A new online system has been launched to improve the efficiency and reduce time taken to apply for Certificates of Origin (CoO) to facilitate export trade.

The Tanzania Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) said that the system will enable the exporters/clearing and forwarding agents to process CoO electronically using PCs or mobile devices. This project has been supported by Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA).

Trade facilitation calls for rationalization and reduction in the number of documents needed for international trade and to introduce electronic online processes. This will reduce the time it takes to physically move between different offices collecting documents and to obtain necessary approvals.

Executive Director at TCCIA, Daniel Machemba, said “The launch of the electronic certificate of origin is a boost to Tanzanian businesses and will spur export trade. The time and costs savings will encourage businesses to seek other markets for their export. This is a new system, a first of its kind in East Africa, which shows that Tanzania private sector is ready to do business. The private sector is an important partner to the government, and by developing such systems that can spur trade, we feel we are contributing to the expanded trade in Tanzania”

Data available from this system shows that concerns related to CoO are among the top five NTBs reported in Tanzania. Others include customs procedures, administrative procedures at the borders and variable levies.

Country Director, TMEA Tanzania, Paulina Elago, said “Let us give credit to TCCIA for their continued efforts to champion innovative ideas to produce home grown, private sector led products, which are of first class quality, to improve the trading environment and eventually reduce cost of doing business.  This initiative is consistent with TMEA’s overall objectives and our expected results of increasing intra-regional exports by 25 pecent come 2016, in addition to our efforts to promote the use of technology to bring about efficiency and cost saving measure to trade.”

The electronic processing of CoO by TCCIA is expected to set a benchmark for many other countries that continue to use traditional ways of issuing these documents.

Vicky Ojo

IBM has predicted that the cloud technology adoption in Nigeria will grow to about 80 percent by 2015. This prediction was announced by the company’s Country General Manager, West Africa, Taiwo Otiti.

According to him, the adoption of cloud technology in Africa is currently at a tipping point and Nigeria is expected to record more than 2 times increase in adoption by next year.

He added that adoption of mobile phones and tablets is increasing the opportunity to interpret data patterns to anticipate needs and deliver improved services. The company also revealed that the continent is quickly moving to the center of global attention as the last big emerging market of the current economic era.

He said: “Our investment in this centre is in line with our strategy to help fuel growth in Nigeria’s IT sector and to support the use of advanced technology service delivery for the public sector and commercial business growth, particularly expansion in West Africa.IBM Innovation Centres are designed to help clients envisage their future, illustrated using IBM social, mobile, analytics and cloud solutions, combined with industry focused experience and expertise. Through this centre, we will bring the reach of IBM’s global capabilities and thought leadership closer to local and regional clients.”

SEACOM has unveiled a new senior management structure designed to cater for the company’s growth plans.

These changes, they say, will enhance synergies between regions and functions within the business, as well as position SEACOM to enter new markets in Africa.

SEACOM has established a new Business Development Group, to be led by Suveer Ramdhani. This department will focus on SEACOM’s strategic growth into new markets as well as evaluating strategic investments and possible M&A targets.

Previously the Head of Product Strategy,  Ramdhani is one of the founding members of the SEACOM leadership team and has a wealth of experience building businesses in the region, with his background in management consulting.

Chris Smyth was appointed as CFO in October last year and takes a hands-on approach to financial management with his strengths in wide financial, commercial and operational experience and expertise. He has held a range of senior financial management roles and has worked in both private and public entities in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. Chris will head up the Finance function which comprises amongst others, statutory and monthly reporting and analysis, budgeting, treasury, payments, billings and collections.

Product and service development will be consolidated into the Sales and Marketing functions currently under the leadership of Chief Commercial Officer, Byron Clatterbuck.

This new consolidation will put product development and market segment expansion all into one market-facing team. Clatterbuck has more than 15 years of global telecoms experience in managing large data businesses as a ‘line of business’ executive, focusing on data service expansion and profitable growth.

Other key changes as a result of this restructuring include:

• Willem Marais promoted to Global Head of Sales, with global responsibility for all SEACOM sales teams across all segments;
• Robert Marston promoted to Global Head of Product and will taking the lead in designing, developing and managing all SEACOM products and services.
• Nicola Haynes-Smart promoted to Head of Business Operations. In addition to her responsibility for sales operations, she will drive analysis of business performance together with the Product team.

SEACOM also announced that Brian Herlihy, SEACOM’s Founder, has returned as Executive Director at the company.

“We have a strong platform for growth. In particular, we have a strong management team with real depth and experience,” said Herlihy.  “Our new management structure positions us perfectly to expand our revenues and share of ICT spending in our core markets in the years to come.”

The growth plans of AccessKenya , Corporate IT Solutions Provider involves adding an international broadband capacity and this will involve a little help from SEACOM.

The STM-4 line with a capacity of 620 Megabytes on SEACOM is intended to bolster the firm as it actualizes its network expansion strategy to cover all the 47 counties in Kenya.

The acquisition offers continued diversity in undersea fiber routes with capacity on multiple networks explained Raymond Macharia, AccessKenya’s Chief Technical Officer.

This includes alternative paths through Mumbai and South Africa, which, according to Macharia, will be helpful when Middle Eastern routes are unstable.

“To date, AccessKenya has deployed capacity of above 3.5 gigabytes giving us excellent and guaranteed service delivery options. With capacity on TEAMS, Seacom and Eassy cables we see this as a great value proposition to the market as we grow our services”, said Macharia.

