investment

Ster-Kinekor Theatres is opening its first cinema multiplex in the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, as part of the company's strategy to expand into Africa. The new six-cinema complex in the Lesotho capital of Maseru houses almost 1000 seats and Ster-Kinekor Theatres CEO Fiaz Mahomed is upbeat about the new venture:

"We believe the time is right to extend our brand into more African countries, and given Lesotho's proximity to us, it made perfect sense to do so there," said Mahomed.

- The DTI and the NFVF recently met with the Cape Film Commission and industry leaders in Cape Town to discuss possible changes to the DTI Film rebate scheme as well as the addition of a 1% development levy on qualifying productions above R10 million. The NFVF stated that this development fund which they will administer will be primarily used to help stimulate and grow the local film industry.

The government owned media outlet, ORINFOR, has been called upon to establish the needs of the audience it serves by conducting an audience survey.

The call was made by the Director General in the Ministry of Information, Ignatius Kabagambe, during a meeting to validate the organisation's five-year business and strategic plan.

"It is an immediate priority for ORINFOR to conduct an audience survey to know the needs of the audience and package their content accordingly," Kabagambe said.

Botswana Television will pay satellite operator Intelsat nearly P134 million for the provision of transponder services over a six year period.

The Namibia Film Commission (NFC) says it is not very satisfied with the latest audit report on the accounts of its film and development fund, which was tabled in Parliament. "There are some figures stated in the Auditor General's report which are different to ours," said Namibia Film Commission (NFC) secretary Edwin Kanguatjivi on 23 February 2010.

The Vision Group has paid sh191.3m dividends to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), reaffirming its strong financial performance and share value. Robert Kabushenga, the group chief, said the company's foundation was solid.

The Japanese government has given Rwanda Television (RTV) a grant of 46.1 million Japanese Yen last week (approx $0.5m). A joint Rwanda-Japan communiqué notes that the grant will be signed today at the Ministry of Foreign affairs (Minaffet) through Japan's grant assistance framework to improve RTV's programmes.

North Africa boasts the highest average terrestrial TV advertising rates in the Arab World. A report by Arab Advisors Group overviews, compares and analyzes terrestrial TV channel's advertising rates in selected countries chosen to be representative geographically of the Arab World. The peak regional average terrestrial TV advertising rate falls between 20:00 and 21:00 and stands at US$ 2,008.