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China’s Forex Reserves Fall to $3.20tr in July

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China’s foreign exchange reserves fell to $3.20 trillion in July, central bank data showed on Sunday, in line with analyst expectations.
Economists polled by Reuters had predicted reserves would fall to $3.20 trillion from $3.21 trillion at the end of June.
China’s reserves, the largest in the world, fell by $4.10 billion in July. The reserves rose $13.4 billion in June, rebounding from a 5-year low in May.
China’s gold reserves rose to $78.89 billion at the end of July, up from $77.43 billion at end-June, data published on the People’s Bank of China website showed.
Net foreign exchange sales by the People’s Bank of China in June jumped to their highest in three months, as the central bank sought to shield the yuan from market volatility caused by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.
China’s foreign exchange regulator recently said China would be able to keep cross-border capital flows steady given its relatively sound economic fundamentals, solid current account surplus and ample foreign exchange reserves.
China’s foreign reserves fell by a record $513 billion last year after it devalued the yuan currency in August, sparking a flood of capital outflows that alarmed global markets.
The yuan has eased another 2 percent this year and is hovering near six-year lows, but official data suggests speculative capital flight is under control for now, thanks to tighter capital controls and currency trading regulations.
However, economists are divided over how much money is still flowing out of the country via other channels, with opaque policymaking and some inconsistency in the data raising suspicions that the fall in the yuan may be masking capital outflow pressure.
After the yuan slipped to below the psychologically important 6.7/dollar level on July 18, it has seen a mild rebound as the central bank stepped in to control the pace of its depreciation.
Still, most China watchers expect it will resume its descent soon, risking a renewed surge in outflows.
A Reuters poll on Wednesday showed analysts believe the yuan may fall more than 3 percent against the dollar by a year from now, more than expected just a month ago, as the economy struggles to maintain momentum and as the dollar edges up on views of an eventual U.S. rate rise.
China will keep the yuan basically stable and continue with market-based interest rate reform, the central bank said on Wednesday.
The country’s economy expanded slightly faster than expected in the second quarter but private investment growth shrank to a record low, suggesting future weakness that could pressure the government to roll out more support measures.

Check Point Unveils 1st Real-Time Zero-Day Protection for Web Browsers

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Addressing the exponential growth in web-based malware, phishing and social engineering attacks, Check Point Software Technologies Limited recently announced SandBlast Agent for Browsers with Zero Phishing technology.
As the newest member of its industry-leading SandBlast family of solutions, SandBlast Agent for Browsers is designed to protect users from these evolving threats by seamlessly incorporating key components of the security model into the browser.
It provides real-time protection, all while reducing the resources required to prevent today’s most advanced attacks.
To optimise business results and innovation, users now expect unconstrained internet access and immediate delivery of downloaded content and email.
At the same time, enterprises must contend with the changing threat landscape, as they strive to prevent the theft of sensitive customer information and their own intellectual property, while maintaining the efficiency of their critical business systems.
Files downloaded from the web represent a leading entry point for malware today, and data shows this threat is growing. Web-based malware and social engineering attacks targeting organisations are increasing in volume and sophistication, with cyber attackers using the latest evasion techniques and persuasive scams to infect their victims. A preview of an upcoming SANS survey, Exploits at the Endpoint: SANS 2016 Threat Landscape Study, reveals:
41% of the respondents experienced their most impactful security events through attacks that used drive-by downloads of malicious programs.
80 percent of organisations have been impacted by phishing attacks over the past 12 months, with 68 percent witnessing an increase in this type of attack.
Coupled with the fact that 63 percent of data breaches involved some form of credential theft through either weak, default or stolen passwords, according to Verizon’s 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report, it becomes clear preventing the full-range of web-based attacks from reaching end users is critical to maintaining business security.
“Within our expanding business, we’ve increasingly been challenged to maintain the security of our endpoints, especially as employees are targeted by hackers using more and more clever social engineering techniques,” said Saul Schwartz, Enterprise Security Manager, se2.
“Having a simple, easy-to-use browser extension that prevents attacks without slowing users down, will be a game-changer for our increasingly mobile workforce – particularly from threats such as phishing attacks.”
In this on-going struggle to protect their endpoints, enterprises want maximum protection, while minimizing the footprint of running, managing and deploying multiple endpoint products on every system. SandBlast Agent for Browsers addresses these requirements with features that include:
Proactive, real-time protection from advanced malware delivers safe reconstructed content within seconds
Dynamic analysis blocks unknown and zero-day phishing attacks targeting user credentials
Simple, easy-to-deploy browser plugin for Internet Explorer and Chrome that installs in minutes and operates with minimal overhead
Highest malware catch rate in the industry, utilising advanced sandbox technology and patented CPU-level detection
“As cyberattacks are growing in their complexity and frequency, enterprises are increasingly at risk of falling victim to a wide range of browser-based attacks,” said Rick Rogers, Area Manager for East and West Africa at Check Point Software Technologies.
“Existing technologies ask users to wait for content to be evaluated, or require multiple, intrusive software installations on every system. SandBlast Agent for Browsers brings the highest level of protection to users in a simple browser plug-in that blocks unknown and zero-day malware delivered via web downloads, while quickly delivering safe content within seconds.”

