19 July 2012

New markets for African handicraft products

Seeds of Hope: Buy the products, change lives

Hutu and Tutsi women come together in handicraft

To many people in Africa, earning one dollar or euro may be enough to feed a family for a day. Selling handicrafts is a solution for some, but how can they be sold to far-off markets like the US? That is where Seeds of Hope, a non-profit organization in Charlotte, North Carolina (US) comes in. 
The organization ships handicraft products – beads and various woven products such as baskets and purses – made by widows and marginalized African women in Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi to the US. They sell well in local stores and at ‘home parties’. The proceeds of the sales go to the women and the expansion of the microeconomic enterprise to help more women, says Celeste Bundy of Seeds of Hope.

Who makes these products?

“We buy the products from widows of genocide and HIV/AIDS in Rwanda, Burundi and Northern Uganda. Currently, there are 135 women involved in the bead/jewellery making initiative and approximately 40 women in the basket making program in Rwanda and Burundi.”

How did you get the women to work together?

“With the support of local organizations, the women formed work groups, irrespective of their Hutu and Tutsi native tribes. We found that this has been essential in offering social support to members. They can thus counsel and advise each other within the groups and even offer moral support. For example, when a lady in the Gulu group lost a son in an accident, the group members supported and encouraged her during this tough time. Also when one of them is sick they visit the woman and provide needs when necessary. No matter what tribe she is from.”

What do these women get out of it?

“First of all, it is the money to survive without the help of a husband or of families. Feeding and educating children may seem like a small dream, but it is HUGE for a woman whose husband was killed in a rebel attack. Making the handicrafts allows these women to escape the stone quarry where she and her children were previously working to earn the 50 cents a day they need to simply feed themselves.”

What is in the future?

“The bead project has also given many women a brick and mortar house, a better alternative for their former mud and wattle houses. As part of a group activity, adult literacy classes have been initiated for the women, most of whom were initially illiterate.  Group bank accounts have also been established for group saving which helps them to develop a culture of saving and also have a savings when times get hard. These achievements all started with the idea to start selling handicrafts from these regions to homes in the western world. It is in no way ‘aid money’, but well-earned money, coming from hard work. And literally changing the lives of these women.”

New Hana Signs Definitive Agreement to Option the Formerly Producing Musina Copper Project in South Africa

New Hana Signs Definitive Agreement to Option the Formerly Producing Musina Copper Project in South Africa

