Africa

Swakop Uranium is about to develop Namibia’s largest uranium deposit. CEO Norman Green talks about the challenges of the project and how the company is protecting the sensitive desert environment.

Running an airline is normally a deadly serious business but this South African operator has made a name for itself by poking fun at just about everybody.

Comair in South Africa could just well be the most unusual airline in the world. Operations director Martin Louw doesn’t much care for the term Jekyll & Hyde but it’s hard to deny there is something of the schizophrenic about Comair.

Millicom International Cellular today announced it has now received all necessary documentation to complete the transaction to acquire 100 percent of Cablevision Paraguay.

Millicom will now assume management control of Cablevision Paraguay and will consolidate the operation’s results from 1 October 2012. The results for Cablevision Paraguay will be reported as part of the South America region.

American Express Travel Services South Africa is developing its continent-wide American Express franchise network to meet the unique requirements of Africa’s rapidly growing oil and gas industries.

Part of a strategy by the government to counteract the loss of oil revenue following the session of South Sudan in 2011, the Sudan Gold Refinery is expected to produce more than 328 tonnes of gold per year.

According to the Reuters news agency, Sudan hopes to sell gold worth up to $3 billion this year, a figure that works out to double that of 2011’s gold revenue. The refinery, which will also process silver, is the first project of its kind in Sudan and the second in Africa for producing and extracting the two minerals with high quality and purity.

Having previously announced in 2010 that it had discovered commercially viable deposits of 2.5 billion barrels of oil in the country, Uganda has now confirmed the further discovery of an additional one billion barrels.

Through a combination of new discoveries and the ability to extract greater volumes of oil from existing wells the country’s deposits now total at least 3.5 billion barrels. To date a total of 70 out of 77 wells drilled have been confirmed as containing oil and gas.

A relatively small company is playing a big part in facilitating trade in a country with a troubled past that is gradually getting back on its feet.

‘With God on our side’ is not the official slogan of Freight Mark Services—but it could be. It certainly underlines the guiding principles of how the business operates, as explained by Mandela Katsande, the logistics manager of this Zimbabwean company. “We are a Christian-based business,” he says, “and we conduct ourselves with complete transparency and strong ethics.”

Gold Fields aims to be the global leader in sustainable gold mining. That does not mean staying in business for ever; but rather leaving behind a viable economy, a clean environment and a thriving community.

Temporary power generation and temperature control services provider Aggreko has officially opened its new service centre in Walvis Bay, Namibia.

The new facility was formally inaugurated by Honorable Willem Isaak, Deputy Minister of Mines of Namibia and Martin Foster, head of local business, Aggreko Southern and East Africa. Cleophas Mutjavikua, the governor of the Erongo region, was also in attendance. 

The facility is Aggreko's sixth service centre in Southern and East Africa and is the first operation to be based in Namibia.

Africa’s largest manufacturer of polyurethane foam products has been very busy extending its products, markets and technology—and supporting new businesses as part of its growth strategy.