About Check Point Software Technologies Limited
Check Point Software Technologies Limited is the largest network cyber security vendor globally, providing industry-leading solutions and protecting customers from cyber-attacks with an unmatched catch rate of malware and other types of threats.
Check Point offers a complete security architecture defending enterprises – from networks to mobile devices – in addition to the most comprehensive and intuitive security management. Check Point protects over 100,000 organisations of all sizes.

Social/ Emotional Learning Software, The Social Express, Touches Down in Africa

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The Language Express, Inc., developers of the Award winning programme, “The Social Express has announced its partnership with Prognari, an Africa-focused education value-add organisation that seeks to develop social, emotional intelligence capabilities and life skills in children and young adults.
This strategic partnership supports both companies’ objective of equipping the 21st century African child with the skills required to be successful in school and life.
The Social Express® is an animated Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) software designed to teach children and young adults how to think about and manage social interaction situations. It helps them develop meaningful social relationships and ultimately succeed in life.
Marc Zimmerman, CEO of The Language Express, Inc. while commenting on the partnership, said:
“We are excited to bring The Social Express to the African market. Through user testimonials, we have seen positive results in over 70 countries. Prognari will bring the knowledge, reach and expertise that we wanted in a strategic partner for Africa.”
The World Economic Forum, in its March 2016 report titled, ‘New Vision for Education: Fostering Social and Emotional Learning through Technology,’ noted that “In order to thrive in the 21st century, students need more than traditional academic learning. They must be adept at collaboration, communication and problem-solving, which are some of the skills developed through SEL. Coupled with mastery of traditional skills, social and emotional proficiency will equip students to succeed in the swiftly evolving digital economy.”
Emmanuel Udoro, the Corporate Communications Director at Prognari said:
“Our overriding vision at Prognari, has always been to proactively equip African children and young adults for life in the 21st Century and beyond through experiential and targeted learning. Our partnership with The Language Express, Inc. moves us closer to achieving our objective and will see us taking The Social Express to the length and breadth of the African continent. The Social Express® is a digital and innovative learning program that aligns with the trend shifts in our digital world.”
The Social Express® which is accessed via the internet on mobile devices (currently available only on iPads) and desktop platforms, runs a series of interactive web episodes (webisodes) and mobile apps that can be used by the learner independently, or with a teacher in a group.
In addition to equipping children with SEL abilities, Prognari is working with The Language Express to reduce the incidence of bullying in schools through the Cool School programme. Cool School is an interactive and animated anti-bullying programme designed for elementary school learners; Cool School’s six week curriculum has been designed to teach young students about bullying through interactive videos and offline activities.
The program also addresses bystander behavior and how it can contribute to increase bullying within the school environment.

About Prognari
Prognari facilitates the acquisition of social, emotional intelligence and other life skills by children and young adults across Africa, thereby laying the foundation for their future success in life and work.
Prognari is dedicated to helping African students, parents, educators and the wider education ecosystem improve educational effectiveness and ultimately student outcomes to create the world leaders of tomorrow.

Rio Olympics 2016! The Aviation Factor

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Olympic Flame was Delivered in Four Lamps
The Olympic torch has been transported to Brazil from Switzerland by the official carrier of the games – LATAM Airlines. On May 3, 2016, the carrier flew Boeing 767 from Geneva to the host nation’s capital Brasilia, escorted by two F-5 fighters from the Brazilian Air Force.
The Olympic flame was transported in a passenger cabin and was kept in four separate lamps, fuelled by kerosene in order to avoid the extinguishment. A special structure was developed to secure the lamps in airplane‘s seats. As a safety precaution, they, along with carpets, were made from non-flammable fabric.
In all, the Olympic flame has been carried by 12,000 people, for the last 95 days. It also has visited 320 cities, covered 20,000 km byon land, and over 16,000 km by air.

Even Horses Require Special Air Transportation
The Olympic torch was not the only item that was specially delivered to the Olympic games by airplane. More than 300 horses from all around the globe were flown to Brazil on a uniquely fitted aircraft for equestrian events.The horses were loaded into special containers that were later put on the main cargo deck. The containers are able to fit up to three horses, but there is a common joke that two horses in one container fly in a business class, while one – in the first class.
It is no surprise that horses, just like human beings, have to have their documents cleared before the boarding.
“Documents are full of important data, such as a detailed physical description, with diagrams, a list of competitions competed in and a list of vaccinations taken,” said Alex Titan, Rio 2016 Sport Competition Manager.
During the transportation, the horses wear special traveling boots and protective bandages to avoid injuries. They are accompanied by professional flying grooms and vets, and may even require medication to cope with stress.

