News and Insights from WINNE

Gambia: Investment in telecoms sector drops

2011-01-10T01:26:00.000-08:00

Investment in The Gambia's telecommunication sector has decelerated in 2009, as indicated by the latest report of the sector's regulatory body. The latest annual report of The Gambia Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA) states that total annual investment in the telecommunication sector was equivalent to D699.3 million ($27m) in 2009 compared to the 2008 figures of D847 million ($32.6m).

“This shows a 17.4% fall in investment figures in the sector,” the report states. The reported figures show QCell, the latest entrant in the country’s telecoms sector, with the highest amount of investment in 2009.

Before 2009, The Gambia has been experiencing steady growth in the telecommunications sector, especially as the cell phone revolution intensified in the country in the last six years with the coming of Africell, Comium, and QCell in 2009. These developments shot up telecoms investment in the country and spurred competition in the sector by mobile operators.

Employment

While unemployment poses a serious challenge to national development, and the government continues to put in place remedial measures to create job opportunities for Gambians, the PURA report indicated that 2,139 people were employed in the telecoms sector at the end of 2009, from the 2007 and 2008 levels of 1976 and 1840 employees respectively. “This shows that the sector has registered moderate 8.3% growth in employment during the period under review,” the report states.

Subscriber base

The telecoms sector reported 1,409,732 voice subscribers in 2009 a net addition of 194,732 voice subscriber to the 2008 figures of 1,215, 004 voice subscribers, which represented 3.6% growth.

The number of reported mobile subscribers grew by 16.7% during 2009 compared to 45.9% recorded during 2008; whilst the fixed line subscribers had recorded a decrease in growth rate of -0.8%. “The less impressive growth in the mobile subscribers number in 2009 could be a as a result of the market reaching saturation,” the reported states.

Telephone penetration level

The telephone penetration level, which is measured as the percentage of the population owing a fixed and or mobile services, has been very impressive over the last three years, 2007, 2008, and 2009, registering, 54.47%, 76% and 88.11% respectively. According to the report, the rationale for this impressive performance in the penetration level is as a result of the strong performance registered in the mobile subscriber base. The mobile penetration level constitutes about 94%, 96% and 97% of the total penetration levels in 2007, 2008, and 2009 respectively.

GSM growth in Africa

Africa is leading in the GSM growth rate, according to the GSM Association Universal Access Report, which maintains that mobile operators are providing universal access in many developing markets, and have done so “at a pace unimaginable’.

The report states that in Africa the growth rate is the fastest in the world and “already contains some very significant success stories”. It also revealed that amongst the 43 African countries surveyed, 10 have achieved GSM coverage greater than 90% of population and a further 8 have coverage of 70% or greater, the report reveals.

It says that approximately half of African countries face a greater challenge to bring greater geographical and population coverage to markets where penetration and affordability are low.

It added that these are generally low income countries, mostly with large geographical areas or topographical and electricity supply infrastructures, which contribute to high operator costs, the report indicates.

Mamadou Sandé

2011-01-05T04:01:00.000-08:00

Mr. Sandé was appointed Minister of Energy and Hydroelectric Power in February 2009. When Africa Review interviewed him he was still Minister of Economy and Finance, and it is in that capacity that he answered all our questions.

What reforms are necessary to attract investors?

Insecurity has been Guinea’s main problem. But in very little time we have managed to clamp down on corruption and drugs. This means that entrepreneurs who come here will, first of all, feel personally safe. By focusing on this area, we have turned Guinea into a country where it is really possible to invest. It is not tax reforms that will prevent a company from coming here, but insecurity. Nowadays you can go out in Conakry, at any time, and you will not hear a single gunshot. Before, drug-traffickers drove in large Americans cars, but nowadays we rarely see any of these. Guinea is gradually becoming a more stable country for investors. Nevertheless, we will of course grant some favours to investors when they move in here if they will utilise Guinean workforce.

What are the priorities of your Ministry and the economic reforms in process?

The Ministry’s priority nowadays is to put the Guinea’s macroeconomic situation back on its feet. Even before the seizure of power by the CNDD, the country’s macroeconomic situation was really catastrophic. Over the past ten years, the situation was such that the hijacking of public funds had become a tradition. There was no State authority. From a political point of view there was a legal void, and from the economic point of view, the presidential clan had completely plundered the State’s assets. Almost all of the gold reserves at the Central Bank were hijacked. In sum, there was a general paralysis. In spite of the lack of means and the retreat of donors following this unconstitutional seizure of power, we have decided to not bet on big programmes since they need a long time to be executed. To start, we had to try to tackle sectors of primary concern, and see how we could help people out. The government’s priority is that of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. So we have to make water and electricity available to people as fast as we can. But to reach this objective we need financial resources. When donors pulled out, foreign inancial backing dropped. So, the priority for me is using internal means to reinforce and assure the collection of internal resources. This depends on improving tax collection mechanisms, but also on the customs service, because they are the State’s two key revenue sources. Nowadays, we are quite happy with the functioning of these two services. Revitalising these areas has also required additional measures. We have sought to improve our computer systems and to integrate it with the tax services (customs and taxes). Moreover, we are tied by budgetary constraints imposed by the Bretton-Woods institutions. It is for that reason that we received a joint ission of the IMF and the World Bank which took place in Guinea at the end of March 2009. Its goal was to redefine the macroeconomic situation, but also to analyze the impact of the world financial crisis on our economy. We are really very happy, because we had just taken office at the end of December 2008 when we were visited by these institutions.

For one whole week we – the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Planning – worked together with the IMF and the World Bank, assessing our economic and financial problems. The donors made us realise that we had to revitalize the macroeconomic situation. We had to set new targets for GDP growth, because the former targets could not be achieved due to the international financial crisis. Guinea is a rich country, but rich in its soil. To exploit these resources would allow us to solve our problems. We have the 2nd largest bauxite reserves in the world. For 50 years, Guinea has been exploiting bauxite mines as well as gold and diamonds. Nowadays, with the financial crisis, almost all industrialized countries are in recession. These countries import our resources, and now the prices of our raw materials have dramatically dropped. Obviously, this has had a negative impact on our revenue inflows and GDP. In fact, We have been losing approximately 500 billion [USD] per year due to falling raw material prices and lower demand. So the problem that we have today is linked to the world financial crisis. But now we have to face another problem: our high debt levels. Guinea is a developing country with a great deal of debt. We not only have to pay the debt but also interest on the debt. We could have solved all these problems in the past, but did not. As the Minister of Economy and Finance, I find this extremely frustrating. Previous governments could have solved this situation. But they did not do so. Developed countries have a debt relief programme for heavily indebted developing countries. Once a certain debt-burden threshold is reached, called the “decision point” the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) Initiative enters into effect. If we could reach this point, we would obtain a reduction of 75% of our debt, which would correspond to 2.4 billion dollars. Today, our main objective is to take all the necessary measures, financial and economical, but also political, to benefit from this initiative. It is for that reason that we have made the commitment to start reforms with the help of the IMF.

