January 2010

Nigeria: Abia to Demolish Illegal Structures

January 14, 2010 - 09:16

Nigeria: Abia to Demolish Illegal Structures - Abia State Government will commence the demolition of illegal structures in Aba and Umuahia in February, the Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Urban Planning, Mr Emeka Nwachukwu, has said. [AA Construction]

Uganda: Ugandans in Diaspora to Construct Shs4billion Hospital

January 14, 2010 - 09:16

Uganda: Ugandans in Diaspora to Construct Shs4billion Hospital - Ugandans in the Diaspora are planning to construct Shs4billion hospital on Mityana road after securing three acre of land, the interim Chairman of Ugandan Diaspora and American Development Association,Mr Noah Kasule has said. [AA Construction]

Rwanda: Gasabo Lags Behind in Classrooms Construction

January 14, 2010 - 09:15

Rwanda: Gasabo Lags Behind in Classrooms Construction - With only two days left to the classroom construction deadline for the Nine-Year-Basic-Education program (9YBE), most of the classrooms in Gasabo district are not yet roofed making it lag behind the other two districts of Kicukiro and Nyarugenge. [AA Construction]

Kenya: Coast Hotels Hard-Hit as Water Taps Run Dry

January 13, 2010 - 12:15

Kenya: Coast Hotels Hard-Hit as Water Taps Run Dry - Mombasa and Malindi will have to go without water for days to come. The local water company said its pumps, some of which have been vandalised, are too old and their replacement is months away. [AA Urbanisation]

Property Prices in Windhoek Increased

January 13, 2010 - 08:16

Property Prices in Windhoek Increased - Property Prices in Windhoek Increased - The First National Bank (FNB) of Namibia's National Deeds Data has showed that property prices in Windhoek have increased by 18% during 2009. [All Africa - Namibia] [AA Namibia]

More Farmers in Rusape Handed Eviction Notices

January 13, 2010 - 08:15

More Farmers in Rusape Handed Eviction Notices - More Farmers in Rusape Handed Eviction Notices - At least five more farmers in Rusape have been handed notices to leave their properties, as the drive to remove the country's remaining white commercial farmers continues to intensify. [All Africa : Zimbabwe] [AA Zimbabwe]

Architects on the Warpath Against Quacks

January 13, 2010 - 08:14

Architects on the Warpath Against Quacks - Architects on the Warpath Against Quacks - A list of qualified architects has been put out to save the public from hiring quacks to design buildings. [All Africa : Kenya] [AA Kenya]

South Africans not buying into electricity price hikes - survey

January 13, 2010 - 07:59

South Africans not buying into electricity price hikes - survey - South Africans not buying into electricity price hikes - survey - South Africans are not buying into the reasons for planned electricity price increases, according to the results of a survey released on Tuesday as public hearings into the hikes started in Limpopo.
"This must be seen as a signal failure of communication by all parties to the problem," TNS Research Surveys said in a statement. [Engineering News] [AA South Africa]

Eskom says it's better to swallow 'bitter pill' now

January 13, 2010 - 07:58

Eskom says it's better to swallow 'bitter pill' now - It was better for the country to swallow the "bitter pill" of an electricity tariff hike now, Eskom's acting chief executive told hearings on Tuesday. [XMG News]

Tanzania: Agency Funds 17 Rural Power Project

January 12, 2010 - 17:01

Tanzania: Agency Funds 17 Rural Power Project - The Rural Energy Agency (REA) says it has funded seventeen on and off-grid electrification projects that have been pursued with diverse developers. [AA Urbanisation]

Nigeria: Emir of Ilorin Tasks Contractors Over New Mosque

January 12, 2010 - 17:01

Nigeria: Emir of Ilorin Tasks Contractors Over New Mosque - The Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, yesterday charged the Lebanese firm handling the reconstruction of Ilorin Central Mosque to give the community a first class standard mosque that will be the best of its kind in the country. [AA Construction]

Nigeria: Massob Builds Hospital, Rehabilitation Centre

January 12, 2010 - 17:00

Nigeria: Massob Builds Hospital, Rehabilitation Centre - The leadership of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, says it has commenced the construction of a multi-million naira complex at Okwe, Onuimo Local Government Area of Imo State. [AA Construction]

New find shows slaves didn’t build pyramids

January 12, 2010 - 11:54

New find shows slaves didn’t build pyramids - Who built the pyramids? Slaves, as Hollywood's version would have it? Jewish slaves, as an Israeli prime minister famously remarked? [XMG News]

Mpumalanga Romantics : Apartheid, Indians and Stone Circles

January 12, 2010 - 06:32

It's important to tell the truth. This is a somewhat complex story, so bear with me.

