Kevin Mwanza

  • Uganda To Get East Africa’s First Ever Gold Refinery By End Of 2016

    Miners are seen sieving gold crystals from Muddy water in Bugiri 348km (216miles) east of Kampala, Uganda’s capital on February 5, 2013. Reuters/Edward Echwalu/ekimeeza.com By Kevin Mwanza, 8:17 am

    Uganda will build East Africa’s first ever gold refinery by the end of this year after Africa Gold Refinery Limited (AGRL), a local mining company, announced plans to set up the plant in Entebbe, south of the capital Kampala. The refinery will cost $20 million to build and will have a production capacity of one ton of pure gold per month. It will be supported by Tony Goetz & Sons N.V., a Belgium investor.

  • U.S.-Based Flower Firm Leaves Ethiopia After Protesters Attack Farm

    Africa's industrial powerhouse By Kevin Mwanza, 7:43 am

    Esmeralda Farms Nederland, a US-based flower farm in Bahir Dar, has ceased its operations in Ethiopia after an attack on its premises by alleged anti-government protestors that led to damages worth millions of dollars. The attack which was linked to the ongoing Oromia protests happened earlier in the month. It caused damages estimated at $ 11, 158, 900 (10 million euros), according to DutchNews.nl.

  • Dangote Cement Controls 22% Of Tanzanian Market Two Months After Launch

    thecitizenng.com By Kevin Mwanza, 7:44 am

    Dangote Cement, owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, now controls 22 percent of the market in Tanzania since it launched operations in June as its low cost cement continues to upset companies that have for years dominated the East African market. Lafarge Holcim of France which is the biggest producer in Africa controls the biggest share of the East African market with a 27 percent; Tororo Cement of Uganda has 21 percent; while ARM Cement has 17 percent.

  • Africa’s Richest Man Eyes Stake In EPL Club Arsenal In Four Years

    Arsenal By Kevin Mwanza, 4:01 am

    Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, plans to buy shares in Arsenal, a top English football club, in the next four years, becoming the first businessman from the continent to have ownership in the football giants. The decision comes six years after Dangote turned down an opportunity to buy 15.9 percent shares from Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, a former director in 2010. The Nigerian business mogul revealed the decision last year.

  • ICC Throws A Spanner Into Kenyan Politics Ahead Of 2017 Election

    Kenya's Politics By Kevin Mwanza, 8:54 am

    The International Criminal Court (ICC) has thrown a spanner into Kenya’s politics after it referred a non-cooperation case against the country’s President Uhuru Kenyatta to the Assembly of State Parties (ASP) for action. The Hague-based court ruled on Tuesday that the East African government did not cooperate in the crimes against humanity case against President Kenyatta. It terminated the case on March 13

  • Investors Turn To Tech Startups In Africa As Commodities Slump Bites

    Photo: techrepublic.com By Kevin Mwanza, 8:15 am

    Investors have turned to tech startups across Africa in a shift from the traditional sectors such as mining due to ongoing economic slump in most African economies, occasioned by the global fall in commodity prices. The startups have given investors a reprieve in the wake of a commodity prices slump that has hit currencies in large economies like Nigeria and South Africa and led to a significant reduction in production in the mining sector in Zambia.

  • Ethiopia’s Incentives To Investors Attracts Foreign Firms, Grows FDI

    Image courtesy: solidaridadnetwork.org By Kevin Mwanza, 7:56 am

    Ethiopia, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, has seen an increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) as more foreign companies set up in the horn of Africa nation attracted by government incentives to investors in various sectors. The country expects about $1.7 billion in FDI flows in 2016, surpassing East Africa’s leading economy, Kenya, that has projected about $1.1 billion this year. Last year, Ethiopian government had predicted a record $1.5 billion in FDI

  • Swiss Oil Companies Shift Blame Of Dirty Fuel To African Governments

    Photo: unep.org By Kevin Mwanza, 8:53 am

    Swiss oil companies have blamed African governments for failure to invest in modernizing their refineries and newer vehicles, leading to the spread of respiratory diseases across the continent’s population. Watchdog group Public Eye accused the downstream fuel traders of deliberately selling low-quality oil and gas fuels to African markets, which increase air pollution leading to respiratory diseases and early deaths.

  • Another Obama Speech Plagiarized. This Time In Nigeria

    thenewsnigeria.com.ng By Kevin Mwanza, 3:26 am

    Nigeria President Mohammed Buhari has ordered disciplinary action to be taken on those responsible for plagiarizing parts of his ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign speech from the 2008 victory speech by U.S. President Barack Obama. The plagiarism scandal is the second to hit Obamas’ famous victory speech of 2008. Melanie Trump, the wife to US presidential hopeful, Donald Trump, admitted to plagiarizing Michelle Obama’s speech to the Democratic National Convention.

  • SAA Woes Give Investors Inside View Into Zuma Government

    South African Airways landing in Johannesburg. Youtube/WN.com By Kevin Mwanza, 8:08 am

    South African Airways (SAA) has been locked in financial and management crisis since 2014 in what critics have described as effect of government mismanagement of public funds that has nearly crippled state-owned entities in the country. Early this month, Pravin Gordhan, the finance minister approved a loan guarantee of about $334 million, bringing the total state guarantees to the crisis-hit airline to $1.35 billion.