What are your expectations for Guinea’s relationship with the EU and the African Development Bank (AfDB)?

We are always happy to be able to meet country friends or partners of Guinea. The first thing that we ask other countries is to give us not only their financial aid, but also their political support. We were in Brussels to deliver the political component – i.e., how to get back on track in terms of instituting a constitutional government – and improve our financial situation. Guinea, throughout the Cotonou agreements, has always benefited from the help of the European Union, which is the top donor to Guinea. With this meeting, we wanted first of all to close the deal for the 9th EDF (European Development Fund), which amounts to 86 million dollars approximately, but also to get the 10th EDF (132 million dollars) which would allow us to finance development projects in Guinea. If dialogue is renewed with this Institution as a bilateral partner, it will allow us to establish directs contacts with all its individual country members.

Our meeting with the African Development Bank falls within the same framework. We cannot forget that since the seizure of power, the contact group is with us. This latter is managed by the representatives of the CEDEAO. The AfDB is present from the economic point of view and, from the very start, African countries have supported us politically. Today we have a budget deficit above 200 billion of Guinean francs, and we will make up for it.

Do you count on the private sector and on foreign investors to revitalize the economy in Guinea?

In Africa there is not really a financial crisis because the financial system is very weak. This crisis just accentuated and further damaged a system which was already economically weak. It did not reach our banks but it did affect the overall economy. The raw materials which served as our main revenue sources are now worth far less; prices have dropped sharply. In addition, developed countries which we depended on for financial aid have also been severely impacted by the crisis. We are highly aware that we need a healthy private sector to recover from this crisis. And in order to do that, we inevitably have to encourage foreign investors.

Will Independent South Sudan Be Like Somalia?

2011-01-04T02:36:00.000-08:00

We have entered 2011 and there is strong indication that South Sudanese are going to vote for secession, starting from Sunday Jan 2. That means we will now turn our focus on the future of South Sudan, or whatever the name of the new nation would be

As part of the focus on the future of our new nation, the first question that I will try to answer is whether or not an independent South Sudan will be like the current Somalia. One could be tempted to dismiss the possibilities of the comparison of South Sudan with Somalia immediately, but that would be too quick a judgment. The correct answer is not yet clear even though we believe we will not be like Somalia.

South Sudan, on the one hand, will not be like Somalia if we follow the principles of democracy that brought us this far. These principles may not be what we mean as we say them, but they are the foundation of our forthcoming nation. These principles put the choice of leaders in the hands of the people. That was how the majority of the current leaders were chosen in 2010 even though some candidates contested the results.
On the other hand, South Sudan will be like Somalia if we return to the old way of doing things in Sudan. This old way of doing things is coup d'état. When leaders take power by coup, they disregard the views of citizens because citizens do not have a say in who should be their leader when leaders take power by force. They just accept what the powerful man or woman says.

Coup d'états often create chaos before the situation is brought under control. Sometimes, coup d'états create long term vacuums, resulting in lawlessness like the one in Somalia. Power vacuum that resulted in the current lawlessness in Somalia was caused by the car accident that severely injured President Siad Barre on the evening of May 23, 1986. Even though President Barre recovered within one month and resumed his reign in Somalia, the accident had unleashed a power struggle among Somalia senior army commanders, elements of the president's Marehan clan, and related factions, bringing the country to a standstill.

The power struggle created two factions in Somalia: a constitutional faction and a clan faction. The constitutional faction was led by four army generals opposed to President Barre and the clan faction was led by President Barre's members of his immediate family. The government was now divided into clans.

Due to the worsening conditions in the country, rebels of the United Somalia Congress (USC) led by General Mohamed Farrah Aidid attacked Mogadishu on January 26, 1991, ousting the government of President Barre. Somaliland then declared its independence in May, 1991. The clan-based war then followed, resulting in the current chaos in Somalia.

We in South Sudan can only avoid the above history if we are not power-hungry to the point of forgetting the principles of democracy that brought us this freedom.

One may argue that the current government will not lead us well in the independent South Sudan because it has many short-comings. Therefore, it should be removed immediately after secession. I agree that our current government has many short-comings, but there is no guarantee that anybody in the same government would turn South Sudan into a Paradise by usurping power. Leaders who take power by force often care less about people. They care much about themselves and their inner circles. We must be careful about their intentions.

We must understand that coup d'état is the outdated practice internationally. International community this time opposes any leader who takes power by force. The only fruit that a country under such a leader reaps is sanction, leading to weak economy and starvation. We must avoid this kind of practice if we are to keep peace and build our new nation successfully after secession. Democracy must be the only way of changing leaders in the independent South Sudan if we are to avoid Somalization in our new nation.

Lagos Plans Huge Investments in Wastewater Infrastructure

2011-01-04T01:50:00.000-08:00

In order to implement the five year sustainable sewage and sanitation infrastructure strategy and facilitation of public private partnership in wastewater management, Lagos State Government last week commissioned Wastewater Management Office's administrative headquarters located along Obasa Street, Off Oba Akra Avenue, Ikeja.

The new office will also be responsible for elucidation of fundamental wastewater sectoral policy reforms that will address all wastewater management concerns in urban, semi urban and rural areas of the state. Furthermore, the office will carry out monitoring, supervision and regulation of all public and private wastewater infrastructure.
It will also conduct research and studies for the development and implementation of environmentally friendly technologies for wastewater management with emphasis on recovery and re-use.

At the ceremony, the Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Muiz Banire stated that it is common knowledge that waste or spent water from the community which includes urine, household and commercial wastewater portends great danger to the population if not properly managed.

According to him, such water has the potential of polluting the environment and contaminating the rivers, lakes, oceans and ground water largely depended upon for domestic, municipal, agricultural and industrial use.
"To ensure effective management therefor, the state government has resolved to embark on aggressive infrastructure and resource investment in wastewater and sewage management issues and treatment facilities at all levels in the state.

This is manifest in the adoption of the Sustainable Sewage Sanitation Strategy Policy and State Action Plan for the implementation of Sustainable Sewage Sanitation Strategy (SSSS) with the time lines by the Executive Council.

"As I speak today, the population of Lagos State is over 19 million, and by 2015, the population is expected to hit 25 million. At that time, Lagos State is expected to the third world largest city. This portends greater challenge in terms of sewage management. It is on record for example that 35 million cubic metres per day of wastewater is generated in Africa, and Lagos State alone generates 1.5 million cubic metres per day.

"I must say that the environmental, health and related consequences of a failure to respond to this problem are better imagined than experienced. The challenges before us therefore underscore the speed and commitment with which we have been implementing the resolutions of the world class Sewage Summit held from 2nd-3rd March, 20 10. That singular event provided the opportunity to explore best practices in sewage management.

"The evidence of these concerted efforts in infrastructure provisions will be further manifested in the distribution across the 57 Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas in the next five years.