The move comes as the company, which is currently extending its fiber cable in Nairobi and the Coast of Kenya recently acquired by the $5.8 billion global solutions and services provider, Dimension Data Plc and prepares the ground for growth into the counties.

Having made wireless connections recently in Kisii County and Isiolo County in January this year, AccessKenya intends to connect another 13 counties through its growing wireless, metro and national fiber connection.

This classified website aims to bring buyers and sellers all together as one can purchase or sell anything as long as the terms and conditions are met.

Thebe was officially launched in February 2014 in Botswana. Thebe as a trading platform was birth after its owner saw hundreds of groups on social media where people advertised their goods and services for sale. Botswana needed a platform where people could gather to buy and sell their goods by means of an e-commerce marketplace.

The best thing about Thebe.co.bw is that it is free, all one has to do is create an account and place your ad.  

This is how; you will give your email address so that your account is created in a few minutes. When logged into your personal account you can quickly view, edit and delete your adverts, see how many times your ad’s have been viewed, update your profile and more. Thebe aims to bring together sellers and buyers, contact between you and the buyer/seller is always direct. All we do is offer you our platform and tips to trade safely!

Integr8 and MTN Business 10 year partnership is based on the principle of combined solution and service rollout using a single point of contact. Clients who are connected to Integr8’s unique Nerve Centre® are automatically aligned with- and stand to benefit from Integr8 and MTN Business combined solution provision.

Robert Sussman, joint CEO of Integr8 explains, the advent of the cloud, mobility and other trends requires that there is a strong connection between a traditional infrastructure partner and a tier-one fully fledged communications provider offering all services through both fixed and mobile communications.

 “Clients can take advantage of the partnership between the two companies by combining the services of a leading ICT infrastructure partner in Integr8, with one of the biggest Communications providers in Africa – and still have the benefits of a single point of contact. By combining the services of both companies into a single solution, the market has access to world-class connectivity, hosting and cloud services, but with the flexibility and choice to decide on their specific needs without any compromise,” he said.

The benefit of this alliance is that, the two companies have the expertise and ability to pool their respective resources, in order to customize and streamline any solution. They are in a position to mold, adapt and streamline a number of technologies to suit a client’s requirements. 

MTN Business and Integr8 represent a unified force, not only in solution customization, roll-out and integration, but also in the area of reliable support. A chief component of the partnership is to ensure that clients receive the quality technology and services they require; another is that they have peace of mind that their environments are looked after – with partners geared for any issue that may arise.

“By combining these world class solutions with the Integr8 Nerve Centre® on a day to day basis, clients can be assured that they don’t just get the best solutions to their requirements, but that the environment will be well maintained and looked after on a 24/7 basis. The close working relationship between the Integr8 Nerve Centre® and the MTN Business support staff also ensures that any incident that might occur gets dealt with in a quick and professional manner,” adds Sussman.

Clients are able to successfully integrate and run any number of MPLS services, all of which are entirely supported through the Integr8, MTN Business partnership.  

“Together with our partner MTN Business, we are immensely proud of our combined track record in service delivery for clients. We anticipate, with the growth in significance of cloud services, in unified communications and convergence of technologies, that this relationship will continue to add substantial value going forward,” Sussman concludes.

Employees who fall victim to abuse and bullying at the workplace have several options in terms of recourse action. However, experts in the HR field believe a systematic and focused strategy of documenting incidents with the idea of discussion at top level to hold those responsible accountable is the most professional and rewarding way to deal with the problem.

Teryl Schroenn is the CEO of Accsys, a member of the BusinessConnexion (BCX) Group and a national supplier of HR, payroll and Time & Attendance solutions.

Schroenn is of the view that both outside and in the office, bullying is about control and power.
She believes that if this scenario occurs to the point where the victim feels powerless and has reached the point where he or she stops believing in themselves, the aggressor has achieved their objective.

“The reality of low self esteem impacts every area of life. When it hits you in your skills and abilities, day-to-day effectiveness is a challenge, let alone applying for promotions. There is no “one size fits all” answer, and it really does require courage and commitment. If it is financially viable, therapy is a key part of rebuilding self-image. If it isn’t, there are steps that somebody who is being victimised can take. However, it is a reality that people in management often do not have the skill set to deal with entrenched bullying, and victims might be seen as wasting management’s time,” says Schroenn.

 To avoid this and to take the necessary control of the situation, the recommendation by Accsys, an established provider of solutions that empower decision makers, are focused on people development, is to be meticulous about recording events and incidents.

This involves setting a time frame to be documented and then taking action by keeping record of all relevant bullying behaviour including dates, times and facts. “If appropriate, enlist the help of a colleague,” says Schroenn. “At the end of the period, sit down and read carefully through the documentation. Ask a friend, mentor or trusted person in your private life to read through it, and give an honest assessment. Should you decide that the behaviour is so extreme that it is causing a serious drop in your confidence and ability to function in the workplace, set up a meeting with the relevant management to discuss your concern.”

 It is Schroenn’s experience this approach has the best possible results. It either offers the victim clarity in the situation, enabling them to take more decisive action and respond with more assertiveness, or it offers management a platform from which to take the necessary and appropriate action.

“Do ask for help quickly if you are feeling disempowered and ineffective at work. A company culture that builds a positive, motivated and empowered workforce has to be in everybody’s best interests,” Schroenn adds.