Africa

Abengoa has begun construction on two concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in South Africa.

The 50 MW solar power tower Khi Solar One and the 100 MW parabolic trough plant KaXu Solar One were two of the 28 renewable energy projects announced in late 2011 by the South Africa Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE intends to bring 17,800 MW of renewable energy online by 2030.

Air Products today announced the award of a contract to supply two oxygen plants at the site of a copper smelter being built in Zambia by Kansanshi Mining Plc. 

The scope of the agreement includes Air Products supply of two 750 metric ton per day oxygen plants, and all air separation unit (ASU) related equipment and design. The construction of the facility will be undertaken by Kansanshi Mining Plc, with cooperation from Air Products. The ASUs are planned to be on-stream in 2014.

This Kenyan tea and coffee producer has paved the way to growth with diversification into retail and is cutting costs by generating its own electricity.

Just look at the international growth of chains such as Starbucks and it seems that coffee has entered a truly golden era. In the 12 months to September 2011, world coffee exports increased by 9.4 percent to a historical record of 103 million bags – or over 6 million tonnes!

Joseph Otieno, acting managing director, discusses how KVM, and Kenya as a whole, is attracting the interest of some of the planet’s most recognisable players in the automotive industry.

Chief commercial officer Danie du Toit talks about a phase of expansion at South African coach services company Intercape, and the latest luxurious addition to the Sleepliner fleet.

Through the work of its Respondez brand, Spanco Limited has introduced its outsourcing solutions to Africa’s thriving telecommunications sector.

Though still in its relatively early stages of development, Africa’s telecommunications market is lauded as being one of the fastest-growing in the world. Throughout the 2000s, mobile telephony across the continent, particularly in sub-Saharan nations, skyrocketed to the point where today it is substantially more widespread than its fixed line equivalent.

Africa’s IT industry is gearing up toward the clouds on the opening day of the annual summit conference.

Hosted by international business-to-business conferencing company, Kinetic Events, the 3rd annual Cloud and Virtualisation Summit Africa, is being held today and tomorrow at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg.

The summit was officially opened by Derrick Plank, Director of ClearSpace Consulting with an interesting take on the increasing impact of cloud computing on business technology. Derrick will also be moderating the event this year.

Having established a reputation for solving tough industrial drying problems, particularly in the minerals industry, South African engineering company Drytech is now taking that expertise globally.