These include the construction of 10 new wastewater treatment plants across the state, revamping of three existing wastewater treatment plants at Oke-Afa, Abesan and Iponri, a total of 5,250km length of sewers to be laid. The funding for this project will be sourced through a mixture of budgetary provision and private sector partnership.

"Thus, in line with our policy thrust of encouraging private sector participation in the provision of infrastructure, our doors are wide open to local investors and international development partners in this field. I wish to reiterate that enabling environment and special incentives await investors.

It is our resolve to ultimately implement our wastewater and sewage management policy across all tiers of government in the state.

"A full inventory of all existing infrastructure of sewage in Lagos State has been undertaken with a view to partnering with the owners towards resuscitation and rehabilitation of dormant facilities and subsequent integration into the state grids", Dr. Banire stated.

The Group Managing Director, Lagos State Water Corporation, Engr. Shayo Holloway said the establishment of the management office within the corporation is a step in the right direction for accelerated development and sustainable wastewater management in the state, as 80 per cent of water consumed in the state ends up as wastewater.

Engr. Holloway added that with establishment of the new office, the state is set to witness unprecedented transformation of the wastewater sector and a spiral effect for the water sector with reduced risk of contamination of potable water sources.

Tanzania financial sector most rigid in East Africa, new IMF study reveals

2011-01-03T01:28:00.000-08:00

Some two years ago, Tanzanian investors interested in buying into the massive initial public offering of Kenya’s largest mobile telecommunications company, Safaricom, were locked out by their country’s regulations and could only look on as their counterparts in Rwanda and Uganda took part.

A year later, the National Microfinance Bank of Tanzania also had an IPO on the Dar-es-Salaam Stock Exchange but investors from other East African Community partner states — Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi — were not allowed to buy the shares.

The country’s capital account regime prohibits flow of foreign investments into the country.

It is these regulations that have landed the country’s financial sector with the unenviable tag of the most rigid in the region, in a new study by International Monetary Fund that also delivers a harsh indictment of its stultifying effect on the region’s efforts towards monetary integration.

The new report, contained in the IMF working paper on ‘Measuring financial barriers among the three EAC founder member states’ — a copy of which has been seen by The EastAfrican — ranks Kenya’s financial sector as the most flexible and open in the region, followed by Uganda, and finally Tanzania.

With the coming into force of the Common Market protocol, the EAC now has its sights trained on the Monetary Union expected to come into force in 2012, which requires openness in the partner states’ financial systems.

The other EAC partner states of Rwanda and Burundi were not covered in the IMF paper, prepared by Yi David Wang, which was published early last week.

Mr Wang used the “covered interest rate parity” (CIP) and “forward foreign exchange” (FFE) systems to measure the region’s financial openness.

CIP refers to a principle stating that yields from two equivalent investments in the domestic market and the foreign market, respectively, are equal after accounting for fluctuations in the exchange rate.

On the other hand, FFE is an agreement that obligates an investor to deliver a specified quantity of one currency in return for a specified amount of another currency.

According to the paper, Tanzania contains a number of explicit capital movement restrictions that may impede CIP’s functioning.

For example, Tanzania restricts non-residents from borrowing abroad and restricts the participation of non-residents in the domestic money market.

Available data indicate that Tanzania is the only country in EAC that restricts outward direct investment.

The same applies to the aspect of purchase of foreign securities by residents, whereby Tanzania only allows purchasing of foreign securities using externally generated funds.

This is not the case in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, while in Burundi it only requires the approval of the central bank.

La Cámara viaja con 17 empresas a Ghana para impulsar la inversión en infraestructuras

2011-01-03T01:10:00.000-08:00

La Cámara de Comercio de Madrid, en colaboración con la división de Empresas de Caja Madrid, ha llevado a 17 empresas españolas a la capital de Ghana, Accra, con el objetivo de promover la participación de las compañías madrileñas en los proyectos de infraestructuras en este país, así como favorecer las exportaciones de productos de gran consumo, ha informado la entidad cameral.

La Cámara de Comercio de Madrid, en colaboración con la división de Empresas de Caja Madrid, ha llevado a 17 empresas españolas a las capital de Ghana, Accra, con el objetivo de promover la participación de las compañías madrileñas en los proyectos de infraestructuras en este país, así como favorecer las exportaciones de productos de gran consumo, ha informado la entidad cameral.

El descubrimiento de yacimientos petrolíferos, como el de Jubilee en 2009, y de gas, unido a que Ghana es la tercera mayor economía de África Occidental, tras Nigeria y Costa de Marfil, y el segundo mercado en número de potenciales clientes, con 23,1 millones de habitantes, ha atraído el interés de la Cámara de Comercio de Madrid.

Ghana, junto con Costa de Marfil, ha sido incluido en el Plan África de Exportación de Infraestructuras, que, dotado con 70 millones de euros, pretende financiar proyectos en los sectores hidráulicos y energéticos. Este hecho ha sido uno de los condicionantes para que Iberdrola forme parte de esta delegación empresarial.

Además de Iberdrola, las 14 empresas madrileñas que han viajado con la Cámara de Comercio de Madrid a Ghana son: la empresa de estudios geológicos Blom Sistemas Geoespaciales; la distribuidora de ropa Campus Stellae Investment; la empresa de productos cosméticos Catalysis; la productora de láminas asfálticas impermeabilizantes Derivados Asfálticos Normalizados; y la consultora Euradia International; la empresa de alimentación Galletas Siro.

También han viajado la compañía de innovación y tecnología Gutter System; el fabricante de puertas Julfer; la empresa de decoración Lámparas Schuler; la automovilística Olipes; la empresa de telecomunicaciones Radiotrans; la productora de tapones para botellas Tapón Spain; el comercializador de equipos y sistemas de comunicaciones inalámbricas Telcom, y el fabricante y distribuidor de materiales educativos Tsd Pierron.

Además, también forman parte de esta delegación dos empresas palentinas: el fabricante de productos de seguridad Tecnoexpress y Galletas Gullón, la toledana que centra su actividad en el sector de alimentación.

El mejor país de África Occidental para hacer negocios Según el estudio Doing Business publicado por el Banco Mundial en 2009, Ghana aparece como el mejor país de África Occidental para hacer negocios.

El estudio indica que este país favorece la inversión extranjera directa y el asentamiento y apertura de empresas, gracias al conjunto de reformas que han facilitado el acceso a la financiación y han permitido reducir los costes de importación y exportación, entre otras medidas.

La estabilidad política del país, junto con un marco jurídico transparente, permite ofrecer oportunidades de negocio tanto en el sector público como en el privado. En este último las inversiones se orientan preferiblemente a la construcción residencial, materiales de construcción y a los sectores agroalimentario y químico, entre otros.

El sector público concentra las inversiones en vehículos, maquinaria para la construcción, equipamiento médico y hospitalario, canalización y potabilización de agua, construcción, infraestructuras de transporte, generación eléctrica y energía (petróleo y gas). el Gobierno ghanés busca socios para la rehabilitación de infraestructuras de transporte (ferroviario y puertos), generación eléctrica y potabilización de aguas (desalación).

