Half of African countries (27 in total) are now classified as middle-income countries.

 A significant yet seldom highlighted World Bank statistic is that half of African countries (27 in total) are now classified as middle-income countries. Private equity has enabled businesses in Africa to grow by servicing rapidly gentrifying populations and is providing returns for investors that outstrip public markets. Among the most promising sectors is financial services, which has long been popular with the region’s private equity houses, particularly as technological innovations, such as mobile payments, have made financial services products more accessible for the remotest of communities and as banking reforms in many markets have led to consolidation. Other sectors that are attractive for private equity investments include consumer industries, infrastructure, telecoms, agriculture and forestry, and industrial goods.

Africa set to gain US$3bn infrastructure fund. Africa’s largest development lender, the African Development Bank, plans to launch a US$3bn infrastructure fund this month, aiming to raise money from regional and non-African pension funds, insurance groups, sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors. The fund, to be known as Africa50, will help the continent in delivering vital infrastructure through a new global partnership platform, according to the proposal by the African Development Bank. Africa needs about US$95bn a year to close an infrastructure gap in electricity, roads, railway and port. Current investment is running at about US$45bn. The AfDB, which will invest US$500m, aims to approve the fund this month during its annual meeting in Rwanda.

Ethiopia receives first sovereign Standard & Poor’s rating. Ethiopia has received its first sovereign credit rating from the top global agencies. Moody's assigned a B1 issuer ratings to the Government of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, averaging growth of more than 10 per cent per year over the last decade and attracting the likes of clothing giant H&M and private equity groups.

Rebasing the Nigerian Economy. Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer and the most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated 170 million people, has overtaken South Africa as the largest economy after a rebasing calculation almost doubled its gross domestic product to more than US$500bn. Nigeria’s market has been growing as an investment destination owing to the size of its consumer and growing capital markets. GDP growth averaged at 6% over the last 10 years despite global economic and local market challenges. Most governments overhaul GDP calculations every few years to reflect changes in output, but Nigeria had not done so since 1990, thus sectors such as Telecom Media and Technology (TMT) i.e. e-commerce and mobile phones, strong financial services, growing labour market and its prolific creative sectors such as “Nollywood” films now worth 1.4 % of GDP had to be factored in to give an up to date picture. This is in addition to the revenue generated from the petroleum industry which accounts for 95 % of Nigeria’s export earnings and 85% of total government revenue.

Private equity fund - a first for Tanzania. Locals have been urged to invest more in Tanzania as the country launches the Mkoba Private Equity Fund – the first ever private equity fund in the country. The Sh480 billion (US$300 million) fund aims to provide growth capital to portfolio companies not on the radar of most funds. The fund will focus on Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Mozambique, DRC, South Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone, targeting equity investments ranging from US$1.0 to US$15 million.

Biggest oil discovery yet in Kwanza basin off Angola. Cobalt International Energy has discovered significant quantities of oil offshore Angola, calling the find the biggest so far in the promising pre-salt layer in the Kwanza Basin. Oil drillers hope discoveries under a deep submerged salt crust off Angola known as pre-salt may match the prolific finds beneath similar deposits off Brazil on the other side of the Atlantic in recent years.    Analysts say Angola, Africa's No. 2 oil producer, could double its oil reserves, which are currently estimated at just under 13 billion barrels, if pre-salt drilling proves successful. Cobalt estimates the well may hold between 400 million and 700 million barrels of oil.


Kenya and Nigeria sign trade agreement. Kenya and Nigeria have signed three agreements and four memoranda of understanding aimed at promoting trade between the two countries. The agreements were on trade and agricultural cooperation which lay the foundation for business people from Kenya and Nigeria to interact and promote business and make provisions for the two countries to work together in boosting their agriculture respectively. MoUs signed were on cooperation in police service, five year multiple visa for prominent businesspersons, cooperation in control of the possession and trafficking in narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances, and one MoU between Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce Industry, Mines and Agriculture and the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry which was signed at a business forum attended by Kenyan and Nigerian business people.


For more information on travel to Africa please visit the Pure Safari site.

Private reserve joins efforts on wildlife conservation in Tanzania

Recognizing the integral role of wildlife conservation for the development of tourism in Tanzania, the Singita Grumeti Reserves, a privately-owned wildlife reserve, has joined conservation programs through logistical and financial support.

Located in North Western Tanzania, on the borders of the Serengeti National Park, Singita Grumeti Reserves is an American owned private concession of 140,000 hectares (350,000 acres) on the famous Serengeti migration route of nearly two million wildebeest.

For more information on Safaris in Tanzania please follow the link or call: 01227 753181

Azanzi Beach hotel, Zanzibar undergoes a mini refurb.

We are delighted to announce that Azanzi Beach Hotel has recently undergone a refurbishment during the closed season. The following works have either been completed or are due for completion by the end of June:

• A new borehole has been outfitted guaranteeing a good quality consistent water supply.
• All of the public areas have been repainted and the bathrooms have been refitted.
• For those that want to be pampered, our new raised spa is being built on the beach overlooking the ocean.
• A Barazzo (casual meeting place) is being completed beachside where drinks and lights meals are served throughout the day.
• A Beach BBQ area is being built to accommodate beach dinners and lunches, overlooking the ocean.

For more information and reservations at Azanai Beach Hotel please follow the link or call: 01227 753180

BA Boosts East African Operations

British Airways will replace the Boeing 777s on the daily service between London and Nairobi Kenya with the larger Boeing 747-400s. This will add over 780 seats a week on the route.

