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  • African Tech Start-Ups Dream of Silicon Savannah

    African Tech Start-Ups Dream of Silicon Savannah

    Young techies hunched over laptops in small offices across Africa want to create their own versions of California’s Silicon Valley and some are beginning to attract investors prepared to take a risk in the hope of high returns.

    One such start-up, a South African social photography app called Over, last month beat 19 others from around the world to win funding from U-start, an advisor that matches mainly European investors with fledging businesses.

    Italy-based U-start has 3.8 billion euros ($5.2 billion) under management and aims to allocate as much as 15 percent of that to technology firms in Africa over the next couple of years.

    “We are convinced that there are great business ideas that have the chance to become global players, not just local ones,” said U-start Chief Executive Stefano Guidotti.

    Still in their infancy, Africa’s technology start-ups matter for the continent because they have the potential to help solve problems in basic services such as education and health.

    In Ghana, for example, a mobile app by social enterprise m-Pedigree verifies whether medicines are genuine. Fake medicine is a scourge in Africa and people often have no way of telling whether they are buying the real thing or not.

    Africa has nearly 90 technology hubs, research bases often funded by international firms such as Microsoft, Google and Intel, to incubate early-stage firms in cities such as Abidjan, Accra and Addis Ababa.

    But while developers have plenty of ideas, many lack the technical or business skills needed to make money from them.

    readon http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKBN0ER1HK20140616

  • Brazil Extends $2 billion to Boost Angola Energy

    Brazil Extends $2 billion to Boost Angola Energy

    (more…)

  • UN Calls On Gay World Cup Players to Declare Sexuality

    UN Calls On Gay World Cup Players to Declare Sexuality

    Gay soccer players at the World Cup in Brazil should declare their sexuality to help make gays and lesbians accepted around the world, U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay said on Monday.

    “I encourage players, sports people to declare their sexual orientation without fear,” she told reporters in Geneva.

    “That’s the only way they will find the right to sexual orientation accepted. They are role models, it’s important to send this message to their fans as well,” Pillay said, adding that it was “a shame, in this day and age”, that people “had to hide who they really are”.

    She was speaking after addressing a meeting on equality in sports on the sidelines of the U.N. Human Rights Council, where she also spoke out against discrimination on the grounds of race or disability.

    “There’s an increasing realisation that combatting discrimination requires more than superficial measures that do not change attitudes or address the root causes of inequality,” she told the meeting.

    Pillay also warned governments that bid for major sporting competitions that they needed to give far more thought to how their bid would affect human rights.

    This year’s World Cup hosts Brazil and the 2022 hosts Qatar have both drawn criticism – Brazil for the $11 billion cost in a country where schools and hospitals are poor, and Qatar for suspicions of corruption and the welfare of migrant labourers.

    “They risk becoming hubs of human rights violations, including misuse of public funds, child labour, forced evictions, and demolition and the sexual exploitation of human beings including children in the surge of tourism,” Pillay said, without naming any particular city.

    “Sporting events should celebrate the joy of human potential, not generate pain and abuse,” she said.

  • One Killed, Dozens Injured in Volcano Bus Accident

    One Killed, Dozens Injured in Volcano Bus Accident

    One person as died and dozens of passengers were seriously injured this afternoon when the Volcano Bus they were travelling in crashed with Fuso truck along Kigali-Muhanga road.

    The Accident occured at Rugobagoba in Kamonyi district .

    Eye witnesses said the Truck cabin fell off crashing into a Bus belonging to Volcano transport company.

    The injured were rushed to Kabgayi hospital and Musambira health center, However one person died after reaching Musambira health center.

    more details to follow

  • Kenya Gets $3 bln Orders For First Eurobond

    Kenya Gets $3 bln Orders For First Eurobond

    Kenya has already received orders worth $3 billion for its debut sovereign bond that seeks to raise $1.5 billion to $2 billion, a senior government source told Reuters on Monday.

