MIRADI KWANZA: February 2015Vivutiotz: Tourism Attractions in Tanzania and Africa

Technology will drive growth in Africa over the next five years

Chika Nwobi and Kresten Buch of Nigerian startup accelerator and funding programme 440ng discuss, with IT News Africa, the tech trends which will shape Africa in the next five years.

Africa is booming and a lot of this economic growth stems from investment in technology. According to World Bank projections for global growth, out of the 20 fastest growing economies in the world right now,

Building a great business in Africa involves more than just hard work, good networking skills, and a fair degree of luck. Whilst the core of any good business venture in Africa is a business that

Microsoft and 88mph have revealed the expansion of the Microsoft Ventures program into Nigeria. As part of the 4Afrika Initiative, the collaboration, according to both parties, will help improve start-ups’ productivity by

by Robert roos

H5N1 avian influenza has erupted in new outbreaks in Nigeria, Israel, and probably Palestine's West Bank in recent days,

New West African project on using insects for feed

A new project has kicked off to study the sustainable use of insects to improve livestock production and food security in smallholder farms in West Africa.

The project 'Insects as feed in West Africa' is one of the projects from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), together with partners such as PROteINSECT.

The project will focus on Benin,

By Geoff Choo

Looking for a new way to get really famous, or infamous, at the office? Try these seven money-back guaranteed ways to really mess up your next project.

We're all pretty well acquainted with how we should justify, plan, activate and control projects. Well, let's imagine that we were given permission to screw things up for a change. How would you go about it? I offer you seven guaranteed rules for ensuring the utter and complete failure of your next project. Try these techniques at your own risk.

Rule 1. Deliver, Deliver and Deliver

When in doubt,

Woman with think bubble and words common mistakes

By Duncan Haughey, PMP

very project manager potentially faces countless mistakes that affect projects, cause delays and, in some cases, contribute to complete project failure.

In this article, I take a back-to-basics look at why so many organisations run projects poorly. I also offer solutions to tighten up the PM process.

Here are 12 common mistakes in project management—and how

8 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Business From Home

by alina dizik

Launching a business from home can provide tremendous flexibility and the kind of work-life balance that we all crave. But the reality is thathome businesses bring their own set of challenges, says

by paul naybour

I’ve previously blogged about the use of RAG reporting for project status. This an effective way of highlighting the project status to senior managers using Red,

6 Success Factors for Managing Project Quality

By Michael L Young

Key Success Factor 1: A Good PlanCommentators have differing views on what constitutes a quality project. The generally agreed parameters are that it delivers the desired outcomes on time and within budget. Through our long experience, the Transformed team has identified 6 key factors that improve project quality:

TANZANIA: LESSON FROM NALIENDELE FOR CASHEW NUT FARMERS

AS Tanzania is endowed with large fertile land, chances are that in a matter of time, cashew production will revive its fame, lost way back in the 70s.

During those days, cashew was one of the leading traditional cash crops – next to cotton, coffee and sisal.

The country has a potential to

RWANDA: YOUNG GRADUATES TO ACQUIRE AGRIC SKILLS IN ISRAEL

Over 100 young graduates have landed an 11-month internship training placement at the Agro Studies International Centre for Agricultural Interns in Israel, a development that will

What is the Definition of Good Leadership in Africa

Africa as many of you will agree is a continent of milk and honey, yet the milk and honey doesn’t seem flow in her homes, streets, villages, towns and Cities. You ask me why? I can spew out a whole load of issues to why the good stuff is not following for everybody, thats a matter for another day, lets get to know each other.

Angola’s Second Longest railway built by the Chinese for ‪‎Africa‬ is Now Open to Traffic

BEIJING — A 1,344-kilometer railway built by China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) for Angola was completed and open to traffic on Saturday, the company told Xinhua.

The railway linking coastal city

umber of African countries chose institutions of higher learning like universities to develop cars like Nyayo Pioneer cars of the University of Nairobi in Kenya, which was

The Bamboo Bike

In Ghana farmers consider bamboo a nuisance they would normally clear from their land. Not Kwabena Danso he thought bamboo was worth more than that, so he went to work. Danso decided to start Boomers international, a company that

Every poultry farmer is familiar with the sight: some chickens grow big and strong, while others simply lie down and die. And they’re also only too familiar with rising grain prices.