Great Honour for Airlines to Carry Athletes
Over 11 000 world’s best athletes from 205 countries will be participating in Rio 2016. It is a great honor for carriers to transport national teams, they try to create the most comfortable trip possible and even dedicate special liverys to the games. In return, some athletes, for instance, US sportsmen, advertise their carrier.
Even though the governments and carriers put special attention for athletes journeys, not every national team‘s trip has been safe and sound. The Nigerian soccer team missed its original flight from Atlanta, U.S. to Brazil, because of payment issues between the government and a charter company. Once they were solved, it turned out that another aircraft sent to carry the team was too small to transport the whole squad.
Luckily, the airport‘s managers contacted Delta‘s representatives, who were able to provide them with an airplane, normally used to transport NBA teams. The Nigerian soccer team arrived in Brazil with only 13 hours to rest before their first game with Japan.

Operation Hours Extended for Private Jets
The Olympic games attract not only world-class athletes but also crowds of fans, heads-of-states as well as, businessmen, many of whom travel by their own aircraft. In order to cope with arrivals of private jets, Rio airports have extended their operation hours.
Private aircraft will be able to land at city’s main Galeão International airport from 08:00 until 02:00, while Santos Dumont airport will accept arrivals from 06:00 until 00:00, allowing an additional 180 business jet flights per night.
The airspace cannot be opened for private jets all the time due to safety precautions. Rio‘s officials are preparing for the worst case scenario when aircraft crashes into one of the stadiums. In order to provide the maximum air security, F-5 fighters will be patrolling the skies of Rio.

Galeão International Airport has been Expanded
The Brazilian government expects around 2.5 million visitors during the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Usually, Galeão International Airport handles around 40,000 passengers per day, but on the opening night, the airport expects the number reach 90,000.
To cope with passenger flow during the Olympics, and increasing travel demand in the country, the airport has opened South Pier in Terminal 2 that is 1 km long and is equipped with 26 boarding bridges.
As a result of the expansion Galeão’s annual capacity has risen from 17 million to 30 million passengers per year. The airport has also added 68 check-in desks, opened “eGates” to speed up customs and border control and expanded its car park capacity.
It has been over one hundred years since aviation sport – hot air ballooning was featured in the Olympic games. Despite not being in the official program, the aviation industry will have its significant input into the games and Rio 2016 without a doubt will be a sports event to remember.

African Economic Outlook 2016 Launched in Nigeria

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Nigerian economy

The 2016 African Economic Outlook (AEO) was launched by the Nigeria Country Office of the African Development Bank at an outreach event held at the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria.
The theme of the 2016 AEO is Sustainable Cities and Structural Transformation. The report looks closely at Africa’s distinctive pathways towards urbanisation, and how this is increasingly shifting economic resources to more productive activities.
The publication covers all 54 African nations, with individual country notes and corresponding statistical annexes. Nigeria’s case formed the basis for exchange of views on the AEO, as well as deliberations on prospects for the Nigerian economy.
The July 29, 2016 event started off with a brief meeting with the university’s senior management, which expressed appreciation of the Bank’s efforts in reaching out to academia and encouraging scholars to engage in public policy space. In his remarks, the Country Director of AfDB’s Nigeria Office, Ousmane Dore, emphasised the importance of the report. “It significantly informs policy dialogue and feeds into the design of Bank’s projects to support government priorities,” Dore said.
AfDB Lead Economist, Barbara Barungi outlined the main findings of the report. According to the publication, Africa’s economic performance had been steady and was expected to remain moderate in 2015 and strengthen in 2016 against the backdrop of a fragile global economy.
The continent remained the second fastest-growing economic region after East Asia. The report predicts the continent’s average growth at 3.7% in 2016, increasing to 4.5% in 2017, provided the world economy strengthens and commodity prices gradually recover.
Urbanisation, the report states, is a megatrend that is transforming African societies profoundly. However, this is not accompanied by structural transformation, and therefore industrialisation remains rather slow. Two-thirds of the investments in urban infrastructure until 2050 are yet to be made, the report adds.
If harnessed by adequate urban planning policies, urbanisation can help advance economic development through higher agricultural productivity, industrialisation, services and foreign direct investment in urban corridors.
According to the report, Nigeria has had a sluggish economic growth of 2.8% since the end of 2015. At the time of the report launch, Barungi reported that the economy had contracted further by 0.36% in the first quarter of 2016, while inflation continued to rise, standing at 16.5%.
Policy reforms by the new administration are highlighted, and they include strong fiscal policy, improvements in public sector transparency and accountability, as well as adoption of a more flexible exchange rate.
Nigeria has been rapidly urbanising, with fast-growing cities such as Lagos and Kano facing increasing unemployment and income inequality due to poor urban planning and weak links between structural transformation and urbanisation.

