Africa

Perchstone & Graeys, a prominent law firm in Nigeria, is organizing the 7^th edition of its Annual Law Series in India with the theme: “Securing Energy for Emerging Markets – An African/Asian Experience”.

As a business networking seminar, the Series goes beyond the orthodox and seeks not only to promote interaction amongst local and international business leaders in the public and private sectors, but also to influence government policy by highlighting international best practices supportive of Nigeria’s growth aspirations and tailoring them towards our  unique circumstances.

This year, the focus of the Series is on the key issues of energy and emerging markets, speaking to the power sector reform in Nigeria and the search for cheaper, safer and environmentally friendly sources of energy globally. The power sector reform holds great promise of economic prosperity for Nigeria and the Law Series presents an opportunity to draw attention to the consequential investment opportunities. On the other hand, the emergence of a number  of fast rising economies in the international market, of which India is one (listed among the BRIC nations projected to become the dominant economies of the 21st century), has similarly informed our decision to focus on such markets. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, India  is also Nigeria’s  third largest trading partner and the 5th largest consumer of Nigerian exports. India thus maintains a special relationship with Nigeria which we believe can be mutually exploited still further.

The event is organized in partnership with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and some of the resource persons include the Nigerian Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, CON, and India’s eminent lawyer, Mr. Shardul Shroff.

Other details of the event are as follows:

Date:   June 7, 2013

Venue: FICCI, Federation House, Tansen Marg, New Delhi, India.

This is a pre-registration event. Register now

GUEST COLUMN

Washington, DC — This 113th session of the U.S.  Congress has an opportunity to transform U.S. trade and investment relations with Africa.

A key issue is the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), now set to expire in September 2015.  The Obama Administration and key members of Congress have pledged to work for an 'early' extension of AGOA which, presumably, means that the legislation would be extended within the next 22 months.

This extension needs to occur for a number of reasons.

For one, the African market is not on the radar screen of the American business community.  In fact, the U.S. is effectively ceding the African marketplace to companies from China, India, Brazil, Russia, Turkey, the European Union and elsewhere.

Apart from the natural resource sector and some recent investments by major companies such as GE, Symbion, Wal-Mart, Microsoft and Proctor & Gamble, only one percent of U.S. foreign direct investment worldwide is in Africa, and half of this is in extractive industries, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Last year,  U.S. exports to Africa were just over $22 billion - about two percent of U.S. exports worldwide. While the volume may be small, these exports support more than 100,000 jobs in the United States, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Not only is this trade transforming the U.S.-African commercial relationship into a more genuine partnership, it raises the immediate question of how to accelerate U.S. trade and investment with Africa so that more American workers and companies derive a direct benefit.

Mobile service provider MTN today released their results for the year ended 31 December 2012, and showed that mobile subscribers to the network grew by 15,1% to 189,3 million.

“Over the past year, subscribers increased 15,1% to 189,3 million, a strong result in the face of the ongoing subscriber registration requirements and network challenges in key markets. The low levels of mobile penetration across our markets should support continued strong subscriber growth,” MTN said in a statement.

In terms of income, the group increased their revenue by 10,9% (R135 112 million), while organic revenue growth for all operations excluding Nigeria increased 12,3%. “Despite a challenging period for Nigeria (revenue -0,8%) following significant tariff declines amid heightened competition, the last quarter of 2012 has delivered consistent month-on-month growth, highlighting the strong underlying demand which we expect to continue in 2013. Nigeria negatively impacted the Group’s overall margin performance but has enjoyed an improvement in the fourth quarter which we expect to continue during 2013,” it said.

The group also released statistics on the number of sites it erected during the last year, which increased to 7 168. “We delivered on our commitment to shareholders and customers to accelerate our network rollout, with 7 168 (3 685 2G and 3 483 3G) sites delivered during the year, a significant improvement on the 4 126 sites completed in 2011.”

Mobile data also proved to be on the increase for the mobile operator, as they saw an 58,5% increase in data revenues, while data traffic on MTN’s network was 65,9% higher at 30 521 TB. “While South Africa remains the main driver of data revenue, contributing 43,9% of the total, the 111,6% local currency (“LC”) growth in Nigeria highlights the growing contribution from data across operations.”

MTN added that the pre-paid market still delivers some growth. “Airtime revenue grew by 4,8% to R21,1 billion largely due to subscriber growth. During the year, MTN South Africa sold 6,7 million prepaid phones and 1,3 million post-paid phones,” it said.

GENEVA — The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today launched a new funding model that allows it to invest more strategically, achieve greater impact, and engage implementers and partners more effectively.

The new funding model provides countries that implement grants with more flexibility around when they apply for funds, as well as more predictability on the level of funding available, while still encouraging countries to clearly express how much funding they need to effectively treat and prevent HIV and AIDS, TB and Malaria.

Up to $1.9 billion may be available for the new funding model's transition period, in 2013 and 2014. Full implementation of the new funding model will begin in early 2014 and will grant money in the 2014-2016 period.

"Our new funding model means more effective investments, with greater impact," said Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund. "It will definitely help us leverage investment in a way that allows our partners to reach more people facing these diseases."

Dr. Dybul added: "Our gains will be lost if we do not move forward to defeat these diseases. We can't stop now."

Based on the available funding, 47 countries may receive up to US$1.5 billion through renewals, grant extensions and redesigned programs that can rapidly make use of funds in 2013. As "interim applicants," these countries can immediately accelerate current programs that are highly effective.

Six countries and three regional programs are being invited as "early applicants" to participate in the full process of the new funding model, from submitting a concept note to creating a new grant. The countries - Zimbabwe, El Salvador, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kazakhstan and the Philippines - will be able to access a total of US$364 million in new funding, and can also apply for additional funds that incentivize ambitious and high impact investments and co-financing.

For all other countries, "standard applicants," the new funding model's flexible timeline means that efforts to conduct country dialogue and strengthen national strategies can proceed in a constructive way consistent with national planning cycles to prepare for funding in the 2014-2016 period.

The new funding model replaces the former "rounds" system of funding, which had one timing window for funding applications.

This year, the Global Fund invited country disease programs for funding based on criteria including: 1) being positioned to achieve rapid impact; 2) facing service interruptions or 3) currently receiving less than they would under the new funding model's allocation principles.

The new funding model is aligned with the Global Fund's existing practice of encouraging each recipient country to engage a diversity of partners, including civil society, to use the best epidemiology and scientific data possible to achieve maximum impact.

The new funding model also encourages countries to strengthen national strategies by incorporating HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria treatment and prevention in a holistic, programmatic approach. Further, it supports countries in consolidating existing funding streams and redesigning grants as needed around coherent, strategic and high impact investments that are aligned with domestic and other external funding sources.

"The new funding model gives us a special chance to learn and adapt," said Dr. Dybul. "During this year, we will monitor various aspects of the new funding model process so that we can adapt in real time. We are a learning institution and we will gain insight and knowledge as we work together."