The American Presidential Election and the Rest of Us

The incumbent President Barack Obama of the ruling Democratic Party versus Mitt Romney, the presidential candidate of the opposing Republican Party.

The American Presidential Election and the Rest of Us

The 2012 United States presidential election is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012.

Every American presidential election attracts the rest of the world more than others, because whatever rules in America affects the rest of us.

The American occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq have done us more harm than good by provoking Muslims all over the world to hate Americans more than ever before and hey are attacking American interests and allies such as Christians in Nigeria and Kenya and other places, because they erroneously think America is a Christian nation and the number one ally of the Zionist Israel the chosen of the God of Christians. But majority of American voters are ignorant of these facts and the liberal elites behind President Barack Obama don't really care about the global leadership of America, but about their selfish liberal idiosyncrasies they want to dictate to the rest of conservative Americans. I have been reading Paul Krugman's critical analysis of Mitt Romney and in his elitist arrogance he wants to dictate his wisdom to the rest of Americans as if he cannot be wrong. But he cannot think for American voters. If you don't like Romney, that does not mean you are wiser than those who like him and believe he deserves the chance to be elected as the next and new President of the United States of America.

The majority of American voters don't care whether their president is black or white, but that he keeps his promises, but the one who told them "Yes We Can" four years ago has failed them.

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Silverbird, Heineken, Power Horse and others Support Eko International Film Festival

The Silverbird Group, Africa's leading entertainment and media organization is again supporting the annual Eko International Film Festival for the third edition after collaborating with the organizers Supple Communications Limited for the successful second edition in 2011.

Other new partners and sponsors are Heineken®, the world's leading premium beer brand promoting the James Bond on a secret mission in global Heineken® campaign, building on a 15 year relationship with the Bond franchise, the 'Crack the Case' campaign takes viewers into a moving train somewhere deep in snow-covered mountains, offering them the opportunity to become secret agents themselves following SKYFALL™, the 23rd James Bond adventure, in which Daniel Craig brings his explosive portrayal of James Bond to a Heineken ad for the very first time. Challenging consumers to defy Bond's enemies and 'Crack the Case,' viewers will be taken on an epic train journey alongside stunning Bond newcomer Berenice Marlohe.



POWER HORSE Energy Drinks, including Kiss Mix distributed by the Charvet Group Ltd. Both Power Horse energy drink and Kiss Mix are becoming increasingly popular in Nigeria's bars and nightclubs.

Silvderbird TV, Rhythm 93.7 FM, Galaxy TV, BEN TV, Channels TV, The Guardian, The Nation, National Mirror, Daily Sun, Entertainment Express, Modern Ghana, Nigeria Films, Nigerians Report, TALK OF THE TOWN, Supple Magazine and scores of other news and information media channels in electronic, print and internet are all supporting Eko International Film Festival, Nigeria's leading international film festival.

The 3rd Eko International Film Festival heralding the maiden Nollywood Divas Awards opens on Monday November 5, 2012, at the prestigious Silverbird Galleria with red carpet from 5 pm in the atrium on the ground floor and followed by the opening film Operation Libertad of Swiss director Nicolas Wadimoff. A crime thriller chronicling the botched kidnapping exploits of a militant faction in Zurich in 1978 as the members of a small revolutionary group break into a Swiss bank near Zurich. They film the entirety of the action so as to prove the collusion between the Helvetic financial system and dictators. Thirty years later, the tapes of the Operation Libertad resurface...

The 6 day film festival screening films from host country Nigeria, US, UK, Spain, Switzerland, France, Germany, Argentina, Hait and Mozambique will end next Saturday November 10, 2012 with the red carpet closing gala awards night to announce the first Nollywood Diva of the Year.
The ticket is N2, 000 per person per day.
See www.ekoiff.org for more details.

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Chika Unigwe Wins $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature

Chika Unigwe.

Chika Unigwe has won the highly coveted Nigeria Prize for Literature for her novel On Black Sisters' Street.

Her novel competed against Only A Canvas by Olusola Olugbesan and Onaedo: The Blacksmith’s Daughter by Ngozi Achebe. The announcement was made by Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo, Chairman of the Advisory Board who commended the prize winner's novel as “a work of outstanding merit”, while Professor Abiola Irele, Chair of Judges said: “What is striking about Chika Unigwe's novel is the compassion that informs it.”

