Other news from Africa and around the world

UNESCO names Five African sites as World Heritage

The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has included five new African sites in the prestigious world heritage list. They include the fortified town of Harrar Jugol in Ethiopia, the stone circles of Senegambie (Gambia and Senegal), the Chongoni Rock Art Monument areas in Malawi and in Kondoa, Tanzania and the site of Aapravasi Chat in Mauritius.  Source: Tourism Africa news  

Job Candidates boycotting Brands with Poor Recruitment Policies

A survey by British firm, Reed Consulting, has found that rejected job candidates who feel recruiters have treated them unfairly take revenge on potential employers by not buying their products.   More than 30% of recent job candidates have changed brands following a bad recruitment experience, according to the organisation. Of those that boycotted a company's goods, 66% did so because they did not hear from it after applying for a job, while 60% did not receive feedback.  Others found out an advertised job had changed or become unavailable, while 31% did not receive enough information about the role or experienced long delays (22 %). Nearly 60 per cent of the 2,500 graduate jobseekers questioned said their experience of applying for work at a firm had affected their perception of its brand.  Source: PM Online  

World Bank Junior Professionals Program for Afro-Descendants

This Program provides young and motivated individuals with practical, on-the-job experience and training in a global development environment, while giving the Bank an opportunity to benefit from the knowledge, talent and diversity that they can bring to the institution. In addition, the program contributes to capacity-building efforts in the candidates' respective home countries, as some of the graduates choose to return to contribute economic development. The program is now accepting applications for 2007.
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UK Employers seek Soft Skills and Work Ethic

UK employers are placing much more emphasis on the soft skills of school leavers such as communication skills and work ethic than on literacy and numeracy, according to research published in the latest CIPD/KPMG quarterly Labour Market Outlook.  A survey of over 1,400 UK employers revealed that while a quarter of employers list literacy, numeracy and formal qualifications as the key attributes they are looking for when recruiting school leavers, the attributes that top the list are communication skills, work ethic – the basic desire to do a good job – and personality. The report also reveals that when asked to assess the performance of school leavers at work, a third of employers believe that girls outperform boys, which compares with just 3% who find that the reverse is true.  Source: PM online  

PepsiCo Appoints Asian Woman CEO

Indra Nooyi, president and CFO of PepsiCo, has become the first female CEO, and the first CEO of colour, in the company's history. Of Indian origin, Nooyi will be the first female CEO of colour for a Fortune 100 company. Nooyi is a graduate of Yale University and joined PepsiCo in 1994 as its senior vice president of Strategic Planning. Ms. Nooyi is the PepsiCo Executive Council sponsor for women and was responsible for the creation of an internal women's-networking group. She also is leading the development of a new company website where women can learn how other women have advanced their careers and can receive mentoring.  Ms. Nooyi’s promotion will make PepsiCo, with $33 billion in sales, the largest United States company by market capitalization led by a woman.

AGR Publishes Handbook for Graduate Recruiters

A guide to help graduate employers develop a marketing strategy has been produced by the British Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR).  The handbook helps firms identify their key audience and gain a competitive advantage when attracting potential employees. Martin Cerullo, director of recruitment agency Euro RSCG Riley and co-author of the guide, said it urged graduate recruiters to "get in the mind of their target audience".  Source: PM online

Commitment to Development Index 2006

The Commitment to Development Index (CDI) rates 21 rich countries on how much they help poor countries build prosperity, good government, and security. Each rich country gets scores in seven policy areas, which are averaged for an overall score.  The Netherlands ranks 1st overall in 2006 with its best score on aid as a share of its income, and a high quality of foreign aid programmes. The United States ranks 13th overall in 2006, with U.S. barriers against developing country agricultural exports lower than those of most CDI countries. U.S. foreign aid is small as a share of its income and it “ties” a large share of this aid to the purchase of U.S. goods and services.  The United Kingdom ranks 12th overall in 2006, finishing first in two CDI components with the best environmental record from the perspective of developing countries.  Source: Oneworld.net

International Media Forum takes place in South Africa

Sponsored by organizations including the International Marketing Council of South Africa, the International Media Forum held in September in Johannesburg brought together for the first time senior editors from the world’s most important media with South Africa’s leading business decision-makers, government officials and communications professionals.  The Forum, which included a series of keynote speeches, discussions and workshops, was established to create a roadmap for future successful media relations between media who shape South Africa’s image abroad and within the country and to provide the tools and contacts to put it into practice.   The IMC was constituted in 2001 by President Thabo Mbeki to establish a compelling brand for South Africa and to implement a pro-active marketing and communication strategy locally and abroad with a view to promoting trade, tourism and investment. 

