Transforming businesses with online technology

With the FIFA World Cup transforming South Africa’s infrastructure with high-speed rail systems, better roads and state-of-the-art power systems, now is the time for African businesses to also take economical advantage of the other benefit of the tournament - online technology.

South Africa’s, not to mention the rest of the continent’s, internet systems saw major investment during the build up to the World Cup with the likes of Google even launching their ‘Street View’ technology in June, making South Africa the first African country to have this technology.

Street View allows users to virtually explore and navigate a neighbourhood through panoramic street-level images. It is also available in Google Earth and on Google Maps for Mobile. Of course, for businesses it creates a wonderful opportunity to market themselves with people visiting the country for the World Cup able to view the area in which they are staying as well as local restaurants and companies.

While the World Cup may be over, the technology remains and it is set to drastically transform businesses all over the country, especially the tourism sector.

Other countries in Africa have also started to take advantage of their new online infrastructure with web-cams being sent up in Namibia at the country's world famous Etosha national park. With such technology being harnessed, businesses are now able to market themselves on a much smaller budget. For hotels and other areas of the hospitality sector, not to mention any other business, they can now place themselves to be seen online allowing potential customers to view, representatives including Phumlani Mohoil, CIO of the FIFA World Cup 2010 Organising Committee, Hennie van Wyk, Group Head of Technology for ABSA Bank, George Munyua, General Manager for Equity Bank Limited and Morgen Mufowo of Econet Wireless are already announcing their plans to increase revenue while taking advantage of a pre set infrastructure.

Despite objections being raised about the technology around invasion of privacy, there are mechanisms for users to remove their information from these websites. In addition, for countries that depends on tourism for most of their foreign currency earnings, but do not have significant marketing budgets. Being able to view a hotel or national park online provides an equal opportunities marketing platform for small and large businesses alike.

The benefits of Africa being connected to the rest of the world will be one of the topics discussed at the CIO Africa Summit (hosted by GDS International). Today CIOs need better business insights. Now they have been provided with the Business Intelligence tools and processes to deliver reliable, current, and secure data and accessible information they wish to discuss real tangible strategies that will help develop more effective performance.

With the installation of a new undersea fibre optic cable and an infrastructure securely in place, now is the time for Africa to truly embrace business online in order to bring down costs while boosting employee efficiency and innovation.

Africa to Capitalize on Deepwater Drilling

In the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico disaster, offshore deepwater drilling is now being questioned as too risky a venture. However the domino effect of how this will impact other regions is a far less damaging then initially expected.

Africa has always had a strong market for offshore exploratory drilling projects and with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. saying on Monday that they struck oil offshore of Ghana at the Owo prospect in the Deepwater Tano Bloc, does little to dampen new drilling projects in the western region.

Even BP, who have taken a huge hit, to their balance sheet and public perception due to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, has no plans to stop deepwater drilling in the Gulf or other offshore areas, but has not gone unnoticed by regulatory and government bodies.

The Obama administration’s financial reform act has already started setting precedent to show that a global standard for corporate transparency should be geared toward mining and energy companies. However there is a large gap between setting precedent and taking ownership in the marketplace, and these are topics that the oil and gas industry as a whole are starting to look at together.

When an industry experiences negative environmental and health and safety impacts on a yearly basis, the cooperation of the industry as a whole to develop new methods for developing the global energy supply becomes extremely important. A spokesperson from Shell explains ‘We had 132 spills last year, against 175 on average. Safety valves were vandalized; one pipe had 300 illegal taps. We found five explosive devices on one. Sometimes communities do not give us access to clean up the pollution because they can make more money from compensation’

Repairing pipelines, developing effective oil spill response teams, and working on better technologies for blowout preventers (BOP) are precautions that are part of a major oil and gas companies daily activities.

The importance of developing new sites sees Africa at the forefront of major talking points at NG O&G Summit in Africa. The top executives in the industry like BG Group - Emmanuel Enu, GM Exploration, Nigeria, Galp Energy - Daniel Elias, Head of Development and Production, Vanco International - Jeff Mitchell , COO, Lukoil - Alexander Shelev , Ghana Country Manager, and Sonangol - Francisco Lopes da Cunha, Chief Geophysicist are working together to on making deepwater drilling a safer way to capitalize on the huge reservoirs of oil found below a mile under the sea.

