business-in-africa

Saikat Kumar to steer global financial services industry to new era with a world-class one-stop-shop for investors

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

SKYCAP Investment Management Limited, a diversified financial services firm, has officially soft launched in the UAE.  Touted to be a one-stop-shop for global investors (Middle East, Africa, India, South East Asia, US and UK investors), SKYCAP seeks to disrupt the banking and finance industry by providing trusted advice and access to best-in-class investment products and services to support its clients’ goal of wealth preservation and growth.

From its base in Dubai, SKYCAP will offer a wide range of financial products and services, which are mutually reinforcing and can be tailored to a client’s specific needs.  Among the firm’s core offerings include Advisory (including Government, M&A, and Capital Raising/Restructuring), Private Equity (Fintech and Special Opportunities), Asset and Wealth Management Advisory, Credit Opportunities Funds, as well as Digital, Forensic, IT Risk Management and BPO services.

SKYCAP has been founded by Saikat Kumar, one of the most respected names in the Middle East banking and financial industry.  He is now the Founder and CEO of SKYCAP Investment Management Ltd., after completing his stint as Partner and Senior Executive Officer of Al Masah Capital Limited.  With over 23 years of banking and finance expertise under his belt, Kumar has amassed a proven track record in strategy planning, distribution management, client management, risk and compliance, business development, and product management.  He has also worked with a number of internationally-recognized firms, to name a few, Fullerton Fund Management (Temasek Singapore), ABN AMRO, Standard Chartered, ICICI Bank and ANZ Grindlays, as well as leading nationalized banks.

“Although the market is in for tough times, given the extraordinarily challenging situation happening across the globe, I believe in the half year onwards, the market will offer investors excellent opportunities to invest in good quality blue chip stocks across the world at cheap valuation and prices. With interest rates at all time low, stocks would offer best upside,” Kumar said.

Despite growing demand and turbulent growth factors, however, the SKYCAP founder said that the supply of credit to the private sector is considerably lower than developed markets such as the USA and UK.  Underpinned by very strong values and principles to deliver the best possible outcome for clients, Kumar brought to fruition his vision of a trusted and innovative diversified financial services firm that truly understands and services its clients with utmost transparency and integrity.

“My goal is to always be client-centric and be driven to provide financial solutions and services designed to execute effectively our clients’ vision at the highest level, ultimately delivering on their financial ambitions.  Whilst SKYCAP is a new venture, we have all the capabilities that can meet all the investment needs of its shareholders in addition to retail, HNI, UHNI, institutional, family office, SWFs and pension fund investors.  Our company is differentiated by a core value of integrity and transparency through a strong, global regulatory framework. Moreover, with an international strategy complementing a global roll-out plan – plus a robust core investment team that is backed by a competent support services function – I am confident that SKYCAP will go on to be the partner of choice for the most discerning investors,” Kumar concluded.

By Jorge dos Santos

Qatar Airways is suspending all its flights from Maputo until 31 May, with the last flight leaving today, indicates a press release from the company seen by Pan African Visions.

South African Airways SAA, Angolan airline TAAG and Portuguese national airline TAP also suspended flights from Mozambique.

Despite not having confirmed cases in Mozambique, countries in the Southern Africa Development Community are ramping up their protective measures, particularly after the confirmation of over a dozen cases in neighbouring South Africa, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Zambia.

Calls for SA-Mozambique border closure

Mozambique’s main opposition party Renamo called for the South Africa-Mozambique border to be closed. Whatever, health Minister Armindo Tiago said there were international criteria on “when a border is closed” and warned of the economic and social impact of that decision.