Unigwe said when she saw the news on Twitter, she started crying.
Unigwe was born in Nigeria, but now lives in Belgium.
The Nigeria Prize for Literature is fully sponsored by the Nigeria LNG Limited.

Click here to read Toni Kan's interview with Chika Unigwe as she received the good news after the announcement on Thursday November 1, 2012.

Despite the horrors it depicts, “On Black Sisters' Street” is also boiling with a sly, generous humor. Unigwe is as adept at conveying the cacophony of a Nigerian bus as she is at suggesting the larger historical events that propel her characters. “On Black Sisters Street” marks the arrival of a latter-day Thackeray, an Afro-Belgian writer who probes with passion, grace and comic verve the underbelly of our globalized new world economy.

~ By Fernanda Eberstadt, Sunday Book Review of The New York Times, April 29, 2011.

Raw, vivid, unforgettable, and inspired by a powerful oral storytelling tradition, this novel illuminates the dream of the West—and that dream’s illusion and annihilation—as seen through African eyes. It is a story of courage, unity, and hope, of women’s friendships and of bonds that, once forged, cannot be broken.
~ Amazon.

On Black Sisters' Street tells the haunting story of four very different women who have left their African homeland for the riches of Europe—and who are thrown together by bad luck and big dreams into a sisterhood that will change their lives.

Each night, Sisi, Ama, Efe, and Joyce stand in the windows of Antwerp’s red-light district, promising to make men’s desires come true—if only for half an hour. Pledged to the fierce Madam and a mysterious pimp named Dele, the girls share an apartment but little else—they keep their heads down, knowing that one step out of line could cost them a week’s wages. They open their bodies to strangers but their hearts to no one, each focused on earning enough to get herself free, to send money home or save up for her own future.

Then, suddenly, a murder shatters the still surface of their lives. Drawn together by tragedy and the loss of one of their own, the women realize that they must choose between their secrets and their safety. As they begin to tell their stories, their confessions reveal the face in Efe’s hidden photograph, Ama’s lifelong search for a father, Joyce’s true name, and Sisi’s deepest secrets—-and all their tales of fear, displacement, and love, concluding in a chance meeting with a handsome, sinister stranger.

On Black Sisters' Street marks the U.S. publication debut of Chika Unigwe, a brilliant new writer and a standout voice among contemporary African authors.

Praise for On Black Sisters Street 


“Chika Unigwe writes with moral urgency nourished by a nuanced understanding of the human condition and prose that is elegantly calibrated. And for all the dark turns her work takes, On Black Sisters' Street is suffused with warmth, hard-won wisdom, and a deep compassion.” 
 —Chris Abani, author of Becoming Abigail and Song for Night
 “ [‘On Black Sisters Street’ is] boiling with a sly, generous humor. Unigwe is as adept at conveying the cacophony of a Nigerian bus as she is at suggesting the larger historical events that propel her characters. ‘On Black Sisters' Street’ marks the arrival of a latter-day Thackeray, an Afro-Belgian writer who probes with passion, grace and comic verve the underbelly of our globalized new world economy.”
--The New York Times Book Review  (*an Editors Choice selection in the 5/10 NYTBR)
 
“Powerful....The author's raw voice, unflinching eye for detail, facility for creating a complex narrative, and affection for her characters make this a must read.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Gripping....As Unigwe tells her characters’ stories in interweaving narratives and time lines, the women embody depths of fear and displacement, as well as the will to survive and prosper."
--Booklist

“A novel of desperation, sexual exploitation, and, ultimately, sisterhood. … Unigwe has a talent for capturing the dashed dreams of young women who are stronger than they imagine. … The women’s personal stories are wrenchingly memorable.”
—Library Journal

“In her English-language debut, the Nigerian-born Unigwe convincingly exposes an unfamiliar world without sentimentality. Capable drama that puts a human face on the scourge of human trafficking.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Spellbinding…combines a storyteller’s narrative flair with a reporter’s eye for grim, gritty details about the sex industry. … Nigerian-born Unigwe crafts her characters’ voices with crystalline prose and compassion, in a revelatory work as tough, humane and unsentimental as its heroines.”
—MORE Magazine
“Chika Unigwe’s ON BLACK SISTERS STREET is a grand and compassionate and moving work of art. The best fiction succeeds when it allows a reader to open a door, step into a different world, look about and say, finally, I feel and know this place and these people as if I have visited many times before. Ms. Unigwe has done that for us with all the men and women of her new novel. We owe her much praise and much gratitude.”
—Edward P. Jones, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