Growth a given in Africa?

Mzolisi (Zoli) Diliza – Chief Executive, Chamber of Mines of South Africa, spoke out last week at the Next Generation Mining Summit on mining futures within the continent.

The Chamber exists as the Principal advocate of major policy positions endorsed by the mining employers and represents these to various organs of South African national and provincial governments, they spoke to the ultimate objectives of a so-called "New Approach" to the development of effective strategies for the sustainable growth and meaningful transformation of the South African mining sector.

Forecasts predict that South Africa’s mining sector will reach a value in excess of US$37bn by 2014. Africa is expected to be one of the first to bounce back from the depressed levels of 2009, and is likely to be among the first to benefit when the global economy returns to strength. Mining remains a key economic sector for South Africa, contributing some 8% to GDP. What the long-term future holds for the South African mining industry depends a lot on the result of exploration activities and any future changes made to mining regulations by the government.

Urgent discussions and negotiations aimed at producing the required strategies are currently taking place between major, tripartite industry stakeholders announced the NGM Committee – Government, business and organised labor. These strategies will provide a comprehensive process that has been established to arrive at a new and productive economic policy for the country. Functioning in the correct environment the business of mining in South Africa retains considerable potential to assist Government in the achievement of critical public policy imperatives which include expanded economic growth, job creation and the alleviation of poverty.

The continent's is also embracing foreign investment agreed representatives from African Diamonds Plc - James Campbell, Managing Director , Banro Corporation - Michael Prinsloo, President & CEO , Ghana Chamber of Mines - Joyce Aryee, CEO and the Xstrata Group - Andile Sangqu, CEO Africa Executive Director, the mining industry is continually expanding and adapting to changing conditions with more international companies scrambling for a piece of the continent's resources.

Although underexplored, Africa hosts about 30% of the planet's mineral reserves, including 40% of gold, 60% of cobalt and 90% of the world's PGM reserves - making it a truly strategic producer of these precious metals. Most recently Russia is ready to invest US$1 billion (R7.5 billion) in uranium exploration in Namibia, as well as investment from Brazil, Australia and China.

South Africa has readied itself for a lucrative future and it seems that the rest of the world has taken heed.

Sustainability key to growth in Africa

Africa is the most mineral rich continent on earth and open for business in a big way, this has not gone unnoticed by the industry’s executives who have announced their meeting at the latest NG Mining Africa summit.

The continent's mining industry is continually expanding and adapting to changing conditions with more international companies scrambling for a piece of the continent's resources. But is now the time to start considering the environmental impact.

For good reasons, the mining sector has come under more scrutiny globally than any other in the past two decades. Whereas mining has attracted considerable foreign direct investment into Africa, has generated ancillary infrastructure, and boosted export earnings, it’s environmental, developmental and governance records have been highly uneven, ranging from the exemplary to the corrupt, unscrupulous and destructive.

Yet the mining sector has and continues to reform itself in significant respects and a new genre of mining operation is evident in Africa. Its role is to not just be a good Corporate Citizen but also a potential driver of local, regional and national development.

New age mining in Africa is not only possible, it is essential for long-term sustainability and a need for real, rather than nominal, trilateral partnerships between mining houses, government and local communities are fundamental to success, a committee of African Mining Execs has now been formed to confront the environmental impacts while sustaining profitable growth. The Committee consisting of executives from African Diamonds Plc - James Campbell, Managing Director , Banro Corporation - Michael Prinsloo, President & CEO , Ghana Chamber of Mines - Joyce Aryee, CEO and the Xstrata Group - Andile Sangqu, CEO Africa Executive Director, will meet at the NG Mining Africa summit (hosted by GDS International) to discuss the future.

With considerable environmental complications, including chronic soil degradation, chemical contamination, and air pollution it is the responsibility of a few to protect the many and the sustainability of Africa’s mining future will be key in its viability. Is the industry ready to face its responsibilities?

