Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 25 | Page 12

NEWS Co-financing agreements for electricity interconnection project T he European Commission and the African Development Bank have signed two co-financing agreements for the Cameroon- Chad electricity interconnection project and the trans-Saharan fibre optic (SDR) scheme. Ousmane Doré, Director General of the Bank for Central Africa, and Francesca Di Mauro, Head of the Central and Southern Africa Unit, and Indian Ocean, Directorate General for International Development Cooperation of the European Commission, co-signed the agreements for an aggregate amount of nearly €60 million. In December 2017, the African Development Bank had given the go-ahead to finance 65% of the €399 million project. The donation made by the European Commission represents 7.5% of this amount. The project, scheduled for completion in 2022, will improve the economic and social development framework of the countries concerned by increasing the rate of access to electricity and cross- border exchanges of cheap and cleaner energy. As for the SDR project, with a total cost of €79 million and financed for more than half (€44 million) by the African Development Bank, it will strengthen the access of populations, administrations and enterprises of high-quality, reliable and accessible digital services in both countries, thanks to the planned multiple cross-border optical links. At the regional level, the two projects will increase energy and data exchanges, in addition to greater integration of the member States of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), thus contributing to their socio-economic transformation. ////////////////// Mango Airlines to install Split Scimitar Winglets on Boeing fleet A viation Partners Boeing (APB) has announced that South Africa’s Mango Airlines has ordered its latest Split Scimitar Winglet technology for its Boeing Next Generation 737-800 fleet. South Africa´s Mango Airlines has ordered its latest Split Scimitar Winglet technology for its Boeing Next Generation 737-800 fleet “Mango Airlines clearly recognises the enhanced performance and improvement to the operating economics of the Boeing Next Generation 737-800 fleet from the installation of Split Scimitar Winglets,” said Christopher Stafford, Aviation Partners Boeing Director of Sales and Marketing. “With the installation of the Split Scimitar Winglet System, not only will Mango Airlines realise significant fuel savings in its network, but it will also show its environmental stewardship.” The Split Scimitar Winglet modification reduces Boeing Next-Generation 737 block fuel consumption by an additional 2.2% 12 INTELLIGENTCIO over the Blended Winglets. The Split Scimitar Winglet System will reduce Mango’s annual fuel requirements by more than 155,000 litres per aircraft and their carbon dioxide emissions by over 390 tonnes per aircraft per year. “As a low-cost airline, Mango is continuously looking at ways to maximise the operating profitability of our fleet in order to remain competitive in an increasingly challenging environment,” said Marelize Labuschagne, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mango Airlines. www.intelligentcio.com