"Powerfully and gently, Unigwe gives voice to African women who walk the streets of their nightmares and dreams."
--Sefi Atta, author of Everything Good Will Come

“Chika Unigwe brings an ethnographic eye and masterful storytelling to bear on this complex portrait of African sex workers in Antwerp.  Her startlingly physical prose offers a fresh look at lives made and unmade between Europe and Africa.”
--Mateo Taussig-Rubbo, University of Buffalo

“Chika Unigwe has evoked a chilling, brutal, and terrifying world with warmth, compassion, and courage. The voices of degraded African women are clearly heard, their bodies vividly rendered, their sorrows deeply understood, and their humanity ultimately realized. On Black Sisters Street is a dark tale luminously told, a stunningly moving book.”
—Lee Siegel, author of Love in a Dead Language

“A probing and unsettling exploration of the many factors that lead African women into prostitution in Europe . . . an important and accomplished novel that leaves a strong aftertaste. Unigwe gives voice to those who are voiceless . . . and bestows dignity on those who are stripped of it.”
—The Independent




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Afrinolly Short Film Competition Attracts Nollywood Stars and Stakeholders

Joke Silva-Jacobs, Stephanie Linus, Kunle Afolayan and Saint Obi were among the top Nollywood stars and other celebrities who graced the Thursday morning launch of the Afrinolly Short Film Competition at the Southern Sun Hotel in Ikoyi, Lagos. Other notable stakeholders at the event included Peace Anyiam Osigwe, CEO of Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), Emeka Mba, immediate past Director-General of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Femi Odugbemi with Makin Soyinka, Founders and Directors of iREP International Documentary Film Festival, Victor Okhai, Founder/Festival Director of In-Short International Film Festival, Hope Obioma Opara, President of Eko International Film Festival, Marc-André Schmachtel, Director of the Goethe-Institut, Idy Enang, Kolawole Oyeyemi, General Manager (Consumer Marketing) of MTN Nigeria and Lanre Aina of Google.

The competition will target over 1,000 film-makers across Africa and the winners will receive rewards valued at $100,000 (in cash and kind). Top participants will be granted opportunity to sign online distribution and content publishing deals with Afrinolly.

Chike Maduegbuna.

MTN Afrinolly is the initiative of Chike Maduegbuna, founder and CEO of FansConnectOnline Limited: a Mobile Application, Digital Marketing and Social Media start-up that won the Google’s Android Developers Challenge for Sub-Saharan Africa in the entertainment category in 2011. The unique mobile phone app enables users to watch movie trailers, music videos and comedy that have been made public by content owners or their legal representatives. MTN Afrinolly has already recorded over 1 million app downloads on Android, Blackberry, Nokia Symbian, Nokia S40 and Java platforms.

The Afrinolly Short Film Competition has been endorsed by the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) and Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) and powered by MTN and Google in partnership with iREP International Documentary Film Festival, Blackberry and the Goethe-Institut. Stephanie Linus and Kunle Afolayan are also supporting the competition as active collaborators.

Stephanie Linus.

Kunle Afolayan.

The goal of the competition is to:

* Showcase African talent online
* Provide a platform to foster the creation of new (online) content produced by Africans, thereby boosting local content
And to provide great visibility for some of the most gifted creators around the continent.

Entry opens - 1st November, 2012
Entry closes - 31st January, 2013

More information on details of the prizes and rules are available on the official website on http://afrinollyshortfilmcompetition.com.

JUDGES 

Femi ODUGBEMI.

Our judging panel is comprised of international film/documentary experts and influencers from various African countries and from the United States. The films submitted will be juried by this panel of professionals led by the award-winning filmmaker, writer and photographer Femi Odugbemi.

Emem ISONG.
 










Download Afrinolly for Android, Blackberry, Nokia or Java

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Featuring Akon and Kanye West Will Not Help Mediocre Hip Hop Artistes in Nigeria

2face Idibia and D’Banj.

