Prince Chintimbwe talks to Gay Sutton about the National Airports Corporation Limited of Zambia’s strategy to upgrade, expand and improve the nation’s four most important airports and create a gateway to the country that will leave a lasting impression.

The achievements of the Mauritius Ports Authority (MPA) over the past decade have transformed Port Louis Harbour into a world class shipping facility. Jayne Alverca reports.

French-owned energy group Total is offering $1.37 billion for a majority stake in California-based solar panel manufacturer SunPower, to create a partnership that could help the solar industry move to the next stage of its development.

The boards of both companies have approved the deal, and SunPower will continue to operate with its current management team after it is concluded. Total will also provide SunPower with up to $1 billion of credit support over the next five years.

As April draws to a close, the world’s major oil companies are coming out with their first quarter results for 2011, with ConocoPhillips, BP, EXXON and Shell all reporting this week.

Reporting yesterday, the third largest US oil company ConocoPhillips reported a 43 per cent year-on-year rise in quarterly earnings to $3 billion, but said it was disappointed not to have achieved its production and refining targets.

The Boeing Company has reported first-quarter net income of $0.6 billion ($0.78 per share) on revenue of $14.9 billion and reaffirmed its 2011 revenue, earnings per share and operating cash flow outlook.

"We're off to a good start in an important year for our company," said Jim McNerney, Boeing chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We delivered strong operating performance, made significant progress on 787 and 747-8 flight testing, and scored a major win on the US Air Force Tanker program.

Synova Capital, a UK private equity fund focused on the lower mid-market, today announced the acquisition of Actimax PLC, a leading UK supplier of IT and telecoms infrastructure services.

Actimax services include the provision of VOIP, systems maintenance, data services, mobile and hosting services, mainly to the underserved SME market.

"We have been able grow Actimax throughout the economic downturn by combining best quality systems with best value pricing and market leading customer service standards,” said John Massey, CEO of Actimax. “

Journalists of a certain age all over the world are feeling a pang or two of nostalgia today, with the news that the last ever manual typewriter has been made in a factory in India.

Godrej and Boyce, the last company to make manual typewriters, has closed its plant in Mumbai, India, leaving the typewriter officially a product of the past.

Toronto-based Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold miner, is building up its copper portfolio with an agreement to acquire copper producer Equinox Minerals.

Equinox has two primary assets, the Lumwana mine in Zambia (100 per cent owned) and the Jabal Sayid development project in Saudi Arabia (70 per cent owned, but Equinox is in the process of acquiring the remaining 30 per cent).

The car manufacturing industry in the UK is under threat from a lack of local component suppliers, according to Nick Reilly, chairman of GM Europe.

Reilly told the BBC this weekend that the lack of home-based parts manufacturers was the most critical issue facing the UK motor industry, which was obliged to import a high proportion of parts.

Even overseas manufacturers like Toyota and Nissan were finding it hard to compete in their UK operations, he said, because of shipping costs and an extended supply chain.