Para fomentar la inversión, el país establece una serie de incentivos que pueden ser generales (para algunos tipos de inversiones) y específicos (inversores realizadas en sectores considerados prioritarios, como agricultura, industria manufacturera, turismo y construcción).

Algunos de estos incentivos consisten en deducciones por inversión, permiso de importación de los bienes de equipo con exención del impuesto de importación, amortizaciones fiscalmente deducibles y cuotas de inmigración para trabajadores extranjeros según el tamaño de la empresa.

El crecimiento de su Producto Interior Bruto (PIB) de Ghana será del 20,1 por ciento para 2010, según estima el Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI), aumento derivado de la explotación de petróleo. Este crecimiento sitúa al país en buena posición para alcanzar el primero de los objetivos del milenio en 2015: el de reducir a la mitad el nivel de pobreza.

España y Ghana han firmado dos protocolos financieros, el último de ellos con fecha de 2005 y prorrogado hasta 2011 por una cantidad de 65 millones de euros, de los cuales 60 millones se destinan a créditos blandos con cargo al Fondo de Ayuda al Desarrollo (FAD) y los 5 millones restantes a Financiación de Estudios de Viabilidad (FEV).

En agosto de 2007, el Gobierno español canceló la deuda de Ghana con España. El año pasado se firmó un Acuerdo de conversión de deuda, en virtud del cual se condona deuda por valor de 44,3 millones de dólares (33,7 millones de euros), de los que cerca de 40 millones corresponden al principal de la deuda y el resto a intereses.

Algeria to launch renewable electricity

2010-12-22T04:29:00.000-08:00

Algeria will launch a program of renewable energy development over the next 20 years, expected to increase its production of electricity from alternative sources such as solar or wind, Algerian Ennahar

“In a few weeks we will present to the government a plan to develop new and renewable energy. It is an extremely ambitious program in solar, wind and geothermal,” Minister of Energy Youcef Yousfi was quoted as saying by news agency APS.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Sunday ordered the government to present to the Council of Ministers in 2011, a “genuine national development plan of new and renewable energy.”

Yousfi said the plan should enable the production within 20 years from renewable energies the same amount of electricity currently produced from natural gas.

The program also provides for the design and manufacture of equipment related to this industry, a mission entrusted to the public group electricity and gas Sonelgaz.

"It's a huge program, it's a huge challenge, the government will be there to support and assist the operators in its implementation," said the minister.

Algeria wants to prepare for after oil by developing renewable energy in solar and nuclear, particularly in cooperation with France, the United States, Germany, Russia, China and Brazil.

It includes the construction of a solar power plant in the Sahara (extreme south) with a capacity of 150 megawatts (MGW).

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

2010-12-21T02:19:00.000-08:00

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, born 29 October 1938, is the 24th and current President of Liberia. She served as Minister of Finance under President William Tolbert from 1979 until the 1980 coup d'état, after which she left Liberia and held senior positions at various financial institutions. She placed a distant second in the 1997 presidential election. Later, she was elected President in the 2005 presidential election and took office on 16 January 2006. Sirleaf is the first modern, and currently the only elected, female head of state in Africa.

You have occupied high-level positions, mostly in the financial area both in Liberia and abroad, and also at the United Nations. When you returned to Liberia from exile you were asked to take over the leadership of the Unity Party and won the elections in 2005. In your opinion, how did your previous political experience contribute to you securing the presidency of your country? What have been your main challenges since taking the reins of your country?

I don’t think there is any doubt that my many years of political activism has contributed to my own appreciation for the complexities of our country’s political, economic and social system. My work outside the country with international institutions in both the private and public sector obviously gave me a chance to interact with other world leaders on matters related to development, thereby broadening my own perspective as to how to approach the responses to the country’s development agenda. Being able to appreciate the experiences of others, the best practices and the lessons that could be learned and that could be incorporated into our own economic agenda, has helped me to be very clear in my focus as to what measures need to be taken to reconstruct our country and to revive the economy.

The major challenge we have faced and continue to face is the one that was the subject of the conference here in Oslo, and that has to do with youth unemployment. This is because we have thousands and thousands of young people, many of whom were child soldiers who didn’t have the opportunity of an education or skill training and find themselves today on the streets, just one step above survival. Even though we are opening the economy, we have to make sure that they have the means to be able to be absorbed by the private sector and that means giving them some skills. This is then a challenge we are trying to address and we are glad that today the IMF and the ILO talked about job-creating growth because this is the way you promote growth and at the same time provide jobs opportunities.

The country has been relatively stable since 2005. Liberia had an average annual growth rate of 7% over the last 4 years and may achieve 6% growth this year despite the global crisis. As the former Minister of Finance Antoinette M. Sayeh stated, “Liberia is now at a pivotal moment moving to a new path of growth and development.” What are in your opinion the main priorities in promoting economic development?

We need to stay on course with the development of our private sector, and we see diversity in our private sector activity as a key to all of this. We are an agrarian nation and must promote agriculture with food security through production and put the activity of small farmers at the core, but we also are a major agriculture export country, rubber being our main product, and we have been trying to reactivate other activities in the agriculture sector such as palm oil, coffee or cocoa.

We also have iron reserves, diamond reserves, and a big forestry diversity that represents today about 43% of the biodiversity in the West African sub-region. Perhaps the sanctions that were imposed on us during the many years of conflicts enabled us to preserve our forests. Today we can start forest operations with a certain amount of policy conservation to make sure that we contribute to the conservation of the planet by preventing greenhouse gases.

We are also beginning to explore oil, which opens up another area for diversity. We are confident that if we manage to diversify the economy and we use the benefits of growth, we will be able to address the social needs of the country and we will achieve our targets and put the country on a path of sustainable growth and development where peace and prosperity can go hand in hand.

The Government of Liberia is committed to a long-term growth and development strategy named “Liberia Rising 2030,” which is to replace the present “Lift Liberia” theme associated with the Poverty Reduction Strategy that has driven the efforts of the Government, scheduled to end in June 2011. “Liberia Rising 2030” will focus on making Liberia a middle-income country by the year 2030. This is a very ambitious vision. How confident are you when it comes to the accomplishment of this goal?

We are very confident and optimistic that we can achieve this goal. The architect of that particular agenda is our Minister of Planning & Economic Affairs, the Hon. Amara M. Konneh. We believe that with the vast natural resources that our country has and the relatively small population of around 3.5 million, if we allocate our resources efficiently, it is possible to achieve that. We will of course be subjected to externalities, regional dynamics, etc. but we are confident that the whole West African region is moving in the same direction. In Liberia we are going to do all we can to make sure that this target is achieved.

The IMF and the World Bank decided on June 29th to support the final stage of debt relief for Liberia that in total amounts to $4.6 billion in nominal terms. The decision was reached after Liberia had met the requirements for achieving the final step and had demonstrated the political will to promote accountability, transparency, rule of law, and institutional development, amongst others. This opens up new opportunities to rebuild the country. How is this debt relief going to benefit the country and more importantly Liberians?