$18bn African Investment – but can the Middle East take the call?

Since 2001, Investment into the African telecommunications sector has hit $18bn, however Africa has missed many opportunities to deploy cable infrastructure to the same extent as its competitive continents such as the Middle East and Asia.
Nevertheless leading authorities understand that such an infrastructure is vital for the continents development and they are planning to announce future moves into 4G at NGT Africa summit hosted by GDS international.
South Africa’s international connectivity received a major boost last year with the launch of the Seacom cable, a high-bandwidth data link connecting Africa with India and Europe. Two further major cables, the West African Cable System and the East African Submarine Cable, are due to come into operation over the next two years.

Africa can offer competitive prices to emerging companies and has obvious mass growth potential. Recent infrastructure improvements throughout the African Markets have allowed the continent to rival the likes of Dubai. As a direct result of the NGT meetings regions such as East Africa are now the choice of many multinationals as a gateway to the Middle East and Africa.

“So far, technology has been a strong point for Dubai. But the arrival of the new submarine cables will allow Africa to run services at a reduced cost.” Will Gary Austin, NGT Director

With so much growth potential and increased investments into the African telecoms market it comes as no surprise that the Middle East telecoms elite have been quick to announce their attendance at the NGT MENA summit to discuss how they plan to maintain their dominance within the market and provide the best services possible to outside investors.
Representatives confirmed to attend the NGT Discussions include Tony Shakib – VP Service provider Emerging Markets from CISCO and Knut Aasrud GM Communications Sector EMEA who will be on hand to share their thought leadership as technology innovators with Ghana Telecom (Vodafone Ghana) - Eric Valentine, Head of Technology Core Networks Orange Uganda - Phillipe Luxey, CEO MTN Group - Sifiso Dabengwa , COO Telkom SA - Charlotte Mokoena, CEO Vodacom Group - Vujani Jarana, Ex. Director Operations Virgin Mobile South Africa - Steve Bailey, CEO

"Cisco and SEACOM share a common goal to enable accessible broadband across Africa while lowering the cost of communication to spur growth within urban and rural communities. We're working with SEACOM to help transform Africa by outlining process change, building networks, and then providing the application services and expertise that support key services for citizens, such as education, healthcare, public safety, economic development, and national security. SEACOM will provide the catalyst for African consumers, business and government to realise the benefits of connectivity and collaboration across the globe." Courtesy of CISCO Systems Inc

Demand for African Energy Hits all time high.

Industry leaders meet at the NG O&G Summit Nairobi Kenya


Demand for African Oil and gas has hit an all time high only days into the New Year. Asian buyers, led by Chinese refiners, have bought a record 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Angola, Nigeria and smaller West African producers in January, up from 1.58 million barrels per day in December.

With increased demand the importance of building a strong and reliable infrastructure to support the booming business expected over 2010 has become paramount. So a meeting including fifty visionaries such as Black Marlin Energy - Jeff Hume, CEO Dana Gas Egypt - Yassin Darwish, CEO, Del-Sigma Petroleum - Dr Soky Amachree, CEO, Groundstar Resources Limited - Ken Chobotuk, VP Exploration has been called at the NG O&G Africa summit in Kenya organized by GDS International.

India will become the third largest oil importer after the US and China before 2025, with its energy demands expected to almost double by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency. Support is now being offered from India to help build Infrastructure to secure access to oil and gas from energy rich Africa. India depends on imports to meet its oil needs and being the fifth largest energy consumer it must import 78% of its fuel, so a strong relationships with Africa will be beneficial to both.

India is keen to capitalize on the opportunities already being used to the advantage of energy hungry China. Having struggled to come up with a cohesive, economic diplomacy policy in Africa it is now in a position to both support and grow its opportunities within the continent. India’s trade with Africa is now worth around $39 billion.

Research from NG O&G Africa summit analyst partners IHS GLOBAL INSIGHTS CERA have also predicted that emerging markets within countries such as Africa will outpace those in developed Economies. 2010 is set to be a huge success for the growing industry in Africa and summits like the NG O&G are set to be the hub for such transformation