“Chickens are the greatest consumers of corn and

Israeli Papaya Wins the Innovation Award

Fruit Logistica 2015 Awarded Innovation Prize to Seedless Aurora Papaya
Israeli Papaya Wins the Innovation Award (Enlarge)

“Aurora Seedless Papaya” was chosen by the trade visitors at Fruit Logistica in Berlin as the winner for the Fruit Logistica Innovation Award 2015. This papays is produced by

Pickups for the Nigerian Road Safety Corps (ventures africa)

The Kantanka is a car that was conceived, designed and made in Ghana. This brand of cars is probably the most promising of all the cars made in Africa right now.

Outsourcing innovation project management might be the most strategic money you spend this year.

It’s not a new idea but it’s one more companies should consider. It sure beats doing nothing. See my Seven Essentials for hiring below. But first:

Is having the tool more important to your success, or is knowing the technique more important?

A lot of people obsess over the

Nigeria: Investigation - David Mark's Wife, Dangote, Adenuga, Others Named in #swissleaks As Operators of Secret Foreign Accounts

By Musikilu Mojeed and Ini Ekott

Some of Nigeria's wealthiest industrialists, former government officials and their relatives, were amongst thousands of individuals around the world who operated highly secretive foreign accounts with the Swiss branch of banking giant, HSBC, concealing their identities for years and

Somalia: Somalis Panic As Cash Flow Dries Up After U.S. Remittance Lifeline Cut

By Katy Migiro

Nairobi — Somali families are panicking and businesses are running short of funds two weeks after the last major U.S. bank stopped transferring money to the fragile Horn of Africa country, development groups said.

Somalia has no formal banking system due to

Africa - Privatizing Land and Seeds

"The G8 New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition was launched in 2012 by the eight most industrialised countries to mobilise private capital for investment in African agriculture. To be accepted into the programme, African governments are required to

Tanzania: Precision Air Continues Grappling in 'The Red'

PRECISION Air Services (PW) continues to operate in the red, but has managed to cut down loss by 60 per cent to 12bn/- for the year ended March 2014, down from 30bn/- last year.

PW Board of Directors Chairman, Mr Michael Shirima, told the annual general meeting (AGM) in Dar es Salaam that

Rwanda: Clinton Foundation Scales Up Support to Smallholder Farmers

By Collins Mwai

The Clinton Foundation and the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources have signed an agreement that could soon see farmers adopt to practices that will increase their yield.

Under the deal, signed Tuesday

Africa Trade Fund Approves $1.4 Million in Funding for Four Projects

The Technical Review Committee of the Africa Trade Fund (AfTra) at its meeting on February 13, 2015 in Abidjan, approved funding worth more than US $1.4 million for four projects that will support trade development in Africa.

AfTra, a trade-related technical assistance facility hosted by

by MATT PORTER

Running a small business can be time consuming. More often than not there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done in the office and on-the-go.

Thankfully, your smartphone can help. You,

dr Joseph Ndunguru

BY GERALD KITABU

Kilimo Kwanza and Big Results Now (BRN) stand a chance to win the hearts of many farmers in the Lake Zone and donors following the new and comprehensive strategies by Mikocheni Agriculture Research Institute (MARI) aimed at improving agriculture.

MARI is one of the leading

by the guardian reporter
Tanzania can increase tea production and bring in enough foreign exchange as the case in some African countries if the government will put more emphasis in using the existing opportunities.

At the moment, Tanzania produces only 32,000 tonnes annually which is

by the Guardian reporter
The Small Industries Development Organisation (Sido) in Tanga region has trained 52 deaf youth on soap making for the purpose of starting small enterprises that will generate income and fight against poverty.

A statement issued by the organisation over the weekend said

by the guardian reporter

Tanzania, four other countries and ten cities have been selected to receive technical support to the tune of USD125m to review and strengthen road safety legislation under Bloomberg Philanthropies commitment for the coming five years.

With a new commitment of USD125m,

Photo: Scanner Pro; Source: Courtesy Photo

BY JOHN REILEY

It is often said you get what you pay for, but in a modern digital age with the rapid development and availability of high quality mobile apps that isn’t always the case. Here are ten free apps to improve productivity, collaboration, communication and more.

Unify Circuit (Collaboration)

Circuit is a collaboration app that brings your team together. Circuit collaboration software improves teamwork by

by kenn lin

We launched a year before the global financial crisis hit in 2008. In hindsight what was coming seemed inevitable

Why Avoidance Should Be 1 of Your 7 Risk Responses

Why Avoidance Should Be 1 of Your 7 Risk Responses
By Harry Hall

Earlier I wrote about seven ways to respond to risks. One of the risk responses is avoidance. The focus of this strategy is to ensure the risk does not occur…that is, we eliminate the cause of the risk.

