Month: May 2018

AFCHAM Celebrates the 2018 Edition of Africa Day

Posted by khaoula on

For the first time since its creation in 2015, The African Chamber of Commerce (AFCHAM) celebrated Africa Day with a Gala Dinner with African Taste. The 3-hour event took place on Friday May 25th in Fairmont Peace Hotel at The Bund, downtown Shanghai and brought together over 120 high profile guests including Diplomats from African countries in Shanghai, 6 renown chambers of commerce in Shanghai, senior management staff from top companies, representatives of state level economic zones in China, media professionals, friends and well wishers of AFCHAM.

It was exactly 7 o’clock pm Beijing time when the MC Sam Onanda announced the opening of the gala night. After introducing the program, the hall was filled with applause as the first African dance group, Kubatana emerged from the dressing room and made their way to the stage. The group, made up of four acrobatic traditional African dancers thrilled the guests with their well-choreographed dance steps and rhythmic drumbeats while hundreds of photo shots were taken. They served a true taste of Africa.

The next item on the agenda was the welcome address by the Chairperson of the African Chamber of Commerce D. Nkwetato Tamonkia. The speech lasted for 10 minutes. He explained the significance of Africa Day, dwelled on AFCHAM’s achievements, invited more companies and organizations to “get on board the AFCHAM boat” and thanked all who had made it to the gala night before inviting everyone to rise to a symbolic toast marking the celebration of Africa Day under the theme “Celebrating Africa Rising, Rise with us!”.  You can download a copy of the Chairperson’s speech at this link. Click here.Africa Day speech

Then the chefs at Fairmont Peace Hotel served Smoked Tomato Soup, Focaccia Bread as appetizer. The main course was Oven Baked Argentinean Tenderloin, Herbs Potato Mousseline and Seasonal Vegetables. The main course was followed by dessert, Peace Hotel Cheese Cake and Berries Coulis. Alongside fine South African wine the guests savored the food while listening to classic African music from veteran African musicians like Manu Dibango.

 

Other African dance groups took to the stage before other presentations were made. Ismail Sidqui presented Morocco as an AFCHAM recommended travel destination.  The AMANI project, initiated by AFCHAM was also presented. It is a project that will facilitate the importation of fresh farm produce as well as other raw materials from Africa to China for local consumption.

 

Yingke Global received a certificate of recognition for their tremendous support to AFCHAM. The Chairperson of AFCHAM handed over the certificate on stage to Miss Vietnam who was one of the guests of honor at the gala. She in turn handed the certificate to Dr. Marco Pearman Parish, the president of Yingke Global, one of the largest law firms in Asia’s Pacific. Mr. Pearman is the CEO of Corporation China and the Global CEO of EQI Bank. The award ceremony was one of the most photographed highlights of the evening.

The Director of Operations at AFCHAM, Mr. Jilles Djon took to the stage and presented the philanthropy arm of AFCHAM in which several projects especially in the education sector have been carried out in African localities like Somaliland in East Africa. He appealed to people to contribute towards the building of schools in Africa. “One way of contributing was to buy African paintings” available at the gala. A famous Togolese painter Fiefonou Atsou Bernard Akouete made the paintings. They will be on display in Shanghai in the months ahead for art lovers.

In his closing remarks, Chairman D. Nkwetato thanked everyone who had made it to the gala night. He lauded efforts made by Chamber staff to make sure the event was a success. He gave special thanks to Chamber staff like Miss. Khaoula Houssini, Project Manager, Ismail Sidqui, Business Developer, the hotel staff and all who had worked for the successful organization of the event.

It was 10 o’clock when the curtain fell. People were tipsy. Some were itching to party some more. Voices were loud. There was mingling. Many exchanged business cards and posed for photo shoots. Hotel staff hurriedly cleaned up the tables as people picked up their belongings and called for cabs to take them home on a rainy Friday night that brought a true feeling of Africa to the heart of Shanghai.

 

Burkina Faso on track for GDP growth of around 6 % this year: IMF

Posted by khaoula on

Burkina Faso’s economy is on track to grow by around 6 percent this year, in line with the last two years’ average, the International Monetary Fund said in a statement on Monday.

Burkina Faso’s economy expanded by more than 6 percent per year on average during 2016-2017, showing considerable resilience in the face of security and weather-related shocks.

‘‘This performance reflects considerable resilience in the face of external shocks, notably three significant terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou over the last two years and a deteriorating security situation in the border regions in the north, as well as poor rainfall in 2017, which threatens food security in the country,’‘ said Dalia Hakura, who led the IMF team that visited Burkina Faso.

 

The West African nation, which agreed a programme with the Fund in March, will meanwhile aim to reduce its fiscal deficit to 3 percent of GDP by 2019 after it ballooned to an unprecedented 7.7 percent last year.

Reporting by Joe Bavier;

Business forum in Senegal promotes African female entrepreneurs

Posted by khaoula on

Africa has the highest number of women entrepreneurs but they face more hurdles on the way to business success than their male counterparts.

Maty Ndiaye a Senegalese businesswoman founded Kaya, a shop in Dakar selling clothes, toys and products for children.

But the business stalled when she needed funding to grow and Ndiaye was forced to shut down her store due to lack of capital.

