Company Profile: Pan African Resources plc

Pan African is a mining, exploration, and development company with operations solely on the African continent with a focus on gold.

The Company was incorporated in England and Wales, as an Internet Company, called Viking Internet PLC in 2000. During that same year it was listed on AIM for the first time. After a strategic decision was made to change the core focus of the Company, the name followed. Viking Internet PLC became an investment vehicle operating under the name of White Knight Investments PLC.

On 3 December 2003, after making the tactical decision to focus on the natural resources sector, White Knight Investments PLC completed the acquisition of Mistral Resources Development Corporation (Mistral), a company with two gold projects, one in Ghana and one in Mozambique. The acquisition, in effect, constituted a reverse takeover of the Company under the AIM rules, and on 14 September 2004 the Company was readmitted to AIM as Pan African Resources PLC – a gold exploration and development company with assets in Africa.

On 27 July 2007, Pan African Resources added three gold producing mines to the portfolio of assets already held in Africa. The Barberton Mining Operations consisting of the Fairview, Sheba and New Consort mines was added to provide Pan African Resources with increased cash flow in order to move the projects in other parts of Africa forward. The transaction constituted a reverse takeover according to the AIM Rules and Class Tests with a number of conditions, which had to be fulfilled, this warranted suspension from the exchange. The company was suspended from 20 December 2006 to 4 July 2007 as a result of the regulatory approval taking longer than expected.

On 4 July 2007 Pan African, after all the conditions precedent had been fulfilled, posted a circular to the shareholders as well as being readmitted to AIM for trading. On 27 July 2007, the shareholders voted in favour of the transaction. The transaction became effective on 31 July 2007 with Pan African completing an inward dual listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s AltX as well as the last conditions of the transaction.

This transaction completed Pan African’s transformation from being a junior gold explorer to being both a mid-tier gold producer whilst still retaining its focus on gold exploration in Africa.

URL
http://www.panafricanresources.com

Mining Week Deals

This week Albidon (ALD), the mining group working on the Munali nickel project in Zambia, reached an in-principle agreement for up to US$26 million in funding from Pacific Road Resources Funds (PRRF), a private equity investment fund specialising in investing in mining projects worldwide.

Blackthorn Resources (BRL) noted that it had been granted renewal of the New Order Prospecting Rights over the Mokopane Project in the Limpopo Province of South Africa.

Coal of Africa (COAL) secured a deal with Transnet Freight Rail that gives it rail allocation to transport 1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of coal to the Matola dry bulk terminal.

Three Questions Every Entrepreneur Must Answer

One of the hundreds of business ventures launched each year, many never get off the ground.

Why such dismal odds? Entrepreneurs - with their bias for action - often ignore ingredients essential to business success. These include a clear strategy, the right workforce talent, and organizational controls that spur performance without stifling employees' initiative.

Moreover, no two ventures take the same path. Thus entrepreneurs can't look to formulas to navigate the myriad choices arising as their enterprise evolves. A decision that's right for one venture may prove disastrous for another.

Here are three questions on how to chart a successful course for your venture:

WHERE DO I WANT TO GO?
To articulate your goals for the enterprises, clarify:

- What you want personally from your business: An outlet for artistic talent? A flexible lifestyle? The immorality of building an institution that embodies your values? Quick profits?

- The kind of enterprise required: For example, if you want to sell your business eventually you'll need to build a sustainable enterprise - one that can renew itself through changing generations of technology, employees, and customers. And you'll need a company big enough to support an infrastructure that won't require your daily intervention.

- Your risk tolerance: For example, building a sustainable business entails risky long-term bets - including trusting inexperienced employees, personally guaranteeing debt, and tolerating delayed payoffs. Are your goals worth the attendant risks?


HOW WILL I GET THERE?
Successful strategies:

- Provide clear direction: Articulate the enterprise's policies, geographic reach, capabilities and decision-making framework - in concise terms that employees, investors, and customers can understand.

- Generate sufficient profits and growth: Ensure that your strategy will produce desired business results. For example, Mothers Work - which sells maternity clothing to professional women - took off only when its founder revised her strategy from mail order (which generated low profits owing to stiff competition) to retail stores.

- Serve the enterprise long-term: Anticipate future market saturation, intensifies competition, and major technological change, then ensure that your strategy accommodates those future scenarios.

- Establish the right growth rate: Plan for a growth rate that will attract customers and capital without causing excessive stress for you and your employees.


CAN I DO IT?
A great strategy is worthless unless you can execute it. To do so, you'll need the right:

- Resources: Augment your workforce with employees possessing the skills, knowledge, and values needed to implement your strategy. A strong workforce attracts customers and investment capital.

- Infrastructure: Establish the organizational systems needed to execute your strategy. For example, suppose you want to build a geographically dispersed business, grow rapidly, and eventually go public. In this case, you'll need to invest heavily in mechanism for delegating tasks, specializing job roles, forecasting and monitoring availability of funds, and maintaining financial records.

- Role flexibility: To grow your business, your role must shift from doing the "real work" to teaching others to do it, prescribing desired results, and managing the work environment.