On the other, the transparency NGO CIP has called on thursday for urgent measures to slow the spread of Covid-19 in Mozambique, including:

• A state of emergency, to allow measures to be enforced
• Prohibit the entry of non-resident foreigners from the worst-affected countries
• End home quarantine for arrivals from countries with confirmed cases of Covid-19, forcing them to undergo quarantine in specially prepared ‘sanitary units’
• Close all schools, for at least two weeks
• Prohibit gatherings of more than 100 people
• Adopt special checking measures for urban public transport, to avoid overloading with passengers
• Adopt special checking measures for places of regular concentration of crowds, such as places of worship and places of recreation
• Guarantee availability of water in popular public places to minimise the risk of transmission
• Carry out free and obligatory testing in health centres for everyone with flu symptoms

However, according to government spokesman Filimão Suaze, developments in neighbouring countries could justify the announcement of new measures in the coming days.

*jorgedossantosmz@gmail.com

Cairo, 18 March 2020: – Registration for the 2020 Annual Meetings of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), which will be held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, has opened, according to information released today by the Bank.

Afreximbank announced that intending participants for the meetings, dubbed AAM2020, could register by visiting the Annual Meetings website at: https://aam2020.afreximbankevents.com where regularly updated information about the venue, programme, hotel accommodation and visas would also be available.

Afreximbank Annual Meetings are open to banking industry professionals, trade and trade finance practitioners and other parties involved in economic development from across Africa and beyond. They are also attended by business and political leaders and have been ranked among the most important gatherings of economic decision-makers in Africa.

The 2020 Annual Meetings, with the theme “Youth, Trade and Development”, will feature a host of high-level speakers in plenaries and side events from 10 to 13 June at the Sharm El Sheikh International Congress Center.

The programme will include a seminar on 10 June, with the official opening of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders taking place on 11 June. The event will conclude on 13 June with the closed session of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.

“In recognition of the critical role that Africa’s evolving demographics will play in the coming decades, AAM2020 will focus on the theme ‘Youth, Trade and Development’. Through a stimulating programme of discussions and activities, we will assess the challenges and opportunities presented by Africa as the world’s youngest continent and home to 90 per cent of the global youth market, with 19 of the world’s 20 youngest countries,” said Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank. “We will explore how Africa can create dividends from this potentially huge advantage, how we should educate our young and develop the most relevant training programmes for them, and what Africa should be doing right now.”

AAM2020 is being hosted by the Government of Egypt represented by the Central Bank of Egypt.

Afreximbank’s last Annual Meetings took place in Moscow in June 2019.

About Afreximbank: The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is the foremost pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade. The Bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors. Its two basic constitutive documents are the Establishment Agreement, which gives it the status of an international organization, and the Charter, which governs its corporate structure and operations. Since 1994, it has approved more than $67 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including $7.2 billion in 2018. Afreximbank had total assets of $13.4 billion as at 31 December 2018. It is rated A- (GCR), Baa1 (Moody’s), and BBB- (Fitch). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo. For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com

*Source Afreximbank

Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission signs new MoU with Oxford Business Group

Nigeria’s efforts to attract foreign investment for sectors of its economy earmarked for growth, despite the challenging external environment prompted by the coronavirus, will be mapped out in a new report by the global research and advisory firm Oxford Business Group (OBG).

The Report: Nigeria 2020 will shine a spotlight on the country’s plans to roll out new transport and other infrastructure projects in the coming years as part of a broader bid to accommodate its growing population and rising levels of urbanisation.

Key topics explored will include the growing emphasis on public-private partnerships in Nigeria’s infrastructural drive that is supporting a push to increase the part played by the private sector in the economy.

With the delayed Dangote refinery back in the spotlight in December, when the huge crude distillation column was inaugurated, The Report: Nigeria 2020 will consider the significant contribution that the facility will make to the national economy by processing local crude and, in turn, reducing fuel imports.

There will also be wide-ranging coverage of Nigeria’s ICT development, which is proving to be crucial in helping the country to reduce its reliance on hydrocarbons and encourage entrepreneurial activity.

In addition, OBG will look at both the benefits that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, signed by Nigeria in July 2019, is expected to bring in terms of strengthening trade and commercial activity across the continent, and the challenges that could hinder its success.

