morocco data management

Casablanca-

Teradata Corporation [Nyse: TDC] a world leader hardware and software vendor specializing in data warehousing and analytic applications, is entering the Moroccan market.[Bladi]

Senegalaise de l'immobilier

Dakar-

Buy,sell,rent,or have your property managed by Senegalaise de l'immobilier.

Senegalaise De l'Immobilier S.A.R.L au capital de 10 000 000 FCFA

- Tel: +221 864.06.67 +221 864.06.68
Fax: +221 864.06.61
E-mail : contact@senegalaisedelimmobilier.com

The Bottom Billion,customers of the future

Global poverty....is actually falling quite rapidly for about eighty percent of the world. The real crisis lies in a group of about 50 failing states, the bottom billion... A struggle rages within each of these nation between reformers and corrupt leaders--and the corrupt are winning...a set of traps snare these countries, including civil war, a dependence on the extraction and export of natural resources, and bad governance.

Purchase here@ Oxford library


or @Amazon[Nasdaq:AMZN ]

Kigali-

The small central African country has said its economy will grow by 7.1 percent in 2008, driven by growth in its service and industrial sectors.

"This will require custaining reform momentum in the social sectors, modernizing agriculture to improve food security, and increasing investment in infrastructure". [Reuter Africa]

The World according to Dubai

"Many of these African countries believe the only way to develop their economy is if the World Bank helps them," he says. "That's wrong. If you open your market and you encourage foreign capital, you'll give confidence to many of your people to invest back in the economy." says a Dubai World executive.... more.

Rwanda
$230 million projects,Two national parks, a golf course, and a tea factory

South Africa
A Capetown mall, three wildlife reserves, and a golf estate

Djibouti
Some $800 million worth of ports, free-trade zones, and luxury hotels

Algeria
20 billion worth of luxury projects

Senegal
free-trade zones