African private equity funds will struggle in fundraising through 2009

African private equity funds will struggle in fundraising through 2009 as investors have withdrawn from the market, says Rod Evison, a managing director at UK government-backed, emerging markets-focused firm CDC.

Evison predicts that African funds launched in the second half of 2008 will struggle to reach their targets due to the current withdrawal of international investors from the market.

Gross domestic product growth in South Africa in 2009 is likely to be between 2-3 per cent, well below the 5 per cent level that was sighted in 2007.

In Nigeria in 2009, growth is expected to remain around 6 per cent.

Playing an integral role in the revival of Africa.

LONRHO is a pan-African company with a diverse portfolio of investments focusing on Africa. Its investments range from primary infrastructure to transportation, support services, hotels and natural resources.

The Company is focused on servicing Western investment and African business by investing in emerging sectors across Africa, creating hubs of business through key investments.

Lonrho is re-establishing a significant presence on the African Continent through strategic investments across sectors in fast-growing African economies.

Malawi's inflation climbed to 9.9 percent

Malawi's inflation climbed to 9.9 percent year-on-year in December from 9.6 percent in November, largely due to higher non-food prices.

Malawi's second consecutive surplus harvest of the maize staple helped to reduce inflation from 15 percent in June 2006 to single digits in early 2007.

According to the Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe, he said the southern African nation would not able to meet some of its economic targets because of the global financial crisis, which may hurt exports.

Malawi relies on agriculture, primarily tobacco, for its foreign earnings and is dependent on imported oil and gas.

South Africa Telkom bought 25 percent of Nigeria Multi-Links for $130 million

South Africa's biggest fixed-line phone operator Telkom had bought the 25 percent of Nigerian firm Multi-Links it does not own for $130 million, the company said on Thusrday.

Telkom said it bought the private telecommunications operator from Kenston Investment Ltd. The deal was effective from January 21.

Telkom acquired 75 percent of Multi-Links in May 2007.

South Africa's Neotel may list on the JSE

Neotel [NEO.UL], South Africa's second-biggest fixed-line phone operator, may be listed on the Johannesburg stock exchange when the economic climate improves

Neotel, controlled by India's Tata group, is to spend up to 2 billion rand ($199.8 million) on a 5,000 km fibre optic cable network in partnership with mobile operator MTN (MTNJ.J).

Vodacom, South Africa's biggest mobile phone operator, may join MTN and Neotel to construct the network.

Neotel launched in 2006 after long delays and employs more than 900 people. It began offering telephone and Internet services to corporate clients in March 2007.

MTN and Neotel building fiber optic network for 2010 World Cup

South African cell phone operator MTN and fixed-line operator Neotel aim to build $197 million long distance fiber optic network in time for 2010 World Cup.

Reuters Poll: Kenya Economy

Analysts expect Kenya's economy to grow by 4.1% in 2009, partly due to falling prices for commodity imports. The risks in 2009 are that prolonged dry weather and a global slowdown may hurt key agricultural export sectors and tourism.

Last year’s spike in the price of crude and commodities such as fertiliser drove up Kenya’s import bill — a factor blamed for the shilling’s weakness in the second half of 2008.

Like neighbours Tanzania and Uganda, the financial crisis forced Kenya to shelve plans to issue a debut $500 million Eurobond. It is now planning to raise 18 billion shillings locally through infrastructure bonds.

Ghana has world's hottest stock exchange

About time for the continent of Africa to show the world we could compete globally. This is great to see Ghana and Tunisia Stock Market Leads World Indexes.

A year after it became widely known that Ghana had oil reserves of at least a billion barrels, the race for acreage has begun in earnest.

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Top 3 Places To Invest In Africa & Middle East For 2009

Press Release Summary: The overseas property portal Homesgofast.com which promotes real estate in over 70 countries has predicted its top three places to invest within Africa and Middle East for 2009. The portal predicts that Dubai, Egypt and Tunisia will see the most activity from international property investors.

Press Release Body: The overseas property portal Homesgofast.com which promotes real estate in over 70 countries has predicted its top three places to invest within Africa and Middle East for 2009. The portal predicts that Dubai, Egypt and Tunisia will see the most activity from international property investors.

The results come after research by Marr International Ltd the company behind HomesGofast.com. They analysed internet traffic and enquiry trends from its network of property websites.

Old favourites such as Dubai remain top of the agenda for international investors however there was one region that took the portal by surprise this was Tunisia.

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IBM's Next 5 in 5

The third annual "IBM Next Five in Five" is a list of innovations that have the potential to change the way people work, live and play over the next five years. The Next Five in Five is based on market and societal trends expected to transform our lives, as well as emerging technologies from IBMs Labs around the world that can make these innovations possible. Find out more at http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/26121.wss

Africa: A New Emerging Markets Frontier?

The improvement in economic policy in Africa has certainly contributing to the dynamism of domestic demand and in particular of investment, which is increasingly becoming a driver for growth in the continent.

Africa: A New Emerging Markets Frontier?

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