The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) has signed a further memorandum of understanding (MoU) with OBG for its forthcoming publication. Under the agreement, the commission will once again help OBG to carry out the research for The Report: Nigeria 2020 and other content that will be made available across its platforms.

Welcoming the partnership, Wen Qian Chang OBG’s Country Director in Abuja, said she looked forward to teaming up again with the NIPC, which, she added, was one of the Group’s longstanding partners.

“Despite global problems, such as the current coronavirus outbreak and lower oil prices, Nigeria remains an attractive emerging market for the international business community, buoyed by a rapidly growing middle-class population and abundant natural resources,” she said. “Our research for The Report: Nigeria 2020 has already highlighted an uptick in business confidence this year.

The Report: Nigeria 2020 willmark the culmination of more than 12 months of field research by a team of analysts from Oxford Business Group. It will be a vital guide to the many facets of the country, including its macroeconomics, infrastructure, banking and other sectoral developments.

OBG’s publication will contain contributions from leading representatives across the public and private sectors. It will be produced with the NIPC, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Oxford Business Group (OBG) is a global research and advisory company with a presence in over 30 countries, from Africa, Asia and the Middle East to The Americas. A distinctive and respected provider of on-the-ground intelligence on the world’s fastest growing markets for sound investment opportunities and business decisions. 

Through its range of products – Economic News and Views; The OBG CEO Survey; OBG Events and Conferences; Global Platform, which hosts exclusive video interviews; The Report publications – and its Advisory division, OBG offers comprehensive and accurate analysis of macroeconomic and sectoral developments. 

OBG provides business intelligence to its subscribers through multiple platforms, including its own verified subscribers and the ones of Dow Jones Factiva, Bloomberg Terminal, Refinitiv’s Eikon (previously Thomson Reuters), Factset and more.

SAFCOIN, an exclusive African crypto and exchange, has launched a zero-fee Bitcoin trading pair on their exchange. Bitcoin traders in Africa can now trade on SAFCOIN’s USD exchanges without incurring transaction fees.
As one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges to offer this service, SAFCOIN aims to make cryptocurrency trading easy and accessible for more people in Africa. Its clean and simple graphic user interface offers a hassle-fee, easy-to-navigate experience when buying Bitcoin or SAFCOIN.

“The cryptocurrency market has been on a positive trajectory globally,” says Neil Ferreira, CEO of SAFCOIN. “It’s exciting to see the increased adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrencies in Africa. We’re proud to be able to support this growth with current and future projects that we’re developing on the SAFCOIN blockchain.”

SAFCOIN’s mission is to simplify the cross-border payment processes between African countries, by eliminating red tape and bulky transaction processes.
In making SAFCOIN an Africa-wide accepted form of payment that boosts trade between countries, SAFCOIN aims to open up the digital currency market through the widespread use of mobile money accounts.

The whole of African can trade on the BTC/USD exchange with each other at ZERO fees with Fiat deposits done through Credit Card, Bank EFT’s and Mobile Money. The launch of this exchange not only aids to awareness in Africa but increase the crypto network in emerging markets.

Register a free wallet account on https://www.safcoin.africa and start trading Bitcoin on the easy to use graphic exchange

By Samuel Ouma

Kenyan traders have been warned against hiking prices of products over coronavirus pandemic.

The statement was issued by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) chief executive Phyllis Wakiaga urging their members to stick to contractual obligation and avoid increasing prices.

“KAM advocates that the rule of law prevails during this time and that all producers and distributors continue to uphold existing contractual obligations, especially with regard to price controls for the sake of consumers,” said Wakiaga.

On its side, the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) notified manufacturers and retailers that they will attract a penalty of up to the 10 per cent of their turnover if they attempt to raise the their prices or hoard with an intention of increasing prices.

