Botswana has transformed itself from a sleepy African country to a vibrant democratic economy and as Alan Swaby learns, its national airline is trying to emulate the country’s progress.

It’s an understandable aspiration that developing countries want to be represented on the larger international stage through their own national airline carrier. Understandable, but fraught with danger—at least of the economical kind—as many African countries have discovered to their cost.

The IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) have announced an investment of up to $100 million to support the construction of major infrastructure projects across the Middle East and North Africa.

The investment is part of an effort to stimulate economic growth in the MENA region. The IFC and IDB are each investing $50 million in the Arab Infrastructure Investment Vehicle (AIIV), part of the Arab Financing Facility for Infrastructure (AFFI), a joint initiative of the World Bank, the IDB and IFC.

Indian steel giant Tata has announced it plans to invest £800 million into Wales’ steel making industry over the next five years.

First minister Carwyn Jones recently met the vice chairman of Tata Steel, Mr B Muthuraman, in Mumbai as part of a government trade mission to the country.

DuPont has opened its latest ballistics testing facility at the DuPont Knowledge Center in Hyderabad, India.

The state-of-the-art facility houses a ballistic testing range, a 600-ton helmet press and stab testing equipment.

It is the fifth DuPont site for testing protection materials in ballistic applications. Others are located in Richmond, Virginia; Meyrin, Switzerland; Paulina, Brazil and Wilmington, Delaware.

Ireland’s Providence Resources has confirmed it has received the final payment of US$6 million for the sale of its Nigerian interest, OML 113.

The payment marks the end of Providence’s asset portfolio restructuring, allowing it to focus on its core areas of offshore Ireland and onshore United Kingdom.

Providence divested its Nigerian subsidiary, which holds its interest in OML 113 offshore Nigeria, to Jacka for a total consideration of $16 million, $10 million of which was paid in December 2011, with the balance of $6 million to be paid in April 2012.

Clinicians from across Africa attended a week-long workshop in Durban, South Africa, to learn about image-guided RapidArc IMRT technology.

Doctors and decision makers from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Kenya and Angola gathered at Addington Hospital in Durban, which has treated 250 patients with RapidArc since becoming the first public hospital in Africa to use this technique in 2010.

Lithium Exploration Group has begun the initial testing of its ultrasonic generator in Pennsylvania, United States.

The testing begins today and will run for ten days. The purpose of the test is to operate all of the componentry together, bring the generator to optimal speed and pressure to harness the cavitation and produce steam, and identify the optimal settings for all of the stages of the unit.

Chemical solutions company PI Industries has an outstanding reputation, both as a supplier of agrichemicals and a researcher of fine chemicals, that it has built up over the past half century. By developing close relationships with both customers and suppliers, it has become a significant force in the Indian and world markets, as Jane McCallion finds out.

Even at today’s prices, the economics of opening a new gold mine need careful attention, as Alan Swaby learns while talking with Carrick Gold.

Just like rare book collectors, gold exploration companies are always on the lookout for the big find—the one that will make their name, not to mention their fortune. Not surprisingly, both professions tend to attract more than their share of dreamers.