In Uganda, it will increase services between Heathrow and Entebbe from three to four flights a week from the end of March.

Elsewhere in Africa, British Airways is increasing capacity to Ghana, deploying a larger four-cabin Boeing 747-400 aircraft to replace one of the Boeing 777s operating its 10 weekly services to Accra.

In early March it increased capacity to South Africa when it introduced six A380 services as part of its double-daily service to Johannesburg.


In May, it will grow its winter schedule to Cape Town from daily to 10 a week.

For more info on travel to Africa please call: 01227 753181

Zanzibar fishers get Japanese aid.

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania - The Zanzibar government has received a $8.5 million Japanese grant for the development of the Malindi fish landing and marketing facilities in Zanzibar.

In a press statement to East African Business Week it is stated that the money will be used for the construction of the landing quays. This will enable safe accommodation of about 400 fishing boats on the island.

The funds will also help in the construction of a fish market and the provision of equipment that would allow smooth operations for around 6,000 users besides helping in fishing management programs.

The grant agreement according to the statement was signed by the chief representative of JICA, Tanzania Office Yasunori Onishi and Khamis Omar, the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Finance in the Revolutionary government of Zanzibar.

According to Onishi, the implementation of these components will to the greater extent help in implementation of the said projects which will later lead to the stable supply of better quality fish to the people of Zanzibar.

According to Zanzibar government officials the funds will help in ensuring that the illegal fishing practices is halted which will later translate into a more modern fishing methods in order to protect environment and ensure a rapid income in the fishing industry.

An official in Zanzibar government said the construction of a $2.5million complex owned by the Zanzibar Fishing Authority last year was also one the indicators that the fishing industry in the isle is improving.

He said Zanzibar was willing to do its level best to ensure that fishing sector generates the more income for its people.

Currently Zanzibar major export earnings are from cloves which dropped last year to $2.1 million exports during the year ending September 2013, being a 60.2% drop from $4.3 million exported during the preceding year according to according to the Bank of Tanzania’s (BoT) Monthly Economic Review for October 2013.

With the decline in clove exports last year, Zanzibar’s export of goods and services dropped to $176.4 million during the year ending September 2013 from $196.6 million recorded in the same period a year before.

Despite the support being rendered to the fishing industry, most Zanzibar’s are also farmers, farming mainly Cassava, Sweat potatoes Rice, Cloves at relatively small scale with only one Research Institute at Kizimbani Research Center.

For more information on travel to Zanzibar or safari holidays to Tanzania please call: 01227 73180

The Netherlands Supports Expansion of Kilimanjaro International Airport.

 With support from the Netherlands government, Tanzania will carry out an expansion project for the Kilimanjaro International Airport in the northern tourist circuit. The Netherlands government had signed an agreement this week to provide 15 million euro to support Tanzania in carrying out rehabilitation and expansion of Kilimanjaro International Airport. Upon completion, Kilimanjaro Airport will attract more international flights, hence boosting the growing tourist flow in northern Tanzania as well as cargo flower handling.

Several international airlines are now landing in northern Tanzania through Kilimanjaro Airport. These include Qatar Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, and Condor German Airlines, a charter tourist carrier from Germany.

The expansion project of the airport will start this year and be completed in 2020. The rehabilitation project will cover the aprons, taxiways, and terminal building to efficiently handle an expected increase in passengers over the coming 20 years.


Other than tourism, the Netherlands is the leading European importer of Tanzanian flowers, mostly grown in the northern Tanzania regions of Arusha and Kilimanjaro on the foothills of Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro.

For more information on Safari Holidays to Tanzania please follow the links or call: 01227 753181

Tanzania's President to visit Barefoot College today.

President Ali Mohamed Shein of Tanzania's semi-autonomous region Zanzibar will be visiting the Barefoot College in Tilonia, on Sunday.

The college has taught illiterate rural women from Zanzibar to fabricate, install and maintain solar home lighting systems and lanterns.

"Impressed by the skills of the Zanzibari rural women in assembling, installing and maintaining solar lamps for providing solar power to over 200 non-electrified homes in two rural north Zanzibar communities, after their training under an ITEC programme of the Ministry of External Affairs, Shein decided to visit the Barefoot College, Tilonia, with a view to establish similar barefoot training facilities in Zanzibar," said a spokesperson of the college. An MOU will be signed during his visit.

The 'Zanzibar Women Barefoot Solar Engineers' have been trained with the support of an NGO, Wanawake Kupanda. The NGO is founded by the original group of solar engineers from Zanzibar trained in 2011.

The Barefoot College is a non-governmental organization that has been providing basic services and solutions to problems in rural communities for over four decades with the objective of making them self-sufficient and sustainable.

The 'barefoot solutions' can be broadly categorized into solar electrification for non-electrified villages worldwide, drinking water through rainwater harvesting, health, education, increasing livelihood sources and empowering women.

So far, over 600 semi-literate women have been trained as "Barefoot Solar Engineers" from 63 countries across Latin America, Caribbean, Africa, Asia and South Pacific Islands. They have solar electrified 45,000 rural houses for lighting affecting more than 500,000 people across the developing world. It is estimated that solar lighting saves more than 3 million litre of kerosene in lighting per year.

The reception of President Ali Mohamed Shein to the Barefoot College will coincide with the Lok Utsav music festival being held at the Tilonia campus from February 1 to 4. The festival is a celebration of the traditional Rajasthani singers and musicians and will welcome more than 300 participants.
For more information on travel to Zanzibar or Safari Holidays please follow the links or call: 01227 753181