There is always a lot of noise on radio, TV and social media whenever one of the local Nigerian hip hop artistes receives the attention of top American hip hop artistes Akon and Kanye West, the most peddled in Nigeria. And millions of hip hop fans in Nigeria go gaga over any of their idols featuring Akon or Kanye West in their songs and music videos thinking that will simply catapult them into the American music charts. But none has been able to do so and when 2face Idibia won the Best African Act 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards and Best International Act: Africa BET Awards of 2011, he did not feature any Akon or Kanye West to accomplish these feats. And D’Banj has already been an international success before he featured the popular American hip hop rapper Snoop Dogg in his Mr. Endowed (Remix)and before Kanye West suddenly appeared like a black rabbit out of the hat of a magician.

Davido posing with Akon.

Featuring Akon or Kanye West will never help all these our local hip hop acts to break into America, because Americans are too knowledgeable to know what is good music from the noise being played by majority of Nigerian hip hop artistes I see as good clowns of hip hop and can be entertaining to millions of Nigerians who don't really know good music and choreography.

These Nigerian clowns of hip hop cannot rap and cannot sing without lip synching and they are not even articulate!
They can't speak, because they have no training in the basic rudiments of music, without speech or voice training.
Their live shows expose their mediocrity.
Yes they can make millions of naira which scam artists are also making in Nigeria by swindling millions of ignorant Nigerians just like our corrupt politicians have also been doing in all the rackets messing up Nigeria where corruption, ignorance and mediocrity have left the nation in rot.

Nneka.

Aṣa

Nneka and Aṣa have been able to break into America and Europe without featuring any Akon or Kanye West.
Check out Nneka and Aṣa on http://www.girlieaction.com/client.php?id=209 and http://www.girlieaction.com/client.php?id=259 and see the difference between a true artist and a hip hop racket.


~ By Orikinla Osinachi.

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For Kids in Africa, A New Way To Learn

In the remote village of Adeiso, Ghana, when a bright child such as 14-year-old Emefa asks for something new to read, the answer is usually, “Maybe, in a few years, if the shipment arrives, there will be something.” This is typical of sub-Saharan Africa, where lack of access to books is one of the biggest limiting factors for a child’s future.

But because of new technology, this may be changing.
That’s the hope of Worldreader, a non-profit organization devoted to using Kindles to bring books—and the life-changing, power-creating ideas within them—to all in the developing world. “We are working in a part of the world where there are no books,” says Susan Moody of Worldreader. “With Kindles, you go from empty libraries and children unable to get their hands on reading material, to suddenly being able to carry a library around with them in their hand.”

Why Kindles? Susan explains: “The Kindle is a device that was made for you and me to use on the bus and at night in our beds, but it’s a device that actually meets the needs of the developing world very nicely. Kindles have become increasingly affordable, the battery-life can be as long as a month, and they are easily recharged using wind or solar energy. Since they use cell-phone networks to operate, which are already omnipresent even in the remotest parts of Africa, they don’t require new infrastructure in the schools. And the kids can read them outside, even in the brightest sunlight.”

“Best of all,” continues Susan, “one Kindle holds more than a thousand books, and new books can be downloaded in 60 seconds. That means printing costs disappear, and shipping gets reduced to nearly nothing. Suddenly it becomes feasible to imagine every child having access not only to books, but to a choice between thousands of books from all over the world.”

The situation at Adeiso Junior High, where Emefa is a student, was bleak. “They were one of the schools lucky enough to have a library, but the library had very few books, and 10 of them were The History of Utah,” says Susan. “While book drives are often meant with the best of intentions, often times the books that arrive aren't the ones that will inspire a child to read more.” Last year, when Worldreader brought Kindles to the kids at Adeiso, each one was loaded with hundreds of children’s stories and local Ghanaian folk tales, in English as well as Twi, the local language.

“The children could operate the Kindle within minutes. They are used to operating cell phones, so the gadgetry wasn’t foreign to them. Within minutes kids were downloading books and reading.”