Breaking Bad Leadership Habits

Breaking Bad Leadership Habits
By Randy Hall

A while back my wife mentioned that we needed a new kitchen faucet. The one we had was about 15 years old, leaked on occasion and wasn’t very easy to operate. Three kids can wear a faucet out pretty effectively. When we went to

2015 Trends in Business Analysis and Project Management

2015 Trends in Business Analysis and Project Management
By Andrea Brockmeier

Each year we like to reflect on what’s happened in the business analysis, project management, and Agile professions and make our predictions for the upcoming year. To summarize the trends we saw in 2014:

By Lauren Said-Moorhouse

(CNN)Disability doesn't mean disadvantage. And Farida Bedwei, a celebrated software engineer from Ghana, is proof of that.

Born in 1979,

Want a culture of innovation? Choose a few of the following guidelines and make them happen. If not YOU, who? If not NOW, when?

1. Remember that innovation requires no fixed rules or templates -- only guiding principles. Creating a more innovative culture is anorganic and creative act.

2. Wherever you can, whenever you can, always drive fear out of the workplace. Fear is "Public Enemy #1" of an innovative culture.

Tanzania: TTCL On Sh3.4 Billion Drive to Connect Tanzania

THE Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL) will spend a total of 3.4bn/- to complete mobile telecommunications and internet to 20 wards on Tanzania Mainland that have no connection by the end of next month.

Also, a total of 33 wards will benefit with

Project to Support Mainstreaming Land Governance in Eastern Africa to Be Launched in Djibouti

SPONSOR WIRE

Addis Ababa — The Land Policy Initiative (LPI), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) will launch the project "Improve Land Governance in the IGAD Region," on 16 February 2015, in Djibouti.

The main objectives of the

Award-Winning Researcher Argues That Africa's Future Lies With Innovation

SPONSOR WIRE

There is a huge need to study innovation in various African contexts in order to maximally foster the continent's much-desired economic transformation.

This idea was fronted by

Eritrea: "Tsin'at" Meat Production and Supply Association in Central Region Striving to Boost Production

Asmara — At an assessment meeting conducted on 13 February the "Tsin'at" Meat Production and Supply Association in the Central region, indicated that it is

Zimbabwe: Frustrated Professionals Retreat to Diaspora

Several lecturers and teachers who had returned to Zimbabwe after many years working in the diaspora have been forced to return to foreign lands after battling to

Entrepreneurs asked to go globally

BY GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY CORRESPONDENT
In a move to ensure that local entrepreneurs develop their businesses and have wider-market-recognition for their products, the Tanzania Export Association (TANEXA) has asked for

by The guardian reporter

The Tanzanian shilling, Africa’s second-worst performer this month, gained against the dollar after the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) intervened by

Crude oil tanker offloading 50,000 tonnes of crude oil at Shimanzi oil terminal at Mombasa. PHOTO | FILE |

By KENNEDY SENELWA, TEA Special Correspondent

Kenya and Tanzania are each building new oil terminals to increase efficiency in the delivery of fuel for domestic use and also capture the lucrative market in the neighbouring landlocked countries of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

The race to lock in the landlocked markets has seen the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) seek investors to

Kenya’s Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich at the Uchumi bell-ringing at the Nairobi Securities Exchange on January 7, 2015. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA

By James Anyanzwa, The EastAfrican

Uchumi Supermarkets will open 13 new branches in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, after successfully raising $10 million in fresh capital from its shareholders.

The firm has also adopted a

by Pawel Brodzinski

Recently I came across a very interesting question on Project Management Stack Overflow. The question is how to organize project management in tiny projects, where everything is done by a single person or just a couple of them.

The interesting thing here is that

Five Reasons Why Startups Fail

Startup is a risky business. Almost 90% of the startups fold within first year of starting up and probably less than 1% really achieve their goals in terms of growth,

ANALYSIS

By Desné Masie

I have vowed never to use the overused phrase 'Africa Rising' ever again, having long been somewhat cautious of the integrity of the projected growth rates and prospects for inclusive prosperity as I wrote here. However, while there is a lot to be positive about regarding African economic development, the commodity-driven stellar growth narrative is now being subverted by the oil price collapse.

