As the Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD V) drew to a close, leaders from 50 African countries and international partners vowed to work hand in hand to deliver quality growth and sustainable development to Africa. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his country would contribute US$32 billion (R312,5-billion) to scale up TICAD’s agenda in Africa over the next five years, focusing on peace and stability, building robust and sustainable economies and promoting inclusive and resilient societies.

Engen Petroleum is continuing its strategy of business-aligned transformation with the funding of a Durban South incubation centre in partnership with leading South African incubator group, Raizcorp. The partnership was launched at a ceremony attended by Minister of Energy Dipuo Peters. “Although much still needs to be done to continue transformation of the liquid fuels sector, significant strides have been made in some areas, including enterprise development,” said Minister Peters. “Of this, the Durban South Basin Incubator Centre is an example."

With major players looking to ‘emerging markets’ as a source of growth for their products in the face of declining sales in their traditional markets and regions, local South Africa transport companies are increasingly looking to service Africa as a new area of growth. An example of this was given in our last newsletter where we told of Imperial Holdings Limited acquiring 49% of MDS, a leading logistics provider in Nigeria for US$26 million.