Few hours after Kenyan government confirmed the first case of covid-19 on Friday last week; Kenyans thronged shopping centres like supermarkets to purchase sanitizers and household commodities in panic buy mode.

Upon visiting a handful of supermarkets based in Nairobi, we discovered that there were shortages of sanitizers and basic commodities like maize flour, rice and sugar. Most shelves were empty and there were long queues of customers waiting to be served.

Dan Githua, Chief Executive Officer of Tuskys Supermarket, one of the famous supermarkets in the country had assured the customers of adequate stock.

“As a responsible corporate citizen, we wish to assure the public that the panic is unnecessary. We have engaged with our suppliers and received firm commitments that we shall continue receiving necessary supplies at the standard prices,” he said.

Githua also disclosed the adoption of a limited purchase policy which will see every customer buying three packets of a hand sanitizer, antiseptic and bleach liquid. The move was aimed at locking out opportunists who were buying the products in bulk and sell them at a very high price to desperate Kenyans.

“A few bold and entrepreneurial customers have been taking advantage of the prevailing Covid-19 panic to buy particular items in bulk and resell at inflated prices,” Githua said.

On Sunday, March 15, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe confirmed the other two cases of the deadly virus forcing the government to shut down all learning institutions until further notice to avert further spread. The two who tested positive had travelled in the same plane with the first patient.

The first woman to test positive had arrived in Kenya from USA via London on March 5 and the virus detected 8 days later.

President Uhuru Kenyatta also announced that all foreigners have been banned from entering the country and those who entered the country in the last two weeks have been directed to self-quarantine.

“As a result of this we are going to implement the following measures: Only Kenyan citizens and foreigners with valid resident permits will be allowed to come into the country provided they proceed on self-quarantine or in a government quarantine facility,” President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Kenya had also cancelled flights to and from the affected countries. Non-essential travels have also been halted.

SITA has the potential to dramatically improve ATC communications through the implementation of IP suites

GENEVA – Wednesday, 11 March 2020 – SITA is accelerating innovation in air traffic control (ATC) communications as part of Boeing’s 2019 ecoDemonstrator program, alongside key industry partners including NASA and long-standing airline customer, Etihad. 

The program tests pioneering and promising technologies that aim to solve air transport industry challenges for airlines and passengers, as well as enhancing sustainability. The most recent program saw the implementation of such technologies onboard a Boeing 777 and tests a total of 50 different projects.

SITA’s involvement in the program highlights the strength of its SITA FOR AIRCRAFT portfolio, which delivers the promise of the connected aircraft by providing services that enable communication between aircraft, ground systems, ATC and other operators. 

SITA is working in collaboration with Honeywell to optimize the transmission of digital information between pilots, ATC and airline operations centers (AOCs) using Internet Protocol Suites (IPS). The technology supports Boeing’s ambition of testing technologies that focus on the enhancement of flight operations and safety, with the potential to dramatically improve ATC communications and end-to-end data exchanges.

Following the completion of successful trials, the migration from ACARS protocols to IPS could benefit airlines by offering commonality across mainstream communications channels, as well as next-generation network compatibility and enhanced security. 

SITA’s testing of these capabilities, through Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator initiative, has an important role to play in today’s ground-to-air connectivity landscape and the increasing pressure on traditional communications protocols. 

The implementation comes as part of SITA’s work to evolve a multilink aircraft communications ecosystem, as a world leader in IPS. Central to this approach is SITA’s ability to integrate multiple networks, both proprietary and third-party, enabling seamless fallback and a vital system that inspires industry-wide confidence. 

Mike Sinnett, Vice President of Product Strategy and Future Airplane Development at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said: “It’s exciting to welcome SITA onboard our debut 777 ecoDemonstrator to address some of the challenges facing airline operations and air traffic control. This is a key area in assessing the technologies that will make our skies safer and more efficient, for Boeing, and the wider industry.”