    The east African nation, which is rated B+ by Standard and Poors, launched its Eurobond roadshow this month.

    The government source, who declined to be named, would not give further details about the marketing campaign.

    Analysts said the issue was attracting high demand because it comes in two tenors with a five-year tranche offering investors a minimum 6 percent return and a 10-year portion guaranteeing a yield of 7 percent.

    “I am not too surprised (by the demand) given the wider product offering,” said a fixed-income trader in Nairobi.

    “Investors have a different appetite for debt depending on the duration and once the Eurobond market develops, you might find multi-tenor offers become more popular to cater for refinancing risk,” the added.

    Traders said the pricing of the Kenyan five-year offer was cheaper than the existing Senegalese one of the same tenor, while the 10-year tranche as cheaper than the one issued by Zambia earlier this year.

    The Kenyan government has said proceeds of the Kenyan bond will be used to repay an existing syndicated $600 million loan and finance infrastructure projects.

    wirestory

  • Thousands Join Opposition Protest in Niger Capital

    Thousands Join Opposition Protest in Niger Capital

    Thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets on Sunday in Niger’s capital Niamey to demand that authorities respect civil liberties, following the arrest of several of their number last month.

    Demonstrators carried signs reading ‘Down with Dictatorship’ in criticism of the government of President Mahamadou Issoufou, elected in 2011 following a democratic transition after a military coup the previous year.

    Organisers said some 15,000 to 20,000 people took part in the march, in the centre of the dusty riverside capital. Police put the figure at 3,500.

    Political tensions have risen sharply in the former French colony ahead of elections next year.

    Issoufou split acrimoniously with his ally Amadou Hama, the parliamentary speaker, in August and last month some 40 members of the opposition were arrested for alleged involvement in attacking the ruling party’s headquarters and the home of a legislator.

    After questioning by a judge, all but six of them were released.

    “There will not be any dismantling of our political parties nor underhand manoeuvres, nor threats and intimidation,” Hama told the crowd. “The government in power will not break our unity.”

    The rally came after authorities had forbidden at least two planned protests in recent weeks by the Alliance for the Republic, Democracy and Reconciliation in Niger (ARDR), a coalition of 15 opposition parties formed in October. The opposition is calling for the release of its six members from prison.

    Niger, with a fast-growing population of 17 million people, remains one of the poorest countries in Africa despite being the world’s fourth largest producer of uranium and having started pumping oil in 2011.

    Crude output was running at around 16,500 barrels a day, the IMF said in September, but is expected to climb ahead of the start of exports in 2016.

    Issoufou’s government recently concluded a long-delayed renegotiation of a mining contract with French state-owned nuclear firm Areva, increasing the maximum royalty tax rate payable from 5 percent to 12 percent, depending on profitability.

    agencies

  • Manchester City to Sign Arsenal Defender

    Manchester City to Sign Arsenal Defender

    Manchester City have reached an agreement to sign full-back Bacary Sagna from Arsenal.

    The 31-year-old, part of France’s World Cup squad, posted a farewell message to the Gunners on social media.

    The right back spent seven years at Arsenal but his contract expired at the end of the season.

    And now City have confirmed Sagna as their first major addition to manager Manuel Pellegrini’s Premier League title-winning squad.

    He will join the Blues once his international commitments in Brazil are over.sanya.jpg

  • Uganda to Start Kidney Transplants

    Uganda to Start Kidney Transplants

    Uganda’s main Hospital Mulago has announced its doctors will start conducting the first Kidney transplants and other organs in what has been hailed as a major success in the country’s medical sector.

    The doctors have described this as a major breakthrough in the provision of super-specialized health care in Uganda.

    The hospital director, Dr. Baterana Byarugaba said by October, the hospital will carry out its first kidney transplant, beginning with the 65 patients undergoing dialysis.

    The surgeries, according to the director, will be free to all patients once the hospital is fully facilitated by the government.

    In addition, the hospital will be in position to carry out transplants of other organs like the heart and lungs.

