Starbucks wants to recruit 10,000 veterans, spouses to its ranks

Starbucks has indicated that it would be hiring at least 10,000 veterans and spouses of active military in five years.

The world’s biggest coffee chain also said five new and existing U.S. Starbucks cafes on or near military bases will share a portion of each sales with non-profit organizations that help veterans re-enter the work force.

Announced ahead of the U.S. veterans day holiday on November 11, Starbucks new effort aims to expand and strengthen its existing mentoring program through the Armed Forces Network.

As the company expands globally and gets coffee and tea from around the globe, veterans offer international experience and foreign language skill; they bring an understanding of other cultures and they are accustomed to working with diverse and international partners.

 

Source: Reuters

 

 

 

 

 

Coal to power will solve epileptic power

Electricity consumers gets reassured by the Federal Government that the coal to power initiative would assist in solving the persistent epileptic power supply experienced by Nigerians.

Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebu said that the government will ensure a secured energy mix for Nigerians through development vast coal resources for power generation. He reaffirmed that the quantum of coal deposit was large enough to provide electricity for the country in the next 20-30 years.

Prof. Chinedu disclosed that the African Development Bank had already indicated interest with regard to the provision of Partial Risk Quarantee for coal to power project in Nigeria.

 

Source: Vanguard news

 

 

 

Vatican issues global questionnaire on modern families-(AFP)

On Tuesday, the Vatican launched a worldwide consultation on modern families including same-sex couples as part of Pope Francis’s drive to reform the Catholic Church.

A questionnaire asking for detailed information about the “many new situations requiring the Church’s attention and pastoral care”. has been forwarded to Bishops around the world.

“Concerns which were unheard of until a few years ago have arisen today as a result of different situations, from the widespread practice of cohabitation… to same-sex unions,” it said. Read complete story 

 

Source:yahoo news

Dangote Cement Profit Soars On Increased Sales From Nigerian Market

Dangote Cement Plc has posted a 39.4 percent profit for the nine months ended September 30, 2013. The company which is Africa’s largest cement manufacturer shows that revenue for the period under review rose by 28.7 percent to N288.98 billion compared to N244.50 billion the previous year, as cement sales in Nigeria gained 30 percent to 9.95 million metric tons.

Group Managing Director, Devakumar Edwin, said demand for cement remains strong in Nigeria with the company recording sales almost 30 percent higher than last year. He also noted that the company has grown at twice the market’s growth rate. The cement giant has also revealed plans to expand in 13 other African countries.

Dangote Cement Plc, is Nigeria’s leading cement producer with three plants in the country and owned by Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

Source: Ventures Africa

FG to establish new agric marketing corporations

 The Federal Government intends to establish new marketing corporation in a bid to strengthen the agricultural sector and improve market opportunities for farmers.

According to Dr Akinwumi Adesina, Minister of Agriculture and Rural development  “The first set of marketing corporations, which will be ready within the next few months, will be run by the private sector and will focus on cotton, cassava and cocoa.”

The success of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) had attracted global development finance institutions like, the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)to the country; they had committed two billion dollars to support the ATA.

The Minister also stated that “The first set of marketing corporations, which will be ready within the next few months, will be run by the private sector and will focus on cotton, cassava and cocoa.”  He added that progress had been made towards the development of agricultural commodity exchanges that would provide better opportunities to farmers to access markets and secure better prices.

Source: Businessnews

India Launches Mars Orbiter in Space.

India prepares to launch spacecraft to Mars in a bid to put a probe into orbit around the red planet before other Asian powers.The spacecraft is set to travel for 300 days, reaching Mars orbit in 2014.

If the satellite orbits the Red Planet, India’s space agency will become the fourth in the world after those of the U.S., Russia and Europe to successfully orbit Mars.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh refutes the view that India can ill-afford the project, which will cost about 4.5 billion-rupee( $73 million). He is counting on the space program to yield technological advances that bolter the country’s development prospects.

Source: Bloomberg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

European oil refiners battle to tap growing African fuel demand

As Africa’s appetite for fuel products remains high, U.S. and Asia competitors grapple to meet this demand.

According to Vienna-based consultancy JBC Energy, the demand for oil products will rise by more than 20 percent in the next seven years to 4.4 million barrel per day.

As stated by Reuters “Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Kenya and South Africa are expected to see the fastest demand growth in sub-Saharan Africa, analysts say, while the continent’s refining capacity is far from matching this demand and will only marginally grow by 2020 from current crude processing volumes of 1.925 million bpd.”

David Wech, JBC Energy managing director, stated that “Most countries in the African continent prefer to import finished products rather than produce in small outdated plants. It’s a question of technology and it turns out cheaper to import,”

The continent has been a longstanding outlet for European gasoline and gasoil, with exports more than doubling over the past five years to around 600,000 bpd in 2013.

Reuters

Foreign investments in stock exchange hits N747bn

Between January and August 2013, the Nigerian securities boast of a total of N747bn (including inflows and outflows of Foreign Portfolio Investments) in foreign Investment.

According to Punch news ” Investigations by our correspondent on Friday at the NSE showed that between January and March 2013, the foreign transactions totalled N217.57tn, representing 42.7 per cent of the N510.1bn worth of transactions recorded in the first three months of the year.

For April to June, a total of N365.07bn worth of foreign transactions was recorded, while for the month of July, the total amount of FPIs in the NSE was N93.71bn.

The amount for July and August stood at N164.59bn, which is higher than the N150.24bn recorded at the end of June, according to the latest figures provided by NSE on its website.”

Mr Oscar Nyema ,the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange affirmed that various reforms carried out in the Exchange Market in the last few years is the reason why foreign investors who are usually on the lookout for strong emerging markets have been showing interest in the Nigerian market. He also affirmed that local investors had begun to return to the market after their huge exit following the global meltdown and the  banking crisis in 2009.

Punch

 

BlackBerry Ready to Roll Out BBM Messaging to Apple, Android

BlackBerry Ltd. (BBRY)’s BBM instant-messaging system is rolling out to users of Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone and Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android, following a hitch that suspended the software’s introduction last month.

“We are about to officially resume our rollout of BBM for Android and iPhone customers around the globe,” BlackBerry executive Andrew Bocking said in a blog post. “In the next few hours, people will start seeing BBM in Google Play, the App Store and in select Samsung App Stores.”

The debut of the free application, which is designed to let users of non-BlackBerry smartphones exchange text messages on the company’s platform, was postponed last month due to difficulties with the software. At the time, the company blamed an unofficial version of the app for Android that was posted online. That software has since been disabled. Last week, BlackBerry said that about 6 million customers had already preregistered to be notified about the roll-out. Read more

Bloomberg

Airbus says A350 tests going well, delivery on track

(Reuters)Flight trials for Airbus’s (EAD.PA) latest passenger jet, the A350, are going well and it is sticking to its target of delivering the first of the lightweight jets in the second half of 2014, programme chief Didier Evrard said.

The A350, designed to compete with the Boeing (BA.N) 787 Dreamliner and the larger Boeing 777, staged its maiden flight in June. The European planemaker now has two aircraft flying and has notched up 75 flights and over 370 hours of flight tests.

“The flight test programme … is going very well,” Evrard told reporters at a briefing on Monday, adding that the project was approaching its “most critical phase” as it enters industrial ramp-up. Read complete story

REUTERS