Dominique El Bez, Vice President Product and Strategy, SITA FOR AIRCRAFT, said: “Reinforcing flight safety and optimization remain priorities for airlines and air traffic managers. That’s why SITA is working to build and optimize a multilink communications ecosystem. By working with the Boeing ecoDemonstrator to test these solutions faster and with greater fidelity, we hope to continue to develop our end-to-end, fault-resistant solutions for enhanced aircraft communications, whatever the satellite network or connectivity platform.”

SITA FOR AIRCRAFT is one of SITA’s three domains of expertise, alongside SITA AT AIRPORTS and SITA AT BORDERS. These domains of expertise bring together SITA’s technology solutions and services with in-depth knowledge of industry processes and systems. 

The first level of the distribution channel will be granted to companies with the special status of master partner for the country or a group of countries in Africa

MOSCOW, Russia, March 10, 2020/ — MyOffice (https://MyOffice.ru/en/), the Russian developer of software for collaborative work with documents, has developed a partner network for operation in the countries of Africa. They are planning to create a two-level distribution channel for sales of software to government and major commercial agencies of the region.

MyOffice is conducting negotiations on the government level regarding contracts in several African countries, including Algiers, Burundi, Gabon, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, and Uganda. The company is interested in finding partners with sufficient expertise on the IT market who are able to provide a full cycle of works in supply of software products to the above-listed countries. Priority will be granted to companies that have experience of working with government agencies and large-scale businesses with annual turnover over $10M. MyOffice sets rigorous requirements both for business expertise of their future partners and their ability to take up complex IT projects. Applications for participation in the partner network can be sent to the specially assigned email — global.sales@myoffice.team.

The first level of the distribution channel will be granted to companies with the special status of master partner for the country or a group of countries in Africa. MyOffice will be actively helping these partners promote their product on the local market, including by conducting educational courses for employees of the partner company on working with the product and establishing business strategies.

To complete their tasks, appointed master partners will develop the second level of the channel out of local market players, integrators, resellers, and suppliers of IT products. They are planning to cooperate using the classic scheme of license supply to the software market — MyOffice, as the platform developer, develops and perfects their product; master partner sells licenses in the region strictly following KPIs, while local companies are concerned with direct introduction, technical support, and personnel training.

“At the moment, several in Africa are already using MyOffice products. For instance, in 2019 we sold MyOffice Professional licenses to the agencies of Burundi Presidential Executive Office and signed a cooperation contract with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Positive examples of introducing MyOffice in key countries of the region will influence their neighbor’s decisions, since they are also worried about issues of confidentiality and data control. I am certain they will be interested in using the most advanced technology for collaborative work with documents and reducing the costs of creating and maintaining IT infrastructure,” says Dmitry Komissarov, CEO of MyOffice.

MyOffice (https://MyOffice.ru/en/) is Russian software for collaborative work with documents and communication on any platform. The My Office suite includes the following applications: Documents, Text, Spreadsheet, Presentation, Email, Calendar, Contacts, the Logos messenger.

One of the features of MyOffice products is full control of your data and high-level protection from external threats and unauthorized access. MyOffice software is easy to use, it helps organize collaborative work with documents on any computer, smartphone or tablet, even working on different OS.

There are also special free versions of MyOffice Education offered to educational institutions (http://bit.ly/38C5Cbc) MyOffice products are widely used in the education system of the Russian Federation to improve computer literacy and train highly skilled professionals for the labor market. Educational institutions in each of the 85 constituent units of Russia use over 1 million licenses of MyOffice Education.

The company offers products in 7 languages, including Russian, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Bashkir, and Tatar. As of 2020, MyOffice has been sold to 1,100 institutions, including federal and regional government agencies. The largest clients are the Federal Tax Service, the Federal National Guard Troop Service, Russian Post, Aeroflot, Russian Railways, and others.

The company was established in 2013. In 2019 Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer and supplier of information security solutions, joined the company’s board of directors.

*SOURCE MyOffice