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Jul 18, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- New Hana Copper Mining Ltd. ("HML" or the "Company") - (tsx venture:HML) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an Acquisition and Joint Venture agreement (the "Agreement") with BSC Resources Limited. ("BSC") of South Africa whereby the Company has the option to earn up to a 100% interest in the Musina Copper Project (the "Project"), located in northeast South Africa.
The Musina Project
The Musina Project area is comprised of six Prospecting Rights covering 100 square kilometers (10,006.88 hectares) of highly prospective ground which encompasses the Musina fault which is a structure that is known to host a number of formerly producing high-grade copper mines. The Project includes the formerly producing Artonvilla, Spence, Messina, Harper and Campbell underground copper mining operations.
Mining commenced at Musina around 1905 focusing on high grade (25% Cu) surface outcrops. Subsequently, copper mineralization was exploited by five main shafts along the Messina fault zone over a strike length of 15 kilometres to depths of over 1,400 metres below surface. From 1905 to 1993 Musina was operated by Messina (Transvaal) Development Company, after which the name was changed to Messina Ltd. The mine was closed due to low copper prices.
Over 750,000 tonnes of wire-grade copper ingots were fire-refined on site until 1993 when it became uneconomical to continue operating the company's own smelter. Subsequently, concentrates, with an average grade of +40% copper, were transported by rail to Phalabora for smelting and refining.
The management of BSC estimates that tens of millions of tonnes of mineralized material remains at Musina.
Copper mineralization has also been confirmed, through drilling and trenching, at the Mollytoo target. BSC geologists believe that there is considerable potential for the discovery of additional copper mineralization within this target area to a depth of at least 1,500 metres, which is the historic depth of the Harper and Campbell mines, and along strike within and adjacent to the Musina fault.
There is also exploration potential at a partially drilled breccia pipe which may extend mineralization from surface to a depth of at least 1,500 metres. In addition, there are a number of high quality historic copper soil anomalies that remain untested.
The Project area has not previously been flown with modern geophysical techniques which could detect additional blind massive sulphide bodies and/or zones of disseminated mineralization.
Copper sulphide mineralization consists mostly of chalcopyrite, bornite and chalcocite whereas oxide mineralization consists of mostly of malachite and some minor covellite and azurite. The copper mineralization is believed to have originated from magmatic intrusions of late to post-Karoo age. Mineralized emanations intruded the country-rock, mainly along the Musina fault, to form breccia bodies in this fault zone, as well as breccia pipes.
The Project is well supported by infrastructure including roads, railway and is adjacent to the national electrical grid. The Phalabora Copper Smelter and Refinery is located approximately 326 kilometres away from the Project.
Terms of the transaction
The Company can earn its initial undivided 50% interest in the Musina Project by making an initial US$200,000 cash payment to BSC within five (5) business days of the later of that date that five of the six project's prospecting rights are renewed by the South African authorities and TSX Venture approval (the "Effective Date"), and three equal payments of US$100,000 every six months thereafter. As a result, the total cash payment for the initial 50% interest is US$500,000.
To earn its initial undivided 50% interest therein, the Company must also incur total work expenditures aggregating US$5,100,000 on the Project within 36 months of the Effective Date of the Agreement.
The Company shall have the sole exclusive right and option to acquire the remaining 50% undivided interest of the Project by paying a cash amount of US$2,600,000 to BSC and by issuing up to 10 million common shares of the Company to BSC, such that the number of shares will, on the date of issue, equate to a value not greater than US$30 million. Such shares will be issued to BSC within 10 business days after the receipt of a Mining Right from the South Africa Minister of Mineral Resources. The Mining Right shall cover the entirety of the property or any smaller area selected by the Company.
If the Company acquires the initial 50% interest and does not elect to acquire the remaining undivided 50% interest, the Project will be managed on a joint-venture basis with the Company being the operator of the Project.
The Company may terminate the earn-in in respect to all or a portion of the Project at any time during the earn-in period, by delivering a notice on at least 30 days' notice to BSC terminating the earn-in in respect to the Project.
About BSC Resources Ltd.
BSC is a South African Black Economic Empowerment company which is focused on the exploration for and development of precious, base metal and coal projects in South Africa. BSC was incorporated in 2005 and since then has acquired one of the largest prospecting areas in South Africa which includes the ex-Falconbridge Insizwa nickel, copper and platinum project, which BSC has optioned to a major global mining company.
Update on New Hana Copper Mining Ltd.'s Kuke Copper-Silver Project in Botswana
The Company's recently concluded its exploration drilling program at Kuke and results are pending. The company will provide an update on the Kuke Project once it has assessed the results from this program.
This press release was reviewed and approved by Marek Kreczmer., Chief Executive Officer for New Hana. He is the qualified person as defined in NI 43-101.
The Agreement remains subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Please visit the Company's website at www.newhanamining.com for additional details on the Company and the Kuke Project.
Statements in this press release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in resource exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
        
        Contacts:
        New Hana Copper Mining Ltd.
        Investor Relations
        (604) 682-4262
        (778) 370-0146 (FAX)
        info@newhanamining.com
 
www.newhanamining.com            
        
        


SOURCE: New Hana Copper Mining Ltd.

Meet Africa's Mark Zuckerberg: Uganda’s billionaire student & tech guru - by Erika Amoako-Agyei

He’s been described as the Mark Zuckerberg of Africa: Twenty-two-year-old Ugandan IT student Abdu Ssekalala has made a fortune from mobile apps, benefiting from Africa's fast-growing telecoms market. His applications have rivaled some of the world's most popular platforms in downloads.

Abdu_ssekalala
He's only 22 and already a billionaire - at least in Uganda where he lives. The Computing and Information Technology student at Makerere University in Kampala, develops mobile applications.
So far he has developed nine internationally recognized applications including Wordbook -- a dictionary app with a "word of the day" capability that includes definitions, examples and synonyms. "We have word book which is a dictionary and the Tutu translate which is basically a translator and then there is world sports which is a sports application for soccer fans,” he said.

Wordbook is among the most successful. The app, alone, makes him about 1.25 US dollars per download from Nokia's Ovi store and has been downloaded over 300,000 times, earning the young entrepreneur around 375, 000 USD (907 million Ugandan Shillings) so far. The highest downloads for Wordbook was in Asia. His other applications 101 Romantic SMS, nLightFlashlight and Tutu Translate, among others, also earn him a fortune through advertising deals with an elite Indian advertising network called Vserv.
With a hefty $500,000 (about Shs 1.2 billion) in savings, Ssekalala will probably rank among the richest - and humblest - Ugandans next year, when he wants to make a million dollars.

ch guru - by Erika Amoako-Agyei

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He’s been described as the Mark Zuckerberg of Africa: Twenty-two-year-old Ugandan IT student Abdu Ssekalala has made a fortune from mobile apps, benefiting from Africa's fast-growing telecoms market. His applications have rivaled some of the world's most popular platforms in downloads.

