SINGAPORE, Singapore, July 30, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The High Commissioner of the Kingdom of Swaziland presented its credentials to President Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam at the Istana today:
The High Commissioner of the Kingdom of Swazil…
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
July 30, 2014
On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I extend my best wishes to King Mohammed VI and the Morocc…
EDEN ISLAND, Seychelles, July 30, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Trop-X (http://www.trop-x.com), the Seychelles Securities Exchange, has launched its new Derivatives Market with 115 listed derivatives on major currency pairs, international equities, international equity indices and spot commodities all of which are available through the Trop-X live order book. All instruments traded on the Derivatives Market are settled in US Dollars. Tight spreads, deep liquidity and highly competitive fees are in place across the range of products.
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The Derivatives Market will be open 24/5 as most currency derivatives and international equities indices derivatives will be trading 24/5 with a short 5 minute daily break while others such as international equities derivatives will trade during the market hours of the exchange where the primary listing of the underlying asset is located. Trop-X has the ability to add over 3,000 additional listed derivatives on currencies, commodities, equity indices, single stock equities, bonds, interest rates and ETFs on short notice subject to demand from the investment community. Clients may simply ring their Trop-X derivative member broker to place an order on any of these instruments. The initial products being offered through the live order book are highly liquid. For instance, spreads on the EURUSD pair are as low as 0.1 pip (0.00001) with deep institutional liquidity beyond the top of book spread. Exchange and clearing fees are also highly competitive. The Trop-X Head of Markets, Dale Fick, says ‘in balance, the new Derivatives Market and overall product offering permits a wide range of investors to meet their objectives (e.g. best execution, best pricing, transparency, regulated market, central clearing) within the comfort of a regulated market place’.
Trop-X CEO, Bobby Brantley, added ‘the launch of the Derivatives Market is another milestone toward our mission to facilitate economic growth, wealth creation and socio-economic transformation by being the trusted marketplace for capital raising, risk transfer, trading, clearing and settlement for the AMEA (Africa, Middle East and Asia) markets. The launch of this Derivatives Market is one significant part of our overall plans and Trop-X is currently engaged with international banks and other partners to launch the next step of our development plan which we hope to announce by the end of the year.’
Trop-X went live in August 2013 with the launch of its Equities Market. It was recently admitted as a correspondent member of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) and is the National Numbering Agency of the Seychelles.
Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of Trop-X Securities Exchange.
For Further information contact us:
Trop-X (Seychelles) Ltd
First Floor Eden Plaza, Eden Island, Seychelles
Tel: (+248) 434 6800
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Website: http://www.trop-x.com
GENEVA, Switzerland, July 30, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The South Sudan Ministry of Health declared an outbreak of cholera on 15 May 2014 and to date over 5,176 cases of the disease have been reported throughout the country, including Upper Nile State, where an outbreak in Wau Shilluk has claimed the lives of at least 17 people.
With the high levels of mobility between the small towns and villages along the Nile River, there is a high probability that the cholera infection will quickly travel north in the coming months, according to IOM health workers on the ground.
More than 987 cases of cholera have been reported in the stretch of the river Nile between Malakal and Kodok. This area has one of the highest concentrations of cholera cases in the country.
With a Case Fatality Rate of 2.2 per cent, it is forecast that a large portion of Upper Nile State’s population, including over 177,000 IDPs, may be vulnerable to cholera in the coming months.
Though the majority of cholera patients can be treated with oral rehydration solution, those patients with severe symptoms need to access Cholera Treatment Centers (CTCs).
Through a grant from USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA)-supported Rapid Response Fund, IOM is assisting in the South Sudan cholera response by transporting patients in need of further treatment from their villages to the CTCs in Malakal and Wau Shilluk using river boats.
The assistance will be available over the next two months and IOM will work with partners to identify patients in need and move them to the closest CTC for treatment.
Patients moved by river and road patients will be helped by medical professionals when necessary. IOM is also establishing oral rehydration posts and IOM health workers will lead community campaigns to raise awareness of cholera transmission and treatment.
Haley West of IOM’s Migration Health Unit says: “We heard of patients struggling while attempting to reach the CTCs. The provision of transportation will expedite their access to treatment, contributing to a reduction in avoidable mortality.”
By providing funding for emergency programming in South Sudan, the IOM-managed USAID/ OFDA Rapid Response Fund, established in 2010, has enabled humanitarian actors to respond to crises quickly and effectively. The fund has been adapted to support the humanitarian response to the ongoing 2014 crisis and resulting displacement.