When Emefa finished one book and asked for another, the answer was one she wasn’t expecting. “Sure! Just push this button…”

So with all their new choices, what are the kids reading? “We see that children love to read stories about things that are impacting them,” says Susan, “stories about how to care for a friend that has malaria, and other everyday problems in their lives. They are reading local books by local writers, while at the same time they are exploring ideas from around the world. They are reading Curious George, they are downloading samples from international newspapers, and they are even reading things like Jay Z’s autobiography.”

Mohamed Aminou, a teacher at Adeiso Junior High School, was one of the first to use the Kindle in his classroom. “From the very day that the children had this Kindle in their hand, you could see that they were motivated. They take it everywhere they go, and they are reading, and they have delight in what they are reading. The ability of children to read more, also to read ahead— that ability has increased. It has gone high!” Mohamed hopes that soon Kindles will arrive for all the children. “The school would be flooded with kids if that should happen.”

Africa

Worldreader has brought over 200,000 e-books to children in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda, and their new goal is to increase that number to a million. They are working with publishers and companies like Amazon, who donated the initial Kindles, delivered the e-books using Whispercast, and has recently increased its support with additional free Kindles and free cloud computing from Amazon Web Services.

›See what the kids are reading.
›Learn how Whispercast delivered e-books for Worldreader.


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African Leaders Urged To Invest in Jobs, Infrastructure and Protecting Development Gains

Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank.

31 Oct 2012 08:00 Africa/Lagos

African leaders urged to invest in jobs, infrastructure and protecting development gains

The title for this year's African Economic Conference will be “Inclusive and Sustainable Development in an Age of Economic Uncertainty”

KIGALI, October 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Opening an unprecedented gathering of experts here, present and former African Heads of State urged business, community and political leaders to help turn the continent's impressive growth into economic opportunities for ordinary citizens.

Logo AEC: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/aec-logo.jpg

Photo Donald Kaberuka: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/donald-kaberuka---afdb-president.jpg

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, inaugurating the country's first African Economic Conference (http://www.africaneconomicconference.org), said, “In Rwanda, we understand that politics and economics go hand in hand and we have made a conscious and deliberate choice of inclusive development based on our political reality. By and large, they have produced positive results. Growth has been consistent and poverty levels considerably reduced by 12 per cent from 56.9 per cent to 44 per cent in five years.”

Organized each year by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) (http://www.afdb.org) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the title for this year's African Economic Conference will be “Inclusive and Sustainable Development in an Age of Economic Uncertainty”.

Africa has weathered the economic crisis and achieved considerable advances in the area of poverty reduction and human development. However, the region is still home to high levels of poverty, hunger, unemployment and inequality in political voice and access to resources.

“Over the first decade of this century, with the exception of 2008, Africa experienced exceptional economic performance and growth in GDP per capita,” said Helen Clark, the UNDP Administrator. “But there is a way to go in many countries to translate that growth into higher human development. Deliberate policy measures and targeted investments are needed to make growth not just fast, but also inclusive and sustainable.”

Participants on the opening day said that the key issue for the continent was to shift from commodity-based to innovative, diversified economies at a time when foreign direct investment, aid and remittances were drying up.

Donald Kaberuka, the President of the African Development Bank, underscored the need for long-term solutions. He suggested that Africa's growth should include doing research on solutions on how African countries could internally finance their development, and learning from what has gone wrong globally to redesign their policies.

Africa must invest in quality education in order to stop children from inheriting poverty from generation to generation, said Kaberuka.


“This is how you stop children from inheriting living conditions of debt, and once you do that you have stopped the transmission of poverty,” he told an opening session.

“Inclusive development must include equity, equality, popular participation not only in politics but also in the economy itself and then of course there must be transparency, and all those things that make the governed believe and have confidence in those who govern them,” added the Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Participants at the conference also said that protecting communities from food and fuel price volatility, climate change and political instability required putting in place bold measures for social protection, including insurance, credit and employment schemes.

The African Economic Conference is organized as a series of open thematic debates, combined with sessions that review policy research from across the continent. The conference provides a uniquely open forum for political leaders, academics and emerging talent from the continent to discuss solutions to Africa's pressing development issues.

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of the African Development Bank.

The full event programme is available at: http:// www.africaneconomicconference.org.

