Africa

France Telecom currently has approximately 80 million customers across Africa and it will now commence work to ensure that phones sold by its operators there are pre-installed with the web browser.

The company has said that slow data speeds on African mobile networks have made it difficult up until now to support web-browsing. This new browser is expected to ease the burden on networks by using specially written code that reduces the amount of data that has to be passed back and forth when visiting popular websites.

Madagascar is a land of increasing opportunity. Chairman, Zouzar Bouka, explains his vision of a new Madagascar and how VIMA Group is helping make this a reality.

Chief executive officer Steven Golding explains how a lack of fear, a willingness to embrace innovation and good old fashioned family values have combined to create a leading project management consulting company.

For the better part of three decades Inorganic Ventures has been a leading manufacturer of certified reference materials. Executive vice president Michael Scott, and vice president of operations Christopher Gaines explain how it is now targeting the lucrative mining sector.

Chief executive officer Ismail Dockrat discusses the restructuring programme that has contributed to this South African success story.

In the nearly two decades since 1994, air travel into South Africa has increased by approximately 70 percent. In fact, during the month long staging of the 2010 FIFA World Cup alone it is estimated that over one million foreigners visited the country. These figures go some way to highlighting the reason why the aviation sector in this part of the world has undergone such tremendous growth in recent times.

Healthcare delivery in Africa is to benefit from a $10.6 million public-private financing initiative from the Medical Credit Fund (MCF).

The MCF financing has been sourced from the US Government and a group of leading international foundations this week—the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the Calvert Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Soros Economic Development Fund, the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation and Dutch private investors, as well as grant funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Nobody’s perfect. What quality or ability do you wish you had?

There are lots of things I wish I could do better! Everything from eye-hand coordination to mathematics – the list is long. I often have a hard time being nice and it seems like I could be more patient with people. The ability to relax would be nice too…

What is the best business book you have ever read, and why?

From buildings and bridges to clean energy and clean water, Bentley Systems has been sustaining some of the world’s most significant infrastructure projects for close to 30 years.

When we think of infrastructure we tend to think about the hardware involved, be it the materials used or the equipment and tools to bring structures and buildings to life. What we tend to take for granted are the software solutions involved and how crucial they are to the entire process.

By embracing change and innovation, PetroSA is opening up new horizons for South Africa’s energy sector.

As the leading economic power in Africa, it’s no surprise that South Africa is a key player in the African oil industry. Liquid fuels are an important component of its energy sector, with the 2012 BP Statistical Energy Survey revealing that, in 2011, South Africa consumed an average of 547,250 barrels of oil per day.

Zimbabwe is starting to make up for lost time, but economic development will depend on robust infrastructure, including the sound telecommunications network being built by a community of private and state players under the watchful eye of national regulator POTRAZ.