A new African investment guide, Invest in Kenya: Focus Kisumu, was launched by the Millennium Cities Initiative and the Columbia Program on International Investment in Nairobi on September 26. MCI’s first investor’s guide focuses on Kisumu, the first city named a Millennium City. Kisumu, located on Lake Victoria, is Kenya’s third largest city and an …
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Month:September 2007
Carbon auction on regulated exchange
The first carbon auction held on a regulated exchange just concluded in Brazil. 800,000 tonnes of carbon rights were sold by the City of Sao Paolo which is earning them from power generation from methane released by a massive urban landfill. The winning bidder, Fortis a European bank, paid € 13 million or about € …
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Gender pay gap increasing again as corporates opt for convenience.
In the UK at least, the gender pay gap among managers has widened for the first time in 11 years. The Chartered Management Institute disclosed in early September that women, from trainees to chief executives, have failed to keep pace with the rise in male earnings. In a survey of more than 42,000 managers in …
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Hacking government IT systems – the next level of war.
There are increasing media reports of the vulnerability of government IT systems to hackers. While much of the media attention has been to Chinese attacks on systems at the US Pentagon, UK government and German government, we should not be deluded into thinking that this is a one way street. US, UK and German forces …
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Another report exposing the dangers of food additives
In early September, the UK government’s Food Standards Agency took the significant step of issuing revised guidance to consumers recommending that they steer clear of products containing certain E-numbers if their children are showing signs of hyperactivity or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The release of the new public health advice follows the results of the …
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Corporate water strategy – a report
Business for Social Responsibility and the Pacific Institute teamed up to investigate corporate water strategy. We have seen increasing concern over water shortages globally including at major growth markets and economic centers in Asia, India and the US which already face a lack of freshwater. If current trends continue, freshwater resources will grow more scarce …
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Nuclear, the GMO of energy, is gaining ground as a “convenient” solution
There have been several reports recently of the increasing popularity of nuclear as a solution to rapidly emerging concerns with fossil fuel energy. But this may be more a result of propaganda than pragmatism and principle. A collaborative approach, which had been adopted in the UK, is breaking down. Recently the UK government initiated a …
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Supermarkets’ collusion costs you money
In the UK, the Office of Fair Trading has concluded a three year investigation by bringing charges against the main supermarkets for price fixing with dairy producers, naming Asda, Morrisons, Safeway, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, as well as dairy processors Arla, Dairy Crest, Lactalis McLelland, The Cheese Company and Wiseman. They claim consumers were defrauded of …
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Terrorist plot in Germany foiled
In early September three men were arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning a “massive” attack on US facilities in the country. Federal prosecutor Monika Harms said the three had trained at camps in Pakistan and procured some 700 kg of chemicals for explosives. She said the accused had sought to target facilities visited by …
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Rise in US consumption for August could be misleading
Although Commerce Department data for August showed a rise in August and a moderation of core inflation, this data should be considered warily as they may be a result of unusual incentives. Consumer confidence and housing are still down. Consumer spending rose 0.6% in August, the largest increase since April and more than expected. The …
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