About the African Economic Conference (http://www.africaneconomicconference.org): The main objective of the Conference is to provide a platform for experts on Africa, both within and outside the continent, to reflect and discussnew directions for growth policy on the continent in order to determine the best approaches to attain the Millennium Development Goals, achieve the objectives of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and accelerate Africa's sustainable development. For more information: http://www.africaneconomicconference.org.

Media contacts:

United Nations Development Programme: Nausicaa Habimana Kantengwa: nausicaa.kantengwa@undp.org Cell: +250 (0) 783 010 571

African Development Bank: Magatte Wade, m.wade@afdb.org +216.98.343.734

Economic Commission for Africa: Yinka Adeyemi, yadeyemi@uneca.org +251 911 201798


Source: African Development Bank (AfDB)

President Paul Kagame.



31 Oct 2012 09:48 Africa/Lagos


Kagame opens African Economic Conference, calls for models that respond to local needs

ADDIS ABABA, October 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Rwandese leader, President Paul Kagame today in Kigali opened the 7th African Economic Conference, calling it an opportunity for leading African economists to look beyond purely economic factors for solutions to Africa's developmental problems.

Convened by the Economic Commission for Africa, (ECA), the African Development Bank, (AFDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the three-day conference is focusing on the theme Inclusive and Sustainable Development in an Age of Economic Uncertainty, according to ECA's Information and Communication Service.

He said that analysts might point to issues of governance and lack of sufficient transformational leaders but “the real problem is that our economists must be ready to come up with new ideas for economic models that meet the needs of African people”.

President Kagame made a joke of Africa's persistent economic woes despite the huge number of economist that the continent counts, saying “I think African economist have become politicians”.

“To be fair, if the economic progress of our countries were to depend only on sound economic planning, I think we would have made tremendous progress in Africa”, he said.

Frequently speaking off prepared notes, he made a hardly veil attempt to address the issue of recent sanctions imposed by some countries on Rwanda for its perceived role in the political instability that has bedeviled the Democratic Republic of Congo for over a decade.

He shed light on Rwanda's progress and explained those achievements in the areas of women empowerment, information, communication and technology, food sufficiency and good governance as the fruit of deliberate planning, careful implementation and shared ownership of all programmes by the people of Rwanda.

Before the President, Ms Helen Clark and Dr. Donald Kaberuka, respectively UNDP Administrator and President of the African Development Bank had welcomed participants with encouraging words for action-oriented outcomes that could be used to transform current growth figures on Africa into concrete improvements on the livelihood of peoples of the region.

“In an era when economic volatility seem to have become the norm, achieving inclusive growth is a big challenge”, she said.

She called for greater and sustained transformational leadership, targeted actions to generate policy solutions that can drive growth economic growth in Africa.

Dr. Kaberuka argued that inclusive growth is both possible and indeed, a good investment for Africa but insisted on the need for its leaders to believe in the future of this continent.

Contending that for real development to occur, Africa must chart its course, the AfDB boss revealed that Africa, as a continent actually has more money than India, but questioned why it continues to seek assistance from the Asian country.

After today's opening session, participants moved straight into two plenary sessions on Inclusive and sustainable development in an age of economic uncertainty and leadership for inclusive development.

In the first session, Jeff Koinange of the Nairobi-based KTV moderated a panel discussion between Mr. Kaberuka and Ms Clark.

During the second session two former leaders, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Prime Minister Joachim Rafael Branco of Sao Tome and Principe shared their personal experiences on leadership for inclusive development.


Source: Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)

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The World’s Largest Dairy Farm Project Managed by Afimilk is Up and Running

The World’s Largest Dairy Farm Project Managed by Afimilk is Up and Running

AFIKIM, Israel, October 30, 2012 ,PRNewswire/ — Under the direction of afimilk, the largest, most comprehensive dairy farm project in the world has entered its third year, and is operating in five of 12 farms with 23,000 cattle.

The project, located in Vietnam, was planned and constructed by on-site afimilk experts. These experienced personnel brought to Vietnam their expertise in farm and dairy management, feed production, water treatment, waste water management and veterinary services.

In recent years, Vietnamese milk consumption has increased by 5-7% annually, and the country has a shortage of some 650,000 tons of milk a year. Aimed to supply 50% of the Vietnamese milk market, the ambitious project is guided by the vision that every child in Vietnam will drink a glass of milk a day. Now turning out 200 tons a day, the mega-dairy plans to supply more than 300,000 tons yearly by 2015.

