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VOL. 9, ISSUE 4, SEPTEMBER 2 - 8, 2013
Unveiling Opportunities
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Tz airline to sack staff BY K.KALAGHO AND L.MAGOMBA DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA-The government is to slash Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) workers to just 50 in a move to save the state airline from total collapse. ATCL presently flies one Dash-8 Bombardier, but last week an investor offered to bail out the airline with a promise
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Locals lose out in Tanzania oil bidding
to pump $100 million into the troubled venture. ACTL infrequent scheduling and lack of aircrafts has resulted in ATCL’s 200 odd workers being largely redundant as air travellers turned to other airlines for services. Early last year, the government was forced to pay up Tsh4.5 billion ($2.7 million) to keep ACTL from sinking altogether Tanzania Minister for Transport Dr. Harrison Mwakyembe said last week
Malaba agents worry about jobs
in order to save the country from such unnecessary expenditure the retrenchment of workers was unavoidable. He said after retrenching some 172 ATCL workers, the idea was to further retrench the remaining 128 workers to an essential 50 workforce. “We want to have a small but effective and efficient workforce that will not be a burden to the frail airline,” Dr Mwakyembe said. He said this would attract possible investors to partner with the government in running
the airline. He said that the government is still looking forward to revitalizing the country’s flag bearer airline and make it more competitive both inside and outside Tanzania without however giving more details. Meanwhile, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Alhayat Development and Investment Company, Sheikh Salim Al Harthy said his company
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New EAC Rwanda minister
BY BAZ WAISWA
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Kikwete calls in Museveni on Rwanda
New column by Hope Wilson
MALABA, UGANDA – Clearing and forwarding agents in the border town of Malaba are uncertain of their future pending the implementation of the Single Custom Territory (SCT). The SCT requires all imports destined for Uganda and Rwanda be cleared at the Mombasa port in Kenya. Agents blame the government, Uganda Clearing Industry and Forwarding Association (UCIFA) and their bosses in Kampala for failure explain what is going on. They are wondering how they will be affected in the new system. Onzi Piook of Pantek Agencies, who has been a clearing agent since 1993, is one such agent who is worried the coming of the Single Customs Territory will take away their jobs. “If they are saying clearing is moving to Mombasa then it means we are going to be idle. We don’t want to hear that, a firm can’t employ 10 people in Mombasa. Each clearing and forwarding firm has employees in Mombasa, Malaba, Busia, Kampala and Katuna. These are jobs that people are going to
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Rwanda’s new Minister for East African Community Affairs, Jacqueline Muhongayire was last week sworn-in as an Ex-Officio Member of EALA. The Oath of Allegiance to the House was administered before the EALA Speaker, Margaret Nantongo Zziwa.
Rwanda bankers tout mergers DIAS NYESIGA KIGALI, RWANDA-Experts believe that bank mergers would help grow the industry in the region and help to compete with international banks. “Previously it has been international banks taking a lead in the banking sector on the continent and in the region but now more African based
banks are taking up the market,” James Gatera, the Managing Director, Bank of Kigali said last week. Recently I & M Bank, a Kenya based financial institution, bought Commercial Bank of Rwanda (BCR) and the Nigerian Bank- Guaranty Trust Bank took up 70% in Fina Bank (Kenya). Experts say these acquisitions will help iron
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Israelis to deepen Ethiopia potash stake TEL AVIV, ISRAEL-Israel Chemicals has been in talks recently with a Canadian listed company Allana Potash about opening a potash mine in Ethiopia. According to a recent Haaretz report, Allana Potash CEO Farhad Abasov met with ICL senior management in Tel Aviv three weeks ago to seek ICL’s participation in the construction of a mine at
the Dallol site in Ethiopia’s Danakhil Valley, located in the country’s northeast. Allana has already raised $85 million from investors to build the mine, which is expected to yield a million tons of potash annually. The mine site has 182 million tons of proven potash reserves and potential reserves as high as 438 million tons. The mining project will be
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