Zep-Re
Insuring Africa's development Zep-Re are working towards becoming a leading reinsurer in Africa Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Nick Norris Zep-Re traces its roots back to 21st November 1990 when it was created by an agreement of Heads of State and Government for the COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) region in Mbabane, Swaziland. It was mandated to promote trade in the insurance and reinsurance sector of the region and is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. The company has been in operation since 1993 and has regional offices in Douala, Lusaka, Harare, and a Retakaful window in Khartoum, Sudan. Zep-Re also provides Takaful reinsurance solutions. Takaful insurance is a type of Islamic insurance, where members contribute money into a pooling system in order to guarantee each other against loss or damage. Takaful branded insurance is based on Sharia, Islamic religious law, and explains how it is the responsibility of individuals to cooperate and protect each other. Zep-Re's operational activities are driven by the desire to provide excellent technical services to all their clients and to actively participate in and support the development of the region's insurance and reinsurance industry. Working with Partners In these times when business presents itself in increasingly complex risks, Zep-Re strives to provide its clients with more than the traditional reinsurers have offered their clients in the past. Zep- Re has adopted a holistic approach to client services by striving to provide a wide range of services aimed at helping the client meet their goals with minimum fuss. The company understand…
Villa Crop Protection
Dedicated crop protection Villa CP has focused on the development and registration of "unique commodity" crop protection products, primarily aimed at meeting the specific needs of farmers in South Africa Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Callum Philp Since establishment in 1994, Villa CP has focused on the development and registration of "unique commodity" crop protection products, aimed primarily at meeting the specific needs of farmers in South Africa. The strategic direction of Villa CP is underpinned by a huge annual investment in product research and development. With a dedicated team that strive to be innovative in everything that they do, coupled with the mission to be customer centric and provide rapid response times for customers, the company "endeavour to help customers with all types of enquiries and needs," André Schreuder, Managing Director of Villa CP proudly says. Villa CP is based in Johannesburg, with a product formulation facility (Fountain Chemicals) located approximately halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria. The regional head office and warehousing facility is located just outside of Cape Town, in order to better serve the Cape market. Sustainable Investments With the establishment of their own formulation facility three years ago, Fountain Chemicals joined the Villa Crop Protection/Exportos group as a manufacturing facility for the group and other interested parties in 2011. A new additional formulation plant for fungicide and insecticides (EC, EW, SC) has since been commissioned in June 2014, as part of a major refurbishment programme to upgrade the facility to meet international ISO standards. "Our ability to develop these unique product mixes…
Tigo Tanzania
Talking Tanzania Over the last 18 months, Tigo Tanzania has expanded their network coverage to bring a full range of digital services to a wider audience Writers Matt Bone Project Manager Donovan Smith Since 1994, Tigo Tanzania has been bringing a digital lifestyle that is second to none in the region. With highly competitive and affordable services including voice, data services and mobile financial services, Tigo has registered over 7 million subscribers to their network. Tigo is one of the largest companies in the country, employing around 650 people directly and indirectly employing approximately 15,000 people, through distribution networks offering products and airtime and direct sales centres. Diego Gutierrez, General Manager of Tigo Tanzania, has set his sights on helping make Tigo the number one provider of new and traditional mobile services to the region, through a combination of innovative new technologies in all handsets and a constantly expanding data network: "Every one of our subscribers has opted to use our products, whether it be for calls and texts, data services, financial services or for social interaction because we offer a stable and wide reaching network that is the most affordable on the market." Expanding Horizons Over the last 18 months, Tigo Tanzania has further expanded their already national network into further towns in the Lake, Northern and Southern regions of the country to bring their range of services to a wider audience. With a third of Tanzania's population living in isolated and rural areas, having a telecommunications provider in that area can really make a…