MELBOURNE, Australia, July 30, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) (http://www.aslm.org) have joined with global partners to launch the Diagnostics Access Initiative which calls for improving laboratory capacity to ensure that all people living with HIV can be linked to effective, high-quality HIV treatment services.
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Partners in the initiative include UNAIDS, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), UNICEF, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and ASLM.
“Around 19 million of the 35 million people living with HIV don’t know they have the virus. If they don’t find out, they will die,” said Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. “This is why we have to make it simpler for people to test for HIV to be able to start lifesaving treatment when they need it.”
The Diagnostics Access Initiative specifically focuses on ensuring that at least 90% of all people living with HIV know their HIV status. It also aims to ensure that all people accessing HIV treatment have ready access to tests that monitor the levels of the virus in their bodies.
For treatment to be optimally effective, it is essential that all people accessing HIV treatment monitor their viral load frequently. Currently very few high-burden countries routinely offer viral load testing to people receiving HIV treatment. New viral load testing technologies which are made available when people first come in for care, offer promise for expanding access to viral load testing. However they will need to be affordable, appropriately deployed and used effectively.
“To achieve control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it’s essential that all people have access to high-quality HIV laboratory services, both for accurate HIV diagnosis and treatment monitoring. Building a country’s capacity for virologic testing is critical for early identification of virologic failure, drug resistance and overall improved impact of the country’s HIV care and treatment programs,” said Ambassador Deborah Birx, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. “The Diagnostic Access Initiative represents an important step in ensuring the close collaboration among all donors and stakeholders to expand access and enable strategic scale-up of HIV laboratory services.”
To ensure early diagnosis of HIV, laboratory procedures need to be simplified and multiple testing tools and strategies made available. These also need to be integrated into community-centred health campaigns that focus on multiple diseases.
“It is essential that people know whether they have HIV infection, and that people who take treatment know whether their medicines are controlling the virus,” said Dr Hiroki Nakatani, Assistant Director-General, WHO. “As diagnostic technology changes rapidly, and our Member States need guidance on how to use it, WHO will play a key role in this initiative.”
HIV treatment is effective in reducing HIV-related illness and AIDS-related deaths. It also helps to prevent new HIV infections, by sharply suppressing viral load and decreasing the risk of HIV transmission.
“The Diagnostic Access Initiative focuses urgent attention on the importance of developing new, affordable viral load and infant diagnosis technologies and effectively using the laboratory capacity we currently have,” said Dr. Tsehaynesh Messele, Chief Executive Officer of ASLM. “Effectively using existing and emerging viral load and infant diagnosis technologies will demand substantially stronger laboratory capacity as well as strategic planning to ensure that all technologies are optimally used.”
Partners in the initiative will advocate for greater funding for laboratory services and for the development of new diagnostic tools. They will also strengthen efforts to ensure that diagnostic services are of the highest quality and forge well-coordinated partnerships to close diagnostic access gaps.
Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM).
Media Contact: Corey White, Senior Communications Officer cwhite@aslm.org
The African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) (http://www.aslm.org) is a pan‐African professional body working to advocate for the critical role and needs of laboratory medicine and networks throughout Africa.
CAPE-TOWN, South-Africa, July 30, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — While Oil and Gas activity in West Africa is nothing new, it is the activity in East Africa which is creating a stir amongst exploration companies and of course, their suppliers.
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This is according to Steve Harley, President, DHL Energy Sector (http://www.dpdhl.com), who says that while Angola and Nigeria have always been the most notable producers within the Sub-Saharan region, more recently, significant gas discoveries in Tanzania and Mozambique, has led to East Africa now receiving its share of attention from global oil companies and potential investors.
“Oil discoveries in Uganda and Kenya have also added to the excitement in the sector as new players look to enter these markets, including some of the largest independent and international oil companies, otherwise known as the super majors, who are now also witnessing the potential in this region.”
He says that in addition to the developments in East Africa, both Namibia and South Africa are also on the radar of investors within the sector. “South Africa in particular is receiving much attention, mostly because of the potential of shale gas in the Karoo, but also because it has a long and largely unexplored coastline, off which many believe large hydrocarbon fields may exist. As a result of the region’s potential, there are several offshore drilling exploration expeditions currently being planned in South Africa by the major oil companies.”
“While exploration activity in Africa is at its highest level ever, the continent remains largely unexplored”, says Harley. PwC’s Africa Oil & Gas review titled From promise to performance released in June 2013, revealed that Africa currently supplies approximately 12% of the world’s oil and boasts untapped reserves estimated at 8% of the world’s proven reserves.
