I’ve been listening to some of this chatter about the new government Food Control Agency and one question keeps bugging me - why do we want to ‘control’ something when first prize is making more of it?!
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Filed under: Uncategorized tagged agriculture, Food production, South Africa
Africa’s biggest bank by assets, Standard Bank, has not decided yet whether to list its Zambian unit on the Lusaka Stock Exchange, although it is an option under consideration, the group said last Wednesday.
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Filed under: Uncategorized tagged Johannesburg, Lusaka, Lusaka Stock Exchange, Standard Bank, Zambia
Date: 27 October 2008 - 30 October 2008 (92 days to go!) Venue: Garden Court, Isando, OR Tambo International, Maximise your manufacturing processes with enhanced labour control and management through effective communication, industrial relations, motivation and responsibility definition to ensure an effective workforce. Did you know that production waste is one of the biggest causes of production loss and can be eradicated through the use of an effective waste management approach for your industry? More details here.
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Tiger Brands, South Africa`s leading branded food and healthcare company, announced yesterday its intention to acquire 74.7% of the shares of consumer chocolate manufacturer Chococam in Cameroon from Barry Callebaut, the world`s leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products. The remaining 25.3% of the shares are held by a number of small private shareholders.
Founded in 1967, Chococam manufactures cocoa-based consumer products in its factory in Douala and sells these highly popular products in Cameroon, Nigeria and other countries of Central and West Africa. Chococam has annual sales of approximately CFA 18 billion (Euro 28 million/CHF 45 million) and employs about 300 people. Tiger Brands Limited will take over the entire business, including all employees.
Peter Matlare, CEO of Tiger Brands, said: “Chococam is a quality acquisition
with high market shares in categories that are familiar to Tiger Brands. This
acquisition gives impetus to our strategy to expand our African footprint. We
are delighted that we will have a presence in Cameroon as there is enormous
growth potential in this market.”
Patrick De Maeseneire, CEO of Barry Callebaut, said: “Our Group has been present in Cameroon since 1952. We will remain present in Cameroon through our subsidiary SIC Cacaos in which we have just made important investments. Our strategic focus in Africa is on cocoa bean sourcing and cocoa processing and not on consumer chocolate. That is why we have decided to also divest the last one of our consumer activities, after having sold our consumer businesses in Senegal and Ivory Coast before. We are very pleased that we have found an optimal new owner for Chococam in Tiger Brands Limited that, based on its strategy and experience, will be able to further develop the Chococam business and to secure a great future for our Chococam colleagues.”
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Filed under: Uncategorized tagged Cameroon, Chocolate manufacturing, food manufacture, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tiger Brands
VenFin yesterday announced the launch of InVenFin, an early stage Intellectual Property (IP) venture capital fund.
Jannie Durand InVenFin Chairman and VenFin CEO commented: “We have established InVenFin to provide specialist funding and support to inventors at an early stage, to develop their IP and eventually succeed in corporatising it, which sets the platform to realise the long-term growth potential of the IP. As a venture capital fund, we will typically consider investment terms that concludes with the corporatisation of the IP. The investment risk is higher but so is the potential to earn commensurate returns.”
VenFin is the sole shareholder in InVenFin and has committed R50 million in seed capital as a start. It will consider investing more capital as the fund grows.
Joe Kieser, former Chairman of Enterprise IG has been appointed Deputy Chairman and Brett Commaille CEO. Other Board members are John Newbury former CEO of Nissan, patent and IP attorney Don MacRobert and design and branding expert Kees Schilperoort. VenFin’s Finance Director Neville Williams and Company Secretary Mariza Lubbe complete the non-executive members of the team.
Joe Kieser Deputy Chairman commented “InVenFin operates where finance meets innovation meets intellectual capital. It is uniquely equipped with the right mixture of funding, skills, experience, processes and entrepreneurial spirit to realise the exciting prospect of supporting world renowned South African innovation and corporatising South African intellectual property that can compete globally.”
“InVenFin is interested in profitable opportunities that can succeed internationally, both the big and small ideas” comments InVenFin CEO Brett Commaille. “We are seeking unique and highly differentiated intellectual property that is protectable, fully validated, sustainable in use, scaleable and packageable for sale.”
