What are the challenges faced by African Businesses?

Standard Chartered Bank’s dream for Tanzania
Monday, 09 July 2007
Tanzania’s economy has been steadily growing and so has the banking sector. Recently, Business Week’s Israel Mbonea & Elias Wambura, had an interview with MR. SAIF MALIK (below), the Executive Director of client relationships & co-head wholesale banking at Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania Limited, regarding the challenges and future plans for the businesses in Tanzania. Below are the excerpts.

In your view what is the role of Technology in the banking industry in the country? And what are the challenges regarding the technology in the sector?

 Technology plays a vital role in the banking industry in Tanzania. The world has become a global village mainly due to changes in technology.
In this regard, the banking sector has to match the pace at which the world is moving by enhancing its technology. Standard Chartered Bank recognises this and has put in place effective systems that enhance the speed at which we serve our customers while also taking into account security issues.
Some of the challenges faced by the industry include power problems on which all systems relay. Connectivity is another challenge whereby the systems face some outage due to connectivity issues.
Another major challenge is the skills. There are few people who are conversant with the various systems currently in use though the bank is addressing these issues now.
Read more in the East African Business Week

The Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership 2007

The winner of the first Mo Ibrahim Prize was announced on 22nd October 2007. Joaquim Chissano, the former President of Mozambique, was announced the winner of the inaugural Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. The largest individual award in the world, it comprises of US$5 million over 10 years and US$200,000 annually for life thereafter and up to US$200,000 a year for 10 years towards the winner's public interest activities and good causes.

Find out more at www.moibrahimfoundation.org

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African Business
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Africa Presents (UK) members attended the Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards on Thursday 3rd July 2008.
 
The awards were created in 2004 to help transform perceptions about the continent. Five years on, Africa is a different place, and the Awards continue to seek out, recognise and reward journalists and editors around the world who provide high quality coverage of the business environment in Africa.

The Awards aim to promote a more balanced view of financial issues and business opportunities across the continent, thereby empowering investors to make informed decisions about Africa as well as show casing Africa's success stories. Read More

Who says African leaders don't play hardball?

When Africa Presents attended the EU-Africa consultation in October 2007, we were interested to hear the opinion of the EU representative  of European Commission, Klaus Rudischhauser. We were concerned by his statement that African countries must accept the terms of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) as there are no alternatives . In his opinion, the World Trade Organisation will impose EPAs if African countries rejected the proposals. 
 
The outcome of the Summit, suggests that African leaders have not yielded to EU demands. If, as many argue, these agreements are not as beneficial to our Continent as the EU would have us believe, then it's only right negotiate. Ironically, it may be Mugabe's presence that contributed to this air of defiance. Nevertheless our leaders are showing a strength and sensibility which redefines the imbalanced relationship between Europe and Africa.

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African Ambassadors Interactive Forum
28-29th November 2007

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Africa Presents attended the African Investment Interactive Forum and met with the organisers to discuss what investment opportunities exist on the Continent. The Nigerian Stock Exchange featured heavily and the message was clear: now is the time to invest in Africa. www.ingo.org.uk

If you are interested in investing in the Continent but do not know how, why not attend our workshop "How to invest in Africa".
Click here for more information

Diageo African Business Reporting Awards 5th July 2007

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The 2007 Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards were presented at a gala ceremony in the Dorchester Library at the Royal College of Physicians, London on 5th July.

The Awards recognise and reward journalists and editors providing high quality coverage of the business environment in Africa.

These awards aim to promote a more balanced view of opportunity in Africa. Similarly, Africa Presents is striving to foster links with SMEs and financial institutions in Africa. Our hope is that through our investments workshops we can provide reliable and practical information to potential investors.

Click here to find out more about our workshops planned for 2008.

If you would like to become involved in any of our events email us at info@africapresents.org.uk

Top 10 African Businesses - Coming Soon!

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The Sierra Leone Investment Information Portal (SLIIP) was developed to address the lack of cohesive Diaspora-specific investment information on Sierra Leone. An initiative of the Sierra Leone Diaspora Network (SLDN), SLIIP was borne out of the Diaspora consultative forums held in the UK (June 2005) and in Sierra Leone (March 2006).

Click here to access the portal

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