    Dr. Byarugaba made the disclosure at a press briefing at the hospital after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with a team of medical specialists and other administrators from Yashoda Hospital, an Indian centre for excellence in kidney and other transplants.

    NV

  • Uganda’s GDP Growth Projected at 6.1%

    Uganda’s GDP Growth Projected at 6.1%

    Uganda’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth fiscal year 2014/15 is projected at 6.1%, finance minister, Maria Kiwanuka has said.

    Presenting the national budget on Thursday the minister said cash crops production, manufacturing, mining and quarrying, increased electricity production, and transport and communication are projected to be the major drivers of growth.

    “Uganda’s economy continued to grow through Financial Year 2013/14 albeit more modestly than the 6.2% that was projected year ago,” she said.

    This was a result of a slow-down in performance by the manufacturing, construction, telecommunication and financial services sub-sectors, Kiwanuka added.

    The theme for the 2014/15 budget is “Maintaining the Momentum: Infrastructure Investment for Growth and Socio-Economic Transformation.”

    According to the minister, the ongoing unrest in the region reduced our export and remittance proceeds, and the last stages of the global crisis effects were played out on the world stage towards a new equilibrium.

    “Although the estimated growth has been less than expected it still represents a credible performance by our economy, and is higher than the average growth achieved by the non-oil producing countries in sub Saharan Africa, estimated at 5.3 percent in 2013,” she stated.

    The minister reiterated Government’s medium term objective to restore real GDP growth to 7 percent per annum.

    She said that: “This will require continued implementation of sound macro-economic policies, implementation of financial sector reforms and the acceleration of the intervention required in removing bottlenecks to private sector development and competitiveness.”

    On inflation, she said inflation has remained low this year and dropped to 5.4% by May 2014. Annual core inflation declined to 3.3% as of end-May 2014.

    The minister attributed this to the slowdown in price increases followed a reduction in food prices resulting from drought in the first half of this financial year.

    The price increases were contained by coordinated prudent fiscal and monetary policy management.

    Maintaining low inflation continues to be a key objective of Government’s macroeconomic policy in order to ensure a stable investment climate and preserve the welfare of Ugandans.

    NV

  • S. Sudan President Accepts Internal Reconciliation in His Party

    S. Sudan President Accepts Internal Reconciliation in His Party

    South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has agreed to internal discussions and reconciliation within the leadership of his governing Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), describing it as one of the biggest strengths of the party since its establishment.

    The president made the remarks at a meeting on Wednesday with a group of former political detainees during his recent visit to the capital of neighbouring Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.

    “The president had a historic meeting twice with the former detainees. It was a response to the initiative by these comrades.

    They requested a meeting with the president and he accepted,” minister in the office of the president Awan Guol Riak told reporters in Juba on Thursday.

    At the meeting were former cabinet affairs minister Deng Alor Kuol, former justice minister John Luk Jok, former finance minister Kosti Manibe and former SPLM secretary-general Pagan Amum.
    salva_kir.jpg

    Gen Salva Kiir

    “The president welcomed the initiative by these comrades and expressed [a] readiness to work for the realisation of peace and reconciliation of the SPLM leaders so that there is a peace and stability in the country, which is very important starting point for us as a government [and] as a party. Because the people who are dying now are South Sudanese,” Riak said.

    The groups of four were among 11 senior political figures detained by the government in connection to an alleged coup plot masterminded by former vice-president Riek Machar to overthrow the Kiir administration. All of the former detainees have denied the claims.

    In April, the government announced it was dropping treason charges against the group of four. The decision came after the earlier release of seven other detainees, who subsequently left the country.

    Meanwhile, in a separate interview on Friday, Kuol confirmed that he and three other colleagues, all of whom are members of the political bureau, had met with Kiir as part of an initiative for internal reconciliation spearheaded by the Intergovernmental Governmental Authority (IGAD), which is mediating peace negotiations.

    sudantribune