About the report:
The African Economic Outlook is produced annually by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the OECD Development Centre and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

AfDB Commits $9m for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria

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African Development Bank Group meeting in Lusaka, Zambia.

The African Development Bank has approved a $9 million equity investment (approximately 12% of the fund’s capitalisation) in the Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN) to provide expansion capital to agricultural small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
FAFIN is a first-generation private equity fund that provides financial, capacity-building and technical assistance to commercially viable SMEs in the Nigerian agribusiness sector, through a unique value chain-centric approach, and using a combination of equity, quasi-equity and convertible loan instruments.
FAFIN implements its strategy and constructs its portfolio through a bifocal lens consisting of the twin objectives of competitive financial returns and measurable positive social impact.
The Fund is jointly sponsored by the German KfW Development Bank and the Government of Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD).
The Fund Manager is Sahel Capital (Mauritius) Limited, a fund management firm incorporated in Mauritius in 2013.
The project is expected to deliver strong development outcomes from (i) household benefits and employment through the creation of a large number of jobs and the provision of certain agricultural products; (ii) positive gender and social effects through the implementation of out-grower schemes and supporting rural development; and (iii) private sector development through alleviation of financial constraints faced by agribusinesses and enhancing agricultural value chains.
The project’s contribution to inclusive growth is expected to be significant, given the large numbers of jobs to be created and out-growers to be reached at the level of sub-projects. Its contribution to green growth is expected to be low, because the Fund targets the agribusiness sector with some expected negative effects on the environment.
The Fund’s primary focus will be on SMEs across the agricultural value chain with crop value chain and geographic diversification. It aims at fixing broken value chains to increase efficiencies, reduce post-harvest loss, and increase smallholder farmer incomes and SME agribusiness profitability.
Investment instruments will be primarily quasi-equity (convertible bonds, preference shares and structured royalties) and direct equity. The ticket size ranges from $500, 000 to $5 million.
The Fund is aligned with the Bank’s Ten Year Strategy focusing on inclusive growth, strengthening agriculture and food security, and access to local SME finance; which is encapsulated in the Bank’ High Five Development Agenda for Africa, specifically Feed Africa and Industrialise Africa.
It is also in line with the Bank’s Strategy for Agricultural Transformation in Africa (2016-2025), Strategy on Jobs for Youth in Africa (2016-2025) and the Bank’s Country Strategy Paper for Nigeria (2013-2017), which supports an enabling environment for agriculture.

Interswitch Extols First Bank For Sustaining 100m Monthly Transactions Milestone

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first bank

Interswitch Group, Africa’s leading digital payments and commerce company today, formally recognized First Bank Nigeria Ltd. as the first financial institution in the country to achieve sustained transaction volumes of 100 million transactions, first in December 2015 and again in May 2016.
The record transaction volumes represent the total transactions processed by First Bank’s Front End Processor running on the Interswitch transaction-switching platform, which seamlessly links all financial institutions in Nigeria to facilitate better and quicker transactions across all platforms.
In December 2015, First bank was recognized as the first-ever financial institution in the country to achieve this feat. Being able to sustain this in May 2017 is a pointer toward the bank’s desire to promote the CBN cashless policy and boost economic growth via e-payments across Nigeria and the African continent.
In his remarks, Group Managing Director/CEO, Interswitch, Mitchell Elegbe commented
“It essentially reflects the strength and development of electronic transactions in Nigeria that a single banking partner can record 100 million transactions in a single month. When this figure is aggregated with that of our other partners, then you can begin to have an idea of the sheer size and demand for electronic financial services in Nigeria. Interswitch is excited by this sustained achievement by FirstBank and we look forward to partnering with the Bank to further consolidate the gains of digital transaction innovation.”
Also speaking, the MD/CEO of FirstBank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, noted that the bank will continue to employ novel approaches in providing secure and convenient banking services to its customers and promised to drive innovation and extend its leadership of the financial sector services with specialised and technology-driven products and services. In his words,
“First Bank’s investment in e-business reflects our commitment to promoting financial inclusion which is widely regarded as a lever for sustainable economic growth and development as well as enhancing entrepreneurship. Our passion to serve and extend financial services to the unbanked has since inspired several innovations and we thank our esteemed customers for their continued patronage and trust in our services whilst dedicating the recognition to them”.
It is on record that FirstBank was one of the foundational shareholders of Interswitch, prior to the company’s acquisition by a tripartite consortium led by Helios Investment Partners, and including the IFC and Adlevo Capital.
The milestone by First Bank is another marker of the scale of success recorded by Interswitch since its launch in 2002. It will be recalled that the company in 2014 was listed by Deloitte as the fastest growing tech company in Africa with a year-on-year growth rate of over 1500%.