Sere Wind Farm
Striving for a greener South Africa Sere Wind Farm has the tallest turbines of any renewables project in South Africa, meaning their turbines are hub and shoulders ahead of the competition Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Rahim Ali Sere Wind Farm is Eskom's first full utility scale renewable energy project and is situated on the Western Cape Province of South Africa, located north-west of Vredendal, approximately 350km north of Cape Town. It sits on a 3,700 hectare plot of land in Skaapvlei near the town of Koekenaap and will cost an estimated 2.5 billion rand. Luchen Reddy, Eskom Project manager, for the wind farm, states although there were times that we thought the development of the project would not continue due to funding constraints, the project is now running on schedule: "the project started in 2006 with commissioned design ideas looking at options for the wind farm. We had early issues to deal with for funding and the project was shelved a few times until suitable funding was secured. The co-funders for this project are the world Bank, African and French Development Banks and the Clean Technology Fund, who began to really get the project off the ground in 2010." Eskom, the owners and operators of the Sere wind Farm, gave their full approval and go ahead for the project in June 2012. The Sere wind Farm project was a product of Eskom's Renewable Energy Business unit, through which it is hoped that similar projects will be undertaken by the utility. The project created over 500…
Grassridge Wind Farm
Winds of change for South Africa and the former homelands With the construction of its 60mw Grassridge wind power project now well underway, Innowind now strives to decentralise the focus of renewable energy development away from existing hubs of economic activity and towards the much poorer eastern reaches of the Province Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Rahim Ali Innowind, the lead partner of the Grassridge wind Farm, is a developer who thrives off challenge in order to stand out in the growing renewable energy sector in South Africa. As a developer, investor, owner and operator of wind farms, Innowind strives to bring a new chapter to the industry by taking their experience from the Grassridge project near the city of Port Elizabeth and replicating it in some of the poorest regions of South Africa's former Bantustans (or homelands). "Few renewable energy companies have ventured into the Former Homelands, where spending development capital is a risk in a region where the concept of 'private property' is still novel. Nevertheless we are putting considerable effort into figuring that out and hopefully decentralising the over-concentration of wind farm development activity that is currently taking place in and around the existing energy and economic hubs of the country," says Martin Webb, CEO of InnoWind. The Grassridge Wind Farm, near the city of Port Elizabeth, is a product of InnoWind's initial forays into proving the sustainability of renewable power projects with significant community ownership stakes. A precursor to migrating this model to the forlorn rural regions of the Former Homelands. "We…
Swakop Uranium
Namibia's uranium giant Swakop Uranium is constructing and developing the Husab uranium mine, approximately 65km by road from the coastal town of Swakopmund in Namibia Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Tom Cullum Swakop Uranium was established in 2006 to explore, evaluate, develop and produce uranium oxide as a source of fuel for low cost, environmentally-friendly, nuclear power. Swakop uranium has identified as its first task "to deliver to its shareholders and the Namibian nation one of the largest and most efficient uranium mines in the world," says Swakop's Director: Communications and Stakeholder relations, Grant Marais. Cementing its place as one of the largest resource drilling projects globally, Swakop uranium has completed over 800,000 metres (or 800km) of combined reverse circulation and diamond core drilling since April 2006. The Husab area was targeted as an exploration area of interest in 2006- 07. The geological reasoning behind this was that similar rock formations to those hosting the Rössing Mine to the north were interpreted to be concealed beneath the desert plain in the northern part of Swakop uranium's Exclusive Prospecting License (EPL). The discovery holes were drilled in late 2007, the chemical assay results for the three discovery holes were returned from the laboratory in early 2008 and released to the market in February 2008. Until April 2012, Swakop uranium was a 100% subsidiary of Extract Resources, an Australian company listed on the Australian, Canadian and Namibian stock exchanges. However, in April 2012, Taurus Minerals Limited of Hong Kong became the new owners following a successful takeover of…
Oracle EMEA : Oracle In Europe
Oracle has become one of the largest technology companies in the world on the strength of its extensive portfolio of software and hardware products.