UK Government procurement to consider ethnic mix of bidders' staff

Firms bidding for British government contracts are to be vetted to root out those with low numbers of black or ethnic-minority employees. Under the "affirmative action" proposals, outlined in The Times, government departments will compare the ethnic composition of bidding companies with the racial mix of the local area when considering awarding a contract. The plans were drafted by the Ethnic Minority Advisory Group, which includes ministers from seven government departments. They will be piloted before the end of the year and, if successful, could be rolled out across government in 2007. People from ethnic minorities are twice as likely to be unemployed than those from the white majority, according to recent government statistics. Source: PM online  

Burkina Faso hosts Regional Tourism Forum

The World Tourism Organization and the Burkinabe Minister of Culture, Arts and Crafts, and Tourism are planning a regional forum on tourism on 3-4 November as part of the Ouagadougou international art and crafts trades fair on tourism (SIAO). The theme is Tourism, Arts and Crafts for Development. The conference is open to the tourism authorities of the member states, tour operators and travel agencies, craftsmen associations, the NGOs involved in tourism and art and craft, and individual craftsmen. The organizers aim to explore a sustainable partnership between tourism, arts and crafts in the vast frame of the fight against poverty.   Source: Tourism Africa news

Alcoa Foundation Funds New Youth Health Center in Ghana

Alcoa Foundation has pledged $68,000 funding for Mercy Ships creation of a new youth health and recreation center in Ashaiman, Ghana, a sub district of the Tema municipality in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Mercy Ships, a global charity, is the leader in using hospital ships to deliver free world-class health care and community development services to the forgotten poor.  Alcoa Foundation is working in partnership with Mercy Ships and Ghana Health Services, the Ghana government health agency, to establish the new center. Alcoa Foundation funding will support Mercy Ships, who will manage the construction of the center and equip the center, which will be staffed and managed by Ghana Health Services.  The planned youth-friendly center will offer young people improved access to health facilities, raise health and hygiene awareness, provide family planning and consultation services, and a recreational unit.  Established in 1952, Alcoa Foundation is a global resource that actively invests in improving the quality of life in the countries around the world where Alcoa operates.  Alcoa's presence in Ghana is through Volta Aluminum Company (Valco), a joint venture with the government of Ghana, and the Alcoa-Ghana Bauxite and Alumina Project.

AHORESIA Welcomes International Tourism Exhibition

The first International Fair on Tourism and Culture (FITEC) was held in Luanda in September. The Fair enabled concerned operators and specialists to evaluate the level of development attained by the sector. FITEC is an initiative by Expo-Angola and Central of Ideas, with support from the ministries of Culture and Hotels and Tourism, provincial governments and other entities associated with the tourism industry and culture. It is part of the celebrations of the World Tourism Day (September 17) and of the 3rd Symposium on National Culture. Source: ANIP

NEPAD ICT Infrastructure Network Protocol Signed

The NEPAD e-Africa Commission together with the Rwandan Government and the African Union hosted a protocol signing ceremony of ICT Ministers from Eastern and Southern African countries participating in the NEPAD ICT broadband infrastructure network, including the Eastern Africa Submarine System (EASSy) cable, in Kigali, Rwanda. President Kagame of Rwanda presided over the signing ceremony that was also attended by top officials from Rwanda, NEPAD and the African Union.  The ceremony will enable the project Steering Committee to fast-track implementation of the NEPAD ICT broadband infrastructure network that, among other things, involves construction of the 9900 km submarine cable from South Africa to Sudan.  23 countries are involved in the network in line with NEPAD’s priority ICT objective to ensure that all African countries are connected to one another by broadband fibre-optic cable systems that will in turn link them to the rest of the world through existing or planned submarine cable systems.  Since its adoption by the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) in November 2004 as a NEPAD flagship project, the ICT broadband infrastructure project is being run under the auspices and principles of NEPAD, which emphasise collaboration among African countries, and specifically African ownership and leadership.  Source: Nepad News