I am very familiar with those kinds of ruins. They are typical towns and settlements built by Black/African South Africans before the arrival of whites and even after up to the 1800s. They are between 2,200 and 200 years old. These big towns were not unusual and it wasn't until the late 1800s that Cape Town was bigger than the largest African towns in the interior. They were build with stone foundations and clay buildings with thatch roofs.

As I'm sure everyone knows, South Africa has many racial and ethnic groups. Broadly speaking, they are African/black/Bantu-speakers, Whites (English speaking and Dutch/Afrikaners), Coloured and Asian/Indian, plus a small number of remaining Khoisan/!Kung/Bushman/San.

Uganda: Two Suspects Held over Fake Cement

January 11, 2010 - 22:57

Uganda: Two Suspects Held over Fake Cement - THE police in Kampala are holding two men suspected of manufacturing fake cement. Robert Rwekwema, the director of Royal Tech Services, a company based in Mutungo, Nakawa division and his employee, Mark Ssembera, were taken to Jinja Road Police Station on Saturday. [AA Construction]

Nigeria: Make Mass Housing Top Priority This Year - Stakeholders

January 11, 2010 - 22:57

Nigeria: Make Mass Housing Top Priority This Year - Stakeholders - One of the cardinal points of President Umaru Yar'Adua's Seven Point Agenda (SPA) is the provision of housing for the masses at affordable cost. [AA Construction]

Eskom tariff-hike hearings kick off

January 11, 2010 - 12:02

Pretoria - Public hearings on Eskom's application for a 35 percent tariff hike begin today in Nelspruit.

Eskom late last year made an application to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) requesting a 35 percent hike in electricity tariffs to raise funds for its R385 billion power expansion programme and ensure power security in the future.

Nersa will hold public hearings on the application in all provinces, ending in Midrand, on 21 January.

Today's hearings will take place at the Nelspruit City Hal from 9am and will be completed by 3pm.

After initially asking for a 45 percent increase every year for the next three years, Eskom reviewed its application and instead requested a 35 percent hike.

It announced last month it had borrowed R13 billion from French banks - BNP Paribas, Calyon, Société Générale, Natixis and Credit Industriel et Commercial.

Eskom said the loan would be used to finance part of the Medupi and Kusile turbine contracts with Alstom S&E Africa.

The loan is payable over 12 years after the commissioning of the relevant units of the two power stations.

Nigeria: FG Abandons Planned 52-Storey Skyscaper in Abuja

January 11, 2010 - 11:56

Nigeria: FG Abandons Planned 52-Storey Skyscaper in Abuja - In 2006, the then minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr. Frank Ogbuewu disclosed that the Federal Government had concluded plans to build a 52-storey building at the heart of the nation's cultural village in Garki, Abuja. [AA Construction]

Nigeria: Citizens Want Reduction of High Cost of Building Materials

January 11, 2010 - 11:56

Nigeria: Citizens Want Reduction of High Cost of Building Materials - A cross section of Nigerians resident in the Federal Capital Territory [FCT] Abuja have called on the federal government to take a more proactive action on the high cost of building materials in the country. [AA Construction]

Pretoria : "Marketing Your Practice" - Architects & Technologists

January 11, 2010 - 11:48

Your 1st OPPORTUNITY FOR CPD in 2010

"Marketing Your Practice" - Architects & Technologists

Category 1 CPD: 1 Credit

· Marketing is not sitting back in an economic downturn waiting for clients to find you.
· Neither is it brash sleazy deals through cut fees
· It is a simple logical process
· Identify and target clients and make them aware what service you have to meet their need.

Ron Begbie (M.Arch (UCT), MBA London Business School,) will be presenting the course and will focus on practical implementation. He set up the marketing department and strategy for a practice of 150 architects in London. He has subsequently done marketing consultancy to professional practices in South Africa. He is a member of the Professional Services Marketing Group UK where he keeps abreast with the marketing strategies of quantity surveyors, architects, engineers, lawyers etc.