Using estimates produced by the World Bank, the falling oil price could hit African economies much harder than Ebola as

By Christabel Ligami

The East African Community is looking to expand the European market for its horticultural products through a new trade partnership with Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland.

The four countries, which are not members of the European Union, will start comprehensive free trade agreement negotiations with the EAC partners under

by jeff ottieno

The regional price of sugar could increase as the year progresses if the cost of the commodity continues to rise in the international market.

The latest figures show that

The 28MW Nyabarongo hydropower plant in Muhanga district, southern Rwanda. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA

By ALLAN OLINGO

East African governments have doubled their efforts to increase energy output, with several multi-million dollar projects on the cards.

The aim is to meet rising demand as well as attract more investments, after the 2014 World Bank Ease of Doing Business report noted that low energy output remains a hurdle for investors.

In the past two months, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya have announced

By REUTERS

Kenya and Tanzania have invited bids for a consultant to oversee the construction of a high-voltage power line connecting the two nations, part of efforts to meet growing demand for electricity and deepen integration of their economies.

The two countries will

But there’s time to prepare for economic headwinds.

Ray Mahlaka

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s tough macroeconomic environment will likely persist through 2015, making it difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to stay afloat and flourish.

The threat in the economy for starters lies in

Author: D’Niel Strauss*|

It’s not just about a feasible business plan.

Approaching 10 000 hours in the private equity and venture capital industry I came to the realisation that hundreds of business plans have crossed my desk, but I was yet to see an unfeasible plan. So why, if all of these business plans are feasible, are only 1-2% successful in raising funds?

5 Amazing Planning Techniques

by Elizabeth Harrin

How do you plan a project? I see many project managers sitting down with sticky notes or a laptop and trying to collate information from emails and conversations into one plan.

There’s nothing wrong with sticky notes and laptops, by the way. It’s the ‘trying to do it all yourself’ part that is a problem. If you want an amazing plan,

Paul Harris on education, philanthropy and social networks.

by sasha planting

CAPE TOWN - Contrary to what some people believe, South Africans have many things in common. Chief among them, says Paul Harris, co-founder of FirstRand, is a desperate desire to see South Africa succeed.

However South Africa can’t succeed unless

3 Reasons We Say Yes to Impossible Projects

By Brad Egeland

Project manager showing Superman suit under shirt

Superman. OK, he has his Kryptonite weakness, but that's about it. Let's get one thing straight - as a group, project managers are not comparable to Superman. So why are project managers so eager to jump into a sinking, stinking project when the opportunity arises?

SA stands to benefit.

Africa needs to soften its borders, and expand intra-regional trade. This was a repeated call at this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

In a panel discussion held at

Dating apps could leave companies vulnerable to cyber attacks, report finds

by Alex Court,

For a second year in a row, Kenya's busy capital city of Nairobi has been named the most intelligent city in Africa -- failing, however, to

5 Tips To Help Control Your Project’s Budget

By Christian Bisson

Controlling your project’s budget can be challenging; there are many obstacles that can lower your budget’s health but there are many tactics you can use to keep it healthy.

Here a are a few tips to help:

Top 4 Surprises That Will Blow Your Project Budget

By Michelle Symonds

No matter how carefully you plan things, surprises always happen.

As project managers we need to ensure we are effectively managing our budgets and spending the money in a responsible manner whilst still delivering high quality results. Despite all the strategies and tools at our disposal,

OPENING UP CHANNELS: Gov. Walker will not be coming, but he has expressed the urgency for Wisconsin to open up.

MWANZA, Tanzania - The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), based in the state of Wisconsin in the United States, is sending a trade delegation to Kenya and Tanzania during May this year.

WEDC is presently inviting Wisconsin companies looking at doing business in the two largest economies in East Africa.

This was prompted by Tanzania’s

Tanzania:Billionare Warren Buffet's son gives tourism sector a short in the arm

BY GERALD KITABU

5th February 2015

Natural Resources and Tourism Lazaro Nyalandu disembarks from one of the four vehicles, Marco Polo Torino make, during the reception of the buses in Dar es salaam on Tuesday.

The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Lazaro Nyalandu on Tuesday received four vehicles to simplify the activities of the Pasiansi Wildlife Training Institute (PWTI). The two vehicles purchased from Scania Tanzania Limited, include two Marcopolo Torino make buses each valued at 335.7m/- and two Scania P250 trucks each valued at 240.3m/-.

Speaking at the reception

Pages