U.S. Captive Insurers Benefit from Core Competencies

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Captive insurance companies rated by A.M. Best ended 2015 in strong form, recording pretax operating income of $1.4 billion, a 13.5% increase over 2014, according to a new A.M. Best special report.
The Best’s Special Report, titled, “U.S. Captive Insurers Benefit From Core Competencies,” states that the favorable overall results for the rated domestic captive group should continue to hold in 2016.
This view takes into consideration continued modest economic improvement, gross domestic product growth of approximately 2.5% to 3%, moderate loss cost inflation between 2% to 4% and an incremental rise in interest rates by year-end 2016.
Equally important, this view assumes a similar degree of price discipline on the part of group captives. A.M. Best believes that today’s prevailing low interest rate environment will help to keep aggressive pricing on the sideline.

Ozaremit, Africa’s New Top-Up Leader Accelerates Development

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Ozaremit, a new top-up leader, accelerates its development only 3 months after its launch.
Ozaremit currently covers 110 countries, including 35 countries in Africa. Ozaremit is a competitive, safe and fast online service to send airtime to family and friends living abroad. Ozaremit is already the cheapest service to send top-ups to phones in Nigeria.
Ozaremit is also pleased to announce it has secured funding from French investors Thibault Launay, Romain Girbal and Célia Grémy to boost growth. They have a vast experience investing in mid to early stage startups, including soon to launch Afrimalin, www.Afrimalin.com, a classified listing platform for Francophone Africa.
Ozaremit is also in discussion with top tech investors.
Ibrahima Soumano, Ozaremit co-founder and CEO, said: “We are pleased to get leading international entrepreneurs and investors on board to accelerate our growth. We will rapidly scale Ozaremit’s customer base and expand our activities beyond top-up. We are set to be the next fintech success story”.
The new funds will help ramp up marketing across multiple channels and allow Ozaremit to launch its agents’ network in an effort to make the service widely available to offline customers.
Send airtime, money and pay bills for your loved ones instantly: A new user interface offering cross border remittances for mobile airtime, bill payment and mobile money transfer will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

African Airlines Report 4.7% Passenger Growth in June

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Aeroplane
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic data for June showing that demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose by 5.2% compared to the year-ago period.
This was up slightly from the 4.8% increase recorded in May (revised). However, the upward trend in seasonally-adjusted traffic has moderated since January. June capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 5.6%, and load factor slipped 0.3 percentage points to 80.7%.
“The demand for travel continues to increase, but at a slower pace. The fragile and uncertain economic backdrop, political shocks and a wave of terrorist attacks are all contributing to a softer demand environment,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO. 
June 2016 
(% year-on-year)
World share¹

RPK

ASK

PLF 
(%-pt)²         
PLF 
(level)³  
Total Market
100.0%
5.2%
5.6%
-0.3%      
80.7%
Africa
2.2%
3.2%
5.9%
-1.7%
65.0%
Asia Pacific
31.5%
9.0%
7.2%
1.3%
79.1%
Europe
26.7%
2.0%
2.7%
-0.6%
82.9%
Latin America
5.4%
4.6%
1.9%
2.1%
80.8%
Middle East
9.4%
7.3%
14.4%
-4.6%
70.3%
North America
24.7%
4.3%
4.3%
0.0%
86.3%

% of industry RPKs in 2015 ²Year-on-year change in load factor ³Load factor level

International Passenger Markets
June international passenger demand rose 5.0% compared to June 2015. All regions recorded growth, led by airlines in Latin America. Capacity climbed 6.4%, causing load factor to slide 1.1 percentage points to 79.4%.

Asia-Pacific airlines’ June traffic increased 8.2% compared to the year-ago period. However, most of the growth relates to the strong upward trend in traffic seen in the final months of 2015 and into 2016, with June demand barely higher than in February. This could be a natural pause, but possibly is also a sign of Asian passengers being put off travel by terrorism in Europe. Capacity rose 7.3% and load factor inched up 0.6 percentage points to 78.2%.

European carriers saw demand rise 2.1%, the smallest increase among regions, reflecting the negative impact of recent terrorism. While demand tends to recover reasonably quickly after such events, the repeated nature of the attacks may have a more lasting impact. Capacity climbed 3.4% and load factor slipped 1.1% percentage points to 83.3%.

Middle Eastern carriers posted a 7.5% traffic increase in June, which was well down on the double-digit growth recorded earlier in the year. In part this could be owing to the timing of Ramadan, which tends to depress traffic growth Capacity rose 14.3%, which caused load factor to dive 4.4 percentage points to 69.9%.

North American airlines’ demand rose 4.0% compared to June a year ago, which was well up on the 0.5% year-over-year growth recorded in May. Capacity climbed 4.7%, causing load factor to dip 0.6 percentage points to 84.3%, still the highest among regions.

Latin American airlines experienced an 8.8% rise in demand compared to the same month last year, suggesting that carriers there have flown out of the soft patch seen in the first quarter. Capacity increased by 5.2% and load factor rose 2.7 percentage points to 82.4%.