Thursday 14 or Friday 15 January 2010
08.30 - 16.00
CENTURION LAKE HOTEL, PRETORIA

An outline of this one day workshop ….

· Preliminary market analysis
· Workshop - Analysing your practice
· Marketing as a Strategic Function

Zim farm invasions keep investors away

January 10, 2010 - 12:44

Zim farm invasions keep investors away - Zimbabwe's remaining white farmers say continued farm invasions are keeping international investors away from the poverty-stricken country. [XMG News]

'You cannot compare Angola with SA'

January 10, 2010 - 04:22

'You cannot compare Angola with SA' - The gun attack on Togo's team bus in Angola before the start of the African Nations Cup will have no impact on the Soccer World Cup in South Africa. [XMG News]

Lonzim Close to Deal for Five-Star Hotel

January 9, 2010 - 04:18

Lonzim Close to Deal for Five-Star Hotel - Lonzim Close to Deal for Five-Star Hotel - ZIMBABWE-focused investment group LonZim is within the cusp of acquiring land for the construction of a five star hotel in Harare to complement the group's current hotel portfolio, The Financial Gazette can report. [All Africa : Zimbabwe] [AA Zimbabwe]

South African Family Forced to Flee Rusape Farm

January 9, 2010 - 04:18

South African Family Forced to Flee Rusape Farm - South African Family Forced to Flee Rusape Farm - A South African farming family, that has been threatened and harassed by land invaders since last weekend, has been forced off their land in Rusape, becoming the third family in the area to be evicted in the last three weeks. [All Africa : Zimbabwe] [AA Zimbabwe]

Sub-Division of Land Sparks Protests

January 9, 2010 - 04:14

Sub-Division of Land Sparks Protests - Sub-Division of Land Sparks Protests - The government's move to reallocate land at a Naivasha settlement scheme has sparked protests. [All Africa : Kenya] [AA Kenya]

SA steel giant rolls over prices into Jan

January 9, 2010 - 02:11

SA steel giant rolls over prices into Jan - SA steel giant rolls over prices into Jan - South Africa's largest steel producer, ArcelorMittal South Africa, rolled over its December prices into January, company spokesperson Sven Lunsche has confirmed with Engineering News Online.
The January rollover follows on from a similar move in December, which was preceded by some price reductions as from November 1, 2009. [Engineering News] [AA South Africa]

Eskom would be sustainable with yearly tariff rises of 25% - study

January 9, 2010 - 02:10

Eskom would be sustainable with yearly tariff rises of 25% - study - Eskom would be sustainable with yearly tariff rises of 25% - study - South Africa's State-owned power utility Eskom could lop a further ten percentage points annually off its application for tariff increases of 35% a year between April 1, 2010, and March 31, 2013, and still emerge as a sustainable organisation able to fund its operations and its capital programmes, new research by consultancy Genesis Analytics asserts.
The analysis, which has been completed on behalf of several mining and industrial clients, including the Chemical and Allied Industries Association and AngloGold Ashanti, would be presented to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), which is scheduled to host public hearings into Eskom's tariff application between January 11 and January 22. [Engineering News]

Investment in Uganda down 35% to $1,57bn in '09

January 9, 2010 - 02:10

Investment in Uganda down 35% to $1,57bn in '09 - Investment in Uganda down 35% to $1,57bn in '09 - Uganda registered investments worth $1,57-billion in 2009, more than one-third down from 2008, but fourth quarter data held out good prospects for new jobs, according to the state-run Uganda Investment Authority (UIA).
East Africa's third largest economy has been credited for withstanding the impact of the global economic crisis and investor interest has been on the upswing, spurred by the discovery of commercial petroleum deposits. [Engineering News] [AA South Africa]

Morocco to invite bids for solar station in Feb

January 9, 2010 - 02:09

Morocco to invite bids for solar station in Feb - Morocco to invite bids for solar station in Feb - Morocco will invite bids for construction of its first solar power station at the end of next month as part of a $9-billion solar energy project, its energy minister said on Wednesday.
The 500-megawatt plant will be in the southern town of Ouarzazate, the site where Morocco's ruler, King Mohammed, announced the launch of the nationwide solar project last year. [Engineering News] [AA South Africa]