Abdu_ssekalala
He's only 22 and already a billionaire - at least in Uganda where he lives. The Computing and Information Technology student at Makerere University in Kampala, develops mobile applications.
So far he has developed nine internationally recognized applications including Wordbook -- a dictionary app with a "word of the day" capability that includes definitions, examples and synonyms. "We have word book which is a dictionary and the Tutu translate which is basically a translator and then there is world sports which is a sports application for soccer fans,” he said.
Wordbook is among the most successful. The app, alone, makes him about 1.25 US dollars per download from Nokia's Ovi store and has been downloaded over 300,000 times, earning the young entrepreneur around 375, 000 USD (907 million Ugandan Shillings) so far. The highest downloads for Wordbook was in Asia. His other applications 101 Romantic SMS, nLightFlashlight and Tutu Translate, among others, also earn him a fortune through advertising deals with an elite Indian advertising network called Vserv.
With a hefty $500,000 (about Shs 1.2 billion) in savings, Ssekalala will probably rank among the richest - and humblest - Ugandans next year, when he wants to make a million dollars.

"Friends now call me 'Billionaire' and all sorts of flattering names but I am not letting it get to my head because in the first place, I was not targeting the money," Ssekalala says.
"I still go to class, greet friends and prepare my own breakfast. I live a normal life."
Software development has lately become a global phenomenon with the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, founder of the social networking site Facebook, which he founded with colleagues while a student at Harvard in 2004. At age 27, Zuckerberg is already worth $17 billion (one and a half times bigger than the entire Ugandan budget for last year.

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The market for mobile phone apps is huge and growing. Africa is the world's fastest growing mobile market, and is the biggest after Asia. The number of subscribers on the continent has grown almost 20% each year for the past five years, the GSM Association report on Africa says. It expects there will be more than 735 million subscribers by the end of 2012. Analysts say bad and expensive landline connections in Africa are responsible for the high mobile phone usage. Creating software for these phones is a business that knows few borders. And programmers like Ssekalala understand the needs of this market and how to meet them.
Abdu Ssekalala got his big break last year when mobile phone company Nokia held a training session in Uganda to help software developers expand their skills in building applications. He went through the course and when he developed his own application, Nokia was willing to adapt it for its online applications offerings. The mobile phone giant now sells Abdu's Apps in its specialist store, Ovi.
The Nokia Ovi Store is the firm's application store. In 2010, Nokia rolled out a platform that allows developers of data to sell it easily to its intended users worldwide. And now, bloggers, online publishers and website developers can use Nokia's Ovi Store to sell their graphics, music, movies, ring tones, text, software, digital assets and document formats.
Agatha Gikunda is Nokia's Head of Apps in East Africa, based in Nairobi. She says developers like Ssekalala have a unique opportunity through Nokia to access an international market and make money either from advertising or from revenue share per download. Ssekalala makes money from both.
"Africa is definitely the next frontier,” Gikunda says. “Developers here have a huge opportunity that they have never ever had before to create businesses that require very little startup capital. They are already trained in development so we then take them to the next step to train them in the development for a mobile phone and all you need is your computer and your idea, you publish your application for free, you select which countries around the world and that is it."
Nokia shares roughly halved last year as the company struggled to keep up with the pace of smartphone development while also losing ground at the cheaper end of the market to Asian brands.
But officials at the company say that their strategy to focus on the next billion customers will put their products in more hands than anyone else, thus giving developers like Ssekalala a wider market at a time when the demand for applications to access the internet is at a peak.
Ssekalala is still studying IT at Makerere University and is now mentoring others. He already owns two companies; Gogetta which employs eight people and Foo Technology with seven employees. Both companies focus on mobile and website development.
“Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to do something with computers and my biggest motivation has always been a desire to innovate and leave a mark that says I was once here,” he said. 
By Erika Amoako-Agyei, Africa Business Review.

3 July 2012

Cameroon, China Eximbank sign $467 million loan


YAOUNDE, June 30 | Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:14am EDT

YAOUNDE, June 30 (Reuters) - Cameroon and China's Eximbank have signed a loan agreement worth 241.4 billion CFA francs ($467.03 million)for the construction of an expressway road linking the capital Yaounde to Cameroon's economic hub and main Douala.

Economy Minister Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi told reporters after the signing ceremony that the road will cut the distance to be travelled between the two cities from 265 km (165 miles) on the existing road to about 215 km.

He also hoped the six-lane highway would benefit trade for the Central African sub-region. Central African Republic, Chad and other countries rely on Douala for much of their trade.

Construction of the expressway is due to start imminently and will cost a total 284 billion CFA francs, Cameroon providing the remainder. It is due to take five years to completion.

Djoumessi did not comment on whether a Chinese firm would be likely to win the construction contract.

($1 = 516.8880 CFA francs) (Reporting by Tansa Musa; Editing by Sophie Walker)