South Africa’s power utility, Eskom said it has continued to further stabilise the business with improved operational and financial performance, with almost 15 months of no load shedding. When presenting its results for six months ended 30 September 2016, the company noted that the improved performance of the power generating units coupled with additional capacity from some of our new build projects has resulted in a stable power system, with excess capacity being exported to neighbouring states. Releasing Eskom’s interim financial results today, Group Chief Executive Brian Molefe said: “Eskom is now delivering excess electricity capacity to help stimulate South Africa’s economic…
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The De Beers Group of Companies has announced that its Auction Sales business will offer midstream diamond companies the opportunity to sell certain types of polished diamonds to other trade participants on its auction platform. The new limited scope, business-to-business pilot is an extension of the service for rough diamonds that was launched earlier this year. It follows existing customer demand for an equivalent service for their polished diamonds. As with the third party rough diamond auction pilot, any seller wishing to use the service will need to comply with a range of ethical requirements, including; Seller Integrity: All sellers must…
Kimberley Diamonds Limited (KDL) says it will auction the diamonds that Capital Diamonds Botswana failed to sell under an agreement the two companies agreed recently. Lerala Diamond Mines Limited, a subsidiary of KDL, last month entered into an offtake sales agreement with Alpha Capital (Pty) Ltd trading as Capital Diamonds Botswana a Botswana based company for the sales of all diamonds produced by Lerala Diamond Mine in a period of 6 months. According to the ASX listed company, to date Capital Diamonds has failed to make payment for the first parcel of diamonds it had agreed to acquire under the…
Qatar Airways has entered a code-share partnership with Air Botswana, offering Qatar Airways travellers enhanced access to three key destinations in Botswana, Africa. The partnership with Air Botswana, the national airline of Botswana, will provide Qatar Airways passengers with connections to the Botswana cities of Gaborone, Francistown and Maun via Qatar Airways’ South Africa gateway Johannesburg. Qatar Airways operates double-daily flights between Johannesburg and its state-of-the-art hub, Hamad International Airport in Doha, with onward flights to more than 150 destinations worldwide. The new code-share agreement allows business and leisure travellers fast and convenient access to the home of Botswana’s rich…
Botswana based multi-national ecotourism company, Wilderness Safaris, operating nearly 40 luxury safari camps across eight African countries, has successfully raised a USD35 million bilateral loan for the purchase of a new ecotourism company in Kenya and for further expansion across Africa. This structured, multi-currency loan facility was led by Stanbic Bank Botswana and the proceeds will be deployed over several years in multiple currencies thereby creating a natural hedge against foreign exchange risks. The transaction is one of the largest corporate deals in Botswana in 2016, and was fully funded by Stanbic Bank Botswana on a bilateral basis. Leina Gabaraane,…
The Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation area (KAZA TFCA) – is hosting a State of KAZA Symposium from 31 October to 2 November in Victoria Falls Safari lodge, Zimbabwe. KAZA TFCA is Africa’s largest conservation landscape and the world’s largest transfrontier conservation initiative joining areas of five countries: Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which have entered into a partnership to conserve biodiversity at scale using nature-based tourism as the engine for rural economic growth and development. The five partner countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 7 December 2006 at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, and five years later the KAZA Treaty…
Anglo American, the parent company to De Beers said diamond production increased by 4% to 6.3 million carats compared with Q3 2015 when production was reduced in response to the prevailing trading conditions. According to the company’s Production Report for the third quarter ended 30 September 2016, at Debswana (Botswana), production increased by 12% to 4.5 million carats with production at Jwaneng increasing by 47% as a result of planned maintenance in Q3 2015 being prioritised in light of trading conditions. “This was partly offset by a planned 22% decrease at Orapa to align aggregate production to trading conditions.” Production…
APR Energy,a global leader in fast-track power solutions, sponsored a community development celebration in at the Matsiloje Primary School near its 35-megawatt in northeast Botswana in late October. The company’s Francistown power plant and its employees donated a refurbished computer lab with 10 new computers, a projector and a screen, as well as a refurbished library and a new outdoor covered assembly area. The plant also provided the school with soccer balls and nets to its newly adopted community development partner. The school’s five hundred students and teachers, parents and local officials were on hand for a four-hour ceremony that…
Quest Aircraft Company has announced the delivery of a new Kodiak to the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism in Botswana, Africa. The aircraft was officially delivered at a ceremony held in Gaborone, Botswana, and will be used by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. The Kodiak’s unique capabilities make the aircraft extremely well-suited for the Department’s missions, a key one of which is wildlife preservation. The Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks will operate the Kodiak for anti-poaching and law enforcement as well as various other departmental missions. With the recent ban on hunting, Botswana is well…
TSX listed Giyani Gold Corp. said it has entered into a non-binding Letter of Intent with Arnoldus Brand director and owner of Matsamo Gold Corp Pty Ltd, Menzi Battery Metals Pty Ltd and Qakaza Diamond Corp Pty Ltd to acquire 88-95% interest in various prospecting licences in Botswana that is highly prospective of manganese development. The significant 13,283.1km2 (1,328,310 ha) land package included an application for the Kgwakgwe Hill Manganese Mine and also surrounds Rio Tinto’s recent iron ore discovery. Company chairman, Duane Parnham said the acquisition positions Giyani with a world class manganese project far ahead of the curve before…