“With the ever-increasing need for energy in Asia and in particular China, many of these countries are positioning themselves strategically in Africa as they seek to tap into new resources to support their growing energy needs.”
“Despite the significant developments in the renewable energy sector, the world’s dependency on hydrocarbon-fuelled energy resources will continue for many years to come. According to the BP Energy Outlook 2035 report, global energy consumption is expected to rise by 41% from 2012 to 2035, and that 95% of that growth in demand is expected to come from the emerging economies.”
“Across the globe, existing and previously significant oil reserves are being depleted and so the need and desire to explore new geographies and develop new technologies to reach and extract difficult oil and gas reserves becomes ever more apparent. These new technologies are being developed at a rapid rate, which is allowing previously challenging operations and inaccessible deposits to be economically extracted and produced.”
He adds that DHL is also beginning to witness many exploration companies, as well as the oilfield service companies, outsource non-core functions within their own supply chains. “This is creating opportunities for small and medium enterprises to provide products and services required to support oil and gas operations locally. The knock-on effect can therefore be game-changing for any single country or region in terms of economic development. The importance of this outsourcing and localisation trend therefore cannot be underestimated,” says Harley.
The company is also witnessing stronger relationships and increased levels of collaboration between African countries as they seek to share risk and jointly benefit from a united approach and vision. This is particularly evident in East Africa in countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Sudan. A recent example of collaboration in Mozambique is the expansion of oil and gas company Sonangol, from Angola.
Harley says that there is no sign of the activity within the sector slowing down. “The increased activity within the sector bodes well for the continent in general, and the fact that the company is already seeing positive economic effects of the new investments across the continent is extremely encouraging.”
“At DHL, we work closely with our customers to optimize their complex supply chains and manage logistics costs better, so that companies can focus on their core activities. And, our team applies the same exacting HSSE and compliance standards as the industry itself. We have been operating in Africa since 1978 and our unrivalled footprint is only rivaled by the size of our air network – we are the only logistics company to operate our own aircraft in Africa which currently consists of 14 dedicated aircraft, servicing all corners of the continent. When it comes to the oil and gas sector, it rings true, that Nobody Knows Africa like we do,” concludes Harley.
Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of Deutsche Post DHL.
Media Contact:
Megan Collinicos. Head: Advertising & Public Relations, Sub-Saharan Africa
DHL Express
Tel +27 21 409 3613 Mobile +27 76 411 8570
megan.collinicos@dhl.com
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ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, July 30, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) would like to inform the media and the general public, that an advocacy mission to assess the si…
BISSAU, Guinea Bissau, July 30, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Mauricio Villafuerte visited Bissau during July 23-29, 2014 to discuss recent economic developments. The mission met with the authorities of the newly-elected government, including President Jose Mario Vaz, Prime Minister Simoes Pereira, and Minister of Economy and Finance Geraldo Martins. The mission also met with the National Director of the Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO) Joao Fadia and development partners. At the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Villafuerte issued the following statement:
“The mission conducted an assessment of economic developments and discussed a realistic policy framework for the remainder of the year, in particular the revenue and expenditure envelopes for the 2014 budget, which is being prepared by the authorities. Economic activity is expected to accelerate this year in the context of higher cashew export prices and a resumption of traditional donors’ support. After growing by 0.3 percent in 2013, the mission estimates a GDP growth rate of 2.7 percent for 2014. Inflation has remained subdued and is projected to increase somewhat in the second half of the year as fiscal arrears are cleared and cashew farmers get better prices for their crops.
“The mission noted that the new government has been able to reduce wage arrears from four to two months and they will be fully regularized thanks to a grant from the World Bank and the recent placement of CFAF 15 billion (3 percent of GDP) in T-bills. The government deemed the latter’s success as an important confidence signal on the country’s economic prospects by private regional banks. The mission estimated that, to have a close to fully-operational government, its financing needs will surpass 9 percent of GDP in 2014. Covering those will hinge on the quick resumption of traditional donors’ support, for which prospects are favorable. Approval of a fully-financeable 2014 budget will be critical to instill fiscal discipline, together with the implementation of measures to improve treasury management and the monitoring of budget execution.
“The mission stressed the importance of improving the business environment and enhancing the opportunities for inclusive growth. In this regard, the mission noted that high export taxes on cashew exports have increased rural poverty and smuggling through neighboring countries and reiterated a call for eliminating the contributions toward the cashew industrialization program (FUNPI).