The fund’s investment spectrum spans across product design, bio-tech, hi-tech and process design to telecoms, media and technology.
“It is our level of involvement and the partnership we bring to inventors that sets us apart. We are a team of dynamic entrepreneurs with a pragmatic, hands-on approach. Our appetite for risk is matched by the returns we seek and is backed up by our in-depth analysis and research. We have rich experience in IP, design, corporatisation and business development” Commaille concluded.
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Filed under: Uncategorized tagged Capital, Entrepreneur, Funding, Investment, South Africa
A LANDMARK agreement between the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), information systems group Thales and European financial services group Société Générale will pump US $30 million into more affordable funding for small and medium enterprise (SME)..
IDC CEO Geoffrey Qhena says the IDC has the appetite for funding higher-risk ventures and thus fulfilling a need to which the commercial banks do not cater. “This facility furthers that objective by offering SME loans at more attractive interest rates, while providing the IDC with a more cost-effective source of valuable dollar-based funding. Among the challenges facing SMEs is a lack of support from commercial banks and high bank charges,” he says.
The relationship between the IDC and Thales dates back to 2005 when the two parties had teamed up to arrange a $50 million soft financing to support IDC’s strategy towards SME. This first facility proved a huge success and was disbursed within 10 months, effectively supporting 49 SME businesses and creating more than 5,500 jobs via projects funded through that initiative. Benefits of attractively-priced funds were passed on to SME clients and the same principle will apply for the new facility. As for the first tranche, this new $30 million facility is concluded under the auspices of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) National Industrial Participation Programme (NIPP), which leverages government procurement by requiring international contractors to develop and invest in projects providing long-term economic benefits to South Africa. Thales has been involved in
the South African NIPP since its inception in the late 1990’s and has since then developed several projects in a variety of industries across the country.
This new loan facility further increases the IDC’s commitment to SMEs in line with the DTI-facilitated programme. The organisation has substantially boosted its commitment to SME project funding, recognising the sector’s capacity to accelerate job creation opportunities
The announcement is particularly relevant coming as the South African SME sector experienced another fall in business confidence, driven by rising interest rates and debt repayments. In this vein 75% of the record R8,5 billion invested by IDC during 2007/2008 was dedicated to expansions and start-up businesses for the SME sector. This policy created or retained 33,200 jobs in South Africa, with 40% of the jobs created in rural areas. The IDC anticipates investing more than R60 billion in total into the economy by 2013. Qhena says the current liquidity crunch, which came as a result of the problems in the sub-prime market and the demand for funds from the domestic capital expenditure, has driven up the cost of funding to higher-than-normal levels. “This competitively-priced facility will significantly reduce the IDC’s overall cost of funds as it will be thrown into a basket of funds sourced by the IDC and cheaper loans be extended to SMEs,” he says.
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Filed under: Uncategorized tagged , entrepreneurs, Financing, IDC
I have become very cynical of many of South Africa’s trade exhibitions in recent years. My main reason for this was that there were too many empty stands, too many sponsored foreign exhibitors who had been sent as ’space fillers’ and too little real business being done. Having said that, I quite clearly remember saying last year that the Africa Big Seven event had restored some of my faith in the local exhibition industry.
Below are the details for the event. Further information on exhibitors can be found here:
http://www.exhibitionsafrica.com/2008/exhib_2008_big_7_main.asp
20 - 22 July 2008
The only event of its kind on the continent, Africa’s Big Seven Expo presents a composite of seven separate but co-located events that define the various stages and specific technologies required to move produce from the field through the processing, packaging and marketing phases eventually culminating in retail sales
Africa – a market of 725 million consumers.
Africa’s store of oil and mineral resources and the meteoric rise in world prices for these commodities has awakened the world to the fact that the continent is suddenly a good place to do business. There is little argument that Africa’s economic prospects are the best they have ever seen. Africa’s rapidly expanding middle class, their changing lifestyles and growing disposable income all add up to enormous business opportunities for suppliers of raw produce, processing and packaging equipment, associated relevant technology as well as retail ready products
“The simple fact is that Africa wants to do business” said Teigue Payne, publisher of leading industry journal Food & Beverage Reporter. “Africa’s Big Seven plays a hugely successful role in linking our markets to the outside world”
John Ackermann, publisher of refrigeration magazine The Cold Link further affirmed “Africa’s Big Seven can truly be described as an international meeting forum for the food trade”
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Filed under: Uncategorized tagged Africa's Big Seven, African Trade, Exhibitions
It was something I touched on a while back, but I sincerely believe that there would be some value in an “African Stock Exchange” or market to bolster the continent. The continent is resource rich but under developed and much of its problems stem from the lack of financial investment into the continent.