Today, the dairies have a total of 11,000 milking cows and 12,000 heifers. Some 4,000 more heifers will be imported from New Zealand during the next six months.

“Milk is an essential need for the human development of Vietnam, and the TH Milk project will bring wide benefits in this effort,” says Ms. Thai Huong, general director of North Asia Bank and chair of TH Milk, which is financing the project.“You must complete your strategic thinking before developing a project like this quickly. However, the critical factor in the success of this project has been the Israeli experts guiding the Vietnamese.”

Ultimately, the enormous dairy will be locally-run. afimilk personnel will gradually phase out, and will transfer complete control of the dairy to local teams. Already, at the conclusion of phase one, milking parlors and management software are managed by the local teams.

In addition to producing much-needed milk for Vietnam, this complex serves as a showcase, demonstrating afimilk’s proficiency to international visitors interested in similar size projects.
About afimilk

afimilk provides dairy producers the technology and the knowledge to profitably produce high quality milk. Committed to meeting all needs of the modern dairy farm, afimilk seeks to enhance such crucial areas as fertility, health, feed, herd planning, milk quality and farm management. A technological pioneer, afimilk was the first to introduce an electronic milk meter in 1979, a pedometer for monitoring cows’ health in 1984, a dairy farm management system in 1993, and an online milk analyzer in 2008.

afimilk systems are at work in more than 50 countries on five continents. Kibbutz Afikim and Fortissimo Capital, Israel’s leading private equity firm, are the two shareholders in afimilk.

For more information, visit our website: www.afimilk.com
Contact information: Ms. Noa Yonish, Marketing Communication Manager, Tel: +972-50-7589973, mail: noa@afimilk.co.il

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Oil & Gas Health and Safety Performance Indicators Report

DALLAS, Oct. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ISN has published an Oil & Gas Health and Safety Performance Indicators Report for the year 2011. The comprehensive report provides a compilation of key health and safety performance indicators, including Total Recordable Incident Rates (TRIR), Days Away, Restricted or Transferred Rate (DART) and Fatality Rate information.

Data from about 20,000 contracting companies representing more than five billion work hours of activity in the U.S. Upstream (Exploration and Production), Midstream (Pipelines) and Downstream (Refining) industries is included in the report.  The data presented is aggregated by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes as well as by ISN Work Types for an added level of granularity in the benchmarking information.

"The main purpose of this report is to provide contractors, suppliers and Owners/Operators industry specific health and safety performance data useful for benchmarking their organization's performance," said Dag Yemenu, ISN Director of Data Analysis and Reporting. "The level of detail, coupled with the richness of the data used, makes the ISN report a relevant and unique source of benchmarking information for the industry." 

"Accurate benchmarking is a critical piece for driving performance improvement within organizations and the industry in general," said Joseph Eastin, President of ISN. "We hope that the publication will provide valuable information to enable continual health and safety performance improvement efforts in the workplace." 

Visit "Health & Safety Performance Indicators" to request your copy of the full benchmarking report.

About ISNISN provides an online contractor management database, ISNetworld, which is designed to meet internal and governmental record keeping and compliance requirements. ISN collects health and safety, procurement, quality and regulatory information for more than 44,000 contractors and 265 Owner Clients. ISN's subject matter experts review and verify this information to assess the accuracy, relevance and timeliness of the data. Connecting Owner Clients with safe, reliable and sustainable contractors and suppliers around the globe allows these organizations to use ISN as an integral part of their management systems. For more information, visit www.isn.com.

ContactDag Yemenu
Director, Data Analysis and Reporting
(800) 976-1303
PublicRelations@isn.com

SOURCE ISN

PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1rlNv)

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Growing Role for Africa in the “Golden Age of Gas” - Report

30 Oct 2012 06:16 Africa/Lagos


Growing role for Africa in the “Golden Age of Gas” - Report

Opportunities will extend in most areas to the smaller, local E&P players as well, most often in partnerships with larger, more-experienced players

JOHANNESBURG, October 30, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- With open access and attractive leasing terms, Africa's oil and natural gas resources continue to attract a broad spectrum of investors, according to a new report from Ernst & Young (http://www.ey.com/za) Natural gas in Africa – The frontiers of the Golden Age launched at Africa Oil & Gas Week.