“The mission looks forward to an active and continued dialogue with the authorities with the aim of addressing the country’s economic and development challenges.”
JOHANNESBURG, South-Africa, July 30, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — PwC (http://www.pwc.com) has today announced it is increasing its investment in Africa and building closer links between PwC UK and PwC Africa, to meet increased demand for professional services as trade activity between the two regions grows.
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The investment is part of PwC’s ongoing strategy to develop high potential markets, and follows the UK firm’s successful investment in Central and Eastern Europe.
Ian Powell, UK Chairman and Senior Partner, commented:
“This is an exciting development which enhances our ability to serve clients across the fastest growing region in the world. Africa has an abundance of natural resources and seven of the world’s fastest growing economies meaning the opportunities for UK business are significant.”
Suresh Kana, PwC Africa Network Territory Senior Partner, said:
“This is great news for our network. Over the years we have built PwC into the leading network in Africa. We now see huge opportunities to build our capabilities further as we will be able to invest even faster in key industry sectors such as Capital Projects & Infrastructure, Oil & Gas, Government & Public Sector and Financial Services. We have great teams in Africa and this investment will help us build more local capacity, and create teaming and secondment opportunities.”
As part of the investment, Paul Cleal, PwC UK partner and chair of its Africa Business Group, will be seconded to the African Leadership team and based on the continent.
PwC teams from the UK and Africa have a strong track record of working together to support businesses, governments and NGOs in nations such as Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia with expertise in fields such as economic development, climate change, education, infrastructure, natural resources, and power and utilities.
The UK is renowned for the strength of its business and professional services sector and this deal is a demonstration of how the nation can play to its strengths on the global stage. This commitment not only benefits our clients and the PwC network, but is also good for the UK and African economies.
Professional and business support services is one of the most successful sectors in the UK economy, contributing 12% of total UK GDP – more than financial services (8.5%) or manufacturing (10%). The sector has grown by nearly 6% a year since Q3 2009 and has been one of the biggest job-creating sectors in the UK economy as well as a major contributor to UK exports.
A 2013 report by BIS – ‘Growth is our business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services (PBS)’ – recognised the contribution of the professional and business services sector to the UK economy, and highlighted the opportunities in developing markets. Other business services contribute 29% of total services exports and totalled £58.6 billion in 2013, with a trade surplus of £29.3 billion.
Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC).
Contacts
Suresh Kana: PwC Africa Network Territory Senior Partner
Office: + 27 11 797 4312
Email: suresh.kana@za.pwc.com
OR
Hein Boegman: PwC Regional Senior Partner, South Market Area
Office: + 27 11 797 4335
Email: hein.boegman@za.pwc.com
OR
James du Preez: PwC Head of Marketing, Communications & Business Development
Office: + 27 11 797 4367
Email: james.du.preez@za.pwc.com
OR
Lindiwe Magana: Media Relations Manager, PwC
Office: + 27 11 797 5042
Email: lindiwe.magana@za.pwc.com
About PwC
PwC (http://www.pwc.com) firms help organisations and individuals create the value they’re looking for. We’re a network of firms in 157 countries with more than 184,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax and advisory services. Tell us what matters to you and find out more by visiting us at http://www.pwc.com.
BANGUI, Central African Republic, July 29, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — On the occasion of the Aïd al-Fitr, the African-led International Support Mission in the Central African Republic (MISCA) offered sheep to the Bangui Muslim community. The ceremony took place at the Bangui Central Mosque in the presence of several religious dignitaries.
Speaking on this occasion on behalf of General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission and Head of MISCA, the Mission’s Senior Political Adviser stressed the importance and urgency of consolidating the progress made in the search for a lasting solution to the crisis facing the CAR. In this regard, he urged all the CAR communities and stakeholders to seize the occasion of the feast marking the end of the blessed month of Ramadan to redouble their efforts in order to overcome, once and for all, the multidimensional challenges confronting the CAR and to open up a brighter chapter in their country’s troubled history.
On his part, the representative of the Imam of the Central Mosque, in the presence of the other Imams of the KM5 neighborhood, thanked the AU for this “gesture, which comes from the heart and which is a testimony to the attention that the international community, especially the AU, pay to the plight of religious minorities and places of worship”. He also took the opportunity to commend the “professionalism of the soldiers of the Burundian contingent of MISCA, which protects the Central Mosque and the KM5 neighborhood “.
It should be noted that the Bangui Central Mosque is host to approximately 5,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). These IDPs fled the massive violence that affected the CAR over the past few months.