African airlines’ traffic climbed 4.7% in June, an indication that the strong upward trend in demand that began in the second half of 2015 has paused. Capacity rose 7.4%, with the result that load factor slipped 1.7 percentage points to 64.4%, lowest among regions.

The Bottom Line : “The latest figures show that aviation and aviation related tourism delivers $2.7 trillion in economic impact and supports some 62.7 million jobs worldwide. It is a powerful force for good in our world. It is too soon to know whether recent terrorist attacks will have a long-term negative influence on demand, nor what will be the impact of Brexit and the events in Turkey. But it is vital that governments recognize and support aviation’s ability to contribute to global economic well-being and better understanding across cultural and political borders,” said Tyler.

ADB Bags 2016 Organisation of the Year Award

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The African Development Bank Group was named the African Organisation of the Year 2016 by the African Achievers Awards.
At a ceremony held in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, the Bank was lauded for its immense contribution towards the economic growth of the continent and its commitment to raising standards of living in Africa.
Other recipients included the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Nigerian Philanthropist, Chief Dumo Lulu Briggs, globally renowned Gospel Singer, Sinach, and Sierra Leone’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara for Excellence in Leadership.
In 2015, President Jakaya Kikwete and music icon Diamond Platnumz of Tanzania, Bishop Desmond Tutu, One.org and SABC Africa received awards in various categories.
Speaking on behalf of the AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina, Nigeria Country Director, Ousmane Dore noted that Bank is humbled by the recognition of its efforts pledged to renew its commitment to follow through with its delivery priorities tagged the High 5s – to Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialise Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.
The African Achievers Award has been celebrated annually since 2003 and strives to bring into continental and global focus on public and private sectors, development partners and individual efforts in promoting development in Africa. It also showcases the human and material wealth on the continent, rejuvenating interest in foreign direct investment.
African Achievers Awards® is produced, managed and maintained by the Institute of Leadership and Management (a West African leading leadership institute) and Achievers Media.

Enhancing Africa’s Capacity for Climate Risk Response

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Chinedu Moghalu

The financial cost of the 2012 flooding across Nigeria was officially put at N2.6 trillion by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). With housing and agriculture being the two highest affected sectors, the crisis dealt very hard blows on the affected communities and food production.

On the one hand, the huge financial loss highlights the scale of the natural disaster and the humanitarian needs that attended it.

On the other hand, the financial cost is so huge that, given the fiscal constraints to meeting these needs, the affected communities will bear the brunt of the disaster for many years. This is quite unfortunate.

In Africa, drought, flood and cyclones have been wrecking havocs on livelihoods in communities and across countries. For example, a severe drought between 2011 and 2012 affected the whole of East Africa. As a result, over 9.5 million people experienced crushing food shortages; and the disaster also brought about a refugee crisis.

The prospects of extreme weather shocks show that African populations are increasingly susceptible to climate risks. The grim reality is that some people would be traumatised again and again, by repeat experience going by the large size of the areas that are prone to these risks, and the harrowing experience of displacement.

Climate disasters are likely to occur more frequently in light of the rise in global temperatures and the rise in sea levels.

Precisely because of very limited capacity for crisis response, Africa is especially vulnerable to climate disasters.

With the certainty of natural disasters, the challenge to surmount them is how to build resilience in vulnerable communities and deliver timely assistance when the risks crystallise. These are no mean challenges at all, given my affinity to the Nigeria 2012 experience.

Many of us often dismiss the capability of Africa to rise to this and many other daunting challenges on the continent, citing lack of political will and effective policymaking to unlock the required resources; not least financing. But this is not always the case.

African policymakers came together in 2012, under the aegis of the African Union (AU), and founded the African Risk Capacity (ARC) as a specialised agency for financing climate resilience and crisis response.

The initial returnable fund of $90 million was provided the Agency by the governments of Germany, through BMZ and KfW Development Bank; and the United Kingdom, through DFID.

The objective is to provide African countries with early funds, linked to pre-defined national climate contingency plans, and for leading response in the event of climate disasters. This initial assistance is hoped to reduce Africa’s reliance on external funding to address climate risks.

The ARC is a weather insurance mechanism for the member-countries of AU with the combination of a climate risk analytic, the Africa RiskView; and a financial arm, ARC Insurance Company Limited. Africa RiskView is a risk modelling platform, which provides early warning and parametric insurance tools that trigger the need for an insurance payout when the risk that is covered crystalizes. This automated process aids the objective of delivering timely response.

The ARC is already off the ground. No less than 37 countries have signed up to the initiative, including Nigeria. The initial risk pool, which covered the 2014/2015 rainfall seasons, consisted of Kenya, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal. The drought insurance policies issued to the countries totalled nearly $130 million in coverage for a total premium cost of $17 million.