Let me first say that it took a lot of effort on the part of the team since we started in 2007, we had tremendous support from the IMF, the World Bank, the African Development bank as by our bilateral partners led by the United States. We were able in two years to carry a rigorous program of economic and fiscal reform and to put in place the measures for financial self-management. As a result, I think we were able to reach the completion point in record time and on September 17th we will be in Paris for the final date of debt relief. That relief also included the settlement of our commercial debt (US$ 1.5 billion) that we were able to buy back thanks to the support of the World Bank at 3 cents on a dollar. That in itself was a major achievement.

We are going to open up the fiscal space and we will have the possibility to access the concessionary lending that exists in many emerging markets as well as in the international financial institutions such as the World bank, and with that we will be able to put many more resources into our development efforts. We think then that we can move ahead and channel resources into infrastructure because this has been one of the missing pieces to attract FDI to Liberia.

You met the president of the United States of America Mr. Barack Obama at the White House last May 27th. During the meeting, Mr. Obama stated that you are an inspiration to Africa, that he is an admirer of your work and that “the United States and Liberia are close friends, long-standing partners”. How do you perceive relations between Liberia and the USA?

Our relations are excellent at all levels. We continue to get support from President Obama as we did from President Bush before him. The level of support for us has been tremendous, they have been the leader in our debt relief program and so we are pleased, but beyond the administration we have excellent relations with the Congress and the institutions that support us. There is almost a cultural affinity between Liberians and Americans because of our long standing relationship, indeed many Liberians get training in the United States and we have more than 200,000 of our people working in the US. We are very pleased with that relationship and confident that as long as we stay on course that relationship will continue to be very strong.

Liberia's strategy to attract large-scale foreign investment in mining, agriculture and forestry will help rebuild infrastructure and boost employment and tax receipts. What do you think about the importance of foreign direct investment for the development of the Liberian economy? How do you intend to make the country more attractive to American investors? What are the most interesting sectors to invest in?

Foreign Direct Investment is extremely important as far as we are concerned because we feel that the major propeller for our growth will be the private sector, and that government intervention should be limited to the areas that cannot be managed by the private sector, but we also realize that we must have regulation of the private sector to ensure that the benefits of the activities fall back onto people and that they can enjoy these benefits.

Adding value to our natural resources is really the next step and we would like to attract US investments in our manufacturing sector, as we don’t want Liberia to continue to be an exporter of primary commodities. We also want to attract US investments in housing development and entertainment, and in this respect we are glad that Mr. Robert Johnson has started by building a hotel. Following his example, we hope that other Americans will invest in our country. We also see potential for added value in the forestry sector where instead of exporting wood we can produce furniture for instance. The same happens with one of our main commodities, rubber. Indeed, we are exporting semi-processed rubber but I would like to see that in a final product such as condoms, gloves, tires, and etcetera.

Those are the sectors we are promoting very aggressively now that we have resolved some of our problems and that we are working on our infrastructure.

You were the first elected female President in Africa. Do you think that young women in Africa believe they can achieve the same?

I have no doubt about it, and I think that we serve as a role model for them, as an inspiration. Today, many young women around the continent and I hope the world sees that they can reach that potential, they can aspire to high political positions, and as long as they are prepared to work for it, to be competitive, to have the qualifications and the commitment to do it, they can do it.

If you look at Africa today, the number of women who are occupying leadership positions has increased so much and we believe that we have made a contribution to that. I continue to represent the aspirations and the expectations of women in Africa and beyond, and in that respect I have succeeded on their behalf.

THE ROLE OF STRUCTURED COMMODITY FINANCE IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

2010-12-20T05:32:00.000-08:00

Many developing nations are rich in natural resources that are often under-utilised. The author outlines how traditional financing methods are unsuitable for many ventures in developing countries, and how greater use of structured commodity finance could help to make better progress, boosting economic activity and generating new wealth in the developing world.

resource-rich country needs to make the best use of its combined factors of production. Challenges, powever, abound. Governments, seeking to maximise the well-being of their citizens, need to work with businesses and entrepreneurs who are seeking to maximise profits. What’s more, many nations appear to lack the human capital needed to turn raw materials, machinery, labour and capital goods into sustainable streams of income. Lack of credit to finance business ventures is also a major problem. For financiers and investors, traditional lending methods are seen as prohibitively risky, because they focus on the economic history of the borrower. One of the first things banks typically request when financing an operation (whether it is balance-sheet-backed or working-capital based) is the track record of the entity being financed. In developing nations, these track records are usually non-existent, limited, or highly volatile and, as a consequence, access to finance is often denied.

Overcoming the obstacles

In a structured finance transaction, these obstacles are overcome.

Structured commodity finance, which emerged in the late 1980s, is an alternative and cost-effective financing tool for commodity producers and trading companies operating in developing nations. How does it work? Put simply, it transfers the risks in a trade-financing deal to those who are better equipped to bear them. Rather than focus on a company’s credit rating, structured commodity finance works in its simplest form by securing loans against the commodities a company produces. Lenders therefore become more interested in a company’s ability to deliver its goods than in the strength of its balance sheet or its cash-flow track record. If a transaction proceeds normally, the financier is automatically reimbursed and the loan is self-liquidated. If anything goes wrong, the financier has recourse to some assets as collateral. In some instances, the loan is secured against a commercially stronger counterparty rather than the commodities themselves but, regardless, the effect is the same: the credit risk is moved away from the party that is being financed and onto a risk or series of risks that are lower than that of the ultimate borrower, the commodity supplier.

The Angolan experience

One prominent illustration of how these techniques can be used comes from the 1989 crude oil pre-finance structures in Angola. At the time, the country´s high risk rating prohibited access to conventional methods of financing. However, by using structured commodity finance, the Angolan state oil company was able to benefit from early disbursements of its future supplies. In this case, the company gained access to the funds it needed by issuing letters of credit backed by the receipt of shipping documents of crude oil supplies. Although the physical delivery of the commodity took 40days, the Angolan state oil company received payment for its supplies much earlier, with lower costs and risk. As this case illustrates, the use of such techniques allows companies and governments in the developing world to transform raw materials into ready capital and revenue. Aside from pre-finance, structured commodity finance may also incorporate toll finance, warehousereceipt finance, counter-trade finance and even asset-backed securities. Nevertheless, in all its forms, the basic principle is the same: turning factors of production into readilyaccessible money.

Why isn’t structured commodity finance used more widely?

Unfortunately, both local and foreign banks in emerging markets are not making the most of the opportunities presented by structured commodity finance. In Angola, for example, there have been no signs of domestic banks capitalising on their natural advantages. Banks are present on the ground, even outside of the capital. They know the local players, including the service providers, such as warehousemen and inspection companies, and are therefore well positioned to spot problems early on and to resolve them, either informally or through the legal system.