Like many entrepreneurs on the continent, access to resources and opportunities are limited, and even more so for women.

“I wanted to borrow 5 million with a micro financing body and they asked me to bring the 5 million, to put it in an account as a guarantee and afterwards they would lend me 5 million. I found that outrageous. So, it’s really hard when we want to develop our business and we need money to inject in the business, it’s really hard to get access to that type of financing,” she said.

 

However, a new networking initiative founded by French businesswoman, Aude De Thui is determined to change that.

Women In Africa (WIA) is an organisation that aims to support and fund businesses led or managed by African women.

The group recently held its first regional Summit in Dakar, bringing together over 180 women entrepreneurs from 15 different countries.

WIA recently held a Women’s Forum in Senegal, with specific focus on the challenges and solutions faced by African female entrepreneurs like Ndiaye.

“Women suffer today because they don’t get enough support, enough guardiancies and they don’t have access to financing. And women forums are often about well-being or personal themes. I participate in economic summits because I want to put women back in the economy and give them a voice because they inspire trust and also because the world needs to focus on Africa,” De Thuy said.

Speakers and experts were also on hand to give master classes and share their business experiences, as well as putting women in touch with investors and helping them pitch their ideas.

“By participating in this forum, it has allowed me to believe in myself more but in particular to believe in the woman that I can become, like these women leaders that I have met and with whom I took a lot of pleasure talking to and exchanging with,” said 17-year-old Fatou Khouleh Wade, who dreams of being a railroad engineer.

Ndiaye says the forum helped her find at least five new clients. More importantly she found out about funding sources she was unaware of before the forum.

She said she hopes to invest new money and inject new energy into her business so that she can re-open the shop and grow.

Source: Michael Ike Dibie with Reuters

 

Internship: Business Development – Africa

Posted by jilles on

About KaiOS:

KaiOS Technologies Inc. was established in 2016 and is incorporated in the US.

KaiOS Tech has established branches in the US, Brazil, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Xi’an. The company successfully launched multiple KaiOS-based products with tier-1 mobile carriers in North America, India and with major global manufacturers (Nokia, Micromax, Doro). KaiOS addresses the specific need for a lite-OS dedicated to feature phone and low-memory devices, where user experience and mobile internet are key.

KaiOS provides a software platform to Mobile Manufacturers and ODM through:

  • Close partnerships with major chipset makers and mobile operators ;
  • A commercial turnkey UX and framework for different device form factors (feature phone, wearable, smart screens and auto) ;
  • An ecosystem of applications and services, with a mobile application store ;
  • A powerful and secured backend to manage millions of devices in the field (application delivery, location based services, push notification, FOTA).

African is a key market for KaiOS success and to support this growth, KaiOS is seeking interns to work on product and service creation.

 
   

 

About the Role

Responsibilities:

  • Understand KaiOS current offering and product definition as well as technical capabilities/advantage ;
  • Study specific markets in term of mobile penetration, mobile manufacturers/brands, mobile operators, application developers ;
  • For each specific market, define suitable product or service that should be developed on KaiOS to answer end-user needs and create differentiation, in line with KaiOS mission and capabilities ;
  • Work on detailed specification of the selected services with R&D and Product Manager, and drive its implementation, testing and deployment.

 

Job location:

The positions are based in Shanghai.

 

Qualification:

  • Strong knowledge of mobile business, with some knowledge in applications ;
  • Deep understanding of one or several of our strategic countries in Africa (Nigeria, Ethiopia, South-Africa, Kenya, Cameroon, Egypt)
  • Existing network with local mobile apps developers is a plus.
  • Results oriented.
  • Able to multi-task and work in a fast pace changing organization oriented person.
  • Technical knowledge (mobile software) is a plus, business education (ability to work on a business model, on a marketing plan, on a business strategy)
  • Ability to work with local and international teams of the company.
  • Possess excellent interpersonal communication and organizational skills with proven abilities of supporting teams towards achieving organizational goals.
  • Ability to understand new products and quickly changing technologies.
  • Aptitude, creativity, and a preference for working in small, collaborative teams.
  • Excellent communication and presentation skills.
 
   
  • Strong business ethics and integrity.

 

Complete the form here below To Apply :

    Fidelity Bank Plans to List on Ghana Stock Exchange by 2020

    Posted by khaoula on

    Fidelity Bank Ltd., a closely held Ghanaian lender, plans to list its shares for trading on the country’s bourse by 2020 as it targets a spot among the largest three banks in the West African nation.

    Shareholders of the country’s fourth-largest lender on Friday approved a proposal to raise 70 million cedis ($16 million) by selling stock to selected investors, Managing Director Jim Baiden said in an interview in Accra, the capital. Fidelity will also transfer 20 million cedis of its surplus income to boost its capital buffers, he said.

     

     

    The Bank of Ghana in September raised the minimum capital level for the country’s lenders to 400 million cedis, from 120 million cedis, and gave the country’s institutions until the end of the year to meet the goal. The new rules have spurred a flurry of capital-raising efforts, with Energy Commercial Bank Ltd. seeking to raise about 330 million cedis through an initial public offering, Societe Generale Ghana Ltd. planning a 170 million cedis-rights issue, and Universal Merchant Bank Ltd. in talks with investors for 260 million cedis.

    Source: http://www.africanbusinesscentral.com/