The first set of insurance payouts, totalling over $26 million, has been made under this initiative in January 2015, with Mauritania, Niger and Senegal benefiting as a result of drought conditions in these countries in 2014. Five other countries have since joined the pool. This has increased the drought coverage for the 2015/2016 rainfall seasons to over $190 million.

However, the ARC aims to do much more. It targets up to 30 countries for coverage of its drought, flood and cyclone policies, totalling approximately $1.5 billion by 2020. An estimated 150 million Africans will benefit from the risk covers.

For this, however, only $300 million in premium payments is required. This underscores the cost-benefit of early intervention through the African Risk Capacity which guarantees that every dollar spent on its insurance saves nearly four and a half dollars that would be spent after a crisis is allowed to crystallize. The potent question therefore is, how do Africans push towards the target coverage of the scheme? This question has engaged my thought as we need to ensure that Africa does not continue to be a graveyard for good initiative, due to lack of awareness, cynicism and inability to put our money where our mouth is.

Irrespective of the cost-benefit of this risk insurance, it potentially faces the general apathy towards insurance in Africa, which makes the continent the least insurance-protected region of the world.

This challenge can be surmounted, in part because of the governmental stakeholding of the ARC and because it can be a basis of peer review by the NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) with regard to citizen protection from natural disasters.

But there is also a need to leverage local advocacy. Sufficient awareness needs to be raised at national level about this scheme. Civil society actors can take this further by intimating local representatives, especially legislators, on the need to provide covers for the vulnerable communities they represent rather than having to face the challenges of responding to the humanitarian crises that often follow such disasters.

Nevertheless, as it has been identified in some countries, payment of the required insurance premium could be daunting. From a fiscal point of view, it is admissible that many African commodity-exporting economies are already facing challenges in meeting existing commitments, as commodity prices have remained depressed.

However, the sheer impact of natural disasters as we have seen them in recent years can put even more serious pressure on the fiscal regimes. When the governments are confronted with the ensuing humanitarian crises, the financial and humanitarian costs of a crisis-response would very likely outweigh the insurance premium cost.

Therefore, it becomes the case of setting smart financial priorities, leveraging the little amount in premium payment to deliver quick and effective assistance to citizens affected by natural disasters.

The African Risk Capacity also constitutes a real opportunity for African philanthropies to leverage their charitable giving, making it more impactful.

In response to the 2012 flood crisis in Nigeria, the country’s billionaires were mobilised to raise financing for the humanitarian needs of the affected people. This ad hoc approach, for sure, cannot deliver assistance on a timely basis. However, the reactive model can significantly transform, if the private sector social funders help to contribute to the payment for insurance premium under the ARC mechanism.

Given the opportunity for public private partnership provided by the initiative, it would be appropriate for each national government that has signed up to the ARC to set up a central office to coordinate resource mobilization and private sector engagement.

The point is that Africa can leverage its recent successes in private sector development, reducing the dependence on development assistance from governmental and private foundations from outside the continent.

The ARC has a governance structure that is representative of its stakeholders. Signatories to the initiative make up the Conference of Parties, the main governance body for the Agency.

Africa’s influential global leader in finance and economic development, Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the Chair of the Governing Board of ARC, with other executives of proven competencies running the Agency.

The ARC will likely show that, with little external assistance, combined with the resources of African governments and increased private sector prosperity, the continent can deliver disaster recovery to its vulnerable populations. This just has to be the case, given the outlook of climate risks.

Chinedu Moghalu wrote from Abuja

Visafone Test-runs 4G LTE Internet to Deepen Broadband Services

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MTN Group

Visafone, MTN Nigeria’s subsidiary has began the test-run of its Fourth Generation Long Term Evolution (4G LTE) Internet technology service for smartphone users.
The launch of 4G LTE services by the merged entity of MTN and Visafone will roll-out superior high-speed internet services in major cities, empowering Nigerians with the latest mobile Broadband technology which is expected to drive broadband penetration in the country from under 10 percent presently to the targeted 30 percent by 2018, in line with the Federal Government’s broadband plan and target.
According to MTN Executive, Amina Oyagbola, the company is determined to deepen Broadband penetration in the country.
“Our recent license acquisition further demonstrates our faith in the future of Nigeria. We believe in supporting the positive transformation of Nigeria and we have demonstrated this belief through the level of our investment since 2001, which currently stands at approximately $16 billion,” she said.
Speaking to the specifics of the test-run and subsequent launch, General Manager, Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Richard Iweanoge, disclosed that the 4GLTE technology will be launched with the sole objective of providing Nigerians with the best, fastest and most competitive ICT services for all stakeholders.
“We are pleased to set the pace once again as we break new boundaries with this test run, which will be available for now for our Visafone customers, who are provisioned on the 800Mhz band. When we roll-out fully, especially with our 2.6Ghz spectrum, the launch will help to enhance customer experience for our over 60 million subscribers, while ensuring greater coverage, access, affordability and ultimately a smart lifestyle for everyone,” he said.
The 4GLTE roll-out is a demonstration of the company’s commitment to accelerate the achievement of the country’s targeted broadband penetration by 2018.