Yet, despite these strengths, very few banks are currently using structured finance techniques. As a consequence, valuable opportunities for profit are lost, and, more broadly, the country’s commodity suppliers, traders and currency remain poorly linked with regional and international markets, despite increased public investment in transport infrastructure. Why aren’t banks doing more? One reason may be lack of human capital and enterprise. The local banks in developing nations that do have a portfolio of commodity-sector loans generally lack in-house expertise in commodity-based finance. At the same time, the foreign banks that have such expertise generally look at ‘big-ticket’ transactions which can be handled directly with international commodity firms. Developing the necessary expertise can also be difficult. It is hard to build fixed models for structuring commodity purchases around warehouse receipts, or other small commodity-sector loans, because the data is restricted and because one transaction often varies greatly from the next. For example, the legal departments of local banks would have to undertake a substantial amount of time-consuming and original work for each transaction, whereas credit analysts would be confronted with heterogeneous requirements for mitigating risk.

Government distortion

Unpredictable governments are another inhibitor of structured commodity finance in the developing world. Today, economic management in the emerging nations is much more sophisticated than it was twenty years ago, but there is still a tendency towards state intervention through exchange-rate intervention, heavy regulation of utility suppliers, restrictions on land rights and usage and limits on the repatriation of profits, among other factors. The nature of such intervention is hard to predict and plan for, making it difficult for banks and financiers to model the variables that impact on their financing structures. In some cases, financiers had believed their exchange-rate risks were covered, because of a government guarantee that local tariffs for electricity, water or toll roads would be linked to the US dollar or another foreign currency. Often, however, when local currencies have depreciated, domestic political conditions have made it impossible to increase local tariffs quickly enough to meet Structured commodity , finance provides, working capital in difficult environments where conventional financing methods fail such agreements. In this situation, financiers are typically paid in the local currency but, because of the depreciation, these funds are insufficient to

meet the debt service requirements.

Conclusion

Despite the obstacles, developing nations have much to gain from structured commodity finance, because it provides working capital in difficult environments and in markets where conventional financing methods fail. In doing so, structured commodity finance can boost output and employment, promoting economic development and balanced growth. In countries such as Angola, these techniques could be used much more widely. For example, in rural areas, medium-size farmers could be pre-paid for the supply of agricultural products if they agreed to deposit

them at a bank-controlled warehouse and to meet pre-defined conditions. Such arrangements would secure a market for the farmers, supplies for the retailers and new business for logistic firms, insurance companies and development banks, among others.

Kodjo Sagbo Togo´s Ambassador before the EU

2010-12-17T01:58:00.000-08:00

Mr. Kodjo Sagbo was named Togo’s ambassador before the European Union and the Benelux in 2004. The renewal of the cooperation between the EU and Togo was the most important dossier awaiting for the Togolese ambassador upon his arrival from his previous post in Abuja (Nigeria). The EU had suspended all cooperation with Togo after the upheavals that took place before the first plural presidential elections in 1993. After that, numerous Togolese delegations went to Brussels to ask for the reestablishment of the cooperation with their country. The European Union demanded free, democratic and transparent elections in order to resume full cooperation with Togo. Progressively, with the celebration of these elections, these conditions have been met and cooperation has been reestablished. Right before the February 2010, presidential elections, Mr. Sagbo briefly described his country’s situation and the present relations between the EU and Togo.

Togo

, my country, formerly known as the “Switzerland of Africa”, is recovering its role on the regional and international scene. This recovery is the result of the collective action of its sons and is also due to the help of the international community which it missed until recently. This is due in large parts to the leadership of President Mr. Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé who, since gaining power, has never stopped working towards reconciliation, and is firmly committed to building a stable, peaceful and developed

Togo

. In the President, we have worked in Brussels to reestablish ties with the EU, our main and most valued development partner. Since 2007, a more productive political situation has allowed Togo to reestablish fruitful relationships with its bilateral and multilateral partners. Thanks to the National Indicative Programme of the 10th European Development Fund (EDF), and to budgetary assistance, EU financial support is worth millions of euros in important fields for the development of Togo such as infrastructures, health, education, agriculture etc. To this we have to add all the support given for elections, security and justice. This year, the EU will be in Togo together with other partners to make sure that the presidential elections go smoothly on March 4. For the first time in a decade, in October 2009, a EU ambassador has been accredited to Togo, establishing his residence in Lomé. The donor round table held in Brussels in September 2008, gave a clearer picture of the aid outlook, going forward, and with a strict management of its resources, Togo could be well on its way to reaching its Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The “Switzerland of Africa” boasts modern port facilities, a tax-free zone, and is one of West Africa’s premiere business hubs with a programme adapted to globalization. Furthermore, in addition to the the traditional welcoming spirit of its people, its tourist attractions, are amongst the most famous in Africa, and it has a great artistic and cultural patrimony, I would like to invite you to visit, make business, invest, or just to spend your holidays in Togo.

SETACI, laughing at the crisis

2010-12-16T07:04:00.000-08:00

It is remarkable how some companies seem to be so resilient to the crisis. A positive attitude certainly makes the difference. SETACI, a local automotive company has steadily grown despite the crisis, it has gone international and is planning to continue expanding. The secret? After 35 years in Ivory Coast, the company acts for the common interest of Ivorian people rather than for its own benefit.

Despite the crisis, SETACI intends to multiply its turnover by three in 2010. “In spite of the crisis, our company never thought to relocate”, explains Mr. Kanaan, a Lebanese expatriate and SETACI’s Director in

Ivory Coast

since 1974. “We have stayed to invest, to fight against unemployment and to decrease poverty thanks to our contribution as an economic operator to Ivory Coast’s tax revenues”, he says proudly. Specialized in the commercialization of spare parts imported from different brands, the company is present in the sub-region:

Guinea

, Senegal, Mali and Niger. In addition to being the representative for Mercedes, Mitsubishi and Citroën in Ivory Coast, SETACI is also the official representative of KIA Motors since October 2009. In its recruitment policy, the General Management gives priority to nationals: 99% of its work force is Ivorian. Despite the crisis, SETACI reached a 3 billion francs CFA turnover in 2009 (almost 4.7 million Euros) and, according to its manager, the forecast is to multiply by three this result in 2010. “ We already have KIA Motors and we expect to acquire one or two other automotive brands in the near future - he says - we will expand soon in order to adapt our facilities to a heightened activity ”. To fulfill this, an offensive strategy has to be set up concerning the fast positioning of the brand the company just acquired. Indeed, KIA Motors offers a 3-year guarantee or 60,000 Km when its competitors just offer 2 years of guarantee or 30,000 Km. In the present gloomy economic situation punctuated by the crisis in

Ivory Coast

, Mr. Kanaan claims that the future is quite promising when the country is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary of independence. For him, it is essential that Ivory Coast and Africa in general make up for the delays accumulated in the course of multiple crises. “I always said that Africa is a continent for the third millennium, a very rich continent. That is why I have no doubt that we will catch Europe up and we will be totally independent. Ican just wish that this beautiful continent will grow”.

Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) promotes Spanish tourists in Nigeria

2010-12-16T06:48:00.000-08:00

As part of strategic efforts to take advantage of the growing interest of Spanish speaking tourists in Nigeria, the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) concluded arrangements to open an office in Madrid (Spain). This is coming after the corporation’s recent creation of a website exclusively aimed at the Chinese market. Mr. Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, its Director-General, said both projects are part of the strategic initiative aimed at diversifying its traditional tourist bases: Britain and the USA.

Do you know how eBiz Guides works?

2010-09-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

Our eBiz representative in Ecuador, Xabier Garagorri, was interviewed last August 27th in Radio Tropicana to talk about the work he and his team are doing in this country. After one month in the field, they are researching information and doing interviews to key personalities in Ecuador to elaborate the next eBiz Guide.

This has been a very intense summer for eBiz Guides and WINNE: Republique du Congo was available in July, Georgia and El Salvador were finished in August and are being distributed and in some months, Ecuador will be the new eBiz Guides of the collection: the number 36.

In Radio Tropicana wanted to know all about eBiz Guides, a particular business that keeps together investing and having fun: "In the name eBiz, e stands for Entertainment and Biz stands for Business", explains Mr. Garagorri.

If you want to know more about the main subjects of interest in these publications, the books on Latin America or why our teams are where they are instead of somewhere else, among other topics, you better listen to this interview!

Do not miss it!

We are working on all you need to know to invest in Ecuador

2010-08-31T07:30:00.000-07:00

Promoting the investments in Ecuador is the main objective of our team in this country. This is why one of our representatives has been interviewed in the national radio about the new eBizguides he and his collegues are developping. Although they arrived in the country only a month ago, their presence has already been noticed and the business world is wandering when will this new guide be ready for them to read.

Xabier Garagorri, our guide developer on this new ebizguides -number 36 in the collection- has been interviewed and has explained why the attention is now on Ecuador: "It has a potentially advantageous strategic position and a lot of key sectors like agriculture or tourism, Ecuador is a distinguised exporter of tunna, shrimp, coffee and sugar... it has a potential market of 14 million people with profitable international trade pacts: Ecuador has many important sectors but is has to be known".

As Mr. Garagorry highlights, with this new guide businessmen will have in their hands 250 pages filled with useful information about business, hotels and restaurants to stay and eat, as well as a data base with official information on ambassies and other key companies in the country.

If you want to know more about this interview and what eBizguides is working on in Ecuador,

listen to the whole interview (SPANISH)!

If you are interested in other guides, check our online store

www.ebizguides.com

Why investing in Honduras

2010-08-12T03:12:00.000-07:00

There are too many reasons why you should consider investing in Honduras. This is the first impression of our team in the field where they are researching and interviewing key personalities in the country in the business area.

Among these interviews, WINNE has talked to the Ministry of Finances in the country, Mr. William Chong Wong, (in the picture -center- with our team) who has detailed step by step the highlights of the country he represents.

Between them, the natural resources –vegetables, poultry, cattle and seafood- are the main richness for the country and as goods to export in competence with the famous tobacco from Honduras. These are two of the key products which, however, do not shadow the many tourist attractions in which the biodiversity offered by a country of “forest vocation”, like the Ministry of Finances has said in this interview.

There’s no need to bring out the advantages of a country with a privileged geographic situation. In a more passionate way, a common characteristic in the population of Honduras, Mr. William Chong Wong explains all this in this video that WINNE offers you here.

Interview with the Ministry of Finances of Honduras, Mr. William Chong Wong -SPANISH

Things to take into account when investing in an African country

2010-08-11T04:08:00.000-07:00

Imagine your dream come true: your company –let’s say it is an engineering factory- has finally a division working in an African country.

Picture the office, the telephone ringing, the employees working in the core of the production facilities... and watch them carefully. In your dreams they are energetic, happy, dynamic… but it could turn out to be not always like that. They could be tired, forced to have a rest every hour and not able to work as hard as they used to. Four days from now, the picture would be this one.

Did you know that today, according to the lunar calendar, the Muslim religion establishes that people fast during the day and only eat and drink from sunset to dawn?

This kind of information will not stop you from establishing your company in a country like Sudan or Algeria; data about economy, taxes and investment opportunities will be more important, that is for sure, but this is something that, although it might skip your mind, you definitely have to know.

The cultural differences keep us apart but can also bring us together and it is jus a matter of being updated and having the proper information at hand.

This kind of information will get to you once you are in the field but if you do not want to be surprised, it is a good idea to check professional reports on the country of your interest. Like the ones offered in WINNE and www.ebizguides.com .Check them and tell us if you got all the information you really need when investing in an African country.

The magazine that will help you invest in Africa and enjoy it

2010-08-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

We had already told you about eBiz Africa Review, the magazine that will give you all the information about investment and leisure in this continent but now you can see it for yourself.

Enter the site and download it for FREE so that you can see it from the first to the last page. Here is just a tip about the articles we offer you. Read them all and tell us if you like it!

Do you need Information about investing in Ecuador?

2010-08-10T07:05:00.000-07:00

If this is just your situation, we could advise you to check it on the Internet, buy books or write to the Ambassy... BUT you would not have it all and it would take you a lot of time to get all the information you would need. To know all about how to invest there, you will have to wait just a little bit. It is worth the wait, we promise.

What you need is an specialized guide -eBizguides- that gives you all the information you need about business and entertainment in this country. Good news! The new eBizguide Ecuador will be available for you shortly. We are already working on it.

Our team is already in the field: Ecuador, compiling all the information that you will be able to enjoy in some weeks from now with all the highlights and in-depth information about this country for you to invest and have a good time.

Even the media in Ecuador are already talking about it and waiting, in anxiety, to read the results!

We will keep you posted about how this mission is going... If you are interested in this kind of information about other countries, it is more than likely that we have been there. Check it online:

www.ebizguides.com

Business and entertainment on holiday

2010-08-02T07:15:00.000-07:00

August is usually the month that most people prefer to go on holiday and rest peacefully.

If you are visiting a new country, lots of tourists buy a tourist guide to know exactly what to expect, where to go and how to get there.

However, if you are a businessman/woman, you might not find it easy to just go and forget completely about your job, your projects... you might be one of those special people who prefer to sightsee places where they plan to go for business later. In a kind of a pre-visit of the official one.

To get ready for this trip, you do what so many people do, with high expectations: you buy the typical guide, the one for tourists and check, once again and, as usually, amazed, how little information there is there that you will really use for your business projects.

This is the time when you check the internet and see, always puzzled, that there is too much too read to get maybe one or two clear ideas out of it! It is clear now: you need specialized information: eBizguides, the guides for business globetrotters is the best option for you. From it you get the perfect tandem of business and leisure information that will be really useful at any time and that you can easily read right now, on holiday.