But lets be honest - Nigeria, Equitorial Guineau, South Africa etc. are all pumping in terms of economic development and growth prospects. Major economies like the EU and the US have slowed down drastically and their growth prospects don’t look great.
Africa offers investors plenty of opportunities to make money - unfortunately this comes at enormous risk. We have dictators who are reputed to have eaten their opposition (In this day and age?!) and we have people who remain power hungry and desperate to cling to their titles, even if it means running their countries into the ground.
Investors look at this and wonder if we are serious about actually inviting foreign investment.
South Africans themselves also want to be able to diversify. While it is improving, South Africans have very limited areas in which they can spread their financial risk. Access to foreign markets is now starting to come through the introduction of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) allowing access to Europe, UK, Japan and the US. Why can the same not be developed for African countries and economies?
While the market will initially be relatively small, there must be an increasing demand from both local (South African) and international investors to start investing in the African continent - even if it is passive to start off with.
Given these opportunities I believe that Africa could begin to tackle many of the social and economic problems plaguing the continent and make some significant steps forward.
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Filed under: Uncategorized tagged Africa, Equitorial Guinea, ETF, Investment, Nigeria, South Africa
Africa Mobile: Nigeria and Ethiopia by Roberto Bell
Nigeria
The Federal Republic of Nigeria, one of the most famous areas in the African continent, exhibits a long and extensive history dating back to 9000 B.C. Nigeria borders the Benin Republic, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. With its southern coastlines boarding the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic, the country enjoys a great topography variety.
In 1960, Nigeria achieved its independence from Great Britain, forming over 36 states and the territory of its national capital. The democratic government shares the balance of power between the executive and legislative National Assembly branches. The historical capital for the Nigerian capital was formerly located in the southern city of Lagos, but was moved in 1991 to its current location in Abuja.
As the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria has one of the highest growth and fertility rates in the world, according to the United Nations. Over 250 ethnic groups with different cultures, religions, and languages live in Nigeria, and there are over 521 languages spoken in the country.
With a large economic resource base from petroleum, Nigeria holds the 12th rank for oil petroleum production and the 8th rank for petroleum export in the entire world. However, with resource mismanagement and diminishing infrastructure, its petroleum production is not at full, optimal levels. Nigeria also is a country rich in mineral resources, but the mining industry has not yet been developed in the country.
Ethiopia
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, which is positioned in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia shares its borders with Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia. As one of the oldest countries in the entire world, Ethiopia is an important region in understanding the process of human evolution.
Ethiopia’s topography contains tall, rugged mountains, tropical forests, and arid deserts; its location kept Ethiopia a historically isolated mountain empire, but beginning with its signing in 1923 joining the League of Nations and through its founding of the UN headquarters of Africa in Ethiopia, this country has contributed a great deal of political influence.
The diverse population contains over 70 distinct linguistic and ethnic groups of people. Its partially privatized economy has gained significant growth since 1993, when the transfer to gradual privatization began. 41% of the country’s GDP comes from the agricultural industry, with coffee as the largest export crop.
Mike Kofi Okyere is the owner of
AfricaNe.ws, Africosmic as well as
f8tballNEWS.
Article Source: Article Directory - Free Articles - ArticleCube.com
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Filed under: Uncategorized tagged Ethiopia, Nigeria
Attention black entrepreneurs in South Africa - MyBeeLink.com is South Africa’s first BEE entrepreneurial social networking portal. The idea is to provide a one stop shop for entrepreneurs to meet, interact, share ideas, seek advice and work with NGO’s and other institutions. Ultimately this site will provide an initial point of contact for businesses seeking to work with local BEE or related businesses and thereby boost BEE entrepreneurial participation.
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