RedStar Express AGM for August 18

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The 23rd Annual General Meeting [AGM] of RedStar Express is scheduled for Thursday, August 18th, 2016 at the Civic Centre, Ozumba Mbadiwe, Victoria Island, Lagos by 11.00am.
The AGM is expected to handle issues such as presentation of Audited Financial Statement for the year ended March 31st 2016 and reports of the Directors, Auditors, and Audit Committee, declare dividend, re-elect Directors, and Elect members of the Audit Committee, amongst others.
According to the Red Star Express Corporate Communications Manager, Olufemi Oluwole, “Red Star is committed to providing value added logistics solutions that will be secure, prompt and effective. Over the years, we have put in much effort to render quality services to our customers, and at the end the year too, we try to appreciate our stakeholders. This year is not an exception. We are officially announcing to the public, most especially our stakeholders that the company’s AGM will be coming up on August 18th, 2016, and that Shareholders should update their records with the Registrar.”

About RedStar Express
RedStar Express Group is a premium logistics solution provider in Nigeria with unrivaled local network coverage and a large market share in the domestic and international market.
It enjoys a domestic strength of over 240 offices in Nigeria, delivers to more than 1,800 communities, with over 2,400 highly trained personnel and over 600 delivery vehicles in its fleet.
The company has four business units including The RedStar Express which is a licensee of FedEx, the world’s largest express transportation company. There is the Red Star Freight, Red Star Logistics and RedStar Support Services.

Global Demand for Air Cargo Up in June

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Aeroplane

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air freight demand in June 2016 showing a rise in freight tonne kilometers (FTK) of 4.3% year-on-year. This was the fastest pace of growth in 14 months.
Freight capacity measured in available freight tonne kilometers (AFTKs) increased by 4.9% year-on-year, keeping yields under downward pressure.
Freight demand increased year-on-year in June across all regions with the exception of Latin America which recorded a 9.8% decrease, compared to the same period last year.
The Middle East and Europe posted the fastest demand growth in June with year-on-year increases of 8.0% and 5.1% respectively.
“June saw an improvement in demand for air freight. That’s good news. However, we cannot read too much into one month’s performance. Air cargo markets have been in the doldrums for several years during which there were several false starts on indications for improvement. We will continue watching developments closely, keeping in mind that the air freight business environment is fragile. Global economic growth remains sluggish, world trade volumes continue to trend downwards and the industry faces heightened uncertainty in the aftermath of the Brexit vote,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

June 2016 
(% year-on-year)
World share¹

FTK

AFTK

FLF 
(%-pt)²   
FLF 
(level)³  
Total Market     
100.0%
4.3%       
4.9%
-0.3%      
43.1%
Africa
1.5%
0.4%         
19.9%
-5.0%
25.6%
Asia Pacific 
38.9%
3.5%
3.6%
0.0%
54.5%
Europe         
22.3%
5.1%
4.9%
0.1%
44.3%
Latin America             
2.8%
-9.8%
-2.6%
-2.7%
34.4%
Middle East             
14.0%
8.0%
8.7%
-0.3%
42.7%
North America       
20.5%
4.3%
4.0%
 0.1%
32.4%

¹% of industry FTKs in 2015   ²Year-on-year change in load factor   ³Load factor level.

Regional Performance

Asia-Pacific airlines reported a 3.5% increase in demand for air cargo in June compared to last year. Capacity expanded 3.6%. The Asia-Pacific air freight market has been improving in recent months, most notably the large ‘within Asia’ market. Nonetheless freight volumes from ‘emerging Asia’ continue to face headwinds from weak trade in the region and globally.

North American carriers saw freight volumes expand 4.3% in June 2016 compared to the same period last year. Capacity increased 4.0%. International freight volumes continue to suffer from the strength of the US dollar which has kept the US export market under pressure.

European airlines witnessed a 5.1% increase in freight volumes and a 4.9% increase in capacity in June 2016. The positive European performance corresponds with signs of an increase in export orders in Germany over the last few months. Seasonally adjusted freight results for Europe are now trending upwards.

Middle Eastern carriers posted the largest increase in freight volumes of all regions for the 16th consecutive month in June – 8.0% year on year. Capacity increased by 8.7%. Although the leader in market growth, the Middle East’s international freight growth rate (6.5%) for the first six months of 2016 is less than half the 14.3% average growth for the same period in 2015.

Latin American airlines reported a decline in demand of 9.8% and a decrease in capacity of 2.6%. The region continues to be blighted by weak economic and political conditions, particularly in the region’s largest economy, Brazil.

African carriers recorded 0.4% freight growth in June 2016 compared to the same period last year. African airlines’ capacity surged by 19.9% year-on-year on the back of long-haul expansion, continuing the trend seen since December 2015.