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Elias Pungong, Ernst & Young's Oil & Gas Leader for Africa says, “Natural gas development holds tremendous opportunity for Africa. It can be a primary driver of economic growth and broader social development, as well as a major spur for local employment growth and infrastructure development.”

The big future for African gas lies in the East of Africa

The report spotlights Africa's rapidly evolving natural gas sector, and while Algeria, Nigeria, Egypt and Libya are identified as holding significant reserves, the production of gas is considerably lower in these countries. More recently, the sector's growth has been concentrated in West Africa, with the huge associated gas resources that accompanied the deepwater oil boom, led by Nigeria and Angola. While the West African gas growth will continue as flaring is reduced and local gas infrastructure is developed, the big future for African gas lies in the East of Africa with the massive offshore gas discoveries in East Africa, particularly in Mozambique and Tanzania.

Pungong comments: “While the risk rankings overall in Africa are quite high, for many countries the “risk trend” is improving, Most importantly though, the opportunities for Africa in this sector are enormous and the challenges and risks can be addressed and mitigated.”

Africa's gas reserves will be more than just headline opportunities for the national oil companies (NOCs), the deep-pocketed oil and gas majors, their big international exploration and production (E&P) counterparts as well as well-known African oil and gas specialists.

Opportunities for local supplies abound

The ramp-up in E&P activity brings opportunity for the oilfield services (OFS) segment, but again, not just for the big international OFS players, but also for local and regional companies that can contribute to the supply chains and to the associated upstream support infrastructure. The broader infrastructure build-out could also include massive export facilities, as in the case of liquefied natural gas (LNG), but also smaller projects such as pipelines and gas distribution networks to support local/regional domestic gas demand.

The associated development or expansion of a domestic gas demand sector could also bring substantial commercial opportunities in the power generation, industrial and even transportation sectors. Indeed, many of the gas flaring reduction efforts are tied to domestic gas use projects.

Pungong concludes, “African governments and regional NGOs will of course have critical roles to play – first and foremost, developing a meaningful and practical master gas development plan, one that addresses the upstream tax and licensing models, as well as the necessary infrastructure issues and investments, and local training and job creation issues. Collaboration and partnerships with the IOCs, both big and small, will likewise be critical.”

Distributed by African Press Organization on behalf of Ernst & Young.

Download the report: http://www.apo-mail.org/Natural%20Gas%20in%20Africa_28Sep2012LR.pdf


Media Contact:

Fathima Naidoo

Ernst & Young Africa Media Relations

+27(0) 76 662 2842

fathima.naidoo@za.ey.com


About Ernst & Young


Ernst & Young (http://www.ey.com/za) is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 167,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve their potential.


Ernst & Young refers to the global organization of member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. This news release has been issued by EYGM Limited, a member of the global Ernst & Young organization that also does not provide any services to clients.


Following on from Ernst & Young's successful integration in 2008 of 87 countries into one area from across Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA), the firm has launched its Africa Business Center™ (ABC), which aims to enhance the effective and efficient links between its geographic reach and areas of expertise. The firm enjoys representation in 33 countries across Africa. http://www.ey.com/za


© 2012 EYGM Limited. All Rights Reserved


This publication contains information in summary form and is therefore intended for general guidance only. It is not intended to be a substitute for detailed research or the exercise of professional judgment. Neither EYGM Limited nor any other member of the global Ernst & Young organization can accept any responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of any material in this publication. On any specific matter, reference should be made to the appropriate advisor.

How Ernst & Young's Global Oil & Gas Center can help your business

The oil and gas industry is constantly changing. Increasingly uncertain energy policies, geopolitical complexities, cost management and climate change all present significant challenges. Ernst & Young's Global Oil & Gas Center supports over 9,000 oil and gas professionals with technical experience in providing assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services across the upstream, midstream, downstream and oilfield service sub-sectors. The Center works to anticipate market trends, execute the mobility of our global resources and articulate points of view on relevant key industry issues. With our deep industry focus, we can help your organization drive down costs and compete more effectively to achieve its potential. For more information, please visit http://www.ey.com/oilandgas.

Source: Ernst & Young

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