Check our website and see if you find what you are looking for.

www.ebizguides.com

Nollywood, the new and biggest film industry in Africa Review

2010-07-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

Our first number of the magazine eBiz Africa Review is warm and being printed. It will be very soon available for you all to read and enjoy.

However, in the meantime we will advance some of the highlights of its content just as we promised some days ago... a promise is a promise!

One of our main articles goes over the history, evolution and current situation of NOLLYWOOD, the new and biggest film industry located in Nigeria. This is, after the Indian Bollywood, the second biggest producer of films in the world. Hollywood follows it in the third place.

This and some other shocking details about this Nigerian business are collected in a fantastic report witten by Shaibu Husseini. The next lines are the beginning of this information: enjoy it and pay attention so that you do not miss the rest!

Nollywood, the ebony Hollywood

Nollywood is the immense, vibrant film industry of Nigeria, which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has pronounced the world's second-largest film industry, after India's Bollywood, based on the number of films produced.

Ahead of Hollywood without the world even taking notice, Nollywood has moved into second place with films about family, religious concerns, love and honour, AIDS, prostitution, oil and the wealth deriving from it, ghosts and cannibals. In other words, films about Africa. (...)

Third training day for nomads

2010-07-29T03:06:00.000-07:00

In the process of becoming part of Winne's family, the best candidates are staying in our Head Quarters and following every single instruction and piece of wisdom that our veterans are offering them.

In this training week, Mariella Olea is the person in charge of directing this formative week. She has just come back form Serbia and has also been working in severan African countries.

Her latest work is available online at http://www.winne.com/ but, what cannot be sold nor seen, just perceived, is her enthusiasm, a characterhistic that all our nomads share. If we could sell it online, as we do with interviews, country reports and company profiles, among other products, it would worth a million and would surely be the star product in the history of online selling... but we have the privilege to have it all for Winne and the products we offer our customers!

Hopefully these candidates will get "infected" by it and become spreaders of it all over the world!

Investor: Keep Serbia in mind!

2010-07-28T05:39:00.000-07:00

This country is in the middle of the economic future of the European region. From the business point of view, very few countries are as interesting as this one. About to get into the European Union, with special treatment when exporting to the rest of Europe, Turkey and Russia and in continuous development, the Serbian Government and the whole country are ready to host as many companies as there will be willing to establish in their territory.

Some of these enterprises, some of them important catches like FIAT, are now sure that the possibility of getting into the Serbian market and produce for the rest of the world from there are opportunities that cannot be wasted.

Winne’s nomads have been there for months and are now ready to offer a lot of information: an in-depth country report and a lot of interviews with key personalities in this territory give us the latest news.

Here’s just a tip: Tourism, infrastructure, healthcare and a whole lot of sectors are just about to take off in Serbia and their future is promising.

All the professionals we have talked to are sure about one thing: investors will be surprised to discover the possibilities of this country not only from the economic point of view but also because it is an extremely friendly place to be.

Here is some more of the information we have been working on:

SERBIA

Training day to become part of the family

2010-07-27T01:03:00.000-07:00

Humanity is meant to be together. People should be with people as it is people who bring security to the group or, what we like to call, the “community”.

For centuries, philosophers, artists, politicians, members of families and groups of friends have talked about the wonders of groups. And they were not mistaken.

In the spirit of History and Social Science, in the spirit of making lives easier today, in the spirit of getting to know each other and creating our own group and community, Winne is in the middle of this process of creating and consolidating our community of nomads that will get to know each other and the company that they could be about to become part of.

From today and for the next four days, our Head Quarters will be the core of the future of the company as we are celebrating a training day in which about ten people are participating.

Do you want to become part of our community? Are you interested in getting to know us?

Browse our webpage for more information!

www.winne.com

Kosovo, a sight for sore eyes

2010-07-23T04:44:00.000-07:00

Kosovo is today in the core of all the media: The United Nations’ highest court said yesterday that its declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008 did not violate international law.

Now it is time to wait for the replies because, as it was said from the beginning, a response of this nature from the highest legal powers in Europe could have important repercussions for secessionists movements around the world.

Businessmen and women cannot lose track of this kind of events when thinking about investing in these countries so it is time to open our eyes and follow the news!

In Winne we want to make it easier for you so... we are already prepared to update you with the most detailed information about Kosovo as our teams left for that country in 2009 eager to know more. They have just came back to Madrid with brand new information about the situation there when talking about doing business.

Of course, apart from great business opportunities, you cannot forget having a look at the views like the one we show you here.

Isn't it an interesting place to be?

Check our website for more details!

WINNE in Hora Quente

2010-07-22T03:40:00.000-07:00

Our CEO and Founder Pascal Belda and our Guide Director Shifen Wang participated in the the famous media talk show (MTS'10) Hora Quente, presented by Pedro N'Zagi, in Luanda (Angola).

After this interview, Angola's TV viewers and our bloggers know what eBizguides are about: the best way of getting to know a country in its pertect tandem Business and Entertainment.

Check the interview in youtube where we have uploaded it in two parts:

HORA QUENTE - PART 1

HORA QUENTE - PART 2

Enjoy it!

Interested in eBiz Africa Review no.1?

2010-07-21T02:03:00.000-07:00

More than 20,000 people will read it in very few days. Our distribution team has been working hard to send it to a total amount of 22 countries. Check if yours is in the list:

Algeria

Angola

Belgium

Botswana

Congo Brazzaville

Côte d’Ivoire
Egypt
Ethiopia
France
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea Bissau
Kenya
Mauritius
Morocco
Nigeria
Senegal
South Africa
Spain
Switzerland
Tunisia
United Kingdom

Free copies will be available in the Brussels International airport’s Business lounge and Barcelona World Trade Center.

If you want to be a subscriber or get to know more about our eBiz Africa Review, contact us!

We are proud to present to you eBiz Africa Review

2010-07-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

Winne is about to launch the first number of its most expected magazine: eBiz Africa Review, a contemporary publication that offers dynamic businessmen the most current information about this amazing continent in an attractive format and in both languages, English and French.

In the first days of August the number 1 of this amazing quarterly publication will offer its readers the possibility of accessing interesting and useful information about this continent, its people and most important companies. Businessmen from all over the world will surely appreciate our effort of putting together all this information that reveals itself as an essential manual when thinking about investing in this country.

In this number 1 we will publish up to 5,000 copies that will be distributed in over 20 countries to our subscribers and points of interest for our target readers.

Get ready to know more about this eBiz Africa Review in further posts or visit the web site to download our number 0.

http://www.ebizafricareview.com/

Welcome to Winne Community

2010-05-21T07:35:00.000-07:00

Dear all,

We are pleased to inform Winne has entered the Social Media.

Building up “engaging” relationships with our people and customers has always been one of the corporate values of the company.

Therefore, we invite all of you, not only to take a look at the attached presentation in order to be aware of this new stage our company faces, but also to join Winne’ Community.

Become a fan, share ideas, news, pictures. Let’s broadcast the pioneer spirit of the company!

Winne has always been focused on connecting people and business.

See you in the web 2.0.